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Speaker 1: I am 15 five. Speaker 0: Item 15 Communication from Councilwoman Price. Councilmember Pearce. Councilmember Super. Councilmember Richardson Recommendation to request City Manager to work with Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. Certified members of the Lab PD and report back with specific recommendations on how individual public spaces can discourage crime through environmental design. Speaker 1: But any public coming in this. Speaker 3: Councilman Price, thank you. Speaker 5: Yes, we have a really great team and the police department that helps residents and businesses try to protect themselves against crime through some environmental changes that they might be able to make at low cost in their properties. Things like trimming down shrubs, adding additional lighting, things that are relatively simple to do and within the control and the power of the business or resident owner. And so I'm hoping that we can extend that concept to our own properties. I realize we have a lot of parks and a lot of beach space, and this is something that would take place over a long period of time. The purpose of this item is to get the process started and to identify a process. Maybe it's a multiyear process, maybe it's a process that is focused on police divisions in terms of the areas that are viewed at in a particular order. Maybe we start with parks, maybe we start with beaches. I really defer to the city manager on how he would like to allocate resources to look at this. But we have the expertize and the specialty in our police department to be able to take a look at some of our public spaces and determine how we can make them safer for residents, whether that includes additional lighting, whether it includes trimming of bushes that are overgrown. Of course, we will never be able to make an open environment free of potential hiding or other hazards. But we can certainly take a look at what we already have and audit the areas too, to make them as safe as possible. And I think about just there's so many nooks and crannies and areas where safety can be compromised and figuring out ways to perhaps close off some of those areas or sign them better, you know, that type of endeavor, I think, would be very worthwhile in in terms of environmental design. So I urge my colleagues to support this item. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Pierce. Speaker 3: I feel. Speaker 6: Like I'm seconding everything tonight, but I love Sub10. I want to second this item. I guess I did have some questions, but I think we've left it open enough for staff to come back with some options. I know that in the first budget that I participated in, we had the million dollars for Tidelands, that we looked at our beaches and we hopefully have tackled that with different lighting. The other thing I would say is that at Bixby Park, I want to just say how much I appreciate PD. They came down with our community members, our parks director, and did a full walkthrough along with my staff, where we identified what trees needed to be trimmed . The pergolas needed to come down where there was additional lighting that needed to be. So. Maybe one of my suggestions is just that community folks know that this is an option. I understand doing an entire park system is probably pretty challenging and maybe there's an online request or some online process that you can request this and I know we've done this for businesses along Fourth Street as well. So definitely support the direction that this is going. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. So I've already called for public comment to go. Please call for the vote and I've already done. Speaker 9: That very briefly. I know this pushes the envelope. But I would suggest. Building a jail cell. And having to run the numbers, see what it cost to keep somebody there. So when people come down, they recognize what the alternatives are for some of the things they might be considering. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Good. Now we're going to go to public comment. Speaker 3: Sorry. Speaker 1: Oh. Excuse me. Okay. Okay. Please, members, please get your vote. Speaker 0: Count Andrews or Vice-Chair Andrews? Speaker 3: Yes.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to work with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design certified members of the LBPD and report back with specific recommendations on how individual public spaces such as parks can discourage crime through environmental design.

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Speaker 1: Ms.. Margaret, I think they're saying that. Speaker 3: Yes. Speaker 1: Right. Item 16, please. Speaker 0: Communication from Councilwoman Gonzales Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund in the City Manager Department by 17,000 to support the 2018 de los Muertos celebration. Speaker 1: Any public comment in this item? Okay. Mrs. Pearce projects beginnings. Speaker 6: Yes, I wanted to say that this item I'm going to read some talking points from Councilmember Gonzales and she had to exit. I will ensure that we move over the right amount of funding to support this year's event. Last year's event saw nearly 10,000 people come to North Pine Avenue to celebrate this cultural event. It was done in partnership with each small business along the corridor to ensure that they each saw a record number of sales. This year's event had already garnered over 300,000 impressions and has over 30,000 people signed up to attend. So we want to make sure that this event is a success. I know for the downtown my constituents, the event was a huge hit the last two years. And so I fully support this and hope that our council colleagues will too. Speaker 1: That's why we're doing it. But seeing that I'm a first and second place girl of Kosovo. Item 17.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the City Manager Department (CM) by $70,000, offset by the First Council District one-time infrastructure funds transferred from the Citywide Activities Department to support the 2018 Dia De Los Muertos Celebration; and Decrease appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the Citywide Activities Department (XC) by $70,000 to offset a transfer to the City Manager Department.

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Speaker 1: That's why we're doing it. But seeing that I'm a first and second place girl of Kosovo. Item 17. Speaker 0: Communication from Councilmember Richardson. Councilmember Urunga Recommendation to request city manager to engage regional stakeholders regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's efforts to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act regulatory Framework. Speaker 1: Councilman Richardson. Speaker 7: Thank you, Vice Mayor. So a few comments on this. So we have a unique opportunity on our hands, and I want to walk folks through what this is. So in response to this investment in redlining certain neighborhoods, Congress enacted the CRT Act of 1977 to promote financial reform. CRT encourages banking institutions to meet credit needs of all communities they serve, including low to moderate income communities through decent, through investment and lending. Here's the problem. Within its 41 years of activity, the CRT has only been modified two times. Unlike the banking industry, which has undergone extensive organizational and technological changes such as interstate banking, internet and mobile banking. Current CRT regulations do not fit the banking landscape, does not adequately meet low to moderate income communities financial needs. So here's our opportunity. In April 2018, the U.S. Department of Treasury released recommendations on how to modernize CRT using four categories one assessment areas to examination clarity and flexibility. Three The examination process. And four performance. Following this outline, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency entered a 75 day comment period in August to gather input from financial actors and community stakeholders regarding these focus areas. The comment period is. Speaker 9: Extremely rare as. Speaker 7: The C.R.A. has only been revised twice in the last 40 years. The recommended the recommended changes will shift CRT framework from a narrative based framework to a qualitative assessment, ensuring that that the CRT Act is in alignment with its original intent. Here's a few statistics to consider. So in the U.S., there are approximately 9 million unbanked households, 43 million people without without bank accounts that rely on alternative financial services, such as check cashing and payday loans. The average and annual cost of not having a bank is roughly $500 for people who rely on a prepaid debit card. Currently, the L.A. Sierra assessment area monitors all of L.A. County and Orange and Ventura Counties. However, nearly one in five neighborhoods does not have a bank or credit union. In the L.A. County area, which means approximately 600,000 residents in 46 neighborhoods across the county are unbanked. Locally, speaking here in Long Beach, nor the ninth District was the only council district without a bank, and the West Side still doesn't have a banking institution. So thank you, Councilman Rangel, for signing on in support of this. In closing, this is a critical and opportune moment for us to enhance the accountability and responsibility of financial institutions that the responsibility they have in our communities. Historically, Serra's impact on low and moderate income households has resulted in affordable housing, economic development, neighborhood revitalization and lending to the underserved. Updating the Sierra is in alignment with the city's adopted 2018 federal legislative agenda, and it's consistent with the Long Beach economic blueprint. Support of this effort advances economic inclusion opportunities and financially empowers the low income communities. That said, I want to just acknowledge this letter of support and say he couldn't be here today to express his. He sent a letter of support from Randall Hernandez, a chair of economic development. And I want to thank James Alba from City Community Development for bringing this to my attention. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, councilman. Councilman Miranda. Speaker 8: Thank you very. I want to thank you for bringing this forward. This is an opportunity for a revitalization of our neighborhoods through improved lending and business opportunities. And I totally welcome the opportunity to grow this. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. Next council. Woman mother. Speaker 2: Yes. Earlier. I appreciate that. I was asked to sign on to this item. I'm interested in a project like this, but as I've stated, I'm really concerned about our allocation of resources. So it's hoping the city manager could tell me how many hours of staff time they think that it would take to participate at this level. Speaker 4: From what we understand right now. Speaker 9: We've we believe this would be a very short period of time. It simply would be to get a letter in that summarizes what our feelings are. So probably just two or 3 hours, we believe. Diana, do you agree with that? Yes. Speaker 2: Wonderful. Mr. Richardson or Councilor Richardson, are you open to a do not exceed 5 hours of staff time? Speaker 7: I think that is incredibly disrespectful of the intent and the opportunity we have in front of us. My district doesn't have a bank area is filled Long Beach. We have a unique opportunity to express how we feel about this. We've attempted time and time again to partner with banks and institutions. And what message do we send after item after item tonight? We just allocated the item of $70,000 for deal was Muertos. We just had a whole conversation about resources in our parks and recreation. And what we're talking about right now is simply a comment letter give putting Long Beach in a better position for C.R.A.. Here's what else I'll say. We always talk about the cities that are our size Atlanta and Miami. All of those cities have their own C.R.A. assessment area. We are lumped in with all the county of Los Angeles and Orange County and Ventura County. What that means is if a loan is is deployed in Pomona, it counts for Long Beach. If a loan is deployed in Ventura. That counts for a Long Beach. If a bank branch is deployed in Santa Ana, that counts for Long Beach. The industry wants to modernize these standards. We would like to modernize these standards. Staff is aware of this. It takes 3 hours. So, no, I'm not open to that. Speaker 2: Well, I think that your response to my response is disrespectful. I warned your staff about this when they brought me the item. I've been very supportive of everyone's items on the agenda tonight. I gave double the amount of time the staff requested for. All I'm trying to do is, as I stated four weeks ago and as a policy that this entire council. Speaker 3: Should always be. Speaker 2: Tough law. This council unanimously approved. Speaker 1: You guys excuse me. I think he was asking him and he said he gave you the answer. Speaker 2: That's fine. Yeah. Okay. But as a response, as a policy that this council unanimously approved, that we would start to discuss and send things to committee, which I was not asking to do at this time. I'm very supportive of the item. I think that this is a good thing for us to do. But what I do not feel is appropriate is that we continue to toss stuff to staff with no controls over when, where or how and what other items are being put where. The item regarding the deal, Los Muertos was her funded item, and one of the things I'm definitely interested in for the future would be to say that every councilmember has $100,000 of staff time available to them and they can allocated as they wish. If that were the case, that would be different. But this is not the case. Currently, the cases, whatever councilmembers bring, the most items receive the most allocation of staff time to their priorities. And that's not necessarily a fair and equitable way to distribute staff resources. I'm very supportive of the item. I'm just trying to, on a consistent basis, starting last week, quite frankly, I believe with Councilmember Price's item, sending things to committee because I would like to get controls over the over prioritization where everything in the city is a priority one. I believe this is important. I believe a letter is a great thing to do. I wouldn't be surprised if staff had already crafted the letter because it is so important. If it was so important, I'm surprised that it's October 9th and the comment period has been open since August. But what I would like to say is I'm very supportive. I don't think giving double the number of hours. I'm trying to set a framework, a framework that I thought you were very supportive of when it came forward from Budget Oversight Committee. Speaker 1: It seems like to respond to that because then those. Okay, fine, Mrs. Pierson. Speaker 6: I queued up before the back and forth. Speaker 3: Well, that's. Speaker 1: What I was trying to. Speaker 6: Say. So I know. I just want to say that I'm I queued up not to engage in the back and forth, but to say that I think it is absolutely essential that our neighborhoods have access to banking and that we as a city need to do everything we can. Myself, where I live, I, you know, my closest bank is downtown, takes me 5 minutes to get there based on lights. I understand that one is the challenge of not having banks, and two is the challenge of having predatory check cashing agencies. And so I wholeheartedly support those. And I think I hope everybody just focus on this. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Councilwoman Margo. Speaker 2: Is there any amount of staff time limitation that you'd be open to discussing? It's not to put a limit on the fact that we don't do it. It's more to set a standard of it's only going to take 2 to 3 hours. Why not? Speaker 7: Councilwoman attempted on one of your items? Speaker 2: I don't remember the tonight of every week I barely bring forward item. Speaker 7: Councilman, there have been 16 items we've heard and in two different hearings. Speaker 2: Correct. Speaker 7: All of which were brought by this. Bring on someone, have a conversation in advance. You cannot legislate relationships, Ernie Hudson. Speaker 9: You don't have the floor. Speaker 7: Do you? Just ask me a question. Thank you. No, you just asked me, was I willing to open so that warranted response? Speaker 4: You didn't answer the question. Speaker 8: You just started a dialog. Speaker 7: That's how I answer my questions. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 7: You know, I think we should have a better conversation about about how we go about this. Speaker 9: This is a fairly. Speaker 7: Ministerial, small. Speaker 9: Thing. Speaker 7: And I think we're sending the wrong message at this point. Speaker 2: I agree. Speaker 7: And I'm. Speaker 2: Hopeful that the minister for small things, because. Speaker 7: This is an approach. No, the answer is no. Speaker 2: So to my point, the reason I feel it is most appropriate is because it is a ministerial and small thing. And one of the hardest things is that our big giant items, it's so hard to get our arms around them that we're never going to be able to get to that point. And so just as a side note, your staff were notified that this is how I felt about the item and it was discussed with them. Chief, the chief last week. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Any more. Okay. Fine. We. Please. We've only had a public comment, so would you please cast your vote? We've already called it. There's no book. Excuse me. Any public comment? Okay. Thank you. We'll move on to develop the item 18, please. I need the vote. Okay, let's get.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to engage regional stakeholders, including the Gateway Cities Council of Government and the Southern California Association of Governments, regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s efforts to modernize the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulatory framework; and Request City Manager to participate in the commenting period by articulating the City’s vision for a modified CRA.

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Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Now we move to item 19. Speaker 0: Report from Economic Development Recommendation to approve the downtown Long Beach Parking and Business Improvement Area Annual Report. Continuing the assessment for the period of October one, 2018 through September 30, 2019. Districts one and two. Speaker 1: Council and Pearce. Speaker 6: Their staff report. Speaker 9: Eric Romero. Speaker 4: Honorable Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. This item is the annual approval of the downtown Long Beach Parking and Business Improvement Area Annual Ongoing Assessment. The downtown Long Beach Alliance has two established sources of business improvement district revenue that pass through the city of Long Beach to the organization. This recommended action relates to the business operator assessment funds that are used to promote and market the downtown Long Beach. Downtown Long Beach on behalf of the businesses located in the downtown Long Beach Parking Business Improvement Area. The 2018 19 LBA budget narrative describes proposed activities and budget information as well as the method and basis for continuation of the assessment. The budget narrative proposes no change in the boundaries and no significant change in proposed activities. The debate board voted on April 18, 2018, to raise the assessment rates by 2.79% per the allowed Consumer Price Index adjustment staff across the City Council continue the levy of the assessment and authorize the city manager to extend the agreement for one additional year. Speaker 9: That concludes my staff report. Speaker 1: It's been. Speaker 6: Awesome. Thank you. Speaker 1: Councilmember Arango. Any public comment on this now? Please cast your vote.

Contract

Recommendation to approve the Downtown Long Beach Parking and Business Improvement Area (DLBPBIA) Annual Report continuing the DLBPBIA assessment for the period of October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to extend the agreement with the Downtown Long Beach Alliance for a one-year term. (Districts 1,2)

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Speaker 0: The motion carries. Speaker 1: Item 24. Speaker 0: A report from Health and Human Services recommendation to adopt a resolution approving the application for grant funds for the 2018 California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program, and authorize the city manager to execute agreements with the California Department of Housing and Community Development for the 2018 California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program in the amount of 1,241,661 citywide. Speaker 1: Councilwoman Pierce. Speaker 3: Kelly. Speaker 2: They waited. Speaker 3: So these findings are these funds are coming from the state that what we'll be doing. Speaker 11: They primarily focuses on supporting the multi-service center, the coordinated entry system and HMAS. And so what our key goal is, is to be able to sort of track on vacant and available housing units and be able to match people who are coming into the multi-service center through the porn. Speaker 3: Industry system to be able to match them and to be able to track those data. It ends up being between 200 and $225,000 a year to support those efforts. Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. You're okay with that. Occupy any public comment on this and that? Would you please cast your vote? Speaker 3: Okay.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution approving the application for grant funds for the 2018 California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary agreements, and any subsequent amendments, with the California Department of Housing and Community Development for the 2018 California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program, in the amount of $1,241,661, for the approximate period of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2024; execute all necessary documents and agreements with partner agencies and subrecipients; and Increase appropriations in the Health Fund (SR 130) in the Health and Human Services Department (HE) by $1,241,661, offset by grant revenue. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: So we'll kind of try to take all this together. But before we get to that, I want to start with the first hearing, which is I'm sorry, it was the our first hearing tonight, which is the LV Tourism Improvement Area hearing on the CVB. And if I can please have the hearing read into the record. Speaker 1: Report from economic development recommendations received supporting documentation into the record to conclude the public hearing and adopt a resolution continuing the Long Beach Tourism Business Improvement Area Assessment for the period of October one, 2018 through September 30th, 2019, and authorize the City Manager to extend the agreement with the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau for one year term. Districts one, two, four and five. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Modica or Mr. West. Mr. Mayor, council members have. Speaker 8: A brief report. Speaker 12: From Eric Romero, who runs our Business Improvement Associations through the City and our Economic Development. Speaker 8: Department. Eric. Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. This item is the annual approval of the Long Beach Tourism Business Improvement Area Annual Ongoing Assessment. Speaker 0: The Long Beach. Speaker 8: Convention and Visitors Bureau as advisory board to the Long Beach Tourism Business Improvement Area promotes and markets. The City of Long Beach as a tourism destination using funds generated assessment of hotel properties located in tourism business improvement areas throughout the city. State law provides that the City Council shall here and consider all protests against the assessment program. Speaker 11: And boundaries of the area proposed in the annual report. Speaker 0: On September 18, 2018, the City Council. Speaker 8: Approved a resolution granting approval of the annual report and set today's date for the public hearing. The recommended action of this item continues the assessment for another year. Speaker 11: There are no proposed changes to the basis of the assessment, nor changes in proposed activity. Speaker 8: Staff request. The City Council received the supporting documentation into the record. Approve the resolution. Continue the levy of the assessment and authorize the city manager. Speaker 11: To extend the agreement for one additional year. That concludes my staff report. Speaker 0: Thank you. We do have a motion in a second, but we're going to go ahead and do now, I believe is here. Correct me if I'm wrong here, Mr. West, but we are going to hear from Mr. Goodling, who will be making the presentation. Mr. Goodling. Speaker 12: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. West. Good evening. On behalf of the Long Beach Convention Visitors Bureau and our 400 members. Thanks for taking the time tonight so that we could share with you an update on what's been happening within tourism. The this past year has been a record year. If we can get this slides up here. Okay. So this past year, as I mentioned, has been our best year yet in the history of the Long Beach Tourism convention visitor. We had over $2 million in the top. For a total of $28 million. And over a six year period, that's been 130% increase in total. So it's gone from 12.4 million to 28 million. Interestingly enough, this is the fourth largest tax revenue generator for the city of Long Beach. So behind property taxes and behind also sales tax. This is the fourth largest tax revenue generator for the city. Every dollar invested has returned over $6. And in doing so, it's been a very competitive field for us to play in. We have sales representatives in major cities, north in San Francisco, Midwest, Chicago, North Atlantic, also two in the D.C. area and one down in Atlanta. In addition, we have half the sales team based in Long Beach. That is also backed up by a convention service team who services the customers when they're here, and also a marketing team that helps to provide the marketing materials not only for conventions, but also for other tourism and pleasure travel. Our sales team attended 28 tradeshows, basically one every other every other week this past year. In addition, we've had over 122 site inspections. That's basically two clients. And these aren't just individual clients. Often they come with several people. So 122 site inspections looking at the city of Long Beach. The great news is, is when we get them into the city is when we have a high closure rate once they see it. What we always hear is, gee, I didn't know changed, but we hear one of the two. The other thing that separates us from our competition is when we bring site inspections in. We create a community event. These are two clients out of Atlanta, and we either do a breakfast or a community luncheon. We had a client recently say that in 30 years of doing this, she's never had any other city in the U.S. pull together a committee of people that she'd be working with to greet her and actually have a meal. And that left an indelible impression. And because of that, they get to meet our working committee, our team, the team they'll be working with. As I was talking with a few a few people lately, as you all know, by this point, we're very much relationship driven, not transactional driven. Many cities today are transactional driven. They get a lead. They disseminate it to their hotels. They don't actually act as an ombudsman between the client or the hotel. We actually serve as both navigating through it. Several years ago, we had the privilege of hosting TEDx. And with that, we learned several things from TEDx. There is a recent article today that was just published on how decisions on choosing a destination for a convention have changed. Back in the eighties and nineties, people chose destinations primarily based upon ancillary activities. A lot of people used the convention as an extension of their vacation time. And what's transpired since then is people are using conventions now for more for networking and learning job skill sets to make them more competitive, either for their company, organization or within their industry as a whole. Ted epitomized this new generation of meetings at the TED conference. They had seating throughout the throughout their entire campus. The whole idea was if you saw somebody that you wanted to talk to, you could grab that moment instantaneously, sit and have a conversation. Think of the last time you were back in a convention center not in Long Beach. You had to walk down a long corridor, sometimes to the food court. Sometimes you found maybe a long metal bench. And that was where your conversation had to take place. We don't believe in that. We believe in the TEDx style. We believe in creating an environment that encourages you to network with your colleagues. And in doing so, we have transformed the Long Beach Convention Center into being a facility that basically has been designed to encourage networking. So throughout our campus we have a variety and I love this shot. This is a gentleman that at Twitch Con and regardless of where you want to hang in, in the convention center, there are seating everywhere. And in addition, the arena has been a wonderful boon for us because it's created it, yet at 40,000 square feet, an additional meeting space. And it can be used for General Sessions. It can be used for special events. But it's multi-use. It can also be used as an arena. Since transforming this space in 2013. Its days in use has gone from 154 days a year to 258 days a year. It's practically booked all the time. The other thing that we learned from Ted is you not only do create this great environment to network, but you have to have a wow party at night. You have to have something that really sets you apart. And it has to be something that you feel. If you're vibrancy, it feels great. And so the Arena was the first party that Ted did, and that was where we got the inspiration for this new project. In addition, they used the underpass under Seaside Way and they brought in food trucks, they brought in picnic tables and they brought in crystal chandeliers and hung them under and created a. Southern California food truck party. Well, as Ted has moved on, the other phenomenon that has occurred is Instagram. You can't go to a party now without someone wanting to take a photo. The great news about these Instagram moments is if they're provocative enough, if they're cool enough. Not only does it market your city, i.e., Long Beach, but it also markets the association and it markets it to their colleagues and friends saying, Gee, you should be here, too. So what has been created at this campus is a turnkey facility that lets national associations which have limited budgets. They don't have budgets like Google and Facebook and others, but their budgets nonetheless now can be used for food and beverage while we add the rest to create those instagrammable moments. So with that last July, we opened up the cove and we like to thank Councilwoman Janine Parrish for the help on the lighting in there. It's become a very safe area to walk. A boon for our residents, but also a boon for our conventioneers. And I'd like to share with you in the past 12 months how this special space has been used. Speaker 7: I can't believe. Speaker 10: This is history. Speaker 1: It's a party now. Speaker 4: Everything's turnkey. Speaker 9: It's just very creative. Speaker 4: You know, there's so many opportunities to do phenomenal things with your event here. Long Beach is definitely one of the most innovated convention centers that I've worked in across the country. Speaker 12: So what was a sleepy underpass? And quite honestly, foreboding at nighttime has now become an active, vibrant space. And last year, the Port of Long Beach was host to the National Association of Ports. And Mario introduced me to a lady from Puerto Rico, and she told me that she'd been coming for 25 years to these conventions. But she thought that their Long Beach convention was the best yet. They had used the arena and they had also used the cove two great spaces. In addition, Mayor Garcia came up with a request, which of course we love his request because it's always fun. And this one was Steve. Let's let's take care of the fountains out front. And the fountains were 40 years old, and they really needed help. And so with that, again, Councilwoman Jeanine helped as well. And we got there and Charlie Byrne from the Convention Center and I worked on this project and we now have our third turnkey space complete with trusses, outdoor stage lighting and all of you got to experience that at the inauguration in July. But we'd like to share with you what Medallia and other companies have used this space. But again, think of Instagrammable moments, think of cool parties, think of other cities. And I will share with you there is no other city like Long Beach. At nighttime when you walk around the fountains, it's beautiful. We were out there recently. There was a father with his two kids. It was 10:00 at night. It was. It was during the summer. And and they were just having a blast. And, you know, it's really a fun environment and it's a great, great spot with that. We also have our challenges ahead of us. And a couple of us have had conversations about what those challenges are. The as we've moved forward and we moved ahead of the pack, quite honestly, in the private sector, there is a there is a group called Gaylord Hotels, and they call them Convention Center Hotels. They're large hotels. They have an average of 1200 to 2, basically 3000 rooms. They have about the same footprint as the same size of our convention center. And Marriott Corporation bought them a few years ago. And they're growing them quickly. They're opening one in the Rockies. There's currently one in Washington, D.C. there one is open in Texas and of course, Nashville, which was the founding one of the Opryland. This for a meeting planner is almost a dream come true because you sign one convention and Gaylord Hotels usually try to sell three years consecutively. So you sell one convention under the same contract language and you do it for three years, so you get a three year run. And so we've had to compete with that. In Long Beach, for example, when you book Long Beach, you have a convention center contract, you have various hotel contracts anywhere from 4 to 10 on average. And so we really have to oversell on how we're so different. And we are different. And what makes us different is what we just went through our turnkey spaces and our great seating, but they are catching up to us. And one of the things and these are just a couple shots, of course, down in Opryland. And then the new Texan resort. So in essence, if you put a little roof over downtown Long Beach, that's what we're competing with, in essence. And in addition, our regional competition, Sacramento, is asking their city council for 360 million to redo their civic center, basically their convention center. They want $30 million to add a 40,000 square foot arena. Our adaptive reuse program for the Pacific Ballroom was only 10 million. And so we've taken our assets. We utilize them, given them birth in new fashions. Unfortunately, we've not had to bond or go after significant moneys to do what Sacramento is doing. But this will become a competitor as it's finished. In addition, Portland is adding a new hotel, Hyatt Hotel, right next to their convention center. For those of you who have been to Portland, you'll know there's not much to do around the convention center because they don't have a lot of hotel inventory. Now they're starting to grow. And so for us, we have the Gaylord, the the large box projects. We have large hotels in San Diego, Anaheim and L.A. that we're competing with that are 800 to 1200 rooms in size. And so for us, we need to continue to invest in the building. We've strategically taken the position we've invested in the exterior or the customer feeling of the building. We've, fortunately, have been ahead of the curve with that. Thank you to city management. Thank you to the mayor. Thank you to all of you for supporting that. And now we need to take care of the behind the house. It's a 1960s building. We have a lot of work that needs to be done on infrastructure. And so with that, we have to address that. And we've had those conversations. And, of course, we look forward to the leadership as we move forward into resolving those issues. We also have the Olympics coming up in 28, and that's less than ten years away. All of you have been involved in commercial projects. It really takes a good two years to get things up and running, which means then you have six years, six, seven years left to make sure you bring them under completion. So the time is now to do what we need to do at that facility. These are some of the renderings that you've seen in the past. It's going to be wonderful. Long Beach will be home to the world. And so it's going to be a great time for us to showcase our city in addition to progressive leadership. Four years ago. And Julia Wang came and said, Steve, we have this great idea. It's called Powwow. I reached out to the mayor. The mayor loved it. We reached out to city management Peyton Tom. They loved it. We reached out to the port and the port got on board. And before we knew it, we had the support of bringing pow wow to Long Beach. The artists that were here this past year, they personally and individually had contracts with Prada, Tiffany, Nike, Adidas and others, and they were here. Speaker 0: It forgot DC Comics. Speaker 12: And DC Comics. And go Superman. And so with that, we we've had the best artist in our city. And with that, these are the murals that they have left behind. This year alone, four pow wow. We had over 128 million in print and also digital press advertising equivalency, close to $1,000,000 in power alone this year. And we brought 43 press in just for powwow. The fun thing is, I think Pat West calls this the best urban renewal program going. $2.7 million is the aggregate valuation of 73 murals in four years. So in addition to all the publicity, in addition to creating a lot of recognition for the city and bringing people in, it's also left. That left us a legacy that's continuing to last at this time. I'd like to have Lauren Simpson share with you. Other things that we've done to bring pleasure travel into the city in addition to our convention travel. Lauren. Speaker 4: Hello. So this year we continued our partnership with the aquarium and the Queen Mary on a co-op at in Sunset and West Ways Magazine for a combined circulation of 15 million. Instead of purchasing ads separately, we partnered together, which allowed us to have this two page spread in front of you both being highly visible versus each of us going in individually and having smaller ads. Furthermore, we've driven as we've driven leisure travel. It's been an incredible year in terms of exposure for the city of Long Beach. This past year, we've hosted several media visits, including a group visit of 38 four world renowned artists. I'm sorry, journalist and digital travel. Sorry, let me come down. 38 group visits, including digital influencers and writers from around the world. We hosted 26 individual media visits, which included, again, digital influencers, writers as well as editors from around the nation. Now, as are sales. Just like our sales team. Excuse me, our team relies on relationship building because of relationships and our proven commitment to service. Once again, we've had the chance to host the Latino bloggers. Now, these bloggers had a choice of hanging out with YouTube, Mazda and Neutrogena to name a few. But we had 80 who decided to hang out in Long Beach. Now that 80 represents about a fourth of the attendees for that conference. Here's a recap video of their experience here in Long Beach. As you can see, I've had a great time hanging out with those here in the city of Long Beach in their first year . The conference had an opening and sponsorship and the CVB stepped in to help them out and host a group. Well, now in their third year, Long Beach is chosen over top brands like a YouTube to hang out for their attendees. So we're doing something right. All of these efforts culminated into many amazing placements for us throughout the year. This one right behind you or in front of you was one placed in the New York Times. This one singular story had a circulation of 1.8 million. Now, just to backtrack a little bit, it took we pitched this outlet for over two years. The writer finally came out and hung out in our city. Had such a fantastic time that he wrote an incredible story. Again, one article equal a 1.1 circulation. And now to total it all out. For the past year we've had a total of 246 million in circulation. And this past year, we had an ad equivalency of 1.9 million. Our two overall impressions on print were 281,000 broadcast, 332 and again, 205 million impressions online. That includes both influencers. So social media posts, blog posts and online journalists. In terms of social media, we've seen double digit growth in our followership. As you can see, Facebook is nearing 50,000. We have over 20,000 on Twitter and Instagram is nearing 20,000. Now, keep in mind, all of our followers are organic. We've not paid for any of them. Aside from that, a lot of them consist of travel writers, digital influencers and editors who taught our city shared stories online or in print, and then continue to share their Long Beach experiences and throwback Thursday posts. We've had some great movement in terms of social and wanted to update our website. We had a soft launch, and something that's great about this new website is its way of harnessing social media. So on it you'll see tons of user generated content and great video. Another key component is that is the use of virtual reality and 362 hours. Once you launch the VR, you'll notice that there are blue waypoints towards the top, singling out hotels. Our website, I'm sorry, our Long Beach Airport. Major attractions as well as our convention center. The Tories also feature an interactive video component. We offer experiences like driving in a drift car where the user is able to put on their headsets, see everything that's in front of them, but then also see everything behind them. So as you know, when the drift cars go, all the smoke that flies up, all you have to do is turn your mouse or turn your headset, and you can see all of that happening behind you. Now, this is something that keeps us ahead of the competition. Especially since we know that today's consumer is all about the experience. With our new website we're right on target so have fun exploring. Visit Long Beach dot com. As you can see, we've had an incredible year in terms of exposure to the city of Long Beach and the ability to provide true experiences to those looking to travel . Now I'd like to bring John Molina, former board member and current developer here in the city. He accompanied us to on our D.C.. Mission and pitched the city as well as his current project. Thank you. Speaker 3: Pete. Speaker 8: Thank you very much. I'm John Molina. Thank you for letting me speak in front of you, Mr. Mayor and council members. I've been on the board of the CVB for many years. I just recently got off the board. Ironically, I wasn't in the hospitality business when I was on the board. And now that I'm getting into the hospitality business, I'm getting off the board. You see the result of what these folks do? You see them when you go downtown in restaurants and you see the conventioneers walking around with their badges. You see them every time. It's August, September, and you're looking at the budget. You see how much money they bring in. You see the wonderful projects every year or two that Steve Goodling and the crowd of the CVB comes in, whether it's the Pacific Ballroom or Bogart's or the Fountains or the or the bridge. But what you don't see is the hard work that goes in behind it. And I had the opportunity a couple of months ago to go on a Washington, D.C. trip. And sit with the folks from the CVB and the other hotels in Pitch Long Beach. You have no better ambassadors for this city than this group of people. They love the city. They work hard. They know their city inside and out. And they really bond connect with the people that they're trying to get out. From, whether it's Washington, D.C. or New York or Austin, Texas. And believe you me, there is a lot of competition for this business out there. And these folks do a fantastic job. They build the relationships and they sell the city. For every dollar. Speaker 0: You invest, you get $6. Speaker 8: Back. That's a pretty good deal. And what Steve and his team have done in the convention is really invest in the long term for the city. And I have the pleasure of introducing a video that shows our experiences in Washington, D.C.. Speaker 4: I could do testimonials for Long Beach forever, only because it's near and dear to my heart. We have had the best experiences here because of contracting the space and working with the CVB and working with our sales people at the hotels. Speaker 6: And every single hotel goes out of their way to make sure you. Speaker 4: Have exactly what you need and they're with you the whole way through as the CVB is, as your convention salesperson is. Speaker 9: And all of the staff at the convention center. Speaker 4: Because there is such. Speaker 6: A connection, the passion that they have. Speaker 4: For the destination. It's contagious. Speaker 6: And we end up for unit falling in love with the city the same way because they're truly invested in their city. And it shows. I loved Long Beach because of the sense of true partnership I get and bringing my meeting to their city because again, it starts with the Convention and. Speaker 10: Visitors Bureau down. Speaker 1: Pension center. Speaker 10: To the hotels, to the. Speaker 1: Restaurants. Speaker 6: The whole. Speaker 10: Entire city. Speaker 6: And you walk away feeling, I have a true partnership with Long Beach. The Long Beach CVB is. Speaker 16: Such an extraordinary partner for event planners. They know the city in their hands. And at the same time, there's a lot of cooperation with the different organizations within the city. Speaker 4: The building works with us when we're moving stages. Three days before the event starts, all hands on deck, whether it's the fire department, police department, the building itself. Speaker 10: We also had a very special situation. Speaker 4: We really wanted to do a party on the beach in Long Beach since we were there. Speaker 6: And the club went to bat for us, called in a lot of favors so we could actually do a beach party. Speaker 4: On the beach. So it was great and they were great. Speaker 8: We came in and we were actually fashion first floor. You know, that's kind of our concept. You got to have good lighting to show color. And the lighting and convention center wasn't the best. So within 24 hours, we had an answer from Steve and the crew at the Convention Center in the CVB, letting us know that they're guaranteeing they're going to put in new lights for our group. Speaker 10: And one of the key things that Long Beach did differently than any other destination we've had the pleasure of working with, is that without asking, without prompting, I received an economic impact statement. Speaker 0: We were able. Speaker 10: To see directly that our meeting allowed people in the. Speaker 0: Destination to. Speaker 4: Work during that week. Speaker 10: So kudos to. Speaker 0: Long Beach for offering that. Speaker 6: Without me asking. Everybody goes above and beyond the call of duty to try. Speaker 8: And make sure. Speaker 6: That your program is outstanding. And they want you to come back. They want you to have a great experience. So you'll want to continue to come back. And we do the top notch. It's wonderful. I think in the. Speaker 1: Convention center, for instance, I had. Speaker 6: A meeting. We were in a ballroom. I needed some cushy chairs for my panel discussion. And no question, the my convention services person picked up the. Speaker 1: Chairs from outside, brought them. Speaker 6: In. Done. And you don't always get that kind of service at a convention center. It's great. You know what? Honestly, I have to say, you know, I know that people say things because they think it's the right thing to say. But I'm a very honest person and I can tell you, I love Long Beach. They are the most terrific, terrific place to be. Long Beach. The people are great. The venues are great and they really take that personal touch. They really do. They take a personal touch to make sure that your event goes well, that you're happy. Speaker 0: And the people are as friendly as they appear. Speaker 3: They are definitely. Speaker 0: Very easy to work with. They are willing to. Speaker 4: Be flexible. Speaker 10: And create spaces, even in spaces that they have already set. Speaker 3: Up, that you can do something new and different with your event. Speaker 8: Working with the crew at the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau is an amazing experience. It is so imaginative and innovative. I think those are probably the most innovative cities in the country. The world. This year was best in the West. Maybe next year will be best in the U.S.. Mr. Goodling talked about the Gaylord talked about what's going on in Portland, in Sacramento. I'm biased, but those folks don't hold a candle to the uniqueness of Long Beach with our convention center and the hotels and the waterfront and the restaurants, etc. But we need your continued support to put on a top notch CVB to return the money back to you. Now I'd like to introduce John Thomas, who I'm sure you all know, who's also a board member. People. Speaker 12: Good evening, council members. Mr. Mayor, nice to see you again. What also makes Colombia so unique is our collection of nonprofits. Speaker 8: These non-profits work hard every day to leverage their resources to deliver services and programs that, frankly, the city couldn't deliver and maybe that the public sector cannot deliver. The CVB has. Speaker 12: Long enjoyed a relationship with these nonprofit partners. It's been strategic in our values and our mission statement in the city as well as in all the districts to assist where we have an opportunity and one special occasion. Speaker 8: We'll be celebrating. Speaker 12: Here pretty soon. Another month or two is our very own Ronald McDonald House, who's since its building in the city of Long Beach. And thanks to the CVB. Speaker 8: Our hospitality partners. Speaker 12: Our restaurants and catering partners. Speaker 8: Not one meal has been missed at the Ronald McDonald. Speaker 12: House because of these partners, and I think that's a very significant sign of how the CVB. Our partners play in the city. Speaker 8: To make sure that our nonprofits are accommodated. Without further ado, I have a guess what a video to show you. I think it might be the last. Get it up, but we'll keep your video. And thank you so much for your participation in your support of the CVB. Speaker 1: The CVB is beyond just events. They actually connect the community to other national resources and also build our capacity as an organization. The participants weren't all. Speaker 5: Of the space. Speaker 1: They were so proud to be Cambodian and they. Speaker 4: Felt like they were valuable. Speaker 1: Contributors to the larger. Speaker 6: Society. Speaker 8: Unfortunately, I've attended a lot of funerals in my time in the union and as president of Local 372, I can tell you I have never attended a service where a convention or center bureau or an organization like the CVB has gone to the extent. Long Beach, CVB have done. The CVB and the Convention Center gave discounted rate to the firefighters who traveled from across the nation, and they were given a discounted rate, which was absolutely a blessing to our people. Speaker 17: What's been wonderful this year is that the CVB actually became one of our corporate sponsors. And that's wonderful because what it really does is it promotes the bridge building between two organizations within Long Beach. And what everybody wants is to always be included. Everybody wants a seat at the table, and anytime you go to CVB, they make sure that happens. Speaker 4: You know, as nonprofits, you know, we all. Speaker 5: Have our. Speaker 1: Specialty. Speaker 10: Like Central Cha, like the core of the Cambodian community. And we were given a specialty chef who designed our. Speaker 4: Food for. Speaker 5: Our events to celebrate our. Speaker 4: Culture. So really, because I know that they will do. Speaker 3: So much for. Speaker 6: Us that we won't have to do and I don't have to stress about it. I know it's going to be a successful event. They work with the nonprofits. They want us to succeed. And that's so. Speaker 4: Rare. There was this unused space and and the people at the CDB had a fantastic vision for it. They redecorated it. They opened it up, made it beautiful and new, and brought these different performing arts groups. And here we are and we're part of it. And we're so excited to be part of the Beverly O'Neill Theater. Thanks to the CDC. Speaker 16: Let's face it, the CVB works daily on trying to get the word out and bring attention to our great city. They've increased marketing, which is helping all the arts and creating greater awareness in the community. And I think they do all this because they understand and value the importance of quality arts in our community. Speaker 6: One of the most visionary initiatives that they've launched in the last few years that has greatly benefited the symphony and all the artistic partners is the creation of an arts brochure that publicizes all of the different happenings at the center. And we are so fortunate that they provide that kind of marketing support, and it's a brilliant idea. Speaker 10: They are more than a convention center. They are our best friends, and that's for sure. They were step by step and made that. Speaker 9: Unique experience. Speaker 10: Marvelous. Speaker 3: It has become a dynamic force for the city of language. Speaker 10: We have groups, we have so many nonprofits in this region, and they utilize the facilities for their fundraisers. Plus, they're charming to work with and they work hard. Speaker 8: When you call the city, you're not just renting a room. You're not just getting a meal. You really are getting in touch with people that care and they care deeply. And you just can't find that other large cities. Speaker 17: They love plumbing. Speaker 5: And they know the value of. Speaker 1: What makes Long Beach beautiful. Speaker 5: Which is the diversity. Speaker 4: What people also don't know about the Convention Visitors Bureau is that. Speaker 3: They also support the. Speaker 4: Youth, but that's part of their community involvement, and they've done that for many years without asking for us to broadcast that. Speaker 6: They have pride and community because they invest. Speaker 3: In this community. Great. Speaker 12: On behalf of our entire tourism partners behind us, if I could ask our CVB staff first to stand so we could thank them for their hard work this year. And as all of you know, without our convention center partners, we couldn't even begin to do what we do. If Charlie Byrne and your team, Veronica, if you could all stand as well. And our hotel partners. You heard about it, the rates that were given for the fire. Sadly, what happened with Captain Rose this year and others, again, it's a great partnership. So could all of our membership stay if we could just thank them for doing what they do? The best thing. And I think Beverly O'Neil said it, and that is we're Long Beach. We're collective. Not only does this entire group sell the city every day. Not only do we welcome conventioneers and let them know that we what we can do for them. But we're also bringing in press. We're showing them how to sell the city. And beyond that, we're working with our nonprofits because if they're successful, we're successful. And that's what we should be doing. So all these folks behind me make it all happen. We appreciate your support in making it happen. And again, thank you for another wonderful year. Speaker 0: Thank you so much, Mr. Goodling. We have we have a couple we have a couple of items as part of this. The general public comment is not here. This is just on the hearing comments. And then we have any any any other comments on the hearing, which we don't. Councilman Pearce and he comes for we vote. We have one other item at CPB related as well. Okay. So, members, please cast your votes on the hearing. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Okay. Then we have the companion item is 20, which is the CVB Agreement Item.

Resolution

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and adopt resolution continuing the Long Beach Tourism Business Improvement Area assessment for the period of October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to extend the agreement with the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau for a one-year term. (Districts 1,2,4,5)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_10022018_18-0876

Speaker 0: Okay. Then we have the companion item is 20, which is the CVB Agreement Item. Speaker 1: Report from City Manager Recommendation to execute the 16th Amendment to agreement with the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to extend the agreement for a one year period and provide funding in the amount of 4,958,676 for fiscal year 2019 citywide. Speaker 0: Thank you. Again, we don't have the general public comment is next. There's no public comment on this item. We're going to go ahead and go to control reporters so we can take will vote as the package. I don't think we have a do we have a staff full staff report on this or not. I don't think we did this for America. Speaker 11: I think that was that was extortion. Speaker 8: Yeah. So. Speaker 0: Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 5: Okay. So. The genius move that you did is that we get to give you $5 million and we get to hear your big presentation. So we're paying you to hear about how great you're doing. I want to say that, obviously, I think you guys have done a great job. I think the work at the convention center has really transformed. I loved the numbers that you shared with us. I know you and I have talked several times about what a great job everybody in the city is doing. I want to also recognize, you know, taking on transforming the vision of of our city. Right. We know that 15, 20 years ago that that is what you're up against when you bring people in and that you're changing their mind about what a great city it is. And so for that, I want to thank you. I also want to thank my colleagues that you recognized me a couple of times, and I definitely appreciate it. But knowing that it is a full council that votes on this and a lot of times those are tidelands funds that we're using for that. And so I want to recognize my council colleagues for their support in transforming our convention center. Also, I think one thing that you mentioned was the competition that we have. And I think it's important to recognize I think it's important to to look at how are we addressing those challenges. And I think the market and what we've done with the downtown plan has really been fantastic in ensuring that we now have, you know, John Molina that purchased the Breakers Building, that we have a hotel that slotted for our civic center, that that Long Beach is bringing in more hotels into the mix. And so I think that that's also wonderful. I had I guess I had one question that I wanted to ask you. You guys mentioned everybody having a seat at the table, everybody wanting a seat at the table. And so I cued up Tom, just to ask, because I had somebody asked me last week on your board, does the city have a position on the board for the CVB? And because I know we have one with our DBA advisory board and I know with the aquarium, but it seems like such a great party that I think the city, you know, we want to be at the table. Speaker 0: Mr.. Speaker 11: MODICA So if I remember the. So if I remember the agreement correctly, we do not have a sitting a seat on this board. We're in constant contact with the CVB. We control a lot of what we expect for the CVB to be doing through our contract language. But we do have and from some other boards we do have ex-officio or we sit on the board that the city tends not to be a voting member on any of those because really we want to make sure that we're being the contract partner rather than sitting at the table. But I do not believe we have a staff seat at the board, but we show up. Steve What? Somebody is there. Probably every board meeting from one of the departments is my guess. Speaker 12: In the past, council member, the city was actually invited and declined. And the reason is, is because, as Mr. Modica said, the city prefer to keep it a contractual basis and a deliverable basis. And tonight was our sharing of our deliverables. Speaker 5: Great. Yes. Thank you for that. Real quick, before you before you have a seat. Mr. Goodling, I wanted to ask one question. I think the Olympics is something we're all, you know, excited about on some level. How are you guys going to position Long Beach in that conversation? What are your plans? And it doesn't need to be long, but just a recognition that I know that it's built underneath Los Angeles, but that we as the city the. Speaker 12: The challenge with the Olympics. Is one. It's in 2028. Los Angeles, it will be known as Los Angeles. However, the events that are being held here are being held in such a concentrated space. It's an opportunity for us, like in 2004 when we hosted the Olympic swimming trials to actually have the role down here with that awesome view of the beach and that crescent shaped beach at that point. NBC called it eye candy. It is. And I know if we bring the press in and we create these venues to do that, we can showcase, quite honestly, our waterfront and therefore the downtown. But fortunately, all these events are concentrated, so it gives us that opportunity. Speaker 5: Great. Thank you for that. And then I just have a question for staff, but thank you for the amazing presentation and for all the videos. And I know everybody cares very deeply about their work with the CVB and it really shows. My last question is on this item in particular. Can you talk about staff where those funds are going to be used and how that relates to Rainbow Lagoon as well? Speaker 11: So the vast majority of these contract dollars are from our special advertising and promotions fund. When we generate tot 12% tot that goes to the city. Half of it goes into SAP and the other half goes in the general fund. And then a portion of the general of the SAP goes back to the CVB to help us generate more and more tax. There is a very small amount off the top of my head. I think it's 3 to 400000, and that is for the Rainbow Harbor Sub Fund, which is Tidelands. It's a very small amount. It's been there ever since I've been here, so at least 15 years or so. And it's just it's a remnant. It's a very small portion. Speaker 5: Great. Thank you, everybody, for coming out today. Thank you for all everybody that works for the CVB, for the hotels, for everyone that makes our city great. Really appreciate. Speaker 3: It. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Price. Speaker 9: I, too, want to thank you for your presentations. I know that Steve puts a lot of effort and time into tailoring the presentation so that there's an aspect of the presentations that speak to the interests of each and every one of us. And I appreciate that you do that. You're incredibly thoughtful in that way. The entire team together as a collective unit has done amazing things to message the city. We were so far behind in terms of how we were messaging the city, how we were marketing ourselves, the types of individuals and groups that we were attracting to the area. And we are now so much further along than even five years ago when I started on this body. And it gets better and better every year. I'm very mindful of the fact that in order for you to do the work that you do, you need a partnership that involves not just beautiful words spoken at the dais , but also an investment in resources into the facilities that you've worked so hard to market. And I assure you that the Council is committed to that. We continue to work on that to the best of our ability. We do have always challenges and limitations, but I don't think it's lost on a single member of this body. How important the work that all of you do every day is. And we see it when we come and visit the facility for a function or when we talk to visitors in the city who have come from another area. You've really done your best to showcase along the beach in such a positive way. I love the presentation. The only thing that is rubbing me the wrong way is the big letters saying Los Angeles on top of the arena and the rendering of the what the Olympics will look like. So if there's anything that we can do to make sure that future renderings don't have that, I'd really love to see that. Even if it's just for us living in bliss for a few years, believing that it's going to say Long Beach or Colby or something, something like that. Speaker 12: Just don't put posted on Facebook and we'll get that to you in the morning. Speaker 9: Thank you very much to all of you for the work that you do. Speaker 0: Thank you. And Vice Mayor Andrews. Yes. Speaker 2: Real quickly, I just wanted to thank and congratulate Steve and his team for the amazing work that you guys do know as a city. I don't know what we would do without you guys because the fact that this is strong beach, you know, and I want to thank all you guys, you know, and for giving back to the community. I would just only hope next year we could probably have a convention center because of the individuals you bring. You are the crowd pleaser, Steve, I tell you and your crew. Thank you guys again for coming out and showing us how great you really are. Speaker 4: Councilman Mongo I just want to thank Steve and the team also. Many of you know that this year we were so fortunate to have Hawaiian Airlines join the number of airlines at the Long Beach Airport. Steve and his team have already started to work with our local individuals who sell travel because so many individuals are coming here in advance of their trips to Hawaii and staying for a few nights. So I really appreciate the investment not only downtown but also on the east side, as do a lot of our hotels that are on the east side that are getting that great business. So if any of you want to join us for that evening, well, we're going to be working with and promoting the Long Beach Airport to our travel agents in the region, and we're very much looking forward to it. So thank you. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 0: Thank you. And I'm just going to just to say again, guys, fantastic job. And, you know, Steve, I think you do amazing work. You guys are the magic makers, the ambassadors of the city. And we just thank you for all your incredible work and great presentation. And thank you, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 15: Thank you. And sorry for chiming in. Last, I thought we would have a few more people here, but I couldn't have all of you all come here and not be able to just acknowledge that. The best thing about the two years I served as vice mayor was working with you, Steve, and your team, Lauren, Charlie, Barbie, everybody to help welcome these conventions to our city. It was a tremendous honor. I had a great time and learned so much about our city and all the hard work that you all do to present present our city to the world. So thank you for that. I also want to say every time we've called you and your team have stepped up and delivered for. For all of us. So any time there's you know, there's anything on the line, you know, and our latest call was simply, my family's coming to show us what to do. Right. We had 250 McCreary. My mother's maiden name in town. And I got to tell you, this was the best family reunion we've ever had. And we've been doing this since the since the fifties, for every other year in a different city every year. And this is the best one we've ever had. So I just want to sincerely say thank you for what you do. You know, at one point that was really incredible. Here was the fact that you lifted up that total is the fourth largest revenue generator in our city. So it is smart. It is a good business strategy for us to continue to invest in you and to make sure that we are supportive of you and what you do. So thank you so much. And we get it. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much. Is there is there any general public comment on the ACP? Just Mr. Goodhue, and then I'll close the speakers list and we'll go to a vote. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 0: I do obviously support the tremendous job they've done and they bring into sharp focus the importance of the image of the city of Long Beach. Speaker 8: That the millions, millions. Speaker 0: Millions we get from that positive image. And that goes to the issue of making sure that we have elements in this city that does not detract from that image, such as the documented documents that each of you have gotten delivered in relative to the necessity and necessity. Of divorcing from this city. Excommunicating at any disease. Decadent. Conduct the type of which Councilman Rex Richardson has engendered in his. A small patch of his area. By supporting his. His the deviant. Decadent. Snoop Dogg, the criminal as the press telegram and the police label in Long Beach is number one. But. In this day of the state trend. Look at the state TV for the past three weeks. What's on their treatment of women? All right. Period. The councilman needs not only to be censured. He needs to be run. That district where that patch disease patched is must be divorced from the city of Long Beach. That the state may have to do that. I don't know where the lines are going that that will undermine undermine that which everybody here in this room. And protect all those people to support the convention center. Do it because in this day and age in the MeToo movement. Nobody is going to come to anything and put their dollars. Speaker 3: Where right now we're in. Speaker 0: Here in a city that that's deviant. Deckhand. Behavior relative to treatment of women. Period. And more of that will be coming down, incidentally. From the headquarters of the YMCA, which apparently is in that same disease area the Rex Richardson has engender as formulated. They will not put up with that. But again, that's that undermines the good work these people have done for years. And the cost will run into the billions. Action needs to be taken by this council on that subject. Thank you. Thank you. Members, please go and cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. Congratulations, everybody. It's given a round of applause. There. There are a few people that signed up for for general public comment. They're kind of related to this. So I'm going to just put those folks together and just call you up right now.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute the Sixteenth Amendment to Agreement No. 28164 with the Long Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Inc., to extend the agreement for a one-year period and provide funding in the amount of $4,958,676 for Fiscal Year 2019. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: We're going to hearing item number one. Please take a seat. Please take a seat. We're going to hearing at our number one. Thank you. Speaker 10: All. I'm here for that. Speaker 3: Yes. Speaker 1: Hearing Item number one Report from Development Services Recommendation to receive supporting documentation of the record. Conclude the public hearing. Declare ordinance amending the Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan. Incorporating the modifications by the California Coastal Commission. Read for the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading and adopt a resolution to submit amendments to the Long Beach zoning regulations and supporting material to the California Coastal Commission for Approval and Certification District three. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. I'd like to turn this over to the city manager. Speaker 12: I thank you, Vice Mayor, council members. We have a report on this by our director of Development Services, Linda Tatum. Speaker 10: Good afternoon, Vice Mayor, a members of the City Council. This item is a procedural matter. Speaker 4: It is the return of an ordinance that the City Council adopted earlier this year to amend. Speaker 9: The. Speaker 4: Sea dip. Speaker 9: Zoning and sea dip, which is SD one. It was designed to. Speaker 4: Facilitate the low Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project. That project was. Speaker 10: Also approved by the. Speaker 4: City Council. The city is required to. Speaker 10: Submit a local coastal development. Speaker 9: Program amendment to. Speaker 4: The Coastal Commission. Speaker 9: In order. Speaker 4: To effectuate the ordinance changes. That is what this ordinance represents. The Coastal Commission heard the ordinance in August. They adopted the ordinance with the changes that Council is being asked to consider tonight. So that. Speaker 10: Concludes. Speaker 4: Staff's presentation, and I'm available to answer any questions you might have. Thank you. Speaker 2: Find. Speaker 10: And just a reminder, this item includes both the new ordinance, the revised ordinance and the resolution. Speaker 8: Returning it back to the Coastal Commission for their final approval. Speaker 2: Thank you. Mrs. Price, you have anything to say? Speaker 9: I just asked my urge my colleagues to support this item. It's been through Coastal Commission. I want to thank Councilman Aranda for the work that he did on the Coastal Commission when this item came forth. And I ask for your support. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilman, you have a. Speaker 13: As noted by staff, it's a procedural effort here that we're doing, and it's basically affirming what the commission has already done and we'll continue from there. Speaker 2: Thank you. The only public comment on this item. Please state your name. Speaker 0: Very good. You work as it is. I support this with this one caveat. And I'm not quite sure, but I want to make sure that this has nothing to do, nothing to do, nothing to do whatsoever with the pending plan to redo the breakwater. I just because I've received communications back and forth and I quite frankly, wasn't sure. Okay. So this has nothing to do with the break of the breakwater. I fully support this. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Goodwin. Next public comment. Speaker 17: Good evening. And Cantrell. And I'm representing citizens about responsible planning and the protect the Law Cerritos Wetlands. In September 2017, this council approved a new zoning plan for the southeast area. It's known as Southeast Area Specific Plan or C CIP. The city spent over $100,000 on a consulting firm, plus hours of citizens time in preparing this plan. However, instead of using this revised plan for the proposed new oil drilling project within the zoning area, the old outdated sea dip plan was used for the air and coastal. Commission applications. This has required a number of changes to CDEP to allow for different land uses in four parcels, including oil drilling in places where it was not allowed previously. We are confused by these changes to sea dip, since Sea Dip will now be updated by tonight's changes. Does that mean that C CIP will not be sent to the Coastal Commission for approval? If C sip is to replace c dip with all of these changes you're making tonight, be automatically transferred to c sip or we'll see cip also have to be amended to allow the oil drilling. Especially troubling is item M on page 28, which discuss an extension of Studebaker Road. The extension of Studebaker Road was removed from c cip. And must be removed from sea dip on August 18th. The Coastal Commission approved oil drilling on the most storied US Wetlands Authority, five acres and pumpkin patch with many requirements. What you will find listed in your staff report. It wasn't read to you tonight in the in this report. Speaker 10: Although Coastal. Speaker 17: Commission staff has worked very hard to attempt to modify and mitigate the potential. Speaker 10: Harm. Speaker 17: Which might be done by new oil drilling in an environmentally sensitive area. We find that most of these modifications are inadequate. There is an argument as to whether the five acres in the pumpkin patch are esher but there is no argument that the lost Cerritos Wetlands, the San Gabriel River, Alamitos Bay and the Pacific Ocean could be Speaker 2: . You know, your time is up. Speaker 17: By an oil. Speaker 2: Spill. Thank you. Speaker 10: Corliss Lee, of course. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Next, the next speaker. Speaker 17: I see. Speaker 3: Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Speaker 17: Okay. Carelessly. And my address is on file. I am also a member of carp, continuing on monitoring sensors and shut off valves will have little use in a large earthquake. Your yes vote tonight is saying that you are willing to add the following 15 modifications to sea dip in order to allow oil drilling. Please consider carefully what you are voting for. Here are just a few. Modification five environmentally sensitive habitat areas as defined in the Coastal Act shall be protected against any significant disruption of habitat values and only users dependent on those resources shall be allowed with these areas. And the carp comment on that is, I repeat, that oil drilling will be disrupting the habitat areas. The pumpkin patch contains wetland, obligate plant and animal species, which will be permanently destroyed by both drilling and industrial uses. Modification seven. All development that would be adversely impact archeological or paleontology or logical resources shall include reasonable mitigation measures. And the question is what are these measures and reasonable to whom the local Native Americans do not find digging in, drilling on or degrading their sacred lands as reasonable? Modification eight The scenic and visual qualities of coastal areas shall be considered and protected. And here's the carp comment. Most people do not consider a 160 foot drilling rigs and 18 foot block walls as scenic or visual qualities. Modification nine All development shall minimize risks to life and property in areas of high geologic flood and fire hazard. And the carp comment is both. Both of these proposed drilling areas are near the Newport-Inglewood fault area in a tsunami and flood zone. The best way to minimize risks to life and property in these areas is to not allow oil drilling. Modification ten All development shall assure stability and structural integrity and neither create nor contribute significantly to erosion, geologic instability or destruction of the site or surrounding area. And the carp comment is it will be impossible to drill hundreds of feet down next to an earthquake fault, extract oil and then force water back into the void and guarantee geologic stability. So there's several more on here, and I don't think I can get through them in the next 15 seconds. But you might want to look intensely at this report and realize what you're signing up for. This isn't something to take lightly, and you don't want to commit to something you can't do. So thank. Speaker 2: You. Thank you very much. Speaker. Speaker 10: And Christensen protect the Long Beach Low Cerritos wetlands. It said in the agenda item that you've read all the enclosed materials, but I'm just going to highlight some of our statement from Protect the Long Beach Low Cerritos Wetlands. And it really has a lot to do with environmental racism. So we would hope that people could find a moment to listen. The city's stated intent is to amend Sea Sick to comply with a new oil drilling project that that you guys already approved over the objections of many tribal members. Given the fact that oil production facilities proposed for both the site, the new sites were completely altered the surface areas and allow for toxic chemicals to be used and stored on these sites. Given the fact that oil drilling operations would extend for miles under the low cerritos wetlands and include the instruct extraction in re injection of millions of gallons of water. Given the fact that the construction of massive storage tanks, pipelines, methane burn off towers will disrupt damage and destroy wildlife and habitat. Given the fact that the operation of these on any new or other new oil accessories will extend the life and massively increase the volume of fossil fuel extraction from the Sea City area, pollute air and water and involve spills, possibly on a scale that cannot be contained. Given the fact that fossil fuels contribute to global warming and sea rise, one must conclude that all of the above are to be sacrificed in order to promote new oil drilling operations in the coastal zone and in and adjacent to the low cerritos wetlands over and adjacent to the Newport-Inglewood fault in an area subject to liquefaction. And in an urban area because Caesar proposes housing 4000 new residents. Actually, it's apartments, I think, more or more along the edge of the low cerritos wetlands. Place is central to the identity and continued existence of tribal peoples. The history, the health, the future of tribal peoples is rooted in the connection to specific lands and waters. The connection is one of stewardship, not exploitation or extraction of resources. To remove is to disconnect the people from the land, to remove the evidence and erase the tribal history of the land, and to devalue the meaning it has to present and future generations. Directly to Coastal Commission staff member Kate Hucker Bridge Chief Anthony Ramos. You honored a couple of chiefs tonight. Here's another one. Chief Anthony Morales. Gabriel Nino. Tonga. San Gabriel. Band of Mission Indians voiced his tribe's opposition, his tribal council's opposition to the proposed amendments to the LCP, which is what you're voting for tonight. Chief Morales raised concerns that proposed oil and gas production activities would adversely impact sacred sites and anti ancestral mean. He called them genocide. Speaker 2: Fine. Thank you for telling me that. Speaker 8: Uh, good evening, Mayor Garcia and council members. My name is Michael Assad, on which the beautiful mineral sport bump. I'll keep it brief. I just wanted to say thank you to the city staff for their diligent work and coordinating with Coastal Commission staff to get this LCP approved at the Coastal Commission and under a year. That's truly remarkable. So we say thank you. I also wanted to say thank you to all the public support we got here at city council hearings at the Coastal Commission, especially by the CWA, the nation, the coast, Reno's Wetlands, Land Trust and the El Dorado Audubon Society. Um, so I wanted to thank all of them as well, and we urge you to support the staff recommendation and the Coastal Commission's actions on this. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Is there any more public comment on this item? If not, please take a vote. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 2: Thank you. Now we'll go to a hearing. Number three.

Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending and restating in its entirety Southeast Area Development and Improvement Plan (SEADIP) (PD-1), read and adopted as read. (District 3)

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 2: Next item will move item 17 with a clock rate. Please read the item. Speaker 1: Communication for Mayor Garcia. Recommendation to cancel the City Council Meeting of November six, 2018. Speaker 2: I swear every second. Is there any public comment on that? You please cast your vote. Speaker 0: Right? Yep. Very good. Speaker 2: Here. Yes, sir. Speaker 0: Thoroughly object. This meeting should not be canceled. Period. And when this city council. Can conduct. Their business in a manner in which the council agenda is not jerked around by the mayor like. Seinfeld's Kramer enters and leaves a room. Then then you can do that. But there's there's too much business. This council has to deal with. I think this will probably be the first night in probably six months. Before it got out before midnight. You should come next week and figure out. How and the remaining. Six months before he goes to prison. This Council will operate. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. GOODYEAR. Mr.. Also when you speak. Speaker 14: I'm over the support item. Speaker 2: Thank you. It's just. Oh, you took your name up in Supernova? Speaker 8: Yes. I was just going to mention that the next meeting, not this one, but the next one that we're missing in October. It's not that we're not going to be working. We're going to have a meeting for community hospital at the Rec Park clubhouse. So please be there at 7 p.m. if you'd like to express your vision for the community hospital the future. Speaker 14: I would also add, if you really want to be at City Hall on Tuesday, November six, you can come down here and hang out. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman Richardson. Fine. Thank you. Please cast your vote.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to suspend Council rule contained in Long Beach Municipal Code 2.03.020 (B) to cancel the meeting of November 6, 2018.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 2: Please note item 18 1:00, please. Speaker 1: Regarding communication from Councilmember Durango. Councilwoman Gonzales Recommendation to request city manager and city attorney to review the drafted Neighborhood Transformation Partnership Agreement and report back within 45 days on the feasibility of participating in the program. Speaker 13: Is there a is there a second point? No. Okay. First of all, I want to thank my colleague, Lila Gonzales for staying out of the salon with me and for her leadership in bridging the digital gap, the digital divide here in Long Beach. I'm pleased to bring the title forward tonight. As the city of Long Beach prides itself on leadership for our residents, including the Long Beach College Promise Everyone Home Initiative, the Clean Air Action Plan, and our city's ongoing ability to lead in technical innovation and much more. There is still, however, room for improvement as certain sectors within our community continue to remain affected by the digital and social economic divide, most notably our residents in West Long Beach who lack access to basic internet and technology on a greater scale than the rest of the city. We have taken a large step in not only acknowledging these divides within our city, but passing on a number of initiatives which we hope will help bridge these divides. As a result, we believe now is the time to continue to invest in our neighborhoods through a Neighborhood Transformation Partnership Agreement in conjunction with the California Emergent Technology Fund , a nonprofit group that has partnered with the YMCA of Greater Long Beach to work collaboratively, collaboratively, collaboratively to define the greater impact to our community as it relates to digital inclusion. I have issues with multi syllabic words. Tonight, the city of Long Beach must continue to lead in the fight to promote and produce equitable opportunities for our youth, especially those who reside in our most economically disadvantaged communities. This partnership would act as a pilot program centered around the Stephens Middle School community, allowing for a multiagency, collaborative effort to provide services to the local families, which will ensure that we provide the technology to communities such as West Palm Beach. Do have the best opportunity to attain academic, social and economic success. Therefore, I ask my colleagues to support this item and to allow the city manager and city attorney to analyze the Neighborhood Transformation Partnership Agreement and report back to us within 45 days on the feasibility of participating in this partnership. An agreement I ask for you as well. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman. Mrs. Linda Gonzalez. Speaker 9: Thank you so much, Councilmember Ranga, for bringing this forward, and I thank you very much for being a part of this initiative. We are in the midst of our discussions about digital inclusion and have yet to include even more partnerships. And I think this only creates an even more robust discussion. So just a few points of clarity on what the findings were from the Tech and Innovation Commission. They conducted a survey this past summer with Long Beach residents, and it was said that 51% of respondents could only afford a maximum of $20 for Wi-Fi service each month , and another 26% couldn't afford paying for Wi-Fi at all. Unfortunately, a lot of times we we need the YMCA as the libraries, the nonprofits that are doing the work every day to not only provide Wi-Fi, to provide technological services. And so we thank you again. And I think Councilmember Wodonga especially pointing out the West Side neighborhood as we know that that's a desert for technology. We thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilwoman Margo. Speaker 4: I want to thank you guys for bringing this forward. I think it's important to look at the digital divide, but also recognize that a big component of that is seniors. And the more and more we are out in the community and talking with our senior community, it's really, really important that we also include them in the program . So thank you for bringing this forward and I hope we don't forget them. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilman Pearce. Speaker 5: I yes, I also wanted to thank my council colleagues for bringing this forward, but also the nonprofits and all the organizations that really assist in trying to bridge that divide. And I know that at the city level, we are doing what we can and we're also advocating at the state level. But it really does take a village. And so I just wanted to thank you all for being here and great job on doing community outreach on this item. Thank you. Speaker 2: By the way, I'd public comment on this. By Stafford, please. Speaker 8: Good evening, council members. I just want to embarrass myself. My name is Jonathan Gray. Grew up in the seventh District. I was born and raised in Long Beach. I want to talk about the struggles of my life growing up and why I think the neighborhood transformation is going to make a big difference to the teens and the families around the Stephens Middle School neighborhood. My dad was on disability and he became on disability when I was in the third grade. During that time, my mother was unemployed and it was a very hard time for my family. We were on welfare. I remember going to the check cashing places and getting the food stamps, then going to buy groceries or ripping them out of the book with the cashiers. I thought that's what all kids did. I went to Longfellow, I went to Hughes. I went to the prep academy. I went to Long Beach Poly, and I went to us through that. I had to get loaner uniforms because my family couldn't afford it. I was on free lunches. I couldn't fit in with my peers and my education. And my attendance dropped. Soon after. However, I'm glad to say that I graduated from Lombard City College with my associates, and I graduated from Cal State Long Beach with my bachelor's in political science. And now I work for the YMCA development branch to help teens there in similar situations. I support the Neighborhood Transformation Agreement because I believe that creating this integrated service team between the state, county, city and school levels can really help a student. That was like in my shoes who is struggling, especially in the areas of West Long Beach. I can relate to the five outcomes of the Neighborhood Transformation Agreement. Education. I clearly struggled. And clearly the school district wasn't there to support me as well as they could have. Employment. I had a hard time finding a job, writing resumes and applying for them. I was a victim of a crime in my own neighborhood and I had the scars to show for it. I know what it is like to grow up low income and to grow up in poverty here in Long Beach. And let me tell you, it was a struggle. And the last member sorry, the last issue that the last five outcomes of health I've been to the Long Beach Comprehensive Health Clinic multiple times and I can relate to being on medical and the supports that it can provide in the help that it can provide. I think by creating a plan, having a family navigator with the neighborhood transformation would really make a difference and will help create the next generation of leaders of Long Beach. There are many fabulous families here in Long Beach who share a similar story of mine, their struggle struggling to navigate, navigate the in the systems in order to get the help they need. The Neighborhood Transformation Initiative will help those families get a pathway out of poverty. So please join Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell. The Long Beach Unified School District, the California Emerging Technology Fund, the YMCA grid in Long Beach, and myself in supporting the Neighborhood Transformation Agreement. Thank you very much. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Next speaker. Speaker 8: Good evening and thank you for the opportunity. My name is Augustin Jealous. I am here on behalf of the California Emerging Technology Fund, where statewide foundations are established by the California Public Utilities Commission with a mission to close the digital divide. This means that we are ensuring that all households have access to a high speed Internet service in order to fully participate in the digital economy. Unfortunately, we know that the most economically disadvantaged members of our communities are the ones that are on the wrong side of the divide. Bless you. I also want to say that we have admired the leadership role that the city of Lombard Lombard has taken in this area of digital inclusion. We're very proud of our partnership with with the Lombard YMCA. For nearly a decade, we have invested nearly $1,000,000 because we believe in the leadership of the of the Y and and their approach of integrating digital literacy, digital inclusion into their work of youth development and leadership development. I am in charge of a program called School to Home that supports underserved middle schools with the integration of technology, making sure that they are successful at supporting their teachers so that they can use the technology effectively training parents so that they can communicate with schools. And by doing that, we make sure that they can transformed a learning environment into something that's more engaging. Parents have access to student information so they can track progress, and that really helps us address a lot of the academic needs. However, we know that a lot of the really underserved intelligence communities, the academics is just part of the problem. A lot of the kids, as you've just heard, have a lot of the families actually have a lot of other challenges, whether it's not knowing where their next meal is coming from, where they're going to sleep at night . Substance abuse issues. So that's the other piece where, you know, the the support that is going to be brought together, brought to the table through this neighborhood transformation initiative. And what it is really is looking at the resources and services that are already there through the county, the city, the school district, and putting together a comprehensive, coordinated plan that has a navigator that helps family families navigate through the different services so we can have a more accountable system. So we're saying that families are able to get themselves service and address their various issues. So we're happy to be the organization that's convening this, using our resources to bring everyone to the table. And we're very pleased about the response that we've gotten from all the stakeholders at the government level and also organizations like the YMCA. So thank you very much. And we're excited. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 8: Good evening. City Council Members Mayor Robert Garcia, Vice Mayor. Speaker 0: De Andrews. My name is Bob Cabezas. I'm the vice president of YMCA of Greater Long Beach. And I need to start out. Speaker 8: By commending you and thanking you and showing my tremendous respect to you for the work that you do for our city every day. And I think. Speaker 0: Not enough of that has been said tonight. Speaker 8: So I wanted to thank you. Secondly, I wanted to really advocate for the Neighborhood. Speaker 0: Transformation Initiative from the standpoint of. Of a citizen in Long Beach. I've lived in the city for 26 years, between third and fourth on Temple Avenue. Speaker 8: And Jenny. Speaker 0: You're my you're my representative. Speaker 8: I have known you throughout the city as just big advocates. Speaker 0: For our city. Speaker 8: But also be an advocate for our city's underserved. Our youth, our families, our seniors are homeless. And I believe that the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative really would raise up. Speaker 0: Services for those families and more importantly, coordinate those services so our families. Speaker 8: Really have a chance to. Speaker 0: Get access and equity in our city. And I really want to commend you. Speaker 8: Because I believe what Lena Gonzalez is doing with the Digital Divide. Speaker 0: Initiative and all of you signing on to that. Speaker 8: Really talks to the progressive answers to some of these difficult questions we have. Speaker 0: In our city and some of the issues. I really want to commend Roberto or. Speaker 8: His office for just collaborating with us in. Speaker 12: Making sure that this works and that and that. Speaker 8: We can move. Speaker 0: Forward. Speaker 8: I want to commend Linda Chico and. Speaker 0: County Supervisor. Speaker 8: Janice Hahn's office for helping. Speaker 0: Us move this forward, as well as Christina, which was obviously with the school district and Megan Care. Speaker 8: On the Columbia Unified School Board. But I also want to thank Rex Richardson for his dire commitment, just tireless commitment to under-served children and youth of this city and his leadership on my My Brother's Keeper initiative and working to bring that to Long Beach. You know, you folks are doing phenomenal work and you make me proud to be a citizen of this city. So I just wanted to commend you and also speak to this initiative. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Any more comments on this item? If not, please cast your vote. Now we'll go back to 21.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager and City Attorney to review the drafted Neighborhood Transformation Partnership Agreement and report back within 45 days on the feasibility of participating in the program.

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Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Any more comments on this item? If not, please cast your vote. Now we'll go back to 21. Speaker 1: Report from Health and Human Services recommendation to receive and file the city wide strategic plan on early childhood education from the Health and Human Services Department citywide. Speaker 2: To purchase secondary schools. Speaker 12: Yes, Mr. Vice Mayor, council members, we have a. Speaker 8: Report from our Health and Human Services. Speaker 12: Department, led by Kelly Collopy and her teammates. Speaker 3: Good evening, Honorable Vice Mayor and city council members. Speaker 17: Two years ago in the budget process, you are funded a. Speaker 9: Half time early childhood. Speaker 3: Education liaison for the Long Beach Health Department. Speaker 17: This report stems from the work that they've been doing. Speaker 10: It's been a strong partnership between the health department. Speaker 3: Our early childhood education committee, and also our our school district. Speaker 4: So with that, I'd like. Speaker 3: To introduce you to Alejandro, Brian Rosette, who's our early childhood liaison. Speaker 10: Coordinator, and she will. Speaker 3: Give you an update on our strategic plan. Speaker 4: Good evening on the role of vice mayor and city council members. My name is Dr. Alejandro Alvarado Moses, the city's early childhood education coordinator. I'm here to present the cities or the cities of long beaches, early childhood education strategic plan. This project was funded through a Pacific Gateway U.S. Department of Labor grant in alliance closely with the city's Long Beach Violence Prevention Plan and My Brother's Keeper plan, as well as Pacific Gateway, strengthening working families efforts. This plan outlines actionable strategies to support all young children in Long Beach. The Early Childhood Education Strategic Plan, identify programs, policies and systems recommendations that support children ages 0 to 5 to ensure they are ready to learn in kindergarten. Research shows that during the first few years of life, 700 new neural connections are formed every second. Laying the foundation for all future learning behavior and development experiences in early, in the early years starting at birth are critical in developing and predicting lifelong success. Children who have strong relationships with their caregivers, spaces that encourage lots of language development and who live in safe, healthy homes are more likely to have lifelong success. We also know that children who enter kindergarten behind their peers are less likely to be reading by third grade and less likely to graduate from high school. Thus, this focus on young children. The Department of Health and Human Services led the development of this plan with special insight from an ad hoc advisory group that included the Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee and the Long Beach Unified School District. Developing this plan was truly a cross-sector collaboration to understand the strengths and gaps that exist in Long Beach for families raising young children. The Department of Health Staff held over 22 focus groups with parents, community partners, early childhood professionals, and even a group of young children . 19 key informant interviews were held with elected officials, including some of you here today. Parents and other professionals. A thing we heard from the conversations across Long Beach was that many social and economic factors are important for preparing young children for kindergarten. These include a lack of early childhood resources, overall difficulty in access and accessing resources that exist because of transportation, hours of operation, and the high cost of early childhood education programing. A need for parent training, building social connectedness for parents of young children, ensuring community safety and a need to focus on the whole child, not just education . A desire and a desire to ensure that children of all abilities and backgrounds are included in early childhood education programing. Parents and professionals also noted the need for affordable housing, a need for mental health, support for parents and children, and a need for everyone to understand the impact of early childhood on lifelong success. This plan is organized around a set of guiding principles that focus on strengths. Seek to remove barriers and ensure that all children in Long Beach and their families receive the respect and opportunities they need to succeed. The plan considers the whole child, which means that children's health, safety, social, physical, emotional and intellectual needs are addressed. The seven goal areas that were identified by professionals and parents are goal one to support and build strong and resilient families. Goal two to increase access and affordability of infant through pre-K care and education services. Goal three Increase access and affordability of infant through pre-K. Care and education services. Oh, sorry. Goal three to support the development of a stronger workforce for children. Goal four to improve quality of programs and services for birth through age eight. Goal five. To ensure that children of Long Beach live, learn and play and safe and healthy and accessible environments. Goal six To promote partnerships to address access to quality, basic needs and services. And Goal seven to strengthen the alignment of existing birth through age governance structures and early childhood support systems. Within these goals, there are over 100 activities that were developed based on the information gathered through the focus groups and interviews. We know that we cannot do this alone. The stakes are too high for our young children and our communities. Future. It will take all of us. The Department of Health and Human Services in partnerships with the Mayor's Fund for Education invite you and members of the community to enjoy to join us this Thursday at the Long Beach Day Nursery for a presentation of the plan and commit to being a part of the solution. We know that we all have a role in ensuring that all the children in Long Beach reach their full potential for success. Both the full plan and the executive summary can be found at WW w dot Long Beach dot gov forward slash ECP. Thank you for your time. That concludes my report and we are open for questions. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman Franco. Speaker 13: Thank you, SBA. I strongly support this program, obviously. The research is is is indisputable. Early childhood education really raises good kids. And it's an opportunity for us here in Long Beach to really get involved and engage in that aspects of our of our youth. We build strong communities. We build the strength of our kids. So I can certainly support this. And I look forward to the full. Length of the program in the strategic plan so that we could move this forward. On a side note. When I first started with the city back in a few years ago, we used to have early child development programs here in Long Beach through our parks and recreation programs. And unfortunately, over the years, through budget cuts and hard economic times, we had to restructure our our program, our parks programs and early childhood development went away. And I'm glad to see that we're making a comeback. And I'm looking forward to seeing it gained strength and continue to be an important, integral part of city services. So thank you very much for bringing this forward. Speaker 2: Thank you. Congressman Ewing. That Councilman Richardson. Speaker 15: Thank you, Vice Mayor. So Dr. Moses and entire health team. Kelly and the team, I think, you know, you've done a good job. You've done a great job once again. I think, you know, the traditional sense of what city should do has changed. There's a greater focus on the role of cities to lead on these broader social issues. You know, frankly, you know, there's there hasn't been really been leadership at higher levels of government or bureaucracy really slows it down. And so the real focus and the burdens been placed on cities to really move the needle. I think we've you know, we've talked about this through the work on things like My Brother's Keeper, acknowledging that, you know, there are important milestones to having a successful life, you know, from a health standpoint, an education standpoint, an economic standpoint. And some of those milestones are literally directly linked to early childhood education. Reading by third grade, the key switch from learning to read to reading to learn. So the the, the better and more strategic we are about being intentional about these focuses, then it will have long term downstream impacts on all of our services. We know that. And so I really love that we have this strategic plan. I look forward to, you know, better understanding how me as a policymaker, how I can help to support the systems change involved with this. And I look forward to ensuring that we keep that lens on early childhood education with all the rest of our decisions in terms of sort of our parks, recreation, our health departments, our libraries, how we can really work together toward that goal. So I spoke a little more than I initially thought I would. But, you know, I read to my kids when I get in early enough and it's something that doesn't come naturally to me. It's something that I have to work toward. And we have a team and we're trying to build an environment, a culture to support that. Right. And I think that the more we can model this as a city, the better habits and behavior we can do. And I tell you, there's just so many opportunities from the fatherhood initiative that you're doing to, you know, all the work in our libraries and My Brother's Keeper. I just think this is really incredible and strategic. So thank you for your work. Speaker 2: Thank you. Spears. Speaker 5: Thank you. I want to echo my council colleagues sentiments. I you know, your presentation was great, but it still doesn't give the weight to the work that the vision and the plan. I just think that continuing to talk about this weekly, continuing to talk about how we're implementing this as much as we can and really having this lens on everything that we do when we talk about investing in our children, when we talk about public safety and how important it is to cities, when we talk about economic development and how important it is to cities, it doesn't matter what we do on the back end if we're not investing in early childhood development. And so I really just I want to echo the comment, particularly around the role of cities. And I know that some of us might have a different understanding of the role of cities. My work at Lane, a nonprofit for a decade, it really was under the the understanding that cities is where change happens. Cities is where we can get our hands in there and really make change, that people can feel that impact. And then when we start leading in cities, that that change goes up. And so looking through this, a couple of things that I just wanted to to highlight for folks. You know, 9813 is one of the zip codes in my district. And it says that a few miles away from 90803 in zip code 90813, the percentage of children under 18 living in poverty increases to 46.1%. We talk about equity a lot. And I know sometimes it's a it's a word that can trigger us to feel divisive on the council. That number right there, 46.1% of children are living in poverty. One zip code over that is what we talk about when we talk about equity. That is what we talk about. We talk about investing in our children and how how do we have an impact on public safety? How do we make sure our city is thriving and in changing and recognizing that that's a problem is the very first step. And so I just I think this is a wonderful lens to be able to look at how we govern. I know that some of us on the council have talked about initiatives for children, and I want to recognize the families that are here tonight with their children, because we know that it's now 830, so I'm not going to talk extremely much longer, but that this is a time when you should be at home reading to your kids. Right, or your kids are going to bed. So I want to thank you guys and know that at the city level, we are looking at opportunities for us to have child care on key nights and we have issues where we might have families. And so that is coming soon and I'll be there on Thursday. And I want to just echo again any opportunity with any item that we have come forward where we can talk about investing in youth and in families. I expect that this council will fully support and I look forward to partnering. Thank you guys very much. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 9: I just want to say thank you as well to Kelly, Alejandro and your team for doing this really great work. I know I had been interviewed for this. And, you know, similar to what Councilmember Pearce said, you know, we don't like to highlight the negative attributes of the city and the things that we like to work on . But they're the reality oftentimes and I happen to represent and I know when three and that has been a really big not only challenge for our city but it's also been a very big priority for me to ensure that all the students in 98 went through all the kids and families really have opportunities and this provides goals and a real good baseline because we can talk about park equity and digital inclusion without really starting with a baseline for for the work. And I think that this report absolutely does that. So thank you very much for that work. And you know, in that regard, I spoke a lot about greenspace and access for kids. So in addition to early education and the goals we have here, it's like, what are they doing after school? What are they doing during the weekends? How can we really supplement a lot of the work we're doing in the early education realm with other policies that really help that? And I just had the pleasure of congratulating UN Mundo, the Amigos, the right in central Long Beach on 14th and Long Beach Boulevard. They just celebrated ten years. They offer free daycare and a very high quality daycare and I'm really proud to have that in my district. So thanks again for your work. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Councilwoman Gonzalez, any public comments on this item? Please state your name. Speaker 8: Hello. My name is Andrew. Hello, Mayor. In the City Council. My name or face me or say my name is Enjoyment of HANO, a community organizer with Long Beach Forward supporting the best art central Long Beach Initiative, which is comprised of residents, families and service organizations with a focus on children ages zero through five. We have supported collaborative spaces such as the Home Visitation Collaborative and also the Long Beach Child Abuse and Neglect Network. Several of our leadership team members are here today, along with our partnership members. Some of them had to go home and everything, and some of you may actually know some of them. But these are some of the most dedicated parents I have ever came across. And I think that is shown by their commitment of staying here for over 3 hours with their children who are so tired and ready to go home and sleep. Some of them actually just left. I'm sorry. We work to ensure central Long Beach is a community where babies, children and their families are healthy and safe with the passion for life and learning. We are here to show support for the city wide early childhood education strategic plan. Several of these goals, such as increasing access and affordability of early care and education services and improve the quality of birth through age eight. Programs and services are exactly what central Long Beach needs for our community to thrive. We look forward to working with you in the future to see these goals through. Special shout out and thank you to Kristina Boatright, who is also on our leadership team, and Alejandro Moses and the countless of others who've worked on this plan. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 5: Good evening, Honorable Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Whitney Leathers, executive director for the Long Beach Day Nursery and chair for the Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee. I'm so excited to be here tonight. More excited than you can probably tell. This plan has been long in the making and it's been a true partnership. I'm here to thank you for your support of the Early Childhood Strategic Plan and for the support of staff support from the Health Department to make this come to fruition. This plan didn't come alone as a solo effort. It came with an inclusive community, partners and process. In the creation of this plan, as you saw above with is the focus groups and what have you. We came together as a diverse group of stakeholders, and the outcome is an inclusive plan greater than we could have anticipated. As you've heard, research supports early education is key to college and career success. This plan, I'm so proud to say, not only addresses the needs of our children, but also the necessary resources and supports for our workforce and families in order for them to be successful. It's a real four feet to create this plan as a community, and the momentum around it is palpable. Now the real excitement lies within what's next implementation and expanding programs and services to young children and families. We look forward to continuing our work with the Health Department on the shared programs and events that we host, such as the Week of the Young Child, the Early Childhood Symposium and the Early Learning Festivals. We also look forward to adding to these supports, as you'll see in this strategic plan. The success of this plan will take a collaboration of partners many city departments, the ECB committee and the Long Beach Unified School District. We look forward to building these partnerships with the charge before us and meeting the goals in the plan. Before I say thank you, I want to acknowledge all of you for seeing the importance in early childhood education. LLENA Councilmember John Gonzalez In our district, I have a site and I know 813 and we're working on expansion so that we can support children and families more. We also have a site that will be hosting on Thursday and I'm excited to see many of you there and I can't wait to continue the work with our partners. So thank you so much for your ongoing support for early childhood education. I look forward to continued engagement as we move forward with the implementation over the next five years. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you very much. And you know, I myself truly support this this item because the fact that my chief of staff every Saturday, she's with her little child at every one of our cleanups. So I'm just letting you know. Mrs. Mongo, get ready. Yes. Thank you very much. Would you like to take the vote, please? Now we're going to move on to item 19.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file the Citywide Strategic Plan on Early Childhood Education from the Health and Human Services Department. (Citywide)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_10022018_18-0875

Speaker 2: Mrs. Mongo, get ready. Yes. Thank you very much. Would you like to take the vote, please? Now we're going to move on to item 19. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Item 19 Communication from Councilwoman Price Councilmember Pearce, Councilwoman Mongo Councilmember Your UNGA recommendation to request city attorney to amend the Long Beach Municipal Code to expressly ban electric and motorized scooters, boards and bicycles from the beach bicycle path while allowing for continued non-motorized use and lower speed pedal assisted electric bicycles. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilman Price. Speaker 9: Thank you. So I want to hear my colleagues thoughts on this item before I make a motion, but I want to share with you the background of where this came from and put it into context a little bit. So I know that our public works director is here and our city manager, of course, is here. And over the last many years that we've that I've been involved, mobility has been a major issue and something that we have become a regional leader on. And I'm proud of that. I am a little bit concerned, however, that our efforts to add mobility elements throughout the city are being done in a manner that maybe isn't providing for as much input and feedback and warning as, frankly, some of the residents in our community may want. And the Scooter Pilot program is one such example. It's possible that I may have missed something along the way, but the pilot program and perhaps this is a good question for the city manager, the pilot program was kind of put on to us. It wasn't something that we voted on as a council. Is that correct? Speaker 12: Yes, we to prevent basically the business disruption program where we have 2000 scooters dumped on us. Like many other cities across America. We implemented a pilot program to invite people to come in for a three month period. Speaker 13: Yes. Speaker 9: Okay. And and and I get the reasons why we did it. I just I kind of want to just factually. Establish that the council did not vote on that. It was it was correct. It was offered to us. And as such, there was no input that was gathered in terms of the parameters of such program, at least input from residents with that. That my understanding I. Speaker 12: Wouldn't say that I think there was you know, we have our traffic engineers who work with the community and stuff and perhaps maybe not specific residents or. Speaker 8: Community groups. Speaker 12: But we listen to what we're hearing from residents through our mobility program and also look at what's happening in cities across America. Speaker 9: Okay. Well, I wasn't aware of any listening tours or any discussions in the third district. And the reason I, I raised that is because we. And Michelle Mallory knows this probably all too well. We have received complaint after complaint from our residents regarding the scooters. And the biggest issue has been the discarding of the the scooters in locations that do not that are not one of the areas where scooters are supposed to be dropped off. And some of the operators, I think, maybe more responsive than others, because there are some vendors that are actually putting them away more regularly. Others are not. I'm not sure what's going on there, but there's been a lot of frustration in the community with the existence of the scooters and the lack of input in terms of traditional community input, where we have meetings and we allow people to come forth and be educated on a topic. So this item really has come about as an attempt by me and my colleagues to try to mitigate some of the impacts that are being felt by the residents now that the scooter program is on us have upon us. Having said that, I'm open to talking to my colleagues about what a potential ban could look like, even if not immediate. And let me explain that, first of all. We've heard a lot of feedback from residents regarding the motorized bicycles. And although we attempted to exclude those from the language that we had presented in the item. Class one and Class two bicycles are apparently utilized a lot in the city of Long Beach, and they're utilized by a lot of our residents of all ages. And some of our aging population has indicated that they really find them useful in terms of having mobility on the beach, which which I respect, and I certainly don't want to interfere with that. So I would if we were to move forward with this, I'd want to make sure that Class one and Class two, e-bikes or motorized bikes are permitted on the path. But what I want to ask before we move there is do we allow scooters to be on the beach path under the current pilot? Speaker 12: Right now, electric scooters are prohibited in our missile code. We've been talking to the city attorney about altering that. We believe potentially that when this municipal code was enacted, there probably e-scooters didn't exist. They were talking about vespers, perhaps those types of those types of scooters. So this is a brand new product that wasn't envisioned. So we were, you know, on the path of potentially talking to the city council about. Speaker 8: About this just specifically when this popped up. Speaker 12: But right now, the electric scooters are banned on the path. Speaker 9: And my understanding is that the pilot, the handbook for the pilot program, actually prohibits them from being on the path. Speaker 12: Yes. Speaker 9: Okay. So if that's the case, then why do we have the beach path as one of the heaviest use areas in the city for scooters? Speaker 12: I think it's just a very attractive place and for the use of the scooters. And right now and I don't think that we have the resources right now to police it. Speaker 9: Okay. And I get that. However, there is technology available that would limit those scooters from getting onto the beach path. And my understanding is that a lot of the major companies have that technology available. And so is there some is there someone on the staff that might be able to answer any questions about that? Speaker 12: Mr. Beck. Speaker 0: Vice Mayor, Members Council Councilmember Price. I think as discussed in your opening, the city is moving forward or is engaged in right now a pilot program with the E-SCOOTERS. It was done in a way to try to create some structure around what other serious other cities have experienced as really a haphazard deployment of scooters where it's significantly affected areas within the right of way. As a manager talked about, we wanted to avoid that in Long Beach. We did not want companies to come in and drop simply drop 2000 scooters on our streets overnight and have our staff have to run around and try to chase and collect those scooters. So we worked with various vendors. There are six companies that have been authorized to deploy under this pilot program. The current pilot program is scheduled to run through the end of October. At that time, the plan is to come to city council to talk about information that we've gained through this pilot program. One example would be, and I think I've shared this with council through our bike share program is a heat map. Staff is very interested to understand where people are picking scooters up, where they are driving to or scooting to, I guess how far they are going, what the frequency of use is, because we think that that's really going to drive some policy decisions at this council we'll have to deliberate on and decide upon. We anticipate getting all of that data from the scooter companies. That was part of their permit to be able to operate in our city. They owe us that data by the end of October. We have put them all on notice that they need to provide that to us and will be coming forward with not only that data to the Council, but also staff's recommendation, what we believe a a permanent scooter program would look like. And so things like geofencing, miles per hour limits, helmet use, areas where riding would be allowed for examples in the in the bike lanes areas were riding would be restricted would all be part of staff's recommendation that we would plan to bring forward with that report. Speaker 9: Okay. And I appreciate that. The question I had was, are there companies that have the technology, the geofencing technology that could implement it tomorrow? If we were to direct them to do so, to keep the scooters off the beach path. Speaker 0: I don't have that answer for you. I anticipate the answer is yes, that there are companies that can do geofencing. How long it would take them to implement that? I don't have the answer for what ability we would have to regulate that with them. I don't have the answer for that either. Speaker 9: Okay. So when you say this pilot ends at the end of October, will the pilot then end, meaning the. Speaker 10: Scooters will be removed. Speaker 9: From the streets until council votes on whether or not we want a permanent program? Speaker 0: We're discussing that as an option. We're also discussing the option where we would allow it to continue until council makes a decision on what a permanent program would look like. Speaker 9: Do we have any money for enforcement of any of the regulations that we've placed on the pilot or would in the future? Speaker 0: This pilot program has collected minimal amounts. I think the permitting is about $2,000. So if we have six companies, we've collected roughly $12,000 today. Speaker 9: Is there any. And so my team has reached out to a lot of other cities that have dealt with this. As I'm sure you're aware of, Santa monica just just banned these from the beach path. What happens is when they get left on the beach path, it's a hazard for anyone who's biking. If they're in the bike lane or if it's left on the walking path, it's a hazard for those running and walking on the path and they get left there and people don't pick them up. I'm not sure what the since they're not supposed to be on the beach to begin with. I'm not sure what regular patrols these companies are doing to get them off the beach, but it's not happening, at least not with all providers consistently. Speaker 0: No, but in but I do agree with you that we are seeing vendors that are being more responsible about collecting their scooters, and that would be part of staff's presentation at council and would go along with our recommendation. We would want to recommend vendors that have been working with the city and within the city's rules on the pilot program. Speaker 9: Along those lines, I know there's nothing the vendor can do about this, but I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen wearing a helmet on these scooters. And as long as somebody in your group has a license, they can rent multiple scooters. And I happen to have a teenage boy who's tested that theory. So the whole having a 16 year old with a driver's license read them is not happening. So my question is, do we and in talking with some of the other cities that have scooter programs in place, one of the things we've been advised in terms of my staff reaching out and talking to individuals and me talking with my counterparts in those cities, is that should the city move forward with a permanent program? We would need to make sure that we have cost recovery sufficient to cover the cost of enforcement. Have we contemplated that? And I know that's still come back on a staff report, but that that all goes into this item tonight because I'm trying to figure out how to mitigate this impact between now and the end of October. And if I know that what's coming at the end of October would include enforcement, that could be something we factor into the equation. Speaker 0: I think the short answer is yes, that what would come back is staff's recommendation on a more appropriate cost to operate within the city. I don't have a recommendation this evening on what that cost would look like, but I do anticipate it would be greater than the $2,000 that we've charged to date. And we are closely watching what other cities are doing. We are also watching what Sacramento is doing. And I'm sure, Councilmember, you're aware of what the governor just recently signed, where helmets are not now required for adults 21 and over who are utilizing scooters. And we find it also interesting that the governor included a miles per hour limit in that bill that he signed at 15 miles an hour, which is, as you may know, what we set in our luggage pilot program here in our city, a 15 mile an hour limit on speed. Speaker 9: And I think that's good. That's very prudent on his part. I look, I have a question for Charlie real quick, and then Mr. Beck, I'm going to come back to you. But Mr. City Attorney, if you were if an item was to pass tonight to change the municipal code, would it come back in time to be implemented before the end of the pilot? Speaker 12: The answer would be no. We'd have to do first reading on the 23rd. Second reading wouldn't occur until the middle of November, and then 31 days after it's signed by the mayor would go into effect. Speaker 9: So there's really nothing that we can do tonight to mitigate impacts of the pilot because the pilot will end. I mean, there's nothing we can do in terms of a municipal code change because the pilot would end prior to us adopting the municipal code change. Speaker 12: That's correct. But as was stated earlier, they are currently banned under the current municipal code right now. So it's an enforcement and issue that exists today. Speaker 9: That's true. And they're specifically banned in the pilot handbook, but we're not enforcing it. So my question would be to to Mr. Beck. Speaker 4: If we were. Speaker 9: To ask you to investigate whether or not these six companies have the technology available to be able to preclude these scooters from going onto the bike path during the pendency of the pilot program, or until such time that the issue comes before Council for further consideration. Is that something you can come back to us with next week? And report back on? Speaker 0: Certainly. Councilmember We can reach out to the vendors that that are working under the pilot and understand what technology they possess that would allow them to move forward and get timelines for when that would be whether we could present that at council next week. Certainly I think we could get a memo to council in roughly that timeline. Speaker 9: Okay. And I know that we you could probably get a memo to council, but what I would ask tonight is that if that technology is available. That the city require those vendors who have that technology available to employ that technology in order to prevent scooters from getting onto the beach path. For the pendency of the pilot. Is that something that you think is feasible? Speaker 0: Again, I would have to check with the companies on how long it would take them to implement it. But if they were able to implement it, we can certainly ask them if that's the wish of this council. Speaker 9: Okay. And then a memo back could indicate whether they can't or they can't. Okay. Because I think that's very important. And I want to hear from my colleagues on this. But that would address many of my concerns. I know we're going to come back. Staff is going to come back with some recommendations and some data on this topic. And I'm hopeful for I'm hopeful that the report back will include things like the number of scooter related incidents we've had in the city, whether they be collisions or people tripping and falling over scooters that have been left on sidewalks. The number of scooters on the bike path that are pilot scooters, because those are the only ones that we can track. We can't track personal scooters, which can go much faster than the 15 mile per hour that we've set. The number of resident complaints we've received from scooters at city. At the city I know we've been routing them to an email address, so data on that would be really important. What other cities are doing about Beach Pass in particular? Because we want to encourage access to the beach and make it safe for all folks with various types of mobility to be on there. And how we address the cleanup issues of scooters being dumped in locations that are hard to get to like beaches. And I'm sure that's something that was heavily considered by Santa monica when they banned the scooters on their beaches. It's just for whatever reason, the the scooters that are abandoned on the beach aren't picked up as regularly as others, assuming others are picked up regularly. So with that, I'd like to hear from my colleagues. But if but if my colleagues are okay with that, my motion would be that staff reach out to the existing six vendors and determine which of them have the capability to control the scooters access to the beach path. And if they do have that technological ability that that be implemented immediately pending the the the termination of the pilot program. Thank you. Speaker 14: Councilmember Mongo. Speaker 4: Thank you. I think that the biggest concern that I've heard about scooters has been that they whiz by the bikers and create cut. They cut in and out, and they do this on both bike paths and park paths throughout the city. Many people know 70% of the parks are in my district. And when people want to be out on a normal bike ride and they have these little zippy scooters, and again, I'm a supporter of scooters. My office helps get scooters into the community for using for community watch all of that's great but there's a safe way to ride in an unsafe way to ride and a lot of the scooters have the ability to specifically limit their speed. And so I don't know what we can do about that. And I also think that it's important to note, at least on my side of town, most of the scooters are not the loaner scooters. While we have had loaner scooters dropped off at random places, specifically around Long Beach City College. I would say that a majority of the scooters used in our side of town are own scooters. And so figuring out and understanding and working with the providers that sell the scooters to do a better job of. Communicating to people who purchased scooters what the expectations are or if there was a scooter registering program in the city. I'm not quite sure how we get there. But then there would be some ability to provide communication on the matter related to the city policies. So I look forward to an opportunity to make it sure that. Our paths remain safe for our bikers, whether they're class one or class two bikers, and that there's some kind of leveraging of. Quite frankly, bike and scooter safety and civility. Through the process. Thank you. Speaker 2: Yes. Mr. Olsen. Speaker 14: Thank you very much. I want to thank the authors of this item for bringing it forward. I think it's overdue for us to have a conversation. I think it was I mentioned earlier that this was. The electric scooters were. The pilot program was initiated as an administrative action and not a council action. But however, I don't necessarily disagree with that. I'm a huge supporter of our Bike Boulevard program and active transportation modes in an effort to to to get people out of their cars and not pollute our our our. Our environment. I think these electric scooters are all Ray. Who knows what they they turn out to be and whether or not this is going to be the the the thing of the future or thing of today. I can recall just two or three years ago, you know, there was there were people lined up and they were upset over hoverboards. I don't see anybody riding hoverboards anymore. So I think I would just I'd like to see us. I'd like to see us proceed with caution on this. This particular item we just heard a great presentation from our Convention and Visitors Bureau. Our beach is one of the greatest assets that we have in the city, and I personally don't want to restrict it. I want to I want to just just touch on a couple of things. And I do respect where my colleagues are coming from. They're hearing from their constituents. This is a new phenomenon. They're probably seeing more scooter activity than in and in my district. But at the same time, people go to the beach to have a good time and have fun. I, I, um, I'm looking at the, the ordinance 10.3 8.02. It speaks to driving on sidewalks a speaks to automobiles, trucks, tractors, motorcycles or power driven scooters. So not drive on a sidewalk except at a permanent or a temporary driveway. And B, there's no operator of any motorized scooter shall drive upon any bike path on the beach or any bike path adjacent to a city marina. And so my my question for the city attorney regarding that particular ordinance. Was that in reference to the scooters, were scooters defined in 2002 as they are defined today? Speaker 12: And the answer is no. But the section that you read, we believe, bans all those scooters until the council gives direction to amend that ordinance to clarify what, if any, electro electric type scooters you would prefer to have on the bike path or not. Speaker 14: Own to motorized scooters. And they are probably £200. They they require gas. They are defined as scooters. These electric scooters are like razor scooters that were not were not in play in 2002. And I just want to I don't I don't feel like this this this language is speaking to that type of scooter. Speaker 12: And I think at the time at the time it was written, it was these were not contemplated. I would certainly agree with that. I think that what we have asked for is we need clarity and direction from the council so that we can amend this section. Either way, you'd like to go on that. But currently as written, we believe that that distinction is not made when in that section. Speaker 14: I also like to point out the fact that I was on this council when we made a very controversial decision to expand our our bike path. Right. And go from one bike path or walking path to a bike path. And that was a significant investment from our tidelands. And it was controversial, but it actually expanded capacity on our beach. And I think part of what we were seeking to do and I'm going back because I took a vote on that, but I think part of what we were seeking to do is to to expand opportunities for for for folks to use alternative transportation without impeding pedestrians. Right. It was a pedestrian safety concern. And so I think we need to be open as a council to to new modes of transportation, particularly those modes of transportation that don't emit don't emit knocks into the environment, but also just be be open minded to to to to the future, because I think that that is the future. I don't like I said, I don't know where these these moderate these these electric scooters are going to go. You know, they may be they may be obsolete in two years. But I think we need to allow the pilot program to work. I think there's a lot of information that still can be collected, a lot of feedback that we can can get from residents and stakeholders. And I would say all stakeholders, I mean, our convention and visitors bureau, I would be interested to know what their take is on this. I'd be interested, obviously, our neighborhood folks and beach goers, but we need to engage, I think are stakeholders a little bit more on this item before we move, before I can support a outright ban. Right. And that and it's. Speaker 9: Not on the floor. Speaker 14: But but but so did you make an amendment? Speaker 9: Yeah. No, I made a motion to ask that the director reach out to the companies that are part of the pilot to see if they have the technology that would keep the scooters from getting on to the beach path, which is currently part of the pilot rules and regulations. They're currently not allowed to go on the beach path pursuant to the pilot program. They have a handbook that they're supposed to follow, and if they have the technology, they can they can actually cause the scooter to slow down as it approaches a particular location or stop. So the companies I've talked with that are operating here have that technology. Speaker 14: Okay. And so I think the disconnect here is you knowing about the handbook and reading the regulations and the person who is accessing and getting a scooter, probably not getting that information is so part of this pilot program and part of the conversation that we're having here tonight. I think there can be some some good policy coming out of this possibly in the future in regards to how we educate folks throughout the city in terms of use of of electric scooters, safety and everything else that goes along with that. But I just think we're at this point, I think we're jumping the gun because it's only been a few weeks. Right. And yes, we need to be responsive to some complaints. I think you've heard from staff that they are responding and collecting data and getting taking that information in and reviewing best practices in other cities. These are things that we do when we bring in new policies. And so with that, I think there's there's some education, obviously, that needs to be done. I think we talked about, you know, massaging policy out in committee. A little bit more. I think this is an opportunity to do that. And so I'm open to hearing from from everyone else on this. But I would just just be hesitant to to jump into banning in a new a new mode of transportation that we really don't know much about at this point. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman. Your anger. Speaker 13: Thank you. You know, I have a favorite quote that I always. Use regarding change. Change is inevitable, and in a progressive society, change is constant. Benjamin Disraeli, philosopher, said that. I use it on my on my screen every now and then on my computer, just to remind me that we're always in the midst of change. And this issue here is one of those issues where change is happening as we see it. When I first signed on to this item, I was very much into what's going on in Santa monica, what's going on with a lot of other big cities regarding scooters. It's an issue up and down state because of the potentials and some of the the accidents that happen because of the irresponsible use or irresponsible operation of these of these scooters. But then again, at the same time, I could see that there's other types of of motorized or electric methods of transportation can be used on these bike trails that are very beneficial for people, especially those with mobility issues who want to have access to the beach. So access becomes an issue here in regards to people with a disability or with a mobility disability to access the beach. So I could see what the issue is here. Well, my recommendation and my my my spin on this, I guess, would be at this point is that it seems like we do have an issue with with data. I mean, we don't have enough of it. I think we still need to gather gather more. I would be especially interested in knowing. We're learning how many of those motorized scooters or bicycles that are along the bike path and especially here in Long Beach that are driven or used by people with mobility issues. I don't think we have enough of that data available. I see. So some people in the audience are raising their hands being there's three right there. Right. But, you know, we need I think we need to have more information on this. And, you know, I'm not sure that right now changing the municipal code would be the most viable path to take at this point, pun intended in regards to the. Nobody got that one. Okay. In regards to way forward with with with a full ban, I feel uncomfortable with it because obviously the information is not totally there. The maybe a question to the public works director would be, do you think that you have all the information you need right now? Do you need it? How much how much time do you think you would you would need to get to get the all the data that you would be required to make a a sound recommendation to the City Council in regards to moving this forward. Speaker 0: Councilmember Urunga So we under the original pilot program had pointed to the end of this month, we're now in October. So the end of October we anticipate getting information from all the scooter vendors. I think the heat map and some of the things that Councilmember Price brought up about where are we seeing scooters that are dropped outside of the the pre-approved drop zones? Where are we experiencing the most complaints? What are those complaints? How are they characterized getting all that data together and bringing back to council? I anticipate doing that sometime in November at the latest early December. Speaker 13: Okay. Well, I think that's that's good to know, because I think that we need to take our time with this and putting it through to the end of October when the end of the pilot program would be a little premature at this point. But continue the conversation. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilman, you want to go? Councilwoman Pierce. Speaker 5: Thank you. And I want to thank you. Good conversation here today. You know, originally when it was first presented to me, I thought it was just enforcing existing policies. And then I thought through our research that this was not in place. And honestly, I think the conversations are right. Conversation to have in the future probably fleshed out a little bit more before having it at the council. So I just I want to say I appreciate the conversation in my district. Our districts are so different, Suzy. Well, I haven't had complaints about the bike path in the district. I've had probably three or four of folks in our senior community that have, you know, been walking on the sidewalks and have had challenges with it just overall, but not necessarily on our beach path. And I so first, I have a question for the city attorney, as the conversation is now with the comments that Councilmember Price has made. If a yes vote tonight would not be on the recommendation that's listed in the item, it would just be to have our public our public works director work with these six businesses and to come back with with that information. But there's not an additional ban that is on the table anymore. Speaker 12: I agree with you that the original motion has been amended. However, I think as I understood the motion, it would be to reach out to the vendors and if they have the technology available to implement that technology immediately to ban them from the bike path. So it wasn't I think, if I heard you correctly, it was a report back, but it was changed subsequently to if that technology avail is available, implement it through the remainder of the pilot program consistent with the handbook. Speaker 9: Just for clarification, the handbook is the current existing regulations for the pilot program. So it would be if they're able to monitor the technology such that there they are in compliance with the existing regulations. I'm not asking for a ban there. Was that cleared? Speaker 12: That's correct. There would not be a ban to any of the other type of electrical electric bikes or scooters. It just too would prohibit them from operating on the bike beach bike path for the remainder of the pilot program. Speaker 5: If they have that capability. And I guess that that so one is thank you for that. That's been my understanding. So there's not a need to make any other changes if that's something that we're all comfortable with. My question to Public Works director would be, do we have any idea say they do have that technology if it's even possible for them to implement it in a quick turnaround? Do we know that? Speaker 0: Councilmember I do not have that information as I sit here tonight. Okay. We will reach out to them this week and hopefully we can get quick responses and return to council, as I mentioned, with a memo and share that with all of you. Speaker 5: Great. Okay. So just a couple of comments. As I support, you know, reaching out to them and trying to implement the technology, if that is something that is possible, I would imagine that some of them might have it and not use it unless we are actually in a binding contract with them. But I do want to say how much I appreciate having pilot programs. You know, I know that sometimes it can feel frustrating because staff goes out and does a pilot program and then the constituents call our offices. But we did a pilot program with the free ride, and I think it was a great opportunity for us to just say, okay, if this was going to happen in the open market, how would it work? What are the challenges, what are the opportunities? And I know we're working with your office to bring back that conversation so that we can look at the best way to implement it. So I appreciate being able to do pilot programs quickly. I think they operate, they identify, you know, what, we need to change in the city and don't set us up to be in a bind in relationship. So I respect that. I do want to say, as we look forward to the changes that you've mentioned being made around the scooters or bike conversation, I want to make sure that we don't create a two tiered system where if you're able to afford one type of transportation that's electric, but you're renting another one, that we're not creating opportunities where they're both not allowed to be on the same path, whether it's a bike path or whether it's a sidewalk. I also think our city's done a great job with our bikes and doing the registration with them and also having like Tony Cruise go out and do something. So I would ask that as we come back that not only are we looking at a plan and changing our policies, but that we're looking at an outreach strategy on education. So maybe we have one in each district or five throughout the city based on need and where the heat map shows us. I also wanted to ask, I think I heard a number about what makes a viable scooter program is something like three rides a day per scooter, and we're exceeding that. Is that correct? Speaker 0: I don't have any of that data yet. I've not seen. Speaker 5: The numbers, he told me. That number in City Hall is something like five per scooter instead of three, and I think that it just shows how excited people are. And so I want to applaud you guys for thinking outside the box on that. I support the change that Councilmember Price made to work with the vendors as possible and bring back some of those recommendations. And I look forward to a good discussion in October or November or December. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman Pierce. Councilmember. Speaker 15: I thank vice mayor. So just you know, this conversation gives me a few thoughts. First of all, thanks for thanks Councilmember Price for, um, you know, saying that you want to hear from the council on this because I really, I haven't spent too much time thinking on this issue. But, you know, I have some, some thoughts here. So, one, it sounds like that the problem we want to address could be twofold. One, the dumping of the dropping of the scooters in the path and to the speed of the scooters. Right. I think we need to spend some time thinking about fixing the fixing that problem. And maybe maybe we begin evaluating how to fix that problem while we're in the process of this pilot program. So one strategy that that cities and agencies are using to change behavior is pricing, right? So there could literally be a process where if you if you're a company, well, the other parties, this concept that we have about if you have the technology to geofence and get off the path, then you should come off the path. That's counterintuitive, my opinion. The better technology should be the ones that we allow on the path and the ones that do not have the technology come off the path. And the reason is because if they have the technology, what if there was a way to say, you can ride the ride, but if you drop your your scooter outside of the designated drop zone on the bike path, then you are fined. Right. Or. And that way we can use pricing to discourage the behavior potentially. And if you don't have the technology, then your scooter cannot be on the bike path if you don't have the technology. I just think we need to probably take some time in inverse and try to resolve the problem. Speaker 8: I I'm sorry. Speaker 15: So anyway, so I think we should look at it that way. So I would I would suggest that tonight maybe we don't say if you have the technology, get off the path. The ones with the technology are the ones I'm most interested in seeing how they behave and respond. The other parties, the pilot. We should be able to distinguish to this pilot which which of these are the good actors and which ones are the bad actors as well. And that's something we should be tracking on our on our beach path. So I think we should go through the pilot. We should have a conversation with these companies about, you know, if they have the technology and it sounds like they're doing that. But I think it should go from the we should be rewarding the better technology, rewarding the folks who are using geofencing and the ones who don't. We should be encouraging them to do so. Or maybe they don't they don't get to participate in the full program once it rolls out. Those are my thoughts. Speaker 3: Thanks. Speaker 2: Thank you so much. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 9: Thank you. So I have similar thoughts as well in terms of and I want to pull back and say to that we should have definitely gotten a little bit more information on the pilot program and what it entailed, because I remember I was just really sort of shocked that they just started showing up right in front of my building. And I was like, Oh, is this a random scooter? Did someone leave their scooter? I had no idea. So it's sort of taken a lot of residents I know in downtown to back a little bit, but now we see everybody on the scooters. Well, that's just what I'm hearing from from residents. So but I see a ton of people on the scooters. So students, downtown residents. And, you know, it's it's a really good and positive thing. And I do agree I know we're going to get the data back and the analytics back between October and December. And I think that the analytics will absolutely tell us a really good story of of where people are using them. And I just know from my residents a few sample cases, some of them have told me because Long Beach transit routes were changed or removed in some areas that they now use these scooters, which I think is a really, really big deal. So I also think in addition to the data we get back, although this item doesn't call for it, is just to be a little bit heightened of a sense. And I know we are in terms of Long Beach transit routes that have been changed or removed. So we know where these are. So we know where this data will lie. I just want to clarify as well the e-bike discussion. I'm having a little trouble with that. So are we removing are we saying that we're going to allow e-bikes on the path? Well, I think for this particular item, I'm trying to narrow the discussion to just the pilot program. The pilot program for the scooters, which has a specific clause in regards to the bike beach path. So I didn't want to confuse the discussion with the e-bikes because a lot of people do use them and they're not the biggest source of concern. We have a pilot program in place that says they can't no riding on sidewalks, no riding on the bike beach path and use of a helmet at all times. So this is something that they all had to sign to agree to participate in the city. So I thought we would take the e-bike discussion out of it, since that's not really the problem and just focus on the pilot program because we don't have any way to enforce the rules that the companies already agreed to. Okay. Sure, I guess. And I understand that we want to compartmentalize and be really focused. And I would just say just over on that e-bike discussion, those can go up to 30 miles per hour. So that's another issue. I think just in terms of mobility we do need to address because although a lot of people are using them, as Councilmember Pearce said, yes, they're not rentable so much. But they you know, a lot of people a lot of people purchase them and, you know, access, I think, for many of us is a is a it's a huge point that we need to amplify because there are a lot of downtown residents that want access to the beach. And the best way to do that is to provide to be provided a cheap scooter. And so we need to look at some other facet to be able to address e-bikes at some point as well in that discussion. What I like as well. And I know that there is technology to slow down the scooters and pause in certain areas. And I while I appreciate the discussion about implementing that with the six. With the six companies we have now. There are other areas that also need to be looked at. You know, I think a lot of downtown residents, especially with senior buildings that have major mobility issues, we can't even get the bike bicycle issue sort of down, you know, and we're sitting here talking about E-Scooters on the bike that we had to pull back a little bit more and start talking about how we address enforcement on just bicycles and scooters in these very vulnerable neighborhoods. A lot of my residents in downtown and I have a lot of senior residents do not have a lot of mobility. They have had Long Beach Transit cut some routes. And now on top of that, we have this scooter discussion. So I just want us to think about that a little bit more largely, but I love the idea. Councilmember Price, about the complaint data and cleanup issues, because I think those are absolutely issues we need to start addressing a bit more. So I'm still a little weary from this. I'm going to I'm going to listen to a few more people. But those are sort of just my thoughts preliminarily. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Councilwoman Soprano. Speaker 8: Thank you. Just to follow up on the last comments. If there's some mission creep here, I'm going to do the same thing. I'm going to talk about Cal State, Long Beach, but it occurs to me that there's an immediate public safety need on the bike path, and it'd be nice if we could get that resolved here tonight . But that was kind of an unintended consequence, something that was anticipated by Cal State Long Beach before, as soon as the scooters showed up, is that they would be blamed for students riding them into the neighborhood. So we have an elaborate preferential parking district system north of the campus along Atherton. I believe it's a total of 18 north south streets have preferential parking. For the scooters to be lined up on the perimeter on Atherton of the school. You could not have invented a better system to screw up a preference of parking, because now you extend that distance that people can go can drop off their cars. So you're just going to anger the folks who are just north of the Préfecture parking district. So as I said, Mr. Beck, I don't want to get into mission creep here, but if that can be on your radar, also, if we're talking about some type of system where they can electronic electronically monitor that or prevent them from going to certain areas, that would be helpful. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Congressman Stupak. Now, Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 9: I believe Council on Super now that they can. We're certainly not the first city to be dealing with this. And I know that there are cities that have limited access to certain areas. I just want to clarify, because I heard several of my colleagues say they're not going to support the item because it's a ban. So I started off my comments with saying, let's move away from the ban and enforce try to enforce our current existing policy, which all six of the providers had to sign, which has five provisions that they have to follow. They have to educate the consumer that they need to be 18 years old, must be in possession of a valid driver's license, must agree to the liability waiver. Covering the city of Long Beach contained in the vendor's end user agreement, must agree to comply with the California Vehicle Code and Long Beach Municipal Code, which shall be provided by the vendor to all users prior to use of the scooters. Notification of laws should emphasize the following No riding on sidewalks, no riding on the beach path and use of a helmet at all times, and may only park scooters outside of the sidewalk path of travel, allowing a minimum of four feet of clearance and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Americans with Disabilities Act. So these are rules that and everyone here is right. We were not consulted when the handbook was created. So a lot of the things we're talking about we didn't have a policy decision on. What I'm asking my colleagues to do is for the remaining next three weeks, can we try to hold the companies accountable such that the scooters don't end up on a prohibited area if the technology for that company allows it? If after that, we want to allow it and we want that to not be a perhaps prohibited area anymore, we can have that discussion. We can absolutely have that discussion and say, you know, what the of the rules and regulations and the pilot program didn't make sense. I don't like them. I want them on the beach path. But right now they're not allowed on the beach path. So I and and Councilwoman Pearce hasn't received these complaints. We've received a lot of them. And what we hear is, why can't you enforce this? Why aren't you enforcing this? And the reality is because we don't have police officers to have standing on the beach path enforcing these rules. But we do have technology. And I've checked I know at least one of the vendors, Bird, has the technology available now. They can implement it tomorrow to allow the the the the scooters to not go on the bike path. So I think, you know, what I'm asking my my colleagues to do is support our director reaching out and saying, if your company has the technology, please prohibit the scooters from going on the beach path, as you've agreed to do by signing on to our pilot. I'm hearing some resistance to that. I'm not exactly sure what the basis of the resistance is, other than what I'm hearing is that maybe people don't like the existing policy that prohibits them from being on the beach path, which I didn't write the policy. I'm just trying to figure out a way to enforce it. If people don't like that and they feel more comfortable, I would be open to a report back from the director on what of the companies have the geofencing technology that they could implement. But remember, the pilot ends at the end of October and we have folks that have expressed a lot of concern about us not enforcing our own agreement with these vendors. We we entered this agreement with these vendors, and we have the ability to force them to comply. And what we would be saying is, no, no, no, it's okay. Feel free to violate the terms of your agreement. We're not going to hold you accountable to it. So I'm open to hearing from my colleagues. I'm advocating on behalf of my residents at this point, and I'm asking for your support. But I'm also very, very open to any suggestions folks have on I mean, I understand the tenor of what folks are saying here, which is maybe you're not seeing a problem with it on the beach path and you're okay with them being on the beach path. And if that's what you're saying, I hope that you'll be very clear about that, because I know when I go back to my communities, I'd like to say these of my colleagues did not have an issue with this, because I do because the issue is presented a safety hazard in on the beach path. So I would like us to do whatever we can to adhere to our current policy and contract if folks would like to do a study instead. Totally okay with that as well. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilwoman Price. Councilman, also. Speaker 14: Thank you, Councilmember Price. And I, like I said earlier, I do I do respect your position. I understand I'm not getting the calls from my constituents. I try to go down to the beach as much as possible. And for me, it hasn't been a hazardous. So seeing these electric scooters on here and as I mentioned in my comments earlier, I prefer a less restrictive model as opposed to creating restrictions for them. The the regulations that that you you mentioned were administrative in nature. They weren't legislative. Again, it wasn't something policy that the council developed. I think it was, you know, staff trying to do their best to come up with something to get this this this new transportation system or mode implemented into our city quickly. And so, I mean, I commend them for the work that they did. But, you know, again, this is this is an evolving issue. Just since we've implemented here within the last several weeks, there's been legislation in Sacramento regarding these these these electric scooters. And I would venture to say that over the next several months or a few months, we're going to see a lot of new ideas and possibly even some some best practices from other municipalities where they're dealing with them and these issues. And so I would I would offer a friendly to the stroke staff to do exactly what you suggested. But I also would recommend that this issue be studied further in committee. I think there might be two committees that that would be appropriate public safety and then Infrastructure and Transportation, Transportation Infrastructure Committee. I would recommend, if you're open to a friendly amendment that these these these committees also study these issues, this issue concurrently to to hopefully get to a place where we can develop some sound public policy. Speaker 9: Kept that friendly. I think that's an excellent suggestion and I would recommend it go to the Transportation Committee because our public safety committee meeting is pretty packed for next week. So I don't want to add to our agenda and I know that committee, I'm not sure how often they meet, but this would be the perfect issue for them to take up. Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker 9: Kind of if they're open to it. Speaker 2: Councilwoman Pierce. Speaker 5: Thank you. And Councilmember Alston, I perfect. I think that that's where we needed to land. I do think I know that there's there's agreement is out there. I know that we've shared it with our constituents just in the first week that these were implemented. And so if we can maybe share that one more time, the agreement that we had with all six vendors so that the council offices can see that. I also think I have a question for staff. I know that we in our budget said that we were going to have more bike officers. What's the timeline for that? Speaker 11: So part of that is we have not identified the revenue yet. To add those, we were going to come back to money falling from mid-year and come back with a plan for how to both fund Engine 17 and also to fund six additional motorbike officers. Speaker 5: Thank you for that motorbike. Speaker 4: Motorbike. Speaker 11: It was going to be a team that was bikes, but also the ability to do motorbikes or bikes. It was a rapid response team that could use both bikes or motorbikes, either one. Speaker 9: They just put them on scooters. Speaker 4: We put a pin in. Speaker 10: And say, For. Speaker 11: Scooters? Sure, why not? Anything that's mobile, anything that gets them quickly around. Speaker 5: And I, I think what I like the friendly amendment. I fully support the friendly amendment. I think, you know, studying this in committee is a great place to do that. I also just want to recognize that kind of a process. And sometimes I feel like we're trying to implement where we get a lot of challenges, whether it's with our homeless community or scooters, where people feel like we don't have enough officers that are enforcing and that maybe we need to discuss how we handle those those complaints. Because I feel like this is one that, like I said, I originally almost didn't sign on because I felt like it was just saying we need to be enforcing our laws. And the challenge is that we're not we're not going to have enough officers to enforce every single bike policy, every single helmet out there, and that we have to do some creative community engagement programs. And I think looking at models like we have with our bikes, whereas if you return a bike to a station that you get money back into your account. So instead of saying we're going to fine, I think the deal with our rental bikes is that you get money back if you return it to to a station instead of leaving it somewhere. So just I look forward. Mr.. Back to your creative presentation when this comes back and fully support the friendly and thank you everyone for the conversation. Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker 4: I appreciate Councilman Price's flexibility in this. I think that the financial incentives is a huge one, and I look forward to that opportunity. In kind of working through what our next steps are. I think that a lot more of our work should be done in committee. So I really am supportive of the friendly and look forward to hearing what the Infrastructure Committee and Transportation Committee does with us. So thank you. Speaker 2: Fine, thank you. And do we have any public comment on this item? Speaker 12: Vice Mayor If I could, was the public comments coming? Just to clarify the friendly amendment. Speaker 2: 1/2, please. Speaker 12: The friendly amendment by Councilmember Austin was to adopt the motion by the council person to reach out to the vendors and implement. Speaker 11: Immediately the technology of available to. Speaker 12: Ban it from the bike path and also send it to. Speaker 8: The. Speaker 12: Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for further study. Is that correct? Speaker 9: I, I actually think it may have been modified with Councilman Austin's friendly that instead of banning it immediately, we're going to send it to committee. Speaker 12: Okay. Thank you. Speaker 14: Well, I think we still want staff to study. Look at what the geofencing, the possibilities for geofencing are. Speaker 3: Right. Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker 4: Vice Mayor. I'm cute if possible, just because of the seconder of the motion when we talked about telling these organizations at least we should send them an email that says, Friendly reminder, you agreed that X, Y and Z and it should be all of them. The dumping in random places. I mean, leave it. I mean, if we could just remind them there are 30 days left in the pilot program. Here are the things you agreed to. Any technology you have to help us to ensure you meet the terms of your agreement would be helpful. Just a thought, Councilman Price, are you okay with a friendly reminder of the terms they already agreed to? Speaker 9: And like I said, I know there's different providers and there's different levels of responsibility. I don't know personally all the representatives, but I do know Bird has a representative at the meeting. They've been very engaged with us and very responsive. So I think it doesn't hurt to give them another reminder. Speaker 4: And our office has had to reach out to them multiple times, two for just scooters left next to the water, next to everywhere. So I appreciate the opportunity to remind them of what they agreed to. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. No public comment. Speaker 4: Okay. Karen, recite. I'm a resident of the First District and I live in a senior building of which there are many downtown. And I just want to share my experiences. Speaker 6: With the scooters. Speaker 4: I didn't see the articles about them coming until after they were on the streets. The first week I was almost run over by three. They don't make noise. I'm hard of hearing and I have poor vision, as many seniors do, and I could not hear the scooters and the people riding them. Don't yell. They don't have bells or buzzers, so you can't tell that they're coming up behind you and you're not looking at who's writing these scooters. They are young men, primarily, and I travel all over the downtown area. They're young men. They never got the rules, so they are not abiding by them. They ride them on the sidewalks, they turn them up for grabs. And another big concern is that there groups of them I saw two groups within three days going down Atlantic Avenue of eight young men in the middle of Atlantic Avenue, both sides of the street. And this, I understand, is is getting to be a growing problem. Speaker 10: They do a. Speaker 4: Meetup or a Facebook post and they gather in a spot. So this is a huge potential problem. I live in a 17th floor of a high rise building and on Saturday, Friday nights, if you could put a time limit on them, they get them at night and they ride up and down Pacific Avenue, disturbing the residents. Fortunately, a lot of us are hard of hearing, but I'm on the top floor. The sound rises. So I've been awakened several times by the scooters and the youth yelling back and forth if we're going to have scooters. And I believe that any mobility devices that help people to move and get them out in the community are a good thing if we do it safely and responsibly. I don't know how you're going to work. Speaker 6: With these young men so that. Speaker 4: They follow the rules. And Susie, you're lucky I have not seen one person with a helmet, not one. And I've probably seen 150 people on these scooters in my travels. So. Pilot programs. We need to if we're going to do pilot programs, we need to think them through a little bit better. There's no signage indicating what the rules are on the scooters. And as a senior, I would like to ride one, too. But my balance is not good enough for a two wheeled vehicle. And I know there are three wheeled kind of trikes out there. And seniors like to get around and do things that are fun too. So please consider that when you take these things into a final vote. Speaker 2: Next. Speaker 0: Hello. Speaker 8: My name is Greg NZ. I've been a resident of Long Beach for about 30 years. I lived in the third district for 15 years and I currently live in the seventh district. I have been there 15 years also, and as a owner of two electric bikes, I want to commend you for deleting the bike language from that . That concerned me and made me sit through the whole meeting. But I just want to reiterate and give you some information because I don't know if all of you have been on electric bike in the. Speaker 10: Last three years. Speaker 8: But what they're able to do is assist you. You could ride further, longer, harder. They don't make the noise that the gas powered by cycles do and they don't emit, you know, fossil fuels into the air. So they do a lot of good things. In fact, I'm working on a website to encourage people to use this as a mode of transportation rather than their vehicles for short distance rides to the gym or to a restaurant or to the bike path. With the class three bikes, they only go 28 miles per hour. You're closed. You have to go downhill. Really hard to go a little bit over that. But they're pretty much maxed out. The accelerators on the bikes, both class two and three, they top off at 20 miles an hour. So there was a recommendation for the e-bike language that there's a speed limit. I think all bikes should adhere to that because I have a race bike also that has no motor and I can get that over 20 miles an hour if I pedal really hard. So I think maybe he's putting speed limits posted throughout the bike path would be a good recommendation and then maybe citations if they don't adhere to it. But it's not just the class two and three bikes that are able to speed, it's all bikes. So I think we need to put that into consideration. But one of the things, Councilmember Price, for looking at the language and realizing that the Class two and three are not in the same category as the scooters. So thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 17: Anything. I'm Beth Black, co-owner of Pedigo Electric Bikes of Greater Long Beach. And I want to thank you for your careful and thoughtful discussion this evening. It really became clear to us as we sat and listened that you have learned a lot about the bikes in the process. I do want to clarify that for Councilwoman Gonzalez, that Class two electric bikes are considered to be low speed electric bikes along with Class one. They are governed to a top speed of 20 miles per hour. They can be governed lower. And we've had some of our our customers request that it really is not an issue of speed. We always follow the speed limits on the bike paths. We're very cautious. We have six years in business with membership at times with the the convention visitors bureau. Lovely presentation tonight, by the way, and an excellent record of safety with zero accidents. Nobody leaves my bike shop on a bike without wearing a helmet. And one last thing before you go. I do have to say, guys, that we just last year sold a couple of bikes to the SEAL Beach Police Department. Just this morning, I was out riding with a guest and we ran into foot, not literally, but we ran into one of the police officers in her car. And she said just two weeks ago they had to pack their bikes up for the winter and they're hoping to get appropriations so that they can ride year round. There was one point where they had a lot of traffic. Now it's a little town. I know SEAL Beach is a small town, but they get a lot of congestion down there. And the officers in a car chase after a fellow in a car, they couldn't catch him. But the guy on the e-bike rode right up and had them pull over. So think about that. They can really help with crowd situations and beach patrol and that sort of thing. Thank you very much. We'll be in touch. Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 3: My name's Evan Lockwood. Um. Speaker 11: I do have a disability. Speaker 8: And I use class two e-bikes to get around. And also to commute. One of the introductory. Speaker 11: Paragraphs said that people on the beach pets don't primarily commute there, which I. Speaker 8: Feels is wrong. A lot of the spandex guys also commute and then change at work. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 8: Hi. Good evening, counsel. Thank you for having this discussion. My comments that I wrote initially have changed, obviously, because of the nature of the conversation has changed. But my name is Nick Rousseau. I work for Petal Movement, which is a local bicycling services company with headquarters here in Long Beach and operations throughout L.A. and Orange County areas . Pedal movements. The operator of the Long Beach Bike Shares program, as well as the city's bike station facility. We also work with Petco in Greater Long Beach to operate their service department, and we're a program provider for many bicycling and active transportation initiatives throughout the city. So we obviously understand the many concerns, safety and otherwise, that motorized scooters and bicycles present in our city and on our roadways and public infrastructure. We understand these concerns because we are bicyclists, pedestrians and motorists ourselves and many of our companies. Employees use the bicycling infrastructure our city has built to commute to and from work, perform their job duties and enjoy in their free time. And this includes the beach bike path as well as protected bicycling infrastructure downtown and elsewhere. So to the gentleman's last statement, the beach bike path is a place I regularly commute on, so I just would make sure that that's something we'd consider in the future. On a personal note, I can't count the number of times that I've been nearly injured while riding peacefully on the bike path by a triathlete attempting to break the land speed record. But their use of the bike path wouldn't have run afoul of the ordinance as it was presented earlier in might have realized some other injuries along the way. I also will note that I have a separate folder of photos on my phone that I take of cars, trees, street lights and other things like that, blocking my ways while I walk around the city. Any any time I see a car, you know, parked on the hood in my neighborhood, the ramp in front of their driveway that blocks my access to walk on my sidewalk. I take a picture of that and report it where I can. So the issues of dumping scooters, to me, not really that big of an issue when I have cars and street lights and other things like that that I need to regularly contend with. And I'm a fairly able bodied person. So I only imagine what it's like for folks who need to use assistive devices to get around. Anecdotally, cities across the country that have adopted scooter pilot programs have found that a lot of the users of these vehicles are overwhelmingly young and of color. So ordinances like bans, which obviously has changed now, are just another way to add to the list of justifications used to hassle young, black and brown neighbors to keep them from getting to where they need to go. And the same is true for a lot of other assistive and mobility devices. So thanks for the comments. Obviously, things have changed a little bit, but we appreciate it. Speaker 2: Thank you. Next, bigger. Speaker 10: My name is John Cannon. And not to be redundant, but I'm here for the same reason to thank you for removing the Class two ebikes from the list of things that might be prohibited in the future. I ride a bike often and I'm sort of representing seniors, I guess, at this point in time, because all those young people that came up here and they ride them and what they said, all true. I've been riding on the Long Beach path for 17 years. Not any bike all the time. I used to be able to ride a real plain old, hard working bike, but I'm considered a senior. And that means seniors definition is you're old, so you can't do things like you used to do. I like to. I would love to, but it doesn't happen that way. So I came across the e-bikes and was quite happy to find them and I've been writing them along with a group of seniors, mostly locally, and we do come on the Long Beach path. Often we stop and eat at your restaurants. So we're bringing some business into the community as well. The the throttles that are on those bikes actually are like a. Speaker 3: And a. Speaker 10: Excuse me, an accommodation for safety. I use it when I start up my ride and. To get a start. It's because it's too hard to get started on pedaling and that gives me the start I need. Then I can pedal and I have pedal assist to help combat the throttles are also helpful in I am sorry to keeping balance at times and we don't generally use them for racing or anything else. I never have done that, but I just want you to know that for seniors, these bikes are have been extremely helpful. Many, many people that have different kinds of ailments or artificial knees backs bolted together, all of which I have. I've had a heart attack. I have asthma, I can still ride a bike and I'm going to keep riding as long as I can. I don't want to have to ride on the streets. It's too dangerous. So I appreciate your consideration to continue to allow class to e-bikes on the paths. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 10: Thank you, Vice Mayor and City Council. And I want. Speaker 0: To thank Council Woman Price for reconsidering. Speaker 10: The class. Speaker 8: Two E-bikes. My name is Brian Ballard. Speaker 10: I'm co-owner of. Speaker 0: Pedal Electric Bikes with Beth Black, who you just heard of. I want to read a statement here real quick. I've been a type one diabetic for 45 years. Speaker 10: I work in the health care industry. And in addition to. Speaker 0: Owning the bike shop and I do diabetic education and I do diabetic support groups. About nine years ago, Beth and I were riding on a regular pedal, pedal bikes. We were about ten miles from home, and my blood sugar started dropping rapidly. Fortunately, I had some couple. Speaker 8: Bottles of. Speaker 0: Juices. I had. Speaker 8: To lie on the. Speaker 0: Grass waiting for my blood sugar to rise. Speaker 10: However, the experience scared. Speaker 0: Beth and I both, and we did not ride regular pedal bikes for a while. About a year later, Beth and I. Speaker 10: Discovered electric bikes. Speaker 0: I was excited about this because I was able. Speaker 10: To ride a long distance and not worry about pedaling home. If my sugar dropped, a low blood sugar can be deadly if not treated quickly. High blood sugar does not kill you immediately, but contributes to long term complications. Speaker 0: Having to pedal a regular bike or pedal a class. Speaker 10: One electric bike while my sugar is low. Speaker 0: Can still drop my glucose drastically. Having a throttle to get me somewhere where I can get. Speaker 10: Something to eat or drink without pedaling is a benefit and. Speaker 0: Helping me prevent my hyper hypoglycemia. Speaker 10: From getting worse. Beth and I have owned two electric. Speaker 0: Bikes now for eight years. Speaker 10: In addition to owning the electric bike shop. Since I started writing my electric. Speaker 0: Bike, I worry less about. Speaker 10: My sugar dropping too low. Speaker 0: When I'm writing. And yes, I do get exercise on my class to e-bike. Speaker 10: As you just heard the speaker before, me too occurred. To control diabetes, you need exercise, diet and medication. My class to bike motivates me to exercise. Speaker 8: Gives me peace of mind. Speaker 10: And when I'm writing, it helps me control my blood sugar. Exercise is hard. My father was a runner and a marathoner. He once told me, You have to make exercise fun for people to do it. Speaker 0: Well, class two e-bikes do make exercise fun. Also. Speaker 8: Many of our. Speaker 10: Customers are seniors. Many seniors have orthopedic problems, a hip replacement, knee replacement. And many of their doctors tell them, we want you to. Speaker 0: Exercise with. Speaker 10: Caution. Speaker 0: These bikes allow those orthopedic patients to exercise without overdoing it. Speaker 10: And these are perfect for those seniors. Patients who do have knee problems, hip problems. Thank you once again for reconsidering the. Speaker 8: E-Bike situation. Speaker 10: On this subject. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 0: Hi. My name is Bob Nolan and I also have a Pedigo Ebike and my wife does too. And that was one of the reasons why. Speaker 12: We. Speaker 0: Started writing down here is we wanted it to be both our exercising. My wife has a bad back. And I have bad knees and the pedagogs allow us to get on the bike path and ride. She pedals more. I throttle more, but I still pedal. They just help us have mobility. And as far as I know, in our group. No one has has run into anybody. And we are just super cautious. We wear helmets, we follow the speed limits. So and I'm glad that you folks have looked at. The changes that might be needed. Scooters. Yeah, they do zip around you. But we actually have breaks. We have. I bell's to let people know we're behind them so. In summary, I just wanted to say thank you for reconsidering this. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you, sir. Next speaker. Speaker 18: No. Mr. Dean. The Vice and the city council to. We are always concerned about the. But. No more Palm Springs. I think the boat, the pismo wait is to solve this is to make a better law. Little red riding in the street. I think that's worth it to go down and meet these spray bys, be legally for leaving. Well, I know people hear me on the tape. Tell me tomorrow. I know we are and it is certain A-word out. When I think of fans, they save the import. They can write it or. Not that they've decided on that beach. I think that there's a lot more riding in the street. They can ride illegally in the street and everything will be okay. Right. And in the long. If they can. If they they can be respectable riding in the street. And if they can be respectable and riding. Without breaking the loading so much run. I think running illegally in the streets and being more safe. Speaker 2: Thank you, sir. Speaker 18: Thank you to the council for listening to me tonight. Good night. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 8: Good evening, counsel. My name's Thomas Lord. I'm the general manager for Lime. We're one of the operators in the pilot. I think that this conversation's obviously evolved quite a bit since the original agenda item. Um, and I think you guys are on the right track. Um, there seem to be two issues. One is the leaving of scooters on the beach and the other is, you know, speed. Um, there I can speak for lime. We definitely have the technology to address both of those. I think one thing to keep in mind is that there are operators that do not have that technology. And in turning that technology on, we then put ourselves in a no bird has the technology as well at somewhat of a competitive disadvantage from a consumer experience. Um. You know, if you're if you're writing a line and it doesn't work on the beach or you're writing another company, and it does, you're going to continue to read the other companies. And so revisiting the pilot and asking operators to if they have the technology to turn it on. I would also ask that you either somehow penalize operators that, you know, refuse to or don't have that technology to put on. But that's it for me. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. 1/2, please. Speaker 14: I had just a follow up question. You said you do have the technology to be able to to cut them off or not make them inoperable. Do you have that? Does the technology afford you the ability to govern the speed? Speaker 8: Yes. So actually, the technology we we have the technology to stop them, although we generally, as a policy don't do that because we find it unsafe. The speed is the solution that Santa monica went with. So we govern them on the beach in Santa monica at eight miles per hour. Um, along with that, we also do what we call no chip. No chip. And which is you can't begin a trip on the beach path. Um, and no trips stop, which is you can't stop your trip on the beach. So you would kind of address your problem of a lot of scooters being left on the on the path. Speaker 14: Thank you. And I appreciate you being here this evening. Speaker 8: Yeah, good to be here. Speaker 2: Thank you, sir. Anyone? Yes. Go ahead. Miss me. Councilwoman. Speaker 4: Two things. One, appreciate your coming today and being open to answering some questions. Your competitive advantage would be that because you followed the rules, you're in a better position to actually have a long term contract with our city. Yeah. And I guess my question would be, what would we need to be providing you as a city to create those geo fences? Or when you check it out on the app, would it be able to say like, note, you're near Eldorado Park, don't leave a thing on the beach path or you will be fined or I mean, could you do pop up messages of any kind? Speaker 8: Yeah. So we can do it, not messages that that describe what what's what's happening. So if someone isn't confused, I think that what we've seen in in the past is that a lot of cities will say, you know, during our pilot, if you do X, Y and Z, you won't be considered for for, you know, the permanent program and then you're still considered for the permanent program. Speaker 5: Yeah. Speaker 8: So I think that it needs to kind of like. Concrete like this is what's going to happen if you if you don't. And so that all we're all on the same same page. That would be my suggestion. But I do see that as a competitive advantage for the long run. It'd be shortsighted not to consider that. Right. Speaker 4: So just so you know, on any given Tuesday, we can change the laws by five votes on this council so we can say anything we want. This week and next week, five votes changes the law. So that's just how local government is. But I appreciate you and thank you for your feedback. And my office will probably be reaching out. Speaker 8: Thank you. All right. Thanks, guys. Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker 6: Next Vice. Speaker 4: Mayor and. Speaker 5: Members of the city council. My name is. Speaker 9: On a consolidated man. I work for a government. Speaker 4: Relations firm sanctioned by we represent Bird. Speaker 6: I want to thank Suzy Price and the rest of the council for tonight's motion. Speaker 5: We really appreciate that. Speaker 4: We look forward to working with the Transportation Committee. Craig, your your office has been great and so we're looking forward to working with you. Speaker 6: We believe that our client has gone way and beyond to reach out to most of the organizations. Speaker 5: In. Speaker 4: Various neighborhoods to make sure that we're a community partner. We want to continue to do that. So thank you for tonight. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Councilman Richardson and Councilman Gordy. Speaker 4: I also just wanted to thank you all for listening to the discussion and adjusting your comments. Oftentimes, people come to council and they're dead set on communicating what they came here to communicate despite the changes. And I think that one of the things that we really try to do on this council is start a dialog. Even if the original policy might be the most extreme, but to at least give us a range, an understanding of where we can go. And so I hope that you'll communicate back out to your constituents in the same way you did before to let them know where we are and what additional opportunities there will be for input and advocacy. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 15: Thanks. I just wanted to raise up one thing that I just heard from the gentleman from lime. So you said you can you have the ability to limit stops, made trip stops in a geofence area. So what happens if someone gets off the you know, gets off the, you know, the bike? And goes to the beach and hangs out. Do they continue to get charged while it's just sitting there? Because that's a pretty good penalty. Speaker 8: Yeah, that's exactly what we're. What would happen? So you wouldn't it would give you an error code in the error code would explain you're in an area where you can't and the chip and if you were to leave it in the the sender on the on the path, you would continue to get charged. Speaker 15: And how have you implemented that somewhere in Santa monica? And do you have any evidence of, you know, what the response was or the behavior change? I mean. Speaker 8: It's tough to to measure that because you could continue to ride at eight miles per hour through that geofence. It has drastically changed the scene in in Santa monica. You know, it went from Santa monica having to use a lot of their. Resources to have enforcement on speed and stuff like that to I think it's drastically come down. Speaker 15: Thanks. Thanks. Thanks for that point. Staff. That's a great point. If we're going to evaluate something in the pilot, I want to know if we deploy something like that, what the what the impact is. That's what I'd like to see. If, you know, we may not have to create a fine, we can literally just have the clock keep running if they don't park it the right way. Seems like a good idea to me. Speaker 2: Thank you. Senior morning comments which placed catchable. And now she can substitute motion. Right. Thank you. Okay. Let's go down to item 21, 22. Excuse me.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Attorney to amend Long Beach Municipal Code 10.38.020 (B) to expressly ban electric or motorized scooters, electric motorized boards (CVC 313.5), and throttle driven Class II and Class III electric bicycles (CVC 312.5), from the beach bicycle path while allowing for continued non-motorized use and lower speed pedal assisted Class I electric bicycles.

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_10022018_18-0869

Speaker 2: Thank you. Senior morning comments which placed catchable. And now she can substitute motion. Right. Thank you. Okay. Let's go down to item 21, 22. Excuse me. Speaker 1: Item 22 Report from Health and Human Services recommendation to adopt a resolution to execute a contract with SDI Consulting Group to study the feasibility of establishing a benefit assessment for vector control services in an amount not to exceed 200,000 citywide. Speaker 2: Well, probably coming from this item. Speaker 12: Mr. Vice Mayor, council members, this is something we've been talking about for about the past five years. Speaker 8: And Health and Human Services. Speaker 12: To help them regarding their budget, which gets pretty tight. So we're asking permission to look into this program and come back to the city council with results. I'm going to turn this over to Kelly Collopy and Nelson Kerr. Speaker 3: Good evening. Speaker 11: Honorable vice mayor and council members. I'm going to ask Nelson Kerr, who's our bureau manager for Environmental Health, to share a little bit about the program that we're going to be moving forward with and that consultant, and then we'll be open for questions. Speaker 8: Okay. Thank you. The item before you tonight, council is a request for approval for the Health Department to enter into a contract with the engineering consulting group SCA. The purpose of the agreement is to study the feasibility of establishing a benefit assessment to fund vector control services in parts of the city that are not currently covered by a benefit assessment. This area represents over 60% of our city, including areas in north Long Beach, west, Long Beach, south and southeast Long Beach. And there should be a map attached with your item. And you can also note that the whole East Side is covered by Greater Los Angeles Vector Control District. To be clear, the order before you tonight is wanting to explore the level of support among parcel owners for such a benefit assessment. And we would need a simple majority from those folks eventually to approve it. We will return to council with a recommendation on whether or not to move forward within 3 to 6 months. Just a little bit of background. As our world becomes more connected, we are seeing more new vector borne diseases that have been previously unseen in Southern California. We're seeing these diseases emerge, such as West Nile virus, Zika, and now again with Saint Louis encephalitis. Just recently, the developments of emerging vectors and diseases reinforce the need for a sound public health vector, public health oriented vector control programs to protect our most vulnerable residents against these emerging diseases are emerging vector control issues are more resource intensive and require highly specific approaches that tend to be more labor intensive and research focused and past issues that we've dealt with. For example, addressing the AIDS aegypti mosquito that we've recently discovered in Long Beach required door to door education and outreach and in certain impacted neighborhoods as well as extra staff. Time for researching new approaches to address these new threats. The benefit assessment, if if supported, eventually would provide Long Beach Health Department's vector control program with a sustainable and dedicated source of funding for a stable and long term comprehensive vector control program. If there is adequate support, the General Fund and Health Fund would save a significant amount of revenue which could be freed up for other uses . And vector control in Long Beach would have a dedicated and sustainable funding source to guarantee sustained services to protect our residents and visitors from these emerging diseases. This concludes my report. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Pierce. Speaker 5: Thank you. I want to thank staff for their work on this. I know it was an area that I was not well-educated on before having my briefing with, uh, with our director of our health department and looking at the map, I think it is really eye opening to see how much of our city is not covered by the county. And so I fully support, you know, this discussion and moving forward with this. I wanted to ask, you know, should this happen, should this go forward? And they assess what what do you see possible for our for the budget, for the health department. I know we talked briefly about this. I guess I understand that it would free up some moneys in our health department. Speaker 0: Well, that's a good question. Speaker 8: And the the engineering firm that we're working with will be conducting what we call a scientific survey, and that will determine the level of support among the parcel owners. And depending on what level that is, these these benefit assessments for vector control are generally inexpensive, running between ten and $20 per year. So if we were to we have about 100,000 parcels in play here. So we would if it was a low amount of support, we could maintain our program status quo, but we would have a sustained funding source and it would also free up money from the health fund where they wouldn't need to support our vector control program anymore to the tune of approximately $500,000. Speaker 5: Okay, great. Thank you for that. Appreciate it. Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilman Richardson. Speaker 15: Thank you, Vice Mayor. So is the idea that you would pull areas that don't already have a vector control district or if you have overlapping vector control districts, will still pull those areas as well. Speaker 3: This would be this would be only. Speaker 11: For those areas that are not currently covered by the Los Angeles area district. So Ann Compton as well. So those two are already covered and we would cover the remaining. Okay. Speaker 15: And I was going to raise up the Compton Creek Mosquito Abatement District. I didn't hear that earlier. So and I'm curious to know which area. I know that North Palm Beach has the Compton Creek Mosquito Abatement District. I know that we appoint a representative there. I know that I receive outreach from them. But I'm curious to know how much of North Long Beach is in that district or would be in the city potentially this district? In theory, I think this is smart to, number one, acknowledge that we have a health department and we need to take steps to to engage them so they can better inform our residents on how to how to remain safe. I think that makes sense. I also think, you know, with our ongoing conversation about identifying structural ways to support the health department in its work, I think this makes sense. And I think finally, this is a smart approach to engage in the scientific survey to see if it's even feasible for all of those reasons. This is smart and I support it. Thanks. Speaker 8: Councilmember, to answer your question. Compton Creek covers the extreme north west corner, which we would call the coolies triangle. About maybe about 10,000 people in that area are covered by Compton Creek, which is just a very small portion of the Compton Creek Creek. Mosquito Abatement District. Speaker 15: Clarification. It's not just the coolest triangle that the coolest triangle. That means you get the College Square Star King and Longwood Neighborhoods. Just want to be clear on that. That's three neighborhoods, four neighborhoods, things. Speaker 2: When it comes to immigration. Okay, fine. I know I'm asking either, sir. Yeah, I'm fine. Okay. Speaker 4: WOMAN Yes. Nearly all of the fifth district is already covered by L.A. County. And so I'm not really. For or against this at any time, but I will support the item for the feasibility study. But it would not impact that district. It would actually. Currently, the fifth district is paying for vector control and receiving vector control. And so it's almost as if you don't do this. The Fifth District's actually double taxed. So things. Speaker 8: Huntsman Soprano responded to that last comment. The fourth District is a little more complicated. The border between Long Beach and L.A. County is Lakewood Boulevard and then PCH from South, a traffic circle. So about splits the fourth District in half. So I'm just curious. So. Mr. Kirk so so the the county system doesn't get changed at all or we wouldn't even have the authority to do that. So this Long Beach. Well, the results of the study show that we'll have a similar system to L.A. County's. Ah, how does it work? Yes, the. The services would be large, largely similar. However, we would have some as a health department, we would have some expanded services in our assessment area. However, we would also provide those same services in the greater L.A. area. Any any service that Greater L.A. doesn't cover, we would cover in greater Los area. My next question is, does it make sense to have these dueling systems if we're going to convert part of Long Beach, this is it. We just don't want to bite off that much at this point. The in order to have the city health department cover the entire city, it would be a very complex process involving LaRocco in a changing of district borders. And I don't know that there's an appetite with greater Los Angeles or Compton Creek at this point, but perhaps we could discuss that at a later date once we get our assessment done. Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Yes. This comes from last year. Speaker 14: Thank you so much and I appreciate the great questions. I'm going to be supporting this item because I think it's it's as Councilmember Richardson said, it's smart for us to at least look at this. I do have a question regarding a comment made earlier regarding the how are vector control program is currently the current cost and the impact of on the general fund. What are we looking at in terms of general fund today? Speaker 17: So currently the. Speaker 11: The vector work is funded through our Health Department's Realignment. Speaker 3: Fund. So that is that that is a. Speaker 6: Small portion of funding that we receive. Speaker 3: From state that we. Speaker 11: Utilize for all services not covered through grants so that the current budget for us that is about. Speaker 3: 50 little. Speaker 11: Over half million dollars. In addition and then in the general fund is another approximately. Speaker 10: $100,000. Speaker 3: That we that is. Speaker 11: Build back to the general fund for certain services requested by the department. Speaker 14: Okay. Speaker 8: And then I was just going to add that, that if we were to achieve the benefit assessment, we would no longer need to charge those services to the general fund. So the general fund would realize that $100,000 savings. Speaker 14: Great into councilmember supernovas. Just to follow up on his point regarding the the county, obviously, you know, we prefer local control, but I'd like to at least understand what the what the options would look like. I mean, if if that was an expanded service with L.A. County for for the taxpayers. Right. We want to make sure that they are getting the biggest bang for their buck with the and the bottom line is, it's it's the delivery of services. And so I really I mean, his question was was was a good one. I think it should be explored as well, but I'll be supporting this item. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Is there any more any or no, any more that any public comments on this item? If not, would you please cast your vote? Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 2: Item 24. 23. Excuse me, I'm 23.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary amendments, with SCI Consulting Group, of Fairfield, CA, to study the feasibility of establishing a benefit assessment for vector control services, in an amount not to exceed $200,000, for a period of one year, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)

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Speaker 9: So let's give her a big round of applause. Thank you. Thank you. We have a full agenda. We have three hearings tonight. So just as a reminder, the hearings go first. And so we'll have three hearings and then two items that have been asked to move up on the agenda. So let's start with the first hearing hearing item number one, which is if I can, please have the clerk read it and I believe an oath is required. Speaker 3: Yes. Hearing item one is a report from Financial Management Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and grant an entertainment permit with conditions on the applications of the modern. Located at 2801 is Spring Street, Suite 300 for Entertainment with Dancing District five. And it does require an oath. Please raise your right hand. You and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the court now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God. Speaker 9: Thank you. I'll turn this over to Steph. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Speaker 4: The presentation tonight will be conducted by Bret Jockey's business services officer and Emily Armstrong, Business Licensing Division Specialist. Speaker 6: Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. Tonight you have before you an application. Speaker 7: For entertainment with dancing for the Modern LLC. Speaker 6: Located at 2801e Spring Street. Speaker 7: Suite 300. Operating as a hall rental in Council District five. This application originally came before you on July 24th, 2018, and was continued to allow further discussion on the recommended conditions. Speaker 3: Staff has amended the conditions. Speaker 7: As included in the hearing packet and has met with the business owner. I, as well as the police department, stand ready to answer any questions council may have. And that concludes staff's report. Speaker 9: Okay, thank you. Let me turn this over to Councilman Mongo. We have a motion and a second councilman mango. Speaker 10: All the conditions on this property are in alignment with others that are significantly similar. I'm very supportive of the current outcome and I appreciate staff and all the work that they've done to date. Thank you. Speaker 9: Councilman Austin. Any any public comment on this hearing seeing an obvious please come forward. Speaker 7: Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. Speaker 1: My name is Mary. Speaker 10: Leland 296 Granada Avenue. Speaker 7: I am the owner. Speaker 10: Of the Modern. I'd like to take a moment just to thank City Staff. Speaker 7: Councilwoman Mongeau for taking the extra time to meet with us, to go over the conditions. And we look forward. Speaker 10: To many fantastic celebrations and events at the modern. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you. Seeing no other. Public comment. We'll go ahead and have a motion or a second. Members, please cast your vote.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and grant an Entertainment Permit with conditions on the application of The Modern, LLC, dba The Modern, 2801 East Spring Street, Suite 300, for Entertainment With Dancing. (District 5)

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Speaker 3: Lucian Karis. Speaker 9: Thank you. Hearing item two. Speaker 3: Item Choose the report from Development Services Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing and adopt negative declarations. Zero one Dash 18 declared ordinance amending various sections of Title 21 of the Land Beach Police Code, all relating to conditional use permit. Read the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading and Adobe Resolution authorizing the Director of Development Services to submit amendment of the Long Beach zoning regulations and supporting materials to the California Coastal Commission for Approval and Certification Citywide. Speaker 9: Thank you. Staff. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Speaker 4: Tonight's staff presentation will be done by current planning officer Kerry Tai. Speaker 10: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Members of the city council. Tonight, staff is pleased to present to you proposed amendments pertaining to the city's use permit review process. Just a bit of background. In March of 2017, the city kicked off a city council initiated request to review the city's conditional use permit. As the council knows, there are uses in the city that are permitted by write in the city's zoning ordinance, and there are also uses that are subject to an extra process known as a use permit. Some are conditional use permits and some are administrative use permits. They're just sort of major and minor. But the request stemmed from feedback from city business owners who cited that the use permit process was hindering some of the creation or opening of new businesses, in particular aspects related to timeliness, predictability, efficiency and cost. So staff focused on these aspects and reviewed ways to maintain the ability of the community to address concerns, but also to try to improve on some of the aspects that the business owners were expressing concerns about. And so all of this really was done with the overarching goal of improving the city's image as a great place to do business. And so just an overview of the process. There are some dates on the screen, but I'll just quickly run through them. Since last spring, the staff did a multi-month engagement, along with a consultant with stakeholders and business associations in the community. The consultant that assisted the staff also did a thorough analysis of the city's zoning regulations and pointed out recommendations on how to make the process more clear and even how to make the zoning ordinance more clear. The engagement effort also included a study session with the Planning Commission, as well as the Economic Development Commission. And then staff also individually reached out to numerous business associations that, due to their staffing limitations, were not able to participate in some of the meetings. And so we did one one on one outreach prior to the Planning Commission hearing on June 7th. Staff also addressed inquiries from several resident groups pertaining to some of the changes which I'll go through in a bit. So after that extensive stakeholder effort in preparation of zoning recommendations, the Planning Commission did conduct a public hearing on this item on June 7th and recommended recommended approval that the City Council approve this application. So I'm going to go through just some more detail about some of the stakeholder issues. I'm going to categorize them. But generally, they fell under a several categories that I'm sure are familiar to many. Alcohol regulations, parking regulations, procedures and cost. And then the last aspect was the identification of the need for business assistance. In other words, the stakeholders mentioned that a lot of folks that appear before the city to start a business simply lacked the knowledge of what the process was and could have used better assistance to guide them through the process. In terms of the technical aspect of the zoning code, the consultant did an analysis and compared Long Beach to several other pier cities. The city's notification process for use permits, which right now is a 750 foot radius consisting of property owners and occupants, was found to be greater than pure cities. They also found the consultant also found that some cities do a much better job of providing information on business assistance and also sharing what what's going on in the process, what the steps are and what other applications are in the process. And lastly, the consultant noted that Long Beach's application costs seemed higher because the costs are bundled. The the cost to process the application, the notification costs and various surcharges are all bundled into one. And so they appear to be higher when in fact, when the numbers are actually broken down, they actually are pretty comparable in terms of the zoning code. The the assessment was that there were definitely definitions in the code that were outdated and and convoluted that made the code somewhat difficult to understand. There were missing references to certain issues, certain aspects relating to alcohol, so that the city's regulation of alcohol did not jive with the state alcohol and beverage controls regulations, and also that overall the code could use a better just just a better clarification. So one of the main recommendations, though, in terms of speeding up the process, was doing a review of uses and determining whether those uses in actuality needed use permits. The reason for that is the city's zoning ordinance was largely crafted in 1988 with intermittent amendments for the last 30 years, basically. And there are some regulations that could be deemed to be outdated given the there's new ways to do business and the new sort of marketplace and economy. So some of the uses that the that were identified as needing updated included included laundromats which currently require an administrative use permit, second hand stores. So reuse stores, thrift stores, those all require conditional I'm sorry, administrative use permits. Daycares in multifamily zones currently require conditional use permits. And yet the city's housing element identifies multifamily zones as areas needing daycares. The most live work units and commercial districts also require use permits when most other cities are not requiring use permits for that because adequate development standards can be put into place to regulate those. And so the there are basically there's a list of uses and their associated development standards, which also showed that there was a need to update the regulations based on kind of more modern way of doing business is one example is that for daycares the hours of operation were limited from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.. But today's longer work hours. Parents need to drop the kids off earlier and pick them up later. And so that was one of the changes that we are proposing. With regard to public notification, I did give a little background. The city's 750 foot notification does exceed what the state minimum is, which is 300. However, one thing that the staff took a look at was the effectiveness of that notification. We typically send out a couple of hundred, sometimes over a couple, sometimes over several thousand. If it's a project in the downtown, it's they're known to have over 4000 notices in a single mailing, and sometimes over 20% of them come back as returned mail. And also as a result of that, we've had public hearings where one or two people show up a result as a result of more than a thousand notices going out. So certainly staff observed the the lack of efficiency and effectiveness of that notification. So studied ways that other cities are providing notification of projects. The one recommendation that was that came down very strongly was digital notification. Clearly the movement of communication towards the Internet, the use of the website to the city's website, to post public notification as well as email email services like L.B. Link, where people are able to sign up for issues that they're interested in, as well as the thousands of people following the city on social media have been proven to be effective ways of getting the word out on projects that that are being proposed and also the state law, as well as many other cities allow for newspaper publication when the number of notices exceeds 1000 properties. That is a common occurrence in the projects that that Long Beach sees. And so one of the proposed changes is, is to incorporate that allowance into the zoning ordinance. And then the last part is in terms of a procedure, not necessarily notification, but creating a an administrative land use process to document uses that are by rights so that applicants can come in and sign and acknowledge that they understand the development regulations before they open a business so they can operate in accordance with city regulations. And they've indicated to the city that they understand that. So in your packet or there's an ordinance summarizing the changes that I've just summarized, and I want to go and just talk about a few next steps. So certainly the some of the stakeholder concerns related to some broader issues relating to, for example, alcohol sales and the changing nature of alcohol regulations, be it late night sales, late night sales of alcohol or change in alcohol products because it's sort of a moving target. Right now, the staff is acknowledging that there is a need to perform a continued study of improvements to to alcohol sales procedures. Also in the staff report, the the staff talks about the ease of use of the code after some of the changes are made. There are a couple of chapters in the zoning ordinance that are just very difficult to use. Things are not in order and things are difficult to find. And so the recommendation is to come back and reorganize some of the chapters without any content change just to improve the ease of use. And then lastly, the next step is to recommend enhancing the city's website to provide increased information about development proposals. And I and an example of that would be a map based software that shows what projects are going on so that people can easily relate what the what ongoing projects are in their neighborhood and what is most relevant to them. And so this process certainly is not over. I think this is step one of and of an effort to make it easier to do business in the city, to negotiate the city's use permit process. And the Planning Commission recommends that the City Council adopt the proposed changes in the attached ordinance. That concludes my presentation and I can answer any questions you have. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilor Pearce. Speaker 7: Yes. Thank you very much, staff. This has been a long time coming. So when I first started talking about even running to sit behind this dais, I talked to a lot of small business owners that said that they had a lot of challenges with the conditional use permits, the process, the amount of funds it took for them to get their doors open with the types of uses that they that they wanted and that the cost was much higher than other cities. And so I am really happy. I want to just give a little bit of context and then I'll ask a couple of questions. This item came forward in December of 2016 with my council colleagues Lena Gonzalez, Stacey Mango, Al Austin, and that we together, you know, set out to try to get Long Beach to be updated for our businesses. And so this conditional use process has been several years in the making and not only included an outside consultant to work on this, but we did make sure that we included COBA, that we included small businesses, large businesses and multiple types of businesses. So I want to applaud staff because I know when we've done community outreach in the past and when this first came up, it was difficult to get some of the other users to participate in the process and really understand the Laundromats and some of those other uses that might not be as engaged in our city like restaurants are, because we all eat all the time. And so I want to recognize that we had a roundtable that included COBR, all of our business associations within the city, as well as individual neighborhood associations, Rose Park, Alamitos Beach, Bluff Heights, and in our downtown area as well. And so what was that in West Side? So definitely West Side, but that those were part of a work group that the consultants worked with, that this didn't just come out of city staff, but city staff really did a great job picking it up and leading it and making sure that it came back with a complete overhaul that the city is really due to have. So I'm really happy to see it here. I know that we had some questions the last time we met with community members around the online process. Could you elaborate a little bit of how you're working with it? And we discussed cutting back some of the paper notifications, but how are we really going to trust that are online sources like social media is the right way? What cities have we seen do that before? Speaker 10: Shura Council Member Pearce, thank you for the question. In the in the study of the peer cities, the consultant took a look at the cities of Oakland, Anaheim, West, Hollywood and Huntington Beach I'm sorry, and took a look at what they are doing and they are taking advantage of a lot of digital digital notification processes. And in terms of working with are it working to ensure that the digital notification that this proposal is going to be effective? One of the very specific performance criteria that we have incorporated into the digital notification requirement. So it's not going to be optional. It's going to be in addition to the mailing that's going to be starting at 300 feet with a couple of exceptions, but starting at 300 feet, it's going to be mandatory digital notification. It means we have to advertise those public notices in an electronic format. And not only that, the performance criteria is it's going to be based on what is currently the most effective. In other words, where do we have the most followers? Where do we have the most subscribers? And the reason for that was to provide a way for the code, which does not change very often to respond to digital internet usage, which does change, I mean, in every two or three years, you know, a new form of social media peaks or a new website peaks, and it's to allow our code to have the flexibility without having to change it time and time again. And that will be developed through a policy within the Department of Development Services to regularly track what is the most effective notification method, and then to use, at a minimum, two of those. Speaker 7: Great and I don't recall you going through it necessarily in your presentation, but you mentioned that some of them will be 300 feet, some of them will. Some of the uses are required to be further distance. Can you recap that one more time for me? Speaker 10: Absolutely. So, yeah, I'm happy to go over that. It's going to make it a little complicated with the numbers. So the state minimum is 300 feet. So staff is so staff is proposing to move the default notification to 300 feet. But that would include still both the property owners and the occupants, which is still above and beyond what the state requirement is. State only allows only requires property owners, but for users, for example, that have buffers for the massage users that have a 700 foot buffer or a tattoo use that has a 500 foot buffer, the any any of those uses that requires a use permit, that notification would automatically be extended to that buffer to ensure that we have added coverage. Also, any project that has any parking reduction, anything a variance for parking, parking, shared parking that would remain at the 750 foot notification. And that was because during our engagement with the residential stakeholders, that was that was at the top of the list in terms of concerns about businesses taking up parking into residential neighborhoods. And so they wanted to be aware of any instance where that where the potential for there was the potential for that to happen. So that stays at 750. And so those are some of the examples of how the default is 300. But there are there are tiered systems to account for specific situations. Speaker 7: Great. Thank you for that. I will just close with I think you touched on it, it's a rare opportunity to sit here and and go through the code like this. I think you guys have done a great job on really not having a blanket policy, but really going line by line with all the different uses. And I encourage my my council colleagues to support this change. I also want to recognize the Economic Development Commission and the Planning Commission that also spent a lot of time with this as well. So thank you guys very, very much. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilman Gonzales. Speaker 6: Yeah. I want to thank Councilmember Pearce for bringing it forward some time ago and really our staff for continuing to bring us to where we're at now. I think this is a great win for small business and I just want to ask a few things. How does that look like internally? It's got to be a lot easier now for you or is that are we going to have a little bit of a a road to overcome before this actually comes to fruition and we figure out what the streamlining will look like? Speaker 10: Sure. Thank you, Councilmember Gonzales. That's a that's a great question. And we are we are undergoing the internal process improvements that will effectuate the changes at. So one thing that, you know, I, I didn't specifically talk about, but I think it's covered in terms of in the report is that the slight reduction in the notification will have a cost savings and staff will be bringing back a slight fee update which will basically it'll reduce the fee for anybody who isn't subject to the the full 750 foot notification. So that's one internal process that you will actually see. And in terms of other uses, we know very specifically which uses have what buffers. And so we'll know which tier to put them in and put them in the the appropriate cost bracket, if you will. Right now at the back of our application packet, we already have all the different uses that require use permits listed out. And so it's just a matter of whenever a certain use comes in that meets the criteria for an extended buffer, we will be able to identify that pretty easily and then note that buffer for their application processing accordingly. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you. That's great to hear. And were there any other I know that we're still in the next steps. We're continuing the discussion on alcohol sale procedures. I know that's probably the number one thing that we hear, especially in downtown. Do we know do we have any in addition to that alcohol sales discussion, do we have any other alternatives scenarios that were brought up that may not be in this presentation that were just sort of other ideas that we're looking at as well? Speaker 1: I one of the things that we heard from applicants or a number of the businesses was their interest in a business that was currently selling alcohol that desired to potentially move to a different location. They would very much like a process that allows an existing business who's a good operator, hasn't had any issues or troubles to open up a new location and have them go through a minimal process because of their good record at one property. And that is something we're exploring. It is a challenge because every neighborhood is different. Every community, every location is different. And right now, we haven't found a way to essentially get them there to to waive the set up process. But one of the things in Kerry's presentation, she mentioned that we are taking a deeper dove, looking at alcohol sales. So as a part of that process will be exploring whether or not there is some way to minimize that process. But we that was one of the alternatives that that was put forward that we considered but could not we couldn't get there in this process. But we all will still be exploring that as an option. Speaker 6: Great, Will, thank you. And I look forward to seeing how that evolves. And then just last thing that I think that has been mentioned is the multiple methods of communication. I think especially when it comes to development, we've known that's been sort of an issue that community members have talked about and ensuring that specific community groups are included. I know that we do a radius, but there's some community groups that might be right outside the radius. So I know we're being a little bit more cautious and mindful of that, which is good. One last question. Is there are there any existing proposals in the pipeline that would be affected? I don't know if there's like an abundance of laundromats that want to come to the downtown by chance. I just want to ask that. Speaker 10: Yeah. Thank you for the question. And, you know, I'll answer that question and then I'll follow up on the other point. But actually, no, coincidentally, right now we do not have any pending applications for thrift stores, laundromats, daycares or or live work units. So and then to the other point about the neighborhood groups, it is currently already a part of the development services process. They use permit process to notify neighborhood groups not only when the public notification goes out, but also when the application is received. So while that is not codified, it is already part of our process. Speaker 6: Okay, wonderful. Thank you very much for the work. I appreciate it. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 10: I'm very familiar with the neighborhood notification process. I haven't been neighborhood president for six years, but I still receive notifications, so I know that it is alive and well and working. But I think that our work to ensure that those lists are updated and while I happen to still serve on my neighborhood board and keep them apprized , that might not always happen, had something different happen to me than coming to the dais. So I think that we need to work really hard. I know that Neighborhood Services is always updating the list, but there has to be a process specifically as it pertains to each development. So the one in in my neighborhood recently was the Dorado. The Dorado received a notification to the neighborhood president email address, which came to me and I haven't been president for quite a bit of time, so we need to work on that a bit. I'm really excited. And while I appreciate Councilmember Pierce's excitement about this, this first came to the council in 2014 with Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez and I when we first started talking about components of notification and the social media options related to digital advertising and geofencing around an area and ensuring that the ads for those areas are specific in nature. So, for instance, you can on a map put a box around a development project, and then anyone who looks at their browser for Google or any of the others would get an ad that this is happening in their community. And I don't know that I've. I hear that there's a social media component, but I don't know that that ad component that we kind of talked about back in 2014 has been included. Is that something that you guys are still considering? Speaker 1: That is new information. But what I would say is that it's not currently a part of this process, but that is absolutely something we can explore. Christopher, do you have just for clarification, by adding in boosted post or. Speaker 2: Or. Speaker 1: ID using a different function? Speaker 10: It's actually so at the time, the first project that was using this, I can't remember what it was, but there was a discussion around. Not. Not everyone's on social media. And so literally for a very small price. And I know that I've had talks. The person who brought this to my attention was Mr. Worthington. He uses this in the area quite well, where when you are a person who lives in 900808, no matter if you're on your phone. Anywhere. They can do it by two. Two paths. One, when you're near the dealership. If you're on a device, they can push forward an ad to you. And then the second is, if you live in this area, no matter what device you're on, let's say you're on an iPad in Pasadena, but you live in Long Beach. The ad could be pushed to you. There's lots of options, but it's actually targeting people, especially on my side of town, who may not participate in social media but go on the Internet to purchase things. And the but so you might be shopping on Amazon and the ad will pop up. There were even ads during this last campaign that would say vote for somebody for November right there in the Amazon screen. And so those are another very inexpensive way. I mean, they're so cheap ad buys, they would probably be less expensive and more effective than the mailings that are getting such. Speaker 1: Low, low return. It would be very interested in looking at that. Yes. Speaker 10: And there's people who know more about this than I do, obviously, that we can connect with the other component of this that I think came forward and I know Mr. Councilmember Richardson's. Up next is we talked about a phase two of this, which was first, let's look at the code and make it easier to get the copies . But there were also discussions related to what are the tools that we can put online that once they're in that process? They can download specific measurable specs. So let's say, for instance, their barrier to entry is an ADA bathroom. Councilmember Richardson kind of talked at the dais and I'm really stretching here. This was five years ago, but about the ability to just log on and say, here are 12 ADA bathrooms that meet the requirement. You should be able to download one of them and have your contractor do it instead of going through the processes and procedures . But like preapproved, here's what you need. To get done. And I know that was a part of the 2014 theory and Plan, which was a long time ago and several staff members ago. But I don't want it to get lost in the in the discussion. I think that this is a great first step, and I'm glad we're all on board. And I, I think the group of councilmembers who who brought this back in 2016 are very dedicated to getting this process to be streamlined. But I would also say that in my last three years, the number of businesses. Speaker 7: That don't feel they fit. Speaker 1: In the box. Speaker 10: Has increased. So. A tiny, tiny gem of. Speaker 7: Like six moms sitting around with six. Speaker 10: Kids playing. Speaker 7: Ball. Speaker 10: It's not a gym, but they're being required to fit at the parking rate of a 24 hour fitness. And so finding those subcategories. Speaker 1: I think, are. Speaker 10: Going to be really important in the next five years. Thank you for all your work. Speaker 9: Kathryn Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So congratulations and thank you to Councilman Pearce and all the signers on this original item. And, you know, you know, to take it even further back, I think the council before us even had a view a couple, I think, to keep conversations going to continue to evolve as we move forward. A couple things. So. On the notification. I understand that that is one of the largest expenses of a CFP, but I do have concerns and I do agree that we need to be able to use a scalpel and be more strategic and save money. But at the same time, the concept of simply using a newspaper ad over a certain threshold, we just don't have circulation and newspaper circulation in entire areas of town, which I think that that's going to disproportionately disengage certain communities. And I think we have to think through that a little bit. I think we have to have a question. Does this conversation still does this ordinance still leave the conversation open to talk about the actual the notification process? So the way that we handle public notifications, are we still there's the doors that open to discuss this outside of this ordinance? Speaker 1: Well, if this ordinance passes, it would be the ordinance that would govern how we do notices going forward until the council decides to amend it once again. Speaker 2: So that but that's specific to caps. I mean, all public notices. I mean, there there needs to be a broader conversation in general about public notices sort of, you know, how do you simplify them, make use less legal language and simplify the syntax? So basic people, you know, basic folks can understand that context. So are we able to talk about, like the structure of the notice, what it looks like? Speaker 0: Absolutely. Absolutely. Speaker 2: Okay. Because I like to have a conversation outside of the S.U.V.. I like most of what's presented here, but I want to have a better conversation about making sure the public notices are simply just more effective and communicate the message better to all communities. Make sure we have a common denominator, a language that the common person can can comment on the language. Specifically on the laundromats. So we have a number of laundromats. And I I'm glad to know there isn't an, you know, a long line of laundromats waiting to get into the city. So that was that was good news. But laundromats, they do bring their 24 hours. And the nature of laundromat is loitering. People are washing their clothes and people need to wash their clothes. I get that. But certain hours a night, they require certain security standards or perhaps even hours of operation. The ability to to regulate the hours operation of laundromats, a new modern laundromat that's locating in the area. Does do the standards within this ordinance allow us to regulate operating hours on a laundromat? Speaker 10: Thank you for your question, Councilmember Richardson. Yes. The purpose of development standards for these uses that we are proposing to allow by. Right. Rather than through a use permit, the purpose of those development standards is to ensure that those uses operate in a manner that does not create any potential for impacts of any kind. So that's absolutely acceptable here. And we are happy to hear your thoughts on that. Speaker 2: So the ability to regulate time, hours operation is in this ordinance. Speaker 10: The ability to correct it's not currently proposed. Speaker 2: What would that process look like? So who would who would weigh in on that? Is it a an administrative officer or zoning officer? Who would who would apply that? It wouldn't be the city council. But who would it be? Speaker 1: Typically what we've done is in in the interest of trying to simplify the process of getting these use permits, we've gone away from what we call the discretionary process, where it goes to the VA or goes to the planning commission. We've put in place an administrative process where it could go from whatever the time period was and the significant cost of going to the Planning Commission or the CAA. We've reduced the costs, but we've put in place what we call an administrative permit process, which takes a few days and it's a couple of hundred dollars rather than the long, drawn out process that costs thousands of dollars. But to protect the integrity and the compatibility of these uses that are no longer going to be a part of a public hearing process, we are adopting what we call operational standards or performance standards for each one of those and each one of those. Depending upon the nature of the use, we will craft a set of standards such as they may affect the operating hours, it may affect the opening and close times, it may affect signage, a number of different things that affect how it could potentially affect the neighbors. And that would be adopted and included as a part of this ordinance. Speaker 8: So the. Speaker 2: Standard. So you're saying the standard those standards would not be on a project by project basis. We would need to adopt them in these. Speaker 1: That's correct. They would be put in place as a part of this ordinance. And we have standards now for the myriad of different types of projects like. And I'm going to just give you an example, a trucking use. When a trucking use comes down through a C, you p process there, the code contains very specific standards that that particular use has to comply with. And that's just one example. There are a myriad of other types of uses that are subject to a C up process where the code literally calls out very specifically what those standards be. They set back B they are as of Operation B, they landscaping and that is what would be incorporated with this action, those what we call special development standards. Speaker 2: So what are what are the hours of operations proposed in this ordinance for laundromats? Speaker 1: They currently are not. And that's why we made the comment earlier. If you have specific suggestions, we could certainly include that in this ordinance. Speaker 8: Well. Speaker 2: I think we should have our hours of operation. I haven't done any specific outreach to find out, like what are the what is palatable. I think they need to be on a project by project basis, I think. Speaker 8: Councilman Yeah. Speaker 1: That's something we couldn't do tonight because we didn't put anybody on notice that we might be restricting hours of operations. If this ordinance passes, we would have to bring it back to make that change, you know, and publicly notice it. But that said, there are a number of operational standards already in here. For instance, there's a 500 foot separation. So you don't get an overconcentration. There's a requirement that an attendant be on duty at all times and it's open. There's a requirement for the glazing, for the windows, how much are transparent so that people can see what's going on in and out. There's ten, 12, 15 standards of operation. Two kind of noise is one of the things that's covered in here, to keep the laundromat from becoming a nuisance. If you get a situation in the future where a particular one becomes a nuisance or you have a trend where they become a nuisance, we could always come back and amend this, or you could make a suggestion tonight, but we'd have to put that over to another date to. So that the public has notice of that that restriction might go into effect. And the Council I would just like to add that in considering the potential for this use to and what it might potentially impact, I think staff has been very diligent in crafting that set of specific development standards. I would just suggest that maybe a step that you could consider is to let this go forward. And if there are any problems, we can certainly monitor it, keep a close look at it, and we would certainly have the opportunity to come back and make additional revisions if if if we feel or you feel that is warranted . If the council feels it's warranted. Speaker 2: Well, I do. And I feel that the conversation around I think it needs a little bit more work on in terms of the laundromat conversation, but I don't want to hold up the ordinance on that. So what I'd like to do is, you know, once we move, once this moves forward, maybe we convene a conversation and look at look into what the standard operating hours are and do a little bit outreach and maybe do an amendment in six months. Once we've done a little bit of outreach, you're open to working. Speaker 1: That's acceptable to staff. Speaker 2: Okay. Good. And then? And then. So the noticing on the public outreach went from 750 feet to 300 feet. Correct. Speaker 10: As a starting point, correct? Okay. Although there are many exceptions. Speaker 2: And we notify separately neighborhood associations. Right? Speaker 10: That's correct. Speaker 2: Do we notify any other civic or affinity groups like churches? No. We notify schools within a radius. Do we notify churches or any other affinity groups in the area? Speaker 10: The only additional noticing would be for any parties that have previously expressed interest in that particular project that we would notify them. So unless somebody has previously notified us, no, there's not any particular group that's in the additional bucket. Speaker 2: At what point is city council notified? Speaker 10: As part of the the Planning Bureau's notification process, a notice of public hearing is transmitted to the Council District Office in which the project is located. Speaker 2: Okay, so so I think we need to I think we need to do we have the ability to open it up beyond neighborhood associations include churches and schools within a more or more broad radius. If we're not going to do direct mail and save money and we know newspaper circulation and let's be honest, there's a lot of conversation about the digital divide in the city. So we shouldn't just assume using a technological solution is be the answer. So if we're going to save money by not doing as much on a mailer, then we should take that extra step and do a little bit more broad outreach to the organizations in the area. So particularly churches, business improvement districts and schools, I think at least those organizations within a broader radius should be included. So that's something we already have provision for. Is that something we can include to make? Speaker 1: I don't know that I can let the city attorney respond to that. But I think that your other suggestions about looking at the hours of operation, certainly we can look at some refinements to the noticing to expand that. But I I'd prefer that staff had some time to examine. Speaker 6: That a little bit. Speaker 1: More closely. So we're not doing something on the fly, but be thoughtful about it and bring something back for the Council to to consider. Mr. May I was just going to add that that noticing that we're talking about really isn't even and never has been part of the ordinance is something that staff is implemented to, you know , get better transparency. So that's it's something we could change any time. So we could bring that back a recommendation back from the planning commission at the time. We bring back the further discussion about the laundromat, and they could do that. Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think that I think that's smart. So we move forward. What we have now, we bring back a conversation about laundromats, but also about the broader conversation of how we know this, which is not specific, just two cups, but how we do public noticing in general the method, the means, all those things. They we have a broader conversation on that. But thank you. This is very good work. Again, Councilwoman Pearce, thanks for taking the lead on this. And it has my vote to make. Speaker 9: From a super. Don. Speaker 8: Thank you. I'm going to follow up on the council notification that Councilmember Richardson just brought up, and I had that as my number one priority anyway. So it's just coincidental that that was just discussed. So my greatest challenge over the last three years has been council notification. The reason it's so important is whether it's snail mail or however the public finds out about a project. Guess who they call first when they have questions and we should be notified as to what's going on. So I take it, and this might be a question for Mr. May, so we have policy and then we have something within the code. So could council notification be codified so that we make sure that it's an absolute that has to happen? Speaker 1: It could be codified, but you could just as easily do it by policy and direct staff to notify you at a certain point in time with any application process, it wouldn't be necessary to have it. The code staff would still have to follow your directive. Speaker 8: Okay, so that hasn't worked in the past. So it's just been spotty. And so I just I can't emphasize enough and I don't want to pick on development services because this is across the board. Back to Councilman Richardson's point. We have a fire training center in our district. They hand deliver notices to the public. Again, even with the fire training centers phone number on there, they will call the council office. So unless we have a copy of that notice, we have nothing to provide the public. So I just think in the spirit of Councilmember Richardson bringing this back, in terms of a general topic of notification, let's make sure we look at all those possible options. The other question, I think, is also for Mr. Mays, and that are there any legal limits to notification? That is, for instance, if if we wanted to put a notice out in our weekly email blast, would that be allowed legally? Speaker 1: Sure you can always go above and beyond what the state law requires. And state law requires a minimum of three, a 300 foot mailing radius. So for the most part, the city's standards as projected insurgents are above what the state law requires. But you can always you can do as much. Speaker 8: Okay. The next question I have sounds like it would it's a little too detailed or nit picking, but it's actually round one when the standard went from 300 to 750 feet. And I remember a lot of the questions back then. And one was, if you're dealing with a large property, where do you start the zero point? And it used to be in the center of that property. And I don't know if it's policy or code now, but the public asks that it be on the outer perimeters, the borders of that property. Is that the way it's measured now? Speaker 10: Thank you for your question, Councilman. Super. And yes, the the radius is measured from the outer boundary of the property or properties. If they if the project site comprises multiple properties, it's not from the center point, it's from the to the property boundaries. Speaker 8: Okay. And the last item I have would be and again, I think Councilmember Richardson was getting to this point, that we have residents who just aren't going to get the message electronically. How do we replicate that snail mail option if we're not going to do it anymore? Well, I mean, to the 750 feet, we're no longer doing it. Maybe I have that wrong. We're reducing the 750 to 300 for for hardcopy mailings. Speaker 10: Yeah. That's so that's that's correct. Residents have a I think we listed a menu of options and certainly happy to take into consideration, you know, the not necessarily the the active electronic version but the the the passive version that Councilwoman Mongo mentioned. And we could take that into consideration. But yes, the one of the it's about balance and I think the 300 foot is is is continuing to be is going to continue on the mailing and that there's no change to that. And so the important part for for the staff was to identify the uses that were subject to the extended buffers as well as the sensitive topic uses like the parking and retain those extended buffers for that purpose. So, so I think it's about balancing how to improve the, the, the use permit cost in the process, but also trying to replicate as best as possible the existing notification. And you know, with, with the vast majority of people moving toward electronic, native electronic media, if you will, you know, I think also the outreach effort is to let everybody know that, you know, if you if you want to hear about all the agendas on all the items to sign up for those for those lists. But, yes, there there obviously will be a minor portion that that will have to make an effort to be notified. Speaker 8: Okay. So this is just off the top of my head because we do an e-newsletter blast every Friday at 1:30 p.m.. We have request for hardcopy versions of that. So if if we look at this studying this whole issue, maybe you could sign up to request a hard copy version of notices? Speaker 10: Sure. Absolutely. And there there we have had we had a past stakeholder effort where somebody it was it was a survey, but some small group of people requested the hard copy surveys. And we were we were happy to oblige. And also, the department keeps a permanent notification list for people who are interested and being notified on a wide range of projects. And that could also be a way for us to know who needs hard copies. Thank you for that. Thank you for that suggestion. Speaker 8: Okay. I appreciate it. Thank you for all the hard work you've put in. Speaker 9: Councilman, just to add in, you know where we're talking about the mailed. Speaker 8: Notices for copies, but we didn't talk in this presentation about things that are changing. And we did survey both our customers and the folks that we hear from in the public. Speaker 9: And the number. Speaker 8: One way that people learn about a project is they heard from a neighbor who already knew. The number two way they learn about it is that giant sign that we put on the property itself. And that portion of the notification process is not changing whatsoever, and that's a very important part of our notification process. We didn't have an extended discussion of that this evening because it's not changing, but that is something that people appreciate and that will continue today. The other thing is we're here in front of you tonight on this narrow topic of the copy, but one of the instructions council gave when the land use element was in front of you was to do an update of outreach overall. And that effort is underway and we'll be able to give you an update towards the end of the calendar year. But that also means having better lines of communication between individuals and neighborhood groups and the department and the city so that there are those lines of communication. So when an individual project comes in, that's not the first time that the homeowner or resident has had some interaction with the department, that there's some existing relationship that they can draw upon to understand the process and participate in the process. I think. Thank you for that. And may the record show that Christopher Coons brought up the term land use element. I did not. So but that gets back to my earlier point. I'll just make one last point. Thank you for bringing up the large sign on the property. I never want to learn about a project in my district from one of those large signs. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 7: So a little fact about my first engagement in Long Beach was around the notification process. And those large signs came from some community activism work that we did. So sorry that they're so big, but they do help. I did what I wanted to follow up on the question around laundromats because I don't necessarily have a challenge with them being 24 hour in my district, but I understand the type of business that can operate in there. So can you clarify one more time on the process that we agreed to? We're going to pass it tonight. And then what are we going to do with the laundromat question? Speaker 10: Okay. Thank you for the question. So what we agreed upon was to move forward with the proposed ordinance tonight. And based on the I mean, the list of development standards here to ensure that the laundromats operate, you know, in a in a neighbor friendly manner is extensive. And so what we'll do is take a look and study other maybe other cities, study any calls of service for laundromats and determine whether an hours of operation parameter would be appropriate and bring that back within six months can. Speaker 7: Okay. Is there a way to bring that back? When's the next reading of this? In two weeks. Speaker 0: We can. Speaker 10: It's too soon. Yeah. For second reading. I can hear. Speaker 7: You even though I can't see you. It's okay. Speaker 9: For the second reading, I'm assuming I'll be back in a few weeks. Speaker 10: Yeah. We would not have we would not have sufficient time to prepare any. Speaker 7: Recommendations on that. Okay. I think that that that answers my question. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you. We're going to before we go to a vote, we're going to public comment. Any public comment on this hearing? Sing, Sing nun, please come forward if there is one. Any other public comment on this, seeing that this would be the only public comment. Speaker 8: Thanks, Mayor. Good evening. Members of the City Council. Customer Pierce. Thank you very much for bringing this item to our attention and certainly engaging the business community. I think the opportunity for the business community. Speaker 9: To have a say in really what their. Speaker 8: Future looks like is very, very important. And having this opportunity really, really makes a difference to that business community. I want to thank the Planning Commission and staff for the work that they've done. Being able to reach out to you and making amendments and recommendations to the proposal really means a lot. And certainly appreciate the opportunity to work in a smarter and more efficient and effective manner really makes it more business friendly. I think that's really what we're trying to do. Speaker 9: And really appreciate that, that gesture. Speaker 8: Appreciate that and look forward to that support. Thanks. Speaker 9: Thank you. With that, we're going to go to Councilman Richardson. Speaker 2: Oh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mays, is it possible to move forward? The ordinance must separate and divide the laundromats from the ordinance until we've had that conversation over the course of the next six months. Speaker 1: So we could. I was just looking at it. We could pull that whole section out. It would take some remembering and we would bring it back to you with the correct numbering for the various sections next week for second reading and hold the laundromat in abeyance. That would not be a problem. Speaker 2: Sure. And out you know, Councilmember, you go with that. Okay. So that's our friendly amendment. Speaker 1: So the friendly amendment would be removed to remove any amendments to the zoning ordinance related to laundromats, specifically section as it is currently styled. Section 21.5 2.239 would be removed for second reading when this comes back. So correct. Speaker 9: Okay. Thank you very much. Please cast your votes.

Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by repealing Sections 21.52.204 and 21.52.281; amending Sections 21.15.1560, 21.15.2310, 21.15.2420, 21.15.3000, 21.15.3015, 21.21.302(B)(4), Table 31-1, Table 32-1, and 21.52.249, and by adding Sections 21.15.1576, 21.15.1859, 21.25.905, 21.52.200.1, 21.52.240.5, and 21.52.270.1, all relating to Conditional Use Permits, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)

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Speaker 3: Motion carries seven zero. Speaker 9: Thank you. Hearing number three. Speaker 3: Hearing Item Threes Report from financial management. Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record concluded the public hearing and grant an entertainment permit with conditions on the application of Muldoon Saloon, located at 5646 Paramount Boulevard for Entertainment Without Dancing. District eight. And it does require note. Speaker 9: Thank you. Mr. Modica second reading. Speaker 3: Please raise your right hand. You in each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the court now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Speaker 4: I do. Staff presentation will be done by Brett Jockeys and Emily Armstrong from the Business Licensing Division. Speaker 7: Honorable mayor and members of the City Council tonight you have before you an application for Entertainment Without Dancing for Shamrock Hospitality Group LLC doing business. Speaker 6: As Muldoon Saloon. Speaker 7: Located at 5646 Paramount Boulevard operating as a bar tavern lounge in Council District eight. All of the necessary departments have reviewed the application and have provided their recommended. Speaker 3: Conditions as contained in the hearing. Speaker 7: Packet. I, as well as the police department, stand ready to answer any questions Council may have. And that concludes Stout's report. Speaker 9: Thank you. Councilman Orson. Speaker 2: I'd like to hear from the applicant first. Speaker 9: Okay. We're opening up the option for the applicant to say a few words. See. I can hear. Please come forward. Thank you, counsel. My name is John English Modern Saloon, North Long Beach. But we're still here. We appreciate your consideration for our opportunity to provide a safe environment. Speaker 1: For our. Speaker 9: Mostly millennials up there that want a place to hang out. And we. Speaker 0: Thank. Speaker 9: All of the different departments of the recommendation and approval on their side. That being said. Speaker 0: We look. Speaker 8: Forward to. Speaker 9: Many years of entertaining and servicing the community. Do you have any questions of me? That'll be okay. Just the comment is perfect. Thank you so much. Is there any other comment? And public comment as well. So if you have public comment, please line up right now. Speaker 4: Although Council of the City of Long Beach. My name is Patrick Coughlin, co-owner of Muldoon Saloon. And yeah, we had a rough start at Muldoon Saloon, but I just want to let you guys know that we've been pretty concerned about the community. You know, we've been helping cleaning up the neighborhood in various ways. And I hope that's considering, you know, the goodwill that we've had in the community or the goodwill that we're building up in the community is taking in consideration for live entertainment. So, yeah, no further for the government. Speaker 9: Thank you. And any other public comment on this. Sir, please come forward. Anybody? This is our last call. So. So we are last public comment on this hearing. Go ahead. Is a gentleman at City Hall? My name is Roger James Smart, and I've been living at 2712 East 56 way for 40 years. And I party that more, do it for 20 years. But they've changed owners in the last couple of years, in the last seven months. They started this live entertainment. Right. And they get three bands come that three man tonight, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday right. From ten Sunday. They they set up out there right in front of my house, play the drums. Annoying right doorstep. Play loud music. They drink out. They hang out. The drinks turn to people. Every night they later they piss in the yard. They put down the block. Church, right? The music just bothered me. I've been going crazy. I have called the police many, numerous times on record. They came up there in module I kid I they picked me up so much, I throw the ball at him. I had a gun out of him. Well, sir, sir, sir. Okay, sir, I'm going to. I think that's not appropriate to say, sir. Okay. So that's a that's a threat. We're going to we're going to go ahead. And I think you're. Sir, look, finish up 200. They're not even there at nighttime. Can you address? You can address. Address me. And I'm right, sir. And I ask members of my family to come with me, but they're so embarrassing me, you know, being a. A maniac towards these people and I hate him nightly. And they hang out. They hang out to three or four in the morning in the bar parking lot right there, riding skateboarding stuff. Sure. I'm not judging you. It comes right in my window. Thank you very much, sir. My window. And I do not like it. Thank you. Big. Can't count on Austin. Speaker 2: Yes. Well, I want to also get us we heard a staff report her from the public. And I want to just say to the the ownership, I appreciate their attempts to raise the standards of the bar. However, I do have some serious concerns about approving approving an entertainment permit at this time for a number of reasons. First of all, my staff reached out to the neighbors of Muldoon's this past week to see if they there were any thoughts about an entertainment permit. Our office spoke with it and heard back from several residents on 56 way and other blocks where well done is located. And of the residents we contacted, several of them were strongly opposed to the city approving the entertainment permit. One person had no opinion. One person was very supportive because they said their brother was a patron of those who were opposed. The concerns were consistent about the public nuisances that they'd have to deal with on a regular basis. These ranged from loud noises, trash bottles left in yards that they can hear music from the bar until late at night and other disturbances coming from the bar. Secondly, Muldoon's has really not shown a willingness to comply with the existing city laws and regulations to date. I'd just like to confirm before I go further with city staff with the question has more done Saloon received any temporary permits for live entertainment prior to tonight's hearing? Speaker 1: No, they have not received any temporary entertainment permits. Speaker 2: Have they requested any? Speaker 8: Not that I'm aware of. Speaker 2: Okay. In my staff, also check with special events the Office of Special Events, who also indicated that they have not issued any occasional event permits to models yet. Models has consistently hosted live bands at the bar without an entertainment permit. They even have a banner outside their building promoting live entertainment for several months. According to their Facebook page, they have had live bands perform on at least 26 different nights within the first nine months of 2018. In my opinion, this shows a complete disregard for our permit process. One that we just had a great big conversation about. Finally, I like to take into account the owner's own words about the conditions at his bar. He's contacting my office and Mr. Conlin, who's contacted my office on multiple occasions about bad elements in the neighborhood that he was having to deal with at his bar, which he's attributed to other businesses in the area. On May 2nd, 2017, just over a year ago, he came right here to city council and even addressed our council and spoke about the problems that he stated even his security could not handle at the bar. And I think we have a clip. Low technical difficulties. Speaker 9: And you're speaking to. Come on, forward. Speaker 10: Go ahead and take me. Well, yes. Speaker 9: We are. This is not. This is incorrect that we fixing this tech textbooks call. Speaker 0: Hello? Speaker 4: Yeah, hi. My name is Patrick Common on a modern saloon in North Long Beach. And I took over modeling. Speaker 8: Saloon. Speaker 4: Last August, and we cleaned it up quite a bit since we were there. It was not really a notorious bar, which is low profile, but it had a lot of, you know, bad things happening there. Ever since I've taken over the Bible, I've always had this problem with a bar called Daly's cocktails across the street. And there was kind of a lull period where I didn't have as much of a problem with them. But for six months just because, you know, I just got there. CROWD Not to go in. But ever since it started getting warmer, the temperatures started getting warmer. I'm getting more and more of this crowd coming into my bar. And, you know, I never really needed security in the beginning and now I have security. But the problem is, you know, the problem is so bad that security's not going to solve it, where if you have like 20 guys that are packing heat, you know, rolling up to your bar sometimes, you know, for, you know, get out of prison party, you know, it's not, you know, I kept my security can't handle that. And, you know, I and I did some research on the dunes. I mean what happened was last. Speaker 0: Thursday the incident on my. Speaker 2: Well, I think you get the picture. And so so I'm not only her. And furthermore, I got an email just less than two months ago. He said he's trying to eliminate all of the drug fronts around the bar. This is problematic with issuing an entertainment permit. So I've only heard from this applicant applicant about the problems that he's having at his bar. And I've never actually heard from him about the application for entertainment permit, which is also concerning when and based on these factors. I would not I would be inclined not to support this application today, however, before making a final decision, I like to be fair and to allow some more time to give the owner an opportunity to become a better neighbor, to demonstrate an ability to comply with the city's laws and regulations, which includes not having unpermitted entertainment or other violations. And with that, I would like to make a motion that we continue the hearing and understand that we need to provide a date certain for the continued hearing. So I'm thinking about 120 days, which would put us on January 22nd, 2019. In the meantime, I will request the police department to monitor for any violations, and we'll check back with the neighbors before the next hearing and to see if the notices, if they notice improvements. And they would encourage the the bar proprietor to reach out to his neighbors and build some some goodwill, because there are some some serious concerns from those who live close by. Then at that time, we'll consider the entertainment permit as appropriate or if any conditions, additional conditions are necessary. So my motion is to continue this hearing to January 22nd, 2019, and I ask my colleagues for their support. Speaker 9: That's the motion and the second members, please go ahead and cash for votes. Speaker 3: Motion carries seven zero. Speaker 9: Motion carries it's. The motion is continued. Next up is a consent calendar. Please think of motion in a second for the consent calendar. Was there any public comment on the consent calendar? CNN. Please cast your votes.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and grant an Entertainment Permit with conditions on the application of Shamrock Hospitality Group, LLC, dba Muldoon's Saloon, 5646 Paramount Blvd., for Entertainment Without Dancing. (District 8)

LongBeachCC

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Speaker 9: Thank you. I've had I've had three requests for council items to be moved up on the regular agenda. So let me go ahead and do those first. First is item 24. Speaker 3: Item 24 is a communication from Councilmember Peers. Councilwoman Price. Councilman Austin. Recommendation to direct City Auditor to partner with City Manager to conduct an audit of the knot of onboarding, process and policies for all new employees, including appointed and elected. Require City Manager to report on the city's efforts to able to review and improve the turnaround time for hiring new employees. And to work with human resources and Health and Human Services to report on current practices and trainings of trauma informed methods as it relates to employees. Speaker 9: Gossamer appears. Speaker 7: Thank you. I believe there's a presentation, but I recognize we have technical difficulties. All right, here we go. I am going to try to be brief. I want to thank everybody that has worked with me on this item city staff, city managers, department, city auditor in making sure that we put forward the best item. I need the clicker. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 7: Are you going to click for me? Awesome. So Long Beach City employees are the heart of our city. We have nearly 6000 city employees. And it's critically important to me as a council member and I think to our city as a whole, that when we talk about the health of our city, we look inwards first. I also think it's critically important that we know it's been a lot of changes at the state level, at the federal level and at the local level for employment practices, for human, for air practices. And so we want to make sure that we take a moment to ensure our is aligned with those practices, those policies and the values that the city has said that we care so much about. Thank you. We're going to point it out to us anyway. What's the right and. There we go. I didn't get a training on this. You know, our training doesn't include PowerPoint. So we've got 6000 employees and 11 employee unions. And in the last 12 months, our department did a wonderful job of negotiating with all of those city employee unions. And now for me is a good time to kind of look at what we've done and look at what's in place. And so you see the city. We have everything from lifeguards to people that are fixing our roads to management to city attorney's office. So we have a very diverse group of employees here. Human Resources Department is the core of any organization we in our department. It includes recruitment, orientation, training, leadership development, harassment claims and really in any organization kind of sets the tone for how that organization is outside of your first interview when you get hired. You often come in and you go through a process with h.r. That process is your very first look and feel about how an organization's culture is. Did you get a thorough orientation? Did you get trainings on the things that you needed to get trained on? Did you have a map for what it was going to look like after day one? This is part of the culture that we really in the city, I think, can spend some time honing in on and ensuring that while we ask employers in our city of a certain standard, that we do the same in-house with our 6000 employees. So this item is everything in one item. So I wanted to just put it out here. I know that you already read them through. Really? There are two parts. One is the part where we work with our city auditor to conduct an audit of the onboarding process for all new employees, including appointed and elected. And so as an elected official, you know, the onboarding process was pretty short. Making sure that process is thorough, that there is an orientation process attached to that that also includes but is not limited to an orientation process in the medical evaluation process, the city's evaluation of an individual's physical and behavioral health and or prior medical conditions . So right now, the practice in the city is that we have to disclose any medication that a doctor assigns us, any mental health history, and that sometimes that might be a hindrance to getting the position that we want or it might change the type of job that we go into or it might say up to their their director on what type of employment or benefits they might get. And so we want to make sure that we're doing a full audit and that that's in alignment with our state practices and with the federal practices. We're also requesting the city auditor conduct an audit of the process for employees, interns, volunteers, commissioners and elected officials to be informed of their rights and responsibilities to discrimination, harassment and retaliation. And so this is really saying not just staff, but volunteers, our commissioners, our elected officials. So each of us are a different type of relationship with our h.r. Department and with our directors. The city of Los Angeles has a wonderful website that they've put together that is for everybody that there has any interaction with with the city of Los Angeles. They can go on and find out what their rights are. They can fill out a form. They can be anonymous. They can not be anonymous. But it walks them through a full process and gives them all the contact information that they need. And so I know that this is the second time we've had this conversation. And the council I know that Councilmember Al Austin had requested some information from H.R. and that now we have a process. I think it's further in my PowerPoint, but I want to make sure that this is clear, that it's for interns, volunteers, commissioners and elected officials as well. To that point. What's not listed in here in this request is from going through the process. We understand that nobody in the city has a number of how many volunteers we have, how many interns we have. And so making sure that as we go through this, we are also figuring out a tracking system. And that's in addition to. So we were able to find out how many commissioners we had. I know how many interns we had, but that number was not able to be provided to my office last week when we requested it. Speaker 2: Of the city. Speaker 7: The second part is not the auditor's office so much as it is working with the city manager and and his lead, making sure that we review the turnaround time for hiring new employees. We know that sometimes that time can be strenuously long. We also want to request that the city manager work with the Department of Human Resources and Health to request current practices and trainings of trauma informed methods as it relates to employees recommendations, enhanced use of trauma, informed practices with employees and constituents. So at the end all I'll go over changes, but it needs to also include constituents in the policy. Speaker 0: So. Speaker 7: So Long Beach Snapshot. Just to give you a little idea for administrators, 60% of our administrators are male for Non-Management got 39% are non male or male. So we understand that we definitely have a different dynamic in the city that while women represent roughly 50% of our population, that's not represented here. And we've talked about that. I know Councilmember Lena Gonzalez has led on trying to understand what demographics we have in the city, but recognizing that that dynamic might cause some tensions. Not saying that I've heard that it's caused tensions, but let's make sure that we're aware of it and that we're putting in practices in place so that we can address people being comfortable coming forward and talking about challenges that they might have. Okay. So 75% of all workplace harassment incidences go unreported altogether. I want to be clear that this slide is not about sexual harassment. This can be, you know, where you have a coworker that that speaks firmly to you, that you're uncomfortable with, that you've tried to address. It can be a look. It can be any type of harassment that makes you feel uncomfortable, but so uncomfortable that you likely don't feel like reporting that because you don't know what might happen . And these are general numbers just for us to be aware. I know that sometimes we we talk about these things in, again, relationship to other entities, but we don't necessarily talk about them within our own workplace. So violence in the workplace, this just talks about all the different ways that violence in the workplace can can come forward . And so we want to make sure that we're aware of these and that we're providing a process for people to feel safe in their workplace. And one statistic that I thought was really important is that absenteeism, 85% of victims reporting being absent from work or leaving early. So if you've been a victim of some type of workplace violence, your absenteeism rate is much higher than somebody else. And so I know sometimes we've had this conversation around harassment or filing harassment claims, and sometimes we say, well, they're absent a lot, so maybe they're using that as an excuse. That's not the case. We know that often whenever people are absent, it's because something's wrong at the workplace or something's wrong at home. So we want to make sure that the city of Long Beach, while we've passed a lot of great policies for employers within our city, that we are doing the best we can do so that people don't say this, you know, that people aren't afraid of losing their job because something happened to them and they're afraid to speak out. So this I want to give recognition. You know, the council had on that came before us. H.R. has done a good job on the fact that we've got a pilot program that's starting October four, 150 of our librarian staff to implement a harassment free workplace training. And it includes a detailed list of what that training will look like and an understanding that that training supposed to come back for all of the staff in January 2019. So I would ask as part of of this, that you're working with the health department and their trauma informed trainings as well as part of that so that we can make sure we're in alignment. So I wanted to give a snapshot of workplace situation training to Long Beach, but that we know these things happen. And so with that in mind, we want to make sure we do an audit that says, how is Long Beach going above and beyond? How are we meeting the standards? Because we haven't had an audit like this of the department, from my knowledge, for a while. The second part of this is that conversation around, okay, we have H.R. and now we have the lens in which we we have our conversations with our staff. And in the city of Long Beach, we have trauma informed trauma resiliency, we have safe Long Beach. And so I wanted to bring up Kelly Colby, our director, to give a presentation on what that means so that I'm not up here spewing things that doesn't that doesn't quite make sense in the world of H.R.. She's been an expert on this, and she's done a great job. So I just want to bring this to the next component. Yeah. You want it? And somebody. Speaker 1: Good evening. Um, so just wanted to provide a little bit about what we're doing in terms of trauma informed work for the, for the city and then what is possible to be able to provide moving forward in terms of trainings and things. And so we have the Safe Line Beach Plan, which we passed in May of 2014. And really the focus of that is reducing all forms of violence in the city, including domestic abuse, child abuse, elder abuse, hate crimes, bullying, gang violence and violent crime. And what we realize is that is that understanding and addressing trauma is really essential to all of this work. And so through safe Long Beach, we brought forward a lot of different resources around trauma and resiliency informed work. So first I want to share a little bit with, you know, what does it mean when we talk about trauma informed? And so the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration says that trauma comes from experiences that cause intense physical and psychological stress reactions. And it could be like one single thing or it could be multiple ongoing things that start to have strong physical and mental. They can really affect you physically and mentally for quite a long time moving forward. So there's a lot of focus right now on children. And many of you may have heard the adverse childhood events, but they do really impact people's ability to deal in other levels of stressful situations. So it may not seem stressful at the moment, but if you've had a lot of stress in your life and you walk in the door and something sets that off again, it's very difficult. For the city. So far, what we've been able to do is we provide trauma informed training, which is a one hour training. Over 80 agencies across the city, agency wide trauma informed. We've had a four hour where Parks and Rec and the Health Department and a couple of other outside agencies had their entire staff trained around trauma informed work. And then we there was an eight hour training for mental health providers. It was really around assessment and other things and understanding of trauma. We were recently received a $300,000 grant. And so with that, we're leading trauma informed city efforts, really looking at what it means for organizational training, culture change and support as we're thinking about a trauma informed approach. And we're also working very closely with many of our nonprofit and other organizations who are involved. As in light for this space. What we realize is that that really if you're going to have a trauma informed organization, what you really need is sort of first, what is trauma and the ability to recognize that you want to have safety and stability, cultural humility and responsiveness, compassion and dependability, collaboration, empowerment, resiliency and recovery. And it really is a shift in culture. So training is the first part. But we would love, you know, as the health department and with this grant to help support the city in sort of looking at how do we overall do our work around work around trauma. And what it really means is that the organizations that communities are trained to identify trauma and respond in a trauma informed approach that our city really supports a trauma informed culture for employees working together and our employees working in the community. And they were building a support system for our employees. So if something does happen and it's true and it sets off trauma for them, whether it's something new or something that's in the past, that we have a system that that that supports and sort of supports our employees. So that the next steps really is to the possible next steps that we could be taking together across the city is to design and implement training, to build trauma informed understanding and response and skills, building best practices for trauma informed systems into our policies, and further exploring systems across the city for employees when incidents occur, that may cause trauma. Thank you. Speaker 7: Thank you, Kelly. So we bring up the trauma piece because not only is it about supporting our employees and making sure that we have a trauma lens with them, but most importantly, sometimes for me as our constituents, we have so many constituents that call our office every day that we meet in the field, that might require a little bit of extra time. And that's not only for us on the 14th floor, as with other departments. And so making sure that our staff has some training available to them that has that trauma lens, I think is going to provide the entire city with the support that we need. And we've seen some great cities like Philadelphia and the county of which county was at, Kelly, we talked about earlier today, Northern California county that also has a trauma informed lens. Speaker 1: Alameda County. Speaker 7: Alameda County, thank you. So the outcome of both the audit and working with the trauma lens is hopefully that we will have a report of the findings that identify our strengths and our weaknesses and that that's uncovered during our audit that a comparison of the findings and our benchmarks that we're looking at, that we have suggestions to connect any of the issues and noncompliance that are found and that we're implementing some type of trauma lens and departments where we see there is additional stress or whether it's H.R., our city attorney's office, where we are coming in, those those tense moments. And for those on the 14th floor, anybody that's in relation to constituent services, I do want to say that this item was something that was really important to me, that I've been thinking of how to roll out for a long time. I'm really happy to say that I have two co-sponsors, Al Austin and Susie Price, on this item, and I know that probably everybody on this council dais has a lot of thoughts about about this item. So I really look forward to hearing from everybody. I hope that you all will support it, and I look forward to hearing if there's any additions that you'd like to make to this. So I also want to thank all those that engage with us. We had mental health America, the villages of Cabrillo are some of our unions that participate with the city and several others that helped us kind of craft this vision for what it would mean to have a trauma informed city. But first, starting with an audit so we know where we're at. So thank you, everybody, for your help. Speaker 9: Thank you. Speaker 2: Councilman Austin Thank you and thank you for that presentation. Councilmember Pearce. I'm happy to sign on in the spirit of, you know, better government, improving our operations here in the city, improving communication and obviously better overall management of our of our of our employees and employee employee processes with or without our human resources. I heard a comparison to the city of L.A. and I will just tell you that I worked many years in the. Well employee relations process with the city of L.A. and they still got a lot of issues. So I don't necessarily think that's the benchmark for for where we want to be. And I'm I, I think this this this reads pretty straightforward. However, there's still some terminology that is new to me. Right. And I do appreciate our Kelly giving some an overview. I think that was very good for you to talk more about trauma informed practices, because it's something I mean, even working in labor relations, as long as I have, this is something that is new, right? This is not something that is I don't think is prevalent in every city and every city is looking at this. And so this is a this is a certainly a new approach that we are we are going for. I signed on again under the the with the with the emphasis on on embedded in government and had an opportunity to talk to the city auditor prior to to signing on in support of this. And this is something that she felt that she could do. Her office could could handle. And in an effort to improve our processes here in the city of Long Beach. And so with that, I'm happy to support. I will just say that I think the the peace with the trauma informed. Component. The trauma piece, in turn, means terms of getting information and understanding what that means to every employee in the city, I think could get very, very complicated and could even open us up for some some some exposure that we may not be. Some unintended consequences. And so I'm a little concerned about that, that that component of this as it was explained. So I'm looking forward to hearing other comments from from colleagues. But that component of it, I think it may take we may need to take another look at that. Yes. Speaker 7: Go through all the comments. Just to clarify, one of the reasons why I asked Kelly to come in and present is because just like there's the ad not to go backwards, but the Office of Equity and there's equity trainings that they have done with the directors. This is a very similar model that cities like Philadelphia, like the counties, have used. It is something new that's coming up, but it's part of that mental health support. So when we talk about our homeless populations, we talk about those that are struggling with housing. Those at our heart team is working with our, you know, quality of life officers. They all have this training. It might be called something different instead of trauma informed. It might be called trauma resiliency. It might be called Mental Health 101. It's kind of these buzzwords, come on, because Grantor's, you know, they they get their little buzzwords. But the idea is not to expose any vulnerabilities of the city in our staffing. It's to just make sure that our staff has some language and a lens which makes the H.R. process. If I'm coming forward and I say, You know what, I have an employee and this is happening to me and H.R., I'm calling on you for help. Right. I'm calling on you to help me walk through a process that our staff have the knowledge of what a trigger might be and what might trigger employees, that if it is a sexual assault complaint, that there are things that that can go very wrong. Right. And that that often is where we end up with liabilities. Whereas if we have a different training that Kelly has talked about, creating specific for our city would give us a tool. It would help us, not hurt us, and it wouldn't be something that would open us up to more risk but would benefit the city as a whole. I'm not sure if if Kelly wants to talk about that before we go through the rest of it, I just recognize that question and and appreciate it. So thank. Speaker 2: You. I do appreciate the clarification. And, you know, certainly we have a very qualified H.R. department. They deal with scenarios every single day and advise managers as well as employees on how to how to navigate through through through those challenges. I think what you're asking for is is possibly some some some clarification, but are we trying to insert trauma informed or trauma resiliency into the H.R. process? Speaker 7: So that's why it's step one is is the audit. And step two is working with the health department on looking at that out of the outcomes and saying, well, here are some areas where you could insert an hour training here or you could insert something here to help us do a little bit better than what we're doing in the in that realm. And again, it's not only within our staff, but it's so that we can provide that trauma informed lens when we're dealing with constituents. Speaker 2: And when you when you say that training, would you say the training would would model some of the other trainings that we have, like online trainings where you can go to a module. Speaker 7: So that that is up to the experts that do trauma informed trainings. And that is why I've put these together with with the health department. Speaker 2: All right. Thank you for that clarification. Speaker 1: If I can jump in as well, I think we're just being asked to start and take a look at this. There's a lot we don't know yet. There's a lot that we need to sit down and talk. Speaker 4: If the council does pass. Speaker 1: This, that's when we'll start really diving into this. What would trainings mean? What would this look like? H.R. has got to get involved, so there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. Speaker 10: Councilman Mango So those specific questions are what I had hoped to get answered before we pass this item. I appreciate that this has been on your plate for longer than the policy that we passed three weeks ago. But we did pass the policy on this Council that when we do our staff to weigh in or do an audit or any of those things, that we would include a component of what we thought staff time commitment would be, whether it's 20 hours or 40 hours or 140 hours or 600 hours of staff time. And I'm not saying that this is any more or less important. I just don't know when we start implementing the process that the Budget Oversight Committee and the Council as a whole adopted, specifically stating that we have to start asking ourselves where things land. The other part of this that I'm not ready for yet is we have a few fellow who supposedly are going to be reporting out on H.R. and the processes and the challenges and the opportunities. And I don't know if this has been a component of her studies over the last. I don't know if she's been here a year or 18 months or how long she's been here, but I've expected that there's a report coming out, and I'm very interested in knowing how these could kind of like fold into each other, because I have heard some challenges with the process that a lot of what you're talking about could address. But I also know that. It's not the only challenge that could be addressed. And so figuring out where those all fit together is is kind of important as well. And then maybe you can answer that for us. When are we expecting that report back? What does that report look like? Speaker 4: I'll take that, actually. So over the last year, we. Speaker 1: Have been doing a very intense study of our hiring. Speaker 4: Practice. Speaker 1: We know that it is a major challenge for departments. It's something that touches everybody. And we're looking at it from a really soup to nuts perspective. So from the day that somebody wants to hire someone to the time that they actually come into the end of the seat. So we've been using a Fuze fellow who is actually wrapping up some work right now. We got as much done as we could within a year. We had some successes along the way. We've actually already implemented a number of really positive implementations. Speaker 4: And we've got some recommendations for four more. Speaker 8: And so that is a little bit of what we would do, as if we were requested to do this under number. Speaker 1: Three is to be able to report back on a lot of that. We've been mapping the process. Speaker 4: We can do some initial reporting back in the next month or two, most likely with some additional coming on. Further, we didn't get it as far as we would like. We still have more to go, but we're very much focused on improving the. Speaker 8: Hiring practice. Speaker 10: Because in the discussions that I've had with city staff about similar ideas about making some fixes, the consistent answer that I have is we can't really tell you what kind of staff time that would take until the Fuze fellow's done and we have a report. And so perhaps what we could ask, and I don't know if this would be a friendly or how it would work is. That this come in tandem with a presentation to the Council on what we've already found. There's a significant investment in this individual who has, from what I understand views, fellows come from like really high grade educations and really intense knowledge bases that exceed the expertize of a city staff member who's a generalist. And we recognize that we've had to move towards generalists as the changing work environment has happened. But in the discussions I've had about the challenges that I've heard from city employees, about the places that they feel that we need changes , I really feel strongly that. Staff have been consistent in telling me that we're not ready to do that until we've had our report out. And so what I would like to see is two things. One is an analysis of the amount of staff time that would go into solving some of these things in terms of like how many hours of commitment are we asking the auditor to put behind it and or how many hours of commitment are we asking. Speaker 7: For all these because. Speaker 10: They're important and the number of hours could be appropriate? Or we could say staff do it within 100 hours or do it within 200 hours because I don't know what they're going to come back with. And I also don't know there's a pretty long list, and I think that we've consistently talked about this on the on the dais of reports back that are passed due from our city staff. And a lot of it isn't always their fault. Some of it is that we keep piling more on under shorter timelines. And so I don't know what the report back on this would look like. Maybe we approve step one and then have it come back with or after the Fuze Fellows presentation or if we're even getting a presentation on it. But I understand it was a huge investment. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilman Gonzales. Speaker 6: Okay. Great. Thank you. I think this is a good discussion so far. I want to first say that this is a very positive item, I think, Councilmember Pearce, for bringing this forward. I have two lenses. So I'm a I was a city staffer for about five and a half years and now I'm in elected office. And seeing this from two lenses, I see the need for standardizing processes for anything that takes place. I think our employee groups for also being a part of this discussion as well. We did receive letters and communication, so that's wonderful from the Legislative Department. When I work there, everything from mental health training, I mean, I was a field representative in the first district. A lot of individuals experiencing homelessness. They would come into the office. I didn't even know how to handle that. I had to call security twice. I mean, there are things that I think our staff, we often overlook and we don't actually add additional support for these very, very important issues. And then everything from, like I said, legislative to mental health on the elected side. I would like to identify and clarify clear processes for appointed officials and the governing body city council. You know, we we have active shooter training for our staff, but we haven't even received active shooter training, which is probably directed at us, unfortunately. I hate to say that, but in this day and age, we have to think about those things. And you know, my staff, I'm glad they got that, but we did not receive that. And so I think that, you know, things like that, I think we need to be very cognizant of as well as our staff members and rank and file that are out in the field. You know, we've had incidents before and we don't we want to prevent that. And then lastly, I will say the on the elected side, I know that our city attorney deals with many of our issues. And I don't know the clear process because sometimes we go to h.r. Sometimes we go to the city attorney. So i'd like to include the city. The friendly amendment would be to include the city and attorney in this process and ensure that we have clear understanding as an elected body of who we go to, that the department . Is it the city attorney when issues arrive in the workplace, whatever happens, i'm not sure what that processes. And so if we can include that, that would be great, or the city attorney would like to say anything. I think both him and his office should be included in that. Speaker 4: Yes, Councilmember, we'd be happy to be included in that. Speaker 9: Just kind of a. Speaker 4: Background on some of the issues. If it deals with a. Speaker 9: Personnel issue that doesn't fall within the jurisdiction of the city manager departments, for example, a personnel issue in one of the. Speaker 4: Elected offices that would generally be referred to the city attorney's office. Speaker 9: It's a problem for H.R. to be investigating their. Speaker 4: Bosses boss type situation. Speaker 9: So and then there are. Speaker 4: Other areas where we. Speaker 9: Would get involved if. Speaker 4: If it is beyond the scope of the department and we need an outside attorney. Speaker 9: To do the investigation that would be hired through my office so we could certainly participate and help clear up any confusion on when an investigation is handled internally. Speaker 4: Or we go outside. Speaker 6: So yeah, and the process as well, how it's handled. So I would love for for you to be included in that in your office, to be included in that. And I think that would clarify, I think from from our end on what to do. I mean, there's a lot of issues I've gone to H.R. in some cases have gone to city attorney. And I just think on the elected side, we need to be a little bit more clear on that. So I think, Councilmember Pierce for bringing that up again, those are my thoughts and I think again, our employee groups for being a part of this. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilmember Ringo. Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor. And that, like Councilmember Gonzalez said to have. We are two separate lengthy. A little longer. You know I retired from the city after 28 years of working in the city. Long Beach has started with a civil service. And then I went there. That was I became the superintendent manager police compounds where he did a lot of hiring. And then I ended up my my career with the Department of Health as the administrative officer there. And each one of those points, I had a touch in the employment process there with employees. When I was in the civil service, I was obviously doing exam examinations for employment. A good portion of my career with the civil service was recruitment, and that's where I have a lot of concerns and issues regarding diversity and helping improve the diversity of our city and making sure that we get people at the front end that are reflective of our communities and not at the back end. So it's beginning. It's one of those issues that is very important and very dear to me that we make sure that we are expanding our umbrella as far as we can and looking at every nook and cranny to get that qualified individuals to apply for city positions and that we hire them if they meet the qualifications. Also, when I was at civil service and various other times during my career, I was the Department's Equal Employment Representative, which meant that I had to deal with not only issues of harassment or workplace harassment and or sexual harassment, but I had to deal with any of the other issues that are involved with employee to employee relations, as well as with employee and supervisor issues as well. So I had that experience when I was working with the towing operations. I was the manager there. I did the hiring and firing, the supervision and the training, and I had several incidents while I was there talking related to not only workplace harassment with employer and employee, but also harassment with a manager, with their employees and as well as inappropriate relationships. And I just leave it at that. But that that has come up through my experience. It is way too far. And then as the administrative officer with our department, I sat in a number of hearings, skelly hearings, as well as the Looby hearings, and understand what a skelly hearing is. A scary is when a classified employee is going to be terminated from his or her position. They go through a hearing and then they go to civil service of the appellate. And then the Civil Service Department Commission determines the fate of that employee, whether it upholds the discipline that the city that the city has imposed on it or rescinds it or sends it back to to do some other kind of discipline in a Looby hearing. It's basically a Looby hearing is conducted for employees who are unclassified, who aren't under the jurisdiction of the court or the charter for the civil service, for civil service rules or regulations which dictates how an employee moves or or is promoted and disciplined in the classified service. People who take an exam get all this and get hired. And in those hearings as well, it was interesting to hear some of the the issues that he had to deal with there in terms of employees who misbehave. And it's not only in terms of employees misbehaving, but also managers misbehaving as well. And that's an area that I think is not as well known or talked about as perhaps it can be or should be, because there are managers who who can be managers, who are managers and might not have received any kind of training about how to be managers. And I would say in all of this to to to the point of saying that, you know, any and all training that we are able to provide and give to individuals is good. It's good training. You learn something from it. If you didn't learn anything from it all, then so be it. And the discipline that comes forward is is deserved. But one of the most important things about all of this is that you have to make sure that if we are providing training, we have to make sure that it's documented. Because I'm parents of what I see here is an opportunity for the city to, I guess, not indemnify itself, but at least provide itself with with some safeguards that would say, I received training on sexual harassment. I receive training on how to handle a traumatized employee who see who got a who was intimidated by his or her manager. And we need to have those kinds of safeguards so that if and when it ever goes to a a jury or a trial or a court, we have the opportunity to prove that that we did provide that training along with my career. We also I also used to participate in what we call the employee orientation, new employee orientation. And the latter part of my career, I didn't see those anymore. I don't know if they were discontinued. Maybe staffing was an issue. Could have been. But I think that we need to bring something like that back to let new employees know what their rights are, where to go, if they encounter any kind of situation or their put in place of any type of situation that would put them in jeopardy of losing their jobs. Personally, I was I was one of those guys. I was put in a situation where, like, either if I if I said anything, I was going to be fired. If I punched the guy back, I was going to get fired or if I resigned, I was going to resign peacefully. I was going to be I was going to blow the whistle left and right everywhere. So those are the choices sometimes that employees are left with. You know, it is frustrating. So where do they go? And I also had an employee come to me who was sexually harassed. And while I was more trained, perhaps more experienced than other ales or administrative officers in that in that area, I still felt inadequate to be able to address this employee's issues with her manager. So I did what most managers would do, I hope would do, and that's to call H.R. and have H.R. be the the the conduit , if you will, between the the department and the employee to help him or her address their issues. So there's a lot of training that we need to do. And I and I'm very supportive of this item because I think it's important that we get it. Get not only start in the beginning to the where are we now, but where do we need to go and where do we want to end up? And we need we need to know that and some of those, you know, so some of these items that we're looking at, we don't need to reinvent the wheel, some of them, but some or maybe we need to bring them back like an employee orientation, especially dealing with an employee orientation that deals with these very specific items in in regards to employer employee relations or supervisor supervisor subordinate relations, what to do and where to go and and how to recognize. A lot of people might not recognize the fact that they're that they're being exposed to a workplace issue where maybe there's some just innocent joke telling being told and it's inappropriate. And she reported and and one of the most important parts of that is retaliation. We've got to make sure that that we tell our employees that retaliation. Retaliation is unacceptable. At all levels. So I know I was long winded on this, but, you know, also it could go on for 28 more years on dealing with this issue. But I supportive of it. It's it's a good item that we move forward with it. And I think that some bought some real positive results. I'm expecting that some real positive results will come as a result from ISM. Thank you very much. Speaker 9: And Mr.. Thank you very much, Mr. American. Speaker 1: I had one point of clarification. Speaker 9: Why then? Speaker 1: Kinsmen of Virunga? You're correct. For a while we did discontinue the orientation as we went through the Great Recession. One of the things that Alex Basque was did as the new director is institute those. So we have them about what, every two months now. Speaker 8: 2 to 3 months. Speaker 1: And we go and we present. Speaker 4: To that everyone goes through a full day or a half day orientation and get all that stuff. I have hired two new employees within the last year and they haven't gone to an orientation. So let's get them signed up as we require everyone. Speaker 1: In our end city managed department. We get a lot of others from other departments too. We'd love to have them. Speaker 9: Thank you. Customer support now. Speaker 8: Thank you. This this would apply to electeds. And just for my own case, in a normal election after the election, you would take office in like 90 to 100 days. If there's a runoff, it's half or maybe a little less than that. I took office after a special election in 2015, and after the election I took office eight days later. And so the terms on boarding and orientation are very foreign to me, but thank you for bringing up that topic. My challenge with this item would be two of the four items start off with requests the city honestly to conduct an audit. In fact, that's in the heading to and my feeling is all of these all four items should be conducted by our h.r. Department. That's the way it's set up. And I have great faith in our city auditor. It's not that i don't think she's up to this task. It's just that i think that expertize should lie within our h.r. Department. The long beach business journal one month ago on August 13th published their annual salary survey of the city. And we always hear about that after the fact. So the latest number for the two had $200,000 a year club. That number is up to 43 employees. And what we always tell our constituents is, well, an operation, a city this size, you need that level of executive management expertize and that level of executive management exists in our h.r. Department. So I'm thinking this item and saying our h.r department cannot handle this task. And if that is in fact, what the problem is, then we do have a bigger problem than just conducting an audit. So for that reason, I will not be supporting this item. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilmember. I'm going to go ahead and go back. Actually, we only have one more comment. Councilman Mongo, I'll make a comment and then we'll go to public comment. Councilman Mongo. Speaker 10: In the spirit of trying to start. I know it's going to take time for all of us to adjust and move towards our new council policy. Would you be open to the departments that are involved getting us a TFF that is in alignment with the policy we just passed? If we pass this tonight, that would be appreciated. So I know Mr. GROSS isn't here because he didn't expect this question, but if Mr. GROSS could and my friendly would be that Mr. GROSS work with the departments that are requested to ensure that it tff come back to us with the information as required by the new policy of resource allocation. As passed by this council with the budget this year. Thank you. I appreciate that. Speaker 9: Thank you very much. Let me go ahead and just to just say for what public comment I know this has not been said tonight yet, but I do want to thank our H.R. department for the work that they do. We have we have almost we have 5600 employees, almost 6000, if you include some of the other part time employees. And I know that there is a dedicated team of professionals that are in that office, many of which have been here in the city for a really long time. And H.R. is one of the most difficult things you can do in any organization. It doesn't mean that we can't improve. I think there's always improvements in all of our departments. But I don't want it to be there being an appearance or an interpretation that somehow our H.R. department is not doing a great job. And I want to thank Alex and you and your team for consistent excellent work. And and I want to thank you also for for an organization of this size. The level of work that you're I would say small team does is pretty, pretty amazing. And so I want to make sure I had a chance to say that. And since it's not been said tonight yet much, let me let me also just add that I don't I don't have issues with the agenda item is presented. I think that it's a good opportunity for the auditor to be involved with the city and to tell us how we can do better. I have to agree with when it comes to and I have mentioned that I think the staff and this will be a good opportunity to review this. For because elected particularly are elected independently, the process of of training and transitioning and employees. It is partial it's part you know it's it's divided up among some of the administrative work is done through the mayor's office on the on the legislative side which as you're aware I've in the past said that I not ever been crazy about that piece. I always thought that that should go fully to H.R.. But there also are concerns as related earlier that a lot of it a lot of the issues will go to the city attorney. So I think I'm very interested in how we improve the elected appointed piece and what are best practices in other cities so that we can get that piece better. So I do support very supportive of that. And I think that I've said this to our city auditor many times, but I think when we partner in these audits, we usually get really good recommendations and really good results. And so I just am thankful to her for agreeing to partner in this process. But I do I do understand. And I want to just thank everyone that made their comments. I do agree with everyone's comments today. And so I just thank them for all of that. So, Jeff, the things for city attorney. Yes. Thank you, Mayor. And you did allude to it, but I do point out the charter section 207b, that each individual member of the city council has the authority to appoint, suspend, remove and discipline the employee or employees. Speaker 4: Of the Legislative Department who serve at his or her pleasure. Speaker 9: Right. And so nothing this evening or nothing out of this. Speaker 4: Study changes that authority. So it it's it. Speaker 9: We can study it. We can look at it. Speaker 4: But the charter says what it says for the elected officials. Speaker 9: And and this ordinance will not change that. That's right. And I think that that's and we'll look at all of that as we as we move forward. We obviously, each member is responsible for their they're the appointing authority and they are responsible solely for for their employees and for their office. So, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 10: So I know I made a comment and my first set of comments related to the views fellow. Mr. MODICA Will there be a presentation to this body on that or is that something that maybe I could throw into my friendly that her report and her findings or a meeting between her and the auditor take place as a part of this overall? Speaker 1: So we were planning on doing that as part of item three, if you were to pass as we were going to do it anyway, to report out on where we are. It's the Fuze fellow was looking at one portion of it. There's a number of other things, so we'll likely consolidate. But we'd like to come back and talk to you about some of the some of the things that. Speaker 4: We're working on to improve the hiring. Speaker 10: Practice. I would only say that from what I hear again, her term is almost over. And so if there was an opportunity for her to sit down with the auditor before she leaves and and kind of talk through her experience, I haven't done that yet, but I hear that there's a lot of opportunity for us to learn from an extensive 12 month process. Speaker 1: So so we'll definitely partner with the attorney, with the auditor. I do believe she ends in two days so that it's we are we are wrapping up. Speaker 10: That is the end. Okay. Well, thank. Speaker 9: You. Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 7: Oh, yes. I just wanted to thank all of my colleagues for their comments. And just, you know, we've worked a lot with the city auditor, but i did think I said thank you to our h.r. Department at the beginning. Maybe I got lost because i tried to run and talk really quickly. But i do appreciate the fact that we are a city of 6000 people is huge and it's a big endeavor. And one of the reasons why I wanted to partner with the city auditor's office is so you can continue to do your job and the city auditor can take a sidestep and take a bird's eye view and a different lens and really look at what other cities are doing. And so I think that that for me was an important distinction because I feel like the things that she's come forward with have been really great and it gives us an opportunity to do that. So I think my colleagues for the the thoughtful conversation today, I'm really proud of this item. I'm really proud of the steps that Long Beach is taking to align our city with the values that we continually govern on behind this dais. So thank you very much. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilmember Councilmember Ringo. Speaker 4: Thank you. Jeremiah. My soapbox. I left off one aspect of the of the proposals here you're talking about and constituents. So if you get Councilman Pearce complete giving a clarification in regards to how constituents. Speaker 3: Can. Speaker 4: Come into a play into play with with this. Speaker 7: I think it goes back to what Councilmember Gonzalez mentioned, which is as as on the 14th floor and as the city attorney made real clear, we are the ones that hire and fire and train our staff. So I have to go out of my way to create a new training or find a new way to train my staff on trauma informed practices. Because I have a lot of constituents in my district that call that are struggling with their mental health. We've had to call police sometimes. We've had to call our quality of life officer. So if I can get my staff the right training to give them a couple more tools in the toolbox on how to handle folks with with a soft glove instead of, you know, immediate call that might trigger them or statement that might trigger them. That training is something that I'm providing for my staff and I provide for my constituents, but it helps us deliver better services to to our residents. Speaker 4: So that that clarifies that. Absolutely. I was looking from the other from the other lens in terms of constituents who might have had a traumatic experience with a city employee. For example, when I had to contend with an issue regarding a city employee who sexually harassed a constituent, asking for her number, going to her home, I don't know how he got it, but he got her house number and phone number and then he began harassing her. She came to me as a manager, say, what are your employees? Is is harassing me. I brought him in. I interviewed him, determined that she was correct and subsequently let him go. So that's the other part that I was. Speaker 7: So I think the training overall is going to assist all of us on the best practices. It's going to assist management directors and give some training for our constituents. So thank. Speaker 4: You. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you. Public comment. Please come forward. Hello. And if you're going to comment on this item. Oh, this is public comment for this item. Yes. Yes. And please come forward on this item and just just line up, please. I'm going to close the speakers list, I think, Mr. Suarez, for comment on this. And Mr. Suarez will be the last speaker. Yes. Speaker 3: I. My name is Devin Deming. I am a resident of the eighth District. And I just wanted to say thank you so much for this. I spent my entire career in public service as a manager, in public service. I was of the city of Los. Speaker 7: Angeles for 18 years and human resources. I have dealt with this all from an employee. Speaker 10: As a supervisor. Speaker 7: This is so, so important. Thank you so much. Speaker 9: And you're an amazing manager at the public agency you work at today. So thank you. Speaker 3: Hello. My name is Beverly. Life Firm and constituent resume district two. I do. The audit. The auditor's job for the federal government. Though I am not a trained auditor, I do it for my individual agency, not the GAO or an IG's office. And I just want to respectfully comment on council member supernormal comment about it's should be his job to conduct this audit of themselves. An audit is an independent analysis and research. It is not. Proper GAO, OIG. And I know you're not the federal government, but you have the same standards to audit yourselves. You can't expect the office to necessarily recognize not because they don't want to, but they're not. Their perspective is not independent and objective. It can't be. Plus, as others had mentioned, their job is to do our work. Let them do their job. Let the auditor and the audit office do their job so that they can assist h.r. And hence the whole city. I want my taxpayer money to be used appropriately. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you. Next week, release. Speaker 6: As high level shapiro. This is not why I'm here tonight, but Councilmember Pierce. Thank you very much. I'm not sure if you're aware that there were hidden cameras found in the restrooms at the Long Beach shelter. And it's really left employees and visitors really unsure and unaware of what has become of that. And the shelter in the city did not provide notification to employees or to guests. And I just I'm asking you to please look into this for the continued safety of employees and guests, for the well-being of everybody. I understand it's a LBB PD matter right now, but it just publicly we were not told. So I appreciate your attention to this entire matter. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you very much, Nick Speaker, please. Thank you very much. My name is Bill Ward and I'm a member of the First District. I spent 25 years working in government affairs. I was a worked for five state lawmakers and also others I would agree with in the first district. The nature of public service is that sometimes you get people who are mad and they are sometimes dangerous. When I was the district director for Assemblywoman Sally Harvest, we had someone come to our door who I had a member of the they would send. They sent two officers, one, one on either side of me, each with a gun. And I spent half an hour listening to a clearly crazy man. And at the end of that conversation, he left. And then he went to a another elected officials office. And they did not have the good fortune of being able to listen enough that he walked off and was just mad because he's mad. Instead, they were deeply concerned. They called and the person was given a three day lockup. And I was the one who later got a call from the guy saying, You locked me up. Well, no, there's a very difficult business in politics, which is that sometimes, even though you know someone's crazy, you're the one who gets blamed when someone else goes a little thin. So it's a very hard business. I would like to commend the gentleman of the eighth District. There are hard times when you are on the count on the dias. And I worked for a senator who himself was ejected from the Senate because if you throw a book hard enough, pretty soon it hits you in the head and someone bleeds. Rod Right. Had to exit the Senate because not because of the members of the Senate, but because he got hit on the head with a with a book. And, yes, he got taken out. Members of the council here have taken a close look at something that was a hard issue. And by an 8 to 0 vote, they made a tough decision. Those are the things that you got to do. And it's a hard business. Thankfully, I will never be someone who is sitting at the dais because having spent the time I have, I'm lucky simply to be an obscure novelist and I'm not going to be running for office. So I am glad to see the meeting today, have so much discussion. Commend the member of the Second District for a great discussion and members of staff. You've got a good town and you've got good leadership. So good luck to you all. Thank you. Next speaker, our final speaker. Good evening, Mayor. City council members. I have some prepared statements, but before I read from them, I just want to quickly say that my comments today and I agree with those that support the current administration. I believe that Alex and her team inherited a broken product, and I think that bringing light to it is clearly in order. The city of Long Beach is a great, thriving community. Responsible for the successes of this community are almost 6000 loyal employees who toil here every day. I have the honor of representing the majority of City of Long Beach employees. I stand before you in an effort to inform and highlight this much needed review. We have members that toil in departments every single day that are under inconsistent policies and practices. H.R. historically has allowed department to put in place its own policies at times, at times without concern or regard for equal treatment. Some policies even go as far as being racially biased. We are having a problem right now with the police department, with a dress code policy. Additionally, some departments arbitrarily make decisions without proper guidelines, which allows them to make decisions that are the basis of a guilty until proven innocent model. We have had members may complain to the EEOC office and have been rejected the same day, explaining that they will not be looking into the complaint because it's just a personality conflict. How can they make that determination without a proper investigation? Time and time again, we have management covering for one another without the resolution of our members. H.R. continues its paralysis. A significant number of city of Long Beach workers are also live here as taxpayers. They pay the wages for all those who take home a city of Long Beach paycheck. I've been assigned to this location. I'm going on five years. I have never come across a work location in my 32 years in the labor movement. Where the Human Resources Department is as disconnected and uninvolved in policy and its implementation as they are here. The divide and lack of consistency is monumental. It's important that you understand this isn't just an issue. These are policies that affect everybody, and they're different throughout the entire landscape. I urge you this evening to, in the strongest terms, to support this item tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Suarez. We have control of Supernanny, and then we'll go to a vote. Speaker 8: Thank you. Just because I was called out personally for my comments, I feel compelled to respond. And if I miscommunicated, I apologize. I never suggested that H.R. should conduct an audit. That was my whole point. What I was trying to express was that onboarding orientation and informing employees of their rights should be something part and parcel to the duties of H.R.. So that's why I thought it should be handled internally. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you, Councilmember. We have a motion in a second. Please cast your votes. Speaker 3: Motion carries six one. Speaker 9: Thank you. And we have. So let me. We have. So just just I want to be clear on the agenda order. So I shall have two items that have been requested to be moved up. I also have a full speaker list of ten speakers. So if we can briefly go through these items and I need to get to the speaker's list and then I have a we have a full agenda after that. So 31. Staff.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to direct City Auditor to partner with City Manager to conduct a review on the following areas relating to hiring, training and onboarding of new employees: 1. Request City Auditor to conduct an audit of the on-boarding process and policies for all new employees, including appointed and elected. This includes, but not limited to, the orientation process, the medical evaluation process, and the City's evaluation of an individual's physical and behavioral health and/or prior medical conditions; 2. Request City Auditor to conduct an audit of the process for employees, interns, volunteers, commissioners, and elected officials to be informed of their rights and responsibilities related to discrimination, harassment and/or retaliation; 3. Request City Manager to report on the City's efforts to review and improve the turnaround time for hiring new employees; 4. Request City Manager to work with the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Health and Human Services to report on current practices and trainings of trauma-informed methods as

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Speaker 3: Motion carries seven zero. Speaker 9: 27, please. Speaker 3: Item 27 is a report from Health and Human Services recommendation to receive an update on the activities of the Veterans Affairs Commission over the past 18 months. Speaker 9: I think you're going to hear the side of and then do the the public comment. Councilman Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you. I wanted to just take a moment and acknowledge the Veterans Affairs Commission and the hard work that they've led. This was one of the third, fourth proposals I brought. The city council was to begin the process of developing this new commission. And I'm really proud of the support that the city council and the Budget Committee and everyone has led to establishing this in the Health Department. We're really proud of their work and we want to see and I'm looking forward to this update. And side note, I want to just sort of refresh this issue that that Veterans Affairs strategic plan is still seeking funding. It's been pegged about $40,000 needed. So we're going to try to advocate for that in this upcoming budget. And so we'll try to keep that issue alive. But I look forward to this this presentation. Speaker 9: At the presentation. Speaker 1: Thank you. Good evening. Honorable Mayor and council members like to introduce Gina OVERHOLT. She is our program manager for the Veterans Affairs Commission and she'll give a brief report and will be open for questions at the end. Thank you, Kelly. Honorable Mayor Garcia and council members, thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this brief update on the Veterans Affairs Commission. I'm Gina OVERHOLT, the coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Commission, which is administered administrated by the Health Department. Our core purpose, the Long Beach Veterans Commission and advises City Council on matters of importance to veterans in our city. This slide continues and shows additional details on the rules of the commission. It highlights the many achievements of those who have dedicated their lives to protecting the country. Serves as an advisory body to the Council regarding the well-being of military veterans. Provides recommendations pertaining to the affairs of veterans. Evaluates and recommends programs, policies and practices to assist veterans and acts as a central clearinghouse for information, programs and services relating to veterans. One of our objectives. Oh, I'm sorry. The original ordinance ordinance requires that at least four of the nine commissioners be veterans. One from each council district is the nine. We have seven out of nine commissioners are veterans. One of our objectives to act as a central clearinghouse for information, programs and services relating to veterans. Towards this end, we created a Facebook group page where we post on the average five times a week. So the that's just a snapshot of the the cover page and the URL is at the top. So I invite you to be one of the 200 plus followers that we have. Another one of our objectives is to provide recommendations pertaining to the affairs of veterans residing within our city. Towards this end, we've worked with other city departments such as Long Beach Fire. We provided input on the impact of 4th of July fireworks on veterans with PTSD and collaborated on the social media campaign developed around this issue. So this is an example of one of the messages. City Council, as you know, tests the commission with developing a strategic plan that includes programs and policies designed to assist veterans in multiple capacities and build stronger connections between local veterans and the community. What does the commission recommend that the city do to serve and support veterans over the next 2 to 3 years? The plan's recommendations must be thoroughly vetted, supported by data and well-developed, so they provide specific action plans to achieve strategic goals and objectives. The Commission developed temporary working goals based on their insights and expertize as a starting point. Goal one Economic Development Increase veteran employment by advising the City Council on ways to increase transitional employment opportunities, patronage of veteran owned businesses and private business ownership for veterans. Goal two Awareness and Recognition Increase awareness and recognition of all Long Beach Veterans, Service members and their families by advising the City Council on ways to regularly celebrate and recognize our veterans. Goal three Information Resources and Social Support to serve as a clearinghouse for information pertaining to resources, services and social support available to veterans in the Long Beach area. In collaboration with the city and and by advising the City Council, go for underrepresented groups. Identify and raise awareness of underrepresented veteran populations by advising the City Council about groups that may not identify as veterans and therefore may not seek assistance. So where we are now, we've developed a work plan to complete the strategic plan with existing staff collecting data. What exists on the Long Beach veterans population? What data exists on the Long Beach population already? And how do we access it? The next steps data analysis, identifying stakeholders and stakeholder interviews. And the plan is slated for release in July next summer. So I wanted to. Take a moment to invite you to the recognition ceremony for Lone Sailor. We're working with Partners of Parkes on this. It's on Saturday, October 13th, 10:10 a.m. to noon with the presentation starting at 11. The lone sailor is is in Bluff Park at Ocean and Paloma. So then I also wanted to take a moment to let you know that Long Beach Veterans Affairs Commission will also be participating in the 21st annual Veterans Day parade. We invite you to the Veterans Day Parade and Festival, which kicks off at 10 a.m. on Atlantic Avenue in North Long Beach. So the Long Beach Veterans Affairs Commission meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at the Health Department's main building on Grand Avenue. Thank you, honorable Mayor and Council members for the opportunity to provide this update on the Veterans Affairs Commission. This concludes my presentation and I'm now open for questions. Speaker 9: Thank you very much for that presentation. That was great. And I know that we have some of our commissioners here as well. And I just wanted to also thank them for their incredible work on the Commission of Councilor Richardson. Speaker 2: Oh, I echo that. Congratulations. We want to make sure that we continue to support this commission. We. I'm really impressed at how engaged all of you have become. You've attended numerous events you were engaged in. You were there when we opened up the new veterans Fowler Plaza at Highland Park. And I look forward to getting you the resources working to get you the resources you need to present a really comprehensive, strategic plan that we can take very seriously. I applaud the work you've already done. The fact that a lot of the things you called out are in alignment with many of the things we've brought up in terms of including ensuring that veterans are included in our economic development strategies and that we continue to place a laser focus on underrepresented groups. So thank you for your hard work and I'm really proud to support you and continue the good work that you're doing. Speaker 9: Thank you. Catherine Ashton. Speaker 2: Thank you. Also, I second this motion. Thank you for the great report. I want to just recognize the veterans commission because this is a one of our newer commissions and you guys have really stepped up and really taking your role seriously to the point where I think, you know, they've had to say, hey, slow down a little bit, but I'm glad to see that there there's some focus of some some guidance. I speak regularly with our veterans of the commission representative for the eighth District, Sylvia Contreras, her and her husband. I know they're very, very involved. You continue to have my support. And like I said, I'm very encouraged by this report here and keep up the great work. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 6: I just want to say thank you as well. I come from a long line of veterans and my family. Also being I was married to a marine for that went to Iraq. So a lot of people don't know that about me, but that is really I just really love this commission and all that it's done. What I'm specifically appreciative of is the data analysis portion. And so we're having discussions about digital inclusion. And I would love, as were growing that discussion and including more members, I would love to have one of the members of the Commission come to the digital inclusion discussions to talk about from your angle, what would make that initiative much better. So thank you for your service, your service not to just the city but the country as well. Thank you. Speaker 9: Councilor Pearce. Speaker 7: I want to echo the same appreciation for service, appreciation for staff. I know our commission sometimes it depends on how much staff energy and how much time and how the commission works together. And this is one of the commissions that I think everyone that's invested in it, including the council members in North Long Beach, have done a great job on. So thank you very much. I look forward to continue to work. I'm particularly excited about the job opportunities in the transitional piece, so let me know how I can help you all. Speaker 9: Thank you. I'm closing the council comments. Any other public comment on this? Sorry. And please come forward so we can move on. Go ahead, sir. Thank you very much. When I was with the five state lawmakers. The state doesn't do a whole lot in terms of veterans. That's usually the feds or the county. And so very much I commend the city, commend the commissioners and the sponsor for this. One of the things that is one of your points is the economy. There are 3 million who have served in uniform in the last 20 years in open war. And in light of those 3 million people, a lot of businesses are aggressively pursuing employees who are veterans. Starbucks, if you're going to go to Starbucks, they are hiring 25,000. Staff personnel who are in have been in uniform. So when you find businesses who do encourage military service personnel. Absolutely. You can engage that. This was the capital of the Pacific fleet for almost 80 years. The presence of Mr. Roosevelt as the head of the Navy in World War One and as president in World War Two, does remind that, honey, that Long Beach is at the center of the military status of this nation. So absolutely not only do you have jobs that can be encouraged, but if you had a V to the letter B and B, your bed and breakfast can be VB and beans. You can lead the nation by the creation of an encouraged growth of tourism with veterans, with VB and B you can tell the local businesses. Why don't you give some discounts to veterans coming over? Why don't you give some lower costs for rooms? Why don't you give some housing that is for a month? Why don't you give some meals that are for free? VB And BS is something that can be a tourism growth for this city. Thank you, sir. Please cast your votes, members. Speaker 3: Motion carries. Speaker 9: Thank you. So I want to let me hear. If I call your name, please line up so we can make this expeditious sampler, this Bill Shorten and just trying to get folks that are in different groups. So let me start with Bill.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file an update on the activities of the Veterans Affairs Commission over the past 18 months. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Motion carries 32. Speaker 3: I am 32. Communication from Councilmember Pierce. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilwoman praised Councilmember Warangal recommendation to receive and file the Long Beach Safe Parking Program, facility, feasibility study and direct staff to initiate a 12 month pilot program at two locations within Long Beach. Speaker 9: It seems the public comment scene on Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 7: Yes. I'd like to turn it over to staff for staff presentation. Then behind the veil for conversation. Speaker 1: Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. As you remember, in October of 2016, the City Council requested a report on the feasibility of implementing a safe parking program. The Health Department did so looking at five other cities. Almost all were in California. One was in Washington. They identified five best practices, basically, that everyone who participates in the Safe Parking program is working on transitioning into permanent housing. They're generally run by nonprofit agencies, usually utilizing a variety of resources. They have a well-developed relationship with local police departments. But what we found is that they haven't had to use that very much, that they operate only in evening hours. So they tend to maybe start at five or six at night and end at seven in the morning and that they do not allow for RV parking. Generally, the programs require that people engage in planning and services to reach permanent housing. The staffing is sort of a case manager and worker model and all the information is entered into the homeless management information system. So they're fully engaged. Those eligible to participate get a time limit. A parking permit might be 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. That is contingent upon their participation in services and that programs are mostly have a small number of units and multiple sites. So in many cases you only have five units, seven units, something like that. Um, so the, the recommendation was to do a pilot program with a number of sites up to approximately 20. And from that, the estimated cost is about $220,000, which include staffing, facilities, security and other materials. With that, I closed my presentation. Spaces. 20 spaces. Speaker 4: Just to clarify, that would not be two sites. Speaker 1: That would be two spaces. We're talking about that in. Speaker 4: One, two or three or other site. Speaker 7: Right. I think the. Appreciate the staff presentation. Again, a little bit of context. So this was an item that was brought forward over a year ago and staff did a great job about hiring an outside consultant to come in. We facilitated meetings with, I believe, nine different churches to find out would they be open to doing a program, program like this? If not, what were their hesitations? What did they need to see? So I think staff has done a great job talking about security and restrooms and cleanliness. I know in the second district this has been a major issue. We have a large population of people residing in their cars and that, as we've had discussions before, not only is good, it's not good for their health, but it's also not good for our neighborhoods when we have people emptying out their their waste of all types out on our street. And it is definitely something that we want to do better at. So I'm very thankful for. The nine churches most recently have had a discussion with the church on Seventh and Redondo. I know that there are some concerns about where the churches might be. I think having staff work with those that are willing and able and that we have good security measures in place is a great first step. I also really appreciate that staff has done a great job about identifying funded funding that wouldn't come from our general fund, but then would come from monies available at the state level. So I hope my colleagues will support this. I know it's something that we've been talking about for a long time. A pilot program with four locations and 20 spots with that turnover rate could really have a great impact on our residents. Thank you. Speaker 4: And if I can make a clarification, the. Speaker 1: Agenda item talks about two. Speaker 2: We would like some flexibility. Speaker 4: To go through an RFP process and determine how many. Speaker 1: Locations actually make sense. So given the dollars that would be. Speaker 4: Available, how, you. Speaker 1: Know, because some people may only want three or four spaces, some may want five or six. Speaker 7: I think finding a good fit for us, that's not too many locations. I know that. I think four five is probably the conversation that we've had with with other folks. So I would ask that, yes, we go through an RFP process. I appreciate being able to be flex flexible. I think if it's more than four locations, we should have a two from four to the council to be able to talk about where those might be. Speaker 4: Sure. If that could be add in the motion, that'd be great. Speaker 6: I'll go right ahead. Okay. I have a comment. Speaker 2: Yes. I'm sorry. Okay. Councilmember Gonzalez. Speaker 1: Thanks. Speaker 6: So thank you for the the information. I'm glad that we're finally bringing this back. So thank you. Councilmember Pierson, you've been working on this for some time with our health department and many other organizations along with these churches. And what I would just say, and I know we're having this discussion, the 12 months in selecting a couple going from there, do we have or six months? Do we have a list of the nine churches that were in the discussions? Because it'd be nice to know who those are. And then secondly, I would just sort of reiterate, whoever we pick in the to whatever hopefully the pilot program goes well and it's, you know, to our liking and we like the process and we can get that figured out. But looking forward to like a mainstay program, I would really like us to look at this equitably around the city, and I continue to reiterate that because, you know, many of our downtown neighborhoods have been the fair share. We've we've had the fair share of a lot of the services. And I really just hope that we can find other cities are doing it. L.A. is looking at each each police division. So they have about four police, probably more police divisions, but they're looking at each police division to make it citywide. Other areas are looking per district. They're even looking at field offices of council members. I know that's a whole other discussion, but just in that same thought process, I hope that we can make this as equitable as possible throughout the city, not even just for our residents. But I also think about the individuals that are experiencing homelessness that may want different opportunities in different places close to other services around the city. So just a thought on that. But again, I think you and I think that was all my questioning. So thank you very much. I'm sorry, did you answer the nine locations? Speaker 1: The nine locations. Councilwoman Pearce has those nine locations. Speaker 7: Thanks. My staff is supposed to be sending them to me now. It's been a while since we reached out to them and not all nine of them. So it was a great conversation because not all nine said we have spaces available. Some of them said we have three spaces. I think one in your district said, you know what, we already do so much so we couldn't do overnight. But if you want to send people here in the morning, we can feed them. And so different churches have offered different things. I know in my district because I've been doing a lot of the work on the Seventh Street and Redondo. One is one in Grace UMC. That's at third and Gina Perez is another and both of those are outside of the downtown area. So I understand the the desire we can get you the list. Speaker 6: So that would be, I think. Speaker 7: After they do an RFP process, that will happen. Speaker 1: Yeah, I want to clarify that. While we've done some initial outreach just to understand the market, this would still be an open competitive process. Speaker 4: We're looking for both a. Speaker 8: Vendor who can actually. Speaker 1: Provide the services and run this program, but then also applicable sites. So, you know, the nine may be interested, but there may be others there may be some on that list that. Speaker 4: Now, you know, aren't interested anymore. So that will all go through that process. Speaker 6: Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Are you ready in the meeting? Speaker 2: Councilmember Mongeau. Speaker 10: Thank you. I would only ask that we again get a TFF back or a friendly amendment to bring a TFF back that says both the nine sites that that we can talk about or that'll come from Councilman Pearce and related to that. How much staff time it's going to take. I just really want to get in the habit of us making sure that we're assessing costs and staff time and specifically, like the item says, utilizing funding that's best appropriate. I think that staff could outline what that funding is and what the amount is and all of the I mean , I just feel like there's a lot of information that's available that's not in the item yet. And so if we could get something back either from the councilman's office or from city staff, that would be helpful. Speaker 4: So I can answer. Speaker 8: Two of those quickly on the floor. We are looking at approximately $220,000. Speaker 1: That was the estimate. Speaker 4: And we can certainly refine that as we as we move forward. And the state the funding source would really be state homeless. One time dollars. Since this is a. Speaker 1: Pilot program, we're trying something new. Speaker 4: We do have the ability to apply for those dollars that's gone through and gotten very. Speaker 8: Good feedback from the continuum of care. Speaker 1: Partners. So we're really looking for counsel. Speaker 4: Direction. Speaker 1: Tonight. Should that be one of our priorities? So is. Speaker 10: This from the part of funding we've already been allocated or is this a new part of. Speaker 0: Funding. Speaker 4: From the 1.3 that's been identified that Long Beach would be able. Speaker 2: To apply for. Speaker 10: And of the 12.3 that we're eligible to apply for? What was because this wasn't in it originally or was it. Speaker 1: We are still putting together that actual list about we believe that we would. Speaker 9: Be able to. Speaker 1: Make room for it. It'd be about $220,000. Okay. Speaker 10: Appreciate it. Thank you. Speaker 2: I'll call on myself. I'll just say that I'm supportive of this item. I think, as I said before, you know, we are in unconventional times. And so we have to look at unconventional solutions to to to the problems of the day. You know, it's unfortunate that this is a one time funded in a one time manner, because if it's successful, you know, my my question is, you know, how do we fund it? You know, the following year or if the year after that, or how do you grow it if it's a successful program? And so this is hopefully something that we will model and be a best practice and hopefully have the state of California paying attention and county to to hopefully look at sustaining because I know it's going to be successful I'm optimistic here. The and then to staff I would just say that I've done some extensive outreach with many of our faith organizations churches in my district. And I know that we have a number of them who may be interested in participating. And so we'll be getting we'll provide you with a list as well of potential sites. So thank you. So with that, any public comment on this matter? See none, please. Members, cast your votes.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file the Long Beach Safe Parking Program Feasibility Study; and Direct staff to initiate a 12-month pilot program at 2 locations within Long Beach, utilizing funding that is best appropriate.

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Speaker 0: Appreciate that. Item 14, please. We're moving up on the agenda. Speaker 1: Report from Fire. Recommendation to refer to the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee to consider the renaming of the Long Beach Fire Department Regional Training Center. The Captain. David Rosa Regional Training Center. District four. Speaker 0: Thank you. Let me just say a few words about to turn this over to the chief and then also to Councilmember Super now and and Councilman Pierce and then everyone else that like that lines up on the speaker's list. But let me first let me just first say that I know that the family is here. Good to see you all again and look forward to saying hello. And just a minute, but I want to thank you, of course, first for for being here and for all for your strength that you continue to show every single day and for the way you are all honoring this amazing person, David's amazing legacy in our city and our community. So we just honor that and thank you for for being here and for for your advocacy, which I know is not always easy. And I want to, of course, introduce here our chief. I think this is a really great way to honor Captain Rose's amazing contributions. And I just want to thank you, Chief, for for bringing bringing this forward with with the staff. And I want to turn this over to you to just say a few words and give us a report on this item. Speaker 3: So thank you, Mr. Mayor. And Mr. Mayor, council members. Thank you very, very much for this opportunity to address you real quickly on this, we think is a very important item. As you mentioned, Mayor, I'd like to introduce Linley Rosa, Dave's wife, who is here, Paul and Jean, his mom and dad and Dan Flemming and Gloria Fleming are here tonight to hear you discuss this item. And I do want to thank you for bringing this forward tonight. I know it's a little bit out of policy for the city to do something like this so relatively quickly after the tragic death of somebody that's beloved in our city. But I appreciate you, Mr. Mayor, and council members for picking this up and moving it forward. Obviously, June 25th was a day that will live in infamy with Long Beach fire forever, and it will certainly be a day that's etched in my heart for the rest of my life, as well as the members of our command staff and our firefighters, rank and file and sworn in civilian across our organization. It shook us to our core. And on the heels of that, there's been a lot of stories told about the contributions Captain Rosa made to this community, made to his community, where he lived, to his family, to his children, that he was a staunch family man, a good husband, an amazing father to his two sons, Alec and Sammy. And there's been a lot of stuff discussed there. And one of the things that came out during that discussion was his contributions to the Long Beach Fire Department, not only as a captain in the busiest station in our city, but most importantly, his contributions to our training center and as a member of the cadre of our of our training staff. And there was a lot of discussion inside the organization about how can we go about recognizing this man's contributions to our city in perpetuity, something that will live on beyond all of us. And and we decided that the best and most fitting tribute we could pay to this man is to rename our training center in his name, Captain David Rosa Regional Training Center, so that this day, from this day forward, every single young man and woman that joins the Long Beach Fire Department as they cross that threshold and begin their life of service, will hear the story of Captain Rosa and they'll understand. I'm going to read right now, you guys. I'm sorry. They'll understand that sometimes in service to our community, you have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. And Captain Rosa did not. He did that with his head up and with his eyes on service to this community. And I'm proud of his contribution. And I'm proud. That right now at this time, this council that I've had much respect for over my career are going to do something to remember this man's contribution. And I thank you. So with that, I wanted to make sure the Rosa family was here tonight. I think this is a fitting tribute. To a dedicated public servant. And I thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, for the time. Speaker 0: Mr. Draghi. Thank you, Chief, for for that. And we appreciate everything you've done also in this time and your leadership shown in the department. And I think that. I think the way that the department has really stepped up to honor Katherine Rose's memory in a variety of ways is has been really great to see. I know. It's been great to see for for that for the family. And so thank you for for bringing this forward. And it's certainly something that will be very special for us here here in Long Beach. What I'm going to go ahead and do is I was going to a public comment first. Councilmember So is there any public comment on this item? Now that we know we have one here. Speaker 3: Rex Pritchard, the president of Long Beach Firefighters on behalf of the men and women of Long Beach firefighters, Local 372. We want to thank the fire chief, city manager and staff and all of council. I'm bringing this forward. I echo everything the chief said. And the one thing I will add on to it not only will every single future Long Beach firefighter know Dave Rosa uh, Dave worked at Station ten and like the chief said, busiest house in the city, busy his house with rookies and training. I mean, they've. Was it training? Captain in training is something that sometimes isn't fun to do but is a must do. And so. For our current membership, our current firefighters. Every time we go to the training facility, whether it's EMS training, high rise training, operational training, it's a reminder might be in the station going up. We got to do this again. But when we're going to the David Rozsa Training Center, it's going to be a stark reminder. This stuff's important. So we stand in complete support of this. You guys have been amazing, Mr. West. And your entire team, uh, the service and the support you guys gave at the service, uh, just absolutely can't thank you enough. Um, the outpouring of support from this community in this council has been amazing. And so thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. See no other public comment on this on this item. Councilmember Superman. Speaker 3: Thank you. I'd like to first thank Chief Terry and Rex Prichard for speaking today. This is a tremendous idea that I fully support. I have the great honor and privilege of having the training center in the fourth District. And for those of you who don't know, Station 17 is also located on that same campus as the training center, the regional training center. And for me, just on a personal note. Speaker 0: My dad, Don Supra. Speaker 3: Was stationed at 17 for 20 years. So to say this is incredibly meaningful to me. It's an understatement. But I'm just glad that I have the opportunity to support this. And thank you. Speaker 2: Again for bringing it forward. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 5: I yes, I want to also think staff and our department for bringing this forward. Captain Rosa was somebody that the very first time I met him just. His presence was very much about his his dedication to the community and his love. And when we talk about training and we talk about those moments when we get to develop the next tier of firefighters, they're going to be serving in Long Beach to be able to be rooted in somebody who had values like Captain Rosa did, I think is really, really important. And I want to echoed the sentiments that you guys shared about what he meant to everybody. I've had the privilege of going along three different times with our firefighters to watch them train in practice. And I know how important that is. And I know that his legacy is going to continue to live on and we're going to be able to celebrate what makes Long Beach different. And it's going to be people like Captain Rosa. And so I want to, you know, applaud this this item and everybody that did the work on this item, this incident on the 25th was right across my district line. And so it very much touched my community. And it's a stark reminder of how much we need to be on our toes and how much we have each other's backs. And so to all the firefighters. Our hearts are with you. And we will continue to celebrate your efforts in our community. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Over the last few weeks, I've learned so much about Captain Rosa, and I think this is a very appropriate, very fitting way to celebrate him and his life and his example. So I would just simply want to say that I'm completely honored to cast his vote in support of this tonight and and be a. Speaker 0: Part of this legacy. Thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor Landrieu. Speaker 2: Yes, thank you. Also, I echo all the sentiments it's just been said about Captain Rosa. But the biggest part about it, and I learned so much is because the fact that Mr. and I we realize that the center is in his district, but the station is in my district and I enjoy it so much because the fact that every time I say Station ten, the fire chief is going down the street, sometimes I know I could get a ticket, but I try to stay close to them because I know that this individual's on that fire station. So the family and all I all my condolences still go with you. And I know that this individual, he is just such a loss to our city and to the community. But God knows best. And that is just it's amazing. But thank you guys for doing this year. And my vote also will be overwhelming for this. Thank you so much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Ringgit. Speaker 6: Thank you, Mayor and Mayor, continue. Condolences to the family. I know you're very proud of of your son and your husband, father, friend. I was a city employee for 28 years. And when we lose anybody who works for the city, it's like losing a family member. So we lost a family member as well. And and our sadness is with is yours as well. So we are with you in regards to your pain, feeling your pain. The chief jury demonstrated and exhibited that and how painful it is for us to have to go through this. But his memory will live on his efforts in Long Beach as a firefighter and captain will live on through the center. And I'm honored to be a member of this city council to cast his vote to recognize the training center as they were also training to. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Austin. Speaker 4: Thank you very much. And I, too, will be supporting this and overwhelmingly this this vote, this honor, I think goes transcends this this the city council, the the action, which was was horrific. Touched not only the city family, but touched people throughout the state and anybody that heard the story and and to learn about who David Rosa was and how he contributed and how he served this city with such was valor. Speaker 6: And. Speaker 4: Honor and pride. Makes me very proud to. To have some sort of small connection to. To him and his family. You know, he mentioned that the fire station was in his district. Darrell has a connection. His family, his parents actually live in a district. And I had an opportunity to meet them a few years ago. And his mother, Gene, beamed with pride, talking about her son and his accomplishments and how proud they were of of their son and his work as a firefighter and had an opportunity to meet him that day as well. And so this this this this this unfortunate incident was hit home, too, for for us all. And I'm glad that that we are honoring a true hero today, particularly on on on 911. It means a whole lot. And so to to his his his widow to his parents, you have our sincere condolences. But as I mentioned to you earlier. Speaker 6: Your family has expanded beyond what you even. Speaker 4: Know because you have the full support. I know of this not only the city council, but the entire city is with you as well. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Price. Speaker 1: Thank you. I echo a lot of the same sentiments. You know, I learned so much about the family at the service. You are of a remarkable family in so many ways, so close. And who he was and what kind of a leader he was is a testament to the parenting that he received and the love that he had and his wife and his boys. And I learned a lot. And I was so inspired. I was I went home and just couldn't wait to talk to my own family about everything that I had learned. Especially I was particularly moved by the words of your pastor. It was very meaningful for me in my own life in taking away some of the things that he said in terms of what kind of life I want to live. And that was a lesson to all of us, I think, to the chief and the command staff to have this happen and to shepherd your employees through this process that was devastating and emotional and traumatic for them in so many ways. Must have. For you because you yourself were going through a loss, but you did it beautifully, at least to the outside world. And I'm sure that there were probably some internal tears. But to the outside world you maintained a strong force with very little disruption and the quality of service that we expect as residents and as policymakers. And to that you should for that, you should be very proud. I think this you know, any time we dedicate, whether it's it's a building or a facility or a space in the name of someone that we've lost, you know, I always come back to. It's it's not about that location. It's not about the the place that we're naming after the person or in dedicating the place to. It's about the spirit of what that dedication means to me. Our first responders are subject to so much criticism and it's such a thankless job on so many levels. But our first responders are the ones that are called at a time of need. They're called when people feel scared and don't have the strength. They're called when people don't know what to do. They're called when people are in their most vulnerable and desperate place. And our first responders take risks every single day. And for that, they should be rewarded not just in words, but in everything that we do as a city to place value on what they do. This is an example of a first responder whose job was to protect. And to serve. And I agree with Councilman Austin. It's it's very fitting that we're doing this item today on a day when we're celebrating the freedoms and the values and the fight for justice for our nation. Because I think Captain Rosa embodied all of that in everything that he did. And I learned so much about him through the service. And again, the service was just a reminder to me and to our community of how much better we can all be individually and collectively. So I thank you. You know, I say I was a homicide prosecutor for many years, and I would always tell the victims families, I meet the most amazing people under the worst circumstances. And I really felt that way. On the day of his service, because it wasn't so much meeting the most amazing people, although I did do that, but I learned some of the most powerful messages, life messages on that day under the worst circumstances. So I thank you and your family for allowing us to be part of the journey with you. And it's a complete honor to do this and more in his honor. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 5: I just want to thank the family for being here and sharing their their husband, father, son. Speaker 7: With us in our city for so. Speaker 5: Many years. And I'm very supportive of this item. And I would also be supportive of a truncated timeline for it to come back to council. I know that's at the discretion. Speaker 7: Of the committee. Speaker 5: But I think in this case it would be appropriate to not wait the full year, but to have this in place sooner rather than later. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. With that, we do have a motion on the floor as presented by by staff in the fire department. So, members, please go ahead and cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much. Vice Mayor, I know we have a consent and we have two hearings. Speaker 2: Yes. Thank you. We have a motion on the consent. Is there any public comment on this? Yes. During public comment on the consent calendar. If no members, please cast your vote.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to approve renaming the Long Beach Fire Department Regional Training Center located at 2249 Argonne Avenue, the “Captain David Rosa Regional Training Center."

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Speaker 2: Now we're going to move to the first gear. And it's been moved. It's been poor. So we're going to move to the second Hui. Speaker 1: Hearing Item number two Report from Economic Development Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and adopt a resolution continuing the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Assessment Levy for the period of October one, 2018 through September 30, 2019, and authorize City Manager to extend the agreement for one year term District three Speaker 0: . Thank you. I think we have a staff report. Speaker 6: Yes, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Speaker 3: We have a staff report by Eric Romero, our project manager in the Economic Development Department. Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council. This item is the annual approval of the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Annual Ongoing Assessment. On August 21st, 2018, the City Council approved the resolution granting approval of the annual report and set today's date for the public hearing. The recommended action of this item continues the assessment for another year. There are no proposed changes to the basis of assessment nor significant changes in proposed activity. Therefore, staff request that the City Council receive the supporting documentation into the record, approve the resolution, continue the levy of the assessment, and authorize the city manager to extend the agreement for one additional year. That concludes my report. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Price. Speaker 1: Thank you, Eric. I want to thank you and your team for the excellent support you provide to the Belmont Shore Business Association bid. They continue to perform very well. Most of the vacancies on the street have been filled with very exciting new businesses coming in. The business corridor is adapting well to consumer trends in terms of the types of businesses that are coming in. And it's just a pleasure, very much a pleasure to represent that area and to see it continue to thrive and grow. And much of that has to do with city staff that help support the efforts of the organization led by Deedee Rossi as the executive director. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Any public comment on this item? Seeing nonmembers, please go ahead and cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. We're going to our next hearing. And before we do that, I didn't get a chance earlier. I want to thank we have a public policy classroom, Cal State, Long Beach. It's here. And Masters and public policy class. Dr. Allison Diggins class over there. How are you doing? She's a great instructor and thank you to the class for being here from class at Long Beach. So thank you guys also. Next up is our is our next hearing if we can please have that read.

Resolution

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and adopt resolution continuing the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area assessment levy for the period of October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to extend the agreement with the Belmont Shore Business Association for a one-year term. (District 3)

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Speaker 1: Guess motion carries. Speaker 2: Thank you. I am 20. Colloquially the item. Speaker 1: Item 20 Report from Technology and Innovation Financial Management. Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with Motorola. Solutions for the purchase delivery and implementation of radio communications equipment for a total purchase price not to exceed 17,000,700. And execute a lease purchase agreement with Motorola. Solutions for the financing of the radio, communications equipment and total principal amount not to exceed 17,000,500 citywide. Speaker 2: Thank you. As you have a first and second to any public comment and follow. Now. Would you please cast your vote? Oh, staff report, please. Okay, fine. Please. Speaker 3: Sir, we have a staff report. We have our technology innovation director Olivia Erickson, and the deputy director case, Lee Leah. Speaker 5: Good evening, Mayor. Members of city council. Tonight before you, we have an item related to radio communications, public safety technology. And I'm turning it over to Kasim Lee, who is our Infrastructure Services Bureau manager, to do the staff report. Speaker 3: Honorable Mayor and members of this city council before you to recommendation to adopt a resolution and authorize city manager to one execute a contract with Motorola Solutions Inc for purchase of radio communications equipment for total purchase price not to exceed $17,700,000 to execute a lease purchase agreement with Motorola for the financing of the radio communications equipment and three appropriate $541,000 to technology innovation for the implementation of the radio communications equipment. As background, the Long Beach Police Department, Fire Department, Police, Public Works, Disaster Preparedness and Airport rely on a motorola based radio dispatch, radio signal and portable mobile radio infrastructure for day to day emergency response radio communications. After providing more than 12 years of reliable services to the city, the currently used x t series of portable and mobile radios will no longer be supported by the manufacturer beginning December 2018. This obsolescence of the x t series radios not only affects the city, but also many of the public agencies across the region. In addition, the C series does not support the current interoperability standards and objectives of the city and Southern California region. City Council approval is requested for acquiring replacement Apex Series Portable and mobile radios from Motorola. The Apex Series radios support all new interoperability standards, increase interoperability within the city and with agencies across the Southern California region, and positions the city for reliable radio services for the next ten years. In December 2017, T.I. presented $88 million in critical technology. Infrastructure needs to City Council. City Council authorized the city manager to prepare and submit purchase transactions for City Council consideration for $67 million. While staff continue to research alternatives and negotiate pricing on $21 million needed for replacing public safety communication technologies, today's recommendation to enter into a contract with Motorola follows after one work to confirm the total number of portable mobile radios needed and confirm the interoperability features needed across the city and regions to confirmation that the Urban Areas Securities Initiative U.S. grants are now available for the purchase of these radios. And three, negotiations with Motorola on an enhanced volume pricing program that are significantly lower priced than any other known contract with similar volumes. The pricing program combines all the purchases from L.A. County government purchasers to achieve volume discounts of approximately 50 to 64% off list pricing , depending on volume purchase commitments received by the October 19, 2018 deadline. The total purchase price not to exceed $17,700,000 is based on a 50% discount off list pricing, and the City Council letter details the pricing program at other levels of L.A. County purchase volume two commitments. Under the pricing program, Motorola will automatically reduce the city's invoice downwards following the October 19th deadline. Our best estimate at this time is that the total purchase price will come closer to $50 million or could be less. The city will enter into a 12 year lease purchase agreement with Motorola to finance the cost of the radios. Although the lease purchase agreement is technically for 12 years, is intended to be fully paid off in FY 22, with Measure eight funds as previously recommended and consistent with the current measure a plan in Fy19 proposed budget depending on the volume of the county's total purchases and final costs. Measure eight funds may or may not be sufficient, and additional funding sources may be needed to identify net fy22 in order to pay the lease purchase as intended. But this purchase is proposed without a competitive bid process because the city's installed radio dispatch system has features that are integrated with Motorola portable and mobile radios. In addition, the city's purchase of Motorola radios, along with other Los Angeles and Orange County public safety agencies, will allow for better interoperability with regional resources and could play an essential role in the city's timely response and recovery in a major disaster. We believe that this recommendation to purchase is the right decision for our public safety departments, and we believe that the volume pricing achieves a significantly lower price than any other known contracts with similar volumes. With that, I conclude my report and would be happy to take any questions. Speaker 2: Fine, thank you. Do I have a first and second on this? Okay, fine. Thank you. Any more public opinions in more public comment? L. L. No, I'm just. Thank thank you. Speaker 4: Mr. Vice Mayor. And I want to thank our staff for for such a thorough report and the great work in negotiating a what I think is a pretty, pretty impressive package, I think. And we're being smart with the taxpayer resources here. My my question is regarding the technology and understanding that this is a 12 year plan. Will the radios be sufficient five to 7 to 10 years from now for our public safety to be able to effectively do the work? I mean, iPhones change every year. And I just wanted to make sure if we're making this a significant investment up front, it's going to be be sufficient for us, you know, ten years from now. Speaker 3: We believe that based on the history of the Motorola radios, that they tend to be supported for at least 10 to 12 years as our current platforms are currently have been supported for 12 years. Speaker 4: And I'm seeing nods of affirmation from our fire and police chief. So thank you very much. Speaker 2: All right. Thank you. Would you please cast your vote? Motion carries now removed item 21 1:00 please.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary amendments, with Motorola Solutions, Inc., of Los Angeles, CA, for the purchase, delivery, and implementation of radio communications equipment, for a total purchase price not to exceed $17,700,000, which will be automatically reduced based on multi-agency purchase volumes achieved under Motorola Solutions, Inc., Territory Los Angeles Volume Subscriber Pricing Program; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a lease-purchase agreement, and related financing documents, with Motorola Solutions, Inc., of Los Angeles, CA, for the financing of the radio communications equipment, in a total principal amount not to exceed $17,500,000, and in an aggregate amount not to exceed $23,300,000 including principal, interest, and fees, payable over terms not to exceed 12 years; Increase appropriations in the General Services Fund (IS 385) in the Technology and Innovation Department (TI) by $541,000 for implementation costs, offset by a transfer from the General Fund; and

LongBeachCC

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: At 23, please. Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to declare ordinance approving and adopting the official budget of the City of Long Beach for the fiscal year 2018 2019. Creating and establishing the funds of the municipal government of the City of Long Beach and appropriating money to and authorizing expenditures from said funds for said fiscal year, declaring the urgency thereof and providing that this ordinance shall take effect on October one, 2018. Read and adopt it as read. Speaker 0: Any public comment on this? Please come forward. Are you going to address on file? If you recall last week at the suggestion of a generally pretty reliable consultant, I use Homer Simpson. I had to pass it along. The suggestion that we consider putting a framework on top of the Marina Vista. A tennis court, put solar panels there and even suggested a long boathouse lane there would be an opportunity for that. But then Homer got back to me and said he may have been a little over optimistic, although there's still an opportunity. And this is what he suggested we take a look at. What's the key to solar panels? Success is generating enough electricity to offset offset the use of that electricity. Around there. There are currently there's very little use of electricity around Marina Vista Park. However, however, Holmer suggested taking a look at who is paying for the streetlights along there. All right. Who is paying for the little bit of electricity used in the restroom? Who is paying the city for? Who's paying the electric bill? Fire station 14. And the thinking is that if you add those up there, it might be well justified to put in. The solar panel on the top of that framework of the tennis court. Again, somebody's got to be paying the bill at the fire station. Somebody has got to be paying whatever streetlights are there. So let's add somebody that's not me, but somebody that's really good at math. Put a pencil to the figures and see how it works out in a cell. Do what hopefully will be done with the third district counsel's office. Speaker 2: Get a new roof and have a new. Speaker 0: Roof paid for by the solar paneling of that. Thank you. Thank you. Next item, please. You're not excited. Apologize. Speaker 4: All right. Hostile once again. Information on file. Wow. $3 billion budget and it's still not enough. I mean, how much money does the family actually need? Come on, guys. I have six parcel taxes on my house, Mr. Richardson. I don't need a seven. And I don't need an eighth possibly coming from L.A. County on this phony water runoff tax, 2.5 cents per square foot of hard surface. What a joke. And then there's another tax that wants to come down from Sacramento. Yeah, that's really funny. You're laughing. You know, you guys don't pay much attention. It's pretty rude, but that's the. That's your style. So no matter how much money we get, the city has so many more sources of income than most cities. And in the state of California, a port, an airport, their own water, gas. It's amazing. And it's still not enough money. And any time you need more money, you raise it. We pay the highest utility user tax on our utilities. Doesn't seem to bother anybody up here. Nothing bothers you from the state. We you know, you're going to support a gas tax that's putting a real burden on people of lower middle. I mean, extremely low or no income. I mean, people living in their cars that can barely make it or having to pay outrageous prices for gas. And you think that's funny? It's not. It's really tragic. You have these motorhomes that seem barely to run. You know, they're having to pay an exorbitant price for fuel, have a place to live. But, you know, you just keep passing everything that like I said, it's amazing how many times you guys vote no. I'd like to know a percentage. It's got to be less than 1% of the time. And most of this doesn't benefit residents. The city is run by and for public employees, not us. All you want us is to pay more taxes, and you seem to do that. And also, one thing I would like to you know, I'm very sorry about, you know, Captain role in his tragic passing. But I also think he should say some words for the other eight or nine or ten fire personnel and residents that perished in the fires in northern California. That was a tragedy also. So I think you should pay homage to all the people that passed away. They were all our heroes, too. So like I say, you know, I've been trying to do this for a lot of years. I'm tired of it. You know, I started out being at 50% on the ballot measures. If I was a baseball player, I'd be making millions. Now I'm hitting to 50. I guess I'm down the ballot almost being cut. Like I said, there's never enough money for the family. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 8: I can't in good conscience recommend a vote approving this budget. I've seen the way you've spent the last year's budget. I've seen the amounts of money that go to pay for elections that we have to have conducted by the county. Because for some reason, the people in the city of Long Beach didn't vote enough or high enough percentage didn't vote. So now the county has to run these elections and we have to pay them to do it for us. We have to pay them to send out the mailers with the pros and the cons. When they get around to it. And a lot of residents didn't get them at all. We have to pay for the lawyers. To get engaged with the people who write the can arguments. They engage outside counsel so that the people writing these arguments. Are already behind the eight ball. They just can't even survive. They're looking at the possibility of having to pay your legal fees if they lose. So they always end up caving whether or not they're offered commissions or not. It's my understanding that the budget includes $250,000 for legal expenses for illegal aliens. I'm not going to debate the merits of that. What I'm going to ask for is $250,000 for the citizens to defend themselves against the city. That I think is more than fair. We are citizens. We're not illegal aliens. We do vote. Those of us who come down here do. The budget. I will not approve because of the already admitted $100,000 that will be spent on informational fliers that will be sent to, as Joe has brought to our attention. Only four or seven of the voters. The state of the animal shelter is appalling. You can groan. The animals are groaning. I'm groaning. I can't stand to listen to this. This is really unbelievable. One veterinarian is what the auditor recommends. One. How much could that cost? A quarter of a million. You know what? If you give me the legal fund, I'll give it back. They can have it for the animal shelter. You need to learn how to spend your money more wisely before you'll get any support from this citizen. Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 7: Hi, Karen. Race side resident of District one. Speaker 1: Work in District. Speaker 7: Two. I want to commend the City Council for the amazing job that they did on the budget preparation and the community meetings. I don't know where these other people were in, why they don't understand what the budget pays for. It pays for our city services. And all the city employees that I work with and the city council have been very conscientious and spent hours preparing this budget. It's the most fair and equitable budget I've seen from the city in a long time. I think we're moving in a very positive direction, and I want to commend you for the work you did. The only thing that I would like to see is that we start the process earlier so I could not stay and a lot of my friends could not stay till 2 to 3 in the morning. Speaker 5: And Stacy, you shouldn't have had to either. We felt for you. Speaker 7: So keep up the good work on the budget preparation. And the only thing I would suggest started earlier. And do something so that people can understand. What their taxes paid for. Because the roads, the sewer, the water. That's what our taxes paid for. And I think the city does a fine job of doing those services. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Thank you. No, no. Speaker 4: I want to thank the previous speaker for raising an issue that the previous two speakers. Exactly why do citizens not trust your budgets? It's because one of the reasons is that the budget doesn't really tell you what services you're getting. It says instead what departments are going to get, how much money. It doesn't say anything about, in quantitative comparative terms, how the departments are performing. And the more information technology is out there, the less relevant information. Over the past few years, the city has provided to residents on the website to be able to see how much is each dollar getting. In the way of each kind of service. So you, the residents can't compare and you cannot even make reasonable tradeoffs as to should we have, for example, more people in public works doing tree work as versus street sweeping. So that is a real problem. The. Previous speaker. Praised your efforts to try to understand from this budget what's actually going on. But the problem is that we're not there. The budget does not tell you. Another reason, though, that people do not trust your spending relates to the unfortunate incident event that we are commemorating today. 911. If you recall what you actually saw on TV screens, it wasn't terrorists. It was planes. It was planes crashing into an iconic building. It was a display of. Speaker 2: All. Speaker 4: That was wrong with mid-20th century corporate vanity. The notion that you take clerical and information workers and stuffed them all together in a vulnerable, congested, high cost, high energy consuming central building. The lesson of 911 was that we were able to survive the loss of all those information workers because we had distributed networking, and that was already back in 2001. Things are much better than that now. Was this lesson applied for the housing of Long Beach City employees? Absolutely not. The thought was we just got to have another central tower, demolish this one and put up another one. When we learn the lessons of history and budget accordingly, people may have a little better confidence in your decisions. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. I mean, what public figures. Speaker 5: I should thank you both, Mayor. I just wanted to thank the many, many, many, many members of the community who came out to community budget meetings, who also came down to City Hall for budget oversight committee meetings. I want to thank my two colleagues on budget oversight. I know we had a lot of tough decisions to make, and I really appreciate all the work that went into knowing and understanding what that 500 pages entailed and the details of it over weeks and weeks. And then for our students that are here today. We're always open to any feedback that you have. Our budget is completely online, as are our expenditures on an annual basis, and so they make for great class projects. I know back when I was a grad student in oh five. I used city budgets and if there's any other questions I can answer for you. I'm always happy to do so. So I urge my colleagues support of this important item to pass a. Speaker 7: $3 billion budget with a B. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Would you please cast your vote?

Emergency Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance approving and adopting the official budget of the City of Long Beach for the Fiscal Year 2018-2019, creating and establishing the funds of the Municipal Government of the City of Long Beach and appropriating money to and authorizing expenditures from said funds for said fiscal year; declaring the urgency thereof, and providing that this ordinance shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2018, read and adopted as read. (Ordinance No. ORD-18-0023). (A-17)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_09112018_18-0816

Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 2: Next will be moving to item 24 with the clock please. With the item. Speaker 1: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to adopt a resolution in opposition to Proposition six. Voter approval for future gas and vehicle taxes and 2017. Tax Repeal Initiative, which will be considered statewide by voters on the November six, 2018 ballot. Speaker 2: Thank you. To not only report on that to me. Okay. Could I please have any further comment? Mm mm. Speaker 8: Well, we've made it this far. Carolyn Byrnes Long Beach Taxpayers Association, also part of the newly formed Long Beach Reform Coalition. We're finally getting it together. So I don't have my orthopedic boot on today. I feel that that's an accomplishment. But unfortunately, my friend Tom is wearing his matching designer orthopedic shoe. We've been pounding the pavement. We've stood out at the veterans stadium many a Sunday at the swap. Meet the auto swap, meet the motorcycle swap, meet. Gathering signatures to support this measure to go on the ballot. To remedy the actions of 120 people in our state legislature. Who made a decision for the citizens without considering what the citizens wanted. This is a very expensive proposition. I mentioned the number earlier, $779.38. I think that this one might backfire on you all. It has been predicted because of this particular measure. The citizens are. A much more inclined to vote in the upcoming election. Which also has on the ballot your four charter amendments. We're campaigning heavily against those amendments. We don't mind tying the two together the four amendments and the gas tax. And we do feel that we may have some measure of success because of the gas tax. So go ahead. Make your vote 8 to 0 to support a no vote on the gas tax, because we're going to make it in big letters with our new political action committee and we're going to find the dickens out of it and shame you for what you have been doing. Please stop it. Speaker 2: Thank you, Max Baker. Speaker 4: Hi. Tom Stout, supporter of the gas repeal. If any of you up here would like a poster and your city employees, I would be more than happy to supply them at no cost. Or if you want some honest literature with honest information on it, I'd be more than happy to supply you with that, too. As Carol mentioned, we were fighting to repeal this gas tax. I spent many hours at the Long Beach Automotive and motorcycle swap meet. We gathered over 2000 signatures there from people that live all over the state of California, because you need to have a different form for each county in L.A. and in the whole state. We are ten different counties from Northern California to San Diego and probably the most hated people that we spoke to at that. Was Governor Brown and the state legislature who put this tax on them, and it was done by bribery during the middle of the night. Governor Brown gave $1,000,000,000 to four legislators. Four people got $1,000,000,000 of taxpayer money to go from a no vote to a yes vote. That is theft. That is bribery. Governor Brown says that's politics. Well, that may be politics to him, but that's bribery to everybody else at the car show. I've done a number of them and I have signs on my car. And 99% of the people are pissed at people like you that want to put this tax on the vast majority of people that are either low or moderate income. They can't afford another tax. They're already paying to hire rats, but that doesn't seem to bother any of you is along as you get a little bit more money to allegedly do some good work for the residents. The bottom line is it doesn't happen. No matter how much money you get, extra money, it frees up other money. And that other money seems to go in your pocket. Just like when Marjorie passed, everybody got raises. Not just a one time raise, but a compounded raise. And management. I still don't understand how you have a union. Hell, you're supposed to be management. You shouldn't be able to bargain. It's pathetic. So what's going to happen? I don't know. Every 99% of the people at the Belmont Shore car show that took information was really upset. And they weren't upset with me for trying to pass it out. There were a couple people. It was surprising. One guy said, I can't vote yes. I'm not in favor, but I can't vote yes because I work for public works. Another Long Beach firefighter came along and said, I'm in favor of. Yeah, I'm for. Yes, repeal it. Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker 4: So, like I said, show some good conscience and do your job and don't try and tack somebody out of California. Maybe that's the best thing to do is move out of the state, sell what property you have, and try another low tax state. Even the weather's not as good. Speaker 2: Thank you. Okay, next. Bigger. Speaker 6: Good evening. City Council Members Vice Mayor Andrews and Distinguished City Council members. My name is John Wright, policy manager of the L.A. County Business Federation. A grassroots organization with more than 70 business organizations represent 390,000 players, ten .3. 5 million employees in Los Angeles County. We were in it to win it with Measure and we're in it to win it with. This has to be won. We're in it to win it to keep transportation funds in Los Angeles County, because that's where our jobs are. That's where our infrastructure is at. That's what moves our economy. Those are the things that some mentioned that the cost of for a two car family of $700,000 a year for such a measure. Imagine when someone hits that pothole and they have over $1,000 worth of damage to their transmission, to their suspension. A little bit more than that, maybe up to 2000, depending on how the make and model of the vehicle. All those into consideration, what's the cost worth not doing us. That's what's affecting our job security, affecting our roads, affecting our infrastructure that we need to protect. What city lobbies in L.A. County in general? Because this is what's going to be needed to fix the 710 Freeway, to keep the maintenance and keep the roads smooth and clean. Because if you're going to have higher zero emission vehicles or near zero emission vehicles with newer technology, they want to protect that investment. They don't want to see it being bumped and messed up because of crappy roads. And I live as a Long Beach resident in the seventh District. I live right at 37 Linden and I see that every time I even ride my bike with all those potholed road roads right in front of petroleum couple right in front of the bacon barrel. Because I see that every time I ride my bike I got to repair that tire. I can swerve all I want to. But guess what? I'm still going to hit that pothole because that paving needs to take place and that's what this funding will do. This isn't perfect. There is no such thing. But at least we're doing something. And that's what needs to take place. I urge for your support of this particular vote. And have a great evening. Speaker 2: Thank you. Expedia. Speaker 3: Hi, America. Gonzales. I live in the second district. And I just want to say I'm an absolute support of this measure. I feel like the gas tax is really just the first step in what we need to maintain our infrastructure. It's been neglected for decades upon decades, upon decades, and we're now barely taking the first step necessary to get to where we should be in 2018. So if we don't show our support for it now, we're going to lose it and the streets are going to fall into further disrepair. Now, to kind of echo the cycling aspect of it, I bike everywhere to school, to work. That's what I do. Between Cherry and Redondo on 10th Street, it is a war zone for me as I'm fighting cars and potholes across that. But it's my hope that because of this tax that will soon be repaired and I will only have to. Speaker 6: Fight cars on that road. So please support. Speaker 3: This. I hope the community comes out, understands all the negative externalities the cars produce, and how we're only trying to correct that and put us where we should be now. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. I need a more public comment now. Would you please cast your vote? Okay. Now she. Speaker 1: Carries with. Speaker 2: Us. Thank you. Now we've got a second coming. Right. If anyone have any comments, please. He's come up. Please state your name. 3 minutes.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution in opposition to Proposition 6: Voter Approval for Future Gas and Vehicle Taxes and 2017 Tax Repeal Initiative which will be considered Statewide by voters on the November 6, 2018 ballot.

LongBeachCC

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Speaker 1: Communication from Mayor Garcia, Councilwoman Mongo, Vice Mayor Andrews and Councilmember Richardson recommendation to approve expenditures of $10,000 as a reward for information to solve the murder of Fred Taft on July 21st, 2018. Speaker 4: He was going to he was going to say, you just thank you. Speaker 3: Let me. Speaker 0: Say sorry. Okay. There we go. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Court. And I do want to just begin by making some comments. I had a chance to make these comments earlier to the public and to the family as well, who I know is here. I'll repeat some of them because they are they are important. We know that the incredibly tragic murder that happened in our community has been horrible to watch and unfold in our community. We know that the Taft family is here today and they deserve justice and answers for the murder of Fred Taft, someone that was a son and a father, a family member, a friend. And from everything that I've heard from family members and the community, someone that was very joyous and loved life, we're we know that the entire community mourns this tragedy. We also know that we're doing everything that we can to bring the perpetrator or perpetrators to justice. In this case, we're also and continue to ask the public to please bring any information possible to help bring justice to the Taft family and healing for the community. We have been working with L.A. County, the county of Los Angeles, and Supervisor Janice Hahn to put together a reward for any information that would lead our department to the arrest of whoever did this heinous and horrific act of hate. We want to ensure that we get this individual off our streets. And we believe and we know that with these reward, this reward that we're putting forward today, we hope we can make that even a reality sooner. The sooner the better. We are matching today the $10,000 that the county is putting forward. We will also put forward $10,000 for a $20,000 reward on information that could be helpful for us to catch the person that killed Mr. Taft. I want to of course, I appreciate everyone that was there earlier today at the at the press event, especially the family. And I want to thank County Supervisor Janice Horne for her support. This would not be possible without her and of course, of the department and particularly the detectives who are working on this case. I just want to thank them and I hope that this helps bring some additional additional closure and justice to this case. And so the motion there is a motion and a second I want to I know we have some folks that want to make some comments. So Councilman Richardson, who's made the motion. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to take a moment and express my deep, deep condolences to the family, to the Taft family. This was, you know, across kitchen tables and living rooms all across the city. People were just shocked by this incident. And I you know, I have to tell you, you know, this isn't this isn't the Long Beach that we want to represent. We want to make sure everybody knows that our parks are safe for everybody no matter what. You know what your ethnic makeup is, no matter what side of town you are in, we have to make sure that we are very clear about that. And so if there was anything more that we could do, I offer my office, my support to you. I want to thank Supervisor Hahn for stepping up and offering this this reward. I want to acknowledge to our police officers who've kept the council up to speed on this, and they've been sort of leaning forward and doing everything they can. And I want to thank the mayor for stepping forward and suggesting that the city council offer this additional reward. So with that said, I offer my condolences and my support. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And also, I'd like to express my deepest sympathy to the Taft family. I had an opportunity to speak with you all a little earlier today, and we'll let you know that that this this myself and I think this entire council is with your family. We want to make sure that we are doing everything we can do. We give our P.D. all the tools and resources they have. They they need to work to bring this this monster who is currently on our streets to justice. These types of acts in public restrooms are violent. Acts are not, will not and cannot be tolerated in our city in any way. And I know there's been some some controversy over, you know, how we classify what happened. I can tell you that anybody who can, you know, use a firearm and take an innocent life in a public restroom has nothing but evil and hate in their hearts. And so. This individual has to be brought to justice. And so to the public, if anybody has any sort of information whatsoever, hopefully you're listening at home. Your conscience is is pulling on you. Please give our Long Beach PD a call. If you with any information you can to help solve this case. I'll be supporting this item enthusiastically. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman. Vice Mayor Andrews? Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you very much, Mayor. First of all, I'd like to thank the Taft family for being here today. This morning, I had an opportunity to speak to these individuals, and I'm hopeful that with the approval of this fund, some will come forward. This family needs comfort and closure. And while they may never heal completely, knowing that someone is being held responsible for this senseless killing may help. I will keep this family in my prayers. And if anyone knows someone, something or someone, please come forward. Because definitely that may help. And I want to let every one of you know that this is something that we cannot tolerate. And we will do everything we can to bring this individual individuals to justice. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: VEGA Councilman. Speaker 5: Councilmember Pearce I just want to echo the same sentiments of my council colleagues and say that my heart is with you and that we are prepared to make sure that our PD has all the tools they need to find who did this and to make sure that you all also know what we're fighting to find this person and bring them to justice. The city is here to help support you. We have a great health department with mental health services that really help you whenever you're going through times like this. I know how hard it can be. So, yes, I'm extremely happy that we are putting together the resources to be able to track this person down, but know that even after they are found, we are still your family and we are still here to help you through this hard time. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Councilwoman, at this time is our public comment on this item, which is the reward. Kate, seeing no seeing no public comment on the. Yes, please come forward. Speaker 5: Good evening. Thank you. My name's Mary Ann Drummond. I'm in their district. And as a Long Beach citizen. And I'd just like to make a few points. One, of course, I think we can all agree that nobody, no family. Speaker 3: Should go through. Speaker 5: Something like this. Right. There's just. There are no words for that. And we need to really be standing up for that. And I really appreciate. Speaker 3: What folks have said about standing behind. Speaker 5: The family and doing. Speaker 3: Whatever can be done. Speaker 5: And I also want to resist the urge to minimize what happened, the the context. Speaker 3: Of who and how long and at what time of day and with what nonchalance this all happened, right? I think in today's society. Speaker 5: It's all with today's noise. It's easy to maybe get exhausted or. Speaker 3: Want or even want to to look at it in the face and say. Speaker 5: That's a lot to look at. But I think that in understanding that. Speaker 3: You know, this is a white man in the middle of the day. Speaker 5: Within seconds of Frederick Taft walking into that. Speaker 3: Restroom. Speaker 5: Is effectively executed. Speaker 3: And he saunters out. Right. Speaker 5: So this is I mean, that's if. Speaker 3: That's just. Speaker 5: Excruciatingly disturbing. Right. And I don't want that to be lost on folks. I don't want to see that being minimized. I am just really grateful and urging for your support on this, on supporting this to do whatever we can. Speaker 7: And I also want to mention that. Speaker 5: You know, like white supremacy activity like that and we tend to look at Charlottesville. Speaker 3: Charlottesville is not. It's the tip of the iceberg. Things like this, things like that. Speaker 5: Have happened all over and including in the Southland, so including San Bernardino and Santa monica. And there have been a lot of so the kinds of things that are brewing in general out there. This is a scary thing to have had it happen and. Speaker 7: And potentially inspiring some of that. Speaker 3: Sort of. Thinking. So at any rate. Thank you so much. Speaker 5: And for taking this deeply seriously. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Esteemed Council. Speaker 7: Members. Mayor Garcia. Hello, I'm Shelley Walther, and I'm a member of the Lakewood Village community in Long Beach. I'm here to ask you to support the $10,000 reward to help find the man who murdered Frederick Taft at Panama American Park on the afternoon of July 21st. When I first heard that someone had been murdered. Speaker 5: In broad daylight. Speaker 7: In our neighborhood park and the racial circumstances surrounding. Speaker 5: Surrounding the crime, I didn't want to believe that. Speaker 7: Such a horrific act had been committed. Speaker 5: I'm deeply concerned with the Long Beach Police Department's lack of response regarding the murder in our community. It seems like our community is doing. Speaker 7: Most of the work. My Lakewood Village neighbors are unifying to support the Taft family and to stand against white supremacist hate acts. We're collectively seeing and hearing. Speaker 5: Comments made by Long Beach residents in response to the murder. Such as. They're keeping out the riff raff. And our city is being taken over more and more. Which tells you the extent of racism that exists in Long Beach. I want you to know. Speaker 7: That the majority of our community is unifying in love. Speaker 5: And doing what is right by calling out hate and hopefully drawing out information about the killer. Speaker 7: Many residents have started putting out the sign as a as a as unity to fight. Speaker 5: Against the hate that we feel is brewing. Speaker 7: It's painful knowing to. Speaker 5: Go to Pan-Am Park now, knowing that such a hateful act occurred there and the killer is at large. I feel like I'm going to vomit as I approach that restroom. Speaker 7: I see children of color playing in the park. Do they know that? What happened there? Speaker 5: Do they know that they're in danger? It's been over a month since Fred Taft was murdered. Speaker 7: Why, if a murderer is among us. Speaker 5: Are my white neighbors and I not more afraid? Could it possibly be because my skin is the right color? Resources need to be considered, including asking the. Speaker 7: FBI to. Speaker 5: Investigate this as a hate crime. Speaker 7: And to bring forward information about the killer. Speaker 5: Himself. I hope the. Speaker 7: City and the Long Beach Police Department will step up and take action against hate in our community. We have to be honest about the judgments that surround this case and not allow them to continue or to proliferate. Thank you for your time. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Hello. My name is Vicky Yamashita. I am a 25 year resident of Lakewood Village and I live in the fifth District. I my home is about 100 yards away from Pan American Park. And from my driveway, I can actually see the restroom where Fred spent the last moments of his life. And like many Lakewood resident Lakewood Village residents, this is the place where. Speaker 5: We. Speaker 1: Very comfortably and without giving a second thought, took our kids to play, walked our dogs and taken even a late night stroll, feeling quite safe until very recently. And unfortunately, this park is never going to feel the same for those of us who have this relationship with them. But I don't want this to sound like it's about me, because this is not at all about my loss. This is about the loss of a family that is grieving and trying to grapple with what in the hell happened that day? On that day that was supposed to be a day of family celebration. I'm here tonight to ask the council to support the $1,000 reward. It sounds like I will be thanking you. It sounds like everyone is in support of this, but in hopes that this aids in the apprehension of this of this killer. I'm also here to. Speaker 7: Ask people to. Speaker 3: Go into. Speaker 5: A place that's. Speaker 1: Kind of uncomfortable, and that is to talk and think about race and how that affects all of us in our day to day lives. I'm asking for the Long Beach Police Department to provide as much transparency and information that they can without jeopardizing the case, of course, to support the Taaffe family and the residents of Lakewood Village and to assure us that all of the reported racist incidents that were surrounding this crime and the dates of the crime are taken into proper account. We're talking about some of the racist taunts that have been reported and some of the racist graffiti that has been documented there. Hate has no place in in Lakewood Village unless we let it. But what we need to do and be willing to do is to look at it really openly and transparently. And so to that end, I, too, have one of the signs that we have a smaller version and a lawn version sign. And this is a show of solidarity to the family and to the fellow residents to say that hate has no, no place here and that we want to look at this crime kind of with eyes wide open. In my closing statements, I'd like to say that if we're going to continue to grow as a community, everyone, the residents, the city officials and law enforcement must all be willing to lean in. Someone said that that phrase a few minutes earlier to talk to each other honestly and most of all to really listen to each other and even and especially when these conversations can make us uncomfortable, when we are talking around about topics such as race and white supremacy, I feel that this is the only way that a city like ours can have the full bragging rights for the diversity that so many of us cherish in the city of Long Beach. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening. Mayor and city council members. My name is Michael Swalwell, sir. I am the president of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach. I am a 30 year resident of Lakewood Village. I've passed through Pan American Park almost every day for the last eight years when I added a morning walk as part of my daily exercise . I walked before the sun came up, and every so often, late at night, I rarely worried about my safety. Then Fred tapped was murdered. Fred was a man. As am I. Fred was middle age. I am too. Fred was a grandfather. So am I. And I visit the park with my granddaughter. Fred was a responsible member of the community. I think the same of myself. But I feel no more afraid today than I did before Fred was murdered because that we have much in common. There is a crucial difference between Fred Taft and myself. Fred Taft was black and I'm white. If the reward being proposed is approved and it leads to the conviction of the white man seen leaving the murder scene, justice will not be fully served. That will only happen if the city takes meaningful actions to address the climate that encourages a hate crime such as this to occur. I'm not saying it's among everyone, but it is pervasive and it is present. And unless we think there isn't such a climate, I went to read a comment posted on the social media app Nextdoor in which people identify themselves. So this is not anonymous. It's a post that I find filled with misinformation and irrelevancy. I am all for fighting the killer. But putting up a tree or a plaque to commemorate the life of Fred Taft might be going a little too far. The year was that the family reunion was a blood family reunion. Did you see in the TV interview how the whole family was wearing red if he was an old gangbanger from years ago? I don't want to celebrate his life. I'm not trying to be mean. Speaker 3: But I know he. Speaker 4: Was because I know he was an innocent victim in this case. But how the gangs have destroyed every neighborhood they have been involved in, with all the drugs and the murders and the extortion and everything else they do. I'm just saying, before you put up a plaque, make sure the man was never part of all that. All right. Speaker 0: A concert. Just what I want you to make sure. Mr. Good. Here's our last public speaker. I'm going to close the speakers list on this item. Okay. So, Mr. Jeans and then and then that's the final public speaker. I'm going to close the speakers list. I just want to be for Mr. Spencer. It's just to the just to the three folks that just spoke. I just want to thank you for coming forward and saying what you said, but most importantly, for standing up within your own community and saying what you said and being vocal about it within your neighborhood. That is not something that a lot of people choose to do. And I'm aware of the types of comments that are put on on that site and have read things equal to or worse. In some ways, that disgusts me, and I'm sure a lot of people should feel the same way. But but to the three folks that just spoke. You know, allies and people that support these types of conversations are so important and the work can't always be left to a community. And I think that that allyship is really, really important. And so I just wanted to thank those folks for come. And that was, I can tell, your passion there. So thank you. Mr.. Good to you. Speaker 4: Larry Good. You. I've lived in Long Beach since 1977. And in all candor, I don't think I don't think I've ever set foot in that park or much of the northern parts of Council District eight or nine. But a few months ago and I forget what the crime was. It triggered by thinking on this. There was another crime. It was either in the eighth or ninth District and. The only time I would traverse through those areas would be on the blue line. And when you go up on the blue line, you're generally looking at your newspaper or reading and don't pay that much attention to what what's on either side of you. About it was about 18 maybe excuse me, about two and a half months ago when they had that MTA bus debacle from Artesia up to Rosa Parks, which stopped at every single corner, every red light, every intersection there was for three to 5 to 8 minutes and so forth in some cases . And as it is looking out there, I think it's the Mingus Hills area and so forth. And I had been reading about some crimes, and it occurred to me that the thought process is what would those people live up there? Be safer and be better off if they fell under the EGIS and protection. Of the county or whoever it is that is taking care of Dillinger's hills and those surrounding the surrounding areas. I don't know the extent of all the crimes up there, but I do know our police department is stretched thin, notwithstanding some very good management now. And so I think it's worthwhile taking a look. To see what how the best interests of the public that live there and have to deal with what's going on can be best served. And I think we should ask the city needs to ask itself some hard questions and would they be better with the better served? By. Having the Long Beach, the the county patrol, that area or some other paradigm. Other than Long Beach. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Good evening, Diane. The jeans. Speaker 5: I fully support this effort to. Speaker 3: Put forward a word. Speaker 5: It's about time. Speaker 3: I absolutely support it. Speaker 5: And I. Speaker 1: Would invite you. Speaker 3: The. Speaker 5: Next time. If anyone has a criticism. Speaker 3: Of the football. Speaker 5: Players or whoever decides to sit or kneel during the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance to Remember. Speaker 7: This type of. Speaker 5: Incident they're bringing. They're not being disrespectful. Speaker 7: They're trying to bring attention to. Speaker 5: This type of situation. It's horrendous. I can't even imagine how the family must feel. Not just. Speaker 7: That he was murdered, but he was he was murdered. Speaker 5: Because of his the color of his skin. And so when. Speaker 7: I see these people. Speaker 5: In fact, I. Speaker 7: Personally. Speaker 5: Normally do not stand. I continue my work and I sit because when the Pledge of Allegiance says, end justice, liberty and justice for all. Speaker 3: And that was stolen from this gentleman. Speaker 5: So every time any time you ever anyone that's watching this. Speaker 3: Before you. Speaker 5: Criticize someone sitting or kneeling. Remember, this is the type of incident that is the surrenders type of incident. Speaker 3: That they are protesting. Speaker 5: So please think think about it. And I absolutely support what you're doing. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Miss Logins. There's there's a there's a motion and a second. I have some some councilmembers here. So, Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 5: Thank you. And we want to thank everybody for showing up. And thank you for those that spoke today. And also want to apologize for, you know, the agenda item today was around the $10,000. And we have a long agenda will likely be here. So who knows when one or two. And so we just kind of plow through and say, okay, this is what we want to do. But part of the work that I care deeply about on this council, I know my council colleagues care deeply about is around governing, not just for equity, but for racial equity. And that we as a council have struggled with how do we talk about these conversations? How do we make sure that it's not just us up here, but that we are implementing a culture and a process that allows us to pause and talk about the one thing that I firmly believe if we govern for racial equity, everything else thrives, that if we govern for those that have been impacted by the police system, by hate crimes, by violence, by drugs, by all of that, that our entire city is going to be better for it. So I really want to thank you for having us pause. And I want to ask staff, I know that, you know, Councilmember Rex Richardson helped lead the Office of equity and I wanted to ask staff have just some follow up can be done in the community around facilitating some meetings around some of the hate crimes. I know that I've had hate crimes in my district in the past, but some process with the Office of Equity and maybe our Human Relations Commission where we can talk about a space for both of the communities to come together and identify, maybe there's just a little bit of a process that we could put in place there so that we can we can figure out outside of tracking down this person, are there some community events, some? I like your signs. I like the idea of signs that say Long Beach isn't a place for hate. You know, like just have us have that conversation so we don't let this moment pass us by without us taking the opportunity to talk about race a little bit more. My question. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember a Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 9: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Just the just the question. Mr. WEST. So we've done rewards in the past. What were the levels on the rewards? The you know, in the in recent history. Speaker 4: I believe we've matched what the county has done. Speaker 2: The county's done. I believe that one reward at 25, one reward at 20. I believe. Speaker 9: So. And then we match those. Speaker 4: Yes. We basically took the lead from the county. Speaker 9: Okay. I would say I remember a number of those and they just seemed higher. And and I do appreciate the county offering $10,000 for not limit it to stop at $10,000. If we wanted to offer a $25,000 reward, something like that. We have the ability to do so. Correct. Okay. Well, that said, I think that we should be very clear that we're not you know, it's a tricky assigning a value associated with someone's life is very tricky. So I think we should begin to talk about a standard when we issue a reward or a match for reward, you think about a standard. So what was the what was the amount on the last one? I'd like to get to that level. It was 25,000. Speaker 4: It was 22 individuals. Speaker 9: Okay. So if the council were like, I'm going to amend my motion to make our match 20,000 instead of ten. Speaker 0: And we'll we'll go ahead we'll go ahead and accept that. I think what we've and I support that we've done traditionally, of course, is the county will tell us the number and then we'll match the county. But it's absolutely appropriate for the council to decide a number. And I think that that's a maybe a practice that we've done in the past. It should be change moving forward as well. Speaker 4: Absolutely. Speaker 0: So that so that just we make sure I have the motion on the floor. Councilmember it's. Did you say 20? Is it. Speaker 9: From 22? From 10. Speaker 0: To 20. Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. So we have the new motion on the floor, which is 20,000. See no other no other speakers. Councilman Mongo. Speaker 5: Thank you. I want to appreciate my colleagues, both Mayor Andrews and Councilman Austin and Councilmember Richardson, for supporting this item with me. And I appreciate the idea of bringing the total reward up to 30,000. So 20 plus the ten. This has been a very, very trying time for the community. I appreciate those of you who have stayed engaged. I know that it has been a long process, but I want you to know that there is no limit to the amount of police investigative resources that have been put forward. At no time has anyone in detectives bureau been told they cannot do overtime if there's any lead that they have. Commander Herzog even updated me on Friday when I was at Memorial. That they were authorizing additional overtime for investigations that were necessary. And I know he's even put in some of his time out of another division. So the day we find this person will not come soon enough. Thank you for your continued efforts and keeping this at the forefront. Speaker 0: Okay. Well, thank you very much. We have a we have a motion in a second for a $20,000 reward that will be match with what the county did earlier today. Please go ahead, members, and cast your vote. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And again, I particularly want to thank the Taft family who I know is here, family and friends. So thank you again. I know you were with us earlier and we appreciate you being here again today. I know it's very taxing and we appreciate it greatly. So thank you. Let me go ahead and move on with with the regular agenda now. We do have, of course, before we start our hour meeting, we do have a continuation of the budget hearing. And so today for the budget hearing, we have harbor department, we have the water department, and then we will have further discussions on the budget. Obviously, the budget can be adopted tonight. It could also be adopted at the deadline, which would be next week. And so that would be the the option of the council that they'll be discussing a little bit later today. So we do have some for presentations and I know questions as well. And so we will begin with our harbor department presentation and then we'll go into a wider department presentation and we'll go into questions on on those

Agenda Item

Recommendation to approve expenditure of $10,000 as a reward for information to solve the murder of Fred Taft on July 21, 2018.

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_09042018_18-0744

Speaker 0: And so that would be the the option of the council that they'll be discussing a little bit later today. So we do have some for presentations and I know questions as well. And so we will begin with our harbor department presentation and then we'll go into a wider department presentation and we'll go into questions on on those items. And so, Mr. Weston, to turn this over to you and then introduce our presentations. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members, these are final two. Speaker 2: Presentations from departments tonight. These are non city manager departments, the water department. Speaker 4: And the harbor department. Speaker 2: So first offering to go with the executive director. Speaker 4: Of the harbor department, Mr. Mario Cordero. Speaker 10: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and members of the City Council. I'm pleased to be here tonight to present the Labor Department's budget for fiscal year 2019, which is 982 million and $272,000. But before I commence, let me acknowledge people who are here from the poor language, beginning with the president of the Harvard Commission, President Tracy Gosk, who who's in the audience, and also newly appointed deputy director Noel Hasegawa. Director of finance Sam Jumblatt, and two members of his team, Don Kwok and Jason Broad, and also from government relations, Tamara Ashley and Nina Turner. Operational excellence. That is environmental sustainable. When you look at this slide. I suggest to you that we're so proud as a city. They have a port. Which from a national and international perspective excels in excellence, that it's environmental sustainable. In addition, I'm here to tell you that our financial state is very strong and we are making investments necessary to deliver the services, the projects and administration to enhance our standing as a world class seaport and a leading gateway for the Trans-Pacific Trade. And as you may be aware, the Trans Pacific trade route is the most important trade route for this country. No one even comes close second. And our mission here at the Port of Long Beach is to further the economic standing of not only the city, but the region. And the state of California. The proposed budget. Includes here our capital program, which you'll see almost $700 million or 70% of our budget is earmarked towards our capital improvement budget. Three programs in particular, you'll note, in yellow account for 80% of our capital spending for fiscal year 2019. This investment and these initiatives on the part of the poor Long Beach will continue to improve the industry leading service. That we give and enhance or sustainability. That, again, is part of our brand. The bridge to everywhere. As you know, we're almost two thirds completed this iconic bridge. A conduit of international trade. We'll be a landmark not only for the city but for the state of California. It will be the second highest cable state bridge in the United States this year. We're allocating 150 more, 154 billion excuse me, $154 million program for the completion of this new bridge for the upcoming fiscal year. A second very important capital improvement project is the Long Beach Container Terminal, otherwise also referred to as our Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project. This will be a include a gold building or gold led led gold statue building. The further the green port brand that we have at this port, it will be a 311 acre terminal with the capacity of moving 3.3 million containers. And for context that terminal alone after completion. Would qualify as the sixth largest port in the United States. We have now allocated for fiscal year 2019, $182 million appropriated towards phase three of this mega project. And as you know, we're all looking forward to next year. For the completion of the new headquarters for the poor Long Beach as part of our partnership here at the Civic Center. And we'll be making our final payment as part of this fiscal year 2019 budget with regard to the commitment by the poor Long Beach. So next year, rather than driving to City Hall from East Long Beach, I'll be walking across the prominent and I'm looking very forward to I'm sure I could speak for the commission or staff to be part of the Civic Center family and come back to downtown Long Beach. As you can see, our operating revenue. In terms of source funds is our biggest source of funds. Again, to put this in perspective, 75% of our revenue comes from our container terminals. 75% of our revenue. And thus our emphasis as to why we have a capital improvement project at the tune of $4 billion at this port. We are projecting additional debt of 300 million face value for fiscal year 2019 as part of our 600 million. We expect to assume over the next three years. This, of course, would be gauged at the time of issuance based on our need at the time. The Harbor Department does enjoy a strong a Double-A rating with a stable outlook with our respective credit agencies. In fact, our annual audit this year, in the spring of 2018, US from KPMG came forward before the Commission and indicated analysis was the best audit for the poor Long Beach going back 15 years. So we're very proud to continue not only our brand as a green port and our leadership in sustainable development, but in addition continuing the financial strength that this port has always exhibited. So there is the source of our funds. As I indicated, the operating revenue is a strong for for fiscal year 2019. We're projecting 389,605,000. As you know, we had record year for fiscal year excuse me, calendar year 2017, looming 7.5 million containers. We expect a 5% growth for fiscal year 2018, which would be a 3.3. 5% increase as compared to fiscal year 2018. So with that, again, I'm very optimistic with regard to how we continue to lead, not only in terms of a leading container gateway, but also in terms of how we continue with our financial strength and the revenue that comes from this great port. Here are some of the highlights, as I referenced with regard to capital expenditure again at the tune of $695 million. And again, 70% of our budget goes to our capital improvement project. Our operating expenses are mostly due to one time items. And of course, I'm very pleased to stand before the council and specifically referenced the Tidelands transfer for the fiscal year, which will be approximately $20 million. That is the highest ever for a fiscal year for the pro Long Beach. We do propose ten additional full time equivalent employees as part of this budget. Greenport policy. As many of you know, in 2005, the poor little Amish decided to move forward. Very leadership role with regard to the what I believe the shot that was heard across the world, the maritime industry as being the port that branded itself as a green port. Yes. In 2005, they may have been just words, but as you know, there were five basic principles that we will protect the community from harmful environmental impacts of port operations. With regard to emissions that we would distinguish. Number two, the port as a leader in environmental stewardship and compliance. Number three, that we will further and promote environmental sustainability development. Number four, employ the best available practice practices to implement technology to reduce environmental impacts. And lastly, and just as important, become engaged with the community both in terms of our community nonprofit involvement and not only with the non-profits, but with the educational institutions. Now, in 2005, those may have been just words, but let's look now in terms of what was accomplished. The accomplishment in terms of reducing emissions is here in terms of the empirical evidence. Before you know it, 97% reduction in sulfur oxides, 88% reduction in particulate matter, 56% reduction in nitro nitrogen oxides, and of course, 8% in greenhouse gases. And as you know, with our most recent initiative, the Clean Air Action Plan of 2017, we are not just about reducing emissions. We are about eliminating emissions with the goal of being zero emissions in terms of cargo handling, including by year 2030 and zero emissions in terms of the transportation mode and moving containers, more specifically, trucks that by 2035, we will have zero emission trucks all throughout this gateway. So this also indicates itemize is for you are community involvement in terms of our community engagement 1.3 million budgeted in fiscal year 2019 as part of our commitment for community investment grants and of course our sponsorships with regard to the various nonprofit entities at the tune of $1 million. So what I've had presented here in a very concise manner, I can represent to you that not only is this the greenest port in America, and not only is this a leading gateway in terms of being part of the nation's largest port complex. Yes, we invest our money to make sure that we continue on the road of operational excellence. But at the same time, we also have a very appropriate investment to our community engagement. And we live by what we said we were going to do in 2005 with regard to a definition of what a green port is. So with that, I'm very honored to present what I just presented to the Council, and I'm open to any questions that you may have regarding our budget. Also available here is again the way the finance director, Sam Jumblatt. If there's any questions, I may not be able to answer. So thank you so much. Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Cohen. So any questions? Yes, Mrs. Price. Speaker 6: Thank you. Thank you very much for the presentation. And thank you for taking the time to brief us individually in advance of the meeting. And congratulations to the new deputy executive director. So welcome to your new role. I did have a question. There was a front page article I want to say on Saturday, maybe about the tariffs and how they might impact port business and port operations. And that's something I thought was would be something interesting for us to talk about. I'll throw that out there. Possible suggestion for the Tidelands Committee, maybe, because I know that's a topic of a lot of discussion in terms of the tariffs and what impact we think they might have. So it might be something worthy of a longer conversation in a different venue. But but while I have you here, I wanted to. Speaker 10: Thank you for your question. And Councilwoman Price, in fact, that's probably the most often questioners pose before me and this commission in the last several months by the media. That is the impact of tariffs and this trade war that we're engaged in. But before I give you that answer, let me first say that the poor lobbyist recently did announce the appointment of a new deputy directors. One of them is here to see Nino Hasegawa. The other deputy director was unable to be here this evening and that's Ric Cameron. So going forward, the poor language is moving forward with a new model, which I think represents the requirement given how much we've grown not only in terms of our cargo, but in terms of our staff and the required staff that's necessary to continue with the stellar operation of this port. Now, to your question, which I think is a great question. The port alone, which has joined with the California associate of port authorities to assure concern with regard to the tariff trade issue. So preliminarily, at the present time, we have in place the first step of this administration's movement on tariffs, which is at the tune of $50 billion in cargo value. So right now, our staff had done some preliminary figures that if in fact, we'll continue to monitor this, there hasn't been any significant impact at this point. However, later this year and for sure by the turn of the year, we're going to be in a better position in terms of what that impact is , particularly with regard to the second half of calendar year 2018. Preliminarily, we believe that impact may be anywhere in the neighborhood of 7 to 10% in terms of cargo value. So we are concerned about the the tone and the involvement of this trade war, particularly the application of tariffs of even more of a serious concern is whether or not the administration will move forward with an additional 200 billion in tariffs with regard to cargo value. If we move to that point. I suspect that the American consumer will feel the impact on that for sure, because when you move to a 200 billion level tariffs, you are going to see an impact on a number of consumer goods that are the day to day purchases of the American consumer. So I still maintain a sense of optimism that given that the potential impacts of moving forward to that final step will be, in my mind, very serious to the supply chain and international trade here in the United States, as well as our global partners. Again, I still have a sense of optimism that the parties will come to a meeting of the minds of some point, because history will tell us that prior attempts on moving forward with tariffs are actually a short term option. And when we step back and look what those long term impacts are. So that was a great question, and we'll continue to. Monitor those impacts. Speaker 6: In light of that. Has the port adjusted perhaps its budget for federal advocacy? Speaker 3: Yes. Okay. Speaker 10: Well, number one, we're going to continue with the high level of federal accuracy that we've had, both at the federal level and at the state level. Now, I will say this. I'd like to also bring further context to this potential impact. And I'm talking about the 200 billion in tariffs. Keep in mind that the global recession that commenced here in 2008, 2009 and lasted for a few years, there was serious impacts at the Port of Long Beach with regard to not only the movement of cargo during the global recession, but in terms of the revenue growth. But nevertheless, as I've showed in these slides, the Harbor Commission decided to move forward with the road map that they believe is very important. And I'm talking about their continued commitment to the Capital Improvement Project and their continued commitment to the principles of the Green Port Policy, and their continued commitment to make sure that we move forward with both environmental stewardship and operational excellence. So if you go back and assess in the last ten years that trauma of the global recession and not only the poor Long Beach had, but the global community, I think what's coming ahead, if in fact it does come. I, I can stand here before you and feel very optimistic that we will continue with our leadership, continue with our priorities. And I don't believe that even in the worst scenario, will approximate the kind of impacts that this port underwent and withstood post the global recession. So again, I'm trying to give some optimism to the potential scenarios, but I think one thing for sure as it relates to this budget, it's a very good budget. I think our finance director will support the fact that our ten year forecast at the Port of Long Beach is a very good forecast. And again, with that, I entertain any more questions that the council may have. Speaker 6: For sharing that. And and again, I just wanted to take the opportunity because you were here, but there's probably not the best venue to have this discussion. But it's a really interesting discussion because as we watch national politics and national policy changing all around us, there's bits and pieces of it that are impacting our daily lives, of course. But because we're a port city, this, this the tariff issue is something that could impact us very dramatically economically. And it's the single most common question I get from folks outside of the city when I tell them I'm the long on the Long Beach City Council, they ask me about how our port is doing in light of the tariffs. So I appreciate you touching on it and I look forward to talking with it further, talking with you about it further. Speaker 10: Well, I think I represent that our commissioners are very much on this issue and are doing everything they can to make sure that we move forward in a way in which not only is sustainable, but again, monitor these issues to minimize any potential impacts. And last, I would say, just for your information on this issue, on this question, on Friday, I will be in Sacramento, along with other executive directors of the state of California and other port directors in the state of California to address this issues in the governor's office. So I think, again, we're doing everything we can to raise consciousness to this issue. Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you. Is that the way to me? Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Good. Mr. Sweat? Speaker 5: Yes, Mario and the whole port team. I've just really enjoyed getting great briefings from you all, not only around the budget, but any time, whether we're talking about Metal Harbor or our cleaner action plan. I just want to say how much I appreciate you all. I think that you've done a great job with the port. Looking at how we restructure, looking at how your community engagement is. Today, I had the pleasure of being in L.A. for a press conference with other city leaders throughout California, and we were talking about our efforts to green our communities. And so I was able to really highlight all the efforts that we've done here at our port. And so looking at this budget, I think we had our briefing. I want to echo how exciting it is to have the largest Thailand's transfer, how exciting it is that you guys are making your final payment on the building and your commitment to the Civic Center facility. And so I don't have any other questions. I just really it's nice not to have questions, but just to say good job and I don't have to ask questions today because I have so many briefings with you guys. I really appreciate it. Speaker 10: Well, thank you so much, Councilman Pierce. And I also like to add that and represent to this council that for this year we had a pretty rigorous process at the Port of Long Beach with regard to our budget. I want to thank the Budget Committee that consisted of President Tracy Gaskill and Commissioner Liang Guzman. And as well as the the three other commissioners, Bonnie Lowenthal, Frank Colonna and Wayne Bynum. It's a it's a very engaged commission. And I think it's as I like to say, a lot of times you have the perfect commission for these times in terms of the skill set that these commissioners bring and the challenges that we have. And, of course, the objectives are formidable. So it's very blessed to be in this position for sure. Speaker 5: Yeah, I think Long Beach as a whole is really blessed to have such a great team. So and I definitely I also want to echo Councilmember Price's comments. I know we've got our Harbor Commission Titans meeting tomorrow, but down the road, I do think the terrace conversation is a fascinating one, that we could just have a community meeting to kind of unpack that a little bit. So thank. Speaker 10: You. And as Councilman Price indicated, we'd be more than happy to appear at a at another setting to specifically engage on that issue. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 6: Yes, thank you, Mario. And your team again. Commissioner Gorski, thank you so much for your work on the commission. I think this year is phenomenal for us to look back at and see that we've had record numbers. A few things that we want to thank you on behalf of First District residents, Pier B, which I know was a huge issue, but we got through it. But I think it's for the long term. What we see, it's going to be exponential for our city and for our port cleaner action plan, of course, as Councilmember Pearce had mentioned, and Gerald Desmond, which is huge for the connection to our city and to the port and just to our friends across the harbor. So I just want to thank you for those efforts. Tomorrow, we do have a Harbor and Tidelands meeting coming up, I'm sure, as you're aware. So thank you in those efforts as well. I know that's a long discussion, but we appreciate it. So thanks again for everything. Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilwoman. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Gringo. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank you, Mario, and your staff for the wonderful work you guys are doing, especially your community engagement. That has been very helpful, been very fruitful in terms of what you've been able to provide for the community. Your 10,000 Trees program is just moving right along. It's been a great program and it adds to the greening of Long Beach and in regards to being able to plant those trees all over the city. You mentioned in Slide 12, you mentioned the the successes of our Clean Air Action Plan and have been the representative that represents the the area where the impacts of port movement and goods movement is highest. And it was somewhat mentioned already by my two predecessors in regards to the Clean Air Action Plan. Could you give us just a high level synopsis, summary of what the Clean Air Action Plan does in regards to how we are working towards knocking down our particulate matter, NOx and our greenhouse gases? Sure. Speaker 10: As I referenced and thank you for your question, councilwoman. Councilman, I apologize for that. Speaker 2: All right. Could put. Speaker 10: Out. They were pretty good. So. Great question. As I referenced earlier, the great thing about what the problem is is doing in partnership with the city in terms of implementing what the city would like us to do is we are moving forward with zero emission and it's just not words right now. There's a partially 13% of cargo handling equipment that's already electric at the poor Long Beach. We have going to the point of our advocacy. I would like to thank our government relations people in doing a great job with regard to making sure that we be the beneficiaries of grants at the state level and federal level. So I think these grants are very important to further continue the endeavors that we have for the 2017 Cleaner Action Plan. So with that, I think you're seeing now that even though our goal is 2035 for all sewer emission trucks, I really believe I'm very optimistic that we're going to reach that goal a lot earlier. There's already demonstration projects in terms of electric trucks and hydrogen fuel cell trucks, zero emission. Recently, if you follow one of our recent press releases, we have applauded Toyota. One of our terminal operators gave them kudos with regard to their decision to move forward with a project under the Toyota Logistics Services name of a hydrogen fuel cell power plant and a power station. So this is what's come in here at this gateway, particularly at this city and at this port. And I'm very excited that I think you're going to see the benefits of this, your emission policy, a lot sooner than what we think. So right now, we presently do have demonstration projects at our terminals that is working with our terminals with regard to putting in place. Technology that's there or here, it's not ready for the market. But we are demonstrating these projects right now, the terminals anywhere from all electric yard hustlers to, again, equipment. And of course, in the transportation mode, you're seeing how this port taking the lead from this council and the state of California are moving forward with, I think, a great story in terms of zero emission transportation. Speaker 2: And again, I want to thank you for your efforts on that mean I think you as a commissioner back in the early 2000 started this whole green, green, green port movement. Speaker 10: You know the great story on that councilman and you're and councilwoman Granger going back to my original you reference those were the days of a councilwoman and longer who had also a great say on this. But I will say this I think all that has been accomplished by the staff that we had at the port. Let me see. If you look at the staff that we had, a poor Long Beach, these young people, the Rick Camerons, the Heather Tom Liz, who were here back in 2006, are still here at the port. And for them, 2017, it's just like a no brainer in terms of not only the skills that they bring, but in terms of these guys are going to accomplish. All on that point. I really want to thank the staff here at the Port of Long Beach who have been here all through these endeavors and and will be here to the end, because, again, it's a great story, not only for the city of Long Beach, but it turns out absolutely represents you. You go anywhere in the nation. And when you talk about the poor Long Beach, the first thing that response, people are going to say, yes, that's right, the green port. You guys are leaders in environmental initiatives. So with that, I want to thank not only the leadership from past city council back in 2005, but in terms of our staff who put this together and ran with it. Speaker 2: I'm looking forward to our continuing successes in that area. Speaker 10: Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Speaker 0: Thank you. I come from a supernova. Speaker 4: Thank you. Thanks for a great report. And my colleagues had mentioned the record transfer amount, all the support you do for the community and also the harbor tours. That is just an awesome program that you have and my residents really appreciate it. I also want to say thank you to the board and congratulations on the naming of the Kodak Co deputy executive directors, Ric Cameron. And you forgot to mention that Noelle is a fourth District resident. So that means. Oh, that's right. Thank you. Speaker 10: Okay. I will say that when we talk about the community engagement that's been referenced to, you know, the $1.3 million in community grants, the $1 million in terms of the nonprofits, I can't think of any other Port in America that has that commitment. That's more than just words. It's it's it's you look at our budget and when you look at the budget of any entity, your budget represents your values. So on that, Mark, I think we're doing excellent and I will represent to you that the President ask you that's one of her main priorities for this budget is to make sure that we continue at every opportunity, consider expanding this type of engagement. So I would like to again make sure that those kudos are given to the commission who set this policy and. Speaker 0: Vice Mayor Andrews. Speaker 4: Yes. Mosquito, I think. I don't think you need any more accolades because, you know, when you came back, everything just exploded. And because of fact, a lot of that is because. I definitely think so. Because the fact that your work is that you have behind you, those individuals are fantastic. But we just came back on our cruise and I thought I went to Hawaii. Those individuals that work with us, I mean, the sixth District, we thought we were really in heaven. Thank you, guys. And thank you for allowing us to have our community to be able to go through that. Thank you, guys, again. Speaker 10: Well, thank you, Cosmo. And thank you for your support. You know, I think to the T every council person here has supported these initiatives at the Port of Long Beach and and in our one on one meetings on the budget. I really appreciate it on behalf of the Commissioner myself, your ongoing support because again, this is the greatest port in America and proud to be part of the greatest city in America. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to just chime in and say what a fantastic job you are doing. The reputation of the port is strong. You know, when I'm invited to participate in different leagues of, you know, cities or SAG, you know, folks have a great year. The Port of Long Beach has a great reputation. Your staff represents us really well. It's gang and all these other areas. So hats off to the government relations team and I want to continue to work with you on issues related to economic inclusion. And we've had ongoing conversations. But being the economic driver, we are. We have an opportunity to really be an asset, a national standard for economic inclusion. The way that we've done on cleaner action plan, in the way that we're doing in community reinvestment. I think the next big thing for the Port of Long Beach is really making a mark and being a national standard on economic inclusion. But thanks a lot and continue your your your fantastic leadership. Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilman. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Cordero, for the great presentation. I want to thank you and your department for all of your amazing contributions to the city of Long Beach, but to our national economy, I mean, our port of Long Beach. There is no way that you can have a have a conversation about our national economy without having a conversation about the port of Long Beach. I want to also take an opportunity to congratulate your newly appointed elected president, Tracy Gorski, who is also a district resident. Congratulations. And Noelle also followed you and worked with you for many years. Congratulations on your recent promotion. And yes, hats off to the government relations team and your entire organization. I want to specifically thank you and the port of Long Beach and the port commissioners for your investment and continue to communicate our commitment to our community through your community grants fund. And I would just invite you to opportunity just to talk a little bit about how the Port of Long Beach is giving back to the city of Long Beach and how the poor Long Beach can continue to give back through the grants application process. Because I see a number of folks in here who are, I think, in organizations that could benefit from some of the great work that your department is doing so well. Speaker 10: I'd like to thank the staff. I would like to thank the community for the advocate advocacy that we witnessed here going back years ago. Because, again, for those of you who remember back then after the implementation of the Green Port policy in 2005 and people were questioning people in the industry and other parts of the country were questioning greenport policy. And the problem is, what does this mean? There was a lot of hysteria about that. We were going to lose business as a result of environmental initiatives. But I think when you see the numbers here at the Port of Long Beach, we proved quite to the contrary. So I'm very proud to be here now, years later in this position. Not only it's not about words, it's about facts. And I think with that, back then, I remember saying that for the poor at Long Beach, it's not about the benefit to the few, but it should be the benefit to the many. And it goes to your point, councilman, councilman, that this budget reflects that. You know, back then we were fighting for 100,000 in community nonprofit allocation and then it went incremental to it was always a debate. But because of the leadership of commissioners that came after me and the now exemplified by our present, our current president Tracey you guys, you know, you have 1 million just on nonprofit commitments to the community, 1.3 community grants as a result of emission reduction assistance or protection protection against harmful impacts. I mean, add that up 2.3 million, including the 20 million transfer to the city. You're talking about $24 million that this port contributes as a department of the city to the city. So I think we should all be proud in terms of what this port stands for, because as we move forward, there are many who continue to question these environmental initiatives like zero emission. But I will also answer to those and say what I said back in 2006. We feel confident of obtaining objectives, these objectives. It will be done. And last I will say, for our friends in the in the industry who are very much many supporters of this, none of these demonstration projects would happen without our partnership with the Marine terminal operators and the stakeholders. So I think it's a great story for for this port, the city and the state of California. Speaker 0: Thank you. Mr. Cordero, I want to just add a few a few words. We move on to the next presentation. I know I've I've heard the obviously the budget presentation before, so I apologize for having to step to step out. But I wanted to just congratulate you and your executive team for another great budget that it really speaks to where the up the board the port is growing green initiatives community investment and a focus on infrastructure. You probably already mentioned this, but you know, we have the most robust port infrastructure program of any American port and we're very proud of that and very proud of the record cargo and the reductions of emissions. And so thank you for all that. I do want to thank a president who Gosk you for her leadership. And you referenced something that I think is important to uplift, which is the the amount of funds that are going back into the community as it revolves around both on the mitigation side and on the granting side have actually dramatically increased in the last year, year and a half, thanks to the leadership of the board, particularly an initiative that President Gorsky led on the board, I think beginning about two or three years ago when you first started work on it , which looked at how do we increase the amount of community funding that we're doing on an annual basis. So that was something that was important to me in appointing President Garcia, and she has carried that through. And I think, you know, just to trace you, Tracy, and just the other board members just want to thank you. I think the community is seeing tens of millions of dollars more back into directly into the community because of the actions of the last couple of years. And I know that that will continue. And so I'm very grateful. I know the council is very grateful that our new the way we allocate community resources is really stepped up. And so just thank you to the board for that and of course, for just the leadership in what you do every every day. So thank you to that to the harbor department port of Long Beach. Thank you. And we'll move on to the water department. Speaker 10: So thank you so much. Speaker 0: Absolutely. Speaker 8: Thank you. That was a great presentation by Mario. But if you talk to his wife, Gloria, she'll tell you the best run city department is the Long Beach Water Department. So everything that people love about the Long Beach Water Department, it starts with those people behind you, the men and women of our Long Beach Water Department. We serve 90,000 Long Beach customer accounts. We're stout 24 seven for water and sewer services and emergencies and for emergencies. We handle 10,000 emergency calls a year on the water side. Long Beach's water meets are exceeds all federal and state water quality standards. You may not know, but we have a full service laboratory over at the water treatment plant over on Redondo, and those scientists and technicians perform 70,000 water quality tests a year. And something new that we started this year is we've started testing the drinking fountains at the Long Beach Unified School District Schools K through 12. We tested for 41 schools this year. We had to take a time for summer vacation because we have to wait until school's in session and we'll finish the remainder of the schools this year. We also offer that service to private schools also. So if any private school would like testing of their drinking fountains. We'd be happy to do so. Sustainability. Long Beach Water Department is famous for its lawn to garden program. So far, we've replaced 6 million square feet of lawn in Long Beach, and with that Long Beach using about the same amount of water today as we did in the 1950s, despite a 40% population increase. Capital needs. We're going to obviously continue our reinvestment into our pipeline system. We're going to develop and rehab local water wells and storage tanks. The more way we can get locally, we can avoid buying expensive imported water. And then we're going to transition. Long Beach Water Department's 90,000 meters to smart meters. And we'll get into that in a little bit later in the program. On infrastructure. We have 2500 miles of water and sewer pipelines to maintain. Since 19 9091, we've replaced over 225 miles of water main pipeline. And this year, we're going to be reinvesting $31 million in pipelines in CERP work. What we do is we focus on our most vulnerable pipeline. And so in the early nineties, when we were experiencing close to 200 main breaks a year, we started focusing on cast being pipeline in the city. And you can see the results in that chart behind you by focusing on that and using our money wisely. We've had an 8% drop in main breaks in the past 25 years. This something near and dear to your heart. Quality control for street impacts. Every time we replace a pipeline, we dig up the streets. And so we've completely revamped how we do things at the Long Beach Water Department as far as how we handle the street repairs. In the past, we had two different crews, two different supervisors on the same project. They were not coordinated. And so we've changed that. So now one single supervisor and one crew looks at it as an entire project and handles it. We have on site inspectors to confirm work meets professional quality and that projects for strict quality specs. Smart Meter program. This is the largest financial investment we've made in quite a while. Something that's important to understand is army or advanced metering infrastructure. It's not like how you used to remember smart metering, where it just went one way, where it was just used as a meter reading function. This now allows two way communication between the customer and utility. So we get the meter reads and we can convey information back to the customer so they can use that. We have 90,000 parking meters to be either retrofit or replaced, so any water meter that exceeds 13 years of age will replace it. Everything else will just add that little white register on top that you see in the picture. Customer benefits. An important customer uses less water and lowers their water bill. This will eliminate billing errors due to inaccurate manual reads. Right now, the manual meter readers have to go into the vaults and there's dirt in mud over the meters, and lots of times it ends up in errors. This will eliminate that work faster billing dispute resolution. So where if you call in with an issue, our person on the phone can look at your meter as we speak. And then we eliminate also the substantial cost for manual meter reading. So in the old days, it used to be Southern California Edison, the gas utility, and the water usually going out to the house. Right now, it is only the water utility has manual meter reading. So it's very expensive. So we're going to save at least $2 million a year in those costs. Just no customer benefits. Wireless will be caught and fixed more quickly, reducing repair costs to customers. We can actually see down to the when you flush the toilet in the house. And so if you have a leak in the middle of the night and you see a steady flow of water at 3:00 in the morning, it'll give us an indication that there may be a leak at your house and we'll notify you. We plan in the future to introduce remote meter turn on this will eliminate customer wait time and further reduce costs. This is something that will be very fascinating. So rather than waiting for something to go out of your house and turn your water back on, we'll be able to do it remotely from our site. Cost conscious. Like I said, it was a very expensive project that we're undertaking. So one of the benefits, though, is that the gas utility in Long Beach actually implemented AMI a couple of years ago. And so we're being able to utilize their existing communication network and data management software and save money. That way, we obtain the best value. Speaker 4: By bidding out 109 separate line items. Speaker 8: Such as meters, lids, boxes and registers to try and get the best price from vendors. And we're hiring the current meter reading company as the installer of these smart meters and they already know the city and they'll be able to use existing staff and move them into this new project. Something I want to clarify is the typical monthly bill. There's been a lot of confusion with Measure M So back in October 1st, 2017, the the typical monthly bill for the water and sewer was $55.96. And then we had on January 1st we had the lawsuit settlement. And so our water commissioners reduced our water rates and sewer rates and dropped the average bill by $3.06. People seem to forget that that occurred January 1st after measure and passed. We raised the rates or we proposed raising rates 7.2% on the water side, zero on the sewer side. And that will just simply bring the water bill and sewer bill back up to where it was before. So we want to make sure that people understand that there will be no net change from October 2017 to October 2018 with this with this rate increase. I want to make sure that everybody understands that this rate increase is for Measure M only. We will take another look mid-year at our own purposes and see if there is a need to adjust water and sewer rates at that time. Even with this, I bring this back up to where it was in 2017. You'll see that Long Beach has the lowest combined water and sewer bill, if any major city in California. Quite a bit lower than virtually every other city, including Golden State, which serves parts of Long Beach. Speaker 0: So, Mr. Gardner, I just want to just stop 1/2. I think I've seen this chart before, but I just think it's really a striking chart and one that I hope, you know that the community is also aware of. This does show very clearly, just when you look at a kind of apples to apples comparison of what our our water rates are versus the other agencies, it's amazing at just what we've been able to accomplish as a community and just the work that you and your team are doing and the savings that our ratepayers are paying when it comes to water and so and water and sewer. The combination of water and sewer. And so I just wanted to make sure I've seen this chart before and it always it's always good to see. So thank you for that. Speaker 8: Thank you. Something I want to just touch on real quickly is something that comes up in the community. And I think it's important for everybody to understand. And that's the cost of bottled water versus our Long Beach tap water. If you look at this, 600 glasses of Long Beach tap water, you can get for the same price as one bottled water. So remember that. Nope, no plastic packaging. And so when I see the mayor drinking a glass of water, I appreciate that. That's good. Advertisement. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 8: So I want to close with just something that I think is important to understand. Since 1911, we've been serving the community of Long Beach. Our Long Beach waters, gluten free has zero calories. We deliver it to your home. Not it doesn't take next day. We deliver it whenever you need it. If you call us at 10:00 at night, we'll turn on your faucet. It can be used indoors or outdoors, removes most body odors. It's safe for children, pets. It's okay to drink and drive using our product. And you never have to remember Passcode before using our product. So that concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Oh. There it goes. Speaker 3: That guy's a Hall of Famer. Speaker 4: Think you missed it. Speaker 0: Mr. Gar, thank you for that presentation and let the council make some comments. I'll have some comments as well. Councilman Price. Oh, sorry. Because you were on a great job. Speaker 6: Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 5: Also great job. I'm really happy about having the one team on our street so that we're not ripping up our streets many times. I want to echo the mayor's comments on our low water rate. I know that we don't want to increase costs for working families, but it is worth noting that that is a very low water rate. And as long as we are conserving, I think it's good. But I always encourage us to take a to take a look at that. And I know that we have a video shoot coming up where we are going to go out and we're going to learn all about the smart meters and we're going to do a go Long Beach video on it. So I'm really excited about that. But great job. Speaker 4: Thank you. Yes. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 5: Thank you. I really appreciate this presentation. This year I've had more connectivity with the water department than usual. And in my community we've had a couple of instances where seniors had their water turned off for forgetting to pay their bill. And that happens from time to time. And the idea that you would be able to turn on their water remotely is a huge, huge, huge impact to people. When on this particular street on Steve Lee, we had neighbors bringing down buckets of water so people could flush their toilets because it was a home that had three senior citizens living there and a daughter taking care of her parents. And so I know that these types of technological advances are things that sometimes we take for granted. But when you see what a community has done to be able to maintain the public health of a house and what it means to turn water back on in an instant, these kinds of things really need to be celebrated. Secondly, I know that I'm the water rates are of of discussion. And one of the things that I think is always really important is that when you look at the fifth District, that second bar does serve Long Beach residents. So Golden State water, while it is the second lowest, it still is $26 more a year. And there are entire neighborhoods in the fifth District that are served by by Golden State. And so it just shows that where you live from neighborhood to neighborhood, it does make a difference. And so I really appreciate all the work you guys are doing to keep water rates low. Speaker 8: One thing I want correct, it's $26 a month difference. Speaker 5: I'm sorry. That's right. Thank you. $26 a month difference. And that that's. Dinner for a family of four in my household when I ate at my mom's house the other day. My mom always tells me this meal was under $20 for all four of us. Speaker 8: And so I wasn't invited. Speaker 5: Italian sausage sandwiches, you'd really enjoy it. And so thinking about that on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis for someone like my mom, who's a senior, other people in our neighborhoods who are seniors, who are living on fixed incomes $26 a month is a huge difference. And so we really appreciate that. And then finally. This year was the first year that I had my house free piped, and since then I will tell you that the taste of water coming out of my faucet far exceeds the taste of any bottled water I've ever tasted. And so I'm just a big proponent for cleaning out your pipes and or replacing them if they need to be, and drinking the true, true American spirit of bottled water through these nice reusable straws. Thank you. Speaker 8: Thank you. Speaker 4: Mr. Silvano. Thank you. Great presentation. And you know, I'm going to talk about customer service. I've spoken to you quite a bit in the past about that. I think your department has by far the best customer service in the city. Thank you. But you don't. Unlike the poor, you don't have a second in command who's a fourth district resident. Right, but. But I'll give you a pass. You yourself were born and raised in the fourth district. Okay, so we're good. But I think the customer service focus that the water department has is is a tremendous asset. And while we look forward to technological, technological changes for turning water on off, you guys do a great job right now. I think it's just two weeks ago we had an emergency situation in the fourth District where some special needs residents needed the water turned on quickly. And you were on vacation and your staff jumped. Right. In fact, I think they even did a better job than when you're here, which I think I think there is there's an old adage that you can really tell a well-run department how well it runs when the boss is away. So kudos on that. Thanks. Take off next week, okay? Yes. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 6: You know I love you because you're an Lamu lion. So that's first and foremost. But secondly, you run a really great shop and I just want to thank you. I'm glad we're very transparent, especially with so much going on in national news about water quality and testing and elbow has been tested. So I just thank you for providing those numbers. And my residents are also very happy that our water rates, you know, the people often say rates are going up, but we are very low considering the high level of service that we're given. So thanks to you and your team and the commission as well. Speaker 8: If I can just touch on that, testing the schools. We did over 1000 tests last year at Long Beach Unified School District. We found two drinking fountains that had issues and the immediately replace it and solve the. Speaker 0: Problems of issues. Councilor Richardson. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just wanted to chime in and say what a fantastic job you and your team are doing. Thanks a lot for your hard work on figuring out the situation on Corwen. Corbin. Corbin we appreciate that. You know, we had a conversation just a week or so ago about the lawn and garden program. I fully support that program to participate in that program. So I want to make sure that, you know, when I know we're at, what, 250 now? We're at $2 to 50, something like that, $3. We're at three or back 2000 now. So we're back. We're up to 6000, $6,000. Speaker 8: That's huge. 1500 dollars for design work. Speaker 2: Which is. Wow. Speaker 9: I mean, I mean, we should go share that with everyone because a thing when I didn't think it was 3000 and now is that six. That's that's a big deal. I mean, we get some retroactive. No, no. Okay. Thanks a lot. Keep up the good work. Speaker 8: Thank you. Speaker 4: Chris. Great job. I just want to let you know that after going through this, getting a large book here, I only thing I've done that was really exciting was the last page. So I just wanna let you know, keep up the good work. Good guy. You guys are doing a great job. Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: So thank you very much for the presentation. I certainly appreciate all of the hard work and efforts of all of the men and women in your your department. I think it's one of the best run departments drama free through in the city. I did want to just just comment on the one of the slides that that showed how low and where our water rates compare to others throughout the state. And just ask the question, I mean, are the disparities large many disparities in the state that have actual lower water rate rates than the city of Long Beach? Actually, there's quite a few cities that have very different rates, and it's largely a function of if you have imported water, primarily, which is very expensive or if you have a large supply of local supply. We're about 5050 right now between local supply and imported supplies. So if you have a city that has one 2% local supply, they'll probably be a little bit less expensive than us. But we have very low sewer costs in Long Beach. And so if you look at the combined bill, we'd be competitive and probably lower than virtually any city. Thank you for that. And then I'd be remiss if I didn't just remark on all of the the commitment to replacing water lines means throughout my district and throughout the city. Some of it has been a bit of an inconvenience to a number of our residents, but I think long term, it's a it's a it's investment, it's infrastructure work that that that's important. Can you just speak to where we are with with with that process? Sure. It's a wide and what we can expect in the future. Sure. So we work when we try and plan far in advance which pipelines we're going to replace. And then what we do is we talk to public works and make sure that we're coordinate with public works and with the gas utility so that we're only digging up the street once. What I had mentioned earlier was in the past, what we were doing was we were going down the street and doing the mains right down the middle, and then we would put a temporary patch on that. And then another crew would sometimes two months later, sometimes a year later, we come back and do the service lines that feed off of that. And so you'd have a temporary patch there for four months in a neighborhood, and that temporary patch is supposed to be there for about ten days, and we had some well over a year. And so we've we've eliminated that by doing it as one project. So the time should be much, much less intrusive on a neighborhood, and it should save us money. The quality of work should be much, much better than what you've experienced in the past. Thank you for that. And just to follow through on on that point, as you know, we are investing a lot of money and resources into repairing streets, residential streets and arterials throughout the city as well. Can you speak to how your department is coordinating with public works to to ensure that we're not duplicating efforts, we're not cleaning, we're not fixing the streets and then going in and tearing them up to do water work, water infrastructure. Sure. Part part of that is using gas and planning in advance. As you may know, we now have Sean Crombie on our team over at Water and coming from Public Works. He's able to really understand the nuances of working between both departments. He's also handling the engineering right now for the gas utility also. And so having him in charge of that and working on that with public works, I think you're going to see I won't say none, but you'll see virtually hardly any conflicts now with public works. That'd be great. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Ringo. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank you, Chris, for the great presentation that you're one of the things that I like about your department. And since you've taken over the worried primary that you're very proactive in as a Councilmember Austin has mentioned, in terms of fixing the pipes. I remember a couple of years ago when you first came out to the department, there was an issue that Flint, Michigan, was going through with their with their pipes and dirty water. And I asked you if you could give the city council an update as to what the water department is doing here proactively to ensure that we don't get that type of problem. And you were very responsive, and I'm glad to see that you continue to look at our at our piping system and trying to address all those issues there. One of the things that came up this past year, obviously, is the fact that we have a lot of parks that are brown and in desperate need of water. And while there might be a lot of that being been necessary for the Parks and Recreation Department, I know we have got it out here in the audience. Is there any kind of coordination taking place between you and Parks Recreation? To look at how we can best make sure that our parts are getting enough irrigation, sort of as well as in. Yes. Another part of that question as well is that we have a lot of a number of mediums that are also in need of water because the trees are dying or are getting brown as well. So that's a very much concerning to many of the neighborhoods. And I have a major median in my area in the seventh District. Daisy, Daisy Street, as you know. And the big concern there is that a lot of those trees are dying. Some are old. I mean, it's obvious, you know, just nature takes its course. However, I would like to know that that if they if if they're dying, it's because they're old, not because they're they're dying of thirst. So is there any kind of coordination that you're doing with Parks Recreation Department to make sure that it doesn't happen Speaker 8: ? Yes, Jerry and I had I call them Jerry because I can see these. Speaker 2: Cattle row that aren't let's see the world there they are out there. Speaker 8: And I had lunch last week and one thing that I offered to him was give me a wish list of what Parks and Rec needs. And, you know, and we'll try and be creative in how Long Beach Water can work with Parks and Rec as far as the irrigation of the parks. We've been working with them for the last year and a half on how to fix that, providing as much expertize as we can. We've offered to help them with trying to receive grants through Metropolitan Water District and other sources. Same thing with the medians. We make the same offer to work with Metropolitan Water District and other agencies to try and maximize grant funding to address the medians. What we've done in the past, this is the second year we've done it with in conjunction with public works and Parks and Rec for the Medians is we actually had a water truck that we filled up and go where the irrigation is not functioning and water the grass and the trees with that water. Speaker 2: I'm glad to hear that because obviously it's as we continue with this drought that's going to be very important that we keep our medians irrigated. And congratulations in the great cool on taking crumby from public works I mean that's that's going to be a great good joining of efforts in interior public works and water working together thank you very much. Speaker 8: Yeah when things I told Craig back it was it's great to have John Crumby stay in the family. So even though he transferred departments, he's still certainly involved with public work still. Speaker 0: Thank you. And let me let me just add, Mr. Garner, again, thank you to you and your team. It's been great to work to work with you and to work with your commission. You got a great group of very active commissioners, as you know. And they're really involved in the community and I think have contributed so much to having this great water department that we have that we're very proud of and we're incredibly proud of, particularly the community work, I think like the port, which we mentioned. I think you guys are out there doing the community work, the sustainability work, the conservation work, and we really appreciate that, that leadership. And so just thank you for for everything you do for the water department and for and please give our best to the commission as well, because we're doing a great job. Thank you. Especially Commissioner Cordero. So thank you. And see, no other questions. That concludes both our harbor and our our water department. What we're doing now is we're entering our our budget hearing. We're taking public comment only to close the hearing on on water and on water and harbor. And then we will go into all the budget items. Speaker 2: But then you're going to have public comment on the entire budget also. Speaker 0: And that's in talking to the chair. We're going to separate that operated out. Yes. So we're going to close up. We're going to do public comment right now only on port and water. And we're going to close that final hearing up. And then when we go on to the budget, I know there's folks here that also we have public comment for the actual budget. So we're going to go right into that as soon as we're we're done. So please only water and port. Speaker 7: Hi. My name is Ann Burdette. I didn't come here tonight to speak on this matter, but I was very impressed with Mr. Cordero's presentation, and I'm very excited about our report. And I would like to say we can't forget that all those containers are moved by workers. And when we talk about a green port policy that is dependent upon protecting the community and operational excellence, I think it's really, really important that we factor in the workers who are being subjected to wage theft and misclassification. I'm not telling you something you don't know. I've spoken with the Tidelands Committee on this topic before. Long Beach has contracts with companies that are currently being sued by Los Angeles for their practices. There are suits that have been brought and adjudicated and the State Labor Commission has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and now there's enormous amount of waiting time while they appeal it. I really think that. Our. Reputation. Is excellent. I really appreciate that we are considered one of the most important and and most valuable ports in the world. I'm proud of that. I just think that we are factoring in only our economic and community advantages. But we're forgetting the incredible sacrifice that many of our workers are making every day when they receive paychecks that are a fraction of the amount of work that they've put in. So I want to suggest to the council we can't have contracts with trucking companies who don't follow the rules. And the California Supreme Court has ruled very, very clearly in dynamics that there are three conditions that must prevail for someone to be an independent contractor. And I think we have to respect that. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker speakers lists on water and port. Please come down the last speaker. Okay. So the speaker's list is close after the gentleman. Okay. Speaker 5: Hi, Karen, retired and resident of the first district, working in the second district and representing Long Beach Gray Panthers. We also stand with the port truck drivers and their misclassification for our community to get to the healthy point where we need to be. We also want to see our port, which is a large economic. Speaker 7: Engine driver in our community. Speaker 5: Do the best it can. And Mr. Cordero has done an. Speaker 7: Outstanding job in bringing all the entities together to make that happen. We also. Speaker 5: Want to advance the cleaner action plan as fast as possible to reduce the rates of asthma in our disadvantaged communities that live along. Speaker 4: The. Speaker 5: Freeway and near the port. We also want to commend the port. Speaker 7: For your community. Speaker 5: Engagement. A number of organizations that I work with have received community grants, and I can't tell you the difference that it has made in the quality of the programs that the community has been able to offer. And we hope that that continues and that more community organizations. Speaker 3: Learn how to apply. Speaker 5: And to understand that that's a benefit that the port provides that a lot of other entities don't. For the community and the community needs to. Speaker 6: Take advantage of that. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Hi. Carelessly fifth district. You have my address on file. I went for the first time the other night to the Water Commission and there was about 20 people there that were all opposing the 7.2% rate increase. They told us at the end of the meeting that they had received a total of 57 inputs on it and all of them were opposed. But then they mentioned that for this to do any good, what we really need is 51% of the people who get a bill, get a water bill to be opposing it. Now, I don't think 51% of the people who get their water bills knew about this. And not only did they not know about it, that would be a pretty stiff opposition that you'd have to mount to do that. I don't know if there's really an interest in getting public input on the water bill, but what concerns me most is this is something that's going to hurt everyone. It's going to hurt people who really don't have the money for that increase. I mean, there are people that have to go out and try and buy a sweatshirt for their child, for school, and you're putting your hand in their pocket. And I just think we could do a better job of managing our money. You know, I think we need to live to learn to live within our means like you do in any household. And the eternal search for more revenue is something that we should go back and look at. What can we do to live within our means to not be hurting these people? So I would be opposed to approving the rate hike, and I'm sure that anyone who knew about it would. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. And our last speaker. Speaker 3: Here is a short. Speaker 4: Okay. I'll be quick. I think the port has done a great job in cleaning up everything. I've. I've also briefly spoken with Chris, and I think the water company is probably one of the most efficient companies that I have in the whole city. Just my observation is that like some of these departments that are the furthest away or furthest out of control out of the city's control seem to be doing. And I'm trying to I don't want to sound like I'm being critical, but they seem to be doing better than the rest of the departments. You know, and I'm just wondering, maybe we should start thinking about. Doing that with other departments because I don't know if that's something that happens at too many people. Too many cooks get in the kitchen, but maybe it's a little bit better. Again, I'm just trying to I'm not trying to be critical at all, but I'm just noticing that I used to work at McDonnell Douglas a while back and the management, they would take these two week vacations kind of on their retreats. And what they would notice is that each time they went on these these retreats, the efficiency of the company just went through the roof. And they there was some kind of discussion on whether they should take three or four, and they refused to do it because they thought their jobs might be in jeopardy. And this is really the truth. And so I'm just saying that you're seeing a, you know, a really good manager here that's that's running this department very well. The gas company, they run very well, very efficiently. And you're seeing the harbor is just doing a great job in there. I mean, I can't even say enough accolades for the amount of of smog or, you know, air, air, air pollution that they have removed. And I mean, we're still up there, don't get me wrong. But but the amount of air pollution that that they've removed in a short period of time is just dramatic. It's a great job, you know, so, again, nothing critical about any of the people. But I do have one thing to say about our to a water guy here. I do have a bottle. It says Long Beach Water. So it is a plastic bottle just to let you know. So you have a good day. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. That concludes our water and harbor budget hearings. I want to thank all the council members for all of their questions and I think the public for their comments on that. And so will conclude the budget hearing and will begin going into the rest of the budget. But we will conclude that that portion of it. And so, again, thanks to our water and harbor department and we'll just begin the rest of the budget hearing in just one minute. So thank you very much. Speaker 3: Hmm. Speaker 0: Let's go and take a we're going to go to just a two minute break and then we're going to start right back up with the budget. Speaker 3: Okay. Now. Anything you can. He's been living here. It was. I think that's. Speaker 11: And. That's. And. And. Speaker 3: On for. Speaker 0: You can. We're going to go ahead and call the budget hearing back into order so we can have everyone please take a seat. And I know the council is coming back, so just over the next minute, please grab a seat and we'll come back to. Speaker 3: Anything that you don't. Bottom, right? Sure. You know, I feel like I don't know when you have a sign that says don't be. Oh, I'm sorry, Larry. I'm just saying, Larry. Yeah. I'm. Speaker 0: And then they did the sidebar. We're, like, rocking it out. Can the rest of the council come on and please? And if I'm going to go ahead, let me get the roll call one more time so we can restart the hearing. Speaker 1: Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Pearce, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Suber not here. Councilwoman Mongo. Vice Mayor Andrew's Councilmember Durango presented. Councilman Austin. Councilmember Richardson. Mayor Garcia. Speaker 0: I am here. I think we have our quorum. I know the rest of the council is is coming back here in just a sec. So what we're going to go ahead what we're going to go ahead and do is start the formal budget adoption process and begin with public comment. I want to make a few comments. And just before we before we begin, there are there are a series of budget votes that actually have to happen tonight. And again, the council could go through and adopt the whole budget tonight or or adopt it next week. And in just a few moments, we will. Councilman Mongo, we're making a series of motions as we go through the entire the entire budget. And I believe it's about 17 items that we have to actually vote on vote on tonight. I also want to make sure a couple of things. I know that there's some folks that are that wanted to speak to this. So I want to clarify as well. I have talked to the chairwoman of of the BFC. And so I know that when the recommendations for the mayor's proposal come forward, I know that the chairwoman will be supporting the full recommendation numbers. We've talked about that and about where we can find some where where the funds are for different things. And so I am, of course, supporting fully funding the recommendations that I made as part of the with those funds and those other items. And those will be discussed at that point. But I know that I've gotten Mongo and I've had some good conversations about those, and she'll be explaining kind of the thought process and where we're getting what as we go through the process. And so I know that there was some conversation about that. And I want to just to mention that and she also will be recommending some other additions that other members of the council have been talking about and asking for. So she'll be discussing those when we get to the budget as well. And so I want to thank the PSC and the members of the Council as we begin. And so let me begin, Madam Clerk, we can just read all these as we go, and we'll start with item 1.1 and go through all the way 1.17 before

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and discuss an overview of the Proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budgets for the following Departments: Harbor and Water; and

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_09042018_18-0746

Speaker 0: So she'll be discussing those when we get to the budget as well. And so I want to thank the PSC and the members of the Council as we begin. And so let me begin, Madam Clerk, we can just read all these as we go, and we'll start with item 1.1 and go through all the way 1.17 before . Yes. No, no, we haven't put it on them yet. They're going to come up. And before we begin that, to conclude this part of the budget hearing, we are going to do public comment. So first, we're going to be doing public comment. So this is on anything to do with the budget and we're going to close public comment. So we go to the votes. We're doing one public comment period. So please come forward if you have any comments on the budget in any general nature. Thank you. Speaker 5: Yeah. Speaker 0: Anything budget related. Now is your opportunity to make public comment. Speaker 7: Good evening, mayor garcia and council members. My name is Ann Burdette, proud resident of District seven. Thank you for the opportunity tonight to speak to you about the budget. I am here representing Long Beach Sacred Resistance. We are a coalition of over 25 Long Beach faith communities standing in support of the Long Beach Justice Fund. I had full funding of the Long Beach Justice Fund written in here, but apparently you've taken care of that. I appreciate it. Last night, I got a chance to finally see RBG, the documentary about the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I lived through that time period when she made most of her impact on law, and I watched her tireless efforts to educate the court about the reality of gender bias and discrimination. It's fair to say that she had quite an uphill fight. She had to face a court in which one of the members said, But, Mrs. Ginsburg, isn't it enough that we've put Susan B Anthony on the dollar? So most people at that time read that most men just didn't have a clue how egregiously women were discriminated against. Similarly, I lived through a very fierce battle for equality for my LGBT family and friends. Again, most of the leadership in government simply did not have any idea of the effect of exclusion, prejudice and bigotry on vast numbers of their neighbors and coworkers. Earlier, members of the community spoke eloquently about the impact of racism. Today, I'm painfully aware that too many residents of Long Beach live in complete ignorance of the incredible suffering of our immigrant neighbors from stereotyping, intolerance and now direct attacks from the federal government. That's why I'm so grateful to our mayor. And for all of you who support his proposals for the establishment of the Long Beach Justice Fund to provide legal representation for those Long Beach residents whose futures and families depend upon a fair day in court. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was clear that the best road to equity was the legal system she has devoted and continues to vote her entire life to defending the principles of due process and equal protection under the law. It is our last, best hope in the face of bigotry. I implore you to vote to include the mayor's allocation of $250,000 from the General Fund to establish a universal legal defense fund for immigrant residents in Long Beach facing deportation. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Clayton, Diane, Ola, Jean. I'm here to address the water rate, the water rates being raised. Speaker 3: And that is number one three. Speaker 5: And I hope you're really paying attention. I know Susie Price is Lena Gonzales since Roberta Durango. Those are the ones who are paying attention. Speaker 1: I'm going to summarize a. Speaker 5: Letter from my attorney and to Eric Beneke, attorney at law. Is this a summary of a protest letter that you will find in your packets? Please be advised that this firm represents Long Beach Water Department customers Diana La Jeans and Angela Kimball. Ms.. We and I'm going to summarize it as in our own personal, we believe that the proposed water and sewer rates are illegal to the extent they embed amounts to transfer from the water revenue fund to the city's general fund based on any purported authority provided by Measure M. The basis for our contention is threefold. First, the city apparently agrees that the water and sewer fees and charges are properly real property related and accordingly are subject to Proposition 218. Basically, the California Constitution prohibits this. Secondly, Proposition 218 prohibits the imposition of property related fees if such be exceeds the funds required to provide the property related service. Embedding surcharges to fund transfers to the general fund fund violates this. Finally, to the extent the city contends that fees and charges constitute a voter approved tax, the city lacks legal authority to impose taxes on persons and properties outside its territorial limits. Miss Campbell resides in an unincorporated area of the Los Angeles County, and yet she was unable to vote on Measure M. Yet she is subject to the tax. Based on the foregoing, we respectfully request the City Council decline to declare an ordinance approving resolution number WD 1392, which raises the rates of the water that we receive. So I hope you pay very close attention to this. Speaker 7: This is we. Speaker 5: I am the same person who. Speaker 3: Filed the. Speaker 5: Lawsuit before. Speaker 3: And you were. Speaker 5: Forced to settle because of your illegal activities. So I am suggesting that you do not continue that and that you vote no. Speaker 7: On this resolution. Thank you very. Speaker 0: Much. Thank you, Ms.. Logins. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Evening, Mayor Council. My name is Angela Kimball. I reside in the unincorporated county island of Long Beach. My address is. Speaker 3: On file. Speaker 7: And I am requesting that you decline to approve resolution WD 139 to increasing the water rates, which essentially amounts to an illegal tax. This body has no jurisdiction over the residents of the unincorporated county island. We were not able to vote on Measure M. We do not reside within this territorial limits and boundaries of your city. Yet we are being subject to the tax. And of course, now the increase that is proposed in these water rates. I have joined the lawsuit with Diana logins and you have our letter from our attorney on record. Again, I request that you oppose you decline to approve the water rate increase on not only the citizens of the city of Long Beach, but the county island residents, which represents 543 homeowners, as well as business owners who had absolutely no opportunity to vote on Measure M. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good afternoon. Members of City Council and mayor and vice mayor. My name is Christopher Covington. I'm a resident of the sixth District. Coming to you now is a one pager of the people's budget. I am a member of the Investing Youth Campaign as well as partner of the People's Budget. And so I was prepared to come out here and raise hell and talk about all the things that you could do. But I really appreciate the conversations that have been happening in front of us and behind doors to really stay firm and commit to the mayor's recommendations on that, he proposed with a lot of your input and community's inputs as well. So this evening I want I'm not going to be able to be here the full time to watch the whole thing because I have to take students home. But I'm looking forward to listening on the radio and on my phone how the rest of the votes go. And I do appreciate all of the work and I really appreciate your you challenging yourselves not only to staying within the boundaries of, you know, the commitments you make to yourselves, but also making the commitment that you're hearing from the youth here today, as well as the community members who have taken their time to listen. There's been a long process and we've been attending some and most of the committee hearings on the budget. So we really appreciate today that being that you all commit to passing the mayors recommendations as is and if there's opportunities to increase line items looking into those as well. But on the topic of the Invest the Children and Youth Fund as recommended by the mayor and with support from City Council, it's we would like for it not to be a participatory budget process. We would not like for it to be housed in the Parks Department. We actually see it fitting in the Office of Equity under the Health Department, and they have a lens that meets and that matches the particular vision of the city, a plan that the youth who've been working on this and the youth that has been contributing to our surveys and having their voice be heard in this process, to be able to see the type of positive, healthy youth development that the city deserves. So again, we ask you to house that fund within the Health Department under the Office of Equity, and we look forward to seeing the vote this evening. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Well. Counsel, good evening. I am Mikayla or Mack Harris. I am in the sixth district, I believe are the eighth district. I don't really know for sure, but I'm here speaking on behalf of the Investing Youth Campaign. And I wanted to say, first of all, thank you for taking into consideration the all the work that we've done as youth and funding and recommending the Fund for the Child Youth Fund and all that stuff. And I'm sure that if it does get passed, it would help a lot. It would help a lot of youth. Remember, their voice matters and it would just uplift youth in our community more so than they already are. Speaker 5: Or if they're not, it uplift them in some aspect. I also wanted to echo off of what. Speaker 7: Chris just said. I strongly urge the fund to be housed in the House of Equity because I feel like it would. Speaker 6: Strongly help our. Speaker 7: Views. So I hope that you guys take that into consideration and thank you. Have a great. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Hi. Evening, everyone. I'm Helene Hoffman. I'm an immigration attorney and I am here to talk about. Speaker 0: Would you mind putting the mic a little lower so we can. Speaker 7: Sorry. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Speaker 7: I'm Helene Hoffman. I'm an immigration attorney. I've spoken to you once before. I'm here because I'm urging you, begging you to support Maya Garcia's fully funded justice fund for non to have legal representation. Many immigrants that live or work in Long Beach, this is very, very crucial because anything less than the $250,000, it will not help very many people at all. I know about this. I do it for a living. Immigration law is a very, very difficult, complex area. Many, many cases have to be appealed. And, you know, with appeals, the legal attorneys fees, they just go up and it can take years sometimes to complete a case to fruition. It's a tremendously difficult area of work. It took me two years I coming from another field just to get myself up to snuff. And as you know, many other cities have fully fund many, much more these kinds of cases. Los Angeles has a justice fund of $10 million undocumented immigrants. Also, when they come here, they don't know English. They're thrown into a court system they're not aware of many, many of them are unrepresented and many of them don't know what's going on or they're deported. And I want to remind people, if you read about what goes on in Central America, and I've had clients like this, many of them are deported to their deaths. Okay. And I'm really, really mean that all you have to do is read a few articles about it. As for another issue that doesn't come up very often is bail that these people, if they have any money at all, they have to choose between bail, posing, posting, bail to get out of deportation, which is a horrible place to be or getting an attorney. They often cannot do both. If you with your fully funded justice fund, they can do things like that. And those who are bailed out have a far higher rate of getting successful, successful representation and are not deported. So immigrant immigrants released on bail that this is the statistic have an eight times higher average to when they're cases another issue and my final issues about unaccompanied children a lot of times this doesn't come up, but these are children who come here without any adults. They are under 18. Many come from war torn Central American countries. And the problem is they're not entitled to a court appointed lawyer, even if they're two and three years old. There have been immigration attorneys who had to actually go to court with representing two and three year old children who knew no English, who don't know what the heck is going on. It's just a horrible situation and many and half of them are not represented in court. I mean, can you imagine being in that situation or having a child? You know, in that situation in 2017, over 58,000 children. Thank you. Speaker 0: So much. Speaker 7: Under the age of 18. We're in deportation hearings. Thank you very much. And I hope you take my advice. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening, ladies. Senior Council members. Speaker 7: My name is Kim. In many cases, I am a resident of the sixth District. I'm also. Speaker 5: The executive director of CCG community based organization here in Long Beach and also. Speaker 1: Commissioner for the Human. Speaker 5: Relations Commission. So it's great to hear that the recommendations by Mayor. Speaker 7: Garcia are being considered, especially for the full funding of the Children and Youth Fund in the amount of $200,000. You know. Speaker 3: We've been really looking at ways to develop strategic. Speaker 5: Partnerships between, I think, the city community based organizations that. Speaker 1: Specialize in youth development, community members and young people. Speaker 7: To really come up with a plan for how to really invest long term in youth element and address some of the needs that they have as an organization. That's part of the steering committee for the Youth Development Division at the county level. Speaker 5: We're really starting to see now the roll out of. Speaker 7: What that investment looks like and how that's. Speaker 5: Impacting Long Beach. And we're seeing the hundreds. Speaker 7: And thousands of dollars that will be coming to Long Beach within. This year that is investing at the end in youth at the point of contact with law enforcement. And I think it's a really. Speaker 3: Positive thing that we're. Speaker 5: Looking at investing at the preventative end. The $200,000. Speaker 7: I think is a really. Speaker 3: Key. Speaker 1: It's the key seed money. Speaker 7: To get us to think about a long term strategy around investing in young people. So I'm very happy to hear that. So thank you. I also want to echo the the sentiment of what's been connected to some of the health outcomes for young people and for it to be housed within the health department. I think that that the alignment there with some of the efforts that we've already established with young people is directly. Speaker 5: Aligned with with health department initiatives. So thank you for that. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Hi. My name is Jackie Guerrero. I am with an organization called the Advancement Project. And I have been, you know, working closely with Invest in Youth Campaign. So thank you again, Mayor, and the rest of the Council for all the work that you've been doing and all the listening you've done with the various youth that you've been meeting with. I want to also thank again for the, you know, the support for funding with the mayor's proposal and allocating the 200,000 for in seed funding for the Children and Youth Fund. A big part of you know, the support that I've been providing has been looking at what other cities have done across the state. And Long Beach would be the first city in Southern California that has it, that has and will be looking at a holistic view of what children and youth need here in the city. And that's setting yourselves apart from what other cities are doing. And that's a huge thing. It's really being a leader in this area here in Southern California, and that's super important. Another thing I want to mention is in a lot of the meetings, the that I've been with with the young people, they're the ones leading this effort. They're the ones that are telling us what they want. And they continuously tell us that they want more mental health support. They continuously tell us that they want more support for jobs. They want to work. They continuously tell us that they want more development, youth development, to help them grow up and be, you know, productive members of society. And this is what we're trying to achieve through this. It's it would be a huge first step for the city. So I really commend you on your leadership and thinking not just for this year, but thinking in the future. You know, I again, I also support efforts to ensure that, you know, this money gets allocated to the health department, given that there is alignment of looking at how we can support youth through a health lens. So thank you all again and I appreciate your time. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next week, please. Speaker 3: Good evening. Speaker 5: My name is Mae. Speaker 7: I am a resident of a second district. I am so. I'm here tonight to voice my support for the mayor's. Speaker 5: Original proposal to allocate. Speaker 1: 200 K and C money. Speaker 5: For the Long Beach Children and Youth Fund. And I also ask that the Council act on behalf of the people and vote to keep the people's budget proposal intact. So I wanted to share some of my perspectives. Speaker 7: Of why I think investing in youth is so important, and also why it's important that the way that we allocate the money is a youth and community. Speaker 5: Driven process. And as other folks have said, that is housed in the health department. So I'm a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at USC. Speaker 7: Also work as a research associate for Californians for Justice and a volunteer for my goals and action. So for many years, I've been privileged to witness. Speaker 5: Firsthand the transformative work of organizations that cultivate the leadership of youth of color. So young people often tell me over and. Speaker 7: Over again from different folks that they be a completely different person if they had never joined these groups. Many of them told me that they. Speaker 5: Used to be painfully shy because they never had. Speaker 7: Spaces to cultivate and encouraged their voice. They told me that they were once afraid to voice concerns and to speak up against the injustices that they experienced. Speaker 5: But over and over again, I've seen how youth leadership and developing groups develop young people's skills. Speaker 7: And provide them with the support that they need to thrive and to earn their power as change leaders. In shedding their fear, I see that youth of color and low income youth of color are able to transform not only their own lives, but also the lives of their peers and their communities. Speaker 5: As well as their families. So you have often seen young people here bravely pushing and testifying for change. Speaker 7: We've seen them at the forefront of social transformation. Speaker 5: Whether it's addressing school shootings, the targeting of Black Lives Matter deportations. We need young people at the forefront of social transformation. Speaker 7: We need this, especially because we know that systemic poverty, trauma. Speaker 5: Racism and other forms of inequality conspire to constrict their pathways to success. And this is especially true for low income immigrant youth of color and queer and trans youth. So I think we need more youth to have access to these types of nurturing spaces. Speaker 7: We know that growth and development don't just happen spontaneously on their own. Speaker 5: When you see young folks here is. Speaker 7: Because they have been brought up in an ecosystem of support that's helping them to hone their skills, that's navigating them through. Speaker 5: The onerous process of college applications, that's helping them to, again, to own their story. And so they're truly a testament to the importance of youth leadership spaces. Speaker 7: And to the spaces. Speaker 5: That help them bring their massive potential to fruition. I also want to point out quickly, because I am a sociologist, that this is all corroborated, corroborated by research. A 2013 study by Tariq Aziz and Roger's found youth organizing alumni are more likely to attend a four year college and also are twice as likely as their peers to be civically and politically engaged. Speaker 7: And so when we invest in youth, we're also investing in the healthy future of our community and prioritizing the support that young people in Long Beach need to thrive. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Thanks, Speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor. Council members. I am from Nicaragua, the National Organization of Language and Alumni. And my name is Tyler Somnath, which is a name from laws that most people cannot pronounce. But my family's from Laos, and we stay in Long Beach, sixth District, which is full of immigrants and refugees, just like my family. Now, before I begin my story about my family, that has a lot of things about Southeast Asian folks and youth that can relate to. I want to say that poverty is not a crime and that youth are not the problem, but not having resources and support or budget to invest in youth and families is now my father trying to escape war came to America and now to cope with all of that stress, he drinks alcohol. Speaker 8: Smoke, cigarets. Speaker 4: And now he needs me to take care of them. Speaker 3: Now, at the age of 52. Speaker 4: Someone his age should not be needing to go to the emergency room for alcohol withdrawal. But the lack of resources in my community includes not having local rehabilitation or therapy. And this affects my lifestyle personally now because I take care of him, I take time out of my my life, which is taking time out of school or work to watch after. Now, this is very stressful and is very painful. Seeing my dad like this. Speaker 8: Is very stressful. Speaker 4: Frustrating. Now this is affecting me cutting down classes and in fact it's affecting my school life overall. Speaker 3: Now. Speaker 4: Youth shouldn't be having to carry this burden. And we want to succeed and dream and do well and be part of a history that heals and our harms. So we should fully fund 200,000. Speaker 3: To the Army's youth today. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. You did a great job. Thank you for speaking. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Hello. My name is Amy Langhorne. I'm a resident of District six and I bring with me all my members, my community members who are not here with me today. It is my privilege to be. Speaker 6: Here and be the. Speaker 7: Voice. Speaker 1: And represent my community. I am the daughter of a Khmer Rouge survivor. Growing up, that meant I had a purpose to hold my my legacy and culture, to restore this legacy that met taking care and learning how to navigate a new world for my mom and dad. I remember as a youth, I translated for them at medical offices. Speaker 6: I even translated. Speaker 1: With for them enrolling myself in school. I was only in kindergarten. At that age, I knew that I had to take responsibility because my parents didn't know how to get the support they need growing up. I understand now that it's because they didn't have the resources. During resettlement and the healing from the trauma. If I didn't have to translate or be a caretaker for my parents, I would have been more focused in school. Instead, I was struggling with a lot of anger. I was mad with what I had to put up with and the lack of resources I didn't get as a youth . If my parents resettled healthy, my mom would have continued her education and became a teacher. Instead, she had to deal with compounded stress of being separated from her family and not getting the skills she needed to navigate it to navigate work, school, and raising her family. Not having all these resources made. Speaker 5: Her an easy victim. Speaker 1: Of stroke and heart attack, which many war survivors in our community faces. When I was 15. Speaker 5: I was so grateful to. Speaker 1: Join my girls in action. I joined the Young Women's Empowerment Program and learned about my history and the trauma of war that has been passed on to generations after mine, after my families. I then began to heal and understood. My anger was really about not having resources and access in my community and the burden of not taking care that made me fall short. But I learned that loving my community meant fighting for what we need and what we deserve. And that is why I'm here today. Now, I'm a community organizer like my Girls in Action supporting transitional youth who graduated high school and is navigating adulthood. K.J. held a place for me to develop in my leadership, and now I'm organizing young leaders to get their communities. Speaker 5: Out to vote. Out of the 757 people we surveyed. Speaker 1: 83% believe that community based development programs are the. Speaker 5: Best way to support youth. Speaker 1: We urge council members to support the organizations who brought you here with the Investing Youth Campaign. We ask council members to show the youth love by approving the 200 K that the Mayor proposed for the Children and Youth fun to be housed under Health and Human Services Department. Speaker 5: Which will serve the needs of the larger. Speaker 1: Population of Long Beach, including the community. Show youth the love. Don't leave youth and community out of this year's budget. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 2: Please. Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia and city council members. My name is Nurse. I was here earlier today at the Budget Oversight Committee making my public comments on the some of the recommendations from the DLC. I'm also a District six resident and raising a child in the district. So I'm here with skin in the game. As folks we said earlier today, our marriage city council awarded the young folks that were up here with you today on their accomplishments in baseball. Remember, not all our youth have the privilege of accessing these opportunities, yet they have overcome PTSD, war in genocide, displacement, unmet mental health needs, and lead with single parent households, among other training issues. Today, youth in our community have come out on their second week of school in hopes to have their labor and hard work of serving community needs awarded with our mayor's proposal of $30,000 for the Long Beach Children. The new fund. Excuse me. I'm a little choked up. Just better. They have volunteered their weekends and summers to give this city sound research, as has already been mentioned. They have gone. They have gone home today without knowing if our city council cares. But we know we can count on you all. We know we can count on you all to show you how to love and to approve the mayor's original proposal of the $200,000 for the Long Beach Community Fund. It is time we have done a lot of work and we have come a long way to move the conversation where it is now. We need you all to stand with our young folks and really fully fund an ambition and youth fund, not look at any mid-year review or mid-year reassessment, but really invest in the new young folks now. Additionally, we are fully supportive of seniors services and programs. However, we recognize that. Speaker 4: These are two unique. Speaker 2: Groups of individuals that have unique needs and supports. And so we really want to ensure that this fund is focusing on the needs of young folks. Additionally, we, as some of my peers and comrades have have mentioned, we really think that the most appropriate place for this, for this fund to be managed is in the Health and Human Services Department that we're open to and conversations with Kelly Calliope and other folks in the Health Department to determine where is the best fit within the Health and Human Services Department. How are we? We really believe that based on the scope of work and the expertize in strategic planning, that this is the right place for. The Lumbee Children Youth Fund has given young folks a second chance, and we want to model how the city can also give young people a second chance by investing in our young folks. I really hope that we can count on your vote. And thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, I'm also going to be I'm going to be closing the speakers list. If those are the gentleman at the back with the caucus, I want to be sure there will be the last speaker and I'll be closing the speaker's list. Yes, next speaker. Speaker 4: Hi, everyone. So my name is Danielle. Loretta. I live in the second district and I've been living there for about 19 years, though. So I just want to talk more about why why y'all should support the deportation defense fund. So for me personally, it will benefit me by ensuring that my family members, loved ones and community members will have legal representation in courts when facing a deportation hearing. We know that folks with legal representation have a more likely chance of staying here with their families. I have friends who have lost their parents, families, family members, as well as friends because they don't have the funds to like have that legal representation for them. So the lack of representation and separation and family means to me that there are human rights violations happening within our city of Long Beach as well. And losing my loved one is a reality we live in as we live and as community members here in Long Beach City. It's important for city council to allocate the 250 K for the Deportation Defense Fund because of this, as a city that emphasizes on their diversity and also inclusion, it would only make sense for them to support their most vulnerable communities and city of Long Beach since they face the fears and traumas, the policy of being deported, who are currently in deportation process and no legal representation provided for them as well. So City Council as a community, we asked for everyone here, which works for the people of the City of Long Beach to endorse a people's state budget that includes a universal legal defense fund for immigrant residents facing deportation. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. I like your shirt. Think I like the logo on the front. Next. Bigger, please. Speaker 1: I. Good evening. City Council and Mayor Garcia. Speaker 6: My name is Alejandro Campos. Speaker 5: I am a member of the Long Beach. Speaker 1: Immigrant Rights Coalition, and I was a Long Beach resident for more than 20 years. I'm here today to emphasize. Speaker 5: The importance of having. Speaker 1: Legal representation available to our community members when facing deportation. As someone who has benefited from DOCA, I am privileged because the. Speaker 5: Risk of being. Speaker 1: Placed into removal proceedings is slim. But although I have benefited from some protections as a daycare recipient, I continue to advocate for my undocumented community who have placed in deportation proceedings is faced with not only huge financial burdens from the costs of bond and attorney fees, but are hit with the hardship of not having any legal representation period, because deportation is classified as a civil matter rather than a criminal sanction. Immigrants facing deportation are not afforded the constitutional protections under the Sixth Amendment. This is just unfair. Our communities need to know we stand with them. Our communities need to know. Need to be afforded the opportunity to stay with their families. As this affects me personally and affects my community. I am here today to ask you to support our immigrant community and approve the proposal to allocate $250,000 for funds to a legal defense fund. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next week. Please. Speaker 4: Good evening. Speaker 2: Everyone. Brothers and sisters, fellow human beings. I'm Javier Sanchez. I'm here. And from the ninth district. I'm here on behalf of Border Angels, Los Angeles, Orange County. Borders Angels is a nonprofit organization that's advocates for humane human rights, humane immigration reform and social justice or humane or immigrant. Brothers and sisters are coming to the United States escaping poverty and violence. Not only is it not only due in part to their country's governance, but also in part to the United States involvement in their home countries. As one of the many things that Angels does, and besides, dropping lifesaving water across the border is provide support to our day laborers in our local communities. We do this by providing water, food, hygiene and valuable information to our day laborers. And we're not sure knowing the rights should they ever be detained by ice. We are telling stories of laborers not getting paid what was agreed upon or getting paid at all and being abandoned their job sites due to threats of being deported. These people are trying to live dignified lives. It brings me great sadness to know that there be over 1400 cases in Long Beach area alone and so few have legal representation. To think that so many families could be separated, the financial, emotional and psychological strain it will cause is heartbreaking. I can't stress enough the importance to have a full $250,000 fund allocated for legal defense to residents facing deportation. What keeps me going is seeing the people from the community organizing and fighting for the solutions being presented today, which is why I'm confident that the people's budget proposal will give our fellow residents, our neighbors, the chance with legal representation to keep families together. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Arlene Alvarado. I'm a property owner in the first district. I want to support the mayor's budget. I think it's very important. I'm a proud daughter of an undocumented worker, and he became legal when he fought World War Two. Right now, with the cut out. If he had served in the Army, which he did, he he would right now, he would automatically get his citizenship. People are being deported who are now working in the are in the Army. I really support this, especially with the with the cut outs. It's not very much language justice. My grandmothers and my great great grandmother could hardly speak to didn't speak English. And this is really important to to have some kind of implementation for language access, policy, safe houses. I live in the first district and how it is filled with apartments, filled with cockroaches and rats. And the tenants are afraid to even. Complain about them because if they do that one landlord rents are ready, rents are being raised horrendously. We not only need more inspectors, we need inspectors to go out without people asking for them to come. Youth Opportunities. I'm a Chicano from Chicago. I went to the very first settlement house in Chicago that Jane Addams created. It was called Hull House. Chicago had this great program. I used to go to day care that the city paid for. I went to summer camps. I wrote in a place called LB kind of North, and we would stay there for two weeks at the city. It was minimal amount of money my parents paid for. We had settlement houses in every single neighborhood. Speaker 3: This is. Speaker 1: $200,000. This is nothing compared to what was spent on the as a child in Chicago in the fifties. Right. Okay. The other thing is, why are we starting poor people? Because we are cutting taxes for rich people right now. And I am a property owner. I don't care about my property taxes going up. If it goes to support issues, like I think it's really greedy of many of the people in our city who want it. We want to stamp out poor people so that they rich the constituents can have tax breaks. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thanks so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. And City Council over here, Rivera with Libra. Try to be quick about this. We're just simply here as part of the people's. The people's budget. To to request that you uphold the mayor's recommendations. And to fully fund the the legal defense fund of $250,000. To also fully fund the youth opportunities and the invest in youth campaign of $200,000. And also consider the the recommendations or the preferences of the youth and youth organizations of where to house it and how to actually have that money decided upon. And it's youth decided upon. We're also asking for you to consider the full recommendations to follow, to give money to the language access policy, but also requesting an additional fund so that we're fully funding the policy of $210,460. We're also asking that you consider to please make the staff position of the Office of Equity, of the person that oversees the language access policy, full time and structural. Because if we're going to really if we're going to assess the language access policy, let's give it the resources that it actually needs to be fully implemented and fully carried out before we start assessing it. If we're not giving it the resources that it needs to actually get going and giving the personnel to back it, it seems it seems premature to try to assess whether or not it's been effective when we really didn't give it a good start to be to begin with. We're obviously our housing advocate. So we're in. We're here also asking for consideration to you, for you to fund additional code inspectors, but also realize that the the efficacy and the efficiency of the program depends on the system and the technology that it utilizes. I sent all of the city council members links to a a code process or code program that is being used through cities across the state. That makes it completely, completely mobile. It allows for code inspectors to be out in the field for more time. It automatically updates the system mobility and it makes the information available online to the public real time. And these are all things that we need to do, especially advocating or promoting ourselves as sort of a technology technology city. We need this type of technology to improve our code enforcement process. And on a personal note, I want to say that we're definitely and I am definitely in support of the marijuana expungement that's being recommended as well. As we know, these type of crimes or or arrests around marijuana have disproportionately affected the African-American community. And this mayor, this marijuana expungement would definitely alleviate that in our communities. And we need to start. And just one final note. I personally will be thankful and grateful when the city's budget actually reflects an equitable distribution of its funding that meets the community's needs. Until that day, I am going to be satisfied with the wins that we've gained as a community. But I will be thankful and grateful when I see that day. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Last speaker. Speaker 2: Hello, everyone. Speaker 0: My name is Cee Lo Ideas. I'm a social. Speaker 4: Activist. I just graduated. I just started our culture. Speaker 0: Analysis of education grad program at Cal State Long Beach. Speaker 9: I just finished. Speaker 0: My B.A. in political science. Science to me. Speaker 4: And basically, I'm here supporting the people's budget, including safe housing, youth opportunities, language. Speaker 0: Justice, and efforts to protect immigrant rights. I am a dreamer with outcome, and one of the main reasons why I'm pursuing grad school is because I feel safer in Long Beach than compared to other cities. However, even with my current legal status, I speak from a place of privilege. Speaker 2: Privilege of. Speaker 0: Education, privilege of understanding public. Speaker 4: Agencies, including political ones, privilege of knowing. Speaker 0: How to defend my rights and conduct research. However, many of the. Speaker 4: Individuals needing legal counsel or. Speaker 0: Who are facing deportation are not privileged as myself. Speaker 4: Therefore, I ask that. Speaker 0: You reconsider allocating moneys for the Universal Legal Defense Fund. Your constituents are counting on all of you. Thank you. We are the change. Thank you very much. We're going to go ahead and close the public comment. So let me go ahead and go back to the other items. I know we're going to start with the first item. I want to start with the first item. I'm going to have a councilman, but I will go for the first item since it's the harbor and water. Madam Clerk, item number one. Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving the Fy19 budget for the Long Beach Harbor Department. Speaker 0: Before I go, I know we have some comments. Do people want to make general comments or we want to get through all these resolutions first and then make these comments when we get to the budget? Speaker 9: Yeah, let's do that. Speaker 0: I want to do that. Comes, go. Speaker 5: I'm comfortable either reading all of them or approving as we go. Does that make you comfortable? Speaker 2: Right. We would need to, as Maria suggested, either we take the council comments now and we go through individually and vote. But I wouldn't want to read all 17 and then go back and try and figure. Speaker 0: I think I think either we do the council comments now or we do we begin voting on the kind of items that are that are not necessarily the budget but relate to the budget, get through all those and then have those comments. Speaker 2: Or you could council could queue up to talk to each one. We need a motion in the second on 17 of those. I think we definitely would like to do it right. Speaker 0: Okay. Why don't we just begin going through the items and then we get closer to the budget? We'll go from there. So that item 1.1. Speaker 1: Support from financial management. Recommendation to adopt a resolution approving the A4 in 19 budget for a Long Beach Harbor department. Speaker 0: K There is a motion and a second. Members, please go ahead and cast your votes.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution approving the FY 19 budget for the Long Beach Harbor Department as adopted by the Board of Harbor Commissioners on June 11, 2018. (A-1)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_09042018_18-0750

Speaker 1: Motion carries unanimously. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next item is one. I believe we're up at 1.5. Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt a resolution amending the master fees and charges schedule. Speaker 3: I have to speak on this. Speaker 0: There's a motion and a second. Councilman, I wanted to make a few comments on this on this item. Speaker 5: I'd like to make a motion to correct a clerical error to the master fees and charges schedule, to a friendly amendment to make a motion and correct a clerical error made to the master fee in charge of schedule to maintain the toin 15 day line fee at the current rate of $70, not raising it to the typo 78. Speaker 2: Mayor, if I may. Also, there was one other two other corrections there on Exhibit A, there was missing fees regarding illegal cultivation and an incomplete application fee. Those were described in contained in Exhibit B, and those have been reposted and noticed. So it has been updated. And there was also an additional fee for the over parking vehicle, oversize vehicle. And again, that has been corrected and updated. Speaker 0: Thank you. I think there was another question from Councilman Pierce on this item. Is that right? Speaker 5: Yes. Thank you. I wanted to ask a question. I know that later on in the budget we're looking at code inspection and knowing that that's a discussion that would need to come back with the master fee schedule. Could you remind us of the how that might come back so that we don't have to vote on that today , but that we can revisit that at a later time. Speaker 0: With Mr. Motocross either. I know he's been working on this. Speaker 5: No, I have my motion from earlier tonight. If that helps, I can read it. Speaker 4: Sure. Speaker 0: But it was released to enforce it. Speaker 5: It has prepared it. Yep, yep, yep. I'm looking for what letter it was. Give me 1/2. Speaker 0: Although I think these are also there are two separate things, and I think we're going to talk about the budget appropriation. I think what Councilman Parrish is talking about is as it relates to the conversation about staff beginning to work on. Right. Just that are our kind of the way we do. Speaker 3: Looking at the. Speaker 0: So Tom, do you want to speak, Mr. Modica, on what the process is and how we're going to address that? The requests in the budget. Speaker 5: How we make changes to the schedule moving forward outside of the budget cycle as it relates to PRM. Speaker 2: So as we understand the motion in related to period, it's one of the Mayor's recommendations to take a look at the power of fee structure. So if you approve the mayor's recommendations tonight, we will be also taking any input from tonight, but looking at a different way to assess those fees. We have a number of different ways that we can do a sliding scale. We're understand the idea is to increase the time that we are able to inspect buildings. We're currently on a 5 to 6 year cycle depending and that could be lowered to a four year cycle or something else. So we would bring back, do some outreach and come back with a recommendation and do that midyear with a fee increase and then adding positions. Speaker 5: So right now, as it stands, if we pass the budget, we don't need to do anything additional. We'll wait for staff to bring something back. Speaker 2: Correct. And then we would have to go through the normal process to advertise the fee and put that in the general circulation newspaper. Speaker 5: Great. Thank you. Speaker 0: I'm sorry. It also be my understanding that all of that is going to come back to the Council for a full discussion. Speaker 2: Of course you would. Before we could hire anybody, you would have to approve that on the fees. So we would do a report and then there would be an official action in front of you before we move forward. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Speaker 5: Katherine Mongeau is a part of our. Fiscal policies, though it would go to the DRC before coming to the council. Speaker 0: Question I think. Speaker 2: I don't recall that specific policy, but that's certainly something you could ask us to do. Yes. Speaker 5: Then I'd ask that it come to B or C for review and a full discussion. I feel very strongly in the committee process. Speaker 2: We would need to make that. You can make that part of the motion. When you get to the mayor's recommendations, you could send it there. Speaker 3: Understood. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a motion and a second. Please cast your vote. Speaker 5: I had a question that. Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez. Yes, I'm sorry, because I don't know if people are lined up for the what are we not doing request to speak unless it's on the item in front of us and then we'll call when we get to the budget. So, Councilman Gonzales, on this item. Speaker 6: Yes, thank you. Just really quick question for the street repaired vehicles. I noticed the change from 45 to $55. Is that because we have a lot of issues in certain areas? And I'm wondering is and I've seen other cities that have a much higher rate and I don't know that that's the only answer. But is this. I don't know if there's any other opportunity to increase that rate because it's just it seems like it's a major issue and in many areas. Speaker 2: Gets more where can you clarify which rate? We're we're talking about these. Speaker 6: Street repair of vehicle. That street repairs on vehicles in neighborhoods. It's a page three of 11 Exhibit C. Multiple department charges, parking citations. Speaker 5: It's about halfway down. Speaker 1: Street repair. Speaker 6: Vehicle that says $45. Speaker 5: Current fee requested fee, $55. Speaker 1: Yeah. Speaker 2: So we can certainly look at that. I don't know at the top of my head if that's cost recovery or if that's a fine that we can levy and go higher, we certainly could look at that and. Speaker 7: Bring that one. Speaker 6: Let me get some more information back on that in a different form. That would be wonderful. Speaker 2: We would do that. Great. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Gonzalez was added on that basis for Andrew. Speaker 4: Yes, thank you. I want to go on record, as you know. And with respect to the Parks and Recreation Committee has taken a second look at the fee for community centers. You know, it has come to my attention that the security fees is being, you know, assessed for all facilities which have reservations, even if they are not gang events. A policy change never came to the council. And Pakistan has not been able to, you know, produce a documentation as to when the policy becomes the norm. I do not believe that the security is needed for a booking, for a repairs at my community centers. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. There's a motion and a second on this, I think no additional comment. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries unanimously. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker 1: 1.6 Report from Financial Management Recommendation to approve the NY 19 one year Capital Improvement Program. Speaker 0: Motion and a second for the best capital improvement program we've had. Councilman Mongo. Speaker 5: So I think at this point it would make sense to take a break in the in the presentation for the Bossi modification, because within the Bossi recommendation, there are some minor cap changes within the Tidelands funds. So if it so pleases the chair, I'd like to request that we now move on to the 1.12 and then return to 1.6 after. Speaker 0: Okay. So you mean we're going to move on to. You want to go through all the B.S. recommendations right now? Absolutely. Before we continue the. Speaker 5: Next three, have some modifications. And so those will be read as amended. Speaker 0: I think that's fine. Sure. Why don't we go and do this, actually? So we've gone through we've got 1.1 to 1.5. Correct. So let's put those aside. Those are done. So we're now as a part of the budget hearing, not necessarily the next item, but comes from mango. Shares of BSE will go through the BSE, her, her, her language that she's kind of going to be entering to the record as far as the changes to the recommendations of the B or C as well as, I think some additional changes. Is that right? Speaker 5: Yes. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 5: Could I get the motion on the vote cast to be. Thank you. And then and so that would be a a second by a committee member. Okay, great. Okay. Slightly modified Budget Oversight Committee recommendations as follows. A motion to provide following direction to city staff that do not have fiscal impact. Explorer pilot at McBride Teen Center for Workforce Programing that prepares our youth for the workforce and explores the possibility of transferring teen centers from PRM to workforce in fiscal year 20. Instruct Parks and Rec to implement posting park reservations from active net or other systems, starting with field reservations then community rental space by January one with other reservations to be scheduled in a roll out. Move on media and responsibilities from Parks and Recreation and Marine to the Public Works Department, including in preparation of structural transfer of budget and positions effective on or before January 2019. Instruct the City Manager to work with development services to implement a comprehensive tracking system for code enforcement violators and violations with special attention to proactive rental housing inspections to better understand the effectiveness of the program. Motion to Expand the purpose of the 200,001 time funds for Youth. And at this time, I'd like to request a friendly amendment to supplement it with 100,000 contingent appropriation for senior programing so moved by our Austin are so friendly by Councilmember Austin in the city manager's proposed budget for youth and children support to include senior programs. The use of these funds to be proposed and managed by parks, to be proposed by Parks and Recreation and Marine and managed accordingly with their recommendation. Receiving input on selection of the citywide programing by the Commission on Youth and Families and the Senior Citizen Advisory Commission. For each respective fund to be forwarded for approval by the PSC by January 2019, recommend the Water Commission to work with the Public Works Department on finding creative solutions to reduce water usage in the city medians and explore collaborations with the Metropolitan Water District mission for the Airport Department to continue to work towards establishing a plane landing viewing area for fiscal year 19. Direct the Chief of Police to find resources to grow the Reserve Police Officer program with special attention on the recruitment of retirees. Motion to redistribute the to an excuse me. Speaker 2: I'm sorry that wasn't in your original motion from the EEOC. So is that an amendment to your original to the motion as it was. Speaker 5: Originally in section H of subsection F, but since it had no fiscal impact and section F now has a fiscal impact, I moved it up, if that's okay. Speaker 2: I'm not seen where you. Where you have that. Sorry. Speaker 5: It was the second to the last motion capital letter F with sub letter D. Speaker 2: F.D. says resources to Grow Reserve Officer Program. Speaker 5: Correct. Speaker 3: Copies of these? No. Speaker 5: Yes. The modified version from B or C, the first version before the amendments. Motion to redistribute the 215 special advertising and promotion fund. One time funding currently budgeted for one Beat Street's event two fund to smaller quarter activations that consider prior activations and successes opportunities for collaboration of multiple districts and interests from the businesses in those areas to be supplemented with Metro Grant funding if available. Motion four Library to find one time savings and Fiscal Year 19 to continue current Sunday library hours of operation through the end of calendar year 18 with and recommend that staff review the potential seven day library model with stakeholders and present options and alternatives to the City Council during this time period and report back to the Council on both branch and main library options. Now we're going on to the second set of motions. And later, the projected fiscal year shortfall and the fiscal policies proposed by the BRC. Have staff bring back a list of positions that were general fund enhancements recommended for structural funding within the last five years that staff structurally funded them with the General Fund for Review by the Bossie Motion to expand the use of Tidelands budgeted overtime currently allocated to Tidelands South Division Patrol overtime to include all Tidelands areas at the discretion of the Chief of Police and increase the appropriation by 25,000 in the title and Operating Fund for Police Overtime. Motion to Reverse and restore the police department's downgrade of the sergeant to police officer and fund this restoration by reallocating the 25 of general fund budgeted. Budgeted savings from the overtime motion. See motion to support Mayor Garcia's proposed budget recommendations with the following adjustments. First of all, add in what we just said, including bring back any staff recommendations for fee schedule changes to the body, including the results of the Parks and Rec and the development services changes as requested by Vice Mayor Andrews and Councilmember Pearce a moment ago. Use of the 315 of the general fund one time savings from health care cost savings and supplement with 315 of the projected fiscal year 18 year end close to fund the mayor's general fund recommendations proportionately, which means fully because it now is restored to the 630 of the total fy19 p one times carve out at least 10,000 for native language signage in communities with the greatest number of non-English-speaking residents with the highest priority given to Spanish and Cambodian dialects within the FBI, 19 LRP one time funds a comprehensive study and evaluation of the LAPD program shall be conducted with results reported back to the City Council before determining FY 20 priorities. Use the remaining health care cost savings of 315 for capital infrastructure or existing city programing with the programmatic portion not to exceed 20% per district to be divided equally between the council districts for district priorities. Any exception to the policy must go to the City Council for Approval Program 185,000 of year end and create a fiscal year 19 contingent appropriation in the following order. 215 to eliminate the tree stump removal backlog citywide 70,000 for Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan 50,000 of one time funding to be used to support efforts around affordable housing and homelessness. Speaker 2: Excuse me again, that wasn't in your original recommendation. It was voted on at the B or C, correct? Speaker 5: I said modified. Speaker 2: I'm sorry, but I think what you were going to read was the motion as recommended out of the block to the council. And then if you want to change it or modify it, I can do. Speaker 5: You can. Speaker 2: Do. So I have I can follow you to see that this is what was discussed, debated and voted on at the B or C, and. Speaker 0: I think I was. Speaker 2: So I originally cited any of these changes, and I think we need to follow the process. Speaker 5: No problem. I asked if I had to read it and I thought I did not. Speaker 2: And I thought we were reading what was voted on at the B or C. Speaker 0: And let me make clarifications to that. Make sure everyone that has the information in front of them. I believe that everyone should have the original B or C recommendations that were passed by the committee in front of them. So I think that I think I think I think the the idea was, is that everyone has those in front of them. And Councilman Mongo was reading the changes as she went through this. Speaker 5: And so I was going to originally comment on each change, but I thought that you asked me not to. I apologize for misunderstood. Speaker 2: That I had asked. In order for the Council to fully understand and debate the proposed changes for the B or C, they need to know what was discussed and voted on and what was approved by the B or C, and then it's up to the body to make any changes, and you can certainly make recommendations. But at this time, what came out of the vote is what is before the council. And then, as you did, I think on the first one that was seconded by Councilmember Austin, you could add delete change. But this is very confusing. Speaker 5: Well, I misunderstood the comment that I should save my comments till the end. So they highlighted them in pink to again annotate those at the end. But I am completely happy starting over. Whatever you recommend, sir. Speaker 0: So let's let me. Mr. City Attorney. Let me do it. Let me let me let me do this. So I think, first of all, everyone on the body has the original recommendations presented by the council, and I'm going to be in front of them. So I think that those have been passed out and the body does have does have those. And so. Speaker 2: That's correct. But the public. Speaker 0: Doesn't get that. So I get that. And so so everybody has those. And so we're going to go ahead and do is we'll go back and do read the original B or C recommendations just as the council has in front of them, will read those into the record. And then after that we'll go back and make the change. But I think there's just a misunderstanding. So I think we're all trying to do the same thing. So that's fine. That makes sense. And let me also see. Okay, that's good. Let's go back. Let's going to we're going to read the original B or C recommendations into the record. Speaker 5: Would you like me to read them in their entirety, or would you like me to pause where I think in the future we might add? Speaker 3: Okay. Okay. Speaker 5: I revise to the following motion to provide the following direction to city staff that do not have fiscal impact. Explore a pilot program at McBride Teen Center for Workforce Programing that prepares our youth for the workforce and explores the possibilities of transferring teen centers from Parks and Rec to workforce leadership in 2019. Instruct Parks and Recreation to implement posting park reservations, starting with field reservations, then community rental space by January one with all reservations to follow. Move all media and responsibilities from Parks and Rec and Marine to the Public Works Department, including an appropriate, appropriate structural transfer of budget and positions effective on or before January 2019. Instruct the City Manager to work with development services to implement a comprehensive tracking system for code enforcement violations with special attention to proactive rental housing inspection to better understand the effectiveness of the program. Motion to Expand the purpose of the 200,001 time funds in the city manager's proposed budget for youth and children support to include senior programs . The use of this fund is to be proposed and managed by Parks, Recreation and Marine and Workforce, receiving input on selected selection of the citywide programing by the Commission on Youth and Families and the Senior Citizen Advisory Commission to be forwarded for approval by the Boise Budget by January 2019. Recommend the Water Commission to work with Public Works Department on finding creative solutions to reduce water usage in the city medians and explore collaborations with the MWD motion for the Airport Department to continue to work towards establishing a plane viewing landing of plane landing viewing area in fiscal 19 Motion to redistribute the 2/15 as AP funds currently budgeted for one beach streets event to fund two smaller quarter activations that consider prior activation successes, opportunities for collaboration of multiple districts and interest from the businesses in those areas to be supplemented with Metro grant funding as available motioned for the library to find one time savings in fiscal year 19 to continue current Sunday library hours of operation through the end of the 2018 calendar year and recommend that staff review the potential seven day library model with stakeholders and present options and alternatives to City Council during this time period and report back to council on both branch and main library options. Any questions before I go to the next main motion? Speaker 2: Councilmember we have a quick question on item A in the in the one about workforce says at 20, I believe it was read into the record 19. Can you clarify is that 19 or 20? Speaker 5: It was intended to explore a pilot program in 19 for consideration of potential transfers in 20. Speaker 2: Understood. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you. See. No further questions. I'll move on. Motion to expand the use of title and budgeted overtime currently allocated to Title and South Division Patrol overtime to include all tidelands areas at the discretion of the police chief and increase appropriation by 25,000 in the Tidelands Operating Fund for police overtime. Speaker 2: She's. Speaker 5: Motion to reverse and restore the police department. The city manager's recommendation for a police department downgrade of a sergeant to a police officer, and from this restoration by reallocating the 25 of general fund budgeted overtime to the sergeant. This is slightly out of order. But sticking with Tidelands because we were out of order at the prior council meeting. Motion to Modify City Manager's Proposed Fiscal Year 19 Tidelands Capital Projects to prioritize community serving projects for this round of Tidelands funding decreased the Alamitos Bay parking improvements by 250,000 and defer a million in the Convention Center arena and critical improvements to a later funding cycle. Reallocate these funds to the following projects. 850,000 for the Alamitos Beach concession stand, bringing the total for 19 projected allocation to 1.3 million. 1.35 million, I'm sorry, another 50,000 to begin the PD six waterfront visioning process, 250,000 for the Granada Beach Concession Stand and playground project. That's the end of Thailand's. Motion to support the Mayor's proposed budget recommendations with the following adjustments use of 350,000 and General Fund one time savings from health care. Cost savings to fund the Mayor's General Fund recommendations proportionately of the total fy19 LPI one time funds carve out at least 10,000 for native language signage in communities with the greatest number of non-English speaking residents with the highest priority given to Spanish and Cambodian dialects within the Fy19 LPI one time funds. A comprehensive study and evaluation of the LA program shall be conducted with results reported back to the City Council before determining the LEP 2520 priorities. These remaining health care savings cost of 315 for capital infrastructure or existing city programing with the programmatic portion not to exceed 20% per district to be divided equally by the City Council districts for district priorities. An exception to the policy must go to the City Council for approval. Motion for the staff to report back to the BMC with recommendations on year end priorities when 518 year end savings are determined after Fy18 fiscal year end close, that can include the possible funding of the following items Parks and Rec Strategic Plan seven D Library Model Elimination of Tree Stump Removal Backlog Resources to grow the Reserve Police Officer Program 50,000 of one time funding to be used to support efforts around affordable housing and homelessness, remaining the remaining 50% of the mayor's proposals and funding needs for library hours. With a discussion point that we stated that at a prior meeting. I would also make the motion to adopt the City Council's financial policies with amendments as recommended by the BOC on August 14th, 2018. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilman Mongo. So let me make a suggestion of how we move forward. So everyone has the BFC recommendations as approved out of the committee. They've been they've been read into the record. What I'd like to do is let's go continue to go through the items and as an item comes up that has a that has that there is a recommended change from the BSE chairwoman. Then we will do those as we go. So they're read separately through each individual item, and I think that'll help us stay organized. So let's move on to the next item, which is 1.6. Or we can read that Madam Clerk.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution amending the Master Fees and Charges Schedule for specified City services for Citywide fees and charges for the City of Long Beach. (A-5)

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Speaker 1: Motion carries unanimously. Speaker 0: To 1.10. Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt a motion approving the financial policies as recommended by the Budget Oversight Committee. Speaker 0: These are the financial policies. One I need a great emotion and a second. Speaker 5: And a slight friendly to that. Speaker 3: Was. Speaker 5: In light of the projected fiscal year 20 shortfall and the fiscal policies proposed by the U.S. have staff bring back a list of positions that were general fund enhancements recommended for structural funding within the last five years. To the B or C. Speaker 0: Could there's a motion or a second with that with that addition that's on Richardson. Speaker 9: Is there any changes in the financial policy from last year to this year? Speaker 2: Mr. MODICA Yes, there are changes. We can go through those if you'd like to. Speaker 0: Okay. Why don't we go ahead? We'll go out and go through those. Speaker 2: Mr. GROSS. Thank you. There are two financial policies that have been changed. One is the financial policy number 17, which is on grants. This was an item that was reviewed last year but was not adopted. Basically, the change to summarize it is to let council know staff has a responsibility under this policy to let the City Council know about the funding in continuing or discontinuing of programs what the plan is when a grant becomes in front of them. And secondly, if that plan changes after a grant is awarded that we have to let council know in the next budget cycle. So it's more disclosure on grants. There is a second policy change on fiscal policy, which is number 12. This change doesn't even change the short statement for the policy. It actually remains the same. It's it's in some respects some more minor change. But it isn't it is a change essentially for the fiscal impact. The fiscal impact is now required for all fiscal impact statements coming before council, including on city manager departments or elected officials. And effectively, it requires fiscal impact to be reviewed by the financial management department. Unless that is inconvenient. If it is inconvenient, then it simply needs to make a statement that it wasn't allowed in terms of time to have a financial management review. Those are the. Speaker 9: Changes. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. GROSS. Councilor Pearce. Speaker 5: Thank you and thank you for reading. I did have a question on the grants. Does that include whenever the grants that are available that we might decline? I know that there are some departments that they feel like there are grants out there that we haven't applied for, that we've declined. Does this allow for that transparency? Speaker 2: It does not specifically address that. Speaker 5: I know there's probably a lot of grants that we don't apply for. I guess I would ask that within this financial policy that if there is grants that we were denied for, that maybe those at the end of the year or two from four on, what we could have done to make ourselves more, you know, acceptable to receive those grants. Speaker 2: I think if it's acceptable, we would take that as a just an administrative suggestion to come back to you at the end of this year. And then at some future point, if the PSC wants to formalize that in, the financial policy could maybe be the next version. Speaker 5: Great. I think that's a great start for that conversation. Thank you. I'm actually slightly uncomfortable with making that change at this time. I know this is a policy we've debated for two years. The number of grants that we choose not to apply for is in the hundreds. What we don't apply for. Right? I get that. However, a lot of them are based on the potential for likelihood of funding. And so what I wouldn't want to happen is for staff to not want to apply, to not appear on the list. So if it's okay, I'd like for Bossy to have a staff report on that. And if we feel that the financial policy needs to be amended again, we could do that at that time. But the D.O.C. has spent literally multiple meetings on this financial policy and in talking with staff on their recommendations. Okay. We haven't had those conversations here. Agree. So that's the first time that I've heard that it's been this two year conversation. But what I'm trying to get at is if we if there are grants that we apply for and we do not get understanding what it is, why we're not getting them, so that if there's something that we can help change or have an eye on to say, well, if we only apply for this money or if we put seed money here, then we would get that grant. So having something on the administrative side, I'm fine with the whole thing at all. Fabianski appreciates your comments and we'll take it under consideration. Thank you. But I'm not open. I'm not ready to take a friendly on that yet just because of the multitude of grants that my department I know I'm not trying to not just have the chair of the EEOC. I don't feel that every single policy has to come to a full council. I feel that the the main bulk of the debate really has to happen because this policy we recommended two years ago. Speaker 0: So so let me. Okay, so one, I do have a comment on this, but Mr. City Attorney, I know you're chiming. Speaker 2: I did not hear a friendly in there. I think she had asked for a staff report back at their Mr. GROSS recommended a staff report back at the end of the year to give information and then you could consider discuss it at the next block. So I don't think there's a friendly to your motion. Speaker 4: Right then that my. Speaker 5: Motion doesn't include a staff report and I'm not planning to add one. Speaker 2: But you could always ask for information without a friendly to your motion. You could ask for a staff report. It's not a friendly. Speaker 0: I think I think I think what I'm interpreting is that Councilman Pearce is asking for staff information to give us more information about our grant process and what grants we what how we can do better as a request of staff for information for the council. So that's the way I interpreted that. And then obviously if there's there needs to be further adjustment to the financial policies, of course, those will continue. Speaker 3: To be. Speaker 5: Requesting changes to the. Speaker 0: Right. But if there was, those would go to the court. Speaker 2: And just for the council, I would like to point out that when ever the granting opportunity offers the opportunity to give us guidance on what we could do better, staff always take that call. So we often set up calls with the granting agency, and if they're willing to do it, go through our application and tell us, hey , you got knocked down for this. You did really well on that. And we welcome those opportunities. Speaker 5: And my concern as a person who manages millions of dollars of grants for a living is disclosing the weaknesses in our application in a public way gives other people were competing against a leg up an advantage in their next year's proposal for the same funds that we're fighting for. So if you'd like to talk about, I think that's a valid response. Yeah, there's a huge there's a huge like data gathering related to being competitive in grants. And so I would just say that if you'd like to talk with staff about that, I think that that's great. I just don't I guess I just don't understand that we as a council ask for staff reports at the dais that we could just talk to staff. And so if it's out the that you're having a conversation about our policy and it makes sense to me that we all have this discussion versus in a small group. So I understand that, that we're kind of on our on our train and we're moving forward with our budget recommendations. Some of these we have not had a lot of discussions about as a whole body, and I think it's okay to slow down and have that conversation. So your response about being competitive and what process that is a valid response. So I just ask that as we continue to go through the next to them that I appreciate you and appreciate your validation. Speaker 0: Thank you. So we have a motion on the floor and we have a request for an administrative update from staff. So, look, I know that we will get that update. And so Councilman Richardson and I will go to a vote. Speaker 2: Sure. Speaker 9: So about the report that comes back, I know there was a lot of conversation in the past about when we are offered a grant and don't accept it. And I know we had a conversation about disclosing when that does happen. Do we have that policy on hand right now or can that be included in that report? Right. So, for example, years ago when California Endowment offered the money for the I think it was the health element or whatever it was, and we didn't accept it. And the council found out later. I know we addressed that back then, but is that a current practice? Speaker 2: So I think something like that happens very infrequently. We look for grants wherever we can. We try to get money. There are some grants that depending on the bells and whistles and hooks, they really aren't a good fit for us. So staff look at each one of those. We have departments lead that and those come to the city manager's office to make sure that we're not over obligating ourselves. And so we go through that. We don't have a specific policy. It's more of a does this make sense for us to apply for it? But if we ever do, is something that the Council has directed us to do and staff are purposely not doing it. That's where we have to have a conversation. Speaker 9: I just like when we don't accept one movie, one in a grant, or I've been offered a grant and don't accept it. Speaker 2: That's well understood when we apply and then later we say we're not going to accept. Yeah, we can. Certainly those are where we should certainly be informing you when that happens. Speaker 5: You ask the question, why would I want to. Speaker 0: Keep thinking we do have a motion and a second to approve the grant process. Know what we're talking about. Speaker 3: School policy policies. Let's just. Speaker 0: Provide a map. Speaker 7: Of the whole. Speaker 0: School and the financial policy, whatever we're doing. 1.10 is the recommendation to approve the financial policies as recommended by the PSC. Speaker 1: Most motion case unanimously.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to adopt a motion approving the Financial Policies as recommended by the Budget Oversight Committee on August 14, 2018. (A-10)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_09042018_18-0756

Speaker 1: Most motion case unanimously. Speaker 0: Thank you. 1.11, please. Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt the Mayor's proposed budget recommendations for the FY19 proposed budget. Speaker 5: So this one would have been as amended, but I would like to amend the amend amended. Speaker 0: She's going to change the recommendation. Speaker 2: For a change in the BRC recommendations on the mayor's proposal. Speaker 5: But I'd like to finally myself, if possible. Yes. Let me find that motion. Speaker 0: Just before the presentation. Speaker 5: Okay. Motion to support Mayor Garcia's proposed recommendation with the following adjustments, including to bring back any staff recommendations for fee schedule changes to the B or C, including the results of the Parks and Rec and Development Services. Fee studies use 315 of General Fund one time savings from health care cost savings and 315 of the projected f y 18 fiscal year close to fully fund the Mayor's General Fund recommendations proportionately with the other minor amendments as stated by the PSC. Speaker 2: And Council Member proportionately. Is that a word that you mean to include in there? That sounds to refer. It seems it. Speaker 5: Doesn't. It's not necessary any more. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: And for, you know, for clarification sake as well. So essentially that restores the the budget proposal as is. And it's not I know that there's a minute and everyone may not know what the f 18 you know sort of semantics. It's semantics it's it's basically the fully funding it's not split in half or any of that. And so it's it's a recommendation as proposed initially. I do have a couple of speakers. Councilman Pryce, do you want to say anything? Speaker 6: No, not on this specific one. Speaker 7: But is this the. Speaker 6: Okay, so have we did the is it appropriate time to talk about the money for the seniors or. No? Speaker 0: Not yet. Speaker 6: Okay. All right. Speaker 0: Because I'm in Kansas. Speaker 6: My first one, I think the Budget Oversight Committee. I know this is not very easy to go through this every year. And I want to thank our city departments for proposing many of these for adding these proposals so the mayor can recommend them fully to the city council. And so I appreciate all of that work here. I first want to and I also think many of the community members, of course, that have been here for so long, I know some of our youth have stayed since 4 p.m. and all of you have been here for so long. So thank you for your patience. In that I will just say I appreciate the justice fund immigrant rights. What I will say about that is, you know, everyone looks at it as a very black and white issue. But I think for many of us in the city who represent these large communities, it's very important. And these dollars will not only be a dollars for an issue, they'll be dollars that will actually be supported by the matched by the very institute. But they also have some transparency elements, matching dollars. Speaker 0: That's when before you keep going, I just want to talk tech folks or something going on with your voice that's so out of our tech folk and just take a look at it. As you can tell. Speaker 7: You know, hello, hello. Speaker 6: Provide matching dollars from private philanthropy. Number two, it will provide in-kind support, program management, tech assistance and training. And number three, which I think is very important, it's research for evaluation. So key performance indicators to ensure that we are on track. And this this fund is transparent and it's actually going to individuals who actually need it. But it also keeps and holds the city of accountable. There's currently 12 cities, 12 cities in eight states that have this justice fund in place, and they call themselves Safe Cities Network. So I just want to make sure that we put that forward. In addition, we know that this will enable people to be more civically engaged, especially as we have this Census 2020 coming up. And we know that many of these populations are afraid to call and ask for city services. So we really appreciate this expungement services. We talked about that in detail that primarily people of color, especially men of color, are being targeted or have low level records that deter them from. Speaker 1: Educational opportunities in obtaining a. Speaker 6: Job. And the Youth Opportunity Fund, I just want to say this is a great proposal. It's a strategic plan for youth by our youth, especially opportunity youth in all districts. This fund can be leveraged with private dollars as well. An additional grant funding. The youth, from my knowledge, are creating a mission statement and a formal framework to create parameters for the strategy. So it's not just dollars that we don't know what to do with, but parameters for the strategy that will touch all parts of our city. And it's also inclusive of many generations, from seniors to the youth. Speaker 0: So we see the. Speaker 6: Language access plan in the safe housing plan. So the safe housing plan, I will say I have a question on that and I know I already spoke with development services about this. I know that's not specifically proposed in the mayor's budget. I think the mayor has proposed the city prosecutor element for about $100,000. But I would like to ask our development services a couple of questions. Speaker 1: Lynda. Speaker 3: How does that work? Maybe this is better. Speaker 6: So ads are coming up. And I know we've talked in length and I know currently few things are happening. So relative to the people's budget, the safe housing plan, our Hanson software system is being updated. And we are working as well with tech and innovation to upgrade that system for better results and make sure we have it all set. Do you know at all when we can expect updates to the software, the system? I know it'll probably be a little bit down the road, but do you have any sort of idea on when that? Speaker 7: Councilmember Gonzales. Thank you for the question. And I would just like to clarify that we have just started the conversations with the TIDE Director regarding taking a comprehensive look at the program and making sure that it has the capability to meet our needs. And if it does, we would then need to go through a process of reprograming that system to take the data that is going to be able to help us facilitate the inspections and all of our not only in code enforcement, but in the Planning Bureau as well. So if I were to give a rough estimate, I would say between about 3 to 4 months for us to do a full assessment. And after that point, we would start to probably take another 60 days to actually make those changes to the system. Speaker 6: Okay, great. And I know in conversations. Speaker 5: We've had with the public. Speaker 6: There are other systems that may produce additional elements that could maybe be compared to Hanson. So there's SLA. I know that City of L.A. uses SLA and concrete, and those are two that offer additional options for public visibility when it comes to code enforcement cases. So those maybe just things to throw out there to leverage or compare with the current system after we update it. Speaker 7: And that is correct. And staff is also generally familiar with both of those systems and actually there are others as well. However, where we're starting from is to make sure that the system that we currently have, because we are under the understanding at this point that that system does have the capability. However, until we can actually do an assessment of that system and the anticipated upgrade of that system, we want to make absolutely sure that before we look at another system, that this system wouldn't be able to handle our needs. If it would not, we would then be open to looking at those other alternative systems. Speaker 6: Okay, great. And I understand that we don't exactly know how many code enforcement officers we may need, depending on what happens here tonight and then down the road and even after the system is updated. So I would like to ask if we can receive a two from four to the city council that talks about the updates, provides progress on the updates, and also progress on what we envision the code enforcement additional personnel would look like, whether that's 60 days after, you know, we've had some sort of idea or a down the road, but continual updates in a to form four would be really great as we go through this process certainly. And I know. So the mayor's budget specifically calls out the city prosecutor, city prosecutor funds for high level code and nuisance issues. And I love this. I think it's absolutely needed. What we've talked about and I know I've mentioned this to you as well, Linda, is we currently have a link on the Development Services website that tackles or basically lists property owners who have violations above 120 days. And those may or may not be in sync with the city prosecutor program, but perhaps we can a make the link a little bit more visible and be add these cases additional cases if they are city prosecutor cases that are have hit their limit. And I will say we see that a lot, of course, with people that have major quality of life issues. And then, of course, the historic districts that have had many issues and complaints even over a period of time, they've just never been never been pushed to the city prosecutor's office or right before that. So this program will hopefully help those issues. So I just wanted to throw that out there for you. Thank you very much. Thank you. And then lastly, I will say with language access, I know Tommy had mentioned about a structural plan that we would be receiving some information coming back soon. Do you know when we can expect that? The awesome timeline question. Speaker 2: So this is for prep? Speaker 6: No, I'm sorry. I'm going to language access. Speaker 3: Structural point. Speaker 2: And. A structural plan for language access. Speaker 6: Yes, I believe we asked for that a week or two weeks ago in our last few council meetings, and we had asked to see if we can get some sort of plan back to the city council on how to make this structural. Councilwoman Gonzalez. There was a TFF that was issued on Friday, late Friday, that responded to questions from the August 14th and August 21st. BOSSIE And or hearings. And that doctor. Speaker 3: Had. Speaker 1: Some questions on the structural funding. And I just look at it for you. If I could find that. Yes. I think the the making the permanent position to full time. Speaker 6: Right now it is a part. Speaker 1: Time position, a temporary part time not temporary, but. Speaker 6: A part time position to make it a full time position. It was around 30,000. Oh, yes, it was around 32,737 would be needed to make the LEAP position full time. Okay, so that's great. All right. I'm done with all my questions. Thank you very much, Grace. I appreciate that. And what I will say is that if we can add that in this year's proposed budget to make this full time, I think that would be really great. I know Council member Wodonga has fought for this for some time, so just throwing that out there. But thank you very much. I'm glad we're moving forward. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Speaker 5: Customer Pierce is way better, huh? Hello again. Yes, the mayor's budget item. I want to say that I think I said it last time when we sat down to go over this budget. It really did ring true to me that this was a reflection of an attempt to get at the people's budget. And so knowing that we've done everything from tapping into language access to youth, I know that all of these deserve to have more money. But working within our means and I want to say how much I appreciate the community organizing the efforts that have gone on. I know that while we see you here for a couple of hours, that it's all of your jobs all week long to get this work done, to do the community outreach, to to really invest in that that it's building community and not just coming up here with the piece of paper. And I think that as a council, it is our job to I don't want to say reward, but to work with those that have invested the time to make our city better. And it's not making something better for one resident, for one constituent. But as you guys do this work, we are getting on the map for other nonprofits, for the Ford Foundation, for organizations like that to send money to Long Beach to invest in Long Beach becoming a more equitable city. And so I want to thank you for all those that don't even know that you're doing this work. I know. Speaker 6: That. Speaker 5: It's a labor of love for you. And so having a budget that reflects that is something that I'm really proud of. I'm really proud of the mayor's recommendations and the work that this council has done to try to get to the heart of what your recommendations and your work has done. So I do I think you guys all know that I fully support the mayor's budget. I want to talk about that. Outside of the people's budget, the slumlords with the prosecutor's office, I think is something that we haven't really talked about before. But I'm really happy to see that and I look forward to hearing a report in the next year about how that went and what that process looks like. I'm not asking for anything additional. I also really want to talk about how important the expungement efforts are and the money that we're using to make sure that we address some of the changes for the African-American communities, communities that have disproportionately been put away for marijuana use, and that now that we have made that change here in the city, I'm really happy to see that that effort is going forward. So with those changes, with the senior changes, adding some dollars that are coming forward, it is a really robust budget and adding more police officers, particularly the officer by the officers that are on bikes in our downtowns and around our beat areas I think is going to be a great change that we should all really talk about . I know for the last five, six years in District two, it's been an issue that's come up a lot and we have been told, well, we don't have the resources. So again, looking at a balanced budget where we're both adding PD, but we're also adding a youth budget, I think is something that we should really celebrate after today. I want to echo the comments of my colleague, Councilmember Gonzalez, in reference to the software. I know that we've had lots of conversations with development services, just trying to get that turned around quickly. I know that it's been a topic that we've talked about for a few years, and so whatever we can do to try to get that to come back to us sooner rather than later. And you had asked for a two from four. What did you ask for? Two from four on on the language access or on the housing? Just the code force. I would. Speaker 3: The code enforcement. Okay. Speaker 5: I know. I was like I took all my notes. Sorry, guys. We have so many topics we want to talk about. We're so excited. I would ask that it goes beyond a two from four and that we come to council with it. I love all the two from fours, but some Fridays we get like 15 of them and it just, it sometimes they sneak through and I know it's because we asked for them. What I would like for this one not to be a two from four. I would like to have a discussion council led by development services. That way we don't have to re agenda is it is that a big change that too much so the fiscal policies that we just approved a minute ago actually require that when we ask for a report back that the staff have the opportunity to tell you that will take 24 hours of staff work or 13 hours of staff work. And the reason that this policy was also very controversial and took two years to pass is because sometimes, let's say, just in order, Councilmember Gonzalez and I make a proposal about digital inclusion, and we believe it'll take 15 staff hours and we asked for it to come back 120 days. But the next week, councilmember supervisor asks for something else from the time manager and wants it back in 60 days or 30 days. What ends up happening is people's items get bumped and the staff resources are being moved around based on timing, not based on priority levels. And so I'm not putting a time limit on it, I get that. But to ask for anything to come back to the council, I would just say that in light of the policy, the staff should get the opportunity to tell you that's going to take us 20 hours of staff time or 15 hours of staff time or when they can get back to us. And I recognize that there's a lot of two from coming, but my my alternative would be. The community comes to lots of community meetings and ends up waiting till 11:00 to hear the second council item because we're waiting to go through all of our other items. And so I'm just hoping and I know that some of us have talked offline about this, but it's never been agenda is that we kind of each keep an eye on all the things that are coming back to council and how long that list is getting and where are our priorities as a council and making sure that things that we've set as priorities like tonight we made a motion to review the positions that were grant funded. We made that same motion a year ago and they never came back to council. And why is it that certain things make it back and other things don't? It's just if we want to report back, maybe at the end of each council meeting, we take a vote. And if you have five people that want to hear it back or if they want to move it to committee or what you want to do, I would just say that. My community of seniors that comes to council don't often get to stay until the end because they drive a very long distance at night. Well, neither did the youth that were here earlier. I agree. And that's unfortunate, especially it's I mean, we had to drive. Speaker 0: People don't care. Let me just make sure. Let me go back. So let me just go back. Councilman Pearce, you have the floor. I think so. Let me go back to Councilman Pierce. You have the floor, so please continue. Speaker 5: So my comment my comment is that housing continues to come up. It is a priority for, I believe, this council based on the votes that we have taken in the past. I believe that tonight I could say, hey, I would like to make a budget adjustment and ask for, you know, the 250, $350,000 that the community is asking for. But instead of asking for that $350,000, I'm asking for development services to come back not with a two from four, but to come back to council with a report on the fee schedule and the changes to the technology that we need to be able to do code enforcement the way that that I feel is necessary . That's what I'm asking for. Speaker 0: Thank you. Let me just also just just to square Sylvia, we're back to the next item. When we talk broader about the budget and the BFC, I think there's an opportunity to have some more discussions about different parts of the budget. I just want to make sure that we're focused just on the recommendations as presented in the mayor's recommendations. Speaker 5: I guess because there's some crossover housing piece, what I. Speaker 0: Would have what I would ask is that we pass the mayor's recommendations as is, and we can add in the next item. When we talk broader about the budget, there's going to be some additional changes read into the record by by Councilman Mongo. There's an opportunity to have, I think, some of these. Speaker 5: I think I'm getting nervous that we're doing it one by one. So I just want to make sure that by the end there's an opportunity to make sure we address everything that I don't miss because it wasn't included in one section of the other. Speaker 0: The the broader budget discussion is the next is the next item. Speaker 5: Okay. So on the mayor's budget, I support the mayor's budget and I will save the rest of it for the next question. And I hope that we are all understanding that we weren't supposed to pass this budget tonight. Right. Our deadline isn't supposed to be till next week. So having a full discussion tonight, I hope that I can feel free to do that without, you know, feeling tension about it. Speaker 0: So I think absolutely. I mean, every member of this body can say their comments and speak as long as they would like on on each item. And so I want to make sure that everyone feels that way, or maybe not according to some. Okay. But let's let's continue. So, again, the ask is just to keep these recommendations, as is began, some broader discussions. Next, there's a variety of additions that Councilman Mongo is still going to be going to be making. So, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Reserve most of my comments for the next item when we jump in. But one of the recommendations in the mayor's budget is the 200 K for the the youth fund. Now, in the mayor's budget, it says you fund through participatory budgeting. We heard from the public tonight that what the public wants is that funding to be toward a strategic plan, a youth strategic plan, and secondly, for it to be housed within the Health and Human Services Department. So is that reflected in this budget? I mean, is that reflected in this motion that we need to offer friendly. Speaker 0: So that that's not what I what I would say is is is this is I'm actually in support. I think the idea of doing a strategic plan is actually great. So I absolutely support that. I think it's the right use of money. I've also said publicly that I have I'm not married to it. Going to any one department or going to any party supported budgeting process. It was just as a starter fund. My recommendation is going to be that our staff is interested in bringing this issue back to the council after kind of talking to some to the community and the council members. So as well as the commissions themselves are interested in giving some suggestions. So what I would say is that we set aside the $200,000. It doesn't have to be just a pre budgeting. It could absolutely be for the strategic plan and have council come back in as when they have the conversations as to how that should be spent in words and where it should go. It does not matter to me. But I also want to make sure that the council has a chance to weigh in in that process. Speaker 9: Mr. Mayor, we went to the public and talked about it and the public has given input. So I think I guess. Speaker 0: I'm just I what I'm what I'm saying is, is that I'm just I'm just communicating what staff's I interests has been is to do. Speaker 9: It that I in asking staff they said they want council direction. So is this the time for me to give council direction? Because I'd like to make that. Speaker 5: So if I might. Speaker 0: Well, hold on. Actually, Councilman Richardson has a floor, so council has a floor. Speaker 9: I mean, we had a youth budgeting meeting first. Let me take a step back. So I worked on nine budgets, and this is the most organized youth effort I've ever seen. Speaker 4: And they've been clear. Speaker 9: About what they want. And I'm not grandstanding, but I feel like there may be other agendas for this funding that I think we should just be very clear. You know, at the it was actually called out at the the budget reveal that, you know, we want to get input from the groups who proposed this particularly my girls in action was called out. I've gotten emails. I've heard it time and time again at the dais. What I don't support taking it to a process to figure out how to do a strategic plan. What they said was Give it the health department, apply a health lens to it, and go and go about that process of establishing a strategic plan. That's clear to me. What's not clear to me is saying staff go back without giving direction to them and say, come back with a two from four. On what this process might look like. That's more unclear for me. Speaker 0: Okay. So let me first got to say, if. Speaker 9: We if we want to make if there are concerns and making sure it's inclusive of all youth, I think that stuff's fine. That's more direction. Speaker 0: Mr.. Mr.. Parkin, you wanted to comment. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. Just from a technical standpoint on addressing the issue of changing the funding, I believe this was originally in the city manager budget and supported by the mayor. I'm looking at it right here. I agree. But means B or C is recommending A changing of the funding on it. So if you are adopting. That's right. No, no, you're right. Item 15, you could change it in a way I want to. Speaker 0: So. Well, that and you're actually right. So it's actually part of the city manager's projects. It's it'll be the next item. Speaker 4: Next item? Yep. Okay. Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: Honestly, Mitt, I'm confused at this point. Speaker 5: I think we all are. Speaker 8: I want to support the mayor's recommended budget, I think. I mean, obviously, A, B or C did some some some very I want to say forensic type work. I mean, we went deep did did a deep dove into the budget, into the city manager's recommendation, as well as the mayor's recommendations, and came back with a recommendation in a few hours ago that was, I thought, very prudent and very thoughtful, but a budget that probably is not going to pass muster this evening with the majority of the council. And that's clear. We we listen to the public. And I, again, commend all of those who are present who have advocated very, very vociferously for for a youth fund, something that I support. But I also want to just be very clear that this whole idea of of funding, senior programing, you know, I brought it forward in B or C, I brought it forward to my colleagues . And I think I've talked to too many of you about some of the challenges we have for our seniors in our community. And when we talk about equity, we want to be equitable with with how we how we treat folks who have lived in this community and contributed to the city for many, many years. And so I want to be clear that that I support further funding senior programing because I've seen the benefits and how it builds communities, particularly in my district. I also want to say maybe this is part of the next next item and I'm happy to speak more to it then. But in February we made a commitment to community that we would explore. That is the next item, but we'd explore, you know, establishing an African-American arts and cultural center in the city. I know I've been talking offline with many of my colleagues about doing that. And so in this next item, I hope that we can we look at putting forth some seed money for for outreach and visioning, that visioning process that would include the development of a task force comprised of stakeholders who are very much interested in helping the city establish that. So I just wanted to put my voice to that. And aside from that, I will be supporting the mayor's recommendations. Speaker 0: Pick a councilman. I councilman place. Speaker 6: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, and to my colleagues. So a couple of things that I'm hearing that I want to make sure that we clarify. I'm all in favor of us allocating money to the youth. But I cannot and will not support a program that doesn't have or funding that doesn't have a city wide approach to it. I just want I understand and I appreciate and I respect the outreach that has been done. However, many of us have had community meetings where there has been no presentation on the topic regarding where the money would be spent. It's been presented very much as a broad category of funding to be determined in terms of expenditures with stakeholders, including youth throughout the city. So I am completely in support of supporting youth programing, but it has to be a citywide effort for me to support funding it. It's got to be something that touches every single district. I want every single one of our districts to be involved. I want the youth in every single part of this city to thrive regardless of what. Let's not make assumptions about what people's obstacles in life are. Let's just not make those assumptions. I've learned how to speak English when I was seven, was raised in a single parent family. Let's not make assumptions about what what youth need. Youth all over the city need support. They all need support to thrive. And they might need it in different ways. Some youth in parts of the city might need help with drug addiction issues right now. Huge issue in my district. We want those individuals to thrive. We want them to be involved in programing. So I'm not going to support anything. I will not vote on anything if it's going to go to a specific group with specific programmatic aspects to it right now. And I'm also not going to support anything that's kind of this loosey goosey. Let's just put money out there and come up with a plan. If we're going to come up with a plan, great. We're not going to spend any of it until that plan comes to council. And we talk about where that money is going to be spent. But I cannot at a time where $100,000 or $200,000 might mean additional core services for our residents support, something that I don't completely understand in terms of how the expenditures are going to be made. So I support money going to the youth. Absolutely. I support the mayor's recommendation as it was drafted. I support our commissions being involved in recommendations because they too are major stakeholders in the city. And I support us having a discussion about how we can make sure that general fund dollars impact all aspects of the city. So that's that in terms of the mayor's recommendations. I want to hear my colleague's recommendations on some of the other topics or their thoughts on some of the other topics. I will say, and I've shared this with the community that's come forward on the justice fund. My personal opinion is that tax dollars should not be used to fund individual legal battle battles. That's my personal opinion. I do not believe that we should use general fund dollars to fund individual legal claims, whether they be expungement of a prior arrest record so that people can get jobs, whether it be in the area of immigration , whether it be disputes among neighbors. I do support us seeking grant funding. For us to be able to support our residents. And if that means that we we put forth some money to help that grant funding. That's something I could live with. But I do think it's important for us to recognize that this is the first time that we're funding this. And we need to be mindful that the estimates of how much money might actually be drawn down from it might be less than what we're predicting now. So I'm I'm in favor of putting forth. And look, I'm mindful the vote you know, that vote will probably pass with or without my support. I get it. I've been very honest with the with the community that I that I've met with. And I very much appreciate them meeting with me. I've been very honest with them about it. So there's nothing and there will never be anything to face in any communications I have with them. That's my opinion. But I do think that we should maybe and I know it's something that's going to pass by council, but let me just put it out there. If it's really, truly a grant that we want to get to help fund these efforts, why don't we put forth the money that we think we need to get the grant, and then if we need more, we can reassess it at that point, instead of putting forth a large chunk of money that we may not need in order to meet the needs, we don't even know what the needs are yet. I am aware that other cities have established this fund. I'm also aware that in a lot of those other cities, because of the support of a lot of privately funded legal aid institutions, they have not drawn on general fund or taxpayer dollars to the level that they thought they were going to need to, because they've been able to use a lot of resources that are pro-bono in nature. So I think my preference would be what's what is the minimum that we think we need to do if this is the effort that the council wants to support to get a grant? And if we're able to get that grant, then maybe we reassess at that point. If we get $100,000 grant and we're putting in 250, do we really need 350 to fund this program for the first year? Are we going to get $350,000 in legal fees that we're going to have to pay? Maybe we're only going to get 200,000. I'd rather we we take a look at that and address it later. I think there's a lot of pro-bono services available. I see them every day in the courthouse that I work at. I think that we should be trying to explore those to help our residents. So the other thing that I say to council is, look, I understand the issue. I really. Speaker 5: Do. But at what. Speaker 6: Point are we going to say now if we have people come and say we would like right now there's a there's a program whereby you can get your arrest records and your criminal conviction records expunged for the purposes of future employment. If someone comes and says, I want the city to help me with getting my ex, my prior conviction expunged so that I can get a job. Where do we say to them, No, we can't do that because we're choosing to support this legal battle as opposed to this other legal battle? Because I'll tell you, for people that want to get a job and they have a misdemeanor or a felony, that they can easily get expunged with very little legal resources and assistance. But they don't know how to do it. They might want the city to help fund that. And at what point do we say immigration's more important to us than you getting a record expunged? Which is a very simple procedure. But if someone doesn't have understanding of the legal system, they won't know what forms to fill out. So I just think it's a slippery slope. When we start using taxpayer dollars to fund individual legal battles, it has nothing to do with the content of the legal battle. Nothing in my opinion. However, it's a slippery slope. Let's say we get a special interest group tomorrow that's organized, that comes to council meetings, that that that perseveres. And they say, we want help expunging our criminal records. What do we say? No, we don't want you to have job opportunities for low level misdemeanors. Are we going to say that? I just think that's an important conversation that we need to have, because if we're willing to do it for one group, we should be willing to do it for another. And my recommendation would be, let's figure out ways as a city to help find these pro bono resources, help educate, help, do outreach, all of that I'm in favor of. I just think when we start funding individual legal battles, it's a huge slippery slope. But maybe we can do outreach. Maybe we can do connect. And services. Maybe we can do other things that connect people to the services that might already be out there, or to that establish a limited fund for us to be able to get matching funds. I just think we can't pick and choose winners in terms of who gets tax dollars to help fund legal battles, because there's a lot of people out there who can't get jobs because they have convictions that an employer won't overlook. And I know that right now they have people people have all manner of convictions, whether it be, you know, a conviction that's currently eligible for diversion that maybe four or five years ago wasn't eligible for diversion. And now in order for them to get it expunge, it literally is an hour of an attorney's work, but that's 1500 dollars for a person. And it's not fair for that person because they don't have 1500 dollars. They could go into a self-help clinic and figure out how to do it, but it's hard for them. So and I get that I'm just I just you know, I respect the opinions of everyone. I just wanted to share mine. And I don't know where that all falls, but I wanted to share my opinion. So thank you for the grace and the courtesy. Speaker 0: Thank you, councilwoman. And yeah, and I think it's important to remember that we can all have different opinions and that's okay. And that we're on, we're all getting through the budget and that's fine. And I want to thank everyone for for, you know, having these important conversations. And so I appreciate that. Let me just also, as a reminder, because I know we've had a few folks chime in on this, and it's been I've been reminded by the city attorney again, which I appreciate that the budget on youth the youth budget line item is actually in the city manager's budget. I mention it in my recommendations, but it's actually it will be part of the next discussion. And so I know it's been brought up a few times, so we can have that discussion next. And so I just again, this is just to the items that are funded in the mayor's budget. Councilwoman Mingo. Speaker 5: Okay, so I'll reserve my comments on the Youth and Senior Fund for the next item, but I will provide some context and comments to the comments made by my colleagues. Any item that comes before the city council. We often get both pro against and alternatives, and alternatives aren't necessarily pro or against. And I will say that. This year's shortened budget cycle due to elections and committee changes and all those things is particularly frustrating because when the mayor's budget came forward, I was approached by several interest groups that wanted to help. There were. I was actually called by the president of the Long Beach Bar Association, who said we provide free legal services every Tuesday at the courthouse for immigration and expungement. And how is it that there's a community that's unaware of this? What have we done that we could have done better to provide that information? They actually then, through a dialog over several weeks, proposed a couple of different things. The President wasn't able to be here today because he has a case tomorrow in Sacramento. And so he flew out today at 2:00. But he had actually even stated, similar to what Councilwoman Price had said, related to the amount of money sometimes being leveraged from our our most vulnerable constituencies. Those constituencies can often be charged upwards of 1500 or $4,000 for an expungement, an expungement that could be filled out through one single sided, one double sided piece of paper. And so what I also recognize about the process tonight is it's a step. It's setting aside money. There's still a second component of the process. One is that we, in the current effort, 18, the 100,000 of the justice fund that was discussed was actually put into a grant proposal to Vera . Vera has not come back and let us know yet if they will be matching that fund at that time, whether they do or don't. That's when the next dialog starts. And so I hope that the individuals who approached me because I was chair of Budget also take the time to approach other members of the council to put forward their opportunities. Because if we have a group of lawyers who are willing to pro-bono on Saturdays, go to different works or centers or different locations throughout the city on weekends or times that people are actually available to fill out their forms, that's great. It just means that the fund would be utilized less. And in talking with some of the lawyers from the Long Beach Bar Association, they even talked about the number one barrier to getting an expungement. Is that the penal code listed on a ticket and the penal code on the conviction aren't the same. And it's actually a multi-week process for a resident to go get their own records where a lawyer through the Bar Association can just put in a list to the judges and get them all provided, and so that a constituent who needs an expungement could literally get it done in 20 minutes and the paralegals can go and do all the other work for them and save the fund the 1500 dollars, because the Bar Association can do it for about $45 a person. And so there are these other options that need to be explored. But again, as mentioned, I think that it's important to see that the mayor's priorities have funding set aside. It does not necessarily mean that it'll all be used because, again, as Councilman Price said, it's used on an as needed basis as the funds are drawn down and or leveraged through grants or other things that have not yet come to fruition. And so for those reasons, I appreciate and respect the mayor's messaging on the matter and recognize that. Just allocating the money doesn't actually implement the process. And so for the Expungements, that works through Doug Albert's office and then the legal fees are through the Viera program, should we get the grant? And if we don't get the grant, that's another discussion that would have to be had at that time. But just for everyone to know that both sides are being heard. I know that some of the constituency groups that reached out to Councilman Price also reached out to me and that those discussions and dialogs are robust and continuing to be considered. The same will be stated when we get to the next item, specifically for the Youth Fund, because there was a considerable amount of input that came in not just from the people's budget but others that were considered. So thank you for that. Speaker 0: Thank you. And then Councilman Rangel, have the final comment. Let me let me just add, I think I think everything that was said is correct. With all programs like this, by the way, we're going to work our butts off to get grant funding, as much grant funding and outside support for these funds as possible. And so absolutely, if we're able to fundraise a significant amount of dollars, which I'm intending to do and hopefully others will as well, that's that's true in all of the types of funds that we set aside that we if we can if we have if there's if there's less need and we're able to get the funding in place, I absolutely we plan on doing that. I know the community has also been bringing grants to our attention in these areas. And so that's our plan. And so we're going to do whatever we can to to do these funding, cut through your income, and then we're moving on to the next item. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. And actually, I think this discussion that we've had thus far is a precursor to the next item, because actually this is this item right here is just looking at the mayor's proposed budget. When I went to his first budget meeting, when he introduced his budget, I thought it was a fantastic which I thought was great. A lot of great ideas were put in there. We're hiring people, we're reestablishing some programs and we're adding some new stuff. And I thought that was great. Now we're going to work. Now we're here at the point where we're looking at it with a little finer tooth comb. We're trying to flush out some of the good stuff and flush out some of the bad stuff. But I think that the budget at the Metropolitan is the item right here adopted the next budget. So I'm ready to vote on this and let's move forward to the next item when all this other discussion will take place. Because I have also I want to talk about the the the language access program and we look at actually more money in that, but that's in the title. So I will I will hold that back on that until that comes up. Speaker 0: So thank you. There's a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. Speaker 6: What are we voting on right now? Speaker 0: The mayor's proposed. Speaker 2: As amended by the Bossi. Speaker 1: Okay. Motion case. Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you very much. We're going to make sure post-budget also included the restorations to the fire engine and the new police officers. Just as a note. Okay. The next item we're going to take, I know that I'm talking to the chair. We're going to take a one minute, one minute break and two minute break, and we're going to start with the next part of the budget. It's also really it's also just really important that this is the most important decision that the council does every night. And so I know that it's frustrating. There's a lot of back and forth, but it's okay for us to have dialog and so we have a long night ahead of us. We always do with the budget. I just want to make sure for the council it's like a two minute break. We've got a lot of work to do. This is the biggest decision we do. So let's continue that work. Okay, so we'll take a two minute recess. We'll come back to the next item. Speaker 3: The. That's. And. Fits. That was part of. And. And I'll hold on for. But. And. Speaker 0: Okay. I'm going to I'm going to ask the the clerk to please go ahead and. Speaker 1: Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilmember Pearce. Councilwoman Price Councilmember super not here. Councilwoman Mongo. Vice Mayor Andrews. Speaker 3: Councilmember Miranda. Presented. Speaker 1: Councilman Austin. Councilmember Richardson. Mayor Garcia. Thank you. Speaker 0: Can I please have guys. Everyone in the in the chambers, please. Either grab a seat or please take a step outside. I got to have it quiet for the council. So if I can have the council back first, I'd like to ask for a motion to reconsider the last item, which was the mayor's recommendations. So first, if I can get a motion or second to reconsider that. Got it. Kate. Thank you. Speaker 9: Point of order, Devon. To the mover in the second half to have voted in the affirmative on the. Speaker 5: Affirmative of the reconsideration. Speaker 9: Okay. I'm looking at the second question. Speaker 0: So hope so. Is there a public comment on the reconsideration motion saying none. Our members, please go ahead and cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion case. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. I'd like to now also ask for a motion. There are some. I want to make sure that people are able to vote for the things they want to vote for. And I think there is some confusion as well as to what the last vote was and maybe wasn't. And so what I'm going to do, because I want to make sure that folks can vote for the things we support in the budget. And so I'm going to ask for the mayors recommendations to be voted on with the exception of the justice fund, which will be voted on in the next motion after this after this vote . So if I can get a motion in a second on that, please. Speaker 6: Mr. Mayor, can I just ask for clarification on the mayor's recommendation for the youth fund? Is there any specification on what departments are going to handle that or what's going to be used for? Speaker 0: No. Speaker 5: Okay, great. Speaker 0: Okay. There's a motion and executive mayor. Speaker 2: I think to answer the council person's question. Speaker 0: I call it out in the mayor's proposal, but it's actually in the city manager. Yes. So it will be discussion that night and the next night. Okay. Okay. There's a there's a motion in a second to pass the mayor's recommendations separate of the justice funds so that folks can can vote on the whole thing. Please cast your votes. Speaker 5: Wait. Wait. Speaker 7: Oh, yeah. Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. And so, just to be clear, everyone voted on those. And now we're going to have a vote on the justice fund. So please cast your votes. Speaker 3: Wait. Speaker 5: Wait. Speaker 6: I want to queue up to comment. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 3: Yes. Speaker 6: It's moving very fast. I'm going to be voting no on this. And the reason is because I do not believe public funds should be used to fund personal legal issues regardless of the content of the personal legal battle. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Please cast your votes. Speaker 8: I wanted to just to add something on this as well, because I do know that the state legislature passed legislation in the last year to establish legal defense funds statewide. And I was just just curious, wanted to hear from staff whether or not those are those funds are available to us on a local level to perhaps help leverage what we are we are doing here this evening in this this budget. Speaker 0: And I can I can add and step one said so I think something I mentioned to one of the councilmembers members. Absolutely. And so I think our goal, as is with any fund that we establish, is we're going to reach out for grants, state funding that is looking like it could be available as part of the state process, as well as nonprofit grants. And we will always use those funds that we can acquire elsewhere first and always use those funds as as best we can. The funds that we establish that if those funds don't become available or if there are their immediate issues, those can be used immediately. But absolutely. Councilman Ashton, we're going to be looking at those at that process as well. And so, Mr. Modica, did you want to add to that or someone from our team? Speaker 2: Yeah. Kevin Jackson, our deputy city manager, can talk a little bit about the strategy for securing funding. Thanks for your thanks, Mr. Walker. Yeah, the, um. The intent is to, I mean, at a baseline to apply for the matching funds for. From the very Institute of Justice. So any any funding that the city allocates to this fund, we will apply for the match from the Institute of Justice in a matter of $100,000. And certainly, as we talked about in March, when we talked about the Long Beach Values Act in setting up the fund, the strategy would be to work to identify a philanthropic philanthropic contribution, set up the fund so that we could facilitate the investment of philanthropic contributions, whether it be from the nonprofit sector or individual contributions as well. And I do want to add that while the staff had set aside $100,000 and therefore I 18 in order to apply for those that $100,000 matching fund, then the recommendation you're considering now is another 150. That is all coming back to the council. So even if you vote tonight, there is going to need to be a vote on the actual contract with the IRA to move forward. And so we would be coming back to you with that if you choose to move forward. Speaker 0: That's great. Thank you, Mr. Murphy. But, Mr. Austin, that got your question. Thank you. Customer prices. Customer price. Speaker 6: Yeah. So I'm wondering if there's any way this was the mayor's recommendation. So obviously it's the intent of the mayor and proposing this. And, of course, the council colleagues who have interpreted the mayor's recommendation. I'm wondering if there's any interest by my council colleagues to add in some further parameters on this that would allow for us to be able to support it. Taking into consideration some of the concerns that some have, such parameters could include such things as we would apply. We would use fundraising dollars and or money that is obtained through grants, through matching grants, through fundraising dollars. First and foremost, that that would be the strategy and that if we did needed to tap into the general fund, that there would be a recommendation to council about what that general fund moneys would be used for. Because I'll tell you in my mind, there's two different things. And I guess for me I'm not quite understanding because I deal. I'm a work in a courthouse all day long, so I'm envisioning that individuals are going to have legal claims and the city is going to be allocating money for individual legal claims. Perhaps that's wrong. Perhaps there is a model where we are allocating funds that may be city dollars, that may be general fund dollars for us to support a program that encompasses legal defense as well as education and outreach, which is something that I would be more inclined to support than a fund that is designed to address individual legal, personal, legal issues. So I think if it were to come back to council and we were able to find a partner. Speaker 3: Whereby. Speaker 6: It's a broader scope in terms of what the money is used for, I would be more comfortable with it. I'm just putting that out there. If that's something people aren't interested in. I understand we can agree to respectfully disagree, but I firmly do not believe that taxpayer dollars should be used to fund individual legal expenses. But I am open to the issue coming back to I'm fine setting the money aside and not spending it and spending it only after council has more direction and more clarity on exactly what the money would be used for. And I don't know if staff has a maybe a proposal that encompasses what I might be referencing since you have more expertize on this than I do. But again, the recommendation is a very short recommendation and there's a lot that could be read into it or assumed from it. Speaker 2: So what we understand about tonight would be what would to be that is setting aside the funds, it would be showing that there is funding set aside for this. And then we would come back for a separate discussion on the contract with Vera and what that would mean and how that would all be done. That would all be coming back to you for another vote. So by by allocating this money, we don't have a staff mechanism to to put this money out. We would be using a partner and there needs to be a contract with that partner. So that would be coming back. Speaker 6: And, and so Mr. Modica and I did read the TFF on this. What kind of services does Vera provide that would be funded through general tax dollars? And are the services that they provide such that they could be that they could be bifurcated so that private funds could be used for individual legal defense and public funds could be used for outreach and education? Speaker 2: I asked Mr. Jackson to respond to that. Please. The members of the County Council on Price and members of the Council, the Institute of Justice. They are expertize in facilitating the provision of legal services to undocumented immigrants in need of those who are facing deportation. They in doing that, they serve as a program manager and a program evaluator. And so their motto is to work with a Y, a nonprofit community legal services provider or group of those providers to provide those direct those legal services directly to the community. And so they partner with city organizations to receive grants, and then they in turn match those grants and then hire a nonprofit legal services provider or a group of providers to provide those services to the community. They also provide education and outreach services to support the legal services. Speaker 5: Okay. So so we could. Speaker 6: Theoretically speaking, we would be able to use privately funded dollars for aspects of the very contract and publicly funded dollars for other aspects. Speaker 2: I think theoretically we could we could structure a program in that manner. I think the primary service partnership with Viera would be the community legal services for it, for immigrant defense. But in terms of the agreement that we bring back that Mr. Modica spoke of, we could work to structure the fund in a way that that meets our needs locally. However, I just want to you know, I want to be clear about the the Service that Bureau provides, the primary service that Viera provides is to support the community legal services. And our idea, as well as this idea and working to provide this this service is to leverage the funding as much as we possibly can. So with the primary sources being a city, a city, a city allocation along with the the canvas grant from Viera with any other community funds. So it is it is possible to structure it that way. And certainly when we bring the item back, we could talk about that. But the way that it's actually done typically is the funding is blended and the primary service is community legal services. I mean, that's. Speaker 6: And I understand that. So what I'm asking because I would be inclined to support this if staff were to commit that we could at least try to structure something when it comes back so that it does not blend the funds. Because because I think there's a you know, there are some tax dollars that go to fund legal defense, but those involve constitutional rights of individuals who cannot afford their own legal representation and are in a situation where their liberties are at risk, such as in a criminal matter, in a civil matter, we do not have such constitutional rights. And it's it's it's again, as I've indicated, it's a slippery slope in terms of what causes we want to fund with public dollars. So if if staff believes that, should this come back, there might be a way that staff can work with the service provider to structure an agreement that allows us to be able to support the efforts of outreach, education, advisement of rights, direction of resources, translation services, all those things, but not funding an attorney to actually represent an individual in court through public dollars. If we think there might be a way we could structure the funds that way, then I would support it. But if staff is saying we don't know or that's not going to happen because that's not the way they do it, that's I'd like to know that. Speaker 2: Okay. Well, Councilwoman Price, members of the council, I mean, I can say confidently that that that does not reflects Vera's model. Their model is to facilitate the provision of community legal services for undocumented immigrants facing deportation. That is that is simply the model. And the idea is to leverage local funding and other community contributions in order to provide that service through a partnership with either one or more nonprofit legal community legal service providers. So that that is the model with the other, you know, with the existing 12 Safe Cities Network participants, you know, including the cities of Oakland and Sacramento and others. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 6: So so what I'm hearing is that if we were to vote for this, what we would be voting for. I understand we're just setting the money aside tonight, but we're not voting for something directly right now. And I get that. But I don't know why we would pass the buck so that we can have it easy night tonight. I'd rather have the realistic discussion tonight. What we're voting on is we would put the money aside. Once there comes a time to use the money. That money would be most likely used in a partnership with Vera, and Vera's model is limited to using local dollars to fund individual lawsuits. And there's really no way for us to structure a different model. And there's no other partner we can work with. Speaker 2: Well, there, there there are additional partners and there's no other partner at this point in time. I think the best approach at this point in time, the most efficient, effective way to do it, given various expertize, is to partner with Viera and their model includes working with community based service providers so they don't provide the service directly . They oversee the service to ensure that services provide it correctly and that it's evaluated to determine its effectiveness. And they partner with the participating cities to do that. So the relationship with Viera is to procure the expertize, to identify the the appropriate partner in the community, to provide the service to the intended beneficiaries. Speaker 6: Okay. Okay. So simply said we would be using money from Long Beach taxpayers to fund legal expenses of unnamed individuals. Unknown unnamed individuals. Speaker 2: That is correct. It would be a combination of city funds, funds provided by Viera and funds provided by citizens of the community, as well as any foundations or other nonprofit organizations that are interested in participating in the fund. Speaker 6: Okay. Well, I appreciate that clarification, and I still maintain the same concerns. And I think while we can say we're not really voting on anything tonight other than just to set the money aside, I think that would be disingenuous. I think if we're going to vote in favor of this, it should be and it should be a very strong and powerful were voting in favor of this. And we understand how the money is going to be spent and we're okay with that. Or it should be we're voting to put the money aside and we're not comfortable with how the money is going to be spent. So that's why we're voting against it. At least that's my thought process, because I think the, you know, constituents who are advocating for this need to know honestly where folks stand. And like I'll say it again, and I know people are going to interpret things how they want. It's not the content. I just don't think we should be funding individual legal claims, period, using public funds unless it's for a constitutional right such as a criminal defense. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. Speaker 4: Councilmember Brown. Thank you. So my understanding is we're not approving Vera tonight. We're that's what I understood, Mr. Modica, to say that tonight we're voting to set some funding aside. Then city staff will have to come back to us with a proposal from Vera. Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct. We have sent up a two from four. We've done our research. We believe this is the way to achieve the goals that the council directed us to do. But you are not approving that tonight. You're going to prove that later in the process. Speaker 4: Okay. So the scope of my knowledge of Vera is is a two from four memo from staff to myself. And also whatever research I could do online, my meetings with my constituents, I had to tell them that I had serious doubts about this meeting. The needs are their expectations based on the parameters or encumbrances set forth by Vera. For that reason, I think there's a lot of scrutiny to be done with this with this program. And I'm not saying staff didn't do the very best and come with the best company at all. I'm not saying that. But there may be another company out there who more closely aligns with the needs of our community. So I can support the funding being set aside tonight without locking into a particular vendor. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Councilman Mongo. Speaker 5: Is it my understanding that if he did not receive the grant, you would explore other options of other nonprofits to work directly with? And is it also my understanding that you only explored VOA and did not reach out to Long Beach nonprofit organizations that provide free legal services for immigrants already including but not limited to the Long Beach Bar Association. Speaker 2: Councilwoman Mongeau and members of the council. We we did do research on other potential partners for this effort, and it did not include the the Bar Association. The we evaluate it, the L.A. Justice Fund. If you recall, we talked about the gaps in the L.A. Justice funding last March. We also provided some information on the very Institute of Justice, who is pretty much the pioneer in establishing Justice Fund across America. The very Institute of Justice is also a participant in the L.A. Justice Fund. But the L.A., what we found is that the L.A. Justice Fund has particular sort of rules and guidelines that limit our ability to target those funds here locally. So hence the idea of setting up a local locally based fund. So VRA is sort of the leading edge organization in in the Nation, actually, and here in California, facilitating the provision of these services. We did look at you know, we looked at the other community foundations that are participating in the justice fund. We looked at the Long Beach Community Foundation. And we just found in the end that the Vera Institute of Justice, from an expertize standpoint, from an experience standpoint and from a cost standpoint, was the most efficient and effective option in front of us at this time. And, you know, it's obviously a relatively new service. And with Vera being a pioneer, particularly in evaluating the effectiveness of these funds and also being in a position to oversee the program management so that the city does not have to do that. They were they were very unique from any other organization here in the region as well as nationally. So I think the recommendation that we're making is is is is based upon that analysis and and the fact that Vera is sort of the pioneer when it comes to administering these type of programs. Speaker 5: So my comments are, I hope, in alignment with some of the things that my colleagues and I have promoted. First and foremost, I know that Councilwoman Gonzalez and I strongly encourage Long Beach local nonprofits and businesses to receive priority. And so if there's any way that Vera would focus on a Long Beach based nonprofit for the support of their funds, we don't know how they would be as well. Vila chooses the nonprofit, and so if there's any way for us to, through our application, encourage them to choose a Long Beach nonprofit that always is, of course , preferred for a couple of reasons. One, they know the Long Beach residents best. They're more local. They're more accessible. They also can create longer term investments in the community. Second, I think it's really important to recognize that the California Police Chiefs Association, our Local Police Officers Association and others have very strong belief systems that are completely counter to the belief systems and the action areas promoted by Viera. And again, like on this dais, we don't all agree on everything, but it's important that when we fund an organization in the six figure category that we take into consideration all the things that the money can be used for. And so what I am always a supporter of is setting aside funds to figure out how to leverage other funds. I do also have some conflicts when we have members of our community who come forward and say, I'm a veteran with a Section eight permit and I was at the Section eight office and I received a parking ticket on Veteran's Day, and I'm looking to get a waiver for my parking ticket. And this is an individual who's low income, all of these things. And they are asking the city for a reprieve from a fee that we give. And we as a city say no to those things, even though in our values we want to appreciate veterans and their service and not take money from low income communities and not take money from individuals who are struggling to find housing. But we as a city have a policy that we don't waive those fees. And so then on a small level, we're saying no to our priorities of of are you going to $55 fee of a veteran in need? And then here as a council, we're talking about setting aside a quarter of $1,000,000 for individuals, which we will have very little context of once the money's given to Vera. And so. Or any other organization. So I. I would love for staff to explore options within our own legal community including but not limited to the currently provided free legal services. The third Tuesday of every month at the courthouse by the Masters Long Beach Bar Association. And looking at those opportunities as well, because there is a chance that Vera won't give us the matching funds and that that would not be the recommendation as you bring it back. Of course, we have hope that we would be able to put up 100 and receive 100. I actually had hoped that we'd put up 60 and receive a hundred like some other cities have. And I know Mr. Jackson and I have discussed that extensively, but that isn't the direction that it is today. And so what I will say is. I'm open to setting aside some funding to show a an understanding of it, a commitment of a possibility of a funding through an outside organization. But I. I have serious concerns about. The totality of what the funds could be used for, because many members of our own community and city staff don't agree with the complete action areas of the Vera Institute. And so if staff are able to bring a report back on alternatives at that time, it would be appreciated. But I recognize that. That's at Steph's discretion. Speaker 2: Counts one of the longer members of the council. We can absolutely do that. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilor Pearce. Speaker 5: That was a great answer. Done, huh? I'll be showing I. I want to say two things. One is that I think when we first had this conversation, the direction was clear in our goals and what we wanted to to be able to do. I think we each have different reasons for why we support this item. For me, when we talk about using taxpayer money for legal support, both this item and expungement, it's around public safety, right? It's not about giving one community, you know, a handout, giving them some money just because maybe they don't have it. It's about public safety. When we talk about governing for equity and making sure that we're not filling our jails to the absolute capacity when somebody doesn't have their record expunged or they don't know where to go, they likely are going to get back into that system. If they're somebody that is struggling with their immigration status and they have some some past history, they might not trust local PD as much as they would if they actually had a process with an immigration attorney. And so for me, this item is about the whole picture, about public safety. So for the council members that have some challenges with this, I just as we after today when this item comes back, I hope sometime between then and now we can have some one on one conversations around the public safety continuum and how we can have some measurable outcomes about what public safety looks like in Long Beach outside of PD and Fire. So I hope that we can vote and just get this get this pot of money moving forward. And we will have a full discussion when the next report comes back from there. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: So I want to spend the next half hour explaining my position. I honestly, I wasn't here for the Values Act debate that took place a few months ago. But I was able to to watch from a hotel room and and my thoughts about this this item I believe in. We are we're experiencing unconventional times as a result of, you know, very draconian policies coming from Washington, D.C. And I think those those policies and these unconventional times call for unconventional policies on an even a local level. And it's it's a fact that many of our residents, our families are are living in fear here in our city , throughout Los Angeles County, throughout the state, throughout the country, for that matter. This council actually approved state legislation for for us to become a sanctuary state. And I think it was it was like, okay, you know what? We support that in Sacramento. We see commitments coming from and in Sacramento actually committed, I'm reading close to $30 million, $30 million to to legal defense for for those particularly Dreamers. The L.A. County has made commitments. I think it's only responsible for us to make a commitment. And what we're talking about doing here is not it's not going to break us. I think it's it's it's unconventional. So definitely unconventional. But it's it's it's a I think it was a social responsibility that we have to have as a city council. We can't pass the buck to other public agencies and say it's okay for Sacramento, it's okay for L.A. County, but not okay for Long Beach. And so I support I'm going to support the justice fund. But however, I'm not married and I've heard some good conversation here this evening. I'm not specifically married to any specific nonprofit or funding or specifics on on how we fund this. If this is any preview of what this this item will be when it comes back, I'm sure it's going to be a robust conversation. But I think we need to move forward this evening and just just just pass the mayor's budget, as has proposed for the justice fund. And and we will deal with the details a little a little bit later on. I think it's just a good use of our time tonight. Let's make it make it happen. Speaker 0: They could make a councilman. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 1: Yes. Speaker 6: I first want to just thank Kevin, who may or not may or may not be here, but I really want to thank. Oh, there you are. You're hiding. I just really want to thank you, because this was a lot of work. Both you and Katie worked very hard with many community members over many months. Speaker 5: For the. Speaker 6: Last almost year, actually. And there were many community meetings that happened. Both with you and PD in the room as well. And Will, they'll continue to be discussions with PD from these stakeholders as well, from what I understand. So I really appreciate that effort. So this was not like this is just slapped together. This was very thoughtful. You went through many different iterations of what nonprofit partnerships could look like. And I'll explain to you why. Speaker 5: Just really quickly to. Speaker 6: Clear some things up that have been mentioned, and I appreciate the comments from my. Speaker 5: Colleagues, but there was. Speaker 6: A lot of of. Speaker 5: Thought. Speaker 6: That went into this Central CHA Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition. They all hold citizenship workshops and the Long Beach Bar Association doesn't necessarily hold workshops either. And much of those are 30 minute consultations. They're not going to pay 4 to 5000 or $7,000 to stop you to get deported. That's just not going to happen. Speaker 1: So actually, the Long Beach Bar Association, 30 minute consults two times a month, first come, first served. Speaker 6: There's usually a line outside and very few people get seen and they only get 30 minutes. So they get information and they still have to put up 5 to $7000, if not upwards of $10,000, just to stop from getting deported. So I just want to make that clear. The Long Beach Bar Association, when you go on their website, not once does it say that they offer immigration services, family law, LGBTQ law, all these other elements. But not one is really an expert in immigration. So I just want to make sure we set that out there. Speaker 1: We also have if we're looking at. Speaker 6: Local, we do have the Legal Aid Legal Aid Foundation there on six and Pacific, and that's a great resource as well. A lot of people do go there. But again, we want to make sure. Speaker 5: That we're being as understanding of this process as possible. Speaker 1: And that we don't discredit the work. Speaker 6: That so many community members have done because they've done a lot of work when it comes to this. Cambodian, Latino, Filipino and supporters. So just want to say thank you very much again to Kevin, to Katie, to all of our to the police officers that were there. We did a lot of great work on this. And I look forward to seeing more work and what the institute can do. And I did mention in that maybe it wasn't heard, but there's key performance indicators when we if we were to get this grant. This is there's a lot of transparency that goes on with Visa. And I think that's why a lot of cities utilize them. So I'll just leave it at that. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. We'll get to Councilman Mongo and then we're going to get to the vote. Speaker 5: My only last comment was I know that we often think that the direction is clear and we all comment on what we think we heard at any particular agenda. And Councilman Gonzales and I had a lot of talks about the Long Beach Values Act and going into that night. And one of the things that when I vote, I'm always open to exploring options to get funding. But what I think is a differentiating factor oftentimes is the difference between grant funding, general fund funding. Legal Aid Foundation is funded through government funds. They're funded specifically through a completely different type of funds that come from the state as well. And so just knowing and understanding, typically I'm more likely to vote for general fund money that draws down grants, but not for general fund funding that doesn't yet have that on it. And I think that part of that goes to when when you sit on a committee that gives grant funding, if you have to make choices between where the funding is getting leverage and, you know, when agencies are going to put up the money no matter what, you sometimes don't give them the matching. And so those are the kinds of concerns I have when we try to go into these competitive processes. So I look forward to hearing what drawdowns were eligible for from the 30 million and from other allocations. And I appreciate hearing the discussions of my colleagues and I look forward to the report back and the opportunity to have , again, a robust discussion both with the community and the stakeholders in advance of it returning to council and including my colleagues. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman. And let me just say and I know we're going to a vote, let me just say first that I think it's important that we all respect each other's perspectives and opinions. And I think it's a complex issue. And so we're all I think everyone is able to voice where they stand on this issue. And I respect everyone's opinions and where they come from. I know I haven't mentioned this. And I you know, I've been compelled with all the conversation tonight just to say this. For me for me, the justice fund is about my personal experience. And when I was a kid growing up, not being a U.S. citizen, having a family there as immigrants, we were cheated multiple times by attorneys, people that were picking on us that set us back. We were Spanish speaking family. And we needed we needed legal assistance, we needed help. And very few people would help us through many horrible experiences that I went that we went through as a family. We finally got help and and we got assistance from from people that were that were doing the right thing and helped us get through that legal process. And so I think that while we may not have been citizens at the time, and I'm honored that, you know, today that our family is we we contributed to our city and to our community, and we're hard workers. And so I really for my where I come from in this support is I know that there are so many people in our community that have incredible language barriers and experiences that need that I believe need our support. And I and I that's why I support this fund. I think it's I do think it's the right thing to do. But I also respect where people are coming from. So thank you. And the motion is there. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Ocean Case Council member Sabrina. Motion carries.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to adopt the Mayor's proposed budget recommendations to the FY 19 Proposed Budget. (A-11)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_09042018_18-0757

Speaker 0: Weight. Thank you very much. We're now going on to the next item, which is the the the larger of our discussions. But that's okay. And that's item 1.12. If we can please have the concreted. Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt the Budget Oversight Committees, propose funding recommendations as amended to the FY19 proposed budget. Speaker 0: Thank you. I'm going to turn this over first to I know we're going to discuss this. So what I'd like is I think Councilman Mongo is going to go through her the narrative, right. That's different. You want to do it that way? We just go to the narrative. Speaker 2: Yes, we read the motion in the record. She can say or make whatever amendments she'd like to the B or C recommendation. If it's accepted by the floor, then we can have a vote on that. Speaker 0: Okay. I know that there's some conversation that folks want to have, so let me let Councilman Mongo bring that forward. Speaker 5: Okay. So a couple of amendments. One is an amendment to the city manager fund to. In partnership with a recommendation from Council Member Austin to request a friendly amendment to supplement the 200,001 time funds for youth with 100,000 contingent appropriation for senior programing. I do want to make a comment on the totality, and while I appreciate Councilmember Richardson's comments about the community and their organized efforts, there is a lot to be said for the members of our community that are on the Youth and Children's Support Commission. And our commissions are another component of community input, along with for the Seniors Share the Senior Citizen Advisory Commission. The mayor asked me to kind of provide some context for where we received our ideas based on the information we had for getting the Parks and Recreation Director to make along with the work force director to make recommendations . But that does not limit what the commissions would be able to come out with. More for the point to acknowledge that one many afterschool programs had been cut and the Parks and Rec director had managed those and knows and understands where those were, what those attendances were, where the community need has been requested. I know that Councilwoman Gonzalez on many occasions has activated some of her parks through some funding. That was not in any budget this year. And he has the ability to bring that forward along with Councilmember Austin's requests. And when I say Councilmember Gonzalez or Councilmember Austin, I don't mean them as people. I mean them in their communities they serve who have had considerable input, along with the communities that used to be served by programing that has been cut, and for that as a whole to be in the context of programing proposed. But at the end of the day, the. Commissioners would make those recommendations back to the BRC for consideration. And the reason that is, is because we believe that as important as the very well-organized youth participation is, there is also another arm of our city government, which is a formalized process for citizen engagement and community engagement and resident engagement and visitor engagement. And it is important to continue to provide opportunities for those individuals to use the information they've learned over several years on these commissions to bring recommendations forward. It does not mean they would be adopted any more or less than any other recommendation. So that's one. The next one, I believe, would be. Speaker 2: Sorry to interrupt. Yes, sir. On this recommendation, this is an amendment to your motion to expand the purpose of the 200,000. One time in, you're adding the $100,000 contingent appropriation. Is that. Speaker 5: Correct? Correct. Speaker 2: The the sentence then continues. That said, the funds are proposed and managed by Parks and Recreation and Marine Department within workforce and receiving input to the citywide programing. Is it still correct? Is that still in motion? Speaker 5: Yes. So what we foresee again and this is through a lot of community input and again, I'm open to still having a discussion, but acknowledging it comes with that. Speaker 2: I understand that. I'm fine with that. My question is the use to indicate that the Senior Advisory Commission to be forwarded for approval by the B or C, as you know, the B or C wouldn't approve anything they could hear and make a recommendation to the city council for approval so it could come to the B or C first their recommendations, but it wouldn't in there will be approved there. It would be something would be approved or recommended out of the council. Right. It would have to come to the full council back to allocate that funding or to approve that funding. Speaker 5: Understood. Okay. Next would be in light of the projected shortfall and the fiscal policies proposed by the B or C, have staff bring back a list of positions that were general fund enhancement recommended recommended for structural funding within the last five years. This mirrors a request of the Budget Oversight Committee last year that didn't materialize, and so we will again request it. And this time I would actually add in that it should be brought back to the BRC by March, because last year I know we asked for a list of the positions that were structurally funded out of grants and it just never materialized. And I recognize we're very busy and we've also had staff changes, so we're understanding of that. Speaker 2: And Councilmember, I believe this was also already added to 1.10, which had to do with financial policy. Speaker 5: So I don't have to say it again, that one is perfect and I remove that and then use the remaining. 185 of year end estimate, along with a fiscal year 19 contingent appropriation to fund the following in priority order, the 215 for the elimination of the St Trump tree stump from the removal backlog. 70,000 for the Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan and 50,000 of one time funding to be used to support efforts around affordable housing and homelessness. So. So these are all things that were either discussed at the full council or the Bossi or the CHP discussions over the last several weeks. And so those were. Does a have any others that I'm missing? Because I'm trying to make sure that everything was the one. Speaker 2: I believe that you had started to read into the record before, had to do with the Reserve Police Officer program. And if we could also get some clarity on that motion, if that's. Speaker 4: Still part of it. Speaker 5: It was just that in our discussions with PD, there were lots of mandatory order ins on police officers. We recognized that we're recruiting as quickly as we can and that we are doing our best to fill our positions on a full time basis, but as available to us to put a little effort behind allowing our full time police officers to to retire and come in as a reserve so that they could fill some of that special event and other overtime, which we're having such a hard time filling. And we kind of talked a little bit about how it's not good for anyone, for a police officer to to roll an 18 hour shift and to be on orders. And so we just hope that though it has come up in several previous budget discussions this year that it would. Get some attention. Speaker 2: So as we understand it, is using existing internal resources rather than creating a new program or using existing internal resources to promote reserves, to try to get it more people interested in the program and to help them where we can to lower some of our costs. Speaker 5: And we recognize that we kind of talked about this and it was in one of the memos back to the council that the Reserve program already has 20 something officers in it and that training new officers can be expensive. However, accepting reserves as a retiree requires is an option that could could possibly help with that. And we're open to all things. We're just hoping that it materializes this year. Speaker 2: That's helpful to clarify that, that it's not a new program but rather expanding our our recruit. And thank you. Speaker 5: Expanding the program as reported by the chief. Did I miss anything else? Speaker 6: Just one point of clarification. Hundred thousand contingent appropriation for senior programing? Yes, ma'am. Later, you also have some other additional contingent appropriation. Yes, ma'am. You said in the following order. Yep. Should that 100,000 for? Speaker 5: It's at the top of the list. It's at the top of the list. Okay. Speaker 7: After the tree stump. Speaker 5: Before. Before the tree stump removal. Correct. Okay. Thank you. It's pretty much after that in cascading order of cost. Thank you. Remember Price, did you have a comment on the recommendations? I do. Is the friendly amendment a yes or no? Speaker 6: I'm a seconder. Speaker 5: Right. And so I'm friendly in myself. Are you accepting of my friendly? Speaker 6: Yes. Yes. Speaker 5: To myself? Speaker 6: Yes, absolutely. I do have some questions, though, regarding some clarifications. So for staff, I know staff had talked about the $50,000 as being kind of seed money to start the discussion on affordable housing. Is that affordable housing and homelessness? Is it affordable housing or homelessness? And what's the plan for that 50,000 and what approvals will be sought before that's spent? Speaker 2: So for $50,000, we would expect to bring on kind of a consulting firm that will help us do some of the research and some of the outreach dealing with additional resources for both homelessness and affordable housing. So the presentation that we made, we'd be looking at at both, we'd be engaging a number of stakeholders within the $50,000 limit that we could. Some of these efforts, if you look at other cities, have gone much larger. You can go up to 200, 300, $400,000. It depends on how active you want to engage, but we would take the $50,000. That would be our initial funding amount and we would do what we could within those dollars. So that would be under the city manager's threshold. So that would be something that would come, you know, that would be go through the normal procurement process under the city manager, the authority and. Speaker 6: Okay. So do we not have any state one time dollars available to do outreach on homelessness? Speaker 2: So we looked at first and foremost the weather, the heat funding, the 1.3 money could. 2.3 funding from the state could do this. There's a prohibition on that funding for anything dealing with planning. So anything that has to do with with planning, administration, future, allocate your future allocation of resources, we are prohibited from using it. Speaker 6: Okay. So thank you for that clarification. That's very helpful. And then the consultant we're going to hire, do we expect that consultant to cost $50,000 or do we expect that a portion of that $50,000 would be used for the consultant? And then the remaining portion of it would be to implement an outreach process like community meetings. Speaker 2: Yeah. So I think that primarily we would be asking for community meetings and a facilitator for a process. So staff don't have a lot of resources right now. Given everything we're doing, we would need someone to help us facilitate those. So with 50,000, I think in this case we would say this is our budget. And how how many interactions can we get for that amount of dollars? And then if we needed to go beyond that, we'd come back to the council and say, Here's where we are. Do we need to go further and are there additional dollars? Speaker 6: And I think I know the answer to this question, but I'm assuming this is going to be a citywide outreach. So even if we're combining multiple districts kind of like what we've done with short term rentals where we have multiple districts that can attend a single meeting, is that what you're envisioning? Correct. Speaker 2: Probably for this amount, we wouldn't have one in every district, but we would look at geographic balance. We'll make sure everyone had the ability to get to a meeting. They wouldn't be district centric. They would be you know, we're trying to reach a number of different populations with the dollars that we can, like short term rentals. Speaker 6: Might I venture to say also like the bluey meetings where they're a never mind. Sorry, sorry. Speaker 2: I'm not going to comment on that. Speaker 6: The other question that I had was, once we we. Speaker 3: So will there. Speaker 6: Will we come back? I'm assuming will come you'll come back to council and talk about what the plan, the outreach plan is before that money. It we're setting it aside, but we'll have a specific plan. Speaker 2: And yeah, we'd like to communicate to the council what the plan is. We'd like you all to be a part of that. This is going to be something that is a community wide engagement. So we're going to be engaging number of stakeholders and the Council would be helpful in identifying who we should be talking to. Speaker 6: Okay. And I'm just and I think I know the answer to this question as well, but none of that $50,000 should be. Speaker 3: Used for. Speaker 6: Literature advocating in favor of, against or educating anyone on what a future policy could look like. Speaker 2: We would use it for education on, you know, what the various options would be, but nothing will be decided until the council decides to put something on the ballot, and then that would be a separate discussion. So we would go through a process and education process. Talk a little bit about the various measures that are out there, what the need is. So some of that but not, you know, here is what we're doing and and making any advocacy on that. That would not happen at all until the council decides what what you would want to do. Speaker 6: So if I'm understanding you correctly, this $50,000 would be for us to figure out what our options are and how we want to move forward. Speaker 2: Yeah, but I think it's also education on what the current need is and what we believe the issues are and and getting some of that informational material out. So I don't want to I don't want to get anyone astray. There will be in dollars for educational and from educational information, but not specifically leading towards one conclusion or the other. Speaker 6: Okay. So what I would like to request is a friendly is that any. Educational materials that are printed in connection with this $50,000 come to council for approval before they're distributed. Speaker 5: Open to it? Sure. Speaker 6: Great. I mean, we can talk about it, but that's my friendly because I would I don't want anything going out since this is just an exploratory dialog process. Speaker 5: I completely understand and recognize that the amount of information and communication and understanding of this has been a little bit confusing for the community, at least in the comments I've received back. So I can completely understand. And I think it's funny that as the second day you're also friendly and ourselves. Speaker 0: Let me move on to Councilman Austin and let's clarify, I think. Are we clear on where the motion is right now, Mr. City Attorney. Speaker 2: Yes, sir. I believe that the there's two amendments to the Velshi recommendation. One is to request a friendly amendment to supplement $100,000 contingent appropriation for the senior programing. And the second was to the program, 185,000 a year. And to create fiscal year 19 contingent appropriation in the following order, the $100,000 for the senior programing first 215,000 for the elimination of the tree stump removal backlog, 70,000 for Parks and Rec strategic plan, and 50,000 for the one time funding to support homeless and housing. And that had a friendly that any fliers or mailers have to be presented to the City Council for approval. And can I ask for some clarification on the friendly? Are we talking about meeting invite fliers or are we talking about like because there's going to be a lot of things that staff will have to produce to have this effort. So if you can provide some clarity on what you'd like to see. Speaker 6: I'll try my best to do that. No, I'm not referencing meeting invitations or meeting notices. I'm referencing information because we may not all have agreement on what we think the need is. We may not have all have agreement on what we think the options are. So I want to make sure that the community has an opportunity to weigh in. Speaker 3: Before. Speaker 6: We establish any sort of consistent messaging on behalf of the city, especially since we're talking about affordable housing and homelessness. So we're talking about two very broad categories. And if we're going to be doing any informational materials outlining a situation, I may think the biggest issue facing us with homelessness is one thing and a colleague may think it's another. So I think it's just a very broad category. I would say $50,000 isn't a lot of money. And if staff felt comfortable saying, we're going to use this money to reach out to as many people as we can in the city, we're going to use this money to hire a consultant to help us do that . And we're not going to use this money to advocate any particular position. We're just trying to get feedback and have dialog. I think to me that seems like a very reasonable place if we're starting a discussion. Speaker 2: And that's where we're starting. So we don't imagine doing any informational advocacy. This would just be reaching out and holding meetings and doing the discussion and basically showing some of the presentation that we had shown you to begin with. So that's kind of where that was our approach. Speaker 6: Sure, that sounds fine. I'm okay with that. I just thought that there was going to be some informational materials that were going to go out. Speaker 2: So I think I think I understand where you're going. You're talking about doing mailers to houses and, you know, no, that is not what we're talking about. That's part of that $50,000. Speaker 6: Right. Perfect. Then I'll withdraw the friendly. Speaker 0: Thank you. Let me go. And and to that point, too, I think it's it's good for clarification. I know that for the $50,000, I mean, that's an initial amount to get started and to actually if we were actually going to move forward beyond that, there'd be some there would need to be some significant conversations at the council about funding anything beyond that, because that's really just going to get us started. Is that correct? Speaker 2: Yes, that's. Speaker 0: Correct. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Marker. Thank you. To come to In Price, Councilmember Austin. Speaker 8: Okay. Thank you very much. And thank you, Councilmember Price for for clarifying and withdraw in a friendly I had a little bit of concerns about the friendly amendment in terms of just process, but I think we're going to be just fine. I do appreciate the the amendments brought forth by by the B or C chair Miss Mango specific to you know, leaving you find it 200,000 but also funding senior programing at $100,000. And I strongly support the engagement of our youth newly structured youth commission, commission on Youth as well as our Seniors Commission, because I think they can give us some, some some great direction. And this is why we we have the mayor has appointed and the city council has approved the appointments of those commissions. We we seek to engage those those commissioners in the process. And it would be, I think, really shortsighted of us to to to bypass them on on these particular items. I know. And our conversations and the intent of both of these funds, at least, yes. Was to engage our commissioners more. And those who are advocating on how those funds be, be be allocated and spent can, can, can go and present before those commissioners. And so we can have a more more engaged, appropriate, biased process. And I'm thrilled that we are we're putting together some some seed money to to study our, I think, most pressing issue of homelessness and affordable housing. Both are extremely important. We've heard from residents, I think, in every all nine districts that those issues are priority issues. And so for us to put forth resources this evening and this fy19 budget, I think is very responsible moving forward. And so I'd like to at this point offered a friendly amendment that I that I tried to get in in the last item, and that is taking this back to funding this African-American cultural and art center. And I don't think it will cost that much for us to to get some some initial study money for, like I mentioned earlier, outreach, civic engagement and establishing establishing a stakeholder taskforce with the city manager's office to to get that done. And I like the motion or amend your motion to have that fund come from the SAP. One. I think that is the most appropriate fund for it to come from. And if there's. And I think there's room in there to do that. Speaker 5: I think that some of the things that you'd mentioned in some previous community forums might have aligned with the ACP funds more directly than what you just stated. So perhaps we could get an overview from John GROSS really quickly in a sentence or two on what SAP funds can be used for. I know you and I discussed this when we heard some things in the community earlier. Speaker 4: We we recommend based on the. Speaker 2: The vote of the people and with regard to ACP that the ACP funds, they can be used for advertising and promotion directly for advertising and promotion. We do not recommend that they be used for capital items, not directly related, very directly related to promotion, so that Wayfaring Signs, for example, would be a capital item that would be appropriate for ACP. We do not recommend that capital items that are indirect be used for ACP so that we do not have potential audit issues or compliance issues. Speaker 8: Okay. So does it sound like ACP is the best option? Thank you. Mr.. Speaker 5: There are some ways where ACP might be viable. I think that it just depends on the context of which the cultural center you're requesting. Speaker 3: Would. Speaker 5: Gather that information and support. And so I just think that the way it was phrased tonight was a little bit different than the way I'd heard it phrased maybe two weeks ago in the community. And so if it's promoting and supporting the advancement of African-American culture in the community and that as a citywide effort, that would qualify . Was that what your intent was? Speaker 8: Well, that's the ten year ago. Speaker 3: That was Mr. Market. Speaker 5: That in. Speaker 0: Wording. I want to make sure because I think I think we all support this effort, but I want to make sure we're pulling it from the appropriate place so that we have the ability to be flexible and how we this is an important process. So we want to be sure that we're not overly stubborn. Speaker 4: Yeah. Speaker 0: And hampered by, by where we're getting the money funds. So is SFP a possibility for us to do this? And if not, what would be? Speaker 2: So can I ask another just a another description of what the effort would be? Is this for, you know, for planning, for, you know, funding, you know, site location? Is it for the ongoing operation? Is it giving it to an entity? If you can just describe I. Speaker 8: Know this would be this would be planning and outreach efforts to to to envisioning for for and site selection. All of the all of the above. All right, Mr.. Mr. Jackson has been working on this with with with me, and maybe he can provide a little bit more clarity. But specifically, this this this will go toward, I think, more of a planning vision process, community engagement. Speaker 2: Councilmember did it was I didn't hear a dollar amount that you were discussing. Speaker 8: We wanted initial seed money of $25,000 would be a drop in the bucket. Speaker 0: Mr. Modica, can we respond to that? Speaker 2: Yeah, that's given us a little a little hard time to find that as a as a direct connection to SRP. So just historically, what we've spent SRP for really is for promotion and marketing in the city and its natural assets. That's really the definition that was voted on by voters over the years. We've extended that to some of the very public art kind of institutions as part of the promotion of our natural efforts at Ford for $25,000. We'd like to try to find another funding source rather than ACP and and we'll try to find something, you know , that we could come up with. Speaker 5: And make a recommendation. Speaker 4: Yes, please. Speaker 5: For the outreach and promotional efforts of the African-American culture, up to $25,000 should the need be in the outreach and promotional category. If it is not an additional 25,000 for planning at the list of contingencies. Speaker 8: They would go. Speaker 2: I think that would make us much more comfortable for making more marketing. Speaker 5: I know the way to canning it was a new word for me. Speaker 2: And so and the planning effort needs to be a general fund. Thank you for that. Okay. Speaker 5: No problem. It's I've it's taken me four years to finally get to where John GROSS says yes to when I say SRP. And so it's a very technical area with Mr. GROSS. And I appreciate his prudence. Speaker 0: Thank you. I'll move it back to Councilman Austin. Speaker 2: And for the contingent, is that where does that fall on the list of the order? Speaker 3: Well, I. Speaker 5: Don't have my list in front of me, but can we just. Speaker 4: Add it? Speaker 0: We will just add it to the way that. Speaker 2: We were added to the list. Speaker 0: Thank you. So let me go back to Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: I mean, that that that I think would complete my my interest and I would just encourage my my colleagues to support these amendments as proposed. It's been a long night. Looking forward to getting home. Speaker 5: Could I put it right after the strategic plan? That would be great. Speaker 2: After the strategic plan. Okay. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. A great item to add to the budget cuts and repairs. Speaker 5: Okay. I was going to say that the African-American community is part of our natural things, that we should be celebrating people, that we should be celebrating in the city. So it seems to make sense for SJP, for me. That's just my $0.02. Just to put that out there. Just putting it in there. So I'm going to start with Health and Human Services, because I had to organize my thoughts a little bit. I know that some of the conversation that we already had previously was around language access. It was my understanding from the report that we heard from staff is that it's about 3334 K. To make that a full time position. What was that like? And so that would be my my request. And I know that other council members were likely speak to that. I wanted to talk about development services and be clear on this. I know that we need to have a time line to hear back on the code enforcement technology piece. And I know that that's a difficult time line to put our hands around. So just knowing that this motion moving forward with the mayor's recommendations does support us getting to the place where we need to be with Prep. And so I feel like we are at that solid place there with Parks and Rec. I know that we brought up Bixby Park in Parcel One and I know, Mayor, you and I have had conversations around this. For my community members that were so excited about this. I don't know if it's with Tom or with our new parks director. If we could talk through kind of the plan for getting parts of one to be funded, at least in the phase one. Speaker 2: And so I Pursell one of of what. Speaker 5: Makes me part of. Speaker 2: This makes me part. Yeah I think that's something that we'd have to have her out to come down and address. Speaker 5: We talked about it during the budget conversation before and I know that we had toyed around with Measure A, but just give us a timeline on on when we think we can present that to the next Funding Options Council. Speaker 4: I believe we have a meeting scheduled with your office, yourself and the friends of Bixby Park in order to walk parcel one of Bixby Park into space to conceptualize a phased in program or approach for for improving that parcel. There was a cost estimate already that we had shared with your office that was a little over half a million dollars. And so the idea was to see if we can find a plan that would phase it in perhaps phase one being 100,000. If there's something that is that makes sense with regards to like an 88. I mean, a path that is ADA accessible and other possible elements for improvement of parcel, one that would be in potentially phase one. That's what I would call was the great location. Speaker 5: Great. And for folks, I just I know that I have my friends at Bixby Park that care deeply about this. It's a project that's been under work since I was in office and that just wanted to make sure that those folks that watch diligently at home on Tuesday nights know that this is still a priority of ours . So thank you for that. The other part that I wanted to talk about is Health and Human Services. I guess this is sorry I mixed up all my notes and things just got so easy afterwards. I want to ask our staff if we could, as Kelly Colby does. She is I know that in the last budget presentation, we talked a lot about our STDs, the rates going up, but our funding decreasing. I wanted to to hear if we've had any changes in the proposed budget that's in front of us as it relates to as kids and funding those positions that we needed to see and believe. There was a 15 K for community outreach and a 15 K for our mobile unit that no longer was being funded. So if we could get a report from you so we can understand what we might need to add. See how I talked all the way till you get down there. I just did. Speaker 3: That for you. Good evening. So the funding that we currently have is about 120,000 total. Most of that funding will go away, will be the 47,000 total. Speaker 7: Starting in the middle of this next year. That funding is for HIV testing and treatment. So as we have looked at what we could use additionally to try to start to address needs in the community. Speaker 3: We have not had a lot of funding for our mobile clinics. So to be able to do testing and treatment or at least testing on the mobile clinic and then to provide it for treatment, 15,000 would be a start. Speaker 7: And then also just doing outreach and really engaging communities and working with folks so that they're willing to come in for testing also takes quite a bit of time. So I and at approximately $30,000 that's a starting space and moves us. Speaker 4: Sort of takes it sort of enhances from the 47,000 that we'll have but. Speaker 3: Won't take us back to the full amount. Speaker 5: And that 30 cases for that outreach. I know that when you and I had some some back and forth, there was a number that was around two staff. Speaker 7: Right. So that is. Speaker 3: The disease investigation specialist. So they actually go out and work to track down folks and to help bring them in for treatments. What we really find with folks who have syphilis. Speaker 4: And gonorrhea, that is there's a lot of. Speaker 3: Partner services needed. So those folks are out really trying to engage people and working closely. Once someone has been. Speaker 4: Identified to be positive, to be able to. Speaker 3: Work with their partners, to bring them in as well, so that we start to slow the. Speaker 5: Trends. Great. Thank you for that. And then since you're here, just to be clear on the language access, it's a 35 number to fully fund that position. Speaker 3: Yeah, I believe the exact number is 30, 32,007 something. It's just below 35,000. Speaker 4: Yes. And that would take us to a full time full time employee. Speaker 5: Great. Okay. So my I guess the only comments I have now is to make a hopefully a friendly motion, I guess to include the $30,000 needed for our STD outreach. And that we if there's contingency funds, I guess is where we're going with we add this to the list for the staffing for STDs. We know that in Long Beach, this is a number that's going up dramatically and might not be the funnest item to to bring up in Champion. But it is one that is really critical to our community. So and that third we fully fund our language access with the 35 K. Speaker 2: Whereas the two items are three items. Speaker 3: Or. Speaker 5: Three items. So one is the 30,000 for outreach and mobile services for our city. The second one is she had two staff members to do this the first work, and that it would cost about 160, which is not a number that I'm comfortable with asking for tonight because I haven't had the conversations with all the council members or with the boss. So it's 164 contingency funds for those two staff positions. And then the third one is to move forward with the 35,000 to make the language access staff person full time. Speaker 2: And I do want to point out that those would be all three of those appear to be structural funding, and the contingency appropriation is a one time amount that we would have available to us. Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 0: I just I just need clarification so that I understand the motion as well. I'm sorry. I got the 30,000 for some of the city work and the health department outreach. Is that right? Yeah. There's 35,000 language access policy from fully paid to fully funded staff position. And and was there there wasn't an additional 160,000 or. There was. Speaker 5: So it's 160,000 is what Kelly has said that they need for for two people to specifically work on some of the syphilis outreach and and case management that they are missing. Speaker 0: But that's different than the 30 K. Speaker 5: Yes. Speaker 0: So you're so you're it's so it's 160. You're asking for 162 staff, two people in the health department. Four. Okay. 30 K for additional to the outreach. Speaker 5: Right. It's like, you know, outreach. Speaker 0: Material 30 and then 35 for language access. Speaker 3: Yes, sir. Speaker 0: And the 35 is on top of the current was currently funded or is that or you're taking money from that. It's on. Speaker 5: Top of. Speaker 3: Yeah. I think you. Speaker 5: If we're going to keep it. Speaker 0: Let me let me keep going through that, I guess. Pierce. Okay. So Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 9: Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Mayors. Late. I'm going to apologize right now if I'm a little all over the place, but I'm trying to keep up, so on. So the first thing when talk about the Beach Street's recommendation for the ride from one beach streets to two. Councilwoman Mongo, did you have locations in mind for those two or what? Where did you get the idea for two? Speaker 5: So I read your recommendation to go two more and then I made some outreach to the Special Events Department and talked with them about what opportunities they had. And they felt like activations were most effective with multiple council officers and using and relying on prior data. So I wrote that into the motion that they use those things in consideration and then they thought that it would be very, very difficult to do too much less more. And so I tried to adopt as much of that as possible. I also received some input from the community and other constituency groups that they thought perhaps beach streets had. Exhausted its time frame that the most recent beach streets actually didn't have a councilmember attendant in attendance and had some particularly low attendance overall, and that there's some very high communities that really have great participation and others that don't . And so there was some discussion on how that could be done. And so I was hoping that a soft landing point would be to activations. That would be stretching special events, though, and they wanted us to know that. Speaker 9: Let's elaborate on the stretching a little bit. So the initial idea for me was that I kind of agree that Beach Street's great idea, but it's not something we want to do one or two times a year. I think it's a great program, but I think for a lot less money and a lot less logistics on special event side. We can do smaller activations. When I say smaller activations. You may not cross into another district, right? We're talking a quarter mile, half mile where you can give more attention to those small businesses and the models. I think the two models I think of activate uptown. You know, Robert Earl still says today that was the best day he's ever had in business. A lot of those storefronts on our Teachable Boulevard, that was the best day that they had in business. And it was small enough to where, frankly, most of my staff did a lot of the logistics. Right. In terms of like booking vendors, things like that. We would need half of a beach street to put that on. We wouldn't need 120 K and we probably wouldn't take up as much special events time. So I would say and then the second piece, so I'm a little landlocked, right? So Border Bellflower, Lakewood, Compton, Paramount, Rancho Dominguez, you and me. Speaker 5: I got gardens like quickly. Speaker 9: So those opportunities to partner with other districts, I guess you only allow Atlantic Avenue for me, right? But Artesia Boulevard's been an important stretch. But I border six cities. No other council districts. And to be very clear, I envision I mean, we did activate uptown on Artesia was successful. I want to continue to do that. So I'm going to ask you I'm going to make a friendly that we change it from to we don't go all the way to five, like I said, but we take it up, kind of meet in the middle, we go to three. And so if we do three, we break it three ways and we and we remove the contingency that one contingency about cooperation, we can encourage it. Right. I love it. I ask council members that co-sponsoring partner with things all the time, but it may be limited in certain cases with certain corridor. So I say we don't do that. And and finally, I was unclear. Is there a matching component on this? Because I would support that people putting skin in the game to go after this funding. Speaker 5: So the original intent was that there would have been. However, there's not a lot of. Programing funding available this year. As everyone is very aware, we're going into a deficit year with very, very little availability. Speaker 9: Private, private fundraising. Speaker 5: Or private fundraising and things. Speaker 9: Okay. I mean, I think. Speaker 5: I was just worried about a restriction for that. When we talk about divide by nine, that gets really crazy. Speaker 9: Yeah, I'm not saying divide by nines. If there support in the community for the event, there's active mobility grants, things like that. Skaggs partnered on different things. Mobile Source Reduction Committee is in most of our cities, funded the city multiple times for these things. So and then we get sponsorships. So there's an opportunity for that. So you're you're okay with that. Speaker 5: So I'm happy to add in giving that also some weight in their decision making process. Good. Speaker 9: And going from 2 to 3. Speaker 5: So that means that each one would be under 100,000. Speaker 3: That's fine. Okay. Speaker 9: You're not talking about spending a bunch of tax dollars. Speaker 5: I'm just saying that in discussions with some of the community and stuff we recognize, I mean. Speaker 9: Our are you saying that we did streets. Speaker 3: Like that? Speaker 5: There's just a lot of consideration given certainly in terms of last year, a lot of city wide events got structural a.S.A.P on an ongoing basis and not all council officers can prioritize that allocating the amount of stuff. And I know that when we did beat Streets, that went from the third all the way through the fourth and into the fifth. I mean, it was considerable stuff, resources for my team. I completely understand and agree and many of you have all commented, we're literally down to three staff each. Yeah, we all started with four. And so our council officers have also all taken cuts. Certainly I only say council. Speaker 9: That's why I think the event scope of the event should go down some and not closing the door to a beat street got beat street started off grant funding. I think we need to do it. Speaker 5: Well, I also agree with that and I know that part of our report back from our original budget was when grants come to us in the future, they should say, and when this money evaporates, we will discontinue them, or we will plan to look for general fund backfill. And I think those are very important decisions that we as a council make. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 9: So, yeah. So we're good, I understand. Accepted friendlies on those. Speaker 2: Yes. If we can clarify, we're going from 2 to 3. We're removing the part that says collaboration of multiple districts. Speaker 5: I think it's just we're we're still encouraging it. So we're just adding another component. None of these are mandatory. These are all components that are encouraged. Speaker 2: And then we're adding to Metro grants and funding and or other funding. Correct. Okay. Understood. Other matching funding and that's them is accepted. Great. Speaker 0: Thank you. Can I ask a quick just clarifying question on this one issue before we leave it? I support the efforts happening. I think that's fine. I just want to also make sure that this is inclusive, obviously, because I'm through through metro will be able to really supplement a lot of these dollars, which we're working on already . So that's already in the works. I just wanted this. This isn't essentially eliminating beach streets. No, I mean, beach streets there. We're still going to have beach streets. It's just that we're changing the way the funding works and the event. So that gives us more flexibility to have smaller events. But we could also it does not eliminate the possibility of us having a larger beach street if we wanted to as well. And we'll work with Metro to get additional funding as well, because. Speaker 3: It also doesn't. Speaker 5: Mean that the money would be shaved proportionately. Speaker 0: And I get that. Absolutely. So I do want to clarify, I know there's a lot of beach rights fans out there. So a lot of this is not an elimination of beach rates. Speaker 9: Off Beach Street. Speaker 0: Absolutely. And that was one of the best events we ever had. And so it's just looking at funding differently and we'll continue to get more grants. So I appreciate that conversation. Thank you. Speaker 9: Thank you. So so next so I want to talk about and and I'll put this up a certain way. So I want to talk about the youth development stuff. I think there's a lot of conversation there, and I know that everybody's not on the same page. I'm going to try to get folks on the same page. But if not, I want to hear from the council. You guys want to divide the question on this and do this separately? Because because what I don't want to do is get in a situation where people you know, where people are threatening to not support the whole thing or not in a position to support the whole thing, because this is a difficult, difficult issue. Is there any interest in like let. Speaker 5: Me help with a little bit of context. So the intent is at this point that that. Speaker 0: Is just great. I know the city attorney's saying that Councilmember Richardson has the floor. So I want to make sure that. Are you are do you want to continue? Speaker 9: Yeah, I want to talk about the in the question if it's necessary or not. Speaker 0: Well, I think I mean. Speaker 9: It's or maybe to determine that what motion to divide the question is it has a support will divide the question. If not, then we'll just continue discussion. So I want to at this moment move to the divide, the question on the Youth Development Fund and handle that separately. Speaker 0: Okay. So there's a motion divide. The question this is just to divide the question, not to actually vote yes on that. Okay. Speaker 9: Give a little more flexibility, I. Speaker 0: Think, because this is something that is something new related to the budget that we have the public comment on that or we've done public comment all of the budget. I think we're fine, right? Yeah. Okay, then members, please go ahead and. Speaker 5: Get in here a second and I get a second question. If there's a second thing, I'd like to speak against it. Speaker 0: Okay. Is there good. Speaker 9: I see a few seconds. Okay. Speaker 0: I think there's a second. Okay. Okay. There's the motion in a second. Divide the question. I think you've already spoken to your first councilor. Speaker 9: The two divide in the question. Speaker 0: Divide the question. Again, this is just a divide. The question of Councilman Andrew's. Any comment or vice mayor, any comments? Okay, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 5: So I would just say that the block does a significant amount of work in trying to create a package that is representative of the whole city. And I appreciate that. Dividing the question on items can be helpful for individuals getting more or less support for their items. But I just don't feel that it's very respectful of the processes that we've already set up. And so I would ask that. I would ask that we hear your options of what you want to make a recommendation on and colleagues can comment on whether or not they support it. And then the maker of the motion can choose to accept or not. But what I hope we don't do is take 35 items and start separating out the question, because if we're going to vote on every item, I think that the total package becomes very different. And so that would be my proposal. I already feel like. The process that has gone on today has been very it won't happen again next year because this has not been what has standardly happened. And I give a lot of credit to the condensed timeline that we've encountered, but I just don't feel like the way that it's gone about has been equitable. Speaker 0: So there's a motion to divide the question on the floor by Councilman Richardson and Vice Mayor Andrews. Can we can we get it up on the screen? Madam Clerk. So just a divide, this. Speaker 9: Divide the question. Speaker 2: It's my understanding the divide the question would take out on the box recommendation under a subsection E on the funding for the child and youth support. Is that correct? Yes. Speaker 0: Okay. Members, just go and cast your votes. Motion carries question is divided. So control Richardson continue. Speaker 9: All right. So on the Youth Development Fund conversation so I don't think we're that far away. I just think we have different understandings on sort of the intent here. So number one. Speaker 0: Just real quick, should we should we have that conversation? We discuss it next. When we actually discuss the discuss. Speaker 9: Discussion next, that's fine. So. City Attorney, are we fighting question? Speaker 2: Yes, we've divided the question in the I think the motion was to divide the question and handled this separately at this time and then go back. Okay. I thought it was I thought. Speaker 0: It was to handle it after this. Speaker 9: So I was doing it. This is knock it out. Okay. So okay, so on this fund, so to say that after the community has advocated and organized, to say that the official channel is a commission, a commission that hasn't you know, that is just being restructured to say that that's the official process went through the through that entire process. We know that that commission hasn't had quorum that issues and is just being presenting that actually says it's entirely vacant on city on the city website right now to say that and then to imply that today after not having provided that opportunity through the budget process, after we've presented that, hey, we acknowledge the concern of the community and we want to hear from the communities, the proponents of this about how to spend it when they organize and present it. We should on principle respect that. Now to say we want to include include the commission. I think that absolutely makes sense to me. We have a commission. We should include the commission, but a lot of commissions do engage in strategic planning work. For example, the Veterans Affairs Commission at this point is no strategic plan work. The Sustainability Commission has a strategic plan. There's money in the budget tonight for Parks and Recreation, the Marine strategic plan that their commission will engage in. And so the proposal from the community is that if we're going to establish a youth development fund, this is not a lot of money. So it rather be used as a strategic planning process. Now that strategic planning process, if driven by the Youth Commission, if driven by the Health Department, could be and I would envision that that process should be inclusive of all youth across the city. I don't think anyone has said it's going to be exclusive, any particular, particular subset of youth. And so that said, I'm not comfortable tonight moving forward and sort of not acknowledging the really sort of dynamic engagement that we've received. If you notice the people's budget and the Invest in Youth Commission, Invest in Youth Coalition, they ask to be in the process on all of those items were large and they've paid attention to every one of our meetings. They've met with this and they've tailored, tailored to what they think is feasible and and would be accommodated by this council. And I think we should acknowledge that. So so I would like to see and I would like to see that that $200,000 be allocated to a strategic planning process anyway, inclusive of everyone, including the new commission , inclusive of everyone. But with our proponents that proposed it at the table, a strategic planning process over a two year period, it may come back that you may not need all $200,000 to conduct the strategic planning. It may be $100,000. It may be less. Who knows? But that's the intent of this. Secondly, the proposal on seniors, I support that. I just think we need to be very clear that that's very distinct and different. So I wouldn't want to see those two linked up together. A youth commission and a senior youth development fund and a senior fund merged together may be a bit unclear. It may be hard to target that fund. So I support the 100 K for seniors and looping in the senior citizen commission. That makes sense, but that should be separate that in my opinion, that should be separate from the youth fund. So you got. Well, it was unclear to me if if is that is that the case? I believe it is present. Believe get it together. Speaker 0: I believe they're separate. Speaker 9: I'm good with that. I'm good with that. So that's my friendly councilwoman to the youth fund. I'd like to hear your response, though. Friendly. Speaker 2: So it would be a separate motion. You two. Speaker 4: Separate motion. Speaker 9: Okay, I'm doing I move that we allocate the 200 K, we allocate the 200 K for a strategic youth development strategic planning process in concert with our Youth Commission as well as youth citywide and in partnership with the Investing Youth Coalition. Right. Speaker 0: And that and I just want to clarify, and that doesn't preclude any other youth from the city or it doesn't, including in any book that just allows us to get started. And that's what clarify what he heard from you. Speaker 9: Absolutely. And and there is I don't mind any particular department engaging in this. I think Parks and Rec should be at the table for talking talking those things. But almost every one of our strategic plans we mentioned the health department's engaged in, not necessarily off the equity has been different, you know, different bureaus within the health department . And so that's built up a lot of community respect and credibility, I think some that we count on. So I think that department should play some lead role in this. Other departments could totally be at the table, engage, but I think that is respective of what the communities proposed, I think is consistent with and correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Mayor, but, you know, it's consistent with how you presented it. And that's my motion. Speaker 0: That that that's consistent with what I'm hearing. Just to clarify, I'm hearing that the money essentially would go to a strategic planning process. Speaker 9: Strategic Points has been. Speaker 0: Discussed at the council and by the community. The youth commission would be involved. Speaker 9: Absolutely. Speaker 0: The youth groups that have been that brought it to the table would be involved. And of course, a citywide, citywide input and process from youth. Speaker 9: From across all nine across. Speaker 0: The city. And that staff has the flexibility to guide that process through our departments. We have multi departments that we're I. Speaker 2: Think it's you're also city manager, but. Speaker 0: You're also you're also asking of course that in that process there consider all departments, including our health department. Our you're not saying specifically is going somewhere but staff's going to guide. Speaker 9: Yeah, the funding itself is going to go to a consultant. I know departments. Speaker 0: I get that through. You're not directing it to, but we. Speaker 9: Want to specifically call out help. Speaker 0: I get that. But we're not. Speaker 9: Excluding anyone else. Speaker 0: I get it. And you also call that Parks and Rec and others. Okay. I'm good with that. All right. That is that is the that is a motion that's on the floor. There's the motion. And a second to that. I'm assuming those that are cued up are on the other. Speaker 9: That was for the other debate. No. Speaker 0: Okay. So any why don't you raise your hand really quick if you want to speak to the current motion as it as it's presented? Let me go to Mr.. Go down this way. Okay, so let's turn this and go down. Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: Thank you. And I think I understand the motion. I just want to just just I've been doing a little bit of research here and I've found some some interesting, interesting information that, you know, we're not actually re-inventing, reinventing the wheel this evening. The youth fun it was was created or existed many, many years ago, many years ago, and was probably cut. And, you know, I think our efforts tonight are restored. But, you know, looking at the old website, this was a National Gold Medal Award winner program through our Parks Recreation and Marine Department. The Youth Fund was created to provide funding for local, local youth to create and develop projects that address this community. Issues and challenges. The fund would offer grants led by and projects led to be planned out and led by the Youth and the Commission on Youth and Children currently oversee. Sees the Long Beach Youth Fund Youth Commissioners selected by an adult commissioners will review the projects that are submitted. So the point is I don't think we're reinventing the wheel this evening. And the idea that came to us through the people's budget was was something that was already in place. And so I think everybody here supports funding youth programs and funding our youth to be more engaged, you know, in our city. I mentioned earlier that we do commit a lot of resources already to our youth through our libraries, to our parks and recreation departments, developing improving new parks, developing new parks and improving existing parks through our workforce development. There's a lot of a lot of efforts and a lot of focus on youth. And this is this this fund will increase that or just add to what we are already doing. And but I wanted to to point that out. I feel pretty, pretty strongly that that the commission needs to be continued to be involved in this process. And I'm glad that that you're finding some flexibility to to to engage other departments. And so. I'll support. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman. Vice Mayor Andrews? Yes. Speaker 4: Also, not to be repetitive, I just want to follow through with our councilman Rex, you know, friendly. I definitely think that we should make sure that our youth continue to receive whatever. But the mayor's put into his budget and and I'm looking forward to really supporting this 100%. Speaker 0: Thank you. Vice Mayor, let me just get going down the road. If people want to speak, just raise your hand. Councilman Pierce. Oh, there you said it. Well, Cosmo Pierce, you're up next. Speaker 3: Anyway, so. Speaker 5: Yes, thank you. I just want to echo my support for this, and I think I know that we tend to have a group of of community members that come out and speak from one part of the neighborhood. But I do think putting it with with the full city process, with the multiple departments and using the commission is a great way to ensure that everybody and it is true that every part of our city, the youth in the West Side, need something different than youth on the East Side, but that this fund is geared towards youth and our entire city. I think that that's. No one has said otherwise. So I fully support this, and I hope that all the colleagues here can support this. And I also want to I know that we're doing the youth here, but we also have the part about 100 K, which I think is a separate motion. But I like where we're going as well. I'm saying I like that that we are looking holistically at our city. So thank you and thank you for all the youth that are still here and for all those watching at home. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Let me let me add anything we got to Councilman Price also. I think it's it's and it's certainly my intention as a as a new youth commission reforms the youth and children that it's reflective of the entire city. And so you're going to have everyone at the table, I think, as well, to work. We'll work really hard at that. Councilman Price. Speaker 6: Okay, so thank you. So just so I'm supporting what I'm hearing, I'm just don't have a lot of clarity on. A lot of words have been spoken. So is there are a request that it be housed in a particular department or is everyone just kind of going to work together on it? Speaker 9: Is that a question for me? Speaker 6: Yes, I guess. Speaker 9: Okay. Speaker 6: The city manager's office. Speaker 4: So. Speaker 9: So the money's not going to be housed anywhere if I guess it's multiple departments. City manager I'm hearing over here can run point. The community is requested that a health lens health equity lens whatever it is is applied to it and that the health department being a lead role. I think that's naturally going to happen if we sort of give that direction that that's the way you want it to happen. I think other departments will obviously play a role. Parks and Recreation obviously needs play a role. I think workforce will play a role if it's a really holistic, comprehensive, strategic plan. There's a number of departments that touch our PD can play a role. Speaker 2: Know and a staff would suggest you just assign this to the city manager and we'll figure out who needs to be at the table. So we definitely here the health should be at the table, Parks and Rec, all the partners that were mentioned. So we'll make sure with that happens. Speaker 9: Good. I'm good with that. Speaker 6: Great. And if I could request from staff and I'm assuming this is included, it's implied, but I want to explicitly stated that every council district will be engaged with the process so that we can make sure to advertise and involve our youth because they may not be as organized as in some of the other districts and may not be an advocacy group associated with them. So we want to make sure we get them to the table. So as long as we're all engaged, I think that would be great. And in terms of a strategic plan, and I guess I will ask this for clarity from Councilman Richardson, what do you envision that. Speaker 7: The strategic plan would do? Like what? Speaker 6: What would it have recommendations for what? Speaker 9: So the strategic planning processes that I've seen happen in the city, they come and help articulate a vision and a strategy to get there. And a lot of cities that have doubled down on youth development, they've established youth development strategies like how do you take the status quo, address the issues related to our youth, the current issues , the programs, and have a strategy to drive it proactively. We've done a lot of work around youth from youth violence prevention my brother's keeper, my sister's keeper, all that thing. I believe this just allows us an opportunity to have a more holistic look at youth development. I personally, I love this proposal because the youth, you know, have talked about it. They've engaged in it, they've bought into it. There's operated they're willing to work with others. They're optimistic about the future. They can go off to college or whatever they're doing and look back at the implementation of this. When our council, the next council, does it and say, I helped shape the future of these youth. So I think this is as I'll still quote from Pat, I think this is as apples, motherhood, apple pie as we can as we can make it. But ultimately, that that could create a roadmap to be more intentional about youth development. We could envision youth development departments. We could envision, you know, taking another look at teen centers. How does this work with the. Parks and Rec strategic plan. I think now is just the perfect time to do it. Speaker 3: Mm hmm. Speaker 6: No, and I agree with you on the vision. I couldn't agree with you more on what the potential of it is. I just wanted to kind of get an idea of. So I would hope that the strategic plan, although. Yes, absolutely. We want to get a holistic view. We also want to get a plan that's very targeted to the diverse needs of the population throughout the city, because there may be different stressors in one part of the city as others, that we might need to augment support for our youth on. Mm hmm. And so I would hope that that engagement and this is really for for our city manager's office in terms of developing a strategic plan that I would hope that the focus would be on having recommendations that are targeted towards specific needs in different areas, whatever those limiting factors are for for the youth to strive in that particular area. But I think it's a great program. I love that the youth are involved and that they brought it forward. I couldn't agree with you on all of that, gives them a real sense of pride in their city. So I think it's great and I'm I'm glad that the city manager's office is going to be overseeing it, because I think it does touch upon multiple departments. So thank you for that recommendation. Sure. Speaker 2: And we'd like to request that it be up to 200,000 for a strategic plan. If we're able to do the strategic planning for less than we'd like to reserve some of that funding for implementation of that plan. Speaker 9: Sure. I'm good with that. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next up is Councilman Mongo. Speaker 5: So I appreciate the dialog, but I would also say that while I appreciate the one recommendation in requests that came from one group, there were also dialogs with both that group and other council officers, including, but not limited to another motion which was already approved, I think, which talks a lot about the teen centers and the opportunities and the funding and the derivative of giving the strategic planning money to Parks and Rec. Was that part of knowing and understanding what Parks and Rec has is that those student fighters, 25, 15 years old and so. I'll I'll just say that I appreciate the opportunity to continue to put that into. The city manager's office. But that, I think, also needs to be a bit of respect for the dialog that actual council members have had with the community group that you're stating their position. Because I've actually sat with and had those conversations and at no time did they request a strategic plan. And when I met with them and listened and talked through some of the the youth opportunities across multiple departments, just like we're talking about now, whether it's libraries, parks and Rec, afterschool programs, teen center, all of that. I also then went into those communities including but not limited to McBride and MacArthur and some of the other areas . And we kind of talked through where could a pilot program be? I then researched and talked with department heads who were open to housing those pilot programs, and then went back to specific council members who are willing to use the their community centers as a pilot program. And that's kind of where the recommendation for Vice Mayor Andrews Teen Center to be a pilot program in that process. And so I appreciate and respect all the work that you've done on this. And I only wish that you would have given me that same respect to keep it as a part of the original motion coming out of the BSA. Speaker 0: Thank you. I think back to Councilmember Tauranga. Speaker 2: Actually first time coming on this. But we're saying. Speaker 0: Sorry. Speaker 2: It's getting it's getting late. My wife would just text me. She's going to bed. So I guess she stopped seeing, which I guess a good thing for me is stop texting me in this conversation. I got lost in terms of I thought this was about not only youth programs but also senior services. And it got sort of bifurcated. And we start talking about the youth programs or whatever to senior seniors, a component. Speaker 9: That's a separate motion. Speaker 2: So it's going to be a vibrant motion. Okay, then I can support this back. Speaker 0: Get back to Katherine Richardson. Speaker 9: Okay. Just quickly, just two things. So, one, the Invest and Youth Coalition gave us a flier today with the position has evolved over time. Initially they're asking for half a million dollars. Right. Obviously, through the conversation, it was infeasible. But today it says include the proposed 200 K in seed funding for the Long Beach Children Youth Fund to develop a community driven, youth led strategic plan. So just so we're clear, this is the same coalition, the same original proponent. So I'm not speaking for them. I'm literally lifting this from the request that is developed. So that's one. And then secondly, that the goal wasn't to pull this aside, but I heard that there was contention in the the first time we touched on it. So we wanted to just have a pure conversation here. But, you know, I have seen it since has come up. I've seen that I think there's some misunderstanding about the role of the Budget Oversight Committee. Frankly, the Budget Oversight Committee is not the dog and the councilors tails the other way around. The council is the dog and the Budget Oversight Committee is the tail. So we're not at the kiddy table because we're not on the Budget Oversight Committee. This is the big table and this is where we have an opportunity to weigh in on things. So I just want to be crystal clear. I respect your role as the Budget Committee, but I have a job to do as a member of the full body of the city council. Speaker 5: Thanks, and I appreciate that. Speaker 0: At the end here, Councilwoman Mongo got to me, Margo. Speaker 5: I appreciate that. And I also hope that. But there's a part of recognizing that a conversation evolves over time. And at a council there's an EP or an up or down vote on a lot of things, and that there's a considerable amount of time that goes into reading a 500 page report, meeting with each constituency group, each of those things. And so I appreciate that the people's budget has evolved because I think that part of the reason it has evolved is through discussions with council members and recognizing that there is just point in time options of what can be done in a six week budget process, and that typically they're not a six week budget process, but that. But I'll leave it at that for now. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a there's a motion and a second. Members, please cast your votes on the motion. Speaker 1: Councilwoman Pryce. Emotion carries. Speaker 4: With. Speaker 0: Emotion carries. That's the that's his care of the question that was that was split up so that we're going back to the rest of the BFC recommended. Speaker 2: That's correct. And if I could get a point of clarification on the there was a motion by Councilmember Pearce for to add three items. I didn't have a so that. Speaker 0: That hasn't been that that's not an official motion yet. It was not a friendly but it was never came to light. Speaker 5: So what's on the table now? Speaker 0: So I think now we're back. Now we're back. Speaker 2: And so I for. Speaker 0: And councilor and so let me so let me go back so we're back to the original conversation of the PSC recommendations. I think Councilman Richardson, who's put the question, we're back to Councilman Richardson on the PSC recommendations. Speaker 2: Correct. And so what I if the friendly was accepted by CD two or not, there would be part of the conversation that I. Speaker 0: Think it's part of the conversation. But there was not an official, a friendly that was asked. Speaker 5: I think they recognize that this list is about to get long and so I'm going to put them all down. Speaker 2: We've accepted some well, with all my friends, I know all of them have been accepted except for the member Councilmember Pearce's. So I need to know whether it's accepted or not so that that's what's on the floor. I don't know what's on the floor. Speaker 5: So I would only say that the only thing that's been accepted from General Fund at this time would be the African American Fund. Speaker 9: There was the beach streets. Speaker 2: There was beach streets. Speaker 5: But there wasn't any funding changes. Speaker 9: No, no funding things without cause. Speaker 5: I'm not sure I'm going to pull the funding from or put it from yet based on all the requests, if that makes sense. Mango Because there wasn't a revenue source associated with the request, right? Speaker 2: And he has three items for the $222,000 that the councilmember from the second District has on there. And so that's the question. You've accepted one and on another. Yeah, I. Speaker 0: Mean, listen, it's my impression that that hasn't been accepted yet. Speaker 5: I can't accept any recommendation that doesn't come with the funding that. Speaker 2: Has not been accepted. Speaker 3: Right. Speaker 0: And but it's still part of the conversation. Speaker 5: It is still available for potential funding should one be proposed? Speaker 0: Okay. Let me go back to let me go back to Governor Richardson. Speaker 9: I have I don't have much more. So just want to touch on the the 50,000 dedicated for the revenue outreach conversation related to homelessness and housing. So just to be clear, this was the this was the same 50 K that was outlined in staff presentation two weeks ago on housing revenue options. Is that everybody's understanding? This is city attorney Mr. Modica Yes. Okay. Just wanted to be clear, that's that funding to conduct this process, that's all it is. And then and I just wanted to say that I do support of Councilwoman Pearce's a few things. The one that I'm familiar with is the 35 K, but it sounded like you said you wanted to make it structural. I thought the proposal was to take one times to add it to that structural part time and make it full time. But on a one time basis, right, you still have that permanent structural part time. So just to be clear, that's what that's what you're proposing one time. Okay. All right. That piece I support I support that. Not familiar with the other stuff. And I support that. Thanks. Speaker 0: Taking a turn. This now comes from Birmingham. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. Obviously, there's a lot of moving parts. We talk about a lot of different parts of this of this budget, as we discussed earlier. Couple of things that, you know, are related to my district that I think I need to to address. One of them is the Beat Street, and I'm glad the mayor brought it up because it wasn't funded at one time, totally and completely by Metro. And it came in as a part of a of a grant that they offered to have these streets in Long Beach based on another program that they had somewhere else going in Los Angeles. If I'm not if I'm not mistaken, on the history of a B streets here in Long Beach, I don't think the intent was to institutionalize it within a long we can have. Allow me to pick it up as a as a as a as an ongoing budget expense for Beach Street. And the only reason I say that is because certain districts in the city are able to have, because of their corridors, are able to have a beach street event that goes multi districts. I don't have that. In fact, the last district that the last beaches we had that covered eight, nine and seven, I only had like two blocks. I mean, and there was it was two blocks. It had very little impact in terms of business opportunities for those vendors to have any kind of significant financial impact for them. So I'm I'm liking the discussion that we might break it down to, to break it down, downsize it a little bit and go from 2 to 3. But I also want to make sure that at least I have a corridor in my district that would be able to sustain a beach street like event. I have two major corridors. I have actually three but two major corridors in the seventh District that I would like to see having a beach street like event. I have Wardlow and I have Santa Fe as two business corridors in my district, not as developed or as as expansive as maybe Atlantic or Anaheim or those kinds of street are covered multi, multi district. But I would like to have at some time an opportunity to sponsor a, b streets like that in the seventh District that would be beneficial to my communities in those areas. So I'm throwing that out there as a as a as a friendly amendment that we include corridors that that our business corridors in districts that may not be able to in corridors and may not be as extensive or lengthy that covered multi multidistrict areas. So I want to make sure that the seventh District is included in that discussion and we have that that type of and we believe that language about corridors is in there already. Okay, wonderful. The other other issue they're talking about, Councilmember Pearce has already brought these up. As a former member of the health department, I saw the the the the detriments that the the defunding of the vehicle license fees did on a lot of programs in the health department, mainly that were talking about STDs testing and community outreach. And I want to support and second Councilmember Pierce's motion or friendly to include those in in this budget because it's important I mean we lost a major funding source when it came to the bike to the vehicle license fees that funded these at a very high level. At one time, we had full time staff providing those kinds of services and that went away. So and obviously the disease hasn't gone away or the need for it to address STDs has not gone away. So I certainly can support that that friendly for that as well. And also, you beat me to the gun and the 35,000 for the language access program and make it a full time. I certainly support that because it's been a it's been an ongoing discussion now for a number of years, and it's time that we address it and get it fully funded. And those are my only comments at this point. Thank you. Thank you, Constable Pearce. Speaker 5: I yes. Thank you. So it is late. So I'm going to clarify what my comments were earlier and hopefully we can have that conversation. So one is the 3541 time funding for language access, as Councilmember Gallagher just mentioned, to make that a full time position to after having some conversations, I think what would be a great way . In for our health of our community is $30,000 one time funding. Speaker 3: For the. Speaker 5: Mobile center and the community outreach, and that our health department can work with the county to try to leverage some other funds to get those other two positions that the Kelley and I have been talking about. So that those are my that is my family, I guess, that I am asking for support on. What leads into the structural is that. Yeah, it's exactly what I said earlier with the the funding to be able to make it a full time position but that the 35 K adds on to what is already there to make it a full time position. So just to to clarify. There is only so much contingency, and it would be disingenuous for me to just say yes and put it at the bottom of the list without any likelihood that it would be funded. So what I would ask of you is that we are already beyond stretched of what is available, and so of your requests, what I would propose is to place the 30,000 of STD outreach and testing. You would only say that outreach, he said outreach and testing. Outreach, testing, mobile center. I mean, it's okay. There's a description that I think there is a little bit of room. There's not 240. I mean, we're already the city staff's current recommendation is that there's 500,000 available. We've already programed over 775,000. And so what I would ask is if we're if we're really trying to fit in, what's realistic that we have some consensus behind the city outreach and mobile testing unit? I do understand the significant VLF funding that it used to be and where we are today and the. Specific need to address Long Beach's unique position on this, unfortunately unique position in the growth versus the reduction over regions, and I would probably place it somewhere on either side of the African-American fund. Okay. So, I mean, I'll make my last pitch on. It's been a couple of weeks since we've heard, you know, the stats on where we are with STDs. We know that it's not only the LGBT community, but the African-American community, and that the numbers are increasing and that this is one of those times where you can actually put money somewhere and see an automatic decrease. And it's not necessarily on a values piece. And so I fully support the African-American Cultural Center, don't want to pit us against other items. But in a situation where we have our health department saying that we are at a crisis mode with STDs going up and $30,000 can help make a difference. You know, and I'm not sure if that's 15. Okay. Now that we can do. I know that shows that they have equal priority as the funding comes at the beginning. So if it came in at ten, they'd get five, each of it comes in at 60, they get 30 each or whatever. Is that fair? Does that work? I mean, it does work viably in terms of, well, I understand and you're giving out the budget. But I mean, does that work in terms of reaching the goal that it's intending to work? So are you saying that the funding has to be in step levels? Like if it was 10,000, it wouldn't work at all? It has to be. My question for for like two. Speaker 3: And eight to do with that, I get it here. So. So each increment, I mean, it's not incremental base. It's it's just the ability to have increased access and testing out in the community. So when we the original conversation was 15,000 for testing and. Speaker 4: 15,000. Speaker 2: For outreach. Speaker 3: So the testing is very important. Speaker 4: As is the outreach. So we could combine that in whatever, whatever that is possible. 30 would be a. Speaker 2: Good start and of course we need a lot more than that. 30 would be a starting place. Speaker 3: But if were 20, we take 20. Speaker 2: And then for a language access plan that's a non-career position and we would just be adding hours so it wouldn't be a. Speaker 4: Know that the. Speaker 3: Language text, the language access program, the language access. Speaker 2: Program is currently non. Speaker 3: Career. Speaker 4: But it you can't go past they're already topped out at 1600 hours so we'd have to make a full time. Speaker 5: And there at. Speaker 3: The one because then. Speaker 2: That one would have to be $35,000. It has to be 35,000. Speaker 3: It can't be less. Speaker 5: And so so my thought was that we are already funding it at 160 this year and that any other incremental would have to be supported by potentially an additional staff member so that it's not at a rate that's so much higher, if that makes sense. And so at this time, what I would ask is for us to wait for the report to come back, because one of the things that we talked about with the community and their budget priorities was there's currently over $800,000 of language programing in the city that's really not accounted for. And so before we talk through what those priorities are, to get that report back from the H.R. staff and then kind of walk through it again when we have that and that should be coming back in the next few weeks. So that's I would just say that we'll actually no closer to what year end we are in. Money will look like we'll know a bunch more things. And so at this time what I'd like to do is accept the friendly for the $30,000 contingency STD outreach. And testing to be prioritized at the same level as the African-American cultural support. And then for the 30. Speaker 9: The hours. Speaker 5: You don't in doing the specific request of Councilmember Austin with the 35,000 request of LAPD to come back as a part of the full picture that we've already motion. Speaker 0: For comment until 8 p.m.. Speaker 4: Sure. Thank you. Speaker 0: Look, let me add something, because I understand what what we're trying to get to. So I think first, I do appreciate I think that that's a good addition to the budget. So thank you, Councilmember. I think that those those needs are really important. I think what what I have heard from Councilmember Pearce and others on the council is that as we as we're looking at the language access program, the real need might not just be adding a bunch of money to translate documents, but the need is actually to to ensure that there's a person actually doing the work that's consistent within a language access policy and that's actually doing work, going out and actually implementing some of this work, not just money from translation services. Now, that's what I've heard of from, you know, from, from folks. And so I think and Mr. Modica, correct me if I'm wrong, but with this new money coming in, I think you guys are going to be reviewing the dollars that are coming in from language access and looking at if this is actually a possibility and what that could look like in the future and kind of assessing how we expand now that we have more dollars, how we expand what we're actually doing. And I know that you're going to come back to the council to give an update on that. So hopefully, if that's what we're going tonight, that those we can have that conversation about where we're going when this comes back to the councils. Is that a correct assessment? Speaker 2: Yes. So we were we were asked to come back with some information on a current bilingual pay and how we're currently allocating that money. Then and then Bossi was recommending that the LPI money first be used to kind of make that do that review and then come back. That is, as we understand Bossi motion. Speaker 3: And. Speaker 5: From considerable community meetings and community outreach and input related to some of the frustration we're hearing in the community with not seeing the results that they had hoped for with the amount of money that's been allocated to date. So, yes, absolutely. Speaker 0: Okay. So I think I think I know where we're at with the conversation. So I think that's where we're going. But we're still doing some some research on on the issue as well. So let me let me go back to the. Speaker 2: And then Councilmember. I'm sorry, Mary, can we get some clarification on where this falls in the priority order having it equal with the African-American Museum? Speaker 0: Well, we haven't. We have that. We haven't. Speaker 2: Made it. We just need some direction. Where does it. Speaker 0: Go? There is we're still having the conversation, but there is not yet any additional funding that's been set aside on language access besides the 160. That's I believe it's one 6180. Speaker 2: I'm sorry. I was referring to the mobile phone or the mobile that is. Speaker 0: Being that is right where the African-American museum is. Speaker 2: So then it is said, okay, so it is seniors then, right? We try to trace them right below. It is right below. I think it needs to be above or below. It's right below. Thank you. Speaker 0: Okay. Just yes. Okay. So let's go back now to. Yeah, nothing is nothing the above. Another thing, they're all important. They're all going to get funded. So, Councilor Pierce. Speaker 5: I'm like, I don't even know. No, I'm I don't want to be right out. And I and I know that Councilmember Austin has been working for a long time on his project. So I want to respectfully, for the group, say that I am happy to go after the African-American Cultural Center knowing that we were all going to get to where we we need to get, and that I know that this is a priority for the whole community. So I just want to put that out there. Speaker 0: Thank you. Well, we have a motion and a second for these recommendations, so please go ahead and cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion case.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to adopt the Budget Oversight Committee's proposed funding recommendations, as amended, to the FY 19 Proposed Budget. (A-12)

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Speaker 0: Thank you. Item 24. Speaker 3: And I suppose we didn't want. Speaker 4: To do that. Yeah. Speaker 1: Communication from Vice Mayor Andrew's Chair, Housing and Neighborhoods Committee recommendation to approve renaming of the multi-use Sports Court and Marina Vista Park. The link to Sue Johnson Court. Speaker 0: Vice Mayor Andrews Thank you. Speaker 4: Me I'd like to turn this over to Councilman Pierce for this price. Speaker 3: Excuse me. Speaker 6: Katz Councilwoman Price Thank you. And I want to thank the vice mayor for shepherding this item through the committee and having it here for us. This is kind of the final step of a very, very important item for me, my family and our entire community. Luke was an amazing young man. He was diagnosed with leukemia his first week at Wilson High School as a freshman. And he was involved in our Youth Participatory Budgeting Committee that selected the multi-use sport court. And unfortunately, he lost his battle with cancer. And we want to honor him by naming the court after him. We'll be having a dedication ceremony this coming Sunday at the park. And I thank my colleagues and again, especially Vice Mayor Andrews, for seeing this item through and making sure that it got here when it did, because the family's been really anxious for this process and very excited to have the opportunity to honor Luke as in a permanent space in the district. So thank you, everyone, for your support. Speaker 4: Thank you very much. Is there any public comment on this? Yes, please. State your name, Larry. Good. You? I fully support this. I think it's an outstanding idea. No ifs, no answer, no votes. I raise a point of order. I believe the council the agenda calls for even before this item, whether it is, as it is called, calls for public comment. And I'd like to use that. I have signed up for public comment and this is the time, according to the clerk. At the public comment. Is appropriate. Speaker 9: This is public comment for this item. Speaker 4: No public comment in general. Having confidence that this is public comment for the item, as you said it has before this item has been was read. The public comment for open public comment. It should have been held first. Okay. Okay. You can go read it. All right. Thank you. Please. And that's one of my points more often than not. More often than not, the mayor handles the agenda. Like Seinfeld's Kramer enters and leaves a room. Period. That has to stop. That has to stop. No ifs, no answer, no buts. And I would as particularly important and during this comment and I would point out that it'll be we'll have to put up with them there for about another 80 about 16 to 18 months before the attorney general. Indict arrest him for the criminal complicity of Marines stated the raising of Marine Stadium to s. That's going to happen. No ifs. No arms, no buts. But as long as the mayor is here, he's got to stop. He has to follow the process. And again, not handling, as they say, like Seinfeld's Kramer enters and leaves a room. And I expect that. And I think the public's entitled to that. You can't jerk it around. When you do that, you end up with catastrophes. And on that, I'll end my point. But again, we should be giving consideration to who will be the new mayor in about eight to 12 to 18 months, if not sooner, if not sooner. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now we go back to the one item 24 together. Yeah, I do. We vote on this one. Speaker 9: I'll just call for a vote. Speaker 4: Please. Speaker 3: No. No. Speaker 0: Sorry. Speaker 4: It's. Speaker 0: Side. My entrance wasn't great. There's I think there's a there's emotion second to approval. And it was. Speaker 1: The price. Speaker 3: That was. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 1: Let's suppose not then motion carries Mengers on her chair. Speaker 0: Am I. Speaker 1: Councilman Mongo? Councilwoman Mangos? Yes. Speaker 3: She's a yes. Oh. Speaker 4: That's hmm.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to approve renaming the Multi-Use Sport Court in Marina Vista Park the Luke Tatsu Johnson Court.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next item is T3. Speaker 1: Report from Schmidt Harbor. Recommendation received supporting documentation into the record and adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of the harbor revenue refunding short term notes series 2018a and an aggregate principal amount not to exceed 350 million citywide. Speaker 0: There's a there's a motion and a second. Mr. West has a short update on this. Speaker 2: Yes, we have the port finance director, Sam John, and our city treasurer Dave Nakamoto and his assistant, Phil. Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. City Manager, Honorable Mayor and members of the City Council before you as a recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of harbor revenue refunding short term notes series 2018 A and a principal principal amount not to exceed $350 million and to authorize the execution of all necessary documents . The purpose of these notes is to refund the currently outstanding harbor revenue Short Term Notes Series 2014 six, which are scheduled to mature this November. City Council approval is requested on September 4th, 2018 to facilitate the timely payment of the 2014 See Notes. The 2018 notes will be secured solely by payment and so excuse me, so be secured and solely payable from the harbor department revenues. Annual debt service payments on the 2018 notes will be approximately $14.3 million. The city's general fund will not be liable for these debt service payments, and there is no local job impact associated with this recommendation. Representatives from the harbor and the finance team are available for questions. This concludes staff's report. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Gonzales. Speaker 6: Thank you very much for the report. Speaker 0: Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 5: Thank you very much for the report, for staying up late and for having an awesome budget as well. Speaker 0: You. Is there any public comment on this item C nonmembers, please go ahead. And Castro votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. I was told by Mr. Modica that maybe the budget was coming down, but maybe, maybe not. We'll move on. Can we just poke your head out there and see if we're doing this or if we're not?

Resolution

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, adopt resolution authorizing the issuance of the Harbor Revenue Refunding Short-Term Notes Series 2018A, by the Board of Harbor Commissioners, on behalf of the City of Long Beach; in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $350,000,000, secured and solely payable from Harbor Department revenues, and authorize the execution of all necessary documents. (Citywide)

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Speaker 2: I don't think he's ready yet. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 0: All right. Let's move on to the next item, please. Oh, maybe they already. Tom, did you guys have it ready or. No? Okay, let me go. Let me keep going with two more items. So let me just keep going. Item 26. Speaker 1: Please. Communication from Councilwoman Price. Councilwoman Mingo. Vice Mayor Andrew's Councilman Austin. Recommendation to request a series of public safety measures designed to proactively address hotel worker safety concerns. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Price. Speaker 6: Thank you. So these recommendations were actually drafted in November 2017, but I didn't bring them at that time. They followed a an October 2017 public safety meeting where we had a presentation from Long Beach PD and others regarding some of the measures that we felt were responsive to the comments that we had heard at the September 2017 council meeting. And then we most recently heard a lot of similar comments. So the item actually speaks for itself. I'm not going to go into it in too much detail as it is late in the morning, in the night, early in the morning. But I'd ask my colleagues to support this measure. I think it's prudent and frankly, it addresses concerns that have been brought directly to the council and expands upon them. Thanks. Oh, I would ask that recommendation number four be removed because my understanding is that although it's not asking for the responding officer to be female, but that the officer taking the call be female, that that does present some resource limitations for our police department and serious that that's certainly not our intent. So we'd ask that it be approved absent number four. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilman, Mongo. Speaker 5: I appreciate that the entire council has consistently said that they support this, so it makes sense to bring it. Speaker 0: Thank you, Council Member Pearce. Speaker 5: I really wish it wasn't 1230. Speaker 3: So can we go. Speaker 5: To public comment? We have some people here first and then we can speak. Speaker 0: Let me just first make the motion. Councilman Price, we came with it. Of course, the soup can't do public comment, so please come forward. Speaker 3: Hello. Speaker 0: Just a conclusion because it's just two folks. Great to see you. Okay, great speaker this close. Speaker 3: Hello. My name is Zoe Nicholson. I live in Rose Park. I happen to be one of the three proponents of Measure WW. I'm going to briefly recap my understanding of what's happened so far. We spent four years discussing the protections for our hotel housekeepers, and over the last 13 months there were two failed voting rounds 5 to 4 against labor protections of ours, weight limits and square footage. Secondly. Decisions around sexual assault protections, specifically supported emergency alarms and working in pairs. So we did what we had to do after those failed votes. We spent 55 days collecting 46,000 votes. Just to show you that we're serious about this. The city of Long Beach counted those 46,000 votes. I was there most days as they did so those then went up to our Saint Louis County where the signatures were validated. They were able to stop at 43,000 plus because that's all that was required. This is a matter of record who voted against it. For those five people have registered and asked for this new ordinance. Here's my offer to you. Join us. Join us. Let's do what's right. Let's support labor protections. Let's support square footage protections. This is the week of Labor Day, after all. Let's do more than unsupported panic buttons. I've read this proposal several times. It says nothing about who's answering that call. But in fact, ordinance WW. Does. So I welcome you. Councilman Price. Councilman Mongo. Councilman. Deandra is vice mayor. I beg your pardon? And Councilmember Allyson, we'd be happy to welcome you to support the proposition that will be on the November six ballot signed by 43,000 members of the Lambert community, which, by the way, is more than voted in the last voting round. And let this go. This last ditch effort to be recognized that you care. Join us. We really care. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. NICHOLSON Next speaker, please. Our last speaker on this. Welcome back to the council. Speaker 2: Dave Shukla on file. Speaker 9: This is not my issue. Speaker 2: Climate change, I believe, is a is a generative issue in the most fundamental sense. But since I was here for the hearing a few weeks ago and had to leave the room because I was shocked at the level of racism and outright. Speaker 4: Castro. How do you say that word? Because you history case based reasoning, moral equivalency, equivocation there words for things. The whole point of. Speaker 2: This effort, as I've seen it unfold in this town that I grew up in. Speaker 4: With some of the people who like me, who look like me, would actually be the kids working some of the hotels and motels in question that are, as an industry, being asked to bear the brunt of a very. Speaker 9: Specific set of players. Speaker 4: Structural problems. If you don't include, for instance, square footage, you don't include work ratios, you don't include how structurally some people who are given sweetheart deals on land and all the rest that we all know the game with don't run the hotels very well. How do you expect an Indian kid respect defender, a shukla's son to look you in the eye? I mean, I mean, you'd literally be giving me or my most some of my friends a panic button to do what? Like tell our parents that somebody, you know, who you know, like, let's say in the nineties when all those bases closed and we didn't have that conversation about the peace dividend. Speaker 2: That we should have. Speaker 4: You know, we had epidemic levels of syphilis and gonorrhea and some of those people were having real problems and, you know, mental health, whatever you want to call it. Those would be the people who you'd have to ask your parents about, like, hey, you know, is it all right that they're walking by and causing problems for people here? I mean, there's all kinds of issues that people in storefronts in many parts of town see because they're externalized literally onto their doorstep. And some of them directly. Speaker 2: Have to do with which players get to have which say at what time of day or night. I mean, for a town that wants to say. Speaker 9: That we're making progress on women's issues in a town where we still have to like police ourselves, that rapists don't play. Speaker 4: Beloved venues. Atonement has so many rape kids circuits just sitting around. I mean, please. How much longer are you going to tout yourselves as a place you want tourists to come, people to start new families, and you're not going to protect them at the most basic level. That's so obvious. Speaker 0: Thank you. That concludes public comment. Let me go back to I guess I think it was that Councilmember Pearce who was speaking. So did you. I see you did. You were. Speaker 3: But I'll speak. Speaker 0: Well, you have you had the floor. So let me go back to you. Speaker 5: Okay. So I think I want to take off from the conversation that that the comments that Zoe made. While I appreciate and I know there's been lots of conversations around, hey, we should make it for everybody. You know, I think that that is is a conversation that is a valid conversation. I have to go through this process where we ask, how do we end up here today after having it put on the supplemental and on a Labor Day weekend where none of us found out about it until yesterday? I have to ask the questions around how many of these hotels that are 50 rooms or less were outreach to my staff spent the day outreaching to 12 hotels in my district just to find out if there had been any community engagement through this process ever since 20. You know, what was that 2014 that we started talking about this policy, 2015, 2016 when it came here. The members of this council said we need more time. We need to engage more. The members of this council two weeks ago asked for a financial study so that we can look at the impacts. And then two weeks later, without that financial study or directing the city attorney to go forward with an ordinance. So for me, I'm struggling today with this item being what appears to be politics, playing with what hotel workers lives. And I know that that might not be the intention of some of the council members, but that's how it feels when it's done in this way after having two years of debate over it. So I have to get that part out because when I saw the item, I was personally offended at all the work that we have done and how far I thought we had come. And so I, I have to just put that out there first to say that I feel like we have been trying to get to a place of of healing and recognizing that the voters are going to vote on something. And in my mind, the best way to move forward would be let the voters vote on it, because God knows we've done the work. And then, too, after we get the financial report and after they the voters vote, that then we can say, okay, now let's apply this policy that's appropriate. So hotels of 50 rooms or less. So I have questions. Has any communication outreach been done with hotels of 50 rooms or less? Does this policy, the way that it's worded and leaves it vague, does it include Airbnbs? Does it include bed and breakfast? So those are my first two questions. Speaker 0: Okay. So I think there's questions. Speaker 5: I can ask all the questions or we can have a dialog around. I mean. Speaker 0: Sure. I think if you want to maybe put all your questions out there and then we'll go from there. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 5: So all my questions, one is understanding why this has to happen. Speaker 1: Today. Speaker 5: After we've had a long budget meeting. What is the significance of the timing? My second question is, is there a legal concerns that having this vote while we have WW out there does put us at risk for making it look like we're dealing with politics and trying to make a position on the measure. Two or three is the item doesn't include. Let me get to my specific questions, not about politics. Language doesn't cover subcontracted workers, which is a major issue in the hotel industry. Is there a reason for not including subcontracted workers? It leaves off notification of guest, something that we know the hotels have lobbied against. But something that we know is a distract is a. Speaker 1: Deterrent for people. Speaker 5: If they see a sign, they're going to think twice. It's something that we. Speaker 3: Fought really hard for with. Speaker 5: Sex trafficking in the hotels. So is there something we can do about it? Amidst the retaliation language to protect housekeepers whenever they do speak up and it leaves out hotel workers ability for legal remedy if the law is not complied with. So those are policy questions that I think need to be answered. In addition to understanding from the city attorney, the timeline that we're working. Speaker 3: With the council. Speaker 5: Have requested that you come back in 30 days where we are with that 30 day report. Does that 30 day report include the impacts of hotels of 50 rooms or less? And what liability does that put the council out for voting on this? Now, while we're waiting on a measure to be voted on in November, I will leave those as my questions for now. Speaker 0: Okay. So I know there's there's some questions in there that are probably for the city attorney and there might be some others are there for the makers of the motion. Maybe we should we keep going, maybe hear from the members or did you want to get those when I have a lot of questions answered now are. You want to just do those now? Okay, let me. I don't have those all in front of me. But do you want to start? I mean, Mr. City Attorney, do you want to maybe answer some of the questions that were posed to you? Speaker 2: There's a number of questions that I wrote down that are either a policy question or the maker of the motion. Question on why the timing of this. The way I read the motion and the language here, it would not include Airbnb's. The legal concerns versus politics. I can't address the politics, but the legal concerns. This does cover areas that would not be covered by measure WW. And depending on what was adopted, if anything, was adopted by the City Council when a ordinance came back, if the measure WW applying to the larger hotels was more restrictive, that would apply . And so if you didn't have some of the other things that you brought up, that would be a policy decision to include in an ordinance such as the subcontractor, the notification language, the retaliation in the hotel, the legal remedies for the individual workers. All of those protections would apply to the hotels of 50 or more would not be required on the ordinance applying to the 50 or less unless council amended the ordinance at some point. So I'd need further direction from the City Council to if there were going to be ads and there would be an opportunity to do that one this evening or at first reading. And when that came back for the Council's consideration, if at that time the Council read it and either wanted to add things to it or change things to it, obviously we could do that at that time and we would come back depending on those changes by for another first reading if necessary. Speaker 0: I can I can answer one of the questions in there and then someone quickly if I if I'm wrong. I think when when a initiatives is in front of voters all of that but that is passed by the voter essentially becomes kind of supersedes and become becomes the law. Speaker 2: It would trump the ordinance. Speaker 0: And then what if whatever whatever is presented in front of us that goes beyond the scope of what's in front of the voters would apply as long as it doesn't contradict anything that is currently in the other measure. And if it did this, it is superseded by whatever is actually implemented by the actual voters. So and that's the my understanding of the way I know this question came up when we had Measure M and May as well. And so that's. Speaker 2: Correct. That was a little bit different because there are competing measures on the ballot. Speaker 0: And I actually part of some of the council discussion that we were voting on when it came to the tacked to the tax structure. But I think that I think that that is the response as far as the voter initiative would always supersede if there were areas of conflict. And currently, I think that the the way our municipal code reads, motel, Airbnbs and bed and breakfasts are not considered motels. I think that's correct. Mr. City Attorney say lodging. Speaker 2: And I think that the way I read this all hotel lodging employers including motels. I want some additional clarification on that, but I hope it doesn't indicate that they want Airbnbs in here. So we would go generally speaking, we would start with our municipal code definitions of those items, the hotel lodging employers, if we have that in motels and use that as our definition and then obviously come back for first reading if that's not the intent of the makers. Speaker 5: So my other question was around the timing of the report in 30 days, how much information is coming back, what's going to be included in that? And then I'd like the maker of the motion to answer the questions around the policy. Speaker 2: So the study, if on August 7th we were asked to do a study, it was originally a 30 day study, but then was kind of modified to give us a report of where we are in 30 days and come back with a study. So by next week we'll have an update to kind of the process and what we're doing. We expect the full study to be available to the Council by the beginning of October, probably first week of October 1st, second week of October. Speaker 5: And does that study include hotels of 50 rooms or less? Speaker 2: And as I understand it, we're doing some comparative analysis of some of the other ordinances that are out there. And some of those will be for hotels, 50 or under. I can ask John Kiser to further speak to whether or not, you know, what level of analysis we have for 50 or less. Speaker 4: The honorable mayor and members of the city council. Yes. So. So we're working with our consultant on the scope of work and refining that now. We will be taking a look at how our ordinance is proposed, compares to some of the other ordinances out there, which are inclusive of different numbers of hotel rooms, as well as different square footage and different requirements that are included in their audiences. So what we'll get back. We're looking at Seattle, Chicago, Sacramento County, Miami, Las Vegas in New York City, all of which have ordinances. But they're all different in their own right. We'll compare our proposed ordinance to those other cities in and we'll have a matrix that will point out the similarities and differences. And then from that comparative review will also do an analysis of economic impact. So what these different proposed measures might do and how they might influence existing and proposed future hotels. So as Assistant City Manager mentioned, our goal is by the end of this month, within the next couple of weeks, be a consultant, will be conducting interviews as well as that literature review of other ordinances. And then we'll have a period to review it internally and have something back by mid-October. Speaker 5: Okay. Thank you for that, John. I do want to note for the council and for those listening that the proposed ordinance that's on the ballot in November is an ordinance that was spent, as mentioned, four or five years in the making with large hotels as part of that conversation. One of the first groups that I met with when I got into office was all of the hotels, minus the renaissance of 100 rooms or more in the city, and that we had a real understanding about what their operations is like and the fact that those are not mom and pop hotels and the fact that these hotels that are 50 rooms or less are often owned by a family and their operations is completely different from, say, a marriott that has a national standard for how they operate. And so that is one of the reasons not that we wanted to exclude a population I absolutely support. Housekeepers are having sexual assault protections in their hotels. I just think that if we're going to include that, that doing it in this short time frame without any engagement with that business community is short sighted. So I, I will start my comments and hear from the maker of the motion on some of the policy questions. Speaker 0: Kay. I'm going to count somebody. Want me to keep going through that? You want to drive some of these now or. Speaker 6: I can provide some of the answers. I'm not providing a staff report. This is just an item I'm presenting to my colleagues. So I'll do my best to. I'm sorry. Was there something. Yes, this is a proposed ordinance, but I'm not providing a staff report, so I'll do my best to articulate for my colleagues where I'm coming from, and then they'll have to make the determination as to whether it makes sense for them or not. It's not you know, it's not a staff report. So the timing of this well, first of all, this is an item since September of 2017 that I have indicated very clearly and unequivocally that I would support the panic button option, because I do believe that that is a public safety concern. However, we did hear this at the Public Safety Committee meeting. We heard this issue and there really was no data to support some of the concerns that we were hearing regarding the need for panic buttons. And it wasn't until the most recent discussions that the need and desire or perceived request for panic buttons was highlighted very clearly to the City Council. And I. If that public safety concern is in fact legitimate and honest, which I believe it is, then it makes no sense for us to wait. I'm assuming that this ballot initiative is going to pass. Absolutely. But why would we wait to implement a public safety aspect that we have repeatedly meeting after meeting, heard from people that they want and it will make them feel safer. The Fiscal Impact Study, as council member Pearce may recall, was about the impact to the city for compliance of the square footage requirement. The panic buttons would not be paid for by the city. They'd be paid for by the entity that would be disseminating them to their employees. So there would be no cost to the city. And that's why in September of 2017, I recommended both privately to council members who were supporting the item and publicly during the council meetings that I believed we should move forward on the panic button item, since that appeared to be a very necessary item that had no nexus to some of the other provisions that were in the ordinance and something that I believed the Council unanimously agreed was necessary. So. While I understand Councilmember Pierce's concerns and thoughts and I respect them, while I may not disagree with them, I assure you that sitting here on this side of the dais and hearing woman after woman say they're not safe because they don't have panic buttons, and that's something that the city council can easily fix and remedy from a public safety standpoint. Why wouldn't we? If something were to happen between now and when this ballot initiative passes, wouldn't we want to say that we did everything we could in our power to protect those women now that they have raised that as a public safety issue for the city, not for the hotels, but for the city. So I think, you know, it's it's a prudent thing to do. Frankly, I don't really understand the basis of the opposition. Is it that I. So there's a couple of things in regards to subcontracted workers. I, I've no objection to including that. In fact, I'm totally amenable to any recommendations colleagues want to make. So we can include subcontractors. If, if, if that's a friendly, I would absolutely accept it. We can also I do believe there was some outreach done with the motels. But remember, this is a proposal for an ordinance that will go through the proceedings, for an ordinance to be adopted. And we can certainly phase in implementation if there's going to be a financial burden for hotels similar to what we've done with other policies that we've set where we've been concerned about the impact on small business owners. We can certainly phase an implementation to address that. But I do believe that if hotel workers are concerned about not having public I'm sorry, panic buttons when they're accessing public and the private rooms, then motel workers would have the same concerns. And so I do believe and again, I remember having this conversation, Councilmember Pearce, with you in a public setting and September of 2017, where I said I believed that any provision should apply to both hotels and motels. So, you know, while I understand the concerns, it it's a very simple item that places at the disposal of every hotel worker and every motel worker access to an alarm system so that they feel safer. And that is really a public safety concern. And it separates it out from other issues that really don't have a nexus to public safety. So this is purely a public safety item with no other factors attached to it. Those factors will be addressed by the voters at the ballot. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 6: Thank you. So I have some. Speaker 5: A few. Speaker 6: Questions. I am also struggling with this due to a few things. So the first and foremost is the process. I agree with Councilmember Pearce that this was submitted very late on a Friday over a holiday weekend on the supplemental agenda when we've been oftentimes chastised for doing that, if for any reason. But this is a very heavy item. I understand that it's looked at as maybe just a public safety item. Speaker 1: But it's a pretty heavy item submitted very late. Speaker 6: Not even including any of the Claudia Law stakeholders or any of the council colleagues that have pushed this through. So I feel that that could have been, you know, one way to to just have us weigh in on on this work because it's been done for so long. So the process for me is a little bit shaky in that sense. Secondly, I would have to disagree on the fiscal impact. When we say fiscal impact, we talk about city resources. Well, when the bulk of the item includes PD resources, we should actually ask for a fiscal impact. A female officer website information on a website, outreach to hotels and motels, which is fine, and I know our PD may be doing that already, but we haven't had a report, a full report back at the city council level to understand what they're currently doing and what we need to do. We absolutely I think many of us agree that we want panic buttons. We want extra security measures at motels or hotels, less than 50. But there's a lot in here that we're not talking about. Speaker 1: And there's no fiscal impact, especially after we. Speaker 6: Talked about the financial policies of our Bossi. Speaker 1: Including fiscal impact not included. Speaker 6: So again, like I said, public safety resources that are being expended. I understand we're taking out the female officer component. But I think we need additional information and it would be great to have additional information on how these how we were how we derived these resources and. Speaker 1: How much they'll cost. Speaker 7: Lastly, I. Speaker 6: Agree the timing seems very bad. It just seems very negative. It may look like it's confusing voters, which we don't ever want to do. And it makes it unclear as as to whether as to what the city council is currently doing versus. Speaker 5: What WW would do. Speaker 6: And I think that that to me seems a bit I don't know, it seems a bit unethical in my sense that we have this coming down the pipeline. People don't really understand or may be able to differentiate what. Speaker 5: WW and what. Speaker 6: The what this item may or may not do. So I would actually like to see additional information and I'll let I'll let my council colleagues speak as well. But I'd like to hear additional information on fiscal impacts. I'd like to hear additional information on timeline and additional information to any legal implications. We have the Political Reform Act, and I don't know if that will have any repercussions with this. I mean, city attorney parking, do you find that we're going to be having any issues with this, at least with perception? Speaker 2: We we again, we got this on Friday. Also, we have not done any legal research on any of those issues at this time. Speaker 6: Thank you. So I would just ask us to review that because I think that those are very key, important issues. And in fact, you know, when we put this item together a year ago, I spoke with every hotel. Speaker 5: Whether they liked what. Speaker 6: I was saying or not. I spoke with every hotel and made sure that they were engaged. And so I don't think that our motel owners are engaged. I would also say on top of the motel thing, we have a nuisance abatement policy that Councilmember Richardson has brought forward. Do we even think people that are not even keeping up with the quality of life in their motels, do we honestly think that they're going to add a panic button for women and men that have been potentially could be sexually assaulted? I don't know. I think we need more information on that as well. Speaker 5: So I'll just put it out there. Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilmember Orinda. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. Speaker 0: Let me ask a question, and I know that this is a we've got a long speakers list. Do we want to take a last vote briefly for our budget? Folks can head home and then we'll continue this conversation if they know that they're ready for us. It's just a quick vote if there's no objection with the council we have. Can you please read the item?

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request a series of public safety measures designed to proactively address this public safety concern: 1. Request City Attorney to draft an ordinance requiring the following: All hotel and lodging employers, to include motels, shall provide an emergency contact device, often referred to as a panic button to each hotel employee assigned to work in a guest room or other space without other hotel employees present, regardless of job classification, at no cost to the hotel employee. A hotel employee may use the emergency contact device if the hotel employee reasonably believes there is an ongoing crime, threatening behavior, unwanted physical or verbal contact, or other emergency in the employee's presence. The hotel or lodging employee may cease work and leave the immediate area of danger to await the arrival of assistance. The hotel or lodging must allow guest room doors to be left open during cleaning. The hotel or lodging must also allow any employee reporting abusive or concerning behavior to be reassigned to a different area, away f

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Speaker 0: It's just a quick vote if there's no objection with the council we have. Can you please read the item? Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to declare Appropriations Ordinance for FY 19 as an emergency ordinance read and adopted is read in later in the next regular meeting of City Council for Final Reading. Speaker 0: Thank you. This is our final vote on the budget. Can I get a motion in a second? Thank you. And thanks to our finance team and thank you to OPEC and council. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion case. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you. Budget staff. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for all your work. Really amazing job again. So let me let me go ahead and go back to our discussion. I think I had just I was just about to call in cuts from your rank. I think that's where we were. Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 0: So cut somebody, Ringo. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mary. And congratulations to us all for tonight's success in getting this merger through. And it's it's a wonderful feeling. It's always good when you have a balanced budget and a good, strong one like we have this time around. But getting back to the item at hand, I have to agree with my colleagues in terms of where we're at with this this issue. The most important one for me is that we have a measure on the ballot that's coming up. And the last point that Councilmember Gonzalez made, it's one that really concerns me, is that given that we have a ballot measure, I'm already coming before the voters and we're addressing pretty much the same issues here as an ordinance. What would impact would. I'd have a city attorney. Okay. Okay. Okay. Speaker 0: Mr. City. Attorney, sorry you had a council question. Speaker 2: I'm just following up on that council member Gonzalez's issue regarding that. We already have a ballot measure coming before the voters and Iseman and the city council bringing this before the body as a ordinance for you to draft. And you have gotten you you admittedly have gotten it. Yes. Got it Friday or saw it yesterday. Whenever is there. So is there is there an internal conflict that is is being put before us here in terms of having to deal with a an ordinance or a request for you to do an ordinance when there is something already on the ballot that addresses a lot of these issues. Clearly, you're correct that this ordinance does address an item or a part of an item that is well before the voters on November 6th. I don't know that, and I haven't done any legal research on this, but I don't think that that's a legal conflict or where there is some sort of ethical issue that it raises for the council in considering an ordinance such as this. The the issue here is a panic button applied to all hotels and motels. You have a measure on the ballot that would apply to a certain criteria of hotels, and it has other items included in that initiative that go beyond what this proposed ordinance would cover. So there is a difference and there's a significant difference. If you were trying to pass something identical, I think you could even do something like that if you wanted to. But whatever, as the mayor mentioned, whatever the initiative had in it, if it was stricter, it would control. And even if it wasn't stricter, if the initiative passes, it may control anyway, depending on how that initiative is written. Some citizens initiatives allow councils to take action that are more restrictive than what the voters passed or more in conformance with what the voters passed. In others, you can only amend it or change it by a vote of the people. So I, I don't think that there's that legal issue that you're bringing up, whether it causes confusion or not, obviously, that that's always a concern to. But I don't I don't think that that would be an issue, a legal issue that we would be challenged on or there would be a success. We could always get challenged on everything, but they would be successful on that. Well, as you said, you know, there may not be an ethical issue here, but it certainly doesn't pass the smell test for me because we like to there's been a process the there was a petition that was distributed. Over 40,000 people signed on to the petition. It's going to be on a November ballot. And I think that this measure that we have here today or this proposal that we have here today basically is to a great extent circumvents what's already been out there in terms of the other people that send out a petition expecting to vote on that in a in November. And then we have this ordinance here that if we were to adopt before the vote, would basically make that WW null and void, although there are some considerations there about if one was more restricted and the other the more restrictive one would take over or would take precedence. Is that correct? Or only as to if. I think the assumption here is that Measure W will pass. If it doesn't pass, this ordinance obviously would be in place and protect or would require all hotels to have to provide panic buttons to their employees if measure WW does pass. It's it seems to be more restrictive in certain areas as identified by some of the speakers, and that would apply to those hotels. Yeah, from my understanding, what I saw on the on the draft is that it's basically hotels with 100 rooms or more and it doesn't address the the the smaller hotels or the or those that are that are as as a Councilmember Richards put forward in the nuisance hotels those that are they're smaller than or less than 100. So the question comes back, I mean, how much vetting was done before bringing this item forward today in terms of discussing this or sharing this with the other hotels or those at lesser of 100 rooms? And although there's still some definitions about. Airbnb and these other types of of businesses that that have these these opportunities for people to to get a room at at a at a at a lesser rate or more of a personal experience being in a smaller location. You know, I still have to to have that information as well, that that that type of of vetting and charito. How much are those types of facilities used and what the impacts are and how the how do they get cleaned? I mean, how I mean, there's got to be some contracting that goes out for these facilities, for these other optional lodging experiences that people people have. I'm you know, I'm not. A lot of these are rentals. People buy them and then rent them out and then get people to get in there to clean them. And and and the complaints that I've heard and this is an issue that that I grew up and down the coast where there's a facilities or there is Airbnb opportunities out there that just get abused, especially along the coast. People have parties. They in fact, I think a councilmember asked and brought it up a few a few weeks ago about, you know, the these big houses that that go multi rooms and people, fraternities or or wedding parties or whatever, rent them out, trashed the place, trashed the neighborhood, and provides another opportunity for for somebody to get hurt, especially when they're going in there to clean it up. So, I mean, this just this all this isn't make any sense to me at this at this point, at this juncture of the process of getting the the measure on the ballot and then having the voters vote on it and then confusing that whole issue, whether it's true or not. But it will be that what the city already has something like adopted something in this ordinance where I and voted on it. So I mean, that's a concern I have. And I'd rather that we let the process continue that we receive and file this. I'm not making the motion right now, but I mean, I think we need more discussion take place. Has the other ideas queued up as well? So I'm not going to making a motion at this point. But the bottom line is that there's still more information that we need. And there was we didn't that 60 days or 30 days that we requested for a physical study to come back, we haven't gotten there yet. So we really don't know what the impacts are going to be on this. And especially when we're talking about law enforcement being involved in this, we're talking about getting some city staff also involved in this. And we just haven't had a physical study on it. So I'm very, very reluctant at this point to to support this motion. Speaker 0: Councilman Richardson. Speaker 9: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. Okay. So a few questions. I think the response to the first question is going to the timing. Whether I need to ask the question is not so. Councilwoman Pryce making the motion. I mean, the author of the of the motion. So are you open to modifying this so that we can get it passed tonight. Speaker 6: Depending on the modifications? Absolutely. Speaker 9: I've heard at least three people talk about the most critical thing is doing this at the same time as an open election that we just certified a couple of weeks ago. So my question to you is, are you willing to allow staff to begin doing research? And then we actually, like turn this into a feasibility motion and then we begin the process of the ordinance once we have results from WW. Speaker 6: No, I'm not, and I appreciate you asking. And although I'd love for us to reach some sort of consensus on this, and I'm amenable to whatever modifications people want to make, I am submitting this for consideration as an ordinance with the limited purpose of establishing panic button policy to address the public safety concerns that have been raised at multiple council meetings. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 9: Then I'll ask the rest of my questions. So so to be clear, is this a motion? This is not a motion about feasibility. This is a motion to direct staff to create an ordinance. Speaker 6: The City Attorney. Yes. Speaker 9: Okay. Mr.. ACTUALLY, Mr.. City Manager. When's the last time you saw this recommendation? Was the first time you saw this recommendation? Are you familiar with this? Speaker 2: I thought this morning. I know Mr. Modica got it on Friday afternoon. Speaker 9: Okay. Now, when I bring an idea to city council, having worked here for quite some time, typically I get a little pushback when a little a little pushback or staff may suggest, hey, would you mind making this and we've had this conversation. I don't know how many times would you mind making this a feasibility? Give us some time to come back and tell you how we approached the issue. Did you have that? Do you have that same concern here? And did you express that the council to Councilman Price upon seeing the item? Speaker 2: No. Speaker 9: So you don't have any concerns about timing or meeting it? Speaker 2: Well, things come up on supplementals and once it's on a supplemental staff is kind of pushed out of the process at that time. Speaker 9: So you don't want more time. You want to move. Speaker 2: Forward with this one? We serve at the will of the council. Speaker 9: Nice. All right. I look forward to a, you know, consistent answer moving forward on items like this. Okay. So speaking of supplemental. Councilwoman Price, why was this brought on supplemental? Speaker 6: Well, there's. Speaker 7: Really. Speaker 6: Gosh, a multitude of reasons. Like I said, this item was drafted by me in November of 2017, but I decided not to bring it at that time. I felt compelled to after the last hearing that we had to bring it. I will. I was told that next week's meeting was going to be canceled potentially, and I'm not going to be here on the 18th. So for me, this was the right timing. And and while I appreciate your recommendations on process and I could learn certainly a lot from my colleagues on process and sometimes some of us, you know, we learn from one another all the time. What I would say is, is highlighting the deficiencies in the process is that's one approach. But I'd ask that we focus on the content. Is the content objectionable in regards to whether the city manager would ask for more time? My understanding is that the police department is already doing the recommendations that are listed here because they reported on that in October of 2017 at the public safety meeting. And I did provide a memorandum for the full Council highlighting their presentation that Deputy Chief Conant provided to the Public Safety Committee meeting in October of 2017, highlighting what they're doing, the panic button item that it would be up to the hotels really well. Speaker 9: I asked about why he brought it on Labor Day. I don't want to deviate too much since I have the floor from that that question. Speaker 6: Okay. Well, you let me know when my answers are beyond the scope of your question. Speaker 2: I will. Speaker 9: Think so. In my opinion. Speaker 2: In order to have a full, fair. Speaker 9: Conversation, I try to try not to utilize supplementals unless there's, you know, a deadline, a time frame that we're looking to meet, particularly when there's a three day weekend, a Labor Day weekend, in order to give a just a fair opportunity to the council to think about it and come prepared for the meeting. Speaker 6: No. And so. Speaker 9: Yeah. And so, you know, obviously that wasn't presented. So I guess my question is, it doesn't matter on this issue. Does it matter to you to have consensus on the council or is this something that you're very comfortable moving forward on? A split vote? A very divided vote? Speaker 6: You know, I would always love to have consensus, but on this particular issue, I think that's been a challenge from the very beginning for us to get to. So although I would love to have consensus, I think we have to be realistic and I think people feel very strongly about this this item. You know, I know that when we had these discussions in September of 2017, I, I talked with the folks that were advocating for it and I said, I really would love to support this. Is there any way we can bifurcate it and just address the panic button issue since there's no nexus and there just wasn't a willingness to do that? So I want to be realistic in the answer to this question is yes. I would love to have consensus. Do I mind a split vote? Sometimes I think you just have to do what you think is best, even if it means you're not voting with everybody else. Speaker 9: I get it. Speaker 4: So in the way you envision this. Speaker 9: Most ordinances like this that reach out to both the smaller business, the larger businesses, they've had a period of outreach. Did you envision some outreach on this? Speaker 6: I did, and I believe there was some outreach done with the motels. I don't have too many of them in my own. Speaker 3: Diversity or. Speaker 6: I believe by some of the council members. But like I said, we can certainly implement a phasing for the motels that gives them the time to I would venture to guess most motels are not going to want to pick up an additional cost for something like this because they're small business. Probably a lot of hotels aren't going to want to do this either, but it's really about public safety. And sometimes when we establish policies like we do to help the environment or whatever the case may be, we will phase in because it's the right thing to do what. Speaker 3: The. Speaker 6: Policy is, the right thing to do. We can phase in the implementation to address their concerns, but this is the start of the process of drafting an ordinance and again of all of your comments about process are absolutely noted and I don't disagree with them at all. Speaker 4: Great. Speaker 9: So in terms of the outreach, so with this outreach, be in favor of the ordinance or oppose the ordinance, did you envision any educational materials to go out as a part of this outreach? Speaker 6: No, I did not. Speaker 9: Okay. Speaker 3: I would just mean. Speaker 6: Like written material. Speaker 9: Anything. Any material for outreach? Speaker 6: No. I mean, I don't I don't think so. It's not a very complicated issue. Hotel workers are afraid of being in a room with a customer and a panic button. What I think is a. Speaker 2: Little more. Speaker 9: Flex than that. Speaker 3: Well, yeah. Speaker 1: With regards to panic button. Yeah. Okay. Tell me what aspects. Speaker 6: Of the panic buttons you'd include on an information. Speaker 9: Well, I mean, first I would conduct outreach and like you mentioned on the the health. Reach the homelessness. 50 Gay Outreach. I think that those materials should come back to council so we can review outreach materials just like. Speaker 5: Oh, but I. Speaker 6: Was saying I wouldn't do any written materials. I'm saying. Speaker 3: What is your letter written? Speaker 9: I think that's even better. I mean, what I think a fair thing to do is to be honest about the fact that the way this has been presented with, you know, on Labor Day weekend, no outreach or interest to reaching across the aisle to a member of the council who's been engaged in the issue. I mean, that would have gone a long way just to help bring the council together. Then expressing at the very beginning of this that you're not willing to talk timeline. It appears to me that this is more politically motivated than actual policy conversation. And then there is the appearance and you know, city attorney, I'm not sure if city attorney or if PC would have issues with this, but I do have a problem with conducting outreach during a public election, conducting outreach. So I would say that all the outreach and all that should not happen until after the election. I think that's the simplest way that you can clear clean this up. All right. Number one, we just came through a circumstance all measure M when three members of the city council were accused and then, you know, you know, went away with three members of the council, were accused of using public resources during campaign season to campaign for one way or the other on a measure. Now, PC cleared it, but it became an issue. Speaker 4: And frankly. Speaker 9: We need to learn from those experiences and operate and behave a bit differently during election time. The last thing I would say here is that this is a real opportunity to turn the page on this issue. And the way that we do that is maybe by taking a step back from our egos and honestly saying, is this what's best for the city to engage in this conversation right now? Because it's not. I personally believe that the public has going to begin a conversation citywide. The integrity of that conversation, I think we should be. We're already conducting a feasibility study or a financial impact analysis. I think it's very simple to to ask city staff, while you're going through this process, begin to prepare for should we be in the position to implement WW then or not implement a WW one way or the other? We want to be able to pick up the conversation right then and move it, move it forward. And I think that will do it. I think that with unanimous support, he'll be less political. And then people, people could feel comfortable not thinking this politically motivated or unethical or whatever it is. And so that's my honest heartburn about this. I wish we didn't have to talk about it this late. And I wish that, frankly, I wish you had a lot more sunshine to it. And I wish that we could just leave the council meeting feeling good. But it seems like we always end on this issue. Speaker 0: Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember, let me go back. Let me I know we're going back to Councilmember Pearce in a minute. Let me maybe ask a couple questions that could fill in some of the questions that have come up. I know there's other questions, but just so that I'm clear, too, and I know that when we go through an ordinance process, regardless of when it's brought up or what have you, there is a process that happens and that that basically is an ordinance gets presented and put onto the agenda. Then it goes to the city attorney. The city attorney spends an unspecified amount of time, depending on whatever amount of time you need for the issue that's in front of us. And then that issue, of course, then comes back to the council, and then there's got to be two separate votes post that. And so I know there's some conversations happening about like the timing or when it's going to when it's something going to happen or not happen. But I also think we have to also all recognize that we don't know the timing because a lot of is dependent on the city attorney's schedule. And when he would bring the initial draft of that back to the body. And then at that point, the body has to begin having conversations on the initial draft of the ordinance. And so I just say that they know that there's been some conversations about the timing. And I mean, I know that the election was brought up a few times, were, you know, 60 days away from that. We're close. And so I'm not sure that anyone here on this body should be convinced one way or another that somehow this is going to happen for sure before or even after that period. And this is my assumption it could be wrong. But just just from a first and just ask the city attorney putting aside the multiple readings that would have to happen at the Council for for an ordinance like this. I mean, how much minimum time would you need just to bring back the first ordinance back and you guys doing your work? Speaker 2: I, I don't think we could come back excuse me before 30 days, at the minimum. There's been a lot of I've taken a lot of notes here and some legal research that we have to do in addition to the other work we're currently doing. So, you know, we could try and get back 30 days, but I don't see it coming back before then. Speaker 0: So are you saying that at a minimum you would need 30 days? Speaker 2: Yes, at a minimum. Speaker 0: Okay. And I just say that because so now we're we're into the beginning of October and then there still has to be two conversations of this body that's we're talking about minimum here. So at a minimum, it's early October. Speaker 2: That's if everything. Speaker 0: Goes that's if everything goes perfectly with your office. And once it's minimum once we're past minimum of October or now we're in mid or late October where this is coming back to the council, depending on on where it is. And then there has still has to be two separate conversations. And if there's and if there's research that's gained or a discussion that that that that is different at one of those conversations and we have to restart the whole process. So I only say that because I think this is just my personal take, that regardless what the Council did tonight, it seems to me. That too. For this process to be completed even by that date would be very difficult. That is just my my reading of this. And if someone disagrees with that, let me know. But I think it'd be very hard. I have never seen an ordinance would go this fast on on a topic like this. And so the agenda item doesn't say it has to be back like next week. It says start the process of the ordinance. So if there's disagreement on that, I'd like to hear that. But that's the way I'm at least interpreting what's in front of us is there is no time limit for this to somehow come back before the election. So I just want to put that out there. I know there's other people that are that are queued up, but I would think that to do an ordinance that is I mean, listen, this is this is an important issue. I think there's not anyone on this body that doesn't recognize this as a huge, important issue that's in front of us. And I agree with with with Councilman Price. I think it is going to pass when when it's in front of voters and in November as well. And so and so, I think that this will take some time regardless of the vote tonight, if that's the direction that council goes in. And I want to just add that to the mix as we're having this conversation. So it. Mr. City Attorney. Right. Is that sound accurate or my off here? Speaker 2: No, I think that's accurate. And then if everything went perfect, obviously it doesn't go into effect until 31 days after you sign it. So you're probably into the year somewhere in there. Okay. Speaker 0: Okay. So let me keep going through the speakers list. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 5: Okay. I'm not going to continue to harp on the well, I'm going to say one last thing about the process. I think the comments of, yes, I have told you that I would support panic buttons and all motels. When I said that, I fully expected that we would partner on something because this policy, I spent five years of my life writing this policy. And so to be able to to draft up a different type of language around sexual assault in hotels disregards the work and the effort that we've done. So I appreciate the efforts. I in no way do want to hold back from panic buttons reaching the housekeepers in these hotels. So I first want to say, outside of a policy standpoint, we have worked with Rose Park Neighborhood Association, AOC seven and many of our neighborhood groups around getting access to not the ideal panic buttons that I would like to see in hotels, but something similar. And I have no problem with using my divide by nine monies to go out there tomorrow and make sure that we have those in our motels while we draft this policy. So I in no way want the conversation to be that we didn't support getting panic buttons to housekeepers immediately, because that has always been my my effort on the conversation around the around the policy language that's drafted. There was a lot of effort put into thinking about those issues that I brought up earlier, the policy questions. And so, you know, those those were just ones off the top of my head. Again, I think the challenge with the timing was that even if we had even if it was a regular week and not Labor Day week, we would have had a day to do this, whereas we had our budget meeting today and we saw how smooth that went. So that's what happens when we juggle big policy discussions very last minute. So I'm in fear. Speaker 3: That there's. Speaker 5: More language than these four questions that I have, which is subcontracted workers notification of guest retaliation language and hotel workers ability for legal remedy. Would you be opposed to what I mean? I mean, yeah. Would you be opposed to taking the language from Claudia's law that only pertains to sexual assault safety and asking the staff to act in the city? Attorney to draft an ordinance for hotels of 50 rooms or less using just that language instead of reinventing the well because we have already done that work. Speaker 6: I would not be opposed to that, although I don't have that language in front of me. I will tell you that in respect for the work that has been done, again, I've said from day one, if we could separate, I said, I see no nexus between several of the items that were in the provision that was submitted to us. And if we could separate the public safety piece, I would have voted on it over a year ago. But what I did, because I know that the work that was done on this was extensive, was tried to include a lot of that same language. So if there's something that's missing out of here that you'd like to see included, totally open to that. So I guess slightly, yeah. I mean that just I don't have the ordinance in front of me, so I don't know what the components would be, but it. Speaker 5: Was all kind of rushed on it. So I think instead of doing it line by line is asking the city attorney to use the language in Claudio's law, not only around. The sexual assault protections. But the issues that I mentioned here, who's covered that there's legal remedy for them, that it's the same thing minus the square footage that's included in WW. Speaker 0: Think I I'm hearing just so I'm clear, I think Councilman Price is is is fine with that. I'm seeing her nod to Mr. City attorney. I think the big ask right now of Councilman Pierce is if we were moving forward, could we just take the language that's currently in the in the WW ordinance and just use that for the under 50 motels that are laid out in this item? Is that. Speaker 5: Correct? That's my first question, yes. Speaker 0: Okay. That's that's number one. Is that possible as you draft the ordinance, you could take that direction. Speaker 2: Certainly use that as the starting language. Yes, it would eliminate the entire motion except request city attorney to draft an ordinance for panic buttons. Right. Okay. Speaker 5: Great. So the second. Speaker 6: Although I would like the provisions that ask Long Beach PD to include information on their website and everything other than item three to be included in there. So establishing regular outreach to hotel and lodging workers to make them aware of their rights and the process and directing them to have more prominent information on their website and that ensure that language access policy is followed in regards to the dissemination of information should be included. Speaker 5: Okay. And then the second part that's important to me is the feasibility, the fact that we've spent years working with the largest hotels, but we have not done that work with the small mom and pops that everything from. Yeah, of course they probably won't be supportive, but it's a very different feasibility conversation versus a, you know, company that can spend 60 K in a election should they choose. So I think that there is a different feasibility conversation that we need to have and that that needs to happen well before we see our first draft. So while you say it might take 90 days, what does a 60 day engagement process look like with hotels? I mean, with hotels under 50 rooms? Is that something that staff could. Speaker 0: Well, I think I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think they're the motion is to direct the city attorney to prepare the ordinance. And I think the city attorney's office in their preparation of the ordinance, whether or not they conduct outreach. And in this case, I think it'd be difficult in the amount of time. But whether or not they conduct outreach, I think is is up to you and your office. Right. Depending on what information you need to craft the ordinance. Speaker 2: I wouldn't be doing outreach. No, this would be staff. I mean, if the council wants me to direct write an ordinance, I'll write the ordinance and bring it back if if you want to do some sort of outreach, I don't have the ability to do that. Speaker 5: I recognize that that's a different item. So I guess if there was a substitute motion to do outreach for, he says, yes, okay, I'm trying to interpret this. If there is a substitute motion to spend 60 days doing outreach before the to these entities before city attorney drafted it. Speaker 2: That if I may if there is a substitute motion something like that and we've done that on other items, right, that there would be some sort of a study or outreach. Speaker 5: Feasibility study. Speaker 2: To craft the ordinance. We would wait for that information to come back and then craft the ordinance if and that's we've done it that way too, that's acceptable. Speaker 5: So I guess I'm working backwards because yes, I want the language from WW. I think that makes sense. But I also think that that makes sense without us having any knowledge about how these motels and smaller hotels operate. Speaker 2: So and I if I could add, I agree with you, I think that the the intention of the outreach would be to we would use that as a starting point. But maybe some of that language doesn't make sense or maybe it needs to be tweaked and then it would come to you as kind of a package. They'd have the outreach and you'd have the draft language, and obviously the council could put all that language back in or change it back or do whatever it is they want to do to it when you get it, when we finally get something in front of you. Speaker 5: Thank you for that. And I guess my last point and then I'll hear from my colleagues would be understanding because, you know, we've got, like I said, many small motels or hotels. The cost might be a bigger issue for them versus the Marriott of the world. And so if that is one of the challenges that come up from our engagement with them, just like we did with polystyrene, what does that phase in program look like? Is there some type of city funds that we can use to try to get them panic button sooner? Or like what? What can we do to try to get those in their hands sooner rather than later and that the city plays a role in that. So. I did some I made that substitute motion. That's right. It was 130. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 0: Okay. That that's a that's a substitute motion. Speaker 5: Do I have a second? Is that what it says? Ask. Emotion motion over here. My laptop's hiding it. Sorry, guys. Speaker 0: Okay, that's a substitute. That's a substitution. Do we want to see it? That's if we can first. If we can maybe fold that into the the agenda item. May it may not be possible in the item itself. I think the request and I could be wrong. I think the request is to have some outreach, to ask to direct or direct this. So we're still directing the city attorney to begin the process of importing the ordinance. But before it comes back to the council that staff do some outreach to those that are being that would be that would be impacted by this and that that that outreach inform the city attorney in his crafting of the ordinance as it comes back and that and that when it came back, we would have that information in front of us. Now, I'm not sure if that's possible or acceptable to obviously the make the motion. I think that's what I heard that's a friendly I know she substituted I was trying to see if that was possible to do as a friendly if not I think that's okay but just want to. Speaker 5: Tell you what Charlie's not. Speaker 3: So. Speaker 2: Mayor. Members of the council. No way. Well, I'm not sure that's possible, but the way I just understand it is that the substitute motion would request staff to conduct outreach, slash study of this issue. 60, 90 days of the study. Then I would start preparing the ordinance 30, 45 days. I was I when it would come back. I mean, that's true, as I understand. Speaker 0: That's right. In the spirit of I think what I heard earlier, I was trying to I was trying to see if there's possible to get to a place where we could, you know, build them on the same page. So, you know, maybe it's not possible. I was just I was just putting it out there as something for us to consider as we as we move forward. Councilwoman Price. Speaker 6: You know, I'm going to actually I do have a few comments, but I'm going to queue up at the end because Councilwoman Mango was the second year of the original motion, but we went to public comment and didn't go back to her. So I'm going to turn it over to Councilwoman Mongo and then I'll come back up. Speaker 5: Thank you. And when I was cute, I was laying on the back rail. And unfortunately, little Samantha has been kicking me like crazy, and it has been just really tough. But so I appreciate you saying that. When Councilman Price approached me about this in September 2015, I was a supporter of it at that time. And I appreciate all the work that many councilmembers have done, and I think that everyone's work is valid and we've all had very different approaches. Many remember my comments related to working with the Defensive Tactics Training Academy that works with L.A. County Sheriff's Department and providing free training for a lot of those hotel workers. Additionally, that came out of a discussion from a leader in the motel chain industry whose wife serves as president of one of the motel chain associations. And so that outreach did start back in 2017. While Councilwoman Price approached my office last Monday about signing on to this item and I was amenable at the time, I'm still amenable , and I know that unfortunately it is a holiday weekend, but with her, not with the potential of the 11th being canceled, her being not available on the 18th, me going into pre labor on Friday and thinking I might be having a baby sooner than later and wanting to be a part of this discussion. We're here and it is what it is. So with that, I was not very supportive of the friendly to strip out the language that Councilman Price had stated she'd be open to from Councilwoman Pearce. So I'm going to make a substitute substitute to the original language submitted and signed on by me and some other colleagues. I feel that the 2017 outreach that was started including but not limited to talking to some of the motel associations. I appreciate that outreach is important and necessary. I appreciate that process could be improved. At the end of the day, whether I agree with it or not, a group of people came before us and asked for a button. And whether it's today or 30 days from now or 60 days from now or through a vote, there's. An opportunity to put it through and give them what they've requested. And for that, I hope that we can have a united vote and. Provide what was requested, and I wish it would have happened in 2017. I wish the vote could have been bifurcated before. I wish that there were times when I was outreaching on my own that I would have been supported by the original community in committee. On several occasions in meeting with different advocacy groups including but not limited to unite here. I asked for support accommodation support of minor changes to watch every single time. Any request, even if supported by hotel workers, was told to me that this is the way it is in other cities and and this is what we're moving forward with and get on board or watch out. And unfortunately that was not great. And I wish that this could have been a better example of what we should do. But with the circumstances and the timelines that we're up against, I'd just like to almost everyone who's on the speakers list has already spoken. I hope we can call for the question shortly and not repeat ourselves, because otherwise I might be having this baby at this dais any time now. So if we could appreciate that everyone has a different perspective and I appreciate the work that everyone else has done and so forth. There has been outreach. I know it's not the same kind of outreach, but not every item that comes to council has had that. And any group that's wanted to weigh on it on this has had at least four council meetings to do so and so for that, I appreciate everyone's input. Speaker 0: Mayor, I was going to go to the city attorney really quick. Speaker 2: Thank you. I'm not sure that that's a proper substitute. Substitute. You just repeated the main motion. Speaker 5: The main motion was stripped. Speaker 3: So the. Speaker 5: Original. Speaker 2: Motion. There's original motion, then a substitute motion? Speaker 5: No, the original motion. Then there was a friendly amendment that stripped it completely. Speaker 2: There was just there was never a friendly that was accepted. It was a substitute motion to add the study. 90 days or so for a study, then draft an ordinance using the language from W.W. as a substitute motion. Speaker 5: So what was the friendly. Speaker 2: Decision made by. Speaker 5: Because I thought Australia was accepted without the second approval. Speaker 2: So. Speaker 5: So what I will do is my substitute, substitute motion is that we pass the item as originally submitted with an addition of a one year implementation opportunity for motels. Speaker 3: I can right. Speaker 0: That that. Speaker 3: Is a timely point. Speaker 2: Of clarification. Does that include number four and not include number four? Speaker 5: Not include number four? Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: That is a substitute. Substitute. Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 6: Yes. And I'm going to defer to Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 5: I withdraw my substitute motion. Speaker 3: It's not on the floor. Dang it. Speaker 2: I think that there's a subset of you can't. Which are you got to you got to go work back of this now from the. We've got to. Speaker 0: You have to work from that. You have to work from the subs on the floor. Okay. So I. Speaker 1: Well, she had him. Speaker 0: Just listen to let me just say one more thing as we're moving forward. I'm hoping that as we're moving forward, that we're out, we're still focused on getting the getting the best outcome as possible. And I think that there's been some I think from those who have made the motion, they accepted some things and there's been some good conversation. And so I don't want that to get lost in our frustration at that, that we're all tired and everything else. And so let's just keep let's let's please keep going. And we do have the motion on the floor which they subsub, which is essentially the main motion striking number four with a one year implementation. Okay. So that is that is currently the motion that is on the floor. And if obviously you're still able to make fun of this, if you would like, but that is the motion that we will be voting on. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 6: Okay. Think we got to handle a little bit. So I would just like to reiterate the need for the impacts. So whether that's the legal implications, I know you had mentioned we need to do a little bit more legal research, which I think would be important given the circumstances of what this may or may not look like , perception or not, what whatever that might be. When do you think you can get that back? I know you had mentioned. Speaker 5: Maybe 60 days or. Speaker 2: We would work as hard. You know, we can try and get this back as soon as possible. I'm not sure. I mean, obviously, I understand the timing, but that it's a public safety issue. But generally speaking, a lot of these ordinances have been challenged. And so we'd want to do some research on what it is we're doing. And now that we're back to this language, there may be some questions in this language we're going to have to research also as a substitute. Substitute motion is being considered. So we will try and get something back to you in 30 days, but it may be a little longer than that. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 6: And thank you. And then I think the only other thing that was my main thing, because I know we had address the public safety issues, but I would still like just to report on. But I believe Councilmember Price mentioned that there was a two from four sent over to us based on the Public Safety Committee meeting. Did that include information about public safety resources and what we're currently doing with hotels? I just want to make sure that's clear. Yeah, and it wasn't a two from four per se. It was just I do a summary when the public safety committee meets. I usually do a written summary for all the councilmembers, and that's what it was. And yes, it was Deputy Chief Conant and it's available on audio because we listened to it today just to go through what was discussed. But Deputy Chief Conant talked about the outreach that they do with hotels, the data in regards to calls for service and, you know, some of the collaborative partnerships that they were creating around public safety, not just at the hotels, but in the downtown area, including the hotels. Okay. Thank you. I still you know, I'd love the information to come back first, but I don't know that I can support this today, but I would just like more information. Speaker 5: I think that's a big deal. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilmember Ringo. Speaker 2: Thank you, Aaron. We have a lively discussion here where things that I brought up obviously before is that I think this is going to be confusing to the electorate. They did a petition. They put it on the ballot. It's going to be coming up as WW in November. What we're doing here is basically, like I said earlier, circumventing that vote that the people have already put there. Given that, would it be possible? And and just to to paraphrase what we done before. We talked about a month ago about making a study to determine what would be the. Fiscal impacts of such an ordinance to the city. We haven't gotten that yet. So would the makers of the motion to make such a motion be amenable to holding off on? Processing this audience now until we get that fiscal impact report back to us and then go ahead and request a city attorney to proceed with any kind of a one ordinance. It's a friendly. Basically saying, can we hold off until we get the fiscal information fiscal report? Speaker 5: I appreciate the option. But I would just say that in in echoing the comments of the original motion that there's no need for a delay. I mean, we know that there's going to be a fiscal impact. We've said that when when previously it was commented on, it was said not to be of a value at that time . So I'll only repeat that. Thank you anyway. But I, I, I was kind of serious about my call for the question do I get a second on that? But I thought I had heard the but I could have been wrong. Speaker 3: Usually the one who says yes. Speaker 0: Well, I mean, if there's a second on that, we've got former speakers. Speaker 2: Mr. Anthony, was there a second on that? Yes. On a call for the question? Yes. Speaker 3: He came back and asked me why it didn't work. Speaker 2: That's not debatable. We need a two thirds majority to call for the question. Speaker 0: Okay. So so we're going to go take a vote and call for the question. Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 0: It's okay to two thirds vote. Yes. Okay. So are we are we voting on it, you people? Speaker 6: It is lots of people. Okay. Speaker 5: I will send my call for the question. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 5: I hope the speakers list won't be extended. Speaker 0: Okay. So we're back to Councilor Richardson a second. Speaker 9: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So can you elaborate on the one year implementation? What what is that? Speaker 5: So what I am hearing from my council colleagues is that they believe that outreach to the motels needs to be more extensive and that if this came back to council, it would take a while to know whether the requirements. And so I'm just creating a one year implementation so that it gives city staff the option to help ensure compliance. Speaker 9: Okay. Speaker 5: And but if you felt a shorter period was appropriate, I'm open to it. You do more outreach to that group. Speaker 9: But I personally just think there's a there's like a good government model for crafting ordinances. When the American Planning Association wars left and right, I've worked on many of them myself, argue with planning about who should get the trophy just saying. And most of them, frankly, have same format. Either they start with some kind of a pilot or the award winning ones. They start with some kind of pilot. They all have outreach that informs the crafting of the ordinance. I just think that this is there is no reason, there is no valid reason to push this through without conducting that process. And I just think I appreciate your feedback. And I believe that outreach process should just not happen at the same time as the election. I don't think that's an and I'm. Speaker 5: And that's why I said a year instead of six months, so that the outreach can start after November. Speaker 9: Okay. So you're saying outreach starts after November? Great. That's what you're saying. Yes. All right. So no outreach between now and November. Great. Okay. There's a number of issues here. So we're passing this motion without evaluating the fees, without putting the flexibility of staff to evaluate the feasibility. At 2 a.m., the day after Labor Day. Those are those. Speaker 5: Respectfully, sir, we have to discuss this since 2017. And I appreciate. Speaker 9: Respect, respectfully, and nobody knew this was coming. Speaker 0: But make sure Councilor Richardson has the floor. So let's look. Continue. Speaker 9: It is it's I'm just stating the obvious. Here is 2 a.m. is Labor Day weekend. And I still have a I still have not heard a legitimate reason on why we're rushing rushing this through. If the intent is really to if everybody on the council just expressed that they're okay go and panic button the citywide and it's all about process then there's no threat for this being killed or shut down to where after people aren't at council meetings or whatever. And it's a little less politically charged with the election season. And that's why I have a major problem with this. It has nothing to do. I just want to be clear. It has nothing to do with expanding panic buttons. The other thing is I think we do need to actually talk to motels. I'm engaged with talking to a lot of motels was a different conversation is completely different. It's about, you know, cracking down on just outdated uses and all that. And I want to have a, you know, a way to just think through how it all integrates. Right. And I just don't think that this flexibility is being given here tonight with this. So, Councilwoman Margo, I appreciate the steps that you made in that direction. But just fundamentally, I just can't I can't I can't support this, but. Speaker 5: I appreciate that and I respect that greatly. Thank you. And. This reaches everyone. And so other hotels who are prepared and have the resources would be implementing them sooner. And if that saves even one potential assault, then that's a win. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Price. Speaker 6: Thank you. So I appreciate all the comments tonight. I think it's been a great discussion. I will say, Councilman Richardson, while I understand the awards and I know you've had a lot of experience in politics, but I just want to make sure we're clear. We're not really trying to win any awards here, but we do have a public safety issue that was brought to our attention. And in September of 2017, this council stated very clearly that we were all in favor of panic buttons when those of us who voted against it voted against it because we believe there was no nexus between some of the provisions and panic buttons. Our colleagues allowed the implication to be had that we did not support panic buttons and they allowed person after. As leaders of this Dyas, as colleagues of ours and leaders of this issue, they allowed people to come to the podium and say that we did not support safety for women . I have handled I cannot tell you how many rape cases and sexual assault cases in my career. I will not go on record as being accused of not supporting panic buttons. So tonight I am supporting panic buttons loud and clear. You don't have to vote for it. I understand all your reasons. Put policy process. I mean, I'm sorry. Not policy. Put process aside. Put, put all your. I value your opinion. Honestly, I do. I learn from you all the time. You're absolutely right that the process could have been better. And there's not a day since September 2017 that I haven't thought I should have brought that panic button earlier because I drafted it in November 17. Jack knows he's here. I circulated it to people in November of 17, but people said, Oh, you know what, the issues behind us, let's not bring it back to council. We don't want to have long meetings. And I said, okay, okay. But then when person after person came in here and said, You don't care about the safety of women. That to me, that's unethical to sit back and allow your colleagues to to be accused of not caring about public safety when they've devoted their entire career to it. Just put yourself in the shoes of someone else. It's all I've ever done. It's all I've ever done. And to have people come up to the to the podium and say, I don't care about public safety and have my colleagues who are supposed to be maybe not allies in everything, but at least supporting each other in this fishbowl that we all sit in, not stand up and say, you know what , it's not about public safety. Maybe that she doesn't like this aspect of it or that aspect of it. But tonight, this is about voting in favor of panic buttons. Because if there is. A woman that gets assaulted and the next few months or in the next week or whatever, I don't want to be going on record as someone who voted against panic buttons because I didn't and I'm not going to tonight. I respect and appreciate everyone's vote. You have the right to have your own opinion, but really, let's try to separate the election from this issue. And the issue tonight is who's going to go on record as supporting panic buttons. So thank you. Speaker 0: Guys. Were having a discussion at the council. Take us to one place. Councilor Pearce, I think is not here. Vice Mayor Andrews. Speaker 4: Yes, thank you, Mayor. And I echoed those sentiments for my councilwoman, you know, Price, because the fact that an individual said to you and I would never go on the record is never, ever, you would never, ever any city. And I would never vote for the safety of females, because here the individual has buy, you know, have three daughters and one mother. So you would never, ever see me city and I would not talk about the safety of females. So you can definitely put me on the record as saying I would definitely be supportive of panic buttons. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. There there's a motion and there's a motion and a second on the floor. Members to escort and Castro votes. Speaker 2: Did you do public. Speaker 0: Places for Suzy Price's mission? Speaker 3: Well, that's. Speaker 1: Motion carries.

Emergency Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance approving and adopting the official budget of the City of Long Beach for the Fiscal Year 2018-2019, creating and establishing the funds of the Municipal Government of the City of Long Beach and appropriating money to and authorizing expenditures from said funds for said fiscal year; declaring the urgency thereof, and providing that this ordinance shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. on October 1, 2018, read and adopted as read. (Ordinance No. ORD-18-0023). (A-17)

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Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Next item, please. Was about him. 27. Speaker 3: Yeah. Speaker 1: Report from Economic Development Recommendation to execute all documents necessary for interim property maintenance and management of city owned property commonly known as community hospital district for advice. Speaker 0: Marriages between you could happen as a matter of emotion. Okay. Do we want to come off really quick here? Let me let me let Councilman Andrews. I'm sorry, Councilmember Super now. Okay. Can I got a conference when I first got you? Speaker 4: Okay. Okay. Speaker 0: Thank you, Cosmo. Super now. Speaker 4: Okay. Thank you. I appreciate my colleagues support on this item. So get us through an interim period at community hospital and I appreciate your support. Speaker 0: Okay. There's a motion in a second. Is your public comment on this on this item? Were you seen and please cast your votes. Speaker 3: Thanks for being here. You get that? So I would just. You know. Speaker 0: The vote go up yet? The vote, the record about that. Speaker 4: Oh, yeah. Speaker 0: Okay. There's a I'm not sure where we're at with the motion, but there's a we're voting. There was a motion and a second. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: A motion case. Well, now we're at the second public comment period on any items that are not in front of the agenda, seeing none. Let me go to any new business. Anyone queuing up? No. See in the business.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary, including any as-needed agreements, for interim property maintenance and management of City-owned property, commonly known as Community Hospital, at 1720 Termino Avenue, 1760 Termino Avenue, and 4111 East Wilton Street. (District 4)

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Speaker 2: Think I'm going to pick up on that? Okay. We're going to transition to our first hearing. Speaker 0: Which is our budget hearing that we're going to have similar to last week. And as a reminder tonight, we will be discussing public works, the Parks Department, Development Services, the Library Department and our Health and Human Services Department. So all of those are up for for discussion as part of the budget hearing today. And so with that, I'm going to go ahead and have the clerk read the item. Speaker 1: Hearing. Item one is a report from financial management, a recommendation to conduct a budget hearing to receive and discuss an overview of the proposed fiscal year 2019 budget for Public Works, Parks, Recreation, Marine Development Services, Library Services, and Health and Human Services Budget. Oh, that's it. Speaker 0: And thank you. Let me turn this over to Mr. Modica. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor, and members of the council. So we're happy to be here tonight to talk a little bit about the work of a number of our departments. You heard last week, as the mayor said, from our public safety departments and the departments are going to hear to from tonight are really part of what we call our public safety continuum. So public safety is really the number one thing that a city does, but they don't do it alone. It's not police and fire by themselves. They're supported by so many other people throughout the organization. And so you'll be hearing from a number of those departments. So we'd like you to just keep that in mind is when you see public works, when you see Parks and Rec, when you see development services, they're all working on that same mission to try to keep us all safe and make this an amazing community. And with that, we'll start with public works and turn it over to our director, Craig Beck. Speaker 0: Thank you, Tom. Good evening, mayors, city council and community members. My name is Craig Beck and I'm the director of Public Works. I have the opportunity this evening to provide a brief overview of the department's fiscal year 19 budget. Of course, services for public works include the maintenance, rehabilitation of the cities, rights of way infrastructure, including streets, sidewalks and urban forest. The department also provides services supporting a healthy and sustainable city environment, including waste diversion, stormwater management and enhancing livability. And finally, we provide for the safe and efficient design, construction and maintenance of our public facilities. For fiscal year 18, I wanted to highlight a few accomplishments, which we've had a very busy year with significant efforts to further the city's sustainability goals, including the collection of 190,000 tons of trash and 25,000 tons of recycling that was diverted from the waste stream. This equals about 19.5 million trash bags. That's a lot of work by our dedicated crews. The clean team responded to 85,000 requests. 15,000 of those came from the Golden Beach app. They collected 22,000 illegally dumped items and 17,000 mattresses. Yes. 17,000 mattresses. They address 300 homeless encampments and supported 195 neighborhood cleanups. And I want to personally thank all the volunteers who clean their communities. It makes a big difference and a positive impact. Citywide, the city continues with its conversion of our street lights to LEDs. This year, the focus will be on completing the 3000 historic style post top lights and the remaining lights in our city parks. This effort is saving enough electricity to power 350 homes and reducing the city's electrical cost by $330,000 annually. Investment in infrastructure continues as staff delivers the many measure funded projects. Some key areas that enhance livability in Long Beach include a new Bellflower Boulevard Protected Bike Lane, the new Sixth Street Bike Boulevard. Also, construction is underway for the new Daisy Bike Boulevard, connecting uptown to downtown. The city's bike share has reduced traffic by 70,000 vehicle trips as people take an easier and healthier option. Riding 200,000 miles this year on our blue bikes, keep it up. The Public Works Street Team received over 33,000 requests for service. This number of requests sometimes overwhelms resources, but crews worked overtime to deliver, filling 28,000 potholes, trimming 20,000 trees, removing 1.2 million square feet of graffiti, installing 4300 street signs, and supporting 100 road closures for special events. Last week, there was a lot of discussion about the city's capital improvement program, but it did want to re-emphasize the significant progress being made in updating city streets, completing 43 lane miles this year and 49% over the first two years of our overall plan. There are roughly 500 hardworking men and women who support making Long Beach a great city. This will continue. They will continue these efforts in fiscal year 19, implementing priorities, supporting supported by the $199 million budget. Notable changes in the Department for 2019 include the clean team as as the clean team grows as the city experiences an increase in illegal dumping. To assist with managing the tens of thousands of request of clean team support, I am proposing to add a new supervisor position to the operation. This individual will provide improved communication and coordination with partner departments as well as better engagement with our residents. The department is also working to reorganize operations, creating a team to focus on project management. This change will provide for more efficient delivery of capital projects for parks and public facilities. This budget also includes a proposal to transition construction management activities to city employees. Adding city inspectors is more cost effective, will streamline processes, help retain institutional knowledge, and to develop individuals with the skills necessary to oversee all aspects of projects in the city's public right of way. Both public and private projects. The ordinance banning use of expanded polystyrene was adopted by this Council on June 3rd, 2018. As a reminder, phase one will go into effect on September 3rd, 2018, and includes all city facilities and operations, including our leased facilities and city special events. Staff has initiated the I Choose to Reuse campaign educating the community about the impacts of polystyrene and available green options. Hopefully we've all had a chance to look at the bag that was left for you tonight. The city operates under a municipal national pollutant discharge elimination system. That's a mouthful. We just call it PDFs, which is still a mouthful, but that really regulates stormwater that enters into our storm drain systems. Under this permit, the city is now required to inspect industrial and commercial facilities that are significant sources of pollutants in stormwater staff as well. Staff has estimated that there are over 2000 facilities that must be inspected twice during a five year permit cycle. And a new position is needed to conduct this work. Challenges and opportunities. Take one look in downtown and you will notice a significant amount of construction activity. While this is good for the economy, it is also creating challenges for delivery of city projects. Because of the high demand for qualified contractors, bid pricing is exceeding available project budgets, requiring a change in scope or identifying additional funding. Most recently, tariffs are also having an impact driving up costs on imported materials. In this competitive environment, the city's traditional purchasing processes are hampering staff's ability to bid, negotiate, finalize and deliver needed projects. New strategies are required to meet new demands, and the team is working to review procedures to see where efficiencies can be added. I hope to provide council with some recommendations in the coming year. The competitive job market is also creating challenges with retention and recruitment of qualified staff. Public works and civil service are working together on new opportunities to streamline the testing process. Hopefully, this will help attract a new generation of workers. The department continues to find new ways to engage our residents and communicate using technology and social media. Our various public works social media outlets have over 11,000 followers and have become a go to channel for the community to express their questions and comments about projects. We are also beginning to utilize Facebook Live and other similar video streaming sites as a way to share project updates, educate residents on existing services and introduce new ones. Updating our online presence and improving the current Go Long Beach application is also necessary to meet the demands of increased workload. We strive to improve how public works, communicates with our residents and plan to make social media and communication in general a key goal for 2019. Lastly, I want to highlight new funding from this SB one state gas tax. The city is expecting an additional $8 million each year to help deliver much needed street and sidewalk projects, with a backlog of over 500 million a need. This funding is crucially important. In fiscal year 19, 11th Street projects are planned because of SB one. That concludes my presentation and I'm available for questions. Thank you. I think what we're going to do is we're going to break this up. And so we were here. We're going to go out and hear public works and parks and then development services and maybe do questions for those. And that way, with then all of the questions are at once. If there's any objection to that, we're okay. All right. Well, then let's go ahead and move on to public parks. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We will hear from our director, Harold Mowat, for Parks, Rec and Marine. Thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the City Council. It is my pleasure to present to you the Department of Parks Recreation and Marine 2019 proposed budget. My name is Hit Out of the mind and I'm your new prime director. I have been your new director for just a bit over two months, and I'm motivated to provide people with the opportunity to have fun and experience delight at our parks, recreation facilities and beaches. That is why, as you just saw at the All-City Beach Day just last Thursday was a great example where 2400 youth from all parts of our city came together and had a fun, fantastic fun at the beach. We provide PR and provides the community the opportunity to have fun, stay healthy and fit and enjoy each other's company in a respectful way. These are wonderful summer memories we just gave this last Thursday to so many youth memories that strengthen a sense of unity in the community. Our aspiration is to continue to be a system of excellence that serves all of Long Beach. Our core services have yielded award winning programs for the community. Parks, beaches and humane treatment of animals is our focus. And the investments that are included in the fiscal 19 budget will help our city continue to be recognized as part of the top park and recreation systems nationally. I feel fortunate to join a team that has accomplished so much this past year. Measure a clever grant writing and other funding strategies have funded great progress. New playgrounds at Jackson Inlet, Cerritos Parks, various community center improvements, a new dog park at Bixby Park and three synthetic fields are great reasons to celebrate. This year alone, we have had we have added close to 61 new acres with the addition of the red car greenbelt, the forest wetlands, Drake Chavez Greenbelt and the Willow Springs Wetlands Restoration. The exciting and long awaited Alamitos Bay Marina Rebuild project was also completed this year. This $105 million project, funded by revenue bonds, included the renovation of 1600 boat slips with state of the art concrete floats. It is great to join a team of excellent Park Recreation and Marine employees in running the 21st Best Park System in the country. This includes the largest municipally run marina system in the nation. We have amazing facilities and waterways that bring joy to everyone who visits. We maintain and restore our natural habitats because they add beauty and health to the community. We were recently recognized by the American Planning Association for our efforts related to the development of the Uptown Open Space Vision Plan and for the urban design of Combined Park. The department continues to hit the mark with youth and family programs, concerts in the park, youth sports in swing programs. We are very appreciative of our partnerships that help us keep doing this wonderful work. Some of our partners are Signal Hill Petroleum, Port of Long Beach, the Los Angeles Dodgers, our RBI Foundation, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, the Los Angeles Clippers, the the Long Beach Unified School District, and many more. Equally important is our partnership efforts to help promote responsible pet ownership and the humane treatment of animals. We are thrilled to report that Animal Care Services has seen another significant reduction in the number of animals being impounded, with 18% fewer dogs and cats coming to the shelter in fiscal year 18 compared to fiscal year 17. Also, we continue to support spay and neuter efforts which have resulted in contributing reductions in the unwanted pet population. For fiscal year 19 are proposed budget totals over $64.5 million across all funds, with $37.7 million in the general fund. The department also has substantial tidelands funds budgeted to support our operations in the marinas, beaches and waterways. We bring in $38.4 million in revenue. The department contributes 12.3 million in revenue to the general fund, revenue from permits for facility reservations, contract classes and golf operations just to name a few. The Thailand funds brings over 24 million, most of which comes from marina slip fees. We also have close to $1.6 million in grants, primarily for youth services in the proposed budget. Over the last two years, we have been successful in obtaining almost $5.6 million in grants to support park projects. The budget provides for 438 full time equivalent positions during our busy summer months. Our staffing grows to close to 1000 people. We are proud of our role as a local workforce development engine. There are many notable positive changes in this budget, including a new a new set of measure, a funded projects to provide for more of our infrastructure needs in fiscal year 19, proposed park projects for fiscal year for fiscal year 19 were covered last week in the CIP budget presentation. So I won't go over them here, but they are included in this slide. The availability of these funds is greatly appreciated. In the ongoing quest to innovate and find new ways to understand and meet the needs of the community. The department is proposing to reorganize, to reorganize existing staff, to add a community engagement and partnership bureau. And we are so excited by the additional investments in our park maintenance activities as well. The proposed budget of $1.2 million in one time resources will allow us to to purchase the water necessary to better address our parks, medians and those in open space needs. The proposed budget provides additional facility maintenance staffing, which will enhance our ability to proactively address facility needs before they become more costly projects. Also, the budget provides the additional staff resources to allow for the nightly securing of the freestanding restrooms in our parks to prevent issues of misuse and vandalism. The proposed budget continues the investment in the Be Safe program at 11 park sites next year, helping to keep youth and families engaged in positive and safe activities on weeknights during the longer daylight hours of summer. We are thrilled to announce that almost 30,000 program visits were provided by this valuable community public safety program. The proposed budget also includes one time resources to support animal care services, adoption efforts aimed at improving upon the library release rate increases achieved in recent years. The proposed budget also includes close to $1,000,000 in one time funding for new in-water storm debris equipment, which will build upon the current boom infrastructure and utilize new technology to proactively remove debris from the water before it lands on the beaches. As we face the coming year, there will continue to be challenges to be confronted. But challenges creatively approached are often opportunities to advanced improve services. We will continue to explore a long term solution to right size the department's budget for water to irrigate our urban forest and grounds landscape. We look forward to be sure to be creative in the advancement in the improvement of our aging park facilities and collaborate in in a collaborative way with our city partners. We are and we further understand that we can better meet the social, recreational and enrichment needs of the community through partnerships in our parks. Lastly, something that is of particular interest of mine is we're looking to update our 15 year old departmental strategic plan. We are excited about the prospects of an open, transparent and collaborative process to help chart a course for the department's delivery of programs and services that are accessible, enriching and reflects the community needs. A prime core value is to make sure creative programing are respectfully responsive to the needs of the community wherever a resident lives. With 170 parks, six miles of beaches, 27 community centers, dozens of athletic fields and playgrounds, 67 tennis courts, five municipal golf courses, city, three city pools, and over 3300 marina slips. Our opportunity to impact the residents of Long Beach, both two and four legged, is tremendous. Through all of these facilities in our award winning programs, we have made millions of positive contacts this year, and we look forward to working with the community to continue our efforts to be a park systems for all our dedicated prime prime employees . And I thank you for your support. This concludes my presentation. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next up, I would like to have the Development Services Department. And then we're going to stop for questions for these three departments, development services. Speaker 2: Thank you. We will have Linda Tatum, our director, give an overview of the budget. Speaker 1: Good evening, Mayor Garcia, Vice Mayor Andrews and members of the City Council. I'm pleased to present an overview of the proposed budget for the Department of Development Services. We'll start with our core services, which are to prepare and implement long range plans for the city's physical development. And we strive to create sustainable, attractive and livable community. We implement plans through assisting residents, developers, property owners and business owners with permits and development approvals. We also staff six boards and commissions, including the Planning Commission and the Cultural Heritage Commission. We improve the quality of life through comprehensive code enforcement activities, the production and preservation of affordable housing, as well as neighborhood improvement services. And lastly, we are still in the process of winding down the activities of the city's former redevelopment agency. I'd like to briefly highlight some of the accomplishment accomplishments of the department's bureaus. Speaker 7: In the Planning Bureau. Speaker 1: We completed a series of zoning code updates, including the Accessory Dwelling Unit Ordinance, the unattended donation bean ordinance, as well as adult use cannabis. We also obtained City Council approval for updated zoning in the southeast Long Beach area, which was resulted in a specific plan for the former sea dip area. We also completed entitlement for a project that will restore the historic low cerritos wetlands while consolidating oil operations onto a non environmentally sensitive area of the of the city. After much discussion and community engagement, we shepherded the City Council approval of the land use and height maps for the updated general plan land use element. Other accomplishments in the area of historic preservation. Our staff facilitated a Mills Act contracts to rehabilitate 20 historic landmark properties in the city. We also completed design guidelines for seven of the city's 18 historic districts. And Building Safety Bureau. We've far outpaced the activity of last year because of the unprecedented level of development in the city. We completed about 5000 planned check reviews last year and this year we're on pace to complete nearly 6000 planned check reviews. The permit center has has served more than 58,000 customers and responded to more than 38,000 phone calls. In addition, residential and commercial inspections have skyrocketed, increasing by more than 40%. Nearly 50,000 55,000 residential and commercial inspections will be completed during the current fiscal year. Speaker 7: In the area of code enforcement. Speaker 1: During this current fiscal year, staff investigated approximately 13,000 more than 13,000 code enforcement cases. They inspected. Speaker 7: 132. Speaker 1: Properties for possible illegal garage conversions, and they also inspected 30 illegal medical marijuana facilities. In addition, 612 properties were listed on the city's foreclosure registry, and those properties are continually monitored to ensure that they are continually maintained. We also launched the Vacant Lot Registry Program in 2018. Speaker 7: And. Speaker 1: Also completed more than 12,000 proactive rental inspections. In the area of neighborhood services, our team held more than 12 tree planting events, which included planting over 700 street trees. And they also organized 100 neighborhood cleanups. In addition, this bureau trained 32 graduates in the city's Neighborhood Leadership Program to be more effective community leaders within their own within their neighborhoods. And I'm very happy that we received a grant from Cal Fire for $1.26 million to plant more than 4000 trees, including over 400 fruit trees. Also, accomplishments in our Neighborhood Services Bureau. We assisted 100 business owners through our business startup grant and Commercial Improvement Rebate Program. This group also assistant 100 homeowners in making exterior improvements to their homes through the Home Improvement Rebate Program. And in our housing bureau, our services have included nearly 800 affordable housing units that are currently in the pipe in the development pipeline. Of those units, 235 are for homeless individuals, and those are within five different development projects. We're extremely proud to be recognized by Habitat for Humanity, Los Angeles, as a foundation partner for the ongoing work in providing affordable housing. That is being work that's being done here in the city of Long Beach. Habitat, L.A. has 14 units currently in the pipeline with the city with city assistance through the Long Beach Community Investment Company. And also, they have an additional 38 units that they are processing in the city without city financial assistance. In brief and looking at our proposed budget, our budget totals nearly 150 million, with just over 212 staff members. The majority of the Development Services Department activities are funded by fees fee for service and but there are a portion of our budget is also from grants federal grants like community development block grant and Home Grant as well as former tax increment from the redevelopment agency. The General Fund of the city contributes a very small amount to the department's overall budget. It's just shy of 5% or 5.5. $2 million. And these funds are used primarily for code enforcement activities. I'd like to talk about a few of the notable changes in the department to focus on community engagement. We're adding to two staff persons in the Planning Bureau. We'd like to increase our level of community engagement, and in order to enhance our expertize in high rise development, we're adding one planning staff and one senior structural engineer in the Building Safety Department in order to improve turnaround times. For our plan track reviews, we're adding a permit technician at our counter and as an also an electrical plant checker and also to maintain our current turnaround time on providing building inspections, we're adding two new two new building inspectors. Those would be combination building inspectors. And in terms of the challenges and opportunities we face. I'll just briefly go over some of those. We we've have been having some challenges in getting our with the number of vacancies in the department. But we are continuing our efforts to maintain qualified staff in both the Planning Bureau, the engineering and among our engineering staff and our building inspectors. We also will be continuing our efforts to expand and improve our technology capabilities, primarily as a way for us to enhance the efficiency of the service delivery to our primary customers. We also will be working to expand our community engagement and also to expand the transparency of our planning initiatives as well as our development processes. We will continue to work to preserve and to increase the the housing stock of affordable housing in the community. We'll also be working to reduce the turnaround times for our standard code enforcement backlogs. We'll also be working to improve the the inspection cycle for the proactive rental housing inspection program. And we're extremely. Speaker 7: Fortunate in this. Speaker 1: Year's budget that we now for the first time have a dedicated city prosecutor that will work exclusively on enhancing the code enforcement cases. This is truly a game changer for our department, and it will substantially enhance the effectiveness of our code enforcement efforts. So with that, I'd like to conclude the Development Services Department presentation. I'm available to answer questions along with our budget team. Lisa Falls and Mary Hebert are here to assist as well. Thank you. Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. We're going to do now is to counsel questions and comment and comments on these three departments. And then we will do the other departments more questions and then we'll do the public comment for the hearing as well. Okay. So let me start off with Councilman Mongo. Speaker 1: I'll go in reverse order since Development Services just concluded. First, congratulations, Lynda, on a great first partial year. And I know it's been tough. There's a lot of recruitment of our staff from our offices throughout the region, and I know that keeping staff is difficult, but they're doing an exceptional job. And I've really enjoyed getting to know more of the development services planning staff and permits staff and staff throughout the year. And so I'm really pleased by that. And I do have two quick questions. I when I read the budget book every year, I try to find opportunities for efficiencies. And one of the things that I see there's kind of a duplication of now is both in development services and in economic development. We're doing business facade improvements. And I was wondering if there have been any discussions related to a consolidation under one department instead of having two groups of people doing similar efforts? What I would say is that we coordinate we coordinate with that department, but we have not talked about actually formally combining those efforts. But that certainly is something that we could take a look at. I'd also encourage the discussion to include neighborhood services in that kind of kind of discussion. I've enjoyed working with them this year. We did plant 90 trees in the fifth District and likewise last year the group of individuals that work in that division are dedicated. They're there on Saturdays. They're talking one on one with residents and convincing them to put a tree in where they haven't had one for quite some time. Many know that we when we were elected to the city council, the odd number of districts, there were people in the city who hadn't had their tree stump removed and they'd been waiting for 17 years. 17 years. My staff member got a standing ovation after she removed the first 17 year old tree stump. And the reason that that was such an important expenditure and really championed by Councilmember Super now once he was elected to the Council is because you can't put another tree in when there's a stump in the spot. And so I know that Public Works does this. Speaker 2: On my own. Speaker 1: You ask for the money and you got it. I know that removing stumps is not sexy, but we can't have a Tree City if we don't remove them. And it's easy to just cut costs and say, well, remove the tree that's dead and dying, but leave the stump. And so that that policy has changed. I think our backlog is down to 36 months, which is phenomenal. And so development services, planting the trees through the neighborhood services, it's kind of not with any of the other potential synergies. So just something to think about, whether it's a public works or how that all fits together, it almost kind of folds into the public works component side of our clean team and other things like that. So just those efficiencies. Thank you for that. Want to praise Mr. Beck. I know I'm really tough on you because the fifth District has a lot of needs and improvements, but you guys are doing a phenomenal job and I'm very supportive of all your proposed changes. And finally, our new Parks and Rec director. This is just an opportunity for me to say publicly what I know we've talked about already. Some things were discussed with your predecessor, so I'll bring those out now at prior council, budget Oversight Committee, Parks and Rec meetings. Over the last three years, we've talked about animal licenses becoming a three year license. And I'll state that now that I have adopted a foster dog and I'm a failed foster, what I've recognized is three months ago I paid a license and then I received a bill today for a different dog. And then I will receive another bill in about three months for the third dog. And there has to be some efficiencies where we could combine my address, save on postage, save on the return envelopes and all those kinds of things. And then to be able to get people on a three year license, rabies vaccinations are every three years. And so I'm renewing your license every three years. The only thing I would ask us to take a look at before we move in that direction is when we renew our license, we have the opportunity to donate to the health fund. And if the health fund donations come in on an annual basis and we turn to a three year license, we might be losing out on those donations. So just something to think about if we're moving in that direction. I really, really appreciate the addition of the bathroom locking the staff member on a nightly basis. This has been something that my office has really championed, and many of you know that every time we don't lock a bathroom, there's vandalism and the such. And many of you have seen one of my staff members out there refilling soap dispensers, putting toilet seats back on the toilets, going to Lowe's and buying toilet seats and putting them back on. And so locking these bathrooms at night is a huge, huge accomplishment. But I do want to look at as we refurbish bathrooms. And since public works is here, we should really be moving towards the automated locks system. So there's motion sensors that are inside the bathroom at a certain time of night, 9 p.m. let's say the doors automatically lock. They would, of course, allow you to exit. And if motion was detected inside the facility, it would alert someone to come and let the person know they cannot stay overnight in our bathrooms, but that they would then unlock themselves through an automated system in the morning. And that's similar to what I have at my house, which is if you accidentally leave your garage door open and it's ATM, I gradually your clothes itself because I have a little device that just says don't leave your garage open. So those kind of technologies are out there and we really should be deploying them in our park in ways that we can monitor and ensure that they're not going to be vandalized because we do want to make an investment, a $200 lock that someone comes and breaks and breaks. And then the last thing that I'll say is, I really appreciate your advocacy, even though you've been here for such a short time, to revise the Strategic Plan of Parks and Rec. That document is old. The time has come. We've talked about it for a long time. I know that you guys are going through a study and I will only repeat this for financial management. This will be the fifth year I've asked for a the fees scheduled to come with the subvention rates. And so I hope that that will be coming forward. But as we talked about when I was first elected to the council, in many of our programs, we may charge a dollar for swimming and we don't know what the true cost of that swimming is. So I chair I applaud Parks and Rec for doing a free study on what their true costs are and then what their rates should be and can be, and where we should be providing intervention. Do I agree that we should let kids learn how to swim for a vented cost? Absolutely. But I think we as a council need to know what areas are we 17 and what areas are we not 17? And I think that's an important discussion. So even if we're not able to get it for this budget cycle before mid-year fee schedules come out, I think that the time has come and that we as a council should by mid-year stop approving anything until we've seen those subvention rates. So that would be my recommendation. Otherwise, I'm really proud of the work that all of your groups have done. Congratulations and thank you so much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Mongo, Councilmember Yolanda. It's on the motion. My apologies. So, Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 7: Oh, okay. Okay. So thank you very much, everyone, for your presentations. Really impressive work. The list of accomplishments from FY 18 is is just amazing across all departments. And tonight's presentations are no exception. I wanted to go, so I'll go and order of the presentations that were made. So we'll start with public works. One of the proposed changes for FY 19 is to add an inspector to work on right of way improvement inspections. Can you explain a little bit more what that is? Mr. Beck. Speaker 0: Certainly. Councilman Price Council, the Department of Public Works currently manages a number of different type of projects, both right of way and facility projects, park projects, many of those that we covered in this VIP presentation last week. From a staffing perspective, we utilize contract services through different consulting firms to do construction management for us. And in typical approach that's a little bit more efficient is to have city inspectors manage the construction process. So if, in fact, the contractor is not meeting the standards of whatever the work they might be doing, you can address it right then and there, as opposed to waiting to come back when an inspector sees that something is wrong. So we're really looking at efficiencies. We're looking at the money that we spend on contract services, and we can deliver those in-house more cheaply. Plus, we think it's very valuable to grow that knowledge within our own workforce. And you're starting to create a capable team that can manage a number of different type of projects, which we currently don't have that expertize in-house. Speaker 7: And I see while there's $107,000 price tag on this new construction inspector, looking through the document, it seems to me there's a whole host of efficiencies found in consultation services that we're picking up in-house as opposed to providing working with an outside contractor. And I did notice that. So I think that's a good thing and I just wanted some clarification on that. You talked a little bit in your presentation about the gas fund, and I notice that we're going to be reallocating the pothole truck with the four person crew at the price tag of $441,000, roughly. And I'm wondering, looking ahead to future years, are there other opportunities that we have to transfer our costs from the general fund to that gas tax fund or anticipated revenue so that we can open up some some space in our general fund for additional add on type projects? Speaker 0: Yeah, certainly that's a balance for us. We know we have a number of needs that we need to address in repairing streets. We know we still have a backlog of some very poor performing streets. I think in previous presentations we've talked about street pavement condition indexes and those streets that are poor or worse have a tendency to experience larger and more potholes. And so we do have quite a backlog of potholes. We're trying to address that by adding this crew and then also shifting some current general fund cost to the gas tax. It's it's simply a balance. The more you use to fill potholes, the less money you have to repair streets. Speaker 7: So on that note, with the potholes and I know you're up to speed on this, but I cannot stress enough how much I hope we're using best practices in our pothole maintenance because especially with our newly paved or slurry streets, the worst thing is to have a repair that's done that isn't done well or isn't matching in terms of the color of the the patchwork that makes it look like a blemish on the street. And we're spending so much money and and energy and, you know, inconvenience to residents when we do construction that I really hope we're using best practices whatever that may be in our pothole efforts. And I know that we are I know we've tried some different things. I think Councilwoman Mungo had a project where there was some interesting science being used. So is that going to be incorporated into what this additional crew will be looking at or implementing? Speaker 0: Yeah, I think there's a two part answer to your question. Certainly the city has adopted a moratorium, so any new street project that is in place, there's a five year moratorium for any work to happen in that street if if there is a need to do some work. For example, we recently paved Bellflower and then there was an Edison outage and Edison had to trench in our new street. They have to repave that street to that original standard. So we're very cautious and protective of that street investment. I think your question regarding pothole repair, there's two ways to do pothole repair. There's a real quick called a hot patch and we can go down a street and do a number and then there's a I'll call it a more permanent patch where they actually come in and think of it as a hot iron, where they actually put it over the pothole and kind of heat up the asphalt and seal it in that process. There's different cost factors associated with both the the quick patches is much cheaper to do. And so again, it's about. Balance of resources. Some patches make more sense to do kind of that more permanent patching style and others. It's quicker to go and hit the oil patch right away. Speaker 7: When you in looking at some of the proposed changes, I didn't see a specific call out to traffic safety. That has been an area where I think your team has. First of all, you run a huge operation. I don't know how many people you have under you, but in looking at your accomplishments, it spans so many different areas of what we all deal with. So thank you for that. One area that I think we don't talk about enough in terms of highlighting the work they do is traffic engineering and traffic safety. They do amazing work. I'm not sure how many people you have dedicated to that task. In my opinion, we could use a lot more. There's just a lot of work there for them. Is there anything in the proposed FY19 budget that addresses traffic safety or traffic engineering that that can help us in terms of getting assessments done of areas where there might be a need for speed, calming or determination of right of way and things like that. Speaker 0: Yeah. Thank you very much for the support of our traffic team. I do agree with you. They do a lot of work and there's a lot of requests out there. I think we've been very aggressive in in seeking grant opportunities. And most recently, we we have a pedestrian safety grant where we're going to be installing rapid flashing beacons. You're yourself and District three have been very supportive of many of those efforts. I don't have a proposal right now to add more staff, but I think with the reorganization to focus a project development team will allow us to deliver not only our traditional facility projects, but also help deliver some of our traffic calming projects as well. Speaker 7: That's great. Thank you. Thank you for keeping that as a focus for your department and your leadership. I appreciate it. I want to move on now to our Parks Department and I want to welcome our new director as well. Thank you very much. We look. All of us are looking forward to working with you. We're all independently, very excited and collectively very hopeful. So thank you. I noticed as as part of the presentation, you you kind of outline our marinas and it looks like our slip occupancy is going back up into in FY 19 to 93% as opposed to 85% in FY17. And I think this is huge because I think this is one of the projects that this is a major attraction and asset for the city of Long Beach. This improvement project was funded entirely free from taxpayer dollars, and I don't think that's something we highlight enough those improvements to the marina that make it such a desirable place for boat owners to have to rent space was funded entirely independent of taxpayer dollars. And so I want to thank you and your team and of course, John GROSS and his team, Alveda, of course, and our city treasurer for that. On that note and kind of related to a question I had later down, but I'll address it now. I know that you're going to be establishing a community engagement and partnership bureau, which I think is fantastic, and I think that is a great citywide asset. A portion of that is going to come from the Marina Fund and a portion of that is going to come from the Tidelands Fund. And I want to make sure that if we're using money from those two specific resource bases, that there is dedicated, directed staff attention to developing those partnerships in those areas. So if we're going to have 30% come from Tidelands and 30% come from Marina or whatever the case may be, that combined effort should include outreach to those specific areas where those funds are coming from. I know that's your intention, but I wanted to talk to you a little bit further about that, because when we think about the marina in terms of partnerships, there's a lot of different you know, we may not have an established group already there, so we may need to cultivate and develop that. And so I want to make sure that we're on the same page about that. Is that your understanding as well? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 7: Okay. Because those are you know, those are coming from especially the marina funds are coming directly from marina boat owners and those who rent the slip. So I want to make sure that they're getting a return on their investment, of course. You talked on as part of the proposed changes for FY 19, a dedication and investment into supporting deferred maintenance at park facilities. Have we developed a list of what facilities we're prioritizing in terms of deferred maintenance? Speaker 2: I think. Yes, we have. Speaker 7: And is that list available in our materials on. Speaker 2: We can make them available. I'm not I don't believe it is available. I don't know if it's part of the budget. Yeah, it's not part of the presentation, but we can make it available. Speaker 1: That would be. Speaker 7: Great. Thank you. Speaker 1: You talk a little bit. Speaker 7: About one of the additions is going to be a $140,000 investment into safety systems at parks. Can you just tell us a little bit what those safety systems might include and if we have a list of. Speaker 1: The parks. Speaker 7: Where those safety systems will be implemented? Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Emergency lighting. And where are the other example? Exit doors. Such as those changes. Lighting. Exit doors. Those. Speaker 7: Okay. That's what I imagine. I think that's great. I think additional lighting and parks is really a fantastic addition wherever we can add those. I'd love to see if there's going to be additional lighting put in a parks in any of our districts, if you can make us aware of that, so that we can make the residents aware of that. If it's not going to be in our districts, then it's obviously it's moot. But if it is going to be in our districts, I know lighting is something we get asked about a lot and I know we are using some some tidelands dollars to put lights into one of the parks that qualifies for Tidelands funds in the third district. You talk. Speaker 1: A little bit about. Speaker 7: A reduction in maintenance costs related to Sims Pond. I'm a little bit concerned about that because there's also a reference to eliminating perimeter and game court fencing. I don't know what that means, but I cannot imagine a scenario where we're going to have reduced maintenance at Sims Pond. Speaker 2: Do you have some, Steve, if you can help me out with this one. Speaker 4: You. Speaker 9: Mayor, member of members of the city council. Councilwoman Price What this is contemplating is it's essentially really. Speaker 4: Focusing the existing scope and kind of scaling back what is currently provided as we take a look at the services that are contracted to be provided there. There are things that can be done less frequently or on an as needed basis. Speaker 0: And so what this is. Speaker 4: Doing is really kind of addressing that. So really focusing on first and foremost those core services and responsibilities being trash removal, debris removal and non-native vegetation cleanup and removal. Speaker 7: Okay. So and I appreciate that. And I obviously defer to the expertize of our Parks Department in determining what's what's best for that particular area. However, this is a particular area that has had a great deal of community engagement, and this is the first time hearing about any changes to our maintenance there. So I think perhaps prior to the adoption of the budget, we should sit down with the neighborhood association and talk about what the proposed changes are going to be, because otherwise I think one of the major issues has been maintenance in terms of removal of dead trees and things like that. We're really trying to work and collaborate with the community organization there to move forward in a positive way. So perhaps we can and I can talk offline with the director and his team regarding how we can communicate what changes we're proposing there. That would be great. And one of the things. Speaker 1: We that. Speaker 7: Is discussed here is a participatory budgeting process in the amount of $200,000 for youth well-being. Can you tell me a little bit about that project? Anybody. Speaker 0: Yeah. Speaker 2: Sorry about that. I don't believe it's really a PRM process. It's I think it's engaging the wider community with regards to those funds with, I believe, youth nonprofit organizations. And so I'll jump in here as well. This is something that we heard during our community outreach that we heard that there's a desire to really try to focus some funds on youth. We do a lot already for youth, but this was to kind of fill some of those gaps and do a participatory budgeting type process to engage in the community. Haven't quite figured out exactly how to do that. This is something new for us. So if the council wants to move forward, you know, this 200,000 would help us would create a process and involve the council and anyone who wants to be involved in that. How to target those dollars. Speaker 1: Is this the. Speaker 7: Same as this youth fund? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 7: Oh, it's the same thing. Okay, great. So I'm assuming and I know this is to be true, but I just want to ask I know it's early process. We're just setting aside the money that that is going to be a city wide endeavor where we're going to have meetings throughout the city and engage the youth throughout the city. Speaker 2: Yes, it is citywide. Speaker 1: Okay, great. Speaker 7: You talk about an additional $80,000 to support a new landscape contract to to maintain landscape services across the city's 170 parks. Will any of that landscape contract go towards maintenance and support of medians? And if not, where is that highlighted? Is it a proposed change for FY 19 or are we expecting status quo for medians? Speaker 4: Mayor Members of the City Council, Catwoman. Price So what you're referring to is an increase in one of the funding sources that funds our grounds landscape contract, the contract that was approved last week by the City Council. All told, it's close to $1,000,000 that is included in this budget to cover those costs. And, yes, the the scope of those services includes. Speaker 3: Not only the parks and open spaces, but also maintenance of the medians. Speaker 4: As well. Speaker 7: Okay. One of the things we do not highlight enough as a city and this is I'm just as much to blame as anyone else is medians. When you drive around cities, you see a lot. You can tell a lot more about the city based on the condition of their medians than the condition of their parks. Because, yes, residents will go to the park, still enjoy the parks depending on the age of their children. Those things people see. But what we don't what we underestimate is the condition of the median. So if we've got dead trees, dying plants or barren medians, I think for people that don't park their cars and go into the park, they may not ever know how beautiful our parks are. They may be making a judgment based on driving through the city. So I really want to highlight the importance of having medians that really, I think, say a lot about the city. If we're going to do something there, if we're not going to do something there, then that's fine. But if we're going to plant something there, then I think we should really make an effort to keep those plants alive and make it look good. Otherwise, maybe we think about some hard escaping for the median so that we don't have to have upkeep over the long run. But when you drive in various cities, you see there's been a lot of attention paid to medians because a lot of times people don't stop and actually go to the park, they're just driving through the town and they make a lot of judgments about the town based on the medians. So I think that's very important. Speaker 2: And and Councilmember, if I can add to that, we agree with you, medians are incredibly important and we have been challenged with medians because of some of the state drought restrictions that have been put in place that we are working on how to transition away from grass. But one of the efficiencies that we are looking at is right now we have median maintenance as part of Parks and Rec. It's just been there forever. We're actually looking at transitioning that over to public works. Right now, public works is maintaining the street, but they don't do the medians. And so we think it makes sense to have the eyes that are on the street to also be on the medians. And it's really managing that contract, the exact same contract, but through a different lens. So that is something that we're exploring in how to implement. Speaker 7: That's great. And I think if the if the landscaping and maintenance turns out to be too expensive, maybe we do consider hard scoping because it's expensive to put in, but long term it looks good and it doesn't have to be maintained as regularly. And then finally, we have in here some money. And I think it's really it's this is out of my district, but it's something I'm curious about. And that's the repair costs of Marina Marina Green Park following special events. What are special events? Fees not include restoration of a city owned parcel of land. Post Special Event Councilwoman Price. Speaker 4: Yes, the city is reimbursed by organizers for any break in fix items. What this is really speaking to is that ongoing wear and tear where, you know, the landscaping needs to be refreshed a little bit more frequently because of the the constant use and the type of use of that area. So this is more for kind of the ongoing maintenance, not specific to what situations where something is broken or damaged. Speaker 7: You know, I think we might want to think about folding that into the costs down the road, but the wear and tear, because it really wouldn't get that kind of wear and tear. But for the special events, it would be, you know, so just something to think about. But thank you very much. And then for development services, just real quick, I wanted to thank you very much. You know, I have with me tonight as my staff member for this meeting, Lisa West, who's our business liaison. And I know both Lisa and I wish to thank you profusely because this proposed budget in Fy19 highlights a number of additions that are actually streamlined, business friendly initiatives that are going to help people get through the process. As a business owner who's going through the permitting process right now, through the city of Long Beach with my husband. I can tell you all of these improved. Rents are going to be much appreciated by the residents and business owners who are going through the process. And it just really helps to have a focus on moving people through quickly. And I can see just by looking at your budget that that's a priority for you. So Director Tatum is also fairly new. This is her first budget as director. So welcome to your first budget. Kudos. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Durango. Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor. And I also have some questions here. But, you know, I realize that I met with the director, met earlier today, and I asked him how long has he been here? He said two months. So I'm going to give you a break. I'm not going to be asking a whole lot of questions because some of that I had, I had to cross out anyway. Because you were you were grilled right now with a with Councilmember Price and a lot of good questions, a lot of good feedback. And I understand, you know, where you stand right now. And I'm hoping. And let me rephrase it. I expect that you will be fully informed by this time next year to make this presentation. So kudos to you and congratulations and welcome to our beach. We were saying that I was going to ask about was earlier this year we had a a special resolution to talk about having additional funds distributed to address our drought in the parts because a lot of our park lands were looking brown and looking ugly and and just a little bit of water probably would help restore some of those some of those facilities as well as parks. So I'm glad to see that in your budget here you have a supplemental increase of 1.24 million to address citywide park irrigation. And perhaps it would be also helpful to look at that transition for the medians to go to parks to excuse me, public works so that they can address it as well. And I had not park to take the full hit on having to water some of the the green spaces that we have and keep them alive. So that's the only thing I had for parts. The other question I have right now for it's public works. You mentioned earlier that you're going to be that you collected 22,000 illegally dumped items and 17,000 mattresses. Earlier last year, we passed a resolution regarding illegal dumping in the city. Has that the work? And I know that you're saying that you're going to add a staff person for the cleaning the clean team is will illegal dumping be a focus of this new staff member? What's the focus that we're going to be putting on making sure that we have less items picked up that are that are illegally dumped? Speaker 0: Councilmember Arango, thank you for the question. Yeah, certainly illegal dumping is something that the Clean Team deals with on a daily basis, and we receive a number of requests from the community members to address those dumped items. The city is working through the Bloomberg initiative to work with students from Harvard to really analyze what is the phenomenon behind illegal dumping. There's a report that's being provided to us next week that a graduate student has worked with us to study that, and we're also working with the innovation team to review that as well. We think we have some good data that we're really interested in sharing with this council, so that'll be coming in in the next few months. Additionally, I think Council District two brought forward an item about a pilot locked bin program. So that's something that we've also been exploring and are working on. And we we've been able to identify that already half of the bins in the target area are locked and we're working to get the rest of them locked as well. So we are very encouraged with some of the progress we're making and some of the data we're collecting. And ultimately, I think as you're pointing out, the goal is to change that behavior and help the community be more aware that illegal dumping is not a way to keep Long Beach, the great city that it is Speaker 4: . Is there a plan or a strategy that will be that will incorporate some kind of a fee or a a ticket citation or some kind of if someone is actually and it's going to be hard to catch somebody, they usually these types of activities usually take place, you know, very early in the morning or late at night where, you know, they're under the cover of darkness. But if there is a clear violation that anyone that somebody sees or that an inspector actually can relate back to a to an apartment owner where they know that there's a vacancy and the people that moved out are just basically throwing out their mattresses and their TVs or whatever they don't want to take with them into an alley or near a dumpster. It's really a strategy for sighting these individuals if if, in fact, we are able to identify who these violators are. Speaker 0: Yes, I think we have a couple of tools in the toolbox. First off, we do have a few supervisors that drive around in when we find instances especially common in some of our multifamily units in the city where the trash receptacles or bins available to the folks that live in that building aren't sufficient to support the amount of trash that is being generated. We can require that that property to add either additional dumpsters or more frequent collection. So we work closely with those apartment owners to do that. If they don't, we do have the ability to find them. I think I've mentioned before to this council that we are working on developing an administrative citation process for our public works inspectors. And with that tool in hand, if they were able to see somebody illegally disposing of of debris in our public right of way, they would have that at their disposal to address it right away. I do agree that we do have a level of illegal activity, illegal dumping excuse me, that happens during the night hours. And people aren't really witnessing that. But we're also seeing that we're seeing residents in the city just putting things out in the alleyways and on the curbs. And we really believe it's important to have a keep Long Beach Beautiful campaign and and make sure that people are taking personal responsibility for their waste. Speaker 4: Well, thank you for that, because I believe in strong communication. The more we're able to communicate with our residents that the dumping is illegal and that there are methods to dispose of unwanted property safely and without the making a nuisance of our of our dumped items in the streets or in the alleys, I think would be beneficial . So I'm looking forward to the continuing education program that we need to do for for our communities. Thank you for your responses. Lastly, we have development services for this portion of the program. And one of the things that stood out to me was a vacant lot registry, which I think is great. It's very greatly needed. We need to know how many vacant lots we have out there and especially identifying who owns these vacant lots, because some of those lots become blight. They're not taking care of the weeds growing all over the place. It's been a week when we talk about that a little later, but right now we're talking about vacant lots that basically create blight in our neighborhoods and in our especially in our transportation, those empty lots around our transportation corridors. So just to. Get a quick feel as to what this registry will be used for. Is there a can I get a brief description as to what it will do and what's the expected outcome of having this registry? Speaker 1: Yes, Councilmember Your Honor. That was a program that the city council adopted, I want to say, early this year, maybe late last year, when they adopted this program. And it essentially requires the owner of the vacant lot to register the property and paying a small fee. And that fee is actually used for to support the staff that actually goes out, monitors that property once it's registered to ensure that it is maintained. We provide communication to the owner on a at minimum on an annual basis just to ensure that they are keeping the property maintained free of weeds secured. And just to do exactly what you were saying is to prevent it from becoming a blight in the community. Speaker 4: Thank you. And my final question would be, why not collect more like a comment? The program continues. I'd like to see that it is continued. And the turnaround cycle what's the turnaround cycle now and what what are you working towards in terms of making improvements on the turnaround cycle for inspections? Basically. Speaker 1: Under the current cycle that we have now with the current staffing, the turnaround is between five and six years based upon the number of inspections that occur annually. We have received in the mayor's recommendation is a comment to have staff take a look at that. And if we get further direction, we will. We have started to take a look at some of those numbers and looking at what it would take to speed up that turnaround cycle in terms of the costs of adding additional staff and what that would mean in terms of greater efficiencies as this program moves forward. So if directed, we would be coming back to you at a later date with some of some proposals to address the and a. Speaker 7: An enhanced turnaround time. Speaker 4: Okay. Thank you. I want to thank all three of you for your comments tonight and for your orientation. Speaker 0: Thank you very much, Councilmember. Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 1: Thank you. Excuse me. I will start with. Well, first of all, everybody, fantastic job. This budget, I think, really demonstrates the leadership and the vision and the inclusion of the community voices we've heard throughout the last year. It's really exciting. All of these departments are near and dear to my heart. So let's start with development services and I definitely want to say congratulations. I know that this is your first year as director, and when I look through this budget and I see things like community engagement, it's very important to me. And I know through the process of the last couple of years, we've kind of thought about community engagement in different ways online surveys, etc.. Can you explain your vision for community engagement for the department? Yes. I think when we think about community engagement, the the recent experience we have with the land use element really opened our eyes to the fact that there were segments of the community that felt like the department and some of the bureaus in the department. Speaker 7: Were. Speaker 1: Undergoing major initiatives that just had not done as good a job as we could have done in terms of outreaching and engaging with those communities. So one of the things that we're looking at with the additional staff is to establish something. I don't call it engagement as much as relationship building with the community members. And it is we already have a draft outline of that that we're working through with the city, the city manager's office, to take a look at some way to provide additional engagement with the community, in addition to providing additional information about ongoing information about the activities that are occurring in the Planning Bureau, the kinds of projects that are coming through the process. What kind of activities are occurring in the building department? So again, just general information about what the what kinds of activities are occurring in the bureau. I would also say about the services that we provide. There are a range of services that we provide in our Neighborhood Services Bureau that many members of the community just are unaware of. So I would say it's an overall outreach effort to do a couple of things to let them know what we're doing as a department, to let them know the services that we provide to them and to let them, I think, most importantly, know that what they think matters to us. We'd like to hear from them and we'd like to engage them as we determine what our work program looks like and just to get their feedback overall, it's great. Thank you for that. As a lifelong community organizer, Acme Engagement, definitely. You do the work on the front end, then we can make sure that the process is much smoother. So I completely support that. The fact that you have eight new staff, that you've added some of them for high rises, which would help us in downtown, but just to get people through the process. I want to thank you for this. I know that we had lots of conversations a couple of months ago when we talked about legalizing adult use and the fact that we knew that there was a backlog with some of the medicinal marijuana dispensaries. And knowing that when we bring on a whole new industry as a city, we really have to make sure we're aware how we stop that. So can you speak just really quickly about how you feel like these eight new staff will help not only our high rises, but the rest of the entire city and some of our small businesses coming online. The the eight news staff are in different, different bureaus, but primarily they. Speaker 7: Are in the. Speaker 1: Planning bill, which will be the focus of the outreach and the community engagement effort. And that would be on a couple of fronts. It's not only interacting directly in the community with the community, but the other component of that is actually through enhanced digital communication, meaning posting a lot of information on the website so that residents can take advantage of some services online. So that's another component. The other ones, though, are really focused on community or customer service to enhance, for example, the building inspectors. We want to be able to make sure that when projects come in to the planning process to try to stabilize our review process, when we get particularly busy, sometimes the wait times to get a planned check through the process increases to, I want to say sometimes as high as 16 weeks. We'd like to end when it's not so busy, it can go down to six weeks. So we'd like to try to get that a little bit more stabilized. That's the goal of the additional staff to try to stabilize that turnaround time so that we can be a little bit more predictive. And when applications come in, we can at least tell them upfront what the turnaround time is. So the focus of all of the additional staff really is enhancing customer service, providing greater information to the public through enhanced digital communications and just inspection, turnaround times, all of them to our core service of providing customer service and providing it as efficiently as possible. Awesome. Thank you so very much, Linda. Now I'm going to ask you a couple questions around the housing stuff, because I know we met this week. To echo Councilmember Rebecca, your comments around pile up. I know when we spoke it was either you or Oscar that mentioned we were sometimes up to seven year turnaround. So whether it's between five or seven years, turn around for something that the council has said as a priority. I definitely would support adding staff to make sure we can address that, particularly in the fact that we've had four years of conversations around affordable housing and protecting our housing stock. And so this being one of those I know that we also talked about technology and how we're using technology to, you know, use that process quicker. Can and I, I understand that we are working to try to update the system as much as possible so it will expedite the process. How long do you think the department would need to test out trying out this system versus implementing a new system that some other cities have used? Because I know we're trying to work with technology right now to do that. That's something, Councilmember Pearce, that we are actually just now starting to look at. But I would tell you, the most encouraging thing that's changed in terms of how we look at our department is the fact that we now have a new technology and innovation department director who myself and our deputy director have already had a chance to have a very positive or productive conversation with around the very specific issue that you mentioned of us being able to actually enhance the system that we currently have to make it a lot more user friendly and to really be more of a workhorse in terms of just tracking the data that we do and being able to pull out really critical data about the performance and the metrics of the work that we do. So that when we get questions from the council about, you know, how we're doing in a particular area, we can actually access it. Right now, the system is not as robust as it it could be. So we even though we don't have any new positions or any additional funding in this year's budget to address that, I think this year will probably spend time, more time focusing on assessing the capabilities of the current system and making some determinations as to whether or not we truly can improve it, enhance it to to be more more robust in terms of getting data out of it and tracking and really being a better tool for us to manage our workflow. And we will probably be coming back to the Council on once we do a more thorough assessment of whether or not we can fix or really enhance the current system or if it's appropriate for us to take a look at other systems. Okay. Thank you for that. Yes. I also, too, am very excited about our our new director and the department and have high hopes. So I fully support trying to make sure that that technology is there fully support you all coming back with a recommendation on how to increase the turnaround time for Prep. And one other question that we talked about, which is around when there's a critical issue after a inspection, say water leakage, missing floor. We have the 24 hour model. That says that it should be addressed within 24 hours. Is that written into the muni code? Is that something that we adhere to all the time, something we adhere to some of the time? I'm not sure that it's actually in the code, but it continues and will always be a core component of our our departmental policy in terms of whenever there is a life safety issue on a project that will automatically always be at the very get the very top a priority on those we try to we strive for a 24 hour turnaround. Do other cities have it written into code that it's a 24 hour turnaround? I'm not sure that's something I can check into and get back with you on. I'm just being clear. That would be helpful. Lynda really fantastic job with the budget, really, really positive things for businesses and residents and I'm hopeful for the next step. So that's all I have for you. Sorry, that took a little long. So let's see. Public works things up. Their next public works cut back. You're awesome. Thank you for all the hard work that you guys have done in putting up with me and my team. I know that often you tell me, cut it out. Enough projects, slow down. So on top of the budget that you have presented to the entire city, I just really want to applaud you for the work that you've done in the district. I know it's taken us two years to get a light, but it is halfway up on a bed spo and it is looking beautiful and that's not your fault . I understand that. That was not an stab. I want to thank you for all the work that we've done on Fourth Street, the Broadway project. I cannot say enough how great the residents have worked with your department and any parking challenges or anything like that. I imagine it was going to be a complete nightmare and I know we're only halfway there, but just want to applaud you and everybody on your team for all of that work. So I do have a couple of questions. Knowing that we all work really hard, all of our districts have our different ideas. Can you walk through just briefly for us how you prioritize all the projects that are sn9 councilmembers and the mayor spring up and the grant funded projects that you get. So how you prioritize all that work, it's a tough question. Speaker 0: I have a big wheel in my office and I spin it. Speaker 1: That's kind of how I felt. I didn't want to say. Speaker 0: No, certainly. You know, it's really exciting to have an opportunity to work on all the great projects that we have funding to do. Measure A IS has really helped us move that needle tremendously and we talked about that in our CFP presentation, but I really do strive to try to deliver projects in a balanced approach, not only in and across the city, but also different type of projects, not just mobility or not just facility projects. Park projects are important. So we really do work collectively as a team. Sometimes we stress ourselves to our limits, but that's what the weekends are for, to recharge and get ready and come back. So you have. Speaker 1: A weekend to me. One enough. I should give you more, which my team certainly. Speaker 0: Does, but I appreciate this for this council and we'll continue to deliver projects as best we can. Speaker 1: Great. Okay. I wanted to ask in your budget, it says Tidelands Operations Funds that says oversight of critical citywide projects. Can you walk through for me if it's a tidelands funds, how that's being used citywide? Speaker 0: So I think last year we worked to transition Tidelands project components to public works and we're really trying to integrate that team with our overall project management delivery. We view Tidelands as a funding source and not a whole separate activity, and I think it's important to kind of think of it that way. I know we do spend a lot of time talking about Tidelands projects specifically, but it is just a different source of money. We certainly have different challenges with certain grants that we receive and how we can deliver projects, and Tidelands has certain restrictions in how you can utilize those dollars. So we may have a little bit of money for the administration, but really the Tidelands money in our department is primarily targeted for project delivery. Speaker 1: That's why I felt like you guys do a lot of Tidelands projects. Last tough question and then I'll give you 2 hours at the end. Can you talk about the increased budget in relation to surf? It's under your feels like you're. Speaker 0: Stumping me on that so surface in. Speaker 2: That would be guessing where department is where Cerf is located. So if there's a specific question, you can ask it tonight and we can follow up in writing. Speaker 1: Okay, so on here it says Increase budget for updated user department charge. Speaker 0: I apologize. Speaker 1: It's okay. You have a lot of ideas. Speaker 0: So in in Long Beach, all of the waste that we collect is taken to the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility or surf, where that waste is converted into energy that supports many of our homes in the city. And we pay a disposal fee at that facility. And that fee is increasing a little bit, but it is still cheaper to deliver the waste to surf as compared to driving it to some offsite landfill. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 2: And I would want to point out that we do have two different rates. We have rates for people who are outside of the city who pay at surf, and their rate is higher than Long Beach residents. So Long Beach registrants do get a benefit from disposing at Surf Creek. Speaker 1: In the last two things is I want to echo Councilmember Price's comments. When I look through this budget for the first time and I saw how many new positions we were creating it just the more that we can create good jobs here at the city that are lasting jobs instead of contracting those jobs out, I think we do well by our residents. So I want to thank you for that. Parks Rec online. I will try to go fast, guys. Sorry. Sometimes I feel like I go really fast and sometimes I'm long winded. You're just going to have to sit with me tonight, guys. So congratulations again. Two months in and presenting a massive budget with all of our great ideas. I really want to appreciate that. One thing you did not mention that we saw and we were really excited about was water, storm, debris. We love that. And I wanted to understand, is there an operating costs with that? Maybe that's a public works question. Speaker 2: I'm told, is existing resources. Speaker 1: Okay. So we don't have any ongoing operational costs associated. Great. Speaker 2: So that's my if I may, I do want to expound a little on that, because you're right. This is a fabulous project. Speaker 1: So exciting. Speaker 2: Yeah. We've been dealing with trash debris for a long time coming down the L.A. River. It's been getting less and less every year as we put in capture devices upstream. But right now, we still capture the majority of the trash when we wait for it to come onto the beach. And that is much more expensive to do it when it's already on the beach because it's loaded with sand. The dump costs are more expensive and we're also losing sand. And so the idea here as well, we've tried several other booms that certainly with with various success, we would actually use capital dollars to create a booming system out in the water when the storms are coming. So we can capture it all efficiently, move it around with equipment, using existing staff, but using new equipment, putting it on a conveyor belt and getting it out of the river before it even touches the beach. So we're really excited about this and we thank you for the support. Speaker 1: I would love to see a video of this one because it's just so nerdy and cool. The community engagement partnership we talked today absolutely love it. As much as we can help connect you with constituents and residents that might not already be connected to our Parks Department, please let us know how we can help. I applaud you for the efforts and trying to adjust some of our bathrooms. I know that we've talked about Bixby Park and all the challenges that we've had there and your creative thinking, what you bring to the table. We appreciate that. Wanted to go on record around the partners for Parks. I'm going to ask you this question that I talked to you about earlier. A lot of us have friends of organizations in our parks that raise money. They want to invest in our parks, how we work with them and what that process looks like down the road. I would like to see us have some kind of agreement, more use of that before we invest in a project that our community partners come to us with, that we do it eyes wide open with transparency so we know how much money they are bringing to the table, who their board members are in the long term vision. So I just wanted to ask you for your commitment to continue to work on that, moving forward with the partners of Parks since we have earmarked some funds in here. Speaker 2: Absolutely. Speaker 1: Thank you so very much. And then the youth campaign, the funds that are here, I understand that it's here for seed kind of a seed money to talk about where we could go with our youth programing. And really, I know our community partners have asked for 500 instead of 200, and I know that this has come up really quickly. So I hope in between now and the time that the budget comes back, that we can have some conversations with the folks that brought this idea and the mayor's office and really understanding what we're trying to create, because in my mind, it's not a participatory budgeting. Let's go build another slide. It's they're asking for programs to make sure that our youth do not get incarcerated, that our youth are not dropping out of schools, that we're investing in them academically and programs that we might not already offer at our parks, and that those might need to be offered by other nonprofits. So I just before we approved the final number, I hope that we can really have an understanding about the impacts of, what, 203 hundred and what our vision is for that. I love this. I definitely support it. And that I believe, ladies and gentlemen, is all my questions. You guys have done a fantastic job. Thank you very much. Speaker 6: Thank you. Thank you. Would you say. Speaker 2: Thank you, vice mayor. So, first of all, I wanted to just say this is a good budget, not many cuts. And so this is an opportunity for us to really just check in once a year. We get a chance to check in on the budget. So we get to think about some of the operations and programs that are important to us and our council districts. So let's start with we'll start with you, Craig. So first of all, Craig, just want to give kudos to you and your team. We set out to do something and you figure out how to get it done in Highland Park Community Center, the work that we're doing there. I know it was complex to identify different funding sources, you know, switch architects at the last minute and make things happen. And I know that you ran into some problems once you dug up the 100 year old park and took a look. There were things now in there that weren't mapped out. So good work. I know that we have a number a bigger a larger focus we've placed on traffic traffic safety. And we talked a little bit about it today. But so what are the what are some of the projects that we have related to parks, to traffic signals in the next year that we can look forward to? Speaker 0: Yes. Councilmember Richardson. Thank you for that. Similar to what we're doing right now on Fourth Street, we will be adding new traffic, single signals up in District nine. In fact, I think we have a celebration coming up next week for a traffic signal at 64th and Downey. This is on the heels of one or two others that were placed in in the district last couple of years. And we have some planned in connection with some new developments. So not only are new traffic signals going in, but you've really championed the pedestrian safety crossings. And through our pedestrian safety grant, we will be placing a couple of those in District nine and throughout the city. And I think you funded an additional one in your district as well. So with those traffic calming measures, those traffic safety devices, that's one element. But we're also looking at corridor improvements. And Atlantic and Artesia are both important corridors that we're focusing on in fiscal year 19. And as those projects come forward and and we really look at where are the the important safety crossings for both bicyclists and for pedestrians, those will all be going into the district. So overall, it's a holistic approach to not only vehicle movement, but also the safety of folks in the in the district. Speaker 2: Thank you. I think it makes sense to look at it holistically. Atlantic in Artesia, for example, is consistently been one of the most dangerous intersections in our city, at least the last eight, nine years. We've we've worked there. It's always ranked top three and it's no you know, it's adjacent to a freeway, adjacent to a high school and not much infrastructure. But we've seen a transformation and we see more with the new developments that's come in. And the comments Public Works has made to the developers are consistent with the conversations we've had around making the community a lot safer. So thank you for that. But along the same those same lines, two things that I have to bring up and I'm pretty sure you you know, I'm going to bring it up bike share. What are the challenges, you know, publicly? What are the challenges with bringing bike share and some opportunities to bring bike share to North Long Beach? Speaker 0: So the city does have a bikeshare program. I think I mentioned it in my presentation. We're very pleased to see that the use of our bike share 200,000 miles ridden on our bike share bikes. Currently we have about 71 bike share hubs throughout the city and about 400 bikes deployed. We're working with our bike share provider who has gone to a kind of a corporate restructuring. They were recently bought by Uber and did a rebranding to jump. And so we're we're placing an order, but those bicycles are manufactured overseas. And I think as a company, they're going through some distribution issues with the tariffs, etc.. And there is a timeline to deliver those North Lime beaches on our kind of next phase list. It's a it's an important component. We're investing in a bicycle boulevard, again, connecting uptown to downtown. And we think bike share is an important part of that. We we are working to figure out how we can engage new technologies like E-Scooters and vendors that provide those new technologies. And there may be an opportunity to mirror what we're doing with E-Scooters and with e-bikes. Speaker 2: Good. And with those and I understand this, the challenges with the tariffs. We've talked about how it's beginning to impact the project delivery timeline and costs on a number of things. And I think that's a separate conversation we should have specifically at our Fed Ledge Committee. But in addition to that sort of along that same line of pedestrian safety, we've done beach for a while now. It's a great program. We've done it twice in the Uptown community, but we also done smaller activations like we did activate Uptown where we took a smaller chunk of the street from Atlantic to Orange and engaged with the businesses and had a deeper conversation about mobility. And it was a lot less expensive than the beach streets. And in comparing the fact that we've hosted both types of events in our district, my small businesses for the most part don't say they haven't said, yeah, it was bring beach streets back, but they've said let's bring the smaller thing back. Because literally, like Robert Earl's for example, it was their most successful day ever had because it was smaller. It was a lot more focus on that individual neighborhood, which we don't get a lot outside of, you know, a downtown type area. We don't get that kind of citywide attention focused on a really much smaller area. So I say that to say maybe it's time that we look at diversifying beach streets a bit instead of one or two per year and all the focus is on one area. We look at smaller engagements, maybe like half or a third of the size of beach streets and really invest there. And I think, you know, those types of things are easier to leverage and received grant funds. If you look at more of a social reduction committee and SAG and others, we look at they're they're more willing to fund these smaller engagements in our businesses and our residents. We can have a more intimate experience with them. So I know that we have a beach House budget at this time, but I want you to think about how we can accomplish these mini activations like First Fridays, for example, how we can do that moving forward. I want you to think on that. Speaker 0: Thank you. I'll do all. Speaker 2: Right. And thank you for for your time. So let's move to planning. So another window. We're going to be working a lot closer together this year because of a plan. So I know that, you know, the vacant lot registry was mentioned. That's great. I know that we've had success with the foreclosure registry and it generated a lot of, you know, a lot of revenue and things like that. But the vacant lot registry, I would figure if the customer is absentee landlord, they're not going to be as responsive as a bank would with foreclosure with a forever thousand dollar a day. Fine. So how's the how's the response been with the vacant lots? Speaker 1: Well, it's just actually it's just getting started. It was adopted by council earlier this year. And we're only now, I'm going to say within the last 30 days, just starting to roll it out. Okay. So we don't really have a database of experience yet, but I think with my announcement earlier that we now have a city prosecutor that would be dedicated to code enforcement. I would say that to the extent that we have a homeowner who is unresponsive, it certainly would transition at that point to a violation, a code violation, in which case we could ultimately send it over to the city. Speaker 2: PROSECUTOR And I agree with you, the prosecutor concept, that's that's a game changer. We didn't have that on the on the verge of foreclosure, a dedicated prosecutor on the foreclosure piece. But if we think about the idea that we have a dedicated prosecutor, I would like to, you know, focus them as much as possible on nuisance nuisance businesses as a priority. I know that occasionally we do receive code enforcement violations on neighbors. I think we just need to be very cognizant of that, you know, before we, you know, let loose a prosecutor that we really go for their due process. But I believe that the corridor adjacent nuisance businesses, I mean, those are the ones that are we're getting a lot of calls from particularly, you know, along Long Beach Boulevard and some of those and in the McKinley neighborhood along Paramount Boulevard. If we can sort of deploy our prosecution efforts there, I think that would make a big difference. And also, I'll also say, you know, there was a conversation about aligning the facade work. I think that there's a lot of conversation there that makes sense. But the biggest challenge we've seen with the facade work has been the fact that it still requires a signature. If a property owner needs to request additional funding or requires an actual wet signature and outside of I don't know, in my district in particular, if there's a vacant lot or a business that's, you know, or a facade that is in disrepair a lot of times because it's an absentee property owner and it's difficult to actually track down that absentee property owner. So we need tools. So are there legal challenges or circumstances that or technology issues that that that are hindering us from allowing the use of an electronic signature as well, as opposed to a wet signature to ensure that these these facades are being deployed. Speaker 1: I haven't actually looked into that. But based on your your comment that it's an issue, I think that's certainly something I can start to take a look at. And we can work with our city attorney's office to see if there is some viable alternative to that that the city can implement. I just don't know the response to that. But we can certainly explore alternatives to the wet signature. Speaker 2: Okay. I mean, that's been the the largest issue in North Long Beach with with respect to facades, it's getting a hold of the landlord or the property owner. And so if we can figure that out, I think there'd be a lot a lot more support and excitement, excitement for the program. We would invest the money, but it's hard to see the difference because if you get one property owner and then the next one is the next block over, you barely see it. So I think we can if we deliver these a little bit better by addressing that issue, and I think it'll go a long way. But thank you so much for your hard work. And I think you know this. I think you have a fantastic team. Moving on to parks and recreations. So first of all, I just want to acknowledge your accomplishments that the Uptown Open Space Plan focused on open space expansion in District nine has gone on to win not one but two American Planning Association awards. And so we'll be sending the team down to San Diego with you in support of that. So we're really proud of that work. I just have a couple of questions for you. So the title on Community Engagement Partnership Bureau, it sounds great. I'm still very unclear on the purpose, the purpose of this new bureau. What is this you're going to do and how is it is it going to have anything to do with the partner development operations, grant writing operations? What is it going to do this new bureau? Yes, it will, Councilwoman Richardson. It will focus intensely on the grant development for projects. But in addition, it will have an enhance opportunity for for planning, for projects and community engagement. And and in particular, the other part of the name is, is enhanced partnerships working with partners of parks and working with our program just to increase our ability to leverage more resources and do more projects. So kind of all of the above as you just the things that you just mentioned, so will the park development officer position be shifting there or is there still going to be a park development officer separately from this bureau? The role will still be there with regards to that function. So it's just going to have an increased capacity with regards to what you're familiar with. But just it's just a recognition that we need to have a greater focus, greater resources in in that very important function. So this is the same position as the Parks Development officer, or is there an additional. I'm unclear. Are we is this is this additional staff? There is going to be a a manager overseeing the bureau a bureau manager. So this would be an increased enhanced managerial position. And the current park development officer will report to this person in that position, rather, will report to this new position. And now I think I think the plan is that it's going to be that person with regards to that role. Well, I would just say, if I can add here as well, what we're doing here is both trying to enhance that community partnership aspect in Parks and Rec, but we're also trying to streamline project development. So right now we have portioned portions of project development that are in Parks and Rec and then it transfers over to public works. We're trying to make that a little bit more seamless, that we're going to do more of the actual project management in public works. And that park development officer position is going to convert and become this bureau manager focusing on strategic partnerships, but also then providing the liaison and the design work up front. So we really see Pak's role moving forward is helping to identify park needs and then public works would build and construct and deliver the project so that we're providing kind of consistency in the development of that project. That makes sense. And thank you, Councilwoman Price. I was I actually didn't catch the fact that 60% of the position as we use land in the harbor and title lands area. Yes. So most of our parks and rec programs share their time because they do both tidelands and marinas as well as General Fund. And so we do split out their time. They also then make sure that they're spending their time in those areas as well, because we're charging those funds. So if we're charging that fund, we need to be spending time in that area. I understand they'll be able to work throughout the entire city. Understood. So 40% of this position will positions. Time will be dedicated to park development and partnerships citywide and 60% into the Titan's area. Correct. And it's budgeting as well. If for some reason in that year we don't have any projects there, we'll look at adjusting that and shifting things around. So is the current park development officer position the same way 60% there or is it general fund funded? If I recall that one charge is directly to projects or part of it as general fund and part of it charges to projects. Speaker 0: A man, a member of. Speaker 4: The city council, Councilmember Richardson. That is correct. It is a. Speaker 0: Position that is funded. Speaker 4: Through both general fund and charging directly to projects. That's how it's funded today going forward. It will be general fund in addition to some of those other Tidelands funding sources, because this position in this bureau will be in support of all of our operations, be they in the uplands or the parks areas or the Tidelands. Speaker 2: So I just want to say I don't think that's acceptable that to limit its time only to 40% of that that position, it's a really important position. It's incredibly important. All nine districts and not a slight against any particular area. I think it's great if Tidelands gets that level of quality and that level of attention. I just think to say 40% of that position in a new bureau is separate across the rest of the city. I don't think that's acceptable. And so I would ask that we continue. Tom, whoever else needs to talk about this, I think we need to think about either funding it with a bit more of the project project costs. We need to look at that or figuring out a different way to make that opposition a bit more balanced. Because if you think about a lot of the conversations around partnerships. Just last year when we consolidated afterschool programs, the concept was that we were going to replace a lot of these programs with partnerships in our parks. For example, we're working right now on, you know, was it Campfire USA and Conservation Corps of the Forest Park that requires a lot of time and logistics to work out. So I just personally think that's something that we need to we need to resolve before addressing this budget. And thank you, Councilwoman Price, for bringing that. I didn't have no idea. I think that's good at that point came out. All right. So next I know that you are, Mr. Director. I know we've you've done a lot of interesting things. We've had conversations about what you've done in Santa Ana. What are you doing around innovative ideas, around teen teen programing? Because I know that as you look at our strategic plan, which I'm excited about, I think the reality is, you know, our team centers, the concept of teen center hasn't been modernized in a long time either in how we address teens or, you know, what experience or can you offer in that regard? Well, Santa Ana had a different kind of structure for Parks and Recreation. I also oversaw the library, but I was able to leverage grants from that. That had to do with literacy and library and digital dividing the digital divide as well as workforce resources and using web money. So I was able to do these teen space satellites in the different rec centers and added components. It wasn't just recreation and sports, but also had this workforce development as well as programs that added to core increasing the teens resiliency to some of the some of the negative forces in in the neighborhoods that they lived. So it was pretty comprehensive. But that again, that was the nature of the structure of the funding in Sandtown. And but I'm hoping that I'm going to be able to use some of those ideas and certainly for sure, and I'll let you off the hook on that. So so I think moving forward, I think that's actually a great opportunity for us while you're looking at the strategic plan. So number one, I mean, the role of libraries has changed that they serve more of a community center. I think we need to look at our teen centers and modernizing those to make sure we're looking at looking holistically at how to support youth. I'll even say, you know, with all the activity that's happening at Jordan High School out in Park and the North facility and North Health Facility, they're all in one complex, a health facility , a park. And I think we should think about while we're in the process of building the building, the community center, we should think about how to integrate those services a little bit more, particularly as we relate to responding to teens. But that said, thank you so much. I know a lot of my conversations veered away from budget, but this is I use this as an opportunity to just have a general check in on a lot of the issues that, you know, the public has brought up to me. My district is brought to me and then I've sort of seen over, you know, over time. Thank you all for your service. Speaker 6: Yes. In 1/2. And Councilman Richardson, Councilwoman Mongeau had come before she like to help you with. So I was beginning. Speaker 1: We kind of talked about this and I can't remember, quite frankly, whether it was at a block meeting or at another budget meeting before. I think you missed one meeting earlier this year, but we kind of talked about workforce investment and the opportunity of the teen centers. The new Parks and Rec director kind of outlined some of those opportunities. And so within the we our A program, Mr. Harris had talked about that some of those funds would be available to kind of combine if we were to go that direction. So I know that that's a more kind. Brands of memo that will probably be getting back that I. Speaker 4: Probably could. Speaker 2: Tell you a little about. Sure. So we should we should have a good. Yep. Yeah. Good talk on that. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you both. Speaker 0: Thank you. Vice Mayor Andrews. Speaker 6: Yes. Thank you very much. First of all, I'd like to deal with public works. I, Mr. Baca, I heard a color she gave you, which is well and the due for that because you have done a great job, but you have a lot on your plate. I know that. And I want to thank you for everything you've done in our six district. And please keep working with this. First of all, I like the idea that we had three pothole trucks. You know, can you please share how these trucks get assigned to the areas that they respond to? Speaker 0: Councilmember Andrews Yes, we respond to potholes based on complaint. And what we do is we we look at areas of the city that, that we can kind of group those complaints and pothole repair request together and we'll send a crew out and kind of work one area. So those three crews are now able to address different areas of the city in in fixing potholes. I know this is a concern of you. You brought up in one of our briefings and we don't have a CD six pothole track yet, but we're working on it. Speaker 6: Thank you. And yeah, that that definitely would help, you know, if we could get, you know, the heat map, you know, the areas that, you know, where the most potholes report come from. That would be great. I think it'd be a great idea there. And now that I'm, you know, asking about the heat map, can we also get a map of graffiti and illegal dumping and item and that report that we'd like to, you know, get something on that also, if that would be possible? Speaker 0: I'll look into that. I'm not sure if we have it available on GRC, but if we do, we can certainly get you a map. Speaker 6: Thank you very much. And the next item is also on. I understand that the ADA access ramps were selected by report by one ADA coordinator, you know, upon complaints of people with accessible issues. And we are aiming to serve 200 additional ramps. Can we have a conversation on how we can be more inclusive and in approach, in approving and denying of, you know, resurfacing these ramps? Speaker 0: Yes. Thanks for bringing that up. I think you're you're familiar with the city settlement for creating more accessibility. And one of the priorities in that settlement is to look at any missing curb ramps. This year, we anticipate completing roughly 720 to 750 brand new curb ramps. We anticipate achieving a similar number next year. The city is in the process of doing a self-assessment and really what that means is that we're looking at all of our sidewalks, all of our missing curb ramps and any existing curb ramps that may be built and that are not compliant with standards. So that report should be done January of 19, and we'll be bringing that to council. And from that report, we will be able to share kind of your idea, which is a heat map showing where those concentrated areas of the worst sidewalk concerns exist. Speaker 6: Oh, thank you very much. You know, in reading something very interesting in the report, performance measures that I think we should really highlight as a city, the goal for each residents not to just, you know, dispose of more than £7.6 of trash per day is amazing. You know, we can work on, you know, a campaign to help our landfill. It would be great. Speaker 0: So I show that, especially when we're picking up 17,000 mattresses. Speaker 6: Thank you. Thank you again. You know, I'm really glad to see that. And the some of the changes that we are, you know, postponing to replace, you know, the council can I we call it constructive service with actual staff. And I appreciate when we keep our work in-house because the people we have working for us actually knows our city and may, you know, live in it. And therefore, I think we have a better outcome. And I think that's a great idea because I love the idea when people who work here get a chance and the people who live here get a chance to work here. And I think that's a great idea. So thank you guys very much for looking into that. And I do have one more question for the Environmental Service people about how many phone calls that the refuge hotline received in a day. I I'm sure right now I don't want you to tell me I. Speaker 0: Don't have the daily figures. But we do know we received about 85,000 requests this year and roughly 15,000 of those came over Golden Beach. So roughly 70,000 calls requested annually. Speaker 6: Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Also for the public service so we can finish. You know, replacing the lighting at the neck of the park, you know, to lay it, it would really be a great idea. So would you please look into that? Speaker 0: And yes, MacArthur Park is on the list of the parks remaining for LED conversion, and that should happen in 19. Speaker 6: Thank you very much. And next, I'd like to go to Parks. You know, Mr. Toronto, I think I thank you for you are considering the nature of employees, you know, which I think everyone is kind of, you know, consider about that because most of our free standing restrooms in the six requires extra eyes at night time as they do time as they do in park parks, like the longest one we call it tot lot and a park and Chick fil A would really benefit from an employee's that these you know managing these fields urgent that the restrooms everyone is speaking about the night restrooms and I'm sure everyone in this day says if they have the denied restrooms, they are having a problem with them. So having that extra person and monitoring it, I think would be a great idea and it really help our parks. And also, you know, and I'm hoping this new bill for partnership and community engagement, you know, works on reaching out to everyone in the city, including residents. Those who primarily in with the primary language may not be in English. And that works on bring in, you know, pride in year because we are a city that with many people to work to work, to want to work with it. So, you know, and I have one more question about the BSA program funding. And this is going directly to the Parks Department, or is this for a nonprofit organization to run the BSA program or out of the park? Speaker 2: Directly to the Parks Recreation Marine Department. Speaker 6: Thank you. And one last thing if we can bring back I know this is one of my staff's ideas and I thought it's a good idea, too, because everyone loves to work out and because when we call it bring back the track in youth sports, that would be great because because really it's a showcase esthetic field. You know, the new feel I have over them, I don't think many of the individuals had a chance to go and see that wonderful $11 million feel. You know, and I know sometimes you said, oh, boy, you know, we don't have all weather turf there, but it's really good for the kids because for soccer, it is fantastic . The track is fantastic. We have lights, you know, almost up to 12:00 at night. So you really want to stay in shape, go to Celtic field because it will be fantastic for everyone. And with that, I'd like to move over to development services. And the first question I have is, under the 18 accomplishments for this department, I am very proud to see many of the projects in this next district highlighted. And we have Habitat for Humanity, the L.A. Housing, Clifford Deer, among other accomplishments. You know, I want to ask about 80% rate of the closing code enforcement, you know, cases that is published are these cases that are actually closed because there has been, you know, corrective action or are they considered closed because an inspector went out? Speaker 1: They're actually considered clothes and that's 80% that are close within that that 120 day time period. So, yes, that is actually closed and meaning that the issue is resolved. Speaker 6: Thank you. And then there's also in this budget, I do not you know, I do not see any recommendations to upgrade. And it'll be called system system. You know, at least half of the time that my staff wants to report something on this website, the site is either is run. It runs into some sort of glitch. And this is the system we really need to upgrade our or is sometimes, you know, that we can, you know, work towards addressing it. So that's something I really wish you guys to take the time to look at. You know that if you had a chance to. And another thing, I really would be pleased to get somewhat some sort of breakdown of the number of, you know, property inspectors under the program in each district. And if you guys had a chance, I'd like to be able to get that if it's possible. You know, I'm trying to keep my remarks brief across this department, but I really hope that with all of these new employees, we're going to be adding to decrease waiting time. We also take a look at how many time applicants can come back to this revision Army. If we can work towards the consolidation of these processes and applications. I know a lot of the individuals who go out and looking for applications and going out looking for jobs. The process seems very, very long and I wish we would get to kind of be a little more user friendly, you know, with these jobs to go after people looking for applications. So I want to thank both of you, all three of you, these individuals for the service, if you work with me and please continue to work with all of us. Thank you guys again for the great job you're doing. Speaker 0: Thank you, Vice Mayor Councilmember Cipriano. Speaker 2: Thank you. You know, with the number of questions we've heard tonight, you would think that we never speak. But actually we have our my office has monthly briefings, so I exchange emails with Linda today. We met yesterday for our briefing. Craig Beck and I met last Monday and Ronaldo and I had a ribbon cutting last week. So our discussions tend to be rather micro in nature when we do have our briefing. So I'll keep everything macro tonight. And my first question is for Craig back, because the department has evolved so much just since you've taken over. We have more funding. We're doing more studies. Has anything philosophically changed? And I apologize for blindsiding you with this, but I don't think I've ever asked you this before. In your approach to selection of streets for paving and that type of thing, is it more of a challenge because you have a greater volume of work to do Speaker 0: ? No, I. Councilmember Super. Thank you for the question. I think it really goes back to strategic planning efforts, and I think this council has been very supportive of going in that direction. A good example of that is our pavement management plan. So we come to this council, we present our pavement manager plan, and within that plan it makes recommendations of where to invest the dollars that you have in your streets. And I think our approach initially was to focus on those streets that were in good condition and put slurry out to ensure that they stayed in good condition . So I heard an interesting analogy the other day, which is if you if you were in the delivery business and you had ten vehicles and three needed brand new engines and seven only needed oil changes, you would spend the money on doing oil changes before you would repair those engines. And so we're taking a similar investment strategy where we're stretching our dollars and impacting as many streets as we can before we have to invest significant, significant amounts to actually repair streets, meaning we have to dig them up down to the base and repair the base and then build them back up. So we are now starting to pick those up and 18 and we have some more of those on the books in 19 and you're going to start seeing that shift a little bit. But we really do rely on our payment management plan and other strategic plans to help us make those kind of decisions. Speaker 2: Okay, I know you've said this a lot, but it seems like someone there's always someone who doesn't get the message that this is a scientific approach and it's the most efficient way to pay for our slurry streets. All right. Thank you. The other thing I wanted to mention to that I have mentioned to you before is that tree trimming. We have a lot of palm trees in our district and they're on major transportation corridors. So our council offices has offered to come up with the funding so we can do that. I think palm trees are just not in the same cycle as as other trees. So if we can do that this year, we would like to do that again before the rainy season starts. Let's hope we have a rainy season, I guess. And to for development services to Linda Tatum I think the strength. If your department really lies in flexibility or adaptability or a can do attitude, I think that is really key. So thank you for your efforts in that area. And I just have one example here. I won't mention it specifically, but it's in the presentation and that's a business on the Anaheim corridor. And that was dead on arrival when that was first mentioned to my office. And to see the complete 180 where it appears as something you're proud of in this presentation, just really speaks to that ability to adapt and see what the investor or property owner wants to do. And so thank you for the efforts there. And to Director Mallette, I think all three of the partners here deal with ADA issues. And first of all, you've done a lot in your first few months, but for my office you did a lot in your first two weeks and you brought that project to fruition. We mentioned it in our newsletter last week, so thank you for that. And I think it has somewhat to do with your background. So if you could tell us about your very background at ADA issues also. I was fortunate that I was the city of sending its first ADA coordinator back in 1990 when the Act was passed the Civil Rights Act. Well, thank you. I hope we can go to the well once in a while to get your expertize on these things, because I think just that that background and philosophy can help a lot. I think that's all I have. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Got to remember. Let me go to Councilwoman Gonzalez and then I'll make some comment and then we'll go back to some folks that they want to go against. Let me let me go to Councilman Gonzalez first. Speaker 8: So first and foremost, thank you so much to all of our department heads for presenting. I think this is a really amazing project. First, I'll go to Trace Back in Public Park. I first want to say thank you, Craig, and your team Environmental Services. You took on the expanded polystyrene ordinance and I appreciate the inclusion as an administrative and I at the ordinance you implemented the choose to be campaign very quickly and it just showed a commitment to sustainability. Just wanted to thank you for that very much. Quick question for you in regards to streets of England, Long Beach, I know we had the 18 optimization study for BP and now we have the FAA 19 supervisor of reef operations proposed. How do you see the two budget elements functioning together for better efficiency? And they had issues of the beach and believe in straight people. So how do you see them sort of making our our efficiency better? Speaker 0: Councilmember Gonzales, hello. Yes, I think the mentioning the street sweeping optimization study is important. We really have worked to reduce our street sweeping times and we focused initially in our most parking impacted communities, shifting when we when our start and ending times were. And we look to continue that as we move forward. We still do have some streets where there's conflict of trash collection days on street sweeping days. And we certainly appreciate that. That is an inefficient way to do business and we're working to eliminate all those conflicts. When you look at the oversight of that operation, it is street sweeping and it is also the clean team. So there's a lot of work that's generated there. And adding a supervisor position will not only help us be more efficient on our clean time operation, but will also help us manage some of our street sweeping challenges as well. So I do see this as a as a valuable position, and I think it'll help in both ways. Speaker 8: Great. Thank you very much. And then the last question for you, Craig, was you just mentioned it briefly. I know that there is an increased workload for public works, and we completely understand that, you know, tons of development in downtown, which is great. But you mentioned, you know, increased cost, but that's sort of out of the market issue. Are there are are we seeing a specific, you know, a large increase in cost that would now be a hindrance to projects or delay in projects? Speaker 0: Well, I think if you look at the presentation and you look at some of the bid pricing we're getting, what what seems to be happening is that the subcontractors have a lot of demand and they're able to to correspondingly charge higher prices. And our general contractors who are bidding on many of our projects are sometimes having challenges, having are their subcontractors who bid with them, hold their price for an extended amount of time. And so I think one of the goals internally that we're going to be working on is how do we shorten the time frame from bid opening to council approval and notice to proceed? And if we can do that, I think it will certainly help some of those challenges that we're seeing in our bid process. But additionally, just right now, construction pricing is at a premium. And so we're having to, as I mentioned, either having to reduce scope or identify additional funds to address the initial scope to be able to deliver the project. Speaker 8: Thank you so much. And I just appreciate you providing that context because, you know, we do get out a lot about delays. And so we appreciate that. But thank you very much for that. Both which goes to art and also. Okay? Speaker 1: Yes. Speaker 8: So I just want to say thank you to our party in both Iraq and in part because the interim director for some time and their commitment to private equity, which is a huge initiative of our office, but really is for the betterment of the city. And we can definitely see a difference in programing and activity with are currently seeing and we look forward to the budget proposal that will appreciate that the community engagement partnership we I absolutely love that. I think relative to the discussion that many of my colleagues were talking about with the with opportunity funds from and how that would work together, do you envision that community partnership engagement person running point on that? If we are if we were to approve the $200,000 for the youth fund, that person being the one out that would do that. How would you envision that happening? Speaker 2: No, I think I believe that that still needs to be determined. The process. I'm not envisioning the the new bureau manager having lead point. I think there needs to be further discussion on exactly the approach. Speaker 8: Okay. Got it. And so I would just say, you know, as much as I mentioned, I think other cities have invested quite a bit more than $200,000 was definitely a start. And I think, you know, relative to what we talked about with Park Equity and just a lot of the programs that are need in Parks and Recreation , I think that is a wonderful initiative to improve. So just wanted to leave that comment. But switching gears, I know there's been a large focus on being of programing. Are we looking at more programing? I mean, we have done some pilot programs in the past, and I don't know if this would be made with a new language helping the aging center, how that little worked out. I'm just curious as to what that would look like. Speaker 2: Let me call on staff that might have more knowledge about the scene. I think the question is about the the continuation of the senior meal program. Yes. Yeah. So I'm I'm calling on our Community Recreation Bureau manager to help me with this question. Speaker 8: Thank you. Speaker 1: Guardian Council. Currently, we have two providers that support our senior meal program. We partner with HCA that has our meal program at our a few of our sites, and then a recent partnership with the women empowering arm to provide meals at Cesar Chavez as well as Silverado Park. Speaker 8: And we both continue with that because what I was going to be, I was under the impression that if those programs were pilot, so I would just continue with the proposed financing budget. Speaker 1: I mean, as this program is planned to continue throughout the new fiscal year. Speaker 8: Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. Wonderful. Well, I just want to say thank you to our park staff. And again, you and new director head up. I think he's made incredible progress just in the short time you've been here at the ski resort. Thank you very much for your words. And then I will switch gears to development services, Linda. I just want to say thank you for the prosecutor option. I think this is truly a huge, intangible, historic neighborhoods and blighted unit, especially in downtown neighborhoods, without even looking and calling for their service is wonderful. But what type of major issues currently do you project that this prosecutor will be handling? Speaker 1: As we talked about earlier, I think probably that the nuisance cases would be the one of the first priorities. I I'm not envisioning that we would use them for the health and safety cases just because those we expect a pretty quick turnaround. So I would say that the nuisance cases and probably or likely some of the the prep cases as well, but we will try to assess kind of the effectiveness and just look at kind of where where he's most needed. Speaker 8: Okay. And I would just say that and you know, we had our budget meeting last night in the first District and I remember and had mentioned that ten years ago, you know, we had asked for a, you know, may or may not need, but it possibly could is that we have a link in our Building Services website sort of buried in the website, but it has the ability to share. A few of the property owners in our city have been over 120 days. And I think as we're adding more resources for port enforcement, especially with proper cut off material and opportunity that we look at, perhaps highlighting that link a little bit more if it should marry with the square. And that's something we think that could be done. Speaker 1: Yes, I think we can take a look at that. Speaker 8: Okay, great. Because I think that would be very beneficial for us. Just the whole comprehensive discussion about bettering our neighbor, helping and mitigating blight. I think you and then add a couple more questions relative to the phasing accomplishment you mentioned over 13,000 cases have been eradicated within 180% of them have been eradicated. And we have more details on how some of the grant has some haven't been closed earlier than 120 days. And do we know how many of them have been critical, like quality, quality of life issues? Speaker 1: Unfortunately, that's one of the issues I was speaking to earlier in terms of the the lack of the ability of our current database to really get a really good handle on the the types of complaints. So that's something that we're going to be exploring further so that we can get more robust reporting out of the out of our data system in terms of the types of projects that we are, that the types of citations so that we can report out on those and know where we need to really focus our energies and efforts. So in terms of your question specifically about the whether or not there are some close within less than the 120 days ? Yes, there are some. That is just the outside. And we're pointing out that that 80% closure is within that time period. But some may be as quick as a week and some may be up to the full 120 days. Speaker 8: Okay. And I know we talked about the technology and is it the Hanson software? I remember that it was a year ago or two years ago, we talked about updating the software. Is this for the Hanson software? Speaker 1: Yes. I think it's now been rebranded and it's called in four, but in four enhance and they're one in the same. And apparently we are in the process of taking a look at getting the newer version of that system. Speaker 8: Okay. Great. Wonderful. I'm looking forward to seeing those improvements and I hope that I can hear that earlier. But thank you very much. And I just thank all three of your your department for all of the continued work that you've been doing to make our city better. So thank you all very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman. Just a couple just comments on the presentations in the departments. I want to just start by congratulating all three departments I think have done a great job with with the staff putting the budget together just for for public works. I want to just thank you. You know, Mr. Beck, you and your team, especially in light of measure, have just done just a great job of ensuring that our infrastructure plan and our five year infrastructure plan for public buildings and streets and roads is moving forward. And we're now through a little over a full year of implementation of that plan, and we're on track. Projects are being completed on time, and I just really appreciate you and your team for doing that. And so I absolutely support the additional resources to manage the additional infrastructure work. And I just want to echo I know you've heard me say this to you privately many times, but Councilwoman Pryce mentioned the issues around streets and the way that we will repair the street and oftentimes not ensure that it is left in the condition that it was found. This continues to be an issue. And so we just really need to tighten that process up so that our streets are left in the in as good or better condition when the work happens. I want to again congratulate the team on almost completing the LED light process, which is almost done, which I think is really, really fantastic . And and I think overall, I think all the work that's happening over there is really great to just the Parks Department, the two areas that I want to lift up as well. One is obviously very supportive and I've been working with partners of Parks and the team there to ensure that there's funding for there to be some support for leadership there for the next few years and to ensure a smooth process. I'm really happy that that is implemented in the budget and I want to thank the Parks Department for partnering with that great group of folks there, including all the wonderful volunteers that do that work in in parks. I wanted to also just point out two things. The first is there was some conversation about the the youth fund and the dollars there. I mentioned before, it was intentionally we didn't put a lot of detail as far as how it would be spent or the process, because we thought that the staff, along with the council and the community would have an opportunity to have that discussion. And so the resources are there. But as far as where they're spent and how they're spent, I think is really a conversation that is going to happen. And so there is no intention, I don't think right now as to how we do that or even where it lives . I think that it was an idea that was important to councilmembers as well as the community. And so we put some seed dollars there. And as far as how that's spent and the process, we put participatory budgeting just as a nod to a community process. But it really can be whatever the council wants it to be. And so I think that's I wanted to just to clarify that and then I wanted to also note that I do think an area in retrospect or and I'm not sure if it's possible in this year's budget, I know that Councilman Mongo and Councilwoman Pricer have discussed this as well, but we do need to find some opportunities to increase the senior programing that we have. And I think already there's some great work happening there. But I know that I think some council officers are funding some senior programs, which I think is great, but really that needs to be memorialized within the budget, I think, and within the Parks Department long term. And so I'd like to that burden should come off of the council offices and that should be funded through the Parks Department. And so I just want to if it's if we're able in this year's budget to find some resources to put some funding for these senior programs, I'd be supportive of that and I'm sure the PSC will look at that as well. And then I wanted to mention, let's see, on the parks works now, I think I think that's all those are. Just might just some general comment. I think the team is doing a really good job with these with these presentations. Councilman Price. Speaker 7: Do I, I had actually cued up because I forgot to talk about senior programing and I agree. I think we definitely need to find a way to incorporate senior programing. I know Councilman Austin and I tried to initiate some senior programing in our Porter facility, which is the land bowling center. And it just it was a great idea, but we just needed a little bit more help and some resources. And we did use some divide by nine money to try to get it started. But I think that's a population that really is underserved. And, you know, our program was called the Mindful Aging Series. So we wanted to try to encourage folks to be active and. And have community and fellowship. And so if we can identify some funds and I know we'll really work on that. I think that's a great population for us to try to assist. I wanted to echo what Councilman Super and said, Linda, to to you. I don't think there's ever been a time where I've suggested something or asked a question of anyone on your team and they've said no, or even implied that the answer was going to be in the negative and not that we always want to hear what we want to hear. But they always start with, let me see what I can do. Let me look into it. Let me get back to you. And so I know Oscar and Chris and Kerry are here and your entire team is just you know, they always have a can do attitude. And if they really can't do it, you get to the point where you totally trust them because the you know, they've tried every which way. And if they really can't do it, you they have a lot of credibility. So that's something that I that councilman super now pointed out that I wanted to highlight. And to our PRM director, I, I really hope you didn't think that was a grilling on my part. That was what we call in my industry a very smooth, direct examination. It was not a cross-examination. So I know. Speaker 1: Gathering wrongness that I. Speaker 7: Grilled you, but that was like a friendly. But the question that I had and I just really want to echo what my colleague, Councilman Richardson, said. I think the Community Engagement and Partnership Program is a really great program. I do. And I would like us to try as a city to find ways to find ways to fund it citywide, because I share the same concern, and that's why I brought it up. You know, we're legally restricted on where we can spend money that's allocated to a particular geographic area. And and frankly, I although we would appreciate having those additional resources in the second and third district, I think Councilman Council person council member Pierson I, I and I won't speak for her, but I can say that I think there's a lot of other areas where we could really see that Tidelands operating money use, such as in areas of beach maintenance. We've asked for more trash cans there, so perhaps purchasing more trash cans so that the Tidelands operation budget can help empty those trash cans. You know, maybe that's an area where we can put some of that money because we don't have as many partnerships and community groups along the very limited area south of Ocean Boulevard to participate and engage in community partnerships. And those partners that we have south of Ocean Boulevard in large part are already established partnerships. We don't need to be giving them any money to engage with us. Aquatics, capital, for example. They're very engaged. Friends of Colorado Lagoon. They're very engaged. These are areas that fall within Tidelands that we would be looking to partner with where they don't need a funding source. So rather than trying to create the position by piecing together money from different departments where we have restrictions on how that money can be spent, I'd rather try to find a way to fund the program because I applaud it and I think it's great. And I it's very innovative. I think we should, as the city, try to find ways to fund it wholly and not from a limited use fund. So with that, thank you very much. Again. Speaker 0: Thank you very much, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 1: Thank you. I wanted to make some clarifying questions to development services after hearing some of the comments of my colleagues. One of the things that I think we talked about a few weeks ago was some of our our 99 are bad landlords. And I know that one of the comments made was that inspections are only done on a currently every five year basis. But it's my understanding that all apartment owners are paying the fee on an annual basis. Is that accurate? That's correct. Okay. And then that the cycle of inspection, if there are violator, are they moved up the list so that they would be inspected more frequently than the five? If they are and if they are currently violating, yes, they would be moved up the list. So I think that that's what we talked about with the council because I don't want the community to think that bad landlords only get inspected every five years. It's the good landlords that have passed inspections. They get inspected every five years and that don't have complaints. Though if a complaint came in, they of course would be moved up the list, but that our bad landlords are on a more often rotation and the number of bad landlords as they become good landlords or sell their properties, which we've seen a lot of as well that they. Really consume the majority share of the resources of the program, because the goal really is to get to a place where everyone is living in a healthy and happy environment. So I really appreciate that. And then I also wanted to make a further comment about our Be Safe program and our our senior programs. I know that it's a great program. There's not a lot of talk about it this year because the funding was folded in. And I think that it takes some attention to remind ourselves what a solid program it is and how great it's been for the community, but also that our senior programs are crucial and that we don't currently have our own area agency on aging department, but that the C one funds, the C two funds, the activity funds, the case management funds that come down from the state really aren't being funneled into our department. And I know that I'm pretty sure this is the third year in a row that I've mentioned that we really need to work on drawing down those funds from the county better so that we are getting a larger share of it to fund some of these programs, including senior fitness and other things. But in the meantime, we are going to have to find some general fund money because a lot of our our council offices have been either directly providing the services or funding it through one times, which has been pieced together. So thank you very much. I think all of you are doing a great job. Many of you know, you're my my three go to departments because we have so many public works needs and 70% of the parks in the district. So we really appreciate all that. All three of you do. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 1: Yes. I just wanted to take a moment to echo the sentiments of Councilmember Price. I think having the resources citywide would be great. I know we already had a Tidelands meeting today where we talked about how much we want to see those improvements. I fully support the idea, you know, how much I'm in love with big belly trash cans, whatever option it is, and we can put some branding in the little windows on them about our polystyrene ban and creative ways and our new branding that public works just came out with. So wherever we can see some money used for, that would be awesome. Thank you. Speaker 2: And I do want to point out that we are already taking we're not waiting for the budget cycle. We're looking at putting those out, both pig belly or the the other equivalent as well, and as well as trash cans and others along the beach. So we are actively putting those out because we are seeing additional, you know, more people coming to the beach, which is a great thing. And unfortunately, they're not cleaning up after themselves. So both are putting out more opportunities to dispose and then also having our maintenance staff go by and make sure that those are clean. Speaker 1: Thank you. And I just had a remembering from our polystyrene conversation. I recall there was some conversations around a P3 with maybe Dart or somebody like that and that we were looking at trying to use some some funds from some nonprofits, not nonprofits from some of those corporations to be able to fund more of these trash cans . So maybe we could look back at those minutes and notes and see what we can come back with. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Okay. Well, that concludes questions for the first three parts of this first hearing. So now we go to the second half of the budget hearing, which is going to be library services and the health department. And then we will do questions and then we have the public comment for the hearing. For just for the budget hearing. It's going to be a late night tonight, if you like, Nathan. Speaker 1: Walter, you are not here. I can go back to dinner. Speaker 10: That's true, too. Speaker 0: Okay. Let me see if we can, Mr. America, if we can go on to the next part of the budget presentation. Speaker 2: Yes. Well, we have two more departments to hear from. One is library services and the other is Health and Human Services. So we will start with library services and our director, Glenda Williams. Speaker 1: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia and members of City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to present to you the proposed FBI 19 budget for the Department of Library Services. We are proud to partner with our family city departments as part of the public safety continuing. And what is our role? Well, according to our police department, there are three sites for public safety prevention, intervention and suppression. So the library is prevention. You've heard that there is a correlation between literacy and crime, but it bears repeating. Again, many studies have shown that 85% of youth in juvenile hall cannot read above a third grade level. 85% are functionally illiterate. And here's another stat. It is estimated that two thirds of the children that cannot read by the fourth grade will either go to jail or be on welfare. And when I've talked to kids about their dreams or what they want to do when they grow up, not one child has said, I want to go to jail. Well, I can't wait to get on welfare. And I'm hopeful that you haven't heard this either. But the good news is that children and access to books perform better in school and have improved math scores. It's true. Kids who read succeed. Studies also show that 60% of inmates are illiterate once they are released. 70% will return to prison if they do not become literate. So you see, stats show that a small investment in literacy through library resources can a huge result yield huge results and help keep our city safe. Okay, good. This slide reflects our core services. The Long Beach Public Library is committed to meeting the learning and information needs of our culturally diverse and dynamic population. From babies and children to adults and seniors, we offer a wide selection of resources and materials representing all points of view. We also provide free computers, free Internet and free Wi-Fi access, but help address the digital divide in our city. More than ever, people need to be connected just to complete a simple task as a normal part of their daily lives. Additionally, additionally, the library also utilizes specialized technology to provide information to individuals and families with special needs. We have 12 public libraries conveniently located throughout the city to serve our community. For some accomplishments the Veterans Resource Center launched this summer at Maine Library. This public space is equipped with a dedicated computer for veteran resources, private study rooms and a collection of materials to assist veterans and their families, including information on veterans benefits. Did you know that a high school dropout costs about $300,000 over their lifetime, and most of that is borne at the local level. Our accredited career online high school launched in 2016, and to date, 34 people have graduated with their high school diploma. Not a GED and a career certificate. There's free services made possible by the California State Library and the Library Foundation. So we're all about literacy. And two new programs highlight this passion. Fantasy Cantos is a bilingual storytime event held monthly at main library and at different library branches. Families with children ages 2 to 5 are invited to explore books, songs and finger plays in English and Spanish. This teaches English speaking families a basic introduction to the Spanish language and to other cultures. While Spanish speakers get to socialize and interact with peers in their native language while practicing early literacy skills, we launched an early literacy initiative this year. Dove into reading. It provides incentives and challenges parents to read 1000 books with their child before kindergarten to get them ready for school and ready to learn. Reading together helps children develop those crucial early literacy skills. Some technology changes that will improve our Wi-Fi include updated access points and network equipment that will provide more reliable service. You may also have noticed that you no longer need your library card to access our wi fi. Just agree to the terms of use and your online. Last but not least, we're really excited about a new platform for our digital archive, which is Long Beach history. It's easier to use and you can clearly see which collection you are reviewing. All the photo, yearbook and city directory collections are available in one place with a single search box for the entire archive. Suggested subject headings are readily available with the number of relevant results. Check it out at LPL dot org. Long Beach Public Library is heavily used. We have about 4300 daily visits for all 12 libraries each year. More than half of our population is a card carrying member, and it has used about 5 million resources. Wi-Fi usage averages about 14,000 a month. E-book and audiobook downloads are almost 12,000 monthly. Just about 70,000 searches a month are made on the popular Go BPL mobile app. We have 15,000 social media followers and we've answered almost 300 requests for information. The proposed library budget is about 14.8 million, 94% of which is from the general fund and includes 428 full time equivalents, which is about 177 employees for 12 library sites and grant funds, representing about 5% are provided mainly by the Long Beach Public Library Foundation, which funds all of our family learning centers. The studio at the main library and Michelle Obama library are mobile studio and other initiatives. We would not be able to provide these critical services without their support and assistance. Our most notable proposed change includes a restructuring not expanding, not enhancing, not reducing the current library schedule. So right now, our libraries operate five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday. And four sites are open half a day on Sundays with one time funds. All libraries are closed on Mondays. In response to public demand, the library proposes moving half the libraries to a Sunday through Thursday schedule, retaining the other six libraries on the current Tuesday through Saturday schedule. So a library will be open, accessible every day of the week. This proposed schedule, as indicated on the slide, was developed using a number of metrics, including accessibility, library materials, checked out, attendance, computer usage events, programs, classes, rentals of meeting rooms by community groups. Geography was taken into account, and council districts with two libraries were placed on opposing schedules. Next, regarding technology enhancements. I'm really excited to share that the new library website is anticipated to go live by the end of this calendar year. It will be robust feature to an intuitive interface and a refreshed looks. Look, plans are also moving forward to connect the last library branch directly to main library with fiber, which will improve internet reliability. Lastly, during the last year, quite a few measure eight facility improvements have been completed and include restrooms. And this is extremely important. Lighting, painting and parking lot repaving. Current projects include hearing loops and circulation. Desk and roof repairs are anticipated. As for challenges, we have aging facilities. The average age of nine libraries is 61 years old. And while our facilities and public works staff are extremely responsive, the aging libraries require require a lot of attention in order to remain safe facilities for the public and staff. Again, thankfully, Measure eight has made it possible to find much of the required facility improvements. Another library challenge has been ensuring the public's and staff safety. Unfortunately, we've seen a steady increase in the number of verbal and physical incidents and assaults occurring in the libraries during this past year. We've worked closely with the Police Disaster Preparedness and Health and Human Services departments who I want to publicly thank for connecting staff to resources , being responsive and training staff on a number of safety related topics so staff can handle these incidents as they occur. Now on to better things library opportunities. We are gearing up for a big move to the new main library anticipated to open next summer. Yes, you can clap. We couldn't be more excited about this. It will be a world class library, not only for downtown residents, but for the entire city. In addition, the long awaited point of sale multi-phase project will finally start. Being implemented in fiscal year 2019, allowing patrons to pay library fees and fines. Also, thanks to library services and technology at Grant from the California State Library, which is before you tonight for approval, the Mark Twain Library will provide enhanced access to its adult and children's book collection by making titles searchable with the combined script and the library's online catalog. This project increases access to library resources for the city's large Cambodian community and helps us to better align with the city's language access policy. Last but not least, there is an opportunity to increase our one gig internet bandwidth to ten gigs through assistance from the California State Library. And this will really come in handy once we open our new main library next year. As with the Michelle Obama library, we expect usage to skyrocket once the new building opens. In closing, it is a pleasure to work with the women and men of the Long Beach Public Library to improve the quality of life for our residents . Their dedication, passion and support allow us to assist our community in meeting their personal and educational goals, and we are honored to have this important role in our community. This concludes the presentation. I'm available for your questions. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next up is the Health and Human Services presentation. Speaker 2: Yes, we will hear a presentation from Kelly Collopy, our director of Health and Human Services. Speaker 10: Good evening, Honorable Mayor and City Council Members. Thank you for this opportunity to share the Department of Health and Human Services budget presentation. First, I'd like to give a big shout out to the Health and Human Services team. There are many who are here tonight. They're really a smart, passionate and fabulous group, and I am lucky every single day to get to spend time with them. I also want to thank our city departments and community partners as well as our community members, because I know without you we would not be able to do the work that we do. The Health and Human Services Department has been growing and expanding its services. We work every day to improve the health and safety of people across our Long Beach communities. Our stand is that everyone in the city can reach their highest level of health and potential for successful life, regardless of their background and identity. All of our work focuses on this goal. We now offer 44 yes, 44 different programs, which is up from 30 just five years ago. And these are funded by over 100 grants supporting the health and wellness from pre-birth through end of life. We are a very diverse organization. I was told I only have 10 minutes. If I went through our 44 hour, we'd be here all night, so I'll spare you. However, I would like to highlight the role of the Health Department in the public safety continuum. The Department of Health and Human Services is a core public safety in our city, but often remains in the background. First, the Public Health Emergency Management Team often takes the lead with the Federal Department of Homeland Security and FBI, as well as state agencies and our city's public safety departments for planning to ensure we are prepared for large scale emergency events. The Health Department also participates in the unified command at large scale events such as Grand Prix and Pride festivities. The team is co-located in its mobile command center with the other public safety departments behind the scenes. In cases of large scale emergencies, Public Health Emergency Management coordinated. The opening of the shelter with Parks, Recreation and Marine. Environmental Health ensures the site is ready for habitation. Public health nurses and our EPI team assess all who are displaced and help address any medical needs. Our social workers provide mental health supports to ease the impacts of the trauma and homeless services helps find temporary housing. This work makes it possible to stand up emergency shelter and provide services before the Red Cross can arrive. And then we work with Red Cross once they can arrive. The Environmental Health Bureau coordinates the city's response to hazardous waste threats. The quality of life and heart teams in a very important piece of the homeless response. And I truly appreciate their new funding. But it is also important to recognize, as their successors rely on the homeless services division, strength in coordinating services and creating access to housing opportunities. We made the safe language partnerships and other violence prevention efforts and participate on high level county steering committees for mental health and alternatives to incarceration for both youth and adults. Environmental Health conducts over 7000 restaurant and water inspections each year to ensure our residents and visitors are safe in our restaurants and in our waters. We really are a public safety. Each year we provide over 350,000 free and very low cost health opportunities. These include clinical visits, health insurance enrollment, healthy, active, Long Beach events, work, public health, nursing, environmental health and much more. We really are everywhere. This year, we promoted social equity by by working closely with our city agencies and community members to develop policies such as Cannabis Equity, Long Beach Values Act, Economic Inclusion Group Blueprint. And we're working very closely with the parks to support Park Equity. In addition, we trained nearly 40 staff from seven departments and Authentic Community Engagement and trained 700 staff and stakeholders on health and racial equity. The Language Access Program saw a 22% increase in document translation and a 78% increase in oral interpretation requests for community meetings. They also trained 800 staff across the city on the language access kits and 600 on bilingual policy. We launched the first and became Youth Leadership Program and to strengthen families, we've had father friendly initiatives and improved family relationships for 360 families and our family preservation programs. Through initial health department efforts. We now have a behavioral health urgent crisis center in Long Beach that opened in the past month and allows for 2724 by seven access to mental health services in the city. In addition, through our partnerships with the county, we're bringing county supports through our attorneys to incarceration efforts currently underway at the jail . Public Health Emergency Management launched a veterinary disease reporting system designed and led the Academy to train members of the Health Department team in every response and implemented a 24 hour public health duty line for hospitals and emergency services teams. The AP Academy was highlighted as a best practice at a recent national health conference. We implemented the My Sister's Keeper View program to address human trafficking, hate crimes and community police relations. We vaccinated 800 high risk individuals twice to prevent the outbreak. We had zero cases. While other surrounding jurisdictions jurisdictions experienced outbreaks. We cleaned up 388 hazardous waste and wastewater spills. And finally, we officially launched two new focus areas, the one with the Long Beach Healthy Aging Center and the Early Childhood Strategic Plan. The Healthy Aging Center is currently seen as a model for how public health departments engage in a focus on senior services, although they are not funded to do so. The plan, developed with the feedback from nearly 20 focus groups and in partnership with our Early Childhood Education Committee, will be launched and presented to you in the next month or so. We also launched two new campaigns No More for HIV and STDs and Green Light lobby for unbiased cannabis education. The November campaign was in partnership with the Pasadena Design School. You've heard a lot about the efforts lately regarding homeless services. The city is doing so much. The Health Department is leading the way in homeless services for the city, both in accessing funding, leading inter-departmental coordination and providing services. We continue to bring in nearly $14 million in grants for prevention, outreach, social services, emergency shelter, rapid rehousing, bridge and permanent housing. In addition, Long Beach will receive over 9 million in state funding that goes only to continuum of care as part of the state funds. Without the Long Beach continuum of care, these funds would have gone directly to L.A. County. When we count the housing authority vouchers specifically for homelessness, the health department generates nearly $33 million in outside resources to address homelessness within the city of Long Beach. We have 688 people, which is a 42% increase over last year, including 198 veterans, which is 151% increase over last year. We also provided 13,000 linkages to needed services, and to date we've made 13 185 outreach contacts in our streets, in our parks, and under our bridges. Through the Housing Authority, we provided $60 million in rental assistance, 800 vouchers for veterans. This is an increase of 100 VASH vouchers this year for the Housing Authority. The Housing Authority also implemented the hip, otherwise known as the Homeless Incentive Program, to increase landlord willingness to rent to people experiencing homelessness by paying deposits, fees and damage claims. The Health Department is also leading in facilitating the mayor's everyone home loan beach task force. Our core strength and opportunity is the highly effective and coordinated services with our city departments, the dinner departmental team and with our partners in the community. The interdepartmental team is a national model for coordination. The members talk almost daily. We truly appreciate each what each partner brings to the table. The increases in funding through measure age in the state, homeless emergency aid program funds of 12.3 million will allow us the opportunity to open a year round shelter as well as provide some other essential services. Through an RFP process, we were awarded $3.4 million to provide tenant improvements to a building once it is purchased for the year round shelter. L.A. County will cover the operations through Measure H. Currently, the Everyone Home Line Beach Task Force is meeting and we look forward to the recommendations, including those focused on the interplay of low income housing and homeless prevention. Our budget is over $133 million with 414 FTE is this. We receive approximately 2% from the general fund and 87% from grants and outside sources. Last year you provided us an approximately $600,000 in one time and new funds we generated 1.2 million a new program resources. Just from those funds, we doubled your investment in our city's health last year. This year, we will receive 134,000 to move the Office of Equity from a grant funded program to a general fund structural position 255,001 time funding for the proactive homeless response and 80,001 time funding the Language Access Program. Our measure each allocation is increasing to $3.4 million this year, and our HIV funding will increase by $724,000 to support early intervention services. The 370,000 comes from three for trauma, comes from three different grant resources, and will allow us to move forward with our trauma informed efforts. And my Nan, My Sister's Keeper program received 306,000 to address human trafficking. Overall, our challenges stem from increasing needs in the community that are not covered by existing funding, such as our growing older adult population. You've already talked about additional resources for older adults. We'd like to ensure that we're having a conversation across all efforts here and increasing STD and HIV rates. In addition, marijuana facility inspections in responding to unsafe and unsanctioned sites will place pressure on an environmental health team. As mentioned earlier, there's been a significant increase in the demand for language access services. We continue to be primarily grant funded, which makes it difficult to maintain and strengthen our operational infrastructure. In addition, there are changing priorities at the federal level and we are finding that grants at all levels are more competitive and it is more difficult to access. Although we continue to bring additional resources for homeless services, they are specifically earmarked and won't cover many of the types of services are being requested and that those are the kinds of things such as prevention 24/7, 24 by seven, outreach and services. Much of the funding we get from HUD maintains current levels of occupied units, not expansions of capacity. So the need remains. Low income and homeless housing access, as well as access to behavioral health services, continue to be a challenge. And finally, we are experiencing a much higher expectation for rapid response in services that are difficult to meet with current resources and staffing. On average, we get about 140 calls a month or 33 per week for the homeless hotline, in addition to requests for response from other sources. But while the challenges exist, we continue to live in a space of opportunity and hope, and we're very excited about what's coming up for the department. These include major upgrades to our main health and north facilities. Our north facility is actually being closed down for the next year. While this is happening, we're shifting services to the Miller Family Health Education Center. These improvements to the north facility will create greater opportunity to bring services to North Lambic and opportunity. We see an opportunity to develop a sustainable funding source for vector control activities, particularly in the face of increased vector borne illness. Our ongoing work to strengthen the public health emergency response capabilities is bringing in training and resources to help support our preparedness. We are planning to implement one degree as our department information and referral system. Any community member will be able to look for services available in Long Beach. This is in partnership with L.A. County. A healthy aging center will provide opportunities for increased coordination and access of older adult services across the city. We continue to seek funding to expand the center early childhood strategic plan, focus at our city and our partners on the needs of the early child, and provides many opportunities for strengthening our focus on this important population. We continue to work more closely with our community members to learn from them and to work with them to design solutions for their communities. And finally, the opening of the Behavioral Health Urgent Crisis Center and other alternatives to incarceration will bring some much needed relief to members of our community and law enforcement as we have greater access to mental health services within our city. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you tonight. This concludes my report and I'm open questions. Speaker 0: Thank you very much for that presentation. And again, both departments. Thank you. We do have all our council members here. It's time for our questions. So let me begin with Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 1: Thank you. I want to first start out by saying that the work that both of you ladies do with the very restricted resources is always impressive. I really appreciate having gotten to work a little bit more closely with the health department this year. Director Copley came out to community meetings and our community with over 75 standing water locations and the district is always very interested in vector and the risks. I think that one of the most reposted quotes from the director was related to how, even though a mosquito may have laid its larva and you empty out the water, when the water comes back, it dehydrates and can and cause a revitalization of that mosquito larva. And we've had quite an active group of individuals talking about that, neighbors who've really stepped up and started taking a greater ownership of the standing water and brushing it down to the next location. As many of you know, through public works to remove a standing water location costs thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to regrade the streets. And so Director Copley's outreach and information has been vital to those 75 locations and ensuring that we don't have those kinds of issues. So I'm thank you for that. The work that you're doing with seniors is always impressive and the 44 programs you have are quite impressive. And I just want to also give a special thanks to Allison in your head program. She's phenomenal and easy to work with and has really helped break down some barriers of misinformation that's been out in the community related to Section eight programs that came up during our process and some misinformation and confusion that was out in the community. So I appreciate all of you for all of that. I was hoping to ask a couple of quick questions about library. I am very excited for the restructuring, the schedule of the library. But while I've always been in favor of having libraries open seven days a week, I've really not been to out there at the front trying to push it too quickly. Because what I've also known about librarians is similar to our police officers, which is they're very hard to recruit positions and that we're competing in a market in L.A. County where multiple agencies all have shortages. So a couple of my questions are related to I'm looking at the list on slide 38 related to which libraries were chosen for Sunday through Thursday, which libraries were chosen for Tuesday through Saturday. Was there any consideration of any variance to those two schedules so that. And what input was brought together through either the community or the staff. I know that I haven't heard as much from the staff on this as I heard about Sunday library hours in their input into the process and how this was developed. Yes, Councilwoman Mango. So the schedule that was before you tonight, it was very important to for whatever schedule is chosen to have at least one weekend day, the staff can have off with their family and friends. So this was the only combination that we had landed on that would allow that, you know, work life balance is extremely important. I just wanted to make sure staff had at least that one day again with their family and friends. As far as staff input, you're correct. We are competing with other locations for library staff. That's absolutely true. But people that work in Long Beach really love Long Beach and they really love this community. So we've never had a shortage of staff attracting coming to Long Beach. It's just librarians. Do we have any programs where we are encouraging current library staff to gain additional education that allows them to qualify for the higher level positions in the library service? I know that I've seen some of those programs coming out for some of our competing agencies, and I know that we have limited resources when it comes to the education fund. So I was interested in those kind of opportunities for our stuff. That's an excellent question, Councilwoman Mongo. So there are training opportunities that come across from the state of California. We make it our business to make sure that staff are aware of those training opportunities for webinars, online courses and things like that. As far as funding, you're right, the city does not have the funds to support that. But we do have a couple of small scholarships that are being provided by our staff association that kind of help staff with some of those fees. Do we have any roving librarians that would be able to cover if an alternative schedule was made where a particular librarian, maybe lower in seniority, would cover multiple locations on a certain day so that certain libraries that, say are very, very popular. Maybe like a beach library and or one of the other high traffic libraries would be able to be open on both Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, this budget does not support that. And so currently in the staff, all librarians are assigned to a specific location. That is correct. And if we wanted to go in that direction, we would take, oh, I lost my what? My budget book. But I'll look at Suzy's for a quick second. A full librarian's, fully loaded cost to add one additional position. And if you did have a position at that level added to your budget in the search process, would it be something that you think you'd be able to recruit in in the first year? Or is that a how long do you think it would take to staff up something like that? We would need to go through a recruitment process. I believe we do have a current eligible list for general librarians, so that's something we can potentially recruit from that list. If not, we can do another recruitment because of the process itself. It can move somewhat quickly. So that's something that we could definitely look into. But okay, we will keep that in mind and in our discussions. APAC next week when we go into more detail, I'm looking to page 340, but if I can work with Grace to find out what those numbers are, but for next week, I know that this is something we've all been really passionate about and figuring out how and when to be able to open some of these, even if not until next summer, but by next summer. For those more visited libraries, I know that the Michelle Obama Library, the Eldorado Library and the Bayshore Library and Main Downtown Library are some of those that are the four primaries that really hit those numbers. So thank you. I think you're doing an excellent job. I was listening to a book today on my library app because I digitally download constantly and I love how it automatically takes the book back on the day that it's due and you can read, check it out . I think I'm on a waitlist for like six books right now and I tell everyone, save $20 a month, cancel your audible subscription, use your library card in Long Beach and or the L.A. County Library. Because the Long Beach library card, if you're if a book is not available on Long Beach, I can just log right into the L.A. County Library and pull the book at the same time. So it's really an amazing thing. And then I will only go one step further to say that occasionally I have the opportunity to meet with city staff members on a one on one mentoring type of opportunity when they ask about educational and learning opportunities. And one of the things that I'm a big proponent of is logging into the library and using the free lobby app. I'm sorry, not letting the go. Linda app to take classes on Excel Word How to create a website, how to hang a shelf. I mean, there's literally a multitude of certified classes on the library website, and I'm a huge proponent of everything that's on there. I know I don't spend as much time in the library as though I was there with some of our park advocates last weekend checking out the cooling center. And it's just so great to see everyone at work. I don't usually say hi to the staff, I just watch from a distance. But you guys are all just such phenomenal people and I watch the care and love you have when you talk to the the youth and the seniors about their concerns and help them through the process. It's been amazing to see you guys work. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Thank you. I echo a lot of the comments of Councilwoman Mongeau, so but I do have a couple of questions and comments. So for Glenda, for the libraries, you know, I'm a huge fan of the libraries and I will say I'm a little bit too. I like that we're restructuring it and making sundaes open throughout the city. And I know I heard you when you said it's not a rejection, but it sure feels like a rejection, because what happened is we started with five days at Bay Shore and then we use Divide by nine money to add a Sunday and now we're going back to five days. And Bayshore Library is located across the street from the beach. About eight weeks of that time, we closed down Bayshore so that people are riding their bikes and walking literally across the street from the beach. It's the most opportune time for people to walk across the street and at least experience the library. And I feel like closing a library on a Saturday that's still directly across from a beach that's welcoming thousands of youth and adults of all ages is a missed opportunity on behalf of the city. So I'm going to continue to talk with city management about that. I will tell you, when this restructuring plan was initially laid out, to me, it was not it was it was laid out as the it's a it's a very, you know, kind of general idea. We're going to talk about the details and how the details come into play later. This is just a proposal, and I feel like the details are kind of being laid out. And yet some of the major stakeholders, like the council members who have spent divide by nine money to invest in additional time, haven't been consulted on the days. If we really have to go down to five days, I'd want to look at the numbers and see if it makes sense to be open on a Saturday and a Sunday and close two days during the week, although I'd hate to do that. So I really want to continue to have that conversation and I hope we can continue to have it, because I think that's a very busy library. And I'll tell you what, I think it's most busy with an I don't know if the data supports this, but every time I go in there, the computers are fully utilized and there's there's often a waiting list. So I think there's a lot of residents who don't have Internet access at home, and they're going to go enjoy the beach. They're going to go across the street and use the library. I just think it's a missed opportunity for the city to close the doors of a public facility on the beach. When we live in a city that was just designated as having the most nice days of any other city in the. atIon to close a public facility directly across from the beach in a city like this, just to me doesn't make a whole lot of sense on a weekend. So I really want to talk about that and I want it to feel I know it's not technically a reduction, but I want it to feel less like a reduction , so I want to feel less rejected. So I'm hoping that we can have that conversation. But I want to thank you. Absolutely. All the librarians. I just I love going to the library. It's just really office. I feel like we need to do more to encourage people to come in to the libraries and invite people into the libraries. And I've talked with Director Beck about this. You know, to the extent that we can enhance the outside of our library facilities to make them welcoming and not so outdated, to make it enjoyable to go. And I love what we've done with Michelle Obama. I know I'm going to love what we've done with Maine. I support those investments are on as a city. I think if we can do that throughout the city, whether it's adding more windows or making the doors more, you know, enjoyable to walk into, whatever the case may be, I think we need to make our libraries more inviting, you know, pops of color, things like that, that make it enjoyable for people to actually want to walk into as opposed to an outdated facility. That's an area where I feel like we're a little bit behind the curve right now. So I know Director Beck is doing his best to identify funds for those facility improvements, but access to hours goes, you know, hand in glove to that. So thank you very much for everything. So for Director Collopy, thank you very much for your presentation. You. I echo what Councilmember Mango said. You do a tremendous amount of work with, you know, almost 100% grant funds and that should not go unnoticed. You really do do a lot with the very little general fund resources that you do have. And I thank you for that. I want to just start by saying and we value every member of your team, but my staff and I absolutely love with a capital L. Nelson Kerr, we love the man. He is an amazing individual. We have a lot of health and safety issues that come up in our district. Our residents are very engaged in identifying smells and sounds that are of concern to them. And and so we reach out to Nelson on a regular basis. And I am not exaggerating when I say the man responds, regardless of what time of day it is within minutes. I've never seen anything like it. And so I want to say thank you to him because frankly, I'm. Speaker 1: Very. Speaker 7: Impressed and jealous of the fact that he's able to do that. I think it's fantastic. So I just wanted to give him a shout out to him and his team. His entire team is really great, too. So, yes, thank you. Thank you. On the emergency aid program that you identified as the $12.3 million of one time funds that we're getting, could those you know, we received at the Bossy tonight, we did receive a memo from Councilman Richardson and one of the items that he had on there as potentially being funded, which I think is a great item . But I'm just wondering about the source is possible $50,000 and creating a local revenue option for affordable housing and improved prevention and response to homelessness in Long Beach. Could that $12.3 million, could that 50,000 come out of the 12.3 million? Or has that 12.3 million already been identified to the last penny in terms of how we want to use it? Speaker 2: So that's going to be item 21 on our agenda tonight. We'll get a little bit into that about where the $50,000 potentially came from. Talk a little bit about the 12.3. The 12.3 has funding restrictions on it. It can be for service provision. It can't really be for planning. So it would depend on whether that's a planning effort, which it likely is to get additional funding sources so we can look at it as part of the 12.3, but it's probably planning money. So then that would be we are prohibited from using that money for planning. Speaker 7: Okay. So you're aware of the $50,000. Speaker 2: Yes. That will be part of what staff will talk about at item 21. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 7: So just so you know, we were just made aware of it a few minutes before we started the meeting, so I did not know that and I look forward to hearing that and where that money could come from for the Office of Equity, since we are going to be using general funds instead of grant dollars for that , is there first of all, is there a mission statement for the Office of Equity? And two, is there a plan of how that position is going to help the city through citywide efforts? Speaker 10: Yeah, so the mission of the Office of Equity is to educate and support city staff and elected officials to advance equity and ensure that all Long Beach residents have what they need to thrive. And the way they're looking to accomplish that is to build and strengthen partnerships with other city departments and community advocates to advance policy and systems change across the city to make injustice visible through the use of data, storytelling, critical research and supporting internal reform across the city with the focus of building capacity to advance racial equity and social justice in all the programs, policies and services in the city. Speaker 7: Okay. Speaker 1: So how is it that. Speaker 7: This office is going to be working through the diverse communities in the city to identify how to meet that mission statement in each of the diverse communities that we have? Because as you're talking, you know, making injustice visible, you know, for example, we had a, you know, a hate speech forum where we had a lot of speakers come and talk about that. And really, that would have been an awesome project to partner with the Office of Equity on. So are those kinds of things that you're anticipating or. Speaker 10: But I think there are a number of different opportunities. So first of all, we are currently doing one what we're calling one Long Beach outreach. So we have reached out to each of your council districts to see where, you know, whether it's part of holding a special community meeting or are there community meetings already being held? And to be able to listen and engage with people about what are the key, sort of the key things and the key ways that you would describe what it looks like to thrive in Long Beach. From that, we will take those those indicators and then gather the data across the city to determine where those those data are being met and where we need to do some more work to be able to to sort of help people be at the same space. So I think what we're seeing now is there really are there's an incredible disparity in the outcomes across our city. And so where we see those disparities, how do we start to increase opportunity and access to allow for all people to thrive in the city? Speaker 7: And I imagine that in addition to having community, because sometimes you'll have great showings at community meetings, other times you may not. I'm imagining that you're probably pulling data in terms of what stressors may be in individual communities and stressors that prevent people from succeeding. Yes. And so will that be is that part of the plan for the Office of Equity? So, you know, what are the things that are causing people to use drugs? What are the things that are causing them to not do well in school? And let's let's say if we're talking about youth, for example. Is that all part of the mission? And will that be will there be some sort of a plan once the outreach is done in terms of programmatic aspects of this position? Yeah. Speaker 10: So that we don't feel that this that this position runs a lot of programs. I mean, the focus really is on policy and really sort of like looking at the policies that we are engaging in in our programs that are already existing or that people are planning across the city to determine where they're having the impact. You know, like a lot of the times we do, you know, when we're planning for things where we're thinking about what is our greatest positive impact. Sometimes we forget where things may not have a positive impact. And so it's really starting to identify as we're designing our policies, what are the ways to move people forward? And if it if that policy may cause harm unintentionally to to to somebody, then we would then look at how do we mitigate that to strengthen the policy for everybody. So I think it's an overall conversation. So I don't see it as a set of programs aside from training and other things, but more as as our capacity to move our city in an equity land as we design the work that we do. Speaker 7: Okay, great. I mean, if there's any additional information that that can be provided in terms of the structure of what the position or the department would look like as we move forward, I think that would mean a lot. Speaker 10: Yeah. Right now that right now what it is, it's it's the it's the de it's the, the manager for the position, the Language Access Program and the Human Human Relations Commission. And then we have a 40% time. It's the divided between the violence prevention program and equity to help support those efforts. That is the group that is currently the Office of Equity. Speaker 7: That's currently that. Speaker 10: Is that is currently in end of the additional resources become available start to expand and determine. So through various grants and other opportunities, we'll be looking to expand that capacity. Right now we do not have additional capacity. Speaker 7: I get it. So but if in Fy19, if this were to be funded, it would be completely funded. Speaker 10: It would be completely fund out. Speaker 7: Of the general fund. It would we wouldn't be pulling from different grants now. Okay. Got it. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. You. Speaker 0: Thank you. Council member Ringo. Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank my colleagues and their comments regarding the library and the Human Health and Human Services. Let's start with the library and end up with the department that most I'm very familiar with later. Obviously, you're doing a great job with the library and we're just like you are. We are very excited about the great movie that we're going to be making into the very new library that's going to be built the next year. State of the art is going to be built next year. It's in the process, going to be finished next year to do a great ribbon cutting ceremony, has worried. That's what we're looking forward to. And I'm glad to see that there are things that I'm as you might recall, in 2015 and again in 2016, I put forward a amnesty program for four books, and it resulted in the first year in 4000 people participating that returned approximately 3200 items. And then the next year, in 2016, we had approximately 6000 participants and returned right around the same amount of books and coming to a savings of about the $500,000 of recovered libraries and fines. We didn't do anything in 2017. We thought that maybe that would have been enough to recover what the what the library had lost. Is there an update on that in terms of where are we now with the last items were a need to recover books that we need to put back into circulation. Certainly books that were lost or believed to be lost that can be recovered without having the wall, for lack of a better term. Perpetuity purpose. Taking these books and not returning them back is how we do it. And would that would it be something that we could look at again for 2018? I mean, 2019 excuse me. Speaker 1: Councilmember Urunga. That is something that we can look at in the future. I don't have the stats for you tonight as far as what's outstanding with our system. That's something we can get back to you. Speaker 4: And, you know, other than that, I have nothing really, but kudos to you and your staff in regards to the services that you provide, and especially for the expansion of the program that you're doing with the Internet and the hours of of availability for patrons to take advantage of the library services that are there. Moving over to Health and Human Services, as I mentioned earlier, I'm very familiar with this department having served there for a number of years. And I can say that it's been quite, quite a turnaround for the department. You are now the the go to department when it comes down to Human Services. Back in the day when I was there with the elimination of the video, which was the vehicle vehicle license, driver's fee, we lost tons of of money. The department was challenged in maintaining staff. I know, because I handled a lot of what you might call pink slips to staff because a lot of the programing was being eliminated . For example, the HIV program was cut back tremendously, almost eliminated. And I'm glad to see that it's making a revival and it's making it back in the Environmental Health Services. I know you guys are closer now, but you also were being challenged with with with your budget, especially when it came to vector control. And I know you had to cut back a lot of staff in that area and in fact, practically eliminate that whole division. But I see that it's still there. And I want to give you kudos as well for the work that you're doing with especially every year that you do with the West now. And the identification of of mosquitoes and especially the last one was it two years ago, we were challenged with a Zika virus that was well, everybody was was very actually, you know, fearful that it might make it this far north to to Long Beach. And you've been your staff has been very much aware of that and has been proactive in going on certain areas. And certainly, Susie brought up the excuse me, Councilmember Price brought up the issue of standing water. And that continues to be a challenge, especially when the when it comes to our public works department in terms of some alleys and and driveways that constantly have an issue with withstanding water, especially when it comes to when we have a. Fire hoses. Excuse me. Water hoses and sprinklers out in yards. And they keep them for for a while. And then it creates standing water and it creates an issue about an opportunity for mosquitoes to to either thrive or reawaken, as it was stated earlier. So I want to thank you for your work in that area. And if there's any one thing that I can that can say about the health department is that, you know, sometimes we have to make unpopular decisions. Sometimes we have to make decisions that are not politically or politically incorrect. But at the greatest part of it is that we try to do what's right. And I think that the opening and the support that the city got with the CHC last year made it appropriate that we would be able to open a facility that is not only regional but a great service to the community, especially for those at that who have mental health issues. And here's a center that they can go to to receive those services. So I want to thank Kelly and her staff for the support in making that happen. We're looking forward to being able to address a lot of what takes place out there in the in the homeless community especially. But it's a service that is open to everybody. And I don't think that that's being pushed forward enough that this center is not only for homeless or for for for to provide a service to public safety, fire police, but also for the public in general. If if someone is experiencing a major mental breakdown, here's a facility that they can go to and get an immediate service in terms of being able to address whatever that that issue is and get some guidance for any future needs in terms of that. So I want to thank you for for making that happen. And it was a great ribbon cutting that we had a few weeks ago for that. So I know that you continue the great work and I know that you have a great staff, especially when it comes down to great writing and your staff is very proactive and looking for those grant opportunities to submit grants and bring more funding to the to the health department. And I know a great portion. In fact, more than 70, more than 70%, if not more of your budget is grant funded and based on performance and so on. And obviously the success of the department is the fact that when you apply for these grants, you are successful and you get more. So keep up the good work. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 1: Yes. How are you guys doing hanging in there? Yeah. What about you guys? Pretty good. All right, I'll try to be quick. I love both of the departments. You guys are fantastic. Let's start with the library. I love our new library. I stare at it all the time. I have a tour coming up with Craig back, which I cannot wait for. I think a million visitors to our libraries is a great milestone and I know that we are constantly talking about how we use our library space to exchange information not only books, education with our youth. It was a place that I adored growing up as a kid. And so I have a couple of questions and then just a few. I love that you guys have tried to be creative with restructuring the libraries. And remind me currently right now, our main library does not have Monday or Sunday hours, correct? That is correct, Councilwoman. Monday or Sunday hours, we do not have. So I definitely support trying to find a way to do that. And I know that I expected that there was going to be some challenges in other districts and recognizing that each library is very different and service is a different community. But I think it's a great goal for a city of half a million people to have. Speaker 2: Councilmember I do want to point out, just to be clear, the proposal to go to seven days for our branch library so our main libraries are most expensive one. It's something like, you know, three or four times the cost of it for one library. So that would stay on the five day schedule. But anywhere else around it and there are neighborhood ones that are close to it, would go to the seven day schedule. Speaker 1: And when we talked last budget, we talked about when the new library would be open, that it was going to be our goal to have that be seven days. Speaker 2: So we can certainly provide that number on what it would take to get up to that seven day number. So that can be. Speaker 1: Something that we very strongly remember that from last year's budget. So I'm a hold on to that. Got it. The one piece, something exciting that I saw that I think New York is doing. I'm not sure if I sent this over to you, but they're doing a checkout system for ties and briefcase because they have so many people that come in to the library to do resume work and everything. And that there's this other layer about what does it take to get a job. And so I think something like that would be really exciting to maybe partner with a nonprofit or something that doesn't have to be part of this budget. But moving forward, I'm not sure. Have you guys explored a program like this yet and that that one in particular? No, isn't it? Sounds fun. Now, this phone interview. Yes, it sounds interesting. Yes. We owe for workforce of. Oh, workforce investment. Pay for it. Okay. So we're going to be next week, we're going to get workforce investment. We're going to make this happen. Maybe we can get enough so we can have a full pilot program on that. That would be great. I know that you mentioned in here challenges and opportunities, safety and mental health services. I know your staff are depending on the library is often our front line when dealing with some challenging conversations. And I know that Kelly is going to be talking a little bit when I ask her about some of the trauma informed peace. Have you guys worked together to have our library staff trained on trauma informed outreach counsel, woman peers? Yes, we did have the training by the health department. Oh, trauma. Yes. Great. That's awesome. And then on could you elaborate for us just the status of where we are in the timeline for the fundraising for the main library? Or is that just the friends of that works on that? So the Long Beach Public Library is the one that's working on the fundraising for the library. They have started their capital campaign right now, I believe is still in the silent phase and will be going into public phase on next year. And they can I think we have members here tonight that could provide some more information, if you like. Well, I definitely met with staff working on that and so very supportive, looking forward to identifying a part of my work at my previous nonprofit. For a decade we did a women's luncheon and several thousand people once a year and it was mainly focused on women authors. So we would have books, we would have writers for TV, for movies. And so I'm definitely looking forward to partnering and helping to raise some funds for our main library using some of those networks. So those of you guys that are doing that work, I look forward to working with you. Thank you. So just thank you very much for all the efforts. Fully support that and for our health departments. Give me a second. Let me make sure I got my right notes. And finally, Kelly, I don't think enough can be said about how much your team has taken on. And I think going what did you say, 30 to 44 programs is a phenomenal change and know that you can do it without your great staff. And I also want to recognize I know we have some health commissioners here and they last year and this year divided up and sat down with, I think, all the council members to talk about fully funding the health department as much as possible. So I don't know any other department or team that has a commission that really feels that involved enough and connected to their staff and their council. So just congratulations on how you're working with your commission, because I know that takes it's another part of the work that you do. Thank you. Absolutely. You put in your budget the trauma informed peace. Everyone knows how important that is to me. So if you could talk a little bit about what that outreach looks like, and I know that we have talked about at a minimum, what would trauma informed look like for the city to have a similar training like you provided for the library? Whether that's in my office, one of our challenges is sometimes we get lots of folks that call our office. We also have people at the field office and we come in interaction with people that have experienced trauma. And how is my team prepared to engage with those constituents is really important to me. So if you could just highlight maybe for the legislative team what that would look like, maybe what that would look like for h.r. And a minimum barebones first step. Yeah. Speaker 10: So we've had previous funding that allowed for a one hour trauma informed training to 80 different groups. So a lot of people were trained through that work. In addition, there were some four hour trainings that were provided. The Health Department, the entire team was trained, as was Parks, Recreation and Marine. I don't know if your full team was trained. So the so we had done a lot of that training this next round of funding that we're receiving. So it's from the California Endowment and first five L.A. And what we're really looking to do is move forward on a trauma informed approach across the city, meaning that where anyone interacts with a city member overall, that that person won't understand what trauma looks like, how it presents, and how they could respond maybe differently in that work. And so there's a lot of work to be done there. So. The training is very helpful and it sort of it helps bring awareness for what we're really looking to do is to shift the system to a trauma informed system so that everyone within that organization understands trauma and addresses differently, but also that we're supporting people within our own departments who may be experiencing trauma. I know for the Health Department we have a lot of folks with life experience who are also service providers, and a lot of people walk in the door. Almost everybody who walks in our door has had some level of trauma. So we are working one within the health department, but we're working with other agencies and we would love to work with H.R. and Civil Service as well to think about what that could look like. Speaker 1: Great. And then the budget that you've presented to us, is there enough funds there to make that happen or are you looking for additional funds to make that training accessible? Speaker 10: Well, the training will be being developed along the way, moving forward and through other partnerships. So during that time, we would be able to provide to provide some training to expand beyond that into a to a broader conversation. Would we may need to look at additional resources, but we have to see how this process plays out. Speaker 1: First grade so we can have that conversation down the road. I really appreciate that. I know Philadelphia is a trauma informed city, and I think that Long Beach already values that. And so to have that as part of our cultural shift is really critical. You have done great work on the HIV work. Where did my notes go? What? You mentioned that you all are. The funding will run out this year and that you're looking for additional funds to ensure that that continues. Speaker 10: Right. So are some of the HIV work we're actually receiving additional funding. So the HIV specific work actually will be at approximately one point, probably about $1.7 million moving forward, plus an additional $600,000 for STD prevention that just came through the county. But we don't have funding for STDs. So when you're looking and they do, though, there's a lot so there's a lot of resource and focus still nationally around HIV. The funding has been cut significantly for us. It is so we currently have approximately $120,000 for STDs. Two of those funding sources will be gone by next by next summer, which will leave us with $47,000 for the remainder of the year to do any STD work. Speaker 1: Which to funding sources are no longer coming through. Speaker 10: It's state funding that will be coming through. Speaker 1: But we definitely I mean, you guys have done a great job and we don't want to see our rolled back some of the efforts that you guys have made. So anything that we can do and start to identify those funds, I would definitely be extremely supportive of. I know that part of it is providing the services and part of it is also the outreach and communication. And so if we're going to spend time and money doing that outreach and education, I would hate for us not to have the resources there. So you have my full support in trying to identify those funds. Speaker 10: Thank you. Speaker 1: On language access, I think it's you know, I was part of the community coalition before I ever had a twinkle in my eye to run for council that supported the language access way back when. And I have in front of me a breakdown of a budget. I'm not sure if this has been run through you all. I know there's been lots of meetings. One of the items on here is around $9,000 for signage for city buildings. And I was curious if that was a number that you had as well. Speaker 10: Actually, I haven't seen that number. Speaker 1: Okay. Well, I have a list in front of me. I'm not going to spring it all on you, but I know that it's got some numbers, like 9000 for city buildings, and I know that that comes through public works and making sure that we've got translation there, that we have interpretation for all of our city meetings and translation of vital documents, community outreach and translation of our web pages, which are yet to be translated as well as the program coordinator. And so I know that this has been a topic that's been difficult each budget cycle. And I think as we, especially with the development of our civic center, everything that we're doing, it makes a lot of sense for us to support this as much as possible. My bigger question rather than each dollar amount, which I do support funding as much to were able, is the way that it comes through in our budget . So with I.T., with with technology services, right. If I need them to come out to my budget meeting and they're going to do set up PowerPoint and audio, there's a bucket of money in my budget, right? So then we have like an IMU and then it comes out of my budget for $100 for this community meeting. Now it goes there. Where are we with language access and structuring the budget that way so that if I need to use translation more than, say, Stacey's districts, then that can be adjusted in our budget appropriately. Speaker 10: Currently the way it's funded is there's $80,000 is a bucket of money that is available for any request and that's how it's currently utilized. We have not looked at a different structure for that. When those resources are gone, then individual departments then follow up and provide their own services. Speaker 2: And only add to that. So the way we did language access was basically to prevent the system that you that you talked about. That's how we fund most systems is departments need to come up with the money to do something different. So if they need a computer, they need to find that money in their budget. So with language access, we didn't want to put that burden on departments. We wanted to make sure that there was a pot of money that they could draw from in order to do language access. So it was a way to proactively provide some funding for language access. Departments always have the ability or anybody does to go beyond that and use their own funding if they had some available to do that. It's the the $80,000 that we've been setting aside for several years. And in this budget, with the mayor's recommendations that were doubled to 160, so would provide us a larger pot for us all to draw from so that it wouldn't come out of existing programing. Speaker 1: I really like us and I understand the beginning of the pilot program. We've been trying to figure out is it is it staying in each budget cycle? We kind of have a debate over how much is it worth? And I definitely want to support having a full time structural person to staff that full time. Structurally, I think we need to have that as a city of our size and with our diversity, but too is not having this debate every every budget cycle. If we are going to be a diverse city that that embraces our entire community, that I want to challenge us to think about the budget differently, because I know that public works translates materials and that it just seems like it would keep us from having to revisit this conversation every budget. We would never do this with it, you know, we would never have this conversation around. There's our budget for for community programs. So I, I think we're at that point after all of these years that whatever we need to do to make it structural and we can stop having the conversation after we make it structural just is that's what I have right now. I had a post now where I prioritized all my talking points and I have so many I can't find it now, but you guys are doing great work. I think that making some of the structural changes is really important. I do want to make one more comment on the Office of Equity. I do love the fact that it's around shifting the conversation. And I think the more I know that we've had the conversation with city staff a lot around what does equity mean? And one of the things and I don't know if in adopting the equity conversation, we've had this with the council, I'm sure we have. But what I loved about equity when I first started learning about governing for racial equity was up in Seattle when there was a shooting that happened. And the mayor went out to that to where the shooting happened, and it was all dark. And he said with everybody, why, why are all the street lights out? And they said, well, the people in the community are really terrified of calling the city, you know. And so they took that understanding and they said, well, how do we implement a policy that city wide that can help us change the way that we we do our lights? And so then it put it on a cycle where it was every three years they would go out and they would change their lights. So equity to me is yes, it's about all the racial equity and things that that we talk about. But it also is governing for those that have the least often is something that will help everybody on every single piece of our city, from the third District to the fifth District to the ninth District. And so those are some of the strategies that I love, having a full time person that can look at our systems with public works and everyone and say, how can we make sure we're governing for everyone? And that it's not divided up between the cities, but that we're looking at our systems as a city. And one of those things around governing for equity is something like the language access and putting it across the budget and making sure that it's not a pot of money that we're fighting over, but that it's something that just we're creating equity across the entire city and that it's there. It's part of that culture. So that's my $0.02 on that. I love the work that you guys have done and I'm really looking forward to continuing the conversations. Guys, thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a couple of things. Glenda Mr. Williams, I got to tell you, there's you know, I'm very happy with the service, with our new library. We didn't have a library before, and now we do. I'm pretty happy with it. So keep up the good work. You know, in terms of the shifting of the schedule was it wasn't informed by my data or usage data. Speaker 1: It was definitely informed by usage data. Data driven. Speaker 2: Okay. And and if on Sunday and Monday Michelle Obama is not open, is the next nearest branch in Bixby. No. Is open at that time. Speaker 1: The next nearest branch, I believe to you would be Ruth Brock Library. Data Library is also Tuesday through Saturday. Speaker 2: I would think. Maybe we think about in Uptown Heaven since there's two libraries in Uptown, the days that one is closed, the other is open. So at least we don't have to drive too far. Speaker 1: So when we looked at so for District seven, it has Bret Hart Library and Dana Library. So we have Hart being open on the Sunday through Thursday schedule. So we put up the Dana Library opposing Tuesday through Saturday. Speaker 2: So that's one of the things we did. Where is Hart? Speaker 1: Heart is also in District seven. Speaker 2: Yeah, you know. Speaker 1: It's on Santa Fe and Willow. Speaker 2: So that's the well, that's on the west. Speaker 1: Side of the city. Speaker 2: Uptown is still closed today, right? That is correct. Yes, that's correct. North Long Beach and Bixby Knolls will both be closed. I think we should just think about maybe switching somewhere so we at least are open in every part of town. If that was the intent to make sure we have seven days, then have it necessarily be yours. But I mean, if the intent is open seven days and every part of town, you know, just North Long Beach is a fifth of the city. If you take it down to the four or five, you know, that's that's a quarter of the city, right? Two days off. So that's something we should think about, right? Yes. All right. Thank you. And then Kelly, just got to tell you, you know, since I worked as a chief of staff, I've gotten to work on a lot of budgets. And I remember when, you know, we would be asked, do you want a health health department briefing and and health department come around, say yes, ask for health department briefing. So the city city council can be informed of what's going on. And I think it really says a lot I mean, says a lot about sort of the priority that the council has beginning to give the health department. Because your program offerings are expanded. You're making good on the challenges that we issue to you. And initially, a lot of those challenges were unfunded. Last year we offered you we you know, we we provided additional funding for HIV outreach. And this year you were able to come give us real numbers and real evidence of the work and the problem that we have around STDs and HIV. And so that for that, I think you're one of the best investments we can make. What was the return on investment this year for the additional funding? Speaker 10: 200%. Speaker 2: We definitely double the investment. I think the Council just recognize that we double every dollar we invest. They've got a proven track record. No other department can meet that. So I'm a fan of the health department. I think that's that's pretty clear here on a couple of things. So we have the north facility. We'll talk about that. But we launched the father friendly initiatives and I thought it was a really cool event that we had out in Park. And what was even more cause that was the family friendly, father friendly principles that we established as a council. And a part of that was making sure that we ensure that there are changing tables in the male restrooms as far as well as the female restrooms and the gender neutral restrooms. You know, we want to make sure that we do that. I didn't see anything in the budget this time you to request something in the budget or something that we can recommend to the EEOC to look at. Because I know it wasn't a lot of money. There were about $400 per change in table. And to do a pilot would cost probably five, $10,000. That's something we requested. Speaker 10: It was not something that we requested in the budget. That would be something that would likely go through public works. Speaker 2: Okay. All right. Well, I submitted in my memo to the BRC and I'll I'll, you know, make some requests. The public works and and others. I just think that something simple acknowledgment doesn't cost a lot of money to acknowledge our father friendly efforts in the city also want to acknowledge and thank you for advocating for the place in the budget, the special projects officer full time officer equity. And you know, this is something that we've been engaged in pretty heavily over the last four years. And particularly I remember the community meetings that we hosted, we brought down Oakland and Seattle and started a conversation about starting. I mean, we literally led the conversation about starting the Office of Equity. And the point wasn't about programs. The point was you've already got a number of sort of initiatives that were that were happening in the city. You had sort of violence prevention and My Sister's Keeper and Language Access and My Brother's Keeper and all these things , CPC, all these other sort of social justice related issues that were spread out across departments. And the first thing we once acknowledged was the communities need or desire for us to be more proactive about acknowledging equity, acknowledging it, and acknowledging the fact that our city is changing and we have to be forward thinking in the way that's changing. I mean, data shows us that in 1980 Census, Long Beach was only 30% people of color, 2010 census, Long Beach was 70% people of color. And over the course of, you know, just a 30 year span, the demographics changed. 40% of our population is demographics. Change is massive. And how can we continue to be work? Our city is a city that prides ourselves on our progress, our economic development. When this whole new population of people has a different set of issues from economic issues, language barriers, health and health issues, inequities, and how can we even address that in the city and measure ourselves unless we have a lens that we place on all of our decision making? So in my opinion, I think the conversation of equity in this equity position is one of the smartest investments that our city can make. And in addition to that, an example of placed in this lens is what we're doing around economic inclusion. We are essentially taking the equity lens and applying it to how we deal with economic development. It's not necessarily about how we develop buildings, about how we development communities and people, and if those people thrive, then that's the measure of our community as having a thriving community. So that's essentially why I fully support this, and I'm proud to see that we've gone from a, you know, one time budget position and grant funded position to acknowledging that it is perfect and is in the interest of all of our residents and the interest of all our residents by making it structurally, structurally fund itself. So thank you for that. We do need to do a better job in engaging each of our communities to make sure that that we continue to educate and have the conversation about how this is this improves everyone's community and how need exists everywhere, not just in North Lombard, Central, Lombard, Islamic. It's it's all contextual to a standard. And so need exists everywhere. So I just wanted to take a moment and just say thank you and offer my support there. Just two more things for you. So a few weeks ago, we had a youth budget committee meeting. Investing youth budget hearing at my field office. And this was a number of youth based organizations, and they brought up this concept of the youth fund. And I know that they've engaged a number of the council members around this. I know Councilwoman Gonzales have engaged around this. And I thank the mayor for bringing, you know, for introducing the $200,000 into that conversation now. And I was holding off not bringing this up during parts because I want to bring it up here at the Investing Youth Coalition meeting at my field office. It became very clear that they what they what they've expressed is that they appreciate the participatory budgeting concept conversation. But what they really want to do is use this as an acknowledgment of establishing a, you know, a youth sort of fund and a youth strategic plan, use that 200 K to sort of go through a process engaging all nine districts around a youth development strategic plan. And they want to offer the equity engaged in that work. Nothing against Parks and Recreation, but they want they want it to be a little broader, more broad than, you know, recreation programs, but rather something broader about the whole. So the whole child, the whole young person. So that's something I want to just offer to you that that was, you know, good in terms of it was a good conversation we had in my office. And then the last thing I'll mention is that, you know, I'm pleased with that, that, you know, the one time funding has doubled this fiscal year for the language access plan. I appreciate that. I think we do need to acknowledge that the language access coordinator is still a 50% position. And so I think we should take steps and I don't know how we get there, but how we make that if we either utilize one time funds to make that a full time position so that you can have one person that engages in this full time, or if we look at making that fully structural and if that has to happen next fiscal year, whenever, but that's something else I want to offer. So I know that's a lot, but I wanted to sort of just, you know, jump in and tell you my thoughts kind of on my own, my own over here on this side. But I'm paying attention to what you guys are saying. I support the work that you're doing. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much, Councilmember Supernova. Speaker 2: Thank you. And thank you for the presentations tonight. And it's been very enlightening. In fact, with the health department, I learned tonight why I can never get a hold of Nelson CR, evidently talking to the third district all day long. I'm just kidding, Nelson. In fact, I emailed you this morning eight time this week. Just get back to me that be frank. I'm just kidding. I just want to follow up on the item that Rex Richardson brought up regarding the geography. You know, I'm all about the fourth District, but I'll speak regionally at this point. So you have Bay Shore Alamitos and brew it now all on the same schedule. So that would be Alamitos, I think. Is it Cherry and Third Bayshore is that Bay, Shore and Ocean and Bruin is roughly Termino and Anaheim. So if you live at Seventh and Redondo, you're out of luck. Kind of like our council and Richardson was saying about North Town. So I think this has to be rethought if if the closures are going to go that way. Secondly, I mentioned about. The other group that we have monthly briefings and we do not have monthly briefings with the library, the health department. And so I learned about these changes, and I would characterize them as wholesale changes in in the hours today, during the noon hour. That's the first time I saw any of this. So to react today and to analyze it is pretty much impossible. Our office has tried to be very supportive of the libraries. We have the good fortune having two libraries in our district, Los Altos and brew it up. I try not to grandstand on those issues, but I think I've communicated to you how much the libraries mean to our office. And I was even at it on Sunday photographing some issues we had there. I just think that should be a two way street. And we're going to make major changes like this that might you might want to share this with the council office. I don't know how these decisions were arrived at, but I don't think it was done by survey cards at the desk in the library. And I think the patrons should have some say in this, whether they want to convert to Sunday hours or not. There is a way we support the libraries is every Friday. In my e-newsletter we list the activities for our libraries. And what strikes me so much is everything at Broad happens on Friday and Saturday. Mayor Garcia has visited the Pruitt library on a Saturday. Now they will not be open Fridays and Saturdays. So that's just a lot of changes that would be hard to reconcile. As I said, just seeing this in the noon hour today. I think that's probably I guess I should ask this question. And that is, I think for our two libraries, we have a total of four full time employees. I'm not sure. And would someone working Sunday hours, would that be would an employee volunteer for that? Or how would you assign Sunday hours in the old system? Speaker 1: So in the old system Sunday well, currently Sunday hours are funded with a one time funds and it's on a volunteer basis. So with this new schedule that's being proposed, half of that availability from staff will no longer be there. So with the new proposed schedule, people will be scheduled. Their normal workweek would be Sunday through Thursday. So what we've done to try to work with staff on this, we sent out a staff survey to see what staff preferences are for their preferred work schedule, and it's very unlikely that we will be able to accommodate everyone, but we're going to try to accommodate as many people as possible to the new work schedule. So there will potentially be some shifting of staff and there are some staff that are static about having every Friday and Saturday off and then others are not as ecstatic. So we'll be working with staff as we move forward with this particular proposal. Speaker 2: Okay. So staff has weighed in on this. I guess you're suggesting that you wouldn't be able to accomplish this with volunteers to work Sundays, but what about the patrons? What was their data gathered from the people who use the libraries. Speaker 1: Or Councilman Slipper? Now what we looked at was the idea of some different metrics to decide which libraries would go to the different schedule. And looking at Brentwood and Los Altos, looking at the programs, looking at the usage, looking at the classes from the data, it showed us that Los Altos would be a better fit Tuesday, Tuesday through Saturday, and that the Prewitt library would move to the Sunday through Thursday hours. Again, just based on the data and then usage. Speaker 2: Okay. So if it was data driven, then we didn't have any survey card. We didn't ask anybody, when would you like your library hours? Speaker 1: Yes. So that is correct. Speaker 2: And Councilmember, if I can if I can jump in here a little bit, part of this was we wanted to start this discussion. We realized this is going to be a different a change. And that's part of what the budget is for, is to propose some of those ideas. We wanted to get that out. So the council had that ability so that the community has the ability. We had not gone through meet and confer, so we didn't have a chance to sit down with all of our employees. We still need to do that. So this is a concept. It's being put out there. It's a way kind of innovatively to look at how do we get a seven day library system for the same amount of money that we have today? If we want to add money to the resources in order to have additional hours, if we want to stay the same that we are, that's really what this budget discussion is, though. It's I know it's a little bit of cart before the horse, we didn't get a chance to talk to everyone. This was kind of using data, looking at some other systems and wanted to put that out there for discussion. Okay. I understand that, you know, it's a rollout that now is public and you have a lot of people on defense right now that that's what I would like to avoid. We've had so many experiences that way. And it would just be a lot more user friendly, in my view, if we could have some committee input on this other than the data that they're using. Also, we do a lot of things with Measure a route library has been the beneficiary of that and I just think library hours and whatnot, there might be not a great public perception of what's being done here, but it looks like when you're cutting out Saturday and Sunday, Fridays and Saturdays that you're cutting back. And I just have challenges with putting that out there that way. I think I probably want to leave there other than to say. What would be the next step then in this and how do we determine which way we're going with this moving forward? So really, the next step is here. So we wanted to get this out. We are absolutely interested in input. We expect to hear about this in the community budget meetings. We expect to hear about it tonight. I want to hear about it from the council. I think you raise some good points where you're saying in certain areas below seven, for example, everyone has the same schedule. Really, our intent was that you are able to get to a library, you know, the next available library. And so if there are tweaks need to be made, if there is, you know, ones that didn't quite make sense for the community, we're open to that. Again, we have to go through meeting, confer as well. So we don't at least I don't envision that this starts October one because we still have a process to go through . So if we need to go a little bit slower on this to to vet out this concept, to take additional input, we encourage the community to get involved and let us know what you think. Do the community surveys through calling us, calling your councilmember? We definitely are interested in community input. Okay. Thank you. I agree with that. And I think sooner rather than later, let's get the patrons views. Let's ask the exact question at hand here. You know, I, I did first of all, I did the homeless count. We did an orientation where we went out. And one of the questions we weren't allowed to ask is, are you homeless? And people were kind of taken aback by that. And I just think the first question we have here is what hours would you like your what days would you like your library open? I'm sorry. Maybe I'm too simplistic, but that's all I have for now. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 1: Thank you. Since I queued up, most of my other questions have been asked and execute as vice mayor, who I don't see either. So. Speaker 0: Thank you. Let me just on a couple of small items here as well, and I want to I know that. Councilman Gonzalez, are you there? Speaker 8: Yes, I'm here. Speaker 0: Okay. I know she also had some questions, so why don't I let Councilman Gonzalez go first and then I will follow her. Speaker 8: Okay. Great. Thank you. I want to also reiterate, you know, council members Cooper and I, our discussion about the library, I think all of the council members here in the main library, and I know that it comes out a day and it was a discussion last year that was very relevant. But unlike many of my colleagues, I represent a first in the majority of downtown, and we have zero library. We have library heavily on the main library. And I know we've said this before, that essentially almost 50,000 residents in my district utilize this library and we're going to have an influx of even more with so much development happening. So I see a true investment in us not being in as being open exchange for seven days a week, especially as we're ramping up for the state of the art library. So are we able to get May? And perhaps this is the last year and I can't remember, but I'm able to get a coupon for that will give us the cost on a six or seven day program for the main library. Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yes. Speaker 8: Okay. That would be great, just so we could have the option. But I understand it's expensive. I get that. But just so the council can can you know that I think that would be great because we are getting hit up quite a bit with with our constituents about that issue. And I think it's very important for all of our council districts and we want to make sure we're being as a bare as possible. Um, right now, I mean, library is not open Sundays and Mondays and know, but I'll leave it at that. The next thing I wanted to ask Glenda and thank you so much, Glenda, for your work. I know it had been mentioned about some programs. Are you looking to ramp up them program in the A319 budget? I know we're certainly doing some work, but are we looking at do more at a more mobile program included in that Speaker 1: ? Councilwoman Gonzalez We're going to continue providing the same programs throughout the city at the different libraries and also in the parks to be safe. And I think we also have a partnership with dramatic results in providing STEM programing there. So we will continue to provide STEM program as much as we can within our funding capability. Speaker 8: Okay, great. And I just want to thank you as being part of our digital inclusion roundtable and discussion, because it's very important that we have computer access like AI capabilities are getting better. And so I just appreciate your work in that. So thank you very much for that, Kelly. And I just basically want to reiterate what my colleagues said about language access. I think, you know, $160,000 is great. It is just a drop in the bucket of what we need to do long term for this issue, which has been edge and so much more. So are we also able to get a second thought about what we what the potential options are for structurally including this in our budget? Because I think that they both they cut the number of tests that every year we come to the table. And as you know, we're keeping this issue, but it's not going away. So maybe it's a question of the time, can we have that option that it was structurally funding, that. Speaker 2: Yes, we can put together a cost for what it would cost for a coordinator to be there for structural funding. We already have one that is part time hours, but to have an enhanced version of that. And then there is the the cost that you would need for materials. So we can definitely provide those two numbers. Speaker 8: Okay, great. Thank you very much. And the Office of Equity, glad to see that that's structurally funded and that, you know, we're doing this work. I think every council meeting we're talking about equity. So I think it's absolutely important that we're we're looking at this both on the research side and thought leadership, both in guidance for our policy work. And then lastly, Kelly, for the HIV AIDS and SCD work, I'm glad to see the uptick in this work, let's say, of ideas that we've been with work within the HIV realm. Actually, I know equity funding has gone down, HIV funding has gone up, but is there any different sort of initiatives that we're looking to fund? Speaker 10: Well, so we have we just launched the the No More Campaign for HIV and STDs. So that is out right now. We have data on 16 bus stops and 300 busses were in schools were in all different places, doing a lot of training and working very closely with our partners at the center, bars and restaurants down in now in Long Beach and other things. So that's a starting point. We are really looking for increased opportunity for true detective partner services and data to care. So really understanding what we do is we work with with folks who come in for testing and if they test positive, we ask them to help identify. That we can reach out to for testing and treatment so that we start to slow the start to slow the spread. We are doing prep within the department which we shared last week. So we're excited that we have those opportunities and just really continue to keep people engaged in services. Our HIV planning group is currently in the middle of a strategic planning process. They've broken into a number of groups and we're working on that as well. So we're bringing in additional information in the future. Speaker 8: And are we looking at all the with that other cities and they've been bulk sampling kit or home kit for this, and it's dramatically reduced their HIV rate. Is that something we might be looking into with that type of funding at all? Speaker 10: Our current funding doesn't allow for that. So that's not so. The funding is very much around testing and connection and treatment. So we don't we wouldn't have the access to be able to to do this sort of kitchen, those kind of things. But it would be something to look into if we could find additional revenues. Speaker 8: Okay. I just wanted to put it out there, but thank you both for your work. Appreciate it. Speaker 6: Janet Reno you through? Speaker 8: Yes, I'm done. Speaker 6: Thank you. Fine, thank you. Yes. Now, you guys, once, once. I just want to let you know, it's really hard for an individual like me who has a wife, is a vegetarian. I'm trying to sneak and go eat pizza. It's just tough. So I've gotten that taken care of. I'm going to let you guys hope and get out of here because I want to thank councilwoman, you know, Price for appears for being able to go to the equity situation with me and the Liberians. Are you going to you do know that you guys are doing such a great work? And I always try to let everyone know that a kid that lives in the district in which I do a lot of the individuals don't get a chance to, like I say, take trips and everything. So I was let them know that if you go to the library, you can take yourself around the world right there in a library. So it's just a wonderful thing and and the work you guys are doing together. And Gary, I just want to let you know that you're helping our community so much because now I'm having so many health, you know, programs is going on in my district and with assistance that you've given us. I really want to thank both of you guys. Great job. Speaker 10: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Vice Mayor. Couple of comments, then I'll turn over to Councilman Mongo. Just wanted to obviously our amazing work that's being done at the libraries. Congratulations and to all of our librarians. I want to also I know you guys are working also on a project with the with digitizing library card so they can be a digital card as well. And I want to make sure that that project is is moving forward. I know that's been important for office and I just think it's just to have put it up on your phone I think would be great. And so but of course, always keeping our traditional cards as well on the Sun Library issue. Just to clarify, you know, and I may have also when I when I first got the briefing on this may have misunderstood, but I was under the impression that some libraries would be open Saturday or Sunday, even though they still might remain, you know, five days, but that the libraries that were open both Saturday and Sunday would be eligible to still be open Saturday, Sunday, but it would be those days and then three other days during the week. And so I only I only just mentioned that because I do think that for the for the for libraries, is it for libraries are currently open on Sunday? Speaker 1: That's correct. Speaker 0: So just for the four libraries that are currently open on Sunday, I know that getting us to that Sunday opening for those libraries was a big deal that I think this council was very supportive of. And so I know what you are, what you're trying to do, and I think it's fantastic. Some very supportive of this change and transition that I know is difficult also for the department. And so I do a really appreciate that and I understand that. But I would be interested to just further that conversation if possible, you know, around those for libraries. But also just the idea that I think there's an expectation that libraries should be open on the weekend. I think for for for us. And so we have to get to the point where our libraries will ideally, obviously are open daily. But I think to have on those weekends when families are out of school, I think it's just so critical to have libraries open. And I just would hate for those for libraries to lose, even though everyone is gaining. I would hate to see those libraries lose one of the weekend days, so I'm not sure. Mr. Modica I just think there's enough interest on the council that we should try to find a solution there if, if possible. Speaker 2: So we heard a lot of input today obviously on libraries and we're listening to all that. So we can definitely go back and think of some other ideas. We do want to try to get that balance between people enjoying them on the weekends. We also have a lot of schools that use them during the week and so we're trying to accommodate that as well. And school kids that are coming and people that are coming after work and of course, our patrons and also our library staff. So let us take a lot of the input we heard today and we'll put our thinking caps on and gives you some more information. Speaker 0: And I know and I think that's very fair, so I appreciate that. I just wanted to confirm that. So let me and let me have Councilman Manga who will wrap up this part of the presentation. Speaker 1: I just want to remind everyone that both the mayor and the budget staff and the BRC have been very creative. We were facing a deficit six months ago. And so I just I know it's so great that we all want to talk about we need more of this and more of this and more of this and more of this. But with every single thing that you come to the dais and ask us for, it's also just as important to say, and you can cut it from page 320 or 460 or wherever, because there isn't any new money that hasn't been programed in this book yet. And so I think that one of the things that's really important is all of the things that have been mentioned today, whether one council member mentioned it or another council member mentioned it, it doesn't necessarily mean there's consensus and it doesn't necessarily mean there's new money for it. But we all have to kind of come together and figure out where can we push and pull within those things. So the one other thing I'll challenge everyone to do, and this is something that I talked about with the previous Library Foundation director and only recently with the new Library Foundation director is we need to look at new revenue sources. And as we grow and expand any type of service, we need to find dedicated revenues to come in in the future and support them. And the Mayor and I were very vocal online against some individuals who are posting that we need to close libraries and use Barnes and Noble. And we're like, No, that's the exact opposite thing you should be doing. Libraries are the core of reading and afterschool help and online homework help and all the things that are good and wholesome in a community that can help kids stay busy as a vice mayor, Andrews likes to say. But it doesn't mean that we wouldn't be open to, hey, maybe renting out a coffee cart with a dedicated revenue to that library or a coffee cart or a I see some of the revenue numbers. And while I can't disclose specific revenue numbers of of individual coffee shops, I mean, 500 people a day visit a tiny coffee shop in my in my district, 500 people a day. And if that means five more people went to a library that never went to a library before, and that that 25 cent cup of coffee that you paid $4 for of $3.75 can fund more books and more sundaes and more everything else. I'm all for it. I'm looking for a way to as Barnes and Nobles close across the country, libraries grow and expand and continue to fill that space that's so needed. And so thank you for all the ideas. I appreciate that everyone has a number of ways to spend the money we don't have leftover. But if you come to us with revenue sources as well, it makes the discussions so much easier. And I know that you'll see that in one of our next items about the park as we close budget discussions. So thank you for everyone that's been here. And I know that as the mayor opens up public comment, while public comment is valid and we like to listen to everything you say just as easily, you can email our offices and put it on the record and email the city clerk's office to put your notes and comments about the budget into the record by submitting online comments as well. Because I know that some people had to leave because it's already 952 and we're only on the first agenda item of the night. So if you left early and you're still watching at home, please send an E comment. If you're planning to stand up and speak and you're considering that you're also here for another item later in the night and you'll you'll shorten your comments, feel free to give us the full, verbose version via any comment. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. I will now take public comment on this hearing, which is the budget hearing. So as a reminder, these comments are only to the budget and only to the budget presentation. And so please line up and begin. I am Chris. Speaker 2: Robson. I live in the second district. Speaker 0: And I'm here tonight is speaking to you as the. Speaker 2: Chair of the Board. Speaker 0: Of Health and Human Services. It's a commission, but we're. Speaker 2: Called a board. Speaker 0: Just want to read a letter into the into the record if it's. Speaker 2: Permissible to hand this to you and have it. Speaker 0: Done that way. You all have gotten copies of this letter for the public comment. If we can get that posted and appreciate that and we'll take any more time. Speaker 2: Thank you very much. I think I want to say. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Robson, and then we'll have the clerk pass those letters out. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Good evening. My name is Donald Mathews. I'm from the ninth District, but I am Commissioner on Veterans for the. Speaker 0: 64th Assembly. Speaker 4: District under Mike Gibson. Our concern is homelessness and our concern is parks. Our concern with homelessness is new funding. Speaker 2: We want to do a partnership. We would like to do something. And Assembly. Speaker 0: Member Price's district and the Long Beach. Speaker 2: Veterans Hospital Center, it's got. Speaker 4: A. Speaker 2: Campus with buildings that are abandoned at this point. If we could get a partnership with Habitat for Humanity. Speaker 4: The city manager, the city of Long Beach. Speaker 2: And with Calvert, we would be willing to. Speaker 0: Do something to. Speaker 2: Renovate that area and in fact use veterans. The second item had to do with parks. You guys are doing. Speaker 0: A fantastic job on absolutely everything here. Speaker 4: My concern is the diversity of the. Speaker 2: Parks that are being renovated and the people that are working on those projects and the public safety in the. Speaker 0: Parks. I think that. Speaker 4: Councilmember. Speaker 2: Pearce mentioned something about gunfire. Well, yeah, there was there was at Panamerican Park. And we're really concerned and we are. On board with whatever the city is doing to provide better security, because that's one of the most beautiful parks in the city. Speaker 0: And many residents. Speaker 2: From out of our city come there to utilize it. Anything we can do to make it safer, we would be. Speaker 4: More than. Speaker 2: Happy. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Very good, Hugh. My comments go to Parks, Recreation and Marine and I'll have a conversation with the new director. Relative to my major concern or major issues, relative to and imparting some updated information relative to the Long Beach Marine Stadium in the state within the next year should. Speaker 4: Begin the process of replacing the Davis Bridge. It'll be state funded. Speaker 0: It'll be a single span. No bounce in the water. In addition to that, what is an. Speaker 4: FBI that will be at the end of the day, we will find that will be the venue. Speaker 0: For the rolling events of the next Olympics. Speaker 4: We Los Angeles area will hold. Speaker 0: Whether or not those Olympics are going to be in 2028 or. Speaker 4: 2032, which will be the 100th anniversary, will be largely dependent upon whether. Speaker 0: Or not the MTA can get their act together and address. Speaker 4: Those. Speaker 0: Problems that they now. Speaker 4: Have. Speaker 0: But the Marine. Speaker 4: Stadium is a it's a venue. Unlike any in the world. Travel. Up to the North Pole. Speaker 0: Below the Southern Cross, and largely in one portion. Obviously, we're open 365 days a year that that will become the venue for the rowing events as a as was the original plan four years ago when I came to this council. They sent their people here to take a look at what they wanted. And at first they were concerned, but then they when they realized that was all because of the construction that was going on relative to the rain rate. Marina. Marina, rebuild. They. Decided on that up, and that's what it will be, but I want people to understand that and so forth. RG The Open Channel project will begin certainly within the next year, which will give continual title flushing connect up with. Speaker 4: The Colorado. Speaker 0: Lagoon. As I said, the I haven't had a chance and it is new, but I will sit down and go over that with the new Parks and Recreation Director of Parks, Recreation or Marine. Speaker 4: The last thing I would suggest. I'll do that later. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Good. Your next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Yes, my name. Speaker 9: Is Susan Redfield. I'm with the seventh. Speaker 1: District and I'm currently the president of the board of directors of the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. I wanted to thank Glenda Williams for her excellent presentation, much of which I was going to reiterate, but I won't. However, I also want to thank her for acknowledging the foundation, which, beginning in 1996, has raised to over $20 million toward the libraries in our city. I am thrilled that Councilwoman Pierce is interested in the capital campaign, which will be publicly announced early next year. And we are in what is called in the capital campaign business the quiet phase, which is probably not quite anymore, but up. So we would like to talk with you more about that. I'm thrilled that Councilwoman Mongo has indicated new ideas of ways to raise funds, and we would really like to meet with you in that regard. Personally, I'm a huge coffee cart snacks person. I think that even small amounts of money in that way would be helpful. In addition, the Library Foundation is asking that the City Council consider earmarking a portion of the 2019 fiscal year's budget on allocated funds to keep the new main library open seven days a week. Much of what I was going to say has already been stated by each of the council members tonight regarding this plan to restructure the opening of the libraries. But it's my understanding that the amount for 3 to 4 months of operation would cost approximately $212,000, according to the library. Now, I can be corrected as the research comes in, but that was the number I was given. Opening seven days a week will obviously help New Man to better manage the expected sharp increase in attendance. I The only other thing I wanted to say is that we received a letter literally yesterday and I was able to share it with Councilwoman Gonzalez because it's from a first District graduate student named Brant. I won't give his full name right now. And he writes, I am a graduate student, by the grace of God. But I remember when I started using the library, Mark Twain, several years ago, and especially the study rooms and the computer labs. I'm grateful that this place exists in my community because I've used the computer lab to do entire classes and tests online in a decent environment. It's worth the funding. And as my online master's program is online, I plan to use it through my master's school and beyond. I'm pleased that it exists and it's a blessing. Please make sure it's always here so I can use it. And this is the quality of people that are using our libraries. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Good evening. Honorable members here, council members and city management staff. My name is Whitney Leathers. I'm the executive director for the Long Beach Day Nursery and the chair for the Long Beach Early Childhood Education Committee. The Long Beach Day Nursery represents 106 years of service to working families in our community. And the Long Beach Committee is a collaboration of 30 plus organizations serving thousands of our most vulnerable children each year. Our mission is to ensure that every young child in Long Beach grows up healthy, safe and educated. As such, our work includes much more than the educational aspect of early childhood education. Our work includes supporting the whole child, the family, the early childhood workforce, and the environments in which children live, play and learn. Investments can include much of what you've heard here tonight trauma informed care, kindergarten readiness initiatives, parks, space, recreational opportunities, health and nutrition programing, early childhood education and resources for families. All of these pieces work together so that when our young children enter kindergarten. Speaker 7: They're healthy and. Speaker 1: Ready to learn. Tonight, I'd like to thank you for your investment in early childhood education at the Health Department. Speaker 7: It has been a pleasure. Speaker 1: Working with Director Collopy and the Early Childhood Program Staff, as well as the rest of the department on matters impacting the health and well-being of young children and families in our community. We've learned we can do so much more when we work together, and your investments have made that possible. They're going. Collaboration between the city and the early childhood movement in our community is inspiring. It's a true partnership. It's inclusive of the city private education programs, non-profits, health and mental health providers, school district and groups like the committee. The Health Department has been a catalyst to this work in collaboration. Our collective work is innovative as well as supportive of ongoing efforts. Our commitment is to continued collaboration, and the priorities of health, safety and education is evident in the forthcoming Long Beach Strategic Plan. Every one of us has a role to play in helping young children and families reach their fullest potential. We work forward we look forward to working with many of the departments that were represented here tonight to support a safe, healthy and educated Long Beach. I encourage the city to continue to invest in early childhood education and more broadly invest in young children and families, particularly around the goals and objectives that will be released and the upcoming early childhood strategic plan. Thank you for your time, especially tonight, your service and your consideration. Speaker 0: Thank you. And I just want to just that just to add, I know that this gets overlooked sometimes in the budget, but the the modest investments that that the city's making and in early childhood ed to to support the staff to do all this work. It's really, really important. And I know that that's something that the city lost during the recession and prior to that. And I think one of the great one of the great and best things that I think that we did in our partnership and the Council supported, that partnership is to bring back and establish those positions within the city to help manage that work. And along with the work the Mayor's Fund is doing and so many others. I'm really, really proud of you guys. I'm just oh, I'm impressed with the early childhood community is amazing. And I look forward to joining you guys at the kickoff for that for the strategic plan. Speaker 1: So we can't wait. Thank you so much. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Good evening, council members. My name is Cyndi Dela Cruz Brown, and I'm a resident of the seventh District and a community organizer at Long Beach Forward. I am also a member of the Long Beach Language Access Coalition and the Invest in Youth Campaign, which has helped put together the People's Budget proposal. This proposal includes endorsements from various individuals, coalitions and campaigns local to the city. At this point, you should have all received a copy of our proposal and we've probably either met with you already or are in the process of doing so. These issues in the proposal on prioritizing the people's budget include immigrant rights, language, justice, safe housing and youth opportunities. As a community organizer, these issues matter to me because the people in the community should be able to see their lives improve in the budget and be part of the process. So we can build collaborative solutions with the people who live, work and play here to engage. We need very good communication, though, especially when it comes to language. My day to day focus lives on building healthy building, community led efforts with parents who have children in Long Beach Unified School District. Specifically, the parents I work with are monolingual Spanish and can speak in parents or grandparents. These parents take their participation in their children's education very serious and it is important and it is as important that we do the same by supporting the ways that parents and youth can engage with the city and in good schools. How we how can we how can a parent evaluate a situation without fully understanding what they are reading, whether it be an educational plan for the children or a city bill? As a resident, all these items actually matter matter to me personally. They touched my family in very different ways. As a child of an immigrant mother who worked in factories with minimal benefits and a father who served as a police officer for over 35 years, family members who were incarcerated within my family while having limited options like afterschool programs or being displaced because of the cost of living and housing being unaffordable. These areas are all very personal to me. I have to say that part because even during jury duty, when I was doing Jury did in L.A. court, a judge actually pulled me aside and said, Are you being serious that you have, you know, a father is a police officer and someone incarcerated in your family ? And that does exist. And I represent that viewpoint. So I wanted to bring that up as well. It's very personal to me at this point. Some of us have met with your with your office around our proposal, and we're happy to see that there some sort of interest or that you've provided some level of feedback that we're definitely taking back and working with one another to take serious what your feedback has been and continue the conversation in dialog. So we hope we can continue this conversation with you and collaborative approach to supporting these individual and identified community priorities and that you to take a stance to endorse the people's budget. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Hello. My name is Suzanne Brown. I'm a senior attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. And just like Cindy, the last speaker, I'm here with my partners from the People's Budget Campaign. And as she has said, we have met with many of you and we look forward to meeting with every council office as a result of the comments and feedback that we have received thus far from our legislative meetings. We've revised our language access budget request. We have removed our request for funds for multilingual staffing. This remains very important to us and the community residents that we work with, but we acknowledge that it will not be resolved in this year's budget process and we want to move forward collectively. Therefore, this brings our language access budget request down to just $370,000. This is a small price to pay for language justice in a city of our size. We appreciate that the mayor has proposed to dedicate 160,000 towards language access, doubling the budget from years past with the mayors $160,000. We are only asking for an additional $210,000 to make language access more of a reality for our city. This 210,000 additional is desperately needed to attain consistent implementation across city departments for language access in working with residents daily, we know that they are still struggling to access city services meetings and vital documents in their primary language. As you can see from the hand out that we have shared with you, the funds that we are asking for would be spent on critical components of language access implementation, including multilingual signage. To address Councilmember Pearce's question, these numbers came from the language access policy themselves. There's little footnotes on the handout, if you can read them, that show you where all the numbers come from. Secondly, interpretation at city meetings. And as you heard from Kelly's presentation, there's been a 78% increase in requests for interpretation translation of vital documents. Kelly also said that there's been a 22% increase in the demand for translated documents community outreach, which is needed so that more folks know about their rights under the policy translation of more web pages as we move forward with digital achievements in the city. And finally, a full time structural language access coordinator in the Office of Equity to ensure we have a dedicated staff person to make sure that the funds are spent right. I want to quickly acknowledge the comments from Councilmember Pearce and Councilmember Gonzalez about moving to structural funding with language access. That would be an absolute dream for us. That would mean that language access is part of the cost of doing business in the city and every department would include it in their budgets and we look forward to that being structural so that you won't have to hear from us next year. Thank you very much for your consideration of our comments. Speaker 0: Q Very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 1: Hello. Good evening. My name is Gabby Hernandez and I'm a resident of the second District. I'm also a community organizer for the Long Beach Immigrates Coalition. And I'm here to talk about the budget, the people's budget, specifically the deportation defense fund. I think we all know that the principles of due process and a fair DynCorp are central to America's vision of justice. But there's no constitutional guarantee to legal representation in immigration court. That's a deportation defense fund here in the city. It would move us closer to the vision that all people, no matter their background, to have a fair day in court. Universal representation is not about deciding who will stay or who will be deported. It's about bringing some some type of fairness to the complex immigration proceedings that is tearing families apart. The fairest and most efficient way to bring order to this complex proceedings is to ensure that legal representation is offered to community members. We know that legal representation helps protect the rights of all residents, keep their families together, and maintain a safe and strong community. That is why I'm here asking City Council to endorse the people's budget and ensure that the $250,000 needed to start a the petition defense fund is allocated. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Good evening, counsel. My name is Juan Rosas. Speaker 9: I was a resident of the west. Speaker 2: Side of Long Beach. Speaker 1: With my family from 2003. Speaker 2: Up until recently, when my family could no longer afford to live in. Speaker 1: Long Beach. Speaker 2: I am a graduate of Garfield Elementary Hughes Middle School, and I went to both Cabrillo and Poly High School. Councilmembers Well, Richardson's not here, but Mary Garcia. I am. Speaker 4: Also an alum of leadership. Speaker 2: Long Beach, and I'm. Speaker 9: Currently a master's student at Cal State Long Beach, pursuing a degree in linguistic. Speaker 2: Anthropology. I'm here to advocate for the importance of language, access. Speaker 9: And allocating the full. Speaker 10: $370,460 for language. Speaker 2: Access policy earmarked by the People's Budget. As a linguistic anthropologist, to put it quite simply. What I study. Speaker 9: Is language and culture. Speaker 3: I my research touches on. Speaker 2: Issues of race, identity, language and language justice. Speaker 9: Through my studies. Speaker 2: And my research. Speaker 9: I understand. Speaker 2: That language access is vital forum for a more just and equitable Long. Speaker 9: Beach and ignoring the serious need for a more thorough language access policy. Speaker 2: Essentially bars vulnerable populations. Access to city services. Long Beach prides itself on. Speaker 9: Being an. Speaker 2: International city, a diverse city, and we are. Speaker 9: Ethnically, racially, culturally and linguistically diverse. So I implore the Council to recognize that, especially against the backdrop. Speaker 2: Of Trump's America, where immigrants, especially immigrants of color, are treated as second class citizens. Council members, again, I implore you to allocate the funds to the language access. Speaker 1: Policy. Speaker 10: As earmarked. Speaker 2: In the people's. Speaker 9: Budget. Thank you and good evening. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. My name is Christopher Covington. I am a product of Long Beach. I've been living in the sixth District for 26 years and 27 and so proud of that. I'm here as a community organizer with a Gender and Sexuality Alliance network. We're a national nonprofit supporting trans and queer youth coming together for racial and gender justice here in the city of Long Beach. We support over 100 young people throughout our amazing school district and more depending on the year. And those youth are actually working on many different initiatives to prepare themselves for college career or for their future, making sure that they're safe, make sure they're having resources and support as the Gender and Sexuality Alliance that work. We are partners of the People's Budget as well as the Invest in Youth Campaign. The Investing Youth Campaign has met with each of your officers and will continue to show up at your community hearings to share the need and the ask of young people within your districts and what the what youth needs in the city. As I mentioned, I'm a product of Long Beach. I'm a product of youth positive, healthy youth development. I was an intern and an employee with Vice Mayor de Andrews, and I'm able to pass on the same type of support and resources to youth throughout this city, and I'm proud to do that. That's the same type of support we're looking for with the investment in the Youth and Children Fund. I'm currently through the support of the mayor and the council members advocating for the youth fund. The mayor has proposed a $200,000 investment, and we know through the presentations that we've been hearing, there's $500,000 unallocated funds that are up for putting into different parts. So our task is to give $500,000 to this fund with the proposal of the participatory process. That is one option. However, many of our youth are asking for our strategic plan and how we can invest the money for a purpose that is long term versus short term. We don't want to see a sign within our city. We don't want to see a a building or like something that is one time. We want to see an investment for a long term strategy of how the city is going to invest in youth. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you. For those of you who are still in this council chamber and listening. And I appreciate to see you more throughout this process. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Hi. My name is Dawn Tidwell. I'm here with the Democratic Socialists of America. Word on the street is you all got a copy of this. How many of you read it? Can I get a show of hands? One? Well, it's. Oh, it's the people's budget. He read it, too. So, two out of five. Three out of five. All right. So first, I'll talk about the first two immigrant rights and language justice. There seem to be a lot of concern about funding its $670,000, which is 2% of the $45 million that the police are allocated total . And it's one point. It's 1.4% of that 45 million. And it's 2% of the $30 million that they're allocated from the general fund. So maybe, you know, personally, I think maybe others believe, too, that Chief Luna could spare some change for the people of Long Beach. And also the other two things, safe housing and youth opportunities. If we were to address those, I believe it would address crime in the city as well. So you wouldn't have to spend as much money on the police. Let's see what else that I have you. Someone was talking about how well the Health Department was doing. I was wondering where they make their profits from. If anyone could answer that for me. Speaker 0: Continue your comments and I'll touch on that. Speaker 2: Fair enough. Okay. Let's see. Gonzales asked about STEM, and I was considering what programs we have for humanities, because if we only focus on STEM, we'll have more cyborgs like Elon Musk running the city. Also to fund other things we could legalize and tax all drugs, open up safe injection sites and provide direction to rehabilitation. That's one option. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Just briefly, so the health department make any profits per se. So it's, you know, government next speaker. Speaker 1: Hello. My name is Tiffany Hooten. I'm here to speak in support of the people's budget proposal drafted by a number upon which community coalitions. This proposal is to assure that money in the city budget will be allocated in accordance to the material needs of the residents in order to create greater equity in our city and to support equity for all Long Beach communities. These include increased funding to establish an immigrant's defense fund, full implementation of multilingual language access programs, funding for housing code enforcement which protects tenants. And lastly, youth programs which disrupt the school to prison pipeline phenomenon as well as help all populations in the city to prosper. I urge the Council to consider the concerns of the people of Long Beach as a priority in place of the already bloated police budget. There's no greater investment than one in the people. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Good evening. Man City council members. My name is Gloria Rivera with Libra. We are a member of the People's Budget Campaign. We are a member of the Language Access Coalition. We're a member of the Sanctuary Long Beach Coalition, which is why we're here to advocate for the people's budget. As housing advocates, we're here mainly to speak on on code enforcement and the need to improve our code enforcement department. I remember when we when we were here talking about pirate or prep, whatever we're calling it now, proactive rental housing inspection program. And at that time, we were very ambitious and we were talking about trying to cover all of our our buildings within a year's time. That has now been extended to 5 to 7 years. So obviously that there's to me, there's some staffing issues. But in the having and having very robust in discussions with the code enforcement department and with other code enforcement departments and officers across the state, also the systems and the data tracking systems and the efficiency of those systems have a lot to do with how well we can get out and get into rental housing units so that we can inspect them and properly. We're here, but we're a part of this campaign because everything intersects for us. The language access is is something that that intersects with code enforcement, because we get we have a lot of folks that come here and they're requesting reports of the code enforcement patrolling in English. Right. Or we have some code enforcement officers that don't necessarily speak the language that that of the folks that they're actually visiting. And so then we have those issues where they're requesting children to interpret this very technical language that that the parents or the residents don't even know themselves, let alone the children. And so language access permeates over into into code enforcement. And then there's the immigration issues, especially with the current political climate. As you can imagine, people are really fearful of opening doors to folks that they don't know, especially if they're wearing some sort of official t shirt or badge and things of that sort. And so, you know, it's spilled over into immigration issues as well. So and these are these are code officers. And as far as I know, the way people talk about code inspectors is that they have them up there in categories of police officers, because these are the folks that are enforcing our health and safety codes that are actually ensuring that our folks are living in health and safe conditions, that they're not going to fall through a floor, that they that that the ceiling is not going to cave in on them. These are life life safety issues as the way the way our inspectors and code enforcement department talk about them, life safety issues. Right. And so when I look at the budget and how we're allocating the budget to answer Mrs. Monga Longo's question, why don't we divert a small portion of that police funding to our code inspectors? Because they're doing the same type of work. They're keeping our communities health and safe. So we're not we're not redirecting funds. We're just shifting them so that we have a little bit of balance. We need a department that's working for us and it's not currently working. And so we're requesting more funding in that department. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. And I know Mr. Murdoch. I know that it was not called out. The it is not part of the fee schedule. I do know that there's been a request in the budget that we reduce the five, the current 5 to 6 year don't down to four, isn't that right? Speaker 2: Yes. One of the recommendations that the mayor put on top of the budget was for a to challenge staff to look at how do we reduce that amount and bring that down from a 5 to 6 year schedule to something else that we would upon passage. Look at that and see what it would take to do that and what the different models could be. Speaker 0: And one of the you know, not to get too into it, but one of the models out there is there are there are progressive fee schedule models out in other cities that I've looked at that that essentially there's different fees depending on whether it's amount of units owned that have worked in other and other locations. And so we're looking at that next speaker. Speaker 1: Which is memories the most members to learn to steer this community much as personal settlement isn't going to make them and but that as well as police us and immigrants who continue to under the discrimination exploitation. But Lesley, we've because this administration in a constant state in accessing unless we live in fear is to put us in the familiar. Good evening. My name is Medium of William and yes, the witness. I stand before you as one of many people who is currently directly impacted by the anti-immigrant policies that continue. That continue to be perpetuated and perpetuating discrimination, exploitation, linguistic obstacles, dehumanization in the constant threat and having our family separated. My preschooler and two stories replicate concerns. You develop an anti-immigrant alley while at the near because of portrayal of LA yellow stress confinement, a companion length was this year. The question to on community commonly is a cover in culture leather either Potala. I stand before you replete of exhaustion in witnessing anti-immigrant propaganda as well as having to bear the pain and distress that usually accompanies the anguish I feel when my community is unjustly attacked, incarcerated and deported. Nobel. Pacifica and Impacto. Director. Going off a million quid. I sent the message for you to list every matter. Cinematical Blessed one. Yep. Remo King has a lot of momentum. It's a little illogical. Kirby Stone. I cannot testify the direct impact that a family may feel outside of the support that I have already offered them. However. It is there and affirm that caging humans is the utmost illogical action. I have witnessed. Gomorrah, Santorum. There's been a lack of monitoring documentaries to play and to not coauthor the immigration aparthotel and trauma care support most. April seven. I left that opinion, though. Get up in there, see if people. Speaker 8: Get up in. Speaker 1: A special place, though, if we. Or again settle for less. Coalition with Housing Disability Coalition Invest in Youth Campaign Long Beach Language Access Coalition Sanctuary Long Beach Campaign in Long Beach Forward. It is three. We'd love this interesting quantum in the original established formula the universal but along with identity mockumentaries get parliament this in Quentin and Professor Potassium as a result of the disadvantages that the undocumented community suffers. In immigration, quite apart from any of the trauma that precedes what we have to endure in defending ourselves, I ask you to adopt the city budget proposal that was organized by the Coalition's Housing, Livability and Housing Mobility Coalition, Invest in Youth Campaign, Long Beach Language Access Coalition Sanctuary. Long Beach Campaign and Long Beach Forward. An allocated $250,000 of the original fund and establish Universal Legal Defense Fund. Two undocumented residents that are currently in deportation proceedings. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Dave Shukla. Speaker 2: On file. Just came here. Kind of get lost in the shuffle. Kind of an allocation error. But I just came here to speak very narrowly on the libraries. I am a big fan of our libraries. They are places to read, to study, to learn. And those are the primary activities. You try and corporatized them. The coffee shop. You can end up with an empty building with bad AC and crappy coffee. Every city in human history has judged itself by its ability to maintain its source and stock of knowledge. That's what a library is for. That's what we pay for them for. These are things that we can pay for. Speaker 0: Especially if the money comes out of the general fund. Speaker 2: I mean, it's all in the foil. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker two And declaring the speaker's list. We have our three last speakers and then the speaker's list will be closed. Speaker 9: Anna Christiansen The these people that came tonight, I want to thank them for waiting all this time and having all this concern that each one of them have it. And I think they're the youngest group of people here. So when we talk about including and engaging young people, I think we should pay particular attention to their concerns. And driving to L.A. today, we heard another report again on the immigrant children who are still in custody, still in cages, and everything else seems to pale after that. And I think I think we should listen to them and follow these recommendations for the budget and take care of the health of our all the people who live here. If we do a census now, apparently they're going to want us to say whether you're a citizen or not. So we know how much money language is going to lose on that. Right. This is a way of depressing the way certain people vote. And now I'm completely away from the budget. But anyway, I just I just feel like we need to think about health. And I really appreciate health and human services commitment to outreach to the community. And I want to say something in respect to what the city is doing and moving forward with some policies, whether it's the $100 million pool or which I think is basically a competitive facility, or whether it's the so-called restoration project in the wetlands, I think we need to look at impacts that go beyond those projects which seem so glamorous and so wonderful on the surface. But basically when we want to talk about health, let's talk about community pools. It's fine to have a new soccer field. Even if it is plastic grass, it's fine to rebuild a rec center and have programs for seniors. But seniors can swim and they can exercise in water. Community pools are for everybody, I'm sure somewhere in a budget in the future we could find, you know, money to build a pool in the ninth district. I truly believe that that it will benefit people's health. And as far as the wetlands go, at the at the Coastal Commission meeting, a number of different tribal leaders. And in reviewing the paperwork, the majority of California Indians who have ties to this area oppose further destruction in their area of the budget. Spiritual health is connected to nature. And I appreciate Parks and Rec and everyone who's trying to, whether it's the de forest wetlands or whatever, to create a balance between nature and commerce. And on I that's all I guess I want to say for this round, but thank you very much and thank you for this long night. It's a long night. We're all still here, but thank you. Speaker 0: Next speaker, please. Speaker 9: I am Cory Sharpe from the fifth District. And I want to take a little moment to take a shout out to the tireless workers at our shelters. I don't know that they were mentioned tonight. And as they miss Mongo, some councilman. Woman Mongo. I'm a failed foster parent as well. Three times over and I don't think I could ever do their job. So I think they deserve not a little shout out to, unfortunately, still, at this point, countless defenseless animals continue to be put to death in our shelter. They aren't being put to sleep. They aren't being put down. They're being they're dying. And I urge the council to find even a one time fund from the unfunded of course, we've heard that talked about tonight. But I'm asking you to just find a time to put in enough money for an additional animal investor who'll be responsible for coordinating whether there's shelters that are already no kill, shelter status, foster homes or other rehoming agencies to bring language to what it should be, which is a no kill shelter. The communities around us are no cure shelters. We need to become that and we can become that. You could become the legacy of this. In the first council in the history of Long Beach to have a no kill shelter. Please be the voice for the voiceless and the defenseless. Speaker 1: Add the funding for at least just one. Speaker 9: One, one time ambassador. Speaker 1: To help our animals have a little more time and a little more energy to find the final home that they need. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Ms.. Sharpe, there's actually the budget actually does include the addition of one full time new staff member to focus only on adoptions. And so that is in this budget and that's in addition to what we've had before. So that that and other additions in the animal care budget are in the budget. So thank you. Speaker 9: Maybe we could have another. Sure. I'm sure it's in the issue. I know. We always. Speaker 0: We always were almost. Speaker 9: Midnight and the machine is broken. We're hungry. Speaker 0: We always want more. Absolutely. Next speaker. Speaker 1: Get him a snack cart. Maybe we could get some funding. Speaker 4: Hi, my name is Ramon. Speaker 9: I'm from the fifth District. I'd like to honor the. Speaker 4: Mayor for this budget that's been presented. I think it's good. I like the Parks and Recreation. That's really my primary interest. I'd like to say it like four years ago I was doing everything I could to try to get sustainability in the parks, sustainability for just keeping the park alive. Everything was dying. A lot of people were calling the dead trees, mangoes. Speaker 2: And I don't mean that to be I don't mean. Speaker 9: That to be. Speaker 4: Critical. I'm sorry for saying that. Speaker 9: One of the one of the things that confuses me is that I see the budget. Speaker 4: And I like what it is because now we got sustainability. Speaker 9: But I know that we have $117 million needed in. Speaker 4: Re re piping our our parks and all of the all of the the piping has outlived. Speaker 9: Its its livelihood. Speaker 2: I have access to a report. Speaker 9: And it shows that we have when Marie. Speaker 4: Knight started her, um, you know, her tenure. Speaker 9: There was about $550. Speaker 4: Million that we needed just to upgrade the. Speaker 9: The facilities at the parks. And now it is $770 million as of now. That's what this report says. And I'm saying, like. Speaker 4: This is phenomenally high. I'm wondering this is correct. This is eye popping numbers, three quarters of $1,000,000,000. And I'm wondering. Speaker 9: What happened to this? How come nobody's addressing any of this. Speaker 4: Stuff in the budget. Speaker 9: In the. Speaker 4: In the budgetary stuff? Is there a. Speaker 9: Plan to bridge this gap? Speaker 2: Is this is I don't know if. Speaker 4: I'm I mean, this these are the numbers that I'm seeing. And I'm just kind of curious that why we're missing things like this. Speaker 9: When I was working with Marie Knight, I also gave her a plan to which she was working on to try to. Speaker 4: Help get the permit fees, feed it back into the parks. Speaker 2: And I don't know where. Speaker 4: The where the parks director is, but I'd like to work with him and show him how the plan works. She was beginning to work on it, and it it kind of went by the wayside. So there's a variety of other things that I'd like to do. Speaker 9: But I'm going to take. Speaker 4: Councilwoman Longo's advice and maybe I'll just send something in writing. And anyways, I just like to have those issues addressed, the the piping that needs to be replaced and also the additional work that needs to be done to bridge the. Speaker 9: Gap for the the work to maintain. Speaker 4: The facilities, just to bring them up to normal in the parks. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. And I want to thank everyone for being here for the budget hearing. We have a motion and a second to receive and file the budget hearing and will be continued to the next meeting. So, Members, please go ahead and cast your votes. Speaker 8: I mean, I. Speaker 1: Think motion carries a. Speaker 0: Thank you. And now we've gone through the first item on the agenda and only 26 more. So let me I'm going to take first the items that we're request to take to take early. And so that is the round up item. The outdoor smoking item in the housing item were all I had requests on those. So let me do all those first. Did you really take the emergency budget item? Speaker 2: We were asking if we could do the. Yeah, let me do it.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to conduct a Budget Hearing to receive and discuss an overview of the Proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Budget for the following Departments: Public Works, Parks, Recreation and Marine, Development Services, Library Services, and Health and Human Services.

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Speaker 0: Thank you. And I missed an item. 23 was also on the list to be moved up. So sorry about that. So. So next up is so 23. It was 24, which was the dock management system, affordable housing and roundup. So I apologize for missing the other item. So I didn't. 24. Speaker 1: Item 24 is a report from Technology and Innovation Financial Management Recommendation to award a contract to Laser Fish Solution Group for the implementation, installation, software maintenance and support of the Enterprise Document Management System for a total contract amount not to exceed 4.3 million CDI. Speaker 0: There's a motion and a second. Any further comment on this item? Who's come forward. Speaker 4: I'll make it quick. I've been in. I've talked to Stacey, Mongo on this thing. I support it. Thank you. I agree with that. Speaker 0: Okay. Any other public comment on this item? Well, good evening. My name is Sam Hall, resident of the eighth District. But I'm also here representing laser fish. And I really just wanted to express our heartfelt thanks for continuing the partnership with our company for what is going to be a great implementation citywide. Chris Wacker is our CEO. He would have been here tonight, but he's in Asia right now working on expanding our business there. But I wanted to introduce to you our executive vice president, Peter Weyman. Peter's been with the company since 1996 and is really in charge of our full operation there. So without further ado, Peter. Speaker 3: Thank you. And thank you, Clivage, for selecting those fish. And we're looking forward to continuing our partnership with the city and enter as I think, Long Beach. And and we as a company are entering a new era of accelerated innovation and growth. Leader Fish is the leading global software development in our category, and we have customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. And we're proud that our global headquarters has been based in Long Beach since 2001. And also I'm proud of about half of our employees at the Long Beach Company are actually Long Beach residents. So we're actually also on the verge of making some big announcements about the future of our company, which should result in hundreds of new high paying jobs here in the city. And we also have partnerships with Cal State, Long Beach, Long Beach, City College and the Long Beach Unified School District. And that will help to foster local job growth and placement. And we also share the city's commitment to promote digital literacy and facilitate a thriving tech economy. Thank you again for the opportunity to continue our great partnership. And we're very excited. And I also want to introduce Bridget Michelman, who is going to be the city's dedicated solutions manager written. Speaker 1: Thank you, Peter. Thank you, honorable mayor. City Council, city management staff, as well as the Technology and Innovation Department. Well, there have been many pockets of innovation related to document management of the city. The overall approach has been very departmental. The implementation of a citywide taxonomy is an opportunity to develop a foundation upon which new and innovative solutions can be built. As these are being developed, new ways to combine traditional components of an idms solution such as document capture, electronic forms, information from legacy applications with modern tools such as machine learning, predictive analytics and robotic process automation . It is critical to work directly with organizations that have a similarly visionary approach to their operations. Lazarus is the city as an ideal partner based on a variety of factors, including proximity, personality as well as a transformative effect moving into a new modern facility can have on an organization. To speak to one specific business process that I'm personally excited about working on is in conjunction with the prosecutor's office as well as PD to assist with the Drug Diversion Program by utilizing one of our recently developed mobile interfaces that uses live maps to identify individual case documentation and nearby facilities to safely and efficiently divert low level offenders to treatment centers. And just from today's council meeting. There have been numerous workflows that have been identified, whether it's been Councilwoman Pearce's workflows for housing services, whether it's been Councilman Richardson's, you know, seeking out for digital signatures to allow for easier access to two different applications for vacant lots or Councilman Andrew's job applications. Making those more accessible. I speak on behalf of my colleagues here today. Laser vision Chris Walker I know is is viewing this online overseas that we are excited to continue our partnership with the city and will do everything that we can to make this implementation and future implementation successful and something that the city is proud of. If you have any questions, anything that you need business process consulting with as it relates to technology, we're less than a ten minute drive away, so we'd be happy to answer any of those questions for you. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Thank you very much for the partnership as well. There's a motion in a second cause we weren't going to have any comments. Speaker 4: Take Mary. And I want to thank you for being the application they're putting in there, submitting your application that there they reside in the seventh District and they'll be looking forward to continue to work with you. Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilor Richardson. Speaker 2: I think staff made a great choice. Laser fish is a great laser fish, not laser fish is a great organization. It's it's committed to our local community. And I think you made a great choice. So I fully support it. Speaker 1: Catherine Pierce I go the sentiments. I also want to thank you guys for staying through the budget. I had the opportunity a couple months back to meet up with Mr. Roscoe and take a tour of the facility. You guys have done a fantastic job, really exciting about the new development. I think that you guys have been a great partner so far and I look forward to new opportunities to continue to partner with you. I love the work you guys are doing with the city prosecutor's office and I hope that we can explore new ways. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 1: I want to recognize the city staff. I know that processes like these for big contracts aren't easy. We've had a lot of bumps along the way, but I think that big contracts like this being awarded to local Long Beach companies is a huge step in the right direction, especially when they contribute to so many jobs in the community, high paying jobs, and they actually also own a lot of the real estate that they're in. We only just wish that we could develop a high tech park around you guys and grow, but even more so, thanks so much for all the great things that you guys are doing in the community. Speaker 0: Thank you. And Vice Mayor Andrew Lewis. Speaker 6: I also totally agree with this contract because the fact that you guys know my concept about jobs and I just feel like you guys are going to be a great asset, especially to individuals trying to get jobs. Thank you guys so much for being here in-house. In-house. Keep it here. You guys don't go anywhere. Love you guys. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: I'm an I motion case. ET tu.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP TI17-143 and award a contract to Compulink Management Center, Inc., dba Laserfiche Solutions Group, of Long Beach, CA, for the implementation, installation, software, maintenance, and support of the Enterprise Document Management System, for one-time software and services in the amount of $1,839,966, and ongoing annual maintenance and licensing in the amount of $385,444, for a period of five years, and authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $565,078, for a total contract amount not to exceed $4,332,264, with the option to renew ongoing maintenance and licensing in an annual amount of $404,716 for an additional five-year period, at the discretion of the City Manager; authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary amendments; and Increase appropriations in the General Services Fund (IS 385) in the Technology and Innovation Department (TI) by $2,225,410, offset by charges to user departments and funds and potential short-term internal loans between

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Speaker 1: I'm an I motion case. ET tu. Speaker 0: Kate. Next item is 26. Speaker 1: Item 26 is a communication from Council Member Tauranga case membership in the case of the Mango encampment Austin recommendation to amend the city's pest wait management policy to eliminate the use weird abatement sprays such as Roundup and Ranger Pro. Speaker 0: Thank you. Customer. Speaker 4: Thank you. Mayor On March 28th in 2017, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment personally noticed that with glyphosate about pronouncing it right would be added to the list of carcinogens known to the state of California to cause cancer per Proposition 65. On August 10th, 2018, a state court in San Francisco ruled that Monsanto Products Roundup and Ranger Pro were not adequately labeled to detail potential negative health impacts. I want to thank my colleagues for standing up to this very important item. I also want to thank out of them with the director of the Parks Recreation Marine Department for his leadership on this item from the moment that I brought it up to him. There is a lot of research that supports the city's efforts to stop using products containing glyphosate, including the popular Weed Killers Roundup and Ranger Pro. I'm pleased to see the recent memo from the city manager and a24 from memo from Mr. Mullet that highlights the immediate halt of using these products in our parks. I think it's time to have a conversation about establishing a way to stop the use of this very carcinogenic product across our city. Reducing our community's exposure to these types of products that contain carcinogens is important and something I'm sure many of my colleagues will support. I would like to amend my motion to request a report back from the city manager in 90 days to explore alternatives to glyphosate. Liberal seat products and the costs associated with its implementation. And I want to thank you. Speaker 0: Councilwoman, go. Speaker 1: I would like to thank the park advocates that have worked on this with me over the last 6 to 8 months, and that I only offer some additional opportunities and discussions for consideration with Parks and Rec director. Perhaps we don't need to mow every week and that in an alternative we would be able to use some of that savings for the elimination of pesticides and then perhaps supplement some of the. Why could I keep thinking the word pond is pond. Pond swims pond. I call it a marsh swims pond maintenance that is so detrimental he needed. There are so many areas in the parks and rec system that need additional maintenance. And so if we could no less than perhaps that would be an opportunity to beef up a lot of the other areas. I mean, I think that the people that really know where those areas are are the people that are boots on the ground every day in our parks. And I know that most of our team works on a daily basis with Harley, and so I look forward to working with him and hearing his recommendations. Speaker 0: Thank you. Any public comment on this item? Speaker 1: Hi cluelessly. Here I am, the Secretary of Carp and I'm a President of the East Side Voice and most recently a member of a group that is forming called the Friends of Eldorado Park East. A couple of months ago, a small group of residents got together to look at the deteriorating conditions in Eldorado Park. The section north of spring. Speaker 9: We contacted the fifth District Council. Speaker 1: Office, and we got a very positive response from Councilwoman Mongo. She had already conceived of an idea to form groups at each park, to create a partnership with those that want to be involved and to monitor the parks. We want to thank Councilwoman Mango for providing the opportunity for us to be part of the solution. The top two issues in our list and our list was about three pages long, was inadequate watering, which I think you pretty much dealt with tonight in the budget and the unhealthy foliage, grass, trees and ponds, very possibly a result of the prolonged use of poisons for weed abatement to keep the grass from growing where it was not wanted and to keep the weeds down. And what we see them doing is loading up the truck with Roundup and then driving down the road and and hosing it along the road edges and also around the trees. And it's pretty excessive use of poison. And this is a big issue with the environmentalists. We want to thank our new parks director for immediately getting engaged on this, as well as our mayor for boldly stepping up and suggesting that we could have a ban on glass effect across our city. But I know that to make that happen requires members of our council to get involved. And in the spirit of being part of the solution, we could possibly get rid of all herbicides. If we do that, what's the downside? The kids have to play on grass with a few dandelions. You know, there is there is a little bit of milkweed that perhaps the butterflies could feed on. And I'm a big fan of industrial engineering. And if you really feel that there's going to be a problem here with cost, I would suggest that we do as a time study. Does it really take more money and longer to use a weed whacker or to spread mulch along the roadway? If we need to cut labor in the contract and it's based on a time study, can we change the most schedule which Councilwoman Mango just brought up? Can we go from every week to perhaps two times a month? Grass cut short gets sunburned and the water evaporates faster than it would with longer grass. I think the kids will be happier to play on longer grass with a few dandelions. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 9: Kerry Sharp. And again, I want to also thank the council. People of four council members had also put this ahead of the agenda tonight. Also to thank Mr. Mongeau for jumping on board on this right away and supporting the removal of Roundup from our parks. It's such a great start too, but I also want to make sure that we urge to complete them the whole city wide ban, because I agree with Councilwoman Price. I think our media and say a lot about how we look also and when we're killing the grass with Roundup on our medians, it's turning into dirt. And I have to tell you, looked a little bit the other day, I was following one of the mowers on the median off of Bellflower, and it looked a little bit like pig pen from from Snoopy because there was nothing but a bunch of dirt behind the mower. And I don't know, I thought it was kind of funny. But it also does go to show that we are doing something to our grasses that are wrong, which is, of course the roundup. Also most of Monsanto's lawsuits. And of course, we know that they have them. And Monsanto's lawsuits are because of prior knowledge. And we have to keep that in mind that now we have prior knowledge of what this stuff does. It's out there, it's on the news every single day. And we have to do something about it to make sure that we are addressing the fact that we could also be held culpable if we already have prior knowledge. And you also have to know that Monsanto didn't just send a couple of people to progressive fight this precedent setting judicial issue. They sent their A-Team. They sent a lot of lawyers to make sure to fight this down. And they still lost. They were still found culpable to the tune of $289 million. And one of the biggest problems with Roundup and I'll be really quick, is that it was it's a wind carrying chemical. So when you think that you're only spraying one tiny little spot, it actually can get airborne and it can waft on to other and other surfaces and stick to them. And if a child touches a tree that we didn't think we were spraying and ends up with that on their hands, that's a secondary surface touch and we really don't want that to happen to our pets are trees, our flowers are waterfowl or our people. And thank you again for all of your hard work on this issue. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 9: Anna Kristensen for the Protect, the Long Beach Low Cerritos Wetlands Coalition and Carp is a member organization. And I want to I want to say here that I didn't think this would happen. I mean, it just happened. And that and I look at the council members that are endorsing this, and I just want to thank you so much, because when I went to a Parks and Rec meeting with and Cantrell over a year ago, Parks and Rec was very polite, but they were just going to do a study. And then when the study found out that it was a little more expensive to use an organic pesticide and then round up, it seemed to be over. Case closed. And I just want to give a big shout out to Ann Cantrell tonight. You know, she's been active on this issue for a very long time, as well as others. And I know that she doesn't get, I think, the recognition and support she deserves because she is a community activist and she goes where where people don't really want to talk about it. So still in Eldorado Park when Roundup, we spray on the little wetlands out there. She came in with photographs. Right. And so I just she her name is bad and she can't be here tonight. And so I want to thank and and I want to thank the council. And I hope that people support this measure also that it extends to our wetlands. And SYMMES Pond seems to be on everybody's mind lately, including the neighbors, because the pond is totally dried out. Now, I think there's an issue there that they said they were cutting some kind of a budget for Sam's Pond. But I don't I think you need to spend a little more money out there and a Long Beach property in the wetlands. And I'll tell you, one of the problems is with the trees. They where they do tend to take over and they're very expensive to dig out and do it the right way. And even someone who doesn't want to use Roundup was was considering using some kind of herbicide in the wetlands simply because of the Tully thing. So if we can boated, if we can find money, I think we can get community support, we can build two boats were already talking about it getting some volunteers are excited about doing that and thriving that Native American tradition. So anyway, as a community, I think this is a great moment. I think I'm just very grateful. I'm grateful to the mayor for understanding like, you know, we don't we don't need poisons, you know. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. And our last speaker on the side of that. Speaker 4: All right. And yes, mine will bring it down for smaller people. My name is Ramon from District five. Speaker 2: I am. Speaker 4: I know that this thing's going to pass. I just wanted. Speaker 2: To honor our lost in Darryl Supernova. Speaker 4: And Roberto. You're wrong, guy for bringing this forward. I appreciate that. If Mongo is involved with that, I appreciate that too. As well as the director in the. Speaker 9: Complete park staff. You guys are doing a great job. Speaker 4: I. But in working with Marie, I actually arranged a meeting. This thing is a lot simpler, I think, than what a lot of people think. As far as the suggestion goes, there's been a demonstration and there's been some instruction given to the park staff. I arranged a meeting with with the park staff and the city of Long Beach. L.A. Unified School District and the EPA. They have some even equipment. Speaker 9: That can be used if you don't want to do that. You know, the chemical thing, there's also an equipment. Speaker 2: Option and. Speaker 4: Also. Speaker 2: A. Speaker 4: Neat little program that they have. It's free and. Speaker 9: It can not only deal with. Speaker 4: Roundup and these things, but all the other pesticides. It's a pretty cool deal and I hope that everything works. I mean, I know when I was talking to Marie, she was very optimistic in at least looking into this and trying it out and making sure this thing works. But she didn't. Speaker 9: Want to step in. Speaker 4: And step on anybody that was coming in because she was getting ready to leave. Two years ago, I provided. The city during a budget meeting. Speaker 9: A petition for about 3000 people. Speaker 4: Plus to get. Speaker 2: The water. Get the parks 100%. Speaker 9: What they need. At the time, it. Speaker 4: Was only about 36%. Speaker 2: Of what they were watering. Speaker 4: One of the reasons why, as I understand it, that Roundup was put in was because they wanted to get water to the tree roots. And that's just one of the reasons. And so by removing the the the grass, they would be able to water the trees down there. And so now that we've got 100% watering, maybe some of the organic things may not be needed. I know a lot of people there's been a lot the cities, their school districts, there's a lot of. Speaker 9: Municipalities that. Speaker 2: Have removed Roundup. Speaker 4: From their thing. So there's plenty of options that are available. So I just wanted to say thanks to all of you and I'm hitting the road. You guys have a great day. I got to go for a road run. Thanks, buddy. Speaker 0: Thank you. With that, please cast your votes. Speaker 1: I mean, I can't remember Andrews washing cars. Speaker 0: Thank you. Then last. Thank you. The last. The last item that was asked to be moved up is 1121. And then after 21, we'll go to the regular agenda from starting with public comment down to all the regular items.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to amend the City's pest/weed management policy to eliminate the use of products or materials that contain glyphosate(s), including weed abatement sprays such as "Roundup" and "Ranger Pro." Direct City Manager to seek alternative organic products for weed and pest abatement for use by City staff in parks, medians and other areas.

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Speaker 0: Thank you. Then last. Thank you. The last. The last item that was asked to be moved up is 1121. And then after 21, we'll go to the regular agenda from starting with public comment down to all the regular items. Speaker 1: 21 item 21 is a report from City Manager Recommendation to receive and file report on a strategic strategy to critically to create additional affordable housing and improve prevention and response to homelessness in Long Beach citywide. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson, did you have staff first? Yes. Yeah, I know this is a report the council asked for as well. And I know that I know you guys were hard of this report as well, so. Mr.. Speaker 2: MODICA Thank you, Mayor, and members of the Council. We have a presentation to give mindful of the hour. We'll try to cover this topic in some detail, but also be mindful of the time and move through it. So what we were asked to do is really talk a little bit about affordable housing and homeless prevention and come back with a strategy. And on the 24th, you were asked to come back specifically on five different areas. So before I jump into those, I do want to just mention that this is a conversation we've had before many times. We've talked a lot about homelessness at the council. We've talked a lot about revenue tools and incentives. So you'll see we had several presentations and staff have been following up with you with memos and at your request about this issue. So while we will be talking about, you know, some funding and strategy, this is an ongoing discussion that started for a long time and builds on the great work of the Health Department and Development Services. At the same time, we also have our Everyone Home Language Task Force that's going on right now engaging the community and about 30 real experts in this area who all bring varied backgrounds and expertize to the issue. They've met three or four times and they'll be coming back with some recommendations in a report in fall of 2018. So the reason we're here tonight is there was the agenda item on the 24th that was sponsored by councilmembers Richardson, Gonzalez, Andrews and Austin to come back. And specifically, we were asked about these areas. Talk a little bit about gaps in prevention, in services, costs and opportunities to address those needs and potential funding strategies and implementation. And also specifically to talk about an effort for a permanent shelter motel conversion source of income discrimination policy, which is Section eight. So talk a little bit about gaps in prevention and strategies. We could talk about this for a long time. We have talked about this at the council. So I'm really just going to use this opportunity to sum up a little bit. We see three major areas for really addressing homelessness in affordable housing, really in the area of affordable housing availability, prevention services and homeless services, kind of those three main, main buckets. We've done a lot of work in this area. This council has been very proactive and in pursuing funding for affordable housing and pursuing funding for homelessness. Just over the past decade, we've created 1694 new affordable units. We preserved 1957 existing units, and we've rehabilitated 367 units, and we have another 799 in the pipeline. But so where we see some of our need is obviously the construction of more affordable housing, the preservation of existing affordable housing, and continuing to do more work there. The concept of tenant protections, which we'll cover a little bit later in the presentation prevention services to increase and continue our workforce development and give people jobs and training to work on housing services, to get people who are homeless and others in their houses to retain their houses, to find situations that that work for them in a living environment. Obviously, family support and domestic violence prevention is is a big key that leads times to homelessness and of course, physical and mental health and substance use care . When people are addicted to substance or have mental health issues or sometimes have both, that obviously can lead to two other issues in their life. Homelessness, continuing our continuum of care. We do a great job in getting over $14 million through our Continuum of Care Network over continuing to grow that and our outreach services. We've been implementing rapid response teams and obviously we have a need to do more. They're our team in our fire department has been a new innovation and we can continue to do more there. And we are in this for 19 budget as well as quality of life teams in the police. That's in our needs and our strategies. So we want to talk a little bit about the opportunities to address those needs. So a great piece of news. I really want to thank Mary Garcia and the 11 big mayors that they came together and really pursued at the state level, saying of the surplus the state was seeing put some of that money back into homelessness. And so $500 million brand new money has been allocated in the 1419 state budget. The eligible activities for that are things like emergency housing vouchers, rapid rehousing, emergency shelter construction, temporary shelters. They prohibit things like planning and administration. So it's really supposed to be go into direct kind of outreach. And so Long Beach has been very lucky. And we actually hit three different buckets of that funding for a total of 12.3 million. We've got a direct allocation to Long Beach of 2.9 million. We have continuum of care funding to Long Beach because we're our own continuum of care for 8 million. And there was additional legislative funding to continuum of care of 1.1. 4 million. So that's the 12.3 million. We've outlined some strategies for how to spend those funds. We haven't gotten to a detailed budget yet. We're still really working through the state ideas. But these are things like purchasing the winter shelter, a emergency shelter location, a permanent shelter, a storage facility for belongings, looking at additional bands for transportation, a labor pilot program, a day labor pilot program. Enhancing our homeless rapid response looking at Innovation Fund or another one home fund for a new approaches for Youth and for prevention. And Parking Meter Donation Program are some of our concepts at this time. So there's a couple of ways to fund additional revenues. If we're really interested in moving this conversation forward and creating a dedicated funding source, that it was one of the things we were asked to look at. And so we had provided previously some information on a general obligation bond. I want to go through two different big options just for you and explain the difference. One is a bond and one would be a parcel tax. A bond would be really a funding for affordable housing or for purchase of capital facilities to deal with homelessness. It would basically be an increase in property taxes or other local special taxes requires a two thirds majority of the electorate any time you're dealing with property tax increase. And one thing that's notable is that cannot be spent on operations. So if the goal is to spend money and increase our operations, this would not be really your primary funding source. You've got on the slide kind of three different options. If it were about $100 per $500,000 home. This would be an ad valorem tax. And it it varies with the amount of the of the property. So $100 gets you about 300, 100, $500,000 home gets you. I'm sorry, $100 on a $500,000 home gets about $313 million and goes all the way up to 250 per $500,000 home. About $783 million. Another concept is a parcel tax. So this would be a fee per parcel. It's not based on the value of the property, but rather each parcel would pay the same amount. You may vary that fee depending on the type of parcel. So that is an option. Another option would be to exempt certain classes or types of property. There can be sunset provisions or an annual CPI adjustment. Those are also options. It still requires a two thirds majority vote. So it would be dedicated and because it's property, it's two thirds majority. And one difference here is it can be pay as you go. So you can spend it on capital, but you can also spend it on operations. So that is a different option. For example, if we did $50 per parcel, it could generate about $13.8 million and up to $150 per parcel could generate up to 41.4 million. So obviously those are two very large options that would generate significant dollars. There are some other options. We wanted to list them for you on this slide. They are lower in the dollar amount. And the reason that we picked the other two is really if you're looking at creating affordable housing and really investing in homelessness, those are expensive and it requires a lot in order to get affordable housing in this day and age in our market. So that's why those two property taxes are on there. But other options include the utility users tax. We're currently at 5% and a 1% increase would be 7.7 million transit occupancy tax, a 1% increase. It'd be 1.4 million. Some cities, not very many, but some charging admissions tax where it could be on anything from an admission to a sports event or to a movie or to an arts event. And so a couple of cities have done that. We don't really have an estimate at this time, but you can see Avalon has one for $350,000 and Santa Cruz has one for $2 million parking tax. We don't have that in Long Beach. L.A. has it, for example. But a 10% parking tax could potentially bring in 1.7 million. And real estate property transfer tax are if we were to double our amount and go up to one by 110, that would be about a dollar ten per transaction. That would be about $1.7 million. So we're asked to talk a little bit about if we were to talk about a revenue measure, what would that be and what would the timeline be? The next available election would be in 2020. So there are two options. In 2021 would be March 3rd. And then we would need that language finalized before September 18th of 2019. And the other option would be in November during that through the general 2020. And the language would need to be finalized by May 20th. And our city clerk always recommends that we not wait till the very end, that we try to do things at least 1 to 2 months prior to the deadline to make sure we're successful and we would be on a ballot. So talk a little bit about other efforts. These are some of the things that council asked us to come back to in this report on. One was a housing choice voucher anti-discrimination ordinance. We know that about 700 people in Long Beach have a Section eight vouchers but cannot access their housing. They exceed the 180 day limit to find the housing, and often they're in danger of losing their voucher. If you can see on the slide, oops, excuse me that we have these are three examples we found just from Zillow. Renter posts that say no evictions, no pets, no proof of income. And it also says no section eight. So we know that's happening today where people are saying if you have Section eight, you need not apply. So we've been asked to look and research whether we need a local ordinance to address this or whether we're also looking at the current federal restrictions. So we'll be doing that research and coming back to you. We've also wanted to talk a little bit about permanent housing or homeless shelter we have. We are lucky in that as a city, we do a winter shelter every year. Most cities do not. They don't have that in their in their city. And we have done a winter shelter. We really are looking at doing a permanent shelter so that we can have that availability throughout the year for 100, 125 beds. We believe the state funding can help with the purchase. And so I really want to give credit to the entire council for wanting to go in this direction, to have that resource in our city. And I also really want to recognize the council members who have accepted the winter housing shelter in their district in the past and have also kind of stepped forward and said, hey, let's look at those locations as possibility for a permanent shelter. So that that takes a lot to step forward and say we want to do that. And we've had a number of council members accept all kinds of different services that are really helping with this problem, everything from mental health services through to in District seven, the new social services there. So it really requires everyone to help out. So in L.A. County, we believe will fund a rent, a homeless shelter, a permanent homeless shelter through Measure H funding. And we get tenant improvements from L.A. County through a $3.4 million grant. So we're in the process right now of looking and identifying locations, and we'll bring that back to you. We were also asked to look at nuisance motel conversion. This we've done a pilot program already to reduce nuisance criminal activity through compliance plans developed by interdepartmental teams. We identified six high activity motels that when you see here is the luxury inn up in Cedar nine. And those are based on calls for service and crime incidences. We're looking at the cost and the feasibility of amortizing that land use out and what that looks like. That's a complex process. So we're doing some research there, but we also got some great partnerships with L.A. County, has stepped forward and said they may be interested in funding some of these properties and converting them into permanent supportive housing. And some housing developers might be interested in jumping in and taking over those sites if they can convert them through through state funding or grants into affordable housing. The last thing we were asked to look at was the Safe Parking Program. We did a memo on probably about five, six months ago where we came back with the research on this. This is the idea of using or removing individuals who are using their cars for, you know, to sleep in and to move those off the street and connect them to services and transition them into permanent housing. We really would recommend that this would be a nonprofit partner to operate and identify a suitable location and work with that property owner and work with the surrounding neighborhood. If you wanted to do a program, it would be recommended to do a 12 month pilot program for about 20 parking spaces. That would include things like porta potties and enhanced refuge collection services, case management, so we can connect people to services and have a housing plan. And the estimated cost for that was 230, $221,000. I did want to remind the council we have a lot of other great efforts underway to address homelessness and affordable housing. Our tenant protections policy that is actively being worked on right now and will be reporting back to the Council on on an update in October 2018. Our short term rentals policy will be coming back to the Council as a report in November of 2018. Our inclusionary housing policy. That's also a big effort coming back as an update in December 2018. And of course, we have our 29 Housing Affordable Housing Strategy recommendations. The short term ones are already done, and we're working now on the medium and the long term. And so that's my last slide just for next steps. We're really here to to start a conversation and to hear from the council tonight about what you know, what thoughts you have. But if we were to take next steps, what we would recommend is if you want to look at a dedicated measure that you have a review and other measures that have been passed or proposed in other cities. We're not the first one to really look at investing in homelessness, in affordable housing on a local level, that we would review structures for broad based outreach to partners. And to really begin that discussion with the community, we would recommend tying in strategies with the Everyone Home Task Force recommendations and all the great work the continuum of care is doing. Develop a list of potential funding categories in the highest need based on that outreach. Education of the community on the need and what can be accomplished is key. And of course, having some resources set aside for this, you know, would would be required. And we don't have a firm estimate on what a four year program would be, but at about a $50,000 initial funding to get us some consultant support and be able to have someone that that focuses on, this is what we would recommend. So again, this is really for the council to kind of discuss these concepts and we stand available to answer questions. And Linda and Kelly all appear here to answer questions as well. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Great presentation. And I especially Mr. Murdoch, I want to thank you at the slide that showed the was coming back October, November, December. I think a lot of us have been waiting for for those policies to come back. And so I'm really hard to see. Those are all will be in front of us for the end of the year. So good work from the the housing team. Councilman Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And Tom, I have to tell you, this is this is a fantastic presentation. I know it's difficult to try to take an issue so large in and narrow down the conversation to really the topic of revenue. But I think you've done a good job at framing everything that we've done together the council, the city staff, everything we've done together, and then really talk about what it's going to take in order to fully fund and have a local dedicated revenue source. And when I remind people this conversation started around a dedicated local revenue source, I know that we've done a lot of other work, and I want to exercise a little discipline and kind of focus a little bit on the report that came back. So number one, the implementation timeline that you presented is fantastic. So it says the next available elections are March of 2020 and that the language would need to be presented September 18th, 2019. So that will be the first available opportunity. Now it's August of 2018, by September of 2018, that allows a full year of engagement and outreach before language would need to be approved by the City Council and forwarded or noticed that language needs to be noticed for the first public hearing. I think that gives us a full year. So. Question If you look at our processes, measure HHS and others about how long did those agencies take to sort of go through this process? So I'll use the county kind of store measure one because that's the one that's the most recent. That tends to be about the timeline. So about a year, depending on how sticky the issue can be, it can be a little bit longer, it can be a little bit shorter. So we've seen anywhere from six months to a year and a half to two years. So it can it really there's no set timeline, but a year would be in the ballpark. Absolutely. And I wouldn't want to lock ourselves into March or November, but we want to be ready for either one. So if we start now, I think the conversely, the timing is right to start to do something sincere, something that we can take to the community, engage the continuum of care, engage community partners, advocates, and, you know, the industry, the building trades sort of engage all of these stakeholders is going to take a full year. And by starting this conversation now, I think we can give that time to really put something together and test that among our very diverse community. So number one, I would say great timeline. Thank you for presenting that. Next on some of these some of the other things that you have here, I think on the housing vote, housing choice, voucher, anti-discrimination ordinance, number one. So I've chaired housing authority the last two years. We've done two different efforts around sort of landlord incentives to try to use incentives to improve the lease up rate. But we, you know, we've been full on engaging with the apartment association and partners that, hey, if we don't really see any movement here, we're going to move to the policy round route. And I think that's the next natural step for where we are. So the question for you is, so after tonight, what does that timeline look to actually develop research and develop this ordinance? So we think in six months or something like that. So we'll come back with a timeline, I estimate a couple of months. We've got a number of ordinances that the city attorney is already working on. We added another one tonight, but we've done some initial research through Allison King on kind of what other cities were done. So I'd say probably in the 3 to 6 months time frame. Is the estimate right now. Sure. That's good. Just to remind folks, every year that we have that gap in our lease up, we're susceptible to taking that money away. And the last thing we want in a circumstance in this situation is to open ourselves up to HUD, taking funding away for housing. So she do everything we can to deploy that funding. Thank you. Next on the permanent how permanent homeless shelter. I know it's been an ongoing conversation. I think what's different is that the council members who hosted the winter shelter stepped up and say, look at these facilities in our district, we want to start that conversation. But a part of that is getting rid of the stigmas around having a shelter in our communities. And so I think, you know, the fact that we're in a position with the state funding and the county tenant improvement funding and the ongoing operations funding, I think what we should be presenting when we get to that point, we've identified a site, we should be presenting a really comprehensive plan for how how this sort of is introduced to the community, how the services around it, even down to the you know, there were there were a number of articles in me and Councilman Price. I exchanged about some articles. You know, the reality is folks are looking at really nice architectural styles for these shelters. So they shouldn't look or feel the way shelters have felt in the place in the past. But rather, they should really be aspirational in something that people say, look, look at that. Cool. I'm really proud of this shelter, this in our community. It looks good. It feels good. And it and and frankly, it doesn't seem like a blight in our community. And we absolutely agree with that. And with really good management, which is what we have here. We have had winter shelters where people haven't even known that it's there. So the North Library, the Old North Library turned into a winter shelter. And we didn't get, I don't believe, one complaint from the neighborhood. KELLY So that was really a success. So I wanted to point that out. Mr. Austin's not here today, but his support of that was great, sir. And I'll just say I think it's that we should not think about we have to hide it and that people don't see us there. I think it's a matter of we should we should embrace it. And from the way it's designed, the way we engage it, and we should lead with it. So I think it's okay. On Nuisance Motel Conversion I'm really happy with the direction this is going. I'm glad the county valet has stepped up to to help us look at some of these sites, acquiring them for nuisance motel conversion. That's great progress. I want to continue the track that I think it's a great example of smart planning or smart land use. We're able to take something that's outdated, that really doesn't have much of a use and use it to address something that's current, which is, you know, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing and things that we actually need in the community. So I think that's great. I echo what the mayor said about the continued effort. So it's going to be a busy fall. So tenant protections in October, short term rentals in November, inclusionary housing policy in December. And so Merry Christmas. And then and then in terms of next steps, I think this is a good strategy for next steps. I would say. I think if we were to set aside this additional this initial funding, when was the everyone home wrapping up this fall? Speaker 10: Right to the last meeting, the last scheduled meetings in September. We'll be taking the policy recommendations from there and then putting together a report. Bring them for. Speaker 2: Sure. I think it would be great if we have a full year. We said September to September was a full year. I think if at the conclusion of everyone home, we begin this broader this broader engagement policy process around revenue options. If that I would love to see it as seamless as we can this next fiscal year that possible that would actually be very helpful because the same team that would be doing this is the team that's really busy right now and everyone home. So in order to keep that moving forward that, you know, have them complete that work and then be able to help support this next effort, great. And I think everyone at home is really quality good, a good team. But I think there's interest in really going out beyond the everyone on task force to sort of broader group and really understanding the perspectives of all the different interest groups on this issue. So that's what I would like to see. And so I support this timeline, I support these next steps. And so so I'm going to make a motion that we forward this $50,000 initial funding recommendation to the BRC and to the city manager for figure to figure out how to include this $50,000 initial funding recommendation into this current FY19 budget. Thanks. And if I may, we had a question earlier in the day about whether or not the $12.3 million can be can fund that. We'll definitely review that to see if the 12.3 million is an eligible funding source. Speaker 0: Great. That'll be a good source of possible. There's a motion and a second counselor appears. Speaker 1: Be? Yes, thank you. I know it's late. I want to think. Council Member I still have to get used to calling you council member Rex Richardson and I want to thank the staff and also other community members. I know that some of you guys are here and some of you guys will watch it later. But I know that all the efforts have really been several years of everybody trying to tackle housing, and it's feels like we're due for some good wins. Right. And everybody's rolled up their sleeves. The staffs were working hard. So I really appreciate this. I fully support moving forward with the bond measure, as Councilmember Richardson mentioned. I think having a year to do that, making sure that we are including not only the community groups that have historically been involved, but building trades as well as neighborhood groups and making sure that we're doing this process are great on the front end so that on the back end, we're not dealing with how in the world did we get here with some of our neighborhoods. So on the Darby Echo, everything on the ordinance for the Section eight piece on the motel item, I know that we've I've talked to people at villages and some other developers that are they're ready today to buy one of those motels and make it affordable housing due to transitional housing. How long is a process right now, do you think, to get to that place? Well, I think the purchase really depends upon who the developer is and what kind of resources they would have to bring along with whatever public resources. The villages of Cabrillo as the main one that I've had about four conversations with and we haven't had conversations with them yet, but we'll certainly be following up. But the entitlement process is probably, I would say, roughly about six months to get through the entitlement process once the purchase is complete. Well, but right now there's still existing motels, right? So what is that process in between in between everything that we're proposing to get to that point where they can purchase it? I would say the city would have to take a really hard look at what that program looks like, because right now it really depends upon how we structure the program. We don't have that program. We haven't put our arms around it. I don't know if that'll be an ordinance. I suspect we may have some type of ordinance that would allow the conversion of a hotel to a residential use. So there are some some some legal hurdles that we would have to go through to put the program together. Speaker 2: But the biggest hurdle would be funding. So if they're fully funded and ready, they there is nothing to stop them from purchasing that property and then coming to the city and going through the entitlement process. So if they're funded and the bigger challenge will be to get through the state funding process. Speaker 1: Okay, appreciate that. Then on 1/2, the timeline also has been very helpful. I know that we've gone it's taken us a long time, both with the short term rental and the inclusionary housing. I know that we tend to hire on these consultants to come on and help us and support having experts do that work. I know that's the short term rental process is going to come back in November. Do we feel like we're going to be ready with an actual ordinance? You know, our actual policy direction at that time because it seems like a long time to come back with one. Speaker 2: Yes. So we're planning on coming back with having completed a pretty extensive community outreach. And we've gotten a lot a lot of feedback. Speaker 1: I've been on programs into this area. Speaker 2: So there's been hundreds and hundreds of people showing up. So we'll have one last of those meetings will be ready to come back. Kind of summing up what that process was, what our staff recommendation is, and then we'll be for the council to discuss and then we'll turn that into an ordinance. So we believe by November you'll have a lot in front of you to consider. Speaker 1: Okay. And then for the inclusionary housing policy, I know that we've had lots of conversations on this as well. And my understanding there's an update in December, but we will still be far away from being able to have a policy presented to us. Speaker 2: So we'll definitely have the update and kind of where we're going. It does take a lot of time to do the Nexus studies to make sure that legally that we're not going to get challenged on this and that we put together the ordinances after that. But we expect the council to give us kind of they are are we ready to go move forward in December. Here's the update. Here's where we are, here's what we're thinking, and then we'll give you a timeline for the rest of it. But these these policies do take some time from the from the legal standpoint and make sure that we're not challenged. Speaker 1: I understand that anything else that we can do to put fire into the inclusionary housing, I think would be amazing. So that's my $0.02. Speaker 2: I understood. Speaker 1: And then I appreciate you guys putting the transitional housing, the transitional parking item back in here. Also, I believe the only challenge that we have right now. Can identify the funds. I know we're making an effort to do that, is identifying the correct nonprofit to do that work, but just highlighting for the council on that item, we did several months of community outreach with churches, with the consultant. We have churches right now that have their spots are saying, yes, we will do this today. And so really, it's about funding and then aligning that up with one of the nonprofits, somebody that probably works through the villages or major and that we feel like it's one of the easier or at least ready to go small dollar ones that's not as big as a massive policy like inclusionary housing. So that's my $0.02. I love all of this. I think that we're all ready to have some some work done. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Thank you very much. Thank you for the presentation. I think it's an excellent presentation and it's impressive how much staff was able to incorporate into this presentation in a relatively short period of time. But I know it's something that staff has been working on. I will say it's probably just me, but I feel like there's a lot of different thoughts wrapped up into this presentation and I'm having a hard time making the connection between some of them and how it is that they're all packaged into one piece here. So I understand the item that asked for the report was rather broad, but there's just a couple of issues. I don't completely understand how they fit. So I know that Councilwoman Pearce mentioned something about supporting a bond, and I don't know if she misspoke or I missed something in the in the initial presentation. We're not this is a receive and file. We're not moving forward with any policy direction on a revenue source right now. Speaker 2: So this is the beginning of a conversation. I took that comment to mean a some type of revenue support revenue, whether it be a bond, whether it be something else that she's supportive of that concept, as we understand and kind of what Councilmember Richardson is talking about is starting the motion would be to kind of start this process pending funding and pending the everyone home committee and then having that kind of yearlong discussion with the community, researching what makes sense, what would be supported, what those funding strategies would be. And then the council would finally make a decision, do we move forward and put something on the ballot or not? And it might be that we don't or it might be that we do. Speaker 7: Okay, that sounds good. I mean, I think as we're having those discussions, I'd love to know a little bit more about I mean, again, I'm not at all trying to imply, so please don't mishear me on this, anyone. I'm not saying that the issues are not related. I just think that the affordable housing situation has opportunities, challenges and priorities that might be different than responding directly to homelessness, not saying that the two are not connected. I just believe that those conversations present different opportunities, challenges and limitations. So I think merging them together for me at least I speak only for myself confuses that a little bit. What exactly would this additional revenue go to fund? Because buried in this presentation is not buried. It's actually directly in this presentation. But we talk about the fact that we have identified funding and are looking for a location for a permanent homeless shelter, but then we're talking about additional revenues. Is that for more homeless. Speaker 1: Shelters or is that for affordable. Speaker 7: Housing? I'm completely confused as to what we're talking about because we do have individuals who are in need of homeless and in need of affordable housing, who might have jobs and just difficulty keeping up with rising rents, but who are not yet homeless. So are we also trying to target those individuals? So I think just maybe my fear is maybe putting and again, please don't mishear me on this. I'm I'm not meaning to disrespect anyone at all. I'm just, you know, trying to do my best to respectfully articulate my issues is that when we put a whole bunch of different words together, it's not clear in terms of how that revenue is going to be spent. And maybe as part of those discussions, if we can segregate how that revenue would be spent, it would help me. You know, we also have this safe parking program in here, which, while I understand how it's related to this topic, is the revenue source that we're projecting to get through a bond, a partial tax or some other increase in taxes going to pay for the safe parking. I don't understand why that's in here. I really don't. But I support it. I think it's. Speaker 1: A really. Speaker 7: Great program and I want to try to fund it now, not after it comes on a ballot. Right. So I guess I guess for me, it just I'm if you. Speaker 1: Look at these. Speaker 7: Slides individually, they make sense. If you look at. Them together. It's not really clear how they I guess, you know, on a very broad level, I can see how they would intermix with one another. But in regards to the and I'm supportive of each of the components, I just don't understand how they fit together. But for the safe parking component, I completely support it. I think it's really great. I would ask and. Speaker 1: I hear. Speaker 7: What Councilwoman Pierce is saying about identifying different churches. I think that's a great option to I think a better option, if it's possible, would be if we could identify one site as a safe parking site so that when our outreach folks are out there, when they're doing enforcement, they have one location where they're routing people to park as opposed to multiple locations throughout the city. I don't know if that's possible or even if we have an area like that. But I just wanted to throw that out. There is a possibility for us to consider. And then. Speaker 1: What? Speaker 7: Okay. So then the other thing I don't understand is how are. Tenant is short term rental policy connected with this. Speaker 2: Yeah. So if I can try to clarify a couple of things. So the reason that these are together is to talk you, right? Affordable housing is kind of can be its own thing and homelessness can be its own thing. And and sometimes they are they are joined. And those those issues do come together. We wanted to as if we're moving forward with this process, it will be important to go through and do a gap analysis and a need analysis and identify what is really needed in the community to address kind of our homeless crisis and our affordable housing shortage. And so we would go through a pretty robust process there through the continuum of care and through the staff and through community to outline what those are. So it would also have to line up with the revenue. And that was the point we were trying to make if if we just went with the housing bond that doesn't fund homeless services. So that would be a conscious choice to say if we picked that that revenue source, that does not match up with funding homeless services, but maybe a different one could do both affordable housing and homeless services. And so that is really to be determined. The second question had to do with safe parking that was included because it was specifically added as part of the motion by Councilmember Pearce as a friendly to come back with a report on safe parking. So that could happen if if that gets funded through the Fy19 budget process that could happen or could happen through future moneys or through this effort. And then the third question remind me. The third question was short term rentals. So short term rentals is part of the 29 affordable housing strategies. If you remember, the council gave us direction on 29 affordable housing recommendations. So we hear about that a lot about where that is. And so we wanted to include that as one of the many efforts that are going on through our affordable housing recommendations. Speaker 7: Okay, I might be missing it, but is there any scenario that's reasonably accepted by people in the industry that would lead to short term rentals as being an affordable housing solution? Speaker 2: It's included because if it a property is rented out all the time, then it is not available for somebody else to use it as an option. Speaker 1: Okay. Speaker 2: So by putting putting a regulation in place could potentially help that balance between using it as a visitor serving and using it for housing for people in the community. Speaker 7: I got it. So it could actually be detrimental to the concept of affordable housing depending on how it is or is not regulated potentially. Okay. Got it. Okay. I mean, I think staff has done a great job on this. Again, I feel like as you were going through it and I was trying to follow along, I was kept telling myself, I'm going to have to come back and read this because no, no at all. No criticism of your presentation. It was a great presentation. I just think there's a lot of different concepts in here. It's a lot to grasp and a lot. Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 7: And I think. Okay. Oh, the last question I had is the $50,000 I think is identified here as I can't remember the exact language. Oh, initial funding recommendation. Initial funding for what? Speaker 2: Yeah. So we're pretty tapped out. We've got a lot of projects going on right now. And so to start a big effort like this, we're out in the community and we're doing kind of research and understanding how these other measures have happened. We would really need some additional help. So this would be likely a public relations firm or somebody with expertize in kind of measures and putting together that effort. So we would bring on some help for our staff so that we can actually get to this within that one year time frame and not affect other projects. So the 50,000 would be some initial support from a firm that could help us do some of the outreach in addition to city staff. Speaker 7: Okay. And just speaking for myself here, I have no objection to that. I think I think we should not be putting this on staff to research. However, I think that $50,000 should be used for true outreach outreach across the city, neutral and objective outreach outreach that includes input from every council member, and outreach that is not intended to be informational or campaigning in nature. That's the only way that I think I would. Speaker 1: Agree with this, because. Speaker 7: I do think we need to do this outreach, but we're not clear yet what our community wants. So we should not be pushing forth any information until we have a sense of what the pros, cons, options and opportunities are. And so I think if the money is truly for us to, you know, get additional resources to explore this, then I'm okay with it. But if the message is to if there's a specific goal end game in mind by anyone, I have an issue with that. If this is truly an opportunity for us to educate ourselves and every council member should be equally consulted, every community should be equally invited to council community meetings on this topic. It should be spread across the city equally so that we can get true input and it really shouldn't be put forth to advance any message. And those are just my thoughts on it. And I'm assuming since it'll be general fund dollars that's being approved by the full body, that the spirit and intent behind it would be followed. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman. Council member. Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor. And you know, Councilmember Price, you don't have to be apologetic for staff. I mean, I think they get a bit they get paid the big bucks to take that kind of criticism. You know, we we get criticized by our constituents and we get evaluated by our constituents. You know, every four years. But at the same time, during those that interim four year elections, we get a lot of hits and we get a lot we get a lot of criticism for the fact for the things that we are doing or not doing. So, you know, just a little boost that you're okay with everything you say. And and if. Speaker 2: We agree with that. Speaker 4: Of course, in a step taken approach to it, then we got to touch that with the most important things that jumped out to me in this report. It's a great report is very thorough and comprehensive. You basically touched all the bullet points that we would want in a report. But the one that touched me most is is the section that you have here and gaps in prevention and strategies, because addressing those, we wouldn't have this issue. We wouldn't be dealing with affordable housing or storage or anything that would. What causes this is the fact that there is a homeless problem or issue that we're trying to address and everything else that we're dealing with in terms of whether it's a bond or a tax or AT&T or whatever is is temporary. I mean, it's a Band-Aid, as far as I can tell, when we're looking at at trying to address our housing issues or housing shortages and whether it's affordable or not. And, of course, there's a whole ton of definitions as to what is affordable and what is not, and especially when it comes to whether a person is on the fringe or is homeless. And so those are the areas that I think that I would like to see further addressed. What are things that we discussed today, today in the budget, especially when we're talking about the Health and Human Services budget, we know the extension of of rapid response teams of the Hart team. And I think that in the fire budget we saw that they added our heart team into their into their budget. So I mean, that's a great it's good to be addressing that, but is it enough? And that's what we need to look at. And one thing that I didn't mention to to Ms.. Galbi and Calliope, I always have a problem with I'm sorry, I always have an issue here with your take. This is like jalopies or Calliope and. Speaker 1: Kirby as we more some company. Speaker 4: With a you know I'm not you might say maybe my last name is always mispronounced and mutilated as it as it is. So I apologize for that. But you know where it is, I forgot to mention was the fact that when we had a I sponsor hosted a homeless workshop in my district where we had your homeless services representatives come in. We had the police department representative there, and we had the district, district attorney, the prosecutor, the city prosecutor, predator as well. And we talked about what is the issues with homelessness. And a lot of it was the fact that, you know, there are some homeless people that we know who are chronic, chronic homeless who don't want the services. They talked about the the opportunities for staff to go out there and meet with these individuals. And there might be 15 to 20 contacts and they still want to be where they're at. I mean, there is no solution for these individuals, which to me is an indication that there are some mental health issues going on there other than maybe just not just wanting to live a bohemian life, which, as you know, can be fun. I you know, I do that every now and then when I go camping. But the issue is that we need to have some of these services expanded, that we're going to be looking at any additional funding that we include means for behavioral health services, that we include job training. And this this basically is means that we need to look at ways of having all our stakeholders involved, because I think that was somewhat something that was alluded to by Councilmember Pearce, is that we need to have an inclusionary type of approach to this , no pun intended with inclusionary housing. But the bottom line is that we need to have everybody, everybody on board and on that. I'm the same age to it to make sure that we address this issue. Whether and I've seen whether it's with the inclusionary housing or parking lots or alternate motel motels that are in trouble. I mean, that's another issue in itself. But we need to put together this holistic, which I think Councilmember Richardson mentioned earlier, a holistic approach that includes all our stakeholders. So I'm hoping that later on, as we move with this forward, that we have some kind of of items in there that address providing more funding for homeless services , for behavioral health, mental health services, as well as employment and all the other sort of subsequent services that are that are around affiliated with and conjoined with the whole issue of of affordable housing and homelessness. And it's a complicated it's a fabricated issue. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Counts go back to Councilman Richardson and backed Councilmember Pearson. We've got to go to public comment on this. And we still have a full agenda. So, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 2: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So just want to refocus for a minute. So I think this presentation was exactly what we what we requested it spent, I don't know, five page five or six pages giving background. I mean, staff always gives background with almost anything you do. And the council when it came up last time. Rather than focus on the motion that was right in front of them, everyone did bring up everything that was done associated with with housing, affordable housing or homelessness. So I think it's smart that you started off with background. Then there are seven pages that go into revenue options and implementation timeline, which is what the measure was, what the motion asked for. I think that is really the focus of this. Then there's about one page of other more short term options, because the conversation was initially sort of, you know, long term revenue, dedicated local source revenue options. And also here's, you know, we'll start short term game plan. And what you've presented was showing that what's coming in September with everyone home. October, November, December is exactly what we asked for. It shows what we're doing in the short term. But beginning this ongoing conversation, the long term, that's how I'm making sense of this is long term is dedicated revenue. But context, you know, we've talked about this for years. We had dedicated local revenue, 20, 22 million a year with the set aside, 20% set aside for redevelopment. We had that. It ended in 2013, five years ago. The cycle to develop housing, affordable housing is about five years. Five years ago we lost our revenue source. Five years later, we have a crisis, one plus one equals two. So it's a conversation that we have to really address, which is the loss of dedicated revenue for the support of affordable housing. Now we have a continuum of care. We think comprehensively. So we know a bond will not allow you to spend some of that money on homelessness, outreach and other things. It's literally dedicated to affordable housing development. That's why we have to look at all the different steps. So just to be very clear, be very clear, the idea here is that we start along going long stand like an ongoing conversation for about a year period to put us in a position should the council choose to put us in a position to play something about. So I want to just refocus. This is about ongoing revenue sources, local ongoing revenue source. Speaker 0: Thanks. Thank you. To our peers. Speaker 1: Have so many new thoughts that I want to share from Kitty. I would like to ask our staff if we could bring back the transitional parking item for a full conversation, the two from four with the presentation on some of the stuff that the consultant did for the Council to have a discussion about that. I know we have some different ideas in September. Could we do that? Speaker 2: So we'd be prepared to bring that back if that's something we want to add into the motion. So we'd if we. Speaker 1: Could bring it back in September, that way we're going to take it out of this conversation and it's gets on its own path. That would be great. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a motion in a second. I have Councilmember Gonzalez, so I believe. Speaker 2: Is still question. Was that included in the motion or is that is that a friendly or is that surmountable? I think I think what you said makes sense. Let's take all the issues separate from dedicated ongoing revenue for either homelessness or affordable housing. Let's put them on their separate path when we get updates on this moving forward. It should just be about revenue. We can still get updates about all the initiatives the council members are driving. Speaker 1: But to be clear, I would like forward. Speaker 2: Yours in September. Speaker 1: Tran Yes, transitional party in September. Speaker 2: We clear on that? That's what I'm accepting. That sounds like that's in the motion. All right. Thank you. Speaker 0: Great. We do have Councilmember Gonzalez, who I believe is still on the line. Speaker 8: Yes. Hello? I'm here. Speaker 0: Awesome. Speaker 8: I'm still here. I'm still awake. Speaker 2: Yes. Go ahead. Speaker 8: Oh, I wasn't going to speak. But, you know, I. Speaker 0: I tell you. I tell you. I thought you said you were going to speak. I'm sorry. Speaker 8: I misunderstood. No, that's okay. I just want to say thank you to staff for the work, and the timeline is really great. And I'm glad that we're including and emphasizing conflict prevention itself. But thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Any public comment on this item? No. Yes. Please come forward. Speaker 1: I think it's time to say good morning and not good evening. Suzanne Browne with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. I'm very tired and delirious, so I'm going to keep my remarks brief. I do want to say that we are really happy to see this item moving forward, and I do think it's helpful to see everything together because there have been so many motions over the last year or two, and just to see it all together and try to get a good timeline around it is helpful. We look forward to partnering with this city moving forward, but also to really prioritizing and moving these discussions that honestly have probably been happening for decades, not just a couple of years and seeing them turn into action. And I hope that the community can help the council and the staff prioritize because I know there is a lot coming in the pike and we really do want to see some things happening. And just to pick up on the comments about inclusionary housing. You know, I had received an update from staff that we were just going to get an update at the end of the year. And the consultant was just starting and the ordinance was at least a year, if not more than a year away. And anything we can do to move that forward, because we have so much massive development going around downtown and all around us, and we're really going to get the most out of inclusionary housing if we're able to include it on these big developments that are happening right now. The last thing I just want to flag for the council that not to get lost in the shuffle is the city council made a legally binding commitment in the 2014 housing element that they were going to increase the replacement and inclusionary housing fees in the coastal zone. It's a state law called the Mello Act, which requires inclusionary and replacement housing in the coastal zone on a one for one basis. Our fees are at about $10,000 per unit, which is super low when you think about a phone. An affordable unit costs about $450,000. The city committed in the housing element to increasing those fees. That study has been done for over a year. It actually looks really good and we just need to turn it into policy. So I know there's a lot before you, but I definitely don't want you guys to lose sight of that because that study's been done. And I think that we just need to clear some time on staff's plate to move that forward. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Good morning. Just wanted to say thank you for for bringing this forward. I think for me for us is it's it's really important. The process is really important. It's not. It's great that we get to to some sort of solution. But how we get there is is equally as important, if not more so. And so I appreciate that Councilmember Richardson bringing this forward so that we are including the community and hearing the community voice and developing this sort of bond and fixed source of income together so that we're we're doing it in a in a very collective way. And yeah, I just wanted to highlight that, that piece about the inclusionary piece, I was just sort of giving get in the timeframe when that came forward and it was during the last taskforce. Mary Garcia And that's been a little bit over a year ago. Speaker 4: And so we're just now getting the contractor. Speaker 2: So the quicker we can get that going, the, the better for, for, for everybody in the community moving forward is just it's a quick way to start getting some some more affordable units on on the books and in our communities. And and the quicker that we can move that along, the the better for all of us. So so thank you. We definitely wish that hope that you support this motion moving forward, $50,000 to get this this process going. So thank you. Have a good morning. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Her last two speakers. Speaker 2: Hello. Andrew Carroll, second district. Thanks for staying here so late. I won't take up too much of your time because it's midnight. I just want to say, in regards to a dedicated source of funding for a lot of these are formal formal housing projects. Excuse me, if I don't speak eloquently, it's past midnight. But as you all know, I think the city has a really big opportunity with this new vacant land fee that they're pursuing to get a little more maybe aggressive with that. Then you kill two birds with one stone because, you know, only you can encourage development by charging a lot more for the fee. But then you can actually move that money into a dedicated fund. And then you can also encourage the person once they sell them the plot, because they don't want to be paying that fee on anymore and or develop it. Of course, you can encourage them to develop it into affordable housing. So as my understanding of the vacant land fee that the city is currently pursuing is that it's about 30 something dollars a month. I think I could be way wrong in the master fee schedule on that one. But I would I don't know if there's any limitations to how the dollars that can be, but the more aggressive you can give it that it'll have double the double effect, as I said, of not only encouraging the development of property, the maximum development, depending on how large you fee, you charge the fee, but also you can set aside those funds that the fee collects into an affordable housing project. That's just an I. Another idea is and this past midnight is we could start charging for parking, not just in city lights, but all around the city. Now, that's just crazy. I know, but it's past midnight, and I still have actually some wonderful work on that. If you really want to go spend, get on Wikipedia for a little while and read what Donald Shoop and UCLA has to say on that. And then the final crazy idea is we could abolish Prop 13 and or just find ways to get around it because most the money is sitting right underneath our feet. And I know there are these there's these mail route taxes and these other things. And I don't know what the solution is. It's past midnight and I'm going crazy. But there's got to be a way to get that money that Prop 13 is keeping from us and any any ideas that anyone has. I'm willing to listen. And I hope that we're looking into that. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thank you. At last speaker, please. Speaker 9: Good morning. My name is James. Speaker 4: James was I a. Speaker 3: Resident of the third district. And I just wanted to echo and appreciate the sentiments from councilmembers Richardson and Pearce and also just offer two insights from this crazy day that I've had. Just to contextualize in the conversation around identifying revenue sources and I think being able to fully visualize and acknowledge the process that it's got and the conversation that's happened so far. Speaker 2: I think the one thing I want to highlight is around urgency. I actually got to share a. Speaker 3: Conversation with another elected official in our community today and hearing them share about their $700 rate increase and their need now to look for another place to live. Right. And we know we often we're often here talking about this impact on, you know, a very particular part of our community. But that sense of urgency is real. It's here in our community. It's been going on. I know that's nothing new, but I just wanted to reiterate and contextualize that. The other thing is I actually started my day this morning at 8 a.m. at the Pacific Gateway Board meeting. Speaker 2: And we had a wonderful presentation by the developer. Speaker 3: The Holland Group for the Pacific. Speaker 9: Pine Development. Speaker 2: And it was actually Reggie Harrison who actually commented that. Speaker 4: Out of the 200 some units. Speaker 3: 11 of them are affordable and recognize that this is an entirely private development. But 11 units of affordable, you know, that's commendable. And developer actually just. Speaker 2: Said, well, because it's a former RDA, a lot of our part of the lot we have is the form already a lot. The city. Speaker 1: Told us we had. Speaker 0: To. Speaker 4: And I think I just want to offer that just to remind you all that. Speaker 2: You all as the city have a really. Speaker 3: Powerful role to play in terms of determining the future of our housing supply in our housing market in the city. There's always been throughout the history of our housing market, there's always been government intervention. And unfortunately for a lot of communities of color, that typically has been really negative because it's been redlining, it's been discriminatory practices. But there is an opportunity for you all to identify real revenue sources for affordable housing, to tell private developers what they need to actually include to actually benefit people who are struggling day in and day out in the city. So I just offer that as something to help contextualize and move the conversation forward and looking forward, looking forward to really working with you and continuing the conversation in the work on this. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you for all all of the comments today. Great report through the motion. In a second, please cast your votes. Speaker 1: I'm in. I. Russian case. Speaker 0: Great. Thank you very much. That was a last item that was asked to be moved up. So we're going to go to the regular agenda. We have public comment and then all the items in front of us. And so let me call.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a report by City staff on a strategy to create additional affordable housing and improve prevention and response to homelessness in Long Beach, including current efforts, potential new funding sources, and enhanced approaches to reduce homelessness and improve housing opportunities. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Thank you all. Okay. Thank you, sir. He is a big Mr. Good. He's out here. Is Jerry Lewis here? And Mr. Armstrong is not here. Okay. Thinking it will move on to the next item. Madam Kirk or the first item and 17. Speaker 1: Item 17 is a communication from A.S., a recommendation to receive and file any list of City Council, standing committees, authorities and memberships. Speaker 0: Thank you for this. I think everyone has the two recommendations in front of them for all the council standing committees as well as all the council authorities and the memberships. And so I want to make sure that everyone should have a chance to see those. I want to thank all the council members that stepped up and also agreed to take on different committees and particularly memberships, which I know in some cases take a lot of work. And so I do really want to thank those that did that. Any public comment on item 17? There's a motion and a second. Councilman Price. Speaker 7: Just briefly, I want to thank you, Mr. Mayor, for doing a diligent job to try to place everyone where they have skill sets and where you think their strengths may help the city and also trying to navigate that. It's impossible to give everyone exactly what they want. So I appreciate the the thought process and what you put into making those decisions. I know that they're thoughtful and not something that you do very quickly. So I appreciate that. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Councilmember Pierce. Can they call for public comment on this item? Yes. Please cast your vote.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a new list of City Council Standing Committees, Authorities and Memberships.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. Next up is going to be item number 14. Speaker 0: Communication for Mayor Garcia, Councilwoman Mongo recommendation to request the city manager to direct Long Beach Airport staff to develop a plan to lead the nation on sustainability for airports. Speaker 1: Thank you. So this is actually something that we've been discussing with the airport for many months. We obviously are very proud of our cleaner action plan that we have at our port. It's been a great partnership with both the Port of Long Beach as well as the Port of Los Angeles. And we have done some significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as dramatically changed the relationship that the ports have with the environment and the surrounding communities. We also know, of course, that we have an amazing airport and we're very proud of the way they have moved forward on many initial initiatives around sustainability. But we also know that airports in aviation contribute to greenhouse gases through the burning of fuels, whether it's through aircraft, vehicle, equipment, traffic and energy use at our facilities. We have one of the best airports anywhere in the country, and the airport is very interested in moving forward on a a real a similar clean air type action plan that would be for our airport facilities. Aviation the aviation industry nationally accounts for about 11% of all transportation related emissions. And so it is a it is a big part of our ability to become a more sustainable city. And we know that many airlines are implementing a variety of carbon offsets, including Delta, United and JetBlue. And we're seeing that, of course, and have seen that in the shipping industry as well. We want to look for ways that our Long Beach airport can be carbon neutral on our ground operations, but also to partner with the airport or the airlines to go further. The Port of Long Beach has been a tremendous force in pushing the ship shipping industry to innovate, and our Long Beach airport can do the same thing. We've also had some initial conversations with the Air Resource Board, as well as with the AQ, M.D. and a variety of other agencies that are interested in in this project. We believe that our airport can be a model in sustainable airports across the country, and we think this is a great first step that would move this conversation forward. What we're asking for tonight and I want to thank Councilwoman Stacy Mango for supporting this and for being a partner in this project is we want to request a city manager to work with the airport to develop a plan to lead the nation on sustainability for airports and to work with airlines and other partners to become an incubator of clean tech and innovation. With goals are becoming a carbon neutral facility. To add to this recommendation, I'd also like staff to engage our Sustainability Commission as well as our Airport Advisory Commission as they begin this plan. Because I would like both commissioners to be involved in the development of of this new plan and whatever we end up calling it as a as a major initiative of the city. And so with that, I'd like to make that I'd like to make that motion. I'm sorry. I'd like to ask for that motion. I see that already is a motion and a second on that. And I'm going to turn this over to Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 6: Thank you. I really appreciate the mayor's support and leadership on this. It is a great time to be the city of Long Beach, especially in the aviation community. Our airport is a leader among leaders and we are constantly in the top numbers for enjoy ability and travel and tourism and having the best in many areas. And it's time that we start moving in the direction of being the most sustainable airport in America. And so this is a very exciting time. I look forward to working with the Airport Commission and the Sustainability Commission to move this agenda item forward. And I appreciate my council colleagues for their support on this important item. Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you. And I concur. I mean, Long Beach, the port of Long Beach is really led in terms of being a clean, clean port in the city of Long Beach is an example in terms of its cleaning up the bay and the harbor and our air quality and the things we're doing around air quality leads leads the nation. So there's no reason why the Port of Long Beach, the airport, Long Beach Airport shouldn't make a similar statement. And so I support these steps and look forward to what's to come. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Austin. Speaker 7: Everything that they just said and I'd just like to to add that I think there there are obviously some great, great, great work, best practices that are already here in the city, as I mentioned, with the Port of Long Beach. And one area that I'd like to just emphasize that that be studied and I'm not sure if it's a friendly amendment or friendly is necessary on this, but the electric fixation of the fleet around the the the airport, I think, would be a great goal to strive for early to get to the. Speaker 4: Sustainability goals that we want to get to. So I'm just going to throw that out there to for staff to also study that and look at the. Speaker 7: The best way to achieve that as soon as possible. I don't know if we need to put standards on it like we have with our Clean Air Action plan, with the the the report, you know, but. Speaker 4: You know, I think we have certainly. Speaker 7: Put some ambitious goals together by 2025 and 2030. Speaker 4: To have cleaner air. Speaker 2: Standards at the port. Speaker 7: I think we should be aggressive in this effort to promote sustainability at the airport, to at least put some some some benchmarks in place as well. Speaker 1: And I would agree with everything the councilman just said. I think the fleet has to be a part of of of this master plan. I think that it certainly is the port. And so I know, as Mr. Romo is there, I just think you're hearing from the council that what we're looking for is a plan that is kind of as kind of aspirational as and ambitious as the cleaner action plan is and what that did for the ports port of Long Beach in Los Angeles. And I think for us in in Long Beach and our airport, I think we do have the ability to to produce and follow through on a plan that that could be a model for other airports. And I think that's what I'm certainly looking for. I know that's what Councilman Mango is looking for out of this plan as well. Sound good, Mr. Robot? Speaker 5: Yes, Mayor and council. Speaker 1: Members. Yeah. Well, obviously, we're we're very enthused about undertaking this review and coming back to the council to present what we believe would be a good plan moving forward. Speaker 5: It will involve both staff that we have at the airport, as well as consultants, to really make sure that this is a robust and complete review of all the steps we can take to make this a a forward thinking and forward leading airport. Great. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you very much. Council Member Pearce. Speaker 6: I just wanted to echo the sentiments of the council and the mayor. I think that our port has done a wonderful job, our city as a whole. We have a sustainability plan and including the airport and thinking outside the box and pushing ourselves to vision the most we can do, even if we don't have a path to that. And a quick turnaround, I think would be wonderful. So have fun on this. I look forward to hearing it come back. Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Any public comment on this item, which is the Sustainability Airport item? Please come forward. Speaker 4: Good afternoon, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Kobe Sky. I'm a second district resident and I'm proud to chair the Sustainable City Commission, very pleased to speak in strong support of the item before you. It's great to see the city take a leadership role on sustainability and this motion is a great step in that direction . And have you that have completed a carbon footprint analysis know that taking flights can really add up in terms of the impact on your carbon footprint? There's a lot that the airport can do to address it, including they already generate renewable energy on site. They can do more in terms of addressing waste that's generated on site. And really, biofuels are a tremendous opportunity to reduce carbon footprint and potentially reduce CO2 emissions that are generated. So I'm very pleased to play a role in supporting this item, anything that the Sustainable City Commission can do to help move this item forward, we're happy to do so and we'll look forward to supporting the report, working with the airport commission and with the council. Thank you so much. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Thanks, Speaker, please. Speaker 2: Dave Shukla. Speaker 5: Resident of the third. I'd like to speak in favor and gratitude. Speaker 2: Of this agenda. Speaker 5: Item, and thank you very much for bringing it forward. I look forward to a more. Speaker 2: Robust public process around how this particular driver and sync and set of emissions and commitments of our city. Speaker 5: Will play out in conjunction with our other. Speaker 2: Statutory commitments. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second on this item, please. Members. Gordon, cast your votes. Speaker 0: Council member, Urunga. Councilmember Richardson. Motion carries.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to direct Long Beach Airport (LGB) staff to develop a plan to lead the nation on sustainability for airports, to work with airlines serving LGB and other partners to become an incubator of clean tech in aviation, with goals of becoming a carbon neutral facility.

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Speaker 0: Council member, Urunga. Councilmember Richardson. Motion carries. Speaker 1: Thank you. We also had a request to move item 13. Speaker 0: Communication from Vice Mayor Andrew's Housing and Neighborhoods Committee recommendation to approve naming the green space median located between First Street and Loma Avenue, the John Park and Green Space. Speaker 1: Q There's a there's a motion in a second. Do I want to go to Vice Mayor Andrews first? Your motion. Okay, go ahead. Vice Mayor. Speaker 8: Yes, I would like to move a motion myself. Speaker 1: Okay. I think I think I think the vice mayor wants to move the motion and picture. Speaker 8: Excuse me. I'd like to move this motion, please. Okay. My colleagues. Speaker 1: Can we get a push? The motion can get a second on that. Okay. Vice managers? Speaker 8: Yes. You know, I think that this is something Mrs. Price has really put a lot of time in with this, but I think it's a wonderful idea and I support it 100%. Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. There's a motion and a second Councilwoman Price. Speaker 9: Thank you. This park is being dedicated to an amazing resident who loved his neighbors and his community, and they loved him in return. This item really came fourth as a result of the community reaching out and asking for a space that can be dedicated to Mr. Parkin and to all the great work that he did for many years in his community. He played an important role in the history of Long Beach because it was a very, very modest man, and many of his closest friends and neighbors didn't even know what he had done for the city over the course of his life. I want to invite everyone to a dedication of this screen space on Saturday at. I'll give you the details right now. Sorry, I didn't pull them up. Saturday, the 18th that we will be at. First and Loma. At 9:30 a.m. to dedicate the space, the Bluff Bluff Heights Bluff Park Community Association will be with us, as well as the Park and family. So please join us. Speaker 1: I make user public comment on the John Parkin green space. Please cast your vote. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Parkin. Speaker 4: I would just like to thank the mayor and the council and the Bluff Park and Neighborhood Association. This is my father. And it's very humbling, but very nice and very nice tribute. This space is actually right out front of where my grandmother used to live, so he was always tinkering with that. So this is kind of fitting. So thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you. So there is a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Thank you. And item 16.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to approve naming the green space/median located between 1st Street and Loma Avenue the John Parkin Green Space.

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Speaker 0: Item 16. Communication from Councilman Price Councilmember Super nor Councilman Austin. Recommendation to request City Manager to work with various city departments to report back on how the city can better address or enforce beach violations and impacts on beaches and residents. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Price. Speaker 9: Thank you. I'm asking my colleagues support tonight in supporting this item, which really underscores the importance of maintenance on our beaches. The item as written is pretty self-explanatory. So I don't want to waste your time by going into it other than to share that. In the third district, we have had a few incidents over the summer. We had one pretty serious incident where we had a junior guard participant step on a hypodermic needle and during the course of the summer, staff has been incredibly responsive. The city manager should really be applauded for his efforts to increase enforcement efforts on the beach and to make sure that encampments are cleaned up and dumped, items are cleaned up, and items that present a public health hazard are routinely identified and and cleaned cleaned up. But he's done so really in collaboration with multiple departments working together. Our police department and our Marine Patrol division have already been taking a lead on some of the homeless outreach efforts that we have. And of course, cleaning up our tagging for cleanup items that have been discarded on the beach, which has been really helpful. I think as we start to see more popularity and use of our beaches, especially with the recent Washington Post article declaring us as the city with the highest number of nice days, we're going to see more use of our beaches and of course, our parks and our open spaces. And I think it's it's important for us to continue to enforce the laws that we have for beach access, because the beaches, unlike a lot of other open spaces, require or invite people to be barefoot, to be digging, to be playing in an area where public safety hazards can be easily concealed. And so it's more important than ever that we start to really focus on continued beach maintenance and making that a priority in terms of our cleanup efforts in order to prevent any public health hazards such that we've seen over the summer and mitigate anything that might happen in the future. So I ask for my colleagues support. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 7: I'm happy to support this item. Little known fact I spend a lot of time at the beach. It's where I find therapy and time with my dog and and usually on the weekends. And, you know, obviously, the the maintenance component is something is, I think, very important to the to the city of Long Beach. You know, we can't sell our city. We can't market our city the way we want to market our city. If our beaches and places of entertainment are not to the best that they should be. And so, so I'm happy to support this, um, and looking forward to, to gain some of the feedback from, from staff on this and looking to support it in any way I can. But I think more community organizations and neighborhood groups should adopt. Speaker 4: You know. Speaker 7: Beach cleanups, like just in what Rudd has done for many years, Heal the Bay. I've been a part of both of those beach cleanups. They happen pretty regularly. But we need more, more efforts like that to, uh, to really make an impact, but also more attention from, from our city resources as well. Speaker 5: And so I'm happy to support this. Speaker 7: Thanks for bringing it forward. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Pearce. Speaker 6: And yes, I, I guess I would like to address that this item while I beginning, I wholeheartedly support cleaning up our beaches. I spend a lot of time on our beaches as well and definitely syringes and how we have well our trash cans. Ah, I know we've had lots of back and forth with public works about the best way to clean up our beaches. And so just on that item might ask a couple of questions just on the clean and safety part, since that's what the councilmember addressed in public in her comments. Could public could staff help us understand where we are with the type of trashcans that we have on our beach? And then, too, I know that we have machines that go out and they rake the sand and they pick up some of the debris. I've heard constituents talk about other other machines that do that better. I'm just curious if we have any assessment about how we actually clean from our sand, since that's the first thing. Speaker 5: However, Craig, would you guys. Speaker 4: Be able to answer the trash can question? Pardon. But if we don't have someone here answer the trash cans, we can certainly get that back to you. But certainly, we're one of the few cities in California that sweeps the speeches daily. So we have machines to do that. We did get an inquiry when Councilwoman Pryce mentioned that there was a needle issue on the beach. We prompted an inquiry from a company in the Midwest that is going to be showing us a vehicle that potentially could pick up something like that, like a needle or something like that. But we do have state of the art vehicles and we look at those. And if anybody has ideas for vehicles that we could, we certainly would look at those. But again, we are one of the few cities as we sweep speeches every single day and we're always looking at a better product. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you for that. So I would just ask that in whatever report that comes back that that's included. I do recognize we have pockets where our beaches are extremely littered and pockets where where it's not. Speaker 4: One of the things we do try to do is to do the big bellies at the beaches. So that right. So that so that so that it gets windy at the beach and trash doesn't spill and stuff. But we do have beaches on Friday. Saturday night, Sunday nights are just killed. Weather. It isn't just Long Beach. If you go to Huntington Beach or Bowl or anything, you can imagine the work that the maintenance crews are doing. Long Beach included at 6:00 in the morning, 7:00 in the morning on a on a Saturday or Sunday or Monday to take care of all of the the public activities on those nights. So, trashcans, I don't think it's possible to have enough trash cans where everybody will use. But definitely I want to let everybody know that when we've been addressing special events now. So we're pushing harder and harder and harder. So whenever there's a special event at the beach that there's. Speaker 5: A walk through before. Speaker 4: They leave, that they have to leave it as found. They have to put things near the trash can if, if, if it doesn't fit in the trash can so that we can pick it up first thing in the morning. So but we will get your report on that. And I've already the council has already asked us to look at adding trash cans along the beach. Speaker 6: Right. And I know that, you know, that we ordered the big blue trash cans that are open on the top that the bags go in. But those are the exact kind of trash cans that get dumped over that people dig through. And I know that Public Works is looking at some options for a less expensive big belly option. So I would just it's been probably since the last budget, since we really talked about it. I would love to get a report back on that stuff. Speaker 4: Thank you very. Speaker 6: Much. Thank you. But the second thing is, I'm reading this item. And while yes, it's about beach cleanliness, I unfortunately, I'm reading it's about ordinance violations, crime. It's really about enforcement is how I read it. And so I just wanted to go on record in talking about how it is a challenge for us whenever we're talking about homelessness and crime and making sure that we are improving the enforceability of violations during beach hours, and that that's really what I read the purpose of this item, not so much just around the cleanliness. So I did want to ask our police chief just a couple of questions. I know that we have worked with our commanders and making sure that they're out there and enforcing. I wanted to ask, how many times a day do you think that we have officers that are down in our beach area? And what time of day do we do? We have folks out there and maybe is that the right time of day? Speaker 5: Mayors, member of the city council. Councilwoman Pierce. It's we don't have regular scheduling down there. We periodically go down there. Both of our beach beats that are adjacent beach to the beach. They have jeeps where they're able to access the beach when there's dispatches and such down there. But and Deputy Chief Wally Ibish can talk a little bit more in detail if we need more detail. We do run specific operations that are as a result of specific complaints. So if we're getting complaints, no matter you name the time of the day or the day of the week, we will run operations concurrent with those problem days and and and times of the day where we have gotten significant stats, meaning people that we observe that are breaking the law who either get cited or arrested for things they shouldn't be doing. This is not just focusing on homeless because there are homeless people who are down there enjoying the beach as well during regular hours and that's okay. But if we go down there and someone is breaking the law, we do take enforcement action. Speaker 6: And so on on that measure. Enforcement action, I guess drug use, things like that. What is an enforcement action for somebody doing drugs on the beach? Speaker 5: For someone using drugs or in possession of drugs, every situation is different. But as you know, with Proposition 47, possession of drugs and using drugs is now a misdemeanor crime, which generally it's a citation. But that's not going to be 100% of the time, because if we contact somebody who either A is consistently a problem for us or we run them for warrants and we see an extensive history or they have warrants, they could end up going to jail. But it's the officer's discretion, depending on the violation that's occurring and the the individual's criminal history, whether they're going to cite and or arrest, which means actually taking them to booking and to our jail. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you. I think that what I get a lot of constituent concerns on our beaches around what is what is a next step whenever they encounter something. And so we're constantly reminding folks just to call PD. And that's the biggest thing is having your presence down there. And I know this budget, we're addressing some of our staffing issues. So I think I guess my one other question for you. My last question I know we have a time certain would be is there an ordinance or a change to the muni code or ordinance that you feel like would change the situation on the beach that we as a city could do considering Prop 47 and everything else? Speaker 5: I'd have to think about that a little bit more. There's always a possibility of doing a better job. So I would have to sit down with the city attorney's office, the city prosecutor's office, and do some brainstorming to see what can be done. But from as I sit here today, I believe that a lot of the laws that are on the books do help. But again, not to get into a long, drawn out conversation about criminal justice reform that works against us in a lot of these instances, specifically where a lot of the homeless people that we're dealing with. And again, I'm going to be very specific. All the homeless people we deal with do not have criminal histories. There is a percentage within that population that probably would have been in the Los Angeles County jail if it wasn't for criminal justice reform, who are out on our streets, specifically our beaches, who are the biggest challenges to our police officers on the street and the citizens who are complaining? And by the way, just for the public to know, there are several council people I'm looking at that have me on speed dial. Every time we're having these challenges and they have no problem getting a hold of either the city manager or myself when these issues arise. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you for that. So I'll close out and just saying that I think that cleaning our beaches is a great item. I think the enforcement piece that's throughout this, I would have liked to have worked with that a little bit more in recognizing that if we have a population that cannot go into our jails, that no longer, that the idea of going to jail to sober up is no longer an option that we really implore a lot. And that on the back end it is the lack of having a space for people to have detox beds, for people to have a place to get better for mental health situations. And so really when I look at this item and some of our challenges on the beach, I just see it as an opportunity to highlight the need for us to continue our efforts that we've already done a great job on, on this Council to support those that are struggling with with mental health and addictions, because that seems to be the population that's down at our beach is causing some of the challenges. So I just wanted to put that in the record and make sure we talked about that a little bit. Thank you so much for coming in, answering some of those questions. Speaker 1: Thank you. Got somebody, Ringo? Speaker 4: Thank you, Mary. And I want to thank Councilmember Ginny Pierce for bringing up two points that were a concern to me and obviously to the to the presenters of this item. Councilmember Price, Superman Austin. The only concern I have is that we all know, and it's been said many times, that being homeless is not a crime. So we know that. However, we do have challenges when we have people hanging out on the beach and they're performing some illegal activities that we need to be aware of. And obviously with the results of some of those is that we have syringes and the bear pinata area that is left at the beach. And I certainly support the the efforts to clean that up and try to get better equipment to be able to separate the sand from from those items. But my my my approach on this and when I read it was I did see it as well as a enforcement type of issue. And I hope that when as you look at this and I spoke with the city manager about this previously, is that when you look at this, I'm hoping that we can determine that, you know, we ensure that there aren't going to be ordinances or any other kinds of of legal remedies that are going to limit people from accessing the beach, because the beach is for everybody. As many of you know, I served in the California Coastal Commission and access is is a big issue to access 24 seven and I certainly would not want to see ordinances being brought forward that would limit that type of access to the beaches, whether you're homeless or not. It's for everybody to enjoy and to basically be able to to have a day at the beach, whether it's during the day or in the evening, than they or specifically we would like. The conversation that I heard right now is all taking place about, you know, during during day business hours or during the day. But we know that people are hanging out at the beach at night. We know that. And so to have some of these egregious activities take place during those times. But I think that the the solutions that we need to look at are more towards response, you know, the heart team and and perhaps a public safety get out there and and have people move on if they're especially if they're involved in in any kind of egregious activities or activities that are going to get them arrested. But again, I want to make sure that if we are going to be looking at this and we're going to be looking at it from the perspective of a law enforcement perspective or a thinking of other kind of enforcement perspective that we don't have a ordinances or regulations passed that are going to be limiting to people having access to the beach and. That would be my only concern at this point. So I will be looking at that when the report comes back. And I certainly hope that we can work those issues out there. And we haven't had really an opportunity to discuss what types of remedies we would be looking at in terms of of any ordinances or suggestions, for instance, that will be coming forward before the city council. Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you, then, Councilwoman Price. Speaker 9: Thank you, and I appreciate my colleagues sharing their concerns. We did reach out to our offices other than than those who signed on to get input. And so I do appreciate the comments that we're hearing today. I will say absolutely. Councilwoman Member Pearce is correct. This item is about enforcement. It's also about enforcement in order for us to make sure that our beaches are maintained. The problem that we have is we have I don't know that we need new laws. We just we need to be enforcing the laws that we currently have. And we need to make sure that we minimize encampments and frankly, dumped property on beaches during the the last clean up on the beach. Public works literally removed a ton of trash from the beach. And that doesn't I'm not talking about wrappers and things that people littered. I'm talking about evidence of encampments that people have left behind the beaches. It is absolutely not illegal to be homeless. And this council has invested and will continue to invest as much money and resources as we can into outreach, education, services, anything that we can do to try to encourage people to take advantage of the many services that we have available in the city, and to procure more opportunities for services in the city, such as detox centers and housing facilities. That's absolutely a commitment that we have and will continue to make. But at the end of the day, you can't force people into services and you can't force people to accept services. So we have to enforce the laws that are already on the books that protect our residents. You know, I heard Councilmember Pearce say this twice as I want to go on record and fill in the blank with what she may have said. Well, I want to go on record as saying I'm going to do everything possible in my power to make sure that another junior guard kid doesn't strap on a syringe or that another member of the public doesn't step on a syringe. And if that means cleaning up dumped items and encouraging people to follow the rules that are already in place for the city, then I think that's what we should be doing. I do believe that our police department should be engaged actively in outreach, and they are. And I want to commend the chief and his command staff, because with very limited. Speaker 6: Tools at their disposal. Speaker 9: Because of recent changes in the law, they have been able to make some serious impact in the individual lives of people. I've had the privilege to go on ride alongs on multiple occasions with our quality of life team, and I can tell you they make a difference. That's that's what we should be investing in. But that doesn't mean that we ignore encampments that pop up here and there in violation of our existing local ordinances. If we're not going to enforce them, then maybe we should talk about removing them. But as long as they're on the books and as long as these laws are on the books, it's my belief that the police department should be enforcing them in order to preserve quality of life for our residents. If we don't think those laws should be on the books, then we should really have a conversation about that. But the beaches are as. As Councilman Saranga mentioned, we want to have access to the beaches. We want to have safe access to the beaches. We want to make the beaches a safe place for everyone to enjoy. I mean, he he spends a lot of his time outside of council working towards that mission. And so we want to make sure that we're doing what we can to make our beaches a place where everyone feels safe and well, where we're moving a ton of trash, much of it being from discarded property, from encampments. I think we need to think long term about the the focus of our cleanup efforts and making sure that we take it a step further. And and, you know, frankly, it's not just beaches. The item today is just beaches, but this conversation could be had about parks as well. It's a slippery slope when we start to turn a blind eye to encampments, because although we have policy considerations in mind here as a council in terms of what we're doing long term to address a very complex issue, the residents are looking outside their window and they're experiencing things when they're walking their children to school and they have expectations for what the government will and will not follow up on. And if we're going to have the laws on the books, we should be willing to enforce them. So thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 6: I just want to add a small tidbit of information that I think that we're also very aware of is that sometimes the population that is most impacted by the encampment are those who have lived in encampments. And we've seen this through the Department of Public Health, clean cleanup, unrelated to the spread of Mersa, the spread of other things. And so and while it can be uncomfortable, we also want to take into consideration that oftentimes people who are down on their luck have the least amount of medical coverage and the least ability to protect themselves from certain types of. Different public health disasters that come about from encampments and or hoarding and or the different things that can happen when people are at different mental states or different times in their life. So I'm very supportive of the item and thank you for your work on this. But I do agree that it's not just about beaches, it's about beaches and parks and and even the flood control channels on our sidewalks and our communities and our alleys. So it's an all encompassing program. And thank you to Pete and the Hart team for all that you do. Speaker 1: Thank you. Editor Public comment on this item. Seeing None members please go ahead and cast your votes. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Thank you. We have one more item before we we have our hearing. We're going to go ahead and do the item 26, please.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to work with Homeless Services Department, Police Department, Mental Evaluation Units, HEART Team, Quality of Life Officers, Marine Patrol, Public Works, and Parks Recreation and Marine Department to report back on how the City can better address or enforce beach violations as well as the associated impacts it has on our beaches and residents. This should include: possible ordinance changes to improve the enforceability of violations of beach hours; added methods of preventing alcohol and drug use on our beaches through the City municipal code and through changes to current enforcement practices; and approaches to minimize trash, human waste, food waste, and large-scale littering on our beaches.

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_08142018_18-0696

Speaker 1: And so I see that. So if there's anyone here that's not here for those two items, you're welcome to take a break and be back later on because we'll be taking those these two items next. The next item is our Metro presentation. And if I can, please have the clerk read that item. Speaker 0: Communication from Mayor Garcia recommendation to receive and file a report from L.A. County Metro on the status of various projects that impact Long Beach. Speaker 1: Thank you. Let me before I have Mr. Wiggins start that presentation, let me just add that what we have in front of us today, and this is an important presentation for the whole council because we know that L.A. Metro affects and has an impact on on Long Beach every single day. I have the honor of serving as the as a metro director to represent many of the cities in southeast L.A. County, including Long Beach. And the presentation we're going to have in front of us today is going to go over a variety of initiatives as they relate to Long Beach. And so inclusive of that will be our new policing contract that has been in place now for maybe six or seven months. It'll be talk about the blue line and its impacts on on long beaches, including the closure and how that's going to and how we're going to work with that, as well as the 710 modernization plan . And so if there's any questions from council members, I know we received these from the community, this would be a good time to get those questions answered. And I do want to thank the Metro team that is here to make this present important presentation. I also want to, of course, thank both Sharon Weisman and Luke Clapp, who guide our metro work at the at the board level and here at the city. And so thanks to them as well. So with that, let me go ahead and turn this over to Mr. Wiggins. Speaker 7: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good evening and good evening to the members of the Council. My colleagues and I are honored to be here on behalf of our CEO, Mr. Phil Washington, to share what the Mayor just gave you. An overview, an update on a number of initiatives that we are working at Metro, that we work directly with the city of Long Beach. First of all, I'll provide you with an update on where we are with our policing contract and our partnership with Long Beach Police Department, followed by our project. We've called The New Blue, which is essentially a rehabilitation of the entire blue line and will then wrap up with the 710 freeway project. So with. With regard to. All right. With the law enforcement contract, our goal at Metro is to really transform that transit ridership experience across the entire system. And so we really want to get to the point where every single one of our employees, every single patron can ride our system anywhere in our system, 24, seven, anywhere without fear, 100% of the time. And for those of you who may be familiar with Metro, particularly the blue line, you know that we have work to do in that area. But that partnership with Long Beach Police Department is really getting us on this path of creating a very positive ridership experience for all of our patrons. And so every year we take a look at customer satisfaction, particularly thoughts around security and perceptions of security. And when you look at those numbers, you know, they're not that 90% of our folks on the bus are passengers feel safe, about 79% on the rail feel safe. But from the perspective of our CEO and our board of directors, well, what my instructions are is go get that 10% on the bus system and let's go get that 21% on the rail system. These these numbers actually need to be 100%. And so we are working very hard to improve that ridership experience and really address those issues that drive riders, complain about issues of harassment, code of conduct violations, crime on our system. And so our board of directors and our CEO have really made it a top priority at Metro. So if you take a look at before we implemented our multi-agency model, this is just an example, a representation of what the calls for service were on our rail system and our prior model. We worked with one particular agency that really was just our system is too big. We're looking at 1400 square miles, so it's very difficult for one agency to cover our entire system. So that gives you an example of about 80 or so calls on average per day that come in on our rail system. And then you notice that they're highly concentrated in Central Los Angeles and then in Long Beach, in particular, on our blue line. And so in our prior model, we did not have a direct working relationship with Long Beach PD. But when you take a look at the demand for service, the calls for service. It made perfect sense to reach out to Long Beach Police Department to partner with us on that effort. And so that partnership is underway. Chief Looney and I have been at this for a couple of years now, well, a year before we even entered into a contractual agreement. And I'm happy to report that we're making very, very good progress. And so now we have a multi-agency model. We have partnerships with the sheriff's department, Long Beach P.D. and, of course, LAPD, LAPD patrolling the city, the sheriff everywhere else outside the city, on the bus and rail system. And, of course, Long Beach PD on our blue line. And then our own Metro Security employees, we actually added a total of 77 to do nothing but check fare. So we brought that team from about 109 to about 180 some odd individuals. And in our security department that are conducting critical infrastructure protection and, of course, checking fare on our system. And all of those components work well together. So the rule is very, very clear. We've actually made it very clear what lanes we want law enforcement in. Our law enforcement partners are really there to address crime and disorder and reduce our system's vulnerability to terrorism. The prior model had officers checking fare as well, which was a bit problematic for a number of reasons that I'm more than happy to explain are we have our private security team who guards our facilities and some of our stations, and we have our internal metro security team that's responsible for fare compliance, revenue protection and critical infrastructure protection. And all of that really comes together to improve the overall environment. So our board of directors passed a multiagency model in February of 2017, and we implemented that model in July of 2017. So we now have a full year underneath our belt. And so specific to Long Beach, the Long Beach team patrols all of our rail infrastructure, essentially eight stations in the city of Long Beach. The riding trains are patrolling stations and they're responding to crimes in progress. One of the challenges we have before we move to this new multi-agency model as our emergency response times. We're actually getting into the neighborhood about 14 minutes for an emergency response. And you can imagine that's not acceptable if you're on the receiving end of that. And so our partnership with Long Beach and LAPD and now the sheriff, we actually have that emergency response time down to under 5 minutes. And for Long Beach, it's actually about three and a half minutes on average. And so that's exceptional response time for emergencies that occur on our system. I heard your earlier discussion about addressing homelessness. That, of course, is a significant challenge for Metro as well. And so we have as Metro as a whole, we have a number of outreach programs, our law enforcement teams through LAPD, they have hope teams, the sheriff's department have mental health evaluation teams, are met teams and the Long Beach PD. This year we're actually adding two quality of life officers to actually help us conduct outreach at our downtown. It's really where the demand is. Downtown, Long Beach Station and of course, across the line. And so those officers right now, Chief Looney and I are wrapping up the. Session about how we're going to bring them on and how we're going to equip and staff those officers. But they'll be on board here pretty soon. And they're also adding one additional detective to help, actually, with the increased investigative need. The officers are doing an exceptional job on our system. I'll show you later that we've had a very positive impact on crime. And so Long Beach PD requested and we were approved an additional position to help with that additional detective caseload. Speaker 1: And Mr. Wilkins, before we move on to this next slide. So I just want to add, just for for the public and some of the folks that as well as we're moving forward on this. So I think it's important to note that, you know, the the single agency model was, I think, around since the inception of of Metro and truly has been kind of the main system that we function public safety on the system on. And so to go to the multi-agency model was a, a significant change. And I know that that's something that was a has been a priority of Long Beach I think for for many years was to get to a multi-agency system. Obviously, I was happy to be on the on the board. So we were able to do that work and work with you and partner with our police department. But it's something that Long Beach has been advocating for, for for a long time. And so I think we obviously have a great relationship with our partners at the sheriff's department. But to have I think, Long Beach Long Beach police officers able to patrol the system within Long Beach has been a very positive development. And I think we're very grateful to Metro for. And the chief is for working with us on that on that transition. And I know that it wasn't an easy transition or I know it also wasn't easy to get to. And so I just want to as we continue that conversation, I just want to thank you for that. Speaker 7: Certainly. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I tell you, it's really been a good partnership for Metro as well. I think the results were exceptionally pleased with the results of all of our partners, in particular Long Beach PD. Going back to this this concept of outreach. And with regard to the homeless population, our board and our CEOs really allowed us to really engage in what we call a full court press on homeless outreach. And so we've added we had a pilot project that we ran for a year that essentially took thethree teams at these multidisciplinary outreach teams. And we piloted that program downtown to teams working on our red line. And the results were significant. Basically over 4000 contacts. And of that, they're actually helping about 25% of those folks actually find some form of temporary or permanent housing. So it made sense to expand that and our board directed us to do that. So we now have eight teams that will be working across our entire service area day and night on the bus side and on the rail side as well. And they'll be working in concert with our law enforcement officers, in particular the two additional quality of life officers that we're adding here in Long Beach. So with regard to the entire system, we've seen an immediate positive drop in one violent crime, and that's a decrease by 30%. And that's just the first the first fiscal year from July to June, July 2017 to June of 2018. So very significant. And really, the only difference is we actually have that felt presence on the system. We have officers riding trains, riding busses, patrolling stations. And that's really helping us to have a positive impact on crime. Specific to Long Beach, the numbers get even better. Your PD has done an outstanding job. Your part one crimes are down by half in this first year and you're part two. Crimes are down by 80%. And so we really applaud the efforts that Long Beach PD has engaged in in our system. They've been very consistent with maintaining that presence on the system, and that really is the most effective deterrent to crime. And then when crime does occur, we're very pleased with the response. And so I look forward to our continued partnership with Chief. Speaker 1: And I want to add just to that number, if we can take that slide back, because I think it's important. I think there's obviously the perception of of crime on on Metro is something that we deal with all the time. We know that. But it's important for the community to know that, that when you look at the part one and part two crimes and the significance of the of the decrease, that's those are significant numbers that are unequivocally crime is going down on the blue line. We know that we're nowhere near where we want to be, but I think those are significant. So I want to thank you and your team, but especially our Long Beach Police Department and our new transit unit that works on our metro unit. I'm not sure what we call it exactly, but I want to thank them and all the members that work on that as we move forward. Speaker 7: So great. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And the first year was really about taking control of some of the more serious crime on the system. And now that we're beginning to see numbers that are in the neighborhood of what would be considered average across the country, we're going to spend more time focusing on code of conduct issues then . Being loud music, things of that nature. So we're going to continue to make progress and we're pleased about the about the partnership. And so next, we're going to talk about the new blue. And my colleague, Mr. Krupp, will take over from here and then will, if you would, hold your questions till the very end of the presentation . We'll be more than happy to answer. Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Speaker 5: Good evening and thank you, Councilman Vincent, Mayor of the Anthony Club. I am the director of Community Construction Relations for Metro. I'm excited to talk about a new project that's coming to us next year. We're calling it the new blues, as Alex mentioned, and it represents a really big milestone for the blue line in service to Long Beach as well as to downtown Los Angeles. Before going to the new blue itself, one article talk a little bit about what we've been doing over the last several years to improve the passenger experience on the blue line and to improve the operations there itself. Over the last several years we've actually done station refurbishment refurbishments. We've added new canopies. This includes a second canopy. When there's only one canopy at some of the stations we have repainted all of the stations, added new LED lighting to many of the stations. We actually did an upgrade to the landscaping, switch to a drip irrigation system and added some drought tolerant plants. In addition, we've added pedestrian and swing gates at 27 intersections, new concrete walkways and increased accessibility for those with mobility challenges. In addition, we've actually replaced all of the power stations along the entire 22 mile long line, and we've actually overhauled and are in the process of overhauling and replacing 46 new trains and 38 overhauled trains. And this includes the retirement of the existing fleet. So that leads me to to the actual new blue improvement project itself. What is it? It is a $350 million project that looks at the entire blue line. Its goals are to enhance the safety, increase reliability and operations, and improve the customer experience from both a visual and esthetic perspective as well. Right now, our schedule is looking at starting in January of 2019, it'll take approximately eight months. And in the process of actually shutting down the blue line, we're going to be providing three levels of replacement bus service. One of those levels of service is something that's completely new to the metro system and I think will be extremely beneficial to residents. Commuters down in Long Beach. Speaker 1: You just add one thing to that, because I just want to make sure we're consistent with some of the other numbers that we've been talking about. Go back one slide. I think you speak you're speaking specifically here to the to the 350 of these improvements. But the total blue line project itself is about $1,000,000,000. If I look. Speaker 5: Roughly if if you add all of the improvements over the last ten years, it's roughly a billion and what. Speaker 1: We're going to. So the massive project itself is about 10 billion. About a billion. I'm sorry. Correct. Okay. Thank you. Let's keep going. Speaker 5: So our schedules looking at starting in January of 2019 with the shutdown of the southern portion of the blue line. This includes the closure of the blue line from Willowbrook, Rosa Parks Station, all the way to downtown Long Beach. The Willowbrook Rosa Parks Station will be closed during that entire time period. We've actually started construction at that station to basically rebuild it and to create a. Speaker 4: Transit hub at that location. Speaker 5: During the shutdown, however, the Green Line will remain in operation and commuters will still be able to transfer from the Green Line to the replacement bus service that we're providing. The second half of the project involves a shutdown of the northern portion of the alignment, and this is from Willowbrook, Rosa Parks Station north, all the way to Seventh Street and Metro Center. It also includes a 45 day closure of the Metro Expo Line so that we can do some work on both the excellent and the blue line, particularly the two stations that are closest to downtown Los Angeles. Specifically, we're looking at five different areas. The first is traffic control improvements and train ticketing system. This is a little bit wonkish. It's a little bit behind the scenes and and it's a bit more technical. The track improvements themselves are a bit more physical. We'll see those more visually. We're also doing overhead power improvements, which is the the catalytic system that actually powers the train and then the Willowbrook, Rosa Park stations. Again, it's a complete rebuild of that particular station. And then lastly, we have stationary improvements that I think will be most visible to our customers that actually take the blue line on. Speaker 2: A daily basis. Speaker 5: The train control improvements include construction of four additional crossover tracks and switches to reduce service interruptions. This allows us to do a better job at operating the blue line with one track operation. It will minimize the delays if there's an incident, either a train incident or security incident. There's things along those lines. It'll minimize those delays for for for travelers so that they won't necessarily be backed up as much. We'll upgrade the existing train control systems. This will bring it up to the most modern standards. What you see on all of our other rail lines, we've also got track improvements, which includes the inspection and replacement of tracks both in downtown Long Beach as well as along the entire alignment. We're doing some special track work at Seventh Street Metro Center in the Expo Junction to minimize some of the wear there and improve the operations there. And then lastly, and this is actually a really critical piece is some pretty high end work to the regional connector. As you know, the regional connector is a major project that's underway right now in downtown Los Angeles. We are adding three new stations, but more importantly, we're actually connecting the metro blue line with the Metro Explorer and the Metro Gold Line. And this will allow you to have a one seat ride that goes from downtown Long Beach all the way out to Azouz, as well as from East Los Angeles. All the way to Santa monica. Last year we had the overhead power improvements, which is the upgrade or replacement of the power system for the entire 22 mile long line. So I mentioned the three levels of bus service that we're providing during the shutdown. The first level of service is a local service, and that's what it looks like. This will hit all of the all of the stations that are closed and connect to the the blue line as it continues to operate. The second level is a select service which had some of the stations and connects again to the blue line that's continuing to operate. And the last civil service is the Express Shuttle Service, which is the Express service that to go from downtown Long Beach directly into downtown Los Angeles. And this is a new service. Speaker 2: That we've not provided in the past. This is a. Speaker 5: Map that talks a little bit more detail and shows you what those level of services mean for each of the different stations. Again, this is the first phase going from January through May of 2019. This is when the southern portion of the alignment is shut down. Then moving to the second phase, when the northern portion of the alignment is shut down from May through September of 2019. And then lastly, during the 45 day closure of the actual air service, the two stations that will be closed, which includes the Seventh Street, Metrocentre and the Pico station, will be serviced by all three levels of the replacement bus service. In addition, we have a shuttle that will be just providing service from the closed expo I'm sorry, from the Expo Line to those closed stations. Lastly, our communications plan, as you as you know, we are just now rolling out our public communications. Right now we're starting with a very grass tops approach to it. As we move closer and closer towards December, when we start to get closer to the actual closure itself. We'll move towards more direct customer communication. This includes pop ups at each of the stations. It includes a direct mail piece that'll go to almost all of the residents and addresses along the entire alignment. And we'll also be doing a media campaign that will get the word out as well. I think all of you should have in your packets a copy of the fact sheet based on the bill. And we also have copies of the fact sheet available at the entrance. Speaker 3: To the to the to the meeting. Speaker 5: To the council chambers. And then we also have our new new blue website, which is that metro dot. Speaker 4: Net backslash, new blue, where you can find out all the information that I just present. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. We'll keep going and then we'll we'll do our questions at the at the end. Speaker 8: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Council Members. Thank you for for the opportunity to do this this presentation. My name is Vanessa Chavez. I'm with L.A. Metro's Highway Program. And today I'm going to go over an update on the 710 quarter project, specifically recapping the actions that our board took this past February, describing the alternative that was selected by the board and then going over the timeline and next steps for the project. So upon closing the public circulation of the environmental document last August, the board in February with, based on the project team's recommendation, adopted alternative IVC as the preferred alternative for the 710 project. Alternative five C would modernize the freeway 19 miles from Long Beach all the way to East Los Angeles, enhancing safety, improving capacity by adding a lane in this direction to the freeway, improving air quality through a submission truck deployment program that I'll explain in more detail in a little bit. And then adding other complementary programs that are, I believe, unlike any other freeway project, the total cost of the project is around $6 billion, which even including Measure R and Measure M, we don't quite have all that amount, at least for the for the first ten, 20 years. But we do have about $1.3 billion in funding with Measure R and Measure M So we are planning to do some improvements, and I'll get into that here in a second. So upon approving the preferred alternative, our board also passed a couple of different motions. This first one, and I'm going to I'm just going to summarize them, go into a lot of detail, but just for for summary purposes. Motion 5.1, led by Supervisor Hahn, required us to focus on zero emission trucks as a as a policy. So for for the for the clean truck program that we're proposing, she wanted to make sure that it was a phased in zero emission truck deployment program, that we increased the funding from 100 million to 200 million, the funding target for that program that we pursue incentives to accelerate the implementation of zero emission technology. And then we develop a policy recommendation for future consideration of a dedicated lane exclusively for zero emission trucks. There was another motion passed by or spearheaded by Supervisor Solis and recognizing again that we don't have $6 billion for the project, they asked us to go back and develop what we're calling an early action program, which would emphasize projects or prioritize projects that deliver the greatest benefits and improve safety, mobility and, of course, air quality. But primarily and here's the focus of this is minimizing property impacts, minimize or reduce completely, eliminate property impacts, and to develop and enforce a local targeted hiring plan. It also asked us to go back and reevaluate the the mainline freeway improvements after we're done with this this early action program. And with that, we would do with the money we actually have within measure after measure. M The board motion also looks at future planning considerations, for example, for us to develop multiple scenarios for a comprehensive plan to reduce traffic congestion in the corridor, to develop strategies, strategies to reduce vehicle demand on the demand side, alongside the physical roadway improvements, and to evaluate the feasibility of high frequency bus service as well. So moving forward, we have a few parallel efforts. The first one is finalizing the final the final year, even though that sounds redundant. But we've got to finalize the final. We have a timeline, pretty aggressive timeline of December 2018, the end of the year to do that. That would include include the response to comments. It would include, of course, the final document, environmental document. It would include the record of decision in the notice of the termination, everything that we need to actually have a project. In the meantime, we're also looking at recommendations of what early investments we could do in the freeway. Essentially with the money we have, where where do we invested? What is the where do we get the best bang for the buck that we plan to start towards the end of the year and probably take us through the spring of next year? So we knew to recommend projects and of course do some funding prioritization for those projects. And lastly, we have a number of continuous efforts that were were delineated in the motions I just summarized and also an older motion we had from 2015. And these things are planning efforts or policy considerations that we need to continue working on. This graphic here just just illustrates the fact that even though we don't have $6 billion, the totality of the project includes not just freeway improvements, but also improvements to arterial streets, active transportation projects and these complementary programs. Well, the Early Action Program or this early initial investment program will have a piece of each one of these. It's essentially a piece of the larger pie that we're going to try to to to to begin building. So this is just to to to to reiterate that point. In terms of investment on the freeway side, I'm highlighting here in this map, this is this is the freeway. Think of it on its back. I guess the Northeast is pointing to your right. The first half of the freeway is on the top. Part of the map is Long Beach, all the way to the 91. And then the one, two, five to the 60 is on the bottom part of the of the map. And as you can see, there are a number of interchanges. You see those little blue bubbles there. Those are the interchanges that we could definitely improve. And there's a number of them in Long Beach. There are also biking fed crossings over the L.A. River that are proposed new bike and PED crossings that we could improve as well or create as well on the arterial side. Again, there's a number of there's upwards of 77 intersections along the quarter that we identified as deficient or that need need improvements. A lot of them are in Long Beach as they're circling that or in that box. This also includes, of course, what we would do to corridors like traffic calming measures, intersection improvements, not just intersections, but corridors as well. And of course, bike and pet projects that that we can do along along the arterial improvements as well. There is a community health benefit program that, again, I don't think there's any other freeway project that I'm aware of that has this this thing. It's similar to what the ports have done over the years in terms of grants. So it's basically a grant program that we will look to partner with, with health department, health departments or other agencies to deliver. And it would provide funding for things like HEPA filters or clean fuel busses and things of that nature. We also have a sewer emission truck deployment program, as I mentioned earlier. And again, we will be looking to partner with most likely the HMD to deliver this, this, this program. And again, similar to what the ports have done over the past years, providing subsidies to turn over the fleet of trucks, in this case, specifically the fleet that drives on the 710. In terms of language, specifically in the candidate for investments, we have at least seven local interchanges. The Shoemaker Bridge itself, of course, is also a candidate for investment there. We have upwards of 23 arterial street intersections that are candidates for investment and are in arterial corridors like like Artesia Boulevard, like Willow Lake PCH. We have three bike impaired crossings over the L.A. River. Obviously, the community health grants. And then we also have investments that we already started making starting about five or six years ago. For example, there's a small early action cycle program that is about to go to construction probably by early next year. And a lot of those animals are in Long Beach. We're also we're providing funding for the Atlantic Willow intersection. And, of course, some initial funding for the Shoemaker Bridge Project to do the environmental document, then final design. So we'll continue working with public works and other departments in the city to make sure that, of course, the city's comments are addressed in the final year and then moving forward, looking forward to prioritizing funding and hopefully bringing some more investments to the city. And we have a couple more quick slides. There is a 710 parallel effort. This is called the Livability Initiative. We found we applied for a grant through Caltrans to look at complete streets and active transportation improvements in parallel to the 710. Some of the things that the freeway project couldn't really do, Caltrans couldn't really do. So we identified with working with city staff a number of quarters. You can see there in the in the slide. PCH Atlantic the llamo that our candidates for complete streets the city is pretty much already doing this as part of their mobility element. But the effort here is to provide provide resources and information to apply for for the city to be able to apply for grant funding to get these done. So we've been working with the city for the past year. In doing this, we had a number of outreach meetings, as you can see in the picture here that we're pretty successful in. We look forward to wrapping that up and providing the city with the information to apply for the grants and hopefully get some of these constructed. And with that, I'll close and all of us are here for answering questions. Speaker 1: Thank you. Let me let me I think I think there's one more slide to maybe I'm looking at the wrong presentation. Is there one more slide? Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we've got one more. Speaker 1: Maybe there isn't. And I think there's actually I should add one. Speaker 5: Little bit, one more update that I have. Speaker 7: Okay. I think Sharon's working on that, Mr. Mayor. Speaker 1: Okay. No problem. Well, let me just add a few things to the presentation that we have some we have some questions. So I want to just a note, a few things. First, obviously, is you guys are doing are doing great work in all these projects. Some things to note for the public. I think it's really important, I think for us in Long Beach. I don't know that myself or the council or even staff have contemplated enough the huge challenge that the closure, the blue line is going to be for the city. And obviously, we were and we know it's coming and we're anticipating it, but we have not had this type of closure since it opened 25 years ago. And so while the outcome is going to be excellent and we're going to end up with a better system and good ridership and hopefully all the things that we want that that that shutdown is going to be very significant for thousands and thousands of people that use the blue line every single day to get to work, to go to downtown Los Angeles, to connect and go to the airport. And so I know that we're going to do everything that we can to ensure that that is the least impactful as possible for the folks here in Long Beach. And we know from data that we have people from all across the city that use the blue light system to get particularly folks who are going into downtown Los Angeles. And so they're parking at the Willow or the Wardlow station, and there's going to be a lot of disruption around that. So I do want to note one of the kind of exciting developments out of this is that Metro is creating this express system so that during the shutdown, we will be piloting a one stop downtown Long Beach to downtown L.A., shuttle or bus. And and that's something I know that we are interested in keeping once we reopen the blue lines. I've been clear about that, Mr. Washington, and I know other board members have as well. So we're excited about about that. I want to also just add as part of your presentation that. The the modernization of the 710 provides an enormous amount of resources to Long Beach for projects. That has nothing to do with the footprint of the actual highway or the freeway. And so I want to make sure the council is aware that over the next couple of years, the amount of resources available to arterial streets, the reconstruction of all of the on ramp and off ramps up and down the 710, the ability for streets and larger highways and connecting streets and neighborhoods to benefit from the essentially the investments that are going to be made to mitigate the challenges around the 710 are pretty important. And so I know that particularly for the council members that are adjacent to those projects, I know that they want to be involved and learn more about the early action projects. Also to note is that the board was pretty clear that we want the early action projects to begin in the hopefully complete regardless of that next phase, which would be looking at modernization of the actual freeway itself. And those early action projects I know where that we're looking at include the Shoemaker Bridge. They include all of the arterials. They include possible residential streets and alleyways and a bunch of a bunch of infrastructure improvements up and down the corridor. And so I just wanted to note that. And then the last thing I'll note is actually the slide that we have up here. But I know you want to I'll comment on it and we'll just this this car right here, this is a really special I think this car is the very first car in the history of the metro system. And when the metro system opened up, it was connecting downtown Long Beach to downtown Los Angeles. And it was the blue line, of course. This car is called Car 100, and it's actually called the Long Beach Car 100. It was named after the city of Long Beach. And and this car actually rode then Supervisor Hahn and then very young Janice Hahn on the first ride from downtown L.A. to down to downtown Long Beach . And this car was going to be actually sent to a scrapyard very recently. But we interceded the city and Metro is donating this car back to the city of Long Beach. And this car, Will, has been repeated to its original colors. As you can see there, it's being restored to essentially what it was 25 years ago. And the car 100 is going to be returned to the city of Long Beach for, you know, for us to use as as we as we like, which we haven't figured out yet, but I'm sure will end up being used as maybe a restaurant or a museum or both. And so we're looking at that. But the great thing about this is it's historical because, of course, this entire metro system we're talking about kind of started the rail system on this car. And the fact it's named after the city, I think is really special. And so we're we're excited to partner with Metro on this project and and many others. And so thank you to the staff. You guys are doing a great job. I have a series of questions and comments. So when I want to go ahead and go through those. Okay. And let me begin, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 6: I just want to tell you, as a prior blue line rider and member of the community that really supports all that you do. I just want to thank you for the big leaps and bounds that you have done, but also as a representative of the East Side. A considerable number of my neighbors will not be driving all the way downtown to take the Express bus because they were the types of riders who used to just sit down wardlow and get on at the Wardlow station or depending on parking, hit the Willow Station. And so I know that there are capacity and budgetary and other things, but if there are any opportunities to expand a bus service or at least to do a survey that we could help you with, to find out interest, to find out if we could get enough riders to make it in that neutral. The number of van rides I'm hearing going up, we've already seen additional vans start flooding the city, neighborhood streets because people are clearly going to plan to carpool, which is great. But whatever we could do to help encourage the express ridership, our officers here to stand at the ready and help you. We have several community meetings that this is being discussed at starting later next month and so I'm sorry later is three in August already me on the summer went fest later this month. So these are important things and we look forward to your partnership. So thank you for all that you do. And I'm still looking forward to the sound wall promise 14 years ago that your team is the first to really step forward and help us guide that through on the 605 Freeway. The neighbors have been waiting a long time and they're very thankful to have the ear of Metro and the support that has taken so long. But they weren't vocal and now they are, and now they're engaged and we're very excited for all that work. So thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember. Now. Speaker 5: Thank you very much. Speaker 2: Great presentation. Thank you for that tonight. I just want to mention those crime numbers are incredibly impressive. So kudos to Chief Luna on that. Speaker 5: I'll just follow up on. Speaker 2: The sound wall. Great news. And the northeastern border of my fourth district is a four or five freeway. So right after we get that 605 for our project and I'll handle your list, our wish list tonight. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 7: And I really appreciate the presentation. I got to say that much of what has been presented, I've been aware of through other regional boards as well, and I'm no stranger to most of the representatives here from Metro. And so welcome to Long Beach and thank you for the great work that you all do to keep us moving throughout L.A. County. I'm especially pleased to see the work being done on safety and security. So, Mr. Wiggins, thank you for your presentation. And and particularly along the blue line, we hear a lot about perceptions and we need to do more to to change those perceptions with the blue line, the work on I-70 and oversight. I mean, the Corridor Project Metro has been great to work with and great partner with the city and I'm looking forward to hopefully fast tracking that because it's a vital project for the city of Long Beach. I think the fact that so many representatives are here from from Metro giving this type of presentation speaks to what we've talked about a few years ago as a priority. And that was making sure that Long Beach had a seat at the table at the MTA board. And so obviously, our mayor is there as a voice for our city. And it certainly, I think, has improved the relationship and responsiveness from Metro to the city and vice versa. And so I'm glad to see just this this relationship moving forward and the attention given to to the city on these important projects. Thank you. And Julia Brown, you a pleasure to work with. All right. Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor Andrews. Speaker 8: Yes, fine. Thank you very much. First of all, I congratulate every one of you for the job that you're doing and will continue to do. I just sometimes think about the big thing that really kind of came to my eyes was the percentage I would with crime. You know, you look at 80%, you know, you guys are really going to run the car dealership out of business because I know I would stay on the blue line if it's that safe. Congratulations, every one of you guys. Great job, you and Commander Luna. Chief Luna and your group. You guys got a safe here in Long Beach? I'll stay on the blue line. I'm giving my car away. Thank you. Giving and giving it away. It's a serious car. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 1: Thank you. And absolutely true. I think the blue line is the changes are significant. So thank you for that, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you so very much for your presentation. I know I wasn't here the whole time, but I was multitasking for another project for tonight, so apologies for that. I did get a chance to see some of the presentation. And I know as someone who was a blue line writer for many years, it is a place I always felt safe on. And the challenges are perception. And so I'm really excited that we're doing this overhaul. My district is the port in downtown over to the east side. And so really when we talk about putting 3000 new residential units in downtown and trying to get people out of their cars, Metro is a key player in that conversation. And so I'm really happy that Long Beach has a seat at the table and that you guys are working with us and to see all the great improvements from the 710 to this option as well. I do want to echo Councilmember Mungo's comment about not just having a downtown Long Beach. I mean, you guys know because you've been through the process. But for me to get from downtown just out of Long Beach takes use to take 30 minutes. And so as we are talking about additional stops, that might be an option. I know that a lot of families and people that work in downtown L.A. would appreciate that if that's an option. And then I love the idea of bringing the Long Beach car back. If you guys remember, whenever we phased out our fire boats, I wanted to keep them and do a museum with them. I was a little too late before they went to auction, so I really love the idea of capturing some of Long Beach's history and in highlighting how transit can be key to cleaning our energy and saving the memory of of the great things that happened along transit. So I look forward to my staff working with you guys, look forward to making sure that our residents in the downtown and in the second District really are aware of these changes and partnering in that and that outreach and education. So thank you guys for all the hard work you do. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Ringa. Speaker 4: Thank you, Marion. I want to compliment you on your work with the Metro. I think it's an important part of the work that is being done with our corridor issues and as well as our container movement along the 710 freeway. And communication is big and I'm glad that you have an outreach plan obviously in place, very pleased with what's going on with your other mobility issues there, with the bicycle paths and walking paths and and of course, the modernization of the A17, which is huge. The 710 goes right through my seventh District community as well as the blue line world question. People have been asking me about a retaining and retaining a soul that could be along the stretch between well, right before right up right around the word low station going north there. It passes through a park and a couple of schools. And so the the blue line really makes a lot of noise, if you will, and a song, while I would be very beneficial along that community because there are two residential areas around that park, you know what I'm talking about? The surrealist park. Excuse me. Yeah. So I mean, I know Councilman Rossin is well aware of that project as well, but any updates on that or is there anything in the in the works? And as far as being able to mitigate some of that, some of the noise that comes out of the blue line in that area Speaker 8: ? Yeah, I believe originally we had considered that in within the 710 program. But eventually I think we recognized that it was more, like you said, more of a blue line four or five issue. So I can go back and check. The last I heard we had look, we, we were going into preparing design for for a while. We were moving forward with designing the wall internally and Metro. So I'll go back and check the status of that and get back to you. Get back to this to the city. Speaker 4: And I'll tell you the truth. The reason we're really concerned, because during the summer we have concerts at the park and you hear the blue light coming down all the time in the middle of a performance. So, I mean, it would be a very good benefit to the community if we could have a song Water that would mitigate that noise in regards to the A17 and the modernization and what's going on there. There's there was a lot of concerns raised this past year about homes being lost and the possibility of of getting homes moved and families displaced. Could you give us just a little bit of an update to where we're at with the actual modernization, the freeway along that stretch? Speaker 8: Right. So as I mentioned in the presentation, the we need to get through the finally air first that that's what makes the project a project. Right. What we're going to do right after that is look at which parts of the freeway, which interchanges, as the mayor mentioned, we could build first. The good news is that the for the early action interchanges, the we don't really need as much or in some cases any any residential properties. The residential properties may. Only are needed for the the freeway, the freeway interchanges, the big ones, 91, 91, seven, ten, four or five, seven, ten. And we don't we're not planning to do those as part of the early action program. So I have some numbers here in front of me. I mean, I'm looking at it and we can probably get away with almost no residential property impacts with most of those early action projects. Speaker 1: And I me add to that I think also they know that customer we were very involved you know chairing or I 17 committee of the council and that it's our goal obviously at the board that when we enter the when we get beyond the early action projects which will obviously this is a multiyear project. Well, we feel confident that there won't be those residential impacts. Once we get to that next phase, we can have a larger, broader conversation about what our resident initial impacts may be. But it's our goal at the board not to have any residential impacts. I mean, that that that's our our obviously our goal. And so those are conversations that will that will continue as we as we move forward. And so working with the community and the council, when we get to that point, is going to be very important. Speaker 8: And in terms of next steps, we do need to prepare the board motion. We need to take those project recommendations for the early action projects back to the board, probably early next year. And so they get to see and evaluate what are those impacts and and hopefully, you know, the minimization of those impacts. Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you for the update. And I'm looking forward to our continuing relationship to working with you as we move forward with this very important project with the city. And I want to echo my councilmembers comments regarding public safety. Great kudos to the police department. Kudos for that. The Mayor and the city in joining Mitchell in providing a better and expanded public safety service to the to the Riders of Loveridge. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to just chime in and first, thank you for coming down. Thank you for the quality presentation and just acknowledge and say that I'm a big fan of Mr. Washington. I think he has a very highly qualified, qualified and diverse staff. I think we we sort of lead most transit agencies in that regard. I want to also sort of shout out the tap car program. I think it's an amazing program for integration busses, trains, bikes, one system of run rate system. If there's a change one board, I think it makes sense that full integration I want to acknowledge I see a Kenneth McDonald, our Long Beach Transit executive director there. And I think we should continue to look at how we can better integrate our bike share in Long Beach with with Metro and Long Beach Transit to have one shared system. I also want to just raise up and I know many of you've heard me talk about this there. You know, 17 is a great project, but there's a number of massive projects in the region that all converge in one place. That's the intersection of the 710, the intersection of 91, the intersection of the L.A. River and Artesia Boulevard. They all have in common that they're all in some form of some stage of modernization that will impact one community. And that community is North Long Beach, the committee I represent. And so I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it. I think there needs to be a dedicated focus, a working group, a dedicated vision program, dedicated to figuring out how to rate the environmental justice wrongs of the past when the infrastructure was originally built. And I'd like to see more attention there from more than this group, all the agencies that are that are players in that conversation. But again, thank you for what you do and continue the good work. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman. And let me just I just close and then open it up to this public comment. Let me just close by again thanking the team. And I do want to mention and close by saying something that was mentioned by the councilmembers and it is Metro's goal to have a fully integrated system. So I think the vision that we're working on right now is how do you with one tap card or in the future an app or what have you, are you able to, you know, jump on a bike, share bike and then get on a Long Beach transit bus and then get on the blue line? And it should it be one card, one system. So everything is talking to each other. And and for those are may not be aware of. I think it's I learned a lot when I joined the board. Metro also operates, of course, the countywide bus system, but there are also 17 municipal operators within the countywide bus system. Lumbee Transit is one of the larger of these operators. But Long Beach Transit is working every day with Metro so that the metro system and the transit system is integrated into one master regional system. And so everything that we do at Long Beach Transit affects Metro and everything that Metro is doing on their bus system, many of which of the busses go into Long Beach, by the way, affect our system. So we're trying to get to a point where everything is more integrated and that we're trying to make it easier for for riders. And so the other big goal that's happening in the next couple of years is the focus is shifting as we're spending , you know, enormous amounts of money on the rail systems, which is great, that the a lot of interest is shifting also to the bus system. And we're trying to figure out how we modernize and save the bus system because we are as you know, the bus system is in massive need of of not just an upgrade, but just a we need to give it more attention so that young, younger people feel that the bus system is accessible. And right now, a lot of folks don't feel for those that use the bus system, they use it often. But for those that don't use the bus system, it's very difficult to get someone to actually get on the bus and ride the bus to get to another location. And so limited transit is engaged right now in a major review of where all of the bus stops are across the city. Where should they go in the future? What are the main stops, where they should be? And Metro is involved in the same exact effort and it's all trying to link up to create a new bus system that will be rolling out in the next couple of years. And so this will have a big impact on us in Long Beach. And so I think it's important for us to be very engaged on these issues and understand what's happening with with transit as we move as we move forward. So thank you all. We really appreciate your guys, you guys being here. And I saw you brought the whole team, so that's good. Thank you, guys. Thank you very much. Is there any any public comment on Metro? Please come forward. Speaker 5: Very good. You click as the address. I was on that train. Speaker 1: And the return trip when it opened up. Speaker 5: My office used to be at seventh in metro at 700 south lower. While there were some very interesting plans that have been brought forward. Speaker 1: That I think are very positive. There is one. Speaker 5: Major issue that I think they're. Speaker 1: Overlooking and I. Speaker 5: Referenced before to all the members of the board at the Washington Street Station. Where currently the blue line goes down St Peter's St. There should be and I originally was calling it the Crow Line, which is a direct line over to Union Station. Couple of weeks ago, Homer Simpson pointed out to me that a better name for that would be lickety split. You could get to Union Station within 45 minutes and then connect on and be out the East Jesus and beyond. In fact, you could finish up your business. At the metro headquarters. Speaker 1: And thumb your nose at your partner. That was your. Speaker 5: Colleague that was coming in and stuck. Speaker 3: In the tunnel. Speaker 5: At seventh, the metro. And that's an inherently problem that will never, ever, ever, ever go away. So the answer is a straight what I refer to as the now the lickety split line. Speaker 1: In addition to that. Speaker 5: There is no need except in dire emergencies, to shut down the transit line to do the needed repairs. You restrict those to. Speaker 1: 4 to. Speaker 5: 5 hours at night. Speaker 3: Starting maybe at 1230, 1234. Speaker 5: And cease the work at maybe 415 in the morning period, except for dire emergencies. You do not need to shut. Speaker 1: Down the lines, period. Speaker 5: The repair and upgrading of line that has to be institutionalized. Speaker 1: The repair and the upgrading of lines is going to be an ongoing basis period. Speaker 2: In fact. Speaker 5: So behind are, I think that we probably will face a bittersweet situation of not being able to handle the 2028 Olympics. Speaker 1: That's the bitter end. The sweet end is if they get their act together. They had their act together. Speaker 5: We should be able to have it planned for 2032, which would be very nice and sweet, because that would be the hundredth anniversary of the Olympic Games. It's the MTA has some leadership problems, notwithstanding a highly credible mayor there is in the city of Los Angeles, certainly one of the most qualified minds in the state and in this country. But the MTA has too many metal twits. They're holding it back, in my view. Speaker 1: Thank you very much to the next speaker. Good evening, Michael Cauldwell First District. I just wanted the one thing I didn't see in any of the presentations. This is going to be very, very small. Speaker 3: There is always an issue. Speaker 1: With transfers between companies, between Long Beach Transit, between Okta. Speaker 5: And. Speaker 1: Metro. Can this be addressed quickly? Or possibly because sometimes when a writer like myself, I commute to be in a park every day when I go to work and I have to transfer to Orange County or if I want to take a few trips out, sometimes the companies do not sync up. I would say it's very, very small. I know other people have more important things, but if that can be addressed, I think this is going to be great for Metro. I mean, I enjoy Metro. And also let me congratulate you that I just now found out. Speaker 5: That there's free wi fi that metro like. Speaker 6: I'm like, whoa, what's this? Speaker 3: Free Wi-Fi? Ruby. I can use my my devices on Metro. Great. So cool to. Speaker 1: That. But like I say, with the transfer situation. Speaker 10: Sometimes. Speaker 1: Busses don't sync up. So if that can be addressed as well and fixed. Speaker 5: People can get where they need to go better. Speaker 1: Sometimes the drivers don't even see people, you know, if if it. Speaker 5: Takes up a few minutes just for any driver on. Speaker 1: Any transit system. Speaker 5: To take a quick look around, make sure no one's coming. Speaker 1: And then they can take off and continue. That would be great, but good job, Metro. Speaker 5: You're doing a great job. Speaker 1: Thanks. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Thank you very much, Andrew Carroll from the second District. I really love that presentation. I'm glad to see all the money that we're investing in our. Speaker 2: Public transportation system. I think public transit is a. Speaker 5: Really great institution for us and we should do all we can to support it. I think one of the issues that has been addressed lately, but I would encourage the city council and anyone in this room to address it further, would be the issue of perception versus reality. Because the blue line is actually a lot safer than is perceived to be and with all that has long reputation as being not very safe. But all sorts of studies. Speaker 2: Show that it's. Speaker 5: Actually safer to be on the Metro than it is to be in some of the surrounding communities that the Metro passes through. That's one. So when it comes to when people's perceptions are based on reality, you can invest lots of money in changing reality, but that won't change people's perceptions because people's perceptions aren't based in reality. Right. So I would like to see more money being spent on changing the perception of the blue line and also public transportation generally. And that's something all of us in this room can do. It doesn't have to wait for. I saw the phrase grass top funding. That's a new one. Speaker 3: I don't know. Speaker 5: As a metaphor, that doesn't really work, I'm sorry to say, but I appreciate what that's going for, which is that if we can get these institutions at the top level to do something about it, and I'm glad to see that we are, but we can also do a lot at the grassroots level. Everyone in this room, we have to ask ourselves, look in the mirror. When's the last time that you rode the bus? You know, when's the last time that you wrote The Blue Line? And you have to ask yourself that question. When's the last time you got on a bicycle? Right, and went to the bus stop and put your bike on the bus and then rode the bus to the line and wrote the blue line to work. And then it late at night came back home. All of us in this room can do a little more to give up our cars and get on the blue line and increase ridership. Los Angeles actually has one of the most extensive public transportation systems in the country and even around the world. It stacks up pretty well in America. And yet the perception of it is that it doesn't have that same accessibility. So there's a lot that we can do to change these perceptions. And it starts with letting people know that the blue line is safe. But ultimately it starts with all of us in this community using the blue line more, using the busses more, including our city council members who all have a good enough access to press and stuff that they could easily ride the bus to city council. Get some cameras on there. Talk about the new system and talk about how fun it is. Talk about safe it is. Take the bus home, you know, take it back, take it to council on Tuesday, take it back home. And that would be a great way. Get some press on it, encourage people to use the system. And then finally, to echo Councilwoman Mongo statements, which I totally agree with, which is that the bus lines running east to west are definitely something we really have to improve in order to access the blue line and then go north or south. So I think there's a lot of work we can do about that. But on that question, again, we have to ask ourselves in this room, what are we willing to give up in order to have more public transportation? Because space is at a premium in Southern California. And if we want to have more public transit, we might have to give up some highways, I mean, some lanes for cars. And that's not something a lot of people are prepared to do. But if we can make these sacrifices in the mirror, then I think we can do a lot to improve our blue line and transit. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. And I'll just add, Mr. Carroll, I think that one of the great things that Metro's working on is on the blue line when the shutdown happens, you know, which I think is obviously no one's looking forward to, but is a necessity when we reopen the system, there's going to be a major push to kind of hit refresh. And I think you're going to see it, by the way, the stations look, the landscaping, the the kind of computer systems that are going to be installed at the stations, the fact that all the trains will be new, that the technology will be modernized, and the marketing push and kind of kind of collective push to have that fresh start and let people know that, yes, this is a safe system and that we want folks to ride the blue line and we want transit to have all those connections, I think is going to be an opportunity for us, which is something that we should take advantage of as we hit, you know , the end of next year and we reopen the blue line. Yes. Speaker 10: Hi, Karen Recién. I'm a resident of the First District and I haven't been able. Speaker 6: To drive for about 15 years. Speaker 10: So I take the bus almost on. Speaker 9: A daily. Speaker 6: Basis. Speaker 10: I just want to commend the police department for their taking over the line. I mean, there's been a huge improvement on the nefarious activity around this train station since they've taken over the patrolling of the system. I also want to support Rex Richardson. I go all over the city and most of you know me. Speaker 6: I go to a lot of community meetings. I can get to just about everywhere. Speaker 10: Except for some of Suzie Price's district, which is local, and Rex Richardson's area. Speaker 6: Rex Richardson's area has the worst bus service. Speaker 10: Of any of the parts of the city that I have been to, which is just about all of them. And part of it is because of the interaction. Metro. I tried to go to the concert at the for the municipal band in your district. I couldn't get there. The metro bus had a break down, so they dislodged all the passengers and they. Speaker 9: Wouldn't take any. Speaker 10: More. Speaker 6: So I wasn't able to go, I'm sorry, I tried. Speaker 10: Overall, I think we have a wonderful bus system. It's not easy for people to learn how to work the system. And I know that both the MTA and Long Beach Transit are trying to work on that with their programs, particularly geared towards seniors who are heavy users of the busses. And I commend everybody's work to try and bring this together and to have an integrated transit system that supports everybody so we can all enjoy events across our city in every council district. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. With that, we have a motion in a second to receive and follow the report. So members, please go out and cast your votes. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Thank you again to the metro team for for being here. We have our budget hearing next. I know that Ms.. Sharonda Jackson is here. She had an announcement. Let me was we set up for the budget presentation. If she wanted to come up and do that and then staff and we can just set up the budget presentation. Speaker 10: Thank you very much, Mayor. And more so than an announcement, it's actually a thank you. I just wanted to say thank you to the mayor, to the vice mayor for assisting us with the memorial service for my cousin, which was held last Friday. And in putting the memorial service together, it made me think that there are hundreds of amazing stories about out there, about Long Beach residents, people who grew up here, who lay claim to the park systems, who want to talk about what Long Beach did for them. And we don't really know those stories. I gave you. Speaker 6: A copy. Speaker 10: There of the program just so that you could read it for a minute to see what this amazing man accomplished. He was very humble, but he loved his city and he came back to Long Beach whenever he could. I spent many years at the airport taking complaints. I think it's time for us to put together a system that allows people to brag, to talk about the great things that has happened in Long Beach, how Long Beach has affected their lives. So to the mayor, I'm offering a suggestion. If we want to put together some kind of a communications roundtable or something to explore, how can we learn all those great stories? How can we then share that back to the public to inspire our young people? Speaker 6: I run across people. Speaker 10: Commerce. I spent time in Selma, Alabama, and there was a young man who was a principal dancer for for the Alvin Ailey dance team. He was for Long Beach. We met in Selma. I had never knew anything about him. So I'm making a suggestion that we take lots of complaints. We have all kind of communication avenues. Let's do one that allow people to to brag, to talk about the great things that have happened in Long Beach and so that we can tell those stories on a regular basis. So thank you again for your help with the memorial service. And I think we need to toot our horn a little bit more than what we do. So thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you. I want to let Vice Mayor Andrew say a few words. Speaker 8: I can't tell you what a great job you did for the memorial service. I know what you're speaking about. And I'm I would hope everyone would hear what you just said, because we need to brag about Long Beach. You guys, this is a strong beach, and everyone needs to know how tough we are. Thank you so much for what you did. Speaker 10: And it's far beyond athletics. I mean, we have Long Beach residents who are helping to run Wall Street, who are doctors, who are lawyers, who are at major universities. And we just have not kept in touch with them. But we need to do that. That's a benefit for us as a city if we know where our people are. We never know who we might need to be in contact with out there in the larger community. So thank you so much. Speaker 1: Okay. Now we're going to back up to back up our agenda to our first hearing tonight, which is our largest of our hearings over the next few weeks. Tonight is focus on three major presentations. We have our continuum of public safety, which is our obviously our our public safety continuum and which involves a few departments. And then we also have our kip, which I know is of interest to the council as it relates to infrastructure of all of our streets and sidewalks. And so this is obviously the opportunity for the Council to engage on the largest part of our budget, which is public safety as well as our infrastructure budget.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a report from Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the status of various projects that impact Long Beach.

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_08142018_18-0674

Speaker 1: And then we also have our kip, which I know is of interest to the council as it relates to infrastructure of all of our streets and sidewalks. And so this is obviously the opportunity for the Council to engage on the largest part of our budget, which is public safety as well as our infrastructure budget. So with that, I will turn it over to Mr. West. Speaker 4: Mayor Councilmembers We were very, very excited to present the fiscal year 19 budget, I think, last week. So this is our first budget presentation. We're starting off as we normally do, with our continuum of care. Tonight, you're going to hear first from our fire chief, Mike Terry, then from our chief of police, Robert Lunar, then from our disaster management director, Reggie Harrison. Then we can either hear questions, questions from the council, or we can go straight into Craig Beck's Capital Improvement Project. And then for questions. Speaker 1: Let me ask the council, unless there's any objection. I know that different people like it different ways. Last year we just we heard all the presentations and then we did questions. So I'll keep it that way unless people want to have. Department by department. Is there any objection to keeping it the same way? No. Okay, great. Speaker 5: So we'll go through all four. So, Craig, you'll follow disaster management. Speaker 1: So the mission was the one where we do have to divide it up, I think is we need a separate CIP. We certainly have a safety continuum because those are two very separate. Speaker 4: Never mind what I just said. Okay. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 5: Okay. So right now we will start with our fire chief, Mike Terry might take it away. All right. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, members of the city council. This evening, I will be giving you a brief overview of the Long Beach Fire Department's fiscal year 19 proposed budget. My presentation will touch upon the services provided by the Fire Department some of our key accomplishments for the current fiscal year. Notable changes for the fiscal year 19 proposed budget and some major challenges and opportunities that we foresee in the upcoming fiscal year. The Fire Department delivers fire rescue and emergency medical services, marine safety response, hazardous materials response, and non-emergency response services to residents, businesses and visitors. In the city of Long Beach, we provide a 24 hour operation for which all first responders must be prepared at all times. Additionally, we work to ensure the safety of the community and to prevent fires through proactive fire prevention and code enforcement programs. And we also provide training and education that is essential to the delivery of our core fire and rescue services. I'd now like to outline some of the fire department's accomplishments and highlights for the current fiscal year. Over the past 12 months, we have responded to over 72,000 fire, emergency medical services, mine safety and other emergency incidents. This equates to more than 153,000 individual unit responses. Included in this number are over 52,000 medical calls and 5800 fire calls. This number also includes hazardous materials responses, airport responses and other non fire responses. This year, we converted our patient care reporting system from paper to electronic. Our new electronic patient care reporting system, or EPR, has resulted in better patient tracking, improved communication with area receiving hospitals, robust real time data collection and retrieval and expedited ambulance billing. Also, earlier this year, we partnered with the water department to place a pump pod into service. This particular piece of equipment enables us to save over 1.8 million gallons of water each year by recycling water use during training, testing and certification exercises. Our training division developed and conducted training to address response to mass casualty incidents of a criminal nature such as those involving active shooters. Our Fire Recruit Academy Class 2018, a graduated 19 new firefighters and our Community Emergency Response Team or CERT program, continues to be a busy and popular program. This year alone, over 155 adults received cert training, which they will be able to use to assist the community in case of an earthquake or other natural disaster. Finally, the fire department instituted a mental health first aid program and began providing training to our fire and marine safety first responders. Training is provided by our Hart Team members and equips first responders with strategies to assist individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use related crisis. The proposed fiscal year 19 budget for the fire department is $126.8 million. We have a total of 531 full time equivalent staff consisting of 406 sworn is in fire ranks. Another 25 full time year round marine safety first responders and over 180 seasonal lifeguards. 26 full time ambulance operators. Additionally, the fire department is supported by a civilian staff in fire operations, support services, fire prevention and Fire Administration. As you can see in the graph, most of our budget or $96.4 million or 76% of the department's total budget is in the general fund, which supports most departmental activities. The Long Beach Park, the Long Beach Airport provides financial support in the amount of $5.9 million for fire and rescue services that the fire department provides. The airport and this is included in the fire department's general fund budget. 22% of the department's budget is in the Tidelands Fund, which supports marine safety activities, as well as our fire operations in the Port of Long Beach. The harbor department provides cost reimbursement for services provided in the port, and that is also included in the $27.8 million Tidelands Fund budget for fire. Rounding out the fire department's budget are the Police and Fire Public Safety Oil Production Act Fund, also referred to as Prop H, which provides an additional support of $1.6 million for fire staffing and the Cooper Fund, which provides for funding for inspection services and business emergency plan reviews to ensure hazardous chemicals are handled, stored and transported in accordance with current state and local standards. The fiscal year 19 budget includes ongoing funding for a second Homelessness, Education and response team or heart unit. The mission of the Hart team is to reduce the number of fire department responses to individuals experiencing homelessness through rapid response to 911 calls for service, collaborating with our continuum of care partners and educating fire, the fire service and community members about issues surrounding homelessness and available resources in our city. Our first heart unit has attained great amount of success toward meeting this mission, and the addition of a second heart team will allow us to build on that success and reach even more people in their time of need. The fiscal 19 fiscal year 19 budget also provides one time funding for a second fire academy. This will this will allow us to fill our current and projected vacancies. Additional changes in the budget include support for a firefighter inspector, a development services permit counter to streamline plan services and a second storekeeper to ensure proper inventory controls and maintain warehouse operations that experience a high volume of transactions. Looking forward to fiscal year 19. The department has several significant challenges and opportunities. Our first challenge is to continue to meet the expectations of the community while facing increased demands for services, especially emergency medical services. Another challenge is for us to continue to identify emerging public safety issues and implement programs that meet the needs of our community. In addition to providing fire and emergency medical response services, it is important that we remain aware of other public safety needs and try and stay agile as an organization so that we can implement innovative programs like the Hart Team. While we. While we. Excuse me. We need to be aware. Excuse me. We are aware that we need to improve diversity not just in the ranks of entry level firefighters, but also in the promotional classifications like fire captain and battalion chief. In fiscal year 19, we will work with the Civil Service Department and one of the city's new management assistants to identify solutions that address this important challenge. We also have a number of retirements in supervisory and management positions coming up in the next several years. And that means we face the challenge of identifying and developing the next generation of leaders requiring strong management, development and succession planning programs. And a final challenge is to maximize available revenue sources and attain full cost recovery for our services. We provide our community whenever feasible. With resources and support in the fiscal year 19 budget. We also have a number of opportunities and reasons for ongoing optimism. First, the potential restoration of Engine 17 would further improve our emergency response capabilities. These increased capabilities would have a positive impact on the entire service delivery system throughout the city, not just in Engine 17 immediate response area. We also have an opportunity to improve quality assurance, data collection and cost recovery through the implementation of our electronic patient care reporting system, referred to as PCR that I mentioned earlier. In the few months since implementation, we've already begun to realize some of these benefits, and with a second Hart unit in service, the fire department and our Continuum of Care partners have an opportunity to expand services to individuals experiencing homelessness. And finally, investments in our public safety infrastructure, specifically funding to renovate and modernize our fire stations and our fire training center will enable us to improve our service delivery and overall working conditions. Mr. Mayor and Council Members, I thank you for the opportunity to present an overview of the Fire Department's Fiscal Year 2019 proposed budget. This concludes my presentation and I'll wait to respond to any questions you may have after I handed over to my partner, the Chief of Police. Thank you, Fire Chief Dewey. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Vice Mayor sitting over there and members of the city council. The police department is a is a dynamic organization. We are tasked with the incredible responsibility of enforcing laws, investigating crime. Securing the city's critical infrastructure. And fostering positive relationships and trust within our diverse community. Most importantly, we respond to our community's calls for help 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The police department's mission is public safety. Through partnerships, public safety services are delivered through the work of five Barrel's 17 divisions and over 100 distinct units and sections. Our core services include 911 response across the city's 52 square miles, with over 211,000 calls for service in 2017, which averages to about 578 calls for service on a daily basis. Investigating misdemeanor and felony crimes ranging from murder to bike theft. The child abuse. Securing major critical infrastructure, including the port, the airport and metro blue line that you just heard the presentation on previously. And providing contract services to city partners such as the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach, City College, Long Beach Transit and the Pike Outlets just to name a few. Long Beach Police Department operates on all cylinders. Throughout the year, our employees and volunteers are absolutely doing amazing work. As you will see in the next few slides, our department has many accomplishments in FY 18. Thanks to the mayor and measure funding, the South Division was restored and became operational in February of 2017. The restoration of South Division represents our community's ongoing support to invest in public safety. I am also proud to share that the police department has officially completed its first year of providing services to L.A. Metro over the past year . Officers had approximately 17,000 Metro related contacts, which included calls for service and officer initiated activity. This roughly equates to approximately 50 contacts per day. Response time to the Metro rated metro related emergency calls was 2.4 minutes for those priority calls and 6.7 minutes to routine calls, which is actually pretty amazing. This past year marks a successful public safety partnership between L.A. Metro and our city. The size and scale of special events are dramatically larger in the previous than the previous years. As such, the demand for police services to staff these events has increased significantly. In calendar year 2017. Our officers staffed 170 events. Those events generated 220 days of staffing. So far in calendar year 2018, 150 events have been staffed, generating 186 days of staffing year to date. We have provided staffing for 14 large concerts and music festivals, 98 film productions, 44 parades and holiday staffing. In total, the police department has secured safety for nearly 1 million special event attendees. In technology. The police department recently deployed 200 body cameras in the south and north divisions through a one year no cost contract. We are grateful to the Departments of Technology and Innovation, Financial Management, Public Works and the City Attorney's Office for their assistance in making this new program possible. We look forward to updating the City Council on the progress of this new body worn camera program. Responding to homelessness and quality of life issues are priorities to our community and therefore are top priorities for our entire department. However, I would like to highlight our quality of life officers who have done tremendous work in addressing homelessness challenges in our city. Since January of this year. Quality of Life officers have made 644 contacts with persons experiencing homelessness. They have provided referrals, supplies and mental health evaluations. They have helped transport 149 individuals to the Multi-Service Center, Long Beach Rescue Mission and other social service organizations. They've helped 103 individuals, and they participated in 174 homeless encampment cleanups. This is absolutely amazing work. And I do want to point out, even though I'm highlighting the police department, this is absolutely a team effort with other city departments. The police department is an active supporter and participant in diversion programs as an alternative to arrest and as a solution to reduce recidivism. In addition to our Youth Diversion partnerships with our local nonprofits, we partner with the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the L.A. County Office of Diversion and Reentry, and the City Prosecutor's Office to assist with grant funded diversion outreach focused along the Long Beach Boulevard corridor. We also participate in the countywide Youth Diversion Program. I am excited to share that we continue to partner with the Office of Civic Innovation, formerly known as the A-Team under the Justice Lab. Together, we are working to better identify individuals who are current high frequency offenders and determine their social service needs. As part of this effort. The Jail Mental Health Clinician Program, in partnership with the Guidance Center is underway. In addition, we are firming up the data sharing and communication between our patrol commanders, crime analyst and data researchers with the Office of Civic Innovation. The Police Department continues to provide training and develop policies aligned with the Task Force Report on 21st Century Policing, which was released back in 2015. As part of this effort, our training division provides innovative training principles consistent with the current industry standards. Topics include procedural justice, implicit bias, fair and impartial policing, and assisting individuals with mental illness. In addition, a special order was issued department wide outlining police department procedures that align our department's operations with SB 54 and the Long Beach Values Act. Building community trust through relationships is a foundational principle supported by the Long Beach Police Department. This year we have hosted 13 community police academies funded by the PCC grant. Since the community support for this program has been so extremely positive. We plan to host future community police academies in 2019 and have already expanded the curriculum to include youth community police academies, which were showcased recently on the local Long Beach network. I am happy to report that the police recruit class number 92, which is slated to graduate here in the next week, which started back in February of 2018, closely mirrors the ethnic demographics of our community. It's 67% minority. Highlighting our commitment to support the advancement of diversity within our department. With the great work of our Community Engagement Division, we have ramped up our social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in an effort to humanize our police officers. Under the umbrella campaign of hashtag. Long Beach Police Department cares, the warmth and compassion of our police personnel are consistently showcased. In Fy19, the proposed police department budget totals nearly $259 million and includes which includes all funds. The police department is supported by the general fund, grant funds, gas and oil tax revenue and the Title IX Fund . The police department also generates revenue through fees, charges for contract police services and revenue from other agencies. In Fy19, the department is proposed to generate $45 million in revenue for the General Fund, General Grants Fund and the Tidelands Fund. The total FTE count is proposed to increase from 1214 FTE in FY18 to 1241 FTEs in Fy19. The increase includes three net new sworn positions, as well as the transfer of 27 civilian positions from the airport department to the police department. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of our department's notable changes. The Police Department's proposed FOIA 19 budget includes an overall increase in sworn in civilian positions. Personnel changes include two additional quality of life officers funded by Measure one officer in the North Division and one officer in the West Division. This mean this means that we all have a quality of life officer in each geographical patrol division. Two New Quality of life officers and one detective to support blue line operations. The Homeland Security Lieutenant will be transferred to oversee the airport police section. As I stated earlier, this will include the transfer of 27 special services officer positions from the airport department to the airport police section. Two new civilian positions to support the department's personnel and financial workload. And and as part of operational efficiencies, 4.5 vacant civilian positions will be eliminated in addition. And it's part of the proposed plan to reduce one vacant lieutenant and one vacant sergeant position to the police officer classification. Other changes include a pilot program to deploy up to four civilian community service officers in the field to assist with select priority three non-emergency calls for service and continued funding for background investigations for cannabis related medical and recreational use business applicants. We are grateful for the Council's support for one time funding in past years and propose the following one time funding for 19 a second back to back police academy. Funding for an upgrade to our records management system which will ensure we are in compliance with state and federal mandates. 1.9 million in Neighborhood Safe Streets funding to support community based, focused enforcement, and $100,000 to support the jail mental health clinician in FY 19. The law enforcement profession is and is is evolving. And at no other time has it changed so much, so quickly. The demands, accountability and expectations have never been higher. The next slide will highlight a few current and future challenges facing our police department and profession. Criminal justice reforms continue to negatively impact our police department and our community, as does unfunded state and federal mandates. These federal mandates and state legislation have placed new technology, data gathering and reporting requirements on local law enforcement agencies. Unfunded mandates impact our ability to prioritize and administratively support our core function when limited or no funding is made available by federal and state legislators. Looking ahead, future legislation also seeks to change use of force standards, which will not only significantly impact police training during the response to threatening situations, it could endanger the lives of our officers and members of our community. In totality, the police department is facing an ever changing legal environment, and adapting to these changes requires many financial resources that must be absorbed by our department and city. Additionally, the police department actively applies for grants from the federal, state and county levels. Recent DOJ grant applications require mandatory certifications to comply with ICE data request and other communication conditions. We have paused applying for DOJ grants that require these certifications and will continue to confer with the City Attorney's Office to review new grants that may be of interest to our department and city. One of our most challenging issues is homelessness and our community safety concerns. In January, 250 police chiefs from the nation's largest police departments, as well as local government researchers and community partners, convened in Long Beach for an executive level dialog on homelessness. As we all know, this is a community wide challenge, although the law enforcement community collectively advocates for compassionate and fair treatment of individuals experiencing homelessness. When the law is violated, enforcement action will be taken. An enforcement tool that is useful in addressing recurring homeless challenges is the stay away order system, which organizes court ordered stay away orders in public locations that are target targets for misdemeanor activity. This has been helpful in addressing the needs of residents, neighborhood groups, local businesses and other public locations that have been challenged by ongoing criminal activity. Across the country and specifically in Southern California, the Southern California region. Police departments, including our own, are facing high rates of attrition due to retirements. This is a natural demographic pattern given the large hiring trends that occurred 25 to 30 years ago. Coupled with a healthier economy and competition among local and regional police departments, it is more challenging than ever to on board and retain police recruits. In Fy19, we will maximize our opportunities to support the needs of the department and our community. We look forward to the potential restoration and funding for a community rapid response. Bike team composed of one sergeant and five bike officers. Well, it has been a challenge to implement new technology solutions. We are looking forward to the rollout of Long Beach Coast, a new records management system. The increased use of body worn cameras. Additional contributions to the open data portal. And the new citywide fiber plan. Upgrades to citywide technology and police related platforms can make routine activities more efficient, encourage transparency, and allow for more refined data analysis. The police department is also looking forward to rebuilding a training center, which will be an asset to our community and region. We will finally retire 20 year old trailers and cinder block buildings at the training division, which have been operating past their useful life. Lastly, to address challenges in police recruiting, we will once again partner with the Office of Civic Innovation. We will follow the City of Lee's I-Team approach to do a full assessment of our recruitment, selection, onboarding and training process to identify any opportunities for improvement. This concludes my presentation, and as always, I'll be going after the Master of Disaster for questions. Speaker 7: Thank you to you for that great introduction. Really appreciate that as always. Mayor, vice mayor and members of the City Council, thank you for this opportunity to present the fiscal year 19 proposed budget for the Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications. I also want to thank the city manager, the police chief, the fire chief for their support, collaboration and keen understanding of the critical role that this department plays in the public safety continuum. Natural and man made disasters have dominated news headlines throughout the year. Over the past month, an unprecedented number of wildfires have burned. From Northern California to Southern California, over 600,000 acres have been burned. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been evacuated. A few thousand structures have been destroyed. And unfortunately, 11 lives have been lost, including those of six firefighters. Each disaster, rather manmade on its orders, that is a disaster. Either manmade or natural, serves as a reminder to the city of Long Beach and its residents of how important it is to be prepared, have an evacuation plan, a disaster, go kit, and be prepared to be self-sustaining for at least seven days while first responders are en route to the scene. Lessons that we've learned from recent disasters is just how quickly the public tends to respond to provide aid when disasters occur. During recent hurricanes, neighbors and motorboats, canoes and even Paddleboards were first on the scene to aid fellow residents trapped by rising waters. Therefore, I offer I 19 budget and staff work plans reflect greater work with our residents and recognition that neighbors will be the first ones in our communities to take action after disaster strikes and before first responders arrive. After the fires and the mudslides in Northern California, we learned that residents will heed emergency notification warnings from police and fire and emergency managers to evacuate or shelter in place. Alert notification warnings that are sent timely with consistent and concise managed messages, if heeded, can and will save lives. Therefore, our budget and staff work plans reflect a greater investment in tools and technology to notify the greatest amount of residents and visitors possible more effectively using multiple methods of communications. And finally, this year is the 50th anniversary of the first call to 911. And while we celebrate this occasion with our dispatchers, we are well aware that 911 equipment across the country are aged and in use. 24 seven. Long Beach is no exception. Therefore, we have invested in new corps communications systems to ensure clear and predictable communications with our residents and first responders in the field. The Department recognizes the important role that we play as part of the public safety continuum. We are dedicated to making Long Beach a more prepared city through our emergency communication systems and our disaster preparedness, outreach and training programs through through the department's course services. We've touched the lives of our residents in many important ways. The core services of the department are really echoed in its title. We provide 911 communications for police, fire and emergency medical calls for service. And we are responsible to work with our city staff, our community partners, hospitals, school district transit agencies and the business community to provide to respond effectively to a major emergency or disaster. The department is also responsible for the coordination of the city's Homeland Security grant funds. Accomplishments in the 911 call center include handling over 800,000 calls for service and answering 90% of those calls with an industry standard of 10 seconds. We completed the replacement and upgrade of both our radio dispatch system and a911 telephone system at a combined cost of just over $8 million, funded through Homeland Security grant funds and the California Office of Emergency Services. And I am proud to note those upgrades were completed without any disruption and emergency calls for services in December. Reliance Text to 911 system which provides equal access to emergency services to residents who are hearing and or speech impaired. The system can also be used by residents in situations where it is too dangerous to call 911. The department was rest was recently approved by FEMA to implement the Federal Wireless Emergency Alert Messaging System. This system allows the city to send emergency messages to residents and visitors directly to their mobile phones. Similar to the way Amber Alerts are sent, there is no need to sign up to receive these messages. The system will be used in the event of a major citywide disaster. The system will be supplemental to our current alert Long Beach system. And as was stated earlier, we coordinated Homeland Security grant funding this year totaling $14 million, a portion of which was used for the radio replacement project. Accomplishments in the area of disaster preparedness include implementation of the pilot ready your Long Beach Neighborhood Program in two neighborhoods . The Ready Your Neighborhood Long Beach program trains residents to identify those at risk in their neighborhoods elderly neighbors, mobility impaired neighbors who will require assistance during a disaster. The program also trains neighbors to identify the resources they have retired nurses, neighbors who have ladders and other generators that can be used during a disaster. This program teaches. And prepares residents to work together in the event of a disaster. And we're really, really happy to have been able to work with the Grant neighborhood in the ninth District to pilot two neighborhood programs. We are also really pleased to have established a Long Beach disaster relief fund just today, announced in partnership with Lambie's Community Foundation. This fund is designed to provide assistance with local recovery efforts for incidents not covered by FEMA. The fund is managed by the foundation, and contributions to the foundation can be made at the Lambie's Community Foundation website. This was a very busy year for us. We conducted outreach to over 30 community businesses and resident groups on business disaster preparedness topics. We also maintained a robust social media presence, and we conducted or participated in a number of annual preparedness events, including the Tsunami Walk and Preparedness Fair, our Pet Preparedness Month Outreach Program, and the upcoming Ready Land based Preparedness Expo, which we invite all residents to attend on September the 15th at Cal State Long Beach campus. And finally, we continue to receive reimbursements from FEMA for claims following the 2017 winter storm, events so far totaling $600,000 in reimbursements. We accomplished all of that with minimal impact to the city's general fund. 80% of the department's budget is devoted to 911 call taking and dispatching. The remaining budget covers disaster preparedness, outreach and training, facility maintenance and Homeland Security Grant Administration. The department's notable changes include a new disaster preparedness officer, Jeff Duvall. Jeff, would you stand? We recently recruited Jeff from the city of Anaheim, where he held a similar position for a number of years. We also are pleased to announce a new administrative officer, Diane Brown. Who's handling the slides at this moment. But please stand, Diane, to be recognized. We recruited Diane from Long Beach City College, but she is no stranger to the city of Long Beach. She spent 15 years in our health department before going over to lobby City College. Both of these individuals are going to be assets to the department, and we will. And we continue to work on measure funded projects, upgrading the EOC, heating and air conditioning system using $800,000 of funding in the area of challenges and opportunities. We continue to be challenged by the slow pace by which residents have been signing up for the Long Beach. We encourage residents to sign up for a look at Long Beach so that we can ensure everyone receives timely notification in the event of a disaster. To help with the sign ups, we are in the process of switching a little Long Beach to a new vendor who will make the sign up process easier and quicker. Cross-training work continues with our 911 dispatchers. Cross-trained. Dispatchers have been utilized to provide additional resources for large scale incidents. We currently have 20% of the staff in the cross training program. However, our priority continues to be recruiting and training additional dispatchers to reduce overtime. And we will continue to work to expand the Ready Your Labs neighborhood program to include several additional communities yet to be identified. And finally, in October, FEMA will facilitate a tabletop exercise for our department heads to support their ability to make policy level decisions that support field responses to doing an incident. Thank you. Thank you for your support. This continued. This concludes my presentation. Speaker 8: Thank you very much. And the last of my four speakers will be capital improvement program, actually. Speaker 4: Vice mayor. We're now going to conclude and go to questions for the three departments, and then Mr. Beck will do capital improvements when the questions are done. Thank you. Speaker 3: Susie. Q Yes. Speaker 9: Thank you very much, gentlemen, for your presentations. Each of them was incredibly informative and impressive in terms of all the accomplishments. And of course, looking ahead at the opportunities, present some great opportunities for us as council members in terms of policy setting. So I'll take them in the order that they were presented for. Fire Chief Drury, thank you very much for your presentation. I note that our response times are good and they're expected to get better in Fy19. Could you share a little bit about why that's important and how the restoration of some of the fire resources that we have has assisted and response times overall? Speaker 5: Mayor Councilmembers. Councilmember Price. Yeah. Thank you very much for the question. Our response times have remained pretty static over the last year, although on an annual basis we still see about a 3 to 5% annual call volume increase. And so obviously the restoration of Engine eight last year and adding Rescue 12 back into the system last year helped ease the pressure that would typically be applied to our organization as a result of increasing call volumes. So across the city for first response, first engine or truck on scene, we're still writing about the same ballpark. We've been about 6 minutes and 35 seconds, and we're still meeting the national standard to get the paramedics on scene within the allotted time set out by the NFPA. Of course, to your question, as you add a resource back into the system, which our data shows clearly that we're still seeing the same call volume increases, we're staying about where it was and it's continued to grow over the years. Adding into the resource back into the system will enable to enable us to ease the pressure citywide. I've said this before many times publicly that just because we put a resource in North Long Beach doesn't necessarily mean it's dedicated just North Long Beach at any given moment throughout the day, that resource could be called upon to respond down to Naples Island or to downtown and vice versa. So as we add another resource into the system and it's been proposed Engine 17, which is over on the east side of Long Beach, that will help ease a lot of pressure that we currently feel in central Long Beach or downtown by adding that additional resource. So we're excited about that as an opportunity, excited to continue that discussion. And I think anything that we add back into the system now will just make our system more effective than it already is. Speaker 9: And I appreciate that explanation and I've shared with with my residents. I know we've increased response times in the third district in several areas, and that has occurred as a result of all the restorations, whether it's a rescue 12, whether it's hopefully going to be 17, whatever it is, it takes the pressure off of the whole system , and I think that's a great thing. So I wanted to highlight that. I also noted that one of the changes that you have proposed for FY 19, I think it's a really great change and I don't think it was highlighted enough, with all due respect, in your presentation, because it's actually a business friendly addition, and that's the addition of the additional staff for Planned Trek. I think that, you know, sometimes you don't associate the fire department as as helping us be business friendly. But for us to be able to expedite this and streamline some of these requirements as businesses go through the permitting process, I think it's it's really important. So thank you. Would you like to comment on that. Speaker 5: Councilmember? I just want to say thank you for acknowledging the work of our Fire Prevention Bureau. That that bureau is led by Deputy Chief Rick Brant, which we all know is perhaps one of the best in the business in the world of fire prevention, special events, filming all the stuff that he does and his entire team in fire prevention have embraced his vision there. And that is to be more business friendly, to speed up the process and ensure that those people that want to want to do business in Long Beach know that they have a partner in the fire department, that we're going to help them get to where they want to be. So I appreciate you bringing that up. And I apologize for not highlighting a greater. Well. Speaker 9: It's again, it's it's kind of not a natural connection. But I think that the, you know, residents may not understand the important role. And we have a team member on the city three team Lisa West, who's our business liaison. And anytime a business applies for a permit in the district, she kind of holds their hand and walks them through the process. And it's only been through her eyes that I've been able to see the work that the fire department does. So thank you for that position. I wholeheartedly support it. I also want to commend you on the use of the electronic patient care reporting system. I had the opportunity to go on a ride along with the fire department recently and got to see them use it. And my sister is one of the physicians at the New Star Behavioral Center that we have and Councilman Oranga as a district. And she told me that she is actually when the Long Beach fire has come, has been using the program and she was speaking very fondly of it. So, you know. So you can get some feedback from one of the practitioners on the other side. I think it's been very successful, so thank you for that. And then finally, just a comment to you. Gosh, it was probably about a year ago that you and I were having just an informal conversation and you shared with me some of your vision on peer support programs. And who would have known at that time how important your commitment to peer support would have been for your department in the last year. So so kudos to you for having that vision and for making mental health mental health focus such an important part of your leadership. Both both the work that you do and the work that Chief Learner does involves leadership of a group of people who are susceptible to vicarious trauma on a daily basis. And again, your foresight was very, very, very apparent to me during the last few months. So thank you, Councilmember. Speaker 5: I feel like I need to jump in here. That's that's as much as I embrace that. The entire command staff, the deputy chiefs, the assistant chiefs, the rank and file, our union, everybody in our organization embraced that mission together. And one of our deputy chief said during we're going through a very dark time about a month ago, said that everything we started to put in place five years ago was was preparation for that moment. And I couldn't be more thankful for the work that these men and women in the organization do and the support that they lent to that program specifically. Speaker 9: Well, thank you. Thank you for keeping up the great work of your department despite unforeseen circumstances. We all appreciate it. Thank you. So I'm going to move on now to Chief Luna, if that's okay. Chief Luna, a couple of questions I had for you. You talk on page three of our department overview, you talk a little bit about the pilot staffing models that we have. And I was hoping that maybe you could share a little bit more about those pilot staffing models and what we're hoping to accomplish with those. And I think that's kind of the use of some non Swarns to assist to support. Speaker 5: Members of the council. Councilwoman Price Our vision for that is, is kind of something we did years ago and we stop doing, and that's to hire civilian individuals to go out and in a pilot form and handle some priority. Three calls. Some report calls, non-injury, traffic collision, things of that nature to relieve some of the pressure from the police officers out there. There were some things that worked in the past, some things that didn't. I think it's it's worth trying and and see where it gets us and and see how. Number one, the safety of the employees is important. Is it going to increase our capacity in other areas if we can get more proactive time for our patrol officers to do either quality of life work, more crime prevention work, getting out of their cars and playing with kids in the park, that would be awesome. We're always trying to find ways to maximize our police officers times in the field, and we think this may be a way to do it. Speaker 9: So are you open to some suggestions on what that might look like in terms of the support role? Speaker 3: Of course. Speaker 9: Well, I don't know how defined the program has been, but I do know. Well, first, let me just start with saying you're absolutely correct that these are changing times in the world of law enforcement and public safety. And I commend you and your command staff for being nimble and responding to some of the changes that have taken place that have really changed the way policing is done. And although there's a lot of, you know, kind of fluffy rhetoric about how things should be done, at the end of the day, it's our police officers that people turn to when they have quality of life issues or when a crime happens and they expect them to solve every problem. And oftentimes it's not a police problem. And when we take tools away from police officers that limit their ability to enforce laws, I think it puts a lot of pressure on police departments to solve problems that really are not their problems to solve. So I commend you for leading at a time like this, and I can understand that right now is probably one of the most challenging times for someone for police officers, because it's very hard to recruit people into the profession. With all the changes that are happening. So I appreciate your commitment to enforcement and I support your efforts to do the work on the front end, the outreach, the education, the work on the back end, and the diversion programs and efforts to rehabilitate that, balanced with the commitment to enforcement, I think, is what makes a modern day police chief successful. And I see all of those qualities in you. So thank you. Speaker 5: I appreciate that. And if I could just have a quick couple seconds, if I can have a lot of our command staff is here, if you guys can just stand really quick, it's good to stretch after being sitting here for several hours, but just stand and be acknowledged. It's it's a team effort from our entire command staff and every every employee who works on this police department. Just absolutely amazing people. We're so blessed to have them all. So thank you, guys. Speaker 9: Absolutely. Thank you. They do amazing work. And I have been I have been incredibly blessed to work one on one with several of them sitting up there. So I feel very lucky about that. So before I go back to that question about whether you're open to well, no, I'll go into it right now. So I think there there's probably some opportunities. And for us to use the resources that that you've talked about, these are new kind of creative pilots for things like supporting our police officers. You know, when an arrest is made, could there be an inventory team that would that would identify the property and store the property so that the officer doesn't. Could there be a booking team that would transport the individual and book that person so that the officer doesn't have to go to jail? But just, you know, those kinds of ideas of of how non sworn could be used so that we're not taking police officers off the street. But I defer entirely to you and your team on on how that works. But I will say that is something that I've heard a lot of police chiefs are looking at right now in terms of trying to manage resources with the changing staffing and the changing limitations that we have in the industry. So I, I think that that has some potential and I look forward to hearing how that rolls out in practice. You aren't one of the pages here in our budget book, we talk about key measures, performance measures, and of course, we have on their response time to priority one calls. And we have violent crime rates. And this isn't meant as a criticism whatsoever. But is there a reason we don't track property crimes or quality of life crimes as a performance measure? Because, you know, those seem to be the bulk of the calls for service that some of us get. And I wonder if there is a way to track those as a performance measure as well, or is this kind of the best practice to track these things is performance measure. Speaker 5: We absolutely track crime and that's how we anybody would grade their police department, including ours. For us, as of July, our our July index crime report, that's the latest one we have. Our property crime is down 8.5% throughout the entire city. So that is one area that we consistently look at in regards to quality of life crimes, whether they're lower grade property crimes, that is well within what we look at. And each month. And I'd invite anybody behind the dais to join us for our monthly crime meeting. That Deputy Chief Heber facilitates to see exactly how much we do, how much we pay attention to, and the creative responses by our entire team of employees to address these these crime trends. It's it's absolutely impressive, and it's done consistently. We take this stuff personal. We lose a lot of sleep over it. We want to make sure that this city is safe and we do everything we can to make sure that happens. Speaker 9: Thank you, Chief. I appreciate that. And I know you're committed to that. I just I would like to see those numbers highlighted more as well, because those are really important to anyone, you know, who has had a residential burglary or something and feels that that crime maybe isn't taken as seriously, because I know it is. And I want us to highlight those numbers more. So we talked a little bit about grants and in your presentation you covered grants a little bit. And I think you touched upon this, that maybe we've paused for applying for some of the grants that require certification because of the state and our position on the the Values Act . But is there any indication that national policies are going to impact our existing grants or the grants that we're relying on for Fy19? Speaker 5: I would say yes, yes, and yes. That is such a fluid situation with national politics being what they are. There's consistent challenges in court and honestly, we're working hand in hand with our city attorney consistently to try and stay ahead of this. We don't want to miss out on any grant opportunities. And it seems like, at least in some of the ones that we weren't able to put in for because of our current city policies, those are things we're paying attention to. And obviously if we get to an area where we're deficient and funding will be coming back to this policy body to ask for additional funding, if we can't get it through the normal grant channels that we normally get them from. Speaker 9: And Chief, I'm asking you as a as a member of this body to please do that, because it's important. I think that we know I'll tell you right now, as a matter of principle and as a matter of my fiduciary duty, having more police officers on the street and having the resources to be able to fund that is more important to me than sending a message. And so I think if we're in a situation where you feel that significant grant funds are going to be affected by some policy that we're setting, please. I want to know that because I want to make those decisions with that in mind, because we are at a great place with our police department. We're continuing to increase and hopefully, hopefully there is some wisdom at the highest levels of this nation that realizes that we shouldn't be punished. But if that starts to happen, then I would ask that you please keep us up to date on that. Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am. Speaker 9: Or there is an imposition of a traffic collision fee that we're going to be implementing. Is that a fee that's assessed to the suspect or the defendant in a DUI case? Speaker 5: To the suspect. Speaker 9: Or suspect or defendant. Did they have to be charged? Do we now? Speaker 5: I'm sorry. I'd have to double check on that. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 9: No problem. Thank you. The transfer of the 27 positions at the airport, the TSOs. Speaker 6: Does that affect their job at all, their job. Speaker 9: Duties or their training? Is that something that is going to be impactful to those 27 individuals at all? Speaker 5: We believe the impact will be positive. They will fall under our imbroglio, our chain of command, our training standards. And that will, even though they are great people and they've done great work out at the airport. We believe that the scenario that we're proposing makes them better, makes us better, makes our airport and city safer. Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you, Chief. Speaker 9: You on. Speaker 6: Page 384. Speaker 9: Where we outlined the summary of changes, there's a reference to downgrading two positions a sergeant and a lieutenant position. But then there was also a reference in the PowerPoint about filling two vacancies. Is that I'm sorry, removing those vacancies. Is that the same reference? Speaker 5: There is. There is one vacancy with the sergeant. The lieutenant position is not vacant, at least not in the location that is proposed to be reduced. Speaker 9: Do we know what departments those are going to be in? Speaker 5: The lieutenant comes from the patrol bureau and the sergeant comes from the investigations bureau. Okay. Proposed. Speaker 6: Okay. Speaker 9: So my only concern with those is that, you know, there are certain that many obviously every division in the police department benefits from expertize. But there are a couple of areas where I think we especially need expertize right now. And I would hate to downgrade positions and that would be with pretty. Special events. Many of those are events are in my district and in Council Member Pearce's district. I know representing the coast. And so having that historical context and that knowledge to be able to work with and and collaborate with community members is so important that I would hope that, you know, I wish we weren't downgrading those positions or filling those vacancies. But if that has to be done, I just would ask if there could be a second look as we go through these discussions to see if that's necessary. Speaker 5: Yes, we will. We have been doing that. Those are very difficult positions to reduce. But in a sense, when you get the directions to balance your general fund budget, at the end of the day, that equates to about $140,000 that I'm going to have to find somewhere else. There are there are no good positions to reduce. We're just at from a capacity perspective, that's just where we're at. So it was the best case scenario of not a very good situation to begin with, if that makes sense. Speaker 9: It does, Chief, and I appreciate you sharing that. I think it's important for me and my colleagues to understand that, because it may be important for us as we think about the budget. So I appreciate that. Thank you. I know that we're going to do a body worn camera. You know, we're doing the pilot with the 200. I've I've said this many times and I know a lot of my colleagues feel the same way. We'd love to see a full roll out of body worn cameras. And this is more, you know, a request to the city manager. I think that we think of a way that we can incorporate a full rollout in FY 20. And I'm hoping that maybe we can collect some data on the positions that we're going to be funding to examine the cost of redactions for the body worn camera , to see what the true cost of that will be and maybe pilot, you know, for those 200, how many praise are we getting and how many redactions are we actually doing? Because it may be that we've overestimated what the operating costs might be, might be. And so I just hope that we would be thinking about a FY 20. We really need to have body worn cameras throughout the whole city. I can't stress important how important that is. Speaker 5: Yes, we agree. And that's the purpose for not going city wide deployment at this time. To do them in south and north gives us the opportunity to look at the logistics of it. The investigative portion of it, the proportion of it. And we believe doing this for the amount of time we're going to do it will give us the ability to come back and give all of you a true cost for what this would cost for a full blown body worn camera program. Speaker 9: Great. Thank you, Chief. Do we anticipate to get some data on the clinician that's in the jail in terms of how many people the clinician sees and how many are referred to successfully for services? Speaker 5: That is our goal. We have some very, very smart people working on our innovation team and over at the Health Department, they're all about stats and data, and I can't wait to see what comes out. I'm really excited that the city put this much effort into looking at creative solutions, not just complain about criminal justice reform, but look at thinking out of the box and trying to figure out how to solve these problems long term. Speaker 9: Thank you, Chief. And then I just have one final question, and that is, I know you referenced the number, I think it was 825, but how many sworn officers do we have now and what would be the ideal number of officers for a city of our size? But I'm going to I'm going to refer to some of our financial policies. But looking at it from an optimistic view. Speaker 6: What would it be? Speaker 5: So you notice everyone laughing over here at me when you ask me that question. Our F-18 budget, it's sworn numbers are 848. That's what we're budgeted at. And in regards to what's that right number? Honestly, four, I mean, there's formulas that different people use. And you look at formulas for each cities. If you just look at California, if you compare us to Oakland, Sacramento, Fresno, we're within about the same range. There's arguments about, you know, officers that are just assigned to you as opposed to contract bodies. Every city is unique. They have interesting needs. I can tell you this, our people are working their butts off. I believe that the officers we have are doing the same work of the officers we had seven or eight years ago before the recession hit. All of you wonderful people, but you work our butts off. And I'm not complaining. That's just the business we're in. So. So getting to the number of. Of what we need. I know when we had 1200, we used to say it wasn't enough. It just depends on the community. My job is to stay engaged with all of you, with our community consistently, listen to the needs that they have, and then try and prioritize and figure out what we can and cannot do. You guys, all of you, ladies and gentlemen, are, I think, are doing a good job of managing the city. We are with our department that runs a lot on overtime. And and like I said, our people are working their tails off. But I think we're getting the job done. So we'll continue to monitor it. I will not be shy about coming to you and saying that we're at capacity and we may not be able to do something that you're asking us to do or reshift and reprioritize because we just don't have the people to do it. Now I'm not talking. That's everyday business. If we're dealing with an emergency or where we've got to call people back to work. Our department is very well trained and very well prepared to deal with that any day of the week. Speaker 9: Thank you, Chief. And and just in conclusion, I agree. Your department and the men and women of your department are doing tremendous work, and it's obvious in the things that they do every day. I recently have the opportunity to go to the Long Beach courthouse on an Orange County case because a judge had sent a case over to Long Beach because of a conflict. But anyway, as I was walking through the hallway in my capacity as an Orange County prosecutor, I saw the hallways of the courthouse lined with Long Beach officers. And I'm a huge sap, and I don't think anyone here is that shocked to hear that. But I literally had to take a moment in the hallway just looking out at the Sea of Black with just the sense of incredible pride for this department. I wanted to walk up to every officer and say, Hi, I'm on the council. I'm so proud of what you're doing. But I didn't do that. I just walked by them as as did the other prosecutors in the courthouse. But I just feel just I get to work with them all the time and I get to work with officers from agencies all over every day. And I'm really proud of the officers from the Long Beach Police Department. They're incredibly respectful and everything that they do and our firefighters as well. So thank you to both chiefs for everything. Speaker 5: We really appreciate that. Just a correction on the numbers. I said before the recession, I said 1200. It's actually 1020. That was our where we were top budgeted numbers before. I just want to correct that before somebody puts out in the paper and says something about that. Speaker 9: Thank you, Chief. Okay. So just one final question. I have and I really don't want to call you the master of disaster or whatever it is they've been calling you. I'm not sure. Do you like it? I don't. Speaker 6: I can't tell if you like it. You don't like it? I don't. Speaker 7: Think so. Remember that it originated somewhere? Speaker 9: Yes. By the city manager. Speaker 6: I believe. Speaker 9: I've heard it come out of his mouth. Anyway, I wanted to just acknowledge the great outreach and partnership that you and your team have been doing. We've been privileged to have two San Army walks with your team, and I think they both had great turnouts and it's been fantastic. So thank you for that. The 911 operators, you talked about the ongoing training. I just want to make sure that that training also includes maybe how to interact with the residents that are calling about. The priority three calls are the quality of life calls, because some of the concerns that we get sometimes from residents is that if they're case that they're calling on isn't a priority one call that maybe, you know, they get a dismissive tone or something like that. I just want to make sure that every resident feels heard and that that training includes that type of education. Speaker 7: Yeah, totally. Totally agree. Councilmember, if you recall that the Public Safety Committee meeting a couple of months ago, we talked about, you know, what residents should expect when they call and what they should expect from our dispatchers. And one of the primary things is that every call is important and the residents should feel that way and assure residents that help will be on the way for their calls, the way that they're prioritized. So we don't make that distinction in that regard. They're all important to us. We really appreciate, Councilmember, your support of the annual Tsunami Evacuation Walk and Resource Fair. It's growing every year in size and scope. And we think that's and that's an important community event that you support and that we try to support with you. Speaker 9: Of course, it's our pleasure to do so. And and a huge kudos to a nine on one operator. So I ask that question not because I've identified any opportunities for improvement, because having worked with Commander Herzog, he's really good at when residents would say, well, I called 911 and they said, blah, blah, blah. He would pull the tape and send it. And sure enough, there were some factual inaccuracies in some of the way that the phone calls were reported. And in every single time that I had the opportunity to listen to those calls, it was always the dispatchers who were very respectful and frankly, often abused by people for no apparent reason. And I just think they do a really great job of standing their ground, but also being very empathetic. So thank you. Speaker 3: They? Excuse me. Speaker 8: Okay, you guys, I just woke up. Okay. This is mango units. Speaker 6: Thank you. Knowing that I have the pleasure to serve on Budget Oversight Committee, I'll hold back some of my questions. And I also think that there are so many of you here today that are here for future agenda items. And while the budget is the most exciting thing in most of our lives, I know that you have other important matters. So I'm going to get to the meat and potatoes of my quick questions. I appreciate the work of our fire department. I really appreciate going over the budget in detail, and I don't have any questions for you at this time. My questions are really going to be with the police department at this time. So first, I want to compliment you and the T.I department for the new platform of tracking crimes. I think that this has been a significant contribution to the community. I want to give a special thank you to Commander Herzog, who has since moved on from the East Division. He recognized the number of individuals in our communities that used to use the crime report tracking website and the major setbacks that it had. He took their input and worked hand in hand with community members who would identify specific inaccuracies on the website to try to identify as we moved into this new system, what caused those inaccuracies. And I think that accurate, important, accurate, transparent data for the community to know and be able to see their own crime stats is important in communities taking ownership and making those calls when they see something that is suspicious. However, we've had some challenges with the Go Language P.D. app. I appreciate the Ericsson for getting that back online. As soon as our neighborhood association said that it was down. It is back up and running tonight. I really, really appreciate the ability for a community member to give their own police report. However, when we talk about adding non sworn to do that, I have some concerns in terms of costs and training. And so I'll bring back up what I brought up four years ago and three years ago and then I kind of gave up on for a while, but I'm back at it. We have 48 police officers scheduled to retire this year. We are we instituting a reserve program where they could come back to the city in a reserve capacity. Knowing and understanding the knowledge and information that they have from their years on the force where they could potentially take some of these community service officer. Non-emergency. Priority three. Focused. Immediate. The information on the new pilot program with notes on Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 5: We actually have several police officers who have retired and have become reserve officers now in our reserve program. They're slated to work. I want to say it's 10 hours a month and some special events because it's a volunteer assignment. Mm hmm. Not to me. Not too many people are going to volunteer to go out and become a report card. So that's a little bit of a challenge. So that's why we wanted to try this program. Again, we're just giving it a shot, see what works. We're open to any option that would reduce the police officers workload and have them do more priority type work. Speaker 6: How many reserves do we currently have? Speaker 5: Sorry about that. I'd have to get back to you on that. I want to say it's in the range of about 25 or 30. Speaker 6: So I will ask that our Long Beach police officers who are considering retirement in the next 12 months or have retired over the last 12 months, I think in the next 24 months we have upwards of I don't even want to say eligible because it would scare us the numbers, but I would guess we've been averaging somewhere between 30 and 40 to 50 a year. And so I would strongly encourage all of those reserves to do that. And then I would also encourage us to look at an opportunity where, in addition to your volunteer hours, other reserve agencies, after you meet your minimum requirements of your 10 hours, you can be on an hourly paid position, which is at a significant reduction from what an hourly full timer would cost because they're already receiving their pension and they're already retired. They have to keep under their 960 hours unless they get an exemption depending on the agency from was ERA or I can't remember the acronym is for LAPD. But I hope that we will sit down and explore this as a opportunity because the ability for us to keep those individuals, so many of them are changing agencies and going back to work full time. And we just are missing out on that experience. They know the streets, they know the communities, they know the neighborhoods, they know the trends. Which leads me to my second question. I'm the big the. Investigations, Sergeant. Is it specifically burglary? I know Councilman Price mentioned a couple of different areas that it could have been in, but I don't think I heard what specific section the downgraded sergeant was coming from. Speaker 5: Burglary. Speaker 6: It is burglary. Okay. And is that an area where. We are caught up or behind in those investigations. I know that we have backlogs in lots of areas. Speaker 5: We have backlogs in all of our investigative units. Speaker 6: So that would concern me. I know that we want to clear these investigations because the sooner we get these individuals in jail, the better chance we have of less victimization. So I look forward to working with you and your department on what those opportunities are. I really just can't stress enough what a great outcome reserve programs have been, including you as our police chief, who started as a reserve. And I'm so proud of that and and the work that you did and and how you've led our department over these last few years. And so I hope that at least it's something that we can consider over the next several weeks, because 25 reserve officers I know that we had a a staff member in your office who ended up retiring, who was working on building that back up. And we had regular meetings. But as that staffing change happens, I know it's challenging. And so anything I can do to help and work with you and the team, I just feel so passionately that keeping these individuals with that level of experience on the team is so important. And with that, I will pass it off to the next council member, since I know it's a long meeting. Speaker 8: Thank you. Thank you. Next Miss Universe. So thank you. Speaker 4: My little lighthouse. I can't tell if it's on or off. Thank you. Have a very few. I'm not very. If you have very little to say. I think it's a great budget and it's wonderful. And I think that thanks to the citizens of Long Beach, they helped us basically get this budget that we have right now that we can really implement a lot of our programs and re and reintroduce others like my my colleague, Councilmember Mungo, who had no questions for fire. I do. And I had no questions from for PD budget a little bit. And I have just one for the master of disaster. Speaker 5: In terms of fire, you didn't mention anything. Speaker 4: About the research program, the Community Emergency Response Team. I was wondering, is that still in effect or I know we were challenged of a year ago or a couple of years back. I'm getting some funding for some emergency kits or some igloos for to store some emergency equipment. What's the status of that? Speaker 5: Mr. Vice Mayor, Councilmembers Councilmember Urunga Yes. The program is still very much active. In fact, this past year we trained 155 additional adults in in basic cert programs. This program has has grown beyond just cert now. And we're now we're doing teenage cert and we do Spanish language cert classes. And the program is started to grow throughout the city. Jake Heflin, as you guys you guys all know Jake Heflin, he is our program manager for Year Program and it's thriving, doing very well. And this past week, I'm happy to report that we've got a number of young men and women in our community that come from challenged backgrounds throughout the community. And all sorts of different situations have been put into what we're calling a fire core program. And they've gone out to the fire stations. They're riding along, they're getting firsthand experience on what it's like to be with the fire, the fire department and firefighters on a daily basis. But each one of those young men and women teenagers went through a 24 hour training class before we let them go right along with our firefighters. So, yes, the program is functioning at a high level. It's thriving, continuing to grow, and we anticipate it will continue to grow in popularity for years to come. Speaker 4: That's that's great to hear because I know it's a very important community benefit that we have out there. And it really gets our our members of the community engaged with the city in terms of disaster preparedness and and being able to provide emergency response when we need it, which is a good segue way to my next question . A lot of us were already a lot of the questions that I had there was that we're asked by our customer representative. Thank you for being so astute with a lot of your questions regarding disaster preparedness. We great that one. The one aspect of your presentation that stood out to me was the cross training of the dispatchers. Could you go into a little bit more detail in terms of what does cross training entail in regards to their their performing their their jobs as dispatchers currently? Speaker 7: Thank you, Councilmember. Currently, we have co-located dispatchers, police and Fire Hall located on the second floor of the Emergency Communications Operations Center and have been co-located with similar skill sets since that building was erected about 15 years ago. We've always identified. The potential to create some economies and skills as well as to be able to provide additional resources when we have large scale incidents that occur in the city, like a major fire, like the Paradise Gardens fire that we experienced a couple of years ago, or like some of the police activities that we've also experienced . So these are very similar disciplines. Staff are all accustomed to talking to telephone and doing radio work, some in code, some not in code. But we've had success with the dispatchers that we've been able to put through the training course. As I said, it provides a force multiplier for us when we have a large event. Our challenge in the cross training program is our need to continue is our need to answer all of the phone calls that we have as they're coming in. So an analogy that I use quite often is we have to keep this plane flying while we're trying to build another wing, and our priority is to keep the plane from flying. So we spend most of our time just bringing in new dispatchers, training them in one or the other, discipline, police or fire. And then as time and resources permit, then we go through some training on a cross-training program with other dispatchers. So we're about 20% of our dispatchers that have completed the training. They go back and forth between the two centers. If there's an influx of calls on one side, we will bring some cross training dispatchers in to assist as opposed to calling dispatchers from home to come in. So we have a much quicker response and it has paid dividends for us. Our priority, though, is, as I said, reducing overtime by bringing in by training dispatchers continuously on one discipline or another. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what I figured that cross-training was included because I would recall that there were actually two two sites, one for a fire in another location and one for police, which was down here in the basement of City Hall once upon a time. And so now with the the EOC establish out there, Redondo, it it creates a great opportunity to have these these two services put together. And the cross training is a is of course, a one of those benefits that the community would would greatly benefit from because of the level of service that would be expanded. So that's what I have. Mace Mary, you can wake up now. Speaker 5: Thank you for the visit. Speaker 8: You guys were losing our audience. Speaker 3: You must answer. Speaker 8: Mrs. Pierce. Speaker 3: Here. Speaker 6: My turn. Great. Speaker 1: Oh, excuse me. Speaker 6: Well, I want to say what a great budget it is. I think that the staff has done a fantastic job. And when I sat down and looked at it on the first day, I just kind of sat with it because it is such a different budget than the first budget that I was able to participate in passing . And so I just want to give a congratulations to all the staff that's worked really hard on this. I'm going to go the opposite direction. So let's talk about disaster preparedness. I want to first say how great it has been to work with your office. We have done some fantastic things. We've done some Facebook Live videos with your team, or we came in and did one around earthquakes and then we went to the aquarium and talked about tsunamis. And so my goal is hopefully to do one of those quarterly with your office and also with fire and PD. And so I just want to thank you for being willing to think outside the box and having your team like they come in with everything. So when we did the one for the earthquake, she brought in a whole box of goodies to show everybody all the little bitty things that you can do to make a difference that now my house is finally disaster ready. So I want to thank you for that. I did want to ask my staff, did the active shooter training in the main library last year, do you have plans for that training again in the next year? Speaker 7: Thank you, council member. We appreciate your staff outreach to us to do some Facebook Live. We think, you know, as many other departments utilizing social media really helps us to get our message out. And especially in the area like disaster preparedness, where people don't really think about it much until something happens and at that point it's too late. So it's great that we able to get out in front. And so we appreciate your participation there. Yes. Last year we did active shooter training with every department in the city. We did it with all of the council officers. We did it with the ranchos, with the with the museums. And we continue to offer those services to city departments that need it, council officers, turnover and staff. And we're happy to come back out and do those trainings. Speaker 6: Wonderful. I have a hole about a three new people on my staff and I've got seven. A new intern. So I think we'll be calling you soon. I did have one other question. The current roles of the administration, bureau managers and disaster preparedness manager positions. What will change with them with the title change? Speaker 7: Yeah, you know that that nothing will change with the title change. The title change better reflects the the magnitude of the job as opposed from an officer to a manager. But with our staff, we have the same we have the same responsibilities and administration as other departments have, sometimes on a smaller basis in some areas, sometimes greater in some other areas. And so we are really, really fortunate that through a recruitment process, we were able to identify Diane Brown, had previous experience with the city, could hit the ground running and kept us all of our recruitment. Everything stayed on track. Speaker 6: So great. Okay. I think that that's pretty much it will be outreaching again, like I said, to do a couple more activities with with your office and just really appreciate your efforts. And I am going to ask my staff that at the end of each of our signatures that we add to download the alert app on their phones. And it did take me a while when I tried to do it, I couldn't multitask and do it, which I'm a pro at multitasking. So it took me a minute, but we're going to add that to the end of our signatures. And maybe if we could do that for the entire city, that might be a great step to get awareness out about that. Thank you very much. Okay. Let's go to let's see Chief Luna. I have several questions on PD and I'm going to try not to duplicate those that have already come up. And before I begin, I want to say when we looked at the budget and I saw the added quality of life officers, the bike officers, I was elated in my district where we have a it's a denser district than parts of the east side. We've had many requests, particularly in our business improvement district, for bike officers that are able to be more nimble. And so I if you could walk through for me where the bike officers will be, I see some metro, but what is the ability to have them in our beds, like the Dhaba Fourth Street and our beaches? It seems like an appropriate use on our beaches outside of the the trucks that we have. Yeah. Speaker 5: Councilmember Pearce, the concept or the vision that we have for this rapid bicycle response team that's proposed is we wanted to get one sergeant and five police officers really available to the entire city. It would not be for just one area. The concept would be is that we put them on some type of whether it's a bicycle, motocross bicycle, put. Speaker 6: Them on scooters. Speaker 5: No scooters, no scooters, less DC he says yes, but we have some significant challenges throughout the city with not our homeless population but the criminals within the homeless population. And as most of you can attest to, they're on the beaches, in the flood controls, places that are very difficult for a police car to get into. So when this team gets put together, if it if it goes through, they'll figure out the type of vehicles to get into those areas. Their task would be to focus on the high frequency offenders, the people with extensive criminal histories that we see out on our streets within that population and the significant mentally ill. So that team would focus on that group and we believe it would reduce the numbers of crimes that are occurring within that population that is increasing our overall index crime, especially in the aggravated assault categories. We are having multiple incidences where the individuals I've described to you are either the suspects or the victims. This team can get to them and we believe would have an impact. But whatever the problems are anywhere in the city, that's where they would go. Speaker 3: Great. Speaker 6: Okay, let's see. And then I had a question on the quality of life officers. I know with the Hart team, you know, there's only so much that they can do with a quality of life officer. Do they have the ability to transport or do they have to call in somebody else if they have a situation where they need to take someone to the hospital or something like that. Speaker 5: They transport themselves. Speaker 6: They can. Speaker 5: Yes, great. They do. And they do often. Speaker 6: Okay. And I wanted to to talk about the community policing model. I remember my first budget, we talked about this and it was like we just don't have the capacity. We don't have the capacity to even talk about getting out of our cars and playing games with the community members. So I'm really happy to hear your comments tonight about that. And just wanted to highlight it's great to be chipping away and adding more officers each year to get us closer to that to that goal. Speaker 5: If you follow us on social media, hopefully you do. You'll see a lot of our officers engaging, getting out of their cars, whether it's parks, neighborhoods. I'm hoping that through the clerk's office, they give you all the capes that we handed out on National. Speaker 6: We've got capes. Speaker 5: Yeah. And that's something our officers are doing every day, every night and really, really building relationships out there consistently. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you for that. And following that question on community policing, what is the standard for keeping officers within their beat? How long do we typically shift somebody around or keep them. Speaker 5: In patrol calls for service. It is currently a six month deployment. The officers get to choose based on seniority division shift days off and again, that's based on seniority. Some end up staying a lot longer than six months because they like where they work, but it gives people the opportunity to move around the city and do some different things. Speaker 6: So is there I know that in having some conversations with other cities and other jurisdictions where they have attempted to have people in the same community for two years or three years and that same area. So they're able to build that trust with with that population and really they're able to outreach them and build trust and not having to rebuild trust every six months. Is there any I mean, I'm not telling you how to do your job. And same thing with Susie Councilmember Price. You know, some advice on how do we continue to build that trust within our communities. Is there anything else keeping us from extending that time or encouraging people to stay longer? Speaker 5: But it is something that we listen to. We look at best practices, not only in the region, around us, in the state and the entire country. And those are things that we assess. Each patrol division has what we call police resource officers, and they're there a little bit longer, depending on if there's movement, opportunity for promotion or opportunities for another bureau. But this is something that we believe works here for our city. It it works for our employees, but we're constantly reevaluating it to see if if we're having challenges in building trust in certain neighborhoods. We believe at this time this six month deployment is working for us, but we're never stuck in our ways. We always look at best practices. Speaker 6: Okay. Thank you for that. And then you mentioned that we're running a lot on over time. I think I had a brief conversation with you in regards and maybe financial management can help us understand. I understand that the Tidelands funds could be used to pay for overtime in the Tidelands area. Is that something that one what would that look like and to is that something that would help? PD Particularly in our Entertainment Convention Center, I mean, the beach zone there, we I know we have a lot of challenges right there in our marina. So if you could walk through what that would look like using Tidelands funds for PD overtime. Speaker 5: I'll start off and then if you need to add to that financial wizard yourself. Speaker 3: However. Speaker 5: We currently do use overtime from Tidelands to do exactly what you just described, and we've been doing that successfully. Generally, we get the support not only from all of you, but the city manager's office and financial management to be flexible in regards to retrieving funding, overtime funding from different funds. And although it's welcomed and it's effective. I'm really concerned about our capacity right now in overtime employee wellness, psychological well-being, making sure our employees are spending time with their own families so they are more productive at work. So those are all things we have to fine balance with. And that's the thing I talked about earlier is if at one point over time is just not the way we're going to get this job done, I have to come back to this council and say we are beyond our capacity and we may need more staffing, structural staffing increases. Speaker 6: And I mean, I've said many times that I don't necessarily support overtime with our PD because I understand how stressful your job is. And so having a department that's all working overtime leads could possibly lead to, you know, situations in the field that we could deter if we didn't have officers working overtime. So I think what would be helpful for me and maybe it could be in front of this council or not too from for on how many overtime hours we have and what would it look like to fill those with with FTEs instead would be kind of helpful I think for us to understand, not necessarily in this budget cycle, but for the next year for me to understand would be helpful. Did Financial have anything else to add? Speaker 5: I believe that the police chief is correct that we are already using the overtime from Tidelands, but we will. Speaker 4: Verify that and get back to you. Speaker 6: I think that we are okay. And then one to last things for PD. I think that this morning we would we sent you an email, but I did go to a community meeting last night and I don't mean to put you on the spot, but one of the challenges that I've had in my district is that we have transients or folks that are on drugs have a situation where they get violent or physical or cause a situation with another resident they call PD. And the gentleman last night I asked him to call to make sure that residents know that if they're not happy with the situation that they had, that they need to call and talk to a supervisor in PD. So number one two is that when we have situations like having PD come out and they said we want to file a charge against this person, this homeless person that attacked me or whatever, that sometimes the officers will say, well, why do you want to do that? There's nothing we can really do. And that they feel. I've had three situations the last two months where they said they let the person walk away and the officer was said that they were on drugs or they were high. And so that's what we're grappling with with the beach challenge. And so how can we help knowing that we don't have room in our jails, knowing about Prop 47, what is a best practice for our constituents to understand and what they need to do whenever they do call police and they feel like they've been in a poor situation? Speaker 5: To let us know. I need dates and times. Yeah. If. If somebody alleges that one of our officers responded to the scene of an incident and they didn't perform their duties. I need to know. I need to follow up. Many times we get those type of allegations. Somebody stated it earlier. We'll check with our communications center. Everything's taped. And if I've learned anything in the last three years of my career is there's two sides, every story. So we get both sides and we figure out what happened. And many times people do get frustrated because they call the police. And when we get out there, we find that no crime has been committed. And and obviously, you know, there's sometimes we can do something. But taking a crime report, you don't take one unless a crime was committed. But it's still our obligation to explain to somebody what what we're doing and why and explain from that perspective. And we have great employees, but once in a while we do make a mistake. And if we do, we'll correct it. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you for that night. That was exactly what I told community members last night. But I know that I had a room of 30 people that are watching at home right now. So I wanted to have it not just come from my mouth, but have it come from yours as well. And my very last thing for PD is back to the airport. I wanted to understand what is what are the staff that are there now and what would be the change, having them underneath you versus the airport? And is there a cost differential there? Speaker 5: There is some cost differential for the exact numbers. I would need some assistance from financial management there. But in regards to the responsibilities being under the police department, it just completely changes the dynamics. Our training standards, our expectations are just very much different than what they've had in the past. And that's not to say I mean, it's a great group of people. They've been doing a good job. We just believe being in our chain of command, they would do that that much better and they would perform. From a safety perspective, making the airport a lot safer than it is now. Speaker 6: Can you. Has there been a situation or something that's happened that's been a red flag or is it just trying to create a different atmosphere? Speaker 5: A little of both. Speaker 6: Okay. I'll leave it there and we can check in before the budget processes are final as well. So that's all I have for you, Chief Luna. A fun. I didn't promise a short one, so I've got a fire next. I just want to say with fire, I'm extremely happy that in the last budget we were able to make the Hart team structural. They were adding a second Hart team. I love that we're adding 17, you know, crossing fingers. So I have two big questions for you. One is, I know that the Hart team cannot transport, and I know that we've had conversations with Janice Hahn. We've talked at the state level. Is there can you give us a status update on where we are in giving the the Hart team the ability to to transport? Speaker 5: Councilmember the that the intent of the program was to never have the Hart team transport. If you go back a couple of years when we first put the program in place as a pilot program, we were figuring it out. It proved to be very successful. So we, the council structurally funded it last year. One of the things I brought up during last year's budget presentation was ultimately down the road. We'd like to get to a place where we go to L.A. County Emergency Medical Services Agency and make that resource response capable under the 911. Speaker 6: So that's what I meant, right? Speaker 5: So it's not or it's not the the rig itself is not configured to transport first responders. So we are still in the process of debating and discussing how we should best approach that. I will tell you this. The Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency has already told us that adding another resource into the system is no problem, provided that has the right tools and equipment on it to meet the criteria that they call out. The question we're dealing with internally is the mission of the Hart team has proved to be very successful and we continue to grow the program and it's morphing. And the Joel Davis and Justin Berger, the two firefighter paramedics that are on that are teaching us really about what that program should be. And so we have to be very careful as we move forward not to take them away from their core mission. So I do like the idea of having them become a response capable unit that for surge protection or overflow or those situations where we're just out of resources, we could dispatch the Hart Unit, maybe an A and an ambulance to transport somebody, but we have to do it in a very measured and deliberate way to make sure that we are not on a daily basis taking them away from from their mission. Yeah, because their mission is important and they're making a difference on the things they're doing right now. Speaker 6: That is very helpful. Thank you for that. And I love that they're doing the trainings with everybody. I'm just really thrilled with how you guys have taken it and really been measured and slow at moving it to make sure it's the right fit. Also, I think the same thing that Councilmember Susie Price mentioned planned small business has been a key part of my term and I think that as much as we can do to open those doors quicker and so adding an additional staff for that, the electronic system is wonderful. So that's really what I have for you guys. I'm just really thrilled. And oh, I did have one more question. I know that you guys have a list we don't like to talk about all the time. Downtown Long Beach is growing our residents by 3000, we have station one. We have some improvements around the Queen Mary. If you could just talk about fire for me in downtown and what that looks like not only with our new residential units, but we are adding potentially three new hotels. What does it look like to reassess kind of the needs for first responders and downtown. Speaker 5: Councilmember Yes, that's an ongoing discussion we have in our Fire Prevention Bureau. And to your point, as I mentioned earlier, our fire prevention bureau, I think I'm biased, of course, but I think we're the best in the business around the state of California. We take a very proactive approach with our business community to get them to a yes where we want them to do what they. Want to do. We want them to do it in a safe and productive way. We constantly evaluate the downtown, the entire city, really. But the density in downtown is a constant topic of discussion and fire prevention. No more in in this area of the city are things that there's no no more sprawl. Now, we're going vertical with the density. Right instead of the response times have always been calculated in the fire service from the fire station to the address. But now we have to take into account not only to go from the fire station to the address, but you also have to go up 24 hours to get to wherever the issue may be. Speaker 6: Or 34. Speaker 5: In some cases. Yeah. So we are we are evaluating that scenario on a regular basis to make sure that we're doing what we can to augment our resource responses to the downtown environment. Secondarily, going back to fire prevention or Fire Prevention Bureau has been really good, as are all the developers that are coming to town and using the latest materials and the latest fire suppression systems really to try and minimize the incidence of a conflagration or fires happening. Not to say they won't happen and they're just meant to hold them in check until we get there. But our fire prevention, working in concert with the development community, working in concert with our operations folks, are talking about these things and crunching the numbers. And you said earlier our list, I believe you're referring to the list, the restoration priority list. And certainly if we ever got there, if we were fortunate enough to find the funding for Engine 17, we would certainly look very hard. Our next resource on that list is Engine one, two, one, or we would have have a discussion there. So we'll continue that discussion and do everything we can to minimize the potential impacts of density. Speaker 6: Great. I want to thank all three of you for your leadership. Everybody on your teams. Rank and file people that do the hard work every single day. I appreciate you guys. I know sometimes we have tough public conversations and sometimes put each other in difficult situations, but know from the bottom of my heart, my constituents, we appreciate you guys and we're going to continue to push to make sure that we remain the best that we can be and just really. Thank you. Speaker 8: Thank you. Congressman Soprano. Speaker 2: Thank you. My comments will be very brief. I just have one question. But to paraphrase Reggie Harrison, we've got to keep this council meeting flying and I'm afraid the wings might fall off so long. So no questions for the director of disaster preparedness or Police Chief Luna. But Chief Theresa, you probably want to know the topic I want to bring up here, and that's Engine ten. You're supposed to be shocked. Okay. Speaker 5: Now, actually, the first image you had in your. Speaker 2: Presentation was a photograph of Engine ten, but it was sitting out in front of Station 17. And that just struck me because. Speaker 5: Engine ten occupied Station 17, while Station ten was. Speaker 2: Being remodeled and you had the same thing for Engine 22 was that 17 while Station 22 is being remodeled. So I just realized since we've had Engine 17 and mothballs, Station 17, it's kind of been the Airbnb of the Language Fire Department. Speaker 5: So I'm really looking forward to. Speaker 2: The restoration of Engine 17, so it won't have that distinction anymore. The one question I do have, Chief, is we asked this of you a couple of years ago. Once, if this council pulls the trigger on this restoration, how long would it take you to get that engine company in service? Would it be a matter of hours, days or weeks? Speaker 5: I can't remember the I will give you the standard response. I tell every every one of our our council members and our mayor. If you ask how long it would take me to turn the resource on in town, I can have it in service tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.. But the reality is that the smart reality would be for us probably after the first of the year, so we can plan for it. We'll have another academy that will graduate and we won't have the staffing issues that we might have if we turned it on tomorrow. So we'd give us a little bit of time to get it up and going. But functionally, we're uniquely well positioned that we can establish a response profile anywhere in the city very, very quickly. But I would say probably January 1st would be a time that we would shoot for to make it an effective transition. Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Great to have you all tonight. Speaker 8: Thanks you through, Mr. Zuber. No. Councilman Salvador. Speaker 3: I'm okay. Speaker 8: Councilman Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman. Vice Mayor. Andrews. A couple of things. So first, having seen a number of budgets, it's a good budget. It's a budget that doesn't require a bunch of scrutiny, but rather, I think, you know, this is a budget that allows us to kind of imagine vision, what the future looks like, and that's really refreshing. So first Chief Tory, so I noticed you mentioned a challenge for you was increasing diversity in the department and and I know that that's been a commitment of yours since you've become chief. I've seen the evidence, but I think it's great that you will step up and actually acknowledge that we have to do more. And I've heard the same from the rank and file. So what are some of the tactics you envision sort of deploying as you ramp up for this next academy? Well, Councilmember. Speaker 5: The question for US centers, not so much about the command staff. My teams will or our intent to diversify the organization when we have the opportunity to do that. Well, what we want to focus on is we are literally only as good as the people who show up to take our exam or the people who end up on our list. Right. The list that we get from civil services eligible, that's that's what we select from. So we want to we want to take it a step farther. We want to we want to actually get into that how that list is created. How are these people being provided the opportunity or the knowledge that the opportunity exists for them? And what are we doing as an organization, a fire department? And I'll give Candace in civil service a lot of credit. She wants to partner with us on this so that we we can we can create new modes and methods of actually getting these people in our community that represent our community to come take this exam and be successful in the process. So we're fortunate we have a management assistant that's going to be rotated through fire a little bit later on into the year. And we believe we're going to we're going to hand her the keys, really. And we believe that she's going to produce a really deep dove to figure out where those issues are and and really set us on a course that we can change some things. And I just want to say this. I've said this for years, but for me, as the fire chief in the city, diversity is not a numbers game, it's an inclusion game. So I want to make sure that we're creating a safe and inclusive environment for anybody in our community that wants to become a firefighter. And that at that point, we're also providing them all the opportunities they need to be successful. So I think if we look at it from a pure numbers standpoint, we're missing the opportunity to actually create an inclusive, diverse workforce. And that's what we want to focus on. Speaker 2: I enjoy that. You use the words inclusive and diverse and and I agree they're more than buzzwords, I think is the recipe for success. If you see the the trend line of the demographics of our city and we just saw another agency in Metro, they embrace this early and they're thriving, successful. I think we should play to our strengths. And in my opinion, that means when you get this management assistant less and less, engage Lumbee City College a bit more. I think, you know, there's an there's you know, there's real opportunities for us to, you know, continue to develop a real pipeline leveraging lobby, City College. And it will help our enrollment at the college, but also allow us to better engage the community because we don't have to do this alone. We have this apparatus here that we need to utilize more. So that's just a recommendation. And then and also, you know, this fall, we should receive a report from policy link on our economic inclusion strategies in a piece. There may be some some national best practices on how to engage or better engage the local community. So I look forward to sort of just playing with that, this concept with you a little bit over the course of the next year. I obviously support the restoration of 12. I mean, of 17 I saw the impact when 12 were restored. And, you know, I've said and I'll continue to say it, we saw three minute diminished cut in the response times in North Palm Beach. And, you know, the more resources put in the play, it supports better, stronger response times across the city. So you have my complete support there. Just a question on GMT. How does that come in? I know that you were in the process last budget, last few budgets on implementing that and getting the tablets and all that. How's that coming along? The GMT funding and process? Speaker 5: Councilmember The GMT program is up and running. We submit an annual cost report to CMS's Center for Medicaid Services through the State of California. And we are I'm I'm trying to recall, but I believe we're budgeted and I think we're bringing it about a little over $1,000,000 million to. 1.1 $1.2 million a year into the system. So it's proving to be successful so. Speaker 2: Far and there's still potential for that to increase. Right. Are we not artificially optimized there or what? Speaker 5: Yes, sir. Currently we believe we are fully optimized at this point. There could be some changes that come through the GMD program in fiscal year 19 that could could provide us some different avenues for revenue out of that program. But it remains to be seen whether the federal government will change the guidelines. Speaker 2: Thank you. Well, I'm pleased with the job that you guys are doing. And, you know, one thing I'll just I'll just offer not operations related, but our beautiful new station 12. When you take a look the landscaping a little bit, it's a I don't know if the drought or some sprinklers are broken, but looks like we're going to have a replace probably like two thirds of the plants that. Speaker 5: That is that is super drought tolerant vegetation. Speaker 2: All right. They're not that tolerant, then. Well, thanks a lot. Chief Lula, just you have a lot to be proud of. I'm glad to look at your accomplishments and as very visible work, particularly. I see you called out the diversion work, the lead diversion work on Long Beach Boulevard. And I know that that's grant funded and they're doing a fantastic job actually engaging with the residents in the businesses and they know the officer by name, but I know with grant funded. So when do we anticipate that grant to end? Speaker 5: Two years from now. Speaker 2: Two years. Okay. So I, you know, I'd like to think about. I know there's a lot of activity there in terms of like, you know, motel conversion, other work. I'd like to think of like a transition plan to set some goals on the, you know, on the planning side and on the development side for things we can tangible things we can see on that corridor when that program goes away. So. So we're well aware of what resources we have, which resources we don't have a lot of Beach Boulevard, and we could see some tangible improvement. And and in addition to that, and he's just come it's not really a question. Just just comments and thoughts. Um, I'm glad to see the quality of life officer deployed in North Long Beach. Are they going to be is the lead off is that that's more of this doing that right after the more. I believe it's more that. Speaker 5: Officer Commander's been identified. Detectives is the one working on the crime that probably he was talking about. Speaker 2: Look, some more is doing lead. So is this person are they going to work together because it's really the same corridor where you have the majority of the problems related to human trafficking and homelessness? Yes. Okay. So so that said, I want to I want to start a conversation with you this year. And it's just an idea, I mean, kicking around a talk with Councilman Austin about it and talk to some others, the idea is and it's not really a new idea, but I want to reintroduce it. But the idea is maybe look at the Focus on Zombies Boulevard or perhaps the new community center, Highland Park, and think about establishing a community policing center, which is essentially the new quality of life officer the staff from the lead program that's handling human trafficking, the resource officer and our business district security staff, and sort of having sort of a focal point. You know, we have the North Station at the Alamo, but we don't have anything in the actual nine or 805 zip code. And I think that's it could be interesting for us to explore that for a number of reasons. Number 190805 zip code is growing by population four times the rate of the citywide population growth statistic. And you know, with with these recent opportunities that we have, I think we should think about what that might look like. We think about that, Chief. Speaker 5: Worth exploring. Speaker 2: Okay. Well, quite an endorsement, but we'll look forward to continuing that conversation and look forward to continue that conversation. And but overall, this is a this is a good budget master disaster. Mr. Harrison, I got to tell you, you know, you're always I mean, you've come engage with our North Lambie's executive leadership, our leadership council. And, you know, you and your staff and the police dispatch have done a good job really addressing a lot of the concerns. I have no really no concerns and just encouragement that we want to continue the conversation we've had with the North Miami Beach community and your office. So thank you for your hard work and look forward to continuing to engage with you. Speaker 7: Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker 1: Next up, we have Councilman Alston. Speaker 7: Thank you. And I'm going to really be brief. I want to just just commend all of our public safety. I think the presentation was great. The budget is, I think, sound and one that I think takes into account all of our needs. Certainly we could have more officers and use more officers, more firefighters, more more resources. But I think we're we're moving in the right direction. And I commend city manager and the department heads, both chiefs, for for for putting together a sound budget. I do have a couple of questions. Number one, for emergency disaster preparedness. Mr. Harrison, in the the budget, it talks about key measures and the number of public safety dispatcher candidates process for recruitment. And I'm looking at a a decline from 2017 when you had 244. And then in FY 17. And here in Fy19, you have 150. Why is that? And can you talk about your recruitment and retention of dispatchers? Well, we are with that. We have the public safety dispatchers is one of only two other jobs in the city that has aa1 year probation. One being police, the other being fire and public safety dispatchers. We go through a process. It's a one year probationary process. So depending on where we are, we bring in candidates off of the off of the hiring list. And we populate our center with our training staff and then we go through a one year process. And so we have an elasticity of a certain amount of dispatchers that we can handle during a 12 month period of time. And so we're going to go through some ebbs and flow as we have, you know, we're staffed up, trainers have out there at capacity. So they can't take additional dispatchers off the off the list. It's really pretty much as simple as that. And then the job of a dispatcher, you know, we kind of describe it as multitasking on on steroids. It is a challenging job for many of the dispatchers. It's a rewarding job for all of the dispatchers. But it is a job that's detail oriented. It is a job that takes all of the concentration that an individual has. And it is a job that takes all of that 12 month probationary time to actually be able to master and graduate out of that program. And so how many dispatchers do we actually employ? We are budgeted for, I believe, 75 dispatchers. We did some reorganization last year in recognition of the cross training as an incentive to be able to pay those dispatcher that have completed cross training so that they could receive additional income with that skill. So we had to do some reorganization, as I recall, with about at 75, I believe, with what we have. I'm looking at 81 in emergency communications, but that's close. So so with that many people coming to training, I mean, how many folks are actually sticking with the department? It's a challenging it's a challenging job. Council member it really is an across the board, across the board nationwide. So it's not just an issue for for Long Beach. We will have on average a 40% graduation rate with our dispatchers for a variety of reasons, for a variety of reasons that people, you know, they they come in with their own concepts of what dispatching is all about. And, you know, and then they're then there's a certain reality that sets in in terms of what the job is. Dispatchers are really busy. They're moving from one station to another. The calls that they take, they paint a picture for first responders in the field. They can see visually because of the series of questions that they're asking, pretty much exactly what a first responder is going to see when they arrive on scene. And sometimes that experience is a little bit more reality than some people feel comfortable with. I thank you for explaining that. I really appreciate that. And I ask that question because oftentimes it's the support staff that don't get get recognized for for some of the really important work that they're doing. And so we appreciate those dispatchers as well. The next question I have is for Chief Luna, and I'm also looking at the support bureau numbers here. And while I'm looking at the the F y 18 FTE numbers, it looks like there's 256 at this point, five in the support bureau, and it moves up to 286. And I'm trying to figure out which is that is that the proposed move to bring the assessors from the airport into the Department Support Bureau. Speaker 5: That would be the 27 assessors. It would also include the body pick up, the intended proposed body pick up from Metro. Metro Blue Line is under our support bureau. Okay. Speaker 7: My last point is the great job. Then all the way around. I think the budget is sound. I would just influence upon Army Chief and commander in the North Division to keep the North Station open for 4 hours, if as much as possible, because that is a a resource that I know our residents out there truly, truly depend on. It's great to have a police station. You know, it's really frustrating when when people go to the police station and they can't make contact with an officer when the doors are closed and not open. And I know we rectified that work to to to have those those doors of that police station open of, you know , at least a certain amount of hours every day. But I would just ask that you you continue to focus on on making the public or keeping the North Station accessible to the public for for for those those type of calls and situations where where people really need to touch the PD for many years. And I'll just say this was before I took office. I think the police station was closed for several years and people there was a sign on the door and said, hey, you know, if you need to to talk to somebody, go downtown. Right. That's a that's a huge if convenient for anybody be is for anybody living in the north part of the city and for the resource to be there. I just want to emphasize that, you know, it's good to be able to make contact with what the public safety officer, the police officer for our public. So thank you very much. Looking forward to to another year of great public safety all the way around. Speaker 3: Thank you, gentlemen. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. I do have some some comments and then a one suggestion by Senator Jeff. Sorry, I didn't see up there. Let me go to Vice Mayor Andrews first. You go first. I have your. Speaker 8: Name of a mine so. Speaker 1: That I see first of my. Speaker 8: Yeah, I've been kind of sleeping on the job, so I'm glad you came back. Speaker 3: Here and. Speaker 8: We're back. Okay. First of all, I want to start out by saying, you know, I agree with councilwoman, you know, Price, that we do need to take a second look at the employees reduction because I'm very, very happy to see the quality of life, you know, for officers added to the West Division. You know, I'm looking forward to these officers, you know, coming to my monthly briefing, you know, and neither the police or the I need you know, I need the police or the fire budget. Did I see fireworks prevention, enforcement, you know, outreach. Notice that as a key service. And I did not see any specific line item for this. I know that the conversation about this has been a priority, and we want to do it. We want these efforts to be proactive as well as reactive. And I'm hoping is somewhere in the budget we have allocated funds, you know, for this issue, you know, and anyway, I think the South Division stations is doing a great job to keep up the good work, you guys. And for the last question, I, I will I will add any you know, I want to know what any of the airports, you know, as as as always, do they lose any authorities or rankings with the proposed budget change? Speaker 5: Vice mayor? I don't believe so. I will double check and get back to you. Speaker 8: Thank you, sir. Okay. In last, I'd like to leave this to Reggie. You know, I won't use that word because I know what a great job you guys are doing. But that's a prevention emergency communication. You know, I need a lot about you know, I've heard a lot and continue about the outreach and the social media information material and access to the deaf and the blind residents that we have. But what about those that first language? You know, if it's not English, are they reaching out to those communities as well? Speaker 7: Yes, Vice me. I'm glad that you asked that question. We have we have all of our outreach material, which is all translated into the various languages that our language act requires. Additionally, we our emergency messages are quickly translated for our speech impaired vision impaired residents so that we send out American Sign Language videos almost simultaneous to the English language. This third party provider also provides Spanish language interpretations pretty quickly as well simultaneously. So we believe that on a countywide basis, the city of Long Beach is at the forefront in terms of that kind of outreach into those diverse neighborhoods. Not to say that there is more that we could do and we'd be happy to work with you and your district and some additional outreach. But in terms of getting messages out quickly and concise and consistent, we're able to accomplish that. Speaker 8: I want to thank you for really recognizing that, because I have so much, you know, diversity in my area and, you know, in your team. You know, we realize it's key when people call 911, you know, are we having a mass emergency? I would like to be sure that all this information is reaching out to everyone. So many thank you guys for everything you do. And thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor. I want to I want to make some comments. And then I do have an ask of the Budget Oversight Committee at the end of the comments. I want to I want to thank, obviously, the staff for making their presentation. I've heard this presentation I was mentioning to Mr. Lester, I think many, many times it seems like ten or so as we've been developing the budget. And so I it's good to have it out for public comment. And I want to mention a few things, some of which were referred to earlier tonight by some of the councilmembers . In 2014, when when this council, as we sit up here, was formed, we had 803 police officers and 406 firefighters. The current budget proposal allocates the funding if four restorations are made to 851 police officers and 431 firefighters. So certainly an increase of both police and firefighters over the course of the last four years. The restorations up to now have included Engine eight and Belmont Shore Rescue 12 and North Long Beach, the Hart unit that we're talking about this year, Engine 17 and East Long Beach, the restoration of South Division, the creation of the new Metro Division as part of the Metro Blue Line, which we know was part of our Metro contract for new quality of life officers and a six person bike officer team, which is part of this year's budget in addition to the growing of these departments. We're also investing, of course, in infrastructure and technology as it relates to police and fire, and that includes modernizing the both of the police and fire academies. That's in this year's budget, the upgrading of Long Beach PD and fire technology, including radio and communication systems, the funding of body cameras, which was I think mentioned earlier by Councilwoman Price, and the purchasing of modernized cameras across the city as it relates to the COPS system, which is our camera. I don't know that that's the acronym, but it's our camera system that we have across the city. So these are some significant investments. And I want to thank the Council for for making all of these which were really we're really grateful of. I also want to mention that we are committed to all of these restorations as outlined in the proposals today. But one issue has come up. I mentioned this to Mr. West. I've been talking to some folks, and I want to make sure that this gets addressed. It's been mentioned actually a few times tonight. I know in the F 19 budget, we have the reduction of the one sergeant position that's going down to an officer position. We know that the position has been identified as a sergeant that's assigned to a burglary detail. That's right. Chief Luna. That's correct. That's correct. And we know from what I understand and just talking to a few of the members of our police team, this is a sergeant that's kind of responsible for vetting, assigning and prioritizing theft cases in the city. Correct. Speaker 5: Burglary and theft, yes. Okay. Speaker 1: And so I know that this is a busy section of the department. And I also know that part of this part of the proposal we have in front of us is to possibly combine the burglary detail with auto theft with auto theft auto under one, sergeant, is that correct? Yes. Okay. Thank you. So, you know, and again, in just and in the budget, a moving you know, it's it moves and evolves as we move along. So I'd like to request tonight that the Budget Oversight Committee take up the it take up this issue and not reduce. Police sergeant position to the officer position. I think others have shown interest in this already on the council tonight. And so if I can make that request to the Budget Oversight Committee as we move forward, I think that the position in this case should not be downgraded to an officer position. So I think we need to keep it as a sergeant. And so, Mr. Mango, I'll leave that to you and to the BBC. But that's something I think that we've heard is going to be important. And so with that, I want to close my comments on on police, fire and disaster preparedness and Councilman Mangle. Yet an additional comment. Speaker 6: I just wanted to take a moment to think and recognize the number of budget staff that are here tonight. I know you were only at the the midway point before we get to see the most exciting budget that I believe in, which is the CIP budget. But I know it's a long night and I know months and months of work went into all of the preparation that each of you do to make this book a reality and to make it possible for these department heads to sit before us and and say the words that you wrote for them. So thank you so much. Speaker 1: And then Miss Mango, you'll take your you and the committee will take a look at that position. Speaker 6: Absolutely. Speaker 1: Okay. Excellent. Good. Well, with that, I'm going to open it up. What we're going to do is we're only halfway through our budget presentation. We're skipping next. So I want to take public comment on this portion of the budget presentation, which is safety. So if you have a public comment on this on on the police, fire or disaster preparedness only, please come forward on this part of the budget. Yes, sir. Speaker 2: Members of the Council, I'll be very brief. Speaker 5: My name is Renee Castro. Speaker 2: I'm director for community engagement at Century Village. Is that Cabrillo? Of course. We provide housing for 1500 formerly homeless individuals, over 700 veterans, 600 children. Speaker 5: And of course, that kind of huge operation requires. Speaker 2: The collaboration with police fire, of course, development services and of course, our Health and Human Services Department. But recently I will really. Speaker 5: Highlight our partnership. Speaker 2: With the Emergency Communications and Operation Center. ECAC really want to thank Reggie Harrison for the incredible training they. Speaker 5: Did for all of our partners. We had over 15. Speaker 2: Partners who went to the CAC and we had a training on 911 and dispatch and it was incredible. So just. Speaker 5: Wanted to highlight Reggie. Speaker 2: And all of his work. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Good evening. My name is Richard Suarez. I'm with the International Association. Speaker 7: Of Machinists and Aerospace. Speaker 5: Workers. I represent employees working in both the police department, the CISOs at the airport, and folks working at the Emergency Preparedness Department. I stand before you this evening because I believe that some information was shared with this council that does not reflect the accuracy of what we have out on the field. In the deepest department, we have approximately 18 trained fire folks and 30 trained police officers excuse me, police dispatchers. It was mentioned that about 20% of that number is cross utilized when in. Speaker 2: Reality there's only one. Speaker 5: Or two folks that can answer both the police and the fire phones and about five that can only answer the. Speaker 2: Fire phone. Speaker 5: So 20% is a figure that that's not realistic with the folks that are there. Now, in addition to that, we spoke about overtime and about stress on the job. These are the only folks in the entire city that the M.O. you excludes them from a free from duty period. Every employee in this city has an eight hour free from duty period at the negotiating table. Three years ago, the city would not agree to give that same level of relief to the men and women who. Speaker 2: Answered 911 calls. Speaker 5: For the last four and a half years since I've been here, there has been mandatory overtime in this department every single week. People are forced to work overtime every single week. So when we talk about reductions in cost, we have an issue here. The social situation at the at the airport is severe and grave. They the chief said that there will be no change in authority when in fact, their level one training, their post training has been taken away. They will no longer. Speaker 2: Be post trained. Speaker 5: They will keep their there and they realize that the time is short here. And I would invite to meet with each and every one of you in your offices. But perhaps Councilwoman Mungo, who has a experience in law enforcement, knows the importance of this. Level one training with the police department is attempting to do is to put them through a ten day home made training here in Long Beach, not send them to Rio Hondo, not send them to the police academy. None of that. And this is concerning on many levels. Right now we're speaking about 27 SOS. There aren't 27 SOS at the airport. There's less than half of that. There's 13 of them. And we have had these openings for years. So I believe that by design, there is an attempt not to staff properly. There's 13 men and women who protect this airport. There has been no deficiencies in the security detail. What they're proposing to do is to fill these positions up with police officers at a significantly higher cost than what an SSL makes a cop out, so makes about $30 an hour. Almost double for the top out, officer. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you very much for source. We'll be happy to get together and chat about that. Yes, I trust you. Speaker 4: Thank you, sir. Speaker 5: Jim Foster, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Association. I come to thank you, Mr. Mayor, for your recommendation to take a second look at that sergeant position in burglary at your continued support of public safety for all of us. Speaker 2: I also want to extend my thanks. Speaker 5: To the Budget Oversight Committee, chaired by Councilwoman. Speaker 2: Mangal and Councilwoman Pryce. Your questions today. Speaker 5: This burglary. Speaker 2: Position is the central node within the. Speaker 5: Department where all of our property crime really filters through. This expert who manages all of that property crime throughout the city is the best advice giver to the upper leadership on how we should give our resources out to stop property crimes. So this this one position to me was very important to try to retain. Speaker 2: To keep my employees who are working there properly managed. Speaker 5: But I do appreciate. Speaker 2: That's taking another look at that because I think somewhere in the budget we're going to be able to try to find the funding to keep this position. It really affects the entire city, not just a small portion. So thank you, sir. Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Foster. And the next speaker? No. Oh, yes. Please come forward. Speaker 2: Dave Shukla on file. I'd just like to thank the Mayor City Council for this budget. Specifically the emphasis on public safety and disaster and emergency preparedness. I recently was trained a couple of weekends ago at the fire department. It was a great experience. Speaker 5: Very, very useful. And I look. Speaker 2: Forward to not only continued support, but expansion along with diversion. Other programs for civilians can not only get skills but be of use in the storms to come. Speaker 5: For next year, I'd love to see. Speaker 2: More specifically about climate change. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. That concludes this part of the budget hearing. I want to thank everyone that spoke and police and to our police fire to that preparedness team. Thank you all. I know that this is a hefty week, but as a reminder, this is also seven almost 70% of our total budget. And so these questions and this discussion tonight is very important. So thank you. So we're going to go into our second half of the budget presentation tonight, which is on CHP, which is on infrastructure, which is I told them I told Mr. Beck and others this is my favorite presentation of the year when it relates to the budget. It's all about our streets and our park projects and our infrastructure improvements all across the city. And and again, a lot of great news as it relates to Missouri and our CHP program and everything that's in this presentation. And I would encourage the council to really kind of deep I mean, do a do a deep dove and take a look at all the great projects that are being proposed. And so thank you for that and we'll turn this over. Mr. West, did you have any opening comments before we turn this over to Mr. Beck? Speaker 4: Yes, Mayor. This is a huge, huge undertaking. The Capital Improvement Project, a lot of time and energy has gone into this, and we want to review it with all of you. It includes measure A, it looks at the entire 50 square miles. And I can't say enough about the entire team on the presentation that you're going to see right now. So I am going to turn this over. Speaker 5: To our public works director, Craig Beck. Speaker 4: And his team to present the capital improvement program for fiscal year 19. Craig. Speaker 1: Thank you, Pat. Good evening, Mayor. City council and community members viewing this presentation. We're here tonight to discuss the city's capital improvement program, sometimes called KIPP for short. It provides the city's infrastructure investment plan for the coming year. The following presentation will detail proposed funding for the design, construction and maintenance of citywide infrastructure, which is the building blocks for a great city. As you can see, the fiscal year 18 cap budget, which is this year, is comprised of different funding sources that equal about $96 million. These funds support many different projects and are organized in our recipe book in six different categories. As identified on this page. They are mobility, public facilities. Parks and recreation. Beaches and marinas. Airports and utilities. Some of the major accomplishments that we would like to highlight for this year is our new sixth Street Bike Boulevard, a very important East-West connection across the city. Our Admiral Kidd Artificial Turf Sports Field and the city decided to use safe caulk and sand fill as opposed to recycled tires. Our Rainbow Bridge at Seaside Way. This is a great connection between our Terrace Theater and Convention Center. A new Harvey Milk Park refresh, which continues to have other improvements happen and will conclude with a new outdoor office function and our ongoing citywide paving projects. So what is our investment plan for fiscal year 19? It's about $120 million. This represents a $24 million increase over the current year, and that's driven primarily by two significant changes. First, the water department is planning to invest $30 million into pipeline replacement projects for both sewer and potable water. That's a $14 million increase over what they've committed in fiscal year 18. And I also want to highlight that the city is receiving new transportation dollars from the SB one gas tax funding. That $8 million that we're going to get from SB one is going to support 11 new street projects in the city just in fiscal year 19. So how do we plan to spend that $120 million? You see the six different categories here. I'm going to go through each of them in more detail. And first, since I'm wearing my new blue tonight, I want to highlight mobility. And I really appreciate our partners from Metro being here this evening talking about all the wonderful projects that they're doing in the city. And those are just some of the high profile projects that they highlighted this evening. There's a number of different partnerships that the city is working on with Metro, and we look to continue many of the great things that we do. So how does a city approach mobility? We do something which is called a complete streets. So what we're looking at is what type of improvements need to happen, and we want to look at that in their entirety. So, for example, does a street need to have new curb ramps added or do trees need to be trimmed? Are there broken sidewalks it should be addressed? Or is the street part of the citywide bicycle master plan? A good example of this approach in how we build out new streets is Bellflower Boulevard. If you haven't driven on it recently, I encourage you to do so. Not only is there brand new paving on Bellflower, but we also addressed much needed sidewalk repair and added protected bike lanes as this is a key connection point for riders going to Cal State, Long Beach Go Beach. So this year, all in all, we've added about 17 miles of bicycle lanes and we're adding those for all residents 80 to 80. This further enhances the city's livability efforts to provide alternative to single occupancy vehicle trips. That's bad. So mobility, $51 million plan for fiscal year 19. There's three major corridor projects that we're going to engage, including Market Anaheim, which is a pedestrian safety corridor project, and Artesia, which is a Great Streets project that we're coordinating through Skaggs and our adjacent cities. We also continue our investment in repaving our dirt alleys. We were able to accomplish about 1.6 miles of paved dirt alleys in fiscal year 18, and we look to replicate that in 19. And we'll finish paving all dirt alleys in fiscal year 20. That's our plan. Lastly, staff is recommending that council look at adding money to sidewalks while we prioritized our traditional sidewalk investment for new curb ramps as specified in our accessibility settlement. We think it's also important to address path to travel and similar to the action that council took in fiscal year 18, where $1,000,000 is allocated for sidewalks and divided by need among the nine council districts. We're recommending that that happen again and actually increase that number to 2 million. Again, divided throughout all nine council districts by need. So I love to highlight this map. This is a great picture. This map shows the city's five year street investment plan. And in particular, I want to highlight the Green Street segments. So those Green Street segments are streets that have already been completed or that will be completed by the end of this year. And that's almost 50% of our planned work. Now, granted, many of these streets were slurry and we were able to get those down a little quicker. But it really represents the great investment that we're making and the great progress that we've made to date. Still, we have many important projects ahead. So this map here is showing our street investment plan for the next two years, fiscal year 19 and fiscal year 20. Last year, council asked for a forward looking snapshot and staff is trying to provide that, showing two years of planned street work. My goal next year when I bring CIP to this council is I'll provide a snapshot for three years of street work. That's what we're working towards as a team and we hope to deliver that to this council and the community. So I'd like to shift to public facilities. For public facilities, there is a plan to invest $16 million. This will further some of the key projects completed in fiscal year 18, including workplace privacy improvements at Fire Station seven and ten. Also upgrades to our Expo Community Center in Bixby Knolls. So fiscal year 19 will include work at our public safety buildings, at the Fire Department Training Center and the police department west substation. We're also identified a number of city libraries for new roofs to ensure that those facilities don't leak. Assuming we get some weather this coming winter and also major renovations for our north health facility in Halton Park, this is a complete redo of that facility. For Parks and Recreation. This category we see some of the, I'll say, fun projects that the community gets to enjoy. In Bixby Park there is a new dog park added this year. The red car greenbelt next to Colorado lagoon is a wonderful walking path with native plantings and this just happened recently. It was very exciting to see, but a signature themed playground was opened at Lo Cerritos Park and we have Vets Park, Drake Park and Whaley Park Playgrounds coming real soon, and we should be delivering those within the next 90 days. Priority projects for fiscal year 19 include the restoration of the Eldorado Duck Pond. This is a high priority project that we're glad we're able to get to. And also Davenport, what we're calling phase two, which is really the buildout and activation of the greenspace from the former landfill closure. So moving to beaches and marinas. Fiscal year 19, we're going to be able to address the junior lifeguard station at 55th place. Also, there's an exciting new concept for the Alamitos Beach concession stand, which we hope to bring the council within the next few months for approval to move forward. This will add to the fantastic amenities completed this year at Bayshore, which is the place to beat the heat this summer. So if you haven't been, you have to go to the new swim, dock and aquatic playground. It's an. Speaker 3: Absolute hit. Speaker 1: The airport will continue to invest in improvements for accessing the terminal building and also rehabilitation on some of its airfield runways. And lastly, again, utilities. There's many men and women who work in this city that do work every day, ensuring that our utilities are safe and function for all of our residents. And I want to again champion the work that the water departments do, planning to do to invest in their infrastructure. And we're also planning to do work for our storm pump station. This continues addressing some of the emergency upgrades that we need to do to ensure that we're safe when we have storm events. So that's the overarching copybook. But I wanted to delve a little bit deeper into measure. There's some great things happening with the measure of funds that the voters of this city approved. Hopefully, everyone is familiar with the Measure Reinvestment Plan and hopefully we've had an opportunity to actually visit the measure. The city's measure, a web page at Long Beach dot gov board slash measure a in there you will see this map and some details about what that investment plan means. So this is a snapshot of three years of measure. And it's amazing when you start thinking we are receiving $80 million towards infrastructure in just three years. I cannot emphasize the positive impact this has had to our cities. Speaker 3: See IP. Speaker 1: So kind of part of that five year investment strategy and infrastructure. This map is showing just the facility and park projects. So we've taken off the street layer and we wanted to highlight over 50 and park facility projects are identified as part of Measure a plan. And if you look closely, it's probably hard to tell on the screen. But if you look closely, there's 17 projects that are highlighted in green, which will be delivered by the end of this year. Again, we're making really good progress on our commitment to this community, and I look forward to continuing that. 19. So measure eight projects, new park projects. I mentioned El Dorado, Duck Pond and Davenport. I also want to highlight some upgrades to our sports courts at El Dorado, Low, Cerritos and Silverado. These are important recreation opportunities for many of our residents in the city. Measure also supports many facilities. Improvements to Alamitos and El Dorado libraries are planned for fiscal year 19 public safety buildings, as I mentioned. Also our animal care center and our health facilities. So back again to mobility projects are citywide. Investment in streets, sidewalks and alleys and bridges is very important. This council has made that commitment and you're seeing that continued with the investment that were planned for 19. And I mentioned the pump stations earlier. I want to transition a little bit and talk about the future. So while Measure is planned right now in the first three years to provide $80 million of its commitment towards infrastructure, staff has identified some additional resources. So during the city manager and mayor's budget presentation, there was a discussion about $55.3 million a future measure. A staff is proposing that $35 million of that be allocated to infrastructure. This would include 25 and a half million dollars to support the fire and police training facilities, $6.3 million for facility improvements based on priorities in the facility condition assessment. Also, an additional $2.3 million towards new park playgrounds to include a new signature themed playground and recreation park and also upgrades to playgrounds at Eldorado, Sycamore Grove, Cherry Park and Ramona Park. Staff is also recommending that of that $55 million, 20.3 million be allocated towards public safety budgets. This would help support additional PD and fire academy classes. Body worn cameras, which were talked about in the previous presentation and other investments. Investment in the city's infrastructure is driven by successful strategic planning, which starts with understanding the needs. This council supports smart investment strategies, including those identified in our pavement and alley management plans, which we will continue to update every two years. A new sidewalk assessment which is currently underway, and that's going to create a full GIS structure that will allow us to track all necessary improvements across the city. We're also working on a facility facility condition assessment, which will help us all prioritize where the most critical needs exist and are over 130 facilities across the city. Stormwater Masterplan is also important. While we've looked at our pump stations in 2015 and we have emergency work identified that we're moving forward to address. We do need to work to identify funding to understand exactly what our stormwater system needs. There's a number of deferred maintenance in our pipelines and we look forward to identifying future strategic funding for that purpose. The proposed Fiscal Year 19 Capital Improvement Plan provides a balanced approach in addressing much needed maintenance and new amenities, keeping Long Beach a great place to live, work and play. Thank you for your time and I'm available to address Council's questions. Thank you, Mr. Beck. I'm going to start with Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 9: Thank you. Excellent presentation. Mr. Beck, we all enjoy your announcer voice. The it's just rolls off so naturally. But I just really wanted to thank you and your team. It's been a tremendous amount of effort on your part to, you know, efficiently utilize the incoming revenue in a way that is balanced and across the entire city. And I personally appreciate that and I thank you and your team for that. I wanted to ask about libraries. I know a lot of our libraries have critical needs. We're trying to encourage people to go to libraries. We're trying to make sure that they remain relevant part of the community. And so I think taking a hard look at where we can improve our library facilities to modernize them a little bit would be really great, especially since we're going to have a beautiful modern library here at Main. And we want to make sure that that spirit and the welcoming nature of that is shared throughout. So, you know, I know we have a lot of older buildings, if there's any, as we're thinking about roof improvements and things, if there's any design elements that we can utilize to make the spaces brighter, more open, things that can be done that are not as costly but perhaps would create a more inviting space. I think that would be really good. And I just wanted to kind of throw that out there as a suggestion if there's some efficiencies to be had because we're out there doing work anyway. I know we've been working with you on Bayshore and some opportunities there, but I'm sure many other libraries are in the same boat because they were built around the same time. So so that's really all I wanted to add. And I just wanted to thank both public works and PRM and all the city departments that have been involved in the implementation of a lot of these CIP projects. It's just been a fantastic year, I think. And again, I like to see that we spread the the benefits citywide so that every resident gets to see the benefits of the investment that they've made in the city. So thank you. Speaker 1: This Councilmember Price, I would like to highlight a little bit on the and the libraries. While I didn't have it in my presentation, there is work ongoing in many of our libraries besides some of the maintenance issues we're looking at improving circulation desks and also adding hearing loops at many of our libraries. And I know that's an important topic for you. Thank you very much. Next up is Councilman Mungo. Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Beck. I really appreciate your presentation. As you know, this is my most exciting part of the budget. I want to echo your comments related to path of travel. As our city ages, it is of the utmost importance that our community is out and walking and to be able to walk our community path of travel is of the utmost importance. I appreciate the efforts to double what we put forward last year. I only know that it would only be better if we could get to four times where we are. Because I know that to get to the standard amounts we were at before the curb cuts would be 4 million. I also appreciate that within your requirements are many, many long term and big improvements. And while I am very excited about the number of additions and upgrades to our Park Playground equipment, I look forward to working with the Budget Oversight Committee over the next after the budget process, but more towards the winter months. On working through the three year plan and the breakout of those specific categories and where they could be. Because as we want to make sure there's a new park playground in every space of the city that's accessible to everyone and adjacent to any of the areas that have a lot of activity related to older siblings where the younger siblings can play. And so I appreciate the work that you've done on that as well. I appreciate working with your office on Creative Solutions. And so I know that not all of the things in the capital improvement projects like Storm and Sewer are sexy. I think that they're really important because as the rains do come, the work that you've done in stormwater facilities and the such have really made a considerable impact on the flooding in our neighborhoods, especially with the uneven pavement of the streets that haven't been graded in a long time. And so I know you're working through your street plan. You specifically mentioned the 11th Street projects and the gasoline tax. And so if that would be repealed, those would not be completed. Do you know the 11th Street projects off the top of your head? Speaker 1: Councilman Romano I do not, but there was an item that this council approved they had to pass originally, right? Yeah. So they're all listed on that. And yes, you are correct, those 11th Street projects would go away if the SB one tax is repealed. Speaker 6: I just think it's important whether you're for or against it. I just think it's important that you know what you're voting on specifically. And so I know that I'll do my best to pull that too from four from before and actually with the council presentation, wasn't it the council presentation from before? And just so that people are aware because I get a lot of questions about that tax and I'm not always able to off the top of my head tell them which streets they know of that would be repaired and so those would not be repaired should that be repealed. And I think that's important for people to know. Thank you for all the work you've done. Great, great presentation. Best presentation in four years. So I'm excited about the new improvements. Speaker 1: Think a councilwoman. And before I move on to Councilman Austin, I can just quickly respond. I think from what I remember correctly, well, there are a variety of highway improvements that are immediate SB one funded streets, the immediate SB one and largest project that gets funded is the entire reconstruction of PCH. That's from the entrance of of Long Beach on the on the east side, all the way to its exit in western in the west side of the city. So I know that's the that's the first project that the state has funded using SB one as far as major street project. And of course it will be many, many others. But that because that is a a state highway, I know that that is on the list on top of, of course, all the residential streets and everything else that will get funded through some of the local return dollars. Councilman Austin. Speaker 7: Thank you. And this is a very encouraging presentation, CERP budget. I wouldn't say one of the the best that I've seen in my six years on the council and seven budgets. So kudos to our public works department and every department that has had anything to do with this. There are a couple of major art arteries in the north that are better called out here. Obviously, Market Street has been a high priority for my office to fix that. I mean, and many residents are sitting here and getting emails from residents watching the construction going on around the district and they're asking about Market Street. And so they've seen great improvements on Orange Avenue and and all around the district. But Market Street still is a street that is a priority. And I'm glad to see it's it's being funded and and we're close to getting some work done there as well as. Olmos Boulevard, I believe the Alamo is to one funded as well. Is that correct? Mr. Beck? Speaker 1: That sounds correct. I don't have the list in front of me. I can get back to you. Speaker 7: Well, I don't know if anybody mentioned it or asked the question, but what are the impacts of SB one? We do know that that is a funding source that was provided by the legislature after many years of work to to get that done. And, you know, there's there's some some efforts to try to repeal that on the ballot. Where would that be? And the repeal specifically, what would that mean in dollars in terms and in projects to the city of Long Beach right now? Speaker 1: So we did receive a little the city did receive a little bit of money in this fiscal year, about two and a half million dollars from SB one, though those dollars have already been implemented into projects. In fact, we're currently working on a project in District three on the ATO that is SB one funded. There's a couple more in the city that we're working on. The one that I've highlighted in the CHP presentation, those 11 streets that this council adopted by resolution will be built with roughly $8 million that we anticipate receiving in fiscal year 19 from SB one. So if SB one was repealed, we would not receive $8 million and those streets would not get built out at this point in time. We've also put into our five year plan an additional $8 million in 20 and an additional $8 million in 21. So you can see that that would add up pretty quickly, 24 or $25 million in three years. That goes directly to street projects. Speaker 7: Yeah. Thank you for explaining that. And it would just you know, I'm sure we'll be talking more about that outside of council over time and what the what the public in the near future. I will say that that I've also heard from many residents and I just just will compliment your department for the management and even the contractors doing the work. But there is a noticeable difference in terms of the quality of work being performed as well. I'm hearing that from residents who are, you know, seeing it firsthand and are really, really thankful and appreciative of the the curbs, the the the gutters, the sidewalks, the streets. I think we are experiencing unprecedented amount of infrastructure and infrastructure and and construction in our city right now. And I can say specifically, even in my district right now, we're seeing quite a bit it's a little bit of an inconvenience. But these are these are good inconveniences. They have because it's, I believe, an investment in our in our future. And we talk about being a livable city, increasing livability and quality of life. We don't do that without investing in our infrastructure. So those are my comments. I'm going to be very brief. I like what I see. I'm thrilled that that we have identified money for the hopefully to build out of Davenport Park and phase two complete can now complete really soon and the street improvements are just just just fantastic. So this is the best budget that I've seen in seven years. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 6: I too enjoyed your announcer voice and your AP budget and so great work. I do have a couple questions. Let's see where to start. I do want to say I know everybody's giving you praise. I want to give you too much praise and we get too excited. But it is a really exciting time to be a councilmember. I know that you guys did the hard work to get Measure E passed. The voters did a hard job of passing that, and it's really great to be in council whenever we're able to to see all these changes. And you've done a great job on Broadway. I know that it's kind of a terrifying we'll be doing this whole story. You've done a great job about doing it piece by piece, working with the residents. And so I just want to say to you and your staff how much we really appreciate how smooth that has gone. So let's see. I have where to start. The beach, playgrounds. Can you talk? It says that it's unfunded. Can you talk about a funding plan for those beach playgrounds and a timeline for those? You know, I'm just like. Speaker 1: So are you referring to the unfunded section? Yes. Speaker 3: The city book? Yes, sir. Speaker 1: So we thought it was important to add not only projects that were funded, but some projects that were still seeking funding for. Speaker 3: Hmm. Speaker 1: There are a number of priorities competing against the Tidelands dollars. We have seen some slight increase in Tidelands with the increase in price of oil. Hopefully that will continue in a way that will allow us to fund some of our priority projects. Playgrounds, pools, many of the other activities in the Tidelands, there's a number of different competing projects, but if there is extra money available, we wanted to make sure that that was highlighted. So this council would understand that there are projects on the shelf ready to go. Speaker 3: If funding is available. Speaker 6: Great. And I do I love seeing all the new park programs that are in here. I do want to lift up the Bixby Park. You know, and I know my predecessor did a lot of work envisioning Bixby Park. Spend a lot of time and money. And I want to thank Councilmember Price for sharing the cost of putting in the dog park there. We divided our divide by nine funds. We did not have majority funds to do that. We still have. I asked our most recent owner director to try to come back with the budget for what parcel one would look like. And I know that, you know, the funds of Bixby Park are going to work hard to fundraise. We're going to work hard to fundraise. In my mind, though, that parcel probably won't cost that much. And so it would be great if we could try to identify some funds and measure A to try to finish that parcel and the visioning with the dig and everything so that we're not spending another two years trying to put pennies together to make something happen that your department could probably make happen much quicker and save us all a lot of time and energy from all the conversations. I will have to have to get that funding together. So I want to put that as a priority that if we could get parcel one done along, you know, sometime after Broadway is finished, I think would be awesome. Speaker 1: Yeah, there's some great work happening in Bixby Park right now, not only the dog park, but the investment in the community center in the shade structure. It's really great to be able to see those assets get improved in that community. Speaker 6: Absolutely. I mean, I think, you know, parcel three, parcel two and really parcel one is that other parcel where we've got the structures in the middle. I mean, it is we went over there to have a community meeting and they are falling apart. And it it's going to take some capital to make sure that we can deter that that we've got lighting over there. And because of the situation, I know we have to have P.D. out there a lot. And so we did meet with them with our both of our commanders and Bixby Park. And they're going to go out there and do an assessment to try to help us get to there. And we're going to work with our new parks director. So I just hope that that as we're identifying funds, if it is, you know, smaller pennies, then building a whole new park, it would be really helpful, I think, for that community to kind of have that finished. And then I had a question around the senior center. I know that we're looking at trying to relocate that senior center. I know there's some conversations happening. The funds that were earmarked for Measure eight for that, are they still earmarked for when it moves? Speaker 1: Yeah. So there's a couple of things going on with the senior center. There were some major funded to do improvements. We paused those improvements because we were concerned about potential subsidence issues and structural challenges in the building that the senior centers in. And we're talking about the senior center on Fourth Street. Yes, we did do a review and a geo technical survey and determined that we can address what subsidence was occurring and that it was a non structural challenge in the building. So at this point in time there is that money available to move forward. I know there is a secondary conversation happening about a potential move at the senior center. I think at this point in time it looks like the senior center is going to stay at its current location for a period of time and that we're planning to move forward with those improvements. So kind of green light, we're moving forward and we'll be making some improvements. Senior center soon. Speaker 6: Great. And just while it's on the top of my head, I know that the seaside print shop was recently sold and is going to be a senior daycare, but it's a high end senior daycare, so I'll connect you guys with the people that recently purchased it, and maybe we can talk about shared resources on that corridor. It's not ideally what I would love there, but I think it's going to be a good asset. They're going to keep it nice and clean and tidy. Two other questions. You've talked about doing roof repairs. What is the conversation been within your department around the core roofs program that L.A. has implemented? Speaker 1: So I think citywide we really have been embracing sustainable efforts and not only cool roofs, but solar. We're getting ready to do a new battery program at our public safety buildings so we can look at how we're we're purchasing and offloading not only solar, but but peak power. We we support sustainable efforts. We have installed the cool roofs. And I think you're referring to kind of the white colored roofs instead of a black or a charcoal, which has been typical many roofs. So we have done that and we support doing more. Speaker 6: Great. And then at the convention center, is it a million that we have earmarked for the convention center or more? Speaker 1: And in the FY19 budget, we're proposing $1,000,000 for convention center improvements. Speaker 6: And can you quickly, if you have it, if you can remember the improvements that we did last year and what these went to and what these improvements would go to. I know that. Speaker 1: I apologize. I don't have that list. I know there was some lighting work and some other. I can get. Speaker 3: That for you and follow up. Speaker 6: Okay. I just want to I know that every year we talk about the convention center and the needs to focus on the bones and everything else. And last year we were able to put in a beautiful fountain. And I also know that we have a lot of other projects in the Tidelands like Alameda Speech, Rainbow Lagoon and a lot of these playgrounds. And so just want to be able to have all that information in front of us and exactly what is proposed to be funded so we can make a decision on the Council and Tidelands if that's in fact where we want to spend our money this year. And then the last thing is, I see that Vision Zero action plan so that it's unfunded. I thought that we were moving forward with with that. Speaker 1: And that may be misleading certainly to the development of the Vision Zero Action Plan is funded. We are moving forward. We have a consultant on board. We have started that work. What is unfunded right now is improvements that would come out of that action plan. We don't know what those are exactly. I don't have that report. I do anticipate bringing a Vision Zero action plan to this council, hopefully in the next six, nine months, on the outside, six months. And then we could start having that conversation about where those priorities lie. Speaker 6: Okay, great. And I'll just echo my support for four Vision zero. I think you guys have done a great job about your improvements and as we continue with Measure A, makes sense. So get that in front of us sooner rather than later. So great, great, great work. Really pleasure working with you guys. Love your energy efficiency, sustainability vision as you go through this work. So thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Vice Mayor Andres. Speaker 8: Yes, thank you, Mayor. Real quickly, Greg, I just want to thank you guys for a great job you're doing. And I just hope my council, my community is really watching this because the fact that when we have our community, you know, like budget, you know, meeting, I really hope that they can come and hear the good news that you have done for our district. Thank you again, big guy. Great job. Speaker 1: That would be Thursday at 6:00, I think. Mr. Sanders, thank you. Councilmember Cipriano. Speaker 2: Thank you. Great presentation. And I won't get into the weeds here, but since it was brought up, you had the traffic circle listed on the presentation. We've talked about that in the past, but it just struck me if the PCH project doesn't go through, that would impact that traffic circle differently. It'd be a lot easier to do the Traffic Circle Project if the PCH project goes through also at the same time. So we'll keep an eye on that. And I want to echo what everyone said about the the a great budget here. Speaker 5: But I also want to say to Craig Beck. Speaker 2: Every day I marvel at your management skill in operating a very complex department. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And I think you, Mr. Beck, you and your team are doing a great job managing all the new projects that we have, just all of a sudden. So thank you. Is there a public comment on the CHP budget? Please come forward. Speaker 11: Oh, my God. Oh, my gosh. Speaker 6: Karen Reside, resident of the First District. Speaker 10: It's great. Speaker 6: To see all of the advancements. Speaker 10: The city has made in the project. There's just a couple of things to put on my Gray Panther hat right now for the seniors, a city of our size, according to recommendations, should have a senior center for every 50,000 residents. So we only have six, which wouldn't really be full fledged senior centers. And we're the only city of our size that doesn't have a modern, up to date senior center. Speaker 6: So it's great that we're starting. Speaker 10: To to look at that process and to see what the needs are of our seniors are. But we want to also preserve the senior center that's on Fore Street. That senior center is. Speaker 6: Heavily, heavily used. Speaker 10: By residents in that district. And if that senior center as close to the services go away, it's going to very negatively impact the seniors that live in that particular area. They just want to bring that. And also I want to mention sidewalks. You know, we're replacing sidewalks and there are some still that are really. When the assessment was done, like the ones around St Mary's, where a lot of seniors go, that there's one that's got a razor that's like eight inches high. And I walk it twice a week when I go and volunteer there and one is afraid I'm going to trip over it. Speaker 6: So if that could be pushed out. Speaker 10: That's really health and safety hazard. And the tiles on Pine Avenue, the snatch where it's all elevated. I know Donna Darnella has tripped and fallen on those tiles. So have I. And so is Jack. Matt Smith, who before he passed, said a lawsuit on that. So those are just some key issues that needs for our seniors and also lighting. And I know we're on a road lighting replacement program. I hate going down Pacific Avenue. It's the street I heavily travel. It's not that well, but thank you for all the hard work and it's great to see the improvement province. Speaker 6: Keep up the good work. Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second to receive and file and and will continue to the next budget hearing, which is next council meeting. Please cast your votes. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 1: And the next item is the the last item that we will try to time certain but it's the budget so it's been difficult is item 19.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to conduct a Budget Hearing to receive and discuss an overview of the Proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Budget for the following Departments: Fire, Police and Disaster Preparedness; and, Capital Improvement Program.

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Speaker 1: And the next item is the the last item that we will try to time certain but it's the budget so it's been difficult is item 19. Speaker 0: Report from city manager recommendation or request city attorney to prepare a resolution in support of the Los Angeles region's Safe, Clean Water Program. Special Partial Parcel Tax being considered for the November six, 2018 ballot citywide. Speaker 1: Sure do have an announcement before we start this. Councilwoman. Councilmember pearce. Speaker 6: I. Yes, I have to recuse myself of this for doing consulting work with them. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And with that, I'll turn this over to Mr. West. Speaker 4: Diana Tang has been leading this effort. Diana? Speaker 6: Good evening. Is members of the City Council. I will be brief because I believe about two or three weeks ago you got an in-depth presentation on the Safe, Clean Water Program. But before we dove into this, I wanted to talk briefly about the actual costs of meeting stormwater compliance. The costs have been debated for about a decade, but since these standards have become a part of every city's obligations over the last ten years or so, the estimates have gotten better. In Long Beach, we estimate the cost for the city to meet stormwater compliance is between 600 to $900 million over the next 30 years. We have 11 specific team deals or total maximum daily loads that we have to comply with. And these team deals require that our city watches and limits pollutants such as E.coli and the L.A. River Copper Lead and zinc in the Los Angeles Channel and the San Gabriel River PCBs, DDT and other stormwater pollutants in the Colorado Lagoon , as well as trash in the San Gabriel River Listeriosis Channel and near-shore areas such as Alamitos Bay. So we as a city are responsible for meeting these stormwater standards and each of these water bodies, regardless of whether the pollution is generated in Long Beach or if it comes to us from upstream, that means that our city has been disproportionately bearing the burden of stormwater compliance. And this since this time deals have been established where we have before us with the Safe Clean Water Program is an opportunity for funding to be generated in every city within the Los Angeles County flood control district that can be used for stormwater compliance in each of those cities. And where possible, there may also be the opportunity to increase water supply by offsetting potable water use with recycled water. If every city upstream of Long Beach has more resources to address stormwater pollution before the water enters the storm drains, then that means that stormwater making its way down the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers will be cleaner when it enters the Pacific Ocean, the Colorado Lagoon, Mother's Beach and other waterbodies in Long Beach without going over the personal toxin depth. As I mentioned since just a few weeks ago, you got that end of presentation. I'll touch upon the highlights in this proposed parcel tax and take questions at the end of the presentation. So again, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors approved this ballot ballot measure for the November ballot by a vote of 4 to 1 on July 17th. It will require a two thirds vote to pass. And this is a special parcel tax that will be serviced by the Los Angeles Flood Control District. The tax rate is at 2.5 cents per square feet of impermeable surface. And so the average parcel tax for single family residents in L.A. County is about $83 per year, and total revenues that we're looking at are about 300 million per year. So again, the program proposes to improve water quality by increasing stormwater and urban runoff and reducing pollution. There's also the opportunity to increase water supply, provided that there is a nexus to stormwater and the overall funding allocation. So 40% goes directly back to cities based on the amount generated by each city. 50% goes into a regional program and winemakers into regional watershed groups, and so will have the opportunity to compete for funding in the lower Los Anderson River watershed and also the San Gabriel River watershed. And then 10% of total revenues generated go to a district program and then we'll go over each of these. Very briefly again, the municipal program for language. That's about $5 million a year that we can use for stormwater compliance information against stormwater. When you hear stormwater complaints, you can think water quality improvements for to really do go hand in hand. Again, funding must be used for water quality programs and projects. And then the proposed ordinance provides for local control, which is something that the city of one beach and a couple other cities, but very hard for with respect to the original program, is 50% of the funds. And these are competitive. But as I mentioned before, any funding that is invested in stormwater improvements, whether in Long Beach or upstream of one which eventually does benefit Long Beach, as all stormwater does flow towards the ocean and the program creates nine watersheds in the safe clean water program. Again. Let me just in two. And in the lower L.A. River watershed, there'll be about $14 million in competitive funds. And in the Lower San Gabriel represent, there's about 18 million and competitive funding. And again, this revenue is generated based on impermeable surface area. So depending on the size of your city or the size of your watershed, that has an impact on the type of money that you're looking at competing for it. And then with the district program, the district will be using, though, 10% to actually administer the program, provide stop support for regional programs, fund cross watershed scientific studies. So, for example, the Upper L.A. River Watershed and Lower L.A. River watershed scientific studies that benefit both could be funded through this 10% and not taken out of the 50% that we just spoke about. And then over a five year period, the county is committing to a $25 million minimum investment in stormwater education similar to the water conservation presentations that we may have seen in years past. Stormwater education is relatively new. And so we do believe that this is an important part of the program and something that the city is required to do as well. And so to the extent that we can leverage this, it helps us to say, to summarize through the municipal program, the city of one, which gets $5 million in direct funding, a year work eligible to compete for competitive funds. The regional program in two different watersheds, the average parcel taxes, 85 or $83 excuse me, per year. And the funding does support water quality improvements. So with that, I'm available to answer any questions. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you. First, I want to just say, Diana, thanks and congratulations on a really good job negotiating a very strong position for the city of Long Beach. We've seen we've had this conversation about our position at the mouth of two rivers, many of our council districts and communities adjacent to those those rivers. And so we understand that, you know, simple enter rainfall impacts on our communities are significant at significantly higher level than it does adjacent communities. And we also know that there are unfunded mandates that we need to try to comply with. Without the resources to do so. And so as a coastal city and a city that we're we are proud to call a beach city. And Washington Post talks about how many great days we have with great weather. We want to protect that and we have to invest in that. And so I congratulate the Board of Supervisors for acknowledging this need and for putting this forth to the voters. So I support this, and I think it's smart and we need to be an example as a as a coastal city at the mouth of two rivers. We need to set an example for other cities upstream across the gateway and across the county. And so that said, I move that we that the city council take a position of support for this upcoming measure the clean was it Los Angeles region's safe clean water program special parcel tax. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you. Nexus Council embraced it. Speaker 7: Thank you. And I support as well. This is a this is very important to the city of Long Beach. For many reasons that have already been stated by by Diana Tang and Councilmember Richardson. And I think in terms of hopefully the voters will will recognize and hopefully have confidence in our ability to to move large public works projects to to improve our stormwater system here in Long Beach. I can't say that I have the same amount of confidence for for some of the upstream cities. And I'm curious to know how some of those cities are going to be be able to plan because they don't have the resources that Long Beach does. And so I'd like to to look more into or hopefully limit our assistance to some of those cities to try to get their their their programs off the ground, because they what happens in many of those upstream cities certainly impacts our city as well. And so hopefully we can work with the the organizations like the Gateway Cities Council governments and through the County of Los Angeles to come up with a plan to to assist those cities to be super aggressive about getting their stormwater programs together to clean up the waterways coming to Long Beach. So with that said, I am I'm happy to support this and send it to the voters. Speaker 1: Public comment on the site and please. Speaker 10: Can we say it again? This is one of the issues that the landscape Pampers has come on board to support. It's time we did something about our water system in cleaning up our local water. We were the only community organization that went to the Board of Supervisors meeting from Mom Beach that ended up testifying beside the staff . So we're committed to supporting this project and doing whatever we have to do so that people understand how critical this issue is to us as the city. And thank you for those of you on the Council that have had the foresight to see how important it is to clean up our water and started the discussion on these issues a while ago. We look forward to participating in projects and working to help develop green jobs as a part of this in encouraging more water permeable surfaces in our parks and infrastructure. Speaker 3: Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 0: Hi. I'm her Linda Chico. I'm the field deputy for L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn. And I have a statement on her behalf. On July 17, 2018, Supervisor Hahn and the majority of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to put the Safe, Clean Water Program funding measure on the November ballot. Each year, over 100 billion gallons of water flow down our drains and our loss to the ocean rather than captured for re-use. Speaker 10: As it travels, the water picks up tons of trash and toxic pollutants. Speaker 0: That end up on our beaches. This toxic runoff is why the Department of Public. Speaker 6: Health is forced to close our beaches after big storms. Speaker 0: And the city of Long Beach understands. Speaker 6: This issue well. Since it. Speaker 0: Spends approximately $1 million per. Speaker 10: Year. Speaker 0: On cleaning up its. Speaker 6: Beaches, the county also contributes half a million dollars per year to. Speaker 0: Try and. Speaker 10: Stop trash from reaching. Speaker 0: The city of Long. Speaker 6: Beach by capturing trash while it still. Speaker 0: Is in the L.A. River. Speaker 10: Supervisor Hahn believes. Speaker 0: The residents of Long Beach do not deserve polluted water and dry aquifers. This is why she voted to put the safe clean water program funding measure on the ballot. The measure could potentially provide funding for stormwater. Speaker 10: Projects that will create local jobs. Speaker 0: Replenish our underground aquifers. Speaker 6: Keep our. Speaker 0: Beaches clean, and ensure. Speaker 10: That clean, safe water flows throughout our taps. Speaker 0: For generations to come. Supervisor Hahn wants to leave Los Angeles County a healthier and more sustainable place than she found it. And she urges the city of Long Beach to support this measure and allow the voters to. Speaker 10: Decide if cleaning and capturing. Speaker 0: Stormwater is important to them as well. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Nick. Speaker, please. Speaker 6: Good evening, counsel. My name is the only Kim I work with the L.A. Alliance for New Economy, and we're part of a coalition, our Water L.A. coalition, that's been working to inform and support this measure. Speaker 0: And so thank you for your consideration. Speaker 6: And for all the work that staff has done to make this a strong measure. We're excited that it's on the November ballot and and excited that you're discussing it tonight. I just want to underscore what you've already heard, that this measure is a real opportunity to address a triple crisis that our region is facing as far as water quality, water supply and extreme weather, that this measure has the capacity to address both drought and flooding risk. And that's a real amazing win to be able to address all of those things in one measure, in a way that is also bringing investments to communities, beautifying them, creating more open space and more shade for communities, and especially with commitments to invest in low income communities. This is a measure that will also help create jobs. We've been working with the building trades and with SEIU to inform the quality of those jobs and to also figure out how to increase access to those jobs for the communities that need them. We, our staff has underscored and as you've commented, see the great benefits to Long Beach. And just a comment to the Councilmember Austin's question around upstream smaller cities that there's a technical assistance program that the county is working on that can really help to bolster some of those smaller cities efforts to better address the water that's coming down to Long Beach after them. So I think that technical assistance program will help with some of those smaller cities upstream of you look forward to working together with the city for an implementation to make sure that the jobs created are good and that the projects are invested equitably throughout Long Beach and would love to continue working with you also to get the word out to voters. As it's been mentioned, it's a tax measure, not the most. I think as Councilwoman Mongeau said earlier, a lot of this infrastructure, these pieces, they're not the sexiest thing that people thing people most like to focus on, but they're the thing that at the end of the day , people have to navigate to get through their day. And this is a you can only live for three days without water. So we look forward to working with you to get the word out to voters to really have their consideration for this measure in the fall. Speaker 9: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. See no other public comment. Please cast your votes. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you very much. Let me try to get back to the to the regular. I don't think there's any any more requests for items on here. So let me go back to the regular agenda. Is Estella Magallanes here? We did concern calendar, didn't we? No. No, we did consent, though. Did we did consent. Right. Okay. Estella Margolin is here. Is David Dykstra here? Yes, sir, I am, sir. Please come forward. Is Kristi Melly here? Mama Lee? Yes. Please come forward. Thank you.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare a resolution in support of the Los Angeles Region Safe, Clean Water Program Special Parcel Tax, which will be considered countywide by voters on the November 6, 2018 ballot. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Communication from Council Member Richardson Council woman Mango Vice Mayor Andrew's recommendation to request city manager to direct all city of Long Beach employees to participate in the USC. So Price School of Public Policy, State of the Service Public Employee Survey to be completed within the next 45 days. Speaker 1: Thank you. That's. There's a motion. Can I get a second, please, before I turn this over? Most of the second counselor, Richardson. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Speaker 2: So tonight, I want to take a moment to highlight and focus on our public employees. I've worked with public employees my entire adult life, from my time, you know, student body president, my time working with California faculty, association with professors. And then my time as a worksite organizer for SEIU Local 721, which represented public employees in the county and in the city city of Los Angeles, here in the city of Long Beach. We employ nearly 6000 individuals from all different backgrounds and ages and races. And I personally believe that our public employees, they're our city's greatest asset. They are the the voices of our city. They're the faces of our city, the working hands of our city. And they're constantly our public employees across the country are constantly delayed, deal with attacks and pressing issues about maintaining quality of their service. And while, you know, a lot of times they don't necessarily feel that the receive the respect or the recognition from the public that they should. And so before so over the last decade, we've dealt with a lot of diminished resources. We've dealt with constrained budgets. Now we're finally in a place where we can do restorations and things like that. At the same time, our local governments now have new state mandates and unfunded liabilities and things like that. And so a lot of these challenges consistently contribute to low morale. And so the idea here is, you know, after a conversation at Southern California Association of Government Governments, I became aware that USC's Sol Price of Public Policy has designed a survey entitled State of Service. The the point is to measure key success indicators in the workplace and municipalities across Southern California cost the state of California and it helps to determine what motivates employees to do their job, evaluates levels of satisfaction, learning of the pressures and stresses and challenges of the workforce that they face on a daily basis. It'll help to inform policy changes that will not necessarily within our city, but across the region. It helps us to sort of take really get a snapshot across the region. And so at this point, I want to introduce I want to light up Dr. Bill Rasch, who is associate professor at UC. So price for public policy to share a little bit more about the survey. Thank you very much. Council Member Richardson Members of the Council. Mr. Mayor. Thank you for having me. Mr. West. Mr. PARK. And thank you. So for over two decades, governments at all levels of the US, Australia, several countries in Europe and elsewhere have used large surveys of public sector employees to gauge those employee perceptions and attitudes about their jobs, working conditions, organizational policies, their coworkers, leaders, etc. And these surveys have been designed and implemented to enhance our understanding of how to improve managerial capacity and performance and increase recruitment and retention of talented managers and employees in government. The US Office of Personnel Management for over 15 years has conducted the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey to produce survey results that are representative of the entire federal executive branch as well as of employers within individual agencies. Responses to those items concerned. Job satisfaction. Satisfaction with pay. So on and so forth. And agencies regularly use these particular items to identify internal weaknesses and areas for improvement. Now, as you and I have heard this evening, we know that your employees and their skills are and their knowledge are some of the city's most important assets, sometimes more important than other forms of capital, such as physical and financial assets. So the survey that we've designed is to make assessments of the human capital capacity that exists in Long Beach to help you identify areas of particular strength, which I know you have, as well as potential weaknesses both within your own workforce and compared to workforces in neighboring municipalities. So we come to you from the University of Southern California's School of Public Policy. Thank you. With a charge to serve our communities and to provide the resources that we have to you for the purposes of advancing and uplifting the lives of our citizens together. And as a resident of the second District, this is important to me as well. For the purposes of this project sponsored by. The Hands Foundation of Southern California. Our intent is to provide a well-designed instrument that's based on the best survey practices established by research and by various governments who have done something similar to this. And in the past, I myself have consulted the United States Office of Personnel Management on the implementation design of their annual employee census that surveys well over 700,000 survey civilian employees of the U.S. federal government. So in that tradition, we've designed for you a survey that offers unbiased, accurate and informative responses on issues that are critical to effective performance here in the city of Long Beach, but in local governments everywhere. We have worked hard on identifying practically every position, unit and department across your city government, such that anyone taking the survey can find their position in a quick drop down menu. Through countless test runs, we've estimated the survey to take approximately 20 minutes for any respondent. It is mobile optimized. The survey instrument can be done on desktop, laptop or on any subject subject, meaning an employee's cell phone. It is completely anonymous and we work very hard with the standards of our internal review board to maintain the confidentiality of any responded. The City of Long Beach has stated that it seeks a research partner for their Everyone in Economic Inclusion initiative. The research, overseen by this newly established Office of Equity, requires the development of new evaluation frameworks that identify opportunities for social and economic innovation while identifying barriers to economic inclusion for disenfranchized communities. The results of this survey and subsequent interviews that our team will provide should provide some support to the development and implementation of policy interventions and inform the strategic objectives for a longitudinal, longitudinal analysis of equity profiles across the city of Long Beach, especially as they concern employee perceptions of the issue. Community benefits will include programs designed to support minority owned businesses through more equitable policies and human and financial capital investments. Just as importantly, and maybe more importantly, the initial survey, as well as the follow up interviews our team will conduct ask questions about. Speaker 5: Your workforce that are widely. Speaker 2: Acknowledged as key indicators of success and allow for comparison across departments and with other municipalities in L.A. County. In all, we have had so far over 15 municipalities, including L.A. City, that have already taken the survey. We have agreement from L.A. County Sheriff's Department to proceed soon. And using these results as baseline comparisons, you will be able to make assessments by department, managerial level or other demographics on all key indicators. For instance, we have several job related assessments of employers on all managerial ranks about their level of satisfaction in their jobs, their pay, and their sense of well-being. Among other valuable indicators of morale and work environment. And crucial to this understanding is the level of empowerment employees perceive as they carry out their jobs. Of course, the level of discretion will vary across job responsibilities, but public agencies and private firms increasingly have been relying on participative management techniques and employee empowerment practices aimed at sharing authority , information and resources with frontline employees. Something that I witnessed just tonight in what's happening here in Long Beach. So I do expect positive results from the survey, by the way. Speaker 5: But this includes identifying. Speaker 2: Limiting unnecessary or burdensome procedures that may be imposed on frontline workers that can many times be imperceptible to management. Speaker 5: I give you an example. I will keep. Speaker 2: The municipality anonymous at this point. But this is a mid-sized city in Los Angeles County of over 100,000 residents. And when we asked frontline workers and managers how burdensome, burdensome their policies or procedures were within their respective departments, you see quite a difference between those that have less than five reports, to those that have over five reports , those that have over five reports don't perceive the procedures as burdensome, where the frontline workers indeed do. Studies consistently have shown as well that an employee's satisfaction with his or her relationships with other employees and the supervisors that they have is negatively associated with intention to turn over. That is to leave their job. Sorry about the little run on with the text there. It reduces the uncertainty and equivocal ity when you have a good relationship with your supervisor and your peers and it reinforces the workers feelings of identification with the organized. Zation. The trust in the supervisor is also negatively related with that intention to leave. And so having a systematic assessment of this in your own workforce should be critical to building existing capacities as well as identifying ways to strengthen those bonds. As you see again, another example, when trust in leadership is high, this can vary among particular demographics in this particular city. Hispanic employers had far less faith in their performance being judged fairly than non-Hispanic employees. This is something that should be identified by your management and I believe is to an effective stance, except to have systematic evidence of your successes should be something that you should strive for. In my own opinion, management relations, of course, are important as well in terms of gender. And sometimes we have some inequities within our departments or within our organizations. Indirect encounters with the members of the public employees are tasked with producing desired emotions in a member. I mean, with a member of the public, which requires this emotional management and at times performance by the employee that can quite quickly learn lead to emotional burnout. And so in order to conform to the appropriate display that is necessary in emotional management, employees who do not experience the required emotions naturally have to engage in strategies of emotional repression or expression. And these types of emotional labor from repeated customer service encounters have been linked to burnout, which of course can lead to turnover intentions. Here again is a sample of some of the questions in a larger emotional burnout scale that we include asking workers whether they feel emotionally drained, so on and so forth. Finally, and probably most important to your interest, both both from a human capital stance, but also from a fiscal stance. Job turnover is a pressing issue in the public sector, in part because of the serious consequences that it creates for managers and also the cost it carries to taxpayers. In addition to creating turmoil and causing disruptions in service delivery, turnover imposes considerable costs on organizations separation costs such as severance pay, as well as replacement costs, including the cost of hiring, screening and training new employees. The average turnover costs for a full time professional employee have been estimated to be as high as 150% of the employee's annual compensation package. Here again, as this example shows you, the threat is quite real. 31% within this mid-sized city within Los Angeles County and indicated some intent of turnover. Sometimes it's from one department within the city to another, but many times it's to leave the city as a whole. Also, most importantly or not most importantly, but also importantly, we we gauge citizen engagement practices and outcomes from your individual workers, your individual employees to see if we can collect systematic best practices across your city. And of course, the survey has all areas of analysis being broken down by key employee characteristics, such as department, gender, minority status, managerial status, so on and so forth. But we do protect the data to the effect that if there is, let's say, a minority, a single minority within a given unit or department. Of course, we would aggregate the numbers large enough so that no single person could be identified within a given department by their age, whatever characteristic there might be. So of the gender differences, the role differences and the various differences among your diverse employee population, it's, I think, critical for you to make an assessment of where these employees stand in terms of their devotion to the mission of their organizations and the city itself. And so our draft project timeline is a 90 day top line research initiative. We expect to administer the survey over September and October with data analysis coming in November and initial findings and a report coming out sometime in December, followed by a qualitative listening tour that includes conversations with your management to make sure that we are providing the data that they need to make actionable changes if necessary, and others to make sure that they have the information necessary to tout their various achievements. And so with that, as I said, 15 municipalities across L.A. County. Including L.A. City and soon L.A. County Sheriff's Department have already taken this survey. And it's our hope for the continued success of Long Beach that you will join these cities. So thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Resch. And I'll and I'll just say the conversation is going on for a while. And remember, the survey was a lot longer. But in conversations that we want to bring it down, you've done a good job bringing it down to a 20 minute survey. So my knowledge that. But thank you for your presentation. Thank you. Good. And so that said, members, I think this makes sense based on a lot of the conversations we've had at the Council about data and retention and and all those things. And I think a city, you know, the second largest city in the county should participate in this survey that's across Southern California. And, you know, I would love to go back to the gang and say, hey, we brought home the second largest city in the sky region for the survey. But that said, I encourage your support. Thank you. Speaker 1: That's me. My interest. I might. I think this is a great partnership. And so I'm really Dr.. Thank you. It's such a rush. Correct. So, Dr. Asha's, thank you for doing this project. I think obviously as a as a graduate of, of C and I, I taught at a price for a couple of years, a couple of courses for that price. I think that the level of work that you're doing with the faculty there is really amazing. And so to have this partnership with the Price School, I think is great. And I think this kind of survey work and and this kind of data and the level of analysis that you're going to do, I think, is really impressive. And so I'm very supportive of this. I want to thank Councilman Richardson and the councilmembers are bringing this forward. And I hope that this will be one of a variety of other projects we could partner in the future. I know that the Price School has some exciting projects with many municipalities. We do have some projects here in Long Beach as well that the preschool partners with and I think this is a the survey work is really great. So thank you for bringing that forward, Councilman Mungo. Speaker 6: Thank you. Also, I've served as an adjunct at price and I'm taking some time off to have our our first child. So I'm not there this spring. But I do love the work done at price. As a member who signed on to this item, I think it important that any additional questions that were added that are not part of the standard SKOG survey, that that this body would at least have the opportunity to at least see them. It sounded as though you made some customizations, but I'd hope that they would not be at the request of only one council member. And so I'm happy to arrange a time at your convenience to look at what those look like. And I'm not sure what other city staff have haven't. Speaker 2: Had any questions. Speaker 6: He mentioned he added additional questions on our part of Skog. Speaker 2: I am happy to share with all the council, the mayor's office as well as the city manager. Speaker 6: I'm just interested in what adjustments were made, especially having co-taught with city managers and others across the region and actually serving and taking your survey through the L.A. County Sheriff's Department as a deputy sheriff that I serve as, I think it'd be interesting at least to know what customizations you brought forward and where they came from. Speaker 2: So the customizations were rather minimal and they were done through a little bit of conversation with Rex Richardson and the staff mostly focused on economic inclusion initiative, but with with an eye on being a Long Beach resident, making sure that it was appropriate to the city itself. But all questions that we use are validated, questions used in previous surveys, and I provide references for any of the given questions as they've been used previously. Speaker 6: Well, I look forward to looking at those with you in terms of talking through them, because while Councilmember Richardson's priorities are important to all nine of us, and we want to be sure that we didn't want city staff to be influenced by one councilmember where a policy had not been specifically prioritized over any other policy. So just interested to see that, especially in light of my signed on to such a big supporter of price. I look forward to working with you and thank you. Had we known you were here, we would have tried to move your item up. I didn't see you in the audience tonight, so we apologize for that. Thank you for being a part of our robust budget conversation and many other robust conversations, and thank you for being a long. Speaker 2: Time, a professor of governance, management and policy processes. So this is edifying and thank you for the time, so. Speaker 1: Thanks for. Speaker 5: Being here. We're proud to have you here in. Speaker 1: Long Beach, so. Speaker 3: Absolutely love that. Speaker 1: Councilor Pearce. Speaker 6: Yes, I'd like to just say thank you so much for the presentation. Thank you for working with Rex Richardson on this. I did not teach at price, but I did work at Lane for a decade and we work very closely with USC in many of our development projects. And so I don't want to make any changes. Of course, I feel like you guys have a handle on what kind of. Shouldn't you have? I do look forward to seeing the results and then seeing if there's a next phase. I know that I personally am invested in looking at making sure that, especially through our H.R. practices, that people feel like they have a safe space to report any workplace, whether it's violence or abuse or bullying and things, issues like that. And so hopefully we can work together down the road on some projects around that with our H.R. department as well. But really happy to have you here and thanks for staying. Speaker 1: Q Councilman Price, thank you. Speaker 9: This is a really I didn't know anything about this. I think this is really great. I thank my colleagues for bringing forward and of course, Councilman Richardson for for leading it. I think it's great. I did my master's. I got my masters in public policy. And I did my thesis on citizen satisfaction surveys. And if governments issued those to their residents and I thought it was just so interesting to, you know, really use that survey data to implement it into, you know, practical application. I thought it was great. So I think this is great. And, you know, I'm I'm assuming it's going to be general enough that they all the employees can relate to it and answer it like you've done in other cities, which is great. And I in my other hat, I'm a public employee in Orange County, I'm at the district attorney's office. And I actually think this would I don't know if my boss would agree, but I think this would be a really great idea to do there as well. So maybe we can talk later and I can at least throw the idea out there and see if they'd be interested. But I mean, it's just additional data that you can use to guide your management. And in a world where law enforcement is changing, I think prosecution officers could really benefit from that. So this is great. I really like this agenda item. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 2: And Councilman Austin wants to go before I. Speaker 1: Speak to in Austin. Speaker 5: Hey, thank you very much for the presentation on. Speaker 7: I've been kind of multitasking and taking the survey while while you were talking, you said it was going to take 20 minutes. So I figured, you know, it's a good use of my time. And I found that some of the questions to be be very interesting and straightforward. You mentioned earlier and and I read on the the website that that you're going to share the data with organizations like the League of Cities and in other public sector type organizations. Were you there any plan to work with any of the the the the employee organizations that that are out there to just get some real feedback from from from employees that maybe not associated directly with the employer, but because I think there's a real opportunity to to work with some of the public sector labor organizations like Ask Me and SEIU, folks who are public employee specific. Speaker 2: So in some of the cities that we've worked with, they we had also consulted Public City, I mean, public employee unions prior to implementing. They were very supportive. We've really had no pushback on this survey from any given city. Good has participated at any rate, and we've had a pretty successful rate so far of those that want to buy in. Speaker 7: And so in terms of the data and when you're done and it's all culminate, it will not be shared publicly as well. Speaker 2: So it depends what you mean by so in the aggregate, yes. On an individual basis, no. As I said, we're very serious about maintaining the confidentiality and the anonymity of each one of our subjects, to the point that neither a manager nor anyone from the public would be able to identify a single responded by their placement in a department, by any given demographic characteristics such as gender or race or so on and so forth. We take that quite seriously. And we had this study reviewed by our internal review board at USC, which abides by the standards by the national standards of Arabs. That being said, we work with each individual city as to how they would like the data constructed for their own purposes and own internal purposes. And then as well, we are not in the I'm not in the business to try to expose one city compared to another. So when I'm giving you comparative analysis between yourself and neighboring municipalities, as you saw in the slides that I was presenting for some of the examples of the data that we have used, I will not name that given city and to every extent possible obscure, you know, the characteristics of that city to the point that all you'll have, all you'll have is basic demographics. That is, you know, is it over under 100,000 people, so on and so forth. Yeah. Speaker 7: To the knowledge. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. Just two final things. A one in our motion, we say, requires the city manager to direct all city employees. I want to make sure we're good on on the on any sort of. What is it? Speaker 5: We can flourish. You go. Speaker 2: Any meat conversions, we're going to say encourage strong participation instead of direct so that we're encouraging this, we're encouraging full participation. But there would be no penalty if someone does not participate in the survey. Yeah, that's one of the things that should be made clear. Also to be clear, the only way that we can provide you good analysis is for it and for us to have robust participation. Thank you. I think we're good at this point. Mr. Roche, you can go ahead and take your seat. But I want to just in my motion to, you know, to make that one change. And the second thing is, I think I just want to sort of explain, when we rolled out the everyone in initiative, one of the first motions was to go out and see if someone could help us with an economic equity study. And that's when sort of the opportunities presented to us that USC has so sold price as some some competitive grants, some innovation grants and things like that. And that sort of led to the conversation of if we don't find the funding for that study, could some of this help contribute to that? That's what the connection was. And so since then, we've identified the funding and policy link, and Chase has contributed $75,000 to conduct this study. But what we got out of the through the process of just exploring our options is an amazing opportunity to participate in this larger, broader survey. So I felt like maybe that helps helps us understand the context and connection that everyone in economic inclusion work. That said, I encourage oh not Chase I'm sorry city community development. So that said I encourage vote. Thank you. Speaker 1: Any public comment? Please cast your votes. Speaker 0: Pearce motion carries. Speaker 1: Item 20, please.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to direct all City of Long Beach employees to participate in the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy "State of the Service" public employee survey, to be completed within the next 45 days.

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Speaker 6: Motion carries. Speaker 3: Which aren't actually. Speaker 9: Chicken. Speaker 6: That's what. Speaker 5: I am 20. Speaker 0: Report from Disaster Preparedness Fire Police recommendation to authorize city manager to execute a contract with the Department of Homeland Security to receive and expend grant funding for FY 2017 Port Security Grant Program in an amount not to exceed 2,000,300 234 and increase appropriations in the General Grants Fund in the fire department by 274,000, and in the General Grants Fund and the police department by 1,000,960 citywide. Speaker 1: Mr. West, a quick update on Ms.. Speaker 4: We're fine. We recommend approval. Speaker 1: Okay. There's a motion in a second. Any public comment on this? Okay. Please cast your vote. Speaker 3: He's. Speaker 0: Councilwoman Mongo. Motion carries. 21 please report from Energy Resources. Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an amendment to the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility Operations and Maintenance Agreement number 23336 with Covanta Long Beach Renewable Energy Corporation in an amount not to exceed 8,700,000 to provide capital investment for facility equipment, replacement city wide where.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and all necessary amendments, including term extensions, with the Department of Homeland Security to receive and expend Department of Homeland Security grant funding for the FY 2017 Port Security Grant Program, in an amount not to exceed $2,234,000, for a period ending August 31, 2020; and Increase appropriations in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Fire Department (FD) by $274,000 and in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Police Department (PD) by $1,960,000. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Councilwoman Mongo. Motion carries. 21 please report from Energy Resources. Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an amendment to the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility Operations and Maintenance Agreement number 23336 with Covanta Long Beach Renewable Energy Corporation in an amount not to exceed 8,700,000 to provide capital investment for facility equipment, replacement city wide where. Speaker 1: We have some some interests on the dice on this issue is there is a report that we want to report, Councilmember. Okay. Speaker 5: So we are going to follow up on this. Sure. We have Bob Dole and Charlie Trump. Yeah. The furthest to Charlie trip. Our manager. Speaker 7: Of surf. Speaker 5: Mayor Garcia, members of the City Council under the current operations and Maintenance Agreement Surface operated by Covanta Energy. And this agreement goes until July one, 2024. Covanta is the world's largest operator of waste energy facilities in this country and also abroad. In 2017, Covanta notified the city that equipment in the facility had reached its end of operational life. The city contracted with another engineering independent engineering company named HDR to perform a facility assessment report which concurs with Covanta notification. The amendment arranges for a total investment of $13.7 million for the replacement of 30 year old equipment in the facility. That has reached the point where it may fail without the investment. The equipment, which includes things like conveyors, motors, control systems, could fail and would cause facility availability to be compromised. What that means is we would have to shut down and repair the facility with unscheduled outages instead of a planning and and doing it in a scheduled way. Under the terms of the amendment, Covanta will invest $5 million and the city will invest $8.7 million, which total the 13.7 total investment. In the spirit of collaboration. This proposed amendment will also allow for those seeking opportunities to accept higher value waste. This is just to to improve facility revenues going forward, and it also secures a more stable operation until 2024. That concludes my report, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. Yes. Speaker 8: Mr. Speaker. Oh, excuse me. Very public comment because. Come down. Speaker 6: Yes. Hello. My name is Whitney Amaya, and I'm here as a representative of Eastside Communities for Environmental Justice, as well as a constituent of District seven. I asked the City Council members do not approve the recommendation to invest $8.7 million, not extend the contract of the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility. The incineration of waste releases thousands of pollutants that contaminate the city of Long Beach. Among those pollutants are dioxins, which, according to the EPA, are highly toxic. Speaker 10: And can cause cancer. Speaker 6: Reproductive and developmental problems and damage to the immune system. As a resident of West Long Beach, which has an 85 to 100% pollution burden score, according to Callan via screen, supporting this recommendation would be a blow to communities. There are so many parallels between the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility and the Commerce Refuse To Energy Facility, which was decommissioned June 30th of this year. The Southeast the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility is an expensive facility to operate, and with the power purchase agreement with Southern California Edison coming to an end, it will face a loss in revenue when faced with a similar situation, the commerce incinerator increased tipping fees. However, it was not enough to sustain operations. The City of Long Beach should instead begin to invest in zero waste strategies, especially when more than half of the waste being. Speaker 10: Sent to the Southeast Research Recovery Facility can be recycled, composted or reused. Speaker 6: I have these factsheets also. Hopefully councilmembers can look over in regards to incineration. I don't have enough copies for you all so I can provide copies tomorrow. But if you guys do want to take a look over and share, I have some copies here. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. But. Speaker 2: Good evening. Speaker 4: Mayor and council members. My name is Kobe Sky. I'm speaking on behalf of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, where I serve as a principal engineer on our Environmental Core Service area. Speaker 5: I wanted to speak in support of this item. Speaker 4: For a decade, surf, as it's affectionately known, has helped Long Beach divert waste from landfills and generate electricity to power homes and businesses. Speaker 5: This is an important service. Speaker 2: And it's good to see that the city is. Speaker 4: Looking to continue to invest in. Speaker 2: Improvements to surf. Speaker 4: Which over the years has continued to improve its operations, reduce the impact to the community, and serve a very important resource not just. Speaker 2: For the city of Long Beach, but for the region. For that reason, we hope that the city. Speaker 5: Will move forward. Speaker 4: With this item to continue this important capacity and have it available for the city and for our neighbors. And the county would be happy to provide assistance or technical expertize in terms of solid waste if it's helpful to the city. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker, please. Speaker 2: To Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. My name is Angela Logan. I am a fourth District resident and a member of our Communities for Environmental Justice. I want to urge the Council to pause on spending $8.7 million on a facility that is antiquated, the industry is adequate, and the approach itself in addressing waste is what we look at is, I think, in the past. As you heard the first speaker mentioned, the City of Commerce Refuge, the energy facility, which is also a waste to energy facility, just folded because the feasibility and economics of it didn't pan out. And so it folded. The risk here is that the same thing may be in front of us here at the surf facility. And after investing $8.7 million into that, if there face closure, that would be an appropriate use of our resources. To say that $8.7 million is a significant amount of money to invest in something at such high risk, something that the amount of resources that we can use for libraries, for the police, for fire, for all these vital, vital issues that we have just heard you talk about earlier today during the budget discussion. I want to ask the council to really consider this issue pause, take time to really study these particular issues that are and that we should be considering that if you don't have all the answers to these questions, that you should take time to make a really well informed decision on spending that amount of money. The questions I would pose to you are if you are not clear on the implications to investing this money into this facility as it relates to. Speaker 5: The California Renewable Portfolio Standard program, the change in the power purchase agreement. Speaker 2: The length and terms of the existing contract, and the existing lifespan of the equipment in question. If you're not clear on all those parts and pieces. Making the decision on spending $8.7 billion tonight would be poor decision making. So I want to urge you to pause, to take time to study this issue closely and make sure that you are looking out for the health and well-being of your residents, both financially and within the environment. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And our last speaker. And then we'll go to the council. Speaker 3: Dr. Mayor. City Council. City Clerk's Department, City Managers. Department, city attorney. Thank you for allowing me to speak. My name is Daniel Greenwald. I live in Sydney to this. Item. The subject is very important to me. The whole reason I am here. The reason I live here in Southern California is because my father found a job here in the ports of Long Beach. And then he spoke to me and I live my father's legacy where as. He told me that where he worked in the ports, it was a. Zero waste facility. And by that I mean there was no waste. But then he told me that the the waste there was burnt. At Surf. I couldn't believe it. They burn trash here in the ports. It didn't make sense to me. But now we have mercury, ammonia, chlorine led zinc. Everything here because they burn trash here in Long Beach. It's ridiculous, and dare I say shameful that this happens. The fact that we're putting $8.7 million into sustaining this is shameful. We should be putting $8.7 million into. Closing the facility and moving towards a more sustainable green, something where fresh air happens and where we burn trash and breathe these emissions. Additionally, regarding the staff's economic analysis, the service revenues will drop from 25 million to 10 million, and that's based on the assumption that people will pay more for tipping fees, etc. and elsewhere. The city is currently researching and looking into how we can make our revenues green and efficient. Pardon me. This is. So important to me. I'm just at a loss of words that we would put more money into burning trash and not putting into green and sustainable things. I'm sorry. Speaker 1: No. Thank you, sir. Let me go back with. There's a motion in a second to authorize this agreement. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 6: Thank you. I want to thank our committee members for staying late. I know we've got a healthy agenda for staff. I want to thank you for the presentation, but I know that this item was slotted to be last week. We held it off so that we could all have conversations and hopefully have a full presentations. I'm was hoping for a more full staff presentation. I know it's late, so I'm going to run through a couple of questions to try to tease out some answers for my for my colleagues. The first question I have is regards to the the money that we would put through is only to get us to 2024. Would the facility be viable after that date? Speaker 5: So the facility to continue to run part of the independent engineering study an analysis we did we would have to invest additional funding if we wanted to operate past 2024. This funding is needed to continue to operate the facility until 2024, and this acts as a bridge to get us through to whether there's another alternative technology at that point or another way to go for waste diversion. One of the one of the great things about surf is it really is a a environmentally responsible way for handling waste management. It actually reduces greenhouse gas emissions when compared to landfilling and is also employed. This technology is employed worldwide and specifically required by the European Union to handle solid waste where they don't allow landfilling in Europe. Speaker 6: Okay, I've got a few other questions, but I want to let me back up a little bit. I think I want to just paint the tone. I think the surf plan has been a hot item for a long time. We know that it is a discussion where a lot of community members, both labor versus environmental, through the port. The discussion has been what are we doing with surf? We know that there are options to come in and do anaerobic digestion and several other options that could be done there. But we have not had that conversation at council. And so for me, the reason why last week I asked to pull it was because I felt surprised by the dollar amount and not being able to have that conversation yet. And by saying in your staff report that it says that the economic impact was unknown of what the future would be. And so for me, that raised another. But I had my notes on my laptop. My laptop died because I love my charger at home. So just bear with me and how choppy my notes are. Okay. But I think for me, the question for us is how do we move forward with an energy efficient, an option for us to have a community choice in where energy comes from? And does it make sense for us to invest this type of money for a short term goal when we don't have a feasibility study or a plan for that next step? So my next question is for to highlight for the community members to the funding that's coming from this. Is that coming from the general fund or from surf? Speaker 5: The funding so far operates under an enterprise fund and the funding for the the the work and capital replacement work that's required is coming from that fund. It's not coming from the general fund, nor would it come from the general fund. We're a self-sustaining fund in the city. And as a matter of fact, in the past we've actually had that revenue and have contributed to the general fund over the life of the facility and over $70 million. Speaker 6: Right. And familiar with the past and knowing that there have been changes at the state level that recyclables are different. And so what would it cost for us to do a feasibility study on the options for a sort of plant moving forward? Speaker 5: Well, currently the options are landfill and you could handle greenways through or food waste through an anaerobic digestion system if you could find it. But that's a very minimal amount of the solid waste which needs to be handled for the city a size of 500 or 500,000 people. So in putting in a full scale facility. Comparable to surf. You would you would be looking at a that's a almost an impossible task from the standpoint of the cost surf facility nowadays with the same pollution control equipment would cost half a billion dollars. Our our facility out there is an asset to the city and still has usable life in it. The amounts that we're actually investing is very small. When you look at an investment to replace the whole facility in the neighborhood of of $500 million is small. As far as a feasibility study to do that, to do that type of report that's why we we handled ah we we hired HDR last year to give us different scenarios. How much will we need to invest in the facility to run to 2024? How much we would need to to invest in the facility to run to 2030 and how much to invest in the facility until 2040. When we use those numbers and we use what our projected revenues were in a proforma to see whether we can afford to actually continue the run and operate the facility and perform upgrades that might be required by law or by regulations. Speaker 6: Can I ask our director what it would look like to get an economic impact report for Cerf in the next year? Because we don't have I mean, it's a one and a half page report that we have in front of us. Speaker 4: Councilmember We can certainly do that. We could use the report that Mr. Tripp just talked about and expand upon that and provide you something with the next year that talks about all the viability of surf and where it's gone, where it's been, and what alternatives are. We can certainly do that. Speaker 6: And that is the conversation I would love to have. Let me also ask, is my understanding that these upgrades do not fall within the project labor agreement that we have in the city? Speaker 5: That's correct. Speaker 4: These are not this is not a construction project. Speaker 6: Okay. Just simply because it's not a construction project, even though the. Okay. Let me ask one last question. Is there. Excuse me. I want to hear from my colleagues and then I might have one other comment. So go ahead. Speaker 5: Okay. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 9: So I seconded the motion to approve the recommendation, which is my position would be some. I'm hoping that we're still going in that direction. Okay, good. So is it possible for us to maybe get annual reviews or updates on how the facility is doing? Speaker 4: Absolutely. Nope, no question about that. We have those and we can deliver those to you right away. Yes. Speaker 6: Yeah. We meet for 30 minutes. Speaker 5: We do make those available through our JPA agreement. And also, we we are required to do a a revenue report for our partners, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District. So we do do those annual reports. Speaker 9: That be great. And that way we can continue to monitor the progress, opportunities for improvement, etc., as we continue the discussions. But that's really all I have to say. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 7: So I cued up and I'm supportive of the recommendation, I think and I think Sirf is actually a resource for the city. And we've been working on our state legislative agenda for the past four years, at least in Sacramento, trying to get an extension for Cerf, because we recognize it is a benefit. You know, we can have the conversation and debate about the merits of incinerating trash and having minimal emissions versus landfilling. And you know what that does for in the capacity for to landfill trucking trash, you know, 100 miles across the Southern California. And what that does in terms of fuel, I think there are some some some merits to us investing in our surf plant. But also, I'll go a step further, further in saying that I think the life of surf should be a priority of this council to extend it. It pays for itself. It's a it's a self-generating or enterprise fund that now, I think, has has benefited the city tremendously. And it also has the potential to to bring other revenues in and be a resource not only for our city, but but other cities as well. And so when you look at the $8 million talked about, these are not necessarily tax dollars. It's not general fund dollars. These are not dollars that are coming away from services. These are dollars that are generated within surf itself. That Enterprise Fund, and I think is like any other enterprise fund that we have, our port, our airport, allow them not to to to invest in the upgrades. And then we as a council, I think we really need to have the conversation about the really getting behind state legislation to to still extend this facility. So I'll be voting to support. Speaker 1: Thank you. And I just want to go to councilman among I know that Councilman Austin is chose to stay let's committee has been working on this issue for years for for many years at the up in Sacramento. I've been there and accompanied him on this very on this very issue as well. So I just want to thank the councilman for I know his constant advocacy on this issue. Speaker 6: Councilman committee I cued up because I am 100% in support of Councilmember Austin's efforts in serving on state ledge and extending surf. So far as not only is the pollution of trucking terrible, but the byproducts of surf are so low that my husband volunteers there. So I put my personal family in. Literally, my husband takes actual reference product up to the incinerator and hand puts it into the incinerator. So he's standing in the thick of it on a regular basis, and he's read the reports on what the potential carcinogen options are and all of the specific wipes that they use to keep their employees safe. I mean, it is a safe plant. I am so thankful for the efforts of Councilmember Super and as chair of Surf and of Councilmember Austin of as chair of State Ledge, that we need to do what we can to extend the life of surf. It is the most environmentally friendly option we specifically cover the trash with. Our clippings. This is something that the Department of the Energy Department, under previous leadership, came out and talked about at community meetings about how people are confused often of why they don't have a green burial. And the reason they don't have a green bill is because those green clippings in the burning actually make it more environmentally friendly. And so the detriment to the 710 corridor and the communities that live by trucking and moving trash would actually be much worse off. So thank you, Councilmember Austin, for your overview and thank you for your work on this and also thank you member Councilmember Superhot for your work on this. I think that that there are a lot of misinformation out there and we need to do a better job of informing the community and getting out there and letting them know what a Jewell Cerf is and how many agencies across the region use it and how powerful it is. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Pearce. Speaker 6: Okay. So a few things. One is I want to clarify that my number one concern is about process and the fact that this council has not had a discussion about surf and the options while Councilmember Austin works at the state level on this. I'm on the surf committee. It's a 30 minute committee and I've asked to help agenda things and I have not had that opportunity. So four and I've only been to one meeting, to be clear. Okay. To be clear, there was one meeting that I that I attended since serving on it. So it's really the fact that there's so much conversation out in my community and my district with the community partners we have with IBEW, with those that came here tonight and that we're not having that conversation here. And so while I am supporting moving this forward, I do want to move it forward, but I want to move it forward with coming back. And that's what we talked about whenever we had our meeting last week was coming back with what is the feasibility moving forward. So if we invest this knowing that it only gets us to 2024, what are we doing to not only get an economic impact because we don't know what the changes are ? This council doesn't know. While it's been good to us in the past, we don't know what those state changes are going to do. We can sit here and rave about how great it is. But we're we're smart council. We need to see some numbers. We need to see some options. And so my request, what I'm asking for is three things. One is that understanding that we want a presentation and we can work on agendas in something on the council side around options but that we come back with a report on possible alternatives to surf after 2024, including potential anaerobic digestion, better source of separation programs, increased reuse and recycling, and any necessary and any necessary other changes that we need to do knowing that this plant creates energy, that we we use that, what are the options? And so how can we get that report in front of us in the next, I'd say year two? Is that knowing that they're not for construction jobs, that there are jobs in there, that I think from talking to folks in labor, that they feel like they would be their skilled workforce, might be a good partner if we could just make sure that staff is working with them to identify any skilled work positions. That would be great. And then I said I had three, but but those are my two. Those are my two. Speaker 5: No problem. Speaker 4: But we can get all the two. Speaker 6: Okay. And so just to clarify, we just we're ready to have the choice around the conversation, around community choice. And that's why this is such a big topic for me. So thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Cipriano. Speaker 2: Thank you. First Councilmember Mongo just mentioned the 710 corridor or so since the 605 quarter appearance next to her district. I want to let her know that this land fills up there, too. Actually, I think I think I just want to give Mr. Dao or Mr. Tripp an opportunity to speak on any of the points they're made tonight. Anything else you'd like to say? So how about it? Thank you. Speaker 5: No, I'm fine. Speaker 1: Thank you. Constable Richardson. Speaker 9: Said no. Speaker 2: Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a couple of things. So I think folks would be more comfortable if maybe there was that check in in general about it. You know, I, you know, took the opportunity when I first got on council to go to serve, take the tour, understand the sort of the challenges with serve. And it's very complex. It is it's difficult to explain to the public. And I think the biggest heartburn that I hear consistently is what is the future look like beyond 2024? And, you know, there are a lot of other conversations happening that are around the fringe of what our waste reality of waste looks like and the future of Long Beach, whether it's the conversation about the zero waste and the franchise hauling, whether it's the conversation about community choice. So I believe I don't know that today is the time. I actually think, you know, we take some time and think more fully about whether these, you know, serve funds can help contribute to a broader study about all these sort of outstanding issues. The the other piece of this is I just want to be clear, and I know this question has been asked, but this special fund serve these are resources that are generated from staff, correct? That's correct. So these resources cannot be directed to building to funding public safety or enhancing parks and things like that. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. After we expend these resources, what is the condition of the survey fund? Speaker 5: So the fund is kind of a fluid fund. We keep a fund balance. The current fund balance is 22 million. We are going to spend these resources, but on the same and in the same at the same time, we're going to be also operating and maintaining the facility. So we're going to get revenues during that period while we're replacing and refurbishing equipment so that the fund will will get down, I think, through 2024 to a point of about 10 million, and then it will actually increase again by 2024. Speaker 2: So we're not really the point. The reason I ask that is that we're not sacrificing any real opportunity cost to, you know, study or evaluate or have a conversation about the future. What it does is guarantee that time period that we we understood we would have, which was to 2024, it diminishes that risk of, you know, the early termination of the contract and it gives us some time to actually figure it out. And for those reasons, I support this move. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you. Before I go back around to Customer Austin. I want to just a couple just a couple comments. So I do appreciate the conversation that we're having tonight. I want to just add that there is a really broad, robust conversation around stuff that's happening in Sacramento. We've been working directly with the speaker's office, with Assemblymember O'Donnell and directly with a bunch of our other representatives on this very issue to look at how we both modernize and plan for the future as it relates to surf. I think that there I think everything that was said tonight was is valid in the sense where we know that there's a lot of conversation about what the future looks like of waste and how and how the surf plant adapts to that, because it certainly is something that we are very interested in partnering with the state on . And so there is a there's a larger state effort that that we're engaged with within the governor's office and within our legislative representatives around the surf plant. And I know that while Councilman Austin has been helping kind of lead those efforts for us, I think it's always valuable to have a presentation or a conversation to the remaining members of the council, even beyond the committee and the work that's happening with Councilman Super Anna and the rest of the surf committee. I think if there's interest in that, I think like any topic, we can bring that forward to the council and have a broader conversation. It never hurts to have more presentations, but I do just want to make sure that people are aware that that that the surf plant and its future is, is is a very, very broad conversation happening with a bunch of partners, including the Port of Long Beach and including all of our state representatives. So I just want to leave it there. So I'm glad that we're moving forward tonight, and I appreciate all the all the input. Councilman Austin. Speaker 7: I just wanted to clarify a couple of things in terms of the issue coming before the city council. And it has it's it hasn't been you know, we haven't had a detailed, focused conversation on this. But like we mentioned earlier in, the mayor has mentioned as well, this has been a priority for our state legislative agenda for the for the city. And so this council approves that agenda every every year as we the last two cycles or couple of years that we've been in Sacramento, I think are one of our major partners. And Labor has been the IBEW helping to move this bill and to move this agenda because they represent the number of workers who who work at the surf plant. And so I would say most of those jobs are IBEW jobs there. There was it was a covers he requested. And I guess I just want some clarification from from Charlie. Is this more of a maintenance effort than a construction effort? And who will be doing the work? Speaker 5: Yes. It's it's not a it's it's a rehabilitation and replacement of of motors and conveyors and things like that. The work will be performed by Covanta staff and then subcontractors during that scheduled outages, which are a week or two at a time. So it's not a and it's and the work is spread over three years. It's not a typical construction project like for City Hall where you bring in a contractor and you build city hall for a three year period. It's just it's it's scheduled maintenance that happens six times a year for about a week, week per year or week at a time. Speaker 7: Okay. And lastly, thank you for that clarification. I would I would just encourage, you know, as all the city council members to schedule tours and bring in constituents and anybody interested in learning more about serve to those tours. I think there's a lot to be a lot of information that can be gleaned from that. So. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember. Speaker 6: Constant repairs to last things. I did enjoy my tour when I went, even though I forgot I had a tour that day. Showed up in heels and a dress, still had to wear the paper outfit. So I would love to take some second district residents. The second thing, it's great to hear that we're having all these conversations surface in the second District. And I know it's at the port, but I respectfully ask that this office, my office, be included in those conversations because I do have constituents reach out to me. And if we're having conversations at the state level ongoing and I don't think we would do that for the airport, then we would leave out a councilmember who runs the airport if we're lobbying at the state around that. So I just ask in the future if. If I could be kept in the loop on those so that we can all. Speaker 4: Just win out. It's in District one, you know. Speaker 6: So Lena has told me that it was. And when we've done the map, she said, and when I met with you guys, it's. Speaker 4: In District one. Speaker 6: Okay. So I will calm down. It's still really upsetting, but it is the whole time I've been on this council, my conversations with with the staff and with people that call my office have been that it was in my district and that's why I was on the serve committee and not the First District. But forgive me. Speaker 5: So at one point we were in District two, we're right on the Ocean Boulevard Saline. I think the last when they redrew the council districts and it caught me a little bit by surprise. Also for 2000, after the census, the new line turned out to be Ocean Boulevard, which flipped us and the one at that. Speaker 6: So I'm not absolutely crazy. Okay. So just give me that. Thank you, guys, for all the efforts on this. I know that we're working hard and it has been a hot topic, which is why it's so important to me. Thank you. Speaker 1: And Councilman Mongo. Speaker 6: I just want to kind of bring something back because one of the things that I get really frustrated with is I know that there are more than a dozen, if not two dozen city staff members here. And I don't agree with. A statement that was made, even though I truly respect the mayor, that every presentation is a good presentation of a council, the council dais. We have business to get done. And these meetings last to 1130 at night and my residents don't want to stay up until 1130 at night to hear their items or to come and speak on items. And I think that we as a council need to do a better job of handling these kinds of things at committee. Specifically, one of the things that I really respect about Councilman Price is how she's taking her committees out into the community. And so when there are those topics to get those in the communities where people are so that we don't have seven and eight people who have had to sit through a council meeting for 7 hours to talk about one item that's important to them. I hope that as we move forward in the new year with the new committee announcements being announced, any day now that we can bring the committees into the community where the real dialog should be happening and that that real dialog and and taking that community input can happen before this dais where a decision has been made tonight . And I know that when I talk to my residents, I often say things like, it's great to come to the dias and speak for 3 minutes. But what we really need is an ongoing dialog where people are sitting in a room together, dreaming up the future, and those discussions are consistently happening at the committee level. So I encourage you, if you've never been to a committee meeting, to attend a committee meeting, if you're passionate about getting something on an agenda, write a letter to the chair of the committee. Those are the kinds of things that can really make a difference in your cause. And and I think those tours are also great because I know there are so many misconceptions about so many different things we do because there's so much fake news on social media about what is and is not healthy or good or all of those different things. So I look forward to working with any community member who's passionate about this. There are a lot of great things about surf that we've been working on for a very long time, and at any dialog related to State Ledge or surf committees, you're always welcome to come and bring your opinion or a dialog can happen. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Are we did public comment already. There's a motion second to approve the motion members. Please go ahead ancaster votes and it sounds like the motion is the staff recommendation, but we're also going to make sure that we bring back an update and some a more robust report to the to the council members. Absolutely. Did I get that right? Okay. Speaker 0: Motion carries.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an amendment to the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility Operations and Maintenance Agreement No. 23336 with Covanta Long Beach Renewable Energy Corporation (Covanta), in an amount not to exceed $8,700,000, to provide for capital investment by both the City of Long Beach and Covanta for facility equipment replacement. (Citywide)

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LongBeachCC_08142018_18-0671

Speaker 1: Thank you. Item 22 Please. Speaker 0: Report from Energy Resources Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute five agreements with California Independent System Operator and Southern California Edison Citywide. Speaker 1: There's a motion and a second issue of public comment on this item. Please cast your votes. Oh, there is. Please come forward. No, please come forward. This is important? No, absolutely. I'm just sorry. Saying that you're here for this item, so please come forward. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you very much. Speaker 5: Um, my name is Dave Shukla, um, resident of Third. The electricity. Speaker 2: Grid. Speaker 5: Is by far. Speaker 2: The greatest creation, greatest artifact that human beings have created. It is an achievement. It took 150 years. It literally allows us as a species to. Speaker 5: Send an email across the world, map the entire world. Speaker 2: And crucially, especially in the northern part of the state. Speaker 5: Make more democratic, efficient and resilient. And that's very important. Resilient. Our electricity, electricity production, consumption, uh, procurement. There's a lot, especially the last item about process, about choice, about options. But specifically, having hearing on this and having presentation on this, having more public input on a lot of the. Speaker 2: Tremendous changes to the grid that are still possible through AB 813, which is bad News Bears. Speaker 5: I urge you. Speaker 1: To. Speaker 5: Really, really slow down and read through all of the. Speaker 2: Implications of this and all the implications. I know he built half the city. I know that. Speaker 5: But all the implications with all the. Speaker 2: Liabilities that he has. This is. Speaker 5: Important. It's very important. Speaker 2: Please don't scoff, Kelly. So. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. This remark of a comment. Please calm down. Speaker 3: Good evening. City council members and everyone in attendance here this evening. Speaker 10: Well, just thank you for. Speaker 3: Taking those off of the concert calendar for last week and making it an agenda item so we can have a comment on it specifically. I'm wearing a pin right now for the United Nations SDGs, which are sustainable development goals. I just want to you. Really see more information on this. I pulled the attachment and wasn't able to find too much. Spent quite some time looking at different grid alternatives that have been proposed by CAI. So from their last meeting on July 24th, this is goal number seven. Which is 7.2 by 2030 to increase system sustainability. Item 78.1, which actually pushes for us to reach targets for 2020 following the Climate Action Adaptation Plan. Just want to see more things which connect the dots and the public to participate in what's actually. Having spent time as a production partner in the cryogenics industry. At one point in my life. A difficult subject to broach with the public. So more information, possibly more attachments. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. I see no other public comment. There is a motion of a second Councilman Price. Speaker 9: I support this item. Speaker 1: Okay. Councilman Pierce. Keep it. Speaker 6: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item, please. Looks like it is 23.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Participating Generator Agreement with California Independent System Operator (CAISO); Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Large Generator Interconnection Agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE) and CAISO; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Separate Interconnection Agreement with SCE; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Meter Servicing Agreement with CAISO; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Scheduling Coordinator Agreement with a certified scheduling coordinator. (Citywide)

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LongBeachCC_08072018_18-0650

Speaker 1: Okay. We have two hearings, hearing item number one. Speaker 3: Report from Development Services recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. To conclude a public hearing, consider a third party appeal from James Richardson. Accept categorical exemption. Speaker 2: And uphold the Planning Commission's decision to approve the conditional use permit for child care services, health and wellness programing, and a. Speaker 3: 1760 square foot outdoor play area at an existing church at 2325 East Third Street in a single. Speaker 2: Family residential district zoned. Speaker 3: District. Speaker 1: Two. Thank you. We have a motion and a second counsel appears. Speaker 5: Yes. I'd like to hear a staff report on this first and then go to public comment and then I'll have a couple of questions. Speaker 3: Thank you. And for the clerk, I believe an oath is required on this one. Speaker 6: Yes. Those. Speaker 2: Those of you. Speaker 3: Wishing to testify. Please stand and raise your right hand. You and each. Speaker 2: Of you to solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the course now in pending before you, this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you. Speaker 3: God. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the city council. We will have a staff report from Carrie Tai, our current planning officer. Speaker 5: Good evening. Mayor Garcia and members of the city council. Before you tonight is a public hearing for the appeal of the Planning Commission's approval of a conditional use permit to allow for the YMCA to host childcare services and a health and wellness center at the existing Grace Methodist Church, located at 2325 East Third Street. Just for clarification, the applicant has stated that the appeal solely relates to the health and wellness component of the conditional use permit. The project site is located at the northeast corner of Junipero Avenue and Third Street and the R-1 and Single Family District there. The church does have an off site parking lot across the street and it's also zoned residential. The area is characterized as a well-established residential neighborhood. There are residential, multi and single families surrounding the property. At the site is in the Carroll Park Historic District. There are some well, there's an aerial area. There are some photographs on the screen. But just to show you the building, the round portion on the upper left hand corner is the rotunda, and that is the primary assembly area of the church. This church was rebuilt in 1965 after some fire damage, but really the building depicted on the right dates back to 1921. And it's actually the lower level of that building shown on the right, which is where the health and wellness component will be, will be hosted. And then the photograph on the bottom shows the parking lot that I referred to that is across the street. So the child care services would be provided Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and the health and wellness program would be offered 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.. And it's important to note that neither of these would be offered during church assembly purposes in order to render the parking to be available. And just to talk a little bit about the health and wellness programing, so on the screen, the arrow shows the room at the back that was depicted in the photograph, but it's a 1470 square foot room that where the health and wellness program would be hosted and it's sports clinics, fitness equipment, certain group classes. I liken the size of that room to some of you have stayed in hotels that have a fitness center that's fairly small that's for the guests use and it's roughly about that size. Just to also inform the council, there are some play areas that would be provided as part of the child care. Those are not in the health and wellness room. They would be partly inside, inside, as well as partly outside. And then lastly, to talk about the parking a little bit, there are 58 parking stalls between the on and the offsite lots. The church does own both lots. The child care and wellness programing combined only requires 22 parking spaces, but nonetheless they would not be offering those services during church use. So the Planning Commission did conduct a public hearing on this on June 21st and voted to approve the item. The appellant filed the appeal. Within the ten day appeal period, appeals are conducted as public hearings and require noticing in response to the noticing for this City Council public hearing item staff received a four emails and and which of which three were in opposition, one in support, and also one phone call in opposition with that staff recommends that the City Council deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission's decision to approve this conditional use permit as the proposal meets the city's requirements for parking as well as land use. And in accordance with the findings that the Planning Commission met for the conditional use permit, the appellant and the applicant are here in the chambers tonight at this concludes staff's presentation, and we are here to answer any questions. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. So we have mixed up the applicant and then the appellant, and then the applicant gets a rebuttal. So if the applicant can please come forward. And while you certainly don't have to use all 10 minutes, you get 10 minutes. And Mr.. Mr. Mason, the applicant in this case is actually. Speaker 3: Los Altos YMCA. Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay. So please come forward. The YMCA is the applicant. Speaker 4: They come first. Speaker 6: Okay. Speaker 1: So the applicant is the YMCA. Speaker 2: Oh, sorry. Speaker 6: Okay. Speaker 5: Thank you. On Ramallah city council and city staff. Thank you for having us this evening. I'm Brandy Claudio. I'm the executive director of the Los Altos Family, YMCA co applicant with Grace United Methodist Church. I am also a local resident living two blocks from Grace, so have a personal understanding of any concerns about this conditional use permit that have been raised by neighbors. Thank you for your time reviewing our project. Our Los Altos Y is very excited about this partnership with Grace, which brings together two community serving organizations in order to provide needed programs and services. Additionally, we have worked in partnership with Councilwoman Janine Pearce's office in developing this plan to address voids in the neighborhood. And I would like to point out nearly 30 letters of support included in your packet. Note that this conditional use permit was approved by the Planning Commission with a40 vote, as well as acknowledge the supporters we have present this evening from the Y and grace. If you want to work with their scattered around, we are really excited about this. Over a year ago, Grace identified some community needs that they had the building infrastructure but not the human infrastructure to address. And a partnership with our Y enables us to most effectively address these community needs. This project addresses both the need for affordable child care and youth recreation programing, as well as health and wellness fitness programing for all ages. Because this appeal is only challenging the health and wellness fitness portion of this project. I will focus my comments on that. The CDC tells us that chronic diseases are responsible for seven of ten deaths each year and that physical activity helps prevent chronic disease. According to the American Heart Association, children with increased physical activity are more alert, confident and focused in school. Rates of severe childhood obesity have tripled in the last 25 years. This is a critical social issue. That is why this Council adopted the Healthy Communities Policy in 2014. Approval of this conditional use permit will help us to address chronic disease in the Long Beach community with minimal fitness facilities and none that serve the entire family. If you went to our Y this evening, you would see an eight year old running on the treadmill next to his parent and you would see a family taking a group exercise class together. Our goal is to build and strengthen families in spirit, mind and body by providing opportunities to be healthy and spend quality time together. I would like to make special note that this project requires zero construction. We are simply reactivating a building to the original intent. It was built to serve the community. We have made numerous considerations in respect to neighboring residents, primarily related to noise and parking. The fitness portion of this proposal is 1500 square feet of space intended to target residents within a mile radius who can walk and bike to our health and wellness center. Although Grace meets exceeds actually city parking requirements for these uses included in this copy, we have also taken additional steps to encourage biking and walking through the approval of a new bike rack and bike share hub. We are just waiting for installation. I thank you in advance for your support of this collaboration, which addresses well known and well documented community needs, and I will be available to answer questions. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Now about that, Mr. Richardson, who is the appellant? Speaker 6: Well. Speaker 1: He's again. Speaker 6: My friend. Speaker 2: I have no objection to the daycare center. The problem we face a problem I face. I live on Lumina Drive, which is a little L-shaped narrow street that runs right off of the church entrance and around the church does have a huge parking lot, but you have to cross two streets to get to it. Louis The drive is right at the church entrance. You just walk across one street or parking is already a critical problem. It has been for for a long, long time. Just last week, I had to have a car ticketed who parked across my driveway. And a few months ago, one of the women who lived in our neighborhood had to park several blocks away in order to well, she had to park several blocks away and she was assaulted. This is the problem's not bad during the day because people go to work. Most of the people on the street work. So the parking is fine. But from about 5:00 on. The problem we have is there are five restaurants right around the corner. There's hard drive. A star of Siam Chan's Park Pantry and fat tomato pizza chains is the only one that has parking off street parking. Also on our street there, ten units, you see. We talk about when the church was built. It was built in the twenties. In the twenties. There was a trolley that ran along Third Street. I've lived here since the forties and I can tell you my mother and I took busses and trolleys places, so it was built at a time when there was nothing like the kind of traffic or parking problems that we have today. No. Yes. People, they have adequate parking. But what is to prevent them if they see a spot on the way to drive it? It's public. On street parking. What's to prevent them from parking on our street to go to their fitness center? And it's perfectly legal. Anyone can take the parking first. Come, first serve. We already have a major problem, a huge problem on the way in to drive. And this fitness center will just exacerbate that. I think it was due consideration given to this major problem when these permits were allowed. That's really all I have to say. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. The applicant gets 3 minutes if you want to have a rebuttal. If not. Nope. Actually, there's only one you can speak to in public comment if you'd like, sir. But Mr. Richardson is actually the appellant. Thank you. Does the does the applicant want a rebuttal or. No? Okay. You get 3 minutes if you'd like one. Speaker 5: Just 3 seconds that I would just encourage everyone to refer to the conditions in regards to the conditions that were made regarding parking and the accommodations that we would made and that we have more than sufficient parking on church grounds. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay. And with that, there is public comments. Sir, if you wanted to speak, you can you can do it now. Speaker 2: Mayor Garcia, members of the City Council. My name is Elliott Boone. I've lived in Carroll Park since 1972. My only concern with the fitness center is its applica its the ability. Speaker 3: Of it to exist in accordance with the city code for. Speaker 2: Zoning. Speaker 3: I have looked extensively through the city code and find no permission for a fitness center to exist in an R one end zone. To do so without a public hearing would violate the essence of. Speaker 2: The. Speaker 1: Long Beach. Speaker 3: City Code. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Seeing no other public comment on this hearing there is please come down. And if you if you have a comment for this hearing, you need to please be in line. Speaker 4: Thank you, counsel. Mayor. My name is Thomas Daniel. I live in three, three, two, one, two. Pair right up the street from the church and now our neighborhood. Welcome the child care center. We were real happy about that. But the fitness center is a commercial endeavor and that endeavor belongs into a commercial zone because of the parking issues and everything else. And there's plenty of fitness around Bixby Parks down the street. There's a bike path, there's a pedestrian path, there's a gym on seventh and one apparel. There's numerous gyms in town. And I know the person that brought this up said there there's somebody on a bicycle in their gym now and a child next to them, but they're in a commercial zone. Speaker 3: They're probably on Bellflower Boulevard. There's a lot of. Speaker 4: Gyms in town, so I just appeal to you. This does not belong in a residential zone. It belongs in a commercial zone. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening, city leaders. My name is Pastor Christopher Wiles and I am the pastor at Grace United Methodist Church. I am also happy to say that last month I was sworn in as Long Beach's new police chaplain. So I'm here to serve the community and our churches here for the community itself. This trophy is from 1927, as far back as our records that I can tell, in 1918, the YMCA was in partnership with Grace United Methodist Church. Now, I may not look like I was around then, but I have really good doctors who keep me up well. This is a partnership that has been there for a long time. Grace United Methodist Church is in the business of saving lives and taking care of the community, as is the YMCA. And actually listening to your budget proposal this evening, I find that I'm very impressed that it seems like the budget has a lot of items for that too as well. I would like to say that this is going to go forward as you guys seem fit. That's not the issue now. The issue for me today becomes what can we do to support the city with that budget, to make sure that we take care of our community? One thing I would like to hear from the council is how we're going to take care of prevention. The YMCA is here for prevention, for wellness, so that they don't end up in the hospital. We have so many families in our community that are one paycheck away from homelessness. I'd like to see us focus on prevention like we at Grace and the YMCA does as well, preventing people from becoming homeless before they get to that place. And as you go back and you think about your budgets and you pray about your community, please make sure that we put some of those dollars into prevention. And you can call me at Grace United Methodist Church. You can call the YMCA, you can call any of these people standing here in line. And we will be there for you. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Makes me complete. Speaker 2: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Cole McDaniel. I'm the childcare. Get this thing of child care camp director at the last. Thank you. Whoever is doing this. Thank you. I'm the child care camp director at the Los Altos Family YMCA. I'm reading this on behalf of one of our board members. His name is John Rockmore, due to the delay and fortunately had to go home. So this is these are John's words. My name is John Rockmore. Long Beach has been my home for more than 30 years, and I currently live in the neighborhood of Grace United Methodist Church. As a father of a seven year old boy, I've always been involved in our wonderful community, especially as it relates to programs and services for youth. I'm a member of the Los Altos YMCA Board of Managers and an active member of the Belmont Heights United Methodist Church, which is a sister church to grace and located at 317 terminal here in Long Beach. In fact, I'm a chair of the Board of Trustees, which oversees the health and well-being of our preschool and daycare programs at Belmont Heights UMC. So I have firsthand knowledge and experience with how needed these programs and services are in this area. I also coached high school football at Millikan High. In fact, we had a great group of my players this past Saturday at Grace United Methodist for a work project, and it will be back this Saturday. And in addition, as a neighborhood resident, the portion of this project that includes health and wellness fitness options is exciting and needed in this community. While there are many where while there are some small gyms around, nothing serves the entire family. I'm looking forward to utilizing these facilities with my wife and son, so together we can focus on our health and wellness. The conditions of approval for this permit are more than fair to our neighbors. This will be an incredible asset to the community. And I ask for your approval of this project tonight. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Next, bigger. I have to lower this because he's a lot taller than I am. Speaker 3: Hello, Mayor. Hello, City Council. City staff. My name is Damon Cole Lucca, and my family and I have lived in Long Beach since 1987. And I'd like you to know that I'm one of the people. Speaker 4: That's excited about having some wellness programs in my neighborhood. I live about a mile away on Roswell Avenue and look forward to walking. Speaker 3: Over and taking advantage of the wellness programs the YMCA strives to. Speaker 4: To strengthen communities by nurturing children. Speaker 3: Improving the health of families and seniors, and connecting neighbors. I think this is something that we could use more of. This partnership with Christ Church will bring badly needed chronic disease prevention programs that will combat the rise of Type two diabetes, support people living with cancer, help seniors achieve longer, more independent lives, and partner with families to help keep them healthy and active. This partnership will help. This will help neighborhood families connect, thrive and grow. Speaker 4: And I implore you to approve. Speaker 3: This or uphold the council's or what's the Planning Commission? There you go. Thank you. The Planning Commission's decision. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Next week, you. Speaker 6: Hello. My name is Alan Rivera. I'm going into my senior year of high school and I actually live on Junior Bro in the neighborhood of Grace Church and I am also a participant in the YMCA Y Team Leader Program and Youth and Government Program. And I also utilize the health and wellness facilities at the Los Altos YMCA and actually serve my youth in government. Delegates and advisors are here in support of the conditional use permit. I used to attend an elementary school that the YMCA will be servicing through this partnership. And while I was a student at Horace Mann, I used to be in rap, an after school program and by the school, while I had the privilege of attending rap after school. MANN Now and other schools in the neighborhood are now in need of additional providers, and the Y is here to serve. As I mentioned, I have firsthand experience of how the way I provide services towards youth and families. As a current program participant myself, the youth of today is the future of tomorrow. I believe this is how the staff at the Los Altos YMCA teach the youth there, which includes opportunities for health and wellness and activity for youth and families, are designed to better and strengthen the community. I couldn't be more excited about the opportunity of a YMCA fitness facility close enough to my home that I can walk to thank you for your time and careful consideration of this exciting partnership. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Next Speaker. Speaker 7: Good evening. My name is Marquis Richardson. I'm also. Speaker 8: A resident in the. Speaker 5: Neighborhood for the proposal for the YMCA. I just wanted to say a couple of things. I know the focus is on the health and wellness side of it, but being of course a mother, the childcare portion, as you just mentioned, my daughter does attend Burbank Elementary, which is right down the road. They do offer the rep program. But again, additional after and before care programs are needed. In addition to the health and wellness, I am one of those mothers that will have the eight year old. She's sitting up there on the treadmill with me being an expectant parent. It is expected that we do exercise. A lot of times being outside in the heat is not conducive to, you know, the condition that we're in. So having something that's in the neighborhood that we can get to easily, that's accessible, that does also cater to the community, which is my whole family that will offer programs that are needed for the youth. I just want to also mention the parking portion of it. Obviously living in the area, I know there can be an issue with the parking, but also, you know, there are like I said, as you can see, that there are options for parking for those who are going to be attending the the YMCA program. So I just want to implore you guys that we will need this program for you guys to upload up, uphold the approval so that we can have those things that are needed in the community, because the YMCA is about that. The city needs those things in order for us to be able to progress into the future. Speaker 6: Thank you very much. Speaker 4: To our next speaker. Speaker 6: Now lead me. Speaker 3: Good evening, council members. My name is Rocky Howard. My address is 2325 East Third Street. I want to talk about that health and wellness part of this as my my family, we are a very active family. We like to ride bikes. We like to walk. We like to stay fit. My 14 year old son is a basketball player. He works out currently at the YMCA in Los Altos. That's about maybe a ten minute drive for us right now. So if we can walk and get our workout on as a family staying fit, that will be a great thing for our family and it will make our bond even greater. Also, I am a P.E. instructor at Patrick Henry Elementary School, and seeing that these kids only have P.E. classes once a week and the Long Beach Unified School District is a problem and an issue, I think that the YMCA. YMCA is tackling a very big issue in our community. So if your kid is only going to PE once a week, you can always come to the YMCA and get your workout on. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. And these will be our last two speakers. And then we're taking a vote. Speaker 4: My name is Francis Burns. I live at 301. Barrow. If anybody's going to be impacted by this, it's going to be me and my wife. Speaker 6: She's around or somewhere. Speaker 4: When they showed you the picture of the parking lot, those two cars, that white truck and that little versa were ours. I've lived in Long Beach for 20 years. I lived on third and orange for a long time. So I understand what they're talking about when they talk about these parking problems. But the fact of the matter is, just like going to the gym the first time you go to the gym, there's going to be a few growing pains. But it's something that needs to happen. This community needs what Grace United Methodist and the YMCA are going to provide. And like I said, my wife and I are going to be the ones that are most impacted by this. And it's a small inconvenience to see a place grow where families can be together and be healthy and enjoy a greater community. And I think that the issues that were addressed, I think as the community comes together more, some of those issues are going to go away because as more people become involved in the community, as we see more walking, as we see more bicycling, it's going to become safer. Those people who want to pray in our community are not going to want to be around anymore because there are going to be too many people to make that fit for them to have that happen. So like I said, I understand the parking situation, but I think that that this is bigger than that. And I think after a while we're going to be able to work it out to where it's not going to be an issue. And we have grace and said that they've provided parking for the service and it's a big parking lot and there's going to be room for people. And I understand that people might not want to walk across the street initially, but again, as the community. It grows as they understand and become part of the community. I think that's going to change as well. Speaker 7: I'd also like to say that since we live right there. Speaker 1: Speak to the mike. Thank you so much. No problem. Speaker 7: My name is Benny and I live with this guy. And our apartment is right above the proposed project area, the outdoor project area. So I just want to let people know that so many people in the community come up our stairs and ask us about the programs that the church offers. And when they find out that the YMCA is there, they're very excited. You know, I can't tell them anything yet, but I would like to tell them that because a lot of people want to do things with people in their community, safe things, healthy things. And also we're working on the yard. I'm sure everybody in the community appreciates that and the YMCA is helping us do that. We couldn't do that without their help. And I just want to say that while I'm working in the yard, a lot of people stop me in the yard and ask about services the church offers and the YMCA, YMCA offers. So I really hope that the council goes forward with this project. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. That concludes the public hearing and we will take some council action and deliberation. Let me begin with Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 5: Great. Thank you so much. I want to thank all the staff to work on this. I want to thank the appellants and the YMCA for all of your efforts. I know that this conversation was a lengthy one when it came to planning, and my hope was that when it came today, that we would have some some clarity on some issues. So I'm going to ask, even though we have the presentation in front of us, I'm going to ask a couple of questions and then I'm going to ask for some for some support and direction. So the first question for city staff or possibly for the city attorney is the question that was raised by the appellant about not allowing a fitness center in the r-1 zone. Can you clarify where that where that is stated and what gives us the ability to do that. Speaker 3: Mistake and probably give you more details? But basically it is considered. Speaker 6: To be an accessory use. Speaker 3: Type use to a church, and churches are allowed to engage in all types of community. Speaker 6: Based accessory type activities. That's pretty much it. She's shaking her. Speaker 5: Head. Yes, great. So because it's a church, we're allowed to have the accessory activities. So we are check there. So I know that that was one concern. I do want to highlight that this church I cannot say enough about this church. I live in the neighborhood as well, right down the street. And for a decade, this church has been opened up to the community. And if you've ever been in it, the space inside is massive. It's very large. I know a lot of people in this room have been there for the state of the city several years ago , and it is a space that really is deserving of some TLC and allowing the community to come in and not only have a child care center, but a fitness center in an area that we do have a desert. Right. I have a six year old daughter. I know how hard it is to find child care after school programs are still really difficult. And so I'm happy today that the conversation was more around the fitness center and understanding that it is allowed. But the other question is around parking. And so I do see that it is parked to code. I did have an opportunity to meet with the two gentlemen here that live in Carroll Park. So I did want to ask city staff, probably Mr. Beck, if he could walk through with us now that we know that it's parked accordingly, if he could walk through for us the process to do a residential parking permit, just so we can understand as we move forward after today, what that would look like for Carroll Park, which is largely parking impacted as well as Alameda Street. Speaker 4: Yes. Councilmember Pearce. Thank you for the question. Mm hmm. Basically, the city does provide preferential parking districts where residents within that district can apply for that designation and receive basically a parking permit to park within that restricted zone. And there is a formal process that we go through ultimately that would come to council for approval and and designation for that zone. And it would it would go into effect that way. What we look at when we review applications are how many vehicles are parking in the area from outside that neighborhood. We work with the residents to define exactly what that area would be, what streets would be included, and then we would move forward with the analysis and the formal adoption. Speaker 5: And can you give us a typical timeline, like if you guys started working with them? I know we're in budget right now, but if if you started next month, what a timeline might look like. Speaker 4: Well, again, if we have support from the community and active participation, we would go through that initial screening that would take anywhere from 30 to 60 days. That would conclude if we met those requirements with a survey that would be distributed to all those homes impacted. And we would have to get that information back, prepare the staff report and then bring it to council. So you're looking at some on 120 plus day range to get something like that done. And that's that's on the fast side. Speaker 5: Great. Thank you so much. So I'm really excited about this. We've been working with the YMCA for a while. I think the fact that we have our question around, is it allowed answered? Yes, it's allowed to. Is it adequately park? Yes, it's adequately parked. Does that not still mean that there are people that could park in the neighborhood and that that might be an impact? Yes, but today is not today to make action on that. So I'm going to ask staff to begin working with Carroll Park right away, to start going through that process of having a residential preferential parking. And we know that it's not a guarantee it's going to happen because we've got to survey the neighborhood, but that we are going to do our very best to make that happen for that community, because I know how how difficult it is. So with that, I urge my colleagues just to deny the appeal and to move forward with bringing YMCA, childcare services, programing and fitness center to the heart of Alamitos Beach. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 7: I support Councilmember Pearce's motion and appreciate the great work that the YMCA does locally, regionally, and especially in districts two, three and four. And I hope that there is some opportunities to resolve some of the concerns and impacts through some sort of mitigated option. So thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Mingo. Speaker 5: I wanted to thank our youth in government, young adults for coming out and being a part of the process. I think that's really important. Many know that in addition to the Pastors Alliance citywide, we have a fifth District pastors group and the consistent thing that comes up year after year is the concern and need for additional child care in our city. And so any organizations that are willing to work with the community to find options for those things are strongly encouraged. And as long as they can adopt to and be in alignment with the neighbors, which it sounds like a lot of the neighbors are very supportive. It sounds like the city is moving in the right direction because child care is a really important need. So I appreciate everyone who spoke on both sides of the issue tonight. And thank you for all of those who compromised to come up with solutions. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And with that, we will take a vote on the hearing. Speaker 8: Motion carries unanimously. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Those that came out for this, I also I think I missed a presentation. So there actually there is a presentation tonight. And I want to turn this over to Councilwoman Gonzales for that.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, consider a third-party appeal (APL18-002) from James Richardson; accept Categorical Exemption (CE18-079); and, uphold the Planning Commission’s decision to approve a Conditional Use Permit (CUP18-006) for childcare services, health and wellness programming, and a 1,760 square-foot outdoor play area at an existing church at 2325 East 3rd Street, in the Single-Family Residential District (R-1-N) Zone. (District 2)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_08072018_18-0668

Speaker 1: So the first item that will be up is item 28. Speaker 8: Madam Clerk report from City Clerk recommendation to receive and filed a letter of completion for the Hotel Workplace Requirements and Restrictions petition and approved one of the three alternative actions. One Adopt the initiative ordinance without alteration or to submit the ordinance without alteration to the voters and adopt a resolution calling for the placement of an initiative measure . Directing the City Attorney to prepare an impartial analysis of the measure and providing for the filing of primary and rebuttal arguments. And setting rules for the filing of written arguments regarding said measure and resolution. Requesting the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles to authorize and order the consolidation of a citywide special municipal election for the placement of Voter Petition Initiative measure with the statewide general election to be held on November six, 2018. Or three. Order Report pursuant to California Election Code. Speaker 1: Thank you. Madam Court, do you have any any additional information? Speaker 8: Yes. So on January 25th, the proposed measure was submitted to the Office of the City Clerk relating to improved workplace requirements and restrictions for hotel employees. The filing deadline to submit the petition with a minimum of 27,462 qualifying signatures, was on Tuesday, August 7th, 2018, 180 days after the proponents were provided a ballot title. In summary, the petition was filed on May 22nd 103 days of circulation with the Office of the City Clerk, at which time a raw count was conducted. Proponents submitted a total of 46,084 signatures. The city clerk opted to conduct a random draw of 3% of the signatures, as allowed by the California election code. The random draw concluded on June 27th, and the results fell within 95 210% validity rate. That meant the petition required a full check of signatures until at least 27,462 signatures were found valid due to the large quantity of signatures. The Office of the City Clerk requested the services of the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder County Clerk on June 28. The L.A. RCC was asked to check signatures until they reached the required number of valid signatures on July 27th. The L.A. RCC concluded the signature verification process and notified us that the petition was found successful. The offices of the City Clerk notified proponents as proponents of the results and placed the item on tonight's Agenda for Council's consideration. If you have any further questions about the petition process. Speaker 1: Okay, thank you very much. Obviously the petition item is in front of us with three available options per the city clerk. And so I know that we're going to be going and doing public comment on this item first at the request of a couple council members. And so we will open up with public comment. So if you're going to comment, please come forward. And we will be we will be after the first 15 speakers will go down to 2 minutes as has been our practice recently. Any objection of the council. Speaker 6: I think. Okay. I wanted to. Speaker 1: Please, please be. Get. Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor. Council members and staff. My name is John Howard. I am the owner operator of Chick-Fil-A at the Long Beach Town Center and have the pleasure to serve as the chairman of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. I'm here tonight on behalf of the Board of directors and members, which includes our Long Beach Hospitality Alliance. Hospitality Alliance. Long Beach hotels are long time members of the chamber and are committed partners of the city of Long Beach. They work hard at being a good neighbor, promoting the city, providing local resident jobs and paying their fair share of taxes. The Hotel Workforce Initiative would punish an industry in our city that has always placed the safety and well-being of their employees and guests as a top priority. As you will hear from other speakers tonight, many Long Beach hotels have voluntarily imposed safety regulations like training programs and panic buttons for their staff. These regulations have been in place for some time. A near duplicate of last year's previously rejected ordinance. This this initiative would impose unnecessary and arbitrary regulations on an industry that has already voluntarily instated safety regulations and measures of their own. But our concern with this ordinance isn't simply that it is redundant and unnecessary. The economic impact of this initiative could be immense and widespread, with its effects being felt by the business community as a whole and the city of Long Beach and its residents. The hotel industry is already heavily regulated by both the state and federal government as the hotel industry is forced to incur an estimated 40% increase in costs to comply with further regulations. Room rates will rise and we will see tourism dollars leaving the Long Beach community in search of more competitive markets. This will result in the loss of sales for our businesses who depend on tourism dollars and the loss of tax revenue for the city's general fund. Consequently, we will see cuts in funding and jobs loss throughout the community. The bottom line is that the whole community views itself as an integral part of Long Beach. They pay millions of dollars in taxes that help to fund vital resident services, provide jobs, and promote the city as a destination to visit. This initiative will cause major damage to an industry that many in our city rely on. Damage done to the hotel industry is damage done to the city of Long Beach itself? On behalf of the Chamber, our Long Beach Hospitality Alliance and businesses in our community, I ask that you call for an economic impact report that will review the costs associated with this initiative, as it could be financially devastating to the industry and ultimately the city of Long Beach. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: I'd like to invite everybody who is here tonight in favor of approving this to please stand up all the people who are here for supporting the. Speaker 6: Housekeepers of Long Beach to please stand with me. Thank you very much. My name is Zoe Nicholson. Speaker 5: I live in Rose Park. I've been advocating for women and girls for over 50 years. I'm a proud member of the Lumbee Coalition for Good Jobs and Healthy Communities, and I am bursting with pride that I am one of the three proponents of this ordinance. First, I want to publicly thank you, Mayor Garcia, in particular, for insisting on female majority in the city commissions. Well done. I am so proud of you. Speaker 6: I have three rather disparate things to say. Speaker 5: One is, I'm sure you remember a meeting a year ago when the city council voted 5 to 4 against protecting the housekeepers, when some hotel management bragged about training workers in martial arts. It is ludicrous to suggest that training already burdened workers on delivering a roundhouse kick to a hotel guest that delivers a catcall, a touch, a grab, an assault, a rape, and as we heard, possibly tying them up with a vacuum cleaner court. I hope you are familiar with the inspiring work of the art of Ramiro Gomez. I saw his art at the Museum of Latin American Art. His paintings. Speaker 6: Show the. Speaker 3: Invisible. Speaker 5: Worker in luxurious. Speaker 6: Settings like gardens. Speaker 5: Homes and hotels. The landscaper, the maid, the poor person. Speaker 6: The cook disappear. Speaker 5: Into the decadence of their work environment. And as you look along Ocean Boulevard, admiring the towering hotels, let us bring these workers out of invisibility and celebrate them. They are our neighbors, our friends, members of our Long Beach family. We cannot continue to have this city vote for world class events while offering hotels with fresh linen, fresh towels, and no recourse for sexual assault. Speaker 3: I wonder if you ever heard of. Speaker 5: An Easter egg. It's a bit of code that's put inside of an app. It's a prize for people who work through the app. This night is that Easter egg? Well, an army of angels collected 46,000 signatures in 55 days to guarantee safety, justice for hotel housekeepers. There is an Easter egg hidden in this action because tonight you have the possibility to move over to the side of what is right. Tonight, you have the opportunity to right this wrong. I encourage you to do so. Tonight, my prayer is that the precious workers of. Speaker 3: Long. Speaker 5: Beach understand that their city council respects them. Speaker 6: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next week, please. Speaker 8: Hi. I'm her Linda Chico, and I'm the field. Speaker 5: Deputy for L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn. I have a letter to read on her behalf. Dear Mayor Garcia, I'm writing in support of the ordinance to protect women. Workers in the hospitality industry. Have been victims of sexual assault and harassment for years, often at the hands of hotel guests for whom there are little, if any, repercussions for their behavior. This is unacceptable. Assault is not a job hazard that must be endured in silence. Everyone is entitled to a workplace where they feel safe. Passage of this ordinance would require hotels in Long Beach to provide panic buttons to their workers, enabling them to call for help if they are in danger. It is also important to note that over 46,000 signatures were collected to qualify this measure for the November ballot. Given this strong level of support in the community for these workplace protections, I believe the City Council is well-positioned to pass the ordinance now. And I urge you to do so. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Obviously if we do have any translation, that'll be double the time. But per the clerk here so. Speaker 6: Can. Speaker 7: See when I start this meaning the law in a certain mid-decade law you'll be looking at tambien. Speaker 5: Estamos aqui. Speaker 7: Good afternoon. My name is Lorena. I am a housekeeper and I live here in Long Beach. Speaker 5: It's almost like economic companeros, but happily, let's keep our honest opinion. All of. Speaker 7: Us controllable. So I'm. I'm here tonight with my colleagues to ask you to please stand with us to support women. Speaker 5: Let's get on record article by your little sister upset Randall. Speaker 7: And I just want to remind you that our whole country is watching what happens here in Long Beach with this story. Only you can make history tonight. Magic Mother, and they say important. Speaker 5: Is the Long Beach free tomorrow and with repetition. But abroad they hear a lot more heroes. Speaker 8: And more than 46,000. Speaker 7: Voters here in Long Beach sign our petition to support women in moving to the West as base. Speaker 5: But a competition, mistrust, experiences. Speaker 7: We have come here time and time again to share experiences with you. Come on us intimacy. Speaker 5: And support us and how we feel unsafe. Como whispering sun echo acusado al-alam Aquarius. No, no. In honor of another. Speaker 7: And how gifts have harassed the women and there has been no. Speaker 5: Resolution. This is questionable. Yet we are not rancorous. Speaker 7: And now we're asking you please listen to us and stand with women. Speaker 5: Gotabaya kept going to the middle Newcastle skin of upset. Speaker 7: And every day that we go to work we have the fear that we don't know what's going to happen to us. Speaker 8: That day at. Speaker 7: Work. Speaker 5: What if our percent is the initiative we get as yes. Speaker 7: Please pass this initiative tonight. Thank you. Which is great. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 5: Speaker Tanya Reyes had an address on file. I'm here to stand with hospitality workers, and I ask that you vote today to adopt the initiative ordinance without alteration. You have several options that you may be considering. One of the others is option two to place it on the ballot for the vote of the people. Some of you might think that this is what you need to do because it's what the voters signed up for. While they signed to support Claudia's law, they signed up to support hotel workers and to stand with women against abuse, as many of us did over nine months ago, when most of the council thought otherwise. The council is charged with making policy, establishing order, ordinances, resolutions, budgets, administrative actions that will make Long Beach a better place for its residents and workers. Don't make the voters do your job for you because we already know the outcome. 46,000 voters already told you what they want. They want this ordinance passed without revision, in my view, along with 46 others. Voters who signed the petition is is that putting that on the ballot is not necessary. You have the power to make it happen today, which will not only save money, but also time. I hope you get the message that over 40,000 voters sent you. Do not abdicate your responsibility as policymakers. Act on the will of the voters because we already know what the outcome will be. If it goes in November, it will pass. The other option is to request that we put, oh my goodness, this is the least desirable because it's not just a defer and delay tactic. It is a whatever. It's whatever the report tells you. Your only actions after the receipt of the report are the ones that you have in front of you today. Nothing's going to change. And you will again be thwarting the will of the people because this option guarantees that it will not be on the November ballot, costing the city even more money via a special election. So that leads me to where I started, is to adopt the baby initiative ordinance without alteration. Today, I understand that some of you may not want to adopt it today, but inaction last year brought us to this place where you have limited choices. As council people, you have employees, all of whom are represented by a collective bargaining unit. Well, maybe, except for the refuse workers. But that's another issue. If a union is good enough for you and your city employees, then why not for all workers in the city? Even those of you who work for the county have great benefits and you owe that to collective bargaining for someone representing you at the table. Once again, I'm here to stand with hospitality workers, and I ask that you vote today to adopt the initiative ordinance without alteration. You may have nine different reasons to not adopt the initiative today, the ordinance today. But your city clerk has over 40,000, actually 46,000 reasons why you should. Speaker 6: Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Good evening, Mayor, and good evening, Council Members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today regarding this very important issue. My name is Ann Burdette and I am a member of Long Beach Sacred Resistance and St Luke's Episcopal Church. We are a coalition of faith groups across Long Beach who work together to put our various faiths in action. All of our faith traditions demand that we love our neighbors and seek compassion and justice like many others who are here today. I am standing with the women and men working in Long Beach hotels and asking that you adopt the Hotel Workplace Initiative Ordinance without alteration. Tonight, my faith has taught me that all work has dignity and deserves respect. My faith community demonstrates that each of us has the right to live, work and living and provide for our families . And we have the right to do so in a work environment that is safe and free from harassment and abuse. I support the workers who keep the Long Beach tourism industry alive and thriving. There are few to no protections that exist for them while they work increasingly heavy workloads and are at high risk of sexual assault. We have heard their stories. I believe them. When incidents of assaults do occur, hotel workers often stay silent out of fear because they want to keep their jobs, they want to keep their families fed. And the hotel culture often says that the paying customer is always right. An industry and city that tolerate any conditions of fear, abuse, assault and harassment of its residents cannot thrive. We in Long Beach Sacred Resistance, feel we have a moral obligation to act in support of our hotel workers. We cannot remain silent when the health, prosperity and safety of our neighbors and friends are at risk. Please adopt the ordinance to protect hotel workers tonight. Please do that right thing and grant these workers the respect and protection they deserve for the hard labor they do to make Long Beach an attractive and desirable destination. Especially tonight, when the whole nation celebrates National Night out. Please make sure all your constituents feel safe. Passing this ordinance is your and our opportunity to show what is special and admirable and just about Long Beach. Thank you for your time. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Good evening. City Council members and mayor. My name's. Speaker 6: Going. Speaker 7: Down. Guess who figured out I was short? My name is Neda Tushnet. And tonight I'm representing the Long Beach Area Peace Network. Robopine stands with Hart, stands here today with our hospitality workers. Speaker 5: The city needs to protect our hospitality workers from. Speaker 7: Sexual and physical harassment and assault at work. Speaker 5: In order for there to be peace, we must take a. Speaker 7: Prospering economy and have a safe community. Today, we are asking for just that through the ordinance to protect women. Speaker 5: Long Beach City Council has an opportunity to help hotel workers obtain much needed protections in the. Speaker 7: Workplace for a peaceful society to function. Workers must have dignity, a fair workload and the ability to go to work without being abused. Speaker 5: 46,000 Long Beach. Speaker 7: Residents agree our workers need protection. Please adopt the initiative tonight. This is the moment. Time's up. Do the right thing and stand by. The working women in our city. Protect our. Speaker 5: Workers, our. Speaker 7: Residents and our tourist economy. I know you will find in your heart to do the right thing. Thank you so much. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Mary Garcia and members of the City Council. Thank you for the opportunity to provide a public comment this evening. My name is Justin Lawson and I'm a second District resident and board member of the Long Beach Young Democrats. I'm here today to read a letter in support of the passage of the ordinance to Protect Women on behalf of the four Long Beach Democratic clubs. The letter reads On behalf of the Democratic Women's Study Club of Long Beach, the Long Beach Democratic Club. The Young, Long Beach, Young Democrats and the Long Beach. Yes, we can club. We urge you to support the passage of the ordinance. Protect Women are four very active Democratic clubs have endorsed this ordinance. Our memberships, our membership has heard the stories of workers, especially women, hotel workers impacted by sexual and physical violence at work. And we support enacting these protections in the city of Long Beach. We are now asking our City Council to enact into law the protection. This for you effort has called for Long Beach residents have spoken. The effort the effort to qualify this measure for the November ballot garnered over 46,000 signatures, a resounding number that communicates broad support for these much needed protections in the workplace. Passing this measure outright will save the city from an unnecessary, potentially divisive fight. It is also the Democratic thing to do. This ordinance is in line with our democratic values, and we call on our leaders here protect particularly our Democratic leaders, to vote with the hundreds of members of our local Democratic clubs and pass the ordinance to protect women tonight. At the very least, you must listen to the voters and allow them to vote on this ordinance in November. Anything short of that would be undemocratic. I on behalf of her, Linda Chico, president of the Democratic Women's Study Club. Annette Martin President The Long Beach Democratic Club. Chris Robson President of the Yes We Can Club, and Chris Chavez, president of the Long Beach Young Democrats urged the city council to support this ordinance. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Speaker 3: Next speaker, please. Mr. Mayor, members of the city council. My name is Victor Sanchez. I'm the director of the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs in a Healthy Community. You know, our coalition has been involved in this issue since day one, about four years ago. And I think if you ask a lot of the folks that were there at the beginning, I don't think any of you would have thought that they'd be here almost four years later. Still litigating this issue before you. Last September was pretty gut wrenching. The measure was voted down 5 to 4. And, you know, I can tell you there are a lot of tears in the eyes of the hotel workers themselves and the community members that fought so hard to get it to that point. Unfortunately, Long Beach missed an opportunity last September because two weeks later you had the rise of the MeToo and Time's Up movement, which really skyrocketed this issue onto the national stage and put the impetus for action around sexual harassment and assault. Front and center is in the lives of a lot of residents. It re-inspired our workers and our community members to actually go back out onto the street and to collect signatures to make sure that this issue was heard. Here in Long Beach, we went out there, volunteers seven days a week to collect over 46,000 signatures, as was mentioned by the city clerk, more than the 41,000 people that turned out to vote this last local election. I just want to underscore that point. 46,000 people signed this petition. 41,000 people turned out to vote this last election. We did work. We sweat it out. And we talked to lots of voters who agree with us overwhelmingly that this is not only the right thing to do, it's the commonsense thing to do. When you ask voters, well, what do you mean, they don't have these protections? No, they actually don't. And you hear a lot from the industry here today that I'll tell you. Well, these are burdensome regulations and we don't need this is going to have a negative impact on the industry. The hotel and tourism industry here in Long Beach is thriving and there are many actions by this city council to support that industry's continued growth because it is important for economic development. But what we have to do is raise the bar in the industry. We have to look out for the blue collar immigrant majority, immigrant women of color workforce, right? That is in the hotel, tourism industry and sector. And they, too, are residents. They too contribute to this economy. And so it's important that we take all that into account when we're thinking about raising the bar for our government. We should also be mindful raising the bar in this very important industry. We should not be debating whether or not it's okay for somebody, somebody to be working to death, just like Claudio Sanchez almost was working to death when she fell into a coma after being forced to work in overtime shift. These are basic questions we should not be asking ourselves. You have before you a golden opportunity to enact the will of the people. I hope that you all consider that. And vote to enact Claudia's law here tonight. Okay. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good afternoon. Good evening, Mayor. Council members. My name is Mike Murchison. I represent the hotels and hospitality industry with you tonight. I want to clarify something for you. It's been said by the previous speakers there was 46,000 signatures collected. That's true. Of the 46,000. 12,000 were invalid. So you can verify that with the clerk. So I just want to make sure that everybody statistically knows what numbers they're talking about. Secondly, I've been coming to council meetings for over 20 years, having worked for supervisor ding, ding, and then Don Carnaby then on my own. And every time I come on a Tuesday night at the very end of an agenda item, it says, What's the fiscal analysis of every single agenda item? And on this one, there is no fiscal analysis. The hospitality industry told you back in September of 2017 that their best guess at that point in time, 3.5 million annually to the hotels. It didn't even take into account what the impact is going to be here, said City General Fund. It didn't take into account the bed tax potential impact. It didn't take into account. You're going to have to either form a new department, add personnel on Tuesday by taking this into account. So here's my recommendation to you tonight. My recommendation to you tonight is do an economic impact study. If you don't want to do that and you don't want to make it for a you don't want to push that forward and you want to push forward to put it on the November ballot. Not going to argue with you about that tonight. What I will say is you still got to do an economic impact study and you should come back in 30 days and you should tell all the voters of Long Beach, including everybody in here tonight, this is what the economic impact is to our city. And then on top of that, if you're concerned about assault and I've heard it, Councilwoman Pearce has made me very well aware of the unreported assaults. Then next Tuesday, August 14th, pass an ordinance, immediately an emergency ordinance to have every hotel, not the one, the petitions that says only 100 room hotels. We know why that's there. Every hotel gets a panic button past that next Tuesday night. Don't wait till November. And so then you get an economic impact report back and you have what you're concerned about, which is the assault with panic buttons. Then you can give a really prudent evaluation of whether you need to carry this forward in November. If that's your case, whether you want to make it law that night, you can vote in it lor you. You're the leaders. You don't have to wait till November. Push it forward. Then you vote for it or push it off till March 2020. Police have the information in front of you to evaluate the economic impact and to protect the hotel worker. Do the panic button next Tuesday night. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Michael Sole, author. I am president of the Board of Trustees at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach, which has served the Long Beach community for over 100 years. And I was doing the math looking at the SEAL found incorporated in 1897. Speaker 4: The church was the. Speaker 3: City was only six years old when my church was formed. So we've been here for the long haul. I'm here tonight in support, in solidarity with my siblings who work in Long Beach Hotels. And I ask the members. Speaker 4: Of the city council to be in solidarity and support, too. Speaker 3: I have talked with and heard the stories from hotel workers. One of them came to my door gathering petition signatures. Not only must they complete heavy workloads, but women are also at unacceptable risk of sexual assault. As the MeToo movement has made painfully clear. Society too often devalues and disrespects the bodily integrity of women. And in the hotels of Long Beach, there is an unjustified lack of protection in place for them. Whether you are a person of faith or no faith, I would hope you would agree with the principles my faith has taught me to have respect for the inherent worth and dignity of all people, to believe in justice, equity and compassion in human relations. That means our hotel workers absolutely deserve protections to earn a living with dignity and without fear of sexual harassment or assault. It's time they receive the respect they deserve for their contributions to our community and that we protect them from physical and sexual abuse. Many of the people in the chamber behind me knocked on doors in every neighborhood of this city to bring this matter to the citizens of Long Beach and then to bring it to you. They received resounding support. I'll concede. 36,000. Only 36,000. Only 36. 36,000 people signed signatures to put this before you well over the threshold required to put this before you. Now is the time to respond to the will of my faith community, your constituents, and do the right thing. Please pass this ordinance to protect hotel workers. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Next, the. Speaker 3: Mayor and council members. Thank you. My name is Coriander. I'm one of the owners of a hotel up by the airport, the Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. We have enjoyed our experience in Long Beach. We built the Courtyard Hotel up there as well. We care deeply about our employees. We have 17 employees in our current hotel, 30 that live in Long Beach. We spend a lot of time helping them, training them, creating a culture that is rewarding for them. They work their tails off. We respect them. This the the safety portion of this initiative we are in support of with everybody here. Frankly, at our hotel, we do two person teams in addition to the panic buttons. Where is that? I think we can do better. Not only for the housekeepers, but for all the employees. All the employees. So we continue to work on training. We we communicate constantly with police, the safety commission. We should continue that. We should work together. You guys up here in previous councils have accomplished a ton that that budget presentation was phenomenal. I mean, very exciting. I've been here almost seven years now. There's huge progress going on, but that requires investment. The portion of this initiative that is not right is the restrictions. That doesn't inspire growth. That doesn't it's not really fair that it's only on one set. Not everybody should be all hotels if it's good to do. It should be all hotels. So this is a this is a very complex issue. This is a long term issue. It's not short term. The economic study will tell us a lot. It's not a delay tactic. It's the prudent thing to do. Just like your budget analysis, you're running a $3 billion business here. That is complicated. You can't force things to do it. The people will get their vote. They have spoken. There's no issue with any of that. But we we can do better than what we're doing on the safety portion, in the economic portion. You need to be very careful because if I think there could be negative impact to the employees. From a wage perspective, if there's only two things that happen hotels are doing, they're going to have to raise rates, which makes us less competitive in the general Southern California market, where they're going to have to cut expenses. That doesn't help anybody. You've got investment going on here. You're doing great in the city. So let's take time. Let's focus together everybody in this room focus together to come up with the right solution. Do not rush this. 2020 is okay. It's okay. We can come up with a better solution. Speaker 4: What? All right. Good evening, Vice Mayor. Speaker 3: And city council members. My name is Gary Hetrick. I reside in the fourth district. And I just want to start by saying I and to a large. Speaker 4: Degree, I agree with the previous speaker. Speaker 3: We need to start someplace we can do better and we need to start with this particular war. And so I urge you to adopt this tonight. This can set the standard where we can build from. Beyond that point, I also want to to to to take a minute to think about this notion that somehow it's a zero sum game. Either we we cut expenses, we cut wages, we reduce. Speaker 4: Wages or benefits, or we raise the. Speaker 3: Rates, the hotels, the rooms. And we know that's that's there are many other options. We've seen that with living wage ordinance. We've seen that with many of these regulations throughout the years that business owners do and make very different kinds of decisions. It's not an either or situation. So I also want to put that to rest. I also want to. Speaker 4: Raise the issue that. Speaker 3: We can kick this can down the road over and over and over and over again. We can ask for more studies. We can ask more studies. It's time for us to to sort of it's time for us to make a decision tonight. We could have Long Beach could have been on the forefront. We could have set the the agenda for the country two months before the MeToo movement. We failed. We didn't do that. We can now we have a chance to make that right. And I urge all of you to do the right thing tonight, protect working women and in our city, pass this ordinance to protect women. And I urge you to do it outright tonight. And let's not waiting longer in people's lives. People's health is at stake. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Hetrick. Nick Speaker. Speaker 6: Good evening. My name is Reverend John Forest. Douglas and I serve as the Associate Minister at First Congregational Church. Speaker 3: In Long Beach. Speaker 5: Just a few blocks away from here tonight. I represent. Speaker 6: I also represent thousands. Speaker 7: Of faith leaders. Speaker 6: And congregations in Long Beach and the greater L.A. area. Through Clergy and laity United for Economic Justice. And I'm standing here with my. Speaker 3: Siblings who work in Long Beach hotels. Speaker 6: And bear witness to their stories. As a pastor in Long Beach, I have heard so many of these stories of workers. And I know that you council members and and Mayor, that you have heard these stories as well. And so I invite you also to bear witness to the stories by doing justice. Speaker 3: It is not acceptable. Speaker 6: That. Speaker 7: They are being. Speaker 6: Silenced when incidents. Speaker 3: Of assault happen. It's not. Speaker 5: Acceptable that wealthy hotels and developers. Speaker 6: Retaliate against workers when they share their stories of harassment. It's not acceptable that workers voices are often silenced. And so you have the opportunity. Speaker 3: To magnify those voices, to also. Speaker 6: Stand and bear witness. Speaker 7: We can't remain silent and turn a. Speaker 6: Blind eye to the struggle of our hotel. Speaker 7: Workers any longer. We have a moral. Speaker 6: Obligation to act. Speaker 5: And pass this ordinance to protect hotel workers. Speaker 3: From sexual and. Speaker 6: Physical abuse. So council members, tonight, I invite you I ask you to use the power that you have to make history in our. Speaker 3: City and ensure. Speaker 5: That safe working. Speaker 6: Conditions for the workers in Long Beach hotels. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And just like we did for the for the hearing earlier past council meetings, I believe this is our 15th speaker. So after a 15 speaker will automatically go down to 2 minutes. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 5: Honorable Mayor, members of the city council and city staff. My name is Amy Ericson. I'm a lifelong concerned citizen in District two and also the chair of the Human Relations Commission here in our city. I am here as a member of the Commission to read you a letter that the Commission has come together in just the last nine days to bring it in front of you. Tonight, the Human Relations Commission supports the recommendation listed on agenda item number 28 for this Council meeting. The purpose and function of the Human Relations Commission is to promote full acceptance of all citizens in the community, in all aspects of community life, to recommend to city council measures, including legislation which will serve to improve positive human relations and the elimination of discriminatory practices, and to enhance and improve mutual understanding and respect for all citizens of the community. It is in this context that the Human Relations Commission placed the topic of addressing abuse experienced by hotel workers on our agenda back in August of 2017. This is also why we're here today to ask the Council to adopt the initiative ordinance tonight with no further action needed. Over the last few years, our Commission has learned that there's an extremely distinct set of circumstances related to hotel work that concern. The safety of hotel workers like hotel workers also report inhumane working conditions related to workload shift links and an inability to refuse overtime without fear of retaliation. Worker testimony suggests the current policy in many local hotels is inadequate in addressing issues related to safety. Following careful consideration of our charter and purview as well as community testimony, we have determined that increased legal protections for hotel workers is crucial to ensuring a safe working environment within Long Beach hotels working within the framework of equity. Our Commission believes that all people tied to the hotel industry should benefit from its economic impact. At a bare minimum, employees in the hotel hotel industry are deserving of basic human dignity. It is in this light that we urge the Council to support the recommendation listed on agenda item number 28. To summarize, in brief, the recommendation calls to approve one of the three alternative actions. We believe that should be the first. As over 40,000 votes were verified for this position. This is almost the amount of this is more than the amount of people in support of this item as voted in our last election here in the city of Long Beach. Please adopt the initiative ordinance without alteration at this regular meeting at which the certification of the petition is presented to Knight, the Human Relations Commission submits this recommendation again with the hope and vision of Long Beach, where our city continues to embrace values of justice, equity, respect and dignity for all residents. I may take off my commission hat for a second and just say as a consensus. And Amy Erikson, we've heard a lot about economic impact tonight and the economic impact of doing something right is the important thing here. The economic impact of making sure that we are on the right side of these issues is very important to me as a citizen of this amazing town. And so it's important that we think about places that did things wrong. Like the Carolinas with the bathroom options to really think about how we can do this right and pay a little bit more. Speaker 6: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thanks so much, Sexton. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Good evening, Mayor. Members of the city council. My name is Kenya Bannister. I'm the general manager of the Courtyard Marriott Hotel by the airport. I've stood before you guys on two previous occasions to review the hotel safety reports and the work that the Long Beach hotels are doing daily to ensure the safety of our employees and our guest. You've heard other people say it. We are not here to dispute the safety of our hotel employees. I. Born and raised in Long Beach. I've been in hospitality 20 plus years and I can tell you I go to work every single day and that is my goal, is to keep every single employee in my hotel safe , not just my housekeepers, but every employee. As you know, the Alliance hotels already provide the panic buttons. And we and we also do our monthly safety meetings and trainings to prepare people, all associates, for any situation that will arise. The proposed Hotel Workforce Initiative disregards the safety measures that are already in place. And they proven forget all that. But this audience has the same flaws as the one that was previously rejected by the Council last September. The financial impact of this initiative on the city of Long Beach is unknown to many. The hotels already have heavily regulated. Initiatives in place by the state and the federal government. And we can tell you that arbitrary regulations such as those proposed by this initiative would be extremely costly and burdensome. The additional cost for the hotels. As we previously said, to implement these regulations would cause room rates to rise across Long Beach, which would have a ripple effect on the entire hospitality industry and local businesses and ultimately the city's tax revenue. The proposed initiative, unfortunately, has little to do with the safety that we keep hearing about. And it's unnecessary. And the cost. The cost would do us more harm than good. Our safety measures, including our current panic buttons, are in place and they are working. There is no evidence that further safety measures are required or needed. If this was only about safety, as we all say, we would all be supportive. But the question is if this is good for the entire hotel, why are some opted out? Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening. My name is Cesar Armendariz, and I live in the second district. I believe that Claudius Law is at the heart of the conversations that we are having as a nation. Conversations about sexual harassment and economic exploitation. When the President of the United States brags about groping women, you know that we are in trouble. We cannot ignore the fact that a majority of women in the United States have been sexually harassed. This is even more problematic in the hospitality industry, where studies have shown that up to nine out of ten women have experienced sexual harassment in the form of unwanted sexual comments unwelcome, touching, groping, cornering and physical intimidation. The hotel workers in Seattle and New York have made it clear that panic buttons have helped them feel safer, and in some instances they have saved lives. Claudius Law can do that for the women of Long Beach. Claudius Law goes beyond sexual exploitation and addresses the economic exploitation of women that we are seeing all around the United States. These women work long hours vacuuming, lifting £100 mattresses, carrying heavy linens, pushing and pulling carts, getting on their knees to scrub toilets and bathroom floors. They repeat this process 20 times a day. This results in injuries. The American Journal of Industrial Medicine found that 47% of hotel workers have serious body injuries and 84% have to take pain medicine. These women cannot simply find other jobs. For many of them, this is the end of the line. They already work in one of the lowest paying industries. Those of you who vote against this ordinance or delay the vote will have to spend an exponential amount of political capital trying to justify your vote. I promise you, the grassroots community will come together and we will knock on tens of thousands of doors. You might fail to protect our most vulnerable workers, but we won't. Time is up. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Stephanie Moore, some sullo democratic socialists of Long Beach. I live in the second district. The hold up in the hotel industry is heavily subsidized by public finances and is a permanent fixture of the city. If the corporations who are appearing here today feel that the health and safety of their employees is not financially feasible, then leave and allow the public to operate these buildings for the benefit of the city and the workers who are responsible for generating all the revenue. Will these companies siphon millions of dollars every single year from visitors? Their respective CEO's and board members. Speaker 2: Are among some of the wealthiest people on the planet. Speaker 3: They can afford the finest lobbyists in Long Beach in addition to their already well compensated government affairs department. But they can't afford to pay for basic statutory worker protections. Come on. Worried about the fiscal impact of this ordinance? Fine. But be aware that this is a compensable externality that this industry is laying on their workers in the city of Juan Beach. If you don't enact this measure tonight, then cover the cost and raise the hotel occupancy tax on these cheapskates. These folks are worried about profitability. Well, then why aren't they supporting rent stabilization and housing and rent control that places appropriate regulations on their main competitor, Airbnb? Pass Claudia's law today. Explain to your children why you prioritize campaign donations from the hospitality industry over preventing sexual assault in Long Beach. Thank you. Speaker 1: The next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Next speaker. Good evening. My name's Alvin Engle. I'm from the West Side, Long Beach, District seven. And also I am a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. I'm a senior in Lakewood High School. And today I stand here in solidarity for the help of the hospitality of the workers. During my time in the Philippines, I've seen the issues of what we call the free market. What I want is a free market to protect the workers and protect from sexual harassment in this city. I know very well that this city has the assets and the logistics to make this law a reality, to press forward above all , and to protect workers from all forms of harassment and assault. If you believe that our workers to live and let live, then be so. Pass this ordinance. I don't care or give that you wait until 2020 for this proposal. If you're indeed speak, your words mean nothing to me. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: My name is Harriet Ellis and I'm here representing Clue Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. And also the Social Action Committee of Temple Israel of Long Beach. Thank you, Mayor Garcia, and council members, for allowing me to speak on behalf of the hotel workers who labor in our prosperous hotel industry. Long Beach is considered the gateway to the Pacific Rim and we have booked well over 200 conventions here this year, and there's more to come. And we are considered a main player in California economy. Each day as I drive into Long Beach, I pass a sign that reads Long Beach, The Friendly City. After last year's meeting in this very room, I started to wonder just how friendly we really are. Friendly, perhaps, to our tourists who may never return. But how about the people who work here? And the first line of greetings to our guests from around the world. Our hotels should be first in line to present the best that we have to offer. But when our workers have to suffer harassment, abuse, sexual assaults, with no one to turn to, no means to call for help, knowing that when they come to work each day, they will labor in an unsafe environment. How can we expect them to put on a smiling face of welcome to the guests of the hotel where they work? I ask you, members of the Council, how would you feel if you had to go to work in such an intolerable situation? Or maybe your wives? Or your daughters? If we're a progressive city, a friendly city is the Chamber of Commerce and our Convention and Entertainment Bureau advertise. Then you should do your duty and stand behind your promotions and pass this ordinance today. Support the workers who, by their actions, help to bring more tourists to our beautiful city. They come to America to work and they're trying hard to do their job well. You've heard tonight from our city manager about what our future holds. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Speaker 7: Safety is the part of the picture. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Get down. My name is Linda Fox. I'm a former and retired director of Women's Studies. But I'm here tonight because I am the president of the Long Beach affiliate of the National Council of Jewish Women, a faith based organization founded in 1893. Dedicated to improving the quality of life through social justice activity for women, children and families. The Jewish imperative is to ensure dignity for all. And that is what powers my organization. I'm here representing 350 members of the Long Beach affiliates, standing with our sisters who work in Long Beach hotels. And I ask you to stand with them today, as well as a partner of Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. We have heard their stories. We attest to the hardships that they that they face every day on the job. I'm not going to go through what so many have already said. I've been involved with Claudia's law since it began three or four years ago. It's time. Not one sexual assault. Not one physical collapse is worth. The economic cost. Why has the study not been done in three years? So my Jewish faith teaches me that all of us bear the image of God. So if we make an offense to these hotel workers, we make an offense to God. If we turn a blind eye to the struggle of these workers, we do that to God as well. So it's time they that they are dignified and respected in their workplace. I ask you I ask you to please pass this ordinance tonight. Find your moral compass. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 7: Good evening. My name is Jane Wilson Barbosa. I live in District four. I also represent Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice. And I'm co-chair of the social justice team for the Los Altos United Methodist Church. You've heard a lot of eloquent arguments tonight. And I take you back to an experience that I had when I was quite young, when I worked in the hospitality industry and I experienced sexual harassment, and I experienced the fear, the reluctance to report and the. The loss of dignity and respect that went along with that. Now we have women working, making our hotels work who are far more vulnerable than I ever was. And they deserve the respect that we can give them tonight by passing this ordinance. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Hi. Good evening. Mayor and City Council and staff. I'm Greg Keebler, a resident of Long Beach and the GM of the Hilton for five years in the Queen Mary. Prior to that, I'm going to cut my comments a little short because I echo so many things of almost everyone that I heard speak tonight. Speaker 3: The issue before us is how do we unravel all of that. Speaker 2: That is put into an ordinance and do the right thing? I absolutely support Michael Merchant since suggestion to disconnect this. We all believe in me too. Speaker 3: And housekeepers, safety and doing the things to keep people safe. This is my 36th year. Speaker 2: I've had over 22,000 associates directly in my employ. Speaker 3: I care. We don't call our people workers. Speaker 2: In the hotel business. Speaker 3: We call them team members. And that's a totally different justification. Speaker 1: You guys make sure everyone everyone gets a chance to speak, please. Speaker 2: They don't work for us. They are team members. We're all in this together. I do daily stand ups with my housekeepers and we talk about housekeepers safety. We issue their panic buttons at the beginning of the day. We pull them back at the end of the day so they don't forget them. The next the real thing to consider is let's separate this, get the safety panic buttons done, and we can all be celebrate that together. And then just as you said tonight, we need to know what the resultant outcome of this is. Every action has an opposite, an equal reaction. We cannot determine right now what that reaction is going to be, both financially, economically and sociologically to our employees. The way this ordinance is written and I have read it and I know that 46,000 people did not read the entire ordinance. They saw a sign that said Vote for housekeepers safety and they signed it. I would, too. The actual ordinance says 4000 square feet per room per day dropped 500 square feet for more than seven checkouts, dropped 500 more square feet. If they do a roll away, if they work overtime, it has to be with their consent. If they go over 4000 square feet, it's double time. Speaker 3: For every hour they work that day. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. Thank you. Okay, next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Hello, Mayor and City Council. My name is Clayton Hurd, a field representative for Congressman Alan Lowenthal, and I'd like to read the following letter on his behalf. Dear Mayor Garcia and members of the Long Beach City Council, I write to express my support for the passage of the ordinance to protect women. The time has come to enact into law the protections this four year effort has called for. As I'm sure you have, I also have heard the stories of these workers for years. And although the national dialog is only recently focused on the struggle of working women against workplace sexual harassment and abuse, hotel workers in Long Beach have been on the front lines, ensuring we do more than just experts express empathy and understanding the working conditions of the employees of the hospitality industry must be improved. This is an issue that we that is clearly, widely and deeply supported by our constituents and calls us to act accordingly. We should not wait. The City of Long Beach should. Speaker 6: Be a leader. Speaker 3: In ensuring safe and humane workplaces in our growing tourism sector. I urge you to stand with the working women and men of our Long Beach Hotel workforce and to enact into law the ordinance to protect women. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker. Speaker 7: Translating. Speaker 1: And then all the translations will have double time. Speaker 4: Mary Garcia. City Council members. Speaker 3: Good afternoon. When I. Speaker 6: Started this. Speaker 3: I mean numerous Julio Martinez. You throw a whole renaissance Long Beach Hotel. Speaker 7: Good afternoon, Mayor. City Council members. My name is Julio Martinez and I work in the Renaissance Language Hotel. Speaker 3: I keep it up. The hill is passing. Esther. Leroy. Speaker 7: I'm here to ask you to pass this law up tonight. Speaker 3: Jamaicans everywhere. Mm. Companeros. Speaker 7: I'm tired of seeing my coworkers so scared. Speaker 3: Which us versus José is quite shallow. Clint Eastwood. Tonight, Academies, Companeros de tobacco brought the enemy of LA. Speaker 8: I have heard many stories of. Speaker 7: Guests trying to grope my female coworkers. Speaker 5: But they're very scared to speak out. Speaker 3: Your medical. When I was MC companero in control. So sweater and a piece of Albano generally seven. Speaker 5: I remember one time my coworker told me she found. Speaker 7: Her sweater on the floor of the. Speaker 5: Public men's restroom. Speaker 7: In the hotel full of semen. Speaker 3: A companero for a rapporteur and a supervisor at Paraiso. So it's really a common safe word. When I was Roma. Speaker 5: My coworker then went to report to her supervisor. Speaker 7: And they laughed at her as if it were a joke. Speaker 4: Rumors and theories that. Speaker 3: Say We're doing a triangle. Speaker 5: We just want to be safe at work. Speaker 3: Courtesy work. He made Siento Camille Pueblo pretzel not on bottom. He said, Well, dear Sir Aparecida, he made a comment that. Speaker 7: I want to know. Speaker 5: That if I feel unsafe. Speaker 7: At work, I just push a button and security will be right there. Speaker 3: You know caramel star Camille passing Mr. Leroy Brussels. Speaker 5: And we don't want to feel like we have to. Speaker 7: Work with fear anymore. Please pass this love right now. Speaker 1: That's just another. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Hello. My name is Emmanuel, a resident of Long Beach and the secretary general of Gabriel South Bay. We are a grassroots, grassroots Filipino women's organization that seek to raise the voices and stories of women, children and migrant families in our community. One of our campaigns that we support is to end violence against women. It has been apparent for years that women all over the world, including Filipinos, experience economic violence that causes poverty, which forces our women to migrate abroad, subjecting them to physical violence and potential sexual harassment and violence as well. And these are experiences in places like hotels where they are workers there. I feel frustrated that the well-being of the people is not a more is not more of a priority, that profit is greater than the people who make the city what it is. What is profit when the people living and working in your city are being harassed, overworked and underpaid? Do not continue to build the city on the pain of the workers. Gabrielle in South Bay stands in solidarity with the hotel workers and not only their fight for better working conditions, but their safety. It is only right that we stand together to make what is LA reality. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 1: Next speaker. Speaker 8: Good evening. City Council and Maria Garcia. My name is Katherine Conchita and I'm a resident of the ninth district. I am also the vice chairperson of Gabriela South Bay chapter of Gabriela USA, which is which is a grassroots space alliance of more than 200 organizations, institutions and programs of women from the Philippines struggling for the liberation of oppressed Filipino women. And we stand in solidarity with all oppressed women, including our local hotel workers, demanding their right to a safe workplace. The majority of women who work in our hotels are immigrants who came to this country, to our city, seeking a chance at a better life, a chance to provide for their families. Much like my mother did back in 1971, one of her first jobs in California was as a housekeeper for a nursing home, where she worked in constant fear of sexual harassment by her employer, who frequently made aggressive advances toward her. My mother's cousin, who also worked at the nursing home, would stand guard at the door of each room where my mother scrubbed floors on her hands and knees. My mother later went on to work for the Long Beach Unified School District for almost 20 years. But she never forgot the fear. She lived in working as a housekeeper. So I stand here tonight for my mother, for immigrants, and for all of the brave hotel workers who are here to say, Time's up. Prove that you stand with women and pass the ordinance now to protect our hotel workers. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. Speaker 3: My name is Mike Bowers. I'm a district member or constituent of the first. I came tonight for the housing item, but I worked for Marriott for five years, actually, six years at five different properties, three in D.C. and two out here. And I was a manager, so non union member I sat across from Unite here, toeing the company line at union grievances, at federal mediations and all sorts of things. And I really want to talk about how hotels can afford this, right? I ordered things. I handle the piano like I scheduled. I looked at productivity. Hotels can't afford this, so it's outrageous that they say that they can't. Additionally, I worked at hotels that had multi double digit million dollar profit margins right at the end of the year. So that's ridiculous. I'm paying for overtime for cleaning 4000 square feet. I'd like to see anybody else strip rooms for double digit years of tenure. It's ridiculous that they're not willing to pay this. The alarm devices. I worked at five hotels. One of my hotels had them, one of them out of five. These are people's moms, sisters, daughters, loved ones. So if you're opposed to this, think about that. That's who you're who you're really preventing. Additionally, why not be the council member to lobby support for this? Why not be the one to step out and talk to your other council members about this, be the one? And additionally, the hotel tax. When you look at the bottom of a folio that's off the backs of housekeepers, that's a lot of money that the city's getting from that. Okay. And on top of that, I looked at the rate for the for the Long Beach Renaissance tonight, and it's sold out. So hotels are making a lot of money in the city. And additionally, housekeepers are going to clean those rooms. And those rooms can be resold tomorrow for 249 tonight. So this is this is a moral and ethical question, which you guys are posed with. And countless times you guys have failed already. So please act on this. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next week, a piece. Speaker 3: Hi, everybody. My name's Adam. I live right on the street on Broadway at Fort Kent. I'm here today with a clue. Clergy and Laity, United for Economic Justice. And I, I'm here standing today with the women who work in our hotels here in Long Beach. And before I actually start my remarks, I just want to say that I was a little bit disappointed during this. This has been a lengthy discussion. It's been overly lengthy. And one thing that's been disappointing is, is to see many, not all, but many of the men councilmen on this earth, on this proscenium today staring at their phones instead of paying attention to the amazing stories and passion. And it's just yeah, pretty ridiculous. So but I just want to say, you know, I was very impressed. It's my first time at the city hall down here and I was very impressed with the budget proposal today. I just want to remind everybody how much of the revenue underwriting this budget would be coming directly from a sweat, blood and sacrifice of the women working in hotels here in Long Beach. They are and they are an immense source of the wealth in our city. And today they are the voice of our conscience. This country is finally having the sober, long overdue conversation about the rights of women to have a safe workplace. It's a crazy it's a crazy thing that we have to even say that that women deserve a safe workplace. But we're saying it anyways, because there are people today who are standing against it, who have been delaying this, who have been putting it down, who have been crying, that the sky is falling, the sky is not falling, our city will be better for it. The women in our city will be better for it. The employees will be better for the hotels, we'll be better for it. We ask you to do the right thing tonight and to respect the dignity and strength of these women and all women in Long Beach by passing the women's ordinance to protect all hotel workers, we cannot remain silent anymore. We have a moral imperative to act. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, captain of a supernova. I'm sorry, sir. I just saw a note. That's wrong. Next speaker. Speaker 2: Good evening. Wayne Murchison, Second District. And surprisingly enough, I agree with Mike Murchison. All hotels should have panic buttons. That's also the minimum of safety that they're offering. It's also a tax write off. It's a one off tax write off. Doesn't cost the cost them four years. Smart hotels would get them walkie talkies. Then they're in communication with their staff. Makes their staff more efficient. That's also a write off. The the panic buttons kind of a give the dog a bone measure. They'll go away for the rest of it. Remember, measure in chamber of commerce and the hotel industry moaned business would be hurt, would affect tourism. That wasn't so. Hotels are full, huh? I feel the hotels retaliated. Speaker 0: Measuring by laying off staff and heaped more. Speaker 2: Work on workers. But they can't physically do more work. So that means perhaps the rooms aren't getting as clean as they would be if they were given a chance to properly clean them. You want to stay in those rooms? Okay, that's it. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Hello. My name is Jacob Ingram, member resident of the second District and member of Democratic Socialists of America Long Beach Chapter. The people in support of this ordinance have explained the economic component better than I ever could shout out Stephan. But it is a simple matter of a woman was worked into a coma. Based on the current working conditions that Long Beach hotels currently can subject their workers to, and then to address the signature gathering clips that some of the people opposing this ordinance tonight, 46,000 signatures, however you slice it, valid or invalid, probably gets you elected mayor in the city of Long Beach. And that and then just to voice support again pass it tonight as is to entertain either of the other options is straight up cowardly. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker, please. Speaker 8: Good afternoon. My name is Viviana Lagunas. Speaker 5: I am a social worker here in Long Beach. I work with the severe mentally ill. A lot of the clients that I work with are struggling with different mental health issues such as PTSD, depression and anxiety due to past experiences of sexual trauma, rape, violence, harassment. And on a personal note, my mom, she's been in the hospitality industry for her entire life, and she, too, was a survivor of sexual assault on the job. She to experience feelings of shame, isolation, shock, confusion and guilt. So you passing Claudia's law outright tonight will not only help prevent mental health issues, but it would help to start that healing process for those working women who are living with trauma and distress. You would be making a statement of I believe you and time's up. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening, Mayor Garcia, members of the council. I apologize. I wasn't really planning on speaking tonight, but I heard some things today where I felt I just had to come up and speak my truth. And I want to really highlight the story of someone who's close to me, a family member whose story gets to the heart of everything that we're talking about here tonight. She worked in the hotel industry for years. She was overly worked. She lifted heavy mattress after heavy mattress after heavy mattress for hours on end and for years on end. And she now has a permanent disability that prevents it from really struggling to find work for a part time basis. So those who argue about economic benefits, what's the cost to her? Speaker 6: Okay. Speaker 3: Secondly, she was sexually assaulted on that job. Now imagine that's your mother or your sister or your cousin or a woman who's close to you or you yourself, because it can happen to men as well, where a man decided thought he was cute. Decided to disrobe and approach it from behind while she was cleaning the room. Now imagine someone you care about is standing there. Fearless, fearful, has at the mercy of this person with no one to call and is at his back in whatever he wants to do. That's what we're talking about tonight. And if people want to get up here and they want to say that protecting a woman like her is going to cause economic catastrophe for this industry, well, that's a whopper that Burger King would be jealous of. But for you all and people who think like that and want to make stand publicly and say that that I can't stand for her. Well, guess what? Time's up for you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Good evening, everyone. My name's Christine Pettit, and I still live in the sixth district. I mainly wanted to share some perspective from 2012 when I was a coauthor and community supporter of the ballot measure that increase the minimum wage for hospitality workers in Long Beach as larger hotels which receive taxpayer subsidies. There was a lot of talk from the chamber and the industry then that the increase would drive away hospitality dollars and hurt our tourism economy. The gentleman, a few speakers earlier took the words out of my mouth. It was the sky is falling. The sky is falling over and over. But the hand-wringing was unfounded then, as it is now. Our hospitality industry is stronger than ever, and its future looks very promising. This does not need an economic study, and it is absolutely without a question, a delay tactic. So if you are in any way entertaining that, just be honest about that. There are interests that don't want to see it before the voters. Now, not really in 2020 either, or really ever. When people signed this petition, it was with the understanding that they'd have a chance to see change this year, and a lot of them are disappointed that they haven't seen change earlier. Why not tonight? You had the opportunity to do the right thing last year, and this is something I know voters support. 64% of voters supported the minimum wage increase then, and I know this item will enjoy a similar support. I volunteered one of those hot Saturdays to collect signatures in Cal Heights and people readily signed and expressed support. This was a no brainer to them, as I would hope it would be for you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker. Speaker 3: Good evening, everybody. My name is Jonathan Solorzano and I am a resident of the ninth District and the senior community organizer with the Limited American Rights Coalition, a member of the Sanctuary Long Beach Coalition. And I am here today to express my support for passing Claudia's law outright without changes. As a community organizer, I've heard firsthand the testimony of immigrant women who share their fears of harassment from strangers. I'm sure you've also heard your share of horrendous stories from these workers, many of whom are constituents of your districts. We've been hearing news lately of migrant women from all over the world reporting sexual assault and abuse by CBP and ICE officers while they they're unjustly detained in these detention centers. And the last thing we would come to expect would be for these workers to experience harassment and abuse in the one place they would least expected their workplace. Yet you're in action back in September. Has a lot for this behavior to continue in our very city. As a body who has voted in favor of pro-immigrant policies such as SB 54 and the Language Values Act. I urge you tonight to carry that momentum and send a clear message to the immigrant working class community in this city that this body supports them and their safety by voting in favor of this ordinance. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening. My name is Derek Smith. I'm the political director for Unite Here Local 11. And in the midst of all this emotionally charged testimony, I'm going to throw some numbers at you. We gathered 46,000 signatures, 26,000 more gathered at the stores, and 20,000 were gathered door to door. These are face to face conversations. People at their doors. We had. 175 community volunteers and 150 people who came off their hotel shifts to volunteer, even accounting for Mr. Morrison's 12,000 voters who ultimately did not qualify because they weren't registered to vote. I implore you to consider that these are still residents of your city. 46,000 signatures doesn't come by accident. It wasn't a fluke. It wasn't because we tricked people. It was because this is an immensely popular idea. I provided all of you with a polling memo that attests to this very fact. 79% of people think it's time to pass this law. This crosses district lines. It crosses ethnic lines. It crosses gender lines across party lines. This is a popular idea. By continuing to stand with hotels that want to obstruct and delay this idea. You run a very grave risk of being very out of step with your city. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. I'm sorry. Before and also before I keep going, I just to make sure there's other speakers that are not in this on the list. I want to I'm going to close the speakers close pretty soon. So please get in line if you have not yet spoke. Okay. I'm going to close the speakers list next speaker. Speaker 3: Good evening, council members. Thank you very much for providing me the opportunity to speak to you today. My name is Edgar Ortiz and I am with the Long Beach Coalition for Clean Jobs and Healthy Communities. A lot has been said this evening about how this ordinance would be a detriment to the hospitality industry. However, I would like to point out two conflicting things that have been noted by some of the speakers in the audience today. On one hand, they say that the lack of an economic impact report creates a lot of ambiguity. Yet, on the other hand, they seem so certain that the passage of this ordinance would create ruinous economic impacts for the industry. Well, I think that for a city that has been called one of the largest ports and busiest ports in the world, in addition to the eastern capital of the Pacific Rim, I am very inclined to believe that the incorporation of these very reasonable and commonsensical safety mechanisms can be very easily absorbed by the city and this industry. But that's not the primary thing we're talking about today. What we're talking about today is the very real and lasting damages that take place in the hospitality industry that impact people who we consider our grandmothers , our aunts, our sisters, our daughters and our mothers. I myself have worked have walked the city several weekends over the past couple of months, speaking with citizens of the city. And they very much believe in the and the importance of having such an ordinance in order to safeguard our most vulnerable and marginalized communities. And so I call on the members who are here today to not be left behind by history. And if you truly believe in social justice and supporting our workers, then it's going to require a renewed and rigorous commitment to their safety, which you have the opportunity to do here tonight by passing the ordinance without alteration. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. And I will be closing the speakers list. So I just want to make sure the speakers list is closed. Okay. All right. Last call. All right, good speaker. Speaker 5: Good evening. My name's Netty Soto. I am a Long Beach hotel worker. And Teresita here is my colleague. She cannot tell you what happened to her, but I'm going to tell you what I know. In February 2016, Teresita, another woman worker of the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel, obtained a temporary restraining order against a supervisor who they reported sexually harassed them and threatened to retaliate against them or anyone that would report his conduct. Teresita and other women worker then filed a lawsuit against the Renaissance in Long Beach, Marriott International, and the supervisor. The suit alleged claims for assault, battery, sexual battery, sexual harassment and other gender discrimination, among other causes of action. According to court records, the party settled the lawsuit last year, but the terms of the settlement agreement agreement are not public. And since it seems like their setai has not been able to talk about it, I have to assume that there is a silence clause in the settlement agreement. Neither Teresita or the other workers are still at the Renaissance. But the Renaissance in Long Beach continues to employ the man who reported who they reported that harassed them. It is so difficult for women to talk about sexual assault already, especially when we see stories like what happened to Teresita at the Long Beach Renaissance. He is still there. And Teresita. I'm her voice. I feel that the hotels protect their guest over the workers, just like the Renaissance continues to employ the manner that a sitter reported harassed her. That's why I ask you to pass this initiative now. Protect the whole work, the hotel workers. Now, you had an opportunity to do so last year and you failed. It is time to break the silence. You can make history today. Don't wait until another Time magazine report comes out. We and the Silent Breakers art directors voice. And we are the workers voice of Long Beach. We say no more. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: My name is Guatemala. Housekeeping in Long Beach. Silence Breaker 2017 time person. Speaker 7: Of the Year. Speaker 5: It was an honor for me to be included with a. Speaker 7: Brave woman who. Speaker 5: Came forward publicly against abuse. For years, I have been fighting for the rights of the woman working in India, in the hotel industry. I was tired of being harassed, ignored in abuse. Speaker 7: I decided to speak up. Very few people understand what housekeepers go through. Speaker 5: I am so proud that Long Beach residents care about housekeepers. Although 40,000 residents signed our petition to pass our protection for housekeepers, housekeepers clean out to 20 bathrooms. In bathrooms, pushing cars to the wing over £100, lifting average rate of 20 mattresses, wiping in Irish or 30 murals. Have they in a lot more of their own hands in neath on top of these? We don't know who will find behind each single door. In the 23 years that I have been working more than a few times, girls have asked me for sexual favors and expose their private parts to me. I will never forget how for my money I used to once remember, ladies, what happened to that woman who was raped in one of our towns? Speaker 7: Like it is our fault. Speaker 5: Every day, she thought, Come to Long Beach. Speaker 7: They stay a few days and then they leave. Speaker 5: It is scary not to know what to expect. Some hotels don't have security personnel during all shifts. Speaker 7: We need to be safe. Speaker 5: Council members. Every year that goes by. Woman in hotel, I suppose they. Speaker 7: The nation is waiting. Speaker 5: Pass this initiative in. Way no more. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 6: Thanks, Peter. Speaker 8: And Sandra gather. Speaker 5: The well or not lesser known, rather common personal. Speaker 8: Animal border. Speaker 5: Comparable. Speaker 8: Silencio The. Speaker 5: Lacazette one and the Drama. Speaker 7: My name is Sandra Fisher that I also had the honor of being named Time's Person of the year for breaking the silence against sexual assault. Speaker 5: A lot of physical. Reporter in san alcazares at 1220. Paul allen on my spot that gay can get to. I know firsthand how difficult it. Speaker 8: Is to report sexual harassment. Speaker 7: When the perpetrator has more power than. Speaker 5: You. And because of women supervisor Ken Macaluso and mytravel. Speaker 8: And they ended up that they ran that restaurant that. Speaker 5: In my case. Speaker 7: My perpetrator was my supervisor when I worked at the Tarana Resort. Speaker 5: It's it's tough up. Speaker 8: There on our hands. Speaker 5: You sell a felt gas deficit. Speaker 7: I was working through an agency and I know how difficult it was. Speaker 8: Gonzalez their numbers let's be okay percent this start iniciativa then important. Speaker 5: The parallels but approach. Speaker 8: The Herald as lost rather. The hotel, the lobby. Long Beach City Council members. Speaker 7: I ask you to pass this important law to protect workers. Speaker 8: In the city of Long Beach. Speaker 5: Tonight I'm gonna the Galleria passer. Speaker 8: I grab on to more let's be look but get. Speaker 5: In. Speaker 7: Each day that passes. There are workers. Speaker 5: Like myself that go to work in fear. Speaker 8: Personal initiative of a laborer, wrote the Herald. Speaker 5: Trabajadores de. Speaker 8: La Salle status within a three story. Please pass this initiative tonight to protect hotel workers. You can make history. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next week. Speaker 5: My name is Tiffany Hooten. I'm a resident of the second district. I wasn't going to say anything, and I'm not a great public speaker, so bear with me. But I couldn't keep my mouth shut knowing that there are men in this auditorium who are snickering at the idea of people needing translators to speak their truths and about the sufferings that these women go through in the hotel industry. It should not be ridiculous that this billion dollar industry could afford to fairly compensate and give these women the safety that they deserve. Please know that. There are tactics relying on, you know, economic scare tactics is just an obscurity for their racism and misogyny. Do not let this to go unchallenged. Pass this ordinance tonight or stand on the wrong side of history. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Karen, retired. I'm a resident of the First District and I'm representing the Gray Panthers. Tonight, we're in solidary solidarity with the hotel workers and encouraging you to pass this tonight. The last time before I came before you, I talked about how angry. Speaker 7: The community was. Speaker 5: And the history of our country is built on the backs. Our wealth is built on the backs of immigrant populations. What kind of city are we going to be going forward? We're making all these changes. Most of them are just terrific budget, a positive. Who's going to make who's going to end up paying for those costs? We urge you to pass this tonight and no delays so that the protections can be implemented as soon as possible. For 50% or more of our population and send the message that our community is not going to tolerate the abuse and the harassment of women . I speak as somebody that had to file a restraining order against someone who lives in my building on a different floor in my building, told me that they would move me. I don't want to move. They don't have another building in Long Beach. I don't want to leave this community. Let's stand up for women. Let's get some guts. Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Richard Hoyt. I'm a resident of the First District, and I've lived in the seventh district prior to that for 12 years. And. I'm here as a resident tonight. I do work for a hotel in Long Beach, and I also stand with our housekeepers and fully support a safe work environment for all of them. But I feel compelled tonight to share my disappointment in our council, in our mayor, in our spiritual community, and in our leadership that I've heard. Because we're not talking. Speaker 3: About all housekeepers. Speaker 4: We're talking about housekeepers from large hotels, not small hotels, not motels, not housekeepers that work for agencies that go into people's homes alone and unsupervised or nursing homes. Like one lady mentioned her mother. She's not protected by this law. This is our best work. This is about safety and protecting women. No, this is about safety and protecting certain women. Speaker 3: Well, what if it was just white. Speaker 4: Women or just black women or just. Speaker 3: Latina women? What about all women? Who's who's. Speaker 4: Here? For those housekeepers that work in a 30 room motel, they get raped. Speaker 3: Nobody. It's disappointing. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello, everybody. My name is Norberto Lopez, an organizer in this beautiful city. And I support the passage of the Hotel Worker Ordinance Protection Ordinance. What can I say after? Speaker 1: This is where I actually got my start here in the city. Speaker 3: And organizing with the hotel workers. Speaker 1: And being involved with this campaign since the beginning and. Speaker 3: Seeing it grow to where it is right now. And the fact that the first time around and we're here again, just keeps motivated me to continue fighting for the rights of the people in the city. I love the city. I drive here every day, 30 minutes and 30 minutes out because this is where I want to be. I can't afford to live here yet, but this is where I want to be so I can start making change even though I don't live here. But I consider myself a member of this community. The loss of money to provide a safe working environment should not be a reason on why you vote no, but yes to protect the lives of Long Beach workers. Now the money will come and the hotels will continue to invest here as they want to make their money and a growing tourist city. Adobe today and vote yes. We must not waste more time. We must protect our friends, family members and neighbors in the workforce. Now, the reason why the hotel worker, the hotel industry is going to continue to grow because the Olympics are coming. Let's not forget about that as well. No auto industry is going to make their money regardless if they provide protections or not. But the time for you to act is now. Time's up. Speaker 6: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 8: My name is Lorena Lopez. Year after year, I've spoken to hotel housekeepers. For years this women have come to you asking for your leadership to make protections to stop the abuse of hotel housekeepers. I would like this council to put yourself in this woman's shoes. They are asked to clean, unattainable workloads at a very fast pace. And on top of that, they have to deal with. Speaker 5: Men. Speaker 8: Exposing themselves, groping them, asking for sexual favors as if it was part of their job. We this women have had the courage to speak up against abuse. Speaker 7: The nation. Speaker 8: Has applauded. Speaker 7: Women from Long Beach for breaking. Speaker 8: The silence. We're asking you. To put yourself in their shoes. And stand with this women. The nation. Speaker 5: Is looking. Speaker 8: At this vote. The entire nation wants you to take leadership. Make history tonight. Pass this law. Speaker 7: Tonight. Pass it outright. Women need your. Speaker 8: Leadership. Women have asked for your leadership. Speaker 7: Do the right thing. Speaker 1: Thank you. And. And our last speaker is. Speaker 8: When it's not just mean media gambling as well. The winner's former partner monitoring document is the prize. Good evening. My name is Miriam as well. The winners and I am part of the undocumented community in this country. And does it the underprivileged yoga. My guarantees Osaka. We took the other condition as in Romanesque as a given in a couple liberal. Speaker 5: Before bearing the fruit. Speaker 8: That Daka granted me, I witnessed the inhumane conditions that take place in the work. Is the logical complaint ignoring the only thing I condemn plainly prolonged under siege told. The media must know the nature of this and they are not so rude as it is illogical. But in the 21st century you all continue wasting time contemplating. Speaker 5: And prolonging if we all deserve to be. Speaker 8: Safe in the workplace. Speaker 5: Espresso Kit Vehicle. Speaker 8: Gazette. The Internet got us on it can open up aboard. Speaker 5: The lovely the Claudia I don't know who's. Speaker 6: The. Speaker 8: It really was more health then I was put to death. Speaker 5: That is why I am asking you to touch your heart. And to vote in favor of Claudia's law. Do what is just and believe. Speaker 8: Women once and for all. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. So I have I have a series. I have everyone queued up. I want to thank everyone for speaking. I want to make sure that we manage this so I can get everyone to speak. Everyone. There's already a motion on the docket. And so I want to just go through and give everyone a chance to speak and we'll go from there. Okay. So it's time for the council discussion. Let me start off by starting off with Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 5: Okay. We are here for the council discussion. I first want to thank everybody again for their courage, their commitment to continue to step forward and share your stories, to continue to break the silence. We know that it is not easy. And typically I have a bunch of talking points that I prep beforehand, but I'm going to wing it tonight. I've got a couple of bullet points and I just want to have a a quick discussion with my colleagues and with all of you. The opportunity we have before us tonight is could be a healing moment. It could be a transformational moment for this council and for the city, because for the last two years, we have been having an intense debate and conversation behind the dais here and in our offices and in the 14th on the 14th floor about what to do with this policy. And I think it's really important. As somebody mentioned, we have been talking about this for five years, six years, four years, depending on where you were as part of the process. And so this conversation tonight is actually supposed to be focused just on what we do with next steps. But I think that we have to have a full conversation so this process can be as healing as possible. Sorry to put everybody through it, but this item has not only been traumatic for the workers that decided to come out of their hotels and share their stories, that decided to sue their employers, that decided to travel the country. Breaking the silence. I know that I want to talk about the women that have been recognized nationally. I know that this does not just mean, Juana, that you're struggling here, but that it takes a toll on your family to be the face of so much abuse and to live through that every day. So I just want to say that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. This item is traumatic for the second district, too. I think every time we talk about Claudia's law, my name is out there because we unfortunately went through a recall that lasted a year, that was funded to the tune of over $200,000, where we had to talk about abuse on the doorstep. We had to talk about abuse that nobody asked for that I didn't ask for and that housekeepers didn't ask for. And we had to talk about how businesses and our corporate bottom line often is what divides us in trying to figure out the best way to move forward when our hearts we know that nobody deserves to be in an abusive situation, that nobody deserves to be retraumatized. And so when I thought about this item coming up tonight and having the conversation around 2020, November this year, or having the ability to do something great and actually vote on it tonight, I thought about, what, five months of a campaign looks like to talk about sexual assault. That's going to be hard. It's been hard and it's going to continue to be hard for this council to grapple with. To see it in the news. To have these tough conversations. To understand how our actions got us to this point. All of us, we all let politics play in this item. And it means that we're going to be here at a minimum for five more months, because I don't know that the will is here. And I'm eager to hear from my council members because I feel like what the will is here. For all of my council members. For Al, for Suzie, for me, this has been traumatic. We've all suffered. And to be able to take a courageous step tonight and say, you know what? I'm not playing politics with the Unite here. I'm not playing politics with the hotels. Enough is enough. The city has to move forward. The city has to be able to heal and tackle some of the other big issues. And we all have to work together. We've got big items ahead of us. We've got housing, we've got budgets, we've got land use. And I want to work with everybody on this dias. I don't want this item to be the item that made four years hell. And so that that's my conversation today that I've been grappling with. And it is emotional. And there are some triggers when we hear these stories being retold and there are triggers when we have debates with our colleagues or with people in the audience or anywhere that says, you know what, this issue is not about housekeepers. I had a conversation like that recently. This is not about sexual assault in the hotels. Never, ever, ever, even when there are politics involved, say that it is not about somebody coming up here and sharing their tears about their reality. That to me is so heartbreaking and I don't want us to have that debate for five more months, even if you believe that in your heart. I don't think that's the debate that's going to help Long Beach move forward. That is not the debate that is going to put us on the map for a city that has dignity and respect for everybody. We cannot have that debate. It is not it has not gotten us anywhere good yet. The debate that we can have is do we take five months right now and put it on the ballot, cost the city half a million dollars. Do we have a study? Let me tell you what we have for our economic study right now. What we did as a city was we went forward and we asked for a top policy recommendation that was done by, you know, a consultant. They came back with a hotel incentive program study that told us that our hotel industry is thriving. And yes, the conversation that was hot around, okay, if we do this, then the hotel is going to suffer the year after measure and pass. We had 7% increase in profits in the hotels. What what kind of hotel development do I have going on right now? I have a hotel proposed at the Queen Mary. I have American Life, a 36 story, beautiful hotel at Pine and Ocean. I've got two other hotels on Pine that are being considered. We've got a hotel at the airport. The conversation. That is not a murder conversation. Is our industry going to suffer or not? It's going to continue to thrive because you know what? We've got a mayor that's got great vision. We've got a council that's got great vision. Our city is night and day from where it was ten years ago, and people want to come here. And we saw an uptick whenever we got national recognition for measure in and it's going to happen again. If we do the right thing, we're going to see another uptick in tourism in our city because we took that that courageous step. So that conversation, do we have a study or not? I've mentioned it to some of my colleagues. I know it's a delay tactic. Can we get more information about our industry? We have a lot already at our fingertips. We do. We have a lot not about the cost that it takes to put in a panic button. But if the Marriott can spend $60,000 on a political campaign, but they can't spend the money to put into their hotel to make sure their employees are treated right. And this battle is not about this council. It is not about me. It's not about my colleagues up here. It should be about you in the rooms that are cleaning those rooms. It shouldn't be around how much money it costs to save to save somebody's safety, to get them at least enough tools in the toolbox to feel safe. So I want to be really clear tonight that we have a thriving tourism industry. I've got the whole study in front of us. You can go back and look at it time and time again says that we've got room and the demand for another almost 1500 hotel rooms in our city. That says a lot to me and our city. Our hotels are stepping up and doing the right thing. And the questions are the safety issue. I'm not sure what happened in between the time that we had the opportunity to behind this dais to make a decision. But it's I believe that the sexual assault provisions are in there for rooms, 50 rooms or more. I wish it was with everybody. We can have that conversation down the road about what we do. But we already had our opportunity, a council said, to make the best ordinance. So tonight, as our colleagues grapple with this conversation, I implore us to have the conversation around what is it going to take for us to do this tonight? So my motion, my request is that we we do vote tonight not only for the for the residents to hear from the trauma, for the workers to hear from the trauma. But for us, this council deserves to move forward. We deserve to be able to lead and govern for the next two years as a whole body and not allow this conversation to get to get done because it is pulled hide. The voters will vote to enact this, whether it's in November because we made everybody wait or because we voted for it now. And now the hotels have five months to actually plan an implementation strategy, which would be really wonderful if we actually looked ahead and plan. So let me make sure I'm done with my talking points before I move on. So the conversation around retraumatizing, I just want us to all be clear that when if we vote to put this on the ballot in November and not vote outright today, the things that we're going to hear for five months are restraining order, rape taken from behind and worked into a coma. Assault, physical assault, sexual assault, battery, gender discrimination. This is going to be our lives for the next five months. These women are going to have to go door to door and retell their stories for five months. If we decide to wait. Please Council. Do it. Do the right thing. Right. Speaker 1: Thank you, councilmember Pearce councilman. And concentrate you you've cued up as as the motion maker on. Right. So. So there's the first vote. Yeah. So the motion on the floor right now, as per Councilmember Pearce and seconded by Councilman Gonzalez to to choose one of the three options available, which is to implement the ordinance as is today . So that's that's the motion that's on the table right now for the first and a second. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 8: So this is it's really tough seeing a colleague upset like this. And I know that it's just really tough to to see that. So I want to just thank you, Janine, for being so brave. I know this has been a long time for you for some time. And I just want to say, you know, I'm sorry you're feeling that way. So thanks to all the women and the men that are here today that have spoken once again in front of this council, I think I appreciate each and every one of you unite here, residents, stakeholders, our dear elected colleagues, Supervisor Janice Hahn. Thank you, Congressman Alan Lowenthal, Congresswoman Nanette Barragan and Senator Ricardo Lara, we thank them very much for standing today with our with our hotel housekeepers. Let's give them a big round of applause. So everyone knows I'm sort of a nerd with data and I want to be very cut and dry when we talk about the economics and we've talked about this before, but I want to rehash some some information as to why I think we all believe that we absolutely should put people over profits, especially in this case. And why the hotel industry? Well, the hotel industry and the tourism industry is making significant profits. And we know this every year. It's pretty hard. And especially after last year when this ordinance did not pass the way we wanted it to, it was very hard a few months later to see from our Convention and Visitors Bureau that 2017 was the best tourism year yet on record for the city of Long Beach. In fact, our fiscal year 19 budget is proposing millions more dollars to the CVB. 7.2 million people visited Long Beach for events and meetings, 1.7 million visited the aquarium. And in fact, we gave $10 million as a city council to the aquarium to add value to the tourism industry. And I'm not knocking those things. I think that's fantastic. But what are we doing when it comes to our hotel housekeepers, the ones that are most vulnerable in this situation and actually make our cities shine? Overnight, visitors increased 18% over 2016 and generated over $300 million for the local economy here in Long Beach. And we have, if everybody knows, an over $100 million sports complex with two L.A. teams coming just 20 minutes north of us, are we not going to benefit from that? We are. And when I say we, we as a as a city, but also we as a hotel industry. And in fact, the business markets in the United States have responded overwhelmingly. In fact, large companies like TripAdvisor, if many of you do not know, they responded to the MeToo movement and they include now an online badge when there has been a reported sexual assault of any kind, any kind for the hotels that have had those issues . Uber is investing $5 million in community partners for sexual assault prevention, and Microsoft changing antiquated workplace policies to ensure that protections are available. I know because I work there, I can include that one. And when we talk about a fiscal impact study, we absolutely have to talk about the cities that have enacted an ordinance similar to this . We're not new. This is not, you know, a novel idea. So the cities like Seattle, Northern California cities, they've enacted ordinances, some of them in 2016. And their tourism statistics have never been better 3.3 to 4% year over year increase in visitors. Transient occupancy taxes have grown nearly 13 to 14%. Average daily hotel rates have grown by 11%. I know this is a lot of data, but it's absolutely in line with what we're doing here. We're not going to slow down here as a city. The hotel as a hotel industry is not slowing down. The tourism industry is not slowing down. And if it's okay, as many business partners have said today for 2020, why is it not okay now? Why is it not okay now? We can wipe the slate clean and we can move forward to pass an initiative for almost 80% of residents that have said yes to this. And I hope that my council colleagues can look to voting to passing this outright, because whether this happens today or if we delay this to November, it's going to pass. So I thank all of you again for all of your hard work. I know that this has been very tough, but you can absolutely count me in in terms of always supporting our hotel housekeepers. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman. Next up is Councilmember Supernormal. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor Garcia. And thank you to all the speakers here tonight. I would like to make a substitute motion. I move that we adopt Alternative three and order a report pursuant to California Elections Code Sections 9212. Speaker 1: Okay. There's a motion and a second on that, that that motion is to just adopt the report. Correct. Mr. Soprano and and and counsel and on that motion, did you want to speak to that motion? No. Okay. Councilman Mangold, you want to speak to that motion? Okay. No skies. No. Everyone has an opportunity to speak now. It's the council deliberating. Thank you. Next up is counsel in Boston. Speaker 0: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And I want to thank all of the speakers. It was very, very heart wrenching. And and as usual, I mean, this is certainly not a usual issue. I'd like to first, they say that no no worker should should have to work in fear. I firmly believe that is something that I've committed my career to. Nobody should have to work in sexual abuse or in a hostile work environment. And workers in this city deserve to share in the prosperity of our city's economic growth, particularly in a thriving industry like the hospitality industry. That's without question. That is why back in 2012, when Measure N was before the voters, I was a supporter of that. I think it was a cosigner of that back in 2006 when boycotts were going on because hotel workers were trying to organize workers. I signed on and there are hotels that I haven't been into since 2006. I've stood with workers and I continue to stand with workers every single day. I stand with our hotel workers. I stand with our women. I'm a proud son of a mother who taught me who was a strong woman. I was sister. I have a strong wife. I have women. Three women on my staff. I have women who I work with every single day that I respect and will. I will kill over if anybody ever hurt them. I'd also like to just tonight recognize some extraordinary efforts in this city to address, address and improve working conditions for women in the hospitality industry, for workers in the hospitality industry. Anyone looking at this issue objectively would have to recognize the thousands of conversations that thousands of conversations have been had about worker safety, about sexual abuse, about pack panic button buttons, and safer working conditions for hotel workers. This issue has been a top and hot topic in our city for at least the past year. And as Councilmember Pearce mentioned it, we've all been affected by one way or another. Safety for hotel workers has been identified and is a priority in this city. No matter how you cut it. Last year, the city council considered an ordinance and it's been been discussed and a few of us expressed concerns with the policy. I'm going to maintain that they were legitimate concerns. They weren't concerns expressed because, you know, we were taking sides, one side or another that we didn't stand with women. There was a lot of very hurtful rhetoric expressed, particularly over the last year that was was completely inaccurate. It was political. It was good political banter. It was good talking points, but not accurate. As policymakers, we're supposed to ask tough questions because we want in every we have a responsibility to get the issues right. Many of you said it tonight. Get it right. Do it now. Fix it no matter what the issue is. If it's housing, if it's homelessness, if it's whatever the big issue, ticket issue of the day is, you want this council to figure out how to get it right. You don't want you don't want us to do what we're told necessarily. And that's not what we're here for. We're here to work and to work together. None of us were raised in the same household. None of us necessarily went to school together. We're all different people from different backgrounds. We come here to to enact policy that's in the best interests of our city. Right. So this issue obviously was was very contentious. And in September of last year, and I think it was a true low point for the city. And and I will just say that parties all the way around could have handled themselves better. A majority of us passed a resolution strongly encouraging hotels to address the safety concerns that were raised here. And since that time, I've actually been in contact. I've tried to maintain. Contact with the hotels to make sure that they were following the the ordinance and updating this council and where they were at. I know that as a result of that council meeting, this debate over this issue over the last year, panic buttons have been implemented in several hotels. Maybe not enough. Maybe not to the satisfaction of everyone. But I know good faith efforts have been made. And so I want to recognize that. I think I think some some good, good points have been made here this evening. I think we do need to take a broader look at all of our hospitality industry and particularly some of the smaller motels and hotels. And look at those those conditions as well. But the issue before us today is how we proceed now that close to 50 conversations have been documented about this important issue. And again, I want to respect the work that went into doing that, because I know that's not easy. And and to go to the voters and have those conversations and to get buy in says a lot. And I think this council has always respected that no matter what what the issue has been. And I think we should continue to do that. I would love to see closure on this issue very soon, and that's why I won't support a delay. However, I do support honoring the will of the people and advancing this issue to the November ballot. And so, with that said, I want to make a substitute substitute ballot a motion to put this issue on a November six ballot, since we, as a council several hours ago, already set an election with ballot initiatives to go forward to the voters. And so that's my motion. I would love to have the council support on that figure. Speaker 1: Councilman Austin. And we do have a second and two before I before I continue, I want to just clarify kind of where we're at. We still have a lot of speakers, so we're going to keep going through that. We have three there's three motions, the main motion, a substitute motion and a substitute substitute. Essentially, all three of the options or the only three options really that are that are available in front of the in front of the city council. And just to clarify, obviously, the main motion, which was was done by Councilwoman Pearce would implement the policy today or immediately. The second the second motion which was made by Councilmember Supernova, would implement a study. And I want to make sure that we as we move forward, we know what this all means. The study itself, Mr. Parking, would have to happen in how many days? Speaker 3: Within a year under the election code. The study is required to come back to the Council within 30 days. Speaker 1: And and also and any study would that would delay the election in November and it would automatically go on the March 2020 ballot. Is that correct? Speaker 3: Not automatically. It would pass the deadline for us to meet the county's deadline to make the November six, 2018 election. When the study comes back within 30 days, the Council would have two remaining options left adopted that evening has written without alteration or can put it on a ballot. It could be 2020. It could be a special election. Speaker 1: So that's the that's the the second option. And then the third option, which is the third motion which was made by Councilmember Austin, is to move forward with the election this November. I just want to also clarify, and I've heard a couple of different I've heard a couple of different dates the the November election. Just want to clarify, just because they know that Councilman Pure sprouted up that we're talking about the same thing. It's not we're only about five I think we're talking about 12 weeks or the three months. Right. Is that the same thing we're talking about? Speaker 5: So if we so if my motion my motion was that if we vote on it today, that it would automatically go into effect January one. And so that was and so before council speaks, that has been my understanding this entire week that we've been talking about this, that if we voted today to pass it as an ordinance , because the ordinance was written to implement in January one, which is what the voters said they wanted, that basically what would happen is it would save us from an election. So that's, I think, a bit misunderstanding. Speaker 1: What do we have? What? Speaker 0: We have a motion. No, no, no. Section three of the ordinance proposed ordinance says that it'll go in effect ten days after the November 6th election. Speaker 1: Well, let me let me have that. Why don't we have the attorney clarify? So, Mr. Park and can you clarify the questions that we know what we're talking about as we. Speaker 3: Thank you. Option one if the Council votes to adopt the initiative ordinance without alteration at the regular meeting this evening or within ten days of it presented, it would go into effect. Basically, immediately it becomes the ordinance of the city. So we would then go to the initiative itself and I believe it. I don't have that language on the page. I'll find it, but it would go into effect immediately. In essence, you've adopted the ordinance tonight. Speaker 5: Okay. So just to clarify, on my on my original motion, I am a fair human. I never would vote for an ordinance and expect the hotels to put that into effect in December, I mean, in ten days. I always expected us to be saving us from an election which would save the taxpayers half a million dollars. So I want to hear the rest of the conversations behind the dais, and then I know we'll go through the voting process. Speaker 8: But just to be. Speaker 5: Very clear publicly. Speaker 1: Thank you. Let me let me go. Let me continue on the list. Councilwoman. I think so. There's no other questions on kind of the motions of trying to make sure we clarify those. Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 7: Thank you. So earlier so just a couple of questions for me. Earlier tonight, we voted to put charter amendments on the November ballot. So we're having an election anyway, is that right? Speaker 3: That is correct. Speaker 7: So adopting the ordinance isn't going to save the taxpayers money in regards to this particular item, because we're going to be having an election that. Speaker 3: The it's the incremental cost to put the addition this item as an additional item. And I think the clerk had that number at 40,000 or $45,000 per item. So this if they voted tonight to put it on the ballot, I believe that would be the additional cost since council has already have five items on the ballot. Speaker 7: So we're not talking about a half a million dollars. That's not the. I just want to clarify that because I want to make sure that we are listening to all of our colleagues. I appreciate everyone who came out tonight and everyone who spoke. And I agree with all of my colleagues tonight on many of the things that have been said. I think this has many of the issues we take up are very controversial and many of them have a tendency to get emotional and inflammatory. And that happens. And I understand that. And it's unfortunate that this one did. And I think in hindsight, there could have been opportunities had there been opportunities for compromise last time to have fashion, something that could have avoided a lot of the effort that was put into it. But I applaud the groups that put the effort into the work that they did to get the signatures. And I respect that process. I do know and I have a question for the city attorney here. When the marijuana initiative came to us, when we approved it, we approved it simultaneously to requesting an economic impact study. So we approved it to go on the ballot. But at the same time, we also requested an economic study. Could we do that in this case? Speaker 3: That is correct. On the. And if you chose to do something like that, that motion isn't on the floor right now. But if there was an amendment to a motion, you could do that. The difference is the study that you would be asking for is not the study that's contemplated in what is before you tonight under under the elections code. That is very specific. And we would have to get more details if that item before that item is voted on, if it if it is, in fact, voted on as to what specific items you want, if you vote tonight to place it on the November ballot, and then you ask or direct the city manager to do a study, that study is a different study and doesn't have a 30 day time limit because you've already taken the action required by the election code this evening of placing it on the ballot. Speaker 7: I understand my question to the city attorney. I mean, to the city manager would be if we were to to direct the city manager's office to commission or prepare a report, could something be brought back to us in 30 days so that we can have some data? And let me tell you why that is, because when the economic impact study for the marijuana item came back, we had revenue and cost projections for the city in terms of the administration of the program, should the ballot initiative pass. And we based our budget and our budget discussions on those revenue projections which have thus far turned out to be $4 million lower than we were expecting. But nevertheless, we had some at least some baseline of information and data to work from. So I'm wondering how quickly could we get that back? Speaker 3: We have some consultants on board that we could shift that to immediately. I can't promise you exactly what we would have in 30 days, but we certainly would have an update. With all the information that we could gather within that time period. I don't know if it meet all of your needs, but we certainly would have something. Speaker 7: And for me and I want to hear from my colleagues, but and I'm I think I'm going to make a friendly here, but I'm kind of talking out loud to my colleagues. For me, the key inquiry would be what impact could this potentially have to the city in terms of administration of the ordinance? Because I understand the cities that have imposed this have had to evaluate their own structure to make sure they have someone there for compliance purposes and things like that. So what would that look like for us? And that would be the really the focus for me. And also in terms of the revenue that's brought into the city, what anticipated differences could it could we expect to see, if any? So so with that, what I would like to do is ask Councilman Austin if he'd be willing to accept a friendly that we have, in addition to the item being placed on the November ballot , an economic study that would be returned in 30 days to provide us with basic analysis of the economic impacts for the administration and revenue projections for such an ordinance. Speaker 0: So is it specific to the Economic City study? Would it be specific to this, the city's impact or impact on the the hospitality industry? Speaker 7: Well, you know, I want to hear from my colleagues on that. I think at the at the base, I would I would like to see if you're open to the friendly, my thoughts would be right now, the primary concern is how, if at all, would it impact the city's budget and the city's revenue projections, whether that's in relation to our tourism industry, our top tax, our, you know, all of that because we rely on those projections to to set our budgets. Speaker 0: Well, I'll tell you, I'm most interested in impacts to obviously our responsibilities to city. I mean, I sit on Budget Oversight Committee and we're in the process of obviously planning our budget right now. And so I think that would be good information to have. And so I'll accept the friendly. I would just just say that I think, you know, it's going to be difficult to give direction this evening for scope of a study. And I would say that we probably do we could possibly have a week to try to work this this through as well. So but I accept the friendly because in the spirit of moving this design. Speaker 7: Great. So in terms of just a few final comments, you know, one of the things I found is no matter how hard you try, if folks have made their minds up about you, they've made their minds up about you. And some people are willing to listen openly and others are not. And some people are willing to change their minds based on what they hear, and some aren't. And you can only control your own behavior. You can't control others. And that's I don't mean to lecture. It's just me kind of talking out loud, kind of like my colleague, Councilman Pierce did, because this this is a very human process. And we are humans experiencing things just like everyone here is. Speaker 1: Treat the workers like, hey, guys, everyone gets a chance to speak, so please, please. Now, it's not the council's opportunity to deliberate. Thank you, Councilman Price. Speaker 7: Wow. So. Speaker 1: Hey, guys. You know what, guys? That's not that's not appropriate. We're now the council's deliberating, so please, everyone was given respect when they spoke. Please just allow every council member to speak. Thank you. Counsel. Counsel Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 7: I think I'm done. Speaker 1: Councilmember Durango. Speaker 3: Thank you, Mayor. All I have to say, while my time I get to speak or three motions and substitute an amendment so it can get a little confusing here. But, you know, when I look at the what happened last year, where I'm at now, you know, what has changed? Nothing. Nothing has changed my situation. I have you know, I have a vested interest in this issue, obviously. If you recall, I have a son and a daughter in law who work in the hotel industry. And I care about very much about their safety and about their working environment. So when we were talking about, you know, panic buttons and and worker safety, it's not only about panic buttons, it's also about working conditions and working environments. It they are they're there together. I mean, you can't separate one from the other. And, you know, my position has not changed. I mean, I would rather that we go ahead and adopt the ordinance tonight, because it would be I mean, it's inevitable. We've seen the numbers. We know the hard work that many of you in the audience put into this. And you're here tonight. You're here close to 10:00. People have been here, you know, most of the day, being here, preparing for this and now listening to us grapple basically with this issue when it comes to this, the the the the options of what we have. The second one is is dead in the water, as far as I'm concerned. A study would not resolve anything. We know what the end result is going to be. I mean, it's already been proven. I mean, that Councilmember Gonzalez already gave us what's let's throw she has and the stats and I've heard it for the last four years that I've been a council member here. Every year the CFPB comes and they do their reports and every year the city has grown. Every year there's a profit. And every time that we've talked about the effects of of a minimum wage measure in panic buttons, we we hear the same arguments. People are going to leave. People are not going to come to Long Beach. Hotels are going to lose their business. It's going to affect their bottom line. It's going to affect their philanthropy and in supporting the nonprofit organizations that they support in the community. We hear that every time. And it's it's it's and I said it before, it's a chicken little story. The sky is going to fall. And you know what? The sky has not fallen. In fact, we're you know, we're reaching the skies. We're we're up there. I mean, the economy in Long Beach has continually improved the last the last four years. I can see that, you know, with all due respect to the councilmember who lives with me, you know, there wasn't this kind of growth in her area. I mean, it was we were dealing with some very serious budget deficits. She came in the city council and there was almost an immediate $80 million deficit that she inherited in 2002 when the utility users tax went down. And we cut that in half. And it was an immediate funk. But I have to thank the voters because in their wisdom, they voted for measure in. And I'm sorry that, you know, this puts us in a place to where we need to be. They voted for a measure, A, that has significantly helped the city balanced budgets. And not only that, but provided us an opportunity to grow our budget, to return services to public safety, to return to South Division, to return ambulance services, paramedic services and fire stations, to get more police officers to take over the blue line. We are doing quite well. In fact, we have Councilmember Pearce has already said, you know, we've got hotels that are that are in the planning stages that are going to be going up. You know, over 20 stories of 4000 rooms are going to be added to the city of Long Beach. So we are in a growth mode, and I don't see that stopping, quite frankly, and I don't see how this word is. What would stop that from happening in terms of the growth that the city is going to have? In fact, quite the opposite of when you have happy workers. You have people with smiles on their faces. When you have employees who are walking. I mean, and who are in a good spot, who really enjoy their jobs, really enjoy their employers and really support their employers. You get business. You get people who return to the bit to to this city because they want to be here because they feel safe. They feel wanted and they feel like they're going to be treated like like royalty when they come here. And that's what we're striving for. We're striving. It's not so much that, you know, we're going to be putting a restraining restraint, a restraint on our hotel industry. We're doing that at all. What we're doing is trying to make them stronger, to make them much more effective in how they serve their their tenants. And the people who come in and want to stay in line, which are tourism is up. Our conventions are going through the roof. We've got more conventions coming here than we ever had before. And where do they stay? They stay in our hotels. They eat at our restaurants and they use our modes of transportation. Our airport has grown significantly. Why? Because people are flat. Because people are flying into Long Beach. Now we're talking about an economic impact study. You know, I'm not so sure what the devil's in the details, obviously, in an impact study. Who study? Is it? Is it the steady city study and the impact that what it's going to accrue to us as a as a city talking about, you know, compliance and more staff, or are we talking about the hotel industry and the and the impacts that this ordinance would have on them? And who is going to be benefiting from it? And should we have a concurrent study with a ballot measure? You know, and we come back in 30 days. What spin is is that study going to have spin for the city or spin for the hotel industry? Can it be used against us or can they work for us? I don't know. I frankly, I that's where I'm perplexed, where a study would provide us with certainly more information. And there's no question about that. But I'm not sure to which benefit and and how it's going to be used in a campaign come November, because I know that those numbers and those figures would come into play if if the study comes out before November, before the November election. So I'm holding firm with with my position, I will not be supporting the substitute motions. I'm going to go back to my original the original motion. I'm going to stay there. But I'll see how how my colleagues vote, because I think that the most important thing we need to do is to get over what happened last year . Correct the wrong. And let's keep moving forward and let's get this city where it needs to be. Thank. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next up is Member Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you. I got to say, you know, this this issue. I supported it when it came to council a year ago. It's been a I've seen a wedge divide on this council and in the community on this issue. And tonight, we need to vote to move forward. It's time to put this in the voters. I've looked at the analysis to be as clear as we can. We've collected this many signatures. We've seen the polling. It's going to happen either tonight or it's going to happen in November. This thing is moving forward, I think, tonight. What we don't need is people dug in. The trench needs to close tonight. We don't need anybody else dug in. This needs to move forward. So I see there's three options. There's always been three options tonight. One is to adopt it tonight. I can support that. I don't know that the support is there from five council members to do that delay. I do not support that. That is kicking the can down the road. If we get a chance to vote on the order necessity turn attorneys. What? Which which motion gets voted on. Speaker 3: First we go in reverse order. So the substitute substitute motion made by Council member Austin and seconded by Council Member Price to place the item on the ballot for November 6th with the friendly of the economic study to return in 30 days. If that fails, then you go to the substitute motion to request a study for 30 days. Then you go back to the original motion. Speaker 2: Okay, so the first motion is November that will be voted on first, correct? That is correct. Okay. The second motion is to do the study, which would. Speaker 3: Then be voted on if the substitute substitute. Speaker 2: Fails. So if that fails, kill the study which would forego the November election, would be the second thing to be voted on. Speaker 3: That's correct. The study couldn't be done in time to make the November. Speaker 2: Miss the November election, and the third would be to do it outright tonight. That's correct. Okay. So let's so if we just walk through scenarios, if the first vote doesn't receive five votes, which is to put it on the ballot for November, then it goes to the second, which is to forgo November and do a study, which I don't know that that has the votes either. And then I don't know if that has the votes. And then you have to enact it tonight, which I don't know if that has the votes from. So city attorney, what happens if all three motions fail tonight? Speaker 3: That would be unfortunate. Absolutely. That's what I'm trying to get to get analysis. No, under the election code, section 90 215, it mandates that the legislative body take an action this evening. So if all three of these motions fail, it would be up to the chair, in this case, the mayor, to reopen council deliberation. And we have the start of discussion until you come up with one of these options. Speaker 2: So so that said, we need to move forward tonight. Yes. I can support two of these motions. I can support doing it tonight. I can support doing it in November. One way or the other, it's getting adopted in this city. I can't support the second option. So in the order that it comes up, if November comes up, I implore the city council to not not get entrenched, adopt that tonight. If that gets the votes, it's done and we can start the process of coming together. So. So so that's what that's I'm being very clear about this strategy, so no one can say I wasn't in support of doing it tonight. I'm supportive doing tonight, but I'm also support in support of creating a pathway forward. So that's that's what I'm recommending to the council and that that's what I'm going to do. But thank you. Speaker 1: They could some of Richardson Councilman Mungo. Speaker 5: Wonderful. So I want to thank everyone who came out tonight. I want to thank those of us who have had dialogs over the last few days. I know that in listening to a lot of the things tonight, there's an importance of. The will of the voters, which many of you know, often when I support or don't support an agenda item, when there's a will to put it on the ballot, I usually am supportive of putting it on the ballot because that's what my district feels is good. Direct democracy in our direct democracy has some challenges. As many people at the dais talked about, we can't make any changes to what they're voting on tonight at the dais. And so even if we had some modifications that would improve it, we really just don't have those options. And so we just need to recognize that that's part of direct democracy. So when Councilmember Supernanny were talking about a study, I think that we've always had the intent that what happened in the marijuana ordinance was how they came back concurrently. So I think that where we are today with Al and Susie's friendly allies, motion was this is friendly. I think that really puts us in a place where the whole council can come together because the study was important to some individuals and there was some discussion in the community related to impact. Many of you remember back for a measure and that there was no impact of there was no talk about a study and the potential positive or negative impacts. I think that people forget that impact studies should show both sides. And so in preparing for that, I wrote a few notes before council tonight and then during the agenda during the dais tonight, a lot of people came to the dais and I tried to write down notes about the things you said to make sure that those things are included. Because what's important to me is my neighbor that works at a hotel and what impacts their life and their wage and their opportunities and their benefits and their pension and all of the retirement options and all of that. But I know that in sit downs I've had one of them was at Starbucks. I asked for like a side by side comparison of what exists at what places. I know that all the hotels in my district have panic buttons, but I don't. I haven't toured every hotel in the whole city to see that that's true. And so there are a lot of back and forth of it. And there's nine of us. And again, we're all trying to do our best to come together. So let me. Build on the friendly, if possible. Mr. Councilmember Austin. This would be what I think. For the staff to do their best effort at the following. And 30 days. Please build on the economic data we already have from the Beacon Study and the base study and report back on how the ordinance impacts rates, occupancy, our competitiveness for conventions and leisure guests, and what that nexus is on those guests. Impact to our total and sales tax budgeting. And important to us is the number of hotel employees, the number of guests spending in our city and the impact. Of their pay, their benefits and the nexus of their buying power and disposable income of hotel workers that live in Long Beach and outside the city. So let me give you an example of why that's important. So many of you don't know that when we were elected to the city council, we weren't able to see a lot of the sales tax and total revenue numbers. And so you had a legislative body of the city who had to make major financial decisions, and there were some details that we couldn't see. And one of the things that's really important is that as we've driven down the unemployment number, the ability for those neighbors who used to be unemployed to have jobs and now spend in our city is is powerful and we budget based on that. And so I think that goes a little bit to what we were talking about earlier from my colleagues that were primarily on the Budget Oversight Committee with me. And so I hope that. Mr. Modica or Mr. West or Charlie, would something along that line be something that would make a best effort at that in the next 30 to 45 days? But it would not delay in any way the November ballot. Speaker 3: You're correct. That's the point I wanted to make, that there is no because the motion elects item number two, which is to place it on the November ballot. There is no constraint of 30 days. This this is a different type of study than is what is contemplated by the your three options. So you can add or detract any of those items that would be accepted as a friendly or not. And you are not constrained by the 30 days because your decision as a elected body tonight is to place it on the November 6th ballot. Speaker 5: And so my thought would be, if information is available on a flow basis, that it's provided to the Budget Oversight Committee, and if it's not on a flow basis, if it comes back at 30 days or what you have it 30 days with a here's what we'll get in the next 10 to 15. Something that gives us some feedback on where we are, because what we don't want is you to rush something and not have answers. We want real data, but I recognize that there are considerable resources in 30 days and. I hope that that captured everything I heard from so many people who took the time to be here tonight. And I appreciate that. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilwoman Mongo and I just to wrap up all the conversations about about this study, I know we've done these studies in the past when we do ballot initiatives. We've done them concurrently like we did with marijuana. And I'm assuming that it would be a city staff driven process and that it would. Like all studies, it's driven by staff. And it looks and it looks at impacts. And you guys can make those decisions as far as the impacts as it relates to the city Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 3: So, Mr. Mayor, if I may, if we can, just for the record, kind of clarify how we would approach it is staff specificity, I think is important coming from the council so that we're not trying to guess what you want included and not included. So having some direction like what was laid out would be helpful. We would bring we would need to bring on a consultant to do this. So this is very high level economic analysis. We have used bay economics in the past. They started a study for us on hotels, and that's part of the and it's part of our policy to try to do two pot sharing agreements. We have some of this. We would bring them on. We would have them to work on this scope of work, and then we would check in with you. If this is below the city manager's threshold for spending, we would move ahead and identify funding. If it gets too large, then we would be back at council and you would be making a decision on whether to move forward. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 3: Mayor, i'm sorry, councilmember pearce, before you begin, it was the friendly accepted by the councilmember from the eighth district. Can you repeat the friendly? Yes, actually, I can come to build on economic data that the city already has and report back on how the ordinance impacts rates, occupancy, our competitiveness for conventions and leisure guests. And what is the nexus on those guests? Impact on the number of hotel employees, the number of guests spending in our city, and the impact on our sales tax projections. And finally, the impact on employees, their pay, their benefits, and the nexus of their buying power, disposable income of hotel workers. Speaker 5: I appreciate that because I think that one thing that was never talked about in Measure N was that the rates of the employees would all go up and people are making 14 something an hour now. And I think that those employee components are really important to the context of the study, and they're buying power in our city Speaker 0: . Councilmember Austin Councilmember Mongo, I think I mean, you raised some very good points. I think that that study and that information should be one that is employed by the private sector in the hotels. I think I think the what if I understand the the friendly that that is already on the table and I ask for clarification. It was mostly regarding impacts from the city, right. Because there is a regulatory component in this ordinance. Right. That gives the city regulatory authority that may require us to to to staff up to to to implement that. And so I'm mostly concerned, I think and correct me if I'm wrong. Councilmember Price, I think we're mostly concerned about that. Speaker 7: Yes, that was that was the intent of my friendly initially is to focus on what the impact to the city would be so that we can plan ahead and budget accordingly. Speaker 5: So just to clarify, what we budget for right now is total and sales tax. And so what I was trying to get out through that was the nexus of how our hotel workers impact that. So for instance, the ordinance restricting the number of square feet may result in more people being employed, which more may result in more people having spending power in the city. I was just trying to Nexis that all together based on the things people inside. Speaker 1: Okay let me I wanted I have a the long speaker's list still so I just want to keep moving forward. So Councilman Austin, I think I just want to make sure that we there is a that your motion is the impact as it relates to the city administratively. I think what Council Mango is proposing was beyond was beyond that. And so are you at this point. Are you accepting that? Speaker 0: I don't think I can accept it at this time. I think I still think we have some some time as a council. And what I said earlier is that I don't want to get into that trying to to get into all of the details this evening. I think, you know, it's late. We've been here for several hours, several hours sitting here. I like to be fresh in terms of understanding that question. And I don't know that we have to do that and put that with this this this, this motion. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember. Speaker 3: Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 5: And thank you very much for for that clarification. I support Councilmember Austin. I think that the question I do have is how does this impact city staff? I know I recall whenever we were having the conversations around wage staff that we talked about having a dedicated person, a labor person, is that do we have that person? What's that staff look like? Is this somebody that could help us with that? Those kinds of questions about once the voters vote to pass this policy, which they will do when they do that, how are we as a staff, as a city, going to be impacted? And I do think that there are a lot of studies that we already have out there that have already been done and us paying for. And another study is deserving of a conversation where we expected to have that. And I don't know that that detail of a study was something that we came into the room considering tonight. So that is my my talking points now that I'm going to hear from everybody else. Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor Andres. Speaker 4: Yeah, yes. Thank you, Mayor. I want to be brief because we have heard a lot of dialog and I think tonight is once again, we brought up some very sensitive matters and we need to reach points that allow us to move forward. I believe that our workers need to be protected and that is how much of that cost in money to provide the safety and that measure, you know, which is why I am disappointed that it even had to resolve and to bring it to the city city council. I think we could have done that even before now. I do not like to impose on businesses, but people have spoken. Signatures have been gathered and there's a need to be addressed and workers need to be protected. I would like to see this issue placed in front of all of the voters in November and not exclude anybody's voice or opinions. But I also want us to determine a prior to November's election that this item, of course, you know, as a city, we need to think about both sides and we both sides need to think about each other. And I want to thank you for that. Speaker 1: Thank you. I'd like to I'm going to go to Councilwoman Pryce and the courtroom, because I know I want to I want to make some comments as well. So let me let me just get back to the speaker's list. Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Okay, so just so I'm clear, the friendly for the economic said. On the impacts to the city was accepted. Yes. Okay. And it does the city management team feel that they have enough direction on that to move forward? Speaker 3: So as we understand it, we would still be using a consultant to be able to look at this because you would be doing the administration of the tax that could be done in-house because we would know how much would have to be collected. But the revenue generation impact, when we start to look at what the hotel costs would be, how much that generates to what we would use that, that is a smaller scope than the other one. If there's anything else the council would like to add, otherwise, we would focus on those two areas that impact on our budget through the total. Speaker 7: And any staffing costs associated with compliance on behalf of the city. Because I think it's contemplated that city would be the compliance officer on the workload restriction piece. So are we going to have to hire someone to go out and measure square footage and that kind of thing? And is that going to be a full time person? And I think maybe just even if it's not fully detailed, maybe finding out what Emeryville and Seattle are doing might help us in identifying what we think our our needs will be. And because that will be important, I think, for us as we forecast the future budget. Thanks. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 8: So, city attorney, can you clarify again for me just so we can get this straight? And I want to make sure we have all of our information in front of us if if for any way, it doesn't seem like it, but if for any reason we were to vote outright to pass this ordinance, can you provide the timeline again and clarification on that? Because I'm getting a little fuzzy on that. Speaker 3: So. Councilmember Gonzalez. Yes. So we're going to vote in reverse order with Councilmember Ralston's substitute substitute motion. Speaker 8: We were voted on for if the sub sub was out. Speaker 3: Okay. So if we get all the way, if we get to the main motion, your question is a good one on the what is the effective date? If council were to adopt it this evening and section three of the draft and Citizens Initiative states and I quote the proposed ordinance that is the subject of this initiative once approved by the voters at the November 6th election, where such other election as authorized by law shall be deemed adopted upon the date the vote is declared by the City Council and shall go into effect ten days after that date. So my interpretation of that and it was we weren't reading the election code, you were adopting it this evening. If your motion were to pass and ten days after that date, it would in theory go into effect. I think in reality here it's going to take longer than that for it to be implemented because we would have to work to get geared up and regulations. We'd have to give notice to all of the hotels. There's going to be a time period where we can't issue or demand their enforcement immediately just because in reality we won't be ready. Speaker 8: Okay. So ten days from now would be August 17th. Right. I mean, plus seven plus 7%. So just walk clear. But you're expecting that to be longer, but just because of the time and energy on your end and our end to be able to get that. Speaker 3: That's correct. Speaker 7: And then after that. Speaker 3: You know, the section and I'm not blaming the author of it, but didn't contemplate a possibility of it being adopted by council on August 7th. So it's not clear the intent of this. But I'm trying just as we sit here tonight, if you adopted, I will do some more research and probably come back to you and have an effective date that we can realistically implement. Speaker 8: And could we I mean, is it possible for us to suggest a date if we were to say. Speaker 3: I don't think that that's possible, because the way the election code says is you have to adopt it either this evening or within ten days. And tonight is the last opportunity that the council has to make the November six ballot. Everything has to be to the county by Friday. So that no, I don't think you can suggest a date. Nor could the proponents of the initiative, since they've already submitted the signatures. Now it's a citizen's initiative. Speaker 8: Okay. But we're expecting maybe late August, September, just throwing it out there if if it if the subset was the outright. Okay. Just getting that clear. So I will just ask because I have this opportunity to sit here and ask and I want to just ask this if the maker of the sub sub motion would be willing to withdraw that motion for us to go back to the original motion, I don't know if that's even possible, but I have to ask because I think it's. Speaker 3: One of the if I may, on a point of order, the substitute motion, substitute substitute motion has been made and seconded and amended. It's now a motion of the body. So the maker of the motion doesn't now own it. To withdraw, it has to be with a consensus of the council. So you would need a vote? Speaker 7: Well. Speaker 8: Yes. Speaker 6: No. Speaker 1: Let me make some comments. I want to I want to I also want to make some comments as well. And I know that everyone said. Speaker 8: They wanted to put it out there because I want to make sure we have all of our bases covered. And if we have the ability to work on this and get somewhere where I think we could be, then I'm going to just at least ask and I know that there's obviously Robert's Rules of Order and all that . So we have to abide by. But I think, you. Speaker 1: Know, thank you. And I want to I want to obviously thank all the other council members that spoke. And I do want to make some comments tonight that I think are important to make. And I know that we've had a lot of discussion tonight. A revolving is law and the ordinance and the law that's in front of us. And I just I know on a few occasions there's been some discussion about the actual merits of what's in front of us today. And just as a reminder, I think, to all of us and especially the public, because I have read some of this online and in the news, that there is no option to not send this to the public. You either adopt it or it's going to be voted on by the public. There is no more debating what's actually in the actual policy itself, whether folks may not like what's in the policy, but that's what was what was collected , the signatures, and that's what's been in front of us. We know that our hotels are an incredibly important part of our economy, and we know that our hotel workers are driving that success and that economy. I want to note that when Measure N came before us as a party, I was a I was a council member at the time, and it was a very difficult decision. In fact, Councilman Pearce was on the other side of the dais advocating for measure and as well as a lot of folks here were as well, that was to increase the wages for hotel workers to ensure that we were achieving living wages. I supported that measure. I endorse it, campaigned for it, and I believe that measure had a great and good impact on the city of Long Beach, the measure, and did not cause the gloom and doom that many folks said it would cause. In fact, we know that our hotel industry today is booming and successful, and I think we're all grateful for that. We all want our hotels to succeed. We have great hotels and great places across the city for people to enjoy. And I think that's been noted at this council, I think has consistently invested in our tourism economy, whether it's been as as has been stated through our total agreements or investment agreements, investing in the aquarium in the entertainment district. I think the city continues to to make those investments. We've heard a lot tonight about protecting women. And that's incredibly important. And I think as a as a man myself, I think it's important for men to always believe, respect and listen to the stories of women. And so I honor those stories and those experiences that were that were talked about tonight. But I want to touch on another issue tonight that has not been discussed and I think is important. And that's the issue of representative labor. I have strongly believed for a long time, and I continue to believe that low wage workers are almost always better off when they are represented by unions. Yeah, we as a as a as a body. As a body, I am proud that this body has passed a numerous policies that support and have supported both low wage workers and the hard working men and women of our labor force. Whether it's been through project labor agreements or whether it's been through raising the minimum wage, whether it's been through our own interactions with our own employer unions. And there is no question, I think the evidence and the science is clear that particularly in low wage sector jobs , you want those folks to be able to be represented. And it's it creates a stronger, long term economy. Now, there are some folks that I know don't agree with that. I believe in that. I think that's something that is is a truth when it comes to the economy. And I think it's important to be honest, because I know we we I think for all of us, we haven't had this discussion much in the dais. And I will honor the piece about about sexual assault. But I think that we should also know that this law, I believe, would also encourage more representation for the workforce. And I think that over time, that's something that I think is a good thing. Anytime you can have more workers represented is is positive. I want to also just say tonight that over the last ten years that I've been on the council, this issue has come. This issue of the voters bringing something forward has happened to me three times while I've been serving on this body. One was once was with Measure in which we voted two to put on the ballot. One fourth was Measure O, which we voted to put on the ballot, which failed. And fortunately, there was a small cadre of us that supported Measure O and it did not pass. And, and once with with Measure Amount, which was recently done through the marijuana initiative, which the voters took, which we moved forward and did a concurrent study, all were forwarded to the ballot. I know that we're debating and it looks like continuing to discuss three items in front of us tonight. I just want to be clear that of the issues in front of us, I oppose strongly the idea of doing a study that would. Speaker 3: Delay. Speaker 1: Our ability to have this, if that's the will of the council in November. And so the second motion that's on the floor, which would push this to 2020, I don't think is fair to the people that signed the ballot and that signed their names to that petition. I'll also say, because this is just for me, a question of democracy. And it just I you know, it bothers me on occasion is if I don't want to ever want to ever judge someone that signs their name to a petition regardless of what lead someone to sign that that petition. That's like casting your vote. You put your name on a petition, and it's not our job to verify the signatures. It's the job. It was the job of the county clerk. And those signatures are verified. So this petition is is moving forward. And so I just wanted I wanted to make sure, as we continue this conversation, to just lay out that I don't support that motion. But I also respect everyone's position as far as as far as where they are and wanting to get to a place where we can have consensus on moving forward. And that's, I think, where we are right now. Councilmember Supernova. Speaker 2: I would just like to make one point of clarification for the city attorney. I believe you said this earlier, but it's been mentioned twice by members of the dais and in spite of a derogatory remark, yelled from the audience, Alternative three does not automatically delay the item. You could have a study and then council could adopt it. So I just want to make that point of clarification. Speaker 1: Mr. PUCKETT. Speaker 3: That's correct. The the impact of the timing that we are faced with with the upcoming November election is what eliminates one of your alternatives. When that study comes back, you could still adopt it when the study came back that night at the dais. That is correct. Speaker 2: Thank you for that clarification. Speaker 1: Now that that's true, absolutely. Speaker 0: Councilman Austin Carver, the question. Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. So there's no there's no. Well, we've got the question's been called. So there is a motion and a second to to move this item to the November election with a concurrent study on the impacts that would be regulatory to the city as to the city. So, members, please go ahead and cast your vote. Speaker 8: Motion passes unanimously. Speaker 1: Okay. Well, thank you very much. And I want to thank everybody for coming out. This will be on the November ballot. Speaker 3: And with that. Speaker 1: We're going to go ahead and take a five minute recess. We'll take a five minute recess and then we'll continue the rest of the council meeting. Speaker 6: Democrats say November three. They got it over a year, four years to four years to make the schedule. Speaker 9: Three, three months. I do. But. Oh. Speaker 6: And. Oh. Doo doo doo. Speaker 9: Doo, doo doo. Speaker 1: Okay. Let me go ahead and continue the council meeting. I want to just make a make an announcement that we are calling for argument writers for. Well, actually, I need to do it all again. So let me do the role first. Speaker 8: Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Pierce, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Superman. Speaker 3: Here. Speaker 8: Councilwoman Mongo. Mayor. Vice Mayor Andrews. Council Member. Your UNGA Councilman Austin. Councilmember Richardson. Mayor Garcia. Speaker 1: Thank you. We are going back. So let me just make first an announcement that we are going to call for argument writers for this for the measure that was just adopted on the on the ballot. And so if you have questions, please contact the city clerk's office. And I believe those will be available beginning tonight. Is that correct? Okay. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 1: So let's go back to the agenda. We do have, I believe, some general public comment. Is Janet Watt here? Marina Rosales and Robert Lucero. Speaker 2: Is it Janet with. Speaker 1: It says Janet. Janet West. Sure. Janet West is west. Okay. Is Maria is Alice or Robert Lucero here? Okay. So let me move on to the next item on the agenda. The results of the debate. Speaker 5: Oh. Speaker 8: So the results of the ballot tabulation show that total votes cast were 46 total votes cast, yes. 76.72% total votes cast. No. 23.28% of the votes cast. Yes. Equals 76.72% of the total votes cast. There is not a majority protest. Speaker 3: Graduations, graduations to the summer. What that means is then we could be. We need emotion and a second to adopt the resolution establishing. Speaker 1: I think there's emotion. I don't know what Counselor Richardson. What? Speaker 6: He was emotional. Speaker 1: Sure. But I think that we need to be here for the emotion. Speaker 6: Right? Good for him. I think now can move it. Speaker 1: Well, let's see if he's in the back. Speaker 3: Emotion. Speaker 1: I know. He wanted to make the motion. The various. Okay. So Councilmember Richardson and Councilman Austin, there's a motion for second. Let me see if Councilman I think Councilman Richardson wanted to make some comments. Speaker 6: I hope this plan continues to buy me a path. Speaker 2: Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I got to say, you know, when we started this conversation about the Uptown Business District six, six years ago, folks said, hey, North Palm Beach would be ten years until you're ready for a business district. And by that clock, we wouldn't have even if we listened to that, we wouldn't even be where we are today, which is renewing for ten full years. So I think that says a lot about how North Long Beach has how far we've come. But this is at no point time to rest on our laurels. Now's the time, frankly, for us to get back to basics, focus on, you know, clean, safe. Make these property owners, the few that did vote against this, make them understand the value and the benefit that we're providing through this Uptown Business Improvement District. So thank you to everybody who did work hard on this. I think if you any way you slice it out. Do we have. So, Eric, even if we take the city votes out, what was the win percentage? So without the city vote. Speaker 3: The it would still passed with 57.5% in favor and 42.5% against. Speaker 2: Even if we take out the school district vote. Speaker 3: It would still pass that 52%. Speaker 2: And that's that says a lot because, you know, there was a lot of questions last time. The city owned a lot of property. But, you know, now that property has been disposed, that successor agency property, but we've maintained that support from those large property owners. I think that's a lot to be said about how far we've come. So thank you. And I'm very, very proud to support this. Councilman Austin, this is one for the books. So. Speaker 1: Councilman Austin, thank you. Speaker 0: And I also would just like to echo those comments. I would like to thank the obviously, the Uptown People staff, Tasha and the board, the neighbors, the business owners who were involved in and this this process. I'd like to thank my staff who actually did some some door to door made phone calls. I personally met with a few property owners to encourage them their support for this this process. This is a this is a win for for North Long Beach, our Atlantic corridor, Artesia corridor, the way we Rex and I often, you know, banter over who coined the phrase the uptown renaissance. But the Uptown Renaissance, I think, was first said by me, but it is still alive and well. And we are we're going to be thriving. Looking forward to some great developments and prosperity with the uptown be. Congratulations. Get out of here. Speaker 2: I'm not giving him a click. Steve Neil Coyne uptown. Thank you. Speaker 1: There's a motion and a second as there any public comment on this item. CNN, please cast your vote. Okay. Great. Next up is. Well, let me wait till the votes get cast. Speaker 8: The motion carries six. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item is going to be.

Resolution

Recommendation to request City Council to receive and file the Letter of Completion for the Hotel Workplace Requirements and Restrictions petition and approve one of three alternative actions, as required by the California Elections Code Section 9215 and the Long Beach City Charter Section 2000: 1) Adopt the Initiative Ordinance, without alteration, at the regular meeting at which the certification of the petition is presented, or within 10 days after it is presented; or 2) Submit the ordinance, without alteration, to the voters pursuant to Section 1405, and adopt resolutions a) and b). a) Adopt resolution calling for the placement of an initiative measure to amend the Long Beach Municipal Code to add Hotel Workplace Requirements and Restrictions, directing the City Attorney to prepare an impartial analysis of the measure, and providing for the filing of primary and rebuttal arguments and setting rules for the filing of written arguments regarding said measure to be submitted at the November 6, 2018 Special Municipal Electio

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Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item is going to be. Speaker 8: Item 32 Report from Public Works Recommendation to execute a Third Amendment to contract with all American asphalt for as needed street improvements. Increasing the contract amount by an additional 15 million citywide. Speaker 1: There's a motion and a second. Any public comment? Call it. Okay. On this item. Right on the asphalt. Yes. Please come forward about it. Speaker 6: Okay. Here's another. Speaker 3: Hi again, Jacob. Were second district. So I have reservations about the American asphalt contract because as I understand it, they are currently being audited by the city auditor's office. So I'm out of breath. Furthermore, I got some tweets. Speaker 2: Somewhere that I wrote it all down on the. Speaker 3: The nature of the $15 million that they're asking for. The agenda item itself was only about two pages. They listed they say that there's six items that are the costs of ballooned in an unforeseen manner that they didn't account for. I don't know, government contracting, but it's the sort of thing where they did not in the agenda item they don't specify what these are, what the current contracted rates are, what the new projected prices are, any alternatives. But they do say that one of the projects is for airport resurfacing. But I also noticed that LGB got an FAA grant to the tune of $15.3 million to do exactly all that work as I understood it. And I don't know. I'm just not sure. Sorry. I'm out of breath and this is not a good comment. But yeah, I would really be. Speaker 2: Hesitant to just approve this outright. Speaker 3: And I would ask the council to wait until Laura Dodds work is finished on the audit. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a the motion in a second is do do we have a response to the order question. I think that's I should be addressed. Speaker 3: We're not aware of an audit, but Craig's here to talk about the project if you want. It's listed. Speaker 1: I mean. Well, let me maybe maybe the maybe Mr. Beck can refer to that. Thank you. Speaker 4: You may remember city council. I am happy to address that. The city auditor's office has reached out and to my knowledge is auditing a number of large contracts within the city, including the All American asphalt contract. We've been working with Auditor Dodd's office for probably six months. We thus far have not received a final report or an A had them identify any major issues. I can also speak to the items that were requesting cost increases that the Council would like that. Speaker 1: We have the report. Is any council councilmember need additional information? No. Okay. Go ahead. Okay. So there's a there's a motion in the second in front of us. Councilman Mango Councilman Austin. Nope. Okay. Please cast your votes. Speaker 4: See this.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Third Amendment to Contract No. 34587 with All American Asphalt, of Corona, CA, for as-needed street improvements, increasing the contract amount by an additional $15,000,000, for a revised total amount not to exceed $55,000,000. (Citywide)

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Speaker 8: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item is item 30 for. Speaker 8: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to work within or on a public street or right of way. Obstruction of a public street or right of way read in adopted as read citywide. Speaker 1: Is there any public comment on this item? Please come forward. Speaker 5: Janet West, fourth District. Imagine my surprise when I heard that a city employee came to my door and asked for the removal of no. I measure M signs from the right of way. So I am wondering if this. Speaker 6: Will. Speaker 5: If if people will not be allowed to put political signs on their right of way without getting a permit. It says you need a permit to obstruct any public street or public right of way for any reason. Abstract definition prevent or hinder movement. Someone or someone in motion. So my questions, which I hope the city attorney will answer, is Would this require obtaining a permit in order to put political signs or other signs like slow children present on the right of way? And if yes, how would equality of removal of signs be monitored? Speaker 1: Mr. City Attorney, do you want to briefly comment on that? Speaker 3: This this agenda item is not targeting signs in the public right away. We don't issue permits for signs in the public right away. This ordinance is intended to help the city enforce during construction projects. When we issue construction permits and they don't follow the terms and conditions of the permit and block the public right away, maybe block a lane of traffic without a permit. That's what this ordinance is geared towards. Speaker 1: Thank you. We have a motion on a second. See no other public comment. Please cast your votes.

Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Section 14.04.015 relating to work within or on a public street or right-of-way, obstruction of a public street or right-of-way, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)

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Speaker 11: Thank you, Mr. Perkins. Now we can move on to our first hearing. Craig, would you please introduce the item? Speaker 1: Hearing item one is a report from City Manager recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing and adopt resolution. Amending the master fee and charges. Schedule for adult use. Cannabis Business Application Fees. Fines and penalties citywide. Speaker 11: Thank you. I'd like to turn over now to Mr. Motorcar, please. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. So we will have a staff report given by AJ Callery, our cannabis program manager. AJ Good evening, Mayor, and members of the City Council. City Council approval is being requested for changes to the master fees and charges schedule to create new fees and penalties for adult use cannabis businesses. Speaker 4: Proposed fee changes are identified in attachment A to the council letter. Speaker 5: That proposed fees will allow the city to recoup costs associated with regulating the adult use cannabis industry. Some examples of fee changes in the report include an annual regulatory fee, application review fee, criminal background investigation fee, social equity program fee, unlicensed operator penalty fire permit fees and health permit fees. Staff is requesting approval of the proposed fees prior to acceptance of adult use cannabis applications beginning August 13th, 2018. That concludes my presentation and I'm available for questions. Speaker 11: Fine, thank you. Is there any staff presentations on this? Okay. Fine. Okay. We have public comment. Any public comment on this? She please come back in front state your name the remains. Speaker 10: Good evening, Larry. Good you address on file, as I have referenced before. I thoroughly oppose this. Motion. If you're going to adopt it, I would change the fee. For $1 million to $1 million per year period. I would limit the their sale of that. And the locations. To the top floor, the Long Beach Police Department. And it would be open three days a week. In addition to that. I have a 5 million each permit. They would have a $5 million bond posted. Speaker 4: You know. Speaker 10: I think that bond would be then forfeited. The first time there was any criminal conduct traced back to someone who used the cannabis from. That individual or from that dealer. Absent that. The crime that we have now, and that is so out of control. In this city. Even when we get a new city prosecutor, which parenthetically is going to happen in the next three months. Will be completely. Off the chart. So what I'm hoping is the council has the character and the interest in the community to stand up. And adopted suggestions. That I've set forth here and has referenced before. Thank you. Speaker 11: Thank you. Mr.. To. Speaker 3: Good evening. Stefan Lawson, Civil Counsel, District two. Speaker 5: I wanted to speak about two different issues actually tonight concerning cannabis, the delivery service enforcement component that we are still looking for. Speaker 3: As well as a kind of considerable planning delay. Speaker 5: That is occurring right now. Speaker 3: For applicants. Speaker 5: In the adult use and or. Speaker 3: At this point, just medical market regarding delivery. Speaker 5: Service enforcement. Speaker 3: We are in the process now. Speaker 5: Of needing to change consumer behavior that has been shaped by. Speaker 3: Prohibition over the last half decade or so, by directly engaging weed maps and other platforms that advertise these businesses. Speaker 5: I believe that we can debate serious news, its problems that are. Speaker 3: Currently proliferating throughout the city with over 80 of. Speaker 5: These unlicensed businesses currently. Speaker 3: Publicly advertising untested and untaxed product to really anybody. There is no incentive for the right for them right now under the. Speaker 5: Law to do any sort of age verification. Speaker 3: System. Unlike licensed businesses that are right and that have right now been certified under. Speaker 5: Metric and other state regulations specifically to make sure that we are not participating in a. Speaker 3: Nuisance activity and to make sure that nobody under the age of 21 is receiving these products. Secondly, just to kind of. Speaker 5: To. Speaker 3: To underline that there's also a major planning delay. Over 200 of these applications right now are currently somewhere within the process of the planning process system. We have no idea from. Speaker 5: Our industry and despite numerous communications with city. Speaker 3: Staff about what is causing this delay, if the city of seeking a review, planning fee or any of these other sorts of things, it really is going to hopefully incentivize the completion of these these applications right now for the for the operators who are looking to actively participate in this fully regulated business. And with taxes being directly. Speaker 5: Being paid to the city. Speaker 3: They're left in the lurch. They have no idea about where their applications are, what, if anything, they need to do to correct this problem. Speaker 5: And really gets in so they can open their doors and start participating as a fully regulated. Speaker 3: Business under these really. Speaker 5: Well-Crafted and well. Speaker 3: Deliberated city ordinance. Thank you for your time. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Any other public hearing comment? Please come forward. And if you have if you're speaking, please make sure you line up at the podium and just save us some time as we do go through the public comments. Thank you. Speaker 3: And I've been commencement address is six or seven Loma. I'm a resident of Long Beach for about 25 years. I'm here to represent Gold Rush Farms. We are formed from Northern California. We are licensed in the state of California to grow cannabis. And I'm here to talk to the people here in the city, tell you a little bit about my store. I have invested almost $100,000 on Northern California on the cannabis business. My team now is almost 30 people and we are growing. I live in the city of Long Beach and I feel that I would love to come here and invest money on the same industry. And I believe that the city of Long Beach is taking advantage of the taxing and is taking advantage of the fees. I would love to. And a lot of people that I know would love to make business with the city, but the city seems to care more about fees than the business. I know people who want to do business in the city, but they would rather go to Whittier or cities that are around here because this is a much better deal. So my advice to the city of lounges to think about how much you want to charge businesses because businesses will choose to go somewhere else. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Seeing no other comment, I'm going to close the public comment part of the hearing and return this back to the council. Speaker 3: Councilmember Richardson just wanted to say good work to AJ and the whole team and hopefully we can move this forward tonight. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you, AJ and the whole team. I did have a couple clarifying questions as was mentioned in public comment there. We do have several businesses are still waiting to open their doors. I know we've had some conversations with Linda Tatum around resources and how we can ensure that that's going to be a process that moves along quickly. So can you talk about this in that process and the budget that's coming up and how we hopefully will get those applicants moving quicker? Speaker 5: Sure. So I believe that the public comment related specifically to our application process, so applications that are submitted to business licensing, we received an influx of applications right around the time where we were presenting the Adult Use Ordinance to City Council. And as a results, because our attention was really focused on the adult use ordinance, there began to be a slight build up in medical cannabis applications, which we are committed to working through as quickly as possible, ideally before we open up the process for adult use applications August 13th. Speaker 2: Great. Thank you. And just for those that have some concerns as well, I know that in the budget process will be reviewing as well, stopping and looking at some opportunities to make sure that while we're onboarding an entire new industry, that we're doing that as smart and effectively as we can. So thank you, staff, for all of your work. I know you've worked really hard on this. Appreciate it. Speaker 0: Councilman Mongo. Speaker 2: Yes, I spoke with our marijuana division and also with our city attorney's office. And it seems that one of the other holdups in the process is the number of applicants that are turned in where they're barely filled out at all. I mean, the number of people who submit applications to just get their place in line and don't fill out the paperwork properly and don't put in the time that the other business entities do are really clouding up the line. And so I hope that when the schedule comes back during the adoption process of the budget, that there could be a differentiator of some sort for those that have a extensive back and forth with the office, because of the complete lack of respect for turning in a completed application, that those that do fill out completed applications are not held up in the process by waiting for these high users of staff time and that if we're going to be able to fund additional staffing positions, we're going to need to be able to fund it from those who are the most users of the staff. TIME So that would be one comment that I'd like to make to staff to bring back and then also in reviewing the fee schedule and discussing with staff. I appreciate that there is a penalty placed on those who are non authorized growers in the city and that the rate was set at a number which doesn't align with any other city in the state. So I would ask that when the fee schedule comes back in with the budget, that the fees align with the other city that has penalties and that ours aren't just chosen at a lower amount or a higher amount for no reason. So if, if I need to make a friendly to make that happen, let me know if I don't. General understanding and consensus of the Council. Speaker 0: Great Councilmember. Speaker 3: Yeah. If it needs to be a friendly, I think. Speaker 0: Thank you. Well, Councilman Austin. Speaker 12: Thank you. And I just want to congratulate our staff for a job well done. This is obviously was very laborious, putting this report together and getting us to this point. And obviously, it's been a long road. I want to respond to just a couple of the public comments and looking at the the staff report here. If I could get staff to just explain where our annual fees and actual business permit fees compared to some of these other cities. I'm looking at cities like Santa Ana, Oakland, Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento. It seems that their fees are significantly higher than than here in the city of Long Beach. And can you speak to that? Speaker 5: Yeah, we included in the council letter comparison for the fees that we are proposing compared to other municipalities and that the fees that we're proposing are in line with some of those other cities. I'd say compared to a city like Santa Ana or Oakland, we're definitely comparable. There are some cities that are significantly higher than the city of Long Beach for the fees that they charge. For example, the city of San Jose charges $131,000 for a annual operating fee. I don't know how they calculated that amount. So I can't comment on how they arrived at that number. But I can say that we did an analysis of the costs associated with regulating adult use cannabis businesses, with reviewing the applications and the fees that we're recommending are intended to be full cost recovery. That's that's how I would respond. Speaker 12: Well, I would just look at this and say, based on the information in front of the council and comparatively with these other cities, it seems to me that our fees are more than fair. So good work. Speaker 0: Thank you. We have a motion in a second. And please cast your vote for here, number one. There's. Thank you.

Resolution

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and adopt resolution amending the Master Fee and Charges Schedule for Adult-Use Cannabis Business application fees, permitting fees, and fines and penalties for violations of Chapter 5.92 of the Long Beach Municipal Code. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Thank you. We have a motion in a second. And please cast your vote for here, number one. There's. Thank you. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. We're going to be moving on to hearing number two by Samir Andrews. Speaker 11: Yes. Thank you very much. Mayor Craig, would you please read the item? Speaker 1: Item two. Speaker 11: Excuse me. Is this an offer this also? Yes. Okay, fine. Thank you. Speaker 1: Item two is a report from financial management recommendations to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing and grant an entertainment permit with conditions on the application of St Anita's restaurant for ten West Willow Street for Entertainment Without Dancing District six. Any of you wishing to give the oath? Please stand up and raise your right hand. You and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the court now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Speaker 11: Thank you. Mr. Merkel, would you like to speak on that? Speaker 5: Yes, thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. We will have a staff report by Bret Jackass, our business services officer, and also Emily Armstrong, or administrative analyst in the business licensing division. Speaker 2: Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. Tonight you have before you an application for entertainment without dancing for Doris Anita Salazar doing business as Sierra Anita's restaurant located at 14 West Willow Street. Operating as a restaurant in Council District six. All of the necessary departments have reviewed the application and have provided the recommended conditions as contained in the hearing packet. I, as well as the police department, stand ready to answer any questions Council may have, and that concludes this report. Speaker 11: Thank you. Any public comments on this? I know. Not. I'll close the comments on that council. You have any deliberation on this? Anyone from Biden is decisive. I can speak on it. I will be the one to speak on it. I would also like to thank the staff for taking this time to conduct this hearing. You know, while appreciating is coming into the district and wanting to activate business corridors for the quality of life for my residents, it's also a top priority for me. Also has an example of opportunities for business as long as they are mindful of the family homes that are directly behind the corridor. My office reached out to both the business and the neighborhoods associated around the areas and there are some concerns about noise in the after hours. I am willing to give Sarah Serenitatis. An opportunity to flourish, but I want to be sure and put on record that I would like for the license to be renewed if there's noise abatement and also in the after hours. So this is what I'm asking for with this item. Could I get a second, please? Fine. Members, please cast your vote. Speaker 1: Council member Austin. Motion carries.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and grant an Entertainment Permit with conditions on the application of Doris Oneyda Salazar, dba Sirenita’s Restaurant, 410 West Willow Street, for Entertainment Without Dancing. (District 6)

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Speaker 11: Thank you. Item number three. Speaker 1: Item number three. Item number three is a report from financial management. Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and grant an entertainment permit with conditions on the applications of the modern 2801 EAS Street East Spring Street, Suite 300 for Entertainment with Dancing District five. Speaker 11: Thank you, Mr. Tom. You have put on that. Speaker 5: I believe an oath is required. Speaker 2: Does the oath have to happen if we're planning to continue it? If I'm planning to make a motion to continue. Speaker 5: Yes. I think you should take an oath to open and then you gifts your emotions. Speaker 4: Thank you. Do it. Speaker 1: You and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now and the pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Speaker 11: Find us to our presentation on this. Speaker 5: Would you like to hear. Staff Reporter Right. Move right to the motion. Speaker 11: We can move right to the motion. Speaker 2: Like, I'd like to motion to continue this for 90 days. Speaker 5: We're going to need to continue this to a date certain. So I'm not sure what date you had in mind, but. Speaker 2: Hopefully before I give birth is what I was hoping. So I haven't gotten it down yet, but maybe early October, maybe the first meeting in October. Speaker 5: But we have a calendar. Speaker 2: Well, I would like to be present for the continuance. Is the first Tuesday in October an option? That is true. Lena did go into labor at the dais. Speaker 4: So we would. Speaker 5: Suggest that you move this to October 2nd. Speaker 2: I move this to October 2nd. A motion. I ask the support of my colleagues to move this October 2nd. Speaker 11: Fine. Thank you. Is the only public comment on this item. That will close. But. Please come down, sir. Hey. State your name. You have 3 minutes. Speaker 3: Good evening. Council members Jeff Guy representing southern counties oil and sea fuels leaseholder there at dawn sky harbor. We are at property 2735 East Spring Street, which is directly west of 2801 the modern. Our main concerns are just parking and traffic we have in the have in the past for the past I guess 18 years I don't I've had issues with parking based on the flight schools that are there and the restaurants that have been in and out of the past, the the facility there at 22 one, we just are concerned that we're going to end up with the overflow parking in front of our business during the business hours that we need and possibly traffic ingress and egress out of the facility. There is a parking I mean, a signal there that does not allow a lot of traffic through it just because of the drainage, I guess swell that's there. It's really hard to go out and only about typically about 2 to 3 cars go through the signal. So maybe if the city engineers can adjust the timing of the signal, that might help in a if they do move forward. We are neutral on issuing the permit. We think it's great. I love what they've done with this facility. It looks great and anything for that whole parcel is great for us. We look forward to possibly using it for events that we have. And I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very. Speaker 2: Much. Thank you. Someone from my team is going to come get your contact information. Summer will come by. Thank you. Speaker 11: In a more private comment now, can you please have a vote? Speaker 1: Councilmember Gonzalez Councilmember Peers Motion Case.

Public Hearing

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and grant an Entertainment Permit with conditions on the application of The Modern, LLC, dba The Modern, 2801 East Spring Street, Suite 300, for Entertainment With Dancing. (District 5)

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Speaker 1: Councilmember Gonzalez Councilmember Peers Motion Case. Speaker 11: And next hearing, Kirk would replace retiring. Speaker 1: Hearing item four is a report from Public Works recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing. Find that the area to be vacated is not needed for present or prospective public use and Adobe resolution ordering the vacation of the portion of Atlantic Avenue adjacent to 516535190. Atlantic Avenue, District eight. Speaker 11: Spoke to her. They have a I mean, I have a point, and I. Speaker 3: Hope we. Speaker 5: Will have a staff report by Craig Beck, our director of public work. Speaker 10: Good evening, Mayor. Members City Council. We're here tonight to. Speaker 0: Talk about a street vacation that's adjacent. Speaker 10: To the Bixby Knolls. Speaker 0: Shopping Center. And I have. Speaker 10: Our acting city engineer here with us today to talk about the details. Hello, Unruh. Speaker 5: Mayor, members of city council. Item number four seeks to move forward with a vacation for a portion of Atlantic Avenue between via Granada and via Wanda. So this portion of Atlantic Avenue is approximately 300 feet long, and it currently serves as parking for the shopping center and it does not currently serve as a travel lane on March 15th. The Planning Commission determined that the subject vacation is consistent with the general plan. On June 12th, the City Council adopted Resolution 18 Dash 0080, which declared the intent to vacate this portion of right of way. Tonight's action is to conduct a public hearing and find that the area is not needed for public use. That concludes my presentation and we are here to answer any questions. Speaker 11: Thank you. Is there any public comment on this item? CNN. Oh. Excuse me. Excuse me, Councilman Austin. Speaker 12: Thank you. Vice Mayor. I did have one question just to clarify, because this is this is obviously a shopping center on Atlantic that has that needs some attention. I had some opportunity to talk to the representatives of the the the the shopping center owner here. I just want to make sure that that for the record, I am clear that this vacationing does not impact the existing park. Is that clear? Speaker 0: Kazim. Would you mind repeating your. Speaker 12: Question that the vacationing of this space does not impact existing parking and is the intent is to actually improve the parking and the parking at the shopping center? Speaker 10: That is correct. Our understanding is the shopping center owner is interested in repositioning the property and that this will allow them the opportunity to do that specifically by improving access to parking. Speaker 12: Well, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing those plans. I'm very confident and recommending approval of this this recommendation. So I'll ask for unanimous support here. Speaker 11: Thank you, Councilman, but you seem fine. Pretty comfortable. Speaker 1: Ocean case. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. That concludes the full hearing. So I think everyone that was here for those, we're going to be taking item 12 to the top of the agenda. I do want to get a motion in a second for consent, please, so we can get that out of the way.

Resolution

Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, find that the area to be vacated is not needed for present or prospective public use; and, adopt resolution ordering the vacation of the portion of Atlantic Avenue adjacent to 5166-5190 Atlantic Avenue. (District 8)

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Speaker 0: Great. Thank you very much. Moving on to item number 12, Madam Clerk. Speaker 1: Item 12 is a communication from Councilmember Richardson. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Vice Mayor Andrews. Councilman Austin. Recommendation two requires city manager to work with the appropriate city departments and city attorney's office to report back on gaps in prevention, services and housing for individuals and families who are precariously housed or experiencing homelessness. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. I'm going to turn this over to accounts from Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Tonight, we're going to have a conversation about local revenue options in both short term and long term strategies to address our housing crisis and support for individuals and families experiencing homelessness. It's not a new conversation. I do want to acknowledge all the work that this council has done. In fact, over the last two years has been over ten different ideas generated from the Council around the issues of homelessness over the last two years. But there hasn't been one item addressing the issue of a local revenue option. This issue of housing affordability has become increasingly urgent in California, with rising housing costs, limited supply, taking a toll on communities across the state and everyone's feeling the effects of the California housing crisis. So Long Beach is not immune. Far too many of our residents are experiencing housing instability. The housing crisis affects millennials who graduate from college and must immediately move home with their parents. It affects families who, despite the best efforts, can't save enough to put down a down payment on a home. It affects seniors living on a fixed income who can't afford to stay in their own homes. It affects people who've lost a job or face a health care crisis and forces them to get behind on rent and face the brink of homelessness. Now, here's a deeper dove into the housing instability problem. In January 2017, our city had 1863 individuals living on our streets. And we know as many as 3000 to 4000 people, including children, seniors, transition aged youth, students, families, men and women. They'll become homeless each year in Long Beach. For many, it will be temporary, but for some it'll be long term. Nearly 20% of our residents live in poverty. Currently, 21,000 households or 60,000 people are precariously housed, meaning their household income is just 30% of area median incomes. And this means the families are paying more than 90% of their income just on housing. Additionally, 222,000, or roughly 47% or half of our residents existing in Long Beach. Our cost burden, meaning that they spend 30% of their income on rent. At the same time, 56,883 Long Beach residents live in overcrowding conditions. In fact, accounting for population growth, an astounding 28,000 additional units are needed by 2040. If we're going to meet our goals to house those individuals or families in need, we know the main issues, main causes associated with homelessness are loss of jobs, insufficient income, increasing rents , break down the family dynamics, domestic violence, physical behavior, behavioral issues. And while the housing crisis statistics are devastating, our city has been doing a great job with the resources that they do have. A city, a Long Beach has experienced a 41% decline in the bi annual point in time count in the past six years. And this is just a one day picture of who's in our city shelters and active on our streets. This decline is is due to the incredible work of our homeless services team, the interdepartmental coordination with our health department, police department, fire department, parks and Rec department, public works, our city attorney, our city council, all of us are our Health and Human Services Department brings in over 12 million annually to service the services to support homeless prevention efforts and supporting those who are homeless. The Chief Housing. And thanks to our nationally recognized continuum of care, which is our system of delivery, we have permanently housed over 3000 people since 2013, and 390 of those were veterans in 2017 alone. So before we move forward, I want to just take a moment and hear it for our homeless services team, the continuum of care and our team, our entire wraparound service. We can just hear it for our health department. Thank you. But despite the efforts of this amazing team, issues of affordability and availability of housing continues to persist in our city. In the last two years, we've taken several steps to begin aggressively addressing the housing affordability crisis here in Long Beach. In February 2014, 2016, a group of housing leaders and advocates were assembled to comprise comprise an Affordable and Workforce Housing Study Group who were tasked with preparing policy recommendations on both revenue tools and incentives for the production of affordable housing. In May 2017, the City Council started the discussion of identifying new revenue source to address the housing shortage through a number of through the adoption of 29 recommendations as prepared by the study group. This is this is that report. In September 2017, city staff returned a memo this this memo in September 2017 to the city council with options for revenue source outlining the costs and benefits of a local housing bond that could meet some of our affordable housing need in our city. And so that has been in our hands since 2017. And in November 2017, we launched Everyone in Economic Inclusion Initiative, which is a call to action to Long Beach leaders to begin to look at and institute and implementing national best practices that really focus on economic inclusion. And a central element of that work is acknowledging that access to adequate housing is a foundation for economic success. And then most recently, this May, the city launched Everyone Home, which is another initiative designed to amplify the work in play and identify and fill the gaps where we have greater challenges. So despite federal, state and county funding that currently supports these various services initiatives, there's still a missing piece. The lack of a local dedicated revenue lack lack of local dedicated revenue to support the development of local affordable housing. Currently, the City of Long Beach does not have the resources to build the number of housing units necessary for those needing low income in homelessness house homeless housing, nor does it have sufficient resources for preventative services. Are continued care funding through the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development provides rapid rehousing, transitional housing and permanent supportive supportive housing as well as job, job training and other supportive services. The county's Measure H funding supports additional rapid rehousing, outreach and case management services, as well as some of our homeless prevention services and apartment owner landlord incentives. However, as the second largest city in the county, these resources do not meet the growing need for services as housing becomes more difficult to access in the city of Long Beach. Historically, municipalities across California have been involved in financing programs such as bond financing that facilitates the development, expansion and retention of affordable housing units. Such municipal bond bond issues were issued by redevelopment agencies. RDA used redevelopment tax increment to pay debt service on the bond. However, due to the loss of redevelopment in 2013 and the elimination of associated tax increment revenues, the use of RDA municipal revenue bond is no longer an option for the city of Long Beach. Since the loss of redevelopment, cities are funding innovative alternative approaches to funding the development of affordable housing and supportive services. For example, in November 26, November 2016, voters in the city of L.A. overwhelmingly approved Prop H, H, H, which developed which will develop 10,000 permanent supportive supportive units for upwards of 20,000 homeless individuals and those at risk for homelessness throughout the city. Additionally, in the city of San Francisco, the city currently has 7500 supportive housing units, as well as four fully funded navigation centers that provide counseling, housing assistance and employment assistance. This November, San Francisco voters will be voting on a measure to raise $300 million for an additional 4000 supportive housing units. Likewise, in August 2016, the voters of the City of San Diego approved $290,000,000 million housing levy to produce no city of Seattle. I'm sorry to to produce and preserve 3000 units for low and very low income individuals. Allow along with dedicated funding for substance and mental illness support. And what we have in common is a will. What they all have in common is policy connected to the will of the voters to fund a local revenue measure. That's what all of these comprehensive strategies have in common. They marry the local revenue strategy to part to policy, and they go to the voters through community discussions, analyzing research and looking to other cities. What we learned thus far is if affordability and availability are the chief barriers to addressing the needs of our communities, then we cannot truly address or end homelessness without a comprehensive prevention strategy coupled with a local source. So funding to support and promote the development of affordable housing in our city, even if it's just the means of matching funds as the next city council at the next City Council meeting, this motion asked for us to be presented with options for recommended funding strategy and implementation timeline for dedicated, low level local revenue source to address affordable housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, as well as early and late prevention strategies for those newly homeless and those experiencing chronic homelessness. While we figure out the best route to funding the development of additional housing, there are some things that we can do today. First, we've been having conversations for months now, even years, about the need for a year round homeless shelter. For the past seven years, we've hosted temporary winter shelters in North Long Beach. Each year, the council declares an emergency. The community has very little time to prepare. The facilities are often below standard, with inadequate restrooms and issues with different operators. However, by leveraging recent state funding, we have a real opportunity to finally acquire a site and create a comprehensive plan for year round shelter with services and a foundation for a larger, permanent, supportive housing complex. Similar to what you see on the West Side with the century villages of Cabrillo tonights, I want to add to my motion for staff to immediately begin the process of acquisition of a building to be utilized for the year round homeless shelter, and they can start by considering previous sites for the winter shelter. Secondly, over the past two years, I've had the honor of serving as chair of our homes, our housing authority. And during this time, we work to create a package of incentives to entice landlords to accept more of the housing choice vouchers. Housing choice vouchers. Some called Section eight, what used to be called Section eight. It's a critical tool for cities to be able to provide support and a tool for people on the brink of homelessness to obtain quality, affordable housing in Long Beach. However, despite our best efforts, there's currently over a thousand voucher holders today that can pay for an apartment, pay for somewhere to live. They can't find a place to rent. One of the contributing reasons for this outdated practice is that so one of the one of the major reasons that people can't find it is that a lot of times, if you look at an advertisement says no housing choice vouchers and no Section eight, and this is an outdated practice. And so while a landlord could could choose whether or not to accept any tenant they like, it's come to our attention that this practice may be outdated and may not be consistent with state law. So as a result, many Long Beach residents need to wait years on a list to get approved for a voucher only and have that voucher expire before they can actually use it to get into a unit. And so we shouldn't, in this housing crisis, have the luxury of stating that we're going to discriminate anyone's going to discriminate based on source of income. And so today, I'm going to add some emotion for city staff to begin the process of creating a source of income discrimination policy in the city of Long Beach. Finally, last summer, we began a conversation on the persistent crime, blight and violence associated with nuisance outdated motels throughout the city. In many cases, human trafficking has taken root in these motels. Drug activity has taken root in cities all over California. Motel conversions are starting to serve as additional tool to address temporary and permanent supportive housing needs. So it's time that Long Beach build on our work with our Nuisance Motel pilot program and begin to find opportunities to convert nuisance motels into supportive housing. And so the final piece of this is I'm going to add to my motion, too, for staff to begin to research and identify funding strategies and partners to purchase nuisance motels for transitional permanent housing opportunities. So to reiterate, reiterate, my motion consists of four things. One Staff return to City Council at the next available meeting with dedicated local Let local revenue strategy and options for the development of permanent supportive housing and comprehensive prevention services. Number two, Considering past winter shelter sites, initiate the process of purchasing a building to be utilized for a year round homeless shelter. Number three Create a source of income discrimination policy in the city of Long Beach and for research and identify funding strategies and partners to purchase nuisance motels for transitional and permanent housing opportunities. I want to thank everyone who's participated in this conversation over the years, but more specifically, folks who have stepped up over the last two weeks to contribute their voices in this conversation. And I'm going to call them out. LLC Building Strategies Council, Centro, Chas, Long Beach Forward. Long Beach Ministers Alliance Apartment Association of the Southern Cal of California Southern Cities. Libra Housing. Long Beach Pacific West Association of Realtors. Pacific Six. Long Beach Community Action Park. A Ship Walk. Long Beach Adobe Communities. California State University. Long Beach Private Real Estate Professional Association Century Villages at Cabrillo Link Housing. Clifford Bia's Housing. Habitat for Humanity's Innovative Housing Opportunities Long Beach Affordable Housing Coalition Goodwill Scamp Century Housing Corporation Meta Housing Corporation The Richmond Group The Guidance Center Skid Row Housing Trust City Fabric Children Today Long Beach Veteran Affairs Health Care System, Los Angeles Local Initiative Support Corporation and the Top Inn Thomas Safran Associates. And with that, that's my motion. I urge city council support and I look forward to the conversation. Thank you. And if we can go to public comment, that would be great to. Speaker 0: Have counsel Boston Public comment first. Okay. Let me go to public comments. If you're going to make a comment, please come forward and line up at the podium. Thank you. There may be a lot. Speaker 3: Of people on this topic there. Just to give you a heads up. My name is Michael Caldwell. Speaker 4: I live in. Speaker 3: The first district. Your income? Yes. Thank you. Speaker 0: If I'm hearing that correctly. Speaker 3: I would assume that that state that it would be wrong. Speaker 4: For a. Speaker 3: Landlord to request or require that a person needs three times the amount of. Speaker 0: Rent just to. Speaker 4: Qualify for an. Speaker 3: Apartment. I've been on the brink of homelessness three times. I'm 40 years old. I have a job. I barely make $1,000 a month. I currently rent a small place in the first district. Speaker 4: It takes a person 30. They need to make $30 an. Speaker 3: Hour just to get by. Speaker 0: In a standard two bedroom apartment. Speaker 3: For a person like me, I would probably have to work three jobs just to have a place over my head. I had an apartment for 15 years on the border of Lakewood. I got booted by it from that. Speaker 0: From that apartment. I was giving. Speaker 4: Them money every week. Speaker 3: I worked at Disneyland for ten years. I was behind on the rent. I gave them money every week. Speaker 4: I gave, I gave, I gave. I could not give. I couldn't give anymore. I was I tried. Speaker 3: Different. Speaker 4: Programs. No one would no one would listen to me because one rule was I had a job. I wasn't homeless. I had I had a means to do it. I had to end up living in a motel across the street from the Long Beach Town Center for nine months. Speaker 3: I hated it. They came by and they. Speaker 4: Said, Why are you still here? Speaker 3: And I told the truth. I had a fiancee. We had a nest egg of $25,000 in a bank account. We called up multiple people. We told the truth. We said, we have this money. We will gladly pay it. Speaker 4: For one year's bit of rent. Speaker 0: They said, no. Speaker 3: You only bring in 1200 dollars a month. And we were devastated. I had to move I had to move out of Long Beach for a year. I hated it. I love this town so much, I did not want to leave. So I think the problem if. Speaker 4: This initiative of yours, Councilman. Speaker 3: Richardson, works and these landlords take out that requirement, it will greatly solve the problem. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Thank you. Good evening, Mayor. Council. City Council. I'll be brief. I love Long Beach. I chose this city 20 years ago to raise my children to live here the rest of my days. To. Just to enjoy the things that you have in the city. I'm now in trouble along with a lot of other people my age, our retired vets. My landlord has decided that he wants to raise our rent $300. All of us who live in that building on fixed incomes. We're disabled. We have our vets who've gone on to foreign wars for us and came home and most of them homeless before. And I'm asking you for your help. We voted for most of you, and we really, really are on our way out into the street. Our landlord convoy has given us until September 1st to pay that extra $300 or we're going to be asked to leave. We can't do that. Not at this age. Most of us have sicknesses. We have disabilities. Mentally, physically, emotionally. We can't afford to get put on the street. I've been homeless once for four years with my family. The reason being there aren't any policies in place for me. I worked. I worked hard. And there still aren't any policies to help me and my fellow people here. I live at 401 West Sixth Street. I've been there for four years. I don't want to move. I can't move. The only option that I have is for you to come to our rescue. We need for you to talk to our landlord and explain to him that we just want to talk. We have some issues that he'd be glad to hear. But he won't. He refuses. So I'm here to ask you to beg you. Please contact Carl Voight. He has nothing to lose and we have everything to lose. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: It's. The Gateway. It's okay. Oh, okay. Good evening, everybody, including you. Speaker 7: I am here for one reason. Speaker 4: I wanted to ask you just to protect our seniors. Speaker 2: I am a senior. I'm 85 years old. Speaker 4: So far, I've never been homeless. Speaker 2: But the way. Speaker 4: It's going, I mean, looks like I would be. But no, I will not, because I will fight and I will fight for anyone. If you would in the Institute rent control, these things could not happen. I live here. No, it could not happen. Okay. Speaker 2: I live here totally in health. I lived in Detroit for 40 years. Speaker 4: 41 years. I came out here because my family lives out here. Their children, you know. Anyhow, I go and find a good job for their children. Speaker 2: A good education. And I want. Speaker 4: All of the children of this area, of any area to be able to do it, not just to get except. Speaker 2: Okay, maybe. Speaker 4: An extra whatever it is that things I bought, you know, maybe an extra airplane. Speaker 2: No, we cannot let it happen. Speaker 4: We live in a state that has enough state, enough reserves. It's one of the most. Speaker 2: Beautiful states that's just in the United States alone. We have to keep it that way. We have to let everyone know we are. Speaker 7: Here to fight. Speaker 2: And we will do it. Right now. Speaker 4: My rent is like minded dollars. My Social Security is 1120 $8. This I'm like, okay, fine, because I have a little bit of net debt somewhere. I don't know all it's going to last, but I make it. But I want you just make sure that you whatever you can do. If it's lawyers, judges, your friends, please talk to him. Make sure. Speaker 2: That we get read the. Speaker 4: Control that you will put it on the ballot and we see who want to hold us. Speaker 2: I want to thank you very much. Speaker 4: Have a good one. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Speaker 4: All right. Next week, a peace treaty. Honorable Mayor Eric Garcia, members of the City Council. Speaker 10: And ladies and. Speaker 3: Gentlemen, my name is Paul Harrison. Speaker 4: I'm 67 years old and I've been arrested in Long Beach since I moved here. Speaker 5: In 1962 with my parents. Speaker 10: I grew up here. I went to school here. I married here and raised my family here. Speaker 4: I'm a retired nurse after. Speaker 10: Working in the field for 55 years. Speaker 4: I'm currently active in my church and when my boys were younger, I was active in the Boy Scouts of America, the Long Beach Area Council. I am currently working to vote and probably voted for some of you in this chamber today. I currently live at 41 West Sixth Street at the Lexington Apartments. Speaker 3: And I've lived there now for five years. Speaker 4: I am here today to support your efforts. Speaker 3: In providing funding for. Speaker 4: More affordable housing for seniors. We baby boomers are the. Speaker 3: Fastest growing segment of. Speaker 5: This population as we plan for the future. Speaker 3: Let's not ignore the housing problems of here and now. Today. Speaker 4: Many seniors live at or below the poverty level. I currently bring. Speaker 3: In 1100 a. Speaker 4: Month. I am. Speaker 3: Blessed to have Section. Speaker 4: Eight housing. Other wise, I too would be homeless. As it is, it took me ten years to get on the housing waiting list to receive my voucher. Owners are becoming more and more reluctant to accept these vouchers. Speaker 3: Now. Speaker 4: What fewer affordable units there are out there. Speaker 3: Now have a 4 to 5 year waiting list to get into them. I am here today supporting my neighbors to collect sound apartments. Speaker 4: They have received a 30 to 50% rent increase. I have one neighbor who has lived there for 19 years who received a. Speaker 3: $500. Speaker 4: Rent increase. This neighbor became outspoken about this absorbing IT. Speaker 0: Rate increase. Speaker 3: And has. Speaker 4: Received an. Speaker 3: Eviction notice for his efforts. My neighbors living on fixed incomes cannot afford. Speaker 4: To leave the U.S. apartment. I know of at least 15. Speaker 3: People who are going to have to leave these apartments. Speaker 4: If the situation continues. Some of them face becoming homeless. As was mentioned before, we have asked to meet with the owner, Mr. Kenneth Boyd. Speaker 3: But to no avail. Speaker 4: All of our police have fallen on deaf ears. Long Beach has plans for the future. We must also look. Speaker 3: At giving tenants. Speaker 0: Some basic rights. Thank you very much. Now some. Speaker 3: Safeguards. Speaker 4: It will be a revolving door and rents will rise uncontrollably. Natural evictions will go on unchecked. Thank you very much for your time today. Speaker 0: Thank you very much for speaking to the next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Hello, council members. Speaker 4: My name is Ruben Lopez. I'm a Vietnam vet with PTSD. I live in Long Beach at LAX and apartments with all my other neighbors. On June 12th, I rent was substantially increased and most of us can afford the increase and we are all at risk. Speaker 5: Of being homeless. Speaker 4: We have tried to contact our owner, Kenneth Boyd, to discuss the possibility that some type of. Speaker 5: Solution through HUD and we had no luck. Speaker 4: So far. Me and my neighbor have had many ups and downs in our lives and we are in the. Speaker 3: Process. Speaker 5: Of being homeless. All of us are. Most of us. Speaker 4: I served my country and now we need your help to contact our landlord, to sit down with us. Speaker 5: And try to discuss a solution. Speaker 4: To our rent control. People say that Vietnam. Speaker 3: Vets are tough. Speaker 4: They don't ask. Speaker 5: For help or. Speaker 4: Cry. But we need your help. Speaker 3: Desperately. Speaker 5: Really, desperately. Thank you. And God. Speaker 3: Bless America. Thank you. Speaker 10: Very good due to two suggestions. One, to engender cash monies for homeless people. One of the things that could tried is to eliminate a full time mayor and his staff instead of having what we have now. I don't know how many millions it's costing us and put that toward housing. Number two, something I've referenced before in a very serious about this for our veterans. There was an article posted and there have been several articles posted in the paper. They're called pod houses. They were very impressive from the outside and from the inside. I think I've sent some some of you pictures of them. And what I'm suggesting the city do is down in the Marine Stadium just north of eight end, which is the building that is being rebuilt. It has the sign Marine Stadium. There's ample room to put there. Three of those pods were veterans. Who are currently undergoing treatment up at the VA hospital or at the point where they may be six months away from going out on their own. So that will be an excellent transition place for them. And it's easy to get to particularly those that have motorized vehicles to bus stops are relatively close by. But I think that's something the city should consider. And again, I'm very serious when I say we eliminate the costly full time mayor, his humongous staff, and the millions that are spent traveling back and forth here and there trying to build his political career. Long Beach survive very well without the full time paid mayor. Even when we had honest mayors. Thank you. Speaker 11: Oh, Tokyo. Speaker 3: Good evening. My name is over at Stewart. I live at the Lexington Apartments and I didn't pull it up. Good afternoon, Mayor. And Council people. Members. I'm sorry. I'm 86 years old. I've lived in Lexington Apartments at 41 West Sixth Street for the last six years. I retired from Lockheed after 38 years of service. Excuse me. Moving would be extremely difficult for me at my age and my physical condition. And if the rent has gone up, like the colleagues before me have said, you know, and I agree with them wholeheartedly. And the proposal that Guardsman Richard Husband award should be taken care of and done quickly. And I'm speaking a little bit off the topic now, because this is something that's been bothering me a little bit the last couple of months. But. The growing homeless population of the seniors or elderly. Speaker 10: I don't know. Which do we use now? Speaker 3: I'm elderly, so I'll say elderly, huh? The Social Security Administration Cost of Living Increase Research Estimate. In 2014, we received 1.7% increase. In 2015, we receive zero increase. In 2016, we received 2.3% increase. 2017 increase was 2%. 2%. The year 2014, there was a slight increase in our. Speaker 5: Social Security. Speaker 3: To 2016. The 2015 increase was zero, which means there no percentage increase. The next increase was the 2016 to .03 increase was taken up by Medicare. The 2017 increase, which showed that $24 was taken up by Medicare, leaving me with a whopping. Speaker 10: $5 a year increase. Speaker 3: If you think about it now, you're talking about 13, 14, 15, 16, 14, 15, 16, 17. In three years, Social Security had my part had an increase of a whopping $5. That's a lot of money. Thank you. You can almost buy a tank of gas. Speaker 11: Thank you very much. Speaker 5: I'm very sorry. Okay. Speaker 3: I ran out of time. There's a couple more things, but thank you. Yes. My name is Reverend Leon Wood. I'm the pastor at Saint Mark Baptist Church. And I first want to compliment you on taking this effort and bringing it to the table, because the homeless effort is really a serious effort. And I should I compliment you all for taking this and bringing it to the table? The couple of things I wanted to add to this, though, the homelessness is a very serious, but it's a multifaceted issue. There's some people who have been homeless for a long time. There's the new homeless, the aged. There are those who have mental deficiencies as all kinds of things. And we cannot use one particular. We can address it with just one issue. We have to address this in a multifaceted phase. I would suggest that we really have a planning effort that includes the faith community. When I say the faith community, there's many churches in the community that have space that could be used temporarily until we get the other parts addressed. I know that they say St Mark's, they have this entire facility there that could probably house several people. But we have to do this as a joint effort in the community. Right now, it looks like we're still not using the total resources of our community to address this major issue. And I would like to suggest that we begin to expand the people that are coming to the table, bring the entire community together because it is a total community issue and really try to work this through it. And I include the university. I put all the mental resources that we have to address this issue because it's economic, it's spiritual, it has all facets and you can't just solve it would just providing some housing, it has to be addressed in a total sense to eradicate it totally if we can. That's how I would look at it. Speaker 11: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 2: Honorable Council members. I'm Annette Mazo at the Hamilton Neighborhood Association. My address is on file. We support Councilmember Rex Richardson's advocacy regarding homeless solutions proposed here tonight. Additionally, the impacted areas proposed are currently crime ridden, including but not limited to drug dealing, illegal drug consumption and sex trafficking. Transitioning these locations to a solution to help homeless and create affordable housing feels like a win win to me. Thank you for your advocacy empathy regarding all the issues included in this proposed solution. Speaker 11: Thank you. Speaker 0: Hi, Mr. Vice Mayor. Right down to the council and staff. My name is Gary Shelton. Speaker 3: Along with only on word. Speaker 5: We're both past chairmen of the city's Homeless Services Advisory Committee. Speaker 11: We've gone to the. Speaker 10: Depths of this issue many times over the. Speaker 3: Years. You're going to be hearing a lot more about the folks from 41 West Sixth Street, the likes of an apartment building, the 45 people that are not going to be able to live anywhere once they exhaust their funds and can't pay those rent increases anymore and then get another rent increase maybe next year. We'll be hearing more about them. But what I wanted to talk about. Speaker 5: Was, was the emotion. Speaker 3: Initially. We talked about the opportunities for getting out of homeless, the. Speaker 0: Opportunities. Speaker 3: For early prevention, and their brass rings. Speaker 0: In many senses that. Speaker 3: We could grab on the way around the carousel. But if you don't know that brass ring is there, then you're not going to reach out to grab it. And I think that's one of the problems we have, is people who are facing the onslaught of homelessness in their own lives don't know what there is. Speaker 0: That they can do. And the information isn't there. The education isn't there. Speaker 3: The other is the core causes of homelessness. Speaker 0: You recited them. They're common. Speaker 3: But not everybody goes. Speaker 5: Through those. Speaker 3: Core common causes of homelessness. Speaker 0: And ends. Speaker 3: Up homeless. You have folks like the people at LAX Honor Apartments who, for no fault of their own, simply will not be able to afford to live anywhere there or probably in Long Beach. But I want. Speaker 0: To address the. Speaker 3: One motion part of your motion that you made. Speaker 0: Which was. Speaker 3: On finding a location and beginning the purchase of a homeless shelter year round homeless shelter. That's a great idea. And we've been working on something like that for years, in fact. What I want you to be aware of is there are two places in town where by right a homeless shelter can be built. But the problem with. Speaker 0: Those two places is one. Speaker 11: Of them is along the corridor. Speaker 3: On Anaheim Street, near the multi-service. Speaker 0: Center. Speaker 3: Between there. Speaker 0: And Santa Fe. Speaker 3: And the other is at the villages of Korea. The village is a Korean model of shelter, does not include what we think of as homeless shelter, where somebody can walk up to the thing. Speaker 0: And say. Speaker 3: At 430 in the afternoon, find a place to be that night because they're stuck. The other. Speaker 0: Problem is along the corridor. Speaker 3: In the court. Speaker 0: There on Anaheim Street. Speaker 3: There's nothing appropriate there. There's nothing available there. Speaker 0: It's just not. Speaker 3: Going to happen. But the thing that will be. Speaker 0: Faced if there's no by right siting of a shelter is NIMBYism. And that's what this report I hope will also address, is how do we. Speaker 3: Get rid of these really deep down inside those issues? We don't know what to do if we're going to become homeless. Speaker 10: We pretend it's not going to happen. Speaker 0: So we don't find out about things. Speaker 3: You know, we don't know how to reach. Speaker 0: Out to something at a brass. Speaker 3: Ring. We don't know what the causes are because people go through all those causes and don't. Speaker 10: Become homeless. Speaker 0: In many, many. Speaker 3: Ways. So something's different about that. And when it comes to NIMBYism. Speaker 0: Why in the hell does that happen in this city? Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 2: Good evening, members of the council. Speaker 4: My name is Nina Dooley. Speaker 2: I'm vice president at Link Housing. Speaker 4: We're a nonprofit builder of affordable housing and permanent supportive housing for. Speaker 2: People who've. Speaker 4: Been homeless. Our headquarters is right here in Long Beach in the second District. We're statewide, but we care about our own hometown and would like to do more. Speaker 2: I want to commend. Speaker 4: Councilman Richardson and others on the council for bringing forth these four motions, which we think will really make impact. Speaker 2: I'd like to address one in particular, and that is creating a local source of funding for housing, and that would. Speaker 4: Help us tremendously because having a local source of funds will leverage other, larger sources to come into Long Beach and build that housing. But we need that local source to be competitive and win those other dollars. So thank you for your leadership on that. And we hope to go forward with the fund. Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Phillip Holmes. I'm a 77 year old former member of The Hunting for his Airborne Division. I got my apartment in Alexandria nine years ago through the VA's Vash program. You see these. Speaker 4: Three people over here in these chairs? Speaker 3: They are all living in Lake Zana. There are three other people in chairs in the building. If we are forced to move, it's going to be too traumatic on all of us. We got to come up with the money to move. We got to either put our furniture in storage or we got to pay to move in. Man. We need some help. And we're asking for. Thank you. Speaker 2: Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Sonia Andrew. I live at 317 East 60th Street and I'm here to speak from various perspectives. I have experienced homelessness. My teenage daughter and I were homeless. And I can tell you that we went through the Multi-Service Center. We went through two, one, one. I have house on me because I had a college degree, I was professional. And it just so happened that the economy in 2007, 2008 and some health issues hit me at the same time. So I found myself having to tell my daughter that if we have to take showers in 24 hour fitness and sleep in our car, we're going to make it now. Language is a beautiful place, but what's not beautiful, no matter where you go in this country, is when you drive along the street and you see tarps and makeshift tents and people sleeping on the ground and shopping carts. That's not beautiful. So I am standing in support of this motion to say whatever efforts you have to do, please do them. I want to also speak on behalf of the homelessness, and I'm going to tell you that dorm style shelters are not working, and it's not because people don't want help. But having been there, you don't want to be somewhere where someone is restricting your ability to live, to be told that your child can't be in extracurricular activities, she has to come right home, fails that because if you're in that situation, you're doing everything you can to hustle, to get out of it . So when you get into facilities that lamport rules on you, it makes it impossible. My dada, because I didn't capitulate to those rules, ended up going to Duke University on an athletic scholarship. So that extracurricular that I had to fight for sleeping cars in parking lots while she was at a neighbor or friend's house. We were separated at times because I didn't want her in the car with me. She made it, but she made it because we had to do things out of the norm. So it isn't a one size fits all and it's not always everybody's going to go into a dormitory situation. So you do need to give people the. Speaker 4: Respect. Speaker 2: Housing first, treat people like they're human beings. Just because you're down on your hard times does not mean that you're less than or have equal rights. Thank you so much. Speaker 0: Thank you. Before we have the next speaker, I'm going to close the speakers list. The gentleman that's at the at the end of of the of the line, sir, he's going to be our last speaker. The gentleman in the in the black shirt and the dark shirt. Oh, you spoke, please. Yes. Okay. So, yes. The lady that's coming to the end of the line will be our last speaker right now. So let me let me go ahead and close the speaker's list. And the speaker's list is close. Mr. Butler. Speaker 3: All right. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Members of the city council as a member of the Mayor's Affordable Housing Task Force. Well, the first installment, I did not make the sequel. I hope to be a recurring member of the cast, but I hope that the series does not go on long. The community needs solutions and we're getting tired of the script. We know things are bad there, worse than bad. And we need solutions now. Well, we're moving in the right direction. We're not moving fast enough. And it would be foolhardy to believe that this is the solution. If a single thing could solve the problem for Long Beach, that'd be great. But at this point, we need it all. Inclusionary housing, a permanent source of funding, not just a bond as well as rent control and just cause eviction. It's absolutely appalling to me that Long Beach has no amount protections. Working families, seniors, veterans and other vulnerable citizens, many of whom are here tonight, are being given 30 and 69 notices left and right. Rents have skyrocketed. Credit checks are expensive and nonrefundable. Applications require prospective tenants to make 2 to 4 times the monthly rent to even be considered. People being forced to live in overcrowded conditions and are too afraid to ask for the most basic repairs because they could be kicked out for it. The only response has been, but cities like Santa monica and San Francisco have rent control and they're even worse. Like we don't know about Costa Hawkins and the Ellis Act and other pro landlord legislation. Rent control is the only reason many low income residents are able to still live in those cities. I'm sure the lobbyists for the landlords will say how much they support this. I'm sure they do. They would support anything but rent control and they'd be happy to pass the cost on to US. Speaker 5: Renters. Speaker 3: As they normally and. Speaker 9: Typically do. Speaker 3: And will continue to do without rent control in place. We also can't keep doing this on a building by building basis, but if that's what it comes to, we will continue to bring residents down here. Other organizations will continue to bring residents down here in the meantime, on which residents are being forced out of here while we're having this conversation and doing studies, 1000 S.E. vouchers are in the hands of Long Beach resident or former Long Beach residents, and they are currently unused. One of those people was my aunt. She finally got her voucher after years of waiting, only to find that she could not find a place to live and has now left Long Beach. We have a councilmember bragging about how much affordable housing lies in the district without mentioning how many of her residents have been forced to leave the district because their buildings have been sold, and the naturally occurring affordable housing that we've relied upon for years has now disappeared. There is no plan to build 28,524 units in the next 20 years. We don't have funding to build over 1000 units a year. We don't have anywhere to put them. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Butler. Speaker 3: There is no plan to stop the bleeding, and the residents who are here tonight don't have time. So we need a sense of urgency and some action right away. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Butler. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Speaker 3: Please. Speaker 2: Good evening. My name is Lorena. Kim and I work on economic justice issues throughout the county. Went to school for urban planning. And anecdotally, I also have a dear childhood friend that's been trying to look for a place to rent in Long Beach since October and has been having to commute an hour and a half each way on public transit to get to his job. So this issue is very important to me. And we know, as the reverend mentioned, how complex these issues are and how complex a solution is required. We know that to address these crises, that we must both increase job quality and job opportunities, as Councilmember Richardson has highlighted, tackle social issues like domestic violence, find ways to increase supply, as well as ways to stabilize rents, and critically to explore funding opportunities for permanent supportive housing and affordable housing. Also, because I work a lot on job issues and with the building trades, I would like to just underscore the opportunity that new housing could create jobs, especially given the projects labor agreement that Long Beach has. And this could be good union jobs that go to local Long Beach residents hopefully. So I would like to just speaking to support and commend this effort to address this complicated and pressing issue, to apply Councilmember Richardson and his colleagues for bringing this forward and for starting to dig into this complex and critical life changing issue and looking, especially adding the pieces mentioned tonight around income discrimination and innovative opportunities such as nuisance hotels. I know that's something the city of Los Angeles is also looking into and it has a lot of support from housing advocates there. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening, mayor. City Council staff. My name is Brian Deandra. Speaker 3: I'm with Century Housing in Century Village that cabrio. I'd like to offer a little bit of a different perspective on the matter at hand. Later this evening you're going to hear from some of my colleagues about the successes at the village of the Cabrio over the past year. And the city really should be very proud of what's been created there and its role in standing behind that model. But those successes don't exist in a vacuum. They are the direct result. Speaker 5: Of a series of choices and investments and conditions that exist in the city of Long. Speaker 3: Beach that have applicability to the matter at hand. I want to take a moment to reflect on a few of those conditions and talk to you about how they relate. First, unlike neighboring jurisdictions, the city of Long Beach has its own health department, its own Health and Human Services Department that has a dedicated continuum of care contract with HUD. The city has its own unified funding agency status. We have a multi-service. Speaker 5: Center that serves as a front door to persons. Speaker 3: Experiencing homelessness. We have our own police and fire departments. We have our own housing authority. We have a local VA hospital. We have dedicated elected officials and talented city staff that are working on this issue. And we have leadership. We have leadership and we have alignment across all of these resources. Speaker 4: These resources represent critical ingredients. Speaker 3: To tackling this issue and speaking to the many needs you've heard about this evening from. Speaker 4: From our fellow residents. We have a strong system locally, but what we're short on is resources. These elements are the critical. Speaker 3: Ingredients to tackling this issue. They're the reason that establishing a local source of revenue for affordable housing can be immensely impactful. And Long Beach. I've had the honor of serving on the Mayor Study Group and on the current Everyone Home Task Force, and I'm very encouraged to see the dialog this evening. And we want you to know that you can count on us at century to stand behind these efforts. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. City Council for carry that out with Libra. I want to thank. Speaker 5: Rex Richardson for bringing forward this motion. And it's a bittersweet because we've been asking for this for years. So it's it's about time that it's finally coming due. Speaker 3: I want to make three points around a. Speaker 5: Local source of funding. Speaker 3: One, definitely we need a robust funding source. And and this and two, it must be targeted and it must be dedicated funding targeted to those most in. Speaker 5: Need, targeted to the. Speaker 3: Extremely low and the very low income. If you look at the regional housing needs. Speaker 5: Assessment and you look at the current development of the city, you'll see that there there. Speaker 3: Is no equity in the development. Speaker 5: That the city is doing. Speaker 3: It's almost achieved over 80% of it's above moderate, moderate income level developments and about 15 or 20% of it's extremely low and very low income housing development. So this funding source. Speaker 5: When it's when it's created, should be dedicated. So we are talking about equity here. We developed an Office of Equity. So I hope we're going to abide by that same. Speaker 3: Sentiment and. Speaker 5: Philosophy. Speaker 3: And also, we shouldn't rush this. You you mentioned measure. Jason Measure H that that was a. Speaker 5: Lengthy process and it was a very detailed. Speaker 3: Measure and we should not rush this at all. We should do it right. We should include. Speaker 5: Community. We should include the stakeholders. We should include everybody that we can so that we're making sure that we get this right. Speaker 3: And as much as we need this boost in production housing and we know we cannot adequately address our houseless and precariously housed, we have to stop the bleeding. We have to stop the bleeding today. Speaker 5: And there's ways that we can make it happen today. Speaker 3: You introduced a suggestion Section eight discrimination would immediately house 600 people that are holding on to vouchers. That would end that would that can very well find themselves on the streets. So we're talking about prevention of homeless listeners. We're talking about prevention of people that don't have homes. These are the tenant protections that we've been asking for for years, just cause eviction and limits on annual rent increases. So, Mr. Mayor, you've come out publicly against that. So I want you to look these folks in the eye. I want you looked at the veterans, the seniors, the disabled, and tell them right. Speaker 4: Now that limits on annual. Speaker 3: Rent increases do not work. Tell them. Look him in the eye and tell them tell us that because those annual those annual limits on rent increases would be saving their lives right now and we wouldn't have to be fighting. So if you're not going to support that, I hope that your office at the very least. Speaker 5: Can make. Speaker 3: A call or send an email to the landlord, because we're already talking to HUD, we're already talking to the Housing Authority, even even nonprofit developers that are willing to buy that building. But we need to bring. Speaker 5: That landlord to the table, and we need your help to do it. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Rivera. Next speaker, please. Mr. Murchison. Speaker 3: Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Speaker 10: I'm going to take a different perspective on this tonight. You know, I haven't heard at. Speaker 3: All from the business community. I haven't heard from the neighborhood associations across Long Beach. I haven't heard from the rental property owners. None of these groups that I'm aware of, some of them I represent. Speaker 10: Some that I just. Speaker 3: Know because I've lived in this community my entire life, are here tonight. The reason is, is that this I am just came up on the agenda. Yes. Councilmember Richardson mentioned that there's been long discussions. Speaker 5: But it's the discussions. Speaker 3: That have happened with other groups, not with the groups that ultimately are going to have to pay this revenue source that you all are asking for. Who are the who are the groups that we're talking about? You're going to be looking at a parcel tax. You're going to be looking at a property tax. You're going to be looking at uut tax night. I remind you that 40% of people that live in Long Beach are the ones that would have to pay that tax, not 60%. You take that into account. I want to give you some suggestions. Speaker 4: Tonight to take a look at number one. Speaker 3: Take your time in evaluating this. There's not a lot of time for city staff to take a look at this and come back. By the next counts mean August 7th, which happens to be the last council meeting that you can place an item on the November six ballot. That is not enough time to evaluate a tax that is going to impact 40% of the residents in Long Beach. So if you want to get creative with it, look at other taxes. I don't know. I'm not a tax expert, but how about a tax on movie tickets? How about entertainment tax? How about creating more tax on the airline tickets that you purchase? Something that doesn't get to the bottom line, which is a parcel tax or property tax on residents who have lived here their entire lives. Yes, I do. Speaker 5: Understand what's. Speaker 3: Going on with the homeless and yes, I'm with them to create more housing. I represent affordable housing developers. But what everybody is missing is. Speaker 5: It's not a. Speaker 3: Simple solution that can be done in. Speaker 0: Ten days to determine. Speaker 3: That you're going to put a tax on the residents of Long Beach that own their properties or the businesses that own their properties. We need to be very creative. Speaker 4: We need to look at other options. Speaker 3: That are out there. You have I am 16 on your agenda later on this evening. That's another personal tax that the County of Los Angeles is contemplating putting on November ballot. Need I remind you, residents of Long Beach that own their homes are going to have to pay that parcel tax. So it's just one thing after another of these taxes. Let's get creative. Let's look at different ways to approach this. It can't be done in the eight or ten days you have until August 2nd, August 7th. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor City Council. My name is Mark Garrison. I lived in Long Beach off and on most of my life. My brother and sister graduated from Long Beach, Jordan and in the nineties I went to school to become a EMT and worked at a local ambulance company, Bower's ambulance company that was off of PCH and Long Beach Boulevard. As an EMT, I felt like I want to help people. And I've been to many of the hospitals in the area, Long Beach Memorial Community Hospital, etc., etc. But now I'm in need of help. I'm an even helper from a predatory property management company. That predatory property management company is named West Star Property Management. They own many buildings in Los Angeles, I mean, and Long Beach, and they're kicking out all of the tenants. I myself had high hopes for this company. They come in, they do some light repairs, paying over some. Speaker 3: Things, but they don't dress any issues whatsoever. This company ignores repair requests, ignores mold, ignores groundwater. Speaker 4: And they don't want us to live there anymore. So in our 12 unit building are kicking everybody out. I've gotten a 60 day notice for my efforts. I've talked to code enforcement. Speaker 3: I file complaints. Speaker 4: And the action that they've taken have been retaliatory. I have my day in court. Most definitely I will. But I don't think that these shady property management companies should be able to treat tenants like that. They went in so far as to change the lock on my. Speaker 3: Mailbox. Speaker 4: To restrict my mail access. I know it's not legal, but like I said, I have my day in court. I just want to issue a warning to everyone that homelessness is going to continue. If you allow companies like West, our property management, to come in. Speaker 3: Purchase properties in. Speaker 4: Long Beach and evict tenants out. I know of. Speaker 3: Tons of buildings. Speaker 4: That they own and they're doing the same thing to them as well. They must be stopped. Or you're going to have an. Speaker 3: Increased amount of homeless in Long Beach. Thanks for your time. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Speaker, please. Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor Garcia and councilmembers. Why? I am passionate about this issue. I have moved to Long Beach six years ago. I was attracted to Long Beach for the diversity, the dynamic energy, the older architectural buildings and the affordable rent. We call 2014 Chestnut Avenue our home, and many have resided there for 5 to 12 years and we are being evicted from our homes. Please tell me how it is morally right to legally evict residents with a mere 60 day notice for no reason. Many residents in the Wrigley area of Long Beach and I'm sure around other parts of Long Beach live paycheck to paycheck and do not and cannot come up with available funds to move in 60 days while paying monthly expenses. West Our property management has taken over ten buildings that are known thus far. That is over 159 units, which is potentially 159 to 636 residents that have been or we will be evicted. And we are confident. More Long Beach residents and community members are facing the same situation and are not speaking up. If Long Beach Mayor Garcia and members of the Council do not see this as a growing problem in your city, then we challenge you to show your financials. Prove to us that your pockets are not being mined by these slumlord property flippers. Thank you so much for your time. Speaker 3: Hello. City elected officials. My name is not Roberto Lopez. I'm a community organizer with Housing Long Beach, and I've been working with the Pacific residents and the theater residents. And to be honest with you, it's disappointing to see that the fact that there's no policy being introduced yet. I like the motion right that's being introduced by Rex Richardson. But just so you know, Teresa Harris spoke here and her daughter spoke here. Another homeless, Victor Chacon, is a week away from being. Speaker 4: Homeless and the. Speaker 3: City residents are going to court next week on Monday and my time working on housing Long Beach. I've been there for seven months and I've. Speaker 4: Seen over. Speaker 3: 100 families get evicted from their homes. And where are they going? Some of them are on the streets right now and nothing's been done. No policies being introduced, nothing's been done to save these people. Residents have been living in this neighborhood, in this city for the past 30 years, past 25 years. And yet they're being. Speaker 4: Pushed out and. Speaker 3: Nobody's doing anything for them. The organized effort only goes so far. We've been able to delay some of these evictions for four months, five months. But we need policy now. And we hope that, you know, as a city, elected officials do take action and defend these residents. Maybe it's not affecting your district right now, but as soon well people are going to your. Speaker 4: Districts being pushed out from District. Speaker 3: One to District nine, and that's what's happening with some of the city residents right now. Thank you. Speaker 7: Good evening. Elected officials. My name's Edith. I was born and raised in Long Beach, specifically in District one, and I moved away a couple of years ago to complete my master's degree in business and public policy. And I was fortunate enough to have a fellowship, paid fellowship this summer with Housing Long Beach. And like Mayor Garcia, I, too, took a tour of Long Beach. But guess what? It wasn't the pictures he showed on Twitter, because I've been talking to my family, I've been talking to my neighbors. And what is happening here with this housing crisis? It's fucked up. It really is. It's messed up. It's immoral. I can't believe I was excited to come back to my city. But what I'm seeing, it's really sad hearing everybody here talk about the problems they're experiencing. I mean, I myself, I am fortunate that I got a stipend. And with that stipend, I'm helping my parents this summer pay for the rent because their rent has gone up almost 700 bucks in the past couple years. And that's just something that cannot continue. We can't be pushing families away. We can't be separating families. So I understand that this policy talking about year round homelessness, that's great, but that's a future thing. What are we doing now? We need a policy now that's going to prevent families from being separated, that's going to prevent families from keeping being pushed away. So that is what I what I am here to ask you, what are we going to do now? Because even students like myself who have gone away for a couple of years as a first generation student to complete a degree and now plan to come back to their town where they were born and so they can help their communities. I don't even know if I can come back and do the social justice work that I want to do in the city of Long Beach, where I was born and raised. So the question is, what are you doing now and not in the future? Thank you. Speaker 2: Good evening. My name is Suzanne Brown. I'm a senior attorney with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. We want to thank the council for considering this item. We strongly support a dedicated local source of revenue for affordable housing. As with any policy, details are critical. Therefore, we offer the following recommendations to the City Council. First, the city should identify a robust funding source. Our housing crisis is at an epic level. We have nearly 2000 homeless persons in our city, and the Southern California Association of Governments has calculated that we need nearly 3000 affordable units by 2021 to meet the housing needs of our extremely low, very low and low income residents. Second, any revenue source must be coupled with specific income targeting to ensure that it benefits those most in need. Many of the very people that you've heard from today, Long Beach, should look to the recently passed measures by the city and county of Los Angeles, measures H, H, H and H as models for income targeting and revenue creation. Long Beach should also be mindful of the immense opportunity to leverage the county's Measure H funds. Measure H includes $355 million over ten years to address homelessness and homelessness prevention through wraparound services, not construction. This money is largely targeted to extremely low and very low income households with a small portion for low income households. Third and finally, Long Beach should take the time to get this right. We do need action, but we need robust legislation that will address our needs and we need the right folks at the table to get the right policy for our city. Thank you for your consideration of our comments. We look forward to partnering with you on this endeavor. Good evening, council members and everybody. Thank you. My name is Christine Pettit. I'm a sixth District resident and I'm the executive director of Long Beach Forward. I didn't plan to speak tonight, so my comments are more on the spirit of the matter rather than the technical details. But I really want to ground my words and the experience of the renters who spoke tonight and to the people whose names we heard, who came and spoke here, and our homeless and those who are on the verge of homelessness. Because to me, that's really the important message, is that we talk a lot about how we value our diversity in Long Beach, but what are we doing to really support that and to retain the heart of our community veterans, seniors, LGBTQ youth, people on fixed incomes, low income families, everybody who makes up the fabric of our community. I definitely want to support the efforts that were introduced tonight by Councilmember Richardson and your colleagues and just really want to reiterate reiterate the point about the local source of funds. We definitely need that we've been advocating for for a long time. It does need to be targeted to low income residents to ensure that if we're trying to address homelessness, we're really addressing homelessness. And also, I just want to encourage us to be real in our conversations. Addressing homelessness is an important step. We also need to prevent this. We also need to address homelessness prevention, and that includes tenant protections, protections for renters. And when I say we need to be real in these conversations, I'm saying that because I'm on the mayor's Everyone Home Task Force. And we were recently presented with a report looking at how cities have approached tenant protections beyond what is there in the law. And I was really happy to see things like just cause eviction in that report. But one thing that was missing and it was glaringly missing was limits to rent increases on an annual basis or rent control or rent stabilization that was missing. It wasn't discussed anywhere. And that's because I know there's opposition to that by our mayor, by the council. But we need to be able to have honest conversations, but look for everything on the table and say, hey, you know, if we're actually looking at this issue, this is one of the top issues, a top strategy is that cities are using to address tenant protections. And so we need to look at all of the information. I really just want to impress upon us that we need free democratic discussion of all of the issues. Thank you. Speaker 3: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and the City Council. For the record, I am a gentleman, in part because I grew up here in Long Beach. My name is Dave Chappelle and I'm a resident of the third. I'd like to counter the idea previously expressed that we haven't yet heard from the landlords, the people who are going to be bearing the unbearable costs of not having homeless people in our town. The issue isn't the 40% of folks like my parents and other people you don't speak for who aren't creating the problem. It's all the out-of-town capital or the out of town landlords, people who don't even bother to show up when there are hearings like this. Who are you speaking for, sir? Oh. Speaker 4: We've heard plenty. Speaker 3: From those landlords. These 30 and 60 day notices. On what basis? Retaliation. Pointing out code enforcement issues from a very old building. So seniors having to live in in, you know, I mean, we like to sell, you know, ourselves as all as, you know, people who come to this town on a vision of the city. But do we deliver on it? Do it. I mean, you know, it's the folks, you know, who came down the whole building came down to talk to you about something that's a result of policy measures that you didn't take up earlier and look like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't quit the club. This is not an easy job. I don't envy any of these people. I really don't. I mean, this is hard. And, you know, we're not going to penalize, you know, renters. We sure as hell shouldn't penalize them for trying to deal with the problem or, you know, landlords who seem to think that their freedom depends on someone else's unfreedom, which is a whole separate topic specifically for the dedicated local source of funding. It needs to be needs based. It can't just be. I mean, there are people who sleep in their Lexuses because they're homeless for a couple of months, you know, at the gym. I mean, we we need to deal with the enduring kind of roots of poverty. This has to have an equity focus. The process has got to be iterative. I mean, maybe putting it in front of the voters, maybe the whole idea all year of putting this behind the voters is an abdication of your responsibility, frankly. I mean, can't we have a rent freeze or something that you can just decide to do and just stop the bleeding? How hard would that be? I mean, what more data do you need and who do you need it from? I'll work for free and I'll get it for you. I'm serious. Put the RFP out tomorrow by ten. I'll fill it by four. I'll do it for free. What? Don't you know that you need to know to fix this? You've heard from me more than once. And I really don't like speaking here because I really don't think it's really my place. This doesn't directly affect me, but this is our city and it affects all of us. I mean, we see it, we drive by it. We have to live by we have to deal with the consequences of it every day. How much longer? Speaker 4: My name is Tiffany. Davey and I live in the second district. I love the city and material in my daily life. I've had to speak here more often the past few years because of experiences I've endured in this great city. Not just in the past four years, actually, since I've been 18, I've worked really hard to take care of my family. I've been a caregiver for my mother for nearly a decade now. That was all of my youth. We faced homelessness many times. But one thing I have faced with the city more recently is when I've come to different points where I don't know who to speak with, they don't know who's listening. And folks can reach out to different departments and kind of end up in a circle for a very long time. And the city has been paying for something of mine for quite some time. And I feel bad actually for causing the city to pay more and more day by day, for what it had to endure. I've been a victim of violent crimes. I've said this many times, had to reiterate my story to many different folks, and it's something I haven't wanted to share with. My community have come up today because there's so many people here, especially who speak for other people who can't make it. Who don't know how they're going to make it through this moment. This is a very important time in history, and we all have responsibilities to each other and to these people who don't have many people showing up for them. I try to be a senior advocate, not just for my mother. But for people like me, just about every week who have new obstacles, they don't know where to go to, you know, close the resource. So there's. I'm grateful, you know, that we we seem to be moving forward. But history has done a number and it's taken much time and there's a lot of work that you all have to do. And there's going to be a lot more people who have many more issues than me. Growing up here, I have never seen this many people living on the street. I've I've been homeless twice now. I find myself in a precarious position as we speak. I just hope that when we do come to you and when we are seeking answers, you try your best to find them. I want to thank Patrick West's office for listening. I've had Janine so far. Listen, there's there's just more that we can do, because you're not the entire city. Speaker 11: Thank you. Thanks. Speaker 0: I'm trying to over to back to Councilman Richardson, then Councilman Austin. Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So first, I just wanted to thank everybody for the testimony and talking about these situations. Sometimes I get it. It can be difficult, but I appreciate all the different perspectives I hear on the topic. So I want to acknowledge a few things. So first, in terms of the timeline, so you know, everything, every example that we gave from those cities, those are comprehensive examples where policy meets revenue options. And they weren't rushed through. They were developed in a way that sort of people can come together and figure out what's right for that city. And for that to happen in Long Beach, you would need a long process like that. Now, somebody came up and mentioned, Oh, you're rushing something through. Well, in order for something to happen this November, let me just clarify. Number one, there would need to be a special meeting next week. That's not in my motion to have a special meeting. So unless someone here at the council asked for a special meeting, at that meeting, the council would direct. We would get the options at that meeting and then direct the city attorney to come up with a resolution, all these other documents to be voted on at the following meeting. That's not in this motion. So unless somebody here brings that forward, that's not in the motion. So in case there's some misinformed, very heated, misinformed people that think we're trying to sneak something in. No, we're trying to bring up a conversation that needs to happen immediately. That's what we're trying to do here. Next. This is a conversation that will happen next. I get it about the conversation around tax burden. I get it. The process in California. You know, sometimes education bonds or have a lower threshold to pass and sometimes local measures have a different threshold to pass. And it's been a lot of measures. I get that. I completely understand it. But our democratic process allows us the process to put certain questions to the people. And there are more than one option. It does not necessarily have to be a parcel tax, a bond. There are a number of revenue options. Well, we're asking city staff to come back, is present to us those options so we can begin the process of picking one and moving forward. All of those conversations will happen next. We don't have a date in front of us. That will happen next. So I want to I want to just just clarify that, you know, to do something like what we showed today, it would not be the 20 there would not be time to do that in the November ballot. If the council wants to choose to move forward with something, you still have that ability, which is why we did the timing here. You have that that ability. But I don't I don't you know, unless somebody makes a motion that's not that's not what's in front of you tonight. What's in front of you is what we talked about. Begin the conversation on revenue. Take a look at the shelter. Take a look at motel conversion and take a look at our anti-discrimination policy. That's what's in front of us tonight. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 12: Thank you, Rex, for for clarifying that. And I want to thank you for also having the courage and thoughtfulness to bring this forward in the way you have. I will also want to thank the residents who spoke this evening, shared their perspectives and stories. They're very moving and touching, especially those affected by by, you know, major rent increases. Most recently, this this is the homelessness in our affordable housing, obviously still is the issue of the day. And for this council, I think it's it's our responsibility to have it at the top of the agenda and keep the conversation going and look toward policy solutions that make sense for our city. I want to just just really end with in terms of homelessness, we have been working and we we we we are looking for answers as a council. There's no nobody who has a silver bullet or a magic touch. The cities that have been identified that have made their made policies toward local funding sources are cities that still have serious homeless and affordable housing issues as well. The County of Los Angeles, the city of Los Angeles County of Los Angeles has over 50,000 homeless individuals, people facing homelessness. The city of Long Beach has 2000. We we still have effective programs in place. And obviously, one homeless person and one person facing facing housing insecurity is too many. Recently, the state legislature and the last hour, our advocacy on this council as well we were able to get those in the state budget when. Wall of how much money? 12.5 million. Speaker 5: Approximately 12.3 million. Speaker 12: 12.3 million. That was realized just a few weeks ago. Measure H was passed when? Speaker 4: A little over a year ago. Speaker 12: That is we'll get how many how much? Speaker 4: KELLY It's currently about $3 million of services into Long Beach. Speaker 12: $3 million in services in Long Beach. But I think there's a lot more that'll be coming behind that. But the point is, these moneys and these these dollars are have not had an opportunity to actually even hit the system yet. And there's still a lot I would just say to to I'm not going to say people be patient, but bear with the staff here, the city here. We are working to to end the council to to to get get those those resources where they need to be and to to to tackle this problem. That's several million dollars that that we have right now that we have to put to work the the the issue before us. An item being discussed is developing even another local source of funding that can be helpful, that can be leveraged to improve everything across the board. And I think it's one that we need to have, but I'm glad that we're also being realistic in terms of approach in that it may not make it to this this ballot. It may require a special election. It may require and is definitely going to require a lot more community input. The item before us asks staff to come up with a strategy. Right, and to come back in a week or two with the strategy. And that's going to be two weeks, I believe, with the strategy to do that. Now, I would say that they've been developing and working toward a strategy already. And so that will be unveiled and we'll have an opportunity to to hear about that strategy and discuss that the strategy and determine priorities as a city council. But this is a going to be a process, and this is what governing is. Nobody has the automatic answer I've heard from we've heard from many people here. If everybody if somebody here has the magic, magic answer, then then, you know, they should probably be sitting here. I don't think any of the policy solutions that have been thrown at us or this council have been criticized for for not moving forward with is the the panacea to the issue that we are facing. This is a challenging issue. And I appreciate Reverend Wood for his comments. We have had some some conversations with clergy and community around this. This is not something that anybody and I can tell you that myself, I'm not taking this lightly. Rex brought this issue to my attention a few days ago and asked me to sign on his support. And I'm absolutely happy to support this because this is a conversation that we need to be having and we need to be like I said, it needs to be on the forefront of every one of our city council members minds. And I can tell you that it probably is. You know, aside from the public comment members here today, we all hear from constituents on a daily basis. People are contacting our office with challenges and problems and we are challenged to to to come up with solutions and provide resources. And I can tell you that this issue is one that vexes me and causes me sleepless nights on a on a daily basis. This is something that is very important to me. So probably one of my script a little bit in saying that. But I think a local source will allow this this the city greater resources and the ability to help control his own destiny. When it comes to the issue of homelessness and housing insecurity, I'm glad that this conversation is is before us. And I am looking forward to hearing from a comprehensive strategies from from our city staff moving forward and in continuing this conversation, but also moving toward action and solutions. So thank you very much, Rex, for bringing this forward. Happy to cosign on this and look forward to working with everybody moving forward. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin. I do have a lot of folks that are queued up to speak, so I'm going to make a few comments and then turn it over to Councilwoman Price. So I want I really just thank the authors of the motion. Of course, I think this is important, and I want to just go back a couple of steps and then go over some of the items that are in front of us and then talk directly to a local revenue source as well. So the first thing which I think is important is and it was mentioned a few times today. Is the conversation of a local revenue source isn't a new conversation. In fact, it was first proposed by the Affordable Housing Study Group that proposed a variety of recommendations for the Council to consider there. I would say that most of those recommendations are all moving forward and we've been getting regular updates on the status of those. I think obviously people are aware of our community work right now with Airbnb process. I think the inclusionary zoning ordinance, which were I think a lot of us anxious to get in front of the council for a debate on that I know is being worked on and is currently in the process of being developed as well as other issues that are going to be before the Council in the next in the next few months. The bond the bond issue was clearly spelled out in that report as either a bond or a local revenue source to provide funding for affordable housing. That's something that was discussed with a lot of members in both, not just the advocacy community and the housing community, but also on the property owner and business community side. So I think a lot of people have talked about that, that funding piece. Let me also say that staff just a few months ago presented the council with a very lengthy report about what a bond could raise for the city and what other local revenue measures could impact the the ability for us to build more housing. I think we have to be very honest and remember that the city lost its main source of funding affordable housing. We used to have redevelopment that built a lot of affordable housing. We no longer have that. And I think at times asked, why isn't the city itself building more affordable housing? The city doesn't build housing. The city is not a home builder. Every unit of affordable housing that we build is subsidized by the city. The city subsidizing that, whether it's through local grant, federal grants or state grants. And so we build as much as we're able to get in subsidy. And so for every affordable unit that we build and all this and all the affordable units that we build are rent stabilized units. There are 7000 rent stabilized units in the city of Long Beach or rent controlled units or whatever you want to you want to call those units. Those units are are most of them in perpetuity or have long multi-decade covenants on them? Because we are we are paying an annual subsidy so that they stay and remain affordable. I think there is wide consensus that we need to have more rent stabilized units in Long Beach. Think most people have said that and we're working on expanding those types of units across the city and we build those and we're continuing to build. There's about a thousand of them right now that are under construction in and around the downtown and across the city. And so we work and continue to work on those on those units as it as it relates directly to should the city look and work with the community to find a local source of revenue to fund more affordable housing? I mean, the answer to that is my opinion is absolutely yes. And we should be working with everyone, all of the partners that came forward with us today, but also those that spoke. When you when you put measures like this in front of a community, you have to bring everybody to the table. You don't pass things without some kind of community conversation that involves all the all the effective people that are going to be part of this this type of campaign, an effort that would need to take place. I've heard from a couple of people that the city shouldn't, not tonight, but those that have some folks have called me that the city shouldn't pass on or the city should tax folks. And just a reminder, the city doesn't we don't tax anybody. The only the taxes that pass the city are voted on by the voters. And so this council doesn't go and increase someone's tax or or do a partial tax. There's only decided by by voters in the city. And the city continues to work on on a variety of items, particularly when it relates to homelessness. I want to mention, I think this is a good discussion. It's one that I that I completely support. But I want to also mention there's a lot of work happening in this area. And I know that for some folks, it's not fast enough and it's not I don't think it's fast enough for anybody on this council. But the work that's happening on the Everyone Home task force that have now met on a couple of occasions is going to produce, I believe and staff believes, some pretty significant recommendations for the city council and they are discussing issues around ensuring that people are able to stay in their homes. Issues on not just building affordable housing, but also issues around homelessness prevention. And we know that homeless homelessness prevention is is done first and foremost by ensuring that people that are on the verge of becoming homelessness have. Rent the ability to bridge that rent or to have rental assistance. They can stay in their homes and increase and to be able to increase the rent stabilized units that we discuss. So when it comes to the issue around tenant protections, that's something that staff have been researching for many months. They've been looking at best models from across the country. They're meeting and going to be meeting with with the with property owner groups. They have been meeting already with many of the housing advocacy groups. And that and that is going to continue. And those those recommendations are going to be in front of this body as the Everyone Home Task Force completes its work. And so I just want to make sure that we're all aware of that, as well as the funding that we just got from the state, which is a one time $12 million infusion to help us do the homelessness work. The we get annually, like Ms.. Colby said, about 3 million from Measure H. Is that right? Three and a half million? Speaker 4: Yeah, it'll be about 3 million or so. Speaker 0: So. So because of the the state funding, which was a piece of legislation that the the that the ten the mayors of the ten largest cities proposed to the legislature, that's an additional $12 million that we're going to get in one year, which is significantly more than we get annually from Measure H. So that's going to allow us to do some pretty exciting things like open the the permanent winter shelter, the permanent citywide annual shelter, do a bunch of other innovative projects around homelessness that this council has talked about. And I'm very excited about getting started on all those initiatives around homelessness. So we the last thing I'll say is one thing that we have charged, the Everyone Home Task Force is also identifying the amount of units that we need in Long Beach to create that are affordable and that are that that we have to create, that we can house every person that's experiencing homelessness in the city of Long Beach. And we know right now that's about 1800 people are experiencing homelessness in Long Beach and what that exact number is, so that we can actually set goals to build those amount of units annually. I think all those things will be will be important. And so I want to just take us through it because the staff's working really, really hard on this. And I want to ensure that to the staff that's here on this issue, that we appreciate the work and will continue working on this issue. That is the most serious issue that we face right now as a city. And so thank you. And Vice Mayor. Councilman Richardson, it's going to take me a while to adjust. Councilman Richardson, thank you for bringing this forward and the signers. And I want to turn this over to Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, for your comments. I agree with many of them and to Councilman Richardson for bringing this item forward and of course, to the Cosigners. I want to I want to thank everyone who came out tonight to talk on this topic. I think it's it's a really important one. But I'll be honest, I'm going to go into it a little bit more. I think there's two different issues here. And for whatever reason, they're merged together on this item. And I'm going to talk about why I think there are two different issues. Both issues are very important issues. But merging them together, I think, confuses the issue, albeit it might be politically advantageous to throw the word homelessness in there. I think the conversation we're having really should be about affordable housing and finding an ongoing, sustainable local source for affordable housing. That's a very separate conversation, in my opinion, than the very complex issue of homelessness, which I'll talk about in a minute. I want to thank Councilman Austin for pointing out the work that every single member of this body has done collectively and individually to try to address the issue of homelessness that we're seeing in our communities. We're all hearing from our residents in different ways. Residents and business owners, community leaders are coming at the issue of homelessness from very different perspectives. Some are concerned about the quality of life impacts they're witnessing. Some are concerned about the the the lack of opportunities or our ability to communicate those opportunities for services to the homeless. So together as a body, every single person behind this dais has been very, very actively engaged and involved in homelessness. It's this is a conversation about homelessness that started long before today. And one of the things that I think we've realized when we're looking at what's going on around the country and Councilman Austin said it beautifully, there is no silver bullet or magic bullet. I don't know the word he used, but there's been no answer that anyone has found. And every entity, every municipality is looking at homelessness and trying to chip away at the problem by looking at different long term solutions that we. Utilize. For example, one of the things this council studied was the possibility of implementing a social impact bond, which some cities have done, which is public private partnerships that invests in homeless individuals. Another is a homeless work programs that we're going to be implementing, hopefully in the near future in the city. But one thing that's for sure as we look throughout the country is that homelessness is such a complex problem that housing vacancy alone, free housing vacancy in the form of a shelter has not been proven to be a solution because you can't force people into a shelter. At some point there's got like, for example, in Orange County, they have homeless, really tent city type encampments that have developed all over. And yet some of their shelters, their free shelters still have vacancies because people aren't accepting the service of the shelter. Maybe the barrier to entry is too high. Maybe they're not at a place where they're looking for that. Even our own winter shelter here has vacancies and we have beds available. So sometimes the issue or many times the issue with homelessness is so complex and some of the speakers talked about it. Most often we're dealing with mental health issues. We're dealing with substance abuse issues. Many times when you survey the homeless population, for anyone who's gone on a homeless outreach right along, which I've had the opportunity to do several both here in L.A. County and also in Orange County, the individuals that you speak with will tell you that the impetus of their predicament started with mental illness or substance abuse, then loss of a job, then loss of housing or some variation of that. But it's never just an inability to pay rent, not never. Sometimes it's inability to pay rent. But a lot of the individuals that we see that are homeless today are suffering from a myriad of issues, one being the inability to pay for long term housing. So I think homelessness is a very complex issue and the shelter is one solution, but the shelter is not. The homeless shelter is not the same as affordable housing, affordable housing. And the city's commitment to affordable housing, especially in the area of loss of redevelopment funds, is a critical and very important issue, and it's an issue that I absolutely support. But to say that a local source is going to be dedicated to homelessness, but also to affordable housing, I think that needs to be clarified a little bit better if this is something that we're going to actually take out to the community and talk to the community about. My understanding, and this is really a question for staff, I heard Councilman Richardson direct staff to look for a permanent homeless shelter. But I swear, I've been having that conversation with staff for months. Staff is currently has been for months looking for a permanent homeless shelter. It's not an action that's being directed tonight, correct? Speaker 5: Yes. That is something that we have been actively pursuing and something the council has been very active about and talking about. We had a very successful winter shelter program up on a on a site up in North Long Beach. I believe that's what he was referring to. So we interpret that as help understand how to move this item forward and get it funded. Speaker 7: So do we have and I I'm grateful to have the opportunity to meet with our director of Health and Human Services for quarterly briefings. And I think at our last briefing, there was a discussion about as having funds available to purchase a site, as do we. Is that still the case? Speaker 4: His term your maintenance. Speaker 5: So we'll be coming back to it on the report on that. We do have some funds from the county to be able to to implement a shelter and do the operations. We are still putting together the final funding strategy on how to acquire the building. And then, of course, it's depending on what building we choose to acquire and at what price. So the state funding of the $12 million that's coming in, we think, will be a great funding source for a portion of that work in addition to other priorities. Speaker 7: That's great. So when will we know whether or not the state funding that we've received will allow us to cover any funding gap that we have to acquire a building? Because operationally, the county is helping us implement the shelter. So purchasing a shelter we could theoretically do with the money we already have, right? Speaker 5: Yes. It all comes down to really what building we're going to purchase and at what price, which is kind of part of a closed session discussion about, you know, those negotiations. So before we can say exactly here's how much we're going to be spending, you know, we want to make sure that we have an agreement on a property. Speaker 7: Do you think that that's something that will be discussed by council in the next six months or so? Or do you think we're looking at a longer timeline just to kind of take a look at this item and how funds revenue sources would be utilized? Speaker 5: We hope it will be much, much quicker than that. So we can as soon as we have some some news, we'll get into closed session and talk about, you know, specific parcels and properties. And at the next meeting, we can talk in general about, you know, some of the efforts that have been going on. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 7: Great. Thank you. I think a couple of my colleagues and some of the and the mayor certainly talked about several initiatives that have been passed in regards to homelessness specifically. And we are the beneficiaries of thanks in large part to the mayor's efforts and those of other mayors. We are the beneficiary of state funds. We're also the beneficiary of county funds through Measure H, which we've already touched upon. But I think the advantage that we have right now is we're able to implement some of these dollars and see what works and doesn't work before we come up with longer term proposals of where we want to invest money into solving the issue of homelessness. I think the Everyone Home initiative that the mayor initiated, that initiative is just now underway. I mean, this group is just now getting started. And I hope and I fully expect that they're going to come back to the table with some recommendations that are specific to homelessness, that address not just the housing gap, but also some of the other issues that make homelessness such a complex issue. Well, I think it's really important for us and I agree with George Rivera. I don't think he's in here anymore. But is he here? Yeah. One of the comments that he made is and I agree because I remember meeting with him about this early on when I took office about the need for local source, for affordable housing. And when we had that discussion, we didn't talk about specifically about homelessness because the issue of affordable housing is on its own. Absent the homeless crisis that we're experiencing as a state and as a nation, an issue that warrants its own consideration and its own deliberation and solution, and this is a conversation at least the entire time that I've been on council and many, many years before then, since redevelopment funds went away. I think it's important if we're going to have any sort of proposal about future revenue that we have. A very comprehensive and inclusive discussion that addresses all the different options and isn't something that is. I have to say this seems a little bit rushed and the part about it that seems rushed, as I thought and I've shared this with Councilman Richardson, that we were just going to be starting the discussion tonight. But when I look at the first paragraph of the item, it asks city staff. To report back at the next city council meeting on this very broad category, which is gaps in prevention, services and housing for individuals and families who. Speaker 2: Are. Speaker 7: Precariously housed or experiencing homelessness, as well as the costs and opportunities to address these needs. I guess my question would be for staff, because I myself have submitted items in the past around homelessness and been told that it's going to take many months to respond. Is this realistic for staff? Would you be able to come up with a comprehensive report that talks about gaps in prevention services and how housing for individuals and opportunities? And and how is that realistic in light in the context of all the other items that other council members have brought in the past? Speaker 5: So. Councilmember that's a good question. We actually have been doing a lot of work in this area dating back to the Affordable Housing Task Force. We've been talking about the revenue sources for about 14 months when that first came up, and we've got some of that data already available. You know, we will do our best to come back on the seventh, at least to start that discussion. We think we can come back and talk about some potential funding strategies. We can give some sense of the need. I think you make a good point that to really dove deep into understand fully and, you know, the complexity of all of this is going to take some more time. But we understand the request is to start that discussion quickly. We have a lot of this information. It's a matter of compiling it, and then we'll let you know what we don't know and what we still need some additional time. And so this will certainly be a work in progress. We don't expect to have everything done by next Tuesday or the seventh by any means. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 7: And I guess my next question would be to my colleague, Councilman Richardson. Are you okay with that, knowing that there's probably going to be more information and we might have to flush out a little bit the issue of affordable housing versus homelessness? Speaker 3: Absolutely. So. So, number one, I think they are linked. Affordable housing, particularly the lack of very low and extremely low income targeting. I think they are linked the three examples of revenue of options in those cities. Some of them have done a really good job at linking both policy to revenue, but it takes time. You know, in talking with city staff and preparing this, we knew that there was already sort of a number of sort of things prepared. But this type of report hasn't been requested to be heard in front of city council to start that comprehensive discussion. So I get it. If it seems like we're asking for a lot. No, we're asking for them to present what they've been working on for years and give them their day for us to talk about specifically. Revenue and revenue could address both affordable housing and homelessness, and I believe they're linked. We've seen examples that they're linked. There's ways to link them. There's ways to do dual measures. One addresses policy, one addresses revenue, and they sort of work together like Measure H and H in L.A. County, L.A. City work that way so we can have that conversation. So I think the timing, I think we're fine with in terms of this this conversation, there was I want to just say something about the shelter conversation. Yeah. Every year, the winter shelter, it's an emergency. And every year, at least the last like nine years it's been between District nine, District eight. And so with that history, there needs to be a little bit of buy in before council can for city staff can even really move forward on some of those conversations. So they haven't gotten that sort of direction from us before. And hearing that from me personally and specifically talking about evaluating former winter shelter sites, I think that needed to come out and be heard, particularly in front of, you know, North Long Beach residents, which, you know, I know that with sort of this history of NIMBYism Council offices really haven't been willing to step up and say, hey , I'll take on this fight, I'll take on that conversation. So so it comes with a little bit of experience in doing that. So I think that should be respected a little bit in this conversation. Speaker 7: Absolutely. And the record should reflect you are very respected and I that that I appreciate you clarifying that. And just so everyone's clear, very respectful of the efforts of the districts that are willing to take this on. But, you know, I think it's important also, I've been telling my residents for about eight months now that we're looking for a permanent shelter site. So I just wanted to make sure that tonight wasn't the start of that conversation, which I'm glad that it's not. And I'm grateful that that you've brought that item forward and we're moving it even one step forward. I think that's fantastic. I do have a question, though, about the proposed revenue sources. I know council is going to come. Our staff is going to come back with something. Other than a bond is has staff thought about general fund allocation? Has that been something that's been discussed? Speaker 5: So as we understand the item and really to combat an issue of this magnitude, we're really focusing on additional revenue. As you know, we go through budget processes every single year and there's a lot of things that need to get funded. And so in order to do something of this magnitude that we believe the issue is we we really think we should be focusing on new sources. We provided some information to the council in the past, and I think the last one was probably 2016, where we kind of did a PowerPoint and went through what are all the options, you know, what are the things that could be considered. And we actually went through that process of identifying those measures for the measure, and obviously we settled on a sales tax measure. So we are prepared to come back and show what some of those are. And and because of the magnitude of the issue, there's the ones that generate the largest amounts will be likely at the top of the list. Speaker 7: Okay. And I appreciate that. And I know I know staff is going to go back and give it a really hard look and come back with different revenue options. It seems like we've done nothing but go to the voters with tax increases and additional revenue sources that are impacting them. I cannot imagine a situation where I would personally or that my residents would be looking favorably upon any additional revenue source that's going to cause an additional tax at this juncture. So to the extent that staff can be looking at things that don't impact residents in terms of an additional tax on property sales tax, anything that's going to hit people even harder, I think that would be very welcomed and a conversation that I think we could meaningfully have with our residents. But beyond that, if we're looking just on the heels of all the different increases that we have passed and asked voters to support, I personally, I don't want to be in a position where we're asking them to pay more into something, especially something that is really. Speaker 4: Very. Speaker 7: Preliminary at this juncture and won't alleviate a lot of. The concerns we have on some of the more complex issues that need more a more holistic look and development. So again, I thank you, Councilwoman Richardson, for starting this discussion and for allowing us to have an honest discussion where we are representing our thoughts, viewpoints and those of our residents in a meaningful way. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 2: Thank you. Kelly, you had mentioned I've actually seen you at some of the county homeless meetings or your staff actually. And I really appreciate taking part in that. I think that one of the things that's really important to recognize is that the measure H is a local tax levied upon the entire region. And I think that earlier in the discussion we talked about that L.A. County is providing us $3 million. Yes. And that's this year's allocation, is that correct? Speaker 4: Well, it's essentially it's essentially our annual allocation. They will go back and revisit. They're very specific to certain strategies. So just for people to understand the measure, H is not, you know, 3 to $3.5 million that that sort of is handed to the city to spend as we wish. There are very specific strategies in which it is which has to be spent, which include prevention, outreach, rapid rehousing. We also have funding coming in to the to the housing authority and then also to Pacific Gateway. Speaker 2: And then we also have a $14 million grant that I read that we received for homelessness. Speaker 4: Now we have five we have 12.3 million coming from the state of which about two and a half million of that goes directly to the city. And the remainder of it goes to the continuum of care, the city. Speaker 2: Which is the city. Speaker 4: But it has to be it has to it has to be engaged with community partners and others as part of the continuum of care and to a direct allocation. Speaker 2: And that's separate from the other 25 million. Speaker 4: But other 25 million, the. Speaker 2: 25 million mentioned a minute ago, because I hadn't heard about that before. Speaker 4: And that's that there's no 25 million or so that total a total amount. So this year a one time is 12.3 million, which is the 2.5 plus. The remaining nine is coming in from us, from the state and then from the county. We're getting between three and three and a half million dollars direct to the city for specific strategies. But we also can engage in other services with the county that they're providing through other through other resources. So those are the primary. And then every year through the in the continuum of care funding, we just received just a little over $8 million. And then we received other funding from the ISG and other sources that bring it to somewhere between ten and $12 million. Speaker 2: Wonderful. And then have you attended some of those countywide meetings? It sounds like within the total pot of annual revenue for homelessness, the annual expectation is how many millions? Speaker 4: 3.50 million is the total amount that measure eight is expected to generate annually. Speaker 2: Annually, so 355 million. And of the 355 million. Not all of it has been set aside, but a large chunk of it has been set aside for housing. Is that. Speaker 4: Correct? No. The measure h funding, actually only a very small amount is set aside for housing and is very much focused on services. Speaker 2: Okay. So as a percentage, a small amount, but how much has been set aside for $15 million? Okay. 15 million. And is that concentrated right now? Because none of it is local? It's up in. Speaker 4: I don't know whether significant. They're really focused on not buying it or not. They're really not using that funding specific to that. I don't know what that means. I don't know where that's being spent. But Measure H is very is housing funding that is passed by L.A. City and very specifically Daly City. Speaker 2: And that one we're not a part of of don't contributing. Speaker 4: To contribute to nor receiving benefit from act. Speaker 2: But H eventually when measure A falls off, we will be a contributor to. Speaker 4: H. Yes, in year seven through ten we will be contributing a half a percentage. And when we have a percentage. Speaker 2: And when we become a contributor, we still won't have any formal say except for through the whole county process, we don't have any ability to navigate that and kind of pull it off to ourselves. Speaker 4: We will continue to receive our current allocation moving forward with this, we originally sat on the measure h i, I remember meetings around and they identified 29 very specific strategies that they're not funding anything outside of those 29 strategies. And we're receiving all those funds that come through Continuum of Care, Housing Authority and Pacific Gateway are different amounts. The remaining is the work that we do as partnership with the county. And so that that. Speaker 5: Clarification real quick it's pretty impressive important that language got any funding directly at all. So most cities in our county don't get any direct funding. There's a number of other funding sources. A lot of times they'll do, what, like a city revenue share. And this was not one of them. So Long Beach is receiving a direct allocation because of the continuum of care that we receive. We kind of wish it had been set up where every single city would get a portion of it, but it was really set up to be a a countywide structure and we were fortunate to get money out of that. Speaker 2: And in those years that we become a bigger contributor, our. Speaker 4: Local. Speaker 2: Contribution will be approximately 25 million. Speaker 4: A year. Speaker 2: Because we're receiving 53 million on Missouri. A half of that percent would be 20 something million. So we'll be contributing. I see letter. Speaker 4: Writing to calculate. It sounds. Speaker 5: About right. So at the time there. Speaker 2: Will be contributing 25 million receiving 3. Speaker 4: Million. Well, I would say that would directly we're receiving for very specific service right there between three and a half million. We also are being supported for permanent supportive housing and all the other resources that they're providing as a regional as part of state. And so I have direct control over the 3 to 3 and a half million. We are benefiting a much larger share from the remaining resources around regional and local service provision. Speaker 2: But where's that nearest local permanent housing available through that system? Speaker 4: It's not permanent housing and that permanent supportive housing. So permanent supportive housing never and permanent supportive housing through the continuum of care. And then through that, we also have we also can participate in housing for health. They may or may not be work. They may or may not be housed in which they could be housed in other locations as well. Right. Speaker 2: So it sounds like there are revenue streams coming in which kind of substantiates and talks through a little bit more of what Council and Price said and that each of these components of homelessness are still being tried and figured out and understood and. While I do look forward to hearing a more formal presentation from the city staff on all the things they have been working on, I also am very cognizant that in my meetings when I sit down with department heads, the long list of things that the council has asked for report back on this in 90 days, report back and this 120 days. Often those aren't even able to make deadline because the number of additional things that come up and the number of additional things we're asking for continues to grow. I've looked at that list before. I know that I've sat down with the city manager's office. I know that we're still waiting for some reports back from Councilwoman Gonzalez and Councilman Pierce's item related to our transportation options of letting people park overnight and the churches and all of these others. And so. Sometimes when I sit with individuals and talk through like I really want the council to address A or B or C, one of the things that I try to do is say, Well, here are the things that are in the queue for department or department B or Department C and where do we want to put this in terms of what's owed back to the council so that we can make good decisions? And so. Speaker 4: While I do. Speaker 2: Want to hear this, I don't know that there's an urgency for it to be. Speaker 4: Next week. I would prefer. Speaker 2: All the answers at the same time if that is possible. And so that would be my only comment. It is a large amount of complexity on multiple issues of homelessness and housing and all these different things. And I would love to have a full spectrum sit down of all of the different programs, including the ones that are not included in this item that have come to council already, that we're still waiting for reports back because those two are very complicated and complex issues. And so for. Speaker 4: That, I look forward to. Speaker 2: Hearing more from my colleagues on where to go from here. Speaker 0: Thank you, councilwoman. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 2: Thank you, mayor. And thank you to the cosigners and leading on this, both mayor and and councilmember richardson. And it is i think what's happening tonight is that we all feel really frustrated. We all feel like it's time to stop the bleeding. I know that it feels like every two months we are tackling homelessness and we're tackling housing and it just feels like we're spinning our wheels. And it's unfortunately part of the challenge of this epidemic that we have. And that's what it is, not just for Long Beach, but for the region. And so, you know, I want to talk through a couple of things, and I think I, too, felt a little, you know, having to read through the item and say, okay, what are we talking about? Is it a dedicated source or are we talking about these other pieces? So I think it just raises that we do have a lot of pieces that need to come back. And to clarify what Councilmember Mongeau was talking about with Measure H, I think is really important for everybody to understand is that we don't pay into it now, but we do reap the benefits of it now. And it's not until the last three years of it that we would actually as Long Beach be paying in. And so while we have the 12.3 million, very small percentage of that in Long Beach goes towards developing housing. And so we absolutely need a dedicated source for affordable housing, for affordable housing. And that cannot mean that we to try to get something passed, that we deal with something that has moderate in there. We know in downtown Long Beach, we have the downtown plan and we've seen what that means. We've got 3000 new units coming on board and they're moderate. We've got 17 affordable out of that. And so we know that we as a city need to tackle this affordability issue. I know in my heart what we need to tackle is is renter protections. And I don't know what that looks like yet for us, but. Speaker 4: I'm I. Speaker 2: Feel exhausted and feeling like it's not going anywhere. And as some of you probably know, I'm a renter myself. I just moved. Trying to stay in my district is not easy. It wasn't cheap. It cost me $6,000 to move. And I don't have that kind of money. You know, it's I'm lucky that I had family to rely on to be able to do that move. And it's a month to month, you know. So hopefully this council lady doesn't have any crazy wild parties. We're going to tackle that later on. But I understand that struggle and my grandmother is 84 and she just got an eviction notice. Now this is in Texas, but I'm here feeling helpless and trying to help her maintain a home that we've had forever. And so these are real problems that have to be dealt with urgently. And I hope to have that conversation very soon, not just on the the general source, but what are we doing right away to try to stop that bleeding? And I expect, you know, the apartment association and everybody else to be at that table, but it's it's time to do something. I have a couple questions for a staff. We have talked about coming back with the motel item. I know that that was an item that Councilmember Richardson brought before this. I know that I have some of those motels in my district. I know we've had some conversation with the villages of Korea and their interest and that where are we with that report back or what was the next steps with that and the timing on that? Exactly. Speaker 5: So we did a report roughly about two months ago, if memory serves out talking about the progress that we've made in in engaging the number of hotels and motels that were identified as the top priorities, we've done a lot of data analysis on, you know, to identify those five and starting to do strategies. One of the things that we're still working on is the amortization and kind of what that process looks like and how much would it cost or wouldn't it cost and and what are the options to do that? As we understand the motion today that was added, it's to look at a funding strategy. So we need to help identify, you know, if we were to get into the business of purchasing those, you know, what, what would that cost? And then how to turn those into permanent supportive housing. So that is something we'll do our best to calculate or at least give an update of where we are on the seventh with some more work to come after that. Speaker 2: Great. Thank you for that. And then if staff could also give us a report on to know it's been a while and forgive us for not giving you a heads up, but the transitional parking item, we had brought that before council in my first year and we had a report back from you after the consultant. And I think there was a dollar amount tied to that, which was 200,000 or something like like that, if I'm correct. Do you recall. I think that's about right. Speaker 4: It was it was it's very much connected to the ability to provide services and others within within that space. But I believe that's about right. Speaker 2: Great. So we had to remind everybody of the process. We had brought together a group of clergy to sit down. They worked with our consultant that we brought on, and they were a group that was willing to open up their parking lots to what we called transitional parking instead of overnight parking as a way to make sure that we connect people that are sleeping out of their cars, which I have a family with a young boy, you know, a few blocks from my house is a grandfather and probably a seven year old that are sleeping in their cars. And we're out there trying to get them resources and they're parked on Broadway. And so to have a church that says We'll open up our lot as long as you're committed to being a part of the continuum of care is something that we don't have in the city. And we've had this conversation multiple times. So I would like to ask if when this item comes back, if we could identify also somewhere in our general founder in our budget that first 200,000 to make sure that we can move this along because it's been there and we've been waiting to try to find the other money outside of the general fund. But I think it's time that we pony up that money. So if there's a way for us to identify funds for that, I think that would be a great step in moving something urgently that can happen today instead of a few years down the road. Do I need to make a friendly for that for vice? I mean, councilmember, I. Speaker 3: Support the item, but I'm unclear. Are you asking for them to put it in the budget? Speaker 2: I'm asking for them when they come back with your item to it to see if there's some funds, if they can identify where some funds would come from for that 200,000. Speaker 3: So everything that I made a motion on, I checked with them if this is something they can present. So I'm going to say the same thing. Is there something that you can deliver? Speaker 2: Can you give us a status update on it? Speaker 3: We can give you a status update. Speaker 5: On the cost and the program. I think funding decisions would come at a later. Speaker 2: Time budget. Speaker 3: Deal with that. Speaker 4: COUNCILMEMBER Thank you. Speaker 2: Let me just make sure I'm done with my I mean, I think again, I think my last comment is, is on process and knowing that this is something that takes a lot of dialog behind the rail and asking my colleagues and the mayor to consider, you know, we've done a housing study before. When we've started at three are we started at four for us really to have those presentations and to understand what all the things are that we're talking about, similar to what Councilmember Price said, but that we aren't being rush to get to our next items. It's 930, almost 930, and we still have a council agenda in front of us. So to have a meeting where we're able and we're all settled in for the long haul to ask tough questions and what does inclusionary housing look like? How does that connect with our land use element? I, I added density on seventh street mainly to think about affordable housing and how do we get inclusionary housing there. And so how do these pieces fit together and what funding sources do we need? I think we're just having that conversation again really, really soon. And again, I think the renter conversation is something that I hope that my colleagues will join me in really tackling and not being scared of of of doing the right thing by our constituents. So thank you guys very much for coming out and participating and all the members that worked with Councilmember Richardson. We have a lot of work to do and it's going to take all of your guys help. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, councilman ringo. Speaker 9: Thank you, marin. I want to thank my colleagues who have already spoken ahead of me. They brought out a lot of good ideas, a lot of good viewpoints and observations about this item. I think staff is being tasked to come up with a report fairly quickly. And so I think that whatever it came up with, it's going to be preliminary as I see it. And it's nice to see this whole issue. It's very, very complex, it's been said. But I look at it as from a perspective of being a holistic approach to dealing with with this whole issue of homelessness and affordable housing and as well as, you know, meals and all that. Bottom line is, is that we are in a in a crisis. And I think this is the first time that I can recall that we're having such a robust discussion on homelessness, whereas Ms.. Sherry Bruce Hart, we need her. You know, she's up here every every council meeting for the last couple of months. She's talking about that. We don't address homelessness here. We are. So in in her, surely we're talking about you. But at the same time, you know, we look at that at the fact that we we do have this crisis. About a month ago, I had a discussion in my district regarding homelessness. I had the the city prosecutor come in and make a presentation, as well as as representatives from our from our homeless bureau also came up and in and the question was asked all the answers questions was asked and the question was asked, well, what are we. Doing that is. Are we looking at other jurisdictions? Are we looking at other municipalities or are we looking at other counties to get their ideas in terms of what is cutting edge from them? And the response was, we are on the cutting edge. So Long Beach is ahead of the game in in a lot of respect. And I want to thank Brandy Diandra, who's here today and make a presentation and a little bit for what's happening in that village is at Cabrillo. I mean, that is a really a state of the art facility that is addressing homelessness from many different angles, not only in terms of housing, but in terms of services as well. Looking at that, again, that holistic approach of addressing this issue, because they provide not only housing, but they provide employment guidance, they provide personal counseling, they provide other types of guidance, as well as some mental health services to address these individuals who are not only experiencing homelessness, are about to experience homeless, but also for the chronic homeless and the and the mentally ill. Just next next week, we're going to be having a ribbon cutting for a behavioral health center that's going to be opening up here in Long Beach. So we're increasing we're addressing these issues about homelessness and mental housing and how they all relate. So it is a holistic approach that we're dealing with this. And I'm and I'm glad that we are finally having this very open, honest discussion about the whole issue of homelessness, because, I mean, it's been it's been the big elephant in the room for a long time. My colleagues, I know we are we've all been addressing that in our own way and in trying to respond to. The concerns of our constituents when they see homelessness over the freeways and the underpasses in their neighborhoods and in the parks. But we've been addressing it individually, too, and I think this discussion is really bringing it to roost in the sense that we really need to approach this issue from from a total totality of the perspective. And even if we have to bifurcate homelessness with affordable housing, we can do that at a certain time. But right now, I'm looking at it as part of a holistic approach that we need to address at all, all at one time, so that we can really, truly identify what are the issues that we're being faced with and how we can address it. We know that homelessness didn't have the homelessness issue that we have here today. Didn't happen overnight. It came. It's happened over a number of years because of what's going on in our economy, what's going on with our building, what's going on with with with our with our own city, in the fact that, you know, we're built out . There's no opportunity for a new land to to get some some some new housing. But we can build up and we can repurpose and re configure some properties that would be able to provide that opportunity for affordable housing. So I'm looking forward to to the report that stack comes up with. And of course, it all costs money. And so by finding those revenue streams as to how we can raise enough funds to to do that would be the that would be the key to this whole factor. So looking forward to report and I'm glad that the Councilmember Richardson brought this forward because we do need to finally come out in the open with this. Let's be honest to ourselves. Let's be honest with our residents in terms of what realistically we can do to to approach this problem and and and get people housed and properly serviced. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Spano. Speaker 3: Thank you. I have a question about the PowerPoint presentation, and I don't believe it was part of the council agenda package unless I missed something. So when I first look at the item, that PowerPoint was not included. Okay. So I think I saw things in the PowerPoint specific to Seattle that are in the agenda item that I originally read in preparation for this. So it might be in the spirit of the motion, but I wanted to clarify it specifically, and that is, I think that one area where we can bifurcate the issues of affordable housing versus homeless housing would be in this need for mental health services and substance abuse. And well, that was specifically mentioned in the PowerPoint with Seattle. I think it's in the third paragraph under discussion in the agenda item. We lost several things on on on homelessness, you know, robust prevention strategy funding, training, employment opportunities, strengthening family dynamics, reducing domestic violence, ensuring greater access, connection to physical and behavioral health services, but nothing in there on substance abuse. So I don't know if that's a friendly if that was in the spirit of what you want included the maker of the motion. But that would be kind of a deal breaker for me if that's not included because I don't really think it needs to be included. Conversation is at the next conversation is when we start like this is the beginning of a larger conversation and the next meeting is where we can throw everything in. So thank you. So it was specifically mentioned in the PowerPoint, so we're not taking the PowerPoint. Literally, it's abuse. And I don't want honestly, we don't need to load up this motion with everything. So if it makes you feel better to say yes, homelessness and substance abuse, that's fine. Well, it's it's what's in your PowerPoint. So I'm just saying, if it's it's a contributor, like all these things contribute to homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence. There could be a lot of things. I just don't think it needs to be loaded up in the motion. But if you want that to make sure we keep a lens on that, I'm fine with that. That's not a problem. Okay. Thank you. Speaker 4: And I just want to clarify, behavioral health is mental health and substance use combined. So mental health issue. So whenever we talk about behavioral health, we we're talking about both as a common definition. Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. And what I was trying to say that it it appeared from the PowerPoint to the motion here that there's no commonality of there's different terminology use. So thank you for that communication my office put together. The PowerPoint is just examples of what other cities have. Not the prompt, but thanks. Give you a copy if you want one. Speaker 11: Gonzalez. Speaker 4: You're up. Speaker 7: Thank you. I think this goes in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of the longest policy discussions. But it's a very good discussion. And I thank Councilman Richardson for bringing it forward and colleagues for signing on. I'm very interested to see where this goes in terms of the framework and the flexibility that we have as a locality to really articulate the critical needs that we have. And I know we know what those are, and I think Brian and Renee and all of the advocates for being here, because really it's it's your work that we amplify and we really appreciate you coming forward, showing us your social impact study, which you will be doing very soon in talking about the real needs that we have here in the city of Long Beach specifically. So I know we've kind of taken this in different directions, but I just want to hit one point, you know , in downtown and I've been you know, everyone says, oh, why do you always say 1800 units in in District one? Because it's true. We have 1800 units of affordable living in District one. And I make that point because as we talk about a housing fund or I'm sorry that a separate local resource for housing. Absolutely, District One will always be a yes to affordable housing. And when we say affordable, that's very low income. In fact, we have developers that are looking in central Long Beach, a portion of the district for homeless individuals, which I think is just fantastic. And the residents are excited for that because there's a new activation there. But specifically with the downtown, with 324 units of affordable and downtown, 214 of them are in District one, which is great. We're also home to the MHRA, the MSI, the COA, the second Samoan Church, First Congregational Long Beach Rescue Mission, Beacon of Hope. We've hosted the Winter Shelter. We have hosted location points for people who need shelter rides. And we're extremely welcome to to this conversation. But I also want to make sure that we have an equitable distribution of affordable housing throughout the city, because we know that it's very important that we do. And I hear today that my council colleagues are open to that challenge to ensure that we are extremely equitable in L.A.. I know Councilwoman Nury Martinez brought forward a they set a goal, very ambitious goal for 3300 by 2020, and that every single council could hopefully bring forward 220 and originate 220 affordable units. Now, might sound crazy, but it's just an idea to put out there because we do need to establish a local goal goal, and I think we need to be very aggressive with that. We have also put forward keeping senior covenants and especially covenants that are due to expire places like Plymouth West that we know are very vulnerable seniors in downtown that are scared of what, you know, that the new market is bringing. And we want to make sure that we're keeping that. And I know Patrick Carey has been helpful in making sure that we're moving and checking along in those on that issue. Another point I'll make, just to include perhaps and to think about, I don't think that we've clearly established this when it comes to affordable housing or just individuals experiencing homelessness. I know the other cities are looking at accessory dwelling units and incentivizing property owners for accessory dwelling units and perhaps providing another opportunity for people to to live there. So that's another thing that I will say lastly to the residents that were here. I know they just left for a one with sixth street Oxana into my office has actually been in contact with Jorge eight. Libra you forgot to mention us, but that's okay. We've been working with you. We also have been working on ninth and Pacific as well with housing Long Beach. We worked with them extensively as well. So I don't want to create a message that this office or my office or the city council is not willing to work with individuals. We know we don't have a a policy on tenant protections currently that is like stark that you can see that's tangible. But we are absolutely piece by piece, unfortunately at this time working very directly with residents to ensure that they know what their rights are and offering and working and trying to negotiate with property owners to the best of our ability to make it fair for for both sides. So we're doing what we can in the best way we can, and most importantly, with the best interests of our residents. So thank you all for being here. I love that this has been a comprehensive discussion and we look forward to more discussions on this. Speaker 0: Thank you, vice mayor. Speaker 11: Thank you, Mayor. You know, first of all, I'd like to thank Councilman Rich for bringing this item forward. But I believe that this is among the biggest challenges facing the city, and we cannot address this problem alone. This is a need for Washington, D.C., Sacramento, to help us create a solution to all of this. I think we need to build new housing that is affordable for our seniors, working people and people with special needs. I think the key to building new housing is how to bridge the financial gap. I think affordable housing development needs to see the path to build new housing. I think we as a city must eliminate that path. And I'm sitting and watching people and listening to you. And I know you were saying when? How soon? And that's. Are you here all night? And when we finish, we just. It was just a conversation. So where do we go from there? We'll be back again. You guys are looking for something. A place for me homeless to live on this day. And we can't do it by just talking. We got to start something and get it done now. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you. Mr. Mayor is wanted to close it out with a couple comments. So so first thank you to the city council members for for speaking up and reminding everybody all the work that everybody's been doing on this. And and we do want acknowledge that work and it's important. The intention here just to refocus. You know, it doesn't take away from anything anyone else is doing. And we want and we like a lot of those ideas. But, you know, the conversation on revenue has been sort of absent on our side of the council. I know that the community, the Affordable Housing Task Force, has talked about it. A lot of folks have talked about it. But it's time for the city council to really talk about it. And talking about revenue is a conversation with the T word sometimes, and it's difficult for elected officials really have that conversation. So I'm proud that we were able to get through this first conversation about revenue. And I know it's difficult. We all have districts, we all have political leanings, but we have to have that difficult conversation about revenue. The other three pieces that were added in the idea here is we're moving from one place to the next. The hope is we move from one place to the next on the shelter. We you know, we've always dealt with this issue of, you know, leadership. Like, are we going to, you know, have that difficult conversation with our districts about, hey, someone's got to step up and have that conversation. So we're hopefully moving into that place. On the motels, we've had a conversation about the nuisance of them, the amortization of them, but we haven't integrated the the concept of converting them into permanent supportive housing. And hopefully we're moving into that conversation. On the housing choice vouchers, we put forth two different programs around landlord incentives to try to stem the issue of the low lease up. But the reality is our housing choice vouchers are at risk if we don't perform a certain at a certain rate. The federal government, HUD, could take that money away. And the reality is we've tried things and and the lease up numbers have not moved. So this is about progressing that conversation to policy. And so all of these things are not taking anything away from anything anyone has done. We support those things. It's not advancing it to the front of the line. What this is is sort of kicking off and bringing these important elements into the forefront of the conversation. And so that's what we're doing. I want to thank everybody and I encourage city council to vote. Yes, thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. There is a motion and a second, please. Members, cast your vote. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you and thank you, everyone, for coming out. We're going to move on to item 11, please.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the appropriate City departments and City Attorney's Office to report back at the next available City Council meeting on gaps in prevention, services and housing for individuals and families who are precariously housed or experiencing homelessness, as well as the costs, and opportunities to address these needs. The report should include a recommended funding strategy and implementation timeline for a dedicated local revenue source to address for housing opportunities for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, as well as early and late prevention strategies and services for those newly homeless and those experiencing chronic homelessness.

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_07242018_18-0617

Speaker 0: Thank you and thank you, everyone, for coming out. We're going to move on to item 11, please. Speaker 1: Item 11 is Communication from Council Member Muranga recommendation to receive and file presentation on the Century Villages at Cabrillo 2018 Social Impact Report. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a can I get a motion in a second, please? Councilor Murray Ringa. Speaker 9: Thank you very much. How fitting in the timing of the discussion to have villagers Cabrillo after a discussion we just had right now. So I'm going to pass it over to the villages of Cabrillo, make a presentation and I'll have some comments afterwards. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 2: Good evening or good morning, I should say. Not quite. My name is Kimberly. I'm the director of residential services at Century Villages at Cabrillo. And I want to thank you all for taking the time to hear our presentation and have an opportunity to see our 2018 Social Impact report. We're here. I'm here with my posse, my colleagues. And don't worry, we're not all going to speak. But we're here to support each other because the social impact report that's in front of you is is a product of a year long process of hard work at the villages, at Cabrillo. The agencies and the executive directors behind me represent all the agencies that are doing the hard work with our residents at the Villages and the hard work to put it into a report. So you can see that there are some results and so that it's not just all about numbers, but there is some success stories which after a conversation like today, sometimes it's really helpful to hear that there are some best practices and there are some things that are working. So it is it is my pleasure to go through a few of the highlights of this report for you today. So this year and there the Social Impact Report 2018 reviews our 2017 year and we've had a pretty good year of lots of growth and lots of milestones. We opened the anchor place permanent supportive housing, 120 units for veterans and families. We celebrated our 20th anniversary. Many of you were there to help us see 20 years of the villages at Cabrillo, and we saw growth in our community as you as, you know, the villages that Cabrillo was previously a Navy housing site serving the Long Beach shipyards. And in 1997 the property was conveyed to CVC for the purpose of benefiting the homeless. Today we serve more than 1500 formerly homeless veterans, individuals and families. On any given day, we think of ourselves as the backbone or the steward to the villages. And while it's an important role, we want to give credit to our 20 plus partners. Many of them are standing behind me today who help advance the mission of restoring health and hope and ending homelessness. I'd also like to thank the city for supporting our efforts from its continuum of care funding, capital funding for our developments. Speaker 7: Like. Speaker 2: Anchor place. Speaker 7: To serving as the backbone. Speaker 2: Of this larger community effort to end homelessness. The city should be very proud of its involvement in its contributions. As I said, each year that we look back at our accomplishments and we put it in writing now through our Social Impact report, and the process takes a tremendous amount of coordination across all of the people that you see behind me. All of our agencies bring together the numbers and our successes. This is overseen by the supervision of an independent evaluator, Dr. Beth Menke from Cal State, Long Beach. And so some just a few things that you'll see in the 2018 Social Impact Report this year. Each year we have a theme and it usually reflects some new initiative or something that we are we have accomplished over the year. This year, as you can see from the cover with yoga on the front was Pathways to Health. It's a collaborative started with the help of our St Mary's Dignity Health Grant and many on and off site partners such as Cal State, Dominguez Hills, Cal State, Long Beach, the children's clinic, the city's health department and many more got together to form a health collaborative. We know that social determinants of health are conditions in the environment where people are born, live and work that affect a wide range of health, functioning and quality of life outcomes. Pathways to Health is our answer at the villages that Cabrera addressing these social determinants of health by creating easily accessible social and healthy opportunities and an environment that promotes good health of our residents. Together our health collaborative partners, we were able to offer daily fitness classes, yoga, healthy cooking classes, weekly, onsite, farmstand gardening classes, stress relief workshops, music groups, art workshops, and much more to help promote help. This is in addition to our regular case management, mental health and substance abuse services, because we feel that offering these healthy choices in a neighborhood that is often called the food desert, and it makes it difficult for our clients because of their barriers to get these healthy options. We find that that is going to overall improve their health, their ability to go to work, and their ability to improve their life and their family's life. We know that going to a yoga class is not just about fitness and stress relief, but it's also about socialization and getting out of the house and making their villages like a real their home in their community. We're happy to say that over the past year, our efforts has allowed us to have 369 of our adult residents sign up for the Pathways to Health Program and participate in these programs. So this year is all about health, and we are really proud to say that this is not a one year initiative. Funding comes and goes. Funding came in, went for the Pathways to Health Initiative. But we have made a commitment to embedding health and wellness into our everyday programing in our everyday life at the Villages. DiCaprio Because we're more than about just providing a a house for people. We want them to feel happy and healthy in their community. So I am really pleased that this year we were able to spotlight that program. Now I just want to introduce one of my colleagues that will go through a couple quick more points in the Social Impact Report. Nancy Alban, the chair of our villages that Gabrielle's collaborative. Speaker 9: Gave me before. But before you continue, I don't think all of us got that report. Do you have a copy? No. Okay. So you might want to redistribute them if you have copies now so that the council can follow that report. Speaker 2: Good evening. We'll get you more copies. I don't know if we're I think we have some with us that. Speaker 7: We will distribute. Speaker 2: So thank you for pointing that out. My name is Nancy, and I'm pleased to be here tonight and address you as one of the service providers on campus. We try to invite everyone you see here behind me represent some organization that is providing services within century villages at Cabrillo. We wanted to try to visually show you our collaborative, which we think is a key to success for many of. Speaker 7: The issues that have been brought up tonight and. Speaker 2: To make those services successful for so many people in need. I want to share with you our mission, which is to collaborate, promote the healthy transformation of individuals, families and our communities. I also want to share that last year we provided housing to more than 2000 individuals. Speaker 7: About a thousand are half of those are veterans. And we have about 240 staff working on sites. Speaker 2: And we are very pleased to say we have about 30000 hours of volunteer time, which when you look at the equation, that's about $877,000 worth of support and services. We have 868 adults who are personally housed. 99% of them remained in permanent housing for a six month period. Speaker 7: After moving in and 97 were still housed after a year. Speaker 2: I definitely think that's a very concrete response to a need for the services as well as housing for many people who are in need. Again, we just want to thank you tonight. We really appreciate all the support that this council has given in the city, has given all the various departments. And it really does take. Speaker 7: A lot of people, as we've been hearing tonight. And so we really appreciate the discussion that's starting here. Speaker 2: We totally agree that it is important and that we also value your input and how to improve and grow, because we know that doing a little bit more really will make a difference in a few people's lives. So thank you again very much. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. And I just want to turn this back to Councilmember Wingard, but I just wanted to just thank all of you. I obviously, I think The Villages career was one of the best things that we have going in Long Beach or just really in the whole region. And you guys are just are just working everyday to contribute and are providing real results to ensure that people that are experiencing homelessness have dignity and a place to live and to stay and and the work that you do beyond just the issue of veterans, because it's so much more it's about families and youth and it's really amazing. So it's it's been an honor to be supportive and just to get to know all of you and and many of the the people you serve. So thank you very much, Councilmember. Speaker 9: Thank you for your comments. And truly, it takes a village. Villages are real. As I was talking earlier, the other item that we look at, the whole issue of homelessness in affordable housing and the holistic approach, and you are the perfect example of what I meant in terms of being holistic with behavioral health, with also drug and substance abuse and as well as with homelessness and job training. You provide it all. And it's a perfect example of what I was talking about, and it's another good example as to how we can repurpose some of our land uses or similar dilapidated buildings. We all we all know already that redevelopment went away. So it's it's we're more challenged in a way to be repurpose and restructure, reorganize some of those properties. But this is a perfect example of how that can be done in a way that would be honorable for those who end up in those kinds of housing. So I want to thank you so much, Steve Coleman's your executive director. I know he's not here tonight, but please extend our our congratulations and job well done. And, of course, Renee Castro right there. You know, you're fairly new to the to the job there, but you're doing a wonderful job there as well. And every time I step on that campus, I get a big smile. Big. Hello, how you been? And it's beginning to feel like I'm a regular fixture there for my council members and colleagues. If you haven't had an opportunity to visit the campus, I strongly encourage you to do so. I think you'll be amazed at all the wonderful work that goes on there. And of course, nothing like that happens without having a good staff and and it's a great staff that they have ability to Cabrillo. So thank you for your presentation take for being here. Speaker 0: Thank you very much, Councilman Austin. Speaker 12: Thank you. And I'll be very sure I very much appreciate the presentation and enjoy it every time you guys come and give this economic impact report. I'm definitely going to dig in and review this and just echo the comments of my seventh District colleague. Council member You're Enga I've toured the villages. I'm very impressed with the work, the dedication and the the services that you provide there. There 2000 or over 2000 people housed there. I mean, that's a that's the magic number that we're looking for here. And and you guys certainly represent, I think, a best practice for us to to work toward and to to build upon here in the city of Long Beach. So we look to you as a resource, but also as a guide for our future endeavors here to deal with our housing challenges. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 2: Absolutely. I echo my colleague's statements and I think, you know, it's often that we have organizations in front of us that we all respect and we all appreciate their contributions to our communities. But it's rare that we have an organization in front of us that does so much that really you guys and your wraparound services and the impact you guys have is showing. Stepping on the campus is an amazing experience, you know, and I said to my colleagues, let's just give them, you know, let's do the bond measure and give it all to you guys because we know what the outcome is going to be. Right. And so I just want to say thank you not only for the efforts that you do with those clients that need services, but for having an open mind in partnering with us. Whenever I come up with crazy ideas, even if they don't go all the way through that. You guys are. Yeah, let's do it. Let's figure out that looks like in the motel issue and everything else you guys have have been willing to have those conversations from talking about the shipping containers, you know, which is still not an idea that's fully fleshed out, but it's there more than it was before. And I'm really excited about having people like you at the table to kind of flush it out with. And also looking at your impact report, you talk about how many volunteers you have. And I think that that is the heartbeat of any organization outside of those that they help, knowing that some of those volunteers are likely clients . But even if they're not, that you have that many people, that you're touching their lives, that they get to have a one on one experience with somebody and have a life changing moment with them is what social change is. It's not a policy and policies can help, but it's those one on one interactions that we have with individuals that changes our world. And so just thank you guys for really putting your heart where your hands are, you know, and really getting getting dirty with it. So we love you guys. Thank you so much for this and keep doing great work. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you. I just want to chime in and just add to the kudos. Thanks, Councilmember Ranga, for bringing this up. I think he's got a fantastic jewel in his in his community in the seventh District. And I got to tell you, you're regional leader when I'm at the conference when. We're at SAG and the conversation around cap and trade came up. Long Beach continued to win because of century villages at Cabrillo. Other communities are trying to figure out your model, and I think that's amazing. And, you know, and another example is the social impact report. I get it every year. Brian I told you I model last year's ninth district Nelson and back report based on this exact same two years ago goes model and I'll share that with you. I think what you're doing is great. I think we have to continue to highlight it. But I really wanted to just say, your leadership in the region, your leadership in Long Beach, your leadership on the issues that matter. Long Beach is better off for it. So continue the great work that you're doing. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Bass. Speaker 7: Thank you. I want to echo what everyone said as well. And thank you for the work that you do. And this is a little bit unusual because we don't normally ask questions, but you're all here. So I did want to ask a question in terms of, you know, we talk a lot about substance or you're dealing with it every day. We're hearing things and reading reports and things that we hear a lot about. Substance abuse. Have you seen an increase in the people that you interact with having a substance abuse issue. Speaker 2: In. Speaker 7: Recent years? Or is that anecdotal, maybe not supported by the experience you're seeing? Speaker 2: I would say we have a we work with American-Indian changing spirits. We work with American-Indian changing spirits, which is a Native American program. Speaker 4: But anyone is welcome to it as long. Speaker 2: As they understand it's culturally relevant. And we have seen, yes, people are sicker. We've seen a lot more and we've we've had a lot more deaths. Speaker 4: And to the. Speaker 7: Programs that you offer, the holistic nature of those programs, do you? I'm sure there are many success stories of people who, with that support, have been able to overcome some of the substance abuse issues. Speaker 2: Have seen people overcome the issue who had been through as many as. Speaker 4: Eight rehabs before. Speaker 2: Because they tell me that speaking to the spiritual nature. Speaker 4: Of the issue is what really helps them. Mm hmm. Mental issue. Mm hmm. Speaker 2: Hi. I'm Gina. Lela alone with the children's clinic. And we serve adults as well. And we're part of the partnership with Villages A. And yes, we are experiencing increases mostly around opiates. So the good news is that we are bringing federal funding into the local community. So the children's clinic is bringing in or we're trying to bring in a substance abuse counselor at the Villages, a Cooper, as well as behavioral health. And we are going to be using federal dollars for that. Speaker 7: That's fantastic. Thank you, you guys, for everything that you do. I, I would like I know my staff has been there for many, many times, but I'd like to personally come and I think it's it's it's important. And I love what you're doing. And I'd love to be able to model what you're doing all throughout the city, replicate it. I mean, it seems to be very positive. So thank you for making a dent in a really complex issue that many people are grappling with. So thank you. Speaker 0: Based on your address? Speaker 11: Yes, I'd like to. First of all, I'd like to thank Councilman Ewing for this fantastic, you know, item that you brought here on the diocese's today and the center and the central village as an excellent model for the affordable housing opportunity. You know, really, if you take a look at I think we should all look at this. You know, the situation here, and I'm grateful that the city has developed and are promoting self-sufficiency of residents, providing a hand up and those who are really, truly in need. Because I've heard the community garden over there is great and that the community area is heavily utilized and the residents actually pride that are complex. So we started a garden way back in the days, but you guys have really, you know, done that and do you have a great job? Because the fact I make a grill, so if you find somebody, jump in the fence, I'm right there. So that's me. Okay. So thank you, Mr. Miranda, for putting this on. And amazing job. Fantastic. Speaker 0: Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 7: I just simply want to say thanks. I know you all work so very hard. And, you know, I've talked to many of you on various occasions on different components of your your model. And I just can't express how much gratitude we have as city council members that we can look to to you to, to really provide solutions for our residents. And a lot of like Council member Price said that there's a lot of issues that our average residents don't understand, whether it's the issue of substance abuse or homelessness and merging it all together are families that are in need. And I really oftentimes give them this report and say, look at what the what we are doing in the city that is very positive. And sometimes they don't look at that, you know, look at the positivity in the issue and just the negative elements to it in the city. But I think that we have a lot of positive due to you. So thank you very much. Speaker 0: And councilmember willing to. Speaker 9: Get to put an asterix on this whole presentation? We were visited by the National League of Cities a couple of weeks ago regarding what city can do with with the homeless and housing and the services they could provide. And they chose stability to give real to the police as a place to visit. And we also had a a were to a car how to home tunnel and tunnel discussion with HUD with the associate director, the deputy the deputy secretary of HUD to talk about villages in Rio and the tours that they offer there. So no question you are the at the cutting edge of what we need to do to address our homelessness issues as well as our affordable housing issue. So congratulations to you guys. You're doing a great job. Keep moving forward. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. I know we we have our presentation. There's no other additional public comment. Okay. Thank you guys very much. Let's give them a round of applause for their great work. So we still have a full agenda, which we're going to try to get through now in front of us. So let me go back to the mayor. Speaker 5: We still need to vote on that. Speaker 0: Yes, I'm sorry. Is the vote coming up? On the screens. Please cast votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Great. So we're going to just go through the agenda now, item 13. And you can read item 13.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a presentation on the Century Villages at Cabrillo 2018 Social Impact Report.

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Speaker 0: Great. So we're going to just go through the agenda now, item 13. And you can read item 13. Speaker 1: Item 13 is communication from Councilman Alston, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Spinner and Councilmember Turanga. Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft an ordinance to increase the enforcement tools available for the city against party houses. Speaker 0: I thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 12: So thank you very much. I think the the item is pretty self-explanatory. I don't think we need to labor this too much this evening. Certainly there's a lot of issues and we've experienced unruly houses as a result of short term rentals. I've had conversations with staff most recently since Agenda is in this, and I'm very confident that much of what we have in this item will be addressed in our upcoming coming short term rental ordinance, which we expect back in the fall. But I do want to make sure that this this item is is strongly consider. And I know we've been having public discussions around that, that particular issue. I want to thank my colleagues, Suzy Price, their Super nine Councilmember Irakere, for signing on and support. This is an issue that is that we're hearing from residents about, and it's that's very important to quality of life. And so I would just ask that we study this issue, but I would like to amend my motion to have it included into the short term rental ordinance conversation. That's okay. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman, for your support. Speaker 7: I think this is an excellent item. I want to thank my colleague for bringing it. This is especially important. Well, it's important everywhere. Of course, it affects quality of life in every community, but especially our densely populated communities, because sometimes what your neighbors are doing feels like they're right in your living room when it's a very dense , densely populated area. So I wholeheartedly support this and I look forward to having the bigger discussion when we come back to short term rentals and addressing this specific issue, which perhaps covers the majority of concerns that a lot of my residents have about short term rentals. So if we can address this, it will help alleviate some of the other concerns related to short term rentals. So thank you for bringing it forward. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 2: Yeah, I just want to say thank you for referencing the short term rental item and also that every party really does need a pooper. So thank you. There's that song. Every party needs a proper. That's why we invited you. It's the best song ever. You guys really. It's a fun song I thought we needed for the party. I think Suzy said that, and I'm just disappointed we don't have the same people that spoke at L.A.. You have to watch the L.A. Council meeting on the same item. You have my whole hearted support. Thank you. Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 0: Ever motion in a second. Any public comment on this? Please come forward. Any other public comment. Okay. We'll just have the speaker and then we'll go to a vote. Speaker 3: My name is and I can fe resident of sixth district. I have my hand here. I was walking down a little maybe in this one for the last one. Speaker 5: I just wanted to say. Speaker 3: I just think it's kind of weird, the emphasis on the conflation of homelessness with mental health and substance abuse. When the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Speaker 5: The first two measures that this as a chief reason for homelessness. Speaker 3: Is unemployment and lack of affordable housing. But it's okay in regard to this short, short term rentals. I mean, Airbnb, that's the reason why we're dealing with this. And as long as we don't enforce Airbnb or other enforced statutes, you know, penalizing people who, I don't know, kick out everyone in their building so that they can, you know, rent out homes and and property rental rates, rental properties for them to house, you know, Orange County and. Speaker 5: L.A.. Speaker 3: Residents coming down to go to summer and LBC or whatever. We're don't have the to claim I mean that's this is what we're having party houses where we allow something to creep up into the city fabric and now we're complaining about the realities that will come with it. You know you are Airbnb to dictate the rental market in the city we face. The we, the citizens have to have to live around these areas. We have to, you know, unfortunately carry the burden, get rid of Airbnb and we don't have to deal with this. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: We have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft an ordinance to increase the enforcement tools available for the City against party houses; including holding property owners responsible if they rent out their homes for massive gatherings that disturb neighborhoods, block the public right of way, and threaten public safety.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Next item is item 14. Speaker 1: Item 14 is communication from Councilwoman Price, Council Member Peers, Council Members Lupino and Councilmen Austin. Recommendation to require city managers to report back on how the city can expand the enforcement of fireworks violation through ordinance changes. Administrative citation process for fireworks violation and evaluate the feasibility of video evidence of fireworks violation provided to the city by residents Speaker 0: . Thank you. Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Thank you. This item is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't waste too much of my colleague's time talking about it. I would like to say that a lot of the recommendations that are included in this item were recommendations that residents from the third District actually worked on. They spent countless hours studying the issue, looking at what best practices are in other cities. We have one of the members of the committee here, and I think the the approaches that are being used by other cities are certainly an opportunity for us to continue to mitigate the impacts of illegal fireworks in the city. It's important to note that the amount of illegal fireworks activity that we get during the month of July places a huge burden on our public safety resources. For the 24 hour period of July 4th, the dispatch center handled 3200 calls 911, and the non-emergency line and 1419 calls were calls for service. This represents more than a 35% increase on the 4th of July versus the average day. So to the extent that we can try to mitigate some of these concerns and enhance quality of life for our residents, I think looking at best practices that are utilized, such as administrative citations, video evidence that we use and many other types of criminal cases should be things that we look at here in the city of Long Beach, and I ask my colleagues to support this item. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Huston. Speaker 12: Well, I would certainly sign on to support and and I will do that. I am if we have laws on the books, we should support and enforce our laws on the books. You know, I have always been very I've had my reservations about both safe and sane fireworks because they are legal all the way around us and I think is very difficult to to enforce that as a result of it. And I certainly don't want to see, you know, young people penalized more than they need to be. I again, I want to support this, but I also want to look at better education efforts. And if I would offer a friendly two to look at that, there were some things that I saw this this past year that I thought was very effective, implemented in other cities. Like hear from the city attorney in the city of Los Angeles on the airways doing public service announcements. I'd like to see more of that here. The impacts on on veterans and pets, those those that education effort, I think goes a long way to to help. And I'll just say this year, it seemed to me that our efforts paid off a little bit better because the impacts weren't as profound as last year. That's just an observation from from my neighborhood. But I can't speak for all. But it did it did seem like we improved in this year. And so I compliment all of our our our city team, our law enforcement, firefighters for for their great work and their hard work to to mitigate this. I'm happy to support that. You. Speaker 7: The other. Speaker 2: One? Yes, sir. Thank you. Pierce, please. Yes, thank you. I also support this item. You know, I think that there were some great ideas presented by the committee that worked on this. And the education piece is one key parcel echo Councilmember Austin's comments, having social media videos where it's hip and funny and some way to make sure that we're educating the community about the impacts. I think particularly in our districts where we're on the beach, we have a lot of people that will do their fireworks on the street and then take them down to the beach and it turns into a whole party zone all the way up to Seventh Street. So I know that we did see a reduction also whenever we did the sign. So I would ask that the city and ask also be included on that education piece. I don't feel like any staff is listening. Speaker 4: Oh, they're listening. Speaker 2: How are you guys doing? I just wanted to make sure that we're also including some costs towards the education components, not only on the video side, but I think the streets that we know in our neighborhoods that have people, that there's one street in my neighborhood every single year, they're doing the major large fireworks. So having those signs on the street really help, making sure that we're not tossing out simple solutions like that that let them know that somebody on that street is going to call PD and then also exploring the idea around the go Long Beach shop. I know if Councilmember Mongeau was here, she'd want to bring that up. If there is an option for how are we tracking, putting that power in the residents hands and then possibly sending a follow up, a letter or citation or warning, I think would be really helpful. So I hope we support this item. Thank you very much. Speaker 11: A super constitutional. Speaker 3: Thank you. I'd like to thank Councilwoman Price for bringing this item forward. I enthusiastically support it. I signed on to it. I also want to mention again the third district group who studied this and I for all their time and energy and expertize. And I think the last being they were here past 11:00 at night to present. So we thank them for that, too. And I believe last year we came up with that theme of vets and pets. And another issue is brought to my attention this year by a fourth District resident, and that is newborns. To any parent, if you can imagine taking all that time to get your newborn to sleep and then be awakened by a firework. So that's another part of the study I think we should include. Thank you. Speaker 11: Thank you, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you, Vice Mayor. Yeah, I just wanted to chime in for my support, but also say I'd like to see some data. I'd like to actually see, you know, a report on maybe a heat map on calls for service and responses across all of the police divisions. That's what I'd like to see, because I think that would really help us to see a picture of, you know, where is this really happening? Where are the troubles and possibly how we're responding to that in terms of resource allocation. So if you if you open the ad and that is a friendly that's a great idea. I want to see it. I want to see like like a heat map or data like response data calls and response from police and fire for the 4th of July. Thanks. Speaker 11: Thank you. Also, I'd like to thank Mr. Price for bringing this item forward. You know, this 4th of July was ridiculous in the Wrigley neighborhood. And have residents been enough? They said enough fireworks is going off at all times of the night. And I was. So I do one attribute a decrease in the calls to our police department on 4th of July to outreach that was done prior to the holidays. But I also want to point out that many people do not call because they know that on that day our public safety officers are overwhelmed with calls. I'm hopeful that the report back brings up a responsible and feasible, you know, enforcement opportunity for this issue. And I do not want to see residents put themselves in danger by recording others, you know, setting off fireworks. But I do think we need to come up with an alternative that allows enforcement enforcements, even if police officers does not personally witness the crime. Thank you very much. Do you have a public comment on this? Speaker 3: Yes, sir. Speaker 11: Please come forward. Speaker 10: Go ahead. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr.. Here. Speaker 3: Round two. Here we go. Michael Caldwell, First District. I live I live between fourth and fifth street on Magnolia Avenue. I have fireworks literally five feet outside my door. Beginning around 8:00, going all the way to midnight. I heard more fireworks going off than police sirens going off. I agree with what Councilman. Speaker 0: Richardson says. Speaker 3: That there needs to be more police done because what was basically happening was that I would see a patrol car. Speaker 4: Go by. Speaker 3: Then, like, okay, clear. Boom. All right. Speaker 0: There's no siren. I mean. Speaker 3: And no offense, but video use, do some good old fashioned detective work. You can hear it. You can see it. You know where you need to go? Go. Okay. You don't need to. Oh, we need to check tape. Where was it? What was. Speaker 0: What was it? No, no, no. Speaker 3: It doesn't work like that. My other big question is, and I've asked this for over 40 years, in 1983 was the first time I went down to Ocean Avenue to see the big fireworks display on the 4th of July. And then as I come back. Speaker 4: Home and I asked my mom, I'm go. Speaker 3: That's a great fireworks show, mom. I was so. Speaker 4: Excited. I was six years old. She goes, Yeah, but unfortunately they're illegal. Speaker 0: In Long Beach. And I gave her that. Speaker 3: That cute little six. Speaker 0: Year old look and go, What does. Speaker 3: Illegal mean, Mommy? Speaker 4: Well. Speaker 3: They're not allowed. I'm like, Then. Speaker 4: What did we just see? We saw fireworks being shot by the by the Queen Mary. It was the greatest thing in the world. Why are fireworks going off if they're not allowed? What's up with that? How does that work? I've been asking that question for 40 years and I'm like, you cannot promote this enough in the press telegram the week before the 4th of July. They are illegal in Long Beach. How are people bringing them in? Easy. Speaker 0: They're going to Lakewood. They're going to Hawaiian Gardens. Speaker 3: They're going to Cerritos. They're going to Cyprus. They're going to all those cool little fireworks stands. And they're bringing in the fireworks. Wow. There's a concept. My brother did this. I lived on Bellflower and Arbor, right by the Lakewood border. Speaker 5: He would go. Speaker 4: And buy fireworks. He would literally cross the street into the Lakewood border and shoot off his piccolo Petes. Speaker 3: Guess what? I am in Lakewood. I'm not in Long Beach. I don't get to go to jail. Speaker 4: I can fire up the fireworks. I'm like, Dude, you cannot do that. Speaker 3: You're like, Yes, I can, because of a little bitty loophole. So if you could answer that question as to. Speaker 4: Why in a. Speaker 3: Safe area the fireworks are going off when they are not allowed in this city. Please give me that answer and I will let this go. Speaker 11: Thank you. Thank you. Next question. Speaker 3: My name is Snake Information resident of Sixth District. Personally. Speaker 5: I don't think fireworks are a big deal. You know. Speaker 3: I think that our police force and our fire department have more important things to do than to listen to 3200 calls about people shooting up two $3 fireworks. I mean, the reality of a situation, much as in the city of Chicago, which has some of the most stringent gun control laws in the country, people just drive two or 3 hours south. Speaker 5: And they go to Indiana and they buy all the. Speaker 3: Guns that they want. It's the same reality here. Fireworks aren't going away as the gentlemen to perform you just said. You can buy it in a in a 5 to 10 mile radius. It's just like this. I saw I was actually here for the committee from third district for their presentation. And one of the things that they said was potentially creating a pathway for a misdemeanor into a felony for. Speaker 5: Laying off fireworks like some of that stuff. That's a joke. But you can't. Speaker 3: That was part of the presentation. I was I was here. It was one of the recommendations. Speaker 7: I don't believe that's correct. But one of the committee members is here. If there's any situation where lighting fireworks would be felonious conduct. Speaker 3: It was done. I said the pathway to following is the speaker. I remember it. It's just it's not a reality. And, you know, that's not it's not going to change the situation or the reality of people on 4th of July like to light fireworks, you know, even it's something we have to deal with because of some of that's been happening for the last 30, 40 years. The man just in 1983, you see fireworks. He was shooting them off. It's 2018 because they shouldn't have fireworks like that's the reality of the situation. It's a waste of time. It's a waste of resources. And clearly, you know, sales taxes and parcel taxes are, you know, opportunities for people, for things, for people. We don't want to be a resource to sales taxes. And parcel taxes are ways that we don't want to use taxpayers money here. I think the same thing we shouldn't have to pass on to the law enforcement to to work extra hard to do something that's going to happen for the next two weeks after what it's like. Speaker 4: We know what's going to happen. It's the same the same thing that happens every year. Speaker 3: I think what we could do as a solution is create designated areas for people to shoot our fireworks so that it would probably mitigate and at best dampen or create some type of decrease of where people are shooting out the fireworks instead of on streets. Maybe we can do it in designated areas. That way there would be less elderly people and newborns and veterans. And whatever your excuse we use for why we need to stamp out on those and we and we can actually try to have some effective change because the reality is, is the ways that these these solutions are being suggested are the reality you're not going to catch someone on social media. And that being used as a way to, you know, set down fireworks. Give me a break. The Shukla resident. The third, I think there's an interim municipal issue here, as we've heard. I mean, I grew up with one riding my bike to Lakewood was fine when I was a kid. But the reason why in 83 were two good reason why in 83 and in 2018 we have these ordinances just because we have our own gas and oil department and the cities that that don't mind selling stuff to. Our residents might want to be asked about why they like that tax base from selling, you know, fireworks, but they don't mind having those costs or potential risks externalized on to our residents or our city. And it's important. I mean, you know, we've had instances in the city, I mean, Signal Hill Fire, we've had some major, major issues with the accident gas infrastructure, oil infrastructure. A lot of the stuff that, you know, 100 years ago made us what we are, but we can no longer be committed to, not if we want a livable planet and organized life and all these good things that make life worth living. I'm looking forward to the report and I appreciate a lot of the time that was put into it. But the one thing I'd like to stress with my time here to all of you is the urge to criminalize or to tax. I mean, the original meaning of the word a tax is just an undue burden or just a burden. Something's got to be carried. Maybe it's financial costs. Maybe it's a social cost, other ways of determining cost. Just like we have different ways of determining price. The urge to criminalize the urge to have your neighbors report each other on video surveillance and, you know, report each other on social media. What kind of city are we creating where that's what we got to do for the sake of gas and oil, but for the sake of that infrastructure. Is there a better way? Are there ways that this can be amended? This can with with more data, with more understanding of what the pressures are, meet all the requirements we have, some of which, you know, some of which are really serious. I mean, we don't want a lot of that signal hill infrastructure ever catching on fire again. Thank you for your time. Speaker 11: Thank you, Inspector. Oh, no, please. Speaker 10: Good evening. I'm. I'm Ken Weiss, and I'm the chairman of the Fireworks Advisory Committee. And I have to thank you for voting to move forward on the administrative process. I can tell you I was one with personally researched the other cities on this issue and the city of Rancho Cucamonga significantly reduced their fireworks problem by implementing this piece of legislation. And I think it's something that can really be a benefit to the community because I think there's a lot of people who see fireworks going off that don't know where to turn. And by coupling this with the Golden Beach map and and and having the information go to the city attorney and a letter going out, these people, it's a start in getting control over the situation a little bit, and I think it's a good thing. In terms of the comment about the messaging. We have a very exciting component that we're working on right now for the for the school age kids, because this is a generational problem. And I say this kind of guardedly, but, you know, the 40 year old, we've already asked them they're going to light off fireworks, they're going to shoot guns, they're going to drink, they're going to take drugs. The what you have to do is you have to get to the kids because the kids will go back to their parents. And they're the ones that will say to their parents, you know, I learned X in school or at the recreation department. And Dad, I don't really think we should be shooting off fireworks. And that's how you make the change. It's a real generational issue, and we're working on that. We're also working on some other out-of-the-box solutions that we didn't have time for this year. And I think give it a little bit of time. We're going to really turn this thing around. So that's all I have to say. But and thank you for supporting us tonight. Speaker 11: Thank you very much. Speaker 10: So thank you. I would suggest what I suggested a couple of years ago. First of all, $10,000 fine and 50% of that fine, the dollars will go to the police that the policemen that arrest the individual. And that individual also will be required to work at the animal shelter for three years. That's one of the best ways, I think, to serve this community and serve the police department. Give them a percentage of that money and have the perps that set those off the guilty spend that time in the animal shelters. Thank you. Speaker 11: You can sooner. Yes. Come to an answer. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 12: And I was gonna not speak on this, but I think I needed to just. Just also raise. And in terms of the education issue that we have around fireworks. Most of the the fireworks in the as the the the item says the fireworks creating negative impacts to neighborhoods and community quality of life are the fireworks that are not purchased in California. They are coming from another country. They're coming from another state. These are the illegal fireworks in in every other city that even have safe and sane fireworks. So the fireworks that you're buying in Lakewood and or in the neighboring city aren't the fireworks that are making the noise. Right. They don't go up in the air. They don't go boom. Right. Those are not the fireworks that you are buying at the safe and sane fireworks. And so I think we need to also have an honest conversation about fireworks. Right. The impacts and what are the negative impacts? These are the illegal fireworks. The these are the. Matties These are the the the. I don't even know the name of them anymore. But these are things that are going in the air that that truly have a a destructive and dangerous impact. Right. These are fireworks that can set trees on fire. These are the fireworks that are giving your veterans PTSD in trauma episodes. These are the fireworks that are that are that are really impacting your pets. And these are the fireworks that are making babies not sleep well. Right. But I think we need to figure out a way to focus on and in our public safety efforts on those fireworks, as opposed to having our public safety officials running and inciting people for sparklers that are not having no negative impact. And and so I wanted to just just just add that to the piece. I'm going to support this item. But I honestly think that this requires a a longer conversation, a more detailed conversation. I'd like to see our public safety resources focused on on the on the true dangerous type of fireworks that that that are having the most negative impacts on on our communities. Speaker 11: Thank you, Councilman Spirit. Speaker 2: Yeah. I just wanted to echo that same statement. I think on our block, we do have a house party house that likes to party often. And they every 4th of July for two weeks, you know, covering before and after set off the large ones. And we know that some years we've had people lose limbs. We know that every neighbor on our block, they all go in and make sure they get some pet value for all their pets so that they can take care of their animals. And it's a preparation that people really shouldn't have to take. So I want to echo that statement. And then I do think the conversation is interesting. We have our beaches, which you go down there. People are setting off illegal fireworks. Some of us on this council know this. We've seen it. And so I am curious, are there cities where they did designate a certain area for people, whether it's sparklers or something else, or is there any gray area in the middle that we've seen cities be successful? I'm just curious. Okay. Thank you, guys. Speaker 11: Thank you. Councilman. Speaker 3: Just want to add in one more thing. I think the video, you know, if we can figure out how to do that, that's cool. But we should also be talking about diversion for young people. Last thing I want to do is load up young people with fines and get them off the right track. I think we should hold them accountable, but we should think about community service. We should think about, you know, diversion for fireworks offenses. If if this truly moves forward and we do actually penalize more people, we should just think about how we handle those kids it a little more intentionally. Thanks. Speaker 11: Fine. Thank you. I see we're. I'm the first 10 seconds. Let's take a vote. Speaker 1: Which in case a. Speaker 11: Thank you note, go to the concert calendar. I think we have five speakers. First would be Mr.. Very good. You know person. Andrew George. I work at a public company. Any anyone public comment?

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to report back on how the City can expand its enforcement of fireworks violations through ordinance changes, the City's ability to enhance and/or develop an administrative citation process for fireworks violations, include more technology based ways of reporting fireworks violation, evaluate the possibility of utilizing video to enforce violations, and evaluate the feasibility of video evidence of fireworks violations provided to the City by residents being used in enforcement and/or citations. Data and research compiled by the individual council offices should be utilized as a reference.

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Speaker 3: Okay. Speaker 11: Okay, now we can move to number 15. Speaker 1: Item 15 is communication from councilwoman praised Councilmember Peers case of membership in our and Councilmember Oranga recommendation to require city manager to conduct an inventory of beach and park space signage to determine if we have sufficient signage and consider changes to sign locations and messages to make them more effective. Speaker 11: Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Thank you. The basis for this item really has to do with a lot of the efforts of city staff to maintain and upkeep some of our public spaces, our beaches and our parks. As many know, we have found items on the beach and I'm sure in the parks as well that present some public safety hazards. And a lot of that comes with occupancy of the parks and beaches at a time when they are not supposed to be inhabited and they're not patrolled. And so there's not a lot of attention given to cleaning up the trash and debris that's left behind. So we're finding things like hypodermic needles in these public spaces that are posing a public safety hazard for people that are using the beach space. So in recent discussions with city staff that have been out there for some of these cleanup efforts, it was brought to our attention that perhaps the some of the signage out there is old. There could be better opportunities for signage. And also the wording on the signage could be a little bit better clarified in terms of appropriate time and usage of those public spaces at a time when our police and other resources are able to patrol and monitor the area for municipal code violations and of course, littering and other such conduct. So thank you very much. I ask my colleagues to support this item. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Ringo. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mary. And I want to thank Councilmember Price for allowing me to sign into the settlement. I always say, as a member of the Coastal Commission, very much concerned about not only what goes on in our beaches in terms of debris and unsafe items that are left there, but also the fact that we want to make sure that people continue to have access to the beach. So my concern would be that one step is looking at this item, that they ensure that we don't negatively affect the public's ability to access the beach as well. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 2: Yeah, I just want to say I support this item. I think making sure we're streamlining all of our signage, that we're getting rid of some of the old signage that has faded that you can't read is really helpful. And then anything I know that we're struggling with our trash on the beach right now, and I know that we've invested a significant amount of tidelands funds for some of the fancy trash cans, or we still have some that need some work. So any signage around littering or something like that, if we can explore those options as well as we're trying to finish funding the the trash challenge that we have down there. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. As a public comment on this item seen on members of Castro's. Speaker 1: Councilmember Austin. Thank you. Bush case. Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Okay. We're moving on to item 616, which is the L.A. County Stormwater Measure presentation that I know our staff is going to make. And so I'm going to have the clerk read the item, please.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to conduct an inventory of beach and park space signage to determine if we have sufficient signage, and consider changes to sign locations and messages to make them more effective.

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Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Okay. We're moving on to item 616, which is the L.A. County Stormwater Measure presentation that I know our staff is going to make. And so I'm going to have the clerk read the item, please. Speaker 1: Item 16 is report from City Manager Recommendation to receive and file a report on the L.A. region's Safe Clean Water Program, a potential county. Speaker 2: Country, Callaway County wide. Speaker 1: Ballot measure that may be on the November six, 2018 ballot and give directions to city staff on the measure as appropriate. Speaker 0: I thank you. And I just wanna make sure I know that it's that it is late and there's been a lot on our agenda. I just want to make sure that this is a pretty large, county wide effort that our staff has actually been working a lot on. And so I just want to make sure that we're all kind of aware of what's happening. And so hopefully this presentation will do that. So. Speaker 5: Mr. MODICA Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Appreciate that. Yes, this has been an effort that's actually been going on for many, many years with a restart in the last 18 months to two years that has culminated in the county supervisors putting on a measure. They just voted 4 to 1 recently to put it on for November. So we'd like to give you a chance to understand that a little bit better to ask some questions. We'll have a presentation. We also have a member from from Janice Hahn's office, who is also here as well. And we've been working very closely with her office on this measure. So with that, I will turn it over to Alvin, Papa, who will walk us through the presentation. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor. Members of City Council. My name is Alvin Papa, Assistant City Engineer. So I'm here to talk about the Safe Clean Water Program. This is an initiative that was approved last week by the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. The vote was 4 to 1, and so it will be on the November ballot this fall. So currently about 100 billion gallons worth of stormwater flows to the ocean every year through L.A. County. That brings about 4200 tons of trash and pollutants to our ocean. So this program would help capture about 42 billion gallons of that stormwater. So currently there's about 88 cities in L.A. County that do not have a dedicated source of funding to address stormwater challenges in Long Beach. We have about a 600 to $900 million estimated need for stormwater over the next 30 years. So as Tom had mentioned, we have been involved with the development of this initiative since the beginning. We're one of 27 stakeholders that were part of the formal stakeholder advisory committee. And so we've provided our comments and most of our comments have been addressed through the final version of this document. So what is the safe clean water program? So in essence, it will be a tool, two and a half cent sales tax, I'm sorry, parcel tax for every square foot of impermeable space on private property and permeable spaces defined as concrete rooftops. Any sort of space that cannot be infiltrated into the ground, such as grass or dirt. There will be an exemption for government buildings, public schools and nonprofit organizations. The current average tax is estimated to be about $83 per year for the standard single family home. There will be a credit to parcel owners who can show that they're currently capturing stormwater and are already reducing the amount of stormwater that's running out from their property. To do this, they'll have to certify it and then they'll have to recertify every two years. The total estimate that this measure will collect will be about 300 million per year. So Assembly Bill 1180 by Holden in 2017 authorized the L.A. County Fleet Control District to levy a tax, and it establishes distribution that you see above. There will be 40% dedicated towards a municipal program, 50% towards a regional program, and 10% towards a district program. And I'm briefly going to talk about each of these funding allocations. For the municipal program. This is the 40% portion. Long Beach is estimated to receive about $5 million per year. This program does offer a lot of local control. The funding collected will be used to administer our stormwater program, which includes activities such as monitoring and recording of pollutants, inspection of industrial and commercial facilities, public education and outreach, and most importantly, implementation of local stormwater quality projects such as the Eastern San Pedro Bay. Restoration. Rehabilitation of our existing pump stations still under some train projects within the city and trash capture projects. For the 50% regional portion. This is a distribution to the nine watershed areas in L.A. County. The distribution is proportional by area of the watershed. It is important to note that this regional program is a competitive program. There will be call for projects and multi benefit projects will are the only projects that will be eligible. So in addition to stormwater quality, the project will have to offer a nature based solution, community benefits or water supply in addition to water quality. These projects will be oversaw by a watershed area steering committee, and we in Long Beach would be competitive because we have two watersheds and we're also at the bottom of the L.A. River . So, in essence, the bottom of the kitchen sink. So we're impacted by all of the the pollutants that come down streams from the cities upstream. Ultimately, any city that is upstream of us that gets funds, funding for this project provides a benefit to us because that will equal less pollutant, less pollutants coming down to our watershed. And this is just a table just showing that we're in two of the nine watersheds, and that's the lower San Gabriel River watershed and the lower Los Angeles River watershed. Overall, what you see above is a distribution of the funding that will go to each of the watersheds. One thing to note is that less developed areas will receive less funding than more developed areas, primarily being a result of the more developed areas having more concrete and more permeable surfaces. These are just some bullet points on the regional product, the regional program. One thing to point out is, in addition to municipal agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses and water suppliers will be eligible to submit their projects as part of this program. But they will have to partner with an agency and an agency as part of the watershed for which the project they're applying to. We'll have to support them on that effort. And in addition, projects must be a part of an approved water quality management plan and the regional program. There are three main components. There's the infrastructure program, the technical resource program and the scientific studies program. The infrastructure program funds primarily the projects. The Technical Resources Program will fund planning efforts to ensure that these projects are feasible. And then there will be a scientific study program that will look into third party research and analysis to help guide the program. And the last part of the program is the district program. This is 10% of the funds will go to the L.A. County Flood Control District for administration of the program. And this primarily will go towards review and scoring of the program, project applications, making sure that the projects are feasible and ensuring that the audits are conducted and ensuring that the funding is used correctly. And also, if you look at the last bullet, it shows the district is required to spend $25 million in investment towards stormwater, education and workforce every five years. So just to recap for this municipal program, Long Beach anticipates to collect about $5 million annually for the regional program. It's a competitive program for which multi benefit projects will be eligible. And overall, this program will have to be reevaluated after 30 years. And there is no sunset for this measure. And just a reminder, it's going on the ballot and it needs to third votes to pass. So that concludes my presentation, and I'm here to answer any questions. So thank you, Avon. I wanted to give the council a little bit of history here, too, is when this first came up, I believe in 2014 and I have the number, the date wrong language was a supporter. So we spent time at the table really crafting this measure and the council ended up voting to support that. But there were some practical implications that were very difficult to move that forward, to get it to the voters. It was a fee instead of a tax. And so things or groups like governments had to pay it. So that meant all the school districts had to pay it. It also meant that churches and institutions that are normally not exempt would have to pay it. And there really wasn't a lot of outreach done. The county really took that to heart. They went back. They went back to the stakeholders. They pulled that last item off the ballot. And now we're back here today. So after about 18 months of really intense negotiations and discussions with all the environmental groups, with a number of different stakeholders throughout the county and cities as well, what they've come up with is a program that puts about 40% of that money directly back to cities so that we would have a dedicated revenue stream, $5 million every year to help us with stormwater. There would then be 50% that we can apply for, which is that every year about 30 million from our region, give or take, that we could apply for, for projects. And even more excitingly, at least for from a staff perspective, that it gives the other upstream cities ability to apply for projects because we're at the bottom of two rivers. So any dollars that gets invested in any project is going to help Long Beach. So our role as staff was really to take what's in your state legislative agenda to try to get the best deal possible for Long Beach. But we have stopped short of endorsing this measure. That's really up to the council. If you want to do that tonight or at a different venue or if you want to take, you know, or not have any position that's really up to the council. But we feel very confident that we've gotten the best deal that we can for voters if they do approve this, that we would that we would get a lot of benefit from this measure. And with that, we'll turn it back to you for any questions. Speaker 0: The one thing I want to just add, Mr. Watkins, I think was missing and I think has been the main impetus for so many cities getting involved in the measure is were we have we are required we have requirements that we have to meet on stormwater management that have been essentially mandated to us by the state. And so Long Beach. I can't recall what our our number is, but with the cost that it's going to cost us to actually meet the state mandate. And so in some cases, for many municipalities, the requirement is is is large. And so in our case, we have no, you know, dedicated pool of money that we're going to be able to use or have to shift from other areas or other projects to meet our stormwater requirements. So can you talk about that? Because I think that's actually the whole impetus is why the county's been having this discussion. Speaker 5: It is we call those team deals are total maximum daily loads and they are requirements from the state to reduce pollutants. And those come in the forms of metals, for example. They can be very fine metals you can't even see that are in the water. They're bacteria, they're trash. And so there's a number of these different regulations. Long Beach has actually been one of the only cities that has supported many of those regulations to be put in place, because, you know, that's how we really get some of the clean water quality that we're seeing today is our upstream cities have to have those regulations, but it's very, very expensive and we do not have a funding source in Long Beach for our portion. It's several hundred million dollars, if not even upwards of $1,000,000,000 that we would have to do over a long time. And other cities are facing incredibly high compliance rates or compliance costs with no funding source. It's dedicated. So the mayor is absolutely right. These funds would provide a dedicated funding source to begin to address those and help clean our water. Speaker 0: And let me and we just could take it one step further, because if I remember the conversations around around this in the past, one of the one of the big issues has been that Long Beach has been engaged with our state partners for for many years on encouraging this type of legislation and kind of this type of requirements, because we end up with all of the stormwater that comes down the L.A. River. And so I know that we have been active in supporting the state mandates on essentially all of the upstream rivers across the county. And so because of the support of these these mandates, which obviously are clean the clean water are good for the environment, are sustainable, and a variety of other issues, the cities all including all of our neighbors upstream, are having to meet these new requirements and really don't have funding. And so I think part of the county's interest in this and there are other interests, of course, to do some some big larger projects, but part of their interest is to give cities the ability to meet these mandates so that the city of Long Beach is not cleaning up all of their trash. Speaker 5: That's absolutely correct. And the mandates are so enormous over the next, you know, 20, 30 years that without, you know, one thing is to put in a mandate and the other is to actually find a strategy to address it. And right now, cities do not have a strategy to address those long term mandates. And so what we predict is without some type of funding source, it will likely end up in just litigation and then the water doesn't get any cleaner. So we have I think you said it very well. We've been pushing for those mandates and then also trying to find an identified funding source that everybody in the county can draw from to be able to to meet those costs and the water cleaner. Speaker 0: Great. And I just want to make sure I pointed those out, because I think that there's there's kind of history as to kind of what what our involvement has been in the past. And I want to make sure that that that was clear as we can have this discussion. And I imagine that the councilmembers will have some good questions on this. So let me turn this back. So, Councilman Ringa. Speaker 9: Thank you very much. And I thank you for bringing this forward as a I'm also a member of the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, as you probably know. And so I've seen some of the effects that the upper cities said to us in terms of their debris and dirty water. But we're also in the process of building our Long Beach Mass project, the Municipal Urban Stormwater Treatment Plan. I didn't see any mention of that here. And it's in this presentation that all is there and is there going to be some connection with this bond issue as well as with the with our with our project? Are we going to be able to get some funding for that as well? Speaker 5: Yes. So we have if you remember, they'll be must is in about a six phase project. And we're making really good progress on phase one that's very close to being funded, completely funded mostly by Caltrans. But for us to basically expand that, to bring additional water to the facility, to be able to do reclaimed water lines and irrigate our parks on the west side. That would all be projects that we would be looking for because any of those projects are going to be eligible because you're taking water, treating it and then reusing it. They would square, we would think. Very highly in the in the grant applications. Speaker 9: And as well as this these funds were being used for are there are other drainage issues that we have around the city as well, I take it? Speaker 5: Yeah. So the $5 million would be both for operations and for infrastructure. You know, they want to make sure that we're not just doing stormwater conveyance, but also treatment and multi benefit wherever we can. Speaker 9: So would it be appropriate at this time maybe to make that motion that the city council support the initiative? Is that what you said earlier? Speaker 5: So that's up to the city council. We wanted to provide a report. So you have the option to give us a number of different direction. You can support it. You can ask for more information. We can come back later at a different time. You know, it is the property agenda and it's up to you. Speaker 9: Well, I'll wait to see what my my colleagues say, but I strongly support this issue. Speaker 0: Thank you. Before I go to Vice Mayor Andrew, I should announce the Councilmember Pearce has recused herself from this from this item. And so she is not with us for that. City attorney. Is that enough? Speaker 5: That's correct. In their recusal is based upon her employment of working with a company that is lobbying for this event, for this tax. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next up is vice mayor. Everything okay? Councilmember Richardson. Speaker 3: Thanks. I just think as a city as large as Long Beach and for we should acknowledge the long process that we've we've come through from the initial fee that we considered back in 2014. There's been a lot of work done on this, and I think that's already been stated. And and the reality is this creates, you know, some great opportunities in terms of infrastructure investment, job creation, good opportunities in terms of, you know, sort of a strong quality public sector. And our water departments are in all these other sort of L.A. County flood control areas. So I think there's a lot of good things here. I know. I know it's going to be a challenge looking at the fact that it's a it's a potential parcel tax. But our return in Long Beach, we we're going to benefit, you know, more benefits than any other city. And I think we have to really consider that. So, you know, I want to hear how the council goes, but I'm in support of this already. I've already publicly stated I'm in support of this. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 12: And I appreciate the a pretty comprehensive presentation and appreciate the comments from my colleagues as well. I did have a couple of questions. I just wanted to if this is to to make it on to the ballot and on November 6th. What is the vote threshold again? Speaker 5: It's parcel tax. So it's two thirds. Speaker 12: Two thirds. And I did have a question regarding the the how will impermeable space for properties be assessed? And obviously not no two properties are exactly the same. And so how how will the county assess that? So their methodology look like. Speaker 5: Okay, so there is a technology they're using called glide lighter. So they have aerial photography that's going to identify the locations and there's a computer program that will identify that and put forth the calculations. Speaker 12: So the the I want to say I don't even know what the number is, but I would venture to guess we have a few thousand lawn and garden homes in our in our city. Will that be taken into consideration with this methodology? Speaker 5: Just yes, it will be. On so every parcel they will evaluate and evaluate the tax individually per parcel. So and there's also a credit program to have somebody put permeable pavers or some way of infiltration to go into the ground, then the homeowner could apply for a credit being that they've installed something that may look like concrete , but it lets water go on to the ground. Speaker 3: So for example, I. Speaker 12: Have a large patio in my backyard and water runs off, but I have a lawn garden or drought tolerant garden in my front yard yard that runs off into that. Or I may have a rain barrel. I hope all of that is being taken into consideration because there's been a lot of emphasis on on sustainability and and responsibility, responsible conservation of water over the last several years here. And I think our city should be commended for our efforts to do that. It just though those are questions, I think critical questions that are going to have to be answered and we're going to have to educate voters on particularly here in our city if we're going to support something like this. Thank you very much for your presentation. No. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, councilman. A Councilwoman Price. Speaker 7: Thank you. I appreciate the presentation. So thank you very much. I would not be willing to vote in support of this item tonight. I've done very little outreach on this particular issue with my residents, and I think it's an important topic to speak with my residents about before weighing in on their behalf. I will say I think it would be a very valuable information to third district residents and those living along the coast that we do have a significant issue with trash on the beaches. So I'm wondering if maybe staff could speak to that a little bit, because in recent in recent weeks, we've received a lot of concern from residents who either use the beach or live near the beach regarding, you know, public health hazards on the beach. And one of the things I've shared with them is the lack of trash capture devices or methodologies to control the amount of trash that flows is certainly an impact. It's not just encampments on the beach. Which a lot of residents are attributing to the public health hazards they're finding on the beach. But rather a lot of the issues we see are from trash that's actually landing here from other jurisdictions. Is that something you could speak to a little bit and how something like this might help alleviate some of those problems that our residents are seeing? Because I think that would help, at least with me in talking to residents and for any of them watching. Speaker 5: Absolutely. So. You know, recently it's been reported in the paper and we've been pretty upfront that, you know, we had some incidents on the beach where we've had needles show up on the beach. We immediately went out and we have a whole team that's out there that is raking the beach every single day to to be able to ameliorate that situation. But it's not just a Long Beach situation. We have been talking up and down to other coastal cities. They also have needles on the beach. And the general convention is that they're coming from the ocean, they're coming down the rivers, they float and they get out in the ocean and they get washed up on the beaches. So, you know, one of the regulations of the mayor had mentioned is there's a trash team deal that says no city shall be putting any trash at all into the ocean. And that's one of the state requirements. And that would be anything coming from. And it's not just dumping trash, it's coming from any storm drain. They're supposed to be captured devices. And so that's the type of thing that this would fund would be able to do that. We've made success over the last several years in reducing that trash. In 16 cities north of us, we've got grants to put in full capture trash devices so that that trash is not hitting the L.A. River. It doesn't capture everything. But we have seen a big reduction over the last several years, and we can do more. Speaker 7: And, you know, one of the to that point, one of the recent clean up efforts on the beach, one of the police officers who was involved was sharing with me that a needle was found and it was at the high tide line and there was no encampment anywhere in sight in regards to that particular needle that was found. That's not obviously going to count for everything, but that to me was pretty important corroboration that in fact, this is this is a situation where it's washing up onto shore, where it washed up from, we don't know. But if this were to pass, is it going to be a competitive grant funding type situation for cities to get grants? And how do we ensure that the cities that we have no control over in terms of where their trash is being placed, are applying for the grants and are sometimes even being awarded grants over us because they might need it more than we do to control our own problem. Speaker 5: So the answer to both those questions is yes, we do get a dedicated funding source, so 40% will come to us and 40% of all the money will go back to those other entities too. So every city will get dedicated funding to be able to to implement their programs. Additionally, you can apply for funding by watershed so that that we think makes it very fair that, you know, the cities that are paying in can get it back from their watershed. And it really encourages a comprehensive watershed approach so that there's plans that have come up with saying these are the most effective ways to capture water and to prevent, you know, water from entering into the storm drains and either be treated. And so the water management plans are going to get funded. And so the groups, the cities will come together and they'll be able to make determinations on which ones of those are the most competitive and which ones deserve the funding. So honestly, there might be a year or two where Long Beach doesn't get any funding because the better way to address the trash issue would be to fund our upstream neighbors. And we're very we're very supportive of that because that makes a lot of sense. Speaker 7: Absolutely. Okay. Thank you for that information. I appreciate it. And again, this is something that I hope staff will assist at least our council office with in terms of educating our residents. Because I do want to do some more outreach on this. I know we'll get a lot of questions, and I think it's important for me personally to have input from the community before I weigh in. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman. Councilmember Sabrina. Speaker 3: Thank you. I did receive a briefing from our city engineer on this topic, so I guess this will be directed to Tom Modica. Just a little different approach. So the goal of this is not stormwater conveyance, it has a different purpose. But could could I work like a byproduct of this would be that we would have maintenance or re-engineering done on our stormwater conveyance systems. Speaker 5: So the intent of the measure is to really is to divert or treat or somehow other, you know, clean the water. But I think it also recognizes that storm drains also need to be maintained. So the projects that could be funded is, for example, A, if we needed to do an enhancement in some way for stormwater capacity , also making sure that at the same time we're doing, you know, bio filtration or we're doing, you know, sanitary sewer connection or some other way to treat. So we believe we can do multi benefit. X2 to solve multiple issues. Speaker 3: Okay. So I think the point I would make is that because of our needs for ongoing maintenance and whatnot, if we don't do this, we're going to have to come up with a different funding source to to maintain those systems. Speaker 5: Yes. When we presented the infrastructure report to you back two years ago, there was a big, big Category four storm water infrastructure. So we have storm drains and pumps that need to be replaced. Some of those are getting done through major aid, the most critical ones. But we do not have a plan for the rest. And those do need to get addressed either with city dollars if we don't have these or by reprioritizing or additional funding sources. Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Tauranga. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mayor. So based on the discussion and I know it was a little not a surprise, but it's come upon us now that this ballot measure is was approved by the by the county. And I think that we being a beach beach city that's also impacted by by the L.A. River, because the deadly river runs through it. We should look at supporting this measure. So I would move that. We get the city attorney to draft a resolution in favor of this ballot measure and maybe bring it back at a later date for us to consider for the city council to consider, so that we could also take it to our to our voters to see if a to for voter education in this measure, because it is going to be on the ballot. So that's my emotion. Speaker 0: Well, let me while I take public comment first, so please public comment. Speaker 4: Second. Speaker 3: I can't say I miss these nights. Hello. My name is Andrew Winter Hannah. And I'm here tonight as a staff member of Long Beach. Forward throughout the spring. Long Beach Forward, a conducted educational outreach and community input for the Safe, Clean Water Program. Our goal was to ensure broad participation from residents throughout the city, with an emphasis in north, central and west Long Beach, the areas of our city facing the greatest economic and health disparities. For four months, we conducted door to door outreach, gathered 518 surveys, presented and gathered feedback at 28 community meetings and events, and hosted our own Community Fair and Forum, which was attended by nearly 50 community members. I must admit that when I started this project, I did not foresee the amount of passion I would encounter surrounding the topic of stormwater capture. However, to my surprise, people are more affected by this issue that I initially thought youth, seniors and those living with ambulatory disabilities are disproportionately affected by severe storms and are hoping to see infrastructure improvements aimed at lessening their impact. People in the community are capturing their own water, using self-made. Speaker 4: Systems to. Speaker 3: Water their own food. And residents understand the importance of stormwater capture as a means to combat the severe drought. We continue to experience residents and attendees of our forum pinpointed where they would like to see. Speaker 4: Various stormwater. Speaker 3: Capture projects in their neighborhoods. And several themes arose from our outreach, including the desire for projects with targeted job training for low income and formerly incarcerated people, accountability and mitigation measures for industries that heavily pollute and waste water. Extending the scope of the municipal program to include storm drain improvements to reduce the negative effects of flooding for elderly populations, those living with ambulatory disabilities and children who walk to and from school, and the importance of greening alleys and sidewalks. We also heard about the importance of cleaning, including maintenance for projects in planning and budgeting. Our main purpose for coming tonight is to let you know that Long Beach was well represented in the information the county received and Long Beach Forward is happy to make ourselves a resource to you as you look closely, closely at this issue . Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Our next public speaker, please. Speaker 2: Hello again, Lauren Kim. And this time on behalf of the Our Water Lily Coalition, a group of diverse organizations working together for local, reliable and affordable water for all Angelinos. We've been working closely in support and to inform this county measure and with organizations from ranging from really local organizations here in Long Beach, like the Little Cerritos , Wetlands, Land Trust and the Great Panthers, as well as national environmental organizations like NRDC and the Nature Conservancy, as well as other labor and community allies, and have collected over 1000 pledge cards in support of this measure and over 2000 petition signatures in support. And so we've been working to make sure that this measure opportunities are realized. Thank you to the staff for the really thorough presentation on all that is encompassed in this measure. But it could just to underscore that it can bring more projects, both like helping support the Long Beach must, as well as helping to expand and maintain projects like the DeForest Wetlands or the Willow Springs Wetlands, the bio swales and street trees, and other kinds of projects that are already going up around Long Beach. And to really underscore that piece that is able to help fund the maintenance of those projects, which we know a lot of times is one of the hardest things to fund. These projects can not only help clean the stormwater, but also capture water for use locally and Long Beach. We know that that's an important issue for the city, given the given the drought conditions mentioned, the need of the Parks Department to have their water budget raised because the we're just not getting enough rain to be able to properly water all of the green spaces in Long Beach. And we're also really excited about the jobs possible, both building and maintaining these projects. We estimate it could create over 6000 construction jobs and over 1000 maintenance jobs over a 30 year funding cycle. And we've been working to make sure that those are good jobs and jobs that are accessible to the populations previously mentioned people with criminal backgrounds, formerly homeless, people with, with or without high school diplomas. And just to reiterate, as I mentioned, that Long Beach would both be able to get these get these local returns, that $0.40 of every dollar that a Long Beach resident pays in would come back directly to the city of Long Beach, as well as the regional grant funds. And that a late addition to this program is that the grant funds over time that they would be proportional to the city. So Long Beach, being the second largest city, would would really stand to get a lot from those grant programs and also is very well-represented on the decision making bodies for those grant programs. And that's really wonky, but I think it's exciting for you. And I just want to really underscore that the appreciation for all the work that staff have done and that the mayor and council for considering this, but also to underscore that there is no real alternative to this. We're facing drought, water quality issues and increased heat and this can help address all of those. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much. And last speaker. I didn't see you out there. Speaker 3: Good evening. Good to see you. I'm Jimmy Wilson. I'm the economic development and beaches and harbors. Deputy for supervisor, hon. Have about 14 pages of comments, but I think your staff report was so thorough. I'm going to make it two paragraphs. This is a very important thing. I'm a I'm a longtime, lifelong resident of Alamitos Bay. So I see the San Gabriel watershed and what it does during storms. And I and in the Army Bay, I have a family business at Rainbow Harbor. So I see what the L.A. River does. Every dime spent upriver from Long Beach is going to benefit Long Beach. So I need to remember that this measure will provide the. Speaker 0: Funding from stormwater projects. Speaker 3: That will create local jobs, replenish. Speaker 0: Our underground aquifers. Speaker 3: Keep our beaches clean, and ensure clean, safe water flows for generations to come. Supervisor Hahn and the entire in the Los Angeles County, she wants. She wants this area to be healthier and more sustainable. And she urges Long Beach to take a position of support for this measure. And that's my summary. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Jamie. Always good to see you. Thank you. Absolutely. Let me go back to Councilor Moringa. Speaker 9: So just to get some clarification. Obviously, there's a lot of questions regarding this ballot measure. There's still some more that need to be vetted out in the sense. So I guess this would be more toward the city attorney. What would it be like I mentioned earlier, at an appropriate time, maybe a couple of weeks, three weeks time, certain for us to come back with a resolution or or support. Speaker 5: Mayor and members of the council councilmember irrigate. You have pretty much all of those options are available to you this evening. You could receive and file the report tonight and direct staff to bring it back at a later date again for your consideration again so that you're not making any determination. You can direct the city attorney to prepare a resolution and have me bring it back at a at a future date to be determined. You could give me a date certain. So really, you can do what you would like to do with this item at this time. Speaker 0: Let me let me jump in, Mr. City Attorney. So I think I think what I what I heard. Correct me if I'm wrong from anyone, but I think there's obviously some general support from a lot of members that have that are supportive of this and want to support this. But we also heard that there is a need for some council members to do some outreach and to work with the residents and get some information to their residents. And so I think that there that you've heard both of that tonight. And so I think that sort of with it was probably best is that we come back bring this issue in in a couple of weeks or a few weeks. So there's enough time for those members to do the outreach that they want to do and need to do. And then we can come back at that point and and take that vote to to support the measure or whatever the Council would like to do at that point. Yeah, I think that's what I heard from from the body. What council. Speaker 3: Member. Speaker 9: Would a August 14th three weeks be sufficient time. Speaker 0: That okay. So the August 14th Council meeting. This will get a chance for a vote to support. Speaker 9: Theater. Speaker 5: Yes, we could certainly put it on for recommendation to request me to prepare a resolution in support on August 14. I would then prepare the resolution and bring it back the following week for your approval. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 9: Great. That would be my motion. Speaker 0: Okay. So that is the motion comes from any other seeing no other comments. So this motion at a second to take a position on this issue on August 14th, after some additional outreach, please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a report on the Los Angeles Region Safe, Clean Water Program, a potential countywide ballot measure that may be considered by all Los Angeles County voters on November 6, 2018, and give direction to City staff on the Measure as appropriate. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Moving on to item 17. Speaker 1: Item 17 is a from development services. The recommendation to adopt a resolution approving the acceptance of sustainable communities planning grant from Caltrans in the amount of seven on 33,000 and execute all necessary documents with Caltrans relating to relating to the grant awarded to the Development Department of Development Services by Professional Planning Services to study land use and mobility regulations for North Palm Beach districts eight and nine. Speaker 0: There's the motion in a second. Any public comment on this item. Speaker 3: To request the staff. Speaker 0: Report? Staff report. Speaker 5: Linda Tatum. Speaker 2: Good afternoon, Mayor. Speaker 4: Members of the City Council. I did have. Speaker 2: A brief slide or PowerPoint presentation, but if they could pull that up. But I will go ahead and get started. Given the lateness of the hour just a little bit in the way of background on this project. Here we go. In the fall of 2017, our department development services applied for and was awarded this grant, and we actually started the work on it in March 2018. The purpose of it really is to do some planning to promote sustainability in the uptown area, which is covered by both in the zip code of 90805, which is in districts, both districts eight and nine. The work here really is to prepare in phase one, an overall vision for some of the land use changes along the commercial quarters in this district. And in the we actually at that time had a very extensive work program that was pretty substantial. However, we only got funding for $250,000 at that time. So in February of 2018, the city we actually applied for a phase two of that grant for an amount of $733,610. And we were actually awarded the phase two component of that. So we will be working on both continuing phase one and ramping up for phase two of this grant, which is really going to be looking at some tailored neighborhood projects and updates to the zoning ordinance. I do have another slide that gives you a little bit of a comparison between what we've done in Phase one and what we're proposing to do in Phase two in this program. And just in summary, that initial Phase one grant essentially covered our staff time. The the grant was for 250,000, and that covered planning efforts. We did bring on board a consultant and it also covered staff time. Speaker 4: And one of the. Speaker 2: Primary things we did in phase one and are continuing to do is to to start to work on a vision for the area. But one of the other focuses was to really try to look at some of the commercial land use and development and design regulations for those major corridors I mentioned. Those are Artesia Boulevard as well as Atlantic Boulevard. And one of the other focuses of this effort is to try to start creating some of the zoning templates to implement the city's updated land use element. When that gets considered by council, next year will be in place to not only put in place some of those. Speaker 4: New. Speaker 2: Zoning codes on these corridors, but to use those in other parts of the city as well. Another couple of key components of this project for phase one was doing some kind of parking inventory. We're looking at how we can better utilize the parking in the area for shared parking. We are also considering some economic development components and it really does have a very strong community outreach component that includes a strong youth engagement component as well as empowerment. And then moving on to phase two, again, it will build on the vision in a lot of the community outreach that was done in phase and phase one. But this time in phase two will be looking at some of the industrial and the residential land uses to supplement the work that we've done on the commercial corridors. We'll also be looking at expanding some of the community engagement opportunities in really is a really high level of interaction and an engagement and not just input from the community. The whole focus of this effort really is creating livability or addressing some of the livability, quality of life and sustainability issues. We will also be looking at some very focused implementation efforts, such as activating some of the vacant lots in the area. We're going to be looking at some demonstration projects. We'll also be looking at efforts we talked about. It's a little bit earlier, but the hotel and motel re-use demand study. That's a component of this grant. And we'll also be looking at neighborhood housing issues, neighborhood enhancement, but also looking at increasing the mobility and also some street improvements and enhancements within the area. So that can increase kind of the major components of the presentation. But I think it's important to note that we will be using this grant to leverage some of the other or to supplement some of the other initiatives that are ongoing in the uptown area. And this is just a list of some of those. The next presentation on your agenda will be the Uptown Open Space Vision plan that Parks and Recreation is currently working on, and you'll be getting that presentation. But other efforts again that are ongoing in other departments, the Heal Healthy Eating and Active Living that's done by the Health Department. The City Council also funded the Artesia Boulevard Master Plan that will be considered and be an integrated component of this project as well. And a couple of other projects by the successor agency Parcels Development, which is ongoing at Artesia and Atlantic, as well as a couple of other projects along the Atlantic Boulevard Quarter and of course , the city's bicycle master plan. Because of that, what we call the mobility component, the bicycle implementation is a key component of that. So that concludes the presentation and I would just ask council support to take the action to receive this grant and to modify the development services budget to accept this grant as a part of the Department's budget. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a motion and a second as your public comment. Speaker 3: Mr. Mayor. I'm coming back. Speaker 0: It's a is a public comment saying non Councilor Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you. Just wanted to say a few things so so one, this is incredibly important to North Palm Beach. We've talked about sort of the issues, the blight, the outdated land use on the corridors, overconcentration of liquor stores, nuisance motels. And you've heard it because we've talked about it for the last eight years and we've done a lot to address short term. But we've always said we need to talk about the long term vision of North Long Beach, how we improve our standards, our design standards, how we create a strategy to reuse the motels and the liquor stores and all that. And, you know, it's just astounding to me that Sky came in a year ago, maybe less than a year ago, acknowledged it gave us the $250,000 grant city staff. And I have to recognize Linda and Christopher Koontz and that whole team who have gone forward and identified the second piece of funding within less than a year. And this at tables around SCAD and planning tables. This is one of the most exciting projects that's ever happened in North Long Beach, but the region is paying attention to it, and I love that it connects a lot of the other efforts from our open space plan, the Artesia Boulevard study that we're really driving across six cities. So it really places a real focus for the first time that anybody that I know can remember. This is the most significant planning focus North Long Beach has ever had. So thank you all for staying out late tonight. Thank you, Linda, for actually going through the presentation because this is incredibly important and I encourage and encourage the city council to support now and Councilman Austin as a good, strong partner on this effort as well. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thanks, Councilman Austin. Speaker 12: I did hear everything that has been said, you know, not only Skaggs, but the the Gateway Cities Council of Governments. This is a regional project that that that has eyes of as he mentioned, planning professionals throughout the region are watching not Long Beach. I think that says a lot about the recent leadership in the area as well as the strong support of the council and and great work on our behalf of staff going after the grants. This is us. This item is about us accepting $733,000 for for a planning grant. And I'm fully in support. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 2: I just want to say how impressed I am with this 180 page plan. It's beautiful. You guys have done a great job. What was. Speaker 4: That? Speaker 3: That's the next item. Speaker 2: Dang it. Well, I'm super impressed with this next item here. That's what happens. And you guys make me recuse myself. See you still. Congratulations for a time, which I think you guys have done a great job. I will not speak on the next item, but I will just say it again. Speaker 0: It's not the next item. It's item after next, you know. Speaker 3: Yes, sorry, but it's beautiful. Speaker 0: It's beautiful. Okay. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: The motion carries. Speaker 0: Out in 20. I'm sorry. I'm 19, 19. Speaker 1: 18. Speaker 0: That was it, wasn't it? I'm sorry. That was. Speaker 4: 17. 19.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution approving the acceptance of a Sustainable Communities Planning Grant from the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans), in the amount of $733,610; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary documents with CalTrans relating to the Grant awarded to the Department of Development Services for professional planning services to study land use and mobility regulations for North Long Beach in the context of the City’s proposed updated General Plan; and Increase appropriations in the Development Services Fund (EF 337) in the Development Services Department (DV) by 733,610, offset by grant revenue. (Districts 8,9)

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Speaker 0: Next item is the one that you're announcing. Speaker 1: Next item 19. Item 19 is a report from Economic Development and Financial Management. Recommendation to adopt a resolution establishing an annual special tax for Community Facility. District Number 2007-24 commercial properties in Belmont Shore for fiscal year 2019 and authorizing the L.A. County Auditor Comptroller to be included on the 2018 19 Secure Tax Rule District three. Speaker 0: Here we have a motion on a second. Any public comment? CNN Councilwoman Pryce. Speaker 4: I. Speaker 7: First item I know there was this issue was brought to the parking commission and there was some concern. So could you maybe talk through why this increase is being proposed? Speaker 4: Councilmember Price Yes, good evening. And I'm going to ask Eric Romero, our business development. Speaker 5: Coordinator who works with the Parking Commission, to talk a little bit about the need for this. Speaker 4: Assessment. And we. Speaker 5: Also have our treasurer, David Nakamoto, who's here with us tonight as well with regard to the establishment and administration. Speaker 4: At the CFTC. Good evening, Mayor, and. Speaker 3: Members of the city council. My name is Eric Romero. And so, yes, we've the rate for the CFD has been set at about $0.12 per commercial square. Speaker 5: Foot since. Speaker 3: 2006. Speaker 5: And. Speaker 3: Mainly due to the increase of the the cost. Speaker 4: Associated with. Speaker 5: Administrating the different payments associated with paying down the bond and also the increase in the debt. Speaker 3: Annual payments. We're recommending an increase to that to the rate, which is the. Speaker 5: First increase in. Speaker 3: About 12 years. Speaker 5: And if there's anything else that you would. Speaker 3: Like to add, Treasurer. Speaker 4: That. Speaker 7: Okay. Are there any have there been any concerns on your end in terms of people not paying? And is this is this what we've referred to as the salaries? Speaker 4: Yes, it is. Speaker 7: So are there some concerns with people not paying the lowest tax? Speaker 4: So we. Speaker 3: Pose that question to the consultant that we work with to pay down the. Speaker 5: Debt service. Speaker 3: And as of. Speaker 5: Today, there are only delinquent installments related to the 20 1718 billing and. Speaker 3: Only represent about 8.63%. Speaker 5: Of the 20 1718 billing. So there are no delinquencies for any prior fiscal year. Delinquencies in this district are considered to be low historically, and they generally do not last longer than one year. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 7: How are we going to ensure moving forward that we're capturing all the payments and that the the property owners who are paying their assessments in a timely fashion are not shouldering the burden of those who aren't fulfilling their own self-assessment obligations. Speaker 3: The county treasurer and tax collector. Speaker 5: Sent out delinquency notices just before the end of the fiscal year to notify the delinquent property owners that their delinquencies will become. Speaker 3: Defaulted on July one. The CFT 27 does to the Miller, who does have a foreclosure covenant that. Speaker 5: Calls for the city to take action against delinquent parcels if an individual parcel is delinquent for. Speaker 3: 20 $500 or more, or if overall. Speaker 5: Delinquency percentage. Speaker 3: Exceeds 5%, the city can take action prior to these conditions being met. Speaker 5: The typical procedure for dealing with delinquencies includes sending a reminder letter, then a demand letter, then removing installments from the textual then or foreclosure letter, then turning over delinquencies to a foreclosure attorney. We typically wait for delinquencies to be substantial before moving towards foreclosure, and that. Speaker 3: Process. Speaker 5: Involves fees for our consultant. Speaker 3: Members. Speaker 5: The county and a foreclosure attorney. Speaker 7: Have we done any sort of analysis of the standard property size on these assessments to determine what the monetary impact of. A The increase would be the .03 cents. Do we know how much more it would be to a standard property there? Their annual assessment. The range may be. Speaker 12: Councilmember Price I'd like to field that question. When the community facilities district was formed. It was by the vote of the property owners. And at that time, they they voted to self-assess themselves. An engineering report was prepared at that time that allowed for a maximum of $0.66 per square foot. We are far from that level at this point. Speaker 7: Okay, great. Thank you. I appreciate that. It was my goal to get you to talk at a council meeting. So there we go. Congratulations. It only took four years. Thank you very much. Speaker 2: I appreciate it. Speaker 0: Thank you. And man, Eric is you're like the new like CFD, like master. That was some good, like, information there. So. Did you ever think you'd be an expert on CFD? Speaker 4: Just a few years ago before he joined us? Speaker 3: I did not, but I'm very excited to learn. I never thought you'd be either. So awesome and. Speaker 0: Well, no, we just met another capacity's vice. It's Mayor Andres. Speaker 2: Capacity. Speaker 0: No. Okay. That was very thorough. So no public comment, cause we did it already. So please cast your votes. Speaker 2: Motion carries.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution establishing an annual special tax of $0.15 per square-foot for Community Facilities District No. 2007-2 for commercial properties in Belmont Shore for Fiscal Year 2019 and authorizing the Los Angeles County Auditor-Controller to be included on the 2018-19 Secured Tax Roll. (District 3)

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Speaker 1: Item 20 item 22 Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine Recommendation to receive and file the Uptown Open Space Vision Plan District nine. Speaker 0: Thank you. I'm assuming there's one staff report on this council. That's a staff report, please. Speaker 5: We have Hiroto Mowatt and Meredith Reynolds. Speaker 3: Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the City Council. Let me call on our park development officer Meredith Reynolds to provide the presentation on the Uptown Open Space Vision Plan. Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor. Members City Council and be brief this evening. As a Councilmember Richardson mentioned, the Uptown Open Space Vision plan serves as a visionary document to guide future development and open space in Palm Beach in the ninth District. The vision plan is built upon years of previous work related to analyzing the North Long Beach environment and incorporated the Los Angeles County Park Needs Assessment. The City's Mobility Element Community Livability Plan, River Link Plan, North Long Beach Design Guidelines, General Plan and Open Space Recreation Elements and several Lower L.A. River Masterplans. Building upon these previous efforts, a series of three unique engagement activities were developed to obtain robust community input that identified and prioritize potential open space in realistic planning obstacles. This culminated in the color black walk, a one day pop up which demonstrated the most popular community, identified open space idea and celebrated the community's participation. We are pleased to be recognized by the American Planning Association for our engagement work on this effort, and this has set a new standard for how the development the department plans to perform inclusive engagement activities in the future. The analysis of opportunities throughout this plan used several types of indicators that all affect a person's access to open space. Through this analysis, the community identified the guiding principles of equity, health, accessibility, habitat, sustainability and creativity that were used to inform the identification of open space projects included in this vision plan. The Vision Plan's content is made up of an existing conditions analysis examination of park opportunity types, summary of the public outreach process, the community driven vision and implementation strategies. The Vision Plan looks back on how the park system had evolved to its current state and the previous efforts in planning and development that inform the path forward. It also develops a blueprint for future open space, recreation facilities and parks. The map here shows the Vision Plan's priority projects are identified by the community through the engagement process, along with four key projects underway. They are geographically diverse and are focused on connect our greenbelt and smaller neighborhood or pocket park spaces at this time. This also includes a location along the L.A. River, which is included in the county's Lower L.A. River master plan to capitalize on regional planning efforts. In all, this plan represents 6.6 acres per thousand residents of Park Space in the ninth District, which demonstrates a meaningful increase over the existing point nine acres of open space per 1000 residents . This improves access to open space acres getting closer to the city's goal, as listed in the open space element of eight acres per thousand residents and improves a citywide average to 6.1 acres per thousand. These priority projects also resulted in all ninth District neighborhoods being within a ten minute walk of a park or open space, which further encourages healthy outdoor activity, livability and connectivity consistent with the myriad of city plans and priority efforts. To conclude, the vision plan is long term, intended to be phased in over time as project operations and maintenance funding becomes available and or as greater stewardship from community and corporate partners is identified. The vision plan is intended to be the framework to guide future investment and will allow the city to be ready to secure future funds from grants as well as public and private partners. This is a tremendous effort, and I want to thank the community, the council office and the city's internal working group with staff from development services , economic development, public works and the Health and Human Services Department for their participation and support. This concludes my presentation and we're available for questions. Thank you. Speaker 4: For taking. Speaker 0: Public comment on this item, saying please come forward and talk. Speaker 2: Thank you, honorable mayor and council members. I'm on that mesa with the Hamilton Neighborhood Association in the ninth district. Our boundaries are from Cherry to Atlantic, Artesia to 72nd. I want to share my experience in advocating, creating and maintaining open spaces within our neighborhood. With the current density, we are so desperate for open space that in 2016 we begin to cultivate a relationship with Caltrans, with the goal in mind to clean, maintain and identify open space opportunities. We found many opportunities from potential, many pocket parks to a greenbelt space that at the time was covered in weeds. Trash was in poor condition, unkept. And add to that many years of maintenance, deferral and negative blight for several miles, affecting several neighborhoods in North Long Beach, we Hamilton Neighborhood Association entered into a five year contract with Caltrans to build community parks, plant drought tolerant plants, trees and maintain the nine mini parks we built in our neighborhood . Our relationship with Caltrans is very positive and productive. The many parks we have built in our neighborhood have had an extreme positive effect on all of our residents, with the outreach efforts of city fabric. Long Beach Parks Rec Council Member I'm going to say Vice Mayor Councilmember Rex Richardson's office. The residents of North Long Beach were asked to share their ideas for open space in North Long Beach. We are here tonight to show our support for the entire uptown open space plan. Additionally, we know through our experience and partnerships that the 91 greenbelt included in the plan will benefit entirely the North Long Beach area for many generations to come. Thank you for your time and consideration. Speaker 0: Thank u next week. Speaker 3: Hello, mayor councilmembers. My name is Jerry Fink. I'm with the Hamilton Neighborhood Association, also District nine. I just wanted to echo Meredith Meredith's reporting that that the county did recognize in their report that our neighborhood and our district is in great need of open space. We have gotten our neighbors in our neighborhood out to to build parks and train and hold Caltrans off from from carpeting the sides of the freeway, which they had planned to do. But because we're out there building parks and we're active in our community and dealing with Caltrans, they've been holding off on our neighborhood. They actually skipped over our neighborhood doing their rock carpeting along the freeways so we could maintain our parks. So I would ask for the city's help in partnering with us, in partnering with Caltrans to preserve our open green spaces in our neighborhood. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you so much, Councilman Richardson. Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I think it's interesting that all these items are coming back tonight. We were sworn in a week ago and all this work started basically four years ago. We made a motion like a little over three years ago to start the process of the open space plan. This year, $950,000 of one time funds, I believe our heels on put in 5000. And here we are years later and we've done the outreach. It's an award winning plan. The residents own it. And and through that process, one one project emerged as the most popular project to move forward with. And and this project is the 91 greenbelt. And what it does is north of the 91 Freeway, we're about 35% of our residents live in our district, doesn't have access to any open space. And then if you consider north of the 91 and then west of the 17, that's an island as well. We've got some of the lowest amount of open space per 10,000 residents. This plan, the idea is map out where we would actually build new open space so that we have a road map to guide it. So today the good news is, which I was going to announce before you guys spoke, but I get a chance to buy the 91 greenbelt. We've identified $50,000 of a grant from Heal Zone, $50,000 to go move forward with the design of the 91 greenbelt, effectively making it shovel ready and in a strong position for construction funding from the county or any other grants we decide to pursue. So we wanted to make sure when we got this done, we had something tangible connected to the 91 greenbelt because, you know, that was so popular for you. So that's what we have to announce for you. And we'll I guess we'll talk about it after, but thank you. Speaker 0: Excellent. Kathryn Austin, anything. Speaker 12: Thank you. And just I'd like to congratulate our councilman, Bill Richardson, for his efforts, his work to to map out opportunities. I think this plan also has a quite a bit of atheistic influence. There's a lot of parks in here, a lot of our work identified in his plan as well. When I got elected six years ago, it was a priority to to increase green space in North Long Beach because there was such a deficit. I want to really come in. Parks and Recreation staff, I think they're the best. I can't imagine that there's a better staff out there in terms of just effectuating plans and making things happen. The work that they've done with Davenport Park, obviously we just cut ribbon on 34 acres at the forest wetlands restoration. And we're looking forward to getting a new grant for 51st Street greenbelt in the next couple of weeks. Also, cutting the ribbon on a new Molina Park. You know, the goal has been to increase 40 acres of new park space in eighth District alone. I think we're going to exceed that thanks to this great, great work of the staff, but also partnership with the the ninth district as well. So the Uptown Renaissance is alive and well. We're producing results. Thank you. Speaker 3: I just wanted to just give a shout out to Meredith for leading this process from beginning. Thank you. She's a superstar. And and bring you a chef's key from SEAL City Fabric. There was a dynamic duo on this award winning process, but thank you. Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. Final item is 21. Speaker 1: 21 is communications city attorney recommendation to declare ordinance amending the language beach municipal current relating to work within or on a public street or right away obstructions of a public street or right away at the first time. And later to the next regular meeting for final reading city y.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file the Uptown Open Space Vision Plan; and accept Categorical Exemption CE-18-023. (District 9)

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Speaker 5: All right. Let's have the next item, please. Number nine, I think it was that no number 14. Speaker 2: From Development Services recommendation to approve the fiscal year 2019 Action Plan and substantial amendments for the expenditure of Community Development BLOCK Grant, Home Investment Partnership Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant Funds Citywide. Speaker 5: Thank using public comment on number 14. Saying none. Their staff report. Yes. Have a. Speaker 0: Quick staff report by Patrick. Speaker 4: Murray, the manager of our housing department. Speaker 3: Good evening, Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. The City receives Community Development BLOCK Grant, Home Investment Partnership Program and Emergency Solutions Grant Program funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In order to receive these funds, the City Council must adopt a five year consolidated plan and an annual action plan. Last year, the City Council adopted the five year plan for 2018 to 2023. That plan was developed with I'm sorry, I forgot the clicker again. Thank you, Linda. So that plan was developed with extensive public input and the five year plan. We're on slide five. The five year plan priority areas include addressing housing needs, addressing homeless needs, expanding economic development opportunities, eliminating blight and strengthening neighborhoods, and promoting fair housing choice. Today, we're asking the City Council to adopt the annual action plan for Fiscal Year 2019. The plan includes $6.1 million in CDBG program expenditures, which is a 10% increase over fiscal year. 18 expenditures. $4.5 million in Home Investment Partnership Program expenditures, which is a 40% increase over fiscal year 18 expenditures and 496,580 3000 in ESG program expenditures, which is the same as 2018. The proposed program activities include the following goal number one, which is to create and preserve affordable housing. Goal number two is to support activities to end homelessness. Goal number three is to eliminate blight and strengthen neighborhoods. Goal number four is to expand economic activities. And goal number five is to promote fair housing choice. Staff is also asking the City Council to approve amendments to the 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 action plans in order to allocate unspent funds from various activities in each of those four action plan years. Based on community input, we're recommending that the funds be reallocated to the Home Improvement Rebate Program, the Business Corridor Revitalization Program, code enforcement and acquisition for affordable housing. And before I conclude, I would just like to thank Alem Goss and his staff for preparing this plan, as well as the community who came out to various meetings and provided their input and support. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you. Speaker 5: Thank you, Councilman Andrews. Councilman Price members, please cast your vote. Speaker 4: Public comment. Speaker 1: Was. Speaker 5: We call for public comment first. And I'm a yes. Speaker 2: Motion carries. Item 11.

Contract

Recommendation to approve the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 19) Action Plan, and Substantial Amendments to the FY 18, FY 17, FY 16, and FY 15 Action Plans for the expenditure of Community Development Block Grant, Home Investment Partnership Grant, and Emergency Solutions Grant Funds; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary documents with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive these funds and execute agreements necessary to implement and comply with related federal regulations. (Citywide)

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Speaker 2: Motion carries. Item 11. Speaker 5: All right. I remember. 11. Please rate. Thanks. Speaker 2: Report from Public Works recommendation to apply for an estimated amount of 11.2 million in grant funds through the Economic Development Administration. Except the grant funds, if awarded for the city's food or flood control resiliency improvement projects citywide. Speaker 5: Thank you. Is there any public comment on this item? ST None. Is there a second on this item? Thank you, Councilwoman Pierce. Councilman Andrews. Members, please cast your vote. Speaker 2: Vice mayor, U.S.. Okay.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to apply for an estimated amount of $11.2 million in grant funds through the Economic Development Administration, accept the grant funds, if awarded, and execute all documents necessary to implement the grant for the City’s Flood Control Resiliency Improvement Project. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. We're we've had a couple two requests to move up two items, and then we'll go to public comment. Item 21, please. Speaker 1: Item 21 is a communication from Councilmember Pearce, Councilwoman Gonzalez and Vice Mayor Richardson. Recommendation to receive and file a presentation from Grid Alternatives Greater Los Angeles in celebrating 200 solar installs in the city of Long Beach. Speaker 0: Councilmember Pierson. Speaker 8: Awesome. I want to thank. Great alternative stellar sewer second district resident commissioner. Speaker 4: You saw commissioner, right? Yes, ma'am. Speaker 8: Yeah. Not only for coming today, for all your efforts in the past, but for hanging in there as long as you could at the last meeting. And so I know that you guys have done a lot of great work citywide on trying to do as many installs as possible. So I'm eager to see your presentation today. And well, I'll have some comments after your presentation. Okay. Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor Garcia and City Councilmembers. Thank you to Councilmember Pearce, Councilmember Gonzalez and Vice Mayor Richardson for putting this on the agenda by name. Stellar Sewer District two resident and I am the outreach and partnerships manager for Grid Alternatives. With me is my colleague Danny Holm, who is the communications coordinator for the organization as well. And so we're really glad to be here today. This is something that we've been working on for a number of years. I have just a couple of slides, 200 and counting, lighting, lighting up Long Beach with clean energy and green jobs . So who is grid alternatives? We're a nonprofit organization that makes renewable energy technology and job training accessible to environmentally disadvantaged communities. We bring together partners, volunteers and job trainees to implement solar power and energy efficiency for low income families. And we provide them energy cost savings, hands on solar installation experience, and a source of clean, local energy that benefits everyone. Our mission to make renewable energy technology and job training accessible to underserved communities and a successful transition to clean energy. Here's some of the the results over the past. Since 2007, we've installed over 1450 solar systems in L.A., Orange and Ventura Counties. We've installed over 200 solar systems here in Long Beach. We've helped families save over $40 million in lifetime electricity costs. We've prevented the release of 99,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions here in our city. And we've provided over 5000 community members with solar installation experience and connections to future green career opportunities. And in fact, 87 of our volunteers last year, we connected to renewable energy jobs, which is pretty amazing, if you think about it, 87 jobs. So we're really proud of that. Our program, Energy for All, as I mentioned, connects families to the the solar energy systems at no cost at no cost for the families. We are not a for profit company. In fact, we're the only nonprofit solar company that was selected to do this work since back in 2007. This is the 200th family that we installed over in Councilmember Gonzalez's district, and this was Ms.. Laura Hill and her daughters. Just a little bit about Ms.. Hill real quick. She's been a resident of Long Beach for nearly 40 years. She was originally from Pittsburgh, California. She's familiar with the challenges of an environmentally, environmentally disadvantaged community from her childhood years, when she watched the build up of urban oil infrastructure around her home in the fifties. She traveled down to Long Beach. She worked at the downtown Long Beach McDonald's restaurant. Today, she no longer drives or works, but she leaves home frequently for medical appointments and visits with her friends. She's a she's proud of her home wish where she made it comfortable for her family. Several months ago, she partnered with Rebuilding Together Long Beach, and they provided improvements to her home, as well as the solar energy system that we provided from grid alternatives. So we're really happy that she was our 200th installation. Let's see what else I have. Danny, I think, Danny, I'm going to ask you to come up here and just talk a little bit for our executive director. Sure. Speaker 9: So Stella was kind enough to let me speak very briefly about kind of the future and maybe even the present state of our work in Long Beach. We're tremendously excited to be working in this city as an organization, and it's very exciting for me as well as someone born in Long Beach to be giving back to the community in this way. Long Beach has huge potential to go solar because there's huge need here for the energy savings and bill savings that come with energy independence. There's also a tremendous opportunity to improve health and wellness for people living in environmentally disadvantaged communities. We could never have gotten to 200 installations in the Long Beach community were it not for the consistent leadership of Mayor Garcia, as well as Larry Rich and the Office of Sustainability here in Long Beach, a firm and valued partner for us and the members of the council who are sitting here tonight, great alternatives. Really want to thank the Council and the mayor for partnering with us to make renewables as widely available as possible going forward in the future, starting with the 210 families that we've already gone to as of July 2018 and looking forward to many more individuals impacted as our partnerships with the city grow, as our partnership with the Conservation Corps of Long Beach grows, and as new opportunities to benefit the community through solar come into into possibility when we have the opportunity to secure major funding. We are a nonprofit organization and we often look to see how that funding can benefit people right here in Long Beach. As a specific example, I can tell you that right now we're working on seeking funding for a community solar program here in Long Beach through the first of its kind for us, our first community solar implementation, and would also have transformative effects for people in the city. It would allow nonprofit organizations, other local organizations and subscribers who are individuals themselves, renters, homeowners, to lock in some of their energy costs and really get closer to solar technology that people used to think was off limits to low to moderate income people. So this is an exciting opportunity. I can tell you just today, still in myself, we're working on reviewing our submission, which goes to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and to the Rockefeller Foundation for the Community Life Challenge. You'll be hearing more about that work from us as it develops. Just once more on behalf of our organization. It's an exciting time to be working in solar. We couldn't be more thrilled to be doing it in Long Beach, and we thank you for supporting energy that's available to everyone. Speaker 4: Thank you, Danny. And this final slide here. This took place about two weeks ago in your youngest district. The entire Office of Sustainability came out to volunteer on the roof of this family. And so we were so excited that they made that commitment. They were there, you know, probably majority of the day. They got a great experience. They helped the family, obviously connect to clean energy and to lower energy bills. We thank Councilmember Yarrawonga and staff for stopping by and we would love to have all of you out there. In fact, Mayor, you joined us for an install probably about two years ago or no, actually, when you first started as mayor, that was one of the first things he did was he joined us on the roof of a home over in Craftsman Village. And we've had other individuals from city council chief of staff Celina from District seven that also joined us. So we invite you all. CC Not you, not right now, but later on after you have the baby come and join us. And so we wanted to give this plaque to you. This is from great alternatives, Greater Los Angeles. It says Outstanding Partnership Award presented to the city of Long Beach in recognition of efforts to expand solar access presented on the occasion of our 200th install with alternatives Greater Los Angeles. And this was back in December. So we've had this all this time. It was over at the Office of Sustainability, but we wanted to give this to you. So thank you. Speaker 8: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. So I'll come up and we'll come up and grab it. Let me just a couple of people to wanna make some comments first so councilwoman you wanna go back to our peers. Speaker 8: I just wanted to say again thank you so much for all of your efforts, your partnerships. I know we've done a couple of community events in the second district as well. How many solar installs do you think you can get done in the next 12 months? If we are collaborating on a bigger scale. Speaker 4: If we have everyone focus or you know, if you think about it, if you were to identify five families, right? And then we work with those families, we get them situated with the solar system, we ask them for referrals because that's the best way to to promote the program. If someone you know in your district is receiving solar, then the neighbors see it and it's like, oh, okay, that's that's legit, right? And the city of Long Beach is a partner. Then it's it's easier to get into, you know, build that rapport with the with the family so we could do 100, 200. It really just depends. Speaker 8: And so I'm going to challenge us to do another one in the next 12 months. And I wanted to clarify, when we were doing one of our events in the second District, we talked a lot about roofs. And one of the biggest challenges, as I recall, being that roofs were not able to withstand that and people had to go in and get new roofs. Yes. What's the cost of a new roof? Speaker 4: Shoot, it could be anywhere between 5 to $15000. And I'm glad you brought that up, Councilmember, because we have been able to work with different organizations and we have now gotten funding to repair some of those roofs. Oh, that's so not only are they getting a free solar system that will reduce their energy bill by 50 to 90%. But there's also an opportunity to connect them to a new roof. Speaker 8: That's great. And I bring that up because right after that, we had one of the council members here from San Antonio, which I want to thank Mayor Garcia for having him come around. He is a councilmember in downtown. And one of the big items that he did in San Antonio was creating a fund for new rooftops that then allowed people to go and get solar. And so I just want to thank you one more time for your for your efforts and look forward to getting another 100 solar 200 in the next year. Thank you so very much. Speaker 4: Let's do it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mayor, did you want you guys want to. Speaker 0: Oh, yeah. I'm first let me finish the speakers and I'm going to come up. Thank you. Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 2: Stella, thanks so much. You have a real passion for this. You've had a passion for this. And we appreciate it very much and our residents appreciate it. Not only do I love the color green, but I absolutely love green initiatives like this. Yes, because they really do help people who may not have a lot of resources but still can be environmentally friendly. They just don't know how. And this gives them the power to be able to do that. I do see, though, a synergy with rebuilding together and a few other nonprofits that perhaps you can create a collective with that could really be very powerful. And I look forward to seeing this through and getting to those numbers and anything we can do to help on behalf of the First District. We're there for you. So thanks so much. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Orengo. Speaker 9: Thank you, Mary. And I want to thank you, Stella, for putting this together and for picking a website. It's a community that really has a lot of need. And certainly that this project and this program that you have going over there for sustainability and green energy is just absolutely fantastic. And the most important part that I was impressed with that day that I went there was the number of volunteers who were there and the the training opportunities that you gave them in terms of solar installers. I mean, that was just absolutely amazing. And the energy that was there for these individuals to learn how to install solar panels was just absolutely wonderful. So I want to thank you for your work and not only in what you're doing for green energy, but also for providing training opportunities for people who need it. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. And Councilman Andrews. Yes. Speaker 6: Also, first of all, so I think it's a great job and what you guys are doing. And I'd like to thank Councilwoman Pearce for highlighting this nonprofit work towards, you know, going solo, because the fact that my chief met with Shell and we find that there are great things that happen in the sixth District because a lot of this is look at the money you can save by doing this. And I wonder, when you said 87 jobs, you know my thing, a job stops a bullet. That's a great, great opportunity. Keep up the good work and anything we can do in the sixth district. Please keep us aware. Speaker 4: Very good. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you, Stella. And with that, is there any public additional public comment? Please come forward, Mr. Goodhue, and then we'll go to a vote and take the picture. Speaker 10: I fully support as a reference to this council a couple of months ago. The concept of solar energy and had it not been for you know, essentially having to reconvene the council of Trent. In order for the city to find the invoices relative to the electric use down to the original 1932 boathouse, we'd be well underway there . I believe a Councilwoman Price has been working with the that organization. She's found a organization. It's the one I had referenced. And I didn't realize that they can work together and will. At no cost to this city. Provide a if my understanding is correct. They're able to give it an entirely new roof because they can tap into special state bond measures that the city cannot do. So what we would have on the 1932 boathouse is a new roof, which in time the facility certainly would need. And then a a energy source that would create a positive energy flow, profit cash. That would go to in my view, I would like to have it go to the not for profit 501c threes that operate out of the peat art the existing peat art growing center. Which I have to pay money. To the city when we hold events in the Marine Stadium, understandably, we need the lifeguards, the patrol boats there. But it's a win win situation. And I would urge the city to work with the council and all of the price and the organizations that she's that their people in their boathouse have contacted to provide the requisite solar panels, which also can be put on the Pete Archer Center. Different types that would not stand out like a lot of them do. A lot of neighbors might object to them, but they have a new type of panel that would lay flat and not be raised up. So I urge you to work with Council on the Price on that. Thank you. Speaker 0: Please come forward. Public comment. Speaker 4: I am Francis Emily Dyson Harris and I reside in District one. And this is an absolutely phenomenal agenda item, which I support 100%. And I was wondering about the feasibility of green alternatives, Greater Los Angeles, in regards to their solar installations, of having that type of opportunity for rental units that have especially landlords and owners that provide electricity and pay for it where it's actually them paying for it, not the tenant, especially in units where they have people that have like lower income type of rental units and I thought maybe are just units period where they have that to bring down the cost with historic cost of rent increases. I thought that might be something to be looked into. That might be quite helpful. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you. With that members, please cast your votes for the photo. And then, Madam Clerk, when we got them, 23. Speaker 1: Councilwoman Price. Councilman Alston. Motion carries.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a presentation from GRID Alternatives-Greater Los Angeles in Celebrating 200 Solar Installs in the City of Long Beach.

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Speaker 3: Three want to. Stay there. One more. We got better here. One, two, three. Thank you. Very good. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Out of 23, please. Speaker 1: Item 23 is communication from Councilman Andrews, Councilmember Pierce, Councilwoman Price, Vice Mayor Richardson, recommendation to request city manager to work with Long Beach Police Department and other interested stakeholders and report back within 20 days regarding options to streamline traffic circulation, improve traffic enforcement and increase safety surrounding schools throughout the city. Speaker 0: Councilman Andrews. Speaker 6: Yes. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I'd like to thank my peers who signed on with this item with me. But also, before we continue, I would also like to include the Joint Use Committee as one of the stakeholders in this conversation. You know, the safety of our children is one of my top priorities, and I think it should be everyone's top priority. You know, we have done a walk through to some of our schools sites and it is not, you know, as safe as we think it could be. I know the schools are trying to put in place regulations to help with cars, working parents and overall traffic, but they need help. I hope that we can hear back some recommendations on how the city we can assist our neighborhood hurt schools. I would like to thank Bobbie Smith Elementary for for creating a hub, for creating a pedestrian, safe group of mothers who will help every day. And assistant principal at Lincoln Elementary for reaching out to my office for this assistance. This is something I think especially everyone that has a child and doesn't have a job. And when we go to our schools, there are things that we really need to be very, very, I think, consistent of and try to at least try to get something. This is a conversation we're trying to get started with, not trying to blame anyone at fault. We're just hoping we can get something going and willing to safety for our kids. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Price. Speaker 2: I support this item and this is an issue that comes up often. And so I think it's great that we're starting the discussion and really being proactive about how we address school safety and especially traffic and engineering around school sites. So thank you, Councilman Andrews, for bringing it forward. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Soprano. Speaker 6: I'd also like to thank Councilman Andrews for bringing this item forward. We have schools in the fourth District that are tremendously impacted. I think this is a great approach in the right way to move forward on it. I'd just like to add that these schools that were built in the fifties or earlier, some I think of from school in our Kraft Manor that is totally inside a neighborhood where there's no major thoroughfares to it. And I know Mayor Garcia was there a month or so ago, and I've read to the students there and just the number of students there, this for special needs. The school is just bursting at the seams. And so I'd like to also, if we can, within this item, work with the school district to see what we can do in those areas. But I think this is a great first step and a way that we can expose the issues. So thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 8: I was hoping to find out from staff. I think this is great. I really appreciate Councilmember Andrews for bringing this about 18 to 24 months ago. The same topic came up and we sat down with city staff who talked about a committee that was made up of school board members and council members and that that would be the solution. What progress has been made on that? Because if we don't have a solution yet, this seems like another. Speaker 10: I believe this is still one of the agenda items on the school board, city council committee, and they just haven't met for a while. Speaker 8: They have never met. Speaker 10: I'm not aware, but they have met for a while. And if not. Speaker 8: So, our council appointed members to sit on this body. But the school board has chosen not to appoint members to serve on a joint committee where we could work together. Speaker 0: I'm not aware of that. Speaker 8: Okay. I would appreciate some follow up. Do I need to add a friendly or I mean, I think it's important. A council agenda item came 24 months ago asking to restart a committee because we have issues around our schools. Middle schools have been turned into high schools. High schools have stopped or sorry, middle schools and high schools have both stopped busing. They have the similar issues that Councilmember Superman mentioned. It used to be a bus. One vehicle would bring 60 to 80 children to a school. Now you have 40 to 60 cars bringing those same kids. And so the pick up and drop off and the number of vehicles per hour and the safety concerns continue to grow. And I was told that the solution was that we had to have this committee. And so if we could get an update back, do I need a friendly. Speaker 10: No, absolutely not. We can get back here probably tomorrow. The next that. Speaker 8: Promise. That would be wonderful. It's really important to a lot of parents. So. Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 2: Yes. Thank you for bringing forward. And I also know that we had a crossing guard. Do you have any updates on our crossing guards and where that's at as well in terms of just the larger scope of safety? Speaker 10: Yes, that's also a committee peace act pedestrian. Speaker 2: It's the same committee. Yeah, I see. Speaker 10: Yeah. The Safety Advisory Board. So we'll give you an update on that as well. Speaker 2: Okay, great. Thank you. Speaker 0: A open. Speaker 6: I just want to follow up on Councilwoman Mungo's statement about we used to have bussing at some school. There are 20 busses that currently serve that school in addition to parents dropping off kids. And the one item that is that is critical is is we have PTA. We have I think we would probably be covered under stakeholders. But the neighbors around the school, I guess that it's such a critical piece to this. So we'd like to invite them to the table. The staff at bus from I think of the principal, Miriam Garcia, Dr. Tiffany Brown from the school district. They do a great job. But this is an area, kind of a jurisdictional issue where the neighborhood just is having trouble communicating this. And so I'm not sure if the solution involves school board members with council members. We might want to be a little closer to the ground than that, but I'm going to support this item. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. I just us we have we have a motion in a second as there any other public comment on this. I'm sorry. Public comment on this first. Please come forward. Speaker 8: Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the council and city staff. My name is Brenda Soriano Villa and I'm here representing Bobbie Smith Elementary, the YMCA Full Service Community School Program. Unfortunately, the families were not able to make it. It is a Tuesday evening, although it's summer, that some of them still work. So I'm here representing the community that participates in our programing, but the school in general and also the neighbors. As Councilmember Andrews mentioned, our families have. Noticed this problem and wanted to they've decided to take action in the sense of creating a value system and asking the principal to send out a letter of support to our families that our neighbor, the neighbor, the city that have children there. But there's also elements there that we ask all of your support, and then that is the signage that is there. Just all of the list of stakeholders on this item are crucial in ensuring that our students are safe. And not only our students, but the families that are walking them. The neighbors are just trying to go to work in the morning and they are having such a hard time to get there. In our school we do have a group of moms. I do want to recognize that again, weren't able to be here today, but it was really them. A group of six women that got up early in the morning at seven and just and just set up shop to create a rally system. And they realized it was working quite effectively that even though that they didn't intend to be there in the afternoon, they started to be there in the afternoon as well to help out. And it's just created a culture of safety. But I think we need more. And that's why we're asking and I'm asking personally to your support in just starting this conversation and creating a space to be able to create some progress. And this many of the women that were here today, the commissioner said, you know, it takes a village. And and in terms of our mission and vision at the YMCA, as well as our community school, we are true believers of that in ensuring that everyone has a space at the table and that everyone has the accessibility to be able to participate. So thank you and I hope that we move forward on this. Speaker 0: Thank you. No other. Ignore the public comment. Please come forward if there is. Speaker 8: Hello, everyone. Mayor Garcia, council members. My name is Anna, R.S. I'm one of the parents at Lincoln Elementary School. I volunteer at the school every morning, and the number one concern is my child safety. And that is why we started the curbside drop off at the end of last year. And we see that most of the parents do participate and they are supportive. But there's still parents that are dropping off their children in the middle of the street. And that creates a problem because now the children are trying to walk through the valley in front of the cars. So not only do we have to help them get onto the curb safely, but we do not try to create any problems between the parents or confront them to stop the the problem. We do request your support. I know you've started a commission to help us out, but we are requesting that at the beginning of the school year we have some maybe law enforcement to help alleviate some of that situation. So the parents are not dropping off their children on the street. But we also would like to help. Within our school, we're thinking if maybe we could create a one way street on in front of our school, I think that would really help the situation permanently and not temporarily. So again, we look forward to be working with you. I represent the parents and we thank you for your time. Speaker 0: Any other speakers? Please come forward now. Speaker 4: Good evening, council members, residents of Long Beach and Mayor Robert Garcia. My name is Charles Darwin Glaucoma and I am the assistant principal of Lincoln Elementary School. We are located at 1175 East 11th Street between Orange Avenue and Alamitos Avenue. 11th Street is a small residential street with two way traffic and several houses located directly across from our main entrance. At Lincoln. Our English Language Advisory Committee and School Site Council meets several times a year to discuss ideas and improve changes related to safety. Many parents expressed concerns about the safety of students upon arrival. Drivers on the narrow streets with limited options for parking were displaying unsafe practices in order to get students to school on time. We addressed this issue with the support of the staff, the Community Student Council, Elac School Site Council and Parent Volunteers. A few months ago we began a valet drop off procedure for Lincoln students, while the valet drop off has helped to alleviate some safety concerns and improve on time arrival for our students. Drivers continue to demonstrate unsafe practices. Unfortunately, we have been not successful in our efforts to secure support and patrol from Long Beach Police Department. Some of the concerns we are still facing include cars exceeding the speed limit, three point turns, parking in the drop off zone, blocking driveways, double parking and jaywalking throughout our curbside drop off. A community partnership could really improve our efforts with traffic flow and awareness and implementation of safe practices, leading to an overall improvement in every area of school, climate and culture. On behalf of Carolyn Nemec, principal at Lincoln Elementary and a dedicated staff members at Lincoln, we hope that you will consider this a high priority as there are over 1000 students traveling to and from Lincoln every single day. Thank you for your time, but I am especially grateful for your consideration and how we might work together to prioritize the safe arrival and departure of our Long Beach scholars. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Please come forward on our last public comment. Speaker 4: I am Frances only to Paris and I reside in District one and I want to thank Council Member Super for your mention about children or persons that have special needs. My concern regarding them curbside drop off is this time they have a certain amount of time. They want you to move the air, move from the area where they drop you off and you have children. They may use different types of mobility devices or and they're not able to move as as fast. And unfortunately, because of the exorbitant costs on having services to take them to the school, the parents have to bring them . And if they have a regular vehicle and have a manual chair and the time to get it out, the car and everything is even more time consuming. So my question is, and I know you can answer tonight, but is there a special area at the school this designated for children with special needs? Because when the children, people start honking the horn and hollering and everything is very traumatic to a child that's doing the best they can and the families trying to help them. So I just wanted to put that out on the floor, so to speak, to look at this matter so that it works for everybody. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. And I just want to also before we go to I want to just clarify, I think there are two appointed members of the school board that are on the Joint Use Committee, and those have been appointed. And I know that they meet when the last meeting happened as well. So I know it was said that the that they were not appointed and they want to clarify that they there are two appointed members and I want to thank the school board and the school district for their work. And I know that they've been great partners for us as a community. And certainly there are always there always opportunities for us to work closer together on issues, particularly in our neighborhoods. But they do an excellent job. And I just want to reiterate that tonight. Councilman Mongo. Speaker 8: Thank you for that, Mayor. I really appreciate the work that's possible when we all work together. I think that I was just mostly surprised that our staff didn't in prepping for this agenda item. I know it was a council driven agenda item, but know the progress or where we have been because I, I feel for the parents in the district and there have been so many changes that many of us have brought up several times. And it's a very complex system of how it all works in working between the different governments. And so I just think that it's important to to know what resources are already available and accessible before we create even more. But I too agree that even with as councilmember supervisor said, councilmembers and board members are not always enough. And we have lay programs and Councilwoman Price has a one way street and and even in certain cases those things have needed significant improvement and buy in. And so my frustration that you hear comes from just the the there's so many things going on in the city. And this is one more important thing that I'm surprised that we lost the chain on of where where are we going and what progress has been made. Because what I hoped when I read an item like this ten days ago is to be able to say, I'm glad that you brought this up to a council member and here's the progress we've made in the last 24 months because an item came before us. But I don't know that stuff today and I hope to be able to get it to you soon. Thank you. Speaker 0: Councilman Austin. Thank you. I really wasn't going to speak on this, but I think a lot of good points have been raised. And I want to thank the folks from the public who've come at it and particularly the parents who are volunteering their time to make sure that their children have safe passage to or from school on a daily basis. We have a number of schools in my district, and I'm just curious to know I know this is going to be pretty well, pretty monumental task, not only for our our staff, but also for the the committee, the joint committee that meets. Because, I mean, we got to do an inventory of all of the schools and all the districts and assess traffic needs in every one of those districts. And I can tell you that that these these issues come before I know they come before my my my district and our council office every year. And generally, we we start getting the calls, you know, during the first couple of weeks of school. And I've been involved in the PTA, I've been involved in most of the stakeholder groups identified in this item. I think it's very important that that on a local level, campus by campus, that if we're going to really make an impact on on on safety, you guys are the answer. The work that that these wonderful women have come before us, the parents have come before us and are doing I believe that is going to be the model for success moving forward. It's going to require parental involvement. And and. Buy in from the PTA and buy in from the school administration and and neighborhood associations and everybody communicating is one we've had some success in a little surreal school area and with other schools. And we've we've done some some traffic modifications and signage there. There are a number of solutions out there. But I think Councilmember Mungo raised a great point, you know, and that is, you know, for years we were bussing. Right. And how many of these these these schools are located within neighborhoods and, you know, taking away that dynamic and adding cars, no matter how many bike lanes we put in place, people still need to get comfortable sending their kids to school either by feet or by bicycle. But until we get the cars out of the equation, we're going to have more, more traffic. And so I'm really I know I'm on that committee. I don't recall that committee actually meeting since the last city council was was seated. The last time we met, I think James Johnson was was the council member in the seventh District. And so I think we need to really step up our commitment to make that that committee meet and meet more often and and and make some things happen. I'm looking forward to working with you all. Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilman. It was May 2nd, 2017. So we'll work on this tomorrow to schedule the next one. Speaker 0: So about about a year ago, last many of the year, I stand corrected. Am I still on the committee? Speaker 3: Okay, you. Speaker 2: Are on the committee. I was like, I could have sworn you were there. Speaker 3: To get it right for you, Chairman. Speaker 0: Great. And so, yes. So there is a there is an active there is an active joint use committee. It met a year ago. And and there are it's full of been appointed by both the council and and the school board members. And so thank you for that. Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Councilwoman Price motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. We're going to do item I'm sorry to public comment there's two there's two folks from public comment Larry Goodhue in and Francis Wood Austin Harris. Mr. Goodhue, come forward.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to work with Long Beach Police Department, Department of Public Works, Long Beach Unified School District, Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee, Parent Teacher Associations, parent groups, and other interested stakeholders and report back within 120 days regarding options to streamline traffic circulation, improve traffic enforcement, and increase safety surrounding schools throughout the City of Long Beach.

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Speaker 0: Okay, great. Thank you very much. We're moving on to item 24. Speaker 1: Item 24 is communication from Councilwoman Price, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember peers and council membership, and a recommendation to request that City of Long Beach annually recognize June as Pride Month. Speaker 6: Who should handle this? Speaker 3: You? Speaker 6: Yeah, I am. But who's uzan? Okay, this is my space. Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman Andres. Speaker 3: Yes. Speaker 2: So it is my honor and privilege to work with my council colleagues to bring this item forward. As we all know, Long Beach is a leading city in California in supporting LGBTQ rights. The goals of equality and justice for the LGBT CU community is a priority for the city and a priority for the city council, and it is a priority for me personally. It is a privilege that I hold very dear. Recognizing Pride Month will help to honor the legacy of this movement and the progress made by individuals in the LGBT community. Speaker 8: Through the positive. Speaker 2: Contributions they have made to our community, to our state, and to this country. On a personal note, every year I have a float in the. Speaker 8: Pride Parade, but this year. Speaker 2: I was so exuberant and danced so enthusiastically that I ended up rupturing a disc in my back and needed to get spine. Speaker 4: Surgery the following week. Speaker 2: So I will break my back for you. Speaker 8: I hope that. Speaker 2: Along with this item, we as a council show that we are committed as a city and as a community to supporting LGBTQ pride and events, programs and all philosophies associated with it. Thank you. Speaker 6: Yeah. This comes from Gonzalo. Speaker 2: Thank you. And thank you, Councilmember Price, for bringing it forward. We also designated the third week of May as Pride Week and I think June a lot. You know, we're a little different in Long Beach. We celebrated in May. The rest of the world sells, celebrates it in June. And I think it's just absolutely timely and great that we're doing that. Anything we can do to highlight the fact that we are a very inclusive LGBTQ community? You know, I'm we're all about it. And so I thank you again for bringing it forward. And I look forward to hopefully having another pride amazing pride float and hopefully you don't rupture another disc. We need you on the council. But thanks so much. Speaker 6: Thank you very much, Congressman Pearce. Speaker 4: Mrs. Pearce. Speaker 8: Yes, thank you. I want to thank my colleagues for this item. I want to thank Long Beach Pride for always presenting us with good items and ways to celebrate our community and partner together. You know, when this item came up, I was kind of surprised that we hadn't already had it. So I want to thank Councilwoman Susie Price for this, recognizing that our city is changing and it is diverse, and the more that we can celebrate those that make our city great, the stronger we will be. So keep up the great work and anytime that we can partner and build relationships with you all, we certainly look forward to it. Thank you. Speaker 6: Yes, I see we have. Well, first 10 seconds. Any public comment? Speaker 4: Hello again. Green Hat off, Rainbow Hat on Stellar Suhr, Vice Chair for the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach. And so I have a short letter to read to you. So, dear Mayor Garcia and members of City Council, the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach supports the proposed agenda item to annually recognize June as Pride Month in Long Beach and is incredibly grateful to Councilwoman Pearce for her leadership on this effort. Our LGBTQ community in Long Beach is one of the most diverse in this country, and our local community organizations have contributed greatly to LGBTQ history in the United States while we continue to support advancing equity for LGBTQ people locally and throughout the country. We applaud Long Beach City Council for taking the step to formally acknowledge that the nearly 50 years of history pride celebrations have contributed towards our movement. We're also grateful for the efforts of many City Council to address issues of inequity and for your demonstrated actions to improve Long Beach for LGBTQ people during the month of June and beyond. We hope that your commitment to and efforts to improve our LGBTQ community extend far beyond this motion and are woven into the moral fabric that contributes to your leadership and how you choose to lead our community. Thank you again to Councilwoman Pearce for leading this effort as well as co-sponsors. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilwoman Pierce. Councilmember. Super not for your many actions which have demonstrated a. Speaker 3: Willingness to pay the. Speaker 4: Price. I'm sorry. Let me say it again. Thank you again to Councilwoman Price for leading this effort, as well as co-sponsors Gonzalez and Pierce in Super for your actions, which have demonstrated a longstanding commitment and unwavering support for our LGBTQ community. And this is signed by our executive director, Porter Gilbert, and our board chair and President Justin Porter. Thank you. Speaker 6: Thank you to any more public comment. Oh, I know this young lady. Speaker 4: Thank you. Honorable Mayor, members of City Council. My name is Tanya martin. I'm the FIL representative for Senator Ricardo Lot. And today I'm here on behalf of the senator who supports the proposed item and who also would like to recognize Councilwoman Pearce. Pearce Price, the other P prize for for her leadership on this effort. Also to recognize the call authors Catwoman, Gonzalez, Councilwoman Pearce, and also Mr. Councilman Silvano. As you may know, June as Pride Month is observed across the nation since 1969 to commemorate the Stonewall riots. This is when there was a tipping point movement for the gay liberation in the United States. Every June, the LGBT press organizations around the country call upon Californians for all backgrounds to observe the month by participating in activities and events to celebrate the achievements and diversity of the LGBT community. In June of 1969, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn staged an uprising to resist the harassment, the persecution to which many LGBT plus Americans were commonly subjected to. This uprising marked the beginning of civil rights movement to outlaw discriminatory laws and practices against LGBT Americans. Today, communities across the state come together to host pride parades, festivals, picnics, parties, drag shows, workshops, conferences and concerts that attract millions of participants from around the world. For decades, Long Beach has been a leader in celebrating our pride for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and related communities and their allies by kicking off the first pride event in the region. And this is a southern region. Our city is a leader in supporting gay rights movement, and you are also the host of one of the largest pride festivals and parades in the country. With that said, by supporting this item, the City of Long Beach will ensure that it maintains its momentum as a world class. Speaker 8: City that openly supports diversity. Speaker 4: Inclusivity and the community. Speaker 8: I respectfully ask for your yes vote today. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 6: Thank you, Jane, for public comment. If not, please vote. Speaker 1: Motion carries.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request that the City of Long Beach annually recognize June as Pride Month.

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Speaker 6: Okay, next item. So is 2025 and 26, 25 and 26. I like that. Speaker 1: Item 25. Speaker 6: I'd like to ask that that be pulled into the next council meeting and possible. Can you. Five and 26. Speaker 10: Council Member Andrews We just need a motion in a second to withdraw the item or to continue the item to another date or just to continue the item and it will be rescheduled at a different date. Thank you. Continue the item to reschedule. Speaker 6: The first and second one, please. Okay, fine. And I don't need any trouble coming on today. Speaker 10: Yes. Public comment on continuing manner. Speaker 6: Is there any public comment on continuing the matter? That pleased them me vote. Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 6: Fine. Item 28.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to approve renaming the Multi-Use Sport Court in Marina Vista Park the Luke Tatsu Johnson Court.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 6: Thank you. Item 28, please. Speaker 1: Item 28 Report from Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications, Health and Human Services. Fire and Police Recommendation to execute a contract with the City of L.A. to receive and expend Department of Human Homeland Security grant funding for the 2017 Urban Area Security Initiative grant in an amount not to exceed 825,000 CDI. Speaker 6: Yes, I speak on that. No. Speaker 0: Starting like a brief staff report, please. Speaker 6: Can we please have a brief reporting? Speaker 10: Make sure we have Nelson Kerr from the Health and Human Services Department. Oh, I'm sorry. Reggie Harrison. Speaker 9: Look at Cosmo Andrews met with the city council. The item before you is to approve a contract with the Los Angeles and Long Beach, U.S., to receive a $125,000 in Homeland Security grant funds. The grants are used to for the purpose of providing training, as well as equipment that first responders need, as well as to provide resources for community partners as well in the event of it, to assist them in being prepared for a major emergency or disaster. Is an annual award of a contract in the city of Long Beach has been a long time recipient of these funds. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. There's a motion and a second. Any public comment? Speaker 10: But since the city doesn't have the backbone to shut down the cannabis operations, I think it would certainly be appropriate if the money's there. To apply for. The money they will need to expend. As a result of. The marijuana business that you've invited into the city, period. And if the money is there and obviously the police are going to need it, the community is going to need that security. And also it's a study I use it for that or a study, what I should have mentioned before and have mentioned before. But I did mention it tonight, the concept. Speaker 3: Of a meeting. Speaker 10: Of the city renting out the top floor of the police department. To nine different cannabis operations. They can come there. 3 hours. Every other day. And you'll get some type of control. If the money's there, if they're handing out that grant, get creative and use it. And use it in that way. Because right now. You're understaffed with the police department. It's going to take another 5 to 6 years to come up to what we should be at. So if they're handing out money, get creative and ask for it. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. And the other public comment saying none. Please cast your votes in. Speaker 1: Motion, Kate. Speaker 0: Thank you. Before we go back to item 29, I just want to make sure. Did we already take. I moved 25 to 26 and 27. Speaker 10: We continued all three.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager or designee, to execute a contract, and all necessary amendments including term extensions, with the City of Los Angeles to receive and expend Department of Homeland Security grant funding for the 2017 Urban Area Security Initiative Grant, in an amount not to exceed $825,000, for the period of September 1, 2017 through May 31, 2020; and Increase appropriations in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications Department (DC) by $90,000, in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Fire Department (FD) by $405,000, in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Health and Human Services Department (HE) by $65,000, and in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Police Department (PD) by $265,000, offset by grant revenue. (Citywide)

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Speaker 10: We continued all three. Speaker 0: All three got continued already. Perfect then. Next up, item 29. Speaker 1: I am 29 is a report from Financial Management Recommendation to Adobe resolution requesting that the Board of Harbor Commissioners approve the transfer of 5% of fiscal year 2018. GROSS operating revenue from the Harbor Revenue Fund to the Thailand Operation Fund City. Speaker 0: Thank you. There's a motion in a second. Is there any public comment? Seeing any staff report on this? Speaker 10: No, sir. We're required to do this on an annual basis. Speaker 0: Okay. You know, public comment, please cast your votes. And that's revolting. Just, you know, just quickly that I know that this last this we're talking about the port. I'm not sure if it'll probably be out tomorrow, but the the port again broke another record on cargo containers for for the month of June. And so we're moving more containers than we ever have. So this is great. That's good for the transfer. Speaker 9: It's made the transfers up about 7% from last year. Speaker 0: And the more the more cargo we get, the more transfer we get. So that's that's great. And I, I mean, unbelievably, we're almost up 15% from these first six months prior to the last six months of last year. So that's really great. That motion. Did we vote on that? Yes. Okay. I didn't see the thing come up. It didn't come up. Speaker 6: Yeah, we didn't. Speaker 0: Can we try that one more time? It didn't come up for me. SANDERS Well, I don't think it came up for everyone, so. Please cast your vote because. Speaker 1: Ben Austin motion carries.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution requesting that the Board of Harbor Commissioners approve the transfer of 5 percent of Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 18) gross operating revenue, from the Harbor Revenue Fund (HR 430) to the Tidelands Operations Fund (TF 401), with a true-up adjustment, if necessary, to reflect the final gross revenue amount upon issuance of the Harbor Department’s FY 18 audited financial statements. (Citywide)

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Speaker 1: Motion carry. Speaker 0: Thank you. Item 31. Speaker 1: Item 31 is a communication from city attorney. Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the language municipal code by adding Chapter 2.56. Establishing a Commission on Youth and Families. Read the first time and lead it over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading and a resolution Repealing Resolution for the Resolutions of the Commissions on Youth and Children. Speaker 0: Thank you. I just want to actually just think the city during the staff. I know that you guys worked with the commission itself to kind of restructure itself and that these recommendations came from the commission as a better way to move forward. And I know that this is a commission that has gone through a lot of change over the last ten years. And they believe that this new format and this new makeup will allow them to do their work moving forward. And so I just wanted to thank all of you for for working with them. Councilwoman Gonzales. Speaker 2: Yes. I think I love the restructure and I really appreciate the effort in making this a very holistic commission. And I look forward to seeing what we can do in a in a more positive way and more impactful. So thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Andrews. Any public comment on this? Please cast your votes. Speaker 1: Bush and Kerry's.

Resolution

Adopt resolution repealing Resolution No. C-28279 for the dissolution of the Commission on Youth and Children.

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Speaker 1: Bush and Kerry. Speaker 0: 35 police. Speaker 1: 35 is a report from Development Services and Financial Management. Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach menus barcode or regarding massage establishments red and adopted as red citywide. Speaker 0: And a second. Any public comment on this? Please customers. Speaker 1: Motion carry. Speaker 0: Thank you. The second public comment period is up. K is please come forward. Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sorry. Speaker 0: No. The agenda is over. It's the second public comment period. Yes. Please come forward, sir. Speaker 3: Oh. Speaker 0: On a personal. Speaker 3: Let me go ahead. Speaker 8: Good evening. Speaker 2: Honorable Mayor. Members of the council. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Jennifer Krall. I am a resident of Long Beach. I grew up in the third district, currently live in the second. I have recently founded a501c that I am trying to turn into a51 C3.

Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending and restating in its entirety Chapter 5.58; amending Section 21.15.110, Section 21.15.1725, Section 21.32.035, Table 32-1 of Chapter 21.32, Section 21.33.050, Section 21.34.030, and Section 21.35.030; adding Section 21.52.030; and repealing Section 21.51.243, all regarding massage establishments, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)

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Speaker 1: And so item 27 and 28 are going to be moved to future meetings. And with that, if we can have the clerk, please read item 45. Speaker 0: Report from Economic Development Recommendation to execute an exclusive negotiating agreement with Molina Woo Network for the lease and potential development of property owned by the city located at 1720 Termino Avenue 1760 Termino Avenue and 4111 East Welton Street District for. Speaker 1: Thank you. We're going to go ahead and have a pretty extensive presentation by our staff who are going to go through all of the information on community hospital. And then from there, we will go to the city council for any questions and comments. And then, of course, we will open it up to the public for any questions on the on the community hospital issue. Mr. WEST. Mr. Mayor, council members, we've been working on this for quite some time now, working very, very closely with memorial care, as they have chosen to close the hospital and working with them to try to find a new operator. We found a new operator. Speaker 7: We're very excited about that. And we're looking for. Speaker 2: An exclusive. Speaker 1: Right to negotiate with this new operator. And with that, I'm going to turn over this presentation to John Keisler, our director of economic development, who has been leading the charge on this. Speaker 2: Effort as the hospital does belong to the city of Long Beach with a team of other folks from Long Beach. Speaker 1: So go ahead, John. Speaker 7: Thank you, honorable mayor and members of the city council. I'm going to give you a quick overview of the progress since our last open study session on April 23rd. Give you an update on the seismic and PED state requirements. Talk a little bit about our due diligence process to identify a new operator and recommend some actions from the city council tonight. So in terms of our progress since the last study session, there's been a number of of important steps taken by memorial care, as well as the city, in partnership with our regulatory agencies, including the County Emergency Medical Services Agency Public Hearing. We testified to the State Health Committee to support Assembly Bill 2591, sponsored by Patrick O'Donnell on Arnold to delay state seismic compliance at the facility. We've conducted weekly tours of community hospital with potential operators conducted. We contracted with our architects Perkins and Will, and meet with our state regulatory agency to prepare the seismic compliance plans. We've worked with Memorial Care to renew state hospital licenses through this year through April 28th of 2019. Memorial care issued a workforce adjustment and retraining notice or a warn notice for 363 employees at community hospital, indicating the employment that will terminate July 3rd. And the County Board of Supervisors adopted an impact evaluation report from County Emergency Medical Services Agency for the Closure of Community Hospital. And additionally, we've completed extensive engineering, financial and operational due diligence associated with potential new operators. A quick overview of the seismic compliance issues at Community Hospital, Long Beach Senate Bill 1953 and subsequently Senate Bill 90 require that all acute care hospitals must meet seismic regulations by June 30th of 2019, or they will be shut down. Non-Acute care facilities are exempt from this requirement. And Memorial Care conducted a peer review that confirmed that there was an active fault at the line in the city, subsequently conducted its own third party review, which we contracted for to confirm that the fault did exist and that there was an active fault line on a portion of the site. The city confirmed with a state agency, the Office of Hospital Safety, on Monday, June 18th. That Memorial Care never actually submitted a plan to retrofit the facility, and that the statements regarding the feasibility of an acute care facility on the site were not attributed or attributable to our spend. Over the past six months, city staff has worked closely with Ashford, architect Perkins in Will and the State Geological Survey to establish plans for providing acute care services in seismically safe buildings on the site. So just to review what's actually we established going on on the site. So this conditions report has actually been completed but that it establishes that the Alquist pre all of fault line is established there is an active fault zone identified within the AP zone, which is the red zone that you can see on the image in front of you. We've also confirmed that new development has to set back at least 50 feet away from any active fault line for hospitals in the state of California. But we've also confirmed that up to 50% of construction on safe buildings is allowed on these sites. And so in meeting with the state officials on hospital safety, the proposed solution from occupied indicates that the city or the new operator could consolidate all the acute care services that are associated with operating an emergency department in a licensed hospital in the heritage building, which is considered seismically safe. You'll see that it actually the the SPC rating, the seismic ratings that the state attributes to these buildings allows for acute care services to work in the heritage building. But we would have to move the central plant or the utilities to a seismically safe area on the site. So in working with our architect over the past few months, we've established a conceptual schedule for how we would go about designing and ultimately achieving approval and permitting or entitlements from the state agency. We would also need to complete a process whereby we establish the construction costs and ultimately come up with a financing plan for construction. But we believe that construction, based on the design elements which we reviewed on the previous slide, could be completed sometime in near 2022 at the end of 2021. So what this means is that we still would require to complete this construction plan and achieve compliance and extension from the state of California for an extension of our deadline for seismic compliance. So in terms of our size, seismic situation and next steps, we would need to complete a feasibility study that demonstrates the ability to maintain an acute care facility with the essential services on the campus. We also still need to complete a cost estimate and then schematic drawings, basic drawings for the construction at the site , and we would need to develop construction plans. It's important to note that construction level drawings cost approximately $1 million to prepare. So this is not a small endeavor. It's actually a complicated one, and we need to identify the funding sources ultimately for the construction when this is completed, when we have achieved the the objectives of the construction plans and have negotiated a transition plan for operations of the site, we would have to reconnect with the State Assembly Assembly Health Committee to present the new operator and the operating plan, as well as a viable seismic compliance plan prepared by our architect and. Approved by. Occupied. And we're working on advancing the slide here. So next slide. All right, one more. All right. Very good. So I'm happy that tonight we get to present to the city council and to the public a potential operator for the community future of community hospital. In their conceptual proposal, the group Melina Wu and Network Medical Management LLC, or M.W., and proposed to operate a smaller, fully licensed hospital of approximately four beds located on the 2840. Speaker 1: Beds used for 40. Speaker 7: To 40 hospital beds. My apologies. All right, we get that. All right. Great. To do this and to warrant the type of investment that's needed for this type of project, they would need a minimum of a 40 year lease at the same term that was provided previous operators at $1 a year. The hospital operator agency would operate the hospital. They currently operate seven other hospitals in the region and network medical management would manage the care contracts. They operate a very extensive independent physicians association network as well as many other administrative services that help move a hospital there. Also, the partnership is exploring a potential joint venture with Cal State, Long Beach School of Gerontology and the School of Nursing. And they proposed to reconfigure portions of the hospital which actually meet the seismic standards to maintain an acute care hospital with an emergency department, 30 to 40 inpatient beds, as I mentioned, as well as the capability to receive advanced life support and paramedic ambulances, which is important, of course, to our police and fire departments. They would add complementary components such as independent and assisted living services, inpatient, outpatient, behavioral health services programs for potentially all inclusive care for the elderly, or space programs and medical education in conjunction with CSU, L.B., Outpatient, Medical and Surgical Services and a possible additional non-medical residential. They proposed a substantially higher community hospital employees. In fact, they would do that immediately to continue the expertize and training that already exists at the site. And they're requesting the city to explore financial participation in the immediate transition and then ultimately the seismic retrofit of the facility to be determined and to be negotiated for bringing back to the council in a public meeting. So to introduce you to the members of this partnership, Molina is represented by Pacific Six and Golden Shore Clinics, which include Dr. Mario Molina, founder of Golden Shore Medical Group, and John Molina, a partner and principal of Pacific Six. These fine gentlemen have over 30 years of experience in working in Long Beach health care, and they're the former executives of Molina health care who serve over 5 million clients and employ over 25,000 employees nationwide. Dr. Mario Molina, also as the founder of Golden Shore Medical Group, operates 17 clinics located in California across multiple counties. And John Molina, with Pacific six, invests in real estate development partnerships and has capitalized at $100 million, invested in both nonprofit and for profit real estate ventures. Alhambra Hospital Medical Center or HMRC Health Care, is owned by Dr. Jonathan Wu, who is also the chairman of H.M.S.. H.M.S. is a for profit, privately held hospital corporation based in the Greater San Gabriel Valley, with over 30 years of experience in hospital management. Currently owning seven community hospitals with over 1200 beds and 7000 employees in Southern California, there's a list of those hospitals, some of them near Long Beach, and would like to add Long Beach to the portfolio, including their membership with California Hospital Association, who is advocating for our bill to extend the seismic compliance. Network Medical Management or NMC, is actually led by Dr. Kenneth SIM, who is the chairman and a practicing physician. He has over 25 years of experience in managing physicians and working with managed care organizations to improve patient care. In addition to his practice, AMD provides service in ten counties throughout California and provides management for over 650,000 members who provide services in case management claims, contracting, credentialing, finance, accounting, member services, and many other administrative tasks associated with hospital management. They currently serve thousands of physicians in Long Beach, as well as contracts with Golden Shore Medical Group and as well as the Accountable IPA, which is Independent Physicians Association, a large Long Beach based group. So something that that I wanted to make sure that we addressed were recent statements from Memorial Care that indicated that it would be impossible for Community Medical Center to comply with applicable seismic requirements for an acute care hospital due to the hospital being located on an active earthquake fault. Memorial Care suggested publicly that these conclusions were confirmed by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, or occupied and later by the city's own outside experts. That was in a letter dated July 15th. Occupied has actually confirmed with staff. I was personally on the phone that they never formally received a construction plan for memorial care. Isopod also confirmed that they only comment on plans submitted for review. So it would be inappropriate for Occupy to make a statement or to confirm the statement from Memorial Care. Additionally, our city seismic expert confirmed the quality of the seismic study. It was not their job, nor did they claim to, to establish the viability of an acute care facility on the site. Additionally, another statement that is important to consider with for the recommendation tonight. Memorial Care on July 15th indicated that an interim management agreement, quote, would enable the private group to benefit financially by avoiding the need to make costly safety and other improvements to the facilities that would otherwise be required. This statement is just not true. Memorial care itself executed a 2010 management agreement with the community hospital of Long Beach, and our operator will still be responsible for making all safety improvements to the facilities. I want to make sure that I correct that the presentation says July 15th. In fact, this letter was received on June 15th. So the recommendations that staff are providing tonight to the city council for consideration is, number one, to authorize the city manager or designee to execute all documents necessary for an exclusive negotiating agreement with Molina, Wu Network, LLC or MWI, and for the lease and potential development of the property at Community Hospital. The use would require these or general terms and conditions to be negotiated an acute care hospital and other health care facilities at the site. A lease term of approximately 40 years or more. Rent of $1 a year. As a starting point. And staffing. A good faith effort to hire current hospital employees. The negotiating period would be 180 days with up to two periods of 90 days extension. And this is important because of the aggressive schedule we have for construction and licensing that is required to operate the facility. And any due diligence would be the sole cost of the lessee. Council approval would still be required. So although Council would take this action to authorize staff to negotiate, any terms or conditions would have to come back to the City Council for final approval and of course, public review. The second recommendation contained in this staff letter includes the authorization of the City Manager to execute all documents necessary to accept the assignment management and revenue collection for existing leases between Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Memorial Care and the existing tenants at the site. As you may know, there's approximately 30 tenants out on the site in the medical office building and other parts of the facility that currently provide outpatient services. This would allow that city to take over the operations, management and security of the site during the negotiating period with NWN, and it would allow for the city to immediately negotiate leases with existing tenants in the medical medical office building on the site. This would include physicians as well as our sexual assault response team sought to make sure that those programs which are important to our city, continue to provide service. Finally, the third recommendation in this action would authorize the city manager to express the city's position that maintenance of uninterrupted emergency services is critical and urging memorial care and its board to take steps necessary to ensure a smooth transition to the new operator. This is a choice that the Council or the city would request memorial care to establish a transition plan with NWN and avoid or limit closing the emergency room before the state established seismic deadline. Suspend the license for hospital beds or transfer responsibility for hospital operations through a management agreement to NWN and to work with area hospitals and partner agencies to limit the negative impacts of emergency services. Disruption to area residents identified by the county's Impact Evaluation Report. To conclude some of our next steps that we are recommending would be to enter into a negotiating period with M.W. in return to counsel for approval of negotiated terms and conditions. Continue to work with our architect, our operator and the State Ocpd to finalize the seismic retrofit plans and provide a cost estimate back to Council for construction. We also would like to return to the state legislature once we have our operating plan and our seismic plan in hand to advance legislation that would extend the seismic compliance date and continue our work through Pacific Gateway, our Workforce Investment Network, to provide rapid response and continue weekly meetings with community hospital staff to make sure that 100% of our staff are placed either with M.W. and or another area hospital. And then we all know that memorial care has indicated that they will cease operations of community hospital on July 3rd. But we would want to make sure that we immediately transition those operations so that the new operator can take control of community hospital, submit their change of ownership application, and achieve licensing with the state of California. With that, I conclude my staff report and I'm happy to answer any questions. But first, I want to make sure that I introduce the Council to the spokesperson and representative of MWI, RN, Dr. Mario Molina, who's here tonight to give a brief statement. And secondly, Ray Burton, who is the chair of the Long Beach Hospital Community Foundation, to give a brief statement of support after Mr. or Dr. Molina. Thank you. Speaker 1: Dr. Molina. Speaker 8: Thank you. Speaker 2: Mayor Garcia. Members of the city council. Speaker 1: I think you all know that I was born and raised here in Long Beach and. Speaker 2: Went to school here, went to. Speaker 1: College here, and has spent most of my life working in health care in the city of Long Beach. I appreciate and understand how important Long Beach Community Hospital. Speaker 8: Is to the. Speaker 1: Community of Long Beach. And I think it would be terrible. Speaker 2: For this important asset. Speaker 1: Which is owned by. Speaker 2: The city to close. Speaker 1: A few weeks ago, my brother contacted me and told me that the hospital was. Speaker 2: In danger of being. Speaker 1: Closed and asked if. Speaker 2: I thought there was anything that could be done. I contacted Dr. SIM and Dr. Wu. Speaker 1: I know them over the years from what they've done in the community. They have a. Speaker 2: Track record of operating. Speaker 1: Hospitals, smaller hospitals successfully. They went out and hired a hospital administrator. Speaker 2: Who has operated a 70 bed hospital here in Los Angeles County. Speaker 1: And network medical management has a history of running outpatient facilities. So I. Speaker 2: Helped to. Speaker 8: Assemble a team. Speaker 1: Which I think has the. Speaker 2: Ability. Speaker 8: To. Speaker 1: Keep the hospital open. I believe we have the backing of the physicians on staff at the hospital. I think we have the backing of the nurses. I was contacted by St Mary Medical Center and they have said that they are supportive and are willing to help as well. So I think that this is a realistic plan. I've seen the plans the Perkin and will put together. They're very impressive. I think this is a very doable plan and we could submit this to ash pot and find out if we can get their approval. Speaker 2: So, you know, my father always said there are. Speaker 1: Lots of ways to solve a problem. And I think that as we. Speaker 2: Attack this problem, we have to go into it with. Speaker 1: A broad vision. Speaker 8: And look at all the possible. Speaker 1: Solutions and not limit ourselves. And I think that, you know, what we would like to do is get into negotiations with the city. Speaker 2: The staff has done a magnificent job of pulling together a lot of information very quickly. Speaker 1: And see if we can't find a long term workable solution. Speaker 2: To keep the hospital open. Speaker 1: Thank you, Dr. Melina. We're going to also hear from the foundation. Speaker 8: Mayor Garcia and council members. Speaker 1: I'm reporting. Speaker 8: I chair the foundation at Community Hospital Long Beach at the direction of our board at a meeting last night with a unanimous vote of the. Speaker 1: Members. I was directed to present a letter. Speaker 8: To the city leadership and the effort of achieving the goal of continuation of emergency and critical care services, and to investing in and supporting the best possible health care solutions and services and programs for. Speaker 1: All of the members of our. Speaker 8: Community. In anticipation of Memorial. Speaker 1: Care's signing, an interim. Speaker 8: Operating agreement with Molina Will Network LLC Community Hospital, Long Beach Foundation Board of Directors has voted unanimously to support purchasing at a cost of up to $1 million to the extent allowed under the CHL. b501c3 tax exempt status and indemnification insurance plan to insure memorial care against any damages or losses as a result of. Speaker 1: Actions. Speaker 8: Related to the management. Speaker 1: Or operation. Speaker 8: Of community hospital Long Beach by the interim operator EMD and LLC under the license issued to Memorial Care. We encourage Memorial to act in the best interest of the community they serve and live up to their own mission statement by cooperating with both the City and M.W. and LLC in facilitating the transition of the new operator of Community Hospital. Community Hospital, Long Beach CHB Foundation Board has further agreed to explore. Speaker 2: Conducting a capital campaign. Speaker 8: Related to supporting the hospital's seismic needs. The foundation met with the new operator and is engaged in discussions to develop a partnership to support the hospital and the medical needs of the community. Be assured that we remain fully. Speaker 2: And totally committed. Speaker 8: To a successful. Speaker 1: Durable result for our community. Speaker 8: And we look forward to our important role as a philanthropic partner to ensure that vital health care services remain immediately available and accessible to our community for many years to come. I'd also like. Speaker 1: To point out. Speaker 8: That I have a copy of the management agreement here Memorial signed with Community Hospital when Memorial took over. So we're merely asking them to respect the tradition they were part of by signing a management agreement with AMW. And on a personal note. Please recognize that memorial, a public benefit, nonprofit, tax exempt organization, has several billion. That's with a B like burden, billion dollars in the bank and reportedly. Speaker 1: Had a net income. Speaker 8: Last year of over. Speaker 2: $346. Speaker 8: Million. Speaker 2: Memorial raises a lot of money. Speaker 8: From donations from. Speaker 2: This community. Friend of mine just told me today she raised almost $50,000. Speaker 8: For the last dancing fundraiser they put on. It's time for Memorial to act on their mission statement to, quote, improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and our communities. Speaker 1: Thank you for your time. Speaker 8: I have a copy of the letter I'd like to submit to clear. Speaker 1: It to the clerk over here. Thank you very much. And thank you to the foundation. So in talking to Councilman Zupan, I'm going to make some some comments and some clarifying remarks also just to staff. And then we're going to open it up for public comment and then and then Councilman Super. And I want to kick it off right after the the public comment with emotion. And then we have some other members that want to that want to have some questions as well. Well, let me let me just say a few things. First is, I think it's important to note that we know that memorial care has and will continue to be a very big part of our community. They operate a world class facility. A lot of us here have relatives and friends who either work there or have certainly received there. They're still in health care. And memorial care, as we know, has a large presence here in the region. And we're and we're grateful that they operate a hospital. We also know that community is an incredibly important part of our health care system here in Long Beach, and that having an emergency room in East Long Beach and one that has done so much for so many people is also critically important. It's it's really, I think, amazing to watch the community come together to support community hospital. It has been the physicians, the nurses, the folks that work there, the community members, the foundation and our our stellar staff that has, quite frankly, had to move quickly and with very little notice to put a plan forward so that we can continue to have an operating hospital with an emergency room in in this part of of the city. And so I commend all of you for just the quick action, really much less time than anyone should should have to put this kind of proposal forward. And so I want to thank all of you for doing that. I also want to be very clear tonight that the ball is in Memorial's court. It is up to memorial care as to whether or not we will have a open, functioning hospital for the remainder of the year. We're looking forward to going into this partnership, of course, with NWN, and we're excited about the future. But we need and have asked Memorial Care formally to please work with us as a partner and the partner that they have been to ensure that the process continues and that there isn't a lapse in service that would be disruptive first and foremost to emergency care. It would be disruptive to our fire department and the paramedics who are trying to help people across the city. And it would be disruptive to the people that work at the hospital that are counting on these jobs for their livelihoods and that have been members of our community for a long time . I want to clarify, there have been some remarks by some that this group doesn't have hospital management experience, which I find odd considering the group manages seven hospitals and comes with an incredible amount of experience. So I just wanted to reiterate to our staff and I know you listed them on here, but I think it's important just to bring this home at this point home because it's been brought up a few times by by certain folks. But the group that we are partnering with and part of the Molina who network is H.M.S. Health Care and now H.M.S. Healthcare operates the Alhambra Hospital Medical Center, the Anaheim Regional Medical Center, Garfield Memorial Center, the Greater El Monte Community Hospital. Monterey Park Hospital. Whittier Hospital Medical Center. San Gabriel Valley Medical Center and Montclair Hospital Medical Center. Every single one of those facilities actually has more beds than the proposed hospital that is being proposed by the group today, which is really a a smaller boutique hospital of 40 beds, but with an emergency room. And so I'm very grateful that we have a stellar, experienced and well-respected and regarded group in front of us that has stepped up. And as I said, we want and we know how important community hospital is to the community. And so for that, Dr. Molina, and to the group, you have our you have our thanks for that. I also want to just note that I am concerned that I was told and I think this this body was told on a couple of occasions that that there had been some conversations, of course, that that that were that were had between memorial care and the state. And I want to pull up the exact. And John, can you pull up the slide so that I can refer. Really quick. I don't want to get any of it wrong. Speaker 7: If we could get some help from the back just to put the PowerPoint back up on the screen, please. Speaker 1: Thank you. But I know I know that we we had received an indication that our pad had made some declarations and some assessments of the. Of seismic compliance, as well as the ability of an emergency room on the site due to the state regulations when it comes to seismic compliance. And that's something that we took as serious, and it certainly guided decisions that we made early on about the complexity of of this of this negotiation. But just to reconfirm with you, Mr. Keisler, that the ash pit is very clear to you that there actually was never any sort of formal request to actually study the seismic issues or to make an assessment. Is that correct? Speaker 7: Correct. So as recently as yesterday in our regular meetings with Ashford, they confirmed that no construction plans had ever been submitted to the state for review and that they do not take a position one way or another, on and on hypotheticals. Speaker 1: And so that you know, that the statements that were made by memorial care and I'm certainly those assumptions are not are not correct. And so I say that because I think that's a critical part of this conversation, is that we're all moving together as a community forward with accurate information and that we're all able to work, work , work together in the in the future. Let me let me also just add that what's critical right now is we need to ensure that the license that the memorial court has, the ability to keep this license operating. I believe it's until April of next year. And so that is there. And they have every every opportunity to continue operating until April of next year if they take that decision, which we certainly encourage them to do. That would give the amount of time that's appropriate for our new operator to come in and to provide quality health care, ensure that people have their livelihood in their jobs, and provide this important service for the eastern part of our city. And I'll tell you, quite frankly, it will take a lot of concern off of our fire chief and our fire department and our paramedic units, who are incredibly distressed about their ability to provide strong paramedic service across the city at appropriate response times. And so that is something where we have been told that memorial care is considering moving on from the hospital. I believe it's July, July 3rd. That is that is something that we hope that they choose to extend or go into a management agreement quickly with our new operator or put some kind of deal in place where they suspend the beds and don't allow the license to actually expire. And just for the community to understand that expiration of the license is critical and changes our ability to provide consistent service. And so, again, to our partner Memorial Care, thank you for all you do. And we really look forward, hopefully to working with you as we chart this course forward and with our with our hospital. And so with that, I'm going to turn this over to public comment. And then when we come back, we're going to start off with Councilmember Supernova. So please come forward for public comment. Speaker 4: Hi. I'm Linda Chico. I'm the field deputy for Supervisor Janice Hahn. Supervisor Hahn would like to commend city staff for working so diligently to find a new operator for community hospital. She understands that this was a monumental task that was performed on an accelerated timeline. And she thinks you for all of your hard work. The County of Los Angeles is very familiar with the respective work of the recommended operator Molina Wu Network, LLC, and Supervisor Hahn is pleased to offer her support for MWI and to transition as the new operator of Community Hospital. Early on it was important for Supervisor Hahn to get everyone to the table to ensure we were all on the same page and moving forward in the best interest of the community that we all serve from. That meeting, the city, County, State, Community Hospital Foundation, Memorial Hospital and California Nurses Association all agreed the closure of the hospital would have a detrimental impact on the residents in Long Beach and the surrounding area. This determination was underscored by a report from the County of Los Angeles Emergency Medical Services Commission, which highlighted longer travel times, longer wait times in local emergency rooms, the loss of 30 critical care beds, the loss of the only sexual assault response team in Long Beach, and the loss of 28 licensed psychiatric beds just to name a few. Each stakeholder at that table also committed to doing everything possible to minimize disruption and service to the community. It would be ideal if a break in service could be avoided altogether by executing an interim management agreement with service transfer by July 3rd or that memorial, Kirby urged to suspend their license rather than terminating it outright. Doing either would truly compliment the city and MWI n's efforts to minimize disruption in service to the greatest extent possible. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening. Mayor Garcia. Vice Mayor Richardson, City Council members. My name is Margaret Smith and I'm a resident of the third district. Speaker 4: Tonight I am speaking from four perspectives. Speaker 3: First of all, as a resident of Long Beach, so I see the health care needs of our community. Speaker 4: As a consumer. Secondly, as a retired health care executive who worked for many hospitals. Speaker 3: Over a 30 year career, including memorial care. So I understand their concerns about. Speaker 4: The continued operations of community hospital on an active. Speaker 3: Seismic fault. Speaker 4: But I also have huge respect. Speaker 3: For the Molina's and their. Speaker 4: Health care expertize. Third, as a member of my family, who for 75 years owned and operated a private psychiatric hospital in Pasadena called Lawson Seniors. So I understand the importance of mental. Speaker 3: Health to a community. Speaker 4: And fourth, I am now an appointee of Supervisor Janice Hahn. Speaker 3: To the L.A. County Hospitals and Health Care Delivery Commission. Speaker 4: We oversee the entire. Speaker 3: L.A. County health system. So I am concerned about the broader impact of the closure of community hospital. Speaker 4: From these four perspectives. I respectfully voice my concerns. Speaker 3: About the. Speaker 4: Loss of the. Speaker 7: Emergency department. Speaker 3: But also about the loss of the 28 mental beds, mental health beds. That is a critical component of community hospital's range of services and the loss of the sexual assault response team. The. If the community hospital closes, the next closest program is 12.1. Speaker 4: Miles. Speaker 3: Away in San Pedro. If you are a victim of sexual assault in Long Beach, you should. Speaker 4: Not have to. Speaker 3: Travel 12 miles to San Pedro to get help. So for all of Long Beach, we need these services. Speaker 4: So please ensure that the next operator of Community Hospital. Speaker 3: Hopefully the Molina Food Network, maintains these critical services for all the. Speaker 7: Residents of Long Beach. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Good afternoon. The honorable mayor, ladies sitting City Council. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Mike for Solomonov. Like yes, I am a former chief of staff at Community Hospital. First of all, I want to thank the mayor. Speaker 9: Mayor Garcia and. Speaker 2: The Council for all your support and help. Speaker 9: In this matter. I want to thank John Keisler. Speaker 2: Who has done an. Incredible job. He has great expertize, great personality, and it's great working with you. I want to especially thank our champion councilman, Darrell Super now for his unwavering support and diligence. What a snake. Susie Price, who attended some of our meetings. I want to thank the foundation and everybody who's here. First of all, we want to welcome the Dr. John and Mario Molina, Dr. Groom and his network for all their expertize. Speaker 9: And the hope that they give us as. Speaker 2: Community closes. We know that people's lives are at risk. It compromises the health and well-being of people. People lose their jobs. Livelihoods are affected. Even local businesses are affected. That's why it is imperative that we open this hospital as soon as possible to limit the consequences. Period. A seamless transition is needed. Long Beach is a diverse city many ethnic groups, cultures and businesses. But as diverse as it is a common person, the common purpose is that we care and we help each other. If Memorial was hurting, Community would be there to help. Speaker 9: I would hope that in the goodness of memorial care that. Speaker 2: They would help their sister hospital get back on its feet. The world is too small and our time in this world is too little not to want to help each other. Speaker 9: Thank you for all your help. Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Thanks, Speaker. Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor and city council members. My name is Sarah Patterson, and I'm speaking here tonight on behalf of Assembly Member Patrick O'Donnell's strong support and. Speaker 5: In the effort to keep. Speaker 4: The only East Long Beach hospital operational, Mr. O'Donnell says it is painfully clear that memorial care wants to be the only provider in town. Since announcing their intent to leave community hospital last fall, Memorial. Speaker 5: Care radically accelerated their closure timeline again and again. Speaker 4: Memorial Care appears to be actively working to ensure that no other entity can take over the hospital they are leaving behind. But Memorial Care cannot have it both ways. Community Hospital offers the only full service emergency room on the east side of the city, and closure would significantly impact the region's trauma care system and further strain the health care safety net. Memorial care has made their business decision. The rest of us are doing our part to protect the public's health and safety, save local jobs and keep community hospital open. Assembly member Patrick O'Donnell would like to thank the city and stakeholders for working diligently to find a new provider to potentially take over the hospital . It is the expectation from Sacramento that Memorial Care will work with the city to seamlessly transition the hospital to another provider. Speaker 5: This should be done without any interruption in critical health care services. Speaker 4: For these reasons, Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell is in strong support of the Molina Wound Network, L.L.C., to run Community Hospital Long Beach. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker. Speaker 4: Good evening, mayor garcia and council people and. Speaker 5: Dr. Molina needs to hear this. Speaker 4: Too. My name is Charlene Ouray. I'm retired from Long Beach City College and Program. I was a professor there for over 35 years. And I wouldn't I didn't intend to speak tonight because I just came to support community hospital. But what I did see was that you have mentioned Cal State University of Long Beach Nursing program. And I never heard one word about the ADN program at Long Beach City College and the students that should be attending this hospital. The one thing you don't know historically is that Long Beach Community Hospital has been supported by Long Beach City College nurses for over 35 years. Speaker 6: And I think. Speaker 4: I think Dr. Molina knows that. But I'm just bringing it to the board attention that that was a little slip, as much work as John has done. That was rather left out, considering that the nurses are so supportive. Here are the ones from Long Beach City College. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And and even even John Cassidy is not perfect. And so we we do know. We do know that in talking to the new partners coming in, that they are very interested, of course, in working with our educational partners. And, of course, that includes a one beach city college. Absolutely. Yes. Speaker 4: Good evening. My name is Jackie McKay. I'm an ICU nurse at Community Hospital for 33 years. And I have the privilege of working with John Keisler on the technical workforce. And I'm so grateful to all the work you guys have done. Amazing. And we're so happy that we found a new operator. I have a side hustle at community hospital, like the nurse rep for when the nurses get in trouble, they call me. I go to H.R. with them and I know firsthand how Memorial believes in rules. They make you follow the rules. They're on you. So for them to not be completely honest is just amazingly awful to me. And I think for the council, I hope you find a way to hold their feet to the fire to make them follow their rules. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Hello, everyone. My name is Milton Dana. I'm a third district resident, a machinist and a member of Save Community Hospital, Long Beach Coalition member. And we have been working to try to save this hospital since November. We finally get an operator who's willing to come into the site and memorial. Who do you think would be a good community partner is refusing to enter an interim agreement with a new operator. This is sad that memorial would sacrifice our community hospital for their selfish reason to keep out a competitor. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. Speaker 4: I'm Ellen Markovich. I work at Community Hospital, Long Beach. Speaker 5: ICU for 35 years. I'm a Long Beach City College grad class of 83. I come to you not wearing my usual red. Speaker 4: And where am I? Community Hospital. Speaker 5: T-shirt today. I am frustrated and excited at the same time, excited that we have a group that is very interested in running our small hospital and providing services to East Long Beach, which is a huge population of people. Huge. I am frustrated in that it feels like. Speaker 4: Memorial wants doesn't want the competition. Speaker 5: And feels like I'm back out because of that. And it kind of reminds me a little bit on what's going on at the border right now. You know, it's like it's a policy change. People just change the policy and everything is can proceed much more humane. And I just feel as though we are under their thumb only because they don't want the competition. Dr. Mike was saying how it's not just the patients, the community, its employees, and it's the. Speaker 4: Surrounding. Speaker 5: Businesses. And to that I say, what is Biggie's going to do without all of us ordering food to be delivered? Okay, this is. Speaker 4: A big deal to them. We keep them in business. So just anything. Speaker 5: That we can do to keep our place open, you know that you have the support of the nurses, you have the support of the California Nurses Association, of which I am a member, and they have been instrumental in trying to help keep this hospital open. And I ask that we do the same thing and hold Memorial accountable. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 9: Good evening. Council members and Mayor Garcia. My name is Jim de la Russo. I'm a physician. I'm kind of a newbie at community hospital. I've only been there like 20 years. I'm also an ex chief of medical staff there, as well as Dr. Mike. I wholeheartedly support all the efforts and the recommendations that you're currently making. I, too, am very, very grateful to all of you who have clearly been very vocal in supporting community hospital when all this came down in November. Your staff is unbelievable, John, especially the work groups that have been together, the the Community Hospital Foundation, all the local community members. I know you've gotten together many architects and other people. It's just phenomenal that all of this has been able to come together in such a short period of time. It's quite remarkable. In speaking with a number of physicians at Community Hospital, I believe I can say that that I have not heard none of us have heard anybody who is opposed to any of this. We all wholeheartedly support a new operator in the Wu Molina Wu network. And it goes without saying too. We're all concerned about everybody that works at the hospital. But don't forget, many of the physicians have worked there for years and years as well, and many of them actually depend on their livelihood for that facility's care too. I also support the mental health initiatives at the hospital. I think that would be very, very painful to lose that service. I also support the emergency room services, but also the acute care hospital is very important, including the surgical services. That's where I work and it's also a big need in the community. I want to thank you for all of your support and I know that memorial will do the right thing going forward. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker. Speaker 4: I name's Alison Miller and I've addressed council before. I am an employee. I'm an R.N. with Long Beach Memorial. I work the oncology unit. I'm also an independent contractor for SA. I respond to the sexual assaults and CHB is one of those with forensic nurse specialists. My heart's racing. I'm still blown away at that seismic study and the big reveal tonight. But, you know, working for memorial, I know with memorial care, we do do a lot of good. We do do a lot of good. And I know that the closure of CHP is a crisis. No doubt. We all know that in this room. I'm so proud of the council and the city. And I want to thank Dr. Molina and Dr. Wu and and the foundation with the generous contribution. 1 million should cover a lot from memorial. I want to appeal to my employer to enter in some sort of agreement to see a transition that's smooth so that patients aren't left out on the street. We're concerned with behavioral unit. We're concerned we don't want to close. We're not sure what's going to happen with this heart. Patients that are raped, they shouldn't be transported to another city. And this is ridiculous. This doesn't need to be about competition. Hospitals join mergers to make profit every day, and we should be able to, even if it's on a temporary memorial care, should be able to work with the Molina's to to get this done for a temporary basis. I just want to. I've been looking around the room. I don't know if anyone here is is here for memorial, but I just want to appeal to my employer to do the right thing. And thanks for having me. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker. Speaker 4: Hello. My name is Michelle Pimental. I'm a registered nurse. I worked at a community hospital and the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment center. Because of their announcement and their closure, I had to leave for my own family's well-being. And I work now in Newport Beach. And because the community has closed their detox unit, I have seen patients come from Long Beach all the way to Newport Beach for substance abuse treatment. I hope that you'll include that in your mental health. I'm I know I can speak for my colleagues in mental health. They are grateful to hear that Molina is considering maintaining those services. Those are critical services in this city. Most of all, I want to say thank you to everybody that has been involved. The day of their announcement, myself and Jackie and Ellen were in a meeting with the nurses union and we contacted Darryl Super Now and he came over immediately and met with us. And and in this current political environment, it's hard to know who to trust. And I've been overwhelmed and impressed with how much. Time and devotion, the city, the doctors, the community has put into saving this because this is really important. I asked my daughter to come with me today because she was there with me. She heard me making phone calls and trying to help do everything I could to get people riled up. And she came to the parade with us and she said to me on the way here, she said, Sometimes it felt like we couldn't do it, but here we are. We did it. So thank you. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Mr. Mayor, council members John Hanna, Governmental Affairs Director for the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters on behalf of the 1000 carpenters and family members in the city of Long Beach. I first of all urge you to adopt agenda item 40 580543 and I want to join the Amen chorus here. And the last speakers talked about the political climate. There's a lot of cynicism about elected officials in government in this day and age. What you've done here on this issue is kind of throw a lot of cold water on that, at least as it appears applies to Long Beach. You've done exactly what I think our forefathers who helped form this country had in mind when they wanted local control. And you've taken an issue and rather than take the easy way out. Oh, there is you know, we can't do this. You've found a way to say yes to serve the community. Now there's just one problem. Speaker 1: Memorial care. And I think. Speaker 2: Somebody earlier said it I think best. They they do do a lot of good things in this community. But on this issue. They've lost their way. They've lost their moral compass on this issue. They've let, whether it's money or whatever, get in the way of doing what's best for this community. And so I want to commend the nurses union, the community foundations, the the people in this community who've worked with the city staff and the council to come to a good solution. And I think by doing what you're doing, you're going to help. God willing. Memorial. Speaker 1: To find that way, to find their way and their inner compass. So thank you very much. Speaker 2: And please stay the course on this. Speaker 1: Thank you, John. Next week, bigger piece at Mayor City Council. My name is Marcus Hesse and the community manager at a nonprofit known as Anxiety Gaming. And this is our founder, Jason. Dr.. And we're coming here as supporters of the mental health initiatives going on in this community and hoping to bring ourselves along to support this initiative . Our father wanted to give an idea of who we are and what we do in this community so far. Speaker 2: Hi, counsel. I've been running anxiety gaming out of Long Beach for the last seven years. At first I ran it at home as somebody struggling with agoraphobia who took their first steps out of their home here in this beautiful city. Since then, with the support of many people within Long Beach, we've helped over 27,000 people beat their depression and anxiety. Our team has been looking to start a clinic for some time now, teaming up with some of the greatest psychologist clinicians across the country. We want to be able to step in and help in the same way the city has helped us for the past so many years, for my entire life. We have a team that's willing and able to take over the behavioral health unit, and we're willing to work with anybody and everybody that is already stationed there and worried about their situation in their job. We focus entirely on youth and young adults. We have programs at 36 different universities across the country that involve thousands of students. We have a team network with a high school program where we also help over 10,000 high school students. For us, this is everything. Mental health care is what we live and we breathe, and we want to make sure that we can take care of the youth, especially within the city, through our initiatives. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. And we will be closing the speakers list. So the lady here is the last speaker. Go ahead. Speaker 4: Okay. Good evening, honorable mayor, councilmembers and city staff. I wanted to let you know that I'm so appreciative of all of your efforts and how expedient everything has been thus far. I also want to commend the potential new operators, Melina Wu Network. I had the opportunity to actually I was CEO at Community Hospital, spent 47 years there of my career. So working with the nurses and the physicians and then had the opportunity to transition and work as a hospital administrator for Molina Health Care. And I wanted to offer support because the Melina's had been very honest, very straightforward and a wonderful employer. And I'm so proud also of our community staff and the physicians because they've really continued to deliver exemplary care for our patients, what they what community is known for. And I do want to say thank you so much. Speaker 1: Next speaker, please. Speaker 4: Helen Naha, resident of Long Beach. I'm going to be very, very brief. You some of you know that I can be lengthy. I'm not going to tonight, I want to take a moment to thank the mayor and the council for standing up for something that matters a lot. We're talking we're talking buildings, we're talking companies, we're talking money. We're talking a lot of things that really, really matter. But we're not talking about people that much. And when you're talking about getting in an ambulance or in your own vehicle and going from your home on the east side of town, as I've done, and you have to get to Memorial or to St Mary, you may not make it. You've only got time to get to community. My mother crashed and we call 91191 once and I said, Where are you? Take her. And they said, We're going to memorial that. We're going to community. And at that time, I didn't know what a phenomenal place community was. They just and I said, Why aren't you taking her to memorial? And they said, Because she's going to die on the way. My mother did not die. I had her for another ten years and that's because we had community hospital all over the east side. Those minutes matter to a lot of people, and if we don't have that hospital, those people are going to die. And I am so grateful that the city is on our side this time. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next, Mr. Goode here. Please last speaker. Speaker 2: Very good. You. Speaker 8: I am either qualified to speak in terms of the medical aspects of it or the financial aspects, notwithstanding the fact that either last week of last year I ended up there. Speaker 1: And somebody took me there. Speaker 8: And when we arrived, the record show, I think there were eight or nine people that have been waiting for for four or 5 hours. Speaker 2: To be even triaged. Speaker 8: And I had them ask them to check with memorial. And memorial was the same thing, period. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I. I listened to representatives. Speaker 1: Of Janice Hahn and. Others that we're talking in terms of regional aspects. Speaker 8: So forth. Speaker 1: I'm not sure what the answer is, but one of the things we might take a look at. Speaker 8: Because, again, if it's there. Speaker 2: And you. Speaker 1: Can't get in or can't get in memorial, it doesn't do you any good. One of the things we might take a look at. Is entering. Speaker 2: Into a paradigm where we helicopter people and obviously the helicopter location. Speaker 8: Is where the police would have the person would be taken. We wouldn't have it in a residential neighborhood. And I'm. Speaker 1: Again thinking in terms of the future, as. Speaker 2: Our population is not going to decrease, period. So we've got to figure out a way. Speaker 8: To address the problem. And I'm not sure, but I think we should, you know, all of the specifics. But I think we should look. Speaker 1: At the merit of seeing if we can really enlarge our paradigm in terms of offering that and figuring out a way to get people there. Speaker 2: Because even if. Speaker 1: Memorial is if a community hospital is. Speaker 2: There. And you can't get in. Speaker 8: That doesn't do you any good. Speaker 1: Like last year when I had to go to and they ended up in, I went up into a Burbank. Speaker 8: And made it up in 57 minutes and so forth. I spent 13 days there. But I think we have to look into terms of the future because the problem's not going to get any. Speaker 2: Lighter, so forth in terms of need. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you. That will conclude our public comment. So thank you all for speaking. I'm going I go back now to the council. We do have a motion and a second motion by Councilmember Supernanny, so I'm going to pass it over to him. Speaker 2: Thank you. At first I could thank everyone for attending and especially our speakers. I want to mention a few others. Again, Dr. Molina, thank you for and your partners for stepping up to the plate in this critical situation to the Long Beach Community Foundation. You folks have worked so hard for the past six months and to cap it off tonight with this incredible offer for $1,000,000 insurance policy. All I can say is thank you. To our nurses. Thank you. Boy, you mentioned that first meeting. Wow, that was a long time ago, but we've been in support from day one. And thank you for holding the line and being there for the rallies and everything and and the parade. So, so happy to support you in that too. Staff John Kaiser I don't think you're infallible. I think you're perfect. But I also want to mention Diana Tang, who's sitting next to John there. Thank you, Diana. You did an incredible job, especially for. Sacramento and to ask or see who is part of our development services team. What he's doing there out on the site is incredible to all the volunteers who may not be a member of the foundation or whatever. Thank you. I think in particular of Ruth Lau. We have about 20,000 reasons to thank her. So thank you, Ruth. And also, I just have to mention the mayor and my council colleagues, you know, their support has been there from the beginning. I never had to explain to them what an asset this is, city wide. But they backed me from from day one on this. So I do appreciate that. I did want John Kaiser to explain something for the viewers and the audience in particular about this handoff. If you can just kind of delineate, John, how the handoff would work or what are the pitfalls of this doesn't happen, if that's enough of a question for you. Speaker 7: Councilmember. Super, not yet. So. So there's something important about a transition of the hospitals that there's a a license which allows the hospital to operate at a site. Right now, the license for community hospital on the site is is held by memorial care. And Memorial Care has an active license through April 28th of 2019. So for a new operator to come in and not experience a 6 to 9 month wait, which means no service for 6 to 9 months while their application is approved by the State California Department of Public Health, we would need some sort of agreement between the two entities. And so that's that's one of the things that's important about any good handoff is that, you know, the time of disruption is is minimized. And so this is very common. It's something we've seen happen throughout the region. In fact, Memorial Care participated in a similar process with community hospital Long Beach back in 2010 to minimize the amount of disruption while the new operator gets a new license for that site. And so there's many options to explore. One would be a suspension of of the beds so that the license does not expire or is not surrendered. And that's what we've asked for memorial care to work with us. And if the memorial care board desires to work through that process, then it will allow the operator either to step in at an earlier time or at least minimize the length of disruption. Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you for that explanation. And the dollar amounts are staggering as to whether we do a warm handoff or not. Are you at liberty to discuss any of that at all. Speaker 7: At this time? We're we're in the initial discussions of reviewing pro formas that the operator has been preparing, as well as looking at what would be required for startup cost or transitional costs, even in the environment of a warm handoff. There's there's costs associated with emergency medical records systems, which are very expensive. There's costs associated with equipment. And to the extent that memorial care could sell or lease, the existing equipment to the new operator would minimize the cost as well as minimize the disruption. Also, entering into a management agreement whereby they could operate under memorial care's license would allow them to start the process of providing service and hopefully generating revenue cash flow that will help in the transitional process. And then finally costs like an insurance policy to protect memorial care from any liability. The fact that our community foundation members of the community will donate their own money in the amount of $1 million certainly helps to defray those costs and reduce that liability for memorial care. All of those things can help diminish startup costs, which are estimated to be depending on the type of handoff. Anywhere from ten and up to $30 million is our initial estimate. Speaker 2: Thank you. That that gets our attention. I guess I'd like to limit my comment tonight here to just one basic statement, and that is a lot of the speakers refer to the fact that memorial care may not have done the right thing to date. So my message is to memorial care. Here's your chance to save face. If you can step up and make this transition now. I think that would really reinstate the citizens faith in Memorial Memorial Care, doing the right thing for the community. And so I'd just like to hand off to my colleagues now for their comments. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Got some more super now, Councilwoman Bass. Speaker 5: Thank you. I, I first, I want to thank my colleague, Councilman Super. I know we spend a lot of time up here thanking one another. You must wonder why we do that. It's because there are hours and hours of hard work that go into every item that comes before council. And every time one of our colleagues is leading on an item, we know the amount of work that they've put in behind the scenes and out of respect for one another. We try to support projects that are going on in each other's districts to the extent that that feels right to us, and we want to acknowledge the hard work that they've done. And he has worked really hard on this issue. That really is a city issue, but certainly an east side issue. So I want to thank him for for his partnership and his leadership on it. And, of course, our city staff deserves a standing ovation. I mean, they have done in three months what prior operators had not been able to do in many years. And so I'm incredibly impressed with their leadership, their tone, their sentiments and the hard work that they've put into really walking the walk and not just talking the talk , because that's what's gotten us to this point. I myself was taken to Community E.R. two weeks ago. I had emergency spine surgery a couple of days after I went to the hospital. And it was a huge reminder to me of how important it is for us to have an emergency room on the east side. Certainly it was not a life or death situation for me, but for anyone who's ever had a ruptured herniated disk, you'll know that you're in excruciating pain and screaming the whole way. And, you know, all I just kept telling my husband is, can you please call and make sure community is still open? Can you please make sure they're still open? Can you make sure there are bodies there? And we got there. Of course there was. No, wait. The staff was amazing, as they always have been in terms of my prior experience with them. And it just was a very personal and timely reminder to me of this amazing asset that we have on the east side. I think the car ride for me from our house to memorial would have been excruciatingly painful. Speaker 4: Every speed bump was felt. Speaker 5: Every pothole was felt, every stoplight was felt. And it was for me a not a life and death situation. So I think it's really important for us to realize how important it is for us to have acute care services on the east side of Long Beach for east side residents. And the option for me of driving to memorial or driving to Los Alamitos. Would have been the only options I would have had had community not been open on that day. And so that was just an eye opening experience really. I think that we have a potential operator here who we believe in. We believe that this operator is certainly qualified and capable and vested on many levels in the future of Long Beach. And that means a lot to us. And frankly. Speaker 4: We've worked really. Speaker 5: Hard to get to this point. And the ball is now in Memorial's court to partner with us. I understand the reservations well to some extent, and I understand the hesitation. But at the end of the day, we've had a tremendous working relationship with Memorial up until this issue, and there's no reason why this can't be an opportunity for us to work together to really make sure that we preserve this asset. They know that without their help and their support, we're in a much more difficult place than we would be with their support. And so I think that knowledge alone should really empower them to do the right thing in this situation, despite the concerns that they might have. I think, given what Ray announced Ray Burton announced earlier tonight, and the great work that the staff and the supporters of community hospital have put into coming up with mitigation options to help mitigate the risks. Speaker 4: Associated with this partnership. Speaker 5: I think that makes it a lot harder for Memorial to say no to or to turn away this opportunity. You've made it a little bit more. Speaker 4: Beneficial. Speaker 5: For them to participate in this transition with us. And I thank you for doing that, because it really does help us give them some further assurances. Speaker 4: This really is our. Speaker 5: Only meaningful chance right now to move forward in a smooth process and transition. And I ask Memorial really to think about that. Speaker 4: Will we be able to. Speaker 5: Do it without memorial? Absolutely. Will we do it without memorial? Absolutely. We're committed to that as a council. But the issue isn't will we do it is do we have a meaningful shot at a smooth transition? And we do with and only with their partnership. So I reach out to the audience and to anyone watching. Many, many people that are involved with Memorial and have helped memorial through the years. Our third district residents, I myself have helped fundraise for Memorial by participating in various fundraisers, very, very supportive of memorial. But this is the opportunity for us to try to look at a path forward and move this process to the next phase. And really, it does fall on memorial at this point to help make this transition possible. They've been a great partner and I look forward to future partnership and I thank everyone that came out, especially many residents from my own district who are here have been here every step of the way, fighting for community to stay open. I thank you for the countless hours that you give to this issue every day and of course, to our nurses. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Vice Mayor Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I wanted to just chime in and just join in on the chorus of attending a lot of council meetings in the last eight years. And I got to tell you, this is this is one for the history books. This is incredible, the response that's come together on behalf of Councilman Super. Now, the mayor, the city council, city staff here, the community coming together. This is one for the history books. Dr. Molina, I have to tell you, your values, the commitment to the community that you've demonstrated is not lost on me. And there's about 30 youth here in the audience that have an item coming up. And I can tell you what you've demonstrated today of growing up in a community demonstrating the community commitment through corporate responsibility. That's a message that's not left. Don't lost on them as well. So I want to say thank you. You know, I have to I have to say a few additional things. There are a lot of great things, great things that I want to call out about this this proposal. So, one, we've identified a qualified operator with roots in the community and the right experience. That's one. We have a commitment to retain 100% of the impacted staff. This doctors, nurses and miscellaneous staff. That is wall to wall. That's two. Three. There is a willingness to work with memorial care. So those are no lapse in service that help support your paramedic services, that help support just the quality of life of residents in the East Side and citywide. And then Fourth Community Hospital stood up today with the biggest surprise of the night, committing $1,000,000 to cover Memorial Corp memorial care through the transition. Those are four amazing, amazing elements of this proposal that that that really need to be applauded. All the boxes are checked, all the bases are covered. And and this has been said numerous times tonight. And I'm going to just join in in the choir, join in the chorus. The ball is in Memorial's Cares hands. We've all demonstrated support from oral care. We all understand that this is a sum of all of its parts a closure of an emergency room, a closure of the hospital on one side of town. Impact services for All Long Beach and surrounding communities from Lakewood Regional is gone. That's the, you know, emergency room closest to me. They're going to see impacts the emergency room, you know Long Beach Memorial and all our emergency rooms are going to see impacts. You're going to see paramedic response times increase if we don't have this. So the ball is truly in their in their court. And so we ask them to step up. Demonstrate corporate responsibility and partner with us so we can have the best the best result possible. So just one of the jack to chime in and say, I'm really proud of tonight and really proud of this work. The ball is in their court. Thank you, Councilman. Super. Now, it's just been amazing to see your sort of level, hand level head, your steady hand through this whole process. And and, you know, this is just a great moment. And I wanted to acknowledge that. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 4: Thank you. There are often times, whenever we sound like an echo chamber up here, and I don't think any of the times in the last two years I've been on this council have been as important as tonight. And so I want to really thank everybody that's already been mentioned. The board members are really coming together, strategizing the staff. I echo the same sentiment when this was presented to us. My jaw dropped and that gut wrenching feeling of, oh my God, are we actually going to be able to come through on the other side and and make this a reality? As a city council member, as a mental health commissioner at the county and as a patient of community hospital, today's a really proud day. I'm really proud of the team, Dr. Molina, and everybody that stepped up. It is exciting to see somebody that has roots in the community invest back in and think creatively outside the box. I'm not going to take too much time. I do think that the questions that Councilmember Supernova asked that got the answer, that 10 to $30 million is the difference if memorial care doesn't step up and do the right thing. And that's why we are an echo chamber tonight. That's why we continue to say memorial care. This isn't about profits. This is about people. This isn't about competition. This is about saving lives. This is about saving face for some people. But this is about our residents making sure that they have access to health care, which we know has been a battle in this country for a long time. And so to leave nine months where people have to travel that much further, nine months, we're not only do they have to travel farther, but their wait times when they get to your hospital are going to be longer. Nine months where we have nurses and doctors that don't have a place to work at that current time is just unacceptable for this city. And so while we appreciate everything that Memorial Health Care has done, today's the day that you can stand up proud, put your shoulders back and say, we're going to do the right thing for this city. We're going to do the right thing and continue our license to spend that license instead of letting it go. And so I'll just leave with that. And again, really, really proud of the Long Beach community. Everybody that's committed their time not only in this fight, but in the decades that came before this to make sure this hospital was in existence. And I'm excited about the potential of what's going to be there. I know we've heard a lot of creative ideas and this is just the beginning, so I'm really looking forward to the work ahead. And again, congratulations, Zuber, and all for your leadership and everybody else. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Andrew. Yes. Speaker 8: First of all, I want to thank you, Mayor. Mr. Super. And I just can't really tell you how much I appreciate the hard work that you put into this situation, because the fact that everything that we talked about, because remember, the members in my district and we always talk a lot about what we're trying to do and what we're trying to get done. But I can feel the compassion of all of the individuals out there, you know, you knowing that what you're up against and I can't see that our voices can be come back void because of the fact that this is a city that works together. We strive together, we live together. And I think this situation with a hospital that I know that you individuals know that we are with you and this step up here. And I can't even take time to thank our city staff for the hard work they've done. But Mr. Superville, I'm telling you, you can be Superman to me, because the fact that what you're doing and what you continue to do, and I hope everyone this will work out because I can't see memo being that insensitive to your cause in the meaning to be able to keep this hospital open. It's going to be open, I tell you that. I know that. So you guys continue to work hard. And you, Dr. Merlino. Speaker 2: You guys are always there. Speaker 8: This is why I know these things are going to work. Thank you guys again. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Tauranga. Speaker 10: Thank you. Barry and I echo many of the comments already been said by my colleagues here. But one of the most important things that, you know, we're always faced with as elected officials is we're given a choice. You know, we do the political thing or we do the right thing. And there's no question that our support of community hospital is the right thing to do. And we're asking our our colleagues at Memorial Hospital to also consider doing the right thing and not the political thing. The line that was crossed back in 2016 when this new law came into effect that basically affected community hospital, that put it in the condition in the position that it is today. Was unfortunate and it's political, although there are some safety issues in play here. The need to save community hospital is overwhelming. There is no question the impact that closing the community hospital would have on our entire community, not only in Long Beach, but regionally, as well as as was mentioned earlier. And again, when this first issue came up, know, one of the main concerns that I had was that what's going to happen to all of those 340 some plus staff that work at community hospital? What's going to happen to them? And I was very concerned that some of the plans for transitioning some of the nurses from community hospital to memorial was basically increasing the requirement. So you have 30 to 40 years of service. That community hospital is being forced, if you will, to reconsider the positions and the jobs and retire. And I want to thank Dr. Molina and his group for stepping forward and say that they will 100% accept that the step up community hospital, because that's the right thing to do. And that is one of the best proposals that I that I've come across in any transition from one company to another is having that willingness to take on the staff of a predecessor. So we are urging memorial care to please do the right thing and suspend the license so that we can continue this transition in keeping community hospital in service. And the young lady who mentioned Lombard City College, I was a 14 year trustee at Long Beach City College, and I went to many other graduations. And I know that there are many students that did their internships at community hospital and went out to get jobs here. And and I congratulate City College. I congratulate you for bringing this forward because it's we have a great city. We have a great, great educational institutions here. And a few years back when Mayor Garcia and I were got voted in and we talked about the college promise and we said we going to close that loop and get the city involved. And we are we're there. And hopefully we can come out with a very positive outcome as a result of excuse me, of tonight's meeting. Thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you. And Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 5: I would just like to extend my support as well. I think Councilmember Super and the mayor for really setting the tone ahead of time, wholeheartedly supportive of all of my my council colleagues comments. I think it's extremely important even being a councilmember from downtown, I care about the whole city. This is more a city wide issue. This is no longer districts. And it really matters to many of us who, especially a person like me, I delivered at Memorial and had the best, best nurses that helped me in basically an emergency pregnancy situation that I had. And it was yeah, here at council actually from council to memorial had a child in 2 hours and but with the best staff. And so my support wholeheartedly to our nurses, to the physicians, to the administration, to all of the various unique services that we have, they're hoping to continue that and make sure that we have the best outcome for all of our residents. Thanks so much. Speaker 1: Thank you so much. And Mr. City Attorney, we just need I know we have multiple actions, but can we do them all in one vote or. Okay, great. So we have all the actions that were described in the staff report. So as we just go to a vote, also just to end on a on a positive note, I think on behalf of the community, just to the to the Molina and Woo Network and the group, we just want to thank you for stepping up. We look forward to many years, many, many years of a fully functional emergency room hospital with a partnership with our foundation, with incredible services for the mental health care needs of our community, as well as the important needs of Islam Beach and really the whole city in the county. And so we're very grateful and of course, to our partners at Memorial, who I know are I'm sure are watching this hearing as well. We thank you for your partnership that we've had for many, many years, and we look forward to continuing that, especially through the process as we transition to our new partner. And so thank you again. And with that, please cast your votes. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Great. Thank you very much. Congratulations to our new partners. And I want to I want to you know, this doesn't happen often, but I do want to welcome our new partners on board at Community Hospital. And with that, we're going to go and take a one minute recess so that folks can exit. And I know we have some of the presentations coming on board. Thank you. Speaker 2: So. Your great, great. The. Speaker 1: Okay. We're going to call this meeting to order so I can have everyone please grab a seat or exit one of the two rooms. Okay, everyone, please grab a seat or exit and stop talking, please. Thank you. That includes our staff. Thank you. Please grab a seat. Madam Clerk, please welcome Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 0: Councilmember Pearce, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember. Super Now. Councilwoman Mongo. Councilman Andrews. Councilmember Your. Speaker 4: Honor. Speaker 0: Councilman Austin. Vice Mayor Richardson. Mayor Garcia. Speaker 1: Thank you. If I can please again have everyone take a seat, please. And if you're. Thank you. Three. Nope. I'm still missing council members for a quorum. Where is. I think I feel comfortable sitting out there. Okay. Councilor Richard Panzer. But yeah, that's right. Okay. We're going to go ahead and move on to item hearing number item number 31.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary for an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Molina, Wu, Network, LLC (MWN), a California limited liability company, for the lease and potential development of property owned by the City of Long Beach, located at 1720 Termino Avenue, 1760 Termino Avenue, and 4111 East Wilton Street; Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to accept the assignment, management, and revenue collection for existing leases between Long Beach Memorial Medical Center (MemoriaICare), and tenants located at City-owned property at 1720 Termino Avenue, 1760 Termino Avenue, and 4111 East Wilton Street; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to express the position of the City Council that maintenance of uninterrupted emergency services is critical and urging MemorialCare to take steps necessary to ensure a smooth transition to a new operator. (District 4)

LongBeachCC

LongBeachCC_06192018_18-0518

Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you all to the youth. We appreciate you. Next up is item 23. Speaker 0: Communication from Councilwoman Gonzalez. Recommendation to receive and file a report from my girls in action. Speaker 5: All right. So I want to thank you for your patience. I know it's been quite a long meeting. I'm glad we're having you present here at 8:00. So thank you so much for being here to the use of my girls in action. The Executive Director, Liane Omar know so many of you. Thank you for collectively coming in front of us and talking about a very important issue. Of course, equity. We're talking about city funding allocations, but more importantly, we're talking about youth and our investment back into youth. So, Noah, do you want to come up here and talk about this presentation and what can my girls and action has been working on? I know there's a survey that you've done and so come up and we can talk a little bit more about that. Speaker 6: Give her a round of applause. Speaker 4: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to break the microphone. Good evening. My name is Joe Santiago. My gender pronouns are him, his and them theirs. And with the California Conference for Equality and Justice and a youth ambassador with the Youth Committee, I was born and raised in Long Beach and live in the eighth District. Last summer, the B.C. Youth Committee, Russia Youth Led Invest in Youth Long Beach campaign in response to inequitable spending on positive youth development programs and services in this budget. We wanted to educate people about where their money was going in to find out what their budget priorities were. To do this, we partnered with Cal State Long Beach professor Dr. Gary Heidrich to launch a youth said survey. In a few seconds, you will see a video that summarizes our work and story original for youth to have a seat at the table and take part in decision making. We want to give a special thanks to Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez and her team for giving us the opportunity to present our research today and to other councilmembers and mayor who have taken time to meet with us to discuss this important topic. We have a video, so please cue video. I got this. Please enjoy the video. Which. Speaker 1: Are the tech folks in the back working on a video? You. No. Speaker 4: Of the. Speaker 11: 757 Long Beach residents that took our survey, seven out of ten said that they. Speaker 5: Support greater public financing for positive youth development programs and services. 80% believe that investing. Speaker 4: In community based youth development programs is the best way to make our community safer. Now is the time to prevent harm from happening to students to neighborhoods and our larger community by investing in youth development. Research also shows that vulnerable viewers. Speaker 0: Can become successful. Speaker 4: In spite of the odds that they face if they have access to supports and opportunities to overcome the obstacles in their lives. Being a part of this program has kept me out of trouble and reminds me every single day that I am bright and I am important. We have the centerpiece of Love Day so that our young. Speaker 5: People can grow and live to their full potential. We are the leaders we've been waiting for. We call on our city to invest in me by establishing a Long Beach Children and Youth Fund, supported by the following sources. And by protecting existing funds that support positive youth development and supportive resources from budget cuts. Speaker 4: Show you the love and invest in you today. Speaker 6: Let's skip Noah and pick. Speaker 5: To my girls in action. A big round of applause. Thank you again so very much. And I just want to say this infographic is really great. It shows a really great narrative of what youth care about. It shows a really great narrative about what the City of Long Beach cares about in that that sample size. And I just really appreciate all of your work. And in conjunction with Building Healthy Communities, Filipino Migrant Center, the GSA Network, Children's Fund, Advancement Project, CCJ, and so many more. I want to thank you on behalf of my office for doing this work, and I look forward to connecting with you to see how we can actually implement these things. You know, the city of Baltimore has a youth fund and there are so many other cities that are looking into a youth fund to be able to promote activities to ensure that kids and youth actually have something to do after school, before school, and that they're cared for and that they don't go into a different direction. And we know that we can make it happen here in Long Beach, too. So thanks again for all of your work. Let's give them another big. Speaker 4: Round of applause. We love the process. Speaker 6: To great work. Speaker 8: All right. Speaker 1: Thank you. We have Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 4: Michael Otis. I want to thank all of the youth, K.J., Gary High Turk, one of my mentors for doing this great work, this important work, and for bringing this key conversation up. And it's a reminder for us on council that the best work that we do as a city comes from the grassroots. It comes from you. It comes from your leadership to present to us some opportunities to have difficult conversations and to lead on critical issues. And so I know that it's been challenging sometimes to get meetings. And I don't know why we have. I know we've tried, but I feel like I've tried like ten times. So we're going to make sure it's a priority to sit down and meet with you guys, particularly before the budget conversation comes up. And so I fully support the efforts and echo the comments that my colleague has said. And I'm going to ask you guys just to to raise your signs up so I can take a picture, you guys. Yeah. I love taking pictures. Behind the dias is my favorite thing. All right, guys, keep it up. And let's look forward to lots of great conversations in the future. Thank you guys so very much. Speaker 1: Thank you. And council managers. Speaker 8: Yes. Also, I like to think this presentation with you guys engaging in my office with your efforts, because the combined Asian community is very important to me because I think back when we named Cambodia Town in the fourth and sixth District, we have come a long way as you guys, but I commend you for working with your young women to empower them. And you have we have we still have a long ways to go, but keep working at it. Don't give up. Thank you guys again for being here tonight. And thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez, for bringing this forward. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman. Vice Mayor Richardson. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to say what a fantastic job you guys did on this survey, I think is presented very well. You guys have you guys have gone citywide. I've seen you in uptown on our up lab. I've seen you in uptown at our pop up town. Anybody know what I'm talking about? You guys went to North Norfolk. You know what I'm talking about. So? So I just want to say congratulation. Councilwoman Gonzalez, thanks for bringing this up. I think it's really important that people see the incredible work, the community outreach that the community is doing. Thank you all for for doing this incredible work. And I look forward to actually engaging in the substantive conversation about what comes out of that. So thanks a lot. Speaker 1: Thank you. We got we have a motion our second to to approve the presentation. I know we had some comment, the other public comment on this item. Yes. Okay. Then please come forward. Go ahead. Speaker 11: Good evening. Council members and Mary Garcia. My name is Mac Harris. I'm 90 years old and a resident of the first District and a youth ambassador with a Gender and Sexuality Alliance network and the youth committee. I'm ready to speak in support of the Invest in Youth Long Beach campaign. We just hope is that all young people, especially young people of color and those living in poverty, be treated with respect, love and dignity. I met a man with a place where young people are equitably invested in and have access to programs and services that help them thrive and reach their full potential. The fact is, my peers are struggling to access critical services like mental health and positive youth development programing, and a growing number of them are also dealing with homelessness. Homeless youth are more vulnerable to arrest and contact with the juvenile justice system, according to the Department of Education. There are 6987 homeless students. There was 6987 homeless students attending Long Beach Unified in 2016. Furthermore, from our survey, we found that 78% of respondents believe mental health services should be the top budget priority. I have struggled to access these services myself for mental health challenges and have been homeless during my junior year of high school. My family was homeless. My single mother did her best to find a shelter while caring for four children. We cannot serve for a while with with with family and friends, but not having somewhere to live hit me like a rock. And in turn, my mental health plummeted. I fell into depression and I started skipping my classes. And then I slipped on grades. Eventually, I had to transfer to different schools to catch up back with my class. During this time, I was outed by a family member to my mother, but with my bisexuality, which in turn made our relationship very rocky, I began to experience thoughts of self-harm. Leading up to my senior year. I tried accessing therapy, but I didn't know where to go or who to trust. At this time. I didn't have accurate, like a full adult that I knew I could trust that was there for me. But at the start of my senior year, I was so happy to have met Chris Covington, who is now my mentor and an organizer with Jason GSA Ninja's Sexuality Network. Meeting Chris changed my life and how he affirmed me and how I did have a purpose. And then I want to help other people find their voice and their purpose. I joined the Beard Seed Network or Community Committee when I engaged and then where I gained an Invest in Youth Campaign, a campaign that is run solely by youth and focuses on putting youth first without second guessing them. These organizations and the safe spaces they create was exactly what I so desperately needed when I was younger. By creating a child and youth fund and establishing meaningful partnerships with community based organizations, we can ensure that young people have access to holistic programs and services that help them heal and reach their full potential. I am black, queer, low income, a friend, partner, mentor, family, and a lot of other things. And I deserve to be happy, safe, supported, because I learned I learned that I matter. We need the support of this council, Mayor Garcia, to establish some Language Children and Youth Fund before the end of this budget cycle. And together we can work towards finding strategy strategy to dedicate funding to bring our visions to life. Our city budget is a reflection of our values and priorities. So let's get this right and invest in youth today. Thank you. Speaker 6: Thank you. Let's figure this. Speaker 1: What I may do is we have we have we have a very long meeting and some closing the speakers list. So the speakers are here. I'm on the list. You guys are all good, and then we're closing the speaker's list. Okay. Please continue. Speaker 4: Hello, my name is Coach and here I am, 17 year old, 17 years old, a recent graduate of McBride High School and a resident of the ninth District. I'm also youth leader with Conference for Justice, a youth committee and an organizer with March for Our Lives Long Beach. I'm here and supported them. Best in Youth Long Beach campaign. I was inspired by the March for Life Movement because it was the first time my generation was given a platform to talk about systematic issues that impact them as emcee for the March 24th rally. It was validating to see you out there, Mayor Garcia and Mrs. and Councilwoman Price. My hope is that our city leaders can continue to show up and listen to young people when we speak on issues impacting us. My vision for my city is for youth voice to be, youth voice to matter and for to be a space for young people to be seen. And as leaders and decision makers. We can organize, mobilize and transform the community we will inherit. Like Mack, who spoke before me, I, too, believe that there's a lot of work, lots of work that can be done before we can realize our vision for our city. Many adults will say that young people just don't care. But I believe that too many you just don't have the resources, the support and the empowerment around us that challenge us in creative ways. At the same time, young people are negatively impacted by our environment, which, whether it be neglect, abuse, or direct and indirect violence that impacts our social, emotional and mental health. Like, on average, seven children die every day from gun violence in our country. More than half of those gun related deaths in the US are children of color, and the majority of gun deaths in the US are suicides. And the LGBTQ community is overrepresented among those suicide victims. And in the first six months of 2018, there have been 20 related school related shootings. The L.A. Times reported that Long Beach has already recorded nine gun related homicides, seven in which people of color two of those were young men of color, only two years old. I ask myself, did they have access to prevention programs and services with safe spaces that they have access to where they felt seen and empowered? I believe as a community, we can prevent these tragedies from happening. So let's connect young people with caring adults and community based programs by increasing job training, youth employment and afterschool empowerment opportunities . These are smart investments. In fact, we found that 80% of our survey respondents believe that youth employment should be a top budget priority, and 78 believe that parks and afterschool empowerment programs should be a top top budget priority as well. Caltrans for Justice has helped me hone in on public speaking skills and social networking skills, and we need more young people standing at this podium sharing their stories to you guys. By providing young people in the city budget, we can show this happens. Many of you have children and you want the best for your children. We want the best for our communities. And we believe that establishing a Long Beach Children and Youth Fund will ensure the best for years to come. So invest in youth today. Thank you. Speaker 6: Thank you. It's good to be. Speaker 2: All right. Speaker 4: Good evening. Speaker 3: My name is Troy Peters. My pronouns are he. Him is. And I'm. What did you say? Network NBC Youth Committee. Speaker 4: I recently graduated from Cabrillo High School and will be attending college in the fall. I'm going to speak on. Speaker 3: What it means to give youth better resources. Speaker 4: And opportunities to succeed specifically pertaining to trans and queer youth of color. When I was in the second grade, I started school at Helen Keller Elementary and it was hard to make friends. I didn't know fitting the gender binary was such a big deal until I didn't do it. Speaker 3: And I found myself being harassed. Speaker 4: Attacked and even beaten as though I. Speaker 3: Had done something wrong. Speaker 4: Of course, this did a number on my self-esteem at a young age because I did not feel safe at school and I didn't know how to express my pain or get help. This feeling of having nowhere to go continued. Speaker 3: Through my 10th grade year. When it was decided that I'd be evaluated. Speaker 4: For mental illnesses, I transferred to a particular area in hopes that things would get better. Still struggling with mental illnesses. I had bumped into a friend from middle. Speaker 3: School who was also a queer youth of color for trying to. Speaker 4: Brought me to rap. And here I had acquired. Speaker 3: A support group. Speaker 4: A place to hide, talk, or just a place to know that I was protected. And I had never had that before. I joined GSA, which gave me another safe space. Speaker 3: This one being specifically. Speaker 4: For queer youth. We provide safe spaces. Speaker 3: Support groups and resources such as sex ed, as. Speaker 5: Well as giving. Speaker 3: Youth a place to figure themselves out free of judgment and full of support. I also wonder about. Speaker 4: Young people who have been caught up in the system for low level, nonviolent drug offenses and are placed on probation or parole. Communities of color have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs. Speaker 3: My older cousin is just one of these examples. Speaker 4: Did you know that in 2016 the U.S. locked up 1.2 million people for drug convictions? Nearly 700,000 of. Speaker 3: Those were for marijuana, and close to 60% of those arrested on drug charges were black. Speaker 4: Or Latino. With the move in our city to legalize marijuana, we have the opportunity to. Speaker 3: Correct this wrong. Speaker 4: And invest back in the communities. Speaker 3: Hurt most by the war on drugs. Social equity is a must invest in uses. Investing in youth is a must as well. Speaker 4: I say all this to say it's important to give clear use of color. Speaker 11: And system impacted. Speaker 4: Youth, a place to go, and resources to meet their basic needs. Giving youth more funding protects programs such as Jason and Rapp, increasing access to prevention, intervention and diversion programs by investing in at least investing at least 50% of marijuana sales taxes in the Long Beach Children and Youth Fund. You're putting young people in a position to succeed in life and give back to their communities that supported them. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker. Speaker 2: Hello. Council members my and Mayor Garcia. My name is closing say. I'm a member of my girls and actions young men's program. Yes. I go to Poly High School and I'll be entering the 11th grade. And I'm a resident of the fourth district. I'm here today to talk to you about how investing in youth can impact me and my peers. Speaker 8: I know, as. Speaker 2: You probably as you probably already know, about how the majority of the Cambodian community came to the U.S. to escape the killing fields during the Khmer Rouge. And how many of them settled here in Long Beach? When my parents came to America as refugees, they didn't know basic things like English or even how to get food. Just like many other refugee families at the time, they struggled to find work or even how to get income. So they worked in low paying industries like garment factories or donut shops. Many people in their generation also had a hard time making ends meet, so they turned to selling drugs. Robbery and gangs. Had there been a youth fund or other resources for the generate for this generation like mental health services, job training and English learning programs? My parents generation would have had an easier time adjusting to life in America and would have other options besides gangs. These issues that are still in my community impact me as a youth by causing me to move to multiple schools and gang violence that still occurs in my generation like the past. Growing up in Long Beach is hard for me because I experienced a lot of hardship with gangs, shootings, drugs and racial profiling. 56% of Cambodian students lack a high school diploma, but CG and other youth programs help me with my education by helping me understand my grades, study hard and make sure I'm on track to graduate. They also help me with leadership skills such as public speaking advocacy and how to help other youth members. We are asking the Honorable City Council and Mayor to work with us to establish a Long Beach Children and Youth Fund this year and create meaningful opportunities for young people to come to the table as decision makers. Thank you. Thank you. Next week opens. Speaker 4: Good evening. Members Garcia and kim in the new case. I'm executive director of CCG, the California Conference for Equality and Justice. I'm here. Our organization is part of the Invest in Youth Coalition, and I'm also here as an adult ally to support our young folks who have put so much work into a survey collection and also the campaign. So in the past five years, CAGE has expanded our work into the area of restorative justice, which has allowed us to establish a model of juvenile diversion that has kept hundreds of youth out of the juvenile justice system. It's been exciting to lead the field and work that shifts the ways that we perceive youth move us away from criminalizing normal adolescent behavior and recognizing the need for holistic strengths based approaches to youth development. Currently, I sit on the L.A. County's Office of Youth Development and Diversion Steering Committee supporting the implementation of county wide roll out of juvenile diversion program and where we're seeing a great changes in the ways that we're approaching juvenile crime by offering at the earliest point of contact with law enforcement alternatives for youth to address their mistakes in lieu of citation and arrest. This effort aims to eventually divert about 11,000 youth who are arrested in L.A. County each year that are legally eligible for diversion being one of the larger jurisdictions in L.A. County. Long Beach undoubtedly will be touched by these county wide diversion efforts. And while CCJ is working currently with Long Beach PD to offer a diversion to some of our young folks here locally, there is still potential to reach hundreds of more youth through this county diversion program. And I bring this up because while this type of investment in diversion is a start to changing the ways that we offer support and services to youth, it's just one intervention at one specific point when a youth has come in contact with the criminal justice system and we would like for us to consider is what our investment is on the preventative side. So the academy investment in juvenile diversion is about 26 million over about four years. And as investment in diversion increases, I would encourage us as a community to prioritize investment locally in programs and services that summer youth development principles and trauma informed approaches as a means of prevention, investment in things like leadership, development, arts, sports, recreation, community organizing, work for workforce training, mental health services and other things that our young folks have mentioned tonight in terms of what their what they see as needs and especially that our investment is not predicated on citation and arrest, that we establish something that is preventative. So the organizations who are part of the investing youth work, including CCG and our young people, are experts in what we're seeking here around youth development. And I invite you to join us as resources, as you consider the establishment of a city fund. We would like to engage as partners and continue as we continue to move away from models of deficit based and punitive practices and find ways to invest in empowering and healing programs that allow our young people to discover their best selves. Thank you. Yeah. Speaker 1: Thank you. And the last speaker. Speaker 2: Great, great. So my name is Jonathan Thompson. I'm with the Good C Church of God in Christ. We've been contracted with the Department of Mental Health for since 2012. We've been in the city of Long Beach in Leona Gonzalez's district at the former New City School site since 2014, 2015. We brought me out here tonight is that we submitted a conditional or minor conditional use permit to establish a youth center with the Department of Mental Health, to establish a youth shelter, to provide emergency supportive housing, to transition age youth who are experiencing mental health needs as well as other services. And I think part of the reason that I'm having a hard time to speak is that our application has been delayed. It has been processed. We had to hire an attorney to work with the city attorney. Our application continues to be delayed for petty things. They want us to do a lot. Merger. When there was not a lot merger required for new city schools. There's other requests. There's ambiguous requests for elevations. And there and it's just I was like, oh, this is amazing. You guys are addressing racial, racial equity and all of these other issues that are so important. But yet for three years, you were going on and let homeless youth sit on the street. And yet we've partnered with Leadership Long Beach. And I imagine that Leadership Long Beach is very well connected within the city of Long Beach. So I'm just kind of confused as to how does this happen? How do we get to this place where, you know, we have excellent relationships with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. We have excellent relationships. We have the Los Angeles Department of Health Services. I sit on the Human Services Committee for the Empowerment Congress of the Second District for under MARC Supervisor. Both really? THOMAS I'm the chair of the Los Angeles Spa six Homeless Coalition. And this is just these are the this is what caused me to want to run for chair, was that these type of games are are the issue that that is why people run. Right. I didn't I didn't care about politics. I'm like, I'm a pastor's kid. I love helping people. I like making a difference. And that's why we were open seven days a week, 365 days a year. And we've been so for the last six years. But but this is the reason why I had to start just getting connected, because these are the type of issues and these type of processes, and this is what people are tired of. And so I had this whole like encourage, like Joel Osteen message that I was going to that I had written up. But it it just it was difficult. But nonetheless, I am thoroughly amazed that you guys are doing surveys. I think this is great. I think that it's amazing that you're recognizing the issues of and the importance of mental health, of respect, of love, of homelessness, that these students highlight it. And I look forward to seeing the great work that you guys are going to do. A lot of each have a blessed night. Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. That matter? That concludes that concludes public comment. Just going to go to Councilman Gonzalez, who's made the motion. Two things. One, just to quickly wrap up on what the gentleman just spoke. So, you know, I'm not aware of you just brought up some issues that I sure you we will look into immediately. I think the idea of of a of a shelter for for youth, that a transitional shelter is something that we've tried to do in Long Beach for a long time. And so I'm not sure and I know do I know all the details of this? Maybe the council office does, but we will certainly look into that pretty quickly. And then the second thing I just wanted to thank, of course, T.J., for also inviting me to your office and to the roundtable that we all had together and discussing, are you all so amazing and all of your your passion and your ability to I'm always amazed at young people today and your ability just to have so much data and information and be so educated about. And I think what I was doing at your age and it was not this. So I just I was just just taken aback by all you guys and how smart and how passionate you are and how organized you are. So it just gives me a lot of hope for in a very hopeless time, it seems like sometimes. So very good work to all of you. Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 5: Yes, I just wanted to say, I know Rashawn in my office, Corey, my chief of staff, will connect with you. But Cory, Ty has also been working with our office in relation to the issues you're talking about city permit, so we'd be happy to continue that conversation. And again, thank you to my girls and action CG and all the partners. You all are just so fantastic again. Thank you so much. Congratulations on a really well-received presentation. Speaker 1: Trump appears. We have a motion in a second. Please cast your votes. Speaker 2: Like letters. We write, like, a lot. We ride. We run. Speaker 0: Motion passes and keep. Speaker 1: Motion in case. And we still have we still have we still have one more item that's scheduled between this and the mayor. One item. I know I said it wouldn't start earlier than eight and as close to eight as possible, but. So just so everyone's aware of this item as some of the same folks are here for this item. So if you can, please item 25.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a report from Khmer Girls in Action's Invest in Youth Campaign.

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Speaker 1: So just so everyone's aware of this item as some of the same folks are here for this item. So if you can, please item 25. Speaker 0: Communication from Vice Mayor Richardson, Councilmember Supernormal Councilman Andrews, Councilmember Arango recommendation to receive and file a report from the Health and Human Services Department on the Father Friendly Initiative. Speaker 2: Thank you, Madam Clerk. So this past Sunday was Father's Day, and I hope everyone had a good time celebrating Father's Day with the important folks in your life. So I do want to recognize that we know that fatherhood is important and the city of Long Beach has some incredible programs related to fatherhood. We know that when fathers are present involved in their child's life, children have improved health outcomes, higher measured measures of cognitive functioning, and are twice as likely to enter college and find find stable employment after high school and are 75% less likely to have a teen birth. We have a number of we have a number of our advisory group members. Just just stand up. If you're one of the father friendly advisory group members, we can just recognize you say thank you to the fathers involved involved in this program. You know, there's a particular set of challenges that many fathers face. Single fathers, gay fathers, stay at home fathers. I mean, you name it. Right. And we want to make sure that we are fam father friendly city. So that said, I want to hand it off. So there are a number of recommendations here, but I'll hand it off to city staff for a quick presentation on the Father Friendly Initiative in Long Beach. Speaker 1: Mayor Councilmembers Kelly Collopy, our. Speaker 3: Director of Health and Human Services. Good evening. The Life Coach 2015. The Federal Office of Family Assistance awarded funding to the Health Department to provide the Life Coaching and Fundamentals of Fatherhood program with a core purpose. To increase father engagement. To promote safe, secure, and economic stability in the lives of their children. To complement this in 2016, first five LA funded US for the Father Engagement Initiative. This is to inform and impact system changes within Los Angeles County by advocating for policies that are inclusive for fathers, affirming a father's identity, their familiar role, value and contribution to their children, family and community. And I'm going to turn this over to Rosie Velasquez Gutierrez. She's the director of the Center for Families and Youth and has been overseeing this program. Speaker 4: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia, Vice Mayor Richardson, members of city council and our honored guest. I am Rosie Velasquez Gutierrez, director of Center for Families and Youth, located at Hampton Park, the north side of the Department of Health. Speaker 5: And Human Services. Speaker 4: I am honored to have been invited this evening to share with you an overview of the Long Beach weather friendly initiative and some of the exciting things we've achieved so far, and also share the many ways that our city and community partners can join us in making Long Beach a truly father friendly city for all fathers. Speaker 5: And their families. Speaker 4: As Kelly already mentioned, in 2015, when the Department of Health was awarded federal funding through the Office of Family Assistance, we launched our Life Coaching and Fundamentals of Fatherhood Program. This program is data driven best practice model that has served over 280 fathers across our city. The Father Friendly Long Beach Initiative began in 2016 when first five Ella generously granted us additional funding to launch an effort to create father friendly places and spaces in our city. Thanks to that funding in August 2017, the city's first ever father friendly advisory committee. Speaker 5: Was established. Speaker 4: With a goal to create a citywide father friendly campaign to promote and engage agencies, organizations and businesses. In conversations about the importance of specifically supporting fathers and acknowledging the important role. Speaker 5: That fathers play in the lives in their. Speaker 4: Children. The campaign Father Friendly Long Beach was launched in 20th February 2018. The Advisor, The Father Friendly Advisory Committee, includes a diverse group of community, stakeholders and members. Many of the committee members either serve fathers in our community or are fathers themselves. This collective body provided our campaign with invaluable direction and knowledge. We were particularly grateful to have the voice of a number of fathers in our programs as members. Speaker 5: Of the advisory. Speaker 0: Committee. Speaker 4: These voices were critical to ensure ensuring that the policies and changes the committees the committee proposed were inclusive and supportive of all fathers in our city. The goals of the Advisory Committee were to guide the creation and launch a citywide father friendly initiative that aimed to encourage the creation of the Father friendly places and spaces for all fathers and families. We embrace and value the unique role of fathers in their child's life and acknowledge fathers as leaders, role models, nurturers, educators, employees, entrepreneurs and consumers. Thanks to the hard work of our entire committee, our father friendly Long Beach social media campaign launched in February 2018. Speaker 5: And I'm excited. Speaker 4: To share with you our father friendly Long Beach campaign. Speaker 5: Video. Speaker 3: I just. You don't have to do it. There you go. It's I me. Speaker 1: Is this a video again? It's not working. Speaker 4: It's a video. Speaker 1: Okay, let's keep going. Speaker 4: Okay. Very well. Well, the video shares are father father friendly guidelines, which are portraying positive and diverse father friendly images. We train staff on father friendly practices and changing stations and men's and family gender neutral restrooms. This campaign aimed at identifying those in the importance of those things. That can be very simple ways for agencies and organizations and businesses to become father friendly. The organizations and businesses that show that they have implemented R three guidelines will receive a father friendly decal. By displaying the decals in your business or organization, you declare your support for making Long Beach a father friendly city. The father friendly social media campaign was a huge success. The campaign reached over 209,000 Long Beach residents via Facebook, Instagram and our website in just a few months of the campaign. Businesses throughout the city have already begun reaching out to learn more about how to become recognized as father friendly. Our campaign also includes a brand new website and all the details about our father friendly initiative. Everyone can visit this site to learn more about obtaining a father friendly initiative daycare and becoming more active in this initiative. Our work is dedicated to changing the perception of fathers in Long Beach by creating a city that is inclusive of all fathers and acknowledging and valuing the role of fathers in the lives of their children. With that in mind, the Father Friendly Advisory Committee established a set of father principles for all Long Beach residents. We value our fathers here in Long Beach. We know that the policies that make spaces and places better for fathers make places and spaces better for the entire family. If you'd like to get involved in our initiative, visit our website and learn more about this movement. If you work with an entity that is interested in becoming father friendly, please reach us at our website. Anyone interested in obtaining support for fathers through our free programs and services? Please contact us at Life Coaching and Fundamentals of Fatherhood Program. And finally, we invite our entire community to our free event park with Dad this Saturday from 11 to 2 p.m. at Highland Park. There's going to be free food and lots of fun events for fathers and their families. Thank you for taking the time to learn about our Long Beach Father Friendly initiative and join us in creating a truly father friendly city for all. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 2: All right. Thank you. Yeah, let's hear it for our health department, our father friendly initiative. Okay, so a couple of things. So we've received this presentation, this motion, as the city council endorsed the nine father friendly principles that are outlined in the motion and were covered in the presentation. And then secondly, we're going to ask that our city takes this. So recently, the state of California took steps to acknowledge the barriers that fathers face when caring for small children in public. I've learned this over the last three years and have taken action to help balance the scale so fathers are accommodated in the same way that mothers are. So effective January of this year, Assembly Bill 1127 requires at least one diaper changing station to be available, just one to both men and women at all newly constructed or newly renovated state and local government buildings, entertainment arenas, large retail buildings and restaurants with occupancy of 60 people. So that's a new state law. It's a step in the right direction. So Long Beach, we want to support this and we want to fully embrace this. And so that's why I'm proposing that we create a plan we want. We've discussed with city staff coming up with a plan to think about our public facing government buildings. So, for example, if is a beach, all our beach restrooms are all one sex. Now they're all gender neutral. So you wouldn't have to retrofit every one of your restrooms. Just one. Just one. The you know, so we would need to look at some calls, come up with a plan, and then it's the right time. Because as we go into the budget conversation this year, next year, we can think about what it takes to make sure our new civic center, when it opens, our new main library when it opens, are our facilities. As we move forward, we think about we want to encourage fathers not to just simply hand the baby to mom because and use the excuse that, hey, you've got to change this station. We should carry on weight, too, right? Father should be able to change those diapers and not use that as an excuse. So we want to make sure that we do that as a city. So that's. Emotion. I want to close this just by inviting people to park it with dads. That's Saturday, that Saturday, June 23rd at Highland Park in North Long Beach. And you can expect basketball, barbecue, boxing workshops, face painting, giveaways. So dads join us out in Park. We're going to have a good time with our kids. Thanks a lot. And so next, we thank you. So next we have council member. Speaker 10: Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson. And I want to thank you for inviting me to join you on this very important initiative here. You know, you let our grandfathers and my grandfathers stay active. And, you know, all I could do with we've been a grandfather in grandparenting with my new my grandson, who's now about 13 months old. So he still he's still in a diaper change. He hasn't been potty trained yet. So he hangs out with us a lot. And when we go out to places, I go to a lot of meetings and he joins us with the meeting to getting already active in the community. But sometimes you need to change. And she will look at me and I look at her and all I can do is raise an eyebrow like, well, where do I go to change the baby? So a lot of that practice I get at home, but I'm not able to exercise it in the public because there's no change stations that I can go to. So I think this initiative is great. I think I'm glad that this is moving forward. And also, I hope that this program also includes how to parent, you know, parenting skills. I mean, that's one of the most important things that we all have to encounter. I have three kids of my own, and one of them was really challenging with me and basically told me, how did you learn how to parent or where did you learn how to parent? Well, you know, I learned from my parents and my dad and my mom how to parent. And there's not at my time anyway, there wasn't that opportunity to go to a class or or to get mentored in how to be a father and how to be a parent and how to be just a good human being. And I think that this program will go a long ways in doing that. And I hope that in future iterations of your program, that you would also include some some parenting classes and fathering classes, and not only to those that are already there, but perhaps for our future as well. And especially with the the the growth and the the more that we have with young, young fathers and unmarried parents, I think that's very important that we reach out to them as well and provide them with that opportunity to grow, to learn to be good parents, because we need to break the cycle of bad parenting that we that we experience every year when we see that the great majority of our incarcerated people in prisons are the are the victims, if you will, of single parents. And because of the break ups that that happened when there were they were young or the abuse that they experienced when they were young, so that we could catch people early in terms of how to be good parents, good fathers, I think we would make a significant impact in the future. So thank you. That makes me a regular, including me on this. Speaker 1: Thank you. Accounts membership. Speaker 3: What's it? Speaker 2: Thank you. I'd like to thank Vice Mayor Richardson for bringing this item forward and also for inviting me to sign on. And I enthusiastically support the measure. And to commemorate this momentous occasion, our office produced a custom to you new dads. This is called a onesie, and you talked about an educational piece. So this has Snap's on the bottom for diaper changing. And on the on the business end, on the back, we put our motto go forth. Okay. So what I'd like to do is present this to Councilwoman Stacey Mongo Flanigan to her husband, actually, who can put this to good use in a few months. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Andrus. Speaker 8: Yes, thank you very much. That was okay. I don't know. I have daughters and they're a little older than that. Mr. Super Nice. So I think active fathers are not only healthy in the family setting, but they set an example for the future generation. You know, the item of baby changing stations, I think, is very it's a given now in this day and time because both men and women change babies. I really think that starting this is starting point and these changing and changing tables in our park facility is something that is very needed. So, man, get ready. If you haven't done that, get ready for it. Stacey, I know we're going to get these things taken care of. So I want to thank you for. Councilwoman, you know, Vice Mayor, thank you for allowing me to be on inside. Speaker 1: But you could continue again because you were doing it. So I guess not. Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 4: I just want to thank you guys for for recognizing all the fathers out there and making sure that us women don't have to listen to the excuses anymore, that there's not a changing table because we get that a lot. But really, I mean, having changing station seems like something that we should already have. I can't tell you how many floors and weird spaces and countertops that we've had to change babies at. So we really appreciate you guys, not only for the changing stations, but just recognizing the important role that fathers have. And and my dad watches every Tuesday. I've only he's only been in my life for two years. So I just want to give him a shout out since he's watching right now and saying that having a father figure is really important no matter when they come into your life. So thank you, guys. Speaker 1: Q Councilwoman Drake. Speaker 5: Well, I want to thank you for this item, too. And what do you know? Speaker 4: The third district also. Speaker 5: Has a onesie. It says Future Long Beach Leader has my logo on the back. So Councilwoman Mango, here you go. I think this is a great item. I will say I thank them. The men who signed on to the item might be the only men in the entire city who really want a changing room in the men's bathroom. Because it's very convenient that your wife's the only one who can change the diaper. But I think this is a really great item, and I agree with Councilwoman Pierce. I did not grow up with a father figure in my life. So I think it's important that we can do whatever we can to encourage it. And I think, you know, I love Councilman Super not talking about the snaps on the onesie because when we had our baby, I would dress them every day and take them to the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center, where he went to school, our oldest son. And the one day I was in a rush, I was in trial or something. I asked my husband to do it. I said, Can you just go put them in a onesie? And my son came out with a floaty pajama, which is not a onesie, with his tennis shoes crammed on over the foot, part of the footie pajamas, walking out ready for daycare. And I had to explain to my husband that that was not a onesie, that was pajamas. So I think doing everything we can to encourage co-parenting and equal parenting is fantastic. So thank you. Councilman Gonzalez thinks, Vice Mayor Richardson, for bringing this forward again. And I'll just say, you know, I'm tired of the excuses as well from my partner not being able to change our child. But now we have the light is at the end of the tunnel, which is so great. And Councilmember Mungo, I don't have a onesie. I do have a piece of chocolate for you, for your cravings. So I'd be happy to help help you on that end. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Is there any public comment on this? Speaker 2: Stephanie Cicero, second district. So last Tuesday or Monday, mass, get out the vote for the seventh District because I was up in Sacramento lobbying for some of the new cannabis laws up in Sacramento and brought my daughter, who I had a wonderful time meeting her representative. But unfortunately, in the middle, the meeting had to be changed. I would. At what point? At which point? I encountered the bathroom, men's bathroom at the office building in Sacramento, which lacks the changing table. Having this is incredibly important as a first step towards kind of towards the eventual goal of equal co-parenting in the city. However, I really strongly urge, as of as a continuation of this particular item, to continue exploring universal pre-K within the city and the creation of such as a municipal right. That would go a long way towards creating gender equity within parenting and improving the lives of children in the city. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please. And then a closing of speakers. Less after the lady. After you. Speaker 2: Good evening, mayor garcia and members of city council ama oswaldo ac. Cruz with the national comparison network as well as partner of the Engaging Fathers Advisory Network and board member for the Center for Family Policy and Practice. And first and foremost, a father and grandfather and want to just acknowledge all of all of the women who have had to pay double duty as mom and dad. And so I want to acknowledge you and thank you for having to do that. But it is our role now and our responsibility as men and fathers to step up and not only change the diapers, but be actively involved in the lives of our children. And so I'm here in support of this initiative. I believe that when men, fathers are involved in the lives of their children, in their family, that their children, our children can really thrive. And so I ask you and urge you to support this initiative. And thank you for acknowledging fathers. There's a lot of work that needs to be done to change the perception of fathers. It's not that we don't want to be involved. It's not that we don't want to be included. Oftentimes, we're not given the opportunity. And so this will help to create a culture that will cultivate fatherhood friendliness. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. And our last speaker. Speaker 4: Good evening, mayor, vice mayor and council members. My name is Letizia Sanchez. I'm a senior program officer at First Fire Valley. And thank you for your consideration to endorse the nine father friendly principles in capital investment for baby changing stations. Evidence indicates that father engagement positively affects the social, behavioral, psychological and cognitive outcomes for children. Thank you once again. Speaker 1: Q With that many members, please cast your votes. Speaker 2: Nelson Karis. Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Thank you for that. We're moving on to the item on cannabis.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager to receive and file a report from the Long Beach Health and Human Services Department on the Father-Friendly Initiative; Formally endorse the nine Father-Friendly Principles outlined in the Father-Friendly Initiative; and Create a plan to retrofit all existing public-facing city government buildings to be equipped with at least one safe, sanitary, and convenient, baby changing station, available to both men and women.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries you item 46, which is also filed which related. Speaker 3: Chief Terry. Speaker 1: And. Speaker 2: Deputy Chief Commission and with the presentation that came up prior to the prior item should be put up now please. Good evening, Mayor. Mayor Garcia and members of the City Council. Mike Derry, I'm be providing you an update with the city's outreach education enforcement efforts leading up to the 4th of July holiday week. Our primary public safety mission is to ensure that residents and visitors celebrate the holiday safely in our city. So at the Spacebar, the Fire and Police Department started planning for the holiday several months ago, as has been consistent over over the past number of years. Public outreach and enforcement will remain the primary focus areas to ensure a safe 4th of July. Outreach education efforts have been designed to communicate the message to residents and visitors that all fireworks, including those marked safe and sane, are dangerous and illegal in the city. That even fireworks that may seem benign can be very dangerous, especially when handled by children. Items such as sparklers and sky lanterns can cause great harm and pose a significant fire risk. The National Fire Protection Administration reports national, a national annual average of 18,500 fires caused by fireworks, including 1300 structure fires, 300 and over 300 vehicle fires . Nationwide, these fires caused an annual average of three deaths, 40 civilian injuries and $43 million in direct property damage. In 2015, hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated of 11,900 people for fireworks related injuries. Children under the age of 15 years old are accounted for, accounted for about 35% of the estimated injuries. As in past years, the city has convened a fireworks stakeholder task force, which includes residents, elected officials, city departments and veterans groups. For the past several months, the fire department has been working with all city departments to coordinate public service announcements, press releases, and communicating that all fireworks are dangerous and illegal in the city. Announcements are also being displayed in highly, highly visible locations such as parks and libraries. Other outreach efforts include posting on electronic marquee signs, fliers, banners, posters and the distribution of hundreds of lawn signs. In addition to utilizing the city's website to get out the message that all fireworks are illegal in Long Beach, the city is using all sorts of social media platforms. We post daily on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites trying to increase our reach and approval. This is proving to be a very effective means of communicating. Educational information in Spanish, English, Carmi and Tagalog have also been distributed to Long Beach Area schools and cert volunteers and city staff will begin distributing fliers to residents, businesses and neighborhood associations throughout the city next week. Additionally, the Animal Control Bureau is distributing educational materials to the community, advising pet owners of ways to mitigate the impacts of fireworks on their pets. As you can imagine, the loud noises of fireworks caused pets a great amount of stress and anxiety, leading many of them to run away. Pet owners are urged to keep their pets inside and help spread the message that all fireworks are illegal and dangerous. Excuse me. Another important message we are getting out is to be courteous to our veterans. Many of our nation's military personnel who have served experienced post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Fireworks can cause flashbacks and anxiety for some military veterans with PTSD. Fire staff has met with the Long Beach Veterans Commission. And just this afternoon we met with a contingent of the Veterans Commission to discuss and hear their concerns regarding this issue. Another way we encourage a safe 4th of July is by visiting block parties. Fire crews visit every 4th of July block party throughout the city and speak about the illegality and dangers of all fireworks. BLOCK parties are regulated by the city and permits are required. Organizers must sign a permit that states the block party shall end at 7 p.m. and also stresses that all fireworks are illegal and requires block party permits to comply or participants to comply with applicable federal, state and local laws. Permits will be revoked revoked if illegal activity occurs, and that, of course, includes any use of fireworks. The 4th of July is the busiest day of the year for both the police and fire departments. Last year, the communications center center handled over 3000 calls for service on July four alone. This represents about a 60% increase in a call volume from a normal day. From July 1st to July 5th, 2017. The communications center received over 1200 fireworks related calls in 2017. Police and fire issued 46 fireworks citations. And this is an increase from 2016 in which 33 citations were issued. The police department also seized over £7,000 of illegal fireworks last year, placed this year in an effort to respond to increased reports of illegal fireworks on the night of July one through July five. The fire department will deploy two additional patrol vehicles, each staffed with two arson investigators. These additional units will work in conjunction with the police department's proactive patrols. Patrols will continue to target areas of the city historically known for frequent use of fireworks, as well as respond to reports of illegal fireworks activity citywide. Anyone cited or arrested for fireworks violations may be issued a $1,000 fine, sentenced to jail for up to six months or both. Issuing citations for fireworks use is also uniquely challenging, as an arson investigator or police officer must witness a person in the act in order to issue the citation. Additionally, citations are often confrontational and arson investigators and police officers. Safety is a primary concern. Fireworks may be this year voluntarily disposed of at collection bins, which are located at all fire and police stations and at lifeguard headquarters. These measures are being implemented to encourage the Long Beach community have a safe 4th of July holiday. The best way to do this is to leave the fireworks up to the professionals. There are two professional fireworks displays in Long Beach this year, one on July 3rd at Alamitos Bay and the other on the 4th of July at the Queen Mary. Mr. Mayor, council members, this concludes my presentation with me here tonight. Our police chief, Robert Luna, is up in the audience, Deputy Chief Wally Bosch and Deputy Chief and our fire marshal Rick Brandt, are here to answer any questions you may have. And that concludes my report. Thank you. Speaker 1: That's one place. Speaker 5: Thank you. I wanted to thank the representatives from police and fire who are here this evening. You do an amazing job getting ready for the third and 4th of July and executing your strategy on both of those days. I see a lot of the efforts that you are involved in throughout the year, but especially on the third and 4th of July in my district. So I want to thank you and your team for the great work that you do. I think the outreach and education efforts that Long Beach Fire has done and specifically what we did last year was really tremendous and that it was definitely increased from prior years and I think I felt a difference. Even though some residents reported seeing an increase. I do believe that there was some many instances that were mitigated as a result of messaging and public outreach. So I thank you for that work. I also want to thank you for working with the residents in our district. Sometimes I know it's difficult when you're experts in a subject matter to have residents who maybe aren't experts in that field suggest better ways of doing things. But I think that both departments were really excellent in serving as a as a resource to the committee of residents. And truly, this was a grassroots effort by concerned residents to try to make a difference in their community. And I think police and fire working with them demonstrates our commitment to service and public input. So I thank you for your graciousness and indulging them. So thank you very much. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Supernanny. Speaker 2: I'd also like to thank you for the report. And great job as always. And thanks for staying late to deliver it. Speaker 1: Thank you. Somebody went to. Speaker 10: Take you there. I want to commend you on an excellent report. This is something that has been very close and dear to me in my district. I attend many community meetings and this issue always comes up in terms of what are we going to do this year about the increase in fireworks? Last year, there were lawn signs, I think, that were effective and I had a number of them in my district office that will be making those available again so that I can distribute. Speaker 2: Councilmember Yes, in fact, we have ordered a number of those lawn signs. You're starting to see them spring up at starting with fire stations and police stations throughout the city. Today, in fact, we even took it a step farther and we're going to produce some lawn signs that specifically address our veterans community, alerting neighbors that, you know , a veteran or, you know, be be kind to our local veteran community because fireworks can have adverse impacts on them. So, yes, you will see those. They'll be available at fire headquarters and other places throughout the city in the coming days. Speaker 10: Gate Do I have my staff to direct my staff to contact you directly and or a fire station in my area or what? Speaker 2: Councilmember If somebody from your staff were to reach out to fire headquarters, speak to somebody in our community services division, probably Jake Heflin will be able to get those signs to you in the next couple of days. Speaker 10: I appreciate that. And I think that that Long Beach app would be an excellent way of also being a deterrent to the people who are who who need to be caught in the act. Unfortunately, that's what we do. That is a great obstacle in terms of being able to get more citations and get the word more spread out in terms of the the the illegality of having fireworks. But if people are are caught in the act, I think that that would be a great deterrent. But thank you. Speaker 1: Vice Mayor Richardson. Speaker 2: Thanks, Mayor. Just wanted to just chime in at every year, you know, we go out, we do education. You know, sometimes we do bus and things. I remember when we collected thousands of dollars of illegal fireworks. All good work. And every year seemed like fireworks. It continues. And I know that I'm echoing sentiments. Other other folks have said it seems like the issue continues to grow and perpetuate of where I am. We border, Compton, Paramount, Lakewood, Bellflower, all different rules and fireworks and all those different cities it's almost impossible to keep up with from one side of the district. Sounds like a war zone. The other side might be a little bit more quiet. So I want to just lift up two things. So, one, I like the idea of an app or technology. I think there has to be some sort of technology solution that helps engage local residents into helping to self-police their own communities. I mean, the lawn signs gave them a tool to start that I actually saw on certain blocks. The people who engage with a lot of signs, I saw that they you know, they saw an immediate response that those blocks where people engaged with those lawn signs, they stopped doing it. Maybe the block over was doing it, but those particular blocks stopped doing illegal fireworks. I think we if we really took some time and thought about how to leverage the app, we might be able to figure something out. Secondly, I had this idea before, and I think we should pick some areas, some random areas around town where we literally set up some things like we can literally set it up in a park, let's say let's say Coolidge Park or the Forest Park or whatever. You grab a park, you, you know, you set up a tent. It is your firework fire watch for the neighborhood and it's randomized your firewatch. And guess what? From that place you do targeted sort of education, outreach and and enforcement all surrounding that area. And then the next year you pick it up somewhere else. I just think something like a visible, hey, we are here, we see you, we all catch you and we're not going anywhere. We're going to be right here at this park and we're going to see everything in this and, you know, surrounding areas, something like that. We should we should try because at a minimum, we'll be able to show the residents, hey, you know where we were. We weren't in your neighborhood this time. We can be in your neighborhood next time. It's limited resources, but we have to sort of, you know, begin that process. So just an idea. Every year folks have ideas. We try to figure this out. And, you know, that's just what we have to do. That's our plight. Thanks, Candy. Think about that. The chief, the roving sort of a firewatch and different parks or neighborhoods. Mr. Vice Mayor, I can tell you that the fire department and the police department actively are doing our best to engage the community throughout the city of Long Beach in community meetings and meetings that we've invited city staff to and community members to, certainly we would we would consider anything that would hands our ability to reach the community and inform them on the dangers and the illegality of fireworks. So it's something that I think we would consider and we talk through the best way we could possibly carry like carry something like that out. Sure. Speaker 1: I see no public comment. We're going to go and just vote on this item. Thank you. Okay. We have it is it is midnight and going to be we have 17 more items. I'm going to go now to hearing item number two.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a presentation on the status of illegal fireworks outreach, education, and enforcement plans for the Fourth of July holiday. (Citywide)

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Speaker 1: Halfway through our agenda. Speaker 0: Report from Development Services recommendation receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, adopt mitigated negative declaration and the dash 04-15 and adopt a resolution approving an addendum to the Midtown Specific Plan IIR. You also declare an ordinance approving a zone change relating to a portion of the Salvation Army campus to the Midtown's specific plan. Read for the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading and adopt a resolution amending zoning code by amending the Midtown Specific Plan and approve a site plan review. Find the proposed vacation of a portion of Elm Avenue, north of Spring Street, and two alleys located between Elm and Pasadena Avenues, consistent with the General Plan District seven. Speaker 1: Okay, Mr. West. Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We will have a quick staff report by Carrie Tai, our current planning officer. Speaker 4: Thank you. Good evening on a Mayor Garcia and city council. I have a staff report if you are interested. Okay. I'm going to proceed before you. Tonight is the last phase of this is the last phase of the Salvation Army's build out of their Citadel campus at 3012 Long Beach Boulevard. So this is on the northeast corner of Long Beach Boulevard and Spring Street. And the campus currently has a social services building, administrative offices, a chapel, a multipurpose building, a parking lot and then vacant land. And so the project that's being discussed tonight would go on the vacant portion. So currently along Long Beach Boulevard, it's there's there's that it's completed. And then the project takes place along Spring Street. This is the third of a three phase project that started back in 2013. The history is basically detailed in your report, but due to some oil wells, they had to do a redesign. So they were back here. The site plan is on the screen, but basically it's a gymnasium, a soccer field and a new parking lot. And that would complete the the campus. The building design is a it's a 36 foot tall building in typical gymnasium, and it's a pretty nice design and that's in your plans as well. So there are some renderings of the proposed project phase on the screen there. And one's from Long Beach Boulevard, the other is from Spring Street. So one of the major actions tonight is for his own change. A portion of the campus right now is in the Midtown specific plan, whereas the remainder is not. And so the proposal is to move the entire campus into the midtown specific plan. And also the specific plan was adopted in 2016. And there are some ambiguities and clarifications that were needed to fix it. And since we were hoping opening up the specific plan, we thought we would correct some of those items as well. And so those are part of the proposal tonight. Also, you may have noticed that the campus does span several blocks. And so there are some vacation proposals for a portion of Elm Street as well as two alleys. The action would be a general plan conformity simply to to find that the request for the vacation is consistent with the general plan. The actual action for the vacation would be processed by the Public Works Department, and that would come back to the council at a later date after their public outreach. And then lastly, there are two environmental documents that accompany this action tonight. One is a mitigated negative declaration for the project. The second is an addendum to the Midtown specific plan. ER for those technical changes that I talked about. The Planning Commission did conduct a public hearing on this. That was about two months ago. They forwarded a recommendation to the Council and so we are relaying that to you tonight. So that concludes today's presentation. And the applicant is in the audience and they've been there since 5:00. Thank you. Speaker 1: Thank you. Got somebody Ringa. Speaker 10: Gong to go ahead and listen to the applicant before I make my recommendation. Speaker 1: Okay, great. We go ahead. And if we can have the applicant, which is the Salvation Army, please come forward. Speaker 12: Good evening or good morning. Both, I think, are appropriate at this time. My name is Captain Sergio Garcia. I lead the Salvation Army here in Long Beach. I've been here for three years before that. Three years prior to that, I was at headquarters, which is also here in Long Beach on 180 East Ocean Boulevard. So I've been a part of this community for about six years now. We're excited about the expansion of our campus on Spring and Long Beach Boulevard to provide more services for the four areas which we discovered in an assessment back in 2005, 2006 that said that we needed to provide more services to at risk youth, low income families of homeless and seniors. And so our campus expansion will provide enhanced services to all of those areas. We've already did the grand opening for our senior center, which is now seeing two different events a month, plus working with other several partners, community organizations, civic groups to create a space for seniors at our location that they can come, be educated or just have a cup of coffee or ice cream as we're having a social or in a couple of weeks. Then part of the expansion that you're seeing today will allow us to provide services not just to youth, but to whole families. We really believe that a multi-generational approach to what we're doing is best. So we want to involve the grandparents, the parents, the children in this process. And so the new gymnasium would allow us to focus families in education, healthy living, and simply just being a part of this community. Speaker 1: Great. Thank you so much. Any other public comment on the hearing? See? None. Councilmember Ringo? Speaker 10: Yes, sir. I've had a great opportunity to be part of some of the ribbon cuttings that the Salvation Army has had over the last few years of the the classrooms and the gymnasium. And now, with the addition of the soccer field, I think it's going to be a great addition to the community. It's a wonderful facility, and it's going to be, I'm sure, very fully utilized. And I'm glad to see that it's going to be a great addition into that area to provide some additional services that are much needed in that area. And it also adds some open space with the with the soccer field and other recreation opportunities for kids. So I totally support the project and I hope that I get the support of my colleagues as well. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Andrews. Speaker 8: Yes, thank you, Mayor. I would like to thank Development Services for their diligent work on this hearing. I counsel Mongo and I took a tour of the facilities in and and it seems like the Salvation Army's plan to continue to serve and serve in our community in there and especially in their camps, ministry and recreational activities and assistance to those who need it is amazing. And I want to thank you guys very, very much. Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilwoman Price. Speaker 5: Thank you. I, too, had the pleasure of receiving a tour with Jack Cunningham, my chief of staff, and very, very impressed with the facility. More importantly, though, very impressed with the concept behind the organization and the various programs that you have. I proudly refer people to the program, the substance abuse programs that you have in my capacity in Orange County. So I thank you for everything that you do and the great work that you're doing in Long Beach. Thank you. Speaker 1: Councilman Mongo. Speaker 4: I also appreciate the tour. You guys are doing great work. Thank you for waiting such a long time and thank you for all you do in the community. Speaker 1: And thank you all. It's been great to partner with all of you. I've been there with you guys every step of the way here in these last few years with the the campaigns and the organizing folks. You guys doing a great job of raising money, building out the campus. It's a great space for for folks in Long Beach, seniors and families and a lot of our low income communities that we that you serve every day. So thank you very much. And please cast your votes.

Resolution

Adopt resolution amending the Zoning Code (ZCA18-002) by amending the Midtown Specific Plan (SP-1) to address technical errors and provide clarifying language in the Midtown Specific Plan (SP-1); and Approve a Site Plan Review (SPR18-020) for a new two-story gymnasium with a fitness center, activity room, youth soccer field, and 70-space parking lot, located at 3012 Long Beach Boulevard; approve a Lot Merger (LMG18-008) to consolidate the Salvation Army Campus into two lots; and, find the proposed vacation of a portion of Elm Avenue north of Spring Street, and two alleys located between Elm and Pasadena Avenues, consistent with the General Plan (GPC18-002). (District 7)

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Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 0: Hearing three report from Development Services and Financial Management Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing and adopt negative declaration 05-17. Declare Ordinance Amending and restating Chapter 5.58 and amending Title 21 of the Long Beach Municipal Code, all relating to regulations of massage establishments read for the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting for final reading and adopt a resolution to submit a request to the California Coastal Commission to certify an amendment to the Certified Local Coastal Program Citywide. Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion and a second. Is there a public comment on this hearing? CNN. Do we need a staff report that we have the data in front of us? Speaker 2: We do a few. We do. Speaker 1: I did one. Okay. Please go ahead. Speaker 2: Carrie Thai, our current planning officer, will have a short report. Speaker 4: Good evening again. Before you, tonight is a request to amend the city's regulations for massage uses in accordance with recent changes in state law. There some background on state law, but basically in 2008, the state prevented local jurisdictions from regulating massage. They have since updated the state law, which does allow us to regulate massage uses as long as they have certification. This pertains to Title five and Title 21 of the Municipal Code. Title five hasn't been updated since 1988 and so clearly is outdated. And then also Title 21 treated massage uses as adult entertainment businesses and state law now prohibits us from doing that. So those are the causes of the two updates. The proposed Title five amendments, like I mentioned, have to do with reflecting state law, but it also basically allows for massage businesses to operate not only just as accessory , but also as primary uses. And it has a whole licensing system that's proposed. And then Title 21, like I mentioned, would remove massages from adult entertainment uses, allow them to be permitted as massages, and require an administrative use permit, which is a process that requires a public hearing application fees and has conditions of approval to allow us to enforce the massage uses. There is a buffer of 750 feet that separates primary Massachusetts, and that's one of the most important details about location. So the Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on this in February and has recommended that the Council approve this application. Our project. Thank you. Speaker 1: That's what Andrew's council member. Pierce. Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you, guys, for all your work on this. I had some clarifying questions. It was stated to me in the briefing that this brought us into alignment with the state rules and regulations on massage parlors. Can you clarify, does the state allow for a massage therapist to get a license and practice massage in her home or his home? Yes. So this ordinance would not allow for massage has to be a home occupation. So that is that is the state might allow for certification and allow for somewhere for operation in a home. But our ordinance does not allow that was my question because I was told that we were being brought up to alignment with the state. And then once I looked at this in detail, found out that that part was not included as somebody. My grandmother was a massage therapist. She had a half of her home dedicated to that business. And I have several residents have reached out to my office that have been frustrated with the system and Long Beach. And so it was my hope and expectation that this would align with the state level on that. So could I get some clarity on why we might have left that out? I, I would just like to just say that we were essentially looking at the inconsistencies in state law in the sense that our code was really outdated in. Speaker 3: Terms of how massage is. Speaker 4: Treated as a professional service. It's changed over time. In our code. We're still in a period where massage was treated as an adult use, essentially, so our code really needed to be brought up to speed. So the fundamental change that we made was to not consider an adult use, but to change kind of how it was classified as a professional service, which is what it's generally recognized as today. So the state law is probably more permissive than the local law, and ours was essentially putting in place regulations to essentially regulate it as a professional service under generally the same standards, which is as a professional business as opposed to a home occupation. Okay. So what changes would need to be made to allow for somebody to to conduct this professional business, our home business, a lot of misuse start in their home before they open up a storefront. So I want to, you know, make sure that I'm responding to my constituents concerns on this. We currently do have home occupation, a home occupation permit, and there are a number of occupations that that can be done in the home, but there are some. Speaker 5: That could not. Speaker 4: And the message at this point is one of those that is not authorized, because we didn't change the code. Speaker 5: We didn't anticipate. Speaker 4: Having massages done in the home. This was strictly massage as a a business opportunity. So my question might be for for the city attorney or what would need to be done to make that change? Can we make that change today or do we need to make that change somewhere else? Speaker 5: I believe we'd have to come back because the zoning code would also have to be amended and that would have to go through a planning commission. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 1: Can we get a motion in a second? And Councilwoman Margot. Speaker 4: So two additional points that were brought up by massage therapist storefronts in my district. I don't believe this can be folded in tonight, but I would like to see if there are currently storefronts that have expanded and they have multiple facilities now within the city limits and currently under the current business licensing. If you are a hairdresser, someone who does nails, someone who gives massages, you actually need to get a business license at each and every address that you execute according to what they were told by development services when they came here. So if that is true, I'll try to work with you over the next several weeks so that when those licensing fees come back to the Council through the budget process, that perhaps we could find a way that they wouldn't need multiple licenses, they could just do a small add on per location or something along those lines. Because what we're hearing is now that they're opening multiple locations, it's getting difficult for the massage therapists to move between facilities when demand changes. And so they're looking at opening a third one, but they won't open one now because of this restriction and they don't want to have a whole new staffing process. So if we could look at that between now and then, it would be great if that came back through the budget cycle. Thank you. We can certainly work with the finance department to look at the business licensing because that's a business license. Well, we. Speaker 5: Understand the concern and we'll. Speaker 4: Work with finance to address that issue. Appreciate it. And it would be for people who come here and provide nail supply services and massage services. They all have the same licensing mechanism. Thank you. Speaker 2: Thank you. And that's the final. We already called to comment on this. I think we did. Is there any public comment? Okay, so please cast your vote. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 2: Thank you. Let's move on to the consent calendar. Can we keep the consent calendar, please? Okay. So I made the motion. I don't see a second here. Is there a second on the calendar? Okay. It's been moved in.

Resolution

Adopt resolution directing the Director of Development Services to submit a request to the California Coastal Commission to certify an amendment to the Certified Local Coastal Program. (Citywide)

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Speaker 2: All right. Thank you. Take care. That concludes public comment. So let's go back to the agenda. Let's take up the technology item. What number is that? Madam Clerk, 39. Let's take up 39 next. Speaker 0: Technology and innovation and financial management. Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing the city manager to execute contracts with four contractors for furnishing, delivering and installing data center systems, equipment, telecommunications equipment and user devices and execute multiple lease purchase agreements in an aggregate amount not to exceed 21,411,000 citywide west. Speaker 2: Mr. West by senior councilmembers, this is part of our. Speaker 1: Critical technology upgrades. I'm going to turn this over to our interim technology and innovation director Lia Erickson, along with bureau manager, occasionally. Speaker 4: Honorable mayor and members of council before you as a recommendation to authorize the manager to enter into cooperative agreements with Companies Connection INC, EMC Corporation and Office Depot, Inc for the acquisition of technology related equipment and software and with Computer Aid Inc to provide highly skilled and specialized project management and installation support that can be deployed rapidly to meet the city's critical project timeline needs. The action also includes financing over terms not to exceed 15 years and an appropriation increase in technology and innovation. Department of 19,254,000, offset by the proceeds of the lease purchase, financing and charges to user departments and funds and potential short term internal loans between funds. So as presented on December 5th, 2017, the critical technology infrastructure needs proposed purchasing and financing items for encompassing three categories of unfunded critical technology infrastructure needs, including installing a fiber system to interconnect city buildings, replacing outdated technology that is becoming unreliable and will not support new systems at the new civic center and furnishing needed systems to meet key critical city needs. This City Council approval is requested to procure a substantial portion of the technology and associated installation services identified above. This includes equipment for the city's data center, wired and wireless networks, security cameras, council chambers, conference rooms, radio and microwave document management and cybersecurity. City Charter Section 1802 provides an option for the city to leverage a cooperative purchasing agreement when authorized by resolution of council. Cooperative purchasing agreements are managed relationships where a lead agency has already bid and awarded contracts that can be used by other government or nonprofit agencies. Cooperative purchasing agreements combine the requirements of two or more public procurement entities to achieve higher volume, purchase discounts, delivery and supply chain advantages, best practices in a reduced administrative time and expenses. So, as discussed, staff is proposing to enter into four cooperative agreements. These agreements are proposed because each agreement provides a different inventory of items available for purchase, while some that are the same, others may be exclusive to a particular contract. Were the case that there are multiple providers offering the same equipment, the city will have the opportunity to choose a lower price or deeper discounted items and or select the vendor based on their ability to deliver the specific equipment within construction timelines and or logistical constraints that will pressure cost for the equipment and procurement installation will not exceed 30.5 million. This made up is made up. This amount is made up of 19.25 million for equipment identified in the Equipment and Technology Council or technology categories. A critical technology infrastructure needs. In addition, 7.8 million of the annual purchasing authority is on an are needed as needed basis for technology, systems, equipment and contingency, and then will also allow staff to move purchasing authority between contracts and provide flexibility to meet product availability and timelines. And the remaining 3.5 million is for one time technology systems and equipment already included in the existing operating budget. With that, I conclude my report. I'd be happy to take any questions. Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 4: Yes. I'd like to move that to develop a plan to leverage the cloud for the city's data and systems and report back on the progress in 120 days. Years ago, we started talking about the cloud, and I know that the data center was a part of the new civic center, and I know that that's important. And I recognize that some of our systems are still so old and antiquated that they cannot be in the cloud. But we should be looking more aggressively at turning those systems off more quickly. San Diego just did an assessment where they took three weeks to assess what could go into the cloud and how quickly. And then they rented space in other government servers to allow them to transition those. Over without having to build some of those other things. So I recognize we have 600 servers, but we really need to be moving to the cloud. It is a fraction of the cost of managing our own data on site. So that's part of it. And then I also move that I conduct an assessment of smart phones. When I was elected four years ago, two I.T. directors ago, we discussed the BYOD program that has been alive and well in the county of Los Angeles for six years. And there are entire departments in the county of Los Angeles which have eliminated. Two thirds of their desk phones to allow every person to have a cell phone provided for free by the cell phone carrier at a fraction of the cost of what their VoIP costs are, cutting annual contracts from $400,000 down to $80,000 a year by eliminating some of these. I recognize there's a lot to be done with biodiesel. There are lots of meat and converters in the such that need to happen. But. The employees in many categories are eager to do this. And we've now gone through a negotiation cycle where it wasn't even brought up, even though this council discussed it four years ago, and that's not okay. So we have to draw a line. We can't just hope and wish and keep pushing and hoping and giving a general direction without a line in the sand. So I would like to also move that to conduct an assessment on cell phones and bring your own device programs and other methodologies that minimize the number of heads that phones we will be purchasing for the new civic center. We are a mobile. Future. And we need less devices on our desks. We should be using whether you want to use the Cisco go to meeting connect system or the. At my office we use the Skype for business connectivity where I can make phone calls on my computer. I can transfer them to my cell phone. I can answer them on my cell phone. We shouldn't need a desk phone. I don't think I've touched the desk phone on my desk for months. And most people don't. There's green lights and yellow lights and red lights for you to know who's sitting at their desk, who's available when they're in a meeting, when you can reach out to someone, it's fully integrated. And. And by the way, we're already paying for it. When my current department finally decided to adopt it about eight months ago, it's because I came to the department and I said, Hey, every other department I'm working, have worked in the last 11 years , has used the system. Why aren't we using it? And they're like, Oh, well, it would cost all this money. And I'm like, No, we already pay for Microsoft 365. It's free. All we have to do is turn it on. And so I'm looking forward to seeing those technologies turned on here. Even today, I logged in to outlook from a new system, and I'm getting a notice that I am I'm quarantined. I mean, we are just so slow. This device has my mail on it for years and I just update an app and I'm quarantined all over again. We really need to be looking at all of our security measures and where we're spending our time. So I know there's a lot of work to be done. I have an extreme amount of trust in Leah, and my only concern is that we can't keep turning over department heads. This next one has to be a good choice and they have to stay and we have to be making a good, strong strategic direction and moving there quickly. With that, I handed off to Councilwoman Gonzalez to add anything that we've discussed. Speaker 1: Because I'm a consultant. Speaker 5: Yes. And I know these are very critical needs. We need them ASAP. We needed them yesterday. And I understand the sensitivity and time for this. But I, too, want to emphasize the cloud strategy, whether it's, you know, not at one point in the staff report did we even mention cloud. And I think moving into a 21st century, you know, innovative, we have an 18 we're sort of like that. We are that city that's moving in that direction that we didn't even address that in the staff report at all. I think absolutely. We do need to have a strategy for that at some point, whether it's, you know, not all, because I know that's difficult for us coming from from where we're at now, but at least some sort of momentum towards that. It will absolutely help with capital costs and lowering those and providing more efficiencies, I think, on the back end, as well as security. And then secondly, electronic document management system is included in that. And I think that's just kind of I feel like a broken record. But we have talked over and over again. I know Councilmember Mongeau and myself about local businesses being included, especially with these large projects. And I understand the cooperative purchasing agreement process. But just an example, companies like laser fish who absolutely have the ability to have to do the or conduct the idms are not even included in this this whole plan. And that's a lot of businesses. It's a huge business. I know they could have done it and they actually have they are within a cooperative, cooperative purchasing alliance, which is called the National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance. So it's not as though we couldn't get those same prices with a local vendor. So I just need to to see that because it's a value of this council. And I think we've we've said that multiple times. If there's a way down the line to include them or if they do hit all the qualifications or to include any local businesses, I would just emphasize that we do that as much as possible. And then just to reiterate as well with Councilmember Mongo said, you know, just looking at sort of new technologies, moving ahead. And then lastly, I guess my question is about the cybersecurity features. What would that look like? And I know we've had two emails that have been suspicious in the last couple of weeks, I believe. And so what are our thoughts around the cybersecurity strategy? Speaker 4: I guess I can take? Councilwoman Gonzalez. I was one point of clarification. The doc, the document management that's listed in this is for the hardware equipment, not for the actual systems. So. So just a clarification on that. Okay, good. And then in terms of our cybersecurity, we have a multifaceted approach, including the purchase and procurement of a variety of tools. That includes things like endpoint tools, penetration testing, intrusion detection, data loss prevention, access control tools, firewall and CRM, which is like a information incident, event management, security and information event management type tool. So so we do are we are actively working on our cybersecurity, and this would take us a big step forward. Speaker 5: Okay, great. And going alongside with what Councilmember Mungo said, the 100, did you mention 120 days to come back for a strategy? Okay. I would just like to say that that would be a great opportunity for us to see dig a little bit deeper in those those two issues. Speaker 4: Right. And just to clarify, these motions would be on top of the recommendations in the council. Speaker 1: I'll clarify that and. Okay, great. Thank you. Thank you. So most interesting. And that's why I want to actually clarify. I think the city attorney is looking for the same thing. So there there there was a stat there was one staff report for actually four separate motions and four separate items that are actually five items. Mayor, I'm. Speaker 2: Sorry, I misspoke, but yes. Speaker 1: And so they're all and they're all five. Obviously, different tech technology needs. And so I just want to make sure that we're clarifying and then depending on the answer, I want to I want to also make some comments so I can clarify the this in addition to these five was sir. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 1: So it's the five items and in addition the the item that is in front of us, correct? Speaker 4: Yes, sir. Speaker 1: Okay. Perfect. So we'll we'll we'll do that. So we have six items to vote on. Or actually, we can just wrap that into the to the first item. So go member council member Pearce. Speaker 4: Thank you. I just wanted to go on record for also supporting what my colleagues have mentioned here today. I think that we need to push ourselves to think outside the box, to be as wireless as possible, to work with the cloud. And then I wanted to just clarify again that this wasn't the laser fish RFP stuff that we've been talking about, that that's a separate item. Great. Speaker 1: Thank you. Got to go. Speaker 4: And then I just had one additional question. Is there any way that any it looks like from the motion that anyone that's in the national IPA, TCP and could be selected. So if another one of your vendors so say for instance we talked a little bit about the negotiated pricing that you had on all of these desk devices. Should the decision be made that we don't need 30,000 head of phones on people's desks, that we can get down to 1500 and the price goes up considerably because of the negotiated deal, you would be able to use any other of the if whatever. I know, Leon, it takes in CPA vendors or do I need to add that back in as long as it comes to an individual cost less than what we are approving at this time? Councilwoman. Correct. Any of these piggyback cooperative agreements, we could go back with a different amount of phones and get different pricing because what I don't want is the particular quote that we have at this time to decide to try to lock you in because we're going to use significantly less. So I just want to give you that flexibility. And if you need another vendor off that list, I'm completely comfortable with it. I know that there's plenty others that we use in L.A. County that I think are also more local than Texas. So. Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. There's a motion and a second signal. Public comment. Please cast your votes. Speaker 2: Mayor, if, as you indicated, the first vote would be on the authorization to execute a contract with govt connection. Speaker 1: It just read an order. Yes. So please cast your votes.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and any necessary amendments, with GovConnection, Inc., dba Connection, of Merrimack, NH, for furnishing, delivering, and installing data center systems equipment, telecommunications equipment, and user devices, on the same terms and conditions afforded to Region 4 Education Service Center (ESC), of Texas, through the National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance-The Cooperative Purchasing Network (National IPA-TCPN), in an amount not to exceed $11,222,500 for the first year; thereafter, an annual amount not to exceed $2,866,000, for ongoing lifecycle replacement of equipment and new incremental technology growth, until the current contract expires on July 31, 2019, with the option to renew for as long as that contract is in effect, as needed;

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Speaker 4: You. Speaker 1: And work. Speaker 0: A report from Human Resources and Financial Management Recommendation door to contract to Alliant Insurance Services for health care, employee benefits, consulting and actuarial services in an amount not to exceed 350,000 citywide. Speaker 1: Councilman Price. Speaker 5: Thank you. I understand there's been a very favorable update on this item, and I want to thank staff for coming to the table with the interested labor groups and coming up with a resolution that's agreeable to everyone. I think this is a great move forward. Thank you. Speaker 1: Councilmember Pearce, a public comment saying now please cast your votes. Speaker 0: This motion carries. Speaker 1: Item 21, which is the cancelation of the July 3rd meeting. Any public comment on this item saying nine, please cast your votes.

Contract

Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP HR17-104 and award a contract to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., of Newport Beach, CA, for healthcare, employee benefits consulting, and actuarial services, in an annual amount not to exceed $350,000, for a period of five years with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to issue a Blanket Purchase Order to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., of Newport Beach, CA, for healthcare, employee benefits consulting, and actuarial services provided during the procurement process and additional months of transition, in the amount of $140,000. (Citywide)

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Speaker 1: Correct. It's not decorative fencing. Any any public comment on this item? CNN, please cast your votes. Because I'm on that decorative fencing. Mac So if it was about that, I would have been all over it. All right. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Max is item 30. Speaker 0: Report from Financial Management Recommendation Adopt a resolution authorizing city manager to execute a contract with National Auto Fleet Group for the purchase of seven 2018 for 50 ambulances on the same terms and conditions afforded to the National Joint Powers Alliance in an amount not to exceed. Speaker 4: 2,000,400. Speaker 0: A 296. Speaker 4: Citywide. Speaker 1: There's a motion and a second. Is there any public comment on this? CNN. Just just this is a big deal. Mr. WEST Right. I mean, we've been through everything Deal seven and really get my say real quickly on this because this is big. This is nice. Yeah. Basically. Speaker 3: We're executing. Speaker 2: A six year lease purchase agreement for. Speaker 1: Related financing documents. Speaker 2: With Bank of America Public Capital Corporation of San Francisco. Speaker 1: This will be the financing for seven ambulances 2018. Speaker 2: E for 50 ambulances, if you know what those are. But this. Speaker 1: Will be in the amount not to exceed $2,276,000. Speaker 2: Including the capital purchase. Speaker 1: Interest and fees. This is in the budget and this will certainly help our fire department. Great, councilman. Interesting. Anything count if? I don't know either. But Councilman sounds cool. Speaker 5: Nice job. Speaker 1: Councilmember Supernova. Speaker 2: I believe that that E-Series should be a Ford product and I believe these ambulances are red grape. Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Super, for your profile. Okay. And with a motion in a second. So let's cast their votes. Speaker 2: In. Speaker 1: Motion carries Cain makes up his own 33, which is the helicopter insurance item for Long Beach PD. Can I get a motion in a second? Speaker 8: If I. Speaker 4: I can give you which one. Speaker 1: Can any public comment on this item? Speaker 0: I'm sorry. What item are you? Speaker 1: This is the police. LAPD helicopter insurance. I got it. Thank you. Item 33.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract with 72 Hour, LLC, dba National Auto Fleet Group, of Alhambra, CA, for the purchase of seven 2018 E-450 ambulances, with related equipment and accessories, on the same terms and conditions afforded to the National Joint Powers Alliance, of Staples, MN, in an amount not to exceed $2,004,296, inclusive of taxes and fees; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a six-year lease-purchase agreement, and related financing documents, with Banc of America Public Capital Corp., of San Francisco, CA, for the financing of seven 2018 E-450 ambulances, in an amount not to exceed $2,276,000, including capital purchase, interest, and fees. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 1: Item 36. Speaker 0: Report from Public Works Recommendation to Work Contract to Sally Miller Contracting Company for Street Improvements to Third Street and Broadway between Magnolia Avenue and Alamitos Avenue for a total contract amount not to exceed 4,000,567 200 districts. I wanted to thank you. Speaker 1: Mr. West. Just real briefly, I am Mike. It's about frickin time we've been talking about this project for years, so I'm really happy it's finally happening. So are we. Thank you. Thank you. Thank, Mr. Beck. Mr. Beck, I'll stop harassing you about it for anything else. Speaker 10: It's a good project. Speaker 2: I would just like to say. Speaker 1: Okay, great. Any public comment? Seeing none. Concern for Pierce. Speaker 4: And. Speaker 1: Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 2: Great. Speaker 1: Awesome. Please cast your votes. Speaker 8: Can I say great? That's fantastic. Love it. Speaker 3: 21. Speaker 1: I am 36. I did. I did 21. I did. Oh, chicken. I'm 36. I know, but 30, 37. Speaker 3: Basically. Speaker 0: We're waiting for one vote, Councilmember Your Honor. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 3: But we can do different. Speaker 0: This motion carries an item 37 report from Public Works recommendation or a contract to sell a miller contracting company for Third Street and Broadway cycle track project for a total contract amount not to exceed 2,070,400 District one or two.

Contract

Recommendation to adopt Plans and Specifications No. R-7056 for Street Improvements to 3rd Street and Broadway, between Magnolia Avenue and Alamitos Avenue; award a contract to Sully-Miller Contracting Company, of Brea, CA, in the amount of $4,152,000, authorize a 10 percent contingency in the amount $415,200, for a total contract amount not to exceed $4,567,200; authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contact, including any necessary amendments; and Accept Categorical Exemption CE 17-005. (Districts 1,2)

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Speaker 1: Clinton X's 43 one Beach Call. Speaker 0: Communication from Councilmember Ranga. Councilmember Pierce. Vice Mayor Richardson. Recommendation two Requests that the city manager and city attorney execute all agreements to establish a partnership with Long Beach, Seattle and the City of Long Beach to provide internship opportunities. Speaker 8: Go ahead. Speaker 10: It's real fast. I was glad to see that the My Brother's Keeper students were here. And now here is the next opportunity for them to get some internships with the city of Long Beach. And making that agreement with the LA Unified certainly is a good opening for that process to provide them with some governmental experience working with with the city offices and including legislative. Okay. Speaker 1: I just want to disagree. So we have an agreement with Long Beach, cos I'm just wondering, I'm trying to understand what this, this is just a demo or maybe it's. Speaker 10: Just a formalizing it. Okay. Speaker 1: Just formalizing it. We had received a request. Speaker 2: From Long Beach Unified School District on a couple of different agreements that they'd asked us to execute. And so we were very supportive of this. But I noticed in the council letter that you attach the documents and there may be some minor changes. Speaker 10: To those documents. So I just. Speaker 2: Want to clarify that we're getting authorization to execute those documents as amended by. Speaker 10: Our office, and then the city manager could. Speaker 2: Execute. Speaker 1: Okay. Any public comment on this? Seeing that, please cast your votes. Speaker 3: Whoo hoo! What we have. Speaker 0: With motion carries. Speaker 1: Okay, thank you. And I think that is it. Speaker 0: Do we did we move? Item 27. Speaker 1: That was moved to 27 was we did we did a cycle track project. Speaker 2: 27 I believe is the stormwater and we were. Speaker 1: Going to bring that back at a different time. But oh I would say what the order the I. Speaker 2: Assure you I will just do it right now. Speaker 1: No we don't want to do right now do we. Speaker 0: Do we need to vote to. Speaker 4: Move it to later. Staff. Speaker 1: Staff. Staff has just withdrawn it. We're going to withdraw it and then we. Speaker 10: Will bring it on to a next agenda item. Speaker 1: Another agenda item, it's it's too important. So. Okay, that is that is all is there any public comment? There is.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Manager and City Attorney execute an agreement to establish a partnership with Long Beach CaLL and the City of Long Beach to provide internship opportunities.

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Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you very much. We do have a hearing tonight, so I'm going to turn this over first to staff so we can begin the hearing process. Madam Clerk. You want to read the hearing. Speaker 2: Report from Energy Resources recommendation or receive supporting documentation into the record and conclude the public hearing regarding the natural gas franchise with SoCal Gas. Declare an ordinance granting a limited natural gas franchise to SoCal Gas to transmit and distribute natural gas within the city red for the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading Citywide. Speaker 3: There's no oath required. Mr. MODICA. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council, we will have a staff report by Bob Dow, our director of Energy Resources. Not even one of my own council members. In June of 1993. Speaker 3: The City of Long Beach entered into a 25 year franchise agreement with a Southern California gas company or SoCal Gas, to allow natural gas pipelines owned and operated by SoCal Gas, which run through the city of Long Beach to provide natural gas delivery services to certain residential and commercial customers within the city of Long Beach. That agreement expired on June 7th, 2018. For the past several months, Long Beach Energy Resources staff have been in negotiations with SoCal Gas to enter into a new franchise agreement, and a tentative agreement has been reached. Under this new agreement, the City of Long Beach will continue to receive fees based on the gross annual receipts and imputed Speaker 5: . Value of Nonproprietary Gas. Speaker 3: Delivered to SoCal Gas customers residing and operating within the city of Long Beach. The anticipated revenue generated from the franchise agreement is approximately 2.6 million annually. Staff hereby recommends council to adopt the first reading of the ordinance granting the renewed natural gas franchise. Staff will return before Council on October 9th, 2018 to request adoption of the second ordinance. Speaker 5: Reading. During the time. Speaker 3: Period between the first and second readings, SoCal Gas has agreed to seek approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPC, for the collection of an additional 1% surcharge to the current CPC approved municipal surcharge. This additional surcharge has. Speaker 5: Routinely. Speaker 3: Been granted by the CPC and other municipal jurisdictions where SoCal Gas and other utilities maintain franchise operations and provides for future revenues to remain in line with those of the expiring franchise agreement. This concludes my report and I'm happy to answer any questions. Speaker 5: So, Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, that recommendation is slightly different than what you have in front of you. So we are recommending that instead of laying it over to the next regular meeting, you lay it over until October 9th to give us that ability to go and speak to the PUC. Thank you. Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. We have a motion and a second public comments on the hearing, seeing no public comments on the hearing. Well, move over to Vice Mayor Richardson. Councilman Austin. Okay. Now, then, we're going to close this hearing and please cast your votes. Speaker 2: Motion carries. Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. Motion is carried. Next up is we are doing we've had a couple. We've had a couple of requests to move some items up. So let me start with item 25.

Ordinance

Recommendation to declare ordinance granting to Southern California Gas Company, a corporation, the right, privilege and franchise upon terms and conditions herein set forth to lay and use pipes and appurtenances for transmitting and distributing gas for the purposes as specified hereinafter under, along, across or upon certain public streets, ways, alleys and places, as the same now or may hereafter exist, within the City of Long Beach, read and adopted as read. (Citywide)

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Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. Motion is carried. Next up is we are doing we've had a couple. We've had a couple of requests to move some items up. So let me start with item 25. Speaker 2: Communication from Councilwoman Pryce recommendation to receive and file a presentation on Mr. Randy Bowden in commemoration of his impact on our community and benefit to generations of students as a teacher at Wilson High School for 46 years. Gave. Speaker 6: So I know that there are a lot of people here to honor and show appreciation for Mr. Bowden. And I'm just going to say a few words, and if anyone wants to come up and say anything after I speak regarding his service and what he's done for our children, our youth and our community, please feel free to do so. Of course, all teachers have the unique ability to shape lives, influence our communities, and impact our future leaders. But when someone has had a career that has spanned 46 years, dedicated to teaching generations of students, inspiring them and empowering them for their future, that has to be recognized. For those of you here tonight to recognize Mr. Bowden, you've all seen the amazing work that he has done. And I especially want to thank our city auditor, Laura dowd, because she brought this item to my attention, has a personal relationship with Mr. Bowden, and felt very strongly about the recognition tonight. So thank you to Laura. I think she's going to say a few words. The role he played as a trauma teacher working in the arts, a field that is often underrecognized for the important place. It has an education. Today, we thank you for the work that you have done for the time and energy you've committed to our city, to our community, and to our students. Your career has touched so many lives, and that is clearly evident with the outpouring of love and the opportunity to show appreciation to you for the honor that you're receiving. Thank you for making Long Beach and Wilson High School. It's a great day to be a Bruin. A better place. And for caring as deeply as you have throughout your amazing career. Having a child that's going to be entering Wilson next year. I'm grateful that we have teachers like you who are inspiring them to be the best people that they can be. Thank you. And you deserve every bit of this honor and so much more. Laura I'm going to invite our city auditor up to say a few words and then if anyone else would like to say a few words, and once we're all done with that, we have a certificate and we'd invite Mr. Bowden down. Speaker 7: Great. Thank you. Councilwoman Pryce, thank you very much for sponsoring this item and bringing our attention and special recognition to a very special teacher, Mr. Bowden, who has, as been mentioned, 46 years of complete devotion and dedication to teaching. When you think about 46 years, I know some of you weren't even born. Speaker 0: 46 years ago, so that he was that he was started to teach people. And this isn't to make you feel bad, but, you know, when you think about that 46 years of what what a legacy, what a. Speaker 7: What an era, very difficult to put into just a few words and few minutes here the impact that he really has had on so many students and this community. And when you think about 700 productions. Speaker 0: Wow. Speaker 7: The the time, the energy, the blood, sweat and tears to just put nothing but the best forward in the production. As a student at Wilson, I also had the privilege of being his drama student for the three years that I was there and the the blessing, the gift of so many qualities that he helped me develop, especially that of confidence and helping me in my role today as the city auditor to be able to get up and to speak. And, you know, when you think of the thousands and upon thousands of students that has had him. Speaker 0: Collectively, it seems. Speaker 7: Overwhelming. But when you. Speaker 0: Were with. Speaker 7: Mr. Bowden, he made you feel like you were the only student, the only one, the most important one. His passion and his love and concern for each individual student is something that really impressed me as a student, as I have observed him, and also with. Speaker 0: All how how he worked so hard. Speaker 7: We all know that he was always at the Rainbow Playhouse, the the the. Speaker 0: House. Speaker 7: He built for the students to come to feel welcome to. Speaker 0: To be accepted for who they are. For the hours. Speaker 7: That he worked there, it never seemed like a job to him. Speaker 0: It was just who he was. Speaker 7: And living out his his his passion and his love and I, on behalf of the thousands of students who had the pleasure and honor of of being one of his students, I want to thank him for going into the profession of teaching for the selfless acts of service that he. Speaker 0: Provided for over these. Speaker 7: 46 years and whether they were drama students or not. All were always welcome and he was always available for us. And we want to thank him for his service, for his kind acts, for the memories that will always last. With us, and we wish him the very best in his retirement. We love you, Mr. Mode, Mr. Vogt, and thank you very much. Speaker 0: Trulieve. They're just a couple other students that like faith. Just a few words. Speaker 3: Yeah. Please, please come down to the to the microphone. If you are making some comments, now would be the time. Speaker 5: Oh. Speaker 3: What happened after the public comment and public comment. My folks. Speaker 0: We're live on Facebook right now. Speaker 3: Okay. All right. So can we look at alumni? Speaker 0: So. Yes. Speaker 8: We love that. We. Speaker 4: Hello? Go Bruins. Oh. Speaker 0: Well, I'll start. I'm Janet Jarrod Wilson, class of 78. We're heading our 40 year class reunion. And I was back at Wilson when it was the three year school. I had Mr. Bowden for three years. He was the best teacher I've ever had. He was very impactful on my life. I've been in many situations where I've had to do public speaking and thank goodness for my experiences at Wilson. I appreciate all of what he did for all of his students. For me personally, the time that he put in to his job, when I think about how many hours went into that after school and all the time and putting together so many plays each year, my mind boggles at it. As a kid, I didn't appreciate it quite as much. But as an adult, I think being at your job, not only the 9 to 5, but the ten, the 11, the 12, the 13 to 14, the 15 and sometimes to 24. And that was what Mr. Bowden has done for so many years, and I can't thank them enough. And I wish him the best on his retirement. Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Next week or please, please come forward next speaker. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And City Council. My name is Sheri Diamond. Speaker 7: I am a graduate. Speaker 0: Of Wilson High School, class. Speaker 7: Of 1979. Mr. Bowden was my drama teacher from 1976 through 1979. I echo Auditor Dowd's words when she said that he he taught his classes and he lived his life in a way for us with complete and utter devotion, but made himself available to each of us as if we were the only one who existed. I think the best teachers know that every student walks into their classroom with a story, a story of their own, a story that doesn't usually get told whether it's having to be their grandmother. And that's why they were late or they didn't have breakfast, or there was. Speaker 0: Violence in the home. Speaker 7: Or other kinds of trauma and duress. The Rainbow Playhouse was more than a classroom. It was our safe haven. It was where we could go and know we would be okay until the end of the day. And many of us stayed even beyond that because we were at home in the playhouse, more so than we were in our own living rooms. And I think, again, echoing Laura's words. Speaker 0: On behalf of the thousands and thousands. Speaker 7: Of students for whom he provided that refuge, we want to express our gratitude, Randi. We are alive. Speaker 0: Today. Many of us. Speaker 7: Because of you, simply and solely because of you. And we owe you an enormous debt of gratitude, because we've. I hope, in Your Honor. Speaker 0: Modeled and lived. Speaker 7: The life that you showed us was possible. And so, again. Speaker 0: We take a bow. Speaker 7: Our curtain call to you, sir. Thank you so much for everything. Speaker 0: And thank you for the counsel today. Speaker 3: Thank you so much. Thank you. Next week at least. And make sure you say your name for the record. And I'm here. Council members. My name is Logan Montaigne. And on behalf of the Class of 2017, we would like to thank Mr. Byrne for everything that he did for us with a plaque. I'd just like to read what it says. 46 years. 8280 school days. 66240 hours. 3974400 minutes. 828 weeks of rehearsal. 1656 hours of rehearsal. Over 8000 students. One man who made an impact on countless. Speaker 4: Lives. Speaker 5: Loved the class of 2017. Congratulations, Mr.. Speaker 3: Bowen. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Thank you. City Council members and Mayor Robert Garcia. My name is Pablo Moraga. I graduated from Wilson High School last year, and I would just like to say a few things about Mr. Bowden given by his vast experience. Mr. Bowden is extremely talented in an art and a very important note, which is how to act and how to be people. I came into his classroom as a really awkward little freshman, and I did it. I had no self-confidence whatsoever, but he taught me and that. And in the Playhouse, which is a safe haven to express ourselves and experiment with all types of ways of speaking and mannerisms and how we posture ourselves. We can learn how to be people, how to be whatever we want. And that has given me and many, many, many, many students the confidence to do whatever they please. And that gave me the confidence to to go to UC Berkeley, major in political science, to pursue my dreams of becoming a politician, and to one day maybe sit on this council table like you guys are, and to now work for Congressman Ron Paul and be able to present this certificate on behalf of Representative Lowenthal to Mr. Bowden. Thank you. Speaker 3: Next speaker. Speaker 0: Hi. Speaker 7: Hi, everyone. My name is. Speaker 2: Emily Rodriguez, and. Speaker 6: I am a student right. Speaker 7: Now with Mr.. Speaker 6: Bowden. He has been my teacher since. Speaker 7: Freshman year and I am. Speaker 0: Currently a junior and coming into my freshman year. I used to be a straight off student. I had no. Speaker 2: Motivation for anything, and. Speaker 0: I thought by my junior year I would have been a dropout. But because of Mr. B, because of how much he inspired me to just keep being in drama. He really did save me and saved me so much trouble, you know, because of him. I tried harder in school and I even made it on the principal's honor roll. So thank you, Mr. B and C, and because of him, I want to go to college now. I want to be a teacher. I want to inspire just like him. And if it wasn't for Mr. Bowden, I don't know where I would be. Speaker 6: So thank you, Mr. Bowden. Speaker 3: Thank you. And our final speaker. Speaker 0: Thank you all. My name is Morris Smith. I'm again currently a junior under Mr. B. Unfortunately, I won't have him next year as a senior, but I know that in his retirement he'll again touch as many lives as he had the past 47 years. 46, 46 years. I just wanted to say that Mr. B gives everything he has, his his emotions, his passion to help his students pursue whatever they want to, whether that be performing or coming out of their shell or even making them better people. Like just this year he had us perform a play about homeless people and took us to the homeless shelter. He didn't just have us perform on stage as people we didn't know, but he had us meet these people and understand what they were really going through and decide not to just pass over them on the street, but to give them a smile and, you know, be better people. And he does this every single day in class and he pushes us to do better and be better and change the world around us. And I hope someday I can be a drama teacher, just like Mr. B, and follow in his footsteps, which is pretty hard. But he has inspired so many people, including me, and he's changed countless lives. Thank you so much, Mr. B. Speaker 7: We owe. Speaker 0: You everything. Speaker 3: Thank you, sir. Speaker 5: Counsel My name is. Speaker 8: Ken Schlesinger, and I'm going to go off script and I. Speaker 5: Proudly live in the third district. Susie Price We love you. We love what you do for our neighborhoods. Speaker 6: You're welcome here any time. Speaker 5: Thank you. I've lived in the district for 45 years. I've lived in Long Beach for 55 years. This is a great place to be. I've got something that was sent to me earlier today that probably will summarize how many of us feel. And that is there are people that teach you the world through different eyes, that allow you to encourage, to be who you truly are and the strength to continue forward despite any obstacles you may encounter, there are people in life that ultimately define your path. Mr. Bowden For myself and literally thousands of students, that person is you. Your classes rose above the scope of just drama classes. Of course you did teach us acting method versus technical. Speaker 8: We learned how to create a. Speaker 5: Character, how to analyze scenes in plays. Speaker 8: But you also taught us how to critique without criticizing. Speaker 5: How to work with an ensemble, how. Speaker 8: To trust your fellow. Speaker 5: Actors, how to be trustworthy. You taught us to follow our dreams, to believe in ourselves, and to never give up. Even with the number of years that are passed, many of us are as close as we were back then. You created a bond between us thicker than blood, because of the values instilled in us by you as adults, we continue to be advocates for the arts. Mr. Bowden. Speaker 8: You were the catalyst for the passion in. Speaker 5: US, which is theater. You taught us about the powerful. Speaker 8: Impact that a. Speaker 5: Performance can have and how to create a platform for truth and justice and build a community in which equality is not just an essential element but an absolute. Speaker 8: Necessity. As Helen Keller said. Speaker 5: Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces towards change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate. Is strength undefeatable? That undefeatable strength is what you ingrained in all of us those years ago. Thank you, Mr. B, for your dedication to teaching, your passion for advocacy, for your love of the theater, and your never wavering enthusiasm throughout 45 years of teaching theater. Thank you for being a part of our journey, and thank you for allowing us to celebrate your legacy. Speaker 8: This was written by. Speaker 5: My good friend Carys Gonzales, graduated in 1978, who is teaching. She's a performing arts teacher in the San Francisco Unified School District. In 1975, my own story. When I came to Wilson, I was bullied and it wasn't my dream to be in Randi's class. Initially, I was in a second period German class. I weighed over £300, and the desk that I sat in that first week of school had to be there, built at 1925. I wound up breaking that desk and was quite ashamed and embarrassed and I ran to my counselor's office asking to be released and he couldn't do anything for me. He said, You have to sit it out for a week. And for that week I got bullied and tortured by my classmates. Finally, the following week, he said, We have an opening and you're going to second period drama with Mr. Boden. The rest is history for me. You've heard it before. I'll say it again. He created a safe harbor where there was none. He taught me an appreciation of live theater. The spoken word, great playwright Neil Simon, Edward Albee, who I actually had an opportunity to meet. I stand here in complete gratitude. I know I've taken up an awful lot of time, but I would be remiss if I didn't. As a gay man living in the city of Long Beach, talk about diversity and the fact that in 1970 576, it was racy to do the Children's Hour. We were sweating bullets. What a proud moment to go back last year and see Randy produce The Laramie Project. For me, that was groundbreaking. It was unbelievable. And this year, Randy produced a show called Careers and he sent me a note. I actually sent some money to help support it. Speaker 3: And we have to. I'm so sorry to wrap it up, so. Okay. Very good. Let's go ahead. Thank you so much. Next speaker. Speaker 7: Yes, this will be my name is Sasha Boden. This will be short and sweet. I'm not the drama daughter there. I'm one of four children. I'm Randy Boden's daughter. And I pretty much grew up in the Rainbow Playhouse since I was little rifling through his candy in his office, sitting on stage. And then my kids came through, and they all went and saw Winnie the Pooh. And all four of us have been so proud of my dad and so proud to have this last name. And we pretty much can't go anywhere in Long Beach without hearing Mr.. Even at the airport, even at Second Street, for sure. And it's just been such an honor to watch so many students basically call him dad. Also, he has four of us, but he has hundreds of hundreds of children. So congratulations, Dad. I'm super stoked. We're going to spend so much time together now. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 0: I think I'm officially the last. Speaker 3: Okay, no problem. Speaker 0: My name is Noel Parmentier. I'm class of 83, and I think Mr. Andrews was a teacher at Wilson when I was there. Speaker 4: Am I right? Yes. Speaker 0: I would really like Mr. Bowden to. Come on down. Come on down. I'm going to present him with this for a lay like a graduate. And here's a little story. When I went to pick this up today at a store in Lakewood, the girl said, Oh, do you have a child graduating? I said, No. A friend of mine is retiring from teaching for 46 years. And she said, Who? And I said, Mr. Bowen. And she goes, I know, Mr. Bowden. I mean, I didn't even go to Wilson, but I totally know him. He's awesome. So you are just world renowned. So this is for you. Congratulations. And also, he was trying to be very sneaky with us by dropping the bomb of retirement last week so that we couldn't get it together for him to do any kind of celebration. But ha ha, we got you. Right. So social media was a flurry frenzy of all these secret websites trying to keep him off of it. And to make matters short, we set up a go fund me called Mr. Boden's retirement account. And in four days we've raised over 30 $200. So this is for you to have fun, to travel. Don't spend it all on pickled eggs and schooners. And yeah, a little advice about that. When you're at Jojo's maybe two years from now and you're still basking in the glow of retirement, I wouldn't engage those bartenders in a discussion about The Glass Menagerie. I don't think they're going to know about blue roses and gentleman callers, so that's our thing. But we just all want to say, thank you so much. You're a legend. We love you. This is the original life coach. To say drama teacher is a minimal part of it. And I'm so glad you all got to hear about the wonderful Mr. Bowden that we love. Speaker 1: But just between you. Speaker 3: And Mr. Bowden, did you want to say anything? It's up to you. That's your drama teacher. So come on. I know some. Make it. Speaker 5: Short. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Price. Thank you, Laura. Thank all of you. That was very, very touching. Very, very moving, to say the least. I'm honored and thrilled to be here and incredibly humbled. Hey, good to see you again, buddy. It I've I've always felt whenever we have productions in the Playhouse at Wilson, I have always felt that not only is are the parents behind us, the siblings are behind us. The campus is behind us. I have always felt the Long Beach is behind us and all the shows that we do, I felt support all the way over there from here. And it's just wonderful because we can't succeed without standing on other shoulders. And thank you for helping to keep us up and keep it going. Keep us going. And it's wonderful. Mrs. B And I just love, love, love Long Beach. And it's wonderful to be a part of it and to be with these incredibly creative and wonderful and funny and alive and sensitive students who know that when they are performing among all the other things, that they are more than a test score, that they have all this great creativity, and to watch them absolutely lock into a character regardless of the show and absolutely take off. And ascend and become that. That I as the director and overeducated audience member watching them the thrill of that every teacher knows they see the light bulb come on but in the arts to see them take off and become is something so noble and so wonderful and so beautiful . And at a time when our humanity needs to be, in some cases, put back into us and reminded of how the wonderful things in us as human beings and in the world that we need to celebrate. They celebrate every performance, every performance. And just by being themselves, they are. Beauty. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you very much, Mr. Bowden. Congratulations. Those relations? Absolutely. We do have a couple. There's just a couple members that wanted to add some words from earlier. Councilman Super now. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and congratulations, Mr. Bowden. And since the third District was mentioned, I should mention that Mr. Bowden is a fourth District resident. In fact, I should speak to his patients, too. We just fixed some sidewalks on his street this year, and ironically, I think it's 46 years since the last infrastructure work was done. So thank you for your patience. But I did want to speak on behalf of Wilson High School staff. My wife happens to be the school secretary at Wilson. And I mentioned we are honoring Randi Bowden. She is. Oh, I just got flowers from him today. Wait a second. He's the guy retiring. She is now. He just sent flowers to the office staff and a nice card thanking them for their work for the year. So that tells you what kind of guy he is. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Andrews. Speaker 9: Yeah. Real quick, I just want to say I'm 73 to 84. Yeah, I hate to delay. Probably don't get me wrong, but when they transferred me to Washington and I had a chance to meet this young man and you could only tell from his kids and from the students there. And I really thought I knew something until I met this individual, cause I wanted to be an entertainer. And I know if I were taking a class, by the way, older than you. So but the thing about it, Mr. Bowden, you have been a godsend. And you can always and I know you'll carry that with you, and your kids will see that. And I know your students, everyone who stood up and said things about you can be nothing but the truth. Godspeed. And I hope everything goes well for you and the family. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you. And Mr. Burton, I mean, obviously, we don't know each other. I'm not one of your former students, but everything I've heard tonight, I just love as a drama kid myself in high school. I love everything that your students said. And thank you for, you know, your vision to really bring so much love to Long Beach. And I know I speak on behalf of the rest of the council as well, just excellent. Thank you for your service and for your kind heart. Thank you. Of course, those are brought this forward. There's a motion to receive and file the presentation council. Councilwoman Price? Speaker 6: Yes. Thank you, everyone, for your beautiful words. I mean, sometimes I feel like things happen in a way that's unexpected but totally meant to be. And I feel like it was meant to be for me to hear from you tonight. I wish I could have been one of your students because it's clear that you are a life coach. And so thank you for everything. We're going to come down and take a photograph with you. And I'd love to invite my council colleagues to join us. It's not every day we have the OG of leadership, our life coaching here in House, so we'd love to have them all here so that we can not take a photo with you and make it extra special for you if everyone's willing. Thank you. Speaker 3: Great. So please cast your vote and we'll come up and take a picture. Speaker 1: I got to get. Speaker 4: Yeah, exactly. But that's a lifetime. Speaker 3: Let's just do it. Speaker 4: On the. Speaker 6: Stairs. Speaker 4: Yeah. Speaker 6: Is everything you want to prove. Speaker 4: To. Speaker 6: Stand on the stairs? Speaker 4: Yeah. We'll do that so we can show modulations. Speaker 3: Oh, thank you. Oh, I love it. Speaker 4: So, my gym teacher, where she grew up and the whole. Speaker 3: Thing, I think you. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you, thank you. Come on. Come on over there. Oh. Speaker 3: Want everyone behind us? Yeah. Go. Going the steps. Speaker 4: That was just ahead for you. You like what happened here? Yeah. Yeah, just right. Right next to that. You got this way and the house, right? Right. Yeah, right here. One, two, three. Speaker 0: Right here, please. One, two, three. I'm right here. And one, two, three. Okay. Good. Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 6: Thank you. Speaker 4: Thank you. Oh, I was so nervous. Speaker 6: All right, here is a registration. I got it now I. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 0: Congratulations. Speaker 4: Thank you. You know I. Speaker 0: Wasn't. Speaker 4: You. He is my focus today. Good for you. Thank you. I plays major and I got into it. It's okay. Speaker 10: Brenda Killian. Speaker 4: Congratulations. Speaker 3: You're great. Another big round of applause for Mr. Bowden as we move onto the next item here. So thank you. Yeah. Also with the next two items, one has to move up. We have two parks related items, and we're going to do a public comment after that. So first one is item 12 and then we're going to do 26 and then public comment and the can and the consent can actually let me do the consent minus items 12 and 19 which have been pulled from consent consent minus consent calendar.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to receive and file a presentation on Mr. Randy Bowden in commemoration of his impact on our community and benefit to generations of students as a teacher at Wilson High School for 46 years.

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Speaker 2: Councilman Andrews. Motion carries. Speaker 3: Okay, we're doing the two parks items, please. Speaker 2: 12 Please report from Parks Recreation and Marine recommendation to enter into a reimbursement agreement with the Long Beach Unified School District to reimburse City of Long Beach $70,000 in costs to provide staffing and other services to conduct ten week summer swim programs. District three, five, six, seven and nine. Speaker 3: Before we start, just an announcer from comes from around us. Speaker 9: I'd like to request what's happened. 12 Approval from the consent count. I worked at the school district and I will be because of myself from this discussion. Speaker 3: And we put that to thank and actually councilman, we pull out of 12. So you can vote on this. It'll be one where we bring 12 up. Okay. Okay. Speaker 9: This is 12, as it were. Speaker 3: I'm sorry you. Speaker 4: Said that as well. He's right. Just one. Well. Speaker 3: Yeah, you're right. You're right. This is 12. County public comment on 12. Nope. Please, Mr. Goodyear, please calm down. Speaker 9: My comments also apply to the other item dealing with pool and swimming. And it goes to the issue of, as I mentioned before, particularly when some people come up and point out and try to stop a roadblock, put roadblocks in the way of the improved the new Belmont pool activity going forward. And some uninformed people point out that their claim that there is no other, that people have no other place to swim, etc., etc., and that we need the city needs a lot of additional pools. The fact is, we do have, as this points out, this city has an ample supply of pools. And there is nobody, to my knowledge and I it might be a limited. But if there's anybody that doubts that and needs additional pools, funding is available through the 1984 grant. From the Olympic Fund. And if there are any residents in this city that do not feel that their neighborhood is adequately served by such facilities, by pools , all you have to do is get your act together and apply for the money and you will get that money. Period. You're going to have a pool in your neighborhood. But the records show that this city has an ample supply, in my view, of those pools. And if transportation is an issue, which it might be in some areas, there are paradigms that can be established where they will fund the transportation to those pools. Thank you. Speaker 3: Please cast your votes.

Contract

Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into a Reimbursement Agreement with the Long Beach Unified School District, to reimburse the City of Long Beach $70,000 in costs for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine to provide staffing and other services to conduct a ten-week summer swim program at Belmont Plaza Temporary Pool, Silverado Pool, Cabrillo High School Pool, Jordan High School Pool, Millikan High School Pool, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Pool, from June 18, 2018 through August 26, 2018; and Increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) by $40,834, and in the Tidelands Operations Fund (TF 401) by $9,166 in the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PR). (Districts 3,5,6,7,9)

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Speaker 2: Motion carries. Speaker 3: 26. Speaker 2: Are we doing 19 or skipping straight to 26? Speaker 3: We're going to come back to 1986. Speaker 4: Okay. Speaker 2: Communication from Councilman Austin, Councilman Andrews, Councilmember Urunga, Vice Mayor Richardson. Recommendation to direct City Manager to identify immediate one time resources available to implement a parks open space and median drought response plan to preserve the city's trees and landscaping through the summer months. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Nelson. Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Unfortunately, this year we had a historically low rainfall here in Long Beach and what is budgeted for irrigation. The city relies on rainfall for more than half of the water needed for our parks, open spaces and medians. As a result, our parks have received far less water than they need this year and result in many of our party's parks are very obvious. I've received numerous calls and emails from residents about the yellow and brown grass in our parks and large areas of dirt where there used to be grass. And my staff has actually gone out and taking photos of conditions in some of our parks around the city. Obviously, this is not an acceptable condition for our residents and our parks, which are treasured assets for our city. Some of our best efforts and best programs happen in our city parks as we enter the summer months. We're inviting our residents to utilize parks through a number of popular events, such as concerts in the parks, movies in the parks, summer Fun Days and the Be Safe program, not to mention the countless picnics and family gatherings that will be taking place. The lack of water for our parks is impacting the quality of the experience that our residents will have at these terrace events. Not only that, if we don't address the lack of water now, the cost to the city will only increase down the road with the need to replace large areas of grass and trees that may die. I request to have brought forward this evening with my colleagues as the request is very straightforward. We're asking the city manager to identify one time funds necessary to close the budget needed to water our parks for the remainder of this fiscal year to preserve our landscaping and trees. And I'd like to ask the city staff if they can provide a report on what steps they've already made toward thus far toward this plan and what can be implemented to respond to the drought we've experienced and the impact on our parks. And I want to be very clear before staff gives their report. I want to thank my colleagues for signing on, because this is an issue that's not only affecting my district, but both parks throughout the city. And and I don't want to point fingers and blame anybody because we don't control Mother Nature. We don't control the fact that that, you know, we did not get enough water this year through rainfall. But I do think that this is a situation that does merit our attention. And we have to do something now to preserve our assets and resources as a city. So with that. Speaker 5: Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 3: Councilman Rocks. Well, I think we have a most of the second. Speaker 10: Call me. Yeah. Okay. Well, I think this is a good a good item. And I would just say we all know that we're in a drought and we have a massive park system. And we have to sort of think about if we're going to expand resources on water, where does it make sense to do it? Some of our parks, you know, we we've stopped doing, you know, afterschool programs and things like that. I think it makes sense to sort of shift the water as well to the places that we've shifted our strategically shifted our programing to because those places do require additional water. Just this past Saturday, we had our Uptown Jazz Festival well-attended, best attendance ever. And, you know, we survey we conducted a survey. And, you know, it was what folks want to talk about weren't the things on the survey. They want to talk about the grass, how the grass at the park was in bad shape. And some people were upset because they've been to this park for seven years for the jazz festival. And this was either ever and we addressed it. We talked about the drought. But the reality is, I mean, we're a big city. We can shift our resources to make big things happen in our regional parks are our programs. Parks are the ones that receive a lot of use. And I couldn't think of another analogy for this because I'm a Trekkie. I think of when, you know, when the enterprise is starting to go down, they shift their power to the you know, to the main life support services. I think we have to think about shifting our sort of our water to the parts that need it most and the parks that have the most demand on it. I think that's what this conversation is about, and I look forward to what staff has to say. Thank you, councilman. Awesome raising this conversation. And I know that there there are some things that we can do to make sure our main parks, our main parks, our main medians are open space. They you know, they we do save that grass. Thank you. Speaker 3: I have a series of councilors I want to speak. So, Mr. West, I'm not sure that you just responding in general or. Speaker 5: We have a staff report. Councilor. Speaker 3: Did you ask them to be their staff report? Okay, then let me go ahead and do the staff report. Speaker 5: Our interim director, Steve Scott. Speaker 8: Okay. Good evening, Mayor. Members of the City Council. I want to thank you for bringing this item forward for discussion this evening. And we, too, agree that, you know, the current drought conditions are not ideal and we absolutely do not want to see our parks browning and becoming dirty. And so thank you again for bringing this item forward. I just have a couple of slides to supplement tonight's discussion on the drought impacts to our parks and how we've kind of shifted some of our resources to address some additional watering cycles that we can provide over the course of this summer. So with that, as you all know, water is critical for a thriving landscape for parks, open spaces and medians. Properly landscaped areas result in safe playing fields, healthy trees and plants and cultivates the esthetic Long Beach residents have come to enjoy. The department is responsible for the care and maintenance of close to 1000 acres of parklands and open spaces. And according to the California Department of Water Resources, on average, 47 inches of water is needed to sustain the vegetation in our Southern California climate. We work towards meeting the landscape need through rain and our purchased water or irrigation efforts. So far this fiscal year, we have received less than two inches of rain. Mother Nature has not been kind to us by comparison. During the difficult drought years of 2012 to 2016. The city received as much as 7.9 inches of rain during a drought year, almost four times as much as what we've received so far this year. And when you combine that limited rain with our budgeted $2 million irrigation line item budget, which purchases close to 21 inches of water , we can expect only about 23 inches of water resources or 49% of plant need and recall, that's about 47 inches. So 49% of plant need. We're getting through rain and irrigation. So the next couple of slides just kind of depict in a few different ways really the severity of the drought that we find ourselves. The blue bars on this chart represent the 47 inches of water needed to sustain plant life. That red line across is essentially shows 13 inches and that's what the city receives on average during non non drought years. So you know, outside of the drought we can expect close to 13 inches. But really what I want to show here are those green bars. That's the actual amount of rain that we've received since 2012. And, you know, just about every year, with the exception of 2017 has been bad. But I really want to highlight 2018 less than two inches. I mean, that that green bar is barely legible. Next slide, please. So this chart helps to illustrate the water resources against the 40% 47 inches of plant need for the past six years. The light blue bar that you see at the bottom of all of those bars represents our irrigation budget. And you can see that that's been relatively flat since 2012, but that's despite the annual water rate increases that we've had and the new park acreage that we've added over the years. And so that limited water budget has been spread even more thin than in years past. The dark blue bar represents the annual rainfall discussed in the previous slide, and then the green bar represents the amount of resources that the department has found over the years outside of the $2 million budget to put towards our irrigation needs. And then obviously, the red there is the shortfall that we're experiencing to meet that 47 inches of water needed for our plants. Next like so over the years when annual rainfall and the department's water resources do not provide the necessary amounts of water, the department thoughtfully focuses on managing the shortfall and implements a series of short term strategies to help stretch the supply of water throughout the entire fiscal year. It seems like every year prior to the summer months, the department reviews water usage to date and evaluates water need through the balance of the fiscal year to determine how the remaining supply will be used. This leads to a prioritization of water use for heavily used areas where the department essentially tears irrigation with a focus on providing those limited water resources to areas of high use and active uses, including our heavily programed park areas where we might provide, you know, some of our park programing during the summer. Our sports fields receivable sites, those are the sites where people can reserve a picnic area and come and enjoy the parks, special event venues and newly developed park areas. This prioritization and touring of water resources actually began during the drought years earlier this decade and has been a way for us to manage those limited resources. Unfortunately, as part of this hearing, though, we do experience some of the browning and dying of grass in some of those areas that are receiving less water resources. Looks like. So this is the slide that I really want to focus on because there is some good news on this slide. And over the last few months, we've worked hard with both the city manager's office and financial management to identify both budget savings within our existing budget and one time resources to help supplement our existing water budget this year. And I'm happy to report that we've identified a little over $800,000 in newly identified resources to put towards additional water. So what does that mean? It means we no longer need to tier the water usage this summer. We're going to have the resources to be able to now ramp up again the water not only in those heavily used areas, but also in those lesser use areas. So the community will see greening at our parks, sites and open spaces over the coming days and weeks. We've already begun this process of reprograming our controllers to apply these additional water cycles. And so again, we will start to see greening continuously throughout the course of the next couple weeks and summer. And then I just also want to point out that we are once again utilizing a summer reclaimed water truck that is going to help us apply needed water resources to our median trees. And then lastly, I just wanted to point out a couple of our long term strategies. Obviously, this has been a historical structural shortfall that we have budgetary. And so we are working through the annual budget development process to help address this historical shortfall. We are also working with our partners such as the Water Department, to implement water conservation strategies and upgrades to some of our infrastructure and technologies that will help us better manage our limited water resources. And so that very quickly is kind of where we are right now. I want to leave you with that. With these additional resources, we are going to be applying additional water cycles to our both high use and lower use parking in open space areas. And we will see greening coming forward. That concludes my report. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you. I have a long list of council members. I want to speak. I just want to just say one thing. I really appreciate, obviously, the the focus on water conservation that the city has had in general. We actually lead the state on water conservation issues. And one of the top cities to have addressed particularly we had the drought with the governor and his mandates that we can implemented across the city. So I'm very appreciative of that. You know, at the same time, having, of course, parks that are not properly watered, not only cause issues with access for families, but as we know , it causes it could cause real damage to trees, especially trees that have been in place for four decades and not receiving enough water. I'm also grateful that we were able to find the resources to make this investment. But I also just want to make sure, just to the team and particularly the parks management team, that, you know , we shouldn't get to this point where all the trees are dying. The issue gets brought up. The council agendas are set and now we're going to fix the problem. I would much prefer that proactively we come to the council and say our trees are in jeopardy. Our parks across the city are looking embarrassing and embarrassing and in very bad shape and we need a larger request. And that was done during the budget process last year when you guys came last year and said we need more, more money in the budget for watering. And that was a great move and the council acted on that. But the current shape of the parks is the worst I've ever seen them, and I've never received as many complaints from our community on the on the upkeep of these parks. And so I just I just want to ensure and I appreciate Councilman Austin greatly for kind of we've all this has been an issue for all of us. But I'm glad that you agenda is that to provide this forum. I just want to make sure that it doesn't it should not take this type of action. We need to address this. And the second there's a problem, come to the council and we will find ways to ensuring that our trees that are our parks don't end up in the shape of the currently and including those medians. And so I just wanted to say that we've had a lot of concern on that. Councilman Mongo. Speaker 0: Thank you. This is something that when Councilmember Austin let me know it was coming on the agenda, I let him know that my office has been working on this for several weeks. Many of you don't know that 70% of the acreage of the parks are in District five. Up on my screen in front of me, I have a line by line budget of Parks and Rec and what has been spent year to date. And I think one of the important things to discuss is that 800,000 didn't come from thin air. I mean, it was something that was budgeted for other things. And so within Parks and Rec, I appreciate that they've made the tough decisions on where to move some resources. We have a very tight budget and even considering how tight the Parks and Rec budget is and considering every single year that I have been on this Council , additional funding has gone to Parks and Rec every year. And if you read the articles in the paper, we almost have double the funding per resident for our parks programs as other cities as the median. A median city spends just over $100 per resident and we're at 208. And so we are really doing a superb job and our parks do continue to win awards. But as the mayor said, when I reached out to your office three weeks ago, it shouldn't have been. Well, we've stopped watering or we reduced water. It should have been, hey, in three weeks, we're considering some changes that are going to impact you and your district and you and the residents. And here's what we propose. Can we get some input? Do we need to agenda? Is this where are we? Here's what our thoughts are. And those are your decisions to make it until a policy is made by this council. And so I think that will have a better perspective when it comes to Bossy this year. And I appreciate that. Every year Parks and Rec comes and asks. But I also want to say, and it's in my newsletter this week, that the time has come for every single park to have an advocacy group, whether it's Pan Am or Hartwell or Eldorado. We have groups of people who occasionally are super involved, and then it falls off. But one of my my big concerted efforts in this next six months is going to be an ad, an organized advocacy group at each park. And we've prepared some things with Park, Parks and Rec. We have had several meetings about a grid system where we could better tell each other where the issues are, because with almost a thousand acres of park and I don't I'm not sure if people really have the grasp on how big an acre is. It's multiple football fields. I mean, we're talking about I mean, how many football fields in a row is it really we say, Mr. Scott. Speaker 8: It's approximately 45,000 square feet. So I can't. Speaker 0: And so even if we start, it's great that we have all these beach cleanups. But starting. In this next six month period, we're going to park cleanups. We shouldn't be busing our children from all different parts of the district on Saturdays all the way down to the beach. We appreciate the beach. We want to clean up the beach, but we have a lot of parks and rivers and lakes and duck ponds right here in the neighborhoods that people live in. And those park cleanups on the first Saturday of every month are going to be a huge, concerted effort that I hope to hear a lot of feedback. So please stay tuned in this week's newsletter. And we have a lot of exciting information that's taken months and months to work on. I appreciate having worked with Parks and Rec over the last few weeks, and I also appreciate Councilmember Austin for agenda laziness. I know it is frustrating and I know we can do more, but to do more we really have to be organized. And so I look forward to working hand in hand with the neighbors on on their organization, because, as Councilmember Richardson said, resources have to be shifted. We can't each year know what Mother Nature is going to give us in terms of rain. And in the years like last year when they had additional funding and Parks and Rec came in under budget, what we should have done, in addition to just allocating additional money for this year's water, is we should have started a trust fund for water. We really should have started an idea where we can set aside a water fund for the future and buy at a different rate. So thank you so much for the work you've done, but a lot more has to be done. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Ranga. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mayor. And I want to congratulate you and your efforts as well. And look and recognizing that we have a problem. Councilmember Austin and myself share a park. I think we're the only two districts that really have split a park and have lots of rules park. And we're going to be sponsoring our first concert in the park coming up in a couple of weeks. And it's you know, it's embarrassing when we're going to have our first concert in the park and it's dry. I mean, it's almost dirt out there. And and we're expecting people to take their blankets and their lounge chairs out there and enjoy the music. And it's somewhat bittersweet because when we go to the park and you put your blanket down, you want to be able to enjoy the music in a nice, comfy place where it's green all around you, and this year it's not. So I'm very glad to support this this item here we have a lot of park. I rescheduled an event at Silverado Park that I want to have outside, but when I saw the conditions of the or the grass, I think that that that there's there's no way that I can support this. So we had to take it inside. And I don't want to do that. I don't want to be put in that situation to have to make that kind of decision to where I want to have an outside event and have to move it inside because of the conditions of the field. So I fully support this item and I'm glad that the staff has reviewed it and looked into it. And I agree with the councilmember Mongo that, you know, you know it it's all 2020 now. But this is something that we could look at in the future in terms of if, again, we had this opportunity to target some money towards water for our parks, I would certainly support that. And and on top of that, I have a lot of meetings in in the seventh District and a lot of our trees in the medians are also dying. I had, unfortunately, the decision to make it two years ago. Daisy, Daisy tree. These deadline, we had to basically bring down a number of trees because, well, both of age and disease, but only just because of the drought. They were just they were just not being sustainable anymore. And we had to to cut them down because of the drought. So I hope that we can turn this around. And I hope that once we get our our most project in place, that we can use some of that recycled water to go into other places in the district that are in the city that are in desperate need of recycled water. And I hope that we will be able to do that. So thank you, Cosmo Rosser, for bringing this forward. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Hooper. Now. Speaker 5: Thank you. I, too, would like to thank Councilmember Austin for bringing the item forward. And thank you, Mr. Scott, for the presentation. And I would also like to commend you for being reactive to at least what our office has brought to. Speaker 10: And thank you, Mr. Owens. Speaker 5: Also, we had an emergency situation in the Stearns Park a couple of weeks ago, and you guys stepped up and and took care of it. I did speak to the city manager yesterday. We have special circumstances in some areas that might concern like a public health issue. And our office would be willing to fund that, too. As I've offered to you folks before, that's going to need to have a special circumstance. I think all my colleagues have said, you know, please come to us and ask this and I think we can support you. So, again, thank you very much. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Andrews. Speaker 9: Yes, thank you. I would also thank constant council members in bringing this item forward. You know, it is a serious matter and we need to address it with proactive measures. You know, because the community has, I think, been very patient and understanding, you know, with the drought restriction and the shortage. But, you know, our parks are not looking appealing today. You know, I've seen kids in six discipline, you know, in the dirt and in the desert they pick up on it is a concerned you know I think anything we can do to help. I would really ask that we get on that as soon as possible because I was out at the park with our concert in North Long Beach, and I think afterwards it was like, what is this? It wasn't about the music is about the dirt and the dust we had there. So as soon as we can address this issue and take care of it, I want to thank the Parks and Rec for really letting us know that they are going to do something about it. And thank you, guys. Again, thank you for being so proactive. Speaker 3: Thank you. Councilman Price. Speaker 6: You know, I would like to thank my colleagues for bringing this item forward led by Councilman Austin. So thank you. And I want to just start off by saying I want to thank Steven Scott for doing the presentation. He's had a very challenging role, although he'll never admit that because there's been a lot of changes in leadership in that department. And the the drum that's been beat for the last few years has been lack of resources, lack of resources, not by Mr. Scott. And that's incredibly frustrating for those of us who go out every day and try to serve the community the best we can. I met with the former director of the department in 2016, shortly after the city auditor's office came out with recommendations through their park maintenance audit. And at the time, I requested Slash, begged, pleaded for some sort of plan moving forward in terms of what the future was going to look like for irrigation, for planting, for maintenance, and was told that that was that was forthcoming. It's definitely something that we were going to be working on. To this day, we don't have a strategic plan for the maintenance of our parks and our medians. And I understand the department has gone through a lot of changes. There are limited resources. I think this is one of those situations where I'm saying, how come? How can I help you? Help me? What can we do? Because we go out there and we literally get killed at every community meeting this park, which is our brand new park that we were so proud of, the right of way . It's on the cover of the Long Beach Business Journal. It doesn't look like this. It does not look like this today. It's it's I there have been times where I've told that I've been told that medians, the plants are supposed to look dead. I've literally been told these things on multiple occasions. And I'm not an expert and I've deferred to the experts on many occasions. But it's incredibly disappointing. And with all due respect to my colleague, Vice Mayor Richardson, I agree. We need to shift our resources. And I know you aren't trying to say this, but I hope we're not implying we should be shifting our resources to where the programing is, because some of us who don't have a lot of programing in our parks and have. Speaker 0: Repeatedly asked. Speaker 6: For more programs like we don't have afterschool programs in the third district, they were taken away over my objection, please don't. Now take the water away because we don't have an after school program. And I know that's not what you were trying to say, but what I don't want to do is pit us against each other in terms of what parks are, programing, what don't. This is a very political process. And look, we have programs and some parks and we don't have programs in other parks. And I would love to have an after school program in my district somewhere. But the level of programing shouldn't equate to how much resources we get in terms of irrigation. Just because I'm not offering an after school program in any of the parks in my district because that's just not available to me. Doesn't mean we should cut off irrigation for those parks because all the kids in that neighborhood have, frankly, is the grass because there is no programing in their parks. Speaker 0: So what I would. Speaker 6: Really like to challenge our Parks Department to do and through our city manager with the arrival of our new program director, is think strategically about what the future is going to look like, because this is a conversation that we continue to have individually as council members. Speaker 0: With. Speaker 6: PRM during our briefings, and we're able to Band-Aid situations here and there. But there's no overall space of comfort where we feel like these issues are going to be addressed proactively. Mr. Scott is aware we have a resident who emails us almost, you know, weekly about grass dying in a. That's received less and less irrigation. That's a prime has been fantastic and working with us, we're probably going to have to replace the grass there to make it drought tolerant. But these piecemeal approaches, I think, are probably not the most efficient way to do it. I don't know. I challenge our city manager to help us figure it out. But each of us individually going to the director of PRM and asking about this park or this median, asking for more water or asking for an additional plant or two. It just seems like there might be a better way for us to approach it with a more streamlined process and some level of comfort that we can have as council members in terms of what we can expect, so that when we go out to the community, we can say, here's our irrigation plan, here's the maintenance plan. This is consistent. It's going to remain consistent because I think this is one of the things in my personal opinion. Parks, infrastructure and public safety are the things that most residents agree on in terms of what they want in their community and so to be good in their community. So I think this is an area for us to really focus on. And I would I would suggest that that maybe looking at the park maintenance audit might be a good place for us to start those discussions of what the future looks like. Again, PRM has done an amazing job with the resources that they have. They are incredibly responsive. Kelly and Hurley are both here. They are tremendous partners to us. Their inability to be able to keep these parks and medians alive has nothing to do with them, has nothing to do with their work quality or their work performance. It's an issue of resource allocation. And so I just want to make that very clear that the team is fantastic partners, they do a great job, but we should not be having to defend against dead weeds and explain to people it's the natural cycle of the plant to die and it may never grow back. I just people don't believe that. So we and nor should they. So I think we need to we really need to maybe ask. Speaker 0: For a little. Speaker 6: Bit of compassion and empathy in terms of, you know, you prm you deal with PRM issues. We deal with every issue that residents are concerned about. We do the very best we can, whether they want to talk about infrastructure, public safety, parks, airports, taxes, whatever. We do our very best to bring whatever limited expertize we have on those areas to answer questions. This is a major area where every single one of us is getting hit hard. We're getting hit very hard on this issue. And there's got to be some empathy and compassion for what we do when we go out to the community and we try to convey a sense of confidence in the government that we're going to be taking care of these things. And so I know this is a little bit of a rant. It's not meant to be. It's this is just an issue that's very important and so timely, especially when Jack Cunningham, our chief of staff, put this in my mail to read. And the first thing I thought of when I looked at this is this park no longer looks like this. I mean, Jack's here. If you don't believe me, you can ask him. We we send multiple emails every week about this park. It's true, right, Jack? Right. Yes. Okay. So, anyway, I thank you for indulging me and allowing me to share that. I think what I'm really asking for, what it boils down to is I would like to see us have a strategic plan for park maintenance and I will be asking my colleagues to support an item reflective of the same. Should we not start to see some changes where it's not incumbent upon us individually to have these discussions one on one, where we should be talking about this broadly, how it benefits every park in the city. We shouldn't be shifting water from one park to another. We should be thinking about how we water all of our parks. So thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilmember Pierce. Speaker 0: Thank you. And I want to thank Parks and Rec for also bringing forward your presentation alongside this item. You know, I don't want to to go too much. I think I'll echo the same thoughts that my colleague said, same thoughts as the mayor said. It's unfortunate that our parks are in the situation that they're in. I know that there are some hard decisions that we've had to made at Kara Park. We had a historic tree that was a beautiful tree that we had to to take down. And I know that's been a huge impact for the community members there. I agree with the strategic plan and I want to push as I'm not sure I need to bring back another agenda item to talk about it. But outside of a strategic plan, looking at what additional resources do we need to plan for as a city? You know, I'm not sure this is the answer, bond measures or anything like that, that we can actually invest in our parks as a whole across the board, not only for infrastructure. Water. I know that there's a countermeasure out there around reclaimed water that we need to be looking at. But just really pushing ourselves as it seems like we've done a great job reforming many things in our city and that this is the one area that we consistently come back from and that, yeah, it impacts every single district , no matter if we have small pocket parks like Arts Park or larger parks like Bixby Park. So I look forward to seeing our parks come back green and seeing hopefully a staff report come back around the audit that was done. Appreciate that. Speaker 3: Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 7: Yes, thank you. I think this has been a really good discussion. You know, it brings up the more global issues, as Councilwoman Price was mentioning, about just esthetics in our in our city. And that is the very first thing I know that we just constantly hear from our residents about on top of all of the other layers that we're hearing. So I agree with everyone. Everyone here, I absolutely think that we need to think a little bit more creatively and have a plan. And I appreciate as well that each of you have been so responsive to my office and the many asks that we've asked you day in and day out. A few things to think about. Absolutely. I know we have, I believe, smart irrigation in a few locations. Is that correct or what does that look like currently? Speaker 4: Yes, we have. Speaker 0: 28 sites that are under smart or central control, kind of a combination of both. And we have 90 ready to go out to bid probably in the next three months. Speaker 7: Okay. And will that I'm assuming this will be included in that plan as well, just as far as maybe getting us to 100% or getting us somewhere close so we can be at a little bit more innovative and then, of course, a little bit more of course, a lot more efficient with our water usage is that. Speaker 0: We have approximately 187 clocks in the parks. Speaker 4: Alone. Speaker 0: And the the the next phase, so to speak, will get us to about 80%. We'll be able to reduce the actual total number of clocks with this program. The other thing is it takes me approximately four weeks to go out and program these clocks. I've spent a large amount of staff time over the last four weeks bring these water systems were moved back out over the last two weeks to and to them as we've located water sources but the the smart controllers are the web based control allows us to do that in several hours versus four weeks. So we have prioritized that program to assist us with programing the water. Speaker 7: Okay, great. And I would just a couple more things. So the National Recreation and Park Association, I've been on that website like religiously over the last six months or so, just reading about what other cities are doing. So just a food for thought for my colleagues to look at some of the cool things that other cities are doing and finding areas for inclusion, innovation, etc. And I know parks, I'm sure you are reading it religiously as well, but there's a lot of good stuff in there. Secondly, I'm actually kind of of the mindset that we may perhaps in this plan and I appreciate my colleagues bringing forward is possibly including our sustainability and Parks Commissions , just to add another layer to garner some ideas from them. And we do have some new commissioners. We also have a climate action plan that could contribute to this as well. And I think it would be good to just add that to the to their agendas, just to offer some some feedback from them so I can add a friendly amendment for that. Speaker 3: Also making this a friendly amendment include our commission's parks and Rec. Speaker 8: And I think the commissions would be great. Yes. Speaker 7: Awesome. I appreciate that. And thanks again for bringing this forward. And thank you park staff for your work. Speaker 3: Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson. Speaker 10: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. A couple couple more questions that came up from the discussion. So the will be must count. Councilman Rangel brought up lbe must. So is that going to create additional opportunities for us to divert, you know, cleaned up recycled water from the L.A. River? And is that are we going to prioritize our parks? Are they going to the parks adjacent to the river? And we thought about that. Is that an opportunity for us? Speaker 5: So I'll take a crack at that. So, yes, that is the ultimate goal. We are funded for about a $30 million project from Caltrans. And what that gets us is the building, the treatment facility, and it's really designed to treat runoff. We'll be creating a wetlands as well so we can store some of that water. At the moment, it won't immediately be able to use for portable like up and down the system, but that is eventually the plan. We'd love to get that into the system. There are some technical capabilities with that we need to figure out with the water department. Speaker 10: Okay. And just so the public understands, can you just give us like three sentences on what LP must actually. Speaker 5: Is sure will be must is a very innovative project to treat stormwater so instead of water that is dirty coming off all of our streets and dumping into the L.A. River, we would instead captured at the pump stations, bring it down to a central treatment plant, clean it up to a to a level where you can put it back for irrigation. And eventually we'd like to expand it to multiple phases. So we're capturing a ton of water that we can use for irrigation on the West Side, which does not have access right now to reclaimed water. Speaker 10: Okay, next about medians. So majority. All but two medians in my district have been converted to drought tolerant. I think we should maintain continue to do that. The two medians that still remain one of them will be converted to drought tolerant and the other one will not. And that will be the one that will remain. And we would hope that that since we've gone through I mean, we should think about sort of rewarding converting those medians to drought tolerant. It saves money, saves water, allows us to divert to your other medians. So we should be thinking about, you know, where are councilmembers community supportive and how can we encourage and incentivize that conversion? Because I know some communities just don't like it. And I have that in my district. Some neighborhoods like the converted look, some do not. And we want to be able to think about how we incentivize that because we're on this topic. I'm just going to mention the drought tolerant landscaping some some are front of some of our public buildings we should take a look at, too, like, for example, the new fire station 12. They're drought tolerant stuff. You know, some of the love has died. The Michelle Obama library a lot of that they're drought tolerant stuff is is great so we should think about what you know how can we learn you know I mean these are within a mile of one another. What's what's the difference? You know, is it broken? You know, are we treating it differently? Is the contract different between a public work site or a park site? But we should really think about that. And then lastly, I just wanted to touch on the comment about the strategy. I just want to clarify for Councilwoman Price the point, and I'll try to use an anecdote to to explain it maybe wasn't the best anecdote, but the point isn't, you know, what political tool can we use to get more water for my district? The point is, you know, or you know anything about my parks or more needy or poor than other parks. The point is, everything's going to have to be on the table because there's finite resources. So we have to think about what the strategy is. If a strategy is look at parts that are utilized and say, hey, we want to make sure that if we have additional it goes to these parks over others. Those are tough conversations, but the public expects city council to have. So just to be clear about what I'd like to see, I have some of the fewest parks in the city. I get that. But if you were to ask me, I think the public would tell you some of our parks are more heavily utilized than others. And if we had additional resources to invest, I think that sort of community context of what we actually use and we care about all our parks, but some of them, some of them are a little more high profile and those we should make sure that we're paying attention to. So I've got Coolidge Park, I've got the Forest Park, Ramona Park and out in Park. But Hampton and Ramona are the two sort of larger parks that majority of the programing and majority of activity takes place at. So, you know, I want to disarm anyone. This isn't about, you know, using any political whatever the language was, political thing. This is about choices. We're going to have to make some tough choices. And I want to inform that with some sort of community mindset about what's important, some community context. But thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 0: So I appreciate your comments and Vice Mayor Richardson. But I'll also add that a lot of the funding and grants that are available in CDBG areas for median turnover is not available in the rest of the district. And so incentivizing is great, but a benefit given to those who abide by a program that exists. Speaker 10: We don't use we haven't used CDBG for our conversions. Speaker 0: No. But there are other programs too like this that with Mary Knight, maybe not in your district. And and under her leadership, there was money available for median exchanges, and they were not available to not one median in the fifth District. And so just to ensure that the context also around, as Councilwoman Pryce talked about every day in Hartwell Park, there are there's not programing in certain areas. And there's heavily utilized areas of our parks. And so we just have to come up with a plan. I think that in my discussions with Steve Scott, our interim director, we've talked a lot about how this plan, how we're going to have a strategic plan for the department, how we're specifically going to talk about long term maintenance goals and how those discussions will be better had. Once we have the feedback from the RFP that's out right now, that puts any of the contractors that provide that maintenance into a objective and standards based contract, which we have not had in the city ever to due to the fact that we're hiring contractors for millions of dollars. And there isn't a grading criteria by which they succeed or fail, where by which we would have financial penalties for contractors who don't meet our expectations because our expectations are so vague that anyone could meet them. I mean, these are serious things that our council has had to start the process on tackling, and I'm proud that it's taken us two years to go to RFP on that contract because we've had to have a lot of hard discussions about how small a park, how small of buckets can we break the city into to get more bidders on these contracts so that more organizations can really be at the table to provide those services? And I just I only actually cued up just because I also wanted to say a big thank you to Hurley, because as the trees are dying and they are falling down in our parks, a call to your team really gets people out there quickly and in all of our interactions, our staff and our community have had with you and your team. And they've been very polite and informed and transparent. And I think that's one of the most important things, is honesty about what is really happening and what we need to do. And as a city, we also not only need to talk about park trees, but but city trees and median trees. A lot of our trees were all planted at the same time. And so if at this time we are able to turn over a third of our trees and do adopt a park programs and adopt media and programs where we could start replacing the ones that are at end of life so that five years from now, not everything will be an end of life. We kind of have to get out ahead of it. I think that needs to be a part of that plan. And so I look forward to working with Parks and Rec staff on that. Thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Speaker 8: Thank you very much. And I want to thank everybody for their their input, their comments. It's clear that that this issue is is resonating citywide. I want also thank our Parks, recreation and Marine staff. They they they do the best they can. I want to echo Councilmember Price's comments. This is a resource allocation issue. This is this the question before the council. And so tonight, we are giving our staff the resources and tools they need and the decisions making they need to to move forward and to hopefully rectify a problem that we have and have identified with with the maintenance of our parks. I want to just say that that there also has been a lot of new parks development. And, you know, I've benefited from that a bit in my district. And we're seeing, you know, several acres of new wetlands restoration through the the forest wetlands as well as Molina Park being developed, as well as Davenport Park being developed. And so Parks, I'm attentive to to to to the maintenance of those parks, but also the future of wood planning and strategic planning that we're going to have to do to make sure that we're maintaining those parks. The reason I brought this item forward was not because of my parks, particularly in my district or any particular area of the city. This is I recognize as a citywide challenge. And it's clear that all most of the council members of all, not all nine of us are facing these challenges. And so I recognize that that any sort of resource, a strategic resource allocation, that we we empower our city manager and Parks and Recreation Department to to to move forward with should should address issues in all nine districts. And so I certainly hope that that will be the case. And I would ask for a unanimous vote here. See me. Thank you. Speaker 3: You can read your public comment here just a second on this issue. But before we do that, just to just also end on a good note as well, I just want to say obviously thank you to the staff. I mean, obviously, this is an incredibly important issue to everyone. I think it's you know, when all this comes out, I think you realize that there's a huge conversation happening in the community that needs to be properly addressed. And so I'm sure that that will that that will happen. And I really want to agree and I'm glad that this idea of the kind of more. Strategic thinking about how we look at our park master plan has been brought up a few times. I think I support that and I think about kind of what we're doing right now in public works around around infrastructure and around the Clean Long Beach Initiative and how we're using innovation and investment and kind of strategic conversations to really drive that, I think, in a way that the city hasn't done in the past. And I think that a similar approach to our park system could really see a great impact. And and I want to know it we haven't said it tonight, but, you know, yes, we're having all these issues. But again, the Parks Department and our parks were ranked as one of the best park systems through the walk score list that comes out every year as far as being walkable and being accessible. And that remains true. And so we're very proud of that. Public comment. Anyone come forward? Then we're going to go to public comment, general public comment after this. Speaker 9: Larry, you do. I think this council can take great confidence and. In the fact that Hurley Own is involved in this. I've known Hurley since 19. In the early 1980s. And you will not find a more diligent, more competent individual. And that department should understand that. Notwithstanding that, let me make this suggestion. Obviously, I like green, lush grass as well as a lawn to lay down and have a picnic on. But there's some other alternatives, i.e. in the water boating in the Marine Stadium. If there are if recreational needs are not met on land, come down to the Marine Stadium. We have ample selection of opportunities, notwithstanding the destruction of the criminal the criminal conduct of our mayor and taking down to us and his complicit fellow travelers that will be going to prison. There are opportunities there that the Marine Stadium and the other boating dynamics can provide. If you're used to parks, don't meet up, are not currently up to your standards. But as I said, I have no hesitation. I have no question whatsoever that if Hurley is involved in the issue, we could not find a better individual in helping to address it. Speaker 4: Thank you. Speaker 10: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Thanks for your time. My name is Andrew Carroll. I live in the second district. I think it's really important subject. So I'm glad the city council has gone back and forth on this several times. I wanted to say, first of all, to Councilman Pryce, that I actually really liked the standing desk and I hope to see that used more in offices across America and in schools, etc., etc.. So thank you, I guess for sort of introducing that to. Speaker 6: The very progressive. Speaker 5: Yeah, there you go. You got to take what you can get, I think. And so I'll I'll one that I'll extend my hand on that. All I wanted to say that there is a lot of money available to the city if it if money is a problem. I think we all know that parks are also an economic driver, so they create economic value. We put a lot of money into our parks, but where does that money go? Of course, the park itself doesn't have any rental value because it's public property. You can't do anything private with it in the sense of income, but the value of parks actually spreads around into a catchment area around the parks. So areas with nice parks tend to rent for more money on any kind of catchment area could capture some of this value, which is essentially windfall gains for private owners, mainly banks . We're not talking, you know, homeowners really in the city we're talking about in London banks, any kind of catchment plan could capture most of that public value and redistribute it to other areas of the city. And then you could have plenty of money to fund your parks. I mean, there's actually been studies done by Stiglitz, who actually won the Nobel Prize for four for this theorem, that the exact amount of money you put in to public investment shows itself in land value. And if you tax that land value, you can sustainably fund public investment, which is a really cool concept. Joseph Stiglitz, again a Nobel laureate, observed that this isn't strange. We already have catchment areas in Beaumont. Shaw, for example, they funded their beautification project using that, but that was from from parking. But it's a similar economic concept. The city can do that. Another thing I encourage is to spread the funds around to the city. So there's this back and forth between what areas are might be getting more of the resources, maybe excuse me, getting more of the resources. One way to deal with that is to capture some of this value and actually spread it to different parts of the city instead of letting it stay in one area. If one part captures a lot of value, send it over to a different district. That can be easily done. Another thing that could be done is to reduce or rather stop the tearing without tearing. You encourage every resident in the city to view parks as all our parks instead of just their park in their neighborhood, because there's no more tearing. So essentially all parks get the same amount of water, get the same amount of resources based maybe on mileage, square mileage, or, you know, some even concept and is objective, easily understood, debated in a public forum, decided upon. And from there on, you can encourage maybe some of the more privileged residents who have a little more organization to know that when they're fighting for their park, they're really fighting for all the parks in the city because any funding that is increased for one park ends up going to all the parks. So those are some of the ideas that I would like to throw to the staff and to our city council. And if you have any questions about resources, I'd be happy to provide them. Thanks. Speaker 10: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 0: I'm taking an excerpt from one of the oldest documents in our world history. Second Chronicles seven. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or sin, pestilence upon my people or locusts to devour the land. If my people who are called by my name. Well. Humble themselves and pray and seek my face. And turn from their wicked ways. We'll hear from heaven. And I will hear what land? Those of you who remember when prayer was in school. Who remember when your parents taught you to pray or the Catholic nun had you recited prayer every morning. Who are older now? Some of us. But it is that God that has shut the rain for you. It's that same one. So let's connect the dots here. Some of us who have alphabets behind our names, DS and BS, embassies, busses, whatever. What do you. Whatever you have. I have a couple. It's that same God that has caused you to be in a drought. That same one. So now you counsel people. And you're over districts of people who are like you. We're taught in schools by Catholic nuns and priests or pastors. And so now that we are in positions of influence, we want to act like what they said then was not true now. But it is that same God now that has caused the heavens to close. And if all things we don't have rain, the sun comes up every day. Darwin and Freud haven't taken credit for it. The moon comes out every night and the stars in their season. But tonight, we have no rain enough. Well, our grass. And he is again saying to us tonight that same God, if you will consider what I consider important, I will send the rain again. But you will not have rain for quite some time. I personally, along with people who are not in here, have asked that the homeless be more upgraded in their care. The homeless are agreeing with me tonight. Do something because you won't have rain for quite a while. I've asked. Because some of you with the funding in this city that you have had and made legally or illegally, you have withheld service to the poor and the homeless. And you bring up reasons why not to increase their funding. Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr.. And that concludes public comment. Members, please cast your vote. Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 10: Thank you. We'll move forward now to public comment. We have ten speakers here, Larry Goodhew, Jeff Lawrence, Thomas Stewart, Janet Tennant, Matthew Nokes, Laura Herzog, Robert Lucero, Letty Hernandez, Adrian Wences and Marina Rosales. So let's start off with Larry Goodhew.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to direct City Manager to identify immediate one-time resources available to implement a Parks, Open Space and Median Drought Response Plan to preserve the City's trees and landscaping through the summer months and the end of Fiscal Year 2018.

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Speaker 10: Let's move forward with item number 20. Or number 19. Speaker 2: This report from Technology and Innovation Recommendation to enter into a contract with the broadband group for citywide fiber network implementation planning in an amount not to exceed 320,000 citywide. Speaker 10: Thank you. Let's hear from city staff. Speaker 5: This item was pulled off the consent calendar. So we'll have a quick report from our interim director, Lee Erickson. Speaker 0: Good evening, mayor and members of council. I'm actually going to turn this over to our Infrastructure Services Bureau manager Case and Lee for the Staff Report. Speaker 5: Thank you. Members of the City Council before use a recommendation to authorize the city manager to execute a contract with the broadband group for citywide fiber network implementation. Planning in a mountain not to exceed $320,000 to provide some background is in September 2016, the broadband group was awarded a contract to develop a fiber optic master plan. By November 2017. The broadband group completed the Fiber Network Assessment and the Technology and Innovation Department sent City Council a high level assessment and recommendation to implement a citywide fiber network to interconnect city buildings. In December 2017, Technology and Innovation Department in Financial Management presented the critical technology infrastructure needs, which included this fiber network recommendation. At this time, Ted is recommending engaging the broadband group to assist with evaluating the most efficient implementation approaches for the fiber network, including coordinating plans with city departments and utilities, and evaluating opportunities for public private partnerships through development and issuance of a request for information. As specified in the 2016 RFP and contract. Additional services may be requested by the city, including one implementing any part of the proposed fiber plan and to assisting the city with development of public private partnerships. The source of the fiber network implementation planning cost of $320,000 is the General Services Fund budget, which is funded from charges to user departments. With that, I conclude my report and am happy to take any questions. Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez. Speaker 7: Thank you. QUESTION And thank you, Lee. I appreciate the staff report. And this is such a big deal. We're excited it's moving forward. I just wanted to pull this off just to make sure that we just included our service providers such as Charter and Frontier. I know that they've been with us for some time and discussing this. They're also very excited. So I just wanted to make sure that we had that report and that we had, you know, some transparency in that process and it looks like we do so. Thank you very much. Speaker 10: Thank you. Any public comment on this item? Seeing no members, please cast your vote.

Contract

Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP TI16-072 and authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents to enter into a contract, including any necessary amendments, with The Broadband Group, of Las Vegas, NV, for Citywide Fiber Network implementation planning, in an amount not to exceed $320,000, for a period of one year, with the option to extend for an additional one-year period, provided that the amount is not exceeded, at the discretion of the City Manager. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: Motion carries. Speaker 5: Thank you. Speaker 10: Number 20, please. Speaker 2: Report from Human Resources and Financial Management. Recommendation to award a contract to Alliant Insurance Services for health care, employee benefits, consulting and actuary services, and an annual amount not to exceed 350,000 citywide. Speaker 10: Thank you. Let's go to staff. Speaker 5: Vice mayor, councilmembers. This item was continued at the May 15th meeting. Our H.R. director, Alex BASKAS will walk us through the report. Speaker 0: Good evening, city council members. Before you is a recommendation to award a contract to Alliant Insurance Services to perform employee benefits, consulting and actuary services on behalf of the city with an annual base amount of $224,000, with an end with an additional recommendation of $126,000 for additional studies or services. Please note that there's a correction on the requested contract term that is reflected in the council letter. Human Resources is requesting the Council approve a contract term of three years with three one year options as specified in the request for proposal for a total of up to six years. Human Resources is also requesting the Council to authorize a blanket purchase order to alliant in the amount of $140,000 for services provided during the procurement process. The city utilizes a benefits consulting firm to provide technical expertize to assist the city with the development, negotiation and implementation of health and other employee benefits. This is important to maintain a valuable and cost effective employee benefits program, which includes a self-funded PPO and fully insured HMO health plan. The PPO plan covers roughly 2600 employees, and the HMO covers approximately 1600 employees and their dependents and their dependents. The consulting services also provide also assist the city in evaluating the entire benefits program for quality, competitiveness, cost effectiveness and compliance with plan, administration rules and regulations. They also assist us in evaluating career renewal calculations and assist with the development of budget projections in our budget process. They also conduct benchmarking, benchmarking studies and identify and recommend cost saving options for the city, and they also assist in the development of employee communication materials. Alliant was selected through an RFP process with the oversight of the procurement division. A total of seven proposals were received, including the Incumbents Alliance and a panel consisting of human resources, staff and financial management analysts was comprised and they selected Alliant because of their experience in the Public Sector Plan Benefits Area and also their strong service model and comprehensive services to support the city's strategy of cost containment and providing an employee benefits program that's beneficial for all employees. This concludes our report, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Speaker 10: Thank you. Councilwoman Price. Speaker 6: Miss Vasquez. I know there's been. I really know how to characterize it, I guess. Miscommunication, the last time the item came forward. There had been some concerns expressed by one of the employee groups, and we were assured at council that those concerns had been alleviated. I felt uncomfortable at that time and asked that it be continued and then was contacted afterwards saying that the concerns had actually not been alleviated and that some of the things that had been expressed at council by staff, maybe there was not a meeting of the minds in terms of that which you know is going to happen . I understand that. But I think it puts us in a difficult position because we have to make these credibility calls. I have a few concerns about moving forward with the contract tonight. First, I want to thank you for the diligence that you've put into the work through the RFP process to get to the point where a client is selected. And I have no concerns with the recommendations that Alliant be the company that we go with. I do I do. Speaker 0: Wish. Speaker 6: However, to receive kind of an update from you in regards to have there been concerns expressed by any employee groups about going with Alliant and if so, what has been their proposed solution? Speaker 0: Councilmember, just to address the first part of your statement there, there was a miscommunication in terms of us understanding what the union concerns were. We spoke with one representative and we thought we had address those concerns. And then when we spoke another to another representative, we found that there was additional concerns. So we have had several conversations to attempt to address those concerns. And primarily the outstanding issue is that the the union believes that the city should hire a secondary benefits consultant and the city should also cover the cost of that additional consultant. And let me just kind of back up and provide a little bit of history. Last year, through Emory University, Asians, the Poea negotiated a letter of agreement that allowed or gave them an avenue to hire a benefits consultant that which they would cover the cost. And that consultant would review the renewal process for the medical plan, alongside with the city's benefit consultant, a client. And through that process, some of the other union groups also participated in that process with them. They the unions did not opt to go that route this year. But I understand that they have raised a concern recently, and they would like the city to, as I indicated, hire a secondary consultant and cover the cost of that secondary consultant. Speaker 6: Let me ask you this. Did the procurement of an initial consultant by some of the labor groups result in any cost savings for the city? Speaker 0: So the the process where we use the additional consultant identified some areas that where we could save money but also identified additional costs. And in our other plan, the PPO plan. So they identified savings in the HMO and they were projecting save additional costs in the PPO plan. Our consultant took a look at those projections and also provided feedback. There was different methodology used between both of the consultants. I think that's where some of the differences were. But ultimately, the city did achieve savings, primarily with our consultant negotiating with Anthem, the provider that took place over a series of months. Speaker 6: Okay. So so there was some additional efficiency finding efforts that were not funded by the city, but did result in the city realizing some benefits, financial benefits. Speaker 0: I think I think that's a little difficult for me to say that it was just solely based on the secondary consultant. I think it would be fair to say that it was as a result of the Alliance consultant negotiating directly with Anthem and also as a as a result of the city's buying power, if you will. And then in addition to that, if you recall, in August, we had an issue with Anthem and Memorial Care, and that garnered a lot of publicity and it impacted could have impacted a number of our employees. So that also gave us leverage to negotiate a further reduction in the rates. Speaker 2: Okay. Speaker 6: So in your opinion, what is the downside of having a secondary review at this point, if that's what the labor organization is asking for? What's the downside to the city? Speaker 0: So we have I have conveyed to the unions, if they choose to continue the pilot program an additional year based on the terms that we negotiated with them and this council approved meaning that the union would pay for the consultant. We would be supportive of that process. My understanding is that they've opted not to do that and they are seeking for the city to cover the costs. My concern initially with with that proposal would be that there would the city would be paying for duplicate services. Speaker 6: And I understand that concern. So I have a proposal that's possibly a compromise, and I'd ask my colleagues to support it. So by way of motion, I would be requesting our city auditor to conduct a review of the proposed contract with Alliant Insurance Services for Health Care, Employee Benefits, Consulting and Actuarial Services, and to report back to the City Council. Within 30 days in order to provide. An update or if the study is complete assurances that the agreement that is currently negotiated and on the agenda tonight for approval is fully evaluated and provided to all parties. And I'd ask for my colleagues for their support. Speaker 3: Can we get a second on that? I'm sorry. This is part of the part of the motion that you're making, right? Okay. So there's a motion in a second to that customer. Pierce. Speaker 0: Yes. I want to thank Councilmember Price for bringing this motion forward. And I do have some comments around the process. You know, we asked for a meeting to happen two weeks ago and typically is not what I like to do behind the rail. But we asked for a process two weeks ago and we had, you know, lots of back and forth and different stories about what meetings were canceled, who canceled where, what miscommunication there were. And it seemed like a hot potato. And meanwhile, my staff spent the entire day trying to track down what really happened and what the real concerns were. And having, you know, as Councilmember Price mentioned, the last meeting, we were told one thing, that an organization was okay with the vote and then found out later that they, in fact, were not. So I have a real concern with the process and the way that this was handled. And so as we move forward, I think outside of having our city auditor do this, we need a process that ensures that before something like this is brought back to council, that everybody is on the same page so that we're not all running around trying to track down the truth somewhere in between everybody's stories. I would like to make sure that we have power to fire all the unions if there's something like this coming forward that when we get a word from our director of h.r. That everybody's good and we're a go, that we can trust that and this is the second time that it's happened where we were in a position where we couldn't we didn't know what to what to trust and who to believe because everybody comes with a different story. So it's something as major as this, you know, with a contract that could go out six years. I just want to make sure that there's process and oversight. And so ensuring that we do have the city auditor take a look at this, I think that's a right decision because we're not going to be kicking the can down the road or asking for a delay, which I know was a topic that was brought up. So I do support this because I believe it will move us forward quickly so that we don't incur higher cost, as was talked about today. So I also encourage our colleagues to support this. Speaker 3: Thank you. I do have the city manager that's cued up. I know. And the city attorney. Speaker 5: Mayor, councilmembers. I do want to just put a little push back on that. Four weeks ago, the issue was a union wanted to do a meet and confer. That was the issue. It was determined that day that they didn't have the ability to do a meet and confer and that was put to bed. It's been the past four weeks. Then there was an issue that we should potentially be selecting a separate vendor instead of alliance that seemed to get put to bed and then something came up back again on Friday. So I do want to say this has been a very moving target. I want to say everything that you've heard from our h.r. Director has been true. She's given you up to date information. What has happened is different sides. The story has changed as other people went back and different unions are talking to each other and stuff. Alex has been on the phone with the unions today to see what happened and which story has changed and who's changing their mind and all that. So it is very, very fluid. So it's shifted again, even though it's been four weeks. It shifted to late last Friday for a meeting with the unions to discuss what's before us tonight with the extra consultant. So basically, I do want to point out that we can certainly talk about, you know, coming back with a consultant or something. But I do want to know that let you know that we're saving approximately we're spending about $11,000 extra per month by not assuming this contract. So this past four weeks has cost us 11,000. And as we continue to go, we're not achieving the savings that we negotiated through Alex with this contract. Speaker 3: Mr. Parkin. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mayor. And I'm just looking at for actually clarification of the substitute motion and what is being asked of the city auditor. Are we approving this contract and you're asking the auditor to look at this evening? Is that the recommendation or you want to wait on taking action on this to have her review? I'm not sure what she's reviewing or you having her look at the benefits of having a second company who duplicates the efforts to some extent, possibly. Speaker 6: No, my my motion was to have her conduct a review of the proposed contract that's before us tonight that we're not approving. It would remain proposed with Alliant Insurance Services for health care, employee benefits, consulting and Actuarial Services, and report back to the City Council in order to provide assurances that the agreement or proposed contract is fully evaluated and provided to all parties. Speaker 5: So your statement, if I am sorry, I don't I just wanna make sure I understand. But to so the audit would be out of the RFP process itself, not the actual contract that was written. Speaker 6: The actual proposed contract. Speaker 5: The contract would be me would we reviewed by me. If you if you're looking at an audit of the process, I think the auditor may be the appropriate partner. So I'm not I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for in the contract or the order to do. I mean, certainly the other can look at whatever you wanted to look at, but yeah, the legal document would be mine. Speaker 6: Sure, sure. And I understand that. And I guess maybe I should be clear. I'm not asking that the city auditor evaluate the legal terms of the contract, but that she evaluate the terms of the contract as they relate to health care, employee benefits, consulting and actuarial services, and to provide for us to us in terms of whether or not there have been look, we've just heard from Alex that others have retained or procured services from others at the at their own costs to evaluate these contracts and come back with recommendations that have saved the city money. I understand that it's costing us $11,000. But my understanding, unless I'm wrong, is that the last review that was done by a different Labor organization resulted in savings for the city that were far in excess of $11,000 or $22,000 or whatever it may be. That may be wrong. That may be wrong. I see the city manager shaking his head. This is not a conversation that we should be. If I'm wrong, then then maybe I'll just turn it over to the city manager to answer on that. Speaker 5: I'm just going to go with what Mr. Vasquez said, that certainly the Keenan group was a very, very substantial group and they gave options for a client to work with. But honestly, Anthem would have never come to the table for any of the things that Alliant wanted or Keenan wanted. Unless we have that that tragedy between Anthem and Memorial Care last year that opened the door for us for a client to do some heavy duty negotiating. So Alliant did the negotiating. And I'm we're certainly going to take input from any group that provides advice and stuff but we're alliance save the day. Speaker 6: And I get that and let me just reiterate because maybe that part wasn't clear. I have no issues with Alliant. I, I started my comments with commending our director for the excellent work of the RFP process. What we're trying to do is bridge a gap here between a labor organization who feels that there could be additional reviews of this contract to identify efficiencies and practices that maybe we have not identified that could save the city money. And I'm hearing the city say we don't believe that's necessary. We believe that's due flip duplicative and we're not willing to pay for it. So my compromise and the city auditor is okay with this is to have the city auditor take a look at some of those elements and components and make sure that we are basically having a second set of eyes on the services. Speaker 0: That we are procuring through. Speaker 6: Alliant for, for this contract. Speaker 0: It's, it's. Speaker 6: It's a long contract. We're talking about the costs of the monthly cost to us right now, but we're looking at a multiyear contract. And I just don't know, other than the $11,000, what the downside of having the city auditor take a look at it and make sure we're getting the the best possible deal that we can in the most efficient way that we can. I don't know what the downside of that is, if, in fact, it might bridge a gap between our employees and the city. Because, frankly, I'll be quite honest, I don't feel like the communication story is good right now because I feel a little bit of pushback in just expressing concerns. Speaker 5: If I may. So just for again, I'm sorry, clarification, but if we're asking the auditor to look at basically the scope of. Work to make sure that nothing was left out of the proposal or nothing should be added to that so that a client is looking at everything that they, the auditor, believes should be included. Is that a fair summary? Speaker 3: Let me ask the councilwoman. Speaker 6: I think that's correct. And, you know, Councilwoman Pierce has seconded this motion, so I'd like her to weigh in if she wants to clarify the scope of the audit by the city auditor, because I certainly don't want to speak for her as the secretary of the motion, so I'll turn it over to her. Speaker 3: Customer Pierce. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. I just for me, I seconded this because I feel like we've got the two studies and what we would like. What I would like to see is the auditor, take a look at both of those studies and compare them and give us that feedback. She could also audit the process and maybe it's between both her and your office. But the fact is that we have two different studies. Instead of going out and having a third study to have our auditor give us a breakdown where those discrepancies and are there other cost savings and is this the best? Does she advise us on on taking a yes vote on this contract? Speaker 5: I, I follow the last part. Does she advise taking a yes vote on the contract? What I don't follow is that we have two studies. We have an RFP and we have a process that is being recommended tonight. And I understand that you would like the auditor to take a look at what that process and what that recommendation includes to to therefore, you hear from the auditor whether her office believes it's a it's a good move forward or that something else should be maybe added or it should be started over, whatever her recommendation be is Speaker 0: . Yeah. So I was looking at both what the city has and what the policy has. That study that they took a look at and that we're comparing all the documents that we have around this around this contract. So I think what you've said is, yes, it's correct. We'll go with that. Speaker 3: And I think also and I think. Speaker 0: It shows how how complicated some of this stuff is. And to put it in front of council to vote on, we just want to make sure that we're making the right vote. So it's not to say that that it's a bad vote or that we don't support moving forward. It's that it's a it's a big decision for us. And we want to make sure we're doing the right thing. Speaker 3: And I think just to clarify to I think it's the request is not necessarily an audit per se, but it sounds to me it's a review and some recommendations to the body as to all the information that's available that's been available through the process. And certainly there have been reports that have been commissioned and completed by some of our labor groups that those would be included in her review so that it's all reviewed. And then I'm sure she will get back to this body, whether it's in a memo or at the council, just her opinion on all the information she has before we move forward on the contract. So I think I think that's the request, if I captured it correctly or not perfectly. And so there's a motion and a second on that request. Vice Mayor Richardson. Speaker 10: Thank you. I'm confused. And I have a bunch of questions now. So the last. So my understanding and trying to simplify this, my understanding was last time we did this, there was a study conducted by by the Police Officers Association. Am I right? Mr.. Mr.. WEST Okay. And this was a third party independent consultant. Speaker 5: Yes. Okay. Speaker 10: And that study happened before the award. Was was it was given out or concurrently. When did that study happen? Speaker 4: Alex That was after, right. Speaker 0: So that that review conducted by Keenan was conducted last year during what we call our renewal process. So that would have been in June of 2017 in preparation for finalizing our 2018 plan year rates. Speaker 10: Was that before Alliant was given the contract or after? Speaker 0: So Alliant currently has the company already had they have the contract currently? Okay. We had we went out to RFP because we've had a contract with them for a number of years. And through the RFP process, Alliant was selected. Speaker 10: Okay. So it seems to me like the conversation here, but before I even get to that. So, so my understanding, Councilman Price, so you already had this conversation with the city auditor and she said she was okay with doing this. Speaker 6: Yes. I mean, where I'm trying to flesh out based on what what. Speaker 10: The scope of everything here. Speaker 6: Is saying, because it's a moving thing. And I get it what we want. Speaker 10: But she's on board with taking a look and taking it. Okay. Did she talk about any cost to her? Because I know there was cost with the with the outside review. With any cost because she get it done in a month. Speaker 6: I don't know. Okay. I don't know. And that's why I said 30 days. She could give us an update or, you know, if she has recommendation. Speaker 10: And then the delay. Ms.. Vasquez, you said there was a certain amount per month delay on this. Speaker 0: Yes. The cost of not entering into the new contract with the client, with the rates that they proposed in the RFP, would cost us $11,200 a month. Speaker 10: Okay. So if the last time this happened, it seems to me because both organizations reach out to our office as well and figure that it was going to be worked out. But what it seems to me is that both so everyone on the council they've spoken has said, hey, you know, we have no problem with Alliance doing the work. But it appears that last time there were savings, you know, 30,000 went into a study, 750,000 came back. That's that's the word. That's not necessarily the case. But folks are really, truly concerned about it. And is there any risk to this operation? If we were to say employee groups put up the money, if savings exist, we pay the employee groups back. That way you don't start off at a deficit of $11,000 a month. And so I put that on the table to Councilman Price. Is that the goal here? Is it to save money and not necessarily enter into a contract when two groups are both saying the same thing? Speaker 6: It is. But I also believe I believe our auditor can get back to us within 30 days with an update, by the way. And I do believe that it is a function that she could perform with existing resources. Perhaps the cost of who pays for this study is something that can be negotiated into future contracts with these different groups. But I think going piecemeal with each group, when we can get that checks and balances we're looking for through the city auditor would be the best course of action. Speaker 10: I guess I guess what I what I'd like to do is just keep it clean. Keep it clean. Like, if there's a contract in front of us, if there's willingness on behalf of the council and the employee groups to say, commission a study and get the city attorney involved, then we just handle that. And we not necessarily expose ourselves to $11,000 of being outside of the contract. And if it comes back that there are no resources, then all we did was just spend $11,000. And and this is the second time that we've inserted the city auditor into a contract bid process, the second time that we've done that kind of on the fly. And I really don't like the practice of doing that on the fly without the full council being engaged in that conversation. But not necessarily just, you know, some of us. Speaker 6: Well, this is a good time for all of us to be involved in that, certainly because we're all here in open court. I to say open court. It's here where, you know, we're on the record. We're all talking about it. But I will say, if the alternative is we just approve a contract that some people are uncomfortable with, I'm not willing to do that. Speaker 9: Okay. Speaker 6: But that's just me. Speaker 10: Okay. So so yeah, I don't know if I'm if I'm as interested in, you know, doing a substitute or anything like that. But I would say that I think we're not giving enough credence to just simply let's just pay for the study. And if savings come back, we should simply recoup the employee groups if they're willing to step up. And then moving forward, we negotiate that into the contract. In my opinion, that gives validation of what city staff is saying. It gets validation with the employee groups are saying, and we don't set a new trend that we're stopping every contract, you know, the day of with, you know, information from auditors that are here and all of this other stuff. So I'm gonna let it stew a little bit, but I may introduce a substitute, but at this point, I'm going to listen. The rest of the colleagues. Thanks. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. Speaker 0: So just to go back, I hear Alex stating that she does not feel that the savings were significant. And from what claims I've heard, it sounds as though there's a claim that a $26,000 study saved $750,000. But I'm hearing Alex say that that. Can you clarify of what you believe to be true? Or if not you, I'm sure. So during the renewal process, this happens over the course of several months. Correct, Tom? Alliant is our city benefit consultant. And they negotiate with the carriers or on our behalf. They have direct communication with the carriers. In my experience, when carriers give you their initial offer, they always come in high. And so our benefits consultant, with the assistance of staff, negotiate to try to get those rates lower. We also report and work through the Hyatt Committee, which is a committee consisting a rubber representative of each of the bargaining units. And we during this renewal process, we meet monthly, if not twice a month, to go over this process. During that process for the HMO plan, for example, in Anthem initially came in with the 15.6% rate increase. We had a round of negotiation for a 20 plan year 2018. Perfect. Okay. And we had a recap that we had received during the RFP process the prior year. So that also helped us make sure that we didn't get a renewal over a certain cap during that process. As I indicated, Keynan was also reviewing the data that Anthem was using for their rate renewal. They reviewed the data independently and provided a report. The Hyatt reviewed that report. Alliant also reviewed their report and provided commentary. They had different methodologies that they used. They had different assumptions that they used. So they arrived at different projections, if you will, as to what the increase should be from Anthem Justice. So one of the things that's important is just because you believe that our rate should be at a certain amount, you don't always get that rate from the carrier. As I indicated, it is a negotiation process. So I think we were all in agreement that and pointed out some important things and and Alliant agreed with those things as well. But at the end of the day, the final reduction that we got from Anthem was as a result of the the situation with Memorial Hospital and that then the publicity surrounding that with that Alliant was able to go in and negotiate a further reduction in the rates. So where we ended up was with the final increase of 5% on the Anthem HMO plan, which was 1.62% in in the rates and 3.38% in the ACA fees with our mandatory. I see. When you review the Kenan report of two years ago, have you explored all things that they had recommended as potential opportunities for reductions in this next round of contracts? And are there any categories of which potentially need additional exploration? So we're going through the renewal process right now, and we certainly are going to look at any and all recommendations that were made. And we also are going to go into detail with the hiring and review the process. One of the lessons learned in this whole process is that Kenan was able to provide a more detailed review of how the rates are put together by the carriers. And and the hire was very much appreciative of that process. And so that's certainly something that we're going to take and we're going to apply this year with the client and go through more detail with the hiring about how the rates are developed and what goes into those rates. What are the assumptions and where are areas that we can make tweaks to reduce the rates? So are you saying that if we approved this today, which by the way, there's a typo again in our agenda which says it's a five year renewal period which our office has already reached out and I believe the RFP was three years. Is that accurate? So I'm not clear. Again, it adds a little bit of additional concern when our agenda items are inaccurate. Yeah, it does. Villages for that. It should be, as I indicated, a three year contract with three one year renewals for a total of up to six. And I also want to point out that we do have an ability to cut to terminate the contract with a 15 day notice at any point. Okay. It just still goes a little bit to credibility. I mean, and again, I think two weeks ago, Councilmember Supernova found spelling errors of street names. So we just need to be careful and know what we're specifically talking about. So a three year contract. Okay. I'm understanding that, Councilman Pryce, you're asking for Auditor Dodd O'Dowd to look at the rates and categories that Keenan looked at to see if there are additional savings possible. Speaker 6: Or efficiencies. Speaker 0: Or efficiencies, just a simple review and that she would get back to us in 30 days. Speaker 6: Yes. And I believe, based on the scope of the study, it's something that can be done in-house so that we're not incurring an additional cost. Speaker 0: Okay. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Thank you. Speaker 8: I think I'm a little less confused. Thank you. Thanks. Thanks to all the questions here. And I do appreciate the constructive efforts to come up with some solutions. I do have a couple of questions. You mentioned Hayek and for our benefit and those listening at home watching, can you explain what that is and what that process is and who is involved in the Hayek. Speaker 0: I'm sure. Through the collective bargaining agreements, there is a provision that has created the Hayek, which consists of a bargaining unit representative that is a member of the health plan. We meet on a monthly basis and the Hayek reviews the proposed benefit plan and they review the renewal process. They hear reports from our carriers on utilization. They get also reports from our benefit consultants on trends and demographics and compliance issues such as the ACA and other things that impact our health plan. Ultimately, what the Hayek does do is they develop a recommendation with regard to the health plan and any proposed changes to the plan, and that recommendation is forwarded to City Council or excuse me, to the City Manager for review and consideration. And then we bring to the Council what the final rates are and ask council to approve those rates. And we also include the report from the Hayek that sent to the city manager. Speaker 8: And the the and just four, four, four, the acronym stands for our Health Insurance Advisory Committee, correct? Speaker 0: That is correct. Speaker 8: Every bargaining unit sit at that table, every represented bargaining unit. Speaker 0: Every representative has a seat at that. But not all of them necessarily attend the meetings. But yes, all the bargaining units have a seat at that committee. Speaker 8: Okay. And the the Elia group, what would be their role in that that Hayek process is that they're consulting, helping to negotiate the the planned benefits design, whatnot, is that correct? Speaker 0: So at the at the Hayek meeting, this staff also participate in that committee and support the committee. And the consultants also sit out, attend the meetings and provide reports or answer questions if the Hayek members have questions. Speaker 8: Okay. And so there was there was conversation regarding a potential meeting for. Right. So what is the hired process part of the collective bargaining process in itself? Speaker 0: And in a sense in that this is the avenue per their M.O. you were they provide input on the employee benefit plan program. Speaker 8: Okay. Thank you. And regarding that, we heard something about the Kenan report. Right. And that was an independent study, as I understand it. Who was how did we reach? How did that independent study come to be. Speaker 0: So in the play? And will you agreement? There was a during negotiations they requested the ability to obtain their own benefit consultant. So through negotiations we agreed to permit that process. One of the concerns was, is that they, the consultant, in order for them to do their study, needed to have access to all employee de-identified data. We as so we as I indicated, there was a letter of agreement that permitted that with the condition that they pay for the study and that ultimately was adopted by the Council as part of their M.O. agreement. Speaker 8: So when was that agreement negotiated? It was that the last round of negotiations? Speaker 0: I believe we. Speaker 8: Was it separate from the negotiation process? Speaker 0: No, it was part of the negotiation process, a part of the entire M.O. negotiation process with POI. Speaker 8: So it wasn't a well, it wasn't negotiated during the contract and wasn't like a side letter meeting confer. Speaker 0: It wasn't negotiate. It was never. Situated during the ammunition process for their contract. Speaker 8: I see. And so the question before us today is whether or not a bargaining unit and I'll just say I haven't been approached or have had any conversations with any bargaining unit regarding this. So I'm being brought up to speed this evening. And that's unfortunate. The the what's before us today is to have the city auditor do an independent review of the proposed contract. Speaker 5: Mayor members of the Council. Yes, that's my understanding, is that the auditor would look at what is being proposed and give a recommendation on whether to move forward with what is being proposed by staff. Speaker 8: I guess that that is pretty, in my opinion, benign and it just will add some time. I'm not sure if that is from based on what I'm hearing is that that's the real intent of what is the the real rub between the bargaining unit and their desire and what is being requested here. But that said, I mean, I can certainly support it. I've seen quite a few of these transactions happen over the years, and I don't think I've ever seen one. This. This. This. Unfortunately, this. This money. But I'm looking forward to support this and looking forward to the the auditors review and recommendation and assessment of the RFP here . But at the same time, you know, if the Keenan report was an independent audit, I I'm having a little trouble understanding how the city auditor is an independent voice in this matter as well. So. But I'll support this item just for the matter of move it, moving it forward and hopefully getting some resolution. Speaker 3: Thank you. Comes from Birmingham and we've got a public comment. Speaker 5: Thank you, Mayor. One of the most confusing things about this whole issue here is that there was apparently some negotiation took place apart from all the other bargaining units. And there was an agreement that came with an independent with independent study that apparently the unions paid into it, but did not totally agree with what was being presented in terms of what the cost total cost savings would be. There's a bargaining unit that feels that there could be an additional savings that could be conducted out there, that could be found if we had a, quote, unquote, independent review by our city auditor. I take a little aside from from Councilman Brosnan in the sense that our city honor is not independent. Our city auditor is elected and elected to be independent. So I don't see how that can not come into play here. But, you know, we have members of the IAM present in the audience and perhaps maybe they could shed some light on this issue in terms of what they feel are the main issues in this discussion here. Before we go into into public commentary, perhaps. Speaker 3: That would be public comment. So. Speaker 5: Okay. Well, then I'm going to get the opportunity for them to do that at that point then as well. But I do support the motion on the floor. I think that it's one it's a review that I think needs to take place if we're especially looking at charter change, where we're going to be adding some responsibilities to our city auditor. This is one of those points where we can have a preview, if you will, of what the city order can do in terms of clarifying those sticky issues such as these that come before us. Speaker 3: Thank you. Just one question regarding before your comment. Speaker 6: Yes. Just real briefly. I agree completely with Councilman Yarrawonga because I first of all, I don't believe the request by the organization is to have the city auditor look at it, that that was my ability to try to find some sort of compromise. That was the simplest and the least costly option. So I don't even know. I haven't communicated with them if that's acceptable to them. But what I what I'm hearing is there is a breakdown in the process. It's not unusual. I get it. Sometimes labor and management interests are at odds. This to me seems like a very simple ask. I could be completely misunderstanding the issue. I don't know. But they're basically saying we want another form of checks and balances before we sign this contract to make sure we're getting the best deal. Because if there's money on the table that can go back to the city, it could benefit the organization, it could benefit the labor groups. That's what I'm hearing. And we're kind of put in this place now where, you know, we're making. A credibility call. And I will say, when we negotiate contracts, the council relies a lot on staff's opinion and we defer a lot to staff's opinions when we're talking about salary and things like that. To me, this seems like one of those things where there just seems to be no downside to studying it further other than the $11,000, which I hate to waste, but I if we're going to enter into a contract where we could be saving a lot more money, maybe it's not $700,000, maybe it's $50,000, maybe it's $100,000. Why wouldn't we allow ourselves the opportunity to learn that information before we approve the contract, if we can do it in 30 days? So that with that out and absolutely, the city auditor is 1,000% independent from this body. Thank you. Speaker 3: Vice Mayor Richardson. And then, Miguel, the public are excellent. Thank you. Public comment. Speaker 5: Good evening. My name is Richard Suarez. I represent the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. There was a lot of debate. First of all, I'd like to thank all the everyone involved for taking this matter. I believe this is a serious issue. I'd like to just make some clarifications on the Keenan group. Was an independent body hired by three labor organizations, the Peoria Fire and the IAM, the Kenan Group presented a proposal, if you will, that was significantly less in the area of increases that the Alliance group had presented. It was only after we shared that information with city management, that city management and I can't speak to the process, but it was after the discovery that there was a less expensive raid out there. City management came back and said, there's a savings. Now, the characterization this evening is that that savings came about came about as a result of a previous snafu with Memorial Hospital. And that was the the genesis, if you will, for creating that savings. What I would respectfully ask is, well, why wasn't that option sought after prior to the initial proposal? That was significantly higher. But be that as it may, the city manager believes that that savings came about. That hook, if you will, came about as a result of them owing us something in the final analysis. The Keenan group presented savings. Whether those savings to Councilman Price assertion are 700,000 or 100,000 or 50,000. There are savings. And since our members and I say feel safe to say that the members of the PRA fire and every other labor organization participate in those premiums. We believe that a review by what has been suggested by the city auditor and independent review would be a non damaging non cost issue. So I stand before you this evening to simply say that we're talking about a significant amount of money. And I again, thank the body for bringing this issue up and hopefully I'll address your concerns. If there are any questions, I'll be more than happy to address them. Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Suarez. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker. Speaker 0: I think my my comment will be just on the grassroots level. I spent a little time in human resources on the private level. So I understand what it means to have a human resource manager. I understand what it means to have a city manager. And I understand what an auditor does. The first thing I recognized when I saw that and I read through recommendations to adopt specific specifications and awarded a contract to Alliant Insurance Services of Newport Beach. That was the first red flag. One of the papers or journals that I read here whenever they're available, is a Long Beach business journal where you go through all the accolades of who these people are and what they offer. Long Beach. And they have I mean, you have everything. And I thought, well, we're going to add Newport Beach. Newport Beach is going to provide consulting services for them. But in my opinion, I'm saying why we're going out there, but we always say go beach. You mean there's nobody in Long Beach that can do this for this city? It just said to me and I'm thinking, look how much money we pay that city manager. But we're questioning his judgment. And if Lord Dowd, her position as auditor is so important, why isn't she brought in on everything of this magnitude? Why don't you bring her in? Is she? If she is your go to person when the rubber meets the road, why are you wasting time to bring it here? You listening to this? And I. I have a few alphabets behind my name. It makes me think I'm hearing something I should not be hearing at a public meeting. This kind of decision should have been made behind closed doors. This is nothing we needed to hear. It is an embarrassment. We shouldn't be hearing it. We have a city manager. And Laura, I paid attention to, I don't know, the woman. We've shaken hands maybe once in passing. But I've heard of her accolades. I've heard of the awards that you give her. So you trust her judgment. So now you're going to hold up the city. Again. I think we're hearing something we shouldn't be hearing. And I'm hoping that after tonight or whenever that vote is cast and if you wait this kind of thing, we shouldn't here again. This is something that you take behind closed doors and you settle the issues. What it's saying to me as a public person is you've lost trust with somebody. You're not you're not addressing that elephant in the room. Speaker 3: Thank you. And the last speaker. And then we'll go back to the council. Speaker 8: I think you're my new best friend. My name is Trent Bryson. Speaker 5: Born and raised. Speaker 8: Here in Long Beach, we have a local business that's been there since 1969. My father grew up in Rigley, went to Long Beach PI along with State. I have two kids at Long Beach Poly Stanford Middle School, and I'm an adjunct professor in human resources at Long Beach State. Our business was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2017. We're a local broker. Seven people put in there. There are peace. Three people were chosen as finalists. Not one was local. We weren't even asked to be a finalist. In fact, not one of our references was called. We are told the reason we didn't get is we didn't have the experience to deal with the city. Guess who had the city of the city along with his contract all through the eighties and nineties? Our firm. It just doesn't make sense. So here I am giving back to my community, chairman of the Ball Boys and Girls Clubs, along which. Speaker 5: I speak. Speaker 8: On behalf of Young Horizons, child comprehensive group Children Today and the one that they asked to come in and raise money. So instead, we continue to give money to a client who's actually based out of Greenwich, Connecticut, and we give them money and we have somebody outside representing us. And then when I ask what happened? Why don't we get a shot? Why don't even we even be a part of the fair process? Nobody has any answers for us. So what I'd say is we're right here. If we're good enough to to run the Boys and Girls Clubs of Long Beach, if we're good enough to be Entrepreneur of the year, for good enough. Speaker 5: To be ranked by our peers as top advisors. Speaker 8: In the country, for good enough to teach human resources in Long Beach State. Where are we good enough to even have a shot at City of Long Beach? Doesn't make any sense. Half my employees live in Long Beach. I live in Park Estates. We're based on Bixby and 36th Street. We help all of our companies that we represent raise money, bring money into Long Beach. We support our community over and over again. And then when we finally put our bid in, we don't even get a chance. So I don't know the process that you continue to talk about. I will say as an advisor. An extra 11,200 because you haven't signed a contract doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make any sense because you're paying $140,000 in transition assistance anyways. So whatever you're being told sounds to me like a scare tactic. I don't know all the everything that's happening, but it doesn't make sense. The rates are negotiated with the health insurance company. This contract is for who's your consultant. Why would this contract affect your rates? It doesn't make any sense. So I think you guys need to get the bottom of it. And that's just from a resident on that part. That's not even from a business owner. But as a resident and a business owner that lives here, something doesn't make sense and it feels like they're just renewing a contract because that's the contract that's always been there. And I'd say, why not ask somebody who's local that's shown that they can do the work and that's proven themselves over and over again. So thanks for your time. Speaker 3: Thank you. Vice Mayor Richardson. Speaker 10: Thanks. So it's just a couple of things that, you know, that I have to acknowledge. So two things, really. So, one, while I do trust and believe, Councilwoman Pryce, about the commitments from Ms.. Dowd, I know that she has no motivation, no reason to misrepresent those motivations. I believe that the process and the targeted processes, if we're going to commit that office and based on our experience, it typically you know, typically the staff internally does basic stuff and they contract out the real financial analysis. And I just last time this came up, Ms.. Dale came up and said, Yeah, I would hire a contractor. It would take me more than 30 days. So if I heard from her that 30 days is here and will cost me no cost, then that's fine. The second part is truly just the integrity and integrity of the negotiation process. Frankly, when these issues were arise, have when these issues came up before the council meeting and I know they came up because they came you know, they got to me today. Frankly, we should have the council or whoever that was raised. We should have asked staff to kick this back for a week because this process is a messy if we've kicked it back for a week to allow them allow them to one, identify if there are resources to conduct a study and two, or to reach out to employee groups. I think the council wouldn't be bickering or going back and forth about this process. Frankly, it should just be cleaner. And so what I think is I just have a couple of questions. So. Mr.. So, Mr. West, do you can you identify the funding to conduct this third party study? Is that possible. Speaker 5: If directed to find the funding? We certainly would, yes. Speaker 10: Okay. Can that happen within seven days? Yes. Okay. And can you sit down with the unions within seven days? Yes. Okay. Well, I'd like to propose that we just push this back for seven days. Is a council meeting in seven days? City attorney. City city manager says he can identify the 26,000, whatever it is for the third party study. That also gives us time to hear from the city auditor. And then there can be a recommendation that comes back from city staff that says either we go with a third party, third party recommendation from whatever this group is that costs 26,000. Or we hear from the city auditor from her lips that, you know, she can conduct the same study, you know, for the same amount of money or less in the same time frame. And that will make me more comfortable in this process. So so I'm going to council and price that's either going to be a friendly amendment or a substantive motion. That's really your choice. Well, I don't want to put you in that position. I'm going to make it a substitute motion. Speaker 6: You're making a. Speaker 10: Substitute. I'll just make it a. I don't. I honestly don't. I know that you feel very strongly about the contract piece. I hope the one week allows us to work some of that out so we don't have to vote on a contract that we're not on board with. But I honestly don't want to put you in that position. So I'll just say I just want to put this as an alternative to the body. It seems like there's a second, and I want to offer that as an alternative. Speaker 6: That's fine. I would accept it as a friendly to you. Speaker 10: Well, then we'll go that way. We'll take it a friendly if you don't. Speaker 6: I just don't want to vote on the contract. Speaker 10: I understand. I understand. I just think this will be cleaner. A cleaner process. Speaker 3: Okay. So we have a we essentially have the the proposed friendly. So that's the motion on the floor. It's currently there. Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 7: Yeah, I think I think just the overall and we've been hearing it is just the trust on both ends, both from our employee groups and of course from our public and our businesses. And I know Councilmember Mongo and I have been working on the Long Beach Business First Plan and in that and I know John GROSS, if you sat down with us and talked about that plan and we we really want to hit that point again, and I understand if if all the checks are not hit in terms of businesses, not, you know, hitting that criteria, but it seems like they would and have before and it seems that they would be a good, you know, option not to, you know, just say it would be him. But just in general, I think this is a really good example of sort of breaking down that trust with our with our businesses. And then in the employee group section, you know, I, I think, you know, they were pretty loud and clear as to not I mean, even getting the information from them, from all of them was a bit unclear. And it was just really unsettling to me that we had this in front of us and there wasn't a lot of answer our questions or I'm sorry, answers to our questions. So I like the the direction this is headed. I will say just kind of food for thought down the road is that if we do find that there is an issue with the process, that perhaps there needs to be an annual review when we have these contracts, you know, whether it's the three years or what have you , you know, it feels like there needs to be an additional layer every single year somehow, whether that's simultaneously with the city attorney's office and the city auditor's office. But it just seems like that would build a bit more trust on that end. So thank you. Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Speaker 0: I want to echo the comments of Councilman Gonzalez and. I guess, additional months of transition. Is that supposed to be the fact that we were supposed to approve this four weeks ago and 140,000? The word transition in there at all seems surprising since it's the current contractor. Just a thought on another item on the agenda and how the word how it's worded, because you're you're transitioning from the same provider to the same provider. Speaker 4: Just a thought. Speaker 3: Councilwoman Price. Speaker 6: I'm sorry. Speaker 3: Q Okay, it's on there, but. Okay. Well, we have a motion in a second. Please go ahead and cast your votes. That's the friendly that's been accepted. Speaker 2: Motion carries. Speaker 3: Great motion. Curious. Thank you. We were moving on to the next item already.

Contract

Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP HR17-104 and award a contract to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., of Newport Beach, CA, for healthcare, employee benefits consulting, and actuarial services, in an annual amount not to exceed $350,000, for a period of five years with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to issue a Blanket Purchase Order to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., of Newport Beach, CA, for healthcare, employee benefits consulting, and actuarial services provided during the procurement process and additional months of transition, in the amount of $140,000. (Citywide)

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Speaker 2: Motion carries. Speaker 3: Thank you. 23. Speaker 2: Report from Human Resources recommendation to adopt resolution approving an exception to the 180 day waiting period for public agencies pursuant to government code to hire Pamela Hawk Morgan for a limited duration to work in the financial management department citywide. Speaker 3: And is in motion at a second. Any public comment on this saying no and please cast your votes. Speaker 2: Councilman Austin. Motion carries. Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. We're moving on now to new business and the second public comment period. Let me start with is your additional public comment. And I know Mr. Bush. I'm going to be asking also, Mr. Bouchard, if you're able also come forward, please. Did you have nothing else to say? Yes. Speaker 0: Plus the comment. Speaker 3: Go ahead. Speaker 0: And you were asking. Speaker 3: I was just saying that also, if you want to speak on every item, I'm going to ask folks to just sit at the front there. Just the time spent up and down is extra time. Please go ahead. Speaker 0: Yes, sir. I'm going to acknowledge the guy that I work for, the God of Israel. And he is the reason I'm in this city. And in Jesus name. I ask that as I make this statement tonight that the Court of Heaven be quiet because of this night. Okay. June 12th, in the Pulse nightclub, 49 people were sleep for no other reason than they were in the nightclub. Speaker 5: And those are God's created beings. Speaker 0: For what? Adam Darwin didn't take any credit for that. And I prayed about it, and especially when I heard that the man who killed those people killed himself in the Pulse nightclub where it was known to be a same sex lover nightclub. And I was reminded in my twenties I'm 58 now and I was reminded in my twenties and God said to me one day in my twenties, you're going to answer this moment right here about my created beings, what I want. Yeah. It. Speaker 5: This is. This is. Speaker 0: Government. City of government. Long Beach information. And I'm a tell you what was given to me. From now on, I'm cutting the pulse. What happens to people. When they began to function in ways, other ways than when I originally intended. And from here on. This past May 20th, we celebrated what is called Pentecost. And in Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came after Jesus left the Earth. He just made a lighting on 120 people in a room one day, and those 120 people went out and changed the world. In the years to come, the pride parades will be lessened and shortened because of those 49 people that died that night. And without any. More deaths. God's just going to come and visit his own men. His prize creation. He's going to have a conversation with his own men. And as women. That's all. He wants the original intention for his people. What he wanted from their. What I originally intended for my men and women is what I'm coming after. The pulse of what makes people want to be something else. Speaker 3: Thank you very much. As we start to see whether a public comment for general public comment. We're going to go ahead, move into new business. I'm going to just start and I just want to publicly, of course, just congratulate both councilmembers Stacy Mongeau and Councilmember Roberto Turanga for both being reelected to the council for another term. And so just congratulations to both of you. That just happened on Tuesday. It seems like such a long time ago, but congratulations to both of you. I also, of course, want to thank the thank the voters, of course, for adopting Measure M.

Resolution

Recommendation to adopt resolution approving an exception to the 180-day waiting period for Public Agencies pursuant to Government Code 7522.56 and 21224 to hire Pamela Horgan for a limited duration to work in the Financial Management Department. (Citywide)

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Speaker 0: I got it here. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So I believe we did hearing item number one. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. On the consent calendar. So there's been some requests to move up item number 19. So we will be moving up item number 19, which will be taken next. Speaker 5: Okay. Speaker 0: And if I can, please have the clerk, please read the item. Speaker 1: Item 19 is communication from Councilman Austin, Councilwoman Price, Council membership not and Councilman Andrew's recommendation to request the City Council to censure Council member Janine Peers to her conduct as a member of the city council. Speaker 0: Thank you. There is a motion in a second. So just to just to be clear, I'm going to go ahead and first turn this over to Councilmember Pearce and and then we will open it up and have a portion for public comment. And I will have something to say for those coming up right before that as well. So there's a motion on the second on the floor for the motion and the item and Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 6: Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, mayor. Thank you all for coming tonight. I know this is a difficult night for many, but I want you to know that I understand why we are here. I know many believe the actions and decisions that I have made reflect poorly on our city and on our city council. And I want to begin by apologizing. I want to apologize to the city of Long Beach, to my colleagues on the council, and most importantly, to the constituents of the Second District. I'm sorry. My actions, which I deeply regret, have taken attention away from the important work of the city, of the dedicated team and the people who work here. I take full responsibility for my actions. These last two years have been some of the most difficult in my adult and professional life. Through this time, I have undergone tremendous growth and I believe that I'm stronger and better person today due to these experiences. For me, taking responsibility means self-reflection, taking actions to understand why I made the decisions I did and why I found myself as part of the chaos that characterized my time in office. My traumatic childhood laid the foundation for me to fall prey to the narcissistic abuse, and many times I felt trapped. I know today that I'm a survivor. I don't say this to excuse my behavior. I do not say this to excuse my behavior, but to acknowledge that I am learning and growing, that I now know better, to recognize the pitfalls that led me into an abusive relationship where I put the public's trust and, frankly, my life on the line. I want to thank my support system for helping me get through the toughest parts of this past year. Through this difficult time, I want my constituents to know that I and my office have never stopped serving you. I'm proud of the second district accomplishments, of which there are many. But moving forward, I'm committed to regaining the trust and the support of my colleagues and constituents that I am proud to represent. I love our city. I love our home. The Second District. Holding public office is a great and tremendous honor, which I will continue to do better. At the same time, I believe we collectively can do better. I plan to continue to govern in a way that moves our city forward. In the coming weeks, I will be asking for my council colleagues to support me in the following requesting that the city auditor conduct a full audit of our practices and return with the policy recommendations to ensure all staff of the city have the information and training they need. A review of our protocols for the Legislative Department, specifically instituting a robust orientation and onboarding with annual ethics trainings for all legislative staff, regardless of their positions. I'd like to see something similar to the City of LA's My Voice website for city employees to learn their rights around roles and responsibilities, around discrimination and harassment, and where they can file a complaint online. I'd like to support establishing an ethics commission with community oversight. Many cities have these, which Long Beach has never had. I'd like to recommend that through the budget cycle, we discover a way for us to match $150,000 investment to support the city becoming a trauma informed city. We know we all experience trauma in some form or another, and how organizations and systems interact with those people can perpetuate the impacts of trauma from city employees who have their own trauma to constituents that call council offices and ask for support. When you become a trauma informed city, we will strengthen the fabric of our community, even at our darkest moments. I accept and acknowledge the sensor as a as a censure, as a call to do better. My hope is that once the vote is done tonight, we can move on and move forward. We can put politics behind us and focus on the work ahead. I ask my supporters in the audience to keep things civil. I know this is very personal to you and the issues that you care about. Tonight I ask that you stand with me in accepting the censure while committing to the real work that lies ahead for us. Thank you very much. And we will continue to rise stronger. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember. I will now open it up for public comment. And I will I will just say that, please. When you comment to be you have a First Amendment right to your 3 minutes. But I would also just ask us to please be respectful and to to to have that with you as you're as you're speaking in front of us today. And so with that, please. 3 minutes, Mr. GOOD. Speaker 5: You very good to clear as the address. The imperatives of passing this of taking this item up for discussion are so obvious they need not be discussed. But discuss it. Discuss. Now, one of the things they have noticed is that this will be reviewed by the L.A. district attorney, Jackie Lacey. Who unfortunately, though she does have two degrees, is so inept, so disorganized, so ineffective. That not only would Harvey Weinstein run as fast as he could from her. Matt Lauer would activate that button underneath her desk, underneath his desk to keep her out of there. She clearly doesn't know what he's doing. What must be said. And this council, when you consider it tonight, must realize. They have the convening authorities. At the federal level. We'll expect you to include in this motion if you pass it. Robert Garcia. For his criminal complicity. In the earlier reference. Many times, Criminal Rose, along with Gary DeLong and his fellow travelers, derails Marine Stadium to S, which was first reviewed by Jackie Lacey. That says who said that's not. That said in writing, that's not my job. You have records of that. It then would flow ordinarily, in most cases, to the California state attorney general, who at that time was rebuked by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A bipartisan panel rebuked Kamala Harris for the epidemic of corruption she had engendered, i.e., she refused to prosecute the guilty, obviously guilty in a quid pro quo for their vote. And this is what happened in Long Beach. Garcia. Supported her. Period. Now, the U.S. attorney will take constructive notice of whether or not this counsel. Immense it. This motion before you, this very commendable motion do include Robert Garcia, Gary DeLong and those listed earlier who were complicit in the raising of Marine Stadium to less. Which parenthetically is the records also show the approval to raise that based upon false evidence. Was given. And the contract was written and signed to the contractor to raise it prior to being approved by the Coastal Commission three weeks later. Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, please. Speaker 3: You know, could you guys please. Speaker 0: Actually, guys. Nope. None of that. Next speaker. The next speaker has the floor. Next speaker. Speaker 3: I think about our council members who are private. Speaker 0: Actually, you know what? You're out of line. The next speaker has the floor. Thank you. Please go ahead. Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor Garcia and members of the city council. My name is Jonathan Crouch and I reside at 525 East Seaside Way here in Long Beach. I'm not a member of any special interest. I'm simply a local resident and teacher that calls the Second District my home. I came before the Council on August 15, 2017, to address some many concerning issues I had with Councilmember Pearce's contact exposed by her run in with the police on June 3rd, 2017. These issues include sexual harassment, domestic violence, driving while intoxicated, intoxicated, using her council position to influence a police investigation and the many conflicts of interest that she has had within her council office. Since then, Councilmember Pearce has slowly but surely admitted to many of these wrongdoings through the different media interviews that she has had. For example, during a recent interview on the Luke and Cami show. She stated that on the early morning of June 3rd, she drove, buzzed, but was not drunk. Let me explain something to you that is widely known throughout our community. Those driving is drunk driving instead of taking responsibility for inappropriate and criminal behavior. What has she done? She has done nothing but point the finger at others. And the very beginning she pointed the finger at my husband and I say that this was all because we didn't support her in the last election. And as the recall movement grew, she then began to point the finger at our local business community. Councilmember Pearce This has always been and always will be about your actions. Your actions are what led to this censure vote brought forward by the courageous members of the Council. Your actions are what led to the nearly 9500 local residents signing the recall petition, and it come November when the residents of the second district vote will bend because of your actions that you will be removed from office. Time's up, Janine. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: My name is Nadir Tushnet. I live in the third district and I'm speaking on behalf of the Long Beach Area Peace Network, a network of organizations and individuals who work for peace and social justice in the world, but also very much in Long Beach. I recognize and admire what Councilwoman Pearce just said. There is graciousness in her speech and good reflection on how we go forward. However, when I first read of the potential censure of Councilmember Pearce, I felt deep anger. My first version of the testimony that I'm doing pointed out the hypocrisy of a council in censuring someone for doing what I have seen happen a number of times over the years in Long Beach by other council members with no censure. I've lived here 30 years and it's happened. I can count four times. There may be more. I'm still angry, but also sad. I'm sad because this motion masks what's really happening. Councilwoman Pearce is being shame, not for the events of what she says is the worst night of her life about a year ago. So if it was about that, the timing is strange. But but she's being state shamed for standing up for workers, women and other marginalized groups in Long Beach. And the shaming is not protecting the honor of our city, but is due to the work of hotel owners and managers, large developers and others whose concern is only for their own benefits. Ironically, today we delivered signatures of over 40,000 Long Beach voters who are standing for women. I urge the Council to vote against censure. Such a vote will restore the honor to the city of Long Beach. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 1: My name is Sarah and Divine, and I am a second district resident. Speaker 3: I also teach political science. So I'm really happy that all of these people care because I'm just like, that's first and foremost, but I'm here just to to say thank you. Come, Councilmember Pearce, for your leadership in our district, as well as the leadership you're demonstrating tonight. Well, it's clear that this item is more about politics than it is about ethics. It's time for us to heal as a district and a city and move forward. I personally find the smear campaign tasteless and sexist and have used it in my class. People like to make this issue black and white, and that's easy to do when you don't know a person or you're politically invested in one side or another. I'm here to bring Gray to the situation to as a human being. I've watched you go through this journey to seek help, take responsibility, stumble and get back up, and all the while never lose sight of what's best for our district as well as our city. And I can find parking a little faster just on personal. I know a lot of people wanted to speak tonight, but I respected councilmembers Pearce's request not to. So I'd like to invite them all to stand with me. And we stand with you in. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Hi. Some of you have already met me. My name is Don Sutton, and I'm a 25. Speaker 2: Year resident of the second District of Long Beach. I own a small commercial and residential real estate company here in Long Beach, and I have for the last six years, I've been on the front lines of selling Long Beach, not only to investors, but also to families who are looking to move here, live here and make life a great place for all of us. And, you know, we have a terrific city by the sea. I am very active in professional organizations and nonprofits, and I've brought or have been active in bringing conferences and meetings and other events here to Long Beach, not only to the convention center, but also to different venues around the city . And I value the idea. Speaker 5: Of bringing investment and money to the city. Speaker 2: And dollars to the city because it actually improves all of our districts, not just my own. Now, no one wants to be here really for this, but during the past six months, I'm going to tell you that privately four different. Speaker 5: Commercial projects have been turned down financially because of the. Speaker 2: Instability of this council and the district and the actions of the second district. It's cost us millions of dollars, not just for the second district, but also for the other districts as well. Furthermore, I. Speaker 5: Am also familiar with three different conferences that have backed out. Speaker 2: Of being here in Long Beach. That's tourism dollars that have gone other ways because of the current actions of the individual occupying the second district. We have a tight budget here and we need to support our infrastructure. Speaker 5: Our outstanding city employees. Speaker 2: Work very, very hard, both union and nonunion, and our outstanding fire and police department. The fact of matter is, is that we're talking about censure. I think we really need to talk about one word and that is resign because it is in the best interest for us to just start over because the damage has been done and it continues to be done behind the scenes. That's hurting us financially, not just emotionally. And the cost of a recall, the cost emotionally and financially to the city should not take place in a place that I've been working hard for 25 years to bring and to to be the private cheerleader in the city to bring more people to this city. So I urge the council to not even consider a censure. I think you should consider resign. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. And just just because I want to make sure this is this is moving for who is the last person in line back there? I just want to make sure. Okay, I'm closing the speaker's list, so. Okay, then please get in line so I can. I can just I want to make sure that it's already a long line. So I want to make sure that folks that are going to speak come. I'm going to close the public comment. So, Mr. Rivera, who's moving in the back, is going to be the last public speaker and going once, going twice. Mr. Rivera back. There will be the last public speaker. Speaker's just closed. Next speaker. Speaker 5: Good evening, Mayor. Members of the council. My name is Jim Starkey and I reside at 1306 East Hellman Street Unit six in Council District two. I appreciate the opportunity to speak about this agenda item because frankly, as a former legislative staff member myself for 16 years for at the county level, state level and the federal level, I am mortified by Councilmember Pearce's continual abuse of the public trust. First, she employed her boyfriend as her chief of staff in willful violation of the city's unlawful harassment policy. Speaker 2: Then, when that relationship. Speaker 5: Began to sour, she appointed him as a taxpayer funded consultant. A few months later, still entangled with this same person. Apparently, they ended up fighting one morning on the 710 Freeway. And when she was approached by two different law enforcement agencies, the California Highway Patrol and the Long Beach Police Department demanded special treatment as a city councilmember . This pattern of behavior has thus resulted in an ongoing investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. More recently, despite expressing public support for the hashtag MeToo movement, Councilmember Pearce employed on her staff, a former member of the Playboy magazine staff. Playboy being perhaps the penultimate example of female objectification. And what does the former staff, Playboy staffer, go and do? Send out campaign messages from second District, i.e., government, i.e., taxpayer funded computers again, and willful violation of city rules forbidding such conduct. Thus, the people of the Second District have been left no choice but to continue to move forward with our recall effort against her. Hopefully the strength of the recall, along with this resolution, will send a strong message to her. Speaker 2: To resign immediately. Speaker 5: I urge council adoption of this measure. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening. My name is Kerry Sharpe. I reside in the fifth District and I have served for the last 30 years. Mr. Pearce, I really appreciate the fact that you, of course, have stood up and said that you are very, very sorry. Unfortunately, you can't deflect this on anybody else. And whether or not somebody else in the past got away with it or not does not reflect on what this council is doing today. This is your problem and only yours. This is nobody else's. Nobody else needs to improve. Everybody can do better. But this is on you. Now, my one thing that I wanted to say with the community, you have left us in a position that we are subject to very open lawsuits. There's no question about that. You have still embarrassed this city and not just here in Long Beach and not just in the second District. Again, I'm from the fifth and I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that this has gone on this long as well. And I'm sure that everybody wants to have it a lot shorter, even up to people in Canada have called and said, is that really going on in Long Beach? That's crazy. And the other part is that everyone in the city is left wondering whether the decisions that you're making today are on the loo or on rent control . Are these decisions that you're making, Mr. Pierce, being done with a clear head, or is this an ongoing problem? You represent the entire city, not just District two, your decision on the loo, your decision on rent control. This affects everybody. And are you doing this with a clear head? The other thing that I wanted to say to our council, I want to thank the brave council members who stood up and said, enough is enough. We've had it. You have compromised everyone. You have strained the trust of this council. And just, you know, just once when you have to say to yourself council members, if once you have said again to neatness in the news, if you have said that one more time and said enough is enough, you must vote for the censure. Especially in districts where you have two years for a reelection or two weeks for a reelection. Remember, the people who are watching your constituents are watching how you are voting. And many of your decisions tonight could be the linchpin for the reelection for anybody. Finally, Ms.. Pearce, on a personal note, I have been an educator for over 30 years as a primary educator, teacher and administrator. I urge you, Ms.. Pearce, to resign because of just on the behalf of your small daughter, because where you. Speaker 2: Go, your. Speaker 3: Family goes. And I can promise to you, I. Speaker 0: Think I think I'd like you to. I think that's. Speaker 3: Wait. Speaker 2: Hold on. Hold on. Excuse me. Speaker 0: Ma'am. I would prefer we not getting the families. Okay. Speaker 3: I'm saying, if I may. Speaker 0: I want this to be respectful. You have to have a First Amendment right that asks you to please not get into that. Speaker 3: I am being respectful when I ask for additional time for that. I am asking that the Council please not put friendship above duty. It is your duty to represent your constituents. It is your duty to send a message that it is absolutely unfair and unbelievable that you could be above that one person could be above the law . None of us are above the law and everybody needs to respond. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Speaker 3: Action. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Hi, I'm Kearsley. I'm from the fifth district and my address is on file. I don't normally take an interest in someone else's morality. I would consider that to be a personal issue of concern to immediate family and friends. I'm not here to judge Councilwoman Pierce for sexual misconduct in terms of wagging my finger. Shame on you. I do support the censure, however, because there were rules, broken rules that are in place to protect the employees of the city and also to protect the city from lawsuits. In the private sector, it is standard to have a set of ethics guidelines that all employers must acknowledge and sign stating that they will abide by company rules. And I have to think the city also has this in place. It is a corporate standard that you cannot have one person reporting to another when they are sexually involved. I believe the city has adopted that standard as well. Those rules are there for a purpose. When two employees on an equal footing are sexually involved. It creates the groundwork for a sexual harassment lawsuit. The employer automatically has a case against his or her boss, regardless of complicity or who seduced who. There were many more errors in judgment that occurred in this situation. But Councilwoman Pierce deserves to be disciplined for hiring her boyfriend and keeping him on the payroll for several years. That is not acceptable. And any large company that I know of. And unlike manner, the city must deal with it as a jury is obligated to make decisions based on the facts. So this Council is required to make this judgment, this vote supporting the rules that have been adopted by the city. While I have personally appreciated some of the work done by Councilwoman Pearce during her tenure, that must be set aside and this vote must be made based on facts that are relative to the rules the city has adopted. Otherwise, this Council is creating a precedent that advertises to city employees that this rule is not enforced. I can imagine that this is a difficult vote for some of you as this is your colleague. But your job here tonight is clear. The facts support censure. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Good evening, Anna Kristensen, 25 nine terminal, Long Beach. Oh, I want you to see my jacket. I haven't worn this jacket since I was in the Long Beach City courthouse, defending myself against charges by Cal State University. They ended up dropping the charges. Ah, what does it say? It says, don't shoot the messenger. I think we need to be pretty clear here about all kinds of messages where the spotlight is on Jeanine Pirro. Your message is not a coincidence. It's not a coincidence that the council member is sponsoring the censure or the council members who voted against Claudia's law. It's not a coincidence that the majority of funding to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the recall campaign for Jeanine is from the hotel industry. So the message, regardless of whatever kind of message you want to send to Miss Pearce, the larger message to your community is not me too, but screw you, screw women , screw women, hotel workers. And you know, big industry gets its way, whether we're talking about lobbyists for big oil. Jeanine And we have a certain loyalty. Those of us who who opposed the $103 million. Speaker 2: For the Belmont pool. Speaker 3: Those of us who opposed oil drilling in the wetlands, we have very few city council people who stood with us on that. And it was just good judgment. And that's part of your ethics, is to exercise good judgment. You're saying she violated the ethics policy. What is Long Beach ethics policy to exercise good judgment? It is not good judgment to put on an underwater $130 million pools when kids are drowning in other parts of Long Beach. So if you want to look at the ethics of judgment, as I said on next door when people were swearing at me, when I, you know, were defending Jeanine, I said it was your focus. Speaker 2: Or your. Speaker 3: Priorities. If your priorities are to condemn somebody for violations of rules, fine. Oh, wait. I forgot. I'm supposed to start doing this as we all are, to honor the indigenous people of this land on whose land we are, the Tongva and a Hodgman. People who are being dishonored by the oil drilling project, by the way. And I want to say, if you're looking at the bigger picture, that long arc that we. Speaker 2: Hope it is bending toward. Speaker 3: Justice. Let's keep the big picture in mind. Let's keep women's rights. Claudia's hotel workers in mind. And let's be good allies. Let's be good allies. Yet Jeanine is our ally. And if people in Long Beach who are listening to this, anybody, you know, we need allies, the ordinary public people, they need allies. We need allies. And they're not the people who are sponsoring this. Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Next speaker. As a reminder, Mr. Rivera is the last speaker on public comment. Thank you. Speaker 3: Hi. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Aiello. I'm a current resident in the second district. I not only support the recall effort, I'm proud to say that I was successful in collecting a number of the 9462 signatures on the recall petition. For Janine Pearce, I would like to thank council members Al Austin, Susie Price, Darrell Supernova and Diane Andrews for standing up for what's right and recommending the city council vote to censure Jeanine Pearce. My hope is that you'll receive the unanimous support and unanimous support of the remaining council members, especially those that received a discretionary fund allocation from Pearce. As somebody else commented earlier, I'd hate to see you let the potential perception of that being a hush money taint any future dealings you have in politics. And it's really no compliment to you, Jeanine, that you've joined the ranks of politicians involved in sexual misconduct scandals. The difference is, is that by your own admission, you believe that none of this is any of our business. And I respectfully disagree. Your actions are indefensible and a disgrace to hardworking women that embrace a strong work ethic. As councilwoman for the Second District. You are right to your constituents to sincerely apologize. You owe it to your your colleagues, your supporters to take responsibility and sincerely apologize for the shame and disgrace that you brought to Long Beach. I heard your apology apology this evening. And that takes guts. It does. But it lacks sincerity because of you, as you've winked at me three times and winked at other people in the in the audience and rolled your eyes and made faces. It's very disrespectful as you've censured others in the public forum that have tried to reach out and talk to you. It's now being asked of you. I really do urge you to to make the right decision. Jeanine does not support the democratic process as she complains, as she proclaims. She's denounced the recall effort at all costs. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I actually voted for you and you let me down. You've not reached out once. And you know who I am. You know exactly who I am. And you had every opportunity to reach out to me. I've not blocked you and you've not done that. But you've called me a liar and a few other things, and I don't appreciate it. I'm a second district resident for 15 years and I take pride in my city. I volunteer in my district just like a number of other people. So, yes, I take what you did personally. I take that you calling me a liar personally. Okay. So I just couldn't be more disappointed that I trusted you and you let me down. It really isn't too late for you to make this right, Janine. All it takes is for you to resign. Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 3: Thank you very much. My name is Julie Nicholson. I live in the second district. I imagine most, if not all of you already know how you're going to vote tonight. But I feel compelled to say something in my precious 3 minutes. This isn't simple. I'm aware of that. Possibly more than you might guess. But here we are somehow in this battle of business versus workers, ethics got involved. My master's degrees in ethics now are my territory. And I can tell you about applied ethics as the covers protecting workers ethical issues, fair wages, ethical is granting sanctuary to those seeking refuge. Okay, lesson of that ethics is providing food and shelter for those in need. And when a woman is in danger, so much danger that a court awards her a restraining order. Ethical is reaching out. Ethical is pulling her closer, offering a hand and asking, how can I help? What can I do? How can I help you collect safety around you? Ethical doesn't censure such a woman who has lived in fear, who has been bullied into silence, eventually had to fight back. And she is a survivor of abuse. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 2: Hello. My name is Newhart, captain, resident of the second district here in Long Beach. Thank you for having me here and thank you for all your hard work. Council members. I'm here to express my dissatisfaction. We all have our own reasons for being here. I am here because I first found out about Janine Pearce and her drunk driving. I had a cousin killed by a drunk driver in 2007, and that's what brought me to do the research and to find out what was going on in my city. I asked myself what would have happened if Janine wasn't stopped by by the CHP that night. This is a life or death situation. I feel like she's very lucky that she was stopped. She's very lucky that she has been outed because that might have prevented somebody from being harmed or even killed. I really I really feel like she's put her fellow council members in a really tough position. She's put me in a very tough position. I have friends and which are supporters of Jeanine Pearce and our supporters that are standing with her. She has gone against her initial platform of strengthening this the fabric of this city. And it has been torn. She has torn friendships. She has torn relationships. And she has torn trust between herself and the fellow council members. Now now her argument is that this is going to cost the city a lot of money, that there are special interests involved. I am not part of any special interest. I have no I have no connection with any hotel, any union, nonunion. I'm a resident of the second district and I've been called scum as a person, going out and collecting signatures, being villainized. This is my right. This is democracy. If you're unhappy with your representation, you have the right to go out there, talk to your neighbors, and serve justice. Now, talking about the money, my focus is my neighbors, my fellow second district, the taxpayer money that has gone into the numerous police calls, the responses, the internal investigation, the 300 hours that have been spent in this city's police department. That's taxpayer money. Now, we don't know how much this center or this recall is going to cost. We can't put a number on it. You can't put a number on the representation that you deserve, that we deserve. Now, I urge you, council members, everybody has a responsibility today to show the public that people need to be held accountable regardless of their position, regardless of their title. You owe it to the city to show that that honesty is the best policy and that honesty and that that distrust is what does bring me here today. So I thank you, everybody. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. And just as a reminder, Mr. Rivera back there as the last speaker. Speaker 2: Somebody left a device. Speaker 0: Okay, we'll grab it. Speaker 2: So I'm sorry. I'm actually going to have to take a deep breath, just so I, I, I don't say anything that I shouldn't say. Um, I'm here among friends, and I completely disagree with my friends. I'm a progressive. I'm on the left. I am proud of our movement. We are an LGBTQ loving, accepting women, embracing, standing up for the poor, standing up for the downtrodden, standing up for those who are the voiceless. That's that's what we are as a movement. There's a Talib Kweli album called A Beautiful Struggle, and that's what it feels like being on the left. And it's something that inspires me. It's something that I'm proud to be from, something I'm proud to be of. And it's something that Janine is part of, which is why I, I speak with great disappointment that this is even happening. Because, Janine, the truth is, I well, I read the well-written letter from the city council and everything they wrote. There is an absolute fact I don't see any falsehood in one of those statements. And it breaks my heart to see that because you were the candidate who was not expected to win, you were you were not the establishment candidate. The industry did not put thousands of dollars into your campaign. It was the unions. It was the working class. It was the poor. Those are the people who fought for you. You came out with a ban on fracking, and that's what I was counting on you for. And I'm still counting on you for because all the rest of them are taking oil money. All the rest of them will be quick to drop your name and smear you and drag you through the mud if they get enough money, which is what they're here to do, represent their donors. I look through all of their donations and it just so happens to be the same. People who are investing in the recall efforts are the same people who want to make sure you don't pass Claudia's law. And they're the same people who got in the way. The same people who will stop you for the Stand with Women Against Abuse campaign. So I just want to say, if we're going to shame anyone, let's all carry a little bit of shame. And I'm talking about the people who are here working for their lobbyists. You're doing a great job. Some of you claim to be Democrats and you're supposed to be fighting for the working class. You're supposed to be fighting for the poor. But instead of any of us talking about the environment and global warming is real and we really do need to do something about fracking. I really wish you guys would stop ignoring me. That is a very serious issue. Instead of us talking about living wages because poverty is very real. Homelessness is very real. And some of this talking about the issues that really matter to the voters, we're talking about somebody's stupid petty drama. And Janine, the truth is, they didn't create this. The hotel industry did not hire a lover. This was all on you. And so this is your this is kind of on you to get yourself out of this situation. I want to let you know I still have love for you, Janine. I'm not I'm not going to be like the rest of our friends and just joining the cheerleading crowd, because that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to make people think I'm here, to be honest, that that's that's who I am. That is who I am committed to being. I want you to realize tomorrow. Yeah, the press telegram is going to smear you because they refuse to cover fracking because they're all they are, just like these council members are. They are in the interest of business. But I do hope that you make fracking your priority again. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker 0: Next. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 5: Good evening, Larry Bull and Winston Churchill once said that anyone in their twenties who was not a liberal had no heart. And anybody in their sixties who has done a conservative had no mind. I'm here tonight to ask all of you to follow the rule of law. This is a gloomy day outside. It's a very depressing time to be here for all of you, for the supporters of your peers, for the friendships that you've gotten over the time, I'm sure, with the council. But we have to put those aside and follow the rule of law. And as some of the other speakers have said, there is no question about Janine's failure to follow ethics procedure and protocol when she hired. A boyfriend, a subordinate. That is an egregious action against the rule of law. You know, you can't do that. She approves his pay raises. She writes his performance appraisal. There's this conflict of interest beyond conflict of interest. Now, let me say this. During everything you have done and everything in your mind that you say I know you believe in and your supporters are here and they have the right to say what you have done is your own personal business. However, elected public officials are measured at a much higher level of integrity. And that's the difference between those of us out here and those of you there. You must follow the rule of law, even if you don't want to, even if it's going to hurt a friendship. You have to do that because that's why you were elected. You took an oath. So I just want to try to put some neutrality in here with regard to motive of people supporting you or calling for a recall. And the only course that a civilized nation can take and maintain that is different from our own personal views of of what is wrong and what is right. We have to censure and you have to. Jenny, if everybody censors you, you must forgive them and afterwards. So forgive you. Thank you very much. Speaker 0: Thank you, Nick Speaker. Speaker 1: Good afternoon. My name is Andrew L.A. and I am. Speaker 3: Speaking as a resident. Speaker 1: Of Long Beach. I am now representing the. Speaker 3: Organization that I work for, and before I tell my personal story, I want to acknowledge the corporate sponsorship of this theatrical show, the Marriott. The Marriott have put $800 in campaign contributions to Susie Price, about 1500 and campaign contributions to Al Austin. I have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on the recall campaign as a survivor of domestic violence. I am familiar with the power and control behavior an abused and abusive person will use, especially for someone who works with the community, including using manipulative taxi tactics to discredit their victims. As a former Janine's neighbor, I was witness to some of these abusive incidents. This is why all of this has been very triggering to me. Witnessing how Janine is constantly being victimized publicly and by many of your actions makes me worried. What is the message that we are sending to survivors across Long Beach? Janine, we stand with you and people. I just want to let you know that this is what happens when corporate America controls our elections. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker, please. Speaker 8: Okay. Hello. My name. Name's Joseph. Speaker 3: Sullivan, and thank you for. Speaker 8: The chance to speak tonight. I've had a chance to work with Janine, and I would just like to share from a personal standpoint, she cares very deeply about the labor movement. She cares very deeply about workers, about creating jobs and about her constituents. That's it. Thanks. Speaker 0: Thank you. Sure. And Speaker, please. Speaker 2: Stefan Borst and Zullo. I've been a second District City resident since 2010. I'm coming here speaking on behalf of Democratic Socialist of Long Beach and myself. I first met Janine on a picket line in 2011 protesting for better wages and better treatment of our hotel industry. She then personally rescued me from unemployment in 2014 by hiring me as a campaign worker for Prop 37, something I am eternally grateful for. Her election was confirmation that of Bob Foster, his worst fears about the organized left finally having a new voice in the city government. Despite all this and all the crap that's been going on in the last couple of years, she's been the best steward for for Council District two since I moved here. As evident by the anger that she has inspired by our parasitic landlord class in the exploitive hotel industry. However, frankly, you messed up by hanging out with the council members and their frat like atmosphere. Your your ethical lapses were any worse than the assorted misdeeds of your colleagues. But as a member of the left who left, you knew about the level of scrutiny facing you here. For the sake of us, you should have exhibited better judgment. I'm happy that you've finally accepted responsibility for this as members of the Left need you. This ensures curiously time become nearly a year after the completion of a criminal investigation that cleared you of any wrongdoing. But during a time in the city's cloak off, a clerk's office is performing the very sensitive task of verifying signatures for a very curiously and badly organized recall campaign. The co-sponsors of this also represent the exact same coalition of folks who killed statutory sexual harassment protections for hotel workers last year. So, frankly, I doubt they're sincerity on this issue in particular, given the news about the proposal, but how it asked the censure and the people delineating it, please affirm the independence of the city clerk's office in verifying this, as this is a very sensitive and important job for the press covering this. Take no to that, no to the lack of pretense exhibited by these recall folks. They aren't even trying to hide about what they really care about rent control, land use, development and workers rights. They don't like any of it. They don't care about the women of this district. They've attempted to intervene in a domestic violence restraining order despite lacking anything regarding legal standing. This is the first time this has ever happened. According to a superior court judge I spoke with, the rest of the city will persist regardless of the vote that happens tonight. Councilwoman Pierce, the council district two will not take one step backwards and we will win. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank speaker, please. Speaker 3: Thank you. Surely, Richard, if this nine person council. Does any voting tonight? However they vote. She's already been censored. Harry, she's been laid out here while looking, guessing what the press did put out there. We're wondering, speculating on what she did or didn't do. In the Old Testament. If a woman was caught in adultery, she'd be dead before sundown. It stone at a death. And then Jesus comes along in the same situation. The woman's laid out there on the floor. The man, probably some of whom wanted to be with her, but she was caught in adultery with someone else. So they turned her in. The fact that she was a woman is the reason why Jesus handled that situation the way he did. And what did he say? Those of you who are not guilty of the same thing. Pick up the stone. Pick it up. I'ma let you hit her first because he knew. Some of the men. And they happened to be preachers who wanted that woman, stone. So I'm probably the only one standing here tonight. You not guilty of the same thing. But Jesus defined adultery as if even you want to be with someone other than your spouse. And for the record, I don't know if the woman was married or the man, but I knew this. The man was never brought to the floor. We don't know who he is now. That man got away and Jesus had to handle that woman laying on the floor caught in adultery. And what did he say? First he dismissed everybody who wanted to accuse her of anything. We don't know her whether she was a secretary of parents. We don't know whether she was a banker in the town or if she was a high. We didn't know what a profession was. He just said, those of you who have not committed this sin stone at first, and then after you cleared the room because everybody in there was guilty of something or they would have stayed there. But they knew in their heart they were guilty to. He said after clearing the room. Honey, where are your accusers? They're all gone. Go and say no more. And I do not condemn you. Now. I don't know Janine's profession of faith, but I know this to be true. If a man's ways, please the Lord, He will make even His enemies be at peace with him. He'll make them leave you alone. If I were you, I'd go somewhere. Somewhere in a corner, sit tonight and have a talk with your creator, make a commitment that you intend to keep with him, and he'll silence your enemies. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker, please. Speaker 3: My name is Tiffany. Davey and I resigned and. Speaker 11: Work in the second district. 2014 for me was also a very difficult year as a woman in this city. Janine's office and I have been in contact multiple times. She has listened to? No. And while many officers had not. I work right behind her home and as a community member have been privy to much of the information. That's not been shared with the public. Speaker 2: As a survivor. Speaker 3: It's disheartening. When I studied political science, I. Speaker 11: Had a lot more faith in my community. Globally. Internationally. Same situation that will work there. Ethics is something that the entire world is playing with right now. And take a moment for the survivors. Speaker 3: Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Speaker 8: Joe Soper I live in the fifth District. I don't live in the second district. In fact, I don't live in the other districts except the fifth District. But this is my city. If something is wrong in one district, it's wrong everywhere. If I stub my toe, the rest of my body feels it now. Janine Pearce. This has nothing to do. Because you're a woman. Fact, it doesn't matter that it's a woman. It's all on you. You took the oath. You're behind the rail. We hold you to a higher standard, and you know that. And she's not the only one that gets calls that call her names, that pick on her, that say bad things to her. There was a councilman. He's passed away. Ray. Ray. I forget his last name, but he sees. That's right. Bensky He said, because I get I keep all the nice letters that I get. I keep them in a drawer. When I get a call like that, I hang up when I'm done and I have to read those letters kind of to bring me back to who I am. This has nothing to do that you're a woman. But I don't know what kind of reality we're living in here. But it has to do because you are a council person. Speaker 2: Not a council woman, a council person. You created. What happened. Speaker 8: To you? And you're responsible for it. And if any other council person created something like that, they would be sanctioned tonight also or when appropriate. The facts are you are the council members. The facts support sensor. She needs to be held accountable. How? Held accountable for her actions. And that's what we're doing tonight. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you. Speaker, please. Speaker 6: Good evening. My name's Tamara Romero, District two resident. I'm pretty serious. I'm not going to talk much, but I'd like to say, well, have the rest of my time as a moment. Speaker 3: Of silence in support of Janine Pearce. Speaker 6: Thank you. I'm going to leave some stickers. Speaker 0: Thinking next week, please. Speaker 9: With the setup like that, I better not mess it up. Dave Shukla, resident of the third in. I'm ashamed to say I grew up with you, man. You can't even stay quiet when a woman asks you to stay quiet for 3 minutes. Come on, man, I. I don't have a whole lot to say. Councilwoman Pearce, I believe you're beginning to see how real our town is. Welcome. I've been elections watching this recall. Um, as someone who, uh, Stephanie Davis mentioned, it's around fourth street. Lot privy to a lot of the details you don't yet know it. Have some skin in the game, so to speak. I was there, Devon. I was there the night you went to replace. I heard a lot. I heard a lot. I wish I hadn't. It's shocking to me that this is being brought to you with this timing. We're all smart people here. This is a very real city. We understand what a vote like this is. There is no clarity. I'm not obviously someone who's elections watch. I can't speak publicly about anything I saw, but I'm surprised that without certainty about an arbitrage rate, without certainty about what the numbers are. I mean, we all care about the facts. Speaker 2: We all care about what the numbers actually are. That the city council would take this motion now. If she needs to be censured. Speaker 9: You lose nothing. You lose nothing by waiting a couple of weeks, you lose nothing. But if you do. Speaker 2: This now and it turns out, oh, well, what do you know? Speaker 9: They actually didn't have the numbers and even interfered with the process by putting your thumbs on the scale. I mean, what kind of town do I live in, really? Now. I know I don't have much right to ask this, sir. I mean, what right would I ask? I'd have to see, brother. Speaker 2: Father. Never to be sunny displace. Speaker 9: I know I don't have much right to ask, but at least, at least let us learn. Speaker 2: Fully since we have to get into this mess now and actually figure out what the details are. Let's actually have all those facts. Speaker 9: Before you commit yourselves to something you may not want. Speaker 2: To. And one last thing. Speaker 9: I didn't grow up with this woman, but I guarantee you she's a lot better than those that have come at her. Speaker 0: Because her next bigger piece. Our final speaker. Speaker 2: Hi. Good evening for Hillary. That I'm actually here tonight speaking as a second district district resident. I want to just thank you, Councilmember Pierce, for your apology and all the actions that you've taken to move this thing forward. Speaker 8: And it's unfortunate that you're. Speaker 2: Constantly being stalled in the process to just be able to to move past it and heal. I have more questions than anything. I think one of the questions have been asked already is like, why now? It seems so timely? The issues raised in this agenda item and that have been shared already, they've all been public knowledge. The connection between. Speaker 8: Agenda izing this item now and the. Speaker 2: Recall campaign timeline looks it looks to be politically motivated. And why the truncated truncated process? Why is there a need to rush this by putting it on the supplemental agenda and not allowing for full engagement of the body of the public on this issue? Why invoke an unfamiliar process that hasn't been used for 25 years on such a short timeline? Is Council Member Pearce, the only council member currently under investigation for ethics violations. And if she's not, then then I hope that those that are currently under investigation for ethics violations are treated with the same level of of of focus that that she's been given in this process. And what's the standard for bringing forward a censure? The public deserves answers to these questions, since you for all fit saw fit to actually bring this forward. So I'm hoping that we get more answers to some of the the questions that have been posed tonight. Why now? Why a short process? Why is Councilmember Pearce the only one under ethics violation investigation? And I'm sure if we get these answers to these questions will be a little bit clearer on what ethics is and what it truly means. And I want to say one last thing, because you brought it up, Janine, about being trauma informed, because I know the city the city is trying to get some training on being trauma informed. And as a trained, trained trauma, nonviolent parent, educator, trained and community resiliency trained in community trauma and systemic trauma, which you all are exhibiting , especially these four authors, is not trauma informed because you're taking a domestic violence survivor and you're putting her under the spotlight and you're continuously beating her down. And that is not trauma informed. That is not going to help her heal. It's not going to help her move past. And you four should be ashamed. Speaker 0: Thank you that closes that because the speakers list the there is a motion any second on the floor to approve the item in front of us. Please cast your votes. Speaker 3: But as you say. But. Really? Speaker 1: Councilman Andrews. Motion carries. Speaker 0: We'll take we will take a recess. Five minute recess. Thank you. Speaker 5: Yeah. Speaker 0: I'm going to go and call a meeting back to order to get a quorum here. Speaker 5: So far so good. Speaker 0: Once we get a quorum, we'll will begin the ultimate. Speaker 5: Kick to. Speaker 0: Councilman Andrews. Okay. We're going to go back to public comment, please, Mr. Goodhue. You're up.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to request City Council to censure Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for her conduct as a member of the City Council that has reflected poorly on the City of Long Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.

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Speaker 0: Thank you. Next up is the regular agenda. We have item 17. Speaker 1: Item 17 is communication from Councilmember Pierce, Councilwoman Gonzalez. Recommendation to direct the city manager to work with public works and report back in 60 days with recommendations for a pilot public outreach program within the East Village to landlords with dumpsters. Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 6: Great. Do you guys have the clicker for the PowerPoint? I want to thank my colleague, Councilmember Lena Gonzales, who also shares the East Village for signing on to this item with me tonight. And I want to thank the East Village Association. I know that you guys have been working hard on this and sorry for the later time, but you guys are fantastic. So the last bend item, we know the world produces over 3.5 million tons of trash daily and over 300 million tons of trash each year. I'm going to try to go quickly in Long Beach and between 2015 and 2017, we saw an increase of 56% of illegally dumped items, an increase of 123% of go Long Beach reports, which I take as a huge win for the city. 47% increase in scheduled bogie collections and 22% increase in calls for ESB service. I attribute this not only to increased trash and population, but the fact that we have been working really hard as a city. Our public works team and our mayor has really committed to making sure that we have a clean city. And I know that we're working on that report. We wanted to highlight what East Village looks like. This alleyway looks like this every week. We are out there every month doing cleanups and trying to educate on where we can do bulky items. I know we've done some mail around this, but our residents in the area really have worked hard to make sure that we're working with public works to introduce a pilot program for locked bins. As you see here every week, this is kind of tough. We're out there cleaning up more trash, more cleanups. So we just wanted to introduce an item where we could do a locked bin process. I do want to turn this over to community members to talk about the needs. I also want to take this opportunity. There are two items on the floor in front of us, but let's talk about our locked bend needs and then also the DeKalb program that we are working with staff to create. And then I'll have hopefully some questions for Mr. Beck as well, since he's been working on this closely. So with that, we want to say it takes a village to change the world. African Proverb Very nicely done, Karla. I want to give Karla props for her PowerPoint. So yes, with that we want to just highlight the fact that we are looking at locking bins in the East Village, how long this pilot program will work and what the decals would like to be on there. So I'm going to have it over to public comment. Speaker 8: Thank you. Good evening. My name is Joe Harding. I'm president of the East Village Association, and I'm here with some of our board members this evening. And we're looking for your approval on the recommendations set forth before you. The issue at hand here is really of the overflowing of trash bins, partly because there's inadequate pickup schedules for the buildings that are there. Some buildings, if you can believe it, have no bins at all. And those residents use the other trash bins that don't even belong to them, including city bins. The illegally dumped items is actually just to the point of being ridiculous that we have to do six neighborhood cleanups a year to get rid of some of those things. We can't work without the Dolby and all this, all that they've done with their clean team and the Alley Busters program, that's been fantastic, but that's just helping with the program. We want to take it one step further. You throw in the residents have to listen to sometimes four times a night, residents going through the bins, looking for dumpster diving for their items. There is disturbing. Plus, there are safety items. We had a one just behind the end of Long Beach other day where a dumpster was. They took stuff out to make a fire to stay warm. Speaker 2: Our proposed program. Speaker 8: Have enough bins, have the schedule for pickup, adequate for the volume of use. Lock the bins after 9 p.m.. But instead of just locking people out of the bins that may be looking for source of income, food, shelter and other items in the bins, we want to put informational stickers directing those in need to the correct services so they can seek the help that they need rather than living off the dumpsters. We have a success story in the East Village at First Street in Frontenac Court. Many of you know that alleyway that's by the house of Hayden in the garden. Those those bins on both sides of Frontenac Court on First Street have been locked for over two years. The residents and businesses hemmed and hawed when it first started. They were annoyed and didn't want to do it. It's now become habit and that alleyway is clean 95% of the time, with no illegally dumped items in that area . And the program does work. We want to try that success program all over the East Village. We're asking you to accept us as a pilot program. If it works with us, maybe it can work throughout the city trash as an everyday part of our lives. But filth doesn't have to be. So we want to live without the filth and clean up our neighborhood. We want a clean, safe and healthy place. It's been great working with CD2 and CD1 on this issue. Their staff have been very receptive and we're appreciative of that and we're looking for your approval tonight so we can get started on this program. Thank you. Speaker 0: Thank you, Nick. Speaker, please. Speaker 4: Good evening. Johanna Cunningham, executive director for the Apartment Association. I think this is a great project to embark upon. My only concern would be my comments that I have received from some of the owners and landlords that some of the locked bins, things get thrown off to the side and then those become then the responsibility of the owners or landlords to have to bring somebody in and incur extra costs to be able to get rid of it. Some people talk about the locks that are being broken off of those things. And I was just over the past probably 15 minutes shown a picture of someone taking one of the bins and walking down the street with it. So those then have to be replaced again, incurring the cost by the owner or the landlord. So as you go through the pilot program, just wanted you to be aware of some of the feedback and comments that I've received through our office and that you're just sensitive to that as well in the research so that all of those things are reported as well. Thank you so much for your time. Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilwoman Gonzales, that you are Councilmember Pearce. Speaker 6: All right. I wanted to turn it over to hopefully city staff to describe how we are working on doing this as a pilot program and how we envision it working. Speaker 5: Mr. Beck is Mayor in Memory Council, Councilmember Pearce. Certainly this is a program that's been in place but not widely utilized. And I think the idea of a pilot program would be to identify a geographic area and work to require that all bins within that area would be locked. We would certainly work with the East Village Association to to identify what those boundaries would look like. I think part of the analysis would also include sending out our refuges field investigators for instances where we know throughout the city and certainly in our East Village area that we have apartment buildings that don't provide enough trash bins or disposal area for the residents that live there. And so we would send out our field investigators to analyze, to make sure that all of the services that are provided, because it is a mix of city staff and city sponsored municipal waste collection and private waste collection. So we would have to work with all the private haulers to follow suit and have those bins locked as well. But we think it's very realistic to move forward with a pilot program, bring back those results and make a decision on how we maybe we can modify or extend the program citywide. Speaker 6: Great. And can you elaborate on the timeline when we think we can? I know that we need to do all the outreach as well. So what's the timeline that you feel like is reasonable? Speaker 5: I certainly anybody that wants to do it on their own can do that now under the existing program. But doing a mandated program, what I don't have before me is how many private haulers there are. So it'll take us a little bit of time to connect with the private haulers, understand again how many accounts we're dealing with , and then what the timeline to make that conversion would be. I think certainly within 60 to 90 days is very reasonable. Speaker 6: Great. Thank you so very much. I urge my colleagues to support this item. Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 4: Yes. Thanks to Councilmember Pearce for bringing it forward into the East Village. I appreciate you all very, very much. I've been to your cleanups and you do incredible work for our community. Aside from what the deal is currently doing and aside from our neighbors as well. So we really appreciate it on behalf of the First District, and I'm glad we brought this forward. I think, of course, working in conjunction, continuing to work in conjunction with the Dolby would be great. They have some great programs that supplement this. In addition, I just wanted to ask as well, because I know that there's a couple layers that I see. So it's the property owner and then the property manager. Are they both being noticed when it comes to any of these issues? Illegal dumping over overflowing trash. Speaker 5: Congressmember Gonzalez, I think in response to your question, it depends on who manages the account. Sometimes it is the property manager, sometimes it is the owner. But we we base it on the property location. So, for example, recently we had a unit that had or a building excuse me, that had 12 units in it, and they were all multiple individuals living in each of the units, but they had one dumpster and they probably needed to have two or possibly three. So we worked with them to make sure that their service was increased and that they were paying for that additional dumpster so people could appropriately dispose of their trash. Speaker 4: Okay. Thank you. And then as far as, you know, just doing my research about illegal dumping, I know that the city of Los Angeles, I would just like us to loosely look it into this. They have a cleanliness cleanliness rating index that addresses illegal dumping. So they're looking at a variety of different things related to, you know, a specific area. It goes above and beyond. You know, it's just a trash assessment overall in addition to illegal dumping and a few other things. So I would just like us to kind of look at that to see if there's something we can perhaps partner on or or jump on to. And then lastly, I know the locked bins. Just sort of a thought going forward, if, you know, we see success or perhaps we don't see so much success, I think going forward and I know you'll kill me for this one, but just the Go Long Beach app in terms of overflowing trash , perhaps that could be included down the line depending, you know, where this where this lands. I think that might be a good one for us to to include just going forward. But thank you very much again to the East Village. We appreciate it. Speaker 5: I certainly wouldn't kill you over the Golan Beach app. We see a lot of success with it. Speaker 0: Thank you. I want to add a couple things. One is I'm very supportive of this. I think we've been talking about locked bins and there's a lot of examples across the country as some cities that do it and other cities that don't for a variety of reasons. But I think piloting a specific area I think is is smart, and I think that's great. I also think, Mr. Beck, that I think most of the council know there is a tremendous amount of work happening right now on on issues around cleaning the city. I think we all obviously as a body passed the Clean Long Beach initiative and that initiative has doubled the amount of resources for clean teams. It has brought in, you know, some academic work through Harvard, through the Bloomberg initiative. It's brought in a bunch of students to kind of study all of our systems, including the Ghavami Chap and others. And I know that we had a a study session not that long ago, maybe six months ago or so on the item I would request just, I don't know of a topic that is probably receiving as much kind of interdepartmental attention, I think, as this one is right now, the topic of blight and how we're addressing it. So I would request that we maybe do another study session at some point in the near future, just so that the entire council is completely brought up to speed on on all of the initiatives here, because I think the work you guys are doing is amazing. And I think the councilmember pointed out some of the the numbers as it relates to trash. What's what's amazing is we have completely changed the way we are reporting trash. We are reporting so much more and cleaning so much more than we have. And that's a really good thing as well. And so I'm excited about this pilot program. I think the East Village is a perfect place to do it and we'll see how it works out because I'd love it if this works. I'd love to see this expand as well. So very supportive. And I want to thank the East Village as well for for their work on this. Members, please cast your votes.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with Public Works and report back to City Council in 60 days with recommendations for a pilot public outreach program within the East Village to landlords with dumpsters and offer the city's current "Locked Bin Program" to address the issues related to trash, specifically with illegally dumped items.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Thank you. Next item is 18. Speaker 1: Item 18 is a communication from Councilmember Pierce, Councilwoman Gonzalez. Recommendation to the city manager to work with public works and report back in 60 days on current outreach efforts through the Clean Long Beach Initiative. Speaker 0: Oh, this is this is what we were just talking about. I'm sorry, I. Okay. Speaker 6: This is decals, though. Speaker 0: Oh, this is decals. What is this? Speaker 6: Oh, there's two items. The first one was about the locked bins. Okay. This one is about putting decals on the lock bins, direct people to services. Speaker 0: Okay. Got it. Speaker 6: Councilman Pierce. So this is simply what we just talked about, what? We want to give some direction to the city staff around making sure that there's decals on the locked bins for people to have direction to services. We know that a lot of people do depend on, quote unquote, dumpster diving for resources, whether it's food or things to sell. And so we just want to make sure that we're directing people to the right place. One of the issues that we talked about, too, was making sure that we have the Go Long Beach app link on there and we're encouraging more people to download that as part of the decals so we can work with this . But I want to encourage my council members to sign on to this as well. Joe came. Speaker 3: Back decals. Yeah. Speaker 6: Okay. Thank you so much. Speaker 0: Any public comment on this, seeing none accountable. Speaker 4: Gonzales comment This is great. Another good one for public outreach. Just wonderful. Thank you. Speaker 0: Great members, please cast your vote.

Agenda Item

Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with Public Works and report back in 60 days in relation to the current outreach efforts through the Clean Long Beach Initiative. Request staff to implement a pilot decal program within the East Village by applying informational city decals on locked bins distributed from the Locked Bin Program.

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Speaker 1: Motion carries. Speaker 0: Item 13. Speaker 1: Item 13 is a report from Human Resources and Financial Management. Recommendation to award a contract to Alliance Insurance Services for health care, employee benefits, consulting and rental services in an annual amount not to exceed three in 50,000 citywide. Speaker 0: Case or any public comment on this item signal, please cast your votes. Councilman Mangas. Oh, I'm sorry. Let me back up, councilman. Did you come in to speak to us? Speaker 4: Yes, but I think we had already. They had. Speaker 0: It's okay. Councilman, do you have anything to say or no? Nope. And Councilman Price, you have any comments? Speaker 4: I'd like to request that we move this item so that we have some time to answer some questions that have been presented to us from some of the employee groups. Speaker 0: When you say move this, I mean you mean postpone. You mean move to another. Okay. Mr. Mayor, council members. Speaker 8: We believe we've addressed all those items. If I can have Alex Vasquez respond to that. So there was a miscommunication earlier today and I believe the IAM group is comfortable with this item right now. Speaker 5: Okay. Speaker 8: Well, they were here when they left because they're comfortable. Speaker 0: Okay. Well well, just to the makers of the motion, do you want to just hear this or you want to move it? Speaker 4: Okay. If we could hear from them. There was no update before we started the meeting. So. Alex. Speaker 3: Yeah. Good evening, mayor and city council members. Before you, you have a recommendation toward a contract to Alliant Insurance Services. This is a result of as a result of an RFP process. This contract will provide the city employee benefits, consultant consulting services and actual services. The annual contract amount is not to exceed 350,000, and we're recommending a period of a contract period of five years with the option to renew for three additional years. As a point of clarification, this contract is, as I indicated, for consulting services. It's it's not I think there was a miscommunication. It is not for our insurance carriers that provide medical, dental, life or disability insurance benefits. We're not proposing any changes with this action here to to those benefits. And on an annual basis, we come before the Council with our recommendations for. Speaker 6: The annual renewal of. Speaker 3: Those benefits and the costs. So I did have a conversation with Richard Suarez regarding this particular item and of particular concern was and the union sponsored benefits. And again, this is not going to change any of the union sponsored benefits and in any way. And if we were to propose to make changes to benefits, we would do that through our HAJEK process or any meet and confer requirements that we're obligated to enter into. Speaker 4: So I understand and I appreciate that report. Unfortunately, I made a commitment before we started this meeting that I would do everything in my power to give additional time to our the workers that are concerned about this. So I'm going to honor that commitment. I'm requesting that we continue this to one week, and I'd ask my colleagues to support me on that. Speaker 0: Councilman Andrews We find that motion will be. Speaker 3: A couple of weeks because we're dark. Speaker 0: Days. So I just said to the next council meeting, Yes. Okay. So this was a motion to continue to the next council meeting. There is a motion in a second. Councilman Gonzalez. Speaker 4: I just wanted to concur with that as well. Speaker 0: So I think you can comment on this item. CNN Please cast your votes.

Contract

Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP HR17-104 and award a contract to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., of Newport Beach, CA, for healthcare, employee benefits consulting, and actuarial services, in an annual amount not to exceed $350,000, for a period of five years with the option to renew for three additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to issue a Blanket Purchase Order to Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., of Newport Beach, CA, for healthcare, employee benefits consulting, and actuarial services provided during the procurement process and additional months of transition, in the amount of $140,000. (Citywide)

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