He served during World War II towards the end. U served in battle in Korea and served in battle in Vietnam. He's earned a couple of Purple Hearts. Uh the Bronze Star medal. Um his wife Brenda is well known. She's involved in a lot of community. Uh he met in and around the Long Beach, Los Angeles area. About 14 years ago, I met Brenda at Precious Lamb Preschool, which is a special school for kids that have parents that are going through substance abuse or they live in the shelters. She really had a sense and a feel and a sensitivity for that. And I think Jack did too, right alongside of her. Jack and Brenda both, they're very generous. They're very generous with their time, with their money, with their attention. So, I think that that's one big reason why she is so important to the city of Long Beach and the community members in the city of Long Beach because she often would do what I call connect the dots. She would listen and find the resources that would help meet the needs of those that she cared so much about. >> So, Jack uh is deserving uh of any honors that can come his way. Uh we always say give folks their flowers while they're living. Uh this is another flower with his bouquet and the key to the city of Long Beach will be one great honor. >> I believe that they deserve the keys to the city of Long Beach because they have given out so much and continue to give. >> Jack, I do have on special order your favorite Cabernet Blanc. It should be in in the next couple weeks. And I think I've learned all the chords on the piano to the song Route 66 so that you and I can actually sing a duet and going forward. Yeah. Love to see Jack sitting in his favorite spot at my wine bar with Brenda next to him and cracking jokes and telling stories. All right. Uh Jack and Brenda, please come forward and receive your key to the city. First of all, before we give him the key to the city, look how handsome this couple is. First of all, right? I dare not I dare not say Brenda's age, but this brother is 97 years old. Not as much as a cane, right? He served through 16, I think 16 presidents. That'll tell you something. >> Well, come on forward. Let's go ahead and recognize uh you with the key to the city. >> Okay. Well, on behalf of the city of Long Beach, it is my honor as mayor of Long Beach to bestow upon you the key to our city. Congratulations. [Applause] I think we're supposed to say something. Um, mayor, I just want to know what do we do with the key? What does what does it open? >> What can open? We can't say it. Then everybody's going to want to keep. >> Oh, okay. Darn it. Um, this is really an incredible incredible honor. uh for both of us. Um Long Beach has been um such a giving giving community and uh we love it. Uh Jack told me I only had a few minutes to talk because he's going to talk a lot. So I just want to thank the committee uh that put this together. Uh they worked so hard and uh just to be able to connect with us and yeah, this is awesome. um words. I just don't have all the words to say that. Uh yeah. So, I'm going to give it to him. >> Come on, Ham. >> Thank you all for coming out. Um, I joined the Marine Corps out of Brooklyn, New York in 1945 and um, eventually I made my way out to the West Coast. And while I was on the West Coast at Camp Pendlean, they told me to avoid Long Beach. This is a Navy town. You know, Marines and Navy guys, you know, it's like water and oil. Anyhow, uh I avoided Long Beach, but as as things go, in 1992, um I was recruited to come out here to work for MTA and I spent a lot of time working on the development of the ice and um I did that for a number of years. I worked in rail transportation after I retired out of Marine Corps for uh 30 some years and then I did consulting work for another 20 years and I finally quit at 90 because everybody had enough of me. Um so anyhow uh I came out to Long Beach we and family and I came out long and some of my family members are here from New York and uh where are they? my uh son. All the McDow family guys, stand up. >> Come on. Come on, Brandon. Yeah. Yeah. Brandon was a former Marine, too, but he couldn't handle it for more than a few years. But, um, I to make it short, we've enjoyed Long Beach very, very much. It's one of the nicest cities I've lived in and I've lived in nine cities during my lifetime. Uh three as a civilian. And um we came here in '92. It is the best city that I've ever lived in in my life. And I I love it very much. And um so I we're pleased to be here. Happy to receive some recognition with the key. I hope it opens the kind of doors that I want to open. figure we're gonna figure that out. >> Yeah, we're going to figure that one out. Um I'm a member of the Mford Point Marine Association, which is an African-American pro largely African-American uh veterans organization with about 3840 chapters across the country. Um I'm a member of the Los Angeles chapter. We got uh the president of the LA chapter, Charles Sergeant Major Charles Cook, United States Marine Corps, retired, and his lovely wife, you know. Major Thomas, Colonel Threat, all members of the association. Uh, if anybody wants to donate to the organization, feel free to see Sergeant Major Cook. I have no shame. Thank you very much, people. Thank you. >> Thanks a lot. >> Jack's got many more years to open doors, so use that key, Jack. Thank you. All right. Our next honore is Dr. Jane Close Connelly. Dr. Connelly has dedicated 50 years to education, culminating in her remarkable tenure as the first woman appointed to the permanent the role of permanent president of Cal State University, Long Beach, our flagship of the CSU and our university here in Long Beach, where she held that post for 11 years. That's right. Here in Long Beach, it has been a true pleasure. I've known her as a council person and I've known her as a mayor and she is an incredible partner. It's been a true pleasure working alongside Dr. Connelly. Together we've partnered on important initiatives. Public service corp getting young people from Long Beach State jobs at city hall, Long Beach Housing Promise. This president believes in housing so much so she invited me the chancellor's office to come and push for more housing at Long Beach State. We're now collaborating on new opportunities at Blair Field. Even though she's retiring, she's teasing up opportunities for the future before she goes. These are projects that share uh that reflect our shared commitments to community and to opportunity for future generations. Under her visionary leadership, the beach has grown into a powerful engine of opportunity. She's expanded access to higher education. She's launched innovative programs that prepare students for the jobs of the future. She strengthened the university's role as a vital anchor for the city. She's a steadfast advocate for student success, ensuring that graduates don't don't only leave with a degree, but also with the skills, the confidence, the leadership quality, and the connections to make a meaningful difference in the community and in the world. Uh we could not let her retire without sending her off, right? She has earned this key to the city. uh her impact will be felt well beyond the city of Long Beach through the lives of the countless youth who go on around the world and make an impact. Uh and she has helped build a more stronger a stronger and a more vibrant Long Beach. So we thank you and let's hear a little bit more about Dr. Connelly. >> I would describe Dr. Jane Connley in two ways. One, respect. Two, fun. because she has a tremendous amount of respect for the students, for the faculty, for the staff, and for the institution. And as far as fun goes, you can see her at every single event on campus, and a lot off campus, just mingling with the students and just having fun. She became part of the city. She's president of the university, but she's a member of this community, and what she brought to it has touched many, many people will continue to. And there's something magical about her. >> I met President Connelly 11 years ago when I started as a student assistant in the president's office. I was the student assistant that got to move her into her office when she started at the school. And so I met her from day one. She has been um an institution for the last 11 years in Long Beach just giving back to the community, helping to lead students to be leaders in the city and um had a really direct hand in that. Uh Jane is smart but humble. She never portrays herself as the smartest person in the room, but most of the time she is. Um she is very thoughtful and very creative, but you don't necessarily see that until you start engaging with her. >> Jane, we're going to have many, many memories that we will hold on to forever. We're going to miss you, but we're grateful for the time that you did give us. So, I applaud our mayor. Thank you for giving her this honor. It couldn't be more welld deserved. >> I think giving her the keys to the city makes all the sense in the world. Um she had such a big impact and will go beyond her retirement. So she'll always be part of the beach. I I think her legacy is established when you look at the wonderful students that have been coming out of that university and the fact that she goes to every graduation and shakes thousands and thousands of hands is remarkable. But I think her legacy is not Jane. Her legacy is left with her students. All right. Well, without further ado, please come forward and receive your key to the city. >> Thank you so much. Well, that um who the people who put that together, you've made me cry. So, we we'll have to talk later about that. So, thank you um Mr. mayor and coun city council people and community members and certainly the committee who put all this together. It's such an honor to be recognized by the great city of Long Beach. Kie and I have loved our now over 11 years and I'm still president still trying to retire. um uh uh living here, getting to know the people and enjoying all the Long Beach amenities of nature, culture, entertainment, but mostly the wonderful people at the university, our faculty, our staff, our students, and then all the people in the community that I've met through Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, Arts Council, our police, our fire, our health department, city officials, and on and on. All those groups have been so welcoming as well as our partnership special partnership with LB Unified and um LBCC. Some years ago when your university was looking to distinguish itself on the crowded field of regional UC's and CSUs, our survey uh team uh uh found out that our location in Long Beach was a singular factor in students and their families finding Long Beach State a desirable university to to attend. Now, of course, our Long Beach College Promise students very much want to stay here, but this uh fact was true for out of state students and students from across the globe. As our um former chancellor Tim White used to say to me, having beach in your name is a great marketing strategy and and he was absolutely right. I think we hadund over 120,000 applications this year. In fact, if it were not for the presence of family in San Francisco, we would certainly have chosen Long Beach as our retirement community. While we won't be here full-time, you can expect to see us around as we maintain valued friendships and opportunities for me to wear my favorite gold and black go beach shoes as I go to uh beach athletic and other events. And now with the keys to the city, I guess we'll just go anywhere and stay just about everywhere. I have appreciated the city's embrace of the university and by extension of me and colleague. And in return, the university has tried to add value to the city through the Long Beach Promise program, raising the educational attainment of the region and by offering hundreds of programs for city residents in health literacy, climate change mitigation, mental health, child care, workforce and economic development, athletics, and the arts, just to name a few. So, thank you. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you very much. >> You got it. I'm going to drop this on the way. That would be >> Let me hold Let me just Oh, you got it. >> I got it. I got it. I got it. I got it. >> All right. She said she got it. >> I know where to get those in case you lose it. Let's hear it one more time. Go Beach. Let's hear it one more time, Dr. Connelly. All right. Our next honore is my dear friend, someone who I've learned from uh and looked up to since I was a a city employee at 26, who I've seen grow, who's watched me grow, uh and is now the sheriff of LA County, Robert Luna. >> Sheriff Luna is a true son of Long Beach whose lifelong commitment to service began right here in our neighborhoods. Born and raised in this community, Sheriff Luna started his career with the Long Beach Police Department in 1988 when he entered the academy. You might see a photo of that. Over more than three decades, he rose through the ranks, breaking barriers as Long Beach's first Latino police chief. [Music] >> This was a milestone not only for our department, it's a milestone for our city. and through his leadership as chief of police, uh, he was exemplary. We never had a chance to properly recognize him. After his long tenure and career with the city of Long Beach, he went on to become elected countywide. So, we never even really had a retirement party for him here in the city of city of Long Beach to recognize the way that he led with integrity and fairness and demonstrated his deep commitment to our Long Beach community. the largest uh the what are we the second large third largest law enforcement second largest law enforcement agency in our county and in our region. So tonight we get to fix that. Tonight we get to recognize uh our friend sheriff and chief Luna. He actually corrected me because I was calling him chief well be beyond sheriff. He was like all right council member. Okay I got you. But we paused to recognize you remember that was with Fluffy. You remember that? That was when we had Fluffy. Um, but we pause to recognize Sheriff Luna's remarkable career, honoring the dedication and leadership shown to the people of Long Beach. Uh, the leadership uh that he's demonstrated over decades of service, work that's laid the foundation for his continued service at the county level. His approach to public safety has always been rooted in one uh clear belief. Safety is built on trust. That guiding principle has shaped every role he has held and it continues to inspire those around him today. Let's hear more about Sheriff Luna. [Applause] >> In a city of over 450,000 citizens, it's easy to find a good cop. But I wasn't looking for just a good cop. No, I was looking for one worthy of the keys to the very city itself. During my investigation, one name kept popping up. Robert Luna. But who was this man? I need to find out more. Robert Luna is one of those rare public figures who is absolutely what he appears to be. I can tell you he is a man who leads with his heart. >> Huh. I think I'm beginning to get a clear picture of him. >> He is a a very downto-earth uh common sense kind of a guy. He is a man that uh puts high priorities on his family and his faith. He's a hardworking law enforcement professional. >> That is who he is. That is who he is as not only a law enforcement leader, but as a person. Uh I've seen it firsthand. This lead seems promising, but I have to dig deeper still. He puts a tremendous value on uh responsibility accountability uh truthfulness, u an openness to innovative and creative ideas. I had the privilege of working alongside and so closely with with the sheriff for many many years, decades. And and one of the things that that stands out to me is his investment um appreciation and commitment to community policing, to engaging and developing relationships with the people we serve. I see it every day with the officers that that work here and our our professional staff that work for the Long Beach Police Department. It's something that that meant a great deal to him. It means a great deal to me and I think it is it is essential. It's the foundation for policing in today's environment. Chief Luna provided a body of work for 36 years in the city of Long Beach uh to make Long Beach a better and safer. He's raised a family uh and and done an amazing job uh with it. The family lives in Long Beach. Daughter's a Berkeley grad and an attorney. The son is now a Long Beach police officer. he uh respected so much what his father was doing uh in the community and for the community that he chose to follow in those footsteps. That says a heck of a lot about uh the individual. If you look at the totality of his career that he's spent not only in the policing profession, but as a member of the city as of the community of Long Beach, uh living and and serving in the city of Long Beach, countless years of service, the the ups and downs that we've faced as a as a city and a community, I can't think of someone more deserving um from a leadership perspective and uh beyond that for me as a person. >> Well, it seems I found the right guy. So with that, I close the case of the keys to the city of Long Beach. All right. Well, Sheriff Luna, please come forward. Feel free to bring your your wife, your lovely family, whoever you want to bring. Uh we are proud of you, not just as a son of the city, uh but as sheriff, as a historic, uh uh chief chief of police. We're just so proud of you. On behalf of the city of Long Beach, please receive your keys. Well, good evening to uh all of you. And before I start my remarks, uh just more on a personal level, uh I lost three deputies in the last couple of weeks. I went to the last of three funerals this week. Uh, so I just want to take a second to honor Bill, Joshua, and Victor, uh, who we laid to rest, 16 children between all three um, uh, flags given to their wives and mothers. And, and I got to tell you, um, as I start my remarks and I look around this room and I see the other police officers here who I grew up with, uh, will you please give them a round of applause for the sacrifices they make? Thank you for that that means the world to them. And honestly, I wouldn't be up here receiving this key. Uh if it wasn't for each and every one of them, uh I spent 36 years of my life uh with them, uh growing up with them, watching them at work, uh sacrifice their physical and mental well-being, uh really laying it all on the line, uh for our community here in Long Beach. Uh, and yes, it's a roller coaster ride of emotions because policing is the toughest job in America for a lot of different reasons. Uh, but I got to tell you, you have an amazing police department here. And I'm very proud to say that I served here for 36 years uh, as a part of it. and know this that as I'm sitting here in front of you, there's a great deal of of of a man who's very humble because my journey wasn't easy into policing. As a kid growing up in East Los Angeles from immigrant families, the last place I thought I'd end up was in policing, but it just tells you you can do it. Uh and that's what I tell the kids that I run into uh every day, that you can absolutely do this. So when I stand up here in front of you with a lot of pride, it's because this city allowed me to fulfill my dream of becoming a police officer so many years ago. And as I say this, it's kind of ironic because the guy who recruited me uh to the Long Beach Police Department is sitting over here to my right, Roberto Yurango, when he worked for civil service. It's amazing where you're sitting now, where I'm standing here. Uh, who would have thought from that conversation at Long Beach City College back in 1985 that we would be here so many years later. So, thank you, Roberto, for for all that. And then when I talk about sacrifice, uh, my family, my wife, my daughter, my son, I cannot tell you how much they've sacrificed over the years. Uh, so thank you to the four of you um, in this job. And as anyone in uniform can tell you here, either from policing or the fire service, it's not like any other job. Um, my wife still tells me, "Hey, you know how many times when you were on SWAT, you were called out when on my birthday?" Um, yeah, I was. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I was. Um, but those are the sacrifices that we make because we want to make sure that we're available to everyone in this community. So, we call when we call. So, this key is for all of you as well. The sacrifices you made uh for me to arrive uh where I'm at. And just as I uh conclude um the partnership we've always had to make this community safe, I always go around. Yes, I'm the sheriff of Los Angeles County, largest sheriff's department in the country, but my roots are here in Long Beach. Everything from this city, good, bad, or indifferent. uh working with a lot of you in this community like Jessica and many others uh Reverend Wood uh we've gone through some ups and downs here but you know what look where we're at today because of all the work that we've done together uh and that's what it's about. So I can't wait to see the the next chapter. Uh I still live here in the city. I'm going to uh display this in my office very proudly. Uh and uh we will see what it does open up next. So thank you mayor. Thank you very much, Mayor. >> Congratulations. >> The largest sheriff agency anywhere in the country. Let me say that right. It's here for Sheriff Luna one more time. And finally, we honor war, a legendary group from deep roots right here in the city of Long Beach for more than five decades. Since they started in the early 1970s, War has shaped the musical landscape, carrying the spirit of our city across the world. When we talk about Long Beach's rich music history, you can talk about, you know, West Coast hip hop, you can talk about punk rock, you can talk about sublime Snoop Dogg. None of that would have been possible without the contribution, the legacy of war from Long Beach. So, this is a band uh that that was a jam band. They could jam. They could jam uh to a lot of different types of music uh with Long Beach roots. And that helped define our city's sound and our city's soul. And most recently, we watched as they were honored with the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And it struck me in that moment that they have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And we talk about them all the time, but they hadn't got the key to the city of Long Beach. Well, it was time to fix that. So, tonight we get to fix that. Uh we recognize uh from their earliest days that war is much more than a band. They've been cultural story storytellers. They've been b bridge builders across cultures. Uh they've been uh uh musical influences and traditions that create songs to speak to unity, to speak to resilience, speak to community. They've been celebrated on stages all around the globe, honored with national eol accolades. But their story be began right here in Long Beach. And and uh and one of their founders actually still lives right here. Uh Harold Brown still lives right here. And so, uh, Long Beach will always be an essential part of who they are. Uh, Lonnie and the team, and they all still perform, by the way. They're still out jamming, by the way. And so, uh, we are honored to represent them. Let's hear a little bit more about their story. >> I've been with War since the beginning, since 1969. They have their roots here in Long Beach. you know, most of them came from here. As they became musicians and as they became a band, I think they were called the creators originally. Um, they would play local clubs in Long Beach and and around the area, you know, even though they were underage, somehow they managed to do it and we all sort of worked together in the studio and they were like the original jam band. They really like to create music on the spot and it was what they learned while they were growing up here, you know, and what they heard from the different music genres. And we watch and learn about what's going on in the world and we just write songs about it like the world is a ghetto. >> And we rehearsed for that for that album at a uh little warehouse that we had in Long Beach. And then we went to the studio and cut the album in 29 days from beginning to end. >> So their roots are here. [Music] Low rider. It's been in movies. It's been in video games. It was the theme song of the Chichin Chong Up in Smoke movie. The song has a is a life of its own. Our audience is as diverse as the people who live in Long Beach. And it's and the music reflects it. Our music is for everybody. Everybody is part of our music. We get different parts from different people, but we all put it together in the big melting pot and out and out comes the law music. It's been a very very important part of all of their lives and of course now my life because they came from long beach. You know we've adopted that in the style that we present them to the world and I think it's very fitting that they should get the key to the city of Long Beach because they came from here and they're one of the biggest acts to ever come out of here basically. [Applause] All right. So, uh, you know, without further ado, we have members of War, some of the original members. And Jerry, you come up, too. The original manager, come on up. Come on forward. Lonnie Harold Jerry any other members of the band here? Please come forward. Please come forward. >> All right. >> Good. Come on. Come on in, gentlemen. >> We'll get your comments out. >> All right. We got a few of you, right? We have Lonnie as an original member. You receive the city >> original member. >> Thank you. >> All right. We got one more. Jerry, this represents your contributions as well. These represent the whole band. But we have some living legends, some Long Beach legends here. We wanted to make sure everybody has something to take home. Let's hear it for for War. Okay. I'm not a very good speech teller, but I can sing. Uh, but uh uh you may get mad at me right now. I have to be honest with you. Harold Brown is the one who grew up in Long Beach. I grew up in Compton right next door. But alto together, you know, everyone was uh uh joining in from the surrounding cities like Harbor City, uh Long Beach, Compton, uh anywhere in the surrounding areas, Watts, and uh but we migrated in Long Beach when we did all of our rehearsals. Like Jerry said, we created a lot of music in Long Beach. Um, the world is a ghetto was one of the quickest records we ever made and we made it from a truck, believe it or not. And uh, I just remember a lot of kids coming around enjoying us recording. Uh, some of those kids, I don't want to mention any names, but uh, Snoop Dogg um, >> he's on a tricycle. >> Yeah, they were all kids then. And, uh, they were just curious about what we were doing. We were making records and we would take a break, go down to the liquor store and buy the kids some candy because they were being good. They were and and we appreciated that that they wanted to learn uh how you record and so we gave them a little bit of lessons and some ice cream and candy and and uh they loved it and they came like every day that was their school, you know, and we felt like big brothers teachers, you know, we loved it. So, but that being said, uh I have to also give it up for Marcus Ris, my new percussionist in the dance. So and and I don't know, I might have to like cut a little piece out and give him some because Marcos has been with me for how many years now? >> Almost 28. >> Almost 28 years now. You know, >> I was three years old when he died. >> But, but enough for me. I'm gonna give it up to your Long Beach finest, Harold Brown. >> Okay. Okay. I'll try to keep it short and to the point. I'm really happy. I got my big brother sitting over there. We'd go there and then a a chief right there and we all like home and all of our people. I was uh born here in 1946. My mother was on the roller coaster right across the street there. March 17, 1946, her bag burst and they rushed her over here to 14th in Magnolia and I was born down the street. I was named after the man that saved my father's life in World War II, Lieutenant Harold Ray Jameson at that point. Uh, also First Lutheran, my big brother down there. I got the my first award is back over there somewhere, but I got my first award in 1957 from First Lutheran where I learned how to play drums in 1957. I went to Bernett Elementary School over on Atlantic and Hill Street. And I don't know how many people are familiar with the Zoots riots, but I grew up with the George W. Shivy family that represented all the Latinos at that time point. And then it's been a blessing for me. Then I went to First Lutheran. We were the first black family to attend First Lutheran down on 10th in London. I learned to play drums there in 1957. And then after that, I went to Long Beach Poly. >> Where the rabbits at. So I went to Long Beach Poly and I was one of the top distance runners in the state of California. Full scholarship to Valareerezo in ' 64, but I turned it down. started my first business at 333 East Broadway in 1964. We joined the musicians union in 1964 working with Vince Deary, Lucille Ball, and all of them. That's where Lonnie and all of us started being one of the first black bands booked up on the Sunset Strip. >> And then I down to my last $7. I still keep seven on me when God changed everything. And that's when we got back, you know, we got a chance to hook up with our producer and buddy Big Brother Jerry. Why don't you come on up here and take it over? >> I'll say something, >> please. I'm from Brooklyn also, by the way. So, um, yeah, these guys came to me. I found them at by almost by accident. I had a guy in my company. We had this big poster company back in the day and we sold posters on the road with all the major stars like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, etc. One of my poster guys kept telling me about this band that he has that you got to hear my band. You got to hear my band. You got to hear my band. So, I said, "Okay, I'll set up a rehearsal at Studio Instrument Reynolds in Hollywood and we'll we'll hear your band." Okay. I go to the band. I go to hear them and I was like shocked. Okay, here's a bunch of guys that could play Latin, funk, rock, blues, jazz, everything, you know. I said, and then the first thing I said is, what the hell do you do with a group like this, you know? They they can play anything, you know. But I said, okay, let me think about this. And then they played me a Latin version of Painted Black that just tore me up. Just threw just blew me away. And I went, "Wow, that's really interesting." You know, and so I just left it. And they said they were playing a Las Vegas show in um northern, you know, North Hollywood at a place called uh the Ragd Doll. So, and it's next week. I said, "Yeah, I'll come. I'll see." They were playing behind Deacon Jones, the football player. He's doing like one-handed push-ups singing, "Oh, baby, don't leave me." you know, and it was very interesting show actually. But anyway, at the same time, I'm in my office and Eric Burton shows up. He's the lead singer of The Animals. It's had 20 hit records and, you know, very despondent about the record business. Everybody took everything. His managers took all the money and he's going back to Newcastle. And I went, you know, tonight this group that I've been trying to figure out what to do with is playing the ragd doll, this club in the valley. you know, why don't you come meet me there and see what you think? You know, they're very different. I never heard anything like them, you know. So, we go we go to the valley and he we sit there and he brings this Monaco player from Denmark who barely speaks English by the way and he's he was living with him and you know come. So, we watched the show and it was interesting and then they jammed and Lee got up and jammed and of course these guys thought Lee was Eric Burton. you know, but they didn't know who Eric was at all, you know. And so I called, next day we go home. I go home, I call Eric on the phone. I said, "So, what do you think of the band?" He said, "We're rehearsing at 4:00." They rehearsed for about two months. Um, did some local gigs here, okay? Local, maybe even one in Long Beach and one in, you know, San Bernardino, I think. So, we were kind of ready. They were like dress rehearsals and then we played the damage to Downs Pop Festival with a 100,000 people was the first gig on Eric Bur and War by the way and we followed this small little act called Credence Clearwater who had like 20 hits or whatever and blew the place away on our first gig and I went wow this is this is going to happen you know this is real and over the years you know it became more real and more real and my guys who could play anything made records made hit records in every direction you know and I'm very proud of them and this is really fantastic thing for us and we thank you thank you very much >> right stay up stay up here all right folks uh let's hear for all of our recipients of 2025 key to the city. These people have opened doors. They have uh blazed path and trails and we honor them in the city of Long Beach. Now we invite all the key to city key the city recipients and our city council forward to take a final photo. [Applause] You did. >> All right, let's try to get All right, we're going to we're going to uh take a 5m minute recess while the room clears. We'll be back in 5 minutes. Thank you. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] All right, let's reconvene the council. We'll call roll in 60 seconds. All right. Roll call, please. >> Councilwoman Sandeas. A lot of roll calls today. >> Present. >> Councilwoman Allen, >> present. >> Council member Dugen, >> here. >> Councilman Suberna >> here. >> Councilwoman Kerr >> here. >> Councilwoman Sorrow, >> present. Vice Mayor Uranga >> present. >> Councilwoman Thrash and Tuk >> here. >> Council member Rick Zod here. Mayor Richardson >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> All right. Uh well, thank you uh all for returning and thank you for uh participating tonight. We have a lot going on city council agenda tonight, but I want to start off by wishing a happy early birthday to our vice mayor, Roberto Yuranga. He's turning 28. [Applause] He's he's he's uh he's my birthday twin. We're birthday twins. Our birthday is a week apart. Um 30 years apart, but birthday twins. Um happy birthday, Vice Mayor. Uh council member uh Thrash Inuk is participating remotely. We have a lot to do today. We already had the key to the city presentation. We have one brief presentation. uh we we will have to take up consent calendar first because that has a time set time certain. So we'll do that. There's two ordinances. We'll get out of the way and then we jump right into uh the budget hearing which goes first and then we'll get into I know folks are here for uh uh the hearings hearing 24 and hearing 20 hearing 25 and hearing 26. We'll get into those uh and then we have additional items after that. So there's a really busy night. So, let's start off uh let's take up uh the report out from city council first. >> Yeah, I mean from close session. >> Thank you, mayor. We have no report from close session. >> Fantastic. Thank you. Uh next we will do uh consent calendar. >> So, we we're going to need a motion and a second. >> Yeah, I see the motion second's come in. >> Okay. >> All right. And I see motion Rick Sod and um Deas. We have one member of the public signed up to speak. Kathleen Adams. >> Just make sure a microphone's on. Okay. Go ahead. city council for approving in the consent calendar items 18 and 19 to for the additional supplement of supplying our police officers with high quality equipment some of which is right here in Southern California in Srios and also in Minnesota and I'm sure um the best quality must be from Minnesota and I uh is for through 28 2028 so for three years we're going to be uh seeing high quality products for police officers. So, thank you for that. This is in addition to the already approved 4 million for tasers and cameras. And I just want to commend everyone um that we're supporting our police officers at this time. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you very much. Members, roll call vote, please. >> Yes. Mayor, would you like to pull item number seven? >> I don't see it on request to pull item 27. >> Yes. >> Item seven. >> So, we'll do >> Oh, I do see that. Okay. Yeah, we'll separate item seven, please. >> Thank you. Uh, council district 1, >> I. >> Council district two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four, >> I. >> District five, >> I. >> District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. >> District nine, >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> All right. Thank you. Item seven, please. >> Report from fire department. Recommendation to adopt resolution to execute a contract and any necessary documents, including any necessary subsequent amendments with trauma intervention programs to provide victim support services for the fire department in an annual amount not to exceed $25,000 citywide. I need a verbal motion and a second. >> Motion second. >> Okay, it's been moved and seconded. Uh, council member um, uh, Dugen, comments. >> I just wanted to pull this item to acknowledge and thank the fire department for working and investing in TIP, the trauma intervention program. PD currently uh, supports them, but TIP trains community volunteers to respond within 20 minutes to traumatic incidents, providing emotional first aid support, and referrals to victims and families. They're available 24/7 and respond as volunteers within 20 minutes to deaths, fires, medical emergencies, and accidents, making sure no one is left in alone during the most vulnerable moments. Their presence not only helps survivors, but it also eases the burden on first responders, improving the overall effectiveness and compassion of the city's crisis response. I just wanted to recognize their work and the impact that you have on your committee community and thank you to fire. >> All right. Thank you. Is there any public comment here? >> Roll call vote, please. >> District one. >> I >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four, >> I. >> District five, >> I. >> District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. District nine. >> I motion is carried. >> All right. Thank you. We're going to quickly take care of items 29 and 30. Let's do 29. Please. >> Report from city attorney. Recommendation to declare ordinance amending title 10 in the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to preferential parking district U read and adopted as read citywide. >> All right. Thank you. Uh is do we need a v voice motion in second? Yes. A voice motion and a second. >> Okay. Sounds like Daryl. >> Okay. Councilwoman move CD2 second. CD4. >> Is there any public comment here? >> No public comment. >> Okay. Roll call vote, please. >> Council district 1. >> I. >> Council district 2. >> I. >> Council district three. >> I. >> Council district 4. >> I. >> Council district 5. >> I. >> Council district 6. >> I. >> Council district 7. >> I. >> Council district 8. >> I. Council District 9 >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> Thank you. 30 please. >> Report from city attorney recommendation to declare ordinance of the city council of the city of Long Beach relating to establishing staffing requirements for self-service checkout stations at grocery and drug stores to advance public safety and prevent retail theft red read and adopted as read citywide. >> All right, we need a motion and second verbally. So moved. >> All right. Moved one and second seven. Uh I see one member of the public signed up to speak. Dave Shukla. >> In the house. >> Okay. Seeing no further public comment. Roll call vote, please. >> District. >> Is he here? >> Dave, you're called. You got to be in the room. Public comment. >> Take your time. It's all good. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Roll call vote, please. District one. >> I. >> District two. >> I. >> District three. >> Nay. >> District four. >> Nay. >> District five. >> I. >> District six. >> I. >> District seven. >> I. >> District eight. >> I. >> District nine. >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> All right. Thank you. We now will go to the neighborhood leadership program present. Congratulations. That is done. Um, we'll go to the neighborhood leadership program class of 2025 presentation. City manager. >> Yes, we have Margaret Madden here to uh provide that update on behalf of community development. Thank you, Christopher. >> Hey, Margaret. >> Good evening. Good evening, Honorable Mayor Richardson and members of the city council. It is my honor to recognize the neighborhood leadership program class of 2025 before you tonight. Since 1992, over 800 dedicated, thoughtful Long Beach neighborhood leaders representing the diversity and the best of our city and our country have completed our five-month curriculum and are activating their love and commitment to Long Beach to make a difference in our city. It's my pleasure tonight to introduce Amy Bower from this year's class. a second a second district resident Amy was selected by her classmates to represent the class before you tonight. >> Thank you. Welcome, Amy. >> Thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of city council. For me, joining the neighborhood leadership program was to network with my community. I already am a city grantee to Clement LB grants and so my grant resources that the classmates were very interested in was not as important to me. My interest was to make direct contact with residents and city employees. What I was not expecting of my classmates yet an understanding that we're all connected and want to make a better life for everyone in Long Beach. Saying that it was not always easy working together. We were like a group of students thrown together with no one wanting to take lead. We had stumbling moments from the time we first met. We didn't have the same values for our project. We lost group members. We changed dates. We had to rewrite our grant and our budget numerous times. And we could never meet all in person, which my group at our largest was only six people. Yet, we learned quickly what each other's skills were and leaned into that. On the day one, I walked into orientation knowing no one. I didn't know what to expect. An icebreaker matched me up with a person, someone that would become someone I joke with almost daily, someone who was invaluable to our group project succeeding, and someone I would add to my list of people that I can call before 7 a.m. I'll be taking away new friendships with both NLP classmates and city employees. NLP solidified the intersection of my personal and professional activities with many other people in Long Beach, and you will see more of me as I continue to collaborate with all the people I've met during these past five months. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. And I would just like to add a huge thank you to my NLP classmates for trusting in me to re represent us all. Thank you and good night. >> All right. Well, the neighborhood leadership program is an incredible program. It's a tradition in the city of Long Beach. It is an opportunity a city sponsored program where we train neighborhood leaders on how to take the next step in civic engagement. We have graduated some incredible leaders. So, congratulations to this new class. Uh we wish you the very best. We have uh commissions and opportunities to serve and always looking for fresh blood. So uh we will we will certainly be putting you all to work. Uh public service public service is a thankless job but but we try to thank and recognize our servants here in Long Beach. Thank you. So let's have all of you stand up. The class of 2025. These are Long Beach leaders. These are Long Beach residents and leaders. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Uh, Council Member Exod. >> Yes. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I just wanted to again recognize all of you for your hard work. Uh, I know it's not easy giving of your time and your talent and, uh, and and time is precious these days. So, I really want to thank you for your commitment to the city. Um, I've personally seen a lot of value come out of this as a former neighbor, you know, as a neighborhood leader. Uh, a lot of my colleagues who were also neighborhood leaders had done the neighborhood leadership program. Um, and my very own community affairs coordinator is actually a graduate of the neighborhood leadership program. So, I can definitely see the path that it leads to. Um, but I I also want to just give a shout out to the three outstanding graduates from district nine. Um, I want to congratulate each of you. I see Brenda Roberts uh Robertson Coington back there. Uh, Jennifer Trusios, Mackenzie Mang, um, on completing I want to congratulate you on completing this journey and commend you on your dedication and passion you've shown for this community and the work that you have put in. Um, I have certificates from my office to you all congratulating you on your accomplishments. And I also wanted you to know as District 9 residents, your journey does not uh end here. In October, my team will be hosting our own Uptown Lead Academy, another opportunity to build on the momentum you created and expand your leadership skills and ways that you continue to invest in our in our district. And so, I just want to thank you and I want to thank everybody that was in the class. Again, this is a great milestone. Um, and leadership doesn't stop here. So, thank you so much. All right, Council Member Sorrow. >> Yes. I want to add my congratulations to the class of 2025. I know it's not easy when you all come together uh as you get to know each other and work together and this is what it the program is really about. It's building community and it's it's strengthening our neighbors through you. So, I just wanted to give a special shout out to two graduates from district 6, Veronica Veronica Martinez. Yes. and Laura Moso as well. Congratulations to you, too. We look forward in hosting future events and neighborhood activities together. So, plea, my office will make sure we're going to reach out to you and put your skills into action. So, looking forward to working together. >> That's called being volunttold. Councilwoman uh Zenaas, >> thank you. as a very proud proud neighborhood leadership um graduate myself um from back almost 20 years ago. I just want to say congratulations to the class of 2025. And also Amy, thank you for sharing those wonderful words. And believe you not, that's exactly how my class was at that time. and a lot a lot a lot of my um colleagues at the time were just it was just the beginning for us. So I just want to say that this is just the beginning for you and what a beautiful beautiful reflection of what our city our beautiful city of Long Beach is. Congratulations to all of us. >> All right. Well, congratulations to you all and we have uh some recognition for our office that we'll share with Margaret. Thanks a lot. Uh let's Congratulations again, class of 2025. All right, believe it or not, we just knocked out like 29 items that quick. We will now begin the budget hearing. So, let's have hearing 24, please. Report from financial management. Recommendation to conduct a budget hearing to receive and discuss an overview of the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget for the department of police and fire citywide. >> All right. This is a continuation of our budget hearing we began at the last council meeting. Uh tonight we'll hear two departments uh police and fire and and this is an opportunity for the council and the public to ask their questions as a part of our continued budget hearing process. We'll now pass it to Assistant City Manager uh Walker. >> Yes, Mayor. Um we have first up our police department led by uh Chief Heibbish and Bureau Chief uh Jalissa Jose Moruri. The one thing I wanted to ask is if we want to do PD then question. Okay, great. >> And one period for questions. >> Perfect. That's how we will move forward. Thank you. [Music] All right. Thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council and Miss Walker. I'm excited to present the police department's proposed FY26 budget and to share some significant accomplishments and highlights. This budget reflects our response to emerging challenges and also represents our commitment to providing exceptional public safety services to our community. I'd like to start by recognizing the outstanding employees that make up the Long Beach Police Department. When I say Long Beach has the best police department in the nation, I mean it. And words alone don't capture what we do. It's demonstrated in the actions which our employees take each day. Whether risking their lives to rescue suspects from a burning stolen vehicle, bravely rushing into a house set ablaze by an armed murder suspect, investigating, identifying, and arresting a man for violently abusing a helpless dog, or activating our entire department and members of our community to return a child safely back into the arms of her mother. The Long Beach Police Department shows up each day because it's who we are and who will continue to be. And I'm honored to be a member of this organization. An organization that's modern and forward thinking with over,200 employees, sworn and civilian, each playing a vital role in the safety and stability of our city. Patrol officers respond to calls and provide critical assistance at moments when it matters most. Detectives work relentlessly to solve crimes, support victims, and bring resolution to families impacted by violence. Specialized units including the high crime focus team, neighborhood safety bike team, quality of life team, and a variety of others contribute to bringing meaningful strategies to the city's most complex challenges. Behind the scenes, our professional staff keeps the department running 24/7, managing communications, facilities, fleet, records, payroll, and finance with professionalism and precision. Our special services officers help staff our jail, our civic center, our public libraries, our city college, and the Long Beach airport. Our youth and community engagement division has grown into a national model. And together, our employees form a responsive, resilient, and deeply committed organization. And despite unprecedented challenges from staffing shortages to shifting legal mandates, we remained agile, solution focused, and grounded in our values. respect, compassion, service, integrity, and accountability. The FY26 budget pro proposal promotes a vision which prioritizes futureproofing the Long Beach Police Department so we can meet the needs of a growing and thriving city. A strategic, forward-looking plan based on operational efficiency, workforce development, and innovative and modernized service delivery. We're not limited to only assessing our current needs. We're setting ambitious goals to plan and prepare for the future. We accomplish this through four key service areas: emergency response and calls for service, including rapid coordinated responses to 911 calls, critical incidents, and the protection of critical infrastructure and key resource locations such as the port, airport, and entertainment districts and civic facilities. criminal investigations with an emphasis on case resolution, support for victims, and datadriven approaches to violent and property crime. Operational support, technology, and training, which ensures continuity across all functions, including training current and future officers. And community and department trust and engagement, which fosters strong positive relationships with residents, businesses, and employees through transparency, outreach, and partnerships. As of July 2025, our officers have responded to to nearly 100,000 calls for service, averaging about 547 calls per day. In addition, we also staff and support a variety of ancillary services within our community. And despite current vacancies and an unprecedented staffing shortage, we're still maintaining base officer staffing levels in the field in order to meet the needs of the public. Our officers are working mandatory overtime. So, we can do this. And yet, our priority 1 response times remain well within the optimal national average for emergency police response times. Currently, we're averaging 5.6 minutes for priority ones. In addition, our community service assistants support our patrol operations by responding to over 4,500 priority 3 calls, allowing officers to focus on higher priority calls and emergency responses. As with any law enforcement agency, crime and safety are fundamental principles of our mission, and we're proud to share some significant progress in crime reduction through June 30th, 2025. Property crime down 23.6%. Murders down 27.8%. Robberies down 18.9%. Shootings continue to trend downward for the third year with a 29.2% decrease year-to date. Statistics are not the only tool we use to evaluate ourselves. We want our community to not only be safe, but feel safe. Which is why our police officers have worked so hard to impact gun violence. This year alone, recovering over 500 firearms, many taken from violent offenders willing to victimize others. These outcomes are the result of focused patrol deployments, investigative expertise, and thoughtful resource allocation. We don't just track emerging crime trends and pursue high-risisk offenders. We work diligently to strengthen trust within the communities most affected by violence. The police department continues implementing forward-thinking strategies that enhance how we serve our community by supplementing patrol operations, investing in the future of our workforce, and modernizing services. Supplementing patrol operations. We've enhanced patrol operations through the deployment of specialized units tasked with implementing enforcement strategies coupled with an intentional community engagement philosophy. Our high crime focus team provides additional support for neighborhoods experiencing persistent violence or high crime trends. They balance proactive enforcement with internal and external information sharing and engagement. Over the past year, the high crime focus teams made 89 felony arrests, recovered 58 illegal firearms, and participated in over 100 community engagements. Our neighborhood safety bike team provides visibility and service in parks, libraries, and business corridors. In 2024, the neighborhood safety bike team logged 4542 community contacts and made 402 business visits, strengthening our presence and responsiveness throughout the entire city. Our quality of life and mental evaluation team, which is a co-response model pairing a county clinician with a police officer, continue to improve our response to individuals experiencing homelessness or behavioral health issues. Over the past year, they've made 9,500 contacts, helping 393 individuals access temporary housing and 48 individuals secure permanent housing. We continue investing in the growth and development of our personnel by creating new training pathways and professional development opportunities. In July, we launched the recruit readiness program, a voluntary initiative designed to provide ana to provide academybound police candidates with skills that recruits often struggle with in the academy. Just today, we added another 18 non-career recruits, bringing our total up to 36. We also implemented the most robust training program for new police sergeants in our department's history. This training program equips newly promoted sergeants with practical leadership tools, legal and procedural knowledge, and scenario-based training to prepare them for the complexities of frontline supervision to meet everchanging public safety needs. We continually examine how best to modernize operations and improve operational efficiency, allowing patrol officers to focus on emergencies and call for service priorities. We've launched a telephonic reporting unit to further impact the growing workload for officers. Launched in August of 2024, the TRU has completed 969 reports on lower priority incidents such as petty theft and vandalism. Our rapid booking jail pilot program has streamlined booking processes, reducing officer wait times and increasing patrol availability while maintaining compliance and security protocols. The Realtime Crime Center has helped with over 225 investigations, improving situational awareness and investigative turnaround times. We're equally committed to a relationship-based model of public safety. And over the course of the past few years, we've deepened our engagement with youth, families, crime victims, and partner organizations. The LBPD Youth and Community Engagement Division has redefined how we connect with young people in the broader Long Beach community. They've guided our organization in areas of outreach, leadership development, and partnerships, serving as a true model for public engagement. We also recognize the importance of preparing tomorrow's generation of public safety professionals, which is why we've significantly expanded our core youth programs, both the Explorer and Cadet programs. growing participation by more than 600% and engaging over 65 young people who routinely volunteer their time in support of emergency operations, community events, and public service. These programs transcend simply preparing young adults for a career in law enforcement. These programs serve to provide mentorship, guidance, and the tools to lead and successfully nav navigate turbulent times. Our youth leadership academy has trained over 100 teens in leadership fundamentals, communication, and civic responsibility. Many of these young adults are now teaching their peers about violence prevention and decision-making programs at teen centers and community sites across Long Beach. We've also continued to expand our trauma-informed approach to safety through increased collaboration with the trauma intervention program, ensuring timely, compassionate crisis support to residents in need. As I mentioned early earlier, I deeply believe in the importance of futurep proofing our police department. In FY26, we seek to align resources and position ourselves for a safe Long Beach today, tomorrow, and beyond. The key structural changes in this year's budget is the reorganization of details within our special investigations division to create a consolidated societal crime section. This section will concentrate on quality of life concerns such as vandalism and business district complaints as well as crimes now classified as societal such as human trafficking and prostitution, weapon law violations, animal abuse, and narcotics violations. Combining these resources into a single focused section will allow for a more unified and directed approach to these complex and often interconnected issues. We're also expanding our community service assistance program by adding eight full-time positions. These positions will handle low priority calls for service, staff certain special event roles, and further support patrol by allowing us to strategically deploy sworn officers to higher priority incidents while maintaining a strong, visible public safety presence at major events. Our budget also reflects the conclusion of the contract with LA Metro, allowing us to redeploy eight Metro officers and three supervisors to support patrol field operations in critical areas. In FY26, we're investing in the administrative foundation that supports our critical public safety operations, enhancing compliance, operational readiness, and oversight to reinforce our training, field supervision, and jail operations. We're adding administrative capacity, audit and reporting compliance, and program performance tracking. Within our strategic initiatives bureau, we're expanding administrative support to oversee departmentwide technology efforts, streamlining project planning and tracking and improving internal coordination across technology related functions. In our finance and payroll sections, we're upgrading key positions to improve labor compliance, streamline administrative processes, and enhance fiscal accountability. The FY26 budget expands our commitment to youth leadership, mentorship, and professional development. We're reallocating administrative intern positions to focus on community engagement and communications, providing paid learning opportunities for young adults and creating a pathway to a successful law enforcement career. We're also seeking to expand our youth leadership academy. With one-time funds, we'll be able to host a co-ed academy focused on mentorship, civic engagement, and skill building, and a young women's leadership academy designed to support our efforts to increase and grow the percentage of women in the policing profession in the Long Beach Police Department. I'd also like to note that several departments have signed on for the 30 by30 initiative, and I stand behind that commitment uh whether supported or scrutinized. And I'd like to share that members of our command staff here today consist of a female deputy chief, two female bureau chiefs, a female chief of staff, and several females representing command positions within our organization. So, I'd like to give them a round of applause for everything they do and all of the people that support them in what they do. and they're going to be upset that I called them out. To meet the demands of today's public safety landscape and prepare for the global events on the horizon, including LA28 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the numerous large-scale events being held in our city. We're proposing several one-time forwardinking investments that will expand our capabilities in the field and deliver smarter and safer services to the community. 1.3 million to maintain the high crime focus team's ability to address violent crime and high crime trends citywide and strengthen community engagement in our neighborhoods. 1.5 million to build out the real-time crime center into a centralized hub that enhances coordination, security, and threat response, including information assessments, analysis, and the dissemination of products to our officers in the field. 1.5 million to replace obsolete helicopter camera systems, improving evidence gathering, officer safety in support of search and seizure ef or search and rescue efforts. 300,000 to launch a drone for patrol pilot program which will test the use of drone technology to provide aerial support, improve officer and community safety, and increase response times for field units. As we look ahead to FY26, we understand the environment in which we're operating. There's a growing mismatch between an increased workload and the resources available to meet expectations. And while the demands have increased, our staffing levels and internal capacity have struggled to keep up. There are a variety of factors which contribute to the challenges ahead, including violent crime. While we continue to make progress in reducing shootings and homicides, violent crime is a dynamic challenge in our region. All the while, international and domestic threats remain ever present in our country. Legislative mandates every year brings new policies and reporting requirements that reshape how we operate, oftentimes without the funding or staffing required to implement them effectively. Technology advancement and departmental needs. Public safety technology and expectations are rapidly evolving. However, it's deep difficult to keep pace with the staffing and funding necessary to maintain these advancements. Recruitment and hiring constraints. Although we continue to make progress, we're still working to overcome a historic staffing shortage which has led to significant mandatory overtime requirements for police officers. This is not a sustainable model and can contribute to fatigue and stress in the workplace. Special event demands and community impact. As Long Beach becomes a regional destination for large-scale special events, we face challenges staffing and managing these events. This includes increased demands to safeguard the public both during and after events when crowds disperse into our neighborhoods and entertainment districts. Employee wellness and retention. The weight of these challenges is felt most acutely by our employees and we must continue to address the associated impacts on our staff and we are committed to maintaining a healthy workforce which will help contribute to maintaining a healthy community. While challenges will always exist, we'll continue responding by acknowledging the reality of what we're facing and using these challenges to help guide our decisions and reveal new opportunities, such as opportunities to modernize our systems, innovate how we deliver safety, and deepen trust within the community we serve. We're investing in the infrastructure and institutions that will shape the future of public safety in Long Beach. in FY26 will welcome class 100 as our first class taking place in our long- awaited rebuilt Long Beach training facility. And I'd like to extend our sincere thanks to our partners in public works for their commitment in helping bring this vision to life. The real time crime center will expand into a dedicated operations hub, integrating video, data, and field coordination to support officers in real time. And the new crime lab planned for for 125mm will elevate our investigative capacity and improve cutting edge forensics to Long Beach and our region, which as you know will be on the world stage in the coming years. We're embracing innovation and technology that empowers our workforce, streamlines operations, and strengthens safety outcomes. The drone for patrol pilot program will enhance community and officer safety while improving situ situational awareness on the ground. Our scheduling unit which we launched two years ago and our new electronic timekeeping platform will help optimize staffing essential in a resource constrained environment and the replacement of the city's CAD and RMS systems will improve public safety interoperability and field operations. Trust serves as a foundational public safety principle. Our community policing philosophies and strategies encourage encourage relationship building and shared problem solving. Our youth initiatives are creating pathways to service and leadership for the next generation, and our expanded victim support demonstrates a compassionate approach to public safety. In closing, I'd like to add that I believe our department has moved the needle forward on public safety, and I have no doubt we will continue to do so. And although we're stepping toward the future with a sense of urgency, we're doing so with our values at the center of all that we do. The FY26 proposed budget is not just about funding operations. It's about building a department that reflects the strength, resilience, and diversity of Long Beach. It's about protecting the people we serve while also supporting the people charged with this duty. Mayor and city council, I'd like to thank you for your continued trust, partnership, and support. I'd also like to thank our Long Beach community for their voice, vigilance, and vision for a safer city. And lastly, I have to thank the employees of the Long Beach Police Department for their immense passion, integrity, and unbelievable commitment. They show up every day demonstrating both courage and compassion and a belief in the reality of what's possible for our police department and our community. We're creating a future that Long Beach can be proud of, and I'm honored to be here with with you every day. Thank you, and I stand ready to answer any questions you may have. >> All right. Thanks, Chief. Uh we're gonna we're going to go to the next presentation. Before you do, just want to um acknowledge you and thank you what your departments have been able to do these last few years despite the challenges coming out of the pandemic and staffing. It should be it it should be recognized. It's incredible. Uh the fact that we're at a six-month and thank you for showing where we are six months into every year the last three years. We have some real momentum in the city in terms of uh seeing real reductions in crime that could not have been achieved without uh high crime focus team patrol officers who've worked overtime and all of those things and uh the heart for our community and community partners stepping up that should be certainly be recognized. We thank you and we also know how hard you've worked fourmies in two years. I mean that's unheard of. Fourmies in two years. I know because I speak at every one of the graduations and I got to come up with something different to say, right? Because you're you're you're doing it so much. But we look forward to this year finally opening the new academy. So the council will have questions in a moment. We're going to go through uh the next presentation. Just wanted to offer up next. All right. So, now we have our fire chief Dennis Buchanan with Bureau Chief Mora Ventura. Is it Velasco Ventura? Ventura. Thank you. >> Well, good evening, honorable mayor and members of city council. Thank you for your time today for allowing me to highlight the great work being done by the Long Beach Fire Department. I'm excited to share an overview of the vital services provided by the fire department. A deep a team that is deeply committed to protecting our community with professionalism, preparness, and pride. Long Beach Fire Department delivers comprehensive 911 frontline community services across the city of Long Beach, including the Port of Long Beach, the Long Beach airport, and along the coastline. As you can see, this is a highly complex and multiaceted operation across our city. We staff 18 general city fire stations with additional specialized coverage such as four dedicated port fire stations and one at the Long Beach airport to support marine and coastal operations. We operate two port fireboats and six fire and lifeguard rescue boats along with 20 22 lifeguard towers and eight lifeguard facilities to keep our beaches safe year round. In terms of apparatus and personnel deployment, the department operates a wide range of resources, including 10 general fire engines and four general fire trucks, eight general paramedic engines, four dedicated port paramedic engines, and three airport specific fire apparatus. Mercy medical services are a cornerstone of our work and our EMS coverage includes nine full-time 247 paramedic ambulances, one peakload paramedic ambulance and five basic life support ambulances. These ass these assets reflect funding investments to the fire department so that we can deliver rapid response and tailor service delivery for a dynamic and busy city. Whether it's a fire emergency, a medical crisis, or a marine rescue, the Long Beach Fire Department stands equipped, trained, and responsive to the needs of our community. The fire department is more than just fire, fire engines, and trucks. We're a mission-driven team committed to delivering comprehensive services that protect and serve our community. This work is powered by over 400 fire sworn personnel as as well as a committed team of ambus operators, marine safety staff, and 175 seasonal lifeguards. Behind the scenes, our professional staff who are experts in fire prevention analytics finance compliance, and operations. They make sure every piece of the system runs efficiently. Our services are strong because our staff are incredibly passionate and committed to serving everyone in the city who requests our help. The dedication, skill, and heart for this city are truly what makes the Long Beach Fire Department special. As we have presented to council in prior presentations, emergency medical services compose a large portion of our 911 calls in many neighborhoods, particularly in Central, West, and North Long Beach. Our fire department is the first and only point of contact for urgent medical care. These are some of the highest need areas in the city and our EMS personnel respond to thousands of calls annually, often under intense and complex circumstances. If you refer to the graph on this slide, we've seen a consistent year-over-year increase in patient transports, a clear indication our community is relying on us more than ever. Since fiscal year 2020, advanced life support transports have risen from approximately 15,000 to nearly 20,000. That represents a 30% increase. And basic life support ambis transports have also steady increase. This demonstrates a growing demand for emergency health care that underscores the Long Beach Fire Department's positive contributions to patient health outcomes and the public health system. To meet this to meet this demand, we continue to center our budget around EMS funding to support enhanced service delivery in communities that need it most. Now that we've highlighted our key services, I now like to share some key accomplishments we've made over the past year. First, the scale of our service speaks volumes. In fiscal year 2024 alone, we responded to over 84,000 calls for service, resulting in more than 162,000 unit responses. That's an average of 230 calls per day spread across 23 fire stations and among our marine safety personnel. To better support our fast-paced work environment environment, we've made great strides in our hiring and onboarding process, bringing our VA vacancy rate down to just 3% as of July of 2025. This is a direct result of streamlining internal process and straining our recruitment pipelines. We also took an important step forward in accountability and leadership by launching a professional standards division including hiring a dedicated division officer and administrative analyst focused on investigations and oversight. And when it comes to technology and safety, we've completed a full procurement, installation, training, and transition to a cloud-based NOxbox system, which enhances security for both residential and commercial properties across the city. This effort improves emergency fire response, but also our partnership with property owners and businesses. And finally, we welcome the largest fire recruit class in recent history to our fire academy. We started with 50 recruits and I'm proud to report that 37 probationary firefighters successfully graduate helping us reach fires for staffing above and beyond our budgeted staffing levels. This is a major win for service continuity and community safety. In addition to advancing our departmentwide goals, I would like to highlight one of the most critical high impact areas of service which is our 911 emergency medical services. In fiscal year 2024, emergency medical calls made up 78% of our service calls, totaling 30 65,000 EMS incidents. That's an average of 178 medical calls every single day. This highlights the community's reliance on our firefighter paramedics and ambulance operators to ensure patient health and safety. Of those 911 calls, 46% result in hospital transport with nearly 20,000 patients transported by our ALS paramedic units and more than 10,000 by our BLS units. These trans these transports aren't just statistics. They represent real people who have their health issues stabilized, emergencies resolved, and critical care delivered to take care of patients who live or or are visiting the city of Long Beach. Our EMS teams also continue to prioritize equity and compassion, serving as a lifeline to our most vulnerable residents. Over a third of EMS calls supported vulnerable populations, including more than 16,000 seniors, 4200 unhoused individuals, 3,950 veterans, and over 3600 senior nursing facility residents. As I close out this slide, I want to share a big thank you to our firefighter paramedics. Not only are they ready to fight fires, but they're also trained to handle complex medical emergencies with skill and care. And let's not forget our incredible EMT, fire sworn staff, our ambulance operators, and lifeguards who provide EMT and first aid care to residents and visitors throughout the city. As we look to the future of the Long Beach Fire Department, one thing is clear. Our ability to deliver highquality fire, EMS, and lifeguard services depends on a strong homegrown workforce. By responding to structure fires, medical emergencies, or rescues along our shoreline, our department needs individuals who not only have the skills, but the heart to serve their community. That's why we're investing in recruitment programs that engage local youth and young adults early in their educational journeys through initiatives like the Darren Rocket Academy and the Jordan High School Leaps program. We're planting the seeds of public service in high school students. Over 850 youth participate in the junior lifeguard program. just this past summer. We also support search and rescue efforts, our youth search volunteers, and EMS riongs of local schools, including the Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach City College, and Cal State University Long Beach, giving young people a real world look into careers in public safety. And the results are paying off. Of the 2025A fire recruit class, fire academy class, 76% of our graduated recruits came through one or more of our pathway programs. This is a win for our youth and young adults as well as the for the fire department. We're not just hiring employees. We're building a department that reflects and represents the community we serve. And when our paramedics, lifeguards, and firefighters know Long Beach as youth and young adults, they bring a personal commitment to the city. By continuing to nurture these local pathways, we're ensuring that the future of emergency response in Long Beach is not only skilled, but rooted in the city it serves. With these pathways, with these pathways building up our local talent pipeline, let's turn to fiscical year 26 budget proposals that will sustain and expand this work. As part of the city of Long Beach team, our department is committed to strong financial stewardship and cost recovery efforts. In fiscal year 26, we project to receive over $5 million in added revenue from state programs, updated ambulance fees, and airport cost recovery. These funds directly support our community facing services and help offset essential expedentures. Specifically, we are forecasted to receive an additional 2.5 million in additional revenue from the state's PPGMT program based on the increase of transports and the per patient reimbursement amount. We're also updating our patient transport fees to LA County rates that went into effect on July 1st, 2025. The fire department has based its fees to match LA County for much of its history. And the fire department also worked for our partners at the airport department to rightsize our interdep departmentalou for cost recovery related to fire station 16 which is 100% dedicated to Long Beach airport's service needs. And finally, we are adding one fire inspector too to the fire prevention bureau who will be dedicated to performing fire inspections for all Long Beach Unified schools, preschools, and private schools. This position is fully offset by the inspection revenue for these facilities. Moving on, the fire department is grateful for the proposed investments into our emergency medical services. We have previously presented the benefit of the peak load ALS ambulance unit, which operates on a 127 model out of fire station 2. We propose to make this unit structural, which will add four firefighter paramedics to the fire department budget. The 1.3 million cost is offset by PPGMT revenue, which I highlighted in my last slide. We're also proposing 500,000 to replace outdated patient care equipment, items like hydraulic patient patient stretchers, stair chairs, and CPR devices, ensuring our patients receive the best care during their personal emergency. And to keep our workforce trained and ready, we're proposing that 400,000 in measure A onetime funds to cost to cover the cost of sending our firefighters to a 9-month state required paramedic training program to ensure firefighter paramedic vacancies are filled. And we're requesting that another 360,000 in one-time measure 8 funds cover onboarding, background checks, and ambis operator trainingmies. This will continue the success of our stabilized amory staffing program. Looking to fiscal year 26, we're very grateful for the key infrastructure investments to ensure our fire department continues to operate efficiently and equitably across all facilities. First, we're extending the lease for a temporary fire station 9 through March of 2026. This gives us a temporary fire station 9 at its current location to maintain service coverage in the area while the new and permit station is being constructed. We're also increasing funding to cover utility maintenance at the Captain Dave Rosa Regional Training Center, supporting the long-term sustainability of this essential resource. In addition, onetime funding will enhance our recruitment and retention practices with a focus on gender and underrepresented groups. And because our people deserve workspaces that reflect our values, we're investing in one-time improvements at fire station 19 and 22 to enhance dormatory privacy and create more inclusive, respectful environments for all personnel. These investment these investments may seem behind the scene, but they make a real difference in safety, comfort, and readiness for our department members. As we look ahead, it's important to acknowledge the external factors that could pose a a challenge to the fire department. The fire department is supportive of the use of new alternative fuels in our city. However, new technologies bring new risk. The growing use of lithium ion batteries and hydrogen fuel means we need specialized training and tools to handle more complex fire threats. There's ongoing uncertainty around federal funding. Grants from Homeland Security help us prepare for high-risisk emergencies and any change to that funding could leave us could leave can leave us with critical gaps. Shifts in healthc care funding are also a concern. Cuts to Medicaid or Medicare, especially in preventive care, mental health, and substance use treatment could push more people to call 911 or rely on emergency rooms, adding to the workload of our EMS teams. And we're seeing a rising cost for essential fire suppression tools and medical equipment, which are fundamental tools for our frontline personnel. And at the same time, many of our fire stations and marine safety facilities remain underresourced even as operational demands and facility costs continue to grow. But I've mentioned infrastructure a few times today, and for good reason. Our fire stations are some of the most unique facilities in the city. They are in use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. They house not only our emergency vehicles, but also our crews, often in tight quarters, and some of these stations are now over 60 years old. Keeping these facilities in good condition is critical. They are the foundation of our emergency response, and when they start to break down, it directly affects our ability to serve the public. Many of our stations face serious issues from leaking roofs and faulty HVAC systems to outdated plumbing, electrical systems. But I want to recognize our partners partners in public works for their quick response to urgent repairs. They have been great allies, but the list of long-term facility needs is growing and it's and it's outpacing our current funding and staffing capacity. We need to plan ahead and invest in these spaces to ensure our firefighters have safe, functional environments to work in. But despite these challenges, as your fire chief, I find that there are many reasons to feel hopeful about the future of the Long Beach Fire Department. We're building stronger partnerships more than ever before with peer fire agencies, cow oes, our local education institutions, and even major universities like UCLA. These collaborations are expanding career pathways, the sharing of resources, and strengthening our connection to the community. We're also focused on building resiliency from within. That means investing in our people through wellness programs, team building, and employee recognition. We're actively preparing our operations for the future. With the 2028 Summer Olympics on the horizon and our strategic vision 2030 guiding us, we're working to modernize systems and stay ahead of the curve. And by embracing change, supporting our workforce, and continue to collaborate across sectors, we're positioning the Long Beach Fire Department to grow stronger, more adaptable, and more connected to the community we serve. Thank you for your continued support and partnership. It's what allows us to rise to every challenge and to serve our city with pride. compassion and excellence. I stand ready to answer any questions. Thank you. >> All right. [Applause] All right. Thank you. And I see both chiefs are coming up now. All right. So, as we um uh transition into questions, um uh Chief Buchanan, I just want to say um what an incredible job our Long Beach firefighters continue to do. Uh and you acknowledge that more like the increase in calls to ser for service does not stop. Every single year it grows. Uh every single year you all show up and step up and respond. um while at the same time um the resources haven't necessarily kept up. So that that keeps um that's not lost on us how hard um you know your firefighters, your paramedics are working to serve this community. And while our population growth hasn't really our population's growth been very small, but our needs in our community has grown, right? And the density in our downtown has increased and the amount of largecale events has increased. And so there's certainly more more demand being placed and our facilities you mentioned and thank for highlighting our facilities. Um there are there we we do one fire station at a time, right? We did, you know, station 12 and we just wrapped up I think in the third district of fire station and um we we you know we're doing one in the fifth district. Um but we do one at a time but we should next time we think infrastructure we should think about what's actually required to update all of our system to make sure that they are you know meeting modern standards gender equity standards all of those things that are needed for a growing fire department. And the last thing I'll say um then we'll open it up to the council is um what an incredible job uh you've done on recruitment like I said with with uh the police chief um consistent oversizedmies to have a vacancy rate uh sub 3% is incredible and the fact that you have brought in more people at times more people through the academy than you need in order to make sure we can account for attrition in between themmies is smart and we want to we want to get there in both of our departments. So that said uh we have a lot of questions queued up. We're going to go through uh the city council. It's five minute limit if you want to queue up again uh queue up again for additional questions after all nine members have had an opportunity. We're going to start off the maker of the motion uh council member Kerr and then after that is council member. >> Thank you. Uh we made a motion over here just because staff was flagging flagging us down for a verbal motion. So, thank you. Uh, thank you, chiefs, both for your presentation. Um, it's always good to see command staff out um here um supporting the work that you do and supporting the work that the men and women um who are currently out there on the job are doing for us. So, thank you all for being here on their behalf tonight. Um so, I'll start with Chief Eish. Uh I want to thank you for the accomplishments that you laid out, um the hard work over the year. I think it's fitting that we have this presentation after National Night Out last week when many of our community members were able to see and interact with um folks from all across the department from motors to our bicycle safety officers to our non um to our non-uniformed personnel um as a way to remind us that even when we see you a lot in really hard moments that the the community has the opportunity to engage and interact with you um on those. So kudos to your team for that last week. Just as an aside, I was happy to see the mayor's recommendation allocation of the 1.3 million for the high crimes focus to proactively address violent crime in the increase um community engagement and the collaborative effort. We appreciate um the three divisions that represent district 5. We have north uh east and west um for the work that they do to engage uh with businesses especially who have um luckily seen a decrease in those property crimes but also um doesn't make it any easier when it happens to them. So, we appreciate the hard work when the teams go out. Um, to the bike teams who are making folks um in our park and along our business corridors feel better about the work um and seeing them in there. Um, and especially to our quality of life officers whose work um is often unseen. It is a very small but mighty crew who make an incredible difference um in the lives of those who are most in need. Um, the reorganization pieces kind of that belt tightening and efficiencies piece is really important. And I appreciate the critical eye that you take uh with your department and finding ways to improve um response times and finding those spaces within the trends to support where it's needed at those times. We know um you've been really responsive to to moving personnel around to meet the the current trends of what's happening in our city. Um, as you mentioned, one of the challenges is balancing your constrained resources and employee wellness and retention with the high demand and increased calls for service. And we know that ensuring efficiency among the employees um so that they can best support one another and improve our communities is really critical to me um personally and I think overall for our community. I think one of the things that we've talked about over the last couple of years is this incentive program to get folks to to come and join us in LBPD from other agencies. Um, I know we have a really competitive and attractive incentive program. I'm just curious, um, I know we haven't had as many officers lateral over as we as many as we'd like. If there's plans within the department, um, as well as with the city manager's office to kind of increase that outreach, um, I know I, um, frustratingly see ads for other departments sometimes on our city billboard. So, uh, can you talk a little bit about what we're doing, um, with that incentive package to try and, um, in addition to growing our own through our youth programs, uh, really take have people take advantage of that lateral program that we've incentive package? >> Yes. Thank you, uh, council member. And if you want to see our billboard, just drive down the 405 and you'll see we're hiring for Long Beach PD. Um, we, so we're doing, uh, everything we can to attract laterals to this department. I think our recruitment and retention package is uh it includes lateral incentives and I think it's one of the most comprehensive in the region. Um we also uh have a very active recruitment team that goes out and tries to um uh share the the department story, who we are as an organization because um my belief is that it's not just about the financial incentives. It's about the value you place in the organization and the people that work within that organization. That's helped us to increase the lateral candidates and hires we've had so far this year. I don't have the exact number, but I believe we're between uh 10 and 15 in the pipeline now, and we've already hired uh up to four laterals for class 100. It'll be early class 100, but uh we have a recruitment and retention focus team that uh meets on a regular basis to discuss strategies that um uh that I don't give to my partners in other agencies so we can recruit laterals into this this organization. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And I know um when we're out in the community um there's always the conversation about increasing the number of officers. And so it's important I think for the general public to hear that the department is actively working on that. um and that it isn't that folks aren't trying. So, I appreciate the clarification on that. Uh I want to thank you for your community partnerships also with LBUSD. Um and the youth engagement program has been really wonderful to see. We see them a lot um in East Division because um we know they're stationed on that side of town. Uh but we see those young folks in their blue shirts at community events all across the city. Um, and that idea of taking the folks we all, you know, those of us who are born and raised here take a special pride in that and those who come and call city home for the rest of their life take pride in that. Um, and being able to have our young people advance up into our public safety positions is really critical. So, I know it's happening in PD. I know it's happening in fire and and junior lifeguards and all of those things. So, a special shout out for the continued youth engagement. um and the way that I think it makes even younger folks in our community the public safety space in a way that they hadn't before. So um kudos to the budget increase for um youth engagement. And I don't see the timer anymore, but I'm pretty sure that's got to be five minutes. Okay, it's broken. Okay, >> flag is down. I was feeling that that was too long. >> Thank you. Always interrupt. >> Okay, who made the second? >> Okay. >> Yeah, thank you. Um uh to both chiefs, great presentations. Thank you. And um I'm going to big shock. I'm going to talk about the fourth district tonight. Yeah. Um but um a couple things occurred to me on Saturday. I was in at an event at Elorado Park. Um Cops and Bobbers. It was a fishing event. And I thought I knew everything there was to know about both departments, but I learned something on Saturday and that was um um someone unrelated to our event went into full cardiac arrest and um I saw our police in action and our firefighters in action. Um and what I didn't know was the importance of having an AED in every patrol car if we can do that someday. And I never would have thought of that before Saturday, but it was critical. And um is you know a family has a loved one with them still because of those uh quick actions. And we have a couple of members here tonight. Uh Commander Benson is in the audience tonight who were there on Saturday and also someone who's here with us every Tuesday night. Sergeant McCort was right there. And what they were able to do was uh apply um resuscitation to the individual until um actually engine 9 which is a paramedic assessment in I'm I'm sorry engine 5 which is a paramedic assessment engine company and I realize how critical that is in Elorado Park. The fact that they are located in Elderorado Park and can get to a patient right away. So I just wanted to point those things out. We usually talk in generalities about the budget, but here is something new I learned um of the importance importance of the personnel and um how much police can be involved in these situations could typically they they would be there uh first on scene. So um uh that's what I'd like to emphasize tonight is these things that kind of the little things that we don't think of but u just want to make sure we leave no stone unturned when it comes to uh funding our first responders. That's it. Thank you. All right, with three minutes to spare, council member Supern, I'll see you. Uh, Council Member Sorrow is next. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, thank you to both, Chief, for your presentation. So, I wanted to um first just say, you know, our police department and our fire department is definitely not what it is without the people in it and all the hard work by the leaders and the different staff uh members that work very hard every day to ensure that we are uh we have a safe and protected city. And so with that, I I just wanted to make sure acknowledge and thank everyone. And the the next slide I actually want to pull up um which I think I want to make sure we give credit to what has been done to demonstrate all the work that's been done is slide five. I know that it's always we hear a lot when crimes are high, you know, things are uh not going well and so it's good to uplift what is being done well, which is the decrease in crime, right? I think it's great to see um as it pulls up in 2003 and 2004 how it's been pretty high, but in this year it's decreased. So, I really love to hear um what it's you know, you you've had less staffing. You've had to be creative with the way that you've done modeling. Obviously, we've heard there's never enough staffing and that people are working overtime, but I'd like to maybe we can dig a little bit more see what was done differently this year than other years. Chief, >> thank you. Council member, well, I think for the department today, we don't look at um issues as problems. We look at how we can come up with solutions. So we don't uh just stop with what we've used what we used to do, what worked in the past. We try to figure out what works today. And what works today is enforcement engagement education collaboration partnerships working with uh all of our other city departments and working with our community organizations to share in the problem solving. And when we see a specific crime trend, uh we meet on a regular basis to strategize on how best to address that trend. in today's environment because it's much different today than it was when I started in 1994. You have to approach things differently and even with our high crime focus team. They are focused on violent crime and high crime trends, but there's also an underlying community policing foundation to what they do. They go into neighborhoods before and after issues happen. We want our community to know who we are. We want to be able to share information and we want want to be able to be very strategic and specific on how we attract uh how we attack various issues. Um I think all of those things working together contribute to this reduction that we're seeing today. But I also say that uh crime statistics don't tell the only story. There's much more to that. And I'm extremely happy about the stats today. But I also recognize that when those stats change, when crime stats go up, it's important to know how the community feels. So, it's not the only way we measure our success. We measure our success through community engagement feedback testimonials and the work that our employees do every day. And uh and really um it's impressive and and that's why you see the numbers that you see here today. >> Thank Thank you, Chief. And it's also your leadership as well. And so my next question is I do know that you've demonstrated requests for budget for different level kind of delivery service which is really great because we do have to explore um how to better efficiently use our sworn officers time. I think that's really important and it's also making sure uh we invest in staff's development which I'm seeing some of but it's also I was wondering uh I didn't see much about making sure we retain the officers we do what is being I think I don't know if I'm not seeing it here but what's being done to ensure that we're boosting morale and making sure to maintain health and wellness of our existing officers and people on the ground because they're doing things differently. they need different skills or support as they're in the community, right? Engagement is very important. I agree. And that's definitely improved over time and I'd love to see more of that. >> Yes. Uh Councilwoman, so you're not seeing everything in here, but that doesn't mean that things that we're doing haven't come before council, like the recruitment and retention package that came before council. Uh a big part of that retention package was to retain employees here to keep retirement eligible employees uh on for a little longer while we overcome the the staffing crisis that we're facing. But there's other things that are important to do as well and that's prioritizing the wellness and the health of your employees. That's by demonstrating the value that that uh that they have in your organization. And you do that through like I said earlier through actions, not just talk. But we've launched a wellness division that is specific to address the wellness of our employees. We have probably the largest group of peer support employees that we've had in the history of this department. We just launched another class. Um we continue to try to find new and innovative ways to address employee wellness to address the stigma that is associated with police trauma and to make it okay to get help. Obviously, we've talked about the counseling that that we provide, the services that we provide to employees to deal with that inherent trauma in the police uh profession, and we're going to continue to invest in those things. Um, also really the the people, the people that work here, the command staff that you see here today, uh, a a directed, focused, intentional effort on building morale, supporting employees, making sure that we're progressing in the right way uh, for the needs of the community in 2025 and beyond. >> Thank you, Chief. I know I'm going to queue up again for my question for our fire chief, but I do want to thank you for sharing that a little bit more because I think that we can't have communities feeling as you shared. It is important that it's not just stats we see, but also the relationship and how people feel and they can't have that if we are not our our staff is not taken care of and that they're not they're getting the support they need in order to be doing their job well being in the community. So, thank you. >> All right. Thank you, council member. Let's see, Allan. >> All right. Thank you, mayor. Um there's not enough time to do both questions, so I'll start with the fire chief and then I'll come back uh to you, Chief Hebush. Um so, um first of all, uh I want to thank you for the presentation and um I appreciate the work on this and and all of of the changes. Um, an item that really stood out for me, um, was the funding for the gender diversity and recruitment. Um, you know, I was at National Night Out and you had some of your firefighters that were there as well. And I had this little nine-year-old girl scout. Um, she was smart, mayor. She's probably coming after your job. She was really smart. And she was said, you know, she I would love to see um more women in because she didn't see any women there. And I told her, I said, "Trust me, when I was your age, there weren't a lot of women um doing many things, but now we have women in the military that are in leadership positions, and a lot of that stuff is going to spill over. And by the time you grow up, you're going to see women you're going to see more women um in the fire department." And so it was it was really precious. And so I think that what that's so important for future future generations. So um thank you. Um then um I want to emphasize again um how much I appreciate uh the FY26 budget um that provides ongoing structural funding for rescue 2 uh to operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week um out of fire station 2. Um I think this is a step forward. Um, but our community um really does deserve a 247 full-time lifesaving uh response um not just a uh partial um solution. And I know that downtown and central Long Beach are high demand areas and full-time coverage is essential to meet the needs of the residents. Um essential to meet the needs of the businesses and definitely um um our visitors. Um, I know that um when we we heard every council person say how important uh public safety is and having a 247 rescue unit um I believe is imperative um for our our community. Um, and I tell you, it's not lost on me when I ne never have I I've never seen so many firefighters and paramedics come into our city and stand in this line and tell their very passionate stories about saving lives. In fact, we've had they were crying. They weren't they weren't asking for raises. They were asking for equipment to do their job. And so that's not that's that was not lost on me and I'll remember that. That's probably one of the most uh memorable times that I've had since I've been sitting up here on this DAS is seeing your guys and ladies get up here and tell the tell the story about how important that is. Um I do want to ask um can you provide the exact um do you have any uh number of times that we've been out of a rescue? I think it was March 4th um since we were um that we asked that rescue uh to move to a seven-day staffing and we were uh dispatch was going to be tracking that. Um Chief, do you have any of that information that you could share as far as like how many times we've been out of a rescue? >> I sure do. Thank you for the question, Councilwoman Allen. And thank you so much for highlighting parame rescue too and I appreciate the additional funding to put in that plo unit to provide advanced life support to our community. Um yes um the stats I have is basically from January 1st of 2025 to July 31st of this year. Uh we've been out of rescues for over greater than one minute 207 times and out of rescues for greater than five minutes 75 times. But we are seeing improvement but we are still running out of rescues. Um and that's imperative that we address that that the demand is exceeding my capacity. Um I'll continue to advocate for additional resources but I will leave it up to the mayor and council members to decide how you want to prioritize that funding. >> All right. Thank you, chief. And thank you for having because I know we didn't talk about this ahead of time. So, thank you for having that information. Um, and um I appreciate also um dispatchers, there are unsung unsung heroes as to that answering all these calls for tracking um how uh how how much we're um we're out of service. Um and I definitely um want to continue to have these conversations how we we also are going to invest. You know, I do sit on the budget committee with chair Rickod. So, we'll continue to um to talk about that. How am I in my time on Okay, I will cue back up. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Next, Council Member Ricky. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um and thank you both for your always great presentations. Um I also like Council Member Allen. I'm going to go in alphabetical order. I'm I'm gonna give Chief Peish a break. So, you don't have to go first this time. Get take a sip of water, sir. Um, so one thing I wanted to to just um uplift, I know we're all going to kind of mention different things, uh, Chief Buchanan, but one of the things that's really struck out to me was, um, the slide 22 where you talked about accomplishments in the pathways programs. Um, I did a little math here and I was realizing that when you think about you, I love this graph where you talked about like the different pathways and how people found themselves uh, as recruits to the fire department. Um, and when I did the math, I realized that 75% of our recruits fell into one of these one or more of the pathways, right? So, really thinking about like how this is really allowing us to recruit from uh from the city of Long Beach, right? Um, having people that live here, that are vested in here, care about our community, right? And then wanting to serve it and providing a corridor and a pathway for them to do that. Uh, pun intended. So, um, I I love this particular slide. So, thank you so much for continuing to invest. Um, and obviously I represent District 9, so I'm gonna go go Jordan High School. Um, uh, so, so thank you. So I just wanted to uplift that if people hadn't seen this really fantastic work. Um, and then one, and then one thing I wanted to, um, lift up because I did not see it mentioned, um, in the budget, and maybe I missed it, but I know last year um, one of our budget oversight um, committee recommendations was around the paramedic assessment unit, right? and having the pilot the six-month pilot program and I know that back in December we got a TFF for those of you who don't know those are memos to council called a two from four um that talked about the fact that the budget allocation that we had put for the 115,000 to start that um and that then it was going to be six months and then is going to return back to council for a memo related to that and I was a little bit surprised to not see that part of the budget conversation uh for this particular year because you so could you give us an update on where we are on the status of that pilot and then follow-up data around its impact Thank you so much for the question, Dr. Joanie Ricko. Um, yes, we did a PAU pilot program the first six months of this year. Um, and um, that's been challenging to get all the the data. The reason is we have two pilot programs running simultaneously. You had a peak load unit rescue 2 and then you also had a PU pilot program. Uh, the team is working on that memo. um you will get it in in the coming weeks with the all the data. Um there was a decrease in response times with ALS being on scene quicker and we saw the importance of that with the um story that uh Councilwoman Supern just shared with you the importance of having ALS on scene quick to provide advanced life support. You saw you witnessed that at Elder Park. So we'll be giving you that that memo like I said in the coming weeks. Uh but that is a PU pilot program. I just want to make sure it's clear to everybody here that you saw on slide four that our transportation continue to increase. So in 2020 we're looking around 15,000 ALS transports. Five years later we're at 20,000 and in the coming years it just continues to increase year-over-year. A PAU pilot program is outstanding but that does not address our transportation related challenges and we'll continue to work on that. I will be establishing a a service delivery evaluation committee to look at data, analyze and research and evaluate different delivery models, but we need to address our transportations and we can we we need to make sure we have enough resources to provide ALS and BLS transportation in addition to probably looking at PAU and expanding that program. >> Okay. Uh so question um I think when we think about I think a lot of the conversations we're having up here right is around um what are all of the different kind of models that we can then use right to address uh to address the issue. So you can talk a little bit about I know you said you're going to put together kind of like a task force related to investigating some of these like what are the other potential kind of models that you're looking at? >> Thank you for the question. Some of the other models they're looking at is um throughout the region you do have models in regards to paramedic engines. So where you have um two paramedics assigned to every engine company throughout the city and then you have um just an ambulance. We just have EMT ambulances and they will transport ALS and BLS patients. Um we want to see if that is uh sustainable. Um, another one would be u just to expand all our engines to PAU program to PA units so we always have a paramedic on scene quick to provide that service just like uh Councilwoman Supol Express and then and also maybe we're going to need to expand some of our ALS and BLS ambulances. What we're seeing is year after year there's an increase of patients that need to be transported. So every call that we go around 40 46% of our EMS calls result in the transportation. So as we continue to have these special large events just like Chief Heish stated in his presentation you have a large amount of people coming into the city attending events and then leave the city that that impacts our our our fire department impacts public safety. And so we have to look at ways to increase our resources and make sure that we have and then look at our our staffing and see if we could be um innovative in using additional paramedics that already have a paramedic license. So these captains and engineers, they already have a paramedic license to use them better and so they can provide the ALS transportation. Um for a large metropolitan city like this, yes, um the demand is exceeding the capacity. So that's why I'm going to go ahead and and uh establish this service delivery evaluation committee to look at different ways and best practices and industry standards so we could provide the best service to our community. >> Uh thank you, Chief. I'll uh um I'll queue back up. >> Thank you. All right. Next is Vice Mayor. You're on. >> Uh thank you, Mayor. Um I really don't have any questions other than observations to give to both of you. First of all, I want to thank you so much, excuse me, for uh all the effort you're doing in recruitment. I've always said you bring in the front end, you're going to get good at the back end. So, you're doing that in those efforts and that's great. And I also want to compliment both of you individually for your personal efforts and going out into the community, being visible, shaking hands, being a part of the excuse me, part of the community because that's important that people see you and say that you're approachable, you're accessible, and I want to be like you. So thank you for very much for that and that mental advisation. >> All right. Thank you vice mayor. Next is council member thrash in took virtually. >> Thank you so much mayor and uh before my time starts I just want to thank my colleagues so much uh for your patience with me this evening as I am offsite and thank you for your verbal motions as well as your responses to each of the motions. I appreciate it. Um, so as I am here participating virtually, I just want to thank both of our public safety leaders for those uh really excellent presentations. Uh, I will say Chief Habish, Chief Buchanan, uh, both of you represent our city oh so very well. Um, and I am so proud that both of you have represented us as well as you have um, and continue to do so. Um let me just say when it comes to um the report that you gave Chief Kabish um I want to uh let you know that I am always and constantly thinking about a number of issues but I'm really really pleased at some of the things that you highlighted in the budget and are looking to move forward with. Um I will always pay attention to ensure that we have the appropriate use of force. Uh pleased to see the quality of life uh alignment um and elevating human trafficking as part of that. uh elevating uh additional community service officers. We have an excellent one and an excellent team that serves our north. So, we're excited about that. And uh not in this format, but in other formats, I will be in touch as I want to discuss what else we can be doing from a community engagement perspective uh to continue to promote I think the the good work that uh you and uh the officers are doing uh throughout our PD. I'd like to then move to our Chief Buchanan. Um Chief Buchanan, I want to thank you for all of your support around the very unique asset that we have in the north, including our railway um and some of the efforts that we will need to work on together in order to address um that issue. But let me uh talk about the matter of the day. And I am so glad that uh council member Superna was able to share the story that he did share. Um that story actually reiterates the importance of what I wanted to chat with you about and that is that and my colleague uh Councilwoman Ricks OD also mentioned it is the paramedic assessment unit. So, from uh all that's been said tonight, I think the public is clear that there was a sixmonth program for uh engine 11 where there was a paramedic rescue that was uh on that particular um engine. um that allowed uh the con our uh fire department to respond very quickly um specifically not only to uh cardiac arrest but other things um that ensured that we had uh residents who were able to have uh lifesaving activities right away. Um you mentioned that that was a pilot and so at this very moment um there is currently no PAU pilot happening in engine 11 which means that we are uncovered and all of that great level of service that the north had been able to achieve previously is not there. Um, and I can say and you please please do correct me if I'm wrong here. Um, that I believe that there is no PAU uh pilot happening or no PAU happening now um in engine 11. Um, and there is no nothing happening at a park. So there's no park in the north that has a PAU uh taking place. Um, and so we are uncovered. uh the last uh few months I know certainly I have stood with my colleagues uh regarding rescue 2 which was mentioned here uh this evening and ensuring that that was full-time that we continue to operate the importance of that and its ability to move about the city but we know that that has can still have detrimental impacts on the north part of the city uh where it might take longer for rescue 2 to get to us. So, Chief Buchanan, that brings me to just a couple of questions that I have for you uh regarding uh the PAU, its success, and moving forward. Um, you talked about setting up the committee. I want to know the timing regarding that because I am very interested in the quantity of calls, the number of calls, and any life-saving interventions that were uh conducted as a result of that PAU's operation. That's the first question. >> Thank you for the question. Yes. So, the PAU and for everybody, that's a paramedic assessment unit and that's a paramedic that's assigned to a a fire engine or to a fire truck in this case here um and engine 11 out of North Long Beach um was a PAU unit during that pilot program. Um so, you are correct. In North Long Beach, we do not have a PAU program. Uh, but your fire station 9, your fire station 11, and your fire station 12 all have a paramedic ambulance there. Um, so I just want to make sure that you're aware that you do have paramedic services there. Um, the the committee will be uh getting together. The committee is comprised of uh fire department management staff and FFA, which is our firefire association. We're going to be working together with our medical director. They'll be meeting this summer and they're uh expected to provide a report by the beginning of the year on what is probably the best delivery model for the city of Long Beach. >> So, as you can imagine, that certainly concerns me in terms of the timing there and what we have before us in terms of the budget. Um I'd love to make sure that if you could spend some time even during this season uh to give us some sense of what that cost would be uh for a paou uh in the north especially uh in engine 11 where the pilot uh took place that would be very helpful because I think part of being able to plan for and have a good sense of you know what level of resource we're looking for uh begins with having uh that number uh in hand so that we can work towards that. >> All right. Thank you, council member. And feel free to queue back up if you'd like. Council member Zindas is next. >> Thank you. First of all, chiefs, thank you. Thank you for all the hard work that you both do. Um, thank you to all our first responders who are committed to public safety. Uh, Chief's your leadership critically translates into making our city safer to live, work, and play for all Long Beach uh residents, and we absolutely appreciate that. Um, Chief Heish, I appreciate that our police department's priorities emphasize modernization. modernization that implements innovation strategies and strength and strengthens public trust. It is important that we continue to move forward as a city that recognizes this need and intentionally involves best serve our um community. Um especially uh I truly believe that um the fact that crime is down right now in our city um is due to the collaboration that the police department um and our nonprofit organizations and our community members have been doing together, working together. I thank you for always having an open mind, always being welcoming of community members that have ideas, that have suggestions, um, and always trying to do preventative work with them. I know that public safety is more of a um, response to something that's going on, but I in our department, I see a lot of preventative work being done in collaboration with our organization. So I thank you for that. Um especially in the downtown area uh where we have a lot of density and as well we have a lot a lot of activities going on. I fully support the community outreach engagement component that builds bridges of support between our community and our public safety teams. There are a few items I would like to highlight. your report reflects in FY25 therefore was an expansion of the 602 no trespassing program. Um, which is great. And I'm going to ask a couple questions and I'll just ask both of you chiefs if you could answer them after I do my statement. Hopefully my statement is under five minutes. Um so with that with the 602 no trespassing programs may you please speak more on this expansion and its importance. Um Chief Heish may you also elaborate on the need uh for helicopter cameras and the drone program. Um, also may you also share your information on the work your department does for crime prevention and management and nuisance abatement. So I would appreciate that um after my statement please. Um I also want I also find it important to highlight the public that in public that addressing homelessness is an interepart departmental effort for our city. We are all focusing on that. All of our services outline and highlight the undeniable community component of policing. The NSBT detail team being funded is part of those efforts and I need to note that my residents share that they have not been as visible in the community as some may like them to be um especially around the the most needed areas like the East Village or 14th Street Park and Lincoln Park. Also, I think that there is an opportunity for officers on bikes to enhance safety, I'm sorry, safe passage programs that ensure students um are safe going to and from school. Um moving on to Chief Buchanan. I'm very pleased to see the propos that is your time, but feel free to creep back up. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Can I have um Chief Hebish answer those two? Yeah, you can answer the question. Absolutely. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, council members and house and and mayor. So, let me start with the 602 program, which is a collaboration between the police department and the city prosecutor's office uh to bring our businesses forward to um to uh have notorized um reporting that we can keep with the police department. So if there is a trespassing call when they're not available, they've already signed on uh to be a willing participant in the prosecution of that. And so what we did this year was uh we held so far two different events uh where we've conducted an education campaign um opened up the stations for community members, business members to come in, learn about the program, sign up for the program. And I believe our South Division event had over 40 uh different businesses sign up. We recently uh hosted one in east division. We're talking about uh going in every division. The city prosecutor has been kind enough to provide a notary from his office. We're looking at increasing that to two notaries that are available to uh support PD staff as we sign up u members of our community in into the program. So it's been quite a success. We're happy with it and we're going to continue with it. That's the 602 program. The other question was helicopters. So um the the support provided by our air support unit is critical in um gathering information quickly for officers on the ground. Uh helicopters can provide much needed support and assistant and assistance to patrol officers during critical situations. They're also able to clear calls uh that maybe don't warrant a police officer in the field to respond to. um they assist us in pursuits in uh high-profile incidents. They are also able to video record and capture evidence that's critical in the prosecution uh on on certain cases. Um however, that unit has decreased in recent years. So, it's limited in the amount of time it can spend in the air. We're not looking at um drones as a replacement for the air support unit. We're looking at drones as a supplement to the air support unit to provide another layer of real-time information sharing for the patrol officers on the ground in the field. Um so they can uh free up resources to handle emergencies, calls for service, priorities. You know, if you deploy a drone to a call uh that everybody's left at, then you don't necessarily need to send an officer to that call. Therefore, they have more time to respond to another call where somebody may be waiting for a uh a police response. So all these things work together uh to prov to better provide services to our community. And I think the last one you asked was about nuisance abatement. And so what I would say to that is you kind of covered it in your question in terms of the interdep departmental team and the city's collaborative approach to some of the nuisance abatement issues. We meet on a regular basis with the health department, the fire department, the city attorney's office, public works, economic development, all of the city uh departments to talk about issues related to people experiencing homelessness if that's the the particular issue that you're talking about. Um we also collaborate with other city departments um to coordinate cleanups or to coordinate responses that maybe go beyond what the police department is capable or responsible for doing. for instance, code enforcement may be asked to assist with a uh a call that we or information we receive while we're out in the field. So, um that is an interdep departmental collaborative effort that's dependent on the type of nuisance that we're looking to address. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Chief. >> All right. Thank you, Council Member Dougen. >> All right. Well, thank you to both Chief Hebish and Chief Buchanan for your presentations. Keeping our residents safe is one of the most important jobs that we have in the city as a city and I'm happy to have our police department and fire department in great hands and I think the example that Councilman Supernot brought up, it's a great highlight tonight on the work that both your agencies have done. So, I want to acknowledge also the significant reduction in crime that we've seen so far this year. It's really um property crime is down nearly 24%, robberies down almost 19% and shootings are down nearly 28%. This all compared to 2024. I think public safety is often shaped by people's experiences and their perceptions, but these numbers are such promising trends that I hope that we continue to work towards this. We're investing in hiring more officers and giving them the tools they need to hold people accountable for when they harm our communities. and our fire department is making major progress. Amazing that we're at uh less than 3% vacancies. It really is great to see that we're hiring new firefighters and expanding our EMS capacities. I appreciate the conversation that Councilwoman Allen brought up about rescue 2. Chief Buchanan, you and I had a conversation about this last week. I think we need to dive into that uh more. But all in all, this is how we make our neighborhoods safer. So, I just have a couple of questions for our chiefs. Um my council colleagues have had great questions and I think we've we've heard a lot more, but Chief Heish, so we talked about nuisance crimes. We hear a lot about that. vandalism, open drug use, public drinking nudity well indecent exposure, I suppose. Um, I know we're starting the Societal Crimes Unit under the Investigations Bureau correct? I hope that this is going to help address um the increase in all of these issues, which people are calling about often. Can you walk me through how this budget is going to address the nuisance items? >> Certainly, Councilwoman. The uh the Well, first we'll start with the societal crimes section, which is really a consolidation of units that we were uh details within the department that we were unable to fill for for staffing uh because of staffing issues. Um, connecting these units within the investigations bureau will allow them to focus, as I mentioned, on on directed and specific enforcement and education campaigns related to a variety of issues. But they don't do that alone. Um, that's in support of teams like the quality of life and mental evaluation team going to handle calls that are outside of emergencies or calls for service responses. That's something that's part of the reason that we want to expand the CSA program. CSAs are able to respond to lower level calls uh freeing up time for patrol officers to handle emergencies and calls for service priorities. As I mentioned early earlier, our drone pilot program will also assist with this because if they can clear calls that don't require a police response, that means a police officer can respond to these calls that you're talking about as well. So, it's a again um this is about finding modern ways to futureproof our organization and allow us to operate within the the situation that we're facing today and to be able to utilize anything we can to help assist officers who are currently working mandatory overtime to provide service to our community. >> Thank you. And we have you're you're adding eight CSAs, correct, to help with this? >> That's correct, council member. >> Great. This is that's really good. Second question and um I I would ask the same question of Chief Buchanan. Um in my community, we hear a lot about response times. We talked about this yesterday for both priority one calls and non-emergency calls. Chief Hebish, can you go into more detail about the factors that impact the response times? Yes, council member. And there are a variety of factors. So, I can spend an hour talking about the different factors that impact response times going. It it can be something uh as obvious as staffing and the number of officers in the field, but it can also be something uh uh like workload, increased workload. You know, we had talked about um the national average, which is between five and six minutes, and I'm proud to say that this department has been within that for priority ones for the past 20 years. Uh and we continue to do that. Um but oftentimes legislative changes and uh unforeseen circumstances can impact uh a response time. For example, five years ago, officers didn't have to um enter racial uh information ripid data on every call. They do now. That can take more time to do. We didn't have body warn cameras in 2019. Now we have body warn cameras that require an understanding and an activation on calls for service when officers respond in the field. um uh we don't have the availability of air support in the manner that we did years ago. So that can also contribute to um uh response times. But on the other side of things, I'm very happy with the response times. I'm already seeing a decrease this year in priority 1, two, and three responses as compared to last year. And I think that is a direct result of the modernizing and innovation that we've included in this year's budget and and and prior budgets, including CSAs, including our telephonic reporting unit, including the online reporting portal that we have available to the community to report without having to call an officer out. So, I think when you when you talk about response times, um it's not an exact science. So, we look at that. We evaluate that at every crime meeting. We talk about uh our priority 1, two, and three response times, whether or not there's an issue that needs to be addressed or if we need to change, reallocate uh resources or change the way we deploy those resources to ensure uh that we're still um meeting the national average and getting uh to our community when they need us most. >> Thank you. I'll queue up again. >> Thank you. All right, going to the second round. Council member Kerr, then Sorrow. >> Yes. Uh thank you, Chiefs. Thank you all for your patience on this important subject. I'm not going to belabor the points that my colleagues have brought forward. Uh Councilwoman Allen, uh Councilwoman Thrash Unuk, and Councilwoman Ricks OD have talked about the um paramedic assessment unit pilot. Clearly, that's something that um is important to continue to have the conversation for. So, all I'll say with that is I look forward to the report that comes out. Um Chief Ukuchan and thank you to your team uh for doing that work. I think having um an understanding and what those metrics look like um as you as you wrap up the data uh will be critical to decisions that we make. And that if as we have this conversation within this budget cycle um if that is not something that we can do or talk about um most effectively now that as we continue the conversation in the coming months um in mid-year reviews and all of those to really keep those pilot programs and the results that you bring forward uh into our mind. So, um, that's all I'll say about that, but I want to thank you and the team who are all here again, uh, to all of the, uh, public safety officers who have reached out, who come before us, who, um, give us formal public testimony, who talk to us when they're on the job. Um, I just want to thank them for their continued engagement with our residents and our offices um, as they're out there doing incredible work every day. So, thank you. >> All right. Thank you. We'll now go to Council Member Sorrow and then Council Member Allen. >> Um, hi again. So, I'm I'm in agreement. I appreciate what my colleagues have shared and asked here. I'm not going to ask them again to be repetitive. Um, so I'll go back to you, Chief Buchanan. Um, I'll just ask one of the questions um that I had on my list. Um it is really around uh you know it's always we do have ongoingly had to do more with less as we heard earlier in the police as well as in fire. Um and I always am concerned back to well how is our firefighters paramedics right doing. So, I wanted to just follow up on I see a little bit of funding here in inclusive hiring and some level retention practices, but I'm wondering uh what maybe I'm not seeing again here, what are being done to ensure that you know the staff is um mentally and also morale-wise um supported. >> Thank you for the question, Councilwoman. Yes, wellness is it's it's a top priority for me and this year working and partnering with the FFA, we have it's the year of wellness. So, we are expanding the resources to our employees. Um, we're engaging with them. We're leading by example. Uh, command staff members and members from FFA are engaging in workouts. We're promoting our uh counseling team international for mental health wellness and we expect to continue to uh to expand on this. Um we look forward to making sure that um they have all the resources so they could do a successful 30-year career. Um yes, it is a it's it's a it's a burden on our firefighter paramedics right now. heavy workload and um that is my number one concern right now and my top priority is to increase resources so we could spread that workload. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I'm wondering how how can we do that gradually, right? Maybe as far as like within this budget and you know investing in those resources whether it's not a lot but what are the steps that you know is being done that we could address them right? Is it I don't know different model of services so that there staff could have more rest or I'm not sure. Right. So that's what I'm just wondering is if there are some ideas maybe being explored right now. Yeah, and those are ideas that I expect from our um the committee that's going to be looking at that service delivery evaluation committee. Um that's what I expect to come back in that report to look at different models that will address wellness and then also address the workload that's placed on my men and women. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Allen. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um I I'm gonna follow uh the lead of uh my council women's Kerr and Sorrow because I do have a lot of uh I did have a lot of questions uh regarding the paramedic uh paramedic assessment units as well. But I think you know looking at these questions they are kind of unfair because um I think at the end of the day at council we've got to figure out if this is a priority um how do we how do we make this happen? And so um and then of course we have to still balance a budget. So, I think that those are conversations that we need to have uh internally. So, I'm going to go over to Chief Hebish, but thank you, Chief Buchanan, for all that you do, and I appreciate uh you answering my questions um previously. Um okay, so um I'm going to go to Chief Wish. Well, first of all, thank you for your presentation and um and then all the work that I know has went into all these investments. Um, some changes that I'm pleased to see is 150,000 in the one-time funding for uh the career development and uh mentorship programs. I'm also pleased to see the 1.3 million onetime funding for your high um crime focus team. Um I love the drones. I think those are a good idea. I think that could be a really a great crime fighting tool. So I support that. Um, you know, it's, you know, hearing you talk about, you know, the shortages that you still manage to uh meet national numbers with regards uh to averages of arriving on for uh priority one calls is just incredible that you're doing this with with less. I do always worry about the mental health of the officers um that you know you can ask someone to work so hard for so long and then you just burn people out. Um, it also like heavy on me hearing our previous chief and sheriff Luna say about, you know, burying three officers, you know, just in the last month and and I just know this is a really really tough tough job and tough, you know, situation. So, I sure hope that we continue just to look after the mental health of our um men and women that that serve us so well um in the city. And also, um, I do appreciate you, um, pointing out your women in leadership. And I know it may be uncomfortable for women to be pointed out and you're like, I'm I'm just doing my job. I get all that, but I hope you guys understand the women in leadership, how important it is that he does that and um, how important it is that people know and see your leadership. I'm telling you, these young women are looking at you and um and so I know it's uncomfortable, but I really do appreciate um you sharing and as much as as um as you guys can get out there and mentor other young ladies, I think um that is that is really good. But um but that was just my only question for you is is how how are the officers doing? How's morale? >> Thank you, Councilwoman. Uh, Council Member Allen, the the officers are are doing the work that they they choose to do and and they're doing it um with professionalism and respect and and they're serving this community very well and they're serving and we should be proud to have them as as police officers in our city. Um, but what you're talking about makes me think about, you know, what I talk to command staff about is sometimes we have to protect ourselves from ourselves. And so that's why we're so deeply invested in the wellness of officers and checking in on them and um ensuring that we're building into sergeant training and understanding of of wellness and health and emotional intelligence and being able to sense whether or not something's impacting an officer. That's also why we created and and you may recall this, we the we never had a real scheduling unit. Now we have a department scheduling unit with technology to help us better schedule and staff uh officers in the field and better use the resources that we have um and to take into account whether or not somebody needs some time off. And so uh there are variety things that we're a variety of things that we're doing to help um support officers to build morale in the organization. Uh and and you do that um from the top down. It starts with me. It starts with showing appreciation and support and being vocal about that support. Uh recognizing officers for the work that they do. And I say officers, but I'm also talking about the amazing professional staff we have in the Long Beach Police Department. Over 300 civilian employees that work every day to support the police officers, the sworn personnel in what we do. So all of those things work together. this command staff is so committed uh to the employees and to the community. Um uh and you see them all here today. Uh but I'm I'm proud of that. I'm proud of the the work that they do. I'm proud of the commitment and the concern they have for for the employees of this police department. It's uh it's been a long career and to see where we are today uh is something that all of us who have ever, you know, worn a badge or uniform should take great pride in. >> Well, thank you, Chief, for your leadership. Um, one um one last question. So, I've seen it seems like that there's been more uh mo motor officers uh I've seen lately and I don't know if it's just by chance, but um have we been able to beef up that because I know we've we've had a lot of questions um with the community wanting more motor officers. And then my last is um on your bike patrol um how many do you have? Are we beefing that up or is that is that steady? >> Yeah. So, both the motor uh traffic enforcement section and the neighborhood safety bike team um are are not fully staffed. The neighborhood uh safety bike team, I believe we have eight officers right now. We have another eight to staff when we when we're able to uh and the traffic unit as well uh traffic enforcement section. So, you're seeing more um traffic enforcement officers, motor officers because of very strategic deployment and using the limited number of officers we have in the most effective way we can. And so now we're including the deployment of motor officers in our discussions about crime and safety strategies and so using those officers where where we need them most. Um I'm optimistic about the future and the ability to fill those vacancies and um that is all connected to the recruitment retention hiringmies historic class 100 which we're we're working very hard to make our largest class. Uh and once we start getting more officers in the field we can start filling some of these ancillary functions as well. >> All right. And how many motor officers do we have? That's my last question. >> I'll have to get back to you on exactly how many we have, but I I eight. There you go. See, email right here. >> Would you listen though? Hey. >> Well, thank you, Chief, and thank you for your leadership. >> All right. Uh, Council Member Rickod. >> Thank you. Um, Chief Hebish, uh, just a couple of questions. So, one was I was taking a look at the budget related to the different um the different bureaus and I had a question. um under the support services the support bureau um I can see that the the number of um FTEES for fiscal year 25 and fiscal year 26 it went down for about 30 so I'm assuming those got allocated somewhere else could you kind of walk us through where those got allocated >> yes council member I believe that's connected to the uh metro contract and the conclusion of that contract and so the FTEES that you're seeing the budget FTEES were based on an overtime model so they weren't actual FTEES the number of of actual FTEEs that went back into critical patrol positions uh were eight officers and three supervisors. So the 30 that you're seeing was um was filled on overtime. We never were able to grow into those numbers. >> Understood. Okay, that's great. Um and then I had a question a follow-up question to council member Zendas's about the the drones. So when I I was actually very interested in this particular program and we've been talking about it a lot from a variety of of as aspects and when I was go when I was like doing my kind of like online searches of like what we've done in the past I noticed we have as a as a city have purchased drones in the past. So you can talk about and I know we're going to be purchasing more. So can you kind of talk about like what those drones have historically been used for and then what the plan is for them uh moving forward and then how many we're planning to purchase. >> Yes, sure. So, as a city, there's there's drones that are in the in the uh port that do not belong to the police department that the ports acquired and they use for their purposes. However, the police department drones that we've purchased have been used uh under the SWAT capacity. So, we've used them for SWAT operations and for crowd management situations. The drone for patrol program that we're looking to on board uh will be I believe we're purchasing four drones um as a pilot program. uh we're going to use those to assist patrol officers in responding to calls for service and providing situational awareness in the field. And so uh that's what this budget will help us do is launch that pilot program. >> Understood. Um now will that program require special training for our patrol officers that operate them? >> Yes, ma'am. And we've already done it. >> Oh, well, amen. Um and then uh last thing as part of this implementation um do we currently have a kind of like policy because I I imagine like as we're talking about some of these things there's like concerns around surveillance and all of that. So you could talk a little bit just around like the policies that we have in place currently related to the usage of drones. >> Certainly we have policies for everything that we do. Any technology that we onboard will have an associated policy that considers the uh lawful legal ethical use of that technology. Uh the drone program is no exception. So we have a policy that that um uh guides drone operations for the SWAT uh detail, but we have a special order right now that is going to allow us to expand this pilot program and we'll cover the uses that are uh that we're using drones for in the uh drone for patrol pilot that we're launching. >> Okay. So exp. Okay. So, you have a special order and then would that special So, if we decide to then continue, would that special order continue to to to be in effect or we then have to create a separate policy then if we decide to move forward with making that program permanent? >> No. That Yeah. If it's going to be permanent, yes, that special order will become policy, but that special order is what we're utilizing to get the pilot launched. So, once we're ready to go, um uh we have a special order in place that serves as policy. as we're assessing the pilot, um, we make changes to the order, revise it, add things that we maybe need to add, and then create the permanent, uh, policy for the department to guide our operations. >> Excellent. And I'll tell my staff to follow up because I'd actually be really interested to read the special order. And then my last question was also follow up about the bike patrol. Um, can you talk a little bit about like how they're deployed, where they're deployed, like all of that? >> Certainly. Uh, they are deployed strategically throughout the city. We have eight of them. uh their focus is uh parks, corridors, uh business districts, neighborhoods, wherever we need them, wherever we feel that we want to increase our presence, our visibility, our accessibility, our community policing engagement. Uh we utilize the neighborhood safety bike team. That's why it was created. Um we hope to to fully staff that unit to allow us to spend more time in various parts of the city, but they can be in north division today and south division tomorrow. uh or separate and have two in each division depending on the needs. And so we've really um utilized them to supplement and support uh the needs in patrol um anything related from uh special large scale uh large scale special events um to crime and safety issues. And so it's about being visible, accessible, and um and approachable in the community. And they they've helped us do that. >> Excellent. Um and then with my remaining time, I just want to say uh thank you for creation of that societal crime section. I read through it and really talked saw how you're going to be really working to address the human trafficking issues that we talked about a lot over the last couple of years. So, thank you for being responsive to the needs of our community. >> Thank you, Council Member Thrashinto. >> Thank you so much, Mayor, and thank you to uh all of my colleagues. Uh Councilwoman Rick OD, I too want to just double down on the uh the bike patrol. Um, Chief Fabish, we are highly interested in doing all we can to make sure that you have what you need in order to fully staff that division. So, um, please do let us know what you would need to make that happen because I think that that is critical, uh, for a number of our neighborhoods. Um and then I do want to put a very very fine point on uh what has been uh stated by a number of my colleagues and I want to thank all of you for lifting up um the importance of the PAU uh pilot that was hap that happened uh in the north. Um and I couldn't have asked for a better uh story this evening. Um so I want to thank Councilman Supernn for that. Uh and we're so glad that that family was able to have access to life saving equipment as well as trained personnel. And I know we all want to make sure that our entire city is covered in such a way. So, Chief um Buchanan, I'm asking for a level of urgency around the committee that you intend to put forward um as well as making sure that we understand what we're talking about financially um and some of the outcomes around uh having um that kind of support in the north part of our city. And then finally, I just want to note that um I really appreciate the emphasis on infrastructure and the need to invest um Chief Buchanan in our facilities, our public facilities that house um all the men and women who are conducting our work through the Long Beach Fire Department. Um and I'm specifically noted that you had uh station 11 there. um and it is one that is absolutely due for some investment um given the kinds of investments that we're making uh around and across the city. So I look forward to um understanding more how we might be able to make uh investments that are on a multiple scale um as we move forward with um you know as you move forward with your uh thoughts regarding that. So happy to hear from you on either one of those matters. I know I didn't get a chance to um let you answer my question the last time around. So, thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> That was for Chief Buchanan. >> Infrastructure question. Chief Buchanan. >> Councilwoman, can you repeat please repeat that question? So on one of your slides, you captured a series of uh stations that you noted were some of the older 60 years old and plus. Um you talked a bit about the importance of investing in those um those fire stations. So just wanted to I noted that fire station 11 is on that list. Um, so wanted to make sure that you knew how I was watching the importance of that and wanted to get any sense of your um direction regarding um how you would want to make sure that we invest in that infrastructure. >> Thank you. Uh, Councilwoman, yeah, infrastructure is one of my top priorities. Um, I do want to highlight that since 2018, we have replaced five fire stations and I'm extremely grateful for that. three in the Port of Long Beach and then in in North Long Beach we replace station 12 and um by the beginning of next year we'll be responding at a new fire station 9. Um I highlighted station 11 there. That's the last station that needs to be replaced in North Long Beach. Um at that is we'll have to work together to find the funding in the proper location. Um as you know that the station's over 60 years old. uh it does not provide the right accommodations for uh my men and women and the equipment. As we start going to a green fleet, um we're going to have some parameters and we're going to have some issues regards to having new fire engines and trucks be able to fit in some of these old fire stations and we address wellness. Uh some of these stations do not provide for the proper wellness of our men and women due to the fumes coming into their living quarters. So these are things that we need to address um with to identify a funding source in in the right location. So, I look forward to working with you and and all council and mayor and trying to find not only location but a funding source. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Council Member Superno. >> Uh, thank you, Mayor. And I'll be brief and thanks for mentioning it. Only took three minutes the first time, so I'll give myself two minutes now. Um, I I forgot to mention on my Elorado Park story that it all started with a systemwide uh first aid training. the police department did. I don't think that took council direction, chief, for you to do that, but uh I was very impressed that that was rolled out and let's let's keep up the good work there. That was phenomenal. Um also, um I forgot to mention uh Rescue 18. They're not in my district, but they're close enough. So, uh so imagine that someone has a cardiac arrest in a remote area. you have police there uh to uh resuscitate and um paramedic assessment engine company five and then rescue 19 which gets me to my point about transporting patients. Chief, I I think that number um is staggering that how many of of the calls end up being in transport and that's something I think we need to take a very serious look at. And um I I think um if that can be handled by a BLS unit, I I think the theory was that okay, that frees up that rescue to not do the transport. So um I think we need to give you some some help on that. Um, I think that's it. But, um, oh, I also want to mention since I mentioned Commander Benson, I should just had her up at the podium to do my part for me here, but uh, no, I know I won't I'll never do that to you. But, uh, she is hosting a forum on Thursday night at the East Division. And, um, the 602 program was mentioned. Um, they're going to have signups there for that. That's from 4 to 7 on Thursday. I've been a fan of the 602 program since we used to call it, what was the old term for it? Standing no trespass order. That's much more descriptive. Um, but um, you know, if you're in the East Division, please stop by and you have an interest in this, you're a business owner, um, uh, the commander welcomes you there s Thursday night. Okay, did I make it in two minutes? Thank you. >> Less than two minutes, council member. All right, Councilwoman Zendas. >> Thank you. Um, I will start where I left off. Um, I wanted to say thank you again, Chief Buchanan, for everything that you do for our city. Um, I am very, very pleased to see the proposal for funding of the Peak Load Rescue 2, which I think has been mentioned by most of us here. Um, also wanted to um wanted to ask you a quick question. And I know we're all asking about this, but what will it really take? Like what is the funds that are needed to um to provide a full-time 24-hour rescue as opposed to maybe the 12hour basis? >> Thank you for the question. Uh Councilwoman Dehouse, so if you're referring to paramedic rescue 2, um we have structural funding for four firefighter paramedics. That's 1.3 and they'll be operating for 12 um 12 hours a day, seven days a week. To move that to 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and be just like the other rescues, it would be an additional $600,000 for a total of 1.9 million. >> Okay. >> 1.9 million will uh move rescue 2 to be 24 hours a day, seven days a week. >> Thank you for that. Um, chief. Um, lastly, I want to note that I'm very pleased with the partnership with Long Beach Unified School District and our senior communities to educate them on fire safety. Um, I support the continuation of expansions like that. And I am really looking forward to um stealing one of my colleagues events, the fire and ice that I've um talked to council member Rick Zod about stealing that one. Thank you for the continued um commitment and collaborations um with our community. I really do appreciate that and I know that um we'll be working closely with you as well. I'm going to go real um back to Chief Heish um for a minute. I wanted to say thank you to Councilwoman Rick Zod on the followup on the drums. Thank you so much. That was going to be one of my followups as I queued up again. So, thank you for that. Um, I also wanted to share uh what an incredible National Night Out it was um this past Tuesday. I was so glad that we were able to make uh make it out. I wanted to um thank you. I went to two of them. One at Craftsman's Village um which my residents were um so thrilled to have our officers there um and eating hot dogs, sharing laughs. I mean, it was just a really great event. Um, then I made my way over to Drake Park, um, where we had so many resources that are available and that was just spectacular to see. Um, I was able to meet up with the TIP program that you guys work very closely with and that earlier in the meeting um, Councilwoman Dugen um, recognized and recognized their efforts. That's really great to see that partnership expand also into um our um other public safety avenues that that we have. Um I also wanted to share a quick quick story about National Night Out. on top of me it bringing me so much joy to see a 5-year-old little boy coming up to uh police officers and doing bubbles with them and stuff and just playing around and being kids around the police officers really really filled my heart with joy. But one thing that really overwhelmed my heart at National Night Out is when I talked to two amazing young ladies from the Explorers and they were talking to me about their program and what they were doing and I asked them, "Do you want to be a police officer when you grow up?" And the way that they answered yes was overwhelming. So to touch on Councilwoman Allen um his remarks earlier about how important it is to have female uh officers in both fire and uh police is very important and the sparkle that I saw in their eyes. I know they're going to be great police officers and that's because of the mentorship that they have received from our fire department. So thank you very much. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Councilwoman. And lastly, Council Member Dougen, >> Chief Buchanan, I have a question for you and then um one more for each of you. So, what factors are impacting your department's response times? >> What factors are are uh impacting our response times? Well, um, when we're out of units. So, when we're out of units, um, we're relying on automatic aid from a different city. So, that impacts our response times. Um, and then just the city of Long Beach, as you know, we're we're uh in the area we're in right now, it's a high-rise district. Um, so the infrastructure around council district one um to get into upper floors of these highrises, that impacts our response times. Um but mostly is basically not having the right amount of resources, EMS resources to have uh to reduce our response times and that's probably the biggest impact right there. >> All right. Thank you. I think that's part of our discussion tonight. So for both of you and Chief Buchanan, you can answer this first. What can we as a city council do to give you the tools you need to bring these response times down? I think that more discussion and talk about what you need with increased resources, but please answer the question. >> Yeah, thanks for the question. As your fire chief, I'm gonna continue to follow our our bud our beer program, our budget process, and I'll continue to advocate for funding to address my uh staffing and resource and infrastructure challenges. For staffing, I am extremely grateful. The last two fiscal years, um you've provided me a lot of funds to have two large firemies. That is why I have a 3% vacancy and I appreciate that. And um I'm very grateful that we're looking at innovative ways. You provided funds for I could have a pilot program. Uh this year I had the PAU pilot program. I also had the rescue 2 pilot program. So we're looking at innovative ways to uh provide better service to the community, but that it's going to require funding and I'm going continue to advocate for that, but I'll allow you to make that decision. And the big funding is like I state is the infrastructure. Um we you saw the four three fire I mean two fire stations on that slide. You saw our lifeguard headquarters that's also old and then you saw our training center. Our training center is from the 1960s. It was designed for 24 recruits and around seven or eight instructors all male firefighters and instructors. Now I'm I'm doubling the size. Right. I have 50 recruits and around 13 to 14 instructors male and female. and I want to have the right accommodations for everybody coming into this academy. So these are are big discussions how we try to identify funding to address those challenges. >> Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Chief Heibbish, >> can you clarify the question for me, Councilwoman, if you don't mind? Uh just what is what can we as a city council do to give you the tools you need to bring response times down? >> Sure. Um continue to partner uh with the police department. I appreciate the support, the ongoing support. Um and it's not just a funding issue. It is an an issue of showing and demonstrating um uh the appreciation and gratitude we have for the people that come into this profession because it's felt throughout the organization and beyond. And it helps with recruitment. And so recruitment isn't just about the police department, it's everybody in the city. And we try to share that message. We try to uh share the message of what it means to work in the Long Beach Police Department. Uh the type of city you'll be working for and with. And so, um, I would say what you can do is to continue to to partner with us, continue to support us, continue to trust, uh, that we are doing what is in the best interest of public safety, and we'll continue to do that. Um, I think that is probably first and foremost because it helps build this organization, this police department, um, in a manner that that, uh, the city needs moving forward to continue to, uh, provide a safe and thriving, uh, Long Beach for everyone. >> Thanks to both of you. I think the discussion tonight has been great and our continued uh discussion on what is needed, but I want to finish kind of lightly with um support of the cops and bobbers which brings community together. It's such a great name and our our grill and chill. So, thank you very much. >> I've heard of cops and robbers. I don't think I've heard of cops and bobbers. That's a new one. >> It's a fishing. >> Is that a East Long Beach thing? That must be an East Long Beach thing. We'll say that in North Long Beach. Um, all right. Well, thank you so much uh to our chiefs. Thank you to the council. I know we have a few more a couple more big items uh to get to. We have five members of the public signed up to speak on this hearing. Uh Denise, Daniela Suarez, Sophia Barcenas, uh Anna Marcia, and Josh Deleó. If you heard your name, please make your way to the front. I'm gonna read it one more time. If no one makes their way, we will move on. Denise, Daniela, Sophia, Barcine, Anna Marcia, and Josh Deion. All right, please come forward. >> To the bathroom. They've been waiting a while. Do you mind? >> Oh, we're not going to be able to. >> Wait, is some Is that Josh? Please come forward, Josh. All right. >> Yeah, just just take your time. Just take your time. You waited for us. >> Thank you. Thank you. We got some snacks in the back, so I'm ready for that as well. >> All right. >> Uh good evening everybody. My name is Josh Deleon. I am a Long Beach resident and the lead organizer with Long Beach for a Just Economy. Uh and you know, we're having a conversation about public safety and it's very important. I'm here to be additive to that. Um we have to recognize that as part of this budget hearing when we talk about public safety, there are a lot of things that are impacting public safety that have not been mentioned here. In particular, I'm thinking about the anti-immigrant and illegal federal overreach that we have seen so heavily in our region. Crime is down in Long Beach except crime done by ICE. When masked agents without warrants arrest our community members, both legal residents and undocumented residents, both with and without criminal history, that infringes on public safety and trust. when community members avoid calling on public safety agencies like the agencies that share today or when community members have fear and don't go to medical facilities because they don't want to get arrested while taking care of their needs. That is a gap in access to our emergency services. The point here is that public safety comes in many forms and that includes protecting our rights as immigrants and as tenants. That's why we and our coalition are calling for stronger structural investments in programs like the Long Beach Justice Fund as well as the Long Beach Community Land Trust and Tenant Rights of Council that help protect residents from housing instability. Uh and that's why I want Long Beach to lead in its im immigration protection policies by further stretching the Long Beach Values Act, which the committee will share uh later in the agenda. Uh the point here is that public safety is not the job of two agencies alone. It is a city-wide commitment and includes protecting all of our residents from all threats, including the violation of their rights to reside here, to make a life here, to live and work and rent with dignity here in the city built by immigrants, workers, and renters. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. All right, Denise, Daniela, Sophia, or Anna? >> Uh, Denise. >> Denise. All right. >> Uh, my name is Denise. I am a community organizer with Orlay and I'm a resident of district 2. Um, I'm here to advocate for 2.2 million for the Long Beach Justice Fund. Um, I just want to stress the importance of this program getting new money um to be able to help the most uh people that it possibly can. Um, I know this council and the mayor care for immigrants and you've made great effort to allocate uh budget to this community. Um, the justice fund is one of the many items that was funded um in the mayor's defending Long Beach values package. Um, but I asked that it be a priority and that it be funded the 2.2 2 million um before other new programs are funded. Um this is a fund that will have the most impact and it's a program that can serve community today as it's already been developed and invested in. Um thank you so much. Um and my three other folks, they will come back. Um I'd appreciate if they had a chance to speak. They've been here all night. Thank you. >> All right, I'm gonna call I'm gonna call them one more time. Daniela, Sophia, or Anna? >> Eerma. No, I have Anna, Sophia, or Daniela. >> Are you Anna? >> Yes, please proceed. >> I am Anna Moria >> from district number seven. >> I'm here to support the justice funds. And I ask you to vote to strengthen the values act. and thanks for listening. >> All right, thank you very much. Is Daniela or Sophia? Daniela. >> Daniela. >> Uh, Daniela, please come forward. >> Hello. Good night. My name is Daniela Suarez. I am here with Oral today. I'm a resident of District 4. Today I am here as a mother of a young child, as an educator, and also as a proud immigrant. I am here to ask the city council to increase protections for our immigrant community and invest 2.2 million in the Long Beach Justice Fund to ensure access to legal representation. During the past months, we have seen people being kidnapped in broad daylight um while going to work to church to pick up their children from school. The violence that our community has been subjected to should not happen anywhere and it should not it should certainly not happen in our city, one of the most diverse in the country. As such, I also want to advocate for strengthening the Long Beach Al Values Act and go beyond SB54 to ensure that the city does not share information with federal immigration agencies and that it does not work with companies that profit from separating families. Every Long Beach resident should have the peace of mind that their personal information will not be used and abused to persecute them. While the Long Beach value act values act is certainly valued, I urge the city council to commit to to stronger to the stronger protections of our that our community needs and deserves. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Sophia Back. All right. All right. We'll now vote to continue the hearing. Uh roll call vote, please. >> District 1, I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. District four. >> Hi. >> District five. >> I >> District six. >> Hi. >> District seven. >> I. >> District eight. >> I. >> District nine. >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> All right. Thank you. Still a couple more things to do. Uh, general public comment number one. And then we have hearing 25 Pacific Place. General public comment. I see there are two people signed up to speak. Corus Lee and Christopher Welsh. Is Corus here? Raise your hand. >> Okay, Corus, you are up. And is Christopher here? >> Okay, start making your way to the front, Christopher. Thank you. >> Hi. Um, I wanted to talk to you about a bill going through the state legislature SB79. I had sent you all an email a couple of days ago about it. It's the supposedly the worst land use bill of the year. Um it's about a massive upzoning. It usurpers city controls on zoning and building requirements. Um let's see. What I'd really like to see is to have our council write a letter of o opposition. And I had sent you the list of all the cities that have already done that. And it's a massive list. It's five pages long. It's almost all of our neighboring cities have done that. And I was thinking about it sitting here tonight and I don't remember our city ever doing a letter of opposition to any bill. So I don't know. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know if that's just we don't want to offend Sacramento, but this particular bill is um really egregious and you know that the community cares about zoning. You know, if you were around for the land use element back in 2017, 2018, there were thousands of people that showed up at those meetings when you were talking about reszoning their neighborhoods. So, um, this bill would override our zoning and allow five to seven story buildings and more. And if you read the bill, it starts out looking like it's just around uh the blue line, but if you read it more carefully and you see that other cities have done their homework, it really goes out into the community and there are sites online where you can go in and look at what it would affect in Long Beach and it's most of Long Beach. Um, Livable California is a nonprofit that I follow that meets on land use bills once a month. Um, they favor affordable housing and they identify the bills that they think are egregious. And in this case, this is the top of the list this year. So, I just I'd like to see our legislative committee um get on the ball with this because it's already in appropriations. You know, it's already so far down the line that doing anything about it. But Long Beach is a big force. We're a big city that should have a voice. So, I'm pleading with you to to get on that. and I I sent I gave our legislative committee a a binder on this and tried to do all your homework for you. So, um please do something this year. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Next is Mr. Welch. >> Hi. Pleasure to meet you. Pleasure to meet all of you. Looking for my phone. Um first uh is a proposal and ask uh that the city of Long Beach take on the United States Environmental Protection Agency uh cross agency mandate um and implement uh a local municipal uh power uh for such governmental office uh and pick up uh where they left off before Heritage Foundation usurped. Uh another you have an um an email from me uh in your email with uh a few acts, several acts and uh some 40 plus pieces of legislation that are common sense. Uh what else? Sorry, two minutes. uh IQ Air uh phenomenal woman CEO. she would love uh a phone call from the city of Long Beach to do uh a air filtration within local Long Beach transit uh and if you would like to push and take the challenge uh the A-ine for the US EPA's cross agency ask uh for indoor air quality uh uh LA Fire about the response time. Uh an EV uh retrofit by uh 2030. You could start that now. Um probably the the Gawk would probably or the gab would be uh well charged times. So you can do a a quick battery change station at every uh fire station and then uh take on Shenzhen China's uh surveillance doctrine or uh culture uh having uh 1,500 cameras and 700 sensors all high definition uh with facial recognition uh and then have that uh backed by XAI's Gro uh as a operating system. That's it for now. Thank you kindly. >> All right. Thank you. That concludes general public comment. We're now going to go to hearing item 25. Please >> report from community development recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. to conclude the public hearing and consider two thirdparty appeals from Benjamin Harris for Los Angeles WaterKeper and Sanjuna Supkaker with Carson Black and Mantier LLP for the river park coalition. Adopt resolution certifying the insight self storage project environmental impact report making findings of fact related thereto and approving a mitigation monitoring and reporting program. Adopt resolution approving a general plan map amendment and adopt the proposed findings related thereto to change land use place type from neoindustrial 40 ft to community commercial five stories 50 ft place type. Adopt ordinance approving a zoning code amendment of the zoning regulations in the Long Beach Municipal Code and adopt the proposed findings related thereto to allow the commercial storage zoning district to utilize heights height overlays pursuant to chapter 21.39 of the zoning regulations read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the city council for final reading. Adopt ordinance approving a zoning map change request and adopt the proposed findings related thereto amend the zoning designation from light industrial to commercial storage which also includes a high-rise overlay designation of 50 ft five stories in height read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the city council for final reading. Deny the appeals and uphold the planning commission's conditional approval of site plan review and adopt the proposed findings and conditions of approval there too and deny the appeals and uphold the planning commission's approval of conditional use permits and adopt the proposed findings and conditions of approval there too to allow the operation of the self storage facility recreational vehicle storage and private outdoor car wash in the commercial storage loaning district located at 3701 Pacific Place, District 5. >> All right. I believe there's an oath required. >> Please stand for those of you who are going to testify on this item. >> Raise your right hand. Do you and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now impending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God. You may be seated. >> All right. Thank you. So this is a hearing of uh great interest. I'm going to walk through the process because uh hearings follow a very specific uh process and we want we intend to do it correctly. So it starts with a staff presentation that should not exceed 20 minutes. Appellant uh comments will then follow though each appellant has 10 minutes and there are two appellants River Park and Water Keepers and then the applicant has a 10-minute rebuttal. After that we go to public comment. There are 21 people signed up to speak. Uh neither the appellants or the applicants can supplement their argument during public comment. After that, we will close public comment. We will take it back behind the rail for city council deliberation and action. This action has to be separated into seven separate votes uh to account for each action taken. Additionally, because this is a virtual meeting, each vote will be uh a voice vote. So, this is um very procedural. We will follow the procedure for this hearing and it begins with the staff presentation. Uh, may I have a motion and a second, please? >> Let's get a a motion to start the debate. Do you need that verbal or can you hit the button? >> We need a verbal. >> Okay, we need a motion to second. >> I'll make the first. >> Okay. Uh, okay. Nine and six. Thank you. All right. Let's proceed. >> Mr. Mayor, before we begin with the staff presentation, just very quickly, I'm principal deputy city attorney Aaron Whisner McKinley. And before we move back to staff, we just wanted to quickly address the record on this item. Um, the River Park Coalition appeal letter, which was dated June 11th, 2025, was included as an exhibit to this hearing item on the meeting agenda for tonight's meeting, which was posted on Monday, August 4th. The River Park Coalition appeal letter was inadvertently dropped from the item late on Friday afternoon, and it was put back on the agenda documents earlier this afternoon. All city council members have confirmed that they received and reviewed the River Park Coalition appeal in advance of tonight's hearing. um thereby resulting in no prejudice to any party to the appeal. Additionally, the arguments set forth in the river park coalition appeal are warp forward in attachment for attachment the same as the appeal filed by filed by the Los Angeles waterkeepers with the wa with a couple exceptions. the water keepers appeal um differed in the sense that it included a paragraph of argument around the planning commission hearing um and they also had some different content and language around um erroneous information and but they both contain the same argument. Um the waterkeeper appeal was posted with the original agenda item on August 4th and it remained a part of the item for the entirety of the time period that the hearing agenda was posted. Um, we now have the appeal online and it's available for review and we also have a hard copy of the River Park appeals, uh, the River Park Coalition's appeal here in Chambers if anyone would like to take a look at it. >> All right. Well, thank you for updating that for the record. Uh, we'll now move into the staff presentation. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. So, um, we, uh, have a fairly extensive presentation. As you said, this is a very complex project. Uh, lots of information. So, I will turn that over to our team. uh primarily it will be given by our project planner who's really been in the in the details on this Quinton Jackson also supported by Allison Spindler Ruiz our planning bureau manager and Christopher Coun our community development director so I'll turn to the team great so Mr. Mayor, members of the council, this project does have uh many years of history and this project has been heard before. So Quinton and Allison are going to give you that um detailed technical presentation and I just want to stress the reason it's a detailed technical presentation sometimes not the most exciting is because the work that we have to do um when we receive an application like this that's a piece of private property um that private property owner does have extensive rights. Um the city has a regulatory role um but our our role is limited. So um when we make decisions it's based on the factual information in front of us. Uh public input is part of that information gathering. Um but it's not a uh popularity contest. It's an evaluation of the information and applying it to our written zoning code and u upholding the applicant's right as well as the public and the city's rights. So Allison and Quinton are gonna um walk you through that and then we're glad to answer um all of those questions um at the appropriate time. Allison. Quinton. >> Thank you, Chris. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of city council. Uh the item before you is a request to deny two appeals and uphold the planning commission's June 5th approval and to approve a general plan amendment, zoning code amendment, and a zone change for the site located at 3701 North Pacific Place. This project was originally submitted on uh in 2020 and on December 17th of that year, the planning commission approved the site plan review, three conditional use permits, a standards variance, and a lot merger and also recommended that the city council approve a zone change request. Subsequently, the planning commission's approval was appealed to city council who heard the item in April of 2021 and upheld the planning commission's approval. Uh the following year in 2022, a lawsuit was was filed against the city by the River Park Coalition and LA Waterkeeper citing several reasons for opposition uh including an insufficient level of environmental review. And so in uh June of 2022, the uh courts ruled in favor of the plaintiffs determining that a full environmental impact report would be required, which effectively nullified all previous approvals pertaining to this project. Uh as a result, the project was resubmitted in 2023 and the full EIR has been prepared by the city. Uh the resubmitted project included a site plan review and three conditional use permits which was approved by the planning commission on June 5th, 2025. The project site is located at 3701 North Pacific Place and is currently comprised of a 14 acre vacant property. Uh it has a current zoning designation of light industrial and a general plan place type designation of neoindustrial. The site is bounded to the north by the metro A-line and residential properties, to the south by the 405 freeway, to the east by a school park and residential properties, and to the west by more vacant land and the LA River. And so this uh this slide highlights the buffering and isolation of the site in terms of its immediate borders. and it uh further details the fact that the site is only accessible from a single point of entry from Pacific Place. Uh the site is particularly hard to access from neighborhoods uh to the west and to the south. In terms of the development history of the project site, uh previous activities have resulted in a contaminated property. Uh during the 1920s, the site was established as an oil brine treatment facility. During the 1930s, oil drilling activities commenced with the operation of 13 oil wells. During the 1950s, the oil treatment facility was discontinued. And in the 1970s, the site was filled with imported soil. Between the years of 1961 and 2014, all of the oil wells were eventually abandoned. And a golf driving range was established and operated from 1997 until 2007. And after its closure, a golf related retail and equipment rental continued until 2015. The proposed project consists of a self-s storage facility, a car wash, and an RV parking lot. The self-s storage facility would be approximately 26,000 square ft spread among four stories with 1,681 self-s storage units. The car wash would be approximately 1,450 ft and exclusive to tenants of the property, and the RV parking lot would consist of 551 covered parking spaces. The planning entitlements required for this project include a zone change, a general plan amendment, a zoning code amendment, a site plan review, and three conditional use permits. The zone change, general plan amendment, and zoning code amendment are all subject to city council approval, while the site plan review, and conditional use permits were approved by the planning commission on June 5th, 2025, but are being heard on appeal tonight. Also, certification of the aforementioned environmental impact report. The zone change is requested to convert the project site from light industrial to commercial storage in order to allow the establishment of the self- storage facility and RV parking lot. The requested zone change would also include a building height overlay of 50 ft and five stories which is indicated on the screen with the zoning code HR-50. The commercial storage district is the most appropriate zoning to support the project because it encourages storage uses in areas that are difficult to use because of parcel shape, limited access, or adverse environmental conditions, all of which are characteristics of the project site. Given the unique nature of the project site in terms of irregular shape, natural isolation, limited access, and adverse environmental conditions, the site is appropriate for the commercial storage district, which is a similar but less intensive zone than the existing IL zone. The project also includes a general plan amendment with which works in tandem with the proposed zone change before you. Currently, the project site has a general plan place type designation of neoindustrial, which is more in line with advanced manufacturing, research and development, and other light industrial uses. Within the land use element of the general plan, the community commercial place type is indicated as being consistent with the commercial storage zoning district. The majority of the proposed general plan changes pertain specifically to the place type change from neoindustrial to community commercial. But there's also a change to land use map number eight which would change the height allowance from 40 ft to 50 ft and five stories consistent with the proposed height overlay for the zone change request. The planning commission found that the proposed general plan amendment will benefit public interest as the project site in its current condition is a vacant, underutilized and blighted property with limited development potential and the site has been known to it basis. The proposed project would convert the site into an economically beneficial, safe, and environmentally responsible site that will improve public access in the form of newly paved roads, new sidewalks, and on-site access to the adjacent LA River bike path. The entitlement package also includes a request for a zoning code amendment to allow the commercial storage district to utilize the height overlay available in the code. The zoning code amendment would be needed to allow up to 50 ft in height. The proposed height overlay is meant to provide case-byase relief from the 28 foot height limit within the commercial storage district uh which in this case would also allow the project to be built at 44 ft in height. Staff has made findings as to why this zoning code amendment is appropriate in order to allow for modern self- storage uses which are typically three to four stories in height. It's important to allow self- storage in some locations and consideration of broader general plan policies and strategies. As described in the findings, this code amendment facilitates a variety of policies supporting new housing development. Uh the city has issued permits for more than 7,000 dwell dwelling units uh since the 2019 year of the LUE adoption. Many of these units were smaller infill apartment units or accessory dwelling units. Some portion of these units as well as the population as a whole requires storage including off-site self storage. The ability for the city to accommodate urban living in smaller units around the city requires that the city also consider facilitating a limited number of appropriate properties, including the subject property for highquality storage uses. The project site is within a larger area identified in the Los Angeles River Master Plan, which is a vision document identifying long-term goals for increasing open space along the LA River. The LA River master plan is led by the LA County Public Works Department and although it identifies the subject site as being within a potential open space area. The subject site itself is private property and the plan acknowledges acquisition limitations as such. The county owns and manages the river channel itself and some of the land that is adjacent to the river channel, which in this case also happens to be adjacent to the project site. The proposed development project has been conditioned to require the applicant to work with the entity responsible for developing the adjacent county- owned land. This requirement includes development of a halfacre section of native plant preserve in the north portion of the project site to be consistent with the LA River master plan. The applicant will also be required to hold and maintain an access point and on-site trail easement that connects the entrance of the project site from Pacific Place to a trail head leading to the LA River bike path. This slide illustrates a more detailed view of the access point and trail easement that the applicant will be responsible for should this development be approved. The new pathway will allow a new public access way from the eastern side of the site to the county property that is directly adjacent to the LA River bike path, which this site is not a part of. The actions taken by the planning commission on June 5th include approval of a site plan review and three conditional use permits for the self- storage facility, the RV parking lot, and the accessory car wash. These approvals, as well as the recommended legislative actions, were granted based on all legal findings of fact made in the affirmative. Regarding the site plan review approval, the planning commission found that the project is harmonious and consistent within itself and compatible with the community. They also found that the project represents the most compatible use given the site context and previous site contamination activities on the property. The project site is located along the northeast intersection of the 405 freeway and LA River and is only accessible via Pacific Place. So site orientation is designed to provide the most visibility of the new building from its entrance along Pacific Place. With this orientation, the self-s storage building provides a visual buffer between the site entrance and the remainder of the RV parking lot. The building itself uses a contemporary style of architecture that the planning commission believes is of a higher quality than the typical self-s storage development. One of the goals of the urban design element is to contribute to the removal of urban blight which has plagued the project site for many years. Uh the proposed project has been deemed to sufficiently satisfy this particular goal of the urban design element. Regarding the conditional use permit approvals, uh findings include several special conditions that govern the operation of the proposed use. One of those conditions is that the use only be permitted if no other reasonable alternatives exist. Other conditions include no disruption or negative impacts on pedestrian or traffic circulation, no disruption to the concentration of highintensity activities, prohibition of human habitation within storage units, requirements for security plans, and several other conditions that pertain to all three conditional use permits. The planning commission found that the project will not be detrimental to the surrounding community based on the unique characteristics of the of the site in terms of access and contamination and the fact that it's an autooriented property that lacks pedestrian compat compatibility. Uh for the sake of redundancy, the project represents a low inensity use uh that's deemed appropriate due to the heavy sight contamination. The planning commission has incorporated several conditions of approval to safeguard against adverse impacts of the project, including hours of operation, prohibition of idling vehicles, prohibition of inoperable vehicles, prohibition of on-site vehicle repair, proper loading areas, and many more conditions. Therefore, staff is recommending that the city council uphold the site plan review and conditional use permit approvals given by the planning commission on June 5th. And with that, I'll now turn this uh portion of the presentation over to Allison Spindler Ruiz. Thank you. >> Thanks, Quentyn. So, um, two appeals were filed, um, on by legal firms on behalf of LA Water Keeper and the Riverpar Coalition after the planning commission hearing. This slide summarizes the assertions made in both appeals. The appeals purport that the ER was somehow insufficient or that environmental and land use planning topics were not fully addressed. That's simply not true. SQA requires environmental analysis and disclosure. And the ER fully analyzed all relevant topics and identified all feasible mitigation measures that are now requirements of project approval to ensure that future environmental impacts are actually below significant levels. The other appeal assertions relate to whether the requested entitlement approvals would be consistent with our plans and zoning and whether future uh potential development of nearby property for park space or potential external funding for park development, both of which are speculative are reasons to deny the proposed project in order to pursue alternative development of the site at the park. staff has found these claims to be without merit and we won't be able to describe and refute every component of the lengthy appeals, but attachment P to the council lever letter provides an extensive written response for your consideration. Much of the appeal grounds um much of the appeal grounds involve the interplay between environmental justice concerns, park equity, and the legal constraints of regulatory takings associated with denying a private development proposal on private property so that it could be alternatively developed as park space. Extensive regional visioning has been done to reimagine the LA River and its surroundings, which is an important planning exercise. However, the documents themselves note the legal, financial, and practical constraints that limit the ability to acquire privatelyowned properties near the river, such as the site. The appellants contend that the city should deny the proposed development of this private property so that it can instead be developed as park space. However, doing so could be considered a regulatory takings by denying the private property owner their rights to develop. And in fact, it's our understanding that multiple attempts have been made in the past to acquire the site to be developed as park space. Currently, this property cannot be acquired because it is not for sale. And even if it were, the city does not have the resources to acquire it. In fact, the city has an existing list of sites prioritized for park development and improvements. As the council is aware from your budget oversight role, and based on the latest analysis of funds available, many of our priority park development projects already identified are not fully funded. And this site is not on that prioritized list. The appellants have identified potential external funding sources, but in our resource constrained environment, using limited staff time and resources to pursue such competitive funding could functionally deprioritize sites in other areas of greater park need given the site's location across from Los Cerritos Park. The appellants site general plan policies related to park equity and developing park space in areas underserved. But the existence of such policies do not supersede the property rights of a private property that is not designated or zoned for open space. Again, no regulatory land use document identifies this as park or open space. Environmental justice is embedded in our planning framework and requires us to consider potential project impacts in the context of cumulative pollution burden in environmental justice communities. In this case, the self- storage facility is projected to have a low emissions profile compared to most light industrial or commercial uses that could exist on the site. The project is also projected to generate fewer vehicle and truck trips compared to most other potential land uses. Additionally, this is a very dirty site and the remediation is estimated to cost millions of dollars. The proposed project would not only ensure private funding for the expensive environmental cleanup of the site, but the northern p portion of the site would be turned into a native plant preserve and a southern area of the property would be given for public use through an access easement uh to provide access to the LA County property that is adjacent to the river trail. When it comes to park equity, this council has deliberated on the definition and implementation priorities of park equity, which has helped lead to the parks rec uh wreck and marine strategic plan, an award-winning planning document, um which talks about a primary equity goal that every Long Beach resident has walkable and bikable access to a neighborhood park, which is an existing condition for the site. In this case, the site is located in a neighborhood already served with access to a park in a 10-minute walk. And not just any park. Los Cerritos Park is a 7.24 acre park and has been the site of the weekly municipal band concerts many of us have enjoyed this summer and for many summers in the past. Additionally, the general plan identifies the parcel surrounding the project site as fully served by existing parks. Taking an equity lens requires us to focus resources where they are needed the most. That's why it's important for us to take a minute to analyze this site in context. On the map, the census tracks on the left, which are west of the LA River, are the deepest color red, meaning they have the highest cumulative disadvantage on a range of indicators related to socioeconomics and pollution burden. According to the tool kum bioscreen, city and state policies encourage us to focus those resources in those deepest red areas with the greatest needs across a spectrum of indicators. You can see the clear distinction of areas west of the LA River and south of the 405. This site is included in a census tract mostly comprised of areas south of the 405, but the site itself is in the Los Certos neighborhood which is characterized by middle and high income residents served by Lo Cerritos Park, Los Certos Elementary and the nearby Rancho. This area scores notably better than m than neighboring areas west and south and the site is substantially buffered and hard to access to the south and west from the south and west due to multiple freeways. This is due to the legacy of urban renewal through which freeways and other hard infrastructure divided communities thereby dividing the project site from the lower income communities of color further west and south. In summary, staff recommends that the council deny appeals, hold the planning commission actions, uphold them, and approve the requested legislative actions. This project would facilitate a privately funded environmental remediation of the site, a high quality project, and a land use that is less impacting with fewer vehicle trips compared to other potential uses of the site. The project is consistent with planning regulations, goals, and requirements. This concludes staff presentation. We're available for any questions. Does that complete staff's presentation? >> Yeah, we went uh a minute under. We're done. And I think we'll proceed um to the presentation from the appellants. >> All right. Now, it's time for the appellent comp uh comments. We'll start with River Park. 10 minutes available and water keepers will follow. 10 minutes available. Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. My name is Sanja Supuper and I'm an attorney at Carson's Blackman. Um, I'd like to reserve three minutes for rebuttal. Um, if if I may. >> Is that allowable? >> That's allowable, ma'am. >> Okay, great. You can go seven now and then we'll save three. >> Thank you. Um I'm here today on behalf of the River Park Coalition or RPC, a community coalition that works to promote public serving open space in nature deprived areas of western Long Beach. Along with our colleague Ellie Waterper, who will present separately, we strongly urge you to vote no on the Pacific Place project. This project is a self-s storage and recreational vehicle facility cited on one of the few remaining undeveloped parcels uh in western Long Beach abudding the Los Angeles River. We've submitted several letters to the city that demonstrate the inadequacy of the environmental review prepared for the project in violation of SQA. And as an initial matter uh we requested a continuence of this item um notwithstanding uh the the issue brought up by the city attorney um this evening. uh due to the city's late revisions of appeal responses um I believe it's attachment uh P um addressing SQA issues as well as a um aratom uh regarding uh bees um that were substantially different from previous versions of those documents that were initially uploaded with the staff report. um we don't think it's proper to make substantive revisions um of these attachments after they've already been disseminated to the public um and believe that these result in violations of theformational mandate of SQA and potential Brown Act violations as well. And we uh we disagree that uh there was no prejudice uh uh in this matter. Um um oh okay um so I wanted to talk a little bit about the site. Um despite what you may have heard uh this site is an environmental justice community in Parkour Westside Long Beach. As you can see the project site is adjacent to the LA River and located at the 710 and 405 freeways. It's surrounded by residential communities and sensitive receptors including an elementary school. The site's designated as an SB535 disadvantaged community and also it is within the AB617 Wilmington Carson West Long Beach community air monitoring program area. Um the staff report attempts to diminish the s sensitivity of the site but kal virus screen data show that the site is at the 92nd percentile for asthma uh and low birth weight um at the uh 87th percentile for cardiovascular disease 99th percentile for exposure to toxic releases 98th percentile for exposure to traffic 95th percentile for diesel particulate matter exposure and 89th percentile for overall pollution burden. This is clearly a site already burdened by environmental hazards. RPC along with our colleagues at LA WaterKeper have been advocating for proper environmental review for this site for at least half a decade. We filed a successful lawsuit in 2021 after the city approved an M &D for a previous version of the project despite its potential impacts to land use, biological resources, air quality, and transportation. Um the court's findings are listed on the slide. Um and the court found that the city violated SQA on each of these grounds. Unfortunately, the ER prepared for the project uh continues to be insufficient. We've submitted several letters detailing the ER's many flaws supported by expert analyses. I will now discuss some of these issues. So, first we've identified conflicts with numerous land use plans adopted for the purpose of avoiding or mitigating significant environmental impacts. These include the general plan, land use element, open space and recreational element, um the riverlink plan um as well as others. Um these conflicts must be addressed and mitigated in the ER um but they were not. Um, additionally, um, for example, the lower LA River revitalization plan identified this site as part of an opportunity area for the Wrigley Heights River Park with a opportunity potential score of 98 out of 100. Another location in this opportunity area, which is adjacent to the project site, was recently granted over 16 million by the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy for Park Acquisition and Development. and we requested that the ER be recirculated um to address the uh impacts of this um this this uh park acquisition and development. Um but uh the city declined to to recirculate the IR. Um our letters have discussed several biological resources impacts, but I'd like to address uh one in particular. uh almost 1,300 protected rare southern tar plants were destroyed during pre-development grading activities on the site. Um the EI is imposing only a 1:1 mitigation ratio for these lost plants which is insuffi sufficient to mitigate the loss of tar plant. Um this remains a significant impact and the mitigation is using experimental methods with a poor track record of success. Um, our letters have also addressed uh several concerns with the air quality analysis. Um, this project is within what's known as the diesel death zone um, located at, you know, the intersection of the 710 and 405 freeways. And we submitted expert data showing that concentrations of construction related NOx emissions would exceed ambient air quality standards. Um, and you can see on the slide, um, there's a contour labeled, I believe, 188. um and their sensitive receptors including um residences uh within that contour. Our letters also demonstrated uh numerous traffic impacts particularly with regards to traffic safety and failure to analyze cumulative BMT impacts when compared with the other large developments near this busy interchange. Um the photo here shows one of these dangerous intersections um at the freeway on-ramp heading south from the project site. And you can see that there's a car um entering the freeway on ramp um but it's it's opposing um uh the opposing traffic. And we also have concerns with the alternatives analysis particularly with the failure to evaluate a park alternative or off-site alternative. The range of alternatives was inadequate and misleading um with an impermiss permissibly vague alternative that is essentially just the existing land use designations um on the site. These inadequate alternatives fail the substantive mandate of SQA. >> Seven minutes after included. >> Uh thank you. Um I'll reserve the rest of my time for uh rebuttal. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next are the water keepers appeal. Maggie, you can proceed. >> Thank you. Uh, good evening, mayor and city council members. I know it's been a long night. Thank you for sticking with us. My name is Benjamin Harris. I'm the senior staff attorney at Los Angeles Waterkeeper. I'd like to reserve one minute for rebuttal, if I may. If you haven't heard of our organization, LA Waterkeeper has served as LA's water watchdog for over 30 years, safeguarding our inland and coastal waterways using the law, science, and community action. LA Water Keeper alongside our partners at the River Park Coalition urges the city council to vote no on this proposed project. And I just wanted to cover the agenda really quick so you can see my goal here is to talk a little bit more broadly about how this site is so important as it relates to the LA River and Western Long Beach community. It's really hard to understand why LA Waterkeeper would be so interested in this one site if you don't understand the history of the LA River. And I'll briefly explain that to those who are unfamiliar. The river historically supported a really diverse riparian ecosystem that had marshes and wetlands throughout the whole watershed. And there was a flash flood hydrarology system with water coming down from the mountains. That meant every time it rains, the river would flood very dramatically. It would change course. So unfortunately, what we then did in the turn of the 20th century is we developed real estate and industrial properties right next to the river channel. So these bad development decisions led to what you see on the right, which is catastrophic flooding that happened in the 1920s and 1930s. What was the result of that? The federal government had to come in in the 1940s to channelize the LA River. The Army Corps of Engineers spent over 20 years to develop about 278 miles of river channel everywhere they could, including the tributaries. And there were significant consequences of doing this. The riparian habitat and ecosystem was obviously destroyed when you cover it in concrete. We've now lost the hydraologic connection between the river and the flood plane and the groundwater that was feeding into the river in some parts of the river year round. Uh communities were also now disconnected from the river and disconnected from each other. So what does the river look like now? You can see in this picture it's basically just a super highway for storm water. Every time it rains, it carries polluted urban runoff from the surrounding watershed, many hundreds of miles of watershed out to the Pacific Ocean through the city of Long Beach as fast as it possibly can. Another consequence of channelizing the river was harm to our local communities that live alongside the river. By channelizing the river, it brought more development, more industrial development, commercial development right along the river, which then of course brought blight to our communities. Now you can literally track on kalen virro screen on the left. You can track the worst communities in our region in terms of pollution burdens along the path of the river almost directly. That is appalling. Normally you think of riverfront property as highly desirable. In LA it's not that case. So what does that mean for LA or excuse me for Long Beach residents near the river? That means that they're already plagued by high diesel death zone you know air emissions and other human health impacts. But now there's a lack of green space along the river for these communities that results in persistent exposure to these toxic pollutants, air quality issues, respiratory impacts, other human health impacts, and they have no resppite from all of that. There's no green space or outdoor areas they can go to escape it. So we think to address the environmental injustice that Western Long Beach is experiencing, we have to address the LA River. The LA River is a central opportunity to meet our regional goals for climate resilience, for restoring habitat connectivity, and to achieve the city's own goals for open space. So now I want to just turn quickly to uh water quality and hydrarology because river channelization doesn't only impact our human communities, it impacts the river itself. Without going into much detail, you could see some points on the slides here. We believe the ER failed to properly account for these impacts in numerous ways. Both storm water runoff in the pre-development searchcharge and postdevelopment operations, including also the flooding component that as we build up more and more in the wershed, we're now contributing more runoff to the river, more pollutants from all that impervious surface into the river. None of this was adequately addressed in the EIR. Also, it's really important to note that our consultant does believe that the Army Corps likely has jurisdiction over this subject private parcel under section 408 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. You heard section 404 before. That's the Clean Water Act. We believe there is different authority under section 408. And what's important here is that the applicant and the city did not even consult with the Army Corps. They just made their own determination and moved along. that exposes the city to liability if the Army Corps determines they are wrong. So again, you may be wondering why this particular site is so important for the LA River. And that's a good question. There are many other opportunities potentially to achieve our goal to see more greening along the river and try to move toward restoration. The problem is that this site is an example of what we've seen in the past. We've seen the same mistakes of building too close to the river. Then we have to build more concrete infrastructure to protect against flooding and then that concrete infrastructure now brings more development and more blight. We're moving in the wrong direction. It's a cycle that we've repeated for over a hundred years. And we view this as a death of a thousand cuts. Every time we do this to the river, we're hurting it more and we're losing opportunities to heal the river and heal our communities. And LA Waterkeeper recognizes we can't just tomorrow restore 51 miles of the LA River. That's not possible. But we have to take every possible advantage we have here. We cannot let these opportunities slip because we will continue to go down the wrong path to the point that it is completely impossible to recover from. We don't want to get there. We don't think we're there now. But adding these types of developments next to the river doubles down on those mistakes we've made in the past. Fortunately, as you could see in this slide, Long Beach was ahead of its time. You all representing the city are, you know, taking over a city that has for over 15 years planned for green space along the LA River in the Riverlink plan. This was a visionary plan that really inspired promise for all of these communities along the river, which the Riverlink itself identifies as western Long Beach communities that lack park equity. So this is a really important plan to start moving in the right direction. Riverlink is the exact kind of project and plan we want to see for other parts of the river connecting those greenways and creating these um you know really awesome restoration opportunities that also bring recreation and green space to communities that need it. And now I also just want to quickly mention other regional plans have doubled down and reaffirmed that this is a really good idea for this particular site. We have the Rivers and Mountains Conservy's lower LA River revitalization plan. In 2018, it imagined the entire site of the Wrigley Heights River Park, including the private parcel as a place with open space for communities to connect together, including between the west and east sides of the LA River. And as my colleague Sunjuna previously mentioned, RMC is working on acquiring some grant funding to try to acquire private parcels to the east of the project site. Then in 2022, we have the LA River master plan from LA County that once again reaffirmed Wrigley Heights River Park as a key opportunity site for green space. But most importantly for our purposes, the city of Long Beach's own open space element in the general plan has shown how important it is to expand green space in this part of the city. If you look at this map, there is plenty of green space on the east side of the city. about 17 acres per 10,00 residents. On the west side, which does include this parcel, there's only one acre per 10,00 residents. That is a massive park inequity. And overall, the city is not meeting its goals of open space for the entire city. Even if you count 500 acres of green space, which is golf courses, the city is lagging behind, right? So, paving over this site will only make it harder. It will only make it harder to find additional opportunities. And the city has even recently agreed to two development projects on other open parcels next to the LA River in 712 Baker Street and the Intex property on the west side of the river. So I ask if there's no open space to be prioritized here at a place that's been planned since 2007, where in western Long Beach are we going to expand open space for these communities? Where are we going to do it? No matter what, this is just the wrong location for the proposed project. There is no reason it has to be built along the LA River. We have submitted a signon letter with 11 organizations, environmental and community based organizations that agree this is not the right site for this project. The applicant's own analysis of the market demand shows that there's more demand further out from the site because of availability other projects. I'm sorry. >> Your time has concluded. >> Oh, thank you. I will save the rest for rebuttal. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you very much. We'll now go to the applicant rebuttal. Staff, you have uh 10 minutes to respond. >> Oh. >> So, on this, Mr. Mayor, we're going to have the applicant actually give the rebuttal. >> The applicant rebutt. >> You get to rebut. All right. >> Thank you. And could we actually reserve one additional minute at the end for further rebuttal? >> Yes. >> Thank you. I'm Brian Sasonson with Insight Property Group. I've been working on this development here, 3701 Pacific Place for the last 5 years. And I thank you for your time. Real quickly here, I'm going to go through the first few slides and then Lindsay Tobayan with Alan Mackkins will take the bulk of the presentation. The star there is our corporate headquarters. It's in Roondo Beach. We drive by this property every day to work. We have workers that live in Long Beach and live in the surrounding area. This truly is our backyard. The orange is representative of the developments, the properties that are open and under construction. And we love the Los Angeles region. This is a quick zoomed out version of what Quinton showed in his staff uh presentation of the site in uh white there. And then adjacent to us is the county flood property. It's 10 acres. It's between our property and the LA River. And then you can see the major transportation including a metro line as well as additional green space, the Los Certos Park, the Domingueus wetlands, as well as a Virginia Country Club. This image is just uh shows the quality of of what we're putting out there. It's class A. This doesn't look like your typical self- storage big green or red or loud box that's drawing attention. It's something that we pride ourselves in the architecture and the design and work very closely with uh the city of Long Beach to design it. one more closer up image um of the building that we're really proud of and look forward to having many people drive by it and I'll pass the rest off to Lindseay Tobine. >> Thanks, Brian. >> Um okay. Uh so as noted by staff, this project was approved back in 2021. Um the appellants filed a lawsuit challenging the project in 2022 and that was on the basis that the and the argument that we should have prepared an environmental impact report and we have spent the last three years doing just that. Um preparing an environmental impact report that is the Cadillac of all uh SQA analyses and exhaustively required under SQA and identified in the two presentations. Uh since I have limited time, I'm not going to spend time responding point by point to the arguments that were raised in the prior presentations. But at a high level, I would like to note that we have received and pro provided detailed responses to all community input on the project and that included detailed responses to each and everything that was said by both of the appellent presentations. That work was done in collaboration with the city and those responses are included in the project DI in the final responses to comments to the project DIIR and in the appellet response matrix that is included as attachment P to the staff report. So that contains responses to all of the issues that were raised in the appellet presentations. And I would also like to note that we have the full expert team here tonight on all disciplines that were identified in the presentation. So if the council has questions on any of the more specific issues raised, we have the people here and available to answer those questions. Um so in the six years that we have been working on this project, we have partnered with the agencies that you see here on the slide to design um to to plan the site cleanup, design, mitigation, and the project benefits that are proposed to you today. In partnership with those agencies, we are presenting a project that will convert the current condition of the property from an underutilized blighted site with limited development potential that has remained vacant and unmanaged since 2007, close to 20 years, to a safe, sustainable, and environmentally responsible development. This slide shows a side-by-side comparison of the design that was approved by this council in 2021 as compared to the currently proposed design. The key points to note here is that while we have added a bit of storage space, the project is the same box as previously approved. It's the same height, the same development footprint, the same general layout of the site. Nothing has changed. This slide highlights that the property is currently zoned for industrial and warehouse uses that are much more impactful than the proposed project. This was something that was touched on in staff's presentation briefly as well. So the image on the left shows site development under the existing IL zoning which includes much more impactful uses like trucking, industrial manufacturing, warehouses and repair services. Uh the red box on the left shows what could be developed under that existing zoning and that scenario was actually exhaustively analyzed in our alternatives analysis in the IR as alternative one development under existing zoning. By comparison, the image on the le on the right shows the applicant's proposal, which is much smaller, about one-third the size, and a less impactful self storage use. As I mentioned, the ER did a full analysis of the project on the left and determined that it would have more impacts than the proposed project on nine different SQA categories. And the project on the right, our project, is much less impactful than what the site is currently zoned for. Um these as shown on these slides and mentioned in staff's presentation, the site in its current condition has been close to impossible to manage. Since we acquired the property in 2019, we've fenced it and added security and have still encountered substantial security issues. Um this here shows a pipe fire which was one of two arson events in the last two years at the site. This shows trash from various homeless encampments that pop up on the site regularly despite R and PD's best efforts to manage them. And here's more graffiti and breaking into the power box from those encampments. We are proposing to redevelop the site from this attractive nuisance state into a security focused use that will benefit other properties on this deadend corridor. Those some of those security improvements are highlighted on the slide and include lighting, fencing, AI enabled security cameras, keypad control access, um, and on-site security guards and robotics. Uh, this area really, what I want to emphasize here is that this area really needs an active and secure business in order for the rest of the area to be safe for surrounding residents. Um site cleanup is also very important uh benefit that this project offers to the city. Uh as I mentioned it's it is sat undeveloped and unused for close to 20 years because it is such an impacted site. Um, a couple things to note on this slide are one, the the shaded area is the footprint of the former treatment sumps from the oil use, which comprises almost the entirety of the project site, but does not extend onto the LA County flood control parcel to the west or Genie McDonald's property to the east. Um, also the numerous circles on this image are the borings that were taken during the extensive testing and sampling of this project in collaboration with DTSC and the city. And that testing allowed us to confidently delineate and characterize the cam contamination on site and to establish an appropriate remedy in collaboration with DTSC. The a summary of the remedy that has was proposed and approved in 2021 and remains unchanged in the current draft response plan is listed on the slide and we have our experts here um and happy to answer any technical questions that you might have about site cleanup or the proposed remedy. Uh the current status of the DTSC portion of the actions is that DTSC will still need to approve that response plan before work can begin and they will have 180 days from the city's final action to take that final action. Nothing can happen until DTSC approves it. Uh this is another one of the project benefits that was flagged in the staff reports staff's presentation. So, I won't spend too much time on it, but I I just want to note that back in 2021, the public asked us for a trail connection from Pacific Place to the county property, and our project is doing what the community asked for in terms of connectivity by providing this easement and the the related trail improvements. Also, um the project will offer a tar plant mitigation area that will be preserved for on-site mitigation of southern tar plant at the northwestern halfacre of the project site. This is one of the issues that our EI analyzed in great detail and we worked hand inand with CDFW to both design this area which was very important to them and on all other biological mitigation. CDFW is fully signed off on this tar plant mitigation and on all other biological mitigation measures. Um and as I as noted the tar plant mitigation area will abut the county property and cross-pollinate with your >> time has concluded >> tar plant population there. >> All right. Well, that concludes um your applicant comments, rebuttal comments. We will now go back to River Park who has three minutes. Uh thank you very much. Um so just want to address a few points. Um number one uh we don't believe blight is a reason to approve the project regardless of the proposed project on the site. It's the responsibility of the property owner to maintain the property. Um, number two, uh, the easement, uh, does not address the conflict with, um, I'm sorry, the trail easement does not address the conflicts, um, with the Riverlink plan and other land use plans. Um, th this is a condition of approval. Um, it it could be potential mitigation for the land use conflict, but SQA doesn't allow compression of analysis and mitigation in this way. Um so the ER needed to disclose the land use conflict. Um additionally we wanted to address the takings point. Um there the city council has the authority to deny the project on the bases that we've presented the um inadequacies of the EIR the um uh lack of substantial evidence for the city's findings for the requested entitlements. um the you know uh Supreme Court president doesn't support uh regulatory takings um under these facts. Um many of the land use plans for instance that we've discussed were um uh in place before the applicant um acquired the property. Um so they don't have a reasonable investment back expectation to conflict with those um those requirements. Um and there's no deprivation of uh all economically viable uses. Um this is made clear by the um the alternative one which shows an alternative project um if this project were denied. Wanted to address the uh Losertos um park and uh the question of you know parks nearby to this site. Um we really want to emphasize that uh we're talking about a regional park deficiency um in the west side of Long Beach. That entire region again that's one acre per thousand residents. Um that falls below the citywide goal which was adopted by the general plan of 8 acres per resident. So um it's the regional uh uh goal is important. It's it's irrelevant um the the proximity of the LTOS park. Um uh regarding the alternatives analysis um SQA does not permit an agency or an applicant to present a much more impactful project um and then say that the alternatives analysis was adequate. Um alternatives must avoid or substantially lessen impacts. um discussing the DTSC process. Um we've raised in our letters that >> um much of the analysis uh was improperly deferred as well as >> concluded. >> Um thank you very much. We appreciate it and um again we we hope uh that you vote no. Thank you. >> All right. Our final rebuttal. Uh water keepers one minute. >> Thank you. Would I be able to pull up the presentation again? Just want to show the last slide. >> We're asking for the water keepers presentation. >> We're working on it. >> Sorry about that. Appreciate it. All right. Is this the last correct slide? >> Yes. Thank you very much. >> All right. Please proceed with your one minute. >> I appreciate the time to conclude here. Um I just want to cut to the chase. First, don't be swayed by the applicant's threats of regulatory taking. Those are baseless as we've explained in writing. But just cutting to the chase. The applicant can purchase or lease other places to build this project. They cannot we cannot do that for open space as easily. We have open space here. We want to help work with the applicant to try to find a different place to put his project while preserve the opportunity here. If you look at this slide, other cities along the river are doing what we're proposing. They're turning industrial former industrial sites into greenways. You have the opportunity to do that here and implement the long uh planned visionary river link project. No matter what, the city still has an obligation to Western Long Beach communities to fix the park equity issues that they've been experiencing. We are willing to work with the city to help find grant funding. There's plenty of public grant funding available for acquisition, remediation, and park development. Just let us work with you. We can work with the developer and find a different place for the project, but you have to say no to this one. Please urge you to vote no. >> Thank you. >> All right. So all right. So now that concludes presentation, appellent comments, applicant comments. We now go to public comments. >> You have one more rebuttal to rebuttal. They reserved one minute. >> I didn't know you held off to a Go ahead. >> Sorry. Sorry. >> Um I'll give you >> hard to keep up with all this. >> Please proceed. Um so with regard to the comments that were just raised in rebuttals, the EI analyzes in detail that there is not a conflict with applicable land use plans and also contains a compliant alternatives analysis. With regard to the issue of takings, I I will defer to the presentation already provided by city staff on that issue. Um, I also will finally note as I got cut off on the last side of the presentation that the project has been designed to include multiple sustainability features which will make it um offset electrical demand um and manage water on site contrary to some of the the items that were contained in the presentation. So, we would request that the city council approve the project and we are again here to answer any more technical questions you might have. >> Thanks. >> Thank you. I think that's the last rebuttal. >> It is. I'm pretty sure. I'm just going to confirm. We got your presentation. >> Confirmed. >> You got the appeal. >> Confirmed. Yeah. >> Then we got the rebuttal >> and then we got the rebuttal to the rebuttal. And then we got the rebuttal to the rebuttals of the rebuttal. >> It's the last one that's tricky. You got them all. >> All right. We nailed it. Thank you very much. We'll now uh close that portion down and open up general public public comment. So again, you cannot build on the applicants and the appellants cannot build on their case. This has to be public uh public comment. There are 21 people signed up to speak uh under our council rules. That is 90 seconds uh per public commenter. I'm going to call the first 10. When you hear your name, please line up. Dave Hall, Leslie Garrettson, David Pulzer, Ray Lawson, Corus Lee, Charity Castro, Aurora Gutierrez, Renee Lawler, and Lynette Fuency, and Mike Laquatra. So, the very first is Dave Hall, followed by Leslie Garrison. I'm going to pass this to the vice mayor because I need to take a restroom break, but please proceed, Mr. Hall. >> Okay. Uh, Mr. Mayor and U. Councilwoman Sandhas, members of the council, my name is Dave Hall. I live at 1047 Chestnut and I'm here to ask you to please do not certify this EIR and I will be focusing on one thing and that's the western burrowing an endangered species and this project will wipe out the endangered burrowing and the EIR is not sufficient. First of all, the California Fish and Wildlife uh department named the western buring owl as an endangered species in spring of 2025 and that has not been mentioned in the EIR. Second, the California Migratory Bird Protection Act spring of 2025 uh protects the burrowing among others and that is not mentioned in the EIR. Furthermore, in the EIR, the mitigation for the burrowing owl is that they'll wait until the birds lay their eggs and then they'll build on their habitat. That is not mitigation. That is a death sentence for this endangered species. Finally, a mitigation would be artificial nesting burrows and that would be a mitigation is not provided beyond waiting until they the eggs hatch and then building there. That's the only mitigation and it's not sufficient. Artificial nesting burrows would go uh far in protecting this endangered bird. Thank you very much. Good evening, city leaders. My name is Lesie Garrettson. I am a voter, a residents, and a concerned community member in the Los Certos community. I actually live within the circle that you saw. So, I am very concerned about this project. I'm asking you today, our city leaders, to reject the current proposal at 3701 Pacific Park Place by voting no on the final EIR, as well as the general plan, all of those uh seven uh items that were mentioned by Mayor Richardson. I won't list them all out because I'm going to run out of time. Given the history of the land and its proximity of to residentials, residential areas of mine, I was concerned about the potential of the risks for this project. I then became an advocate. I started learning about what is SQA. I'd never heard of SQA. I didn't know what an MND was. I do now. Over the last five years, through some of the advocacy that I've been doing, I've learned exactly what those are. and SQA which is um made to prevent harm really is managed by our city to protect the residents. This project does not meet those standards. I'm not an attorney. I'm not an expert, but I it was it was easy enough for me to go through that and read it. So, I'm asking you please for your residents say no. Thank you. Uh naming who >> pul it sir. >> Thank you. >> Um good evening honorable mayor and city council members. My name is David Pulitzer. I'm a concerned community member. I live in District 5 Ontario Place and I see the site that this is about tonight. I'm urging you to reject the current proposal for 371 Pacific Place. um and specifically the um final EIR. There are many reasons why the council should reject this. Um and you've heard lots of things. I know nothing's been sent in. I'm going to focus today on traffic as the EIR traffic analysis is incomplete and does not account for past developments or approve approved future projects. A complete and cumulative traffic analysis is a SQA requirement. So the traffic analysis incomplete and dangerous. Past development and approve future projects aren't included in a cumulative impact analysis as SEO requires. The WLO WLO corridor and intersections at Pacific and WLO and Santa Fe and Wllo already have poor levels of service ratings of DE and F for decades. 405 and 710 freeways operate at 97% capacity during non- peak hours before this project adds more traffic. There's no mitigation for this cumulative negative impact to regional transportation networks and the erroneously claims proximity to freeway interchanges prevent significant impact but those freeways are already maxed out. The 4,000 via aura project impacts were analyzed. Time is out. So again the should not be approved. There's no mitigation provided to offset this commitment. Thank you. Hi, good evening everyone. Um, my name is Charity Castra. I'm a resident of Council Member Udanga's uh district and I live in one of the red areas that your map pointed out. And the reason I'm here today is because the uh area that you're all discussing is an area that I drive or I ride my bike past every day. That's how I learned about it because there are no parks in my neighborhood. I'm in that that red area that you all pointed out. And this EER, this environmental impact report will have you believe that that park means nothing else to anyone else outside of the Elserto area. But that's not true. I have no green spaces to go to. And the ones that I do have in my neighborhood are few, far in between, and deeply, deeply underkept. I deserve and my community deserves a park, not a small aotment of natural plants or a walkway that's convenient for your private developers to continue to profit from us. I'm your constituent. I came here and I spoke up today because I firmly believe my side of the city has no green space. We're starved for it. I have to ride my bike to the lagoon because there's nowhere else that I can go where I can safely experience greenery and nature. Unless you expect me to travel all the way to the east side of Long Beach because that's that's the best we can do. Some of you ran on really progressive stances. We're here asking you to represent us, >> not private developers. Rayson. Good evening, council. Uh, mayor u, my name is Ray Lawson, local 562, uh, Carpenters Union. Our local is right in that red area. Also, our local is on WLO and Long Beach Boulevard. Three years ago, a load were getting prepared for a a picnic and the addicts into a trailer that we had staged to take to the park. Um, they stole about $5,000 worth of tools, power tools. The trail of them ripping their tool the tool boxes open, led straight to where this area that we're talking about, this blighted area that's full of crime. We got pictures that can we can show you that were full of syringe needles um that they had been using the whole time that they went and sold the tools and went and bought drugs. It's it's on record with the Long Beach Police if you want to check check it out. Um we're we are the Carpenters Union. We offer hope. Um we're not concerned about guitar flowers and we're concerned about people. We we rebuild people. We give them a chance to rebuild, chance with the development of this project to maybe one day get some of those people that are addicted on those drugs, get them a career, get them a life, get them a future. Um, let's be more important, must care more about people than we do about uh flowers and let's take that into consideration and approving this project, approving what the staff recommends and approving your time has move forward. Good evening. My name is Renee Lawler. I'm a native to uh Long Beach and I am a stakeholder in uh reference to this project. I own equestrian property adjacent to the LA River and our community uh depends as on the river and the equestrian trail and the equestrian zones that are along the river uh as lifelines to our community. The EIR fails to identify correctly all the impacts that this project will have on the equestrian community. The equestrians uh for instance had a a connectivity across to the west side prior to channelization. The LA River revitalization plan identifies this parcel as being the cornerstone for reconnectivity for those landlocked communities and restoring trail access and green space access on both sides of the river. Um, and so it's really important that there be more analysis, proper analysis for the impacts that this community has cumulatively had. You've got the 712 Baker project that was prior approved in this same equestrian zone. And so now we have another cumulative impact. Staff identified uh Chris said in planning commission that equestrians are irrelevant. I don't think there's anybody any population in this city that is irrelevant and for that type of attitude shows a lack of concern and interest in a very significant culturally impactful culturally significant historic community. Therefore, I respectfully request that you deny this EIR and the uphold the appeals. >> All right. Thank you. So that was Renee. >> Rene. >> Okay, great. Next I have Corass. After Corus is Aurora and then Lynette. >> Okay. So I just wanted to talk about um something I noticed going through the maps from when we were back in the era of the land use element in 2017 2018. Those maps showed this as open space. This city trotted those maps out in front of thousands of people showing this as open space. Then just before the vote, when that became final, when the LUE became final, there was a change. This was actually listed on a document that said significant changes to the LUE. And this was then changed to that what is it? Light industrial Now I have to wonder what went on in that time frame. That was just a short couple of months and all of a sudden these people didn't know anything about that. They'd seen the other maps. Now the rug has been pulled out from under them. And you tell me, would Insight have purchased this property with an an open space and parkland designation? They would not. So, something went on behind the scenes, if you ask me. I feel like these people have been betrayed by their council member. And are you going to do it again today? Thank you. >> All right. Next is Aurora, then Lynette, then Mike. Is is Aurora here? >> Okay, Lynette. >> All right. Um, good evening. I'm opposed to the approval of the EIR and project entitlements. If the council approves this project, that means that the city does not follow its own plans and policies. The council approved all elements of the general plan, including the open space element, parks rec marine strategic plan, and other policy documents such as the Westside Promise and the West Long Beach livability plan, which all acknowledge that there is insufficient open space and recreational opportunities in central and west long beach. The project is inconsistent with all the plans, including achieving a ratio of 8 acres open space per thousand residents, adding open space in areas of the city that are most underserved, increase public access and recreational opportunities along the LA River, and establish park equity guidelines for securing land for new parks and parkour communities. So, if you approve this project, I guess the message is you're sending that the general plan is really irrelevant and there's no need to follow it. City Council approved the LUE and placed the vast majority of new residential development in downtown and along the A-line. Thus, our density has drastically increased in central Long Beach and now the city does not want to provide the required open space and recreational amenities that are needed for all the new residents. As you know, the last open parcel of land next to the LA River was approved for a 226 unit residential development on Baker Street. In addition to all the EIR analysis, approval means our neighborhood concerns and health issues are being ignored as they've been for many years. increases and increases the open space inequities of the city. Long Beach has about 25 self- storage facilities. They do not add to the little ability of the neighbor, occupy a large amount of land, provide very few lowpaying jobs to our neighborhood in the diesel death zone. >> Thank you, Lynette. So, Mike, before you go, I'm going to read the next uh next 10 or so. >> Uh so, you can line up while Mike is speaking. Jason Baze, Eddie Rivera, Camopelli Puy Leini, uh Marisella Lopez, Donna Burggeron Burge, um Tori Jamies, Jose Garcia, Alina T, uh Heather Riley, Susan Nantis, and David Depren. Okay, if you heard your name, please line up. Mike, you have the floor. Mike Laquatra, 2926 Eucalyptus Avenue. Mayor Richardson and members of council, I'm here to request that you reject the CIR. Others will and have spoken about the inadequacies of the report, but I would like to go on record as stating that this is the wrong usage, the last open space in our part of Long Beach in light of the large housing project scheduled for 712 Baker Street. If the plan before you is approved, we'll lose all hope of additional park space on the west side as a cod to years of ignored proposals and broken promises to create linked public open space along the LA River. The city's quick to emphasize a favorable parkland or resident ratio while glossing over the reality that the vast preponderance of such spaces are on the east side. As density continues to increase along the A-ine corridor, this imbalance will only worsen. A necessary first step towards addressing this inequity is for this EIR and project to be denied, after which resident centered alternatives can be considered. Future generations won't know or care about who found space for one more storage facility. Let rejection of this development followed by a plan that improves resident quality of life serve as a legacy for your terms of office. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you. >> All right, Jason. >> Honorable Council Ters International Union of North America here to fully support this project moving forward and support staff's recommendations. This project will bring a whole list of good benefits to the community as a whole and we are eager to build this. And one last fact, according to Google, there are 171 parks and 3,100 acres of recreational area in Long Beach. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Next is Eddie and then Kapelli. >> Uh good evening, honorable mayor and council members. Thank you for allowing me to speak before you. Um, my name is Eddie Rivera and I am a member of the Labors International Union of North America in full support of this project. Um, as construction workers look for work, they look for projects wherever they're at, near the river, near the city, away from the city in Riverside County. Wherever they're at, they go. And that's what our members want to do is work. A lot of them here in South LA, over 4,000 members here in in the Long Beach area, would love to work on a project like this close to home, staying off the 405, staying off the 91 and working close to home, giving themselves a little bit more time with their families and things that are important to them as as families, right? participating with the children in little league, soccer, whatever it may be. Um, this developer is decided to do the job with union hands, union contractors, union members, which is a big plus because it provides benefits, pension plans, apprentichip opportunities, good developer, good contractors, good workers, makes for a good project. Um, private money, private development, it's his property. He has the right to do what he wants. I don't see why the city is going to stop him from improving something that has been abandoned for many, many years and is severely. >> All right. Thank you. Next is Kapelli and then Marisella. >> Good evening, mayor and council members. Um, my name is uh Campell Bolini. I work for uh inside property. I am the I work for a security company called First Class Protection. And I encountered these uh this property for five years now and we've been securing it ever since. And to tell you the truth, it's it's not it's not a site for any kind of park or recreational center. Um from the first day we were on site, we had to deal with a lot of issues, a lot of drugs. I'm sure they have that in the police uh reports. um that corner right there itself is just a magnet for for illegal activities. Till today, we're still dealing with it. And I think this project would benefit the community as far as the union workers and and uh how can I say it? Um putting people to work. And that corner itself, I can tell you right off the bat, if there is a park, I will not bring my kids there because throughout the whole night, I hear the police chief talking about the safety of the community. And that corner there and the only way you can secure that is by putting something there that has security. As far as I know, we'll be there to secure that property. But if you put a park there, I can guarantee you, you're not attracting the the best people in the world. You're attracting all the chaotic, the drugs, and the gangs. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Marisella. After Miss Marisella is Donna. >> Okay. Next is Donna and then Tori. >> Donna. >> Okay. Next is Tori. >> Tori. And then Jose. >> Hi. Thank you for um letting me speak today. My name is Torius and I live in district 1. I am speaking on behalf of the California Native Plant Society South Coast chapter. I'm speaking on behalf of nature because nature can't speak for itself today. Um um on behalf of the CNPS, we believe the final impact report is not adequate. An independent site survey in July of found 774 southern tar plants on site. Southern tar plant holds a California rare plant rank of 1b1 and impacts to it must be properly considered in a sequa analysis. The current FIR being appealed to Long Beach City does not include this information. Believe that this represents substantial information that should require the preparation of the supplemental EIR. We also um believe that the amount of mitigation is not adequate and especially since there's many other um species on the site that are um including the culter salt bush parishes brittle scale lucky morning glory um decumbent golden bush and these are all plants that are rare species and need to be protected as well. Thank you. All right. Next is Jose and then Alina. >> Good evening, honorable mayor, council members. My name is Jose Garcia. I'm a 34 year Luna member, Labor's International Union of North America. Um, I truly love this area and we know what what shape it's in right now. The reason the people that left the area because they didn't have the money to clean up this can the contamination there in sight has said that they are going to clean up our area that will make it good for all the animals for all the plants. We're not we're forgetting it takes super fun money to clean up these places. We don't have that money. This developer here is helping our city, our community be a safer place to live in by taking this contamination away. My granddaughter will be able to come around here. Right now, she's not. People have said the reasons why not. Not only that, but the contamination is the most worst thing down there. They have pledged to clean this place up. Please, please support staff recommendations and move this project forward to bring a cleaner community, a cleaner environment to all in this area. Please. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. All right. Next is Alina, then Heather, and then Susan. >> I just want to point out that concrete capping isn't cleaning up stuff. It's just kind of burying the body in the backyard. Um, I encourage council to reject the resolution certifying the proposed insight project. This project may have its merits and offer jobs to local hardworking union members, but it's located in the wrong place. I can think of at least three different sites in the LBC that are more appropriate. Backdoor blackbox decisionmaking got us into this and that is not necessarily on you guys. Um but it is up to you to extricate us from the boondoggle. The site the err as it stands fails to consider the project's uh cumulative impacts holistically. It ignores hazards and risks to public safety. Proximity to fault lines and liquefaction risk, flooding, storm water and pollution runoff, multimodal conflict mitigation, and given its given its proximity to existing trails and and propane volatility. It eliminates a biological node and interrupts an important social use and wildlife corridor in an increasingly encroached upon urban environment. It ignores decades of local, county, and regional planning and funding efforts to increase LA River revitalization, public placemaking and recreational opportunities biodiversity protections, and pollute pollution and climate resilience. >> All right. Thank you for your testimony. All right. Next is Heather and then Susan and then David. Uh >> my name is Heather Riley and I waved my time this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next is Susan and then >> Yeah. Hi, my name is Susan Nantes. I live in district 5. I live on Country Club Drive. I am not far from the proposed Pacific Place project and I'm right across the street from Critos Park. I'm here today to support the city council's approval of the Pacific Place project, and I see it as a win-win for the city of Long Beach, its residents, and its taxpayers. I don't agree with the river parks argument that we need another park built on this private property and I know there is absolutely no money in the city's budget to support it. We have a dozen parks and two wetlands bordering uh the Pacific Place part uh property running from Damo to Ocean Boulevard. Uh starting with the Domingueus Gap wetlands, there's 32 acres running alongside the LA River. From Dammo to Wllo. Across Wllo, you have the Wrigley Green Belt. Uh starts 9.8 acres of green space, biking, and walking trails all the way to Ocean Boulevard. We all know the Pacific Park projects land is sitting underneath toxic contaminated soil and it would be absolutely dangerous, irresponsible and risky to us local residents that live close to it to try to to try to clean the soil. It's one thing to build above it, but if you're going to get in there and try to clean that soil, it's going to release toxic fumes. It's going to release contamination for us that live around there to breathe. So I'm absolutely 100% against it and that is why many of us >> included >> I'm sorry. Okay. That's why many of us to believe that they should build the army self storage. That would be the safest thing to do. >> Thank you for your time. >> Our final speaker David the print >> the priest >> the Okay, I got something different here. David, you're right. >> Come on. Anyway, it's all good. Um I live with country club drive also. Um, and I have three daughters and I must say that twice we've been uh we've had the homeless from that area try to break into our back door. So, uh, and we've also have had people ringing our doorbell at 2 in the morning and there we've traced them back with the police going down that same gully going to this property. So, the c the police would cut across the park, chase them down there. Long Beach police came immediately and they would chase them down to that park, that area. It's just it's it's just a bad spot. There's a lot of bad people over there. And the the other thing I want to say is this inside group, they've done a good job on one thing. They didn't try to max this property out. They've kind of try all developers, they try to max it out, get whatever they can get and they can sell it later on. But they're actually gonna bring something that's gonna look really good, pretty tight, pretty classy, and it's gonna look like a a house in like a building in Manhattan Beach. So, I don't think that, you know, these guys are just out just trying to make money. They're trying to make it good for everybody. Thank you. All right. There was one person who was at the restroom. Are they back? Okay. All right. That concludes public comment. We will now take it back behind the rail. Before we uh go to the council members, uh I I don't envy your position. I've served on the city council eight years and that's because these hearings are very there's a process here. And before you get into your deliberation, I'm going to ask uh our city attorney to walk the council through both their options and the guard rails be before we begin this discussion because we want to make sure we conduct this hearing correctly. I have seen when we've had to redo hearings because you may not have taken a step correctly. And so I'm going to ask uh the attorney to make sure the council understands what their guard rails are and what their options are here tonight. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So in front of you tonight is the recommendation from staff, which is to approve the necessary uh legislative actions um to overturn the appeal uh to approve the site plan review and the cups. Both the site plan review and the cups were approved by the planning commission. The legislative actions were recommended by the planning commission, but they require your action here today. All of those actions are underlied by findings. So, you make determinations that the findings to take you to those actions are upheld. Those were included as part of your agenda packets. You've had the opportunity to review them. um if you've determined that there are not findings that can be met um that would be a basis to not go with staff's recommendation um and to direct us to come back and bring back findings for your consideration for a different choice on that project. >> All right. Thank you. And feel free to ask additional questions if any of the council members h need more clarity on the process. We'll start with council member Rick OD. >> Uh thank you mayor. Uh thank you staff for your presentation and thank you to everyone who provided public comment um the uh the applicants, the appellants uh and those who did the re what is it the rebuttal, the rebuttal to the rebuttal and then the rebuttal to the rebuttal to the rebuttal. So thank you. Um I'm going to put on my former planning commissioner hat and just ask a few clarifying questions just to make sure because there was a lot of information I think thrown at everyone uh tonight to make sure we're kind of uh all on the same basis here. So, can we revisit the history of this site? Um, and just what were the uses of this site prior to to today's discussion? >> Thank you, council member. So, yeah, in the past, the property was used uh as an oil brine water treatment facility from 1926 to about the mid 1950s. Um, and then between 1937 and 1981, um, oil wells were actually drilled on site. So, not only did you have oil drilling, um, but an oil brine facility where essentially that waste water, you know, sits, um, and is a is a byproduct of, uh, the oil drilling process. Um, and then, uh, there was a partial cleanup in the 70s, um, uh, and the site was operated as a golf driving range, um, until about 2007. um and then was uh vacant um except for the partial uh retail shop that remained until 2015. Um so that gives you a little bit of background on the site history. Excellent. Thank you. Um so tonight we talked a lot about the ER. Um what did the EIR specifically say about the current condition of the soil on that parcel? >> Sure. So I can give a broad overview. We have um many technical uh environmental experts that can get into more detail um if that's helpful. But in terms of the soil, I mentioned earlier there was a partial cleanup done in the 1970s uh which included basically removal, treatment, and replacement of a portion of the sump materials, but there's not great documentation on the full extent of how much that was cleaned up. Um and uh uh much uh detailed testing has been done as part of the environmental review and disclosure process. um as part of the EIR. So there are remaining chemicals of potential concern as they're called including volatile organic compounds or VOCC's. There's total petroleum hydrocarbons or TPH's um polyyclic aromatic hydro hydrocarbons and methane. Um and so as you heard through the various presentations um this project has required extensive collaboration with the department of toxic substance control or uh DTSC on remediation for this type of use. Um which again is uh ex extremely expensive. um even for just a self- storage facility um u because remediation is required at different levels depending on the type of use of the land. You would need an even greater um remediation potentially for something that would include uh sensitive receptors. Understood. Um and then can you clarify what is the zoning currently on that particular parcel and if we did not move forward with this particular project, what other uses um could potentially be there? >> Sure. Yeah, that's a good question. So, um, under the zoning code today, the site is actually zoned IL, which stands for light industrial and has, um, a consistent neoindustrial place type. Um, so today you could actually, uh, do a general warehousing site by right without a cup. It would only require sort of the design review that comes under the site plan review process. You could also have a manufacturing uh for example of leather products, apparel, drugs, furniture, um transportation equipment, and then you could do more intensive uses like a a trucking use with a cup or a recycling use with a cup. Um it would also allow for greater lot coverage um uh and potentially height as well. >> Okay. Um now I understand the city staff is recommending we deny the the appeal. um if we were to uphold the appeal and deny the project, what findings would we need to do that? >> Sure. So, we heard a lot of uh public testimony about a potential park use. Um and that's no one at this table is here to say we don't need more parks in Long Beach, but that's not actually a question um before the city council. It's the adequacy of the documents for this project entitlement. Um so uh council could for example um determine that the zone change was inappropriate because the uh storage use does not produce enough employment and you would prefer to see the larger warehouse um project on site. Um you could determine um that there's some sort of objective issue uh with the design or the arrangement of the streets. Um but that would not preclude the developer from um pursuing a similar project or a different project that's allowed under the zoning as Allison just described. So um it is, you know, within council's discretion to make whatever decision they're going to make, but you're going to have to give us a factual um basis for that decision and then we would come back as we best understand your uh direction and provide you written findings to that effect. and councilwoman, the determinations from the planning commission, the recommendation on the SPR and on the cups were conditioned upon the um council taking these legislative act actions. So that kind of if there's not an ability to take those legislative actions, that would be a basis on the appeal. >> Excellent. Uh and then mayor, can I ask one last question? Uh and then the final question to this is I I do want to acknowledge the concerns of the community. U I think many of us understand the need in the city for more open space. Uh, I certainly understand that living in North Long Beach. Um, can staff talk just a little bit to other opportunities for open space along the LA River here in Long Beach. >> Yes. So, we are actively engaged with the county um RMC and other partners to pursue um park space along um the LA River. I think there's been a little um I guess different in in description. So, the parcel that's actually adjacent to the LA River is owned by the county of Los Angeles. Um, we have had discussions with County Public Works, who currently uses that facility, whether that could be transitioned um to a park use in the future. We've had discussions with uh Supervisor Han's office in terms of providing river adjacency. That's the parcel that holds the key. Um, and there was description that there's all this money available. We do pursue grant funding, but the county um has not been able to secure funding even to transform that county-owned parcel into parkland. Um we have um acquired property and strategically added open space including um further north at the um deforest wetlands. Um and we look um all the time at acquiring uh property strategically that could be uh defaulted properties. So um when someone doesn't pay their property tax for a number of years that property um becomes available and that's a key way that um open space is acquired and then it's also through um partnerships. So there was a negative comment about 712 Baker but I will just say that residential development um that we worked with uh council vice mayor Uranga on um includes a substantial private open space as well as enhancements to the adjacent city park. Um when we're able to come to agreements like that where projects proceed forward and there's a public benefit including new open space we see that as positive. Um so in our mind this project's not in the west side. Um but in the west side we're looking at how can we not just acquire new properties but how can we enhance places like Silverado and Admiral Kidd. Um and our department community development is actively engaged with parks, wreck and marine right now to update what's called the park and recre um recreation open space element. Um and that work will be happening in all nine council districts. And uh parks everywhere is important, but what we prioritize is locations where there is no park within a 10-minute walk today. Um the the parcel in front of you today is not you can't walk there. You'd have to drive there. Um, and there is the the Los Ctos Park. So, it's not that we aren't interested in acquiring open space, but this would not be the highest priority. >> Okay. Excellent. Thank you for that. >> All right. Council member Sorrow. >> Thank you, Mayor. So, I want to um acknowledge the desire from residents to having park space, more green space. Um, as somebody who represents central Long Beach with limited green park space, I am a regular advocate uh for it. Um, and so with that said, I want to also add as somebody who's an environmental and sustainability professional who actually formerly worked for RMC who actually delivered grants to project and worked on the lower LA River recreation plan. Um there hasn't been so on a professional level there's been a lot of desire for decades to acquire this property and turn it into park space. Uh p prof professionally can speak to efforts in acquiring it was a challenge but even if it was acquired remediation was an even bigger obstacle that was taken into consideration in acquiring the property by the conservancy. So I would say unfortunately there continues to be attempt made but I have not seen any project the state has been able to do where they have acquired property and be able to also find funding to remediate a property for park space. It takes partnership and a lot of dollars but unfortunately public partnership hasn't been able to do that successfully when it's costing millions and millions of dollars. So I'm just speaking from that from a professional lens in my experience, right? And as somebody who works in renewables, I definitely hear on the protections of species end. I'm 99% sure there aren't buring owls in this region. Can I get a clarification on that? >> Well, there's burrowing owls in the city of Long Beach. We don't believe there's burrowing owls on this site, but that's not for me or Allison or Quinton to determine. We work with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and they've been to the site. They've worked extensively on this EIR. They're what's called a responsible agency. Um it's actually our obligation to take their expert advice. They are the experts in biological resources. they've signed off on the mitigation approach, but um they will also be out on site and they um the open space area that's part of the tar plant mitigation, there's an endowment and a requirement for that to be monitored in perpetuity. So, the biological concerns have been um addressed by the experts at California Department of Fish and Wildlife. >> Thank you. And I'm also a little bit confused with some of the presentation because there was a slide um that stated the outdated data for park acquisition plan was listed as a bullet point, but there were a lot of references made to the lower LA River recreation plan, the Riverlink plan. So, it's kind of hard for me to follow um the logic on why, you know, these plans wouldn't work, but yet there's a desire for the implementation of the plan. So, I will just go and say that there is a vision. There continues to be a vision to revitalize the river and as stated there's a LA County flood control property to be able to develop but unfortunately funding continues to be a challenge and it requires the partnership of public works to be able to also put in the dollar with state funding as well as I think local funding which we made commitments to. So it requires all of these level and I think the city's value is there. We have a climate adaptation plan which clearly states our, you know, commitment to reducing carbon, um, greenhouse carbon emission. Um, and we continue to figure out ways to reduce carbon and carbon sequest sequest. I always have a hard time with this word sequestrations, right? So that I I I you know want to state like how much we as a city have taken steps to ensuring that we do identify green space. That's the feasibility plan. Um you know maybe it felt like it's a promise but at the same time it's been a vision and a commitment that we will continue to deliver beyond this project. And I think that this project has shown that they've changed over time to be um to mitigate impacts. And I think that that is the best next step when you do have a project which I think the company has done to be able to hear what residents need and to be able to also have access to the river and to be able to bike up and down. So you know because I don't I'm trying to un and and understand and hear the evidence to reject the EIR. I I I can't see it which is reason why I will approve recommend approval because based on today's decision is about whether or not we reject or oppose the EIR and I haven't heard evidence to otherwise. So that is for that reason uh we'll be approving the recommendations. >> All right. Next is Councilwoman Zindas. Thank you. Um, just a quick clarifying question. First of all, I want to thank everybody who came to comment and who's been here the whole night. Thank you. I really appreciate all um, sides. Um, and also a quick question for staff. Um it said here that you know one of the things that has come up through all the remarks is that um there's a desire to have a park here. Can you tell me what that would look like if that's even feasible? I know that there was contamination that was had I'm assuming that we wouldn't build a park on contaminated land. So how would we if um what would be needed to um to even think about going in that direction? >> Sure. Thank you for the question council members and dee house. So um this council could approve this project and on any other given Tuesday direct staff to you know pursue acquiring this site. Um acquiring the piece of real estate would be the easy part. we would pay whatever the purchase price is, some number of millions of dollars, but then we own it, including the liability for um the the soil. So, we would have to approach the Department of Toxic Substance Control and propose what's called a remediation plan, a remedial action plan. Um and we would have to remediate the soil to a higher level than in this project because when you have parks, you have very young folks, very old folks. um people go, they enjoy and they roll around on the grass. They're exposed um to the soil in a way that's different than storing um your things in your RV there. So, we would have to uh remediate it to that higher level. We would submit a proposed plan. the state DTSC uh would review it and once we came to an agreement then we would start um the remediation which in this case there's no there's no way to physically cure um the soil a large amount of soil would have to be basically extracted hauled away from the site um incinerated offsite and new fill brought in. So that would be at the city's expense and then once we start digging, you basically have to keep going until you hit clean dirt that DTSC will sign off on. So even if that includes more work than you anticipated, more work than you budgeted to, once you start, you have to finish. So that would be on the city. Um, you know, we estimate that those costs would be in the tens of millions of dollars. Um, on the low end, I think the absolute minimum would be in around $5 million, but we expect it to be in the tens of millions of dollars. And then all we have is a pile of dirt. Then we have to build the park. We need to go through a community process to design the park. Um, and then um park space, Tom's going to correct me, is I think $2 million an acre on average for the development cost. So, we would need to find the financial resources to do that as well. We could um pursue grants. Uh we're not saying we can't do that. Uh cost efficiency is one of the things that the state or other granting entities look at. So this would be, you know, I think the most expensive per acre um park project done by the city. So that would not make us super competitive um for grants. Um and I think what we worry most about is once you start, you just have to keep going no matter what it costs because it's now it's now your land. So, I think we would pursue that with partners on the staff table. We don't have any way um to come up with those kind of financial resources. You know, we're having a budget discussion where we're talking about things we can't fund that cost $15,000. I don't know where we're going to find $40 million, but um that would be the process that we would go through. >> Thank you, Director Kun, for that clarification. >> Right. Thank you, Vice Mayor Yuranga. Uh, thank you, mayor. Before I begin, I want to uh please bear with me as my voice sometimes comes and goes and [Music] uh during the course of the hearing and the public comment, I heard a number of uh comments that were a little inaccurate. First, let's get some clarification. What I heard you in the beginning, you said that this property is not on the west side. Yet the appeal says Westside Long Beach and then as they were speaking they call it Western Beach. What's the difference? >> Yeah. So, council member, I I can't define for someone in the audience what they call West Long Beach, but I can tell you what we've been working on here at the city in terms of the Westside Promise um and the west side of Long Beach, which we think of as west of the river. Um that is an area that over the years has experienced disproportional impacts from trucking and logistics uses from the port as well as air quality directly from the port. We still have work to do, but the that area has become much cleaner over the last decade due to clean trucks rule um at the port, but that over the years it's experienced disproportionate impacts. Those impacts have been felt primarily by lowincome persons of color. It's also an area that was disinvested by the city and others um that had inadequate infrastructure that does have less park space um acres per resident as well as um park space that's accessible in a 10-minute walk. So that's why we uh put together about 10 years ago um the investment plan which later under the the current mayor and yourself um we put together um the Westside Promise and all areas of the city matter but we recognize that there have been over decades um disinvestment and impacts on that community and we put a special emphasis on addressing those. So that means specialized staffing that connects people with resources. That means looking at prioritizing park projects, prioritizing work on Santa Fe and other infrastructure in the area. Um, so that's the Westside Promise. That's how we think about the Westside. That doesn't mean someone in the audience is wrong, but in terms of the city and the city's programs and regulations, that's how we think about what is the west side. Yeah, that that's my understanding that the west side is the uh neighborhood west of the river and west of the freeway. Correct. >> Correct. >> Where does this line stand? This where where does it stand in relation to that? >> Yeah. So, this parcel's east of the river um and north of the 405. though we consider that distinctly different um than the west side and addressing the westside promise. Um in Allison's presentation, you know, we looked at some of the demographics um north of the site and and those do uh tend to be more advantaged or or not disadvantaged, which is fine. Everyone deserves parks. Um, but it it would not be a site that would be a priority from an equity lens. >> Would uh now this would be a new new one about me. If we were to say Western Long Beach, would that change the the park ratio that we that we would like to have? I mean, West Long Beach to me is West of Cherry. West Cherry is West Long Beach. >> West Long Beach doesn't mean anything to us from a regulatory standpoint. I'm sure it might mean to something to someone uh who said it, but I can tell you um when we look at park space, we look at two different factors. the total acres. That's important. But we also look at and what we've been moving to more is is there park space at all within a 10-minute walk of your home. Not everyone can drive, especially when we think about kids and seniors. Um and in in some neighborhoods um west of the river, that is a real challenge. Um in the in the area approximate to this site, um it is well served by the existing Los Certos Park. >> Okay. Also, I guess a bit of background. I was part of the council when the obligation first came through and there was a negative declaration made. I was the only council member at that time that voted against it because I found that negative declarations don't tell won't tell the whole story. You need to have the environmental impact report. So I lost but based on a lawsuit that was brought forward an environment point was declared that came forward and then we have today. Is that correct? >> That's correct. I remember that um hearing um and I believe you discussed just the need um for full disclosure that would come in the form of an EIR. your colleagues uh didn't support you that night, but ultimately the court um invalidated that M andD on some technical um criteria. Um we went back with the applicant team. We did not appeal that decision. We said fine, we're going to do that. We're going to do a comprehensive EIR. We spent years uh doing that. Um and we did the full disclosure um which brought us uh to today. Okay. Uh also, uh I just go ahead and say uh there was a comment that me, my colleagues or my predecessors were reading something on this property, declaring it open space and now looking at development. Has this property, this parcel ever been declared open space? Uh, this property has never been declared open space. They were referring to a draft LUE map um that noted there was private recreation here, the former golf course. Um, and that was a mapping error. No one was private. No, >> and we corrected it in daylight through the public process, including putting out the the list that Miss Lee referred to in terms of changes we made to the map. Um, we did that to correct that issue with the map. No council member or mayor asked me to do anything special for this property owner. What we did was part of our normal planning process which was to get the map as correct as possible to share everything with the public and then ultimately to bring it to the city council. >> Okay. You also mentioned in the beginning how much time do I have mayor? >> Well you you are out of time but uh there's only a few comments left so you can conclude your thought. >> Okay. Thank you. Um there was uh a uh another in your beginning when you when you opened up you said it was a private property that was not for sale. Is that true still? >> That is correct. >> Okay. So the property not for sale. So in order for us to look at the possibility of purchasing this private land, they would have to agree to sell. Yeah. I think as a council member um Dr. Sorrow referred to, there have been past efforts to acquire this property from the city, from the trust, from public land, from the county, um from rivers and mountains conservancy. Um those have not been successful. Um there's a number of challenges. number one the not willing seller but also the price number three the contamination on site. So it's not that there hasn't um been effort um but a private property owner um does have the right to not sell their property. So that that has been the history on the site and acquisition. >> Okay. Finally my last comment about the issue of access. There was a a comment made that people have to go way to the west beach or travel far to get to the park and this would be uh part closer to them. How accessible would this part be for westiders? >> Yeah. To to to uh take advantage of it. >> Yeah. Due to the 710 freeway and the various ramps there as well as the A-ine tracks, um this uh parcel is really only accessible by vehicle. So many residents in the west side have vehicle and I'm sure they could drive here. Um but some residents, including some that are most vulnerable and we need to pay special attention to don't have access to a vehicle. They may not be old enough or they may be seniors or they can't drive or they can't afford to drive. Um, so I don't, you know, based on our analysis from the staff table, this would not help those folks. I think what would help them is continuing to look for properties um closer uh to their homes in the west side. Um pursuing those uh strategically for new park sites as well as enhancing the parks that do exist on the west side like Silverado, Admiral Kidd, and Hudson. um to make those as welcoming as possible and have as many amenities as possible um so they can be enjoyed by the residents that can walk to them. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Council Member Allen. >> All right. Thank you, Mayor. Um I have been on council long enough now to to be uh pretty familiar with this project and um over the uh years we've heard um from many community members um like we have tonight the same uh we've heard this that um they want the parcel developed into a public open space. However, this is a private property and the owner intends to develop it for the use that it is zoned for um with some minor adjustments. Um can this council legally reject the EIR for a private property project solely because the community has a preference for it to be open space? >> Thank you for the question, council member. There's not an ability to reject an EIR without a basis within the EIR, right? There has to be something deficient inside of the EIR. It has to fail in some way. Um there the basis for rejection can't be because there's a different desired use when the EIR itself is legally sufficient and you can make all requisite findings to adopt that EIR. >> Okay. Um, we also heard concerns about the site and its current uh condition being an isore with health and safety issues um related to encampments and other activity. So, this is probably for you, Director Coons. Um, what kind of code enforcement actions have been taken at this uh property um in its current state? >> Sure. So, there's a pretty extensive code enforcement um history at the site. I will say uh the current owner insight while there have been many issues when we contact them they will go out and they will update the fencing they will do cleaning um but it is a recurring issue every time they clean it up it's it's a matter of days until um there is new uh nuisance activity on the site um I would expect as we experience many challenges up and down the river on both public and private property um for that um condition to continue at least in the short run. Um there's also an adjacent property sometimes referred to as the McDonald property. That's a property RMC has been trying uh to acquire but uh has not been successful. Um and there is an open code enforcement case there um for what we call open and accessible which is not taking active efforts to prevent um it could be unhoused. It could be housed people that are committing crimes or dumping items or riding motorcycles off-road on these private properties. So, uh the private property owner is not respon they can't fully control a third party that trespasses on their property, but what we require is that they take active measures to control access to the property and that they clean up any items that are left on the property. Um, we'll continue to to um warn and as necessary issue citations on on those two properties, but I would expect because of some of the challenges that we have everywhere along the river for for that activity to um continue unless there was some sort of active use there, whether it's the the project in front of council or a different use, some use that would have um activity and personnel um there throughout the day and night. >> Thank you. I have no further uh questions. >> Thank you, Council Member Subnaut. >> Uh thank you. Um I have a question for staff that's really uh off topic. So um it has to do with the use of the property. Um it was probably in the presentation, but can you tell us the capacity of RV storage at the at the new facility? >> The current proposal is for 551 RV spaces. >> Okay, thank you. That's great. Um, so, um, I had a conversation today with Summer Temple. She's the owner operator of Don Temple Storage. She happens to be a fifth district resident, but she contacted me because uh, her business is in the fourth district. And um, she was saying that over the years uh, she has commissioned two different studies on the need for RV storage. uh one was in 2017 and the last one was in 2021 and those results while outdated um showed that 1,538 RV owners in the city have no place to store their uh RV. So, um she wanted me to bring that fact forward and I guess it's pertinent because that was not covered tonight. Um, also she as a private business owner um really questioned the message we're giving to private business owners out there that um if the city were to act on this um would there would it create an atmosphere of um of investors not trusting the city. So uh those are her comments and I wanted to share them here tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you, Council Member Kerr. >> Yes. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, this project has been top of mind for residents in this community um for the last five years or more. I want to thank the community for continuing to engage with me and my office and my team since I was sworn in just over two and a half years ago. I've met with, listened to, received emails and correspondents from you expressing a desire to maintain open space to serve the greater Long Beach community as well as those who strongly support this project. Um, I received more than 140 emails in the last five days alone. I want to extend my appreciation to the appellants and the applicants for being here. I want to thank my colleagues for their robust questions and discussions on this matter, many of whom have a longer official history with this project uh than I do in my two and a half years. Uh, I want to thank the city team for their thoroughess and care in the presentation of this report and for being prepared to discuss this matter in depth and answer questions. And I particularly want to thank the planning commission as well for their due diligence and hard work leading up to this point. They had nearly 700 pages of documentation and an over three-hour meeting held in June um to hear both from uh the developers as well as any community members who wanted to speak. I rewatched that meeting four times this weekend. I want to thank the applicants for moving through this process and maintaining a willingness to listen to the community and to integrate suggestions into this project. The project in front of us may meet requirements but falls short of the vision of many in our community that they hold for open space. For this reason, I will be voting no, and I will continue to work with the community in good faith on a path forward to increase open space. Thank you. All right. Well, that was the final council uh uh comment. I want to thank everyone for participating. Uh again, it has been a long time coming. A lot of great points raised today. Uh we certainly know that there is a need for open space all over the west side and North Long Beach where we live. And we focused on that. It's incredibly important. Um as the attorney named, uh this is a specific hearing about the merits of the EIR. And so the decision made now has to be solely based on what is presented in front of us. Does not mean that you cannot engage in additional discussions separately from this about ways to continue to focus on open space expansion uh like we've done in North Long Beach with the forest wetlands which is a project we worked on that brought 40 acres there. And so those are things we do want to see continue. That said, there are seven votes. We're we need to read through each motion and do a voice vote on each motion. So, madame clerk, let's begin. >> So, uh for the first one, we're going to do um we have a motion of nine and six. And for council district one, this is a vote, a verbal vote. >> And this first vote, sorry, just to clarify, is receiving the supporting documentation, concluding the hearing, and then considering the appeals. >> All right. So, that's the first vote we go through each council district. Yes or no? >> District one. I >> point of water, please. Go ahead. >> Can you repeat what you said, Erin? >> I absolutely can. And I'll just make sure that just for signaling because we have seven. I'll just let you know which one we're on, right in the recommendation. But this first vote is to receive the supporting documentation into the record to conclude the public hearing and to consider the two appeals that were filed. >> All right, let's begin. >> District one, >> I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. District four. >> I >> District five. No. >> District six. >> Oh, sorry. I >> District seven. >> I. >> District eight. >> I. >> District nine. >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> All right. Please read the second motion. >> So the second vote will be on the I think we need a motion a second. I think we're going to carry the same motion and second on all on all of these. >> Okay. District two or >> sorry, just so I can clarify the the >> Yeah, read the motion. >> We'll carry the first and second. And the motion here, the vote here is to adopt the resolution certifying the EIR, making the findings and approving a mitigation and monitoring monitoring and reporting program. >> District 1. >> I >> District two >> I. >> District three. I >> district four. >> I >> district five. >> No. >> District six. >> I >> District seven. >> I >> District eight. >> I >> District nine. >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> Thank you. Please proceed with the third vote. >> The third vote is to adopt a resolution approving the general plan amendment and all necessary findings related there too. >> District one. >> I. >> District two. >> I. >> District three. >> I. >> District four. >> I. District five, >> no. >> District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. >> District nine, >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> Thank you. Next vote. >> The next vote is vote five. And that's sorry, vote four, which is to adopt an ordinance approving the zoning code amendment and all related findings there too. >> District one, >> I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four, >> I. >> District five, >> no. District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. >> District nine, >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> Thank you. Next vote. >> The fifth vote is to adopt an ordinance approving the zoning code change and all findings related there too. >> District one, >> I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four, >> I. >> District five, >> no. >> District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. District eight, >> I >> District nine >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> Thank you. I think we're on the sixth vote. >> Sixth vote. Mr. Mayor, >> wishes to deny the appeal and uphold the planning commission's conditional approval of the site panel review and make all necessary findings relation there too. >> District one, >> I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four, >> I. >> District five, >> no. >> District six, >> I. District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. >> District nine, >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> Thank you. And the final vote. >> The final vote is to deny the appeal and uphold the planning commission commission's approval of the conditional use permits for the project and the necessary findings related there too. >> District one, >> I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four, >> I. >> District five, >> no. >> District six, >> I. District seven >> I >> District eight >> I >> District nine >> I >> motion is carried. >> All right. So I believe that's the final vote. Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay. So that concludes this hearing. Uh we will now move on with the city council agenda. We want to thank everybody for staying late. Um and we're going to go to item 27. I know there are a number of folks uh waiting on this item. Please forgive us. this hearing uh have to take uh priority in terms of the order. So, let's read item 27, please. >> Actually, let's give it a moment. I think we're we have some folks leaving. All right, folks. We want to continue the meeting. If you could continue your conversations in the in the lobby. The lobby is still open. Thanks so much. What time is it? 11. >> All right, let's go ahead and read item 27, please. Communication from Vice Mayor Uranga, Councilwoman Sandas. Recommendation to strengthen the Long Beach Values Act and reaffirm the city's commitment to protecting families, uplifting dignity, and honoring the contributions of Long Beach diverse immigrant communities with the immediate adoption of the policy recommendations and actions set forth in the city council letter and in accordance with the mayor's fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations. >> All right. Thank you. Um I want to thank everybody for for waiting patiently uh that hearing and budget hearing. It's a lot in August. It always is. Uh so in January upon learning about uh the pending inauguration of the president, um the city council uh took time working with uh many of our community based organizations took time to update the Long Beach Values Act in advance of the transition. When we did that, we asked for a sixmonth status report about opportunities to take it further. Over the course of the past six months, a lot has happened. The last two months, we've seen increased immigration enforcement activities, ICE in our communities, um masked individuals, unmarked vehicles, a lot of fear and terror taking place in our communities, escalation of um military, and now we're seeing uh escalation of military taking place in other cities. Um, and so, uh, the circumstance has not necessarily gotten better. Uh, but the city council is continuing to review and look at opportunities to strengthen our ability to protect our residents. Um, most recently, uh, a few actions took place. One, uh, when we introduced our budget, we proposed a defending Long Beach values plan that included $5 million available in flexible support for immigrant communities and communities newly impacted by federal the federal administration, which could be people lose, you know, at risk of losing their housing vouchers and other things. As a part of that, uh there are a number of recommendations uh that uh my staff, city staff and city attorney reviewed that uh can help strengthen the values act. Since then, uh, we've joined a federal lawsuit, uh, which, you know, now we know that the federal government is actually the the ad presidential administration is advocating for a stay, which is essent and they're actually arguing for the legal ability to profile uh, in in this region uh, based on race given that statistically one in 10 residents in the region could be undocumented, which is a problem and we don't support that. And so, uh, what's in front of us, the city council, Vice Mayor Yuranga, Councilwoman Zenaas have taking have taken the recommendations, uh, this batch of recommendations, which is a part of the budget process and said we don't have to necessarily wait until um, uh, October for these to go into effect. Bring these forward now for council consideration, which is what's in front of you. Um, now I will say things change all the time. this administr the legal realities change this administration changes tactics the leg we will continue to review what our tactics are that is my commitment we've done you know just today we had an additional close session just getting an update on what the legal circumstances are so this will not be our only time taking a look at the steps that we may need to take during this administration to protect our residents you have our commitment we're going to continue to work on that but what I can tell you is everything in this package has been vetted by our city staff and city attorney is ready to go today. Uh that said, we're going to start what we're going to do is a presentation from staff on the six-month update. Uh then we're going to walk through some of these recommendations. Then we're going to go to Vice Mayor and then to uh council member Zendas. And then we're going to go to actually after presentation, the people have been waiting. If you guys don't mind, we're going to hear from the public and then we'll go to Vice Mayora, Councilwoman Zenaas, and go through uh the rest of uh the council. So, let's start with staff presentation. >> Mayor, may we have a motion uh and a second verbal? Okay, great. I thought Vice Mayor Yuranga made a motion and council member second. Okay, thank you. >> Correct. All right, Mr. Mayor, proceed with staff presentation. >> Well said. There's been a lot of work uh over the past several months. Um and so this team has really been activated on this area and uh we appreciate the ability to continue to have this discussion and continue to move these things forward. I will turn to Terresa Chandler, our deputy city manager, and Anna Grant Grant, our equity officer, to go through uh some of the work that's been happening over the last six months. >> All right. Thank you. Uh, good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. So, we're looking forward to providing the six-month update to you this evening. So, in Long Beach, like many other cities, immigrants are an integral part of our city's social, cultural, and economic life. In 2018, the city council adopted the Long Beach Values Act as a clear response to the need for stronger protections for immigrant communities. The act was created to safeguard the rights and dignity of immigrants by ensuring the city does not participate in federal immigration enforcement activities, maintain public trust in city government, and ensure the city does not participate in federal immigration enforcement. So, to provide a brief timeline of the Long Beach Values Act, in 2017, the California Values Act, also known as SB54, was signed into law, preventing state and local law enforcement from taking on immigration enforcement duties, affirming that such enforcement falls under a federal authority only. The alignment with SB54. In alignment, the Long Beach City Council directed staff to develop local policies that reflect the city's values of inclusion, safety, and community trust. In 2018, the Long Beach Values Act was adopted through the city council resolution and formalized in administrative regulation 833 establishing citywide procedures for requesting, collecting, and maintaining of sensitive personal information and prohibiting city cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Most recently, in 2025, city council reaffirmed and strengthened its commitment to the Long Beach Values Act. As I just mentioned, on January 7th, 2025 is when council passed the motion directing city staff to strengthen and reaffirm our commitment. The motion consisted of multiple coordinated actions to enhance legal protections, data security, and community education for immigrant residents while working closely with community partners to maintain trust and transparency. Key actions included requesting formal commitments from appointing authorities and elected officials. This was coordinated by the city manager's office. Integrating data privacy guidelines into contracts and implementing formal data transfer and transfer and use agreements. This was prepared by the city attorney's office. Expanding funding for removal defense services through the Long Beach Justice Fund, developing informationational materials, resources, and community partnerships and evaluating the feasibil feasibility of additional community requests. This was led by the city attorney's office as well. The council's action was a clear statement that the city will not only maintain its commitments, but will take proactive steps to reinforce them in in every department and facility. This slide highlights the key departments, appointing authorities and education partners involved in implementing and supporting our efforts. As part of the reaffirmation process, we ask these partners to provide formal letters of support to accompany and strengthen the work. So you can see here uh the city departments include the city attorney, city clerk, city prosecutor. Um the appointing authorities uh covers the port of Long Beach, Long Beach Transit, and Long Beach utilities. And our education partners include city college and Long Beach Unified School District. Together, these groups form a broad network of partners who help reinforce city commitments, implement policies, and coordinate actions across multiple sectors. On April 1st, 2025, city council allocated $150,000 from the fiscal year 24 year-end surplus funds to expand the Long Beach Justice Fund and restore interim removal defense services, making policy exceptions for two key partners. These agreements were funded through the council approved mid-year budget adjustment and other available justice fund resources. So, Western State College um of law received $100,000 to support legal education and services and Espironza immigrant rights project received $100,000 to expand legal support for immigrant residents. Right. I'm going to talk about the justice funds here. So, the Long Beach Justice Fund was established in 2018 following the adoption of the Long Beach Values Act to provide legal uh free legal representation to low-income individuals who live or work in Long Beach or who have strong ties to the city and need legal representation to assert valid legal claims to remain in the United States. Many individuals face complex immigration proceedings um without the ability to afford counsel and must navigate an everchanging legal system alone as the right to counsel does not extend to immigration related cases. The Long Beach Justice Fund helps fill this critical gap, enabling community members to defend their rights and remain with their families. In 2021, the program transitioned from the Vera Institute of Justice to the Long Beach Office of Equity. In 2022, the Justice Fund expanded its scope to include community connection services as partnering organizations provide outreach, education, and referrals to connect community members with immigration support and legal services. In 2023, the Justice Fund expanded its scope of services again to include affirmative and uh appellet legal representation. In 2024, the city awarded contracts to four vendors to support and expand service capacity. And this year, the city manager approved two policy exceptions for interimm removal defense services. And our request for proposals for legal service providers closed earlier today. The Long Beach Justice Fund continues to deliver measurable impact in providing legal representation and community education. Since 2019, 89 people have been represented in removal proceedings. In total, more than 130 people have received legal representation through the justice fund. In 2025, services span community workshops, removal defense, affirmative legal representation, and appellet legal services. Our community connectors conducted a total of 12 workshops covering information on the justice fund and know your rights. Our removal defense legal service providers represented 16 individuals facing deportation proceedings. 36 people were assisted in seeking legal status through the affirmative legal services and five individuals in appeals proceedings were represented through the appellet appallet legal services. So as you've seen the justice fund's impact is measured not only in legal cases one or workshops delivered but in the sustained support provided to individuals navigating complex immigration systems over multiple years. This work is only possible because of the strong partnerships we've built we've built with community- based organizations who are deeply connected to the people we serve. The Office of Equity partners with immigrant serving community-based organizations to strengthen the justice fund at every stage from program design to implementation and evaluation. Together we shape program design, implementation, review proposals, identify emerging community needs, and recommend tailored services. partners also lead outreach to providers and community members, helping expand the immigrant support network and connect residents with legal and supportive resources. I'm now going to turn the mic over to Alana who's going to talk about theformational materials and protocols and training materials that we've created for staff and community. Thanks, Teresa. So, in response to city council's direction to expand community resources and the growing need for clear staff guidance, this next section will preview our suite offormational resources uh materials and how they will support both our community and workforce. Um, speaking specifically on our resident uh resources, uh the Office of Equity developed Long Beach Values Act resource guide and a concise one-pager to support community members seeking immigration related assistance. Uh the resource guide includes know your rights information and practical tips on how to be prepared if approached or questioned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The resource guide also directs community members to trusted legal and supportive services. And the guide is available in multiple languages to ensure accessibility to our diverse communities including Spanish, Tagalog, Kami Arabic Armenian Chinese Farsy Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese. Uh this one pager also provides just a quick reference and uh will be available in printed form at community hubs such as our libraries, our community centers and public facilities. Um digital uh versions will also be accessible online and allow residents uh you know just to access that via download. Next slide. All right. So, um to equip staff with tools and resources, um we formed a task force that emerged out of the city manager's ad hoc committee um to ensure we were giving timely guidance to uh city staff. And so, we created a task force known as the equity and policy practice and protocol task force, also known as EP3. Um, and this consists of volunteer staff from various departments, a really small but mighty team that's helping to function as a rapid response team and a long-term planning body that helps our departments navigate the shifting legal and policy landscape while safeguarding equity and community trust. So, the EP3 develops and issues timely equity centered guidance, protocols, and resources for city departments, enabling them to adapt policies and operations while maintaining public trust. Our task force focuses on two primary areas um which would be our uh operational guidance for diversity, equity, and inclusion as we're navigating a very shifting language and rhetoric and then uh immigration response and community trust. And so as we go through these next few slides, these are just some samples of the resources that have been developed for city staff. Many of them are in review um but uh we look forward to making them uh distributing them to city departments very soon. So this first resource is our private area signage uh and checklist. And I do want to just make the correction that we are referring to this as non-public uh area signage. And so to to clearly distinguish between public and non-public areas within city facilities. Um and this will also the signage is intended to help staff and visitors understand where law enforcement officers may not enter without a valid judicial warrant or explicit permission. And so the accompanying checklist guides facility managers uh in properly designating and maintaining these non-public areas. We'll have digital and physical copies of that packet uh that will be distributed to city departments upon approval. Next resource, uh, next up will be our, uh, commitment to immigrant communities banner. And so this banner is, um, a public affirmation of the city's dedication to protecting the rights, dignity, and safety of immigrant residents and visitors. It serves as a visible declaration of our values and will help build trust um, between immigrant communities and city government. And so we intend to have this available in all of our community-f facing facilities. Uh the this banner has been translated into Spanish, Kamaya, and Tagalog and will be distributed in uh the larger packet that I previously referenced. All right. To provide clear protocols for city staff responding to law enforcement activity at city facilities, uh we've created a packet that includes step-by-step guidance, workplace scripts, and FAQs to promote consistent rights, protective responses, and compliance with with the law. And so this document uh is in the process of being updated by our the city attorney's office um and uh they've assisted us with providing um even more specific direction for city employees um just given late uh recent court decisions. All right. And then finally, of course, to accompany all of those resources, uh we've created a suite of trainings uh that will equip staff with uh the knowledge and protocols and resources needed to uphold the Long Beach values act and and respond effectively to immigration enforcement um at city facilities. And so that includes the training on the values act, uh training on those protocols, and just a training on uh employees rights. And so those will be pre-recorded modules that are going to be available to city staff through the internet. Um, looking ahead as we go through the legal and executive approval route, um, we, uh, our next steps include training our city employees to uphold the values act and protocols for responding to law enforcement activity, distributing, um, Long Beach Values Act resources to all city departments for consistent application, installing multilingual signage and public areas uh, of our city facilities to increase awareness, provide community resources in public spaces, and connecting residents with those supportive services and of course collaborating with organizational partners to align our messaging and strengthen the understanding of the values act and related protocols. So this concludes our portion of the presentation, but I'm happy to hand things over to Paul from the mayor's office. >> All right, so thank you. Uh incredible amount of work has taken place. No one anticipated any of this, but I'm proud of how you all uh in the office of equity is stepping up uh in this moment. I I don't know any other city that has dedicated an office of equity to to focus on this in this moment. We're proud that we've built up that capacity and that we made these hard choices during the 2022 2020 experiences because we don't know what's to come next. And so we'll we'll continue to count on you. Be encouraged because things will change. All right. Next, I'm going to ask Paul to walk through the recommendations today that in the defending our Long Beach values plan. I'm asking Paul to walk us through it frankly because Paul like championed the process of coordinating with community groups, city attorneys, city staff to figure out what's what we can do now. And so Paul, please walk us through what's in front of us today. >> Thank you, mayor. Good evening, council members. My name is Paul Baran Mon here with the mayor's team to offer a high level summary of the policy recommendations outlined as a part of Mayor Richardson's FY26 budget recommendations based on feedback and guidance received from Long Beach's leading immigrant and civil rights organizations, national best practices across jurisdictions in California and and in other states and local community engagement efforts. This current list of policy recommendations prepared by the mayor aims to enhance protections for our immigrant communities under the values act which in turn will help ensure that all residents in our city can fully and meaningfully participate in our city's civic life. Each of these policy rep representations represents a legitimate and constitutional exercise of the city's authority to engage in lawful non non-ooperation with federal enforcement activities and provides tangible actions that the city can take now to strengthen the values act in preparation for future escalations of federal immigration enforcement activities in Long Beach as well as across Southern California. So, first, the city can move to restrict access within city-owned property and designate non-public secure locations by implementing clear warrant review procedures across all non-public areas within city-owned buildings and properties intended for city business operations and limiting entry into into these areas where no warrant is produced. For decades, the phrase uh show me your papers has been used by immigration enforcement agents to target immigrant communities and question their right to belong. Uh but through these new review protocols, we will be turning that statement around and asking law enforcement agents to show their papers and produce the required judicial warrants and court orders required under state and federal law. Uh the city can introduce visible signage on doors and entryways clearly demarcating non-public areas where entry by law enforcement agents u is restricted. As you saw from the earlier presentation from Theresa Nolana, there's already been a lot of effort in that direction. Uh and we we uh there's a lot a lot of work underway in that regard. Uh the city can ensure this that city staff are trained on response protocols so that every city and work site can verify the existence of a valid uh warrant or judicial order and also ensure that all city departments submit preparedness plans in order to reflect the enactment of these trainings and response response protocols accordingly. Second, the city can strengthen accountability mechanisms to promote staff compliance with the Long Beach values act, applying all available disciplinary procedures and violations of the value um of the values act by city employees, including pathways to enforce disciplinary consequences such as warnings, suspensions, demotions, or dismissals in order to deter potential violations of the values act. The city can also develop a centralized resident complaint portal as a new public accountability mechanism where residents can submit official complaints in a secure uh fashion in order to initiate the appropriate investigations and disciplinary measures. Uh uh another step the city can take is assigning immigrant affairs liaison within each city department in order to report any law enforcement activities on city properties and also to support in the dissemination of educational and training materials uh for the long beach values act. Third, the city can promote greater compliance with the Long Beach values act among its external city contractors by incorporating language into the city contracts process, educating v vendors about the values act, as well as advising them that the city reserves the right to not do business with vendors whose business practices violate or present a substantial conflict with the values act. Next, the city can engage in legal advocacy to mitigate disruptions and uh public harm caused by external agency law enforcement activities by obtaining public records on federal enforcement activities in Long Beach, pursuing legal remedies for damages to city properties, programs, or revenues that result from law enforcement agencies activities or presence on or near city-owned uh properties, all falling within the uh the 10th amendment protections under the constitution. Uh and finally, the city can establish a new safe place business certifi certification program by working in close partnership with experienced local community- based organizations and business associations to help promote and expand know your rights trainings which are currently taking place in Long Beach, but that we have an opportunity to help bring to scale across the city as well as providing informationformational materials to help educate local businesses, street vendors on what to do if law enforcement activities take place at or near their business operation. ations. Now, in closing, as Mayor Richardson highlighted, our cities and our communities are dealing with unprecedented levels of federal enforcement actions across our region. As the federal policy landscape continues to evolve, and as enforcement act actions escalate in the future, it's important that long that the Long Beach values act policy remains flexible, remains adaptive, and responsive to the changing needs of our diverse immigrant communities. Thank you, mayor, and thank you council. >> All right. Thank you, Paul. Um, you know, I I I love what you said when you ended is that this policy was designed initially and I was there and a part of this and council member your vice mayor was a part of this was designed to be adaptable because of situation changes and this isn't and these are you know adaptations we're making within six months of the you know the first or eight months of the first a seven months of the first action and um I think it's important also And I want to thank you also, you and my policy team and everyone for uh working really hard to get us get us uh to this place. And so um you know this this is a situation where it's many jurisdictions other people may say what you know this is what we can't do. I like that you've gone appro about this approach that we're going about this approach figuring out what can we do and what we can we do now. an assetbased frame, an actionbased frame, rather than debate um what can't happen. Let's focus on what we can do and continue the conversation about what's next. And that way you arrive at the most immediate actions to protect our communities today. And so I want to thank you for that, you know, for for responding that call to action that I issued where we saw memos and things saying what the challenges are, looking at reading between those lines to figure out where are the opportunities, how can we we invert uh the the framing and I love the show us your papers, right? I mean that's got history from I mean going back to slave catchers and and all of that. Yeah, that can be inverted. And I appreciate you thinking thinking about ways that we can use our power to ask questions in a formal way to ensure that we are not only saying that we're defending our values, but we're taking steps and make in a way that our it's very clear for our staff on how to navigate this because this is also challenging and confusing in many ways to to the 6,000 employees we have in the city who are asking to step up. So, I want to thank you. We're going to go to public public comment. I know we have a lot of names to read and I know a lot of people have to go home. So, we are sorry about that, but we're going to read all these names. If you are here, please come forward. Um, Ivana Net Machado, Eli Gomez Perez, Idel Perez, Johnny Argueta, uh, Ariana Sagon, um, Lilian Lilia Okmpo, Diana Norman, Romeo Habbron, uh, Reprad, Christopher Welch, Sophia Barcinis, Daniela Suarez, Irma Gao, Anna Marcia, Dave Shukla, Paul Abbad, um, Fernando Esavdo, Sam Waldock, Uh, Kiki Lzaraga, Mia Hernand Hernandez, Mirabel, Gabby Hernandez, Veronica Valdinos, uh, Naelli, Shia Ming Cheer, Carlos Viaana, uh, Denise, and Maria. If you heard your name, please come forward. Don't worry about the order. >> Oh, great. >> Thank you. >> Well, good evening, mayor and city council members. Thank you so much for all of your work tonight on all of these items. We really appreciate your time. U, my name is Kiki Lazara. I'm president of the Long Beach Latino Democratic Club. Uh I'm here to speak on behalf of our members and express our deep concern over these ongoing ICE rates that you mentioned across the city which are sowing fear and instability. Uh despite the critical reforms passed earlier this year, we are alarmed to hear consistent reports from community members and advocacy organizations such as Oral Le Long Beach that ICE operations are continuing in neighborhoods near workplaces and even outside of schools. Uh, as we all know, this is unacceptable and Long Beach cannot be a sanctuary city in name only. So, we urge the city council to take immediate steps to ensure the full implementation and enforcement of the Long Beach values act. This includes in affirming the city's commitment to transparency by publishing all ICE related requests and responses, supporting the community oversight committee's efforts with sufficient resources, visibility, and collaboration. investigating any reports of city department non-compliance with the updated values act and taking appropriate corrective action. And so uh as elected leaders of the city, we know you share our belief in justice, dignity, and safety for all residents regardless of immigration status. And we ask that you swiftly and decisively uh uphold these values and restore trust in our city's promises. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Mia. >> Hello. So, good evening, honorable mayor and city council. My name is Mia Hernandez, and I'll be reading a statement on behalf of State Senate Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez. First, I would like to thank Vice Mayor Roberto Ranga and Councilwoman Zendeas for bringing forward this important item. As the state senate representative to the city of Long Beach, we are honored to work alongside you in ensuring that Long Beach remains a welcoming, safe, and inclusive home for all residents. In that shared spirit, we join the community in supporting the opportunity to strengthen the Long Beach Values Act through stronger protections for immigrant data, strong enforcement, and protections for all immigrants. This moment presents an opportunity to affirm our shared commitment to the people we serve, and we thank you for your hard work, your due diligence, and u we look forward to continuing our work together to protect and uplift every member of our community. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, next speaker, please. Uh good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. My name is Sam Waldock. I'm a Long Beach resident and field representative for state assembly member Josh Lowenthal. Uh and I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of the member in support of strengthening the Long Beach values act. Uh I first want to thank uh council members and deas and vice mayor Uranga for bringing this important item forward. Uh, as the state assembly representative for the city of Long Beach, we are so privileged to work in collaboration with you all to build up our city's values of inclusion and safety. And we believe that strengthening the values act would reaffirm our city's commitment to equity. Uh, as we face this critical moment in our history, it is so important that we boldly show our support for our immigrant community and strengthening the values act will do just that. So for these reasons, I would urge the council to vote in favor of this item. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. >> Hi everyone. My name is Mariv Cruz, associate director with Oral. Just wanted um to uplift the fact that a lot of our folks had to leave because it is 11:23 and people have to do things and it's very unfortunate. I am here because what is happening in in our communities is not normal. Despite a recent court decision to stop the racial profiling of immigrants in our region, people are still being taken off the streets. ICE continues to find creative ways to increase their daily quotas, separate families, and destroy people's lives. What is happening is not normal, and as a city, we must find creative and bold ways to protect immigrants in our community. The Long Beach Values Act is a powerful policy that can truly provide concrete protections. But the policy as it stand is not enough. We need the city to eliminate harmful SB54 carveouts, protect the data of our immigrant community members through vendor certifications, ensuring they have no contracts to share data with agencies involved in federal immigration enforcement and include contract language expressly forbidding data sharing with federal immigration authorities absent a judicial warrant. We also need a private right of action instead of internal disciplinary measures and a complaint portal. Long Beach has the opportunity to be a leader and example for the rest of the region. We can show the community that Long Beach is willing to fight for the end of family separation and Long Beach can be bold and provide concrete protections by strengthening the Long Beach values act. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next speaker, please. >> Hi everyone. Good evening. And I think it's really unfortunate that we can't have a real community engagement given that it's so late. Um I also appreciate the framing and all of your work, Paul, um and everyone at the city. But as I mentioned before, I think there's so much that we can do. Uh my name is Gabern Nandez and I serve as executive director for Orale. And I just wanted also to give a correction. Vera Institute only managed the fund for a year. So the office of equity started managing the fund um in 2019 2020, not in 2021. Uh we understand that trainings were supposed to happen after the January provisions and will those trainings be available truly that was needed yesterday. Um the immigrant community is being targeted by the Trump administration more aggressively than ever and we need real immediate action from all of you today. To be sincere based on our previous conversations I was hoping that what came to council today included stronger language and real protections that actually benefit the immigrant community. Right now, as I've mentioned before, we already discussed how this current amendments to the values act are not sufficient. The portal you're recommending will fall will fall under the office of equity, which is already severely understaffed. Additionally, your language around the future contracts does not address the existing contracts. So, I have a question on that. While it's a step in the right direction uh that the Long Beach Values Act is being revised today, uh we need much stronger protections to confront the systemic injustices that we're up against right now. We encourage you all to stop waiting to follow other cities, step up and lead. But if you're looking for other examples, Huntington Park has the strongest sanctuary policy in the region. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, next speaker, please. >> Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Fernando Seo and I'm an Orles community lawyer. Um, we thank the city for the discussed amendments for the Long Beach Values Act as we see it as a positive initial step towards strengthening our our local policy to protect our immigrant community. However, our immigrant community needs more protections as they continue to be violently targeted um by the current administration. Um, mayor, you talked about appreciating the current policy um and con considering what we can do, right? Um, but what we can do and what we should be doing is listening to community and implementing stronger protections in the Long Beach Values Act in addition to what's been proposed. Um, and that's something that's possible and is allowed under the Constitution. And I think if it's viable, let's go for it, right? Let's protect our immigrant community. So, we encourage you all to consider removing the harmful SB54 carveouts to ensure all immigrants are protected, further protections on on data, privacy, and a private right of action. Um and again um echoing thoughts that have already been shared um acknowledging that due to lateness of this meeting a lot of our community members haven't been able to provide their public comments and so wanted to um create space for um for them who couldn't be here. Um and lastly um echoing our continued ask of 2.2 million in structural funding um for the Long Beach Justice Fund with new city dollars. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, next speaker please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, city council members. Uh Dave Shukla. I'm a resident of uh the third district, and I'd just like to uh uplift everything that Orlay's lawyer just uh said, and in specific uh the data protections, and I'd also like to uh acknowledge that there's going to be substantial housing impact, and the city council should be prepared for that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Veronica. >> Good evening, council members of the city council. My name is Veronica. I'm a community leader with Orale and have been living for the past 30 years in district 8. [Music] As a resident of the city, I feel the same way as my children and community community live in fear knowing that in some way our data and information could be shared with ICE. I've been noticing that to them it's irrelevant if we're permanent residents or citizens of this country. We ask for your help to protect our communities and eliminate exclusions from SB54. We know that you have taken the initial steps by establishing the uh LB values act, but we are in need of something more solid. I'm also here to ask you to vote in favor of the $2.2 million towards the justice fund and $2 million to advocate for those facing evictions. Thank you so much. >> All right. Thank you. That concludes public comment. I want to thank um United Cambodian Community for their letter support. Go ahead. I I didn't see you standing in line. Go for it. Uh, council members, community members, my name is Maria autonomous tenant organizer with the Long Beach Tennis Union District 1 resident and selection committee member for the Long Beach Justice Fund. In a time when many of our neighbors are living in deep fear, we look to you, the ones who like to be called leaders, to be most courageous and pass the strongest Long Beach Values Act, which is what immigrants want and our communities truly deserve. And I must uplift the 2.2 million asked for the Long Beach Justice Fund. It is not enough for you to tell us we support immigrants. You must eliminate our carveouts. It is not enough for you to tell us we support immigrants. You must protect our data. It is not enough for you to tell us we support immigrants. You must allow us to hold up accountability and include a private right of action. It is not enough for you to tell us we support immigrants and you continue uh without you continuing to pass 2.2 million for the Long Beach Justice Fund. It is not enough for you to tell us we support immigrants. If you want us to truly believe this, you need to serve immigrant families in these most unstable, violent times by true action, which is what we're asking for in these three demands to remove the carveouts, to protect our data, and allow us accountability. I've heard inclusion, safety, and community trust. And what begins and ends with that is a strong beach values act. We cannot leave today and none of these demands be met. This is not what immigrants want. >> Your time has concluded. >> All right. Thank you, sir. >> Right. Uh hello. My name is Carlos Vana and I am a communications manager with Ole and a District 8 resident. Let me fix that real quick. Uh, I'm also here to uplift the need for a stronger Long Beach Values Act because our communities are under attack as we all know, right, by the Trump administration, by ICE, and we must step up to protect our people. While it's great that we have the Values Act as it is, and as it was strengthened earlier this year, uh, our local policy can and should do more. We can do this for one by eliminating the harmful SP54 carveouts from our local policy and protecting immigrant residents data through methods like disqualifying vendors who violate our act from future city contracts. Uh, one other method we can do this is by including a private right to action in our policy. Leaving exceptions that allow families to be separated and surveiled is not community safety. Uh, protecting them is. And we do this by strengthening our local act with these measures as well as by investing in community programs like the 2.2 million for the Long Beach Justice Fund. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. So, that concludes public comment. Want to acknowledge these three letters uh we received. United Cambodian Community uh Supervisor Janice Han and um uh Congresswoman Net Baragon. Thank you for these letters support. That said, we're going to hand it back uh hand it to the council members. Let's start with Vice Mayor Yanga. >> Thank you, Mayor. And uh I want to thank start by thanking Councilwoman SAS for joining me at the co center on this uh item here. I also want to thank you, mayor, for all the work that you put in, your staff, phenomenal work in helping us put this together. I also want to thank our city attorney and our city manager for their input. Most importantly, I want to thank Orale, the Filipino Migrant Center, to my girls in action for their advocacy and for their work that they do in the community every day. As elected officials, it's our job to defend our community, and that's what we're doing here today. But before we continue, I have a few questions I'd like to ask the city attorney and the city manager regarding this issue before we move forward. One, can the city legally remove SB54 carve outs? What would be the risk to the city if we do so? >> Uh, thank you, council member. I'll ask uh deputy city attorney Nick Mero to address your question. >> Thank you, Don. Thank you, council member. Uh the current values act as it relates to the SB the carveouts maximizes the city's rights under the 10th amendment. This was so much so that the federal government challenged these kinds of provisions through federal litigation and the state prevailed with those carveouts. The carveouts are extremely narrow and relate only to certain violent criminals, felons, and where federal law requires. The LBVA, as written, was designed to be maximally effective in accordance with the law. Removing the carveouts would subject the city's regulation to additional legal challenges and judicial scrutiny, which it might not survive. Two, um, What risk exist if we terminate a contract for the L values act of violations and will we know new and when we need new contract language to withstand challenges. Do you understand my question? A little shaky there. >> No, I I believe I do. Council member, if my answer doesn't prove informative or helpful for you, please let me know. Um so um we do have in many of our contracts we can negotiate it an opportunity to terminate the contract for convenience. That means for any reason or no reason at all. So if we find that a city vendor is acting in a manner that's inconsistent with our values as a city, we have the opportunity to end that contract for any reason or no reason at all. Essentially without an ability for the contractor to challenge that termination upon a certain amount of notice time. We have updated our contracts to include strong data protections. Anytime any vendor is receiving any information from the city, it must be treated as strictly confidential. Uh as it relates to incorporating other terms into the contract, there are a few concerns. Uh we lack the ability to dictate the terms of many contracts, particularly those that relate to cyber security are with multinational corporations like we use for word processing and productivity software and suites. uh where we are piggybacking contracts off of other jurisdictions which is a frequent practice in the city where we have sole source agreements um or we're seeking highly specialized goods and services like in the instance of firet trucks. Um, so adding more specific obligations to adopt or abide by the Long Beach Values Act creates a lot of uncertainty for vendors and individuals that be interested in contracting with the city and would have the likely effect of deterring qualified vendors who aren't acting consistently with our values from seeking competition based on that ambiguity or uncertainty. >> Okay. Why do you advise the city uh against taking the contracts? Uh >> can you repeat that again? >> Let me rephrase it. Uh you have concerns regarding the language regarding contact language. So why do you advise against changing the language the contract language? Okay. What risk is this if we get return any contract with violations with fore hold on a second what are the risk involved with private right of action hang >> yes thank you council member I have um a number of concerns to report regarding the possibility of a private right of action um a new right of action particularly would require or involve the waiver of a lot of immunities that would all together present a substantial risk of new expensive and meritless litigation that would be difficult and slow to extract ourselves from and divert resources towards those efforts. A new right of action may allow any person or organization, even persons who are wholly unaffected by an alleged violation to sue for monetary and injunctive relief. Normally, such individuals wouldn't have standing to file a suit and municip and municipalities are generally immune from those allegations. litigation exposure would be created based on a perception that a city program policy or action is not sufficiently aligned with the LBVA even if that is not the case or if the action policy or program is required by state or federal law. There is also a substantial likelihood of a significant if not overwhelming uptick in CPA requests to explore suspected wrongdoing even when there is no merit to any suspicion of wrongdoing. It could city processes as employees acting in good faith fear-making decisions out of concern that they may be sued based on a suspicion that some act is not fully consistent with the LBVA. The city would be obligated under California law to defend and indemnify individual employees sued on a basis of suspicion of non-compliance with the LBVA. This exposes additional financial and administrative and employee workload hardships. Uh the city may not be able to legally wave immunities on behalf of an employee. We've been unable to find any legal basis for allowing the city to wave an employees legal immunities uh by adopting a regulation. And also doing so may violate current agreements with employees andus as well as state and federal employee protections. Waiver would frustrate the city's ability to promptly adjudicate meritless claims. waiver would expose the city to liability it would not otherwise face in related cases such as those where certain immunities apply as they relate to persons in custody. This could be an additional source of significant expense in vindicating valid, lawful, and just city actions, undermining workplace protections for city employees against meritless claims and constitute a fundamental change in the working conditions for employees that could have a negative impact on hiring and retention in these key positions. Uh, finally, a private right of action would create a disparity with how the city generally handles allegations of employee misconduct. The current incarnation of the LBVA is consistent with how the city handles allegations of employee misconduct that's inconsistent with regulations. What we're hearing from our employees about recent ICE activity is that they're concerned and scared for themselves, for them family members, for their friends, and for their community. and they want to help asking for guidance on how to ensure they comply with the values act. As a result, we have worked tirelessly with the CM's office and the equity office in particular to provide that guidance and are going further by holding a town hall later this week for all city employees to ask questions and receive information. >> And and uh Mr. Vice Mayor, if I may, so I think the what we've heard very clearly from the community is there needs to be accountability. If somebody is violating the values act, what are the consequences? And so uh that is really what's in the motion in front of you tonight. We have those systems in place. I think we need to better explain them. Uh there are, you know, laws that protect um certain amount of confidentiality um for um uh for employees, but we can explain what we do. Um we do this all the time. We get whistleblower complaints that come in through the auditor's office. They come in through the ethics hotline. We investigate those and we take appropriate action. And so, uh being able to help explain that that's what's in the motion. There was a comment that the Office of Equity is not set up to do that. I agree. Uh that's not really their function. uh they can help us set up the portal and set up a way to gather that information either using existing systems or new systems. And then we have a very robust HR structure. Every department's going to have uh an immigration liaison. They'll also have uh AOS's, administrative officers that'll help us take that action. And then um ultimately it comes up through through me and then I report out to you and you do get confidential updates from time to time on egregious cases where we take action against people who uh violate our policies and violate our laws. Thank you. Uh dear colleagues, I hope you can join me in updating in strengthening the excuse me. >> All right. Uh thank you, Vice Mayor. Uh next is council members in Dejas. >> A huge thank you to all of the community members that are still here in the audience. I know it's been a very long night. Um, but your work and your advocacy is very important. I would like to take a moment to thank my colleague, Vice Mayor Udanga, for signing on to this very important item or for inviting me to sign on to this very important item. I'm proud to uh present this item in partnership with you, Vice Mayor, and in strong solidarity with our immigrant communities and in alignment with in our city's constitutional authority. I thank our city staff for um really working hard. I know it's been a challenge, especially right now, but I really want to thank um city staff, Paul, um city attorney's office. Um you you guys have been able to see uh the vision that we have and what we want to do um with this um with our Long Beach values act and you have really done your homework and brought back what things that we are able to do. So really appreciative of that. Um, thank you so much, Vice Mayor, for asking those clarifying questions and, um, thank you, city, uh, attorney's office and city manager. Thank you, Tom, for clarifying that as well. Really appreciate that. Um, this is our second update to the Long Beach Values Act this year, which is good. Um, thank you, mayor, for identifying that this um that this policy was made to be adaptable and so we are doing um that tonight. So, I'm really proud of that. Um, this is our second one this year and as mentioned, we will continue to monitor and to look for ways to strengthen this policy. As an immigrant myself, as a proud daughter of immigrants, as someone who once was undocumented, and as someone who knows too well what fearing ICE can do to our community, I acknowledge that this policy does not go far enough. However, the alternative of doing nothing during this time of crisis among our immigrant families and our community as a whole is unacceptable to me. I implore the community to continue to work with us to find legally justifiable ways to strengthen this policy and to continue organizing at all levels of government. I appreciate the framework set forward at this time and ask my colleagues for their support. >> Thank you. Next, uh, Council Member Thrashin Tut. >> Thank you so much, Mayor. Um, so this moment, you know, that we're in calls for us to really do enhancements to the values act. Recent immigrants immigration sweeps across the region have not only disrupted households but have created ripple effects that endangered the well-being of our entire community. This is why it's so important that we bring forth these kinds of actions. I want to thank Vice Mayor Yuranga, Councilwoman Zenaas for bringing this item forward. I want to thank uh the mayor. I want to thank um the mayor's office, specifically Paul uh for your leadership on this and I want to thank the community members for remaining this evening to be able to share their perspective on these policies. Um as uh Councilwoman Zena said, they may not go far enough. Um but we understand that we must continue to keep taking additional steps um as we prepare for what I anticipate to be future escalation. Um, I too believe that the inclusion of vendors is key. Um, because contracts that we enter in as a city uh reflect who we are and I know the city attorney has gone through some details regarding the procurement process and some potential impacts uh on our city accordingly. But I think having our vendors be aware of the values act continue to add additional layers of security and protection. I look forward to working with the city attorney's office, city manager's office, mayor, and colleagues to identify other strategies to ensure that from a vending standpoint, regardless of the monopoly a business might have over an industry, we have the ability to extend the values act. I am delighted that we have the safe business certification program coming. I think that that is so critical and such a practical step uh for businesses to be able to understand what their roles, responsibilities are and opportunities to keep their employees, their customers and their community safe as well. I know we promoted recent know your rights uh workshops for small businesses um and we could see that businesses were really interested and responded well uh to understanding this information in such critical circumstances. So uh for this evening I look forward to supporting um this uh motion coming forward and again thank my colleagues in the community for their time and attention on this matter. If I didn't thank the city attorney's office as well want to add them to my list. Thank you for all your work on this. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you for being up at 3:00 a.m. where you are and being a dedicated council member. We appreciate you, >> Council Member Supernova. >> Um, thank you. And um, thanks everyone for staying late. I think it's um, is it 11:48 p.m. right now? Close to midnight. And the temperature at the Deis is 61 degrees. And it's been that all night. Uh, and our police chief is still here. Thanks, chief. Really above and beyond. Um, so I stand in support here, but I just have a comment and a question just to add maybe some transparency and clarity uh to the item, and that is um the point that there's no fiscal impact. It says no fiscal impact review was conducted due to the urgency of this item. Um, so I'm going to go to the city manager's memo that was written four days ago. And there's a section there under next steps. And you know what? He's here. Tom Modica is here. So I just want to say there is a nexus between the city manager's memo and the fiscal impact. I think it's a one to1 ratio. But um Mr. Modica, is is that would that be your uh impression here that that the fiscal impact is what you've stated here in your memo on on page nine? And that do you want me to read it or are you >> I'm coming up right now. Page nine. Remind me of what I wrote. Um the next step for um >> there there's a nexus between this item the mayor's budget proposal and we could probably use that as a guideline for the fiscal impact. >> Yeah. So um uh a couple things. Yes, we we're certainly talking about the fiscal impacts uh and through the budget process. So the mayor's recommendation actually talks about dollars. Um that's really not what's in front of you tonight. So what's in front of you tonight is the policy language. Uh um a lot of this has already been worked on with existing staff. Yes, it takes staff time. uh we can acknowledge that this is probably you know we would say this is probably in the medium or moderate um uh um diversion of of other priorities but this the council has been very clear this is a priority so uh I I'm managing that workload with the team they're doing the work uh we um are using liaison throughout the city that already do this type of work and yeah adding some additional work to their plates but it's work that they're already doing anyway and so I do think that we're able to manage the fiscal impact but then the actual dollar amounts you're going to be considering later as part of the budget process. That's not what's on the table tonight. >> Okay, perfect. Appreciate that explanation. >> Thank you, Council Member Rick Sod. >> Uh, thank you, mayor. Um, thank you to um all the community members that that stayed here with us to um to to speak your mind and let us know what you heard. I also want to lift up I looked at the list here of the 26 folks who did uh sign up for public comment around this. So, we know that there's a lot of robust community engagement, right? and you guys are very passionate about this and so I just want to thank you for for for coming out and for making sure you're sharing um your expectations of how we move forward as a city. Thank you to my council colleagues who brought this forward, the mayor's office and of course all the city staff. Um I just had a couple of questions around kind of the process and implementation. Um and I know you shared a little bit about that uh just now Tom because some of the work that we're talking about here specifically the city has already embarked in. And so I wanted to just lift up two elements which is the the aspect about um the strengthen accountability mechanisms to ensure full staff compliance um and then also the um compliance to the Long Beach values act by external city contractors. Could you walk us through just some more details because I've been getting some questions from um community partners around just implementation like what will that look like from the perspective of community members about how the city is actually going to implement these We'll have Teresa and Alana take the first crack at that. >> Okay. >> Then uh I think Don wants to jump in on the contract language. Maybe you do that while the team's getting ready. >> So I just wanted to add a little bit on the uh contracts with vendors. So um I'm not sure if it really came across, but there is more being done in that regard. The first thing that's being done is uh additional language is being added to all of our contracts that makes it very clear that any data that has to be shared with any of the vendors is city data. City owns the data. They cannot use it for any purpose other than what is required in the contract at the end of that contract. We get all the data back. They do not keep any of that data. It is our data. That also gives us the right to bring in action against any of them for breaching the contract and using that data for any possible way. So that is being added to all of our contracts um as we speak. So that's one important point. Another point is many of our contracts have language that would allow us to cancel those contracts if we find that a vendor is violating the Long Beach Values Act. Uh Deputy City Attorney Nick Misero was trying to explain that a little bit that we already have that language in the contract. So those contracts don't need additional language. And then finally, our procurement office is also going to be making sure that anybody who contracts with us understands that we have the Long Beach Values Act and that's how we operate as a city. If they're going to be doing business with us, they need to understand that that is how we operate as a city. So, I think what we were trying to point out is there are certain contracts that are more difficult to put language into. You can't put language into a contract with Microsoft. They don't let you add terms. There's other types of contracts we can't put language into. But to the extent we can, we are doing it. To the extent that we can um operate with vendors uh based on our existing language or based on sharing our values, we're absolutely doing that. So um we've been working hard with staff to make sure that we are taking this uh very seriously with our contracting. >> Just and we'll don't worry about your time, but I think a a part of this is the vernacular and how we frame it. We're adding we're adding this language, adding this expectation to contracts wherever we legally have the ability to do so. That's what we're doing. And we can't say universally it's in every contract because legally you don't have the ability to do so. But we're doing every we're doing this now where we can and moving forward doing education on any future vendor opportunities. >> Absolutely. >> Right. Thank you. Keep continue. So with regard to staff compliance, uh we have developed a training that will be available to city staff informing them of the Long Beach values act. Again, something that has been ex in existence since uh 2018. Um giving them a overview of the policy's history, what they can and cannot do, as well as a clear reporting um uh uh pathway for any potential violations of the Long Beach Values Act. And so that's uh something that will be available to staff. Uh both the training uh will live uh on the internet with um comp complimentary staff resources as well just so like a fact sheet that's more accessible than policy language for some folks and um uh then we have direct contacts contacts in HR the city manager's office myself and um uh the city attorney's office that will also assist for um any staff questions related to the values act. And I just want to give a council a sense of the magnitude. We do policy changes for employees all the time. Um employees get something probably once a month, maybe every other month. Here's something new you have to do. We there that's pretty regular. We're going to a whole another level with this. This is something that they've never really experienced before. This is new. And so, uh we've got a whole workforce and a team that is working on how do we get this message across? We're doing actual town halls where we bring everyone together that can make it and and do that. We're, you know, finding other ways to train them. I've been communicating personally with employees, all 6,500, saying this is why we're doing these things. So, we've gone to a higher level on this because of the urgency, because of the importance and because it's unusual. It's not something that we have had to deal with in the past, you know, the potential for masked agents with weapons to show up, you know, at your workplace um asking to detain people. And so, it is uh something we're taking very seriously and going to a higher level of training than than we have um from for most policy updates. Thank you for that. And then a followup to that is so in here it says recommend the city manager to work with office equity to develop a formal centralized resident complaint portal as a new public accountability mechanism where residents can submit an official complaint with evidence that the city employees violated the values act to initiate the appropriate investigation and disciplinary measures. So I guess my kind of question was really around that. So like if a community member goes and they submit something like what happens like what is the process that then kind of cascades around the accountability and investigation that happens with that? Sure. Um there are lots of different ways that people can make a complaint against almost anything that is related to the city. We get those all the time. Uh they come in through our public email uh boxes. They come to use oftent times as mayor and council and you get them to us. They go to HR. They go to our auditor. She has a completely um anonymous um complaint line that she can use. Our our ethics office has one as well. So if you wanted to do that today, you can do that today. What this is asking us to do is also set one up maybe specific for that. We got to figure out, do we use one of those existing systems and have a different, you know, um, front end, but it's the same back end. That's the work we're going to do. But we basically, however it comes in, we take that complaint. Um, the more information someone can give, the better. You can submit anonymously. I will say it's it we want to be able to follow up. We want to be able to ask questions. We do have a history of keeping those complaints anonymous um or um we're not divulging what it is, but the more you can give us and the more you can give us specifics and a way to contact you, the the better that investigation is going to be. Um the the the more that we can do to investigate that. Um we have officers throughout all of our departments that are trained in investigations and if not, they can bring on outside investigators through the city attorney's office. We've got HR that does those. Uh and then there are accountability measures back through HR, back through city management and and department leadership as well uh to um do findings and then ultimately discipline happens. Um discipline can be as as uh if it's really a low level, if it was something that was completely unintentional, it could be a retraining, it could be a letter of reprimand, it could be a suspension, can also be a termination all the way up. If there is a vi if there is a a a policy where somebody willingly maliciously um uh disobeyed it, people get fired in the city for that. Um that's not acceptable. It doesn't matter what the policy is and and this would be included in that. So uh we have a lot of those accountability measures. We often, I will say, can't tell the public exactly who it was, exactly what happened to them. We do our best to say these are the steps we're taking and and that we're taking appropriate action. Um, so and then we we work with that through our city attorney's office and divulge as much as we can. >> Okay. Excellent. Yeah. I think my my real concern kind of asking all these is just making sure that I mean I I think we all recognize the situation that we're in, the level of like mistrust with government around so many things. So, I just want to make sure as we're implementing this that we are trying to make it as transparent as possible so that res so that members of our community can at least feel like they can trust their city to do right by them um when it comes to these complaints and what they're flagging. Um, one initial follow-up to that too is that one of the things that I heard from some of the members of our um our immigrant rights coalition was around the implementation because they said they they talked about like the benefits of this, what they really liked, but they also talked about kind of the devils in the details. So like things can be really great on paper and then you go to implement them and they don't get implemented in ways that actually serve community. So we can kind of talk about and I think Tom and you and I discussed this a little bit like what are there ways for us to have some um oversight over implementation and bring and allow some of these groups that we've already been engaged with um to help us implement it in ways that we make sure that we're serving the community that we actually want to. >> Sure. We can certainly take feedback if there's things and you know we're a big organization. We do our best to set systems and controls and put it out but if there's gaps we adapt. Um if there's something that's not clear that employees don't know that they're supposed to be doing or not supposed to be doing certainly willing to take that input. Alana and the equity office um have um mechanisms already to take a lot of input from our uh immigrants rights groups and through the justice fund and we continue those conversations to get input and say okay here's things we're hearing from the community. Um, my employees are not shy either. So, um, we've actually already opened up and and asked them, "What are the questions you have in this area?" And they're starting to give us feedback during those trainings. They'll be able to ask questions as well. Um, and then we can we can adapt to that as well as like what what is it that you're hearing as an employee? What are some of the pain points? Uh, and we can continue to get that information as well. So, both from the on the ground impleers, but also from the community um, who can uh, give us input through our equity office. >> Okay. Excellent. Yeah. I just want to make sure that when we think about our stakeholders here um they really feel like they have an open door to to to give us um real honest feedback around how we're implementing it is and that we are nimble as a city um to pivot if necessary to to modify our our implementation. Um so I think that rounds out my comments. >> Right. Thank you. Great questions. Uh Council Member Allen. >> Yes. I just want to also say thank you especially to all of you guys that have just waited here so so late. We really really appreciate it. Um I want to thank um Vice Mayor Uranga and Councilwoman Zind House for bringing the item forward. Um I absolutely support strengthening our values act and now more than ever we need to come together and do everything that we can to protect our immigrant community uh here in Long Beach. And um and I I thank you for the city attorney, the the uh the city manager, all of those that that are addressing how we're going to implement this and transparency. Um I think that we need to make sure that we um we address all the policy issue and make sure we're doing what's best um for uh the community. And as we all know that Long Beach has a very long history of standing up for um dignity, safety, and uh the contributions of our uh immigrant uh communities. And um by strengthening this values act, I think it will ensure that our local policies continue to protect families and uphold our commitment to equity inclusion um regardless of what's happening at the federal level. Thank you, >> Council Member Sorrow. >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor. appreciate um you know h that our resident have been very vocal and sharing you know the impact of the current administration as well as the policy and how we are always analyzing how we could do better as a city uh how we could strengthen our values act and and we have done that but I also don't want to strengthen it for just strengthening it for face value right I don't want it to be an insul process where we're so busy caught up in making sure we're following the policy that we're also not measuring is it actually helping residents feel safer and more protected. So where I'm I have some obviously this is a policy it's being introduced separate from a budget process. So, as we're carving out the policy, uh, you know, I'm looking forward to the budget part of the discussion on this implementation process because while it was takes staff time, it also kind of requires a little bit more design. I hear you saying that, yeah, we've done something similar in implementing policies and training, but we've never been in this situation before. We've never had a federal administration outrightly attacking our community and our city this way. So absolutely agree in figuring out how to better protect and make our resident feel safer and uplifting our values. So, you know, one of the question I am concerned about is if we do get complaints, you know, our police department has a different complaint process, right? So, if they're directed at police, does it go through a different process versus with other department staff, right? So, those are details that I, you know, maybe you have an answer tonight, but at the same time, we don't know what it's like until it's implemented on the ground. So what I love to see is because we're in this unprecedented time and different situation that there could be a feedback loop where yes we can implement the process but also figuring out an evaluation process for feedback with our immigrant rights coalition group but also other residents randomly because I don't want us to evaluate things you know kind of in this process where we're just thinking about it in where we think as a city or people in these position what's right. We also need to get a pulse on well, is it actually working with all the work that the city staff is going to do, right? >> Yeah, I think feedback's going to be important through this. And to answer the question, yes, PD has um you know, its process, it's probably the most robust in the city from an investigation standpoint because of the work they do. IA has tremendous resources uh to be able to do those levels of investigation against police officer misconduct um um complaints. uh but they they're still tied into us. Police chief reports those things in and says here are the things that we're you know the kind of complaints that we're getting and uh then we also have our police oversight ability um you know the through through their kind of audit recommendations. We've got HR that looks at it. We've got us. So yeah um but it is something we're going to have to continue to work on. This is when we're asking all departments including port and utilities and others and everyone to be on the same page on and they've all submitted letters and so uh you know we'll constantly have those conversations with them and if we find areas that we need to continue to work and improve on we'll do that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Council Member K. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll be brief. I want to thank um the team for their hard work on this uh for the office of equity for everyone who has um scoured what we do and and found those places where we can continue to do better. I think the question around all of this for a long time is is can we meet the moment um for our residents and for um for our city in a time when we can't predict what's going to happen tomorrow. And so I appreciate the hard work being done to um get us to that point where we can continue to look at this and how we look at how we do things and uh make adjustments as they come. I want to thank my colleagues for their really important and robust questions around implementation and transparency as we continue to have those conversations. Um and as always for being open to um always ready to do more. So uh thank you to the team. Uh, thank you to Councilwoman Thrush and Tuck for continuing to to be with us on the call for this really important item. >> All right. Well, I want to thank the council members for uh their uh really important line of questioning. I think it's important that uh any of these recommendations stand up to the qu, you know, whatever questions or public scrutiny you might have. I think you should keep an eye on um implementation. I think I want to, you know, challenge you if you see opportunities to go further, run through the process, take it to staff, vet it, explore it, right? You won't get resistance. I think you need to you you should find go through that um that exercise of making sure that works for for our jurisdiction is something we can actually deliver. Um, and if you find something that other jurisdictions have done, um, because, you know, we're looking at, we're watching what San Francisco, other other jurisdictions are doing, you know, they may or may not work for Long Beach. Some cities have independent police, some contract with the sheriff. Some cities have, you know, robust city attorneys, some contract their city attorneys. So, just make sure as we move forward, it's something that we can actually deliver in our city. So, I want to thank uh all of you for your comments. We'll make sure that we bring this up and and we will also want to um say that the state also has additional opportunity which is important. The state can actually expand um expand their protections which provides more cover to cities and so we would you know we welcome a discussion with state and federal reps about providing more cover to city cities. The reality is like we wouldn't be in this situation if it were not for federal hostility towards cities and you know when I hear from the dis I I I hear a little bit of hey we want to do more or we wish this was enough. I just wish that our council would say we wish this this uh was enough um um due to what's happening at the federal government. We need to continue to place a focus on why we're in this situation. It's because of the federal government and we have federal representatives and there is a legislative process and there's a political process and um and we have to be engaged in that process as well because this is a situation that was brought upon us not something that we we welcome. So I thank you um uh and members oh we got to do roll call vote. Roll call vote and it is late and we got one more item after this >> roll call vote please. District one. >> I >> District two. >> I >> District three. >> I >> District four. >> District five. >> I >> District 6 >> I. >> District seven. >> I >> District eight. >> I >> District 9 >> I. >> Motion is carried. >> All right. We have one final item. This is hearing item 26. Please >> report from community development recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and determine that the amendments to the Long Beach Building Standards Code are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act of the SQA guidelines and none of the ex exceptions in section 15300.2 to apply and that the project is further exempt as the actions will not result directly or indirectly in significant environmental impacts. Adopt resolution making express findings and determinations relating to the adoption of more restrictive code provisions where appropriate. Declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to enhanced drowning prevention measures for private swimming pools read for the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the city council for final reading. Declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to design requirements considering future sea level for buildings in coastal flood hazard areas. read for the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the city council for final reading and declare ordinance amending the Long Beach municipal code relating to clarifying requirements for subgrade electrical work in areas with potential methane gas read for the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the city council for final reading citywide. >> All right. Um uh we have an oath, correct? >> Yes, we have an oath. Please stand for those of you who are going to testify on the on this item. Do you and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God. You may be seated. >> May we have a motion? >> We need a motion in a second. >> So moved. >> Okay. I heard uh I think um District 2 and District 5. All right. Um how long is this presentation? >> Yeah. So, mayor, I realize it's midnight, so we're going to try to do this presentation in a minute. It was scheduled to be about 20 minutes long. So, uh, what I want to say is we update the building code from time to time. State law changed which requires us to do this tonight. Uh, we have briefed each council member individually and Greg Bowser, brilliant engineer, is going to give us the highly uh, compacted um, version of the presentation. Thank you, Christopher. Uh, Mayor Richardson and members of the, uh, city council, good morning. Now, um, thank you for your consideration today. Um so this presentation it's really it's a summary of three ordinances which are proposed to amend the California building standards codes um for projects that are submitted um after the effective date of this ordinance. Uh the pro proposed ordinances focus on three items pertaining to specific conditions and emerging risks in Long Beach. These items include design um requirements for construction in coastal sea uh coastal flood zones with consideration for sea level rise. um the enhancement of drowning prevention measures for private pools and spas and clarification for specific requirements for the installation of subgrade electrical work in areas where methane gas is present. Uh our goal with these amendments is to prevent tragedy, adapt to future environmental challenges and ensure safe uh construction practices. So, um I will mention um we will have a a formal um presentation. Uh I believe we're targeting October 21st for a first read of our formal trienal code adoption where we we uh will adopt the uh state codes which are uh amended every three years. Uh that will be happening. This these are three separate items as Christopher mentioned um that were pulled out um so that we can meet some statutory requirements. So uh we are we are here um to answer any um questions that you may have. Um but otherwise I will uh conclude with that. Uh you turn. Okay. Uh, council member >> supportive, >> council member Kerr. >> Oh, no. Fully support. Thank you for bringing us uh in compliance with state regulations. >> Okay. Uh, any comments from the public? >> No. No public comment. >> Okay. Next thing. >> Okay. So, the first thing we're voting on is recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record and conclude the public hearing. District one, >> I. >> District two, >> I. >> District three, >> I. >> District four. >> District five, >> I. >> District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. >> District nine, >> I. >> Motion is carried. Second vote would be adopt resolution making express findings and determinations relating to the adoption of more restrictive code provisions where appropriate. >> District 1. I >> District two. >> I >> District three. >> I >> District four. >> District five. >> I >> District 6. >> I >> District seven. >> I >> District eight. >> I >> District 9. >> I >> motion is carried. The next vote is declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to enhanced drowning prevention measures for private swimming pools. District one. I >> district two. >> I >> District three. >> I >> District four. >> District five. >> I >> District 6. >> I >> District 7. >> I >> District 8. >> I >> District 9. >> I >> motion is carried. Next vote is declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to design requirements considering future sea level for buildings and coastal flood hazard areas. District one. I >> district two. >> I >> district three. >> I >> district four. >> District five. >> I >> district six. >> I >> District 7. >> I >> District 8. >> I >> District 9 >> I. >> Motion is carried. This is the last vote. Declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to clarifying requirements for subgrade electrical work in areas with potential methane gas. District one. Hi, >> district two. >> I >> District three. >> I >> District four. >> I Oh, wait. Sorry. >> District five, >> I. >> District six, >> I. >> District seven, >> I. >> District eight, >> I. >> District nine, >> I. >> Motion is carried. We're at the general point of com number two. >> And the crowd roars. >> We have two speakers signed up to speak. David Shukla and Leslie Sanders. Uh, thank you, Vice Mayor, uh, city clerk, and council members. Uh, I realize that it's the next morning. Um, I won't be here next week. Oh, there she went. Um, I was about to thank, uh, my council woman for bringing item uh, 18 forward on the Tideland's revenue. And I'd just like to say, I may or may not bother to type all this up that I wrote and plan to speak on, but uh the Tidland's funds both by the state and the city can't continue to be used as an ATM. We have to start thinking seriously about oil wall abandonment. I think the state has an obligation to create the jobs to not only deal with uh oil well abandonment, but some of the ongoing costs from uh coastal oil fields, not just in Long Beach, but throughout the state. uh as well as to lead on meeting or exceeding our 2035 and 2045 decarbonization targets as a state. Um, and then again, because I won't be here next week to speak uh on the item, I would like to uh call on council members uh to uh ask for an update to the uh memo uh city manager memo to the city council uh from uh the 25th of October of 2021 uh which was on reducing reliance on on these oil monies. And finally, for the record, just like to point out that five years ago, I was someone who did have a proposal for how to not only reduce but replace some of those monies. And it still wrangles me that we didn't get a chance to uh to even uh present it in public, let alone uh vote on it or build it. Thank you, >> Lesie Sanders. That concludes public comment. >> I will forgo I won't forgo mine till next week. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh just a quick one. Uh uh so today, August 13th, you can join your friends and neighbors at Los Critos Park at 6 PM uh to hear Mottown and R&B classics in a free concert hosted by the Los Certos Neighborhood Association. And then on Friday, we hope to see you at LBCC for another free concert from 5 to 8 for our third annual Discover LBCC concert hosted by my office in partnership with LBCC. Uh come on out. We hope to see you there. Uh, I just like to take a moment to encourage all Long Beach residents to share their thoughts on the proposed fiscal year 2026 budget. One easiest way to do this is by completing the city's digital comment card, which is available now through Thursday, August 21st. Uh, in addition the on to the online comment card, I encourage you to attend one of our upcoming citywide community budget meetings. Uh, there is one today, Wednesday, August 13th at Browning High School from 6:00 to 7:30. Uh, Saturday, August 16th at Wllo Community Center from 10:00 to 11:30. Monday, August 18th at Michelle Obama Library from 6:00 to 7:30. Uh, and Wednesday, August 20th at the Billy Jean King Library from 6:00 to 7:30. Again, your feedback plays a critical role in ensuring our budget reflects the priorities and needs of our residents. Um, lastly, I'd like to uh just make a couple of announcements. I'd like to invite everybody out to the DeForest Park Association's lunch with the cop on Saturday, August 16th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This event will take place at Pressbook Parkway at the corner of South Street and J Mills. Um, I'd also like to invite everybody out again to our community budget meeting in the district. That's going to be on Monday, August 18th from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. That event will take place at the Michelle Obama Library. Uh, and lastly, I'd like to invite everyone out to the Phoenix Rise Projects, the Phoenix Rise Project's Rise and Thrive event on Saturday, August 23rd from 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. This event will take place at Ramona Park, 3301 East 65th Street. Enjoy free food, wellness, and self-care workshops and live performances. For more information, you can always contact my office at 562-570-6137 or district 9 at long beach.gov. >> Thank you. Good good early morning. I also wanted to share a few events in District 6. Um so we are going to be having our Queen Mary community day this Thursday, August 14th, from 5 to 8:00 p.m. Uh email my office to register at district 6 long beach.gov. Uh AOC7's having their cleanup day, community cares cleanup this Saturday, 900 am to 11:00 am on 1200 Gabiota. So uh please join us to keep our neighborhood clean. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. Any other comments? >> Yes. also happening today um this evening Wednesday um August 13th is our Queen Mary day for um our district one residents. I hope that you um come out and enjoy the Queen Mary um and you know register through my office. Also this weekend seep not in September yet um this weekend August 16th taste of downtown Long Beach and our beautiful waterfront. Hope to see everyone out this community. >> Thank you council member. Anybody else? No. Councilwoman Thrashuk is on. >> Okay, >> I'll be quick. Um, thank you all so much for hanging in there with me. Uh, look forward to seeing the community out on Monday, August 18th, as was noted for the upcoming budget meeting at the Michelle Obama Library. Uh we want to thank the north uh the North Village Association along with the Ridgewood Triangle Neighborhood Association um as well as the Long Beach PD North Division and Commander for coming out for community meetings and events last week. And we're very excited to announce that the annual CD8 backpack giveaway is back for 2025. We hope you'll come out on Saturday, August 23rd at Sheer Park from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 pm. Uh lots of community activities, giveaways. Um and we hope that our our kiddos are ready for the next school year. Have a good night. >> Thank you, Counc. Have a great night. I know you're probably sleeping right now. >> Amazing. >> Any other comments? >> No. >> No. Hearing none this meeting my car had like 42 miles on it when I plugged it in now fully charged.