Good afternoon. It's 1:30 and I'd like to call this meeting to order. And I see that some of our council are here and some are not. So would you take the roll please? Comey, Campos. toward eos here cohen here ortiz present mulcahy here dwan here candelas here casey foley here and mayor mahan is absent you have a quorum thank you great thank you now i'd like if you are able to join us in the pledge please stand and join us I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Good afternoon, everyone. Today's invocation will be provided by Father Hugo Rojas of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. And Councilmember Ortiz, please tell us more. Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. It's my pleasure to introduce Mr. Father Hugo Rojas, pastor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in the Mayfair neighborhood of East San Jose, for today's invocation. Born in Tunuyon, Mendoza, Argentina, Father Hugo was ordained in 1997 and spent a decade serving as a missionary in Taiwan. bringing faith and connection across the cultures. Since arriving in the Diocese of San Jose in 2008, he has served communities in Gilroy and at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph, always with a deep commitment to service. Please join me in welcoming Father Hugo. - Good afternoon everyone, thank you. Lord God, Father of peace, source of all wisdom and truth, we come before you today with humility recognizing that all human authority finds its deepest meaning in service to others. As we begin this session of the San Jose City Council, we ask you to pour out your spirit upon the Major and all the members of this Council and upon all who are gathered here, enlightening their minds and hearts as they carry the responsibility of serving this community. Grant them prudence to deserve what is right, justice to give each person their due, fortitude to act with courage, and temperance to carry out their duties with balance and integrity. Amid the diversity of perspectives, may there always be mutual respect and sincere willingness to engage in dialogue. Help them to listen attentively, to speak truthfully, and to work together in seeking solutions that uphold the dignity of every person created in your image and likeness. We entrust to you in a special way the most vulnerable in our city, families striving to make ends meet, the poor, migrants, the unhoused, the sick, and the elderly. May the decisions made here today reflect a true commitment to them, and may no one be forgotten. Bless, Lord, the city of San Jose, its neighborhoods, its families, its workers, its leaders, and all who call it home. May peace, justice, and solidarity flourish within it. Amen. Thank you, Father. Would Councilmember Ortiz please join me at the podium as we recognize and proclaim May 5th as Cinco de Mayo. And my colleagues are welcome to join as well. Thank you. And if I could have the members of the Cinco de Mayo Committee to please join us down here. Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. I want to start by thanking our incredible host committee. This event doesn't happen without you. So many of you gave your time, your energy, and your heart to make this possible, all on a volunteer basis. What you created for our community is something truly special, and I hope you know how deeply you are appreciated. This year's Cinco de Mayo Parade and Festival was nothing short of incredible. Thousands of residents came out to celebrate, families, small businesses, performers, car clubs, all coming together in a way that truly reflected the spirit of East San Jose. It was vibrant, it was joyful, and most importantly, it was safe and welcoming to our community. This event has now become a meaningful tradition in our city. As noted in the proclamation, it honors the resilience and history rooted in the Battle of Puebla. But here in San Jose, it's also about celebrating our culture, uplifting community pride, and creating a space for families to come together. I want to specifically recognize the United Lowrider Council for their leadership in preserving and uplifting lowrider Chicano culture, not just as art, but as a powerful form of community connection and identity. To everyone who helped bring this event to life, especially all of our committee members, our partners, our sponsors, our volunteers, and the many community leaders, thank you for continuing to invest in our neighborhoods and our people. It is my honor to present this proclamation alongside the council and the mayor, recognizing Cinco de Mayo and the incredible work of the host committee. Congratulations and thank you all for what you do. I'd now like to invite Mr. David Polanco, who represents the United Lowrider Council, to share a few words on behalf of the Cinco de Mayo Committee. Thank you. Thank you, Peter, for that, the kind words and all the recognition. So my name is David Polanco. I'm president of the Lowrider Council, born and raised in San Jose, local 332 IBW member. Got to throw that in there, you know. But, you know, I think today I really want to speak on the growth of this event, because, you know, this is only our third year and it just continues to grow and the following is just going nationwide. I can honestly say that now because we have people that are attending, getting flights and coming out here to attend our event. And along with that are coming to artists that want to participate in that. I believe we had around 150 artists come from all over the United States and locally. So, I mean, that's something that really touched me this year, that they feel that they got to be here. You know, we did grow the event as far as having from one to two stages. That was a big thing. You know, it just keeps growing. And I think I can honestly say this year, the parade route was probably the most filled that it's ever been. And I mean... My wife and I bagged up candy for the kids, you know, and we ran out near the end. We just made it. But I think just having that interaction with those kids is really important. You know, I mean, I said this in my speech earlier at the event. You know, I was one of those kids, you know. I was born and raised in San Jose, so I seen all those Cinco de Mayo's. downtown and then it went away and now we've brought it back and that's a very prideful thing for me and a lot of the members of the lowrider community and even people that are not part of the lowrider community so this this i think there's a lot of pride on the east side that that when this event happens it's their event and and and now it's we're sharing that with everybody i mean the lowrider community is from all over you know san jose but Anyways, I just wanted to give a special thanks to Mayor Matt Mayhem for his contributions, Rosemary Kamei, Pamela Campos, David Cohen, Domingo Candelas, and Vice Mayor Pam Foley, and especially Peter Ortiz for believing in what we're doing and also... all the the sponsorships that we received and and a big shout out to all the committee members committee members who dedicated themselves you know for months and months for meeting and multiple times a week to get this done and uh it's a it's a passion of love and I appreciate everybody here for supporting the lowrider community and our culture thank you Now the Vice Mayor will present the proclamation and then we'll join for a picture. Councilmember Dwan, please join me at the podium as we recognize and proclaim National Fallen Firefighters Weekend. Firefighters, please join us. Today we come together in recognition of a solemn observance, honoring the bravery, sacrifice, and lasting legacy of American fallen firefighters. Firefighting is more than just a profession. It is a commitment to run toward dangers when others are running away, to put the safety of others ahead of your own, and to serve a community with courage that often go unseen until it is most needed. In the line of duty, many have made the ultimate sacrifice. They are remembered not only as a firefighter, but as a parent, spouse, children, friends, and neighbor who absence is deeply felt. I myself as a retired fire captain, and this cause is deeply personal to me. I have worked alongside men and women who answer every call without hesitation. And I carry with me the memory of those who never made it home. Their name, their stories, and their sacrifice stay with you forever. The National Fallen Firefighter Foundation creates light tonight for fallen firefighters to ensure that these heroes are never forgotten. Across the nation, community paused together in reflection and gratitude from May 2nd through May 3rd. Landmarks, including the tower and rotunda, are illuminated in red, a powerful symbol of both the fire they once fought and the courage they carry into every call. It is a reminder of the risk firefighters face every day. and the lives behind the uniform we honor. I'm proud to present this proclamation and sponsor the Light of the Tower and Rotunda over the past weekend from May 1st to May 3rd to recognize this National Fallen Firefighter Day. Thank you so much. And Vice Mayor? Okay, on behalf of the Fairview City Council, proclamation, okay. We have to be serious about this. - And our last commendation is by Councilmember Campos. Please join me at the podium as we recognize and proclaim May as National Foster Care Awareness Month. - Thank you. Today I am proud to proclaim Foster Care Awareness Month to uplift the community partners and foster families that provide San Jose youth with safe, loving environments. Their work has created an ecosystem of care and support for our most vulnerable youth, and their service provides stability and a trusted adult to keep our children grounded in times of difficult transition. Currently, our county sees a disproportionate number of Latino youth entering the foster care system. Right now, it's seven in ten children that are served by our foster care system who are Latino, even though the Latino community represents only about a third of the county's population, according to the Latino Health Assessment. So in other words, Latino children are severely overrepresented in our foster care system and addressing these inequities will require deep collaboration and partnership. I'm honored to be joined today by advocates and community partners who are committed and engaged in this work. When I was a student studying child development at San Jose State, I first learned about CASA, the Child Advocates for Silicon Valley. And I learned that you have to be 21 to volunteer. So as soon as I turned 21, I was in the room learning how to become a CASA. And that experience taught me the importance of mentorship and the growing need for volunteers who support our youth. The opportunity to serve has deepened my commitment to being a champion for youth in our foster care system while serving as the District 2 Councilmember. And I hope that you are inspired and encouraged to share the message of the work that is needed to be done to help stabilize and support the youth experiencing foster care in our community. And with that, I'd like to welcome Lauren from the Child Advocates of Silicon Valley to share some words. Thank you so much, Councilmember Campos. My name is Lauren Salciscia. I'm the Director of Development with Child Advocates of Silicon Valley. This year in 2026, Child Advocates is celebrating our 40th anniversary of serving foster youth throughout the County of Santa Clara. We certainly have seen a lot of ups and a lot of downs with foster care in the county. We have served more than thousands of youth as well as supported thousands of CASA volunteers. CASA volunteer is a court-appointed special advocate. What sets us apart from other mentorship organizations is our ability to advocate for the youth across the board. There's a court order in place that allows us to do so. So we, our volunteers, have access to teachers, foster care placements, even the doctor's office, so counselors, all things like that. A lot of our kids have individualized education plans, so a lot of our CASA volunteers hold educational rights. so they can advocate for their youth in the school setting as well. Right now, there are more than 150 kids on our waiting list. hoping to have a CASA volunteer in their corner, helping them throughout their journey in the foster care system. The need is great these days, as I'm sure you have seen in the news. So please share with your networks, make sure everyone knows about the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program so that we can try to serve all of these youth to the best of our ability. We serve three main roles, a mentor, advocate, and voice. We mentor the youth in all the ways they may need mentorship. We advocate for them in all the places where they need advocacy, the courtroom with foster care placement, as well as in the school system with the doctor. And we lift up their voices in court. We have the court order, as I said, so CASA volunteers are able to tell the judge, hey, kiddo's doing really well, or we talked about counseling six months ago, counseling still hasn't happened. How do we make this work? I wanted to thank the council member once again for issuing this proclamation. It means a lot to us, and we really hope that we'll be able to serve those over 150 kids on our waiting list. Thank you so much. Thank you, Lauren. I also want to thank our partners from Bill Wilson Center, Sacred Heart, and our supervisor, Adrenas, who we know is a familiar champion and voice for our children here at City Hall, and her work helped get us the Latino health assessment that I referenced in my remarks. So now, Vice Mayor will present the proclamation. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, moving on to the agenda. Under orders of the day, item 3.3 has been requested by the applicant to be dropped. We do need to have a formal motion to drop it from the agenda. Would a council member care to make that motion? I'll move to drop item 3.3 from the agenda. Second. Great. I have a motion and a second. Seeing no hands raised, let's vote. Let's give this public comment our zero. Thank you, so we will drop that from the agenda and move to the closed session report Which we the closed session was canceled today. I swear very good. We had this morning and we were very happy to have that I Next is a consent calendar. Are there any items on the council that council which is to pull from consent? I know that councilmember Mulcahy would like to pull 2.9. Are there any other items that need to be pulled? Okay, so let's address 2.9 first and separately and then we will address the rest of the consent councilmember Thank You vice mayor I need to recuse myself from item 2.9 on today's consent agenda as clear channel is a source of income through a lease agreement on one of my properties. And as a reminder for my colleagues under a new rule from the FPPC, Regulation 18707.3. a allows me to stay in chambers for items on consent that require my recusal. This item will need to be heard and voted on separately from the balance of the consent agenda. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you very much. So let's address 2.9 first. Is there any members of the public who wish to speak on 2.9? Yes, we have a few speaker cards. As I call your name, please make your way to the podium, and you don't have to speak in the order in which you're called. We have Brian, Jason, John, Les, and Paul. Thank you. This is about the signage, and I have this thing. My eyeballs are not doing real good today. I have glaucoma, so sorry. Okay. I wrote a really detailed report that I sent in email. I don't know how much that really rates to me, no offense. But it seemed to me that this item changed quite a bit. And it seemed to me that there wasn't a real robust discussion about it. And maybe it's something people might want to reconsider because once you build it, it's there. And so what I read is that you're doubling the sign width, the sign height, And it's those signs that are blaring. We've already had a Vision Zero. And if you look at the traffic accidents that have happened over the last few months, tragically, we're not going that direction. And this could be a major contributor to that. And just a lot of this stuff I put down came from like four or five different studies that were peer reviewed about these kinds of signs. Everybody says they're data driven. That's the data that I sent to you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon. I'm John Miller with No Digital Billboards. Why did Clear Channel initially submit plans for smaller, lower billboards and after approval is now submitting plans for larger and higher billboards? Even though you should just say no, Clear Channel knows that City Council is inclined to accept this bait and switch. They believe the consul has been more responsive to the billboard industry than to the people of San Jose, who don't really want to become a captive audience to unsolicited commercial messages for which there is no off switch. Despite the public's opposition to digital billboards, you have repeatedly implied that the city will make more money from allowing digital billboards than you know will be the case. You have repeatedly stated that significant numbers of existing conventional billboards will be removed to allow digitals to go up, but when you know that this is not true, You have repeatedly stated that digital billboards will transform downtown by generating something called urban vibrancy that no one in city government can really define. This entire process has been conducted off the public's radar, without sufficient public outreach, and with increasingly limited transparency and accountability. Please don't go down in the record books as the consul on whose watch the city of San Jose lost its architectural integrity, its historic character, and its natural environment. By selling out the city's unique identity to the billboard industry, please say no to Clear Channel by not approving their bait and switch. Thank you. Good afternoon Jason Hemp District 3 resident also a member of no digital billboards many of you were on this in this chamber last year approving the billboards that we're talking about for this agenda item what's being proposed today on agenda 2.9 by staff is significant changes If you haven't already read it, it's increasing the size of the displays, one of them by 50%, and also increasing the height almost two times from 40 feet to 85 feet. And if you look at the overhead projector on the left is a rendering from the original report for the Mayberry location. showing how high from the freeway it is. And then the image on the right is showing how far from the freeway to Wilson Park, Watson Park, it's a quarter mile, less than a quarter mile. And the Cody Creek is just right in front of that. Also in the report, it mentioned that there was a hearing posted to anyone that was within a thousand feet of this proposal. However, if you see some of the houses just off Jackson Street, just beyond that, like 1,300 feet. So I don't know if they actually got the notice, but they may notice the billboard once it goes up. I mean, you probably wouldn't want to see a big digital screen in front of your front porch day and night if you had a nice house in front of that park. So maybe just keep that in mind on how the residents might feel. You might get a few not happy emails about that. The last thing is this feels like a bait and switch and irregular process. I mean, they're not trivial changes. They're not like 10% change or 20% change, right? They're really increasing the size of this. And I just recommend that you take extra consideration and maybe ask staff why Clear Channel asked for these changes in the first place. Thanks. I am Les Levitt from the No Digital Billboards Group. My message to you is simple. This resolution related to the billboard contract with Clear Channel should be denied. Securing approval for smaller, lower-height billboards and then coming back a year later seeking approval for much larger structures and characterizing the change by burying it in the consent calendar as routine is, in effect, bait and switch. Increasing a billboard height from 45 to 85 feet is not a minor change. Increasing an already giant screen by 66% is not a minor change. If Clear Channel and the city intended to construct taller and larger digital billboards, that plan should have been presented in 2025. Contract approvals in the consent calendar are usually routine. New contracts, minor amendments based on unforeseen circumstances. But the contract changes here are significant. They're significant enough to be considered what are called cardinal changes, meaning they create a fundamentally different project. And there's no unforeseen circumstances here. If you approve this revision, you're handing one firm an advantage, and that amounts to an anti-competitive contract manipulation. This is the same thing that happened in 2023. with the Clear Channel Airport case where a judge voided the deal based on the city not following competitive bidding rules. The choices here are either stick to the 2025 agreement or restart the RFP process because the project scope is radically revised. Handing a gift to Clear Channel through a post-approval private negotiation should not even be an option here. Hello, Paul Lynham from the University of California Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. Since 2018 you've heard a lot from me in written communication and in spoken contribution. I'd like you to join me today on a thought experiment. Suppose in all the arguments that have been made to you we've been wrong on almost every one of them. Suppose that the effects of light pollution on astronomy that we've argued are void. Suppose that the effects on fauna, fauna and the environment are void. Suppose our arguments about the change of sense of place are void. But allow me and 30,000 other scientists in 10,000 publications one allowance, the causal connection between hormonal cancers and exposure to light at night. Council members have repeatedly supported billboards arguing that they'll remove bite. Admirable, but as we've seen in certain cases, some applicants have not been allowed or given a free pass on removing billboards. Other council members, and some of the same, have also argued that deserving projects within their districts will benefit from the income from these billboards. Admirable, laudable. The promise is $1 million a year. One case of breast cancer costs between $40,000 and $150,000 in the first year of treatment. $1 million divided by 11 districts gives you $91,000. You'll barely cover the cost of a breast cancer treatment. The typical representative value for a breast cancer treatment in the first year is $83,000. What Pro Bill Board members and Evangelist staff misapprehend as a vehicle for the public good shall in time be considered a public menace. Thank you. Thank you. Back to Council. Thank you for the members of the public who spoke on this item. Do we have a motion or anyone care to comment? Council Member Tordillos. thank you vice mayor i want to just thank everyone who came out and also those who wrote written comments on this item i know there's been a lot of it over the last few weeks i had a couple of questions for blog a if you could come down just to kind of confirm uh you know some of the details of this given what we've heard The first one just as you're coming down, wanted to confirm that with the proposed changes, the new dimensions and sign sizes being proposed are still compliant with City Council Policy 6-4 and also with the original terms of the lease agreement signed last fall, is that correct? Good afternoon, Council Members. Blagg is the Law Lodge Deputy Director in the City Manager's Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs. Yes, the currently proposed sign sizes still fall within Council Policy 6-4. Council Policy 6-4 says 1,200 square feet of maximum sign size, and this is just over 1,000 square feet. Thank you. And then there was also questions as to the revenue projections for the city as well as the questions about are we actually going to see legacy billboard removals? My understanding is that the removals have to actually happen before the new signs go into actually advertising and that we have revenue minimums that are kind of guaranteed as part of these contracts. Could you speak to that a little bit? Yes, correct. Written into the lease agreement is that there will be a billboard, a static billboard face removal at the six to one ratio. So actually they've proposed, originally proposed 19 faces to be removed throughout the city. And at the same time, we have a minimum annual guarantee for the first and the initial 10 year agreement, it will be 6.8 million for the over the 10 years. Thank you. Those were all of my questions. Again, I appreciate that this has been a controversial item. I want to thank everyone for coming out, but did want to kind of focus in on what we're actually reviewing today, which is solely the addendum to the environmental documents that were prepared last fall. You know, I reviewed all of the materials from when this came to council last year. I reviewed the addendum. I reviewed the terms of the lease agreement that the city entered last fall. And from those, I just don't really see any valid grounds to reject the addendum at this late hour. And I do think that there are still some good benefits for the city as we have our ongoing budget challenges with this guaranteed new revenue stream alongside the fact that we will be seeing a good number of billboards being removed including several in District 3 in fairly close proximity to these two billboards in particular. So thank you for confirming those details. Councilmember would you like to make the motion? I would move acceptance of the staff report or staff recommendation. 2.9. Yeah. Thank you. Is there a second? Thank you. Councilmember Kamei. Thank you. I have a quick question because I know that I got comments about the lighting and all of that. Is this, and just to remind us, was this one of the billboards that would go dark at certain times or be less bright that it wouldn't affect the Yes, Council Member. So written into our lease agreement is that these billboards must go dark, completely dark between the hours of midnight and 6 a.m. Along with that, there was a lighting study that was done as part of the CEQA addendum, and we do have environmental staff in the audience if you want more detail on that. And that will be maintained, correct? Excuse me? That will be maintained? Correct. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other hands, let's vote. Motion passes 9 to 1 with Mulcahy recused. 9 to 0 with a recusal from Council Member Mulcahy. Thank you. Thank you. Next item is the rest of the consent calendar. Do we have any members of the public who wish to speak on that? We do not. Okay, then is there a motion move to approve? Okay, cuz I come okay. We have a motion and a second on the rest of consent and Mr. Councilmember Mulcahy you're back to vote on this one. So let's vote Motion passes unanimously now we move to the report from the city manager. Thank you very much vice mayor I do not have a report today. Okay, so Then moving to item 7.1, library facilities and customer experience. I believe we have a presentation. Jill Bourne, our city librarian, and Margaret Sullivan. - Good afternoon, Vice Mayor, members of council. As the council is aware, the San Jose Public Library System is comprised of the unique Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, 23 permanent branch libraries, and the Mount Pleasant Bridge Branch Library. Library branches serve many functions for our system and our city as neighborhood anchors and networks of spaces that make the city's knowledge resources, public technology, educational programs, and community connections accessible to all. Each day our libraries welcome more than 10,000 visitors, loan 23,000 items, answer 1,000 actual reference questions, and host a variety of groups and organizations, holding meetings, offering programs, and conducting outreach. The library currently has more than 635,000 library card holders, and a library card is not required to visit and use library facilities. Oh, I need the clicker. We are keenly aware of the importance of these community assets. Throughout the past year, with the support of the San Jose Public Library Foundation, we engaged Margaret Sullivan Studios to help shape a plan that is informed by both analysis and community. And I'm pleased to introduce Margaret Sullivan herself. Nice to see many of you all again. We brought forth an inclusive design process that incorporates progressive library planning with the best practices of community economic development to position the library as a citywide growth partner. We gathered both qualitative and quantitative data to inform these comprehensive and evidence-based recommendations that we are presenting to you all today. The resulting plan captures the programmatic or service elements of the library's future, identifies improvement priorities and opportunities for future library capital, and considers potential funding and development strategies. The community and data-driven approach for the development of the plan heavily emphasized community involvement including nearly 3,000 survey responses, 180 community partners, and San Jose Library and Education Commission, the San Jose Youth Commission, additional focus groups, and interviews with civic and community leaders. A key summary finding was that our libraries are trusted and heavily used, and yet our facilities are undersized relative to the demand and best practices. And what we learned with this feedback is that not only are community members invested in seeing the role of the library as city as classroom deepen for lifelong learning, they are eager to see the library take on expansive roles as the center of social, cultural, and civic life. This is great news for the city. The library, with its facilities optimized, will be a powerful partner for the city's quality of life objectives and the leadership that you all are stewarding. It is an opportune time to build on the momentum of this work to create the vibrancy that fosters safety, feels welcoming, and enhances the diverse neighborhoods that makes San Jose so special. We called it the soul of San Jose. Critical buildings. What is wrong with me? Critical building systems typically have an expected useful life of between 20 and 30 years before extensive renovations and replacements are required to maintain safe and welcoming facilities. Currently 11 of our 24 branch locations, which is 45%, are more than 20 years old. Six libraries, or 24%, are between 18 and 20 years old, and seven libraries are between 7 and 17 years old. High usage, of course, contributes to wear and tear, requiring ongoing investments to maintain aging infrastructure and everything from automated doors to elevators to flooring to furniture. Now to determine library facility performance and growth potential, the plan drew from industry benchmarking research while recognizing the fact that effective service to surrounding communities is impacted by the correlation of dedicated branch library space to the size of the population in the area. This chart shows the comparison of library spaces per capita to their individual surrounding service area populations. The dark blue shows the current square feet per capita by Branch Library. The midway dotted line serves as a visual reference showing the benchmark of 0.5 square feet per capita. The upper dotted line shows the best practice of 0.75 square feet per capita. And the green bars show the difference between our current state and the National Best Practice Benchmark, which is theoretically the potential growth goal. The City's General Plan currently articulates a goal of 0.59 square feet per capita, and 20 branches are currently not meeting that goal. Only one branch exceeds the 0.75 square feet per capita threshold. Another lens by which we analyze the need for library spaces and services is the library's equity index, which integrates social, economic, and mobility characteristics of surrounding neighborhoods in the prioritization of library spaces. This high-level view shows that neighborhood disparity analysis with branches overlaid by their per square footage per capita status that was shown on the last slide and then attached in the executive summary brief. This plan will be dynamic and responsive to be aligned with sustainable citywide development strategies. We got to put on our developer hat in this project. Specifically, we did an analysis of population shifts, library parcels, and the city's general plan and area-specific plans. This enabled us to identify opportunities to expand branch square footage and add library branches in targeted areas where population is expected to grow and where we foresee library services may be co-located or be in alignment with new development. The plan's multiple scenarios will provide flexibility for future fiscal conditions and opportunities. And I think what's going to be really great for all of you all is that this will enable you all to make strategic decisions in response to opportunities, but also enables you to strategically forge opportunities where needed. So the plan provides an aspirational vision for potential long-term growth and renewal with a corresponding investment framework to allow the maximum flexibility for room and creative opportunities. Three scenarios are proposed that reflect where investment will have the greatest impact, prioritizing targeted improvements to existing facilities and strategic expansion opportunities across the system. The three categories are to renew and sustain, which prioritizes targeted reinvestment in eight existing facilities, the growth on site, which allows for expansions or additions where merited, and the idea of co-locating or building new to meet service population needs. This map is one of many in the plan, which shows an ultimate growth possibility in which we utilize these strategies according to population need and development opportunities. So, libraries are facilities, but they function as platforms for customer experience with, yes, books, but also so much more. And so, in that vein, one of the exciting aspects of the plan is the opportunity to learn from best practices. and not only development of library spaces, but how library development can offer solutions to support broader goals in the city and provide amenities that the communities want and need. This image, for example, is from Hartford Public Library. It is a vision for their development that is centered in a library, but also features a childcare center, a food pantry, a culinary kitchen, a co-working space, and even a neighborhood bank, in addition to multiple services that libraries provide. The opportunity of co-location can include high priority services, businesses, and also housing. And this example also represents what we learned from your community members that folks are really craving for all of community amenities to be co-located and convenient. So as a result, we know that this work cannot happen overnight and we have identified a four-phase approach to address the most immediate needs for investment based on the age of facilities, community needs, And in particular, with the example of Valviso, immediate development opportunities. The plan identifies an option of renew and sustain to invest in the existing square footage and the aspirational growth option of either expanding on site or building new or co-locating where optimal. This enables investment in the flexibility and the customer service experience principles that can scale where financial opportunities are available. The second phase in the group is again another layer of basing the recommendations on facilities age, community needs, and identified development opportunities. Phase three are relatively young in terms of newer builds and have received more recent renovations. And then even phase four are the buildings that have had more recent investments as well as identifying some of the aspirational long-term growth locations. Now the full facilities and customer experience plan outlines the status of current library facilities and creative options for growth and renewal that will continue to meet the needs of our residents. Adoption of the plan provides a framework to guide future renovations, system-wide growth strategies, and associated funding considerations. And with that, you have a copy of the executive summary. The full plan is linked to the staff report and we are here for any questions. Thank you. - Thank you for that presentation. It's exciting to see the opportunities that we have before us with our library system. Do we have any members of the public who wish to speak on this issue? Yes, we have four members of the public. Brian, Dawn, Kat, and Kristi, please make your way to the podium. First, an apology. That 9.2 or the 7.2 on the consent calendar, the fact that it shows that you guys, sorry, you guys, the ladies and gentlemen did read, and I appreciate the fact that you did that. And sometimes it's easy to be negative. As for libraries, because of some eye issues and the fact I have dyslexia, I had to learn to read three times because when I lost my sight and when I had to read. Knowing how to read is probably one of the most precious gifts you can have. I can tell you how frustrating it is when you can't read and how, to be quite frankly in our society, people become extremely angry with you when you can't read. if you're not quick enough, if you're not fast enough, if you can't respond pretty much faster than instantaneous. As a species, we've had reading and writing for maybe 6,000 years. We've been around between 2 million and 200,000, depending on how you classify us. Without reading, we wouldn't have memory past one or two generations. If that's not precious, I don't know what is. And the primary focus of a library is to carry on our memories. And I hope that we can, I wish we could fund a library for every corner. Thank you. Good afternoon, Honorable Vice Mayor and Council Members. I'm Dawn Coffin. I'm the CEO of the San Jose Public Library Foundation. And I come today to speak in favor of the wonderful facilities and customer experience plan that you have in front of you. If implemented, this plan will transform the library system into one that has sufficient space and flexibility to provide high quality, responsive and equitable access to information, ideas and programs to everyone in San Jose. The recommendations in this plan are grounded in substantial community and partner input about what people want their libraries to provide at every stage of life. One of the most striking things to me that came out of this project is the extent to which the branches are currently woefully deficient in space relative to the residents' demands. The plan recommends adding 400,000 square feet, nearly doubling the amount of space that is now offered in the branch libraries. So when you consider that 95% of city residents highly value the current fabulous programs, resources, and services provided by the library, just imagine what they could look like with double the space capacity. Imagine the incredible consequences for residents in everything from literacy to cultural celebrations, arts to workforce development. So on behalf of the staff and board of directors for the San Jose Public Library Foundation and as the major funder of this project, please adopt it as the guide for council to align the library system with service demand, best practice standards, and operational excellence so that the library can support the city as classroom, as connected communities, as cultural connector, and as civic activator. Thank you. Good afternoon, honorable city council members. My name is Kristi and I'm a resident of District 4. I also serve with the San Jose Public Library Foundation. I'm here today because I was raised by San Jose libraries. Growing up in Eastside San Jose, libraries provided me with the resources and the safe space that helped shape who I am today. Because of what the library means to me, it is difficult to see my own district currently underserved. In District 4, we only have two branches: Berryessa and Alviso. It has been 21 years since Berryessa's last renovation and 27 years for Alviso. Currently, our two branches have the least amount of square footage of any in the entire city system. Living in an underserved neighborhood means seeing firsthand that we simply do not have sufficient library services to meet the needs of our community. The library facilities and customer experience plan is a terrific roadmap because it finally acknowledges these gaps. The recommendation to build a new branch in District 4 is an important step toward equity. It recognizes that residents in my district deserve the same level investment and access as the rest of the city. At the foundation, we are proud to help fund this plan, and as a resident, I am excited to see the city and library partner to bring it to life. I urge you to support this plan and the residents of D4. Thank you. Hi, good afternoon. I'm Kat Cloud, Chief Development Officer of the San Jose Public Library Foundation, and today I urge you to adopt the Library Facilities and Customer Experience Plan. This thoughtful, equity-driven framework reflects what residents told us they need: safe, welcoming, and flexible library spaces that support learning, connection, and opportunity. San Jose's libraries are essential civic anchors. They provide free access to information, technology, workforce supports, and community space for thousands of residents every day. Many buildings are aging and require investment to remain safe, accessible, and flexible for evolving community needs. Adoption of this plan gives the city a practical, community-informed roadmap to guide future decisions and partnerships. Please adopt the plan so that we can responsibly steward our library system for current users and future generations. Thank you. Back to Council. Thank you. Thank you for the presentation. I really am excited about the opportunity of improving, expanding our libraries. It's just, it's one of my happy places is the libraries and every time I go it makes me feel happy and smile. Just recently I was there with the city manager when she was doing one of her intentional interruptions at the Cambrian Library and there were so many little children lined up to hear the firefighters who have a station right next door read to them that day. It was just delightful there's nothing more joyful than seeing children who want to listen to someone reading to them it's just a wonderful way to start their lives is having people reading to them with that I'll turn over to over to councilmember Cohen who I know is D as equally as passionate about libraries Yes, well thank you and I was fortunate enough to serve on the Library Commission when we opened many of these libraries and it's hard to believe it's been over 20 years for all of them and so I still think of them as new buildings but they really aren't anymore so I appreciate the roadmap that we have that this roadmap that would tell us what we should be doing in the future now the roadmap is just that and it's only as good as the funding that doesn't exist but we need to be thoughtful about what we do in the future can we put slide 11 back up just because I want to reinforce the comments that were made by already about about district 4 and while that's going up I will say that I am making my Mother's Day contribution to the library foundation at this moment so On slide 11, it just shows the stark reality for District 4. You can see the Berryessa Library in the southeast, which is actually the busiest branch library in the system, and Alviso Library in the north, which is the smallest library in the system, and the one that has been the longest since it's been upgraded, renovated, sort of, you know, we worked on. But that large gap between those two branches is the area of the city with the farthest distance from where people live to where a library is. And coincidentally, it's the area that the general plan and housing element call for 32,000 housing units to be built. So we're going to build 20 and 24,000 in the current housing element in that sort of blue area south of Alviso will be built, but there's no library at all, and especially since Alviso is so small. And you could see also on the previous slide which I won't ask you to go back to but that the two branches with the smallest per capita size are Berryessa and Alviso. So there is a problem and you know we've been talking about this the co-location idea is something that I've been discussing since well before I was on the council. And so I just want to kind of ask a question about how we might be thinking as we move forward about identifying places in North San Jose. My theory is we're not going to build a standalone library there, but we're going to build it into a development that occurs. And I feel like there's an opportunity for collaboration or for some coordination, I should say, as planning gets projects coming forward to be able to have visibility to say, this project might be a good opportunity for us to build a library space into it. But if we don't get on top of those things early, those things, that can't happen. So is there some discussion about that? - Yes, thank you for the question. I think that part of the acceptance of this report today by council gives us kind of the marching orders to develop the strategies that are listed in the report. One of them is around co-location. And so we would love to, you know, we're tracking developments that are happening by district. And I think that having a strong direction from at the city leadership level that the city should consider putting libraries in some of these developments. I think it'd help us in those conversations. Certainly ongoing operations is a concern when we're having tight budget years as a city, but it is something that we need to figure out. And if we can work with strong partners that can help At least with the development of spaces, that's a start. So we are looking by district and I think that the council could take a stronger role in that. Yeah. I guess what I'm sort of suggesting is often in the way our departments operate, they're kind of insular, right? They're on their own and there's a lot of opportunities where if there were sharing of information So for you to know what projects are coming that might be appropriate, it's also kind of my role maybe as a council member to sort of help guide that conversation. But it's just sort of a general comment for the city maybe overall to say, in order for us to really be effective in all the things we do, all these departments should be working together and in terms of you know how do we think about some of the gaps and some of the services that we have in parts of the city especially as we are building out our our general plan going forward um So I'll leave it at that. I'm excited by the ideas in here and hope that we'll be able to find ways to start moving, especially into phase one. Thank you for calling attention to some of the needs in our system and for continuing to run what I think is the greatest public library system anywhere. So I'll move acceptance of the report. Thank you. Great. We have a motion and a second. Thank you for your comments. Council Member Casey. council member cohen sort of stole my thunder there with the co-location uh topic so we have a lot of existing ground floor retail throughout the city that's underutilized that potentially could be a site for a library but to council member cohen's point especially where there's going to be more development by definition there's going to be more population and more demand for libraries so I guess a direct question is what do we need to do in terms of directing staff to identify those opportunities, maybe provide even incentives to developers? How can we initiate this conversation to kind of get the ball going? I just offered that to our assistant city manager. He turned it down. No, I think that, I think we can start the conversation. I would say that it is universally true that developing library spaces in developments that are already happening, sort of co-location, will be more efficient. as a city than us going through the process of you know buying land building standalone libraries building all the parking like all that stuff it seems like it is the least efficient way to do it so I think that if if there's a sort of endorsement of that strategy we'll work with the city manager's office and our partners in planning and other departments on potential next steps forward. - Let me force Lee onto the mic. Lee, if you can give us-- - Thanks for the call out, council member and city librarian, appreciate it. I don't know that we need specific direction, obviously, if the council wanted to direct us to look at that. I think when it comes to development, especially with city services, flexibility and kind of the flexibility that the council's given staff to be innovative and look at different ideas. Obviously when it comes to brand new development, I know from the library's perspective and from a city perspective, if we can co-locate places and save on land, save on parking, and have some synergies, that's great. At the same point in time, especially with the way development is right now, it is hard to break ground and build units, whether it's residential and commercial, and have them pencil out as is right now. That doesn't mean that this is an either or, and we can look at some creative financing. you know in some specific areas and so kind of the the flexibility to be innovative and look at some of those financing tools i think is really important so again i don't know that we need direction so much as if we know the council has an appetite for that i think we're happy to kind of explore those things i mean most of the developments they're ground for retail they're writing that off anyway for the most part and the fact that we could potentially come in with a lease i think that would help out ultimately with the financing maybe a symbiotic relationship, a win-win. Eric, any? - And I think with the ground floor retail, a lot of that does get written off. Some of the times, and again, it's different in each development, the way that it's written off They'll they'll choose to have that vacant for a period of time Whereas if we're going to do something and put a library there or put another city service there Our intent is to keep it there for the long term so that we then don't have to take something away from the community so I think again from a Development development standpoint when we have those needs it's definitely something that we can look at like on a project by project basis Thank you I like the way this council is thinking about this right now. It makes me think that when we have a mixed-use development, a developer comes in, they have a ground floor retail, they don't have a tenant yet, but they have a financing package that comes in. If they have a financing package that includes the city of San Jose renting the space, leasing the space as the library, that could be attractive to their bank or their finance package packager and enable them to actually break ground quicker if we are the tenant just just a thought I have some other thoughts about that but I will defer to councilmember Kamei for the moment Thank you so much and thank you to our librarian Jill for all that you do and your staff and the foundation. We couldn't do it if it wasn't for the tremendous staff and energy that you put into it. So thank you so much. This is very exciting. I participated in the workshop and there was so much energy there and to think about how we can transform some of the spaces into something that is a little bit more updated and usable and what the community wants. So I understand that the libraries are are so much needed. Given that even in some of our schools who have closed libraries due to budget cuts and what have you, this is an opportunity to think creatively. I like what I heard from my colleagues, Council Member Cohen and Council Member Casey, because I think that co-location may be a way to go, especially in areas where there's new development and there are opportunities to do things. I also think that it's an opportunity for uh... when we're providing funding for even affordable housing and all of that uh... you know having that community space uh... becomes critically important uh... and i think that it it allows people to come together and perhaps not be able to reach a library that that is not close to them and uh... and have access so access for me is is critically important uh... And I'm excited about, you know, looking at the future and other opportunities that may come across, whether it's different departments coming in, in being able to expand the library, as well as looking at how the libraries currently can be configured. So I want to thank you so much and, yeah, very excited to continue supporting the libraries. Thank you. Council Member Tordillo. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Just want to thank staff for the presentation. It's great to have this roadmap really outlining the need of our library system over the next 20 years. Excited to see the upcoming investment in the biblioteca, which obviously alongside Alviso is one of the oldest facilities that has not seen a significant amount of investment in recent years. So glad to see that moving forward. Like my colleagues would just up level all of the comments about co-location and the opportunity to get different community serving benefits located alongside our libraries. I think things like childcare are a good option here. And particularly in a lot of our growth areas, our urban villages, you know, places close to SB 79 transit hubs, hopefully a lot of opportunities to integrate affordable housing into some of these developments. You know, libraries tend to be fairly low-slung structures, so particularly in some of these growth areas, partnering and trying to get affordable housing incorporated into some of these developments seems like a reasonable approach, and I know it's something that other cities, you know, New York, Chicago, even locally Santa Cruz, have done successfully, so hopefully some good opportunities there. I know it can be a little bit difficult just because the city's kind of pivoted to having our dollars be the last dollars into these projects. So we're not necessarily looped in as early in the process where we may be able to have more of a kind of guiding function in terms of some of these co-locations. But if there are opportunities where city-owned land, you know, maybe we have a ground lease or even just opportunities for the library and other city departments like housing to really collaborate closely to identify those opportunities for co-location, I think we could get to some good outcomes here. So thank you. Thank you. You know, many times we're criticized by the public for not having enough outreach, but the fact that you reached over 5,000 community members is really incredible. That really shows how successful you were in the outreach, but also how important the libraries are to our community and why they participated in any outreach effort that you had. over 2,200 community partners and commission members and city staff. That's really an impressive outreach effort, and you are to be commended, Jill, for your efforts. This is a blueprint that will really help us move forward. While we already know that Alviso and Berryessa are the two smallest, right next to that is Pearl Avenue, and Pearl Avenue doesn't really have... opportunity to go up or the the footprint of the land itself is very small so I I will be curious what comes out of a plan down the line I know it's not in the first tier not even sure it's in the second tier but it it's a beloved and well-used little little library in district 9 and I'm proud actually to have one of the most utilized libraries in the city in the Cambrian Library. Over 190,000 materials circulated annually. That's actually an incredible number and I already mentioned about the firefighters coming in and reading to them. It probably had nothing to do with the fire engine that they brought over there as well, but you know it goes hand in hand. Libraries truly are barrier-free gateways to information, technology, and educational programming, serving as critical, inclusive community hubs used by our seniors, our youth, and every one of our residents. They are a critical resource, which is why I'm adamant that access to our libraries must be a top priority. And I'm happy to see that they are in the budget too. We'll see how it goes forward as we move forward through the budget. Just a little bit more about co-locating and schools closing. Jill, you and I talked about this a little bit, and it may not be ideal, but we have several libraries that are closing in the schools that are around San Jose Unified in particular. So I'm wondering if there's an opportunity to work with those school districts on their libraries to, if not keep them both open, to somehow close use their collections or merge their collections or somehow gain volunteer assistance from their libraries. Two of those schools are in my, I actually have three schools in my district, one Sartorette, Kanoas, and then are all closing, but there are other schools that are closing throughout the city. So, and I'm sure they're considering what can they do with their collections. They may be moving them to the schools that are staying open, but these buildings will be vacant. So there might be an opportunity to create a larger library at these schools that are really just right across the street from Pearl as an example. So, With that, thank you again for your presentation and thank you for the vision of where we are going or where we can go. I know we're a long way from it because we need the funds to go with it, but the idea that you're putting this kernel of inspiration out there and roadmap is really helpful and truly exciting. With that, let's vote. Motion passes unanimously. Wonderful. Thank you all. Next is items. Thank you for the presentation Next is item 7.2 approval of the park master plans amended turnkey parkland agreement and park naming for two city chartered parks, and I understand we have a 10-minute presentation by Raymond Leonel and Mary Beth good afternoon council members and vice mayor I I'm Raymond Costantino, the Deputy Director over the Capital Projects Division within PRNS. I'm joined here by my colleagues Leo Tapia, Planner 3, and Mary Beth Bowman, Planner 1. We're here to present on the Park Master Plan approval and Park Name approval for two new parks within the Communications Hill development, and Leo will kick off the presentation. Thanks Raymond. Good afternoon Council and members of the public. My name is Leo Tapia and I'm a planner with the Parks Department and today we're going to talk about an exciting park opportunity. So just to orient folks here, the project site is located in the Communications Hill neighborhood. which is just south of downtown near Highway 87 and Hillsdale Avenue. As part of the next phases of development, there will be two new city parks, one within the Phase 3 development and the other within the Phase 4 development. As you can see in the images, the Phases 3 and 4 will be built primarily on the eastern side of the hill. So the parkland dedication requirement for the 799 units that are part of phase three and four is to dedicate 6.7 acres of parkland or pay $9 million in park fees. Since one of the smaller residential areas within phase three needed to move a little bit sooner than the rest of the phases last year, the developer and city entered into an agreement for those first 58 units to pay their park fees. And now today, the developer and city are amending that first agreement to satisfy the remaining obligation for the remaining units and this amended agreement includes the dedication and construction of the two new parks a one acre park in phase three and a 1.7 acre park in phase four and the timeline to to complete and dedicate both parks is by june of 2028 for the phase three park and december of 2029 for the phase four park And just a quick overview here of the public outreach that was performed for this project. It included two community meetings and two online surveys where we received feedback from the community regarding the park designs and the park names. And based on the feedback we received, as well as a pretty limited park budget, here are the two park master plans for your review. So the Phase 3 park, the one on the left side of the screen, is primarily envisioned as a dog park with two dedicated large and small dog areas, as well as a picnic area. And then the Phase 4 park primarily consists of a large multi-purpose lawn space that can offer a range of activities and programming to take place. The park also includes a walking loop, picnic areas, and then also a cornhole gaming area. And both of these parks will complement the existing parks on the hill and create a balanced park system with a range of amenities and experiences. And with that, I'll pass it to my teammate, Mary Beth, to go over the park naming. Thank you, Leo. Good afternoon. I'm Mary Beth Bowman, part-time planner with Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services. I'm managing the park naming for this park site. As you know, the park naming process has two parts. Part one focuses on public engagement via two online community surveys. First a name suggestion survey followed by a rank choice voting survey. For part two, staff conducts analysis and makes a recommendation to the decision making bodies, which is why we're here today. Before the second survey voting begins, staff research and vet name suggestions against City Council Policy 7-5. To qualify, name options must meet at least one of the Council policy criteria. The online surveys considered a list of names for each of the two park sites. Survey number one presented staff name options and allowed participants the opportunity to offer additional name suggestions. In survey number two participants had the opportunity to rank five name suggestions for the two park sites. These included Beach Hill Park, Azevedo Park, Communications Hill Park, Kell Ranch Park, and Columba Kell Park. Staff recommends the name Communications Hill Dog Park for the smaller phase three park site. The name conforms with City Council Policy 7-5 by referencing the geographic location of the park. It also references the hill's namesake and the telecommunications role of the hill. Next slide, please. For the larger Phase 4 park site, the name Azevedo Park conforms with Council Policy 7-5 by referencing a deceased individual, Manuel T. Azevedo, and the Portuguese-American dairy traditions of the Azevedo family. Manuel T. Azevedo's stewardship of the American Dairy Company led to the Dairy Hill namesake. Next slide, please. And with that, I'll hand it back to Leo. Thank you. Thanks, Mary Beth. So in summary, we're seeking Council's approval to approve the two park master plans for the two future city parks. Also approval of the amended turnkey parkland agreement between the developer and the city, which includes the dedication and construction of both parks, the payment of city design review fees, and the return of approximately $8,000 in previously paid park fees. Staff is also requesting that council adopt the name Communications Hill Dog Park for the Phase 3 park as recommended by staff per the public outreach process. And then for the Phase 4 park, staff is recommending the name Acevedo Park as recommended by staff the Parks and Recreation Commission and as a result of the public outreach process and then lastly staff is recommending adoption of the following appropriation amendments to the Park Trust Fund as listed on the screen and in the staff memo and With that that concludes staffs presentation. We're happy to take any questions. Thank you - One last thing I'd like to mention is that the Parks Commission did make a recommendation for a name. However, that name was not consistent with the criteria, nor did we go out to the community to vet the name. And although they did vote four yeas, four nays, and one abstain, staff did not put forward that recommendation, and that description is in the staff memo. - Thank you very much. Thank you for the presentation, and it's exciting to see two new parks come our way. Let's go to members of the public. Anyone wish to speak on this topic? Yes. Brian and Jose, please make your way down to the podium. Thank you again. I'm glad to have two new parks. Vice mayor fully said, um, I just wanted to make it, if it's, I wrote a long letter, which I'm sure after a while, um, Just making it easier. I'm really glad that they are naming one of these parks after that gentleman. He seems like he's well worthy of it. We want to remember people who have done so much for our valley. But also making it easier to remember people, groups of people. And I just mentioned that in the letter. And right now I believe it requires that you have to have a special vote. I might be mistaken about that. But if like you wanted to name it care provider park or something like that just as an example. that it would be part of the process and that because that might have more of a track for all the people who've made our that area and our what parts are supposed to remember more substantial to the community thank you yeah um my question is how is this going to actually help out the the community um I've seen the houses on Zillow right now they're like five five million the houses right now they're not worth that much you see you see all these contractors they're just putting up makeup on and on houses and they're not even like fixing out foundations like actually going into the actual problem they're just covering it all up all these houses they're all they're all crumbs to be honest and you guys don't give me the actual license to actually be building houses that are actually going to be and good conditions that are going to be cheap and living conditions. All these houses, they're all terrible. And, like, this is not going to help out the community at all. All of this is just bullshit, to be honest. Just taking time. But thank you. Back to Council. Thank you. Council Member Duan, I believe this is in your district. Yes, Vice Mayor. Thank you so much. I'm really excited. Thank you, staff, for the presentation. AND I'M JUST THRILLED THAT WE HAVE TWO EXTRA PARK IN DISTRICT SEVEN WHERE IS IS NEEDED I'M REALLY GRATEFUL AND EXCITED THAT THESE TWO PARKS COMING TO DISTRICT SEVEN AND I KNOW IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME OF HARD WORK TO PUT THIS BRINGING THIS FORWARD THE THE RESIDENT YOU KNOW MY RESIDENT IN DISTRICT SEVEN HAVE FELT OVERLOOKED WHEN IT COMES TO INVESTMENT IN AMENITIES AND AND And so this is a very meaningful progress for the citizen in District 7. These parks aren't just a project on paper. It's where family, friends, kids, neighbors, they gather, stay active, and build the community together. I also appreciate the level of community outreach that went into these two parks. The resident had a voice. and shaping what these parks will look like and how they will be used. And it's also encouraging to see the development that was thoughtfully and involving our community center amenities alongside with these housing, if you will. I'm especially glad that we're moving forward, both active and passive space. So there's something for everyone in the neighborhood. And I know These two parks will add on the aesthetic value right up there in Calm Hill, which I believe the population up there is going to be around, when we finish out the building, I think it's like 8,000 residents. So overall, I really appreciate the hard work. I appreciate the investment from the builders. in District 7 and I'm very proud to support this amendments to build the two parks so move to approval Thank You councilmember We have a motion and a second. It is exciting to have two parks in the Communication Hills development area. I have a question though. We had a study session regarding backlog infrastructure and maintenance and I'm wondering how these two parks will be maintained. What's the plan for ongoing operation and maintenance? Sure. Every time we build a new park, we also take into consideration the maintenance component. And so we do a Worksheet 5. Maybe you've heard of that in some of the one-on-one meetings. And so both these parks will have that process done. And we allocate, we make a request to the Budget Office to allocate funds for the maintenance. And so that's part of our standard process. Okay, great. Thank you very much. I'm excited that you're going to have those two new parks in your district. Let's vote. Motion passes unanimously. Okay, moving on to the next item which is thank you very much for the presentation and and the brand and the two new parks in District 7 next is item 8.1 final public hearing and approval of fiscal year 2627 annual action plan for US Department of Housing and Urban Development I don't believe we have a presentation to have any members of the public. We do not okay. I Anyone on council? No hands raised. Is there a motion? Is there a second? All in favor? Oh, let's vote. Sorry. Getting excited trying to break a record here. I can tell. Motion passes unanimously. Okay, thank you. That is the final part of our printed agenda. Do we have any members of the public who wish to speak? Yes, we have two open forum cards, Brian and Pachucho. Please make your way down to the podium. Thank you, everybody. Again, it was 2.9. You really did your research. I appreciate that. It's so easy to sit up there and think nobody listens to me, and it makes it quite easier for us to have this gap between us. A lot of us, I don't know if you've ever heard of the Great Disappointment. People thought the world was going to end, the Lord was going to come back. It was in the 1840s, I think it was, and it didn't happen. There was another time in 2011, I believe it was May 21st, that was going to happen. I knew some of the people who sold their homes, separated from their children, and when you could hear them cry, I've seen crying a lot. I've been around parents who've lost children. My own mother lost two of her children. You know, crying, I've been in pain, been burned, have this glaucoma, arthritis. Nothing hurts like spiritual pain. Nothing. These people thought the world was going to end, and the crying you hear, anything we can breach because there's a people that are very afraid in a very scary world. I don't know. Isn't it scary? We might be at war any minute. You know, there's several places. Here is where people at least there's some sense of community and some sense of stability. That's what you represent to us. Thank you. Pachuco, would you like to speak? Back to Council. Thank you. Thank you. Before I adjourn the meeting, I would just like to recognize that this is Officer Rachel Bowen's last meeting here as she gets shifted to new duties within the department. You've been here for eight years? That's remarkable. Thank you so much for your service. And I'd like to turn it over to Council Member Condales. Yeah, Rachel, just wanted to wish you all the best in your transition back to patrol as you rotate out. And our community is fortunate to have you out there and appreciate what you've done here at City Hall in the chambers and everything you'll continue to do on patrol. Stay safe out there. Thanks. Thank you. With that, we stand adjourned at 3.01.