All right.

Steph ready.

All right, everyone.

Good evening and welcome to the City of Alameda City Council meeting tonight is Tuesday, November 4th, 2025.

It's also election day.

And if you're out there and a registered voter and you haven't voted yet, turn off your TV or whatever device you're listening to this on and go vote.

Polls are open until 8 o'clock tonight.

Otherwise, I am calling this meeting to order.

We're going to start with a special city council Member Jensen will be here shortly.

And I would like to ask our city clerk, Lara Weisiger, to please call the consent calendar for the closed session.

Madam Clerk, would you introduce that?

One item, right?

Yes, it is just one item.

And it's designating the negotiators for 2301 Marnark Street, which is building 24.

All right.

And um, so what I and oh, do we have any public comment?

Okay, nothing.

So what I would like is a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar for the closed session.

Um I move that we approve the consent calendar for the case.

Thank you.

It's been moved by Vice Mayor Michelle Pryor and seconded by Councilmember Tony Daysag with his I voted sticker on.

I forgot mine.

Um all those in favor signify by stating aye.

That was a view of the vote, not the sticker.

We're all in favor of the sticker and the vote.

Okay, so with that, um, we are about to adjourn into closed session.

Madam Clerk, would you um please introduce the items that we are going to consider in closed session?

Yes, item four A is public employee appointment hiring for student to government code section 54957.

The title description position to be filled as city manager and interim city manager.

Four B is conference with real property negotiators pursuant to government code section 54956.8.

The property is 2301 Monarch Street, building 24.

The city negotiators are the city manager, base for use and economic development director, base for use manager, assistant city attorney, and Andrew uh Schmeider from Cushman and Wakefield.

Uh 4C is conference with legal counsel potential potential litigation, potential initiation of litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9, subsection D4, number of cases is one with the city initiating little legal action as plaintiff.

Potential defendant is Port of Oakland.

4D is conference of legal counsel potential litigation, potential initiation of litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9 subsection D4.

Number of cases is one with the city initiating legal action as plaintiff.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

You know, since we don't have all five council members, and I really want to do the personnel matter with all five council members present.

Could we what I would like to do?

I'm running the meeting.

Um 4D, Mr.

City Attorney, that's the one.

Wait, never mind.

I take that back.

All right.

We are um then so um thank you.

You've finished introducing all the closed session items.

And so we are about to adjourn into closed session, and um we have every intention of being back before the public at 7 p.m.

And um for right now, I would just like the whole council and city attorney Ibenschan to please join us in um room 391.

If you need to get your dinner though, get that first.

All right, yes, yes.

How do we give us a h do we give us a hug All right.

I could ask everyone.

To come to attention.

Thank you so much for your patience.

And I do apologize that our closed session.

Not only did it take longer, we didn't even finish.

We're going to come back at the end of the meeting because we didn't want to keep you waiting any longer.

But thank you so much for being here.

And I am now going to call the city council meeting.

This is the Alameda City Council.

And we have just come back from closed session.

So I'd like to call us back to order.

You know, I didn't ask, is the balcony ready for us?

Are there thumbs up?

Yes, I never start without you all.

We've just come back from closed session.

And so I would like to ask the city clerk Laura Weisiger if she would report out on the items we did get to.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

So on item uh 4A, which was a public employee appointment hiring.

Um, the city council discussed the recruitment process for the interim city manager and city manager positions and gave direction for the city attorney to assist the council in conducting competitive recruitments for both positions.

Um this was done by three separate votes, which all carried unanimously regarding for B, which was um conference with real property negotiators regarding building 24.

Staff provided information and council provided direction by five eyes.

And then regarding for C, that will be heard after the meeting.

For D, which was a potential initiation of litigation.

Um staff-readed information and council direction, which also carried by unanimously by five eyes, and for E, which is existing litigation will also be heard after the meeting.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

And so with that, I will adjourn the city the closed session of the city council, and I will call the regular city council meeting to order.

We'll start with the pledge of allegiance, and I would like to ask my council colleague Greg Bowler to please lead us in the pledge.

Good evening, everyone, please do a join me in the pledge of allegiance.

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.

Thank you, Councilmember Bowler.

Um, Madam Clerk, um, would you please call the roll?

Council members bowler, Day Sun?

Here, Jensen, prior here.

Mayor Ezyashka.

Five present.

Okay, and before I get started with the meeting, we have a proclamation and we also have a very special guest today, in addition to all of you special members of the public.

I want to just go over the um the rules of the road, the um conduct that we um aspire to when we're conducting our city council meetings.

So, as I remind people, this is a business meeting.

We're here to conduct the business of the people of the city of Alameda.

This is your city hall, um, but it is a business meeting and not theater, it's not a sporting event, so therefore we do not applaud, boo, cheer, hiss, jeer, do the wave.

We just listen respectfully to speakers, and sometimes we're the speaker, and we come right up and we say our piece, and then we please stop talking when the timer goes off or when the clerk tells you your time is up.

And the reason that we do this is I want to create a safe space for everyone to express their views.

That is your first amendment right.

Public speaking can be very stressful for many people, and I never want someone to not get up and come to the podium and address us and address the public because they're afraid they might be booed.

They're someone will laugh at them or be hissed.

We don't want that.

We treat everyone the way we would like to be treated, just listen respectfully, and the next speaker will come up.

And I also remind people, and right here in the audience, we have young people, hi young people, um, which I love to see, and because this is our future, and so we want to set a good example of civic engagement for our young people.

Sometimes they're in the audience, sometimes they're listening at home.

And so let's just make it a safe space holding signs as your first amendment right.

I just ask that you not hold them over your head and block the person behind you.

So hold them under your chin, or if you're in the back, hold them wherever you want.

And that's how we get through the meeting.

And I also have this language I need to read, so we never have to use it.

But California Penal Code section 403 states that it is a criminal offense for any person to, without authority of law, willfully disturb or break up any assembly or meeting that is not unlawful in its character, other than an assembly or meeting referred to in Penal Code Section 302 or elections code 18340.

First violations will receive a warning and continued violations will require additional action, which could include police intervention.

Okay, so having said all that, we will move on to proclamation, and we do have a proclamation today because it is November, and it is Native American Heritage Month, and I have the following proclamation.

November is designated as National Native American Heritage Month, a time to honor and celebrate the rich history, culture, and connection to traditions, stories, languages, music, food, and more within the indigenous community.

We also honor and uplift the continuous contributions, leadership, and enduring resilience of indigenous peoples throughout the United States, which include Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated island communities.

The City of Alameda sits on the unceded ancestral territory of the Chochenyo-speaking Olone people, the original inhabitants and caretakers of this land who lived and thrived in what we now call Alameda and other parts of the East Bay long before the arrival of European settlers.

In 2021, a local grassroots effort to rename a local park that carried the name of a former U.S.

president who supported slavery and forced Native Americans from their homes, resulted in the park being renamed Chochenyo Park in recognition of the language spoken by the local Lishon Olone people.

The presence of the Olone people in Alameda is evidenced by the former locations of massive sacred shell mounds, which served as ancient ceremonial village and burial sites.

One of the largest, the Sather Mound, was located near the current intersection of Santa Clara Avenue and Mound Street, whose name is a reference to this historic site.

Today, California is home to the largest population of Native Americans in the United States and more than 110 federally recognized tribes.

The City of Alameda is home to approximately 367 residents who identify as Native American or Alaska Native.

The contributions of contemporary Native Americans, including Deb Holland, former United States Secretary of the Interior Congresswoman and current candidate for Governor of New Mexico, Joy Harjo, former U.S.

poet laureate, Lily Gladstone, acclaimed actress, and Sterling Harjo, accomplished filmmaker, have impacted and enriched the government, arts, and culture of our nation.

Now, therefore, I Marilyn Asie Ashcraft, Mayor of the City of Alameda, do hereby proclaim November 2025 as Native American Heritage Month in the City of Alameda and encourage all Alamedans to learn more about Native and Indigenous communities by attending local events, including the Oakland Museum of California's new exhibition, Good Fire, Tending Native Lands, which opens this Friday, November 7 and runs through May 31, 2026, and the Alameda Free Libraries afternoon with Cafe Olone.

Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino present Ohlone Culture, Past and Present, and serve brownies made with preserved indigenous ingredients.

That's Thursday, November 13, 4 p.m., the children's program room in the main library.

The Segorete Land Trust will feature Corina Gould of the Segorate Land Trust speaking about her organization's history, values, and commitment to uplifting and expanding indigenous land stewardship on Trittle Island.

That's also Thursday, November 13, 4 p.m.

in the Stafford Room of the Main Library.

And then Ollone Star Stories presented by Cafe Ohlone co-founders and Planetarium show developers Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino will share Ohlone stories about the store stars and teach a song about the stars in Chochenio for ages five and up.

And that's Saturday, November 22nd, 1 p.m.

at the Bay Farm Library.

And finally, Storyteller and Artisan Alicia Rettis presents an interactive program for all ages that includes indigenous stories and songs related to ecological techniques practiced by indigenous peoples, as well as her mobile garden.

That's Saturday, November 22nd, 2 p.m.

at the West End Library Branch.

You don't have to memorize all those dates and places.

Just go to the city's website, pick um choose the library, and you'll find all that information.

That's Alameda CA.gov.

Thank you so much.

And Madam Clerk, perhaps we have a public comment on this item.

I do.

Gabriel Duncan.

Welcome, Speaker Duncan.

I lost a second.

Hi, my name is Gabriel Duncan.

I'm the founder of the Alameda Native History Project.

And I'm a recognized descendant of the Utahuzagueta Benton Hot Springs Paiu tribe.

I've been born and raised in Alameda, away from my tribe.

And I'm also running the second annual acorn harvest, working on the second generation of the AFORN leaching machine.

And I'm here to deliver the following statement.

Good evening, everyone.

I want to take a moment to talk about what real engagement looks like when it comes to honoring Native American history month.

It's not just about making proclamations, it's about who you choose to engage with.

And tonight, I want to highlight that the city has missed an opportunity to bring in a legitimate tribal representative.

Someone who's actually elected and speaks for a recognized tribe with deep historical roots.

Instead, the city has chosen convenience over authenticity.

We have a real tribe, the Moek Moalone tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area with over 600 enrolled members and a documented 10,000 year continuity in this area.

Yet the city hasn't taken the steps to build a meaningful relationship with them.

This isn't just a symbolic issue.

It's about respect and about doing the real work to understand what it means to engage with a bona fide tribe.

So I just want to say that if we're going to honor Native American history, let's do it right.

Let's actually engage with the people who have the authority in the history to speak for their entire communities rather than taking shortcuts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we have any further uh public comments under the proclamation?

All right.

With that, we will move on to an item four, which is oral communications on non-agenda items.

We will take 15 minutes at the top of the agenda now to hear from our public speakers.

And if there's still more when we finish our 15 minutes, we will resume at the end of the agenda.

So, madam clerk, how many um speakers do we have into oral communication?

We have nine, so we're gonna draw names.

Um, and if they go faster, we will be able to get through all nine of them if they don't take their two full two minutes each.

Because you will get two minutes, and nine times two is eighteen, and we've got 15 minutes, but not everybody takes the whole two minutes, so let's think positive, but take your two minutes if you need them.

Okay, who's up?

Uh, the first one is uh Philip Mataresi.

Welcome, Speaker Madaresi.

Oh my goodness, hello.

First one, okay.

Hi, hi.

Uh good evening.

My name is Philip Mataresi, and I'm here to follow up on an email that I sent to the city council last week regarding our response to ice.

Um, I heard back from some of you, which is great, but for the ones that I didn't hear back from, I wanted to come here today and uh in person, and uh ask you to direct the Alameda police to arrest ICE agents when they come to Alameda and harass people.

Now I know I know that.

Some of you are gonna say that we can't do that, some of you are gonna say that we're not allowed to.

Um, but given everything that's happening right now in the United States, honestly, those are excuses.

You know, what what we hear is that I'm not willing to, or or I won't.

Meanwhile, ICE is out there doing plenty of things that they're not allowed to do, plenty of things that they technically can't do, and here we are trying to follow the rules.

Um they're out there abusing their power, and so now I'm calling on you to use your power.

Uh take some meaningful action that can really benefit the community.

This isn't about politics, this isn't about policy, this is about doing the right thing.

And so I'm here tonight asking you to do the right thing.

Work through the technicalities and how the Alameda police arrest ICE and DHS DHS agents when they come here.

We're at a crossroads right now that none of us can escape.

That's the truth.

Um, we all have to choose what side of history we're gonna be on.

I've chosen the side that I'm gonna be on, and I want to know what side you're gonna be on.

Thank you very much.

Have a good night.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Gabriel Duncan, then uh Rowan Burns Arno.

Welcome, Speaker.

Uh, Duncan, yes, and then um Speaker Um Bern Sardo, you'll slide out to the edge.

Hello.

Hello.

Uh Gabriel Duncan, founder of the Alameda Native History Project.

Uh I just want to take a couple minutes to share some exciting updates on what we're doing uh with our acorn leaching machine and the ongoing acorn harvest.

Right now we're working on a second-generation acorn leaching machine.

It's a piece of traditional food processing equipment that we've upgraded with food-safe stainless steel and lab grade parts.

This isn't just about technology, it's about restoring indigenous food waves and making sure that we honor our traditions in a way that's both respectful and innovative.

In addition to the machine, we're also in the middle of the acorn harvest.

Even though this year's harvest is low, we're doing everything we can to gather and process acorns to share with the Moek Maalone tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area and with the wider community.

This is a way for us to not only keep these traditions alive, but also educate others and bring people together around a shared respect for indigenous knowledge.

So thank you for your support, and we look forward to sharing more as we continue this work.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Rome Bern Sarno, then Gene Nader.

Right, okay.

You'll be ready.

Yeah.

Welcome.

Hello, everyone.

I'm here for the same reason that many others in our community have come out for.

I'm calling on the council to make it clear how the city will respond to ICE and make sure that we have a policy that puts dignity and respect for everyone in the city first.

Speaking as a high school student, I can tell you the profound effects that the recent ICE mobilizations have had.

I am worried.

I'm worried for my friends, for my classmates, and my community members who are at risk of deportation, who are at risk of having their lives taken away.

I am worried for the peaceful protesters who have already been brutalized by ICE.

I am scared.

I am scared.

No one in this city should be scared to go outside.

And if I, as a 17-year-old citizen, am scared, I cannot imagine how it would feel for someone who is undocumented or at other risk of deportation.

So I urge you to keep pushing for the basic rights that all Alamedans deserve.

I urge you to put an item on the agenda around Alameda's response to ICE and to make sure that our response is one that treats everyone fairly.

And I urge you to create a city where truly everyone belongs.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Gene Nader, come on.

And then Shalom Brun.

And then, okay, great.

Hello.

Hi.

My name is Gene Nader.

I live in Alameda, and I'm proud to be part of Alameda Progressives who vigorously lobbied for Sanctuary City back in 2017, led by Jim Odie.

I appreciate the city leaders reaffirming the commitment to upholding this resolution.

That said, the resolution has no teeth if it is only acknowledged and not fully utilized by elected officials and city staff.

A sanctuary resolution is only as good as its enforcement.

Fear of kidnapping and racial profiling undermines public trust and safety.

Alameda's commitment to inclusion and sanctuary values depends on the city being proactive and communicating with residents.

I'll give you an example.

Ten days ago, when ICE was still at Coast Guard Island, several members of our group, Alameda Families and Friends for Collective Liberation, went and canvassed Webster Street.

And to our surprise and somewhat dismay, nobody on any of the businesses we talked to had had any information about know your rights.

They we asked them if the city had given them any information.

They said no.

They were very grateful to get it because as you know, a lot of the owners of the businesses on Webster Street are BIPOC owners and staff, and they live in Alameda, and they're rightly scared for their staff.

So we want to know what the city is doing to reassure Alameda businesses and residents of their rights.

What are their rights when ICE comes?

What are the rights to create a safe space so people can go in there and feel like they're not going to be kidnapped by ICE?

The city should be proactively informing businesses and residents, and we haven't seen that yet.

So I'm urging you, as long as my fellow speaker Rowan to agendize this item so that we can hear what you're doing to let people know and for you to provide that information on know your rights in multiple languages to businesses and residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Shalom Brun, I believe, and then Hilda Paulson after Shalom.

Okay.

Hello.

Hello.

My name is Shalom Brun, and I wanted to share that I feel like it is ironic to me that as we are desperately gathering to save our democracy against a tyrant who wants us to lose our vote.

The city would hold a behind the scenes vote to have a large chunk of public park made private.

It is unconscionable that the proposal was advanced and decision was made by this group without solid input from the residents of Alameda.

Four days between proposing a pop-up meeting and having Alamedans gather for input is not fair and clearly cut short the notification process, especially as many of us are finding ourselves stretched thin to try to make sure we won't lose our ability to vote or be participants in our own government or from being kidnapped.

I am opposed to the process and feel this body should withdraw their support for a surf pool, which will not be usable by a large swath of Alamedans, nor affordable by another swath.

Get the process in place, hear from your constituents, understand the environmental impact, consider multiple bids, then make a solid decision based on all the factors.

In addition, it is in the interest of our youth, our health, and our belief that one should clean up after themselves when they make a huge mess.

What I want Senator Arrugan to support make the put uh make polluters pay bill.

The kids have had much more to say about this, and I yield to them and the future of Alameda.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Hilda Paulson, then Savannah.

Come on up.

Are the little people gonna come too?

I love your sign.

Would you like to come up with mom?

That's okay.

You could sit.

Hilda Paulson, Alameda Families and Friends for Collective Liberation.

Don't have much time, obviously, got to run with the kids, but I wanted to come by and add my voice to the chorus, just calling for the city to be more transparent and public facing in their communication about our the plans around ICE.

You know, I think about in this era that we're in, it's like institutions have this choice.

Are we gonna comply in advance?

And I know it's tricky to for government officials.

Like, do we just like keep our heads down?

Hopefully Trump won't like send us you know nasty grams or whatever he's gonna do, or do we like stand up and publicly disavow what's going on?

And I think like our hope for our electives is that we choose to publicly stand with peaceful protesters and residents and denounce ICE coming to our town and wreaking havoc and kidnapping people.

So thank you.

Thank thank you all.

Our next speaker, uh Savannah and then Laura Thomas.

Welcome, speaker cheer.

Hi, uh, so much like others here, um, just want to offer two concrete steps that you could take that would go a long way in reassuring the community that uh this sanctuary city policy does maybe have some teeth or at least some extension into the community.

First, need to clearly determine whether APD's use of flock license plate readers is actually 100% compliant with the city policy.

Um it's police policy 462.

Very specifically, is every inquiry from those license plate reader data is actually legitimate usage of and legitimate surveying of that, and then what are you doing to ensure this beyond just taking APD's word for it?

It's been reiterated that ALPR data is never shared with ICE or CBP, and that's fine, but it's less clear whether that's shared with Flock, and if Flock as a company has access to Alameda's data, that's a really key difference.

They shouldn't.

And it's clear from recent national reporting that you've probably seen on Flock that you cannot reasonably or definitively call yourself a sanctuary city if you're in but in business with that company.

So something to think about.

Second would be that you should utilize the city attorney's office.

It's pretty well resourced.

And you could hold regular know your rights trainings for individuals, businesses, uh contractors, employees.

You could do continuous outreach around legal resources available to residents who are negatively impacted by federal action.

In New York and Chicago, elected officials have stressed and called in public for the importance of regular bystanders to uh document ICBP and DHS agents while they're snatching people.

You should say that too, because that can serve as evidence for folks who are harmed by the federal agents that might come to our city.

Um so you have the city's attorney's office, and uh they are an excellent resource to deliver these types of messages and to let folks know that they're safe here.

Um and doing so would tangibly be living out the values that a sanctuary city should have.

So thanks.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, uh, Laura Thomas.

Laura Thomas, come on up, and after that, and then um Zarnik Allure.

All right.

Welcome, Zonic Speaker Thomas.

I'm Laura Thomas, 42 years a citizen of Alameda and a part of Alameda Friends and Family for collective liberation.

Um we've we're pretty uh we're all alarmed at the invasion of our city by the Trump's regime.

Clearly lawless and repressive army.

Um I want to support what Phil Matarez said about how they're they're not following the rules, so why should we?

We need to figure out a way to defend people in this city.

I mean, they've they've signaled that they're here to terrorize and intimidate us, so what are we going to do?

We're here to ask you if you have a plan.

And if you don't have one, we should have one, and we're willing to help you craft that plan.

The city's role is to provide for the welfare of its residents, and many of us have already started to organize.

So the question is, are you here to support us or not?

Um I know that in regards to the police, but the stance we hear is that they will not assist federal agents.

And I'm wondering if this is good enough.

In Oregon, the commander of the National Guard said that his troops would actually defend Oregonians against federal agents.

So will Alameda's police do the same.

It's really to it's really important to understand that in this current era, there is no neutral ground.

In the fight against fascism.

If you think there's neutral ground, you're just enabling fascism.

So I think what we need is a public workshop on what the city could do, and we could all participate as elected leaders.

You swore an oath to defend the Constitution, so this is really your moment to show us the model for us what that means.

As citizens, we've empowered ourselves already.

Thank you so much.

Our next speaker is um, okay, Zonic Allure, and it's our last speaker.

Okay, and we'll make it just in 15 minutes.

Okay, good job.

Wonderful.

Hello, welcome.

Good evening, council members.

Thank you for having me.

Uh, my name is Zonic Allure.

You will remember me as a Zonic.

Thank you for your time and active listening skills.

As a transgender citizen of Alameda, I've endured extensive harassment in our city and public spaces, including from the Alameda police department.

What is the city doing to protect the transgender, gender-diverse community from ICE actions as we have been federally labeled as terrorists?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, okay, and do we have more?

No, okay.

Um, thank you all for your comments.

Um, yeah, this is there's this is public comment, so probably unless the city manager or city attorney wants to report out on any things the city is doing, um, or maybe later in comments you might want to do that.

Maybe we'll talk at the break.

Because your city is doing things, but you might not be aware, but I'm just respecting that this is oral communication and not QA.

But um, okay.

Now we move on to the consent calendar, and these are routine items that will be approved by one motion unless council members remove items for discussion.

Removed items will be called at the end of the agenda, the regular agenda, and council members may speak for up to three minutes on the consent calendar.

So, first, does council want to pull any consent calendar items?

Okay, not seeing any polls.

Any clarifying questions from council about okay.

So let's start with the Vice Mayor Prior and go on to Councilmember Jensen.

Which item, council member Vice Mayor.

Um 5C, the recommendation to authorize purchase of the uh one grounds master 4,000 D lawnmower.

Come on up.

Hi.

Um I did um I did uh get an email about this, so I just wanted to ask publicly um if you could explain um the amount of 110 uh thousand dollars for the uh lawnmower.

Yes, uh my name is Carlo Belboni.

I am the fleet supervisor for the city of Alameda.

Um thank you for having me up here to speak.

Um to justify that um the term lawnmower is a little misleading in this case.

Um it'd be better to envision it as a tractor with three huge lawnmower attachments on it that go 12 feet across.

This is a large industrial piece of machinery um that is designed for commercial use with a um low emissions diesel engine.

It's designed to be run 40 hours a week for 15 years.

This is not your Home Depot lawnmower.

That's you know, I understand 110,000 for a lawnmower sounds very expensive, but if you imagine it as a tractor, 12 foot span, it's a very complicated and efficient machine.

We are also replacing two smaller mowers with this mower, so the labor savings will be immense on this.

If you think what it costs to pay somebody 40 hours a week to mow the lawn, this can do the job of two to three lawn mowers at the same time.

So the savings in labor costs will pay for itself in two to three years um on this machine.

So I think that was it for me.

Thank you.

I have a question on that um uh while you're up here, Mr.

Balboni.

Um, so you mentioned low emission diesel engine.

Is there an equivalent piece of machinery that is electric or battery powered?

We did look into that.

Um there is not one currently that could last a whole shift before needing to be recharged for many hours.

Um because you you have to power not only the movement of the machine, but all of the blades, the value of the suction, all the other mechanical components that go along with that, that's a lot of drain that takes a lot of energy, and it's more that we looked at the charging rate and how fast they deplete it, and they couldn't get through a whole shift without having to charge it for hours and hours again to get it back back up there.

So we think the technology will get there.

This will probably be our last uh, you know, uh petroleum product mower of this size that we'll be purchasing it the way things are going in the next couple years.

We should be able to it'll get there technology-wise.

This is probably I'd say probably the last one.

Okay, so you so you are familiar with the different companies that provide this sort of industrial um sort of use.

Yes, and I'm I'm going to a big electric demo tomorrow.

Um in Oakland, I I follow all of this and I I check out all the equipment that's coming out on the market.

Um, the other thing to consider is a lot of the electric uh lawn bar companies are brand new companies that didn't exist five years ago.

And so I'm a little leery sometimes of investing this much money in a company that could be gone tomorrow, and we couldn't get parts for it.

So um, you know, that's another thing that we have to consider is is being able to work on this equipment and get parts for it and the history and warranty information so we get a good value for the for the money.

We are getting their electric, it's it's getting very close, but um I you know, thank you.

And I mean I know you know this um that we require gardeners who work in our city to have electric or battery powered leaf blowers.

Um we do not have much of a lawn at my house, but I mow the lawn sometimes, and it is um it's battery-powered.

It's but again, it's not a park.

But uh, you know, I do think the technology is moving in that direction.

I suppose um our recreation parks department director probably keeps up with what other departments are doing um around the state.

So great.

We look forward to that next generation.

Thank you so much.

Um, Councilmember Jensen, was your question on this item?

No.

Okay, thank you, Mr.

Balboni, good to see you.

All right, Councilmember Jensen to you.

My question is on 5F, which is the ordinance for the vendor ordinance.

Um do you want to ask it and we'll see who should come answer it?

It's somewhat of a general question.

It actually I bring it up because um we had adopted the vendor ordinance and had the first reading prior to Halloween, and then on Halloween, some of us were out um trick-or-treating, and there were a number of vendors in certain parts of the city that were definitely not um complying with the new ordinance, which of course is to be expected.

So my question as I reread the ordinance after Halloween, it um it I just wanted to clarify that the ordinance would not would allow for sidewalk vending, um, provided all the provisions were were met, including a business license and um certain locations away from schools and intersections, etc.

until 8 p.m.

on Halloween.

Is that correct?

Um oh that was yours, yes.

Assistant city manager Amy Woldridge.

Take it from here, please.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, thank you, Councilmember Jensen.

Uh the hours, so there's different hours for vending, sidewalk vending in commercial versus residential.

So if they were in a resul residential area during on Halloween, they cannot be there after dark.

Okay.

And so it's the 8 p.m.

is that did I read that incorrectly?

There's none in 8 p.m.

Um, it's whichever is sooner.

8 p.m.

is the latest they can be there, so in the middle of summer when it's lighter out, um 8 p.m.

is the latest they can be in a residential area or up until dark, whichever is sooner.

Okay, and then for um certain two weeks um and Thompson Avenue in particular, that is 4 p.m.

Correct, it's 4 p.m.

Um I think we said Friday, Saturday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday evenings as well as the week prior to leading up to December 25th.

Thank you.

And and um as a cent city manager Woolridge for clarification, we are about to hopefully pass the final passage um of this ordinance, but it doesn't go into effect yet.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

Like any ordinance, um, like any or that's correct, Mayor.

Like any ordinance.

Um, there's a second reading that you're uh reviewing and and potentially approving tonight, and then it's 30 days until it takes effect.

So it would be in effect as of December 4th.

So it didn't apply to this Halloween.

But I understand that, and this is the second reading, that's why I pointed out I mean that the first reading is not effective.

So I just wanted to clarify since I noticed the issues arise.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you both.

Any other um clarifying questions about consent calendar items?

Madam Clerk, do we have public comment on the consent calendar?

We have one, Gabriel Duncan.

Welcome, Speaker Duncan.

Hello again, Gabriel Duncan, founder of the Alameda Native History Project.

Uh I just wanted to revive my long standing objection to paying the Alameda Museum to uh basically warehouse your official um documents and other artifacts.

Mr.

Duncan, this is a consent calendar item which are gonna be.

Bills for ratification for ratification.

So yeah, I don't think we should be paying uh the Alameda Museum to be holding your artifacts and official records and things like that.

Uh when they're not accurately presenting the history of Alamedans, uh, most specifically Native American history.

Um for a long time, the Alameda Museum said that the people the first people of Alameda were uh a band of Miwok, but that was incorrect because they're Aloney people.

Uh and for a long time they have had objects which were buried in the shell mounds, which are burial grounds, their cemeteries where humans were buried.

Uh and they've had those items that are funerary items, burial items uh that are sacred and should be kept out of sight and in the ground uh on display for the public.

Uh and instead of doing the work doing their own research, uh, it fell upon me and my project to do this research to discover that the true first people of Alameda are a loany people, to do the research into the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and realize that those items that are on display are funerary items.

Um and instead of taking a responsible approach, one which had to do with reflection and a genuine uh you know intent to engage with the tribes in a way that would make sure that there would be some form of repatriation of these of these belongings.

Uh instead, the Alameda Museum decided to remove information about things like the dedication of the plaque to the shell mounds that we see today in Lincoln Park, which is not the original one.

But the point is that uh those funerary items are still on display.

The pictures and the information about these events are not, uh, including information like the fact that the Bay Farm Road was paved with the bodies, the bodies that were in the shell mounds.

Uh and these are things that we need to have discussions about, and when it comes to honoring the first people of this island, we need to make sure that we talk about these and that we honor the places where they still rest because this land was only leveled and those bodies are still underneath the ground.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other speakers on the consent calendar?

There are no other speakers.

Closed public comment on uh the consent calendar and council, any comments, further comments on the consent calendar?

If not, I will ask for a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar.

It's been moved by council member Bowler, seconded by Councilmember Desag over there, yeah?

Sure.

Yes, to approve, just say if you're paying attention to approve the consent calendar.

All those in favor, please signify by stating aye.

Aye, aye.

All right, that uh is approved unanimously.

Okay, now we move on to our regular agenda item.

We've got um the first one, item 7A.

Um, uh city clerk, would you please introduce item 7A?

Adoption of resolutions appointing Michelle Knightler as a member of the Commission on Persons with Disability and Roberta Kreitz is a member of the Social Service Human Relations Board.

All right.

Um we'll take a motion.

And so um we um these are my two um appointees to these two bodies.

I told you a little bit about them uh next time, and we are able to approve them with one with one motion.

So do I have a motion to um adopt this resolution appointing Michelle Canadler as a member of the Commission on Persons with Disabilities and Roberta Kreitz as a member of the social service human relations board?

Uh yes, so moved.

Um so it's been moved by uh Vice Mayor Michelle Prior, seconded by Councilmember Tracy Jensen.

All those in favor, please signify by stating aye.

Aye.

All right, and then if our two appointees, I believe they're both here, is that correct?

Yay!

Um, we'll come on.

Uh, City Clerk Lara Weisiger will um administer the oath of office.

We want to thank you for embarking on this service.

Okay.

You would probably try to pull the consultation to the United States and the consultation of data, you make a lot of the legal law game.

Oh, that's Robbie's law.

Uh yay.

Madam Clerk, did I?

Oh, I did sign those, didn't I?

Yeah.

It was a fast night.

What did I sign?

I don't use an auto plan.

And then we're gonna we get to hear a little bit from each of our.

So.

Yeah, come on up and introduce yourself to the council and the public and tell us a little bit about yourself.

And so nice to meet you in person.

Hi.

My name's Michelle Kenadler.

I've been an Alameda resident for 18 years.

I am an associate and a designer at Gensler, which is a global architecture and design firm.

And I work out of our Oakland office, and I'm very um excited at this opportunity to contribute to the community.

I've worked a lot with the ADA, and I also wrapped up a year-long research on neurodiversity and retail.

So I'm excited to see what I can do and help in all different areas of disability.

Thank you.

We're so happy to have you serve.

We have so many talented residents that it is difficult to make a choice for our boards and commissions, but I'm just so thankful to both of you for standing up and putting your name in.

So thank you.

Lovely to meet you in person.

Come on, Miss Kreitz.

Hi, everybody.

I'm Robbie Kreitz Roberta.

I've lived in Alameda my whole life.

I have been a special education teacher for over 25 years, and I'm a director of special education special programs at Belmont Redwood Sorrow School District.

Excited to be here.

Yes, and I will just add that the woman with the camera behind the back is her proud mom, who also I believe teaches classes at our Mastic Senior Center.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Thank you so much.

And thank you both for volunteering your service.

Okay, now we come to item 7B.

I am so excited that our state senator uh Jesse Aragon has come uh to address us tonight to give us a legislative update.

And council, normally our speakers have 10 minutes, but I'm gonna ask if we would vote to double that time.

I don't know if the senator will need it, but we would certainly hate for him to not finish his update to us.

Do I have a motion?

So move a second.

It's been moved by council member uh Jensen, segmented by uh vice mayor uh prior to add another 10 minutes to the senator's time.

All those in favor, please signify by stating I.

Good evening, Senator, and welcome.

Well, good evening, Mayor Ashcrapp and members of the Alameda City Council.

It's a pleasure to be here to update you on my work as your representative in the California State Senate.

Um, and I'll do my best to get through the presentation very quickly, but I want to first address the issue of immigration enforcement, given the many speakers that came today.

And um, I think we all share in the appall, the the um disgust and anger over the inhumane um uh actions of the Trump administration uh to uh separate families, to literally snatch people off the street, the lack of respect of due process and constitutional rights.

Um and I think we are all deeply concerned about the presence of Border Patrol agents and federal officials here in Alameda County.

Um and so I first want to thank the City of Alameda for your partnership over the last few weeks when we first learned about the potential presence of border patrol agents um at Coast Guard Island, um, and your commitment to be a sanctuary city, which I think is extremely important.

Um, and uh know that you have a committed partner in the California legislature to push back against um Trump's assault on our immigrant communities and our democracy.

Um that I think was a key focus of my work as a state senator this year.

Um, the first vote I took as a state senator was as part of the governor's special legislative session called right after the uh November 2024 election, uh, where we allocated 50 million dollars of emergency funding of 25 million of which went to our attorney general Rob Bounce, fellow Alameda resident, um, to file um lawsuits against the Trump administration for any unconstitutional um uh executive orders or law or policies that his um administration was advancing.

Um within just a few weeks of his administration, um they attempted to freeze billions of dollars of federal funds to California.

Funding for education, funding for health care, funding for social services.

I'm very glad that Attorney General Bonta has filed 40 lawsuits, over 40 lawsuits, since the Trump administration took office.

And I think we have an over 70% success rate in that litigation, and bringing back the dollars that we as taxpayers are paying to the federal government for essential services like education and health care.

Keep in mind that California is the largest donor state of any state in the United States.

So these are our hard-earned tax dollars that we are giving to the federal government that we rightly that rightly need and rightly deserve.

You know, also challenging the unconstitutional attack on birthright citizenship and the many other unjust and unconstitutional policies that his administration's put forward.

Additionally, 25 million of that 50 million dollars that we approved in January went to legal uh legal defense providers in communities throughout California, including Central Legale here in Alameda County, to make sure that we get money out the door immediately to ensure that people that are facing deportation have legal representation because we know that if you have a lawyer, you're more likely to be able to fight deportation.

Um we're committed to increase that funding in the coming months, given the escalation of immigration enforcement in Alameda County and throughout the state of California.

In addition, we also advanced critical protections for our undocumented community.

Day two of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security rescinded its previous policy of preventing ICE enforcement schools, churches, and health care facilities.

And so we moved quickly to move forward a series of laws to prohibit ICE from being able to come onto school campuses in California, to prohibit ICE from be able to go into hospitals and health facilities in California.

That was my law, SB 81, which the governor has signed, which is now the law in the state of California, and also to pass SB 627, which was proud to co-author the No Secret Police Act, to make sure that federal agents and local law enforcement can't wear face coverings, absence and very specific exceptions, to uh to hide their identity and to evade accountability.

We should allow no secret police in California, whether you're federal agents or local law enforcement.

It's critical to trust and ensuring accountability of law enforcement.

Um, and so we're committed to do everything we can to push back and to protect our immigrant communities at this critical time and work in partnership with you to take a strong stand against the Trump administration's deportation machine.

I will go to the next slide.

Specifically on uh how we've been able to support the city of Alameda.

Um California has been prioritizing housing development and supporting local communities in achieving this goal.

And one of the biggest projects here in Alameda is the North Housing Project, an ambitious plan to create 586 affordable homes and supportive housing by the year 2030.

The state is providing financial support for this project, including over 20 million dollars from the Department of Housing and Community Development for the first phase of this project, with over 100 units now completed.

The state is also prioritizing improving preparedness and response to natural disasters and climate change and want to just uh lift up the passage of Prop 4 last year, which we approved an expenditure plan uh for coastal resilience and sea level rise adaptation, wildfire mitigation, and other um open space projects in California.

Um, and uh we'll work with Alameda to make sure that you get your fair share of that funding to help address the growing threat of sea level rise, which I know impacts Alameda disproportionately.

Um, but just want to lift up that already um 1.1 million dollars from SB 1 has been allocated to support various infrastructure projects to help Alameda in its response to climate adaptation.

I talked about immigration already.

Um, on public safety, um, I was honored to chair the Senate Committee on Public Safety and be able to advance uh some important bills around transparency and to address the threat of gun violence that is affecting communities throughout California.

And I just want to lift up a few of these policies, SB 524, uh, actually the first in the state policy to address the issue of the use of AI in developing police reports.

Um I talked about SB 627, the No Secret Police Act, and SB 704, which requires that the sale of a gun barrel be done through a licensed firearm dealer and undergo background checks.

Over 70% of the guns that are that are collected in law enforcement operations are ghost guns.

And now people are 3D printing parts to create ghost guns.

And you cannot actually have a gun if you don't have a gun barrel.

So what people are doing is purchasing gun barrels online and then 3D printing the other components of a gun to create illegal ghost guns.

So while the California has passed a number of laws around addressing and regulating ghost guns, this is the final piece that we need to be able to discourage the proliferation of ghost guns in California, which is um uh base is um impacting um the safety of communities throughout Alameda County and the state of California.

Um and I just want to lift up the um the CHP, the California High Road Patrol, and the um regional coordination and support that they provide communities throughout Alameda County, and now the governor has worked to position those resources regionally.

And I know that there's been a lot of coordination not just with Alameda but with other law enforcement agencies throughout Alameda County to address public safety needs uh here in the East Bay.

On health and human services, um, I have to talk about um what's been going on this past week with the ongoing government shutdown and um the freezing of uh SNAP benefits, uh nutrition assistance benefits for people throughout the United States.

We are deeply concerned about this.

This is in addition to the changes in eligibility under HR1, which are going to result in thousands and thousands of people in Alameda County being ineligible for nutrition assistance.

Um so we are working to do everything we can to mitigate the impacts.

You know, it's amazing to me that food and healthcare that these are um bargaining chips, um, whereas these are essential things that people need to survive.

Um, and these things should not be politicized.

These should be, these should be bipartisan issues.

And so uh as part of the adoption of the state budget, we allocated $8 million to local food banks in California to help supplement resources.

Um, and when we come back to Sacramento in January, we're gonna work to increase our investment, not just to support our smooth food banks, but also for other nutrition assistance benefits, knowing that we need to do everything we can to close the gap because so many uh people in California, even before the freezing of SNAP benefits, um, rely on um CalFresh to survive.

We saw the increase in uh food insecurity during the pandemic.

That's only increased due to the gap in wages and the rising cost of living, and we need to do everything we can to make sure that we can ensure that kids and families can survive and can feed themselves at this critical time.

We were able to move forward some critical policies around expanding eligibility for child care programs and to support displaced workers.

And as the chair of the human services committee, this will be a priority of mine next year when we return to Sacramento.

On transportation, I just want to acknowledge the leadership of Mayor Ashcraft, who's Alameda County's representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.

We were able to secure um critical funding, not just ongoing but in the short term to address transportation needs in the Bay Area.

Um, and so we know that BART and other major transit operators in the Bayer are facing a fiscal cliff.

And unless we take action to stabilize their budget, um, we're gonna see significant service reductions, which are gonna impact the ability of people to get to work, to get to school, to see a doctor, and it's gonna significantly impact lifeline transit service in the Bay Area.

So, part of what we're able to do is secure $750 million as a one-time loan to stabilize our transit operators in the Bay Air just for this next year, while we work to pass SB 63, which will allow the Bay Area to consider a sales tax measure next year to provide ongoing operating funding for Bay Area Transit operators, but not just to provide funding to make sure that the buses and trains are running, but to make sure that we can transform and improve transit to make it better, to make it safe, to make it seamless, and also to have robust accountability and oversight to make sure those tax dollars are being spent effectively.

And I also want to lift up the ongoing funding that we were able to secure as part of the extension of the state's cap and invest program for cap uh for transit capital and transit operating funds, um, and already 37 million dollars have been budgeted for multi-mortal projects throughout Senate District 7.

On climate and environment, this was an extremely important year in the state's efforts to address the impacts of the of wildfire and climate.

Um, we started the year with the catastrophic wildfires in Southern California, and while we work to help support Southern California communities in their efforts to rebuild by allocating over two billion dollars to support rebuilding and recovery.

We also have allocated billions of dollars of one time and ongoing funding to help support fuel reduction and wildfire prevention statewide.

And so I'm working to make sure we get those funds specifically for the East Bay communities that have been impacted.

We remember the 1991 Oakland Berkeley Hills Firestorm, the the threat of wildfire um impacts communities in our district.

And we want to make sure that support isn't just going to the rural areas and the forest areas, but also to urban areas because I think LA showed us that urban wildfire risk is real.

And um at the end of our legislative session, we worked to extend the state's cap and trade program, now called Cap and Invests to 2045, which will provide $63 billion in reductions to utility bills to Californians, as well as $60 to $90 billion in funding for infrastructure investments such as affordable housing, transportation, other climate investments on housing.

We were able to pass a number of laws to um help streamline the process of building new homes in California, including accessory dwelling units, while we work to uh maintain and expand funding for the construction of affordable housing in California.

We started the year with the government program to zero out critical housing programs.

We ended the year with making sure we not just maintain those programs, but we increased our investment in affordable housing, including for the affordable housing and sustainable communities program.

So that's my presentation.

It's been a very productive year.

Um, in addition to the legislation that we had introduced, um I introduced I think over 20 bills, nine of which went to the governor's desk, and all nine were signed by Governor Musom.

Um, I was honored to serve as the chair of both the public safety and human services committee and on eight standing committees.

So note that I'm making an impact and working to make sure that we can advance um critical issues that are important to our district.

And thank you for this opportunity to just present on my work and would welcome any ideas you may have on legislation and budget priorities so we can uh advocate for Alameda next year.

So thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Senator Aragon.

Um, it has been my pleasure to work with you from the time we were both mayors because, as I'm sure you know, um Senator Aragon used to be the mayor at the road in the city of Berkeley before he went to the state senate, and this is his freshman year, was his freshman year.

And you caught that he chaired not one but two committees and sat on all these standing committees.

And for all that, I have to say you were never a text message away.

I tried not to abuse that, but there were times when I needed you, especially on SB 63.

We had some uh tense moments, and I could always text you and get a text back, a phone call.

And um, we are so represent so well represented in Sacramento, and I um I am grateful for that.

Council, any clarifying questions of our state senator before we go to, I think I have at least one public comment there.

Anything you'd like to ask the senator?

We'll come back for comments, but uh question, Councilmember Tracy.

I do have a question.

Thank you, um, Senator Eric Queen, about um legislation that is pending in in Sacramento.

And um Alameda Residents Act advocated recently in support of the Make Politors Pay Act, and um the city council followed the example of Berkeley and passed a resolution in support of that legislation.

So I'd just like to get your views and position, yeah.

That that bill was held by the author.

Oh, there are two authors.

There was Senate version and assembly version.

And so that bill was held by the author.

I do intend to vote for that bill when it comes to the state senate.

Um it's gonna be challenging.

Um, but I think it's important that we take a stand.

So, well, thank you.

Our um our youth power climate change residents in the audience, a lot of high school students, and they I'm sure appreciate your position and support definitely support that.

Well, and Senator White, why we have you, and while we brought that up, I'm all for taking constructive actions.

What um what do you think?

So the the authors held it because they didn't think they had the votes, or were they also facing stiff opposition from say particular industry groups?

What would you what would you say the grassroots effort could do to help move the needle?

I think that's critical.

I think um statewide organizing and advocacy is gonna be really important.

Um, there are very well-funded interest groups that are working hard to oppose this legislation.

The governors expressed concern about this legislation, um, and so there are some institutional barriers that we have to overcome.

But um, I will say that you know, having sort of the local level and also in the state level, the impact of um grassroots organizing and advocacy makes a huge difference, even in Sacramento.

Um, when we hear from people throughout the state about why something's important, that makes a huge difference.

So that would be my my advice.

Um, is really to just continue to speak out and really talk about why this is important, and I mean, clearly the the climate emergency is not getting any better, yeah.

Um, so we need to do something.

Okay, so take it to Sacramento.

We've got a very motivated group of young people, students, some of them sitting in the audience tonight.

Um, so I think we could we could multiply that that effort.

Vice Mayor, um Michelle Prior, did you have your hand up?

Um it was really just to echo uh what you both said.

Um I think we had a quite a bunch of young people in here uh talking about the make polluters pay, and I think generationally um they're they're just like look at this giant mess that we're gonna have to clean up and all the people that created this problem.

I mean, they will, you know, they'll be dead essentially.

Um so that is I think what I would like all of our you know legislators um that actually can vote on this um to really think about um and um and yeah, I think I'm just gonna I just leave it at that, but I I work with children, so that's my day job, and so I I think about it every single day, like this the world that we're leaving them, and and so I would hope that people would be bold and brave and and do what's right for the next generation.

The vice mayor is a special ed teacher.

Um, so then if we don't have clarifying questions, thank you, Senator.

Um, there's public comment, but please um uh stick around because we'd love to take a photograph with you.

Um uh madam clerk, um, our public comments.

Heather McLeod.

Welcome, Speaker McLeod.

Um, thank you for asking that.

Hi, I'm Heather McLeod.

I'm an Oakland resident, but I teach in Alameda, and I welcome people here, as you know.

Um and yes, Senator Aragin, you didn't even talk about my favorite thing that you did, which is that my friends and family especially appreciated the way you helped gut PGE's penalties on solar users.

So thank you.

That was really important to us.

Um, and yes, I'm here to ask for your energetic support for the Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund, which will be reintroduced this January, probably in the assembly first.

Um, and you know, when most people hear about this bill, it feels pretty logical.

Um, yet right after the Los Angeles wildfires, when we taxpayers took two and a half billion dollars of relief from the state general fund, and individuals were generously donated to helping the fire victims, the oil companies were spending their millions to lobby against bills like this that would require them to take responsibility.

So, Senator Aragin, with your um beautiful gut and amend skills, um, I want to ask you to help these powerful companies take responsibility.

Because those of us who are vulnerable to extreme heat, those of us who have home insurance rates affected by fire and flood, who have asthma and lung disease from pollution, who are dealing with infrastructure in cities like this, and the costs of transportation, those of us whose taxes are raised in order to pay for climate disasters, those of us who are unemployed due to climate disasters, we're depending on you because your active support, we could join with New York and Vermont to pass this.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And next, a Rowan Bernsarno.

Welcome.

One of our teenagers.

Well, we heard from him earlier.

Hi, hi.

I want to speak again on the polluters pay act.

A couple of weeks ago, I led a walkout at my school around it.

And I joined other students around the state.

Over 3,000 students in the state participated in a statewide walkout.

So I this issue, it's close to all of us.

At our school, we had over 10% of the school come out in the middle of class and tell everyone that this issue is close to us because it is our future.

And if things continue that the way they are going, it will not be our future for long.

There will be no future.

So I really want to urge you, Senator, to support this bill, because this is it's not just for what's going on now.

It's going on for the next 100 generations for the rest of the history of the state.

This bill will be essential.

So I urge you to support it, and thank you.

Thank you.

Any further okay?

Coast public comment on that.

Anything further, any further comments from the council for a senator?

Okay, if we could take a quick photo.

And I just do want to say to our high school student in the audience and all your colleagues, it is an easy train ride from Oakland, Jack London Square to Sacramento, and a quick rock walk, or you can hop the bus to the Capitol.

I would love to see some advocacy for this bill.

Schedule permitting, I'd go with you.

So keep in touch.

Okay.

Let's do a really quick Sarah Henry.

Really quick photo with the Senator.

I mean, I'm coming down.

Yeah, you can't even go to this county.

I'll say we're 60%.

Oh, we got.

I said I was going to go with more tape and I mean.

Come on, go quick.

Okay, hi.

Okay.

All right, the paparazzi is here.

Can you go to how many?

I mean, I think we'll get to the CPS.

Oh, yeah.

I will have some.

And yes, yes, yes.

Okay.

Do we have some stuff on this?

I'm here for me.

So I want to think about it.

I like to stack people to their Q2.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This is why we can't return.

All right.

And let's see, Madam Clerk reminders.

Are we going on to 7 C right now?

Okay.

We won't start until we see it.

Oh no.

It's gonna rain.

Oh, I just said any about catching up on the list.

I'm just gonna everybody to get the Melissa and Sarah to sort of schedule it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He said he's he would love to.

He's coming next week, you know.

Okay, then we're gonna be here.

I know they might be virtual.

We do have these next week.

Maybe we just I think next week is doing that.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right, everyone.

Places.

I'm madam clerk.

Um, our next item is item 170.

Yeah.

Hi.

Welcome.

Um, do you want to introduce the item and then we'll have our presentation?

Yes, workshop to discuss infrastructure and facility needs for libraries, city parks, and recreation facilities.

Welcome.

We want extra time for this one.

Oh, that's right.

We're okay.

We're okay.

Okay, okay.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council members.

My name is Sarah Henry.

I'm the city's communications and legislative affairs director.

And tonight I'm continuing where we left off last month, talking about the city's ongoing infrastructure needs with a focus on Alameda's libraries, parks, and recreation facilities.

The strategic plan identified these five priorities, as well as projects that are in addition to the essential operational services of the city.

And we've outlined some of those projects in the staff report.

The projects that we outlined will help us meet a growing demand and replace aging infrastructure, but many don't have an identified funding source.

So tonight we have three goals for this work session.

The first is to share some of the infrastructure needs for our libraries, parks, and recreation facilities.

The second is to hear input from the city council and the community about priorities.

And the third is to discuss options for gaining greater local control regarding city projects and their funding.

Last year we identified a need of more than $800 million in both deferred maintenance and upgrades needed to protect our aging infrastructure.

Tonight we're focused on libraries, parks, and recreation facilities.

And as you saw with the budget earlier this year, we've been very careful with the revenues that we have and in seeking out new funding opportunities.

But we don't have enough resources to meet our current needs and costs continue to increase.

As you know, we launched the Stronger Together outreach campaign a few months ago to begin sharing this information with the community.

And after our last city council workshop, which is coming up on December 2nd, we'll conduct a statistically valid poll to help us understand what is most important to the people of Alameda.

At that time, if the City Council determines that there's a potential need for a revenue measure, we'll return early next year with draft language and potential projects for your consideration.

These are just a few examples of some of the um outreach that we've done about parks and libraries.

This chart highlights some of the city assets that we're working to maintain, and that includes 35 parks with 26 playgrounds and 12 recreation centers, 10 miles of pathways and trails, and our main library, two branch libraries, and a significant growth in library visits and program attendance.

Moving to recreation and parks specifically, Alameda's park system is proudly the third oldest in the state, established in 1895.

I was curious what the other two were.

San Jose and San Francisco, but we've beat all the rest, so that's pretty cool.

But that means that we have a variety of assets and that many of our parks are operating beyond their intended lifespan.

So they have aging infrastructure, outdated irrigation systems, and significant maintenance needs.

So that includes making repairs, modernizing our infrastructure, and upgrading our energy efficiency.

As you know, our needs are greater than our revenues, and this table outlines the estimated cost of the deferred maintenance needed to improve park amenities, things like playgrounds and athletic facilities, make ADA improvements and modernize buildings to meet current standards.

At the same time, we have new park developments planned for the next 10 years, including DPAV park, future phases of C Plane Lagoon Park, the completion of Jean Sweeney Park, Enterprise Park, and a regional sports complex.

All together, these projects total 216 and a half million dollars.

Moving to our library needs.

Libraries are an essential service and play a very important role in the City of Alameda.

We've seen a significant growth in checkouts, visitors, and program attendance.

And as noted in the chart, not surprising, this summer, more Alamedans than ever before participated in the summer reading challenge.

4,545.

Pretty awesome.

To meet the needs of the Alameda community, we've identified the following four projects for consideration.

The Bay Farm Library opened back in 1980 and is in dire need of expansion.

It does not have a dedicated room for story times and events or private study rooms.

The main library opened in 2006 and is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Plans to reimagine the library, including open a maker space, opening a makerspace or recording studio, adding additional study rooms, and having a dedicated play area for children.

Alameda Point residents are underserved when it comes to library services, and establishing a library presence, possibly as part of the part of the reshape supportive housing development being constructed could help meet this critical need.

And finally, a growing uh a library of things that includes the tool lending and seeds for gardening.

It's a natural extension of the role of the public library, providing access to shared resources when people need them.

While the main library could house something like this, we don't have the funds to implement it.

So just like with parks, our needs are greater than our revenues.

And this table outlines the estimated cost to maintain and expand our libraries.

Altogether, these projects total up to 35 million.

So as you can see, we're facing big challenges when it comes to maintaining what we have and making the upgrades necessary to meet current standards.

To address these needs, we want to identify locally controlled funding for the council and the community's highest priority projects before costs escalate.

And tonight we're seeking input on your priorities.

We will return to the city council on December 2nd for a final workshop on planning for flood protection, sea level and ground level rise, and disaster preparedness.

And after that, we'll move straight into polling to understand uh better what Alamedans support.

So thank you.

That concludes our presentation.

And I'm joined tonight by Library Director Mike Eitner and Recreation and Parks Director Justin Long for any questions that you have.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Henry.

Mr.

Eitner and Ms.

Sean, do you want to make any comments?

You have time left in the presentation.

Come on up and introduce yourself.

Hi.

Good evening.

My name is Jelson Long.

I'm the Recreation and Parks Director.

And as you uh have uh elaborated about many times how great our parks are, I want to say that they are great, but there is an underlying infrastructure sort of cliff that we're going to be approaching with our aging buildings and our specialty facilities like the Vets Building, the O Club and the Alameda Point Gym.

So it's those types of facilities that really are going to need a capital infusion, and it's going to be larger than what we can do on an annual revenue basis.

So I just want to put that plug out there.

The with that we do have great parks and our staff do a fantastic job maintaining them and trying to keep them up.

The issue really is that we really can't address these bigger ish capital issues unless we see large funding sources like this.

So with that, thank you very much.

Thank you.

And how about you, Mike Eitner?

Come on up.

Hi.

Good evening.

Good evening, everyone.

Mike Eitner, Library Director.

Just following up on what Justin says, our libraries are great, but we would love them to be even better.

And to do that, we need resources.

We need resources for a library presence out at Alameda Point, expand the services that we have, expanding to new services.

And we also have aging buildings.

You know, we did talk about the West End Library.

The West End Library is about 90 90 years old now.

But it is a challenge, and it's it's one big open room, which is also a challenge when lots of different people are using that space.

But with after 20 years at the main library, the furniture, the carpet, all of those things need to, we're at the end of life for those things, and those things need to be replaced.

And again, we lack funds to do that.

We're also currently dealing with at the main library because it is a green and a smart building.

There's a building management system that is the brain of the building that keeps the lights on, keeps the HVAC running, and all of that, and that has reached end of life.

And so, you know, that is something we can afford to pay for this year, but those are the things that we need to be thoughtful about as we budget in the future is um what is the replacement schedule for all of the things that we have and how do we fund those things?

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Um Council, I know we probably have some public comment on this, but do we have any clarifying question?

Let's start with Council Member Jensen.

Thank you.

Um I'll start with uh Director Eitner since you were the last one up here.

Thank you.

Um I appreciate the the age of some of our facilities.

And um, one thing that I didn't see in the presentation that you might comment on is one of our older and more classic buildings that hasn't been used for some time, which is the Carnegie Library, and I wonder um whether there's been any research or discussion of how that building might be used.

Actually, I would refer that to the city.

I might ask the city manager to address that because that really isn't under your review.

Yes, I guess it was many years ago under a previous director's purview.

But it is something that we have been talking about doing assessments on, and I know we received an email recently from a resident that has expressed an interest in it.

We've had previous uh reuse opportunities that have come to council in the past that just haven't made it over the finish line.

I think it is something that would take a lot of staff time.

I think it's a we'd love to try to get something done with it, but it will take a lot of staff time to figure out um what the latest costs are.

It's pretty significant costs, and so what I was gonna suggest is that um as part of the strategic priority session that the council has is to talk about that.

Is that something you want to add as a new project?

It probably will mean something else will have to shift because it will take a lot of resources to look at um more closely or negotiate an exclusive negotiating agreement with an entity, maybe update some costs.

So, but at this point, we don't have any plans to renovate that.

So, to your to your point to clarify that the Carnegie Library isn't part of the infrastructure needs assessment that's well, I mean it's something that could be part of that list if the council wanted to add that, but because we don't currently have any plans, that could be something that could be renovated, or it could be you know, a relationship with a community group or private entity could also be engaged, so it's something that could be talked about as part of this facility list.

Great, thanks.

Um, I was gonna say, but just for clarification, but not as part of what the library's needs are because it has not been in the library system for I'm sorry, yeah.

So it is not part of the library um portfolio anymore, but it could be as we continue to talk about and develop a plan for an infrastructure bond, it could be part of it.

Yes, absolutely.

Um, Director Eitner, my other question will be one for you and then one for um the ARPD director as well.

How do the friends of the libraries are our nonprofit support groups fit into the capital needs of of our facilities?

Yeah, great question.

Um the Friends, um, as you may know, uh submitted a letter of support for the library's infrastructure needs, and they are uh ready, willing, and able to engage in uh capital campaign or any other campaign to help with the infrastruct infrastructure needs of the library, whether that's funding for a building, for furniture, for renovations.

Um I I know that they will be a great partner and will do everything they can to provide resources to assist in any project that we choose to move forward.

They're they're a wonderful dynamic group, and we're fortunate to have them.

And I know that in the past, they've been the leader of our um efforts to build a new main library, which hadn't fortunately was quite a long time ago, almost 20 years now.

Yeah, there'll be November 2026 will be uh 20 years that the library opened.

Um, and the the foundation and the friends, there were two separate organizations that are now there's just one organization.

Um they provided all of the furniture for the main library.

Um that was their one of their contributions to the project, yes, mayor.

Well, for the maybe for the children's library, did they do did they fund all the friendship?

I thought it was all of it, yeah.

That's great.

Yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

Um, and now I have a question for um the our parking.

If we can just stand the library for a quick minute, I I cannot help but notice that in the um audience today is Philip Mataresi, who um is a twin.

He's one of three sons of Frank Mataresi, my good friend and um the co-chair of the campaign to build the new main library with me.

Um, and Frank and I were both parents of twins.

I mean, we still are, but they're they're old um older now.

But it just I mean, we did it it was November of 2020 that we brought the measure to to the voters, and as um councilmember Jensen noted, it was the friends before it became a ballot measure because they're a 501c3, but they helped fund educational material and they've just been wonderful um supporters um throughout, but um it is so sweet to see you all grown up now uh because these kids went through a lot of long meetings with their parents, probably walked precincts to um to uh campaign for the library.

So back to you, Director Einer.

Oh, did you want director long now?

Yes, yes, no, thank you.

We're moving on to parking.

Yeah, right.

Um, same question to you, Director Long.

About the I know that we have um friends of the Alameda Parks and they're do a tremendous job to support different programs, and how about capital improvements?

Is that something that so we we are uh very lucky to have a friends of the park group and they do fundraising throughout the year, they hold events, they've helped uh raise money for playgrounds, and and really help assist when we are making improvements at parks, like for example, they're participating in the upcoming Light Ecker renovation.

So they help us to get funds when we really can't quite get it over the mark, and so they really help us do that.

Um they also help with their time and being advocates, they're out in the community that are all of our events.

Uh they host the annual golf event for the parks.

They do the um the bike for the parks in uh the fall, and so they're really good supporters, and we're glad to have them.

Thank you.

And I uh don't leave yet, but I I do completely appreciate the the role that our community members play.

And um, Director Long, it in the presentation I have a question about the um unfunded projects.

Okay.

I wanted to um get some more information about the regional sports complex.

Is that this site at Lum School and or is that so the regional sports complex was uh an area that is master planned to be on Alameda Point, just north uh and west of the skate park, and so there's about 40 acres there has been dedicated for a future sports complex, and so that's really where um that development will occur.

It's it'll blend in the Alameda Point Gym and the skate park and everything else into it, so it would be really an active sports complex there.

And finally, um, would you just this I don't know if how this will come out cross, but um we we had some comment earlier and I've had some comment um online and and directly regarding Enterprise Park, but I it's my understanding that that's not actually an ARPD site or facility, and that's um the name is Enterprise Park for lack of another name.

And I know that um Vice Vice Um City Manager or Deputy City Manager Wilders is working on that as you have.

So I wonder if you could just answer that and comment on whether that's part of the sure, thank you.

Um Enterprise Park is dedicated parkland, so it is part of the park system.

Um, and as uh in our last council meeting, uh there's direction to look at exploring a surf park at that location as a portion of the redevelopment of that park.

And again, we're just having that conversation before we even get to the community engagement process.

So this was very initial step first taken, but it is all part of the master plan for Alameda Point to have Enterprise Park, even though its name is just Enterprise Park, but it's it's on the enterprise zone of the master plan for Alameda Point.

Yeah, City City Manager Jenna.

Yeah, great.

Um I I just wanted to add that for that what we are looking at the surf park at Enterprise Park.

It will come back to the city council in public uh public hearing or in public session.

So there will be an opportunity before an exclusive negotiating agreement or anything like that gets executed to have a public discussion about it.

And and while you're on that topic, um city manager I could you explain.

I mean, there was a reference to maybe a backroom deal or something, but could you or maybe with the assistance of the city attorney explain how it is or why it is we discuss real estate transactions and or develop I know.

Madam Mayor, so typically real estate transactions begin in closed session where the council gives broad direction, but ultimately all real estate transactions have to be approved by the city council in open session after public comment.

And um I defer to the city manager on the public process.

Yeah, and so the next step in this case would be an exclusive negotiating agreement, would be a non-binding agreement, and that has not been executed.

That will the council would have to take a vote in public to execute that, and again, that would only be to explore this idea further.

It wouldn't be to enter into a transaction at that point.

Thank you for that.

I appreciate it.

Thank you, Mr.

Long.

Did you have any questions?

I do.

I um have a few.

So on I don't know what page it is, but it says purpose of work session point number three.

It says options for greater local control regarding programs and funding.

So I was just wanting some clarification on I guess the phrase local control.

Sure, thank you for the question, Vice Mayor.

So what we're talking about is we have all of these projects that have really high price tags, and we don't have funding sources identified for them.

So what we're asking the council is for your feedback and your recommendations, your direction for how we can go about and seek that type of funding.

So we've talked in the past about a possible infrastructure bond.

There are other strategies that we could take, but what can we do as Alamedans as the Alameda City Council to bring forth a revenue source that would be locally controlled?

Great.

And then I think my other question, I think it's just for the library.

So under Alameda Point library, the estimated cost, the range is 500,000 to 20 million.

So that is the range is pretty wide.

So I was just wondering if we can get clarification on that.

Sure.

So the bottom number of the range is obviously building buildings are it's building a building from the ground up is very expensive.

Um so are there other ways that we could provide library services to the residents of Alameda Point through a mobile services?

Not maybe necessarily a traditional bookmobile, but it could be a van with loaded materials that we take and we go to a designated place multiple times a week and it and provide programs there and do that.

And I've if that's the approach that we take, and if that's the approach that the residents at Alameda Point are willing to embrace, and obviously the cost, the initial cost for the infrastructure for that mobile service is a lot less than trying to outfit a completely brand new building.

That's the reason why the range is so is so high or so broad, because we we we can go uh a less expensive route, a less permanent route, um, or we can go the full service building route.

Great, thank you.

And while we have you up here, um it was reported that and I believe it with you know, seeing with my own two eyes, that the um Bay Farm branch is just in need of expansion.

There's no story time, there's no study space.

Do you how would you do that?

Would you add a story?

Would you is there room to expand?

What's the thought?

We we'd have to look at it with um with our with my colleagues at ARPD because we, you know, the library is in the park next to the recreation center.

Um, ideally it would be to not add a second floor when you add another floor to a library, you need more staff because you need folks on the second floor, so it would be looking to kind of push the building out a bit and how far could we possibly go to do that.

Um we we get a lot of folks who come to to the Bay From Island Library for for our programs, and we would love to welcome more of them.

Um, and we can't do that because the space is is so limited.

I see.

Um, okay, and is there are you also looking at um I know sometimes I've been at programs that have been at the LADEC or the space there?

Are you looking to somehow incorporate that?

No, I mean we weren't we're not thinking about that.

We have a great partnership with RPD and they allow the library to use that that venue when we have bigger programs.

Most recently, we had the East Bay Vivarium come out with fund critters, um, and we had 101 folks show up for that program.

Obviously, there's no way we could fit them in the library, so we're thankful to have the recreation center right next door so that we can use that space.

But we also want to be good neighbors and not abuse um that relationship.

And because we could probably use it every weekend.

Um the director is listening closely to that.

Yes.

All right.

Thank you so much for that.

Any other clarifying questions, Council Member Bowler?

Uh, Director I know, thank you so much for uh your discussion tonight about this important topic.

And I'm wondering if you if we apply some of the Alameda's core principles in terms of like equity principles to this problem before us, this funding problem, um, how do we even begin to think about where we should spend money?

Um, you know, there's talk about Alameda Point where there's really no services currently.

There's talk about the West End that's services are pretty um scarce in terms of square foot versus other portions of the island, and yet, you know, Alameda Point as a caveat would be an area where there isn't a lot of density of residents yet.

Um how do you suggest we think about where if we if we can't do everything, where should we where should we spend money if we're concerned about being equitable?

That's a great question.

Thank you.

Um I would say that we would focus on um for equity reasons.

We would focus at Alameda Point, even though, as you mentioned, the the population density isn't there yet.

Many of the folks who live in Alameda Point who could benefit from library services do not have easy transportation to come to the West End Library, to come to the main library.

Um it really is a a case where we need to go to them and provide the services to them.

Um so if it's a case of prioritizing, I would say that's the highest priority is is we know that there's a need out there for the residents who live there now, and we would love to be able to provide that opportunity to them.

Um the obviously if we're doing 1A and 1B, then one B would be the West End.

Um, you know, what could we possibly do there?

It's uh it's a very challenging site.

There's no place for us to expand.

But perhaps we can think of we could be more creative and think of other ways to offer um library services throughout the West End.

But from an equity standpoint, from my perspective, um, if we're if equity is the is the singular focus or the simple majority focus, um, library services, let me to point is would be the top.

Yeah, because I guess it's interesting to think about what what are the state of the art principles in library development and management these days, like do cities generally, is it all about how close you are to that library?

Is there the mobile technologies that you're talking about?

Do you expand that?

Um, do you has have you dived into that subject at all in terms of like what's the best practices?

So, what we've seen um at through at libraries across the country.

There have been very successful uh um developments where the library is on the first floor of a building and housing is on the second, third, fourth, however tall the building is.

Um, Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, other cities have really successfully um, even San Francisco, um, have branches where the libraries on the first floor is kind of that anchor for the residential that comes above it.

That's incredibly impactful.

Um, what we know from library services is like there are the digital services that the library provides, but those in-person high-touch experiences, there's there's no replacement for those.

Um, and so those story times, the chances for kids to get together and to um be around each other, learn from each other.

There's really no replacement for that.

And um, so you want to make sure when you're placing a library, um, you look at not only how far is it from another library, but you look at kind of what what are the patterns uh in the city?

Like there's no set examples, like every you should have a library within a square mile.

Um, but you look at where where are people?

Where do people congregate and what are the behavior patterns of those people?

Um, what we see is is that you know, Alameda isn't quite large, but there are psychological and actual barriers to for people, like there's folks who generally don't go across Webster, either way.

And so that is like that is a psychological barrier.

Um, but we also have to look at it's like how mobile are the people in these neighborhoods?

How easy is it for them to get out of that neighborhood and to access services somewhere else?

Um so it's it's a lot of factors, and it's looking at a lot of different data points to to say that this what we need is a library in this location as compared to this location, or can this library serve a greater service area because it provides um it it has the space to provide all of those ample services, and it's easy for people to get to.

Yeah, and should you know you mentioned a couple times different sharing arrangements?

One is a development opportunity potentially where cities are you know using housing developments for that service on the ground floor.

And you also mentioned of course, as a practical reality, you're collaborating now with your neighboring department, the parks and recreation department.

Is do you see that as an area we should be looking at too, or any other strategic partnerships that might help solve this funding problem?

I think um partnering with another city agency or with a nonprofit, a school, any other, there are there are multitude of of eight groups that the city could look to explore how do we provide library services in a kind of cost effective way in a in a new building that could be um you know the possibilities are endless in how we can develop the partnership.

There's a lot of there are libraries, well established libraries.

The one that's coming to to mind right now is in Davis.

There's a library in Davis that's attached to the elementary school, but it's a public library.

Um, and it's so the public can still access the library while the school is in session, and you know, is that a model?

Um the the possibilities are endless, you just have to make sure you're you're in the room to have those conversations when the development is happening so that we can provide the that the library can be part of that discussion.

Um, generally, um, you know, I think we're we're a pretty good tenant.

Um, you know, we're we're we bring a lot of added value to to any area, um, and so we would love to find the right partner if it's that's the best opportunity for us.

That's awesome.

Yeah, and I also have a question, a couple questions for Director Long, but I don't know if you want to wait.

Um, can I just go back to Director Aitner really quickly?

Okay, a couple thoughts I had.

When you mentioned the library in Davis that is located in elementary school, but it's a public library.

Do you know does that go back to the library bond that we got our funding from?

Because there was a category of um that you would get extra points that if you co-located at a school, and I think we did some sort of partnership with AUSD.

I think we had some software on the computers that would help um maybe even non-English speaking parents help their kids with homework or something.

But was that was that part of the library bond if you know?

I don't know.

Okay, I don't know.

It wouldn't surprise me if that that's was kind of the result of that that development, um, because it it it makes sense, you know, and sometimes you can have an arrangement where I worked before at um uh Solano County Library.

Uh the library in Sassoon City is right next to the elementary school, it's actually on to school district property, and the library serves as the the library for the students at the elementary school.

So there's a gate from the school to the library, and they come through and then embedded it the library staff is the school library uh media specialist, and so they are there's while the library is open to the rest of the public, the kids are coming over for their elementary school kind of library time.

So, yeah, there's there's there's there's a lot of ways to make this happen.

Um we just you know, you always have to find like what's the the magic combination that would that will make sense.

And then one more question about library locations, and I do know what you mean about putting libraries on ground floors with uh with housing development above it, or even you know, retail and red, whatever.

Um, so we have um some shopping centers in Alameda that have vacancies, sometimes lots of vacancies, and I I think that Alameda landing is one of them.

Um, and I'm not suggesting that we take over the target, but is uh don't panic if anyone's listening.

But um, I mean, would that be something to explore to to see if there might be um you know some spaces that could be repurposed for a library?

Yes, you can see.

I mean, that that's that's certainly a possibility, and even you could go even a little bit further west, and there's the um there's some retail in the developments in Alameda Point on the first floor there along the bar that um gets us maybe closer to the folks we're hoping to reach and make it easier for them to come.

So yeah, that's a possibility.

I mean, we've seen like across the country, we don't have malls here, but there are a lot of public libraries and malls now.

Yeah, because there's a lot of empty spaces and malls.

Okay, very exciting and making it note of that.

Thank you.

Back to you, Councilor Bowler.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you so much.

Uh Director Long, thank you too for all the hard work you're doing.

So I'm gonna give you the impossible question, which is very similar.

One, and how do we, if we're thinking about principles of equity and limited resources, given I mean your department just does so many programs for so many different um types of people in Alameda, everything from you know toddlers to seniors to everyone everyone in between, you know.

So, how do you how do you give us advice in terms of where to set the priorities?

Well, thank you for the question uh council member.

Um I think you know, we have a pretty good equity tool in this with the city in our G EIS where we can kind of document where we spent funds and where we need to spend funds and where we can target.

Um what I'd like to direct a little bit to is like you know, of some of our existing facilities, um, like in Woodstock Park, for example, the building there could use some investment, improvements in like Longfellow and some of our uh less utilized facilities like that, I think could be a good focus point for really connecting the community to a lot of our programs.

Um, and I think having those physical possibilities will help us get there.

Um, and again, I think it's it's looking at you you can see where we have a lot of new park development happening where we maybe don't need the need as much there, like where you see like the whale park and seaplane lagoon, but it's it's a but it's providing different type of um amenities than just what we're used to with playgrounds and open space and you know, really uh and having open areas for kids to get out and play and exercise.

And I think that's the primary focus here is providing spaces for people to be healthy for our community to connect in, and really kind of targeting that.

And I think you know, looking at where we have, you know, some some gaps where we have less parks, like for example, near McKinley, you know, uh that that section of the city doesn't have a ton of open space right now, and but they do have the field right now with with Thompson Field, but there's there's a little bit of a gap there.

And so trying to target areas where we think that land available would be again for the future for the expansion for we're building dense communities around Clement, and having really good open space near those will be really valuable.

And so for our future, we kind of have to look at that distribution, I think.

Um Alameda is a very lucky city that we do have almost the entire community within a 10-minute walk of a park, which is absolutely fantastic, but there's more that we can do.

Thank you, thank you.

I want to just focus if you don't mind for just a second on the arts, because you know, Councilmember Jensen brought up the Carnegie Library and the the sense of history there, the sense of purpose.

I mean, over the decades, people in this town have really looked at that and try to re envision it.

My mother was one of them, and a year ago, this Sunday she passed away, and she was an employee in your department for about 12 years and taught at the Mastic Senior Center.

So the question would just be: how do you assess the current state of the art programs with um the recreation and parks department and what would you to what extent do you think we should really emphasize that moving forward in our facilities and in these issues?

So a great question.

Um I think you know, really trying to figure out incorporating art and or programming into our facilities is really helpful.

Um I think you know, we do everything from uh where we're bringing arts and crafts out to kids in parks constantly through our community rec program.

And then how do we incorporate that into our physical facilities is a whole nother uh challenge alone a lot of our rec centers are kind of designed as empty spaces that we can program them with almost anything.

And so I think trying to figure out how do we blend that that level of artwork into our new facilities and also adding it to our existing facilities, I think would be helpful.

I think you know, some of the work the arts commission's doing about putting public art near the playground in Washington Park or even how it gets incorporated into the aquatic center those types of things I think will be really helpful in engaging with our community and different artists and you know it would be nice to do a rotating art event in all of our rec centers or something to that you know venture.

So we can invite the public out we do all the things at the Massic Senior Center where we actually invite people who aren't even part of the Massic Senior Center to to participate in the our art show that we have annually and so we really do encourage a lot of that already but I think there's always growth for that into our programs and our facilities.

Thank you so much.

Councilor Desa any kind of questions for you yeah if we could just um I mean uh I I look at the list of things for the libraries and I just wonder um you know how the West End library I I get that it's small um with limited space um you know I it's I just kind of struggle to wonder why it's not on the list of of things you know you've got Alameda Point you know where we're contemplating 20 million dollars for a place where no one there just is no population out there um so it just seems a little um I did I I I'd probably have to I think the residents would probably have to hear more about you know why this glaring um is I mean is there it's open five days out of seven days main libraries open seven days I think I mean big uh granted Bay farm also the branches five out of seven but you know what are the things that that that we we could think about um or have you thought about the West End that um could be done I I don't know and yeah I it's um what what makes the West End library so wonderful is also what makes it a challenge in terms of trying to envision what more could look like there just because there's it's surrounded by homes the myelin is across the street um so close to the Webster um business district or yeah the Webster is and um so um it's when when we think about that space um I think in terms of improvements and thinking about it we would probably need to think about like is there is it that and something else like do we offer that and do we offer a space somewhere else and could those spaces be somewhat different.

Obviously that there would be a cost associated with that but you you could envision an uh uh a concept where um perhaps um like the West end library becomes the existing west end library becomes the Alameda Reads building right that's right now in the veterans building and we look at a different uh location for a larger more kind of modern west end library space and then you could also perhaps think about where you want to locate that so that it could be close to both the West end and also to Alameda Point so that it draws people from both that's that's a huge kind of project and there's a lot that's involved in that and that's a big change if you don't want to if if if the West End library kind of becomes a library but it's a different serving a different thing that's that that's breaking a tradition but it's it takes a lot of thought to think about that just because of the you such unique character of that building and the challenges that it presents because there's just no room to grow.

I see yeah um okay let's see um yeah, you know, I see um I see that you know the sports complex can come in around sixty-five million dollars, um although it's not funded, so but but at least the um bookmark is is uh put there for that.

Um it wasn't an idea that a lot of the things out at Alameda Point would just whether it's a library at Alameda Point or sports complex at Alameda Point, that it would have to figure out how to pay for itself out there instead of having um the residents and historic Alameda pay for uh things out there.

City manager, do you want to jump in and talk about that fiscal neutrality concept if you would?

I mean, but we anticipate that a lot of the new facilities that are that serve solely Alameda Point would be paid for, like some of the parks and other things that have all been mostly built with developer funds.

Um and so we do we do have some contributions from developers already for the sports complex and so we can collect those.

I don't think uh sports complex is regional and as big as that will be able to be funded entirely through new development.

Um but it but we could certainly collect contributions towards that.

I think more local neighborhood parks would definitely be paid for, like the whale park that was paid for by the site A development.

Um but some of these that are such a large scale would will need to draw from other sources and we'll draw from the entire city as well.

Did you have anything feel free, Director Long?

Thank you.

Uh uh City Manager Ott.

Um I was just say that you know that this type of facility would not just be serving Alameda Point.

This would it would be like the Alameda Point gym, it serves the entire city in the skate park.

This would be one of the only spaces that we have to expand sports fields and other things just because of the density on the island.

And so I think you'll hear from a lot of our community groups about needing access to more fields, more courts, more almost everything.

And I think that's the space to do it in, and just knowing what we know from construction with the Aquatic Center right now that $65 million is not an unpractical number, but it might even be more.

So I you know that's kind of price in today's dollars.

So could I just add one thing?

I also I think there are a facility that big also could potentially be phased.

So you might you know you don't necessarily need to build it all $65 million, might be a way to do some sports fields initially, or as part of a with the rehab of the gym, or maybe you know, so there's ways that could be scaled down so you're not having to pay $65 million up front.

Yeah.

No, I mean I think there are some imaginary projects slated for Alameda Point, like DPaved Park, you know, the idea of allowing, you know, the um rising tides to begin to naturally inundate certain areas.

Um, there are clarifying questions.

Oh no, it's just, you know, I just kind of wonder.

It's it's there's there's just a tremendous amount of needs, obviously, and and it costs a lot of money.

Um, but uh, you know, we're just gonna have to really um uh we're just gonna really have to focus on on you know what what's important because it's not just balancing parks and libraries uh which of these but also balancing them against streets and other um building infrastructure that the city owns.

So thanks.

Thank you.

Um Councilmember Jensen, you had another question.

Um I have one more question for um Director Eitner.

Can you um just tell me what what is the former children's library on Oak Street being used for and is there potential to um to sell it or or update it for public use?

I'm gonna have to ask a colleague, manager I think.

Not in the library system.

I don't think it's being used for anything right now.

It was vacant.

We toured it recently.

Recently, it's been chopped up into what used to be offices a while ago.

Yeah.

So I I mean I'll double check, but I don't think it's being used for or at least on the top part of it that's being used for anything.

Well, I'll check on that, but yeah, I would like to know whether it's there's a potential to we might as well sell it or get rid of our property that we have if we're not using it so we can help to fund these infrastructure needs.

Okay.

I think that's another item that is probably not agendized for this purpose right now.

But yes, keep that in mind.

Um okay.

If there are no more clarifying questions from council, I believe we have public comment.

We do.

Um, first up is Adrian Alexander.

Welcome, Speaker Alexander.

Also, recreation parks department member.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council.

My name's Adrian Alexander.

I was born and raised in Alameda.

I graduated from Incennale High School in 1972.

You can do your math and figure out how old I am.

At 18 years old, I walked into Cruzy Park as a park director, and it literally changed my life.

Many of you have heard me tell that story before.

That was in 1972, the 70s and 80s in this town.

ARPD was Camelot, as my good friend Jim Richards, who is my boss at the time referred to.

If you've been in town a long time, you could ask anybody what park did you go to, and they'll say, I'm a Franklin Eagle, I'm a cruisey cult, I'm an Edison Indian, and on and on.

I have boys that are boys are 70 years old and they're still wearing their park shirts because they're proud of it.

We've had one of the best park systems around.

Sack State used to talk about Alamia's Recreation Department in the recreation classes.

Um, yes, I am on the recreation and park commission.

I'm finishing out my second term, and I'm also on the board of Alameda Friends of the Park.

So I have a lot of hats I have on here.

Um I'm also a retired school teacher, so I'm listening to all these things about the library and have the ideas are going in my head.

Um our parks need a lot of work.

There are several parks that need new roofs, they all need to be remodeled.

And I'm gonna go back to Cruzy Park.

It took 10 years to get that building replaced.

There was funds set aside and the funds got moved.

And there was that building was an absolute disgrace to the city.

I'm sorry to say that, but I don't want to see that again in any one of these parks.

Um, our park staff is absolutely amazing.

They keep those parks pristine.

There's I think only 12 full-time workers that we have, and the programs and the way our parks looks are absolutely amazing.

It's been my pleasure to work with former director Woolridge and now with uh Director Long, working on what the city wants.

Every meeting we have, someone comes up.

I want another pickleball court, I need indoor basketball, I want this, I want that.

I'm sorry, but we don't have any money.

So it all comes down to that.

I'm willing to support this bond issue as long as we are listing what we're going to do with the money on the parks.

Um, we're gonna repair this, we're gonna repair that.

It'd be nice to do everything, but I know that's not possible.

Um, as I said, there's a lot of wants in the city that people ask for almost every month that are rec meetings, and it'd be nice to be able to provide some of them.

Um, as I said, I'm finishing up my second term, and I don't know what I'm gonna do when I'm done in June, but I have some ideas now after listening to these presentations tonight.

So I just wanted to thank you for giving us the time, and again, I would like to give kudos to the recreation and park staff for what they do to keep our parks in the great order that they are.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker, Katie Connell.

Welcome.

Our patient speakers who have waited.

Hi, and go ahead and bring that microphone down where you need it.

Hi.

Oh, okay.

There I am.

Hi.

Hi, I'm Katie Connell.

Um, you've been hearing from me, I know.

Some of you have.

Um, I'm here to talk about the Carnegie building, which has already been mentioned a couple times.

Um I have been doing a lot of research.

I feel really strongly about this, but um, as you know, the city's historic building was a gift given to empower communities through freely accessible knowledge, learning, self-betterment.

Um, and the buildings were not just designed to house books, but to ignite curiosity, creativity, and civic life.

So I'm proposing the creation of a nonprofit organization that could be called the Carnegie Creativity Center that would revitalize the historic Carnegie Library building as a vibrant hub for creativity connection and community.

It would foster equitable and inclusive access to arts.

That would be really the core of what it would want to do.

Through accessible programs, collaborative workspaces, and cultural events.

The majority of the programs and initiatives would focus on visual arts.

The center would also support performing arts, culinary arts, and cultural arts, and this multi-use space would empower people of all backgrounds to create, learn, and share stories.

This center can directly support the City of Alameda's strategic plan across all major priorities.

It could enhance community safety and services by providing equitable spaces for local groups.

In alignment with the city's climate goals, it could include energy efficient upgrades, facilitate food recovery from local businesses, and host dialogue around climate change as an investment in infrastructure, economic opportunity, and historic preservation.

It could restore a landmark building, which I think we would all love to see if possible, while creating artist opportunities, fostering art business partnerships, and offering collaborative work spaces.

The project also models fiscally responsible and inclusive governance through event rental revenue, small business hub for creative entrepreneurs, robust public engagement programs, and equitable pricing.

So the success of something like this really depends on a strong partnership and shared leadership with the city of Alameda.

By taking an active role in the development and stewardship of a center like this, the city has the opportunity to lead a model initiative that demonstrates how public assets can serve the common good through creativity, inclusion, and collaboration.

So city engagement, whether it's through a formal MOU, an operational partnership, or an ongoing advisory role, would help ensure that you so much your time.

Is that our next speaker?

That was our last time.

And with that, we'll close public comment on item 7C.

Council, I mean, do we want to provide further direction than what we already have asked?

Okay.

I and I thank you, Ms.

Henry, for bringing us these continual items.

I think as we all can see, we want to do everything.

Money doesn't grow on trees, but there um the public information is really helpful and all the public outreach.

And so I this is just a workshop to discuss.

You heard lots of comments, questions, and suggestions.

So thank you, and we look forward to continuing this process.

And anyone who's listening in the public that might not be in this room, or maybe if you are, if you know of a grant, if you would like an opportunity to develop a really cool, we also toured the Carnegie recently, and it is an amazing space and needs so much.

But there might be somebody out there.

We had a discussion about I was in Washington DC earlier this year, and where I was staying across the street was a beautiful old Washington DC Carnegie Library that is today the Apple store.

However, it doesn't look like your typical Apple store.

You might think it was a museum.

I didn't get to go in because it was at night, but they've done a beautiful job restoring it.

And so Apple, if you're listening, you know, the City of Alameda is willing to talk.

But anyway, thank you for all the good information and the feedback.

And um, we um we will close item 7C.

We are we have gone a little over our two-hour um mark.

However, we don't have too many items left, and this council has to go back into a closed session, and I will give us a break before we do that.

Um, but then next up we come to City Manager Communications, City Manager Jen Ott.

Great.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, Council.

I just have a I'll make this quick.

Um we started our winter schedule for the water shuttle today, so please be sure to check the website at Watershuttle.org before writing.

Um, tomorrow we are also expecting heavy rains along with king tides and a supermoon.

So please only drive if you have to and never drive in flooded waters.

The city's self-served sandbag station is open 24 7 on Lexington Street at West Ranger at Alameda Point.

Uh this Friday night is the Island Bowl, Alameda High versus Ensignal High, and for the first time in 70 years, the game is streaming live at the historic theater.

So tickets are just $10 available online or at the box office and directly benefits the two teams.

And then finally Central Avenue construction is almost complete and traffic open in both directions.

This week we are adding the final striping and signage and starting work on a roundabout at Maine, Pacific and Central Intersection.

So new detours are in place in this area, but the businesses and soccer fields remain open during construction.

Thank you.

Thank you, City Manager.

Madam Clerk, do we have any further oral communications engine number nine?

There's that.

We do not.

No council referrals, council communications.

We probably, well, we can make them as long as short as we want, but we have a little more business to attend to Councilmember Dave.

I've just left Councilmember Bowler.

What have you got?

Oh thank you.

Just a couple of chamber events, best I can recall on October 30th, the business after hours for launch Alameda for that housing facility.

There was a tour with the business community, and then I also had a um was supposed to be a little coffee with the Chamber of Commerce on the October 23.

It was supposed to be uh maybe 20 or 30 people, turned into about 300 people.

I want to thank the city manager.

The assistant city manager, everyone who is there from the city to help make that work.

But obviously there's a lot of um persons in um in our community, especially in Harbor Bay that are concerned about their about the shopping center and what's happening next.

So that's all I have.

Um I believe you attended a breakfast for elected officials at the State of the Estuary Conference in Oakland because I sent notes too.

Um okay.

Councilmember Desig, did you have any um any uh things to report under Council Communication?

Oh yeah.

Um let's see.

Um Thursday, October 23rd, attended the screening along with uh Mayor Ezy Ashcraft of Bias.

Um, a very nice screen movie that was played here in um City Hall Chambers with a nice panel discussion afterwards about our um biases um uh hidden biases and not so hidden biases.

So it was very um very well attended.

And then on the 24th, attended a community meeting at the West End Library Um regarding um con concerned residents about you know the um uh possible um uh placement of ice and border troops at Coast Guard Island.

So residents had rallied at West End Library.

Um and I think there was a positive reception by you know people driving by or taking the bus that was on Friday, October 24th.

And on Saturday, October 25th.

Um, was invited to be um one of the two guest speakers at the model United Nations Um Conference that the Incennel High School hosted, um, which was kind of fun because you know I I was on Insanel High School's model UN back in the day.

Um so it was a very fun to give a um just a brief speech.

But what was even more fun though is um uh my high school classmate, um, and we also went to Cal together, um also gave a speech, and he's now uh um fully tenured, well into uh into his many years now, um professor at uh U Penn and Ivy League school, you know, from from Encinel High School, he was a valedictorian of not only Insennel High School, but uh at his Cal Berkeley class, and he went on to become a professor in the Ivy Leagues at UPenn, so he gave a speech via Zoom.

So that was the fun for both of us because we were both, you know, Model UN guys at Instant L as well as Berkeley.

Who was that, Councilman?

Oh, his name is Rudra Sil, SIL.

Wow, Dr.

Rudrasil.

Very impressive.

Is focusing on um Soviet um politics, Russian politics.

Wow.

Um, uh Vice Mayor Pryor.

Um I have had no um city events, I've been doing other things.

So I have not done vice mayor things.

That's okay.

Councilmember Jensen.

Thank you.

Madam Mayor, if you, as we heard from a public commenter earlier, there was a recent youth walkout of Alameda, Alameda students, and on October 24th, I joined Alameda High School, youth power climate action students who walked out at lunchtime.

They walked out and came here to City Hall to talk about the legislation to protect the environment.

And the following Friday, the U.S.

Chamber of Commerce vice president of public affairs, Jennings Immal, was here in Alameda, and he shared information at the Chamber of Commerce with uh in a wide range of presentation about both federal changes, tariffs, and how Alameda businesses can respond to changes in federal business policy.

And um since the last city council meeting, I also had the opportunity to join a convening that Supervisor Nate Miley had with community members regarding illegal dumping in the community.

So at that meeting, I learned about what other Alameda County cities are doing to address the challenging issues of illegal dumping and with the hopes and objective of bringing a model ordinance which has been developed to here to the city of Alameda.

So I'm proud to represent Alameda on a number of boards and commissions as an appointee, as my colleagues all are as well.

And since the last city council meeting, I attended both the Alameda County stopwest and led abatement board meetings.

Finally, in my comments this Friday, everyone should be aware of that it's the Island Bowl football game between Anson and Alameda High.

And this year, for the first time, the Island Bowl on Friday will be televised and broadcast through a partnership with the Elks Club and the Alameda Theater.

So it starts at seven, I believe, and everyone should make it down there to see the see the island bowl on the big screen.

Finally, earlier we heard comments.

I have a minute or two left.

We heard comments from citizens wanting to explore and understand better the ways that Alameda supports residents who may be targeted by federal federal deployment in Alameda.

And um so I'd like to use the remainder of my time or a minute or two of my time to ask the city attorney to comment on activities that his office has taken to inform our residents.

Thank you, thank you, Councilmember.

Um I'm happy to share some of the work that the city attorney's office is doing on in this area, and perhaps in a larger context as well.

And to begin with, um, with much appreciation to the council's strong support, uh the city of Alameda has joined many local jurisdictions as co-plaintiffs in two separate litigations against the federal government in order to protect Alameda's federal grant funds and challenge unconstitutional funding conditions, which requires the city to cooperate with immigration enforcement and prohibits the city from DEI activities.

These litigations seek to ensure that the city continues to receive federal funds to support vital local initiatives, including transportation, community development, housing, human services, and emergency response.

In addition to that, the city attorney's office has just onboarded its first um part-time victim services advocate.

Much appreciation to the council support there.

We expect this victim services activist advocate to provide a wide range of services across uh the city of Alameda and it uh particularly in supporting um persons with limited access to the criminal justice system, which could include uh people with um uh uh immigration concerns, and so we look forward to supporting all of our neighbors to ensure that they have the right to access to justice.

Thank you.

Thank you both.

Is that all for you, Councilmember?

That's all for you, Councilmember Jensen.

Yes.

Um, so I will go through this quick quickly.

Um uh October 22nd and 23rd were um I was supposed to be attending an a Metropolitan Transportation Commission workshop in Walnut Creek, and I did, but as I was on my way to San Francisco, because first we had an MGC meeting in San Francisco.

Then we all hopped on BART, or a lot of us did and went to Walnut Creek.

But on the ferry over to San Francisco, I got a text from a friend in Alameda saying, is it true that Customs and Border Patrol is being sent to Coast Guard Island?

And I said what I often say, let me check.

And I texted off to some folks at City Hall and got kind of the same information.

But by the time I think I landed in San Francisco, the Chronicle had all already broken the story.

And then it was just pretty wild, all the outreach from the news media, and we just didn't know much.

But I um got back from Walnut Creek that evening, and then you know, texts from the news media, and the next day the 23rd, I needed to be back in Walnut Creek at 8 a.m.

But first I needed to do a seven, maybe it was nine, I had to be there, but I had to do a 7 a.m.

on-camera interview with some network, I don't remember which, so I was at the office early, and I kept having to I got to Walnut Creek, but I kept having to step out of the meeting because the governor's office texted or messaged however they communicated.

Governor wants all the mayors and the supervisors in the area that's affected to be on a Zoom.

So that was informative.

And then the next day, Friday the 24th, our Congresswoman Latifa Simon was in town, and she had already extended an invitation to the seven mayors that are in her congressional district, which is seven of the 14 mayors of Alameda County were all in her district, and we could invite our city managers or alleged directors.

I brought um Sarah Henry, our communications and legislative analyst, and it was really informative just to learn here from our fellow mayors in her district how the federal shutdown is impacting us, how federal funding that even that we'd been granted that wasn't clawed back, wasn't forthcoming, and then we did a um press conference with lots of members of the press.

Then I was at the elected breakfast at the state of the estuary.

Um City Manager, I wonder if you wanted to share some soccer related news.

She's a soccer player too.

Yes, sure.

Yeah.

Yes, we have some good news that um Alameda and the training facility, the Roots training facility has been selected as a potential site of a World Cup team as part of the World Cup in next summer and 2026.

Uh, we don't know what team yet, but we're in the running, and so that's pretty exciting, and we do hope that that will help our hotels that are out there, as well as most likely Park Street, possibly other retailers, South Shore, and other retail that will have an economic benefit to the city, but also just a great fun community spirit too.

Yeah, no, we're pretty excited.

Um it was a nice email to get, and I will say that I think it's this Friday.

Um, I will be on a Zoom call.

They wanted the mayors of the different cities that were selected, along with um Abby Thorne Lyman, our base for use and economic development director and Sarah Henry, are we gonna be learning what what's um what to expect?

And I do know from talking to the roots people that the teams are um they are deciding, they're out and about.

Some of them are coming out to um Alameda to the Roots facility at Harbor Bay Business Park to take a look.

It's I think it's pretty um pretty high on the list just because it was the training facility for the Oakland Raiders and NFL team.

It is solely a soccer training facility now.

It's not a college stadium.

I mean college stadiums are great, but it will be some teams, World Cup teams training base for the the games, and then games will be played at Levi Stadium in San Jose, so pretty exciting stuff.

And then this Friday, in addition to the island bowl, there is the veterans dinner that the Elks Club puts on at the Elks Hall.

I'm thinking that maybe after the dinner we'll zip over to the theater.

I don't know, but um, I do um I do hope that um it's probably sold out.

It's always very, very um popular.

And then I want to just say a little bit about things that we heard in and um under public comment.

It's always a little um frustrating because you want to say, Oh, I I can answer that, but you can't because it's public comment, however, um I write a monthly newsletter, a newspaper article, and I submitted it last night.

Wasn't supposed to come out till the end of the week, but I'm told the East Bay Times published it today, and I think the Alameda Post is publishing tomorrow.

But what I did say is that what we tell people to do, we had less than 24 hours notice that this was happening at Coast Guard Island.

However, as a city, we do not have the ability and the authority to tell the president he can't send federal troops to a secure military facility that is albeit within our city limits, but again, a secure military facility.

However, the Alameda County Sheriff, Yesenia Sanchez, let it be known that her deputies would not permit provide permit perimeter security, and Alameda Police Department did not provide backup.

They were called to report because there was a shooting and they did some um crime scene investigation very capably.

But what we want people to know is that you should be aware of your rights.

And on the city's website, Alameda CA.gov, if you type know your rights into the search box, there's lots of good information.

But in the meantime, if you think you see ICE in action, you suspect ICE activity in progress, or if you or someone you know has been detained, there is help available.

There's a phone number.

Take it down.

It is 510-241-4011.

That's 510241-4011, and that is the number for the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership Hotline for verification of ICE activity, rapid response, and immigrant legal services.

And again, as I said, more information on the city's website.

You heard our state senator Jesse Adagien say earlier that the legislature had allocated money for some of these legal programs.

I think this is probably one of them.

So while we keep all of that in mind, and we all have our First Amendment rights to protest, government actions, things that we object to peacefully.

I also want to remind everyone, and I said this in my newspaper article because I've been getting emails from Coast Guard families, and they feel like they're under attack when they are as chagrined as the rest of us, many of them are.

And so what I told people, and I want to say now is that Alameda is a proud official U.S.

Coast Guard city, one of only a handful across the country, and we take that honor and privilege seriously.

We are home to hundreds of Coast Guard members and their families who live, work, and attend school here in Alameda.

They volunteer in the community at our food bank, at the library's book book sale, the Friends of the Library book sale, and many more things, scouting for food, and they support local businesses and the women and men who serve in the U.S.

Coast Guard, perform valuable services every day, including maritime rescue operations, drug interdiction, and protecting America's ports and waterways.

And they do this work across the globe 24-7.

They are a part of the Department of Homeland Security, and they take their orders from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

So again, while the First Amendment provides the right to peacefully protest government actions, it is important to remember that these service members deserve our respect, our gratitude for the work they do for this nation every day.

And so that is the end of my remarks, and we go next to Mayor's nomination.

I have one nomination, one set of interviews I've been able to do since the last meeting, and that is to the Mosquito Abatement Board, which actually does some pretty cool work to protect us all around the county.

It's a countywide board from things like West Nile disease and Dengue fever.

So, Madam Clerk, we need to.

Do you want to read that item or do I just um?

You can just make it.

This is the one where I just met.

Okay, so my nominee, his name is Nicholas, it's pronounced Shawzek, and you will get to meet him at the next meeting because he'll come to have his nomination voted on and hopefully approved by all of you.

Um has lived in Alameda for a number of years.

Um, well, he's a U.S.

Naval Academy graduate.

He holds a master's degree in international relations and an MBA from George Washington University in DC.

He has served in the United States Marine Corps and he is currently a business strategy consultant.

He's also the father of twins who are almost six years old and a three-year-old.

He's an avid cyclist who rides with his kids, you know, in one of those carriers on his bike around the city.

And he is my nominee to serve on the state, the countywide Mosquito Abatement Board.

There's a representative from every one of the 14 cities, and um the county supervisors, I believe, too, have representatives on this board, and they are representative will make um a report to us once a year after they are um appointed.

And then finally we come to adjournment, and this evening I am going to adjourn our council member meeting in the honor and memory of an Alameda resident, longtime Alameda resident named Gretchen Lippau.

And in the audience is her daughter Jennifer Roloff, who, speaking of volunteers who give of their time and talent, Jennifer served many years on our commission on persons with disabilities, and she was kind enough to give me some background on her mother.

Um Gretchen Lippau was a lifetime activist.

She went to UC Berkeley in the 1960s, which I think by definition would just make you an activist.

She was an active member of the free speech movement at Cal.

And she continued advocating for women's rights, equal rights, civil rights in the U.S.

and globally.

She began teaching in Alameda in 1971 and was an active member of the Alameda Teachers Union and served as a state delegate and president of the state teachers union.

She stayed active in her retirement.

I never knew her not to be active, serving as the president of the retireers teachers union.

You'll be a member someday.

Gretchen and her late husband Arthur founded the American Alameda Public Affairs Forum, a voluntary nonprofit, nonpartisan educational group.

And they discussed all kinds of timely topics because I remember seeing the notices.

She was also a board member of the Alameda Citizens Task Force and was often out in the community petitioning and supporting ballot initiatives.

And her her daughter Jennifer, who grew up walking with Gretchen in many marches, says of her mother, she thought globally but acted locally.

Gretchen Lippau is survived by her three children, and together with Arthur, her six granddaughters, all granddaughters, who all miss her so much.

And what I will say is that Gretchen and I were not always on the same side of political issues, but I always admired her.

She was always so smart, so sharp, articulate, outspoken, but also so polite.

And just she would talk to anyone.

It's an example we could use more of these days.

And so for all the contributions she made to her community, but far beyond, um, we adjourned tonight's Alameda City Council meeting in memory and honor of Gretchen Lippo.

So if we could have a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone.

And Jennifer, thank you for sharing your mom with us all those years.

Thank you.

All right, the council is adjourned, but not really.

We um, y'all, we're gonna be back.

It's 9 36.

Do you you think we could be just returned from closed session, the um second uh segment um installment of closed session this evening, and it still is Tuesday, November 4th.

Um so I'm gonna ask our city clerk, Laura Weisiger to please report out on any council actions that were taken.

Um regarding 4C, which was um conference with uh legal counsel for potential litigation with the potential defendant of the Port of Oakland.

Uh city staff provided information and counsel provided direction with no vote taken, and regarding 4E, which was um existing litigation um of various cases with Hickman and Stilltown Winery, um staff provided information and council provided direction by five eyes.

All right, thank you so much, um city clerk.

And with that, this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you, staff.

Thank you.