To reopening the facility for immigration.

And there is a link that I will share with you as well as members of the public to register that position.

And it is actionnetwork.org slash petitions slash ice out of Dublin.

Thank you.

I can't see Marquez.

Thank you, President Albert.

Good morning, everyone.

Getting used to this new technology.

I do hear some background as that coming from the Zoom.

Okay.

It sounds like it stopped.

Okay.

Um good morning, everyone.

I just wanted to uh note I'm really appreciative of AC Health and Behavioral Health team that held a CPEG meeting last week.

Um, my chief of staff was able to attend.

I know that Supervisor Miley was there, and uh just really want to flag that we are grappling not only with the impacts of HR1, but also uh proposition one, and we are learning specifically from the behavioral health collaborative here in Alameda County, the detrimental impacts of 15,000 patients that could potentially lose uh services, and these are vulnerable community members, not only the community members that are receiving the care, but also the individuals that are providing the care.

These are significant impacts.

Although I do not sit on health committee, I just want to pledge my support to bring this item back to the full board for further discussion and exploring options for potential bridge funding and solutions.

This is truly an all hands on deck moment, not only uh grappling the impacts of uh HR1, but we need to collectively have a conversation here on the board also with respect to proposition one.

So um supervisor Miley isn't here, but just really um want to let him know that I led to partner with him and Supervisor Tam that sit on the health committee.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I would like to echo comments made by my colleagues, especially Supervisor Fortunately Bass, recognizing the struggles that we have and our efforts in Dublin.

With that said, we'll uh conclude board of supervisors' remarks and move to the next item on our agenda, which is public comment on all items on the agenda except items listed as set matters.

The one o'clock set matter.

If you choose to stay and tune in for that will be uh heard at one o'clock for now, public comment on items that are on the agenda except for the set matter will be heard.

We'll take in-person speakers first three and then rotate to online.

I'll ask the clerk to please call the first three in-person speakers.

President Halbert, before we move on, um, I'd like to provide instructions in order to clarify how people can join and sure provide comment.

Detailed instructions are provided in the teleconferencing guidelines.

A link to the document is included in today's agenda to view an automated translated transcript or listen to an automated translated audio of the meeting from English into multiple other languages.

Please utilize the wordly link in today's agenda or the QR codes posted throughout the room and select your preferred language from the drop-down menu.

If you're joining the meeting using a computer, use the button at the bottom of your screen to raise your hand to request a speak.

When called to speak, please unmute your microphone and state your name.

If you're calling in, dial star nine to raise your hand to speak.

When you're called to speak, the host will enable you to speak.

If you decide not to speak, notify the clerk when your call is unmuted, or you may simply hang up and dial back into the meeting.

When called, you'll have two minutes to speak.

Please limit your remarks to the time allocated.

Okay, thank you very much.

With that said, if you're online, raise your hand.

If you're in the room, please fill out a speaker slip and the clerk will rotate the first three in the room.

The first three in-person speakers are Brian Hoff, item 44, Reem Suleiman, pardon me, item 44 and Madeline Stacy.

Item 44.

Good morning, Supervisors.

Brian Hofer here on behalf of Secure Justice.

I won't regurgitate the content of my letter submitted to you yesterday.

We give you plenty of reasons to vote no.

I'm going to encourage you to see this as a clear opportunity to draw a firm line against unethical and unlawful conduct.

I urge you to unanimously reject this contract proposal and pursue alternatives that align with the values that you repeatedly and publicly affirm.

Because when this county proclaims its sanctuary status while simultaneously allowing sensitive data to flow out the back door to hostile agencies with obviously different agendas.

That contradiction isn't just symbolic, it's deceptive.

These words without action erode public trust.

You guys have taken wonderful, meaningful steps in the right direction the past year.

The work of the Together for All committee deserves recognition.

Thank you, Supervisors Bass Marquez for leading that.

And thank you to all of you for funding some of those recommendations and implementing policies.

Give credit to the sheriff for ending the SCAP program.

That was a serious data privacy vulnerability.

But those steps are overshadowed by the fact pattern.

Your sheriff is the number one abuser and violator of SB 34, the law that pertains to license plate reader use.

That's based on our firsthand analysis of all California.

Rejecting this contract today is not just the ethical choice, it is the prudent one.

Continuing down this path exposes you to ongoing massive legal liability, which at the present is so significant, it will threaten your ability to deliver essential public services.

I live here.

That's not our goal, but we will insist on accountability.

Your vote today will determine not whether accountability comes, but how severe it must be.

Thank you for listening.

Could I uh probe deeper on that?

Did you say I want to make sure I'm clear?

I thought I heard you say that our sheriff has violated the law.

Yes.

Okay.

Just wanted to know.

Thank you.

Okay.

Hi.

Uh my name is Reem Saluman, an Oakland resident and senior campaign director at Fight for the Future and anti-surveillance and uh nonprofit dedicated to free expression online.

You know, we're all watching right now in real time the harrowing ways in which things like drones and license plate readers and cameras are the weapons used by the ICE thugs in Minnesota to carry out their brutal raids.

These attacks are here, maybe in a lesser degree, but coming to the Bay Area and to the state.

Some of you may have built your career on the values that at least nominally aim to protect the immigrants in your community.

Laws like SB 34, which prevents ALPR data from being shared with federal agencies were written to prevent our data from ICE to carry out what we're seeing in Minnesota.

And yet the Alameda County Sheriff's Department has shared this data to non-California agencies thousands of times, and hundreds of these agencies are direct ICE program partners.

To approve flock cannot even be called negligence at this point.

It can only be seen as an intentional snubbing of the law and approval of ICE in our communities, which is why I would urge you to please vote no on item 44.

Thank you so much for your time.

Madeline Stacy, long time Oakland resident.

Um 44.

Contract extensions normalize and expand surveillance.

I urge you to not continue down the path of expanding mass surveillance infrastructure, especially through a vendor with mounting national controversy, data sharing violations like SB 34 and instability, and also increasing your legal exposure, as has been mentioned.

And I urge you to take the responsible path, reject the extension, terminate the relationship, disable and remove the existing cameras, and pursue alternatives that do not require building a long-term location intelligence database and have open procurement process.

Thank you.

Jackie, go ahead.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, good morning, chair and members of the board.

I'm speaking today in strong support of agenda item 44, the extension of contract with Flock Safety for their ALPR system through June 30th, 2026.

This proven technology has been a game changer for public safety in unincorporated Alameda County, helping our sheriff's office arrest violent criminals, recover stolen vehicles, and solve more crimes faster.

It's exactly the kind of smart, effective tool law enforcement needs to keep our communities safe.

Flock stands out with this advanced law enforcement grade features that integrate seamlessly with other systems, all while complying with California law and offering a built-in transparency.

The data belongs to the sheriff's office and strict policies ensure proper handling and purging.

In a time when certain political leaders in our county, architects of a failed defund the police movement, continue to undermine law enforcement and even tolerate or enable illegal acts of violence against officers.

We cannot afford to weaken our tools for fighting crime.

It is imperative that we fully support our sheriff's office with every available resource to apprehend dangerous criminals, including criminal illegal invaders who prey on our residents.

That's why I also applaud the federal administration's bold decision to open the illegal invader detention center in Dublin, California, a critical step towards securing our borders, deporting threats, and restoring law and order against the chaos of open border policies.

This modest contract extension is a common sense investment in law and order, protecting families and restoring safety over soft on crime policies that have already proven disastrous.

I urge the board to approve item 44 without delay.

Thank you.

Before we go to the next speaker, I'm just going to remind the people in the room of the decorum that we keep in our chambers.

We would ask that you not interrupt the meeting.

So let's keep it professional, welcoming to all, respectful of all, and avoid disrupting the meeting.

I'll ask the book to call the next speaker.

John Lindsay Poland.

Go ahead.

Good morning.

Just want to let you know that with the new Zoom, the clock is not visible to those who are looking by Zoom, and also the chamber's camera is not pointed at the public speaker in the room.

I have looked at some of the video that is available to the public of Flock cameras of personal actions by people, all different kinds of things all over the country that is not.

There's no security on those cameras.

So they're accessible to anyone.

They're accessible to people uh law enforcement in states that prohibit um uh reproductive uh your abortions or people traveling to other states to get abortions, they're accessible to people who are stalking someone else, they're accessible to ICE agents, they're accessible to people who um want to take revenge on someone or want to steal from someone.

Um, these are all flock cameras, and it's a really important to note that this they're not just cameras, they're networked.

And that is the major selling point of flock, but it is also the major way in which it creates more vulnerabilities and more risks in the current environment.

So please, at the very least, pull this out, study it more, find other ways to try to achieve the public safety objectives that you want to achieve.

Thanks so much.

Alison, go ahead.

Hello, Alison Monroe here.

I'm a district three resident.

I urge you to vote against item 44 on renewing the flock safety camera camera contract.

And I'd like us to turn off the flock safety cameras.

Um in this county, we value a multicultural welcoming democratic environment.

And we need to line up on the side of that future.

And not let agents let not let companies come in and pull us into a surveillance network.

Apparently, the sheriff has done that with flock safety data.

It can be done.

Flock safety has discretion to do whatever it wants with this data as a practical matter.

We don't want to be part of that because we oppose roundups by a road government agency, not only of immigrants, but of people who oppose the fascist project.

Therefore, I urge you to cut flock safety off.

The next three in-person speakers are Justin Wobold on 44, Jesse Rosemore on 44, and Alex on item 44.

Hi, Council.

My name is Justine Webold, and I'm a constituent of District 5.

Over 20 cities across the country have now canceled their contracts with Flock in Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, and Massachusetts, raising alarm after alarm on the harms and dangers of Flock.

Many more, including Richmond, have paused the use of the cameras as they investigate potential abuses.

And even Santa Cruz has recently canceled its contract.

Now you too are presented with the opportunity to legally terminate Alameda County's relationship with Flock.

None of the cities above have seen crime rates spike since ending their contracts.

None of them have gone back because there's no evidence that Flock helped them in the first place.

Flock is one of the major tools that a fascist federal government is using to create a mass dragnet surveillance network that can track the movements of individuals seamlessly and indiscriminately.

The primary use of that network currently is to track and target immigrants for deportations.

This has been clearly and widely documented across the country.

Please choose to protect our communities by canceling this contract rather than extending and expanding.

Thank you.

Hi, this is on.

I'd like to present to you this whistle that I have on my keychain.

And I just want you to know that I attach this whistle to my keychain because I know that when our masked thugs come to our community and brutalize our neighbors and kidnap people and murder people, this and our neighbors are the only thing that we have to keep us safe.

And I'm sure you understand this to a degree because your last meeting and your opening remarks, you honor the lives of Alex Predi, Renee Good, and Keith Porter.

And at the very next meeting, you buried this in your consent calendar.

We found out about out about this on Thursday.

And I just, you know, saw the ice-free zones thing.

Apparently, that's only being uh implemented with cease and desist orders.

So you had a discussion item is at 3:30 in the afternoon, ample notice for people to come speak.

And I am it's interesting to me that this item is buried in your consent calendar.

There should be a lot of discussion about something that is a tool, as you all know, for that same administration that murdered the three people that you honored to use against us in our community when they come here.

We dealt with this in the city of Oakland.

We had our city council betray us a couple months ago and expand and extend their contract with Flock.

Every trick in the book was used by them.

Brown Act violations, last minute uh announcements, and all kinds of nonsense.

And I gotta tell you, in 2025, we warned our city council about Flock, and in 2026, we are warning our neighbors about our city council.

And our names are better people.

They hate ICE, they hate Flock, and they are so angered to learn what their elected officials are doing to them in the city of Oakland.

So I urge you to do the right thing today.

Cancel this contract.

Thank you, welcome.

Hey, um, yeah, so I think one thing that I want to bring up that maybe folks are not familiar with the issue of Mountain View, Mountain View City in the Bay Area.

Recently, five days ago, had to shut off their cameras because the feds outside agencies have access them, right?

Y'all all have computers in front of you.

Just look that up if you want.

This comes how many months after that fool, Trevor Chandler in the back promised you that that was not allowed.

Right?

He came up in front of the Oakland City Council, and he said national lookup is disabled, federal outside agencies cannot access your data, right?

He said that for all of California.

The Oakland PD said that.

They lied to you guys.

They lied to Oakland City, they lied to the residents, and then we said it's gonna happen again.

And look what happened.

It happened again.

In Mountain View, they've had to now shut off their cameras, and they're stuck in a position where they've allotted funds to and relied on a database that they are now realizing, lied to them, right?

As Jesse just said, all you guys have at the end of the day to enforce to fight back against ICE is the people.

Look at what happens when California passes legislation like the mask ban in LA.

The police say we are not going to enforce it.

Look it up.

The police just said we're not going to enforce the laws unless we want to.

Whatever privacy restrictions you guys put in place, whatever considerations, whatever you pass, it it comes down to the power of people to back you up.

And the people right now are not on your side.

Right.

We can't poll across and figure out exactly where everyone stands.

But when you see people turn out in the streets, they're not behind Flock.

They're not behind these fake measures.

Anyway, thank you.

Mindy, go ahead.

Hi, this is Mindy Petchenuk.

I'm a candidate for Oakland Mayor 2026, and I strongly support the flock cameras.

And I am calling on this board of supervisors to absolutely pass this extension.

I have done and talked with a lot of police officers, and clearly I'll tell you these flock cameras help them to stop and solve crime.

And Oakland and this county has been plagued with too much crime, too many murders, too much drug abuse.

And the common sense thing is to absolutely have these flock cameras.

And I can tell you, knowing police officers and sheriffs, they honor the laws, and they do not violate the laws.

And right now, the amount of crime and people being killed or wounded because of illegal immigration.

Let's call it what it is, is now time to solve these things for the legal citizens of Oakland and Alameda counties, whose rights come from our U.S.

Constitution and the beautiful 250th birthday of our country.

So I am calling on everyone on the board of Supervisors to absolutely pass this extension of the flock cameras and to keep people in this county safe and productive again.

Thank you, Rebecca.

Go ahead.

Hello, supervisors.

My name's Rebecca Gurney, and I'm speaking on behalf of East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, which provides legal and social services to immigrants, the majority of whom live in Alameda County.

Every day we hear from people who are too afraid to leave their homes for fear that they will be kidnapped and never see their families again.

And this board has taken great steps to advocate and stand up for our immigrant communities.

We believe that the contract extension with Flock will continue to put Oakland immigrant residents in grave danger.

Over the past months, Flock has violated contracts with other sanctuary cities by sharing their data with the federal government for immigration enforcement and lying about it.

Their various pilot programs and backdoor access points make it next to impossible for cities and counties to even know how much of their residence data has been shared.

Already, the feds have accessed Alameda County's ALPR data in violation of SB 34.

As a result of these violations, many cities have paused or terminated their contracts with Flock, including most recently our neighbors in Santa Cruz and Mountain View.

In the face of these mountain concerns on Flock, why would Alameda County choose to continue to invest in the very surveillance infrastructure that will be weaponized against our immigrant neighbors, healthcare seekers, and advocates and activists standing up for our communities.

I want my friends and neighbors to feel safe going to school, work, and business without fear that their location is being tracked and can be easily shared with the federal government without Alameda County's knowledge.

There are other options for public safety.

Please vote no on the Flock Contract extension.

Please unmute.

John Guerrero, go ahead.

Yeah.

I live in Fremont and it's been voted the uh happiest city in the nation.

San Jose is uh number two.

Fremont has had automatic license plate readers for over 10 years now.

And when they first put it in, they saw a uh drop in uh domestic crime.

Well, I think it's burglaries and stuff of 27% the very first year.

And they swear by it.

And the people of Fremont swear by it.

They had a uh, I think it was 2018, they had a you know a vote over at the uh the city hall.

85% of the people said they were very happy with it.

We're we're the happiest uh city in in the nation.

Number two is San Jose, and uh they use it for uh parking violations, that sort of thing.

Um, you don't have to relate that.

I mean, it's it's uh crime that doesn't have to happen.

And you can use technology for that.

And if if you have if your cities are crime free, they will be ice-free.

Ice is not gonna come into a perfectly safe city and start pulling people off the street.

That is not happening.

But if you are safe, they won't come in.

If you have a lot of crime, yeah.

And if it happens to be, you know, uh immigrant related, then they'll be here.

And they won't open any, you know, facilities in Dublin or anywhere if they don't have to.

There is, you know, I don't understand this.

You you open a facility and you have to fill it.

That's like saying I'm gonna build a jail and I'm gonna go around pick people off the street and fill it up.

That's not the way it works.

It's because you have a problem, and so they need to build a facility.

Alameda County doesn't have that problem.

So they won't build, you know, uh, they won't open up Dublin because there's not a problem.

The next three in-person speakers are Gianna Ruggiero, Charlotte, and Edward Escobar, all speaking on item 44.

Good morning.

My name is Charlotte.

I want to bring a couple things, bring up a couple things that I think are obvious that I didn't hear discussed in the Oakland City Council when they were debating Flock, but I hope deliberations in this body will go a little differently.

First of all, Flock was not created to be a force enhancer for beleaguered police departments.

It was created because tech oligarchs need a new market to expand into, and law enforcement at every level in this country has cash to burn on surveillance tech.

ICE has the deepest pockets to the tune of tens of billions, but big tech is exploiting paranoia at every level of government.

It's the same law and order stuff as always, mixed with some real blood and soil shit that we've been hearing this morning.

This brings me to my second point, which is that even if Flock and ICE and the sheriff's department all play by the rules, if you pass this measure, you've given money to a company directly aiding and abetting an authoritarian takeover of our government and a racist kidnapping of our main neighbors.

That should not sit right with you.

We are depending on you to show the backbone necessary for real leadership.

That means not pretending it's business as usual and pretending you don't see what's happening in Minneapolis and LA and Chicago.

Can we count on you or can we not?

Thank you.

Hello, my name's Gianna Rogero.

This is my first time doing this.

So I want you to know how important this is to me.

Uh, I urge you to vote no on this, please.

Uh I'm 44.

Um, I just need to start off by telling you there are no ethical AI companies out there.

Um, their whole business model is based off of building giant data centers, eroding public health, uh using mass water to for, you know, to basically ruin our environment.

Um I've uh spoke to my council member about this who has told me that Flock has done amazing things.

Uh it feels really gross to me to invoke higher motions um for high pro high profile cases in order to justify the erosions of our rights or fourth amendment rights.

Um millions are being spent on this.

I ask you not to do this.

Um, I understand wanting safer cities, but flock is not the solution we need.

We need community-based outreach.

We need this money to be put into the hands of our community leaders, not AI tech billionaires.

Uh Baltimore, just as an example, Baltimore Safer Streets program has lowered the number of homicides in the city by 41% from more than uh for um from more than 300 a year in 2021 to 201 in 2024.

Um, not using tech of any means, but by local community leaders who care and know about the people of their city.

I urge you please do not vote on this.

Um is just terrible.

Um, and please do not fund tech billionaires, fund our city, support our city, support our people, take care of our people, please.

Thank you.

My name is Edward Escobar, founder of a coalition for community engagement.

I'm here on behalf of the families in unincorporated Alameda County.

These communities too often overlooked, under resourced, and forced to absorb the fallout of decisions made right here.

Let's speak plainly.

Our neighborhoods, Cherryland, Auschwitz, Ashland, San Lorenzo, Castro Valley sit directly on the border of Oakland, now known nationally as one of the most lawless cities in America.

And while Oakland dominates the headlines, it is our residents, especially Hispanics.

And these families and other communities of color are paying the price for a crime wave that they did not create.

When violence spills across the city lines, it doesn't stop to check jurisdiction.

It lands where people have the least political power, the least media attention, and the least margin for error.

That is exactly what is happening here today.

In unincorporated Alameda County, Latino families are disproportionately targeted, robberies, carjackings, assaults, property crimes.

These are working class, multi-generational immigrant households.

They are the backbone of this county and country.

Yet they are treated as collateral damage in a regional crisis.

And here's the truth the Alameda County Sheriff's Office is one of the few agencies actually turning the tide.

They've recovered stolen vehicles, identified violent offenders, and stop criminals who use our unincorporated areas as escape routes from Oakland.

Tools like flocks, license plate readers help deputies respond quickly, track suspects accurately, and bring justice to families who would otherwise be forgotten.

It also reduces the need for high-speed chases.

And let's be honest about who's opposing this today.

The same individuals who pushed the defund the police movement, who weaken law enforcement, who helped usher in this crime wave to begin with, and who represent the nonprofit grifters draining resources and destabilizing our county.

They have their chance to our communities.

I'll remind the audience a second time before we discontinue the meeting.

No outbursts like that.

We will cut the meeting short if we hear it again.

Crystal, go ahead.

Hi, my name is Crystal Carrillo.

I am a resident uh here in the city of Oakland.

Um I recently moved here, and uh I just wanted to share my thoughts today on the flock cameras.

Um, I, you know, as as somebody that has lived in a lot of big cities, I'm originally from LA, I was born in California.

I know for a fact that people think that crime is tied to, you know, or police are tied to fixing crime and making cities safer.

I have to disagree.

Um, I think the way in which we actually keep our community safer, not just here but everywhere, is to invest in our community and ensure that we have more resources, uh more resources on the ground, things like access to food, access to good education, um, ensuring that, like, for example, we have great infrastructure.

As somebody that lives in downtown Oakland, there are potholes everywhere.

Why are we not investing money into things like that?

Why are we not investing money into ensuring that our communities are kept safe?

I believe that flock cameras are only going to increase surveillance on everybody.

And that means everyone is going to be collateral damage.

I'm hearing a lot of sentiment around, you know, cameras fixing crime.

That is not going to fix crime.

It is going to make all of us more unsafe.

And so I please urge you to not vote and not give more money to these, you know, already high corporate and yeah, just high high corporate entities and rich billionaires.

I think that the money needs to go back into the community and it needs to go back into funding infrastructure and ensuring that we can keep us safe.

Um, and that's yeah, that's all of what I want to say.

Thank you.

Emma, go ahead.

Hello there.

Uh, my name is Emma.

I am a resident of district three in Oakland.

I would like to ask if, as a hypothetical, if you would allow me to leave a camera in your home.

I I promise to not look at it.

In fact, I'll let you look at it, and you can use it to look at the things in your home.

Uh, that would be really nice.

But please don't tamper with the camera.

That is uh that is my property, actually.

Um, and if I would like to know if that would be possible.

As a hypothetical, if you feel uncomfortable with this hypothetical, that is essentially what Flock is asking of us.

They're asking that they may place their cameras in our city or in our county, rather.

Um, in our county, it is theirs.

And we are promising that, yes, you can keep them around for however long this contract goes for.

Um, and yes, we have access to the data, but that doesn't mean the data is necessarily ours.

It is stored on their own databases, and as data brokers, they're free to sell to the highest bidder if if they please.

Um, I don't believe that this is a good move for safety in our county.

I understand that this is useful for law enforcement agencies, it is a useful tool, but it works both ways.

I believe that due to the low security protocols on these cameras and how they're networked.

It is very easy for uh what is the word here for people with ill intent to also take advantage of this.

Um I certainly would not like to be followed home on these cameras by strangers.

Um so thank you so much.

Emma Tolman.

Go ahead.

Emma, please unmute.

You have two minutes.

Emma Tolman.

Tosh.

Go ahead.

Hi, this is Tash.

Um, I live in Supervisor Miley's district, and I work in Supervisor Lamb's district.

Uh, uh Tam's district, um, in the Fruit Vale um at Restore Oakland, and I'm calling in to oppose item 44.

Um, we echo a lot of the thoughtful comments made by many speakers highlighting the dangers of Flock, not only to immigrants, refugees, and people of color in our community, but also to your board and to the sheriff's department who will inevitably experience the continuing erosion of public trust if you continue to pursue policies that directly contradict your stated values and your ability to protect our marginalized community members.

We heard an earlier speaker share their explicit support for Flock, comes from their desire to fight quote unquote illegal invaders, and she warned of the dangers that immigrant communities bring to Alameda County, allowing the racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric spewed by the feds to seep into our county policies is unconscionable, and that's what we will be doing if you expand or maintain contracts with Flock.

We've seen Los Altos, Santa Cruz, and Mountain View all make the simple choice to end this contract for practical and legal reasons, and we can do the same, and I urge you to do so.

Additionally, with all of the data, tools and technology and surveillance under the sheriff's tool belt, we are still seeing unarmed residents shot and killed as recently as yesterday by the same department.

We don't need more tools.

We actually just need to be protecting our communities and resourcing life affirming um resources.

Thank you.

The next three in-person speakers are Chris Moore speaking on item 44.

Brenda Grisham speaking on item 44, Antoine speaking on item 44.

Thank you, Chris Moore.

Um Alameda County should approve the flock safety contract because it's a practical prudent approach and public safety tool.

It helps law enforcement solve crimes, recover stolen vehicles, and protect residents and small businesses.

Especially in the underserved areas like unincorporated Alameda County, where I actually have some uh tenants that live there.

And resources are also typically stretched in.

Let's be clear about the opposition that we're hearing today.

Mr.

Hoffer and Secure Justice are attempting to remain relevant after we worked with the Oakland City Council to have him remove from the privacy commission.

Their approach is familiar.

Help right legislation, then litigate under that legislation.

The model's been publicly criticized by not only in Oakland, but also supervisor in San Francisco, Matt Dorsey, who described this as legislate and then litigate.

Approach which is deeply problematic and costly for the public.

The debate's not about protecting privacy, it's about ideology.

Mr.

Hoffer's arguments are recycled from an era when police were restrained through policy choices that weakened public safety across our county.

The results were predictable.

Uh results were predictable, and we had less response and failures across our community.

Um, and in response to those failures, cities across Alameda County, including Berkeley and very recently Oakland have turned to tools like Flock cameras because they work.

The data collected by these cameras is controlled by cities and counties, Alameda County, not by Flock.

The county sets the rules on the access, retention, and sharing.

Flock does not own the data and cannot use it or share it independently.

Please vote yes.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Brenda Grisham.

I haven't been here in a while.

It's nice to see all of you.

I'm here in support of item 44, the Flock cameras.

We were instrumental in it passing in city council.

It wasn't just because of the city council, it was because of the citizens of Oakland, Alameda County, immigrants stood up for the need for these measures.

We don't have enough bodies, so we have to lean on technology.

There is not going to be any technology that you're not going to have opposition for.

Flock didn't just get here, so we have to work with what we have.

We can't allow to start, stop, and keep going back and forth.

First of all, I want to thank the sheriffs for the work that they have been doing in Alameda County and incorporate areas and incorporated areas.

They have stepped in with all law enforcement.

And so we need to give them their just due.

And if they need flock cameras, we need to keep extending the contract as long as we have to until we feel that it's not relevant right now.

It's relevant, it's helping our citizens, our business owners, in which I stand for all of those.

I'm a business owner in Oakland.

And, you know, I strongly urge you to vote yes on item 44.

So I'm an immigrant, I'm Asian, I work with the Asian community, but I'm also working with the Latino community every day.

Ever since I worked in the fields picking tomatoes as an illegal minor working.

So I'm familiar with the issues of deportation and ICE.

Where would you guys?

When I was the lone voice at the Oakland Privacy Commission, raising concerns about the 60,000 residents that were in danger of being deported when we introduced mass surveillance in the form of rent registry that collected personal identifying information without explicit consent.

Because that's information that ICE really needs.

What happens is immigrants try to cross the border.

They don't succeed the first time, they get fingerprinted, but then second or third time they successfully move through, they're part of a community and they help do the work for very little pay and they work very hard.

But ICE doesn't know where they live.

The rent registry says who you are and where you live.

And with that, they have fingerprint and they could deport you and break up families.

I spoke up on behalf of the immigrants years ago, in fear that Trump might be re-elected.

I was the lone voice.

I'm in favor of Flock because it only captures publicly available information that you're required to display on roads.

Immigrants that have been deported by Flock, as far as I know, zero.

Criminals that have been taken off the streets, violent criminals every day by Flock, 2,200.

Number of cities that might have to cancel Flock, 20.

Number cities that Flock, over 5,000.

Do your math.

Don't fuck math.

Common sense.

The city of Oakland studied this issue at nausea.

Seven to one vote to keep Flock, beat Flock.

Keep public safety.

Thank you.

Caller, you're on the line.

You have two minutes.

Can you hear me?

Are you here?

Yes, go ahead.

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

This is Gerald Petrick.

Sorry for my petulant uh uh computer earlier.

So uh yes, Steve Tabaras recommended a comment so we can write something about it in his column tomorrow.

Um I do strongly, strongly, strongly support item 44.

I have the statement from the sheriff.

The ALPR technology has been extremely beneficial since it was implemented by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

Use of the system has led to the arrest of violent offenders, an increased number of recovered stolen vehicles, and a significant decrease in violent overall crime.

So I don't remember um Senia Sanchez being a right-wing extremist.

I mean, this is just plain common sense.

And for the alliance of all together confederates who do not want to uphold law, who represent the you know, get rid of the police, get rid of police.

Uh I remind you of Rachel Moran, Kate Steinley, Molly Tabetz, and all of you in the Confederacy movement.

You gotta be alive.

You gotta have safety for you to keep pushing your political, uh, whatever you want to call the ideologies or nonsense.

So we all should stick together on this.

I support legal immigrants, I do not support illegal immigrants, just like slavery, the illegal immigrants have been slaves for the cheap labor to destroy unions, to destroy people, to destroy this nation.

This is a great nation.

This is USA 250.

We're a great nation, and that is what it's all about.

And you and your Emma Tolman.

Um, thank you so much.

Sorry, I was having tech issues before.

This is actually Natasha Speaker.

I'm a district five president, longtime uh um a resident of Oakland.

I strongly oppose the flock camera contract extension.

I want to point out first that just recently the Board of Supervisors approved two measures to limit ICE activity and cooperation in Alameda County.

And if the board votes to expand or to extend, excuse me, the flock contract, be comp the directly contradictory to the messaging and to the votes that the board of supervisors just put out telling us that they cared about community safety, that they care about immigrant safety, that they care about county law enforcement not cooperating with ICE and federal law enforcement.

Flock is like a massive loophole in that, and it just shows that maybe all that was done before would be lip service, and that you aren't actually prepared for the county to protect its residents when there would be um federal activity or supporting that, in fact.

Flock is known to cooperate with ICE and to share its data with a federal law enforcement.

It's obvious it's known, and the county would be going directly against what it just voted on.

And also it represents a trend that every time the sheriff's office asks for something, whether it's more weapons, the board of Supervisors just approves it without actually asking if that is necessary.

Everyone who is either for or against this measure has talked about the need for safety and the need for resources.

We're all in agreement that we want a safe community and a resource-rich community.

Flock does not provide either of those things.

I've lived here a long time.

We saw that there was an increase in crime for a couple of years coming out of the pandemic.

What was that related to?

A lack of resources.

Tons of people lost their jobs, lost their health insurance, homelessness increase.

There was a lack of resources.

Why have things stabilized now?

Because there has been economic uh um, there's been economic.

Tracy Rosenberg, go ahead.

Yes, thank you.

Good morning.

Tracy Rosenberg with Open Privacy.

I am a constituent of of Supervisor Boss.

Um speaking on item 44, I think the board would be well advised to listen to what the Mountain View police chief has actually said to the press and to the public and to his community just last week.

If you didn't um hear those comments, what he said is that they brought in Flock on a trial last couple of months, and they gave Flock clear instructions, and what those instructions said is we want to follow state law.

We don't want to share any of our data with the feds ever.

And if we share with any other police department, I the police chief need to sign off on it.

Those were the rules.

That was the agreement.

Flock said okay, and they blatantly broke that, broke those promises, broke those contractual agreements without his knowledge.

He found out in an audit report that in fact Mountain View's data had been shared with numerous uh federal agencies, not just once, but over and over and over again, and plenty of other police departments with no check, no balances, no authorization.

Essentially, Flock had sabotage the best intents of the Mountain View police chief, who I don't know, but we would assume has an interest in public safety and has devoted their lives to public safety.

So he pulled the contract because that's what you do when people break their side of a contract.

So what's important here is that Flock is not operating in good faith.

You do not have control over where this data will go and how it will be used, and you can't, as you did last week, vote unanimously that you're interested in um protecting um the residents of Alameda County against federal immigration enforcement, and then vote.

Next three in-person speakers.

Simeo Ramey speaking on item seven, Kristen Hamilton speaking on item 44, and Crystal Alexander on item 44.

Hello, thank you.

Um for having this civic engagement.

It's my first time here.

Um I am opposed on item 44.

Um, a lot was already said about Flock.

Um and the fact that it does not keep our people safe.

Um I was there at the uh council meeting in Oakland where they approved Flock.

And uh the OPD did it a presentation that just was not relevant to the economic stability and crime, and so it didn't really show me that Flock was useful in um keeping people safe.

Um and also ACLU is reported, and we we know now this is news from Mountain View that you know federal agencies do have access to uh flock and to our surveillance, and I think that's what these oligarchs kind of want, and who's in charge of flock?

Peter Teal, we all know that he wants major surveillance on the American people.

Um, so I hope that there is moral clarity here and that we see the bigger picture of what it's doing to our community rather than keeping us safe, and if there's engagement that we want, maybe we can work in that regards of resources like that that was said before.

Um, so I hope, yeah, that there's more clarity within this body.

I appreciate your time.

Hello, my name is Chris, and I'm a resident of Oakland.

I'm a local architect, and I'm here to vehemently oppose the expansion of Flock in the city of Oakland.

I am part of the people who are angry.

I'm here simply to echo those who came before me that made wonderful arguments against the expansion of Flock.

Amongst these arguments is the reality that there are lawsuits from the EFF and ACLU right now against the city of San Jose for their pre uh use of Flock.

You are being fed a false premise of safety.

Safety can and should be available to us without our surveillance state.

A 2019 report by the NAACP legal defense fund warned that predictive policing tools premised on biased data will reflect that bias, reinforcing existing discrimination in the criminal justice system.

These tools may appear objective, but instead often amplify historic unjustice under a veneer of scientific credibility, true safety comes from healthy, empowered communities, not automated suspicion.

The vast majority of these comments thus far have been in opposition to flock.

I'm asking that you listen to your people, and I promise you, if you don't listen to the people, we will force you to listen.

We will take it to the streets, we will take it to the voting booth, and we will make this a problem you cannot ignore.

I will implore you to hear our appeal to a to protect immigrants and to protect United States citizens that are being kidnapped off the street based on the use of this technology.

Good morning, young county.

My name is I had a mercy two weeks ago to Chicago.

We have 58,000 million displayable home to Chicago.

I expect you, that's what I get to grant.

Any people don't understand, it ain't damn us when we do people.

Plus, we'll have it.

Right now we shouldn't be too big on a housing money.

Because I'm not gonna sign all of them.

My people are not gonna be getting using the mouth, no more.

Tell my state, they spend the money, they ain't spending money, never received money.

Okay.

I was on my way out of town.

I just voted out.

You're saying too I wasn't gone ten days, they don't try to make me while I was gone.

How long are we gonna go through the social injustice?

It's not the people, it's just system.

So they say we have to go.

You have to help people out here.

Yeah, so you said not the home.

They pay taxes, but you won't take care of it.

You take, of course, from another trick.

Sad.

You take the house.

Now you wake it up.

Don't see you said we're taking care of her.

I am it.

Chuck Camus says, No, it's doubly need to take care of.

Oh, we take care of other people.

We'll be all right.

She trophy can come back.

It'd be in fact, it's all you gotta help the people.

They have themselves.

Yeah, we have a ship us.

Oh, and now it'll win now, say, okay, Mr.

M.

No help.

Man, we gotta land for you, just use this.

It's already paid for.

Oh no.

But y'all won't just kill us, Mrs.

Sagers.

No, don't.

You see, my people be we can create you.

Kian Bliss.

Go ahead.

And I am uh calling in strong opposition to the uh proposed extension uh and spending of uh on flock safety cameras.

Um this is a technology that we have learned time and time again is not only uh exposing our um our our black and brown uh residents, uh especially those who are uh from uh migrant communities uh to unnecessary surveillance and uh and uh being targeted uh with the federal terror campaign uh launched by uh DHS and with ICE and border patrol, but it really uh is also exposing uh thousands, uh hundreds of thousands of uh Alameda County residents uh data and uh uh to uh bad actors and these other agencies as well.

Um we have to really understand that it's clear they there's too many uh instances of how Flock uh is aligning with uh the Trump administration's agenda.

Uh authoritarian really rely uh authoritarianism really relies on compliance and the ongoing militarization of and expanded surveillance on your police are a necessary component of compliance with authoritarianism.

Um so uh not only is this uh uh approving of this contract and compliance, but it's also like approving um mismanaged access, which Flock has uh like since uh over the past year has continued um to like being shown to be allowing uh for people to access this database who shouldn't be accessing it.

Um it also does not prohibit or prevent uh ISIN border patrol from accessing this data, uh which is usually very clear in the like within the contract language where it talks about federal and out of state agencies being prohibited.

Um it really only attempts to limit it and is very clear that is suit, like it will not uh contest a um a court order uh that demands out of uh uh access from out of state agencies.

Um it's exposed like it's already been exposed to you.

Please unmute okay.

Can you hear me?

Yes, okay.

Um, can you can you hear me?

Okay.

Oh would you be able to increase your volume?

Um, I'm right next to the microphone.

Uh is it better now?

Not quite.

Um, can you go to the next person?

I'll I'll try to fiddle with my settings.

The next three in-person speakers are Chris Tove speaking on item 44.

Marvell speaking on item 44, and niche is speaking on item 44.

Good morning.

Hello, my name is Chris Taff.

I'm a career preschool teacher in Alamina County.

I'm concerned about my students.

I'm concerned about their families and the whole community.

I urge you not only to not expand the surveillance, but to end the flock contract.

A society that surrenders its freedoms for the sake of a putative safety will lose both.

And then extremely hard to get it back.

As you've heard, Oakland police have violated the law against sharing data with federal agencies many times.

Flock cameras don't solve or reduce crime at a level proportionate to the social harm to social to society and to justice.

And point of fact, it could put many more people at risk.

Innocent people, 73% of ICE abductions are people without criminal records.

So they're subjected to abduction, kidnapping, extraordinary rendition, even torture, and loss of access to abortion rights and other health care.

You are either naive or duplicitous if you assert that the data will not be shared with agencies bent on doing harm and violating people's constitutional due process rights, as many speakers have pointed out.

In Orwell's 1984, citizens were controlled by omnipresent cameras.

You read this book.

Why would you vote for this to happen here?

Especially given the authoritarian drive of this lawless federal administration.

I urge you to cancel the contract, not expand it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The clerk has advised me that we've called um the last of our speakers.

So we'll hear the final speakers and then we'll we have closed public speaking comment time.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hello, my name is Mar Vaye.

Um I'm here today because I oppose item 44, and I urge you to immediately cancel the flock contract.

Like others have said, multiple counties in the Bay Area have already done this.

So if Oakland claims to be a sanctuary city that cares about its people, there's no reason why we shouldn't follow in the footsteps of our neighbors.

People in support of Flock argue that it would protect Oakland residents from violence and crime, but it's completely the opposite.

Having these cameras gives Ice Thugs permission to not only target and kidnap immigrants, but to trap down and detain citizens or anyone else who dissents or protests against this current administration.

I oppose this item not only as an immigrant as a citizen, but also as a domestic violence survivor, because it's alarming to me that this footage and the security cameras can be accessed by anyone to trap anyone, and that also puts many more of our community members at risk of stalking and other forms of harassment.

This contract does not do anything for public safety.

Instead, it actively attacks it.

Overall, you cannot claim to care about Oakland residents or be against this administration's authoritarian, violent policies, and then pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the same tools being used to terrorize people across the country to be used in RC.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm a resident of Oakland, and I want to urge you to vote no on continuing to expand the contract with Flock.

As a county that prides itself on being a sanctuary for its immigrant residents, ending this contract is the absolute bare minimum.

It does not matter if our local law enforcement, quote unquote, follows the rule.

Once this data is collected, there is no way of knowing how and when it is being shared with federal and other state agencies.

It serves as a key part of a wider surveillance dragnet that is critical to the infrastructure of the federal fascist takeover that you suppose supposedly are in opposition to.

It is only a matter of time until this full-blown fascist violence comes home to us in the bay.

As a representatives, you should be focusing on how to keep us safe, not how to repress us better.

Rather than investing in technologies that are used to kidnap, repress, and murder our neighbors, we should be investing in resources that all the data shows us actually improves safety, access to affordable housing, mental health resources, better education, et cetera.

What we are asking from for you is not radical.

Cities all over the nation are ending their contracts for the same reasons that we are laying out today, including here in the Bay.

Flock cameras are a direct threat to our community, so I urge you to vote no on item 44.

Thank you.

Okay.

Sorry, I just got here.

Um I don't have a whole lot to say other than we were sold.

I mean, city council has been made aware multiple times of the harms involved with the flock contract, um, the lack of protections that have been put in place for the contract um against the wishes of like 145 people who have repetitively shown up to say no to flock.

Um it was voted for, and now for some reason, even though part of the protections against the flock contract um was the limited amount of time that the contract was going to you know be set up for.

We're voting to expand it.

Uh I don't know why this is happening.

Um, you know, we have seen in July 2025, we found that San Francisco and Oakland police broke state law by sharing data from Flock with federal law enforcement, including ICE over 200 times.

There's so many cities, um, Evanston, Illinois, so many cities that we've seen where this data has been illegally shared with ICE.

We don't, you know, if we have the limited um police resources um that we're using this contract to fill in for, how do we have the resources to provide oversight for this company?

I don't see how that makes any sense.

I don't see why this is so wildly unpopular and yet we're sitting here today on a Tuesday morning when people are out at work when they can't speak on this, and we're voting to expand it yet again.

I just I just want that to be made made sense to me.

Thank you.

There are no more speakers, they lower their hand.

I'd like to thank the speakers.

Um, all of your comments are important.

I know that we all listen and we listen, I listen to understand your perspective, and it's helpful.

With that said, we've um concluded public comment on items on the agenda, except those listed as set matters.

Come back at one o'clock for the set matter at one o'clock.

We'll now move to approval of the minutes.

I'll ask um Supervisor Marquez, would you like to make a motion to approve these minutes?

I would because I have um a modification on 27.

So first I'd like to move the adoption of the meeting minutes from Tuesday, January 13th, February 3rd.

And there's a second one for February 3rd because we had two meetings that day, one at 10 and one at 10 30.

And then I'll make a separate motion for 27 because I have some adjustments.

Is there a motion second to that motion?

I'll second the motion.

Motion's been made by Supervisor Marquez, second by supervisor Tam.

We have a roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley, excused Supervisor Fortune on a boss.

Aye.

President Halbert?

Aye.

Um, thank you, President Hubbard.

For uh the minutes um dated January 27th.

I will send an email to the clerk of the board as well as the county administrator, but I just wanted to make sure that the comments I made with respect to uh an update on the EIP.

There was a request for GSA to come back in three months.

So I just want to make sure that that is accurately captured in the minute.

So I will provide that language.

And if we could just um table those, it's for our next meeting.

Thank you.

All right, we'll table the minutes from January 27th.

With that said, we uh will now adjourn recess, rather, into closed session.

We're in recess, thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

We're going to reconvene from closed session.

I will um ask the clerk to please call the roll to re-establish our quorum.

Supervisor Marquez present.

Supervisor Town, present.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Portunata Boss.

Presence.

Cousin Howard?

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

County Council, is there anything to report out?

Reportable action from close session.

Uh yes, Mr.

President.

We have three items to report out.

Uh these are all settlements from prior action by your board.

In the first item, it is the matter of Drake versus County of Alameda, EEOC charge number 555, 2025 00512.

In a closed session on January 27th, your board approved a final settlement of $60,000.

It was a unanimous action, and the matter is now closed.

In the second item, the matter of uh Roe versus Trapp et al.

Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, case number 24 CB 074616 on January the 13th.

Uh by unanimous vote, your board approved a final settlement of $850,000, and that matter is now resolved.

In the uh third and final matter for report out today, um it is the matter of Loera Jr.

at Al versus County of Alameda, United States District Court, Northern District of California, case number 3, uh 23 CV 00792 LB on January 27th.

Your board uh unanimously approved a stipulated settlement subject to federal court's final order approval order in the amount of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars plus reasonable class action administrator fees and the county share of payroll taxes.

Uh that matter is resolved.

Thank you very much.

Before we take up the mass motion, we have a one o'clock set matter.

We'll do the one o'clock set matter now, and we're actually not that far behind, so that's pretty good.

We're gonna do that now.

Then after the one o'clock set matter, we're going to take up the uh rest of our calendar.

I'm excited to say that um today we are going to proclaim February 2026 as Black History Month.

We're going to commend Freddie Davis, the Oakland Museum of California, Professor Stephen Cleveland, Mr.

Robert Phillips, and Miss Paula Ambrose.

We do have a proclamation and I will be giving accommodation, but I'd like to say a few words to the audience first.

This month we come together to celebrate Black History Month, which is a time not only to honor our past, but to reaffirm our responsibility to the future.

As we mark this centennial of the celebration of Black History Month, created 100 years ago, we look back on the past century with pride, reflection, and determination.

We feel pride for the giants whose shoulders we stand upon today, leaders like Dr.

Carter Woodson, who armed generations with knowledge, figures like Marshall Thurgood, Thurgood Marshall, who used the law as a tool for justice, advocates like Rosa Parks, whose quiet courage helped ignite a movement.

We honor the many artists, scientists, innovators, thought leaders, game changers, athletes, visionaries, trailblazers, and pioneers, and everyday heroes whose brilliance and perseverance shaped the very corner of our nation, often in the face of unimaginable odds.

At the same time, we reflect honestly on the painful truths of this journey.

The century behind us was marked by exclusion, discrimination, voter suppression, and violence.

Progress has never been given freely.

It was demanded, defended, and fought for.

And yet through the struggle came institutions, movements, communities that refused to give up on this promise of justice and dignity.

Here in Alameda County, that legacy lives not just in the history books, but in the life and leadership of people like Francis Mary Albier.

I did not know about this person until my staff did some research.

Let me tell you about Frances Albier.

She was born in 1898.

She moved to Oakland at a time when black Americans, especially black women, were systematically denied access to good jobs, fair housing, and political representation.

She refused to accept those limits.

And when World War II began and black women were excluded from skilled industrial jobs at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, she stood up.

She challenged discriminatory hiring practices and helped open doors that had long been shut.

Her advocacy created economic opportunities for families throughout the East Bay and proved that equity strengthens entire communities.

Frances Albriere also broke barriers in public service.

She became the first African woman to serve on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee.

This was in the year 1938.

Later, she ran for the Berkeley City Council and relentlessly advocated for civil rights, education, job opportunities, and increased voter participation.

She led not with convenience, but with courage, and her impact continues to shape our county today.

Her hit story reminds us that Black history is not distant or abstract.

It lives right here in Alameda County and the rights expanded, the doors opened, and the voices lifted up because one woman chose to lead.

As we celebrate Black History Month today, we do so with gratitude for the progress made and clarity about the work that does remain.

I want everybody to know your stories matter, your history matters.

Our children deserve to learn it in full honesty.

This month and every month we recommit ourselves to ensure that every community is safe, every child has opportunity, and that the pursuit of equity and justice continues.

The next chapter of Black History is being written right now, and like those who came before us, it must be written with courage, conviction, and community.

Good job.

But I'm going to lead off by recognizing Black History Month, February 2026, reflecting on this year's theme, A Century of Black Commemorations, and this theme marks the 100 years of intentionally honoring Black History and reminds us that history is carried forward by people who choose to serve their communities.

And today I am extremely proud to honor Freddie M.

Davis, president of the Hayward, South Alameda County NAACP.

Would you give her a round of applause?

Miss Davis, I'm going to say a few words about you and then we're going to give you a nice little proclamation.

Miss Davis was born and raised in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, at just 16 years old.

She was already active in the civil rights movement and marched alongside Dr.

Martin Luther King, standing up for equality during a time when doing so required extraordinary courage.

Those early experiences shaped a lifelong commitment to justice and public service.

In 1967, Miss Davis moved to Hayward, where she continued that commitment at the local level for more than two decades.

She has served as president of the Hayward South County NAACP, representing communities, including Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Dublin, Union City, and Fremont.

Under her leadership, the NAACP South County has worked to promote fair treatment, encourage voter participation, advocate for equal opportunity, and address local issues affecting residents of all ages and backgrounds.

This work reflects the NAACP's mission to advance political, educational, social, and economic equality and to remove barriers to justice through democratic action.

Miss Davis's dedication has been supported by her family, including her husband Al Davis and their son Todd Davis.

Not the other Al Davis.

This is the Al Davis.

Okay, Todd.

They've stood alongside each other, and he is her rock.

Miss Davis' advocacy leadership and commitment to community continue the legacy of those who came before her and create help create a stronger future for Alameda County.

I would also like to personally add my gratitude and thanks, Ms.

Davis, as you met with me, met with people that I connected you to who needed things like record expungement, and you showed them how to do it.

Every year you provide scholarships for young students to become better than they would otherwise be because of you.

You are tireless in your dedication to the community.

So I want to say on behalf of Alameda County Board of Supervisors, it is an honor to recognize Freddie Davis for her leadership service and lasting impact.

Let's give her a round of applause.

Yeah.

Miss Davis, I know that I I share South County District with Alisa Marquez, so I'm going to let her say a few words.

Yeah, my supervisor Miley would like to go first.

You had your hand up first.

I'll go up.

Yeah, sure.

We're gonna fight over who gets to say nice things about Freddie Davis.

Even though somebody knows how it is recognizing you, Freddie, you know, some of us know you very well.

We have a lot of respect for you.

We love you.

I mean, you're the type of person that keeps us all straight and honest and integrity and um, you know, this county is a better place because of people like yourself, and we could use more Freddie Davis's.

So that's all I need to say because she's a remarkable person, a remarkable African American woman.

Amen to that.

Amen.

Supervisor Marquez.

I concur with those comments, but I will also add um some of my own personal experience and observations.

Um, I've met I met Miss Freddie Davis when I was in third grade, so that just tells you the tremendous impact she's had, not only in the city of Hayward, but in the region.

You've hosted for over four decades the annual Martin Luther King Junior celebration.

We just had it a couple weeks ago at um the theater at Mount Eden High School.

So just thank you for your consistent leadership.

Also, want to acknowledge your family, Mr.

Davis.

Thank you for joining us as well as your son Todd.

I know he's not here, but I know he's here in spirit.

But just want to thank you for just being a consistent pillar in our community, and it's important that we honor and celebrate our elders.

So just thank you for giving so much of your time, energy, passion.

And um, Miss Freddie will call you to the table.

I've had many meetings.

You don't want to mess with Ms.

Freddie.

So just thank you for uh keeping us all straight and being able to um walk along your side in leadership.

It's truly been an honor.

So just thank you for all you do, not just for South County, but for the entire uh Alameda County residents.

Thank you, Miss Freddie Davis.

What we're going to do, each one of us has somebody to commemorate, and I'm going to just go in order on the agenda.

And then what we'll do is ask each person to come say a few words.

We're going to give a proclamation.

This is what it looks like.

Okay.

But we're going to have all of them done.

And the next one in line is going to be the Oakland Museum of California.

Thank you, President Halbert.

As we recognize 2026 as the 100th anniversary since the first organized national commemoration of Black History Month, I'm pleased to honor the Oakland Museum of California.

We recognize the Oakland Museum's thoughtful stewardship of history and culture and for consistently creating space where Black stories are preserved and actively honored.

This year's Black History theme of a century of black History commemorations coincides with the Oakland Museum's Black Spaces Reclaim and Remain exhibits, which includes the legacies of West Oakland and Russell City.

The exhibit in the Grand Hall in the Great Hall is until March the first.

It pulls both the museum's permanent collections and loans from local repositories to trace the rise of these communities and their subsequent displacements.

Oakland's deep-rooted legacy of Black activism, creativity, and resilience finds a fitting home in Oakland where reflection and dialogue are encouraged rather than rushed.

The exhibit stands as a reminder that remembrance is an active practice and that honoring Black history means protecting the spaces where it continues to unfold.

We commend and are grateful for Oakland Museum's efforts to strengthen community pride and cultural identity, particularly for Black residents who see their stories reflected with care and respect, fostering cross-cultural understanding by inviting visitors of all backgrounds to engage with Black history in meaningful ways, including creating a shared space for dialogue, healing, and connection, helping to bridge communities through knowledge and empathy.

Thank you to the curators, educators, community partners, and culture bearers who work whose work made this exhibit possible.

So I'm pleased to present the commendation today to Oakland Museum's associated curator of history, Donia Tali, and experienced developer Angiria Kata.

And did you want to wait for okay?

Thank you.

Next, Supervisor Marquez will commend Professor Stephen Cleveland.

Yes, good afternoon, everyone.

I want to welcome Professor Stephen Cleveland, known as the Prof or Professor, and welcome his mother, Queen Cleveland.

Thank you so much for joining us.

First, going to read the abbreviated version on the commendation, and then I'll read your amazing bio.

But whereas the Board of Supervisors recognizes Professor Stephen Cleveland for his dedication to furtherance of the preservation, study, and honor of black history through his work as an educator, scholar, and storyteller for nearly two decades of service at California State University Easy, and for his dedication to centering Black history, identity, and humanity through inclusive teaching, storytelling, and media-based service learning initiatives.

He supports youth and strengthens pathways to higher education and meaningful careers.

From these roots, Professor Stephen Cleveland moved to Southern California, where he graduated from UCLA and later earned an MFA from USC, becoming the first in his family to attend college.

He discovered his passion for storytelling in Los Angeles after cutting his teeth early in his career in production on music videos, get ready for this.

This is a big deal for artists ranging from hip hop icons, Dr.

Dre and Tupac Shakur to pop artists like Mandy Moore.

He went on to be an executive producer for commercials and music videos for clients, including the old Lahaina Luau Company and Grammy Award wing artist, ID's I say it again.

Letic Stephen calls himself the Prof, a nickname born from his dual life as professional storyteller and college professor.

He spent nearly two decades in the barrier in the Bay Area at California State University East Bay, serving as Black Studies Professor in the Department of Ethics Studies and as a Black Indigenous People of Color BIPOC professor in the Department of History.

As a humanities scholar, he created safe, intentional spaces for students to explore their identities through history and culture.

The work that he emphasized, critical thinking while centering student joy.

Recently retired from academia, Stephen was devotes his time to expanding his work through storytelling and media-based service learning curricula that pair professionals with you to produce high quality media, strengthening pathways to both higher education and meaningful careers.

His integration of cultural exploration and storytelling continues to drive his work as both a filmmaker and educator.

So let's please join me in congratulating Professor Stephen Cleveland in infusing Black humanity into this entire region.

Thank you so much for your contributions.

You've made a significant impact in District 2 and beyond you are through and through California.

And just thank you for sharing your love and talent for storytelling with all of us.

Thank you.

All right.

Next is Supervisor Nikki Fort Saddlebass commending Mr.

Robert Phillips.

Thank you, President Halbert, and thank you so much for your remarks.

I am so thrilled to honor Mr.

Robert Phillips on this 100th anniversary of Black History and Futures Month.

Mr.

Phillips has spent over 25 years empowering communities, addressing health and race equity issues, and improving the lives of people, including their health.

My office proudly recognizes Mr.

Robert Phillips for his decades of distinguished service in philanthropy, health care, labor, and public policy, in which he has advanced health equity, strengthened community institutions, and improved outcomes for historically underserved Black communities.

Many of you may know that he currently serves as the president and CEO of Baywell Health, a community health clinic and trusted partner in enhancing the health and dignity of the Bay Area's Black community, where he has offered trauma-informed medical care, behavioral health and social services to survivors of violence and serious harm, and improve Black maternal and infant health by reducing low birth weights and enhancing postpartum well-being.

Baywell is headquartered in West Oakland, a historically black neighborhood that I am humbled to represent on this board.

And much of this work, as we know, really advances the work that our county has done to eliminate racial disparities in health care.

Mr.

Phillips has also served the community in leadership roles with Kaiser Permanente, the California Endowment, and Sierra Health Foundation, and received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Morehouse College, Harvard University, and Syracuse University.

So that is a very outstanding resume.

And I do want to share that on a personal level, I've had a chance and a pleasure really to work with Mr.

Phillips and get to know his commitment and his expertise as a community advocate during his time at the California Endowment during the 10-year place-based initiative, building healthy communities in East Oakland.

I got to participate in the work that he was a leader in.

And I have to say that I believe this effort helped to plant the seeds for the current Rise East or 4540 by 40 initiative.

And it's really that commitment to the long haul to addressing systemic change, which is part of the reason why we are honoring him today.

In addition to that, as Oakland City Council president, collaborating with both Baywell and the Asian Health Services, he played a role in initiating an Asian Black racial healing research project in response to the heightened violence being experienced by both of those communities shortly after the pandemic began.

And I really admire this commitment to multiracial advocacy and organizing.

It's not only Black History Month, it's also Lunar New Year.

And I think this is a powerful indicator of the type of work that we need to aspire to today.

That initiative actually engaged over a thousand Asian and Black community members in a series of listening sessions, interviews, focus groups, and surveys to discuss violence, racism, and healing.

And I think we can continue to learn from that work.

Finally, as District 5 supervisor, again, I'm very pleased to partner not only with Mr.

Roberts, but with Baywell Health.

We know that there are so many challenges facing our community in the area of health care.

And I know that under his leadership, together with our broader health center and other health partnerships, we are going to be able to weather this storm and continue to make a commitment to the health of our communities.

So please join me in honoring Mr.

Robert Phillips.

Last but not least, our wise elder, Supervisor Miley, commending Miss Paula Ambrose.

Yeah, thank you, President Howard.

Yes, I definitely like to commend Paula Ambrose for Black History Month.

The County of Alameda is a vital part of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region that serves a majority gateway to the world, and is known for its culture, educational and civic institutions, as well as its longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The county is enriched by its ethnic diversity, including a significant population of African Americans who have made documented and lasting contributions to the cultural, social, economic, civic, and political life of the county.

The influence and leadership of African Americans have been essential to the development of the United States, the state of California, the County of Alameda, and African American organizations have played a demonstrative role in advancing civil rights, expanding access to opportunities, and strengthening local communities.

Throughout history, black Americans have engaged in sustained efforts to address racial discrimination, unequal treatment under law, and systemic barriers in areas such as housing, employment, education, and public safety.

And these efforts have contributed to immeasurable advances in civil rights and community protections.

In 2026, theme for African American, excuse me, for Black History Month, is a century of black commemorations, recognizing the historical record of efforts to persevere, study, and share contributions of African Americans, beginning with the establishment of Negro History Week in 1926, and continuing through today's national and local observations.

Acknowledging the history supports a fuller understanding of Alameda County's past and reinforces the county's ongoing commitment to equity, public service, and civic engagement.

This board is extremely proud to recognize Paula Ambrose, a Castro Valley resident.

Paula considers herself a servant leader and is passionate about using her voice and talent to improve the well-being of those furthest from opportunity.

She currently serves on the corporate citizenship and reputation social impact team for Blue Shield of California.

In this role, she leads the Blue Sky Youth Mental Health Initiative, which is dedicated to improving access, awareness, and advocacy for youth, mental health and well-being.

Paula is actively engaged in professionally and in the community with several organizations, including serving as co-chair of the Black Funders Network, the Bay Area, the Board of Directors for the Genesis Community Development Corporation.

She has also served as an adjunct instructor with Coral Center for Civic Leadership Development.

Paul is a member of Delta Sigma Phi, a sorority incorporated, an organization committed to social action and community service.

Her husband, uh, Tim Ambrose is a realtor.

He's part of Bay East Reality Realtors Association, and I know he's been the former president of that association.

She has a she's the proud mother of a daughter who has graduated from Howard University.

I consider Paula a friend and Tim a friend.

And it is with great honor that I and the Board of Supervisors recognizes Paula from Three Month.

Paula won't be joining us today, because she has to work.

So let's give her a round of applause.

Then we'll do comments from each one.

So have a few minutes to say something at the podium, and then we'll take public comment.

We're gonna have a long line for Miss Freddie Davis to have a photo.

So we're gonna come on down right now right now.

Okay, thank you.

Well, I'm sure that the public will have some comments, but before we do, we're gonna hear from our recipients, and I'm gonna call them up in order they were commended.

That is the first, Miss Freddie Davis.

Would you care to come up and tell us a little bit about your story?

I would like to say good afternoon now.

Normally I love a microphone, and I truly love a camera.

But today I have to say I'm at a loss for words.

I am very, very honored and gratefully blessed that the Alameda County supervisors decide to honor the Haver South Alameda County NACP and Freddie Davis.

I have been on this road a long time, and I'm just really distressed and troubled by the way things are going in the world today.

And I was thinking it's time for me to retire and just relax and just do things for myself, but I can't do that.

The way things are going in this world today, we got to stay on the battlefield, and we got to make sure that things are right for all of us, not just some people, but all of us.

And there's a lot of work that we gotta do.

We've come a long ways, but it seems to me that it appears that there's some folks trying to send us back, and we can't go back.

So we got to keep working together and do the things that we need to do to make this country what it should be.

I really appreciate each and every one of you.

Uh coming from Birmingham, Alabama, I know racism, I know segregation, I know discrimination.

I can walk it talking and smell it and see it.

We're in a bad way right now.

We got to stick together and stamp out all this foolishness that's going on in the world today.

Even down to our county.

I really, really respect the Honorable Nate Miley and Miss Tony.

Love you, David.

And Alicia, like she said, I've known her since she was in the third grade.

And um, tell us my age too.

I do plan to get to know you two young ladies more.

And I have to say that three three of your members are members of the NACP, life members.

So I gotta work on you two.

But in any case, thank you so much.

I really appreciate what you are doing in this county, and know that you can always depend on the NACP, Hayward South Alameda County.

And when I see a problem, I will knock on your door.

And I like to tell you when things are going well, and I just like I tell you when things are not going well.

So I want to thank you and keep doing what you're doing and let us just work together.

Cause if we don't work together, divided, we will fall.

So thank you so much.

We have somebody here from the Oakland Museum of California.

Care to say a few words?

Come on up.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Um, hello, my name is Danya Talley.

I'm the associate curator of history at the Oakland Museum of California, and I'm joined here today by my colleague Angie Eric Kaka, who's an experienced developer.

We are here on behalf of the Oakland Museum of California.

I first want to say thank you to Supervisor Tam and members of the board for this honor and for recognizing Black History Month and the museum's exhibition, Black Spaces Reclaim and Remain.

Laurie Fogerty, director of the Oakland Museum of California, who cannot be here today, wanted us to share our appreciation for this honor and how grateful we are to be in partnership with the county.

As many of you know, the Oakland Museum of California is located just a few blocks down the road at a thousand Oak Street.

Founded in 1969, ONCA is dedicated to California art, history, and natural sciences.

Our mission is to inspire understanding and empathy through the stories and experiences of California's people, cultures, and environments in order to build more equitable and connected communities.

As Supervisor Tam mentioned, Black Spaces Reclaim and Remain draws from my own goods permanent collection as well as local archives to honor the histories of West Oakland and Brussels City, tracing both the vibrancy of these communities and the impact of displacement.

We are grateful for the opportunity to share these stories and to create spaces of reflection, dialogue, and remembrance.

And I will pass it to Angir.

We're here today representing a lot of the work that our colleagues at the museum have done and also the community partners who made Black Spaces possible.

We want to thank those who participated in the exhibition as well, including artist Adrian Burrell, Dr.

Brandy T.

Summers, and the Archive of the Futures, Architect June Grant, and of course the grassroots housing advocacy organization, Moms for Housing.

And deep gratitude to the Johnson family, Knowles family, and many other previous residents of Russell City who shared their stories with us and brought this project to fruition.

We invite everyone here to learn more about the museum at museumca.org and to visit Black Spaces.

I remain in reclaim before it closes on March 1st.

Thank you.

Mr.

Professor Stephen Clint, the podium is yours, sir.

Thank you for being here.

Pleasure.

So as a professor, I will tell myself to keep it in the pocket.

I'm excited to stand before you and receive this honor.

It's really something that I will cherish forever and being able to share with my mother.

It's been a beautiful, beautiful moment.

So thank you for that.

I am happy to be serving Alameda County with three different programs at the moment.

We're working on Black Student Success Stories and partnering with the Hayward Searing Library with Caesar Chavez Middle School, Tennyson High School, and Cal City Space College of Science.

We're also working on a program we call the Math of Golf, where partnering with the Pink Bean Foundation, with the College of Science, and my brother Edgar Chavez with Haber Promise Neighborhood, still uh working to do uh good work uh with that footprint that was laid.

Uh and very proud to be working on the Bay Area Workforce Initiative, which is looking to empower young people through storytelling.

Uh and so those three things I get the honor to do uh because of the people that came before me.

I think about David Walker, whose appeal was the first book I read as a six-year-old.

I think about Jerry Cleveland, who told me I was going to get a master's degree uh when I was six as well.

Uh I think about Addie and A.

Cleveland who uh taught me that everything good comes from putting your hands in the dirt.

Uh, and that's an experience that has really taught me and moved me forward.

Uh, I think about uh Paul Von Bloom, who's my first uh white college professor who uh taught me uh and showed me humanity that I didn't see growing up uh as well from Birmingham, Alabama.

So obviously I gotta give a shout out to Freddie Davis, who came 40 years before me to Hayward uh and and laid a beautiful pathwork uh for the work that needed to be done.

She was the first stop I'd had uh in Hayward after I took the job uh on the hill.

And so uh just inspired by her leadership.

Uh, but I share that to say Charles Burnett, who is the inspiration to make me become a filmmaker, Academy Award-winning uh filmmaker at Santiago who forced me to go to USC after my ECLA undergrad, which was a big feat, uh, but he supported and breathed into me in a way that allows me to sit here and do this work.

Uh, and I share that to say, after a hundred years of Black History Month, is very important.

Uh it's very important for us to understand that nothing that we see now happen uh without people that built it, people who sacrificed for it.

And so for me, I accept this honor on their path, and I'm hoping uh that the young people we pour into uh leave the world even better uh than we gave it to them.

So thank you so much.

Mr.

Robert Phillips.

Thank you.

Uh so I assume this was going to be for Baywell and not for me, so I'm I'm really surprised.

So I do want to say thank you, uh Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Um, and I say that with great humility.

Um, and so I want to share this with all the elders who's opened the doors, particularly the four mothers who helped start our organization 60 years ago this year.

Um, all the individuals and families who kept the faith uh over all these years, and all the community partners, the ones who are here, all the ones who put it in every day uh that take care of folks.

Um, you know, Bay Well holds something that I believe in.

You know, we believe in access and dignity, but most importantly, then the ones invisible.

Uh so for you all to recognize me, and by extension Baywell in this moment when that's not necessarily the message we always get.

Um, it's affirming.

So I'm hoping that we can continue to turn gratitude and action.

And uh again, thank you so very much for this.

I'm extraordinarily humble.

I know Miss Ambrose is at work, but does somebody want to say a few words on her behalf?

No.

Nate, I know you'll get the commendation to the right people.

Okay.

Well, we always I want to give a big round of applause to everybody that was commended today.

As we do always, we asked for public comment.

Anybody in the room or online, raise your hand if you're online and if you would like to speak in the room, fill out a speaker slip.

We have public comment.

Do we have any speakers for public comment?

There's one speaker.

All right.

Jackie, go ahead.

Good afternoon, esteemed council members and fellow citizens.

I'm here to celebrate Black History Month by highlighting the profound positive influence conservative Black Republicans have had on the Black community while underscoring how progressive politics have wrought destruction.

From Frederick Douglass to Clarence Thomas and Tim Scott.

Conservative black leaders have championed self-reliance, family values, and economic empowerment, fostering resilience and opportunity in our communities.

In stark contrast, progressive policies rooted in big government dependency, identity politics, and soft arm crime approaches, have eroded family structures, perpetrated poverty cycles, and divided us through victimhood narratives, leading to higher crime rates, failing schools, and economic stagnation and black neighborhoods.

We must celebrate the conservative Republicans' monumental contributions.

First, the voting Rights act of 1965, where Republicans overwhelmingly supported the bill and provided the crucial votes to end the Democrat-led filibester by Southern segregationists, invoking closure 7030 and passing the Senate 7719 with 30 out of 32 Republicans voting yes to dismantle discriminatory barriers and empower black voters.

These actions prove that conservative policies focus on opportunity, safety, and prosperity, lift black families more effectively than endless government dependency.

Have a happy Black History Month.

Does that conclude public comment?

We have one in-person speaker as well.

Okay.

Peter Friedrich.

Rapid response networks for communities under threat from federal law enforcement.

You built that because you believe governments should not target people for what they think or what they say.

The government of India, however, is doing exactly that to people who live in your county.

In 2024, the Department of Justice indicted a former officer of India's foreign intelligence service for directing an assassination plot against an American citizen.

This is New York History Month.

This is this is off agenda items, correct?

No, this is for proclamations and recognizing Black History Month.

Now at the end of our meeting, we will have public comment.

Please forgive me.

Very good.

There are no more speakers.

So thank you all for commending Black History Month and those that were recognized.

We're going to continue with the rest of our agenda, but before we do, we're just going to take a five-minute recess.

We're at recess now.

Five minute break.

Okay, everyone.

We're going to call our meeting back to order.

Would the clerk please call the roll to establish our quorum?

Supervisor Marquez present.

Supervisor Tim.

Present.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune Autobas.

Present.

Present.

How about?

Present.

We have a quorum.

Very good.

We are now to the point of our meeting where we will take up the next item being our consent calendar items 58 through 69.

Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I will move the consent calendar.

I'll second.

May I have a roll call vote, please?

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune on a boss.

Aye.

President Hubert?

I'll turn it over to you.

Aye.

Okay, before we take up the full mass motion, I'd like to allow Supervisor Marquez to have a brief uh discussion and wants to make a motion.

Thank you.

Uh President Hauber.

I am respectfully requesting.

I'm going to make a motion to table item 44.

This is the uh contract renewal with Flock.

Um, I serve as the chair of public protection and I'm going to keep my comments brief since we're obviously not voting my motions to table the item, but the reason why I'm requesting to table the item is um I feel that there's lots of questions that my colleagues have asked the sheriff in advance.

I understand those comments have been posted online now, but they just went live, and I am respectfully asking that we table this item to the second regular meeting in April.

I can't tell you a date yet because we haven't published our meetings beyond March.

So the second regular board meeting in April in advance to the regular board meeting, I'm asking that this item be presented at public protection on Thursday, March 26th.

So that way the sheriff and her team have apple ample time to develop a presentation to respond to the questions as well as the feedback that was provided today in public comment.

So that is my motion.

I will second the motion.

Thank you.

So we'll have discussion on the motion.

Is it your desire to have the sheriff make two presentations?

One to public protection and another one to this board.

Um thank you for that clarification.

Yes, that would be my preference.

And when it comes back to the full board, that it should be a set matter to provide certainty.

And the reason why I'm requesting that is I believe strongly, no matter what the item is, we really and I know we are making efforts, we're moving in that direction collectively as a board in collaboration with the CAO and with our clerk of the board, but it's really important that we have a process in place for strong governance and being able to share out information.

So yes to your question, and that will allow certainty in terms of the presentation and for the public to know when they can come to speak on the item.

What happened today is people were here at 9 30 in the morning, and then you have to wait hours on end.

So I'm trying to find a process that facilitates information and public engagement with providing not only the public but also county staff with certainty and when those items will be heard.

You want to do that twice.

Or actually through a third time.

Well, we have an item on the agenda today.

It's a simple contract extension for services that have largely already been fulfilled.

There's another couple of months left.

I see that there's very little discretion.

I just want to be clear about your expectation of what a presentation would look like and what our options would be and why we would go to public protection and then repeat it again after it's already been done today.

We've had public comment, then we have another one at public protection, and I'm guessing that the exact same presentation back to our board.

I have to also ask that because we've closed public comment.

Tabling this item to an item in April means that we don't necessarily need to have any public comment at that meeting.

Public comments been had.

So I just want to understand how, and I don't disagree that having the sheriff make uh answers to questions that have been asked, making a presentation, having that said and done, but can that not happen at the next board meeting that we table it to, or is it meant to be almost a duplicative meeting at your public protection and then again at uh in April?

Okay.

So let me start with the item before us today that is currently on the agenda.

Um, with all due respect, is already like seven months late, right?

So it's a retroactive contract.

So number one, that's a concern.

Number two, every supervisor is raised raised questions.

Um that's not fair to the sheriff to have to like answer these questions within 24 hours.

It's not fair to the public to not have that information in advance without a presentation.

So the reason why I'm making this call is to structure this in a way that everyone has the same information, and everyone who chooses to engage in this topic has an opportunity to do so.

I acknowledge the redundancy, but we are dealing with unprecedented times with this federal administration.

All the actions we've been working on in the last years to mitigate those concerns, and this is something that is very concerning.

I don't want to debate it, but it is, I would consider a very sensitive and controversial topic, which requires additional touch points.

So I'm I'm happy to I'm happy to have that occur at a set matter at the second meeting in April and have this item tabled till then.

I'm not uh I guess it's your committee, so I won't, I don't know.

I I just it feels like you're going to take the sheriff's time twice for the same exact thing when an alternative could be table this until April and have the sheriff come and make a presentation and have it.

Has a set matter?

So if if we do it in April, I'll have it as a set matter.

If it's meant to be two different meetings, I I'll would probably prefer to just have it an agendized item like it is, because they will already have made a public presentation.

I'm amenable to if that is allowed to table it to a day certain full disclosure.

We don't have our schedule yet for April.

So I'm just gonna flag the second regular.

So we have a proposed schedule, which will go before your board on March 3rd.

The second regular meeting in April would be April 21st, because during April you also have your early budget hearings, okay.

So April 21st set matters the second regular meeting in April, if that's what you're suggesting.

And you're saying that's the 21st, or are you saying the 21st?

Okay, so April.

So I'm amenable to a set matter at 3:30 on April 21st to the full board.

I think that makes better sense.

Uh 3 30 is a good time.

We can do three o'clock, we can do four o'clock 3 30.

I'll let Supervisor Miley weigh in, but it seems to me that that's a more streamlined.

It's one less touch point, you're actually less touch point.

Yeah.

It's been if there were different touch points, that would be different.

So I'm amenable to that, but again, and we've had this conversation on numerous topics.

The presentation has to be included in the agenda so people could review it in advance.

We need a staff report.

Um that's I'm agreeable to set matter that's more than a month to plan for that.

Supervisor Miley.

Yeah, I appreciate the um the discussion uh and the motion and uh what I think we're leading to a set matter in April, because you know, um once again, with all due respect to the chair of all the protection and I know I serve on public protection with her.

You know, I have some questions about this, but I don't even know if the public protection committee would have been the appropriate committee, because when we talk about flock cameras, we're talking exclusively about the unincorporated area and the unincorporated services committee, which Supervisor Tam and I serve on, quite frankly, have jurisdiction over this because these cameras are not going to be anywhere else other than in the unincorporated area.

So I just want to throw that out.

I'm comfortable with the set matter in April, but I also want to protect the integrity of the unincorporated services committee in the urban unincorporated community.

All of us have to vote on things for the unincorporated area, but this matter, because I heard a lot of speakers from Oakland, maybe they were mistaken.

They thought maybe we, and they call us the council.

We as the Board of Supervisors have jurisdiction over the unincorporated area, not the city of Oakland, not Fremont, not Pleasanton, not Alameda, not Berkeley, not Hayward, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The unincorporated area.

And it's my understanding that the unincorporated services committee has jurisdiction over matters in the corporate area.

And so I had questions too, but I was willing to have it go to public protection, but I'm also willing to have one touch point, which would be the board of supervisors said matter in April.

So I just need to respect my, you know.

I appreciate that, but uh with all due respect, that comment in my opinion is only sound.

Had it gone to unincorporated services six, eight months ago.

We can't make that request when it's already delayed.

So this is my point in terms of good governance.

We have to figure out a structure and how to properly agendize and allow for public engagement.

It's very disjointed just based off this conversation right now.

So acknowledging your comments, I think the best course is a set matter, so everyone will hear the information at the same time.

I'm glad we don't have to have it go to unincorporated services and public projects.

Because the board once again, I think we need to have these questions answered, but I just I mean, I feel compelled to protect the unincorporated area, the urban unincorporated area where the fault cameras are located.

I would also say that it was good that we had this comment commentary today.

I do think there are a lot of misunderstandings.

Supervisor Miley pointed out one, a lot of people from Oakland, this does not affect them.

A lot of people making comments that data is accessible to the public, that this data will be used for by anybody to track anyone.

I don't think that's true that this um uh these cameras are data is freely shared with ICE.

I don't think that's true.

I'm guessing that our sheriff and our under sheriff was here, so they took notes.

They will be able to have a presentation that clarifies all of that.

And I just do again thank you, Supervisor Morquez.

I do think it's good that we will you'll amend your motion to bring this back uh to this.

April 21st as a set matter at 3:30 p.m.

with the request that there be a full staff report and a presentation included in the agenda when it publishes, so everyone has the same information.

Three o'clock.

Three o'clock.

Yes.

The second or agrees.

The second or agrees.

A motion's been made by Supervisor Marquez, seconded by Supervisor Tam.

And before we take the roll call vote, we have comment by Supervisor Fortunato Bass.

Thank you.

Um, I do support the motion.

Uh, firstly, I am interested in hearing what my colleagues' questions uh might be because the questions that were published were all questions from my office.

So um it is really great job.

Thank you.

It is helpful just to hear, since this is agendized, uh, if there are additional questions, so that I can also be weighing those in advance, and so um invite that um that information from all of you.

Um I I wanna say also that I'm I'm pretty sure that all of us will agree uh that we want to prioritize and protect the safety of every single resident here in Alameda County, including those in the unincorporated area.

So um I don't think that's uh something we need to debate.

And at the same time, I think it's really important to recognize that under this particular administration, there are things happening that are not normal, including the potential for surveillance.

And so I know we're gonna talk about this at a future meeting, but I have been trying to learn more about these concerns that at least 30 jurisdictions um have acted upon in terms of um rejecting or canceling their flock contracts.

And while the ALPRs will gather information such as license plates, what's happening is that once that's gathered, it's then shared, sometimes without the knowledge of uh organizations, including jurisdictions.

Um, that's accessed by the federal government, it's stored in a national database, and the threat is that it's used for surveillance purposes and profiling, including uh immigrants, including people seeking reproductive health care, and in addition to that, uh these tech companies are stacking this information.

And so while the ALPR data itself may not be identifiable in terms of a particular person, all of this data is potentially being collected and leading to the ability of this administration to conduct more mass surveillance and um again profile people who um they may be trying to deport or to prevent from um seeking reproductive health care.

And that's why I think it is an issue that should concern all of us as a public public protection matter.

Um I also just want to state for the record that you know, having passed the two immigration policies we passed a couple weeks ago, it's really important for us to take this seriously.

And so I hope with that additional time, we can share more questions with the sheriff and um listen to our constituents because I think we have to take this seriously.

While it may seem like it's a very focused tool right now, it does have the potential potential to really uh be at a greater scale and harm our communities.

And I don't want to look back at history and say, oh, I wish I had stopped this from happening.

I want to be able to say we help to prevent more people from being kidnapped or being um stopped from seeking reproductive health care.

Um, and lastly, I'll just say that I believe there are alternative companies, and so I do hope that when this comes back, that there will be some information for us about how to do some competitive bidding and to look for alternate companies who can provide similar services and how we can continue to uphold the safety of all of our communities with a variety of tools and strategies, including um some that were mentioned today and uh violence prevention and providing resources uh to our constituents.

So thank you.

Okay, motion's been made and seconded.

Uh will the clerk please call roll?

Supervisor Marquez?

Hi.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye, Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune on a boss.

Aye.

President Hopper?

Aye.

Thank you all.

I do think that ended the way it should.

Um, we'll now take up the mass motion.

Uh, Supervisor Tam, are you able to make uh I will move the consent calendar?

We did the consent calendar, so we did for some reason.

I thought we did the minutes.

Okay.

So I will move items two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six is an ordinance, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one, jumping to thirty-four, thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, forty-one, forty-two, four-three.

I'll be abstaining from 44, but 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 60.

I'm sorry.

We only went up to uh 56.

And uh 44 was the item that is being tabled, and that's not included in the mass motion.

Great.

Thank you.

Is there a second to that?

Call second.

We have questions about the motion.

Mass motion has been made by supervisor TAM, second by Supervisor Marquez.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Uh, excuse me, was there an item you were going to abstain on?

Uh, item 16.

Okay.

No, you'll just make the announcement that you're voting.

I'm abstaining from item 16.

Very good.

Let's thank you for making that clear.

The clerk can please call the roll.

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune on a boss.

Aye.

Doesn't Halbert.

Aye.

The mass motion passes.

Just to be clear.

We have Tam abstaining from item 16, but otherwise voting affirmatively.

And she made that when she made the mass motion.

Is that okay for our county council or would you rather do it a different way?

Supervisor TAM should be called with the roll call, and then she can note that she is either a yes or a no, but abstaining on number 16.

So let's recall Supervisor Tam and let her make that comment.

Supervisor Tam.

I'm abstaining from item 16.

Voting yes on the rest of the other items.

But yes to all the other items except for 44 because it's tabled in the mass motion.

Noted.

Are we good?

Okay, very good.

With that, we have some ordinances to take up, and then we'll take up public comment on items not on today's agenda.

Item 26 is the second reading of the salary ordinance amendment.

An ordinance amending chapter 4.38 of the administrative code of the county of Alameda related to green building practices for certain county projects.

Mr.

President, I will move to waive the full second reading and adopt the ordinance repealing and replacing chapter 4.38 of Title 4 of the County of Alameda's admin code related to the green building practices.

Motion's been made by Supervisor TAM, seconded by Supervisor Miley.

Would the clerk please call the roll?

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor Tim.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune on Abbas.

Aye.

President Halbert.

Aye.

Your next ordinance is item 32.

It's second reading of an ordinance including two salary ordinance amendments.

The title of the first ordinance is an ordinance approving the July 6, 2025 through July 15, 2028 memorandum of understanding with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists represent representation units 18 and 24.

The title of the second ordinance is an ordinance amending certain provisions of the 2025 2026 County of Alameda salary ordinance.

Mr.

President, I will move to waive the full second reading and adopt the ordinance approving the July 6, 2025 to July 15th.

MOU with the Union of American Physicians and Dentists.

And also move to waive the full second reading and adopt the salary ordinance amendments to update Article 1 and Article 3 as described in 32B Roman I and Roman 2.

Motion's been made by Supervisor TAM, seconded by Supervisor Miley.

Will the clerk please call the rule?

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor TAM.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune on Abbas?

Aye.

President Halbert?

Aye.

Item 33 is also second reading of ordinance amendments.

The title of the first ordinance is an ordinance amending the June 25, 2023 through July 3rd, 2027, Memorandum of Understanding between the Alameda County Management Employees Association General Government Unit and the County of Alameda.

The title of the second ordinance is an ordinance amending certain provisions of the 2025 2026 County of Alameda Salary Ordinance.

Mr.

President, I will move to waive the full second reading and adopt the ordinance amending the June 25, 2023 to July 3rd, 2022 and MOU with apnea.

And I will move to wave the full second reading and adopt the salary ordinance amendments as described in item 33b, Roman I and to delete and remove Article 3, Section 3-12 as described in item B, Roman 2.

Motion's been made by Supervisor TAM seconded by Supervisor Miley.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Supervisor Marquez.

Aye.

Supervisor TAM?

Aye.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Fortune on Abbas?

Aye.

President Hubbard?

Aye.

That concludes your regular calendar.

That concludes our regular calendar, leaving the only item before us as public comment on items not on today's agenda.

Will the clerk please call in-person speakers and then online rotating back and forth by threes.

The first three in-person speakers, Veronica Alder, Zakia Johnson, Simeu Ramey.

Peter Friedrich.

Good afternoon.

My name is Zakia Johnson.

I live and work in Alameda County.

I'm a proud program manager at Peers.

Peer supports programs like Peers help our community in so many ways that I can create a list that will go on for hours.

But because I only have one minute, I will focus on the fact that these peer support services offered by peers are set to be cut for this upcoming fiscal year.

Peers offer solutions and support to community members experiencing challenges.

These programs truly support our mental health, help us enhance self-sufficiency, and because of these programs offered at peers, it is a possible to have hope to distribute this, excuse me, demonstrate resiliency and stay well.

And when wellness does become more challenging because of peers programs, support and faster recovery is possible.

We are able to take our good to great.

If these programs become no more, so many people's mental health will be harmed, even leading to a faster death for some.

Please reconsider these cuts.

Thank you, Veronica Alder.

Peter Friedrich.

This board has invested real resources in protecting residents from government targeting.

Rapid response networks for communities under threat from federal enforcement.

You built that because you believe that government shouldn't target people for what they think or what they say.

The government of India, however, is doing exactly that to people who live in your county.

In 2024, the Department of Justice indicted a former officer of India's Foreign Intelligence Service for directing an assassination plot against an American citizen in New York.

And the FBI director confirmed it was an attempt by a foreign government employee to assassinate someone exercising their First Amendment rights on American soil.

Canada expelled Indian diplomats over the same transnational repression network.

The targets are activists and advocates, members of communities that live and worship in Alameda County.

California's legislature responded with SB 509, a bill to train local law enforcement to recognize exactly this kind of foreign government targeting, endorsed by the California Police Chiefs Association passed both chambers without a single no vote, and yet Governor Newsom vetoed it after a lobbying campaign led by the Hindu American Foundation, an organization that a Gurdwara in your own county, Gurdwara Sab, Fremont, 5,000 worshippers every week, has since asked the DOJ to investigate as a potential unregistered foreign agent of India's ruling party.

The Gurdwara's letter documented HIF's coordination with foreign officials, its advocacy aligned with the BJP, and a pattern of activity that walks right up to the line of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

HAF celebrated killing the bill, called the veto, a victory for the civil rights of all Californians.

This board knows what actual civil rights work looks like.

You protect residents from one government that targets people.

I'm asking why not too.

Thank you.

You have two minutes.

Yeah, John Guerrero from Fremont want to talk about abortion.

Um the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade back in June of 2022.

What that did was it just said the federal government has nothing to do with abortion.

That is a state issue.

So they just said federal government is not concerned with abortion.

Each state will decide what they're gonna do with each state will decide what their abortion policies are.

So if there's gonna be any data collected, then you're fearing that the federal government is somehow going to affect your abortions rights in California.

The federal government has already said they have no jurisdiction there.

Thank you.

Jackie, go ahead.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the board.

I'm speaking today to call out all public leaders who are recklessly inciting divisiveness and endangering our communities.

When elected officials claim the Trump administration is attacking American citizens through routine ICE enforcement, characterize lawful arrests as kidnappings, or warn of unprecedented times in border security.

They are not informing, they are inflaming.

These loaded phrases are dog whistles that paint lawful immigration enforcement as racist tyranny within that fear and rage among the public.

They imply that federal agents are rogue actors targeting innocent people when in reality ICE is deporting criminal aliens who've broken our laws, often violent offenders who prey on our neighborhoods.

It puts law enforcement officers in greater danger, encourages illegal acts of violence against them, and deepens division in an already tense society, turns public activists into violent killers with bad intentions.

Leaders who use such language bear responsibility when that rhetoric escalates into threats or assaults on police and border agents.

We need public figures to speak truthfully.

Secure borders and deporting criminals protect all communities, including immigrant families who want safety and opportunity.

Stop the fear mongering.

Stop the dog whistles for violence, support law and order, not chaos and Marxist agendas.

Thank you.

Caller, you're on the line.

You have two minutes.

Please unmute.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, go ahead.

Great, thank you.

Uh my name is Lynn Rivas.

I am the executive director of the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations.

And I wanted to raise concerns about the uh cuts that are being felt by peers and also by the um uh peer uh uh community uh peer collective.

Um because of proposition one, we expected cuts.

Uh however, to be honest, what we expected was something like a 30% or a 35% cut, because that would make sense given the way that proposition one uh was written.

However, and that has been happening across all across the state.

Peer on organizations are experiencing cuts.

Um, but the reason I'm here today is because the cuts in Alameda are extreme.

Um, in the case of the peer wellness collective, the exorg organization has been completely 100% unfunded, um, uh starting in uh July of this year.

Um, similarly, peers is also being dramatically um impacted, um, uh something like 80%, I believe.

Um these peer organizations here serve as models for effective peer work across the state.

Um, they have a long-term relationship with our community in the case of peers, 25 years, in the case of the peer wellness collective 38 years.

Um, they're they have deep ties to the community, and it would be just a tragedy for the state and for the county of Alameda to see them uh no longer be able to survive.

Thank you.

The next three in-person speakers, Rose Marie, Sarah Marker, Lashana Jackson.

Thank you.

Good morning.

Or I should say good afternoon.

It's been a long day for me.

Um, thank you for taking the time to listen to what we have to say.

My name is Rosemey Laguna, I'm part of the peers organization.

I am the CEO there.

Um, Peers is a community-based organization serving Alameda County.

Um, it's a peer-led mental health and recovery support program.

As you've heard from Len from Cambro.

I'm here because it has lost funding for several programs that support our communities here in Alameda County.

Members with immediate solutions.

Our organization is at risk of closing programs that people rely on every day for stability, connection, and recovery.

Peer support specialists are not just service providers.

They are individuals with lived experience and mental health and recovery who use that experience to help others find hope and healing.

They meet people where they are.

They reduce isolation and they help prevent crisis.

These services are a critical part of our behavioral health system, and they also align with California's movement towards recovery-oriented care.

If peers programs close, the impact will be felt in two ways.

First, community members who depend on peer support will lose those trusted relationships and services that help keep them stable.

Second, peer support specialists will lose their jobs.

Many of these workers are in recovery themselves and have built meaningful careers helping others.

Losing employment could jeopardize their financial stability and mental health.

This is not just a funding issue, it's a community wellness and workforce stability issue.

We respectfully ask the board to consider emergency funding options, partnership, or other solutions.

Thank you.

I'm Sarah Markser.

I live in District 3.

I'm here today because our county's three peer-run organizations, which were honored right here in this space in September with the National Recovery Month Proclamation, will be devastated by cuts under the BHSA.

And although we are pursuing other funding sources and models, Alameda County is at risk of losing its peer-run organizations entirely.

I work at Peers because the peer community was a source of hope for my family when hope was very, very hard to come by.

But I want to tell you that the peer-run organizations do something that none of those other services as important as they are do, which is to provide living proof that recovery is possible.

For people with major mental health challenges, stigma means that places to belong and contribute, which all human beings need, can be very hard to come by.

And the peer-run organizations, we build communities where that's possible.

Our county can't afford to lose them.

Thank you.

Peer support creates trust, consistency, and safety for individuals who are often disconnected from traditional systems.

This work prevents crisis, reduce isolation, and supports long-term mental wellness, which ultimately reduces strain on emergency rooms, law enforcement, and hospitals.

Every day I see participants show up because they know someone will listen.

Understand and not judge them.

For many people, peer support spaces like the Berkeley Drop-in center are the only places where they feel truly seen and supported.

This program is also a lifeline for me personally.

As someone with live experience of mental health challenges, peer supports helps me stay grounded and stable so I can continue showing up fully for the community I serve.

Peer support doesn't just support clients, it sustains the workers who provide care.

And these programs are cut, the impact will be serious.

Participants will lose trusted relationships and daily support they rely on to stay stable.

Families will feel that loss in the county will likely see increasing emergency and crisis needs as preventive care disappears.

I understand Al May County is facing difficult budget decisions.

However, cutting peer support is not cost saving in the long run.

These programs are essential, effective, and deeply impactful.

I respectfully urge the board of supervisors to reconsider these cuts and protect funding for peer support services like those at the Berkeley Drop-in Center and all the other ones represented here today.

These programs protects lives, strengthened communities, and uphold the county's commitment to care and prevention.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Alison, go ahead.

You have two minutes.

Hello.

Um Alison Monroe here speaking now for FASME families advocating for the seriously mentally ill.

Um I'm taking this chance to express concerns about two cuts to programs for the seriously mentally ill.

They're being cut for two different reasons and two different programs.

Um one program being cut is behavioral health services programs that used to be funded by the Mental Health Services Act, the proposition one cuts, and the other issue is budget cuts at Alameda Health System, which are being um justified by the federal cuts to Medicaid.

Not to be complicated, but I'd like to call your attention to one program at least in the list of many organizations that are going to be cut under the Behavioral Health Services Act, which is that Bay Area Legal Aid helps the seriously mentally ill apply for SSI for government support of about $900 a month.

This is a precious resource.

This with family members as sick as ours, this might be their only chance in life to have an income.

And it's tremendously helpful to the seriously mentally ill to get them covered by these government programs.

I'm sad that a program that helps the seriously mentally ill is going to get cut by a process, proposition one that is supposed to direct funding to the most seriously mentally ill.

So that's barrier legal aid, and that's assistance and applications for SSI.

And I'm hoping that's not cut.

Another concern I have is cuts from another direction for Alameda Health Services.

They are proposing a lot of layoffs and say the layoffs are all necessary because of the big ugly bill, federal cuts to Medicaid.

I believe we might be able to hold off on a lot of these cuts.

I believe.

Yes, hi.

This is Mindy Petinook, candidate for Oakland Mayor 2026.

And I want to follow up on what one earlier caller was talking about, Jackie.

And it's very um disrespectful to what this county needs to have divisions actually being pushed from the leadership of the city.

It's causing fear, it's causing hardships, which do not need to be made on the people of this county.

And I can tell you, I've done many ride-alongs with the police, and I can tell you they're not violating anybody's rights.

In fact, when they look up on their computers when they're uh arresting somebody for a traffic stop and they see they should be deported, they can't do anything about it because it's a sanctuary city, and all they can do is give them a ticket for a traffic violation.

So all this rhetoric about how, you know, ICE is just coming in here, and our police are abusing uh the people and going after uh just anybody is pure nonsense.

And this has got to stop.

You know, if we were not a sanctuary city, I can tell you quite frankly, ICE wouldn't be necessary because the police and federal officials and sheriffs would be able to turn over people who are illegal criminals, criminals, but since we're a sanctuary city, they can't do that by law.

So what all you're saying, imposing all this, you know, saying they're gonna come and get you, they're gonna come and get you, hide in the kitchen, we gotta protect you.

Is one wrong, it's divisive, it's causing fear, it's wasting money and time when we could actually be using those resources and actually encouraging our people and our citizens to unite together and actually make Alameda a productive, healthy city, drug-free with not drug cartels, but industry and manufacturing.

So I'm calling on the leaders who do push that divisiveness, and you know who you are, you should stop it, because it's not the next three in-person speakers, Denise Jones, Crystal Carpenter, Gladys Yellow, okay.

I don't know if I want to take 30 seconds laughing, um, but I want um to just share that I am one of the program development managers at uh Peer Wellness Collective, and you pretty much heard already some of the uh characteristics that our agencies are offering, right?

So when I was sitting here and I was thinking like, what can I say?

So I'm gonna take the voice of our clients because they're not here, and I will say I'm homeless.

When I go to these agencies, they're open.

It's raining, I can go inside.

I can't shop like you all here, but I can go to several of their closed closets.

I've been rejected.

Society walks by me every day on their way to work.

Many of you have probably passed me up when I was sitting there dirty, hair nasty, maddened, but I wait for the staff to open their doors, because it's that one.

I'm seen.

I'm heard, I'm fed, and guess what?

When I go on these agencies, my name is not hey you're king.

Is queen, it's good morning, sir.

So while you hear the staff talking about their salaries, that's important to them.

But guess what?

I don't get an income.

But I do get food, I do get clothes, and I even get to take a shower.

Thank you.

Our last speaker reminded us that you don't have to take the whole two minutes.

You can take less, you can also say ditto, or you can also say what he or she said, and that works.

I think we're done with online, so we could just keep going through in person, is that right?

Yes.

Let's just call them.

Let's get them next three in line.

Karen Marbury.

Vilma, Andrew Shai.

Shoe.

Yes.

Okay.

Come on.

If the clerk calls your name, come on up and stand in line and get ready to speak after the previous speaker is done.

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Karen Avery.

I live and work in Alameda County for almost five years.

I have been employed at the Peer Wellness Collective in Oakland.

The ending of the Peer Wellness Collective would be a significant loss.

And become a certified medical peer support specialist.

My lived experience is vital to work that I do.

I feel valued.

Please keep PWC funded so that folks with lived experience can continue to be seen, heard, and uplift others.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Vilma Sacalosquete.

I live and work in Alameda County and work for peers in the visioning and engaging in recovery services.

I've been with Piers for 10 years, and I didn't know this field of peer support uh existed until I was in a rehab and where I attended a rap wellness recovery action plan group and found out about peer support specialist training.

Um that was, you know, a gift from above, and that led me to being an intern at peers.

And I cried at my interview as uh to be an intern.

Um because I did not know that I wanted a job, and I didn't know if I can kind of survive in a job, in the office, or you know, where you I thought you need to hide and pretend to be okay, to be something different than you are.

And now it's been 10 years that I've been with Pierce.

Uh been uh, you know, I was hired as a program assistant, and then they've developed me in the program coordinator, and now I'm supervising others.

Um and programs like this give a lot of hope to people.

I see excitement when people uh come to our facilitator trainings and they can facilitate support groups themselves.

Um these services are very important, and because of those because of them I'm here.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you.

Uh thanks so much.

Uh yeah, I'm Andrew Shu.

Um, I work for Peers too, and then uh well, just peers, no, not peers too, but I also work for Peers.

Um, so a little bit about me.

I'm diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar type.

Um, so you know, I've had a hard journey, been fired from multiple jobs.

Every job I get is like a blessing, you know.

I was like, uh, I was a therapist for a drug and alcohol company and you know, and then I got fired from them because I don't know, I just disagree to management.

So uh yeah, so Piers took me on, didn't ask me anything about like my previous employment, you know.

Um, they just heard that I um was diagnosed and recovered decently and was impressed.

And uh, you know, I I first joined Peers in this program called uh Rap Reentry, Wellness Recovery Action Plan, re-entry, which is for people who have been informally incarcerated and teaching uh people who just been released about like you know, like coping skills and you know, rap wellness recovery action plan, get their lives together.

So, you know, my weakness, you know, in uh, you know, uh getting incarcerated because strength, you know.

So uh yeah, peers has I mean, you know, this is Oakland.

There's crime, and you know, but Piers gave me a second chance, and they'll give future um Oakland, you know, uh form criminals in second chance if you keep you know our program funded and programs like us.

So thank you.

Portia Lee, Maisha James, Crystal, Chamberly Marquez.

Good afternoon.

Hello, supervisors.

My name is Kimberly Marquez Cortez, and I work in Alameda County at Peers, and I also support peer-run behavioral health services.

I was in this very room in September 2025, just a few months ago when this board issued a recovery proclamation, affirming that peer run services are essential to healing, stability, and connection.

These programs reduce hospitalizations and reach people traditional systems often miss.

Um, and the recovery proclamation affirmed that these services are essential.

Now, just five months later, as we prepare for the BHSA transition that will begin on July 1, 2026, many of these same peer-run services are facing devastating funds, funding cuts, or being sunset, as you've heard from some of these organizations.

This will disproportionately harm African Americans, Latino, and AAPI communities that live here in Alameda County, especially during a time when, yes, our communities continue to be targeted and destable, destabilized by federal policies, increasing fear, stress, and disengagement from care.

Peer run services are often the first and only trusted entry points for culturally responsive support.

I went through many different programs here in Alameda County with my family to find support, and there was no one that understood us until we found peer services.

Recovery cannot be proclaimed one month and dismantled the next.

Thank you.

I work and am a part of a few peer-run organizations.

These programs have helped me live a purposeful life, supported me in regaining a sense of belonging, increased my self-esteem and confidence.

It gave me hope and empowerment as well as financial support.

And while going through tremendous family losses and job losses, my involvement has decreased my substance use, reduced my depression, and improve my social functioning in my life and the lives of those that I serve.

Cutting peer run programs and organizations will have a huge negative impact on the lives of others, including myself, who benefit from a lived experienced approach and support.

This will impact mental health recovery, increase social isolation, hospitalizations, and fear and tear families and healthy relationships apart.

Please reconsider these cuts.

Thank you, Board of Supervisors.

Ruby Butler, and Katrina Killian.

I have worked for the Peer Wellness Collective for over 10 years.

I started off as a participant myself, seeking out services.

And without that support, I'm truly unsure of where I would be and what my life would be like today.

This organization has helped me complete anger management, get stable housing, sustain employment, and a host of other life skills and wellness tools.

I've attended several peer support groups to maintain my wellness over time.

I'm currently the program manager of Reach Out.

I have supported several participants, but without funding, I cannot do so.

With that being said, at this time, I'm asking that you reconsider.

Losing funding would have a severe negative impact on several families throughout Alameda County.

Without funding, services and treatment will be delayed, causing further harm.

This may cause people that are utilizing the services to fall through the cracks.

Please keep in mind and consider that the services that we provide, meet folks where they are with homelessness, mental health challenges, substance use and recovery.

All of these walks of life require unique type of support.

Help us continue to keep our community safe and fully supported.

Thank you for taking the time out to hear my voice today because I'm speaking for so many other people that do not have the opportunity to be in this room today.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Katrina Killian.

I'm the executive director of the Peer Wellness Collective.

I live and work in Oakland, been here my entire life, 49 and some years.

I'm coming to you to really advocate, you know, for what it means to represent a peer organization.

Our journey started in 1960, right along with the civil rights movement.

The Pure Voice began.

Our organization was finally funded in 1988 by people with lived experience, something completely unheard of.

And we have survived and thrived and grown others, as you can see, there are other programs here.

We are interconnected because we serve a community that is so unique that its needs and what we bring to the table are so impactful that you would see so much more happening.

And it's because we're we fill in the gaps.

We fill in the gaps.

Um in 2006, we advocated for the Mental Health Services Act.

We stood in this room in 2007 when our county submitted a budget that you all agreed to, whoever the representatives were at that time.

And we have been able to develop and build programs, and here we are 20 years later, facing the decimation of those said programs.

Is unheard of.

Thank you.

There are no more speakers.

I'd like to thank the speakers who came, and I know you waited a long time, but it was worth it.

We appreciate you.

We hear you, we recognize you.

Thank you.

With that said, yeah, before we adjourn, Supervisor Marquez, would you like to add a comment?

Yes, um, thank you all for being here.

Uh, and would just encourage you to please, when the video is uploaded to the website to um review my opening remarks.

It was basically advancing this concern in terms of what's happening with Prop One and my support for working with all of my colleagues to identify a transitional and bridge funding.

So if you could please review those comments from the start of our meeting.

Thank you.

Very good.

With that, we have adjourned.

Um we have exhausted all the items before us, so we are now adjourned.

I know we have a four o'clock planning meeting.

If anybody wants to stay around for a second separate meeting, but for now, this meeting is adjourned.