Okay, let's get started, everyone.

Are you ready?

Okay.

I'm calling to order the Berkeley City Council meeting.

Today is Tuesday, March 10th, 2026.

It is 6.04 p.m.

Clerk, can you please take the roll?

Okay, Councilmember Kessarwani.

Here.

Haplin present.

Here.

Trade of present.

O'Keefe.

Here.

Wlackaby.

Here.

Unapara.

Here.

Umbert, present, and Mary.

Here.

All presents.

Okay.

I just realized it is the first meeting of the month.

Um, and I did not warn one of you that it was your turn to say the land acknowledgement statement, so I will do it this evening.

Um, so every beginning of the month, we read the land acknowledgement statement.

Um, so I will read that to you all this evening.

The City of Berkeley recognizes that the community we live in was built on the territory of Huchun, the ancestral and unceded lands of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people, the ancestors and descendants of the sovereign Verona Band of Alameda County.

This land was and continues to be of great importance to all of the Allonee tribes and descendants of the Verona Band.

As we begin our meeting tonight, we acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of Berkeley, the un uh the documented 5,000-year history of a vibrant community at the West Berkeley Shell Mount, and the Aloney people who continue to reside in the East Bay.

We recognize that Berkeley's residents have and continue to benefit from the use and occupation of this unceded stolen land since the City of Berkeley's incorporation in 1878.

As stewards of the laws regulating the city of Berkeley, it is not only vital that we recognize the history of this land, but also recognize that the Allone people are present members of Berkeley and other East Bay communities today.

The City of Berkeley will continue to build relationships with the Lijan tribe and to create meaningful actions that uphold the intention of this land acknowledgement.

We are now moving on to ceremonial items.

So I will call up our first recipients of the ceremonial item for YouthWorks.

YouthWorks folks, you're welcome to come on up here.

Yay.

Yes.

You can come right up to this uh podium over here.

All right.

Oops.

Okay.

So today is Youth Works Day.

Whereas the overarching objective of Berkeley Youth Works program is to ensure that all youth and young adults in Berkeley have access to educational resources and culturally responsive training, that they acquire essential life skills for self-sufficiency, and that they succeed in their professional endeavors, careers, and adult lives.

And whereas the City of Berkeley recognizes that investing in young people is vital to the ongoing health, vibrancy, and success of our community.

Since 1970, YouthWorks has provided opportunities to Berkeley youth who have experienced socioeconomic and educational inequalities, including but not limited to impacts by the justice system, experiencing foster care, or being young parents.

And whereas Youth Parent is whereas YouthWorks has empowered generations of Berkeley youth by providing meaningful employment mentorship and career development opportunities, fostering skills that prepare participants for lifelong success.

And whereas Youth Works participants have contributed thousands of service hours supported supporting local organizations, businesses, and city departments, and initiated projects that enhance the quality of life throughout Berkeley, and whereas YouthWorks has championed equity and inclusion by offering employment opportunities to youth from diverse backgrounds, helping to bridge gaps and build a stronger, more united Berkeley.

And whereas the City of Berkeley values the ongoing partnerships between the community, city departments, and youth works in shaping a brighter future for all.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Adina Ishi, mayor of the City of Berkeley, celebrate and honor the achievements of Youth Works participants, alumni, staff, and supporters.

I encourage all residents to recognize the profound impact of youth employment and to continue investing in programs that empower the next generations of leaders in our city and do hereby declare March 12th, 2026 to be Youth Works Day.

Did you want to share a few words?

Yeah, I think three of us are gonna talk now.

Um good evening, everyone.

My name is Kayleigh Robinson, and I'm a Youth Works employee.

I worked for two years at my elementary school, Rosa Parks.

Before every summer, Youthworks held paid trainings to help us learn professionalism and leadership skills.

Here I learned how to do things like conflict um resolution, which I wouldn't have learned at school or hadn't learned yet.

Um this also took the burden off my parents at home to prepare me for work.

Now I know that I want to be an educator in my future and have money to put towards college.

Youthworks has helped me and many other young people find jobs when we otherwise would have struggled to.

It has provided a crucial stepping stone between high school and employment.

Young people are our future, and work experience is one of the most important steps on the path to adulthood.

Good afternoon, City Council.

My name is Ayana Flores.

This past winter, I was a Youth Works intern working at La Pena Cultural Center.

Prior to working at La Pena, I actually was couch surfing and homeless.

And I came here to attend UC Berkeley, and YouthWorks was the first job after applying to over 200 that I was able to succeed.

As a low-income student, it was through Youth Works that I was able to fully fund my first semester of college.

And it's now through YouthWorks and working at La Pena that I've found the goal in working in law and activism.

And that wouldn't be possible without the chances that this city and these programs offer.

So I would just like to say thank you to City Council, to the employers that I had through Youth Works in La Pena, and to everyone who made my own dreams as well as the dreams of many young people possible.

My experience at YouthWorks has been great, and it has impact me like in a really like positive ways.

How is being working in more professional jobs?

And also thanks to YouthWorks, I have found ways of how um how far I have found ways of what type of shelves I see myself doing in the future.

And I think youth works makes an impact in youth people because they provide like internships in jobs in like different work areas.

And I think this is like a really good opportunity for young people.

So seems they can't um they can set um people in places that um they might see themselves like doing in the future also like a really great opportunity to start like making connections and experience as well.

No, no, it's about the young quote.

Oh yeah, youth work.

Youth work, youth.

I'm so guys.

Right.

Super proud of our of our young people.

Thank you for coming and sharing your stories.

Um, so we have another.

Did you want to read this one, Councilman?

I'll read it.

Okay.

All right.

So we also have um a proclamation for Deborah Major.

Is Deborah here?

Come on up!

Hello.

Recognizing Deborah Major as the recipient of the Berkeley Poetry Festival's 23rd annual Lifetime Achievement Award.

Woo!

Yeah.

Whereas Deborah Major is an American poet, spoken word performer, novelist, essayist, editor, recording artist, actress, mother, grandmother, aunt, niece, cousin, and friend, as well as a grandchild of immigrants, documented and undocumented.

And whereas, as the third poet laureate of San Francisco from 2002 to 2004, she initiated the program City Reflections, War and Peace on Our Streets, received Italy's read uh Regina Coppola International Literary Award in 2022, the California Arts Council Writing Fellowship, Spoken Word Literary Arts Fellowship, and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association's first novice award for an open weave.

And whereas she is the author of eight poetry collections, Word Time, City Lights, Kalfia's Daughter, Willow Books, Bracchia Aperte, apologies if I'm mispronouncing it, multimedia edizioni.

And then we became City Lights, where River Meets Oceans, also City Lights with More Than Tongue, Creative Arts, Street Smarts, Curbstone, and Traveling Women with Opal Palmer Adissa, Duke Box Press, and two novels, Brown Glass Windows Curbstone and Open Weave Seal Press.

And where she was part of Daughters of Yam, a poetry performance group with Opal Palmer Adissa, for over 20 years, was a featured poet and actress in First Voices, Soul of the City, performed commissioned poems for Dimensions Dance Theater, premiered her poetry play, classic black voices of 19th century African Americans in San Francisco, and wrote poetry for trade roots and symphony with spoken word and chorus.

Now, therefore be it resolved that I, Adina Ishi, Mayor of the City of Berkeley, do hereby recognize Deborah Major as the recipient of the Berkeley Poetry Festival's 23rd Annual Lifetime Achievement Award.

Someday I would like a really long proclamation like that.

But today's not the day.

My name is MK Chavez, and I'm here to accept the award on behalf of Devorah Major.

Good evening, Mayor Ishi and Council members.

On behalf of the Berkeley Poetry Festival, it's my honor to accept this proclamation, recognizing the extraordinary work of Devorah Major.

Devorah Major spent decades reminding us that poetry is not separate from the life of a city.

It is the it is one of the ways a city learns to listen to itself.

Through her writing, teaching, and cultural leadership, she has helped shape the literary and civic imagination of the Bay Area and far beyond.

She was born and raised in Berkeley, and uh I'll share that she's incredibly thrilled to be honored.

Her work carries the rhythms of history, justice, and possibility.

She writes in a way that insists our stories matter and that our language can be a tool for liberation as much as it can be for beauty.

We are deeply grateful to the city of Berkeley for recognizing a poet whose work reflects the values that so many of us hold dear.

Community, creativity, and courage to imagine a more just world.

Thank you for honoring Davora Major, and thank you for honoring poetry itself as an essential part of our civic life.

We're thrilled that you continue to support the Berkeley Poetry Festival.

And we hope that you will come and celebrate with us on March 22nd at the first Congregational Church of Berkeley.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Councilmember, thank you very much, Councilmember Taplin, for bringing that forward to our office, too.

I think that came from your office.

Yes, which makes sense.

He's a poet if you didn't know.

So okay, so we are now moving on to city manager comments.

Are there any comments, Mr.

City Manager?

No comments, Madam Air, thank you.

Okay, we will now take public comments on non-agmons.

I think our agenda should actually include that.

I don't know why it doesn't.

Yeah, I just have to remember to put it in.

Go ahead.

All right.

Okay.

Thank you so much, and good evening.

I'm here with uh Caitlin Palmer, Audit Manager, and Katie Weissong auditor is online.

I'm here to present our audit on city contracts on February 19th.

We released an audit of uh the non-competitive contracts in the city of Berkeley.

Today I will go over why we did this audit.

Sorry, accidentally pressed.

Okay, today we're going to go over why we did this audit, our findings and recommendations, and management response.

We did this audit because competition among vendors helps ensure that the city is getting the best value and the best fit for the goods and services it purchases.

While competition is not always feasible or appropriate, it is especially important to pursue competition as much as possible as the city currently faces a budget deficit.

Competition can also help prevent fraud and increase fairness.

Although we found no evidence of misconduct in Berkeley during our audit, contract corruption cases in neighboring jurisdictions show the importance of having an open competitive contracting process.

Our objectives were to determine how Berkeley uses non-competitive contracts, and secondly, why Berkeley used these contracts when competition was possible.

We mostly looked at the contracts executed in fiscal year 2024.

We also looked at a sample of the hundred largest contracts, the active largest contracts.

We manually reviewed over 300 contract PDFs and records online to determine if they were competitive because this information was not tracked in the city's financial system.

We also manually reviewed every waiver of competition because there was no automated reports available.

Thank you to Katie for doing that work.

We defined competitive contracts to include those with either informal or formal competition, ranging from calling vendors for quotes to formal invitation for bids.

The city's purchasing manual state formal competition is required for service contracts over $50,000, goods over 100,000 and construction over 200,000.

Non-competitive contracts are authorized by the city manager through waivers of competition, those below that amount.

City council can also authorize non-competitive contracts.

There are also a few other noncompetitive processes, such as for leases and legal service contracts.

As this graphic shows in fiscal year 2024, there were 94 contracts with a total value of 43 million that did not go through competition.

Caveat, we did not assess whether each contract should have gone through competition.

Okay, what did we find?

Our first finding is that Berkeley spent millions of dollars on non-competitive contracts when competition was likely possible.

When we reviewed the city's largest contracts, most of them had evidence of competition or met criteria for exceptions, but two recycling contracts did not.

In fiscal year 2022, Berkeley executed contracts with the Ecology Center and Community Conservation Centers.

Together, the contracts were 41 million for the first five years with an option, optional five-year extension, which would bring the total to almost 85 million.

Although competition is a best practice and is required for service contracts over $50,000, neither the city charter or the Berkeley Municipal Code explicitly requires service contracts like these to be competitive.

In neighboring cities like Oakland and San Francisco, their city codes explicitly require competition for service contracts.

Let's now look at waivers.

During the audit, the purchasing manual allowed contracts to waive competition when there were they were sole source, competition was found to be inadequate, or there was an emergency.

However, the form that the staff uses to request a waiver had different criteria than the city's purchasing manual for when waivers are justified.

This may have made it hard for staff to know when it was appropriate to use a waiver.

Of the 53 waivers approved in fiscal year 2024, 38% did not clearly meet the criteria in the purchasing manual.

This means the city likely could have pursued competition in these contracts.

In our report, we highlight a few examples of waivers that likely did not meet the purchasing manual criteria.

I'm just going to point out one example of a contract for classification and compensation studies, which we found three waivers with three different vendors that all cited a dire situation as the rationale for the waiver.

While there may be an urgent need for these services, it was not there's no documented evidence that it was an uh emergency.

Also, having three different vendors to me means that competition was likely possible.

City Council can also authorize non-competitive contracts for community-based organizations.

Last year, council passed a resolution to establish a more open process to offer emergency funding to community-based organizations.

We also found that Berkeley's process to prevent conflicts of interest is limited.

Some staff and officials are required by state law to disclose financial interests, but not to disclose all relationships that may bias a decision.

In San Francisco, in addition, in addition to the Form 700, they require city officers and employees to publicly disclose any personal, professional or business relationships with anyone involved in a government decision they make.

Although we found areas for improvement, we found no evidence of misconduct in Berkeley during our audit.

The city can use amendments to increase the dollar amounts without new competition.

So a contract can start below the 50,000 threshold without competition and then later amended without competition, as long as this, as long as city council approves that.

When we reviewed a sample of these contracts, on average, amendments added over 218,000 to each contract, and 70% of them lasted for over five years.

We also identified three city attorney contracts for legal services, which grew by over 20% of the original amount.

The city charter and the BMC does give the city attorney the authority to enter into legal contracts, legal services contracts, and the amendments do not require city council approval, which can limit oversight.

Additionally, the BMC does not discuss competition for service contracts beyond setting thresholds for formal competition.

So we're finally to our second finding, and that is that paper contracts, unclear guidance, and short staffing led to delays and overuse of non-competitive contracts.

During our audit period, most of Berkeley's contracts were still reviewed and signed on paper and hand delivered for approvals.

This created delays and made it difficult to track contracts, which led to some being misplaced.

Berkeley also did not have a comprehensive digital contract management system able to track competition and notify staff of contract expirations.

While the city has begun using DocuSign for digital signatures, there is no software to manage the full contracting review process.

Lastly, we found that the General Services Division has had repeated vacancies in key positions in the last five years, making it difficult to improve the contract process.

The General Services Manager position has been vacant since November of 2024, and the contract administrative position was vacant for almost a year until April 2025.

So we made 13 recommendations to help the city address the risks we found, including for the city to add explicit competition requirements to the municipal code for service contracts and pursue open competition for the recycling contracts.

We recommend that the city update the purchasing manual and contract forms for consistency and expand training for staff.

We also recommend the city adopt a comprehensive and integrated electronic contract management system.

City management agreed or partially agreed to our findings and recommendations and provided an action plan to address our recommendations.

We have still need to confirm to what extent the recommend any recommendations have been implemented after our audit release date.

And in addition to city management, public works, the city attorney's office, and other city staff and my staff as well for their contributions on this audit.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Madam Auditor.

There's lots to chew on here.

Are there any questions from my council colleagues?

Comments?

Sure.

Yeah, I I would ask actually if our city manager could speak to some of the changes that have been made.

Sure.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, Madam Auditor and staff for the this audit.

I won't read through them all, but if you go to the audit report on page 25, you'll see all the management responses.

And you can see in there that as the auditor said we have agreed or partially agreed with them, and in fact have already implemented several of them.

Some in November and some June July.

So I would just encourage people to read through that.

You can see where we stand on the management response, both in the um where we agree and partially agree and where we have implemented and have a date and plan to implement.

So just would point people there.

Thank you.

Did you have a question?

Councilmember?

Okay, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And um uh Madam Auditor, excellent work, as usual.

Uh I I'm curious if you if you ran across this in your in your work.

Um is there any sort of interplay with the uh the the barrier study recommendations, the the Berkeley Inclusion and Diversity Index, the the Bindex as some call it.

Um because so much of this was about you know city contracting, city contractors, and um allowing new persons and new entities that are you know uh overlooked by the city to apply for these contracts.

I'm wondering if there's any interplay with that at all Yeah, this um the the focus was on the competition elements of it, and we do acknowledge that without adequate competition and without um opening, you know, having adequate participants in the system, you're not going to get the level of diversity um uh that's optimal.

So that is something that um is very important for us to address as a city.

Um Caitlin, did you have anything you wanted to add?

Yeah, um press this.

One of our final recommendations was to uh ensure that responsibility is assigned to implement the Bindex recommendations to ensure that the city makes progress towards um implementing those and and promoting fairness in contract awards.

Okay, thank you.

Did anyone have any comments on this?

Oh, okay.

Oh yeah, Vice Mayor Luna Para.

Thank you.

Um I just really wanted to thank the auditor and her staff for this work um and for everything that you put into it.

So thank you so much.

And um, yeah, how comprehensive it was.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um moving on to Councilmember Humbert.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um, I want to thank Auditor Wong and your whole team for all the work that you put into this report.

And I understand that it was a lot of meticulous work in in putting this together, and I truly appreciate the dedication and care that went into it, given our dire budget situation.

Digging into our contracts and trying to find areas for efficiency and savings that competition would bring is incredibly important.

So thank you so much for this really good work.

Thank you.

Councilmember Bakerby.

Thanks, Madam Mayor.

Um, and thank you again to the auditor and her team uh for this audit.

Thanks also to the city manager and staff for their responsiveness and um already um responding to recommendations and starting to implement them, um, which we really appreciate.

I just like to offer as um member of the budget and finance committee that it would be my hope, and we'll we'll talk to it maybe at a future budget meeting that once we get through this budget process, uh, which I know will be very time consuming um in terms of our meeting schedule, but I'd love to add this to the agenda of kind of our next meeting after we kind of approve the budget this year just to do a deeper dive and then um figure out if there are other policy changes we need to consider, you know, beyond what staff is already doing, that'd be a great opportunity for us to spend more time with it, spend more time with you, and then think about it as a committee.

So um we'll have an opportunity to add future agenda items at our next budget meeting, but it would be my hope we could consider this sometime in in July after we get through the June budget.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Uh Councilmember O'Keefe.

I just want to add my thanks to the auditor and her team for this really important thorough audit.

It's um yeah, clearly a lot of work went into it, and it's it's very important.

So thank you.

And um I just want to signal my personal interest in um looking at bidding out the recycling contracts.

I think that was a really important finding, and I'd like to I hope we look at it more.

Thank you.

Um Councilmember Trackup, thank you.

I wish to also echo my sincere gratitude to uh the city auditor and uh your team.

Um appreciate this report, um a number of uh very substantive items here and some great recommendations that warrant a deeper look.

Um so I look forward to having a deeper dive on this um at a future council meeting or um in committee um or one-on-one.

Um I also wish to thank the city manager's office as well as the city attorney for already working diligently to resolve um a number of these recommendations.

Um I do wish to note that recommendation 1.2, um, which is a recommendation um to the city council to work with city management and the city attorney to propose updates to BMC Chapter 7.18.

Um that is a city council action item.

Um and I certainly would be interested in um at a time when it can be scheduled um likely post-budget.

Um very interested in um continuing to dig into this.

Um I will note I am I sincerely understand that um a number of these recommendations to fully implement them.

It will require um some significant budget adjustments at a challenging time for the city budgetarily.

Um I'm also thinking about uh the opportunities there around the possibility of um not or the um reduced likelihood of potentially leaving money on the table.

Um and so when we have an opportunity to um resolve some of these um I will call them sticky wickets, we may actually then um put ourselves in a better position, a more advantageous budgetary uh position um for the future.

Um thank you so much for this report.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kesarwani.

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

I just want to echo the thanks, um Madam City Auditor and your team for this very important audit.

Um I have really tried to make sure that um when I'm putting budget referrals forward that we try to use an RFP process because it's very important that we are open and transparent in giving especially when we're doing when we're doing it from the city council, as as your report noted, right?

Giving um all community-based organizations who may be um qualified the opportunity to compete um and receive funding.

Um and I think you know, on these larger contracts like uh the recycling contract and other contracts, um, we have to make sure that we are um just safeguarding the public's resources, especially in this budgetary environment.

But I think in any any kind of fiscal environment, it's very important that the procurement process is the only way to ensure that um that we are being fair about how we are making these decisions in terms of who wins these multimillion dollar contracts.

And um without that, you know, I have to be honest, there is the appearance of um some kind of nefarious process.

That's why we have to be open and transparent about it.

If we just award a contract without a process, do a sole source when we know that there is the option uh to have an open and transparent process.

That's that's not good government in my opinion.

And so uh I think this audit is very important.

I appreciate that the city manager is gonna be has started implementing uh these recommendations, and I I want to make sure that we implement them all so that we can have better processes.

Yeah, I also want to note you know, some of these contracts that started below the threshold for an open process, then had funds added, and then they they went above the threshold.

So we have to have controls, I think, in in all cases, and and um and there could be instances, you know, when there's an emergency situation.

I I understand we need to move quickly and have a sole source, but you know, that was that was really not the case in many of these instances.

So thank you again, auditor, for this report.

Thank you.

I also just want to add my thanks and say thank you.

I know it took a long time to go through this, so thank you to your team and also to the city staff who I know are working to implement those, and thank you to our city manager for for being so on top of it.

So appreciate you.

Um yeah, thank you.

I I do want to allow folks if anyone wanted to give comment on this item.

Um I know it's not on consent and it's not on action.

So I I did just want to give some time for public comment.

So go ahead.

Um, I'm gonna give you each a minute.

Thank you very much.

Um again, I just want to commend the auditor for this report.

I think this is great.

Uh as an average taxpayer, I care about this because I'm worried about my taxes going up to cover these deficits.

Um, and so I'm also really heartened to hear about the comments from the council members and consumer case of Rani in particular.

Um, and I'm glad that the city management has agreed with most of these recommendations, it sounds like so.

That that's really good.

I will say, as a taxpayer, I was a little disheartening to hear about 85 million dollars with no bid.

Hopefully, that's the end that we'll see of that.

And I just hope all of you will stay on it to make sure that we follow through with these recommendations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Madam Mayor, uh, City Council, um, Martin Bork, executive director at the Ecology Center.

Um, I just wanted to offer any additional information you might have about the contracting process with the ecology center in this last cycle and the many cycles before that.

Um the ecology center has had open uh tr very transparent, long and in-depth contract negotiations with city uh over and over and over.

Sometimes uh one year contract extensions, two-year contract extensions in an industry where 10 and 20 year contracts are the norm because of the amount of capital investment and um operational intensity of the uh contracts.

Each time that has come forward to council and to staff.

Um, it's been thoroughly vetted with third party um verification of our proposals, uh deep open book and uh transparent negotiations.

And uh we feel that the city has gotten uh excellent um results for these contracts.

Just want to offer you if anyone wants to you.

Um I'm be happy to give you more information.

Thank you.

Good evening, council and auditor of the world, the best.

You know, we have the best auditor in the world in Jenny Wong, seriously.

Amazing work.

I just wanted to speak briefly.

My name is Moni Vaught, speaking in my personal capacity as an individual as a resident of Berkeley Go Bayers class of 82.

Um, firms owned by people of color and women lost out on millions as contracts flowed disproportionately to white men.

Quote unquote, 2021, Berkeley side, November 21, 2021.

I want to thank also Councilmember Ben Bartlett, who worked fiercely on this issue.

Uh, 2016 to 2019, the Mason Tillman Associates report covered four-year process.

Uh that study showed that business owned by white men were awarded over 80% of all city contracts, and black businesses were underutilized with only 2.7% of the business.

So my heart aches when people say, Why is there such a low number of black people in Berkeley?

We need to we don't feel as welcome if people think your business is supported.

Thank you so much.

Thanks, Moni.

I will take public comment online as well if there's anyone else who wants to make public comment on this report.

So this is for public comment on the auditors report only if you're on Zoom.

Um please raise your hand only to speak on the auditors' report.

Okay, first is a phone number ending in 211.

Should should be called I called for public comments.

I'm going to mute myself, wait for public comments.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh again, this is public comments only on the auditors report.

So uh we have uh Della Luna is the next speaker.

Yes, I wanted to say that as a constituent, I was saddened to hear how much of the auditors' work was done by hand and meticulously digging through records.

I am sad that that's the state of 2026 in the city of Berkeley.

Um there should be more.

I feel like the like the like just what the auditor describes, like that type of record keeping kind of leads to this type of of uh behavior amongst the um departments or different parts of the city.

So I'm really glad this work is being done, but it also feels like it could have been circumvented.

And I'm I guess I'm also just saying that you have to make the uh systems more robust in their reporting.

Um then I'm also want to say that the same audit should be done with the uh housing developers and their contracts and their applications need to be vetted by third parties and not just uh just accept everything they say, especially in the affordable housing um developers.

Um, because it seems like the same issue isn't happening in other areas as well.

Thanks, Della.

Thanks for your comment.

Next is Jeff Jeff Lomax.

Yes, thank you.

And again, big thanks to Jenny for her work here.

It's very important.

Um, I want to second the previous comment about the lack of um public transparency on these documents in general.

Um, Councilman Member Trev, it's not.

I I think what we need is you need the public posting of the documents, the contracts, they should be available and tied to a number of these contracts are reporting requirements or deliverables, which also are are very difficult to connect the dots on.

So, really essentially all these contracts should contain a mini public docket.

This is not money, this is not a lot of resources, it's just being organized and transparent, so that those of us who are interested in these issues and interrogate them frequently can get the information we're entitled to without having to go to a public records mechanism, which is often the mechanism we have to use, unfortunately, which wastes more time and resources.

So make it transparent, make it clear, make it public.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And then we have uh Mina Wilson to talk on the auditor's report.

Mina, you should be able to unmute.

Greetings to you all.

This is Nina Wilson from Healthy Black Families, nonprofit located in the Adeline Corridor in Berkeley.

Um I think it's really imperative, and I thank Jeanne for her report.

Um, this kind of rigor is necessary, especially if we're holding um a banner for equity in our community.

Um the displacement of black people from the city, the lack of opportunity in the workforce, um, contribute to that, and these contracts could be a viable method for black folks to get grounded and economically stable in the city.

Um, not only should we be looking at these contracts with this kind of rigor, but we should also be setting equity priorities around these contracts in the city to ensure that equity is happening.

What gets met what gets measured gets accomplished.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mina.

That's the last speaker.

Very good.

Okay.

Wow, thank you all so much.

I really appreciate it again.

And um we are going to move on in our agenda.

We are going to go to public comment on non-agenda matters.

Okay, so we'll pick five cards for in-person speakers, and then the first five hands raised online will be the those will be our ten non-agenda speakers.

And the five in-person speakers, and you can come up in any order.

So please just come up and line up when your name is called.

We have Stephen Alpert, Kit Saganor.

Looks like Tim O'Brien, Andrea Pritchett, Stephen Schuler.

Come on up.

Good evening.

I'm Dr.

Stephen Alpert.

I have forwarded links of three recent publications addressing housing affordability, all city officials.

The titles of these publications are shown on this poster.

Using real-world data, at least there's dumb, it takes decades for newly built market rate housing to eventually filter down to become affordable.

Council members have come of the brickless and field to acknowledge the 15 to 30 percent of lower income units and new projects mandated by state density bonus law.

At the March 2nd meeting of the land use housing and economic development committee, council member Kesselana introduced report as a move providing affordable housing for families, which advocates removing the small amount of on-site lower income units required by state density bonus, and instead allow developers to build solely market rate units.

This proposal supported by Mayor Ishi and Council Member Tree Group is based on faulty recommendations, faulty assumptions, and should be outright rejected.

Thank you.

Two weeks from now, you will be considering Flock contracts, extending the one you have and adding to them.

You really need to recognize that no matter what you put in in contracts, you will not have actual control over the data that Flock will have stored on their servers.

And there are many ways in which that data can go to ICE or other malign federal actors.

Warrants signed by a judge, uh, an individual outside Berkeley who's employed by an agency that that BBD trusts can get data and pass it along.

A mistake in a system setting controlled by Flock, an individual and flock employee who has access to the software and database, and you really really must not discount the possibility of the secret FISA warrant, which uh a judge can issue to a FISA judge can issue that will go directly to Flock and you will not be told about it.

Thank you.

Thanks, Ted.

Hi everyone, my name is Steven Schuyler, and I live in Kittard Street, downtown Berkeley area.

And about a year and a half ago, there was a big push by the zoning board to approve a lot of high-rise buildings in my area.

I'll do a block and a half from all of them.

And so now we find ourselves in an opposite problem.

We've all decided to either abandon their project, or one of them on Center Street has decided to put it on hold for three to five years because of the tariffs, and maybe ICE is gonna come and arrest all of their workers.

And they've disconnected all of the utilities, and all of the businesses are gone.

And if my research is correct, maybe my numbers are a little off, but I looked online, it's gonna cost about two thousand dollars a foot to reconnect the utilities.

And if they just abandon that project too, it's gonna leave it on the city's owners to put it back up.

Thank you.

Hi, my name's Tim O'Brien.

Uh this week we lost longtime Berkeley resident and Titan of the 60s counterculture, country Joe McDonald.

Though he was a hero of the anti-war movement, which I realize is out of vogue with this current city council.

I am hoping the city can find a way to commemorate his passing.

Such a move, I feel is well within the wheelhouse of this council as it's an entirely performative gesture that requires no substantive action, political courage, or personal sacrifice.

And so, if your handlers from the JCRC and the real estate lobby allow it, I hope you all can find your way to honor the legacy of a great American, a legacy of social justice so far in Berkeley's past that like the anti-apartheid campaign for South Africa and the free speech movement before it, you can all safely pay lip service to it without doing anything meaningful to advance it.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council members.

My name is Andrea Pritch, and I filed a complaint with the police accountability board last June after having been manhandled by some police officers because I was trying to video them beating an unhoused man on the street.

I recently received this from the chief.

I carefully reviewed the complaint, including the complete investigation conducted by the Internal Affairs Bureau, the investigative findings provided by the Office of the Director of Police Accountability, which also included a report of the review by the police accountability board.

Sadly, I didn't cooperate with an internal affairs bureau investigation.

So I'm really curious to know what the chief used to reach her conclusion that none of my allegations were sustained or even considered founded.

But interestingly, I never got anything from the PAB.

I never got anything from the director.

And for you to continue to give more weapons to the police that are unaccountable is irresponsible.

Thanks.

Your card has to be a little bit more.

Yeah, we have to have a card now.

Sorry, I forgot.

Okay.

So the first uh commenter online is phone number ending in 211.

Hi, good evening.

Uh my assistant.

Documents.

Please read them.

Unspond to respond.

Our business yeah IDS TV have been in business 52 years.

We did over 200 million dollars worth sales.

Well contributed over one million dollars to the city of Berkeley finances.

And license fees.

I wish I I hope.

Eleanor uh listening to my call.

Email right now.

I do need to email the best way.

Go down telegraph.

Good down University.

Go down San Pablo.

Go down Shadowc.

Blocks are closed.

Shut down.

Businesses.

Bad mega land orders destroy these businesses.

We need to bring the good life to Berkeley again.

Mayor, easy.

Please give me a call.

And this is work.

Bring Berkeley.

Thank you.

Next is Eric.

Eric should be able to unmute, unmute.

Hello, my name is Eric Maresbro.

I'm from the project Streets with Equality here in Berkeley.

I wanted to talk to the council and the Madam Mayor about the horrible conditions of probag that we are allowing in this city.

Not only has construction gotten unjust completely unruly, but we are allowing them now to not only block sidewalks, but block the bicycle lanes that we have paid for.

This is outrageous to me as a citizen of Berkeley, and even more outrageous as a disabled citizen of Berkeley.

We are not coming up with the standards that this city is known for.

We are having in the disabled community to find different ways around everything.

And it is almost every week.

Adeline Street has been shut down for months now.

You can hardly get to the eSpace Center for the Blind on certain roads.

And I just don't know where to go anymore.

I don't know what to do.

It's absolutely outrageous.

Thank you.

Thanks for your comment.

Okay, next is Della Luna.

Del Luna, you should be able to talk about a serious issue on the Berkeley streets.

Right now, it is incredibly dangerous to walk as a pedestrian on the streets.

It's also really dangerous to drive.

But right now, the way they work when the pedestrian pushes the lights, the lights start blinking at six different spots across the intersection.

And that split second, that actually distracts the driver.

And the lights need to start blinking from where the pedestrian pushes the button and then radiate out from there and then start blinking everywhere.

And I want to speak about the uh walkway, the pedestrian crosswalk at the Ashby Bart.

That was under construction and the improvements were being made, and there were signs and there was cones.

And then all of that went away.

And before the new crosswalk and the new uh system had put reflectors and lights, and before it got finished.

So like one crew finished and the next crew didn't come.

There was a lag there, and someone just got hit in that crosswalk.

So I think that this is something that the public safety commission can work on to close those gaps.

Thank you very much for your comment.

Uh next is um virtual meetings.

I'm sorry, this is Wendy Else.

And I just wanted to uh ask you in well, you now that you have the city auditors report in mind to look at all of those recommendations in light of the flock contract coming to you in two weeks.

I think that uh they should be applied.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh that's the last one.

That's nine.

We could pull one more card for.

Moni, did you want to make I don't know if Moni is still here.

Oh, well, we have Celeste Marks.

Okay.

Oh.

Well, he didn't put a card in.

Sorry.

She didn't do a card.

Oh, sorry.

But I'm gonna let her go because she came up.

Okay.

Thank you, Sylvia.

Thanks, Celeste.

Just two quick things off the agenda.

Last Monday I was with Marcia Poole an hour before she passed, she had just passed away.

And I know that you're honoring her.

Um, she's an icon of Berkeley.

She's one of the legends.

I'm doing a film called Legends of Berkeley, and I told her I'm gonna film her about her uh busting um a trafficking situation in Berkeley.

It's a pretty famous story.

If you don't know about it, you'll learn about Marcia Poole.

And I just want to give honor to her memory.

And the other thing was um dangerous intersections.

Thank whoever in the city that put together the sidewalk covering and clearing because a woman, a Cal student got hit by a car, and she had been complaining about how the street had no marking of bright colors, so people couldn't see as they turned on college.

So we need to do that and more intersections because too many people are getting hit, and I'm a pedestrian and I often run across the crosswalk.

So please, drivers out there, please be careful and don't hit anyone.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, so we are now moving on to public comment by employee unions.

Are there any employee unions present?

There's uh anyone online?

It's one online, uh Berkeley CSU P T R L A.

Where'd you go?

Should be able to unmute there.

Hi, good evening.

Um, this is Jocelyn Goldsmith DeSena from the SEIU 1021 C S U P T R L A chapter.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Okay, great.

I'm just gonna apologize in advance if you all hear me coughing because I'm getting over being sick.

Um I am a public health worker at the WIC office, and I'm also a board certified lactation consultant, and I'm the co coordinator for the CSU PTRLA chapter of SEIU 1021.

And I'm speaking tonight on behalf of our entire officer board.

Um we urge the Berkeley City Council to oppose the three proposed items that would reduce police oversight and accountability in the city of Berkeley and with particular attention to item 17 this evening.

The proposed amendments to reporting and permissive processes for the use of chemical agents, helicopters, and police dogs are presented under the pretense of efficiency.

In reality, they would eliminate critical layers of oversight and transparency by removing officer accounts in the report.

This is not a matter of efficiency, it is a matter of public trust.

Excuse me.

Weakening reporting and review requirements risks eroding the confidence that residents and workers place in the Berkeley police department and in the city's commitment to accountability.

We are particularly alarmed by the proposal to lift the ban on the use of pepper spray and smoke for crowd control, as well as tear gas for special operations.

Reauthorizing the use of chemical agents that have been well documented to have harmful impact does not make our communities safer.

Such measures would roll back reforms that were adopted in response to the overmilitarization of policing in cities across the country.

Reversing these reforms sends a troubling message at a time when many communities are calling for greater transparency in public safety practices.

As officers of a union representing members who work in the city of Berkeley, we strongly oppose these items.

We like you want our colleagues in public safety roles to be safe and supported.

Excuse me, as they carry out challenging and sometimes dangerous work, but safety cannot come at the expense of accountability or community well-being.

We believe our colleagues should be equipped with tools and training that protect them and the public, not measures that risk causing unnecessary harm to the very people we serve.

As workers in the city of Berkeley, we are deeply concerned about expanding access to these weapons and reducing oversight around their use.

Now is the time to strengthen transparency and community trust, not weaken it.

So we the officer board of CSU PTRLA chapter of SEIU 1021.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Is are there any other um unions on?

Okay.

All right.

We will move on then.

Thank you very much.

Um we are moving on to our consent calendar.

I normally would give us a little stretch break, but I think we've got a lot of things to cover.

So let's keep moving.

Are there any comments from my council member colleagues?

I imagine there are a bunch.

Yeah.

We need to accept this material.

So I was expecting.

Yeah.

Councilmember Traygob.

I would like to can I make a motion to accept both the urgency item and the supplemental.

Uh yes, they both required two-thirds vote.

So we can do that.

Okay.

I I move to accept the urgent item, which is a resolution uh condemning the uh illegal war on Iran and expressing support for Killians impacted by this crisis, as well as uh our supplemental number three to agenda item 10, which is a resolution opposing the Bureau of Land Management, the oil and gas leasing and thrilling on California public lands and parks.

Second is there any opposition to adding both of these items?

Uh I think we need to have a roll call vote for the um uh okay to accept both items, council member Kissarwani.

To accept the items, yes.

Yes, Taplin, yes, Bartlett, yes, Craig, yes.

I O'Keefe, yes, Blackaby, yes, Luna Para, yes, Umbert, yes, and Mary Ishi.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Those are accepted, and uh the urgent item is added to the consent calendar.

Thank you.

Um going to Councilmember O'Keefe.

I did not expect to be first.

Um actually, um, if you don't want to be first, I can also I'd also like to move something else to do that.

Okay, so um one of our old business items, um, item 18 was the City of Berkeley's 2026 state and federal legislative platform, which basically we took everything that you all said last time and we put it onto this one document, but I wanted it to be public so that people could see it.

Um and then there was a friendly amendment that's being proposed that we also add uh support legislative and budgetary efforts to create a not-for-profit utility service to replace investor-owned utility programs, reduce the ratepayer burden imposed by investor-owned utilities, and support community choice energy under the infrastructure policy priorities.

Um, and so I'd like to add that as well, and then ask that we move that over to the um to the consent calendar.

Is there a second?

Does it need a second?

Second.

Sorry.

Yeah, so can we take the role on that, please?

Oh uh, you could just move it to consent.

You don't have to vote on it.

Oh, I mean you can move it to consent if there's no objection.

Yeah, there's no objection.

Is there an objection?

Okay.

So that will save us a little bit of time.

Very good.

Okay.

Now council member Keefe.

Thanks.

Um, yeah, I just have a bunch of disparate comments.

I want to make sure I got them all.

Um, I want to start by thanking Councilmember Taplin for adding North Shaddock to the entertainment zones.

I was gonna ask him for that, but he put it in the supplemental.

So thank you so much.

Um party in North Shadow soon.

Um I would like to um ask if I could co-sponsor item 10, Councilmember Trackup.

The one we just I would be deeply honored.

Great, thank you.

Um good item.

And then I would like to be recorded as donating 250 dollars to item 12.

And then the okay, those are the smaller things.

And then the larger thing I want to say regarding the AI items.

I did actually want to go um early because I I wanted to clear up any confusion there might be.

Uh, these there's two AI items.

They are uh not in any way in opposition.

So I had a couple people kind of speculating about that, and I just wanted to clear it up.

Um I'm uh I wrote one, uh, council members Bartlett and Traygroup wrote another one.

And um what did I say?

I said wrong names.

Anyway, Bartlett and Traegoop wrote the other one, and um it's all good.

I think I think what happened was both office or all these offices kind of saw a need for something to be um done in this area, and we all kind of did it at the same time.

Uh I see my item.

I'll just speak about my item.

Um it's really designed to be much more kind of smaller and more practical than I believe the other item.

Although I'll let you guys describe it on your own.

I really felt like um, just from discussing the issue with the city manager, it seemed like you know, this is a very new, pretty much lawless technology.

We don't understand it that well.

People are using it, people should be using it in some context.

It's it can be a really powerful tool for a lot of jobs.

But uh we just it seemed like it would be a good idea.

Um city manager and I agreed uh that there should be some sort of official city guidance for how to use it properly, because a lot of people I think feel really lost.

Like, what are the roles?

There's some very um important issues of like maintaining privacy.

Um people, we don't really, you know.

I think it's important the city staff understands don't just put a bunch of people's names into chat GPT, right?

Like that's not um uh you know, we don't really understand where it goes, um, and that's that's certainly problematic.

So things like that, it just seemed prudent to have a couple of clear guidelines about how best to use this.

And so my item is just really trying to do that.

And I think um, like I said, I'll I'll let the other council members speak to their item, which is a little, I think it's just a little more more um visionary than mine.

So I just want to assure nobody has to choose between them.

I I think I I'm planning, I'm happy to support both, and thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Um Councilmember Taplin, thank you, and good evening.

Um on item seven, the entertainment zones.

I like to thank my co-sponsors, Vice Margaret Luna Parra, Councilmember's Cascadwani and Blackaby, the members of the land use national development committee, as well as my fellow members of the night council.

And as Council Rohif mentioned, um in the sub two, uh we have included North Shaddock among the recommended stakeholder uh merchant stakeholders.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Blackby.

Thanks, Madam Mayor.

Um I'll just tick through a few of these items as well.

Um thanks to Councilmember Taplin for authoring the entertainment zone ordinance and for allowing me to co-sponsor.

Um I support uh entertainment and nightlife, even though I may not be the most uh avid uh partaker of it, but I appreciate it and I the importance to the city.

Um having a couple of kids uh kind of limits your opportunities.

But I like I like uh the way this is going.

Uh wanted to support um and thank uh council member um Bartlett and Trago and also um Councilmember O'Keefe for their AI items.

Thanks to Councilmember O'Keefe for incorporating a few edits um that I suggested on her item.

Um my main takeaway is it is important to have guardrails, it is important to have a framework, but I also want to make sure that city staff feel encouraged to do a little experimenting safely.

Um I think there is a lot of opportunity as long as we're responsible with it, especially at a period of time where we have real budgetary limitations and constraints.

Um we need to find some other ways where we can scale.

Uh and this may be one of those things as we move forward um carefully and responsibly.

So a lot of the stuff that uh I worked with Councilmember O'Keefe on was making sure we're sharing best practices internally.

If one department discovers uh some really interesting application of it, we should share that with other departments because there's probably a need for that across the organization.

Um and then we just continue to revisit the framework, continue to revisit the rules on a regular basis because as we know, this is moving really quickly.

And so whatever we adopt tonight uh may look a lot different in uh six months, let alone six weeks or six days.

So again, but I just want to credit them for their leadership on this, and I think it's really important that we're taking this step.

Um on the micromobility regulatory framework, thank you to Councilmember Traegub for authoring it.

Thank you uh for allowing me to co-sponsor it.

This is a really important uh thing in many of our districts, just making sure that um micromobility devices are better regulated, that there is more safety, that there's more um uh onus on the providers of the of the micro mobility devices as well as the writers to take responsibility.

Uh we need to figure this out because again, it is an important transportation solution, but in its current state, it is causing real hazards on sidewalks and on streets.

Um a lot of us have constituents who um find it very difficult to navigate um sidewalks and streets with the devices, and we need to figure this out uh as quickly as we can.

So I appreciate Councilmember Trago's um authorship of this and allowing me to ride along, as it were.

Um also, Councilmember Trago, I believe I'm a co-sponsor of number 10.

Is that right?

Just to You are just gonna add you, but thank you on the planet.

Sorry, okay.

Oh, you can you can add but thank you for authoring this as well on the opposing the uh oil and gas leasing on California public lands.

Uh on item 12 um on the Berkeley Fruit Clinic, I'd like to record our offices um uh relinquishing 250 dollars towards the item.

Thank you to Councilmember uh or Vice Mayor Lunapara for authoring this item.

And on item 13, um thank you so much as we're thinking about um housing zoning questions and concerns across the city that we're making sure we're looking at other high resource areas, not just the corridors as we're moving forward, and so council member Humbert's um item to look at what might be possible on telegraph on Claremont and other places around the city.

I just again appreciate um your authoring that and your leadership on that.

And that's it for now.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Trapp.

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um first of all, on item two, which is the re-establishment of the downtown Barkley property and business improvement district.

Would would like to thank um Elinor and the entire economic development team uh as well as um the city manager and deputy city manager David White, who um attends the monthly um downtown Barkley Association meetings, uh, and of course uh would be very remiss in not thanking John Canor, who is uh sitting right here.

Um excited to see this um move forward.

Umtown Barkley may have its challenges that we're working through, but it is a downtown that is on the rise.

Um next, um I would like to um I would like to thank uh councilmember taplan uh for his entertainment zone item.

Uh uh it was a very popular item, so while I did not get a chance to be a co-sponsor of this one, I'm excited to support it and uh continue to partner uh with your office on next steps.

Um very proud of Barkley for taking a thoughtful and proactive approach to artificial intelligence.

AI is already here and evolving rapidly.

Whether we welcome it or not, it is shaping how we live and work.

Our responsibility as a city is to educate ourselves, protect our workers, and thoughtfully explore how this technology can serve the public good.

Even when the path forward is complex, it is important that we try to stay ahead of these developments rather than simply react to them later.

And in that spirit, I'm proud to be respectful of respectively an author and a co-sponsor of two AI items before us tonight.

Item eight uh with Councilmember Bartlett, uh, the Berkeley rule, uh, the artificial intelligence municipal framework, as well as item 11 uh by Councilmember O'Keefe uh citywide guidelines on artificial intelligence.

Um the uh our referral uh item nine, strengthening Barkley's micromobility regulatory framework to improve public safety, AD accessibility and operator accountability.

I would like to um in addition to thanking FITS for their positive recommendation um and Councilmember Blackaby for his thought partnership.

Uh I'd like to express my deepest gratitude to our public work staff, especially Wahid Amiri, for uh his tremendous help in developing the micromobility safety item before us tonight, as well as his team that we worked with closely.

Um I know I know that um this is only one step, and it is not lost on me that probably in the foreseeable future I will still have to continue to move uh scooters out of the way if they're parked illegally.

Uh but I'm prepared to do so whenever I see that in my district while also working on uh meaningful policies such as these one.

Uh and I would like to uh just briefly on item 10 uh make sure we are adding uh council members uh Blackaby and O'Keefe has co-sponsors and um think there was a question uh if if there were if there was someone else interested, I uh perhaps Vice Mayor Lunapara.

Um I just couldn't remember if there was a conversation, but would be happy to add you.

We do have a spot available.

Um appreciate your support for admitting these amendments uh into the item.

Um lastly, item 12, Berkeley Free Clinic Critical Renovations.

Um I would like to relinquish 150 dollars from my T 13 account uh with gratitude to the Vice Mayor for this item um and for 12 sponsors.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can I just respond quickly?

I would love to be added to item 10.

Thanks.

Consider it done.

Okay, thank you.

All right, moving on, Councilmember Humbert.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um I'd like to uh as on item number twelve, the Berkeley Free Clinic Critical Renovations item brought by Councilmember Luna Parra.

I'd like to contribute um 250 dollars from our office account, uh D8's office account.

And with respect to um item number 13, which is pitch, the project to increase telegraph and Claremont housing.

I'd like to add Councilmember Kessarwani as a co-sponsor with her permission.

Um I want to say with respect to this item, my proposal to increase that housing on telegraph and certain places up in the Claremont.

I want to thank planning staff and the cities at City Attorney's Office for their assistance in preparing the item.

I also want to thank the land use committee for their excellent input, which I was happy to incorporate, and also thank my colleagues on the agenda committee for being open to putting this on consent.

I just want to make a note of a couple of minor changes to the item that were provided in the supplemental that we filed.

The first is that I wanted to make sure that staff had flexibility within the item's direction around base heights to make sure we are studying what height options will enable us to optimize the provision of affordable housing.

So we're not just automatically defaulting to a certain base height if it won't actually result in more housing and might in fact reduce provision of inclusion or units.

And second, also to specify that the staff work would include any general plan amendments and attendant work that may be necessary.

I think this was implied in the original item, but um with um input from the city attorney's office, I wanted to make it explicit.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Vice Mayor Lunapara.

Thank you.

Um first I was proud to author this urgency item um condemning the Trump's admin Trump administration's illegal declaration of war in Iran and expressing the city council support for our constituents impacted by this crisis.

Um I'm also very excited to co-sponsor the entertainment zone item.

Um I want to thank Councilmember Chaplin for developing this item and inviting me to co-sponsor data shows that our communities are safest and small businesses are the most profitable with increased foot traffic.

So I look forward to seeing how these changes increase the number of street events and on telegraph and durant and south side.

I was also proud to author I uh item 12, the discretionary item uh supporting critical renovations at the Berkeley Free Clinic's new location in West Berkeley.

Uh the Berkeley Free Clinic has served as a cornerstone of community health for over five decades, and I'm really happy that we're able to provide them with some much needed financial support this evening.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

And Councilmember Bartlett.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh just running through the packed agenda here.

Uh very excited about item three, the um uh SB Bart E-Slot Transit Oriented Development RFP framework.

So this is wonderful.

So at long last, um the city is poised to release its RFP to get people applying uh to fulfill our dreams at the East Law at SP part.

Real excited about that for all these years.

Um the entertainment zone ordinance, thank you, Councilmember Taplin for this.

Um I understand that the Lauren District, the South Brooklyn district, could not be in due to the geographic spacing of our um booze halls.

Uh so I do want to just flag this for the staff if he was listening.

I see over there, I see you over there.

Um is when they when they look through this because they possibly find a way to get us in there too.

We used to have for years um illegal uh street parties in South Berkeley was wonderful on the sidewalk.

Um so we know how to do it.

We can have a good time.

We know how to have a good time.

Trust us.

Um the Berkeley rule and uh this is my my item here, worked on it really hard.

Came out of conversations with uh the city manager.

Um we were looks like there was some scattershot approach uh evolving.

Uh we're gonna hit up by vendors.

And so um uh we thought it'd be interesting to kind of not let AI happen to us, but let us happen AI.

And so essentially this is an effort to articulate um community vision, community community values, and implant that into the industry.

And let's see what comes out of that.

Uh and I also want to want to thank Councilmember McKeefe and I'm a co-sponsor on your wonderful item with you and Mr.

Blackaby um on a more uh regulatory approach uh to the industry.

Thank you for that.

Um we are providing leadership um lust needed time, trust me.

Um $250, please from my office to the Berkeley Free Clinic.

Thank you, Vicemar Linopara for that.

They do great work over there.

Um really do.

And uh and then I want to thank Council Mr.

Humbert for your excellent work on the pitch item.

Uh this is uh very delicate work.

Your too, Madam Mayor.

Uh very delicate work here to to increase housing equity um everywhere in Berkeley.

And thank you.

I'm happy to help you in every single way.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councilmember Kessarwani.

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

I I also wanted to just chime in and recognize item three, the uh request for proposal framework for the Ashby East lot.

Um this is very exciting, and uh you know, we look forward to um both both uh Bart stations breaking ground soon.

Um item number seven, I want to thank Councilmember Taplin for the entertainment zone item.

I was very pleased to co-sponsor that item number 12, um, Councilmember Luna Pata, I'd like to be recorded as donating a hundred dollars for the uh Berkeley Free Clinic Critical Renovations.

And then finally, item 13.

I want to thank Councilmember Humbert.

Well, I guess you're all authors.

Thank all of you, the mayor and councilmember Bartlett, um, for this item to uh rezone telegraph in Claremont, and I'm I'm very uh pleased to be able to co-sponsor that item.

Um that's it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Just gonna add my excitement about the Ashby Bart East Lot RFP and applaud the addition of the uh universal design standards and 25% affordability going to uh uh units reserved for people with uh disabilities.

So very excited about that.

And I don't think it's clarified on there.

So for Berkeley Free Clinic, um, I know I'm listed as a co-sponsor, but 250 dollars from my office.

Okay, very good.

Um we are now going to move on to public comment for consent calendar items and information items only.

Come on up.

Thank you.

Um good evening, council uh John Kane or Downtown Berkeley Association.

Want to thank thank council and staff for the work in the renewing of the downtown Berkeley P Bed and particularly Councilmember Chugga in this partnership and the city manager and all the staff.

Um this is a 10-year renewal.

We did five for the first time in 2012 and then 2017, another 10 years.

It's about a 20% rate increase, about eight to nine percent is uh structural cost changes, and then about 12%.

We're doing a safety ambassador program, which will be rolled out in January because that was a key issue.

We talked to over 500 stakeholders in the downtown.

There's an ability within five years for the board also to trigger perhaps another 10 percent for a larger economic development and retail attraction role.

Um, I um also just want to thank you, particularly uh Councilmember uh Taplin for the economic zone works.

Um we fully fully support that as I spoke earlier.

We need to support events, joyous events in the downtown.

So thank you all very much.

Thank you.

I think it said for two minutes, it should be one, right?

And I'm sorry, in the back, could you please take your conversation outside?

Thank you.

Okay, good evening, Mayor Ishii, members of the council.

My name is Daniel Swafford.

I'm the executive director of the North Shattuck Association Business Improvement District.

I just wanted to come out in person and uh thank uh Councilmember Taplin and other members of the subcommittee on entertainment zones uh for the vision and for the effort and for the encouragement to get more people out to support our small business community.

Um the district is wholeheartedly uh behind the initiative and will be there as a as a true uh partner with this.

So thank you for that.

And just incidentally, in the spirit of entertainment zones, I invite you to come to North Shaddock and walk down the street.

New street banners just went up showcating 13 different Berkeley artists from all over the city to create a wonderful outdoor gallery.

So those are the kind of things you can do when walking and and uh getting into different uh restaurants and bars, and just really uh celebrating community in the way that so many of us are excited to do this spring and summer.

So I appreciate you all.

Thank you.

My name is Sheree King, and I do tennis tournaments at San Pablo Park.

Uh last year I have had a contract with the park and rec for over 10 years and have generated a number of 400,000 dollars.

This year I generated 66,000 because uh I am the uh officer of Operation Pride.

I also do tennis lessons, and I also uh support the park and rec goals and objectives.

What's important about doing tournaments is that I represent the United States Tennis Association.

I'm on the board.

I have done tournaments.

I've been received the tournament of the year twice.

And what happens is when you bring a tournament to town, they spend money.

I did a tournament last weekend, and I had 27 kids, and 50 parents came to see their children play.

I do one every year.

I have a small after school program, and that after school program is a low-income program.

And I'll just say I changed that to Fit Your Budget Program.

Because what it does is Thank you.

Thanks so much.

Was that related to the entertainment zones item?

I was You know, I need to practice the one minute.

No worries, I know it's tough.

Thank you for coming.

I appreciate your public comment.

Thank you.

Good evening all.

My name is Tom Parrish.

I'm the managing director of Berkeley Repertory Theater and a member of the board of the downtown Berkeley Association, and I'm here to voice my support for the renewal of the property-based improvement district downtown, as well as the entertainment zones, and thank you all for your efforts to increase the vitality of our city.

Thanks.

Thanks, Tom.

Hello, I'm David Mayer.

I'm the CEO of the UC Theater.

I'm here to support item number two as well as item number seven.

Both of them I think are very important for different reasons.

The uh watching uh John's work over the last 10 years uh in the downtown PBID, uh it really has brought um a great sense of community, uh, kept the streets clean, goodwill ambassadors there to answer questions, and really helped to foster a great sense of community regarding the uh entertainment zones.

Um it's a great opportunity to revitalize different areas of the city to create this outdoor activity, um, it'll generate revenue for small businesses, create safer streets, and just generally I think improve Berkeley as a place for people to go out and enjoy and hang and have a good time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, shh, quiet in the line.

Okay.

Hello everyone.

My name is uh Sahar Maliki, and I'm a resident.

So I uh wanted to comment on one of the resolutions that I think was put on the uh consent table as an as an Iranian American.

I I just wanted to express my disappointment as a voice of Iranian people.

I know that they are not for this uh uh uh consent uh table, this resolution.

Uh I think that the reasons that were expressed was financial and uh peace.

I think that Iranian people want to be helped.

Uh there were uh massacres uh occurred in Iran about uh two months ago, and uh they look at it as uh uh help uh from outside.

Uh they don't look at this as a war against them.

Also, as an American, I think that this may uh help to peace in the long run.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, uh Carol Morasfic speaking in my individual capacity because I'm not authorized by the Peace and Justice Commission, uh, but I'm unable to reach the author of the item who is Iranian.

Uh last night we actually voted on a uh um uh recommendation on Iran, and I will read that out.

Adopt a resolution reaffirming the commitment of City of Berkeley to international peace, opposing the war in Iran, an unconstitutional war initiated unilaterally by the U.S.

president without congressional authorization, and expressing solidarity with the people of Iran and the right to self-determination.

Um I did add the friendly amendment about the constituent unconstitutionality.

So we did pass this last night.

I I am gonna add actually I was lobbied most of the day to not vote for this, and uh and that council would never pass an item like this.

So it's going to be interesting when I share it with you.

Thank you for doing about that urgency item.

Is it already passed?

There was no opposition, so it's passed by consent already, or you or you will be swayed by our okay.

Oh, yeah.

So I I wrote a resolution to end the war before it starts about Iran.

Must have been 12 years or so ago because it was in the crosshairs of the project for a new American um yes, century.

And um it was uh this is very mild compared to that one, and yet that one passed unanimously.

And look, Berkeley did it, Berkeley staved off the war on Iran for all these years.

Um it's it's very important to take this stand.

And I have many of um Iranian friends who live here who would be in favor of it, who are in favor of stopping the war.

Um because of all the suffering that war causes, and of course it's more complicated than that.

So you know that the 85 seconds to midnight, the doomsday clock, the war in Iran will affect all of us.

Thank you.

Well, I just wanted to offer my hearty support to anything that's going to the Berkeley Free Clinic.

That is a beloved institution.

I think they do great work.

And you know, it's still my hope that we will have a special care unit.

Still my hope that one day we will find those ambulances, those beautiful wheelchair accessible transport vans.

And I believe that we should continue in in whatever way we can to build out the philosophy of the Berkeley Free Clinic, which was about community collaboration, which was about not calling the police, but providing care.

And I continue to ride my bike through the streets of this town.

I continue to see people who are in great distress, and I have no idea who to call.

And if anybody on this council can advise me, I I'd love to hear it.

Because right now we have fire trucks and police.

But somebody to sit down with a cup of coffee and talk to somebody, offer them some care, some transport, some love.

Thank you.

Thanks, Andrea.

Uh, my name is Ruthwick.

I just wanted to quickly express support for the AI items, and uh I guess I feel positive that Berkeley can lead in terms of AI policy.

Um, I'm also a recent graduate from the University of California here, and uh studied and researched both AI implementation and policy making.

Uh Berkeley is internationally regarded as maybe the number one place to study both of those topics.

And so I also think uh looking at the economic dashboard packet here, uh, which encourages uh city university connections.

I think uh having advice from staff, professors, students from the university could mean a lot for the implementation and execution of those two AI policies.

Okay.

And Mayor, we have uh 12 speakers online, so we'll go to the first speaker that's Merrill Siegel.

Is it possible to speak about AI tool?

No, I'm sorry, Phoebe, you had your time.

Merrill Siegel.

I saw your shirt though.

I think your shirt says it.

Well, why don't we just call poly?

I know narrow applications are okay.

Thanks.

Meryl Siegel, you should be able to speak.

Thank you.

Um regarding the entertainment zone ordinance, it is really great, but there's a complication, and I was requesting that the city council remove the item from consent and put it to action.

And the reason why is that the city right now is in a 30 million dollar budget deficit, but because this item would recover uh require staff time, and there is no real urgent need for this measure, and because it's still not possible to understand the effects of this measure on the San Pablo Avenue specific plan, because the way it's written right now, it's like maybe the part of San Pablo Avenue that's um south of uh University Avenue will be included, but the rest of San Pablo won't, but there will be a Gilman district.

I I appreciate the thought that went into this uh measure, but thanks, Meryl.

Can I just say one one?

Sorry, Meryl, your time's up.

Thank you.

Okay.

Speaker is um speakers listed as Iran.

Good evening, council members.

Uh I stand by Sahar uh earlier.

I want to uh announce um that I'm deeply opposed the uh the Iran resolution item and request that it be pulled from the consent calendar and moved to the action calendar for full public discussion.

As an Iranian American who lived under that regime for 27 years and has first degree and secondary degree family members currently living in Iran.

I'm telling you, and on behalf of all Iranian people, this is not peace.

This is not war against Iran, Iranian people want this help.

This is war against a fascist theocracy that murdered brutally 40,000 people, innocent people, unarmed people, and whoever voted for this, standing by that uh fascist theocracy.

I want you to understand the gravity of this matter, and don't just fall for any propaganda that you see.

Thank you.

Next is um speaker is um Mosin Hushman.

Oh, where are you go?

Uh yes.

Moston.

Hi, hi everybody.

So uh I want to uh confirm the Iran accolades and Sahar speaking regarding the Iran war, it's not it's not the war against Iran, it's a war against the fascist regime, and uh I I oppose those those resolution and I I highly uh appreciate if uh if I request it it be pulled from the consensus calendar and move to the action calendar for full public discussion.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is um Marzan Hafesi um good evening, thank you for taking my comment.

I also want to oppose this resolution um just because uh living in inside the Iran and leaving the conditions uh with execution, torture, political prisoners, systematic oppression of women, thousands of young people have been killed.

So why are we even suggesting this humanitarian act to stop?

If any of us live under those conditions, that is what we would want people to do for us.

And here, thousand miles away from Iran, we sit here and take the authority to speak for those 90 million people.

So please know on this resolution.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is uh Eric Naresbarrel or council members and madam mayor.

Um I wanted to talk about the uh agenda number nine.

Um Igor Trega and Blackabies, author of micromobility uh accountability.

I'm legally blind, my fiance is totally blind.

We work with guide dogs.

The scooter epidemic, and I'm gonna call it an epidemic because it's a major issue here in this city.

We are literally falling over scooters every day.

If we don't bring our guide dogs with us and just choose to use our canes, we are putting ourselves at risk for injury, not only us, but all of our fellow disabled people, all of our fellow aging people.

This is a problem.

We need a solution, and I believe that Igor and Blackaby have that solution.

We need to make sure that these companies are held accountable.

Thank you.

Uh let's see.

Catherine.

You're unmuted.

You should be able to speak.

Catherine, are you there?

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes, yes, we can.

Okay.

Um, I am uh also an Iranian and I'm uh here to share an Iranian perspective about the current crisis in Iran.

I'm deeply opposed to the resolution that was done yesterday about Iran.

The people of Iran are in a war with the regime, and that uh has was happening for 47 years.

Uh the regime of Iran is has maintained a uh posture of hostility toward Western countries and has uh supported destabilizing activities and terrorism in the region and beyond.

What we are witnessing today is the culmination of a long struggle between the Iranian people and the ruling regime.

In the recent events, this situation has developed into a severe human humanitarian crisis that requires immediate international attention.

We urge observers to set aside um partisan political biases and recognize this situation for what it is: a humanitarian crisis that demands serious international concern and response.

I, as an Iranian, yes, thank you.

Sorry, your time is up, but thank you for your comment.

Uh, next is Sue Smith.

Hi, um, I actually um have a couple of friends that want to speak, and they're not um, they're having trouble getting their Zoom hands recognized.

What can they do?

Well, there's a long list, so we haven't maybe we just haven't got to them yet.

Okay.

Okay.

Then um my comment is I too agree with the scooter issue.

Um, I'm 75 years old, and I am terrified that walking on the sidewalk in our dimly lit streets.

I'm gonna bump into one and fall and break bones.

We we hope you can find a solution.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is um Mojgan Madizade.

Should be able to unmute.

Hello.

Can you hear me?

Yes, now we can hear you.

Hi, thank you for um taking my call.

I just want to share a perspective that is often missing from discussion, like the resolution being introduced tonight.

The regime that rules Iran is not reformable for more than four decades.

It has survived by repression, violence, and deception.

It doesn't respond to goodwill or appeasement, it responds only to strength.

I remain in close contact with family members in Iran.

What they are describing is deeply troubling.

The regime has evacuated almost all of its bases and is placing missile launchers in heavy populated areas, holding meetings in hospitals, and storing weapons in schools, effectively using civilian as human shields.

This is the reality people inside Iran are living with.

Many of us have disagreement with the president domestic policies.

But we must be honest about the stakes here.

The current confrontation is not simply about geopolitics, it's also about protecting the Iranian people and defending our national security and the security of allies.

I'm sorry, your time is up.

Next is uh David.

David, you should be able to unmute.

Hi, yes.

I'm actually, I went to Berkeley and lived in Berkeley, and Berkeley is always known for human rights from South Africa to Nicaragua and so forth.

But I think right now the council is on the wrong side of the history, and people, especially Loni Paras, other uh representative.

Uh, you gotta live under Sharia law to really understand us.

Two months ago, not only they killed 40,000 people, a few years ago, they killed on their woman life freedom that was all over.

They shoot people in their head, in their eyes, they executed people in the hospital.

This is a 9-11 moment for us.

This is a Bin Laden coming ahead.

Anyone who comes out is gonna get shot.

Anyone who's arrested is gonna get shot.

They call them saboteur.

And no one in Iran, the 90 million people they're on arm.

It's like in North Korea, and the internet is blocked.

If you want to do something right, say how you can have internet because they're jamming the satellite signal.

You're in the wrong side of the history today.

And I send you guys ticket to go to Taliban's in Afghanistan or in IRGC to see it, how the Sharia law works as a woman, as a sister, as a mother.

Thank you very much for your comment.

Your time is up.

Next is um Megan Nazari.

Thank you.

Council members, uh, me too.

I would like to roger all my fellow the country men and women out there.

On January 8th, 9th, uh, 8 and 9, 2026, millions of Iranians took it to the streets, and the regime responded with extreme violence.

In less than 48 hours, more than 33,000 protesters were massacred, and thousands more were imprisoned and executed.

Yet the Secretary General of the United Nations remained silent and instead congratulated the regime on its anniversary.

This is very similar to what you're doing now.

Millions of Iranians protesting empty-handed under into under internet blackouts.

They cannot defeat a heavily armed regime alone.

Targeted military action is not only a moral responsibility, it's an opportunity to help Iranian people free themselves from the regime that threatened both citizens and global security.

And while this suffering continues, we see the deals in the Bay Area.

Next is Alana Auerbach.

Good evening, everyone.

Please, it is a uh treasure, a treasure in our community.

I want to support no surprise your emergency item.

Let's wherever anybody thinks about the horrors that are happening to so many people right now.

This war is illegal and it is unconstitutional.

So no matter what you think, what your politics are, that those are the facts.

So we must oppose it.

We must support our waning democracy.

Please know Iranians are not a monolith.

I know people uh in Iran, I know people here in our community who are highly opposed to the thousands of people who have been murdered and who are suffering right now because of this war, because of the expansion of basically the gossification of uh of the world.

This is you need to oppose this war.

Alana, thank you.

Your time's up.

Next to Jeff Lomax.

Thank you.

Um, I must say I just I feel like there's a real internal inconsistency in terms of when we choose to speak out or not speak out on issues of international affairs.

And in the case this evening, I'm swayed by the comments of Iranians um who have constituted the majority of the views here.

So I would just like to understand more explicitly why we sort of pick and choose our issues um on international affairs.

Um it's like I say, I I see no consistency.

Um, and I think that's in itself a problem and needs to be um addressed in terms of you know why we're doing these types of statements under certain conditions and not under others.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um next is Zoom user.

Zoom user, you should be able to unmute.

Uh thank you, councilman.

I agree with my country, uh, Iranian.

Um, I think the free and brave of this great land have sacrificed so much that they should try to do the right thing.

Iran has been in a war where occupying uh regime, whereas it pays uh uh foreign governments to come in with the help of uh uh automatic anti-air machine gun mow down uh a decent citizen and uh 40,000 plus.

It's easy to sit down in the United States comfortably and to be totally disconnected with the emotional effect that is going on.

If this does not stop, then God help the Iranian because there will be massive suicide due to the depression.

There's no way this can be tolerated.

This issue has been created by superpower because Iran was doing so good, then it is our jobs to make sure that it's ended.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is uh phone number ending in 211.

As many of you know I've been in Berkeley for 62 years.

Beautiful town, beautiful city.

I miss that.

It's no longer the case.

Uh the fact is we've lost a lot of businesses in Berkeley because the structure of the city, parking meters are driving everybody away.

Our business was number three.

As far as the Iran situation, no.

When hell does Trump or his uh not anyhow have any right?

Because the victims now are innocent civilians.

I don't care about the Iranian government.

Yes, he's horrible.

I don't care how they treat women.

In Egypt, University of Cairo, my friends, females were bikini in Cairo University Pool.

We're very different.

I I think we should take religion out of all societies.

Thank you very much, and I will call you again.

I'll talk again.

Take care.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Sunny.

Sani, you should be able to unmute.

Oh hi.

Uh uh I will uh wish uh everyone there happy women's day.

Uh you know, it's a great honor that you're all celebrating the woman's day and you have the freedom, but uh the same freedom is missing in Iran for the woman.

If you have seen the you know recent uh uh Iranian uh soccer team where they were playing in Australia, they got asylum there because they're scared to death.

Once they go back to Iran, they might be persecuted or they might be murdered.

So this is a reality, guys.

So uh I'm uh let's not talk about politics like democrats or republicans, right?

The important is the regime is fanatic, they have been executing a lot of Iranians, it has been there and verified, so you need to understand and balance that.

Where are all the Palestinian people?

You know, they the Iranian are also humans.

No, you need to show the support.

Forget about who's for your comment, your time's up.

Next is uh caller with a number ending in zero six zero should be able to unmute star six to unmute.

Oh, they're they're gone.

Um next is uh Negeen.

Hi everyone, thank you for having us tonight.

Um I'm also Iranian American, and I wanted to just make a couple points really quickly.

One is that with all the horrific things that has been happening happening in Iran since December, uh it's very troubling for the diaspora about like to see what the media coverage lack of media coverage, or if there is media coverage is completely skewed.

The American people are confused.

And the other point that I wanted to make is the problems that are happening in Iran, they're not thousand miles away.

They are very soon, if it's not stopped, they're gonna reach here at home.

I grew up in Iran, and I many like myself, we know what kind of a mind frame and ideology this regime has, and I think everyone in the United States, Republican and Democrat and Independent, this should be a bipartisan goal to eliminate this regime because their goal and ideology is to eliminate us.

Thank you for your comments, Nikki.

Thank you.

Next is Stephanie.

Stephanie should be able to unmute.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Um apologies for the uh uh the name.

Actually, uh on Zoom.

Um signed in the wrong way.

My name is Bob Aksani.

I'm actually a commissioner on the City of Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission.

I was the author of the uh resolution that act uh we did the uh discussed last night at the commission meeting uh and uh was adopted uh to be recommended to the city council.

What I wanted to say is that um a lot of the comments you're hearing, I was able to join uh for the last five minutes, is really essentially frankly a trauma response.

A lot of the comments from the Iranian population to what the Islamic Republic has done to the war is uh illegal it uh as um stated in the resolution.

There was no constitutional uh there's no congressional authorization obtained.

Uh it's therefore it's uh um it's an unconstitutional war, and I think um Thank you.

Thanks for your comment.

Is Kelly Hammer?

Hello.

I'll just make this quick.

When has US interference with another government made it better?

Yeah.

Um I think that you know we're hearing comments thinking that our interference is gonna make things better for them, but so many times the US interference has made things so much worse for the citizens of nations, and we've done that over and over around the world.

And um other than World War II, I can't think of a time when we've actually made things better.

Thank you.

Thanks, Kelly.

Okay.

That was the final speaker on on Zoom.

Okay.

I see that uh Vice Mayor Luna Parra has her light on.

Thank you.

Um I just want to clear up some misconceptions about the resolution.

It opposes the Trump administration's elite circumvention of Congress and expresses support for the freedom and sovereignty and self-determination of all people and including specifically the people of Iran.

It does not comment on the um and the the current government of Iran and Trump's attack on our constitution will do nothing but make the possibility of a democratic Iran more unlikely.

Um I'm grateful to the Iranian members of the community hoped helped us draft this item.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Um, uh thank you, Madam Mirror.

Um, I I didn't vote for or the resolution uh in the Gaza conflict because the community was not consensus on that matter.

And here I'm hearing the same thing.

Consensus, I'm gonna abstain.

Uh Councilmember Humbert.

Um thank you, Madam Mayor.

And and I want to say that listening here tonight to the Iranian Americans who've commented, um uh you know, I have great sympathy for them.

And I have no um love for the the horrific regime uh in Iran uh that came to power in 1979.

But our resolution does not support that horrific regime.

It uh very clearly and concisely condemns the illegal nature of the war, which was not authorized by the US Congress, which holds the power to declare war.

I mean, I think it's as clear as as a glass of clear water that that Trump is acting unconstitutionally.

And that's the nature of the resolution.

Support again the horrific regime in Iran.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Keith Yeah, I'll just say briefly.

Um I I'm also gonna stand on the resolution, but I do just want to make it clear that I I um respect the resolution and I agree with it, frankly.

Um I uh have a policy of that I've stated publicly many times of not um uh voting on things have to do with international relations.

That's just a personal preference, but I wish everyone the best and I wish for peace in Iran in the Middle East.

Thank you very much, folks.

Please okay.

So we are now voting on the consent calendar, so is there a motion to approve the consent calendar?

So moved a second?

Second okay.

Um let's take the roll.

I think that's easier.

To approve the consent calendar with the um abstentions noted.

Um council member Kessarwani.

Yes, Taplin, yes, Bartlett, yes, Trago.

Aye.

O'Keefe, yes, Blackabee, yes.

Uh Lunapara.

Yes.

Humber, yes, and Mary Ishi.

Yes.

Okay.

Motion carries.

Motion carries.

We are going to take a brief break, because it's been two hours and we need to stretch.

And then we'll move on to the action calendar.

We've got some public hearings coming up, and um it'll give some time for folks to set up as well.

So thanks.

Recording stopped.

Recording in progress.

Hello, we are coming back.

Thanks everyone for your patience.

A hungry council is a cranky council, so I feel like it's good for all of us.

Okay, so anyway, we are moving on to the action calendar.

We've got some public hearings coming up.

Starting with item number 14.

Okay, quiet in the back, please.

Thank you.

Amendments to BMC Title 23 to update the regulation of non-conforming lock coverage for area ratio and density for residential uses in selected zoning districts.

And I will pass it over to the Mayor.

Good evening, Council members.

Jordan Klein, Director of Planning Development.

I'm joined here at the staff table by Ann Hirsch, the land use planning manager, Justin Horner, Principal Planner on the policy team, and Faye Mingham, assistant planner, who will be presenting on this item.

Take it away.

Faye, thanks.

Thank you, Mayor Ishii and members of the city council.

My name is Faye Mingham, an assistant planner with the land use planning division.

Tonight I'll present proposed amendments to Title 23 of the Berkeley Municipal Code to update the regulation of non-conforming lot coverage, floor area ratio, residential uses in the R1, R2, R and MUR zoning districts.

I'll begin with a summary of background, followed by the current effects, and then we'll present the proposed ordinance amendments.

And then after our staff's recommendation.

Middle housing expanded the development potential in the affected zoning districts and establish new objective development standards that cannot be exceeded.

Projects that meet these objective development standards can be approved ministerially through a zoning certificate.

Since adoption, middle housing project applications have been submitted.

Upon review, staff identified minor inconsistencies in the zoning ordinance that require fixing.

The problem staff identified in section 23.324.050 is a pathway that requires a use permit for non-conforming structures that otherwise conform with the development standards.

BMC Section 23.324.050 contains provisions for the maintenance replacement, removal, expansion, and alteration of nonconforming structures and buildings.

Nonconforming buildings are pre-existing and do not conform with zoning.

A building may be nonconforming if it projects into the setback or exceeds maximum height or lot coverage, for example.

This type of project is intended to be approved with a zoning certificate.

It was not the intention of middle housing to require existing projects to meet minimum density when they proposed to add square footage, nor was it intended to allow projects to exceed development standards in any case.

To correct these inconsistencies, the proposed amendment exempts residential uses in the middle housing zoning districts from the provisions of this section, thereby removing the use permit pathways for non-conforming lot coverage FAR and density.

Staff believes that this outcome was not the planning commission's intent because it continues to provide discretionary approval pathways for middle housing projects.

For these reasons, staff's recommendation excludes the planning commission's language edition.

Staff recommend that the city council conduct a public hearing and adopt the first reading of an ordinance to amend BMC section 23.324.050.

Thank you.

I'm here for your questions.

Councilmember Kissarwani.

Yes, so if I understand correctly, are you saying that there is no pathway to pursue middle housing with a non-conforming structure or uh sort of nonconforming standards through a use permit?

That's not possible with the amendments you're proposing.

Correct.

If I understand correctly, yes.

Mill housing approved with a zoning certificate if they meet the development standards.

Okay.

So just so I can correctly, so if if it's existing structure that's non-conforming, and all of the additions are conforming with the middle housing development standards, you will still issue the zoning certificate.

And that's what the cleanup is doing.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, any other questions?

Okay, are there any comments on this item?

We are on item number 14.

Amendments to BMC Title 23 to update the regulation of non-conforming law coverage for area ratio and density for residential uses in selected don't zoning districts.

Okay, anyone online?

No comments.

Very good.

Is there a motion to close the public hearing?

Second.

Do we need to take no any opposition?

Okay, we have closed the public hearing.

Very good.

Are there any comments from my council colleagues?

Move the item.

Okay.

Is there any opposition to approving this item?

Okay.

No, I do have a question because I I I think like what where I'm hung up on is prior to the middle housing ordinance, somebody could come and propose something non-conforming and have the option to go to ZAB.

So we are, I just I just want to be clear, we are taking away that option with for people.

They cannot do a non-conforming middle housing project now.

You can only do it with a middle housing development standards.

Correct?

There's no there's no option to go to ZAC in these zones if you want to do middle housing.

Yes.

Okay, thank you.

Sorry, so did you have any other ready to vote?

That's fine.

Okay.

Vice Mayor Lunopara, did you have a?

I did have one follow-up question.

If a middle housing um proposal uses the density bonus, however unlikely that may be, then would they go to ZAB for a non-conforming?

No.

How would that work?

It would just be approved through the planning department.

Yes, it would, yes, correct.

Thank you.

Sometimes questions bring up questions, so it's good.

It's good.

We asked that.

Okay, very good.

Thanks, everyone.

Is there any opposition to approving this?

Okay.

Motion is approved.

Thank you very much.

All right.

We are now moving to item.

Amendments to the Berkeley Elections Reform Act regarding the return of unspent public matching funds, reuse of campaign materials, campaign expenditures, and cost of living adjustments.

And I think Sam is online to present.

Is that correct?

Yes, uh, Madam Mayor, and I believe uh Chair Saginore is present as well.

Yes, Kit is here.

Does she want to oh, are you presenting?

I'm sorry.

I so uh Secretary Harvey had asked me to introduce the motion and then he would give more detail.

Okay, sounds good.

Sorry about that.

That's fine.

So um Kit Saganor, I'm the outgoing chair of the Fair Campaign Practices Commission that was established by the Berkeley Election Reform Act to ensure that you just municipal campaigns comply with campaign finance regulations.

In using BERA and applying it in real life, we've encountered passages don't quite function as intended.

So we expanded and we impaneled an ad hoc committee that worked intensively with our staff secretary, Sam Harvey, Stephen Hylus, and Lauren Packard to craft language for the amendments that the commission adopted by unanimous vote and that we are presenting here to you.

Secretary Harvey will summarize the amendments and answer any questions, but I'd just like to point out the amendments to section 530 were sparked by a candidate wanting to know if he would be out of appliance if he used plastic long signs that he had from an earlier campaign.

We had to tell him that it was not permitted for BERA, which was an environmentally unfortunate conclusion we had to come to because of the way BERA was at the time.

So I think you will be pleased to see in these amendments that we worked out a way to keep the process fair without forcing a campaign to throw away materials and replace them with new identical materials.

And there are some other um amendments here that uh Secretary Harvey will talk about with you.

And of course, any questions you have of me, I'm happy to answer them.

Thank you, uh Chair Sagonor and good evening, uh Madam Mayor and members of the council.

There are four uh proposed amendments uh before you as a reminder in order to amend uh BERA uh amendments must first be approved by CPC by a two-thirds vote and then subsequently approved uh by the council uh by a two-thirds as well.

Uh the first amendment um create uh applies a rule that already applies to uh city uh candidates in Berkeley because it exists in state law, but it would incorporate Bureau uh so that it could be uh directly enforced by the FCPC.

This is known as the one bank account rule.

Uh it provides that all candidate campaigners must be made uh from the campaign account, including the candidates' own money, uh with some exception for initial filing fees.

Um and so by incorporating this into BIRA, it's not a substantive change uh for uh city uh candidates, uh, but it would uh provide a more direct explicit hook uh for FCPC enforcement.

Uh the second change is the timeline by which candidates uh who participate in the city's public financing program must uh return any unspent matching funds following the election.

Um currently uh participating candidates uh receive matching funds at a six to one ratio uh and then must return any unspent funds uh by 60 days after the election.

So for the 2024 election, 60 days fell on January 4th, 25.

Now the voting cycle immediately following the election ends on December 31st.

So candidate candidates now have this sort of December 31st uh deadline and then a subsequent deadline a couple of days later.

Uh importantly, the clerk is required to the immediately uh once uh he determines that any uh candidate who participated in in the public financing program has failed to return any matching funds.

Um the proposal here is to move that deadline to return matching funds to December 31st to sort of match the close of that uh ending campaign cycle.

This means that uh whether or not can uh matching funds were returned would be reported uh on on the report for that cycle, which is due at the end of the following month.

Um kind of clarify the timelines, make it a little easier uh for city staff to more readily determine whether a campaign hasn't uh returned any matching funds.

Um and then the third uh change here is the one the chair mentioned, which is the reuse of campaign materials.

Uh, we had a candidate who was a participating candidate in the public matching funds program, um, and we had to tell him that uh you know essentially when a candidate wishes to reuse old materials, um those have to be treated as a contribution from your old campaign to your new campaign.

And under the city's public financing rules, uh campaign committees are prohibited from making contributions to another committee, and then there's also a $60 contribution limit.

So this amendment would carve out an exception where a candidate could reuse old campaign signs, mailers, posters, door hangers, and similar items.

Um now, in order to not receive an unfair advantage, not be able to receive either you know double dip, basically a double uh benefit of the public matching funds, uh, the candidate would have to uh pay to be the fair market value of those items uh to offset that unfair advantage.

Uh and so this would apply both to a candidate who is uh currently participating in the public matching program as well as someone who had participated in the past, or if they'd participated uh in the past as well as are currently participating.

And then the fourth change is is a cleanup.

It's intended to be a non-substantive cleanup to some of the rounding uh language uh regarding how certain numbers that are routinely adjusted for cost of living are rounded, uh, just to streamline that language.

So those are the four changes.

I'm happy happy to answer questions the council may have.

Thank you.

Uh question from Councilmember Humbert.

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor.

And I want to I do have a one question, but I want to express my thanks to Secretary Harvey and Chair Sagonor, outgoing Chair Sagonor and members of the FCPC for their detailed work.

They always do good work in my experience.

I sat for a short time on the on the commission.

I believe that these are elections, which of course are always a really happy these changes.

I do have a question, and that's you know, sort of the way campaigns work.

One bank account rule prohibit the campaign from reimbursing that campaign worker.

That's just sample.

I do have a question and that you know sort of the way campaigns work if they somebody affiliated with goes out and buys donuts out of his or her own pocket um one bank account rule prohibit the campaign from reimbursing that campaign worker but that's just sample it's it's fairly typical that you know that there might be expenditures by um folks that are part of the campaign that then get reimbursed is is that an issue um change a change in the rule but change in the rule substitutively for for rewriting of how the rules worded uh in a state law so it applies to uh candidate um certainly if the campaign goes out and spends their own money and they're not you know they're not the candidate that income contribution um generally I think reimbursements uh do have bank account rule um so um but I don't think this amendment before you would put I guess then my question is would prohibit that sort of reimbursement of the the campaign account made by someone who with the campaign you know I I don't know exactly how that that would have thought if I can um what you and that change that it already exists I think that the council member's question is one that we can still get answered later um given that this is already in place but I'm also curious about that because uh my understanding is that reimbursement allowed um council member trago um is um whether it's ends for today or not it's probably not an issue but since um an cost of living adjustment rounding um I wanted to clarify if the FCPC had action on any living adjustments under uh last year for the 2026 election uh yes the PC uh updates um every um the city court post these so these have been updated for the 2026 uh post the city of clerks the we brought the item to the FCPC in it was I think January for 2025 living in the ending of the odd year in between the election years okay and just to clarify sort of a reimbursements on the reimbursement question you know not permitted for for candidate the candidates but for that reimbursed um public campaign thank you that thank you for answering our question so quickly all right very good um so we have already opened the public hearing we just took counsel questions so I will now open for public comment is there any public comment on this item coming up uh so I I think Sam already addressed most of this but uh my name is Wick uh of the commissioners on the FCPC um I just wanted to help clarify a little bit the uh intention behind the reuse section uh covers anyone who was a participant participating candidate previously and is now either a participating candidate or not as well as if someone was previously not a participant candidate but now they are currently a part and used to back the city for reuse of material with matching funds um that's uh implied in Vera the way this is written but I just thought um clarify that public comment on this item on item number 15 Berkeley election reform act regarding their turn of unspent public matching funds reuse of campaign materials campaign expenditures and cost of living adjustments file comment for no uh no hands raised online okay I will hear a motion I want to motion to close the public hearing so move oh actually I can I still before we close okay actually the um prompted my question um so

Comment for the side No uh no hands raised online.

Okay, I will hear a motion.

I want to hear a motion to close the public hearing.

So moved actually I can I still have before we close.

Okay.

Um actually the um prompted my question.

Um so I'm trying to understand uh a candidate wanted to reuse um campaign signs or other material that can only be done matching funds.

So does that mean that candidate has to first raise or appropriate number of contributions to go up with FC and then wait for those matching funds to transfer into their account before they can um type of uh fair market value?

Would not have to do that.

It's it's it's the practical effect of actually paying the city directly, is that it would essentially negate or deduct uh from the disbursement amount that they do receive um as a result of participating in the program, regardless of whether they receive them or not.

Yes.

Okay, so they can do it at any time in the campaign.

Thank you.

I think it would be very hard to track that otherwise.

Okay.

Anyone on any other public comment on we had there was a motion to close the public hearing, there was a second.

Is there any opposition to closing the public hearing?

Okay, the public hearing is closed.

Any comments on the items adoption of the item.

I do just want to say thank you so much for your work on this.

Um, I do appreciate that we're able to use old materials because I I think it's better than wasting them, um, especially when some of these materials are plastic and yeah, we're trying to reduce our our plastic and also paper.

So thank you very much for your work here.

And uh and Sam, thank you also for your work as well.

Okay, so we have a motion and it's been seconded.

Uh any opposition to approving this item?

Okay, item is approved.

All right, we are moving on to item 16 appeal of special assessment need for abatement action at 2750 Cedar Street.

Thank you all so much for being here and for waiting for so long.

So, how this is gonna go is I'm opening the public hearing right now for item number 16.

Um, we will have a presentation from our staff and then hear from the appellant.

Uh the appellant will have seven minutes to respond.

We'll then go through like we did before, council questions, public comment, closing the public hearing, having council comments, and then a vote.

So uh thank you, Mayor.

Good evening.

Oh, and uh appellant, if you would like to sit so you don't have to stand during the presentation, it's up to you, but you'll have a little you're welcome to just sit back there if you'd like.

Or if you want to stay too.

Okay, thank you.

Good evening again, council members, Jordan Director of Planning and Development.

I'm joined here at the staff table by David Lopez, the city's building official, Jeff Jensen, assistant building official, and David Montez, a building inspector.

Uh we also have Deputy Fire Chief Colin Arnold uh on the Zoom available to help answer any questions uh related to fire code or their activities in response to this.

So as the mayor mentioned, uh stack staff are seeking to record with Alameda County a special assessment lien on the property at 2750 Cedar Street to recover the city's costs related to abatement activities that we conducted at that property and actions being appealed.

So I'm gonna start by giving you some background uh about staff's recommendation in spring of 2024.

The city began hearing from neighbors of 2750 Cedar Street complaints of unpermitted and illegal construction.

The subject property is a parcel with existing hazardous conditions located in a geological survey landslide zone.

It's located in a high fire hazard severity zone.

The site has steep slope.

It has an existing failing retaining wall with soil visibly eroding onto the building area.

And it's an L-shaped parcel with limited access.

Upon inspection, we did observe that construction work was being undertaken without required permits.

In general, any unpermitted construction is considered unsafe.

Is to ensure is to protect public health, safety, and welfare, and to ensure buildings are constructed in a safe durable and client matter.

In this case, legal construction was being performed on a parcel with hazardous conditions in close proximity to neighboring properties at a time when destructive wildfires had been experienced in other locations in California in an area which had experienced a serious landslide just the year before in 2023.

The architect, Mr.

Michael Tolison was adamant that the construction being performed was exempt from permit.

His interpretation of the code was incorrect and it was not accepted by the building official.

It is the building officials' responsibility to interpretate to interpret the building code.

And the building officials' interpretation is supported by the International Code Council.

If you have any questions.

Thank you very much.

We will now hear for the appellant for seven minutes.

You don't have to take the set whole seven.

It's just to clarify.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Okay.

For the record, clean appeal.

This is REM from B 2024-02077, March 10th, 2026.

Would you mind speaking into the mic?

You can adjust it so you can adjust it so you can speak more directly to it.

See what I'm reading.

So I'm trying to do okay.

Yeah, if you if you just tilt that top part up, we'll be able to hear you better.

There you go.

Yeah.

Thank you.

That's better.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um item one.

Um I'm Michael Tollison, architect in California, 35 years.

Uh, license C 22075.

Uh documents provided by the advanced of this summary include uh the 12-page lien appeal and the seven-page responses to all court declarations by staff.

The following summary and digital copies of all documents are available upon request to Michael at Michael Tolison.com, where CRC 105.2 is used herein.

It is synonymous with R 105.2.

Summary 2.

We believe our case has been made in our written statements and expect that they have been reviewed in detail.

These include supplements addressing staff errors and false statements in court declarations recently received.

Period 3.

The lien appeal seeks to resolve the body of misinformation currently infecting our efforts to repair and improve an existing legally partially demolished single family residence that has been in a deteriorating state since the previous owner's passing more than a decade ago.

The city has allowed these conditions to continue to exist.

Given the delays caused by the city's plan checking and the multiple departures of staff by resignation, reassignal, and instructions by the council to impede review.

We have we have chosen to use CRC 1052 to begin temporary work to the allowed extent possible and to prevent further deterioration.

Staff has failed to respond to CRC 105.2 in any way, and you will find absent from any staff reply.

CRC 105.2 allows the construction of accessory structures of 120 square feet and decks of 200 square feet without permit, which may be combined and places no limit on the number of these modules.

We determined that we could construct three temporary modules by feet each, which would become incorporated into the completed framing of the proposed rehabilitated single family residents upon final permit approval.

As well, the architect and owner who is a structural engineer were in daily communication.

Two B the construction was always safe and always compliant.

The professional discussion that should have accompanied our approach has been undermined by staff, inspectors, leavers, and even council members.

We have documented and responded thoroughly to the outlandish and hysterical misinformation used to describe our professional positions and physical implementation.

In lieu of requests for separate punitive damages against the city, we are offering to construct the original one-bedroom, one bath residence under the by-right laws referenced by council member Wingraaffed in our written statement.

This would eliminate any rational position to the two-bedroom, two-bath version on the same footprint in the same volume as we have proposed.

The council has the authority to allow by-right approval tonight by our current permit, but our current permit will be issued regardless as an entitlement.

Note importantly that our plans for a future ADU are not a subject of this appeal.

Period.

Staff never informed the fire department of these solutions.

And fire has failed to respond, has failed to reply to three separate queries.

Period 10, as shown in photographic dating and court documents, the court provided neither excuse me.

The city provided neither a legal warrant nor the final inspection required by law prior to demolition, which we could easily argue makes the lien illegal.

We have chosen to pro to continue our professional efforts, including responding to all questions in writing, uh if requiring uh technical review, period 11.

Paul Mac, structural engineer and owner, is full of city endangerment, not ours.

The city weakened the concrete retaining walls as the end result of the deck demolition.

The wood deck places the distress deck acts as a structural diaphragm.

The structural diaphragm acts in combination with the cripple walls and concrete retaining wall to form a CBC slash BMC code recommended structural lateral force system.

It serves as a rigid lateral force resistive system to extend and resist any lateral loads from the slope and any seismic or wind loads acting on the structure.

The city's actions to remove the wood deck the required structural system, or degrading the performance of the retaining walls.

Period.

Items uh 124 if needed, um questions uh if additional uh thank you timing.

Um are there any council questions?

Is that a question, Councilmember Blackaby?

Go ahead.

Thanks, Madam Mayor.

Thanks to the staff, thanks to the appellant for being here.

Um first question to the appellant.

Um was your intention from the beginning to rebuild a primary structure?

Could you speak up just a little bit?

Sure.

Sorry.

Was your was it your intent from the beginning to rebuild a primary structure on that existing footprint?

Yes, in both square footage and in volume, we had made interior alterations in our proposal.

Okay.

So it wasn't you were not building an accessory unit.

You were building a primary unit.

No, we were building an accessory unit which cleverly could be combined with the forthcoming framing, create the full the entire structure.

The key thing was the structure which has been deteriorating for 10 years or more.

Um our concern was we're not going to have anything to reuse if we keep the structure in the way it is with the delays caused by the city.

So our intention was to construct as much as we could legally, and then when we got our permit for the proposed, we could come connect them effectively into the total package, which would be then inspected in a normal way.

As I read the the CRC R 105.2 laid it out and the step have laid it out.

This is about extra units like sheds, tool sheds, playhouses, garden structures.

This isn't B for a primary residence or a series of them to be.

It has interim, it has an interim period in which it abides by 105.2.

And then the inspection for framing would be complete once we had our permit in hand.

Importantly, the doctor uh does not suffer additional damage.

Uh keep the key.

And we promised to use as much uh reuse material as possible.

Okay.

Um, do you have other projects in your history where you've substituted your own for the building official and basically said my reading of this regulation is XYZ, therefore go do it because that's my interpretation.

Like we have building for a reason, right?

Which is to interpret the code and have consistency in the city around safety and quality of collection.

104.1 of the code says that the building official needs to incorporate the intent and purpose of the specific code, which I have done.

I have built the tallest legal single family residence in the state in Los Angeles, using every exception in the code to do it, all of which was legal.

I've done something kind of similar here, maybe a little more clever, uh, but working with the inspectors to show them what I had used, and working with uh Los Angeles building department uh for um uh the application of all of those, I should say there were variances involved in those problems.

We don't see a variance as needed here.

It looks like I mean again there were multiple rounds of plan check and revision that you participated in at least five initially before construction.

Yes, because I wasn't responses when we wasn't getting a lot of people.

You got responses and responded back and forth to those responses, right?

There was an interactive process with you and the public party.

Sorry, I I just want to prevent us from going back and forth too much.

So uh did you have other questions?

Okay, go ahead.

Yeah.

Um on the timeline, so you received the first stop work order on September 18th, right?

And you you received that stop work order.

Um I'd like to get that to you to make sure that I'm accurate.

I did receive them, I don't I don't believe it was six, I believe it was four.

Okay.

But that's that's relevant.

All right, so you got one on 918, and then what was your response to that stop work order?

Again, I'll give these two to you in writing because I think they need to be read.

I've sent you um a lot of information in the answer is did you stop work or not?

No, but I informed the inspector that I was not going to stop work and that and he failed to address 105.2.

Did you get a second stop work order on the 19th of September?

That's correct, with my same with my same response to him.

Okay.

Finally, I got frustrated by my by their failure to to reply to my responses, that I insisted that we have a meeting.

During the meeting, only three of the attendees bothered to read my responses.

And that is part of the problem.

Okay.

You got a third, a fourth, a fifth, and the stop work order over over the a span of the following month.

At any point did you stop work in response to those orders?

No, because the reasons he uh cited were that the structure was unsafe.

The structure's never been unsafe.

Structure was legal and safe according to 105.2.

And then you had the meeting with city officials on the 18th, sorry, the 16th of October, where you were informed that it was an unpermitted structure after six stop work orders, and that the city was gonna seek uh abatement.

And we stopped and we started removing structure, and we panelized it and we laid it flat and we offered to put tarps over it, which were fire resistant.

We got no response to that.

Fire tells me they never received those that information, and um my options were appropriate given those conditions.

We had a warrant.

We weren't given a warrant before the the contractors came out and demolished everything.

You had, as I understand it, again, at least a couple of weeks' notice before that demolition occurred, right?

This was not like a size middle of the night, 24 hours.

We stopped work when the contractors got there.

Right.

So you had stick we had six stop work orders where you hadn't stopped.

Reusing as much as possible, taking precautions for fire, all these things we were doing as we had been legally all along.

We did not receive a warrant until November 7th.

Check that date.

We stopped when the contractors arrived on October 31st.

All right.

My read of the timeline is you had six stop work orders, you had a meeting with the city.

I will double check the timeline and give a sorry, can you let him finish his questions?

Go ahead.

We're repeating ourselves.

Okay, I just I I want to confirm that you had multiple opportunities here.

Not according to the code.

Well, that's your again, that's your interpretation of the code.

The building inspector gave you an interpretation of the code.

Okay, okay.

I I don't want to sorry, I really don't want to engage in this back and forth in this way.

I I think it's pretty clear that there were plenty of warnings that were given, and you chose to adhere to them.

And so I'd like to move forward if the unless there are any other substantive questions.

Um did you ever consult with the property owner during this process when you'd gotten and so he was sort of also he's the owner, he's my client, he's my uh owner by private agreement.

I mean, uh basis, we still do.

Okay.

I have worked with him for 40 years.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Okay.

Um is there any public comment?

Come on up.

Sir, if you could make room for this public comment.

I think he's gonna sit in the reserve seating, isn't he?

He's gonna speak here at the podium.

Um I'm on a curious um as to how many of you counsel person understood what he said.

I know you understand what he said, but did you understand what he was saying?

Just show hands.

One, two, three.

Okay.

Well, do you yeah.

Did you have a comment though?

Okay, you don't you don't you know no?

I have to start off by saying having worked as a city planner before the first thing I realized first day on a job, or the first few you know, months, was that the code and way I memorize the code basically.

You could ask me anything in the code, boom.

And what I realized is that when people would come in would when they would ask for something or be curious about things, I'm talking about local people, not developers, because they get all that stuff and they have their people to work it out and just bring the plans in and they're but local folks don't really know.

So I realize that the code covers what it covers, but there's another code that's not a part of what's in what's written, right?

Planners the code does not cover everything, and so what I realized that there's two codes, and I said, wow, there's two codes.

There's the one that's stated, and then there's the one that's not, and the one that's not, if you're clever, and he used the word clever, and that's what made me think, and I need to come up here and say this, is that you're trying to get to a destination, but there's ways to get to it.

The code covers one, but there are other ways to get to it.

And that's why I asked the question to understand.

Maybe talking about a different moment to get to the same place.

Thank you.

Okay.

Is there anyone online who has public comment for this item?

There's one hand raised online.

Uh Maria Sol.

Oh, hi, this was a lot of fun when I've done construction for so many years.

Excuse me, and what that public speaker just said is what I've experienced.

And I've been in for so long, codes change, and they change due to the creative experience of trying to make sure things are safe, but as he said, addressing it differently.

And I understand that we are taking responsibility as a city, but I know that there's been I was in alternative building, for instance, rammed earth and straw bell and cob.

And it took years for California to accept straw bell.

You know, but they do if it's done correctly.

So I just want to speak to the fact that you know, many ways to address what an elephant is in terms of where we're looking and how we're looking.

And not every code andor inspector have been accurate in my experience, and sometimes just different creative possibilities deserve to be at least looked at.

Otherwise, we're just following the letter of the law rather than what the purpose is.

So thank you for listening to me.

I wish everyone well.

Thank you.

Thanks, Maria.

Any other comments online?

Okay.

All right.

So uh I would like to see if there's a motion to close the public hearing.

Question.

Okay, go ahead.

Thank you.

Um first of all, um in my 14 years uh hearing quasi judicial appeals on this body and on zoning adjustments.

Never once prior to this have I been asked to provide my quid.

But for the record, I will.

Um I may not be a licensed architect or planner, but I spent 14 years in conducting a nuclear safety regulatory oversight functions.

So I'm quite familiar with um understanding codes or asking questions um that clarify the code if I don't understand something.

So I would just uh do act decline uh insofar as a claim was made that there are two sets of codes.

Um speak to can you speak to um page nine of the report?

Um it says the Barkley Building Code has an amendment um and can clarify is this a local amendment takes um all uh applications uh subordinate um applicable state and local quotes.

Yes, all applications are applicable and local codes.

Thank you.

Okay.

Is there so there was a motion to public hearing and there was a opposition to closing hearing?

Okay, the public hearing is closed.

Are there any council comments?

Councilmember Humbert.

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um I I read carefully through the file in this map.

I've listened carefully to the presentations here tonight, and I believe that the appeal of the special assessment tax lane is utterly lacking and that the lead is fairly justified.

The arguments made by appellant are these staff for enforcing our building codes and taking promotion in the interests of public city.

I will be voting to deny the appeal.

Comments from council.

Yes, Councilmember Blackaby.

Thank you.

Um agree with Councilmember Humbert.

I mean, I think this is a pretty clear uh record.

I think that uh staff uh went above and beyond in terms of the process of communication in terms of noticing uh multiple meetings um multiple personnel.

I'll also note uh someone who represents this area also happening in uh extreme fire weather time when the uh the building departments also asks construction to cease.

Um haven't brought up yet, uh, but that's another talk about health and safety issue, that's a health and safety issue.

Um so I you know I I I I appreciate um uh everyone's but I don't I just don't see the for it.

So I I move that we adopt the staff recommendation and deny the appeal.

Second thank you.

I do just want to say thank you very much to the staff.

It does take a lot and hours to go through all of this documentation and the appeals, and quite frankly, I feel very frustrated at this good use of our time.

Um so I do want to thank the staff very much.

Um of course everyone has a right to appeal, and you have had your time to do that.

If there's any opposition to the motion that's on the floor to reject the appeal, all right.

The the motion is passed to end the uh appeal is rejected.

Thank you very much.

Okay, so we are now moving on to item number 17 resolution Berkeley Police Department's pepper reporting requirement.

So I ask Councilmember Kessarwani to present her.

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

I'm referencing um the supplemental packet two report that I submitted, and I want to my colleagues um uh also submitted supplementals, and I expect that we should be able to land on this.

Um I want to thank the public safety policy committee for reviewing this item.

We had a lot of public comment there.

I want to thank the police department for being available then and tonight um to provide more information.

Um the purpose of this item, and the reason I brought it forward last fall was uh to uh seek to update our um procedures and um I have a a couple of other items that will be coming to the council that seek to do the same thing, simple practices given a transparency hub, um which provides information daily about um use of and um so so we felt that the report that was in 1997 was no longer needed.

Um but I really the process and the discussion that we've had around this item because as a result, we did add a referral to improve the transparency hub so that we have definitions of the various use of force levels and we can include better navigational guidelines.

That's something I heard um in some community meetings that I held that people um trying to access the transparency hub, but um, if they're new to doing it, or if they're looking for this information for the first time, you know, we can do better to make it more accessible.

So we do want to do that, and then I also want to thank the police accountability board because they did write us a letter.

I think I've included this as an attachment, and they're recommending that we incorporate the reporting of the use of spray in the military equipment report to maintain the narrative reports of pepper spray utilization, and I think that is uh reasonable to do that in an existing that the department is doing.

Um so so you know the the desire here is not to reduce the amount of public information that's available, but uh streamline it so that it makes more sense.

There are other uses of force that didn't get this sort of pepper spray separate report treatment.

So it seemed like um it didn't make a whole lot of sense to stick to that 1987 resolution approach.

So in any case, I I I think that the mayor has um some amendments which I'm fine with.

I know we're gonna discuss further, maybe there'll be some further refinement, but look forward to the discussion.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you very much, council member.

Um actually, did you want to present Vice Mayor?

Okay, all right, I will go first.

Um so I'm gonna pull up on our screen.

So um this is a supplemental that has been um brought forward by myself, council member Blackaby, Councilmember Tragub, and Councilmember O'Keefe.

Um, and since then we've also made some adjustments as well.

So I'd like to uh I just have a few talking that I want to address.

So excuse me.

All right, so um, well, first, of course, thank you very much for your item of and um also to Vice Mayor Lunopara.

Um thank you to the PAB.

I know we have both our our interim interim, Jose Murillo, who's here, and um so thank you very much to Pab and ODPA for your letters and suggestions, and thank you so much to the chief and to Arlo for for works because we've had a number of different conversations to get here.

Um streamlining, of course, is really important.

We don't want to be do duplicating efforts, and of course, we didn't want to lose anything, and so that's a really a big reason why we did um some things through the and you know, for me at a time like this when our federal government is doing everything they can to prevent transparency and put pressure on our communities, um, ensuring transparency at the local level just becomes more important.

Um, so and I'm really grateful to everyone who's been kind of putting in their thoughts here because I think that that's what's going to make this better.

Um, so our supplemental tonight does two main things.

First, we codified into the resolution what should be reported on the transparency hub so that the public can have the most up-to-date information about how our police department is using pepper spray, and second, we're requesting that our city manager come back with an item to reincorporate pepper spray into the annual military equipment report, which was the recommendation from the PAB.

Um, and both of these points really are intended to promote transparency while still acknowledging the burden that unnecessary paperwork has departments.

So I have great.

Um, so we so one change that we was just to have this sent to the city manager.

This is just different from what we already submitted, just to be clear.

Okay, so you're showing yeah, and then after conversation with our police department, there was concern about you know, if there were some um tech technological issues for the reason why it might take longer for it to get onto um the transparency hub.

So we've adjusted it to 14 days to allow for that.

Um I think there was some confusion that of the phrasing, um, the officer involved it, it's the officer's role.

So we just clarified that language, not the officer's name specifically.

Um that that wasn't currently that didn't currently exist in the report.

And then again, city manager, and then the bottom of this is the resolution.

So in this language here, it actually um more clearly lays out what would be included onto the transparency hub because we believe that this will help to um include the information that was on the report, but put it onto the transparency hub just to make sure that it's accessible to all and again that would be within those 14 days.

Because we believe that this will help to include the information that was on the report, but put it onto the transparency hub just to make sure that it's accessible to all.

And again, that would be within those 14 days.

Yeah, thank you.

I I I think I'll allow us to explain the differences so that we're not saying the same thing over and over again.

Um we also oh sorry.

Also um wanted to incorporate our account into the transparency hub.

Um my office found discrepancies both between the council and PAB notification.

Oh, sorry.

Multiple people talking to me, so I'm sorry, and I think my mic was on.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Um my office found between the council PAB notification and the hub data, and between the annual military equipment report and what is posted to the transparency hub.

And so for that reason, I think that the provision uh to report to the transparency hub will be essential for maintaining accuracy and accountability.

Um we also codify uh the referral that came out of the public safety's recommendation.

Um and section two is critical for council and the public to understand what this means in quantifiable terms, to know how much money we could back into the police department budget or general fund.

Um and then section three basically um requires that the that this go into once the referral has been passed, um, has been implemented.

So this includes an opt-in notification system for the transparency hub and uh the narratives being uploaded into the military equipment ordinance.

Thanks.

Okay.

Um very good.

Thank you for sharing that.

Um what I want to do is um actually just maybe we should just take public comment and we can come back and discuss.

So let's take public comment on this item, please.

This is public comment for item number 17.

Resolution rescinding Berkeley Police Department's pepper spray reporting requirement.

Tongue twister.

Go ahead.

Hi uh evening.

It's been a long day.

Um George, can you speak in the mic, please?

Yes, ma'am.

Oh, I have oh, only one minute, so I have a minute from Grace here.

That's okay.

We can start over.

Okay.

Um my name is George Lipman.

I'm speaking on behalf of the Peace and Commission and uh Chair Pastor Dwayne Phillips.

Can you hold this up um over here to to the to the council?

Uh maybe on this uh so yesterday the peace and justice commission approved a report entitled Social Justice Implications of Proposed Use of Controlled Weapons and Other Policing Tools.

Um the Commission included in its recommendations that the council retain the 1997 requirement for public reporting of each use of pepper spray.

We appreciate the changes that have come through today in the direction of increasing transparency.

Um peace and justice adds that if the Berkeley Police Department or even to expand pepper spray use, it is to their benefit that the community understood the context of its usage.

At least significant narrative sections in the current use report, which is going around an example of it, um, are not reflected in some of the new resolution versions that have been proposed.

One is the nature of the incident and the summary and justification of distributed to the council an excerpted version of a report for uh so that you can judge for yourselves how valuable these narrative or uh elements could be, especially for the PAB and the ODP is understanding.

In fact, the narrative is the most important part of the use report, and so mission is what causes commissioners and community members the most concerned.

It's the use report, and its laws would make the report useless thanks to the oversight process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, great job, George.

Thank you.

This resolution is being put forward in the in the uh the guise of streamlining of uh making technical adjustments to this.

But what it's really about is the normalization of pepper spraying.

That's real, that's what it's all about is normalization.

And you put that in the context of um other things being proposed about this of tear gas, of flock uh flock cameras that are going to uh result in more uh kidnappings of uh of ice, uh uh dogs of aircraft.

And this is this is not about streamlining, this is about normalization of attacks on workers, on immigrants and us, and it needs to be stopped.

Nice job, thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and Cole.

My name is Jason Martins.

Uh, first, I just want to say I support the Napara's amendments to the item.

Uh second, I just want to say I find it somewhat problematic to this as uh a burden or on the police.

I feel like centering the people who are subjected to pepper spray, a dangerous chemical weapon.

Uh, and that should be and not some not very important uh amount of money that is related to the reporting we care.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council members, uh sorry at two minutes, is that right?

Cousin members, I'm just I'm just noticing that we have the chief here ready to answer questions, but where's the police accountability board?

Constantly, our city is reminded that police accountability does not exist in this town.

It is given no level of priority or respect.

Yeah, he's relegated back there as an afterthought.

You might think of bringing him up.

It's important to remember that pepper spray as an alternative to lethal force.

That's that was the conversation in 1997.

The ACLU was reporting that there were scores of deaths associated with its use, and it was also recognized that pepper spray is a weapon that's very dynamic in situations.

Sometimes this pepper spray, supposedly there's somebody who's attacking an officer.

Sometimes the pepper works, sometimes it doesn't.

Sometimes people have underlying mental health conditions, respiratory problems that could be actually Donna Spring was that it would be life threatening.

This is a potentially lethal weapon talking about.

So that is why the community is concerned that it's casual use.

Yes, there are places in this country that use it very, very casually, that normalize as the as the man just said, they want to just make it kind of casual every day.

Were that if an officer used it, they had to report on was it effective, what was happening, what motivated its use, did they provide medical attention, and what was the outcome?

That information is crucial.

Do we want this weapon?

We were this close to banning it in 97.

That's how the wild level of concern was.

We have to understand that police pepper spray is not the same as what you buy in the store.

Spray is as highly concentrated.

It is very dangerous stuff.

But police accountability is not functional at this time.

We don't have a quorum, we don't have a majority, and even when we do, complaints that extra minute would be other because we don't have effective oversight in this to give the police more weapons and to make them less accountable for their use, it is dangerous.

It's an assault on the community.

And I don't understand what's motivating it.

Cost-saving measure for police.

Are we of so little value?

Is our health and well-being so uninteresting to you that compared to that our lives, our very lives are put up and compared to a cost saving?

But the whole point of the police was to keep us safe.

We need those narratives.

We need to be able to evaluate if is an increase in pepper sprays use, we need to be able to evaluate its impact on the community and its impact on the people who are subject to it.

So, yes, please, Luna Pause.

I think it's the minimum we could do.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Uh good evening.

Over the last over the next few weeks, we're gonna just see a lot of police accountability measures, and as someone who has lived in this city, dealt with the police in uh I guess racial racially biased ways, it is very important to make sure that we understand something like the transparency hub, which is created by BPD and not by let's say the police accountability board or other members of the public, something that we can't use as a baseline, and that we have to make sure that we can create protections in order to support people not being enabled to use any methods of work, regardless if they're lethal or not lethal.

So, yes, let's let's support our constituents.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Good evening, Amoni Law again.

And uh pepper spray, as you probably know, is a chemical.

It's a weapon, and it's banned for use in war by Article 1.5 of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

It causes burning of the lungs, less lethal, but in some cases it has been lethal.

Streamlining is a slippery slope.

I agree that we don't want to duplicate.

We don't want to lose accountability.

The transparency hub is transparent.

No, it is not.

And how is our department using pepper spray?

We want to have as much information as possible, not limited, not narrow it.

I do believe that we could do much better if we're concerned about true public safety of Berkeley's.

But the Proud Boys, I've seen them in the park, I've talked to them when they come to town, and they mean harm.

Thanks, Bonnie.

And we need to protect each other.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I know that this item is being talked about in terms of efficiency.

But the um I I know that I'm coming up at the next city council meeting that could lead to a lot more of these reports and would probably be bur make it if if you consider this a burdensome.

I would ask the city council to remember that OC a chemical weapon.

Um it's very dangerous.

And while you might think that the benefits of increased use of this weapon by police um will outweigh the risks it poses to the community, you have heard all these community members come up here today and that's not what they feel.

And uh that's not what our where our values lie.

And I know that you the different values, but the overwhelming consensus here is that members of the purple community care more about the transparency and safety from these reports than about the marginal increase in public safety you believe will come from the subject.

Thanks for your comment.

Excuse me.

Hi, uh, my name is Paul.

I live very close to here.

Um this is absolute foolishness.

I've gone to every single public safety meeting about this, everyone has spoken unanimously against this measure.

And this is just the first of the whole series y'all are pushing through, and the author of this legislation.

Um I wanna this is a question I hope you bring up.

Sort of vaguely and very disingenuously referred to that this is a measure um along with the smoke and the tear gas that these measures are needed.

Because yes, ICE is a threat, and maybe I guess the police could use this against them as though that's how policing works.

You guys know nothing of accountability, and you're moving so far away from it, and it's happening so fast, and it's crazy.

So cut real.

Thank you.

I uh just want to gentle it.

Is one minute, one minute, one minute?

Okay.

It's not the good police that are doing the bad things, it's the bad ones, right?

And so, you know, there's probably a lot of good police on the force.

And so maybe some of this is not being said.

A concern about the ones who won't proper way.

So I don't maybe maybe you all think some of you may think we're out of the woods on some of this police stuff, but we still have a long way to go.

So just you know, you may want to be concerned uh about that kind of thing, and and what can you do to forestall some bad use?

So thank you.

Um is there any public comment online for this item?

Okay, so there's public comment on item 17 regarding pepper spray reporting.

If you'd like to speak on this item and you're on the zoom, please raise your hand now.

13 speakers with raised hands.

First is Vanessa Vanessa Cordova, you should be able to speak.

Thank you.

Council members, the resolution before you absurdly suggest that by increasing police use with the chemical agent while decreasing this accountability by limiting publicly available donutation, the police department will run more efficiently.

How much time or money will this intervention save the city?

I can't say because the resolution failed to include any meaningful regression analysis or commodification of time to ensure Berkeley taxpayers could understand its true fiscal and social impact.

Folks, this is PO1.

The proposal suggests a sample size of only three to four events per annum.

That's the first red flag highlighting the weakness and pointlessness of this resolution.

It also tells me this council is still struggling to shift away from legislating in a vacuum of incident-based management and towards a more resilient, transparent accountability for police conduct and effectiveness.

Outside the Oval Office, I am hard pressed to find any civilian who believes the use of chemical agents by law enforcement.

Vanessa, thanks for your next is uh speaker with uh name listed as virtual meetings.

Hello, my name is with speaking at behalf of the Berkeley Friends meeting.

I like to speak in favor of passage of a combination of council member Luna Pars uh resolution and the mayor's resolution uh supported signed out by four of you're the co-sponsors, and in particular the addition of the narrative report access, having uh the 14 days for the transparency hub to be the publicly accessible deadline, not just when it's input in, but when the public can see it, and most importantly that any rescission of the 1997 um reporting requirement does not take place until council acts on the amendment of the police control ordinance, which I think is is the last part of your uh thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Alana Auerbach.

Have any of y'all been pepper sprayed before?

Anybody?

Police level, yeah.

So Chief, you can probably attest that it is uh harmful and intense and and it's a weapon.

And so we have all spent there's been a handful of um incidents where it's been used in the past several years, four, five, three times.

We have spent more time on this as a community than for the past three years that the police would have had to spend on their quote duplicative reports.

So who are we censoring here?

You all, and I'm talking to the council here, are meant to be censoring the community.

The community does not want less reporting on this.

We don't want it.

If the cops have to spend an extra four or five hours a year reporting, it's okay.

Please don't do this.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Della Luna.

Yes, I want to say thanks to the uh members of the board here that made suggestions or amendments.

Those amendments because we don't need this ordinance.

It doesn't need to be passed.

It's completely pointless.

And like the former caller said, the amount of time we've already seen this is like already surpassed what you're allegedly saving.

But I want to talk about the transparency hub.

And one, the URL, the website for the Trans Persie Hub is a parody.

It's like a joke.

It needs to be more streamlined.

Uh URL can be purchased for $20, and you can direct your website to that.

Something simple and easy to find.

Furthermore, if you go to the City of Berkeley website, there is no link to the transparency board.

You can go to the police department's website again.

No link to the transparency hub.

If you're being so transparent, why is it so hard to find the transparency hub?

There's even a link that says data about um pullovers and calls for service.

You click on that.

Is that C Hub?

No, it's not.

Thanks, Stella.

Next is Nathan Meisell.

Hello, Madam Mayor and Council.

This is Nathan Myzel.

Um there is a full-scale attack in this city on police oversight and frankly on democracy itself.

Um, but as a regards this item, I support the supplemental submitted by Councilmember Luna Para and the importance of the mayor's supplemental as well.

I hope that this council can strike some reasonable compromise that keeps the narrative aspect of this.

Um really the question we're asking is not will the police have less time to do whatever work they do, but whether on a handful of occasions a year officers are willing to write two paragraphs about the use of a chemical weapon upon potentially citizens in the city.

So if that's not important to us anymore in the city of Berkeley, fine.

If those things still matter and how we treat people, um require officers to write two paragraphs and help us maintain some sublings of oversight.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nathan.

Next is Rayela.

So I'm Raila.

I live on the South Side, and I wanted to say that uh police officers, engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers are some of the most important um jobs that impact impact people's lives, and that no one would agree to lessen the requirements for being a teacher or being a doctor.

So I don't understand why uh anyone would consider doing that for a police force, which is historically concurrently generally, um, has been used and has physical and systematic authority over civilians.

Um yeah, and also I support council member Lenopar's um supplemental.

Thank you.

Next is Christopher Cole.

Thank you.

Um, yeah, at a time that the police accountability board is is in some free fall.

You you all just um let go the the director recently, and then I don't know all the ins and outs of it.

Um, but we also know that two of the senior members of uh resigned recently.

So and it's at a time that the police accountability board is is is in free fall, and the Berkeley voters, as we setting up that board, indicated a strong interest in seeing accountability of the police department.

This is not the time to be to be reducing um the needed oversight, um, especially over such um horrific weapons as these chemical sprays, canine units, helicopters.

Um, I sorry, supplementals that are turned in at the last minute, it's very difficult for the members of the public to really take that in.

Many people think thankfully did I not.

Um, I hope that what Para proposed is better than what Councilmember Kisserwani put forward originally.

But thank you.

Next is Barb at well.

Hi, uh my name is Barbara.

Well, I'm a resident of Berkeley District One, and I represent the Berkeley Friends Meeting, also known as the Quakers.

Um, we urge the council to adopt the the police accountability board's recommendation to continue pepper spray reporting, including the amendments that were shown today.

Uh rescinding the report requirement does not make this more modern transparency and police account matter, and we do not want to make the police sorry, do not make the police use a pepper spray a secret.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next is Kelly Mergren.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes.

Okay.

Um, I agree with many of the comments that are made here tonight.

I wish we weren't doing this at all.

Um, I think Luna Par is is the best.

I'm looking at the city website, and if you don't know what you're looking for, even if you do know what you're looking for, you can't find the transparency hub by even going to the search magnifying glass on the city website.

Um, you know, we're really not getting the kind of information that we say we're gonna get, and uh when I do find the transparency hub, it doesn't give the kind of narrative that you would expect.

So, you know, I don't think we really have a good solution to understand why we're making these changes when there's so little pepper spray supposedly used.

Thanks, Kelly.

Next is Mikaela.

Hi, I understand the supplement just now introduced, but I also agree with the previous commenter that it's not necessary because the resolution as a whole, as also supported uh said by the police accountability board, is necessary.

And like just said, it is only going to normalize violence against civilians and a lack of accountability and lack of oversight.

And what you're saying, uh that this is going to increase efficiency in modernization, completely negates the weight of the burden that should be felt by the city of Berkeley and by its police department and the weight of its responsibility and what it owes to the people of Berkeley, as it should be held accountable to them, and as it currently is being held accountable through these requirements, and you have the chance here today to show that you understand.

Okay, thanks for your for your comment.

Next is Marilyn Cleveland.

Thank you.

I appreciate the item.

I support having robust reporting of all uses of pepper spray, and I appreciate the work that's been done on this.

It appears that the mayor's proposed amended resolution with the amendments proposed by council member Luna Para best meets that need um with the deadline for pepper spray reporting to be publicly accessible in the transparency hub and to include a narrative report.

Rision of the old report should not take effect until the council acts on the amendment to the controlled equipment ordinance in order to um include pepper spray within that ordinance reporting requirement.

And this would prevent any gap between the end of the current reporting and the start of any replacement reporting requirement.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Sam.

Can you all hear me?

Yes.

Hi.

Um I uh do not support rescinding this.

Uh the existing reporting requirements are already the bare minimum.

And the transparency hub is insufficient, difficult to navigate in vague, as several people have already said.

Um the reporting requirement is not redundant because it provides additional information where state law is insufficient.

This is additionally coming at a time when the city council recently fired the head of Berkeley's civilian police oversight office, and following the resignation of several police accountability board members, citing an uncooperative and untransparent police force.

I hope you guys reconsider this.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Julie Dickey.

Yeah, hi.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Yes.

I can't hear you.

Um, so I am not in favor of uh pepper spray at all.

It's a weapon, and I think we don't need to be normalizing weapons.

We've got enough weapons going on across the world.

I think that if you have this thing in place, you've got to keep the narrative and make the transparency hub transparent.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, next is Maria Sow.

Yeah.

I just, you know, I spent day today mostly crying because we have militarized in the name of safety.

And you know, I want to so one way of making sure I can't kill everybody else.

It's like we've got to stop.

We have got to stop and look at what we're choosing.

Let's choose the escalation.

Let's choose transparency and accountability and responsibility.

Let's choose peace.

Let's choose peace.

It's here.

We can have it if we quit picking up weapons and making it the thing to do because it purports to keep me safe.

It doesn't.

It doesn't.

If it hurts someone else and this needs to stop, please let there be peace.

Please let's reimagine what the world can be and stop doing what the world doing presently.

Thanks, Maria.

Uh last hand raised is Adam.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

It's upsetting that this we would be brought forward at all, but especially it's upsetting right now, given what's going on in the country.

Um I just urge you to listen to all of your constituents who are begging you to vote no.

We're your community and we're asking for this.

And I just I just urge you guys to listen to us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's it.

Okay.

Uh there are a number of different uh supplementals here.

One thing I do want to add is that on our supplemental, I neglected to mention that um we added on there that we wanted to um include if first aid was administered.

So I forgot to mention that.

And so thank you, council member, for for bringing that up.

And counts uh, can I ask a follow-up question?

Yeah, point, Madam Mayor, and and maybe um if you're able to repost uh those latest amendments, uh, because my understanding was we didn't have the ability to uh provide that information on the transparency hub.

Is that correct?

Is that what you're requesting, Madam Mayor?

So I'm gonna let the chief respond, but we had a conversation about oh, okay, please go ahead.

Yeah, for sure.

Um, and maybe just to set the stage a little bit.

Um, you know, I'm I'm very proud of the transparency hub.

Uh I don't know of another jurisdiction that has a hub of that kind that shares that kind of information in real time to that level of detail.

However, we're not gonna rest on that, and we know that there's a lot of things we can continue to build into the transparency hub, and the whole goal is to be able to share as much information as we can about the work that we do while also balancing privacy rights and safety of the community as well.

So um to answer the question specifically about the uh capabilities of transparency hub, the whole purpose is it for it to be automated so that the human piece is taken out of it as calls come in and they're into our CAD system and records are created, um uh use of force reports are documented, that there is uh a direct link behind the scenes to then upload that into the transparency hub.

Right now, the way the blue team or the use of force reporting system works, there's not a box that talks about first aid.

Um, and um some of the other uh suggestions around putting more information in in the future.

We want to look about a lot of things, putting more detail in a lot of the calls, but for specifically for the first aid piece, we will have to check with the vendor and say and ask them to rework the system to allow us to have that space to do the first the first aid piece.

So certainly it's something we could explore, but right now in our our current existing system, uh someone would have to win and manually enter that first aid piece um into the hub.

Okay, so uh madam mayor, could you just go back to the wording that you are proposing for that then?

Sure.

So it's in the resolution.

Yeah, I mean, keep in mind this is a referral, so the the city manager would look into it and they have to come back to us and let us know, you know, how this would all work.

Um so um, oh sorry, let me let me scroll and read.

I think you had like a bulleted list, right?

Of what you are proposing.

Yes.

So it's here.

So yeah, I'm sorry, it it's it's bleeding off of if you just go back.

I just want to see the this the sentence.

Okay, that that's perfect.

Just right quick, just like that.

Just give me a moment.

I just want to just take a look at what that says.

Sure.

And so while you're doing that, I'm gonna actually um ask a question about okay.

So the problem actually, can I can I just like finish my thought on this though?

Go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

So yeah, I think the issue is if this is asking this resolution is worded so that we have to include the administration of first aid.

I'm just worried if we don't have the capability to do that.

So for for D, if we could just say the administration of first aid, I feel like if if that clause could just have some caveat there, you know, to the extent practicable or something.

It seems like everything else is fine.

Everything else can go in now, right?

Yeah, and I would share that it would be our my desire to have that included, and certainly it seems like it'd be something that the vendor could do, and that information would appear or could very easily appear in the uh military equipment ordinance report.

The piece I will also point out that our by policy um officers who um deploy OC are required by policy to get first aid for the individual.

So it's a it's a piece of the policy that requires it.

So it's that the box should will always be checked, yes.

And that's I mean, I still think that's important.

Understood.

So um I I'd like to actually ask our city attorney if she can weigh in on on the um on the wording piece here.

What one of the conversations that we're having is if we can include something in here since it's a referral that need not be possible right this this moment because they need to check in with the um with the company to make sure it's possible.

I'm gonna turn it over to Sam Harvey, who is on um Zoom and he can address.

Thank you.

Sure, I think you could put some language just caveating um, you know, uh maybe maybe as an uh uh its own number bullet, um, you know.

Um work with the vendor to determine whether um administrative uh administration of first aid can be included as as a as a check box or or or category that's fine.

That's fine with me.

Um Madame Mayor, are you proposing to just add that into D then and work with the vendor to ensure that the administration of first aid can be included or something like that?

Um then I think I'm fine with that.

And and the 14 days seems reasonable.

Um Chief, did you have anything further?

No, I was just gonna suggest you could um uh expect that we you know put in their clear direction to us to include it in the military equipment report and as well as a transparency hub if the capabilities allow.

So if sorry, say that one more time.

You I'm sorry, council members, can you please I'm sorry, go ahead.

Can you say that one more time?

Yeah, to um to include the administration of first aid in the military equipment ordinance and the transparency hub if the capabilities allow.

So Madam Mayor, there's an I think you have a section above about the controlled equipment.

Oh, it's below.

Um, the controlled equipment ordinance, include you could just say including comma including administration of first aid.

And then I think we've covered it.

Um work with the vendor to determine if the administration of first aid is Chief, you had a a nice phrase feasible, no capabilities feasible or capable.

Oh, they yeah.

It's maybe just say it's feasible.

Okay, okay.

Thank you very much.

Okay.

Um so I was going to ask a question, which was Madam Mayor.

Yes.

Um, I I do recommend language in the resolution itself.

Uh clarify uh section three that those changes to the transparency are are a referral.

Uh as written right now, it simply says that those changes shall be made.

And if the intent is just to refer to the city manager to make those changes, I recommend that that's that be amended to say refer to the city manager to ensure that the transparency hub can be, you know, the following can be included in the transparency hub.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, can you tell me where that is?

This would be under the third now, therefore clause.

It's it's not very Sam, sorry.

Uh uh maybe at the beginning of subsection of subsection three.

Um Madam Mayor, can I just ask a clarifying question?

I think maybe the threshold question is do you intend this change to just be reflected in the resolution, which is how it's currently structured, or do you prefer it to come back as a referral?

Um if it's your intent to just have it be adopted tonight with the changes that you're proposing, that's how it's already structured.

Um I see the city manager wants some to say something.

No, I I I concur with this city attorney.

Like the uh my reading of it is that it's not a referral, but that it's adopting a resolution effectuating these changes.

Yeah.

So the the question to the attorney posed is I always read this to be not a referral, but the optimal resolution to do these things.

Um yeah, I I think that the way it's written is is how we intended it too.

I'm a little confused.

What so I I think there may have been some confusion because you use the word referral, so um it doesn't sound like you're intending it as a referral.

Yes.

Okay.

Number three is a directive, except for D.

When you're saying if feasible D might not if you if D is a referral, it might not fit with the rest of number three in the resolve clause.

So is the so it would be cleaner to remove it.

Is that what we're saying?

It could be part of the motion.

A referral could be part of the motion.

It doesn't have to be in the in the resolution.

Right.

So so technical.

So okay, so we can we can set we could remove D and then just say, and also pass this resolution and also refer to the city manager um to work with the vendor to determine if the administration of first city is feasible to include in the transparency hub.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Okay.

Um so going back, the question that I have was on Council Member Luna Paras supplemental.

I'm just curious for this automating the opt-in notification for the transparency hub.

Um Chief or Arlo, could you speak to what that would entail if that's possible?

Or is this another thing we'd need to work with the vendor on?

Yes, uh the transparency hub is built on a like a web platform from a different vendor.

And so um we're we've limited by the features that they offer.

Um that's not one that I'm aware of.

Um it would be this dashboard um element with the wider web page, so it it would be uh I think unlikely that that feature is available.

We could certainly reach out.

Um, but you know, we're we're not software engineers, we're not web developers.

We're we're kind of just uh limited by the um the vendors that we're working with.

Okay, thank you very much.

Um and I'm sorry, go ahead, Councilmember Blackaby.

Yeah, I just wanted to step back one second as we're kind of hashing all this out.

Um as we're making any of these changes to the hub and to the annual report.

Can you just remind us like all of this data, the process that actually happens at the moment or in the wake of an incident, nothing changes with respect to the information the officer collects, the officer reports that goes up through the chain of command.

Like we're not I just want to be clear, just uh again, I'm thinking through all this.

So as we collect the documentation from the officer and talk about the the incident, nothing changes.

We're still collecting exactly the same data now that we were before that we were before.

Like it's like we have whether or not first aid is rendered, the narrative, and that goes up through the whole chain of command comes to you and ultimately comes to the city manager.

Is that right?

Yes, so just to be clear, nothing in this resolution changes authorized uses of the pepper spray.

Right.

Um they still have to every use has to comply with policy 303.

Um every uh use that occurs um it has to call has to be reported and recorded according to policy 300, which requires that um documentation, all those all that information that is on the OC report is collected.

Um there's bottom or camera footage, and that then goes through the full supervisory chain and is reviewed to make sure it's within policy all the way through the process.

Right.

And in the past, when before it was a transparency hub, when these reports came and you notified council, um some of that could become public, it may become public, but it didn't automatically become public in the same way that it does is as it will as it when it's published on the transparency hub, right?

Like there was always kind of an intervening step when that came back to council.

Yeah, it was shared with the PRC at the time, um, shared with council uh and um and there was that time delay, right?

And if you happen to be at the PC meeting when it was discussed, then you you heard it, um, or at the council meeting if it was discussed.

Um but now everyone it's accessible to everyone via the hub.

Okay.

Yeah, so I I mean I like the the spirit is what we're trying to make sure is much of that what's documented in the same report that the officers filled out before and that they are now being filled out now, and it is going up through the training of the command.

The intent in the spirit is let's try and get as much of that into the hub as we can given whatever technical limitations we have for the hub.

In some ways it would be more real time than it ever was because in the past it would be filtered through the PRC or the PAB or you know, and in an and in this case, and it will still continue to be reported in the military equipment, the annual the annual report.

Right.

Okay.

So I just want to be clear that like we're you know, the we are trying to maintain and in some ways actually make more timely this information than we've had previously because we didn't have a transparency hub previously.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Vice Pair Luna Parra.

Thank you.

Um I have a couple of questions.

Uh first, I have um uh this is to the mayor.

I'm I'm still confused as to why the name of the officer is being removed from the resolution.

If the current report does have the name of the officer.

My understanding is that the current report does not contain the name of the officer.

So the OC paper report from 1997 had a line for the officer filling out that completed the report.

Um, but the transparency hub intentionally does not have officer names for all the uses of force.

That's not the information is not published and was part of the meet and confer process under policy 300 when it was established that as uh force data was released annually and released um um to the public that it we you would not be able to track back exactly who that was a complaint process in place for individual complaints about uses of force, but publicly available in that one manner.

Thank you.

Did that answer your question?

Kind of it it but it it is currently publicly available.

That's correct.

That uh 1997 report that came before 300 discussion.

There probably should have been an edit made to the OC report post that policy 300 update.

Um because it it's uh opposite to something that was met, you know, with the bargaining unit um as part of the implementation of the updated policy 300.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um next question for the um police department is around the the transparency of OC spray.

The 2024 military equipment report says that there was of OC in 2024, but the transparency hub says that there are four, there were four.

One of the incidents was listed as chemical agents and three citizens.

Can you explain this discrepancy?

Uh uh look into that, it's not something that um I'm prepared to no, I just it would be hopeful if you shared um that we took the look at the hub.

We'd be happy to take a look at that and report back to council.

Yeah, so I mean there's certain I know there was one occasion that your office raised um wasn't where there was an OC report, but it wasn't on a hub.

Um that was a particular case where the OC was deployed against an app.

Um so it's not a use of force, so it's not the not in the use of force, but if you go to the call for service, you'll see the call for service for animal bite um call, but it didn't use a force.

It was it was not a it was not that kind of use of force, right?

Um and so certainly you know, there's there's a lot of instances like that where an officer receives a threat in that manner and may use spray in that.

And so that you know, maybe the exact instance that that um led to that reporting.

Um wouldn't have to look at that.

Okay, thank you.

I think this is showing exactly why we need a narrative um in these and um why some of the why these would be why it's important to for these to be duplicative sometimes.

Um yeah, the military equipment report one um we just found more recently.

Um the 1997 directive requires that the pepper spray report be posted as an off agenda memo, but this stopped in 2021.

Can you explain yeah?

Thank you for raising that.

Um that's on me.

So uh the first one I did when I became chief uh came as an off agenda memo.

Um it was basically uh memo form with the OC report following it.

Um the next time one came through, I just forwarded the OC report to both PAB and the council.

I didn't put it on the header of off agenda memo.

Okay, thanks.

Um I have a uh question for um the interim ODPA director.

Do you mind?

Thank you.

Oh, okay, that's fine.

Cool.

Thank you.

Do you mind um briefly going over the dation from the PAB?

Yes.

Um so the recommendation was transmitted to council in their February 23rd correspondence, which is included um in the material.

Uh in terms of the recommendation itself is to reintroduce into the military equipment report um the reporting of the use of pepper spray.

Um the reason for that is because the recent BMC 2100 uh edits that aligned it with state policy.

Um it removed handheld pepper spray specifically, which was included in the police uh equipment report in the previous version of it.

Um the board does state that understands that um there's some things that we could streamline.

Um the spirit of that recommendation comes into making sure that there's still the information that certain details are still communicated, but it doesn't necessarily have to be in th across three different platforms.

Um so streamlining it, streamlining it into a single location is what the board supports as long as we keep continuing that same level of detail as it's being uh proposed today.

Thank you.

Um do you mind also explaining um what has been useful about the notification process and what may be lost if we remove it, just talking a little more about the over.

Yeah, in terms of uh my experience with the notification process, and I've been with the city since 2022, so I've had a good amount of uh receiving those notifications.

Uh for us, it's just uh it gives us good context for the board in case there's a practice, like let's say in four reports we see that pepper spray appears to have been misused um like prematurely or something like that.

Um not the greatest of example, acknowledge that.

Um but it helps us in terms of our policy and practices review uh as mandated by the charter because it gives us that context to it.

Um I'm a fan of the transparency hub, but sometimes the numbers themselves don't always explain everything.

Um so having that context is useful to give us that contextual, I guess the circumstances as to something why it was used.

Great.

That's really helpful.

Thank you.

Um I have one more question for the police department.

Um would would be a uh uh possible to send out um kind of an alert to the public.

No, I wouldn't support that.

Uh the purpose of Nixel is very clear.

It's for emergency responses, street closures, dangerous situations.

Very intentional about not overusing Nix so people don't stop looking at it.

Um it's for something that requires an image uh on it.

Okay, thank you.

Um then I I think I'm still confused on which part of the mayor's of item is a referral and which one isn't a referral.

Do you mind just clarifying that again?

Because I'm I think that is to pass as is and then have a part of the motion be a referral.

I think that's what I'm so confused now.

No, I think that is what you said.

I mean, I thought I what I thought I heard was that this letter D to 3D, the administration of first aid, because it's not clear that we can actually do that with the system for the city manager to analyze what the software company to see is that something we can do.

That's a referral to come back.

The rest of this is a directive to do.

So, Madam Mayor, I would just recommend in your resolution to delete D.

Oh, okay, okay.

I couldn't see that you had done that.

And then we don't I don't think we need to type it in.

Of course, we we can, but we can just simply state that that concept of of including the first aid detail uh be referred to the city manager you know to explore this ability of inclusion on the transparency hub.

Does that yeah, that's helpful.

Um do we need to is this something that needs to have a second reading, or would it be in effect immediately?

Once we send the um resolutions take effect immediately.

Okay.

So in this case we would just be replacing the there'd be no no time where night where neither apply.

Okay, those are my questions.

Thank you.

Okay, council member Bartlett.

Thank you, Madam Mary.

And those are and this your the questions have all been uh really really wonderfully answered by all the parties here.

I was curious, and this goes back to uh the sort of the IT component, right?

Because I'm I'm still trying to wrap my head around the various sort of points of conflict, right?

And there's there's legal, maybe some liability, the policy, and and there's obviously um use friction, right?

It's burdensome sometimes, right?

So I'm just kind of wondering just for the chief here.

If is it do you do you feel that the the current provider of either one your uh police reporting interface and then the transparency of interface are are the latest, the latest um out there Yeah, I would say that our um use of force reporting system is one of the industry standards for that um product.

And um, you know, it's likely that they can fix this for us, create this checkbox for us.

I don't think there that company hasn't been lacking, and I don't know of a lot of other agencies using other products that far surpass it.

Um the system that we use ArcGIS uh for um the transparency hub again is a is an industry under um you know emerging uh uh one of the cutting edge technologies in this area and it can do a lot and we ask a lot of that hub.

We're able to bring in all kinds of different um data from the background and and and and display it in a way that can be both downloaded as large files of complete data, but also filtered um, you know, and really allow the user to do their own analysis with it.

Um so I I would say that both of those um technologies uh um are producing what we need, whether they can get into the weeds around all the things we want um without a human intervention um or a change in structure, I don't know, but we're certainly open to exploring those.

Okay, and uh and the use and confer was interesting too, as as opposed to the the the boundaries, right?

Um is does any of this that we are discussing tonight uh implicate using use uh sorry uh meet and confer uh if we were to make some change around um a more public producing um an officer's name, I would expect that the union would expect to meet and confer as a change of conditions and would would uh suggest that that could cause them some uh safety issues.

Okay, but isn't that case?

No, it's a thank you.

Thank you.

Um Councilmember Traekup.

Thank you.

I want to dig in more about um if we were to adjust the narrative.

Um so right now the council receives an annual report, right?

And that does include the narrative.

And if we lost that, um can you speak to what, if any opportunities there may be for individual members of the council to request a narrative um specific to if they go on the transparency hub and get the uh like basically that line record.

Are there opportunities if we lose the annual report um to request detail level information consistent with what a narrative reporting would provide yeah, just a couple of points to that.

Uh one I really appreciated the PAB's perspective on this that um and they've shared with us a couple of times that the they find great oversight value in the OC reporting that they got on the annual report, and that they felt like that was sufficient for them as a launching point to determine whether or not they wanted to do a policy review.

I will say the military equipment narrative report would not go away unless the transparency hub rose up to be qualified enough to give you the same level of detail that we wanted to provide.

So that the the information is going to exist still in reporting that it was on the OC um paper report, is either going to be on the military equipment uh ordinance report or the hub or both until we can raise them up to a level that they're the sufficient information for the council's um in uh information is available.

I I think all of you have received notifications um from city management communication around when this happened.

I share as much as I can um you know some of the privacy rights of involved and sharing, you know, in the exhibit or more public document do that say just if there's confidential information.

There's no other question or I think that's enough for now.

Thank you.

Okay, council member.

Great.

Uh have a follow-up on that.

Um I'm curious about this.

I have the same um just the in terms of um counsel and maybe access to this kind of arrest.

I heard you're reluctant to give away confidential information and um per if it is possible though that you could give it to us.

Let's say there's no confidential information, then the answer is yes, you could give it to us.

Yeah, for example, um uh um I report a general report to council that OC was used, or you see it on the transparency hub, and you contacted us and said we want additional information.

Certainly, everything that would appear on the military equipment ordinance in the annual report, we would absolutely be able to freely share.

If we start to get into other details or infected an investigation or something like that, that's where we wouldn't be able to provide that details.

Certainly it uh there's some information you could give us, it's whatever.

We could share everything that would be releasable in the annual report.

We could share in the immediate on uh again, you know, I'm trying to not overburden staff course to share that.

Um not my original question, so my I'm sort of asked with council member Lunapar.

I think not exactly on in the are two different labels.

Level OC and one is level three article eight.

I believe there's also OC because matched up with things we've gotten that were described as can you explain like why are can there not be two things?

Yes, there could not be two things.

That that's uh um control of so we can update more clear.

Yeah, like I think that's and I just want to say just in terms of I'm supporting the my bill supporting that comes with every little part of the supplemental had a line about that um consistency of labeling, and I I really would like that to be part.

Yeah, whatever I want that to be catching that.

Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.

I say I was just looking through supplemental have pull things out that I I think makes sense here.

Um I'm also interested interested in adding into our verbal referral that we're planning on making to include the uh um well yes um happens.

There's a lot of detail in there that would be confidential.

Um it talks about what hospital they might go to, it talks about individual names and things like that.

So it is in order for it to the narrative into the transparency hub and have it, stop that level of ex team force, which won't because it goes through the visitory chain and they're reading all those details.

Um it's possible we create another box, but then they're gonna pay you know so um I'm hesitant to say that the we're just gonna roll because I'm if if they can create a box for administrating first aid, I'm concerned about.

I mean, they can I'm sure they can create a box for the narrative, but that's why we I have some hesitancy around that.

Right.

I I remember you saying that, and I'm just trying to understand how we can kind of throw the needle here.

So but we think um so is the issue that would in the change is the one that public yeah they dare to contain information about what they were arrested for the gate of confidential pieces of information within that as much information as they tended to be a thorough review of the use of four stuff surrounded where the narrative like say uh wanted for a robbery description as in the report, it might have those pieces of information, and so it it's a it's it's by nature a summarized version of in the narrative.

That's what we would want to produce enough information so you know the who, what, the women, right, without divulging somebody's name, you know confidential information.

Right.

And I I think that like interested in making sure we understand like what small or you know what what was the situation that kind of like to me that doesn't need to be extremely detailed hang out.

Um so you're you're all hoping to get yeah, I guess I just don't really understand the problem a public version based on the that has all this confidential information to to whittle it down.

The public brain is what we produce.

Blue team report is intentionally an internal process that's accessible to the PAB.

If they're dealing with force complaint, they see they see the blue team.

Um it's in it's it's part of our review process, know whether it's internal processes of reviewing the force.

It contains information often that has confidence.

If if the what would be on the military equipment ordinance can instead be put on the transparency hub, is that that's what we're discussing?

That's the ultimate goal, but right next and so the the goal summarizing maybe AI can they can reveal it uh review published on there to undo what we would to satisfy if I'd rather have a good narrative in the military equipment report while we figure out what we can do on the transparency hub or not, but that one women intervention that I guess I guess I just I don't understand the answer with that with with doing that human uh work I I do want us to take like a mini break so we can just go so that I can just check in with our city attorney.

Um but ask a question.

Is this um as as we try to wrap my mind my mind around uh did this this example report from October last year given George Littman to it's probably got my name at the bottom?

Is that is that a typical is that a typical report expect as we talk about these?

I'm just you talking about the part that you circled?

No, not that with the no not that part.

Uh but just the just the narrative in in in total yeah, this is the this is a it doesn't contain any confident information, it doesn't have the suspect uh uh pieces for an ongoing criminal investigation.

It tells you uh what happened and where and why what de-escalation uh question okay thank you.

Um just give us five minutes to hash out a couple of things.

I just want to make sure we're clear about the wording here and and then we'll come back.

So take a bio break, everyone.

Take a stretch.

Recording in progress.

Okay, sorry about that, everyone.

All right.

So I'm going to back on the screen.

We're going to talk about this again.

This is the controlled equipment ordinance piece.

So that has to be a referral.

That's why this is all extra confusing.

So and then the rest of this, this is an adjustment of your resolution.

So it's still a resolution, but we changed the language at the bottom to just I just changed this just now.

So I think this is clear.

This is what I was just talking about, the controlled equipment ordinance piece, and then work with the vendor to determine if reporting the administration of first aid is possible to include in the transparency hub.

But the other two pieces that we were just talking about.

Um was on the yeah, was also to see if it's possible to automate the opt-in notifications so that we can have folks like our our office of director of police accountability.

Um to be alerted, um, and also if um the narrative piece, if we can figure out how to include that as well.

And we were talking about the details of that.

I understand that that that's that we have to kind of figure out like again.

I mean, that's why it's written in here as like if it's to try to figure out how to do that with the vendor.

Um then and then the piece also that I think needs to be added is the piece around consistency and labeling.

So I think that that also is important to include.

So I will take this from council from Vice Mayor Luna Paras as well.

Yeah, um, there was a section, I think in um Councilmember Kessarwani's item that talked about uh um explaining the use of force levels better on the transparency hub.

Yeah, maybe if it just directed us to uh ensure late labeling, you know, uh love force levels are clearly labeled.

I think it and I think it already says that already.

That would that's how I would read that expectation that that double labeling um would be covered by that.

I think it's here.

It's like this is the referral.

Oh this one enhance the definitions for the various use of force levels and clearly identify pepper spray use as level three.

Uh include clear navigational guidelines so users can more easily access the open data portal information on chemical agents use.

I guess I I wanted to make sure that that included in the resolution itself with the wording.

Um so I will add that.

Shall I make it the new the new four?

You can make it the new D.

The new D, because that's your list of what's in the hub.

We need to move to extend to extend the meeting to 11 20.

Second.

All right.

Is there any opposition to 1115?

Did you say 1120?

Is that what you said?

Yeah, okay, 1120.

I just wanted to make sure.

Okay, no opposition looks like.

All right, we will extend.

Thank you all.

Um, all right.

So okay, I think we've adjusted this.

Let me just adjust this air reporting administration first aid narrative report and um opt-in notifications, and then I'll say R.

Okay.

Notifications.

Okay.

All right.

I think we've got it.

All right.

Now I'm gonna actually just move my own item.

Um, so I second.

Yeah, I I'm I'm going to move uh move my supplemental with um council members Blackaby, Traegu, and O'Keefe and Council Member Kesserwani.

Um, including this referral to the city manager, uh, which is right here, to subject pepper spray to the controlled equipment ordinance and also work with the vendor to determine if reporting the administration of first date and narrative report and opt-in notifications are possible to include in the transparency hub.

Is there a second?

Second there are a number of hands raised.

Oh sorry.

Are you okay?

Did you have yeah, Vice Mayor?

Yeah, um, I was wondering if we could add a date certain to um the controlled equipment ordinance referral, just so that we know exactly when that's gonna no, but I'll take it as a short-term amendment, which means we'll work on it over the next 90 days.

Okay, okay, thank you.

Sorry, just to clarify, that's before the next, yeah, because it just the the next controlled equipment ordinance.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, certainly we can we can push past that to in to include that information in the controlled equipment ordinance report.

Okay, thank you.

We can commit to that even if the ordinance hasn't caught up in time.

Um we're happy to include that in the report.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you all.

I appreciate it.

I know this is a sausage making, but I feel like we're in a good place.

So thank you very much.

Um, yes, Councilmember O'Keefe.

Thanks.

Yeah, still supporting the motion.

No, no, no problem.

Um I just want to raise uh, you know, I I like I I'm glad that we have a plan for getting the narrative report um on the hub.

Um I do I am still bothered by this inconsistency that would that that would result in because there are other kinds of use of force that are equal or more intense than pepper spray that wouldn't be getting the narrative.

And so I'm not don't worry, I'm not adding anything.

I I think it would be beyond the scope of this what we're doing tonight to do any more than this.

Um, but I just want to name an intention.

I I would like to work with maybe um once we have a new permanent ODPA director to work with them to look at maybe even bringing in more narrative um more narratives, not not for everything, but for some of the the really rare and very intense uses of force in the spirit of transparency, of course, and also consistency, because I I'm bothered by the inconsistency here.

Um that's I was bothered by it.

That's why I'm I'm glad that Councilmember Cassar Wani brought this item.

So as an ultimate goal, I would like us to have you know lots of transparency and have it be consistent and makes sense.

And so that's sort of a goal.

I just wanted to state that goal, and I'll be um you know, to picking that up when the time is right.

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

And yeah, absolutely um hear that.

So okay.

Can we check the role, please, Clerk?

Okay.

Uh on the motion as stated by the mayor for the resolution.

Um Councilmember Castroani.

Yes.

Taplin.

Yes.

Bartlett.

Yes.

Traegum.

I.

O'Keefe.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

And Mayor Ishii.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you all.

Really appreciate you and your patience and everyone for their public comments and for everyone who presented to us.

Thank you.

All right.

Now we are moving on to the public comment for items not listed on the agenda.

Is there any other additional public comment on items not listed on the agenda?

Isn't this two minutes at the end of the meeting?

No.

Okay.

Um generally I uh police tools, because uh the police knew and need tools to do their job.

So you've heard enough in terms of flock.

Uh you've uh heard all the concerns about privacy.

Uh yesterday there was an article from the business insider that addressed accuracy as to flock.

And uh started out with a description of uh a man in Ohio who uh there was a misread on FLOC, and so he was balled by the police dog, arrested, and then they realized that it was a different license.

Uh quoting from the article, business and police records lawsuits, and local news coverage across the country, and found that the Toledo episode is an isolated dozen incident misreads by FOC readers or a lack of verification resulted in people who hadn't committed crimes being stopped at gunpoint, sent to jail, or mauled by a police dog among other things, Carol.

Okay, there's a lot of people.

Yeah.

Oh, so council members, uh, as I heard your discussion, I'm really kind of concerned because what I heard the police two talking about is the need to kind of protect the identity of officers.

And I'm really kind of concerned about that because if we're not willing to associate a police officer with the use of force, then they might as well be ice with masks on their faces.

That we need to statistically be able to identify which authors are more prone to use violence than others.

And that's called early warning.

That's how you get to them before they do something really bad.

Isn't that right?

Isn't it?

Doesn't that make sense?

So I think what's being sold here is a bill of goods.

We're supposed to have access to police reports, descriptions, and we cannot be uh uh what can I say uh persuaded or just have this kind of institutional drift to suggest that somebody who has been the victim of a pepper spraying should have their identity concealed for their privacy?

That's that's like disappearing people.

So I I really just want to ask you to advocate for maximum transparency.

I also want to say that I went through, I just really want to understand what it's like to file a complaint with the PAB.

The PAB, the chief officers, they don't return phone calls, but there's not one shred of paper.

They had a some kind of meeting or something without the person who's filed the complaint.

And I was giving no indication of what their findings were.

And on the basis of those findings, apparently the chief made another finding on on an allegation that I never alleged.

I never made.

Oh my gosh, it must be a personnel, the officer who put their hands on me must have done something wrong.

Or maybe we should look at the policy.

Maybe that's the problem.

But what about the cop who generated the operational plan for that homeless encampment sweep that included prevent people from observing?

What if those were just doing what the old?

And what if those cops were given an illegal order?

We don't have a mechanism for rooting that out and exposing that and dealing with it.

And so as you pursue this militarism policy with more and more surveillance, what we're trying to tell you is that you know, you're gonna breaks.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um Houston, brief thing, and then you have to get the report, and then that's where you see everything.

So maybe it's a little bit of a common practice in some places, but you know, I don't have a bandwidth to try to get into this, but you you you guys have to deal with it.

Um about the order here.

I think it was a little bit um quick to have the public speak and then have you guys try to figure out what they were saying, right?

You had to get the you know, city manager, city attorney to help you figure it out.

Uh we should have heard all of that and then been taking notes and then give some comments.

That's the thing.

Uh I have a personal PRM that I need to follow up with city manager.

Um, if you can help me um by setting up a time where we can meet six-418.

Really would like to get your insight and uh help me come up with you know, we can come up with a solution.

Thank you.

Um, is there anyone online for offenda public?

Yes, we have a few agenda public comments, phone number ending in two five hands raised.

Hi.

Well, first of all, straight causes permanent damage to the long and eyes, especially the eyes.

How can you eyes?

It should be dang.

Second, it's gene file.

That is who is you can't have say have sex with a 13-year-old girl.

He was raping the 13-year-old gears, and that's why he went to your own.

Yeah, I just didn't file above his head as a email many times.

And that is criminal acts against American laws, laws, and believe me, I studied nuclear physics, nuclear genetics for decades.

We're in old war three soon.

This meant crazy, just crazy.

And uh look what's the result.

Now we're on next to be here in America.

And that is really sad.

Innocent people are dying for what.

By the way, before you go to sleep tonight, please listen to the song.

Imagine.

Imagine no religion.

Imagine no country, no religion too.

Thank you so much.

Next is Nathan Meisell.

Hi, Council, just quickly here.

Uh I hope you're paying attention to the PAB's meeting um and the letter I they intend to send you in regards to the department's unilateral decision.

Like policy 300, the use of force policy in the city.

Um it is a sad reality that we now have a government that believes they can outright ignore council's own mandated policy in the city.

Um, but that is the result of the lax, if not non-existent oversight that has taken place over the last year to 18 months in our city.

Um that letter details how despite the PAB informing them that the use of force policy was adopted by council in June of 2020, they still unilaterally change the policy, and uh to my knowledge not reposted it publicly yet.

So I'm gonna be writing to you about this.

Uh the PAB is going to send you a letter.

Um, this is the latest example of a breakdown in democracy in our city.

Thanks, Nathan.

Next is caller ending in two.

Wait, no.

Daniel Daniel Brownson.

Next is Daniel Brownson.

Hi.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

So I think it's honestly ridiculous that the I that we're acting like writing a report for using pepper spray, which is actually a severe use of force.

Uh is some sort of huge burden on the police department.

Because it was only used four times, and like yeah, we kind of do want it to be at least a little to do some work to justify it.

Um then secondly, we should absolutely not re-legalize the use of tear gas in Berkeley.

You know, what is it mainly used for against protests?

What's the slightly protest and be coming up when the feds finally stick ice on us?

Daniel, thanks.

Next is Rayla.

Hi.

I also wanted to express concern about um not providing uh police officers' name in the reports, the reports that are available to the public.

Did hear um, I believe the the chief's note about um the the union or something like that of the police, and I understand that could be her.

Um however, I still think that there has been a lot of evidence, particularly there's one incident that I remember with uh it was a bike police officer who had many, many reports of misconduct, and he kind of was allowed to go on doing that without any repercussions, and I think like that is evidence that this kind of uh public record is really important for accountability um in situations with um so thank you.

Next is Della Luna.

Yes, I wanted to request that the transparency hub website be added to the city of Berkeley website, like a direct link to it and the police website too, the police department's website.

There's currently a chief, but there's no link to the transparency hub.

And I think that having that direct link, it should just be one required.

Here I am the constituent asking for it.

So I just that can happen really soon with given everyone that's in the room currently.

Thank you.

And there's no reason to not have it connected, right?

Since we're talking about transparency, and as much as the defense the police department like to talk of the hub, we need to actually have access to the hub.

And the URL just needs to be simple and it needs to be linked directly to the City of Berkeley website.

Thank you.

And then uh the last speaker is hello, can you hear me?

Yes.

Yeah, I just want to draw attention to the fact that this is all nice with the transparency hub, but transparency doesn't really do anything when the cops continually violate the existing use of force guidelines.

Not only has the BPD issued their own revisions, not approved by you all, to the use of force guidelines that are currently in use, policy 300, but they've also in the past flagrantly violated the a very explicit use of force rules they have.

2014 they used uh illegal overhead baton strikes.

They attacked crowds of protesters, they used tear gas against their own policy, which stated that it could only be controlled situations.

Um so it's nice to have this transparency hub, but it's better to not with the weapons who are have a misusing them with the weapons.

So pull the ordinance.

There should be no rescinding of the reporting requirement and pepper spray and gas.

Thank you.

Okay, that's it.

Okay, is there a motion to adjourn?