I'd like to call the meeting of the city council public financing authority to order.

Madam Clerk, may I have the roll call, please?

Here.

Here.

Here.

Present.

Here.

Councilman Rule has requested permission to be asked from this meeting.

There are no objections.

All right, Madam Clerk, do we have any supplemental communications?

We have no supplemental communications for the closed session.

All right.

Conference with real property negotiators.

Government Code Section Five Four Nine Five Six Point.

Make a motion.

Second.

Recess the close session.

All right, good evening.

I'd like to reconvene the regular meeting of the City Council Public Financing Authority.

Madam Clerk, may I have the roll call, please?

Councilman Kennedy.

Here.

Mayor Pro Tem Twine.

Here.

Mayor McKeon.

Here.

Councilman Pat Burns.

Present.

Councilwoman Vandermark.

Here.

Councilman Williams.

Here.

Six present.

Pursuant to the resolution number two zero zero one-five four.

Councilman Gruell has requested permission to be absent from this meeting.

If there are no objections, this will be reflected in the minutes.

All right, thank you.

Tonight's invocation will be given by Huntington Beach Fire Department Chaplain Jeff Lopez.

Jeff.

Thank you, Honorable Mayor, City Council members, city staff, and members of the public.

I'll be praying today according to my Christian faith.

I welcome you to join me silently according to your faith.

Heavenly Father, Lord God, thank you for this amazing city that we get to celebrate today, being a hundred and seventeen years old.

Thank you for what this city has meant to me personally and to everybody in this room.

Lord, you have blessed us so much with this place.

Thank you for these people who are giving of their time of their energy, Father, to serve this great city.

Thank you for all the city staff as well as the electeds.

We ask for your wisdom.

Thank you, Father.

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Tonight the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Dave Badgett of American Legion Post 133.

It's my honor, it's my honor to introduce Mr.

Dave Badgett, a longtime resident and dedicated public servant whose life of service reflects the very best of Huntington Beach.

Mr.

Badgett has called Huntington Beach home since 1979, contributing to our community net, not only as a neighbor, but as someone who has served our country and our region with distinction.

His career service began with the United States Navy, where he served from 1968 to 1970 as a radar man and electronic warfare specialist.

He was deployed in support of the Vietnam conflict, spending 1968 to 1969 in the Mekong Delta with Task Force 116 of the Mobile Riverine Command, a critical and challenging assignment in support of our nation's interests.

Following his service in Vietnam, Mr.

Badget was assigned to the destroyer USS Mansfield until his honorable discharge.

Following his military service, Dave continued a life of dedicated public safety.

He joined the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1973, where he served with distinction for more than three decades.

In that role, he provided leadership and oversight to 35 fire stations, ensuring the safety and well-being of countless residents and first responders, and he was also one of the search and rescue task force leaders during 9-11.

Thank you so much for your service, Dave.

If you can join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

And to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Thanks, Dave.

Closed session report.

City attorney, do you have anything to report from closed session?

Nothing tonight, Mayor.

Thank you.

All right.

Council member comments.

Council members, does anyone want to make a comment?

Yeah, I do actually.

Don, go ahead.

Yeah, let me just came faster than I thought.

Sorry.

Anyone else?

Somebody else.

Somebody go get something going.

I just want to say happy birthday to uh Huntington Beach.

Uh like many of you.

You know, there's no place like home as the saying goes, and it couldn't be true of Huntington.

I've been, you know, around the world in a lot of dangerous places, and it's always my happy place in my head.

Uh thinking of Huntington Beach and particularly the Fourth of July parade.

Uh, I would always picture 14th Street and Main Street just being there in the worst of conditions uh overseas.

And so happy to be, you know, home and here.

Um, proud of this city.

Uh, it's a great place to grow up, and it's a great place to be raising a family.

And I think we've all are invested.

We've got a lot of skin in the game here.

Go ahead, Don.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to give a great shout out to our Huntington Beach board riders, and let me give you a little history.

They just recently, well, they were formed 10 years ago.

The founders were Ziggy Williams, Casey Wheat, and Chris Marino.

The Huntington Beach board riders just recently participated in a worldwide competition down in Australia at Snapper Rock with over 40 different teams from around the world competing.

They traveled down there with Brett Simpson, Bailey Turner, Luke Gonaldo in Mackay Castle.

Hey Don.

Real quick, because I was gonna say, we got some photos, so there you go.

Okay, fantastic.

There's our there's our team right there, Brett Bailey and uh Luke and Mackay.

They ended up making it all the way to the semifinals, beating some of the best teams in the world, and they did Huntington Beach very, very proud.

So we were traveling down there with our former current and future champions.

The team went down there, of course.

They were accompanied by the coach and president of the Huntington Beach board riders, Billy Webb.

So hats off.

They really, you know, we're called Surf City, but you have to be able to serve to hold that title.

I couldn't be more proud.

I I know a lot of the board riders.

It's a fantastic organization.

I'm proud to call them our Huntington Beach board riders, and they did us proud.

I'm gonna be actually um uh recommending them for a mayor's spotlight award.

So hopefully we can get that uh approved.

So thank goodness for the HP board riders.

Good job, guys.

Yeah, well, I'll just finish that.

Don I was gonna say the same thing, but I wanted to point out uh just the stellar performance by everybody, and you can see the scores on the screen there, especially uh Bailey Turner just shredding it with the 9.37 in the semifinal.

So those scores are pretty uh pretty awesome.

Pat.

Yeah, I just uh replacing my uh finance commissioner night.

I just want to do a shout out for uh Billy Hamilton who did three years plus.

Uh he gave me an extra year.

He fightingly, but he uh did it and he just did it with honor, and uh we're gonna miss him big time.

Cool, anybody else?

Don, come on, sorry about it.

Got caught off guard here.

And um, I forgot to say, as Councilman Williams did, and I promised one of the residents in my post today that I did not mention happy birthday to this incredible city, Huntington Beach.

So I am wishing Huntington Beach happy birthday, and that is for our resident, Kelly Thompson, who said, Why didn't you wish Huntington Beach happy birthday?

I said I was gonna do it today from the diet, so happy birthday, HB.

I'll just finish on that.

Happy birthday, Huntington Beach.

117 years.

It's an honor being the mayor.

Um, it's amazing history when you think about it.

How many cities can say that?

Um, 122 years of the Independence Day Parade as well.

So it's just an amazing feat.

It's an amazing city.

It's such an honor and privilege to be the mayor this year.

So happy birthday, Huntington Beach, and hopefully everybody got some cake.

All right, so I'm gonna go ahead, as long as everybody else is wishing Huntington Beach a happy birthday.

I will do the same.

I've been here most of those hundred and seventeen years.

Uh, as many of you know, uh, and I've enjoyed every single day.

Happy birthday, HB.

All right.

Now we're gonna go to the adoptable pet of the month, so I'm gonna come up there.

Okay, come on down.

Come on, go on.

Alright, so for tonight's doppelpet of the month, uh, we welcome back Jonathan Volski from OC Animal Care.

Uh, has come back with two new friends, and we're happy to say that Apricot from the last meeting was adopted.

Yeah.

However, uh BACs are still available, so please uh Baxter needs a home if you guys are out there.

And then we want to find out more about tonight's pets.

So we have Leona and Ozzy.

And Leona is a four-year-old Australian cattle dog mix from Santa Ana.

And Ozzie is a five-year-old husky from Anaheim.

So, Jonathan, just tell some more about these animals.

Well, I think you nailed it, Mayor.

They're both great dogs.

We haven't had them very long.

We'd like them to get out of the shelter and get into homes as soon as possible.

We've got them both this year, both very energetic and just people dogs.

So they'd be great any home.

And I've had questions in the community recently.

Can you kind of walk people through the adoption process?

Um, people ask, you know, can they get them right away or how that works?

Yeah, we have two programs.

One is called Foster to Adopt, and one of course is the straight adoption.

So if they visit our center in Tuston, 1630 Victory Road in Tuston, they can pick out the dogs to visit, spend time visiting them, and they can adopt right away, or if they're not quite sure, they're not sure of the environment at home or the different family members.

They can do uh foster to adopt and take the dog home for a period and see if it's gonna work out.

Perfect.

And the website people go to right is OC Pet Info.com.

Yes, sir.

Very good.

And I do want to say the Huntington Beach luck is so good.

The two dogs that we picked out to bring tonight last week when Julian and I talked about it, they were adopted before we even bring them here.

So we appreciate Huntington Beach.

All right, thank you.

All right, thank you guys.

Let's find them, let's find them at home.

Leona and Ozzy.

All right.

Now to the uh business highlight portion of the meeting.

So tonight's business highlights begins with a celebration of excellence in our local business community.

Um give me one second.

So last Friday at the Chamber of Commerce Gala, we celebrated uh the chamber's best of Huntington Beach 2025, and across nine categories, businesses and community members.

Uh, we're recognized for their exceptional service and meaningful impact on our community.

And so I'd like to take a moment to recognize this year's winners and congratulate them on their well-deserved success.

So the community community and non-profit of the year was the assistance league of Huntington Beach.

Small business of the year was Love and Bloom Flower Shop.

The young professional of the year was the Cage Method.

Best Sips was Rip Beer Company, a local favorite.

Medium Business of the year was the HP Credit Union.

Trailblazing Women and Minority Leaders was the HP quarter market, Best Bites, Capone's Italian Cochina.

I know Dina was very proud of that.

Large Business of the Year, Simple Green, and the heart of HB, Mr.

John Etheridge himself.

Casey, who is that on the far right?

I think the, I think that's Jack Sparrow, but could be Butch, I guess.

And speaking of salary, the businesses that make Huntington Beach special.

That brings us to this week's Minute with the mayor.

We have a couple because we didn't do one last time.

So this week's featured businesses are We Vitalize, and they're located at 10156 Adams Avenue.

They're a wellness center.

And then Precision Stitches, and they're located at 15641 Chemical Lane Suite D.

So we're just going to play these quick videos real quick.

This is Precision.

What's up, HB?

I'm Mayor Casey McKeon.

Today we're at Precision Stitches, located off of Bolsa Chica and McFadden.

Let's go meet the amazing family behind this business.

Alright, I'm with the family behind Precision Stitches.

We've got Steve, Kirsten, and Steve.

So tell us about Precision Stitches.

Well, we've been in business since 2009.

It'll be 17 years next month.

We do everything to promote your brand, your team, everything from custom embroidery with patches, hats, shirts, laser engraving, blacks, banners.

And then what would you guys say is the one thing you're most well known for?

Attention to detail, customer service, having that good interaction with our customers when they come in and making sure that they get exactly what they want when they come in.

You know, what really keeps customers coming back, would you guys say?

Our one-on-one, you know, when you come in, you're working with us directly.

Nothing's farmed out, everything's done in-house.

We work with you know local Huntington Beach Police Department, fire department, from mom and pops to large corporate counts.

You get the same team uh working with you the whole time.

What do you guys love about having your business located in Huntington Beach, Surf City?

Yeah, it's an awesome city, and it's very community oriented, and the opportunities here, there's a lot of manufacturing, great industry, and uh everyone's very neighborly, it's very down-to-earth, and it's just everybody looks out for each other.

It's it's awesome.

That's another local gem right here in Huntington Beach.

So remember to support local and keep Surf City thriving.

See you guys at the next stop.

All right.

Next, we got We Vitalize.

What's up, HP?

I'm Mayor Casey McKean, and welcome to another episode of Minute with the Mayor.

Today we're at We Vitalize, located at Brookhurst and Adams.

Let's go meet the team.

All right, so we're here with Monique Hannah.

Monique, tell us about We Vitalize.

We Vitalize opened in Huntington Beach, May 2021, and we wanted to bring wellness, beauty, and health to our community that we grew up in.

Awesome.

Tell us about the services you provide.

So if someone came in for the first time, what's the service that they should get?

If you're looking to detox, I would recommend our infrared saunas.

They are 45 minute sessions.

You can lose up to 600 calories.

We have IVs for immunity, energy.

Um, we have an esthetician on staff six days a week.

So she does skin care treatments, medical grades, skincare treatments.

We offer GLP ones and peptides, and we have an esthetician here that is Botox and fillers.

What about these amazing pants I'm wearing?

What service is this?

They're compression therapy.

They help with inflammation, uh, muscle recovery, arthritis, great for all the your leg muscles, hips, and arms.

We have them for arms also.

Awesome.

What keeps customers coming back, would you say?

I think customers keep coming back because of our great staff.

We um just we all grew up here.

We love the community.

We want to make our community that we grew up in healthier, and we all have that drive for wellness.

That's another local gem right here in Huntington Beach.

So remember to support local and keep Surf City thriving.

See you guys at the next stop.

All right.

Thank you, Steve and Jake Headden, uh, Kirsten Delaney Headden, Kieran Delaney, and Steve Elliott of Precision Stitches for the tour of their facility.

They're a great, great family.

They work nonstop, seven days a week.

So please, for all your apparel needs, go check them out.

And then thank you, Money Kana of Wevitalize for the wonderful spa experience.

Really great wellness studio.

So, like we always say, just if you're a local business and you have not yet enrolled to participate and in with the mayor, you can apply today at shoplocalhb.com.

I think currently we have close to 40 businesses that have applied, so working hard to get to everybody.

And uh it's a lot of fun.

So thank you guys for taking the time to focus on our businesses.

Next up is community events announcements.

So, madam clerk, do we have anyone signed up for community events announcements?

We have two speakers signed up.

Pam Smart and Jason Schmidt.

The City Council will now receive public comments for the community events announcements only.

Each organization is allotted two minutes for its announcement.

When your name is called, please approach the podium.

State your name and organization for the record.

Is this working?

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

I'm Pam Smart, and I'm here representing the Huntington Harbor Art Association and the Huntington Beach Art Center.

This year, in honor of the nation's 250th anniversary, the Huntington Beach Arts Center is taking part in handwork 2026.

A national recognition with arts organizations across the country celebrating American crafts.

As part of this celebration, the Huntington Beach Art Center, along with the Huntington Harbor Art Association, is showcasing the magic of color, fiber, and form in Gallery 4 of the Art Center from February 24th through May 9th.

For almost 60 years, the Huntington Harbor Art Association has been supporting local artists in all forms of art, including both fiber and fine art.

And as part of our exhibition, our fiber artists will be yarn bombing the trees.

That's the common term for decorating with fiber.

At the Arts Center and at Triangle Park across the street.

We invite the city council and the public to join us at the Arts Center next Tuesday evening at five o'clock for the opening reception and to enjoy both the exhibit in Gallery 4 and the special outdoor installation by the Huntington Harbor Art Association Fiber Artists.

While you're there, don't miss centered on the center, which showcases the work of many artists in the rest of the gallery.

The Huntington Beach Arts Center is a very special place in the arts community for Huntington Beach.

And we hope you will support it by attending their ongoing exhibits and programs, and we hope to see you there.

Thank you.

State your name, please.

Jason Schmidt.

Good evening.

A couple quick announcements tonight.

Thank you all who came out on Wednesday for our financial literacy workshop on banking.

Our fourth workshop next month will focus on saving and budgeting.

For those of you who missed our prior workshops, the first one is available on YouTube, and we'll add the others shortly.

Our class on romance scams will be held tomorrow at 6 p.m.

in the Talbert room at Central Library.

And our Scams 101 introductory class is now available on YouTube.

Please invite friends of all ages to tomorrow's class as younger people are just as likely to be scam victims as older adults.

Our free tax prep tax tease and taxes event will be this Friday from 1 to 6 p.m.

in room C and D at Central Library.

Free IRS certified tax filing service will be available.

Just sign up online and bring your tax documents with you.

We have 60 sign-ups so far and hope to have a large enough turnout for the United Way that they will set up a permanent free tax prep location next year here in Huntington Beach.

So we encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity to save money on your taxes and potentially collect a larger refund tax check this year.

Finally, I'll be speaking on Thursday morning with Orange County Treasurer Sherry Friedenrich regarding taxes that could impact local businesses in 2026 as part of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce's monthly AM Connect series.

We'll be offering practical advice on when, where, and how to pay these taxes to avoid late fees and penalties.

The event will start at 7 30 a.m.

at the Assistance League at 870 8071 Slater Avenue.

Please register online at the Chamber website before the event sells out.

Special thanks to Chamber CEO Max Daffron for inviting us to speak, the assistance league for providing the event space, and Moonwood Coffee Company for serving up a delicious breakfast.

For those of you who attended the Chamber Gale on Friday, we hear that pirate costumes are all the rage for Thursday morning.

Thank you.

Thanks, Jason.

Butcher will be there for sure.

All right, announcement of supplemental communications.

Madam Clerk, do we have any supplemental communications?

We have no supplemental communications.

Alright, public comments portion, Madam Clerk.

How many people do we have signed up to speak?

We have nine speakers this evening.

Please call them up.

The City Council will now receive public comments for any topic, including items on the open session agenda.

When your name is called, please approach.

Use both podiums, state your name and organization for the record.

Mr.

Amory Hansen, Nick Tarras, Andrew Einhorn, Cindy Tracy, Russ Neal, Brother Steven Gerard Sidlovsky, Tim Geddes, Pat Goodman, Roger Noor.

Go ahead, please.

Go for it.

Good to start.

Clock's on your right there.

You're good.

All right.

Good evening, Huntington Beach.

My name is Nick Torres, and I am running as the lone MAGA candidate in Assembly District 72, which includes this great city.

I pray to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that I have the opportunity to represent the good people of Huntington Beach, arguably the most patriotic city in America, who deserves far better representation in Sacramento than what pro-amnesty never Trump rhino Diane Dixon has been offering up during her time in assembly.

I'm running against Gracie Vandermark, who sits on this council and is the OCGOP endorsed candidate for this race.

Councilwoman Vandermark commented on her race in an article in the Daily Pilot from May 19, 2025, noting we'll be losing another Republican in Diane Dixon, and I expect to continue that legacy.

What is the legacy that you wish to continue, Councilwoman Vandermark?

If elected, will you, like Diane Dixon did, sign a letter to the Trump administration to find a path forward to status for illegal aliens residing in the state of California?

Will you be a yes vote like Diane Dixon was for legislation like AB 715, which has created Orwellian institutions in the state of California, like the Office of Civil Rights, with an adjoining anti-Semitism Prevention Coordinator, which monitors K-12 educators in the state for expressing their opposition to the Israeli genocide in Gaza?

I suspect the legacy you wish to continue is the continued theft of our tax dollars and the maintenance of a party establishment in Sacramento, which has remained on the sidelines enriching themselves as we the people live in squalor and destitution.

If you're a Trump Republican who stands with ICE against the ongoing left-wing insurrection and is tired of Zionist rhinos like Gracie Vandermark and John Fleischman being more concerned with Israel's borders than America's, come to my free and open town hall on Monday, March 9th from 7 to 9 p.m.

at the Newland Barn in Huntington Beach.

Unlike Gracie, I don't charge $500 to meet my constituents.

And if elected, I will be a voice for MAGA in Sacramento.

Fight, fight, fight.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members, and community leaders.

My name is Cindy Trees Eyes, and I serve as president of the LA and SoCal chapter, Promise to Live.

I'd like to begin with a question.

How many in this room have lost someone to suicide or have been deeply impacted by it?

In Orange County, suicide remains one of the leading causes of death, particularly among youth and young adults.

On average, more than 300 lives are lost each year in our county.

That is nearly one life every single day.

Behind every number is a Huntington Beach family forever change.

Promise to live exists to change the trajectory.

Our mission is simply simple and proactive.

Promise to live saves lives by getting people to make a promise to reach out for help ahead of time.

We connect them with tools, trusted resources, and building community connections both online and in person.

We ask individuals to make a promise now that if they are ever finding themselves in a dark place, they will reach out to find a friend, a family member, a trusted contact, or professional support, especially 988.

There's no waiting, there's no searching in crisis.

You have the plan before it before you need it.

We also provide access to telehealth physicians who can be available within two hours in a mental health crisis.

That kind of access is a big deal.

Time matters, immediate connection matters.

This is not a reactive work.

This is prevention.

We provide suicide prevention training, youth engagement, community outreach, and visible presence through events, booths, and resources distributed so people know where to turn before things escalate.

To fully establish a Huntington Beach chapter, the startup investment is $10,000.

That equips a complete chapter with training resources, immediate access tools, outreach materials, community booths, and event and uh infrastructures, swag and visibil, visibility tools that spark connection, volunteer onboarding and engagement systems.

When you break that down across Huntington Beach population, equals roughly eight cents per resident, eight cents per person to ensure resources are accessible, visible, and proactive.

This is a small investment for life-saving infrastructures.

Nearly every dollar raised goes directly into programs, outreach, and education.

Funds raised here can remain here, allocated locally with transparency and communication.

We are not asking the city to carry this alone.

We are asking to collaborate with city leadership, schools, first responders, and community partners to integrate proactive suicide preventions into the fracture into the fabric of Huntington Beach.

Prevention costs far less than tragedy.

Connections cost far less than silence.

Huntington Beach has the opportunity to lead, not react.

Let's build a city where people make the promise to live and know exactly where to turn when they need help.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can you fill out a blue card?

Because I'd like to meet with you.

I met you.

Cindy's an amazing lady.

If I may add, I met her when we were shooting a quick thing for the city.

Please fill out a blue card.

I'd like to spend time offline and figure out what we could do to help you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Amor Hansen.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

My name is Mr.

Amory Hanson.

I'm speaking tonight in support of I am 17, the draft legislative platform for 2026.

The legislative platform state support for infrastructure and mobility improvements and public safety.

The legislative platform state support for e-bike safety legislation.

Most importantly, the legislative platform expresses support for maintaining and retaining local control.

Save the cities, save the dream.

Once again, I yes vote on I am 17.

Thank you.

Thanks, Amory.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the city council.

My name is Russell Neal.

I live in Huntington Beach.

As we approach our nation's 250th birthday, we would do well to remember just how unique and precious this gift of America is.

The normal form of human government has always been a slave state under some kind of king or dictator.

The American ideal of a government of the people, by the people and for the people was never realized anywhere else before.

True freedom is not the absence of government.

It is self-government under God.

It requires a moral, religious, and law-abiding people to survive.

Today, our system is under attack by lawless people who reject God and his moral law.

Whether it is rioting in the streets or misusing our public speaking times to hurl abuse and wild accusations, or whether it is Sacramento's unjust laws, lawless behavior always ends in slavery.

You were elected to stand against this evil and preserve our American system.

All of us must focus on this high purpose and not on our petty disagreements.

Let us therefore first govern our own passions and the words that come out of our mouths in the fear of God.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Brother Stephen Gerard said Lovsky, a citizen for life and peace, amplifying new USA personhood cities.

I'd like to open up with a wonderful song in honor of the anniversary of Huntington Beach.

Hand in hand, side by side, day by day, in love we abide.

In love we abide.

Even in Huntington Beach.

I'd like to also open with Holy Scripture.

It is the 17th for those of us who like to read a Proverbs of the Day.

Proverbs 17:6.

Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers.

Beloved mayor, council members, and citizens.

Some of you have already received uh some important information.

I've given it to some of you.

I hope you have received it.

Since I've spoken last, I've been able to start reaching out to citizens all over the area, including Huntington Beach, and I have been generating a California pre-born personhood advisory petition.

I learned the art of advisory petitions in San Francisco to let you know.

Advisory petitions permit me to go ahead and educate citizens on the new possibility, and that new possibility could actually happen in Huntington Beach if you become a USA pre-born personhood city.

And I'd like to acknowledge a few of the citizens who have signed that very advisory petition right here in Huntington Beach on the wonderful anniversary.

Michelle Matson, Martha Fee, Michael Darling, Tanya Bowen, Amy Francis LeBlanc, Cassandra Hayes, Dennis Garcia, forgive me of the next two individuals.

I could not decipher your last name, but I can say Michael N, Chris G.

Susan Shaben, Sharon Lynn Subia, Garrett Michael Hartley, Janet Slick, Roy Slick, and Terry Cody.

I hope by now, beloved mayor and counsel, you have looked at my education on the new direction of Huntington Beach, becoming a pre-born personhood city.

You only have five more sessions before Mother's Day.

I hope you will actually agendize the pre-born personhood resolution as soon as possible.

Thank you for your great love of the sanctity of life.

And remember, the joy of the Spirit of God is love for his creation.

Any citizens, if you wish to contact me to learn about all this stuff, my cell phone is 619 735-5935.

Thank you.

God bless you all.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Uh my name, Timothy, by the way, is uh Greek Latin, Timio Theos, uh fear of God or love of God.

Anyway.

Uh good evening.

Uh Tim Geddes in the House.

What is the civic definition of transparency?

It is the quality of being open to public scrutiny to allow critical observation and examination.

Has this council exercised transparency since it was elected?

Of course not.

Was the uh public consulted over the boards and commissions which were axed?

The answer is no.

Was the public consulted over the pride flag debacle?

No.

Was the uh a public consulted over the shamelessly ideological decisions affecting our library system?

No.

There are a dozen other closed door assassinations which uh have not only lacked transparency and been opaque, but have uh been deliberately anti-community and vindictive, even before the infamous air show uh settlement decision, which was hatched secretly, the public trust in this council has eroded significantly.

Now it's preoccupation with voter ID is the last straw for many of us.

Has this council reached out to the entire community that is beyond the uncritical mega base of supporters to represent it effectively?

Obviously not.

Has it treated all speakers fairly in public uh comments who protest the uh continuing uh lack of transparency in dealing with the public?

It obviously hasn't, and there are hours of recorded examples to prove it.

Does it uh does it feel like it has done uh a good job and openly and honestly representing the community?

Uh the uh council appears to suffer from TDS, transparency derangement syndrome, which is which is uh create which has created a form of political paranoia whereby our incumbent council members fear that all of the partisan ideological and anti-community decisions they have made are not properly appreciated properly appreciated by our citizenry, no matter how anti-democratic they may seem.

They call themselves transparent.

The only way this city council is transparent is our ability to see through it.

Thank you.

Just for clarity, the city's current flag and voter ID policy was codified overwhelmingly by the vote by the voters of Huntington Beach in an election.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Repeat falsehoods, manufacture doubt, and erode voter confidence.

Your goal is nothing more than voter suppression.

Let's be clear.

A lost election is not a stolen one.

Your Trump playbook is obvious.

Trump had more than 60 election fraud cases thrown out because of a lack of evidence.

Your voter ID proposal contains no defined ID standards, no fiscal analysis, no equipment plan, no training protocol, no data governance safeguards, only rhetoric.

Are you prepared to drain the reserve funds in the next budget?

Locally, the Orange County grand jury concluded in January of 25, page 19.

Orange County elections are fair and secure.

On May 15th, at the Orange County Registrar of Voters, District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, so many talk about voter fraud, but very few ever refer cases to the DA, if any.

What's next?

You want to abolish vote by mail?

When Christy Gnome claimed recently that only, quote, the right people should vote for, quote, the right candidate, she made a blatant bias statement endorsing voter suppression.

Likely with the support of this council and directly undermine democracy.

So long as Article 4, section one of the Constitution stands, your assault on our democracy will fail.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker, please.

Good evening.

Uh Mayor McKeon, City Council.

I just want to bring up a couple of issues that are one has been persistent, and the other is a concern I have.

That um citizens of Huntington Beach should be concerned about.

The first one is when city attorney Mike Vigliota announced at the meeting that the city's voter ID lawsuits uh hit are headed to the U.S.

Supreme Court, despite no evidence of systematic or systemic voter fraud.

Orange County's voting system is widely regarded as a model for other jurisdictions, yet the council continues to spend taxpayer funds pursuing this costly and questionable litigation while casting doubt on the same election system under which you were all elected.

Um, as is the issue of we taxpayers funding both sides of these lawsuits, uh, in their pursuit of this fallacy, city council undermines our democracy and threatens its survival.

The U.S.

Constitution makes clear that election procedures are the responsibility of each state.

Nevertheless, residents should pay close attention if the court agrees to hear this case.

The other issue is along the line of uh financial literacy and education.

I um notice that the uh audit report from last year was on the consent calendar, wasn't pulled for any kind of discussion or uh even having a study session even before the regular council meeting.

I think there's a lot of interest in our financial stability and uh financial literacy as a city, and that the public would welcome uh a study session on last year's financial report.

I do know that there's there should be a mid-year uh report coming up pretty soon to just compare the budget to actual kind of check-in on that, and I I know that we all hear and we all make statements that just plain old aren't true, so it's important to have that kind of information in our uh tool belt that we understand how reserves, how important they are, where we stand in comparison to other cities, and um uh just that we are literate in uh representing uh where we are as a city fiscally.

Thank you.

Thank you, next speaker, please.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Well, there isn't that many today.

In fact, isn't it supposed to be that everybody's supposed to show up here?

The chief of police, chief of fire, everyone.

Where are they?

Nobody's here.

If the camera can zoom in, I mean, so you guys are responsible enough to show up.

Well, you guys have to, or you you wouldn't have a quorum.

However, this is really especially on the happiest happy birthday to Huntington Beach, and nobody shows up.

They they don't have a choice, they're not supposed to have a choice.

By the way, I don't know if how many people watch the Super Bowl, but uh usually I watch it just for the commercials.

But this year it was really important because who won?

Actually, who won like three years ago with the Super Bowl?

Nobody knows.

Who cares?

But the commercials, they're kind of important.

The commercials, one of them was an $8 million dollar commercial for ring cameras.

And last time that I was over here, I was talking about flock safety, the company that grabs all the license plates and they do a lot more than that.

They take pictures of everyone that goes that that walks on the street, all the ring camera footage.

Everything is documented and it's given to the police so that way they don't have to have subpoenas to look up anybody and see where they've been for the last three years.

It's insane.

Oh, and they're not supposed to tell anybody because they sign non-disclosure agreements that say that they're not allowed to tell anybody that they're using Flock technologies or FLAC safety.

So Ring was talking about in the commercial, it was talking about how they found a dog, you know, that ran away.

And then people thought, wait a minute.

If they can surveil a dog, then they could surveil us.

And then the president comes up and he says, No, our technology only you is only uh it's only it only works for dogs.

Come on, not even cats, just dogs, seriously.

So people realize this.

So Ring tried to do a back step, and then they stated just so that way I mean they can have the people's confidence again.

They knew Flock was being exposed.

So they stated that they're no longer going to have a contract with Flock because they were sharing their information with Flock Technologies also, or Flock Safety.

We are a holiday destination, okay.

Everybody comes over here now.

If they know that one of the things that we have to do so we can watch the I mean uh be a participant with Flock is give all our data and all our people's data to Flock, so then that way they can use it for other people for other uh municipalities.

This is a scary thing.

This is surveillance, illegal surveillance without a court order.

Okay, you gotta stop the flock.

We've been using it for over two years now, and they found somebody with a hit and run, and they they justify surveilling everybody because of it.

I mean, seriously, this is a joke, man.

And they don't if nobody's watching everybody watching, watching, watching.

They're not they're collecting the data, the data until you become a person of interest, then they go and look for it.

I mean, they look at all the stuff that you've done that you have no clue about doing.

Thanks, Roger.

All right.

Now we're moving on to council committee appointment announcements.

Council members, do you have any council committee appointment announcements?

Yes.

I've got John Boom Garden going to the finance.

Okay, Don?

Gracie?

I'm appointing Tracy Palman to finance.

Okay.

I am appointing uh Jignesh Padier to Public Works.

And I'm appointing David Clifford to the planning commission, and I want to thank Tracy for uh working really hard these last three years.

I really appreciate it.

So thank you, Tracy.

All right.

Uh, next up to AB 1234 reporting.

Does anyone have anything to report?

No, openness and negotiation disclosures.

Does anyone have anything to disclose?

Nope.

I spoke with the police officers association on the 12th of this month, last Thursday.

City manager's report, city manager.

Do you have anything to report?

Nothing tonight, mayor.

All right.

See, Treasurer's report.

Jason, treasurer, please introduce the report.

Q2 FY26, so that's the October to December period, was exceedingly strong for us, resulting in record investment income for our city, along with significant traction against our departmental goals of increased transparency, streamlining operations through technology adoption, and enhancing the lives of our city residents.

In addition, our investment policy was certified by both the CMTA and APT, and both myself and our assistant treasurer Colin Stevens received APT's certification as public funds investment managers.

Just a quick reminder that while we all love a great financial scorecard, our priorities are exceptionally clear as financial stewards under the California General Code and our 2026 investment policy: safety, liquidity, and yield in that absolute order of priority.

It starts there, it ends there, and we never deviate from that mandate.

For the first six months of FY26, we posted a 3.63% portfolio return.

That exceeds last year by 0.5%, so a half a percentage point.

We generated $7.5 million for our city during this six-month period.

That's an increase of over 1.7 million dollars year over year.

Returns accelerated in Q2, outpacing Q1 by over 10 basis points or one-tenth of a percent.

I anticipate Q3 and Q4 will even be better as most of our as many of our pandemic era low interest rate bonds will roll off the portfolio.

So those are all the bonds that are under 2% interest right now.

If you look at the report, that should bring us more in line with our 18-month treasury index of 3.88%.

So let's look at the long bar.

Long-term investment performance has been rock solid.

As average returns have accelerated from 1.2% in Q1 FY23 to 3.7% over the last three years.

And our annual investment income has nearly quadrupled.

That is translated into nearly 10 million dollars of additional annual revenue to help keep Huntington Beach safe and strong without increasing our taxes one bit.

We are now projecting $15 million of investment income for FY26.

That is an all-time record that is two million dollars more than last year and five million dollars more than the year before.

Stock compliance.

Our investment portfolio is fully compliance with the California General Code and our investment policy with over 80% of our bonds exceedingly safe with triple A and A ratings.

We have maintained a generous cash position with enough cash in our money market and long and local government investment portfolio funds to cover up to an unexpected 25% drop in both our sales and property taxes over the next 18 months, and we'd still have 20 million dollars to spare.

Unlike many other cities and counties, we have been reluctant to buy callable bonds as they create idiosyncratic liquidity risk and cash flows for limited upside potential.

We will continue to maintain that position and on balance as part of our continual effort to prioritize liquidity over yield under the code.

In terms of sector focus, we'll be expanding our corporate bonds to increase portfolio returns as these present the largest current upside opportunities relative to treasuries.

In terms of investment portfolio timeline, uh recent Fed cuts are now flowing through our money market accounts and our and our local government investment uh plan holdings, as you can see here, which has caused a nearly 0.5% reduction in our yields over the last 120 days.

That's likely to accelerate given the impending Fed changes.

As 40% of our portfolio currently sits in short-term maturities and the yield curve is now normalized to a straight yield curve.

We are focusing on strengthening our three to five year maturities in months where we know that cash will be needed for our city so that we can lock in the current return levels.

We believe that this approach is prudent given the Trump administration's intense focus on reducing short-term interest rates prior to the November 2026 midterm elections.

The trade-off from this choice will take the form of a missed opportunity to capture higher returns should in the unlikely event that long-term interest rates should actually suddenly rise versus fall over the next two to three years.

After doing comprehensive due diligence, we have onboarded five new broker dealers, and we've effectively exited two of our three incumbents.

The new brokers have deep industry expertise and knowledge of the Orange County municipalities.

Our new network provides multiple experts in each investing in each existing investment segment and access to higher yielding investment options at similar risk profiles to our existing portfolio.

In conjunction with this process and industry best practices, we are instituting a new three-bid requirement similar to what public works already does for all of our trades to ensure that we are securing the lowest cost for our city on every single trade.

We believe that this should save us tens of thousands of dollars annually without any suffering of performance loss.

Finally, we've made progress against both our internal and external initiatives.

We've recently have deployed a new predictive AI system to audit short-term rentals and cite individuals operating without permits or who are underrepresenting their tax payments.

We are partway through a comprehensive audit of all Huntington Beach hotels related to their TOT payments, and we'll conclude that effort in 2026.

Uh calendar year, not fiscal year.

We have issued over $1 million in dormant citations and are in the process of collecting on those.

Our efforts at streamlining and automation have allowed us to reduce departmental headcount.

On the external side, we have created a continuous online survey allowing residents to offer real-time feedback.

We've secured over 60 responses so far.

And we have instituted free financial literacy workshops, free tax prep services, expanded our investment scam classes in conjunction with the police department, and we'll be hosting a small business owner tax training in conjunction with the Orange County Treasurer and the HP Chamber of Commerce later this week.

Overall, it's been a busy quarter, but we're just getting started, and we'll have a lot more exciting news to share next quarter.

So I open the floor for questions.

Thank you.

Good presentation.

Not really a question, more of an observation.

When we saw your resume when we were looking for a new treasurer after Lisa Ed uh retired, you have the same alignment that the the council pledges to pursue, and that's the business acumen.

Your credentials were stellar.

And what I've seen in the short period of time since you have been hired is inspecting and correcting, and you're taking literally your private sector success and experience in applying it within the parameters of what you can do as a treasurer and the guardrails, but you're really taking the lead in making subtle changes, nuanced changes, and just changes that are producing great yields.

So there's a in my opinion, it's timing, it's strategy, and it's leadership, and I want to commend you for what you're doing.

In addition to these uh these seminars you're you're holding, I've gotten a lot of positive feedback, so you're spot on on that.

The the residents appreciate they're hungry for that type of stuff, but more importantly, um, as as I speaking for myself and I'm sure the council, when we looked at your resume, we we looked far and wide.

You just stood out with with your background and it's shining through, in my opinion.

Keep it going.

Um, you're doing a fantastic job from my perspective based on what I've seen so far, and I'm uh proud of what you're doing.

Keep it up.

Thank you very much.

It's incredibly sweet, quite frankly.

The team behind me is the one that has a little bit great.

But it starts, you know, you're right.

It's good leadership though, driving your team.

So it's all part, it's it's a team.

Anybody else?

I'll say something.

Go ahead.

No, I just want to thank you.

Well, follow up on what Don, I've been begging us to run like an efficient business.

We are a business of sort, we're served, you know, government, but we really need to be sharp and act like we were business to be the best stewards of the taxpayers' money.

And something like that broker dealer process is an example of good business, and I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Yeah, just as Don and Pat said, just you know, fusing the private sector, right?

With government, and that's key.

And you bring a lot of that skill set.

I just love the internal audit initiatives, the external audit initiatives, supercharging our returns, you know, millions of dollars more a year.

That's gonna help with, like you said, public safety, one-time funds, those things.

Kind of looking forward.

I mean, do you have any kind of insight?

I know it's it's crystal ball, but with the new Fed share coming in.

I mean, we don't know what it's gonna do with rates yet, but do you how do you think that's gonna kind of affect our our returns and moving forward, or maybe strategy is a better question?

So I I think from how it's gonna impact our strategy.

We're so I we don't know what works is gonna do.

If you made me guess, and most industry folks would tell you you're gonna probably see a quarter to a half point cut on the short term side.

I don't think it's gonna play that much with the long term, particularly 10-year plus, but five years starts to get a little tricky.

Um, I do think that in terms of how we're gonna handle our strategy, which is regardless, even if we don't see rate cut, is to push the focus on the three to five-year period because now that we've got the yield curve out of an inverted position back into a normal position, we get paid for the risk that we're taking to hold longer positions.

And realistically, look, these are double A and triple A bonds.

These are mostly treasuries and agencies.

The biggest upside you can pick up.

If you look at the 20 to 25 year long bar of where you get yield, where you get gains as a city in portfolios, it's in holding longer instruments.

It's not getting tricky and creative around exotics and things like that.

It's about being smart, about pressing to the long bar of the spectrum, and we need to push out that direction.

That's why we've been intensely focused, and we've had amazing partners from everyone and staff across the city of partnering with us on building detailed cash flow models department by department in our city.

Zach's doing a great job of running the budget process with Robert in conjunction with this, so we'll have you know a three-income statement for the city, which is what we really need, right?

We need an income statement, balance sheet, and cash flows that all match each other, and that's what we're pulling together, and I'm super stoked about that for us.

Nice.

Thank you.

Well then, but something.

I just want to I just want to echo what uh councilman Kennedy and Burns and Mayor uh uh Casey said, and I just want to say that you know my most productive time, and you know I'm down here, you know, five days a week, and so are you uh my most productive time at City Hall in my offices is our weekly meetings, and uh I just want you to know I appreciate it, and I think I learned more from you than anybody else.

So thank you, and you're doing a great job.

I'll try my best not to give you a heart attack.

Okay, yeah, okay.

All right, uh City Clerk's report.

City Clerk, please introduce the report.

Good evening, Mayor, and members of the city council.

Tonight I will provide an overview on the 2026 Safe and Sane Fireworks Lottery, including permit allocations, the updated application process.

This presentation outlines the structure that ensures fairness, transparency, and compliance with our city policy.

The 2026 Safe and Sane Fireworks Lottery Overview Application Process.

This year's Safe and Sane program follows the established 16 permit structure and incorporates the updated application procedures.

I'll walk through the permit categories, eligibility requirements, and the timeline leading to the April 21st lottery drawing.

The city continues to issue maximum of 16 permits annually.

They are distributed across civic organizations, youth sports, high schools, and one city partnership organization.

This organization, this structure ensures broad community representation and consistent access across categories.

Civic permits are reserved for organizations operating within Huntington Beach, whose primary purpose is civic better betterment, charitable work, or religious service.

This category specifically excludes high school extracurricular groups and youth or adult sports organizations to maintain clear separation between the permit types.

Youth sports permits are limited to organizations whose main purpose is to support valid youth sports activities within the city.

Individual club or travel teams as well as high school sports groups are not eligible under this category.

High schools, each slot, each public high school in Huntington Beach may submit one application.

The school then conducts its own internal lottery to determine which student groups will benefit.

Schools may dedicate their stand to no more than two clubs or organizations.

Private high schools may apply for the fifth high school permit.

If no high school applies, the fourth public high schools, the four public high schools will be entered into the drawing for that final permit.

The city foundation partnership organization.

This single permit is reserved for a charitable organization formally established through a partnership with a city department.

An active memorandum of understanding must be on file, consistent with resolution 2024-08.

The updated application process.

The application window runs from March 1st through March 31st.

All applications must be submitted in person to the city clerk's office so staff can verify completeness before they are entered into the lottery.

Only only applications that receive receive a receipt of acceptance will move forward to the April 21st drawing.

Following the April 21st council meeting, the fire department will contact all lottery winners with next steps.

Applicants can also find updated applications, the municipal code, and the governing resolution on the city clerk's website under the fireworks link.

This process is designed to ensure that every eligible organization has a fair and consistent opportunity to participate in the safe and sane program.

The updated procedures strengthen transparency, improve applicant experience, and uphold the standards set by council via municipal code 5.90 and resolution number 2024-08.

Thank you.

I'm available for questions.

No, I appreciate it.

This will be the fourth year we've done it.

There's oftentimes some gray area with people that apply, so I appreciate you going through the requirements, city connection, those things.

So we just ask that people apply because there is always a big demand to really focus on those requirements to make sure you meet them because that'll help us, you know, uh I guess qualify you more quickly and make it an easier process.

anybody else?

All right.

Safe and sane.

All right, consent calendar items 16 through 19.

Council.

Would anyone like to pull any item?

Mayor, if I may pull 19, please.

19.

I'll move the ballot.

Second.

Voting on 1617-18.

Councilman Kennedy.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Twine.

Yes.

Mayor McKee.

Yes.

Councilman Burns.

Hi.

Councilwoman Vandermark.

Yes.

Councilman Williams.

Yes.

Items pass.

601.

Alright, Don number 19.

Thank you, Mayor.

The analogy of a winning team that continues to practice is kind of the reason I wanted to pull 19.

You know, Tiger Woods wins the masters, he keeps taking lessons.

Your football, baseball team, you win, you keep practicing.

So I believe our city staff, we're we're winning, uh, we're practicing, we're winning, we're practicing.

There's always room to improve even when you're doing a lot of things right.

So I wanted to pull this item.

This is something that I'm going to continue to work with staff on, and that is uh these last-minute decisions.

So they're asking for 120,000 to continue a program that is mandated by the government, and we do need to do it.

My problem with with the scenario, and again, this is not an indictment on staff.

This is in my opinion, a learning opportunity.

This is you know, when when I sat down in the council briefing along with councilman uh Williams, you know, we talked openly, and this I believe is an opportunity for staff to understand a little bit more on why I sit here, and that's to do what I can for our customers, my customers, which is our residents, and try and become as efficient as possible.

So when I'm asked to make a decision, because we don't have a vendor, and we haven't started the RFP process, so we want to extend another year, and the reason they want to do that is uh they're gonna they're not raising the price.

Granted, that that's that's a positive.

What I would have liked to have seen is an RFP start six months prior to the uh termination of the three-year term, so that we are not here with a vendor who's probably good.

They won the RFP last time, although they were the only applicant.

Um so you're almost forced to make a decision.

So the one thing that uh that I recommended is uh city leadership is identify every contract that we have with every vendor, mark it somewhere in your calendars with some kind of software alert, six months or however long an RFP process is gonna be, and have alerts go off so that we don't find ourselves in a position where we're out of contract with no vendors, um or the existing vendor in an extension period when I think we could have had a better resolution.

So that was kind of my take on that.

I'm gonna make a supplemental motion momentarily, but um conferring with Councilman Williams, he had some great input as well, so he may want to sh uh speak as well.

Um, yeah, sure, and just to kind of back up councilman Kennedy's uh point, you know, just for the benefit of the public to be clear, this is a contract that was a three-year term and it had expired this month, and so what staff is seeking to do, and folks can find this on the PowerPoint presentation, the last bullet, it makes the point.

Our back is really up against the wall, says if not approved, the city will be unable to meet state and federal water quality requirements, and we'll need to hire a lab via emergency procurement.

And so, just in the future, you know, maybe just keeping an eye on the calendar, like councilman Kennedy had pointed out, you know, when these contracts are coming up, so that we can open it up to competitive bid, you know, as of right now, as you pointed out also, um, there was just one sole bidder, and so at first it was presented to us that it was the lowest bidder that we got, and then out of curiosity, how many players were there that were involved in this process.

Well, they were the only ones.

And just doing a little bit of research after that meeting, you know, I discovered that it looks like we've pretty much been working with them.

I can see as far back as 2014 doing the same uh work, and so you know, striving for innovation, it's real big, especially on the battlefield where you know lives are on the line, you know, and and doing things the way that we've always done it.

That's certainly something you won't hear, you know, out there on the battlefield.

That's a great way to get killed.

Um we want to hone the craft and we want to keep it uh competitive.

And so opening up to an RFP as soon as possible, I think would be ideal.

Hopefully that's part of uh the amendment that you want to bring, uh, Councilman Kennedy.

I don't know exactly how you would, you know, want to word it.

Um I think there was one other point that I had about this group that doesn't come to mind right now, but you know, the idea is striving for innovation, opening this up, getting it competitive, uh, would probably be the wise foot going forward.

You you were also in our conversation talking about how we're one of the only cities that outsourced the entire thing.

There was kind of a different process that you in your research.

Thank you for reminding me.

Yeah, so out of the 34 cities in the county, as far as I can tell, we're kind of a unicorn or an outlier in the sense that we outsource this completely.

It seems that most cities kind of either do this in-house themselves and send it off to a laboratory, or they use sort of a hybrid uh where they will take the samples themselves and then work with a contractor to do the testing uh themselves.

And so uh that might actually be good for us to kind of investigate as well uh the cost savings that might exist if we were to handle this on our own or do that sort of hybrid version of things.

Thank you, Councilman.

And let me uh just caveat putting it.

Oh go ahead.

Yeah.

Um so to councilman Williams' point, whether that's a better solution or not, we don't know because we didn't have the time yet to look at different solutions.

That's all we're trying to do.

This is and let me back up by saying staff has been very willing and open to taking our ideas as a council, at least when I meet with them, and I've heard it from my councilmates here as well, that staff is very willing to learn and take um take advice or take recommendations.

So again, this is a team effort.

We rise and fall as a team.

They're willing to do that, but I'm gonna continue to give my my uh recommendations based on how I would manage certain uh procedures.

That is all this is.

Uh Councilman Williams brought up the speed in which AI is developed, so three years in this world now where we haven't gone out to RFP is is a an eternity.

The other thing I'm gonna recommend is as we did some research post meeting, there are other vendors in the city, and a lot of times we don't get a big turnout.

So one of the things I would like to see put in play from our uh staff is when when we do have an RFP, they do what I call some sourcing, they actually identify vendors and they say, you know, do you meet these guidelines?

Yes, no.

The ones that say yes, we are gonna be putting out a request for proposals.

Are you interested in participating?

I believe a lot of these vendors are so busy doing their daily business that they don't have their ear to the ground for RFPs.

Some do, some don't.

I want to make sure that we have a competitive bidding environment, and I think a little bit of outreach.

I identified 10 companies within two seconds that are local.

They met my criteria for being uh able to deal with municipalities and all these things.

What I would recommend is when you're speaking to these people, ask them if they'd like to participate in the RFP process because I can guarantee the city will get the best results when we have a competitive bidding process and a lot of participants.

If if other companies know that there's a lot of people and they really want the business, they will put their best best foot forward.

So those are the two things that I'll be recommending.

I think Councilman uh Twine would like or Mayor Pro Tem, and then I'll I would like to make a substitute motion.

Maybe I can get a second on it.

Thank you, Councilman Kennedy.

Um I really I appreciate what uh uh Councilman Kennedy and Councilman Williams have brought up.

I totally agree with them.

Um we shouldn't you know be up against the you know at the 11th hour.

Um I was in the testing laboratory business for a long time, and and uh we were a state-approved water laboratory and we tested water.

The equipment that's used to test water uh is incredibly expensive.

So I don't see the city being able to purchase the the type of equipment that's required to test water, and also just like councilman Kennedy just said, he in in one minute he found 10 water, you know, certified water laboratories that are that are local.

That was another reason my business, my company got out of it because everybody was doing it, and we couldn't charge three hundred and fifty dollars a sample anymore because there was 20 other firms out there that are gonna charge 20 dollars a sample.

So we just got out of it.

Um, so as we as we move forward tonight and we figure out how we're gonna go about uh soliciting uh state approved water laboratories.

I think it's really uh you know uh important for us to all understand that uh yeah, there's a lot of a lot of companies out there that do it.

Uh let's just make sure they have the proper certifications and they have done it, you know, well for a long time.

Thanks.

Real quick, uh, just before you guys make a motion.

Child, could you just kind of give a little bit of feedback, insight, context?

Just like to hear your perspective.

Yes.

Um, so one of your recommendations was to suggest that we do some of the work in-house.

We do our own sampling.

Our staff are qualified and trained to take samples out in the field.

And in certain instances, we we do deliver it to the lab or we ship it to the lab.

So that hybrid approach is already being implemented right now for cost savings.

So, yeah, cool.

Thank you, Joe.

Alright, guys, you want to make a and in meeting with Director Vu, like I said, she's shown a real willingness to continue to stretch her game, and I'm proud of her.

Um, and again, just because I see it a little different doesn't mean that she's not doing a fantastic job.

I want to make that clear.

The substitute motion I'd like to make.

Of course, we need to keep sampling water.

We asked Butch if we could just have him drink it, and if he's still standing, that's good to go.

But on a serious on a serious note, what I would like to do is make a substitute motion.

If the RFP process, let's say is six months to continue with Sierra Water, whatever the proper name is, reduce the period right now.

It's almost what I would call month to month to a six-month period for now to align with an RFP, which they can certainly participate in.

Reduce the monies from 120 to 60,000.

And if it's somehow in the six-month period, because uh the state has us doing a bunch of different things, we've exceeded the 60,000 by the director coming back with an explanation.

If we had to increase it a little bit to continue to maintain compliance, she can bring that back forward.

But I'd like to make the substitute motion to uh approve a six months not to exceed 60,000, uh continuous Sierra, start the RP process immediately, and check back in six months later, and hopefully we will be voting on a vendor.

Second.

She says yes, thumbs up.

Audience at home.

All right, motion and a second.

Madam Clerk, please call a roll.

On the substitute motion made by Councilman Kennedy.

Councilman Kennedy.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem 20?

Yes.

Mayor McKeon?

Yes.

Councilman Burns?

All right.

Councilwoman Vandermark.

Yes.

Councilman Williams.

Yes.

Motion passes 601.

All right, last to motion passes 601.

Thank you.

Last item is ordinance for introduction.

Uh, city treasurer, please introduce the report.

Oh, I need that.

Click carefully.

Good evening again.

I hear the third time is the charm.

Uh, our final discussion topic tonight will focus on amendments to our municipal code related to the city treasurer's duties under the charter.

And our city attorney has promised me that I would finally get to use my law degree tonight.

So, since we're taking a trip down memory lane today, the year was 1966.

The mamas and the papas were California dreaming their way to the top of the charts.

Ronald Reagan was cornered as our new governor, and the voters of Huntington Beach, population 60,000 back then, were revising their city charter to entrust a seven-member council, a city manager, and an elected city attorney, clerk, and treasurer to lead the city's wave of explosive growth.

The treasurer's duties under section 311 of the charter were clearly laid out.

Collect all city taxes, fees, and other revenues and safeguard them as closely as possible for city residents, while helping the city manager run the city operations in an efficient and fiscally responsible manager manner under Section 403.

These duties would remain unchanged for decades until the mid-2000s, when some of them were delegated to other departments, including the newly created finance department in 2006.

Over the next 20 years, most of these delegated duties would come back into the Treasury, but there have been a few code sections where the delegation remained.

When I joined in August as Treasurer, I asked the city attorney to review the code to ensure the alignment with the voters' charter expectations, and we determined that the administration of business license taxes, oil wall taxes, and municipal services fees should revert to the Treasury to preserve that alignment.

The proposed ordinance number 4346 attempts to clarify those intentions by altering nine sections of the municipal code strictly to revert administration of business license taxes, oil well taxes, and municipal services fees back to the city treasury from a current split between the treasury and the finance department.

No other modifications are being made with respect to these code sections.

And these change and these changes will not alter the day-to-day management structure of the business license or municipal services teams.

Placing these taxes and fees back into the Treasury will help with streamlining operations so we can operate more efficiently.

We prepared an extensive transition plan to minimize impact on the teams and have begun executing against that plan with team leaders.

We believe an added benefit of this transition will be the ability to conduct more extensive audits to ensure that the city is receiving all its taxes and fees that it is due, as many of them are self-reported today.

So our recommendation is quite simple.

Adopt the new ordinance ordinance and centralize the administration of the business license, taxes, oil, well, taxes, and municipal services fees back to the city treasury as it was from 1966 to 2006.

This concludes my presentation, and I'll open the floor for questions regarding the ordinance.

Any questions?

Yeah.

I reviewing this, I looked at it, and I'm really this kind of an administrative deal that really is taking away some responsibilities from the CFO, and I understand that.

And I went to the city manager to make sure he's in line with it, and he fully is.

And what's the real purpose of all this?

Running a more efficient government together.

One quick question.

Yes, sir.

Uh Jason, just do you have any knowledge on why uh it was changed in 2006 or Travis?

Do you like what prompted the change?

So I think in 2006, that's when the finance department was developed.

That was created.

I think it's administrative services, before that it was one agglomeration under the city management started to split out.

Yes, and I think there were some adjustments made in 2010.

I believe that adjusted some of these.

We went to a part-time city treasurer, and um with that um those uh these these along with some other items moved to the finance department.

So it just makes sense to um go forward um with the changes proposed tonight and putting back with the treasury department now that we have a full-time city treasurer.

Yeah, I'm all for it.

I just was curious, really.

Um I think doing this is prudent and I'll be supporting that.

Yeah, the only other thing is one of my kind of little pet peeves, and I think I found one page on the ordinance number 4346 without a typo.

And the 17 pages, I found 58, and that's a quick quick scan read of the ordinance with a yellow highlighter.

And before this becomes final, I hope that all gets corrected.

Mainly spacing errors, but it's still typos.

So that's the only change I'd like to make is all those typos get fixed.

Yes, if there's a motion, um, if you could do that motion with those uh motion as recommended with those corrections, second, all right.

Motion and a second, madam clerk.

Please call the roll.

Councilman Kennedy, yes, uh Mayor Pretend Twine, yes, Mayor McKean.

Yes, Councilman Burns.

Hi Councilwoman Vandermark.

Yes.

Councilman Williams?

Yes.

Motion passes 601.

Please read the ordinance.

I'd like to read the ordinance title for the record.

Ordinance number four, three point two eight, five point zero four six, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Huntington Beach, amending chapters 1.18, 2.15, 2.16, 3.28, 5.04, five point zero eight, five point one six, five point seven zero, and fourteen point zero eight of the Huntington Beach Municipal Municipal Code relating to the duties of the city treasurer.

Thank you.

All right, motion to adjourn.

Second.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Huntington Beach City Council of Finance Public Finance and Authority is Tuesday, March third, twenty twenty six, in the Civic Center Council Chambers, two thousand Main Street, Huntington Beach, California.

Good night, everybody.