Thank you.

Chair staff is ready when you are.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Hello. Good evening. Welcome to the November meeting of the newly named

Sacramento Animal Wellbeing Commission.

So that is now our name official as of the end of October, I believe.

We will catch up with my brain.

The meeting is now called to order.

Will the clerk please call the roll to establish a quorum?

Thank you, Chair. Commissioners, if you can please unmute.

Commissioner Middleton.

Hi, here.

Commissioner Heffner.

Commissioner Robes-Belly.

Vice Chair Bell.

Commissioner Treet.

Hi, here.

Commissioner Garcia.

Here.

And Chair Morris.

Here.

Thank you. We have a quorum.

Thank you.

Okay. So I'd like to remind members of the public and chambers that if you would like to speak on an agenda item,

please turn in a speaker slip when the item begins.

Any speaker will have two minutes to speak once you are called upon.

After the first speaker, we no longer accept speaker slips.

So we will now proceed with today's agenda.

Please rise rise for the opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's Indigenous people and tribal lands.

The original people of this land, the Nisanan people, the southern Maidu, Valley and Plains, Miwok,

Petwin Wintun peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe.

May we acknowledge and honor the native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral lands,

by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's Indigenous people's history, contributions and lives.

Thank you.

And now for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

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

So we've got a little bit of some business that is joyful and change before we get to our regular business with the consent calendar.

And for one thing, we wanted to welcome our newest commissioner. We are now all commissioners team.

And Christy Middleton is our new commissioner as of this month.

I have asked Christy to share a little bit of her background that was of interest of her or her interests in joining this commission.

I also want to thank Christy for stepping up fairly quickly to make an application and council member maples for appointing Christy and for the clerk's office and the rest of the city council city hall staff for making this appointment happen.

Christy, welcome.

Thank you very much. I'm really excited to be here.

I'm Christy Middleton and I live in Oak Park.

And I moved to Sacramento about two years ago from the Bay Area. But my background in animal welfare is long.

My first role was as a volunteer at the animal assistance league in Chesapeake, Virginia.

When I was 15 years old, I'd have my mom drop me off at the shelter so I could go and walk dogs.

Immediately after graduating from college, I went to work in animal advocacy and spent about 20 years of my career doing that from variety organizations.

I worked in animal shelters, doing marketing, but also did animal rescue during Hurricane Katrina.

So lots of hands on work, but also a lot of advocacy in the East Bay.

I worked on political advocacy for animals. I was on the founding board member of East Bay Animal Pack helping get elected officials in the office who care about animal issues.

And I'm transitioning out of that role since I'm no longer in the East Bay.

And I currently work in sales to help get more plant-based options on menus and help animals in factory farms.

So from wildlife issues to helping dogs and cats, animal welfare has been my life's calling.

And after having moved to Sacramento, I wanted to find a way to get involved.

So I'm really thrilled to be a part of this. And thank you so much.

Board Chair Morris for continuing to stay in touch and letting me know about this opportunity.

And I'm really excited to be here and looking forward to what I can contribute.

Thank you so much. We're excited to have you.