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Alright

I'd like to call this meeting to order at 2.08pm

Clerk, please call the roll. Thank you. Council member

Kaplan. Council member

Dickinson is expected momentarily. Council member Pluckybaum

is expected momentarily. Council member

Maple. Here. Mayor Pro Tem

Guetta. Here. Council member Jennings. Here.

Council member Vang is expected

momentarily. Mayor McCarty is

expected momentarily. And vice

mayor Talamante is here. Thank you. You have a quorum.

Council member Maple,

will you please lead us in the land acknowledgement and

pledge of allegiance.

My pleasure. Please rise if you are

able. Please rise for the

opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's

indigenous people and tribal lands.

To the original people of this land,

the Nisenan people, the Southern

Maidu, Valley and Plains

Miwok, Putuan Wintu peoples,

and the people of the Wilton Ranturia, 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 today in the active

practice of acknowledgement and appreciation

for Sacramento's indigenous peoples history,

contributions, and lives.

Remain standing.

Salute and pledge.

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.

All righty. So I had a special presentation,

but I'm going to be moving it to another

date. So consent calendar.

Is there any members?

I'll move consent, Madam Vice Mayor.

I'll second.

I have a quick comment on item six.

Item six.

Councilmember Kaplan?

Sixteen.

Anyone else have any comments?

Or any?

Okay.

Brief comment on item 11.

Item 11.

All right.

Sounds good. We have a motion and a second.

And then we have three council members lined up to speak.

Council Member Maple on item six.

All right. Just want to extend my highest praise

and gratitude to our staff for this item

regarding the Florin Road pavement rehabilitation

project.

This area on 24th, from 24th to Munson on Florin

is one of the areas of the district where we get

some of the most complaints.

It has a great need in this area.

And so just really thankful for the staff for working

on this. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Guerra.

Right.

Council Member Guerra.

Item 11.

Thank you.

I just want to thank my appreciation here to the city

staff for this item that would support St. John's

Program for Real Change and also weave in an effort to

help many families and with children in the work we're

doing to help shelter folks and get them on their next

step to the future.

And with that, thank you, Vice Mayor.

Council Member Kaplan.

Council Member Kaplan.

Item 16.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

I am wanting to explain why I want to have my no vote

registered for item 16, which is the Truxell Bridge Project

Environmental Determination for Plan Consistency.

When this item came before us in February, I voted no because

none of the concepts brought to the council included designs

for a bridge without vehicles and one that could be exclusively

used for walking, biking, and public transit.

Over the past 70 years, highways with cars have disproportionately impacted

communities that surround them, displacing low-income families,

homes, and businesses.

We have great plans in the city.

If you just looked at our Climate Action and Adaptation Plan,

our 2040 General Plan, Streets for People Plan, and our Urban

Services Plan that is coming later.

These are documents with bold policies aimed at achieving carbon

neutrality by 2045 by reducing car usage and promoting active,

safe transportation.

While I'm sure this item is going to pass today, I want to reiterate

that passing this does not align with our goals and our plans

that we have passed.

If we are really serious about reducing emissions, improving public health,

and repairing past harm, we must prioritize projects that center people

over cars, that center saving open public land over cars.

So, one, I still think it is a mistake that we are not studying the

expansion of the North Gate Bridge instead of constructing over a $450

million new bridge.

So, I hope future proposals reflect a more equitable, sustainable

vision for infrastructure, and that's why I'll be voting no.

Okay.

Council Member Dickinson.

Thanks, Vice Mayor.

I actually have a question on number 11, and it looks like I did get a,

just got an email response to the question.

But, Brian, since you're here, my question had to do with whether or not

there had been any contracting or offered a contract or interest in contracting

with my sister's house in addition to Weave.

I don't have any issue with what's proposed here.

But, I see the answer I got is you're looking at, you're currently developing a new RFP for women

and family sheltering.

So, that, that says to, we expect new awards to begin in July of 2026.

So, if I can just confirm that, that that'll be an opportunity then for other organizations to bid on this.

It will be.

We're opening it up to, again, the RFP will be open to everybody to bid on it.

So, it will.

Okay.

And I certainly encourage reaching out to my sister's house as well as Weave.

They're both very, very good organizations.

So, they serve somewhat, somewhat different constituencies, if you will.

And I think it would be worthwhile to see if they want to bid as well.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

We have a motion and a second with Councilman Kaplan voting no on item 16.

Everybody in favor, please say aye.

Oh, no.

We have, sorry, we have one public comment.

I do have one speaker, Michael Bevins on item 16.

Sorry, colleagues.

Hi.

Along with member Kaplan comments, I'm here to do the same.

I know it's going to pass anyway.

But this is a bad plan.

Not a good plan versus perfect plan.

As some have stated, this is just bad.

I should know because I recently graduated your planning academy and here I am.

So, maybe you'll reconsider acknowledging me later on.

Maybe not.

I don't know.

But the planning, this bridge project is unconsiderate of some other options that maybe you didn't get to vote on.

The public certainly didn't get to vote on, but the bridge is at a bad location.

There are better locations that don't involve cutting down seven acres of trees to put it in place and doesn't involve moving an electrical tower.

If there's an electrical tower in front of your path, maybe a suggestion is let's move the path.

Let's change the direction.

SACRT wants it on Sequoia Boulevard, which makes sense it's there.

But further down on Burk Hut, they could easily move the tracks down that way.

Right where I think the rusty duck when I was a kid used to be, there's a big gap.

That's a straight shot to an existing Discovery Park plan that you already have.

You don't have to cut down seven acres of trees to put it in or move a pole.

It's through the existing park.

And it ends where you enter the park at, I think Natomas Park Drive.

That's close to Truxell.

You can zigzag and get over the Truxell that way or you can continue on North Park Drive and weave away maybe to El Camino and then meet Truxell.

So there's an alternative path that doesn't involve cutting down seven acres of trees.

Also, it's a poor design.

It's wide.

There's cars involved.

If you didn't have the cars, it would be narrower and be less destruction going down.

And you could also do a double-decker like they do at Ice Street.

The train could be below and then bikes and pedestrians have a nice plaza up above.

So design is also bad.

And you're asking the county to amend their plan to make this monstrosity go through.

I hope they tell you no.

Thank you for your comments.

Vice Mayor of no more speakers.

Okay.

So everyone in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Noes.

Abstentions.

Say no.

Okay.

Moving along to discussion calendar item number 17.

Welcome Mr. Pedro.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor, Council, Brian Pedro, Director, Department of Community Response.

I bring to discussion an item that is not sexy.

It's trash and clean up.

But it is significant to our city.

And so that's why I thought it was significant enough to bring to discussion.

Because the new contract requirements and the cost increase is something that we should

all be aware of especially looking at our budget.

So this is along with this is to look at authorization to transfer some money, 2.7 million from a DCR fund

before DCR was DCR and that funding was under the city manager to transfer that funds over to help pay for this contract.

So if we, if approved and we get a new vendor, the increase to our cleanup contract is about $2 million, increasing it from 4.2 to 6.2, which is about a 48% increase.

And that's why I also want to bring this to your attention.

One of the reasons why we had this $2 million increase is that we put out the RFP.

It was brought to our attention from a local union that this should be a prevailing wage contract.

They sent us a letter from the Department of Transportation and then a determination from the DIR, the Industrial Relations,

our city attorneys reviewed it.

It was also determined that it is a prevailing wage contract and we had to rerun the RFP.

A little bit of background of how we have our cleanup set up right now.

So in 311 we have four options in the system to put in a 311 call for trash.

So we have the illegal dumping, which goes to solid waste.

We have a drop down in the homeless field that is homeless camp trash.

Code enforcement has the junk and debris drop down, which there's is a essentially see someone else.

It's not ours to pick up code.

It works with the private properties and junk and debris on private property.

So they aren't specifically involved in pickups.

So there's drop down essentially says see solid waste or homeless camp cleanup.

And then parks has their own carve out for picking up waste garbage on parks.

So with that in mind, we're essentially picking up every trash in some category within the city.

The selection process that we use for this RFP, quickly go through that.

So we had the three individuals on our panel to review the applications.

We did reference checks and interviews with the finalists.

There was 14 total applications ranging from 3.5 million to 14.6 million.

We had two at 14.6 million.

And we had two non-responsive, so we reviewed 12 applicants, looked at six of them, made some reference checks.

We panned that down to four that we interviewed.

And then in the interviews, we looked at overall cost of the bid, cost containment and operational strategies,

experience working with prevailing wage, and compliance requirements with the prevailing wage,

and then what the ramp up time looked like.

And that brought us down to two finalists, which was FS Global, who is in front of you today,

and Forensic Clean was our other finalist.

Forensic Clean had a bid of 10.4.

FS Global had a bid of 9.4.

We went into negotiations with FS Global through active investigations.

We got that contract down to 6.2 million.

The way that we were able to get it down to 6.2 million was by, one, we trimmed down the operational time in that over an eight-hour period,

over an eight-hour day, there's a ramp up and a ramp down period.

And so the current contract, we were into about an hour to an hour and a half of overtime outside of that eight-hour window

because eight hours was operational, and then they were still getting in and out of the field for another hour to an hour and a half period.

So we put in this one as eight hours in total, including your ramp up and ramp down, which saved us the overtime, daily overtime for that.

And then we also cut back our weekends so we will not have trash pickup on weekends.

Impacts should be minor.

We don't have a lot of volume on the weekends.

We do have within this contract the option to bring them in on weekends if we need to.

The reason that we cut out weekends is Saturdays is time and a half and Sunday is double time.

And so that was the measures we put in place to get this down to 6.2, which is still the 2 million more than we're paying,

but it could have been significantly more.

And that said, I just wanted to let you know where we're spending $6.2 million on cleanup.

If you have any questions, I'm open.

I have one speaker for this item, Barbara Ram.

Hi.

So well done on the negotiations.

You know, the city could use some of your negotiating skills definitely.

So before I spoke to Brian Pedro earlier, I was thinking $6 million was a lot for trash pickup, but when he explained it so nicely,

I think he did a great job with getting a new contract.

And I'm all for prevailing wage.

So I say well done to the incident management team.

Keep up the good work.

And thank you.

Thank you.

I support him.

Thank you.

Thank you, Barbara.

We have no more speakers, Mayor.

Okay.

It looks like you have some council members.

Okay.

Council Member Dickinson.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Brian, you mentioned that you started with 14 who responded to the RFP.

The staff report doesn't include any information on the evaluation of those 14 and the ultimate scoring.

I mean, you gave us a description of the process you went through, but not how the proposers scored, who scored them, that kind of stuff.

So I don't know that you can recite that from memory or offhand here in front of us, but can you add some detail to how the proposers were ranked initially and what led you to narrow it down to the, where you went to four and then ultimately to two?

Can you add some elaboration on the process?

Yes.

Yes.

Did you bring the scores from?

I did bring the scores.

We could pull the scores and get them to you to look at.

What?

I think it was the top four were closest.

And then, again, looking at really, FS Global stood out in that they're prevailing wage savvy.

And they had a lot of both operational and prevailing wage creative ideas to help in that if an individual is working a piece of equipment, it's a higher wage.

And when that person gets off of that piece of equipment and they're driving a truck, then they adjust it to a different wage.

So they're very active and they were most understanding of the prevailing wage and the requirements for it.

And that's one of their, I think, that really put them out front.

And was that the defining element between the top two proposers or?

No.

So their ability to work with us, number one.

The spin up quickly coming from Sonoma County.

We talked to the references there.

They worked with Sonoma County.

They worked with the police department.

And they got flying colors in their references there.

They also, because they're from Sonoma and coming here, they were very active in hiring locals here.

And so there will be, there's, they have currently 18 that they've hired locally.

And looking at picking up a couple of more.

So we'll have 20 locally that they'll hire.

They came out on their own time.

We don't have an approved contract with them.

They came out on their own time and spent extensive amounts of time with us to look at operations,

see how they could integrate and get spun up quicker and look at what we're doing now.

So, so did commitment to local hire distinguish them from the other bidders?

I'm trying to figure out what, what, and you've been adding some context to this, but, but what set them apart from, say, your other,

other bidder that you were considering as the top two?

Yeah, I think, again, the prevailing wage, hiring local, working with us and looking at cost savings options.

The fact that their initial bid itself was a million dollars less than, than our other bidder.

And their overall application and package and references, they just outperformed.

And this was a best value assessment rather than a low bid assessment.

Is that, is that right?

Correct, correct.

Correct.

We had as low as 3.5, but looking at their application, there is no way that they would have been able to handle the job that they were actually applying for.

Okay.

And then our top end, our 14.6, was, you know, the, going with our Cadillac or whatever you want to put in here.

14.6 was way out of our, our range to go from 4 million to 14.6.

Okay.

Well, I, I appreciate that additional information and the interim city manager knows I'm a broken record on this, on this point, but with all these, a bid, bid awards, I think we are better served as decision makers when, when we have an understanding of how scoring and evaluation occurred among bidders.

Because, uh, it's more, moż, uh, it's our responsibility to do more than just accept what, what spielen as valuable and as, uh, uh, informed as it is, are, are staff's, um, recommendation.

Sure.

We, we have to make those decisions with, uh, I think the information that allows us to reach, presumably that, that same conclusion.

Sure, sure.

And I would, if you would follow up with the scoring, I'd appreciate that.

Absolutely.

Thanks.

Thanks, Mayor.

Council Member Jennings.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for the introduction and the presentation on this item so far.

And to my colleagues, while this item is about the contract the city is using to provide cleanup services regarding homeless enforcement,

I think this is also an opportunity for the council to have a discussion on the city's current efforts around the enforcement on the impacts and behavior of the homeless in our community.

On May 23rd, for instance, during a discussion with the City-County Partnership, I asked that the council have a discussion on the city's unhoused encampment response protocol.

The council undertook that discussion on June 27th, 2023, and again on August 1st, 2023, and adopted the current unhoused encampment response protocol.

Since that discussion, approximately two years ago, there have been a couple of changes.

We have a new mayor, and we have two new council members, and we also have the Supreme Court that decided to grant to pass the case.

I believe, and I hope my colleagues do as well, that we as a new council need to hear from our staff on what is working, what are we doing, and what is not working, and what improvements need to be made.

I think we need to have that conversation together.

I'd like the staff to come back somewhere around the end of August with a comprehensive discussion on our city's efforts in the unhoused encampment response, and if the current protocol is working.

So I hope my colleagues agree with me on this, and we'll have others that will speak to the need to do this.

Thank you.

I know that council member.

Council member Kaplan.

Thank you.

So before I get my comments on this, I want to, one, state my agreement with council member Dickinson.

Council member, you almost sound like I did when I first got elected, saying that our staff reports did not have enough transparency for us and the public to know why we're making the decision.

So I agree with kind of like with bigger contracts that are multimillion, maybe understanding a little bit, even if you, how you rank the top four.

That would just give a little bit more context.

And I do support council member Jennings request.

Specifically, I have found and I have been in contact with your office, Mr. Pedro, that it now takes approximately six weeks to get unhoused encampments removed off of our critical infrastructure.

And half the time that has to deal with because it's another entity and coordinating.

But six weeks of camps on our homeless infrastructure is truly unacceptable because they are digging holes, significant amount of trash.

It's a lot.

And the community is letting me know.

But the six weeks when we know critical infrastructure, our levies are the top priority.

Six weeks until it gets cleaned up is not acceptable in my view.

And we've got to look at what are we missing and how do we do that better, especially coordinating as council member, you know, Dickinson and Talamante is nowhere.

We've got already 1,000, SAFCA, you know, American River Parkway District.

We've got multiple jurisdictions.

We've got to be able to move faster on our levies for addressing this.

And so I hope that's a subject of conversation when we come back in August.

I want to thank you for all the work that you've done.

I think it needs to be stated since you've jumped into this position.

You've taken a really global view of how we do things, but also looking at that needle and that fine point of not just accepting what somebody gives us

and how do you negotiate in the best interest of the city.

I just want to point things out for transparency purposes because you did, but I think it needs to be called out.

We are spending 48% more for less trash services and cleanup in the city.

One, I agree with prevailing wage, but when you cut back weekends, we need to be very clear with our community when they call us.

The services are not going to happen on the weekends.

And two, when you hold it to an eight-hour day, that means we're losing about an hour a day of ramp up and ramp down.

So it actually means we're paying 48% more for a fair amount of less services and pickup.

And I could probably say, I know in my district, that's a significant amount of calls and issues that I deal with,

that we just need to be honest with the public about this, even though this is, I will tell you, a top issue for my community.

And they are extremely upset that we are not moving faster and that they are getting less services because trash is staying longer.

So I would like to see, because we know this is more, we know we're getting less hat money.

The city is entering a structural deficit.

This is a contract that could potentially be up for discussion.

How do we cut a million dollars out of this?

You know, we're potentially having a $60 million budget deficit.

Where does it fit on the priority?

But you've been really good about accountability.

I think I'd like to hear back, you know, maybe it's even just a council report of an email or just information six months after the implementation.

What does this look like?

Especially where we compare with 311, the level of complaints.

How long is it taking to clean stuff up?

Where are we?

Because I think we need that data as a council to look at that.

So, and then it would have been nice to know I did my own Googling on this company because I didn't know where they were.

Yes, Sonoma, but having a little bit more context in that regard.

But otherwise, thank you.

Mayor Potem-Gatta.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, Madam Clerk.

First, thank you very much, Brian.

I think this, our public speaker here said it best.

It's amazing work to be able to look through this and get not only a better contract, but also looking at how we improve the outcome.

And I will say that I've spoken with a lot of our local small business owners, particularly on Stockton Boulevard, and they've seen a great improvement in where the boulevard is today.

But there's still very much concerns on the timeliness of the cleanup and enforcement, and it's all about, you know, the resources and time frame.

So, I would also support Council Member Jennings' request here to have a further discussion on this and how we move on that.

But I do want you to know that we've seen a significant improvement along the boulevard, and it doesn't go unnoticed.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you.

And, Mr. Mayor, I'll go ahead and move the item with the direction to come back, have staff come back in August or when appropriate on the, and I'll open and close the public hearing, Madam Clerk, and move the item.

Okay.

We have a motion and a second by Council Member Jennings.

We have a motion and a second.

All those in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any no's or abstentions?

Hearing saying none.

Passes unanimously.

Thank you.

Mayor, we now move to Council Comments, Ideas, Questions, and AB123 Reports.

I see no Council Members signed up.

I do have seven speakers for matters not on the agenda.

Shall we take those now?

Sure.

Thank you.

Michael Bevins is our first speaker.

Then Vicki Knees, Sergi Ivonek.

Don't really have any prepared comments for this one.

I'm just going to wing it.

But I've been attending your multiple road design workshops, Franklin Boulevard, Folsom Boulevard, Norwood Boulevard, and now Howe Avenue.

And I'm finding this.

When I go to these things, I go straight to the renderings and I look at the bike path.

You've managed to design a bike path.

That's good.

But then I see, is it complete?

And usually no.

And I'm wondering why.

Either it's not complete or it stops or it's not protected.

And one of the responses I got at one of the workshops was, well, we can't protect the bike lane because we need to provide for the street sweeper.

I said, okay, so that's your choice.

Instead of protecting the bike lane, you're going to wait for they were going to buy the small bike cleaner that would fit in the bike path.

And once they got that, then they would put the protection in.

So it sounds like backwards.

I think you want to put the protection in and then if we need be, leave it unswept.

Put the protection in.

You went through this trouble of designing for a bike path.

Finish it off, protect it, and then we'll find a way to clean it later.

There are plenty of volunteers.

Another option I have is we have this juggernaut every time we want to cross over the freeway, a freeway.

All the designs have no access through.

And I'm wondering if maybe this body or a bigger body can negotiate with Caltrans to say,

is there any way we can adjust your through cars, maybe narrow the lanes just a little bit, maybe slow them down so we can fit a bike lane onto the existing bridge?

A lot of the examples are adding a cantilever to the side of the bridge, which does access the problem, address it.

But maybe it's something less expensive.

We can have Caltrans let us manipulate their roadway.

So thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Vicky.

Following Vicky is Sergi Avonik.

Yao Chin.

Rahula Bab.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council Members.

My name is Vicky Neal, and I'm proud to serve as a principal at Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, or simply Highlands,

a school that now stands at a critical crossroads.

Highlands serves thousands of students who are immigrants, parents, or individuals working toward a second chance.

We are not just a school, we are a lifeline.

Today we face a devastating layoff impacting over 620 dedicated employees.

That's not just a number, that's 620 families, 620 homes, and a significant reduction in spending and stability in the local economy.

These job losses will ripple across Sacramento, affecting not only education, but also local businesses and community services.

If Highlands closes its doors, over 8,000 Department of Human Assistance recipients will lose a trusted referral partner.

Thousands of students will be left with no viable alternative for their education.

The loss of Highlands would mean the loss of opportunity, equity, and hope.

We respectfully ask you to stand with us.

Stand with our students, with our families, and our community.

Help us keep Highlands open and thriving.

Thank you.

And the packets that we just sent out, that's more about our school, the transitions that we're making,

and an invitation to our graduation, which is this Thursday.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Sergi, then Yao.

Good morning, Mayor McCarthy and distinguished members of Sacramento Council.

My name is Sergi Ivanyuk, and I serve as a truck driving coordinator for HCCTS.

HCCTS has a critical juncture.

We just announced a massive layoff, affecting over 620 employees.

This isn't just a number.

It's a severe blow to Sacramento economic well-being, directly impacting families and local employment.

These layoffs threaten critical educational opportunities.

HCCTS serves thousands, and losing our programs will take away a central path to a successful, especially, the truck driving program.

The program is more than a course.

It's a lifeline.

It offers parolees, refugees, and the general public a chance to earn a diploma and job-ready skills for a stable, well-paying employment.

For years, it has helped people overcome challenges and build successful lives as drivers and community members.

Losing it will remove the vital path of poverty and harm industries that depend on the skilled drivers.

The elimination of the program, along with others at HCCTS, will disrupt fighter services.

Over 8,000 individuals who depend on assistance from Department of Human Assistance,

placing an even greater strain on already overburdened system.

For our students in the truck driving program, these consequences are dire.

Losing this program isn't just losing the skillet.

It's losing their path to independence and success.

It would leave a gap hole in Sacramento workforce development.

In addition, they'll demand for truck drivers who are vital to our national supply chain.

HCCTS is a transformative force.

We respectfully ask the Sacramento Council to stand with us.

Your support is essential to ensure HCCTS and its counterstone programs like Truck Driving Initiative can continue to serve those who need it the most.

We are facing a major layoff that will deeply affect our community,

and we need your support to preserve these essential services.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I hope everybody enjoyed your lunch.

My name is Yao Qing.

I am a former student from Highland Community Charter School.

I am currently employed until June 30th.

I came to the United States escaping from my country and mainly from my family.

I landed in Highland in 2018, a place where I learned the English before I couldn't even communicate.

In 2022, I graduated with my high school diploma here in America, and I decided to apply for a job at Highland where I get hired.

Highland hosts over 700 staff and about 10,000 students, where 70% of those students are refugees and immigrants.

On June 30th, more than 500 of our staff is going to layoff.

All these do a discrepancy with the credential, with the credential department of the CDC after 10 years of servings in the Sacramento community.

8,000 of these students is DHA recipients.

Maybe because they just arrived to the country, they don't speak the language to go and find a job.

People like me landing in this country, escaping for their life, and they just wanted a first start as me.

But this is impossible.

It is impossible to succeed when you can't communicate with others.

Please think about a time that you got across with anybody that needed help, but you couldn't help or assist because they couldn't communicate with you.

Please support Highland for us to keep serving the community of Sacramento.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Rahula, then Tutal, then Charles Swaz.

Good afternoon, Honorable City Councilors and Mayors.

My name is Rahula Babak.

I am from Afghanistan, and I immigrated to the United States eight years ago.

And my colleagues talked about Highlands, what Highlands does and what Highlands has done for the people, those who have not been served.

I have a lot.

I have more to say because I have been dealing, helping, and serving tens and hundreds of students, those who come to Highlands.

And Highlands is a hope for the students.

We have students that they came with no word, knowing of no words of English.

But today, they are able to work, and they were able to earn their driving licenses here.

Those are the women that they were banned from education in Afghanistan.

And Highlands is a hope for those students.

Highlands serves more than 10,000 of such students.

And most of those students are the refugees that came to the United States with a hope, and due to the crisis in Afghanistan.

And most of those students are the beneficiaries of the DHA.

If Highlands is closed, then those refugees will lose their benefits.

And there are women amongst those students that they have children and still do not have the transportation, and they're not able to drive to school, and do a drop and pick up for their children.

So, as my colleague said, over 620 staff have been laid off.

And I am amongst those staff members.

Even if I don't get rehired, but I will still stand with Highlands for the services that has done for our students within the past three and a half years that I've been employed by Highlands.

So, please hear us, stand with us, and help us continue serving those that have not been served and still need our services.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for your comments.

To Tao and Charles Swaz.

Good afternoon, City Council members and Mayor.

My name is To Tao.

I am a workforce specialist at Highlands Community Charter and Technical School.

Under my belt is about a little bit more than 10 years of workforce experiences serving the members of the Sacramento community.

At this stage, Highlands Community Charter and Technical School is at a critical juncture.

As we are not a traditional school, but we are a school that offers a second chance to students who have been underserved or neglected.

We are an economic, more than that, we are an economic force multiplier.

We amplify the overall impacts of the investment of the initiatives of everyone here into the local economy.

By means of doing that is with the way we offer our education of no cost to our students, as well as critical career technical education programs.

When I talk about career technical education programs, I talk about truck driving, medical assisting, early child education, welding, construction, digital navigation.

These are all skills that we provide to our students and the residents of the Sacramento area.

And might I add that these programs are not two years, three years where a student has to invest their lifetime for, but these are quick to market programs.

With industry recognized certifications that allow them to earn a livable, sustainable wage in the Sacramento area.

Right now, as you might have read in the newspapers or received in the Warren Act, there are many other companies that are going through mass layoffs.

Right.

I ask and I plead for the city council members to stand with us as we are here to help our students survive, as well as succeed in our economy,

and as well as help the city of Sacramento thrive into the 21st century.

Right.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Charles Swaz, Estevan Whitefield, and then Isabel Americas will be our final speaker.

Hello, everybody.

My name is Charles Schwab, and I'm available for financial advice afterwards if anyone's interested.

So over the last few years, I've had the honor of being a bridge English teacher at Highlands.

I work with students who are from all over the world, but the majority of my classroom are refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Russia.

These are people fleeing persecution, people who didn't want to fight an unjust war, and people escaping an invasion.

Many of my students have advanced professional skills, skills they're not able to practice in the United States due to the language barrier.

I believe that, you know, the work that I've been able to do at Highlands is probably the work I'm most proud of as an educator throughout my entire career.

I've been teaching for about 12 years.

I hope that this council can see the good the school is doing in the mission and the work that we have left to do.

The current problem that we're facing, the layoffs, is over a change in the credentialing requirements for our school from adult education credentials to traditional K-12 credentials.

I ask that our teachers be given the time to switch over their curriculum training so that they can earn those different credentials,

and that we'll be allowed to continue serving the community that we're so proud to serve.

All right.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments.

Thank you.

all jetztY.

And I'm Hastenson.

By yourself.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you, Ahhh.

Great.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for yourication and your support.

Okay, I contribute to your support.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you so much for your support.

Thank you for100 inclusion.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your support.

not be able to serve these students in that school year. Lots of information is available

out there about all the problems that people have with our school, but I want to ask today

where are the solutions to help us continue serving our students? As part of the technology

department right now I'm responsible for collecting a lot of our students devices and I'm talking to

a lot of them and many of them are handing me their devices, their internet hotspots that they use to

access education, employment and communication and they're asking me with tears in their eyes

what am I going to do now? What am I going to do without this vital lifeline for my life? They have

tears in their eyes when they're telling me this so I'm here today to stand on their behalf and ask

as a fellow public servant all of us together what will we do for the thousands of immigrant students

that we have welcomed into our city who are now at risk of being disenfranchised. I thank you for

your commitment to supporting them as I know many of you do and I ask that you stand with us

to continue supporting them. Thank you for your comments. Mayor, I have no more speakers this afternoon.

Okay. So you may adjourn. Yeah, do we have any adjournments in memory?

Yeah, come on up. Come on up. Yeah.

Just one moment please.

Okay, please proceed.

Good afternoon Mayor McCarty and Council members. My name is Isabella Mescola and I serve as a student

onboarding and records manager at Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools, an institution that has

served the Sacramento community for over a decade with a unique student center model. We are a WIOA funded

school that has historically utilized teachers with both K through 12 and adult education credentials

to provide education and workforce training to thousands of adult learners, many of whom are

immigrants, refugees, and low income individuals all at no cost. Due to a recent and sudden reinterpretation

of regulations by the California Department of Education and Commission on Teacher Credentialing,

our teachers must now hold exclusively K through 12 credentials to qualify for state funding. As a result,

over 620 staff members, as you guys heard probably four or five times, more than 85% of our workforce

have received layoff notices. As of June 30th, we will lose all that staff. Effective June 30th,

this will all happen and put our students at a situation where they may not be able to come back and

enroll into the new school year starting in August. Our school is being forced to reduce enrollment

capacity from 13,000 students annually to just 3,300. This shift doesn't just affect our staff,

it threatens the stability of our students we serve who rely on Highlands to gain skills, learn English,

and earn their high school diploma. And of course, one of the biggest things is being able to secure

a low-wage jobs, especially in this time of day. In the current climate with increasing threats of

deportation and instability, many of our immigrant students are doing everything they can to comply

with legal pathways, improve their status, and protect their families. Education is often a key part of

the process. If they lose access to these programs, they may face increased vulnerability to legal and

economic systems that are already stacked against them. For an immigrant, learning English is more

than just mastering words. It's the gateway to earning a high school diploma, unlocking opportunity,

and reviving their future. It turns barriers into stepping stones, silence into confidence,

and dreams into realities. As a first-generation Mexican-American, I understand how vital and powerful

these resources are. Highlands has been a lifeline for so many. Without it, not only are futures cut short,

entire families are put at greater risk, and cycles of poverty are perpetrated. I respectfully urge the

City Council. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your comments. Your time is complete.

Mayor, I have no more public comments on this item. Thank you. No adjournments in memory. We will adjourn.

Thank you.

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