I will now call the city council meeting of Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 to order.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Campbell?

Here.

Councilmember Whitburn.

Councilmember Foster.

Here.

Councilmember Von Wilbert.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Councilmember Campillo.

Here.

Councilmember Moreno.

Present.

Councilmember Ilo Rivera.

And Council President Lacava.

Present.

Also attending the meeting are Chief Deputy City Attorney Kathy Steinman, Deputy Director in the IBA's office, Gillian Andalina, and myself, your city clerk, Deanna Fuentes.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Quorum is now present for those that haven't been in chambers before with nine council members.

We just need five to get a meeting started.

Your time is precious, so we want to get this business uh underway.

So we will begin this morning with the land acknowledgement and the pledge of allegiance led by Councilmember Foster.

We respectfully acknowledge that the Kumiyai Nation are the original inhabitants of the unceded land now known as San Diego.

Despite the enduring, despite enduring the horrors of the of genocide and colonization, the Kumyai spirit remains unbroken.

We honor the resilience of their ancestors who fought to protect their culture and land.

Today, they carry their legacy forward, ensuring that their traditions continue to thrive in gratitude and strength.

We stand with the Kumiai Nation connected to our past and committed to a thriving future.

With that, please place the flag, left hand over your heart and begin.

Pledge allegiance.

One nation invisible political energy and justice for all.

Clerk, please go over how the public can offer their testimony.

Thank you, Council President.

I'd like to highlight the slide on the screen that reviews how the public can offer their public testimony and which numbers to call in.

Please note the time allocations for proclamations and consent items for meeting management purposes is one minute per person, maximum of three minutes for three or more items.

The order can be found on the agenda summary found online or at the table in the back of the room.

If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance of chambers and bring it to the front of the room.

Council ambassadors are also available near the entrance of chambers and can assist.

No further in-person testimony will be taken once the council begins virtual testimony.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

We will now dispense with the approval of the proclamation items.

Clerk, please read those items into the record.

Thank you.

The public comment period for the proclamation items is now open.

Each speaker will have one minute per item.

Um if you would like to speak on three or more items, you will have a maximum of three minutes.

The proclamation items being approved are items 30 through 32 and S501.

Um we did we do have several comment speakers here in council chambers, starting with John Goodrich.

If you can please come up to the microphone, you have time seated to you by Mark Percy.

You can please raise your hand.

Mark Percy.

Thank you so much.

You'll have two minutes, but before you begin, if I can ask the following individuals, you're all in the front row.

So please begin.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate it.

Uh today we gather not simply to mark the passing of years, but to honor a spirit that was born on the waters of San Diego Bay in 1925, when a small group of resolute members put together a vision, both bold and deeply adventurous, to build a place where persons regardless of their station in life could stand together on equal footing and be joined together, united by fellowship and purpose and the enduring call of the sea.

From that vision and from that spirit came a club of firsts.

First to welcome women, first to welcome other communities turned away elsewhere, first to nurture the young people of the city with programs that lit their imaginations, like the rising sun, and instilled in them confidence that they brought forward into their other endeavors.

These were not made, these were not acts made in passing.

These were choices, both born of conviction.

And the result is a history where we have, in fact, over the years been able to adhere to our motto that we do not accomplish these things by drifting in the currents, but rather by steering courageously into it.

As we look to the horizon as we begin charting our next century together, we are reminded that the true measure of a club is not, of course, the type of boats or the size of its marina, but the character of its people.

It lives on in the quiet work of its volunteers who generously gener who generously donate their time.

Our members, our members who also serve the community, both the elders who they support through various charitable processes and also emboldening and empowering our youth through programs, strengthening the city that has supported us for so long.

We are and must remain a club defined by kindness and inclusion.

And this belief across the generations has let us understand that we rise highest when we rise together.

And for these reasons, Southwestern Yacht Club has been known for years as the friendliest yacht club.

So I say to the city of San Diego and the people, please join us in our work.

Thank you for that concluding statement.

Elise Lowe, if you can please come forward.

Following individuals will be Dr.

Bonling, Fama Savana, and Paida Kong Futon.

If you can all please come up to the yellow reserve seats to be ready to speak.

Actually, my bad, I told uh John that he would likely have three minutes, so I'm ceding my time to him.

Thank you.

Oh, my apologies.

I will mark that for the record.

You may continue.

Thank you very much.

I was uh getting to the conclusion, and the conclusion is I first want to thank the volunteers that were so pivotal in celebrating our 100th anniversary, 100th year of existence.

Uh a special call out to those that led our centennial celebration committee and also our centennial book committee.

History of San Diego and history of our club is contained in this, which we'll be gifting uh to the city council persons that uh have represented us today.

And I also wanted to call out and uh and thank uh Maria Ring for her good work, also our Commodore in 2025, who led us through the entire process of celebrating our century of uh being a yacht club serving the city of San Diego and the people of San Diego.

And so here we are.

Thank you, Council members, for today.

Um, you know me as a development services director, but I stand before you today as just a simple San Diego person who has had the benefit of being able to um participate in Southwestern Yacht Up activities for 40 years, and I want to make sure that everyone knows that we have a junior foundation that supports um fishing and sailing scholarships for anyone who would like to learn but can't otherwise afford to.

Thank you for that concluding statement.

Uh Dr.

Bonling Famas, my apologies if I'm not pronouncing that correctly.

Thank you.

I would like to thank uh council president uh Ken Lee, uh Council members, and C dofficials, for helping us uh honor and remember this special uh historical event, uh 50th anniversary of uh Lao Community Community of San Diego.

Uh Lao people have a long history of migration over the land mass of Asia, but never before did we cross the ocean so vast and so far away to seek a new land for our home, new new home for a new home.

But for a lot of us, this journey to America was difficult and planned and scary.

But despite all the obstacles, all the thank you for that concluding statement.

Your time has concluded.

My apologies.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Peter or Paida.

So you can see the time.

Sabide Council members, my name is Peter Kamputon.

I proudly serve uh as part of the Lao American leadership here in San Diego.

Today's proclamation is deeply personal to our community.

It honors the journey and sacrifices of the Lao refugee and immigrant generation who fled war, loss, displacement, so their children could live free, have a future future, and not live under the tyranny of communism.

When they arrived in this country 50 years ago, they were escaping what became the most heavily bombed country in history.

Many spent years in refugee and concentration camps and arrived with nothing and forced to start over in a new world.

Yet they never gave up.

And because of these sacrifices, my generation and future generations can live free, dream boldly, and speak up.

They were our eyes and ears when we were not yet strong enough to see and hear on our own.

So today we honor them and we will always honor them.

Thank you, Council President Pro Temp Kent Lee, Councilmember Fosber, Councilman Ilo Vero of the City of Council, Mayor Goya for supporting our small community.

Thank you.

The following individuals are Vanis Vanising, Anton, and then Finney.

Then Jojo, Maya, and Isabel.

If you can all please come forward to the yellow reserve seats.

You'll have one minute, please proceed.

So Bide.

Good morning, Councilmember.

My name is Vanishing Antoine Carar.

I'm a Laoshin, born and raised in Kingdom of Laos.

Unfortunately, after Vietnam Baufeld and my parents have lost everything.

We sacrifice everything to come here.

We stayed in the Thai refugee camp for three months, then was allowed to come to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam War.

I'm one thankful for the council members to give us an opportunity to recognize the 50 years uh anniversary of Lao Fuji that immigrated here to San Diego.

Um I went to high school um at Hoover High and went to San Diego State as uh electoral engineer.

And I'm proud to say to you that we suffer so much back home and to remember my how much my parents sacrificed so we're gonna leave free, free from the communist regime that being persecuted, uh and along with Vietnamese, Cambodians the same thing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Finney.

You have time seated to you by Tom Sayarath.

If you can please raise your hand, Tom.

Well, raise your hand, Al.

Thank you.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Uh good morning, Sabai.

Thank you for everyone for gathering here in this important day of remembrance.

I am Finney P.

S.

Ibongsa, a U.S.

citizen, a proud child of refugees, and living proof of a history too often hidden.

A history that forever tied the story of Laos to the story of America from 1964 to 1973, for nine relentless years.

The United States military dropped a plane load of bombs on Laos every eight minutes.

Over two million tons in all.

To this day, Laos remained the most heavily bombed nation per capita in human history.

We cannot change the past.

But we must not forget it.

My parents survived the war like other Lao families.

They arrived in San Diego with nothing but their resilience.

For decades, their hands cook in restaurants, clean our hotels, our school, our city halls, our park.

They helped build this beautiful city, even as their own story was erased.

Absent from every textbook that I ever held.

Yet from that silence, our Lao community, we built lives of purpose.

We became entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, civil service members, city workers, police officers.

I found my sanctuary in the Lao community within our temple in Market Street, and education, becoming a history teacher for Senegal Unified Man Middle School.

In 2020, I became one of the first vice principal at that school.

Now I work as the restorative justice resource teacher for Senegal Unified.

Over 20 years, my mission has been simple to make every student feel seen, valued, and loved.

But as we built, the legacy of the war still persists.

Today, Lao people are being deported.

Thank you for that concluding comment.

You can definitely give us your speaking points, and we can also distribute them to the council if they can finish reading them.

Sorry about that.

That was two minutes.

Jojo, just as a reminder, uh a professor is never late.

We are always on time.

Two books are memoirs, and one is a children's book.

These stories, these proclamation, the stories that you've heard, um, what my students are going to be telling you all is the reason why the secret war should not be a secret anymore, and that they should be part of the curriculum in our schools, particularly those in high school, when their students are learning about world history and US history.

Lao American history is part of San Diego history.

And I hope that this proclamation and these books will give you the foundation to make sure that those educations are offered to everybody.

I want to address in particular the clerk as I give you this.

I heard that they get to see it for a couple seconds.

I'm hoping that for the next time I'm here, they can't do their assignment if they're only getting it for a couple seconds.

So I'm hoping that as a library moves on with this, that the council members are able to read it.

Thank you.

We let them check them out like a library.

Oh, they didn't tell me that.

Next is uh Maya.

Please proceed for my.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Maya Ratanaset.

I'm a second year nursing major and a proud member of the AAPI learning community at Southwestern College.

December is a Lao American Refugee Heritage Month.

A time to honor the resilience and cultural contributions of Lao people who rebuilt their lives far away from home.

It's a chance to celebrate Lao traditions and bring attention to history often overlooked.

Many of the Lao families, including mine, carry the weight of surviving multiple conflicts.

My father spent years in a refugee camp facing uncertain and hardships.

Countless others endured violence, loss, poverty, and the challenge of learning new languages with little support.

For many refugees, camp life was both survival and a distraction from the realities of war.

Mental health is a major part of this story.

In conflict-affected regions, about one in five experience anxiety, depression, PTSD, or other disorders.

Struggles that often go unrecognized in many Asian communities due to stigma.

This month is a moment to honor these experiences, uplift loud voices and concluding comment.

Thank you so much.

Isabel or Isabel Good morning, City Council members.

My name is Isabel Hernandez, and I'm a student at Southwestern College with associated with the API organizations.

Thankfully, I was able to learn a lot from my own Lao community when I was growing up because I had a proactive mother who wanted to ensure that I wouldn't forget what her side of the family was rooted in, including language, food, and traditions.

The unfortunate truth is not everyone gets that same support.

And that's why it should be taught in K through 12 ethnic studies classes about Lao American history.

Students, especially those who know little about their own Laotian heritage, should have an easily accessible way to educate themselves and others on their own history about the people who live here and how or why they came to the United States.

Thank you, Brianna.

Brianna Finn Savannah.

Is it this microphone?

Good morning, Council and Community Members.

I'm Brianna Pensivon, a Lao American daughter of refugees whose strength, sacrifice, and love are the reason I'm standing here.

Today is a moment for us to reflect on the sacrifices made by our elders who arrived in this country with uncertainty, but also with courage and hope.

Because of them, many of us have access to opportunity, education, careers, and ability to shape the future they once dreamed of.

By proclaiming this day, the city of San Diego recognizes not only the history of displacement, but the resilience, contributions, and continued presence of Lao Americans in the city.

It ensures the next generation grows up knowing our story matters and their culture has a place here.

Thank you for giving our community the visibility and a moment to honor the those who paved the way for us.

Today we remember their strength and celebrate our identity here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That does conclude public comment here in Council Chambers for the proclamations going to those participating remotely.

We have two speakers in the queue, starting with Andrea Ebbing.

If you can please let me know which item or items you wish to speak to.

I'll speak to the uh Lao proclamation.

Thank you.

You'll have a minute, please proceed.

So uh thank you for the proclamation, Kent Lee.

I appreciate hearing all these stories and um understanding more about the Lao community and what they faced and the challenges.

Um very similar to um like the displaced persons camp that my mother was born in Germany when there was, you know, the um Nazis um infiltrated.

Um but unfortunately, due to the corruption and absolute mismanagement of just about everything in San Diego.

Um, unfortunately, there's probably more struggle here than there is over there at this point in time.

So best of luck.

Thanks.

Thank you, Blair Beekman, your next speaker.

If you can please unmute, all right, thank you, Blair Beekman.

Uh, I wanted to speak on item 30 uh also.

Uh yeah, thank you very much for uh public comment uh on this item.

It was really nice to hear uh history of the area.

I was just traveling in Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand uh in the past year, and I had to go to very specific uh border checkpoints because all along the Cambodian Vietnam border, and it sounds like along the Laotian border and Vietnam.

They don't allow tourists there because the area is still so bombed out, and you know, mines and um it's just it's dangerous to to allow tourists to that area.

So I really feel for what people are saying on this item.

Uh it's my sincere hope in being from San Jose that we are really working that in this country to have good relationships and connections with the people who are still in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, and that those can be good connections, and we can share uh a peaceful future in a real sadness and bitterness of being separated.

Good luck in our efforts.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is one number inning in 3962.

That is our final.

My apologies.

3962, if you can please unmute.

You are unmuted, but we do not hear you.

There you go.

Good morning.

I like to speak on item number 30.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

I'm Sandy Spackman.

I'm speaking on behalf of my late father, Dr.

Boalan Ketapersuth, and uh also known as Bulana Yusip, who passed away six years ago.

30 uh 50 years ago, my father escaped a communist re education camp with his wife and three young daughters, made the difficult journey to the US.

His uh their first job was picking apples at an orchard in Calvin Dale, Illinois for the many years they struggle in uh in hardship.

Uh but my dad learned English and he became a social worker here in San Diego County, and my mom served as a Lao uh interpreter for the American Red Cross.

We are deeply grateful for the city that uh established a Lao American refugee remembrance day, and uh that we can reflect and honor the struggles and journeys of our uh and our contributions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes public comment on the proclamations.

All right, thank you, City Clark, and thank you to all the members of the public that weighed in this morning.

We'll all turn it over to council members for comments and entertain a motion.

We'll start with Council Member Moreno.

Um good morning, and I'd like to recognize all the proclamation recipients, uh, the Lao American Refugee Remembrance Day, Southwestern Yacht Club Sentinel Anniversary Day, and Hillcrest Youth Center's 25th anniversary.

Congratulations.

Uh, but item S501 proclaims January 8th, 2026 to be Officer Carlos Lacara, retirement day in the city of San Diego, which he's right back there.

Um do you want to come up?

Yeah, let's bring you up.

Let's give him a round of applause.

Today we recognize Officer Lacara, someone who's devoted more than three decades of his life to serving the people of San Diego with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to public safety.

He's joined here today by his family, his wife Yolanda, his son Carlos Jr., his daughter Brianna, his mother Blanca, and his brother-in-law Charles is here as well.

Now, before beginning his career, Officer Lacara attended Grossmont Community College where he earned his associate's degree in administration of justice.

He's on the clock still.

You can relax.

He later attended a San Diego State University, earning a bachelor's of science in criminal justice and preparing himself for what would become a decorated public um servant.

In 1994, he joined the San Diego Police Department, completing the police academy and field training program.

He went on to serve an Eastern Patrol, mid-city patrol, and investigations as a drug court liaison's officer.

On March 1st, 2003, Officer Lacara began his service in Southern Division, where our residents came to know him not just as a police officer, but as someone they could trust, a neighbor and a community member.

Over the years, he served as patrol officer, acting detective, a member of the walking team, the juvenile service team, and as an acting sergeant.

But no matter what the role was, he brought steadiness, reliability, and a deep sense of responsibility to his position.

In 2010, Officer Lacara was appointed as a community relations officer, and for more than 15 years, he's become a well-known and highly respected president presence throughout Southern Division.

In that time, he helped countless families, attended nearly every single community meeting, and worked incredibly hard to ensure our neighborhoods were heard and supported.

Throughout his career, Officer Lacara received numerous commendations, including commanding officer citations, the Casa Familiares Dolores Adame Community Involvement Award, the San Diego Police Officers Association's Officer of the Shift, and a nomination for the San Isidro Chamber of Commerce Partner of the Year Award.

Beyond the awards and accolades, what truly defines Officer Lacara's service is the way that he approaches approaches people with respect, patience, and genuine care.

He is an amazing human being.

He's been someone residents can rely on, and someone I could always count on to represent the city with professionalism and with a whole lot of heart.

Officer Lacara concludes his service on January 8th, 2026, and it's an honor to recognize him today and to proclaim January 8th, 2026 as Officer Carlos Lacara retirement day in the city of San Diego.

Now I do want to make note, I do want to point something out is first of all.

And oftentimes what people really think of you is what they say when you're not around.

And let me tell you that I have put you as a reference as to what a community relations officer should be.

This council has heard me numerous times point to Officer Lacara in Southern Division as just a beacon of hope and a beacon of justice to what it means to be a police officer.

So I'm very sad that you're leaving.

And that you've worked really hard, and I hope you find time to relax and enjoy.

And I will let you know the San Isidro Women's Club does take men as members.

So if you want to join us, but um I definitely wanted to recognize you and just give you your flowers because you are just such an upstanding police officer, and we need to recognize um Officer Carla Carolos Lacara.

So let's give him a round of applause, you guys.

If you would like to say a few words.

Thank you very much.

And the command staff from the San Diego Police Department.

So thank you very much, and I appreciate thank you.

With that, Council President, I'll um motion uh to approve the proclamation.

All right, thank you, Council Member.

So we do have a motion by Council Member Moran.

I'll move the proclamations.

We'll go next to Councilmember Whitburn.

Thank you, Council President.

Happy to second the motion.

I too want to congratulate Officer Lacara on the retirement that I joined my colleagues in thanking him for his tremendous career.

Uh, thank you to Councilmember Moreno for bringing forward this proclamation.

I also want to thank Council President Proteb Lee, Councilmember Foster, and Councilmember Ila Rivera for bringing forward the proclamation honoring Lao America and Refugee Remembrance Day.

I appreciate the comments that we heard from the community here this morning.

Pleased to join Councilmember Campbell in celebrating the Southwestern Yacht Club centennial anniversary.

Since its inception, the club has been a fixture on San Diego's waterfront.

Congratulations to Centennial Commodore Mark Percy, the club's board of directors and leadership, all of its members of this remarkable milestone, and thank you to Elise Lowe for all she does for the Yacht Club, and of course for our city.

I'm proud to bring forward the proclamation honoring Hillcrest Youth Center, 25th anniversary day.

The Hillcrest Youth Center has quietly and powerfully changed lives since opening its doors 25 years ago in 2000 from day one.

HYC created something that didn't really exist in San Diego before, a drop-in space where LGBTQ plus and non-binary young people could simply be safe, be seen, and be themselves.

Over the years, thousands of youth between the ages of 10 and 24 have walked through those doors looking for connection and looking for support.

And they found it.

Every day, these centers provide real tangible help from mental health care and leadership development to HIV prevention and gender affirming referrals.

These services save lives.

That same commitment grew in 2019 with the opening of the South Bay Youth Center in Chula Vista, making sure that no young person has to travel far to find the kind of affirming support that they deserve.

In 2022, the center secured a permanent home for HYC, ensuring that this community space will continue to serve young people for generations to come.

Last year alone, more than 3,500 youth visits were supported, reminding us how necessary all of this work still is.

As we celebrate 25 years, we must also recommit ourselves to the next 25 years to make sure that every young person in San Diego has access to safety, to support, and to opportunity.

And with that, I would like to welcome up the dedicated and hardworking CEO of the San Diego LGBT Community Center, Kara Desert, to share a few additional words.

Ms.

Desert, thank you for being here today.

Oh my pleasure.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Kara Desert.

My pronouns are she, her, and hers, and it's my honor to be the CEO of the San Diego LGBT Community Center.

I am honored to be here to celebrate 25 years of our Hillcrest Youth Center, the first LGBTQ Youth Center in San Diego County.

HYC began as an audacious dream to create a safe and affirming home for LGBTQ plus youth and youth living with HIV.

Since then, HYC has welcomed thousands of young people, ages 10 to 24, offering community leadership development, mental health support, HIV prevention, and access to life-saving services.

Then in 2019, we took this successful model and expanded the center's youth services programs, opening the South Bay Youth Center in Chula Vista.

We have seen the extraordinary impact of these centers on LGBTQ youth as we work to build the next generation of leaders who will stay, work, and lead here in San Diego.

Our work is even more critical in this current moment.

Rising anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans hostility has put the lives of our youth at risk.

More than half of the youth that we serve identify as trans or non-binary.

So we have work to do to ensure that all youth in San Diego, including transgender and non-binary youth, have a safe place to go to school, to be at home, and to be in community here in San Diego.

Outside of these safe spaces, our youth are navigating fear and isolation in a world that too often rejects them.

These youth need and deserve resources, support, and love.

At the center, we give them that and provide them a safe space of hope and possibility where our youth can thrive.

We are so proud of this legacy.

We are grateful for the city and our city council members for standing as champions for our LGBTQ plus community, and we will continue to fight for our LGBTQ plus youth today, tomorrow, and always.

Thank you all.

Thank you very much, Ms.

Desert.

Uh, thank you for your leadership and thank you uh for the leadership of all of you who are here this morning in support of the Hillcraft Youth Center.

Uh and uh with that again, Council President happy to second uh the motion to approve the proclamations.

All right, thank you, sir.

So we have a motion by Councilmember Moreno, second by Council Member Whitburn to move the proclamations.

We'll go next to Councilmember Campbell.

Thank you very much, Council President.

And I want to start by uh echoing the words of my colleagues and congratulations to Officer Lacara and also to the Lao community.

And I'm going to uh speak directly about item 31 and 32.

Uh item 31.

Thank you, uh uh Southern Yacht Club for all you've done for all the inclusion and diversity you have helped provide our city in this wonderful 100th anniversary.

Uh the Southwestern Yacht Club founded in 1925 on the shores of San Diego Bay, now located on Shelter Island in District 2.

And over the years it has grown to 800 members.

It's recognized as one of the most respected yacht clubs on the West Coast.

Southwestern Yacht Club hosts international yacht races, world record breaking fishing tournaments, and popular junior sailing program.

This junior sailing program has developed three Olympic yacht racing athletes.

Congratulations to the Yacht Club on reaching this incredible milestone anniversary, and I wish many, many more to come.

I would now like to invite uh, well, Commodore, you already spoke to us.

I so appreciate that.

And the former Commodore, thank you so much for all you have done and for bringing forward that book and this wonderful anniversary celebration.

And I would like to now speak about um thanking Councilmember Whitburn for proclaiming today, December 9th, 2025 as Hillcrest Youth Center 25th anniversary day.

In 2020 uh in tw in 2000, the center opened the Hillcrest Youth Center.

It was the first, as has been said, LGBTQ recreational center in San Diego County.

The space was a welcoming and safe space for young LGBTQ people to go and find support, community, and assurance that they are valued exactly as they are.

Thousands of young people have relied on this center during some time of the most challenging moments in their lives.

And the impact has been truly life-changing.

I want to thank the staff, the volunteers, the advocates who have sustained this center over the past 25 years.

Your dedication has ensured that LGBTQ youth have a place where they can be themselves.

Congratulations to the Hillcrest Youth Center on 25 years of service to our LGBTQ community and our San Diego community.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, Councilmember Campbell.

We'll go next to Councilmember Elo Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Um let me uh start by thanking my colleagues for bringing uh these proclamations forward and to everyone who's here today.

Um Councilmember Moreno, thank you for bringing uh this recognition of of Officer Lacara.

Uh congratulations on uh well-earned retirement.

And um I I um I know that Councilmember Moreno does not hand out compliments um lightly.

Um so that incredible praise that she provided must be very well earned.

Umgratulations, sir.

Um Catherine Whitburn, thank you for bringing forward the proclamation recognizing Hillcrest Youth Center.

Um, thank you so much, uh Kara and the team.

Um said every youth deserve deserves resources, support, uh, and love, and that is uh a hundred percent true.

Um providing the space that you provide and the the care and love that you provide to youth who are not receiving that um elsewhere is the most important work that we can do.

So thank you for doing that.

Thank you for doing it with commitment and excellence.

It's so so important and especially important right now.

Um then thank you to uh my colleagues, Council President Lee, uh Council President Pro Tem Lee and Councilmember Foster for joining and recognizing Lao American Refugee uh Remembrance Day to the Lao community here today.

Thank you uh so much for not just showing up today and sharing your story, but for the way um you show up on a regular basis.

Uh Professor, I always appreciate the the books you share.

Um, Clerk, I might have outed you for uh not allowing us to spend as much time as we might want with the books.

Um so that was a relayed message from uh the professor.

Um but one of the reasons why I appreciate this so much is that there's always such power in these stories from the kids' books to um the novels, and I only have a brief chance to to skim them, but this one starts very powerfully by the age of 13.

I was already honing the skill of becoming invisible, and later it says that while another country was in a book and belonged in the classroom, Laos didn't.

Um it nagged at me the strange absence a strange absence how a whole country could be missing in a race without apology.

And um hearing the testimony today about feeling that sense of erasure and um not having your stories seen and told in schools or by our city is not okay.

And so I uh very much appreciate Council President Pro Tem Lee for the uh the way that you bring um the community in for these recognitions.

It's not just about the proclamation of the piece of paper, obviously, it's about making sure that the folks in our community know that we see you, we love you, we appreciate you.

Um so thank you for being here.

Thank you for everything you've contributed.

Uh, your story is a powerful one of not just resilience, but of so much more as well.

Um thank you.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, Councilmember.

Uh, we'll go next to Councilmember Foster.

Uh, yes, thank you, Council President, and um just want to congratulate on all the recipients um of the proclamations and um as always thank my colleagues um as they're always um great uh reasons to acknowledge the individuals or the organizations.

Um with that, I would like to comment on item 30.

I'd like to start with thanking my colleagues, Council President Pro Tem, Kent Lee, and Councilmember Sean Ilo Rivera.

It's a privilege to collaborate on this proclamation to honor our Lao American community.

The story of Lao Americans carries both hardship and strength.

And District 4 has long been a place where families have built their lives and strengthen our community through presence and traditions.

We are home to one of the first Lao Theraveda Buddhist temples in the United States, which was has supported generations with a foundation of faith and connection.

Lao celebrations like the New Year, the food festivals, and the boat racing festival, where I was honored to lead the processional earlier this year, reflect the strength and connection within this community.

It has been 50 years since the war in Laos and the mass displacement it caused.

And I'm proud to honor the perseverance of Lao Americans and how they strengthen District 4 and our city with this proclamation.

Again, congratulations.

And that concludes my comments.

All right, thank you, Councilmember.

We'll go next to Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Thank you, Council President.

And similar to uh my other colleagues, want to share a congratulations to the other proclamations today uh for the Southwestern Yacht Club for their centennial, the Hillcrest Youth Center for your 25 years, and uh Officer Lukara.

Um, I of course want to speak to item 30 in particular, and thank Council members Foster and Ilo Rivera for joining me on this important proclamation.

Uh today we are proclaiming this day to be Lao American Refugee Remembrance Day in the city of San Diego.

This year marks the 50-year anniversary of the end of the Laos Civil War, which lasted from 1959 to 1975, and resulted in the fall of the Kingdom of Laos.

The war claimed over 60,000 lives and caused mass displacement across Southeast Asia.

Uh you've heard from some members of the public, but from 1964 to 1973, as the U.S.

sought to suppress communism in Southeast Asia, it conducted a extensive bombing campaign in Laos, dropping over two million tons of ordnance and making Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita in history.

For nine years, bombs fell from the sky at the average rate of one plane load of every eight minutes.

Many of these were cluster munitions, which now are banned in over 120 countries, and with a high dud rate, up to 30% of the 270 million bombs did not explode, posing a threat to farmers and children, not just in the years that followed, but to this very day.

Laos has been a key voice internationally in raising awareness about the dangers of the use of cluster munitions.

During this period, the CIA trained approximately 30,000 guerrilla soldiers, largely from Hmong communities, to support the Royal Lao government, providing logistics, supplies, and intelligence as part of a larger covert operation.

And although the Laos Civil War unfolded alongside the Vietnam War, if you're learning this for the first time today, as I once did as well, it's because the U.S.

involvement was intentionally hidden, earning it the name the Secret War.

After 1975, many Lao families fled persecution and lived in refugee camps in Thailand before resettlement processing in the Philippines, and ultimately rebuilding their lives in the United States.

And while the federal government today continues to impact Laos through freezes on foreign aid, tariffs, travel bans, pauses on immigration related decisions.

Today in San Diego, we're focusing and on honoring the 50-year Lao American refugee journey, one that's defined by resilience, rebuilding, and extraordinary contributions to San Diego and beyond.

I want to especially thank the members that are here today from the Lao Americans organization of San Diego as well as the Lao Cultural Community Center, two critical community organizations who have led efforts in advancing and preserving civic and cultural representation and for the joy they bring to our community.

Known not only for their statewide advocacy fights to recognize Laos American history and Lao history, but also for their first in the nation Lao boat racing festival and the Lao Food Festival, which I would invite everyone in the community to enjoy and to participate in.

Today I'd like to end my time by ceding the remaining of my minutes to Miss Ms.

Teptita Pomtavong, a 14-year-old from El Camino High School in Oceanside, who will help uh to perform a dance titled The Blessing Dance.

Thank you, Council President, for uh for the time and thank you to the many members of the Lao American community for joining us today.

I believe we'll get a chance for a photo after we finish the proclamations.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Uh I'll just add at the end here to thank you to my colleagues for bringing these proclamations.

Uh this is one of my favorite parts of being a city council member is to have an opportunity to amplify what San Diego is really all about in terms of the culture uh that represents the diversity.

Um, and uh congratulations to all the organizations, many of which are run by volunteers, and we appreciate your good work to make City of San Diego a better place for everyone.

So, with that, we have a motion by Councilmember Moreno and a second by Councilmember Whitburn.

Clerk, please call the role.

I've started the voting system, please cast your vote.

And that passes unanimously eight to zero with Council Member Von Wilbert absent.

Thank you.

All right.

So with that, uh, we will now pause for photos, starting with item thirty, Lau American Refugees.

So with that, uh, we will now pause for photos, starting with item thirty Low American Refugees for the United States.

All right.

Thank you to everyone's patience for those photo opportunities.

Pretty unique chance to get a picture in chambers.

We will now proceed with the approval of the consent items.

So the clerk.

Oh, sorry.

I missed.

Are there any requests to pull an item by any of the council members?

Not seen any requests.

The consent agenda includes items ten, fifty through sixty, one hundred through one oh seven, and S five hundred.

Starting with Bob Kazuski for item fifty one, and then Paul Krueger for item S five hundred.

If you can please come up to the yellow reserve seats, and Mr.

Kazuski, you can come up to the microphone.

You'll have one minute.

I'd like to add uh and speak on another couple items also.

Sure, if you can let me know for the remote.

5253.

You'll have three minutes.

Please proceed.

Item 51 is a procurement contract for software subscriptions and services.

I spoke first spoke to this council in the year 2000 about stopping the 619858 area code split.

I advocated for an overlay to keep half the city from losing their long-held phone numbers.

Unfortunately, the California PUC rejected my proposal, and we suffered a couple decades of area code difficulty, as many of you know, until the CPUC relented and implemented the exact solution that I proposed 25 years ago.

I suppose I get to say I told you so.

That was 25 years ago, and I've spoken many times since then throughout the decades.

And I've often uh brought digital media with me, like this flash drive.

In 25 years, there's never been a problem bringing a flash drive to this council with either presentations or videos or anything else.

Recently, however, I've been told by the city clerk that the city can no longer accept the flash drive because there's some kind of a security problem.

Now, most sixth graders could probably tell you how to configure a Raspberry Pi, which costs 20 bucks to take a flash drive, take the digital media off of it, and transmit it uh through Wi-Fi to another computer that totally separates that flash drive from all of the city's internal um IT structure.

So if you have contractors that are not doing that for you and are making the public now have to go through Google or go through some other process to get their media to you, then they don't deserve our money.

So I don't want you to approve any more IT contracts unless someone in this city is giving it a very critical look and saying, well, why can't we provide citizens just the simple convenience of bringing a flash drive to this council to show a presentation?

That's all I have to say.

Oh, I do have one more thing to say.

Um there's a trend that I'm seeing of keeping the citizens away from from being able to access our building.

I came in today, was here a 40 minutes early, and I was told I can't come up here.

I've been able to come up here for 25 years, but now all of a sudden the city building is being locked off to citizens.

We own this building.

We own the seats you're sitting in.

Please respect that.

Thank you.

Next is Paul Kruger.

Speaking of item S500.

Did I send you something on that?

Or okay.

Um I'm here to uh as I did yesterday, express my concern about this 10 million 30 million dollar settlement in the shooting of the teenage boy.

Um I think each and every one of you owes the public an explanation about why you voted to um approve that settlement.

What, if anything you're doing to ask the police department for more about how this happened, and most importantly, to explain to the public what we're doing to try to prevent this again.

Um unprecedented award, 30 million dollars.

It's the New York Times said it's the largest, one of the largest awards.

And uh everybody who read about this in the paper in this city probably wondered why did this happen and how did it happen?

And more importantly, what are we doing to make sure it does not happen again?

So please don't let this go unanswered.

Thank you.

Thank you for that concluding remark.

Going to those participating remotely, I'm sorry at the five-minute timer, starting with Andrea Ebbing.

If you can please let me know which item or items you'd like to speak to.

I have any Ms.

Andrea Ebbing.

I'd like to speak to the um settlement for the shooting.

You'll have a minute, please proceed.

Thank you.

Um, I think we really it's time.

I mean, between the shooting and some other lawsuits that are in the works right now, um, including my own, which is going to be a very unfortunate situation for everybody.

Um, but the the problem we have is a top-down issue.

Leadership in law enforcement, law enforcement in San Diego, public safety in San Diego.

It's costing us so much money.

Beyond this lawsuit, in general, our time, our energy, our well-being.

It's time we really take a stand against this extremely failed leadership.

It starts with Summer Stefan, our district attorney.

She is the boss, okay?

So for SDPD, leadership, everything that kind of happens in San Diego happens under her control.

We need to make a change.

She's costing lives and money.

Thank you.

Next is Blair Beekman.

If you can please unmute and let me know which item or items you wish to speak to.

All right.

Blair Beekman, items 50, 52, and S500.

Thank you.

You have three minutes, please proceed.

Thank you.

For item S for item item 51st.

Exemption of hourly council representative position from classified service.

It sounds like the Civil Service Commission has come up with a new uh uh job for uh that can be uh a government staff person working as a liaison for community issues for with the everyday community.

Um I'm not understanding it fully, but it sounds like that's what it can be.

And if it is, that sounds interesting.

So thank you.

Um you're trying to create a more accessible public process, it sounds like really interesting.

Uh good luck in those efforts.

Uh I guess we'll all be interested what that can do more in the future.

Item 52 is uh making agreements with Southern California Coastal Research uh project.

Uh this is creating a joint powers group between City of San Diego, City of Los Angeles, Orange County, um, and City Sanitation of Los Angeles County for some sort of water issues.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the new uh contract arrangements that uh we've made here in San Diego area about the future of water and how we can be getting water together from different regional sources all around uh the Western states.

Um good luck in this effort, what you can what it can be developing.

I think we've made clear that we have to have more of a public process with San Diego water issues.

Uh really good luck that the public can start attending their meetings and that and that water agency in San Diego can be more accessible to a public process.

That seems key to what uh we developing in the future of San Diego, and just emphasizes the importance of what the public process really means, and then we always have to be emphasizing its importance uh in our daily lives.

We can't we can't want for the public process in one way and then completely dismiss it in another way uh for things like parking issues.

That's not agreeable.

That's not the best way to work.

It should be a full approach.

Good luck in those efforts.

And finally, to conclude, um, yeah, I it's subtlety sometimes, but the subtlety is really bothersome, and I think we have to address that.

For the uh S500 item uh is that's about uh the shooting incident happening at the Santa Bay station.

Uh it was previously mentioned that that we need a bit more uh understanding of what happened on that day.

I can describe that uh for the Santa Bay station over the past few years, it's been my experience in being there often that they made a real effort to make it a more uh uptight uh secure place.

They didn't want people hanging around there as much.

And so it became a much more stricter place.

I don't know if that affected why uh you know the policeman came out of from the America Plaza and ended up shooting the guy, but it's something to consider.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Francine Maxwell, and then after that, Nancy.

Francine, please let me know which item or items you wish to speak to.

Just one S500.

Thank you.

Francine Maxwell, Southeastern San Diego resident.

I think that there's a theme of people asking for more questions, asking for more clarity, asking for education.

We have policies and procedures that may have not been followed, but if you don't know that for sure, then it's incumbent of the um police department and our city to share.

Also explaining to the constituents and the residents where this money comes from.

People need to know that it's not coming out of the general fund.

We have a whole separate pocket that we pay people because we're gonna continue to pay people as long as you don't want to have a conversation to build a bridge.

We had a chief race and equity officer that is now the executive director, who were able to come and be in the rooms and have conversations, but we never got any reports on those um conversations and things that may have helped us save money, but we've always had to pay money.

It's just going up higher now.

And yes, we are making national news in the city of San Diego, eighth largest city for what has happened.

Thank you.

And final speaker is Nancy, if you can please unmute.

You are unmuted.

Hi, there you go.

My name is Nancy.

I am speaking on S500.

Uh what happened to Kanoa Wilson?

I'm your teenager was horrible.

As a mother, I cannot fathom the weight of the grief of having your child taken from you so violently and so abruptly by the police.

This boy did not deserve death.

He deserved life.

No amount of money could ever replace the decades of joy and goodness.

Officer Gold robbed this kiddo and his family of but 30 million dollars seems like a good start.

The next step is accountability and preventing further harm.

Officer Gold cannot and should not be working as an STP officer for this violence.

How about justice for Gabriel Garza, who was crushed to death by the knee of Officer Phipps for eight minutes?

I sure hope he isn't working as an STPD officer anymore.

Evidently, George Floyd's murder and all the other murders of black women and men and children for the past decade has taught SDPD nothing.

And what about that $25 million settlement for the officer whose name we don't know, who bashed in a father's window because they couldn't crawl control his anger when confronted with someone exerting their rights.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes with a comment on the consent agenda.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

With that, we'll turn it over to the council members for questions, comments, and retain a motion, and we'll start with Councilmember Elo Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Um I am going to speak to uh item S 500.

Um, do this in a few different parts and start with the most important part, which is um the Wilson family and just expressing my most sincere and deepest apologies for what is the worst nightmare of any parent.

Um I am so sorry that they have um lost their son.

Uh the facts of the tragedy are the thing of nightmares for anyone who has a child or anyone who sees all of our children as our children, as I would hope all of us do.

Um so I want to start by acknowledging that loss and recognizing that there's no amount of money in the world that can ever replace the loss of a child.

I do think that it's fair for the public to ask why uh how we came to to a decision like this.

I will simply say that for me, uh the attorney's statement of saying I've never seen a city take responsibility so quickly is uh it's really noble, it really is.

Um that is the way that the representative of the family is receiving this settlement, and that is extremely important to me.

Uh again, recognizing that there's no dollar amount that can fill the hole that's been created by this tragedy.

And then the last point I do want to make mention of is I think it is also fair to ask what is going to be done in the future to mitigate the risk of situations like this occurring again in the future.

Uh I think it's fair to ask what settlements of this amount and in combination with other large settlements mean for our city from a budgetary perspective during a time when money is tight, and while it is true that there is a fund for settlements, it is also true that that fund is funded by things by by monies that could be utilized elsewhere.

That's a conversation that I think needs to happen on a separate day, but it is a conversation that needs to happen.

Uh most importantly, I just want the Wilson family to know that I am terribly sorry, and um will forever be um very, very regretful that this happened and um hope that the city's conduct during the con during the negotiations um did not make things worse.

And um that concludes my comments, and I will motion to approve the um the consent agenda, Council President.

All right, thank you, sir.

So we have a motion by council member Ilo Rivera to move the consent items.

We'll go next to Councilmember Foster.

Uh yes, thank you.

Um Council President, and thank you, um, Councilmember Elo Rivera for your um comments.

Um I too will be speaking to item S500.

And would also like to first give my condolences to the Wilson family for the loss of their beloved son Kanoa Wilson.

Kanoa's life was taken while fleeing from gunshots and found himself running to the arms of a police officer and his life ending.

This should not have happened.

This should not have happened.

Canoa should have been safe from danger.

As we have heard one of our commenters say, today San Diego makes the national news.

Not because of the good work of the city or the good work of our police department.

Rather, it said that the city of San Diego has exceeded the highest paid settlement in U.S.

history, exceeding the settlement paid to the family of George Floyd.

The 2020 murder by a police officer that sparked a national movement.

Five years later, we find ourselves right back in another terrifying predicament where the life of a black child has been taken at the hands of police.

Where's the progress?

Where's the protect and serve?

Better yet, where's the accountability?

There's no way to put a number on the cost of a life.

To repair the harm and hurt to a family losing a loved one.

As a father of a young black man, this hurts.

This could be my son.

If only you could begin to understand the fear I often have when my son leaves the house.

I must say it is a real fear.

And I truly believe it's warranted.

I said this before, and I'll say this again.

This is the black experience in America.

As a city, we have to do better.

We have to.

And I have to ask, will you step up?

Or will we see what we always see?

Business as usual.

This is not a time for excuses.

And we must own that and do everything we can to ensure that this does not happen again.

This young black man should be here today.

It seems we continue to find ourselves constantly having difficult conversations about public safety.

And I'm sure they're going to continue as they need to continue.

But the one thing I want to do here today, I want to ask my colleagues that are here.

Is this public safety?

Is this how we want our communities policed?

Are these the actions that we want to continue to see?

With that, I do again want to offer my condolences to the Wilson family and all that loved Kanoa.

And with that, um council president, I do agree.

Um and I do ask the public keep asking questions.

I think they are much needed questions.

And to the mayor and to the chief, my ask and expectation is to stand up and answer those questions and to bring the change that we need to the city of San Diego.

We cannot continue to have this happen in our city.

We just cannot.

And with that, um, Council President, I will second the motion, and that um concludes my comments.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, sir.

Uh with that, we have a motion by Councilmember Elo Rivera and a second by Councilmember Foster to move the consent items.

We'll go next to Councilmember Moreno.

Thank you.

I'd like to register no vote on item 106.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh and not seeing anyone uh else uh on the lights.

Um we have a motion by Councilmember Moreno, uh excuse me, a motion by Councilmember Elo Rivera and a second by Councilmember Foster.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Sorry, the voting system, please cast your vote.

That passes unanimously eight to zero with council member Moreno voting no on item one oh six and council member von Wilbert absent.

Thank you.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

Uh at this point, do we have any um non-agenda public or excuse me, not agenda comment by the mayor's office, city council members, city attorney, independent budget analyst or city clerk not seeing any.

Uh, we will now take up non-agenda public comment.

Council members respect and appreciate the public's input and are fully committed to protecting every participant's free speech rights at council and committee meetings.

With that, clerk, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you.

Per rule 2.7 on agenda public comment is an opportunity for members of the public to comment on items that are not on the agenda, but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council, each speaker will have two minutes.

Please note if there are eight or more speakers on a single topic.

The maximum time for the topic will be 16 minutes.

If you're in chambers, please submit your speaker slip.

If you're joining us virtually, please raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon.

Or if you're a call-on participant, star nine, Bob Kazuski, if you can please come forward.

Please play the video full screen.

Bob Kazuski here.

A week ago today, I was hang lighting at Dockweiler State Beach in Los Angeles with Yushka founder and longtime friend Joe Faust.

We flew under the Dockweiler Beach hang gliding waiver, and we had a great time.

A decade ago, however, hang gliding at Dockweiler was not allowed by the county of Los Angeles without Yushpa membership.

Fortunately, that all changed due to a sequence of events that started right here in San Diego.

On July 24th, 2011, a female student named Shannon Hambey was taking lessons at Tory through the city's concessionaire.

She was under radio supervision when she was flown directly into the path of another student.

She crashed and was badly injured.

I was contacted by Shannon's lawyer and asked to testify as an expert witness, and I did.

My testimony in September of 2014 was solid, and the case was quickly settled in Shannon's favor for an undisclosed amount.

Yushpa ended up losing their insurance coverage.

By November of 2014, I was retaliated against by your concessionaire who conspired with Yushpa in the spring of 2015 to have me expelled for my testimony, which ended my ability to fly at all Yushpa sites, including Tory Pines and Docweiler.

In early 2017, we met with newly elected Barbara Bree for help.

Barbara Bree suggested a flight waiver to solve the problem, but she never followed through.

Joe Faust and I also spoke to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

While Barbara Bree did nothing here in San Diego, Los Angeles Supervisor Janice Hahn stepped up and actually instituted a waiver.

The first Dockweiler waivers were issued to Joe Faust, Frank Culver, and myself on July 26, 2017.

And we have flown under those waivers without incident ever since.

Barbara Bree dodged the issue for the rest of her term until her failed mayoral bid in 2020.

Joe LaCava has followed her lead throughout his entire term.

Reactivate the Tory Pines City Park Advisory Board and institute a Tory Pines flight waiver now.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Paul Krueger.

Thank you.

I just want to thank Councilmember Ilo Rivera and Council Member Foster for their comments.

I appreciate your heartfelt sympathies for the family and for acknowledging the issue that this poses to like I said, every San Diego and who saw this widely publicized on the news and is left with the question of what happened, how did it happen, why did we end up paying this money, and most importantly, what are we doing to make sure it doesn't happen again?

What happened to the police officer who was involved?

And I hope that you will use and those of you who didn't speak for whatever reason, I understand.

I hope that you'll use the power of your office that we elect you to continue to demand answers to this because it's your leadership and no one else's that will make this happen.

Thank you again for your comments.

Thank you.

Sorry, the five-minute timer going to those participating remotely.

We have six speakers in the queue, starting with Andrea Ebbing.

If you can please unmute.

Hi, my name is Andrea Ebbing, and as I am speaking to you, I'm on my way to my neurosurgeon because I just had a second brain surgery about three weeks ago.

Um I had a ruptured aneurysm that I survived on March 28th.

Uh the rupture was caused by the torture being carried out against me by the San Diego District Attorney's Office, who is using taxpayer dollars to desperately try to cover up the fact that she takes kickbacks from my rehab owner X, who had me almost murdered on December 28th, 2020, which is what led to the aneurysm that Summer Stefan ruptured with six years of prosecution, six years of prosecution after I survived my own attempted murder.

I was strangled and I had my head split open on video.

My children were abducted and driven across the country by my felony charged strangler who drove them across the country on a permanently suspended license and admitted to detective Holly Tefo with SDPD to drugging my young daughters and myself with his prescribed benzodiazepines after he almost killed me.

I asked him for a Tylenol, and instead he gave me the first of 40 milligrams of benzodiazepines.

I found myself behind the wheel in Coronado, sought help from the Coronado police, drove myself to them seeking help, and they arrested me.

And Summer Stefan on December 11th is going to try to jail me for attempting to get help from anyone in the county or city or public safety or law enforcement for the past six years.

But she won't be able to do that because she's lying and she's a criminal.

And I'll come and expose her.

Thank you.

Blair Beekman, if you can please unmute.

Hi, thank you.

Uh Blair Beekman.

Thanks a lot for the meeting this morning.

It was really um a learning process for myself.

Thank you.

Um I think uh the first thing we're gonna have a big meeting at um the 2 p.m.

hour on the future of uh tech issues, tech use policy issues.

Um, I just wanted to remind that there is a uh San Diego uh regional intelligence center that collects data.

We don't just have Argus uh data collection data centers in in San Diego County.

We have something, it's it's a federal agency that collects data that they try to uh keep under the radar and that they don't make themselves known.

Uh but they are collecting data collection just as much, and we have to be aware of that.

And I have I'm just calling out their name right now.

Um I I don't quite have their name right here right now.

Shoot, but they uh they're one of the federal agencies, and uh I'll have that name in another time.

Hopefully, we're aware of that.

We are working on that.

Um, and good luck that um for uh the Santa Fe station over the past few years had been systematically wanting to keep you know the RIFRAF and the and the unhoused uh out of the station.

So they were creating more and more uptight practices, employing more and more uh uh big belly surveillance trash cans, you know, within the the lobby area to right on benches to really harass people to stay away.

So that may have had a been a factor in all of this, something to consider in in review of this process uh that we've just talked about.

With my final remaining time, um, a real good luck with tech items we're talking about today, that for the future of okay Mesa Park area issues, as important as they are, and as I feel they really can be built, I hope if technology is applicable to why the holdup of those parks are being built is happening, that we respect that and learn to work together and bring that into the process.

Thank you.

Next is Nancy, if you can please unmute.

Uh hi.

Um, with the theme of this morning's use of taxpayer funds for uh over a dozen settlements.

I want to challenge you as council members to consider how much financial risk you're taking on, or rather forcing us as taxpayers to take on by continuing a two million dollar a year contract with flock safety.

It was just published yesterday.

I'm sorry, I'm gonna interrupt you.

That's an agenda item.

This is for non-agenda items.

So if you could reposition your comments so that you don't speak to this afternoon's item.

My apologies for interrupting.

Okay.

Um I have child care problems this afternoon.

So all right.

Um shifting, I guess.

Um I'd like to remind City Council and the mayor about how SCPD spent 56 million dollars in taxpayer funds on overtime last year, costing us library hours, parks and rec hours, and now requiring us to pay for parking at Balboa, very high trash fees and soon-to-be water fee hikes.

Please rein and SDPD's overtime expenditures by forcing them to put an overtime policy in place and do more thoughtful decision making about how many officers and for what events offices are needed.

Curbing double overtime is completely reasonable and is certainly responsible.

Tired twitchy cops make some and us less safe.

Perhaps that's what happened with Officer Gold.

How many public goods are we going to lose next fiscal year because of a lack of responsible financial leadership at SDPD?

City Council, please hold them accountable for their uh misuse of our taxpayer dollars.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nexus Francine Maxwell.

If you can please unmute.

Oh, sorry, I muted you right when you unmuted yourself.

There you go.

I'm good.

Can you hear me?

Yes, please proceed.

Okay, thank you.

Francine Maxwell, Southeastern San Diego resident, public safety committee, uh, Marney, who's running for Congress that's not here that I saw earlier.

Raul, vice chair, Jennifer Campbell, Stephen Whitburn.

Any one of you can hold a hearing so that you can hear from the constituents and the residents across the city.

Last night at Malcolm X Library, the CPP held a wonderful listening session.

We are a BIPOC city, but a black woman who has to carry her family.

She has to have her husband on a location finder until he gets to the freeway and she feels comfortable.

I want you to remember, Raul, you roll over to an elected official.

Do you track her while she's driving through the city until she reaches the freeway and you feel safe?

Our public safety chair, she rolls over to law enforcement.

Does she worry about the streets and when they're at the stoplight too long?

Do they call and check?

This black woman stood at Malcolm X library, and she has she gets worried when her husband is at a stoplight too long.

This is not 2025 as we're moving to 2026.

Every council person that refuses to hold a hearing should not, you should refrain from taking your raises.

We are paying an exuberant amount.

You should not get a raise if you have yet to hold a town hall meeting to give your constituents a state of the district address.

We should, in as we're entering to our budget cycle, everybody should be educated so that they're speaking on different parts of the budget that are just as important as public safety's budget.

So that people can understand and unpack.

Education is the great equalizer.

Try it sometimes.

Next is Tasha.

Tasha Williamson, if you can please unmute.

The five-minute timer also went out.

There were four speakers in the queue.

No additional speakers will be taken.

Tasha, please proceed.

Yes.

Thank you.

Officer Daniel Gold II should not remain employed by the San Diego police department after crossing the city millions of dollars.

Though he is currently on administrative leave, we cannot ignore that he returned to patrol the very next day.

Thank you.

Next is Becky Rapp, if you can please unmute.

Good morning.

My name is Becky Rapp, and I'm a public health educator focused on youth drug prevention.

And as we recognize December as drug impaired driving month, I want to specifically speak to marijuana impaired driving.

Recently, the U.S.

Department of Transportation released a major national campaign challenging the dangerous belief that people have that you aren't high when you are high on marijuana, specifically among young men.

That driving while high on marijuana is actually safe.

Their new PSA is based on the real story of a child who was killed by a marijuana impaired driver, and its message is simple and urgent.

Quote, if you feel different, you drive different, end quote.

This matters here in San Diego.

Our own officers report more drivers who are driving while high on marijuana, while federal research clearly proves how marijuana slows reaction time, impairs judgment, and increases crash risk with high potency products that are now more common than ever.

The danger is growing.

So the question is what can the city council do today?

Well, you can play a direct role in preventing impaired driving tragedies by amplifying this federal campaign locally.

One, share the PSA through your council district email newsletters.

A quick way to research to reach thousands of residents before holiday travel increases.

Two, use your official social media channels to push out drug driving education, especially the younger audiences who are most influenced by the quote, I drive better when I'm high myth.

And three, encourage city leaders to speak about drug driving in radio interviews, community podcasts, and local news segments during December.

As the federal government doubles down on reducing drug driving, I urge the city of San Diego to do the same.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nexus Kathleen Lippett, if you can please unmute.

Kathleen Lippett.

I can't unmute for you.

I will have to move on to the next speaker.

Unmuting the second.

Thank you.

Uh good afternoon, Council, and thank you for letting me speak.

I'd first like to address the trash uh can debacle that the city created.

So what they did was they offered in back in as of September 30th, uh, individuals were allowed to specify whether they wanted smaller or larger cans.

Obviously, the city makes more money if they're larger cans.

And the city gave everyone instead the 95 gallon can.

Many of their older senior citizens are not capable of handling those cans.

The city's response was that to use what is called in marketing a negative option marketing, where a customer's inaction silence or failure to cancel is treated as consent to continue receiving and paying for services, often involving automatic renewals.

This is beneath the city.

This is not transparency, and the city should take a look at it.

Many people, so many people are calling that there is no way that the city is able to respond to all the calls.

Their outgoing message said, perhaps we'll get back to you in eight or nine days.

By that time, that 30-day period is probably over.

The second item I wanted to address was the millions of dollars in deficits for the upcoming year.

Mayor Gloria's suggested measures to curb spending.

Barely amounted to five million dollars.

What he should have put in there is a not just a hiring freeze, but a freeze on in any increases in salary.

The cost of homelessness, homelessness continues to rise barely half of the recommended 400 million dollars in city reserves will be left because the city has used them all up.

Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you.

Our final speaker is Madison, if you can please unmute.

Hi, thanks so much.

Um, I just wanted to talk about the prioritizing of the public education about the risks of cannabis use during pregnancy.

Recent data show a steady rise in marijuana use among pregnant women.

Many turn to cannabis for anxiety, nausea, or sleep, often because they fear prescription drugs, can't afford care, or believe cannabis is safer.

But the science is showing that THC can cross the placenta and can affect fetal brain development, especially with today's high potency products.

Cannabis use during pregnancy has been linked to preterm birth, low birth weight, and later problems with attention behavior and emotional regulation in children.

The problem is that many women don't know this.

As a mother of three young children myself, I know the difficulties of navigating pregnancies and trying to sort through all the health information during a time when your body changes so much and it's so important.

Mothers face conflicting messages from doctors, dispensaries, online forums, and peers.

And many healthcare providers don't feel equipped or supported to discuss the issue clearly.

Every mother deserves support, but the unborn child cannot speak for themselves and also deserves our support.

We have a responsibility to protect them through education, compassion, and sharing the truth.

Thank you for your time and commitment to public health.

Thank you.

That concludes my agenda public comment.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

We will now adjourn for the noon recess and reconvene.

Open session at 2 p.m.

or shortly thereafter.

You make the holiday ease like the snowfalls nice and sleepy.

Yeah, the holiday.

Where everything's light and dreamy.

We'll make everything.

We'll make everything.

We'll make everything.

We'll make everything.

There is a magic gonna be air tonight.

You came in with the call but baby out of mind.

Cause I'm glad you're with me.

As I was glistening, and all it's cold.

But you look so dumb.

Flicks on your nose.

But I want some bride.

She'll help me while I'm a body.

Just me and a snow.

Don't show up a fan.

Yeah.

Who cares who's watching baby?

I don't mind.

Let them pay with crazy man just help me say.

But don't miss me.

You gumma spin around.

Yeah.

But I'm glad you're with me.

Our sun is glistening.

But you look so darling.

Flicks on your mouth.

But I want somebody to heal me while I'm a body.

Come on and dance a made a night.

It's a shadow snow.

To help me with my body is meeting me in the snow Come on and dance with me tonight as soon as a shadow so I do this wrong snow and rather be here with him on testing this shot and so I'm too bad so baby da da da do that day.

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens brown paper packages up with strings these are a few of my favorite things green colored ponies and crisp apples drood door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles wild geese that fly at the moon on their wings these are a few of my favorite things when the dog bright when the bee stings when I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes silver winters and melt into springs these are a few of my favorite things when the dog fight when the bee stings when I'm feeling sad I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad roses

Two minutes till it's midnight.

We've been drinking since the sun went down.

Everyone's been kissing, throwing love around.

Somebody shout, changes coming, you just smile and drink your beer.

Everywhere the air's a humming It's all of us right here and we sing.

Should all acquaintance be for God I love you till the day I die.

Should all acquaintance be for God?

Will you kiss me in the morning light?

Time to run beneath the new year moon, joining hands and crossing our hearts pass around the rest of the wine.

Oh flames and broken hearts and nights under the stars one by one we fall asleep, wrapped in each other's arms, and we dream should all acquaintance be for God.

I love you till the day I die.

Should all acquaintance be for God will you kiss me in the morning light if you were lonely give it up here?

This is a kind of love that doesn't break your heart.

If you were lonely give it up, 'cause here we are.

This is the kind of love that it doesn't break your heart.

Should I will only give it up?

Cause here we are die.

Should this is the kind of love doesn't break your heart?

Should all if you're to me give it up, 'cause here we are die.

Should I this is the kind of love I can break your heart?

Should all acquaintance before all of you till the day I die?

Should all acquaintance be for God will you kiss me in the morning light?

For my dear for all of us right here.

We'll take a cup of kindness and toast to the new year for all things.

I dear for all us right here.

We'll take a cup of kindness to the new year.

Should all acquaintance be forgotten I love you till the day I die.

Should all acquaintance be forgotten where you kiss me in the morning light, should all acquaintance be forgotten I love you till the day I die.

I'm trying to somebody make the shut up about it.

Can we settle down please?

If just for a deal Just right here I know we've had a bumper I see credit on your sister count your head I think something's bad news and now you ruin the health of the smoke whoever put on this music it's pretty quick sharp movement for me don't wag your finger not say love businesses aside if just for a too Just stop right here I know we will have a baby riots I'm secretly out of here give me out of here give me a here give me out of here give me out of here give me out of here give me out of here give me out of here give me out of here just here give me out of here just a lie just for love just for just love just for now see a road where I go where you go you see a body no one knows no one knows and I've got hope my heart please keep me warm with your love I'm gonna fly to you Oh I'm not wrong with your love I see a shame no mistake no mistake you see a lie no more time no more time to know Baba done you no more time to deny by done you can hold my head please give me all with your love I'm gonna fly to you I'm not with your love

No mistake no mistake You see a lie No more time No more time to deny my done by done No more time to come by done you come home by Please kill me wall with your love I'm gonna fly to know with your God Please keep me warm with your mouth I'm gonna fly to I'm not low I'm not known with your mouth It's the most wonderful time of the With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you a good cheese It's the most wonderful time of the day It's the half happy season of those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings when friends come to curl gets the happy happy season of parties for hosting marshmallows for toasting and caring out in the snow There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmas is long long ago It's the most wonderful time of the year There'll be much mistletoeing and heights will be glowing when loved ones are near It's the most wonderful time I just went out smell as went to find a car and down in the stone There'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmas isn't long long ago is the most wonderful time of the easy There'll be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing when loved ones are near the most wonderful time Yes the most one double time It's the most one double time I'd like to fix this bag of tricks and hand about with the fleeting greedy smile for the browners Salutes to the upper boost for the diners may the day be the bowl of cherries And to all the merriest Hope you swing during the season Hope the days go great Hope you find plenty of reasons the whole year long to celebrate Sun for the mopus a laugh for the criers luck to the holders to the strange and the ordinary me to you the merriest thoughts for the muses a cheer for the winners breaks for the losers to the beats and the debonarias

I laugh for the criers, luck to the hopers to the strange and the ordinary.

Me to you, the merriest.

Thoughts for the musers.

A cheer for the winners' breaks.

For the losers to the beats and the debonarias.

Greetings like the merriet.

Hope there's all under your rose vine.

Hope you get that raise.

Hope you hope everything goes fine.

The next three hundred and summer days.

Friends for the loners.

A song for the singers, friends, all the gunners make the day.

Nothing can compare it.

Have the most the merriest.

Now the jingle hop has begun.

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell, ride, jingle bell chimin' Jingle bell time, dancing and prancing in jingle dust away in the frosty eyes right time, it's the right time to write for the night away, it's a sweat time to go gliding in a one slave jingle host, pick up your feet, jingle around the cloud, mix and bring a little jingle and babe That's the jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell Jingle bell, chimin' Jingle bell time, dancing and prancing and jingle bells in the frosty air bright time, it's the right time to wreck the night to the bell time it's a sweat time to go call it a horse Jingle Huss, pick up your feet, jingle around the cloud, mix a mingle in a jingle of meat.

That's the jingle bell, that's the jingle bell, that's the jingle bell.

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?

In the lane snow is Christmas, a beautiful side with a happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland Gone away's the blue bird here to stay in the bird He sings a lap song we go along walking in the winter wandering.

Then pretend that he's Parson Brown You say I married with Sarno Man Do the job when you're in time later on we'll conspire as we dream by the fire to place on a frame the plans that we made walking in a winter wonder In the meadow we can build a snowman Pretend that he is parsing brown married will say no more You can do the job when you're in town Later on we'll conspire as we dream by the fire to face on a phrase the plans that we made walking in a winter wandering Walking in a winter wandering in a winter wonder Oh there's no place like home for the holidays no matter how far away you roll when you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze for the holidays you can't be home sweet home I met a man who lives in Tennessee And he wants him for Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin piece of fame folks are traveling down to Dixie sunny shore from Atlantic to Pacific the traffic is the ripping Oh there's no place like home for the holidays no matter how far away

Your folks are traveling down to Dixie sunny shore from Atlantic to Pacific.

The traffic is terrific.

Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays.

No matter how far away roll when you pine for the sunshine of friendly gaze for the holidays.

You can't beat home sweet home when you pine for the sunshine of a friendly case.

You can't beat home holidays.

You can read home Holidays.

You can't feed home Sway Just till those sleigh bells ring and then ting ting tingle and two Come on, it's lovely weather for sleigh ride together with you.

Outside the snow is falling, and friends are calling you.

Come on, it's lovely weather for slay ride together with you.

Up it up hitty up, let's go.

Let's look at the show.

We're riding in a wonderland of snow.

It's grand.

Just holding your hand.

We're gliding along with a song of a winnery fairy land.

Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy, cozy are we.

We're snuggled up together like the birds of a feather would be.

Let's take that road before us and sing a chorus of two.

Come on, it's lovely weather for slay ride together with you.

Here's a birthday party at the home of grave.

It'll be the perfect ending of a perfect day.

We'll be singing the songs we love to sing with that single star at the fireplace while we watch the chestnuts pile.

There's a happy feeling.

Nothing in the world can buy When they cast around the coffee and the pumpkin pie.

It'll nearly be like a picture friend of Korea and eyes.

Other things we'll remember of the eyes.

Outside the snow is falling, and friends are calling you.

Come on, it's lovely weather for slay ride together with you.

Up eaty update up, let's go.

Let's look at the show.

We're riding in a wonderland of snow.

It's grand, just holding your hand.

We're gliding along with a song of a winnery fairy land.

Our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we?

We snuggled up together like the birds of a feathery bee.

Let's take that road beat for us and sing a chorus of two.

Come on, it's lovely weather for sleigh ride together with you.

On its lovely weather for sleigh ride together with you.

Come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.

I like the slay right, I like to say right, I like the same right, I like to say right.

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.

I like to say right, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh.

I like the slay right, I like to say right, I like to say right, I like to say right Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way I like to say right, oh what fun it is to write in a one horse open sleigh I like slay right jingle bells a jingle bells jingle all the way I like slay right oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh slay right dashing through the splashing through the snow horse open slay horse open slay for the fields we go the fields we go in all the way I like the sleigh right bells on five tails free some bump till ring spirit Oh what fun what fun it is to ride and sing I like the slay right Jingle bells jingle bells jingle all the way Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse open slay Jingle vents jingle bells jingle all the way Oh what fun it is to write in a one horse Open Slay right Oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse Oh slay I like the sleigh right I really can't stay Baby it's cold outside I've gotta go away I can call you right This evening has faster I'm so glad it's time spent with you Mama will start to I'll call the car and tell them to hurt it will be pacing a floor Wait What do you still live at home So really I'd better scare your driver his name is murder maybe just a happy Oh when both the dogs keepin' score my friends I think they should rejoice I have one more treatment It's your body and your choice Oh you really know how your eyes are like stone I both spell one look at you and then I fell I want to say no no then you really ought to go though at least I'm gonna say that Well Murray just wanted to guess that I understand baby baby it's cold outside I simply should go to when you get home Oh I'm supposed to say I guess that's respectable This welcome has been I feel lucky that you dropped it you better go before it's sister will be so your lips look delicious My brother will be there as well he loves my music baby My gossiping neighbors I'm a she tell me what y'all maybe just a song that's something we should probably explore that took it home Oh baby I'm well aware Lend me a car keep a girl I don't care You've really been grateful I feel when you touch my hand you see I want you to stay is not the hope for me talk to they can talk but what do they know at least there'll be plenty Oh let them mind and feel some bam I really can't stay there we just go it's come baby Slay bells ring are you listening in the lurch

It's called It's Cabin Owl Slate bounce ring.

Are you listening?

In the lion's snow is glistening.

A beautiful sight.

Happy tonight.

Walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird.

Here to stay is a new bird.

He sings a love song as we go along.

Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow, we can build a snowman.

And pretend that he is Parson Brown.

He'll say, Are you married?

We'll say no man.

But you can do the job when you're in town.

Light around we'll conspire as we drink by the fire.

Face unafray.

Walking in a winter wonderway.

And pretend that he's a circus cloud.

We'll have lots of fun with Mr.

Snowman.

Until the other kitties knock him down.

We'll conspire as we dream by the fire.

To face unafray.

The plans that we made.

Slave bells ring.

Are you listening?

In the lane.

Snow is glistening.

A beautiful sight.

We're happy tonight.

Walking in the winter wonderling.

Gone away is the blue bird.

Here to stay is a new bird.

Just sing a love song as we stroll alone.

Walking in a winter wonder in the meadow, we can build a snowman and pretend that he's Parsons Brown.

He'll say, Are you married?

We'll say no, man.

But you can do the job when you're in town.

Later on, we'll conspire as we dream by the fire.

Walking in a winter man build a snowman and pretend that he's a circus cloud.

We'll lots of fun with Mr.

Snowman.

So we heard the kiddies I can dance later on.

We'll conspire as we dream by the fire to face unafray.

The plans that we made walking in a winter wonderland Walking in a winter wonderland in a winter wonderland Little Jack Frost get lost, get lost.

Little Jack Frost get lost, get lost.

Little Jack Frost get lost.

You know, you don't do a thing but put the bite on my toes.

Freeze up the ground to take the bloom from the rose.

Little Jack Frost, go away, go away.

Don't you come back another day?

There's lots of cold feet on the lovers complain.

You turned off the heat down on Lovers Lane.

The bench in the park is all alone in the dark.

So little Jack Frost get lost, get lost.

Little Jack Frost get lost.

Get lost.

Little Jack Frost get lost.

You know, you don't do a thing but put the bite on my toes.

Freeze up the ground to take the bloom from the rose.

Little Jack Frost go away.

Don't you come back another day?

There's lots of cold feet.

All the lovers complain.

You turned off the heat down on Lovers Lane.

The bench in the park is all alone in the dark.

So little Jack Frost get lost, get lost.

Little Jack Frost get lost.

Get lost.

It's that time of year for spreading hope and cheer.

I send my life to those that I hold here.

I've written on my skin a list of offerings to send with life in boxes tied with string.

The choir is singing and the bells ring ring, it's all for you.

It's all for you.

I wrapped up laugh, I wrapped up laughter, I wrapped up happy air after boxes of it.

I wrapped up joy, I wrapped up laughter, I wrapped up happy air after an alcohol boxes of breath, new eyes to put a smile on your face.

Put a smile on your face.

I'm happy ever after boxes I'd have joy around laughter happy air after knock off boxes of friends put a smile on your face I got you miss a time and winter white stalking up another perfect fire and if I could I bring you snow wrapped in boxes with every tears I'm lost in the light I pray for the night to take me to take you to after so many words still nothing's heard don't know what we should do So if someone could see me now let them see you was my greatest thrill But we just stood still let me hold your hand till I have my fellow Even counting sheep Don't help me sleep I just toss and turn right there beside you So if someone could help me now they'd help you too They help you to see you through all the hard things we've all gotta do this life is long and so you wouldn't be wrong free and free me on I held my own still I rattled your bones I said some awful things and I took them back if we would try again just remember when before we were lovers I swear we were friends so someone could see me now let them see you let them see you see you through all the hard things we've all gotta do this life is long so you wouldn't be wrong free and free me online with me my dear story to my brother where do you intend to go tonight I heard that you missed your connected life to the blue

My brother, where do you intend to go tonight?

I heard that you missed your connected flight to the blue ridge mountain over near Tennessee.

You're ever welcome with me anytime you like.

Leave behind some green eye.

So no one gets wood me, no, so no one gets worried.

No, shouldn't I get killed?

I'm sure it'll be fine.

I love you, I love the mind in the quivering for the shivering dog and father built a virgin got frozen, and the home got snow and near the moon glow till the morning terrible in my child, even if you don't mind in the cliff of the influence.

So the two of us can get together.

When it's nice and cold, I can hold my baby close up to me and collect the kisses that I do me.

I love the winter well because I've got my love to keep me warm.

I can't remember a worse December.

Just watch those icy fall.

Watch those I could spawn what do I care I circles ball I've got my love to keep me warm off with my over cold off with my glove I need no over cold I'm burning with love I love the winter weather so the two of us can get together there's nothing sweeter final when it's nice and cold I can hold my baby close to me and collect the kisses that I do need I love the winter weather cause I've got my love to keep me got my love to keep me got my love to keep me warming Come December We'll be sitting by the fire it's warm in here beside you face do you remember last time we were together everything was magical feels like forever not for the honey days that the snowfall break at the ground now miss you when you're not around come December can the day still I see it lose my markers and need you can't you get here ready sooner she can stay fast news losing my cause and need yeah what you right here can't decide now just labels ring it we'll be kissing on the boy under that pistol toe can we sing it to the world for the honey days let the snowfall break in the ground now I can write hammer Cause I'll miss you and go not around come December calendar days till I see it lose my cause I need you can't you get here with it sooner she can stay fast new years losing my cause I need Rosa watch you right here can decide

Closer, watch you right here, December December December December is fall December December December December December December Well I wish for it's just a little time with you have everything the world can offer Do you really want me to?

They say December is a time of giving Have you even got the time for breathing?

You be running in a wheel the whole year And did you even see the seasons changing and now the snow's falling Let's go outside it's gone in the morning Now the snow's falling here the night's calling Let's go outside it's gone in the morning Now the snow's falling Why I wish for it's just a little time with you if everything the world can offer Do you really want me to really want me to be wish for it's just a chance to be with you if everything the world can offer Do you really want me to be seen eighty minutes in an hour?

Doesn't feel like getting smarter we've been driving only on willpower dreams are long and days are shorter and now the snow's falling let's go outside, it's gone in the morning now.

The snow's falling here the night's calling let's go outside, it's gone in the morning, now the snow's falling Why I wish for it's just a little time with you have everything the world can offer Do you really want me to be too?

Why I wish for it's just a chance to be with you You have everything the world can offer Do you really want me to make my wish come true?

Do you really want me to make my wish come true?

Do you really want me to make sure I'm doing raining like me to make sure we should come true raining on me?

You have everything that will offer.

Do you really want me to every day will be like a holiday?

Every day we'll be like a holiday We in my baby when my baby comes on Now she's been gone I studied a long time Everything You're a bad banana with a greasy black beat And you're a monster Mr.

Grinch Your heart's name Your brain is full of spiders You've got garlic in your soul Mr.

Grinch I wouldn't touch you with her 39 and a half football Mr.

Grinch Your vile one Mr.

Grinch You have turned in your smile You have all the tender sweetness of a C-Sick crocodile Mr Grinch Given the choice between the two of you I take the seas a crocodile You're foul one and Mr.

Prince You're a nasty was eat skunk Your heart is full of unwashed socks Your soul is full of gunk Mr Grinch The three words that best describe you are as follows And I quote Stink stink stunks Mr.

Grinch You're a crooked jerky jockey And you grab a crooked horse Mr Grinch You're a toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce You're a rider Mr.

Grinch You're the king of sinful sauce Your heart's a den tomato splash with moldy purple dots Mr.

Grinch Mr.

Grinch Mr.

British an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of the most deplorable rubbish imaginable Mangled up in Tangled up none Mr Grinch Grinch coming through a blizzard and the snowflakes can cut right through me and still wait sing through the storm if you're slates I'm stallow clouds we've come to fell my lungs with our swallow the bottom home if you're slates I'm stalling face with this mean won't keep us warm and a shovel almost a yeah so a stuck right here and it's welcome new born shirts of cross it's a blanket pierced by spelting hope and just don't have a sill birds of hope struggle to come here's all of hope is a each other

And just all love at it to soon first of hope strive to come.

Is it showing this gondola right with a cable frame?

And we're promised.

Let it follow you.

The shine on you.

They shine all you're snow.

The town is high and it's beautiful.

And it's beautiful.

The ground is red, and it's beautiful, and it's beautiful.

Let it fall on you.

Quiet.

Let it shine on you.

Let it shine all you.

Let it shine on you.

Let it shine on you.

Let it shine all you.

Okay, if I can get your attention, if you can start to settle down and find your seats.

And I want to give you a heads up because I'm seeing pretty large signs out there.

We consider raising signs up that blocks the view of the people behind you to be disruptive.

So if you want to have big signs, you need to sit in the back or be very, very judicious about when you show that sign.

Showing the signs when you're up here actually talking is okay as well.

But what we don't want, we want everybody to have the full view of the speaker as well as the council members, because you want to see the reaction in our eyes in our body language as we hear various public testimony going forward.

So please just be courteous to folks that are sitting behind you in terms of those signs.

I will give you kudos.

I think those are the biggest signs we've seen yet.

Uh, but be very, very thoughtful about doing that to your fellow uh members of the public.

So I think we'll for those of you who don't show up in council chambers very much.

We have nine council members, so if we have five, we have quorum.

We can get the meeting started because we have a lot to uh get through this afternoon.

So good afternoon.

I will reconvene the city council meeting of Tuesday, December 9th, 2025.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Campbell.

Here.

Councilmember Whitburn.

Here.

Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Von Wilber.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Councilmember Campillo.

Councilmember Moreno, present.

Councilmember Elo Rivera.

And Council President Lacava.

President.

Also attending the meeting our assistant city attorney, Michelle Garland, Independent Budget Analyst, Deputy Director, Gillian Andalina, Council Affairs Advisor in the Mayor's Office, Coda Zeiser, and myself, your city clerk, Diana Fuentes.

Thank you, Council President.

All right.

Thank you, City Clerk.

A quorum is now present, and it looks like we've got a pretty good crowd here.

I see a lot of people that I believe are probably the first time in chambers.

And so building on the comments I made earlier.

Speakers may address the council during public comment and also in connection with a specific item of business on the agenda.

The city must make sure that no one person or group of people disrupt the meeting in a way that prohibits other speakers from expressing their ideas and opinions.

So to make sure that everyone here has an opportunity to address the council, I'll alert an individual or individuals if I think their conduct becomes disruptive.

If the disruption continues, I will roll the individual out of order.

And if the disruption continues, we'll call a recess so that we can restore order.

And at that point, please don't make me do this.

Uh can direct an individual or individuals to leave the room.

So thank you for bearing with me.

So we have one item before we get to the big item uh on this afternoon's agenda.

Clerk, please introduce item 330.

Thank you, Council President.

Item 330 is the fiscal year 2026 capital improvements program, CIP mid-year budget monitoring report, and CIP budget revisions.

If you'd like to speak to this item, now is the time to submit your speaker slips to the front of the room in the clear box, or if you're participating remotely, please press the raise your hand icon or star nine at this time.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Staff as you settle in, uh please introduce yourself for the record and let us know how much time you need for your presentation.

Good afternoon, Council President and members of the Council, Joti Pantlu, Assistant Director with the Department of Finance and presenting with me today is Michael Palayu, Financial Operations Manager, also the DOF.

We'll need about 10 minutes.

All right, when you're ready.

This report is a semi-annual update on the capital improvements program.

It provides budget monitoring updates on several of the more critical capital program funding sources.

This report also includes a consolidated request for council action resulting from the city's continued cash management and streamlining efforts.

The request includes 37.7 million in appropriations, de-appropriations, and reallocation between projects.

Good afternoon.

This slide shows a summary of the CIP budget adjustments.

Of the new appropriations, the largest amounts come from the Underground Surcharge Fund and Development Impact fees.

For the transfers, the largest amounts come from the Water CIP Fund, Regional Parks Fund, and the MUNI Sewers CIP Fund.

It is important to note that the public utilities department continues to carefully prioritize capital improvement projects based on risk with the most critical needs addressed first.

In alignment with project timelines and overall department priorities, the mid-year action includes strategic transfers rather than larger appropriations.

For several years, the Department of Finance, Transportation, and Engineering Capital Projects Departments have been working together to monitor and prioritize the spend down of transnet funds held at Sandag.

Based upon current estimated revenues for the fiscal year, it is anticipated that both the congestion relief and maintenance transnet funds will likely have available fund balance at the end of the fiscal year.

The Transportation Department and the Department of Finance will continue to monitor transnet revenue received, and if projections do indeed come in at or above projections, future action will be taken to appropriate the funding.

This graph shows where the city is in comparison to other agencies participating in the TransNet program as of September 30, 2025, which shows our transnet cash balance is roughly 107% of projected annual revenue.

The Transportation Department currently estimates that the Transnet extension cash balance with the city and held at Sandag will be approximately $38.5 million by June 30, 2026, representing approximately 83% of the city's annual revenue.

The city continues to try and maintain low cash balances held at Sandag and has been consistently among the lower municipalities, among others in the region that participate in the program.

The Department of Finance works closely with the Transportation Department to monitor and maximize the use of gas tax funding for right-of-way maintenance and improvements.

Both are volatile funding sources whose revenues can fluctuate depending on both the price of gas as well as consumer demand, so we will continue to monitor through the end of the fiscal year.

Based upon current estimated revenues for the fiscal year, it is anticipated that both the gas tax and RMRA funds may have available fund balance at the end of the fiscal year.

The Department of Finance and Transportation Department will continue to monitor throughout the fiscal year and take appropriate action if needed on these funding sources in a future request for council action.

Department of Finance also works with engineering capital projects and various asset managing departments to propose the best uses for the general fund contributions to the CIP, capital outlay, infrastructure, and climate equity funds.

This table shows the expected uncommitted fund balances anticipated at the end of the fiscal year.

The small remaining uncommitted fund balances for the infrastructure fund and climate equity fund will be evaluated as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget process or used to mitigate fiscal year 2026 expenditures, and appropriate action will be taken on these funding sources in a future request for council action.

This slide shows the debt-funded capital improvements program appropriations and spend down as of the first quarter of fiscal year 2026.

These appropriations represent the amounts budgeted and expended in the CIP only.

In addition, attachment six of the report shows the fiscal year 2025 debt funded expenditures for the various capital projects funded by debt.

This slide shows the debt supported activity of both the capital improvements program and other capital needs that have been previously approved.

The city has spent down the 2024 A lease revenue bond proceeds.

The remaining authorized appropriations will be financed through future long-term financings, including the recently issued 2025 A lease revenue bonds.

This slide shows the spend down progress on the stormwater WIFIA loan.

Many projects have not entered into the construction phase, which is when we will see the spend down really start to ramp up.

Stormwater emergencies continue to consume limited resources with fiscal year 2025 showing the largest amount, mainly due to the lingering effects of the January 2024 storm.

The Stormwater Department, Engineering Capital Projects Department, and Department of Finance will continue to monitor and continue to work on ways to address and mitigate the system failures.

Shifting gears to the Capital Improvements Program administrative budget updates.

The fiscal year 2026 appropriation ordinance authorizes the CFO to modify project appropriations for various fund or project management purposes under certain conditions.

These administrative authorities create efficiencies across departments by saving time and helping to promote and implement cash management strategies in the capital improvements program.

There are additional details and examples included in the report.

Section 2C1 authorizes the CFO to add maintenance projects funded elsewhere, which are determined to be of capital nature to the CIP.

Section 2C2 authors the CFO to close completed projects and transfer unexpended balances to the appropriate reserve or fund balance or up to 100,000 to an annual allocation of the same asset type.

Section 2C5 authorizes the CFO to transfer andor appropriate a maximum of 200,000 per project not to exceed 10% of the project budget from annual allocations or fund balance.

This transfer does not did not impact existing paving projects as it came from project savings from various recently closed paving projects.

Section 2C7 authorizes the CFO to swap revenue sources between projects as long as the reallocations do not result in a net project increase.

This authority was used to provide effective cash management and ensure diff funding was spent down timely while also slowing debt expenditures until the next bond issuance.

Section 2C9 authorizes the CFO to modify capital improvements program project budgets in accordance with the city council approved financing plans.

As we move away from community-based DIFs and FBAs, this particular AO authority will likely be used less and less each year.

Section 2C15 authorizes the CFO to modify the accounting of capital projects to ensure the use of the most appropriate project type.

So in conclusion, this report requests the allocation or transfer of funds between projects of 37.7 million dollars.

We continue to have success in the spend down of transportation funds, infrastructure funds, and bond proceeds.

This success is attributed to various cash management efforts and a strong collaboration between the Department of Finance, engineering capital projects, and various asset managing departments.

We look forward to the continuing discussions on streamlining and improving the delivery of infrastructure in the capital improvements program, providing effective cash management of the program, and increasing transparency.

Effective cash management is important given our limited resources and constraints to the capital program.

Thank you for your time, and we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

All right, thank you for the report.

Um, the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst would like to make some comments.

Jillian.

Thank you, Council President.

I'm Julian Andalina with the office of the IBA.

Just wanted to quickly highlight the stormwater emergency section of the report.

For context, the fiscal year 2026 adopted budget includes 42 million dollars for stormwater emergencies.

As of the third month of this fiscal year, about half of this amount has already been allocated with additional amounts reserved for ongoing and recently declared emergencies.

Stormwater carefully manages this budget to balance existing commitments with new emergency needs, which can fluctuate depending on the severity of the rainy season.

If additional emergencies arise and existing work cannot be delayed, funding may need to be redirected from other projects.

And that concludes my comments.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Um I should appreciate the IBA's input on this.

Uh so clerk, please proceed with public comment on item 330.

Thank you.

My apologies for the ding.

I did just want to make one announcement before we go to public comment.

There is a lot of people here.

We do have a overflow room in the back.

We aren't able to have people blocking any of the exits or standing.

There is uh TVs in there, so you will be called and you will hear as the items are here.

So if you can don't have a seat, if you can please make your way to the overflow room in the committee room, that would be greatly appreciated from the fire marshals.

We do not have any public speakers on this item here in council chambers going to those participating remotely.

I started the five-minute timer.

Aliyah Crump, and again, this is item 330 for the fiscal year 2026 capital improvements program.

Alia, could you please unmute?

Hello, yes.

Can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you.

I had no idea I'd be going first.

Hello, my name is Alia Crumb.

I am a United States Navy veteran and a fourth generation Sandie who resides in District 3.

I want to talk about some names.

Lean Igard, Victor Harrar, and John Cox.

These are some of the names of male police officers who have abused flock to stock and harass women.

I'm sorry, I'm going to interrupt that you're actually going to want to speak on the next item.

We're not talking about the surveillance items yet.

So please stay tuned and uh raise your hand for the next item.

Sorry for interrupting.

Thank you.

I will go on to the next speaker, Blair Beekman, if you can please unmute.

All right.

Um Blair Beechman.

Um CIP uh budget items are really big ticket items for the city.

And um, you had a recent committee meeting uh to talk about uh these issues uh and overall philosophy of CIP at this time.

It was a really interesting agenda item for committee meeting, and uh it made things uh clear.

I felt it was important to make clear the importance of uh tech accountability practices in in your procurement processes and how you consider your upcoming CIP projects and its funding.

Could be considering tech accountability, it does it gives an uh a really additional help in how to view your issues, you know, in in what are good civil rights protections uh and um just civil protections overall.

Talking about those things with others and in the procurement process really creates uh a really important process how to develop our practices.

So I just wanted to remind of those good things at this time uh for this type of item and good luck in this mid budget but mid-budget uh time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That does conclude public comment on this item.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

So with that, we'll turn it over to my council colleagues for questions, comments, and entertain a motion.

We'll start with the chair of ATI, Active Transportation and Infrastructure, Councilmember Whitburn.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you to the Department of Finance and the Office of the Independent Budget Analyst for your presentations this afternoon.

We heard this at the Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting last month.

Uh the committee discussed a variety of different uh CIPs within the city, including the future of the fire training facility, uh, a few libraries, other citywide projects.

Um had a good discussion on it, and uh I am happy to uh make the motion to approve the staff recommendation.

All right.

All right, thank you, sir.

So we have a motion by Councilmember Whitburn to move the staff recommendation.

We'll go next to Council President Pro Tam Lee.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you to the Department of Finance as always for the presentation uh and in preparing this report and the updates with it.

Um I know we continue to make a significant amount of progress when it comes to our infrastructure needs, um, despite the limited resources we have, and especially working to um expend um some of the cash balances as well to ensure that um we are delivering as quickly as possible on needs within the community.

Um I know at committee I had expressed um some concern that the remaining funds uh in one particular CAP project in our district, the convoy district gateway sign CIP are currently proposed to be transferred out of the Kearney Mesa convoy region where they were designated uh while a remaining pedestrian access component that was tied to the sign is yet to be completed.

Um and so I want to thank both the department as well as the mayor's office for working uh with our office between committee and today to resolve these concerns.

Um and so I'm gonna um second the motion but make uh one amendment um as a resolution to um what we had addressed.

Um I believe we have we're gonna put that on screen.

Um and that amendment is uh to uh increase the capital improvements program budget and CIP AIL00001, traffic calming, uh convoy street at Opportunity Road Pedestrian Refuge, uh, and to appropriate and expend 500,000 from fund 400169 transnet extension 70 percent cap for the purpose of initiating the project and funding the design.

Um what this does is it allows the city to ensure that the remaining cash um in the former gateway sign project is made available for an immediate uh emergency stormwater uh infrastructure need while allocating more flexible funding to ensure the pedestrian access infrastructure that the community had requested alongside the signed project would still be um completed into the future.

So this action ensures that there is no CIP budgetary impact for this fiscal year, again, while ensuring the cash is put to use.

So with that amendment, uh if the maker of the motion would accept it.

Yes, happy to incorporate that into the motion.

Again, happy to offer my second.

So we have a um second by council president Pro Dem Lee and the motion by Councilman Whitburn uh as amended and as shown up in the screen.

So we'll go next to Councilmember Campill.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, staff for your ongoing work with the CIP program.

Understand it's a complex effort, and uh I appreciate the communication with my office as we track priority projects throughout District 7.

I want to start by acknowledging uh one of the projects, the Alvarado Canyon Road Realignment Project, which is seeing a significant amount transferred out of it.

Uh that roads realignment has been in the community plan since 2015.

It will deliver infrastructure and safety improvements uh for residents that they have asked for time and time again, including widening sidewalks, improving the ability to get to the trolley station, and addressing the flooding that we've seen along Alvarado Creek, uh a key piece to supporting new homes and families moving into Grantville and the businesses that are already there that have had to quite frankly put up with a lot more than they've had or they should have.

We talk a lot about community plan updates and needing more housing and transit access, but we owe it to our constituents to follow through on the infrastructure that actually makes that growth work.

That part is within our control.

Now, of course, I know where we're gonna be taking that money and moving it to, flood resilience, emergency repairs needed at Choyas Yard.

That's important, of course.

Our stormwater system and streets desperately need the attention.

Uh but I'm concerned to see funding reduced from a project yet again in the Navajo area that's been promised to this community for nearly a decade and always seems to move two steps forward and then two steps back because when there's an emergency, Navajo seems to be the bucket you pull it from.

It's a pattern that we keep seeing, and when we don't plan for or invest in our core infrastructure, communities are asked to wait longer for improvements, they were told were coming.

And when residents raise their concerns about the impacts of waiting, whether it's unsafe intersections or congestion or flooding, sometimes they get dismissed as being against growth.

They're not.

They're just asking us to commit to what we said we would do.

So my expectation is that the shift is temporary and that we keep this project moving forward.

It is critical for one of the areas that just in the last decade has been the centerpiece of new housing in District 7, and I really hope that money comes back in the next adjustment.

I'll support this today, but we'll be keeping a close eye on that.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Um not seeing anybody else in the lights.

Uh I will join in in thanking uh Department of Finance, uh, engineering capital projects um and that commitment all the way around to making sure we don't have uh money sitting around in buckets that doesn't uh go to the benefit of uh residents and businesses going forward.

And a special thanks for finding money for the temporary mission beach lifeguard station as we work to replace it in a more permanent fashion.

Uh want to make sure the lifeguards have an appropriate home for the good work they do every day.

So with that, we have a motion by council member whipper and the second by council member, excuse me, council president pro tem Lee as modified and it's shown up there on the screen.

And not seeing anyone else, clerk, please call the roll.

I've started the voting system, please cast your vote.

That does pass unanimously, nine to zero.

Thank you.

Again, thank you to staff for the very good work in bringing this forward.

So before I introduce uh or we introduce the next item and all my talk about uh disruption, I forgot the most important thing for those of you who haven't been here.

Ow.

Um we have a two and a half-year-old granddaughter and two daughters that we raised, so we're certainly aware and appreciate uh the commitment to uh bring the children in as well.

Uh in lieu of cheering or booing or clapping, what we ask you to do is use your hand signals, uh hand signals up or thumbs up if you hear stuff you like, thumbs down if you hear things you don't like going forward.

Uh we have a lot of public speakers.

We want to be able to get through them uh in a timely way and give everybody a chance to be heard.

So uh if we could stick with that, we'll we'll give everybody a chance to speak.

So with that, clerk, please introduce item 331.

Item 331 is to approve a resolution authorizing the approved 54 surveillance use policies to remain in effect under the trust ordinance with modifications as identified.

If you'd like to speak to this item, please be sure to submit your speaker slip to the front of the room in the clear box.

And if you are participating remotely, now is the time to raise your hand by pressing star nine or the raise your hand icon again as a reminder.

If you are seating time, you definitely want to submit those two together to make sure that those slips are joint and I'm able to call the speakers that are seeding you time.

They are the ones that have to raise their hand when it's called and be here present in order for that time to be ceded to the other individual.

Thank you so much, Council President, for the additional time.

All right, thank you.

In case you're worried, if people are in the other room, we do give people a chance to scamper in and raise their hand.

So uh the city clerk and her team does an amazing job, making sure everybody that wants to be heard uh is heard and gets the time that they're allotted to do their comments.

So with that, um I see staff has settled in.

Please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you need for the presentation.

I'm Captain Laura from the Sandy Police Department RAP.

And with me, I have a Lieutenant.

Lieutenant Chris McCandrew.

And how much time?

We need about 17 minutes.

Seventeen, all right.

Again when you're ready.

Good afternoon, Council President Lacaba and honorable members of the City Council.

Thank you for taking the time that you have given for this review process.

Before I hand it back to my team to take you through our annual surveillance report, I'd like to talk about one of the most important pieces of technology that we use, our automated license plate reader or ALPR system.

Over the past several months, the San Diego Police Department has worked closely with the Privacy Advisory Board to strengthen oversight of our ALPR system.

We expanded auditing, we've improved public reporting, and we've tightened data sharing rules.

Those changes were not symbolic.

They directly addressed concerns raised by residents and by this council.

I want to speak claim very plainly about what this system is, what it is not, and why keeping it is critical to public safety.

First, how the system works.

Our ALPR cameras capture a license plate on our public streets, something that anyone and everyone can already see.

The system records a plate, a time, and a location.

It does not identify who the driver is or who is in the vehicle.

Second, data safeguards.

There have been concerns that the federal government could access this data.

The department has taken that concern seriously.

State law already requires or already blocks sharing of the ALPR data with federal agencies.

And now our own use policy clearly reinforces that.

And that is why we have taken each of these safeguards so seriously.

Third is accountability.

Supervisors conduct weekly audits, and as of this year, monthly summaries of our ALPR searches are posted publicly to our website for the community to review.

The city's IT department has evaluated the vendors' cybersecurity controls and confirm they meet or exceed city standards.

And finally, why this matters right now.

Allowing officers to focus their time where it is needed most.

That is efficient, precision-based policing.

Something that I've talked about since day one.

It takes us to the car that is involved in a crime.

Cutting down on unnecessary stops of people who have nothing to do with the criminal investigation.

So the situation in front of you is this.

And therefore, I respectfully urge you to vote to continue to use this system.

It is effective.

We are held accountable, and it is keeping all of our communities safe.

Thank you.

All right, good afternoon, Council members.

Today we'll be presenting our 2024 annual surveillance report.

This report explores the surveillance technologies we use, how we use them, and the safeguards in place to ensure they're used responsibly.

It gives the public a better understanding of how the tools, these tools support safety in our neighborhoods while also protecting civil rights and privacy of our citizens.

This requirement was created by the trust ordinance, a process that was designed to be collaborative.

And as you all know, true collaboration is hard work.

It required us to balance the need to address crime and public safety issues with the responsibility to safeguard privacy and civil liberties.

When the effort is successful, we get stronger, clearer, and more accountable policies without losing the effectiveness of our public safety tools.

This is the kind of work we've been busy doing.

Over the past several months, SCPD has worked closely with the Privacy Advisory Board to review and strengthen our surveillance policies.

That partnership led to clearer rules, stronger oversight, and more transparency.

The updates we'll show today to policy language, data security practices and auditing, were made jointly with the Privacy Advisory Board and are rooted in transparency and accountability.

We believe we can protect public safety and privacy while at the same time at the same time.

That's the work we're presenting today that reflects that commitment.

This report covers 54 different technologies the police department uses.

Each one has gone through the full oversight process.

That means they were discussed in community presentations, reviewed by the Privacy Advisory Board and approved by City Council.

The annual surveillance report is how we that can how we continue that transparency each year.

Some of these tools are tools that we use every day, like body worn camera.

Others, like Smart Streetlights and ALPR support ongoing investigations.

And some are only used in very specific situations, like our SWOT robots that help us resolve high-risk incidents safely.

Together, these technologies help us solve crimes, protect both community members and officers, and use our resources more efficiently and precisely.

This year we are proposing updates to eight of the 54 use policies, which are required for each technology.

These changes do not expand the capabilities of the technologies themselves.

These are policy and clarification updates.

The eight technologies include three mobile device forensic tools, two types of SWAT robots, body worn cameras, smart street lights, and the ALPR system.

These are tools used to extract data from mobile devices with either warrant or consent.

In 2024, they supported over 350 investigations and handled data from about 576 devices.

These updates mainly reflect current usage and staffing, allowing trained forensic technology unit staff, not only criminalist, to operate the tools when needed.

Body worn cameras.

We changed the policy title to body worn camera system and removed references to specific model names like Axon Body 3.

This allows us to adapt updated camera hardware in future without needing to restart the approval process as long as the technology functions the same way.

Any major functional change would of course still have to go back through the trust ordinance process.

SWAT robots.

For the first look Gen 2 robot, we clarified that it can be deployed by special operations unit, but only if trained SWOT or SOU supervisor authorizes it.

The robot will still only be operated by SWAT.

We also added language describing that the ICOR mini caliber robot can be used to deploy chemical agents remotely when necessary.

Smart streetlights.

We replaced references to the old special projects legislative affairs department with program administrator to reflect the department's new structure and remove an outdated section about modifying the use policy to align it with all other survival surveillance technology policies under the trust ordinance.

The technology we focused most on over the last several months was our ALPR system.

This collaborative effort uh done in partnership with the PAB resulted in numerous changes to our use policy and our annual ALPR report.

Here with me is my expert, Lieutenant Chris McAndrew, who will tell you more about that effort.

Thank you.

A quick review.

It scans license plates and other basic vehicle details like making clock and color.

It cannot see who is inside the vehicle or identify the driver.

The system automatically compares the license plate number to databases of stolen vehicles, vehicles connected to crimes, and alerts of missing or at risk individuals.

All ALPR data is automatically deleted after 30 days unless it becomes part of an investigation.

It is important to note that investigators only extract images as evidence that are associated with a suspect vehicle that pertains to a specific location and moment in time, the time of the incident or crime.

The vast majority of data is never viewed.

When a wanted vehicle drives past an AOPR camera, an alert is sent to officers in the field.

This is a demo picture of what an alert looks like.

You'll notice it's just a photo of the vehicle, the license plate and location for that moment in time.

It is not a photo of who's driving the vehicle or even who the occupants of the vehicle are.

It contains no personal identifying information.

It does not provide the vehicle registration.

It is not video.

It does not contain audio or any other integrated software such as facial recognition or gunshot detection.

It is simply a photo of a car on a public street.

Over the past several months, the San Diego Police Department has worked closely with the Privacy Advisory Board to review how we use AOPR technology and to update two key documents.

The annual report, which explains how the system was used over the past year, and the safeguards in place to protect privacy and the use policy, which sets the rules for how the technology can be used.

As Captain Laura mentioned, collaboration takes time and real effort, and we approached it that way.

Our goal was to make sure AOPR continues to be an effective tool for solving crimes and locating missing or at-risk people, while also protecting privacy and civil rights.

Through this review, SDPD and PAB made meaningful improvements, including clearer policy language, more detail about data security, and stronger auditing procedures.

We know it's not enough to say the systems used responsibly.

Those expectations have to be written into policy.

We made many policy updates alongside the PAB, but some of the most important ones involved our third-party sharing rules.

Our policy now clearly states that we do not share with federal agencies, out of state agencies, or private entities for any reason.

We also never share for immigration purposes to federal task forces or to assist in cases involving reproductive care.

And since our AOPR system was installed, we have never once used the system to aid in immigration enforcement.

We also added that if an agency wants to use a core order to get our AOPR data, it has to be a California court order.

Finally, AOPR data can never be sold.

Our AOPR vendor, Flock Safety, is contractually obligated to adhere to all aspects of our use policy.

We also focused on data security because strong policy only matters if the system itself is protected.

First, every time an STPD employee accesses AOPR data, they must log in through the city's secure sign-on system.

Every search is recorded by the user's name, date and time, and it must be tied to a valid case or incident number.

So there is a clear record of who searched, why they searched, and when.

Second, the city's IT department reviewed the vendor security setup.

They confirmed that the system meets a very high security standard, the kind that would be difficult and expensive for the city to maintain on its own.

Third, the vendor Flock Safety follows strong cybersecurity practices and holds several nationally recognized security certifications, including SOC 2 type 2, which is the leading standard for secure data management.

At our request, those certifications were also made available to the privacy advisory board so they could review them directly.

And as we said before, all ALPR data belongs to the city, and only SDPD personnel have access to it.

We also strengthen auditing and accountability to make sure that the system is being used properly and for and only for legitimate investigations.

As we said earlier, all ALPR searches must include a valid case number or incident number.

This was a practice we created in partnership with PAB and eventually became part of Flock's system.

Now, law enforcement agencies across the country log searches this way.

Every week we conduct audits of these searches.

A designated supervisor reviews them to confirm.

Searches are linked to real cases, data is only kept for the allowed time, users have completed their required annual training, and the equipment is working correctly.

We also worked with the vendor and the privacy advisory board to build a new audit reporting tool.

We know our community wants a better understanding of the kinds of cases we use the system for.

But we can't always rely.

We always we can't always release that information easily without jeopardizing these case details.

As of last week, when an officer conducts a search, they must choose the type of case from a standardized list, like a homicide, a burglary, or a missing person, which makes it easier for us to explain publicly how the system is being used.

In addition, we began publishing monthly audits on our website so anyone can see when and how the system is being used.

Those audits are currently available on the department's ALPR webpage.

Our work with PAB isn't just making our process better, it's making the system more transparent for communities across the country.

We also work closely with the PAB to update our annual ALPR report, which explains how the ALPR system was used over the past year and describes the oversight practices and safeguards in place.

When we first submitted the AOPR report earlier this year, it was about three pages long.

After several months of working closely with the Privacy Advisory Board, the updated report is now nearly 30 pages.

That increase reflects the depth of collaboration and the level of detail the community asked for, especially around how the system is used, how data is secure, and how audits are conducted.

Well, we were able to work with most of PAB's feedback by accepting or agreeing to explore 37 of the 39 recommendations.

There were two recommendations we could not accept.

And it's important to explain why.

The first is a requirement to obtain a warrant to look at ALPR data older than 24 hours.

ALPR only captures license plates on public streets, something anyone can see.

And because there is no expectation of privacy in a license plate that is already publicly visible, courts have consistently held that a warrant is not required to use this type of information.

So requiring a warrant for this data would not be legally appropriate.

The second is shortening our data retention period from 30 days to 14 days.

Retention matters.

And why retention matters is because many cases don't come together immediately.

Sometimes the crime itself isn't reported right away.

Sometimes key leads or witnesses don't surface for days or weeks.

And once a suspect is identified, prosecutors often rely on historical AOPR data to confirm timelines and build a case that holds up in court.

If the data is gone too soon, both investigations and prosecutions are weakened.

A 14-day retention period would make the system far less effective.

And when considering retention, it's important to understand the investigative timeline.

In a perfect world, after a crime occurs, it would be immediately reported, dispatched, investigated, and evidence would be identified and collected.

Unfortunately, we know this is not the case.

Once a crime occurs, the clock starts.

The time between the crime occurring and being reported can vary.

Hot prowls are reported immediately, but what about a burglary to a house with a family is on vacation, or a sexual assault where the victim is building the courage to come forward?

This could be days or even weeks.

After the crime is reported, an officer is dispatched to the scene due to low staffing.

It could take some time before an officer arrives and conducts the initial investigation.

The investigation is then submitted and detectives are assigned.

If the case is submitted on a Friday, the detective won't receive the case until the following week.

Once again, once assigned, the detective must check for surveillance video, review reports and witness statements, and piece together evidence to build a case.

At this point, once the detective establishes a timeline and possible suspect vehicle description, they can turn to AOPR system to locate relevant evidence and hopefully identify the suspect vehicle at the scene.

And this entire process can take several weeks.

Currently, San Diego has a 30-day AOPR retention period.

Nationally, the average AOPR retention period is between six months and two years.

Cities like New York, Los Angeles retain ALPR data for five years, while other major cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Jose retain AOPR data for one year.

Even within San Diego County, we are in the lowest end of retention.

The Sheriff's Department, Coronado, Oceanside, Carlsbad, and Chula Vista all have one year retention, while Escondido is at two years.

And some cities are seeing the investigative value in longer AOPR retention times.

For example, Oakland, whose AOPR approval program with flock safety received an endorsement from the Oakland NAACP branch to not only continue but expand its ALPR program, has increased their ALPR retention from 30 days to one year and wants to expand further to 730 days.

And recently, Governor Gavin Newsom noted that a 60-day retention period, the time frame proposed in Senate Bill 274, which he vetoed, may be too short for conducting meaningful investigations, particularly in cases involving complex or serial offenses.

At the end of the day, the system isn't about hardware or software.

It's about people and keeping our community safe.

AOPR has helped families get their cars back, helped victims get answers, and helped reunite missing community members with their loved ones.

In its first year, we saw motor vehicle theft drop by more than 20%.

That is a direct benefit to everyday residents.

Here are just a few examples of how AOPR has worked in some of our most serious investigations and most urgent missing person cases.

On June 20th, an Eastern Detective reported or requested that a suspect vehicle in an attempted kidnapping of a six-year-old be entered into STPD's ALPR hot list, allowing citywide alerts if the vehicle passed an AOPR camera.

At 3 45 p.m.

that same day, the ALPR system detected the vehicle in downtown San Diego, prompting an immediate patrol response.

And within minutes, central officers located the vehicle and arrested the suspect for the attempted kidnapping in the Mission Valley area two days prior.

A total of 24 investigators conducted 237 AOPR searches throughout that investigation.

That reflects SDP's coordinated data-driven effort to locate the suspect quickly.

In November, SDPD investigated a series of hate crimes related assaults between 600 and 1000 University Avenue in the Hillcrest neighborhood, which occurred in early September.

Multiple victims were struck with gel-style pellets as they walked on the sidewalk.

Investigators from the criminal intelligence unit began the investigation, searched for evidence, and collected any available video surveillance.

Detectives were able to obtain footage of the vehicle from surveillance camera.

Using that information, detectives used the ALPR system to identify the vehicle, which ultimately led to multiple suspects being identified and arrested for multiple hate crime-related charges.

On November 19th, 2024, two businesses in the Tierra Santa community were burglarized.

Surveillance video captured a gray sedan involved in the crime, but the license plate was partially obscured.

Using AOPR data, detectives were able to identify a potential vehicle and license plate connected to the burglaries.

On November 25th, the same vehicle returned to Tierra Santa and was involved in two additional business burglaries, confirming it as the suspect vehicle.

Detectives shared the vehicle and suspect information with patrol officers citywide.

On December 12th, two more burglaries occurred in the 4S ranch in university city areas.

Although limited suspect information was available, officers used AOPR data from prior investigations and discovered the suspect vehicle had been detected nearby.

Patrol units responded to the area, located the vehicle near Interstate 5 and State Route 56, and arrested the suspect without incident.

Throughout that multi-jurisdictional investigation, officers conducted over 3,000 AOPR searches to gather evidence, connect real cases, and locate the suspect.

The AOPR system has located multiple missing persons, including community members with Alzheimer's and dementia.

It helped identify two hit and run drivers who struck and killed a bicyclist last May.

In April of 2024, an AOPR alert led officers to a stolen vehicle within minutes, resulting in the safe arrest of the driver and recovery of a loaded ghost gun, drugs, and burglary tools.

In June, the system led investigators to a man suspected of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 14, who was later convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.

And that's just a few examples.

In total, AOPR technology played a key role in over 290 investigations in 2024, and to date it has assisted in over 600 investigations.

In 2024, this technology assisted in the recovery of 233 stolen vehicles, an estimated $3 million in stolen property and 10 firearms.

And last year there were 36 homicides in San Diego.

AOPR helped solve a third of them.

And of those, four cases were solved due to this technology.

Since its launch, this technology has proven to be a force multiplier for public safety and the most significant public safety technology advancement in recent times for our department and San Diego.

It has enhanced our ability to not only locate stolen vehicles, identify suspect vehicles, and quickly apprehend suspects from robberies, homicides, and attempted child abductions, but has also been instrumental in locating five missing people.

AOPR has saved investigators time by providing strong investigative leads, reduced the need for citywide saturation patrols by identifying the correct suspect vehicle, and eliminated countless unnecessary encounters between law enforcement and the community due to vague suspect vehicle descriptions.

When paired with clear use policies and transparent reporting, San Diego can be the leading city in AOPR use and accountability.

The partnership with PAB has yielded positive results.

The auditing and accountability improvements made in conjunction with PAB have led to nationwide adoption of San Diego standards by our AOPR vendor.

We will continue to work on advancements in auditing, accountability, and success tracking with PAB to remain at the forefront of transparency and accountability nationwide.

And AOPR has done what we hoped it would do.

It allows us to do more with fewer resources, rapidly solve cases, and make our communities safer.

This is the future of precision policing.

Thank you.

All right, thank you for your presentation.

Um the city attorney is gonna make a brief comment before we proceed.

Thank you, Council President.

Today is the first time the council will vote on the continued use of surveillance technologies under the trust ordinance.

The action before the council today is to determine whether the previously approved 54 surveillance use policies should remain in effect, be modified, or be rescinded.

The council may proceed to consider and vote on any modifications to the use policies today as part of the trust ordinance annual review process.

You will note there is a corrected resolution in the materials for today that includes a request to the city's management team for labor relations to analyze any modifications to the surveillance use policies, determine whether notice to the city's recognized employee organizations is required, provide that notice if required, and return to council if there are any bargainable impacts that need to be addressed by the council.

This is necessary because although use of technology is a management right, a change to a use policy could trigger bargaining and bargaining on the impacts of that change under the Myers Millius Brown Act.

In addition to the language in the corrected resolution, we will be happy to provide the appropriate language to the clerk at the time a motion is made.

Thank you.

All right, thank you for that uh clear update.

I made a very request about the signs.

If you want to have a big giant sign, like I see some of there, go in the back row where you can do that without blocking the people behind you.

It's a standard practice we do at every meeting, whatever the issue is, whatever the passion and enthusiasm is.

But please be courteous to the people behind you.

So with that, we are now gonna proceed with public comment.

Uh city clerk.

Oh, I actually want to make an announcement because this came up the last time we had a big meeting.

I don't control who gets to speak and when they get to speak.

That's entirely the hands of the city clerk.

So she generally operates on a first come, first served basis, so that um different clerks over the years have done it differently.

Uh we generally take it on a first come, first serve uh basis.

So you may see somebody in support, you may see somebody in opposition, you may see 20 people in opposition, one person in support.

It can be very random.

So just wanted to give you a heads up that we're not um stacking the deck in any way for the public comment period.

So with that, whoops.

Thank you.

I was just getting a count.

Just wanted to let everybody know we do have over 180 speakers between here in council chambers and on the online Zoom.

So we will be going to a minute apiece.

Before I do proceed, though, I will have to make one more announcement that I will need to ask all the individuals that are in the back near the um doorway.

Uh my staff is back there.

She's gonna help open the door.

There is a overflow room.

You will be called and be given a chance to speak and give chance to walk over here.

But we do need you to be in the overflow room in a chair because while this is PD's item, the fire still comes over and will shut us down if we do not have proper egress and are thinking of everyone's safety in case there's any emergency.

So we do need to I just can't start until we have a little bit better flow.

It's for everybody's safety.

Thank you guys so much.

Starting, and we do have yellow reserve seats here in the front.

As I call your name, please come up to the yellow reserve seats as you speak.

Please vacate the yellow reserve seats and go back to your seat, and or feel free to go to the overflow area as well to let people come in.

So the first speakers are uh Kishan Price, if you can please come to the microphone.

After that, we have Clayton Fowler, Jeff Noe, Katherine Douglas, Larry Webb, Denise Friedman, and Marcella Taran.

If you can all please come up to the yellow reserve seats, and Kishan, if you can please uh come up to the front.

Now I do see that you did uh put people are seating time to you, but we did not have any additional speaker slips with your speaker slip.

So are you Kashaan?

So we don't have any additional speaker slips with your speaker slip, so it is one minute because I didn't find anyone else seeding time to you.

Okay.

Okay.

So you go up to the larger mic right there, and you'll see your timer is right there to your right.

Please proceed when ready.

Okay.

Um it seemed like we could we come up here every month our quarterly yearly to go say the same things over and over.

Why we continue to give the police the pigs eight hundred million dollars on top of this technology to continue to harass our community?

Two to two.

Cathedral snatches out of cars.

Now you want to give them this flock that no one trusts with our information and things like that, like you know, so I'm just really tired of just saying repetitive, repetitive same thing.

Say no to flock.

Put the money in the community, take it away from them, give it to us, and we'll show you what to do with it.

Thank you for that concluding comment.

Clayton Fowler.

Good afternoon, Council President, Council members.

My name is Clayton Fowler on behalf of the downtown San Diego Partnership.

For more than 30 years, we've been committed to strengthening the economic prosperity and cultural vitality of downtown San Diego.

Reducing crime and improving public safety and cleanliness are top priorities of our residents, workers, business owners, and visitors.

Safety is the foundation for everything.

When people feel safe, businesses thrive, visitors stay longer, and confidence in downtown grows.

Last year we brought together a broad coalition of stakeholders to introduce a five-point safety plan focused on reducing crime and improving both safety and cleanliness.

A key part of that plan is to enhance police presence through expanded daytime patrols and the use of emerging emerging technology like ALPRs.

As we know, all as we know, SDP is severely understaffed, and ALPRs are a practical common sense tool that helps fill those gaps in staffing levels.

Instead of relying only on officers being physically present everywhere, it provides helpful information more quickly so they can respond where they're needed when they're needed.

Please approve this.

Thank you for that concluding comment.

Jeff Noy.

I'm adamantly opposed to the license plate readers.

I know they have the beneficial selling point of catching the occasional crook.

That is the deceptive facade utilized to get them implemented.

What they are actually intended for is to be used as a tool to help create an electronic prison, locking people within their eventual assigned 15-minute cities.

It's all part of the UNWEF Agenda 2030, just like the COVID vaccines are.

Thank you for that concluding comment.

Catherine Douglas.

Catherine, you have people seating you time stone Douglas, if you can please raise his hand, as well as Nikki Zimmerman.

You'll have three minutes.

Please proceed.

No neighborhood in our city is immune to crime.

So today I'm here fighting for all my fellow San Diegans.

There's not one council member who can refute the fact that ALPRs with the right safeguards are a game changer and a force multiplier.

They are the crux of precision policing, focusing resources on those actually committing crimes and eliminating any involvement with law-abiding citizens.

ALPRs enable SDPD to look for the red truck involved in a crime without stopping every red truck they locate.

Less stopping of those not involved.

This is what your constituents want.

This low-cost, high-efficiency tool has played a critical role in maintaining safety during tough budget times.

Remember the brave young gentleman Mark Chambers who spoke at a previous hearing.

He said, I quote, the police were finally able to catch my grandma's killer, but it would have been a lot easier and faster if there had been a public camera at that moment in a big public park.

There were absolutely no cameras, and so if anybody else was in this situation, I want you guys to understand.

I want everybody to understand that not everybody gets footage to catch such violent acts such as this.

ALPRs have substantially increased the number of stolen vehicles recovered and returned to families.

ALPL ALPR data helped investigators track down suspects in the hate crime spree in Hillcrest.

In Mission Valley, there were two separate attempts to lure children that demanded answers fast.

Investigators did not have days, they had minutes.

One alert, a plate number, a timestamp, a location, shifted the entire investigation.

Patrol units found and addressed arrested the man accused of attempting to kidnap the two children.

For families, businesses, and communities shaken by these crimes, ALPRs make a huge difference.

The Oakland chapter of the NAACP called for the continued and expanded use of flock ALPR cameras across their city due to their effectiveness in both fighting and solving crimes.

Please do not take us backwards.

Your yes vote to make today means you're willing to do the difficult work to achieve a truly collaborative effort that supports this game-changing precision policing tool.

Thank you.

Larry Webb.

Larry Webb, you have time to say it's you by Andy Chottner.

Thank you.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Thank you, Councilmembers.

Larry Webb for the Mission Beach Town Council.

The board of the Mission Beach Town Council voted 11 to 0 with one abstention to continue support continued funding of the ALPR Smart Street Light system.

Major factors in this decision were that the SDPD continues to operate with significant staffing challenges.

We all know we need another thousand officers, which we all aware is not feasible in the near term.

The board found it encouraging that the STPD has worked closely with the PAB to reinforce oversight and transparency and would encourage the SDPD to continue to do so.

From my own personal perspective, I hope you consider the positive impact these systems have had on many victims of crimes and their families.

The 460 individuals who had their stolen vehicles returned to them.

This may have saved these individuals tens of thousands of dollars.

The families of elderly residents with all types of dementia who were found.

The relief to these families is priceless and their loved ones priceless to their loved ones and may have saved that person's life.

Of the 35 homicides in San Diego in 2024, ALPR technology aided in a third of them and helped lead to six apprehensions.

Four of these cases would not have been solved without the technology's assistance.

Think of the relief that brought to the families of the four cases that would not have been solved without the ALPR system.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Denise Friedman.

So I have an extra minute seated to me, and I am not going to use it.

Instead, I want to transfer it to Brian Jackson, who will be speaking later.

I have no speaker slip of anybody seating time to you at this time, so you can submit that speaker slip to me.

Submit it with his proceed.

My name is Denise Friedman.

Thank you for allowing me to address you today.

Since my return to San Diego in 2011, I have been deeply involved with supporting districts one and two first responders with public safety the number one goal of all of us.

The police firefighters, lifeguards, and park rangers.

We are proud of those efforts and have increased that have increased mutual trust, appreciation, and collaboration.

Today is your opportunity to do the same.

Trust and collaboration applies to the city's partnership with our ALPR supplier.

Together with community input, we now have ALPRs and policies in place to address issues which create trust and collaboration.

Vote yes, and we will have appreciation throughout the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And this is Marcella Turan.

Hi, Marcella Turan, neighborhood watch coordinator for 20 years.

As a volunteer, I have worked as a in the community, as I mentioned, for over 20 years.

And I've strived to help my community, and I've observed the police in my community.

I can only speak from my observation.

I cannot only tell you what I've seen.

Um my parents worked hard, they were immigrants, and they taught me to work hard and observe and try hard.

I'm here today to ask you for your support for the ALPR technology.

Uh the reasons I would like you to do that is because they've done their research, they've stepped up to the plate, they've answered your questions, and they have given you concrete evidence, not just hysterical information.

So I knew that it would go that way, but the privacy agreement has been complete comment.

Jared Wilson.

I'll call the following individuals Jared Wilson, Matt Greco, Amy Vijay, uh Vijay Megan Ibarra, and Michelle Krug, as well as Jay Goldberg.

If you can all please come up to the Yellow Reserve seats.

Jared, you have time seated to you by Umberto Peraza.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Jared Wilson.

I'm a lieutenant of the San Diego Police Department and the president of the San Diego Police Officers Association.

We represent 1,800 sworn members of the San Diego Police Department, which is arguably the most understaffed big city police department in America today.

Automated license plate readers have proven to be one of the most effective public safety tools our officers use today.

In the past year alone, they've helped recover over 200 stolen vehicles, they've solved homicides, kidnappings, and even reunited a missing senior with their family.

These successes come with clear limits and safeguards.

ALPR data is encrypted, stored securely, and deleted after 30 days.

It can't be shared with federal or out of state agencies, and each search is logged and audited to ensure lawful use.

This technology makes investigations faster and more precise, protecting both public safety and civil liberties.

We urge the city to continue supporting this vital tool, which keeps our communities and our officers safer.

Thank you.

Next is Matt Greco.

Matt Greco, you have time ceded to you by Yolanda Palatei.

Yolanda, if you can please raise your hand.

You have two minutes, please proceed.

Thank you.

My name is Matthew Greco.

I'm here on behalf of the district attorney Summer Steppen, her 343 deputies who uh prosecute crime here in the city as well as the county of San Diego in support of maintaining the ALPR as well as the street cameras.

The most compelling argument in support of this technology is to tell you how this technology is being used every day to solve and prevent crime, bring closure to victims, and protect the innocent.

Yes, protect the innocent.

As recently as this last weekend, ALPR technology was used to identify and apprehend two individuals involved in a series of armed robberies where the employees of three separate businesses were pistol whipped.

They fled in a vehicle.

At the intersection of West Point Lomba Boulevard and Nimitz while driving, uh, an individual grabbed the hair of a 64-year-old unhoused man and dragged him under his van.

He broke the victim's leg, hospitalizing him.

The victim could not describe who attacked him.

However, a street camera captured the entire cruel attack, and the ALPR identified the vehicle, which was quickly located with the defendant inside.

This technology this technology protects the innocent.

One of the very first cases involving street cameras resulted in an individual not being charged with murder.

These cameras and the ALPR technology solves crime and acts like a permanent neighborhood watch that never needs rest, that never leaves, that doesn't go on vacation, always sees uh what's there.

Thank you for those comments.

Amit?

A M-E-E-T-H.

If I've called your name, please be sure to come up to the Yellow Reserve signs after that.

Megan Ibarra, Michelle Krug, Jay Goldberg, Chase Lehman, and Valerie Traina.

If you can all please come forward to the Yellow Reserve seats.

You'll have a minute, please proceed.

Thank you.

Sorry about that.

Uh hello, my name is Amit Veget.

Um I am faculty at UC San Diego and chair of the UC San Diego Faculty Association, a group that advocates for faculty interests at city, state, and national legislators.

Um I live in District 3, uh, but our members live all over.

Um I'm here to register our members' profound concern with flock surveillance.

We live in a time when the federal government is targeting immigrants, minorities, and protesters.

They are operating indiscriminately and in many cases without warrants, collecting and storing data on U.S.

residents to threaten and intimidate us.

Flock in the end does not protect communities from crime.

It only facilitates the warrantless capture, sharing, and storing of information from communities that should be protected.

It enables San Diego police to collaborate, as they've done in the past with federal authorities in direct violation of California law, and it gives over data to an untrustworthy private company.

At a time when the city budget is already stressed, I urge you to follow the recommendation of the advisory board and to cease use of the FLOC program and delete our collected data.

Thank you.

Megan Ibarra.

Good afternoon.

I live in District 3 and commute to UCSD in District 1.

I hold a PhD in environmental policy, so I think about this as a transportation justice issue for communities of color.

Over 60,000 students, staff, and faculty commute to UCSD.

Residents are more likely to commute than out of state students.

The Flock contract is hitting at the same time as proposed MTS rate hikes for public transit, forcing commuters back into their cars.

We know that Flock shares data in violation of California sanctuary laws with ICE, which openly now targets Latinos, including more than 170 U.S.

citizens detained this year.

License plate data seems targeted, but it's actually sloppy, especially for Latinos with two last names.

For example, I ICE might get Edward Orozco Rivera's data when seeking Edgar Sandoval Rivera with disastrous consequences for all.

I just want to say that for me, stolen people harm San Diego families more than stolen cars.

Stop flop.

Thank you.

Michelle Cruz.

I had to think of this morning or afternoon.

Good afternoon.

I couldn't agree more with the previous ending statement.

That's why Rob Banta had to tell the city of San Diego to cease and desist.

We don't have any way to control what is going on with the proprietary company.

And more importantly, we need to vote this down and then go out with an RFP.

Flock is a sole proprietor.

There was never a competitive bid.

There was never a competitive process that we could compare different companies.

So please vote it down and go back to a competitive process.

Thank you.

Jay Goldberg.

Hi there.

Thanks for your service.

Being seen in public is different than being stalked in public over a period of time by a network of surveillance sensors.

The Supreme Court has affirmed that individuals retain a reasonable expectation of privacy in even in public, that the Fourth Amendment protects people, not just places.

There are attorneys here on council who know better.

It's easy.

Get a warrant.

I have to point out that the CEO of Flock referred to community activists like myself as terroristic organizations.

We are not terrible.

Thank you.

Next is Chase Lehman.

Chase, you have time seated to you by HEA.

If you can please raise your hand.

Thank you.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Good afternoon, Counselors.

My name is Chase Lehman.

I'm a resident of Santee, though I frequently visit the city of San Diego, particularly districts three and six.

For many reasons, the most common of which being visiting locally owned restaurants, mom and pop shops, and general leisure.

Continuing support of Flock and their AI-powered surveillance cameras would chill my desire to continue frequenting these stores, restaurants, and public spaces that I love.

I and many others do not wish to be constantly surveilled in our day-to-day lives, especially when we are off the clock and intending to relax.

Flock safety claims that these cameras are designed and intended to assist in solving crime by alerting police when a hotlisted vehicle drives by one of their cameras.

This is a bald faced lie that they have told countless times around our country.

When reading the Flock patent regarding these cameras, their database, and their AI, they've explicitly attempted to protect the identification of people.

Flock's patent number, patent uh 11,416,545 B1 states as follows.

Quote, if the object class of the identified object is that of a human being, then the object detection model may further analyze the image using a neural network configured to identify different classes of people, such as male, female, race, etc.

Subsequently, with aspects of the person identified, the object detection model may leverage other more detailed neural networks to further identify aspects of the person, such as, but not limited to a neural network for identifying clothing types, such as jackets, pants, shorts, hats, etc., and a neural network for gauging height and weight.

Even if we ignore what Flox said what Flock Safety has patented their technology to do in the future and focus on what they do now, it's just not effective.

From the data I obtained last night from their transparency website.

Your time has concluded.

Less than one-third of one percent of vehicles.

For that concluding comment.

Valerie Trainer.

I'm Valerie Traina of District 4.

When I was young, I read frightening stories about the Nazi Holocaust.

I wondered how German society got to the point wherein citizens informed on their neighbors.

I grew up during a time when various nations, such as the USSR, Chile, and China ramped up surveillance of their citizens.

Ordinary folks were targeted due to scapegoating vulnerable groups, as well as those who defended them.

Political prisoners were holed off to secret prisons where they were tortured and murdered.

None of this happened overnight, over time.

The populace accepted that ordinary people were to blame for their suffering, and that it was proper to kidnap them for detention.

ALPR are being used as tools by the fascist Trump regime to kidnap our non-criminal neighbors.

It took city council members like you and have to approve the tool.

I'm sorry, ma'am, your time has concluded.

We do have to be fair with everybody's time.

Irene Martin.

If I can have Irene Martin, Jessica Bravo, Kathy Abarca, Bill Ganley, Angela Benson, and Lori Libsman to all come up to the front row.

You all have one minute, Irene, please proceed.

Council members, hello.

I'm Irene Martin, and I reside in District 2.

As you all know, the fact of the matter is our police department is hundreds of officers short.

The ALPR system helps keep our city safe so our officers are able to work more efficiently.

The system provides real-time alerts that help recover stolen vehicles and helps with solving serious crimes such as homicides and kidnapping attempts.

And this system gives that balance.

There are safeguards in place, and the results are real.

Please vote to keep the ALPR system in place.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Jessica Bravo.

I reside in District 8, and I do commute to work in District 3.

While the city works to recruit more officers for our short staff police department, the LL PR system has helped fill that gap.

Motor vehicle theft has gone down by about 20%.

Hundreds of stolen cars have been recovered, and this system has helped lead to arrests in serious cases.

Now, I personally value privacy and the safety of not only myself, my family, the children in my lives and my community, but the ALPR system has shown that the results are there, and I hope that you vote to keep it.

Thank you.

Kathy Abarka.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Kathy Abarca.

I live in District 6, and I work in District 3.

SDBD has made it clear that they do everything to put up the safeguards in place to protect our residents.

I'm asking you today to act on the facts, not hypotheticals.

The data is clear.

ALPR saves lives and solves crimes.

These are not numbers, they are real people.

It's families of victims fighting peace.

It's children protected from harm and its missing loved ones finding their way home.

Every statistic is a person, and every person deserves the safety that ALPR provides.

Thank you.

Next is Bill Ganley.

Bill, you have time ceded to you by Hanan Liberman.

Thank you.

And Philip Ginsburg.

And I'll put your three minutes on the clock, and you can manage your time.

Okay.

Phil was going to speak first at this point.

Thank you.

Honorable council members.

My name is Phil Ginsburg.

I'm a resident of the city of San Diego.

And I have been active as in Jewish communal security for over 25 years.

I'm appearing today to voice my support for the continued operation of cameras and the readers.

There's no favoritism or discrimination by the readers.

They just read the licenses, not the face or the drivers or the occupants.

The readers are accurate.

Witnesses are not.

Think about this.

A witness gives the police officer a license plate.

It's off by one digit.

And the police forces go after that inaccurate license plate, causing major problems.

Let's also honestly agree to this.

One of our children or grandchildren are abducted.

And we have no evidence of who took them, what vehicle, but those license plate readers can find our child very quickly.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, President.

Uh Council President Lacava and members of the Council.

My name is Bill Ganley.

I'm the community security director for the Jewish Federation of San Diego.

And I just want to concentrate on that one statistic that one of the previous speakers mentioned, and that's the homicide statistic and that clearance rate.

35 homicides in this city last year, and a third of those cases, ALPR technology was critical in those investigations, which resulted in six arrests.

And of those six arrests, four of those six cases, homicides, not stolen vehicles, which are also important, but four people, those cases would not have been solved, would not have been solved, but for this technology.

So I want to say that you know, most of the time you hear about homicide investigators, they speak for the dead.

And I think with a vote to support this, we can continue with technology that can help the police department when they investigate these serious crimes.

So I ask you to continue to support the use of this technology.

Thank you.

All right.

It was very clear that there was a disruption and kind of an insult to a speaker that you disagreed with.

Please don't do that.

There's a way to communicate if you agree with the speaker or don't agree with the speaker.

I think everybody deserves respect coming forward.

City clerk continue.

Thank you.

Angela Benson.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Angela Benson, and I'm a resident of District 7.

I oppose mass surveillance of San Diego citizens by Flock.

My concerns are the manner in which this contract was entered into via a closed bid process, and that Flock was ushered in and supported by an SDPD captain who was then hired by Flock three months after the deal was sealed.

The San Diego Privacy Advisory Board made a formal recommendation to the city to stop using Flock because of 31 policy and product changes that are needed.

Yet the public safety committee, that includes a member of this city council, unanimously voted to approve the continued use of FLOC without any of the needed changes to its policies or products.

A 2021 report from EFF found that according to data from 63 law enforcement agencies in California, only 0.05% of the data collected by ALPRA.

Your time has concluded to public safety interests at the time of data.

Thank you.

Lori Lipsman.

Hello, Council members.

As a longtime resident of San Diego District 3, I'm asking you to think seriously about how you and the City of San Diego will be remembered.

Will history see this council as collaborators with expanding surveillance or as leaders who protected civil liberties and invested in people.

You have the power to shape a narrative of care, community, and responsible governance.

More surveillance tools like Flock do not make us safer.

What actually keeps people safe are strong communities with access to housing, mental health, support, education, and basic resources.

I urge you to reject Flock and any expansion of mass surveillance.

Use our tax dollars to strengthen San Diego's wealth being not to monitor us.

Please choose over people over profit.

Democratic values over authoritarian tendencies and community safety over corporate promises.

Thank you for those comments.

Christian Fuentes, Christian Fuentes.

After that, we have Omar Federico, Grace Rojas Jimenez, Barbara Pinto, Anna Ramos Ontiveros.

Any of these people here?

Maybe in the back room.

Laurie Johnson and Michael Patterson.

So I'll call the names again.

Christian Fuentes.

Please come up to the podium.

Christian Fuentes, Omar Federico, Grace Rojas Jiménez, Barbara Pinto, Anna Ramos Ontiveros, Lori Johnson, and Michael Patterson.

Is uh Christian Fuentes here?

No Christian Fuentes.

Omar Federico, please come up to the microphone.

Good afternoon, Council, and good afternoon, Councilmember Foster.

My name's Omar, and I'm a member of ACE.

I oppose any continued contract with Flock Safety and their continued automated license plate readers.

Your constituents have a right to move around Imperial and Euclid without surveillance.

San Diego thrives when policy is motivated by health and access and not fear and surveillance.

What's awesome about San Diego is that we're 3,000 miles away from the office in charge of this policy shift.

So we do not have to concede to intimidation today.

Thank you.

Grace Rojas Jimenez.

My name is Grace Rojas Jimenez, and I'm a member of ACE, and I'm born and raised in San Diego Cumiai territory.

I'm here to call for eradication of Flock ALPR contracts with the city of San Diego and to turn off the ALPR cameras.

This dangerous and harmful mass surveillance, which is also funded by billionaire Peter Thiel, who has ties and complicity to Israel's apartheid, Flock and STB uh SDPD have given access of information to eyes who continue to racially profile and abduct indigenous black, brown, and people of color, which continue the system of fascism.

Migrants should not be illegal on stolen land.

Instead of funding 3.5 million plus dollars against community, you should invest money for communities like education, healthcare, and housing.

I do not give consent for surveillance nor my tax dollars to fund Israel's genocide on Palestine.

Um get the flock out of SD.

Barbara Pinto.

My name is Barbara Pinto, and I am an ACE member and a resident of Logan Heights.

Um I live on Harrison Avenue between 28th and Commercial Avenue.

We have very, very little lighting, very inadequate.

We have begged for over 10 years for lighting.

Monies can be spent for these things for our communities, and this is what we want.

I'm here to say that we we're asking you, please do not renew your contract with Flock.

We have been begging for lighting for years.

We have been betting for stop signs where we have inadequate stop signs.

We can go for blocks with no lighting, we can go for blocks with no stops.

We need help in our communities with these things.

We do not need to spend billions of dollars on surveillance equipment.

Uh we feel it's an it's an invasion of our privacy, not to mention the cost of maintaining this equipment.

We ask you to please consider the needs of the community.

We need affordable housing, middle care.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anna Ramos Otiveros.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Um, my name is Ana Ramos.

I'm a community organizer with ACE in San Isidro.

And I'm here to speak on behalf of the South Bay community and our members who are not able to be here in person.

I want to start off with a fact.

The fact of the matter is that we know FLOC has already violated state law by sharing the information they've gathered to federal agencies like DHS, directly aiding them in hunting down our immigrant community.

So no, under no circumstances will we support a company that has already proven to us that they cannot be trusted.

And here's another fact.

We know that when we address the root causes of crime, crime goes down.

And you know what it all boys boils down to?

Poverty.

So instead of spending millions of dollars funding a technology that functions by mass surveillance our community, mass surveilling our community and putting at risk our data.

What we need is affordable housing.

We need free health care and much more.

We need policies that actually address the problems that are keeping our communities on house and on fit.

Thank you for that concluding comment.

Laurie Johnson.

And I'll call Michael Patterson, Amy Kenmore, Jackson Byrd, Fred Taiko, Jesse Schmidt.

If you've already spoken, please return to your seats to make the yellow seats available for the next speakers.

Please proceed.

Good afternoon.

I'm a downtown San Diego resident, District 3.

I'm here to ask, no, beg you, beg you to shut down Flock and their ALPRs.

Number one, ALPRs are a threat to everybody's rights.

The mass surveillance violates every person's right to privacy and liberty under the Constitution.

Number two, it has been disheartening to watch our neighbors of color and lower income communities thrown into custody without due process.

You know they're hunted down using ALPRs.

Many are afraid to go to work, they're afraid to seek medical care, they're afraid to take their children to school.

You know they share cars.

Lots of mistakes are happening.

Do you want our city to allow this happening?

Allowing this to happen during FLOC using FLOC AP ALPRs.

Do you really believe it's just a toggle on the FLOG website that allows San Diego police department to share data with ICE, border patrol, and the feds in general?

I think not.

Michael Patterson.

Hi, my name is Michael Patterson.

I moved to San Diego about four years ago to retire and to be closer to my grandchildren.

I live in Hillcrest.

I love San Diego, and I feel safe here.

Uh some council members have uh noted that San Diego is already the one of the safest cities in the country.

Uh even with 1,000 fewer policemen.

Imagine.

Well, great.

Why then partner with a company like FLOC?

Why then help them build a nationwide system of mass surveillance?

The idea that Big Brother will be watching me, my grandchildren, my neighbors.

Now that's scary.

The rise of dictatorial rule in America is terrifying.

I want my elected officials to resist the slide towards authoritarianism, not be complicit in it.

Flock doesn't make us safer, it makes us more vulnerable to authoritarian intimidation and coercion.

You have a chance to say not in San Diego.

So please make San Diego safer.

Amy Kenmore.

Refuse FLOC.

Hi, my name is Amy Canamore.

I'm a lecturer at UC San Diego and a member of UCAFT Local 1474.

Our teachers union takes a strong position in opposition to Flock because we're educators committed to protecting the freedom of speech, academic freedoms and privacy, but also because our students and communities are hurting as Trump's rogue federal agents abduct people throughout the city.

And because Flock threatens our fundamental rights and enables this type of targeting.

To be clear, we have not seen accountability.

We cannot trust this company, especially in the current client.

You will be hearing much more from us about your plans to protect our communities and our students from these escalating attacks.

In the meantime, the most basic thing you can do to keep us safe is to take down Flock immediately.

Thank you.

Jackson Byrd.

Hello, my name is Jackson Byrd.

I'm with DSA San Diego, and I'm a resident of District 5.

Flock has demonstrated itself to be ungovernable here in San Diego and around the country.

The lack of prompt transparency surrounding the data breach earlier this year, in which San Diego Flock records were accessed by outside agencies 12,600 times is inexcusable.

The Trump administration is utilizing mass surveillance to enact a white nationalist vision for our society while our city continues to make excuses for utilizing the same technology here.

Hosting the infrastructure poses grave dangers to civil liberties of all San Diegans.

According to reporting by the Associated Press on November 20th, Flock has paused its pilot program with Border Patrol for now.

Alternative contract companies, record and vigilant solutions are also cited in this article as having shared ALPR data with Border Patrol.

I urge the council to vote no on mass surveillance.

Mass surveillance does not make San Diego safer.

Investing in our communities makes San Diego safer.

Thank you.

Thank you, Fred Taiko.

Fred, do you have time seated to you by Marshall Anderson?

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Um, Council President.

My name is Fred Taiko.

I'm with the San Diego County Lodging Association.

And on behalf of uh the lodging association, we'd like to express our support for item 331.

San Diego's vibrant tourism economy depends on the safety of both employees as well as the visitors to San Diego that rely on a uh on uh the strong reputation of a safe city.

Automated license plate readers are vital, are a vital tool to help law enforcement solve crimes and provide justice to victims, particularly at a time when existing law enforcement resources are scarce.

This acts as a force multiplier.

Now, we recognize uh the importance of privacy concerns.

The lodging community has been impacted by increased immigration enforcement.

That said, this policy we believe this policy strikes a the right balance in that it's governed by stringent regulations, specifically designed to ensure that both privacy and civil rights are protected, thereby maintained and strengthened community trust in law enforcement.

For these reasons, we strongly urge your support for this policy.

Thank you.

My apologies, Jesse Smith.

I have a minute.

I have a minute seated.

Excuse me?

I have a minute seated.

An additional minute.

I don't have any other speaker slips, but if you have people that are seeding you time, they can uh it's eat sub.

Please raise your hand if you're seeding time to Jesse Schmidt.

My staff will go over there to talk to you.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Jesse Schmidty, and I serve as a district day commissioner on the Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention.

That role requires more than advising on recommendations.

It requires evaluating public safety proposals through the lens of community trust, data integrity, and real world impact.

Based on that responsibility, I cannot support nor endorse the Flock contract here today.

District 8 does not trust Flock, and that matters.

I cannot, in good faith or in alignment with our ethical duty say that impacted community members in district 8 nor any other district trust Flock.

And if a tool that is not trusted by the community, it will overwhelmingly monitor.

It will not function as a public safety measure.

It will continue to function as a form of surveillance with no oversight.

Trust is not a soft metric.

It is a prerequisite for effective public safety.

I have the privilege of seeing firsthand that public safety depends on legitimacy.

When residents believe that the city is surveilling them rather than partnering with them, cooperative efforts drop.

Intervention becomes much harder.

The overstripe structure is incredibly insufficient.

This contract lacks meaningful taxpayer oversight, transparent auditing, and clear limits on data access.

It is hard for me as a commissioner and community advocate to sell trust when the very officers who are supposed to work with us turn around and sell at our community, and seemingly seemingly do so in partnership with private corporations.

Interagency data sharing is a civil rights risk.

Flock systems can share real-time location data with agencies beyond San Diego, including jurisdictions with documented patterns of civil rights violations.

San Diego should not outsource its residents' privacy or expose our city's families or any other uh community for that matter to cross-jurisdictional surveillance without uh very, very limited um or strict safeguards.

Let's be serious.

Publicized license plates isn't what we're here about.

It is how that plate is tracked, recorded, stored, and used to surveil community members again, again and again.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ted Wameck.

Ted Wameck.

Just looking if they're coming in from the back room.

Ted Wamak.

Do not see.

Janica Faulkner.

Jenico Faulkner, after that, we have Aaron Surramato Grassi, Charlie Nieto, Denise Friedman, Nicole Lilly, and Claire Snyder.

If you can all please come up to the yellow reserve seats.

Janica, you have time seated to you by Itzel Maganda Chavez?

No.

The time seated is by Aaron Tudomoronarasi.

Thank you.

Okay, is it sell not here?

It's right there.

She just ceded her time to Jesse Smitty.

Got it.

Thank you.

Please proceed.

You'll have two minutes.

Hi, my name is Janika.

I am the civic engagement coordinator with Alliance San Diego, and I live in District 4.

Alliance San Diego strongly opposes the city's ALPR contract with Flock and urges you to end the contract immediately.

My family, friends, and community are hurting because rogue federal agents are abducting, detaining, and deporting people throughout San Diego.

Border Patrol and ICE have created a nationwide surveillance network using ALPR cameras and are using it to track and profile us.

Flock ran a pilot program for DHS to help them use their technology more easily to detain and deport our community members.

Flock has shared data with federal immigration officers, even in jurisdictions where they were clearly not allowed.

President Trump has shown time and time again that he is willing to ignore and violate the Constitution.

A vote to continue the flock contracts, put more San Diegans at risk of being harmed by a federal administration that is focused on targeting and criminalizing our communities.

There is no real way to protect our data from getting in the hands of federal immigration enforcement with Flock.

That's why cities across the country, including Austin, Texas, Denver, Colorado, Oak Park, Illinois, and Sedona, Arizona, and others have voted to reject Flock.

It is time for San Diego to do the same.

Council members, the city's use of this technology means that you are complicit in these abductions.

It is your job to protect us, not keep a private business in business.

Alliance San Diego urges you all to vote and end the flock contract and get the flock out of San Diego.

You see that flag over there?

That flag is a tribe is many tribes of resistance.

As a Kumiai person, the only Kumey person in this room, no one is illegal on stolen land, and we should not be complicit in making it seem like we need to get rid of people just because imaginary borderlines.

Next is Charlie Nieto.

Charlie, you have time seated to you by Brenda Sullivan.

If you can please raise your hand.

Thank you.

You'll have two minutes.

Thank you.

Uh good afternoon, Mr.

Council President and honorable city council members.

My name is Charlie Nieto.

Today I'm speaking as a young sineagan.

I don't think anyone argues against the fact that ALPRs have achieved their intended results.

In a time where our officers are notoriously understaffed, ALPRs allow SDPD to do its job without additional payroll.

They have been vital in preventing and stopping hundreds of instances of kidnappings, human trafficking, homicides, sexual assaults, burglaries, hate crimes, and much more.

Where most concerns about this technology come from is the potential for unintended consequences, and understandably so.

I myself have grown up as part of a generation that is on a national scale, hyper aware of over policing, police brutality, and the disenfranchisement of historically marginalized communities.

So what I feel is not talked about enough is that ALPRs actually make San Diego safer for everyone by reducing unnecessary police stops.

Instead of pulling over people that might match a descriptive description, officers are alerted only when a specific license plate linked to a crime appears.

That means officers are not stopping people who are innocent.

Thus, ALPRs decrease community friction, reduce the potential for racial profiling, and actively build trust between neighborhoods and our officers.

The work is never done, and we must never be content with stagnation or complacency.

I urge you to not repeal this technology and move us back to the policing of the past, and instead support the continued use of ALPRs and other innovative approaches to move our city forward.

Thank you very much.

Next is Nicole Lilly.

Nicole Lilly, you have time seated to you by Ethan Gizada.

Thank you.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Hello, my name is Nicole Lilly.

I'm the executive director of our time to act, a youth-led nonprofit here in San Diego.

Surveillance is not safety.

Surveillance begets violence.

It aids in the snatching of the loving parent, the dedicated advocate, the thoughtful next door neighbor, leaving children with only the searching eye of a camera that assumes only guilt.

It teaches youth that their leaders care more to watch their every move than to watch out for them.

Community keeps us safe.

It creates knowing, it creates trust, and it creates security.

Security that surveillance, like ALPR fractured.

Even if we are to believe it, wait, why don't we give you the two minutes back and you can start from the beginning so we don't lose your context?

Start from the beginning.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Surveillance is not safety.

Surveillance begets violence.

It aids in the snatching of the loving parent, the dedicated advocate, the thoughtful next door neighbor, leaving children with only the searching eye of a camera that assumes only guilt.

It teaches youth that their leaders care more to watch their every move than to watch out for them.

Community keeps us safe.

It creates knowing, trust, and security.

Security that surveillance, like ALPRs, fractures.

Even if we are to believe SDPD or the state has best intentions, which they've proven themselves that they do not, time and time again.

It is not their intention I ask you to consider.

It is impact.

The vote before you is about your impact on our community.

Surveillance harms our community.

All the claims of SDPD are drowned in the reality presented in this room from the very people they claim to be serving.

We are telling you.

We are telling you their lies of transparency and accountability are known to be false.

You cannot say you did not know.

You cannot say you had our safety in mind.

Will you listen?

Do you see us?

Will you vote for community for safety?

For mitigating harm, for addressing unprecedented threat and state violence.

A vote for flock, a vote for surveillance, is a conscious choice to violate the trust and safety of your neighbors.

You have the power.

We are asking you now.

Do you have the courage of your constituents?

To vote no.

We are watching you.

Thank you.

Claire Snyder.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Claire Snyder, and I'm here with Youth Will and also a resident of District 3.

I urge you to oppose the use of Flock ALPR systems in San Diego.

Community has come to this council hundreds of times before to tell you what we want and need to feel safe in San Diego.

And right now, we're here again to tell you that mass surveillance does not make us feel safe.

There was a data breach of our data back in 2024, and no one has been held accountable for it.

If you cannot guarantee the community's data won't get into the wrong hands, then why would you approve such a technology?

I can nearly guarantee you that Flock does not care about the community safety.

And if you do, then I would urge you to vote vote now.

Thank you.

Liliana Soriano.

We have Liliana Soriano Garista, Tristan Barry, CJ Mendoza, Kevin Veno, Patricia Serrano, Stephen Lang.

If you can all please come forward to the front of the room.

Hi, my name is Liliana Soriano, and I serve as the director of policy at Youth Will.

We're a nonprofit youth advocacy organization in San Diego.

A lot of our youth reside throughout the districts, especially student activists taking or living in districts six, one, nine, and seven.

That technology and enforcement that kills black and brown bodies is a priority.

Signing this contract and calling services non-essential that are vital in historically uninvested communities, such as libraries and youth programming, is inhumane.

Pouring millions to a private company that will abuse the data and breach it by sharing it with an agency that has been kidnapping thousands of people and have the same skill skin color as me.

Um only hope SDPD only tracked 200-ish out of 140,000 reports of real non-scene combined.

Thank you.

Hello, Council members.

My name is Tristan Beerie, and I'm the youth organizer over at Youth Will.

I'm here to ask that the council protect San Diegans by rejecting Flock and ensuring they delete all information they have on us.

Just as I read that the city of Springfield, Oregon is doing so as of two days ago.

The converse the conversation of reapproval shouldn't even be considered given that the experts of your privacy advisory board and most of our community are standing against it.

I believe that if the city council approves this item, that they will be irreversibly aligning themselves with the values of the current federal administration.

In a time where San Diegans are more and more affected by ice crackdowns and raids, which are leading to the disappearance of our community without due process, it is the responsibility of the city to reject the further oppression of its people, not be complicit with Flock and ICE.

I implore you to take a moment to think about whether Flock, a program that disregarded the city of Evanston, Illinois by installing cameras that have been ordered and been shut down.

Flock who lied to the Colorado government about collaborating with customs and border patrol, Flock, the company that has already mishandled the data of San Diegans without consequence is a company that the city of San Diego wants to put its trust in.

I don't know about you, but data leaks and disappearing don't make me feel safer.

Hi, City Council.

My name is CJ, and I'm an internet use well.

I'm here to urge you all to oppose continuing to use Flock ALPR systems in San Diego.

San Diegans data should only exist here in San Diego and under the legal protections of our city.

Flock is part of the umbrella of dangerous mass surveillance technologies to ignore the law and violate the Constitution.

It keeps information on our locations, photographs of our cars, and way more than what's presented to us.

Flock is not interested in real public safety.

It's interested in going beyond mass surveillance and towards revenue per police officer.

There is no economic incentive to create real safety or exploring other options.

Police have been sharing our LPR's data with federal agencies in direct violation of policy and California law.

Federal agencies have access flock data directly to support federal immigration rates.

Any city leaders who vote for Block are voting for Trump's immigration rates and for future advancements of aggression of aggressions in our communities that Trump demonizes.

I urge you to seek other ways to solve crimes that don't involve collecting our data.

Thank you.

No one Flock.

Kevin Venno.

Good evening, Council members.

I would just like to address some of the misinformation and half-truths that were brought up at the beginning of the meeting.

Whether the intention is or isn't to share information with ICE, the outcome is is that it is and has already been shared with them to harass and hunt down residents in San Diego.

A license plate tracker is able to identify a person.

If you have a license plate, all the information is a database click away.

But police are not just tracking this information because they like playing the license plate game.

It is if that's the case, then they can play on the games on their own time without the city's funding.

It is flocking tone deaf for the city council members to continue fund and support this measure that residents reject while unable to fund and support city amenities like healthcare housing, sewage and wastewater treatment management, and public transit.

Patricia Serrano.

After that will be Stephen Lang, Arya Grossman, Hamera, Yousuf, Lily, Irani.

Please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Patricia Serrano, and I'm with organization PANA.

Our city policies for Flock failed to protect our data.

And they are filing to provide transparency on how flock is used.

Our communities already are being terrorized by feds.

Surveillance make more vulnerable to brown, black, immigrants, and Muslims.

All these communities.

Seems like we are criminals in the first place, just for the way we look.

So I ask you, please, in conscience.

Vote to shut down FLAC.

Stephen Lay.

I'm here to voice my opinion against the use of mass surveillance in San Diego as a resident of District 3.

I urge all my representatives on the council and across the city to listen to our constituents as we are a government for the people by the people.

And to quote one of our founding fathers.

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

With the erosion of these privacy rights and the erosion of our Fourth Amendment, we are willing away rights that are inherent to the American public that are given to us by the Constitution.

These will no longer be available to our youth, our children, our grandchildren.

We're forgoing rights of future generations for a short-term fix to a problem that could be fixed with ulterior motives with this funding for FLOC.

We could easily reinvest in our communities and provide higher quality of life to all San Diegans.

Thank you.

And thank you for San Diego for showing up to oppose mass surveillance.

Aria Grossman or Arya Grossman.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Arya Grossman.

I'm the policy manager at Circulate San Diego.

Circulate is a policy and planning organization that advocates for safer streets and eliminating road deaths.

I'm speaking today in support of ALPRs because they are a critical tool for making our roads safer.

Earlier this year, two individuals committed a hit and run in Claremont and reported the vehicle stolen in an attempt to evade responsibility.

ALPR cameras helped police identify and ultimately arrest the criminals.

When somebody commits a traffic crime or kills somebody on San Diego roads, they should be held accountable.

This technology is a proven tool to assist SDPD in these efforts.

Traffic enforcement is a crucial component of making our streets safer for people who drive, ride, and walk.

The city should continue to use the proven traffic safety technologies that we know hold dangerous drivers accountable.

I strongly encourage the council to advance this item and help make our streets safer.

Thank you.

Omira.

Please raise your hand.

K-O-W.

Oh, there you are.

And then uh Fatun.

You can please raise your hand.

Thank you so much.

You'll have three minutes, please proceed.

All right.

Good afternoon, Council.

My name is Hamira Yousafi with PANA, a part of the Trust SD coalition.

I'm here today because, like so many who are here today, we are recognizing that it's been almost a year since the unimaginable grief our communities have been facing since the Trump administration has come into power.

We are also facing almost a year since the annual surveillance report had come out.

And we are here at in December asking you all to do the right thing here.

Our communities are being abducted, our families are being torn apart.

This is not happening somewhere else.

This is happening right here in our homes in our communities.

And it is your responsibility right now to act.

And the way that you can act, you cannot pass things like the due process and safety ordinance and say you protect immigrants, but then when it comes to real technologies that harm our communities, you turn your back on us.

That is speaking out of both sides of your mouth.

And I and I want you all to understand what's at stake here today.

I just heard from the presentation that the data isn't being shared with the federal government.

But let's just be honest here.

The data has already been shared.

That is why we are here right now.

Okay.

That's what is in front of you and the annual surveillance report you're looking at.

That's what the attorney general wrote at CSIN to does this letter to you all on.

That is why we are here.

We cannot trust Flock with this data.

And any changes that were made to the policy, let's be clear.

We cannot trust Flock safety.

It is an irresponsible company.

It has um proven to be harmful to share data with the federal government all over the country, including here in San Diego.

So we are asking you to do the right thing today.

Are you with Peter Thiel and the Trump administration?

Right?

Is that what we're gonna side with today?

Who's aducting our communities?

And we are all vulnerable.

Maybe today it's immigrants and women, but every San Diegan is vulnerable to this administration.

So I want to know are you all with them?

Are you all with working families?

Are you all with immigrants?

Are you all with women?

Are you all with everyone else?

So please stop Flock.

This is not the company that you all want to side with today.

Please don't make another 101 ash street happen today.

It's gonna open us up to more liability.

Please stop block.

Thank you.

Next is Lily Irani.

Lily, you have several people seeding you time, so if you can please raise your hands.

Seth Hall.

Seth Hall.

I'm joining him.

Oh, okay.

Um Geti Irani.

Please raise your hand.

She might have left.

She left.

Okay.

Syed Sadat.

Mohamed Umar.

Other room.

Oh, see coming.

If they're in the other room.

Okay, so Mohammed Omar was here.

Ramo Abdi.

Thank you.

Fatima Said.

Thank you.

Mohammed Mohamed.

Musa Darman.

Thank you.

Mukh Mohamed.

Abitao Tubak Batch.

Sorry.

Can you raise your hand?

Thank you.

Muna Shegnu.

Thank you.

And Lucky Odin.

Lucky Odin.

Oh, that was you.

So then it was just one person that was not here.

That is 12 minutes that you'll have for your organized presentation.

We do have a PowerPoint.

Please proceed.

All right.

Hi.

My name is Lily Rani.

I'm here with Seth Hall's speaking on behalf of the Trust Coalition.

I'm also a member of Democratic Socialists of America and the San Diego Faculty Association.

And I'm here representing myself and not my employer.

Thank you.

I'm Seth Hall today speaking with the Trust Coalition, and I won't be using slides at the moment, so you don't have to track me on that.

We're here today asking very clearly that City Council shut down Flock and stop doing business with Flock.

Flock is bad for a lot of reasons, but including that it has given access to federal agents and it's done a lot of harm to law-abiding non-criminal people in this country.

But I want to point out another reason why Flock is bad.

It was made public last year that Flock hired a sitting mayor of a California city.

This year Flock in other cities have hired council members who resigned midterm to go work for Flock.

It has been on the record that Flock has hired police officers while they were working for the police department.

And Flock hired the former El Cahone police chief.

He went to work for them as well.

And so today's article in the Union Tribune highlights how Flock hired one of our police officers who sold Flock to this city council as a sole source and exclusive solution when in fact there were many, many other options for San Diego to consider.

Flock is bad because the people in this city are legitimately wondering who is getting paid behind this.

Who is preparing to leave their job to join Flock's sales team next?

While we watch everybody kind of twist themselves into pretzels trying to keep a vendor that is on the record as being a bad and corrupt vendor.

Flock is a festering infection in our collective body and the body of other cities and other cities are throwing Flock out.

Last count, at least 25 other cities this year, have voted to reject Flock.

But in this city, what are we hearing?

What are our city leaders saying in response to this infection that we have in our body?

One of the things that we're hearing is well, our oversight ordinance and our use policy, they give us better protections than the other cities have, so it's okay for us to keep Flock.

Really weaponizing our protective ordinance against us.

Council member, other places that have thrown out Flocks, I want to make you aware, have very strong transparency.

And they have been able to see how Flock has been used in their city.

San Diego has weak transparency.

When I ask for a public record around how Flock is used, I get the same thing you get, and that the city has posted on the SDPD website.

It is a big black box of redacted text.

That is what San Diego calls transparency.

There is no way for us to know how Flock is being used as long as we're going to be a city with weak transparency.

Council members.

Resulted in a data breach, have resulted in the failure of city council to follow the privacy board's uh advice.

It has resulted in not failing to protect us from these failures that we've experienced.

So I don't know how we would say that we have better protections than other cities when we are in fact demonstrating that we that our protections failed to actually protect us.

We've also been hearing that we can improve the use policy, and that will keep San Diegans safe.

I ask the council to tell me what use policy is going to protect you from Trump's joint terrorism task force that has been recently empowered to use all manners necessary to investigate the disfavored populations that uh that President Trump has defined.

What use policy can you provide that protects us from Flock paying people who work in our city to sell flock to you?

What use policy is going to fix that?

What use policy can you write that's going to stop Flock from causing a data breach in our city?

These are not problems that you can solve by fiddling with the use policy.

I admire the city council's recent zeal and interest in strong use policies, but that is not what people here today are asking for.

They didn't come here asking for you to fiddle with the rules of the use policy.

We are coming here today, and 65 different organizations, including labor and many other nonprofit religious and industry groups signed our letter asking you to shut down Flock.

That is the request here today.

We've also heard an excuse that we agree with much of what the PAB recommended.

So we're okay to keep Flock.

Council members, you cannot hide behind the privacy board if you want to keep Flock.

You have to ignore them, and you need to own it.

The chair of the PAB made it very clear in the story that ran today in the Union Tribune.

Quote the two memos that they sent you are saying essentially the same thing.

The board wanted to send a message saying, look, you should not use these things without implementing our recommendations.

The board made lots of recommendations, but primarily they recommended you cease use.

You cannot pick and choose from their recommendations like a menu.

This is not a menu.

This is serving raw chicken to your dinner guests.

You do not get any credit for cooking it most of the way.

Okay.

I've in closing, I'll just note that everybody I've heard today has actually been in agreement.

Even the people who have been up here fighting for ALPR have said the same thing.

They expect the city to use this responsibly, and they're encouraged when it's used responsibly.

Nobody, nobody, nobody has come to the mic today to defend the failures of Flock.

There is no defense of this company's failures in our city and across this country.

Everybody agrees that we need safer alternatives in here.

Shut the flock down and get the flock out.

All right, could you see slides?

Thank you.

So one of the things that's been really upsetting about Flock's conduct in relation to community concerns has been the dismissiveness.

And so I'm here to present not hypotheticals, but facts.

So fact, we lose control when other cities request our data.

El Cajon has declared that they don't respect SB34 prohibitions.

It only takes any search from another part of the state to make a license plate search request under false pretenses and put San Diegans in harm's way.

Use policies can't save us, and despite seeing the valiant efforts of SDPD, it strains believability that SCPD has the capacity to rigorously verify the hundreds or even thousands of search requests they are going to be getting for data.

University of Washington researchers already documented numerous cases of busy police officers helping one another out with searches across jurisdictions or even by sharing passwords.

Not hypothetical, but documented.

A use policy cannot fix this.

SDPD promises a new monthly audit of data sharing, but the reasons will be chosen from a flock drop-down of sanitized, I mean standardized justifications, eliminating the chances of transparency through the accidental revelations of honesty.

Next slide, please.

Oh, and finally, we lose control by sending our data out of state.

I apologize.

Flock testified on June 27 to our own public safety committee that they get served court orders for data and they would disclose customer data if it was reasonably necessary to comply with legal process.

Legitimate law enforcement purposes include the Donald Trump National Security Presidential Memorandum that Seth gestured towards, targeting nonprofits, campus activists, and zine makers as domestic terrorists to be investigated by JTTF.

And we have no transparency or oversight into JTTF, especially because of loopholes introduced by Von Wilpert and Campio into our ordinance.

We also send Flock data outside the US where it's processed by underpaid AI workers.

Flock has proven to be at best irresponsible and at worst bad faith.

In Colorado, they lied about their CVP pilot until journalists uncovered it and forced them to fess up.

In Texas, Flock and the Texas Sheriff colluded to cover up abortion searches they were doing as welfare searches until court documents acquired by EFF showed otherwise.

And independent security researchers have also demonstrated several of Flock's own claims about security on their website to be false, and Senator Wyden has sent FLOC letters of censure on this and other bases.

Leaked memos show what I'm showing you here that Flock is building a product to combine not just license plates, but data broker data and other kinds of people search data to allow police to search people, not just cars.

This is basically Flock's version of Palantir.

This is an AI company.

This is an AI company that profits off of innovative new algorithms to detect unusual movements, and the Palantir like product is part of that business model where they're accountable to investors.

Flox's chief legal officer Dan Haley posted on LinkedIn this week that he claims that real communities want Flock, while the rest of us traffic in hypotheticals and hyperbole.

And unfortunately, we've heard this echoed in some talking points today.

The real communities that Dan Haley has posted on his LinkedIn post is a stock photo used in a bunch of different websites if you just do a Google image search.

The problem is not hypotheticals, the problem is redactions, secrecy, and the dismissal of investigative research documenting Flock's myriad misuses.

We can never show you all the harms that because the police have access to all the data and give us the black box.

A next slide, please.

Oh, well, I'm gonna go to the next slide because I'm out of time.

Um crucially, Flock just in March of this year, raised money from Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, which is Peter Thiel's Venture Capital Fund.

These are the very same people that are funding Trump's campaigns, setting Trump's AI agenda, and we can't.

This is literally fascinating fascist infrastructure that we're building.

Every single one of us deserves safety.

One second.

Thank you.

Your time is concluded, but we have a new speaker step, Carlo.

If you can raise your hand, Carlo.

Continue with your last minute.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

This is why city after city, now more than 25 have dropped flock in recent months.

Your job is oversight.

This is a company that broke laws in multiple states.

It has season to cyst orders in Illinois.

It has CEOs that can call concerned citizens terrorists.

Its owners are the Trump regime.

All residents deserve safety.

Crime victims, gender-affirming caresekers, international students, immigrants, domestic violence victims, workers on strike, people who have been hurt by blue-collar crimes and white collar crimes.

Will you vote for Trump's infrastructure?

Is the question to every single one of you?

Or will you vote for real safety?

Our coalition will not stop.

Next slide, please.

We have grown.

We have now more than 70 organizations, including the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council and multiple unions that are paying attention to the way fascist infrastructures harm us all.

And we will be back here, so please make the right decision today.

Thank you.

Brandon Placentia.

Okay, for all the following individuals, Brandon Plasencia, Blessing, Okon Qua, I believe, Miguel Avila Morales, Daniel Steely or Stelli, Anna Sindelar, Elizabeth Givens, Gabrielle M and Sochi L Quirk.

If you can all please come up to the yellow reserve seats.

Brandon, you'll have a minute.

Please proceed.

Hello, my name is Brandon Placentia.

I am a house owner in the Otaymesa area.

I live in a new community named Epoca.

We have recently had a rash of burglaries, vehicle thefts, package thefts, and it is very disappointing to see it occurring in a brand new community.

It's sad to see my neighbors worried about possible break-ins, about you know what's going on.

A lot of us have started talking and organizing because we realize that the San Diego Police Department is limited on staff.

We are looking for solutions, and this is one tool that I feel can help.

Can help our communities be safer, can help solve crimes.

Sometimes it might not be the crime of the year, but it's a crime that matters to each and every one of my fellow neighbors and homeowners.

And it upsets me.

It upsets me how I said I envisioned this being a great community, and people are kind of afraid of what's going on.

And taking tools away from our overworked, underpaid, understaffed police officers is not okay.

I support this if I help you do too much.

Blessing.

Hi.

Hello.

Hi, I'm Blessing.

I'm a resident of Earth who will be successful in any country I live in.

I am not here to gain your support or to hype your opposition.

I'm not a hater or lover of ALPR.

I am not a hater of ALPR because it helps in solving crimes.

Examples are finding stolen vehicles and finding kidnapped individuals.

I'm not a lover of ALPR because we aids IC and Sharing apart innocent immigrant families.

I am not here to encourage your yes or discourage your no.

I am here to inform you that your data is already being stolen through your cell phones, and you're being tracked by Google Max, by Google Maps.

So flock or no flock, you're headed towards a 24-7 surveillance reality as a sus as a society.

As long as technology exists and advances.

That being said, I'm here to tell you to do what that will still be a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit.

Miguel Avila.

Um surveillance technologies undermine the privacy and dignity of UCSD students with the greatest harm falling on those with immigrant backgrounds.

Flock technologies have a record of wrongfully flagging suspicious driving and facilitating discriminatory policing and disproportionate targeting of black and brown people, all justified by the false claim that these technological systems inherently deliver equal treatment.

As an undocumented graduate student who often commutes to campus at risk becoming part of that documented history of wrongfully flagged individuals and be subjected to warrant in police and ice agent encounters.

The threat of immigration enforcement targeting UCSD students has already occurred and is likely to persist.

There is no responsible way to use these technologies, especially when police officials provide immigration agents with access to these with them to them to aggressively monitor inhumanely detain and justly deport members of my community.

For that reason, flock surveillance technologies should be discontinued.

Danielle Steeley or Stelle.

Thank you.

Connor Bennett.

After Connet Bennett, we have Anna Cindilar, Elizabeth Givens, Gabriel M, So Chil Quirk, and Fayaz Nawabi.

If you've already spoken, please be sure to return to your seats.

Please proceed.

Hey, all my name is Connor.

I'm uh the co-chair of San Diego Democratic Socialists of America, uh, organization of 900 uh San Diegans, and I'm a resident of District 3.

Um, I wanted to emphasize how broad the coalition that uh the trust coalition is uh from labor unions uh to immigrant rights groups, uh high school students uh to veterans, and the reason we have such a broad coalition is that there is no one single concern that uh that that this uh uh technology has.

It's multiple concerns all across our entire community.

Um and I want to emphasize the real danger that members of the community who are considered marginalized uh see in this technology and the proliferation of it.

Um and I finally want to emphasize the basic fact that surveillance does not make our neighbors feel safe.

Uh our tax dollars should be used in support of working families in San Diego, not the blind the pockets of tech companies.

We've heard all year we have a tight budget.

Um technology costs two million dollars.

Please say no to the concluding comment.

Anna Cinder Cindilar, you have people seeding you time.

Max Cotonell, thank you.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.