All right.

Good morning.

I will now call the city council meeting on Monday, June fifteenth, twenty twenty six to order.

Clerk, please call the role.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Campbell.

Councilmember Whitburn.

Councilmember Foster.

Councilmember Varwolpert.

Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Here.

Council Member Campillo.

Councilmember Moreno.

Councilmember Ila Rivera.

And Council President Lacava.

Present.

Also attending the meeting, our City Attorney Heather Ferber, independent budget analyst Charles Monica, and myself, your city clerk, Deanna Fuentes.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

A quorum is now present.

We will begin this morning with an invitation by Clerk Fuentes, followed with the line acknowledgement and the pledge of allegiance led by Council Member Campillo.

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

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

Please face the flag.

Hand over your heart.

Ready, begin.

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

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

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

I'd like to highlight the slide on the screen that reviews how the public can offer their public testimony during today's meeting.

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

No further in-person testimony will be taken once the council begins virtual testimony for better meeting management purposes.

Each speaker will have one minute per item per person.

Closed session agenda.

Oh, sorry, Council President.

Please read the closed session items into the record.

The closed session agenda includes conference of legal council existing litigation pursuant to California government code section 54956.9 D1.

CS1 is Gabriela Durazzo versus City of San Diego et al.

CS2 is Dave A.

Nicolai versus City of San Diego.

CS3 is La Jolla Terrace, HOA versus City of San Diego et al.

And CS4 is the Isaiah Project Inc.

versus City of San Diego.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

And with that, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you.

We have one speaker here in close here in Council Chambers speaking on closed session items one and two.

Maximilian Schmidt, if you can please come up to the podium, you'll have.

Oh, sorry.

One, two, three, and four, you'll have three minutes.

Hi, um, I'm at a closed session agenda on existing litigation and the San Diego City Hall.

So I really don't need to be here for these small um these small, the small existing litigation that's going on.

But the reason that I came here is because in each one CS123 and four, for each case, I I'm here basically to question the integrity of the city of San Diego City Council.

And that's why I came here to use my first amendment right and uh publicly question the integrity of the city council.

And the reason why I want to question the integrity of the city council is because I've been to the last um six city council committee meetings, and um I have been annoyed, bothered, made nervous, um, by city council members using neurolinguistics, and it's kind of hard to explain.

You can read about it all online.

Basically, they say something that only someone's brain who's been exposed to neurolinguistics can interpret it, what they're saying.

They'll say, for example, let's say a sentence, and that sentence will end up sounding like a different sentence to someone that um has been exposed to this or been abused by this, and basically they'll also kind of predict what you're about to do in three seconds and say that to try to get you to question your free will.

Um there's a lot of junk on the internet about mind control around that those words.

So I try not to use those words because it all leads back to tech uh false lies and misinformation about technology being how they do this, but these people actually are able to do this because believe it or not, they're telepathic and they can read your mind, see through your eyes.

People should know this because of the um all-sing eye of providence on the one dollar bill on top of the pyramid.

They can basically camp out in your conscious and spy on you.

And I believe that that um intel that the vast majority of the West Coast can do that could also help people, especially people who are getting sucked into cults on like Scientology or cults like um the LS, the Mormon, uh, the Mormon cult, San Diego's a hotbed for cults in America.

And think how scary that would be to be in a cult and not know that the other cult members can read your mind and comp out camp out in your conscious and believe that maybe they're a godlike figure because they can always say what you're thinking, or maybe they're like super like, or maybe they're smarter than they are even.

And I just want to say in all cases I do go against the city of San Diego.

That concludes public comment here in Council Chambers starting with those participating remotely we currently have three speakers in the queue starting with Hector if you can please unmute please let me know which item or items you wish to speak to uh the lawsuit one all of them are lawsuits if you can give me a number of the uh I want you guys to I'm sorry I could not hear you what number the first the first one please proceed you'll have one minute all my audit I'll take a wait a minute can't front figure out there uh let's take a stand against the genocide going on in Lebanon now stand against Zionism let's take a stand against that you know the rules please speak to the uh the closed session items please I've unmuted you if you can please unmute and proceed to speak to the item CS1.

Let's take a for real trial anything over a million dollar settlement don't settle.

Let's see the trial on TV.

Third million just gave up to those guys we should add a trial for that so everybody can see what's going on.

Anything over a million dollar in a settlement let's just go to trial and uh so the public can see what's actually going on.

Thanks a lot that's good thanks.

Thank you Blair Beekman if you can please unmute and let me know which item or items you wish to speak to hi uh Blair Beekman CS2 and CS4.

You'll have two minutes please proceed.

Hi uh Blair Beekman uh happy Monday uh to speak to item CS2 uh writ of mandate related to uh California Public Records act uh request uh petition for rate of mandate prices from a case I hope this could be um I don't know the the details in depth of the situation uh the words that I'm reading in front of me I'm hoping um you can be sensitive to uh California Public Records Act issues uh and how to address this type of item uh whenever and however it has to proceed forward uh because that's about all I have to say for that item and to move on to CS4 uh the Isaiah Project Inc.

versus uh city of San Diego uh this is a matter regarding uh Isaiah settlement agreement involving unhoused persons in San Diego um I wanted to comment I was uh taken aback that I I've just learned of what is the now the future of the Neil Good Date Center and I was not very well informed of what was really going down with the future of the center um this item along with the fact that as you've tried to create bathrooms uh to continue bathrooms in the new budget uh proposals for the uh beach areas you're you're having a specific purpose to to limit bathrooms in the downtown area in the East Village area uh for the future uh I'm questioning your ethics around our unhoused um and that's all I think um you've made decisions I can go back and forth about what you want to do with the Neo Good Day Center in the next six months um overall I think we should be concerned how we're handling our morals around the unhoused in downtown and I think we have to uh be aware of that and be considering that uh in the next year in the next budget year.

Thank you that concludes your time 8700 your final speaker.

Thank you Joy Sanyata on uh oh, I'm sorry, uh one, three, and four.

Excuse me.

Thank you you.

You'll have three minutes, please proceed.

On uh CS1 uh trip and fall on the side mark.

This is continuing litigation.

Here's what I'll continue to say.

Dear public, be your very best advocate for safety while you're walking.

Uh thank you so much for listening to me, dear public, and love to all of you.

On uh CS3, the uh storm drain, um storm gang pipe failure.

Let's make sure that storms and their drain pipe failure do not also apply to human damage.

We're doing better on storm damage failures, lessons learned.

Yes, yes, yes.

Now on four, which is the matter regarding the Isaiah settlement, uh involving unhoused persons in San Diego.

Uh I google uh 2011 cleanups known as waste abatements, um, and you know what the personal property of an individual experiencing homelessness is involved, and uh so uh I'll say these points.

Keeping San Diego clean and safe, that's number one.

Number two, best intentions can lead to legal issues.

Number three, what is a city to do?

Number four, homeless, many with disabilities stumbling through a way of life in San Diego, perhaps no longer caring for themselves or their community, yet still part of the collective.

How can equity be applied to this?

So I'll say this to conclude, and uh it's it's a big topic, isn't it?

And I said something the other day, sort of summed it up together.

I'll be saying that again perhaps this week, but I'll finish with this kindness in your court, kindness in your court now.

Who has right to the city?

Who has right to the city?

Love to all the homeless people, uh sheltered.

I'm doing my best to be kind and not make it complex and know that we're all doing our best.

So love to all of you and have a beautiful day and a beautiful week.

Thank you.

That concludes uh closed session public comment.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

We will now adjourn as the city council to convene for a special housing authority meeting to take public comment on the housing authority closed session item.

Clerk, please read the housing authority closed session item into the record.

Thank you, Council President Conference of Legal Council existing litigation pursuant to California Government Code Section 54956.9 D1 Special Housing Authority closed session item one is Merrill versus housing authority of the city of San Diego at all.

All right, with that, please oh excuse me, please proceed with public comment.

We have no public comment here in council chambers.

Going to those participating remotely.

I'm sorry at the five-minute timer, 8700.

If you can please unmute, you'll have one minute to speak to this item.

Thank you, Joy Sanyata.

On this item, it is a big item.

I googled both Pacific Highlands Ranch, and I had also a subdivision of it, and I found a lot of history, some of it good and some of it not so good.

So here's where I ended up to uh to say this to you.

Given the general counsel's description on this agenda, it's so long, it's just amazing.

I read it several times.

Thank you, uh general counsel for your work.

So uh here's what I'll finish up with.

Hold the plaintiff's seat to the fire.

If they have important lessons to be learned on covenants and honoring the letter of the law, let's hold the plaintiff's seat to the fire.

Thank you for listening and considering what I say and share with you.

Uh love to all.

Thank you.

Next is Blair Beekman, if you can please unmute.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Um, thank you for this item.

I don't have much understanding of it, as with the other items.

So thank you for Joyce's explanations on on this one and the and the previous items as well.

Um, I'm in a bit of disagreement.

However, uh, it just I I'm learning a natural inclination for items like this and for people who who do these kind of things uh when this happens, that uh if it's possible, hopefully they can there can be forgiveness and uh understanding.

Um, they might have to be held to a certain uh letter of the law to a degree, but hopefully there's a forgiveness in there as well as how to measure that for that judgment at this time, and uh good luck on how this items move forward.

Thank you.

Um Okay, good afternoon.

We're gonna get the council meeting started.

I will now reconvene the city council meeting of Monday, June 15th, 2026.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you, Council President.

Councilmember Campbell, Councilmember Whitburn, Councilmember Foster, Councilmember Von Wilfer, Council President Pro Temli, Councilmember Campillo, Councilmember Moreno, present, Councilmember Ila Rivera, and Council President Lacava.

Present.

Also attending the meeting, our assistant city attorney, Michelle Garland, independent budget analyst Charles Matica, and myself, your city clerk, Deanna Fuentes.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Quorum is now present.

Let's start off.

Do we have any comments from the mayor's office, Councilmember, City Attorney, independent budget analysts or the city clerk?

Not seeing any.

The clerk will now go over how the public can offer their testimony.

Thank you, Council President.

I'd like to highlight the slide that will momentarily be on the screen that does review the public testimony during this afternoon's meeting.

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

If you'd like to raise your hand, please press star nine or the raise your hand icon if you are here virtually, and if you're here in person, please submit a speaker slip to the front of the room and place them in the clear box.

If you are seating time, please be sure to submit those speaker slips together at one time.

If you're in person, um there are also council ambassadors at the back of the room that can assist you with these speaker slips.

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

Thank you, Council President.

Alright, thank you for that.

Clerk, please introduce item S400.

Item S400 is the resolution in support of Somali community.

If you'd like to speak on this item, now's the time to raise your hand by pressing the star nine or raise your hand icon, or if you are hearing council chambers, please be sure to submit your speaker slip to the front of the room in the clear box at this time.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Councilmember Yela Rivera would like to kick us off.

Yeah, thank you so much, Council President.

Uh, I won't I'll save most of my comments for um for later on, but um I just want to say thank you for um helping us get this item docketed.

Thank you to City Attorney's Office for working with us on this.

Um, and I am very proud to hand it over uh to Anisa and Lucky.

Uh Anisa is uh representative in our office, and Lucky is with our good partners with the Partnership for the Advancement of New America.

Take it away.

Okay, good afternoon, Council President, Council members, City Attorney, IBA, and the members of the public.

My name is Anissa Mohammed, a community representative with Council District 9.

Joining me today is my co-presenter here, Lucky Adam, on behalf of Councilmember Sean El Rivera and PANA, the Partnerships of Advancements of New Americans and the members of the Somali um community here in San Diego.

This resolution responds to series of attacks directed at the Somali community, including inflammatory statements made by President Trump, harmful federal actions targeting Somali immigrants, and the harassment, filming, stalking, and intimidation of Somali child care providers by social media influencers, including here in San Diego.

The resolution also recognizes the harm caused when political leaders and public figures use rhetoric that stigmatizes immigrants, promotes discrimination, and creates fear within communities that have come to this country seeking safety and opportunity.

The Somali community is an essential part of San Diego.

Somali residents are our neighbors, workers, business owners, caregivers, faith leaders, and community builders.

We help make our city stronger, more vibrant, and more welcoming.

Today we have an opportunity to make clear that San Diego rejects hate, rejects scapegoating, and stands with the members of our Somali community who have been targeted simply because of who they are.

I would now turn to the background that outlines the circumstances that make this action necessary.

Over the last year, President Trump, along with many public officials and influencers have engaged in a series of verbal attacks and policy actions targeting the Somali community in the United States.

These actions and racist rhetoric have created widespread fear in the Somali community nationwide and here in San Diego, which is home to a large Somali American population.

The use of derogatory racist language to scapegoat this community must be addressed as it has far reaching implications.

Every opportunity has been taken to defile the Somali community.

In 2025, the use of vile language like calling Somalis low IQ garbage and saying that their country stinks we don't want them here, is intolerable.

The only Somali American in Congress, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has been continuously targeted with calls that she should be expelled from Congress and this country.

This administration has used these statements to justify anti-immigration policies, finding a convenient scapegoat in the Somali American community.

Somalis are black, largely Muslim, immigrants making us an easy target for racism, Islamophobia, and anti-immigrant sentiments.

Hate speech is not just limited to rhetoric and policies.

These also translate into violence against our communities.

On May 18th, the San Diego Muslim community experienced a horrific attack rooted in hate.

The attack of the Islamic center and school did not occur in a vacuum.

Anti-Muslim bigotry is a direct result of a polarizing political climate in which elected leaders, including the president and the members of Congress, have normalized the hatred of Muslims.

It has created an environment where anti-Muslim hate has become all too common.

And without countability, this hate turns into violence.

We represent what this country has always expressed the best of us.

We are vibrant, hardworking, resilient, industrious, and devoted to our families and the larger community.

But to the president and his sympathizers, we are an easy target.

This administration has used hateful sentiments to justify their crackdowns using ICE's brutal forces to detain and deport Somalis and other immigrant individuals and families.

Shortly after Trump has made false accusations of fraud, Somali businesses across the country were intimidated and harassed by ICE, including Somali restaurants and nonprofits here in San Diego.

We then saw the escalation in Minnesota over the last several months where mass ICE agents targeted immigrant communities with impunity.

The entire nation was left with the false notion that Somali childcare providers are built in the government of taxpayer dollars.

But all but every allegation against them has been subsequently been proven false.

We watched these attacks, we watched these attacks become deadly with the death of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pratt.

And if that wasn't enough, this administration has terminated temporary protective status, also known as TPS for Somali immigrants, taking away the federal permission that gave them the right to be here while adjusting their immigration status.

Suddenly, people who came here legally were undocumented.

In the early 2026, Trump used the false claims of child care fraud in Minnesota to pull funding for child care for low income families in multiple states.

He moved to freeze over 10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funding, targeting five blue states, including California, Corolado, Illinois, Minnesota, and lastly, New York.

This is the face of a growing need for child care across the country and here in San Diego.

There are over 4,600 child care centers and at home child care providers in San Diego that offer care for our children so that parents could be part of the workforce.

As for low-income families, child care continues to be a backbreaking cost.

The YMC of San Diego County supports more than 10,000 local families through subsidized child care programs, but right now there are over 7,000 families on the waiting list for a state subsidized child care in the region.

This means only three out of 10 eligible families are currently receiving the help that they need.

Let's be clear.

This is another attempt of scapegoat in Somali communities to end much needed child care subsidizes for low-income families.

Before moving forward, I want to give council a glimpse of into what Somali childcare providers have been experiencing.

Somali child care providers have been receiving nonstop harassing phone calls and voicemails.

Some providers have shared call logs showing 50 to 100 missed calls.

What you are about to hear is an example of a voicemail received by a Somal child care provider.

This is one of many.

Make sure we burn you guys.

The next few slides contain statements from child care providers and parents who have been directly impacted by this harassment.

These are real examples of fear and uncertainty families are experiencing.

Providers have reported people showing up to their home, filming their properties, following them in cars, and targeting them online.

Parents are concerned about their safety, the well-being of their children, and providers are concerned about their own safety and the safety of their children in their care.

I will give council a moment to review these statements.

Trump's false allegations of fraud have had a far-reaching implication for Somali community as a whole, not only threatening their livelihoods but their safety as well.

Racist YouTube influencers like Nick Chirley, who started in Minnesota have also come to San Diego to harass and stalk child care providers.

As you all heard from the previous slide, that's just one of the many hateful voicemails child care providers have gotten.

Some of these voicemails are even too foul to even play out loud here today.

These attacks have continued until today.

Nick Shirley copycats have harassed and stalked black immigrant women using degrading language to describe their race.

They're calling nonstop, showing up to their homes, following them in cars, and creating a deep fear that has altered the joy and safety once characterized by family childcares.

Child care providers are afraid to go outside, walk children to parks, or even open the door to their home child care facility when the doorbell rings.

Parents who once sent their children to these high quality neighborhood providers are afraid for the safety and well being of their children.

As a city, we must do more to correct this harm.

Today's resolution says no more.

Not in San Diego, not in California, not in our name.

This is a time to stand together across regions and communities to stop the spread of state-sponsored terror.

Council President, Council members, city attorney, IBA, and the members of the public.

The requested action before us today is an adaption of this resolution.

A yes vote does four things.

First, it reaffirms our support to Somali residents and recognizes their invaluable contributions to cultural, economic, and civic life here in San Diego.

Second, it reaffirms our commitment to being a welcoming city where every person, regardless of where they came from or how they arrived here, can live free from discrimination, harassment, and intimidation.

Third, it makes clear that this council rejects hateful rhetoric, discriminatory policies, and targeted attacks directed at Somali communities and other immigrant and refugee communities.

And fourth, it directs the city to work with child care providers to strengthen security measures that help protect providers, children, and families who have been forced to live with fear because of these ongoing acts of harassment.

This resolution is more than words.

It's about making clear when a community is targeted, San Diego will not look the other way.

We would stand with our neighbors.

We would defend their dignity, their safety, and their right to belong.

For Somali families, child care providers, and community members who have endured harassment, intimidation, and fear.

This council has an opportunity to send a simple message here today.

You are valued valued, you are welcomed, and you do not stand alone.

I respectfully ask for your support on this resolution.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Sorry.

If there's any questions, we also have a volunteer with the San Diego Police Department along with the mid-city division here today.

All right.

Thank you for the work and thank you for the presentation this afternoon.

Clerk, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Council President.

We do have over 50 speakers here on this item.

If you can please come up to the yellow reserve seats at the front of the room, that would be greatly appreciated to help with getting you up to the microphones.

Samantha Itsawa, if you can please come up to the microphone.

Samantha, and then if I can have Kimberly Mullen, Joy Sanyata, Max Schmidt, and Ruth Kaplan, please come up to the yellow reserve seats.

Samantha, you'll have one minute, please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Samantha Itazawa, and I am a staff attorney at the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties.

The majority of our state's population are immigrants or children of immigrants.

Immigrants and refugees are our neighbors, friends, colleagues, frontline workers, and teachers.

San Diego has long been a place of opportunity and at one point hosted the second largest population of Somali refugees in the nation.

Today, members of our Somali community are facing growing hostility and persecution.

Local child care providers are being targeted due to a nationwide harassment campaign.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric is not only threatening livelihoods, it has taken the lives of members of our community.

By supporting this resolution, we reaffirm our commitment to inclusion, dignity, and safety for all members of our community.

Let this commitment carry us forward and inspire more actions to truly make San Diego America's finest city for all.

Thank you.

Thank you, Kimberly.

Hello, my name is Kimberly, and I live in District 9.

I'm here today in support of this resolution affirming solidarity with the Somali community of San Diego and standing against hate and discrimination.

San Diego is strengthened by the diversity of its of its residents, and each of those residents deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued.

No families should live in fear because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or immigration background.

When any community experiences discrimination or acts of hate, it affects us all and undermines the values of inclusion, dignity, and respect that our city strives to uphold.

I applaud this effort to stand with the Somali community.

This resolution sends an important message that San Diego rejects bigotry in all its forms and stands united in defense of the dignity, safety, and humanity of all its residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Joy Sonia.

Thank you.

You see, I have no written comments.

I'm speaking from the heart.

Uh, of course, yes to this resolution, and I'm so sorry about the uh the child care things that are happening and everything else.

It just is so sad, especially when it evolves children.

But I want to tell you this when that terrible event happened at the mosque.

I found something inside of me that shocked me.

I found hate.

I really had never found it that cleanly before.

I hated the haters.

And I need your help with this because I don't know what to do with it.

I I've I've come out of it quite a bit, but I realize that it's in me that I have that kernel of hate inside of me, and I don't want to hate the haters, because that only hurts me and all of you, really.

So that's what I wanted to share with you that I want to come from a place of love, and I don't know how to do that fully.

Thank you.

Maximilian Schmidt.

Then if I can have the following individuals, please come up to the yellow reserve seats.

Um, Jessica Ripper, David Say, Kevin Veno, and Patricia Serrano.

Please proceed.

Hi, um, I just wanted to um offer some advice that could help um all targeted religious communities, including the um local people of Somalia.

Um, I believe Somalia's considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and I believe this could also help people in Somalia who are possibly being targeted, and um maybe also help all religions being uh targeted.

Um, people when they stalk you, they can actually see through your eyes through the third eye.

And it's important to know that because they're gonna try and say that it's technology or something, and it's not.

And the reason why that can help you is because if you realize if you're surrounded by a group of people and you look around and they all have stiff necks, and then when you look at them, they make an exaggerated motion, it can make you subconsciously paranoid.

It's called Zerzitzong.

And many people think that they may be going mentally ill.

I think if the religious community knew that these people can look through your eyes to the third eye, they could know they're not crazy, and maybe you could help them when they're being targeted.

Thank you.

Um, I did get a submission from Ruth Kaplan, but she registered her position in favor and did not wish to speak.

Jessica Ripper, if you can please come up to the microphone.

Sure.

Jessica Ripper, District 3.

Good afternoon.

I'm here today from D3 to speak in support of my friends and neighbors from the Somali community who are experiencing unjust and frightening levels of discrimination and harassment.

Since moving to San Diego 10 plus years ago, I've met Somali San Diegans through work, volunteering, interfaith celebrations, and meals together.

Each and every time I've been welcomed, I've been through their generosity, and I've seen the commitment to making San Diego a vibrant place for all to live, work, play, and learn.

Somali San Diegans deserve, Somali San Diegans deserve to experience respect, inclusion, and belonging in the city.

They contribute to strengthening every day.

Please stand with us and with the Somali with Somali San Diegans today, and let them know that they are the beloved part of our community.

Support this resolution, please.

Thank you, David.

Good afternoon.

I am heartbroken for my community that today's resolution is yes, necessary, yet here we are.

It is absurd that we must affirm that our neighbors are welcome, supported, and valued, yet here we are.

It is beyond belief that we would have to affirm that our neighbors should be able to live their lives without fear of discrimination and harassment.

Yet here we still are and it is shameful that we should need to publicly denounce discriminatory policies and actions or that we should need to specifically act to protect childcare workers and the kids in their care from targeted intentional acts of hatred and intimidation yet here we are here in my city needing to plainly state all of it because of the actions and words of a shameful few.

So as a board member of the San Diego organizing project resident Mr Woodburn of District 3 and someone who believes in the basic promises of our country I ask each of you to vote in favor of this resolution.

Thank you.

Kevin Vignal, good evening council my name is Kevin Vino I'm coming here from uh with our time to act we're a youth led 51c3 nonprofit and a resident of district one strongly urging you guys to unanimously support this resolution it has been an extremely difficult year for the Somali community from the attack on the ICSD to just the general harassment at daycare centers and it is just we really need a resolution to support all San Diegans here today.

No resident of the city should be living in fear for their wives let alone the fear of their children while they're away at a daycare center.

So please support this resolution just because it is the right thing to do Patricia Serrano.

If I can have Aidan Iste Carla Flans Maria Chavez Miren Algori and Johanna Hester please come forward to the yellow reserve seats please proceed.

Good afternoon my name is Patricia Serrano and I work for PANA I appreciate I the effort to pass this resolution we are living in an unprecedented times where Muslims blacks and immigrants are being criminalized just because who we are the rhetoric of this government against Somali is grown we are we as community can stop discrimination of our neighbors friends and for me my family San Diego is a we can show the country that San Diego is a welcoming regardless of religion nationality of color thank you.

Thank you Aden yes good afternoon my name is Aidan and I leave district four I'm here today in support of this resolution because every San Diego deserve to feel safe protected and valued in their community no family should have a life fear because of their race religious intake or immigration background San Diego must take a clear standing against harassment uh intimidation and discrimination that is Somali community as a parent I'm deeply troubled by the harassment direct Somali family and child care provider childcare is an insential surface and children should be able to learn and grow in safe environment free from stalking harassment and infesting by individual seeking addition through misinformation and harmful because thank you for that concluding comment Carla Carla Flores I think my name is Carla.

Excuse me.

Interprete el tiempo in frases cortos para poder traducir adequadamente Vivo in San Diego.

I live in San Diego.

Soy Orguloso Membro.

I am a member of UDW.

Of UDW.

He proveed on and I'm also a daycare provider.

Yes.

And I'm very worried.

Now that in this time.

They are being persecuted and looked for.

We are living and seeing a very bad rhetoric.

Directed to the Muslim refugee community.

These attitudes and words.

They matter.

Because they just they make everyone afraid.

And they cause disinformation.

Creando una ambiente.

Creating an environment.

Donde el odio se normaliza.

Where the hate is now prevalent and normalized.

And the consequences.

Can be real.

And very sad for them.

And for all of us.

Because we are one community in San Diego.

In San Diego.

Where we want respect.

And with and we should give respect.

Thank you very much.

Next is Maria Chavez.

Good afternoon.

My name is Maria Chavez.

I am the immigration legal director at PANA, Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans, and a proud resident of District 9.

As an immigration attorney who represents dozens of Somalis in the San Diego community, I fully support this resolution to protect them.

Our Somali neighbors have been the victims of hateful rhetoric by this administration and its supporters.

And that rhetoric spilled over to stalking and continuous harassment by so called YouTube reporters and others.

They spread false accusations against Somali daycare providers writ large.

These baseless accusations have harmed them, their livelihoods, and the families who rely on them for child care.

San Diego is better than this.

As San Diegans, we have to step up to protect our communities given the federal government's failure.

And this proclamation proves that we remain a welcoming and inclusive city and denounce discriminatory rhetoric and policies that target Somalis and all immigrant communities.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Miriam Algori.

Marion, you have time seated to you by Abdullahi, if you can please raise your hand.

Thank you so much.

You'll have two minutes, please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Vinon Algorri.

I'm a family child care provider and a proud member of United Domestic Workers.

And I stand here today in support of this resolution because I work alongside my Somali family child care providers who strain our community every single day through their hard work, their cultural richness, and their dedication to the children and families.

Somali providers bring invaluable expertise, language, and cultural knowledge to early childhood education.

They make San Diego stronger, more vibrant, more whole.

And yet they're being targeted, harassed, and accused of fraud without evidence.

We cannot separate these from the tragedy at the Islamic Center just weeks ago, where we lost three members of our community because of hate.

Words have consequences.

Harassment has consequences.

These resolution sends a clear message.

San Diego celebrates and protects our Somali community.

I urge our leaders to support this resolution.

Thank you.

Johanna.

Good afternoon.

Council members, I am Joanna Hester.

I am the deputy executive director for UDW, along with uh I am also the vice chair for childcare providers united.

Um I want to specifically thank Councilmember Sean Eloh for bringing this resolution forward.

Our child care members have witnessed firsthand the threatening rhetoric and behavior of self-styled journalists who have harassed child care providers and children in pursuit of YouTube likes and views with no regard for dangers they are creating, and with the support of the president of our United States.

Child care providers are the backbone of our state and our country's economy.

Without child care, many people cannot go to work or support their families.

Yet these providers are being threatened and harassed because of the color of their skin.

Um or the country that where they come they came from.

The resolution sends a clear message.

Our Somali providers are waiting to send them.

Thank you all so much.

Doug Moore.

After Doug Moore, we'll have Chris Kennison, Rabbi Michar Rothbum, Eleanor Franco, and Jermaine Rook Corva.

If you can please come up to the Yellow Reserve seats, please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Doug Moore, and I'm the executive director of UDW, a union representing home care and family child care providers, including over 40,000 here in San Diego County.

The resolution brought forward by Councilman San Ilo speaks directly to our child care providers, especially those in our city's vibrant Somali community, who in recent months have felt the impact of direct attacks on their businesses and lives because of racist accusations that they are committing fraud in their homes.

Dangerous individuals who care more about personal attention than the safety of children have been knocking on doors and making baseless accusations against Somali child care providers, all while being praised for it in Washington.

Here in San Diego, we know our Somali community is a welcoming, welcoming, valued, and essential part of the fabric of our city.

This resolution sends a clear message to them and the rest of the community to stand with them.

Thank you for that concluding sentence.

Thank you.

Chris Kennison.

Hello, y'all.

I mean, I'm here today in full support of this resolution, standing with my brothers and sisters.

No one should be living in fear based off the color, religion, or country of origin.

We deserve to feel respected, valued, and given the dignity that all people deserve.

Since we're on the topic of child care, Vivian, I asked you to get the justice for Gianna.

She's a five-year-old black girl with special needs that just lost her life last week in daycare.

She drowned, and the story swept under the rug.

If she was white, blue-eyed, blonde-haired, this story would be all over the news.

And I'm here supporting her family, but I'm also here supporting my Somali brothers and sisters because they face the same things that everyone else in our community is facing.

People of color, and they deserve the justice.

So I'm in support of this resolution.

Thank you.

Rabbi.

Rabbi.

Hi there.

This is Rabbi Mike Rothbaum, speaking to you, representing Congregation Dor Hadash.

Esteemed members of the Council, President Locava, thank you.

We have members all across your districts.

The Jewish people were born in bigotry and slavery in Pharaoh's Egypt, in which we were treated as less than, and our lives were deemed as worthless.

This is Jewish history across the generations where we've been treated as uh less than human across the globe.

Um that's naturally why I want to be here in support of this community, but it's also our religious teaching, which says that every human being is created in God's image, but Salam Elohim.

When the president says that our neighbors are garbage who won't work and we don't want them in our country, we as Jews know this rhetoric, it has led to our deaths.

Um, we know this man, Nick Shirley, who promoted and defended an anti Semitic video entitled, I exposed New Jersey's Jewish Invasion.

We are, as Jews are obligated to protest against any time our people, our neighbors, our friends are treated as less than we need you to vote.

Thank you for that concluding.

Unanimously to support this.

Eleanor Franco?

Elena Franco?

Sorry.

It's even my middle name.

I should know that.

Good afternoon, everybody.

My name is Elena Franco, and I'm here on behalf of Mount Hope to express my support of the Somalian community.

I reject end of this resolution.

I'm sorry.

End of this resolution.

I reject the ignorant comments of our current administration regarding the Somalian people.

These comments are intended to instill fear and uncertainty, and their intent is to make them feel unwelcome.

It is important that we as a city speak up against this form of hatred and ignorance.

Our city and communities are strongest when every resident feels safe, respected, and included.

When any community feels targeted or marginalized, it affects the health and unity of our city as a whole.

Please vote yes on this resolution.

Thank you, Jermaine.

And then Safika.

Jeremy?

Yep.

Please proceed.

Hi, my name is Jermaine Rocokorba, and I work in District 9.

I'm here today in support of this resolution because every San Diegan deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued in their community.

When political leaders use fear and division to target Somali Americans, Muslims, immigrants, and other communities, the consequences are real.

We saw that here in San Diego on May 18th, when three of our community members were murdered in a hateful attack on the Islamic Center.

Hate filled words fuel hate-filled actions.

That is why this resolution matters.

It makes clear that San Diego stands with the Somali community, rejects hate, discrimination, and violence in all its forms.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next we have Safikama.

If you can please come forward to the microphone.

After that, we have Ramu Abdi, Omaira Yusufhi, allegedly Audra, and Janika Faulkner, as well as Ted Womak.

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

Now you have time seated to you by some individuals.

They can please raise their hand.

Amina Farah.

Amina Farah, thank you.

And Asha Ahmed.

Thank you.

You'll have three minutes.

Please proceed.

Good afternoon.

Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone who came here today to support our Somali community.

Your presence means a lot, and I appreciate all of you taking a time to stand together against hate and discrimination.

My name is Safia Jama.

I live in District 9.

Also, I'm a child care provider with Union UDW, CCBU.

I'm here today in support of resolution because every San Diego deserves to feel safe, respect, and value in their community.

As a Somali community member and a child care provider, I have seen how harassment, intimidation, and misinformation can be effective.

Especially I experienced myself.

Few people call me, text me, and came my home on harassment and calling names.

As a small business, child care provider, children should be able to learn grow in a safe environment.

Fear from stacking harassment and discrimination.

I support this resolution because it is sending a clear message that San Diego is stand against hate and discrimination targeting the Somali community and all marginalized groups.

And Somali Americans.

Words matter.

When fear and misinformation are spread by influential voices, they can create an environment where hated becomes normalized.

Also, today I would like to thank Consulant for taking this important step.

I would like to also like I would like I would like also like to extend in my sincere care and sincere care appreciation to Sean Eliver for bringing our community together for this leadership in supporting this effort.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Rama Abdi.

Rama, you have people seating your time.

Fatima Saeed.

Fatima, please raise your hand.

Thank you.

And Abdi Hussein.

Please raise your hand.

You'll have three minutes, please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Rahma Abdi.

I'm the director for organizing and campaign with PANA, the Partnership for Advancement of New Americans.

And I'm also a proud resident of District 9.

There's a lot of our community who are not here today because they are afraid to come outside, especially after what happened on May 18th.

I wanted to thank our city council member, my city council member, Sean Elo Rivera, for bringing this resolution forward for standing with our community.

Thank you for not staying silent when our community is being targeted.

Your support and leadership means a lot to us.

Thank you.

Today I'm speaking on behalf of Somali child care providers, families, community members who have been affected by racism, Islamophobia, and anti-Somali hates.

I work closely with Somali child care providers across San Diego.

There are hardworking women who care for our children every day.

They support working families, run small business, and help our community thrive.

But despite all that they do, many have been targeted with hateful comments, false accusation, and harassment simply because they're Somali and they're Muslim.

As a director of organizing, I've seen the impact this hate has on our community.

What starts online does not stay online.

It affects people, it affects mothers, it affects fathers, it affects our elders, young people.

It makes people feel unsafe, unwelcome.

And I'm also worried about our children.

When Somali children hear hateful words from a leader and public figure, they begin to question whether they belong.

They begin to wonder if there is something wrong with who they are.

No child should feel that way.

Our community came to this country, taking safety, peace, and opportunity.

We came here with hope.

We are hard workers, we pay taxes, we start businesses, we care for our neighbors.

We contribute to this city every day.

We're proud to be part of San Diego.

This resolution is important because it sent a clear message.

Somali family belongs here.

Our children belong here.

Hate has no place in San Diego.

We're taking we're not asking for special treatment.

We're asking for dignity, respect, opportunity to live, work, and rise, raise our family here without fear.

Again, thank you so much to my council member, our council member Sean Illo Rivera, and and other entire council members for standing with the Somali community.

Thank you, Omira.

You have people sitting in Thai, Mohammed Umar, if you can please raise your hand.

Thank you.

And Nick Paul, if you can please raise your hand.

You'll have three minutes, but if I can ask, allegedly Audra, Janika, Faulkner, Ted Wamack, Itel Maganda, Chavez, Daniel Alvarado to please come up to the Yellow Reserve seats.

Please proceed.

Alright, thank you.

Hamairia Yisapi with the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans.

PANA is an organization that advances the full economic civic and social inclusion of refugees in San Diego, across the state and across the country.

We are founded, led and staffed by immigrant and refugee communities, and we are proud to be multiracial and multicultural organization that seeks the meaningful freedom for all.

I want to thank Councilmember Ala Rivera for bringing forth this important resolution to council.

It is so important for our communities right now to feel heard, to feel, you know, that our leadership is with us.

So thank you for that.

And I want to thank all the folks who are here today, despite the fear, despite all of the tax on this community, they are here and so are our allies.

So thank you all.

The vile attacks that have been stated by this president and his sympathizers are just disgusting.

And I hope we can all agree with that fact.

You know, the fact that not only has it been them, but it has been continuous flow of influencers who have come to harass our the Somali community needs to be understood as to how invasive that is.

Children are afraid to go outside.

The child care providers who care for children.

I mean, my children went to daycare for years, and I just can imagine how terrified the parents are because they are scared to open the doors, they are scared to take kids to the park.

They're no longer taking them to the park.

They're no longer able to have the same kind of free environment, safe environment that existed before because of this kinds of harassment.

And a couple of weeks ago, we understood that this what this harassment can lead to as well.

We now in San Diego fully understand from our three heroes' deaths and the you know recovery that our full community as Muslim community is doing right now, what that what those implications can be.

And so what we are asking for is courageous leadership.

We are asking for you all to support this resolution as a first step, but to continue to stand with our Somali community, with our Muslim community, with our immigrant community, all vulnerable communities.

More must be done to protect us from harm.

I hope that we all recognize this as a first step in that.

Um this morning in a letter was sent to the governor's office asking for 20 million dollar allocation.

Um council member Ilo Rivero and Councilmember Lee, thank you for signing on to that request.

We ask all of council to send that because you know what?

Our Somali community in City Heights, many of the centers and the Islamic centers are actually not having services anymore because there is an increased number of hate that they're receiving.

So thank you for that concluding remark.

Allegedly, Audra.

So I wish people could see the forest through the trees.

There is significant consequences for misinformation, and let's get it straight.

There are Somali daycares that were engaged in fraud.

There were.

Not all of them, but some of them.

And unfortunately, it is putting a stain on the community.

And that is unfortunate because this has been facilitated by our own government.

They didn't get the funding without that.

They're not called learning centers for no reason.

And it's sad because it's like this puts communities in danger.

But if you guys could see that it's the government doing this to us, they want us to be divided.

They do it to us intentionally.

So it's like look at us, let's look at each other as opposed to the people that give out the funding and that put us in these positions because you should be mad at people in your own community who have been engaged in that fraud that are putting you guys in this position.

And instead, we want to fight left versus right, white versus black, whatever it is, but we need to look at the culprit, including you comments.

Janica Faulkner.

Thank you.

How come about you to mean you?

I'm Janika, resident of D4 with Ally in San Diego.

I am here in strong support of this resolution because every human deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued in their community.

No human should live in fear because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or immigration background.

Growing up in Southeast San Diego, I attended Freeze Elementary where I learned alongside many different cultures and religions.

My favorite part of school was singing this land is your land, which the lyrics read: This land is your land, and this land is my land.

From new from California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters, this land was made for you and me.

And singing that pretty much every day in school, that allowed me to feel connected, no matter who I stood by, no matter the color of their skin, no matter their religion.

I felt connected with my classmates.

Every child deserves to feel connected with their classmates and the people that they're surrounded by.

No child should be scared to go to school.

The survivors of May 18th are scared to go to school.

Thank you for please pass this resolution.

Thank you.

Ted Womak.

Hey everybody, um, I'm here in support of this resolution today because I'm concerned about the rhetoric being used against black folks.

This isn't the first time, it's not gonna be the last time.

Um and with black the black community specifically, you know, we're one of the easiest communities to target.

Not because we're weak, not because we're unorganized, but because there's often nobody there to stand with us and support us.

The government that we look to and ask to for help is often not behind us.

So this resolution is a really, really huge step in showing the support and showing how we could stand strong and be strong together.

Um so please pass this resolution today and pass it to protect the members and brothers and sisters of our black community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Itsen.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Itzel Maganda Chavez with the Lions San Diego and also resident of Golden Hill and City Council District 3.

I'm here in strong support of the resolution before us today because every San Diegan deserves a right to human dignity to feel safe and respected in the city that we love.

No person should have to live in fear because of race, religion, or immigration status.

While I support this resolution as an important first step, I also urge you, council members, to take meaningful action in your work.

Last week, five of you ignored our calls and what you what would have been meaningful action.

Five of you stood against a budget that would have put people over surveillance.

Surveillance technology that was supposed to help all San Diegans and irreparably fell short for the Somali community on May 18.

Thank you, Council, for supporting this resolution today.

I look forward to how you will unequivocally oppose discriminatory practices, policies, and rhetoric in all shapes and forms.

Thank you.

If I can have Daniela Alvarado, please come up to the microphone.

Daniela Alvarado, after that, if I can have Rachel Osano Castro, um Dale McKenzie, please come up.

And Maslar Yousuf, please come up to the yellow reserve seats.

Please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Daniela Alvarado.

I am the chief operating officer for PANA.

Um hatred doesn't arise on its own, it's cultivated in environments with prejudice, is normalized, excused, or given a platform by elected officials and public figures.

That normalization has real consequences.

It emboldens those who would intimidate, harass, and harm their neighbors.

Today's resolution is a statement of who we are as a city.

I am honored to stand with the Somali community who I consider my extended family, and affirm that San Diego believes that every resident deserves to live with dignity, with safety and respect.

But safety cannot be a hollow word.

It must mean something real and specific to the people living it.

And that looks different from community to community.

From the Somali community, safety means more than the absence of violence.

It means belonging.

It means being seen, heard, protected, not treated as a threat.

That is the standard that we must hold ourselves to.

This makes this resolution makes it clear that San Diego will not stand for bigotry.

We are united in our commitment for dignity, safety.

Good afternoon.

My name is Rachel Lasano Castro.

I live in district four.

Work in district nine.

We're speaking from the heart today.

Uh I resonate with my sister before.

I don't know what to do with the hate in my heart right now.

I'm a practicing Christian.

I was uh in elementary school during 9-11.

I lost people that day.

There's other things to do with grief and hate uh than turn it on others.

So as somebody who's not from here but has lived here in San Diego for over a decade, and somebody whose family has been in this country for generations, it's it's a hard time to want to stay in San Diego except for leadership and solidarity like you.

So thank you, Councilmember.

And um I it's it's whether we want to make the right decisions, it's whether we want to have people like me hit keep my business here and have children here.

Are we going to stand in solidarity with our neighbors or are we not?

That's that's what we're deciding.

So I urge you to do the right thing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dale.

Um, hello everyone.

My name is Dale McNenny, and I'm here to speak in favor of this resolution.

Um it's important for our elected officials to use whatever tools at their disposed disposal to push back publicly against organized racism and violence.

Um American fascism today is based on organized racism and xenophobia, and there are a few communities that understand that better than Somali Americans.

Um I strongly support this resolution, but I hope the members of this council continue their advocacy in defense of marginalized people beyond resolutions.

Um I know, for example, that flock is a really controversial issue.

Um, and I understand that there are people in this chamber who are seeking higher office, various higher offices.

Um, you know, these are the tough decisions that you are gonna be expected to make if you do want a promotion.

Um and you know, I hope you encourage this resolution, but there's a lot more to do.

So, my apologies.

You oh sure, my staff will come up and get it.

And you have time seated by uh Mana Mohammed, Mah, you can please raise your hand.

Thank you, and Hafsa.

Thank you.

You'll have three minutes, please proceed.

Thank you, and good afternoon, Council President and members of the city council.

My name is Masalayusuf, I live in District 4, and I'm here today in strong support of agenda item S400, and the resolution is support of Somali community.

I support this resolution because of every San Diego deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued in their community, no matter where they come from, how they look like, with the language which they speak, or what faith they choose.

No family should have to live in a in fear because of their race, religion, ethnicity, immigration background, or Fuji experience.

The Somali community is unique because our identity sits at intersection of many communities.

We are black, we are Muslims, we are a few cheese and immigrants, we speak a language other than English, and for that reason we are targeted for all this hate.

You know, whoever hates Muslims hate Somali.

Whoever hates black people is gonna hate Somali people.

Whoever hates immigration and refugees is gonna hate somebody.

For that reason, we really go through a lot, all our families, our kids.

So I'm also deeply concerned by the dangerous rhetoric used by political leaders and public figures, including President Trump, and members of Congress, to scapegoat and demonize Somali Americanis, Muslims and immigrants and other marginalized communities.

Where is Maro what do you say?

I don't want to repeat those words again.

You don't serve my my tongue to say, what that guy in the White House said.

Uh, someone who cares deeply about children and families, because I am the co-founder and the CEO of 15 Charles School.

We serve 600 kids.

Majority of them are Somali people, Somali kids.

And when those words were said by the president, actually, their self-esteem was damaged.

You know, imagine the water tea, and the present is saying such words to them, to their community.

So for that reason, we would like you to support this resolution, and I would really like to express my gratitude to my brother, Sean.

Thank you very much.

And history will work.

What do you're doing for this community.

And we deeply appreciate it.

And thank you, all of you.

And thanks for all of the members who showed up to the concluding remark.

Are you ladies?

You are very articulate.

Thank you.

Your time has concluded.

Thank you so much for your remarks.

Now, Kabshima.

Now, if you can please come up to the microphone.

After that, I have Prosperity Land, Jaina, Orjana, Wenberg, Ashley, Mendiola, Petros, Hagos, and Salio Usman.

If you can all please come forward to the Yellow Reserve seats.

Please proceed.

Hello, my name is Nal Kavashima.

I'm the executive director of the Karen Organization of San Diego, serving refugees and newcomers from Burma and a Muslim then living in District 9.

I'm here today in support of this resolutions.

When the Somali community are targeted, and the anti Muslim hate is normalized, we are all targeted, and nobody's safe in this kind of society.

They struggled a lot just because they are new to this country.

And to meet their urgent needs, we started the Karen organization in 2009 after learning how Somali community leaders organized the community and supported their refugee family to be included in the San Diego community.

Since they I continue learning from Somali community leaders, sisters and brothers, how to organize, how to support and respect one another, and how to be kind to all neighbors, no matter what their backgrounds, religion, ethnicities are.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Prosperity Land.

Good afternoon.

My name is Rasperity.

I'm here on behalf of the current organization of San Diego.

I'm here in support of this resolution because every San Diegan deserves to feel safe and respected in their communities.

As a friend of the Somali community, I'm troubled by the harassment directed at Somali families and child care providers.

As a longtime resident of District 9, I've grown up with my Somali refugee peers who are, by the way, very kind, hilarious, and generous, and they make a damn good samosa.

And they are now working in cybersecurity and health care and finance and are actively serving their communities and are arguably 100% extremely valuable members of society.

And my Somali friends and their communities deserve to be heard by the city of San Diego.

I applaud this effort to stand with the Somali community.

San Diego must reject bigotry in all its forms and stand united in defense of the dignity and safety of all its residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Esteemed Council members, my name is Jana, and I'm a constituent of President Lakava.

I am here in solidarity with the San Diego Somali community and affirm this resolution against hate and discrimination.

No one should live in fear due to their race, religion, or immigration status.

And in addition to adopting this resolution, I urge the city to take additional steps to protect cherished child care workers and kiddos.

I am also here as a Jewish member of Door Hadash in support of our Muslim cousins.

As Jews, we know acutely the ugly impacts of hateful rhetoric and scapegoating.

And collective liberation is the only way forward.

Thank you.

And please vote unanimously to support this resolution.

Thank you, Ashley Mendiola.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Ashley from the San Diego Organizing Project and a constituent of District 8.

I'm here today in support of this resolution because nobody should have to live in fear because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or immigration background.

It's heartbreaking to hear what my brothers and sisters are going through.

San Diego Council, please stand in solidarity with the community.

People deserve to be treated with dignity and feel safe.

Council members, today you have an opportunity to take a clear stand against harassment, intimidation, and discrimination targeting the Somali community in San Diego.

I ask you to please vote in favor of this resolution.

Thank you.

Petros Hagos.

Hello, council members.

My name is Petrus Hagos.

I grew up in City Heights with my Somali brothers.

I'm here with uh City High CDC.

And um I would like to say that we are in support of this resolution, and we stand with the Somali community members who have experienced harassment, discriminations, and targeting.

Every resident deserves to feel safe, respected, and welcome regard regardless of their ethnicity, nationality, religion, or background.

The Somali community is part of City Heights, and they're part of every community in America.

And I know this because I grew up with my brothers to see them experience this, my brothers and sisters to see them experience what they're going through right now really affects us and should affect everybody.

This resolution sends an important message that San Diego values inclusion, dignity, and belonging for our community, and reaffirms our commitment to ensuring the Somali residents know they are seen, supported, and an essential part of our community.

Thank you for your support.

Salu, Usman.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Saleh Osman.

I'm working at District 9.

Uh today I'm coming over here to support this resolution.

I'm here today to support the resolution because we every San Diego deserves to feel safe, respected, valued in their community.

No family should have to live in fear because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or immigration background.

San Diego must take clear stand against harassment, intimidation, and discrimination, targeting the Somali community.

For example, in May 918, Islamic Center of San Diego.

All of us, we know what happens.

Still we are healing all our children who goes at Islamic Center is still the are in trauma.

So we need to support this resolution, to say for our children, for our families, and that we need to go forward to inclusively helping each other.

Thank you.

Please come up to the microphone as you make your way up.

I'd like to note for the record that we did have four speakers in favor that did not wish to speak, and one comment in favor that was submitted via our web comment form, which has been distributed to the council.

Please proceed.

Hi, good afternoon.

I'm Dinora Reina, executive director with the San Diego Organizing Project.

We're a network of congregations across the county, and I'm also a resident of District 8.

I live in Nestor.

And we're here, STOP is here, in support and in partnership with PANA and other organizations in San Diego, serving Somali and Muslim community members.

With PANA, we've spent the last 10 months exploring the question about how to protect and be able to serve impacted community members from the deportation machine and the lawlessness of ICE and other federal agencies.

So and in our work and our communities of faith believe that every single human being is made in the cur in the image of God.

And we believe that the families, the caregivers, and the Somali community in this moment is a community that is not being seen that way and it's not being respected and protected.

I'm here in support of this resolution and believe you all should.

I think it's a low and small ask.

I think the expectation of elected officials should be greater.

Thank you.

In that concluding sentence.

Shalem Aburi Lopez.

Shalom, right here.

Shalem Abuti Lopez, uh community member in district district three.

Um I'm here to support my Somali and Muslim brothers and sisters.

I say to my neighbors, you are more than welcome.

You are San Diegans.

And I'm here in deep support of this resolution.

Beyond just saying we do not accept the hate that is being thrown at us from every angle, from the highest to those that are online.

Um, we need to do something to protect our children.

Every child should feel just as safe as any other child living in any other community.

Um, every parent should feel just as safe as I did just right now, as I picked up my kid from child care.

Everyone deserves that same level of safety and dignity.

Vote yes today.

Thank you.

That does conclude our speakers here in person, and we'll now go to those participating remotely.

I started the five-minute timer.

We have 15 speakers in the queue.

Starting with Mean Mai.

You'll have one minute.

Please proceed.

Hello, my name is Min Mai.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I am also the board chair of Vit Voices, a local grassroot nonprofit based here in City Heights, District 9, San Diego.

Uh while our grassroots organization, Vit Voices is dedicated to the development and empowerment of the Vietnamese community in San Diego.

We stand in solidarity with our Somali neighbors.

Everyone deserves a place where they feel safe and welcome, and we support this resolution and support of the Somali community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Naomi.

If you can please unmute.

We are here today in support of this resolution because San Diego must take a clear stand against harassment and discrimination targeting Somali families and child care providers.

Family child care providers should be able to work and children should be able to learn in safe environments free from stalking and harassment.

We support this effort to stand with the Somali community against hate, racism, discrimination, and harassment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Ellen.

Ellen, if you can please unmute.

Hi, my name is Ellen Freitas.

I live in District 2.

I want to speak in favor of this resolution, as I believe it is important to speak up against hate, othering, and profiling.

These attitudes lead to violence, as we saw in the recent fatal attack on the local Islamic center.

I am not Somali.

I am not Muslim, but this affects all of us.

I did not feel safe when ICE raided my old neighborhood in South Park, when there were men on rooftops hunting humans.

I did not feel safe when myself and my white-skinned immigrant husband were passed over by massed armed ice agents parked outside our door because they spotted someone browner.

The Somali community unfortunately is experiencing this uh culture disproportionately due to their rich culture, the color of their skin, and their rich religious traditions, and I stand against that hate as we all should.

We need to speak up, and passing this resolution is a part of that.

Thank you.

Next is Test.

If you can please unmute test.

Tess, I can't unmute for you.

I'll go on to our next caller.

Viet Voices, if you can please unmute.

Crypto Bradley, if you can please unmute.

All right, thanks for taking my call.

I would like to add another motion to denouncing the guys in Israel killing all the Muslims in the Gaza Strip.

That would be something we could add to the thing.

Because I'm not for guys living in fear, but even the Somalis in San Diego don't have it as bad as if they were in Lebanon right now.

And the Israelis were bombing them.

But anyway, I am also for the I'm for the mass rapid deportation of all non-citizens in the United States.

Wherever country you came from, it's time to go back.

Because Trump's winning the war, and he's gonna come back with heavy on ice, is gonna really hit us hard in San Diego.

And it's great.

It'll be a rapid deportation.

Everyone will have to go home, and make it get their lives back in their own country and live happily ever after, all not here, but in their own country.

Your time has concluded.

Tristan Barry, if you can please unmute Tristan Barry.

Hello, council.

My name is Tristan Beerie, and I'm the youth organizer with Youth Will.

I'm here today in support of this resolution because every San Diegan deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued in their community.

No family should have to live in fear because of their race, religion, ethnicity, or immigration background.

San Diego must take a clear stand against harassment, intimidation, and discrimination targeting the Somali community Somali community.

Under this current administration, we have seen the adoption of dangerous rhetoric used to attack Somali Americans, Muslims, immigrants, and other marginalized communities.

And we as a city cannot allow those in power to spread fear, suspicions, and false narratives for political gain, especially when we have seen the direct impacts of these kind of words can have.

We saw this on May 18th when two individuals carried out a direct attack on our Muslim community that left three lives taken from us, three lives that had an impact much beyond their own, because of how much they poured themselves into their community.

We as a city need to adopt language that acknowledges the contributions of our Somali community.

We need to promise to protect them, and we need to acknowledge that people are targeting their community, and we are refusing to be a part of that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is youth.

Good afternoon.

My name is Claire Snyder with Youth Will, and I'm a resident of District Three.

I am here in support of this item and this resolution.

All young people, all children deserve to feel safe, um, be able to learn and grow in environments that are free from harassment, stalking, and hateful speech.

Um and this anti-Muslim bigotry didn't come from anywhere.

It's fueled by our political climate, political leaders, and it should not be tolerated at all.

Um, like many others have said, I encourage you to not only support this item, but also take action and stand on your words.

When you say you support communities, um, we see when you say you do when you say something and then you don't do it.

So I encourage you all to take action as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Blair Beekman, if you can please unmute.

Five-minute timer has also concluded.

No additional speakers will be taken after this.

We have 10 speakers in the queue.

Blair Beekman, please proceed.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Uh, I'm on the Charlie.

Hopefully, my Zoom won't cut out.

Uh, thanks a lot for this item.

Thank you for these efforts.

I think this is an item that really can resonate in in San Diego, and I think we can all uh understand and work towards ending this sort of dialogue and hatred in our local communities.

So thank you immensely for it.

With that said, I I'm sorry if I'm gonna sound like Mother Hubbard here, but um there is an initial cause and purpose of why the Trump administration has been angry, you know, at uh certain groups of people in this country who he feels are getting away with murder on welfare, basically.

You can have an argument uh on the merits of that or not, but he wants to work out a better system.

Why is that in in its place bringing in so much hatred and spite towards other people?

And that's the real problem with Trump and their way of working.

They may have one or two ideas.

Bring it in with 10 tons of that.

That's not the way to define policy or bureaucracy.

Uh good luck.

Liliana, I can't unmute.

There you go.

Hello.

Hi.

Hi, council.

Um, today, uh, well, my name's Ivana.

I'm here with Youth Will.

I'm the director of policy there, and I was also born and raised in City Heights.

Um, I have a lot of love and appreciation for the Somali community and the people that I grew up with.

Um, and as a young person growing up in that community today, I want to support that resolution, um, because they are important and a pillar of like um what actually being exposed to different cultures is like, and they also deserve to feel safe, uh, feel respected and valued.

Um, and through this resolution, that's what they achieve.

Um, we also need to take care of our youngest San Diegans because there was a lot of issues coming up where um child care facilities um owned by Somali families were being stopped.

So I just already drew to support this item because of those reasons.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes your time.

Carmen Carmen Panalosa Valdez.

Yes.

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, please proceed.

Okay.

My name is Carmen.

I live in District 9.

I'm also here with Youth Will.

I'm here today in support of this resolution because every San Diegan deserves to feel safe, respected, and valued in their community.

Um, San Diego must take a clear stand against harassment, intimidation, and discrimination targeting the Somali community.

I'm deeply concerned by the dangerous rhetoric used by political leaders and public figures, including the president, of course, and members of Congress to scapegoat and demonize Somali Americans, Muslims, immigrants, and other marginalized communities.

These individuals with positions of power are purposefully spreading fear, suspicion, and false narratives for political gain, which in turn leads to consequences much beyond political debate.

We've seen this most recently, May 18th, three members of our community were murdered.

These are painful reminders that hateful rhetoric does not remain confined to social media, speeches, broadcasts, they inspire violence and tragedy.

Um this resolution sends an important message that San Diego rejects bigotry in all of its forms and stands united in defense of the dignity, safety, humanity of all its residents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Karina, if you can please unmute Karina.

Good afternoon, Council members.

My name is Karina Pugh Pronouns or she her, and I'm calling today in support of this resolution on behalf of the San Diego LGBT community center.

It has no place in San Diego.

Our Somali neighbors are integral to the rich, diverse fabric of our San Diego community, and each and every one of them deserves to be safe, respected, and welcomed.

As a community center that serves the diverse base of San Diegans and including our immigrants, we know all too well the feeling of discrimination and the constant fear for your safety when national leaders view harmful rhetoric about your community.

Our communities are under attack both through this false and dangerous rhetoric as well as through discriminatory policies that enact direct harm upon our communities.

We reject this hate and we know that strength is our strength is inmunity.

We will not allow this hate to divide our communities because we know that we are stronger and more resilient as one.

To our Somali and immigrant neighbors, the center's doors will always be open to you.

We respect you, and you will always have a place here in San Diego.

Thank you, Councilmember Ilo Rivera for bringing forth this resolution and to our other council members and chambers, please support this item.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is uh Courtney, if you can please unmute.

Good afternoon, honorable council members.

My name is Courtney.

My apologies, Courtney.

We will restart your time.

Every once in a while, I press the wrong button.

Please proceed.

No problem.

Good afternoon, honorable council members.

My name is Courtney Baltiski, calling today with Children First Collective San Diego.

We stand in solidarity with people who make up our child care sector on behalf of children, families, and providers.

We'll continue to fight for a system that works for all.

And today that's especially important with this resolution, which we support and encourage all councils to vote unanimously on it.

As an aspiring ally, it's an honor to be welcomed into Somali community, whether that's with family child care providers or with partner organizations.

The warm welcome, the incredible culture inspires hope.

And so today's vote is a vote for hope and not hate in San Diego.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next is Dr.

Kathleen.

If you can please unmute iPhone 143, Dr.

Kathleen.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

My name is Dr.

Kathleen Armin.

I live in the fourth district.

I am 95 years old, and I never thought that I would live to see this happen to our community and name.

I'm begging the council to pass this resolution.

Thank you.

So, thank you for your comments, Francine Maxwell.

If you can please unmute.

Hello.

Yes.

Yes.

Sorry.

Good afternoon, Francine Maxwell, Southeastern San Diego resident.

Thank you so much for the presentation and full support.

I am hoping that after the resolution passes, that the plans will be made with the president of the United States Conference of Mayors, our mayor, who has um themed a city for all of us.

Hate has no place, absolutely.

So if everyone in the room could go over to the mayor's representative and ask him to reactivate the mayor's advisory groups, we learned a lot from the communities so that we can get a front of things that are going to happen.

We are living in treacherous times right now, and conversation is needed on all fronts.

So in full support of the resolution, the next steps are what's important so that things do not continue looking performative in our city.

And that would entail that the mayor pull things off the shelf, implement more conversations citywide so that we can all get to learn each other and continue to move and live.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

Thank you.

Next is 8813.

If you can please unmute 8813.

Okay, we don't need the mayor to do that.

We can do it ourselves.

But anyways, okay, Gonzuelo here and uh asking the city council to pass a resolution to protect community.

Uh, but the reality is that this council does not stand for truth or protection, it stands for pub political self-interest and public image and protection of itself.

This is more divide and conquer rhetoric where government positions itself as the protector and savior while continues to decline.

Many people still believe and trust the government is here to protect them, but trust is built through transparency, accountability, and equal treatment for everyone.

That's something that this board does not practice.

And reminder to the people listening, responsibility, uh, reminder, responsibility for real solutions does not rest with government, it rests with the people with communities coming together directly, honestly, without political manipulation.

Sean.

Your time has concluded.

John Stump, if you can please unmute.

Hi, good afternoon.

Um several of the speakers have called for, I support the resolution.

I'm a city hider.

Um several of the speakers have called for action.

I hope during the council's consideration of this item that they call before them the uh criminal division of the city attorney and the police department to ask them whether they have sufficient authority and resources to prosecute, identify and prosecute these hateful people.

Is it a crime in San Diego, the city of San Diego to do these acts?

How many people have been successfully prosecuted and jailed?

The district attorney should probably be called in and find out how many have been in prison for these hateful acts.

Take action.

Thank you for the talk.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Our last speaker is Ismahan Abdullahi.

Please unmute.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak.

My name is Ismahan Abdullahi, and while unfortunately cannot be there in person today, as I'm in transit, I want to reiterate my support for this resolution.

I think this is more than just a recognition of this beautiful community.

It is an acknowledgement of the story of resilience sacrifice and belonging that the Somali community brings, and that hate has no place in our city.

This resolution sends a very important message to this community, to the city of San Diego, and to the youth who are listening and watching the way that we respond when hate rises.

It tells our Somali community and the youth that they are seen, that they belong, that their story is part of the story of this city.

And at a time when too many communities are facing division, fear, and misunderstanding, this resolution is going to recognize the contribution of our uh Somali community and help build a small stronger, more united front and future for all of us.

So I want to thank the council for considering this resolution, and I look forward to folks voting for it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That concludes for the comment for this item.

Alright, thank you, City Clerk.

Uh, and thank you, those who showed up in chambers uh to speak your truth, your lived experience, and thank you to the friends and neighbors and organizations that joined in solidarity to speak with one voice on something that is so critical about defining who we are as a city.

And I appreciate those who took the time to call in uh remotely.

With that, I will turn it over to my colleagues.

Uh councilmember Io Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Uh, let me begin by um thanking some of our partners who helped um with today.

Um Kathy, thank you for your work on this from the City Attorney's Office.

We very much appreciate you.

Um Hamira Ramla Ramo with the Partnership for the Advance of New Americans.

Thank you for your work, and um Lucky and Anisa, thank you.

Um, I I think I wanted to start with with what I know about the Somali community, and I think we actually see a lot of it in you too.

Um, smart, courageous, strong, kind, family focused, and community oriented.

Um, the resolution is a product of your hard work.

Um very well done.

Um it also I want to emphasize the the courageous piece of of that because it took a lot, takes a lot for you to sit in those seats and and provide um the presentation that you provided.

I've had the privilege of working with the Somali community since the beginning of my time working in City Heights, and time and again I've seen those traits that I just mentioned.

Uh and and one of the best things about working in and with representing district nine has been the opportunity to stand arm in arm uh with communities from all over the world.

And um, some of those folks are from cultures I've been part of or close to, and others that I've come to know and love.

Um, and in this work I get to see and appreciate some of the common threads that knit people of all backgrounds into what I think is a really beautiful tapestry here in San Diego.

And those are love and care for all of our children, the energizing optimism and imagination of youth, and the unrivaled power of motivated moms and grandmothers.

And those are values that I see clearly in the San Diego Somali community.

I've seen the community improve the way our children are fed at school, youth lead other young people in creating a vision for a better future, and workers lead and win campaigns that expand rights and opportunities for all workers.

Over many years working alongside folks evolved into trusted partnerships, which evolved into close friendships.

Close friends became adopted members of my family, mentees became some of my most dependable and irreplaceable co-workers, and the leaders of teams that we built together.

I definitely would not be where I am or able to do what I do in District 9's office, would not be able to do what we do without San Diego's Somali community.

At the same time, despite their strength and resilience, Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the Somali community.

Each round of attack seems to grow more venomous and more dangerous as he grows more desperate to distract from his failures, his lies, and his corruption by scapegoating vulnerable groups with no regard for the harm it causes.

And of course, others from his regime and those who ride the coattails of his hate have joined his chorus.

It's disgusting, it's dangerous, and it absolutely cannot be allowed to fester.

The reasons why are numerous and should be obvious, but I I want to point to the one that has made me the most angry and scared about the moment that we are in, and that's the stalking and harassment of child care providers, the people who care for our babies.

Dehumanization is the worst form of hate.

It opens the door to what is otherwise unimaginable.

When we make one group of people no longer people, the absolute worst things happen.

I think the most stark and frightening example of when a community is being dehumanized comes when the children from that community are seen as acceptable targets or collateral targets of hate, violence, or cruelty.

We heard about that happening here in San Diego.

Of the homes and facilities where children of all backgrounds were being taken care of, had doors knocked on, and men posted up outside, demanding to see the children.

This is something that no child, no parent, no child care provider should have to deal with.

I could not be more proud to be in community with you and call so many of you friends.

I love you, and our city should show you love through action.

Earlier this year, when Somali child care providers were targeted, I did work with the mayor, the chief of police, and city attorney Ferber to partner in ensuring that actions were taken to both protect childcare facilities and ensure that our child care providers know their rights and their ability to enforce the law when they're being targeted with harassment and intimidation.

And this resolution is another important step.

So I ask my colleagues to support this motion motion as a first act of love from our city to a community that consistently shows and acts with love.

With that, I move approval of the recommendation.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember.

So we have a motion by Councilmember Ilo Rivera to move the resolution.

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

Thank you, Council President.

And first off, thank you to Councilmember Ilo Rivera and his staff for bringing this resolution forward in partnership with PANA and the Somali community.

Someone said it in the audience earlier, words do matter, and they also have consequences.

Our current federal administration has continued to advance rhetoric that seeks to divide communities.

They help to reinforce harmful stereotypes, and they create conditions that have allowed hate, discrimination, racism, and xenophobia to not only exist, because let's face it, I think we all know that it's always existed, but to spread, and now to do so in the open.

As many of you have shared this rhetoric and the policies that have followed escalated to an environment where outside social media personalities have come to our city to target to follow and to harass Somali immigrant child care providers in their places of work.

And I especially wanted to test, it is the testing that our federal administration and those who are seeking social media views and clicks, and then including some San Diegans have specifically targeted child care providers.

I think many of us recognize that child care is extremely challenging, especially post-COVID.

We've had many stories of child care providers closing.

Many of us in the community recognize how expensive childcare has become.

And that challenge doesn't even begin to speak to the challenge that's faced by those who are actually providing that care in our communities.

So I want to thank many of you who are here today, especially those of you with uh united domestic workers who represent our child care workers, because of the few that remain, that work is ever more important to ensure that a community can thrive.

And I think it's fair to say that the horrific attack that the Islamic Center of San Diego faced is a recent reminder of the worst dangers of the rhetoric that is brought before our city and our nation.

And that we must come together when it comes to protecting our neighbors and exemplifying firsthand that we can build a society where everyone feels safe, valued, and included.

So I think today why this resolution is important is because it's our chance to recognize that our matters, our words matter too, and they have a significance in allowing the city of San Diego to be heard.

In doing so, we uplift our child care providers and our child care workers.

We denounce hate, racism, and xenophobia, and we stand with more than 15,000 Somali American neighbors who call San Diego home.

We also recognize that the Somali community has made significant cultural, civic, and economic contributions that we believe strengthen San Diego.

And we celebrate the fact that many immigrants and refugees are an integral part of the city.

Those are our words, and I hope that they matter as well.

So thank you again to Councilmember Ila Rivera for bringing this forward, not just the pan and the small community, but clearly to many of the partner organizations who came out today in solidarity and to speak in one collective voice.

And with that, I am proud to second uh the motion.

All right, thank you.

So we have a motion by Council Member Ilo Rivera and a second by Council President Pro Tem Lee.

We will go next to Councilmember Whitburn.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Ilo Rivera, to you and your team for bringing forward this resolution.

Thank you to both of you for the presentation.

It is very important that the city publicly push back on the hateful rhetoric that has been targeting many of our residents.

The attacks and harassment on Somali child care providers or the Somali community in general, or the black community in general is completely unacceptable.

The thousands of San Diegans who are members of the Somali community should not have to live in fear.

Several speakers this afternoon asked not just for words but also for action.

The fourth proposed action that Councilmember Ilo Rivera includes in this resolution is a request from the council that the city work with child care providers to increase security measures to protect them and the children in their care.

And I would ask the city make a concerted effort to work with child care providers to increase their security.

One of the foremost responsibilities of our city is to protect the public safety, and that includes the Somali community.

We also need to counteract these racist narratives by recognizing the significant contributions of the Somali community in San Diego.

The contributions are innumerable across many sectors, child care being one of them.

Thank goodness for at-home child care providers.

Child care is one of the greatest needs in our city.

Thank goodness for UDW and child care providers united.

They make it possible for many people, including members of the Somali community to provide high quality child care.

Speaking for the 150,000 residents in my district, we are grateful for that.

I will also highlight that here in District 3, as is mentioned in the resolution, the House of Somalia was accepted as the first African country to join the House of Pacific Relations in Balboa Park.

That is a point of pride for my district and for our city, and that recognition is well deserved.

So even as others sow the seeds of prejudice, I am pleased that our city embraces the many ethnic communities that make up San Diego, including our Somali community.

And I'll be supporting the item today.

Thank you, Council President.

Alright, thank you, Councilmember Whitburn.

We'll go next to Council Member Campillo.

Thank you, Council President.

I want to thank the members of the public who've come in today to share their words in support of the resolution and thank the District 9 office and Councilmember Ilo Rivera for authoring it.

Would like to recognize how what a good job UDW has done in organizing and protecting and advocating for the needs of their members, whether they're Somali or not, but of course standing up for the Somali community.

Also see in the crowd today, our good friend, the Honorable Delphina Gonzalez from the Otai Water District.

So it's good to see her as well.

You know, I think the having worked on child care issues and with UDW on issues related to child care in home child care.

Uh the city council supported uh a law back in 2023 that my office authored to make sure that landlords wouldn't take advantage of in-home child care providers.

The thing that really is so disgusting about this is it's intentionally focusing on a group of people who are immigrants, mostly immigrants, who are taking care of our children because they know the thing you love the most, the thing everyone in the public cares about more than anything is their family and their young ones.

And they're trying to besmirch the work you do.

And everything I've ever seen from the child care providers, UDW, Somali, or any of the other groups that do this in home care is excellent work.

Their parents of those children rave about how good you are at the work you do, how their children develop, how they learn to read, how they have good social skills.

You're one of the best we have as a community in providing this service.

And you make it less expensive for everybody, which is like the incredibly stupid part of the attack on your community.

Many of us have children up here who uh and we know the cost of child care right now, and I just have to say that in terms of the contributions that Councilmember Whitburn so rightfully pointed out, raising our children is the most important.

You could provide, and you do it well, and you do it at less expensive than many other places.

And so I wish every San Diegan and American could see what I've seen in my district and around the city that you're supporting economic development, childhood development, all the things we beg members of the public to help us with, you do it.

You do it.

So thank you very much for this for your service to our community, for your union for standing up for you and for and for working within your union as well.

Uh, and I'm I'm proud to support this resolution because the contribution you make is improving our society.

Absolutely improving it.

So thank you very much.

I'll be in support.

All right, excuse me.

Uh thank you, Councilmember Campia.

We'll go next to Councilmember Von Wolpert.

Um, thank you, and thank you, Councilmember Ilo Rivera for bringing forth this resolution today.

Um I am very proud to support our resolution affirming our city's commitment to San Diego's Somali community.

And thank you for being here very much.

Um, our Somali neighbors are important part of the fabric of San Diego.

You contribute to our economy, you enrich our culture, raise families here, help others raise their families as they're struggling to access child care, and you do it so well.

You are very good at your jobs, and we appreciate the work you do.

You operate businesses, you strengthen our civic life.

Your success is our city's success.

And a time when immigrant and refugee communities understandably face fear, discrimination, uncertainty, it is important that we make clear here today, San Diego is a welcoming city, and we welcome our Somali community into our city.

Every resident deserves to live with safety, dignity, pursue opportunity, and participate fully in our community in our life here, regardless of your national origin or immigration status or where you come from or who you love, who you ascribe to.

All of we all of us deserve dignity and respect in our communities.

We also stand firmly against harmful rhetoric and actions that seek to divide us.

Words can turn into hateful violence, like we saw at our Islamic Center here in San Diego, and three people tragically lost their lives, saving the lives of hundreds of children.

And finally, this resolution recognizes the importance of protecting our Somali-owned child care providers from harassment and intimidation.

You have faced unthinkable harassment.

And I actually have a question for our police department who's here, and I'm glad we have the multi-cultural storefront up and running, but I do have a question.

If someone from our police department can come answer it, one of the things we have to stop is people making money on social media for harassing other people.

It is horrendous.

And people do have a First Amendment right to freedom of expression in this country.

I I hope we can stop hate, but they do not have a right to make money.

So how can we tell the YouTubes and the Metas and the Googles and the alphabets of the world to take down these accounts so they can't make money by harassing our child care providers?

I think it's comes down to pressure.

It's putting pressure on these folks.

It's clearly it's the set of tone here where we've looked into it from the city on the city side as far as the PD.

We've had upwards of over a dozen complaints of harassment from both the internet as well as through the different organizations.

We've taken them all seriously, documented all of them and sent them up through the city attorney's office.

I think it comes out of pressure, just putting pressure on these entities.

So let us know how we can help.

I'm I'm happy to send this resolution to all of the tech companies which are based in California, which need to learn what they're doing is wrong.

So I just think it's horrible, and people should not be able to make money off this.

But thank you, and we're happy to help sign on to any effort we can.

And that's what's getting scarier and scarier.

Hateful rhetoric against our Muslim community is growing in national politics, and it should scare all of us.

I'm not going to repeat what they said because their words do not deserve to be repeated.

But we have U.S.

representatives in Congress, such as Brandon Gill in Texas, Senator Tommy Toberville in Alabama, Representative Randy Fine in Florida, and Andy Olgis in Tennessee, who have all faced horrible backlash for their horrible anti-Muslim posts and have made incredibly hateful Islamophobic comments.

We must reject their hate.

There is no place for Islamophobic comments in our United States government.

What worries me even more is the trend we're seeing in national politics, is changing.

Speaker Johnson and his leadership have shown no interest in reprimanding any of these members of Congress for their hate.

None.

And this is a change from 2019 when we saw then speaker or minority leader Kevin McCarthy here in California and his leadership team booted a horrible man named Representative Stephen King in Iowa off of all of his congressional committees after he questioned publicly whether white supremacy should come back to this country.

He faced consequences then.

They are not facing consequences now, and it is deeply scary.

But here in San Diego, we're gonna push back.

And today, on behalf of the council, thank you again to Council Vershaliberg.

Thank you so much for everyone who presented and all the hard work you put into this.

We stand with our Somali community, we value you, we see you, and I'm proud to support this resolution.

All right, thank you, Councilmember Baummelper.

We'll go next to Councilmember Campbell.

Thank you so much.

I want to say that I'm in complete agreement with all of the words that my colleagues have said.

Welcome to America.

That's what all Americans should be saying.

Welcome and we're glad you came.

And we want you to know that we believe everyone is created equal.

And we have had a hard time in this country if you look at our 250-year history and living up to our promise.

And I want you to know that we in San Diego will live up to our promise.

We will stand up with you.

We will fight with you, we believe in you.

We are your neighbors, your friends, your brothers, your sisters.

We are all one people, and we believe that, and we live it.

And as old as I am, I'm telling you, I'm 80 years old.

I'm not as old as Catherine.

She's my hero.

But Catherine and I, when we had young children, we didn't have good in-home child care.

And I want to thank you for providing that and the safety for those children.

Thank you so much.

I don't know how long some of you have been here, but if it's less than 12 years or so, you have lived under this Trump.

And he does not represent our country.

And our only power as citizens is our vote.

And the only way we have power is to use our vote.

And so those of you who can vote, please.

Remember, it's so important.

It really is our only power in a big democracy.

So let us work hard.

Let us get out the vote next time.

Let us make sure we never have another demagogue, another follower of Hitler, another Hitler, certainly not in this country ever.

We are all one, and we are together with you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Ela Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

I just want to say thank you to my colleagues for the comments you've made, the support you've shown.

I also wanted to make sure that I relayed the appreciation from the Somali community to United Domestic Workers.

I'd intentionally tried to keep it as much about the Somali community leaders as possible, but as is the case with our Somali community, they wanted to make sure that that appreciation was shown.

And that plays itself out in a multitude of ways, obviously, supporting the child care providers, but also just providing community space for Eid for other important community celebrations.

So I want to say thank you for that.

Again, very much like our leaders of within the community to make sure that that appreciation was spread as wide as possible.

So thank you again to my colleagues, and thank you to all the allies who showed up today.

Very, very appreciative for the way this conversation has happened.

I'll hand it back to you, Council President.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Councilmember Ila Rivera.

So I'll jump in here to close it out.

Thank you, Councilmember, for your work, the work of your amazing staff in District 9, who time and time again helped lead us into these conversations that are so very important.

Thank you to PANA and your leadership over the years, and what you've done and what you've taught me.

We don't always agree, but you have taught me an awful lot since the first time I went to a PANA rally years and years ago.

Thank you again, as I said at the onset, to all of you who showed up, who took the time to show up to show that collective solidarity about what is happening with the Somali community, what is happening with the child care providers, and to push back against people who are trying to fill an empty soul and an empty heart with hate and rhetoric because they think that makes them more important.

And as my colleagues have said, we live in a very challenging time where social media spreads like wildfire, and people can hide behind the anonymity of social media and make themselves try to feel good while they impose hate and rhetoric.

And as many of you said, words matter because it's not only that hateful words, but it's when it gets translated to action.

And people who think they have a mandate because they heard something on social media or they hear it over and over again, they think that gives them direction.

They think it gives them purpose when they so sadly, sadly do not.

And to the hate that you are exposed to that you feel, and as my colleagues, as each of you pointed out, and as my colleagues pointed out, child care providers, you have the most precious gift that you take care of on behalf of us, our children, our next generation, and the love and support that you impose on them as a child care provider is what gives me hope going forward that we are raising our children in a way that will overwhelm this awfulness.

And while I appreciate Councilmember Von Wilpert and the officer from PD, when you have the social media giants in the back pocket of this president, it can be daunting at times to think that there will be an end to this.

But we've got two and a half years.

If we can survive that, and I know we will, that we can change this course of this country back to what the original vision was.

And so we appreciate each and every one of you, despite some of the challenges we have in balancing the laws of our city, our state, our country, we will continue to look for ways to be supportive, to be protective, to go after those who would seek to do harm and ill will there.

So I do appreciate the police department, your attention to this, the city attorney's office, and even to the district attorney, in those good efforts.

So we using the words of others that are smarter and more eloquent than me, we will overcome this challenge.

Constantly reach out to each of our districts if we can be help and support in any way.

And I think there's a letter out there.

I would be happy to co-sign it if it is helpful in moving uh that financial support forward.

So with that, we have a motion by Councilmember Elo Rivera and a second by Council President Pro Tem Lee.

Please call the roll.

I'm sorry, the vote voting system.

Please cast your vote.

My apologies.

May I get your vote for the record, Councilmember?

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

Thank you, Council President.

You're gonna stay for the next item.

I'm so excited.

Thank you.

Well, let's just pause for a moment and give these good folks a chance to.

All right.

Uh clerk, please introduce items 201 and 202.

Thank you, Council President.

Item 201 is the fiscal year 2027 maintenance assessment districts annual reports for parks and recreation department.

And item 202 is the fiscal year 2027 main assessment district annual reports for the economic development department.

If you'd like to speak to these items, now's the time to raise your hand by pressing SAR 9 or the raise your hand icon, or if you're hearing council chambers to submit your speaker slip to the front of the room in the clear box.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

For these items, we will take the staff presentations together.

Public testimony and council comment on these items will also be taken together, and then we'll take separate votes on each item.

So with that, staff, please introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you need for the joint presentation.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Thank you for your time today.

My name is Michael Jones, and with me is Rhea Aguinaldo, and for our presentation will require approximately seven minutes.

Alright, when you're ready.

Thank you.

A maintenance assessment district, or MAD, is a legal mechanism to allow property owners the ability to fund improvements and activities within a boundary defined by an assessment engineer.

These districts take on many scopes of service, several of which are shown here.

Landscaping is the most common type of improvement, generally occurring in medians, parks, and rights of way.

MADs operate with legal authority to engage in improvements and activities under the guidance of legislation at both the state and local levels.

State law, the municipal code, and city council policy are each written to allow districts maximum operational flexibility.

A primary goal of these policies is to give communities the ability to offer virtually any type of feasible improvement or activity.

Next, I'd like to turn it over to RIA to cover the next section.

RIA.

Thank you, Mike.

Good afternoon, council members.

There are 64 maintenance assessment districts in the city of San Diego, of which 54 receive oversight from the Parks and Recreation Department and 10 from the Economic Development Department.

MADs are located in every council district from the border to the northernmost parts of the city.

The city's assessment areas map is an interactive tool available to the public to locate MADs operating citywide.

Economic development MADs, shown here in blue, are located in commercial areas, providing related services such as beautification, retail retention, and district branding through seasonal banners.

Parks and recreation MADs shown in yellow operate primarily in residential neighborhoods.

Oversight and accountability are key components to managing a MAD, as each district is governed by its own engineers report and assessment structure.

To support this, the city uses various contract types to administer services and activities.

For parks and recreation MADs, the districts are managed by city staffed with service delivery through contracts with for-profit vendors.

BirdRock and Civita are the exceptions managed by nonprofit organizations.

For economic development, the districts primarily operate under management agreements with nonprofit organizations with service delivery provided by staff or through subcontracted vendors.

All ten economic development MADs will be managed by nonprofits in fiscal year 27, including Barrio Logan and Central Commercial, which will transition from city management.

Seven economic development MADs are managed by local business associations that also manage manage a business improvement district.

This shared management structure allows them to coordinate resources and district priorities and leverage assessments to bring additional investments to those communities.

The next two slides highlight the visible impact of MADs in their communities.

Parks and recreation MADs shown here support the maintenance and beautification of landscaped areas, parks, and medians.

These districts are well positioned to coordinate with city departments and local stakeholders, helping deliver services effectively and aligned with neighborhood service needs.

Landscape maintenance, sidewalk cleaning, and beautification are some examples of day-to-day services shown on this slide.

Most districts also offer opportunities for community and property owners to get involved, such as through neighborhood cleanups and district walkthroughs, which help guide service priorities.

With that, I'll turn it back over to Michael.

Thank you, Rhea.

Each district is formed with an accompanying engineer assessment engineers report and is implemented upon a successful vote of affected property owners.

This is effectively the governing document that specifies which improvements can occur and at what frequencies.

The difference between general and special benefit is an important point of distinction.

Mads may only fund those services which are above the city standard and confer a special benefit to assessment payers.

The engineers report is updated annually to include new parcel data, changes in land use, and an updated budget for each district.

It is important to note that assessments may increase, decrease, or remain the same based upon the needs of the district and fiscal considerations.

Some elements of the report, such as boundaries, assessment methodology, locations, and service frequencies, may not be updated through the annual process.

These changes in assessment levies are shared with community members, stakeholders, or advisory committees associated with one or multiple districts.

The proposed actions before the council today for item two include the approval of the fiscal year 2027 annual reports.

In addition, the department seeks authorization to allow the CFO to expend funds and collect revenues that will sustain the operations of all 54 districts under parks and recreation oversight.

Additionally, the council would allow the CFO via department via the department to execute the manual billing of property owners who do not receive a property tax bill.

For item 202, proposed actions include approval of the fiscal year 2027 annual reports for the economic development department.

Authorize the CFO to appropriate and expend mad funds and manually bill the property owners not billed by the county.

Proposed actions four and five request consideration to waive MAD Council Policy 100-21 for Little Italy and Adams Avenue Mads, allowing each district's operating reserve to fall below the required minimum of 10% of operating expenditures.

The proposed actions ensure each of our departments' ability to submit the assessments to the county by the August 10th deadline for inclusion on the owner's property tax bill.

All of this ensures a seamless continuity of service.

For more information, members of the public can visit each department's webpage and the interactive map outlining district boundaries.

These are all useful resources for learning more about the maintenance assessment district program here in San Diego.

And finally, this concludes our presentation.

We appreciate your time today.

Thank you.

Alright, thank you for the presentation and thank you for the work to bring forward these annual reports.

With that, clerk, please go to public comment.

Thank you, Council President.

Um Maximilian Schmidt, if you can please come forward.

You'll have two minutes to speak on both items 201 and 202.

After that, we have uh Petros Hagos and Ben Nichols.

You can come forward to the yellow reserve seats at the front, ending with allegedly Audra.

Please proceed.

Um, using property tax for landscaping, maintenance, and cleaning of parks, and what you're calling the beautification of parks.

Um, I think it's important that we call out something else that is going on in San Diego's and parks across the whole world really.

This is also happening in mainland China.

Um, they're trying to make the the cult actually designed the buildings and created the buildings surrounding the parks and the buildings and the architecture and the parks, and they're actually trying to make the buildings look two-dimensional.

This type of architecture is called brutalism.

And the reason they're trying to do that is because if someone's death perception is messed with, they can disassociate easier and be mind controlled easier or be influenced to think a certain way by telepathic people, because the majority of the West Coast are telepaths who may try to influence someone to um be liberal or to um be a socialist.

And I just wanted to say that also the buildings are designed to make you afraid to look at the sky, where there's a many unnecessary right angles built into the architecture as well, so that when you look up at the up at the sky, it's almost like a dagger or a right angle like coming down on you to make the sky look jagged, so it's a you're afraid to look at the sky.

So I just know that a lot of um people who are escaping from colts and trying to enjoy our parks.

They may um I may be able to help people if I let them know that don't be afraid to look at the sky.

Even if there's a giant, ominous building hovering over you with right angles hanging off it unnecessarily, and that has um intense brutalism architecture that looks two dimensional to make you dissociate.

Do not be afraid to look at the skies in our parks.

And I feel like education like this, if we're gonna be taking property tax for extra property tax for landscaping maintenance and cleaning and the beautification of our parks, I think that we can help people with a message of when you enjoy San Diego's parks, don't be afraid to look at the sky.

And I say that because they're building buildings to intentionally make it hard to look at the sky.

Next is uh Petros Hagos.

You are speaking on item 202.

So you'll have one minute.

Hello, Council members.

My name is Petros.

Um I work for City High City CDC as a program manager overseeing the main assessment district.

The main assessment district plays a critical role in keeping City Highs clean and safe and welcoming those services such as graffiti removal, literal payment, legal dumping responses, landscaping, and corridor beautification.

The district improves quality of life while serving as a direct conduit between residents, businesses, and community concerns to ensure issues are addressed efficiently and rapidly.

These efforts go beyond uh uh appearances clean and well, maintain corridors, promote walkability, strength, community pride, improve public safety, and contribute to a more vibrant local commun economy.

I'm also proud to share that this year we've organized five community cleanups, two beautification events, or additional cleanups and beautification events coming up in the near future called uh beautify the block.

These efforts have uh brought uh students, uh residents, businesses, and community partners together uh to work collectively towards a cleaner community.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ben Nichols.

Hello, my name is Benjamin Nichols, and I'm with the Hill Christ Business Association.

I'm here today to urge your support for the maintenance assessment district program administered by economic development department.

Since our district's formation several years ago, we have built a robust suite of clean and safe programs.

These include monthly sidewalk steam cleaning, daily trash pickup, annual tree trimming, security patrols, and after hours on coal security services.

We have also filled every vacant tree well in Hillchrist.

We've removed hundreds of graffiti tags every week, and we continue to maintain the iconic Hillcrist sign and the Hillcrist Pride flag.

I'm happy to note that the HBA has managed to keep funding for administrative overhead at less than 10% of the budget.

I hope the council will feel the same about the importance of this program and vote to support the item.

Thank you.

Thank you, allegedly, Audra.

You'll have two minutes, speaking on items 201 and 202.

So exciting becoming a target of the salami or small league community now.

Whatever.

Um just for being here.

It's great.

Ah, yeah.

So these uh, you know, districts that you guys create.

I mean, the problem is that you guys engage with these nonprofits, they're all for profit, so I don't even know why we say that they're not.

And there is fraud, waste, and abuse with the nonprofits.

And it's like we want to sit here and say that there is no fraud, waste, and abuse going on, and we're targeting people.

Yes, people are being targeted, but there is fraud happening.

And it's like you can't even expose it.

No, Jennifer, there's no fraud happening at all.

None, absolutely not.

Or is it just with Trump?

See, that's the thing.

You'll say with Trump there is, but if it involves anybody else, there isn't.

And that's a significant problem.

Because we should be talking about these things.

Instead, we brush it under the rug and say it's like a racist thing to talk about.

No, it's happening across the board.

And again, I shouldn't be a target because of that.

That's not fair.

It's like that's what you guys do, though.

You come in and you sow discord with the people so that we fight each other instead of looking at you guys for doing what you're doing.

That money from these daycares was given by the government.

And it's like it's just ridiculous that we like want to pretend like everything is just good and cupcakes and rainbows.

It's just Trump.

That man's got to get out of here.

Those problems existed before he was here.

And the fact that you guys want to sit up there on your dais and act like that's not true, shame on you.

Woe to you guys for lying to the people and acting like you have nothing to do with it.

It's a disgrace.

People will have their tomes taken if they don't pay this tax, but if you don't provide what needs to be, ain't nothing gonna happen.

So in the starting the five-minute timer, going to those participating remotely, starting with Hector.

If you can please unmute.

All right, I'll I'll I'll speak on both things.

Yeah, the uh we should assess any illegal aliens that are associated with these businesses and and towns.

Double the assessment rate.

If you're an American citizen, you get a thousand.

And if you're an illegal alien or harboring them or uh waiting on your visa or scamming your green card, double the assessment value, and pay a bonus for people that expose them.

So if you know someone who's doing it, you get 50% of the fine, the actual person, be like a ballot, and those two Somali girls were lying on the stand that said that 20 billion dollars was fake, that Trump was making up those 20 billion dollar fraud scams off the government.

That was a blatant lie, but I was gonna try to make it lighter.

And uh, have you guys heard any Somali jokes like how many Somalis does it take to screw in a life?

Next caller is Blair Beekman.

If you can please unmute.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Um, thank you.

Are you speaking on both items?

Yes, thank you.

Uh so yeah, I would like to comment that um as how the mad reports can work.

It's my understanding.

I'm hoping that uh uh as uh parking has been uh ended, uh parking commissions have been ended in San Diego, possibly the mad source can be a way to bring parking and uh local small businesses together to discuss issues to address funding concerns.

Hopefully, the tech accountability I work with can always be included in that.

What can be the future of that and how to develop it well?

Uh, you know, it's not just uh public safety uh with the tech, but it's how to have good civil protections with the public safety tech, also.

That's it's a balance of all of that, and uh good luck in in working on those good efforts.

Um I guess that's about it for myself on this item.

Um I I think uh I hope the DRA doesn't feel disappointed.

Um, we definitely we have to address what is rhetoric and how we all address rhetoric.

And there isn't one side that has a full-on uh place in rhetoric.

Uh it's it's a work and effort from all of us.

Good luck what we can develop.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Christopher Gomez.

Please unmute, and then our final speaker after that is Robert.

Christopher, please let me know if you'd like to speak on both items or which item you'd like to speak on.

Um, specifically to the maintenance assessment districts uh pertaining to the nonprofits.

Okay, one minute.

Thank you.

Um I would first like to say thank you very much to Economic Development for their continued support and assisting our nonprofit corporations in assessing or excuse me, um, facilitating the maintenance assessment district.

Uh my name is Chris Gomez.

I am the chief executive administrator for Little Italy Association.

We administer 48 square blocks, known uh as Littlewood Lee in northern part of downtown San Diego.

Uh we have uh pressure washing, daily porter services, uh urban forestry, urban landscaping, um, and several other activations that we do throughout the year that help to support our business, business and property community.

Uh we are looking forward to seeing this move forward, so we request that the council uh approve this and that as well as the park and recommends.

Thank you.

And uh we do still have another caller, Robert, and then Scott Kessler, the five-minute timer has not concluded.

Can you hear me?

Yes, please proceed.

Are you speaking on both items or which item?

Uh both items.

Please proceed to have two minutes.

Thank you.

Uh, you know, it's interesting.

I I you'd have to correct me on this point of order, whether you guys just cut off a public comment because you disagree with the content.

And so I'd like to remind you of the violations that this board has already been involved with, right?

You guys do quorum checks now, right?

Well, are you also gonna cut off every public speaker because you disagree with them?

Are you gonna disagree?

Are you gonna take away the first amendment from reporters doing their job reporting on things?

Like, what if we stop reporting on all the financial stuff, and you guys just get to spend all the money you want?

No one can ever call you out for spending the money.

Like, what is the line you're willing to draw?

Because I just saw you cut off a public comment here.

I mean, are you gonna do the same to me?

You know, you think nobody's watching, we're all watching from home right now, and the audits will continue, right?

Like, even financial audits should start now.

Like we do meeting audits, and this is just a brown act violations that you guys seem to be committing by cutting off the public's right to be heard.

Redress grievance.

You guys are walking into this, knowing we're recording all of these meetings, right?

Like the evidence is you when you speak on that dias, and then when it turns on you all of a sudden, you have to shut us up from exposing it, right?

That that's your guys' great plan.

Like, wait until you guys find out, okay?

Because this is just us talking, right?

And you can't even handle us talking.

So I'd advise this council that if they want to be in violation of the Brown Act, continue to cut off public speakers.

We'll make notice of that every time.

Time has concluded.

Scott Kessler, if you can please unmute.

Good afternoon, council members.

I'm the executive director of the Adams Avenue Business Association or AABA, and we are in full support of item 202.

AABA has managed MAD services along our two and a half mile linear district since the early 90s, after establishing our bid in 1985.

Our district crosses through the communities of Kensington, Normal Heights, and University Heights, and is split between council districts three and nine.

AABA leverages its combined MAD and bid assessments by factor five to one, raising an additional half a million dollars annually, which gets reinvested in district activities and improvements.

MAD services include maintaining 415 street trees, which provide a lush urban canopy, and the emptying of 40 trash cans and removing litter and graffiti throughout the corridor every day of the week.

So I'm sorry, your time has concluded if you're only speaking to item 202.

The timer was incorrectly put, but if you're only speaking to the economic development department, that was a minute.

Thank you for your comments.

Hector, I have unmuted you.

If you'd like to speak on the topic of the maintenance assessment districts, you will have one minute to speak on the actual topic of the maintenance assessment districts.

Okay, so on the maintenance thing, uh keep an eye, you know, maybe have a public hearing on the different guys so they can show their paperwork.

You know, what do they spend on what?

Who gets it?

If their brothers getting all the contracts with spraying, or if it's just or it's straight, it's it's on the up and up.

It probably is, but they probably want to come out and tell everyone about it.

Here it is, here's the numbers, here's what we're doing, and we want some more money and stuff like that.

But then I'm still want to voice the thing about the uh guys that are not citizens that are into these programs, they should be assessed double, or there should be some penalty for that.

You know, where now that we have those now that you have the license plates readers, we can kind of find them if we have to.

If they take off running, you know, they get exposed, they might want to run, which happens, even you guys get exposed.

You might want to take a vacation or take care of your dog or something, or my dog has a headache, I gotta go.

Your time has concluded.

That concludes public comment on these items.

All right, thank you, City Clerk, and thank you, Hector.

Uh, with that, we'll turn it over to my colleagues and uh your comments and questions can speak to both items, and then we'll be taking separate motions for 201 and for 4202.

Next on excuse me.

First on the lights is council member Campbell.

Thank you so much.

Uh, these items were heard in our committee.

Uh, communities and neighborhood services, and we appreciate so much your hard work and good presentation.

And I wonder if you would help those who misunderstand.

If you could explain to them in very simple terms, what exactly a maintenance assessment district is and how the funds for it occur.

Thank you for your question, Councilmember Campbell.

That's obviously the existential question for MADS.

And the fundamental concept is that a MAD is a legal mechanism by which property owners can assess and create funds for improvements and activities in a defined location.

And those frequencies and locations determine the boundary of the district.

So, in simple terms, it's a way for owners, property owners to create ways to beautify and improve neighborhoods.

Yes, and can you discuss how the funds are raised for that?

Absolutely.

So the funds are conferred upon upon formation.

The first thing is it's sort of reverse engineered.

Essentially, the services are defined, the frequencies and locations are determined, and then the boundaries are set.

Within those boundaries, property owners are then tasked with funding the program through their property tax bill via assessments.

And in that is um annual process that occurs that determines which services are continuing and which services are continuing at what rate, etc.

And then at that point, the uh assessments are altered and changed based on, or sometimes they don't change based on the needs of the district in terms of service.

And would we like to add anything?

Sure, I can add just an addition an additional uh piece to that as well.

For each for the assessments, each engineer's report for the for each district identifies an assessment methodology for calculating the assessment for pro each property owner.

Generally, the assessment methodology involves building square footage of the property, at times land use as well.

Um, and so every year, and especially with this annual process, the assessment calculation is based on the latest data that our department engineers work off of to uh create or to prepare the total budget for each district, right?

So, in other words, people ask to be part of a MAD, and then they are given mechanisms by which this can be organized by the government.

The mechanisms are given by the government by the law, but they themselves are volunteering to do this to improve their neighborhood, and then they pay their assessed amount uh to help fund the improvements.

The city and the economic department looks over them to make sure and audit that everything is kosher, everything is working well and working correctly and working honestly.

And so with that, I would be happy to make the motion to accept staff's recommendation.

All right, thank you, Councilmember Campbell.

So we have a motion to move the recommendation for item 201.

We'll go next to Councilmember Woodburn.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Campbell, for hearing this item at your committee.

I would like to thank Parks and Recreation and the Economic Development Departments for your work and support of our maintenance assessment districts.

Uh, district three is fortunate to have several Mads that improve the cleanliness and safety of our communities.

Uh Adams Avenue, first San Diego River Improvement Project, Greater Hill Crest, Little Liddley, Vision Hills Historic Street Lighting, North Park, University Avenue at Washington Street, uh, University Heights and Washington Street.

Everybody who resides visits or runs a business in one of these districts benefits from the enhanced services that uh BAD provides.

So I especially what it would dollars to acknowledge the people on the crowd who perform this off of physically demanding work, usually without recognition or praise.

Uh they work to keep our sidewalks clean, our streets watered and trimmed, and our parkways maintained among all the other services they provide our city every day.

Our neighborhoods are better off because of their dedicated efforts.

And I'm happy to second the motion.

All right, thank you, sir.

So we have a motion by Councilmember Campbell, a second by Council Member Whitburn to move the staff recommendation for item 201.

I don't see anyone else on the lights, so I will add my thank you to Park and Rutg and Economic Development.

Fortunate to have help formed the MAD under those two different umbrellas going forward and do appreciate and to the property owners, you know, their first line is those, especially the self-managed ones and those uh that they have appointed uh to represent them.

Uh and uh of course, we as a city are the backstop for that conversation going forward.

So I appreciate what each of you do in your respective um and respective roles.

Uh the one question I wanted to ask was you know, some 60 years ago, the city really made a big push to really reach out to communities to engage them in essentially government work to be the eyes and ears on the ground.

Uh they know best what's happening in their neighborhoods and their communities.

We have a pretty robust history in this city, uh, often the leader across the country in that work.

But of late, there's been some observations, um, maybe started with planning groups, um, some conversations about planning districts, planning, excuse me, parking districts.

Parking districts still exist.

We're in a two-year pilot, halfway through a two-year pilot program.

Let's not forget that.

Um, when you look at MADs through the park and rec department, when you look at them through economic development, are we feeling pretty solid about the way we've structured them, the way we manage them, the oversight.

Do we feel comfortable about that?

You only come once a year, so I wanted to ask the question now.

No, thank you for the question, Councilmember.

I think it's a very good one.

And I think that, you know, when we look at the broad scope of how the program works, one of the things that makes me proud to do my job is the collaborative approach with communities.

It does me no greater joy than to drive through a neighborhood and know that because of our city efforts as city staff and working collaborating with communities that an area or a neighborhood is more beautiful and and cleaner because of it.

So that to me tells me that we are doing things right.

Certainly, there are things we can evaluate and do better.

That doesn't mean that doesn't um exempt us from continuing to better what we do, but I I am proud of the relationship we have with our community groups, specifically in your district as well.

I think we in parks and recreation, we have a very good relationship with uh our Bird Rock community council and friends there.

And I'll let Rhea expand on that.

Thank you for the question, Council President.

Um, I'm happy to respond from the economic development department and welcome and my management team over here to join to uh fill in on anything that I'm missing.

Um in terms of economic development mads, the self-managed structure, which is that nonprofit organizations are contracted by the city of San Diego to operate, to deliver the services, to determine the best composition of service delivery, where that whether that be in-house or through subcontracted vendors, that is one that for economic development mads is um the mads thrive when there's a nonprofit organization that is based in the community that has local resources, relationships with property owners and businesses that have essentially sort of that skin in the game.

They are um they are uh tasked with with delivering services that they are that their property owners need, and so in order for them to really be more most effective in doing so, is by involving the property owners in their operations in in every sort of aspect of their work when it comes to um the volunteering for community cleanups, or um determining the budget for the year, or whether or not they're doing their job.

And so I um I think what I will add to that is our nonprofits have had to be very resilient within um really the last year as well, with costs going up as independent nonprofit organizations.

They're having to be very um nimble and adaptable to ensure that the services can be provided as approved by this council and as determined in their engineers report.

So I'll hopefully that helps.

It does.

Thank you for that affirmative response and very much appreciate the work.

We know it's so many of them.

There's a lot of work, a lot of buckets you got to be checking along the way over the course of the year.

All right.

Uh Councilmember Campbell.

Oh, okay.

Uh so we do have a motion by council member Campbell and a second by Council Member Whitburn to move the staff recommendation for item 201.

Please call the roll clerk.

I'm sorry, the voting system, please cast your vote.

And that passes unanimously eight to zero with council member foster absent.

Thank you, Council President.

Alright, can I take your motion for item 202?

Councilmember Campbell.

Yes.

Uh as previously uh on this item.

I recommend and I move that we adapt staff's recommendation.

Thank you.

Alright, thank you.

And I see a second by councilmember Whitburn.

And with nobody else on the lights, we have a motion by Councilmember Campbell and second by Council Member Whitburn to move the staff recommendation for item 202.

Please call the roll clerk.

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

And that passes unanimously eight to zero with council member foster absent.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Again, thank you for your good work.

And with that, clerk, please introduce item 200.

Thank you, Council President.

Item 200 is the fiscal year 2027 downtown property and business improvement district annual report and budget.

If you'd like to speak on this item, please be sure to submit your speaker ships to the front of the room in the clear box, or if you're joining us virtually, now's the time to raise your hand by pressing star nine or the raise your hand icon.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

Uh this item is solely ensconced within district three, and I believe Councilmember Whitburn, you're interested in waiving the presentation.

Yes, happy to wave.

I don't see anybody else requesting the presentation.

So with that, clerk, let's go to public comment.

Thank you, Council President.

We do have some speakers for this item.

Uh Maximilian Schmidt, if you can please come forward to the podium, and then allegedly Audra, and then our final speaker is Alonso Vivas.

Allegedly, Audra, if you can please come forward.

Okay, give them two.

And you guys waving your presentation, you act like the presentations are for you guys.

I mean, some of the public would like to see them so they know what's going on, but go ahead and pretend that they're for you guys, and so you can wave them because nobody needs to hear it.

You already know how you're gonna vote.

And I'm just wondering when are we gonna see improvements?

You guys talk about it, you do a really great job, bring in presentations, a lot of paperwork.

You know what I mean?

Good storytelling.

Wondering when we're gonna visually see this around us.

2030 when Trump's gone.

And then you guys can be like, look at what we did.

We did such a good job.

I mean, because like people are shitting on the sidewalks, um, you know, and peeing everywhere because you guys don't have any bathrooms for them.

But as long as we move them down the road, you know what I mean?

You can start moving the shit into somebody else's neighborhood and just say we clean this up.

Look, isn't it great?

We told them to move down.

Homelessness is gone.

We are doing fantastic, right?

You just don't go down a couple of blocks.

Like you guys, it's so sad.

It's just interesting to see the way the government really works.

Like I've had this like firsthand experience with it for years now.

And it is interesting because you guys are very good at pulling wool over people's eyes and making them believe that what you're doing is like bettering our lives, that you're providing public safety, and you're combating homelessness and you're providing a horrible housing.

You know what I mean?

It's like good salesmen.

I mean, just like Steven Lux, you guys are good car salesmen.

You know what I mean?

It's interesting.

I'm just wondering when you guys are actually gonna do what you were put up there to do.

Actually, you are.

That's true.

You're up there to do what you're so good job.

I mean, just keep going.

Alonso Vivas, if you can please come forward.

Oh, you are Alone Soviet United.

Okay.

Well, you have uh speaking slips here for six minutes.

Thank you.

I promise not to take the full six, like about two.

If I can just have the following individuals then raise their hand, Justine Murray and um Danny Garcia.

Thank you so much.

You'll have the six minutes, please proceed.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Council President, Council members.

My name is Alonso Viva, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of the Downtown San Diego Partnership as Clean and Safe Program.

I'm here today in strong support approval of the fiscal year 27 downtown property and business improvement district budget.

For more than 25 years, the downtown PBID has successfully uh overseen private partnership, providing enhanced services beyond the city's baseline through assessments paid entirely by downtown property owners.

We greatly appreciate the council's support for PBID Renewal last year.

Today the PBID serves 280 blocks and approximately eleven thousand property owners through downtown while supporting 86 dedicated employees who work daily to keep our downtown clean, safe, and welcoming.

Since renewal, we have expanded services to more than eight downtown parks and responded to over 41,000 service requests.

In the first nine months of this fiscal year alone, our crews collected more than 1.1 million pounds of trash, removed over 64,000 instances of human and pet waste, power wash more than 42,000 sidewalks, and removed 26,000 instances of graffiti and stickers.

The PBID also continues to invest in downtown's appearance and vitality through maintenance of more than 100 neighborhood planners, public art installation, gateway beautification projects, and the adopt the highway program, which currently has two major downtown entrances.

These investments help create a cleaner, safer, and more welcoming downtown while leveraging private investment to enhance shared public goals and improve quality of life for residents, businesses, employees, and visitors.

On behalf of the downtown Cindy Go partnership, we respectfully request your approval of this item today.

My colleagues and I are available to answer any questions.

Thank you for your time and continued support.

Going to those participating remotely, Blair Beekman, if you can please unmute.

Thank you.

Yeah, uh, as I mentioned earlier, um the fact that you haven't funded any sources for for bathroom help in the downtown area is of concern.

And uh I mentioned it earlier.

How we address our unhoused and homeless uh I think we're gonna have to look a bit more closely at in the next coming year.

Um good luck.

How we can do that.

And uh thank you for this item.

Good luck that uh downtown could be a safe place, and that we can bring back, oh man, I got one minute 32 seconds.

I'm gonna say this with all I've got.

You guys ended the uh, you know, no cars along Fifth Avenue at the nighttime.

And I hope you can bring that back.

I mean, that was like a major idea of how to bring back our future of communities as pedestrian walkways, and not that everything's filled with busy 10 tons of traffic all the time.

And why why did we give that up?

I'm I'm really shocked that you guys don't want to continue uh pedestrians uh use late at night along Fifth and Avenue and a couple other avenues downtown.

I hope we can talk about that practice again and make that just a regular conversation.

Why we aren't talking about that?

That should just be our basics of our future sustainability and our future selves that we have walkways with no cars.

And um, man, I need that kind of conversation from you guys a lot more regularly.

That's just a free-flowing love of what our best practices are.

Thank you.

Thank you, Hector.

If you can please unmute after that, all right.

All right, thanks for uh taking my call.

Thanks for clarifying that.

I didn't when I heard the word assessment, our condo a few years ago was assessed at 800,000, and now they're selling for 650.

So we're fighting we fought the assessment for we've been fighting it again too to get it brought down to reality.

That's with the county.

So when I heard I didn't know it was voluntary assessment, we said voluntary at the end.

And then, okay, it's voluntary assessment.

I thought it was just one assessment, the county assesses it, and that's it.

You gotta fight it, you gotta agree with it or pay, you gotta pay no matter what.

But and it's got like 50 things on the tax bill, you know, this bond measure, this thing, this thing that you really start counting on, all sorts of things are on the tax bill property tax bill.

So they are they did lower it once, we're going for it again, too.

And uh they do they're doing the assessment.

So, but uh that downtown one thing they gotta develop, a guy would make a fortune if you could get us uh something that would eliminate the smell of dog urine.

When you I used to work down there and get down there by food for last in those areas in the morning, it's like it's dog urine, it's not like a human uh fecal stuff so much.

It's mainly everyone's got a dog and they're pissing on the limited trees.

I don't see how there's a tree that's even alive down there, you know, just because all the dogs and every time in the morning, man, it just smells like it's like that movie.

I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

There, it's like you're smelling that dog piss in the morning.

But it's they're doing a good job down there, they're trying.

All the guys on bikes are doing good, the pod rays want it clean, and I disagree with about getting rid of the homeless shelter, though.

That's that's a brutal thing.

That's just brutal.

Because those guys are that seems to be working, or whatever working means, but it's just brutal to do that, man.

Okay, thanks a lot.

Thank you.

Next is Robert.

If you can please unmute.

Oh, thank you.

Um, you know, I find it highly inappropriate that the member sitting in a closed-off area sitting next to staff makes a public comment instead of us hearing a presentation.

I mean, how am I a member of the public just viewing this supposed to make a public comment before the guy sitting next to staff makes his public comment, which is basically the presentation, right?

If it's got nothing to do with the presentation, why do you tell you all the good things that they're doing?

You know, so I uh you guys gotta be transparent.

I don't I don't know when you guys are gonna get it.

Like, oh, you guys sat there, you released the paperwork, what, 72 hours before the meeting?

So people had three days to look over the paperwork, and you won't even do a simple presentation, and then he comes on during a public comment and says a presentation, and everybody just sits there and never even mentions it.

I mean, this is your guys' uh diets.

This is how I'm observing you run the meeting, is instead of being transparent, you'll hide it under public comment, and the rest of us gotta make do with the information we get from that instead of you putting it all on a plane uh uh level playing field, giving us the information, and then letting us all hear it before we make a public comment.

I mean, if he's sitting there next to staff, I'm assuming he is staffed.

So why wasn't that done during the presentation and done during the public comment?

What are you guys trying to hide?

That's that that's what I'm looking for, because at this point, he should have gone up to the public comment mic and spoke like the rest of us, just like the rest of you on the diet should do.

If you want to make a public comment during an item, do you use your time to speak or do you use our time to speak?

Your time has concluded, and that concludes public comment on this item.

Uh thank you, City Clerk.

Um, we'll now turn over to Council members for question, comments, and retain a motion, and we'll go to Council Member Whitburn.

Thank you very much, Council President.

I very much appreciate the work of the Downtown Property of Business Improvement District.

Uh these are special benefits that are paid for by downtown property owners, but they really benefit anybody uh visiting downtown.

Those services include maintenance and safety, unhoused care, business attraction, beautification, and much more.

Uh if you don't already know, if you are downtown and you notice trash or graffiti or something unsafe, you could use the CLEAD and SAFE app to report the issue.

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Uh, CLEAD and SAFE ambassadors respond nearly immediately uh to resolve uh reported issues.

Uh we are very fortunate to have the leadership of Mr.

Vivas, uh, the executive director of the Clean and Safe program sitting up here, as well as senior program director Danny Garcia, Director of Clean Services or Destro Robo Partnership Vice President Justine Murray is here as well.

Thank you to the entire team uh for the hard work to keep downtown clean, safe and welcoming for residents and visitors alike.

Also, want to recognize the economic development team that works closely with our PBID to ensure a thriving downtown.

Uh these services really do provide a great benefit, and I'm happy to make the motion to support the staff recommendation.

All right, thank you, Councilmember.

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

We'll go to Councilmember Campbell next.

Thank you so much, and thank you for the presentation, and thank you for all that you do.

I second everything you said.

You helped so much to make downtown a welcoming place, and I am happy to second the motion.

All right.

So we have a motion by Councilmember Whitburn, a second by Council Member Campbell to move the staff recommendation.

Um clerk, please call the roll.

Sorry, the voting system, please cast your vote.

Oops, yeah.

That passes unanimously eight to zero with Councilmember Foster absent.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, staff for the good work.

Uh clerk, please introduce item 203.

Item 203 is the California Coastal Commission modifications to the 2024 land development code update of the San Diego Municipal Code and Lostal Coastal Local Coastal Program.

If you are here and like to speak to this item, please be sure to submit your speaker slips to the front of the room in the clear box if you are participating remotely.

Now's the time to raise your hand by pressing star nine or the raise their hand icon.

Thank you, Council President.

Alright, I see staff starting to settle in when you do.

Introduce yourselves for the record and let us know how much time you need.

Good afternoon, Council President and members of the city council.

I am Angela Dang, an associate planner with the city planning department.

Joining me today is city planning deputy director Seth Lechney.

The item before you today is for the adoption of the California Coastal Commission modifications to the 2024 land development code update to the San Diego Municipal Code and Local Coastal Program.

The City Council adopted the 2024 land development code update on July 16th, 2024.

The 2024 Land Development Code amendments to the San Diego Municipal Code and Local Coastal Program included 99 amendments to the municipal code intended to simplify the city's development regulations, make the code more adaptable, eliminate redundancies and contradictions, and increase predictability in the application of regulations, comply with state law, correct existing regulations, and provide regulatory reforms.

City staff submitted the 2024 land development code update for Coastal Commission certification on September 10th, 2024.

After reviewing the land development code update on February 5th, 2026, the California Coastal Commission conditionally certified the 2024 land development code update to the municipal code and local coastal program with three modifications.

The Coastal Act requires the city to approve any proposed modifications prior to the amendments to the local coastal program taking effect in the coastal zone.

If the modifications are approved by the city council today, the 2024 land development code update and modifications will be resubmitted to the Coastal Commission for final certification.

The 2024 Land Development Code update amendments removed the physical environment as a condition for the denial of incentives in exchange for affordable housing dwelling units through a density bonus.

The original strikeout language erroneously included the word including, which could be interpreted in a manner inconsistent with state law.

The first coastal commission modification corrects this grammatical error by striking out the word including and adding the word on before environmentally sensitive lands.

This amendment aligns the municipal code with California Government Code Section 65915, which removed the specified adverse impacts to the physical environment as a condition for the denial of incentives for projects proposing a density bonus.

The 2024 land development code update included regulations regarding the granting of incentives for affordable development.

These regulations clarified that the granting of incentives for affordable development would not require a land use plan amendment, zoning change, study, or other discretionary approval.

The second proposed modification amends municipal code section 143.0740 C3 to clarify that granting incentives for affordable development shall not require a land use plan amendment, zoning change study, or other discretionary approval except as required to comply with the California Coastal Act.

These regulations clarify that the granting of waivers would not require a general plan amendment, zoning change, development permit, or other discretionary approval.

The second proposed modification amends municipal code section 143.0743C to clarify that granting incentives for affordable development shall not require a general plan amendment, zoning change, development permit, or other discretionary approval except as required to comply with the California Coastal Act.

Staff recommends the City Council adopt an ordinance to approve the Coastal Commission's modifications to the 2024 Land Development Code update amendments to the municipal code and local coastal program.

The City Council's approval of the modifications will allow the 2024 land development code update to receive final coastal commission certification and all code amendments associated with the item to take effect in the coastal zone.

If the council makes any amendments to the modifications, the entire 2024 land development code update will need to be resubmitted to the Coastal Commission for certification.

This could result in additional delays in implementing the 2024 Land Development Code update within the coastal overlay zone.

This concludes staff's presentation and we are available for questions.

All right, thank you for the presentation and the work to bring us forward.

Clerk, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Council President.

Maximilian Schmidt, I don't see him here, so allegedly Audra, if you could please come forward to speak on this item.

I have to address a point of order because the fact that that man from downtown partnership just spoke during public comment on duty while he's doing a presentation, that's you can't do that.

That's not only a misuse of public funds, it's like that's against the Brown Act.

You guys continue to do this.

I just don't understand why you'd be like, let's waive the presentation.

And then not in his personal capacity, but representing downtown partnership, he's getting public comment while presenting you guys with a presentation.

So there's significant issues with the gate.

And again, it's like if we can't trust you to run a meeting to make sure that you're not having somebody speak in their technical personal capacity under an entity, like what the hell is going on?

And you guys want to be like, oh my gosh, Audra, you're being disruptive.

Like, are you gonna send the officers after me again like you did with the quorum?

When all of a sudden now you guys are checking to make sure you have quorum while you try to criminalize me for holding you accountable.

Like these are the basics that you guys can't even follow.

And you're so annoyed, Joe, but it's like fuck.

Can't you guys just do your job right?

Instead of getting it mad at me for calling it out.

I mean, all you guys have to do is it's you just sit here and witness you guys left and right violating the law.

And it's annoying because it's like you just want to act like what we're up on a diet, and like people put us here.

Like, what are you gonna do about it?

That's what people need to see is the arrogance of you guys that you sit up there and you act like we're untouchable.

You can't do nothing to me.

What are you gonna do?

Because I'll use your money to go after you and silence you, and it's just sad, but people need to see this because you guys can't be trusted.

Sorry, the five-minute timer going to those participating remotely, starting with John Stump.

If you can please unmute.

Hey, thank you very much.

Well, I'm very pleased and support uh these amendments to the blog development code.

You know, the last time I spoke to you concerning the amendments to the development code, I asked that you continue and correct, so you could correct the doubling of fees from one thousand dollars to two thousand three hundred and eighty dollars for the public's participation in protesting, a environmental determination by staff.

I at that time presented to you the fact that there were errors in the staff report that you received justifying that raise the main error, of course, was that it was Ipsy Dixit, it was well, we're gonna charge these fees because we said so.

And second, it was based on just raising the fees for a regular council meeting when the amount that you're supposed to recover is for a quasi-judicial hearing.

So please, if you can do it to correct the errors that were uh in the coastal commission, please redock it and correct the errors in doubling the fees for public access to a judicial hearing.

You've got in the basis of your fees, the defendant, the mayor's staff, and the city attorney as being charged to the plaintiff, the appellant.

Please redo it.

Thank you, Robert.

If you can please unmute after that is Blair Beekman and then Hector.

Thank you.

Uh, you know, thank you, Dias, for confirming my suspicion that that speaker was giving a presentation.

I'm pretty sure we all agreed upon that.

Uh, you know, uh, we'll we'll talk about your next mistake, right?

You guys approved something to the Coastal Cl Commission that has errors.

They approved it, sent it back to you, and now you're trying to get it reapproved with the corrections, even though they already approved it, right?

So they didn't capture error.

Okay, let's talk about a whole nother thing.

That the people who own the property don't even need your permission to do these things, right?

They can just do it without it's called work, it's called the right to build it, right?

They have the right to proceed overseed your power.

You have no control over them.

You know, the only people you guys could have a control over is us, and then you make our lives like impossible to not come here and disagree with you guys while you guys are sitting there looking at Newsom when he's making your life great because now all the stuff that the developers want to do, they don't need none of your environmental studies.

They don't need a zoning re redistrict, they don't need nothing.

They can do it without your permissions.

They're laughing at you.

You guys are like the laughing stock of this right now.

And then the fact that you're resubmitting an error just proves the point that this board is not perfect, all right.

You guys make plenty of mistakes, and it's time you start fessing up to them.

Cause like I said, the even the the dais, the person speaking said that that was a presentation.

Thank you for the presentation.

Dragon thanked for my public comment for calling it out.

No, you just don't like the people who correct you, right?

You you only want to hear from the people who agree with you and support your positions, right?

So, you know, it's a big joke.

Do you want to hear a joke about a bunch of political people?

Are you gonna silence me too for that one?

Ha ha.

It's called freedom of speech.

Blair Beekman, if you can please unmute.

All right, uh, Blair Beekman.

Uh I felt the joke uh previous was about to border on uh hurting uh public meeting decorum, to be perfectly honest.

Uh free speech is important, so it's public meeting decorum, and that line was about to be crossed.

Um for this item, uh, but thank you for the person's public comment overall.

Um, along with DRA, I think they they have a very interesting point that uh we really need to hear the presentations and passing them up uh really robs what is going on with an item and better understanding it.

And for the person to then come back to the public meeting dais uh to give public comment.

Uh it's it sounds a little odd.

I'm gonna have to understand this better in the future.

So good luck with that.

Um, good luck in the uh understanding that better.

Um, I wanted to comment for this item that um uh you guys have been giving away a lot of land lately, and it's been a concern.

Uh city government land, uh you know, because the city government land is always a really uh a really important asset.

And I know we're in difficult times, but uh it you I hope you can be cautious about that or you use that caution in your explanations why you're giving up the land and your uh and things like that.

So good luck in those types of efforts, um, what you can do.

Um, as always, um, as my words these days on coastal commission things.

Uh, when you're doing things like uh, you know, the uh midway rising project, we really have to be clear on what the sea level rise issues are about with the project.

Um, it just makes for a better process for everyone and understanding what we're doing.

And if you don't explain that clearly, that's your city government staff's gonna not talk about sea level rise issues for other projects more clearly.

Get the meaning here, you know.

We're supposed to be open about these things, and that way we build on real good truths that we can all uh work towards as a community instead of hiding things and keeping things halfway.

And uh good time has concluded.

Hector, if you can please unmute.

Yeah, dealing with the state is so shady now.

Like uh, our number one concern should be building a state of the art water treatment plant in Tijuana River, just for all the kids that live down there and the adults above everything else.

I wouldn't give the state any more money.

Just just make them an excuse or until we get the sewer plant built.

State of the art, man, and have a reservoir down there and do gray water, turn it into uh gray water.

They can they can do fields with, but anything with a state, it's it's really shady because like even the fire money, the governor's wife with her nonprofit ran off with the money and then disappeared her nonprofit the next day when they found out about it, and then blaming Trump, Trump and talk about hate man today.

There's a lot of Trump haters on the board.

You guys got as much hate.

I don't hate Somali people, I don't hate black people, I don't hate Mexicans, you know.

I don't I don't have the time to hate them, but I just don't want them living here if they're illegal.

We've got other things to do to get our city back.

We got to build a dam in Lake Hodges.

That's gonna take a lot of stuff.

We gotta clean up all the sand in the Tijuana River.

There's huge amount of sand that's just sewage, man.

There's a lot of things we need the money for, and we can do it in San Diego.

We don't need the Coastal Commission telling us what we can do at the beach.

We have 20, you have thousands of people that give a shit about our city.

We don't need their advice, but we don't want to model ourselves out of Oakland and San Francisco.

Those guys are shithole cities.

Those guys are shithole cities, man.

Oh man.

We got it here in San Diego, man.

I'm down at the trolley station down Mission Valley.

It's beautiful down here.

There's nobody down here.

But anyway, good luck.

That concludes public comment for this item.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

Uh Audra, I thought you would be so good at reading people's faces that you'd be able to read mine.

It has nothing to do with you.

You were on point.

Robert was on point.

I was so pissed that that individual was sitting up there, but I chose decorum, let him finish.

We'll have a separate conversation.

I agree, totally inappropriate for that individual to be sitting there in chambers.

Not you, the previous item, I'm sorry.

But you're right.

I chose decorum, let them finish.

Won't happen again under my watch.

Since I am one of the council members, uh the two council members in the coastal zone, uh, thank you for the good work.

Thank you for your patience and chasing this for what two years now.

Uh, and I will move approval of the staff recommendation.

Councilmember Campbell.

I seconded, thank you.

All right, not see anybody else in the lights.

We have a motion by myself and a second by council member Campbell to move the staff recommendation.

Please call the roll.

I've said up the voting system.

Please cast your vote, that passes.

Yeah, sorry, I didn't really.

That passes unanimously with Council Member Moreno and Council Member Foster absent.

Thank you, Council President.

All right, thank you.

So that's the last discussion item of the day.

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.

Clerk, please proceed with public comment.

Thank you, Council President.

Poor 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 know if there are eight or more speakers on a single topic, the maximum time for the topic will be 16 minutes.

If you are 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 column participant, star nine.

Joy Sonnyata, if you'd like to please come forward.

After that is uh Maximilian Schmidt, but I don't see him here.

Then Charlene Attolino.

Please proceed.

First of all, I have no idea how I'm gonna say this.

But I do know how I'm gonna start it.

So bear with me while I set the stage.

Uh I graduated from college in my middle age period.

And when I came out of college, I had blown open my mind.

It was a pretty fabulous, unbelievable defining moment for me.

And wouldn't you know that I stumbled upon a movie called Rosh Amon?

And I highly recommend it.

It's very old.

And um it's a story about a crime, and three people have witnessed the crime, and it tells the story of those three people, and how really makes the point about how life is unknowing and and where is the truth?

So I bring that forward to our uh experiences with our speakers today and everything, how it came together, and I just want you to know that this is life, and we're doing a great job at it, all of us.

Everybody.

So don't give up.

You can get angry if you want to.

You can cut people off if you want to.

It's all okay because we're stumbling.

We're stumbling together.

We don't know what in the heck it's about.

We're gonna die.

And uh we can't stop it.

And here we are, and we're muddling together to figure it out.

I'll tell you this, and I tell it truthfully.

We are living standing on a miracle.

I get it.

Get it while you're young.

This is a miracle called life.

Thank you for that concluding comment.

Charlene Altolino, Charlene Attilino.

Nikil Plettner Booker.

Please come forward.

Jesse DeAngelis.

I don't see anyone else here, so and then allegedly Audra.

Please proceed.

Good afternoon.

My name is Nicole Pluttner Booker.

I'm an Aaron Price fellow and attend San Diego High School.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a commission on police practices meeting where the issue of pretextual stops was discussed.

I'm here today to urge that you work with the commission and pressuring the SPT SDPD to reduce their use of this harmful practice.

A top concern of the city government is public safety.

Here are some statistics I believe demonstrate the impact pretext stops have on civil protection.

A study by the Vera Institute in big cities discovered that contraband was found in one to two percent of pretext stops.

A study by the LAPD found that 9% of the contraband found from those pretext stops, from those pretext stops were dangerous arms, meaning in total, 9% of 2%.

Pretext stops are successful in finding weapons 0.0018% of the time.

The question you are faced with is does the one to two percent of pretext stops discovering contraband with an even smaller fraction finding weaponry justify the continuation of an increasingly poor relationship between the police and historically marginalized communities.

To think that public safety is simply conducting arrests and catching criminals is a heavily limited perspective.

Public safety lies in a police forces' reputation and relationship to San Diegans.

An argument can be made that pretext stops actually harm public safety and have a net negative effect when communities feel targeted.

Will that help police to address crime?

Will community members be likely to cooperate with the police?

Will your constituents feel safe dialing 911?

The CPP can only do so much to get our police department to reduce this problematic exercise of power.

I urge you all to expand the level of authority the CPP has over policy making at SPT SPT SDPD, or at the very least provide support when they vote to recommend increasing pretext will stop usage.

Allegedly, Audrey, if you can please come forward.

Great job.

Joe, your face of annoyed with me is the same as the other, so it's kind of hard to tell.

I mean, you just have a similar face, you know what I mean?

So anywho, but I appreciate that.

There's always room for improvement to admit the things that we have done wrong and course correct.

It's not that hard to do, but most people hate doing it, especially you guys.

Especially about the quorum.

But I will take that as a win because you started doing your checks, and so I'll notch that on my belt as well.

Um, yeah, and Joy, I love it.

Life is an amazing treat, and that's why I take it very seriously, holding people accountable.

Because the life doesn't have to be like this, it really doesn't.

It doesn't have to be where we give all these people like you a bunch of money and you throw it away and people suffer.

And then we blame someone over here, blame someone over there instead of going, what am I doing?

That is actually leading to this.

I love course correcting.

I love to look at myself and go, hmm, I probably shouldn't do that.

Oh my gosh, maybe I shouldn't even think that.

Oh gosh.

Because it makes me better and the world around me changes.

And the world around us won't change until us as individuals sit there and course correct.

It's because everybody's like, oh, it's Sean, it's Marnie, it's Steven.

You know what I mean?

And like, yes, you guys are responsible for things, but as individuals, we're also responsible for what we allow to happen.

And so, like, as you guys get so annoyed with me, good.

I'm happy to be a gadfly because I go where the shit is, and I want to expose it and show people that it doesn't have to be this way, that we can turn things around.

But it's unfortunate because the government is a business, and until people see that and see that we are people are just trying to survive and giving you guys all the money, and you give us like you should have enough money for the hugest mansion and what we get is a trailer park.

And it's unfortunate.

But when people can see that and course correct, then we can change the world around us, be the change you want to see.

Thank you.

Going to those participating remotely.

We currently have eight speakers in the queue as part of the five-minute timer starting with Blair Beekman.

Hi, Blair Beekman.

Uh, my zoom may cut out.

Uh, sorry about that if it does.

Um, you know, my list I've been I've been repeating from last week.

If we uh we have the means to know how to leave block, I hope we can continue those efforts.

Your city government has ways you can work on it, save some budget dollars.

I think we should add to that the idea of having a way to uh uh make sure we have we can reduce our technology use in the community each year, just small incremental amounts.

Um that adds up over time and and creates a consistent pattern that we're doing our practices responsibly and and accountably.

Um I think that can address a lot of the issues while we keep bringing this stuff up to want to be addressed, and then it keeps getting voted down.

And I think we have ways, you know, people are really ready to leave block.

And if we have consistent ways to address our technology use, that's that's I think working on it, that's the kind of conversation we have to start to have more regularly.

Good luck on those efforts.

Um, I really I think I missed in my last public comment on the item on the uh about uh dealing about uh hatred towards Somali people.

I really wanted to add to it as much as I can.

It's uh uh respect all levels of uh conversation and dialogue.

I think DRA has really important points.

And you are cutting up now, Blair.

We can't hear you.

Can you hear me right now with 19 seconds?

Yes, I was on a good space.

Okay, hopefully, hopefully conclude.

Um, so you know, uh, as we're talking about shared, you know, understanding of issues.

How do we do that without hatred and spite towards each other?

How do we do that?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Terry Ann Skelly.

If you can please unmute.

Good afternoon, San Diego City Council.

My name is Terry Ann Skelly.

I'm a planning group member, a parent, and a public health educator.

Great's children's hospital pediatrician doctor Natalie Lobb has spoken regarding the increase of adolescents to its emergency room in 2025 because they needed treatment of some kind for their cannabis use.

She said that prior to 2020, we were only seeing a handful of adolescents a year, maybe 20 or 30.

Now it's over 600 emergency room admittees in 2025, and likely even more in 2026, based upon these current trends.

I quote, cannabis products are far more potent today than what previous generations were exposed to, end quote.

PBS interviewed Dr.

Lab in response to new research published in the Journal of American Medical Association regarding cannabis use with its increased risk for serious mental health conditions.

The strongest associations in the study was for psychotic and bipolar disorders, where the risks was about doubled.

And importantly, teens reported on their cannabis use about one or two years before their mental health diagnosis.

Again, Dr.

Lobb is quoted we see this public health crisis emerging in children and adolescents with early initiation of cannabis use.

I think we as residents of San Diego need to ask ourselves what this early use marijuana means for the long-term well-being of our younger residents and the many who care about them.

Thank you for hearing my concerns this afternoon.

Thank you, Nexus, Barbara Gordon.

If you can please unmute.

Within our community, even small improvements in prevention can save lives and reduce the devastating consequences of alcohol and marijuana related crashes.

Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you.

Next is John Stump, if you can please unmute.

And the five-minute timer did also conclude there were five speakers in the queue, including Mr.

Stump.

No additional speakers will be taken.

Please proceed.

Probably very high range.

Perhaps the highest range that we've seen since 1997.

The council needs to take action and get reports before the rainy season starts again.

Those cases have been settled.

And what caused them, the poor maintenance, has been cured.

So that we're ready for the rain.

Because the council either didn't allocate the money to maintain the flood channels, or the council allowed development in the floodplain, causing concentration and movement of floodwaters from the floodplain to the surrounding community.

It's your responsibility.

You know, it's one of your primary responsibilities.

So I hope that you're going to dock it in your committees and then in council on a schedule and a calendar before the rainy season starts.

That the channels have all been maintained, and the flood liabilities from 2024 have been settled and paid.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Next is Robert, if you can please unmute.

Hello.

So this is a public service announcement to any of the San Diego community power customers that are listening right now.

If you'll notice in the past month, they haven't been able to hold either of their meetings.

I don't know.

I think this board has representation there at this at this uh uh agency, and I believe that if you're not giving updates to the public, I'll go ahead and let them know what happened.

So the first meeting was scheduled for uh June 1st, and it coincide with the election and listed locations.

It says verbatim, the meeting will be held via teams on above date and time.

Board members will attend and participate virtually in the meeting pursuant to the Brown Act, and then it says that government code 54953, and then it goes from locations listed above.

Well, one of those locations is San Diego City Hall.

So was the City Hall uh open to the public to participate in this meeting?

The Chula Vista City Hall closed at five o'clock, and we have a uh election, you know, center there.

So they they had it closed to the public.

No one could attend the meeting.

Go figure that a cancel the meeting got canceled because uh a member of the public showed up to a public meeting, right?

And then we go into the last meeting, which was the CAC advisory committee, and it has an alternate location.

I'm just gonna say in the Hoy, and I'll let everybody look at the paperwork.

But when I showed up arrival on location, there was no notice of the meeting, right?

It was it was being uh taken not in consideration of the right to the public to attend these meetings, and especially if your public official is representing you on the board and he's not telling you this is happening.

Why is no one being transparent?

Why why are they not correcting these issues that I'm coming up with month after month after month just through audits?

Your time has concluded, Madison.

If you can please unmute, and again, as a reminder, the five-minute timer has concluded.

If you raised your hand, please submit comments through Citicler at San Diego.gov and they will be distributed.

Madison, please proceed.

Hello, good evening, City Council members.

As a mother of three young children, I want to thank you for prioritizing the health and safety of San Diego's youth.

California's Department of Cannabis Control recently unveiled a new artificial intelligence tool designed to help marijuana businesses identify packaging that may appeal to children.

The tool flags things like cartoons, candy-like imagery, youthful characters, and packaging that imitates popular candy brands.

I think this development sends an important message.

State regulators clearly recognize that marijuana products are often marketed in ways that attract children.

If youth appeal were not a concern, there would be no need to create an AI system specifically designed to detect it.

The reality is that today's marijuana products are often sold as gummies, chocolates, candies, and sweet flavored products.

Young people are exposed to the storefronts, advertisements, social media promotion, and product packaging that can normalize marijuana use and make these products appear harmless.

As policymakers, I hope you will continue to evaluate city decisions through the lens of youth protection, whether discussing marijuana storefronts, advertising, signage, or other cannabis-related policies, we should always ask a simple question.

What message are we sending to children?

If the state regulators are investing in artificial intelligence to keep marijuana products from appealing to kids, that should remind all of us that protecting youth must remain a top priority.

Our children deserve communities where potentially harmful substances are not normalized or marketed in ways that capture their attention.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Francine Maxwell, if you can please unmute.

Sorry.

Francine Maxwell, Southeastern San Diego resident.

Now that we're getting through the attention of the budget, it's time to move to education of the community so that we can begin to build trust.

So all throughout the budget season, we talked about there's an air of not trusting, but again, if we educate the community, then there could be things that could um the community could get on board with.

So the comments about, you know, we want people to pay their fair share, and it's time to have an honest conversation about the revenue that has been missing.

So we could go, I would hope that someone on the diocese would request that the IBA go back a couple of years.

Let's start with when the trash tax was talked about and it used to be taboo, but it wasn't, or the year that you gutted, the power of the community from the planning groups.

How much money did it cost then to um, you know, block off streets for the special event charges that we didn't get from the Padres and move forward towards 2026 and the conversation about how much money is laying on the table?

So let's start um with all of the missing revenue that we could have had as we begin to look forward to how much revenue we could potentially get and talk about and let's educate the community.

Again, you and I both know that education is the great equalizer.

The next generation of activists, they need to be educated because the baton is absolutely being handed to them, but again, they need to be educated so that they know where to look when they're reading the budget way before budget season and they can already have their questions crafted.

And so let's utilize the IBA.

When you guys are on legislative break, they could be holding community meetings.

Thank you for your consideration and thank you for allowing me to speak.

Thank you.

And our final speaker is Hector.

All right.

Yeah, I got a thing for education, too.

I'm into it.

Like growing up, when the fire alarm went off in school, you you'd go out single file line and go away from the school and sit in line.

Now it's a different game.

Now, when there's gunshots go off, you gotta show them your hands.

If you're running from gunshots, gunshots, you show them your hands and you take off running.

If that kid who just got shot who was 16 years old and he had a gun on him, if he would have just showed his hands when he went around that corner, he wouldn't have got shot.

Cops look in there and they're looking for hands.

He has hands hidden, and who knows what, you know, the cop had to choose his own life in this kid's life.

It was one of those choices, man.

And it would have been a lot better, whoever turns the corner next time.

If they have their hands showing, gunshots, gunshots.

Show your hands.

If I'm running from gunshots, I'm not running to the gunshots.

The cops are, and they got a gun, man.

So I've had a cop pull a gun on me when I was a victim of a home invasion, and I was the victim.

And the guys got away with some of my stuff, and they they got before the cop game, the cop came guns drawn, man.

He pointed at me, and I showed him my hands, man.

It was like he was trained.

I hope he was trained.

He was a young guy.

I was like 40.

But show them your hands, man.

And uh that would be a good education.

Maybe young kids at 10 years old.

Fire drill at school, show them your hands, drill.

Have them run around a corner running from the gunfire, show them your hands.

Because they're gonna it could save lives, man.

I think it would save lives.

Anyway.

And it would make San Diego safer and a better place for everybody if they would show them their hands.

Okay.

Thanks.

Thank you.

That doesn't include non-agenda public comment for today's meeting.

All right, thank you, City Clerk.

With that, does the city attorney have anything to report out from closed session?

Yes, thank you.

There is one item to report.

Today in closed session, the city council took the following action.

The city council voted on closed session item number one, Gabriela Durazzo versus City of San Diego et al.

San Diego Superior Court case number three seven-two zero two four-zero zero zero two three one one six-cu accept a signed settlement offering the amount of two hundred and fifteen thousand dollars.

The motion passed seven to zero.

With council members foster and whitburn absent.

That concludes my report.

All right, thank you for that.

We will now adjourn as the city council to convene as a housing authority.

Does the help the city attorney have anything to report out from housing authority closed session?

There's nothing to report.

All right, thank you.

We will now adjourn as a housing authority to reconvene and as a city council.

And with that, we will adjourn council to the regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, June sixteenth, twenty twenty six at ten a.m.