All right.

Uh good morning, everyone.

Uh welcome to the rules committee meeting of October 4th, 2023.

Our committee manager Ty Birch will go over information and instruction for today's meeting.

Thank you very much, Council President.

While members of the public are able to attend the meeting in person, this meeting is being televised and live streamed on the C's website, and council administration will continue to make arrangements for the public to comment using the Zoom webinar platform.

Additionally, members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony via a call-in or internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.

This will allow for bare medium management between the two platforms and ensure that the committee is able to manage and conduct C business.

We appreciate the public's cooperation.

Council President.

Vice Chair, Council President Pro Tem Montgomery Step.

Here.

Committee member Lakaba.

Present.

Committee member Lee.

Here.

Committee member Moreno.

Present.

And our chair, Council President Elo Rivera.

Present.

Also to attend today's meeting is Gillian Andalina Duepy, Director of the Independent Budget Analysts Office, WC Attorney Kathy Steinman, and Deputy Director of Policy for Mayor Todd Gloria, Matthew Gagan.

All right.

Thank you.

If you are in person, please complete a speaker slip located at the entrance and chambers and place it at the box indicated.

In-person testimony will conclude before virtual testimony begins, so members of the public can join the webinar by computer tablet or smartphone by accessing the link, which is located online in the preamble language of the agenda on the city's webpage.

You may join the Zoom webinar by phone by dialing one six six nine two five four five two five two and when prompted, input webinar ID 16057-2611 pound.

This information is also available on the agenda and will appear on the screen during the public comment period for each agenda item.

Members of the public who wish to provide virtual testimony via a call-in or internet-based service option must enter the virtual speaking queue within five minutes after the conclusion of in-person public testimony or before the virtual speaking queue is exhausted, whichever occurs first.

If you're watching VSC TV 24 online, there may be a delay, so please participate via the audio on your phone and mute your TV or computer when it is your turn to speak.

If you wish to speak on a particular item, please wait for that item to be called and then raise your hand to speak by tapping the raise your hand icon, or if you're a column participant, star nine on your cell phone or landline.

If you raise your hand during a non-comment period, your hand will be lowered.

Council President.

So I will begin the five-minute timer and for other individuals to raise their hands again if they have comments on the past committee actions.

And we will begin with Miss Soldania.

You may unmute yourself.

And I had mentioned during the original hearing on this proposal that the demographics of retired judges in California tend to skew um they're they're less diverse because of historic patterns of judges.

And I'm just curious if any steps are going to be made to ensure that when you are taking this action that you're going to be expanding the pool of judges to ensure that you have people from diverse backgrounds.

Judges who were appointed by previous administrations or elected may not reflect the diversity of voters that we see now in California.

So I just wanted to bring that to the committee's attention and hope that as this proceeds through the process, that's taken into account as as you make your choices.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for those comments.

We have one more speaker that raised their hand indicating that they wish to speak.

So Dan Schmikowski again, this is on the past committee actions.

I've always maintained that if you cannot trust a judge to comport himself or herself without prejudice.

And that's coming from the word in Hebrew Daniel.

God will judge.

What do we have left within the three branches of government?

The judicial branch.

Thank you very much for your comments.

And our final speaker that we have for the past committee actions, we have the original.

Yeah, the problem is that with judges, nothing is going the way that it should anyway in the courts.

And it's sad because the all the controls should go back to the people.

We're the ones that are supposed to be deciding things.

And when we leave it up to all of these other entities, corruption comes in.

It doesn't mean it can't happen with people, but when we are, you know, giving all of this power or whatever to all of these other people to make decisions that affect our lives.

And it takes that away from us making those decisions because these people that you select or whatever, and you want them to represent you, they're not really representing the people.

And that's what's so sad.

That's why the world gets so turned upside down is because people have their own special interests, and you know, they do certain things that are either going to help them or help somebody they know, and it's not really for the people, and that's why the can all the controls should go back to the people instead of us, you know, just like blindly allowing all these other people to do these things.

So that's way you know, our elections could be going in a different manner, but they're using the system to you know usurp the people's even authority or ability to vote.

And that's what's so sad.