It is two o'clock, so let's call today's meeting of rules and open government committee to order.

Candelas.

Yes, ready.

Uh here.

Duane.

Here.

Foley absent.

Kamei absent and cohen.

Here.

We have a quorum.

All right.

So we will start by reviewing the council agenda for Tuesday, September 16th.

There's also an ad sheet.

The meeting has a 9 30 closed session, 1 30 regular session, and uh the evening sessions canceled.

Consent starts on page four and continues on pages five.

Actually, that's it.

Continues on page five and ends on page five.

In section three, we have the summer intergovernment relation report and report on RFP for um banking lockbox merchant card investment services, which was deferred from yesterday's meeting.

Item four one is the reinstatement of the SJPD horse-mounted unit.

We also have 4.2, the purchase of a fixed wing aircraft for the police department.

Skipping out of section eight, actions related to agreement with County of Santa Clara's Office of Supportive Housing.

And we have a land use consent item to be heard immediately after consent.

We have two items on regular land use.

One is the renaming of a segment of North Almond and Boulevard to Little Italy Way, and the other is an administrative hearing on the appeal for 30 1301 West San Carlos Street.

We have any public comment?

No public comment.

Okay.

Back to the committee.

Any comments or motion?

Motion for approval, move for approval, including the ad sheet.

Second.

Alright, we have a motion and a second, so let's vote.

Okay.

Motion carries 3-0 with uh two absent.

And now we're on to our first review of the council meeting for Tuesday, September 23rd.

This one is a 9 30 closed session, 1 30 regular session.

Consent starts on page 4 and continues on pages 5 and 6.

In section three, we have the uh status of open audit recommendations, section six, our stormwater management annual report, section eight, a loan commitment and land purchase for 470 South Market Street, and our fiscal year 2425 consolidated annual performance and evaluation report.

And there is one item on land use consent to be heard immediately after regular consent.

Let the record show that um council member Kamei is now here.

No public comment.

Okay, no public comment.

Back to the approval.

Second.

Okay, we have motion and a second.

Let's vote.

All right.

Motion carries four zero.

And for today's consent calendar, we have two items on consent.

Is there any public comment?

Yes.

Brian, please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

Can you hear me?

Thank you.

Um, first of all, having the clock there is very helpful.

I appreciate that.

And um the consent calendar.

I would, if if possible, if you could bring back the little line-by-line items where you could do the comments on those.

Some of us um physically can't make it uh, depending on our health issues, and it helps me to write it one little tip at a time because we really do want to be actively involved in the process.

And since we're probably not gonna get back to um zoomed discussion where we do the verbal comments without unless we're here, that would be helpful for me if it's possible and uh thank you.

Back to the committee.

Okay, thank you.

Do we have a motion on consent?

So move.

Sorry.

Alright, we have a motion and a second.

Let's vote.

Oops.

Motion carries 4-0.

And we're on to the first of two rules committee reviews for today.

This is a memo from Duan Casey Kamei and Tordillos on an enhanced street closure noticing policy.

So I'll turn to my colleague, Councilmember Kamei to introduce or either one.

Whoever wants to be possible.

Councilmember Duan.

Well, thank you very much, Chair.

Uh with the recent event that King and Story Car Show and Via Calle have shown a large street closure without proper notice.

It can disrupt the residents, frustrate driver, her small and minority-owned businesses.

This is why we're proposing the enhanced street closure noticing policy.

We're asking the city manager to bring recommendation back within six months.

Focus on one better outreach and notification, especially multilingual communication, and direct contact with nearby businesses.

Two, improve the traffic planning to reduce gridlock, and protect the local commerce.

Three, additional tool to support successful, well-managed events.

Does policy ensure we keep celebrating our community while also protecting those lives and work here, including our small businesses?

Thank you.

Yes, all right.

Is there a second?

Okay, um, let's first start and see if we have any public comment, then I'll come back to the committee.

All right.

Let me ask a question first.

Is this is this an item?

Uh this looks like it's it should be fairly straightforward and doesn't require uh going, sending it back for any analysis, right?

No, this is um work that's actually already outlined in the Office of Economic Development, Cultural Repairs and Work Plan for the year.

So this does not need a workload analysis and can be greenlit and approved by the rules committee.

Okay, great.

Uh Councilmember Kamei.

Thank you.

I think uh the other thing to keep in mind.

I mean, this is really a process thing in terms of just letting people know.

Uh I know that in 2026 there's gonna be so many more uh large events, and so having this done in a timely manner.

I know it's part of their work plan, but it having it done in a timely manner is gonna be very helpful, uh, especially as people start planning bigger events uh coming uh in 2026.

Thank you.

Okay, any other comments.

If not, let's vote on this item.

All right, motion carries four-zero.

Thank you so much.

And we're on to our final item on the agenda, which is the second memo, a joint memo, council members Ortiz, Campos, Kamei, and myself.

Um Councilmore Ortiz, do you want to do a brief introduction?

Thank you.

Uh Chairman.

Uh, some advocates outside.

Hopefully, they make it here, uh, but we'll see.

Whatever, whatever happens, happens.

Uh, good afternoon, colleagues.

Uh, I want to thank you all for the opportunity to present uh this proposal today.

Uh, I'm requesting that we direct the city attorney's office to return within 60 days, hopefully sooner, with a draft ordinance language that would strengthen transparency and accountability in federal immigration law enforcement operations.

This ordinance would do two things prohibit federal agents operating within San Jose from concealing their identities while interacting with the public, as well as uh as well as require all officers, including federal agents, to wear visible identification and display their agency affiliation.

Of course, there will be uh pre-approved circumstances where uh protective equipment or face covers will be legitimate.

Um, this proposal comes in direct response to troubling practices that undermined public trust in immigration enforcement.

We've heard from residents across the state, particularly within immigrant communities, who report encounters with immigration and custom enforcement officers who refuse to identify themselves.

These officers conduct enforcement actions in neighborhoods while concealing their identities, instilling fear and confusion, and leaving residents uncertain of their rights.

Adding to this concern, the recent Supreme Court ruling has granted ICE agents broad discretion that effectively allows them to target individuals based on race, skin color, or language.

While this the ruling applies at the federal level, it underscores the importance of local jurisdictions like ours, adopting policies that set higher standards of fairness, transparency, and accountability.

As a city, we cannot control federal law.

I understand this, but we can't establish clear rules for how law enforcement personnel, including federal agents, operate within our jurisdiction.

This ordinance is not about interfering with lawful duties.

I want to be clear about that.

It is about ensuring that every person in San Jose knows that when they're interacting with law knows when they are interacting with law enforcement, and that those interactions happen in the light of day, not from the shadows.

I ask for your support.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember.

We will turn to public comment first.

Samina and Brenda, please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

Just really quickly before um Samina speaks.

If we could get maybe in translation that people have to fill out their cards in order to speak.

I don't sorry, don't Rosemary if you could say that in Spanish for Domingo.

Sorry, I don't speak Spanish.

You know, the fact that you have armed mercenaries sweeping communities and taking people from their homes while they're masked and they're not showing their identification.

It is not only it should be unlawful, but it is uh it is it actually proves some security um there's some security reasons for that as well, because people are posing to be these mercenaries and actually uh uh abducting people and there have been rapes that have um been committed by those masked thugs.

So this is a safety risk, it's a trust issue, and it does not keep our communities safer at all.

I am part of the rapid response network and I participated in um in um uh in monitoring a situation that had occurred about a couple months ago, and you had these masked men who were uh who had swarmed an apartment building, and this is an apartment building that I regularly uh go to for food distribution, and these are peaceful members of the community.

They their neighbors have all vouched for them and said that the uh they don't know why you have these masked men who have come swarmed in, almost knocked down the door and hold up held up these uh people for about for hours, and we stood there waiting, and we were not able to uh find out who these members are.

We were not able to um to identify why they were being held.

I still to this day do not know why they were rounded up and people and arrests were made.

And this is a a very um concerning situation, it's a safety situation, and it should not be taking place.

So I urge you to uh support this measure and make sure that we uh bring back this transparency and accountability.

Thank you.

Brenda, good morning.

My name is Brenda.

I'm standing here today as an immigrant who grew up constantly looking over my shoulder, running from what we called La Migra.

I'm deeply disturbed by masking of federal ICE agents.

This is a terrifying and not only terrifying but traumatic for many families.

We already live in fear every day of being torn from our families and our communities.

Now we're being re-traumatized by masked agents who operate like they're above accountability, detaining, deporting, and disappearing members of our community without faces or names.

This is not safety.

This is a state I sanction fear.

I stand firmly against the practice.

No one should have to live under the threat of masked anonymous agents, targeting them simply for existing.

Thank you, Councilmember Ortiz, for bringing this and for fearless advocating for our community, our most vulnerable community who deserve peace.

They deserve to sleep in peace, knowing that the city of San Jose stands with them, and we will not tolerate the masking of agents.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm gonna call the next set of speakers.

We have Veb Shannon and Brian.

Please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

Thank you.

Thank you again.

Um I just thought I didn't recognize.

Thank you for bringing this up, sir.

Um I sent each of you uh before the break, I sent each of you a copy of the constitution.

Thank you, sir, for calling me on the phone.

I mean a lot.

That's a living document that this nation is supposed to be governed under people who are not identified but are law enforcement, it's not safe for law enforcement, and it's not safe for the people they're supposed to be.

Even if you're arrested, you're still under the constitution.

That should bother us when people who are masked, and I I get the argument is that there's violence towards them and their families.

Well, when you're perpetrating violence by being masked, not identified, no insignia, you don't, and you don't tell people what they're being held for.

What are we supposed to do as a population?

It it yeah, we're sending military now, and Casa Pomatama didn't say it right, but that's going away.

It should bother us.

It doesn't seem to, but it should bother us.

And I mean it should bother us to where you peacefully advocate.

I know I spend literally hours a day.

A lot of you get calls from me a lot.

I have better things to do.

I retired, but it's not better in a sense that you know my father ran up on a beach, and my father fought in World War II, and it did stuff to him.

He was one of the people that liberated some of the camps, and it did something to him, and he made that feeling, if you will, to me to some degree.

I can never do what my father did, and I hope we never have to.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Deb St.

Julian.

I'm a resident of District 2.

I'm here with um partly with Serge.

I'm also a member of the Rapid Response Network where I'm trained, and I'm everyone's gonna say all the really smart things, and they're all smart, and I agree with them, but I'm gonna say, beginning of June.

I I live in um South San Jose, and my house is 1.4 miles away from a contracted ICE office in the beginning of June.

There was a operation by ICE where they basically abducted people that came to their yearly asylum visits and took them away in vans.

And the people who did that, not the security people, but all the feds were masked and had weapons, and um so we go and we observe, and I want to say I felt like it was it was unbelievable to me.

I'm 70.

I didn't think uh we were gonna be at this point in our world right now.

And um, I just, you know, I am really thankful that Ortiz, Cohen, Kam Kame, and Campos have put this forth, and I'm really glad, uh, appreciative that we would say as a city that we will not let this terror be used in our country, in our city to our neighbors, to our neighbors.

And when you have real intimacy with it, it takes you a couple days.

Like the, and I'm white, so I I can walk away.

They're one of the people that talked before it in front of the city hall.

It's right, these are our brothers and our sisters, and they're in danger.

And so this is one thing we can do in solidarity as a city to say you're this important, no masks.

Thank you.

I'd also like to call the next set of speakers.

Kim, Lori, and Bob.

Please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

Hello, my name is Shannon, speaking on behalf of the Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits and the Real Coalition.

SBCN and Real both support this proposal to prohibit federal agents from concealing their identities.

We are committed to protecting and uplifting immigrant-serving organizations and the immigrant community from threats from the federal government.

We'd like to thank council members Ortiz, Kameh Cohen, and Campos for bringing this to the rules committee, and we're confident that the full council will demonstrate unified solidarity as well.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Kim Guptill.

I'm a resident of District 6, have been for 35 years.

And I am also a member of showing up for racial justice.

I am also a rapid responder since the very beginning.

And I must tell you that representatives, I mean, that is council members Kamei, Ortiz, Cohen, and who is the fourth one?

Compos.

Yes, COMPOS, thank God for her, um, have introduced an excellent uh request for um uh some vote on this by the council because what could be more important than protecting our residents?

This is a absolute no-brainer.

I was at the same uh kidnapping that Deb was on June 1st, or was it July 1st?

I can't remember, but it was uh horrifying.

These were people that were doing exactly what they were told by the American government, and they were kidnapped and they were put in shackles because I was standing right next to them as they were being dragged out, and I was being um uh pushed off so that I didn't uh wasn't able to get their names so that we could, you know, tell their parents that they had been detained, so they just disappear into the system.

You guys know all this.

This is just absolute no-brainers.

And if all of you don't vote for this, woo, it will be um really, really, well, I can't think of a better word than shameful.

So thank you again to those that are introducing this and uh you're doing the right thing, and that doesn't always happen.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is Lori Catcher.

I'm a resident of district six for over 20 years, and also a member of Surge, showing up for racial justice, Santa Clara County, and I'm here to both personally and for our uh local surge chapter say that we absolutely um support this uh proposal by council members Kameh Campos Ortiz and Cohen.

Um, we really hope it passes, and we are here to stand with our neighbors through this and and more, and we hope that all of you will as well.

Thank you.

I'd like to call the next set of speakers, Jay Manuel, Jeremy, and Jose.

Bob Brownstein, good afternoon.

I speak in support of the measure proposed by four council members a measure to support civil liberties and the constitution of this country in the state of California.

And thinking about this measure, we should look at history.

Here's what the federal government is doing now picking people up off the streets, unmarked cars, masked agents, not charging them with anything, taking them to places, no one knows where they will be taken to, certainly not the families that are desperately trying to find out what happened to them.

Where in history have we seen something like this before?

It sounds to me something like the night and fog decrees.

The night and fog decrees were promulgated in a European country to pick people up in the night and disappear them into the fog so no one would ever know what had happened to them and what they were accused of.

The purpose of the night and fog decrees was to instill fear.

We know that from the documentary record at the International Court of Justice at Nuremberg.

The night and fog decrees were promulgated in Nazi Germany.

They were signed by Adolf Hitler.

This council and we as a people in San Jose should do everything we can to not move in the direction of the precedent of the night and fog decrees.

Thank you.

Go ahead, next speaker, please.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak in support of this measure.

My name is Manuel J.

Manuel Herrera, trustee for the East Union High School District, speaking on my own behalf today.

My father was a migrant worker who worked the fields and ranches of the Southwest, and in 1952, he brought the family here.

When we arrived, we stayed in a tent in the Milpitas area, and then in the out in the side room of a church in Japan town, and then someone took us into their basement where we could live until my dad found work.

He raised six kids on an hourly laborer's salary.

We identify heart and soul with the immigrant with our immigrant community.

Some say that it's futile to pass this kind of law because it'll be trumped by federal law, and yet the Trump administration routinely ignores established law and legal precedent and norms.

We must enact a law like this here and beyond the record to stand up for our community and the freedoms and the protections that we all have and must be respected.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Jeremy Barus with Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment and part of the IPEN Network.

We just we urge the rules committee to pass the ordinance on to the city council today, and we thank council members Ortiz, Campos, Cohen, and Kamei for your leadership.

You know, I think now more than never, uh, it is so important that our immigrant community can be able to distinguish local law enforcement from federal agents.

That's why we need to prioritize the public safety and well-being of our immigrant community, and that's why I urge you to please pass this ordinance today.

Thank you.

Calling the next set of speakers, Maria, Katie, and I have a blank card, but someone from Cyren.

Good afternoon, committee.

My name is Jose Avastida, longtime resident of San Jose.

I just wanted to say amazing, great job.

When people and the community ask what do elected officials do, this is the type of stuff that we want to see and what the community wants to see: protection.

Big shout out to Councilmember Peter Ortiz, Councilmember Kameh, Councilmember David Colen, and Councilmember Campos.

Look at everyone that came out today.

Look at this.

And you guys can clap by the way.

I don't know why we're being silent.

But I just wanted to say thank you.

Keep this up.

This is what we want to see.

I know that you guys have jobs to do with the city, but the most important thing are the citizens of the city.

And you guys are taking the right step today.

So thank you from the bottom of our heart, and thank you from the community.

I think you said Maria.

Yes.

My name is Maria Fuentes.

I think I've put my name correctly.

And I am here to speak in favor of the of the recommendation that has been submitted by our four council members.

I'm a resident of District 8.

I'm on the board of San Jose City and Evergreen Community College District.

The reason I'm here, the reason I'm speaking is I just want to make sure that we consider the serious impact, mental health impact of what is going on in our community.

I agree with all the speakers that have spoken, but I also want to make sure that we think about how scary it is already.

I'm in the profile that could be picked up.

And I want you to think about the mental health impact of children, families, um, all our community by having people coming in masked, unidentified, the way that ICE has been doing in other parts.

It is serious, it's scary, it's it's scary to look at, and it's scary to think that that's what we're going to be going through.

For people that already may have a mental illness or maybe already are susceptible to being paranoid to be depressed and all that, it's going to be even harder.

And I urge you to, as you pass this, I'm sure it'll be passed, and as you negotiate with the federal government, that you think in terms of that type of impact and the importance of people being able to feel safe.

I mean, and I mean our general community, not just the people that may be apprehended.

So it's a mental health impact.

I've worked in mental health for um 37 years.

I'm retired now, but all of you who who are here, you know about mental health and you know about mental illness, and you know about the impact of this type of situation.

So please take that into consideration as you advocate and negotiate once this gets passed.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

My name is Katie Pleitez, and I'm currently a 12th grader at Mountain View High School.

I come here representing my parents as daughter to two immigrant parents who are in fear of their lives every single day.

My mom has already been mugged by two masked men, and she thinks that these situations are no different.

These people are coming masked and they're coming with unmarked vehicles.

My mom looks at a simple car with a green colors simply at looking at shares with green outfit, and she's terrified.

She calls me and she says, are these the sheriff or is this ice?

Knowing that they're gonna be masked and that they're gonna be, you would won't know who is going after you.

My mom tells me that she is terrified.

As her daughter, I have no control over how she feels, but I urge this to be passed, and I urge you to put into consideration as well as the immigrants who have disabilities.

My mom, she doesn't have her leg, she has a prosthetic leg, and she fears that one day that she'll get detained.

What will she do?

How will she be able to stand?

And how will they treat her when they attain her?

This is what I got I want you guys to consider, and I hope that you really sorry I'm getting emotional.

I just hope that you really consider all of this, and thank you so much for your time, and thank you so much for hearing the words that I have to say today.

Calling the next set, Joritz, Margarita, and Marines.

Hello, I am a proud youth leader with Siren, and I'm here.

I am a community member who frequently visits San Jose, and I'm standing here in strong support of the ordinance to prohibit the concealment of law enforcement.

San Jose is one of the most diverse city diverse cities and is powered by immigrants, and right now our communities are living in fear.

When we can't see the officers' faces, we live in fear of the person next to us.

This is a reality for many in our community who have to think twice before attending culture events.

In the back of their minds, they might worry, is this place safe?

Is ICE here?

And is ICE here to take us away?

This ordinance would ease the con these concerns because it would require visible identification for law enforcement and prohibit them from covering their faces.

This is about transparency, accountability, and public safety.

This is about protecting families and preventing impersonation and helping rebuild trust between communities and law enforcement.

I really don't want to live in a San Jose where we cannot trust our law enforcement.

And by having this pass, I feel like it would ease the minds of the people who are very scared for their lives of people they don't know who might take them away.

Our San Jose community stands up for justice and for safety and for each other and for immigrant neighbors.

So please let's just build a San Jose where everyone can feel valued and safe.

Thank you for your time.

Hello, my name is Margarita Federova, and I am a proud, very proud member of the California Fast Food Workers Union.

I am here in support of the ordinance prohibiting federal agents from concealing their identities in the City of San Jose.

I feel like I'm preaching to the choir.

But the recent news coming out of Los Angeles is worrisome and a signal of what is to come for us here in the Bay.

The devastating blow that ICE has had to our working class communities in Los Angeles is coming north, and we need to prepare.

The decision by the Supreme Court to allow racial profiling by masked federal agents should move all of us into action because racial profiling is disturbing and wrong, and racism is the opposite of the social progress that we all crave.

Unmasking the predators who call themselves federal agents is a necessary step towards protecting our community because accountability and transparency transparency is justice.

And we all know that justice is desperately needed for all of us.

Right now, the federal government is consistently attacking our constitutional rights, and right now we need our local leaders to step up and create protections for our vulnerable communities from aggressive policies, and by passing this we do that.

So thank you.

Hello and good afternoon.

My name is Marina Salvarado Rosales, and I work in San Jose with Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley.

We urge the City of San Jose rules committee to pass the ordinance that prohibits law enforcement from concealing their identities.

And we must uphold full transparency of our officers and prioritize safety for all of our communities.

We deserve a city where law enforcement is visible, accountable, and never allowed to hide in the shadows.

The use of masks by ICE creates serious public safety risks.

The potential for abuse is immense.

And we've already seen instances where this confusion has been exploited.

When officers operate under mask, it erodes public trust in our government, opens opportunities for impersonators to harm our neighbors and leave our immigrant communities vulnerable to abuse of power.

Our priority is the safety of our community, and any policy that puts them at a greater risk is unacceptable.

And speaking from experience, I've received phone calls and text messages from people in our community, local here in San Jose that are afraid to walk out of their house in the fear that they will be kidnapped.

Their families separated, never hearing a single word after they are taken.

We cannot let this happen to our members in San Jose and beyond.

And I really hope that we are able to pass this proposal.

Thank you for your time.

Calling for the next set.

Kimberly, Derek, and Maddie.

Hi, I'm Uditi from District 6, and I'm here with Siren.

As you know, we urge many of us are here to urge the City of San Jose rules committee to pass the ordinance that prohibits law enforcement from concealing their identities.

As horrific as getting snatched up by an I unidentified strangers, as horrific as that is.

People are also, people that I've talked to have also really talked about how scary and how terrified they are about what happens after.

Um, and honestly, I can't really provide words of comfort because their right to be scared.

From what we've heard, there are horrific abuses that happen while in detainment and horrific mistreatments.

Um, and so I say this all to say um that we have all of this information, and we should understand that this is the first step of many that we should take as a city.

Um, and this is the first step that we should take in order to hold our federal government accountable, because at the end of the day, this isn't just about the city of San Jose.

This is about our overall nation and the safety of all people and the rights of all people.

We here in San Jose have the ability to stand up and be leaders in a time where there is a huge lacking of leaders in our country.

So thank you so much for taking the step forward, and we hope that we can see more steps from the city council.

Good afternoon.

My name is Derek Gresty.

I'm on the Mount Pleasant School Board as a trustee.

I'm also candidate for governor of California.

I appreciate the work that council members Ortiz, COMPOS, and Kamei have done with regard to this ICE issue.

We have seen this before in Nazi Germany, where unmasked were masked people or unmasked people would walk around in plain clothes and detain, harass, kidnap people.

This is a public safety issue.

I have heard that there are people posing as ICE agents, raping, robbing citizens, raping, robbing residents.

We cannot have this.

This is a public safety concern for everybody's concern.

And it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like.

Under Penal Code 207A, kidnapping should be extended to include people wearing masks, people who have no identification, people who are in unmasked, unmarked vehicles, that they are in fact kidnappers, and our public safety officers should serve and protect the community.

And we as people, as citizens, as human beings, have a right to safely evade and protect our own bodies.

Thank you for bringing this forward.

Let's all work together to keep everybody in our community safe.

Because if we're not safe, nothing else really matters.

We have students in school who are afraid to come to class, who are afraid to walk the streets, and it's impacting their education, and it's impacting our community.

So thank you all for what you're doing, and let's move forward together.

Thank you.

I'm Kimberly Will, and I'm a community organizer for SIREN, which stands for services, immigrant rights and education at work.

We're also part of the IPEN network who helped organize today's press conference with some of the council members before me today.

And I'm also personally a proud daughter of immigrants to Chinese father and Filipino mother.

We respectfully urge the city of San Jose to pass it wilderness that prohibits law enforcement from concealing their identities.

Without visible identification, communities cannot distinguish between law enforcement and harassment, fostering immense fear and distrust among the communities.

When officers operate under masks, we don't know who's taking us.

It erodes public trust in our government, opens opportunities for malicious impersonators to harm our neighbors, and leaves our immigrant communities vulnerable to abuse of power.

Our local law enforcement typically do not wear a mask.

So why should a federal agency be held to a different standard hiding in the shadows and in secrecy?

This ordinance reestablishes the most fundamental principle above of public safety.

When someone claims authority over you, you have the right to know exactly who they are and what agencies they represent.

This is already a scary time when the Supreme Court gave permission for ICE agents to racially profile and kidnap our neighbors when over a hundred and ninety-seven thousand people have already been deported, and when ICE got three times raised a hundred seventy-five billion dollars to continue arresting and detaining and hurting our loved ones.

We cannot also be scared of each other when we're supposed to be a community who keeps each other safe.

Thank you to the council members who are advocating for this brave and common sense ordinance and to the community organization standing alongside us because we must protect our most basic constitutional rights to transparency, accountability, and safety.

And that is truly how we keep each other safe.

Thank you.

Calling the next set of speakers, Christopher, Lawrence, and Mary.

That's Christopher, Lawrence, and Mary.

Okay, I'm gonna call the next set.

I have a blank card, but from Shispanos member, and Viridiana.

Um good afternoon, Council.

Um my name is Lawrence, and I'm a resident for San Jose, been there for been here living here most of my life, and I'm speaking in favor of the recommendation.

Our job here as as a community and as and within Santa Clara County is that we need to lead the way in ensuring that we respect diversity in the best manner possible, knowing that the challenges that we face, we do better when we work together standing united.

But what's going on right now with ICE is that ICE has been hiding, has been concealing their identities, and coming, arresting undocumented immigrants without a warrant.

Where's where did they say that they can do that?

They don't have it, and they won't they won't bring it up to anyone.

No, just earlier, Mayor Matt Mahan spoke in favor uh during the rally that no one should be masked.

And we must do our part as not just as not just elected officials, but also as supporters that we need to protect our immigrant communities, and we must do everything we can to help those in need.

Last during the last time I spoke, it was during the um during during the ICE protest, and uh and we successfully secured 1.5 million in in in the immigrant services, and now I'm asking that our that our city will do their part to ensure that to prohibit ICE agents without any without any cause to um to to not without uh sorry that they cannot be concealing their their wearing masks during and arresting anyone, undocumented people without any form of without any documentation.

So I'm speaking in favor of recommendation, and we must do our part to protect our immigrant communities because everybody matters.

When they come for one of one of them, they come for all of us.

Thank you.

I live in San Jose, and I represent the Latina coalition.

She's banas.

I implore you to think about the financial repercussions of all of this going on.

Not only are these masked individuals going after families, they're going after parents, they're going after hardworking individuals that have sacrificed their lives to be here in order to search for a better lives for themselves and their families.

I personally am a daughter of an immigrant, a single father at that.

I live in fear constantly that one day he'll be going to the grocery store, one day he'll be putting in gas into his car, one day he'll be out of the house, and suddenly he'll be taken and kidnapped by these masked men, which will leave my sister and I in unimaginable financial distress.

I am 18, I am at a university, I would have to drop my education, I would have to drop all of my scholarships.

I cannot afford to look after my sister, look after myself, fight for a better future that my father came here to provide for us.

Something that he never had, something that he never thought he would have.

And I implore you to consider the mental health, the financial distress that these masked men are putting on families such as mine.

And I don't believe that it is fair that they put this distress on families such as mine and get to go home and see their families and their children.

Their children would never have to think or never have to worry about the fear and the distress and the financial situations that my family would have to go through.

Thank you for your time.

First of all, I want to uh honor Peter Ortiz and the rest of the other council people that uh valiantly uh propose this uh horrible uh proposal that uh that is uh you know um uh basically it's uh frightening our our community.

These kidnappers, that's what they are.

They're masked kidnappers that are attacking our community, and that has to stop.

And uh you have to realize that they're causing a lot of damage in our community with our children, with our older people, with uh with the mothers that uh are scared to take their children to school.

That is affecting the city of San Jose.

San Jose has to take a position uh as a city that will take a principal position in support of our community.

You have to understand that uh uh I don't know what this uh the uh the amount of raza that are in San Jose, but there's there's uh many, many, many of our community that live in San Jose, and many of them are citizens that vote.

So um, so it's very um um how would you say it?

Um it it would be very uh credible for you all to recognize what is going on in our community.

We have to stop this, and we have to we have to be uh um an example so we can say thank you, next speaker.

Good afternoon.

My name is Viridiana Borroel, and I'm a resident of District 3.

I'm representing my family and friends whom are undocumented and living in fear, and all those people who are living in fear right now.

I urge the City of San Jose Rules Committee to pass the ordinance that prohibits law enforcement from concealing their identities.

Our people are living in fear, avoiding going to places where they used to go on a daily basis, such as work, church, taking their children to school, support groups, restaurants, buying groceries, etc.

And having officers wear masks, it's even more terrifying.

We want to feel protected by our officers, not terrified.

We want heroes to defend us in our commun communities, not cowards behind masks breaking families.

Thank you for your time.

I've already called all the speaker cards.

If you turned in a speaker card and didn't hear your name, please go ahead and make your way to the podium.

Back to the committee.

Alright, thank you.

And I want to thank all the members of the public who came out and um gave those heartfelt comments about the importance of what it is that we're talking about today.

Um I know everybody on the dais wants to start, wants to say something for sure, so I'm going to start with Councilmember Candeles.

Uh thank you, Chair.

Um, thank you, Councilmember Ortiz, for your leadership.

Um, you know, not just on issues affecting our historically disenfranchised community, San Jose, but but your issues on on the immigrant community and the community that um is so often disenfranchised, so often uh ignored, um, a common sense action that aims to enhance public safety while improving public trust during this Trump administration.

This is an action that will affirm our commitment to public safety through transparency.

And you know, yesterday's Supreme Court decision, essentially allowing uh for the racial profile profiling of our community just makes today's action uh that much more pivotal and and I I do have a quick question for the administration on the implementation piece.

So Lee, if you want to speak to that.

The floor is yours.

Sure.

Anything specific on implementation.

Uh I mean is the administration uh I I know that the f some folks are concerned about the implementation of the recommendation, but um but I I want it I want to hear the the administration's approach to this.

Sure, and and I can defer to the city attorney on timing.

Uh you know, the nice thing about the recommendation is that there's 60 days for the city attorney and the administration to work together on how this comes forward.

Um not all policy begins with technical certainty and is more of an expression of values and and shared community values quite often.

So there are definitely legal and enforcement things that we will need to figure out and we can learn from Los Angeles and other cities.

Um so I'm confident we can work through those issues.

And and no, and and the reason I asked that question is you know, as policymakers and leaders in our community, we make policy and more importantly we make value uh based decisions.

Affirming today's memorandum is just that, and why I am extremely proud to move the adoption of the recommendations of the memorandum authored by Council Member Ortiz, Kamei, uh uh Cohen, and Campos.

And uh and with that, I I will close with this, the with two two things.

One, um, you know, the policymaking is one thing.

The administration piece and the details piece is why we have personnel and why we have people um in our city city administration to office to work through those details, but the policy direction today that we are providing is gonna help our community and provide that sense of sense of trust that we need.

I'm gonna say a couple words in Spanish.

Um, it's more important that nostalgia creen yikes in the communidad.

Um, affirma que nuestro compromiso mantenere la securidad publica um at is essential através de la transparencia.

It's claro que debemos hacer todo uh uh alcanzar a proteger a nuestra communidad, porque yo say como hijo de immigrantes, uh conosco la trauma que es vivir, is ir a la iglesia, ir a comer, ir a salir con familia.

Gracias.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Duan.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to all of you that took the courage to come up here to support and speak.

And I want to say thank you to uh you know my colleagues, uh Councilmember Ortiz, Kamei, Cohen and Campos, and also to Assemblymember Oshkara, to support this um memorandum.

This not only affect the Hispanic community, but it's also affect the Vietnamese community and the Asian community as a whole.

That's why we need to stand together and unite.

As a refugee and an immigrant myself, I stand firmly with you, and our resident and our immigrants to fight against our federal administration.

I have lost my country and lost everything that I have, and know what the fear is when you have to fight for your life, and not only for your life, but for your family and everyone else.

So I am here with you, I understand, and I stand with you.

But live on the premise that liberty and justice for all.

And I can predict this, that we will get a unanimous vote to the rules, and when it go to the full council, we will get a full unanimous vote for our council to support this memorandum.

Thank you so much.

All right.

Thank you for the prediction with no violations of the Brown Act there.

Um Councilmember Kamei.

Thank you so much.

Um I wanna thank my colleagues, and I wanna thank the community for coming out.

You know, I know that um, you know, some of you have jobs and you know, you're always, you know, out and and speaking on behalf of making our communities better.

So uh thank you so much.

Um, you know, at the end of the day, this is about safety and security and transparency.

We want to make sure that um San Jose families know that their city is with them, that we're here standing together, that we're gonna do the right thing, and and I'm so proud to be part of the memo.

And I personally want to thank Councilmember Ortiz, who undeniably is just um so strong in his conviction and his values.

So thank you, uh, Councilmember Ortiz.

Um we're committed to protecting the trust, and through this ordinance coming forward, I think uh we're able to do that.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Um, what we've seen today is the uh greatness and beauty of San Jose, the tapestry of all the different uh cultures and immigrants that make up our community.

As I've said outside, we are all here because of immigration to our country, and when one group or multiple groups in this case are under attack, we're all under attack, and so it's important for us to stand up for our residents.

I hope that this policy will make a difference, but regardless of federal supremacy and all of those questions, what we do as a council is set standards for the expectations that we have in our community for how people behave, how law enforcement behaves, and um, you know, what what it what really the um the values should be.

Um so that's what's important about for sure.

That's one element that's really important about this policy.

I also I do want to thank our police department though, who have been champions of this um of this type of behavior for a while, and I I've heard our chief speak on that and say and and make sure that we that that we are not going to behave the way that we've seen some federal agents behave.

Um this policy will not will allow us to codify this kind of this practice into policy, make sure that it's you know something that is not just a practice, but is something that is our values as a city.

Um so I just want to I'm gonna ask one question just to Kevin.

You on terms of timing, when do we think I mean obviously we believe time is of the essence.

I mean, people are, you know, this is important values for our city.

How long do we think this could take to come back to council?

Uh thank you, Councilmember Cohen, Kevin Fisher, Assistant City Attorney.

Uh, of course, this will need to go to the full council for um from the rules committee for direction.

Um, but I, you know, I can certainly commit that we'll we, you know, we can meet the 60 day period, and we should be able to get it in more quickly, quickly than that.

Um so, you know, we'll certainly get on it.

We I think we've heard, I've certainly heard, and I know I imagine you know, folks in our office are watching that this is uh a priority for the council and the committees uh and for the community.

So I I think we can we can beat that 60-day time time period.

Great.

Be a good get in before Thanksgiving.

Thank you.

All right.

Um so with that, I think we're done with comment.

We'll move on to a vote to move this forward to the full council.

Okay, that motion carries 4-0.

Thanks everyone for your time today.

And that brings us to the last item of our agenda, which is open forum.

Any public comment in open forum?

Yes, Brian, go ahead and make your way to the podium.

Thank you for voting for that.

And um, I I hope this isn't the wrong thing to do, but there was a young 31-year-old person very uh adamant in his position that was assassinated today, and it will have huge ramifications.

I don't agree with anything Mr.

Kirk said, but political violence cannot do good.

It never has been able to.

Smash in the front of a store, pushed him, he had a stroke.

By all definitions, this gentleman and his family worked very, very hard, came like you did from a country with nothing.

A young lady on a train was killed.

So I don't have the answers.

I do have one thing though.

In 1990, one of my favorite people, Carl Sagan, tasked that uh Voyager one to turn back and take a picture of our planet in a small little beam called the pale blue dot.

I recommend you look at the thing he said.

I cannot think of one more existential threat, then we need a perspective.

There was an incursion into Poland, which is a NATO country, which draws us into.

If a nuclear exchange takes place, there all of this is moot.

Absolutely moot.

All of us stand on this planet, and this is where we make our stand.

Thank you.

Back to the committee.

All right, thank you.

We are adjourned at 3.02 p.m., the community, uh, and then we can make a command.