Good afternoon.

I'd like to call to order this meeting of the San Jose City Council for the afternoon of April seventh.

Tony, would you please call the role?

Come on.

Here.

Campos?

Tordillos?

Here.

Cohen.

Present.

Okay.

Here.

Here.

Candelas.

Here.

Casey.

Fully.

Mayhem.

Here.

You have a corn.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Now, if you're able, please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Today's invocation will be provided by the Piedmont Hills High School Orchestra alongside their music director, you Ting Wang and Council Member Cohen will tell us more.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, we're very excited today to have some talented students from Piedmont Hills High School with us in Berriesa.

Music is a way of life, and we've been very appreciative that we've been able to protect music programs in our elementary school district in Barriessa district.

Students start learning music, string music and instrumental music in third grade, and key and many of them keep playing for years after.

So thanks to Piedmont Hills orchestra, and we're looking forward to your performance.

Thank you.

Well, thank you all so much.

Let's give them another round of applause.

That was fantastic.

That was the Piedmont Hills High School Orchestra.

Thank you all.

You're very talented.

We appreciate you helping us kick off our meeting.

And Councilor Cohen, thank you for organizing today's invocation.

We will move on to our ceremonial items.

Council Mr Campos, if you will join me at the podium, we will recognize and proclaim April as month of the young child.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Today I am so happy to be joined by First Five Santa Clara County and early childhood and education advocates to celebrate and proclaim April as month of the young child.

In this month, we recognize the importance of quality early learning experiences and the ECE professionals who make all work possible.

For a city with almost a million residents, about five percent are children under the age of five.

And our city is the home to approximately fifty-seven thousand young children who depend on the adults in their lives to care for them.

And the eleven of us make some pretty important decisions about how the sh how the city shows up for our youngest constituents.

Increasing access to high-quality early childhood education saves taxpayer dollars and prepares children to succeed in school, earn higher wages, and live healthier lives.

With a total capacity of 17,940 licensed slots, San Jose has a capacity gap of 39,000 spaces to meet the needs of our working families.

Every laugh, every first word, every small moment of care and connection is shaping who a child will become.

Somewhere in our city right now, a parent is rocking a child to sleep, hoping that they're doing enough.

And somewhere else, a caregiver is working two jobs, trying to make ends meet while still finding time to read just one more story.

And a child's learning their first words, taking their first steps, and beginning to understand the world around them.

These moments may feel small, but they are everything.

Because in those first five years, a child's brain is developing faster than at any other time of life.

What we do, or more importantly, what we don't do in those years can echo for a lifetime.

At first five Santa Clara County, we exist to stand beside those families in those moments and ensure that every child in our community from prenatal to age five has the strongest start possible.

Because when we support a parent, we support a child, and we create a community.

Now, Potter here is joining me today because Potter does like to party.

And in honor of the month of the young child, we want to invite you all to join us for our inaugural Potter the Otter Day celebration at the Children's Discovery Museum on April 25th, where we will be enjoying stories, songs, and smiles, and Potter will be there reminding us that learning and growing is a joyful experience that every child deserves to feel seen and celebrated.

And in fact, today he's brought some books to share with our council members and mayor since they don't have enough to read on a daily basis.

So we thought we'd add some light reading to the mix.

This proclamation is really our city's promise that we as a community will continue to put our children, especially our youngest children first, invest in our families, and build a community where every child has the opportunity to thrive.

Because when we care for our youngest children, we really are caring for our future.

Thanks for standing with us and happy month of the young child.

Oh fine, Potter.

Let's give uh the mayor a hustle.

And our mayor will present the proclamation, and any council members who wish to join us for a picture with Potter the Otter, please come and join us.

Thanks for being here.

All right.

There we go.

That feels a little hard.

Challenging.

Potter dance, though.

Potter can dance.

Oh, okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Yes, yes, Potter will be here.

Hi, all right, Potter, ready to go.

All right, thank you, Potter.

Great to see you.

Um, thank you, Councilman Campos.

Councilman Duan, if you would join me here at the podium, we will recognize and proclaim April 14th through 16th as Cambodian New Year.

Well, we're await for everyone to come on down.

Come on down.

Here we are.

Well, hello, everyone.

Today's ceremonial I am proud to proclaim Cambodian New Year.

Celebrate this year from April 14th to April 16th.

Cambodian New Year or Chow Cham Tame.

Mark is the end of harvest season, and it is time for family and community to come together, enjoy reflection, and renewal, honoring Cambodian rich cultural heritage through traditional games, dances, and ritual.

Today I am pleased to be joined by representative from the Cambodian American Resource Agency, San Jose Cultural Dance Troop, Khamon Raram Buddhist Temple, San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Khmer Campucha, Krom Buddhist Association, Khmer Buddhist Foundation, Khmerra Rangsi Temple, Khmer Krom Federation, San Jose Chapter, Santa Clara County Cambodian Woman Association, Cambodian Genocide Resource Center, Good Sam Lotus Charity, Anchor Rebuilt Services, Southeast Asian Development Center, EVC Aspire Plus, Evergreen Valley College, and San Jose City College.

Thank you all for being here and for helping us celebrate and recognize the vibrantity and contribution of the Cambodian community to the city of San Jose.

I now will be passing the mic to Dr.

Kara to share more about the Cambodian community.

Good afternoon, Mayor Mahan, Council members, and to the community.

Khmai New Year is more than just a holiday.

It's a return to our roots, to our ancestors, and to one another.

For many of us in the Khmer Diaspora, this celebration carries deeper meaning.

It represents survival, healing, and the continuation of a culture that endured unimaginable loss.

Over the past 50 years, it has been our temples and organizations, many serving San Jose for the past three decades that have carried this responsibility with care and devotion.

We honor our sacred temples and spaces, including Kemaram Buddhist Temple, Kemra Rangsei Temple, the Khmaya Kampuchi Kram Buddhist Association, who will soon be moving into their new temple in the Evergreen area.

These temples are places where traditions live on through prayer, ceremony, and guidance from our elders.

Um, who keep our heritage alive through dance, language, storytelling, advocacy, and healing, ensuring that Khmer New Year is not just remembered but also lived.

Kara has also had the privilege of working alongside all of these organizations, and we want to thank all of you for being our community partners and for also being here today to accept this proclamation.

And um being here in the community for the past 20 years, volunteering alongside um many of the leaders who are presidents and board members of organizations that serve our community, um their dedication, which is often quiet but determined, is what sustains our community.

So this proclamation is not just a recognition of holiday, it's our recognition of generations of service, resilience, and love for our community.

As we celebrate Khmer New Year, we honor our ancestors, uplift our elders, and invest in their future generations who will carry this legacy forward.

May this new year, year of the fire horse bring health, peace, and continued strength to our community, and may we continue together to celebrate not only where we come from, but who we're becoming.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

It's my honor to proclaim Cambodian New Year in the city of San Jose.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Happy New Year.

Thank you all for being here.

Take a picture together.

Thank you all for being here.

Thank you so much for your support.

Of course.

Thank you so much.

All right.

And on to our final ceremonial item.

Councilwoman Mulquay, if you would join me at the podium, we will recognize and proclaim April as Autism Awareness Month.

And congratulations on our first ever flag raising.

I'm sure you'll speak to that.

Well done.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mayor.

Um, Josh and friends, why don't you make your way down and line up behind me for some recognition and eventually a great photo with all of us.

So as the mayor said at noon today, we raise the autism awareness month flag on the City Hall Plaza for the first time.

Literally raising yes.

Literally raising visibility for autism and joining with their community in solidarity.

Here in California, one in 22 are diagnosed with autism, which is why today and all month long we will proudly honor the many individuals with autism who enrich our communities through their perspectives, talents, and achievements.

And let us all commit that it's not just for this month, but it's every day in San Jose.

This proclamation is an opportunity to recognize the individuals, families, educators, and advocates who lead with compassion and work every day to uplift and support autistic individuals in our schools, workplaces, and in our neighborhoods.

Your voices and experiences are helping to shape a more inclusive San Jose, and we are deeply grateful to your leadership.

With this proclamation, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting individuals with autism and celebrating their contributions to our community.

Hannah Wilder, students Pearson and Simron, and speaking today will be Joshua Drake, the center's executive director, to share a few words before the mayor and I present a proclamation.

Josh.

Thank you, Michael.

Uh thank you very much for the commendation.

Thank you to the mayor.

Thank you to the city council, and a special thank you to our council member Michael Mulcahy, who has visited our campus multiple times and has been active ongoing support for our program as we're trying to expand to try and meet this burgeoning need we have in our community.

Morgan Autism Center was founded 55 years ago with the idea that our children can learn.

It was a radical idea then, and unfortunately it's sometimes still a radical idea today.

We are the only program in the Bay Area that has both a non-public school serving children age five to twenty-one, as well as an adult program serving individuals from 22 to 60 plus.

And we've been doing that combination for the last 40 years.

We're focused on serving those with the most profound autism.

So many of them, many of our students and clients require one-to-one services, AAC devices, uh all that support so they can communicate and be successful.

I was fortunate to attend the uh flag raising earlier today.

Very excited that the city has for the first time raised a flag and has been recognizing uh autism awareness month.

Excited about getting to awareness.

We need to get to understanding empathy and building relationships in order to truly allow all of those on the spectrum, but in particular those with more profound autism to be able to access public spaces like this, public spaces like the playground on the weekends, the public space of the um of the mall if they choose so to go there, as well as those real meaningful opportunities to uh volunteer or have vocational opportunities in the community.

So an important milestone today towards where we ultimately want to go.

As many of you may know, the rates of autism have been increasing dramatically in just the last seven years here in the Bay Area.

The pot autism population has doubled and it continues to increase at a similar rate.

And so excited that we uh in our most recent strategic plan have uh decided to grow the organization, and we are well on our track to growing by 50% in the next five years.

But there's a huge amount of need out there in the community beyond what any one organization can do.

So really appreciative to get this commendation for the organization for our staff and our families, but I'd really love for you to get a better sense of who we are by hearing from our students and some of our adult clients.

So with that, I'd love for Pearson to come up as well as Simron.

Come on, buddy.

Thanks.

All right, Pearson, I have a question for you, okay?

What classroom are you in?

I am Rue Three.

And what do you like about Mac?

Talking with my friends.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Thank you, Simron.

Uh uh, thank you, Pearson.

You can see Pearson has an AAC device, and he can both use that to communicate with us as well as we can communicate with him.

So many of our students are non-verbal, but they have plenty to say.

And so it's about how do you effectively communicate?

How do you provide those resources so someone can be an active participant in their community?

And with that, he can uh communicate very successfully as well as some of our others.

I would love for Hannah to come up and share her experience.

Hi, Hannah.

Hi, Param.

For how long have you been at Mac?

I have been Mac for 12 years.

What do you see your favorite thing to do at Meg, Hannah?

I like now from Keen and Arnt.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I would invite you all to come to our campus and open invite and get to know our population, the joys, the challenges they face every day, the joys, the challenges their families face every day, as uh Councilmember Mulcahy has.

And once you get to know them, you get to know the joys and challenges we all face.

And really part of our purpose is creating a community that they can all be active members in.

Thank you so much.

So we are proclaiming it for the case.

We're on the fall we're gonna fall in the case.

We'd love to have you come visit with that.

Oh, we've got all the years.

Do you want to show that to them?

Yeah, that's good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you all for those ceremonial items.

We are on to orders of the day.

Someone have any changes to the printed agenda.

Not aware of any requests.

Not seeing any.

We'll move on to the closed session report.

Uh mayor councilman closed session today to uh to go through the agenda as posted, and there's nothing to report at this time.

Thank you, Susanna.

All right.

We will go on then to consent.

Are there any items council would like to pull from the consent calendar?

See none.

Do we have a motion?

A public section.

Okay.

Comments, please.

Great.

Do we have public comment on consent?

Brian Darby, come on down.

Great.

Um I wanted to say something about the consent item, but just that last ceremonial item.

I Morgan Center, I think it was.

Um I have uh two pretty good desktops, two or three iPads, and my uh quote unquote expertise, if they want them.

And a couple of pretty good size monitors.

Thank you.

Sorry to sorry to God.

Back to council.

All right, coming back to the council.

Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

All right, we're on to item 3.1, report of the city manager.

Thank you very much, Mayor and City Council.

I have a great employee update on to recognize some of our amazing employees in our finance and information technology departments today.

They're an exceptional team, and I'm excited to tell you that today together they identified and addressed a critical need for a new business tax system, which successfully went live this past January.

This effort was driven by the urgent need to replace a legacy system that was no longer supported and posed cybersecurity risks due to it due to its connections with other city systems.

In response, this team stepped up and delivered an innovative solution, building the new system entirely in-house.

That is a remarkable achievement.

The team brought together employees from the information technology and the finance department, business tax, and payment processing units.

Their collaboration is an example of what we mean by working together as one team to advance our city's strategic support service area goals.

In this case, they enhance security while also improving the customer experience by creating a more accessible and reliable system.

The system was tested and launched in time to support our business tax amnesty program that also began in January 2026.

It went live very smoothly without disruption to our customers with only very minimal technical issues.

The joint vision and purpose successfully came together with strong technical expertise, business knowledge, careful planning, and a shared commitment to public service.

The energy, dedication, and pride this team brought to this project were evident every step of the way.

I want everyone to be aware that it is rare for a government agency of any size to design and build a system like this from the ground up.

To do it so quickly and with such immediate success speaks ball volumes about the talent and commitment of our employees here in San Jose.

We are fortunate to have a team of this caliber and a work environment that supports creativity, collaboration, and innovation.

What an amazing team.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

That's concludes my report.

Awesome.

Well done.

You don't normally get a big round of applause for a business tax software update, but that is exciting.

Well done, team.

It's important work.

It's foundational.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Jennifer.

All right, we're on to item 3.3 establishment of the GovAI coalition as a nonprofit corporation.

And we will hear from Collet and the team as soon as they're ready.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council members, and members of the public.

My name is Calet Dolphic.

I'm the Chief Information Officer and the Director of Information Technology.

Today we present item 3.3, the establishment of the GovI Coalition as a nonprofit organization, presenting with me Al Bill Glee, City Privacy and AI officer, and Chelsea Palacio, ITD public information manager.

Since the initial City Council presentation on AI and government or Gov AI Coalition on October 25, 2024, the City of San Jose and the coalition has continued its efforts to collaborate and provide guidance to hundreds of government agencies.

Today, we are seeking the establishment of the Gov AI Coalition as a nonprofit organization supported by a grant from the Packard Foundation to expand its ability to secure external funding, achieve long-term sustainability, and further advance its mission.

San Jose has taken a leading role in responsible AI governance by integrating its principles into city services and reinforcing its position as a leader in government.

The city is recognized for hosting the NVIDIA annual GTCA conference, one of the world's largest AI conferences, and also for hosting the Gov AI Coalition Summit, the nation's leading conference on the practical and responsible use of AI in government.

The city has influenced AI development through transparency and accountability as referenced or reflected in our guidelines and policies as well as our AI upskilling program.

Our leadership in digital privacy and AI governance strengthen public trust and position San Jose as a model for governments nationwide and led to the formation of the coalition in San Jose.

In May 2023, the city established or published the generative AI guidelines in response to the release of the Chad GBT in November 2022.

This generated national interest that many agencies reach out to to learn more about the guidelines and AI efforts in San Jose.

As a result, we identified the need to establish a standard approach and recognized a great opportunity to collaborate on how to evaluate AI tools.

In November 2023, San Jose convened the Gov AI Coalition first virtual meeting, attended by 50 IT leaders nationwide, some of whom became founding members of the coalition.

By March 2024, the board was formed, consisting of seven government agencies working closely with San Jose, highlighting the value of a government for government initiative.

DACULI, the coalition published free resources, including the first AI policy templates that helped hundreds of government agencies, including the city.

In 2024, Council approved 100,000 budget allocation in the IT budget, strengthening AI initiatives, including the support of the Gov AI Coalition.

San Jose was among the first cities to invest in AI and dedicated hundreds and dedicated funds to help uh shape the future of AI.

By December December 2024, the coalition reached 1,000 members right before the inaugural Gov AI Coalition Summit, right here in San Jose.

I will turn it over to Albert.

Thank you, College, Mayor, Council members, and members of the public.

Albert Glee, City Privacy and AI Officer in the Information Technology Department.

Since 2024, the Gov AI Coalition has grown organically to more than 3,000 members from over 900 agencies across multiple countries, driven by all of our agencies' shared needs to serve our communities better with AI.

The Gov AI Coalition's mission is to ensure that public sector AI serves the public good through resource sharing, standards, and advocacy.

In coordinating responsible and effective AI with thousands of others, the city has been able to strengthen its own AI governance and use case initiatives, including growing our databases for road safety detections and AI translation tools.

The GovA coalition structure includes a governing body consisting of IT leaders from seven government agencies who share responsibility with San Jose in advancing the coalition's mission.

I serve as the board chair alongside six IT leaders.

San Jose facilitates operations and meeting alongside more than 20 leaders from 20 agencies who lead six committees and several working groups.

This distributed leadership model allows the city to leverage talents from across the nation to advance its mission.

The six committees include readiness and adoption, community engagement, data governance, procurement, industry relations, and use cases.

I'll turn over to Chelsea.

Chelsea Palacio, public information manager for the IT department.

So in just over two years, the Gov AI Coalition has helped strengthen how governments approach AI by providing shared tools and standards.

We have provided numerous free resources, including an AI policy template based on St.

Jose's AI policy, the AI fact sheet, a vendor registry, a collaborative contract hub, and a monthly newsletter.

We have promoted AI education for the public sector by developing a training series based on the city's AI Upskilling program.

We have grown the coalition's membership to over 3,000 members, representing 900 plus agencies and seven countries.

We host the GovEI Coalition Summit, bringing hundreds of attendees to San Jose.

And these achievements also supported San Jose staff and reduced duplicated duplication of work.

I'll pass it back to Caled.

Thank you, Chelsea.

Currently, the Gov AI coalition is out within the city, which constrains its ability to scale and secure external funding.

As the coalition expands, dedicated funding and staffing are needed to sustain its operations.

Three key priorities to ensure the Gov AI Coalition continues to deliver value to government agencies, including the city.

One, funding.

Establishing the coalition as a nonprofit will enable its access to grants and philanthropic funding not typically available to the city.

This additional funding will support the continued development of the resources that benefit San Jose and other agencies, while advancing innovation and reducing reliance on limited public funding.

Two, partnerships, the coalition can expand partnership with government agencies, academic institutions, and private sector organizations.

Such partnerships will facilitate shared learning and global collaboration.

While the coalition has grown to include 900 agencies, increasing demand necessitates additional capacity beyond the cities beyond what the city can sustain.

And last but not least, marketing and development.

Support from dedicated outreach resources will enable specialized staff to manage partnerships, communications, and global growth, reinforcing San Jose's international leadership and recognizing the Gov AI Coalition Annual Summit.

During the process of obtaining 501c3 nonprofit status, which may take approximately nine months, the Gov AI Coalition will operate under an interim physical sponsor.

This structure will allow the coalition to access grants requiring a 501c3 designation while also providing administrative services, dedicated staffing, compliance, and operational support.

The board of the coalition will be comprised of individuals who are working for government agencies, but no seats on the board will be reserved for any particular agency, including the City of San Jose.

Board members will be selected by the board based on their qualification and contributions and will serve in their personal and individual capacities.

The transition will be funded by the uh by the Packard Foundation with no additional impact to uh to general fund.

Upon council approval, ITD will coordinate with the City Attorney's Office to initiate the nonprofit process, establishing an interim physical sponsor and formalize the coalition's board of directors.

The coalition will subsequently apply and attain the 501c3 status.

We are excited to continue hosting the Gov AI Coalition Summit from December 9 to 11 at the McHendry Convention Center.

We expect to have 700 attendees this year at the third annual summit.

We do hope to see all of you at the summit.

This has been a remarkable journey, and reflecting on our progress in less than three years underscores the commitment and collaboration of many dedicated individuals nationwide, working toward a common mission to enhance civic services through the responsible use of AI.

Our sincere appreciation to Mayor Mahan and his staff, Stephen Keynes and Kate Hersburg, the City Council, City Manager McGuire, for the vision and continued support of the Gov AI Coalition.

I would like to recognize and appreciate the coalition for the founding members, board founding members who played an instrumental role in establishing and advancing the coalition.

I would also like to thank the committee chairs and working groups from over 20 agencies, our city staff, our partners, and the fast growing 3000 coalition members.

And finally, I would like to recognize my amazing team for their innovation and dedication to the city and to the coalition.

Jim Bersick, Albert Glee, Lelia Dotti, Chelsea Palacio, Artie Tangri, and Namrata Baltra Aguil.

I conclude my presentation by shading what we often say in the coalition.

This is just the beginning.

Thank you, and this concludes our presentation.

Great.

Thank you all so much for the presentation.

Look forward to the conversation.

Tony, do we have any public comment?

Yes, Brian Darby.

Thank you for your hard work.

Nice report.

Um, just something about AI.

The one thing that the has done uh as a con at least it's from a constituent standpoint, is that you face us, and we can come here, I do a lot.

We can write emails, we can make phone calls, we can send taxes.

To be really honest with you, the response rate is maybe five percent, and that's being pretty lenient.

Um so if AI, I put wrote another email, presented email, uh present a way to have it help you harvest information from the emails you get.

One of the very nice staff, very hardworking staff mentioned that the inboxes for most of you are overwhelming.

Well, how else are we supposed to contact you?

And I think they could offer you some ideas.

I know I did.

I even scripted this out.

And it worked on my machine.

And you can scale it up, scale it down.

Um at least there would be an answer because a lot of people give back, we'll get back to you in 72 hours.

That doesn't happen.

Why put that on your website?

If you don't want us to talk to you, that's fine.

I know that's not any of your objectives, and I know everybody's busy, everybody's overwhelmed.

So are we?

We take the time to write emails.

We take the time to come here and talk.

Even if I don't get an answer, if I know that this is being marked somewhere where it reaches you, it makes a difference.

And I'm not the only one that feels that way.

Thank you.

Back to council.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Umce again, College Albert Chelsea, thank you for the presentation, all your great work building the GovAI coalition.

It's something I think San Jose should be very proud of.

We've worked very closely, as you know.

We have um the uh we have our our chief innovation officer in my office, Stephen Keynes, who's supported by um Keith Hertzberg, and have been really proud to support the work that Call and the team have done with our colleagues in other jurisdictions across the country.

And I think it's a testament to our leadership, of course, in part just based on proximity, geography, but also our willingness to lead and innovate and take risks.

And I want to thank our city manager, Jennifer McGuire for recognizing that it's important that we stay ahead of technological changes, and that we do have a privileged position being the big city in Silicon Valley, and that if any city is going to figure out how to use these tools, use them safely, create the right regulatory and policy environment, and leverage them to enhance public services, it should be San Jose.

And it's really helped build our brand.

As you heard, we have an annual conference now where hundreds of people come to San Jose media, employers, most importantly, public sector workers from all levels of government from all over the country come here to collaborate and share information about how technology is evolving and how we can best harness it to deliver better public services.

The uh coalition with a lot of support uh from San Jose has created the model for how local governments and and other levels of government can take advantage of these new tools, uh, including our AI starter guided and other policy manuals, AI incident response plan, a fact sheet that allows vendors to explain and demystify their systems for procurement processes, a contract hub where different governments can see fully executed contracts from other agencies to accelerate procurement and many other resources and tools.

One thing we've led on that I just want to especially highlight, and and I think is a testament to the team's leadership, has been the IT training academy that we've created.

I know with support from San Jose State, which includes both our AI and data upskilling tracks.

And I think this workforce component is really important for any successful deployment of AI.

We often say technology and we think of a of a tool, a device, a gadget, maybe data, but ultimately it's about people, and that's something we all we always talk about is how do we build capacity and empower our people to use the latest tools to be as creative, productive, and fulfilled and impactful in their work as possible.

So these upskilling programs are a multi-week curriculum that helps our skill our staff up level and have practical tools for streamlining more routine tasks that make the job less efficient and less interesting.

And by saving time on those repetitive tasks, we actually give employees the opportunity to focus on the higher value, more mission-driven aspects of their roles, which improves our service delivery and resident outcomes and satisfaction.

So I'm really proud that we're leaning in to the workforce upskilling and empowerment piece of this because these tools shouldn't just happen to us and have a big disruptive impact.

We want to harness them and shape them and use them so they work for our workers and ultimately work for our community by enabling us to deliver better services more cost effectively.

So really proud of everything the team has done, as you heard, starting in just 2023, we've now grown the coalition to 900 agencies, 3,000 members.

And it makes sense now to take this next step, where as a nonprofit, the coalition is likely to have greater long-term sustainability and be able to seek other funding sources such as philanthropic contributions.

As we establish this 501c3 nonprofit and develop bylaws, I do encourage us to ensure that the city of San Jose continues to play a strong role in the coalition.

Specifically, I hope that our ITD director will continue to serve as the board chair, as was highlighted, and that the summit remains in San Jose at least every other year, if not every year, so we can continue to showcase the incredible technology created in our backyard and how we're deploying it here in one of the nation's largest, most innovative cities.

So thank you again, college team.

You guys have done tremendous work, and I think this is a great next step.

We're sort of incubating this out of the city to some extent, though I know we'll continue to play a very central role in the success of the coalition.

So thanks for all the work and the presentation.

And with that, I will turn to Councilmember Ortiz.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, staff.

I want to just elevate your um extremely important work on this very um uh important topic.

I also want to thank the mayor for his leadership and advocacy in this arena.

You know, I support our city's exploration of AI.

I think it would be foolish for us or for any municipality, but especially one dubbed the capital of Silicon Valley, uh, to shy away from these conversations.

And so I'm really glad that we are not just not shying away, but really at the forefront uh of these discussions actually state statewide.

And I agree with the mayor when he says that you know we should continue to remain in a leading chair and a leading position uh in this conversation because we want to shape the way AI is used, whether that's at cities, at government agencies, or just you know, uh in any industry.

Uh and I don't think that um both local or state governments um have been doing their due diligence to you know shape this conversation and contribute to this conversation.

In many ways, it's happening to our municipalities without our voice uh contributing.

And so I just want to really highlight that.

I believe we have a responsibility to be in these discussions and in this arena.

Um, but I also believe that you know, as we look to AI, there are there could be some unintended consequences.

I think we also have the responsibility to look at what potential guardrails should be, whether that's you know, in in the city, municipal jobs or careers, or even in the workplace outside or just in society as a as a whole, because at the end of the day, we want to protect our residents, you know, especially those who are in protected categories, and then of course our staff, right?

Because in many ways, people enter into the public service, not because it pays a lot, but because they're giving back, right?

And we've seen in Silicon Valley, you know, literally teams and tech that build out AI systems, and then they're laid off because now we have AI to do a lot of that work, right?

And so though we can't we also can't shy away from those conversations as as well.

Uh you know, just doing some quick research, I've seen that like companies, right?

Not cities, but companies who use AI to shift through applications, right?

Um, that has had unintended consequences towards um applicants who are community members of color, right?

Or individuals who didn't go or didn't have access to specific colleges.

Um and then, of course, you know, there's also been discrimination towards you know, some of our protected groups, whether that's people of color, you know, disabled, immigrants, uh, et cetera.

And so I how is our our city or this coalition going to lean into you know what potential guardrails should or could be in place as you know, municipalities and government agencies explore the world that is you know AI.

And maybe I can jump in first.

Um good questions, council member.

I know for our own AI policy, just for San Jose, what we can control here.

Um, we're exploring right now as we're in bargaining with our unit unions about making sure that employment decisions and disciplinary decisions are not uh consider, no, not I AI generated, or AI is making the decision on those type of things.

We're having and so we're gonna be having discussions with um our our labor folks and our staff about that, because that we absolutely can control beyond what the coalition comes up with.

Um, we can have our own local policies.

But I know that's important for us in controlling those decisions because I think we would share the same concerns.

Just to confirm just from my own um informational purposes, so those discussions will be handled in bargaining and not necessarily here on the dias, then yeah, right now, and we have been discussing that in close session, but yes, okay, and so we're definitely discussing that, and we'll bring you up to speed.

But as we speak in bargaining, those are those issues are front and center of some concerns that have been brought to us, and we're trying to work through.

Great, thank you.

Um, and I guess outside of just like the bargaining issues, but just in in general, right?

You know, there has been tools used in ways AI tools that have you know cut off access, whether it's services, resources to specific populations.

Do we do we look at guardrails?

Is that a part of the conversation?

Um yeah, just trying to get some of your understanding around it.

Absolutely.

Thank you, Councilmember, for the question.

It's a great and critical question that we've been asking ourselves.

Uh, our philosophy has been people, systems, process.

We start with people.

We want to make sure that our staff is trained, aware, capable.

Uh we engage with them to get feedback.

And today, Albert started the fourth cohort for AI upscaling training.

Uh and the number keeps increasing.

We had over 40 people that subscribe to the to the training today.

Uh and it's important for us to continue that engagement because we we have to engage the public, number one, the community to understand their concerns, and also our staff to make sure that number one, they're aware, they know the risk, they understand the privacy concerns, they understand the potential risk to the to the process.

And through that education and conversation, we get to reshape or redirect our policies and procedure to see how we can take it to the next level.

We are strong believers that AI will be a great tool to help our employees, not to replace them.

Uh we we believe that by investing in in that conversation and investing in our staff, we will take services to the next level, using our staff and our dedicated and passionate uh interaction with the public.

Unlike the private sector, we are more about the service and community engagement and delivering that service in an empathetic and and personal manner versus shipping products out of the door.

So we we we believe strongly in our in our team and and the city manager and and has been uh emphasizing from the beginning that people system process is something that we continue to to emphasize and to invest in.

And and this is part of also for the the bigger picture with the uh customer experience uh program that the city management has been leading, uh, and and AI becomes a tool to deliver that value to our community.

Great.

No, thank you.

And and that's pretty much how I see it.

Like, like I said, I support the exploration of AI.

I think we need to be part of that conversation, if not the leading voice in that conversation.

So I thank you and the mayor for um both of your um advocacy.

It's just kind of like not to sound like a nerd, but that quote from Spider-Man that with great great power comes great responsibility, and so I just want to make sure that we're we're doing our due diligence.

Thank you so much.

It's a good quote, and I think I think well said.

I I will say also for just historic context.

I know we were one of the first cities to really go deep on data security and privacy questions, which I think gave us a good foundation for having more confidence and leaning in now.

But I think the point about workforce and making sure workers really um understand the tools, feel empowered.

My view has been, and I think it's incumbent upon us to make it true that these tools enhance our workforce and enhance productivity, or not deployed as a as a labor replacement.

God knows we have a shortage of staff.

If anything, we use technology to get leverage and more productivity and impact for our community, but we're gonna need, we're gonna continue to need people.

I just think the jobs are going to evolve over time and hopefully become even more interesting and impactful.

Um, Councilor Kamei, I had you next.

Thank you so much, and thank you for the presentation.

Um I was not able to attend last year, but I attended the very first inaugural uh um gov AI uh conference, and it was just fabulous.

I mean, it was great to see so many people just wanting to come together uh to do the right thing.

So I want to thank you for your leadership and really leading in this area.

Um I I see I really love that you mentioned people, systems, and process, because I think that as you lead, others will uh come to see what the city of San Jose is doing, what we're trying to gather, what we're trying to do together in this coalition.

And uh certainly uh I have a lot of confidence that uh this could be uh done in the correct way versus you know going sideways and uh and and really really help others who don't know where to go.

Um so with that I really want to um support this and um move staff recommendation to adopt the resolution.

Great, thank you both.

Uh and council.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, the IT team for creating this coalition and this throughout the United States.

And I think all of us here on the council, we put people first, right?

And AI, again, the mayor made it very clear, it's a tool that we can leverage that'll help our employees to be more efficient and effective in delivering a better service for our community.

You know, is changes is the toughest thing for human to do because something new.

And I remember 20 something years ago.

The you know, the the iPhone and the phone came out.

I was resistive.

I just want to stick with the page or but in the end, we all can't live without the iPhone.

We will be responsible to create more jobs, not taken away.

We all we put our people first versus you know the technology, but we use the technology as a tool, and that's a great tool that would bring us to the forefront that will bring us investment that it will bring better jobs and more investor right here in the city of San Jose.

That's what we need to deliver that 268 services that's including 95 core services to our residents.

And I just want to say thank you so much for doing so.

Awesome.

Thanks, Councilmember Tony.

Let's vote.

Motion passes unanimously.

Wonderful.

All right, thank you all.

We're on to item, and thank you again to staff.

We're on to item 6.1.

Willow Rock long-duration energy storage agreement.

I believe we have a brief staff presentation.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

I'm Lori Mitchell, the director of the energy department, and very pleased today to be joined by Phil Cornish, who is a principal power resource specialist.

As a reminder, since 2019, San Jose Clean Energy has contracted for over a gigawatt of new renewable energy and storage resources.

These projects include solar paired with storage, as well as solar standing alone, geothermal wind, and then standalone energy storage.

And you can see on the map here, many of these locations are located throughout California and in the western portion of the United States.

This project is a new project that we're recommending contracting for.

It is going to be owned and operated by a company called Hydro Store, which was founded in 2010.

The project is called Willow Rock, and it's an advanced compressed air storage facility, which is a new type of technology for our portfolio.

It's important that it will deliver long-duration storage, which is increasingly important as we have more renewables on the grid in California.

This company has successfully developed a small advanced compressed storage facility in Canada, and they have another one under develop in Australia.

However, this project will be their flagship project located in California.

A little bit about this technology, as you can see in the picture depicted here.

It starts with compressing air through a compressor, and then that generates heat, which they will store in their thermal management system, which you can see is the number two box there.

That compressed air will then be pumped underground into a storage uh cavern that's made up of granite, and that cavern will be filled with water, and as that air enters the cavern, it will push the water up into the surface reservoir, which is number four there.

Then when energy is needed, that water reservoir storage would be released that will push the compressed air back up to the surface level.

That compressed air will then be reheated from that waste heat in the first part of the process, which is what makes this technology advanced.

So it will not use any type of fossil fuel to heat that air.

And then that air will be uh processed and expanded through the compressor to generate electricity.

So we're pretty excited to add this new type of technology to our portfolio.

Um as I mentioned, some of the key terms of this agreement, um, the technology is advanced compressed air storage.

We are buying from this facility two products.

One is resource adequacy, and then the other is energy.

As I mentioned, it's located in Kern County in California, and it will have an online date expected to be June 1 of 2030.

We will pay a fixed price as we do with most of our power purchase agreements with no escalation, and that term will be 20 years.

We expect the annual cost to be just under $4 million with a total cost of 80 million dollars.

It's important to note that this is a power purchase agreement, so because this is a new technology, there is some risk that it may be not get into construction and into operation.

If that happens, we will not pay anything for the energy that is not delivered.

We would not pay anything if it doesn't generate.

So that's the main way that we're mitigating our risks.

Our main risk would be that we would need to replace this project with something else to meet our regulatory requirements.

And so that is the main reason we're recommending it.

It helps us meet not only our annual and monthly resource adequacy regulatory obligation, but also to comply with the public utilities commission procurement orders.

Additionally, it adds additional storage to the portfolio, which we have identified as a need in our integrated resource plan, and then it brings some technology diversity to our portfolio.

So just as background, we are recommending that we contract with this through an organization called California Community Power, which we joined back in 2021.

That organization is made up of nine other member CCAs, which allows us to contract for emerging technologies with this, but share that risk over many CCAs throughout the region so that we can take a smaller share of it.

In terms of our project selection criteria, which council approved recently, it scored very well.

This project will be built with a project delabor agreement as well as a maintenance labor agreement for the ongoing construction and operation of it.

Again, it's located in Kern County.

It will go through a CEQA process, and we think it has a low likelihood of affecting sensitive habitat.

And importantly, the developer intends to implement a community benefits plan for the local community.

So with that, we're happy to take any questions.

Great.

Thank you for the presentation.

Tony, do we have a public comment?

I have no cards for this item.

Okay.

Going back to the council, we'll go to Council Rocone.

Yeah, thank you.

I just want to express my appreciation for bringing having you bring forward this um uh this uh proposal.

Um I'm excited about the diversification of storage, energy storage, the idea that we're doing something other than lithium ion battery and um all these new technologies are really exciting and I'm uh hopeful that it'll work well.

Um I was gonna ask the question.

Um we talked about this last week, but um how does the efficiency of this kind of technology compare to the efficiency of lithium ion battery?

Yeah, that that's a great question.

So it is less efficient, it's about 60 to 65 percent efficient versus a battery is about 80 to 85 percent efficient.

However, it's important to note that the the lifespan of this technology is much longer, so it's expected to be about a 50-year facility, although our contract is only 20 years versus a battery's lifespan is typically 10 to 15 years.

And the batteries have all kinds of other materials and harmful environmental impacts.

This what's exciting about this technology is its use of of basically water and gas uh and air and space uh and nothing else.

So that's so uh there there's a huge environmental plus despite the lower efficiency.

So uh I'm gonna move approval.

Thanks, Councilmember Vicemair.

Thank you.

Thank you for the presentation and uh I I actually just have a couple of questions, although Lori, I think you answered them.

I just want clarification.

So we're not committing to any financial contribution or payment until the storage facility is completed and they're ready to deliver energy.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

Um so we are the buyer under this transaction, and so we will start buying energy from it and resource adequacy once it's completed construction anticipated in 2030.

Um what this uh agreement will allow the developer to do is to go out and finish the rest of the development process.

They will go get financing to construct the facility.

We will not provide any of that financing.

Okay, actually, that was gonna be my next question.

So thank you.

And and how confident are you in Hydrostar's ability to deliver this?

You mentioned they have smaller project completed in Canada, one they're working on in Australia, but this is a bigger project.

You have confidence that they have the ability to do what they need to do.

You know, I I think we do.

Um, you know, it it certainly gives us some confidence that they have a smaller facility, but certainly we recognize the risk.

This is their first flagship project in California, and that's why it was important for us to structure this, as we do um all of our power purchase agreements as a power purchase agreement.

So if ultimately they don't get it through construction or it doesn't operate, you know, we're not paying any money to the developer.

Our main risk is that we would have to go out and replace it with another technology, would likely be batteries or or something else.

Right, thank you.

Thank you very much.

And uh so this meets our commitment, but we're not committed financially until we actually are able to, they're able to generate the power that we need.

Happy to support it.

Thank you.

Thanks, Vice Mayor.

Councilmember Tordillos.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, staff for the presentation.

I wanted to, I guess, follow up on some of Councilmember Cohen's comments.

I think it makes sense here to have some diversity in terms of our technological mix for energy storage.

Uh you know, he mentioned the efficiency angle here.

I wanted to ask about cost, just because we've seen the battery costs of you know falling pretty steadily over the years.

Do we know how the cost for this tech compares like on a megawatt hour basis relative to kind of more traditional energy storage approaches?

Uh yeah, the the the c the market is very uh volatile right now.

Um a couple years ago, this would have been uh more expensive by by more uh but these days with lithium being a limited resource and um uh many many factors, this is actually pretty competitive with lithium right now for this duration.

Um it'll continue to evolve, certainly.

Amazing, glad to hear it.

Thank you.

Yeah, great, great question.

And I I echo the interest in the diversification of our resources.

Obviously, storage is the big barrier to continuing to deploy intermittent renewable sources.

So this is a pretty exciting innovation, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Thanks for bringing it to us.

Okay.

Tony, let's vote.

Motion passes unanimously.

Awesome.

Thank you.

We're on to item 6.2.

This is the San Diego Community Power Resource Adequacy Trade.

You all have the materials in your agenda.

There's no staff presentation.

Tony, do we have public comment?

I have no cards for this item.

Okay, coming back to the council.

Staff is available for questions, obviously.

Move approval.

Second.

Okay.

Not seeing any hands.

Tony, let's vote.

Motion passes unanimously.

Great.

Thank you.

Okay, we're on to item 8.1.

This is the establishment of the Story Road Business Improvement District and approval to levy assessments within that district for fiscal year 2627.

I have a script, so please bear with me.

Item number 8.1 is the public hearing on the establishment of the Story Road Business Improvement District and the levy of assessments in the bid for fiscal year 2026-2027.

Before I open the public hearing, has the city clerk received any written protests from affected businesses in the proposed bid?

No written protests have been received from businesses in the proposed BID.

Great.

At this time, we will open the public hearing.

I have two cards.

Paul or three.

Paul Fam, come on down, Tim last name M and Vu Din, please come on down.

Great.

We'll just have everyone come down and you can speak in whatever order you arrive.

Good morning, good afternoon, Council.

I want to start out just to thank you for considering the item before you.

Um with uh being a being a business owner on uh Story Road, I truly appreciate the support that the community and the city has offered.

Uh and with the limited resources that we've had these past two years, we've done quite a bit with that.

And when times are tough, and we all know that times are tough now, and with the looming economy as we predict it to be ahead of us, uh small businesses need all the support that they can get.

And with the formation of this bid, it'll allow us uh to continue to do the work we're doing.

We want the rest of the world to know what little Saigon on Story Road is all about.

We want people to come here, visit us, and to bring that economic vitality back to San Jose.

Uh so I urge you all to uh move this forward and uh form the uh business improvement district that we truly need uh to go through these tough times.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hello, good afternoon, Mayor and uh Council members.

I'm Tim Muting.

Um I represent phase three communication, a bus.

Yeah, I'm a little bit different size.

So anyway, um so I represent um phase three communication in the story road district um area, and I'm also a board member of the story road association.

Um it's very valuable that we've you know established a cleaner, safer environment throughout this association.

I'm proud to be part of it.

Um, you know, Congress um Councilman Dong is always at the meetings, which is helpful.

And um, we we own several properties within San Jose.

We employ 138 employees, and probably 70 percent of them live within San Jose.

It's very important for us to have a safe community there and and clean community.

So I very much would like to um you know move forward on this.

Um, you know, there's there's so much value to having this association.

So um, you know, it keeps it safer, keeps it cleaner and more valuable.

And thank you for um you know your time.

Thank you, next speaker.

Good afternoon, Mayor.

Good afternoon, Council members.

Uh my name is Vu.

I'm the owner of Bon Mi Oven on Story Road, and I am one of the founding members who helped create the Story Road Business Association.

Along with the Opta City and Councilmember Mion Don.

Through the association work, we've been able to bring more visitors into the corridor and really showcase the vibrant Vietnamese culture that defines this area.

Even like the nine market drew over 20,000 people and create a space where community could come together, support local businesses and celebrate our identity.

Partnership like the banner program on a street on the road, upstory with the San Jose Shark have also helped to elevate the corridor and make it more visible to the broader community.

This work has not only supported our businesses but also strengthened the community and build a sense of pride along Story Road.

The business improvement district will allow us to continue this momentum and in a more consistent and sustainable way.

I'm here to express my strong support for the formation of the Story Road Business Improvement District.

Thank you.

Back to Council.

Great.

We will now close the public hearing.

Since the business owners have supported the establishment of the Story Road Business Improvement District and the proposed levy of assessments, I will now ask the council to consider approval of the ordinance establishing the bid and adoption of the resolution levying assessments in the bid for fiscal year 2026-2027.

So turning to colleagues, uh I do just want to say a big thank you to uh Paul Pham, who we heard from, who's the president of the Story Road Business Association, uh the Board of Directors, Vu Ding, uh, who heads up events and marketing, who we also heard from Tim Muting, Safe and Clean Initiatives, and our team in OEDCA who've been working closely with the Story Road Business Association to get to this point.

You all have done great work already, building a sense of place, and the very successful night market is something that I think caught attention far beyond San Jose.

So look forward to your continued success.

I will uh turn to Councillor DeWan for the additional comments on the motion.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you to the speakers from phase three, BunMe, and um SRBA.

This bid reflect the power of our local businesses coming together to invest in their share value and the future of the Little Saigon area.

It will enhance cleanliness, safety, and overall attractiveness, making Story Road more welcoming for both residents and visitors.

This district create new opportunity for marketing, events like night market, Tet Luna New Year, Full Moon Festival, Black April, Crawdad Festival, Back to School Backpack Giveaway, Toys at Christmas for Underserved Family, and cultural activation that celebrate the community diversity.

I look forward to increase the foot traffic, stronger support for small and local-owned businesses.

Thank you to the business owner, community leaders, and oh on our OED staff who are making this vision a reality every step of the way, especially this to you know, Triba, Story Road Business Association, the Monterey Corridor Business Association, 16 years since any type of bid have uh successfully came about.

And so this I am so proud to be part of this and to support the Story Road Business Association.

We are eager to see the positive impact of this bid will have once fully established.

With that, I move for approval.

Thanks, Councilmember.

Councilmore Condelas.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I know I I just wanted to express my appreciation to not just the staff for working on this, but also all the business owners and all the folks who are uh vested in in seeing this come to fruition.

I did have a quick question for staff uh for Jen.

Uh, while you come down, uh obviously we've we've seen um you know multiple bids.

I know staff is engaging full force on trying to deploy these.

Um, and just curious on on future plan a bit.

Future plan for bids, uh, given I know I've heard interest from the Evergreen Business Association that that's spouted in my district, and curious what the plan is for that.

Thank you for the question, Councilmember Candelas, Jen Baker, Director of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs in the City Manager's Office of Economic Development.

Um, there are four neighborhoods we are currently working with that do not have a bid yet, and Evergreen is included in that.

So Kaye Willow, Alum Rock Village, Winchester Row, and Evergreen are four of the communities with whom we have had some fluidity of conversation and interest in establishing a business improvement district.

We are planning next month to execute a contract for consulting services to launch new work with a sort of uh Greater Oaks Santa Teresa neighborhood capture.

So that's very exciting.

And moving forward in the conversations about bids, we really look at five criteria for assessing the viability of whether a bid is really ready and has enough inertia to go.

And those criteria are engagement, so the evidence of businesses engaged in community neighborhood issues and activation in addition to attendance and association business meetings.

So folks should attend their meetings and lean in.

It's a good time to do that.

Maturity so that there is some level of clear leadership within the association to pursue sustainable self-funding strategies.

We definitely want to make sure that the bids we're standing up have longevity.

Viability, so general uh a general assessment of the service need and the cost that would be associated with the needs that the bid is trying to fulfill.

Affordability.

Um, will the assessment fee be sufficient to cover the intended service plan and support from the council member and staff.

Thank you, Jen.

I appreciate that.

And uh, you know, just my shameless plug for uh for Evergreen.

They're ready, they have all those criteria.

I'm kidding.

Uh thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you, Jen.

It's a pleasure.

Appreciate the D8 advocacy.

All right.

I don't see any other hands.

We have a motion.

Tony, let's vote.

Motion passes unanimously.

Great.

Thank you.

All right, we're moving on to item 8.2, actions related to the loan commitment for the Valley Transportation Authority, Capital Station Affordable Housing Development.

And we have a brief staff presentation.

Thank you, Mayor.

So Eric Sullivan, Director of Housing, and with me is Banu San, a deputy director.

So we'll go through a brief presentation here for another project to bring forward to bring additional affordable units out of the ground.

And so this project represents another funding coming out of our request for proposals, whereas if we've discussed before, before council, the RFP kind of prioritizes shovel ready projects.

It looks for ways to provide our GONT balancing as the last money in, thereby further leveraging our ability to maximize not just the utility of our funds, but also when the timing of our funds comes in, so we're able to expand out how many projects our funds can touch to close gaps.

So this project in collaboration with VTA and Capitalization just continues that work going forward.

And so this project in an overall, then I'll ask Banu to get into the details, really begins to build out a great site in conjunction with Midpen.

You'll see this has deeply affordable projects.

It builds just about three buildings, spreading out a broad section of AMIs as we continue to invest in more mixed income developments.

And so I will now pass it over to Banu to go through some details.

Thank you, Eric Banu-San, Deputy Director, Housing Production.

The project was awarded 49 million in total affordable housing and sustainable communities program funding through HCD, the California Department of Housing and Community Development.

For the construction of the affordable housing, a part of that is the 35 million of the ASIC loan is for the construction, and 14 million is a grant.

And the grant portion of the of the funding goes towards transit improvements like bus passes, bike lanes, pedestrian connections to the VTA station.

The AC program funds land use housing, transportation and land preservation projects that support info and compact development that reduce greenhouse gas emissions under this grant.

Project will provide one transit pass per unit for the first three years of the ACIC grant for residents.

And then starting in year four, the project will uh pay the uh transit passes through the operations in perpetuity.

For rental assistance, the project is going to be subsidized for 71 homes through the project-based vouchers from the housing authority.

And the vouchers ensure rental revenue stability and financial feasibility, allowing the development to remain deeply affordable while minimizing the need for local local larger local sub city subsidies.

The project applied for a tax credit uh round, 4% round, February 3rd of this year, and the allocation is going to be announced in uh May 12th.

And the construction is expected to start in November and it's estimated to be around 24 months.

This slide just uh breaks down the uh subsidy as well as the cost into per units.

Um we can see that the the individual the per unit cost of the development is around 800 K.

And then uh the city's 41,000 per unit share represents around 5% of the total cost.

It is the lowest uh per unit contribution among the public funders here in this project and made possible by strong leverage from A CD, BAFA, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority funding, and the county.

So every dollar of the city gap financing is leveraged to create $19 in total development value.

This slide shows the sources of funding.

Uh it reflects the permanent sources.

And so we have the federal tax credit equity, uh, which is the single largest source at 46% of the total cost, and uh eight CD's ASIC permanent loan, uh 20% is a significant funding source for this development as previously mentioned.

Um the barrier, I just want to talk a little bit about the barrier uh housing finance authority.

The this uh authority was established by state legislature in 2019.

It is the first uh regional housing finance authority in California with an oversight committee uh consisting of a number of cities and counties that work jointly with the Metropolitan Transportation Committee and the Association of Bay Area Government's Housing Committee.

And their mission is to create safe, uh stable and permanent affordable homes.

And they published in 2024 an OFA called uh REAP 2.0 program, Regional Early Action Planning Program.

And this project was awarded through that.

Uh and really the projects uh were they were looking for are those that accelerate infill development that facilitates housing supply and affordability, uh affirmative further fair uh further fair housing, uh and it's similar to the ASIC program reduced vehicles miles traveled.

This project was awarded three million through that uh NOFA.

This is just the um unit and affordability mix.

More than half the units are for families, 104 homes.

Uh 51 percent are two to three bedrooms, and 57% uh 57 units around 28 percent target 30 percent area median income, and so individuals between 42 to 63,000 in annual uh annual income with rents ranging from a thousand to fifteen hundred a month.

As mentioned previously, seventy-one project-based vouchers from the Santa Clara Housing Authority will be provided, 20 for lower income households and 51 for permanent supportive housing tenants requiring specialized services, and that's a contract for 20 years and renewable for another additional 20.

And I'll pass it on to Eric now.

Okay, thank you, Baneu.

So you'll see overall this project uh will have a significant impact on the work that we do.

We've leveraged our public dollars with multiple of the public entities in order to move the initiative forward and get some both deeply affordable units as well as some a broader span of affordable units going a little higher on the AMI scale, and then continuing to invest in our work as you've seen about 80% of the total project funding will go from public sources as we're expanding our investments into deeply affordable uh projects.

So that is the summary of this project, and we're happy to answer your questions.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Uh Tony, do we have a public comment on this item?

Um yes.

I have several cards.

Jason, come on down.

Um, Edith, and Sean Hey everyone.

Um we're here today as as we're speaking about VTA and affordable housing.

We just wanted to also deliver a message on behalf of the folks who are isolated for the VTA cerrony site, the folks from the jungle.

Sorry, you've got to keep it on this topic.

The the decision before us is a is a permanent construction loan of up to eight point four million dollars for low and moderate income housing.

If you want to speak on any other topic, you'll have to wait for open forum at the end of the meeting.

Okay, well thank you.

We anticipate your attention at that point, as well as hope to speak with you after the meeting.

Great.

Is anyone here to speak on item 8.2 on the eight point the eight million dollar, eight point four million dollar loan commitment.

This loan seems like a good idea.

And if we're gonna do more things that are related to VTA, we would hope that they are done better than what is happening at Sarony.

Because right now at Saron, see how it all goes together.

Okay, Sean, do you have any other comments?

No, I addressed the loan.

I addressed the loan.

You can try and shut down public comment, but it's just I addressed the loan.

I spoke about the loan.

So right now at Sarony, people don't have bus passes.

So how are they gonna get the money?

I addressed the loan.

Okay, Tony, I understand.

Sean, you have one more chance to speak to the item.

Okay, you're finished.

We're coming back to the council.

Thank you.

All right, we'll come back to the council on item 8.2, and we'll go to council member Campos.

I just want to begin by thanking staff for this report and for the work with the several community partners that have been involved in first putting the financing together so that we can break ground later this year.

I am uh really excited to see this project move forward, uh, particularly the emphasis on um affordability for those in our community who um we know are are in dire needs of spaces like this, and I'm very proud of this project in district two being located uh close to public transit and using that as a as a way to increase density.

I will just say my um constituents in the area that are living in single family homes are concerned about what those impacts are gonna look like during construction and um what parking spaces are going to be eliminated.

My understanding is that this project in particularly will actually maintain some of the parking spaces, and so that gap information um uh is something for us to think about how we can better inform the Vista Park neighbors about these impending changes, and I know they've also have questions about the parcel that is located across the street, jointly owned by VTA in the city of San Jose, and what um might come of that uh with this development.

So those are just some of the questions that I'm hearing from my constituents, and I'd love an opportunity for City VTA and any other partners to join us in Vista Park uh at a neighborhood meeting um between November for those updates.

Um it was really really uh inspiring to see the partnership that we have with the county on this, and it was interesting um to to see that uh our investment as a city um could be strengthened.

So I'll just leave that note there.

Um we all know that housing is uh critical and uh every dollar as we can see makes a huge impact.

So with that I will motion to uh accept this item.

Thanks, council member.

I don't see any other hands.

Tony, let's vote motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

All right, we're on to item 8.3.

This is the second substantial amendment to the FY 2526 annual action plan.

There's no staff presentation.

Tony, do we have public comment on item 8.3?

I have no cards for this item.

All right, coming back to the council.

We'll vote.

All right, I don't see any other hands.

Tony, let's vote.

All right.

Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

We're on to item 8.4.

This is the lower income voucher and equity program amendment.

There's no staff presentation.

Tony, do we have public comment?

I have no cards for wait.

Um, yes.

Sean?

Is that on item 8.4?

Yes.

Okay.

I think it would be.

I think this would be something to oppose because they have jobs and they have incomes.

And the people who don't have incomes are unhoused people.

SJPD has a definite high amount of pay.

They are paid plenty.

They are paid plenty to shoot people like me and arrest people like me.

When you don't like what I say, I get arrested.

When you don't like what I say, you shut off my mic.

But what's happening right now is that people who are unhoused, who do not have enough money, they are placed in places like Mayhem Land where they don't even have bus passes, where they're not allowed to bring lithium batteries that are the things that are on their scooters that are on their e-bikes.

How are they supposed to get around?

They are in a community that they don't even know that is not supportive of bilingual and monolingual people.

Sean, you're getting off topic.

No, I'm still talking about the low-income voucher for San Jose PD.

And people have a right to be fearful of the police and fearful that they're gonna be picked up by ice, and they're safer in a community that they're in right now that they know than move to an area that is basically in Mopedis.

And we have reached out to your office to talk about it, but I guess you're too busy campaigning to even respond.

You want me to keep going?

I'm still on topic.

I still oppose this voucher.

I still think the people who make over 100,000 do not need a voucher for their housing.

See, I went back to the topic.

But these people who are being placed in Cerone with project managers who don't pick them up or leave them at hotels and don't pick provide food for four days.

I think this is not a system that is working right now.

People, a hundred and nine people don't even know if they're actually on the list.

They have to keep asking.

Am I on the list?

Am I on the list?

Am I on the list?

This is not how you treat people.

You need to do better.

You need to answer.

Thank you.

Back to council.

All right, coming back to the council.

We'll go first to council DeWan.

Thank you, Mayor.

The recommendation in my memo is about simple but urgent reality for people.

We rely on keeping San Jose safe.

When our workforce is price out, our services become strained, and our community feel the impact.

We all know that San Jose remained one of the most expensive housing market in the country.

We are asking our essential worker, police officer, firefighters, and teachers to serve this city while having to live far outside it.

That disconnect has real consequences in longer response time, staffing shortage, burnout, and instability in our schools.

Rely on heavily on overtime just to meet the basic needs.

Teachers are increasingly unable to live in a community they serve, leading to higher turnover, larger class size, and less continuity for student.

And our firefighters are living farther and farther away.

When there's a call back, it'd be difficult to get the large amount of firefighters that we need in major disaster in our city.

This recommendation maintained the program broader equity goal while aligning our housing strategy with workforce need for our public serving professional.

This recommendation target the sector where shortages have the most immediate impact on safety and stability.

If we want a city that works, we need a workforce that can live here.

And this program still allows first come, first serve for a public employee.

With that, I move my memo and I asked that our colleagues supported.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

I want to thank my colleagues, Councilmembers Cohen, Ortiz, and Candelas for their partnership on this item.

The LIV program is a novel approach for our city, and I'm mindful that as a public investment, its success depends on the project reaching stabilization quickly.

At the same time, public safety remains arguably our city's top priority.

With 11 vacant police officer positions, recruitment and retention is of paramount importance.

And we know that the cost of housing is probably one of the largest, if not the largest barriers we face.

That's the impetus guiding our memo, which takes a careful path.

While a rigid set aside may be legally tenable, we chose preference and recognition of the potential challenges that a set aside could create.

This allows us to support San Jose PD officers while preserving the flexibility we need to fill the units efficiently and keep the program on track.

In doing so, we strike the right balance, supporting public safety, protecting the integrity of the program, and delivering on our housing goals.

And with that, I'd like to move staff's recommendation along with uh my colleague, Councilmember Ortiz's memo.

Second.

All right, thank you.

There's a motion on the floor.

We'll go to Councilmember Ortiz next.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, first I just want to thank Councilmember Casey for his leadership on the memo, as well as uh our colleagues, Councilmember Cohen and Condelis for working alongside the Brown Act to bring this forward.

Um, and for continuing to push creative solutions to our housing and workforce challenges.

If we've been engaging our community on the budget, the number one concern I continue to hear from my residents in District 5 is public safety.

And the reality that we simply do not have enough officers patrolling our streets.

We all know that compared to other major cities, our police department remains relatively small.

And if we're serious about recruitment and retention, we need to think creatively about how we attract and keep officers in San Jose.

We also know that having officers who live in the communities they serve builds stronger relationships, deeper trust, and a better understanding of the neighborhoods they are sworn to protect.

By creating a preference for SJPD personnel within the LIVE program, we're creating an opportunity to support recruitment and retention while fostering stronger community relations by making it easier for officers to live locally.

At the same time, we're doing it in a way that maintains flexibility.

It's an additional preference, not a set aside, as Councilmember Casey had mentioned.

So we can still serve a broader range of working families and of course our essential public employees.

And to briefly touch on my memo, uh, I just want to thank uh Eric Sullivan and his team for their support and creativity in helping us bring forward this recommendation.

We need to think beyond a single pilot and take a broader look at what our workforce needs to live in the communities they actually serve.

When they could afford to call San Jose home, they're more connected, more invested, and better able to show up for our residents.

Too many of our city employees across departments are being priced out.

Enforced into long commutes, and in a year, we're we're facing a budget shortfall.

We need to look at tools for retention beyond salary.

Workforce housing is one of those tools.

And so by being conscious of the income levels and where our workforce currently lives, we're setting ourselves up to build a more intentional data-driven retention strategy strategy.

Um thank you so much, and I look forward to the vote.

Thank you, Councilmember.

We'll go to Vice Mayor Foley.

Boy, at the risk of being at the at odds on this particular issue, I'm just going to have to in order to be consistent.

The reason I found that compelling and that that was important is because we needed to provide housing for people who are working in this building who can live at the FAA and then walk to work.

However, I have some serious concerns about the proposal as it relates to equity, fairness, and potential housing discrimination.

The City of San Jose has thousands of employees.

As the city manager likes to say, we're an A-Z city airport to zoo.

Our employees range many diff range many different fields and occupations.

They're analysts, executive assistants, recreation leaders, park rangers, zookeepers, veterinarians, inj engineers, and of course, police officers and firefighters.

In addition to out countless other employee classifications, all of these employees are essential to the operation of our organization and the delivery of essential services to our residents.

All of these employees deserve a fair and equitable chance to take advantage of the lower income voucher equity program.

To take a specific classification or department and prioritize those employees for a limited special housing benefit, just doesn't feel right to me.

And it isn't fair to our employees.

I also have concerns about the proposal proposed form of a fair housing from a fair housing perspective.

I appreciate the memo from the city attorney and respect her and their professional judgment that this is this proposal is legally defensible.

However, as I've stated before, and many of you know this, I've been in the real estate business for almost 40 years now, and I take uh oath every year to uphold fair housing laws.

I'm intimately familiar with and understand the importance of fair housing laws.

In my heart of hearts, I believe that this proposal, if it doesn't violate the letter of any fair housing laws, it violates the spirit of fair housing.

While I appreciate the attention behind this proposal and the authors of the memorandum, I just cannot in good conscience support it.

I support the need for housing for our employees.

I just don't support the preferential treatment for one set of employees over another.

Thanks.

Thanks, Vice Mayor.

We'll go to Councilmember Tordillos.

Thank you, uh Mayor, and thank you to my colleagues for bringing forward this memo.

I continue to be very excited about the LIVE program.

I think it's a novel use of financing to support uh workforce housing in our city and a good opportunity to support our public workers.

Uh and after the original version of the LIVE program was passed by this council, we actually had outreach from our office from faculty members at San Jose State, from different city departments, from some public school teachers who were excited about the potential here and eager to learn more about how they could apply for a unit in this building.

Uh but I have concerns about the amendment that was presented, and I don't believe that I'll be able to support it.

Uh, while I appreciate the need to focus on recruitment and retention for SJPD, I have real questions about how this memo as currently designed would really advance those goals.

Uh, and do have concerns about you know fairness to other public workers and potential unintended consequences.

Uh, like the vice mayor, you know, from a fairness angle, I wonder what message this sends to other public employees if we are driving creating this hierarchy.

And I think it sends, you know, a message that we value our police force more than we value other potential public employees that might take spots in this building.

And I also think it's just important to remember that this program was never designed as a police retention or recruitment tool.

Uh it was not tailor-made for SJPD.

If you look at the income bans uh with the 80 to 110% AMI, you know, a very small percentage of our sworn officers would actually be eligible for this program at all.

Uh basically just people coming out of the academy and some uh step one officers who don't happen to take any overtime, but outside of that, it's a very small pool of eligible uh members of the force who would even be eligible for a unit in this building.

Uh so I struggle to see how we would fill 50 units uh just with members of SJPD.

Uh and more importantly, I think that if we're serious about improving uh retention rates and focusing on recruitment, I think we need a more holistic policy that is really tailor-made to the needs of our police force and thinks about how we can support them both coming out of the academy but also in terms of their longer-term housing goals.

You know, again, these units are going to be available in one big block in a couple months once uh you know we move through today, and Eric gets uh the chance to actually design the program and do the outreach.

It's going to be a big block of units.

It's not going to be tied to any specific academy graduation, uh, so it's not clear to me how it can really be used from a recruitment angle, you know, proactively.

Uh and then once people are in these units, they'll get their uh, you know, small subsidies towards rent, uh, given their higher starting incomes as the units uh step up towards market rate.

It's not clear to me in the longer term how it even encourages retention.

I think if we want to look at something that is really focused on recruitment recruitment and retention, I'd be more interested in something like a down payment assistance program, where we could say, hey, as you accumulate years on the force coming out of the academy, maybe you also accumulate some downpayment assistance benefit that actually gives someone incentive both to stick with SJPD coming out of the academy and something longer term to get them invested in staying in San Jose over the longer term.

Uh but I think that that requires that we really take a broader look at the needs of the department, how we can match those to opportunities to support with affordable housing uh in a more intentional way, rather than taking a program that was never designed for these purposes and then carving out a specific number of units that we're going to say we're going to prioritize for SJPD.

So that would be my approach here.

I agree a hundred percent with everything that my colleagues here have said about the need to focus on recruitment and rec recruitment and retention.

Uh, this is just not how I would go about it, especially in light of the fairness concerns that have been raised to other city employees.

Thanks, Councilmember.

I'm gonna go to Councilmember Kamei because we haven't heard from her yet, and then we'll come back to Councilmember DeWan.

Councilmember Kamehameha, thank you so much.

Um I want to thank all of my colleagues for their uh thoughtful suggestions on how we could move this forward.

Uh, you know, I think this is a a great opportunity.

Um I think that um uh always having uh an extra tool for recruitment is is uh is a great idea.

However, I think that I do feel uh very much like uh Vice Mayor Foley, where you know uh there's so many uh in just within our own uh system here within the city, all of the employees that are so deserving as well.

Um that I think that these opportunities don't come up very often, and I think that we should make it open to as many as possible.

And here we have the opportunity to do that.

So I think that um I like the idea that Councilmember Tordillos just uh mentioned in terms of hey, is there a way to uh uh provide some kind of way of of um uh having them build equity in in some other way to be able to stay here?

Because uh at the end of the day, it would really be great if we found a way for people to stay in San Jose.

And we know the affordability of San Jose is just not there for so many.

Um I would I would um not support the motion on the floor at this time.

Uh I think it's uh it's a great gesture.

I think it's a wonderful idea, but I I I don't think that at this point in time it's something that I could support.

Thanks, Councilmember.

We'll go to I want to make sure we hear from everyone.

Okay, I think we've heard from all of these folks, so we'll start with Councilmember DeWan.

Thank you, Mayor.

I I appreciate Councilmember Casey, Candales, Cohen, and Ortiz Memorandum focusing on supporting our police officers.

We all recognize the staffing challenges there, but I have concern about moving forward with the preference that it limited to a single group.

We are going to create a preference within a limited program, it should be grounded in consistent principle.

Police, fire, and teacher all face the same fundamental barrier that cannot afford to live in the community they serve.

Firefighters and teachers directly impact public safety and communities' well-being.

So I just want to be clear that if we are going to implement a preference, it should include police, fire, and teachers.

If we cannot reach an agreement that broader approach, then I believe the better path is to maintain an open program with no preference at all.

For that reason, I cannot support the motion on the floor.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just want to start out by saying I appreciate my colleagues' interest in advocating for our frontline staff, especially our IFPTE and MEF bargaining units.

And I hope that this advocacy continues, not just on this item today, but in the decisions we make moving forward on this dais.

To be honest, many times when these bargaining units come forward, uh, I feel like their voices fall on deaf's ears on this council.

But I'm glad that we have council members talking about this today.

Because if we're serious about making sure our workforce can live in the city in which they serve, that also means continuing to advocate for livable wages and the protections against contracting out of their jobs.

Because when a policy was going through the state legislature that would have prevented uh the contracting out of these jobs, the council majority here voted to oppose that policy.

So I just want to make sure that we're not picking and choosing when we choose to advocate for our frontline workforce.

Respectfully, I don't see this as being against other city employees at all.

Every public employee remains eligible.

This simply recognizes a specific department where this program could be especially impactful in addressing a widely recognized recruitment challenge.

There's a reason this council has consistently worked to preserve our police budget as much as possible.

It's because we know public safety remains one of the top concerns across our city.

And yes, it's true.

We have been recognized as one of the safest, largest cities in the United States.

But that's not the reality that the residents of my district experience every day, or the small business owners in my uh uh uh city council district experience every day.

This is about being responsive to the clear need while continuing to find a creative way to support our workforce as a whole.

You know, I know that my views my time on this council to champion the interests of IFPTE and MEF, and I can see that because they know any time an issue comes before this council and they need help, they reach out to me.

All right, and I I don't I don't uh simply just choose when I choose to stand up for our frontline staff.

Thank you so much.

All right, let me go, thank you, Councilman.

We'll go to council member Cohn.

Yeah, thank you.

Just just briefly, I I wanna I know there's I I heard some questions about why I signed on to this memo, so I'm just gonna say why I signed on to this memo.

First, I'll just say I don't think this particular recommendation will do all that much to help our police department as much as those of us who signed on would hope it does.

I also don't think it will do much at the detriment of our other employees as much as some of the folks who are speaking against it believe.

Um and I guess I can ask Eric, you can nod rather than walk down if my answer just requires a yes or no.

Um but but the as you interpret what this memo says is that when the units open, if the applicants have some police officers in the list of applicants, they would be sh be guaranteed a placement, but that the rest of the units would not be held, they would still be filled by everybody else who applies at that moment.

Is that correct?

I wish it was just an easy yes or no.

So I just wanted to explain a bit.

There's no guarantee, so just want to be careful of the thing.

I guess I should say.

As long as they qualify.

They go through the process, they will be given the according preference.

Right.

So so if there's a few who if if a certain hundred units open up for availability, and four or five people happen to be ready from the police department at that moment, and they qualify, they would get spaces.

But the number 50 in the memo strikes me as an arbitrary number that's meaningless because the rest of the units would be filled by all the other eligible public sector employees who apply as well at that point in time, correct?

All the preferences as directed by council will get executed on so we can fill, and based on the interest we've received from the various public entities as well as just within the city, as well as just within the housing department.

Uh we're very confident we'll fill all 200 spaces.

Right.

So my thing my belief is that there's a need potentially for some help for some police officers and some potential help in our recruiting, but it may my I do not believe that the that there will be 50 units set aside or held or reserved in any way, that this is an attempt to say, hey, if at the moment of the time that applications open up, a police officer applies and they qualify, they receive a space.

And that to me seemed like a reasonable approach to try to address an issue that we've been hearing about.

But the vast majority of the units, almost my suspicion is almost all will end up going to all the other public sector employees that we intended this program to be applied to when we first approved it when we previously heard the item.

So that's why I support the memo and I and I'll vote in favor of the um the motion on the floor.

All right, thanks, Councilmember.

I don't see the other hands.

Tony, let's vote.

Motion passes six to five with Kamei Duan Foley, Tordillos, and Campos voting against Okay.

That narrowly passes.

Thank you all.

We're on the open forum.

This is an opportunity for members of the public to speak on city business that was not on today's agenda.

Okay.

Tony, who do we have?

I have several names.

I'm gonna call three or four to start.

Brian Darby, Juan, Edith, and Emma come on down, and then I'll add names as you speak.

Did they come?

Okay, wait, hold on.

So those people didn't come down.

I'm gonna go with Jason and Sean as well.

Go ahead.

So if I've called your name, please line up.

Go ahead, Brian.

Thank you.

How are you all doing today?

Um just reading online.

There is a good possibility that there's gonna be a ceasefire in the Middle East.

Hopefully I'm right about that.

I want to give um, did you guys see the Automas to?

I think I'm saying the name right.

Go around the moon.

Do you remember 68?

I don't know if some of you may I was a little kid in front of a little tiny black and white TV.

We landed on the moon as a species and as Americans.

We landed on the moon.

That same year there was a ravage of war in Vietnam, and two great Americans were assassinated.

Bobby and uh Martin Luther King Jr., Bobby Kennedy.

Um species has come up with what I consider two ways to save our entire species.

We can possibly deflect asteroids and vaccines.

Those are two prominent ways that we've saved, could save potentially with comets and asteroids and with um vaccines.

We have saved billions of people.

Um I remember young people in my school having polio.

And you don't want that coming back.

It is, and it will, because that's what viruses are chemical processes that take advantage of weaknesses.

And we have shown that.

As a body of people, I would plead with you, please advocate before our leaders that wiping out an entire civilization or swearing at people on Easter or any holy day and mocking people's religion is really not a good way to do that.

Thank you.

Thank you, next speaker.

Dave.

Um behalf of the myself uh the jungle residents as uh it's listed here.

Um there's a couple a few concerns that we were we collectively were concerned about regarding the upcoming sweep um next week of um of the jungle.

Um and I know there's a lot of individuals, organizations that are working with the city to help us all and making sure that it's done in the most dignified and respectful manner so that everybody out there that is unhoused can you know have a place to sleep at night.

Um as of right now, most of those people that are left that have not been placed are still wondering whether or not they're going to be um uh placed at all.

I know there was a little bit of information that was or misinformation regarding numbers and the total um population that's out there.

So if we can get um as soon as possible, um a clear um definite, you know, um I guess date or um yes or no as to who's going to be who is gonna be placed and who isn't because as far as I know next week um some demolitions will start and not everybody really is um have you know one 100% confident that they are going to have somewhere to go, you know, by the by the beginning of this this next big you know uh movement in the homeless community in San Jose.

Thank you.

Thank you, next speaker.

I'm just lost on the logic of placing people at a VTA site and not supplying them bus passes.

I mean, it's just sort of ridiculous.

It's like the most basic thing in the world.

Um I don't understand.

And you got somebody running for governor, like they are like the solution for all homeless things, and they can't even figure out how to provide bus passes.

Yeah, vote for me, four percent.

I can't provide bus passes.

Um the sweep starts.

Come on, it was funny.

The sweep starts on the 15th, and they're taking down the bridge on Monday.

And they're also denying those of us who are watching the sweep the opportunity to observe it.

We need to have an access point to observe the sweep.

Um, that's what we do.

We make sure people are safe, we make sure they're treated with respect.

We need to have that access.

Um, but the people are being placed in an area where there's no local stores, no local opportunity to make any money.

But the people are being placed in an area where there's no local stores, no local opportunity to make any money.

They are you losing all their income.

People are these are mostly bilingual and monolingual people.

So if you could like take your finger off the trigger and go, hey, let's give them bus passes, then it would look a lot better.

And then you're taking bilingual, monolingual people and putting them in a community that is not.

So if you could figure out how to fix this problem, it would be great.

And Councilmember Duan, if you could answer your phone and respond to these people, your emails, that would be awesome, because they're your constituents.

Next speaker.

Okay.

Um a star designs.

Um desires uh well jungle.

Um presentarles la petition que ya les present to Jason, que viene de parte depuis quaranta firmas de hoy, pero I much can be most um communication.

Okay.

Especially losketemos mascotas.

Umejos, sino those tenemos bases de boss ni como llegar.

Um and I just wanted to add that um the so I'll also email each of the council members the petition that Jason read, um, along with the signatures.

And we would really hope um we have three residents here who came representing a much larger group, and we would really hope to speak with any council members who would like to learn more and learn how to support residents because there's a week left, and many many of them still do not know where they're going, and that's not acceptable.

Um gracias.

Thank you.

Gracias.

Next speaker.

Are you are you coming to speak?

Hello.

Uh just wanted to mention since uh, you know, earlier you you were voting on uh you know housing for police officers.

Um the officers who are put out, such as uh Captain Donahue, uh are making over half a million dollars, and their job is to go and oversee the destruction of poor people's tents uh and poor people's RVs uh and poor people's you know little shelters that they're able to build themselves for themselves with their tarps.

Uh and this is a grave injustice that is uh that is very much uh your concerns.

Um you know it is it is just unbelievable the amount of money that is able to be paid uh in order to like contracts to companies such as Tucker and they they make millions every year from the city to destroy poor people's shelters, and they're constantly told you can't be here, you can't be there, you can't be here, there is hardly ever you can be here.

And and you know, this is uh a grave injustice.

And there are like people who are from the unhoused community who are coming to you, who are trying to reach out, who are trying to talk to you, who are telling you give us a few weeks and come meet with us.

And they're they're not even being met by a single council member to come and talk to them.

There are there are a couple who have uh spoken to them.

Um but but you know there's an absolute need to actually you cannot be throwing away hundreds of dollars worth of things or thousands of dollars worth of things or a multi-thousand dollar RV of somebody who is who is uh who is struggling in this economy, right?

Which is uh your responsibility and and frankly your fault.

Um not being not given an alternative, and this is entirely your responsibility.

Um Thank you, that's your time.

We appreciate the feedback, and with that, we are adjourned.