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Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Rogers.

Councilmember McDonald, Councilmember Fleming.

Councilmember Ben Wellows.

Mayor Stapp.com.

The time is two o'clock, and we'll reconvene an open session.

Madam City Clerk, whenever you're ready, would you please call the roll?

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Rogers.

Councilmember McDonald?

Here.

Council Member Fleming.

Here, Councilmember Ben Willows here.

Councilmember Alvarez.

Or Vice Mayor O'Krepki.

Here.

Let the record show that all council members are present.

Thank you very much.

And Madam City Attorney, do we need to uh have any kind of disclosure regarding um Miss Rogers' remote participation?

Uh yes, that's correct.

I will hand it over to uh the clerk and council member Rogers.

As Council Member Rogers is participating under the just cause provisions of uh the Brown Act, she does need to make a statement regarding that participation.

Three applying the Jeff Cause provision due to a contagious illness, and we'll participate with both audio and video turned on throughout the meeting in this room.

Um I am accompanied by my husband Andre Rogers in the location for which I am participating.

Thank you, Councilmember Rogers.

Wonderful.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Rogers, for being here, in spite of how you're feeling.

Uh, we're glad that we're glad to have a full council session today.

Uh, and not surprised to see so many of our community members out to to speak on this topic.

Uh today, Santa Rosa joins uh so many cities across the United States to uh talk about what's going on at the federal level regarding immigration enforcement, what's happened in other cities.

So we're glad to see so many of you make the time to come out this afternoon.

Uh with that, we'll go on to uh item 4.1, which is the item that most people in here have been waiting for.

This is our study session regarding federal immigration enforcement practices and potential local public safety impacts.

Uh, and I believe we have Chief Cregan and Assistant City Manager Nutt to lead our conversation or to kick off our conversation.

Welcome to you both.

Thank you very much, Mayor and Council members.

Uh happy to be here today talking about this important issue.

Um, I want to start by just reading a quick preamble from the staff report that I thought was poignant that describes exactly why we're here.

Uh, recent national events have underscored public concern about immigration enforcement activities conducted by federal immigration enforcement agents, resulting in increasing public debate and protests that have led to the nat to the tragic deaths of two individuals in Minneapolis due to the excessive use of forced tactics.

This has resulted in broad national attention, prompting local governments to evaluate the scope of local authority, public safety considerations, and community expectations relative to federal immigration enforcement actions.

I just think that uh particular statement that was prepared by the team really um establishes the reason why we're here today.

Uh, and our goal from staff perspective is to uh have this study session to hear feedback from the community and the council uh associated with how we may want to respond, react, or position ourselves uh internally to provide the best public safety and support for our community uh moving forward.

So I will be taking a little bit of time to go through a little bit of background, and that's really the focus of my conversation with you is to provide that background to uh you and the public, um, describing what actions we've done to date.

City clerk, are we having uh it's not do I need to do that?

There we go.

Sorry for the disruption.

Um, but I'm gonna spend a little bit of time just kind of walking through activities and actions that the city council has taken over the last several years to try to position ourselves in a way that respects our community uh and sets precedent on how our team and community function in uh a respectful way.

Um, that'll include conversation about the indivisible city uh resolution, um, a resolution that we put forward relating to family separate separations and safeguards.

Uh, there'll be a quick dialogue about SB 54 and what that means to our community and to the team that's out doing our local community oriented enforcement.

Um, and then the challenges that we've had most recently relating to uh the President Trump's executive order 14159, uh, and then some ongoing litigation that we're involved in.

Uh ultimately what we'll end up doing is at the end, we'll be providing that opportunity to hear the feedback that may uh roll into some directives by council.

Uh, and I'll be pro I'll give you a little information of what kind of inform uh feedback staff will need in order to move to that next step.

So back in 2017, the City Council adopted resolution 2017-17, Indivisible City resolution.

Um, that resolution was really to uh in response to federal immigration policies that were occurring under the first Trump administration.

Uh and it was aimed at trying to protect civil rights of immigrant community within our population, um, but not just the immigrant community, it's the entire community here.

It was trying to create that safe space by explaining that we are all part of one unified community.

It was really focused on trying to reduce acts of bullying and violence and discrimination.

And the hope was that we would be able to express that unity and keep some of these instances from occurring in our in our area.

It also identified that Santa Rosa Police is going to conform with SB 54, and they're not going to work with federal civil uh federal immigration on any of their activities coming into our community.

As a partner about a year later, there was information coming forward about challenges we were seeing with families attempting to cross the border and seeing families separated at that border, and camps that were being formed, particularly with minors.

And council took a fairly strong position as in a resolution explaining that we requested the federal government ensure that families remain as families and they are not separated, segregated for the benefit of the children, and that was met with a lot of positive feedback from the community here in Santa Rosa.

A little bit of detail on Senate Bill 54.

This can Chief Cregan can provide better answers along the way if you have additional questions on this.

This does promote local community safety and ensuring that the immigrant community members are available or can approach city staff, city policing without fear or concern about their immigration status.

It does create a place where local law enforcement does not have to uh does not uh collaborate uh or cooperate with federal immigration.

What it does say is we don't get in the way.

We allow them to do their job, but we don't we're not required to participate.

It also establishes some additional language relating to the detaining of individuals and the fact that local law enforcement would not under the pre under the premise of um immigration would detain an individual based on their current status, and this has been upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Executive Order 14159 was intended by President Trump to establish to reestablish his immigration policy from uh his first administration, and he added to it.

Uh the attempt for this particular executive order was to create uh a significant immigration approach that limits uh individuals from entering, but also works to significantly move individuals out of the country and back to country of origin.

Um, and it has a number of implications that have uh that have been areas that your team at the city has been working to address over the course of time.

And some of those are listed up here on the policy impacts.

Uh, in particular, one of the key pieces is the activities that are adjusted that are associated with this executive order have begun to erode some of that public trust between the local government and our constituency that we've worked so hard over the last decade to gain.

And we had been making great strides, and I actually give uh Chief Cregan and his predecessors a lot of credit.

They've worked really hard and actually seen significant success in creating public trust around our policing uh our police force.

And this particular executive order puts us in a position, and we'll talk more about some of the other activities that our federal enforcement agents are using that have started to chip away at all of the work that we've done.

We have uh tried our best to take a stand against certain activities that are being brought forward by the federal government, and in that regard, we've joined three um federal litigation uh act actions the county of Santa Clara versus Christine Gnome, the city and county of San Francisco versus Donald Trump, and Martin Luther King Jr.

County versus Scott Turner.

These are all various matters that are specifically associated with uh either language that the federal administration is trying to incorporate that force local agencies uh to comply with certain activities on the premise of receiving funds, or uh it's in an attempt to try to coerce the city into accomplishing certain tax uh tactics and partnerships uh with the federal government, and they're establishing language in there that is inconsistent with things that we believe from the City of Santa Rosa perspective, and therefore in each of these three cases, we've joined lawsuits uh that have attempted to reestablish a more consistent and uh more consistent relationship with the federal government as we've had in previous administrations.

Some of the recent events uh that have come forward is um the Trump's administration's push toward uh bringing forward the one big beautiful bill, which was enacted.

Uh, and what it does is it incorporates increased funding for uh immigration services, and that is intended to increase their uh staffing as well as actions to push forward those policies that they've incorporated both through the executive order and through other directives that the administration has uh put in place.

Some of the activities uh that you're starting to see are an increase in federal immigration enforcement officers, somewhere on the order of about 12,000 officers and agents are in the process of being hired or already been hired.

They're offering signing bonuses in an effort to expedite the bringing on of these individuals.

Uh, and as we'll discuss uh at a later point in time later this afternoon, uh part of that is uh an attempt to try to bring transfers and laterals over from other local or state enforcement agencies to try to make that quicker, but because they need so many individuals on such a short period of time, they are uh asking for or providing incentives in order to bring additional team members uh onto their uh into their ranks.

Um recently uh in the last several months, there's been a very strong push by the administration with ICE and uh community or the uh customs and border patrol to increase activities throughout the country, and their most recent operation is Operation Metro Surge, and that as you can see involves uh approximately 3,000 agents and officers working to uh carry out the directives of the Department of Homeland Security as directed by the federal government.

And this unfortunately resulted in the tragic tragic deaths of two individuals in Minnesota, um Renee Good and Alex Predi, who were demonstrating uh as part of frustration with the current uh immigration enforcement activities, uh and unfortunately lost their lives as part of their presence in those uh in those demonstrations, there's a lot of community interest and a lot of council interest to start to better understand the situations that are happening nationally and to be able to start to formulate what our local response is, could be, or how we want to uh respond to our public and our community.

And with that, there's opportunities that this council can take, which is the reason for this study session, some of which could be in the form of a resolution to Congress, and you will see that listed on the agenda for later this afternoon.

Um that intent is to urge Congress to make adjustments in their training and uh education and oversight of the federal immigration enforcement officers and uh once uh and our ability to work with our federal lobbyists to ensure that we're acting trying to improve the situation with oversight of those uh those teams.

Additionally, there's uh other opportunities similar to what the city of San Jose has done to establish an ordinance or resolution relating to uh how we work with or manage our interactions with uh federal enforcement teams.

Um, there are examples that exist out there.

Uh, we would like to better understand if this is a direction council would go.

Uh, what council specifically is interested in having these tools uh do create some uh challenges along the way, but some opportunities at the same time, and those will be part of our discussion.

Not only as you're giving us advice or direction right now, but if asked to return with a product, uh there'll be additional conversation along the way as we work with you to ensure that the product conforms with federal law, while at the same time establishing the communication that we want to make to the federal government, our partners, and our community members.

And with that, um I'm looking forward to understanding and hearing uh your thoughts, the community's thoughts, and how you'd like to see staff proceed uh moving forward.

Thank you, Assistant Manager Knott, uh, for highlighting all the ways that the city has already responded over the past eight years because this has been a long-term conversation, uh, with at the city of Santa Rosa and in other cities in our county and across the country.

Uh thank you for highlighting that as well as some of the uh some of the things that we might consider going forward.

With that, I'm gonna bring it to council for uh for questions.

Miss Fleming, why don't you meet us off?

Yeah, I'm gonna just go ahead and read my statement from the get here, which is um I want to acknowledge the work that staff has put into this and um thank so many residents who've shown up, written in, spoken out.

The response reflects a community that understands what is at stake and is asking us to lead.

It's a clear statement that the residents of the city of Santa Rosa will stand on the right side of history.

Folks are here because across the country, we are seeing federal immigration enforcement take on an increasingly aggressive and militarized posture.

Communities are afraid, families are anxious, and trust in public institutions is being strained.

The question before us is simple will our city be complicit or will we draw clear lawful boundaries about how our resources are used?

This is not an abstract policy question, it's about whether Santa Rosa will exercise leadership at a precarious moment in our national history, a moment where silence is consent.

Cities have both the right and the responsibility to decide how their property personnel and communications are used.

And as leaders, we have responsibility to do everything in our power to protect civil rights, preserve public trust, and ensure that the people of the city of Santa Rosa feel safe here at home.

Santa Rosa has always been strongest when we truth courage over caution and community over fear.

To that end, I believe the council should without delay give direction to staff to develop an ordinance that keeps ice off of city-owned property, restricts access to city resources without a judicial warrant, and ensure Santa Rosa will not be complicit in the sort of horrifying federal action we've seen in Minneapolis.

Alright, all right.

Hold hold on, everyone.

Hold on.

I know that the motions are running high, but we want to we want to keep this meeting orderly and moving along.

So if you can hold your applause, you can do the jazz fingers.

Um let's let's keep the applause to a minimum, though.

Thank you very much.

We appreciate the passion.

Miss Fleming, had you concluded?

Yeah, I'm not done.

Thank you, Mayor.

There has to be there has to be a line that our city will not cross.

The Trump administration has crossed that line in Minneapolis, and it's on us to say clearly today that we will do everything in our power to ensure that it does not happen here in Santa Rosa.

Now I'm done.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Oh, there we go.

Good work, everyone.

Good work.

Uh let's go over to Miss Van Wellos next, if you're ready.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I don't have a prepared statement today.

I had one two weeks ago.

Um, I just want to say that uh I want to first of all I want to thank staff, um uh the chief, and uh you know uh the assistant mayor and our our city um excuse me, the assistant manager, city manager and and our um our interim city manager as well for and our uh city attorney, everyone, for for listening to us, um, because we've been taught I've been talking about this for a while actually since the Trump administration started last year, um, because we saw what direction this was going in, and I've been asking for something, and everyone was like, Well, now we're finally stepping up because uh as council member Fleming stated, they've crossed the line.

But you know, many people have been killed, and I think you all know this, not just the two that were killed uh in Minnesota.

There have been many people who have been, yes, in detainment and in their process of picking people up, especially in in Southern California.

So a lot of this has been happening in Southern California, and for what my um hope was that we need to be prepared in case it slips up here.

Um, that we want to be prepared, that we want to make sure that our community is safe, and that is everyone, and that is my position, and and I'm I too would like to see us put together an ordinance that's about the city of Santa Rosa.

What you're gonna hear later if you stay or if you tune in later is about the federal government.

And yes, we're gonna uh ask them to do a lot of things, and they've things that they're already talking about, and we want to reinforce that, but we also want to see what we can do to protect our community here, and for me that's what it's all about.

And I just want to thank you all for coming today.

It really means a lot.

I've seen many of you at the rallies and the no kings and all of that, so you all look familiar, and I just want to thank you for what you're doing, because that is how we're gonna take our country back.

So thank you.

Thank thank you, Miss Ben Wellos, and and thank you again for your cooperation.

Uh Mr.

Alvarez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, so the city manager, there was a conversation that we had with you in regards to a meeting that was going to be held with our Congressman Mike Thompson.

Uh there was some asks that that we formulated.

Would you happen to have that list of asks that we I thank you, Councilmember Alvarez.

Uh, I will defer to uh interim city manager Farrell or Chief Cregan, I believe they were involved in in that meeting.

I can speak to it if you'd like.

Yes, we did have a round table with Congressman Mike Thompson.

He's one been such an ally for our community here and certainly reaches out to our public safety officials.

It's many of the things that we're gonna discuss on the resolution this afternoon.

We talked about having uh a universal or national standard for body cams with our body cams like I'm wearing here today, and all of our local officers have here for not identifying with the word police.

It's frustrating us so many times when federal homeland security agents are wearing blue jeans and these uh raid vests as they call them that say police and they're misidentified as local police officers.

We talked about standards and training, we talked about face masks uh with it.

We talked about notice to our community uh if and to certainly law enforcement and even the city if they come in, those were some of the things.

It was a collaborative effort from our chiefs across the county of Sonoma, our city managers as well, who were there.

So it was a very robust discussion, and we're continuing that just on the C week.

Week and we had a another legislative summit with uh our Senator Mike McGuire, Assembly member Chris Rogers and Mayor Staff on Saturday, which we had close to a hundred community members, and some of the same same issues came up with that discussion.

Thank you, sir.

In regards to the question, and Mr.

Alvarez, if you'd like that complete list, I can give that to you.

I happen to have that in front of me.

Please do.

Please do.

All right.

So the the list that we presented as a city to the two uh Congressman Thompson included uh independent investigation for in-custody deaths.

No police um designation on uniforms.

There's no confusion between uh ICE ICE enforcement agents or between ICE and police.

Training and performance requirements equivalent to other law enforcement agencies, no masks, body cam requirements, equivalent legal standards uh used for accountability with the with ICE, um equivalent legal standard.

Sorry, I already said that equivalent legal standards.

Um reinforced focus on on uh targeted enforcement.

So as was dis as the uh Trump administration just discussed in the at the outset, a reinforced focus on going after um you know felony convictions, that kind of thing, as opposed to um uh the loss of focus on that in recent months.

Uh, due to five a duty to notify local law enforcement, including uh police departments and sheriff's offices, um, and then a uh a um prohibition on uh not allowing people to render aid to injured protesters.

That was the list that we presented presented to Congressman Thompson, and as Chief Kriegan mentioned, he had he had indicated that those were already under discussion at the federal level.

Thank you, Mayor.

And the reason I wanted to run through that list is for people to know that it's just not performative that we're actions that we're doing here today.

What I'm looking for is something that's gonna hold open court, whether it's policy change, whether it's amendments to the law.

What I do not want to see is that we put targets on those that truly have the fear of immigration.

It's none of us here on council, it's many of us who are allies to those undercoming undocumented, those that that are under underrepresented.

What I do not want to see is targets placed on those who could not defend themselves.

So I don't want anybody walking away thinking that we're just being performative.

Action must be done, laws must be changed.

I think it's it's happened throughout history that right isn't always legal, and legal isn't always right, but I want to thank each and every one of you for standing up for those that can't stand up for themselves.

My community thanks you, my parents thank you, my cousins thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Alvarez.

Uh, Miss McDonald.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for the presentation.

I'm very proud of our council to bring this issue forward um so quickly, and that that has been spearheaded by you, Councilmember Van Wellos, as well as the sentiments that Councilmember Fleming game a couple weeks ago.

My background has been in education, and in 2018, we saw the separation of families and children in the detention facilities that you mentioned, assistant uh city manager nut.

And so I did some research on this around Plier versus Doe in Texas, and in the 80s, they said that no school or public school entity would work with ICE or give information of any sort to ICE at that time, and that public education entities were protected, that they wouldn't be able to go onto public school grounds to do sweeps at that time.

And so, as council member Fleming said, to allow them to come on to public property to do sweeps, to set up their um tents to be able to um be on our properties.

I think we need to implement that as part of our ordinance that we will not allow that, such as we do not allow it into our school system because of the destructiveness that it causes for families and small children.

So, I have looked at that law a little bit, but I think what might be important is that any work that city attorney can look at in that specific law, because it was upheld by the US Supreme Court, that we can tie into our ordinance that gives us the teeth that we want to have in our ordinances to up be upheld in a court of law, as opposed to being performative, we want to say everything because we are all passionate about protecting those who do not have a voice yet.

So um I am uh absolutely appalled that a child could be held hostage to be able to get a parent to come out.

We are governed by the rule of law, and we should should enforce that.

SRPD is held to the highest of standards of how we treat our community members and how we work with our community members.

Any entity coming into our city should be held to those same standards.

So whatever we can put into the ordinance that requires that and to urge Congress to follow those same lines, I think is appropriate.

The additional ask that I would have on Congress, whether it's in this or the resolution, is the 75 billion dollars being set aside for ICE over the next four years.

We should be urging Congress to reappropriate that money for the programs that we know work for the community, head start programs, early childhood education, putting money into special education.

The return on those investments are proven for every dollar spent on a child, you get $17 in return.

So if we want to talk about the economy in Santa Rosa, we should be talking about it with Congress about where we should be investing our dollars, our tax dollars as Californians, since we are a donor state and very little comes back to us.

I can see at least two school districts that could use money for special education and for school funding right now for Title I.

So anything that we can do to support the community, in that vein, I would like to see entered into our ordinances and our policies as well.

It takes courage for immigrants to come here.

As a mother of three, I would have done anything to protect my children.

I would have done anything to make sure they had a better life.

There is no parent that wouldn't do that for their kids, as Eddie said.

It is our job to protect the people that have come here to make sure that they have a better life and a better standard of living, that their children have opportunities as we have all had.

Most of my work was not for my children or people who looked like me.

It is for people who don't.

That is our job as elected officials to protect those who don't have a voice yet.

I am so proud of all of us to bring this forward.

Not me, but to Council Member Fleming and Ben Wellos, because it could have gone off of our radar.

I appreciate everybody being here and to stand with us as we put this policy forward.

As Eddie said, I like to have policy put in place before we wave the flags and say, look at us, what we're doing.

But in this case, it takes steps to get that in place.

So I think that's about all I have for right now, but I appreciate the presentation.

I am very passionate about this.

If it had not been for a brave family, my daughter-in-law would not be married to my son, and I would not have the most perfect granddaughter in my life.

So I appreciate those immigrants who came here.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

McDonald.

Mr.

Kropke.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Um, a lot's already been said, and I agree with just about all of it.

Um for me, it's a very simple concept that uh public safety and civil rights are not competing values in our society, especially in our city, that uh we need to have fairness and accountability, and that no one is above the law and no one's beneath its protection.

Um that the law is something that we use as a shield for the most vulnerable, not as a weapon against them.

And so I agree with my colleagues up here that um uh, you know, the asks of Congress are absolutely necessary to protect our city and protect its residents.

Um, and so and I also agree with uh councilmember Alvarez.

I I I look in the mirror every morning.

I'm not the um the target of ICE.

I'm not the picture that ICE is uh going after, and it's not lost on me that I uh have a privilege in that.

And so I think it's incumbent on us that um that try to be allies to um do what we can to help those that uh have a hard time helping themselves.

Thank you.

Uh this is an interesting one for me.

I grew up about an hour outside of the Twin Cities, and most of my family lives in Minneapolis or St.

Paul, and my wife and I are back regularly.

We were back again this Christmas.

And the impact, we saw it, we saw it pretty directly, the impact on the Somali community in particular in in Minneapolis, St.

Paul, just how they were um they were not as visible.

Uh in fact speaking of growing up in the Midwest, it it occurs to me that my first internship, I was a I was a college student, and I had an internship with the uh the governor of Minnesota, the Republican governor of Minnesota, I should add, Arnie Carlson, who sent me a sleepy 21-year-old out early one morning with uh some two Department of Labor representatives to Wilmer, Minnesota, uh, to look at the large commercial agriculture operations there with the goal of um passing out pamphlets to the migrant laborers who are in the fields picking the I think it was green beans, it was lettuce, it was the classic midwestern row cops.

Uh it was eye-opening for me, even though I'd grown up in the Midwest.

Uh I grew up in a small dairy community and we didn't have a lot of like migrant labor, and to see that that kind of population, those people at that scale keep working in Minnesota fields, and to see the state investing resources to make sure that those individuals knew their rights and were being treated fairly by the employers, that was that that experience has always stayed with me.

So to be here at this dais now, years later, it's it's um an interesting sensation of of coming full circle to be dealing with related issues again from a very different context.

Um, but it's worth noting that the issues that have to some extent been the catalyst for our discussion today, the images that we saw on the screen back in Minnesota, back in Minneapolis, um, those effects have not stayed there.

Uh and one of the questions, I am coming to a question here, Chief Cregan, um, and perhaps also to Miss Ben Welos, who is the chair of our violence prevention partnership uh uh policy committee.

Um, it's true, is it not, that the impacts on public safety locally uh, or there have already been impacts on public safety locally as a result of the images that we've seen on our screen elsewhere in the country.

With uh and I'm thinking in particular of the um decrease in service calls, the decrease in or the the um issues that we're having with some of our our gang our our gang and violence prevention efforts.

Could one of you, and we'll start with you, Chief Cregan, could you say something about that?

Yeah, certainly, and uh for me I'm I'm entering uh approaching my 27th year in law enforcement.

So I've seen highs and lows in that 24 or 27 years, and one of the core responsibilities that I've learned, like the core basic responsibility of law enforcement is to protect the vulnerable members of our community from harm.

That's the basics when it comes down to.

And I tell that to young officers when they're doing the chiefs interview with me.

That's your core job.

Protect the vulnerable from harm.

If you focus on that, we'll be successful as a police agency, and we're seeing that right now, crazing causing divide in our local community that we don't see some of our most vulnerable members getting that protection, and it does pain me to see that people may fear co-calling local law enforcement with it.

And we're seeing, and this was a year that we saw 12 homicides occur in the city of Santa Rosa, though.

Four of those were victims of domestic violence, and I would reach out to my uh crime analyst team saying, so are we seeing like an increase in domestic violence as well?

And actually, the numbers were down uh with it too.

And one of my fears is that you have less victims who are calling the police department to report being a victim of domestic violence, report being a victim of sexual assault or whatever the crime may be occurring.

So that's something that certainly we're seeing in our community, and we want to work to be able to continue to build that trust in the community and make sure that we show the difference between our local law enforcement officers and our federal uh officers across the uh country uh with it, and that's something that we're really working to work with our community stakeholders in our community to make sure that uh our community understands the difference, and that we continue to have all of our community members feel safe, comfortable, and have the uh trust of the local law enforcement to call us for help.

Thank you for that.

Uh and Miss Ben Wellos or Miss Rogers, who also sits on the VPP.

Anything to add?

I understand there was a recent conversation with with it was pretty robust with a lot of the nonprofit partners from the community in addition to public safety.

Um that's right, thank you, Mayor.

Um, yeah, I'm I'm the new chair of the violence prevention uh program.

And uh what we kept hearing from uh different partners, the school district representatives, the um the violence prevention team itself, um, probation, different different uh areas uh uh and people that work in the community, is that they're seeing that folks are not coming forward, and that's how we're being.

I felt as I kept hearing this, that that's how we're being impacted.

Is if someone is not reporting something that is happening to them because they're afraid, and also it seems I think uh the assistant uh manager talked about um trust and the breaking of trust, so that people do not feel comfortable sometimes talking to school district representatives, which you know that's usually their safe place, but it's having a fear and a mistrust of everyone now.

Um I think um there were members of um probation that talked about having lunch at in Montgomery Village, and people were calling and saying that that ICE was at Montgomery Village, and probation said, Well, we were having lunch there, and and so it's this idea that anyone with a uniform is to be feared because it could be ice, because as uh as the chief mentioned earlier, that they're wearing the police label, and so it's very confusing for the public.

So it is impacting us already, even if we don't necessarily feel it personally.

I think members of our community families, parents, they're already feeling it, as well as people in law enforcement and public safety.

Thank you for that.

Uh, and I'm glad we spent a little bit of time on this because I think it's important for our community to realize that while we can spend a lot of time talking about talking at a uh at a federal level, because we all read the read headlines in the in the paper, it's important to think very clearly about what's happening here and the impacts here and what we can do with the levers that we have as a city.

So um we're gonna to some extent try to or we're gonna definitely keep trying to emphasize those as the conversation goes on.

And to that point, Chief Cregan, back to you.

You touched on this in your earlier remarks, but could could you clarify uh for council and for residents again some of the differences in terms of some of the current differences in terms of training, performance standards, and accountability between, for example, the Santa Rosa police and uh current immigration enforcement officers.

Absolutely, and that's been an important community conversation uh with it.

So for the Santa Rosa Police Department, our police officers go through first through the police officers standards and training posts as a statewide organization that is an oversight of law enforcement.

We go through a 21-week police academy.

The state mandate is a minimum of they do it by hours of 680 hours, which is the equivalent of 17 40-hour work weeks.

That's the state minimum.

Our local academy here adds four weeks of instruction uh with it, so we do 855 hours for 21 weeks.

That's what we do here locally.

Then once you graduate from the police academy, we do another additional 21 weeks here at the Santa Rosa Police Department of training uh with it too.

So you're getting 42 hours of training before your solo police officer out there in the community, and and you go through an evaluation process to make sure that you're safe and proficient before you're out there policing the streets of Santa Rosa.

I've never been a federal police officer and never gone through their uh programs with it, but by talking to federal supervisors and learning more on this, our federal special agents go through a 13-week uh police academy for 520 hours that they go through it, and that's a basic, like federal.

So you're gonna have a mix of FBI, ATF, DEA, uh Homeland Security, they're all going to the same basic law enforcement academy uh together to get the uh the concept.

Then the federal agent sends another uh eight weeks of a homeland security uh specific academy that they go through.

One important distinction, and this is where I think it's causing some of the concerns across our community, is those are special agents, so like an FBI special agent, a homeland security special agent.

What you're seeing most of the time on the out on the street enforcement are federal officers.

Those are different than a special agent.

The officers do have a lower level of training, and they have like the ERO on their back for uh enforcement removal operations with it.

You'll see that on like their gear, uh with it.

You see it on CNN and the news all the time like that.

The ERO officers are different than a special agent with it.

Special agents are tasked with transnational crime.

They're they've historically been more focused on human trafficking, things like that is what you see with it.

So that is a different level, and that's where you're seeing some of the community concerns right now, where retired police officers from across the country are getting hired with these hiring bonuses and getting brought in with it and are going through a different level of training and are doing more that street level enforcement.

So there's a unique difference, and uh some of the big community conversations and uh police chiefs across the state, we're part of the California Police Chiefs Association, are being allowed voice on what are some of the ways that we can see some of the conform to some of the standards that we have here in the state of California.

And the list just goes on and on with the transparency laws that we have in California with uh Senate Bill 1421 and AB 748, which are both releasing police reports and body worn camera for incidents with uh serious injury or certainly in custody deaths uh with a host of other things uh with it.

Senator Bill 16 expanded that even further for more transparency about police reports and data that's getting released publicly to our community uh with it.

We have Senate Bill II, which is the decertification.

There's nine different elements where you can decertify one anyone and officer who loses their ability to be a police officer uh in the state of California with it, a new assembly bill 627 that's the no masking, a police identification, uh, assembly bill 1506, which is the independent DOJ investigation.

If a police officer shoots an unarmed community member uh with it, these are all like, and we could go on and on and on for the list of those that we have in California law, but how do we get those to see some of the same representation at the federal level?

We're we really proudly set ourselves apart with an independent police auditor.

Here we have a Sonoma County employee involved critical incident protocol, meaning any in-custody death uh that occurs at an independent agency and does that investigation.

You're not seeing those parallels on the federal level.

So those are some of the key differences with it.

But in the ultimately, they're very different organizations with different missions, different trainings, and and certainly different personnel.

Thank you for that.

That was that was a lot of detail there.

Could you could you highlight again a point that was woven through what you just said, where it is police chiefs from really not just California, we're not but really from across the country.

We're talking about law enforcement generally, red state, blue state, underline how at a municipal level and from a municipal public safety level, this this has broad support.

It's not it's not uh a partisan issue.

That's true for the most part across our country, and so locally here.

I actually sit on the board of directors for the California Police Chiefs Association as something that we're having routine uh communication with and and have issued a letter to our community on the issues with it and are working with our state and even federal resources, but also a member of the international associations of chiefs of police.

So this is predominantly chiefs in the United States, but we have representations from across uh the globe uh with that and are having the conversation.

Uh IACP, the international association of chiefs of police, put out a call for uh President Trump and our federal uh elected to be able to come together to be able to address that.

Actually, just today they sent out an email to all the chiefs talking about that we're gonna do a round table of bringing together that we did get a response from the federal government on there about how we can work closely together.

So, chiefs certainly here in California, but across the country are really working of like how can we address some of these issues?

How can we rebuild the trust within our communities with it?

And how can we get some of these changes that we so proudly lead the nation here in California with some of our training, our ledge our transparency with our oversight?

How can we get some of these same uh legislative actions uh to be shown across with our federal partners?

Thank you very much.

Uh and my my final question, and this is gonna be a little a little tricky, both for uh you, Chief Cregan, and also you, city attorney.

Um, my hope is that you can touch on at a high level, because we're gonna address this again when we come to the resolution issue later this afternoon.

But could you talk at at um a fairly high level about some of the complexities about local jurisdictions and acting, whether it's resolutions, whether it's ordinances that constrain federal behavior, federal law enforcement behavior, um, some of the complexities around um jurisdiction, around enforcement.

Uh again, I suspect we're gonna get more into the weeds on this later this afternoon, but right now, as a context for this conversation, I think it's important for both council and residents to have uh some sense of the the nuances and and difficulties around um local jurisdictions pulling levers in this area, and I'll I'll defer to either one of you who I would like to begin.

I'll start off operationally and turn over to city attorney for more on the legal uh side of it.

Operationally, there are some strong concerns that we need to be able to address with this.

And my job as chief is to be able to hear the needs of our community, certainly from our elected officials and the city manager and find the path forward uh with it.

And that's what I'm working through as a chief.

I do want counsel to go in, though, very clear and eyes wide open on some of the concerns of our Santa Rosa police officers confronting armed federal agents with it over our local city ordinance.

And you saw it just this week, the Los Angeles chief uh police put out uh thing saying that uh the Los Angeles police officers will not go to reports of a federal agents uh violating the no-masking rule because, and his quote was something similar to it's a lose lose situation when you're sending armed local officers versus armed federal officers.

We all lose in that scenario with it.

What I'm concerned is, as we've seen today, we clearly are on unchartered territory, something I've never seen in my 27 years as a police officer, and some of the things that I want to work through is the complexities of having our police officers confronting armed federal agents and seeing a local police officer federally indicted for federal law on impeding a federal officer with it, uh opening ourselves up to civil.

So those are some of the things that we're really gonna have to work closely with the city attorney's office on, and look, are there ways that you do this?

But we seek federal judicial injunctions, and those are things that the certainly the city attorney is a master at, and versus sending armed officers for versus armed uh federal agents, and that's something that I really want us to carefully weigh the risks uh and consider.

And my job as the chief of police is also to shepherd the men and women of the Santa Rosa Police Department of not putting them in further risk, and there's certainly been some red flags raised with that area.

Thank you, Madam City Attorney.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Mayor and Chief.

And I'm gonna just follow up on what the chief has said.

Um, there um we talked about earlier in this presentation that there is no requirement that the federal um federal immigration officers cannot force the city to help them, so to get sort of um to help them with enforcement.

Um, and that's a clear principle, and that's something that here in California that has been adopted uh statewide, we've also adopted it here locally.

Um, and so that piece of it is is quite clear.

Um, it would is also quite clear on the other hand, is that we cannot uh impede or interfere with um ICE agents doing their job.

Um, and so uh and and it is a federal crime for which one can be indicted um in or if someone does impede a federal ICE agent from doing the job.

So what does that look like?

If ICE shows up and um they and our local police happen to be in the area, certainly they can't force our local police to help them with enforcement, but our local police can't stop them from doing the enforcement, and that's an important principle.

And there have been folks who have had um been, you know, uh there are actions pending against them that are federal criminal actions for doing just that.

Um the other piece is that um we cannot preclude ICE from coming into places that are open to the public um for them to do federal enforcement.

So if we have parks that are open to the government, certainly ICE can come there and they can do their enforcement efforts, and we can't stop them from doing that.

They do need a judicial warrant to come into a place that's not open to the government.

And I know there's been a lot of talk about well, what is a judicial warrant and how does that differ from another kind of warrant?

A judicial warrant is is really something that a judge signs.

A judge has found that there's probable cause.

It's something, it's a tool our police department uses all the time.

It's a tool that um law enforcement on every agency uses quite a bit.

And so if there's a place that's not open to the public, they the ICE does need to have a judicial warrant, but at the same time, city employees can't be put in the position of you know blocking ICE from coming in.

Um really using our words and explaining this is not open to the government, open to the public.

So unless you have a judicial warrant, I'm you can't come here, is about as far as we can go.

Um, if I were to come into a place and force themselves into a place that's not open to the public, there's a recourse that my office would have for the city if they did that in the city, and that individuals would certainly have, but that recourse is to go to court, it isn't isn't to sort of fight back.

Um, and so I think as we're crafting a policy, whether that policy is a policy adopted by council, a resolution, or whether it's an ordinance, we need to make sure that we are really looking at these nuances to make sure that whatever policy we have, we are complying with federal law.

The consequences of not doing so could very well be uh a criminal action that could proceed against an individual.

And it, you know, it's a hard no.

We cannot instruct our employees to violate federal law, federal criminal law, and so that is sort of some of the nuances that we're talking about.

And how do we navigate that reality and that very complex um legal framework that we have?

Thank you, Madam City Attorney.

Um I think Chief Cregan said it best.

We are in uncharted waters.

You I think everyone can can sense that we're all feeling our way through this uh legally and ethically.

Uh any of any further questions from council?

Ms.

McDonald.

Thank you.

City attorney, just to follow up on that.

I understand about not impeding somebody coming in to a public space, but is there anything that prohibits us from not sharing information that we collect, say, in any of our departments, not specifically just to our police department, but in our, you know, any of our departments, can we insert any language that does not allow that information to be shared?

Um we already have that policy in place um through our indivisible city resolution, and in fact, um there is a SB 54 precludes the sharing of information except in very limited circumstances.

So, and and maybe the chief can talk about what those limited circumstances are where um local governments are not precluded from sharing, and it's probably the situation where um we would we would want to be sharing and so let's talk a little bit um with the chief about what those situations are.

Okay, yeah, so very clearly never will you see a uh Santa Rosa officer involved in any type of immigration enforcement uh assistance.

What Senate Bill 54 does put the narrow parameters of what it calls series or violent arrests or felonies uh with it, and it lists those out specifically by code uh with it.

So there's several dozen uh with a probably and very similar to what our city attorney said of ones that most community members would want, and uh rape, homicide, uh child uh sexual exploitation that goes through a list of those with it, and it's an arrest or conviction for those information.

Now, we don't proactively reach out to them.

What does happen though is the Homeland Security Wilson across the nation, will send when they get a notification of arrest, will request a copy of their police report, and then they're no longer in our custody with it, and then we'll coordinate with the jail uh with it with the sheriff uh if they're in custody and the sheriff has made some restrictions uh on that of only releasing information who people have been convicted of a series or violent felony with it.

So we just have to fall within the parameters of the law that we get uh just like we would do for any other organization that if we get a court order for information, we're required to release, but it's limited to serious or violent felonies that are spelled out in Senate Bill 54 and California law.

I appreciate that, and that's my understanding of what the individual indivisible city said.

What I'm I'm actually thinking more about is any information we collect, like with housing or section eight, or if there's any other department that could collect sensitive information or be used for the benefit of ICE to be able to go after, you know, a resident in our city.

So that was more, you know, in response.

Is there HIPAA laws?

Are there other things that protect anyone using any city services, not just primarily working with our police department, but that's what I don't know is um in the indivisible city resolution, and and I think if we're looking at the city as a whole is what I would be looking at to make sure no information be shared.

I think when we can come we can come back with that information.

Um I know there are some um long-term section eight requirements, um, but I don't think that they are that they cross over into this area.

So we can come back with that information.

I don't have it currently.

Thank you.

Final follow-up question for me, Chief Kriegan.

Um, I'm gonna push you on the spot.

You might not have the exact statistics.

Um, but it's important for residents to have a sense of the point you made regarding um the sheriff's office and the jail and their um the very limited extent to which they are collaborating with with ICE.

Um I recall that Sheriff Engram has released statistics uh comparing the number of requests that ICE has made for people within our jail or within the the uh the Sonoma County jail versus the number of times that the sheriff's office is actually uh uh uh cooperated with ICE.

Uh, it was not very many, as I recall.

Do you have off the top of your head?

Do you have a general sense of what those numbers are for the for the public?

Yeah, I want to be careful not to speak on behalf of the sheriff, but I did see a uh a news bulletin on this that was put out by the sheriff talking and talking about that it was in the 800s of roughly 885 uh requests that received in, and it was around 64 that were actually released, and those were the sheriff has made the conscious decision to restrict that to only convictions with it.

When the law does allow him to do arrests, obviously there's much fewer convictions, and there are arrests on that, so it's taken steps to eliminate that, but no custodial requests come into the Santa Rose Police Department because we have no custodial facility uh with it, and all any arrests that we make are either released on a citation or booked in the Sonoma County jail.

So no custodial requests from SRPD because we don't have those facilities, and the sheriff's office is currently currently has stricter standards than the state than even SB 54 requires.

Correct.

All right, important facts for the public to know.

Uh with that, oh Ms.

Fleming.

Yeah, thank you.

Um I had one question going back to um some of the city attorney's remarks about uh public spaces.

Um it's pretty obvious, I think to most of us that we could uh we could prevent um ice from coming into our private spaces in on public property.

Um but I'm curious to know about where we would condition public uses of public spaces, for example, in our parks, you know, you can't take over the park all day long to stage whatever you want.

Could we where you would otherwise have to get a permit?

Could we condition um such that we don't allow ICE to get permits to use our spaces, our public spaces that are accessible to the public?

We would we would need to make sure that we could do that do that in a way that complies with federal law, but certainly at minimum there would be you know anybody needs to come through and and get a permit, and so that permitting process requires disclosure of certain kinds of information, including how long you're gonna be there and you have to go through the permitting process, and so um I I you know I I don't know how um how much going through a permitting process would really be um conducive for ICE to uh to do its operations, but certainly we can require them to go through the permitting process.

I think your question is can we say you can't even go through the permitting process?

And that's the piece of it we would need to uh drill down on to what extent does federal law allow for that.

Um, but there may be a path forward.

Okay, thank you.

Any any final questions going once, going twice?

All right, many of you have been waiting patiently.

So, as it as a reminder, uh it's helpful if you fill out a yellow sheet in the back because I I can already see a list.

Um we have quite a few uh quite a few folks who want to speak.

Um, we are gonna we are gonna limit public comment to two minutes, given the number of speakers, and given the fact that we want to hear everyone's voice.

Uh a reminder also that we want to keep this, we want to keep this polite.

We are we can't answer questions.

This can't be a back and forth.

So any public comment you make has to really be just that.

It has to be a statement of information for council to consider.

Uh and then finally, just a reminder you are not required to use your entire two minutes.

If somebody before you has really given the the essence of what you intended to say, you are more than welcome to go up and say, I agree, I agree with that individual, uh, I concur, something like that.

Um, but if you want to use your entire few entire two minutes, that is your right.

Um, and let's keep it, let's keep it going.

I'm gonna call off a few names here.

Please use both podiums, and we'll go back and forth as efficiently as possible so that everyone gets a chance to speak.

So we're gonna start off.

Uh, we're gonna start off with uh Canini.

That's what I'm reading on my screen here.

Canini, then Peter Alexander, and then Talmadge Wright.

And please again use both uh both podiums.

Canini, are you at the podium right now?

We please begin.

Greetings, mayor, council, ladies and gentlemen, especially politically active students.

The following is offered for your consideration.

The people have peaceably assembled to petition the government for redress of grievances, including ICE.

ICE is out of control, ice kills.

Please do not interfere with, confront, nor even speak to ICE agents.

Don't give them an excuse to harm you.

Being present, bearing witness, and video recording ICE agents can be good.

Maybe a establishment of an alert system could help people know when ICE is in the area and where, and they can assemble there.

The chant no justice, no peace, is a threat.

People do not like to be threatened.

Black lives matters use of no justice, no peace, alienated the middle class.

Without the middle class, it is nearly impossible for the people to effect change.

What did black lives matter?

The civil rights movement of the 60s affected important and lasting change nonviolently.

Gotta cut this thing down because you took so much time.

The Voting Rights Act uh prohibited I've skipped that.

The 1960s civil rights movement, Dr.

King and Gandhi are good examples for learning how people can effect change.

Two things are needed for the people to affect change.

One is uh widespread discontent, the other is a organized opposition.

We do not have an organized opposition, and Trump will pardon all federal agents no matter what they do.

He stated that.

Peter, I hope I haven't affected your poem.

You have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor.

Powerful statement by Alexander the Great.

Without knowledge, skill cannot be focused.

Without skill, strength cannot be brought to bear.

And without strength, knowledge may not be applied.

I can tell you in this room, the strength is here.

And you are not anywhere near the bottom line truth of the knowledge.

Here's my message to the likes of you.

We've long since been occupied via a coup, occupied by APEC that controls the House and the Senate with unlawful, unconstitutional 13th Amendment bar lawyers that do not serve you or me.

They serve the bankers and APEC and all wars.

The war that we're in right now, they're the ones that arrange for $49 billion dollars of our tax money to go to Israel.

APAC lobby is a Kazarian cabal.

It preceded full throttle after the terminations of John F.

Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X.

APAC orchestrated the millions that have flooded into this country who had somewhere else to live once before they were forced here.

Otherwise, they would have been terminated also.

So this effort to turn America into a third world nation, as long was stated by Congressman Cynthia McKinney, who I contend was one of the most powerful women ever in DC and ran for president in 2008.

And she also refused APAC membership.

The true issue at hand before us is whether you acknowledge their nefarious intentions and rouse them out of our governmental institutions once and for all with a 40-day freedom strike or continue sinking in the APAC fabricated Caco del Toro Grande designed to divide and destroy us.

And I'll finish with this.

The second coming, the power of Christ unleashed, will not come from the Vatican or organized religions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Peter.

Talmage Wright, and then Linda Evans, and then Diane Baines.

Thank you, Peter.

Talmudge, you're up.

Thank you.

Can you hear me okay?

Can you hear me all right?

Peter, Peter, Peter, we got to move on.

Thank you, Peter.

Talmage, I'm sorry, you have the floor.

Thank you.

Um, I'm bringing a proposal.

Uh, the council has thought of a lot of this.

I can tell already from the discussions we've had.

And I have eight points I just want to go over really quickly.

I will email this to the members later.

First is ICE cannot enter city property without judicial warrants.

Um, no administrative warrants will be honored.

Um, the second point, all ICE personnel must be clearly identified by organization, uniform, and name, including not driving unmarked vehicles.

No masks will be allowed for any ICE agents conducting searches per California state law SB 627.

Fourth, no federal detentions or arrest of immigrants should be allowed without a judicial warrant.

Five, guidelines must be issued by the city of Santa Rosa to our city residents and community organizations on how to deal with ICE legally and clarify the relationship of our local police to ICE agents.

Six measures should be enacted which direct city resources to assist in bringing community organizations together to resist the illegal actions of ICE and other federal officials practicing judicial overreach.

Seven, a model is now here.

Mayor Mamdani in New York City has accomplished the task of defending city residents from federal overreach.

The city of Santa Rosa should do the same thing.

Lastly, a city of Santa Rosa staff person should be appointed as a liaison between our city and those cities practicing resistance against ICE and federal overreach.

Year-in reports will be required to help educate the community as well as other city staff members.

Thank you.

Thank you, Talmadge.

And we're moving on.

I lost my place here.

Linda Evans, Diane Baines, and Renee Sicito.

Is Linda here?

Thank you, Linda.

I think we can lower that podium a bit.

If we've got someone back there to help.

Anybody know how to do that?

Thank you, Rhonda.

There we go.

So it'll be it'll be Linda and then Diane and then Renee.

Linda, go ahead.

Thank you.

My name's Linda Evans.

I'm a longtime resident of Santa Rosa and a member of the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition and of Migrant Justice in Action, an initiative of North Bay Organizing Project.

I'm grateful to Councilmember Victoria Fleming for your strong leadership in actively opposing ICE operations and in calling ICE what it has become a racist domestic paramilitary force that conducts illegal racial profiling and language and accent profiling against people of color from our community and anyone speaking another language other than English.

We are here today to ask that you adopt a non-collaboration ordinance that will prohibit any use of city property and resources by federal immigration enforcement and that will prohibit any city employee from sharing information with ICE.

We ask that you empower city staff to use the city alert system when ICE shows up to allow city employees to call the North Bay Rapid Response Network and to inform individuals of their constitutional rights, including the right to remain silent and not to sign documents.

Chief Cregan and the city attorney have endorsed the resolution that you will consider later today, prohibiting broad warrantless immigration raids, which authorizes independent investigations into in-custody injuries or deaths and shooting incidents by ICE agents.

We support that resolution.

ICE agents must be held accountable when they commit crimes like kidnapping people without judicial warrants.

Thank you, Linda.

We'll go on to Diane, Renee, and I think it's GREE.

Gree V.

Diane, go ahead.

Diane Baines.

I'm a retired uh elementary public music teacher.

I um have taught hundreds, if not thousands of um immigrant children throughout the years and found um delight and um magnificence in my students and in their parents and their earnest attempts to excel and heartwarming um excellence.

I am a first-generation American.

Um my grandmother was um had to hide during pogroms in the basement in a big tub of uh beer in their family's pub in order to escape being raped or worse from the Cossacks.

She came to Canada at 19.

My grandfather escaped from the anti-semitism in the pogroms and came to Canada because uh of the limitations of the US not accepting Jews.

Um, my parents came here for a better life, and I am uh first generation.

Um, I thank you for the planning that you are doing, but it's not enough.

I totally concur with Linda and the sanctuary um coalition.

We need more.

We need to look to what is happening in Minneapolis and Maine and all throughout the country.

This is giving us a warning.

We need to be ready because the surge will be here.

I am holding up a photo of one part of my family, three generations that were all murdered by the Nazis.

This is our beginning time.

We are living in 1930s Germany.

They are building huge prisons, warehouses all over the country.

We need to be prepared so our citizens don't get sent there because they came from them, nobody spoke.

They came from them, then nobody spoke.

What happens when they come for us?

Thank you.

Thank you, Diane.

Renee and then GREE or Grizz, and then Linda Hemingway.

Renee, the floor is yours.

Good evening.

Thank you so much for the expressions of solidarity to all of you.

I'd like to make a few points on behalf of the Sonoma County Sanctuary Coalition.

I'm also an immigrant rights organizer with Raiz's collective and almas libres.

I have the privilege of working with undocumented migrants every day.

First, resolutions are good, but during these times they aren't enough.

So thank you for considering passing an ordinance or several ordinances.

Families in Santa Rosa and in Sonoma County are terrified right now of being forcibly separated from their loved ones, and also being thrown into the Trump deportation machine, which includes incarceration, torture, lack of medical care, and abuse.

There is little trust between local uh communities and local law enforcement, and this causes people to not report crimes.

Please pass a non-collaboration ordinance, no use of city property or resources by ICE, no sharing of information.

At this point, all jurisdictions are a target.

This ordinance would not make us more of a target than we already are.

We cannot trust the Trump administration to not uh attack us simply because we are afraid to pass enforceable laws.

Moreover, many surrounding counties are passing these same ordinances.

They may do so legally under California's SB 54.

Santa Rosa may uh and Sonoma County may report people uh who have certain criminal convictions, but but they don't have to.

You don't have to.

You can have an overarching prohibition.

Uh finally, please urge the county board of supervisors to do the same thing that you are doing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Renee.

Alright, jazz fingers, thank you everyone.

All right, is it Gri Grizz?

GRIA GRIS.

We'll move on then to uh Linda Hemingway.

Oh, great is great.

Oh apologies, I couldn't see you from the screen.

If we could lower that podium a bit, then you then you'll have a chance to speak.

Los students, Ice in a ciudad, cream, libre de ice, para que los niños y los hovers stand fortes y libres and nothing depression because you know supporting tanta pression.

My name is Gris, I'm a member of Raises Collective and Almas Libres, and I'm here to represent my community, those of us who live in Santa Rosa.

Please pass a sanctuary ordinance.

I am here because many of our youth are afraid and suffer from depression.

They are emotionally distressed and are even uh threatening to commit suicide.

We deserve our young people to feel safe.

We deserve our families to feel safe.

It's just much of a community for much años como assistente de maestra.

But my taxes are portal of tasses, and the trabajo quando compramos tenemos escuchar andes.

We deserve safety and respect, especially our young people.

We deserve to feel safe from local police and federal law enforcement.

I used to be a teacher's uh aide.

Uh I've lived here almost my whole life.

I'm a US citizen.

I've paid taxes for years.

We deserve this kind of respect.

Which is gracias.

Thank you very much.

I request that Santa Rosa be a sanctuary city, that Sonoma County be a sanctuary county.

Thank you.

Gracias, Griselda Gracias Porblar.

We'll move on to Linda Hemingway and Wayne Clark and then Diana Paulson.

Linda Wayne and Diana.

Linda, go ahead.

Thank you.

Hi.

My name is Linda.

I'm a retired teacher from SRJC, where we train the police, and I've always had a great deal of respect for that program.

My comments are addressed primarily to the chief of police and the attorney.

Please do not refuse to answer calls with ice.

If I am at an event where there is ice and I am filming and I am pushed to the ground, will you defend me?

Will you protect me?

If my granddaughter who goes to Roseland Creek, is surrounded has her school surrounded by the ice and uses the children as bait.

Will you stand with all of the other people, the other white women like me in Santa Rosa protected that will use at least stand with us?

Will you be there?

When people are pulled out of their cars and doors are knocked down at their homes, which I believe those are both private spaces.

Will you do all you can to protect us?

These are not hypothetical situations.

They have happened and they will happen here if the tech bros are not successful as they were a while ago in making ice go away.

I would ask that you please look for pathways that allow the police, the lawyers, the to do the most to protect the regular people, the gray-haired people who are here today, who are at all the protests, who will be filming, and who would who would like to be protected by their city government and their police department?

That's it.

Linda, thank you.

Uh Wayne Clark, Diana Paulson, and then David Hoffman.

Wayne.

Yes.

There you are.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Um I've got my ice whistle, everybody.

I got it right here.

Basically, it's sad because Black History Month is this month.

Donald Trump is basically purging it and whitewashing it.

And we should be celebrating Martin Luther King.

And unfortunately, we're having to deal with it.

I want to commend the police department, fire departments, at least in Petaluma and Santa Rosa have done a phenomenal job of letting us protest and keeping us safe.

And we're trying to follow the rules.

For sure, racist.

Pam Bondi has also stated that protesters are domestic terrorists.

I didn't know that.

Did you?

Well, it's true.

She made that formal statement.

Um let's move along.

Oh, we are so fortunate to have Gavin Newsom, Mike Thompson, and Mike McGuire.

Very vocal regarding the ice out situation.

The blue states are under attack if you haven't noticed.

Taking away benefits and whatnot.

The poor Somali community in Minneapolis and Minnesota are being ruthlessly attacked by Donald Trump.

And I'm telling you, it's just unbelievable.

I think that's all I've got to say, which is unbelievable.

Thank you.

Thank you, Wayne.

Diana Paulson, David Hoffman, and Jim Aveira.

Diana, you're up.

Not be able to see me because I'm so short.

You can lower.

There's a button there.

You should be able to lower that down.

Is that good?

So most everything that uh Oh, there you go.

Thank you.

There, hi.

Um, most everything that people have said, I totally support, and I strongly support um an ordinance policy against ICE uh here in our city.

And I get it.

This is a tough decision, and I know the county's been um grappling with this a lot.

It feels like a no-win situation.

We're damned if we do or damned if we don't.

But if we don't, then we're surrendering in advance to the fascist takeover.

If they're going to come, they're going to come, and eventually, regardless of what we do.

So we have to fight.

So I really appreciate you taking this up.

I've learned a lot.

I can take this information back to the people that I work with, and um, in solidarity.

Thank you.

Diana, thank you.

David Hoffman, Jim Aveira, and Susan Lamont.

David, go ahead.

Uh my name is David Hoffman.

I'm the founding chair of the Interfaith Council of Sonoma County.

We've been in place for about 20 years here.

And I want to quote uh from our statement of purpose.

We will defend religious rights and human rights.

We will serve as an ally to and actively support persecuted and at-risk groups.

And we know right now who's being persecuted, who's being scapegoated, and who's being set up to be victims of what is the equivalent of a fascist push in this in this country.

There's no ambiguity about this, it's self-evident and transparent.

And yes, when the surge comes, we have a moral obligation, all of us do, to be prepared and to resist courageously and creatively.

So I hope that we will move beyond just uh the minimum or what we think is safe.

I don't think that the term performative uh quite rightly explains what's needed.

What we need is people to be to think beyond the immediate and be prepared to do whatever it takes to to defend the human rights, civil liberties that are under attack right now, and so I wholly support uh a strong or um non-collaboration ordinance and the other propositions that and proposals which have been offered by the sanctuary coalition of Sonoma County.

Thank you.

Thank you, David, Jim, Susan, and then Denise Fleming.

Jim Avera.

Thank you.

I'm Jim Avra.

I'm a resident of Santa Rosa.

Um the political and policy and federal level lobbying things that I've heard here sound great, and the resolution that's coming up and which I hope is approved.

This is on on the mark.

Um that's one thing.

The other thing is what can be done to provide practical protection of people here in Santa Rosa if major ICE activities come here.

That is not worked out yet, clearly, as the chief and the city attorney have told us.

Um, not much practical can be done to objectively interfere with them without risking prosecution by the feds.

Um, so I ask the city to take as their task number one offline to continue to investigate what actions could be effectively done that could effectively restrain ice.

What are the possibilities?

Uh and keep because that's a hard problem to really work hard on that.

Um not in public, perhaps, and be ready and train the appropriate people so that if and when it occurs, they will know how to respond.

Um this may require all of us to give up some of our freedoms and city services.

For example, it might one idea might be to close all city parks to everyone during a time, and that closure is enforced uniformly for everyone, us and ICE.

It means we give something up in exchange for helping people who are at risk.

Um there may be a time uh when breaking federal law is the only choice left.

We aren't there yet, but that time may come.

And so we should be thinking about how that can be done and how volunteers who are willing to put themselves at personal risk can stand up for that.

Thank you, Jim.

Susan, Denise, and to Cameron Miller.

Susan, you're up.

Susan Lamont District 2.

My tenth great grandparents, that's 10 greats in front of great grandparents, came to this continent on the ship the George from England in 1619.

They came to Jamestown.

I'm sure the Powhatans who lived there didn't call it that.

They lived on stolen land, they killed Powhatans.

I didn't have to apply.

The notion that there is some kind of legal way to be here is an absurdity in itself, because the vast majority of people are here before there was such a thing as legal or illegal.

And therefore, when I look at the situation, I believe, as has just been stated, that we aren't going to get what we need without illegal means.

Almost no freedoms have been achieved through totally legal means.

Thank you, Susan.

Denise, Cameron, and then Jane Lalan.

Denise.

There we go.

I'm not Denise.

Denise, you have the Denise, you have the floor.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you.

I'm Dr.

Denise Fleming, Professor America from California State University system where I worked with immigrant students and their families for more than 25 years.

And have also been on the academic Senate and state Senate.

And so we've dealt with many a problem, and this is certainly one that is complex, but not impossible, because you will be doing the right thing.

Those of us with privilege have the luxury of weighing costs and worrying over the what ifs if you take action.

Well, there are thousands, tens of thousands of people who have been denied their habeas corpus rights and are being torpedoed through the system of getting them out with no legal representation and help.

I asked those of you who are my age.

Did you, when you were in school wonder how did they let the Nazis happen?

Boy, if I were there, I would have done something.

And then we've been watching things for years now.

The way we do it is through all of you representing us and taking action.

Inaction is compliance and validation.

How many of you with small children haven't they haven't known a time when there haven't been these sorts of rights denied?

Thank you, Professor Fleming.

We'll move on to Cameron, Jane, and then Dwayne DeWitt.

So Cameron, please go ahead.

All right.

Um, cities and local police departments all over the country now have been, you know, withholding info, not assisting ICE, but uh doesn't seem to be uh slowing them down as far as uh targeting and still being able to capture people.

Um a lot of this uh is from like flock cameras.

Uh they're collecting data um right using cell phone stingrays.

Uh so there's all this data being collected by just third party companies and then being purchased uh by ICE to very accurately locate and track targets, um, track people assisting uh immigrants, um and you know they're uh doing this all outside the law just because it's uh through third-party surveillance and it's a purchase, so they don't have to go through normal legal channels.

Uh so I I'm just worried because I didn't see a ton of mention about that uh today, so just something I want to bring attention to that we we should start talking about.

Um, is how do we protect locals from that type of targeting and data collection to make sure people are still safe?

Uh because I get more and more clever every day about how they're tracking us and people helping and immigrants, so that's just yeah, something I wanted to bring to attention.

That's all.

Thank you.

Thank you, Cameron.

Uh, it's Jane and then Dwayne and then Michael.

Jane, you have the floor.

I think we can move that, we can we could bring that podium up a bit.

On the right hand, Chair, thank you very much.

Uh I am uh retired union attorney and a resident of Sonoma County.

I think what's happening today, it's like the specifics that the council people spoke of were very moving, and your concern is so important, and yet we are in an era of rising fascism, and so the kind of focus on legality, as other speakers have said, is a little bit missing the mark.

This ice is not a neutral federal law enforcement agency, it's the private army of our president who is running amok.

They operate under quotas, they terrorize, abduct, and physically assault people, they deliberately lie, they're only caught in these lies because we the people are opposing them in the streets of Minneapolis.

It's the videos that have shown in cases even as serious as homicide, who are the terrorists and who are not, and so it's it's hard to put that system into the perspective of what we can do here, but I do think uh I should have said I'm speaking also as a member of the sanctuary coalition.

We urge that you pass an ordinance, the strongest ordinance you can figure out how to do for no collaboration with ICE.

Alerting the community to the presence of ICE is a very important thing that has been crucial in the resistance in Minneapolis, and also uh making law enforcement accountable, it occurs to me that if a person is standing on the doorstep of someone who refuses them entry because they don't have a judicial warrant, at a certain point that's trespass.

I don't see why local law enforcement couldn't get them out of there.

Otherwise, they just stay there and terrorize people for hours.

This is what they have actually done.

So I thank you very much for your concern, urge you to take action.

Thank you, Jane.

Uh Dwayne uh Michael Maxon and and then Michael Totore.

Are you ready?

Dwayne, you're up.

Yeah, it's two it's two minutes today, Duane.

I'm not sure you're here when we made the announcement.

I'll be on time, sir.

My name is Dwayne DeWitt.

I am from Roseland.

I am a citizen, and I have sworn to uphold the constitution.

So we're here today to hear your options for actions.

Unmask ice.

That's the number one thing.

We don't need any masked bandits coming in to our town and violating the Bill of Rights, violating the amendments that you know you could use your city attorney to make sure that they abide by the Fourth Amendment.

No unreasonable searches.

This is really important right now.

It's the time where you can actually advise your police department to be as peaceful as possible, working with protesters, whatever they may be doing, in a peaceful manner.

In the past, we've had protests here in Santa Rosa where violence has come, and people feel a lot of it came from law enforcement.

I support law enforcement, but not when they have a heavy hand.

It appears that this organization ICE, which only came about in this century due to the heavy-handedness of homeland security after the 9-11 responses, that they could be reined in with you folks utilizing our taxpayer-supported efforts for constitutionality, making sure that our first amendment is protected, and that people who want to make sure the second amendment protects them first and foremost.

Laura Dotti.

Michael, go ahead.

Uh can you hear me?

We can just to stay close to the mic, it's not that sensitive.

Is this better?

Okay, uh, so I you know, there has been a lot of talk today about complying with the law, but honestly, ICE is lawless, and we are bringing a butter knife to a gunfight.

Um, I really urge that the city gives very strong consideration to the recommendations here today to make Santa Rosa a sanctuary city.

Um, you know, we can follow the law, but we could also slow things down and disrupt in non-obvious ways.

A great model for this is what's happening right now with the Epstein files.

Anyway, I will conclude just by saying that I strongly support the uh the that Santa Rosa become a sanctuary city.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Michael.

Michael Totore.

Michael, you're up, yeah.

Yeah, if you could be ready at the podium, and then it'll be Laura Dotti and Jenny Gilpin.

Hi there, this is Michael Tatone.

Um I am in your district.

Um Mark Stapp, and I am here to advocate that you all pass an ordinance for a sanctuary city.

I think it is extremely important that you protect the people of this city.

And I resonate with the previous speakers who want to know are you going to protect us if we're kidnapped, assaulted, or killed by an agency that doesn't have any impunity.

We all need to take a stand, including the city, including those with the most responsibility to take a stand.

When we're dealing with ICE being lawless, it's really important that we not think about what it means so much to impede them because at some point they're gonna be on the wrong side of the law.

And it's what's good, what's happening right now is going to be judged.

It's gonna be judged very harshly, and it's going to be there's going to be justice.

We will get justice.

And when that happens, we're gonna want to remember did the city stand up for justice, or did the city stand up for the ice agents' right to kill, to murder, to assault.

Um there's definitely ways in which our ability to operate in public spaces has been impeded.

Um I think about the Black Lives Matter protests when there was a curfew set up, and many of us, myself included, were arrested just for sitting on the grass.

Um we weren't allowed to be at Courthouse Square.

And often the justifications come around this are health and safety.

Is what is the health and safety look like when there's tear gas and rubber bullets flying?

I think when ice gets here, you're gonna have a very different feeling that we need to do something.

This is just not okay.

Thank you, Michael.

Laura and then Jenny.

Thank you.

I'm Dr.

Laura Doty.

I'm a retired psychologist, and I've lived here in Sonoma County for over 50 years.

I'd like to set the record straight.

Assistant city manager's statement that Renee Good and Alex Predi were attending protests is actually inaccurate.

Uh Ms.

Good was a legal observer who was stopped observing an ice action.

Mr.

Predi was directing traffic that was stopped because there was an ice action in a block down and then was killed.

Um I want to point out that right now in Minnesota, legal observers are being harassed by ice.

People who are community members who are bringing food to people who are trapped in their homes are being threatened with arrest.

Some of them have been detained.

So it isn't that there is anyone, any select group that is at risk for harm from ice.

All of us are, and I think it's really important that we recognize that no one is safe in our community.

The question has been raised what would you have done?

That's a question I asked myself as a kid, and I asked myself that every day I am myself prepared to make every sacrifice to keep the more at-risk people in my community safe.

And I know other people are here as well that are willing to do that, and I ask that the police department specifically do everything that they can to think about ways that they can protect every member of our community.

I understand they too are at risk, and that's important to me that they are safe as well.

But we really have to look at all the kinds of ways that we can keep every community member safe.

Thank you for everything, council members that you're doing, and city staff as well.

Thank you, thank you, Laura.

Uh Jenny Gilpin and then John Bechtel.

Jenny, if you're ready.

Hi, I'm a Santa Rosa resident, and I love living in Santa Rosa, and I'm grateful to the council members and to Chief Creekan uh for doing good work to keep us safe.

I will say, though, that I've over the past few months I've felt more and more unsafe living in Santa Rosa as I watch the license plate readers get switched out for flop cameras.

We now have over a hundred flock cameras here in Santa Rosa, and I know that on the Santa Rosa City website, it says that that information is not shared, it's only kept for 30 days.

I don't believe that that is true.

I don't believe that the Flock Company and all the other the hundreds and hundreds of other organizations that have access to that information will keep us safe.

Unfortunately, listening to the council members today, I am feeling somewhat disheartened and hopeless about our safety.

If the federal government were to overreach, as is as it is doing in Minneapolis, that we would be able to defend ourselves.

And right now we are leaving the door open with these flock cameras for ICE to come in and to do even more damage, and they'll come in, and we won't have any way to stop them if we leave these cameras up and on.

I don't believe that there's any threat happening in Santa Rosa that constitutes us leaving such a wide vulnerability to these greater threats that are real and not just perceived.

I would urge you to rethink using the flock company or to leave these cameras active until we can find a better way to secure the data and the identities of Santa Rosa citizens.

Thank you.

Thank you, Jenny.

Uh John and then Chris Fortin and Elena Lambertson.

John, go ahead.

Thank you.

I propose that any action taken be named a Freedom City Action versus a Sanctuary City Action.

Thank you.

Thank you, John, Chris, and then Elena.

Is Chris Fortin available?

Okay, Chris, go ahead.

And then Elena, if you could be if you could be ready.

And just and actually, uh Chris, before you begin, if you are intending to speak, if you could be waiting up top so that we can keep this moving.

So if you if you think you're gonna make a comment, please be waiting somewhere near one of the podiums.

Chris, apologies.

Please go ahead.

Yeah.

It's actually Reverend Chris Fortin.

I'm a Buddhist priest.

I think you've probably all seen that there have been people of faith and religious leaders in Minnesota and other places.

And I feel like I want to echo their voices.

And I want to do that by just talking personally to each one of you sitting that down, what looks really far away down there.

But you're human beings and you're good people, or you wouldn't be sitting there and you have and the police chief and the people over the others wearing uniforms is you're here because you have a sense of service.

I deeply believe in basic goodness.

Something's happening now that's erupted, and it's up to each one of us.

And I think you each know, actually, if you listen really deeply, uh it's risky, but what's the right thing to do?

Sanctuary ordinance, no collaboration.

It takes courage.

And I think there's a lot of people here who are standing firm and strong and deeply and with broken hearts and with wide open arms to embrace you doing the right thing.

So thank thank you.

And if you don't, you'll do it the next time.

But you got a chance right now.

So please just go for it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chris.

Uh Elena.

Hello.

Um, I'd like to address the council in regards to the Santa Rosa Police Department's contract with Flock surveillance.

There are at least 200 Flock cameras that have been installed in Sonoma County, 130 of them are in Santa Rosa.

The SRPD's contract with Flock totals is totals in 1,319,000, 649 dollars.

Excuse me.

Flock is backed and funded by Peter Teal, CEO of Palantir.

Flock is quietly creating the most extreme AI mass surveillance network across the nation and handing this data to ICE on a silver platter to assist on their mission to hunt down assault and threaten US citizens and immigrants.

There have been numerous reports of Flock illegally allowing ICE to use its searchable database reported by four or forum media, Press Democrat, ACLU.

This is warrantless federal surveillance.

Flock and Amazon ring, the doorbell cameras have also entered a partnership.

Ring has a direct contract with ICE.

Uh together, they are allowing ICE access to an unprecedented amount of surveillance power, regardless of what privacy settings cities opt for when using Flock.

If a surveillance system like this existed throughout history, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and probably any milestone, historical revolution or political movement would have been squashed immediately.

I believe Councilmember Alvarez made a comment about how throughout history what is right is not always legal, and what is legal is not always right.

I can't overemphasize how dangerous it is to allow a surveillance system with such unchecked centralized power to dominate our community.

A surveillance system whose technofascist backers who have bought our government would use to squash any future political movements that seek to change what is legal but not right and what is right but not yet legal.

Flock might pose the single biggest threat to our civil liberties at present.

Please take note that the last time this was discussed in Santa Rosa City Council was December 10th, 2024.

Seeing with all the new information has come to light, it is time for Santa Rosa to reconsider and reopen the conversation with Flock.

Thank you, Elena.

Thanks.

I don't have other names listed, but other members of the public who would like to speak who are here in council chambers.

All right, again, if you if you are intending to speak, please be waiting up top so that we can keep this going, and we're gonna use both podiums.

Uh we'll go to uh to this podium here.

Please go introduce yourself and go ahead.

Um hi, my name is Elena.

As we have all seen with our own eyes across the country and the news on social media from people who have experienced firsthand immigration enforcement is not being done safely, humanely, or operating within the framework of our constitutional laws.

For example, the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizure of persons or property.

We've seen immigration agents breaking into people's cars and houses without a signed judicial warrant or consent, damaging property, assaulting people, and terrorizing families in the process.

This administration, as recently as a week ago, has stated on our government website that an administrative warrant issued by the agent themselves is sufficient.

This is a top-to-down order to violate constitutional law.

Better training will not fix this.

We've seen immigration agents damage phones, confiscate phones, assault people, tell people it's against the law to record them and unlawfully detain them.

Fifth Amendment, which assures that all people, regardless of immigration status, are treated fairly and have a right to due process.

We've seen citizen veterans be detained in camps and deported to other countries without due process.

A reminder, this amendment covers all individuals, regardless of immigration status, to a right to do process.

Better training for agents that have showed a flagrant and intentional disregard for constitutional law will not improve our circumstances.

The city of Santa Rosa must protect everyone's constitutional rights, and I call upon the city council to make a firm stance to do so.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Fred.

Hi, good afternoon, members of the city council.

Um, I never imagined that I would see McCarthyism, and I always wondered what I would do if it happened, and then here I am, you know, and and so I'm white, I'm privileged.

Will I go out on the streets when they're here or not?

You know, you'll have to wait and see.

Um the um, and I also would like to agree with David Hoffman's comments before.

Uh, the city attorney mentioned that that uh the city can't go against federal law, but how do we comply with federal law when such law is being wielded by a convicted felon president who's abusing the justice system by targeting political opponents and by pardoning convicted criminals by the thousands?

It seems to me that that playing by the rules in terms of federal law in this case here amounts to appeasement like it did pre-World War II.

So this is kind of a serious situation, and uh people are calling for the city council to make a stand, and I don't see um packing the stands here of people who are undocumented immigrants saying let's take a stand.

So this is by someone who has privilege, myself and other folks who say let's take a stand.

Um, you know, I I had imagined when Trump first became president that I'd like to see, you know, the local police fight ICE, you know, but I'm seeing that that's probably not, you know, I wouldn't want to see that, you know.

That's that's that's just violence run amok.

So um, you know, now it's the undocumented next to it will be us.

So right now we're we're we're legitimately thinking to protect the helpless people, but it will be us through facial recognition through other data collection, so privilege won't matter, and there isn't gonna be any rights in a justice system that's stacked by loyalty, so we need to develop a collective resistance here.

Thank you, Fred.

Next podium.

Hello everyone, I'm Isabel Lopez, executive director of the RISES collective and a member of the Sanctuary Coalition here in Sonoma County.

I'm here to uh demand that y'all um take action in passing a sanctuary ordinance in the city.

Um I know that it's been mentioned that the sheriff has only been reporting serious and violent crimes.

However, I'm looking at the reportable or the immigration notification matrix that they use.

And under that, under government code 7282.583, I shall only be notified about an inmates' release from custody, and under that it says um vandalism with prior convictions, gang-related offenses.

Um, and I think about all the young people of color who have been criminalized by the system, and that literally can be anyone.

And so I encourage you all to really look at that and pass a sanctuary ordinance to protect everyone currently in our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next podium.

Yeah, my name is Tom Hayashi.

Um, I wasn't really thinking about speaking, but I I just I have some information that I thought might be of interest to you if you if anybody runs into ICE or CBP.

Um I've heard a lot of talk on news lately uh talking about the Fourth Amendment protections, uh uh protections from search and illegal search and seizure, but nobody's really mentioned the Supreme Court case from uh I think 2019 called Carpenter versus the United States.

And uh I just I happen to be listening to Rachel Maddow's show uh yesterday, and uh she had a guest on from Baltimore.

They have an organization called Salt Box, and they're tracking all these detention facilities that ICE is setting up around the United States.

But anyhow, uh he was mentioning that uh the guy from Saltbox was saying he was surprised at the amount of funding they were getting, and but what they're doing is they're sending out trucks to uh that are monitoring cell tower locations.

That's a uh a way that they can uh track database.

Um and anyhow just struck my got my attention because sail tower locations is the basis of the Carpenter versus United States case.

The ACLDU brought the case to the Supreme Court and they won.

Uh but what the the Fourth Amendment, the the Carpenter versus United States case was supposed to really reinforce the protections of the Fourth Amendment.

But the DEA uh and now ICE and CBP have all found a loophole to get through that.

And what they've done is they are they're buying into like massive database stuff, and so like the way people's information is shared.

Like, you know, when you go online, they find out what movies you like or what uh music you like or whatever, but DEA is using that kind of rationale and and ICE and CBP to get into people's private medical records.

Private medical records is one way in which ICE and CBP are tracking the targets they that they want to deport.

So um thank you very much.

Next podium.

Yes, John Beckle again.

I'm just reading.

I'm sorry, sir.

You've already spoken once, you can only speak once during during public comment.

I'm I'm sorry, thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other members of the public here in council chamber that wish to speak?

I'm seeing none.

We're gonna close public comment in the chamber, but we do have some folks online.

I'm gonna turn it over to our city clerk to uh to um facilitate that.

Thank you, Mayor.

As council member Rogers is participating remotely under the Just Cause provisions of the Brown Act.

We will be taking public comments via Zoom.

I'm going to turn it over to our Zoom host Lauren to facilitate public comments.

If you wish to provide public comment and you are participating in Zoom, please raise your hand now.

Thank you, Dina.

So we are now taking public comment via Zoom.

Please raise your hand.

Or if you've dialed in by telephone, please press nine.

When I enable your permissions, you will have two minutes.

We're gonna start with Alan Wolves.

Moving on to Margaret.

Alan, go ahead.

Yeah, thank you.

This is Alan Wolves.

I'm with Cinema County for Palestine and JVP Sonoma County.

I want to urge uh the city council to pass an actual ordinance, not the resolution you have before you, an enforceable ordinance that has no use of city property or resources by ICE, no sharing of information with ICE by any city employee, no access to city property without a judicial warrant.

Um it should have Santa Rosa alert residents if ICE is active and especially alert the rapid response network.

And um Santa Rosa Police should stop ICE arrests without a warrant.

Police should provide evidence in any cases of crimes by ICE agents, and ICE agents should not be allowed to wear masks, and they need to have identification and badges visible.

Now, earlier, um Chief Cregan said that nothing good could come of having his officers fighting ICE agents.

Um I have to disagree with that.

I think that if they are not going to protect us against an occupying force, which is how ICE is exactly acting in Minnesota, they are an occupying army.

If we're not going to be protected uh against that, what is the purpose of us having police at all?

Um, another commenter stated that in the future it may be time for us to um break federal law to protect our community.

That time is now.

That time is months ago.

We are being we're having our communities occupied and torn apart by an invading army that we created.

And we need to do whatever we possibly can to protect our communities.

Thank you.

Thank you, Alan.

Margaret, go ahead.

Margaret, you have to accept to unmute yourself.

Are you there, Margaret?

Okay.

Margaret, we'll come back to you.

Omar, go ahead.

Good afternoon, council.

My name is Omar Lopez.

I've lived in Santa Rosa for the last over a decade now.

Um I want to echo all the thoughts and concerns that other people have said.

I am very worried about the path that this country is on.

Um, and I understand that you feel like your hands are tied in many ways, and I want to encourage you to really think outside of the box.

Um, but in regards to two things that I really want to encourage you to do.

Um, I'm very much against the Fox camera system.

I understand that's the bigger discussion.

Um, but within the specific scope, there are cities that you are sharing data with that have been caught sharing information with us.

Um specifically, the city of El Cajon is being sued by the attorney General for sharing data outside agencies.

Um, and they are very much doubling down on what they've been doing.

So you guys share data with them.

I would encourage you to reconsider that and to create some sort of policy that keeps track of that and enforces or ensures that jurisdictions you share data with are following the same laws and have the same sort of sentiments about the issue.

I also want to encourage you, you have a great app, the CNRSA app, it allows you to report a bunch of stuff, and I want to encourage you to consider allowing people to report ice through that and sharing that information with the North Bay Rapid Response Network.

Thank you.

Thank you, Omar.

TJ, go ahead.

TJ, you're gonna have to unmute yourself.

Okay, we'll try going back to Margaret.

We'll come back to you, TJ.

Margaret, are you able to unmute yourself?

Yeah, thank you for coming back to me.

You're welcome.

Go right ahead.

Um, I don't need to repeat the overwhelming majority of the sentiment shared here.

Um, sorry, my name's Margaret DeMatiu.

I'm a Sonoma County resident.

And I am just hopeful that we can use this opportunity to get ahead of what's coming, um, to meaningfully get ahead of it.

I think everybody has made all the points that I would make today, but I, you know, I just urge you um to look at all of the other jurisdictions that are tackling this issue already.

Uh we're we're behind the times in Sonoma County, and you know, it's easy to find that information.

It's easy to look at other ordinances and other non-cooperation agreements, and I urge you to do something with teeth, something that's enforceable and something that makes our communities feel safe, like actually safe.

And you know, people who are raising flock, all of these issues are interconnected.

The issues with surveillance, surveillance at our schools.

Just a recent news article today.

Um shows that local police aid ICE by tapping school cameras.

Uh, there was an audit that showed hundreds of thousands of audit logs spanning a month show police are searching a national database of automated license plate reader data, including from school cameras for immigration-related investigations.

I don't I don't know how else to spell it out.

Like these are all these issues are connected, and the things that are happening in Palestine are going to be happening here.

Um, we need to get ahead of this, and I urge you to take a meaningful action and a meaningful approach today.

Thank you.

Thank you, Margaret.

TJ, are you able to unmute yourself?

Yes, I'm here.

Thank you.

Right ahead.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, my name is Tammy Joe.

I'm a resident of Santa Rosa.

Um, a few things to consider.

When federal officers do break the law, since you know, y'all are behind the law so much and believe in the law, when they do break the law, when they show up, they illegally terrorize kidnap people with their face covered, they don't identify themselves, they smash windows, they don't have judicial warrants signed by a judge.

Uh, you know, they they are harassing, terrorizing, abusing people.

What are you going to be doing?

What um what protections are you putting in place for the people who are actually going to be showing up and protecting their neighbors, protecting their family?

Uh, you know, if your granddaughter were to try to be kidnapped, what protections would you like in place for yourself, for your husband, for your son?

What protections?

They don't they don't care if you're a city council member.

They don't care about any of that stuff.

We are human beings, and that is the bottom line here.

Um, so what what protections are gonna be put in place?

You know, since the the law is you're you're behind it.

What laws are you putting in place to protect this community from people who are breaking the law?

And Chief Officer, what are you gonna be doing when they are breaking the law?

I better be seeing you fight back for the people of this community.

That's I better be seeing that.

I would I and I also want to point out that IDF, the Israeli soldiers are trained training ICE.

All of the surveillance, all of the tactics, all of the technology is being tested on Palestinians that it's being sold back to us, and you are buying it.

You're buying it through Flock.

You need to be a warning residents that ring cameras are facially identifying them.

Not just their puppies, but them.

You need to actually be showing up for the community.

Stand behind your words.

We're tired of words, we want to see action.

Thank you, TJ.

Madam City Clerk, looks like we have no other hands raised in Zoom.

Thank you, Lauren.

To you, Mayor.

All right, we will close public comment.

Uh, but thank you for everyone here and online for participating.

I think we have underlined exactly how passionate this community is uh around this issue.

Uh we're gonna bring it back for final comments and for direction to counsel.

Whoops, I dropped my pencil.

Uh, but before we do that, Chief Cregan, there were a number of the commentators um asked questions around um issues of uh um sort of violent intervention by ICE and what and and how our public safety teams would respond, and then also around camera systems, information sharing, et cetera.

Maybe we kick off our our final session with you uh addressing both of those issues.

Absolutely, thank you, Mayor.

Uh the first one I want to be very clear.

If a Santa Rosa police officer observes a crime being committed in our community, and if you could pull the mic a little bit closer, that'd be helpful.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

I want to be very clear.

If a Santa Rosa police officer sees a crime being committed in our community, we will take action.

Uh, we actually have assembly bill 26 in California, and it applies to local officers, would it apply to federal officers as well?

Like a duty to intercede.

And so if the law says in an AB 26, if you see clearly excessive or unlawful uses of force, that's what the law says.

So if we see clearly accessible excessive or unlawful use of force, it's a two-pronged.

Not only do you have a duty to immediately intercede, but you have a secondary duty to report that unlawful or excessive force.

Our officers are trained to that, our officer, we have that in our department policy, and we will act.

There's just a clear distinction between clearly excessive or unlawful behavior and federal agents carrying out their duties as they're that's there's a very big distinction with those two.

Want to make that clear uh with it, but we'll continue to work, and like I said, our core mission is to protect the vulnerable from harm.

That's what the Santa Rosa police officers are gonna continue to do.

But staying within the confines of our oath of local, state, and federal law with it.

Those are the confines that we must stay in.

As far as the flock cameras, that's uh that's certainly a uh a robust community discussion that I hear from frequently from our community.

Uh unfortunately, what we see oftentimes is examples from states outside of the California that are used that don't have the same laws, policies, leadership as we have here in the state of California with it.

We have that we went through a lot of bills today.

Assembly Bill 34 is another one that really restricts and talks about state law in sharing uh ALPR data with anyone outside of the state of California were prohibited by state law of sharing with any agency outside the perimeter of Cal of the jurisdiction of the state of California, and specifically with federal law enforcement.

Now there's still a lot of concern, and the things that is really important for us to understand we have in our contract with Flock uh with it, and you've seen a lot of changes with even Flocks over the last couple years with it, that it's our data.

So, like by our contract, Flock cannot access, they cannot use, they cannot share our data with it.

You see examples uh perhaps from Texas or Kentucky or from Louisiana, where there's different things because there's different guidelines in the state of Texas than there are in the state of California.

There's different policies or different state law, so we can't, it's not apples and oranges to compare with it, but still, what I'm really doing as chief is really understanding what are some of the community concerns.

How can we learn from this?

How can I make sure that we're meeting the expaces of our community?

Our data is only held for 30 days.

One thing that's very important to understand is our police officers cannot access flock data unless there's some type of criminal investigation.

So there has to be a right to know and a need to know with a criminal investigation.

You can't just randomly look up community members, it has to be part of that criminal investigation.

We have to put the case number or the call for service incident number in there, the reason why we're doing that and under no circumstances can be shared with ICE, with any federal resources with it.

You've seen agencies across California where there's been answered there was one recently with a community here in the Bay Area.

From all of those, those have been user errors.

Those are agencies who aren't utilizing that data.

That's something that I take very seriously that we've had many times of checking the fell safes to make sure under no circumstances is any type of uh permissions that it would allow for it to share out of the state of California.

But we are.

I've had uh conversations even recently with council members on this and the concerns.

I'm working with my team to create a community meeting on this issue with it.

We've had a community meeting over our drone as first responder ideas and things like that, but we're gonna be creating coming up soon a community meeting, and I want to go through and outline some of the safety precautions we're taking as a Santa Rosa police department, but more importantly, hear from our community about what are things that you have concerns, what are things that you want to make sure the police department is doing, but I can say without a doubt that our data is not being shared outside of the state of California, and certainly with any federal immigration uh resources, but I still want to continue to hear from our elected officials and our community about ways that we can make sure this program meets our needs.

Thank you.

All right, opening it up to council for uh comments or thoughts.

Miss Ben Wellos, kick us off.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, let's see.

I first of all I want to thank the community for coming out and giving us their feedback in thinking about this for a long time, but I uh I think it was really important for us to hear from all of you and uh make sure that we incorporate as many things as we're able to do.

Um so of course I took some notes while you all were speaking.

Uh, one of the things I I guess I will ask uh assistant city manager to uh in terms of feedback.

I wonder if you all could bring, and this is a big one, could bring us back a um a kind of a compare, I guess.

Right now we are uh an indivisible city, and and that was passed in 2017, and at that time, that was during the first term of this administration.

Um, and while things were bad, they weren't as bad as they are.

Well, I don't know if you even can even compare it, but as they are now.

Um, and so it it it was probably I wasn't on the council at the time, but it seemed appropriate to be an indivisible city.

But I'm thinking things are really bad right now, even if we're not feeling all of those effects here in Santa Rosa, we could, um, and so I would really like to see um uh a sanctuary city ordinance so that we can compare it and and you know, because I'm thinking number one, things are much worse, but also um I I think the administrations is we're on their bad list anyway, being in the three lawsuits.

Um, and so you know, when I think about that, I'm not so worried about the repercussions, but I know there will be repercussions, and we know how vindictive this administration is.

So, I you know, so I would like to see that if if at all possible what that would look like, what that would mean if the city of Santa Rosa were to adopt such an ordinance.

Um something else that I heard um as we were talking about an ordinance things that we should include, and I can't even believe I forgot this, because I'm a legal observer as well, and that is the right to videotape ICE agents.

Uh one of the things that we've seen over and over again are people who are attacked while they're videotaping, which is a legal thing for them to do, and yet they're being attacked over and over again because the administration doesn't want the American public to see what they're doing.

So that seems to me to be something that we can add to our ordinance is that the that the public has a right to videotape.

They know they can't interfere, but they can videotape, and they should not be, you know, attacked for that.

Um, and while we're thinking about the issue of it being attacked, the um one of the things that Mayor somebody mentioned New York and Mayor Mondani, who I is my hero right now, um, he uh talked about something that they just passed, and I know that's New York, New York City, it's different.

Um, but that he said something about uh not allowing the public, his community, his city, to be abused, uh, and that is something uh that you know we we're talking about the use of force and all that, but to me abusing people because um uh the you know they're asking you why you're doing this to them, and then you you abuse them, you beat them up, and that's to me is abuse.

So I think that's something that we should look at, you know, on top of the use of force, which um, you know, because I think it's been pointed out.

The thing is they're breaking the law every day, and you know, to the extent that you know, we can have a strong ordinance, and I realize that they'll still continue to break the law as long as they're allowed to.

Um, that's why it is very important what we're doing with the resolution that we're gonna do later for the federal government.

Doesn't mean it's gonna happen, doesn't mean everything in our resolution is gonna happen, but we're trying to do everything that we can to help Congress have the teeth to fight back because they're the only ones that actually have jurisdiction over ice, and so and I recognize that.

I mean, I think we've all been doing our research.

It's it's an uphill battle for us, but I really think that to think about those things, um, and then um just I I know uh Chief Kriegan, you've gotten a lot of feedback, so have we about the flock cameras?

Um I wonder uh I saw I noticed that the city of Renner Park just revisited their contract, and I just wonder if maybe it's time for us to relook at our contract.

And I realize we can do that separately from this.

Not that they won't um overlap, but I think we shouldn't relook at it since it was passed.

I think it was before I came to this council.

So uh right before, I think.

Um let's see, uh just want to make sure I didn't leave anything out that I heard.

Um I think for me, those are the main things.

I I think I think Santa Rosa is a big enough city that we can think about actually becoming a sanctuary city.

I think that's really important thing to for us to consider.

And some of the some of the other things that we've talked about, of course, not to be allow the use of city properties and all of that for their staging, that needs to be incorporated, of course.

Um, but I think for now, those are the things that I would like to see when you all come back.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Gran Wellos.

We're gonna go now online to Miss Rogers, when we has her hand raised.

All right, can you hear me?

We can go ahead.

Okay.

Um, so first I want to express my firm stance against the activities of ICE and the use or any use that they may have a city-owned property um for their operations.

I do believe it's crucial to be transparent about my views, um, and providing a false sense of security is something that I do not endorse, and I do not think that the city council nor any other uh local governmental agency should provide that false sense of security.

Um, I do understand that silence in this matter is complicity, and we cannot afford to remain silent, but telling our constituents and our residents that they are are safe when ICE is clearly operating outside of the boundaries of the law where I am concerned, um, is not something that I am willing to do.

Uh while I recognize that this administration has shown divisiveness in his actions, I do not wish to take away the chief's ability to communicate with uh ICE agents.

This is allows us to have a pulse of what they're doing, what they're thinking, if they're coming into our community.

So I think that that communication needs to stay open.

Um, but I do think and I and I believe that uh this far it has aligns with our community's value of love, security, and safety.

Our community deserves to thrive in an environment where everyone feels valued and protected.

Achieving this requires um collaborative effort from all of us, including the city council, but also our community organizations and our community members, and let's commit to fostering a community that prioritizes compassion and support and support for all of our members because we all do belong.

This is our community.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Ms.

Rogers.

Uh, we'll go to Ms.

McDonald.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, so like Councilmember Rinwellow said, what I'd like to do is a crosswalk between our indivisible city resolution and what a sanctuary city would be.

So sometimes it's easier to amend a current uh policy and add language than it is to bring something completely new back to us because of the time it takes us for our own transparency.

So I think my concern is the timeliness of getting some language inserted quickly to protect our community members.

Um, as far as the ordinance versus a resolution, my understanding of a resolution is it's a statement of what we want.

An ordinance is actually how we do business, and I think that's what we need to make sure that we're putting in place is how do we want to do business in the city of Santa Rosa?

And so if it takes us a bit longer to ensure that that is drafted properly, to me, that's the thing that is the difference between performative and something that has teeth, as I said earlier today.

So anything we can do with that, again, going back to legislation that's passed, specifically the plier versus um Doe in Texas, that crosswalk between public spaces and education and how we can prevent that from happening on our public spaces.

There's got to be some way that you can connect those two.

Why is one public space protected but not ours?

Um I understand what uh city attorney said as far as if they pull a permit and they want to use, say, our a park, fine, pull a permit.

We can make them go through all that.

There's nothing that prevents us from announcing it on our social media and in our news where ICE agents are planning to be.

So from my perspective, that goes back to an ordinance.

If if we know that they're coming in to do things, there's nothing that prevents us from telling community members that this is what we know.

We know it might not result in the best relationship with ICE, but at this point, I don't think they're interested in having a good relationship with community members.

I think they're just interested in doing what they're being directed to do by this uh specific president.

Um, I see that we have some different resolutions.

Racism is a public health issue.

We stood in solidarity with the Asian Pacific Islanders during COVID.

Um, but I think using language that we have already adopted in an ordinance is also a good way to do business because it's something we've already committed to do long ago.

So it doesn't take as long to draft an ordinance if there's things that we can use.

Um, as far as our advocacy on this issue, we know that we're working with Cal Cities for uh us to work in this in the state of California, but I can tell you that it's going to take us working with national cities to create the movement that we want to have in Santa Rosa.

The advocacy has to come from doing the right thing.

It's not about a red or blue state.

This is about humanity.

This is about taking care of people in the community, immigrant populations, specifically in California, feed the world.

And that's the thing that we have to get across.

We have to make sure that those community members do feel safe in Sonoma County.

So that's where I'm coming from as far as uh policy goes.

That's what I'd like to see come back.

I know it's a lot of work to get an ordinance in place.

I just want to urge our staff as much as I can to prioritize this so that our community members know that we're hearing them and that we'll do everything we can to protect them.

My last comment is to go to Chief Cregan.

Thank you for the explanation of how we're using flock cameras.

I think it would be great if you could just review the contract, make sure there's no fine print that shows that they could potentially be sharing data and bring that back to council.

I do not want to tie the hands of our own officers to not be able to perform their job safely, but I agree with you.

If we see that anyone is committing a crime, it is our duty to step in, and it's good.

I'm glad to hear that you restated that today.

So I appreciate that.

And for all of our law enforcement in Santa Rosa for what they do to protect our community every single day.

So I think that pretty much covers my notes on what I'd like to see us work on and what I'd like to see brought back as soon as you can.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

McDonald.

Ms.

Fleming.

Thank you.

And thank you to staff for all of the work that you put into this, as well as again the community for taking the time to come out today and share with us your concerns and where you stand on this.

I'm gonna go ahead and talk about some of the policy points that I'd like to see and then respond to some of the arguments that I've heard tonight.

One thing that I find heartening is that a lot of other jurisdictions have taken action or in the process of taking action.

So there's not a great need to reinvent the wheel here.

So I'll just gonna go over some of the things that I've seen that I that I like.

Um the three jurisdictions that come to mind are San Jose, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County, and notably, of course, Santa Clara County had an ordinance and then uh hosted the Super Bowl last weekend and really dealt with these things or these concerns ahead of it.

Um so kudos to them for getting out ahead of it.

Um, Santa Clara has uh an ordinance rather than a resolution.

I'd like to see us do an ordinance, in addition to the resolution that I hope we pass later tonight.

Um, all of these jurisdictions address city or county properties, um, to one extent or another, and and I think that they do so.

Some of them do broadly and some of them specifically.

I know that it becomes an administrative concern around the breadth of this, but I would just offer that you know we're dealing with fascism here, and I'm personally comfortable uh defending our whatever we put forward in a court of law.

I'd rather go on the side of aggressively defending the residents of the city of Santa Rosa rather than trying to hit the legal mark on you nail on the head.

That's what judges are for, it's not what I'm here for.

I make a law and then a judge can can figure it out, um, whether or not they they think it's legal.

Um, in terms of um the definition and detail, um Alameda County's uh ordinance is um the resolution and policy is really detailed.

I think as much detailing as possible is good, but again, I don't think we should get caught up on this.

I think we should really focus on staging and operations as our point of entry, and then uh one of the things that I like that Alameda County has done is they not only have signage and barriers like the other jurisdictions, but they have a formal reporting system as well as an implementation mandate, um, which if we do an ordinance, it won't be necessary because that comes with an ordinance.

Um, and then Alameda County also has an existing non-cooperation policy, which I think could be potentially useful, and all this information if the city attorney doesn't already have it, is pretty easy to access.

Um, but I I wanted to speak to a couple of ideas.

One is that you know, why do it if it's not going to be enforceable?

Um, as far as I know, there's no case law showing that this is unforceable.

There's dozens of jurisdictions taking similar action.

Cities have municipal authority over our own property and so forth.

It's it's not that that complex of a concept, um, but happy to see that get get tried in a court of law.

The other is um, are we asking our department or police department to get between ICE and potentially break the law by defending the actions of ICE?

And I just want to say, you know, the officers of uh this the staff of the city of Santa Rosa, particularly our sworn men and women of the police department, um, do difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs every day.

And under no circumstances are we asking our police officers or city staff to break the law or obstruct federal law enforcement.

But it is not their job to facilitate paramilitary operations of the scale we're seeing in Minnesota.

And so, in my mind, it's simple.

In a moment where federal enforcement is a fig leaf for terrorizing immigrant communities, our local resources should not be used to support these enforcement actions that fall outside of the boundaries of local responsibilities.

And then another concept that I've heard that I I take, you know, issue with is the idea that this is only happening in big cities and we're drawing attention to ourselves.

And I just would say to that our immigrant, our immigrant neighbors deserve to know that their leaders stand with them regardless of the city size, not because of politics, not because of public safety.

Uh is strongest when people feel safe to participate in civic life.

I mean, look at this room.

We have folks who are like my parents and a few young people, a few people of color, but really when this generation, as this generation ages, we have to this younger folks have to come in and join across our generations to f force put ourselves between fascism and learn from the folks who fought this, whether it's in farm communities or in the cities in the 60s, we have to take action, and we can't think that appeasing fascism is going to be something that gets us the the good favor of this administration.

It's just not gonna happen.

So standing up for that principle strengthens our community.

I couldn't be prouder of the city of Santa Rosa.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Fleming.

Mr.

Alvarez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh assistant manager, uh, a little bit ago you read a list of all the demands that we've asked, and I heard a new one that that I don't think we included in there, and that was unmarked cars.

Was that included in the list?

Uh that's not been included at this point in time, but we did, as uh the chief mentioned, we are still looking at how do we identify how do we enhance and improve the identification of ice so that they don't uh conflict or are viewed as local police or municipal police officers.

Yeah, because it's my as my from from watching news reports, we see that they're using the word police very freely.

And I know that's that's not the proper way that or the way that they've done in the past, but apparently it's a new practice to really inflict uh terror and really misconstrue the the two different agencies.

So I'm wondering if we can actually also continue that research of of how to divide their vehicles from from those that are here to serve and protect.

Happy to include that.

Thank you.

Uh uh I know it's one of the goals of the administration to use fear and to still fear in our communities and sadly enough also by well-intentioned folks within our community, especially with through social media, uh, it's being used as a platform to educate or inform others of possible ICE presence.

And sadly it's it's been one that has only instilled fear, as there has been the the ICE presence that they seem to report.

And I'm wondering if we as a city of Santa Rosa have any resources or can create a method that was spoken about from one of our speakers to inform and alarm citizens when actual police presence is actually here, whether it's the website or uh our emergency uh systems.

Is that a possibility to use those in this case of or is in this incident?

I can answer for the emergency management.

We actually just met with uh Sonoma County's Department of Emergency Management.

Uh their director came and met with the chiefs of police uh just last week.

We discussed that issue, and there are some limitations with that, and the county expressed concerns about emergency alerts uh being used, and that was a pledge to the community they're only gonna be using for wildfires, for uh for more significant uh events, but we had conversations about uh some fill that this is an emergency in our community with it.

So the counties directive of this time, now they're not gonna use those emergency alerts for this.

And I think that we could look as a city for like what are other uh more viable paths to be able to alert our community in and we'll continue to look at that, but that's an ongoing conversation.

I will notice for the city of Santa Rosa to work with a lot of the nonprofits to maybe develop a system that could uh be uh customized to the needs of that specific group that that does want to know.

And I know a lot of the allies in this room would also love to be able to step in and and really uh advocate on on those that can't speak up for themselves.

So definitely I can see a lot of us uh uh signing up for that program.

And uh another comment that was made from uh one of our uh guests tonight is is a letter urging the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to also step up to also advocate on behalf of those uh and I hope that the city of Santa Rosa and with the support of council can can uh create a letter uh and and send it to our our our colleagues at the Board of Supervisors uh really just motivating them to also speak up thank you is that was that it Mr.

Alvarez perfect um well I'll add a I'll add a few thoughts I think the the um organizing principle for me is what actions can we take that have a that have real impact versus rhetorical declarations of one kind or another um and I want to applaud the city city staff for already taking a few actions that had real impact um as uh um uninteresting as it may be to talk about lawsuits the three lawsuits that this city that Santa Rosa participated in um along with other cities across the U.S.

including Minneapolis and St.

Paul we were all early signers on to lawsuits that protected cities like ours and like Minneapolis and St.

Paul from being negatively impacted by Trump administration efforts to cut off funding to cities for variety of critical programs the fact that we went in early and filed suits along with cities across the U.S.

that's that has kept tens of millions of dollars flowing into the city and allowed us to to apply for grants in the in in the future that that was that those legal efforts as um as unsexy as they may be had real world impact I want to focus I would like to focus on efforts like that that can move the needle with respect to some of the resolution and ordinance ideas that have been brought up the city attorney touched on it earlier and there are real constitutional questions out there right now around how cities can add teeth to whatever measures they put into place.

And again the city attorney touched on these I would be interested to know what the existing case law shows and what we can reasonably assume would allow the city to control it especially to control its own property and to have a very have a very clear discussion around what we could do in terms of as the city mentioned filing injunctions in particular cases or taking other kinds of of legal action that would give the city control over property and allow us to constrain ICE and and force it to comply with the kinds of immigrant with the kinds of policing procedures that we expect out of SRPD we expect out of the sheriff's office and other and other police forces a background question um madam city attorney if I if I could um and just miss fleming touched on it earlier many cities are looking at are having the same conversation that we're having tonight across the state and across the country in California at least the cities we've looked at the majority of them are looking at resolutions if I'm not mistaken in part because they're having the same questions that we're having internally around what what will the federal government actually respect and what can we enforce is that an accurate statement.

I think it's an accurate I don't know the the whys behind it but I think it is accurate that um the sort of first bunch that came out are resolutions it is true that uh as I'm understanding it that Santa Clara is an ordinance um and I do believe um that San Francisco is working on an ordinance as well.

Stan San Jose is a resolution correct San Jose is a resolution.

Okay and other examples Alameda is a resolution.

Okay.

And again, as you're as you're reading the news this is important for residents to recognize as you see that difference as as nuanced as it might be it's a signal that cities are trying to figure out what can they actually enforce Ms.

Rogers made an excellent point.

The last thing that we want to do is give our residents false hope and make grandiose claims about what we're gonna be able to do in order to to um constrain ICE when in fact as a as a federal law enforcement agency ICE has what will likely have different ideas about what his jurisdiction is and what the what the ability of the city to constrain its actions might be.

That's a very that's a very bright line that we need to we need to keep clear in the minds of residents even as we're pushing back in every in every area that we can.

Again in terms of things that are actually moving the needle uh it it sounds like words but it's actually the case that the fact that Santa Rosa along with all the other cities in Sonoma County are working with our federal electeds and I'll call out um uh Congressman Hoffman and Congressman Thompson in particular uh they have been they have been in close communication with us and vice versa in terms of what they're pushing forward at the federal level uh the the uh what's it's not a what's the word I'm looking for it's uh the I'll call it an initiative um the initiative that they're working with at the federal level which is to some extent bipartisan as as you've read includes most of the ideas that that uh Mr.

Alvarez uh mentioned earlier in terms of the changes to the changes to policing the changes to uniforms uh we went through uh a list of those earlier that's all percolating at the federal level to some degree with bipartisan support and in part that's due because they're hearing from cities across the US like Santa Rosa so I wanted to make it clear for this for this audience that Santa Rosa is in regular discussion with our federal elected representatives they are fully on board they like that we're having this discussion tonight and they are appreciative of the support as they push things forward at the federal level again we have there is some there is some reason to hope that we'll be successful there to some degree and it's again it's important to keep in mind that this is a federal problem that needs a federal solution and so Santa Rosa is part of our our um remit today is to try to figure out how we can help push along that federal solution which is ultimately what we need because we're not going to solve it with with local resolutions and local ordinances that might be um I'll just reinforce that I am interested in um looking at a potential next step in addition to the resolution that we're going to discuss today and that resolution I want to emphasize because of its impact at the federal level that's an important one but madam city attorney um and chief kregan when we when we bring that back I'd like it to be very clear what what our enforcement options are going to be there.

When we decide to limit any kind of of immigration enforcement action in the city what can we reasonably uh what what can what can we do that will actually have teeth knowing that there's a lot of ambiguity around that right now.

I think that's I think that's it from me.

I'm gonna look to my colleagues for any additional Miss Fleming.

Yeah thank you um I one thing I want to clarify is that we're not talking about limiting enforcement action we're talking about access to our private parts of our municipal spaces to my mind the only question on the table I heard you had four at least four in support of that but the only question in my mind is can they use the public spaces that are open to the public like parks and and parking lots for staging um but I don't feel any need to come back with that sort of legal analysis.

I'm fine to implement what we've seen in Santa Clara and if they want to challenge it we can join with all these other jurisdictions that have taken bold action to to stand with our immigrant communities.

Mr.

Alvarez a little bit of off topic a little bit ago I referenced a comment from a guest I had to correct myself you are not guests the reality is this is your house and I had to correct myself on that thank you.

My apologies Mr.

Alvarez I was distracted for a moment was that is that it no okay thank you so very important correction that I had to make it was it was way in heavy on the heart.

Apologies all right looking looking down the row here final thoughts then I will I will I will look to Chief Kriegan and assistant city manager nut there's been a lot of a lot of discussion this evening a lot of information has been thrown your way again this is a study session and so we're not taking any any action tonight but there is it does sound like there's there's a consensus from the council that we want to look at what other actions might be might be feasible in the future um including um some of the specific points that that Miss Fleming and others have have referenced do you have enough clarity to potentially bring something back in the future, or what questions can we answer?

No, thank you very much, Mayor I I actually think that we received enough information from the council that we can start to uh develop a conversation and um potential uh action options for the council in an upcoming meeting.

Perfect.

All right, then we will close this item.

Thank you very much thank you very much, Chief Cregan and sit and Assistant city manager Nutt, um, and to all the staff, Madam City Attorney, um, Madam City Manager, this was a robust session.

All right, we're gonna move on.

We are gonna go to item six, a report, if any, on study and closed sessions, madam city attorney.

Um, in terms of the closed session, there was no reportable action taken this afternoon in closed session, and we just held the study session that you all just heard.

Thank you very much.

Uh, and to the community members who came tonight, both in person and online, thank you again.

Thank you for sitting through this session.

All right, we're gonna take a little bit of a breather here, and we're gonna go on to our our item item 7.1, our proclamation for the evening in honor of American Heart Month.

And I'm pleased to turn it over to Ms.

McDonald.

Thank you, Mayor.

Tonight, I'm honored to do this proclamation.

Whereas cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death worldwide, and each year, more than 350,000 cardiac cardiac arrests occur outside of hospitals in the United States, with approximately 10% of people surviving, and whereas about 70% of those out of hospital cardiac arrests occur at home, meaning that people nearby, often family members, are the first most critical link in the chain of survival, and whereas immediate cardiopulmonary resuscitation can double or even triple a person's chance of survival, yet only 41% of people who experience cardiac arrest receive immediate CPR from someone nearby, and fewer than 12% receive aid from an automated external defibrillator AED before advanced help arrives.

And whereas the American Heart Association has set a bold goal to double survivor survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest by 2030 through its Nation of Life Savers initiative, empowering people everywhere to confidently perform CPR and use AEDs, and whereas straightforward community-based solutions such as CPR and AED education, public asset access to defibulators, and cardiac emergency response plans, C E R P S in schools, workplaces, and public spaces can save lives and strengthen community readiness.

Now, therefore, may it be resolved that our mayor, Mark Staff of the City of Santa Rosa, on behalf of the entire city council in recognition of our community, do hereby proclaim to be February 2026 as American Heart Month and encourage all residents to learn CPR, promote awareness and cardiac duress and emergency response, and join the efforts to build a nation of life savers in ensuring that every person everywhere is prepared to act in a cardiac emergency.

And I would like to just take one moment to say my father died of heart disease, and my mother died of a heart attack at home.

And if it was not for our emergency responders, I would not have been able to be there in time to tell her goodbye.

So this is very important to me.

Thank you for the honor of doing this.

Thank you, Ms.

McDonald, and thank you very much.

We'll do a quick round of applause first.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Is it Mary Pris?

Is it Mary Prisco?

Mary, come on down, grab a grab a microphone in front.

Uh we'd love thank you so much for being here and helping us absolutely come down and and pull up a chair next to a mic.

Thank you very much for being here this evening and celebrating uh American Heart Association Month.

Hi, well, thank you for your sharing your story.

That's quite touching.

Yes, I'm Mary Prisco, and I am the development director for the American Heart Association for the North Bay, and we really want to thank you for recognizing the American Heart Month this year and for supporting the mission of saving lives from heart disease and stroke.

This year, once again, we're building a nation of life savers, which you talked about.

Um, and we're spreading a prepare uh powerful message that you are a first responder till help arrives.

So that everyone is prepared to react in a cardiac emergency call calling nine one one and knowing how to perform CPR.

Over 350,000 people experience out of the hospital cardiac arrest every single year in the United States, and 90 percent are fatal.

So we have a goal, and we're starting to see the numbers change a little bit, um, to to increase that survival rate by 50 percent by the year 2030.

And as a member of the American Heart Association's Bay Area team, I urge the people of Santa Rosa to learn hands-only CPR.

I did, and so can you.

And hosting the annual heart walk in Santa Rosa in 2025.

And on behalf of the American Heart Association here in the barrier, thank you for this proclamation, and we're hopeful we see you all at Heart Walk next September.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mary.

Um, and we want to celebrate with a photo here in just a moment.

I'd love for that.

But first, we're gonna throw it open to public comment.

Are there any members of the public here today who would like to make a comment on American Heart Month?

Dwayne, do I see you moving to the podium?

All right, Dwayne, you're up.

Hello, sir.

My name is Dwayne DeWittam from Roseland.

I also happen to be a medic, and I actually want to thank the woman that's there speaking now.

And the young members of Troop 34 from the boys and girl scouts of America, some of whom are earning their first aid merit badge.

I think it's really good that they get it, and I think that we should do as much as we can to make sure that our youth learn CPR as young as possible so that they could be helpful.

Some youth die of sudden death from cardiac arrest.

It's a really good thing that we have this type of training available, but you have to pay for it.

We have to figure out a way to work with the American Heart Association to make sure that all the kids can get CPR and first aid response trainings for free, and that we should also find ways for adults to be able to get that CPR card, which is uh required in many jobs, especially anybody that works with health care.

So thank you so much for honoring these folks.

Thank you for paying attention to the fact that we need to deal with an epidemic of cardiac arrest deaths in our country and get more people trained to avoid having that happen.

If anybody can save you down the road, somebody that knows CPR could be the person, and that is so much important.

Thank you kindly.

Thank you, Duane.

Are there any other members of the public here in Council Chambers who would like to make public comment on this item?

Seeing none, we will I will throw it over to our city clerk to do uh I'm stumbling over my words.

I'll throw it to our city clerk to uh check to see if there are any online public comments.

Thank you.

Now is the time for public comments via Zoom to raise your hand.

If you'd like to make a comment via Zoom, please raise your hand.

This is for the proclamation on American Heart Month.

Mayor MC, no hands being raised.

Thank you, Madam City Clerk.

We will close public comment and I'll invite Mary to come up and take a photo.

All right, that was that was the fun portion of the evening.

Thank you again for coming out, Mary.

Um now it's now it's back to work.

We'll go to item 8.1, our community empowerment plan.

Ms.

Horta, is this your item?

Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and City Council.

I'm Anna Orta, community engagement manager with the communications and intergovernmental relations office, and I will be presenting the community empowering plan update for the month of February and the beginning of March.

On February on February 14th, Valentine's Day, Recreation and Parks will host its monthly park and month volunteer program at Coffee Community Park.

1524 Amanda Place from 9 a.m.

to 12 p.m.

Show your love for our parks by joining this family friendly volunteer work day.

Hand tools and gloves will be provided.

On February 21st, the City of Santa Rosa will be hosting the Dutch Floor Neighborhood Park opening celebration at Dutch Floor Neighborhood Park 1160 Exeter Drive from 11 a.m.

to twelve thirty p.m.

The newly renovated park reflects extensive community input and includes engaging and new features for all ages.

Games and fun activities are planned for the celebration.

The next cleanup is scheduled for February 21st.

All ages are welcome to participate.

Volunteers meet at Olip Park Footbridge near 1698 Hazel Street at 10 in the morning.

To sign up for this event, please visit Santa Rosa City Docorg/Calendar.

Also on February 21st, the Rural Cemetery Preservation Committee will host their monthly volunteer workday from 9 in the morning to 12 p.m.

Projects includes a cemetery beautification efforts such as landscaping projects, painting, and various maintenance work.

On March 4th, the Santa Rosa Fire Department will be hosting informational workshops to go over the proposed changes for the wildland urban interface map.

The first meeting is going to be at Finney Community Center 2060 West College Avenue in the Cyprus room from 6 30 to 8 p.m.

Feedback suggestions and comments can be emailed to Wildfire Ready at SRCity.

Attendees will hear about local programs, youth and gang prevention services, graffiti-related support and ways to report concerns and get involved in creating a safer neighborhood.

Finally, the Santa Rosa Police Department and the Santa Rosa Fire Department are proud to announce the second annual Women Leaders in Public Safety Symposium, a one-day professional development event designed to strengthen relationships across the public safety profession and build a more connected inclusive regional network.

The symposium will be held on March 6th at Finney Community Center, 2060 West College Avenue from 8 30 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

This event requires registration.

To register, please visit the Santa Rosa Police Department Facebook posting for the event.

And that concludes the Smoones Community Empowering Plan update.

Thank you.

As busy as ever, Ms.

Horta.

Thank you very much.

Bringing it back to council for questions.

Ms.

Ben Wellos.

Thank you, Mayor.

Just a really quick question, Anna.

What was the date for um Floor Park?

For the the floor is a month?

The I guess the floor park.

Oh, that is February 25th.

The Dutch floor.

Yes, February 21st from 11 a.m.

to 12 30 p.m.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Were you intending to use that as a way of underlining how many parks projects we have underway right now, Ms.

Banwelos?

That opening, the Southwest Greenway.

There's a lot of parks works in this in the parks work in the city right now, folks.

Anything anything else?

Any other questions from council?

All right.

Well, Anna, thank you.

Thank you for that.

And also just to highlight not just the parks, but you are you had um some notes in there about youth violence.

And the city is spending a lot of time on that right now, including your office, including the violence prevention partnership.

Thank you very much for that work.

Uh with that, we'll go we'll open this up to public comment.

DeWayne, would you like to speak?

All right.

And I do believe it's a good thing to have as much community empowerment as possible.

I volunteer for the city over in Roseland, doing some things.

Keeps me busy.

With that in mind, on Saturday, April 18th, from 10 in the morning till 12, we'll be at the Rosalind Creek.

We'll be doing our own Roseland Earth Day.

And our outlook on it is like, hey, just come on out there.

In the past, we were able to have Alistair Blythus from the City Creeks to help us with some equipment.

We'd like to get tuned in with Ms.

Horta better and get some uh announcements out and really make this happen starting uh tomorrow.

Perhaps I can catch up and she and I can find a way to get it up onto the city's website.

We've never had that in the past.

We'd really like to start having as much empowerment as possible over in Roseland, especially where we have volunteers working on not just Roseland Creek Park, where they like to call it Pomo Park now, and the Roseland Creek stewardship.

So thank you for your time.

I appreciate all that she does and all that you folks do as volunteers also.

Thank you, Mr.

DeWitt.

Are there any other people in council chambers that wish to comment on this item?

Seeing none, I'm gonna turn it over to our city current city clerk to facilitate online public comment.

Thank you, Mayor.

Now is the time for the public commenters on Zoom wishing to speak and provide comment on the community empowerment plan item to raise your hand.

If you are dialing in by telephone, you dial star nine to raise your hand.

Mayor, I'm seeing no hands being raised.

All right, thank you very much.

We'll close public comment looking for any final comments from council.

Seeing none, thank you very much, Ms.

Horta, for all the work you're doing.

We'll move on to item nine, our city manager and city attorney's reports.

Madam City Manager, any reports this evening.

Yes, Mayor, thank you very much.

This evening I just have a few updates.

One is that the violence uh prevention partnership in response to some recent incidents, um, has implemented several critical support and engagement efforts to assist our youth, families, and affected neighborhoods.

So I just wanted to go over a few of those.

Victim supportive services for youth impacted by gang violence, including engagement in case management services and referrals to outside services offered by community partners.

Another initiative that they're enhancing our undertaking is outreach and engagement to youth impacted by incidents of violence in the community, including support groups and individual check-ins with impacted youth, neighborhood engagement and education will also be happening.

In addition to that, uh the Santa Rosa Police Department and the community engagement team met with the South Park Coalition to share information about the city's response to these recent incidents, as well as available programs and services addressing youth and gang violence.

And VPP will continue to coordinate with community partners to ensure that our youth, families, and neighborhoods that are impacted by gang violence are getting the support and services needed to reduce the likelihood of retaliation and to prevent any future uh violence in the community.

So that's my first update, and thank you to the VPP for that.

Uh, second update is on the Rinkincon Valley Community Park Project.

You heard about some of the park projects underway earlier.

This is yet another initiative.

Our transportation and public works uh planning division, the parks planning division staff will be hosting a community meeting on Saturday, February 28th, and that's to review three exciting new playground design concepts developed from the public survey that we conducted last fall.

So on February 28th, staff will walk residents through each design option and gather their feedback to help shape the final park playground designs.

This is uh everyone's chance to weigh in on the three exciting new park playground designs and choose the one that they think is the most uh fun for our kids, and the meeting will be held from 10 30 a.m.

to one o'clock at Maria Carrillo High School and this in the small gym, and more information is available on our website.

And then last but not least, registration is now open for spring and summer activities with um our wreck and parks.

So visit centerosaur.com to sign up for swim lessons, day camps, fitness classes, top programs, senior activities, sports leagues, tours, community events, and much more.

Thank you.

That's all I have.

Thank you very much.

Madam City Attorney.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I have no report this evening.

All right, thank you both.

We'll open it up to public comment.

Would any members of the public like to make comment on either of those reports?

Janice, go ahead.

Yeah, thank you.

Um I'm happy to see that there's the park attention for Rincan Valley, but I came three times over the last six months or so about the roads from Calistoga and Highway 12, and it's supposed to be being worked on all the way to Maria Carrillo.

And I think that there is something really lacking in the mentality of the people here who are inspiring the projects, because we need to have the roads.

The roads need to get done.

And I was told, I don't know, November uh when I went to the bike and pedestrian meeting that it was on the agenda to do the road.

It still hasn't been done, and now we're talking about a park and a big deal for the park.

Let's do the road first and get the roads done.

Please do the roads.

Thank you, Janice.

Are there any other members of the public who'd like to speak on this item?

Uh I'm looking at this podium off to my right.

Ma'am, are you looking to speak?

Are you?

All right, then we will we will uh move on then to our online public comment.

Madam City Clerk, anybody online wish to speak?

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh now is the time for the public commenters on Zoom to raise your hand for item nine, the city manager and city attorney's report.

Please raise your hand if you'd like to make a comment.

Dow star nine if you are communicating via telephone.

Mayor, no hands are being raised.

Thank you very much.

All right.

We will move on to item 10: statements of abstention or recusal with council members.

Are there any statements of abstention or recusal this evening?

Seeing none, we will move on to item 11, our mayor and council members' reports.

Are there any mayor and mayor or council members' reports this evening?

Mr.

Alvarez, lead us off.

Appreciate it.

On a beautiful sunny day, it actually permitted uh the walk perfectly.

And I was very happy to see how engaged she are she is with the community and uh really happy to have you here.

And I'm hoping that that Rosalind treated you well, that district one treated you well, and that you got to see the beauty that uh that makes us who we are.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Alvarez.

Uh Ms.

Ben Wellos.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh, just really quickly, um, I uh just wanted to share that uh a few things that I did.

Um I uh attended along with other council members uh the series community project ribbon cutting a couple weeks ago.

Um, and that was um really special for me because I used to work for them.

And um uh just to see this uh them expanding into Rosalind, that that's where their new building is, which I think is really exciting.

Um so I really uh wish all of them well and uh especially, of course, um their founder Catherine Couch.

Um and then and then I uh went over to the children's museum, uh and some council members were there also.

Uh they um had an unveiling of a partnership that they are doing with Recology to teach uh children how to sort recycling.

And it was really it was if you're been to the children's museum, I mean it's it's amazing.

And I just was like, where was this when I was a kid?

And I was wanting to play with everything.

So um uh, but they had a little truck uh that looked just like a recycling truck, and it it taught kids how to sort.

So it was really amazing.

So if you ever get a chance to go out there, and they're really, as I told them, they're really a gem of Santa Rosa as well as Sonoma County.

And um, lastly, um, I don't even think I had a chance to mention this to any of my council colleagues.

Um, I became the uh vice chair of the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition.

So that's it.

Thank you.

Outstanding.

Thank you for that service.

Uh Ms.

McDonald.

Thank you, Mary.

Just attended a couple things for District Three, and I'd like to say um thank you to Midpin for the opening of Mahoe Mahoyan.

Say it for me.

Mahonia.

I'm always sorry, dyslexia gets me all the time.

Mahonia Glenn.

Um, it's exciting that they have 99 apartments there, and 44 of those have been set aside for our farm workers, and so I could not be more proud to welcome them to the community.

Um, it's so smart where they've built it, it's right across from our grocery stores and banks and places that they can eat, as well as um near an elementary school that folks can walk to.

So that was very exciting for me, and congratulations to the boosters of Maria Carrillo High School.

They had a very successful crab feed that I was able to attend this weekend.

And so, um, if you see schools or people trying to raise money to do good things for kids, I always just want to encourage the community to go to those.

Thank you very much.

Uh Ms.

Fleming.

Thank you.

Uh this past couple of weeks, we had a couple of great um events in the city of Santa Rosa.

One, as council member McDonald mentioned, the opening of Mahonia Glen.

And one of the reasons why I'm highlighting that here today is because a few years ago when the Santa City of Santa Rosa did our general plan update, we we elected to have a neighborhood type of um development across the city.

And Mahonia Glen is a great example of a development that puts housing where there's community services and people can get around quite easily.

It's really, it's really a great example of saying we're gonna do something and then it happening, and I think that in government we need to always be reminded when things do work, and so um it was just lovely to see all the families and and children occupying this this beautiful new multifamily residence out in uh district three.

And then we celebrated transit equity day a couple last week, and it was wonderful to see so many folks get on a Santa Rosa City bus.

Um just want to remind folks that the buses are free for youth, and I believe seniors um in the city of Santa Rosa, as well as the smart train is also free for youth and seniors, and we just um urge you to teach your kids to to ride the bus.

I'll be teaching my daughter to ride this summer.

It's um a great resource we have in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Uh, just a few quick things.

Um, let's see, uh last week the public safety subcommittee meeting uh, public safety subcommittee met.

Um the main discussion point on that was a uh discussion on the benefits of a regional training center for the police department and how that would not only save us some money from traveling, uh sending our officers uh on a almost minimum basis to get training, but um how it would better their training if it was here as well as could be um better than revenue neutral and actually bring some income into the city if we were able to get something like that started.

Um then on uh Saturday I had the benefit of uh attending along with some of my colleagues, the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Wine and Crab Fest, which is always a great event.

Uh it's a great event because you can see people like three days later and ask them if they went, and they said yes, and it's so huge.

You can spend hours there and never see them.

Um always a good time.

Uh and then yesterday our economic development subcommittee met, um, which just gave kind of a they just could did kind of an overview on the things that they're working on, which is a lot and more to come on those.

Um, and then finally, I would like to appoint Zach Missel to the bicycle and pedestrian advisory board, and that's it for me.

Thank you.

And Madam City Clerk, did you catch that that last appointment?

I did.

Thank you.

Wonderful.

All right.

Well, just two items from me.

On the 29th, we had the meeting of the long-term finance subcommittee.

Um, and we had our HR department and our legal department on the hot seat at that at that subcommittee meeting.

Uh, for those for those of you who are skeptical about how cities work and you know what what goes on inside a city department budget, then the long-term finance committee is the is or subcommittee is the meeting for you.

Um next week, I think we've got fire up and one other department.

I'm forgetting which.

So tune in for that, but it was a good discussion.

Uh and then on the 7th, on Saturday, the seventh, we had a great town hall here at our central branch of the library downtown.

We had uh assembly member Chris Rogers, our former colleague, uh, as well as Senator Mike McGuire, uh, and then I participated as well.

Uh we had about a hundred, we were it was live streamed and we had about a hundred people in attendance talking about all the issues locally and federally, including um uh ice enforcement.

Uh it was a two-hour discussion, uh, well attended, and um thank you to Assemblymember Rogers and to Senator McGuire for uh for bringing that to Santa Rosa.

And that concludes my report.

Let's open it up to public comment.

Are there are there any is there anybody in council chambers that wishes to comment on mayor's and council members' reports this evening?

Ms.

Flores.

Uh thank you, Mayor Stopp.

I just wanted to echo your comments.

I appreciated the town hall that was held on Saturday.

I emailed the city ahead of time to let you know that if I did not have the chance to speak to Senator McGuire since he's not answered emails for the last six years that I would be exercising my first amendment rights outside the transparent window.

So I let uh Chief Cragen know I let all the politicians know, and uh you respected that request, and I was allowed to do exactly what I requested.

So thank you.

I was glad to keep it cordial, God bless you.

Thank you, Ms.

Flores.

Are there any other members of the public in council chambers that wish to speak on this item?

Seeing none, I'll turn it over to the city clerk to facilitate online public comment.

Thank you, Mayor.

Now's the time for public comments on item eleven, the mayor and council members' reports.

If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand if you wish to provide a public comment.

That is a star nine execution.

If you are participating via telephone, mayor, I'm seeing no hands being raised.

Thank you very much.

Uh and actually I realized I had a big oversight.

I we have our online colleague this evening, who I did not give a chance to do a uh uh or to share her her um report.

Ms.

Rogers, with apologies.

Can we can we go to you and and give us an update from the past couple weeks?

Um a lot has been going on, but I just wanted to point out that we were able to do the transit equity day.

Thank you for mentioning that.

So Miss Fleming, yeah, Miss Fleming made note of that, and um we had a few of us in attendance as well as a great community participation.

That's turned out to be a really great annual event for the city.

I think it's our our fourth year doing it.

Um, and so thank you to so many of you for coming out both on council and in the city.

Any uh any other reports from your end, Miss Rogers?

Uh no.

All right, thank thank you very much.

And Miss Uh or Madam City Clerk, anything else online?

We do need to circle back and take public comment again after council member Rogers report out.

Of course, that was my mistake, everyone.

All right, back to back to Council Chambers.

Anybody in here wish to comment after Miss Rogers made her report?

Uh Ms.

Rogers mentioned again that uh uh our the city celebrated transit equity day.

Anything online, Madam City Clerk?

I am not seeing any hands be raised, but let me call quickly.

This is for public comment on the final mayor's and council member report from councilmember Rogers.

Please raise your hand if you'd like to provide public comment via Zoom.

I'm seeing no hands be raised, Mayor.

Thank you very much.

Alright, we'll conclude public comment.

Apologies again, Miss Rogers.

Let's move on to item uh 11.2, our board, commission, and committee appointments.

So we had um this is a bit of a pro forma art uh item this evening.

We had actually fewer applicants than positions open for a number of our board positions.

Um I'm gonna turn it over to Miss McDonald to coordinate to facilitate this if you don't mind.

I'll go ahead and put the motion on the floor and then if there's any discussion and call for public comment.

Oh actually, let's uh let's call for public comment first then.

Sure.

I think that uh to make sure we do this correctly.

So this is for um board commission or board and committee board and commission and committee appointments to uh to three of our city boards um and it's the um water advisory committee, it's the design review uh and it's the design design review board.

Uh and then uh some remind me what what the BOBRA acronym stands for in total.

Madam City Clerk.

Board of Building Regulation Appeals.

I was gonna get I was gonna get close, but I wasn't gonna be able to do it exactly.

So these are for uh we have applicants to each of these positions.

Are there any members of the public that would like to comment on the applicants uh or the open seats for either for any of these three boards?

Seeing none in council chambers, uh Madam City Clerk, anything online?

If you would wish to provide public comment on these appointments, please raise your hand via Zoom.

If you are participating by via telephone, mayor, I'm seeing no hands being raised.

Thank you very much.

All right, we will close public comment and I'll turn it over to Ms.

McDonald to make a motion.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, if there's no objection to the council, I'd like to make a motion in gross.

Thank you.

Um I'd like to move to appoint John Gordon, Eric Miller, Janine K.

Sabir, and Tamara DeSenso to the Board of uh Building Regulation and Appeals, appoint Ingrid Anderson and Nathan Bisby to the architect positions and Catherine Dowdall to the architect archaeologist position on the design review and preservation board, and Art Dyke, Steve Rab Rabanovich, Kevin C and Victoria Limptak to the Waterways Advisory Committee and waive further reading of the text.

So almost a tie.

We'll get that one to Mr.

Alvarez though for the second.

So Madam City Clerk, we have a motion and a second, and you can call the vote whenever you're ready.

Thank you.

Councilmember Rogers?

I.

Councilmember McDonald?

Aye.

Councilmember Fleming?

Yes.

Council Member Ben Mellows?

Yes.

Councilmember Alvarez?

Aye.

Councilmember or Vice Mayor O'Krepki?

Aye.

Mayor Stepp.

Yes.

Let the record show this passes unanimously.

Thank you very much.

Alright, we're gonna move on to item 11.3.1.

This is uh pertaining to the mayor's appointments to regional positions.

This is a bit of just of housekeeping here.

Um Miss Ben Wales and I, we have served as the the alternate and primary respectively for the past couple of years.

Um, and Miss Ben Whalis has taken on some new new responsibilities, and so um we've thought we might switch that around just to save save her some time.

Uh, but we'll both be still serving the uh the um Russian River um uh watershed association.

Uh and so that's the that's the item.

I'll call for public comment first.

Are there any members of the public that wish to comment on the on the uh this this change in appointment to the Russian River watershed?

So the Russian River Rotter Set Association is a regional group that um deals with the obviously the health of our our waterways, and as I mentioned, uh Miss Ben Waylis and I have it have served on that committee for the last couple of years, and now we're s we're just changing roles between primary and alternate.

Are there any members of the public that wish to wish to speak?

Seeing none in council chamber.

Madam City Clerk, anybody online?

If you'd like to provide public comment on the Russian River watershed appointment, please raise your hand via Zoom.

Dial star nine if participating via telephone.

Mayor, there are no public comments or hands being raised via zoom.

We'll close public comment then, and I'll ask for uh um uh a motion and a second.

So moved.

Second.

Alright, we have a motion by Mr.

Krepke and a second by Miss McDonald.

Madam City Clerk, whenever you're ready.

Just clarify the motion is um uh Mr.

Mayor, you would be the primary and council member Ben Willis would then be the alternate.

Is that correct?

Correct.

Thank you, Mayor, Councilmember Rogers?

Aye, Councilmember McDonald.

Aye, Councilmember Fleming?

Councilmember Ben Welluth?

Yes, Councilmember Alvarez?

Aye.

Vice Mayor O'Krepki?

Aye.

Mayor Stapp.

Yes.

Let the record show this passes with seven affirmative votes.

Thank you very much.

All right, we'll move on to item 12.

Our approval of minutes.

Uh, we have three.

Well, we have two sets of minutes with the January 13th minutes, or no, I'm sorry, we do have three sets of minutes.

January 13th, 2025, January 20 or 2026, rather, January 27th, 2026, and January 28th, 2026.

Uh, any amendments to any of these sets of minutes from council?

Seeing none, any members of the public wish to comment on any of these three sets of minutes?

No, seeing no one in council chambers, madam city clerk.

Anyone online?

If you'd like to provide comment on the minutes as presented, please raise your hand via Zoom.

Star 9 if you are participating via telephone.

Mayor MC, no hands being raised.

Thank you very much.

All right, we will close public comment and we can adopt all three of those sets of minutes as submitted.

Which brings us to consent and our new streamlined consent format.

Um are there any questions regarding the consent calendar uh today?

Any questions, any items be polled?

Down the row, seeing none.

Um, and it's and for the public's um uh information items 3.1 and third or 13.1 and 13.7 are being continued to the February 27th, 2026 regular regular meeting.

Uh we'll open this up for public comment on the minutes or on consent items rather.

Uh Mr.

DeWitt.5.

I want to thank well.

First, congratulations to Miss Ben Wales being the vice chair of that homeless committee.

I wanted to thank uh Catholic charities and Caritas for what they've been doing.

With the rain here right now, though, we need to do something more, not just have folks under the underpasses trying to find rest on the concrete, which is happening, and you can drive out from here tonight and see that.

I do believe that the vacant lot at the corner of the Caritas site also should be used for some sort of shelter, shelter approaches, so that these homeless people who do not have cars will be able to have a dry, warm spot in from the rain.

You might think, well, that's a little bit too much to ask, but there's a fence up around it now.

The Catholic charities folks control the land.

Let's just ask them to put in a gate and open it up on rainy nights to tents.

This is something that's done in many other places, and it helps them.

It's the kind of thing that when the rain comes, the homeless people know they'll have a dry spot to be and they can be safe also.

This is really important.

I mean, at the turn of the century, it was pointed out that if the homeless people don't have a place to be sheltered, they risk perishing, dying, and it happens far too often.

And we have it happen here in our town.

We have people die along the creeks.

People live along the creeks right now, and the rain comes, their stuff washes away, or it sits there, and then their sleeping bags are wet, and they're trying to find a way to survive in this type of wet weather.

So this is just a uh it's just this is humane.

This is a basic request for some more humanity from Catholic charities.

They're doing what they can.

They could do a bit more, and there's a way that you folks could ask them to do a bit more.

So please do that for them and those homeless out there tonight in the rain.

Thank you, Dwayne.

Any other members of the public wish to speak?

Janice, the floor is yours.

Janice Carmen.

Um I want to comment on uh 13.4 approval of grant of easement to P<unk>E over a portion of the city owned property located at Harville Road.

And um I've gone three times to the public utilities commission, I believe I came here at least once.

I've complained about EMFs.

Is like really affected.

This has happened since the illegal action that was taken with cooperation of the city across the street from me of the clear cutting.

It was responsible for me running for city council originally against Diana McDonald.

And uh I have called PG and E, they came out, they said what they were going to do was uh there was uh a surge of um solar that was coming to my property and that they were gonna have somebody come and evaluate and take care of it.

And what they did is they also retaliated, like the city did by sending me a violation for the curb when I've lived in my house for 40 years, and it doesn't uh appear that it um affects me, but I have been retaliated against by the city, now I'm being retaliated against by P<unk>E.

And what they did is they came out and sneakily changed my meter to a smart meter.

So now I've got a bigger problem than ever, and I can hardly control my heat.

So I don't think you should do anything for PGE till they do what they say they're going to do when they're going to take care of properties, people and pay the uh lawsuit that was previous when they haven't even greeted the old people with paying up on the uh lawsuits.

Thank you, Janice.

Anybody else in council chamber wish to speak?

All right, we'll move to online.

Madam City Clerk, anybody online or on the phone?

It is now time for public comment via Zoom for the consent calendar.

If you would like to provide a comment, please raise your hand.

Dow Star 9 if you are participating via telephone to provide public comment.

No hands are being raised, Mayor.

Thank you very much.

We'll close public comment and I'll bring it back to the vice mayor for a motion.

Make a motion to adopt consent items 13.2 through 13.6.

We have a motion, and that one I'll I'll give to Miss Rogers for the second.

And Madam City Clerk, you can call the call the vote whenever you're ready.

Thank you.

Council Member Rogers?

Aye.

Councilmember McDonald.

Aye.

Council Member Fleming.

Councilmember Ben Wellos.

Yes.

Councilmember Alvarez.

Aye.

Vice Mayor O'Krepki?

Aye.

Mayor Stapp.

Yes.

Let the record show this passes affirmatively or unanimously with seven affirmative votes.

All right.

Uh with apologies to those of you who've come out tonight.

I know you've been waiting.

Uh, we've been at it for five and a half hours straight.

We are gonna recess, and I promise you this for 15 minutes.

We have a 50-minute research recess for us to eat a little bit of dinner, and then we will be back.

So uh we'll see you at 5 45.

Thank you, everyone.

Time is five forty-five, and we we will uh reconvene an open session.

Thank you all for your patience.

Madam City Clerk, would you please call the roll?

Thank you, Mayor.

Councilmember Rogers.

President.

Councilmember McDonald.

Here.

Councilmember Fleming?

Here.

Councilmember Ben Wells?

Here.

Councilmember Alvarez.

Vice Mayor O'Krepke.

Here.

Mayor Stop.

Here.

Let the record show all council members are present.

Thank you very much.

All right.

We're going to start off with our first public comment on non-agenda matters.

And then we're going to go to the MLK park discussion.

I know we've got folks who are here from the bicycle pedestrian overcrossing as well.

Um, but right now let's go to item fourteen, our first public comment on non-agenda matters.

Are there any members of the public?

Uh, and I should I should actually uh mention uh we've got obviously got um zoom comments as well and phone com comments as well because we have Miss Rogers participating um online and we're doing two minute public comments tonight for all of our public comment uh sessions, including this one.

So are there any is there anybody in chamber that would like to make comment on items not listed on the agenda?

We will start off.

Uh all right, Janice, I see you there, but then we're gonna go uh Robert Gilford and Dwayne DeWitt.

Please use both lecters so we can keep this moving.

Um Janice, go ahead.

Two minutes.

I also went to the uh crab feed on Saturday night at uh Maria Creo, our former creole high school.

Uh I was there for uh previous events going back to when my son was in school beginning of the two thousands or so.

But anyway, uh it was a a great um organized event uh for the people and they really uh catered to a lot.

And it was just perfect.

The table settings were beautiful.

Uh the the way they did the food was amazing.

I've been to a lot of crab feeds in my life.

Uh my father was a coanas worker and he used to cook 350 pounds of corn beef at uh on the Irish Day.

Uh St.

Patrick's Day.

But uh, but anyway, I just want to say that when you see these community events and they're in your area, uh, you don't have to be shy about going.

Uh, just go.

And you see a lot of people and a lot of activity, and you kind of get the word of what's going on, and it was good to see so many kids that uh volunteered and participated, and it was just a fabulous event.

I just wanted to say that.

It was nice.

Thank you, Janice.

All right, Dwayne and then Adina.

Hello, my name is Dwayne DeWitt.

I'm from Roseland.

I wanted to thank all of you for the time you put in on trying to understand all the difficult issues.

And I also wanted to ask you to look deeper into the institutional history of the city.

Some of you might not know we had an open government task force years ago, after Andy Lopez was brutally killed.

There was a lot of people who were quite concerned about that death, and it led to a protest in which people came here to City Hall, and one of the council members raised his voice to the city attorney, and one of the city staff turned it into a mountain instead of a molehill.

And that city councilman then went through a process and there was a censure, which I believe was unneeded and definitely overbearing.

And I bring this up right now because I really feel that we're missing what the recommendations of the open government task force were about, and we're not really abiding what the open government task force recommended that the City of Santa Rosa's elected officials and higher staff members do, especially for public notification on meetings, especially for letting people have a better understanding about an issue that's going to be brought up by having it actually explored in the agenda.

What we've been doing is minimizing what information comes out.

We've been basically deliberately keeping folks still in the dark on important issues that their taxpayer money goes forward to be used for.

A lot of taxpayer money gets spent on things that the taxpayers would like to have more information about, but you folks hold it close to the vest.

And in my volunteer position, I'm kept from information.

Please don't do that.

Abide by the open government task force.

Thank you, Duane.

Ms.

Flores.

Good evening, counsel.

Recently, I inquired about the Santa Rosa Police Foundation because their website and their Facebook page says they're a 501c3.

I audit nonprofits constantly, but according to the attorney general's office and the IRS, there's no record of them at all.

So I've asked for their Form 990s now for almost a week and a half.

They're paralegal to Laura Rosenthal, who was the legal advisor for the foundation.

She subscribed to my substock publication, but they've still not been able to provide those documents.

So this is concerning because they were operating the gun buyback in 2022.

And as a Christian, I know that if we're not telling the truth in one area, we're probably doing it in another.

So right now it looks like there's no record of where the money or the guns went.

So that's a lawsuit against you guys immediately.

And I did let Chief Cragen know.

And I'm further concerned because I am the former executive assistant to the board and superintendent of Santa Rosa schools.

I've been reporting for the last several years and I'm actively in court because there is an active child trafficking ring that is running here rampantly, and you guys target whistleblowers.

So my co-defendant, Miss Laura Ainsworth, and I are advocating for over 40 Latino children that were raped at boys and girls club.

Although the predators doing 150 years, and our oldest victim was deported, they're refusing to pay them restitution.

So eight officers were sent to arrest Miss Ainsworth at Santa Rosa Junior College where she teaches for reporting that her husband, who was a teacher at Luther Burbank Elementary School, which is within the Santa Rosa School District, that he potentially had uh possession of child pornography and also severely injured her.

Her hand was broken.

Uh, she's been in a coma for a while, I think it was a week, and uh so it's just weird that you guys are targeting whistleblowers.

So God bless you, lawsuits coming.

Thanks.

Thank you, Miss Flores.

Is there anybody else in council chamber that wishes to make a comment on an item not listed on the agenda?

I don't see anyone here.

Let's move on to online and phone then.

Madam Speaker, is there anybody online who wishes to make a comment?

Thank you, Mayor.

Now is the time for members of the public via Zoom to provide public comment on item 14, public comments on non-agenda matters.

If you'd like to provide comment, please raise your hand.

If you're participating via telephone, please dial star nine if you wish to provide a public comment.

I'm seeing no hands raised, Mayor.

Thank you very much.

Okay, we will close public comment and we will move on to our public hearing for the evening.

Item 16.1.

This is our public hearing uh focused on the adoption of a master plan amendment for Martin Luther King Jr.

Park and Trail.

I think we have uh is it Miss Ander and Miss Tibbet or Miss Dander and uh Mr.

Zajak.

Mr.

Ruman, apologies.

I saw I had two names listed here.

Uh my apologies for the the wrong name.

Welcome to you both.

Good evening, Mayor Stapp, Council.

My name's Emily Ander, Assistant Parks Planner, and tonight I have with me Dave Rubin, principal with Calendar Associates.

We're so very happy to finally be in front of you to present the master plan amendment for Martin Luther King Jr.

Park and the adjacent trail that it connects it to Padalima Hill Road.

I want to begin by giving appreciation to the South Park neighborhood as well as the larger community who cherish, use and care for this park, and who engaged in the city's planning process.

I especially want to raise up the South Park Coalition, the South Park Football and Futsal Clubs, the Sonoma County branch of the NAACP, and Sonoma Cannes.

These community groups literally brought their networks of supporters to the meetings to engage in the planning process.

And without them, the master plan and the future implementation will not be successful.

The purpose of any park planning process is to determine the park amenities and improvements needed and desired by the community and to translate and represent those needs and desires into a plan.

And that's what you'll see this evening.

That plan then guides the future design and development process.

Going into the master plan, we knew we'd be planning for both the trail and the park.

And we knew these public spaces have been part of the community in some form since 1887.

Meaning they have a long history and they should be integrated into the planning and implementation process.

We also knew that we had grant funding to help with the revitalization.

As for the goals of this project, we knew the amenities and improvements in the master plan must meet the daily recreational needs of the neighborhood while also providing flexible gathering space for community events like Vince Harper's Day and Night Festival in Juneteenth, as well as community activities like youth soccer.

We needed to incorporate the existing Head Start preschool campus run by Sonoma Cannes.

And most importantly, the plan must improve the safety of the park.

It must be a place where families, youth, and neighbors feel welcome and comfortable.

I am heartened to know that most of you already know where this park is, as I've had the pleasure of seeing you at the MLK Day of Service.

For those of you who don't know, MLK Park is located in Southeast Santa Rosa in the historic South Park neighborhood across Henley Street from the horse track at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

MLK Park is classified as a neighborhood park, and neighborhood park support.

The daily recreational needs of residents who live within a half mile of the park.

This is more easily understood as it should take you 10 minutes to walk from your house to the park.

And the pink dashed line on this map shows the park service area.

This slide shows the existing condition of the park amenities and the existing layout.

Based on the 2022 Santa Rosa Parks Condition Assessment, MLK Junior Park ranks as the third highest priority for improvement of the 49 neighborhood parks that were assessed.

The importance of this slide is for you to see and to understand the current layout of the park amenities so that you can compare it with the layout in the new park master plan.

Community engagement for this project began in January of 2024.

We held eight stakeholder meetings.

Excuse me, yeah, that's right, meetings, and three community meetings, and we're part of seven community events.

For a park planning process to be successful, the community members who are participating in the planning process must also be regular park users.

We're pleased to find out the majority of meeting attendees and survey respondents were residents of Southeast Santa Rosa, they use the park at least monthly.

Almost half use the trail regularly in spite of its condition and the illegal dumping and gang activity that often occur there.

All ages were well represented with the exception of 15 to 25 year olds.

The community's top three goals for improving the park and trail were providing play opportunities for all, increasing the safety of the park, and providing gathering spaces to socialize and celebrate.

The top requested park amenities at the beginning of the project and really throughout the project were shade, shade, shade, shade structures, shade trees, additional drinking fountains, dedicated space for an event stage, public art rooted in history, fitness equipment, and an enhanced soccer field.

These goals and amenities led to the creation of three plan alternatives, which you see here and which were presented to the community at the second community meeting.

All three generally include the same amenities and improvements, however, they are arranged in divergent layouts in order to elicit strong feelings from the community regarding what they liked and what they disliked.

We learned that additional parking, as shown in alternative one, was not considered a good use of the precious park space.

There is wide support for maintaining the soccer field, but not allowing it to dominate the park as shown in alternative two.

Alternatives two and three received nearly equal support from the community, so calendar associates took these two plans and combined them into one preferred draft master plan.

This slide shows the park master plan that we're presenting to you this evening for your consideration.

We went through multiple iterations of the preferred master plan to arrive at this version.

It maintains the central promenade with an enhanced soccer field in the southern half of the park and the other major park amenities in the northern half of the park.

The master plan is overlaid with the community's prioritization for the major park amenities in case the city is unable to include everything shown in the preferred master plan.

You see that the enhanced soccer field was the highest priority, and additional parking was the lowest priority.

More shade, safety, play opportunities for all, and gathering spaces remain the top priorities throughout the planning process, and those are reflected in the master plan.

With that, I'll hand it over to Dave to walk you through the park and trail master plan.

Thank you, Emily.

The next series of slides is really meant to be a virtual walkthrough of the master plan showing more of the details starting with the central walkway.

For anyone that's been to the park, you know, this central walkway is a strong defining feature of the park today.

Lined with beautiful, mature London plain trees, as you see, an example of that on the photo on the right.

The design preserves these trees in order to take advantage of the wonderful shade that they provide.

We envision that this central walkway will serve as the community's front porch and further celebrate it by providing a variety of seating options, including porch swings and picnic tables.

These additions are intended to facilitate more community interactions and allow parents to watch their children playing on the playground or on the soccer field.

Here's a photo of the central walkway as it currently exists, looking west towards Temple Avenue.

Here you can see the character of the space and all of the shade that those London plains provide.

This next slide shows how the design would incorporate porch swings and picnic tables tucked in between the existing trees to take full advantage of the shade.

You can also see the playground in the background to the right, and also the relationship of the central walkway to the soccer field to the left.

Note that we're proposing goal netting directly behind the soccer goal to help prevent soccer balls from getting into the walkway and points beyond.

Next area I wanted to discuss is what we're calling the heart of the park.

This area includes a large central lawn space, a tree-shaded group picnic area, a new restroom building, and a large picnic shelter that would function both as a covered stage and reservable picnic shelter.

This structure would span across the large picnic area and into the open lawn.

On this slide, you can see what the picnic shelter might look like in terms of size and scale in the upper right corner, as well as the shaded picnic areas and group barbecues that could go in that space.

Here's a photo.

So this is looking towards Henley Street and the fairgrounds beyond of this area.

And then here's what it could look like.

The heart of the park could look like with the large central lawn anchored by the picnic shelterslash performance stage.

This structure would be designed to accommodate concerts and other community gatherings at the park.

Shaded picnic tables under the trees are shown on both sides of the main shelter, allowing groups of different sizes to come together.

You can also see the restroom building far in the background, close to the central walkway.

The play zone is located between the heart of the park, the preschool, and the central walkway.

The design proposes age-separated play areas, so that's two to five and five to twelve as two separate play areas, but in the same vicinity, with shade and seating for parents and kids alike.

As we go through the construction document phase, we will be finalizing the design of the play areas, and we'll be taking into account all of the great input that we got from the community during the outreach phase.

The court zone is located on the north end of the park or to the left of that open lawn.

The design for this area provides separate dedicated basketball and footsal courts.

The basketball court can also be utilized as overflow space or as a flexible gathering area for larger park events.

Between the courts, we've located a cluster of fitness equipment as well as a small picnic area.

And lastly, the design proposes a small spectator seating area next to the footsall court that's integrated into the slope.

So here's a photo of the existing play area where the court zone is proposed, looking south towards the preschool and Temple Avenue beyond.

And then here is what the court zone could look like.

So you've got the basketball court in the foreground with the fitness cluster, picnic area, and footsal court beyond.

A history walk is also proposed between the court zone and the central walkway as an idea to honor the legacy of Dr.

Martin Luther King.

This could be expressed in a number of different ways, including through pavement treatments, interpretive signage, and art features.

The south half of the park would remain dedicated to soccer but would be converted to synthetic turf and served by new sports field lighting.

The synthetic turf system selected will utilize PFAS free turf and a natural infill material.

Surrounding the field would be a low perimeter fence, enclosing the field and providing space for small bleachers and player seating.

Goal netting is proposed behind the goals at each end of the field, and storage for field equipment and soccer goals is located on the Hendley side of the field in the upper right corner.

So other amenities that I haven't talked about yet.4 mile walking loop indicated on the plan by that light red dashed line around the park, so that allows people to do a lap.

There's also a class one path that runs along Henley and extends down the trail.

This path along Henley is a broad sidewalk that accommodates pedestrians and bicyclists alike.

The plan also includes raised crosswalks at both Milton Street and Fraser Avenue, which were requested by the community to help mitigate speeding along Temple Avenue next to the park.

We've also got lighting proposed for the court zone at the north end of the park as well as for the soccer field, as previously mentioned.

And the plan includes shade trees throughout the park to supplement the existing trees to remain.

We've also included drinking fountains at the restroom and between the courts.

The plan also proposes to fence the preschool area to provide improved access control.

And lastly, the plan provides space along temple for a drop-off area.

It should be noted that street parking would still remain in that drop-off area along Temple.

Okay, so shifting now to the trail.

So we are proposing a significantly enhanced trail connecting the park to Petaluma Hill Road.

And just to orient you on what you're seeing here on the slide, the trail begins at the park in the upper left corner of the slide.

And because of its length, we're showing it shown into three segments as it extends west.

The trail terminates at Petaluma Hill Road, shown in the lower center of the slide at the location labeled trail entry.

The entire trail is proposed to be lighted, paved, and designed with sufficient width to accommodate police vehicles.

Planned enhancements also include improved connections at Duterk, Grand, and Rutledge, where those meet terminate at the trail.

At Petaluma Hill Road, a formalized trailhead is proposed to clearly announce and celebrate the presence of a public trail, which you can see an enlarged view of in the upper right corner of the slide.

Overall, the goal of the trail improvements is to activate the corridor, make it comfortable, safe, and intuitive for public use.

Here's a photo of the existing trail from the south end of the park looking west towards Petaluma Hill Road.

And here is what the trail could look like being fully paved with open sight lines and enhanced connections.

Also note the continuous security lighting down the length of the trail.

So at this point, I'll hand it back to Emily to talk about the environmental review.

Thanks, Dave.

Through environmental review, it was determined the master plan amendment meets the requirements of the five categorical exemptions shown.

This means that the project would not have a significant effect on the environment and is exempt from the provisions of CEQA.

So now that you've seen the master plan and visualizations of what it could look like on the ground, and keeping in mind that it's our goal to build the entire park at once, we do want to share some very preliminary cost information with you.

The early overall construction cost estimate to build all amenities and improvements shown in the master plan, and also including anticipated administrative and permitting costs is approximately 12 million dollars.

Current available funding includes approximately 8 million in park development impact fees as well as grant funding.

Additional allocations are anticipated in that fiscal year 26-27 budget.

So another approach to the construct the park improvements is to do it in two phases using that central promenade as a natural breaking point.

The northern half of the park, which is shown in the red-dotted line, could be a phase, and it would be estimated to cost about six point six million dollars.

The southern half of the park and trail would be another phase and is estimated to cost about 5.4 million dollars again it is our hope to construct the entire master plan at one time and we will continue to work in that direction this item did go before the board of parks and recreation in August of 25 the board unanimously approved the master plan amendment and if the construction must be phased they recommended prioritization of the improvements on the north side as the first phase of construction with that I'll read our recommendation it is recommended by the Board of Parks and Recreation and the Transportation and Public Works Department that council conduct a public hearing and thereafter by resolution adopt the master plan amendment for Martin Luther King Jr.

Park and the multi-use trail connecting Henley Street to Petalima Hill Road.

That concludes our presentation and we'd love to answer any questions that council has.

Outstanding thank you both uh the community's been excited about this for a long time with that I'll bring it back to council for questions.

Mr.

Alvarez first of all thank you this has been a long time coming I mean how many years have we been asking for this park and for to finally uh move ahead or at least get to this stage is absolutely phenomenal I know that the main concern of the community beyond the amenities is security and with that seeing that we're investing in a piecemeal of the park or into a peaceful phase of the park what security measures are being introduced immediately we have not discussed that um we have not discussed that yet I'm hoping that could be a conversation that's had with the community itself as I'm sure you'll probably be hearing about the concerns and to the community that's gonna be speaking on MLK park tonight that you bring up your concerns regarding security so that we as council and those that support a staff can hear those concerns from you directly thank you.

Thank you Ms.

Fleming Yeah this is great um really excited the overall concept is beautiful I just have um questions about the synthetic um turf in particular last year the climate subcommittee took up the question of sub of synthetic turf and we referred it to the full council for discussion um if we've had that discussion here is a matter of policy we we have we have not had that discussion here so I'm just curious one to know why staff is making the recommendation ahead of um of slated policy discussion for the council um last year we received a memo from the city manager saying that because the plan had our not the plan but the planning process had already been moving forward that we should progress with um moving forward with the synthetic turf or exploring the synthetic turf um when we applied for grant funding all of our applications referred specifically to the synthetic to using synthetic turf for the field and during the community engagement process the soccer community requested it's interested in seeing synthetic turf in the in the park but I do hear your question.

The other thing is that it's my understanding that the Board of Community Services also didn't address the issue of synthetic turf and the reason why that's so important is because um you know there's environmental concerns but also um there's just health and safety around this want to make sure that um you know that if at the very least we if we program the city that we program it with natural turf and that we don't do any further programming of anything with synthetic turf until the city council's had a chance to address this policy issue.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor yeah uh through the city manager if we could have assistant city manager nut.

Um that's I believe we had those discussions in two by twos, so obviously he's gonna have more information on that.

Yeah, thank you, Vice Mayor.

At the direction of the city manager, we did uh incorporate a series of two by two meetings just to get a better understanding and uh an idea uh about how we would uh follow through on the conversation that occurred at the climate action subcommittee um following some of those discussions, the city manager did direct that we put together prepare a memo to council that described uh what we'd be taking at that particular point in time, and that memo did outline that that this and at least one other park project that currently had grant funding specifically oriented toward the construction of soccer fields uh utilizing synthetic turf would continue to proceed, and that we would bring additional park projects that uh contemplated the use of synthetic turf uh one at a time, and we'd have council discussion on those items, um, but that we would utilize both MLK Park and the A Place to Play applications uh as continuing to move forward with the synthetic synthetic turf product.

Yeah, I think then my question is this.

What you know, and this is a probably a question for the city manager and is maybe more rhetorical in nature, so you know you don't have to answer this, but I just don't know then what the purpose of bringing it to the subcommittee was if we weren't going to follow through, is it just to opine?

It just seems to me that staff brought us a laundry list of health and environmental risks associated with synthetic turf, and now staff is making a counter recommendation to all those concerns.

So I I just think that for today we ought to um hold off on this particular piece of it, or at least direct that we go forward with natural turf, which is well known and loved by the community, and and then we can deal with this as a policy question.

And more broadly, if we're gonna bring things to subcommittees and not at least hear them in front of the council, if that's their recommendation, I think we ought to reconsider what we're doing with some of our subcommittee meetings.

So at this point, I'll just uh respond and say that that I certainly understand the concern and question that you have.

I think staff was given specific direction, and so that's the product that you've received today.

If as a part of this master planning process, if council agrees and or directs staff uh to change that particular product or other products within the master plan, that's part of what staff's here to listen to and we respond to.

Thank you.

Uh Ms.

McDonald.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I actually had some questions around synthetic turf.

My understanding is there's um different synthetic turf that that may not be as harmful to the environment, that has maybe a bamboo underlying, and I I haven't done enough work in this, but my understanding is there's different turf now than the original synthetic turf that we know had rubber in it and was got very hot with children playing on it.

So could you give me any more information on those different types of turf?

Yeah, there has been, I would say in the past 10 years uh a pretty big move to alternative and natural infills.

Um you've probably seen a lot of is a cork, a cork kind of an infill is been pretty common.

Um, and in the can the actual construction of the turf fibers, they now can make it as PFAS free, um, and and they'll certify that.

Um, but you know, it's not to say that the the concerns brought by the subcommittee uh aren't warranted.

I I wasn't privy to those discussions, but uh just answer your question.

Those are some uh I guess some developments in the synthetic turf manufacturing and in terms of infill and turf type.

Thank you.

And then would the purpose of the all-weather turf be that we could use it all year long versus just some of the season that current like regular grass allows?

Is that kind of what the community is wanting in that specific area or what the goal was of this plan?

That is the benefit of all weather turf, is that it can be used all year round and it can be used later into the day because it's lit.

Not because it's synthetic turf, but because it's lit, but we also wouldn't put lights on a natural turf field, because we don't want it, we don't want the community to be playing on it even more because it is harder to maintain.

I cleaned many muddy cleats and clothes after games on regular um turf.

So the other question I had around that is um if we do have an all-weather field for a community, does that particular field then go to Breckon parks to be um used, or will that community have priority on how to use that park like a local community park like we normally have?

We would work with the recreation department.

I mean, division on that, um, but it will go the field would then go forward um as requiring a permit and any of the soccer leagues or clubs could apply to use it.

Okay.

And then as far as the storage equipment box, can I ask about how that works for people to store equipment in a city um box or how that that process works?

I don't know that I've heard of that on in other open spaces that we have.

I I don't know if I can speak to how Santa Rosa is currently doing it, but um typically there would be a lock and there would be a key that's that's provided um to the various leagues so that they can open it and access it and get their equipment out.

I'm assuming we have some liability with that, so that would come back to council on how that would work.

I'm just not sure how I'm if I've heard that.

So I'm just curious uh if we have five or six leagues using the same equipment box, if if all of them had keys, who would be responsible if something went missing by accident.

And let me check in with recreations, excuse me, and see if there's already if they ever have policies and procedures around that.

That's very helpful, thank you so much.

Um and I'm with you that if we have to do it in different um groups to start with the one side that takes care of the playground area and the two courts and and puts that different um walkway in place before you have to move forward on the um synthetic turf side of the field.

Um as far as the community feedback, I like that you were able to incorporate both plans to listen to the community needs, and um I think this is a a great thing for MLK Park to have.

So thank you for bringing it forward tonight.

Thank you, Miss McDonald.

We'll go to Miss Rogers next.

Um Councilmember McDonald brought up a lot of my concerns.

I think one of them was the concern about who gets to utilize um the field, and then the other was about the um not moving forward with the synthetic turf.

I think that we do need to move forward.

I think that the community has been waiting for a long time.

And the input that I receive from the community that actually lives there, um, is that they would like the turf because they would like their children to have somewhere to play um all year long, and they can't do that on a natural on a natural field.

No questions, sorry.

Thank thank you, Ms.

Rogers.

All right, Miss Ben Willows.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, let's see.

First of all, thank you so much for the presentation.

I uh I love it, I think it's beautiful.

Um I just did a tour with my appointee to the park and rec um uh board and uh she went through she was very thorough.

Um and it was good for me because I mean I've been to the park a million times, don't you know, but it was good because uh she really pointed out some really specific things that I think maybe I didn't maybe I did miss.

Um one of the things she mentioned was the fact that the the bathrooms will now face the play structure or the door, so that when parents are um you know their kids are on the play structure and then maybe two or three of them, and then one of them has to go to the restroom, they can actually see them visually, but right now they cannot, the doors on the other side, so things like that.

She was real specific about going, and I think that's a great uh really, you know, that defensible space you know, being able to see, and that's a safety issue as um council member Alvarez brought up.

Just one safety issue, and then of course the path or the trail, whatever.

Um yeah, it I can't wait for the lights and everything.

I think that's gonna be it's I think it's gonna be beautiful, but um uh, you know, while we were there, there was all this trash dumped there, and it's it's just really sad right now.

So I I'm really happy that this is gonna be happening.

Um the the one question I had was also about the synthetic grass.

So I do recall, and this is not I know you all were not privy to any of this, or it's any of the um we did do the two on the two on two.

Um but my impression when we finished that those those little meetings was that that issue was gonna come back to council, that they were trying to get a feel for what we thought, and for me, it was more listening to the pros and cons and then going back and doing my own research, which I did, but it never came back to the climate action committee or council.

And then I just sort of forgot about it, but seeing it here that was the first thing that caught my eye because that's one thing my my uh pointy didn't mention.

Um, you know, because right now there's a lot of natural hills in and I understand that it's not even at all, but I think that's also the beauty of the park.

Um, so I just I'm really concerned about it because when I did my research, I found that there were lots of injuries that were happening, and you know, and full disclosure, my father was a landscaper, he would die if I voted for something like this.

I mean, truly, he would say, What are you doing?

Um, so uh because he was so against astro turf.

So that's my you know, that's my personal feeling about it, but also I'm just really concerned about environmental issues as well.

So I um am all for doing it in two pieces.

I think that's that'll be good for the community, and and um and I'm not surprised that they weren't concerned about parking because most of them can walk right over.

Um, but I am really concerned about the synthetic grass.

I think that's something that we should as a council really address first.

So, thank you.

Thank you.

Um I think we all hear very clearly that um concerns about the trade-offs between synthetic grass, synthetic and natural grass.

Um, if only it were the case that um in this area in the valley that if you had natural grass, one it was cheap to maintain, and two that it was useful year-round.

Uh but anybody who uses the parks in any of the flat areas of the city, and I'm thinking even of Galvin Park, Strawberry Park.

You know that for five months of the year, those parks, I mean, it's it's difficult to use those areas.

Um, and so in this particular this particular park is so so crucial to that that part of our city.

Uh what are you you mentioned that we've already um uh signed agreements stipulating that we would use synthetic turf.

What would be the ramifications of of making a switch?

We haven't signed agreements saying that we would use synthetic turf, but when we applied for the various grant funding, um we said that we would build a synthetic turf field.

We can reach back out to them to see if we can use natural turf instead.

All right.

And do we have the cost estimates handy in terms of the difference in long-term maintenance of of natural grass fields?

Um, some of the and some of the stats around the amount of time that those fields would not be playable, et cetera.

I don't have that readily available, but could get it, Dave.

You have.

Yeah, I mean, I can speak in general terms about that.

Um, you know, to answer the question about how much time the field would be down, I you know, I think three to four months, you know, depending on the winter is is probably pretty common.

Um, you know, we're about to go into a week and a half of rain, and so that that's gonna put the fields out for a while.

Um, you know, in terms of the maintenance effort, it is certainly more maintenance effort to uh keep a natural grass field that is a living living thing, you know, we gotta mow it and and water it and so forth.

Um, but in terms of what the cost differential is, um I I couldn't I couldn't tell you right now.

Um, so uh, you know, I guess that's all I've got right now.

All right, thank you.

That information might be might be useful in the future.

Uh but no, uh Ms.

Fleming.

I have a couple more questions.

If we are gonna come back to that information, I think also the cost of, you know, I know that you you're recommending something that doesn't have PFOS in it, but there are all kinds of other particulate matter and toxins.

I think the cost to our waterways and our water systems is really important.

And additionally, uh the environmental cost of essentially killing everything that's under this thing that that may not be all that breathable, I think is is really relevant.

Um, you know, the mayor brings up a number of really good points about the cost savings around turf, and this is the purpose of why we should have a study session or make a council policy.

We should not be making it in a one-off in this setting.

We should move forward with this policy uh or with this beautiful park with direction to to either stay the course with our natural turf or to to have a uh a policy discussion about this in the near future.

I don't believe we should delay for the community.

The community's waited long enough for this.

We should give them a safe playing surface, not one that's cheap just because we have struggles with our our budget and our structural deficit.

Vice Mayor, are we currently able to maintain upkeep of all of our fields, especially the ones that we use for soccer?

Nope.

Sorry, I forgot I was unmuted.

Thank you, Ms.

Rogers.

Emily, would you like to comment?

That is my understanding as well.

I mean, they you can look at aerial photos of the parks over the course of the year, and you can see the brown spots that are in all of our fields.

Um, do and Director Hennessy, if you'd like to come down and participate in this discussion, that would be great too.

Our largest soccer asset that is all grass is uh a place to play.

Do we receive consistent complaints about the playability of it and the condition of it?

When we did um back in 2020 when we did Measure M outreach, um, before we put together the park's condition assessment, we did um one meeting with all the soccer, not soccer, but all the athletic groups that use our fields, and um the information that they gave us is they have to put a lot of time and energy into you know filling the gopher holes, um, killing the yellow jackets, um, maintaining like you know, they have to put a lot of maintenance into all of our.

So we have we have volunteers taking care of our parks because we can't take care of them.

We do our best, and then the volunteers come in and make it back to make them as playable as possible.

I'll be more blunt about it.

Yes, we have volunteers because our parks need help.

Um, and among a number of different things that the park's maintenance team is responsible for, we ask them to assess across a wide um range of responsibilities based on the level of service we provide the community, ranging from one at the bottom to four at the top.

Um we're mostly in the one and two range across categories right now.

We've just reorganized teams to try to facilitate uh increased service, but a lot of that was changing those ones to twos.

We're not sniffing three and four right now in terms of the quality of service we can provide it with respect to parks maintenance.

Okay, and then um Coffee Park opened in 2020 uh so we'll call it just under six years ago.

Um if I recall correctly, we're having issues with grass there that it won't take, and there's not even dead spots, just dirt.

Is that accurate?

There's issues with grass throughout the city, but yes, but also with the irrigation at that park.

Okay, and then my last question is um synthetic turf is the uh in regards to drainage.

Um are there issues with um water getting through it, killing everything underneath it, or does water flow through?

Uh water flows through much better than a natural grass field.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Other questions, Ms.

McDonnell?

Oh, I'll just go to uh Madam City Manager first and then Miss McDonald.

Yes, I just wanted to get a clarification from staff that might help with the decision-making process this evening.

So when we look at slides 26 and 27, we talk about the potential construction phasing.

So in the first phase, um, the turf field is not included, right?

And is that the part of the project that we have grant funding for or city funding for that we feel comfortable moving forward with this evening?

Do we have full funding for this $6.6 million?

I believe so.

I look to Dan to answer that question, but yes.

Oh, oh good, okay.

And then the second part, which involves the field turf or non-turf, is that fully funded at this point?

And is there a commitment that we've made when we put in for the grant?

Does the grant exceed the first phase?

Um, yes, there is a partial, there would be partial funding for phase two, but not sufficient funding to complete it.

How much is the delta?

Could we use the sec the remainder of the grant after phase one?

For the trail portion and not for the turf, right?

Uh that would depend a little bit on construction phasing and may affect the overall cost estimate just because we start chopping the project up into smaller pieces.

But yes, we could direct it to any portion of the of the overall master plan.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is if this evening perhaps a compromise, since it sounds like we're not very comfortable with turf.

Am I I don't know if I'm speaking out of turn, but if we're still struggling with the turf aspect, we could move forward with the first phase of the master plan, knowing that the second phase will be a beautiful soccer field, but the materials, whether natural or turf, could be determined at a later date after we provide more information.

That's an option.

I think though that staff would have to clarify with the grant application.

That was the one thing that I heard with that.

From my experience, usually when you apply for a grant, you're putting everything that you could possibly want.

I can't fathom, but you tell us if that would be a sticking point for the grant.

It might be a musher.

I can't I can't answer that.

I don't think it'd be a sticking point, but I can't answer that without asking the state.

Thank you.

Thank you, City Manager Farrell.

Uh, Ms.

McDonald.

Just have a quick question because we're talking about synthetic fields.

Um, does anyone have any information on the professional soccer team that's coming to Santa Rosa potentially?

Do they play on turf or do they play on synthetic field?

Assistant city manager not says both.

They play on both, so that wouldn't be determined ahead of time with them as well.

Okay, that's helpful.

Um, yeah, I'd be curious if the grant that we're receiving, because it looks like there's been multiple ones, if if we are to use the grant for the first phase, which I'm comfortable going with two phases, um, but I still think we need to listen to the community, and I think we can address the concerns for climate issues based on the new turf that's available or synthetic turfs that are available that do not impact the climate as much as the original ones did.

But but um as far as I'm concerned, I'm just wondering on that grant before we move forward.

If we were to use some of it in the first phase, would it then affect the funding overall, and we'd end up losing it all and and not have the funding even for the first phase if we don't do the synthetic turf.

I'll I'll take a stab at answering that.

When we submitted the grant application, we submitted it for the entire master plan.

The grantee does not care what we spend it on as long as it is this park.

So the phasing is up to us how we split it up.

They're they're not gonna ask those questions as long as we spend it on this park.

Okay, that's very helpful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any other questions before we open the public hearing?

Seeing none, I will not officially open the public hearing.

Any members of the public who wish to weigh in on the Martin Luther King Jr.

Park and Trail.

Please make your way to the podiums now.

I have some names already listed.

Let's start out with Dwayne DeWitt.

Leah Moscatelli.

Dwayne, I'm calling the I'm calling your name here, Dwayne.

Do you want to speak or not?

Dwayne DeWitt, Leah Moscatelli, and Jennifer Mendoza.

When over into South Park.

I essentially know it like the back of my hand because I grew up with families that were black pioneers here in Santa Rosa.

Mr.

Gray, Mr.

Williams, Mr.

Bird.

I think we ought to make sure that this park honors the history of the black pioneers in our community.

South Park was set up by free blacks, as far as I know back in the day, and basically, what we need to do here is perhaps look at how you spend the money with the honoring the signage and the monuments and the different things that you have there on the pavement.

I'd like to see a monument that's not stepped on.

I'd like to see something that honors the blacks from here in Santa Rosa that set up the first chapter of the NAACP that had the black protests here at the bars in downtown Santa Rosa, and basically pointed out that we were a racist community and that we needed to have an NAACP here in our community.

I knew these people and I know South Park.

Pay for what you got now.

If you got enough money, do the first phase, get the honoring of the black community in there as best you can as soon as possible, making sure that the NAACP chapter is honored because they got it started here and they did it right back in the day.

And then last but not least, what's really important, the families that were the pioneers.

You know, we destroyed South Park Elementary School without even keeping that historical reference and just made it like, oh, it's gone.

We need the housing.

Let's honor South Park for what it was and what it will be and how it will be in the future.

Thank you for the two-minute time.

Thank you, Dwayne.

Leah, Jennifer.

Oops, heads up, folks.

If you want to applaud, just do the do the jazz fingers.

We're not going to do applause just to keep this moving along.

Uh it's Leah, Jennifer, and then Beth Wettergreen.

Weah, go ahead.

Hi, everyone.

Um, thank you for listening to all of us tonight.

I'm here with a group.

Uh I personally fell into the rhythm of spending most of my evenings with all of my kids now at Martin Luther King Jr.

Park when my youngest son joined his best friends in a newly created South Park football club.

He fell in love with the team, and I was very wary of the surroundings, to be honest.

Uh, I ended up looking forward to seeing these kids play with their whole hearts every day.

The families that were 100% dedicated to getting their kids to practice, cheering them all on, and the memories we were all making together.

I've now celebrated so many birthdays, holidays, and more with this community out at Martin Luther King Junior Park.

I share this story as a snapshot with you because we're so thrilled to hear of these plans for our community and this park to give the kids a safer, better lit, well-equipped park for sports and community gatherings would change so many lives.

We hope to be informed, however, of the timelines and closures that will affect our practice schedule, while keeping in mind that a lot of these children simply walk to practice and would not have the ability to change to a farther location to do what they love.

Currently, these kids and families are out practicing on unkempt basketball court with improper lighting as the sun goes down every day by 6 p.m.

Toddlers are walking around in the dark while their sibling practices, and parents are trying their best to keep their eyes keen on these kids.

As we look above, the lighting is weak, multiple lights are off with no switches for us to use.

Parents have taken over safety for this community out of our own pockets, putting out reflective signs, portable lights for each and every practice, and bringing them back every day.

The kids cannot play on the large grass field for more than half the year due to poor irrigation and uneven ground causing injury and dangerous debris.

Parents have organized kids to use the one standalone portable bathroom provided by South Park Coalition as the restrooms are not safe and clean for the kids.

So we are so grateful and thrilled with the current plan for our proper sports field.

However, we do ask everyone as uh as council member member Alvarez spoke about what is the safety for now.

How can we help these kids and families now?

Thank you.

Thank you, Leah.

Uh, it's Jennifer, Beth Wettergreen, and then Annette Arnold.

Jennifer, go ahead.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council members, and city staff.

My name is Jennifer Mendoza, and I work for the City of Santa Rosa Housing and Community Services Department.

Uh, but today I came to speak to you as a citizen and a mother of two boys who love to play soccer.

We are part of an amazing soccer club called South Park's uh football club, SPFC, and we practice at MLK Park multiple times per week.

On Friday, January 9th, around 6 30 p.m., as I was leaving with my youngest son after his practice, I saw another player um who lives um in in that neighborhood had not been picked up yet.

Uh that evening the street seemed so dark that I made a split uh second decision to give him a ride home.

As I was leaving the park, I got a phone call from another soccer mom who was here tonight asking if I was okay because shots had just been fired.

Um, uh in the in the as she was buckling up her kids to leave from practice.

I thank God for allowing me to make the decision to drive the other player home instead of walking him towards that dark alley where the shooting was going to happen minutes later.

Today I stand here asking for your support uh for support for a group of kids in a community where this may seem normal, but for other participants, it creates a sense of fear and not participating in the sport that they love to play.

I do ask for most put uh for more police patrolling during our practice time, brighter lighting, and perhaps larger signage that asks cars to slow down.

I would like to extend an invitation to all of you to stop by during one of our weekly practices.

You can experience for yourself the dedication of the coaches and children enjoying the park.

I'll end with this.

We have an amazing support of coaches, parents, donors, and a neighborhood that represent our club well.

And I do hope our comments here today can make an impact uh for our families now and for the future families to come.

The master plan looks amazing, and thank you very much.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Uh, we'll go up move on to Beth, Annette, and then Gail Seymour.

Beth Wettergreen.

Oh, this is Beth.

I'm from the South Park Coalition.

I'm here with my friends.

Uh this these remarks have to do with the new hall bike trail.

My patio and actually my neighbor Lynn's patio abut the new hall bike trail.

It is a place where there is a lot of gang activity, lots of um, we will we get the graffiti uh painted over and then it's back up the next morning.

There's a lot of illegal trash dumping, fireworks, uh just basically noise right behind my apartment.

We live in a senior community.

Um, a couple of weeks ago there were shots fired in the 800 block there, and we all have the uh police dispatch on our speed dials.

It's very scary for to have guns fired nearby now.

Specifically, what I'm asking about is the egress from the 800 area of Aston Avenue.

It's sort of a uh several square block, it doesn't have specific address, it's just called the 800s off Aston.

It's not really paved in there.

It's a working class neighborhood.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of gang activity that's coming in out of those two entrances on the in the 800 area onto the bike path.

A lot of that is coming from the 800s.

There isn't there are also um Brand Avenue and Duterk uh egress to the bike trail from those two streets, and uh that's okay, but I would like to suggest or ask that you please close those two um egresses from the 800 block going onto the bike path.

The lots of trash going through there.

Uh like I said, my request, please close those off and light the trail.

Lots of light.

Thank you.

Thank you, Beth.

Annette Arnold, Gail Seymour, and then Anna Diaz.

Annette, the floor is yours.

I'm Annette Arnold.

I'm with the South Park Coalition.

And I'd like to say that safety in the park is the most important thing to me right now.

We just had a child who was playing in the park who got shot in the trail.

So my question is about lighting and what is shown in the designs that we've seen, it's not clear what the lighting is and where it's at and what type of lighting.

If we're only going to be doing half of the park at this time, I think we really need to consider lighting for the entire park, including the trail.

That is where we're having all the criminal activity, and it's really where we need the most attention.

And it's been what we've been asking for for years.

So if you only do half the park and only light half that park, the other park is still gonna be in a really dangerous zone.

So please consider that.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Annette.

Gail, Anna, and Yesenia.

I'm Gail Seymour.

I'm the chair of the Environmental and Climate Justice Committee for the Sonoma County NAACP, and there are three of our committee members here tonight.

Um, since early 2024, the South Park community has enthusiastically anticipated the full renovation of the park.

And unfortunately, there's since been a cut in funding and major delays.

So the city intends to restore only 50% of the park in 2027.

If you approve the master plan, please make it a priority to secure additional funding for the entire park renovation.

The community deserves a safe and restored neighborhood park.

The last time it was upgraded was 20 years ago, over 20 years ago.

A neighborhood park is vital for physical and mental health.

It's a refuge, especially during our time of climate, climate change, and so it is a climate justice issue.

Please don't allow the master plan to take another decade for full implementation, and please support parks equity.

Thank you.

Thank you, Gail Anna.

Yesenia, and then David Harris.

Hi everyone, my name's Anna Diaz, and I am from Roseland, but today I'm here to advocate for the South Park community.

The park was created in 1887 and deeded to the city in 1965.

A park and trail master plan was created in 1973.

That same park master plan amendment was adopted in 2024.

Throughout 2021, my understanding is that the city applied but was not awarded various grants to help fund the reinvestment of MLK Junior Park.

Council Member Alvarez was elected in 2020, and South Park happens to lie in that boundary line.

I state this because in all my years as a born and raised Santa Rosa, just like Moreland, just like Roseland's neighborhood, South Park was also neglected by the City of Santa Rosa.

And it's sad that I can't say for years because in all honesty, it's been neglected since before 2020.

Annette, or I'm sorry, uh Annette Vince Harper and the Rogers family, who is also here today, uh, Chris Doc Camacho, who is also here today, and many others have done their efforts to help beautify the neighborhood throughout the years.

There's been many changes since 2020.

Alvarez, since your time, Santa Rosa was finally awarded grants to help improve the South Park neighborhood.

Special shout out to Mr.

Alex Padilla.

Today I'm here standing aside the moms of Santa Rosa.

Some were present during the shooting last month, during last month that took place.

It was it was during the boys' soccer practice, and two of my nephews, Emmy and Little Hector, were also present.

They are four and six years old.

Thank you, Councilmember Fleming, for bringing up the natural field for the sports players and children.

If staff can make that slight change, it would be great.

This needs to move forward.

It's been long enough.

So I'm really asking with that slight change, please make those improvements.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yesenia and then David Harris.

Yesenia, go ahead.

Name is Yasenia.

I am a member of the NAACP Environmental Justice Committee, and I want to appreciate uh my communication with Emily since 2024.

I uh have been in communication with her about the art and honoring MLK's legacy and the pioneers, as Mr.

DeWitt mentioned.

Um, in 2024 in an email correspondence, Emily mentioned that the community had expressed interest in seeing public art in the form of a mural, followed by functional or interactive art, including bench playing equipment, and then followed by a mosaic, so to see the walk, and as part of the master plan is a really cool full circle moment, but I'd like to also say that I agree with Mr.

DeWitt's comments that in addition to that, having some sort of standing structure, whether that be informational podiums, a statue, which was my original ask, or just having murals throughout not just the park but the trail would be really important.

Um, and I also sent reference pictures from when I went to MLK Park in Atlanta, Georgia, and MLK statue in Washington DC.

So just being able to honor the legacy of the park as it's meant to be honored is really important.

Um, and in terms of the murals, there was a study done to that essentially showed that murals reduce graffiti due to unspoken respect amongst artists with higher visibility and community engagement.

So to the concerns that um Annette mentioned with or other community members mentioned with you know having graffiti done and then having it painted over and then having it done again.

I think murals along the trail would be a really you know creative way to help improve uh public safety.

And I say that also as a member of the uh community advisory uh team with the Santa Rosa Police Department, and that's something that they've also mentioned as well.

So investment really does help in safety.

Obviously, lighting on the trails is important as well, and I really like what the city manager mentioned of funding the first half of the program and then prioritizing the lighting and the safety of the trail as well.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Senia.

David Harris.

Yes, good evening, David Harris.

Um I was first in uh Martin Luther King Park for uh Cinco de Mayo event some years ago.

But uh my friends who play soccer are always pointing out to me that we don't have all-weather soccer fields and this potential of having a stadium there across the street in where now the racetrack is does really raise this question.

I appreciate the what uh Councilwoman uh Fleming has raised about us getting some clarity on all-weather turf.

Um, but I'm aware that there is uh uh plastic materials.

When my neighbors built a permeable driveway, I did some investigation and found that there's uh structures that you can put down and still grow grass on it, but that are more durable.

So I uh I think we would learn something if we were to investigate now.

Uh, the presentation here talked about PFAS free.

Well that's a step there there is development, and uh we should be able to come with some up with something that will give us a better long uh winter time playing surfaces that we don't have to worry about the environmental pollution.

So I I would be happy to participate in trying to find that some solutions to uh turf material.

Thank you.

Thank you, David.

And I see someone standing at this podium.

If you are looking to speak and you're in the audience, uh please keep using both podiums so we can keep this moving along, sir.

Go ahead.

Howdy, uh my name is Jed Parker, long-term soccer player, both indoors and outdoors, and also have a degree in environmental studies from Sonoma State.

So, you know, a little balance there.

Um I'm here initially to support uh friends of mine on the bike overpass, but clearly with the soccer stuff I have I'd really like to recommend going with the artificial field.

Um, you know, if we're in Portland, then turf is awesome because the environment supports it.

It can last just fine without additional water.

The none of the fields here get enough of, um, and is a big concern.

Um the other issue with non-artificial fields is they take a lot of maintenance to support sports like soccer and football.

They chew up the turf.

And that leads to lots of injuries.

Uh many many friends of mine can't play soccer anymore because of injuring themselves on outdoor fields here that are not artificial turf.

So, yeah, it's nice to be concerned about uh the injuries that might happen on an art on artificial turf, but uh my experience is a lot more injuries happen on natural turf because it's very expensive to maintain in playable condition.

So that's that's some information and maybe another way to think about things.

Thank you, Jed, and thank you for the Sonoma State shout out.

Fred, over to you.

Hi, my name is Fred Olibach.

I'm a member of the NAACP environmental justice committee, and I would like to back the comments of Gail and Yasenia.

Thank you.

Thank you, Fred.

Are there any other members of the public in council chamber that wish to make comment?

Again, if you are, be waiting by a podium, please.

Sir, go ahead.

Well, I am the coach and owner of South Park Football Club.

We've been there for around four or five years now.

And it honestly, I feel some type of way, like a little bit angry, about just hearing how they want to take away something from us, something from a community that we don't have anything.

Like we've literally built up this from scratch, no money, no funds from nobody.

And the kids ask me every day, hey, when's the turf field going to be made?

When's the turf field gonna be made?

And I have to just lie to them because I don't know myself.

And I tell them, hey, another six months, another six months.

Um I understand what the turf and the health that's something that's been going on forever.

I've played soccer my whole life.

I've been hearing this my whole life.

My only thing is these kids or whoever's gonna use these turf facilities still have to go to high school, and guess what?

They use turf fields still.

They go play a tournament somewhere, they use turf fields.

So it it really doesn't make sense to me how that's one of the the theories on to not use it because it's everywhere, it's everywhere.

We'd have to take it away from every single high school, every single complex around the country.

So it it really doesn't make sense to me.

And again, I'm so happy that you guys are finally turning and looking at our park and to the community, but I also feel like we could really do something to impact this next generation to do well in these next 10 20 years.

Because at the end of the day, these kids are the future.

So if they're not on the field, they're on the game, they're on a game, you know.

So having them five, six more hours on the field, I think you know it'd be way better than having them outside in the game.

Thank you.

Thank you for coming out tonight.

Any other member of the public wish to speak in council chamber?

Seeing none, Madam City Clerk, I'm gonna throw it over to you for uh online comment.

Thank you, mayor.

We are now taking public comment on item 16.1, the public hearing on the adoption of the master plan amendment for Martin Luther King Junior Park and Trail.

If you would like to provide public comment via Zoom, please raise your hand.

Dial star nine if you are participating via telephone, mayor.

I'm seeing no hands be raised via Zoom.

Thank you.

With that, we are going to close the public hearing, and I'm gonna throw it over to um uh councilmember Alvarez for a motion, and then we can have further discussion after the fact.

Very well, thank you, Mayor.

I'd like to move forward resolution of the council of the city of Santa Rosa, adopting the master plan amendment for Martin Luther King Jr.

Neighborhood Park and the multi-use trail connecting Henley Street to Pillown Hill Road, and we have further reading of the text.

All right, the vice mayor won that one.

So we have a motion and a second by Vice Mayor Okropke.

Um we've had a we've had a good conversation, and clearly we have a couple of outstanding issues.

Let's talk about those.

I'll go with uh Miss McDonald to start.

Thank you.

Um I have a quick question as far as the money that's needed to do the whole park at once, because what I'm hearing is um we need to prioritize this for this community, this neighborhood.

And I think Anna said it best that this is a neighborhood that's been neglected.

As a child, um, my grandfather was a horse trainer, and they lived in the mobile home park right over there behind the fairgrounds, and so I'm very familiar with that park and and going there as a small child myself.

So I I guess what my question is as far as the funding goes, do we have funding in any other of our accounts that could be reappropriated for something that may have been earmarked in the out years to do the whole project at once now?

Short answer is no.

Longer answer is with some creativity and some flexibility on your behalf.

Come May when we present the full um CIP budget for fiscal year 26-27.

The answer to that question could be yes.

Um would it only come out of CIP budget or could there be other funds appropriately used for something like this?

Um I'm not I only control or and help administer the CIP fund.

So if you've got ideas for more money you want to bring to the table, I'm happy to hear them.

Probably could figure out a few things to give you an idea, but for now, um, I just wanted to know because I know a lot of times we do earmark out money for years and projects in the future, and so I'm just wondering if we can truncate some of that and appropriate to get uh appropriate the money now to move forward on the full project.

And I think that's what the community is expecting.

They aren't expecting that we do one phase for a few years and then come back later.

And and as the coach said, these are children playing on the fields now.

When we have a long-term project like that, those same children are gonna be in junior high or going to high school by then.

So the goal is always to capture them when they're little and keep them playing um sports so that they stay out of trouble.

So I would like to look into potentially being seeing how we can creatively do the whole project at once, because I think it's important.

I'd still like to have more information on the ones that are being used now that are more appropriate for the environment and safe for STUs.

And then the other thing that I I thought about was we do have a public arts committee, and we talked a lot about murals and a lot about having um culturally appropriate art in that specific area.

And I'm just wondering if we had reached out to the um arts committee to see how they can help supplement potentially some of the cost of that to offset the goal of reaching the full appropriation.

I have been in conversation with Meredith, and not yet with the full committee, um, and we've started talking about doing the NRFQ process to what the RFP process might look like to hire um an artist or work with an artist and using that one percent because each CIP project has to contribute one percent to the public art fund.

So using that money to fund public art in the project.

Thank you so much.

And that's all my feedback for tonight.

Thank you.

Mr.

Alvarez.

Thank you, sir.

In regards to the brightness of the park, do you know what lumens the bulbs are and is a way to improve that number?

I'm sorry, council member, I couldn't understand the first half of your question.

Uh biobulbs.

Is it possible to implement them?

Um yes, we need to talk to our electrical team again.

Um the um electrical supply budget was decreased last year to account for other um cost increases throughout the city.

So we're, you know, duct tape and bubblegum right now to keep things moving.

Um, but I will bring that up tomorrow and and see if the existing fixtures could handle uh increased wattage.

I would appreciate that very much so because I believe the concern that I'm hearing loudly is safety and safety even before we decide whether it's gonna be turf or natural.

So I would definitely appreciate that uh conversation to happen.