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Record of Proceedings

Stockton City Council Special Meeting - March 9, 2026: Support for University of the Pacific Medical School Application

City Council — Monday, March 9, 2026
BodyStockton, California
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, March 9, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 19:55

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Good evening and welcome to this special meeting for Stockton City Council.

0:06

Let's go ahead and do roll call.

0:08

Councilmember Blauer.

0:10

Present.

0:10

Councilmember Enrique.

0:11

Present.

0:12

Councilmember Ponce is absent.

0:13

Councilmember Padilla.

0:15

Present.

0:15

Councilmember Via Padua.

0:17

Present.

0:17

Vice Mayor Lee.

0:20

And Mayor Fagazzi.

0:21

Present.

0:21

We have a quorum.

0:22

Wonderful.

0:23

At this time, do we have any public comment?

0:26

We do not, Mayor.

0:27

Okay.

0:28

So we're gonna move on to item three.

0:30

Uh item for discussion.

0:32

Um Councilmember Enriquez.

0:35

Yes, thank you, Mayor.

0:35

Uh Mayor and Colleagues, I just wanted to share that uh University of the Pacific is my employer, so I would need Syracuse myself.

0:41

Okay.

0:41

Thank you.

0:43

Okay, so uh item 3.1 approval resolution authorizing the city of Stockton to submit on behalf of the University of Pacific, an application for fiscal year 2027 community project for a medical school in the city of Stockton.

1:03

So we'll be presenting to us.

1:08

Mayor, I would like to turn it over to President Callahan.

1:12

You got it.

1:12

Yes, welcome.

1:15

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thanks to uh can never follow directions.

1:22

Thank you, Mayor Fugazi.

1:23

Thanks to the entire council and to uh our city manager Johnny Ford.

1:27

Um I first wanted to say thank you.

1:30

If anybody ever questions the speed of government and the ability for a government to turn on a dime, please have them call me because I can testify how fast this body moved.

1:43

So Johnny and I talked late Thursday, and this was on the docket that night.

1:49

Um and here we are, less than two business days later, doing this important work.

1:54

I'm just so grateful to all of you.

1:56

So thank you.

1:56

Thank you very much.

1:58

Um you have a lot of the information.

2:01

I'm just gonna spend just a few minutes of going over some things on why we're here, why a school of medicine in Stockton, um, why University of the Pacific and why now?

2:12

Um and it goes to the health care disparities.

2:15

The health care disparities in Stockton, in the county in the Central Valley.

2:19

Um, as you know, they are enormous and they are growing, and they are largely derivative of a lack of physicians.

2:27

When we have we've been studying this for about a year now.

2:29

Uh, if you look at the area, not just not just here in Stockton in our county, but in the entire Central Valley and truly south of Sacramento and the Bay Area and north of Los Angeles.

2:42

Every single county, everyone, is below the bare minimum of physicians per capita.

2:50

And that disparity is growing each and every day.

2:55

One of the reasons for that is we have no medical schools.

2:58

There are 12 MD granting nonprofit schools of medicine in the state of California.

3:04

Nine are in Southern California.

3:07

Only three are in Northern California, and again, none in that entire Central Valley region.

3:12

Of the um of the nine in California, four have been built in the last dozen or so years.

3:18

The last new medical school we had in Northern California was University of California at Davis, nearly 60 years ago.

3:26

So we think the the need is is very, very clear.

3:32

Why Pacific?

3:33

Well, there's really two reasons.

3:34

One is we think it's our responsibility.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Health█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Economic Development███████████████20%
Procedural██████████████19%
Summary of Proceedings

Stockton City Council Special Meeting - March 9, 2026

On March 9, 2026, the Stockton City Council held a special meeting to consider a resolution authorizing the city to submit an application on behalf of the University of the Pacific (UOP) for federal Community Project Funding (CPF) for a new medical school in Stockton. The meeting lasted from 5:03 PM to 5:23 PM. Councilmember Mario Enríquez recused himself due to his employment with UOP. Councilmember Mariela Ponce was absent. The resolution passed unanimously (5-0).

Consent Calendar

  • No items were on the consent calendar.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

  • Item 3.1: Resolution 2026-03-09-0301 – Authorizing the City of Stockton to submit an application on behalf of UOP for FY27 Community Project Funding for a medical school, and to serve as fiscal agent.
    • Presentation by UOP President Christopher Callahan: He outlined the severe health care disparities in Stockton and the Central Valley, noting that every county south of Sacramento and north of Los Angeles falls below the minimum physicians per capita. He cited that California has 12 MD-granting nonprofit medical schools, with nine in Southern California and only three in Northern California, and none in the Central Valley. The last new medical school in Northern California was UC Davis nearly 60 years ago. UOP aims to open a 400-student medical school by fall 2030, becoming one of only 24 U.S. universities with schools of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and health sciences. A study by UOP’s Center for Business and Policy estimated a direct economic impact of over $800 million in the first 10 years for Stockton and San Joaquin County, and $1.3 billion for the region, not including research and health savings. The federal grant would cover specialized equipment. UOP has already secured approximately $70 million in earmarked funds and has land on its 175-acre campus for the school.
    • Councilmember Michele Padilla asked about next steps and location. Callahan responded that the timeline includes accreditation (arduous, with fall 2030 as the earliest) and that the school will be built on the existing campus, with six possible locations under consideration.
    • Councilmember Michael Blower called the proposal a “no-brainer” and emphasized economic development benefits.
    • Vice Mayor Jason Lee (participating via teleconference) shared a personal story about his sister who did pre-med at UOP but had to go to Howard University for medical school. He asked about the city’s role post-application. The city manager explained that the city acts as a pass-through fiscal agent, with no ongoing oversight beyond filing the application.
    • Councilmember Brando Villapudua expressed support, noting the creation of jobs for surgeons, doctors, and local businesses.
    • Mayor Christina Fugazi highlighted the potential for local students to stay in Stockton for their entire education and careers, and noted that the medical school would change the city’s perception.

Key Outcomes

  • Resolution 2026-03-09-0301 was approved by a vote of 5-0. Voting yes: Michael Blower, Brando Villapudua, Michele Padilla, Christina Fugazi, and Jason Lee. Recused: Mario Enríquez. Absent: Mariela Ponce.
  • The City of Stockton will submit the CPF application for UOP’s medical school and serve as fiscal agent if funding is appropriated.
  • The meeting adjourned at 5:23 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening and welcome to this special meeting for Stockton City Council. Let's go ahead and do roll call. Councilmember Blauer. Present. Councilmember Enrique. Present. Councilmember Ponce is absent. Councilmember Padilla. Present. Councilmember Via Padua. Present. Vice Mayor Lee. And Mayor Fagazzi. Present. We have a quorum. Wonderful. At this time, do we have any public comment? We do not, Mayor. Okay. So we're gonna move on to item three. Uh item for discussion. Um Councilmember Enriquez. Yes, thank you, Mayor. Uh Mayor and Colleagues, I just wanted to share that uh University of the Pacific is my employer, so I would need Syracuse myself. Okay. Thank you. Okay, so uh item 3.1 approval resolution authorizing the city of Stockton to submit on behalf of the University of Pacific, an application for fiscal year 2027 community project for a medical school in the city of Stockton. So we'll be presenting to us. Mayor, I would like to turn it over to President Callahan. You got it. Yes, welcome. Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thanks to uh can never follow directions. Thank you, Mayor Fugazi. Thanks to the entire council and to uh our city manager Johnny Ford. Um I first wanted to say thank you. If anybody ever questions the speed of government and the ability for a government to turn on a dime, please have them call me because I can testify how fast this body moved. So Johnny and I talked late Thursday, and this was on the docket that night. Um and here we are, less than two business days later, doing this important work. I'm just so grateful to all of you. So thank you. Thank you very much. Um you have a lot of the information. I'm just gonna spend just a few minutes of going over some things on why we're here, why a school of medicine in Stockton, um, why University of the Pacific and why now? Um and it goes to the health care disparities. The health care disparities in Stockton, in the county in the Central Valley. Um, as you know, they are enormous and they are growing, and they are largely derivative of a lack of physicians. When we have we've been studying this for about a year now. Uh, if you look at the area, not just not just here in Stockton in our county, but in the entire Central Valley and truly south of Sacramento and the Bay Area and north of Los Angeles. Every single county, everyone, is below the bare minimum of physicians per capita. And that disparity is growing each and every day.

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