Speaker 0: Thank you. Now we're going to go and go to entry into our continued budget hearing. The 2021 fiscal year we're here from health and opening up for questions from the council member and then parks public comment on this hearing will be after all, council questions are answered by each department so we can start off with that. So would you call for the hearing.
Speaker 2: Report and financial management recommendation and conduct a budget hearing to receive and discuss an overview of the proposed fiscal year 2021 Budget for Health and Human Services. Fire and Parks. Recreation and Marine.
Speaker 6: Thank you, mayor and council. Vice mayor and council. We have Kelly Collopy here to present the Health Department budget, so I'll turn it over to Kelly.
Speaker 7: A 21 budget. 2020 has been and continues to be a challenging year for our department and across the city. At no time in my career has there ever been an incredible, such an incredible focus on public health and the impact of social condition the COVID pandemic, a declaration of racism as a public health crisis, and ongoing national and local focus on violence. Also as a public health crises and the need to utilize public health methods to address it. COVID 19 brought to light the impacts of underlying health conditions, overcrowded housing and poverty. This year brought us together as departments, employees and community to address common goals. The level of partnership is unprecedented and so essential. I want to give a huge shout out to all the department who are engaged in the pandemic response, as well as their support for racial equity and reconciliation efforts. I also want to give another huge shout out to our Health Department, Health and Human Services Services team for their dedication, commitment and passion for their work. It has really been elevated in these COVID times. The Health Department offers over 40 public facing programs across the lifespan from prenatal to end of life. We work in and for every community in our city. We work to protect the public's health and promote healthy living and to prevent and control communicable diseases such as COVID. We're building systems to improve access to early childhood and older adult services. We house people. We enhance opportunities, policies and systems to address health and social inequities. The Health Department is also a vital component of the public safety continuum in Long Beach. We plan daily to ensure the city is prepared for what we are facing right now. We coordinate emergency shelter, response and services. We lead bioterrorism efforts for the city and the region. Our environmental health team coordinates the response to hazardous waste threats and ensures all restaurants and waters are safe. We lead violence prevention efforts through safe Long Beach, and we immunize against public health threats. The impact of Cove on our department has been steep. The Health Department's Emergency Planning and Communicable Diseases team is fewer than 15 people in normal times, and they are all grant funded. The COVID pandemic far exceeds this team's capacity to respond, as well as public health capacity to respond across the nation. Given the chronic under-resourcing of public health locally and at all government levels in our health department, many programs and people were assigned to COVID response beginning in March. Almost all of those that you see are those teams that you see are grant funded as well. Reassignments vary. For instance, ours from our HIV team led the coordination of Medical Reserve Corps for the Rapid Assessment Clinic, worked in the jet, producing information, provided interpretation at the mayor's pressers, and also participated in gear and the race conversations. Our veteran services coordinator is managing the call center. Our Community Health Bureau manager designed and managed the isolation and quarantine site. The list goes on. Ryan focusing on the health department. None of the response could be possible without the leadership, support, engagement and hard work of employees from across the city as they took on their roles as disaster services workers. The city came together in an unprecedented way, in an unprecedented time. And I thank you all. Some of our outcomes and accomplishments through COVID. So in only five months, we've accomplished so much in our in our city. Prior to COVID 19, the Public Health Emergency Management Team received a grant to support the distribution center, which became a lifeline in our to our city team and managing media partners for PPE and Food. Our public health lab ran tests before any other testing was available. Test sites have served over 88,000 people, and a communicable disease team has investigated nearly 8000 positive cases. The same team, I'll response also responded to 22 skilled nursing center outbreaks, of which 13 have no new cases in the last two weeks. The team partnered with the Venue Task Force to educate more than 8000 businesses, including supporting restaurants to reopen safely during the pandemic. We established a warm line for older adults, family members of older adults, agencies who work with older adults, and others who are self-isolating due to health conditions. The Chronic Disease Team made it possible to distribute £245,000 of food to 3500 households. And we also opened two emergency shelters and isolation and quarantine site for people experiencing homelessness and those who cannot safely isolate at home. To date, we have had no COVID 19 outbreaks among our city's homeless population. Despite the challenges COVID 19 has presented, the Health Department has continued to deliver services in many of its programs. These accomplishments include identifying and investigating the largest restaurant associated hepatitis A outbreak in California in years. This team interviewed over 200 individuals and conducted an extensive outbreak investigation. Our workplace work has grown by over 3200 families due to COVID and now is serving nearly 18,000 households. The Safe Language Team established a collaborative partnership with 15 community based organizations in the Washington neighborhood to address gun violence, neighborhood empowerment and built and built environment factors that impact people's quality of life. And the Medical Outreach and Health Access Team has enrolled over 1500 people in health insurance. We continue to address mosquito and other vector borne diseases and can take and conduct safety inspections. The number of HIV tests double this year to nearly 2000 tests for our community. We've also strengthened fatherhood skills and families within our family and in families within our city. Many of our direct service programs are now conducted by telephone or video. In terms of homelessness, we're managing $52 million in homeless services. This includes the $9 million purchase of the ABC shelter 3.7 million for Project ROOMKEY If that is approved, 1 million spent on COVID sheltering. It also includes a reduction of measure funding at the point of $2 million. The remainder of the funds are for prevention, outreach, coordination and rapid rehousing. We're opening 125 bed shelter this September, and the MSI has had nearly 8500 visits in this time of COVID, and the CRC has personally housed nearly 1400 people this year. We've also had we also have nearly 7600 households who are permanent housing through the housing authority. And we received 45 additional vouchers this year for veterans and tenant protection. The Family Self-sufficiency Program graduated 21 participants with a combined earnings of over $200,000. The current health department budget is just under $158 million. This does not include the one time funds for COVID 19 response. The housing authority continues to be the largest of our funds, followed by the Health Fund. The general fund is now approximately 3% of the health budget. With the addition of the Hart team in the budget. Notable changes to the general fund this year include $414 for $414,000 for three new positions as the Hart team restructures to the Health Department and 1.5 million for racial equity and reconciliation efforts. The new structure for the Hart team will allow for two response teams made up of a public health nurse, mental health practitioner and two outreach workers. This will allow for medical and mental health response across the city. Seven days per week, this meets the Council and community requests for increased medical and mental health support for homeless population. The 1.5 million designated for racial equity and reconciliation efforts will focus on youth development, violence prevention and health equity. The Proactive Homeless Initiative will be funded at the same level as last year, with one time funds of $255,000. The Office of Equity is moving from the Health Department to the city manager's team, and the two FTEs for the cannabis positions there were previously funded by the General Fund will be allocated to the health fund. These costs will be offset by permit revenues. In the health front, we are adding ten PhDs for administrative, finance and accounting supports to effectively manage nearly $49 million in new grants and contracts. These positions are grant funded and will continue as long as funding is available in programs across the department. At this time, we're looking at expenditures of $69 million for testing, surge staffing, surveillance, contact tracing, AP data efforts and homelessness. Our current one time response funding totals $49 million. So there's a gap of $20 million. The expectation is that FEMA will reimburse testing efforts to fill the gap between expenditures and the resources. Over the past seven years, the Health Department has efficiently managed its annual budgets to build an $11 million reserve to ensure we'd be prepared for times like this, a pandemic response, and cuts to budgets outside of the general fund. We expect this fund to take a large hit this year to cover the expenses. Our racial equity and reconciliation funding will allow the Department to open a new Office of Youth Development, strengthen existing violence prevention efforts out of focus on reentry, and continue the department's equity efforts focusing specifically on health and housing equity. The Office of Youth Development will coordinate programs and investments with community based organizations and city programs in Long Beach. This would be staffed by a program manager, a program coordinator and two peer navigators. Funding would go to use serving organizations to create young leaders and also leverage and expand the city's workforce and parks programing for recreation, youth , employment and wellness opportunities. This office this office also creates the infrastructure for future funding and supports to commute and supports to community based organizations to focus on issues such as peer navigation, to increase youth linkage to services, mental health services, and skill development for youth in managing difficult situations, as well as mentoring opportunities for the funding, while also strengthen our safe one beach violence prevention efforts which are currently staffed with one FTE funding with support and additional violence prevention coordinator, as well as a reentry coordinator to lay the groundwork for a future one stop reentry location in the city. Funding would be utilized to support community based organizations to focus on reducing community level trauma and gun violence through violence. Interruption strategies in communities most impacted by violence. The Health Department's Center for Families and Youth in North Palm Beach is currently being remodeled and will house the Center for Health Equity, which will be focused on providing and coordinating services that focus on building health opportunities for communities most impacted by racism. The Department will hire one health equity program manager to focus on policies and programs to address the most disparate health outcomes in the city, and one coordinator to further support the Black Health Equity Coalition further fund currently being funded through the CARES Act, as well as other key health issues impacting those across the city. Funding would also be utilized to increase food access and sustainability, as well as ongoing health department efforts such as fatherhood, black infant health, Medi-Cal enrollment and mental health supports. Health equity has really taken a front seat during these COVID times as we see the impacts of underlying health conditions and overcrowded housing and the case rates of our Latinx population and hospitalizations and deaths among our black population. For housing equity. The Health Department is in the process of hiring a coordinator for the Everyone Home Line Beach Plan. Three Efforts to reach the goals outlined in that plan. This coordinator will include a focus on equity and homelessness. We do face challenges because the Health Department is primarily a grant funded organization. There's little funding for administrative functions such as finance contracts and human resources. The status makes it even greater challenge to respond to an influx in funding. This is exacerbated by the aggressive timelines of the federal funding funding coming to the city. Don't get me wrong, we appreciate every dollar coming in and our community needs it, but it requires that we immediately build a capacity to manage it. Our grant funds have been hit as we've reassigned people to COVID response. When this happened, staff are not drawing down their grant funds, which impacts our overall funding picture now and in the future. Staff building to grants isn't an absolute essential thing to draw down the funds that are out there. The state health re-alignment funding to local health jurisdictions was cut by approximately 10%, which is over $800,000 for the city of Long Beach. The state is working to backfill these funds with approximately $550,000. This will help but continues to leave our department with a $300,000 reduction in our structural funding. The uncertainty of the length of the pandemic and future impacts challenge our planning and funding efforts. As discussed before, the department's fund balance is taking a big hit through this pandemic. We do have opportunities. The CARES Act funding brings a real opportunity to partner with community based organizations to provide key supports to people in our city who are most impacted by COVID. We are establishing infrastructures to support food access, early child and older adult supports, basic needs and so much more into our future. The Racial Equity and reconciliation focus on youth development, trauma, violence prevention, health and housing equity will bring much needed structural funding to essential efforts to create a healthier and safer future in Long Beach. Additional federal funding may become available to support response and recovery efforts. The department has been planning for the implementation of a coordinated entry technology system to improve access and coordination of services in the department, as well as improve data on our services to be utilized for quality improvement efforts. This is moving forward this year. The increased focus on public health planning and services at all levels of government and community allows a broader conversation about health and public safety and the necessity of investing in upstream preventions. Building a social context for Health and wellness. And finally, we also have 107 more permanent housing units coming online for our homeless population. Our Health and Human Services Department stands for the health and well-being of this great city and look forward to partnering with you, our community members, community organizations and our other city departments to ensure all are thriving. Thank you for the opportunity to present a snapshot of our efforts in the midst of these COVID times. That concludes my presentation, and I'm open for questions.
Speaker 0: Thank you. This is an exclusive question. Greg.
Speaker 1: Can we hear all the presentations first?
Speaker 0: Well, let's find out. Does everyone agree to that? Would everyone agree to have an idea? Come to our minds? Okay, fine. Okay. Well, next we'll go to.
Speaker 4: Thanks.
Speaker 6: The next we'll have our fire chief Javier Espino giving the presentation on the fire department budget.
Speaker 8: Is that when you come out?
Speaker 6: Give us a 1/2 while we clean the microphone area for the next presentation.
Speaker 8: Good. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Members of the city council. This evening, I will be providing a brief overview of the Long Beach Fire Department's fiscal year 21 proposed budget. Our presentation will highlight the services provided by the Fire Department. Some of our key accomplishments for the current fiscal year. Notable changes in the fiscal year 21 proposed budget and some of the major issues and opportunities that we foresee for the upcoming fiscal year. The Long Beach Fire Department delivers fire rescue, emergency medical services, marine safety response, hazardous materials response, and non-emergency response services. We provide a 24 hour operation 365 days a year. Our personnel are well equipped and highly trained to mitigate all emergencies. The fire department strives to make a better long, to make Long Beach a better place to live, visit and operate a business. Additionally, we work to ensure the safety of the community through proactive fire prevention activities, including code enforcement, fire investigation and aggressive community outreach. We also provide training and education that is essential to the delivery of our core fire and rescue services. I would now like to present some of the fire department's accomplishments and highlights for the current fiscal year. Over the past 12 months, we've responded to over 73,000 fire, emergency medical services, marine safety and other emergency incidents. Since many incidents require multiple units to respond, these 73,000 incidents equate to more than 150,000 unit responses. Included in this number are over 50,000 medical calls and over 6500 fire calls. This number also includes hazardous materials responses, airport responses and other non fire responses. Our Operations Bureau hired and trained a diverse class of 23 new ambulance operators to state to staff. Our basic life support program in our training division turned out a diverse class of 23 new firefighters. These were both great investments in the fire department's futures. I'm immensely proud of the work that the men and women of the fire department have done this year from the very beginning of the pandemic. They responded, as they always do. Heading directly towards danger and potential harm to the to themselves to do their job, never knowing which patients might be infected with COVID 19. Fire staff has also been critical to the citywide response to this prolonged incident. Back in March, fire staff was instrumental in standing up the incident management team with their knowledge of and experience with the incident command system. Our chief officers led the charge in this area quickly providing leadership and educating city staff and management from all departments in both the Incident Management Team and the Emergency Operations Center, and providing structure to a rapidly developing and changing incident. I would also like to highlight our efforts in the recruitment and education of future firefighters with the City Council's Investment in our Diversity Recruitment Program. Our Diversity Recruitment and Partnerships Coordinator has developed short and long term strategies to recruit and retain the most qualified candidates now and in the future. Short term strategies include recruitment events and providing information to assist candidates in their preparation. Long term strategies include our relationship with the Long Beach Unified School District and the Fire Pathways Program at Jordan High School. The continuation of the diversity recruitment program is critical to continuing to bring in a diverse group of qualified fire recruits and for preparing the next generation for a career in the fire service. In the short term, efforts have resulted in another diverse and highly qualified recruit class. It starts on September 28th. The Diversity Recruit Recruitment Program also provides support for our employees preparing for promotional opportunities within the organization. Our Fire Prevention Bureau promoted community safety and economic growth by conducting over 11,000 residential construction and business related fire safety inspections. The department conducted over 200 arson investigations, which resulted in over 30 arrests. Our Community Emergency Response Team or CERT program once again proved to be a valuable community asset this year. Our trained CERT volunteers contributed over 3500 hours of service for the COVID 19 response. One of the highlights of our diversity recruitment program was our first ever girls camp. This was a one day event at the David Rosa Regional Training Center, where 40 young women were provided information on careers in the fire service. In addition, they had the opportunity to meet with some of our staff role models where real fire, fire turnouts and helmets and obtain some hands on experience with the tools we use in the fire service. Finally, we were able to modify our very popular Junior Lifeguard program to comply with state and County Youth Day camp recommendations involving social distancing and other protocols. The proposed fiscal year 21 budget for the fire department is just over $133 million. We have a total of 527.7 full time equivalent staff consisting of 401 sworn FTE in the fire ranks. Another 24 full time year round marine safety first responders, over 180 seasonal lifeguards and 26 full time ambulance operators. Additionally, the fire department is supported by civilian staff in fire operations, support services, fire prevention and administration. 76% of our budget is in the general fund, which supports most departmental activities. The proposed fiscal year 21 general fund budget for the fire department is $101.5 million. The Long Beach Airport provides support in the amount of just over $6 million for fire and rescue services provided to the airport. And this is included in the fire department's general fund budget. Additionally, the Tidelands Fund supports marine safety activities as well as our fire operations in the Port of Long Beach, which includes specialty programs of urban search and rescue, hazardous materials and marine firefighting. The harbor department provides cost reimbursement for the services provided in the port in the amount of $19.2 million, and that is included in the $28.8 million Tidelands Fund budget for fire. Proposition eight funds from the oil production tax continue to provide additional support for fire staffing in the amount of just over $1.6 million annually. The fire department, together with the Health Department, provides environment environmental protection services that are supported by the Cooper Fund. Cooper stands for Certified Unified Program Agency and through permit fees, provides funding for inspection services and business emergency plan reviews to ensure hazardous chemicals are handled, stored and transported in accordance with current state and local standards. The Cooper budget is $1.1 million. The Fire Department's proposed fiscal year 21 budget includes several notable changes that I would like to highlight. First, there is a structural reduction of $1.9 million in Fire's general fund budget in fiscal year 21. This will be offset by a one year delay in the collection of capital recovery charges for our fleet of vehicles. Each year, the Fleet Services Bureau charges the fire department $1.9 million in capital recovery charges in the general fund, which goes into a vehicle replacement fund. By not charging us these capital recovery charges in fiscal year 21. We will delay a replacement of fire apparatus by one year, resulting in a slightly older fleet over the years. We're operating a relatively young fleet of vehicles. 60% of our front line emergency response vehicles are five years old or newer, and we are therefore confident that this change will not negatively impact operations. Since. Since this is a one time reduction, we will be required to submit an ongoing structural reduction to replace this in subsequent fiscal years . Additionally, the budget proposal includes a one time strategic investment of $200,000 to conduct a comprehensive fire operations study, which will identify efficiencies and potential areas of improvement. The proposed budget also includes the elimination of our two heart units and transfer of program responsibilities to the Department of Health and Human Services, who will operate the program with nurses and or social workers. By all accounts, the heart team has been a great success. However, when faced with make with making reductions of this magnitude, it was important to us to instead maintain our core services of fire and emergency medical response. Fire's proposed budget also includes several investments in the general fund. First is the addition of a new civilian fire inspector position. This position will work closely with development services to improve compliance with codes, laws, regulations and ordinances related to fire building and hazardous materials. The position will be funded through fires Memorandum of Understanding with Development Services. Additionally, partial funding is recommended to continue the Fire Diversity Recruitment Program for an additional year. The first year of this program was very successful and we look forward to continuing it. Program Highlights for fiscal year 20 included developing and implementing curriculum for the new Public Safety Pathway Program at Jordan High School. Hosting the inaugural Girls Fire Camp, attending over 30 recruitment events focused on improving diversity, redesigning all department branding to include images of a diverse workforce. Launching the BFD recruitment website to provide information about the department. The examination process and candidate expectations and how to prepare for the hiring process and pivoting to recruitment webinars via Zoom due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Again, I want to thank the City Council for your support of this important program. Finally, faced with a large reduction target in the title and fund, we had to make the difficult recommendation to reduce seasonal non-career lifeguard staffing by 10%, which will result in 5 to 7 fewer lifeguards on the beach on any given summer day. We're also proposing the elimination of one Marine safety officer, which will reduce the number of year round trained marine safety professionals and will require changes to the way that we manage our junior lifeguard program. The Fire Department put our first heart unit into service in November of 2016 with the mission of reducing the number of fire department responses to individuals experiencing homelessness through rapid response to nine one, one calls for service collaboration with Continuum of Care Partners and Community and Fire Department education. Due to the success of the Heart program, a second heart unit was added as part of the fiscal year 19 budget. Over the past 12 months, the two heart teams have made nearly 5000 mental health referrals and referred nearly 400 individuals experiencing homelessness to much needed services under a federal grant. Hart Team members developed and delivered mental health awareness and training to all fire department employees. And this year, during the COVID 19 pandemic, the Hart team has been helping individuals experiencing homelessness to determine whether they may be experiencing signs and symptoms of COVID 19. They also provide hygiene and personal care supplies and assist in emergency shelter placement. As I noted in the notable changes slide, the fiscal year 21 proposed budget eliminates fires to heart units. With this budget reduction, the four firefighters, four firefighter paramedics assigned to the two heart units will be assigned to paramedic rescue units that have vacant spots and program responsibility will be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services , who will provide homelessness outreach services with civilian staff. The fire department will work closely with Health and Human Services during this transition period. Looking forward to fiscal year 21. The department faces several significant challenges and opportunities. A consistent challenge is to improve response times and response capabilities and continue to meet the expectations and needs of our community . This becomes increasingly challenging amidst reductions in the budget. Another challenge is that of continuing to protect patients and first responders. This will remain a daily challenge as long as the COVID 19 pandemic last. We remain committed to continuing to provide patients and first responders with all of the necessary personal protective equipment. As became evident last year. Fire staff live in and respond from fire stations and marine safety facilities, some of which are old and have significant health and maintenance issues. This will continue to be a challenge for our workforce as more buildings begin to exceed their useful lives. Additionally, we're seeing an increase in vegetation fires in the city. These have the capability of spreading fast and threatening lives and property. Preventing and managing these fires is a high priority for us. And finally, we will be facing the challenge of keeping our beaches and waterways safe while operating with the reduced staffing that was mentioned in the significant changes slide. We also have some exciting opportunities ahead. While anticipated retirement of our leadership in the management and supervisory ranks creates somewhat of a challenge. It also is a great opportunity to develop the next generation of leadership. We also plan to conclude work on the BFD strategic plan in the coming fiscal year and look forward to implementing strategies to support the Department's vision and priorities. Finally, continued investment in the Fire Diversity Recruitment Program creates a great opportunity to continue to improve the diversity of the fire department through implementation of short and long term relationships and recruitment strategies. That concludes my report, and we are available to respond to any questions you may have.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much. No motor parks.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Please give us a minute to transition and then you'll hear from Brant Dennis, our brand new director of Parks Rec and Marine, who will be assisted by Steve Scott as well, who has been serving previously as the interim director.
Speaker 9: Good evening, Honorable Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. It's my pleasure to present to you the 2021 proposed budget for the Department of Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Care Services. In just a few weeks that I've been serving the community as your director of the Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Care Services , I've spoken to many community members, and they all speak with pride and passion about our over 170 parks, places and open spaces. 27 community gardens. Community centers, nearly 6.5 miles of beautiful beaches, three marinas, recreation programs, and compassionate animal care services. The proposed budget will allow our department team members to continue passing forward their passion of bringing enjoyment to all from infants to older adults, as well as our companion dogs and cats. We do this knowing that we need to be strategic and nimble in order to be effective and equitable in responding to the diverse needs of our community. The court services of the Department of Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Care Services provide an array of programs and places for our residents, businesses and visitors to enjoy. Every corner of our city. Parks are an essential part of our public health infrastructure, and the uneven access to that infrastructure across the nation poses public health and safety challenges. The Department of Parks Recreation, Marina Animal Care Services is committed to making our parks and open spaces essential places where everyone is welcome and can thrive. We're excited about providing programs and services in all areas of the city to meet the evolving needs of our community. We take our role in the public safety continuum seriously and work hard to provide access to healthy recreation opportunities in safe environments for the community's youth, teens, adults and seniors who utilize our programs throughout Long Beach. We're very proud to further promote responsible pet ownership and the humane treatment of animals in alignment with our Compassion Saves model . Animal Care Services is developing a new strategic plan which will provide a roadmap to achieving future success and meeting compassion saves objectives. We're fortunate to have the largest municipally run marina system in the nation, and it's our goal to make sure our facilities and waterways are in excellent quality for the enjoyment of everyone who visits and recreates . I'm extremely proud of our team members for the many accomplishments this past year as the COVID 19 pandemic struck our city. Our department quickly moved into action. Team members proved their resilience in adapting and responding to COVID 19. This has been shown in numerous ways, such as the deployment of staff to temporary shelters set up in our park community centers and working around the clock to assist city staff in serving our community. Our department also adapted to safety measures mandated by local and state health orders and were able to provide enrichment programs for youth like recreation, reimagined our youth summer programing model and virtual summer camps as well as virtual recreation, which we called it for all ages. People realize that parks are even more important than ever during these unprecedented times. We kept our parks and restrooms open and enhanced with cleaning and sanitization for our community to utilize. We made it a top priority to assure our communities of Long Beach have safe and equitable access to our great park system. It's an honor to share with you some of the accomplishments delivered by our department. We are able to utilize our connections to all parts of the city to provide over 67,000 meals to seniors at seven various sites. Even during the COVID 19 pandemic, when it was most needed. Animal Care Services continues to improve the life release rate, reduce impound and support spay and neuter efforts. The compassion saves and implementation further promotes our goal of having positive outcomes for all animals in our care. Currently, we have a save rate of 92% and are heading towards ending the year with very good rates of saving animals. Our foster program has been successful in increasing pet adoptions. Once again, we participated in a partnership with Long Beach Unified School District to offer meals to children and youth. This summer, we were able to expand from 23 to 33 sites and offered more than 100,000 meals. Our department stretches across the city and is able to serve all of Long Beach communities. We strive to be flexible and responsive. To be sure, our communities are served to our fullest capacity. As a department, we continue to focus on enhancing park access throughout the city and improving the beauty, maintenance and safety aspects of our parks, open spaces, beaches and marinas. Earlier this year, our beach maintenance division began mobilization and preparation for the Peninsula Beach Hydraulic Pumping Pilot study. Winter storms tend to erode the beach and beach maintenance staff annually transports thousands of cubic yards of sand by truck from the West Beach to the Peninsula Beach. Reducing the truck trips and finding a less disruptive transport method has been a big priority, and we're looking to see if hydraulic pumping could be a viable tool for beach renourishment in hopes of curbing natural erosion. Staff is in the process of determining the next steps of at the conclusion of that study. Our department, in partnership with public works, was able to construct the new playground at Jenni Rivera Park, reopened the K-9 dog park that occurred in January of this year. We built a brand new community center at Houghton Park, which opened in June of this year, and developed new parks such as Pike Park, which opened in February, which has the longest, I must say, the coolest slide in the city. As all of you know, Parks boosts the well-being for the entire neighborhood and foster community where everyone is welcome. Recently, we were awarded approximately $2 million from the National Park Service, which allows us to provide an additional six acres of much needed park space to the communities surrounding Davenport Park. We continue to work with partners to seek funding for future investment in our parks and open spaces for fiscal year 21. Our proposed budget totals over $60 million across all funds, with over $35 million or about 30 or 59% of our proposed budget from the general fund. The Department also has substantial tidelands funds budgets to support our operations in the marinas, beaches and waterways. That represents approximately 38% of our department's budget. Historically, we bring in over $38 million in revenue with significant revenue streams, helping to support our many free community programs. With general fund revenue of over $12 million from permits, facility reservations, contract classes and golf operations just to name a few. And in the Tidelands funds, it's over 24 million, most of which comes from marina slip fees, which amount to about 21 million. The city is currently undergoing a comprehensive fee study, which Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Services is taking part in. The fees. Study is one way the department continues to examine cost recovery and maximize revenue opportunities. The fiscal year 21 budget process proposes new revenues from youth sports and entry fees. The budget provides for over 427 full time equivalent positions in past years. During our busy summer months. Our team numbers grew to well over 800 people. We employ hundreds of seasonal staff and are proud of our role as a local workforce development engine. This is just another way that investment in your Long Beach Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Care Services is an investment back into the community. Additionally, we provide staff support and act as the liaison to four City Council appointed commissions, those being the Parks and Recreation Commission, Marine Advisory Commission, Senior Advisory Commission and the Commission on Youth and Children. The investments that are included in the fiscal year 21 budget will help our city continue to be recognized as one of the top park and recreation systems nationally. We have the great opportunity to continue to have a positive impact citywide on Long Beach residents and visitors each and every day by providing access for all to our many programs, services and open spaces. We look forward to the addition of a full time veterinarian to help drive positive outcomes for shelter animals and further improve our live release rate. The proposed budget continues the investment for the Be Safe program at 11 park sites next year, helping to keep youth and families engaged in positive and safe activities on weeknights during the longer daylight hours of summer work. We're excited to continue programing at the Expo Center. This program will further enhance the quality of life for our senior community by providing core health and enrichment services. The Expo Center is located in North Long Beach, which has the highest number of seniors in the city. Last year, the City Council approved the transfer to the city of the previously privately run historic asset known as the Sunnyside Cemetery. The cemetery is an important part of our city history, and we're pleased to make it a part of our park system. The proposed budget also includes enhanced resources for water, which will structurally maintain our current watering needed due to rate increases, as well as one time funds to help manage healthy plant needs, irrigate our park lands and keep them beautiful and safe. Although some of our critical needs have been addressed in the proposed budget, there are also some significant reductions. These reductions include the elimination of support and field staff in various bureaus in the General Fund and Tidelands operating funds. This includes the elimination of staff dedicated to nighttime lockups for mini parks, as well as park freestanding restrooms and also park permit compliant staff in El Dorado Regional Park. It also includes reductions of administrative staff in business operations, community recreation services and marine bureaus and supervisory support in our Community Recreation Services Bureau, as well as the Marine Bureau. Additionally, there will be a reduction in budget for materials and services such as landscaping and tree trimming services in the Tidelands area. There also be a reduction in budget for funds incentive programs during the summer by shortening our programing by one hour. Deferred maintenance, along with the continuing impact of vandalism and abuse of our facilities, continues to be challenged. We work with our partners to identify issues and how to best address them. We also collaborate with our partners to address the safety, health and environmental concerns related to people experiencing homelessness in our parks and beaches. These challenges must be addressed to enable us to provide court services and safe facilities for all of the community to enjoy. It can be a balancing act of resources to strategically address critical priorities while looking to the future. The development the department continually looks for future investment to support park infrastructure and development. We also explore more partnerships, collaborations and funding opportunities which allow us to offer scholarships for programs and classes. Beautification of our public spaces and future park. Development for our great city. With challenges do come opportunities, we hope to positively affect our parks through neighborhood involvement, beautification and positive activation through neighborhood involvement in parks and programs by volunteerism and other partnerships will create more welcoming and safe parks. This is so important because children who live in neighborhoods with safe parks, healthy foods and opportunities to grow and thrive live up to 17 years longer on average, than those in neighborhoods without those resources. That's actually according to our Cities Equity Toolkit, which I think is invaluable. We also look for ways to adapt our city service delivery model and operations to better meet the needs of the community, especially during these unprecedented times. We explore opportunities to take a creative approach to provide safe programing that is accessible for all. Like we've done with recreation, reimagined and virtual programs, we work towards promoting equity and making inequities visible, using data and storytelling. An example of this opportunity is through our Youth Strategic Plan, which emphasizes the importance of reaching out to our youth to identify these inequities and trying to work with them to have them addressed. We're passionate about using nature to benefit our parks, spaces, programing and services. We want to focus on clean water, sustainable park landscapes, clean beaches, and well-managed wetlands that align with the city's priorities. We'll continue to advance the development of the department's strategic plan. The plan strives to engage community voices to inform the delivery of park programing and services. We plan to bring to you the new strategic plan next year. This will further our efforts to be continually adaptable to the Long Beach Community Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Care Services and all its team members remain committed to offering award winning programs and excellent service while providing safe, clean parks, beaches and marinas from all of us to to use now and in the future years. We are dedicated to our city, our department, and championing a park system for all and for the future. From our recreation programs to animal care services, what we do provides enjoyment to a large, diverse community. Honorable Vice Mayor and Members of City Council. I thank you for your continued investment in Parks, Recreation, Marine and Animal Care Services. Your support helps us meet the needs of community all across the city. Our dedicated employees and I thank you for that support. And this concludes my presentation.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And I want to thank all three of the individuals from Park Slope, you know, and for our excellent report. So now we're going to on with the guys, you know, questions. First of. Councilman Rogers in there? Yeah, I was waiting on you. Okay. Thanks, Vice Mayor. I'm going to be pretty quick here. I'm just going to have some brief comments for Mr. Dennis and Mr. Espino, and I'm gonna have just a few thoughts and comments for the Health Department. And when we get there, I'd like to pull up page 13 on the Health Department's report. Mr. Dennis, welcome to the team. You've hit the ground running. We have a great Parks and Recreation Department. It's difficult times right now, but I know that it's important to the public. So we want to make sure that we are doing all that we can to make sure we have a top notch world class parks. A few things just to highlight. I think, you know, the Parks Park Center, you know, unfortunately, we're in a pandemic, so the public hasn't been able to really experience it, but we're incredibly excited to have finished that project. It's been more than a decade of advocacy to get there. We're excited also about the Forest Park partnerships that are in the works with Camp Fire and Conservation Corps. I know that I'd like to see in the future just staff spend some time dedicating some focus on grant writing and other sorts of resources to implement the Uptown Open Space Plan. Highland Park took so much, so much energy and attention that it was, you know, that it was difficult to see prop funds and other things go to other other things like playgrounds and Hamilton, Greenbelt and other things. I'd like to see that also. I love seeing that the senior program at Expo and the BSA program, both of those are really popular in the North Long Beach and Uptown community, so I'm glad to see that that's there. So again, welcome and look forward to working with you. Chief Espino Great. I'm glad that you highlighted a lot of your success with the fire diversity recruitment. This was an important priority of the city council. I've been paying attention to this. So great job. You have very visible changes. And, you know, I'm hearing good things about the academy that you've been able to see some of the benefits of the fire diversity program. Can you speak just briefly to how the academy is shaping up?
Speaker 8: Thank you. Councilman, can you repeat the question one more time, please?
Speaker 0: Just just briefly, can you speak to the diversity when within like since you brought on this diversity recruiting program, what outcomes are we seeing with the with the current academy?
Speaker 8: So with the current academy that's coming up, it's a very diverse academy, I want to say on the order of 50%, either by gender and or ethnicity. And that also reflects what we we had just recently with our Engineers Academy with the same graduation rate and typical diversity as well.
Speaker 0: Great. I'm just glad to see that. And I've been following the Junior Lifeguard program and all those things, so we're excited about the future. Another, we're gonna have some difficult budget years. So moving forward, you know, I'd like to see more creativity in efficiencies and, you know, in revenue options so that we can prevent service cuts. I don't we don't want to lose engine 12. We don't want to lose rescue 12. Again, we saw what it was like without that. And so we know what's up against this next year or, you know, we're all going to have to work together and figure out some creative solutions. You know, I'd love to learn more about some of these. We focus on the heart themes, but those questions will have for for health. But thank you so much. And the other thing is, I love that you spoke to succession planning and training. I think that's really important to maintain a great culture. You really want to make sure that you you brought up, you know, use these opportunities to bring young people up into leadership. So so thank you. And keep up the good work, Chief. Thank you for thinking, Miss Collopy, on health. First of all, thank you for leading with health on the Health presentation. First, I think it's certainly appropriate given what we're dealing with in the pandemic. If we could pull up the health presentation, go to page 13. I think that's where I want to where where I want to start. So I'm glad to see that particularly this year, we're being nimble and responsive. We learned a lot this year about the way health impacts and the way it breaks down is along poverty lines, along racial lines. How it breaks down. One May economy recession. Okay. Okay, so so man it threw me off being I was on a roll. So yeah. Can you just speak to that? I want to speak to as I see these investments and they're really good and I think we'll have more time to talk about them later. But the housing and homeless equity position, what I see here is that there's you know, we're dealing with a lot with respect to renters nowadays. And we've got housing authority, we've got rental assistance, all these things. And we want to place a focus on homeownership and and we have a homelessness issue. How is Colby? How are we going to make sure this housing equity position is situated to sort of streamline all of those doors into one door? That's easy for people to get to because I'd like to ultimately see one front door housing, rental housing division within the city that can deal with, you know, our rental issues. And I think it applies to racial equity as well, given 80% of African-Americans rent in Long Beach and 70% Latino. So could you speak to that?
Speaker 7: Yes. Councilmember So the focus of this at this time is really around the issues, around homeless homeless equity. We find an overrepresentation among our black population, within our homeless population. The other piece of it is the Everyone Home plan itself has a lot of focus on bringing forth affordable housing, rental and others. And so I think the starting point would be to leverage the person that is coming on through the Everyone Home plan and then to work throughout this year to establish the single office and bring that back to you for next year to move forward with that opening.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Go for it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next to councilman, you venga.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mayor. And I want to also thank the presenters, come up to speed on Denis for their work on this budget. And it's very tough, a lot of things to do. I'm going to start with health tourism with the first one up. I want to congratulate the occupants and they're doing exactly what I've been wanting to do for the last several years. And that's to welcome to analyze much of the separates is that you make it structural so that they're not always have to rely on grants and other funding to provide the services that they do. So I'm very happy to see that, and I hope that we're able to do even more in the coming years to structurally fund the whole department into the city's family. And that had to rely on grant. So I just want to say that the other part of the presentation did not did not address some of the other bureaus or what of what's going on with law or preventive health and the environmental health services. I especially interested in that one because we still have what we've had as COVID 19. We still have a West Nile virus out there in the comedian. And well, we've been very successful in controlling West Nile. What is the status of the Environmental Services Bureau?
Speaker 7: Yes. So our Environmental Health Bureau at this time said this past year they've responded to over 500 requests for the mosquito control and identified nine over 900 mosquitoes for vector borne borne disease surveillance. So they are working throughout all of this pandemic, doing exactly what they do every year. We have had one West Nile case in the city that I'm aware of. And it was the you know, it was one of the first ones in Southern California. So they continue to do that work, as well as the food safety inspections are working very closely with the restaurant at this time so that they can comply with the health order as well, ensuring that they can operate safely, you know, outside and kitchens and all those other pieces. So they're spending a lot of time in the field right now around health inspections as well. And then they're doing the pool inspections and the water testing and all the other events that they do.
Speaker 3: Would I be accurate in saying that the Environmental Services Bureau is doing their work in the capacity and funding that they currently have?
Speaker 7: Yes, they are. We are in the process of hiring additional inspectors because of the increased demand on their time and work. And they are sort of at the limit in terms of the resources they have available to them for the work that they can be doing.
Speaker 3: He will. Thank you for all you've done to keep his funeral pyre a little bit about what Councilmember Richardson brought up and Kennedy roommate. Very glad to see that you have that every single plan in place. That's another item that I have been wanting to see over the years to improve and get more institutionalization on there instead of doing it on a per recruitment strategy, something that you're doing year round and always looking at that. How you reviewed what you might be expecting in terms of attrition the next two or three years and what it might look like for your staffing, as well as the possibility of additional academies two or three years out.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Councilman. So on a normal basis, we anticipate approximately 12 retirements per year. That includes all ranks. We expect to see the same this year just based on our conversations with our workforce, with the academies, the system that we have set up now where we are testing annually and producing a an academy on an annual basis seems to give us a robust workforce, and I think that will keep us in line with maintaining our workforce. Of course, we're going to have to adapt and shift as the situation presents itself.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm glad to hear that as well as with you have ever seen recruitment. I'm sure that we're going to be continuing to diversify our fire department at all levels. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. What a pleasure. One minute. One last question, and that is DMSO that you have targeted for elimination. I know I heard you correctly in your presentation. Yes, sorry about that. This whole works with your lifeguards. Would that be severely affecting that program at our class B or C that we had last week? Councilmember Price and I really supported that program. We want to we want to see it continue. And so with this, MSO basically have a deleterious effect on that program.
Speaker 8: There would be a shift in responsibilities for who is administering the program. It would go from an MSO to Marine safety captain and also an analyst would be assisting with that process. So it would look different. And the responsibilities that the MSO currently has would have to be basically taken on by others.
Speaker 3: Well, my well, my question really relies on whether there would be a negative effect on the lifeguard program or sea right now. Cabrillo High School, Jordan High School schools up in all that are very well removed from the beach. We need that exposure. So, I mean, it wasn't when you were.
Speaker 0: Younger, so you could fill up again if you like.
Speaker 3: Boy, can I just finish up my question and then move on? Okay. Thank you. So, Tom, so basically those are the concerns that I have with the with the local programing. And and you're seeing they might look different. Yes, sir. You have a question? Do you have an answer to that?
Speaker 8: Yes. So as far as we know, the junior lifeguard program will continue with Mitchell gone. But it would be a marine safety captain, so it's going to look a bit different. We would still have a junior guard system, but it's going to be administered in a different direction. And the responsibilities that the MSL currently has would have to be farmed out to others within the organization. But the to my knowledge, the program that's at Jordan and Cabrillo and forwarding all of that, that will not be harmed in any way.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. That's all I have, I swear.
Speaker 0: Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Since we're already with Chief Espino, I think so. We'll have to clean the microphone. My question would start with Cuba funds. So are you aware that there were some findings of agencies in the region and they met with the state and were able to designate their fines and fees to a local fire agency?
Speaker 8: I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?
Speaker 1: You talked about Cuba funds. Yes. Yes. So are there other a battalion chief for another fire agency mentioned to me that there were some businesses in the region, not in Long Beach, that had some violations. And when the violations occur, there are significant fines levied and associated. Typically, those fines are paid to a state agency. However, there was a recent lawsuit, I guess, that allows them to designate to give those funds to local agencies. Would you be open to looking into that and coming back to us in 6 to 8 weeks with a notice of whether or not we could start getting those funds directed to our agency, and that if we could start sending out letters after violations so that the revenue could come directly to us.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I would certainly be open to that. As stated earlier in the presentation, there is going to be a study of all things. Oops. All things. Fire department. And that would be something that we'd certainly look at. We're looking at different areas of the fire department as well in regards to billing and fines and fees and recouping those cost.
Speaker 1: Related to. And the additional increases of gate fees. Mr. MODICA I know that you'd stated that gig fees cannot be levied to one set of zip codes versus another set of zip codes separately or at different price points. But would you be open to creating a program where local residents could volunteer hours at a park or something of the such, where they could become some kind of ambassador, at which time they would be eligible for a lifetime reduced price or entrance fees.
Speaker 6: So if I understand the question correctly, it should. Can we look at a program where if you're volunteering and helping in the park, you get lower level of fees in terms of access to your annual passes that it.
Speaker 1: Something like that where their fees would stay the same. I know that our original intent was to raise fees for those who don't live in Long Beach. Since most tax dollars actually are. All support for Eldorado Park at this time comes from Long Beach taxpayers. And so my goal would be that Long Beach taxpayers don't have to pay additional to get into the park. However, other cities have taxpayers whose taxes go to their own parks. But because Eldorado Regional Park is such a desirable location, many of those residents use our parks. I am very supportive of the optimization of the front gate that would come from these fees. But I'm also of the mind that we do have a large number of Saturday cleanups now and other things. And so if members of our community took a pledge of some sort to help clean up the park and or to always follow the rules or any of those things, if they could get a discounted rate, which would be the current rate versus allowing that increase to go to people who don't participate in cleaning up our park, continue to violate the rules and are not local residents. Does that make sense?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think we can take a look at that. So we need to show that there was some kind of benefit that we received from their engagement. And there are a lot of really good volunteers that help out at the park. So we can take a look at that. And I think the item you were referring to is we did explore whether or not we could charge a higher fee for those who don't live in Long Beach. But because we've taken some money in the past, too, you know, that was kind of either state money or county money . We are not allowed to do that at this time.
Speaker 1: And I will further bring up that. I know that at the time I brought this up before was not in a public forum. So I think it's a poignant to bring it up now so that the community can hear. And there are libraries who have taken regional county funds, hundreds of thousands of dollars of regional county, thousands, if not millions recently from the county and the city of St specifically. And they have a library that only services Cerritos residents. If you are not a Street Post resident, you cannot participate in that library. So I would be very interested to know what. Special thing that they did that allowed for that same kind of.
Speaker 0: Program right now.
Speaker 1: That's your.
Speaker 0: One man.
Speaker 1: Thank you. That access where our park is not eligible for the same types of restrictions. And then I just want to close with health services and wait. Let me. Youth sports fees. I second the mayor's comments that you support fees to not increase. We're in a time where youth sports is going to be on the brink of being able to survive. They're not able to play competitive play only practices. So they're at a place where they're going to have to reduce fees, not increase fees. And so I'm hoping that the city manager will bring forward alternatives to fix the funding gap created by not increasing our youth sports fees. I don't know what other options we have, but I don't think increasing youth sports fees is going to make sense, especially since they're going to have a significant reduction in utilization. So I think that that supply and demand is going to be an interesting one and it won't solve our problem. And finally, I just want to thank our Health Services Department and all our city employees who participated in the COVID response. I think that you guys did excellent work, and I think you've demonstrated a need that we have in our city to invest in health. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Councilman Longo Price, please.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. So a couple of comments. I just want to let me start with fire. And I know that Chief has talked a little bit about the whole program and touched on our lifeguards. I know that both Councilman Pierce and I are probably very plugged in to the great work that our lifeguards do every day. I am disappointed to see the reduction in their budget, especially in the areas where there are proposed reductions. I realize that we have some tremendous strains on Taiwan's budget right now and that that revenue source is going down and it's somewhat unpredictable because it's reliant on oil. But I'm hoping, Mr. City Manager, that we can figure out a way to fix the tide once. Allocation for lifeguards this year for FY 21 to allow them to continue operating at the level that they were. And then instead of cutting them now, require a proposal that they could submit for restructuring that we can consider next year if their budget is impacted by tidelands declines. And let me tell you why. I don't know if Chief has been our or I don't know if Deputy Chief Medina's is there or available can talk to a little bit about the rescues, talk to the rescue operations that have happened over the last year and how critical those are not just to the individuals who were rescued, but also to the community who witnessed who experienced trauma as a result. And just having the security of having the lifeguards out there, especially with our increased beach activation. So Chief Espinoza or Deputy Chief Medina, can either of you speak to some of the efforts of our lifeguards in the area of rescue?
Speaker 4: Thank you. Council member Chief Medina here. Just a quick a quick recap on our rescues. Two Sundays ago at the Colorado Lagoon, an eight year old boy and 14 year old sister were playing at the lagoon. And the eight year old boy stepped off a drop off and began to drown. The 14 year old sister, in an effort to render aid, reached down but was pulled down by the 14 year old, by the eight year old boy. Both of them were under water when our lifeguard Cooper got to them. She was able to bring them back to the surface and get them back to shore where we were able to render aid. They did take on a little water. And so our paramedics transported them to the children's memorial. That's just one example. I mean, we had a a choking infant. Alamitos Beach for many of the community that goes down there on the sand, it wasn't a water rescue, but our go render aid delivering and making sure that they had a pattern airway by the time that paramedics got there. They also were transported. And certainly our lifeguards have been involved throughout the year, not just in lifeguard rescue efforts. They've supported the pandemic by staffing many of the clinics, the testing sites, and they plan to return to that line of work once our summer season is over, if needed by the city. So they certainly do a lot more than than than just the rescue work. They're an incredibly talented team, and the fire department's extremely proud of all of their efforts.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you for that. I mean, I will say that one of the silver linings that we've seen with COVID and I've actually seen the evolution over the last six years, and I certainly hear from the residents in our parking impacted areas, the beaches have gotten a lot more activated. Our water, our parks along the water are just, you know, completely packed with people on the weekends and on holidays and now during COVID, even on beach days. And so I think there is a very important place for our lifeguards and our seasonal lifeguards in public safety. And so, I mean, you.
Speaker 0: Have the government.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. I really want to make sure that that budget is considered. And, Mr. Modi, I'm looking to you for some guidance. We can talk offline about how we can continue to restore that budget through FY 21. And similarly, the junior guard program. I'm intimately involved with that program. I have a child in the program. I think it runs very smoothly and efficiently right now. And I'm very concerned that I've heard from a lot of parents in my community who are concerned about the change in operation. So I'd like to see that staffing stay as is for the next year. Finally, to our prime time, thank you very much for our beach maintenance crew. Cory Forrester does an amazing job with his team, with the sand replenishment project. And I'm very hopeful that the hydraulic system will will yield some environmentally friendly alternatives for the future, because having those trucks go back and forth on the beach every day is very detrimental to public health. So think and I hope that's something that public health department can also help support us with because it's definitely a health crisis that we need to address in terms of environmental impact. So thank you very much and I appreciate the time. Mr. Vice Mayor.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much. Councilman Price Compliment.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor. And thank you everyone for the presentations. I will start with the Health Department. Very happy that we started with the Health Department on these presentations. Also, you know, the four years that we've been there, I've been a council member trying to get structural funds for the health department has been a top priority. I know it hasn't been everyone's top priority, but I do agree with the mayor when we look at this pandemic and all the situations that we're dealing with. But this is a top priority department to help ensure the safety and care of our residents. So with that, I love the presentation about how we would tackle some of the equity issues. Obviously, I think everyone's heard my questions that I asked last week about the Hart team. As the person that brought the heart team forward. I do know that the goal of that was to coordinate with the Health Department was to make sure that we were doing proactive outreach to our homeless population, but also that we were able to respond to 911 calls. I also know that we purchased new vehicles for that. A lot of resources were put into that. And I'd like to hear from the department how would the help how would the Health Department take this on? And really, I'd love to hear if there's a model that somewhere in between what the city manager is being proposed and working with what we already have, whether it's, you know, one paramedic with the heart team and somebody from the health department or is there an area in the middle that we can come up with? So with that, Kelly, I'll go ahead and leave it to you to answer.
Speaker 7: Good evening. Council Member The the current proposed model for the Hart team would be one public health nurse to be able to respond to the medical the medical issues, the public health nurses. Also, we have had one that's been embedded with our with our with our homeless services division. And that that public health nurse has been able to, you know, engage with people at encampments as well as really been able to connect people to levels of service that we have otherwise not had the capacity to connect people to. So we'd have one public health nurse and then one on one mental health, um, one mental health clinician who would join. So each team that would go out would have, we'd have someone that could focus on the physical health and the mental health, as well as partnering with existing outreach workers. So there would be two of those teams, they would be available across the city seven days a week to support the response. And so we would be working with 911 dispatch to determine what the potential is to support through that, as well as people calling at the mercy when they're seeing things. And they would like a response.
Speaker 6: And this is Tom. I do want to say that we have adjusted a little bit from the original what's in the budget book. We did just say in the beginning it was just going to be public health nurses. As we looked at this further, we really wanted to bring that mental health component to it. And also with the outreach workers, the model is going to be from going about a five day a week coverage under the current model to about a seven day or to seven day a week coverage. So we would have seven day a week with those mental health and the nurse and the outreach workers and actually have a reduction in savings as well.
Speaker 1: Right. So am I to understand, you said you'd be working with 911 dispatch, so someone calls 911 and it's somebody that is struggling with their mental health that might be homeless or, you know, out in the neighborhood. Would we be able to send just the heart team or would PD have to go as well?
Speaker 7: In this case, we're focusing this team is focused on our homeless population. So if a call comes in, we you know, this is we're in early negotiation figuring out exactly how the calls come in. So we would we working with the with nine would dispatch to understand what are what the opportunities are for responding to these situations . I know at this time that the her team often arrives and then the then ambulance or paramedics can return or turn back. I don't know if that's a possibility moving forward. It's something that I would need to work on with Chief Espino and the fire department to understand how that could work.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's my understanding when we have women. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 0: You have one man.
Speaker 1: Okay. It was my understanding that our team worked really hard with the community to be able to get just one of the Hart teams to be able to respond to 911 calls. And so really, when I when I think about reduction in cost, it's making sure that we're not sending out a fire truck, hart team or a police car. And so I don't think that our health department, from the work that we've done, can respond to 911 calls. And so I hope that we can get that question very clearly answered. And if they can't respond to 911 calls, can Tom work with the health department and the fire department to try to find a middle area work, something that we can do, whether it's one person from the fire team, along with the with the rest of the staff, I'll come back up. And when I come back up, I'll I'll focus my questions at the fire department. So thank you for that. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Supernova. Okay. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Well, I'll move right to the fire department so it doesn't feel left out. But I don't have any questions for Kelly Colletti or for Brant Dennis. But I would.
Speaker 4: Like to quote both of them in my comments.
Speaker 0: To the fire department. And first, I think Kelly Colby said we're effective, that it's vital to draw upon grants. And I would ask that the same logic be applied to the fire department and specifically the safer grant that we, you know, dig a little deeper on this. If there are waivers, if there are any exceptions made for COVID 19, that we could take a closer look at the grants or that particular grant. Also, I believe Grant Dennis used the phrase maximized revenue opportunities applied to PRM. And I would also ask that the fire department look at that. If we can look at fee structures, fire inspection fees or whatnot, get a robust system in place of collecting those fees that the department generates. So we take the focus out of. Saving or cutting ourselves into prosperity. And look at revenue generation. The chief talked about core services and that that is a focus now that that we've done that we keep solid core services and not cutting into that. And Councilman Richardson made this statement, but we don't want to go backwards. We don't want to use rescue 12. We don't want to lose the equipment we've had restored. And I would echo that. And also, Chief, I want to ask you a question about the community service. And this is not I don't want your answer in terms of equity, which is how the system works. So when we lost E 17, we noticed that Engine ten was going on. A lot of those calls and Engine ten response area, but engine 17 is response area in 90804, which happens to be the densest zip code in the city. So is it fair to say that that without Engine 17 in place, you're taking Engine ten, which I believe is the busiest or the second busiest engine company in the city away from their service area? Is that is that a fair statement to me?
Speaker 8: Councilman. Yes, that's a fair statement. All of the units that surround 17 the area would become busier just for the loss of that engine. Yes.
Speaker 0: But in particular, I talked about Engine ten. I think Station ten has been on 14th and Peterson in the vice district since the 1930s, I believe, and it has been a very busy station for a long time, at least 50 years. I know of they've been number one and number two busiest in the city. And the concept that we would take that engine company out of that service area and this is something I'll probably bring up under item 14. But I think the irony isn't lost in anyone where we have a robust fire diversity program that we should be very proud of. But to lose core services to the black community or communities of color, that's just an irony I don't want to experience. So I appreciate your time. Great reports all around. I do have one final question for Prime and this probably goes to Steve Scott. On his watch, I was just told that we had funds that went to the municipal bands this year. So you don't have to respond right now. But if we could just look into those that funding and whether because we haven't had concepts of some of that money can can come back. All right. That's all I have. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Councilman Stefano, councilwoman and dance.
Speaker 1: You miss me or thank you very much for all that great information to everyone. I want to echo to the comments that all of my colleagues have been making, as far as you know. Well, let me start off with with Health and Human Services. First of all, I think that it needs to be stated again that our health department really stepped up to the plate and during this raid radically transformed themselves into the operations and capacity in the face of COVID 19. They've been doing an excellent job. And for that, you know, I think, you know, Kelly, you've been you and your team have really been doing a tremendous job. I also wanted to thank your team, you know, because I know that everybody over there has been working really hard on this. Question. I was wondering if there's any way that staff might be able to comment on the impacts of the 2021 proposed budget in the expected. Is expected to have on its city's language access program and whether we can expect services to service levels to change as a result of this New Year's budget.
Speaker 7: Councilmember. The the language access program has been really tapped through the COVID response. So at the beginning of last year, there was $80,000 aligned for interpretation and interpretation and translation support. We have quickly gone through that through COVID, and it's being sort of filled utilizing additional CARES Act funding and others for this upcoming year. There is a proposed $160,000 for language access response, which is double the double the amount of previous years. And so it will expand capacity and ability to respond as long as the COVID response and others continue. There will be a large demand in our attempt to get messaging out to all of our communities.
Speaker 1: Wonderful. Thank you. I think that that's very important because Long Beach is rich in diversity and we need to make sure that everyone's informed. So thank you for that, Kelly. In regards to our fire fire department, I also wanted to thank Chief Espinoza for his report. And I just would like to add a follow up. Question in regards to the the junior lifeguards, I know that as Councilmember Price is also concerned about them. I am, too. You know, I think it's a program that really, really helps out our youth and really to some really takes them out of their community and gives them , you know, the expertize to maybe make a choice in in becoming, you know. Maybe life guards in the future or just the experience that they get that makes them be such a better such a better person. So. You know, I was a little concerned about the possibility that that, you know, as proposed budget might be cut. So I you know, I'm I'm just curious to see if, you know, if we have. I guess my thing is that I really want to see that program remain, and I think that it's very important for our youth. And so I hope that we can take a look at it again and really consider our youth that are benefiting from this program.
Speaker 0: You have one minute, Mrs.. In there.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just want to make sure that also, you know, that when we're dealing with the distribution of the of the budget during these times, that we really focus on equity and see these changes through an equity lens. For the Parks and Recreation. Thank you so much, Director Dennis, that you just came on and already you have this big task. So thank you for that great presentation. And I would just like to add, you know, now that we have COVID happening and you know, there's a lot of budget cuts going on. I wanted to see if if there was going to be still funding to move forward with the Drake Travis Greenbelt project that.
Speaker 0: Sunday as your time is up. You can keep it like that. Yes. Councilman manga.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I had an additional question. Someone brought up the life saving measures that were happening on our beaches and the heroic save that our paramedics and our lifeguards did. We appreciate that very much. There's some studies out there related to transporting drowning victims and cardiac patients, and the success rates can be improved with mechanical CPR devices . I know that we have a study coming to look at the efficiencies within our department, but when we come up with any of those potential efficiencies, I think it also important for us to consider the national standards and how they're changing. If mechanical CPR devices are saving more lives, then that's something we might want to consider. And if we cannot afford mechanical CPR devices at this time. Other agencies in Arizona have decided to just not transport when CPR is in process. And so I would just ask that we look at those as a part of our overall picture, because those kind of one time investments are expensive but worthwhile when they save lives. So thanks.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman. Yes.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'll try to finish up the conversation about the party team. I was just informed that I also received a letter from the DLP and Black Lives Matter around supporting keeping our Hart teams in place. And I think it's not so much like is it a firefighter, is it a health department person, but it's that we have somebody else that can respond. And I'm one one calls that's not a police officer. It's not one of the calls that a police officer needs to respond to. And so I just want to make sure that I spoke to that. On that point. I said that I had some questions for, you know, and so I wanted to ask. I know that this moment that we're in right now calls for a lot of structural changes, not only to the city budget because of COVID, but also our police budget. And I looked through some of those changes and I was curious. I know that there's a study that's being proposed around our billing and everything, which I completely support. And I think any studies that we haven't been able to do in the last several years should be a priority to make sure that our fire department is getting up to speed with all the technological advances that we are asking of our other departments, including FIRE and including PD. But I did want to ask, I know in the police department there were several positions that were shifted to civilian positions, and I'm not an expert on this. So I'm just curious, outside of the reduction of the 10% reduction for our lifeguards that was mentioned, are there other areas that I know this budget's moved quickly, but are there other areas that you can tell us you might be looking into to identify some other cuts?
Speaker 8: Yes. There are other areas that we have looked at civilian housing and unfortunately, many of the positions that we have that are not on the floor, as it were, say, like our fleet captain, that's that's a fleet sworn captain that also has all of the specifications for our apparatus. He was a former fire engineer. A lot of the different aspects that we would require of that position. And so we will continue to look at that. As I said, we will do a deep dove on the fire department in general and see if we can come up with some better efficiencies.
Speaker 1: Okay. Well, I definitely support the diversity work. I know that that's something that you've heard deeply about and this council has led on a lot. Again, just because I am now getting community letters around this hard time, I really hope that maybe in the memo that comes from this meeting that we can explore what that might look like, whether instead of housing and one department that having it as a partnership with the two. And so if that was it for your department.
Speaker 8: If I can just follow up quickly just to point the the recent pandemic highlighted the effect, the effect of having sworn personnel in different positions, in administrative positions at certain points. During the beginning of this in March, we had upwards of 60 personnel beyond what we had on the floor, staffing our engines and trucks and paramedic rescues , the ability to go from an administrative position and jump right over into a sworn position backfilling that is huge for us as far as surge capacity. And as you know, we're getting into fire season. We just had a strike team out with 22 personnel. Fortunately, they're all back safely, but they were back for potentially three or 4 hours before we were surveyed. Again, we have not gone back out, but I do believe we're going to have a very busy season. And so it does help us provide the best coverage possible.
Speaker 1: I understand. Thank you for that. Thank you.
Speaker 0: And you have one minute.
Speaker 1: One minute. Okay.
Speaker 0: One minute, Mrs. Barrett.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Parks Rec and Marine. Welcome to the team. I think it's great. I guess my my main point on this is recognizing that both this department and the Health Department lead on efforts with our youth and our senior department. And so this is more of a comment for for Mr. Modica. I know that we continue to talk about how we have these things work together, and I'm wondering if there's efficiencies and ways to make sure that we're fully supporting both of those populations by working with these departments collaboratively. I'm not sure which deputy city manager is in charge of both of these departments, but I think it would be great if it was the same person so that we have coordination there. I would love to hear about the opportunity of moving our. Park Rangers back to the park stalking Marine team. And so I would love to to talk about that offline and also hopefully see some comments on that in the memo that will come forward. So with that, I think you guys are really play.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Country mums and dads.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I just wanted to go back to that question in regards to our Jake Chavis Green Belt project that we're working on. You know, just wanted to see how the budget might be affected on that, if at all. And that's probably for director Dennis.
Speaker 9: Yeah. Council member. That's a good question. So I know we're going to be when we welcome Meredith back to our team, putting in high gear for grant pursuits. I think there's lots of opportunities realizing what the vision is to expand Derek Chavez to become a more valuable community asset. I think that's our eye on the prize, but our hard work will be seeking out, you know, through research and then making a compelling case to bring grant funding. And also, you know, we're working to have a more robust relationship with partners of Parks. And I think they can be a real key player in helping attract funding to help accomplish that project.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: And and also, you know, I just want to also share my thoughts on, you know, the heart, you know, program that we have through fire. I know that when I first learned about it a year ago that I was super excited to have this program helping our homeless community here in Long Beach, our homeless neighbors. But so I, I really hope that we can find something in between what is being proposed right now and what what is currently in effect right now. So thank you very much. I think that's a very.
Speaker 5: Very important program.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 0: You've seen this so many, ranga.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Vice Mayor. I really didn't get to finish last time in my speech. I didn't get to address Parks Recreation. But just to finish it with fire, the $200,000 has been set aside for a comprehensive study of the fire services. Has there been a plan yet in terms of what that study is going to conduct in regards to what aspects of revenue generation or possibilities we're going to look for in that study?
Speaker 8: Yes, Councilman. To date, I don't believe there has been any communications with city management as far as the actual actual that are going to be coming out in conversations have been told that we are going to put together a team that will identify those things to be brought up in the report, and then it will go out to an RFP and will have a an agency come and take a look at the fire department.
Speaker 0: And.
Speaker 6: Some of your and I can speak to that a little bit as well. So we have a history of doing these types of reviews from time to time. So we would put together an internal study team and honestly we'd be looking at everything. So this would be looking at cost savings, would be looking at future cuts that we would have to make. As the chief mentioned, we have a $1.9 million structural cut in the budget that needs to be identified. And then we still have reductions coming up, about $75 million over the next three years that we need to identify . And so we'd be looking at cost cutting, we'd be looking at revenue generation, we're looking at efficiencies. We could be looking at Tidelands as well, would be a pretty comprehensive review and that would form the basis of the recommendations back to the Council.
Speaker 3: When can we expect to see that contract come? The City Council?
Speaker 6: So it's in the budget. So if you approved the budget, we would move forward. We can start a little bit in advance so that we can get going and then we would do the RFP. And if it's, you know, at the 200,000 level that normally comes to the council, unless there are we get three bids and then we would get started in this fiscal year.
Speaker 3: Okay. I'm looking forward to that. In Parks and Recreation. First of all, I did have a meeting today with Mr. Geithner, so we're very productive. Thank you. And welcome to Long Beach. You can do some great things here with very impressed with some of the ideas you have, especially as they relate to youth. In the budget that we have here. I see that we have one time for the SAFE program. I'd like to see eventually that there's a program that I would like to see institutionalized and provided with structural funding that that program going. I think it's it's proven its mettle and I think it deserves some structural funding to keep it going year in and year out. And that is my my comment on that. Also on page 57 of the budget book, there are some comments here made about I'm sorry, not 57, 59 where we have an increase but due to revenue. Q For parking, increase budgetary revenues for new sports by increasing fees and then an increase in budgetary revenues or the entry into account for outlays. But there are parentheses as being identified as being cuts. So I'm not understanding. Can you explain that?
Speaker 6: Yes. The way that we show those in the budget book is if it is a negative, it actually helps the the issue. So by raising revenue, you actually reduce your deficit. So think of that as a deficit reduction measure which cuts into the $30 million deficit. That's why it's a negative.
Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you for the clarification. That's a.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much. Coming from you in a courtroom on mango place.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I just wanted to say two things. The first one is that under no circumstances will I or the residents that I've spoken with be supportive of allowing armed park rangers to report through a command structure that does not undergo a eight 32.1 training. There is no reason why we should get ourselves into the issues of the eighties and nineties, where we had armed park rangers firing at fleeing vehicles and other escalation of forces. Escalation of use of force that were completely inappropriate, including but not limited to a 16 year old who was held at gunpoint on the roof of his car for eating ice cream at Hartwell Park. Those issues happened when there was not proper training in place and proper supervision from those who are trained in the same command structure. So if this city would like to consider transferring the Parks and Rec rangers out of police, I would also highly recommend them not being PC 32 certified and carrying weapons. So if you carry a lethal weapon, I strongly feel as the only person on this council who's probably gone through the PC 32 training, Susie may have some of it, but I think I'm the only one. That escalation of force needs to be supervised by a person who's gone through escalation of force training. We've had too many incidents in the past that were completely inappropriate that I think that we could recall before we get into that. So that would be my first statement. That was one of the main initiatives that I worked really hard with a lot of our community members, people. The park rangers are deployed at Eldorado Park. They often serve other parks, all in the fifth District. And the escalation of force issues were always brought to my attention, and they were completely inappropriate. So we have not had nearly the number of issues since then. Before they reported to the police department, we would have reports that the park ranger vehicles were driving around in Los Alamitos and other crazy things that would come in as complaints to my office. And all of that has been handled very professionally by the police department. So I just can't state enough my complete frustration with the potential. Second, Chief Espino, I'm interested because I actually don't know how our fire department works in this range, but when we do plan on wildfires, are we getting reimbursed back on overtime by our federal FEMA funding? And if so, does that mean that the more often we deploy, the more revenue we bring in? But my guess would be that it would be budget neutral. Would you be able to explain that to me.
Speaker 0: David? Please.
Speaker 1: I can't hear. Chief Espino Can anyone else?
Speaker 6: David Honey, who's coming up?
Speaker 1: Mike Okay. I heard something. I just wasn't sure if it was an answer. R Thank you.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Councilwoman Mongeau Thanks for the question. So when we're deployed on a wildland event, the, the positions are covered, the positions that are out that we're reimbursed by the state for the backfill for them.
Speaker 1: Through state FEMA. Correct. But does that put us on any kind of double overtime or do they reimburse at overtime or do they only reimburse the level of deployment of the individual who's being called in? Is it net neutral? I guess my question and this isn't we know, is it?
Speaker 4: That's correct. This is David Huntington, manager of administration. So, yeah, so we're reimbursed we were reimbursed for each position that that is out on the deployment. We also recover an administrative fee of about 10% administrative overhead. So it's it's neutral. But for the the administrative costs, we get back.
Speaker 1: Where it actually is.
Speaker 0: You have one minute, council.
Speaker 1: One minute. Thank you. Bye. From there, I hope not to use the whole thing. So we are reimbursed at operation side at net neutral. But theoretically, the more deployments we go on, the greater percentage of our administrative costs are covered by the state funds.
Speaker 4: That's correct. Each each deployment results in 10% administrative overhead, recovering those.
Speaker 1: Costs. So do we. How many fires do we budget to go out on per year?
Speaker 4: Each year we only budgeted a very small amount of overtime. We we budget $175,000 just kind of as a placeholder. And then when we we usually have well over $1,000,000 in reimbursement.
Speaker 1: But not one of the reasons why the fire budget always has a surplus at the end, would it be more appropriate during this exercise to consider budgeting that at actuals? I think that's actually something that. It has been brought to my attention before and I think we've discussed is there a reason it has not been executed?
Speaker 4: Well, we budget the 175,000 conservatively because we could have a year where there is a very low number of deployments. And in that case, if we had $1,000,000 and called back over time budget, we wouldn't, you know, we'd be well over budgeted. So we budget that very conservatively at the beginning of each fiscal year.
Speaker 1: So extremely able to tell.
Speaker 0: Me what your time is up to you can keep.
Speaker 1: I hope that we can find out what the five year average of deployment is it potentially budget at that level? Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Congresswoman Austin.
Speaker 3: Your vice mayor. I want to just thank all of the department heads for our great presentation and my colleagues for for asking a lot of very good questions and making great points here. There were a couple of things I wanted to just just just weigh in on and speak to. Number one is Parks, Recreation, Marine, the Be Safe program. One of my colleagues mentioned that it should be funded structurally, and I tend to agree and I believe that that is the direction we should be going in for many years. In fact, we have funded Be Safe We Safe Program, which is a summer activity program in our parks for the last seven years, I believe, through one time funding. And so it is a program that that we have depended on that we know works. And so I would agree that that should be a structural consideration. Also, I'm very, very elated to see that that, you know, the recommendation to to add senior activities at the Expo into the structural funding, a little bit about the history. This started about six years ago, five years ago. My office funded it and saw grant funds to get senior programing going. We started at two days a week now where three days a week we have, you know, a few hundred seniors who participate regularly in these programs. And so these are small budget impacts that go a long way with our residents. It's really they're both programs that are investment in human room and infrastructure in a lot of ways. And lastly, I wanted to touch on the heart team because I think, you know, certainly this concept of using nurses and mental health professionals as part of the outreach component. Heart has been discussed over the last couple of years. I know, and I think our firefighters have done a great job. I'm curious to know how those firefighters chief are going to be utilized because there's a there's a lot of good training these individuals have and there's a lot of knowledge that they have . You know, will they continue to be engaged and involved in in our homeless services outreach in their their roles as paramedics, number one? I guess it's a question for the chief.
Speaker 8: Yes. Thank you, Councilman. So those four paramedics will be reassigned back to vacancies on current rescues. They will still be used to deliver mental health awareness training to the department and also to the recruits that we have going through the academy as their role with the homeless. We're still working through that. As stated, we're going to work with Health and Human Services on a go forward. But right now there is nothing concrete as far as their continued assistance with homelessness in particular.
Speaker 3: Well, I would just say I would hope so. And it's encouraging that they're going to be utilized to help train others and obviously share the knowledge and experience that they have with other firefighters. But I would like to see that extended to other city staff as well, because I think there's an opportunity here to go beyond the scope that we're looking at. You know, we have we have homeless in our libraries. We have homeless in our and our parks. We have, you know, those experiencing homelessness along the railroad tracks and other areas across the city. And we have city employees who are engaging or could engage if comes 121 minutes. So I won't need it. They had the proper training, and so that's just my statement on that. Obviously, this is a tough budget and we have to look at creative ways to continue to provide the great services that we do as a city . So thank you. Those are my comments.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much. Council awesome council person.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Vice Mayor. I really appreciate it. I am cued up one more time because I. You know, I'm kind of in budget for AIDS and and then I'm looking at some of the reconciliation work. And just I wanted to reiterate one more time. It was brought to my attention that this was something that came out of the reconciliation process as well. And so I wanted to say one more time that there's other models, I think it might be called if needs or something like that, that we might need to start from the ground up to build what this response team is, and not only for our homeless, but for people that are struggling with mental health. And so I hope that in the report that comes back from this that we would be able to look and see exactly how many stock are we talking total that would be doing mental health outreach, whether that's quality of life, the fire department or our health department, and that there's real coordination. I understand that we used to have better coordination between our quality of life officers and our fire department and our health team. And that's really going to be where we save the most resources and money and are able to train more people. And so I wanted to mention that I also wanted to mention the rental housing division that was brought up by the people's budget. I know that it's a lot of our resources that have been asked for, but it's something that I wholeheartedly support. I also wanted to mention the language access proposal by the mayor to make that structural. We've been having that conversation for a very long time. I think one of the important parts of this structurally funding it is also looking at when we get grants and different departments, making sure that we have a point person that's able to identify what percentage of those grants might be able to be used for language access because somebody said it before me. But we definitely have had a big surge in the need for language access in the middle of this COVID moment. And so wanted to make sure that I brought those up before we went to public comment. So oh, in the last, the last thing, that's where I could have Councilmember Mongeau mentioned the officers in the parks. You guys probably guessed, but I'm not really a fan of guns, so I definitely would love to understand what it would take to be able to have park rangers without guns. Councilmember Price And I've been working really hard on trying to secure Bixby Park, and I know that we tend to disagree on maybe what that looks like, but we came to agreement on a park ranger. I did not know at the time that park rangers were housed in our police department. I thought they were housed in our parks department. So I am looking for some kind of understanding about what changes can happen to make sure that we have some oversight and somebody that's in our parks consistently. I'm almost done. So if you're about, say, have one more minute, you.
Speaker 5: Got.
Speaker 1: And one example today is that I drove by Bixby Park and I saw two of our police SUVs driving through the grass on parcel three where people were laying out and picnicking and throwing Frisbees. And it just is a type of presence that doesn't make me comfortable as a as a white woman. And I think in this moment, it doesn't make people of color or black communities comfortable either. And when we're having these budget conversations, we have to take real life examples about what makes what makes people uncomfortable and how can we make it better. And I think of park ranger is what we need. I would prefer to be a park ranger that's in our Parks Department. So that is all I have to say. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 1: Mr. Vice Mayor. So. I do support park rangers in the park as well. I do not have any issue with them being armed. To me, it's more how they're dressed, not necessarily the safety tools that they have available, assuming that they've received proper training. And as Councilman Mungo stated, that they're working in a department that specializes in training and use of force and so that they're trained properly. But I think whatever we can do to ensure safety in the park and having a presence by someone who can actually assess a threat and have the means to protect themselves and others if necessary, is important. But I think we both do agree that park rangers are necessary in Bixby Park and any sort of ongoing presence in Bixby Park I think would be welcomed, armed or otherwise. But I actually really like the program that's taking place right now. I was at the park with my family last week, the week before, and soon after the commander implemented our our current model. And I thought it was really pleasant. So I didn't have the same experience that Councilwoman Pierce did, not to negate her experience. I just I didn't have the same experience. But anyway, what I wanted to ask about was the health department. There are a couple of programs that I have brought to council as agenda items that appear to have maybe fallen off of the radar because of COVID and other issues. So I was hoping that. Ms. Collopy, could you provide us an update on the real time bed app that we that you and I have met about and had a presentation at Council on and also the Homeless Work Program I know that started in the Health Department. I'm not sure where it landed, but those are two programs that I think really speak to the homelessness and equity issues and do service the entire city, which of course we want every city department to do. So if you could speak to those, I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker 7: Yes. Councilmember So the Homeless Bud app was aligned with the Sturt program, which is the start up and residence program that was intended to begin, I believe, in January and moving forward and I can find out where that progress is at this time. So we did select a vendor to start to build out that app as part of the start up and residence program. The intent was to have that done, I believe, in June, but with COVID and other things have been delayed and I will follow up and get that back to you. In terms of the work program, that program has started. It's working with workforce development. And so while it's it doesn't currently have an opportunity where people are being, you know, meeting at a certain location and going out in teams. I believe that there are connections to individual trainings and other work opportunities. So that is currently being run through the workforce services.
Speaker 1: Okay. Got it. Are we intending to use any of the funding for the homeless initiatives, the structural funding that we're getting to support any of these creative solutions that have been suggested through Council for Pilot Programs?
Speaker 7: At this time, none of the structural funding is outlined is focused on that. So the structural funding focuses more on services. All the remaining funding that we have is one time either the purchase of buildings and infrastructure or running different programs such as the Safe Parking Program, that's that's already been implemented. So we can look at funds to identify, to determine if there are some available to at least build off of the kick off point for the for the better.
Speaker 1: Okay. So for the better app, I must have been mistaken. But I thought we were. We met. I believe you and Mr. Murdoch and I met in my field office, and I thought that there was funding there for the pilot, the six month pilot. Right. In that case.
Speaker 7: Yeah. And that's going on right now. So through the Sturt program, that is the funding for the creation and the pilot. And then the question became, what would be the ability to extend that? So I will get back and follow up on that with the progress through the start up in residence program to determine where that currently exists and the ability to move it forward.
Speaker 1: Are there any grant funds or any CARES ACT funding that could be utilized to pursue creative homeless strategies?
Speaker 7: For. Right now, the CARES Act funding is when millions of dollars of that is going to fund our response to COVID in the congregate shelters and all those. The other million is if we're currently looking at the utilization of that, to maybe support a project HOMEKEY. So permanent housing. So that would be the CARES Act funding piece around homelessness. I think that there are other opportunities to to look at some alternate pieces, but most of the things that are ongoing funding, the structural funding are very much focused specifically on on programs such as outreach prevention, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, connection to permanent supportive housing. But we can certainly dig in and look and look at those resources right now.
Speaker 1: That would be great.
Speaker 0: Price for women.
Speaker 1: And I'm done. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Okay, fine. Thank you. With that said, I sense that since we're talking about park rangers, I'd like to know how many do we have and where are they? Station. Could anyone answer that question? About the park rangers. I we have and we're at the station.
Speaker 6: We have three park rangers. They are stationed in Hartwell Park and in Eldorado Park.
Speaker 0: Okay, Tom. So since that said, you know, we're talking about equity. I would really like a discussion off time with Tom and read about going to this with that. Thank you guys very much. And now we're going to we want to button public comment.
Speaker 4: Our first speaker is Adrina Redman. Your time starts now.
Speaker 5: Somehow I knew that.
Speaker 3: I was going to be the first.
Speaker 5: One. I don't know how that is going to happen. And then we thank you all for giving me this time. Long Beach thrives in part because of this black residents. And yet more and more black residents are finding Long Beach inhospitable. It costs too much to live here. Communities are harassed, abuse, overpoliced and killed by HLB. PD services aren't easily known or accessible. For example, the Health and Human Services has a program targeting black infant health. But my understanding is that it has little recognition in the community as it is one of many programs that need greater funding for staff and programing. The Black Infant Health Program deserves at least the funding for promotion similar to, if not greater than that allocated to LAPD for their public promotions. With all evidence from city funded studies like the 2019 equity growth profile is shamefully to COVID 19. And more so, the street uprisings related to the murder of George Floyd. To move the mayor and council to acknowledge that racism is a public health crisis. With the call to defund lbe PD. My organization, Black Lives Matters, Long Beach and others, I was shocked to learn that our health department is primarily a grant supported agency. Shameful that the city, which touts its diversity and is fortunate enough to have a Health and Human Services Department, is not providing the department with the permanent funding it needs. There is something deeply, deeply wrong with this picture. Now, our city elected leaders as city mayors.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Caitlin Bellis. Your time starts now.
Speaker 5: Good evening. My name is Caitlin Bellis and I'm a resident of District two and a volunteer with Sanctuary Long Beach. I'm an immigration attorney with UCI Immigrant Rights Clinic, and I have been doing the paint removal defense in Southern California for five years. I urge you to defund LBP and instead adopt the people's budget. I urge you to invest in care for our community. And I especially urge you to make the Long Beach Trust Fund a part of the city budget for as long as it exists, and to fund it this year at $400,000. The Justice Center so far helped 21 Long Beach families, but I know there are many more who have not gotten the help they need and have been torn apart. The worst part of my job has always been choosing clients. There are so many more people in Adelanto than I and the other service providers can help, and I know that having a lawyer often makes the difference between winning and losing. Between exile and family. And sometimes between life and death. I'm haunted by the hundreds of people I had to say no to. I've seen people with winnable cases lose because they could not gather evidence to prove their cases or present the necessary legal arguments. I've seen others give up their cases out of despair. Both are being in immigration, jail and facing the system alone, especially now. Detention can be a death sentence. Social distancing is not possible in Adelanto. Even before the pandemic, we heard many reports of the medical staff there telling people with serious medical and medical conditions just to drink more water.
Speaker 1: Rather than providing proper care. Now for an even more horrifying.
Speaker 5: Report and at the same time, the pandemic has made detention deadly. It has made it even harder for our community to pay for private attorneys.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Jodi. And during your time starts now.
Speaker 0: Hello, counsel. My name is Jordan. I'm a Long Beach renter and resident. I wanted to say that Councilmember Richardson's idea of a centralized housing department is great, but I'm going to address the elephant in the room that the budget you're talking about now. The three departments are critical to the city, but not very important for the budget. And the reason I say that is that the the shadow of LAPD's budget is blocking out all three departments I just heard from that are doing critical stuff. LAPD is barely getting a cut this year. They're still getting most of the general fund and other departments are struggling to provide essential services. So I've heard several councilmembers, including councilors Miguel Price and Super talk about various technocratic fixes, minor tweaks to try to keep thing services going. Well, I've got really great news for everyone. There is a $240 Million BPD budget that needs to be cut as a grant from BLM said. That's been a clear community ask. You're going to talk about that and reconciliation. But honestly, you're just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic if you don't cut. Considering the fact that you have a $30 million budget shortfall, that would only require a 12% cut to his budget to fill. So, for example, you know, Councilmember Pearce said, you know, we need more money for our teams. That has to come out of Lupita's budget. So let me remind you, either you cut LAPD or you just let the city flounder and become more livable for working class people. My time. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is katie traversal. Your time starts now.
Speaker 5: Good evening. This is Katie Silver. So on behalf of the Very Institute of Justice. On behalf of the Institute, I urge the City of Long Beach to allocate funding at the level of 400,000 for the Long Beach Justice Fund and to ensure that it is a permanent reoccurring part of the budget. We have to applaud the city of Long Beach for leadership in providing legal defense to immigrants facing deportation through a model where everyone facing deportation is entitled to legal representation through a universal representation model. This means.
Speaker 1: Regardless of income, race.
Speaker 5: National origin or history with the criminal justice system. Long Beach is the first and only city in Los Angeles County that provides legal defense to immigrants through this model. We are proud that Long Beach is one of 18 jurisdictions, a safe.
Speaker 1: Network nationwide.
Speaker 5: During the first year of the fund. It enabled the representation of 21 Long Beach community members. But this is to the entire family, into the community. For example, those helped by the fund so far are deeply entrenched members of the community. They live in the United States, on average for 14 years. Over a third of the clients helped by the fund are parents to 21 children under the age of 18. Over a third of the clients are the breadwinners for the family. This means they're responsible for at least half of their family's income. Your investment in the fund will keep these families together and so people can continue to work and contribute to the economy and stabilize Long Beach during this uncertain time. Finally, the public overwhelmingly support.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Kim Tee. Your time starts now.
Speaker 5: Good evening, council members. My condolences to Mayor Garcia on the tragic loss of both of his parents. I am truly sorry for your loss. A concerned District two resident for years has received over 45% of the city's budget funding, leaving less than 5% of the city's health department. The mayor and the city council have admitted that racism is a public health crisis, yet funding has been severely low for the health department. According to the Center for Disease Control. Black women are 3 to 4 times more likely to die from pregnancy related cause related causes. White women are black. Infant mortality program in Long Beach is severely underfunded and have no marketing budget, unlike the million dollar spent by the police and their PR. So even in our own city, black women are not aware of these services and are severely harmed. In local hospitals, they die at an extremely high rate. 2003 to 28, an average of ten babies died annually. This is inexcusable and a direct link to systemic and institutional racism experienced by black women. So therefore, city council members, I encourage you to double the budget allocation for the Health Department by defunding the police and reinvesting LBP funds into our health department.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Miles Paisley. Your time starts now.
Speaker 0: Hello. This is Myles Hensley. I'm calling to call on city council to defund APD. The proposed defunding of 1.7% for fiscal year 2021 is despicable. It is not enough. LAPD currently brutalizes and kills black and black and other community members in Long Beach, which is unacceptable. The proposed $3.2 million budget for racial equity and reconciliation reconciliation initiatives. That's only 1% of the police budget, which really shows how much stock you've put in to addressing the systemic inequality and brutalization of the black community as an example of what we can do. Instead, with the police budget, a 25% cut in the police budget would fund 800 new units of affordable housing per year by leveraging state, federal and private dollars. Long Beach needs 15,300 units of affordable housing over the next decade, according to the Regional Housing Needs Assessment. Furthermore, a 10% cut in the police budget reallocated to the Health Department would fund 300 public health nurses, housing specialists and outreach workers. A measly $400,000 taken from the police would also help to fund the Long Beach Trust Fund, which would represent at least 80% of our neighbors facing deportation and family separation, which is just a drop in the bucket. And less than a 1% cut in our police budget would fully fund the city's language access policy to ensure that all residents can access vital city documents, services and public meetings in Spanish. My and currently these people cannot participate in the democratic process and they are being erased from the democratic discourse. Just a 2% clip. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Our next speaker is Tanya Jimenez. Your time starts now.
Speaker 5: Well, now he's going to be a tough act to follow. I had prepared other comments, but after reading a piece published by fourth titled Why from the Police, I was inspired to go. As the piece reads, the police are paid for by the people. In theory, they work for the people. With almost half of the general fund paid for by people's taxes and fines, going to DPD with money flowing upwards and then back and forth between those in power. It is helpful to understand the relationship between the public and the police as transactional. The question of why some the police behooves is to consider what is produced by funding the police. What do the people get in return? In light of today's presentations by the Health and Parks Departments, I wanted to pose the question why from the police department to the point of OVERBLOW over the Health and Parks Department? I'd like to see afterschool programing and our parks expanded to 7 p.m.. Most juvenile crime occurs weekdays after school between three and 7 p.m.. I'd also like to see the BFA program receive structural funding. It should not be reliant on one time funding. That is not guaranteed. I'd also like to see all youth targeted parks programing to cater to youth up to age 18. Current afterschool programing is marketed as being for youth ages 5 to 14 only. I'd also like to see free non congregate housing with wraparound wraparound support services for all individuals experiencing homelessness, inner city housing with the human rights efforts like the year round shelter and Project Roomkey do not go far enough. Ah, you deserve better. Are individuals experiencing homelessness deserve better? And like I said last week, you all need to do better. Define BPD and reinvest in black and brown communities. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Our next speaker is Tess Parkhouse. Your time starts now.
Speaker 5: Hello. My name is Cath Parkhouse and I am the president of the Long Beach Lifeguard Association. I'm here today to express our concern over the proposed elimination of the junior lifeguard coordinator and 10% of our ocean lifeguards. A clear safety risk that would result from these cuts. But what the council may not know is how these cuts would affect the progress we've made in increasing the diversity of our ranks. We've been striving to establish a workforce that reflects the Long Beach community by increasing recruitment and accessibility. We identified two main obstacles to the program passing the swim, tryout and transportation to the beach. As always, we created a tryout prep class at Rio and Jordan and developed a partnership with Long Beach Unified to provide free access to both the prep class and the program, as well as transportation to the beach. This program has always been a career pathway for public safety, jobs and lifeguard to fire employees. And now it is a pathway that is highly accessible to underrepresented communities. I want to make it clear that there's no way this program can run safely and effectively without the Marine Safety Officer position. Our non-career lifeguards are a first line of defense against drownings and other emergencies, and they actively engage with our community to warn them of potential dangers and prevent tragedy. Fortunately, unfortunately, the lifeguards that will be impacted by these cuts, our most recent hires who came through that exact career pathway and where the progress that we have made in diversity is most notable in 2020, over half our classes for our junior lifeguards. I urge you to reevaluate these cuts and allow our lifeguards to continue to serve their community.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Don McCain's. Your time starts now. Dawn. Hello? Yes, we can hear you.
Speaker 1: Hi.
Speaker 5: Okay. Hey. So, um, where, um, some of this additional funding comes from in order to ties are basically housing and jobs and food like a couple of folks have mentioned. Where can these these resources come from? And when we talk about reimagining public financing and divestment from police and reinvestment in community, we're talking about things like the work that police do that does not actually belong to them. I'm really excited, actually. I'm shocked to hear that park rangers are happening under the police department. I would think, too, that they would be under park and that is crazy. Clearly, the police departments under the police department understands what we're saying when we're saying to divest because they move the crossing guards into public works. Why are crossing guards even under the police? Right. The quality of life work. If we just got rid of five of those quality of life, folks gave them to the health department, who are the ones just now, as Kelly mentioned, struggling, you know, not struggling, but preparing to figure out how to manage that at work. Even if you got rid of five, that saved nearly $1,000,000, you can hire 5 to 10 more for the same cost and be able to maximize tending to the needs in the community. You can cut six officers from a narcotic field teams that are just focusing on kids and street drug sales. If we invested better in the programs and services to support their development and learning and other activities, then you might not even need that work. I give that work to the community. That was.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Maniac be. Your time starts.
Speaker 0: Right. Good evening. This is Maniac Bay, and I'm calling on the City Council. And to defund the police department by at least 25%, because we need to reinvest those funds in community based organizations. We need to reinvest those funds and the health and well-being of the black community and also educational needs of the black community that have been already impacted by racism, the white supremacy, and now COVID. And since racism was declared a public health emergency, we need to understand what racism is, systematic and organized, and it affects black people socially, economically, educationally and otherwise. And this budget does not reflect a real dedication of the city council, the mayor or the city manager, to really address these issues that you claim are so emergency based that you made those declarations. So the community made their voice. They won't be funding. The word defund just means reallocate those funds. You know what they mean? So listen to the community and do what your been elected to do is serve the needs of the community, and the black community is the one with the most need. And this budget does not reflect that.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Max Norse. Your time starts now.
Speaker 0: Although I called to insist that you defund the IBP and adopt the people's budget. We need deep cuts. Another 100 million. At least we can use this money for fire, health and Human Services, Parks and Rec, the Housing Rental Division, Long Beach. Just this one. We don't need to beg for scraps. If we scrap the cops. I was on several of the city's so-called reconciliation calls, and I heard loud and clear from the community that we need to defund LGBT. I was so lucky to get this spot to speak and was also given a spot to speak on item 14. And I'd like to cede my spot on item 14 to community member committee. We need to send our black boys. Does not hang up on them. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Give us one moment while we transition to the Spanish language portion of public comment. Our next speaker is Betty Ruiz. Your time starts now.
Speaker 1: Right? Yes.
Speaker 5: Why not? Why? We're not.
Speaker 4: Moment of profound. We're not.
Speaker 5: Right now.
Speaker 4: I L.A..
Speaker 5: When I started. I mean, I'm blessed by degrees Miembro de la Guardia. And its own miembros de la policia on the verge of being granted the Long Beach.
Speaker 4: Hello. Good evening. My name is Mary Cruz and I'm a member of the Coalition for the Human about the very for the immigrants of Long Beach.
Speaker 5: You'll get all of that policy and you can discuss one with the needle or ice or por la policia.
Speaker 4: And I want to fight for the ones that are detained by ice or by the police.
Speaker 5: But that's on top of more enforcement and lost interest in attention.
Speaker 4: Because they are treated very unjustly in the detention centers.
Speaker 5: That I must be most Quattro means. But I'll point out that this year people may not both me honest but Alexis a medium.
Speaker 4: We request a 4000 for the for that center in at least 2 million for the access to the language. Then wish access.
Speaker 5: And of discuss both me and bring on the policy of a long beach. Establish parental separate then at my special man and but officially what I'm in Bible.
Speaker 4: In the fiscal year 2021. The police is getting ready to have a bigger staff and sworn police officers.
Speaker 5: Oh, come on. And service your civil mask. And of the member of Salute Biblioteca Barca. This are all your economical.
Speaker 4: And in civil service. We would like to have more and service, more libraries, more parks, a more for the community.
Speaker 5: My son Ben also became this born boss. And not only that or Cooper.
Speaker 4: Because they are not giving enough resources to the UN, they're not giving enough funds to the resources that the community needs.
Speaker 5: Por favor, keep an eye on both her policy on gun laws and the communities that look local them. We need to be there.
Speaker 4: Please take away some of the funds from the LAPD and give them to the community for whatever the community is asking for.
Speaker 5: If want to spiral departamento de salud Barca either stole all your economical grass you.
Speaker 4: And I funds for the Health Department, for the Parks and Recreation Centers. Thank you. Our next speaker is Elizabeth Gonzalez. And that's us into what, Elizabeth Gonzalez.
Speaker 5: When I started this May number 77 is going to be that alone.
Speaker 4: Good evening. My name is Elizabeth Gonzalez. I'm a resident of the city of Long Beach.
Speaker 5: But I just knew that getting up in that place all along.
Speaker 4: And thanks for this opportunity. I want to opine in regard to the funds for the city of Long Beach.
Speaker 5: Consider Angola, Mississippi, Alabama to hamper Mississippi imposing testimony.
Speaker 4: Considering the needs of our people in these times of uncertainty.
Speaker 5: You have the legal system over the bottle. Call it the familiar.
Speaker 4: Thing and the dangers that we are going through because of COVID 19.
Speaker 5: Get most of Elliot's organs. Quadro Santos needed donor is the handle. This was these. Yeah, they loaned this.
Speaker 4: We want to have the. $400,000 funded for the center of justice.
Speaker 0: You know.
Speaker 5: Scarcity or not or gender bias was the idea that most of the money that.
Speaker 4: This would be about 80 cases of help for our community.
Speaker 5: In the of reporter Seong. And the other part of.
Speaker 4: And if this is a protection which which equals the same as the separation of the families.
Speaker 5: DACA, the Commonwealth. Yes. Cuomo. If Cuomo will know what that they are when they.
Speaker 4: This would be like a drop of water into a bucket.
Speaker 5: Cinco de la policia.
Speaker 4: In comparison to the funds that the LAPD is receiving.
Speaker 5: Napoleonic wars are not as lovely as anchors in France and less persona.
Speaker 4: We cannot ignore the risks that the people are facing.
Speaker 5: For the GOP parochial, it's been quite resonant of male donors and their position on this.
Speaker 4: That's why I'm here expressing my opinions of the $400,000 can be funded to the department.
Speaker 5: Before that they made a deal that the. A lack of money that the only way.
Speaker 4: They can have fair help for the community of Long Beach. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Griselda Soto. Your time starts.
Speaker 5: Oh, like you said, I mean. I don't think it is fair to say they last year are the longest. I see your point as one of them this year.
Speaker 4: Hello. My name is Chris and I'm here. I'm also from the city of Long Beach and I'm here supporting the justice fund.
Speaker 5: If I'm going to say I was on the squadron. What is it necessary to separate a man into?
Speaker 4: I'm also fighting for the 400,000 and to make sure that the service is a permanent one.
Speaker 5: This unfortunate element that one lawmaker in immigration, not the American media information I said that is sort of the of music get out up on here.
Speaker 4: Unfortunately what my when my son ended up in immigration there was no one to give me information about those funds, not even the LAPD.
Speaker 5: You look up at Barcelona, Leicester, they must have ever done that with the lack of passion. There must have been a very effective system at those Wonder Games within a year that Nokia totally passed out. The familiar. Pau Gasol. Yeah. They all come off in a severe oblivion and it's a critical moment the emotions the more important they they're not for there I you that.
Speaker 4: And me going through the concern the frustration of not being able to do anything. I don't want any other families to go through that. A feeling unable to do anything. We're unable to help.
Speaker 5: You know, get them in and say, look, these are companies that are policies and getting them as in-a-row, for example, ozone levels and the lead to single bill as opposed to the policy as if within their DNA, just the levels of both of their DNA but are into perennial products and all of that are a bonus for their artistic revival.
Speaker 4: And I want this to be taken seriously. If we take some of the funds from the LAPD, we could invest that into eight, 800 living spaces and we could invest that into the city, taking some of the funds, whether they're from the state, city or any other funds.
Speaker 5: No longer necessary to get into the busses. Aviva and I succeeded that until approximated that I say able to understand their necessity though they may be in the communal somewhat garment, the colonial corporation employs madura, but I won't know.
Speaker 4: According to a study, there's a need in long before 15,300 affordable housing spaces. Yeah, according to a study.
Speaker 5: Grassley has put out a memo, an opportunity, others that are home to some of the farmers but as borrowing much of the ACA.
Speaker 4: And thank you very much for allowing me to express a bit. We would like to express a lot more, but thank you very much. Thank you. The next speaker is for Lynda Harrow. Your time starts now. Travelers are also coming to our.
Speaker 5: When I started in August.
Speaker 4: Linda Good evening. My name is Linda.
Speaker 5: But then it's called the street corner.
Speaker 4: So I belong to the street, one or two.
Speaker 5: There's money there that.
Speaker 4: I'm here to fight for the community.
Speaker 5: The mandamus order control is post internal departmental policy.
Speaker 4: We are demanding a 10% cut in the LAPD or.
Speaker 5: Balancing the governmental.
Speaker 4: Department to.
Speaker 5: Restore the National Departamento de Salud.
Speaker 4: Two out of allocate to the Health Department.
Speaker 5: Financiera. That doesn't go to matters of Salud Publica.
Speaker 4: And we like to have the 300 nurses for the public health.
Speaker 5: Especially if it doesn't look good. You're not going to need a.
Speaker 4: Specialist in housing and people to help out the community.
Speaker 5: In the community.
Speaker 4: And the resources that are available for the community.
Speaker 5: The mandate was interpreted as its own adequate.
Speaker 4: We are asking for interpreters and proper translation.
Speaker 5: And but let us continue.
Speaker 4: In all of the council meetings.
Speaker 5: And information, because it gives the socialists.
Speaker 4: And the information that is given out in social and social media.
Speaker 5: Thank you for your time.
Speaker 4: Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jamil Ochoa. Your time starts now. You got two sentences into the choice in Minnesota.
Speaker 5: Hi. Before I saw my very own comment, I would like to address that. It is unfortunate to see that my community members comments were butchered and did not pick what they were asking for. I just want to clarify that there are asking for support of the justice fund and they are asking for the defunding of police and of course, adequate interpretation and translation, because clearly community members cannot even adequately provide their testimony because it is not being told the way their words are trying to depict what they need. Now, let's start with my own comments. Good evening, everybody. My name is Jamila, a resident of District two and a community organizer with the Long Beach Immigrants Rights Coalition. I'm here today to advocate for the people's budget of Long Beach. We're here to urge you to really divest from police and instead fund programs that are positively impact communities. We have done our part by protesting, coming to city hall, calling our district leaders even when our meetings are inaccessible to non-English speakers. Now it is time for you to do your part and meet the needs of our community. The proposed 3.2 million and the racial equity and reconciliation initiatives only two 1% of the police budget. Racial equity must start with divesting from racist police systems. The mayor has proposed to make both language active a program and just this one structural. Can we count on the city council to allocate 400,000 for the justice fund to ensure that immigrant families have the opportunity to remain together? Can we come to the City Council to allocate 2,000,345 staff?
Speaker 4: Thank you. Our next speaker is Magnolia Rodriguez. Your time starts now. Finally, Rodriguez, a typical Minnesota.
Speaker 5: When the magic number is magnolia robbery. Yes, people can.
Speaker 4: Good evening.
Speaker 5: It is all. Were let. Okay. But then it's called history to see if they agree.
Speaker 4: My name is Magnolia Rodrigues. I belong to the District seven.
Speaker 5: Yeah. Keep it up as you can from those. Sophie Countess. Alexia So I'll leave your math guess on the unit that all this based upon by his idea. Okay the whole interpretation and beyond.
Speaker 4: I'm here to ask for funds for the access to language. That would be $2 million. This money would help to the a access of language and for the interpretation.
Speaker 5: If they keep them in this part of government, but especially La Policia, the Long Beach. White Album. Well.
Speaker 4: Son had to make a comment about the fund for the Long Beach Police Department.
Speaker 5: They continue to see the end of. Let me turn quarantine quattroporte into their phone book in Iraq. The last single here. If you don't see any post-quarantine yoga mats, then Nordstrom contribution.
Speaker 4: Which is 44% year, which is equal to $240 million.
Speaker 5: Yes. In my building in L.A. recently we entered.
Speaker 4: Which is more than the money that we receive from our contributors.
Speaker 5: Well, that's the testing scandal salon. Don de la Comunidad to them. My own.
Speaker 4: When you just want to be used where the city needs it the most nowadays.
Speaker 5: Gadhafi has pursued the impulse.
Speaker 4: Thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ruth Mueller. Your time starts now. Texas Supreme Court. Minnesota. Yes. Can you hear me?
Speaker 5: C.
Speaker 4: C.
Speaker 5: Which I copied. Now when I notice the minimalist looking unit. But then this quality st the numeral metal. You saw me in Baroque people. Then they lack coalition. Delorme.
Speaker 4: Hi. My name is Mary. I belong to District eight in a more active member of the language coalition.
Speaker 5: Perfect me petition Oscar seven level of bond of the permanent. The main thing Fadela represents is the La Familia immigrants are.
Speaker 4: My petition is that the justice funds be renewed permanently so that they can be used for the representation of the families.
Speaker 5: Yes, their level of stress familia will need us in the community.
Speaker 4: And this way we can maintain our families together in our community.
Speaker 5: If remote if your target lds post positive until they look fondle get DNA in departamento policy.
Speaker 4: And we asked that 10% of the funds that the police department has be granted to us.
Speaker 5: Pilot is established by the defendants programmers, by the local media.
Speaker 4: So that they can be used for different programs for the community.
Speaker 5: They lamb my money to. Necesitamos diversity that the lingua.
Speaker 4: In the same way we mirror the diversity of languages.
Speaker 5: But I believe that appropriate channels be fed into this programa de la ciudad de launch.
Speaker 4: We are able to take advantage of the different programs that are offered by the city of Long Beach.
Speaker 5: You cannot say I will not take any deal para la comunidad.
Speaker 4: And to be sure that the language is not an obstacle for the community.
Speaker 5: Not guilty. Roberto Garcia. You represent your representative. Concealed. You get the body invested in the struggle. Money that Charles Grassley has to appoint as a mayor.
Speaker 4: Roberto Orci and the council members of the City of Long Beach. It's time to start thinking about the city of Long Beach. Thank you very much. Thank you. And that concludes.
Speaker 0: Public comment for this item. Can we get in a second on the hearing, please? Can I get a motion in a second on the hearing, please? Also investigating surveillance in the US. We have a second, please. Would you please come for the vote?
Speaker 2: District one. District one, district two.
Speaker 1: I'm from.
Speaker 2: District three.
Speaker 1: By.
Speaker 2: District four. By District five, by district six.
Speaker 3: By I.
Speaker 2: District eight.
Speaker 0: All right.
Speaker 2: District nine. Our motion carries.
Recommendation to conduct a Budget Hearing to receive and discuss an overview of the Proposed Fiscal Year 2021 Budget for the following Departments: Health and Human Services, Fire, and Parks, Recreation and Marine.