Speaker 2: Consider adoption resolution in support of a Congressional investigation regarding the impeachment of President Donald Trump. This item was put on the agenda at the request of Vice Mayor Vella and Council member Odie.
Speaker 9: In Las Vegas.
Speaker 0: Did you want to speak?
Speaker 9: I was going to wait till you recognized me.
Speaker 0: Oh, I'm sorry, Brody.
Speaker 9: I don't want to speak out of turn. So I. Similar to the previous referral, I think the language of the referral speaks for itself. I think we all understand that we cannot impeach the President of the United States. But similar to the issue with the FAA, you know, there is 65% of the American people think there needs to be an independent prosecutor to investigate the Russia ties and the financial potential financial misdeeds. And we as citizens, I've heard from many of our residents that we also share those concerns. And we do have, as citizens, through the First Amendment of the Constitution, the right to petition redress of our grievances. And if our representatives aren't listening to us, I think there's no better place to do that. From the grassroots, the ground level, city councils, state legislatures. And I want to hear what the public has to say on this.
Speaker 11: And I join Councilmember Odion bringing forward this referral. You know, I think in a free society, we all have the ability to engage in free speech, to question the actions of government and our elected officials, and to demand transparency and clarity when evidence surfaces that something unethical, illegal or untoward occurs, which is the case here. And I think specifically in our system of governance, our founders, when they were contemplating what sort of government we were going to have, they were very clear about it. They wanted checks and balances, and so they enumerated a specific power for Congress in the Constitution. And that power is the power of impeachment. The House has the ability to make that call. And based off of the allegations that are supported by evidence that have been made, you know, the allegations are serious. And they undermined not only our system, but the faith in all of our institutions. And, you know, at a certain point, we have to ask ourselves if what's the point of a constitution and the ethical standards that we're requiring if they're not being enforced? And so, you know, for that reason, we think it's important. I think it's important that we take united action in our official capacity as counsel, because I think that that means a little more coming from us as a as a council than just as individual elected officials to ask our representative and all of the federal representatives, because they do all collectively, regardless of party and regardless of whether or not they represent us directly from our district. They do represent our collective interest and our collective interest in preserving free speech and not chilling it and preserving our system with as much integrity as possible. So I'm also interested to hear from members of the public, but I think that that's why this resolution is so important and not just an empty action.
Speaker 9: And just to close or follow up on the vice mayor's point, I mean, Nixon said it best. I think the American people have a right to know if their president is not a crook. So I pray he's not. I really do. There's, you know, thousands of political decisions we could disagree with. And this is not really related to any of those political decisions. It's we have a right to know whether there are financial interest violations of the amount annulments clause. If there are there are so many lies and cover ups regarding the ties with Russia and if there there's a lot of smoke there and every time something happens, somebody gets called in a lot in a lie. So I think we as a public have a right to have that investigated. And like I said, I pray nothing happens because I really think we don't need a constitutional crisis. But we have a right to know that our president is not a crook.
Speaker 0: All right. We have 17 speakers. And I'm going to ask you to hold your applause, because it is now almost 1030. 17 speakers, 3 minutes. Each of you could be here quite a while. Thank you, Rosemary. And we do still have closed session, right? Memory reset. So, Rosemary Jordan, Alan Machan and then Katherine Cameron. So.
Speaker 4: Do now. Good evening, Madam Mayor. Madam Vice Mayor. Council members. Staff attendees. Thanks for hanging in there. My name is Rosemary Jordan, and tonight I'm speaking again as a citizen of Alameda. I'm asking for your support for the resolution calling on Congress to initiate an impeachment investigation. Some might ask if this action is necessary. Now it is. Since we last addressed the council just two weeks ago, the concerns we identified in terms of fitness for the office, emoluments violations, Russian interference and obstruction of justice have all become more extensive and more serious than on March 4th. President Trump made serious, unfounded accusations against our 44th president, presenting another potentially impeachable offense. Some wonder if a resolution at the local level is appropriate or even helpful. It is this proposed resolution, like the one passed in Richmond and Charlotte, Vermont tonight and those being contemplated in College Park, Danville, Denver, Littleton, Montgomery County, Nashville, Philadelphia, Savannah, Seattle and others can help build public support for impeachment, and in fact, may be the only thing that can obligate reluctant representatives to act on behalf of the American people and our system of government over party. You know, Charlotte, Vermont is not too different from Alameda. It's a beautiful small town on the banks of Lake Champlain. Folks take the ferry to work over to the big city there. They enjoy bike riding and hiking, just like we do. At their latest town meeting, whether to raise taxes on a network of recreation trails actually saw far more interest than presidential politics. But as Susan Ohanian of Charlotte remarked today, we do the little things and the big things because we are part of the United States, as well as being very concerned about what happens locally. Just like Richmond and Charlotte. We are not asking the city to initiate an impeachment investigation itself. We don't want the city council or staff to spend much time on this at all. Beyond approving the model resolution we delivered on February 21st. Passing a resolution is a courageous act, but it is not a difficult one. Cities, counties and states call upon Congress on various topics all the time. This action is in that tradition of our democracy, where American citizens not feeling heard find their voice in their local officials. You are our voice. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Alan Machan.
Speaker 6: Good evening, Mayor. Council members. First, I want to thank you all for passing the sanctuary city resolution several weeks ago. As a first generation American whose parents immigrated from Egypt and Syria, my parents would certainly not have been allowed in this country under what is going on today. This resolution is very important because you, the council, are our voice for the citizens. We are deprived by the Constitution of being able to initiate an impeachment of the president or any member of Congress, which I think is a fatal flaw in our in our Constitution and our democracy. If one of you was guilty or had done something really inappropriate, inappropriate. The citizens of this city could take action and we could do something about it. We're counting on you to do something for us and to show the the federal government, to show the world that we Americans are not in agreement with what's going on. And I in 2003, a political scientist wrote in our article about the 14 characteristics of fascism. I'm going to leave this article for you here. I just would like to give give you a brief a brief summary of it, because it is so pertinent to what we are seeing happening today on a daily basis. And these and these characteristics were common to Hitler and Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and Pinochet. Powerful and continuing nationalism. Disdain for the recognition of human rights. I.D. of enemies. Scapegoats as a unifying cause. Supremacy of the military. Rampant sexism. Controlled mass media. Obsession with national security, religion and government are intertwined. Corporate power is protected. Labor power is suppressed. Disdain for intellectuals and the arts. Obsession with crime and punishment. Rampant cronyism and corruption. Fraudulent elections. These sound very, very, very familiar to what we're seeing in our country today. And every American should stand up and fight against what we're seeing and try to put our ship of state back on a correct course. Thank you. Please support the resolution.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Katherine Cameron. And then John OTA and then Leslie Walsh.
Speaker 4: And I want to assure you, Madam Mayor, and council people.
Speaker 1: That we have worked really hard, some of us to say very little tonight, knowing that.
Speaker 4: It's late.
Speaker 3: My name is Katie Cameron. I am a resident of Alameda. I'm here to support the resolution before you urging Congress to investigate and if merited, to impeach Donald Trump. This is not a conclusion. This is an.
Speaker 1: Investigation.
Speaker 4: Every citizen that I've.
Speaker 3: Talked with.
Speaker 1: On Alameda Island over the last month and a half, Republican and Democrat.
Speaker 4: Bernie supporter, you have it is.
Speaker 1: Supporting an investigation of Donald Trump. Some of them.
Speaker 3: Might.
Speaker 5: Think that it should.
Speaker 4: Start with independent investigations and other kinds of things, but they.
Speaker 3: Want him investigated. We are all concerned about Trump's possible collusion.
Speaker 1: With the Russians. And let's remember.
Speaker 3: That last fall we actually asked Donald Trump.
Speaker 0: We actually.
Speaker 1: Watched Donald Trump ask the.
Speaker 3: Russians to hack the DNC headquarters. So there's no mystery about his collusion as far as I'm concerned, and his tangled worldwide business interests.
Speaker 4: Which violate the.
Speaker 3: Constitution. Some say there are already congressional investigations going on, but many are faltering or being canceled or compromised. And let's face it, that's partly because there's enormous.
Speaker 1: Pressure when the president and the Congress are largely of the same party.
Speaker 3: Cities have not only the right but the responsibility to convey the sentiments of its residents to Congress and to help protect.
Speaker 4: Our precious.
Speaker 3: Democratic institutions. Passing this resolution will not cost the city a penny, nor take up much of your time. The constitutional remedy for presidential misconduct is impeachment.
Speaker 1: Later on, when we look back.
Speaker 3: I think we will say that passage of this resolution tonight, speaking loud and clear for our Constitution.
Speaker 4: Was one of this city's finest hours. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, John. And then Leslie Walsh.
Speaker 6: Madam Mayor. Madam Vice Mayor. And City Council members. I'm a I've been living in Alameda for 25 years, the first time I've come before this body. And that reflects how strongly I feel about this issue. I am here to do my duty to. Defend the Constitution and our democracy. And I am here to ask you, as our elected representatives, to do the same, to stand up for our Constitution and our democracy. I think that this president that we have now is. Certainly the first president ever in our history who has violated the Constitution from day one and violated it deliberately by violating the Emoluments Clause. You know, there was plenty of discussion. Before, before he took office about this, his possible conflicts of interest. And so he certainly knew what was going on and decided to proceed anyway with without divesting himself of his many business interests. Which receive a lot of money from from foreign governments. He's also, I think, the first president who, while he was running for president, actively advocated. A, you know, total ban on Muslims, which is in clear violation of the Constitution. Now you may ask, okay, well, what does this have to do with us here in Alameda? This is, you know, way out there in Washington. But to me, this is not an abstract issue. My family and my wife. My wife's family were among the more than 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were rounded up by the US government and put into prison camps in. Various places around this country. And that was all done as a result of an executive order by the president. An unconstitutional executive order, I might add. So. To me, this is this is not an abstract issue. This is a very real issue. We need to take action to defend the Constitution. The only you know, the Constitution, as we learned in World War Two, is only a piece of paper. It's only as strong as people are willing to stand up and fight for it. So today, I think that, you know, what we have at stake is our democracy and. Possibly, you know, our existence as as a people. I think, you know, we face the possibility of of a nuclear war and the dangers of climate change. So we need to do what we can to change the situation and stand up for democracy. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Leslie Walsh. And then that e and then can. Can Cameron.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Madam Mayor and council members. My name is Leslie Walsh and I am a 20 year resident of Alameda. I'm here tonight to support the suggested resolution presented to the City Council on February 21st, calling upon Congress to bring impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump and to ask that the city of Alameda be on the right side of history and defending our institutions and our Constitution. I grant you that this is a bold request. Calling for bold action. But it is right action. And I want to tell you why I think it's right action. Because as the majority party Republican leaders in Congress are responsible for holding Donald Trump accountable to fully disclose his and his aides connections to the Russian government, as well as to fully disclose the Trump family's business interests that appear to be in direct violation of the Emoluments Clause of our Constitution. Mr. Trump has refused to do so, and the so called Republican led investigations can be dragged out for years, as has happened in the past. Donald Trump has only held office for less than two months and within the first month declared, in essence, that the press is the enemy of the American people. But does that. One pundit stated Trump may not understand the implication of this, but Steve Bannon certainly does. And I agree. Because it's a close cousin to Joseph Stalin statement that the press is an enemy of the state. That is a chilling statement. In many ways, I'm in disbelief that I'm standing here on a matter as grave as the one before you. But as a citizen and as a true believer in democracy and our system of government, I don't feel I have any other choice. I have to join my colleagues in this grassroots endeavor and ask you as our city leaders to join us as well. And I'm going to close with two things. Trump has just demonstrated that he's an undisciplined person, but his appointees aren't. So if this quote attributed to Hannah Arendt doesn't scare you, I don't know what will. And I quote, A disciplined minority of totalitarians can use the instruments of the democratic government to undermine democracy itself. And lastly, if any of you are using an iPhone. If Steve Jobs, father from Syria, had been denied access to our country, we wouldn't be using these little gizmos. So I leave you with that. Thank you for listening.
Speaker 0: Thank you very. And then can't, can Cameron.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Madam Mayor. Madam Vice Mayor, council members and staff.
Speaker 4: I've been living in Alameda since 2007.
Speaker 3: And this is my first time speaking in the council. So why now? The reason is that I'm alarmed by the actions of the president of the United States. I'm here to support the resolution calling on Congress to investigate if there are grounds to impeach the president. Given what everyone has said, I think that there's already enough, you know, evidence to support such an investigation. If violations have occurred, then the president of the United States must be held accountable for these actions. I do not think this resolution is partizan. The president's actions have been alarming, and I think we need to respond in kind. We need to sound the alarm that his actions must be investigated. And I believe the time to act is now. Emerging you to pass this resolution tonight and take the stand for our community and sound the alarm. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Can Cameron. Then Steve Larsen and then Gaby Dorfman.
Speaker 6: Good evening, council members and interested citizens.
Speaker 12: With regard to the impeachment resolution, I would like to associate myself.
Speaker 6: With the eloquent marks of Isabella and Mr. Odie. They've sort of stolen a lot of our thunder. I just did want to make one.
Speaker 12: Of my speaking points, which sort of.
Speaker 6: Ties this national issue and local issue back to. Those of us here in Alameda, the. City manager was mentioning monitoring the EPA.
Speaker 12: And the I would consider it a parade of horrors coming out of the EPA. We're particularly sensitive.
Speaker 6: Here to air and water.
Speaker 12: And having them be clean and appropriate. We have a great environment. We need the kind of balanced approach to public service and public policy and communitarian values. And those have been nearly destroyed. And we see that almost on a daily basis.
Speaker 6: I don't think there needs to be a lot more said about this. It's been said by our council.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Steve Thorson. And then Gabby Dolphin and then Philip James.
Speaker 6: Saving Mayor Spencer and the council and staff. I'm a long time aluminum. Third generation aluminum. I'm here to speak in opposition to this resolution. I can't believe you put such a stupid resolution on the agenda. This is just crass, partizan politics that we've been hearing during the election, after the election and what have you. It has nothing to do with running the city of Alameda. Now you say you want to. Make a resolution to petition. Someone. Well, you need my authorization to do that. And you need the authorization of every single voter, the city of Alameda, in order for you to say that you actually represent them and you don't have it . And I'm not giving you my authorization.
Speaker 12: City of Richmond.
Speaker 6: Has passed a similar resolution. So I'm going to suggest before you go off in the wild blue yonder. That you quash this resolution. And you monitor what happens to the city of Richmond. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Gabby Dolphin.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Madam Mayor. Madam Vice Mayor, city council members and staff. This is not about partizan politics. This is not about good or bad, right or.
Speaker 3: Wrong. This is about legal or illegal. So those of you here who have law degrees think I'm not saying.
Speaker 4: Think about that, but I.
Speaker 3: State that this is the key factor here. I everything I do, as you've seen me percolate on to the surface of Alameda has to do with leveling the playing.
Speaker 4: Field so that everybody.
Speaker 3: Can have an equal chance and equal shot at our democratic institutions and the vote. And so what I do in this case is to say who can possibly be in that ideal sense, above the law? Not one person, and.
Speaker 4: Certainly not according to our Constitution and according to the American understanding, not even our president. So, I mean, it does I don't care who you voted for. I really don't.
Speaker 3: I don't care if you attend the inauguration of our president. What I do care about is looking at the legality and where it goes from there. It will go from there. I want to say quickly before.
Speaker 4: I close, I really appreciate that update. Thank you, Frank, for the idea. I mean, following up on that and I might suggest you go to the Alameda Sun and under fire and police you list a possible thing out of your office, too, because we have something to really be concerned about here, folks.
Speaker 3: Folks. And it has to do with the symptoms of fascism.
Speaker 4: And they have reared their.
Speaker 3: Ugly head and we need as.
Speaker 4: A community to stand together. You are a reflection of the community. It's never 100% vote this way or that for any of you, any one motion. But on the whole.
Speaker 3: The.
Speaker 0: Momentum, the.
Speaker 4: When you have the majority.
Speaker 3: Of the community.
Speaker 4: Feeling this way, then I do believe it's incumbent upon you. And I thank you, all of you, for considering this and for bringing it to.
Speaker 3: The floor again. This is not good, bad, right? Wrong.
Speaker 4: This is is it legal or is it illegal? Thank you so much.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Phillip James and then Maureen to cost and then Kathy McIntyre.
Speaker 6: Kevin Garvey. I think I'm a little taller than you. Sorry. Here we go again. I will try to keep this brief. We had an earlier speaker who talked about whether or not this body needed the permission of every citizen to put forth this resolution. We are lucky to still live in a representative democracy. We have elected you to act on our behalf, and I think it's telling how many people who are speaking tonight and we'll probably speak after me have come forward saying this is the first time they've ever spoken at city council. That says something to me when I see this many people getting involved on an issue. Now there are some who think that we should try to respect Trump's office or who fall into the the ceremony and the celebration around having a new president. Those people who want to wait and see them. I say the time for appeasement is over and the time for wait and see is over. As patriots, our responsibility is not to respect the office for the sake of the office, but to hold accountable those who fill our elected positions at every level all the way to the top. This proposal is an opportunity for all of us to bring the truth to light, to loudly support our American values, and to be united at our meetings against someone who strains our civil liberties and who makes a mockery of our modern democracy. I urge all the members of this Council to be leaders in moving forward with the proposal. Your statement will not be made alone, but with the true patriots of Alameda behind you. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Marine two costs. Maureen. Last call for Marine. All right, Kathy McIntyre. Kathy McIntyre. Last call for Kathy McIntyre. Charles hurt. Charles hurt? Yeah.
Speaker 6: Good evening.
Speaker 9: I think it'll be very easy.
Speaker 6: For me to enumerate very specific points that are absolute shortcomings in our.
Speaker 9: Current president. Fact, I don't even.
Speaker 6: Want to use the guy's name. I find him offensive as a lack of integrity. He's absolutely dishonest and there is no need to do any figuring or thinking about. All you have to do is read what you see in the newspapers. And you know.
Speaker 9: I'm going to take it that some of these.
Speaker 6: Newspapers are actually honorable. And you will be.
Speaker 9: Quite evidence that what we.
Speaker 6: Have is a very unethical person in power. Who's undermined every one of our fundamental institutions. Voting. You know, the respect.
Speaker 9: And rights of women's.
Speaker 6: Bodies. You know. Everything about this person.
Speaker 9: Is wrong. And I think.
Speaker 6: That there is an absolute imperative on your part to make a statement representing us. Indicating our displeasure with this person. There is there's no need to think or, you know, ponder or consider one way or another. Every bit of evidence necessary exists right now. And. I demand that you vote in favor of this recommendation. Because there is no better place to start than here. And we have to start here. I see a few people here, which I believe are sympathetic to what I'm talking about. And we've made our statement. Now it's your job. You need to take care of it.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you. Helen. Source.
Speaker 1: I appreciate this excellent compilation of issues that Trump has flouted from before his inauguration and acted on since. And I really urge the passage of this request on our behalf to consider the nefarious acts he's committed as impeachment. Swift action is really essential. As daily, he tears down more of our beliefs and hard won principles. Is having such a destructive impact on local and global standards is frightening. And hopefully Almeida's courage in passing this resolution, as I hope you will, will encourage other communities to speak out and follow suit. Thank you for your courage.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Maria Callas. And then Tony de Saag and then James Jackson. And if you want to pick on the side and please submit your slips.
Speaker 4: Good evening. My name is Maria Callas. I'm a.
Speaker 11: Native.
Speaker 2: Californian and I'm a.
Speaker 4: Patriot.
Speaker 11: I'm a social worker practicing psychotherapy, working and living in Alameda County.
Speaker 4: I am proud to reside in a sanctuary sanctuary city. I am here to speak.
Speaker 11: In favor of a congressional investigation regarding the impeachment of President.
Speaker 4: Donald J. Trump. Is a threat to democracy and does not act in the best interest of the health and.
Speaker 11: Welfare of the citizens of the United States of America.
Speaker 4: His xenophobic, misogynistic and factitious rhetoric.
Speaker 11: Is traumatizing to our community.
Speaker 4: Inciting fear and validating hate crimes. I witness the direct impact of this in my work.
Speaker 11: In a state that thrives on immigration and diversity, we are.
Speaker 4: Especially financially vulnerable to his.
Speaker 1: Impulsive.
Speaker 11: Bigoted behavior.
Speaker 4: Holding him accountable to his actions.
Speaker 11: Will be healing to our community.
Speaker 4: As well as our.
Speaker 11: Global relations. As a patriot, I take.
Speaker 4: Pride in fostering a society.
Speaker 11: That welcomes and protects diversity, which is why I am in favor of this investigation. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Tony de Sorghum and Jean Jackson.
Speaker 1: Since you asked.
Speaker 9: It's good to be here tonight to talk on this weighty issue. And let me just frame it this way. Without a doubt. We live in interesting and alarming times, no doubt about that.
Speaker 6: Times in which our passions or what is right and best are rightfully stirred.
Speaker 9: And times in which not just the member of the public, but elected officials and city staff are called to rise and to see through our passions so that we can address what is wrong and make it right.
Speaker 6: What is bad and make it good.
Speaker 9: There is a lot about the Trump administration that certainly bewilders us.
Speaker 6: I know on a.
Speaker 9: Personal level, every time I walk out of my door living next door to a mosque in Alameda, I can see the pained expression that began before November, but began leading in the months up to November. So for that reason. When City Council responded to the ban on Muslims, City Council rightfully rightfully stood up to an action stemming from Washington, D.C.. And I think that's the way that I want council members to contemplate the issue before tonight. Because when you dealt with the Muslim ban issue, you said, how are these rules or policies affecting specifically Alameda and
Speaker 6: . How are they affecting our neighborhood safety? Are they affecting our streets, our parks?
Speaker 9: And I want you to frame issues accordingly. And I want you to ask yourselves, how will impeachment make our neighborhood safer? How will impeachment of Donald Trump improve our safety of our streets? How will impeachment improve the delivery of services in our parks and our libraries? I want you to not only respond to this.
Speaker 6: Passionate issue with your hearts.
Speaker 9: But also with your minds, with your.
Speaker 6: Councilmember hat.
Speaker 9: Representing the Alameda as best as you can. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Jane Jackson. And she's our last speaker on this item. If you'd like to speak on it, please submit your. And I really want to commend you all for not happy because we're getting through it almost 11 now. 17 speakers.
Speaker 1: Mm. Well, good evening, Madame Mayor.
Speaker 0: And that.
Speaker 4: Madame Vice Mayor.
Speaker 0: And all.
Speaker 1: City council members now. I am a believer in Mr. Trump, and I came here to endorse his presidency and not his impeachment. I did not want to be a subject living in a province of Hillary Clinton's universe. By the grace of God. I am not so far. Accusations that Mr. Trump incited racism. This is a characteristic that represents our former administration with his divisiveness. Openly lying about public affairs. Hillary spun a tangled web of them about a video she claimed triggered Benghazi. Mr. Trump's contact with Russian officials is more media propaganda than truth. Accepting gifts and fulfilling and profit profiting from foreign states. Hillary, the champion for women's rights, accepted thousands from Saudi Arabia. Mr. Trump is a man of his word. Already confirmed freedom of school choice. And that is a big important. Something I hold very dear. I think it's awful how children have to go to the school where they live, close to where some some children don't have a choice of getting a really decent education. Already. Restored businesses coming back to America and. Fortification of a diminished military and. We need a military now. I haven't heard anyone in here mention the threat of ISIS. And you can laugh, but it's it's there. The sniping attacks directed at Mr. Trump from malevolent losers of the election, fraudulent claims of sex abuse, thugs that are passed into riot at pro-Trump rallies. All are beneficiaries of George Soros, who fears going to the grave before he will be able to see America for. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. An 11:00 will need a motion to continue the meeting. It requires three votes. Do we have a motion moved? Second, all those in favor. I curious unanimously. Thank you. We have another speaker, Laura Fries. And if you want to speak on this item, please submit your set.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: For listening.
Speaker 1: To what I have to say. Council members and mayor and Vice Mayor. I am speaking for the first time at a meeting. I love government. I grew up with a history teacher who taught me civics duty and what it means to be responsible. I believe strongly in the principle that if I don't agree with what you say, I will defend with my life your right to say it. I love hearing from the two people who have disagreed with my wish for you to support this resolution, because I believe that we learn best from hearing from the opposition. I support this resolution because I believe that Trump is someone who has never been held accountable by his own party, by people that are currently backing him up and his cabinet. It's amazing for me just to see his influence that he's had on the local level. Carrying the agenda item before about housing was shocking to me that on that level it's trickling all the way down to our local level. That funding is now disappearing. That was something that was a huge revelation for me. So I just want to be brief and say that I am in support of this resolution.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Council members did. We want to start with Claire. Any questions? We do that first. Question. And my question was going to be, how much does our city pay for federal lobbyists?
Speaker 4: Um. I think it's.
Speaker 1: Less than $100,000. It's.
Speaker 0: $100,000 or.
Speaker 4: Something.
Speaker 1: Less than that.
Speaker 4: No, this. I don't have that off the top of my head, but it's close to it's over 50,000.
Speaker 0: It's over 50. Okay. Thank you. Another question I have is some of these emails have that we've received we've received many emails suggest that it is outside of the jurisdiction for our council to weigh in on this issue to support this. City attorney, I want to ask you if you think it's within our jurisdiction to support this.
Speaker 4: I believe that it really is a free speech issue.
Speaker 1: And that, as some of the speakers have said, and I think the two.
Speaker 4: Council members, the vice mayor and council member, already have indicated there is some connection to what the government, the federal state government does that has impact on local government. So it's my opinion that you certainly talk about you.
Speaker 0: You know, there are questions from council members. So Vice Mayor.
Speaker 11: You know, some people have said, how is Alameda impacted by this? Everyone, including all comedians, are impacted, deeply impacted when there is allegations of tampering with our elections. We are all impacted by that. And we are directly impacted. If. If this occurred and we are directly impacted, if our president had a hand in it and nobody is above the Constitution, and certainly if we're requiring transparency around elections and boards for our local elected officials and our our volunteer community members who serve on different boards and commissions, that they have to disclose financial interests, that they have to refrain from and abstain from involving themselves in any decisions or actions that could directly impact their own financial interests. And when our Constitution expressly says that the President cannot benefit from public office, we are all directly impacted. We're also directly impacted when free press is silenced, which is what's happened there. They've been silenced for asking questions and inquiring when evidence has presented itself that something unlawful or unconstitutional has occurred. And certainly, I would say the highest level of questioning by our free press is specific to government action and specific to our Constitution. And so when there is evidence of of these alleged wrongdoings, we all have a direct impact in this. And everybody here does. And our system is impacted. And the faith in our system needs to be restored. And the only way we do that is by looking into what has presented itself to find out what has gone on . And I think, you know, in a federalist system, even little municipalities like Alameda have a stake in this and have a stake in making sure that our system, that everything has been looked into and investigated and questions surrounding voting and our elections and our press have been looked into to make sure that we restore faith in our system, because we're also a part of it. And this is this is one of those opportunities that if the lowest level of government can't represent the citizens of Alameda or any other community to the federal government to say, hey, please look into this, please make sure nothing bad has occurred. Let us know that you're doing something about it. If we can't do that, I don't know who can. And we are certainly stronger together and stronger when we're united and we're stronger when we take official action. And I think it's very important that we do this and that the buck stops here and that we start now and that we put the pressure on to look into this before anything worse happens. So I hope that my council, my fellow council members will join Councilman Brody and I in voting for this referral.
Speaker 0: It's all just.
Speaker 3: Too long ago.
Speaker 0: Okay. So this is I think for me, it's another issue that's challenging to figure out, you know, pros and cons of it. And I. Completely here and support many of the concerns in regards to our current president. Regardless of the comments that we need to have a voice, our people need to have a voice on this issue . I would submit that we have a very strong voice for us that we have voted for consistently for the past, I believe, 18 years, something like that. And that is our representative, Barbara Lee. She and I've had I've spoken with her office several times recently on not just this issue, but also the sanctuary city issue. And at this point, there her position has been that she's not asking cities to weigh in on this. And that doesn't mean that we don't have that. We can't weigh in on it. But there's not the ask at this time. I think we also have very strong leadership in our House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has spoken at least twice on the issue back on February six, that there are grounds for displeasure and unease in the public about the performance of this president, who's acted in a way that's strategically incoherent. It is incompetent. It's reckless. But that is not grounds for impeachment. And then more recently, she's said that, and that's February 27th. That doesn't mean that nobody is listening to cases that are being made in a very scientific, methodical way as to whether there are grounds for impeachment. Again, I think we have very strong leadership on this issue. And when you look at the Constitution, the Constitution does, in fact, provide that it is the House of Representatives who has the sole power of impeaching. And then it is the Senate that tries the impeachment. My concern. And the the concern when it came to us in regards to the sanctuary city. At that time. We did have a phone call with some of our police staff. And the reason I brought up the lobbyists also, and I'll get to that. But in regards of our release staff at that time and more recently has been the risk to the city of financially. Because we we have a base out our name, our former naval base that is in the process of being cleaned up, but it's not cleaned up yet. So there's work to be done there. We are also trying we have a VA clinic we would like to have out at the base. That is important to our plan of how we're going to move forward with the base. We have married ships that lease. We have our Coast Guard island. We have I've received emails from families that are concerned with special needs, children, housing and other moneys. And in fact, the issue of financial the changing financial environment when it comes to our city. Then the question is, all right, so we did it on the sanctuary city. And I think that that was important because. That is, in fact, we are a city and we are the ones that determine whether or not we would then be a sanctuary city and do our best to meet the needs and and try to address the fears and concerns of our citizens. This is then to support this would then be a. It's a second time that we would be sending a very strong message to our president and then. Will it make? Now, I know many speakers this evening. It's very important that you all think it will make a big difference in regards to our representation. And I with all due respect, I, I strongly believe that Barbara Lee and Nancy Pelosi are are doing their job as well as can be done. I think that the concern truly is the red states. And at the end of the day, that to me is where this issue, if there's going to be a change in support, that it would be more so from those states. And the risk to our city. We are not we have a limited budget. We spent, I don't know, maybe an hour tonight on the discussion of $6 billion. The moneys we receive from the federal government significantly more than that and it's the larger part of our budget. So ah, if we're were so I will not be supporting this. I think it's critical that we support our athletes at this time. I'm going to say I will not be supporting it at this time. I will be following the leadership of our representatives of Barbara Lee and Nancy Pelosi and their leadership and supporting their efforts. And I will also be doing my utmost to support our council, as well as our federal lobbyists, to do our best to protect our finances as limited as they are. Band member matter?
Speaker 6: SC Yeah, so I think on the sanctuary city issue, that was a clear to me a very clear protective step that we took. And I think the the question of the risk to funding versus the protection of constitutional rights of our residents, it didn't matter. We had to protect that. On this one, I. I struggled with it. You know, I'm I'm in agreement that there is sufficient probable cause to fully investigate, particularly two items. The. Financial ties of the Trump Corporation to the president. And the effect of that and the ties to Russia, I think, have been in the news and have been well explained. And I don't like the characterization of federal government trickling down to Alameda because it's a torrent. When it hit here with regard to those two housing projects that we're trying to get off the ground for for the greatest need in the city. If I thought this was going to do something, I'd jump on it right now. I think it will do something in the future. There'll be a time for it. I think we can do everything we can as individual politicians because I think as it's rolling out, whether we like it or not , it is a partizan issue. And I think a resolution that we're acting as the city of Alameda at this time is is not really appropriate. I think as individual members of. Five politicians, we can make our voices be heard to the same effect as if we had a resolution. And I'd. I'd like to hold this off until. We have, I think, a clearer picture of what's happening in Congress. And I think we also don't need to put any more because people say, well, this won't cost us anything. We have one, two, three, four, five. We have city employees here who could be doing something else to do the very, very protections that we're trying to do to for our residents here in defending their constitutional rights. And. I'd just like some time.
Speaker 0: Remember Ashcroft.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mary Spencer. And thank you to all the speakers and my council colleagues, the vice mayor and council member, only for your eloquent remarks. I concur with just about all of you except that last speaker, but that's okay. Dissent is good with the president and what he's done. And. But at the same time, one of the things that appalls me about this president is his utter disregard for the rule of law, for the institutions that govern this this country, the the separation of powers of the executive branch, the judicial and the legislative. And so as the majority of us on the council, Laura, I'm a lawyer, I went back and dug out my trusty pocket volume of the Constitution, and the mayor quoted it. And she's right in the article, one of the Constitution, paragraph five, the House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment, and then the Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. And when the President of the United States is tried, the chief justice of the Supreme Court shall preside, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. So while I am as frustrated as many of you at the appalling turn of events in not even two months since this new President took office, I also am aware that. A symbolic resolution, as well-intended as it is. Is not going to have the impact that we need it to have. What is really needed and you've seen this in these votes to confirm the various cabinet appointees. Is more Democrats or at least more elected representatives with backbones to say, no, I won't go along with that. In this very state, we have some vulnerable Republican seats. I would urge people to act where they really can make a difference. Back in 2008, I traveled to three different states to support the presidency of Barack Obama because I thought and continued to think it was very important. And working locally, we can address the impacts of the administration's startling actions. And we've we've taken and taken actions. And and I credit Councilmember Jim Odey, who jumped on it right away. Some of us thought, oh, you're maybe being a little alarmist, but he wasn't at all in bringing the sanctuary city resolution. And we passed it. And we are making sure that the protections there are in place for our local citizens. And we also just a couple of weeks ago, this council met on a Friday, and we spent six or 7 hours discussing what our priorities would be, how we can be an effective council, what the important issues were that we need to address for this city, that the federal government's not going to come in and help us with, and we're struggling to get help from the state. And we came up with a matrix. And at the top of that were the housing issues, affordability, addressing homelessness, preventing homelessness, then traffic and transportation to move our residents around and get people on and off the island for jobs. And these these issues need attending. And we also discussed and concluded in this workshop that time is a finite commodity, both the time of the council that we have to deliberate and speak with you and ourselves and make decisions and also the time of our staff. And so if we if it were just as simple as saying, yeah, I sign on to this resolution, let's do it. That might be one thing, but it's not the city attorney. We cannot say so this all passes muster, right? We're going to need that analysis by city staff. And still at the end of the day, and I do agree with the mayor, I'll say we don't often agree on issues, but I do agree that we are blessed in this congressional district to have stellar representation in Barbara Lee. You know, I'm sure that she stood alone in opposition to the Iraq war when it was first declared in. And she was a leader and she continues to be a leader. We have a strong Bay Area congressional delegation, not the same in other parts of the state. But so what my concerns are is that. The staff. Time to carry out this. Very important, but largely symbolic at this point. Gesture will take time away from other pressing business that the Council and the city need to address. I. I can't support it, but I'm not voting no. I will abstain because again, I would love to see some changes made, some pressure kept on vulnerable districts. I don't think that we need to lean on Barbara Lee. And but when when when Congresswoman Lee, Nancy Pelosi, feel that it's time for the cities to get together and and be heard. We can certainly revisit this.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 4: So I remember one.
Speaker 9: Last chance to change hearts and minds.
Speaker 0: Yes, of course.
Speaker 9: So I appreciate everyone coming out and staying late, and I appreciate the vice mayor for bringing this forward with me. We're doing this together. I just wanted to maybe point out a few things that may change people's minds and may kind of correct some facts. I mean, I could sit I can go on and on all night about the political complaints I have. But this is not really a political issue. It's do we ask our representatives and not our sole representative, but representatives in Congress as a whole to conduct an investigation where there are at least publicly enough a prima facie case that there's been some violations of law. And, I mean, I don't think that that's going to stir the pot or cause us any undue harm. I mean, I was not put up here and elected to be a potted plant. So I'm not going to be a potted plant. I'm going to speak up. And when we feel that our democracy is at stake and our Constitution is violated, when we did the sanctuary city, we were all reminded that we took an oath to support the Constitution. And part of that constitution is our basically our country as a whole. So I looked I recall back, I think it was 23, 24. Section eight of Article one of the Constitution says Congress has the power to declare war. Yet in two that I can't remember was oh three or four. I stood on the opposite side of the dais like Rosemary Jordan did, and I participated with there was five or six of us because we read all of the names of all of the cities that passed a resolution saying to the Congress. We do not want to go to war in Iraq. Now that list again took four or five of us to go through with our 3 minutes each. And I was happy to hear that it's not just Richmond or wouldn't be just Alameda, but there are other cities, Nashville, in the heart of a red state that sends Republicans to Congress and Republicans to the United States Senate and votes for Republicans. So there are Republicans out there, and I don't have any problem with any Republicans. There are Republicans out there that actually do believe in the rule of law and do believe that our president should uphold the law. So I am not so convinced by the argument that just because the impeachment power is vested in Congress, because we're not asking to impeach, we're asking to investigate. If Congress decides there's enough evidence there, they will do what they they need to do. Just like with the Iraq war, we are not asking Congress. We're not impeding their ability to declare war. We were, as citizens, asking our Congress to not do it, to not go to war in Iraq. And, you know, turns out we were pretty much right that we shouldn't have done that. And I don't I don't see the difference between this and what we did last meeting, where we approved a legislative agenda. We basically said to our lobbyist, these are the things we want you to advocate for with the federal government or what we just did or 5 hours ago. Or there was an issue of great import to the folks of Alameda airplane noise where we sent a letter to the FAA. The FAA is responsible for regulating airplanes, not Alameda. It's not our job. It's not our responsibility. We have really no jurisdiction over that. But we decided we were going to send a letter because we have a problem with the way the federal government is doing it. Just to correct a couple of things we did have Pete Stark is a rep from 22 to 2012. So Barbara Lee, who I love greatly, has not been our rep for 18 years. And just to calm some of the fears. My understanding is that the closure of the naval base was part of the Base Closure Act that the federal government have responsibilities to do. And the cleanup is part of a federal law that the federal government has responsibilities to do. So the president cannot suddenly say, we are not going to clean up your base anymore. So I just want make sure that's clear. Coast Guard Island is a military base. It's authorized by the federal government. If Congress, if it's going to close, the Congress has to close it. The president has to approve it. It's not going to go anywhere because we say we want an investigation. The married lease is exactly what it says. It's a lease. It's a contract between two parties. If one of them breaches it, the other one can sue and recover damages. So married could terminate the lease. But the president can't terminate the lease. And if Merrit does, then we're going to sue them and collect damages for breach of lease. So I just want to make sure that it's clear that we're not fear mongering, that if we do take a stand and we do listen to you and we do stand up for the values which we believe in, that all of this stuff is suddenly going to disappear because it's not. So I'm sorry that we're not going to get support for this, but, you know, we live to fight another day. And maybe I changed my mind. Maybe I didn't. But thank you for your time.
Speaker 11: I'll go ahead and make a motion. To vote to. Consider the adoption of a resolution in support of a congressional investigation.
Speaker 9: A second.
Speaker 7: Discussion.
Speaker 0: I would like to discuss. Go ahead. Member Ashcraft.
Speaker 7: So to the authors of this measure, would you consider. A simplified resolution directed to our congressional representative asking that she. Support an investigation into impeachable offenses at such time as she felt it appropriate to bring it.
Speaker 4: Yes, I would.
Speaker 9: I mean, I would support that. I think it should maybe go to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House. Because we're really. And when? When I will say, when we do this in the state legislature, you know, we send these resolutions whether or not you consider them symbolic or not. But they're they're expressing the values of our state through our state legislature. You know, they're addressed to the Congress as a whole and not to an individual person. But, you know, I'm happy to.
Speaker 7: In the chair if.
Speaker 9: I could do both.
Speaker 7: So so I'm sorry. When you said the president of the Senate, you were referring to.
Speaker 9: The I think.
Speaker 7: You talked about.
Speaker 9: The tution. I think that's the vice president at this.
Speaker 7: Well, I mean, I believe the congressional I mean, the assembly member you're working with also working for also has a so I mean, we've all on this dais spent a little or a lot of time doing our fair share of lobbying one way or another. One of the things that happens, and I know your daughter worked in a congressional office in D.C., did start mine, Mike Honda, when they were in college. So when someone calls into a congressional office, the first question that's asked is, may I have your address? And I'm here to tell you that even if I call, you know what's real common now in the South Bay, that doesn't hold a whole lot of water. So that's why I'm I'm looking for something that I think really would be effective. But but Utah, I'm not trying to wordsmith your a measure, but I'm trying to see if there's something that can be solved.
Speaker 9: If I can just if we addressed it to the speaker and the president of the Senate, our two senators and our representative, I would be fine with that.
Speaker 7: And then but the second part is I I'm concerned about the the form resolution because I do think that that takes I mean, there were a number of different allegations. And I think that that needs to go through our city attorney's office for some analysis. Is there a way that we could make a more general request?
Speaker 9: I'd be fine with that, because the point is not to say that we think bad things has happened, but that we think there should be an investigation to determine whether bad things have happened. I think Richmond, you know, had a pretty simplified, shortened version. And so that.
Speaker 7: I. I wonder if, Madame Mayor, would you consider maybe a 5 to 7 minute break, if maybe do you do the drafters want to have a little time or do you want to just do it as you go?
Speaker 0: So I will.
Speaker 11: I would support I would support a break. I do think. Sending it to. Our representative or congressional representative, Barbara Lee is something I'd be supportive of in the alternative of not passing anything. And I think that, you know, specifically at her town hall. She did say that and I quote, We're in discussions. There are lawyers looking into this building. The case, they haven't gotten there yet. I think you'll find members of Congress are going toward where the facts lead. This issue of impeachment is on the radar of almost every member that I know. But we haven't got to the point where we can actually file articles. That was a couple weeks ago. Things have changed. My understanding is that there's now even more things that they're looking into. I would like to empower her by giving her something that she can bring forward when the time comes to say that she does have support within her district to move forward. So in lieu of passing, you know, what we have, I would certainly be open to an amended version.
Speaker 0: I wanted to get back to Nebraska. So if I heard correctly, your request or your suggestion was that we would support it would. Alert. Let our really know that we support her efforts, but with time that she determines appropriate and we would be just supporting her.
Speaker 7: Again, I would I would let the drafters modify their language. And actually, I would also consider the individuals that Councilmember Odie mentioned. I think it's not inappropriate to also submit to the president of the Senate, the.
Speaker 9: Harris and Senator Feinstein.
Speaker 7: Oh, obviously. Ah, yes. But the other thing I'm trying to do is so if we could get rid of the long list, because as you said, it's probably growing every day. But I'm trying to also economize our staff time and get to the heart of what you're trying to do.
Speaker 6: M.I.A.
Speaker 0: Never met her.
Speaker 6: I think what it comes down to, if I've heard this correctly, is that. Our congresswoman is is working with a group of. Or delegate the of our delegation to build the case that they can they can present to Congress. I think on behalf of the people of Alameda, that's a fair thing to to support is that if they're preparing the case. Because we're seeing lots of reports. We don't have any facts in front of us. We do have facts that are reported in the paper. I'm not a I'm the only one up here is not aware of someone. So I do not know. And I think most of the people in Alameda were. The impression is we were calling for impeachment. And I think the to put a point on it having communication an official letter from the city council to Barbara Lee saying that we back your activities and invest in investigating and building a case that can be presented, I think is the step that's appropriate at this point. Once that activity is finished and there's a case, then I think we move to the next level.
Speaker 4: So if we could perhaps take a quick recess.
Speaker 0: All right. So we're going to take a five or ten minute recess.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 0: Have a ten minute recess out of the room.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 6: Within the notice of what we're doing.
Speaker 0: Everyone could please.
Speaker 1: Take their.
Speaker 0: Seats. We're going to resume. Thank you very much. Appreciate your cooperation. It's now 10 minutes to midnight. All right. Vice Mayor, did you want to.
Speaker 11: So we've if we could have LA read the proposed resolution and then what we would do is we would actually have staff. We would part. The other part would be directing staff to write a brief cover letter to the of the elected representatives in question.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: It's City of Alameda Resolution in support of Congressional Investigation of President Donald J. Trump. Whereas various reports have alleged that President Trump may be in violation of the warrant or now emoluments. Thank you. Monuments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the United US Constitution. And. Whereas, information has become public alleging that President Trump and his associates may have colluded with foreign authorities to coordinate illegal efforts to influence the outcome of the election and to undermine U.S. government policy regarding sanctions associated with alleged foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election. And. Whereas, these alleged conflicts of interest and activities could be in violation of the Constitution and US law. Now, therefore, the City of Alameda resolves to support calls to the United States House of Representatives to investigate whether such violations occurred and are sufficient grounds for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump, President of the United States.
Speaker 0: Okay so remember ask.
Speaker 7: So question so this is directed to.
Speaker 11: This would be attached to a cover letter and sent specifically to Congresswoman Barbara Lee and then.
Speaker 9: I think the Richmond one went to the House Judiciary Committee chair. And did it go to the speaker? I can't remember. But. You know, I'm not sure it has to go to the Senate since. They're not going to. It's okay. But it it could be with our representatives. I think it should be all of them. I mean.
Speaker 7: All of our.
Speaker 9: Our representatives.
Speaker 7: Like our California senators. I mean, and to question to the city attorney, does that require any further research on the part of your department?
Speaker 4: No. What it what this was designed to do is just say there were alleged reports of potential wrongdoing, which the er at the City Council is asking that the house which is the appropriate body, to determine if there should be an investigation, should, should look into.
Speaker 0: So. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 6: My comment is I would have preferred a more direct line to our congressional representatives, Barbara Lee, Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein saying that we support you or building the case based on. What was said there. Based on what we've basically based on what's been reported. In the areas of. Contact with foreign governments and with conflicts of interest.
Speaker 4: Well, I think those allegations are in what that what she could read it again lark and read it again the issue.
Speaker 6: And I agree that there are.
Speaker 2: Mean I can put it on the computer and put it up. We just Marilyn just made me think, actually, it would.
Speaker 7: Be nice.
Speaker 2: But it's our concern. I'll put it up in 2 seconds.
Speaker 6: But it to me, it wasn't direct. What I would support is that we're we're telling Barbara Lee and our congressional representatives that we think there's sufficient reports. And we support their investigation of these to see if there's a case to bring to the Congress for impeachment.
Speaker 4: So my recommendation and it's certainly whatever whatever counsel wants to do is that since we have had no ability, at least my office has no ability to know what the truth is of any of the reports that are out there. I understand there are reports in the press, but we don't have any ability to investigate those to know or verify the truth of any of those. So what we rather said was that there are reports out there, reports out there, which we can't independently verify, and it's not our job to independently verify, but that because of those allegations that are there, we are asking or supporting that the House Judiciary look into it.
Speaker 6: And so I actually agree because I don't think we should be spending staff time on this. I do think as as politicians we should be, and I do want it to be very direct and directly supporting. I think what is written here as far as calling these allegations is just fine. And it gives our congresswoman the support she needs to actually do the job that. She's charged with doing.
Speaker 9: I am so ahead. So what if we added? Now. Therefore, the City of Ireland resolved to support calls. Bye. That's Congresswoman Barbara Lee and others.
Speaker 6: Mm hmm.
Speaker 0: Well, so that's what I thought we were thinking about doing. Was that there? Barbara Lee and our two congressional sources.
Speaker 7: The thing is.
Speaker 4: Again.
Speaker 7: With regard to the wording. Let's remember our constitutional guidelines here. The Senate will hear removal, but they do not. The sole responsibility for impeachment is in the Congress. If we want to send courtesy copies to U.S. Senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein, I should reverse that order for seniority. That's one thing. I don't think that they should be identified in the in the resolution, because we're not we wouldn't be there's nothing we can call upon them to do at this point in time.
Speaker 0: So what about support Congresswoman Barbara.
Speaker 4: Lee's.
Speaker 0: Efforts to call for an investigation? Well, surprise. Well, I would have. So personally, that's who I would say that we need to speak to our representative to support her efforts.
Speaker 4: I understand that. I just didn't know that she had called or if she if she has to support an investigation.
Speaker 7: That didn't seem to be what the vice mayor said.
Speaker 11: I would just say that I think that.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 11: Leaving it as is and sort of in terms of just saying Congresswoman Barbara Lee and others because she's working with a coalition of other people. And I would like her to be able to take this resolution with her when she goes to meet with them to say, I have the support, maybe you should go out and get the support. And when we all have the support and we've taken our time and we've built our case, then we bring this forward and we do it with the blessing of our constituents.
Speaker 7: I like this wording and I can support it.
Speaker 9: And then we just cc the others and the letter. Yeah.
Speaker 7: Courtesy copies to our our senators. So do whatever you want to make. I mean, I don't mean to cut off discussion, but.
Speaker 4: It is so I'm sorry. I'm confused about who it's going to though. So far. Really.
Speaker 7: Right. It is. This resolution is directed to Congresswoman Barbara Lee, but we would send courtesy copies to our two U.S. senators representing California, Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, because just as a courtesy, to know what some rabble rousers in one of their cities are doing.
Speaker 4: And not to the House Judiciary.
Speaker 1: Chairman or the speaker, I think.
Speaker 7: We can leave that to our congresswoman. That can include the others that we are. I think that's fine. I want to commend you.
Speaker 4: Got it.
Speaker 7: Keep it simple. I think it packs a punch.
Speaker 0: I think it respects that we have a very confident congresswoman, assembly member Barbara Lee, who I think is doing her job. So I mean.
Speaker 9: Okay. I mean, I'm good with this with. What my colleagues have suggested.
Speaker 4: That you want to make a motion.
Speaker 9: I'd like to move that. We move forward this referral based on the language that is up on the screen. I'll second in the minutes.
Speaker 11: Yeah. We're adopting a resolution, and I second the motion to adopt.
Speaker 0: All those in favor. I my motion carries unanimously. Thank you. And our next. And we will now be going, oh, no, actually, we now have council communications. Any Council communications.
Consider Adoption of Resolution in Support of a Congressional Investigation Regarding the Impeachment of President Donald Trump. (Vice Mayor Vella and Councilmember Oddie)