Speaker 1: Okay. Motion carries unanimously. Next item up. Madam Clerk, please read, which is item 24.
Speaker 2: Item 20. Item 24 is communication from Vice Mayor Richardson. Council Member Pierce. Council Member Supernanny. Councilman Andrew's recommendation to receive and file report from the Long Beach Innovation Team on the Newson Motels pilot program explored the feasibility of a citywide news and motel ordinance and explore the feasibility of implementing a motel amortization program.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So first, I want to thank all the folks who are who are here and waited patiently through our city council meeting. This is ever given Tuesday. So I'm glad you're able to be here and witness our our proceedings. I want to thank council members Andrews Pearson Supernova for lending their names in support of this conversation. So for decades, North Long Beach neighborhoods all across our city have been facing persistent blight, crime, violence associated with outdated nuisance motels. In many cases, human trafficking, drug activity and violent crime has really taken root in these motels. In fact, in the past three years, our police department has gotten 3189 calls for service for violent crime in files 772 crime incident reports on the six worst motels alone. That's just six. Not to mention the continued drain on public resources from police department. Fire code enforcement. Nuisance abatement. Health Department. City Prosecutors. Department. We know that these problem motels are located all across the city. But let's just hone in on one corridor for a moment on Long Beach Boulevard in North Long Beach, between the 17 freeway and Forehand Street, or just about Artesia, where the 91 is, that's just a half of a mile stretch. The corridor is lined with five outdated motels. And recently, our innovation team analyzed calls for service and incident report records for all motel and hotel locations in Long Beach over the last three, three and a half years. And that narrowed it down to some six of the worst motels in the city. And frankly, on this corridor, two of the six worst in the city are adjacent to each other on this corridor. To give you a snapshot, between January 2014 and May 2017, Luxury Inn and the Sierra Motel had 1501 calls for service in that three year span and 237 crime reports on Long Beach Boulevard between those two motels, most notably last April. A tragic incident occurred at that luxury in prompting SWAT to evacuate evacuate the residents from Coolidge Triangle neighborhoods for more than 8 hours as police search for a gunman. Aside from the loss of life, this incident required over 80 police personnel to respond to this crime. I must say that again, 80 police personnel were taken off the streets to address one motel for 8 hours. Could you imagine what those police officers could have been doing if they weren't addressing this one motel? Immediately following, we pulled together a meeting city manager. Our human trafficking folks are our development services folks to sort out an action plan and a pilot program to hold property owners accountable for that crime, human trafficking and violence that takes place at their establishments. And as a response to that meeting, staff began a pilot program, a multiple multiply, multiple department effort to address the ongoing blight and nuisances associated with these these high calls for service motels. And so at this time, I'd love to just hear Quick Report on the two from four or how the pilot program is going.
Speaker 1: Mr. West, I'm going to turn this over to our I-Team director, Traci Conger.
Speaker 3: Honorable mayor and city council. Just to give you a brief history, in 2017, the nuisance motel's pilot program was initiated by the city manager. After several discussions with Vice Mayor Richardson about community concerns in North Long Beach. City staff from the prosecutor's office, city attorney's office, development Services, Health Police, Fire, financial management departments and a Long Beach Innovation Team have met to address ongoing issues involving nuisance motels in our city. Specifically, staff focused on motels that meet the criteria of a nuisance location as defined by the Long Beach Municipal Code and those experiencing high volume of police related calls for service. To identify trends and establish baseline averages for police activity at motel locations in the city, staff collected and aggregated calls for service and incident report records for all motel and hotel locations in Long Beach from January 1st, 2014 through May 31st, 2017. The data sets were analyzed separately and weighted by activity type. Calls for service were weighed by priority level to correspond with response time with priority one calls having the highest weight. Incident reports were weighted by part one and Part two, crimes that correspond with the FBI uniform crime reporting codes. Each motel was then assigned a final index, scored for both datasets and weighted once more by the number of rooms at each location. The final scores provide baseline values to track police activity in Long Beach going forward by location, type of establishment and size, as well as quarterly trends over time, which you can see in these two slides. We have both calls for service as well as incidents over each quarter. The results from the police data analysis will go down to the locations with the highest scores from which six locations were selected for a pilot program. The city has several programs in place as part of its effort to combat nuisance related activity. Between 2005 and 2009 through the redevelopment agency, the city purchased and abated approximately 12 nuisance motels. The current nuisance abatement ordinance and other various code enforcement policies represent other long standing abatement programs in the city. Staff has initiated a pilot program again with the six motels listed. Site visits to pilot locations are focused on interdepartmental collaboration, community support and partnerships with motel owners and managers. This model balances enforcement with support to motel managers provided by city staff. The city must look to other solutions with minimal fiscal impact to address nuisance motels. Opportunity exists to incorporate zoning and land use changes in the city's existing efforts, including the Uptown Livable Zoning and Investment Plan, also known as Up Plan. This could incentivize motel owners to convert their properties to more viable uses, such as mixed income and or mixed use housing and commercial centers. Staff recommends continuing the pilot program through the end of fiscal year 18 to further develop recommendations and solutions for these establishments while we search to identify funding opportunities. This concludes my report. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you. And and Tracy, thank you for that. That your hard work. And just so folks know, the city is committed to fighting this issue and addressing this issue when you have a response from eight separate departments working collaboratively to address this. So, you know, the pilot program is a great first step at addressing the immediate sort of negative impacts. So that's that's that's suppression. That's a response. But as we heard, you know, as you may know, many cities, including Chula Vista, Anaheim and Oakland, are taking more formal action to combat these crime infested motels by looking at both short term and long term solutions. People people who have lived on that corridor for 20, 30 years can tell you human trafficking along Beach Boulevard is not new. When the city when the city council, when the city cracks down, it's like a water balloon. We crack down for a little while and the issues just moved to Compton in Lynwood. And when the Compton sheriffs crack down, they squeeze on the other side of the balloon. It pops right back up in Long Beach. So we've got to not necessarily look at just suppression. When we look at how much resources go into it, we have to look at short term and long term strategies. So based on the success that we learned, we're learning from the pilot motel program along with best practices from other jurisdictions. Part of the My motion tonight is recommend staff explore the feasibility of implementing a citywide nuisance motel ordinance that will hold motel owners accountable for the things that take place in their property and really ask for a higher standard. No matter what era you live in, you live in a higher standard for motels, and so we can use the tools we already have in this ordinance, but really take a look at sort of retooling our fees, our fines to create something that accelerates our administrative process to bring them into compliance. An ordinance will give us the leverage we need to set performance standards, impose administrative penalties on property owners, allowing criminal activity to take place on their premises. An ordinance can incorporate existing and expanded standards, including proposed security measures, such as increased lighting and security cameras. Right now, the city is installing security cameras along Beach Boulevard because of the activity taking place at the motels. The motels should be required to put in security cameras so there's not the taxpayers putting up those resources. Increased environmental regulations to ensure healthy conditions, as well as a visitation requirement that assures accountability enforcement and enforcement at establishments . Additionally, I will hope to see best practices from other jurisdictions incorporated into the ordinance. For example, in Chula Vista, the city mandated mandated motel go guests show ID and register their plate number, as with the motel as a requirement of checking in. These security protocols have been shown, have been proven to reduce crime and to actually assist our vice detectives with investigating when something does happen. You'd have that I.D., you'd have that car registration, you'd have that information. We've we already have a proven track record of implementing successful nuisance abatement ordinances here in Long Beach. Our award winning alcohol nuisance abatement ordinance has been very effective in decreasing crime and blight associated with liquor stores across our city. It started off again as a pilot and then expanded citywide. This this establishes a steady operational requirements that improve public safety, including the removal of payphones, unauthorized signage, advertisements, exterior, you know, and other catalysts for loitering and other unlawful activities. So it's currently and is currently in its fourth phase. Again, it started in North Long Beach in its fourth phase of implementation with near 100% compliance rating from liquor stores. So I would hope that the motel ordinance and the strategy leverages a similar strategy as we took with with the alcohol ordinance. We know that targeting structural conditions and environmental site issues as well as holding property owners accountable for illegal activity is an effective strategy. Not just reducing to not just reduce crime, but also helps set the standard for a long term permanent solution. So so the third piece of this is really I'm recommending that staff look at the feasibility of implementing some long term permanent solutions as well that address overconcentration. So we're not talking about going after every motel, but if there are two or three of these nuisance motels right next to each other. Right now there's five along Beach Boulevard. There's not a tourist destination. There's no reason for that. So what can we do to address the overconcentration and address the issue long term and permanently? So changes land use and zoning in order to phase out motels where tourism no longer exists. That's that's a strategy we can utilize. Opportunities explore zoning and land use changes in up plan like as discussed to incentivize motel owners to convert to some other more appropriate use. We can begin the conversation around amortization. That's something that, you know, that essentially deems motels and high crime corridors as legal, non-conforming and sets a timeline to bring it into compliance. We should take a look at that. We've used it in other instances, such as with car dealerships and Long Beach Boulevard when it was it was most feasible when applied to over concentrated areas. City of Gardena just used amortization to address two nuisance gentleman clubs in Gardena. The process started many years ago, but they finally they started. They set the clock and when the clock ended, those two gentlemen's clubs closed down. So they started it when they said, hey, they only need to operate in industrial industrial spaces or they made a land use choice and that started the clock. If we started this clock 20 years ago, we wouldn't be in the position today. So it doesn't mean that motel would be necessarily shut down, but it actually allows us to think about the vision for the corridor with all this conversation about visioning taking place. So the conversation is really simple. We know that human trafficking and crime has taken root in many of these motels. I know it resonates. Know it. We know the average human trafficking victim in California is 14 years old and that California harbors three of the FBI's highest sex trafficking areas in the nation L.A., San Francisco and San Diego today. Currently, children walking along Beach Boulevard on the way to Colin Powell, Keith Reed School, Colin Powell Academy are being approached by pimps. We know that people in audience know that they've heard these these stories especially. And we know that some motel owners are complicit. They're working with some of these networks. So if we know these things and Vice is investing in these things, we continue to place a focus on succession. At some point, we are complicit as a city if we don't think about a long term solution. So, you know, so I'll summarize by saying what we're looking at is three things. The pilot is immediate suppression. Short term is a faster process to respond through an ordinance. And long term, we want to look at some way to update, some way to leverage processes or incentives or updating land use to address the overconcentration. Those are the three things I want to I want to just acknowledge that there was a letter from the motel association that came out came out today. And so whoever whoever you are, I encourage you to work with city staff. I've talked with them. They're going to open up the doors and talk with you about what will or will not transpire. But thank you for stepping up. We didn't get where we are with liquor stores, without the liquor store owners stepping up. So we actually welcome that. I want to thank again the co-sponsors, Pearce, Super Norton Andrews, and encourage the city council support tonight. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Councilmember Pearce.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Vice Mayor, again for your great leadership on this item. And to all of those that have waited to hear this item on a long council night, I absolutely support this item wholeheartedly. I think that it's a step in the right direction. I do have a couple questions in my district. Some of these top six are actually in my district. And I know that our muni code and I just want to ask staff a question on how we handle the situation. We have our muni code says that a responsible party shall not be prohibited from knowingly renting or leasing to an individual guestroom in a hotel or motel to one or more sex offenders. Yada, yada, yada. And no sex offenders should reside within 2000 feet from any public or private school. The walking distance between Franklin Middle School and the Long Beach Motel on Seventh Street is a little over 1000 feet. So I'm wondering, have we done any work with that motel in particular on ensuring that they're following the guidelines per muni code? Sorry to spring that on you guys.
Speaker 1: No, it's okay. Thank you. Councilmember, at this point, we're working to establish those relationships and be able to provide the appropriate enforcement with code enforcement as well as the police department.
Speaker 5: So we currently don't have a practice in place to make sure that that's not happening.
Speaker 1: Correct.
Speaker 5: Okay. And is that part of this pilot program that's already in place?
Speaker 1: We are developing a compliance plan, which is as a series of corrective issues items. And we're meeting with the hoteliers and their managers to go over what we think are the menu items that are applicable for those particular motels.
Speaker 5: Okay. I want to recognize the fact that these are hotspots for human trafficking. And I want to applaud the work that the human trafficking task force has done. I know when you first came to this city, a lot of folks said it probably wasn't that big of a deal. And so recognizing this and saying that we really have to chip away at these little bitty pieces, this is, you know, Franklin Middle Schools is a big concern for me. The same issue that the vice mayor raised where you have kids walking down the street and being approached by individuals is alarming. So I want to make sure that that is included in the next report that we get back. I also want to talk about some of the work that's been done in L.A. and I know that this really was an item that was focused on the fact that these were crime zones. And obviously, these numbers are very shocking to see. But I also want to recognize that we in the city have said that dealing with homelessness is a big challenge. I know that we have vouchers that sometimes we place people in some of these motels. But I want to really make sure that in a report back that we're looking at things like the City of L.A. did, which was an interim motel conversion ordinance where we would say, if, you know, perhaps if they fall into the amortization and we're saying we have too many of these, that we're working on an incentive program , working with our county, working with our health department to say let's have transitional housing where we have a connection to wraparound services. That is a need that we desperately need in the city. And it would provide oversight. It would ensure that we have people in those previous motels turned to housing that would have staff making sure that we have a safe place for people to get on their feet. And so I want to make sure that that's part of a report back as you guys are doing this work coming out of the health department, if that's okay. Fantastic. All right. I'm done. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 3: I just want to say thank you, vice Mayor, for bringing this forward. This is very important. I have and the first district, we have a ton of motels along seventh and new new motels looking to come. And I think that we need to address this issue first and abate it first and tackle what we can before moving forward with additional options. And so thanks so much. I look forward to, you know, seeing where this ends up. And just thank you so much for the work.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Austin. Thank you. And I think.
Speaker 8: This is a great item. It's proactive. I know Rex and his residents at the ninth District have been working very hard to to address this this nuisance and this problem. And it is very much it has been an issue up North Long Beach Boulevard. I've seen it, witnessed it myself. And I think this is a very proactive, strong approach. However, and what I like most about the report is the fact that it identified the most problem motels. Right. It identified those and it didn't necessarily paint all motel operators with a wide brush. It said, you know, we're going to go after and identify the nuisance sites and work to abate those. I know for a fact that, you know, I have motels in my district as well. Not all of them are the best. But we actually have some some examples of, I think, very well-run and responsible motel operators who I think in this conversation should be be also stakeholders. When you talk about best practices, because there are some some some good ones. And I think we have some some representatives here from a couple of the motels in a district who who want to be part of the conversation as well. And so as we move forward with staff in terms of looking at feasibility and implementing, you know, an ordinance, I think we should make sure that we're talking to everybody . And so I would invite that that conversation. I hope you're amenable to that. Vice Mayor Richardson as well. So thank you very much. I'm really looking forward to hearing from the public, though. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman. A. Thank you. I'll just follow up on what Councilmember Austin just said, if I can ask the vice mayor for just a little more clarification. We were contacted at almost 4 p.m. this afternoon by a group, and we had another event to start at 4:04 p.m. that had just heard about this. So if you can explain. And they were asking for a 30 day continuance. Can you reiterate what you said before, that this is a work in progress? We're not making a decision tonight that they will have time to weigh in on this.
Speaker 6: Sure. Thank you. So just to be clear, we had a conversation after the letter to make sure that if there is someone is going to step up and sort of represent those interests, they should have a seat at the table. So I'm looking to Oscar. We had this conversation. Oscar's nodding. He's acknowledging, so, yeah, we're going to bring him to the table so there's no need for a continuance. Let's start the process and have the conversation.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Ringo. Actually, I'm very happy to see this going forward in the way it is, because I think that there's anything that we need to have. It's more participation from from those affected, from the stakeholders, as well as people who are most affected by it. And I think that when we finish at the end of the day, that we're going to come up with a better, better solution to dealing with human trafficking and being able to at least minimize it and maybe even benefit from it in terms of being able to transition some of these hotels into, you know, some homeless housing and affordable housing and some accommodations of being able to bring people in when they need the the housing the most, especially that we're looking at opportunities for.
Speaker 8: Home.
Speaker 1: I mean, temporary housing. And this is a good opportunity to look at that. It's a creative way that the city can look at in terms of how to deal with its housing issues. And I'm looking forward to the results of the study at the end of the day. Thank you. Thank you very much. With that, we're gonna hear from the public. So please come down and just line up at the podium and.
Speaker 4: I feel like I'm out of retirement.
Speaker 1: Welcome. Welcome back. Welcome back. I'm going to sing that song for you. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and members of the city council. I am standing here in support and strong support of the Citywide Nuisance Motel ordinance. And I have to tell you, as a resident in North Long Beach and in my district and in the Coolidge Triangle area, we greatly appreciate the attention that we believe that has been long overdue and that we deserve accountability is the cornerstone of this ordinance. As a taxpayer, I have grown weary of picking up the tab for the property owners of these motels that have been costing us money and adding to our deficit. As a 25 year property owner in the Coolidge Triangle neighborhood who has had the privilege of living among some of the finest residents in this city. I am confident in saying Colors Triangle and other North Long Beach homeowners and neighborhoods are deeply concerned about our neighbors, about our neighborhood. And we are fierce protectors of our neighborhoods. We are hyper vigilant against anyone who does not live in our neighborhood. We really we look after each other in ways that I think would probably be the envy of others. We have phone trees. We keep in contact with each other. We are always looking out for the children and for our elders. And it's just been a phenomenal place to live. And and we do really kind of get a little sensitive on the fact that because of the demographics, you know, we have the largest population of homeownership in North Long Beach, the certainly the largest population of first time people of color who are property owners in North Long Beach. And our homes are worth, you know, quite a bit. We have a major economic investment. So the dubious distinction of being a high crime area, etc., etc., it really kind of rubs against the grain because these issues do happen and they are the reason why we're here. But the neighborhoods are quality neighborhoods. This proposal is among the best that the city has advanced in a long time, and we really appreciate it. I want to make the point that when we talk about the children not being able to walk to school, you know what? For those of us use the bike to take the bus to work, sitting at that bus stop became very dangerous thing for the person speaking because in the morning there would be individuals trying to, well, proposition you. And so it became very problematic, which forced me to have to now, you know, drive to work, taking a walk along Long Beach Boulevard in the in a in a summer evening or, you know, just simply having a stroll to jack in the box becomes a problem because of the neighborhood nuisance of these motels. So thank you for bringing this forward. Councilman Richardson, you did an outstanding job with your report. And we are here to back this measure 100%. Thank you. Because we appreciate the neighborhoods that we live in and we want them to be better.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Good evening. On an open air vice mayor staff, many of the members from my north Long Beach neighborhood are seated behind me and in line. My name is Dan Press Burg. I'm the president of the DeForest Park Neighborhood Association. My information is on file. We in North Long Beach are in support of the pilot program. It addresses nuisance properties and their exorbitant expense in man hours and first responders by police and fire. The expense in human lives. From human trafficking and on crime. That is why the focus has been so specific on those six motels tonight. And however, I'm going to just address two corridors. That's the Atlantic corridor and Long Beach Boulevard. I drove those corridors when I was working full time. You could not stop without somebody knocking on your window and saying, Hey, how about a date? That's horrible. A nuisance. Motel pilot program pinpoints the activities on blighted corridors affecting the adjacent neighborhoods. That is why these motels were looked at, and that's why they're most troublesome. This was a multi departmental program with an effort to address the ongoing issues, and we've had some of these before over on Pacific Coast Highway, where they were converted over to education sources and somehow it disappeared. The pilot program identifies trends and establishes a baseline for police activities at the motels throughout the city. It monitors calls for service incidents. Reports and records have already been analyzed and the program needs to keep going on. And Rex has already said that he's going to dangle a carrot and put a carrot so we can all be at the table to talk about this. The pilot program will conclude this September three review review of the pilot program established, just like I said, the best practices and many, many cities. We'd like to thank the Vice Mayor for his vision, his vigilance and consistent care of our community and the neighborhoods of North Long Beach that the Forest Park Association. And also there's a there's an alliance that we have are in full support of the new ordinance as it as it progresses and as it addresses the specific needs of the neighborhoods and the human element involved in human trafficking that focuses into our neighborhoods. It also addresses some of the issues that lead to drugs, crime and other interdiction, as well as eliminating what has been a blight on our community for many, many years. We are united in full support. Thank you for moving this forward. And one other thing in the eighth District, I don't know if you remember the chief motel. It's still a vacant lot. We spent ten years working on getting that removed before I became the councilman over there. And it it just about wore all two to nothing. So thank you again. Thank you, Rex. Thank you, Mr. President. Next speaker, please. It evening, Robert. And distinctive council members. The president of Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood Association and the issue of human trafficking has been pervasive for a very long time. It's not unique only to Coolidge Triangle. If you represent the corridors of PCH, Anaheim, Long Beach Boulevard, we have the same mutual concerns. If you are by the Travelodge, if you take a look at, you know, men against human trafficking, the message is loud and clear. Their present, the different parts of our city. Thank you, Rex, for bringing this to the table. This is a long term concern that the residents have spoken about for a very long time. I think that in many, many years you've been the first to actually step up and address this issue. I hope that you as a council members do support Rex with this measure. The community deeply cares about our growth in many ways. We're very proactive in our community in ways that perhaps city funding cannot fund. We have leaders here who are both alumni from neighborhood leadership programs, have developed leaders in the community from tree plantings and corridor improvements. We want to continue improving our neighborhoods because we care deeply about those neighborhoods. If there's anything that you can do tonight is support Rex in his endeavors in improving North Long Beach and in your quarter two. And what we do look at at the end of the day as well, if somebody had mentioned Rex, you had mentioned the kids also have to see prostitution on their way to school, going on in cars, on their way to school, going through our neighborhoods and as many times as our residents call. And they keep on coming back. Where is the equity for these kids? So we as a community are going to continue being vocal. We as a community are continuously going to be fighting for what's right for our kids, our communities, our community as homeowners that are vested in this community. We look to your leadership and your support in the proposition that Rex is presenting. So I do. Thank you. Thank you so much. Good to see you again. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: We've always it's funny, right? I know. We all need to laugh.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 4: Mayor. Last year.
Speaker 2: Council members. Public in general. My name is Hilda Guyton. I am the co-chair of the Coalition for Katrina Long Beach.
Speaker 4: And I'm here to support this item. I don't need to describe the atrocities that human.
Speaker 2: Trafficking brings to the people.
Speaker 4: Involved.
Speaker 2: And to the community as a whole. With all my respect.
Speaker 4: I urge you to please support this item and to help end the exploitation, especially of kids or children's children, and make.
Speaker 5: Our city and.
Speaker 2: Neighborhoods safer for all. Thank you very much. And thank you, Mr. Garcia, to bring this item to the table.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Next speaker. Next speaker, please. And that was very the time on. That was wonderful. Thank you. Said so much in 45 seconds. I loved it. My name is Dennis Patel, and I'm here with the Long Beach Hotel Motel Association. Good evening, your honorable mayor. The Long Beach Council members and the staff. You are doing great work and we sincerely want to thank all of you for your service. I'm here this evening with our Long Beach Hotel Motel Association to give comments on the feasibility of a citywide nuisance motel ordinance that, for some unknown reason, is just applicable to motel and not hotel property owners. Today is the first time that we are all hearing about this ordinance through tonight's agenda. No one from the 14th floor has contacted us. Today we are just kindly asking for a 30 day continuance or extension during this 30 day continuance period. We would like to meet our council members to mutually discuss and understand the details of the ordinance. Today we contacted the Office of All Language City Council members. However, we haven't heard back from their office yet, as I understand that we had to send the the letter out at a short notice as well. Your honorable mayor and council members. We think it's very fair to all sides to allow a 30 day continuance to meet and put our thoughts together to come up with more acceptable situation. Please kindly allow us this opportunity to work with our council members. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next week, release. 3 million council members and mayor. My name is Roswell Lopez, and I am here on behalf of Ana Soto, who couldn't join us tonight. So she wrote a letter which I began to read. Dear City Council, my name is Ana Soto, and I'm and I'm a resident of the Ninth Council District. This letter is in lieu of my personally attending tonight's meeting to speak in support of your proposal to evaluate and expand short and long term solutions to address the nuisance motels. These specific motels have become a hub of illegal activity over the years, causing much blight and crime in the surrounding areas, most notably human trafficking. I work as an analyst for human trafficking. I work as an analyst and human trafficking coordinator for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. But tonight, I speak as a resident who has much experience in the fight against human trafficking. I am a member of the Lambert Human Trafficking Task Force and see the devastation human trafficking is wreaking in our communities morally, financially and emotionally. I request the City Council support Vice Mayor Richardson's proposal. So Long Beach can continue its project towards a safe and caring city in the state of California. I make myself available to lend political, personal and community support towards a successful implementation of the short and long term solutions being proposed. Blessings Signed. ANAM Soto, Chair of the 63rd District, Los Angeles County Democratic Party. Thank you. Thank you very much. And thanks to Mrs. Soto as well. Speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Thank you, mayor. Council persons and allow me to speak today.
Speaker 1: My name is G2 Patel, 50 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach. I'm not I was not aware of what you are considering today, especially as this will affect our livelihood. If it wasn't for the press telegram.
Speaker 4: I would have known that this item was being presented.
Speaker 1: Today. I think it's unfair to pass an item without the input from hoteliers. Hoteliers. We would like to review staff reports as well and to discuss the.
Speaker 4: Situation and how human trafficking is horrible. And I certainly don't allow that.
Speaker 1: Any of my properties. We just don't do that. It's not allowed and my.
Speaker 4: Staff is trained on that.
Speaker 1: Things and those things. My colleagues and I.
Speaker 4: Want to exchange ideas and to work together with you to figure.
Speaker 1: Out how to deal with this situation. Don't you have existing.
Speaker 4: Laws to deal with those two properties that are in your district, sir? Like sups or or licensing or something to to help you and then endeavor. I'm not sure why we keep.
Speaker 1: Adding more things. You use what you have. I want.
Speaker 4: To. I'm asking for your consideration. A 30 day continuation of.
Speaker 1: What we are going to consider tonight. I want to discuss our issue with the staff and our council people. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 6: Next speaker, please.
Speaker 1: Yes. Excuse me. I'm Robert Bergman. I am. Thank you for allowing me to speak here. I've been here working in Long Beach for ten years, and I've been in school here in Long Beach. I'm a graduate from Long Beach State. I'm also a U.S. veteran, disabled American. All right. This is about time we have something like this. Because this has been going on for a long, long time. And I want to be I'm I'm also the founder of a clean up Sapp area coalition. And if you didn't hear, the Grace Motel should be added to the list. And it also burned. It went up in flames. I say take it all down now. Take it away. Because it's nothing but a cesspool of drugs violence. And. Prostitution. All kinds of illegal activity goes in and out of there and not one of your police officers will go in and do anything about it. They take a blind eye to what is right.
Speaker 0: And.
Speaker 1: For the homeless population. The landlords. This should also be this should cover the landlords of apartment buildings as well, because they are too at fault. And for the homeless crisis. Have each landowner. Have a division of percentage of units available for homeless vets. Homeless? Anybody? Anybody. Homeless? There should be. A percentage of their apartments ready to rent to the homeless. Thank you for your service.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 8: That's your phone.
Speaker 7: Good evening.
Speaker 1: Vice Mayor.
Speaker 8: Council members.
Speaker 1: City staff.
Speaker 8: I applaud the work you do. My name is Jimmy Murray. I'm president of the Start King Neighborhood Association. I reside at six, seven.
Speaker 1: Nine five Beachley Avenue.
Speaker 8: Been there for 40 years.
Speaker 1: This is my third stint as president.
Speaker 8: Of the Neighborhood Association. In that area, we have 1100 homes.
Speaker 1: But I want to say that I took the opportunity to stand with men standing against trafficking.
Speaker 8: On Long Beach Boulevard Friday night. It was an awesome opportunity to.
Speaker 1: Look at that.
Speaker 8: Strip.
Speaker 1: I drive.
Speaker 8: Past there five, six, seven times a month.
Speaker 1: And.
Speaker 8: Most of the hope motels.
Speaker 1: You wouldn't even know.
Speaker 8: They are there unless you happen to frequent them. There's only one multi-story motel in that little strip there. But I want to say this.
Speaker 1: Holding that sign up there, I could not help but.
Speaker 8: Cars with men coming to Victoria and then making a U-turn.
Speaker 1: And I thought.
Speaker 8: Did they see us with those signs? Were they out hunting and turned around and went the other way? That's what went through my mind. I said, get rid of those hotels, motels that are causing problems.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Jim. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening, council members. My name is Virginia's Art and I'm a founding member of the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force. And as we were talking about the motels and as vice mayor, you were talking about their location and such. I remember before knowing anything about human trafficking, so many times you would ride down a street and you'd see a hotel, and in your mind you're thinking, this is kind of a strange place for a motel to be. It's not like it's in the center of anything, any kind of tourist area or anything like that.
Speaker 5: And I often.
Speaker 3: Wondered, how do these businesses stay in business? And then once I learned about human trafficking, it kind of raised a red flag for me that as you see these motels, they are actually used for exploitation for for the young for the young children, for men and women as well. But I don't want to insinuate that exploitation only happens in these motels. It doesn't it can really happen anywhere. But what is so hard to take is that it happens here in our own city. And as you hear the residents who live in the neighborhoods of these hotels and motels where all the crime is happening and all the calls for service, the numbers that you shared earlier were just outstanding. And to know that that happens in our city, just. Breaks my heart in so many ways and so many of our task force members are here to support. And we've been working on this issue for six years now and Long Beach, and we're here and we're ready to support you, and we appreciate you bringing this forward. I also wanted to.
Speaker 4: Comment that.
Speaker 3: One of our partners here was in court today with three young women who had actually been trafficked through motels. So it does happen in these motels. So thank you so much. I appreciate you bringing this forward.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much for having this discussion. My name is Patrick Erlandson and I work at the Long Beach Human Trafficking Task Force for a number of years on the prevention side of this issue. I'm also the head of the men's standing against trafficking, which you've heard about. And I'm also an English teacher and the father of two daughters, one of whom was approached by a recruiter for human trafficking when she was in high school. I really want to applaud Vice Mayor Richardson for bringing this in, his consistency and really and really caring about this issue and bringing this to the forefront in the community , and especially for bringing this this forward. I think we can't arrest our way out of this problem. It's it's too big. And it requires the community to stand. It requires legislation and it requires law enforcement. I think we've been doing as men standing, it's trafficking. We take these signs and we take over an intersection once a month, the third Friday of each month, and demonstrate to to the victims of human trafficking that not all men are customers, that we care about them, that there's a better life for them. We stand to demonstrate to the men who are on their way to buy someone's body that there's something better, that actually this is life or death. This is actually not a victimless crime that Lynette Washington paid the price with her life in one of those hotels. And I think that we want to also send a message to the traffickers that they're seen and that this is not acceptable in our communities. We've been doing this at different intersections for over two years. We've been taking a stand. And when we moved to Victoria Street in Long Beach Boulevard, the response from the community was so profound, so strong and so wholehearted that it was just really it was such a moving experience. We had so many people turn out. Many of the people that are here today, people hug, people, stop it, grab signs from us. And they wanted to stand with us because they love their community. And I think what this proposal really means and what what Vice Mayor Richardson is proposing here, as well as the other council members, is that there's a vacuum, and that vacuum is being filled by pimps and traffickers. There are empty beds and those empty beds are being filled by somebody daughter, by somebody who's been victimized, by someone who's being exploited for someone else, for some slave master to make their money. And I think this vacuum, what this proposal does is it takes that vacuum there, takes the people the people who love their community. It takes their love for their community, their homes and their children. And it stuffs that vacuum and closes it. And I think this is really critical and really important that the community really stands, stands up and supports this proposal. One of the thing, as a teacher, kids always have these cute ways of texting their messages and things that are important to them, whether it's lol, which everyone knows. But there's one FOMO. I don't know if you remember that FOMO, but some kids use that and it's a fear of missing out. And it really struck me that that's really appropriate for this right now, that we should be afraid of missing out on the opportunity to do something about this problem that's gone on for years. And I think waiting 30 more days, how many how many more mornings do people have to wake up and find condoms in there? Thank you, sir. I mean, we're at one time. This is this is a chance for.
Speaker 6: The most vulnerable. Thank you. Nice to be with you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. My name is Alfred Hayes Senior. I'm the I live in North Long.
Speaker 1: Beach, right next door to the Luxury Inn. And I had moved out two years ago to housing.
Speaker 8: Use my home for homeless women and children.
Speaker 1: And I did that for two years and I spent my own money to help them.
Speaker 8: Get off the street. A couple of them went back to the street, but most of them got their life together and they went on to become productive members of the community. I moved back.
Speaker 1: January of 2016, but ever since I've moved.
Speaker 8: Back, I realized that my this area has.
Speaker 1: Gotten worse.
Speaker 8: Than when I had moved out. I've found people on top of my roof.
Speaker 1: Two nights ago, a guy was sitting in my yard, peering into my 13 year old girl's bedroom. It was a blessing to see them come.
Speaker 8: On the corner and try to to bring bring interest to this problem that's getting continuously worse. It has dragged the community down to total drug deals. My bills, my cars.
Speaker 1: My remote control have been hijacked. I've been I've been out watching my cars. They locked my car. They open my car. They put trackers on my. My vehicles. They broke in my house, put listening devices in my home. And I'm afraid that sometimes they hear me and my wife of 32 years and our most intimate moments.
Speaker 8: Do you really realize what's really happening here?
Speaker 1: This place.
Speaker 8: North Long Beach, the coolest part district has gone to.
Speaker 1: The docks. It has gone to the dogs. And I live there. I experience it. If you don't live there and have not experienced it, I'm telling you what has happened. Trackers on my car, listening devices in my home. They park in front of my home every day to walk around to the hotel to buy drugs. So I know I see it and I'm fed up with it. I was just on the verge of calling the FBI to make a report with them before I sing. Thank God, Rex, you know, do what they did on the corner. And I went out there and I held the sign with him. So just just to let you know.
Speaker 8: I'm really fed up with it.
Speaker 1: I put my life on the line to serve this country. I volunteered willingly to die for this country if need be. So I'm asking this city to stand up, to do something now for me. Give back to someone who put their life on the line for this country. Now, I have two children, twins. Now that's two. Just turned 13. My daughter. Two months ago in Lawrence, Kansas, we have the fastest time in the 400 meter, which was a 5712 in a 12 year old group. I'm trying to raise my children to be decent children in the city of Long Beach to bring a good life to this city.
Speaker 8: So, please, if you can do anything.
Speaker 1: Please don't wait 30 days.
Speaker 8: It's been too long. It's been years.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 1: But my name's Matt Houston. I just mentioned short term and long, long term solutions. But something that occurred to me is also a holistic approach that's important. Being from different parts of the country. Notice things are a little bit different here in L.A. County. One of the things that I've noticed is a lack of public restrooms. So one of the things that I've been trying to work on is an idea for for creating a company that all day that say all we do is as public restrooms and, you know, some of them self-cleaning, but then have access to Lifeline phones right there and maybe have some Lifeline phones with the apps built in right into it, right inside the hotels, you know, maybe have some, you know, touch screens, maybe figure out a way to use grant money to make sure that those are there. So people always have access, you know, find some people who have gotten out of the sex trade industry and maybe have them come together, create a nonprofit, private organization that creates a secure webcam, you know, for for girls that that want to do that stuff on online and make money whatever but not but do it in a safe way at least if that's if that's the way that's going to go, you know. And I mean, because people do that and a lot of a lot of sex trafficking ends up there, you know, and it ends up that, you know, people are sitting there watching and paying money online for people they don't realize are sex , sex slaves, stuff like that. So I think it's important to have security in those things as well. So the stick approach is important, but a care approach is important as well. So job placement opportunity, vocational aptitude test, maybe having one of the ideas I'm trying to toss around is having a separate kind of command structure for the sheriff's department. If I get if I get elected there and have a separate one with different leadership and have people that can volunteer one side or the other, but it's not so much aggressive enforcement, but, you know, completely different, you know, kind of like the Peace Corps versus Marine Corps type of thing. So you have you know, you can have some officers with crossover, but the leadership is different. And then you it opens up opportunities to be able to reach people that wouldn't come up to you in another capacity with a gun on the hip kind of thing, you know. And it creates, you know, if you have a sex slave in a pimp situation and then you have a different code and this command structure, then that might create some opportunities that aren't available right now. Also creating increasing communication, creating a special cable channel, marketing apps, outreach to the periphery of crime. Try to reach all the people that you can. Scholarships for new ideas reached out to the schools. How can we solve this from inside of schools? Different visa programs, you know, disrupt the, you know, the the networks of of the traffickers and that sort of thing. And even, you know, reach people on the periphery of that and pull them in and do some more on honest run work. And I just recommend against too much of a fortress mentality, some carrot, some stick, but in the right balance. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Houston. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mr. Garcia. Vice Mayor Richardson. Council members. My name's Cam Patel. I'm here to represent my family. We owned the property at 1657. Atlantic Avenue. Was on the list settling in in the ninth District. We have had that property for about 30 years now. We've never had any accusations that we were a nuisance to the community we like. My management often attends the Uptown Business meetings, which is right across the street. We got a letter in November from the city staff pretty much blindsided by it. You know, we right away turned around and worked with Carl Wegman in the planning department with the city to address some of the concerns he had. We met with a Long Beach PD right away as well. I emailed him the next day that we got the letter and also gave him a few phone calls. So we want to work with the city, but also there needs to be a little bit more dialog. We felt like we just got this call called our in our hands and we were actually we haven't even seen a call log, so just a little bit of dialog going on. Giving us the opportunity to have a seat at the table is is a definitely a good thing and I just look forward to working with the city and the community. You know, we work with DPS to help people find a place to stay in between homes or even homeless people. So sometimes that give us a situation where some people have some mental health issues that can also cause an increase in call log activity. So to be sensitive to those things as well, I think is you need to have opening to an open mind as well. So thank you very much next week.
Speaker 4: Good evening, City Council.
Speaker 5: My name is Dr..
Speaker 3: Johnny Rex O.D. and I'm a member. I'm actually vice president.
Speaker 4: Of the Forth Park Neighborhood Association, which is actually just across the river from the Coolidge Triangle and along with neighborhood associations that are most affected by the issue with human trafficking. And I'm in complete support of this agenda tonight. Agenda item tonight. We currently have an unacceptable situation occurring among many of the motels in my community along these boulevard. We have had several we have several daycares and two schools in the in the vicinity where our children are subject is not only see this activity back to be accosted and propositioned by traffickers, which is absolutely egregious and the situation has been allowed to fester for too long. So I implore the city to take the situation seriously and take the issue of crafting this ordinance seriously for the sake of the men, women and children being exploited every day in the community, face to force to have to endure it. Let us no longer be complicit by turning a blind eye to one of our most pressing modern day social ills. And with that, I say thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 7: Hello. Good evening again. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and our councilwoman strikes again. I have lived in North Long Beach for the past three years and again, we've been having problems. Oh, my. Not not until I think about two years. From that point on, we've been complaining to the police because we have a neighborhood watch, neighborhood association meetings. And the police, they always tell us, okay, when I should please call and report them. I've been doing that for months and months and months in a year, right where I live, we got to 2 to 3 schools. And again, parents are afraid to even enroll their children in there because they see all these prostitutes I'm sorry, all these people with very I could say the way they dress so provocative. And again, some of these kids that are walk to Colin Powers, they used to be walking in the mornings about two years about himself, but now they're accompanied by their parents because they're afraid of especially young girls showing young kids. They're afraid to leave them alone because, again, a well, they see the activity, they see the crime in the area. So again, when these gentlemen are saying that give us 30 days, we never heard about it. And I'm sorry, sir, but we never saw you there before. All of a sudden you're here because again, we're here. But we peaceful are newsletters once a month from the neighborhood association informing everybody about the crime in the area. These people never come to the meetings. There never were. We never have seen them coming to the meetings. We never have seen them. They don't even approach us to to see if they can improve the community. So there's the reason I'm here. So please, please. When you help.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks, speaker, please.
Speaker 5: Hi. My name is Ron at Mesa. I'm with the Hamilton Neighborhood Association. I'm a managing board member. Honorable Mayor Council members. Rex, I really I just want to thank you for.
Speaker 3: You know, bringing this to the attention and the awareness that you've brought.
Speaker 4: I had the honor of.
Speaker 3: Being at a demonstration.
Speaker 5: Last Friday with a number of.
Speaker 3: People here, men against sex trafficking. And there was a.
Speaker 5: Lot of community support, people giving.
Speaker 4: Us the thumbs up and honking. But there's also pimps that came.
Speaker 5: Out and threatened us and we had to cut our demonstration short. So that showed me and I guess I didn't.
Speaker 4: Understand that this problem is going on because I live in a in a couple.
Speaker 5: Of neighborhoods over. I do find used condoms and things on our streets. But I didn't.
Speaker 3: Realize that pimps.
Speaker 4: Would come out and threaten us and scare everybody off.
Speaker 5: I hope we do it again really soon. But I would have.
Speaker 4: To ask you guys as a group to ask the hotel owners that are saying they had.
Speaker 5: No idea this was going.
Speaker 4: On. Where are they? They have bad employees that aren't reporting.
Speaker 5: All these police, all this police activity, illegal activity that are going on in their.
Speaker 4: Hotels. They don't live around here.
Speaker 5: Because it's obvious what's happening. If you drive up and down the street or you live in the area.
Speaker 4: Or they just don't care or they're profiting from it. Yeah. And if they're profiting from it, so is.
Speaker 3: The hotel alliance that came out and spoke.
Speaker 5: Because I'm sure they're paying money to be in this group. And I just have to say, I didn't.
Speaker 4: I.
Speaker 3: Got very educated since Friday. I didn't know there was 14 year olds out there. I didn't know that 98% of these people in servitude were basically slaves.
Speaker 5: They have guns held to their head. They're scared. They can't get out of this situation. And these hotel owners are giving them a place to.
Speaker 4: Perpetuate these crimes. So thank you again for bringing this to the attention of everybody, Vice Mayor And thank you for the protection you're offering these young ladies and young men that are in these situations. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening. Council member and mayor council members and Mayor Robert Garcia. My name is Renee Wheels and I'm a resident of the ninth District. I stand before you as an advocate for my community and a support for this motel ordinance.
Speaker 3: And thank you, Rex. I really appreciate this. And you took my 3 minutes, so I'm going to get this short. I just really.
Speaker 2: Want you guys to understand that between Long Beach Boulevard, between the 17 and new one, it's only a thousand steps for these children to take every day to go to school and come go home.
Speaker 3: Every day. It's a thousand steps.
Speaker 2: They are walking. They see the women.
Speaker 3: And the pimps waiting. So just.
Speaker 2: Imagine. Just take a moment for you guys, council members to take take a moment in your life when you're a.
Speaker 3: Child and you have this fear, these feelings of being uncomfortable and just the fear.
Speaker 2: Which is imagine you're a fifth grade student coming from Colin Powell walking down Amish Boulevard and he see a woman. What kind of feeling are they feeling now? They see a man standing by, just watching. What kind of feeling are they feeling? Then they have.
Speaker 3: Another time where they're walking and they're standing. There's a man following.
Speaker 2: Them home.
Speaker 3: And whispering in their ears.
Speaker 2: This has been done, as has happened to our students in Colin Powell.
Speaker 3: So please. This time's up on.
Speaker 2: Human trafficking and prostitution. But how many other how many more names do you want to add to hashtag MeToo?
Speaker 3: How many more names.
Speaker 2: So please support this ordinance. And thank you, Rex.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. And we have our last four speakers and they were closing our actual you'll be the last five speakers and the speakers list is closed. Yes.
Speaker 3: Good evening, mayor, vice mayor and council members. My name is Clyde ASADA. I'm a member of the ninth district lifetime member. And this has been something that has just waited too long. How do I know? Because when I was a child, I was that child that Renee spoke. I was a child in the Longwood neighborhood. And that is exactly the experiences that that I, I encountered. I'm an adult now, and I see it. It continues. 30 years later, nothing has changed or very little has changed. If anything, it's getting worse. I remember when the luxury and was built as the Days, Days Inn Motel or Days Inn Inn Suites and you know, it was really shiny, pretty and new. And at that time we had we would have, you know, quinceaneras, weddings, whatever. And none of my family was going to stay there. Nobody was going to support these businesses as hotels are motels because we knew exactly what kind of activity was going on there. Now we have, you know, freshly painted luxury end, but it's still the same thing. You put a lipstick on a pig. It's still a pig. So what we want to do is change the the policy change, change the use of it. What we need are restaurants, coffee shops, banks that is reflective of the neighborhoods that are immediately surrounding that strip. The Coolidge neighborhood in the Longwood neighborhood are not reflected by what is on the street. The businesses that are there do not reflect our interests. They reflect their pocketbook interests. So thank you for the time.
Speaker 1: Thank you. That's bigger council members. My name is Peter McBride. I've been part of an organization that rescues girls that are being sex trafficked. Somebody said something about Snoop Dogg. I'd like to point out that he was a pimp. These pimps are taking these girls. They're they raped them several times. They beat them daily. That's that's just the beginning of what they do to these women. I could go into deep detail, which is not part of what's going on today, but this is the violence that's going on. And we all know that violence breeds violence. I pointed out I was at the stand over at East Croydon Street and Long Beach Boulevard Boulevard. And I was pointing out to the people, because I've been involved with the rescues. The extent of security that goes on there. I was pointing out how the security was walking around the different levels, how the security of the pimps, men were driving around. If you if you own that place or you work at that place and you can't see that type of security, then something's going on. You're missing out. Oh.
Speaker 8: For the police officers.
Speaker 1: Long Beach is setting the standard for handling human trafficking. They're setting the standards. So somebody is saying something about the police force here in Long Beach. You need to take a step back and regroup. And the problem that they're having with these hotels really needs to something needs to happen with the hotel. I'm not from Long Beach, but I've been down here with men stand against trafficking and you have a problem. And I appreciate what you're trying to do with that. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, the last three speakers.
Speaker 4: Hi, I'm Juanita Parrish. I'm a member of the Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood Association. I've met a lot of you. I was I had an opportunity to meet our mayor and of course, our vice mayor, Rex Richardson is my councilman. What I'd like to say, there are three things I'd like to address. One is every month we have our neighborhood association meeting. Every month we complain to the police department. We've had our chief of police come to our meetings, we've had our commander come to our meetings, we've had vice come to our meetings. And we've we regularly have officers come to our meeting. They give us updates. They're not the problem. The problem is the system. And we're trying to correct that system now and we're asking for your help. We can we can take a reactive approach to everything. Every time something happens, we react. But tonight we have an opportunity to take a proactive approach to something. All of you have an opportunity to take a proactive approach. And like the gentleman said, we become we become the the everyone looks to us as the example, just an example of set. I understand those three gentlemen from the motels. If tonight we were voting on something, it was becoming ironclad. They would have a right to say 30 days, but they don't have a right to say 30 days. All they want us to do is to put it on the back burner so that we have to come and try again. We're not making something ironclad. What we're saying is, after the pilot program, let's explore this, let's explore this. Let's change the laws. If they're not working, we've got to change them. So all we're asking you to do is to.
Speaker 1: Support.
Speaker 4: This program.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you very much. Next week, speaker, please.
Speaker 8: I remember.
Speaker 1: Distinguished counsel. Thank you. My name's Dave San Jose. I was born in Long Beach Area Community Hospital in 1940. So I've seen the good, the bad, and I guess I'm seeing the ugly.
Speaker 0: In.
Speaker 1: The house. I live in North Long Beach. I've been there 40 years. I really love my home, I love my neighbors. I got some great neighbors and they all feel the same way about our community. I ran a youth center for 18 years as a volunteer in this city and probably for at least 15 of those years I had kids. Tell me about the motel, the luxury. They told me all the things went on in there and I had to deal with gang members. Your average everyday kid, boys and girls. I couldn't believe the stories they told me.
Speaker 8: I found them all come true.
Speaker 1: And the situation that's happening now, it's I just heard the other day is this teacher is going to teach a class. About how to walk home safely.
Speaker 8: I'm Colin Powell.
Speaker 1: In middle school. God, I never had a class like that when I was a kid. I mean, how many your kids have to do that? But these kids really have to do that because they walk by and through this situation. It's really gotten there. But you've heard all the horror stories. These are stories made up by this guy or that guy. This guy is their one day, get in your car and drive down lobby. Well, bar during these hours. I got a guy that goes to work at 4:00 in the morning and he sees trucker stop and pick up girls. They're. Another neighbor told me somebody else died in the hotel there somehow or another the other day they put flowers and candles there. We don't even know all the things that happened in there. There's always asking is, there's nine of you. Every one of you should pass this bill. There should be nine councilman here. I guess the mayor can't. Nobody should vote for two. But then when do people leave the city? Because you're only going to be here four years. Five years, whatever it happens to be. Are you going to leave the city better than you found it? Now you have an opportunity to do that because what these people are saying, what these people are feeling is real. Last week, 17 people got shot in Miami. Uh huh. Things like that are happening. This is real. We live in different times. We need to do something about it. You need to do it now. And don't worry. The kids are going to be alive for a while because they're taking a class. How to walk home. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. And our last speaker.
Speaker 0: Is a.
Speaker 1: Mayor.
Speaker 7: And council member.
Speaker 1: My name is Yogesh Patel. I own.
Speaker 8: Colonial motels, which is one of the listed property.
Speaker 1: I've been running the place for 37 years. I repeat 37 years. When I came to Long Beach in 1981.
Speaker 7: And only eighties, police used to do sting rings. Last 15 years. There is no such thing as ten years because the.
Speaker 1: Hostages are gone. Most of the complaint we heard from people on northside, i suggested you guys host September Stinger. These are the other thing. If you want to stop oh, stop renting rooms to people who don't have a place to go, where would they go? Do you want to have people living in huts, you know, Cambodia on.
Speaker 7: Pacific Coast Highway like we have in downtown Long Beach under a bed. So this is all we have to make.
Speaker 1: And as far as this clothes are concerned, I believe in the motels have a private security. We have private security. So I don't know where all these calls come from. If there a noise tick issue.
Speaker 8: If the.
Speaker 1: Boyfriend and girlfriend.
Speaker 8: Fight the call, the police.
Speaker 1: Are you going to hold us responsible for that?
Speaker 7: You know?
Speaker 1: If you think that's right? I don't think that's right. Also, we have a contract with the city. We work with the city to house the veterans. We are contracted mental health association. We work to help them. Now, if we did exist, where would these people go? It's our obligation to all walks of life to work together. And I'm urging you guys to come to the table and find a solution.
Speaker 8: And.
Speaker 1: Fix the problem rather than just building without, you know, getting what's real inside. So we are asking you to sit down and talk it out and solve the problem, not create more problems. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public comment. Appreciate that. I want to go ahead and go back. We're going to go back to the council, have a couple a couple comments, and then I'm going to turn it back to the makers of the motion. First, I want to just thank everyone that came out. I think that particularly for the neighbors that came out, I know how important of an issue this is to all of you. I know how important this issue is to Vice Mayor Richardson. I think we spent about 15, 20 minutes this last weekend over a beverage talking about this very issue and how important this is to him to get this done for the community. For those that aren't familiar with the neighborhood. I think some someone said it earlier that the neighborhoods have it's a community of homeowners that whose community and homes are really beautiful and the neighborhood has well certainly has needs is a great collection of property owners that are working to improve their greater area. And so to say that one major boulevard isn't a good reflection of Coolidge or of the neighborhood is true. It isn't a good reflection. And I think that Long Beach Boulevard could be well, hopefully one day rise to the level of where the actual neighborhoods are. I think that's I think obviously a lot of the interest. I think it's important. You know, I appreciate that the owners of the of the motels that are here, I do think that data is important. And I think when data is presented by the police department, those are facts. And I think that we have to look at data and understand that the data is telling us something. And when calls are being made, it is the responsibility of the property owner, sir, to ensure that those issues are being mitigated. Now I want to ensure I want to make sure that as we move forward on this, I appreciate the vice mayor wanting to work and bring everyone to the table. I think that's responsible and obviously it's very appropriate. But I will say that I completely support the motion in front of us today and the and I know that we will adopt this tonight. I also want to just make sure, Mr. City Manager, that one thing was brought up tonight that was of interest to me is if if we are and if the city I understand that the city has a serious issue with homelessness. That is a statewide crisis, and I appreciate that. But I also want to ensure that when we work with property owners or motels or others in a partnership to house, that this is that looking at those contracts is part of this motion. If the vice mayor is is open to that because I'm I am not okay with regardless of who they are whether they're someone that's homeless or someone with a mental illness or a veteran. I want to ensure that we're also in there being placed in locations that are also safe and that are.
Speaker 8: That are appropriate.
Speaker 1: For for them. And so if the vice mayor's okay, if we can take take a look at the contracts and I'd be interested in any information back as to what what motels do we actually are under contract for for these services. And if they where they are and if they're actually on these lists and that would be just something for us, I think, to explore it as well. And and I will say also that what's impressive to me about this agenda item, besides all the work that went into it, which I know that the District 19 did, is there is actually the the the liquor store ordinance has had really great success. And it's really impressive to me that and listen, there's still a lot of bad liquor stores and particularly in the area where we first looked at the issue in the north. But there has been some real success stories out of that ordinance as well. And so I have a lot of hope for this. I would encourage staff to be very serious about the amortization program. I mean, that has worked in a lot of places. Now that we don't have redevelopment, think we need to be serious. I know there are legal hurdles and I think we need to be responsible about that as as a as a as a city. But I think that that should be looked at very seriously. And we should absolutely put in place an ordinance that looks at everything listed here. And and as we look at that and as a community engages if it needs to go beyond that and and look at ensuring that we have appropriate standards there for those that are also working there, that is within this council's preview purview as well. So I support this vice mayor, but most importantly to the community, you guys are doing a great job looking out for your neighborhood and for the city of Long Beach. So thank you and. And with that, we take it back to Councilmember Pearce and then Vice Mayor Richardson.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mayor. And I definitely was going to follow up on many of the points that that the mayor made. I wanted to ask a couple of questions of staff. When police calls. Calls to service are done for these locations. How are the owners of these locations notified? And I know our police chief is not here, but I was wondering if anybody could answer that question.
Speaker 1: Will communicate that to the police department and get back to you as soon as possible.
Speaker 5: So it would be my request that as part of this program that the owners of any location where there are police calls, particularly hotels or motels that were I were mailing them a notification or reaching out to them. It's I could understand if an owner is not there operating it every day, their employees are dealing with it. Maybe there's a gap. Let's make sure there's not an excuse for saying that they didn't know these calls were being made. And so I would hope to see that.
Speaker 1: Understood.
Speaker 5: My other comment is in regards to, you know, the fact that we do use vouchers for some of these places and we do have standards in our continuum of care that might not be reflected in the contracts that we have with our health department. And so I'm curious, I know that we've been doing work for about a year on trauma informed care, and I know that we're about to do even more work on that and making sure that any location where we have a contract that might be out of the norm, that there be some part of trauma informed care or not trauma informed care, but trauma informed lens that not only would they be able to identify human trafficking, but also if it was a boyfriend and girlfriend that were having a fight. What's the best way to deal with that? How do you reach out to PD and not assuming that everybody that works in one of these motels might know best practices, but that if we are having a contract with them, we need to make sure that that's the bare minimum that we're doing.
Speaker 1: We'll make sure we engage health department in that. Yes.
Speaker 5: Thank you. And then just recap one more time and making sure that the, you know, exploring transitional housing options after amortization in funds with the county is included as well. So thank you and thank you, everybody, for your passion and your commitment. I definitely got goosebumps a few times while you guys were talking and it hits home. And that's not often that we have a council meeting with something that could be so visceral. If you actually, while we're talking logistics about a program, knowing that this ruins lives not only for the individuals that are being trafficked, for those dealing with them, for their family that miss them. And so thank you so very much for caring and thank you so much to this council for taking the leadership.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, first of all, Mayor, I want to thank you for your strong support on this item. I think that message came across really clearly, all the council members who spoke. Thank you so much for those comments. I just want to just acknowledge a few things. So, first of all, thanks for having the courage to share your stories. A lot of people may not believe believe some of that stuff, but the truth is, you were being modest. You were being very modest. I was there Friday when someone said a pimp rolled up and threatened us. I was there. Right. I think I think if people did see that experience or see what you're dealing with, I think we would have a lot more support publicly around this issue. This is a you know, I have to say this. You know, there's been a lot of meetings organizing. I have to acknowledge that you, the neighbors, we've done maybe five meetings in the last few months, specifically on this issue, in addition to the neighborhood association meetings that meet monthly. So this is this is sort of community empowerment. And it's best you stepped up, made this issue a priority. City Council acknowledges it. Right. We're going to cast a vote and set ourselves on course to hopefully fix this issue because frankly is fixable. It is fixed, but we can't fix every we can be on the right side of the human trafficking argument. We can't fix human trafficking forever and everywhere in the short term, but we can't fix Long Beach Boulevard. We know where they're rooted and the data justifies it. So I just want to want to want to acknowledge that to the city council. I want to thank you for your indulgence. You know, sometimes there are issues that mean, you know, I have no doubt that the city council acknowledges and values. When a resident steps up and says, this is important, we do it all the time. When issues come up, I may not be able to personally commit to it or understand it, but I take a step back because I know that that's 100% true to that council member in their district and it's 100% true to the people that are there. So thank you for that indulgence. These are the moments that these residents are never going to forget. When the city council listened to them and heard them out because they felt ignored for a long time. So whether you hear me or not, I acknowledge I acknowledge you guys indulging. And I really thank you for that. So the final thing I say is, you know, I have no doubt that we're going to get where we need to get to. We have to remain vigilant, continue to have meetings. But I have no doubt that there is light at the end of the tunnel on this issue. There are policy changes that can make a difference. So thank you all again and again. Encourage City Council support.
Speaker 1: Thank you. With and with that, there's a there's a motion and a second. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you all for. Thank you all for coming out. Thank you. We we will go back to the item on on parks and so per the the other motion. Thank you, guys. Thank you, Dave. Yeah. Thank you.
Recommendation to request City Manager to:

• 	Receive and file a report from the Long Beach Innovation Team on the Nuisance Motels Pilot Program;

• 	Explore the feasibility of a citywide Nuisance Motel Ordinance that would hold property owners accountable for nuisance and criminal related activities, by accelerating administrative penalties and timelines on nuisance, crime-ridden motels throughout the City of Long Beach; and

• 	Explore the feasibility of implementing a Motel Amortization Program in order to reduce over concentration and outdated uses along corridors, thus diminishing the use of motels as hubs for illegal activity.