rks from Chief Navarro on Facebook about taking down that post about the flag really hurts that you don't support me and that you support the minority voice. And I think it's time for you guys to stand up and start taking the position of supporting police officers. My tax dollars pay for it and this is what I want. Thank you for your help. Hi, my name is Judy Scott and this comment is for the police staffing study session. I'm the grandmother of seven wonderful grandchildren who live in Santa Rosa. I'm always at one of their homes and up until recently have felt safe in your city. There have been several budget cuts and understaffing in the police department which prevents Santa Rosa from being the safe place that it was. I have seen increased crime, unchecked homelessness along with filth in your streets all the while preventing the police from being able to do their jobs due to these cuts. I am sending this email in support of returning the budget that was taken away from the Santa Rosa police department. Please return Santa Rosa to the once desirable, safe and clean place it used to be. Thank you so much. Bye. Hi, my name is May Nelson and my comment is regarding agenda item three, the police staffing study session. I feel extremely blessed to have been born and raised in beautiful Santa Rosa and have personally known many incredible people who have served us in law enforcement over the years. Living in a community which values and fully supports the men and women who daily put their lives on the line to protect us is imperative to a thriving community and is something I value wholeheartedly. I am grieved by the lack of support that our city council members have shown our officers and for the safety of our community and for all those who call this place home, I implore you to stand up for what's right and refund the $1 million to the police department budget and value our officers by compensating them appropriately. Our community depends on your support of the Santa Rosa police department. Thank you so much and I am praying for our community. My name is Elizabeth Warren. I'm speaking to agenda item number 3.1 for the city council meeting of January 26th, 2021 regarding the Santa Rosa police department staffing and the upcoming police staffing study session. I'm calling to give input for the police staffing study session and to convey my support for our Santa Rosa police department. First, I must register my outrage at the lack of support our elected city council and appointed city manager have given the Santa Rosa police officers. The minute you vowed to the pressure from special interest group and withdrew your support from local law enforcement, you stopped acting in the best interests of our community and you violated the trust of your constituents. This is not a course of action I support or voted for. Second, I'm asking for you to fully restore the police department's budget so that they are able to perform their duties of public safety. We are the public and we want to be kept safe. Staffing has been reduced while at the same time the population has increased and the calls for service have increased. This simply doesn't make any sense. Every citizen wants the safe and secure home and community. We need to hire more officers to keep our community safe. We also need to give our officers a raise so that their salary is just compensation for their sacrifice and service. We need to show our officers we value their service and sacrifice. Lacking this, we will continue to see record retirement, overworked and demoralized officers and the community that descends into lawlessness. Why would anyone want to work for a city that doesn't support them? Why would anyone want to live in a lawless community? The safety of our community depends upon your swift reversal of this recent trend of budget cuts and the evaluation of our Santa Rosa police officers. As a taxpayer and 50 year resident of Santa Rosa, I must speak out and demand that our city council and city manager show the respect and support that our public safety officers deserve by restoring the budget and personnel and materials needed to run the department as the chief sees fit. Running the department is his job. Giving him the tools to run it, the money is yours. So do your job so he can do his. And finally, a question.  Unless you alter your course, you are heading down a path that will turn our city into a wasteland of lawlessness where parks and streets and stores and homes are not safe. Is this your vision for our beloved city? It's not mine. Peter, Mary, I'm calling about the police number of police. I'm not in favor of limiting or decreasing police protection. And I don't know what item that is, but that's a reason for my call. Thank you. My name is Terry, and this is regarding agenda item 6.5. I'm deeply disappointed, frustrated, and angered by the city council's stance on the situation. As a citizen of Santa Rosa, I have attended city council meetings and there have been an SRPD officer too at the meetings, standing in the backgrounds. When asked why they were at the meetings, they said they were there in the event something happened and they needed to protect the process of city government. Looking back, they described being the blue line, the line between society and those that don't respect or accept our government. Those officers were there to protect you and that you don't respect them. I hope the chief has the integrity to say he will not send his officers to these meetings when they become in person again. And each of you will have the opportunity to be your own line between government and chaos. The people that stood up and attempted to stop the capital insurrection with the men and women of law enforcement. Again, being the line between society and chaos. They're being celebrated for their actions while you are condemning them. In researching this topic, the flag represents so many things to law enforcement. It represents the strength and courage to run towards gunfire and tragedy while others run from it. It represents the strength to run into building burnings in areas that saved people's lives.  It represents the sacrifices made in a profession. It represents a lives lost in line of duty. A sheriff's deputy was just killed in Sacramento. That blue line represents him. That blue line represents General the PD Detective Armour who lost her life. It represents her. It doesn't just represent the sacrifices that the men and women of law enforcement make. It also represents the sacrifices that their families make. These people miss holidays, birthdays, graduations and other memorable events because someone has to be out there protecting society from those that would harm it. I am angered that you have cowed to the very loud minority on social media. Did you vet these people to see if they even lived in Santa Rosa? The quiet majority spoke up and there were so many more positive posts and posts demanding the return of the banner. Why have you not listened to them? If you are governing based on the number of posts, likes and comments that the banner should have been returned. During the Capitol insurrection, writers also waived the American flag. With your logic, we should remove the American flag because it was also there and offensive. Lastly, as a citizen and constituent of Santa Rosa, I believe we are entitled to know unequivocally how each member stands regarding support for Santa Rosa PD. This is a simple yes or no answer. Mayor Rogers, do you support the Santa Rosa Police Department? Yes or no. Vice Mayor Rogers, do you support the Santa Rosa Police Department? Yes or no? Councilman Sawyer, do you represent or support the Santa Rosa Police Department? Yes or no? Councilman Tivitz, do you support the Santa Rosa Police Department? Yes or no? Councilwoman Fleming, do you support the Santa Rosa Police Department? Yes or no? Councilman Schwedholm, do you support the Santa Rosa Police Department? Yes or no? Councilman Albrecht, I'll ask the same question, but I think your social media posts referring to Santa Rosa Police Department is trash, is already answered it, but... Hi, my name is Victor Andrade, I'm a resident of Santa Rosa, and this is for the agenda subject, police staffing. I'm calling in regards to Santa Rosa looking into, into lowering the police staffing numbers in our streets and in total disagreement with that. I think we actually need more policemen, more force responders, but in general policemen in Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa used to be a very safe city as it's not anymore. I grew up and live in the Roseland area, and there was crime on a daily basis, and it's the only people that just get a, just get a benefit, it's the wealthy people up there on Fallon Grove and Rick and Valley where the crime is low and there are no need of police, but the general public in Santa Rosa, the majority of us, live in the areas of like Roseland and other cities where the crime is really high, and that's who the lowering of staffing is gonna take effect on and gonna damage our community and the crime rates are gonna go up, people are gonna start arming themselves, defending themselves when there's no police and we need police and that's the worst thing I've ever heard of is the funding the police and lowering staffing of police members. We need police and we need more in this case. What's going on globally is sad, but the Santa Rosa does not need to, to lower the police staffing because of what's happening globally. We actually need more policemen, we've never had any issues with police here in Santa Rosa. I know a lot of policemen that work for Santa Rosa and they're all great and yes, I'm a, again, my name is Victor and I'm a resident here in Santa Rosa and I disagree with lowering police numbers in Santa Rosa. We actually need more police and then instead of lowering the numbers, we actually need to train police so we need, actually need more money for police. So any questions? My number is<PHONE_NUMBER>. Thank you, have a good day. Hi, everyone. My name is Jonathan and I wanna give my thoughts about the police staffing study session. I'm a father of two kids and an SRJC student here in Santa Rosa. I've been trying to make sense of things that I've been reading in the press Democrat and on Twitter the last few weeks. And my impression is that our police department is running dangerously low on morale and support. Our city also seems to be competing for last place amongst similar cities in the Bay Area when it comes to sworn officers per capita. My concern is best illustrated by comparison to my time in the military. My unit was asked to perform a task with far less personnel than were needed. It was a political decision since people, equipment and money were available. This situation happened over and over as politicians sought to accomplish one thing but present a different picture to the voters of what was happening. The end result was negative for the people being asked to serve as they became leaned on for far more than the human spirit can handle. The best people began exiting for greener pastures and the morale of those who stayed suffered. The most awful result was the mistakes that were inevitably made and the population we were there to serve suffered those mistakes. The tragedy in all of this is how avoidable the situation was. As I said, the military comparison is not the best one to make but I see strong parallels to the decisions that are being made by the city today. You have a city charter that requires enforcement of the law but you're taking the department's legs out when it comes to money or even something as basic as vocally supporting the department during city council meetings. I'm in John Sawyer's district and I vote for him when he's on the ballot. I appreciate that he and all of you walk a tightrope every day having to answer to multiple constituencies but I need to make my voice clear as well. Law enforcement is fundamental to the roles that you fill. Our department is excellent and recent city decisions and policies are running dangerously close to creating big problems that are completely avoidable. Thanks again for stepping into your roles as city council members and being willing to take heat from people like me. Please show our police department a similar level of support as I take the heat from the decisions that you make. Thank you. Hi, my name is Josh McGarver. I am calling about agenda item 3.1 for the Santa Rosa police department staffing. I'm a business owner in Santa Rosa and I've been a business owner for many years. I've raised my family in Santa Rosa and I've lived here since I was 11. I believe that the Santa Rosa police department is very important to the safety and harmony of our neighbors and neighborhoods and I think that it's very important that we fund them and staff them adequately. I think they're doing a great job and I just wanna put my support behind adding additional officers to make our officers per capita in Santa Rosa equal to if not greater than similar areas in California. Again, my name is Josh McGarver and I'm a local business owner and family member and I really think that we need to add additional staffing. Thank you. Hi, my name is Renee Scott and I am calling to provide input for the police staffing study session. As a proud resident of Santa Rosa and mother of two children growing up in this city, I am upset at the lack of support and finances our police department is enduring at the hands of our elected officials. How is our city expected to thrive and be a safe haven if budget cuts, understaffing and morale issues threaten the very people who have been there for all of us as first responders during the recent disasters that we have continued to face. I urge city council to reconsider replacing the $1 million that was taken from our police department's budget. At a minimum restore the six positions lost this year alone and please think about how you can better support our men and women in uniforms who are trying to uphold the law and serve our city throughout and despite the political unrest. I'm imploring you to be careful in making choices that may have a detrimental effect to the safety of our city as a whole only to appease the few. Thank you for listening. Yes, my name is Ann Barthelot and this is regarding the police staffing study session for the council, not sure the agenda item. But since 1969, my husband and I have grown up attending local schools, worked as civil engineers and raised five children in Santa Rosa. It has been a wonderful city in which to live. I'm writing today as I'm deeply concerned for this city and specifically over the lack of respect and lack of appreciation, I have seen exhibited towards our police force. Every encounter I have ever had with the police in our community, whether it was the warnings of fires, respond to the theft of my home or the many other times we needed them, they were kind and respectful and efficient. It scares me to think of a city where the police resources are cut so thin that they are unable to respond to the people they serve. I'm writing to you today because I really fear this is what is currently at stake in our community. As our council, you have the power to make these decisions. We will be a sorry city indeed if we lose the hardworking, self-sacrificing public servants that do the daily difficult work to keep our city safe for all to enjoy. I can't even imagine the pressure our police officers are under in this current cultural climate. What honest, hardworking, competent police officer would even want to continue to work for this city under these conditions. They risk their life, their family to protect an accusatory community where the few loudest voices seem intent to search out faults and completely overlook the overwhelming accomplishments. As a resident here for more than 50 years, I believe we currently enjoy one of the finest police forces the city has ever had. If anything, it's time to increase staffing, raise pay and actively appreciate and value the men and women who daily serve us. We must give our police chief the tools he needs to serve our city well. Nothing else will much matter if our city is not safe. I would ask you to ponder that fact. I am respectfully asking that as leaders and decision makers you prioritize increased funding and staffing of our city police force and that any defunding that has occurred be reinstated. I also ask that you consider personally how to actively set the example for our community of respect and appreciation of these men and women. And I want to publicly thank all those who currently serve in our police force. Our family appreciates the difficult work you daily do on our behalf. Thank you. Hi, my name is Travis Schimmer. I'm calling from San Rosa, I live in San Rosa, California and I'm commenting on agenda item number 3.1 on possibly increasing or decreasing the amount of police officers and staff that we have in Santa Rosa. I just wanted to call on support of increasing the amount of officers we have in the city. Our popular, I read the report that recommends that we go up to 188 sworn positions and I totally agree with that. In fact, I think with the amount of homeless people that we have in our city and the problem that obviously presents to tax paying citizens like myself and land owning citizens like myself and my wife, we need peace officers to enforce laws and by decreasing or staying at the same level of officers on the streets, all we're doing and inviting more crime and I hate to say the homelessness into the county. And so I 100% support bringing on more officers. I know personally have grown up with a few different officers on the force and I can say, you know, Santa Rosa has a really great culture of policing. And so yes, please, if you want further comment, my number is<PHONE_NUMBER>. And thank you very much. My name is Ken Kreischer. I'm a resident of Santa Rosa. I'm a resident of Sonoma County for nearly 50 years now. I'm calling on agenda 3.1 at the upcoming city council meeting to voice my support for SRPD. The city needs to take a hard look at increasing staffing beyond the needs of the last couple of years and also showing support for the thin blue line flag. It's not the statement of racism. It's not a Confederate flag. It's not a right wing flag. It's a flag to show support for the men and women that wear the blue uniform. And I support them. And I think our elected officials should. And I believe there's money in the general budget. Quit wasting it in other areas and support the officers. Thanks. Yeah. Hi. My name is Jose Torales. And I'm calling on behalf of the police wages. I believe they need to make more money to always put in their life in jeopardy for us. And I don't think it's fair for them to just have a minimum wages or whatever. I'm an agent. I think they should have a lot of more benefits and more better pay by phone number<PHONE_NUMBER>. I appreciate it. You want to hold me back? Thank you. Bye-bye. Hi. My name is Ruth Cake at 338-7755. I'm calling in regards with the defunding of the police. I am totally against that. We have enough problems in our county with the homeless and everything else that that brings that hasn't been addressed by you, the council. So why would you want to defend the police when we need their help on these matters, which are only going to get worse. So I'm completely against the funding the police. And there are so many more like me that aren't sitting in the phone number to call you. Don't know about it, but talk about it in groups and discussions. We are also in support of our police and the thin blue line flag should be allowed to fly anywhere. This is America. There should be freedom of speech and there is nothing wrong with that. And we need to support and stand up for our police because they do protect and they do serve and they give of their time. And we should be appreciating that, not punishing that. And they need all the equipment and supplies to keep them safe, which in turn keeps us the community safe. And the respect needs to come back to this position because I'm sure any of you on the council, the first person you would call if there was someone breaking into your house would be the 911. And if you defend these guys as much as you want the million dollars, your callback time, your time to get to your house may just be lengthened like enough to where harm could come to you. And I'm sure you don't want that for any of the other citizens in our county. So please do not defund the police and stop this craziness over the thin blue line flag. This has just got to stop. We've got to start working on our communities and not fighting over things that can help protect our communities. Thank you.  With all the crime and homeless and drugs that are going on, it's just crazy. It's totally crazy there. I'm calling up the police staffing study session. My name is Brett Deverees and I've lived in Santa Rosa and worked in Santa Rosa for about nine years now. And just wanted to say the disappointment that I have with the support of the police officers in Santa Rosa by our city council and the city manager. I'm hoping that you guys will refund the million dollars so that they can hire more officers to help keep our community safe. I feel like they're understaffed now and things are getting worse around the area. And I'll just hope that, I also hope that the city council and city managers will support them more in the things that they're doing to provide the safety for our community. Thank you very much. Hi, my name is Laura and I'm calling regarding agenda 6.5, support of law enforcement. I'd like to state that I am the current wife of the Santa Rosa police officer, SRPD police officer, as well as a daughter of a retired Santa Rosa police officer and a niece of a retired Santa Rosa police officer. I find it disheartening that our public has lost all sight of all the good things that many of our law enforcement members do for their community. These are men and women that were held on the highest of regard when we have fire season and they willingly leave their families and their homes. Some of them lost their homes the night of the Tubbsfire of 2017 and were out serving their public, saving their lives and helping them get to a safe location. In addition to that, many of the Santa Rosa police officers that I know, including sheriff's deputies as my husband was a longtime sheriff deputy as well for this county are good, honest, community supporting and loving people. They want to support their community in the non political way and they want to be able to uphold the laws of the government of state and the federal government and our city government. In addition, I would like the public to be educated on the different first responder flags that are out in the public view. It is not only an LEO flag that is flown meaning the blue line flag. There is a red line flag for firefighters. There's a camouflage line flag for our military. There's a flag for nurses, EMT dispatchers, correctional officers, the list is long. And by no means does this flag represent white supremacy. It represents support of these many men and women who constantly day in and day out give up family events, life events to be with their community and serve their community. It is simply a symbol of solidarity with these strong men and women. I thank you for your time. And I ask that public be educated and that we continue to build bigger and stronger community ties through law with the law enforcement and all first responders. Thank you. Mayor, this is City Clerk Williams. We did get the Spanish comments translated by staff. So I will read the translation that was just submitted by Maria Elena. She says, hello, my name is Maria Elena. I live in Santa Rosa. I support the police. We need to not defund the police. Please do not cut or take away the police. Please do not make any cuts to the police. We need to support the police. The police is indispensable. We need the cops for everything. We are with the cops and God bless. We are supporting the police. Please don't take away the police and please don't make cuts to the police. And then I have the translation from the earlier comments submitted by Erica and she said is saying, I would ask that we help support and provide economic support to the police. The city is becoming more dangerous. All of Santa Rosa needs them. Please support them so that they can receive the training that they need. Great, thank you so much, Stephanie. Let's go ahead and keep going through the public comments. Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Andrés Roblero y estoy, quiero apoyar a la policía. No quiero que haga recortes. Se necesitan muchos policías aquí en el condado de Sonoma. Gracias, adiós. And her comment is I want to support the police. I don't want there to be any cuts. We need more cops in Sonoma County. Thank you. Yeah, my name is Fred and I've lived in Santa Rosa in the Santa Rosa area for many, many years. I'm 75 years old. And I don't know exactly what the meeting's about tomorrow, but I know one of the officers of the police department, Jose Alex Andrade. He's a young man and I'm 75 years old. He's my nephew. And I love all the police officers, whether it's sheriffs, the city of police, the high patrolmen.  I think they're trying to do is get you to defend benefits or defend or cut their pay or something.   America has been invaded by these wacky people like what happened in Portland and what happened yesterday in Tacoma, Washington and what happened in Minnesota, what happened in all these cities. It's ridiculous. And we're going to see, I think we're going to see unfortunately more of this with this democratic regime that took over these people are bad, bad people. So I support this. I was a police support, but 100%, 100%. And my number is<PHONE_NUMBER>. And I guess if you need my number, call me for anything I can do to help. Feel free to do that. Thank you. Hi, this is Steve. I am calling in response to agenda item 3.1. I've been a Santa Rosa resident since the late 1970s and I find it appalling that our police department has to come begging with hat in hand for additional funds when it is clear that for the size of our community, we sorely need more police officers. I can't believe that three years has passed since the fires of 2017 and we've forgotten how heroically our police department and fire department responded driving into burning neighborhoods to save our citizens. I sincerely hope the city council will provide the funds necessary for the police department to hire more officers. Thank you. My call concerns the police staffing study session. My name is Chris and I've lived in Santa Rosa for 31 years. I have appreciated the professionalism of our police department all those years. I'm so grateful for the sacrifice and service of each member as they protect and serve our community. These are challenging times for all our public servants but I believe it's time for you as our city council to show tangible support for Chief Ray Navarro and the men and women of our police force. Santa Rosa has grown to a city of 179,000 people approximately and along with this growth comes greater challenges requiring more competent officers, not fewer. Chief Navarro and our public police department need your support and encouragement to lift their morale. As leaders in our city, please lead with an ear that is equally attentive to your fellow public servants as it is to some vocal citizens. May God grant you the wisdom of Solomon to navigate these challenging waters. Thank you very much. My name is Matt Bogue. This message is in regards to the city council study session on police staffing during your January 26th meeting. I live in Rinkin Valley. I have raised my family here in Santa Rosa and have been a Sonoma County resident for the majority of my life. My neighborhood has seen an uptick in property crime during the last few months. I've been a victim of this twice recently and 100% support the police that have come and helped me. We need to have law and order and security in our city. If people don't feel safe, they will leave. Please do not take any more financial support away from our vital police services and restore any funding that you have previously taken away. Our police officers need more funding, not less. Security must be a top priority of our city council. We, the people of Santa Rosa, will be watching your actions and we will remember when it comes time for reelection. Thank you. Hi, my name is Kelly Salas and I am calling to provide input for the police staffing study session as a proud resident of Santa Rosa and mother of two children growing up. I am upset at the lack of support and finances our police department is enduring at the hands of our elected officials. How are we expected to thrive and be safe if budget cuts, understaffing and moral issues threaten the very people who have been there for us as first responders during the recent disasters that we have continued to face. I am asking city council to reconsider replacing the $1 million that was taken from our police department's budget. At a minimum, please restore the six positions lost this year alone. And please think about how you can better support our men and women in uniform who are trying to uphold the law and keep us safe throughout our city despite all this political unrest which is more reason why we need more law enforcement. I am asking you to be careful and thoughtful in making these choices because a lot of these choices that are being made are detrimental to the safety of our city and as a whole of our community. Thank you for listening, bye-bye. Hi, my name's Karina Hernandez. I'm calling because I support the police and I believe and I think they need more help and money and I support the police, the cops, sheriffs. Thank you, bye. Hi, I'm Mary Hernandez and I wanted to say that I support the panels of PD and I believe that you guys should raise their income and they need more help because of the support that they give the community. Thank you. Local police. Hi, good evening. My name is Erika Tamirano and Marta Ojeda and Kionia Andrade and we'll leave here in Santa Rosa and we're calling to let you know that we support the police here in Santa Rosa that to please not cut their financial hours or remove officers from helping the community. We feel safe if you keep them where they at or given more help to keep our community safe. Thank you. My name is Erika Tamirano. My telephone number is 70. My comment is regarding the city council study session on police staffing at the January 26th city council meeting. Hello, my name is Emberley Bogue. I grew up in Hillsburg and then have lived most of my adult life in Santa Rosa for the last 20 years. My husband and I have raised our children here and our youngest is now in her senior year in high school. I am calling in regards to the police staffing study session. I am so saddened and concerned for the lack of support for the Santa Rosa police officers from our city council and the city manager. I am asking that the $1 million be refunded to the police department budget. Taking money away from the police budget is the opposite of what should happen. More officers need to be hired to keep up with the demands of our city and they should all be paid appropriately. The safety of our community depends on it. I was horrified to see our officers being mistreated this last summer. I saw video of them being verbally threatened and having bottles and rocks thrown at them. If our police are not supported, officers will start to leave Santa Rosa and move to work somewhere that they are supported that will leave our city with less experienced officers that know our community well. To Chief Navarro and the rest of the department that may hear this, I hope that the city council and city manager will listen to the needs of our police department and will support you in every way. My family appreciates everything that you do to keep us and our community safe. Thank you for your sacrifice and taking care of our city. My family appreciates it and is so sorry for the lack of support that you have been shown. I demand that our city council and city manager start to support public safety. Thank you. Hi, this is Osana Mendoza. My voice now is going to be Spanish. Hola, mi nombre es Osana Mendoza y yo estoy llamando acerca de la meeting o de la reunión que va a ver mañana. Creo que el número es el 3-1-8-6. Y yo estoy llamando porque sé que va a ver una junta mañana acerca de los policías, los recortes que quieren hacer. En mi opinión, yo vivo aquí en la comunidad de Santa Rosa y deseo una comunidad segura que últimamente no estoy mirando eso. Estoy mirando una comunidad muy insegura. Deseo que mi comunidad sea una comunidad segura y creo que la mejor forma para eso es que haga más policías que los policías estén entrenados, que haga más apoyo para ellos, más personal, que se les brinde más ayuda para que ellos estén preparados para ayudarnos cuando lo necesitemos. En mi opinión, personal, siempre he tenido el apoyo de la policía cuando lo he necesitado y siempre me ha tocado buenas experiencias con ellos, se han portado muy bien y no creo que sea justo que les quiten los recursos que les vayan a cortar personal. Eso sería muy injusto. Por favor, pido que haga más apoyo para ellos, más dinero, más recursos para que ellos estén mejor preparados. Esa es mi opinión. Espero que mi voz sea escuchada. Mi nombre es Susana Mendoza. Vivo aquí en la ciudad de Santa Rosa. Muchas gracias. And Mayor, so then the translation to that message is, I am calling about the meeting or gathering that is going to be happening tomorrow. I believe that the number is 3186. I'm calling because I know there is going to be a meeting tomorrow about cops and the cuts that want to be made. In my opinion, I live in Santa Rosa and my wish is for a safe community that I have not seen lately. I'm seeing a community that is very unsafe. My wish is to have a safe community and the best way for that is to have more police with training, more support for them, more help for them, give them, give more to them so they can be prepared when we need them. In my personal opinion, they have always been available when we need them. I have had good experiences with them. They have behaved very well. I don't believe it is just to make their funding and personnel that would be very unjust. Please, I ask of you to give them more funding and resources so they can be better prepared. That is my opinion. I hope that my voice is heard. My name is Suzanne Mendoza and I live in Santa Rosa. Thank you very much. Thank you, Stephanie. Good evening. My name is Eric Prieto. I am a resident in Santa Rosa, California. And I wish to speak a little bit and say that I don't want the officers in Santa Rosa to get their hours cut down or laid off. I support our community and I support all the police officers that are here doing their jobs, keeping the streets safe, making sure they attend all of Santa Rosa. And this is my last thing I have to say is my godson, his father, very hardworking man, police officer. And I thank him, which I could be part of the team, but I couldn't. So I want you to have a beautiful rest of your evening. And hopefully you guys hear this message. Thank you, bye-bye. I'm calling to provide input for the police staffing study session. My name is Louise Clark and I've lived in Santa Rosa for 11 years. I've lived in a number of different countries and cities and Santa Rosa is one of my favorites. As I'm sure you know, one of the things that makes a city a great place to live is safety. It doesn't matter what a city can offer if safety is not one of them. The appeal to live there is lost. I'm calling in today because I'm terribly disappointed at the way our city council members have been treating the police department. A police department that does a sterling job in keeping the city safe. As our council members, you should be supporting our officers during the times we've had. It is wrong to use a broad brush and sweep it across every police force in the United States because of the terrible things that have happened at a few. Each police force should be commended or disciplined independently and ours is doing a great job and deserve your support. You should show that by refunding the $1 million to them. The second issue I have with our city leaders is the way you gain public input.  You're just listening to the loud minority on issues as important as law enforcement and that's not acceptable. As our representatives, I expect you to do a better job in ensuring you're looking to the majority of the city. And I guarantee you these proposals are not what the majority wants to see. So please support our police. You know they do a great job and make an effort to get and hear real input from the majority of the city. Let's keep Santa Rosa safe and a great place to live. Thank you. Hi, my name is Scott Sallison. I was calling regarding the police session that is coming up. And I wanted to just say as a resident of Santa Rosa, I support our police department and I support the actions that they take. And I just wanted to say that I believe that they should have the freedom to express their concerns when one of their fallen brothers or sisters has died in the line of duty. And I don't believe that that should be, they should be censured or anything should happen to them because of that. And I strongly support them. I think they do wonderful work here. And I believe that they are great for our community. Thanks so much. Hi, my name is Ruby Mendoza. I was calling in regards to the police staffing study session you guys are having tomorrow. I wish that my city of Santa Rosa has a little bit more help with training, training sessions for police and more staffing as well as more help to the community and more funding as well for our police with Santa Rosa. Thank you. No, that concludes my presentation. Great, thank you so much. So council, I think we will take a, let's call it a 15 minute dinner break and come back at just after seven o'clock if folks can hold it to 15 minutes and we'll conclude this item at that point. We'll bring it back for council discussions at that point. Thank you. All right, Madam City Clerk, I'm seeing a quorum. Let's go ahead and take the roll and get the show back on the road. Okay. Get the show back on the road. Council Member Tibbets. Present. Council Member Schwedhelm. Here. Council Member Sawyer. Here. Council Member Fleming. Present. Council Member Alvarez. Vice Mayor Rogers. Present. Mayor Rogers. Here. Council Member Alvarez, have you joined us? Okay, let the record show that all council members are present with the exception of Council Member Alvarez. All right, thank you, Stephanie. And I will also note joining us now is Assistant City Manager Jason Nutt, who will be filling in for the remainder of the meeting. Shawn McGlynn has gone to the Emergency Operations Center as was planned at 6.30 to be able to monitor some of the storm events that are happening or anticipated for tonight. So we'll have Jason with us for the rest of the meeting. Do we have the Chief back? Yes, sir, I'm back. Hey, Chief, thank you so much. Before I bring it back for Council Member Comments, there was in particular one question that was raised in public comment that I was hoping you could get to. And that was the question about the breakdown of the different types of calls for service. If you have any of that data or when the public should expect to see some of that data discussed in the Public Safety Subcommittee or in our budget meetings. Mayor, was the question about our calls for service or was the question about the difference between the calls for service on what we do and what the report out of what WIPER Clinic reports for their contract up in Oregon? As I understood the question, it was a breakdown of looking at our types of calls for service so that as we potentially move in this direction of creating a Kahootz model that can take some of them, we have a better understanding for what percentage or what total number of calls for service could be diverted into this additional process. Okay, we did provide some information that a prior Public Safety Subcommittee will clarify that and get some more concrete information for you for the future. Yeah, that'd be great, Chief. And I believe it was Kimmy from my notes that asked that question. And so if I'm incorrect in interpreting after 60 plus comments, what it was, Kimmy, feel free to get back in touch with us and we'll make sure you get what you're looking for there as well. All right, thanks, Chief. Are there any other questions for the Chief before we go on to comments? Council Member Tibbets. Thank you. I've got a question actually for the Chief and thank you all. I apologize for not being here for the first half of the meeting. I had an unexpected visit to the hospital relating to my wife's pregnancy, everything's good, but I was listening as a spectator. Chief, my question for you is I heard a lot through the comment section that we have taken away a million dollars from your budget. And my understanding, I could be mistaken, I'm not on the Public Safety Subcommittee, but my understanding was when we were having this conversation back in the summertime after the protests around defund and all those things, we elected to take money out and basically set it aside because we wanted to have funds to explore the CAHOOTS model and some of these changes we wanted to implement in the department to have better service. And my misunderstanding how that went down. So we experienced a $1.1 million reduction. A portion of that was frozen and the other portion of that came through actual reductions in staffing. So we did experience reduction staffing of officers and civilian staff, but it was a combination. I believe it was about 960,000 in CAHOOTS and then the rest were, I believe, frozen. So I could have the other way around, but it was a combination. Okay, thank you. And if any of my council colleagues remember more specifically, if you don't mind elaborating, that'd be great. Thank you. Yeah, and within context, that was a component of the $18 million that we had across the entire city. So chief, I'd have to go back and I'd have to look at my notes as well on how much was frozen versus how much was cuts. But we did maintain the measure O baseline is what I remember was where we put it was the measure O baseline funding for both police and fire. Madam Vice Mayor, do you have a question or are you ready for comments? I have a question, well, two questions actually that were brought up during public comment. So the first one would be clarification. Chief, when we go out to the encampments, we're offering services for people to go into shelters or we have an alternative for them, correct? That is correct. All operations are done in conjunction with the homeless outreach services team, also with our homeless team here in the city of Santa Rosa. And so we work collaboratively with the other city departments and hosts to make sure that when we're addressing one of those, we're meeting the injunction requirements. And then also part of that is to provide the services to the people who are in the encampments. Okay, and then my second question, and maybe I needed to read a little bit more of the press Democrat over the summer, but what did happen to the vehicle that plowed into the protesters during the summer? There were a couple of incidents that we had. One, we did arrest one juvenile who went through the crowd. We, on another one, we identified the person who was driving. We sent that information over to the district attorney's office and I don't believe that there was a filing on that. Okay, and last question. Are there current trainings for our police force looking at the hidden disabilities or things that they may not be able to see, but that are present? And if so, what is that? And how often is it conducted? So our department just went through another series of crisis intervention training. I actually went through it last year where we work, it's a county grant that is used to train officers throughout the county in all the jurisdictions. Part of that training includes crisis intervention for mental health. It also includes a component of addressing needs as far as potential disabilities and also addressing or meeting with people who are from just the different demographics in communities. The other thing that we did recently was that we presented training to all of our staff in person and also through online regarding disabilities and regarding epilepsy. And so we just did that this year as a, throughout all the departments. So that was both sworn in civilian who received that training. Council member Fleming. Yeah. Thank you so much, Chief, again, and thank you to the public for reaching out and expressing yourselves. One of the things that I think makes us a strong city and a strong police department is our willingness to look at our role in the larger picture and how we fit into that. And so to that end, I'm curious to know because I do think so highly of our police department, how and when and where the conversations around racism, not just implicit bias, but white supremacy and how those forces, which we do know exist in law enforcement, they may not exist within our police department, but our police department is certainly egged on by the POA that's not just in Santa Rosa, but statewide and nationally. And so I'm curious to know how these conversations are facilitated and brought forth so that we can hold ourselves to a higher standard and be worthy of the respect that the police department is asking for from the community. That's a very good question, ma'am. So one of the things that we've done over the past several months is that we've worked directly with our office community engagement. We've really relied on them because with the difficult issue of actually meeting people, where they are and the trust, we've been able to work with our office community engagement to build some of those meetings. And I know the former mayor had been part of those meetings. I've been part of those meetings. I have had some ongoing dialogue with the president of the NAACP. We, some of these community meetings that we've gone to have been attended virtually. And I've had a lieutenant as part of that. The other thing that I'm really excited about what we're gonna be doing in the future because we can't stop with the meetings that we're doing right now is again working with the SEED Collaborative as we start implementing that as a city. And so that's gonna be, I think there's a heavy lift there for our HR department and we're working with them and we're gonna be having specific dialogue with community internally with the SEED Collaborative on equity, police engagement, community policing and cultural awareness. So we're gonna, and we'll, I'm not sure what their report out is, but we're gonna continue that and it's a long-term project. Thank you, Chief. And to that end, it is a long-term project. And I think one of the ways that our police officers and the good work that they do can be best recognized is by dealing with these things directly and in an ongoing manner. And so, and in doing so, acknowledge them and allow us to move forward rather than being paralyzed by the accusations and where there are instances of things that are not going right. And then we can empower officers to identify and eradicate it so that they can indeed be worthy of the respect that we confer upon them. Thank you. Council Member Tibbets. Thanks, Mayor. Chief, one more question. I was reviewing the slides at some point in the presentation when I was listening. I heard that we had six positions go vacant in the last year. Did I hear that correctly? That is correct. That does include the, believe it includes two frozen positions. So in the chart in the presentation, it showed a number of sworn officers is 177 in 2020. So are we at 177 now or are we at 171? No, we are. Try to figure out where that's six. So the actual, so we have 177 allocated positions. So, and then two of those are frozen. And then there's a, and then we have I think 13 that are injured that are not working right now and 11 more that are in training. So we did. Okay, that's too much math for me to do on the fly but thank you. I noticed on the slides that also said 184 is the standard for the national study. So I guess what I'm trying to figure out is how many officers do you have to hire up to get to that national standard? Which slide are you referring to, sir? I apologize. Let me go take a look here. Looks like it's slide five. I think it is. The patrol staffing study for 2018 recommended adding an additional four officer positions immediately to bring the total to 185. Yes. So that was, again, that was back in, that was back in 2018 when we had 181 positions at the time. And then over again, we've lost positions over the years and the 180, yeah, the 185 comes from the staffing study that we took. I'm not sure. So to follow up on that study, I think it says 188 were required by 2022. Yes. So I'm guessing we're in like the 186, 187 range by 2020. What I'm trying to do here, chief, is figure out how many officers that you need since this is a study session, because I assume we're gonna all give our opinions on what we should, you know, let staff know is what we need. I mean, I'm of the opinion that we should be close to the national study, closer than where it seems like we currently are. Speaking for myself, I'd really like to see, you know, and I understand we have to do more work on this, but I'd like to see the necessary number of people who are in plain clothes, who, you know, are fulfilling the same or similar role as cahoots be included as part of that, because I also heard earlier when you guys were speaking that about three to 5% of calls for service in Eugene, Oregon were reduced as a result of having cahoots participate in some of those homelessness and mental health calls for service. So, you know, I said this, I think when we were talking a lot in the summertime about this issue, I don't believe that we're gonna have a better department by taking money away. Now, I wanted to set money aside so that we could do the research necessary to improve the service in our department, particularly as it pertains to the homeless and people who struggle with mental health. So, you know, whatever you feel is necessary to get us there, to have that department that's able to provide that service, I'm very interested in that. Okay, thank you. And I think what, I can understand what you're asking. So it was basically between 2018 and 2022 it was about an almost like an officer a year to get to that point. So we, you know, so we would be at around 180, 186, 187. Okay, well, between years. Yeah. Adding my opinion, I think that we should get there. I'd still like to maybe stop at 182 so we can leave room for that research to happen about how many plainclothes mental health responders do we need. I understand we might be talking with the county about using, I don't know if it's the heart team or whomever, but, you know, I just wanna make sure that we have room in our budget, in our department to provide that service. But I do wanna make sure that we have, because here's the other thing I'm hearing from our community that there may be certain situations where they don't feel safe or, you know, maybe an officer is stressed because he or she is running around to multiple calls. I think overworking an officer probably leads to that situation. It contributes that low morale and what can potentially result in maybe a poor attitude. I'm not saying that about our department, but I think I'm sharing this with the community because I think it's important that the department be staffed up adequately to have all the calls for services get responded to in a timely way and that morale in the department is maintained because without it, I just don't think you can have a good department that is keeping everybody in the community safe. The other thing I just wanna say and then I'll listen to my colleagues is, it's so apparent to me when I look at the national stage, all the way down to even the local stage that we so often engage in these us versus them conversations and I'm getting so tired of it. It seems as if that, you know, these worlds where you can back the blue, but also, you know, support communities of color and some of the insecurities they might feel around government institutions, particularly police departments, that somehow that those are mutually exclusive and that you have to pick a side. That's not the world we can afford to live in. We have to live in a world where we can support both because if we don't support both, we're not gonna get the results that we want. So I just wanna say to the community, you know, as one council member out of seven, I'm gonna continue to push for positive reforms in our department, but I also wanna make a statement to you, chief, that I hope you'll pass along to your department that I do greatly appreciate the work that the men and women of the San Rosa Police Department do. No department is perfect. No government agency is perfect. No politician is perfect. We're imperfect beings, but by and large, I think we have a very good department. San Rosa's blessed to have a good department. And to me, the difference between good and bad is who's willing to change or who wants to just uphold the status quo. And so far, I've seen a department that is willing to change. And I assume that we're gonna continue to be willing to change to be a better department. So my thanks to you. Thank you, council member, council member Alvarez. Yes, thank you, mayor. Chief, did I understand you correctly that when you stated that one out of three applicants to make it through the background checks? That is correct. It's, you know, I spoke with my recruitment team and they said on average, it's about one in every three people will get through the entire process for a conditional job offer. For the other two, what's usually the factors that remove them from the process? Well, once you're through the written and the interview process, you go into a background and it becomes what a lot of it has to do with life choices and time and distance. And so again, people are not perfect. We don't expect people to be perfect, but there does have to be some time and distance between, you know, maybe a mistake that was made.  So, but whatever that is, there should be some time and distance. There are things that we do look at and, you know, we do address, you know, if things come up that look like somebody's gonna be, is gonna be biased, those things will disqualify people. And so we have trained background investigators when we become to the point where we're overwhelmed, we do have the ability to get some, to help from outside entity and the expectations are clear on what we're looking for. But again, we're not perfect. And, you know, that's what makes us all human and probably better at addressing calls for service. Yeah, cool, mighty judge, right? In regards to moving forward with a force that's representative of the community that they serve, do you have any recommendations for us at the city council on approaches that we may put forth to one day, hopefully, have a force that is representative of the community that is being served?  And so, you know, we're looking for people who wanna serve. You know, it is a, it's, again, there's definitely some benefits that you get out of it. It's a challenging and rewarding career, but it can be trying at times. And so we're looking for somebody who does have critical thinking skills who is willing to, you know, put others in front of before themselves. And those are the things that, you know, I ask as you look, speak with your constituents to talk to them and help them prepare. And if there's anybody who's ever interested in being a member of the police department, you know, we are more than happy to take their emails or phone calls and talk to them about how to increase their chances to become one. And so we're working with our, we try to work with our schools, we try to work with our junior college and to try to make that available. But I think the best thing to do is really help us, just like any other city department, you know, help us recruit by spreading the word. And if there's things that you hear that people have questions about, we're more than happy to have those conversations. Thank you. And my last question, it's more of a question of how to be more efficient, but I don't understand the end to not. You spoke of the downtime that an officer must take in order to take their video and really present it in a way that it can be used by detectives or those looking at the evidence. What's the limitations that we would be able to pass this information on to staff and have them prepare the information for the higher ups? Yeah, so when you're talking about a court presentation, you have to, as the officer, you're going to be the one testifying in court. And so the officer is going through and number one, making sure that, I mean, it's a great tool to use as you're writing your report, but you're also, you're not changing anything. You're just marking certain areas and nobody else can really do that, right? The officer has to do that. So the district attorney's office knows, this is the area, this is maybe one area where there's a particular piece of evidence. For other issues such as redactions, we have civilian staff that do that. And it's become more and more cumbersome for them and more time consuming because it takes a lot of time. There are certain things that may be on video. The inside of a person's house may be a minor that there's privacy considerations that we have to address. And so we have civilian staff here within the department that handle that. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Council Member. Are there any other questions for the Chief? Should we go on to discussion and comments? All right, I'm not saying any other questions. So Chief, I just wanted to lead it off. I want to piggyback a little bit on what Council Member Tibbets was talking about. And I think that we are all particularly feeling it this week more than most, though we get used to it. And it's this attempt to push us all into this false dichotomy between supporting police officers and not supporting police officers between supporting our BIPOC community and not supporting our BIPOC community. It is, and I wanted to address specifically the thin blue line flag, I think to say that it's a divisive conversation and a challenging and problematic symbol doesn't do justice to what we've seen in Santa Rosa over the last week, nor what we've seen across the country over the last year to a year and a half, right? And I think that I've seen Chief Navarro receive a outpouring of support tonight. That was very nice to see. I've also seen you being run through the ringer on social media by folks who quite frankly, do not live here. And I don't understand why they care so much about how Santa Rosa chooses to navigate this complex conversation about safety within our community, about rebuilding trust within our community. The post went up on a Saturday. Myself as well as other council members and other community leaders brought the concerns forward to both the chief, the city manager and other leadership at the city. And I want to make it really clear. There was not one person who chose to remove the post. It was a decision by the leadership of the city in one voice saying that that post should not have been posted to social media, not from the official site from the SRPD, that that symbol, we needed to be more cognizant of the impact that it would have on our communities that we are trying to rebuild our trust with. And just because those folks are in the minority does not mean that they are a small percentage of our community. We are in government. We need to be inclusive and cognizant of how we address everyone within our community. And I just wanted to say publicly chief, for me personally, removing the post is not a sign of disrespect to your officers. It is not to show that we don't value folks who are in our community. It shows that we are listening to our BIPOC community and our marginalized communities and actually hearing from them what their concerns are and taking proactive steps as a department and as a city to address those concerns. And chief, you have my complete confidence and my complete support in all of these conversations and I appreciate how you're able to bring both of those perspectives and try to bridge that divide. We as a community are gonna be having a very difficult conversation going forward. I'm proud that we brought in SEED Collaborative to be able to do that for us. But I wanna make it very clear to the community that I stand by that decision. This is the direction that our city is going is to be more inclusive to honor everybody's perspectives and make sure that there's a place at the table in Santa Rosa for everyone. Now as it pertains to the police staffing, I keep wanting to hear from you and I appreciate the information that I'm getting from the public safety subcommittee about what staffing level we need and what funding level we need to build the safest community that we can. And that doesn't just mean safest for one side of town but also building those partnerships and building those relationships throughout our entire community to look at a different staffing model that might not be your traditional way of viewing how many officers versus how many people to council member Sweathelms point looking at these other models that could remove some of those calls for service make our community safer, make our officers safer and more effective at their job and truly do a positive thing for our community. It's going to be a tough conversation and I know it is. And I hope people will stick with us as we work our way through it. Again, the message that I want to put out there and just make sure to reiterate over and over again we do support and value and appreciate our good officers. We do have to make changes within our department as everybody does. We need to hear from our BIPOC community as well as our other communities that have been marginalized for far too long in our community and only together are we going to move forward not us versus them, but as one Santa Rosa. And with that, I'll get off my soapbox and I'll turn it over to other council members to see if you have comments. Madam Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. So I think my comments are all over a little bit so if you guys can bear with me. First, I wanted to thank the chief for being here and enduring the comments that were brought forth if they were half as bad as some of the ones that we received. I know that they were not great comments to read and are here but I do want to acknowledge that heroes work for the city of Santa Rosa. They possess honor, courage, integrity, honesty and compassion and I can say this for most but not all that cops should be supported and bad cops should be taken off the course. I am definitely a firm believer of that. I do want to thank the department for the sacrifices that they make daily and also their families because I know that it is definitely a big sacrifice. I also want to thank the community for the emails that came from both sides of the flag debate. And thanking you for allowing your voices to be heard. And chief, you said something earlier when you were talking and you said, we did sign up to be officers but we're also human. I acknowledge that and I also want to say that I did not sign up to be BIPOC and I am also human and I think that listening to some of the comments that were made were very disheartening. I'm calling people wacky and frowning upon people's ability to have a voice of wanting to be equal and want social justice within our community. We can be a standard nationally of how we want people to see us but we do need to make changes within our department. We are not perfect and we really do need to acknowledge, everyone needs to acknowledge that we need to make changes and probably many different departments of the city but this is the one that we're looking at tonight. I've had both personal and professional run-ins with SRPD and the personal interactions were awesome. The detectives and officers were great but working with them on a professional level with a master's degree and having eight years of experience under my belt working with the mental health I believe that I was spoken down to. My knowledge of my field was questioned by someone that does not have a master's degree in my field. So I can only imagine how in certain situations our community members are spoken to. Lastly, I do think that we need to work on our staffing. I think the best way to work on some of these things is to have adequate staffing. I agree with Jack when he spoke about saving some of the allocations to see how the CAHOOTS model and things that we want to implement will work into that. But I think also by having adequate staffing the things that we want to see as a community such as training and education and restoring, taking away the fear and restoring our community with our officers, we need to do that by having adequate officers. We can't run them down into the ground and still expect them to smile all the time and to have the things that we want our officers to possess. And lastly again, we got to stop with us versus them. I'm not sure who came up with, we don't support our PD. We're trying to be inclusive and support everyone. And I'm sorry if it came at a sacrifice to the PD and they believe that we don't support them, but I can speak for myself. I wholeheartedly support everyone on our force and whatever we can do or whatever I can do to continue to support them, to continue to support the growth of the PD, but also acknowledging that there are some changes that need to be made on our force. So thank you. Thank you, Madam Vice Mayor, Council Member Sweatham. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I'm gonna start first with the staffing and thank you Chief for providing all this information. And one thing that struck me even after we had it at the Public Safety Subcommittee meeting, it's kind of like expectations whether it be council expectation or community expectations. And the Chief provided some numbers about the calls for service. And the reality is all those calls are related to a resident who is either in the city of Santa Rosa or lives in our city or is visiting our city, right? The police department's not making those numbers up. And so for us, what type of customer service and community service do we want to provide this community with our law enforcement officers? Having been in Chief Navarro's position back when we had the great recession, those are very difficult times where we lost staffing. Had to make some very difficult decisions. But then as I expect right now, Chief Navarro is the most information to make those decisions. Because unless you actually understand the workings and the responses of the department, specifically in those special services that Chief Navarro talked about, just to say motors or violent crimes or domestic violence, but knowing the nature of the calls for service there. And it was even some community members who were asking about the passage of our last tax measure. But what'll be the impact if we don't continue this funding which may result in additional cuts to the police department?  But trust me, those people in the services that the Santa Rosa Police Department provides on those sensitive investigations, they are phenomenal. They are incredible human beings because these are the most challenging types of cases and we need to give them that support. So as we continue these budget discussions because it'd be great, I'm with you, Jack saying, yeah, I wish we were at 185, 188 officers. There's a price tag attached to that. And we have to apply that towards, in my opinion, okay, what's it looking at the whole city? So how much can we afford to pay for police services? And then I believe it's Chief Navarro's job once we come up with that figure, okay, what's the most accurate deployment strategy? Because there are some agencies, Chief Navarro talked about the 30 minutes obligated, 30 minutes unobligated or his terms were reactive or proactive. Heck, there are some cities in the state of California, they just go call to call to call to call. There is no interaction with the public because they're off to the next one. That's not the type of police department I want in our community. And I wanna do what we can to maintain that reactive and proactive time there. And that does take commitment. But again, there's challenges. So it's somewhat we're having this conversation in somewhat of a vacuum because if we do take funds from somewhere else or we increase the budget or whatever we wanna do there's gotta be consequences. I think we need to have that. So Chief, I would ask you as we do have either the mid-year budget discussions, I don't know what the city manager is planning for us or our goal setting or our next year's budget process please share with us if this is the level of funding that we want. Here are the consequences. Here's how I would deploy these resources because you are a subject matter expert in the deployment of policing resources. And so please frame it for that so we can get our arms right. We can do that, but that means either we're only gonna have 10 minutes proactive time, whatever that is. There are consequences for decisions that this body makes but trying to stay in my own lane which then leads me into the recent weeks of conversation.  I had a complete trust that given the information regarding that posting you're gonna make the right decision. You don't need me to tell you how to act. And so I just wanna clarify and I appreciate Mayor Rogers your conversation. But the number of comments that we heard from the public saying all of us, we guided this. I didn't have a conversation with Chief Navarro and tell earlier this morning about our presentation tomorrow for this public safety subcommittee meeting. I didn't have a conversation on this with the city manager until Friday, right? And was very disappointing to me what we've all acknowledged is some of the quite frankly, nasty language that is going on both sides, you know? And it was interesting to me coming in the week after our inauguration what really struck me as impressive was when we had our three former presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama they're right outside the two in the unknown soldier, right? And President Obama said, you know we've got to not just listen to folks we agree with but listen to folks we don't, right? We are so much better than this than pointing the fingers. And, you know, Mr. Alvarez you were asking earlier about, you know what can we do to help recruit? We gotta own that, right? I can personally tell you, I have tried to recruit people. You know, when I was mayor we had the council ride along to try to get people to understand what it's like to run for public office. We all have to take ownership and not point the finger at the police department. Yeah, you're staffing and what are you doing about morale? It's all of our successes or failures. We all have to accept responsibility for that. So chief, I was supported by you when the city manager pointed to your position I'm still a supporter for you. I believe you're the right person for this job and you're gonna make the right decisions. And it's a tough job but I just hope that you recognize the department recognizes we're with you. And yes, you're not perfect. We're all human, quite frankly not just you and we're all human we're all gonna make mistakes and I have confidence that when you do identify a mistake or something that didn't go as smoothly you'll take that corrective action as I've seen you throughout your career. So thank you for this presentation and hopefully the study session has provided this community additional dialogue. One last thing I do wanna share with just about against Mr. Alvarez because I think you were there at South Park before you were sworn in. And myself and chief Navarro along with community engagement did a listening session in South Park. And after that listening session I saw a posting where a mother whose son had a conversation with chief Navarro. And I think he was an eight or nine year old boy had told his pediatrician when the pediatrician said what do you wanna do when you grow up? Mother was expecting a soccer player because that's what he'd already said. What did the young man say? I wanna be a police officer. Well, do you know any? Yes, I know chief Navarro. That was one interaction out in the community and that's the impact that chief Navarro can have on this community. And I would argue there's probably 177 other people that can have that same impact but we gotta do it together. We're much better than this. So thank you for providing that information. Chief Navarro, I look forward to our subcommittee meeting tomorrow when we do talk about the Kahootz program because I think that will be help address some of these staffing issues. Thanks. Thank you, council member. Council member Sawyer. Thank you, mayor. I really wanna appreciate Mr. Schwerthelm's comments because he touched on something that we lose sight of at times. I was gonna save my comments for the item a little bit lower in our agenda could have to do with the public safety subcommittee but given how many comments there were about the council's reaction and lack of support for our police department, I feel it and this is probably the time to respond to that. But he was taught, Mr. Schwerthelm was talking about the sacrifices that we have to make when we're dealing with budgets. I was part of the decision-making body that did some cuts to the police department during the Great Recession. And it's something that it was very painful to do. It's not something that I would like to do on a regular basis. And I think that we will have some good information that will come out of the public safety subcommittee and allow us to make some of those decisions that will make us more efficient and more responsive to our community. I don't, I have not in the past or will I now and know will I in the future engage in conversations on Facebook about policies of this city because I find it, I just don't think it's the right forum for it. This is the forum for comments that I believe would come from me about whether it be criticism or praise of our city. And it is my opinion that our officers have chosen the most demanding, the most dangerous, the most and the most scrutinized of the positions in our city organization. I highly respect and appreciate the challenging jobs. They have risked their lives to undertake. It is my hope that the new public safety subcommittee will identify certain policies and procedures which are functioning well and identify those that are not functioning as well and be making changes than those. And I think that our police officers will be, it will embrace those conversations and recommendations as time goes on. So this was a difficult few days for our city and I believe that we will come out of this stronger and better. It was painful to watch and it kind of indicates, can show what can happen on the negative side of Facebook interaction and I'll leave it at that. And again, you have my utmost support, Chief DeVarro and as do every man and woman on our police department. And I look forward to increasing their ranks in the future, although even if it means making tough decisions on what we consider core services in our city and making and having to make some uncomfortable cuts at times that will be painful. But that is what the seven of us have to tackle and they will be painful discussions and if it happens during the mid-year budget discussions then so be it. We need to respond to our studies and then let us know we want our officers safe and we want our citizenry safe. And if we have to make certain sacrifices and other parts of our budgets to guarantee that then I'm willing to do that. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Fleming. Thank you, Mayor. And I largely agree with the comments that have been made by the council members preceding me. What one of the things that I look at when it comes to I'm going to dive directly into staffing here is what are the services that we want to get out of our police department. And I think that that actually relates to the bigger question about equity, fairness and just policing. And that we had a lot of pressure, have a lot of pressure on defunding the police. And the fact of the matter is that police officers provide services that as my social worker I could not hope to provide dealing with sexual assault and domestic violence, child pornography and types of fraud. And what I hope for is that we really look closely at what it is that police officers are required to do. And then we look at what areas there's been mission creed. And I do believe there's mission creed. That is my opinion that police officers likely don't have a place beyond responding to active shooter situations in schools that police officers are not educators. And that besides coming in and visiting and doing something here or there that police officers really ought to be doing the core services of dealing with the most violent offenders and the most criminal minded people. And that there's a lot of other enforcement positions. I mean, we have code enforcement. We have people who enforce rules all over our society and do so without weapons. I know that in my position, working with psychiatric patients, I have the awesome responsibility and honor to take away people's freedom and their civil rights when they're a threat to society. And I do so without a gun and the security officers that I work with do so without a weapon. And we do so with far less pay than police officers get. And we don't go around asking for the kind of recognition that officers do. And it's okay, it's a job and it's a calling. And I know that policing and police culture is a little bit different, but we need to take a surgical look at where we need police officers and give them the respect that they deserve for doing that work, which frankly, I would never want to do. And most people would never want to do.  And so I'm not in favor of us upstaffing. I'm in favor of us staffing appropriately and looking to move away from militarism and policing toward very targeted and thoughtful policing and policing that's respectful of the community. And then, so I'm going to move from there into some other things here, which is, I wanted to touch on why I think that there's this false dichotomy. I think that there are people in our community who feel genuinely more protected when there are more police. And by listening to that show, which I believe was largely a gone by the police officers association of that two-hour show that we all listened to, what you hear is people saying, I'm a landowner. I'm a taxpayer. I live in Bennett Valley. I live in Rincon Valley. Those are dog whistles. That's a way of saying, I'm white, I have privilege and I want police to protect me from the other elements. And we know what they mean when they say other elements. And that's to me not cool. That's racism. And I'm going to get a flurry of emails and I'm going to stand by it. And I also stand by the pressure that I put on the police and the city manager in conjunction with others that I proudly put to take down the thin blue line post. And let me tell you why I did that. The thin blue line is a symbol and symbols mean different things to different people. I'm the granddaughter of a family that was wiped out in the Holocaust. And when I go to India and see a swastika, I am not offended. And it's because in India, a swastika does not mean the same thing that it means to me here in the United States or in Western Europe. And the thin blue line to many officers means love and support. And to many people of color and people who have been disrespected by police, it means fear and terror. And it's our job as council members to remember that we have to protect the least amongst us. And people who do not have the wherewithal to speak out and who don't have powerful unions backing them who need us to say that, you know what? You have a gun, you have a badge. Of course you're human, but you have the right to do a whole lot of things. And rarely if ever is a police officer ever held to account for taking the life of a person of color. And so when we talk about this, we need to not have false equivalencies. We need to be real with the fact that there's a huge power dynamic. And if that makes people who are uncomfortable, so be it. We need to get good at being uncomfortable in order to move forward. And I'm gonna leave it at that. I have a lot more to say, but I'll leave it with one last thought, which is I love Santa Rosa. I love the hardworking people of our police department. I'm disheartened at the loss of Mary Lou Armour. It makes me sad and I think about her every day. I also realized that there's only ever been one person in the Santa Rosa police department who's ever died violently, one in our entire history. We can't say that of the precious people of color of this community. Thank you. Thank you, council member, council member Alvarez. After after those words, I really don't, I don't understand speak, but I gotta tell you, I've been thinking about how, how can we separate the concerns from my community? It's not, it's not that police are hated. There's a separation, there's actually three separate issues here. One is police, one is staffing, and one is the banner. When it comes to police, when it comes to staffing, it's absolutely imperative that when a person needs our police officers, that someone shows up and it helps them when they're in need. When it comes to the banner, I think it was very, very eloquently explained of what things mean to different people. And I didn't realize it, but the answer has been on the tip of my nose the entire time. This thing here means that I wanna think about somebody else's well-being in a fashion that I wanna actually put that paramount to my own well-being. This is the ability to sometimes think about other people and what it means to their well-being. And for me, I absolutely understand that the black line or the blue line, I'm sorry, the blue line means very, something that's very close to the heart to many, many people. But when I hear people talk about, it's the minority speaking. It's absolutely the minority speaking. It's the black and the brown speaking. When we think about compassion, empathy, sometimes it's not about our interpretation. It's about having the consideration of how other people might feel about something. And it's absolutely true, we're not perfect. And we have a lot of learning to do, but I hope that we can learn together and understand that we have to take each other into consideration no matter what it is that we're bringing forth. And as a new city council member, I'm learning this every day. I'm learning how important things are to community members that might not be important to me. But I hope that we as Santa Rosas really take into account each other's concerns and fears. Is that the only day, I mean, we're not going anywhere. We're all here together, calling a spaghetti bowl, calling a tall salad, but the reality of it is, I'm thinking about you, think about me. Thank you, council member. So with that, we're going to finish the item. I do want to leave us on this note that tomorrow the public safety subcommittee meeting will be discussing many of these items that we talked about. There will be a discussion about the response over the flag. And my hope is that we can do that respectfully of one another and move on to the discussions that are more important or the reforms that I think many people in our community have been crying for, for discussion. With that, I leave that to you, Madam Chair for the committee tomorrow, and we'll move on to our next item. And Madam City Clerk, I believe that because this is the start of the official meeting after the study session, I will, Sue, if you'll permit me, do a quick straw poll from council. Thumbs up if people need a five minute break or if we should keep going. All right, I'm seeing some folks who'd like a five minute breaks. We'll take a five minute break and we'll come back at 8.05. All right, Madam City Clerk, I see a quorum. Let's go ahead and come on back and take a roll call, though. Thank you. Council Member Tibbets. Here. Council Member Schwaitham. Here. Council Member Sawyer. Here. Council Member Fleming. Present day. Council Member Alvarez. Present. Vice Mayor Rogers. Present. Mayor Rogers. Here. Let the record show that all council members are present. All right, we have no closed sessions to report out on. I'm hoping, Madam City Attorney, that you don't have anything to add from our study session that started at three o'clock. And Mr. Nutt, but if either of you do speak now. Nothing from me. The City Manager does have a report. Well, we'll get to the City Manager's reports in just a couple of minutes. No proclamations. Let's start with the staff briefings. All right, so the COVID 7.1 is COVID response updates. And yesterday at the California Department of Public Health lifted the regional stay at home or to statewide. Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa, will remain in the most restrictive purple tier. Under the purple tier, outdoor gatherings are permitted with up to three households and personal care businesses can open with modifications. The following are permitted to operate only outdoors with modifications. Restaurants, wineries, gyms, places of worship, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, museums, zoos and aquariums. With the pandemic far from over, residents are urged to continue wearing masks, limiting mixing and getting vaccinated when eligible. All phase one A groups are being offered vaccines in Sonoma County, including healthcare personnel at risk of exposure, residents of skilled nursing facilities and those age 75 and over. The state announced today that it will adopt an age-based system to vaccinate residents, shifting away from the state's initial strategy of weighing job-based risk. Those 65 and over are part of phase one B tier one, but future groups will become eligible based on age. The state is officially launching My Turn Today, a new system for Californians to learn when they are eligible to be vaccinated. A place to make an appointment when eligible and a mechanism to easily track vaccination data. Californians can go to myturn.ca.gov to sign up, although Sonoma County residents will not be able to use the appointment system until sometime in February. Information and updates about the vaccine change frequently. So please go to sonomasocoemergency.org forward slash vaccine. We say that again. Socoemergency.org forward slash vaccine for the latest information on the county's website. And that concludes that briefing. Thank you, Mr. Assistant City Manager. I will say that restaurants being able to operate outdoors on the biggest rain deluge of the year is so on brand for this pandemic that I don't even know what else to say. I see Magalia coming on. You want to take us away? Do you have a report as well? Yes. Good evening, Mayor Rogers and members of the council. I have a very brief community empowerment plan update. On the Center of the Police Department low-rider patrol car, there's currently a fleet project happening that will affect our timelines. So we're looking at another three to four weeks until the car can be released. There was a community question regarding the funding for the SRPD low-rider patrol car. And the funding will be coming from the community engagement budget since this falls under our designated funding to support the community empowerment plan. And the vehicle will be used as a long-term community engagement tool. In addition, since we've announced the project, we've had a very positive response from individuals, businesses, and organizations who have reached out and are also interested in funding the project or donating work. In terms of the community empowerment plan report, because the community empowerment plan reports information is led by the community that participated, we are currently looking at the best way to present the report itself. So that is in the most accessible version, and that the community at all levels from youth onward will be able to have a clear understanding of the outcomes and information presented, and we'll have more to come on this process. And that is the end of my report. Thank you. Thank you so much, Director.  Both Paul and Kempelin are on duty with the impending weather event, and we have no update for this evening. Great, thank you so much. Council, are there any questions about the two updates that we received? Madam Vice Mayor. So I'm sorry, what's the amount disclosed for the lowrider or what the actual budget is? I know where it's coming from, but what is the actual budget? I think is what the community wanted to know. Sure, that amount, including the part, not the parts, I'm sorry, the labor cost, which is the bulk of the cost is around $17,000. However, again, that's estimating labor costs and the Sonoma County Lowrider Council has offered that labor in kind. So technically that won't necessarily be an expense. However, we do want to note it as an expense overall. Thank you. Council, any other questions? Great, we will go ahead and go to public comment on this item. Again, this is for the two staff briefings that we just received. We still have our non-agenda items, public comment coming up, and I see one hand, and that's Evan. Evan, your hand disappeared and it came back up. So we'll go ahead and unmute you if you're interested in speaking on either of our updates. Yes, can you hear me? Yep, go for it. Yeah, I would just like to point out that, and then thank you Vice Mayor Rogers for your question. There's a lot of uncertainty for the community regarding the empowerment plan use of funds and for the first substantive use of funds to go towards a police department project as really poor optics, regardless of the intent. I'm not speaking necessarily in favor or in opposition. I would just encourage you to consider that. And then just regarding staffing, actually, I'll reserve comment for you to get through your items and we'll get to open public comment. That's all I have for now. All right, I appreciate that. Evan and I hope you'll stick with us for item 13. There will be that opportunity as well. Adam City Clerk, were there any voicemail comments? There were no voice message public comment. Great, we'll go on to the city manager and city attorney's reports. Do either of you have a report for us tonight and who wants to start? I do have a report. Don't know if the city manager does. I think so. All right, so we'll have you jump in first. Okay, my report is simply we have an issue that has come up regarding the sequencing of council member appointments to city boards, commissions and committees. This comes out of our transition to district-based elections. So with that transition, there's uncertainty as to the order in which existing board and council members will be replaced. So for example, we have two new district-based council members, Vice Mayor Rogers and council member Alvarez. Together they take the places of the former at-large council members, Oliveris and Dowd, but individually they're not tied to any, you know, those two groups are not tied in any particular way. So when one of the new council member makes an appointment, the question comes up, well, does that new appointee take the seat of the appointee placed by former council member Alvarez or by former council member Dowd? So we've researched the issue. We haven't found any applicable state law. We've not found any applicable city policy or code provision, nor have we found a guidance from other cities on best practices. So in order to ensure a fairness and consistency, we've determined to simply have worked with a city clerk and we've determined to simply have a random selection. So through which each of the new council members will be linked to the former council members, but only for the purpose of determining board and committee replacements. So I will hand it over to the city clerk and I understand that she and the assistant city clerk or deputy city clerk will make a random selection. Yeah, so I have both vice mayor Rogers and council member Alvarez's names on pieces of paper that are fold equally the same way. I'm going to drop them into this and shake them up. So the first name will be the council member who will make the appointments to council member Dowd. Appointees and conversely, the remaining council member will be making appointments to replace former council member Alvarez's appointments. Vice mayor Rogers will be making appointments. Her appointments will be replacing former council member Dowd's appointments and council member Alvarez will be making, his appointments will be to replace former council member Alvarez's appointments. And I will. And thank you, Stephanie and Dina. And to explain, this has come up because of timing differences in appointments. So it was like who's going to be placed first and second. So that was the issue. And that's it. I have nothing else to report on. May I ask a question? Go for a council member. Can I get a recount? No, just kidding. So Madam city attorney, I did have a question for you. Something that was brought to my attention earlier today. So Santa Rosa was ahead of the game and giving me direction for the mayors and council members appointments at our last council meeting. Subsequent to our meeting, a correction was sent out that there is not in fact two different seats on the association of Bay Area government's executive board. There is one with an alternate seat. So the direction that I received from council was to support two people for the two seats. And then as I said, there was a correction after the fact by the mayors and council members association on what that looked like. So I'm wondering is, would it be appropriate or how should I navigate asking the council between the two that they gave me direction on? Council member Susan Adams from Runner Park and council member Arielle Kelly from Healdsburg, which one they would prefer as the primary and which one they would prefer as the alternate. We should set that on the agenda for next week. If there's a timing concern, we can still get that onto the final agenda for public. Yeah, I'm not sure if we can for next week. We can still get that onto the final agenda. We haven't started under the new ordinance yet. So that would be my recommendation unless there's an urgency to have it done sooner but that would be my recommendation as we get it onto the final agenda for the meeting of the second. All right, thank you. And we do have the failsafe of the council giving me the authority to do what's in the best interest of the city if we need to. But I did want to make sure that I daylighted for the public and for the council that there is this additional question if they wanted to weigh in on it. Yes. Thank you. All right, with that, we'll go to the assistant city manager. Thank you, mayor. I have an update on tonight's forecast for heavy rains and strong gusty winds. Beginning tonight, a strong winter storm is anticipated to generate rainfall rates and intensities that could trigger thresholds for potential debris flows within the 2020 burn scar area, including some areas of the glass fire burn scar. Additionally, potential localized flooding power outages and downed trees and power lines are possible throughout other areas of our community as both high winds and heavy rainfall are forecasted for all areas of the city. The city is coordinated closely with the county of Sonoma and other local agencies to be ready to address potential impacts. This evening to ensure residents within or immediately adjacent to or downstream of the fire scar areas are aware of the increased threat due to the forecasted storm, the county of Sonoma issued an emergency alert using SoCo Alert. In addition to the SoCo Alert, the National Weather Service indicated that they may activate the wireless emergency alert system to issue a flash flood warning based on observed rainfall rates as the storm passes through. Due to anticipated bleed over of these weas, residents outside the area of concern for debris flow may also receive the alert. The city of Santa Rosa wants residents to be aware that within the Santa Rosa city limits, the areas of concern for debris flow, including this weather event are located within the following evacuation areas, Calistoga North, Calistoga South, Skyhawk, Pythian and Melida. Currently, there is no immediate need to evacuate. However, if located in one of these areas, residents may consider temporarily relocating before the storm hits as traveling after the storm's onset may be hazardous. Residents within these areas of the city limits are asked to remain vigilant for signs of possible danger due to erosion, debris flow, rockfalls and land movement. These residents can review additional rain after wildfire preparedness information at srcity.org forward slash be rain ready. Residents and businesses in all other areas of Santa Rosa should also be prepared for potential localized flooding and downed trees and power lines. And Mayor that can, ah, no, sorry. Community members should also act now to secure property by clearing dead tree limbs and assessing and addressing patio furniture and other items that may be blown around by the wind. Businesses participating in outdoor dining should be prepared to secure loose items and temporary structures. City staff are also preparing for potential impacts of the storm, including activation of our emergency operation center, which began this evening at 7pm and which will remain open overnight. So the staff are best positioned to quickly respond to any emergencies related to the weather event. Staff from several city departments will be represented in the EOC and department DOCs are on standby in the event that activation is also required. Throughout the duration of the weather event, city public works crews will be monitoring conditions in the field and particularly in the glass fire impacted areas for signs of ground movement or debris flows. Crews will also be checking and clearing storm drains and creeks as well as responding to localized flooding and tree related issues throughout the city. Our storm water team will also be monitoring creek gauges and watersheds downstream of the burn scar. Residents can access information about the weather event, preparedness information, including how to access free city sandbag and water stations at srcity.org forward slash emergency. And that concludes my report. All right, thank you, sir. Councilor, are there any questions for the city attorney or the assistant city manager on their reports? See if there are any comments from the public. All right, seeing none, were there any recorded voicemail public comments? No, there were no recorded voicemail public comments. Thank you. Perfect. We'll move on to item nine council. Are there any statements of abstention today? All right, seeing none, we'll go into council member reports who wants to start council member Fleming. Thank you very much. So since we haven't had enough public safety fun, I thought I would let everybody know about the public safety subcommittee meeting tomorrow. That's myself, council member Schwedhelm and vice mayor Rogers. And I want to invite the public to weigh in. Our topics include the cahoots, the Santa Rosa Department model for response to mental illness and homelessness, the school resource officer update, the police auditor physician update, and the community empowerment plan update, and wherein we will also be setting priorities for the scope of work that the public safety subcommittee will be addressing. And your input is especially important on that topic. And finally, our last item that we will be taking will be a place for people to weigh in if they have feelings or thoughts about the thin blue line social media posts. So this is a great opportunity to engage and have your thoughts and feelings heard and shape the way that we move forward as a community in regard to public safety. Thank you so much. Thank you, council member. Can we answer that? Council member Sawyer. Thank you, mayor. I noticed that the economic, well, the economic recovery task force has now joined the economic development subcommittee. And we did have a meeting last week.  We also set the ongoing subcommittee meeting schedule which will be on the second Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m. Starting with our first regular meeting on February 9th. So that's every second Tuesday at 10 a.m. And it will, the first one will be on February 9th and that's the end of my report. I do want to mention one more thing. There was a bit of time has passed since the council received an email from the Merit Awards Committee. And clearly we can't conduct the Merit Awards the way we have in the past. It's a very hardworking committee. They do just great work. And so things will be a little bit different this year but we're really hoping that the full council have an opportunity to participate in what is one of the most positive events usually held in the council chamber. But this time, no, unfortunately, but it will be special nonetheless. And those that will be receiving Merit Awards will appreciate the council's participation. So keep watching and look forward to seeing your faces on this screen on that evening. Thank you. I thank you so much for that council member and we're looking forward to that event as well. Even not in person, I think we'll be able to find a way to make it memorable. Madam Vice Mayor. I just wanted to take a moment to appoint Glenn right to the Board of Public Utilities. He has served for the past year and I'm happy that he agreed to stay on. Great, thank you so much. Council Member Tibbets. Sorry, Mayor, no comment. All right, and staff has informed me that I also have to make a number of reappointments for folks on boards and commissions. So I will be reappointing Lisa Baden-Fort to the Board of Public Utilities, Jeff Nathanson to the Arts and Public Places Committee, Leslie Graves and Cherie Barnett to the Community Advisory Board, Drew Waggle to the Design Review Board, Mark Stapp to the Measure O Committee and Julian Peterson to the Planning Commission and finally Kim Baden-Fort to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board. And with that, we'll move on to our next item. Council, we have minute from the June 30th, 2020 meeting from last year. Are there any changes that folks have to the minutes? Seeing none, we can go ahead and show those as adopted and Mr. Assistant City Manager, let's go on to the Consent Calendar. Thank you, Mayor. Item 12.1, Motion Contract Award, Montgomery Drive and Sodiomi Street Signal Modification. Item 12.2, Resolution, Authorizing Filing of Application for Federal Transit Administration, Formula Program and Surface Transportation Program Funding. Item 12.3, Resolution, Approval of Fifth Amendment to the General Services Agreement, number F-001343 with Mission Linen Supply. Item 12.4, Resolution, Approval of Second Amendment to General Services Agreement, F-001847, Weinstein Security Incorporated for Unarmed Security Guard Services. All right, thank you. Madam Vice Mayor. I apologize. Council Member Tibbets, you have a question. Yep, sorry to do this to everybody, but I had a question about 12.4 Weinstein Security. I noticed that it was just a contract extension and we didn't take it out to bid and I was curious what the rates are. The only reason why I ask is I've been up to my eyeballs in security contracts lately and I've been seeing what the going rate is. I'm just curious what we're paying. Kim Nadeau, our parking manager is online and should be able to respond. Good evening. Can you hear me? Yep. Great. So this contract is about $6,000 a month for them to provide a service from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., seven days a week. So you don't have an hourly rate on that, Kim? They've quoted it by month, so I could do the math for you if you, and wait a minute. That would actually be great. I apologize. So let's go ahead and, while Kim finds that information, perhaps we can deal with the other items on consent. And first, Kim, if it works too, I'll do public comment and then see whether you're able to get that number. Does that work for you? Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right. With that, I'll open it up for public comment on the whole consent calendar. Does anybody have a comment they'd like to make? Madam City Clerk, are there any voicemail public comments? No. You were muffled there, but I think you said no. Right. That's okay. Great, then I will go ahead and bring it back to the council. And Madam Vice Mayor, can we take all except for the fourth on the agenda? Yes, Mayor. I move items 12.1 through 12.3 and wait for the reading of the text. Second. So motion by the Vice Mayor, second by Council Member Schwedhelm. Let's go ahead and call the roll. Thank you. Council Member Tibbetts. Aye. Council Member Schwedhelm. Aye. Council Member Sawyer. Aye. Council Member Fleming. Aye. Council Member Alvarez. Aye. Vice Mayor Rogers. Aye. Mayor Rogers. Aye. And that motion passes with seven ayes. And Kim, do you need another minute? No. So it comes out to $41.81 an hour. And that does escalate in the outline months there. I mean, excuse me. So the first year that would be the rate. And then the following two years there is a built-in escalation. And I know you're asking me what that is and I didn't do that, Mathias. Don't worry. What I'm gonna tell you is just all I wanted to tell you. I'm aware of three security companies right now that are providing services for the County of Sonoma in St. Vincent de Paul. We just took our security contract out to bid and we're getting rates in the range of $26, $35, and $38, and $40. And so I really think that we should take it out to bid since it's such a significant difference per hour. That's gonna add up over the multi-year spans. So I'll be voting against this.  I just think it should be, that cost saving should be pursued. And I'll ask a couple of additional questions then hearing Council Member Tibbetts' comments. Kim, how difficult or how time-consuming would it be for us to take this out for our bid? So my understanding, this is a city-wide contract that's already in place. And so this is merely an amendment to a contract that I believe was bid. I don't know if there's anybody from the purchasing team on this meeting, but this is not an agreement just for parking. This is an agreement that was already in place for security services that are provided for City Hall and other parking, excuse me, other city facilities. So I believe it was bid, but I would have to defer to purchasing on the process. Parking is merely adding an amendment to add services to an existing contract that expires in January of 2024. So I don't know that it could be bid prior to the expiration of the existing contract. And I did see Allen Alton came on. So I assume that Allen has some more information for us. Other than not a lot of extra information other than it was initially bid out as all of our contracts like this are. So, and as Kim said, this is just an amendment onto an existing contract. So in order to, the only way we would be able to bid the parking part out would be to do it as a completely separate contract. And I don't know that that really works out with the economy of scale that we normally get on our contracts. So without, I'm not sure of the dollar ones that Council Member Tibbets has. I mean, that's interesting to note, but there could be a lot of reasons why those were bid the way for those areas and not for us. And is there any urgency on this, Kim or Allen? For parking, this is an existing service that we've had with Weinstein since May. We eliminated 1.5 vacant parking operations aid positions when we took on the contract with Weinstein. So we would no longer have staff to provide these patrol services for those hours. So we do need, it's imperative for us to have a contract in place for security services now so that we can continue to patrol the facilities. I guess my question is under our open government sunshine ordinance, we have the ability to add this to the agenda if it's held over from the previous meeting. Does this need to be done tonight or perhaps would there be the ability to hold it for one week until next week's meeting to get some of these questions answered for council member Tibbets? This actually was the last meeting that we could bring this forward before our existing contract would expire. So if this was not approved tonight, we wouldn't be able to deliver services starting in February. And as I said, we don't have staff to backfill that. Okay, thank you so much. Council, are there any other questions on the item? All right, I'll entertain a motion on it. Yeah, any other questions for folks? Okay, I'll entertain a motion on this from the vice mayor. Move item 12.4 and wait for the reading of the text. Second. Motion and a second, let's call the roll. Council member Tibbets. Was that a no? Yes, sorry, that was a no, nay. Thank you. Council member Schwedhelm. Aye. Council member Sawyer. Aye. Council member Fleming. Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. Vice mayor Rogers. Aye. Mayor Rogers. Aye. That motion passes with six ayes and one no from council member Tibbets. Go ahead, council member Tibbets. I'll take a quick comment. Thank you, mayor. You know, in the future, it would be really helpful if when we got these contracts, I know it doesn't always add up this way because people are busy and there's a lot of pressing issues that staff has, but it seems to me in the future, this would have been an easy contract to possibly investigate further and save a lot of money for the city. And the idea that it would come to us basically at the last possible minute where we can't really have the opportunity to make changes without creating a lapse in services is really not acceptable. So I hope in the future that we can make sure we have at least a week, hopefully again, I recognize it's not always gonna be the case, but really try to make that effort so we can make changes because if we're voting on and reviewing them, that's what we're supposed to be doing. All right, thank you, council member. With that, we'll move on to item 13, public comment for non-agenda items. I will also note for the public that late correspondence has been added to the agenda that you can click on and see emails that have come in at the last minute. With that, we'll start with Evan. Can you hear me, Evan? Yep, there you go. Yes, I'm here. Okay, yeah, I just got the prompt on mute. Yeah, I wanted to again express sentiments and support of council members, Alvarez and Fleming's comments after Chief Navarro's report around staffing. And there's a lot of commentary I know that I have and a lot of community members have. There'll probably be more appropriate for the public safety meeting taking place later. That said, I just want to just put into the kind of general thought process that while there's a lot of repair that needs to be done or trust building between the community and the civilian public, that broken trust is not of the responsibility of the civilian public to repair. It's of law enforcement, whether they feel personally responsible for their own actions contributing to that is irrelevant. That's just not the nature of the dynamic. And I would encourage the city to review social media protocols because I understand the need for wanting to have a very humanized presence, but it's not always exactly appropriate. And then also the kind of padding on the back that the police department feels necessary to make public seems like something that should be kept in-house from morale. And I'd also like to point out that there are countless ways to show your support for the police department that don't use symbols that other people find dehumanizing and degrading, which we'll touch on that more tomorrow. But regarding the actual staffing part on that, which I miscomment earlier, it seems that the order of operation seems to be completely flawed when we're talking about staffing to respond to the necessary police issues, which everyone agrees we need the appropriate level of staffing rather than focusing on how do we prevent the need for police calls to begin with. And that just seems like a glaring omission as a philosophical component that maybe I missed it, but it seemed to go totally ignored. So when you have such a low spend on violence prevention relative to the overall policing budget, that's something that really does not sit well with the public at all. And then the other part about staffing is I think there needs to be some sort of quota regarding local residency. And I can understand why police would maybe not want to live in the city where they work, but if we're spending so much of our money and then they have high paying jobs to be quite frank, they're then increasing the tax base out of our community. So we're paying a lot of money which is already controversial to these people to then leave our city and spend their money elsewhere, which it's like a total double-edged sword there. So regarding staffing for the police department, it shouldn't be what the focus on what the appropriate response is. What comes first in that order of operations is how do you reduce and diminish the need for response, right? And the funds that go with that. And then secondly, who we're hiring, of course, the issues around training, competency, cultural nuance are great, but you've got to also try and have local people so they spend their money here in Santa Rosa. We need to keep our money here, so thank you. All right, thank you so much, Evan. I appreciate that. Is there anybody else who wants to raise their hand for public comment for non-agenda items? All right, seeing none, do we have any recorded voicemail comments? Madam city clerk, it looks like- Yes, yes, we do have voicemail public comment and she's bringing up the slides now. Excellent, thank you. Hi, agenda number 13 and my name is Dr. Roberta Godby-Tipp. I am very concerned about the small-cell policy that's coming up for your review with the city council or with your city council members. And there's really important elements to consider and to have a very strong ordinance, 500 to 1500 foot setbacks maintain requirements for the least intrusive methods, proof of significant gap in coverage that's really important, that has to be proven in a specific way, that the property owners within 500 feet of a proposed installation be notified about what is happening with a certified letter, not by the telecom industry, that there is insurance coverage without a pollution exclusion and include aesthetic requirements and no multi-year agreements beyond five years. I'd appreciate your consideration of this for the welfare of all residents of Santa Rosa and all of us in the community today that use Santa Rosa as a place to visit. And frequent, especially when stores are open. Thank you so much for your consideration, bye. Hello, my name is Dorana Meakin. I'm calling for agenda item 13. Dear council members, our long-awaited Santa Rosa small cell policy may be coming before the city council soon for your review and vote. We're anticipating that the policy will provide the city with the most controlled possible for placement of small cells. We're really, really hoping that the city is keeping in mind its constituents and what we've been asking for for this long-awaited policy. We want the ordinance that will give the most protection for all of the citizens of Santa Rosa from the onslaught of the 4G and 5G build out. Please consider the ordinances and other California cities that contain important control elements like we've seen in our neighbors in Calabasas, Los Altos, to the Los Angeles County. We're really, really hoping that the city council looks out for its citizens and picks a small cell policy that protects us all. Thank you. Hi, Paul Roberts at 1753 Burgundy Place regarding agenda 13. I'm concerned about the lack of research on 5G cell phone exposure on our health. Totally not adequately studied. I would encourage rather that we promote fiber optics which are safer, faster, more efficient. However, I realize that you're not gonna wait for that. So please consider ordinances. Other cities have instituted controls on these types of towers placement such as Calabasas, Los Altos County, Sonoma, Mill Valley, San Ramon, Fairfax, Petaluma. These cities can be more cautious with this rollout. Certainly Santa Rosa can. All right, thank you. Bye. Hi, my name is Carolyn Scott of Santa Rosa. My degree is in environmental science. I'm an award-winning documentary filmmaker and environmental educator. And I wanna make a comment for tomorrow's meeting. The World Health Organization after reviewing the best available scientific evidence now concludes its health zone and wireless radiation as a probable carcinogen. They did exhaustive studies proving the biological effects of wireless radiation on the brain, heart, and sperm, noting the importance of experimental studies and decreased exposure particularly for children. So we wanna request 1,500 foot setbacks from residential properties in schools. Released intrusive methods of closing gaps in coverage, proof of significant gap in coverage proven by specific drive-by testing. The ordinance should include macro towers as well as small cells. A macro tower was just approved for canine companions at 2965 Dutton Avenue in September, 2020. During the planning commission hearing, public comments were not even included, although roughly two dozens were submitted. Please stop approving these permits until your ordinance is passed. Thank you very much. My name is Amanda Maris and I live in Santa Rosa in the Roseland area. And my number is<PHONE_NUMBER>. I am calling on agenda number 13. I believe, which is the small cell tower ordinance and policies regarding small cell wireless transmission facilities. And I wanted to share with you that I found broadband cyber optic cables to be not only the fastest and most reliable source of internet, but also a big business draw for business headquarters. And I think that Santa Rosa is the largest North Bay, North Bay City of the Bay area would be, it would be enticing to attract more businesses and retirees to come to Santa Rosa with cyber optic cables. I lived in Knoxville, Tennessee between the years 2011 and 2014 during which the neighboring city of Chattanooga had placed up. And everybody within their city limits were under these cyber optic cable broadband internet. They had done a lot of work and did spend a lot of upfront costs to dig lines and also require it in every new digging facility or any new construction of sidewalks and buildings in the area had to also require broadband or cyber optic cables. And after the city had really finished it people in Knoxville, businesses in Knoxville like jewelry, television, HGTV were considering moving to Chattanooga because they had more businesses to expand their products, their services this way. And I just found it as a big draw. A lot of the city was very pleased with it and Volkswagen had just moved a major building plant in the area and we're really pleased with the results of being able to utilize cyber optic cables. But if cyber optic cables are not what you're considering I strongly recommend looking at small cell towers with a heavy amount of regulation especially because we don't know all of the health impacts that 5G and even 4G radiation can give off in the area. There's just not quite enough research done to confirm anything and our children can't take that risk. So at least requiring 500 foot setbacks. I also think that limiting any sort of policy. Hello, Santa Rosa City Council. My name is Sydney Cox and my comments are for agenda 13. Thank you for your time. I realized these meetings can be long and there was always so much that needs to be considered. My purpose for leaving a message today is to ask you to pass the most comprehensive small cell ordinances possible for Santa Rosa. There have been four study sessions over the past three years and in that time many small cell and wireless transmission facilities have been installed in neighborhoods some right next to people's homes. I'd like to call your attention to our website and Facebook pages, Safe Tech for Santa Rosa which describes some of these installations. I know you and your staff have been working on the small cell policy and I thank you for your efforts. I hope you've been able to include some of the important requirements that have been discussed in the study sessions. Here are just a few. One, a minimum 500 foot setback from residential homes and schools. Two, at least a 14 day notification to all residents and property owners preferably by certified mail within 500 feet of the proposed facility. Three, regular independent monitoring of RF levels to ensure compliance. Four, proof of significant gap in coverage. Five, insurance coverage without a pollution exclusion to protect the city from liability. And six, no multi-year agreements beyond five years. I'd like to bring your attention to the city of Petaluma which passed a small cell ordinance in 2018. I quote, compared to both neighboring and distant jurisdictions throughout the state, the regulatory approach recommended by the city of Petaluma staff is robust. Santa Rosa, for example, does not prohibit small self-facilities in residential neighborhoods and only requires that such facilities in the right of way meet standard setbacks. End of quote. This is why passing a Santa Rosa small cell ordinance is so important. It is also expected that Santa Rosa's municipal code will govern telecom infrastructure on PG&E polls as does Petaluma's code. Petaluma also states that it has the absolute right as owner of city property to decline to add or permit small cell telecommunications facilities on existing city infrastructure. With regard to health issues that have been brought up by numerous times by residents, Petaluma stated, this proposed ordinance is intended to strike a balance regarding limiting any potential health risk while not addressing them directly, end of quote. Therefore, I ask you, Santa Rosa council, to consider all comments and not categorically dismiss those that deal with concerns for adverse health or biological effects. It is alarming that citizens cannot deny the placement of small cells in our community on the basis of health concerns. However, there are other ways to limit telecom expansion of small cells and cell towers. In conclusion, I would like to add that the environmental health trust and children's health defense is currently suing the FCC to revise their admission standards to consider. Agenda item 13. Hi, my name is Jennifer LaPorta of Santa Rosa. My degree is in environmental health from Rutgers U. Please consider the following requirements when you vote to adopt the small cell ordinance to control the placement of wireless transmission facilities or WTS in Santa Rosa. One, 1500 foot setbacks from residential properties in school. Two, proof of significant gap in coverage proven by drive by testing. Three, the least intrusive methods of closing gaps in coverage. Four, notification of property owners and residents within 1500 feet of a proposed installation. Notification must be done with certified letters sent by the city of Santa Rosa, not by the telecom industry as in the past. Of the 100 plus doors I've knocked on, less than 10% of residents had received notices. Five, insurance coverage in order to protect the city from liability without a pollution exclusion. Six, regular radio frequency testing and monitoring by independent experts. Seven, include aesthetic requirements, aesthetic. Eight, no multi-year agreements. Technology is progressing quickly and regulations may change at the federal level so flexibility is needed. The FCC is in federal court this week being challenged by the EHT and Children's Health Defense. Nine, public notification signage like the city does for other projects. Ten, the ordinance should include macro towers as well as small cells. A macro tower was just approved for canine companions at 2965 Dutton Avenue in September, 2020. During the planning commission hearing, public comments were not even included although roughly two dozen were submitted. How about that? 11, PG and E polls as well as city-owned polls should be regulated. Please stop approving WTF permits until your ordinance is passed. The city has had four study sessions since 2017 and we should have had the ordinance in place by now. At least an urgent ordinance. Look, we do not consent to be guinea pigs in this massive science experiment. This radiation affects us as we leave our homes to go on walks or hang out in our yards and play in our garden. We do not wanna be prisoners inside our own four walls. Many walking trails are now bathed in toxic radiation. I've tested many trails with my EMS meter and my outdoor recreation options are getting more and more limited. Hey, what do COVID-19 and radio frequency have in common? Both are highly dangerous yet invisible threats to our health. Thank you. Perfect. Origin to item 13. My name is Tom LaGorda, I live in Santa Rosa and it's alarming that citizens can't deny the placement of small cell towers in our community on the basis of health concerns. However, there are other ways to limit the expansion of small cells and cell towers keeping the city council in power. Please support our city in creating local control of these dangerous radio frequency radiation transmitters that emit RF pollution 24-7. Please consider supporting fiber to the premises. Fiber broadband is the fastest method of delivering high-speed internet to residents and businesses and it's the safest form of connection to. Other cities in the U.S. are already doing this like San Leandro, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Longville, Colorado and they're making money off of this. A note on Chattanooga. They spent $220 million to develop it and as of 2017 it's translated into $865 million in economic growth for the city. Longmont, Colorado's system provides $49 a month broadband which is a great price and is proving to be a magnet for business too. Now please note that today the 25th oral arguments are underway for the landmark case Environmental Health Trust and Ch