City Council — July 28, 2026

Would you please stand, oh. The city clerk posted order of adjournment of the July 14th 2026 meeting and the agenda of the July 28th 2026 meeting in accordance to state law City Council Housing Authority successor agency to the redevelopment agency policy. We have a presentation on today's agenda for America's 250th celebration. Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Julie Allen will share this Tell us all about this. Hi, Julie.

Can you hear me now? There we go. Good afternoon. My name is Julie Alon and I am the Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation. I'm here today to share about some America 250 celebrations that have been taking place this summer We were able to light up the sides of City Hall with our America 250 logo. And I want to give a really big shout out to our facilities maintenance team for all their hard work with these projectors, most of it had to take place after dark and they made it look fantastic.

I'm sure you've seen our street pole banners all around town. We actually did an employee contest for the design of these banners and our junior engineer Kayla Sue was the winner with her wonderful patriotic design here on these banners that you've seen up and down our major roadways. We also placed larger street banners all around the city to market our special America 250 Fourth of July picnic.

On this picture you can also see the large flag on City Hall which our facilities team installed in time for Memorial Day and left it up and displayed until after Independence Day. We had our fourth of July picnic and fireworks at Kennedy Park in celebration of America 250 we kind of Bumped up our event a little bit. We had patriotic stilt walkers, we had lots of games and crafts, America 250 headbands that kids got to decorate, jumpers, train rides, our DJs from 35 Production.

And we had an interactive timeline that highlighted some fun and key events that have taken place over the last 250 years. So guests got to kick off the timeline in 1776 by signing a giant Declaration of Independence They went on to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. We recognized the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 and we even had a little train ticket booth and handed out tickets to our own train ride in the park.

We were gifted the Statue of Liberty in 1886, and of course we highlighted 1912 when El Cajon Incorporated and we handed out that I love El Cajon buttons and pocket constitutions which you should all have up there. In 1920, we celebrated women gaining the right to vote and Americans landing on the moon in 1969. For 1990, we had the creation of the World Wide Web and we had a QR code and you could scan it and see the first ever website that was created. And then the timeline ended in 2026 with America celebrating its 250th birthday.

So moving on with our celebration efforts, we hosted a community-wide Spirit of America decorating contest. So residents all around the city were able to sign up and our panel of judges picked the top three winning houses. First place went to Yvette Delgado with her 250th themed decorations and Ms. Delgado is here today so I'd like to ask her to come on up Thank you.

Okay and then our second place house with pictures of them here went to Richard Strange, and our third place went to Ron and Elizabeth Vallis who couldn't be here today but all of our contestants did a really great job and we do appreciate all their participation. And lastly, we want to thank our sponsors for all of the America 250 celebration efforts. So I believe Mr. Mansour is here today and a few of our other business owners so if you want to come up we have some certificates for you as well.

We want to recognize North Park Produce, Tykes Liquor, Three Brothers Liquor Main Street Market, Fair Valley Liquor Broadway Gas, Main Street Liquor San Diego Cash & Carry Thank you for all your generous donations to help us celebrate. And I just want to thank you all for your support on all these wonderful America 250 celebrations.

Well, first off, thank you very much and the staff for all the work that they did and all of our sponsors. I want to thank all of our sponsors and everybody who's involved in this. It was a great celebration, great fireworks show and it was really exciting for us all to be involved in it. The council might have something to say. Can we say that? Thank you. Oh Gary has something to

say. It was wonderful and the American flag On the city building look fabulous. I've gotten so many compliments on that people really, really like that. So I want to thank all the staff for arranging that.

Thank you. Thanks very much. Thank you.

Okay agenda changes staff do you have any agenda changes?

No sir.

That brings us to consent. Consent items are routine matters enacted by one motion according to the recommendation listed below with the concurrence of the City Council, a council member or person in attendance may request discussion of a consent item at this time. Council members do you wish to pull any of the consent items? Which one Mr. Golden? Number four and staff do you wish to pull any consent items?

No sir

Before we go to speaker cards, let's go ahead and talk about number four.

Just a quick comment the second amendment and restated disposal agreement otherwise known as SARA with the San Diego Metro Wastewater JPA this is a really important amendment because it kind of tells how we're going to be billed for the metro portion of the wastewater which were transitioning off when we start with the advanced water purification about a year from now. And so, the people at Padre Dam were the last to sign and they actually made some very good suggestions which are good for the city of El Cajon.

Raising the agreement has to be from two-thirds to three-fourths of the members to make any approval and it's very important because as pure water from San Diego comes online, we want to be sure a lot of those costs aren't put into El Cajon's I'd like to thank the City staff, city attorney's office, the TAC committee, technical advisory committee, Ms. Arellano for excellent work there and it really is a better agreement because of Padre Dam's addition so thank you all for very important work. It took a couple years to do so excellent outcome. Thank you.

Thanks Steve. Anybody else want to pull any consent items? Do we have speaker cards for consent items? No speaker cards here. I can make a motion then to approve all of the consent items. Second. Please vote. All right, that brings us, or did you wanna?

Yes a motion carries by unanimous vote.

Thanks. All right we're now public comment at this time any person may address the matter within the jurisdiction of the City Council

Yes sir, we have a total of five. We do have one remote speaker. We will be taking those that are in In person first, and then we'll go to remote. The first in-person speaker is Laurie Debus.

Hi.

Hello. Welcome.

Thank you. My name is Laurie Debus and I am here specifically of course I'm going to be fumbling with my notes but to say thank Thank you to all of you for your assistance in our Hamishaw and Gustavo traffic calming measures that we've been addressing over the last four and a half months. I know that everyone that I've worked with has been movers and shakers and very humble group of people and I am Very thankful, very grateful.

So I know this started on March 8th when we had a very serious accident that happened on Hamasho Road and from there a few of us showed up on March 14th for the first City Council meeting and it's kind of rolled from there so So our neighborhood really came together with our own community meeting along with the town hall meetings and the last town hall meeting that we had specifically for our neighborhood brought about the city engineers, city manager, Councilman Steve Gobel and El Cajon PD California Highway Patrol San Diego sheriffs. And Many more, many more that I don't know who they are. But I really wanted to speak to those that were, you know, to give credit to for their staff and that would be the city manager Graham Mitchell and Vince DiMaggio and your staff.

And I would also like to thank Yasmin Arellano For their planning and technical expertise countless hours for everybody putting into this entire process Dave Richards also public information and helping us get our flyers that we distributed out Sorry, I cry when I get

You're doing great. Don't worry

It's OK. All right. I didn't expect that so I would really like to commend Steve for showing up and meeting with me this past Saturday to speak yet again with Channel 10 News for him being there for moral support. So I'm leaving a lot of things out, I'm sure. But to read from a script is just going to be a little more difficult than what I would like to try and put you all through as well as myself. So thank you very much for your time.

Did you need any more time?

No.

OK. Thank you so much.

Good job. Brenda Hammond. We will call on Mr. Ray Justice.

Hi, Mr. Justice. Hi. Welcome. Anyway my name is Ray Justice and I just want to tell you who I am and why I am and what I want to do. And I want to make this as clear as I possibly can is that I want to do everything I can to help the problem on Chase Avenue and everybody on Chase Avenue, on East Chase. And my desire and purpose is to if anything I can do to relieve that traffic congestion on Chase Avenue, I'd appreciate it because I've seen two people killed there in front of the house that I own.

One of them happens to be my wife's grandmother And it was an accident, but nevertheless it was an accident. And we didn't press any charges. We took it as an accident and buried my wife's grandmother. One of my other tenants was there and was crossing the street and got killed. The thing I want to just appreciate what El Cajon has done for me and for the community is the service that they've rendered.

There's one thing I don't understand And that's what happened to me right next door. I think that I'm probably one of the oldest citizens in El Cajon. I think probably have bought more property, more pieces of property and sold in El Cajon and made homes for as many people ever has done in El Cajon. My desire and purpose is what I heard here this morning What's terrific of what the city of El Cajon stands for. They stand for the people they want to do the right thing and that is my desire this morning is to just make it clear to everybody here that it's a pleasure to be a citizen of El Cajon. And even as I sit here and listen to people pouring out their hearts and what they've done for the people of El And I'm not a stranger to El Cajon. I remember some of the dear people that have lived here are coming and going.

I thought of different people that lived here in El Cajon, raised their families here. Debbie D Hall, Willie Carroll, Bill's Barbershop. I've been here since I was 16 years old and I probably bought more and sold more houses. As a consequence, alcohol has been really good to me and the only thing that I don't quite understand is that my neighbor next door, I cannot communicate with them. I've tried and it's impossible. And to my understanding that the reason they put that complex in there in the first place is because you got special permission from the forefathers of El Cajon.

But in the meantime, they give them this special permission to build this complex under one condition, that they take care of their own water. And now they've come in there and tore down the wall and replaced And the water problem that comes over on my property now is twice as bad as it ever was. I appreciate everything alcohol has done for me, but what's happened recently has made things worse and I appreciate any help that I can get to take care of my tenants.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention Mr. Justice. We very much appreciate it.

Brenda Hammond?

Brenda

or balloons. Yeah OK I was wearing this today my El Cajon Fire Department shirt. I love it but it got hot so I had to put on a dress but I wanted to say I'm not going to be here later because I have another meeting to go to but I got this at Parkway Plaza yesterday. This beautiful dress and I don't know why people don't shop there And I don't know what's going to happen on the agenda later but.

I'm not going to tell you where I got it because I want you to walk through there and appreciate what's there and appreciate the history that's when you walk into the management the office manager or the office managers the history on those walls are beautiful. You guys should check it out just say thank you historical society.

Thank you Brenda.

Next speaker is Rich Ryle. Hello

Mr. Ryle, welcome.

Thank you. If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. In 2002 then City Councilman now Mayor Wells was listed as a board member of the CDC which was later replaced by the downtown partners to manage the PBIT. Since that time Wells has never recused himself because of a possible conflict of interest The partners began managing the P-BID in 2011. In 2017, Graham Mitchell was hired as Assistant City Manager and in 2018 he became city manager. Public records show Mitchell as a board member of the P-BID in 2019. 2022, Mitchell hired Marco LaMandri at New City America through a no bid consulting contract to review the downtown business partner's operation and present a report to the city council. They failed to report that it was suspended by the California for non-payment of taxes and that they have no records.

In February, Mitchell, LaMandri, and NCA presented that report to the city. The report said the PBID board should use the $150,000 annual management fee allocation to hire outside management and that this should happen soon. Ten months later, on December 9th, an RFP for $150,000 was issued by Michoud acting outside his scope of authority. The result was a process that was never authorized by any elected official. This is a crime! I have reported this crime to all of you. In the first months of 2025, the partners selected LaMandri to be the executive director of the PBIB. In 2025, NCA and the business partners in another no-bid contract Selected NCA to form a CBD to succeed the PBIT. Last month, Lomandrie refused to comply with public records requests seeking NCA's work product on the CBD certification.

These questions are directed at the city attorney. Must Mayor Wells recuse himself from any vote or decision involving the PBIP because of his prior board role with the CDC that was later replaced by the business partners? Were the meetings, discussions and decisions leading to the December 9th 2024 RFP conducted in compliance with the Brown Act? Was the RFP properly authorized by a noticed vote or meeting of the downtown business partners or the city? Did Mitchell, LeMandri or other participants violate conflict of interest laws by participating in the issues of the RFP?

Is LeMandri required to disclose the requested NCA product relating to the CBD certification? Six without proper disclosure of the certification. Can the city move forward with agenda item six in light of all the facts that I have disclosed? Would you recommend that the City Council pull items six from today's agenda members of the City Council delaying the vote will save the cities tens of millions of dollars in potential lawsuits concerning the actions of LaMandry and Mitchell if you're not part of the problem be part of the solution pull agenda item six from today's meeting

Thank you gentlemen

and

ladies. Mr. Mitchell I just would like to say for the record, I've never been on the board of the CDC and I have never attended a meeting

ever.

Sir we received two more in-person speaker cards so and we still have the one remote. The next speaker is Ryan Pham

Well

welcome.

Thank you. Good afternoon again honorable council members and mayor I'm Dr Ryan fan here representing measure the air community center and thousands of community members that we serve this is our fourth time speaking at city council specifically about this issue to again respectfully urge you to recognize more than 25,000 of your Middle Eastern and North African constituents as I've said before we've already drafted a resolution With city staff and we're still asking you to agendize this resolution. We're a little concerned that the straightforward request is being met with hesitation in a city where it has the highest concentration of Arab Americans in the entire state, federal and state budget and policy changes have led to further delays and obstructions to the implementation of a category on the 2030 census And our state bill is getting delayed by state and local agencies.

Local resolutions are a necessary step in demonstrating support for our communities and your constituents, they also send a message to state and federal officials that accurate data will better represent serve and inform the city's residents and decision makers. In a recent workshop, we asked community members to share about their experiences being invisibilized in the data. I'm going to share one quote today from Noor, a high school student of Syrian and Jordanian heritage. She said, as a resident of El Cajon, I have seen that many Arab students in our schools don't receive the language support that they need to succeed. From my own experience when I first came to the US and started school, I didn't know a single word of English. I wish there had been a single teacher or staff member who spoke

I was trying to turn you up in my speaker.

Cheers, thank you. Okay from my own experience when I first came to the US and started school I didn't know a single word of English. I wish there had been a teacher or staff member who spoke Arabic and could help me. I struggled to understand my classes and when my teachers asked me questions I couldn't answer because they didn't even understand what they were saying that made me feel embarrassed and different from the other students One of my friends went through a very similar experience. When she arrived, there were no Arabic-speaking teachers or staff at her school and she was expected to take standardized exams without understanding the instructions. She couldn't explain her needs because of language barrier.

This affected both her education and her confidence. Later, she transferred to another school where there was actually an Arabic speaking teacher and that support helped her succeed, graduate, and feel like she belonged. I believe that recognizing Middle Eastern and North African communities in government data will help schools provide the necessary support and resources that students need so that no child has to go through the same challenges that we experienced. I respectfully urge the City Council to agendize and pass the MENA resolution.

And again, thank you for your consideration. We look forward to seeing you at the next city council meeting on August 11th.

Thank

you. Next speaker is Samsam Fadil

Good evening mayor and council members. It's great to meet with you all again this afternoon, two weeks ago I provided a public comment detailing my own lived experiences within the community college system and how representation provides continuous support. In the past, at the Medjdal Center we have organized workshops with students and other community members to support our advocacy efforts.

One comment in particular that stood out to me was when a student was asked if they have ever felt unsure whether they qualified for scholarships programs or funding based on how their racial identity or ethnic identity was categorized The student responded and I quote, yes. When I first heard about CAPWA, I was keen to join but hesitated because it was for Asian American Pacific Islanders and I wasn't sure if I counted as Asian or even if I was able to participate in the program because if they were able to participate in the program then it would enhance their academic success.

However, despite being Afghan which is Central Asian they have to consider whether they can qualify for a resource. Which is a question that their counterparts don't have to face. We also asked if they could identify someone at school who supports them and understands their culture and language. The same student responded and said, I don't know anyone in college who speaks my language including faculty members or professors.

Honestly, I've never even thought about having that kind of support because not having it just became normal to me. After asking the same question to another student, they said there are classmates that I have met and befriended. One is Iraqi Chaldean and my other friend is from Algeria. We can relate and help each other better understand class material when communicating in Arabic.

Despite the student not being able to reference an authority figure like a teacher or a staff member, they were able to identify some of their peers. Having the sense of community with individuals that they can relate to is important. However, having that representation from an authority figure who can be an advocate for them in higher settings is crucial. It's also unfortunate to hear that the students said it has become normal to them.

Not being represented in academia and not having access to the same resources that other students are provided should never be normalized but by not advocating for the implementation of the MENA category you are indirectly saying that the representation from MENA communities does not matter and that stories like this one student shared should continue to be normalized. So I kindly ask that you add our MENA resolutions to the agenda. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

And the last speaker participating remotely is Truth.

All right, hi there City of El Cajon it's Truth here to test your telephonic system since you had no takers during the last meeting that's criminal. The planning system was simple until the adding and picking the agenda items part because if someone accidentally signs up for the wrong item, they pretty much be doomed during the meeting. They have to rush to sign up. It's not going to happen. So it'd be really helpful and more accurate to include the item title with a number since it's easy to get numbers confused.

Now for the record I was against all salary increases because Michelle was spot on about bad optics during budget cuts and reserve dipping so good on y'all for doing the right thing and denying it I also do not support the MENA resolution simply because it sounds like its backers are mostly political and politically motivated. I do support a change in federal labeling, so I'm going to recommend D.C..

Now last meeting Steve brought up selling recycled toilet water then it being dumped into Clean Lake Jennings. Water rates are essentially reflecting the double paying for both the City of San Diego's Metro Impure Water and the East County Toilet Water Projects. This is because nobody wants to invest in reservoirs and dam infrastructure left neglected for decades. There is no drought when millions of gallons of pure, natural clean water is dumped every day out of Lake Hodges for no legitimate reason. Metro should be giving away that water for the cost of labor rather than wasting it. I was also alerted to a 2022 memorandum of understanding between the East County City and the county of San Diego. Why would the city of Elkhorn approve of a harmful MOU that reads The parties agree that it is beneficial for all of them to pursue efforts that align with Housing First principles.

All parties desire low barrier emergency housing and facilities within each jurisdiction, to identify potential locations within the city of El Cajon for low-barrier emergency housing, to seek the establishment of permanent supportive housing within the city of El Cajon, et cetera. Housing First and Low Barrier means drug addicts get taxpayer funded homes and never have a requirement to get clean and sober Besides the toxic state grant that was rightly rejected, has the city denounced and rescinded this MOU in its spelled ideas and policies yet? If not why not. It needs to happen ASAP because it's unacceptable that this MOU was ever signed. And I'm going to put that document into the public record next time.

In related slash unrelated its 9th at table has finally been set out on Main Street. Sometimes I've taken my meal to Prescott Promod which of course has not been kept clear of homelessness They don't tend to be much of a problem but when the only place to sit in downtown are benches used as beds it's not exactly a desired experience. So what will prevent these tables from becoming the same experience? Because I'd love to have somewhere to eat my falafel sandwiches and salsa or pizzas when it's not 90 degrees outside. As in why did the city wait until hot summer to put those tables out that was a rookie move. The Pac-Man graphic shows the summer sun eating into my chamber of sitting outside in the heat I

just want to congratulate you for being our first one. But she's gone. All right is that it then? That's it okay great There are no written communications on today's agenda. There are no public hearings on today's agenda. We have three administrative reports on today's agenda, item six is a resolution of intent to establish a downtown El Cajon community benefit and staff will tell us about this.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of the City Council. I'm Nate Prescott. I am a Senior Management Analyst here in the City Manager's Office and I represent the city on the Board of Directors for the Downtown El Cajon Business Partners which is a property-based improvement district here in the city so instead of renewing that PBID we are choosing to create a new community benefit district instead So first off, I want to give you some background since this has been a work in progress for awhile.

In 2011 the city formed the Downtown El Cajon Property Based Improvement District or the PBID to improve and promote the economic well-being of downtown El Cajon. In April 2026, I presented to you all about the next phase of the district and the City Council authorized staff to vote in support of the petition to create a new community benefit district in downtown El Cajon Now, taking a little step back to 2023.

In 2023 after receiving guidance from the city council staff issued an RFP to analyze the PBID's progress. New City America won the bid and was hired for the analysis. That analysis was presented to the city council in 2024 with recommendations for the city and for the downtown El Cajon business partners. Their report showed that current PBID law was becoming obsolete and didn't provide for the transformational dynamic that's seen in successful and thriving downtowns. So they recommended that the city adopts a community benefit district enabling ordinance, which we did.

And the other recommendations were sent to the Downtown El Cajon Business Partners. The recommendations for the... Sorry. The recommendations for the Downtown El Cajón Business Partners included expanding the board of directors to add representatives from organizations like the Marriott and the Magnolia, which we've done The recommendations also included expanding events beyond the Cajon Cruise and Music on Main, which we've done. And in two weeks at the next city council meeting you'll be receiving a presentation from the downtown El Cajon business partners about their Alley Cat Art Fest event that's going to be coming up in September.

And lastly to improve operations and management They recommended that they should hire a full time executive director to remove the management burden from overworked volunteer board members. So from this final recommendation, the Board of Directors for the downtown El Cajon business partners authorized an RFP for district management services. They sent it out. They received four proposals and voted to hire New City America to manage the district and advise the board. Marco LaMandri is the Executive Director of the Downtown El Cajon Business Partners, and he's here to answer any questions that City Council might have.

Now I wanted to give you some more general background info on community benefit districts. It's been a while since we put that enabling ordinance through and so wanted to give you a refresher. Community benefit districts are independent organizations that oversee a specific area with specific goals and intentions. So the Downtown El Cajon Business Partners Oversee a specific area in downtown Oklahoma and their goals and intentions include street maintenance and beautification above and beyond what the city provides.

Events in downtown marketing for the area and its businesses and more. The district is its own independent organization and the city doesn't have direct control over it. Districts are funded through special assessments on property owners The property owners have an extra line on their property tax bill for this assessment and the money goes to the downtown El Cajon business partners. It can only be spent on bettering the district. The city works with the county to collect that money, but it's all sent to the downtown El Cajon business partners and it's required to be spent benefiting the people who are paying that assessment.

And lastly districts they're not a subsidiary of the city. They're specific there are separate legal entity think of them like the water district. They operate in El Cajon. They use they work with our taxpayers but we don't necessarily control what they do day to day. The city's ongoing role in these districts if there were more the ongoing role is pretty minimal most of our role happens in the creation stage The city's role is to authorize the creation of these districts through an enabling ordinance, then issuing official ballots when the petitions are complete.

Holding a public hearing regarding the creation of the district and creating a resolution of formation that would create the district. The City Council makes it legal for a district to exist but then after that it's up to the property owners in the district to manage themselves We don't have much direct authority over it. The city is involved with the district and we're on the board of directors because we are property owners in the district not just because we're the city and their districts. We actually own property in the district so we have a say in what goes on.

So now with all that background we can move on to today's business. In April the City Council voted to authorize the city manager or designee to vote yes in the petition to create a new community benefit district in downtown El Cajon The downtown El Cajon business partners received the necessary amount of supportive petitions to move forward and those petitions are on file with the city clerk.

Now we're back for the next part of our process which is to have the City Council receive this presentation on a resolution of intent, to authorize the city clerk to mail the ballots and to authorize the city manager or designee to vote yes in the official ballot And then after that, the property owners have 45 days to vote and in support or against the creation of this district.

At the end of the 45 days, the city will hold a public meeting in relation to this issue. The City Council can consider approving the 2027 Management District Plan and consider adopting the resolution of intent. After all this happens, city staff will open all the ballots, record them in a public setting, and everything will be official from there. So our staff's recommendation to the City Council is that you receive the report and petition drive results, that you adopt the next resolution in order to approve the resolution of intent to set a public hearing and direct the ballots to be mailed to affected property owners and to authorize the city manager or designee to vote yes on the city's ballot in support for the creation of the downtown El Cajon Community Benefit District.

And that you accept the management district plan and the engineer's report for the proposed community benefit districts. Now before we conclude, Angela our city clerk can give us a status update on the petitions.

Sir I just want to confirm that yesterday we did, I did receive the petition for the CBD it has been available in the City Clerk's office for review and I do have a copy in case anyone from the public wishes to review that today.

Thank you all. If you have any questions, I'm here to answer questions or Marco LaMandri is here to answer questions about the district as well.

Questions? No thank you. Did a good job. Appreciate it. Angela we have a speaker card.

Yes sir, we have one from Rich Ryle

First of all, I'd like to point out you don't have any legal opinions. What you have is staff working for their own best interest to create more money. First of all, nowhere in the PBID law does it authorize the use of the PBID funds to create another CBD. I didn't see it and I think that would be a legitimate challenge if nothing else. Nowhere has anybody And you just received the petitions today. I never got a chance to review the petitions when you're doing election work The first thing that you want to do in an election is you want to see the process how the process was done whether they made any mistakes? I asked for it Last last month he had that information and then he says no, I'm not going to give you the product I won't give you the product.

I'm gonna give it to the city and again LaMandry He's got this great contract with you guys. I mean, he got it illegally. Nobody addresses the issue. It was illegal. You never authorized the city manager to issue an RFP for $150,000. Now here's what I'd like to suggest that you do. I would like to suggest that you receive the report and petition drive results. And that you direct the city clerk to tell the PBID to give me all of the information that was used to create, and who the people, I don't even know who signed the petitions. I want to go back to the people who signed the petitions and make sure they are aware that they're going to increase their taxes by 200-400%. That's in the memos.

from Graham Mischel saying how are we going to sell this thing when we're selling it at 200% to 400% increase in taxes. Now, how hard is it to stop the madness here and investigate what I have said is wrong here? Three of you are up for election. You're going to have to go before the voters Mitchell has already cost you $100,000 in his misplaced belief that the PBIB does not apply under the Brown Act. We all know that's wrong and he wasted $100,000 of your money and then he gets in bed with a man who has A savory past. He's been investigated for two years by the FBI and the San Diego County District Attorney, yet he gets a no-bid contract. You guys spent $200,000 on this guy to get to this point today, to where we are today. Please don't make me sue you and believe me I don't want to go out there and hire another attorney and sue to overturn this action but I'm telling you right now you don't have legal authority to bring this forward and so I'm going to leave it to you again.

Remember, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. If you vote to go forward, you created the problem and it's on you when you talk to the voters. Thank you.

Sir we received another comment, a remote comment from Truth. Just

one second, I want to talk to Graham Mitchell real quick. We're being accused of wasting $150,000 and for hiring Mr. LaMandri wasn't the P bid that hired Mr. LaMandri?

He's he did we did the city to hire him to do a study of the P bid generally that was under my authority approved budgeted by the City Council so there was full approval there then The P-BID issued an RFP as Mr. Prescott mentioned, there was four bidders and the P-BID board chose New City America to be the executive director. I'm not quite sure what $100,000 he's referring to.

But just to be clear it was the P-bid that entered into contract with Mr. Lemandrieu's group?

That is correct.

Not the city of El Cajon? That is correct. Okay. We have another speaker.

Yes we have a remote caller, Truth.

Hello Truth.

Hi there I actually did not sign up for this item but you know what that's okay because I do have a thought about it. I just had two quick thoughts and that is I am a little bit concerned about businesses having another tax Now, I did kind of skim it. I don't think the tax is seen as extreme, but that's right now. What about later? If the PBIT actually finds a lot of value at first raising in value of the property and the existence of itself what are those taxes going to look like because there's a lot of small businesses on Main Street. And I am a little bit concerned in the future how that's gonna play out if it's kinda gonna result in gentrification I'm a little bit concerned for small business how that's going to end up for them in the long run, but I think overall could be a positive thing.

Yeah, a little more transparency. Oh that was the other point. Transparency. A little more transparency because I did...I was concerned about that too. The clerk says there's new information suddenly available you do need to provide that to the public so i would just ask is it available online right now and when what time was it available online because I think legally you have to have it within what 48-72 hours? I could be wrong but that's generally the rule uh so thanks

Thanks, truth. That's it? OK. Back to City Council for discussion or somebody like to make a motion?

Yeah, I'll make a motion to receive the report. Adopt the resolution to approve the resolution of intent to set a public hearing and direct the ballots to be mailed to affected property owners. And doesn't need the city manager. Or does it need about yes in the city's ballot and support the creation of downtown Community Benefit District? And I'll make my final motion to accept the management district plan and the engineers report proposed for CBD.

It's been moved and seconded, please vote.

Motion carries by unanimous vote.

Thank you. Item seven is an update on social services and business incubator programs. And I'd like to ask our staff to tell us about this.

Hi there, good afternoon Honorable Mayor and City Council. My name is Ryan Villegas I'm a senior management analyst in the city manager's office today this report will be an update on the social services and the business incubator projects or programs that are at 405 East Lexington Avenue. So here's a quick roadmap of where we're going to be going today. I'm going to provide a recommendation first, then I'll go into background. I'll give an update on the status of the building improvements and then I'll actually hand off the presentation to the Caldean Community Council who will provide updates on the two programs that are over there.