City Council — March 3, 2026

I would like to note that the interpreter this evening is Jose Paz. Please raise your hand and ask him for a listening device if you would like interpretation services. I'd like to call this meeting to order for the City Council meeting of March 3rd, 2026. Madam Clerk can you please call the roll?

Thank You Madam Mayor with respect to the two items 3a and 3b instructions were provided to the labor negotiators and information from the attorney was provided on the existing litigation no further report is necessary

Thank you. Next item is the public comment period, Madam Kirk will you please read the criteria?

Yes, Madam Mayor. Speakers may provide public comments on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council. Each speaker will be limited to three minutes a maximum of 15 minutes for public comment period unless majority of the council objects the mayor may provide speakers more or less time speak All comments or queries shall be addressed to the council as a body and not to any specific member thereof. Pursuant to Government Code 54954.282, the Ralph M. Brown Act no action or discussion by the City Council shall be undertaken on any item not appearing on the posted agenda except to briefly provide information, ask for clarification, provide direction to staff, or schedule a matter for future meeting.

Thank you. And we have three requests to speak. I'll let Gary Hall, followed by Rochelle Carr, followed by Dina Rae Saris.

Good evening Madam Mayor, Council Members, staff and the citizens of Santa Maria. My name is Gary Hall. I'm a resident of Rancho Buena Vista Mobile Estates at 2135 North Railroad Avenue here in Santa Maria. I represent the North Santa Barbara County Manufactured Homeowners Team, or NESBIT. NESBIT's primary goal remains to provide protection to all Santa Maria mobile home residents presently living in an unregulated rental market.

We are simply asking for the City of Santa Maria to stand with us Maintaining affordable housing. Affordable mobile home living is vanishing here in Santa Maria and all across the state. I have repeatedly reminded you that on June 7th, 2022 nearly four years ago this council passed a motion with the intention of improving the 2020 model lease or replacing it.

It has done neither. We believe now is the time to take action to replace the model lease with a uniform, mandatory and enforceable mobile home rent stabilization program much like those in our neighboring city and county jurisdictions. Santa Maria's mobile home seniors also continue to live with the ongoing threat that their senior mobile home park could be converted into an all-age park as was attempted at Del Cielo Senior Mobile Home Park in Orchid.

I brought this to the council's attention on August 20th, 2024. Now 18 months later we remain hopeful the draft senior mobile home park zoning overlay ordinance being developed by Santa Maria community development personnel and apparently still in internal review will soon be completed and adopted. It's past time to add both mobile home rent stabilization and senior mobile home park conversion prevention to near-term future meeting agenda.

Now my final comment is to inform you that the Nesbitt Board of Directors finds the ongoing ICE abuse of power, both locally and nationally as appalling. Immigrants documented or not are human beings and should be treated humanely The Constitution and due process should be enforced, not ignored. We must find appropriate ways to address immigration. The February 3rd resolution of support was a good first step but now we share the hope of others that an Immigration Ad Hoc Committee will be allowed to develop a meaningful path forward the entire city could support.

Thank you

Rochelle Carr. Is Ms. Carr here?

Hello Mayor Patino and Santa Maria City Council members. My name is Rochelle Carr, and I am a nurse. I live and work in Santa Maria, and I am a volunteer with 805 UndocuFund as a legal observer of ICE activity which is my right under the First Amendment of the Constitution. I was observing at the ICE office last night at 6.30 p.m., and then I waved to my friend saying bye as I proceeded to drive home.

In my rearview mirror, I then saw a black Dodge Caravan with a cage in it and an ICE agent driving it, and then proceeded to attempt... It proceeded to attempt to drive me home, to follow me home which I believe is absolutely not part of their job description Luckily, I was able to call my friend via our hotline number at 805-870-8855 for help in the case that there was something more that was about to happen.

I pulled over at Waller Park and my friend came and the ICE agent decided to leave the situation. So if you would like to access a network of vetted friends who care about each other and social justice, I highly encourage you to join our organization. Here are some flyers with a QR code that take you to our volunteer sign up page where you can learn more about the different roles and sign up for the next in-person training.

So I just wanted to make sure that this event that happened last night at 6 30 p.m Was publicly documented in case something worse should happen to me Like what happened to alex pretty who was murdered by ice agents? I would love for the city council to stand up for our first amendment rights and hold law enforcement Accountable for their actions when they choose to try to intimidate residents and jeopardize people's safety This was not the first time this has happened to one of our volunteers Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Patina. I want to thank you for being here, City Council members. The point I was going to make was about the camping process. We have no camping actually in Santa Maria except for the Fair Park which is very generous but that's a little overrated. The tourists are kind of resumed to go further to the coast to Pismo Coast. We have a bulletin board out Coming into Santa Maria, I noticed it the other night about camping and the Skyview motorhomes. You can go buy your trailer or you can park it somewhere but we don't have camping and I've been here over 63 years born and raised here in Santa Maria.

Camper as it is, I want to thank you for letting me do my residing here in Santa Maria. I work with the Homeless Coalition quite a bit and we're trying to lower it, you know, to keep people facilitated, housed, worked and keep being of service. I would really think that maybe to keep tourists involved in Santa Maria and they're going to be up and down the Central Coast, especially for our barbecue And they have a lot of interest in Santa Maria still.

One other thing, I think there's a lot of empty facilities here in Santa Maria and the building, I don't have any, you know small town girl in Santa Maria, 63 year olds and it's growing so fast. You've done a great job by the way. I think that we need to look at all the empty facilities and try to re-establish. And maybe rather than building so much, I think the apartments across where Mervyn's is at it's going to be great if you want to live downtown. I'm more of a country girl and I think it's growing a little fast but I want to thank you very much. And there's still a lot of property available. Thank You Mayor Patino and Council Members.

Mr. Escobedo?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Before we move on I would like to present a letter of notification. Dear Mayor and Council Members, please accept this letter of formal notice of my resignation from my position as Council Member for District 1 with the City of Santa Maria effective March 3rd, 2026. Due to my upcoming move outside District 1, I will no longer meet the residency requirement necessary to continue serving in this role.

While this decision comes with mixed emotions, I believe stepping down is the appropriate and responsible course of action. Serving the residents of District 1 and the broader Santa Maria community has been a tremendous honor. I'm deeply grateful for the trust placed in me, and for the opportunity to work alongside dedicated staff and community partners in service our city.

I'm committed to supporting a smooth transition prior my departure. Thank you again for the privilege of serving our community. Respectfully, Carlos Escobedo, City Councilmember District 1

So that's effective

now.

Do we talk about what happens next?

As as surprised as I am, I will be providing the council with a memorandum as to next steps. But as of right now that seat is vacant and probably the next election would be the municipal election in November prior to that may be an appointment but I have some work to do so.

Thank

you. Equally surprised.

So staff didn't have prior notice of this? No

There will be an election. There will be an election in November, but between now and then I will provide legal opinion to council on

appointment

whether or not an appointment and how such an appointment would take place

Thank you, Mr. Watson. Now we move to the consent calendar. Does anyone have items they wish to pull for discussion? None. Okay do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a second? Second. Have we heard a motion and a second any further discussion? Hearing none Madam Clerk can you please call the roll

Council Member Soto? Aye. Council Member Aguilera?

Here, aye.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and City Council Members. The item before you tonight is a clarification in Ordinance No. 2025-03 regarding fee approval authority. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that final approval authority for all new Recreation Park fees And increases to existing fees rest with the City Council. As you recall, on June 3rd 2025 council approved a standardized methodology for establishing recreation and park fees.

At that time council also authorized the Recreation Parks Commission to conduct public hearings on proposed fee changes and forge its recommendation to council for consideration and adoption. At the time of establishing the fee for the new Japanese Community Center, it was identified that wording in section 10-1-02 could be interpreted as allowing the commission to adopt fees subject only later to council review.

While council would have retained the ability to repeal those fees, that structure does not clearly reflect council's intent for fees that require approval before taking effect. This amendment before you tonight corrects that ambiguity. Specifically, it requires City Council approval by resolution or ordinance before any Recreation and Parks fee or fee increase may become effective.

It removes the language suggesting that commission adopted fees take effect prior to council action and preserves the Recreation and Parks Commission authorized role to conduct public hearings and provide recommendations to City Council. This action does not change the adopted fee methodology. It does not remove the Commission's role in the process, and it does not establish or modify any current fees. It simply aligns the municipal code with a governance structure Council has previously directed.

There is no fiscal impact associated with this clarification. The staff recommend introduction of the amended ordinance number 2025-03 to clarify the Recreation and Parks Fee Approval Authority. This amendment is about process clarity, ensuring that the municipal code accurately reflects Council's policy direction and approval authority. I'm available for any questions.

Are there any questions from the council? Are there any requests to speak, Madam Clerk? For 11A.

Not for 11A, Madam Mayor. Okay.

Do I have a motion? Second. I have a motion and second. Any further discussion? If not, Madam Clerk can you please call the roll?

Good evening Ms. Campbell. Good evening Mayor, members of Council. Rebecca Campbell, Director of Finance. And so we have a presentation. And so I'm here tonight to represent and go over the Measure U fund, and the annual report for the period ending for fiscal year 24-25. So I'll present the report and then ask that you file the committee's annual report. Looking at the history of Measure U. On June 5th, the electors of the City of Santa Maria adopted the Measure U-2012 and it provided for an additional quarter cent transaction in use tax at the time.

The city started receiving those revenues in 2013 and increase their essential city services, primarily police and fire. The Measure U tax was established, the committee was established in July of 2012. And they were established by the City Council to ensure that there was transparency over the Measure U funds. They also review an annual report and financial statement, and they make findings and then present that to council every year.

In November of 2018, 74% of the voters in Santa Maria extended and enhanced the Measure U transaction and use tax from a quarter cent to a full cent tax rate. And that went into effect in April of 2019. In March of 2019, the City Council set goals and objectives related to the Measure U funds. The goals were to first maintain services and second, to make enhancements.

The objectives are to make San Maria safer and more services for youth and the quality of life. To meet these goals and objectives, the City Council authorized Measure U proceeds and established a fund structure of 90% of the funds to go towards public safety, 5% for youth services, and 5% to the quality of life. Okay. So this chart represents the measure you financials for fiscal year 2425 we reviewed this information with the committee on January 26 of 2026 So just going over the numbers, the adopted budget all the way to the left column.

We started with $26.7 million in revenue. We budgeted $31.1 million in expenses. That budget was amended So that there was 26.9 million in revenue and 37.6 million in expenditures, so that's the current budget in the second column. What was included in that and why the expenditures increase was we had rollovers from the previous year that came into this year, and those rollovers included some unfinished maintenance projects, equipment, vehicles, and capital. And all of those items are outlined at page two of the report.

Looking at the year-end actual column, so that's the second to the last column. We ended up closing the year with 25.9 million in revenue which was short of our expectation at 96.5%. And the expenditures were $29.9 million. So looking over the departments, the city manager's office was down in their expenditures. They came in $500,000 under budget and that was related to Motorola CAD, the computer aided dispatch project which will carry over into this current fiscal year 2526.

Recreation and parks they had some operational savings but they also had some carryovers that extended into the year we're in now. Fire was significantly down 64.5% and those were due to one time projects carrying over as well. And police was right on pretty close to being on target at 99.6%. So if you look, the actuals closely represent the operational spending in this budget. So this is concerning here on in that second to last column our expenditures are exceedingly over what we're bringing in and revenue for measure you But I do want to remind you, in January we brought the rebalancing effort and we're continuing to work on the budget. So what we, the action that you took in January should help to bring the Measure U budget more in line.

So we'll bring that update to you as we move along in the budget process. Looking over the measure you and getting diving a little deeper into the departments. The city manager's office for so this is what we're funding, we have one full time equivalent public education and government production manager position. The budget included some funding for operational expenses related to the, we call it the peg We also had a $1.2 million CAD RMS computer-aided dispatch project in that budget.

In community development, a total of six code enforcement officers were supported by the Measure U funding going into the budget. When we adopted the budget, one code enforcement officer was taken off of Measure U funds and put into the general fund. And that was to keep that 95-5-5 ratio and meet the council's goals and objectives. In the finance department there is a small amount there budgeted for the Measure U audit.

And in FHIR, Measure U funds 49.8 positions that are supported And due to that balancing of objectives and goals, we did include costs for the regional dispatch which opened in May as well as funding for the Fire Station One expansion project. Looking at library funding when the budget was adopted, it supported 7.6 full-time and part-time staff. When we entered, we did reduce by a position and that got moved to the general fund to keep that 95-5 ratio.

And there was $45,000 for architectural services for capital improvement project. In the police department, Measure U supported 54 positions For 2425 and when we were able to fund six police officer positions that were previously authorized but unfunded. And they also included some operational funds for building maintenance and upgrades. For recreation in parks a total of 19.2 positions were supported by measure you and in 2425 in this budget as well 7.6 positions were moved to the general fund to keep that 95 5 ratio.

Also included were some capital funds for the veterans Memorial Park and some equipment So looking at the results. So this represents the expenditures and where the results came in to meet the council's goals and objectives when we reviewed this with the measure you committee they did make one recommendation that night and they just originally we had included the cad RMS Motorola Dispatch project in the city manager's office that was in the quality of life category And so they recommended that we put it in the public safety Category and we agreed So we moved it over and then really the targets came out right on track of your goals and priorities Looking at the status of the measure you fund balance I So we entered the year with unassigned $6.2 million and ended the year with 2.3, and included in that was 6.3 of carryover funds that we nearly used all up at the end of the year.

We started the year with 12.5 million incoming fund balance, and we ended the year with 8.6 to roll to the next year. So with that, could I answer any questions? Or I would ask that you receive and file the report. Any questions of the council?

Yes.

Ms.

Soto? Thank you for the report and thank you to the Measure U Oversight Committee for their diligence and preparation for today. I saw that in the report you mention that measure you revenues came in below projection and it's interesting because when we amended. The budget for measure you we actually increase it was minimally it was a minimal increase, but nonetheless an increase and so given that revenues were less than projected.

Would you say that we are potentially seeing a broader trend when it comes to sales tax decline in the city? And how would those projections inform upcoming budget discussions?

Yes, unfortunately statewide. We're seeing sales tax pretty flat right now and so That's what we have to work at work with last year in our budget. Our sales tax came in near and nearly under almost flat, but we were able to we had an increase in our property tax and growth in our property tax which made up for it so right now looking ahead or It was with folks from Santa Barbara auditor's office last week, and I asked them about the property tax. What are we looking for? They said probably about 2% growth which you know when you look at your costs it's our costs are outweighing our revenue increases so right now we're anticipating a nearly flat sales tax growth and very minimal property tax growth So we'll have to just deal with that as we plan for the budgeting moving forward

Right right and I think this is also very telling because when we adopted the budget we adopted it knowing that expenses were going to outweigh revenues but my understanding that was because of carryover projects and so. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding was that we had about $6 million in carryovers from the year prior. And so how common is that for us to see those large carryovers year after year? And will that also impact our ability to project?

Yes we it happens because if there's construction projects or. You know, there may be other circumstances where purchases take longer than a year. We've got to plan for those so we'll carry those projects over but we take that into account and if we don't spend it, it should fall to the fund balance and it should be available for the next year but then we also have to take into account our revenues and our new operational expenses and so we take it all into account But so you really want to plan for what your spending is, what you're receiving on an operational and then what you're saving can be carried over here for your one time projects. And then if you have excess fund balance and you save during the year, you can work towards other one time projects.

That's the goal of the budgeting. And so we do take that into account and we had some big projects budgeted, and they continue to carry over into this year so we'll be looking at that as well.

Can you remind me how much we're expecting to carry over into this year?

I don't have that right now but I can get that for you.

Yeah, and the reason why I'm asking this question is because during Saturday session we were talking about just increased costs when it comes Shipping materials, and so we're carrying projects over. I would assume that those expenses may also be slightly higher or may just be higher because we're delaying the projects versus getting them done. So I don't

yeah or they could be taking more time. You know like we had the I'll just give you one example was the fire station one expansion. We know that project's going to take a long time but I want to remind you as well that we put it on hold in January of 2026 so we'll have to see and we're gonna have to reevaluate that project to see how we're gonna fund it.

Those are all my questions thank you for the report

any other questions

no

Madam Clerk, do we have any requests to speak or written comments?

Not for item 11B, no Madame Mayor.

Thank you. Do I have a motion and a second?

I move that we receive and file the Measure U Citizens Oversight Committee Annual Report. I'll second.

I have a motion and a second. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none, Madame Clerk?

Thank you, Madam Mayor and City Council. This item tonight is to discuss whether you want to potentially form an Immigration Ad Hoc Committee. If City Council elects to form an Immigration Ad Hoc Committee a list of responsibilities will be developed for your consideration at an upcoming City Council meeting so I'll turn it over to you for your discussion and deliberation.

Mayor one other thing. Yes, Mr. If the if a committee is so determined to be any appointment there too would be at the next at the next meeting together with the you wouldn't take nomination for that this evening. Okay, because we need to form the committee.

Madam Mayor

yes miss

Soto

given that I was the one who brought this forward last August I would like to just provide some further context. I know that conversations will most likely still be pending after tonight's vote, but nonetheless, I figured that I'd come prepared as that was something that was requested by my colleagues last time we discussed. And so you know something that I was considering for what I was considering for this committee You know, for the structure to be, you know, two council members to sit on that committee. Having a community advisor sit on that committee as well as legal support from our city attorney's office and city manager's office as well as perhaps the chief of police to sit on this committee.

In terms of the purpose of the committee It would be to review existing city policies and practices related to immigration matters, assess the local impacts of immigration enforcement on Santa Maria residents and institutions. Ensure that our policies are clearly aligned with applicable state and our constitutional laws. And develop policy recommendations for the council to consider for consideration that clarify the appropriate use of city resources and to strengthen community trust. And the way that I would foresee this committee to fulfill that purpose would be through policy review and legal alignment, so reviewing current city policies regarding the compliance with the California Values Act and any other related state law Ensure that city funds, personnel, facilities, equipment or data are not used to assist with any civil immigration enforcement.

Work with the City Attorney's Office to ensure that any recommendations of course are legal and defensible. When it comes to our police department there, we would review existing police department policies to confirm alignment with state law regarding the non-enforcement of civil immigration law. Assess whether additional policy transparency or public clarification would strengthen community understanding and trust Request information from the police chief and review data from DHS regarding inquiries, notifications, requests to the city or any related communications involving the city for us to also better understand the volume and the nature of interactions if there are any.

And also have, of course, community input and assess the community impact. So convene stakeholder meetings with representatives from schools, businesses, faith leaders, legal service providers, youth organizations and community-based groups. This would also give us the opportunity to document impacts of the current immigration enforcement climate on public safety, school attendance, workforce participation and access to city services.

And then when it comes to community support and resource evaluation Evaluate lawful policy options within our city's authority to support immigrant residents, including the feasibility of contributing to or supporting immigrant legal defense efforts in the City of Santa Maria and guidelines for lawful use of city facilities for informational workshops or community support services.

I know that this was something that my colleagues had asked at the last meeting, more information of what the purpose of the committee would be and what the committee would be working towards. And so I wanted to share that with all of you and see where this conversation takes us tonight.

Thank you. Are there any questions from the council before we start? Okay, I have 24 requests to speak. Instead of three minutes, you'll have two minutes to speak unless anyone wants... Is that fine? That's fine. Start with... Cliff Solomon followed by Esteban Ramirez, followed by Mayra Lopez.

Two minutes. Good evening Mayor Patino and City Council members. My name is Cliff Solomon, and I am involved in a variety of local organizations including Indivisible Santa Maria. I am here tonight to thank you for attending, for agendizing the Immigration Ad Hoc Committee. It has been a long time coming, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts about the committee.

As you know, I have been a strong supporter of creating the Immigration Committee. Why? Mainly because it is a crucial first step towards addressing the challenges we face in Santa Maria as ICE continues to detain innocent people. We just heard a story about this evening. I see this committee is just the beginning. I encourage you to establish the Immigration Ad Hoc Committee so we can start a dialogue on how to tackle the immigration issue. It's essential to involve the local community in this effort.

Several groups speaking tonight have deep knowledge of immigration needs and they must be a part of the conversation. In addition, Councilwoman Soto has repeatedly suggested specific steps for your discussion and they make sense. As I mentioned this is only the first step You will hear from my colleagues about other possible solutions to this problem. I suggest that you consider leasing city buildings at little or no cost to nonprofits offering immigration support services, pass a motion to establish ice-free zones, host a Know Your Rights workshop in Santa Maria to show solidarity with the immigrant community.

Again, thank you for agendizing the Immigration Ad Hoc Committee. I look forward to its formation in the City Council to take further steps to make Santa Maria safe for everyone. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Mayra Lopez. I am a student here at El Camino Santa Maria District 2. Today I'm here to advocate for this council to formal establish an immigrant ad hoc committee. This ad hoc committee will help our communities with knowledge and concerns about increasing ICE activities Here within Santa Maria, if established this committee could discuss potential action items and resolution the city can take to protect our immigrant community. This includes allocating buildings to non-profit Leading this immigration support services for little or no cost. We also need information on when, where ICE is located at all times. So we request information and transparency from SMPDS, Chef Williams regarding any actions towards educating officers on the new state laws that are now in effect as well prohibit any information with ICE.

We are the biggest city in the SB county with Latino immigrants. Yet, the council has failed our community. In Santa Maria alone we had 435 kidnappings. that we know of. In Santa Barbara County altogether, 671. We want Advocate Hope community to be led by council members Gloria Soto and Gloria Flores who have been more receptive to this issue. Community is not just a word without the actual people in it. This community needs to feel safe People are scared to take their kids to school, immigrant or non-immigrant. We're tired of hearing no for an answer. We need to be heard and taken seriously.

I myself am worried to be judged by the color of my skin. We urge this council to take a strong and principled stand. Thank you.

Emily Diaz, followed by Elvia Salazar. Followed by Rochelle Carr.

Buenas tardes alcaldesa y concejales.

Good evening Mayor Patino and council members.

Mi nombre es Elvia Salazar y soy una orgullosa residente de Santa Maria, California. Hoy estoy aquí para instar encarecidamente a este consejo a que establezca formalmente un comité ad hoc sobre inmigración.

My name is Elvia Salazar I'm a Residents in Santa Maria, today I'm here to instill and be here to talk what I feel. And formally be here as a committee of the ADHOC about immigration.

Este comité ayudaría a abordar las preocupaciones de nuestras comunidades sobre el aumento de la actividad de AIS en Santa Maria.

This committee will help the community with the activity of the AIS in Santa Maria.

If this committee will succeed, we will help the community and resolve the immigration in the community. First, we will send to ICE

or the director of ICE copies and numbers of people that have been arrested in Santa Maria, and the activities that the ICE has been doing illegally.

También ayudaría que la Ciudad de Santa Maria organice talleres sobre el tema de Conoce Tus Derechos.

Also, that Santa Maria organize workshops to raise your rights. We would like to have places, buildings where immigrants could go and have services with a reduced cost or no cost.

I insist

That this adoption of this committee is because of our work and prioritize our

Go ahead

and continue. The City of Santa Maria and the community, thank you.

Gracias. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Emily. I'm only here to strongly urge you guys to establish an immigration ad hoc committee. Not only will this committee help our community but it will also help them to feel heard. It'll help the parents know that they have support within the community by being able to get many things from this committee I myself have been in fear about my family being torn apart by people I don't even know.

When my niece is born, how can I reassure myself that she can grow up with a father without ICE-free zones? Because now more than ever, our own homes aren't safe for us anymore. Even for us US citizens we can't walk freely without looking over our shoulders praying that one day we could be their next victim. Not because of the way we talk but because of the way we look.

Just in Santa Maria alone there have been over 435 kidnappings. That's the most out of the whole Santa Barbara County. We don't want them to believe that Santa Maria is just an easy target because of our hardworking undocumented community. Without our undocumented community, the city would not be as it is currently. Thank you.

Rochelle Carr followed by Robert Gibson followed by Lorena M. Okay, I'll hold it. Robert Gibson followed by Lorena M followed by Teresa Suarez.

Hello Mayor Patino and council members. I'm here representing UDW, United Domestic Workers and we wanted to show up in support of the creation of an ad hoc committee for immigration. And really would like to respond first to a couple of things. Something said by Mayor Patino in earlier discussions as well as Council Member Flores. For Mayor Patino The discussion about immigration being a federal issue and that much of the control and much of the responsibility lies there, absolutely true. However, there are so many things that can be done at a city level. So we prepared some information sort of like an ad hoc committee. Our team gathered some information to share with you.

What can cities do? We tried to pull from bipartisan, nonpartisan academic resources such as the Transatlantic Council for Migration. And we shared with you their document, Migrations, Local Dividends, How Cities and Regions Can Make the Most of Immigration. We pulled from the George Bush I guess foundation, welcoming immigrants. What state and local policy agendas for helping immigrants can learn?

And how we can help folks belong and contribute to our communities. Again from the Transatlantic Council, immigrant civic integration and service access city-size solutions for city size needs. Also, some city index of best practices at a city level. All of these things are things that can be done at the city level. We found many more resources but those are just a few and we would like for you to one respond to what your says on your website that you'll respond to the community's needs And then also to trust the community. This should be trust-based civic engagement here. Trust us to participate with you in good faith in developing recommendations

for our future. Thank you, Mr. Gibson. This is what you gave us? That's what we gave you. Thank you very much. Lorena M. Teresa Suarez.

Good evening Mayor Patino and Council Members. I have come before you various times, I live and work and have family in the City of Santa Maria District 3. I'm one of the Youth Coordinators for Take You With My Cup and a member of the 805 Immigrant Coalition. Once again, I am asking you respectfully to support the establishment of an immigrant ad hoc committee I truly believe that through this committee we can create a space where we can stop generalizing, where we can stop making hurtful comments and where we can stop respond to residents with empathy instead of putting them down.

Remaining silent during this process is being complicit. And the majority of the council members have remained silent when the only time to speak up is to question us in defense rather than to understand our lived experiences. It deepens that divide. We're asking for support, we're asking to come together yet there has been very little interest and it is heartbreaking that our most vulnerable community members are youth and children are witnessing your current process and losing hope in their city leaders. This climate of fear is also affecting your participations in schools and extracurricular activities, students are afraid to stay after school for sports clubs tutoring and leadership programs because they don't feel safe Things are escalating.

How much further are we willing to let them escalate before we take actions? Put yourself in our shoes. Would you be okay if you or your family members are racially profiled because of the way you look, the color of your skin, or your accent and so on? We have many stories. How many do you need to hear before action is taken? We're asking you to meet with us and work towards real solutions together. Thank you.

Teresa Suarez followed by Fernando Martinez, followed by Adam.

Good evening mayor and council members and the community. My name is Lorena I'm a resident of Santa Maria. I am here today to strongly urge this council to formally establish an immigration ad hoc committee. This ad hoc committee would help address our communities concerns on the increasing ICE activity within Santa Maria. We've seen how families are living in constant fear across the city. Parents are scared to go to work or even drop their children off at school, some even asking their neighbors if they could take their kids to school for them because they're in fear that they'll be taken. High school students like myself and my peers should be anxious about applying to colleges or even waiting on their college decisions, refreshing their emails and thinking about their future.

Students should be worried about tests or practice after school. Instead, many are worrying about whether or not their parents will come home. The stress of living under constant threat isn't just emotional but it destabilizes families, disrupts children's educations and has already weakened the trust we have in our local government By creating this community, you would be taking a meaningful first step to protect our undocumented community. It would give the city a real space to explore practical actions like seeking transparency about enforcement happening within city limits, making city facilities available to organizations that support immigrant families and discussing policies that ensure city Resources are not used for civil immigration enforcement without proper judicial warrants.

We want this committee to be led by Councilmember Gloria Soto and Councilmember Gloria Flores, and it should include those directly experiencing the challenges such as students, parents, and local residents should all be actively involved in shaping the committee's decisions. Voting yes tonight won't fix everything, but it shows you are willing to take responsibility and listen to the people you represent. I urge this council to take a strong and principled stance and establish this immigration ad hoc committee. Thank you.

You are not Teresa.

I heard Fernando?

No. Teresa Suarez. She just

passed.

I'm sorry, I thought that was Lorena.

Okay,

Fernando?

I'm guessing her right then. I know it was kind of loud but I heard correctly. Well, good evening Mayor Patino and fellow council members. My name is Fernando Martinez. I'm a resident of District 2 with Gloria Flores. I just wanted to come here tonight along with community members, partners, allies to follow up on our request on the formation of the ad hoc committee that was brought up to the Council on the table in September of last year By November, the City Council decided to postpone the discussion of the ad hoc committee just because there was lack of clarity or lack of knowledge in terms of the formation of the ad hoc committee.

And also I would like to note that in the November meeting there is about 30 community members many who were farm workers who were in this meeting space That were not acknowledged and we're not given the time to express how they felt in regards to the support. The city council could do or should do. Since then, a lot of time has passed so it is time for us to continue talking about this ad hoc committee. As you know and Council Member Soto mentioned, this ad hoc committee can be composed of two council members yet I think we think it's valuable to consider inviting community members or partner organizations who are working directly with residents being affected by immigration enforcement within our community.