Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare a resolution in support of women, LGBTQIA+ and other employees who have filed complaints of harassment by various employees of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and supports the calls for a Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
Thank you. Item 16, please. Communication from Councilwoman Price. Councilwoman Mango. Councilwoman Sauro. Councilman Austin. Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare a resolution in support of MWD employees filing harassment complaints. Thank you. This is who is the lead author on this. He went second this councilwoman Price. Yes. Councilwoman Price. Yes, please. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, and I'd like to urge my colleagues to support this item. But before I make any of my own comments, I want to say first, is there any public comment on this item? I believe we have some. Madam Clerk. Yes. Our first speaker is Greg O'Shea. In the first District. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Honorable council members. But in this regard, see, I'm the president of the Water Management District Local to that city, and I want to express support for this measure. It goes without saying, given the reason that how difficult the difficulties that public employees face in the areas of sexual harassment and workplace. Discrimination. And I think it would be an expression of respect for the employees of the Metropolitan Water District and for your own employees, for you to take a stand against this sort of behavior and to let them know loud and clear that this will not work. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Daniel De La Cruz. Good evening. Please begin. Yes. Good evening, Honorable Mayor and the city council. My name is Daniel Dela Cruz. I'm a resident of our district for formal ABC Local 3620 President and Current AC 3634 member. I'm here because of the situation that an article came out three weeks ago. An investigation by the L.A. Times revealed a pattern of rampant sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and retaliation at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. This appalling abuse in the workplace must be thoroughly investigated, while the review initiated by the MWD board. OPI and committee is a positive start. M MWD workers need a full comprehensive investigation into any and all misconduct taking place at the MWD. Not a process that is limited in scope and may be inadequate. We cannot allow these severe problems to be quickly swept under the rug. Every worker deserves a fair, safe and equitable workplace. And if incidents of misconduct take place, their stories must be taken seriously. That's why today I'm joining MWD workers in calling for California state auditor to complete their own ideas into the abusive workplace culture at the MWD. Workers need the full comprehensive review into these matters that was promised and is so desperately needed. Abusers and their enablers must be held accountable for their actions. And the MWD must institute structural reforms that increase oversight to ensure reports of misconduct aren't ignored. A state audit is the only way to provide justice for these workers and to ensure this type of abuse never happens again. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Gina Chavez. Believe me, Mayor Garcia. Oh, I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Yes. Please begin. Okay. Good evening, Mayor Christian Council members. My name is Gina Chavez and I'm a plant mechanic at Metropolitan Water District. I'm also the first woman and first Native American Hispanic graduate from the Apprenticeship Mechanical Program, one of two women still working in their field at MWD. And more recently, I'm one of the women who have come forward in the two 1221 LA Times article to speak about the corrosive work environment under MWD Executive Management. I'm speaking to item number 16 and continuing from Ellen Mackey's written comments. MWD cannot continue to waste ratepayers money on abusive management. Further background In November 2020, the Women's Caucus, together with three board members Sylvia Belen, Charles Trevino and Don Ortega, strongly requested an independent outside investigation of a culture of abuse at MWD. Not only the desert, but all the facilities. We specifically stipulated a thorough, full investigation that ranged freely to include every witness and issue raised since then. Not only were Trevino and Ortega removed, it seems this investigation itself has been compromised through interference from MWD board chair and MWD executive management. We are requesting this Council send a message to the MWD board that you, number one, support an independent outside investigation that is uncompromised and without interference. Two, to support the request for a state audit which complements the independent investigation. And three, support the SB 331 that nullifies nondisclosure agreements which silences MWD victims. As MWD faces the selection of a new general manager and increased legislative scrutiny due to the workplace abuses, it is critical that Long Beach is informed regarding these issues. Abusers and their enablers must be held accountable for their actions, and MWD must insist to structural reform that increases oversight to ensure reports of this context are not ignored. A state audit is the only way to provide justice for workers workers like me to ensure this type of abuse never happens again. We thank Council member Suzy Price and the rest of the Long Beach Council, city or City Council members to move and support Resolution 20 10167. In addition, I invite you to listen to an interview with Claudia Stamper on the KUCI Assa Leader from two 2321, and you'll hear more about her experiences firsthand. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes public comment for this item. Thank you. Let me go ahead and go back to the council. I have council member Austin. Actually, Mr. Mayor. Can I say I wanted to reserve my comments till after public comment? Can I say a few words as a start? Thank you. Thank you. So much. I think we'll go to Councilman Price and we've go to Councilman. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. So as many well, most of the council members know now and members of the public who may not know, there have been recent reports, substantiated allegations by female and LGBTQ plus employees who are working in nontraditional female jobs of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California regarding allegations of workplace harassment and bullying. The incidents have been highlighted in recent L.A. Times news articles, as well as discussed by Assembly members and state senators in our capital. Unfortunately, sexual harassment in the workplace and especially in the construction and building trade environments is well known and often reported reality. There are numerous white papers that have surveyed women in nontraditional roles and the experiences that they have that prohibit them from thriving in those environments. The reason this issue is important to me and why I've brought it forward is because what these women are requesting and again, several of the allegations have been substantiated. So this isn't at this point an issue of he said she said, but rather substantiated allegations that these employees really want to have a fair process in adjudicating. And that's really what I support. I very much support and ask my council colleagues to support a resolution that offers these workers, as we would want for any workers in any environment that's public serving, to provide a fair process that's objective and not designed to reach a particular conclusion. I know that the state legislatures who have weighed in on this issue have recommended that the Joint Legislative Audit Committee provide an oversight or a review of this particular issue in order to provide a fair process to the people who have been harassed and bullied and have raised those concerns. Now, I just want to make one thing very clear, and I know those who read the agenda items read this. I don't want to really repeat it to them. But just to be clear, this agenda item does not seek to interfere in any manner with the operations of MWD. It's not the role of the Long Beach City Council to tell another entity or another operation how to run its practices. But and nor does this resolution seek to prejudge the veracity of the allegations of bullying or sexual harassment or workplace discrimination. It doesn't even serve to render an opinion on whether any wrongdoing occurred. The purpose of the resolution is simply to demonstrate that the Long Beach City Council stands in support of and with the women and LGBTQIA plus employees who worked in these nontraditional roles and serve the public through their service, in their desire to receive a fair process and a thorough consideration of their allegations and concerns. We stand in support of their ask and their passion for having a fair process in which to voice their story and be able to have some spotlight on what they experience and that hope that that objective overview will result in a positive impact for these individuals as well as for the organization. So I ask my colleagues to please support this item. Thank you, Councilman Austin. I thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to thank Councilmember Price for bringing forward this item and it really articulating why it's so important for us to support this. This request requesting a resolution in support of an intimate pendant audit at MWD, I think as Meredith. I am very disturbed and concerned by the recent press reports regarding complaints being really not fully investigated or that the feeling of that employees, that these complaints are not being fully investigated. These are are women who work in nontraditional work environments. When you say nontraditional work environments to understand where the Metropolitan Water District work environments are, the work sites are, they are in some of the most obscure places in our state. And that should be taken into consideration in places that are not easily accessible or or at all. And at this this city council has a strong history of supporting workers, women workers in distress and experienced in abusive work environments. These are very serious allegations based in the Metropolitan Water District that our city should take very seriously as well. And so I am happy to support this, I think. Thank you. Next up is on the kill list. Sorry about that. We have councilwoman in the house. Thank you, Mayor. And I am so very grateful to Councilwoman Price for bringing this item today. And these reports of harassment will be far from shocking to most, if not all, of the women listening tonight. And it's important that we voice our commitment as a city to changing that. It is my hope as a unified council and government and city government that we can demonstrate with our words and our actions that we have an obligation to end harassment against women and the LGBTQ community and everyone who has been a victim of mistreatment in the workplace. I have never been a big fan of women in nontraditional roles. And but these are some of the consequences that unintended consequences that happen in these roles, and that shouldn't be. So I'm very, very proud of Councilwoman Price for bringing this item forward. And I hope that the whole council is able to support this item going forward. Thank you. Thank you. Council member Ringo. Thank you, Mayor. As far as I'm concerned, any job for anybody is intolerable. It should not be tolerated anywhere. Employee. Supporter wouldn't say thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Allen. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Councilwoman Pryce and the Cosigners, Austin, Mongo and Ciro for bringing this forward. You know, items like this are just long overdue. And everyone should have, you know, should be working in a safe working environment. And what this resolution does, it sends a clear message that harassment of any kind is unacceptable and it will be investigated and it will not be tolerated. And I completely support this president and this resolution. Thank you, Councilwoman Ciro. You, Mayor. I want to thank Councilmember Price for bringing the item forward and having me join her and as well as the cosigner. You know, I'm just disheartened that even after we've had such strong vocal movement towards against harassment, that not only females but also LGBTQ, I feel class workers face. And so I I've appreciated that, you know, we are taking a stance. And I hope that all of my councilmember colleagues will support the item as well, that we continue to take a stance against sexual harassment in all workplaces and all industries, regardless of where they work. And I also just want to speak that at some point I hope that these roles within as we encourage women to work more in these STEM industries is that they become less of what is described for people as nontraditional roles and that they become traditional as somebody who went on the STEM pathway. I hope that we make it more inviting and that it may make it more inclusive for all genders to be able to work in a way where it doesn't distinguish them from what is traditional or not. So. So I am supportive of this item and thank you very much. Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, you know, we're a large city and the region pays attention to the statements that we make. And, you know, this water district, it's a large regional water district. And we again, we're engaged in a number of different regional boards. And I think this makes sense to pass this resolution to state that, you know, this is something that certainly deserves a statewide audit. And, you know, the things accused the things accused are very serious. And we should be on the right side of this and encourage this agency and the state to take appropriate action. So I certainly think this is an appropriate move for us to make, given our significance in the region, second largest city in the region. So I think it's important for us to do and I'm happy to support this. Thanks, Councilmember Price, another great item. Thanks a lot. Thank you. That concludes the Council comments. We have done public comment and we will do a roll call vote. District one. I. District two. I. District three. I. District four. I. District five. I. District six. I. District seven. By District eight. District nine. High motion carries. Thank you. We're going to quickly do item 20, please, and then we'll go back up to the last two items.