Recommendation to receive and file an update on the activities of the Veterans Affairs Commission over the past 18 months.  (Citywide)
Motion carries seven zero. 27, please. Item 27 is a report from Health and Human Services recommendation to receive an update on the activities of the Veterans Affairs Commission over the past 18 months. I think you're going to hear the side of and then do the the public comment. Councilman Richardson. Thank you. I wanted to just take a moment and acknowledge the Veterans Affairs Commission and the hard work that they've led. This was one of the third, fourth proposals I brought. The city council was to begin the process of developing this new commission. And I'm really proud of the support that the city council and the Budget Committee and everyone has led to establishing this in the Health Department. We're really proud of their work and we want to see and I'm looking forward to this update. And side note, I want to just sort of refresh this issue that that Veterans Affairs strategic plan is still seeking funding. It's been pegged about $40,000 needed. So we're going to try to advocate for that in this upcoming budget. And so we'll try to keep that issue alive. But I look forward to this this presentation. At the presentation. Thank you. Good evening. Honorable Mayor and council members like to introduce Gina OVERHOLT. She is our program manager for the Veterans Affairs Commission and she'll give a brief report and will be open for questions at the end. Thank you, Kelly. Honorable Mayor Garcia and council members, thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this brief update on the Veterans Affairs Commission. I'm Gina OVERHOLT, the coordinator for the Veterans Affairs Commission, which is administered administrated by the Health Department. Our core purpose, the Long Beach Veterans Commission and advises City Council on matters of importance to veterans in our city. This slide continues and shows additional details on the rules of the commission. It highlights the many achievements of those who have dedicated their lives to protecting the country. Serves as an advisory body to the Council regarding the well-being of military veterans. Provides recommendations pertaining to the affairs of veterans. Evaluates and recommends programs, policies and practices to assist veterans and acts as a central clearinghouse for information, programs and services relating to veterans. One of our objectives. Oh, I'm sorry. The original ordinance ordinance requires that at least four of the nine commissioners be veterans. One from each council district is the nine. We have seven out of nine commissioners are veterans. One of our objectives to act as a central clearinghouse for information, programs and services relating to veterans. Towards this end, we created a Facebook group page where we post on the average five times a week. So the that's just a snapshot of the the cover page and the URL is at the top. So I invite you to be one of the 200 plus followers that we have. Another one of our objectives is to provide recommendations pertaining to the affairs of veterans residing within our city. Towards this end, we've worked with other city departments such as Long Beach Fire. We provided input on the impact of 4th of July fireworks on veterans with PTSD and collaborated on the social media campaign developed around this issue. So this is an example of one of the messages. City Council, as you know, tests the commission with developing a strategic plan that includes programs and policies designed to assist veterans in multiple capacities and build stronger connections between local veterans and the community. What does the commission recommend that the city do to serve and support veterans over the next 2 to 3 years? The plan's recommendations must be thoroughly vetted, supported by data and well-developed, so they provide specific action plans to achieve strategic goals and objectives. The Commission developed temporary working goals based on their insights and expertize as a starting point. Goal one Economic Development Increase veteran employment by advising the City Council on ways to increase transitional employment opportunities, patronage of veteran owned businesses and private business ownership for veterans. Goal two Awareness and Recognition Increase awareness and recognition of all Long Beach Veterans, Service members and their families by advising the City Council on ways to regularly celebrate and recognize our veterans. Goal three Information Resources and Social Support to serve as a clearinghouse for information pertaining to resources, services and social support available to veterans in the Long Beach area. In collaboration with the city and and by advising the City Council, go for underrepresented groups. Identify and raise awareness of underrepresented veteran populations by advising the City Council about groups that may not identify as veterans and therefore may not seek assistance. So where we are now, we've developed a work plan to complete the strategic plan with existing staff collecting data. What exists on the Long Beach veterans population? What data exists on the Long Beach population already? And how do we access it? The next steps data analysis, identifying stakeholders and stakeholder interviews. And the plan is slated for release in July next summer. So I wanted to. Take a moment to invite you to the recognition ceremony for Lone Sailor. We're working with Partners of Parkes on this. It's on Saturday, October 13th, 10:10 a.m. to noon with the presentation starting at 11. The lone sailor is is in Bluff Park at Ocean and Paloma. So then I also wanted to take a moment to let you know that Long Beach Veterans Affairs Commission will also be participating in the 21st annual Veterans Day parade. We invite you to the Veterans Day Parade and Festival, which kicks off at 10 a.m. on Atlantic Avenue in North Long Beach. So the Long Beach Veterans Affairs Commission meets on the second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at the Health Department's main building on Grand Avenue. Thank you, honorable Mayor and Council members for the opportunity to provide this update on the Veterans Affairs Commission. This concludes my presentation and I'm now open for questions. Thank you very much for that presentation. That was great. And I know that we have some of our commissioners here as well. And I just wanted to also thank them for their incredible work on the Commission of Councilor Richardson. Oh, I echo that. Congratulations. We want to make sure that we continue to support this commission. We. I'm really impressed at how engaged all of you have become. You've attended numerous events you were engaged in. You were there when we opened up the new veterans Fowler Plaza at Highland Park. And I look forward to getting you the resources working to get you the resources you need to present a really comprehensive, strategic plan that we can take very seriously. I applaud the work you've already done. The fact that a lot of the things you called out are in alignment with many of the things we've brought up in terms of including ensuring that veterans are included in our economic development strategies and that we continue to place a laser focus on underrepresented groups. So thank you for your hard work and I'm really proud to support you and continue the good work that you're doing. Thank you. Catherine Ashton. Thank you. Also, I second this motion. Thank you for the great report. I want to just recognize the veterans commission because this is a one of our newer commissions and you guys have really stepped up and really taking your role seriously to the point where I think, you know, they've had to say, hey, slow down a little bit, but I'm glad to see that there there's some focus of some some guidance. I speak regularly with our veterans of the commission representative for the eighth District, Sylvia Contreras, her and her husband. I know they're very, very involved. You continue to have my support. And like I said, I'm very encouraged by this report here and keep up the great work. Thank you. Thank you. Councilwoman Gonzalez. I just want to say thank you as well. I come from a long line of veterans and my family. Also being I was married to a marine for that went to Iraq. So a lot of people don't know that about me, but that is really I just really love this commission and all that it's done. What I'm specifically appreciative of is the data analysis portion. And so we're having discussions about digital inclusion. And I would love, as were growing that discussion and including more members, I would love to have one of the members of the Commission come to the digital inclusion discussions to talk about from your angle, what would make that initiative much better. So thank you for your service, your service not to just the city but the country as well. Thank you. Councilor Pearce. I want to echo the same appreciation for service, appreciation for staff. I know our commission sometimes it depends on how much staff energy and how much time and how the commission works together. And this is one of the commissions that I think everyone that's invested in it, including the council members in North Long Beach, have done a great job on. So thank you very much. I look forward to continue to work. I'm particularly excited about the job opportunities in the transitional piece, so let me know how I can help you all. Thank you. I'm closing the council comments. Any other public comment on this? Sorry. And please come forward so we can move on. Go ahead, sir. Thank you very much. When I was with the five state lawmakers. The state doesn't do a whole lot in terms of veterans. That's usually the feds or the county. And so very much I commend the city, commend the commissioners and the sponsor for this. One of the things that is one of your points is the economy. There are 3 million who have served in uniform in the last 20 years in open war. And in light of those 3 million people, a lot of businesses are aggressively pursuing employees who are veterans. Starbucks, if you're going to go to Starbucks, they are hiring 25,000. Staff personnel who are in have been in uniform. So when you find businesses who do encourage military service personnel. Absolutely. You can engage that. This was the capital of the Pacific fleet for almost 80 years. The presence of Mr. Roosevelt as the head of the Navy in World War One and as president in World War Two, does remind that, honey, that Long Beach is at the center of the military status of this nation. So absolutely not only do you have jobs that can be encouraged, but if you had a V to the letter B and B, your bed and breakfast can be VB and beans. You can lead the nation by the creation of an encouraged growth of tourism with veterans, with VB and B you can tell the local businesses. Why don't you give some discounts to veterans coming over? Why don't you give some lower costs for rooms? Why don't you give some housing that is for a month? Why don't you give some meals that are for free? VB And BS is something that can be a tourism growth for this city. Thank you, sir. Please cast your votes, members. Motion carries. Thank you. So I want to let me hear. If I call your name, please line up so we can make this expeditious sampler, this Bill Shorten and just trying to get folks that are in different groups. So let me start with Bill.