Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Department of Human Resources to create a Preferred Name and Pronoun Policy for all City Employees, and return to the City Council within 90 days for review and adoption.
Cancer Council member Wangari there. I thought I heard you motion curious. Thank you very much. That is so. We just finished the hearing, so we will be done with that. So now we're we're moving on to item 31. There's been a couple of items that have been asked to be moved up on the regular agenda. So let me do 31/1. Item 31 Communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Pearce. Councilmember Arango Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Department of Human Resources to create a preferred name and pronoun policy for all city employees and return to the City Council within 90 days for review and adoption. Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to thank my coauthors, Councilwoman Pierce, Councilwoman Gonzalez and Councilmember Turanga. And this proposal was to take an internal look at our efforts to promote a more inclusive work environment. And as a city, we we take great strides to make sure that that we include our residents. And we must be equally committed to fostering inclusive, nondiscriminatory workplace respect of all of our employees. And and we've been recognized by this municipal equality index, recognized city of Long Beach as one of the best cities for LGBTQ inclusion through law and local policy, following the local policies by our educational institutions Cal State, Long Beach and Long Beach City College. Both of those institutions have included have began the process of implementing preferred name policies. A preferred name is a first name that may be used instead of a legal first name. The city of Long Beach currently distributes city ID badges and email domains based on one's legal name. So if an employee were to transition names that would be required to undergo a court order process for their for their place of employment to respectfully change that individual's name. This process can be rather extensive. And in the interim, I think it's important that we create an internal policy that is both sensitive and responsive to the needs of our transitioning and gender non-conforming employees. As staff examines what this policy might look like for Long Beach ID badges, internal external directories, name plates, email, email domains, staff signatures indicative of one's preferential pronouns should be considered. So I am. I'm also encouraging city staff to work with the center in Long Beach to make sure that this is a policy that is thoughtful, thoughtfully prepared. And so I encourage my colleagues to support this effort. And I look forward to more more dialogs on this topic as we move forward. Thank you. That's one motion. Thank you, Councilmember Councilmember Pearce. Thank you. I want to applaud Councilmember Richardson for bringing this item forward. I know there's been a lot of great work done in the community. And this item, you know, knowing a few people that are transgender or have changed their names legally or had hoped to change their names, this is not a very simple item. This is about somebody's identity and how they walk through the world and how they live, how they use their credit cards, how they use their driver's license. This is something that really should carry a lot of weight with this item tonight. And I think we should really be proud that we as a city are saying we want to respect how you show up in the world and how you want to be seen in the world. And so I wholeheartedly support this item. I think working closely with the center, there's no other way to pass an item like this without working with them because they are experts and leading and they do education in our schools on these issues. They live it every day. And so I'm just really proud and humbled to be on a council that is recognizing this and working in a great partnership. And I can't wait to hear some of the public comments because they're always so heartwarming. I'm smiling at you, Missy, over there. I thank you, Councilmember Councilwoman Gonzales. Yes. Thank you, Councilmember Richardson, for bringing this forward. And I really it's timely because of so many different attacks on this community specifically. But I think our city is definitely moving in the right direction by putting this on the agenda. And I want to thank Porter and Maricela and all the advocates that have been sticking, you know, making sure that this is sticking above every other issue to ensure that we move this forward. And I would just like to reiterate that what Councilmember Richardson mentioned about working with the center and groups to ensure that we get this right in terms of training. When you go to other cities, what I love about other cities and how inclusive they are is every time I sit down for a meeting in other cities, my other job, everybody starts with how they would prefer to be recognized. And I think that that's important just to have like a community understanding of where people are at. So we don't assume that people are one way or the other. And I really hope that we can get to that place in one point. So thank you so much. Thank you. And I just want to add and I want to, first of all, thank Councilmember Richardson for bringing this forward. And for those that have signed on to this, I think you had mentioned that Long Beach has consistently ranked in the top cities in the country on LGBTQ, LGBTQ inclusion, on the municipal index. And we have received perfect scores, I think, almost every year, not every year that that index has been out. And I think this is a great next step and important in this next conversation, particularly in the area of trans inclusion and gender non-conforming conversation with folks that are trying to ensure that they are recognized the way they would like to be recognized. And so I really appreciate that conversation. And so I fully support this, and thank you for bringing this forward. Any public comment on this item? Hi. Good evening. My name is George Jimeno, and I'm here on behalf of the LGBTQ center in Long Beach, where I am employed as the youth services manager. Today, I'm here to express our support for the preferred name and pronoun policy for city employees. Given the statistic that 77% of transgender, gender nonconforming and non-binary individuals report that they have to take steps to avoid mistreatment and harassment in the workplace. This policy is a vital display of support for. Individuals seeking to live authentically in their workplace. Additionally, the preferred name pronoun policy will help to minimize the risks that are related to outing. As it will, as it will give individuals the ability to be. Known by their true. Selves. While still maintaining agency over disclosure of their identity. Not only does this policy set a standard for inclusivity for those who work in the city, but it also sets a precedent for other employers in the city as well as well. And and that also well as well as neighboring municipalities. The policy also signifies a continuance of support for our. Trans community members in Long Beach. Any person now has the ability to go through primary, secondary and post-secondary. Education systems. Using the name and pronouns they identify with, regardless of their ability to have their legal name and gender. Changed. Adopting this policy at the city level would give trans and gender nonconforming community members of Long Beach the. Assurance that their city government, in addition to their local school districts, have their backs. As we currently are in Transgender Awareness Week. A week dedicated to. Celebrating the contributions of transgender individuals and encouraging us to engage in advocacy for trans rights. There is no better time to approve this policy. The Center would like to thank Councilmember Rex Richardson for presenting this item. As well as Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez. Councilmember Janine Pearce and Council Member. Roberto. Aranda for. Your continued support of LGBTQ inclusive initiatives. Lastly. As you all were saying, the center is happy to. Offer its assistance and in the creation and implementation of this policy and work with you all. So thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening again. Puerto Golberg now also representing the LGBTQ center of Long Beach. I want to echo what our youth services manager, Joel, said, and thank Councilmember Richardson and everybody's leadership on council who has really prioritized increased increasing equity for our LGBTQ community and especially equity for LGBTQ municipal employees. This preferred name and pronoun policy, I believe, is going to make an incredible difference in continuing to recruit top tier talent, including top tier talent and the LGBTQ community to work for the city of Long Beach. This policy will create a more inclusive workplace, a more accepting workplace, and is a win for the city as a whole . I'm very excited to be here tonight and that this agenda item got moved up. A number of us are also gathering at the Socialist across from the Center for Reception with the National Center for Transgender Equality, as it is Transgender Awareness Week. And we are going to be celebrating with our national partners. And I really look forward to going back to our event this evening and letting letting our attendees know that tonight the city council has really fought for and increased equity for our transgender communities. So thank you to each one of you for your support and for being here for the discussion this evening. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and council members. My name is Maricela de Rivera. I am a North Long Beach ninth District resident. I am also the mother of a transgender daughter. I intended to come here as a ninth district resident and sing the praises of my councilmember and his colleagues on this item. I still feel that. But I'm too angry right now to be a cheerleader. Rosita is too scared to be in this building in front of all of you tonight to join me. And she and her baby sister had planned on it. We had talked about this. I don't know why we have never done this, but she thought for some reason. She said, I thought it would just be the mayor, Rex and Janine. And she is not shy. She does not suffer from stage fright. A year ago. We came here as a family to thank you for drag queen story time. Which garnered national attention, death threats and a number of ugly things. One of the things that happened when we thank you for that was that I stood here and I said, I'm the proud mother of a transgender daughter, and having her reflected in our community is important for her mental health. 60% of transgender people tried to commit suicide. I am committed every day to my daughter not being one of them. Your action with drag queen story time, I believe, helped ensure her mental health. Someone yelled Freak at her more than once publicly while we stood at this podium. Knowing that we were going to get up here tonight. She started crying and said she knew it was important. She wanted to talk to you. She was excited to see Robert because she likes Batman and he likes Superman. Somehow she thinks that's a connection and. She was scared. She was scared to be in city council chambers. And that is why this agenda item is important, because there are real people. And I wonder and I worry about where my daughter. We'll work. When she's an adult, she's smart. She's creative. She's innovative. She's everything that a city employee you would want them to be. Where will she work? Policies like this ensure that you get people like my daughter who are innovative and creative and committed and passionate. And I thank you from the bottom of my very angry, hurting mother heart for seeing. Her and for seeing our community. And I love you for that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Hi. My name is Zoe Nicholson. My pronouns are she her hers. I live in Rose Park. You know, the binary is what separates us. The puny, narrow, limited borders of the binary. Up, down. Right. Left. Cold. Heart. Fat. Thin. Tall. Short. Young, old. But what lifts us and what moves us closer to divine insight is to name oneself. It was a gift. Reserved for the gods in Genesis. The Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and birds. He brought them to Adam and said, You can name them. And with that dominion he gave him, he also gave him the responsibility of stewardship. My favorite. The Gospel of John. In the beginning was the. Word, and the word was with God and the word was God. Naming is in all our Scriptures, in the ghetto, in the Koran, in the Douching. Naming is how we actually stand fully. Naming has been taken away from women because of trying to follow paternity lines. Naming oneself. Is important. And now as we find ourselves scraping our knuckles across the ground. Our entire society hoping to stand tall. I want to confirm. To know oneself and the state for all to hear. To name oneself is the ultimate self-realization. I am Zoe. My pronouns are she. Her, hers. Bravo! Brava! I'm so proud of you for voting for this tonight. Thank you very much for. Excuse. Good evening. My name is Doris Hogan. I am a member of the Human Relations Commission for the City of Long Beach. I am also a member of the Board of Directors for the LGBT Center. And I stand here in support of the preferred pronoun this evening. And we thank all of you on the Council for your support. We thank Joe. For his. Talk to about the feeling from what we have from the center. And I stand as a board member of the center with Joel and Porter to say thank you. And we stand and support and thank you. Thank you. Any more public coming? I would take Rocco. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilmember Pierce, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Supernanny. Hi, councilwoman mongo. Vice Mayor Andrews, I. Councilmember, you're UNGA Councilman Austin. Councilmember Richardson. Motion carries. Thank you. Now we'll go to item 40. A report from Public Works recommendation to request city attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Title 14 of the Long Beach Municipal Code to streamline the permitting process for temporary installations related to sidewalk dining and parklets within the city. The city's right of way citywide. We're going to probably come in first. Do you have any report on this. Vice mayor? It's up to the chair, but we were scheduled to do public comment prior to this item. Yes. Okay. Any public comment on this? The public comment period for the city clerk as the names? Okay, fine. We have five, seven, eight items. Excuse me. Okay. First would be Mr. Goodell. 3 minutes. State your name, please.