Recommendation to approve renaming the Long Beach Fire Department Regional Training Center located at 2249 Argonne Avenue, the “Captain David Rosa Regional Training Center."
Appreciate that. Item 14, please. We're moving up on the agenda. Report from Fire. Recommendation to refer to the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee to consider the renaming of the Long Beach Fire Department Regional Training Center. The Captain. David Rosa Regional Training Center. District four. Thank you. Let me just say a few words about to turn this over to the chief and then also to Councilmember Super now and and Councilman Pierce and then everyone else that like that lines up on the speaker's list. But let me first let me just first say that I know that the family is here. Good to see you all again and look forward to saying hello. And just a minute, but I want to thank you, of course, first for for being here and for all for your strength that you continue to show every single day and for the way you are all honoring this amazing person, David's amazing legacy in our city and our community. So we just honor that and thank you for for being here and for for your advocacy, which I know is not always easy. And I want to, of course, introduce here our chief. I think this is a really great way to honor Captain Rose's amazing contributions. And I just want to thank you, Chief, for for bringing bringing this forward with with the staff. And I want to turn this over to you to just say a few words and give us a report on this item. So thank you, Mr. Mayor. And Mr. Mayor, council members. Thank you very, very much for this opportunity to address you real quickly on this, we think is a very important item. As you mentioned, Mayor, I'd like to introduce Linley Rosa, Dave's wife, who is here, Paul and Jean, his mom and dad and Dan Flemming and Gloria Fleming are here tonight to hear you discuss this item. And I do want to thank you for bringing this forward tonight. I know it's a little bit out of policy for the city to do something like this so relatively quickly after the tragic death of somebody that's beloved in our city. But I appreciate you, Mr. Mayor, and council members for picking this up and moving it forward. Obviously, June 25th was a day that will live in infamy with Long Beach fire forever, and it will certainly be a day that's etched in my heart for the rest of my life, as well as the members of our command staff and our firefighters, rank and file and sworn in civilian across our organization. It shook us to our core. And on the heels of that, there's been a lot of stories told about the contributions Captain Rosa made to this community, made to his community, where he lived, to his family, to his children, that he was a staunch family man, a good husband, an amazing father to his two sons, Alec and Sammy. And there's been a lot of stuff discussed there. And one of the things that came out during that discussion was his contributions to the Long Beach Fire Department, not only as a captain in the busiest station in our city, but most importantly, his contributions to our training center and as a member of the cadre of our of our training staff. And there was a lot of discussion inside the organization about how can we go about recognizing this man's contributions to our city in perpetuity, something that will live on beyond all of us. And and we decided that the best and most fitting tribute we could pay to this man is to rename our training center in his name, Captain David Rosa Regional Training Center, so that this day, from this day forward, every single young man and woman that joins the Long Beach Fire Department as they cross that threshold and begin their life of service, will hear the story of Captain Rosa and they'll understand. I'm going to read right now, you guys. I'm sorry. They'll understand that sometimes in service to our community, you have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. And Captain Rosa did not. He did that with his head up and with his eyes on service to this community. And I'm proud of his contribution. And I'm proud. That right now at this time, this council that I've had much respect for over my career are going to do something to remember this man's contribution. And I thank you. So with that, I wanted to make sure the Rosa family was here tonight. I think this is a fitting tribute. To a dedicated public servant. And I thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, for the time. Mr. Draghi. Thank you, Chief, for for that. And we appreciate everything you've done also in this time and your leadership shown in the department. And I think that. I think the way that the department has really stepped up to honor Katherine Rose's memory in a variety of ways is has been really great to see. I know. It's been great to see for for that for the family. And so thank you for for bringing this forward. And it's certainly something that will be very special for us here here in Long Beach. What I'm going to go ahead and do is I was going to a public comment first. Councilmember So is there any public comment on this item? Now that we know we have one here. Rex Pritchard, the president of Long Beach Firefighters on behalf of the men and women of Long Beach firefighters, Local 372. We want to thank the fire chief, city manager and staff and all of council. I'm bringing this forward. I echo everything the chief said. And the one thing I will add on to it not only will every single future Long Beach firefighter know Dave Rosa uh, Dave worked at Station ten and like the chief said, busiest house in the city, busy his house with rookies and training. I mean, they've. Was it training? Captain in training is something that sometimes isn't fun to do but is a must do. And so. For our current membership, our current firefighters. Every time we go to the training facility, whether it's EMS training, high rise training, operational training, it's a reminder might be in the station going up. We got to do this again. But when we're going to the David Rozsa Training Center, it's going to be a stark reminder. This stuff's important. So we stand in complete support of this. You guys have been amazing, Mr. West. And your entire team, uh, the service and the support you guys gave at the service, uh, just absolutely can't thank you enough. Um, the outpouring of support from this community in this council has been amazing. And so thank you very much. Thank you very much. See no other public comment on this on this item. Councilmember Superman. Thank you. I'd like to first thank Chief Terry and Rex Prichard for speaking today. This is a tremendous idea that I fully support. I have the great honor and privilege of having the training center in the fourth District. And for those of you who don't know, Station 17 is also located on that same campus as the training center, the regional training center. And for me, just on a personal note. My dad, Don Supra. Was stationed at 17 for 20 years. So to say this is incredibly meaningful to me. It's an understatement. But I'm just glad that I have the opportunity to support this. And thank you. Again for bringing it forward. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Pierce. I yes, I want to also think staff and our department for bringing this forward. Captain Rosa was somebody that the very first time I met him just. His presence was very much about his his dedication to the community and his love. And when we talk about training and we talk about those moments when we get to develop the next tier of firefighters, they're going to be serving in Long Beach to be able to be rooted in somebody who had values like Captain Rosa did, I think is really, really important. And I want to echoed the sentiments that you guys shared about what he meant to everybody. I've had the privilege of going along three different times with our firefighters to watch them train in practice. And I know how important that is. And I know that his legacy is going to continue to live on and we're going to be able to celebrate what makes Long Beach different. And it's going to be people like Captain Rosa. And so I want to, you know, applaud this this item and everybody that did the work on this item, this incident on the 25th was right across my district line. And so it very much touched my community. And it's a stark reminder of how much we need to be on our toes and how much we have each other's backs. And so to all the firefighters. Our hearts are with you. And we will continue to celebrate your efforts in our community. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Over the last few weeks, I've learned so much about Captain Rosa, and I think this is a very appropriate, very fitting way to celebrate him and his life and his example. So I would just simply want to say that I'm completely honored to cast his vote in support of this tonight and and be a. Part of this legacy. Thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor Landrieu. Yes, thank you. Also, I echo all the sentiments it's just been said about Captain Rosa. But the biggest part about it, and I learned so much is because the fact that Mr. and I we realize that the center is in his district, but the station is in my district and I enjoy it so much because the fact that every time I say Station ten, the fire chief is going down the street, sometimes I know I could get a ticket, but I try to stay close to them because I know that this individual's on that fire station. So the family and all I all my condolences still go with you. And I know that this individual, he is just such a loss to our city and to the community. But God knows best. And that is just it's amazing. But thank you guys for doing this year. And my vote also will be overwhelming for this. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilmember Ringgit. Thank you, Mayor and Mayor, continue. Condolences to the family. I know you're very proud of of your son and your husband, father, friend. I was a city employee for 28 years. And when we lose anybody who works for the city, it's like losing a family member. So we lost a family member as well. And and our sadness is with is yours as well. So we are with you in regards to your pain, feeling your pain. The chief jury demonstrated and exhibited that and how painful it is for us to have to go through this. But his memory will live on his efforts in Long Beach as a firefighter and captain will live on through the center. And I'm honored to be a member of this city council to cast his vote to recognize the training center as they were also training to. Thank you. Councilmember Austin. Thank you very much. And I, too, will be supporting this and overwhelmingly this this vote, this honor, I think goes transcends this this the city council, the the action, which was was horrific. Touched not only the city family, but touched people throughout the state and anybody that heard the story and and to learn about who David Rosa was and how he contributed and how he served this city with such was valor. And. Honor and pride. Makes me very proud to. To have some sort of small connection to. To him and his family. You know, he mentioned that the fire station was in his district. Darrell has a connection. His family, his parents actually live in a district. And I had an opportunity to meet them a few years ago. And his mother, Gene, beamed with pride, talking about her son and his accomplishments and how proud they were of of their son and his work as a firefighter and had an opportunity to meet him that day as well. And so this this this this this unfortunate incident was hit home, too, for for us all. And I'm glad that that we are honoring a true hero today, particularly on on on 911. It means a whole lot. And so to to his his his widow to his parents, you have our sincere condolences. But as I mentioned to you earlier. Your family has expanded beyond what you even. Know because you have the full support. I know of this not only the city council, but the entire city is with you as well. So thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman Price. Thank you. I echo a lot of the same sentiments. You know, I learned so much about the family at the service. You are of a remarkable family in so many ways, so close. And who he was and what kind of a leader he was is a testament to the parenting that he received and the love that he had and his wife and his boys. And I learned a lot. And I was so inspired. I was I went home and just couldn't wait to talk to my own family about everything that I had learned. Especially I was particularly moved by the words of your pastor. It was very meaningful for me in my own life in taking away some of the things that he said in terms of what kind of life I want to live. And that was a lesson to all of us, I think, to the chief and the command staff to have this happen and to shepherd your employees through this process that was devastating and emotional and traumatic for them in so many ways. Must have. For you because you yourself were going through a loss, but you did it beautifully, at least to the outside world. And I'm sure that there were probably some internal tears. But to the outside world you maintained a strong force with very little disruption and the quality of service that we expect as residents and as policymakers. And to that you should for that, you should be very proud. I think this you know, any time we dedicate, whether it's it's a building or a facility or a space in the name of someone that we've lost, you know, I always come back to. It's it's not about that location. It's not about the the place that we're naming after the person or in dedicating the place to. It's about the spirit of what that dedication means to me. Our first responders are subject to so much criticism and it's such a thankless job on so many levels. But our first responders are the ones that are called at a time of need. They're called when people feel scared and don't have the strength. They're called when people don't know what to do. They're called when people are in their most vulnerable and desperate place. And our first responders take risks every single day. And for that, they should be rewarded not just in words, but in everything that we do as a city to place value on what they do. This is an example of a first responder whose job was to protect. And to serve. And I agree with Councilman Austin. It's it's very fitting that we're doing this item today on a day when we're celebrating the freedoms and the values and the fight for justice for our nation. Because I think Captain Rosa embodied all of that in everything that he did. And I learned so much about him through the service. And again, the service was just a reminder to me and to our community of how much better we can all be individually and collectively. So I thank you. You know, I say I was a homicide prosecutor for many years, and I would always tell the victims families, I meet the most amazing people under the worst circumstances. And I really felt that way. On the day of his service, because it wasn't so much meeting the most amazing people, although I did do that, but I learned some of the most powerful messages, life messages on that day under the worst circumstances. So I thank you and your family for allowing us to be part of the journey with you. And it's a complete honor to do this and more in his honor. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Mongo. I just want to thank the family for being here and sharing their their husband, father, son. With us in our city for so. Many years. And I'm very supportive of this item. And I would also be supportive of a truncated timeline for it to come back to council. I know that's at the discretion. Of the committee. But I think in this case it would be appropriate to not wait the full year, but to have this in place sooner rather than later. So thank you. Thank you. With that, we do have a motion on the floor as presented by by staff in the fire department. So, members, please go ahead and cast your votes. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you very much. Vice Mayor, I know we have a consent and we have two hearings. Yes. Thank you. We have a motion on the consent. Is there any public comment on this? Yes. During public comment on the consent calendar. If no members, please cast your vote.