Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with the Parks, Recreation, and Marine Department to implement the Compassion Saves model as the operational approach for Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS) ensure that this direction is reflected in the LBACS Strategic Plan and provide a report on the existing relationship and recommendations for improvements in policies and practices between SLCAla and LBACS to maintain facilities and financial conditions which are most conducive to promoting increased adoptions at the LBACS facility.
Thank you. Next item is going to be. Item 32 communication from Councilmember Pierce. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilwoman Price. Councilwoman Mongeau. Recommendation to direct city manager to work with the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department to implement the Compassion Saves model as the operational approach for Long Beach Animal Care Services. Keith. Thank you. Let me this is item four, Councilmember Pearce. Thank you. This item came up fast. Appreciate moving it up in the agenda. I want to first and foremost say thank you to our team that has come on board and new to Long Beach to come in and help us not only our Parks and Rec, but with our animal shelter. And it means a great deal to me. And I know many of those that have worked hard for the last ten years to make changes in our shelter, to have staff that they can pick up the phone and call and brainstorm with. So I want to start it off with that and that that sentiment that it goes a long way. And I know I had a conversation with I won't call her out today, but someone that's in the audience about what does it take to make change? What does it take to build trust and to build lasting change? And often it's those one on one conversations where we get to be creative. And they really gave a big shout out to you, Stacey, for being accessible and for coming on to something that everybody has a different priority. And it is your task, too, to be on the front lines for that. So I want to first just say how much I appreciate that. When we had staff's presentation on Compassion Saves, I listened. I asked questions. I thought it was a great presentation on a vision that staff has on where they'd like to go. I recognize that there are lots of challenges and lots of pieces that need to move forward and that unpacking anything like this is a daunting task. So I also want to say how much I appreciate the task force that has come together as a community member that has served on task force and committees and commissions before. I know how frustrating it can also be to serve on a team that you don't know what the outcome will be. You don't know if your hours of volunteering is going to go towards a tangible outcome. And so I have a couple questions for first staff in a minute, just around the task force. But I hope that this process can really assist in giving the task force some confidence that this council, whatever way they direct staff today, will support them in making meaningful changes. The process I know a lot of people have asked questions about the process. The process is really we heard the staff presentation on the current state of our shelter. We heard some ideas around where they like to go, things that Stacey is already putting into place, like a volunteer program, attempting to get foster program up. And so I want to say that that process is moving forward and that today we hope to give a little bit of more direction and that that task force is really going to do the work. And so whenever that you guys come back is when we can prioritize and identify what resources and and what that looks like . So I know that we are in good steps moving forward. I have a couple of quick things to go over, but I'd like to hear from public comment first and then take it behind the rail and ask some questions of staff before we give our final our final vote. So I think this is a great step forward and in making sure that we reduce euthanasia rates in our animal shelter. And when I appreciate everyone who's been involved. So great, we're going to do public comment first. So if you have public comment on the item, please come forward and line up up on the on the dais. And if there's more than as this more than ten folks were to go down after that to 90 seconds. So please, if there. Unless there's any objection. Looks like the council wants to start at 90. Are there any objection? Okay. We're going to begin at 90 with the amount of people to speak, so please come forward. Madam Clerk, we're going start the clock at 90. Go ahead. Hi, I'm Anna Wong. I am a task force member and I appreciate the appointment. I appreciate the progressive thought movement and the compassion saves. However, I am asking and begging this council to vote no on it tonight. The reason being is that we are not ready to set a label on what we're doing. The task force is just now getting ready to start working. We just got now just appointed subcommittees. We are not ready for this. Most importantly, it is too ambiguous with regards to the tradable animals. 2 to 3 years ago, our shelter was killing kittens and cats with mange 3 to 5% on their body. Thank God we're not doing that anymore. But where are we going to to cut this off? What does it mean to be a tradeable animal? What does it mean to you? I know what it means to me. I know what it means to the majority of these back here. I know what it means to Stacy. I need to see more. Something in writing, telling us what is a treatable animal and we need to be in agreement on that. So please, please, please vote no and concentrate on the SPCA problem, please. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening. I'm Beverly Lifer from District two. I'm thankful that the city council is finally publicly recognizing the issues with the Long Beach Animal Care Services. However, I oppose compassion saves in its current form and oppose a city council vote on the related agenda item tonight. I wish for it to be postponed. Neither addresses the major issues, including the lack of a full autonomous adoption program. The agenda item and compassion saves does not make animal adoptions a priority. It does not include an autonomous adoption program. It allows SPCA, L.A. to continue status quo and process more than the majority of the adoption of live animals. It allows SPCA, L.A. to use their restrictive adoption policies, which prohibits the adoption of many pets to good homes. This agenda item is not a first step to an independent adoption program. It places the onus on the community transferring not only the city's homeless animals, but responsibility for them to rescues who are already beyond capacity, as well as the costs for caring for these animals. Long Beach needs to be accountable and provide the funding needed to have its own full, robust adoption program. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next next speaker, please. Thank you. My name is Laura Selma. Thank you, Mayor Garcia, for bringing this to this place. I would like to talk about the Long Beach spay neuter trust fund. The spay neuter fund can be found in municipal code 6.04.070. I paraphrase for adoptions, a spay neuter fee is assessed and all such fees are deposited in the spay neuter trust account. Municipal code ensures the fees goes directly to our own mandatory spay neuter fund. So what's the problem? We learned our city manager has directed our bags not to do adoptions in SPCA. She'll continue with all our Auerbach's animal adoptions. This directive from the House of Management diverts established collectible fees to a city trust account. To. An outside entity. The diversion of money has to stop. City Council in the 2019 budget provides $120,000 to start adoptions. It's not a city manager's role to circumvent municipal code and divert revenue from a municipal trust fund. Please direct the city manager to rescind his directive, allowing all banks to put up adoption signs and develop its adoption program. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Alex Armstrong. Good evening. That was a great speech by Laura. I'd like to also talk about some municipal codes. I'd like to talk about municipal code 6.046.04.050. It's titled Impound Care of Animals. Municipal Code, says the director shall safely keep all animals, and I quote shall furnish all necessary food and water. Looking at the Outback's financials. It is not furnishing all necessary food. It might surprise you that SPCA furnishes the majority of animal food, which the city is by law required to furnish. This amounts to a gift to a city agency of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This hefty gift, again worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, is not reported anywhere on Lubbock's financial reports. Worse, SB Sklar does not submit state manager mandated reports of gifts to our city clerk. The problem with handshake deals like this is that they violate the state and city's code of ethics. We keep hearing that city management wants to sign a formal agreement with SPCA and is already working on it. But with huge unreported gifts, it constitutes real bribery. But none of this is reported to the city clerk. Clerk. I hope you will direct the city manager to authorize emergency funds to uphold municipal code and furnish all necessary food until the public can be assured the SPCA gifts are not government bribery. Thank you so much. Next week. Hi. Good evening. My name is Joanne Quast. Thank you, honorable mayor and City Council for your time devoted to this very passionate issue. Thank you, Mayor Garcia, for bringing an experienced shelter manager to our city. These are huge steps. I look forward to working with all of you to get the next steps right. Thank you to Suzy Price and Janine Pearce for being the first council rep in 11 years to agenda is this item. Compassion saves would not be the words I would have chosen, but the name is not. In the long run, the concern what is is the collective programs that are put in place to save animals. We don't need to reinvent this. We have shelters all across the country who are successfully doing this. Let's leverage the best practices and use our time and resources to adopting out animals as that is ultimately what prevents shelter killings. We can adopt our way out of killing. Let me say that again. We can adopt our way out of killing, as that is ultimately what prevents shelter deaths. That's an independent adoption program is a must large adoption signage equivalent to SB plays adoption signage is a must because passion says without an independent adoption program is status quo, you will not get volunteers or funding without putting this in place. I've left you a red folder at your seat, so I think hopefully you all have it. It is a package that outlines eight serious shelter issues that we are asking City Council to re to consider addressing in your motion today with both audits and the public homework, we know a lot more recommendations have be provided that will set the shelter on the path to success. Thank you for covering the following eight issues that are in your packet. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Mayor, vice mayor, council staff and audience. My name is Christy Maloney from the third district. So far, this administration has excluded anything to do with no kill, whether being left off the task force hiding no kill advocate comments on city officials. Media Pages Ostracize No Kill at public meetings. Or completely left out of tonight's Compassion Safes policy. We would like to request that the city council delay voting on this new policy in order to have all of the. Information from all available. Angles. Why would the city deny us this right before this new policy is voted into place? It is painfully obvious that no skill isn't being considered and that this Council has not been fully informed in the positive aspects of Nokia. We respectfully request that this Dyas hear from a Nokia expert on the insights it gives in saving animals before any vote. A no kill expert. According to four separate polls in Long Beach, an average of a full 91% of respondents asked for no kill for our shelter. Let's bring in a no killer expert to get definitive answers about it before you commit your vote tonight. Clear the air about SPCA, L.A.. Let's be moral about this. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Carol Patterson, fifth district. I can't support this. It's not the ordinance we wanted. It's not the resolution we asked for. It's simply an item pushing the compassion saves model, which, in my opinion, is just a nice sounding name for the status quo. We can't end the killing in shelters if we continue thinking that it's a necessary evil. One of those hard things in life you just have to accept. Well, I can't accept that. No kill advocates can't accept that. We want the killing stopped. In order to do that. We need to challenge the status quo. Yet exercising our right to free speech has had advocates being characterized as vicious. And if they're not. Quite vicious, they're just so negative. At the beer and politics event a couple of weeks ago, the Stacy's told the audience that it would be more helpful to stop telling negative things. I heard that to mean stop telling the truth. Here's one truth. Nobody wants to close shelter. Even more stains confirm. That it's not a tenant of no kill, and I haven't seen. Statistics to prove otherwise. But evidently Miss Mungo is so opposed to no kill that she makes stuff up again. At the beer and politics event. She stated that pet retention program is code. Vernon Open Admissions. Not only is her statement wildly inaccurate, but it shows she is misinformed. What concerns me is that others voting for this item may also be misinformed and that our animals will suffer as they have been for years. If Long Beach really wanted to give every animal. A chance as the. Slide read Ms. Monkeys presentation, you would. Vote to implement no. Kill rather than to bash it with beer. Next speaker please. Patricia Turner. I'm the director of Nokia. Long Beach. Nokia Long Beach opposes compassion saves because it does not address the key problems that are actively blocking our backs operations. First, it does not address the issue raised in the audits of the constraints that SPCA continues to place on our backs. City staff have told advocates that SPCA, L.A. will not allow our backs to have its own adoption program. Yet a comprehensive and autonomous adoption program is absolutely critical for the city shelter to operate, to scale and meet the needs of the residents of Long Beach. The audits recommended that the city review and formalize the operational agreement, which is verbal only between L. Bax and SPCA. L.A. We believe that this agreement must not only be formalized, it must establish Lubbock's autonomy from SPCA, L.A., so that it can be fully a fully operational, effective, life saving shelter that aligns with the humane values of the people of Long Beach. Without this key provision instituting a dog's autonomy, the programs Saddleback puts forth will continue to be undercut by SPCA. Therefore, we ask that you delay the vote presented this evening or vote no and ask that a national authority on no kill animal sheltering be given time to make a formal presentation to City Council and answer the questions from council and the public, the majority of whom support no kill programs and policies at the Long Beach Animal Care Services shelter. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. April Devane. Task Force Member While I appreciate you bringing this new policy to the forefront because we haven't seen anything like this in years, I think this is a little oh, we're a little bit too soon on this. We haven't even had a chance, as Anna mentioned, to go over things in the task force. It's premature. And I think we need a little more time to vet out some of the statements that are in the compassion saves policy. And I really would ask you to vote no or maybe postpone the vote on this so we can actually flesh these things out a little bit clearer. Thank you. Thank you, Nick Speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor. City Council members of Long Beach. My name is Sharon Logue and I am a resident of Huntington Beach. I am the plaintiff in Logan versus Oakley. Animal Care. Logan versus Animal Care was a game changer that brought much needed shelter reform to O.C. Animal Care. Our team of attorneys obtained a complete overhaul in O.C. animal care, intake policies, healthy animal care training, euthanasia practices, and the. Subsequent resignation. Of O.C. Shelter Director. I have fought tooth and nail since 2012 for the animals of O.C., just like the animal advocates are. Fighting tooth and nail for the. Animals that help us today. To the rescue, animal advocates and committee members that are currently fighting this. Battle for. Shelter reform in San. Bernardino instead of Cleveland right here. In Long Beach. Keep fighting. The animals need your voices. To the residents and community members here in Long Beach. I am living, breathing proof that your voices do matter. Your voices does make a difference. That animal advocacy works. This community and the residents in this city have the power to successfully reform and transform elex. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. It's Julie again. I'm wearing sunglasses because I forgot my other ones. No, I'm not on drugs. I'm here today to ask you also to postpone your decision about instituting the Compassion Saves program today. There's just too many loopholes. There's too many generalities, things that aren't explained, things that can fall through the cracks. We're all just asking for a postponement, which I've seen you do many, many times here. Whenever the an issue needs more review. As we all know the. Task force hasn't really had a chance to make decisions. I don't know if they ever will. We all know that the strategic planners aren't done making their recommendations, and also the community only has like 3 minutes here and there to let you know just exactly how we feel about the Compassion Saves program. But I will say congratulations to all of you for hiring the most qualified shelter manager that we've ever had. And I mean, she's fantastic. She was under the gun. You said write a program. She did it. It just needs more review. It needs more time to work the bugs out. And there are plenty of them. And also, Suzy, excellent questions that you gave, but I would encourage all the others who remain sanely, like Mr. Yarrawonga. Mr. Austin. Well, and Leena. Thank you so much. Okay. To speak more often in favor. Thank you. So much. Program next speaker, please. Hello, everybody. Nice to see everybody again. Thank you again. Thank you, Mayor. We're both educators. We talked about that and therefore we're data driven. Do you agree? So when we cited all those polls, I mean, there's all kinds of convincing research that tells us that people are not comfortable volunteering or even working in a in a kill shelter. When I brought that up at beer and politics. There was just dismiss. With I disagree. You know, you're entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts. We get a lot of that in on our, you know, national administration. The other thing is, is that the business about animal behaviorists, this is a recognized, discrete profession that is helping. And believe me, I know I've got a little dog that we picked up at a Fix Long Beach event who has an attitude? He's a growler. It would have been curtains for him at Lbc's, because when I brought up the profession of animal behaviorists, which is part of the no kill nonfungible 11 point formula, I had Stacy Mongeau say in a kind of a cartoon cowboy action Armageddon. What does that mean? She brought up B.F. Skinner. Come on, now. B.F. Skinner is a recognized animal behavior who did a lot of work with. Pigeons. And. Like that. But. But we need, you know, to keep animals alive. We need some behaviorism. Compassion saves. What it is, is it's a way of giving killing. Ownership. To the public. Thank you so much. Next speaker before we speak, give me 1/2 to have I think Ms.. Case will be the last speaker. So I have anyone else, so my case will be the last speaker. Okay. Go ahead. Hi. Ashley Summers of District two. I'm also a shelter volunteer. I think that Compassion Saves is full of a lot of great intentions. But those intentions won't mean anything unless our shelter has its own comprehensive adoption program. During my orientation, I heard something really disturbing, which was that if we have our own adoptions, SPCA will not do any spay and neuter for us. First of all, as somebody who is an organizer for an animal rights organization, I find it completely unconscionable that such a wealthy group would deny basic health care to any animal who needs it, regardless of the circumstances. But also, I find it equally disturbing that in a city as wealthy and prosperous as this one, we can't afford to provide basic preventative health care for the animals under our care. I mean, wouldn't if we're worried about money, wouldn't it be a lot cheaper to make sure that we have the funds to spay and neuter and the resources to spay and neuter all of our animals rather than dealing with all the offspring of the animals that we did not spay and neuter. And finally, I have one more thing to say about the fact that we do have breeding laws on the books. And I want to thank you for that, because a lot of cities do not, but we need to enforce them. Too many people on Craigslist are flagrantly disobeying the laws and they need to be punished, not the animals that they're bringing into the world. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. Vince Poggi in Third District. And I truly appreciate the effort that was taken by council members to approach the problem we have. However, I would almost always prefer passion over apathy, but there are times when our goals can get in the way of communicating. It seems like semantics has complicated the issues concerning the approach to animal welfare. Stacy Dean Excuse me. Stacy Dean seems to understand the shared belief that no healthy, adoptable animals should ever be killed in shelters in our shelter. This is not just a government problem. It's a community problem. Best Friends Animal Society is the largest no kill animal shelter in the country and probably the world. Their goal and slogan is to save them all. By 2025, the number of communities have achieved this goal is just south of 4000. The number of partners in the Coalition is also in the thousands and grows daily. Many, if not most, of these communities have significantly less resources than we do in Long Beach. But they are open minded. We accepted the challenge and accomplish their goal. In short, no longer business as usual thinking. Long Beach unfortunately, has a unique obstacle in the form of SPCA, LA. Of all the credible and worthy adoption rescue organizations that exist, best friends comes to mind. Unfortunately, we seem stuck with them. I think if Stacy has a chance to succeed, she needs to be in charge of our animal care services and they need to answer to her. And I don't know how that's accomplished, but it needs to be looked at. Thank you for your effort. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. Mayor Garcia and council members. My name is Andrea Hunt, third district. I would like to ask all of you, would you not. Agree that the best way to. Get animals out of this facility alive? It would be to have a. Very active adoption program. It has been said over and over and over again. These animals that are now declared not claimed by their owners because of the time that they have to be available for the owner to be picked up. That time is not utilized afterwards to groom the animal, to spay and neuter the animals so that they are ready for adoption. Time is wasted and I speak from personal experience. I took animals from a person who couldn't keep them any longer to the shelter. I had my name and number there and I said, Please let me know if you have any trouble adopting them. To animals were beautiful white cats, one long haired, one white short hair. They were not shown. They were in a back corner. They were disheveled, looking. I took them back. Out as a rescue where I can come back in. And I did. Run them. Myself. I wasn't satisfied. I took them to the groomer. I took them to the Irvine Shelter Adoption Fair. And they were taken and adopted as beautiful animals. Thank you so. Much, personalities. Thank you so much to you. Thank you very much. Next week, please. Hi, Anita Porter, second district. That's on a hunt. She is like my other mother now. And that woman has adopted thousands of cats. So you have to listen to what she says. I also want to point out that there have been mismanagement situations that have been going on in the been reported. There's been over 173 items that need to be addressed and there are specific problems with the leaseback. And it comes down to that situation that's going on with SPCA. We need to be separate from them. We need to I mean, I didn't realize that we were that as a city that that's a special thing, that we have our own shelter and it needs to be a shelter and it needs to be our shelter. As I said it last time I was here. We are Long Beach, and we're going to do this the right way. But in order to do that, we need more time. We need financial mismanagement to be addressed. We need the problems with the SPCA to be addressed. And we don't need. This is an excellent outline, and I am so thrilled that Stacy is here to do this. But what we need is more guts to this because there's just too many things that aren't answered yet. And without them in writing, we don't trust you. And that's what it comes down to. We. And if we don't trust you, we aren't going to turn our animals over to you. We're going to keep taking care of them because we know they'll be okay. And I'm you know, I got more cats than I should. I would love to be able to take them to to the to the shelter. So thank you so much. Thank you so much. Don't do this next speaker, please. Hello. My name is Pam Machado. I've been a volunteer at Long Beach Animal Care Services for four years. Before that, I was a volunteer for 11 years at SPCA, L.A. I live in the First District. I support Compassion Saves. I think that is reasonable and responsible model for shelter. And it puts most, if not all, of the programs in place to not only save, but also to help improve the lives of the animals that come into the shelter. And it is also a hopeful model. It is hopeful that the people who care about the animals will step up and help the shelter to achieve this. I think this is the crossroads that the audit was talking about, and right now is the opportunity to really improve the shelter and make it a place that the community wants to go and adopt animals. If all we do is complain about the shelter, nobody wants to go there. I I've read on lost and found page. Everybody says, oh, they'll be killed. Don't take the dog there. Don't take that cat there. So everybody thinks it's a horrible place. We can make it a good place, but people need to step up and do the work. And I think it's a time to call a truce to all of this and everybody just get together and actually do the work that needs to be done to make the shelter a good place . Thank you. Thank you. Speaker, please. Good evening, everybody. I'm Judy Crumpton and my address is on file. I agree with everything Pam said. You know, you guys hired Stacy Danes to do a job. And what she is doing tonight is her job and she believes in compassion saves. And I'm asking you to believe in it, too. I have to agree. It was a little surprising when it came out and it didn't go before the task force first, and we didn't get a chance to look it over. But nonetheless, I think it goes along. It's just part of perhaps what we are going to do with the task force. We still have work ahead of us. There's no doubt about that. Only 90 seconds. Listen, I don't agree. You can adopt your way out of this mess. I agree. Adoptions are very, very important to do and I support them wholehearted. But we can spay neuter our way out. Please, let's. I'm used to this 12 years of these people. Nothing shocks me. They've had more than enough time to bring their specialists here. And they brought plenty of people to say plenty of stuff. You would think by now they would have convinced you guys, but you're too smart and they're not going to do it. So please never support no kill. And you main education is very important. This is just ridiculous. This is what they do on social media. This is what they do to people who visit our shelter. I was one of them that was bullied and I think we need to do something about that next. So thank you. And please go forward and support compassion saves. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. I'm loving this vest that I have on because I think every one of you should be a volunteer. Because the reason why is we will not get enough of. These programs without more volunteers. And I'm almost here on tears right now. I was the one that spoke to Janine. It's really hard, you guys. Compassion. It's not. It's not. It's in the right direction, but it's not the ultimate goal. I'm sorry. I am for a lifesaving difference. I will always be, you know, kill. And and but I have to thank you for what you're doing and thank the women. I wish we would have more men who would support us. But thank you for. Listening to us. Because I have three cats. I have all three. Special need cats. I have one currently that's my own. That's at Primary Animal Care because it's having issues. But what we're doing here, like what Anna Wang said, is true. I'm on the task force. None of us brought this to our attention. We want to be a part of this equation. I'm part of the equation of being at the shelter, being. Here at city council, being on the task force. I do support the compassion saves to a degree. Because I've been told by certain individuals that that's a step. It's not the ultimate that we're going to move forward. For more. More security. I don't believe in SPCA and the direction that we have for relationship with them. There's definitely. Something there. The way that we currently do adoptions. I love that Stacy is making change, but she can't do it alone. So Devin and I are here to help. And so please, I ask. You guys, we need more volunteers. Thank you, Jenny. Thank you. That concludes public comment. Let me go back to Councilmember Pearce. Thank you, everybody. And I want to say thank you so much for keeping your comments focused on the item that's in front of you. So I want to first I want to say that I would like for this item to for the compassion saves model to be given to the task force to review, to evaluate and to give direction on that is the intent of this item to give kind of the box so that you guys have something to work on. It was not the intention to write policy and to do the fine tuning of a department. We never do that as council direct every single detail of a department. So I hope that you guys walk out of here understanding that that is the goal of this, which is exactly what you've asked. And it took a lot of work to get here. It took meetings with, I believe it's four meetings with the note kill group and phone calls with people and coffee and people's homes nine in the morning going line by line. And so your commitment and your passion is why we are here today. And so I want to thank you for your comments because it does pay off. Specifically, I would like the task force to to look at what it would take and hopefully get us to a place where we have an independent adoption program. An independent adoption program. And I know that that is a tough task sometimes to think about, but we are not going to be able to get to an independent adoption program. And so we do the very first step, which is understanding the relationship with SPCA and our shelter. And I know that my co-lead on this item, Council one, the Councilwoman Price, is going to give some of the the details to that and trying to get that information to come back as soon as possible. We need to have that information that we don't have. And I'm going to let her so we don't echo our comments, talk in detail about that. I will say that I hope that whatever we have come back from the city attorney that comes from as councilwoman pries, that that comes back at a reasonable time, 30, 60 days, so that we can really understand where we're at with that so independent adoption program that we have open admission and that that that is defined by having reduced or no fees for relinquishing your pets at our shelter. We know that that has to happen to be able often when people have a pet, particularly dogs, it's expensive, it's time consuming, it's more work than some people understand. And they need to know that they can safely take their pets somewhere that will not euthanize them. And so that is what an open admission shelter means to me and I think means to many of you. So this is hopefully a step to get us there where you feel that trust and that we get that put into policy down down the road, clear as day. I would like also to have the task force and city staff look at what is currently happening with our adoption fees and making sure that those are going to our spay and neuter fund and understanding what that balance is and what. What we need to do to ensure that everybody, including the SPCA, is paying those adoption fees so that we can have a spay and neuter program on the front end. That will be meaningful. I do not believe that any one solution, adoption or fostering or spay and neutering, not one of those is going to get us to a no kill shelter or a 90% rate. But it is going to take all of these measures to get us there. I also want to make sure that we call out in this again. And this was general for that reason, because it's not my intention to direct policy in that way. So I appreciate the task force and you guys will have a chance to go through this. I also want to make sure that we when we talk about our robust communication program, that we have an understanding of what our communication team at the shelter has right now. How are we relaying that information to our constituents, to the neighboring cities about what animals are available and that we have an understanding of the resources that you have now that we gave you in the last budget. Is that enough and will it take more? My expectation is that you guys do the work in the task force looking at the compassion saves model and defining what the compassion saves model is. It is not for staff to define. It is not only for council to define, but is for us as a community together to define. And that is why we wanted to start this conversation. So you have that work ahead of you in the next several months, along with the community members that come to the task force. I look forward to having the conversation about all of these programs. I look forward to the budget conversation on what it's going to take to make this real. And I asked that my colleagues join us in voting yes to ensure that a compassion saves model is something that really does save lives and gets us to the lowest euthanasia rate possible. So thank you again for my colleagues for working on this with us. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilwoman Price. Thank you. I want to first start out by thanking my colleague, Councilmember Pearce. We we joined forces on this item. We actually had two items that we merged into one and were both kind of leading a different part of the item. So I'm happy that we're having this conversation. It's been many, many years that we've heard from the various groups. And and to be quite honest, it wasn't until recently that I actually understood how the conversation should be framed. And I've shared with the advocates that sometimes when we feel passionately about something, conveying what it is we're trying to say in a way that allows us to be heard is difficult because there's so much passion behind it. So I appreciate the respectful dialog that those who have requested to meet with me have had with me. It's allowed me to see things from a from a different and I think clearer context. So and I think that's the reason we're having this conversation. So you know who you are. Thank you for allowing that respectful dialog to get us to this point. I echo what Council Member Pearce has said in regards to this being a starting point for us and us being able to work in collaboration with the task force to further define practices and policies as we move forward. I do think it's a good starting point. I'm grateful that we have our new director with us, animal care services director with us. The portion of the item that's mine and one that I intend to follow up on at every step of the process, is understanding some of the details of the discussion. And let me tell you what I mean about that. A lot of times we behind the dais and even out in the community have debates with people about various issues. And what I have always said is that I'm happy to debate anyone about anything and agree to disagree if that's the case. But it's important that we're all operating on the same fact sheet because if we're having a debate and somebody is under one set of facts and someone else is under a different set of facts, look, given my profession and my training, there are some things that are gray areas and some things that are disputed. But there are a whole lot of facts that are undisputed if we take the time to ascertain what they are. And from there, I think we can have a solid foundation for a debate. And the problem that I've had with this issue for a long time is that there is a lot of assertions or allegations or statements that are made that we've never actually been able to fact check or ascertain, allowing for us who are not experts in that industry, to not be able to get into the weeds on some of the things. And not that I'm saying, I want to get into the weeds. Trust me, I don't that's why we we hire staff that are special specialists in this area. You don't want a prosecutor making decisions about animal care services. You want an animal care specialist to be making decisions about animal care services. We're here to get data and help lead policy, but we're looking for direction and leadership from Stacy and and her her supervisor, the director of their division, to help us lead. That framework. But I do think there are a few issues that have come to light, whether they have merit or not, I don't know. But I cannot continue to have this conversation without for myself knowing some pieces of information. So the portion of the agenda item that that I wrote up and one that I hope to continue and I will I expect staff will keep us updated with this. I do expect we'll get a report back, but if not, I'll probably agenda is another item to get this information. And I'll tell you why. What I wrote in the agenda item is the city has welcomed a new director for the Animal Care Services Division, and this development presents an opportunity for us to review our existing relationships , practices, commitments and policies and to realign the same as we develop a strategic plan. Accurate information regarding the inner workings of the agreements between the Allied partners will help set the framework for a solid foundation from which to engage in discussion and debate. Without this information, speculation and implication may lead to poor policy and or distrust in the direction we determine is the best course of action for the city of Long Beach. What do I mean by that? And also I'll express it very clearly so. When I talk about specific information about inner workings with we've talked and Stacie touched about in her presentation to us a few weeks ago about that the just in general she went over the lease relationship and the relationship of the parties. We do have allied partners, obviously, and I think it's important for us as a council to understand the terms of the lease agreement with a little bit more clarity. So what and I'm not saying we need to know necessarily the terms of the lease agreement, but in general, we need to know what are the terms of the lease agreement? What are the responsibilities of each entity? Is there compliance from each of the entities in regards to the expectations and the understandings of the parties in regards to their various obligations under the lease agreement? So that's something that I would like included in this item in terms of a report back and whether that's the city manager who does it or whether it's the city attorney. We'd like to identify, you know, where we're at. And are there opportunities for us to have a little bit more compliance with the terms of the agreement in terms of the different facilities? You know, I would like us to understand what is the allocation of space in the context of the intended use of the two facilities? Are we exercising best practices in terms of the allocation of that space? And that can come back as a report. Back with the opinion of our Animal Care Services Director. I do think I was here when we went through our spay and neuter policy and enacted that. I think it's an interesting point that has been raised regarding the spay and neuter trust account. I'd love to get a report back on that. What is that account or what? What or what are we using it for? What options do we have for the future? And then there's one thing that and I don't know what the answer to this is, but there has been repeatedly allegations that there are aspects of the lease that have been kept confidential. And I don't know if that's true and I don't know why that is. And perhaps that's the subject of closed session. I don't know. Mr. Parking, are you aware are there aspects of this lease that are confidential? There are no aspects of the lease I'm aware of. They're confidential. Okay. So that's what I had heard as well. And that struck me as odd. You know, I don't really read anything into it because even if there were aspects that are confidential, I'm mindful of the fact that there are legal agreements at times or for protection of the parties. Things will be kept confidential. That's not an issue for me. I just know that we've heard that allegation repeatedly, and I'd like some clarity on that. So for me, what I would like is, you know, we get a lot of reports back from city staff with a lot of information. And sometimes the reports back that we get are very general and somewhat vague and more have a theme as opposed to actual data. The report back that I would like on this item is actual data so that to council, so that we can have if we're hearing something at the podium that is not accurate, we'll be able to know that based on the data that we have. If we're hearing something that is accurate and there's an opportunity for us to improve, then that allows us an opportunity to grow from the data that our staff is providing us. I want the staff. No. No disrespect to the audience at all or to the advocates. I want the data from our staff because it is that data that's going to drive our policy so we can debate the data once we get it. But let's get that data and the methodology that was used to get that data. Let's trust that methodology together. So if there's a question as to the methodology, we can talk about it. But let's start with the same set of facts. And from there we can build because one thing in this debate that for five years I have felt very strongly about. Is there's a lot of allegations, but there's not a lot of data and there hasn't been. So we need to know that information so that we can move forward. So I am requesting as part of this item that we receive a report back within 60 days regarding the specific items that I mentioned in regards to the lease agreement, the facility evaluation, the spay and neuter trust account. And that's it. Thank you, Councilwoman. Guys, please note nothing from. From the dais, please. I mean, from the audience right now. Yeah, and. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor. Of course, I forgot when I was talking about the lease agreement. I know that each entity has responsibilities in terms of what they're responsible for, maintenance payments, that kind of thing, what utility bills, things like that. So what are the different responsibilities and are we all in compliance? If not, is there an opportunity for us to improve? So I just want to get a handle on that because that information, I believe, has to come to me from our staff. Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilwoman. Councilwoman Mango. Thank you. I agree with a lot of what Councilwoman Price said. My methodologies are a little bit different. And again, it's unfortunate that both the current shelter manager and I have the same name because oftentimes I can't tell if you're making false statements about me or I didn't hear something she'd said, and that's unfortunate. I want to thank a couple of quick people. Ashley, I cannot tell you how much I agree with so many of the things you said. I think you're very bright and poignant in the things that you said and specifically how you said them. Pam, thank you for the work that you've done. I think the overarching thing that we all can agree on is two parts. One, save all the animals by 2025. And I think that we could get there. And I think that the goal of the Winograd methodology of no kill is saving every adoptable animal with a standard of adopting out 90% of the animals and having a really high live release rate. And I know that it can be frustrating when so I bring all my animal stuff that I've had from all of you. And I read that stuff and I look into it and I want to agree with Councilman. Price apps that even within your own information that you provide us, there's conflicting information. And so it's very difficult to get to the bottom of it. So I want to do a couple of things. This Council did not write the contract with SPCA. And I think this council would agree that in the current economic climate and the current. Success of the city of Long Beach. If we were going into an agreement today, it would look very different. But the city, the city, as it was then, was a very different city. And and animals might not have been as high a priority to that council. However, in looking at this agreement, the document that continues to be stated as confidential is cited on page five of the agreement listed as Exhibit B, and I would be interested in reviewing it if it is confidential. I'd be interested in reviewing it in the city attorney's office for me to know and understand and read what's in it. But if it is not. I believe Exhibit B is a floor plan and it's a public document. Okay. In some of the information provided by some of the volunteers that is listed as one of the complaints is that they can't see the specifics of a specific page. So maybe I misunderstood that. But specifically on the notes it says, where's exhibit B? And that parts of this are confidential. So I'm happy to go into that again. If I if I wrote that down again, we go we went over like 200 things in an hour and a half, so maybe I'm missing what part of it was confidential, but it says if the city attorney says it's not confidential, I'm happy to figure out what the group still thinks is confidential. I see that. I see the document you're showing yet it's still listed. So. To get to our own adoption program. The first step was taken by this Council with the support of Councilmember Austin and Councilman Price. Budget oversight. Last year, when we first funded a full time adoption coordinator, that is the first time in a long time that the city has had a person who is dedicated to that, and that person has only come on board within the last 60 days. And so I know there's a lot of training. I read the staff email that went out. I have a lot of issues with the current. The current strategy of the adoptions between the two facilities and the signage. However, I also recognize that Ms.. Staines has been on on staff for just a few months. And while I was not bringing this item forward, I want to thank Councilmember Turanga, who is also working on a similar item. And many know that I try to work directly with the shelter manager and the Parks and Rec director consistently, and I don't always think that an item is necessary. However, I appreciate my council colleagues, Price and Pearce, for asking me to be a part of the item because I am involved in some of these things, some of the reports that are being asked for in this document. Ms. Daines has already started on and started on them right after she met with each of us back when she came on board. So I expect that a lot of these reports will be coming soon. I also feel very strongly that the definitions really need to be decided through a community input process. There are lots of tools to do that. I think that we've consistently said that that's the direction we want to go. I think that's the direction that Ms.. Daines and I communicated a few weeks ago in our open forum. I know I've received a considerable amount of criticism for the type of set up for the forum, but I was a guest, as was she. And so I hope that that no one thinks less of her for the way that the forum was managed. But we are guests and we were there as their guests in the methodology in which they allowed us to be there. And I have never said no to a meeting with any of you. Not to mention the number of times I've been stood up for meetings where I sat around and waited for people to show up or they canceled on me with no notice. And so I want to meet with you. I am happy to talk with you. I'm happy to go to the bottom of what different documents are and and the criticisms of the shelter. I'm there often. I know. I just missed Alex walking to his car two weeks ago when I was walking in. But those dialogs don't happen at 90 seconds of you saying similar things over and over again that we still misunderstand because there's so much conflicting opinions about what that is. So I will state what I have stated for five years, and I know that Ms.. Daines and I have an understanding that this is coming more quickly. She's the first shelter manager that has a a real understanding of the chameleon system. But all of that data should be on our open data portal. There should be no need for public records request. You should be able to click on it and see specifically what's in Chameleon. It should be available to you immediately. And we've said that over and over again. There are open data being portals that have been built by other agencies that can be overlaid on the system we have. I spoke about it with our prior IT manager who was reluctant and the Open Data Task Force was not. Excited about animal data, but I am appreciative that both Leah Erickson, our new TY manager, and Ms. Daines are very excited to give the data freely and if there are mistakes with the data that we can correct it because unless we're all looking at the same information, it's very frustrating. So I want to end with thanking the more than 150 active volunteers at our shelter. We are getting, on average, 30 applicants a month to work at our shelter, and a lot of that is because of the the word of mouth of those who currently volunteer there and are feeling very fulfilled. We know it's not perfect and there's a lot we can continue to do. But I guarantee you, if you volunteered there five years ago, it's a different place already. It's a different place than it was two years ago. And we're still making strides. And I agree it is not fast enough. My method is to continue to provide suggestions on how to make it better. And if your method is not that I understand and respect it, but please don't disrespect the methodology that I use for for my advocacy for making a difference. So thank you. Now some are super not. Thank you. First, I didn't plan on saying this, but of all the items I thought would be brought up here tonight, I didn't think gender would be one of them. So I want to assure you that there was a male involved in this. That was myself. I think I held the very first community meeting where Stacey Daines appeared. Is that okay? She's given a thumbs up. And so we've been involved in this from early on. I want to get into the issue that Councilwoman Pryce brought up involving the contract with SPCA. And I guess I would like to get into the weeds a little bit here. So, staff, can you tell me, is there a possibility there are business units in existence that are not licensed? And do we need to look after that? Or is there a plan moving forward to get into that? Yes. Councilmember So there was a question on business licensing raised about a month ago about whether or not a specific grooming license was was at the right location. So staff took a look at that and found that it was more of a ministerial, just needed to be added to the description. But today it was come to our attention that there's also the potential for a retail license in a really quick look. We don't see that on record and on file, so we'll be heading out there tomorrow to make sure we know exactly what's going on and get the right licenses. But we are going to look at that and come back to you. So I endorse or I support the notion of sending everything to the task force, but this is something that I think can be addressed immediately. I think that if there are revenues to be collected, whatnot, we need we need to get right on that. Also, just in terms of the contract. The discussion is like this is an ironclad document and I'd like staff to weigh in on, on, on it. I don't think that's a fair description of what we have going right now, that it is a I don't want to say a work in progress, but it is something that we can make adjustments on on the fly. Would that be accurate? Councilmember I think that is not accurate. I think there's an existing agreement and to change it, amend it or modify it requires the consent of both parties. Okay. Thank you. So that would lend itself to the notion that this this needs to be vetted at the at the level that was suggested by Councilwoman Price. I think that's it. And this might be a Brown violation. So pick up. Charlie, you know, of all the things that have come to our office over the years, the policy on barking dogs has been one that just seemed to be not working at all. So if that's something that the task force could look into, that would be wonderful also. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor Andrew. Yes, thank you very much. I want to thank you, Congressman Supernova, because the fact that I've been here for every one of these and I want to thank everyone of the animal activists, you know, because the care and compassion that you have for your animals and I think everyone should have that same form of compassion, because, remember , that's something your animal becomes some of the individuals who don't have kids become like your kid. And that's what I really applaud you, because the fact that I see your compassion, I feel your compassion. But I think here, because my office has been numerous and, you know, cause concern and compassion, save and kill and Nokia. But but I believe that we can do better in the management and the Animal Control Service. And I'm looking forward to report, you know, for my city manager. You know, I'm very pleased with the appointment of Mrs. Dion as a new head of the Albuquerque couple, because she strikes me as a very compassionate and professional manager who can help us, I think, through these tough, tough times, because the fact that you wouldn't come here every Tuesday to, you know, to express your opinion, your feelings about your animals, and I think everyone deserves animals. So that's what I really will stay and listen to and because I am compassion about it also. So with her leadership, I believe that we can get to these, you know, get to the point where the animal activist can be happy and with the service provided on behalf of our animals in Long Beach. So I want to thank you again for coming out and giving your concern and compassion. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Richardson. Just wanted to chime in and thank everybody for coming out and speaking. You know, we had a good study session on this. I learned a lot during the course of that study session. I look forward to really seeing our new director in action and seeing how she engages on this on this issue and supportive of the motion . Thank you. Councilman Austin. Thank you. I just want to weigh in as well. I did have a little bit of concern early on listening to the public comment in terms of the the intent and need for this this item. But after I thank you, Councilmember Pearce, for for and price for for explaining it a little bit further. I will be supporting this. I do think to the the no kill advocates, your passion is is something that is very, very admirable. And we we very much appreciate you. Your advocacy is saving lives and raising the consciousness of of everybody in our city regarding animal care. Spent a lot of time at the dog park. I was there just this weekend and talking to two neighbors about and one guy I met who actually rescued about six little dogs. And he comes to the park every single day and he has just a great heart. And so what we're dealing with here is with advocates with with huge hearts. And so, again, I commend you all. I do think that our new director or bureau chief of the Animal Care Division or Ms.. Danes needs an opportunity. And from what I hear, there's a lot of confidence in her ability to turn this department and this program around. I think we need to give her that opportunity to do that, give the compassionate care, an opportunity to succeed. I heard from many of you. We're headed in the right direction. And let's let's keep that in mind. We're a lot better today than we were a month ago. Two months ago. And your advocacy, I think I think we are. I think we are. We're moving in the right direction. And at the end of the meeting, I'll I'll announce, but I'll announce as well. We will be having a Holstein Ms.. Dame in the eighth District at the Expo on Monday. If you want to come out and have a meet and greet, for those of you, particularly my constituents who haven't had an opportunity to weigh in or to meet her. We're inviting everybody to do that. But I will be supporting this motion. And again, I thank you for coming out and sharing your thoughts. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. And before we have Councilman Pearce kind of wrap up and then we'll go to a vote, I'm going to make a couple a couple comments. The first is I want to, again, thank everyone for coming out. That is has shown consistent passion and love for our animals and our family members of which they are a part of. I want to just again say something I said at the last time that this we discussed this issue. And I think we have hired an excellent manager for the department. And I want to make sure that she knows she's heard it from me both in private and in public, that she has my complete confidence and I believe is going to prove to the community that she is going to take our shelter to an even more progressive place and in a more progressive direction. Long Beach has a strong tradition of implementing progressive policies, and I think this is another step in that direction. I think that, Ms.. Daines, everything I've heard from her this in this process, I think has been admirable. And I think her ability to work with the community is is important. I also really appreciate what Councilwoman Pearce, Council, Councilwoman Price, Councilwoman Mango, everyone has said as it relates to giving the manager an opportunity to actually manage and develop our programs. What we have in front of us today is a broad policy policy direction about supporting a model that the manager has asked and wants to implement at the shelter. So I think that that the the kind of broad strokes that are in this agenda item, I think, allow that flexibility for the manager and also allow the flexibility for the task force to engage on many of the items are within the policy. I want to say a few things because the task force has been brought up a few times. Number one, I want to thank them again. These folks are volunteers and every single one of them loves our animals and wants to save lives at the shelter. And so I want to thank them for their service. And I think that they are consistently at the table listening to comments and trying to navigate a very complex and passionate topic. And so I know some of them are here, and I just want to thank you guys for your work. I mean, it really means a lot to the city. And you guys have been doing this work for a long time. No one is are you guys, you know, our, you know, receiving a handshake and a pat on the back for all that you guys are going through. And so I want to thank you for that. I also want to remind folks why the task force was formed. There is a process that has happened. When the audit was called and the audit was completed. One of the key items in the audit. Was to ensure that the community was a community process to develop a shared vision for the shelter. In creating the task force that is part of that recommendation. In addition to that, the the audit speaks to the strategic plan, which is also being developed and being worked on by the task force. The City Council will always retain the broad policy direction to direct and provide overarching policy to our departments and to the city. That's part of the responsibility of of the body, and it always will be. I also want to say that I support completely the recommendations as they relate to what's being listed in in this motion. I think Councilman Councilwoman Price's questions and request of data is exactly right, because I've been saying I think the same thing, Stacey, to you. It's like we have to all be using the same. There is a we don't we haven't even agreed on what the facts are and what the and what the correct data is. And we have to get there for us to make the right decisions. And I think the I keep hearing that we're not going to have a robust adoption program. That is what if Stacy's top goals is to implement as strong, independent and robust adoptions program. And that is something that she has verbalized, I think, to probably all of us on this body and is working to develop. And we are supported and supportive and looking forward to that process. On on the other issues that are on here, I just the only one that I will mention and I'll mention this because Councilman Pearson, I've had some good conversations as part of looking at the adoptions programs. One of the things that I'm excited for the task force to look at, I think it might be even being brought to your ad at your next meeting is Long Beach. Unlike most cities of our size or even the county allow less adoptions per household than most jurisdictions. So if you look at, for example, most cities, whether it's the city of Los Angeles, the county of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San, you name the city. Almost all. Cities. Provide more opportunities for people to adopt per household than the city of Long Beach does. And to me, that isn't easy. We need to come up with what the right number is for Long Beach. And that's something that I hope the task force also helps give us, gives us direction in this it within the scope of looking at adoptions as it's listed in in this in this item. And there are there are small changes like that in many others that you have advocated for that are all going to lead to a better shelter and better program and better department. I know there's a lot of folks that are frustrated. I get that. But I'm actually optimistic. And I've been optimistic since this work started. And if you go back from the work of advocating from I mean, Joanne, from the early days of you coming and advocating and others to the audit, to people being frustrated because it wasn't being done fast enough to getting good recommendations. To my commitment to ensuring that we have a qualified, excellent leader at the head of our department to the task force. Work to the engagement. This entire council, everyone on this body cares about animals and is working very hard to ensure that the work is happening to the advocacy. All of this put a big pot together. Is going is going to come out a much better shelter. And I want to also not lose lose sight that while we have been developing this shelter, the overarching the overarching work of continuing to decrease euthanasia and continuing to increase adoptions and continue to reform the shelter has been ongoing through the staff work. And there are we have staff members at the shelter and volunteers at the shelter today that also need to feel supported. And so I want to again publicly thank every volunteer and member of the team that is currently at the shelter that is working hard to save animal lives every single day. So I want to give them a round of applause for their amazing work that they do. And I'm great and I'm very, very grateful for them. And so I think this is an important step forward. Thank you to Councilmember Pearce, Councilwoman Price, Councilwoman Mongeau and Councilwoman Gonzalez, who presented this and everyone else who I know supports as well. I think this is an important step. And and we should pass the baton to our shelter manager and to the task force so that we can continue moving this forward. So with that, I'm going to turn this over to Council Member Pearce. Thank you, Mayor, and really thank you to this council. I think often we find ourselves where we repeat each other's moments or we have some debate. And I think what was great about this item tonight is that each of us lifted up an area that was important to us that reflects some of the concerns that everybody in the community has had. As much as I believe from meeting with the majority of the people here, that this council has done a great deal to reflect those concerns and to be strategic and organized and methodical about how we continue to move forward. I'm really at a. Very pleased to be at this point tonight to feel that momentum going forward, to pass the baton. And I look forward to the next several months of that work coming back. A couple or just closing closing thoughts? I support everything that the council members have asked for and said in the 60 day report. I just want to make sure that I call out the code number 6.04.070. I'm not sure that's the right code section, but we'll certainly look at the code. Section 007 is. The one around this. One business at two locations. I think you're asking us to look at two businesses at one location so. That that. Looks okay. So that's one of the codes. The other code that I took a photo of the actual code and I'll make sure you have it, but it's the one around the spay and neuter fund and making sure that adoption fees go into that fund. So just to clarify and I'll say anything that's worth doing is going to be difficult. It's going to be hard, and that means that it's worth doing. As a mother of a six year old having compassion for animals and working really hard to create a shelter where people want to come in side and volunteer and spend their time is really important. And so I do believe I don't often refer to things like God's work, but I believe this is God's work, making sure that we are caring for those that are the voiceless. And so I want to just read out loud the motion, the recommendation one more time for four staff. I also want to thank those that signed a letter today. So there's several members of the community that signed on that letter in support. So I want to verbalize my appreciation for them. I want to make sure that we're directing the city manager to work with the Parks, Recreation and Marine Departments to implement the Compassion Saves model as the operational approach for Long Beach Animal Care Services and ensure the direction is reflected in our strategic plan. Providing a report that the existing relationship and recommendations for improvements in policies and practices between the SPCA and Albuquerque maintain facilities and financial conditions which are most conductive to promoting increased adoptions at the box facility. Devin I'm sorry. I wrote on a different page I had. See what happens whenever you write too much. Yes. Thank you. Approve the recommendation to implement compassion, saves approach and have staff work with the task force to assist developing the policy in items listed. And so with that, thank you guys for continuing to make history and make sure that our city is moving forward to save as many lives as possible. Thank you. Please cast your votes. It was up there, just. Motion carries. Okay. Well, thank you very much. That concludes that item. And we will move on to the next item. Let me get back to we're actually going to take the fireworks item first. Next, please.