Recommendation to request City Council to censure Councilmember Jeannine Pearce for her conduct as a member of the City Council that has reflected poorly on the City of Long Beach and raises questions of potential sexual harassment, conflict of interest and failure to adhere to the City's Code of Ethics.
I got it here. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. So I believe we did hearing item number one. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. On the consent calendar. So there's been some requests to move up item number 19. So we will be moving up item number 19, which will be taken next. Okay. And if I can, please have the clerk, please read the item. Item 19 is communication from Councilman Austin, Councilwoman Price, Council membership not and Councilman Andrew's recommendation to request the City Council to censure Council member Janine Peers to her conduct as a member of the city council. Thank you. There is a motion in a second. So just to just to be clear, I'm going to go ahead and first turn this over to Councilmember Pearce and and then we will open it up and have a portion for public comment. And I will have something to say for those coming up right before that as well. So there's a motion on the second on the floor for the motion and the item and Councilmember Pearce. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, mayor. Thank you all for coming tonight. I know this is a difficult night for many, but I want you to know that I understand why we are here. I know many believe the actions and decisions that I have made reflect poorly on our city and on our city council. And I want to begin by apologizing. I want to apologize to the city of Long Beach, to my colleagues on the council, and most importantly, to the constituents of the Second District. I'm sorry. My actions, which I deeply regret, have taken attention away from the important work of the city, of the dedicated team and the people who work here. I take full responsibility for my actions. These last two years have been some of the most difficult in my adult and professional life. Through this time, I have undergone tremendous growth and I believe that I'm stronger and better person today due to these experiences. For me, taking responsibility means self-reflection, taking actions to understand why I made the decisions I did and why I found myself as part of the chaos that characterized my time in office. My traumatic childhood laid the foundation for me to fall prey to the narcissistic abuse, and many times I felt trapped. I know today that I'm a survivor. I don't say this to excuse my behavior. I do not say this to excuse my behavior, but to acknowledge that I am learning and growing, that I now know better, to recognize the pitfalls that led me into an abusive relationship where I put the public's trust and, frankly, my life on the line. I want to thank my support system for helping me get through the toughest parts of this past year. Through this difficult time, I want my constituents to know that I and my office have never stopped serving you. I'm proud of the second district accomplishments, of which there are many. But moving forward, I'm committed to regaining the trust and the support of my colleagues and constituents that I am proud to represent. I love our city. I love our home. The Second District. Holding public office is a great and tremendous honor, which I will continue to do better. At the same time, I believe we collectively can do better. I plan to continue to govern in a way that moves our city forward. In the coming weeks, I will be asking for my council colleagues to support me in the following requesting that the city auditor conduct a full audit of our practices and return with the policy recommendations to ensure all staff of the city have the information and training they need. A review of our protocols for the Legislative Department, specifically instituting a robust orientation and onboarding with annual ethics trainings for all legislative staff, regardless of their positions. I'd like to see something similar to the City of LA's My Voice website for city employees to learn their rights around roles and responsibilities, around discrimination and harassment, and where they can file a complaint online. I'd like to support establishing an ethics commission with community oversight. Many cities have these, which Long Beach has never had. I'd like to recommend that through the budget cycle, we discover a way for us to match $150,000 investment to support the city becoming a trauma informed city. We know we all experience trauma in some form or another, and how organizations and systems interact with those people can perpetuate the impacts of trauma from city employees who have their own trauma to constituents that call council offices and ask for support. When you become a trauma informed city, we will strengthen the fabric of our community, even at our darkest moments. I accept and acknowledge the sensor as a as a censure, as a call to do better. My hope is that once the vote is done tonight, we can move on and move forward. We can put politics behind us and focus on the work ahead. I ask my supporters in the audience to keep things civil. I know this is very personal to you and the issues that you care about. Tonight I ask that you stand with me in accepting the censure while committing to the real work that lies ahead for us. Thank you very much. And we will continue to rise stronger. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. I will now open it up for public comment. And I will I will just say that, please. When you comment to be you have a First Amendment right to your 3 minutes. But I would also just ask us to please be respectful and to to to have that with you as you're as you're speaking in front of us today. And so with that, please. 3 minutes, Mr. GOOD. You very good to clear as the address. The imperatives of passing this of taking this item up for discussion are so obvious they need not be discussed. But discuss it. Discuss. Now, one of the things they have noticed is that this will be reviewed by the L.A. district attorney, Jackie Lacey. Who unfortunately, though she does have two degrees, is so inept, so disorganized, so ineffective. That not only would Harvey Weinstein run as fast as he could from her. Matt Lauer would activate that button underneath her desk, underneath his desk to keep her out of there. She clearly doesn't know what he's doing. What must be said. And this council, when you consider it tonight, must realize. They have the convening authorities. At the federal level. We'll expect you to include in this motion if you pass it. Robert Garcia. For his criminal complicity. In the earlier reference. Many times, Criminal Rose, along with Gary DeLong and his fellow travelers, derails Marine Stadium to S, which was first reviewed by Jackie Lacey. That says who said that's not. That said in writing, that's not my job. You have records of that. It then would flow ordinarily, in most cases, to the California state attorney general, who at that time was rebuked by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A bipartisan panel rebuked Kamala Harris for the epidemic of corruption she had engendered, i.e., she refused to prosecute the guilty, obviously guilty in a quid pro quo for their vote. And this is what happened in Long Beach. Garcia. Supported her. Period. Now, the U.S. attorney will take constructive notice of whether or not this counsel. Immense it. This motion before you, this very commendable motion do include Robert Garcia, Gary DeLong and those listed earlier who were complicit in the raising of Marine Stadium to less. Which parenthetically is the records also show the approval to raise that based upon false evidence. Was given. And the contract was written and signed to the contractor to raise it prior to being approved by the Coastal Commission three weeks later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, please. You know, could you guys please. Actually, guys. Nope. None of that. Next speaker. The next speaker has the floor. Next speaker. I think about our council members who are private. Actually, you know what? You're out of line. The next speaker has the floor. Thank you. Please go ahead. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and members of the city council. My name is Jonathan Crouch and I reside at 525 East Seaside Way here in Long Beach. I'm not a member of any special interest. I'm simply a local resident and teacher that calls the Second District my home. I came before the Council on August 15, 2017, to address some many concerning issues I had with Councilmember Pearce's contact exposed by her run in with the police on June 3rd, 2017. These issues include sexual harassment, domestic violence, driving while intoxicated, intoxicated, using her council position to influence a police investigation and the many conflicts of interest that she has had within her council office. Since then, Councilmember Pearce has slowly but surely admitted to many of these wrongdoings through the different media interviews that she has had. For example, during a recent interview on the Luke and Cami show. She stated that on the early morning of June 3rd, she drove, buzzed, but was not drunk. Let me explain something to you that is widely known throughout our community. Those driving is drunk driving instead of taking responsibility for inappropriate and criminal behavior. What has she done? She has done nothing but point the finger at others. And the very beginning she pointed the finger at my husband and I say that this was all because we didn't support her in the last election. And as the recall movement grew, she then began to point the finger at our local business community. Councilmember Pearce This has always been and always will be about your actions. Your actions are what led to this censure vote brought forward by the courageous members of the Council. Your actions are what led to the nearly 9500 local residents signing the recall petition, and it come November when the residents of the second district vote will bend because of your actions that you will be removed from office. Time's up, Janine. Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Nadir Tushnet. I live in the third district and I'm speaking on behalf of the Long Beach Area Peace Network, a network of organizations and individuals who work for peace and social justice in the world, but also very much in Long Beach. I recognize and admire what Councilwoman Pearce just said. There is graciousness in her speech and good reflection on how we go forward. However, when I first read of the potential censure of Councilmember Pearce, I felt deep anger. My first version of the testimony that I'm doing pointed out the hypocrisy of a council in censuring someone for doing what I have seen happen a number of times over the years in Long Beach by other council members with no censure. I've lived here 30 years and it's happened. I can count four times. There may be more. I'm still angry, but also sad. I'm sad because this motion masks what's really happening. Councilwoman Pearce is being shame, not for the events of what she says is the worst night of her life about a year ago. So if it was about that, the timing is strange. But but she's being state shamed for standing up for workers, women and other marginalized groups in Long Beach. And the shaming is not protecting the honor of our city, but is due to the work of hotel owners and managers, large developers and others whose concern is only for their own benefits. Ironically, today we delivered signatures of over 40,000 Long Beach voters who are standing for women. I urge the Council to vote against censure. Such a vote will restore the honor to the city of Long Beach. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you. My name is Sarah and Divine, and I am a second district resident. I also teach political science. So I'm really happy that all of these people care because I'm just like, that's first and foremost, but I'm here just to to say thank you. Come, Councilmember Pearce, for your leadership in our district, as well as the leadership you're demonstrating tonight. Well, it's clear that this item is more about politics than it is about ethics. It's time for us to heal as a district and a city and move forward. I personally find the smear campaign tasteless and sexist and have used it in my class. People like to make this issue black and white, and that's easy to do when you don't know a person or you're politically invested in one side or another. I'm here to bring Gray to the situation to as a human being. I've watched you go through this journey to seek help, take responsibility, stumble and get back up, and all the while never lose sight of what's best for our district as well as our city. And I can find parking a little faster just on personal. I know a lot of people wanted to speak tonight, but I respected councilmembers Pearce's request not to. So I'd like to invite them all to stand with me. And we stand with you in. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Hi. Some of you have already met me. My name is Don Sutton, and I'm a 25. Year resident of the second District of Long Beach. I own a small commercial and residential real estate company here in Long Beach, and I have for the last six years, I've been on the front lines of selling Long Beach, not only to investors, but also to families who are looking to move here, live here and make life a great place for all of us. And, you know, we have a terrific city by the sea. I am very active in professional organizations and nonprofits, and I've brought or have been active in bringing conferences and meetings and other events here to Long Beach, not only to the convention center, but also to different venues around the city . And I value the idea. Of bringing investment and money to the city. And dollars to the city because it actually improves all of our districts, not just my own. Now, no one wants to be here really for this, but during the past six months, I'm going to tell you that privately four different. Commercial projects have been turned down financially because of the. Instability of this council and the district and the actions of the second district. It's cost us millions of dollars, not just for the second district, but also for the other districts as well. Furthermore, I. Am also familiar with three different conferences that have backed out. Of being here in Long Beach. That's tourism dollars that have gone other ways because of the current actions of the individual occupying the second district. We have a tight budget here and we need to support our infrastructure. Our outstanding city employees. Work very, very hard, both union and nonunion, and our outstanding fire and police department. The fact of matter is, is that we're talking about censure. I think we really need to talk about one word and that is resign because it is in the best interest for us to just start over because the damage has been done and it continues to be done behind the scenes. That's hurting us financially, not just emotionally. And the cost of a recall, the cost emotionally and financially to the city should not take place in a place that I've been working hard for 25 years to bring and to to be the private cheerleader in the city to bring more people to this city. So I urge the council to not even consider a censure. I think you should consider resign. Thanks. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And just just because I want to make sure this is this is moving for who is the last person in line back there? I just want to make sure. Okay, I'm closing the speaker's list, so. Okay, then please get in line so I can. I can just I want to make sure that it's already a long line. So I want to make sure that folks that are going to speak come. I'm going to close the public comment. So, Mr. Rivera, who's moving in the back, is going to be the last public speaker and going once, going twice. Mr. Rivera back. There will be the last public speaker. Speaker's just closed. Next speaker. Good evening, Mayor. Members of the council. My name is Jim Starkey and I reside at 1306 East Hellman Street Unit six in Council District two. I appreciate the opportunity to speak about this agenda item because frankly, as a former legislative staff member myself for 16 years for at the county level, state level and the federal level, I am mortified by Councilmember Pearce's continual abuse of the public trust. First, she employed her boyfriend as her chief of staff in willful violation of the city's unlawful harassment policy. Then, when that relationship. Began to sour, she appointed him as a taxpayer funded consultant. A few months later, still entangled with this same person. Apparently, they ended up fighting one morning on the 710 Freeway. And when she was approached by two different law enforcement agencies, the California Highway Patrol and the Long Beach Police Department demanded special treatment as a city councilmember . This pattern of behavior has thus resulted in an ongoing investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. More recently, despite expressing public support for the hashtag MeToo movement, Councilmember Pearce employed on her staff, a former member of the Playboy magazine staff. Playboy being perhaps the penultimate example of female objectification. And what does the former staff, Playboy staffer, go and do? Send out campaign messages from second District, i.e., government, i.e., taxpayer funded computers again, and willful violation of city rules forbidding such conduct. Thus, the people of the Second District have been left no choice but to continue to move forward with our recall effort against her. Hopefully the strength of the recall, along with this resolution, will send a strong message to her. To resign immediately. I urge council adoption of this measure. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening. My name is Kerry Sharpe. I reside in the fifth District and I have served for the last 30 years. Mr. Pearce, I really appreciate the fact that you, of course, have stood up and said that you are very, very sorry. Unfortunately, you can't deflect this on anybody else. And whether or not somebody else in the past got away with it or not does not reflect on what this council is doing today. This is your problem and only yours. This is nobody else's. Nobody else needs to improve. Everybody can do better. But this is on you. Now, my one thing that I wanted to say with the community, you have left us in a position that we are subject to very open lawsuits. There's no question about that. You have still embarrassed this city and not just here in Long Beach and not just in the second District. Again, I'm from the fifth and I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that this has gone on this long as well. And I'm sure that everybody wants to have it a lot shorter, even up to people in Canada have called and said, is that really going on in Long Beach? That's crazy. And the other part is that everyone in the city is left wondering whether the decisions that you're making today are on the loo or on rent control . Are these decisions that you're making, Mr. Pierce, being done with a clear head, or is this an ongoing problem? You represent the entire city, not just District two, your decision on the loo, your decision on rent control. This affects everybody. And are you doing this with a clear head? The other thing that I wanted to say to our council, I want to thank the brave council members who stood up and said, enough is enough. We've had it. You have compromised everyone. You have strained the trust of this council. And just, you know, just once when you have to say to yourself council members, if once you have said again to neatness in the news, if you have said that one more time and said enough is enough, you must vote for the censure. Especially in districts where you have two years for a reelection or two weeks for a reelection. Remember, the people who are watching your constituents are watching how you are voting. And many of your decisions tonight could be the linchpin for the reelection for anybody. Finally, Ms.. Pearce, on a personal note, I have been an educator for over 30 years as a primary educator, teacher and administrator. I urge you, Ms.. Pearce, to resign because of just on the behalf of your small daughter, because where you. Go, your. Family goes. And I can promise to you, I. Think I think I'd like you to. I think that's. Wait. Hold on. Hold on. Excuse me. Ma'am. I would prefer we not getting the families. Okay. I'm saying, if I may. I want this to be respectful. You have to have a First Amendment right that asks you to please not get into that. I am being respectful when I ask for additional time for that. I am asking that the Council please not put friendship above duty. It is your duty to represent your constituents. It is your duty to send a message that it is absolutely unfair and unbelievable that you could be above that one person could be above the law . None of us are above the law and everybody needs to respond. Thank you very much. Action. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi, I'm Kearsley. I'm from the fifth district and my address is on file. I don't normally take an interest in someone else's morality. I would consider that to be a personal issue of concern to immediate family and friends. I'm not here to judge Councilwoman Pierce for sexual misconduct in terms of wagging my finger. Shame on you. I do support the censure, however, because there were rules, broken rules that are in place to protect the employees of the city and also to protect the city from lawsuits. In the private sector, it is standard to have a set of ethics guidelines that all employers must acknowledge and sign stating that they will abide by company rules. And I have to think the city also has this in place. It is a corporate standard that you cannot have one person reporting to another when they are sexually involved. I believe the city has adopted that standard as well. Those rules are there for a purpose. When two employees on an equal footing are sexually involved. It creates the groundwork for a sexual harassment lawsuit. The employer automatically has a case against his or her boss, regardless of complicity or who seduced who. There were many more errors in judgment that occurred in this situation. But Councilwoman Pierce deserves to be disciplined for hiring her boyfriend and keeping him on the payroll for several years. That is not acceptable. And any large company that I know of. And unlike manner, the city must deal with it as a jury is obligated to make decisions based on the facts. So this Council is required to make this judgment, this vote supporting the rules that have been adopted by the city. While I have personally appreciated some of the work done by Councilwoman Pearce during her tenure, that must be set aside and this vote must be made based on facts that are relative to the rules the city has adopted. Otherwise, this Council is creating a precedent that advertises to city employees that this rule is not enforced. I can imagine that this is a difficult vote for some of you as this is your colleague. But your job here tonight is clear. The facts support censure. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Anna Kristensen, 25 nine terminal, Long Beach. Oh, I want you to see my jacket. I haven't worn this jacket since I was in the Long Beach City courthouse, defending myself against charges by Cal State University. They ended up dropping the charges. Ah, what does it say? It says, don't shoot the messenger. I think we need to be pretty clear here about all kinds of messages where the spotlight is on Jeanine Pirro. Your message is not a coincidence. It's not a coincidence that the council member is sponsoring the censure or the council members who voted against Claudia's law. It's not a coincidence that the majority of funding to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the recall campaign for Jeanine is from the hotel industry. So the message, regardless of whatever kind of message you want to send to Miss Pearce, the larger message to your community is not me too, but screw you, screw women , screw women, hotel workers. And you know, big industry gets its way, whether we're talking about lobbyists for big oil. Jeanine And we have a certain loyalty. Those of us who who opposed the $103 million. For the Belmont pool. Those of us who opposed oil drilling in the wetlands, we have very few city council people who stood with us on that. And it was just good judgment. And that's part of your ethics, is to exercise good judgment. You're saying she violated the ethics policy. What is Long Beach ethics policy to exercise good judgment? It is not good judgment to put on an underwater $130 million pools when kids are drowning in other parts of Long Beach. So if you want to look at the ethics of judgment, as I said on next door when people were swearing at me, when I, you know, were defending Jeanine, I said it was your focus. Or your. Priorities. If your priorities are to condemn somebody for violations of rules, fine. Oh, wait. I forgot. I'm supposed to start doing this as we all are, to honor the indigenous people of this land on whose land we are, the Tongva and a Hodgman. People who are being dishonored by the oil drilling project, by the way. And I want to say, if you're looking at the bigger picture, that long arc that we. Hope it is bending toward. Justice. Let's keep the big picture in mind. Let's keep women's rights. Claudia's hotel workers in mind. And let's be good allies. Let's be good allies. Yet Jeanine is our ally. And if people in Long Beach who are listening to this, anybody, you know, we need allies, the ordinary public people, they need allies. We need allies. And they're not the people who are sponsoring this. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Next speaker. As a reminder, Mr. Rivera is the last speaker on public comment. Thank you. Hi. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Aiello. I'm a current resident in the second district. I not only support the recall effort, I'm proud to say that I was successful in collecting a number of the 9462 signatures on the recall petition. For Janine Pearce, I would like to thank council members Al Austin, Susie Price, Darrell Supernova and Diane Andrews for standing up for what's right and recommending the city council vote to censure Jeanine Pearce. My hope is that you'll receive the unanimous support and unanimous support of the remaining council members, especially those that received a discretionary fund allocation from Pearce. As somebody else commented earlier, I'd hate to see you let the potential perception of that being a hush money taint any future dealings you have in politics. And it's really no compliment to you, Jeanine, that you've joined the ranks of politicians involved in sexual misconduct scandals. The difference is, is that by your own admission, you believe that none of this is any of our business. And I respectfully disagree. Your actions are indefensible and a disgrace to hardworking women that embrace a strong work ethic. As councilwoman for the Second District. You are right to your constituents to sincerely apologize. You owe it to your your colleagues, your supporters to take responsibility and sincerely apologize for the shame and disgrace that you brought to Long Beach. I heard your apology apology this evening. And that takes guts. It does. But it lacks sincerity because of you, as you've winked at me three times and winked at other people in the in the audience and rolled your eyes and made faces. It's very disrespectful as you've censured others in the public forum that have tried to reach out and talk to you. It's now being asked of you. I really do urge you to to make the right decision. Jeanine does not support the democratic process as she complains, as she proclaims. She's denounced the recall effort at all costs. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I actually voted for you and you let me down. You've not reached out once. And you know who I am. You know exactly who I am. And you had every opportunity to reach out to me. I've not blocked you and you've not done that. But you've called me a liar and a few other things, and I don't appreciate it. I'm a second district resident for 15 years and I take pride in my city. I volunteer in my district just like a number of other people. So, yes, I take what you did personally. I take that you calling me a liar personally. Okay. So I just couldn't be more disappointed that I trusted you and you let me down. It really isn't too late for you to make this right, Janine. All it takes is for you to resign. Okay. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you very much. My name is Julie Nicholson. I live in the second district. I imagine most, if not all of you already know how you're going to vote tonight. But I feel compelled to say something in my precious 3 minutes. This isn't simple. I'm aware of that. Possibly more than you might guess. But here we are somehow in this battle of business versus workers, ethics got involved. My master's degrees in ethics now are my territory. And I can tell you about applied ethics as the covers protecting workers ethical issues, fair wages, ethical is granting sanctuary to those seeking refuge. Okay, lesson of that ethics is providing food and shelter for those in need. And when a woman is in danger, so much danger that a court awards her a restraining order. Ethical is reaching out. Ethical is pulling her closer, offering a hand and asking, how can I help? What can I do? How can I help you collect safety around you? Ethical doesn't censure such a woman who has lived in fear, who has been bullied into silence, eventually had to fight back. And she is a survivor of abuse. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. My name is Newhart, captain, resident of the second district here in Long Beach. Thank you for having me here and thank you for all your hard work. Council members. I'm here to express my dissatisfaction. We all have our own reasons for being here. I am here because I first found out about Janine Pearce and her drunk driving. I had a cousin killed by a drunk driver in 2007, and that's what brought me to do the research and to find out what was going on in my city. I asked myself what would have happened if Janine wasn't stopped by by the CHP that night. This is a life or death situation. I feel like she's very lucky that she was stopped. She's very lucky that she has been outed because that might have prevented somebody from being harmed or even killed. I really I really feel like she's put her fellow council members in a really tough position. She's put me in a very tough position. I have friends and which are supporters of Jeanine Pearce and our supporters that are standing with her. She has gone against her initial platform of strengthening this the fabric of this city. And it has been torn. She has torn friendships. She has torn relationships. And she has torn trust between herself and the fellow council members. Now now her argument is that this is going to cost the city a lot of money, that there are special interests involved. I am not part of any special interest. I have no I have no connection with any hotel, any union, nonunion. I'm a resident of the second district and I've been called scum as a person, going out and collecting signatures, being villainized. This is my right. This is democracy. If you're unhappy with your representation, you have the right to go out there, talk to your neighbors, and serve justice. Now, talking about the money, my focus is my neighbors, my fellow second district, the taxpayer money that has gone into the numerous police calls, the responses, the internal investigation, the 300 hours that have been spent in this city's police department. That's taxpayer money. Now, we don't know how much this center or this recall is going to cost. We can't put a number on it. You can't put a number on the representation that you deserve, that we deserve. Now, I urge you, council members, everybody has a responsibility today to show the public that people need to be held accountable regardless of their position, regardless of their title. You owe it to the city to show that that honesty is the best policy and that honesty and that that distrust is what does bring me here today. So I thank you, everybody. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And just as a reminder, Mr. Rivera back there as the last speaker. Somebody left a device. Okay, we'll grab it. So I'm sorry. I'm actually going to have to take a deep breath, just so I, I, I don't say anything that I shouldn't say. Um, I'm here among friends, and I completely disagree with my friends. I'm a progressive. I'm on the left. I am proud of our movement. We are an LGBTQ loving, accepting women, embracing, standing up for the poor, standing up for the downtrodden, standing up for those who are the voiceless. That's that's what we are as a movement. There's a Talib Kweli album called A Beautiful Struggle, and that's what it feels like being on the left. And it's something that inspires me. It's something that I'm proud to be from, something I'm proud to be of. And it's something that Janine is part of, which is why I, I speak with great disappointment that this is even happening. Because, Janine, the truth is, I well, I read the well-written letter from the city council and everything they wrote. There is an absolute fact I don't see any falsehood in one of those statements. And it breaks my heart to see that because you were the candidate who was not expected to win, you were you were not the establishment candidate. The industry did not put thousands of dollars into your campaign. It was the unions. It was the working class. It was the poor. Those are the people who fought for you. You came out with a ban on fracking, and that's what I was counting on you for. And I'm still counting on you for because all the rest of them are taking oil money. All the rest of them will be quick to drop your name and smear you and drag you through the mud if they get enough money, which is what they're here to do, represent their donors. I look through all of their donations and it just so happens to be the same. People who are investing in the recall efforts are the same people who want to make sure you don't pass Claudia's law. And they're the same people who got in the way. The same people who will stop you for the Stand with Women Against Abuse campaign. So I just want to say, if we're going to shame anyone, let's all carry a little bit of shame. And I'm talking about the people who are here working for their lobbyists. You're doing a great job. Some of you claim to be Democrats and you're supposed to be fighting for the working class. You're supposed to be fighting for the poor. But instead of any of us talking about the environment and global warming is real and we really do need to do something about fracking. I really wish you guys would stop ignoring me. That is a very serious issue. Instead of us talking about living wages because poverty is very real. Homelessness is very real. And some of this talking about the issues that really matter to the voters, we're talking about somebody's stupid petty drama. And Janine, the truth is, they didn't create this. The hotel industry did not hire a lover. This was all on you. And so this is your this is kind of on you to get yourself out of this situation. I want to let you know I still have love for you, Janine. I'm not I'm not going to be like the rest of our friends and just joining the cheerleading crowd, because that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to make people think I'm here, to be honest, that that's that's who I am. That is who I am committed to being. I want you to realize tomorrow. Yeah, the press telegram is going to smear you because they refuse to cover fracking because they're all they are, just like these council members are. They are in the interest of business. But I do hope that you make fracking your priority again. Thank you. Thank you. Next. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Larry Bull and Winston Churchill once said that anyone in their twenties who was not a liberal had no heart. And anybody in their sixties who has done a conservative had no mind. I'm here tonight to ask all of you to follow the rule of law. This is a gloomy day outside. It's a very depressing time to be here for all of you, for the supporters of your peers, for the friendships that you've gotten over the time, I'm sure, with the council. But we have to put those aside and follow the rule of law. And as some of the other speakers have said, there is no question about Janine's failure to follow ethics procedure and protocol when she hired. A boyfriend, a subordinate. That is an egregious action against the rule of law. You know, you can't do that. She approves his pay raises. She writes his performance appraisal. There's this conflict of interest beyond conflict of interest. Now, let me say this. During everything you have done and everything in your mind that you say I know you believe in and your supporters are here and they have the right to say what you have done is your own personal business. However, elected public officials are measured at a much higher level of integrity. And that's the difference between those of us out here and those of you there. You must follow the rule of law, even if you don't want to, even if it's going to hurt a friendship. You have to do that because that's why you were elected. You took an oath. So I just want to try to put some neutrality in here with regard to motive of people supporting you or calling for a recall. And the only course that a civilized nation can take and maintain that is different from our own personal views of of what is wrong and what is right. We have to censure and you have to. Jenny, if everybody censors you, you must forgive them and afterwards. So forgive you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Nick Speaker. Good afternoon. My name is Andrew L.A. and I am. Speaking as a resident. Of Long Beach. I am now representing the. Organization that I work for, and before I tell my personal story, I want to acknowledge the corporate sponsorship of this theatrical show, the Marriott. The Marriott have put $800 in campaign contributions to Susie Price, about 1500 and campaign contributions to Al Austin. I have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on the recall campaign as a survivor of domestic violence. I am familiar with the power and control behavior an abused and abusive person will use, especially for someone who works with the community, including using manipulative taxi tactics to discredit their victims. As a former Janine's neighbor, I was witness to some of these abusive incidents. This is why all of this has been very triggering to me. Witnessing how Janine is constantly being victimized publicly and by many of your actions makes me worried. What is the message that we are sending to survivors across Long Beach? Janine, we stand with you and people. I just want to let you know that this is what happens when corporate America controls our elections. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker, please. Okay. Hello. My name. Name's Joseph. Sullivan, and thank you for. The chance to speak tonight. I've had a chance to work with Janine, and I would just like to share from a personal standpoint, she cares very deeply about the labor movement. She cares very deeply about workers, about creating jobs and about her constituents. That's it. Thanks. Thank you. Sure. And Speaker, please. Stefan Borst and Zullo. I've been a second District City resident since 2010. I'm coming here speaking on behalf of Democratic Socialist of Long Beach and myself. I first met Janine on a picket line in 2011 protesting for better wages and better treatment of our hotel industry. She then personally rescued me from unemployment in 2014 by hiring me as a campaign worker for Prop 37, something I am eternally grateful for. Her election was confirmation that of Bob Foster, his worst fears about the organized left finally having a new voice in the city government. Despite all this and all the crap that's been going on in the last couple of years, she's been the best steward for for Council District two since I moved here. As evident by the anger that she has inspired by our parasitic landlord class in the exploitive hotel industry. However, frankly, you messed up by hanging out with the council members and their frat like atmosphere. Your your ethical lapses were any worse than the assorted misdeeds of your colleagues. But as a member of the left who left, you knew about the level of scrutiny facing you here. For the sake of us, you should have exhibited better judgment. I'm happy that you've finally accepted responsibility for this as members of the Left need you. This ensures curiously time become nearly a year after the completion of a criminal investigation that cleared you of any wrongdoing. But during a time in the city's cloak off, a clerk's office is performing the very sensitive task of verifying signatures for a very curiously and badly organized recall campaign. The co-sponsors of this also represent the exact same coalition of folks who killed statutory sexual harassment protections for hotel workers last year. So, frankly, I doubt they're sincerity on this issue in particular, given the news about the proposal, but how it asked the censure and the people delineating it, please affirm the independence of the city clerk's office in verifying this, as this is a very sensitive and important job for the press covering this. Take no to that, no to the lack of pretense exhibited by these recall folks. They aren't even trying to hide about what they really care about rent control, land use, development and workers rights. They don't like any of it. They don't care about the women of this district. They've attempted to intervene in a domestic violence restraining order despite lacking anything regarding legal standing. This is the first time this has ever happened. According to a superior court judge I spoke with, the rest of the city will persist regardless of the vote that happens tonight. Councilwoman Pierce, the council district two will not take one step backwards and we will win. Thank you. Thank you. Thank speaker, please. Thank you. Surely, Richard, if this nine person council. Does any voting tonight? However they vote. She's already been censored. Harry, she's been laid out here while looking, guessing what the press did put out there. We're wondering, speculating on what she did or didn't do. In the Old Testament. If a woman was caught in adultery, she'd be dead before sundown. It stone at a death. And then Jesus comes along in the same situation. The woman's laid out there on the floor. The man, probably some of whom wanted to be with her, but she was caught in adultery with someone else. So they turned her in. The fact that she was a woman is the reason why Jesus handled that situation the way he did. And what did he say? Those of you who are not guilty of the same thing. Pick up the stone. Pick it up. I'ma let you hit her first because he knew. Some of the men. And they happened to be preachers who wanted that woman, stone. So I'm probably the only one standing here tonight. You not guilty of the same thing. But Jesus defined adultery as if even you want to be with someone other than your spouse. And for the record, I don't know if the woman was married or the man, but I knew this. The man was never brought to the floor. We don't know who he is now. That man got away and Jesus had to handle that woman laying on the floor caught in adultery. And what did he say? First he dismissed everybody who wanted to accuse her of anything. We don't know her whether she was a secretary of parents. We don't know whether she was a banker in the town or if she was a high. We didn't know what a profession was. He just said, those of you who have not committed this sin stone at first, and then after you cleared the room because everybody in there was guilty of something or they would have stayed there. But they knew in their heart they were guilty to. He said after clearing the room. Honey, where are your accusers? They're all gone. Go and say no more. And I do not condemn you. Now. I don't know Janine's profession of faith, but I know this to be true. If a man's ways, please the Lord, He will make even His enemies be at peace with him. He'll make them leave you alone. If I were you, I'd go somewhere. Somewhere in a corner, sit tonight and have a talk with your creator, make a commitment that you intend to keep with him, and he'll silence your enemies. Thank you. Speaker, please. My name is Tiffany. Davey and I resigned and. Work in the second district. 2014 for me was also a very difficult year as a woman in this city. Janine's office and I have been in contact multiple times. She has listened to? No. And while many officers had not. I work right behind her home and as a community member have been privy to much of the information. That's not been shared with the public. As a survivor. It's disheartening. When I studied political science, I. Had a lot more faith in my community. Globally. Internationally. Same situation that will work there. Ethics is something that the entire world is playing with right now. And take a moment for the survivors. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Joe Soper I live in the fifth District. I don't live in the second district. In fact, I don't live in the other districts except the fifth District. But this is my city. If something is wrong in one district, it's wrong everywhere. If I stub my toe, the rest of my body feels it now. Janine Pearce. This has nothing to do. Because you're a woman. Fact, it doesn't matter that it's a woman. It's all on you. You took the oath. You're behind the rail. We hold you to a higher standard, and you know that. And she's not the only one that gets calls that call her names, that pick on her, that say bad things to her. There was a councilman. He's passed away. Ray. Ray. I forget his last name, but he sees. That's right. Bensky He said, because I get I keep all the nice letters that I get. I keep them in a drawer. When I get a call like that, I hang up when I'm done and I have to read those letters kind of to bring me back to who I am. This has nothing to do that you're a woman. But I don't know what kind of reality we're living in here. But it has to do because you are a council person. Not a council woman, a council person. You created. What happened. To you? And you're responsible for it. And if any other council person created something like that, they would be sanctioned tonight also or when appropriate. The facts are you are the council members. The facts support sensor. She needs to be held accountable. How? Held accountable for her actions. And that's what we're doing tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker, please. Good evening. My name's Tamara Romero, District two resident. I'm pretty serious. I'm not going to talk much, but I'd like to say, well, have the rest of my time as a moment. Of silence in support of Janine Pearce. Thank you. I'm going to leave some stickers. Thinking next week, please. With the setup like that, I better not mess it up. Dave Shukla, resident of the third in. I'm ashamed to say I grew up with you, man. You can't even stay quiet when a woman asks you to stay quiet for 3 minutes. Come on, man, I. I don't have a whole lot to say. Councilwoman Pearce, I believe you're beginning to see how real our town is. Welcome. I've been elections watching this recall. Um, as someone who, uh, Stephanie Davis mentioned, it's around fourth street. Lot privy to a lot of the details you don't yet know it. Have some skin in the game, so to speak. I was there, Devon. I was there the night you went to replace. I heard a lot. I heard a lot. I wish I hadn't. It's shocking to me that this is being brought to you with this timing. We're all smart people here. This is a very real city. We understand what a vote like this is. There is no clarity. I'm not obviously someone who's elections watch. I can't speak publicly about anything I saw, but I'm surprised that without certainty about an arbitrage rate, without certainty about what the numbers are. I mean, we all care about the facts. We all care about what the numbers actually are. That the city council would take this motion now. If she needs to be censured. You lose nothing. You lose nothing by waiting a couple of weeks, you lose nothing. But if you do. This now and it turns out, oh, well, what do you know? They actually didn't have the numbers and even interfered with the process by putting your thumbs on the scale. I mean, what kind of town do I live in, really? Now. I know I don't have much right to ask this, sir. I mean, what right would I ask? I'd have to see, brother. Father. Never to be sunny displace. I know I don't have much right to ask, but at least, at least let us learn. Fully since we have to get into this mess now and actually figure out what the details are. Let's actually have all those facts. Before you commit yourselves to something you may not want. To. And one last thing. I didn't grow up with this woman, but I guarantee you she's a lot better than those that have come at her. Because her next bigger piece. Our final speaker. Hi. Good evening for Hillary. That I'm actually here tonight speaking as a second district district resident. I want to just thank you, Councilmember Pierce, for your apology and all the actions that you've taken to move this thing forward. And it's unfortunate that you're. Constantly being stalled in the process to just be able to to move past it and heal. I have more questions than anything. I think one of the questions have been asked already is like, why now? It seems so timely? The issues raised in this agenda item and that have been shared already, they've all been public knowledge. The connection between. Agenda izing this item now and the. Recall campaign timeline looks it looks to be politically motivated. And why the truncated truncated process? Why is there a need to rush this by putting it on the supplemental agenda and not allowing for full engagement of the body of the public on this issue? Why invoke an unfamiliar process that hasn't been used for 25 years on such a short timeline? Is Council Member Pearce, the only council member currently under investigation for ethics violations. And if she's not, then then I hope that those that are currently under investigation for ethics violations are treated with the same level of of of focus that that she's been given in this process. And what's the standard for bringing forward a censure? The public deserves answers to these questions, since you for all fit saw fit to actually bring this forward. So I'm hoping that we get more answers to some of the the questions that have been posed tonight. Why now? Why a short process? Why is Councilmember Pearce the only one under ethics violation investigation? And I'm sure if we get these answers to these questions will be a little bit clearer on what ethics is and what it truly means. And I want to say one last thing, because you brought it up, Janine, about being trauma informed, because I know the city the city is trying to get some training on being trauma informed. And as a trained, trained trauma, nonviolent parent, educator, trained and community resiliency trained in community trauma and systemic trauma, which you all are exhibiting , especially these four authors, is not trauma informed because you're taking a domestic violence survivor and you're putting her under the spotlight and you're continuously beating her down. And that is not trauma informed. That is not going to help her heal. It's not going to help her move past. And you four should be ashamed. Thank you that closes that because the speakers list the there is a motion any second on the floor to approve the item in front of us. Please cast your votes. But as you say. But. Really? Councilman Andrews. Motion carries. We'll take we will take a recess. Five minute recess. Thank you. Yeah. I'm going to go and call a meeting back to order to get a quorum here. So far so good. Once we get a quorum, we'll will begin the ultimate. Kick to. Councilman Andrews. Okay. We're going to go back to public comment, please, Mr. Goodhue. You're up.