Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to negotiate with interested Long Beach carriers or operators a financial agreement for the development of a Customs and Border Protection facility at the Long Beach Airport, subject to further City Council action approving the final terms and conditions of the agreement; and Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute and submit all documents necessary to the United States Department of Homeland Security for designation of the Long Beach Airport as a United States Customs and Border Protection User Fee Airport for the processing of aircraft, passengers and baggage arriving from outside the United States. (Citywide)
Thank you. I hope that I see you all there because it's going to be a very exciting time. Thank you. Thank you so much. And just also, Madam Cricket, I know that the timer is not appearing for some reason on our screens, just as we as we start the hearing. Okay, I can fix that. Thank you very much. Okay. We're going to go we're now going on to item seven. We're going to just kind of start over. So I'm going to have the clerk read item seven again and Mr. Romo, pretend like we're starting from the beginning. Okay. Madam Court report from Long Beach Airport. Recommendation to authorize the city manager to negotiate a financial agreement for the development of a Customs and Border Protection facility. And execute and submit all documents necessary to Homeland Security for designation of the Long Beach Airport as a United States Customs and Border Protection User Fee Airport Citywide. Mr. West. Mr. Romo. Honorable mayor, honorable city council members. Just Roemer Airport director. I'm here to provide an update and overview of the Federal Inspection Service feasibility study that has come before the City Council prior. And we're here to present a full and complete debriefing of the study itself. I would like to mention that this was commissioned and performed by Jacobs Engineering under a contract with the airport. But this is also a project that has required an inordinate amount of city support staff, primarily out at the airport, although we have received some significant assistance from staff here at City Hall. We've had a number of of employees in particular who've done a lot of heavy lifting. And I did want to at least give some recognition to one person in particular who acted as the contract manager throughout this project. Mr. Dale Worsham The Airport's Administrative Officer. So again, I want to acknowledge and thank him for his great, tireless and excellent work on this project. And. So with that I'll get into the presentation. So I wanted to start out by sharing with the mayor and council and members of the public who are here tonight as well as those watching online or on MLB.TV. The study, again, it is as a recap, looked at particular elements or items related to the feasibility of having an f i. S sited at the airport. And it was again a commission to provide a comprehensive and full evaluation of what interface would would mean for the for Long Beach Airport and . The items that were examined. If you've looked at the study, reviewed the study, these would be familiar. But we looked at both or we looked at market demand, which is do air carriers see a market here in the Long Beach Basin and in Long Beach to provide that service? What would the economic impact be as a result of construction and operation of an office? This in the report was done primarily on a regional basis. That's how impact studies are normally done. But at the request of one of the council members, we did a analysis looking at a more localized or Long Beach centric impact. We also looked at environmental compliance issues specifically related to the previously completed Environmental Impact Report. And if this project were to be approved, what additional environmental requirements to do due diligence would have to be done before a project would start. Next we have facility concepts. If you'll recall, there were three concepts that were put forth. These were very high level ideas or designs. They were not based on anything that was done with discussion, with any stakeholders per se. It was really done based on what Customs and Border Protection has as its requirements for functions of an app. Yes. We also looked at the airport itself, specifically on the airfield side in terms of what with the existing geometry and series of taxiways and runways support international operations. And last sorry, the second to last item was financial feasibility. If we were to construct an F, I guess, how would it be funded? Who would pay for it? Not only for the initial construction, but how it would be operated. And those costs would be recouped over time. And then, last but not least, examining any potential security risks, as they might be related to the introduction of international service at Long Beach Airport. In addition to the study itself, which again, it's been available since October, for everybody to read and review as well as attend study sessions. It also is accompanied by extensive community outreach. People will recall that at the front end of the study there were two community meetings that were held, later followed after the study was completed by three study sessions. The finished product itself is really comprised of the summary study as well as a fairly robust and thick series of appendices that support the information that's contained in the base study. Because there has been concern about what an has in terms of its operation might might mean to the city's noise ordinance. The city did outreach and sent a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration to get some guidance on any potential impact to the noise ordinance. So overall, the staff's position in assessment of this, after looking at all all the information, all relevant facts, are that the study findings provide a very solid framework for which to base a decision on possible next steps. This is where this slide here really just talks about some of the key elements and reminders to the greater audience about what Long Beach is and kind of how it fits in the rest of the air transportation system in our region. As a reminder, you know, Long Beach Airport is one of five commercial airports in the greater Los Angeles region. I may have mentioned it at a previous presentation that, you know, the L.A. region is actually pretty unique in that we've got five airports that support the travel needs of about 20 million folks that live in the greater L.A. region. That includes L.A. County, Orange County, San Bernardino, Riverside Counties. So it's one of the few places in the country that has this number of airports at a fairly small region. Long Beach Airport itself. We did get our statistics for 2016 and ended the year with 2.8 million passengers, a slight increase from 2015 where we had two and a half million passengers. And of course, in one of the first and foremost things that we always look at at the airport and I think from the city standpoint, is that Long Beach Airport itself has a long standing, almost 22 years now and a robust noise ordinance that protects the surrounding neighborhoods. And some of the specifics or key elements of the noise ordinance that at present no more than 50 air carrier flights are permitted to operate at Long Beach on a daily basis. The commercial carry operations from a schedule standpoint are restricted to occur between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. in the evening. And there's an imposition of fines on operators outside these hours with few exemptions. And specifically, I want to talk about the exemptions. The only time that there can be an exemption is that one hour window between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m.. And those typically are waived in the instance of whether or a bona fide mechanical reasons that are beyond the control of an airline. Any any violations occurring from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. in the morning. Those are subject to fines, regardless of the reason. Legal considerations here this we want to just talk about something that some history because part of this was in addition to doing the feasibility study itself, we wanted to get some reaffirmation from the FAA. So on September 8th, 2016, the city attorney requested of the FAA to reaffirm its legal opinion on the effect of international service and that effect on airport grant assurances specifically as they relate to the noise ordinance. Oh. And the slot I'm sorry, the allocation. Resolution for those that may not be aware that in addition to limiting the operations within the noise budget is as it's calculated in the OR as stated in the noise ordinance, the allocation resolution speaks to the the number of times or the frequency by which an airline must exercise or use its allotment of flight slots. So the response from the FAA was received on October 18th, and their response indicated that their conclusions that were reached in 2015 were the same. So and the net effect was that the consideration of a potential out by US facility would would not have an impact on the city's noise ordinance or allocation resolution. And again, something else for for the benefit of the public out there. That Long Beach Airport's noise ordinance is grandfathered under anchor or the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990. But again, the FAA conclusion was that the FAA US will not impact the city's noise ordinance. This is just a copy of the letter that we made up there. The tape is much too small, but this was all and this is available online. This was something that was published so that the public could review this letter themselves. And again, that was that was received by or there was it was dated on October 18th, 2016. So this is a high level restatement of the facts relative to the project. And that, you know, providing international air service will not impact the noise ordinance. And this is based on the FAA is opinion that was made at the request of the city attorney. Nationally, and this is part of the study as well. International service itself comprises about 20% of all air travel in this country. Locally. Regional airports that are similar to Long Beach that have international traffic levels except for L.A.X., are at about actually they're under 5%. So the two other airports, not counting L.A.X. that have international service or John Wayne and Ontario, and again, both those airports have international traffic at under 5%. The study did also find that Long Beach, you know, that international flights would range somewhere between six and eight flights or 12 to 16%. If you convert those flights into percentages of our total slot allocation after a 3 to 5 year period. The other thing that we looked at, in fact, this was an important component when the council authorized staff to engage with JetBlue and Customs and Border Protection on some concept of what FISA could look like, because the information that was contained in the study was very much based on a formulaic set of instructions. So it was simply said the the consultant looked at what FISA typically looks for, and that's why they had the three scenarios and the square footage of the FISA ranging I think anywhere from, I think, 28000 to 30000 square feet. So staff met with CBP and JetBlue in early January to get a little bit more guidance based on what this facility could conceivably come in at from a square footage standpoint. Vital to the project is that we wanted to make sure that a facility would meet the operational need, but they would not create any expansion potential. That it would also place limitations on the operating hours so that we could have an effective buffer between the last arriving international flight and against the curfew. So giving you an example, what we'd want to do is make sure that Customs and Border Protection officers who would have to clear those international flights, that they would leave the time certain so that if a flight came in after that timeframe, so let's say 10:00 at night, that's that's the curfew they would have to divert to a nearby airport. Additional considerations of right sizing. Again, with the discussions we had with CBP and JetBlue really yielded the possibility that an IFRS could be sized at about 15,000 square feet, which represents about a 30% reduction from what the study had estimated. And the square footage itself because it's at 15,000 square feet. And the larger it does place a constraint on the number of flights that could be handled. So we would want to make sure that it's designed that it would accommodate no more than two flights at at the same time. And again, restating what I said earlier about the operating hours, that we would restrict it to a single eight hour CBP shift and that we would want to make sure that it's operating within the permissible hours of the noise ordinance. And again, any flights that would arrive after that time certain would not be able to land here at Long Beach. And instead they would have to divert most likely to LAX. But they would they would obviously they could not land it and clear at Long Beach. I want to talk about again on a high level, some of the benefits that the study showed about an F, I guess, at Long Beach Airport. First is choices. Local travelers would be able to have a choice to opt to use Long Beach as a launching point at a much more convenient, much less congested airport. It's much as folks know that use the airport. It's a much friendlier campus and a nicer experience for for people who are taking flights out of Long Beach. Stability, you know, having a relatively small international component, as we said, 12 to 16% or 6 to 8 flights. It really does strengthen the airport's financial position because it diversifies routes in the airport business in general, having a diversification of your routes really tends to strengthen and bolster the airport's position and protect it during natural economic cycles where you might otherwise see a downturn. Connection. Although Long Beach is what you call an origination and destination airport. And so the vast majority of people who are using Long Beach are either traveling from Long Beach someplace else or from someplace else to Long Beach. Having an international component does provide a better connection throughout an airline's network. So again, it's a small incremental piece. But again, this kind of goes to helping to diversify and strengthen an airport's business model in terms of protecting itself against economic downturns. And then lastly, the economic impact and this has been discussed, I think at length here as well as other study sessions. There are positive impacts that accrue both during construction of the project and once it's operational. So staff's recommendation tonight for the council to consider or we recommend moving forward. This independent study has fully reviewed concerns related to noise, security, the environment and has provided for a lot of public input. So through a series of these study sessions and community meetings as well as Q&A opportunities where we have responded, I think in every event to questions that have come up. We want to make sure that all questions go answered. The FAA has provided written confirmation that the noise ordinance would not be impacted if this project were to move forward. The study also verified that it's a fairly small component in the scheme of things. It's obviously less than the 20% average nationwide, but 12 to 16 flights were identified as potential international routes were again 6 to 8 flights out of the 50. And staff has. And I really want to back this up that, you know, your staff has really gone above and beyond at our community meetings, as well as responding to email requests and requests from council. We've listened to the residential residents concerns. We've addressed questions. But this study, you know, it. Did not. Reveal any impacts to the quality of life with the introduction of international service. So in addition and as we get to the close of this presentation. Restating that the size of the facility limits. The amount of international service capacity in the size itself has been reduced by 30% from what was initially estimated in the Jacobs report. The proposed facility size fits within Long Beach, the previously outlined environmental impact report that said it will comply with any additionally required environmental work that might be that would have to be done as part of this project. And that staff would negotiate with CBP to shift hours of enough hours so that all international flights would have to operate within our operating hours and that they could not arrive after hours. Instead, they would be rerouted to nearby airports. And that is it. With that, we're open for questions. Okay. We're going to start the next section of this. And so thank you staff for the presentation couple announcement as well. So for the folks that are outside, because I know there's a lot in the waiting room, if they're interested in doing public comment, we will allow you to do public comment. So I think the fire marshal, Mr. City attorney, will work with getting folks in and out. So once folks in this room do their public comment, if there's folks outside who also want to do public comment, I know they're watching right now, you will be allowed to make your public comment as well. And so we'll have a process for those folks to come in as well. And so I just want to make sure that they that they knew that the folks that are that are outside. In addition, a couple other things that I have, a couple of councilmembers and they're going to turn it over. There's a couple of council comments. We're going to open it up to public comment and then we'll come back to the council for more, I think discussion and and deliberation. A couple comments, opening comments I want to make. The first is I do want to I know there's been a lot of people involved. I think they're going to be great comments tonight. I just also want to make sure, just to get through this, that we're all respectful to each other in the comment period. I know that there's neighbors that are here tonight that have serious concerns about their homes and about their neighborhoods. I want to make sure respectful to them when they're when they're when they're speaking and they're giving their their concerns. I also know that there's a lot of other folks here that are supportive of the terminal. And particularly I want to point out there's a lot of JetBlue employees, and I'm talking about the rank and file employees that are there picking up their handling baggage, that are working hard, that live in our community, that and they also deserve our respect because they're a part of our community as well. And so to the JetBlue employees that are checking in people's bags and they're handling people's luggage as as all of us fly, your work is also valid. And I and I want to make sure that people also know that this discussion tonight and debate is not about those employees. And so this is about a larger issue of whether we should have an Air Force terminal at the airport and so to the JetBlue rank and file employees. I also want to thank you for your work for and for being a part of our community as well. So hopefully we can all be. Hopefully this is a this is a serious discussion. It's going to require serious conversation and a lot of questions. And so I'm hopeful that we're able to do this in a way that's respectful and and and that we're able to have a process that respects each other. So, please, we're all part of this community, so let's be respectful to each other as we start this. So I got to turn this over to to start with with Councilwoman Mongo. Thank you. I want each and every one of you to know how personal this is to me. I have knocked on many of your doors. I have talked to you personally. I appreciate your input. I know that sometimes the things that I say confuse you on where I stand. And that's because I often did not know. I think that it is important to have. The ability to debate important things so that we escalate the discussion, both from the standpoint of your own neighbors, whose points that I bring forward regularly, and and of those I hear in the community and my colleagues. I have read the reports, but more importantly, I have read your emails and taking your calls and talk to you at community meetings, whether they were intended to be airport community meetings or not, and. I have reached out to people who are typically quiet on matters to gauge their sense of their neighborhoods and their communities, because I really do want to best understand the factors that lead each person to their profile. Yes or no FISA stance. I, too, want to thank the staff for for listening and taking the time to come to what can often be very, very contentious and quite honestly, impolite meetings. And I appreciate you for continuing to show up with a smile. And to be so professional, despite the negativity on both sides of the issue. I want to thank those of you who have given me your patience to let me decide on my own without threats of what you will do to me if I don't do what you want to do. Respecting that the person that lives next door to you may not agree with you. And with that, I want to thank the JetBlue team, especially Lou, who attended a community meeting and took the brunt of many comments from the neighbors. He is the man that's actually at the JetBlue facility on a daily basis managing the staff who may be your next door neighbor. Recently, they did a hiring where almost 40 of their employees were all from Long Beach neighborhoods. Those are people who were either underemployed or not employed at all before and now have money to pay their car payments and pay their rent. And those are important jobs like any other. And so I appreciate that no matter which way the vote goes tonight. I want to be respectful of all of you. And so I think it's important to though I am aware of the answers to some of these questions, I think it's important for you to hear them. I'm going to ask the city staff to respond to a couple of quick financial questions that have helped me down the path of my decision making process. And then I will put a motion out on the floor so that when you make your public comment, you can make comments based on what what is out there. Because I see a lot of familiar faces that I've seen at many meetings, and I know that the dialogs have progressed in many different ways. And so with that. I just want to thank you all for being respectful of each other and hopefully those of us that are here on the dais. City staff. Would you please outline who would pay for the new FISA facility under the current information you have. So well, based on what the discussions of the study, what they revealed is that this would be a partnership between at present JetBlue Airways and the city of Long Beach, Long Beach Airport, in particular the city of Long Beach, or I should say the airport has capacity to contribute up to $3 million in passenger facility charges, as has its contribution to that project. And the balance would come from JetBlue. And how much would passengers have to pay to utilize the facility? There would not be a direct assessment to passengers itself. I know the study talks about a per passenger fee that would strictly be a financial model. The way the airport would handle it is that we would calculate the costs both for the capital. So to do the construction of the facility as well as the ongoing expenses that would be passed through to all users or any users or if it's a single user. So there would be those costs would be passed through to that entity. They would make the decision to build it into the ticket price or absorb it within their system. And how much does the airport currently impose and collect through those fees? Currently, the airport's collection level is $4.50 for each implement or each departure from Long Beach Airport. So based on a I'm going to say last year's numbers of about one 1.4 million in payments. Multiply that by the 450, you get your your PNC collection for the year. And something that's really important to me, and this is a dialog that we've had on many other issues when it comes to funds that are not unlimited. Similarly to the dialog we had a few weeks ago about Tide lines. Are you able to discuss a few of the other projects that are in the pipeline that are currently using those fees that we are charging? Yes. So I mean, I think we've got a number of projects, but I'd say four in particular, there are two on the airfield or runway reconstruction project, 4 to 5 left, which is the short case. Runway, which will be rebuilt later this year, has a portion of its kind of its of its cost covered by PFC as well as another taxiway project. And then on the land side are there, you know, on the non-security side of the airport, what we would envision for follow on phases of terminal improvements. So for a new ticketing area, new baggage areas. Much needed baggage. Area. Yes. And what is the current outstanding debt at the airport? It's approximately $100 million. I think it's a bit more than that. It's 134. 110. Okay. Just checking. Thank you. You know, plus or -10%. Just 10 million extra. With any of the money generated from what, would there be any money generated from the facility? No. This is an international arrivals facility. So it's it it in and of itself does not generate any revenue. It does generate a cost recovery for the airport so that it's not paying for the cost to operate it, though that would be, you know, extracted from from users of the facility. So so just to be clear, the revenue that it does generate, because there is a revenue that comes for those fees, it is directly proportionate to the exact amount of the expenses. So there would be no additional financial revenue separate and apart from cost recovery. Other than in the first. I think I think it's modeled the first year or the first few years where the recovery of the capital to construct it would also be recovered. Perfect. And. What is the city's potential financial contribution that is being requested of us? The study outlined that we have PFC capacity of up to $3 million. I don't think a specific dollar amount had been identified, but there was capacity for up to 3 million. But that is 3 million that. If it does not go to this, it goes to other very important projects, including the baggage claim area and the structure and all those others. It's not like there's $3 million lying around. Well, I would say this. I believe that the projects that I mentioned, the PFC collections, those have already been set aside for those projects. That said, there are always projects that can come up that, you know, that this could be reprogramed and used for. And what other types of projects could be completed at the airport using those passenger facility funds that you mentioned? Well, I mean, typically. We don't have any identified as of today again. But we will always be looking at different ways to improve the experience at Long Beach Airport in general, the types of projects that are that are that qualify for PSC funding or those that are approved by FAA but not fully funded by FAA. It's also can be used to cover debt service, which we've got as part of the previous development or that was done for the terminal improvement as well as the parking structure and then other projects related to safety, security or capacity. Thank you. I believe that the information provided, especially since our last time together, has been very eye opening and important to the discussion. I think that there were. A lot of. Thoughts on what it could be, but I think we have something more concrete now. In thinking through what I was deliberating, did we get to the point at which we discussed the new cost and size of the facility? In the presentation. Yes, ten, $10 million and 15,000 square feet. Was that in the presentation? We didn't talk. We talked about the smaller size. I mean, we could give an estimate that, yeah, we're looking more in the neighborhood of about $10 million. Okay. So in the discussions and dialogs and all of that, we've listened to the experts. We've listened to the applicant. We've listened. I've listened to the residents. And. I've heard a lot of concern from the community, from a number of aspects about FISA. So for a starting point for this evening, I hope that whether you're supportive or not supportive, that you will hold your boos or applause no matter which side you're on. But I would like to make a motion to receive and file. And with that, I'd like to ask the mayor to go to public comment. I'm open to a dialog with neighbors. There are a lot of you here. Many of you have participated in several meetings, and I appreciate that. I see some inquisitive faces I receive and file means that we would not be progressing down the path any longer. Sleep. Please. Please. And with that, I know there's a lot to be said and I'm open to continuing to hear it. I think in the last. Six days, I've probably received 45 calls from people who are very, very, very passionate on their side of the issue. And this is where I stand at this moment in time, and I look forward to hearing from the community. Know, we have a we have emotion and there is a second as well. Councilwoman Price. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have some comments that I'd like to make after I hear from the residents. But before going to public comment, I think it's important to acknowledge a few things. This has been a very educational process for all of us on this council, regardless of what district we represent. This is an issue that we have all taken to heart. Every single one of us. It's an issue that we've studied with, studied. It's an issue that has kept many of us up at night. Trying to think about. It has been by far the most difficult decision that we have had to make as council members. I say that for myself. I know some of my colleagues feel the same way because of the various interests and the passions that the the item has. There have been a couple of council members who have demonstrated incredible leadership, and I think it's important to acknowledge them as we start to undertake the public comment process. I want to thank Councilman Austin. Councilman Austin is my colleague. But above and beyond that, he is a friend. And early on when this discussion happened, when the item came up, I pulled him aside and I probably asked them this question several times and I've said, Look, I know you live under the flight path. Be honest with me. Your position on this issue, is it political or do you really, in your heart of hearts, believe it? And on numerous occasions he has said to me, I want you to come and have coffee with me in my back yard. I want you to understand what I go through. And his feelings and his beliefs on this item are real. They are real fears and concerns that he has and he has conveyed that. Just so you all know, just so you all know, he has conveyed that to his colleagues on a very personal level, which has an impact on me, because I can't do anything to separate me and my family from him and his family or for those of you who have families who live in the area. So those words mean something to me. Beyond that, he has put forth a few council items that I have been very happy to sign on to and support . Not because I was not in favor of moving forward with a study, because I was absolutely in favor of moving forward with a study. And I don't regret that decision at all. It's been very educational. I've learned a lot. Historically, I think the information that we've received is going to serve us well as a city for decades. But he wanted to make sure we had a full council before we voted on the issue, which I supported. He wanted he has on a couple of occasions tried to start the discussion of a master plan, which I have supported. He cares about his community and he's shown incredible leadership on this council. Councilman Ranga similarly has showed tremendous leadership on this issue. I was very happy to support his request for a study session that we had in December, and I was very grateful that he brought that item forward. And I made it very clear when he brought the item forward that I didn't want it to delay the process at all, because I would rather we go through the exercise and make the decision, as opposed to continuing to punt things out so that people are living with this uncertainty. I'd rather we have certainty. And and so I said to him that I was more than happy to support the study session, but that I didn't want it to delay things. And he was very gracious and I think we reached a great place on that. But his vision to have a study session and allow us to all be educated at the same time in the same consistent fashion, because when you're getting a briefing, you're not sure that the briefing that you're getting is in the same tone and as the same content as your colleagues. Staff does an amazing job, but we all have individual different relationships with staff and they may make some assumptions in regards to where you might be leaning based on how you voted in the past, which is a very, very dangerous thing to do because we should approach each item on a case by case basis, which I know that we've done on this case. So Councilman Miranda, bringing that forward was fantastic. Councilman Supernormal has been a tremendous advocate for all of you. I will say the one thing that I absolutely respect and value about Councilman Supernanny is that he analyzes things in a way that I understand. You know, sometimes people around you make decisions and you're scratching your head like, I have no idea how that happened or how they got. From A to Z. I don't understand the thought process. I always understand Councilman Supernova's thought process. In many ways, I think we think the same. We analyze the same. And the presentation that he did at the study session was phenomenal. It really got me thinking for the first time about things I had never thought about before. And I can tell you, I've read every page of that study. It is tabbed and highlighted, as you would expect a lawyer to do with any document they read. It is something I've taken very personally, and yet the issues that he raised in his presentation were things that I thought about for the very first time from hearing him talk about it, and I told him that that night. So I appreciate these three gentlemen because they've been exceptional leaders. I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the hard work and the sheer heart and genuine energy that Councilwoman Mango has put into this effort. She has people don't know this. You know, we all know our colleagues in a way that the public may not know our colleagues. Councilman Mungo has a tremendous heart for the city. She cares deeply about her community and she tries to do something that perhaps isn't as easy to do for someone who it's their first time in public office as it is for seasoned politicians. She tries to listen to all sides, and she's not good at being fake. She's genuinely very, very honest when she hears something and she says what she's thinking as she's interpreting that. I value that about her. And in this process, I think she has been really, really open to hearing from all sides. And if you tell her something that she she's her brain works faster than most people that I know. And when you're telling her something, she's already thinking about what her response is going to be because of something that you've said that's triggered a response from her. And so in this situation, she has analyzed this and studied this issue so much that her response is always processing. If she hears something, she's processing it. She's processing it always from the other side. And I love that because she has the ability to look at things from all angles. And in this vote, she has been a tremendous leader. She has not been afraid, not even once, to change her position based on what she's been presented with and how that information makes sense or resonates with her. And I respect that about her. And she should be given a lot of credit for how far we've come on this issue and her analysis. This was a very difficult decision for her in terms of how she was going to land. And I'm I'm extremely honored to work with these four colleagues who have all shown exceptional leadership in regards to the airport issue. I have learned from each and every one of them. And and I think it's important that we acknowledge them and show them respect, because this is not easy work to do. I also want to acknowledge and thank our staff. Our staff has been amazing, regardless of whether you agree with them or you don't agree with them. I have felt. Completely. Able to make whatever decision I want on this issue with their support. They have not pushed us in one way or the other. They have not advocated for or against. They've been giving us the facts and they have been doing the work of the people and analyzing information and giving it to us in a way that we can process it. So I want to thank our staff for that. The airport staff, city manager staff, the city attorney's staff. Thank you. This was a very difficult position. And in many Scituate, for many of us, you were educating first time council members right off the bat about a very important issue. I want to say that JetBlue is a tremendous partner to the city. I fly JetBlue. My family flies JetBlue. I love the contribution that they make in the city. And the motion that the councilwoman has made that I am supporting as a second year of is no reflection whatsoever on JetBlue. And if they try to take it that way and think this is somehow a disrespect to them, that's their choice. You can't really control how people interpret your words or actions. But all I can say is this is a decision about the residents of the city of Long Beach. It's not a decision about a particular company. And that I just I want them to take that to heart. I also want to thank all the residents who have educated us through this process. Honestly, when you come up to the podium and you talk and you share. What you're. Afraid of. We could sit back here, as we often do as council members often do, and we can sit back and say, you know what, that fear is unfounded or that fear won't materialize. We can do that. I'm going to talk a little bit later about what I think about that fear in regards to this decision. But it's difficult for you to do that. It's difficult for you to put yourselves out there. Take time away from your families to be here. But it's really important because your words and your heart with which you have spoken through this entire process is the thing that I think about when I'm analyzing this issue. I could be reading a study and I will immediately flash to somebody that was at the podium. Those are the images that resonate with me is the people who are at the podium, the people who talk to me or talked to us about using their hard earned dollars to buy a house, trying to raise their kids in that house, just like my husband and I are trying to do with our family to give their kids a better life, and fearing genuinely in their heart of hearts that this decision is going to impact them in a negative way. That fear resonates. So thank you to the residents and to those of you who have been respectful in your comments, have not alleged a conspiracy theory or not alleged corruption because someone is looking at things from all sides. Thank you. You have credibility with us. We are your public servants, but we live in the city too. So to those of you who have respected the process and respected the difficult. Process that we have to go through. Thank you. So with that, I support this motion wholeheartedly. Mr. Mayor, if I may. Sure. And then Councilman Mongo. And then I know we're going to go to the city attorney just to clarify the motion, and they're going to begin public comment. I think that I should probably go through my thought process that got me to where I am. I think it's an important part of the dialog related to where I stand. I might repeat a sentence or two because I, I wasn't sure if I was going to go into the full detail, but I will. I mentioned that we've heard a lot of concern from the community about a number of aspects related to the office and that the neighbors and their concerns are important to me. I do appreciate Jacobson and the diligence that they had in completing the report. They are a nationally acclaimed organization who put a lot of experts to work for us in a short amount of time to answer anything but the kitchen sink that the council added in to the motion that was here almost a year ago. I mean, we have listened to those experts, we've listened to the applicant and we've listened to the residents. And I think that that's worth saying twice. But after significant deliberation and study, I just don't believe it's the right time to proceed with an IFRS facility. And here are some reasons why. While this is at home. For those who are at home, you don't know. But you can hear the other room on a delay. This is an investment the city would make if it felt it were in the best interests of the airport financially. Many of you know, I take the financial considerations of each of our decisions very seriously, and after taking into consideration a full review of the associated issues, assets, liabilities, revenues, and that that is a big part of my decision making process. The financial investment the city would make in this endeavor does not outweigh the potential benefits at this time, the potential economic impacts to the region and more importantly, the city of Long Beach and the airport itself. Just don't justify in my mind, setting aside all our other priorities or reorganizing. I just feel that the potential economic impacts. Don't justify the investment. The airport is one of our largest economic drivers. I really hope that even though you stand on one side, pro or notifiés, that you get to know the diversity of our airport tenants. Many people do not know that on our airport property we have so many diverse tenants. And when I say tenants, they are our renters. The city of Long Beach is their landlord. And and we have to discuss and understand what what it looks like in each and every one of their eyes. We need to ensure that the airport remains financially sound for us and for our neighbors and for the jobs that are there. The investment the city would make into this facility. In my opinion. Could be better used for other projects, providing additional benefit to the airport and to the community. And while I have discussed several times that revenue generated at the airport does stay at the airport, those ripples are felt in our neighborhoods because when those neighbors when those businesses do well, they employ our neighbors. And these include enhancements to the parking lot, which are good construction jobs, new rental car facilities which I recently visited and really need an upgrade. Our ground transportation center. Our baggage claim improvements. Something that's near and dear to many of our hearts, and especially to the volunteers that are at the airport regularly giving the tours, the historic preservation projects of the gem that we have today. And of course, for the safety and future of each and every one of us that use this airport, the runway rehabilitations that are crucial to our future. We must be mindful of the current outstanding debt at the airport. As Mr. Romo stated, we have over $110 million of debt to fund the new parking garage, the terminal concourse and the related infrastructure and airfield improvements that I feel are a priority. Our airport is functioning well today. I love it. We love it. I hear that over and over again. We are winning national awards. And the city should not proceed with a new project while we have so many other important airport priorities. Thank you. Thank you. And we're going to go to and right before we go to public comment, we're going to go to Mr. City Attorney, just to clarify what receiving file means for the record, and then we're going to open it up for public comment. Thank you, Mayor. Members of the Council. For the Audience. The motion to receive and file will direct the city manager and the airport staff to take no further action with respect to the establishment or construction of the Federal Inspection Services at the Long Beach Airport. If that's correct, Councilmember Mongo. Yes. Okay. Thank you. So at this time, we have public comment. There is a motion on the floor. If you have a public comment, please come forward and make sure you state your name for the record. Thank you. Very good. You click as the address. I fully support the measure that has been put forward. I think it makes eminent sense to me. The biggest red flag that was raised was relative to the statement from staff from the report was provided to staff. Is that the a the FAA would not change its position. As you know, we have an a new administration in Washington. And I think in the long run, that administration will prove to be a tremendous asset to this city. And indeed they have already funded and increased funding to the U.S. Department of Justice to fund to increase the funding to go after corruption within the city. Not only this city, but the entire state of California to address the epidemic of corruption that was engendered per the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal by the former attorney general of the state. No, I do not. But I think in the long run, it will be a good, good for the city. The current president is, in fact, a businessperson. And so I think it's uncertain as to what he would do. So hence I think we should support this motion here. And look at it maybe ten years from now when we have a very firm understanding of what the issues are. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. City Council people. My name is Dan Lipton and I'm an excuse me. My wife and I are homeowners in Bixby Knolls, and we lived in a take off pattern for ten years. I don't believe my comments to you now will be terribly popular with most of my neighbors. I don't find the existing traffic as a detriment to my way of life. Our way of life in Bixby Knolls and I office from my home. Even as an occasional inconvenience when we're entertaining out back. I believe that comes with the territory when you choose to live in 90807 and beyond. I don't think as a resident I could tell the difference between a domestic flight and an international flight. Hearing from its sound or its flight pattern. And with no net change to the noise ordinance and the number of flights per day, I can't find objection to the measure. Creating a gateway to Mexico and beyond can only add a positive economic benefit to Long Beach, not unlike pre and post cruises have done already for our local hotels, restaurant tours and retailers. I love our airport. It's one of the best in the world. So selfishly, why would I ever want to make that horrendous trip back and forth to LAX when we have a first class airport in literally our own backyard? Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, mayor and council staff. My name is Sam Patel. I don't live directly in. The district, but we watched the planes go over and I like watching the old planes go over in the military planes, too. I really enjoy using this airport when I get the opportunities. And even before. This issue came up, I always thought, why is it we can't get international flights out of here now that opportunities there, even though granted it would be limited, but it's still something. And I find that one of the things that I'm concerned with is that I understand this affects the council districts that attend, but it also affects everybody in Long Beach. It's not just about a couple of council districts, just like all our council districts sometimes have to take on things we don't want to, but we know it's for the betterment of the city. So we all have to share in what makes this city better, not just for ourselves, but for the rest of us as well. I've looked at what they're presenting for this study and stuff, and I see where there's really not going to be any major increase in this. Like they said, with the flights out of it, the noise pattern that's going to be protected. The plane, the noise that comes down from it really isn't going to make a difference whether it's international or regional or if it's local, it's still going to be the same noise. And I understand some of the concerns, and I do know that the airport. Is there, but it's been there and it's still there. And if they increase these 50 flights just to domestic flights, it would still be the same amount of flights, the same amount of impact. The difference being that we would have international. Now. One of the things that. We would provide is a. Stimulus for we are expanding the cruise area. And one of the things. That it does do is allow for people to access. Long Beach directly from other parts of the world. And in Canada, especially, the snowbirds come down here to take the cruises. That's one comment I've heard from a lot of friends of mine. So basically I'd like. To support this for all the residents of Long Beach, and I understand. There's concerns. On both sides. But I myself, I travel a lot domestically and internationally, and I really do enjoy using the Long Beach airports, one of the easiest ones for us to use. So if it can all be done and made a win win situation. Which most things can be done. If we can do that and provide the international service, that would be great. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker. Please. Denny Kagasoff Kagasoff, resident of Long Beach homeowner. Shame on me for not having gotten involved earlier, but I'm here to say I do not support the expansion of our airport, which I think is perfect the way that it is. I think anyone that is a resident here obviously has concerns about noise and pollution. I'm raising my family here and we just do not support any expansion. And as far as the study that was done and saying that there's not going to be a negative impact on the residents, I think that in and of itself should invalidate the study. And then as far as an exemption for whether or a mechanical failure, that's absurd. So. Is there anything else I can say? I apologize to the people that are here to support. The expansion. I know you all have reasons to want it. And you have economic interests and. Breaks my heart that we're in conflict here. But as a resident of Long Beach, we have a great city. I do not want any expansion to an international airport. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. My name is Robert Ward. I live at 1166 Clayburn Drive since 1964. Before that, I grew up in Bixby Knolls, a 3848 Linden. Our families had a store in this town for 75 years. My dad started in 1941. I taught it poorly for a while, but then I decided I would go to work with my brothers at Ward's Furniture, which was basically on PCH and Pacific for all those years. And now my son owns it, who is in North Long Beach. Off of Victoria. We volunteered for many things. In this city to try to make. It better. From Boy Scouts to my son being the chairman of. Goodwill twice and still was on the board. There. My brother and I have served as I personally served as president of the LDS Church. I had about 5000 people. In this town. My brother, who served at Long Beach Eastlake, had about the same number when we were called to serve as volunteers. I volunteered at Poly High School to coach a water. Polo team a couple of years, which was fun. These left his older brother and I. Ran track together at Poly High School. We bought the house in 64. My wife and I, just as you were about to give birth to our first son with a little two bedroom house. And as our family grew to six children, we eventually I wanted to move. To be honest, my wife said, no, I love the schools. Our kids are going to the same schools. I went to Longfellow Hughes Poly, and our kids got a great education. It was wonderful when they went off to college because of that PACE program at Poly. I have two doctors, his sons, and they studied hard. I'm grateful. In 1991, Mayor Ernie Kell gave me a key to this city that still hangs on my wall because of the work we had done remodeling that church that I was in charge of it 37 to name her 37th and Long Beach Boulevard. I'm here today to say that planes we've seen at all. What's happened to the airport first 20 years. I wouldn't fly out of there. Now I am. It is a beautiful little airport. It goes right over my house. Yesterday, for the first time in a good while in the rain, the planes were landing over my house. I don't know how those people in the East End do this. Yeah. My wife was scared the first time and a long time because the house shook. That plane was so low to be able, I guess, to get to the airport. I'll conclude with this. For many years, I've watched our council make Long Beach a great place to visit, and I don't have a problem with that. I hope it's time that you will think, let's make Long Beach a great place to live. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Councilman. Mayor. First of all, I wanted to thank Ms.. Price for her comments. I agree with most of them, but because of this new development, I think I'll leave those comments for another time. One of the things that I was concerned about during some of the meetings that took place, it was implied that JetBlue might sue if and I say implied that they might sue if we didn't go forward. And I say, if that's the attitude that they want to take, then we should just boycott them. I mean, this is not this is not being friends. This is not this is not being a good neighbor. And they had a huge amount of violations in their violating the noise ordinance. You know, if they if they want to have something good, they need to be a good neighbor first. Then people might think about a different consideration. But when someone has to be frightened in their own home because of the noise, I don't think that's being a good neighbor. I also would like to mention something that has not seemed to have been mentioned, but have you ever heard, has anyone in this room ever heard of a terrorist attack on a municipal airport? I don't think so. Okay. So we're talking about international. And even if it's only a few flights, it makes it international and it makes it a target. And we are already stretched with police. Are we going to add another security consideration here? I don't think we need to do that. So what I want to do is and I do want to thank Ms.. Mango for her change of heart here. I do appreciate that. And I also want to thank Long Beach Neighborhoods first for their huge effort. Thank this group and the many people who have attended the meetings, who have passed out fliers who have worked to arrive at this place. They're a good group of people. They really care about the neighborhood and I think they should be thanked also. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Carmen Lopez. I live in Bay one six. One is. Lila Street. And I just want to thank you, everybody. I really happy because I was one of the ones passing those fliers. And they just like you and Mr. Mango. I support you. You came to my house for my board when you wanted to be a city council, and I really wanted you to support us. So my house is my life. And I really appreciate this. And I just want to say thank you to everybody. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. My name's Fred Asch. I live on Rose Avenue and California Heights. First of all, I want to thank Councilwoman Pryce and Councilwoman Mongo for joining our Councilman Supernova, Durango and Austin and supporting them on voting no against expansion for the. Office facility in Long Beach. I just want to make three points. I just want to make sure. That we know with a new administration, a simple executive order can turn things around pretty quickly in Washington. So any assurances from the. Previous administration and the FAA may not hold any water. And so I'd like to make sure that once. When Secretary Chao is approved and. The new FAA directors. Installed, that we may. Take another. Another request for their opinion on any changes. Most of all, I just want to point. Out that the most important thing for us in districts four, seven and eight is our quality of life. And that can be exchanged for any any sum of money. And we're not prepared to let it get away that easily. I just want to make sure that also the airport in their construction of fees, landing fees, penalties, make sure that it's commensurate with L.A.X., because. I don't think we want to inadvertently offer financial incentives. For other airlines to want to operate out of Long Beach for international flights. I think right now there's a lot of violations on curfew because it ends up being cheaper to pay the fee for the fine than it is to pay cancelation fees or hotel bills. Or to. Reposition aircraft. So I want to make sure that whatever. Fines and fees. We have offset the the the lower cost. Of violating the curfews. As well as the PSC. I want to make sure that international flight. Packs are equivalent. To those charged at LAX. Or Santa Ana. So there's no financial incentive. In that way. We know the airlines, obviously. If I'm a stockholder. In JetBlue, their number one incentive is profit, not necessarily quality of life of the community that they operate in, and that rightly so. They have a they have a. Responsibility to their shareholders. So we must understand. That as a fact. But most of all, I want to thank those other councilmen who support our three council members in support of not allowing the FAA facility in Long Beach Airport. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor. Members of city council. I'm Randy Gordon, president and CEO of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. On behalf of the Chamber leadership and the many businesses that we represent, we support this agenda item tonight and move forward in the process of obtaining a customs facility at our airport. The Chamber further supports this customs facility at the airport due to the multiple economic benefits for Long Beach in the region. Many have been outlined in the feasibility study, as you know, and presented by staff as back as far as December. Construction of a customs facility. Would create approximately 250 jobs and generate a financial one time regional output of 38 million. Sustained employment by the airport, air carriers, government and businesses supporting the operation of international flights and the custom facility would create approximately 350 jobs. Jobs in $36 million of annual regional output. International travelers spending estimated, would create another 179 jobs and $31 million in annual local output. These are other factors. These and other factors is why the Chamber weighed in to support such that such a facility as this. These benefits are not only part of our equation, but also helps us with our economic benefit for this facility. We are encouraged by other benefits, as well as noncommercial aviation businesses that find their airport convenient. Again, with the constraints of the noise ordinance, all within the constraints of the noise ordinance, they are Gulfstream, Mercedes Benz, Virgin Galactic and Ross Aviation and many others that Long Beach call home. And undoubtedly, they employ many Long Beach residents because of such companies. Long Beach is seen as a regional economic driver. The Long Beach Airport needs to have its full potential realized and is not. Not allowing a custom facility will not allow us to reach that full facility and this international city become an international airport as well. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. John Slattery eighth district addresses on file thank you to Austin, Turanga and Supernormal for the work you guys have done on this. Councilman Mongo, I know you've taken a lot from a lot of different people. I've been to a lot of your meetings and you've taken a lot. So I know this has not been an easy decision for you, and I'm just kind of happy you guys have come here. I've said a lot in the past. This is to two key things. Always economic doesn't make economic sense. And the noise ordinance, because I still feel that it's going to put it at risk. If you listen to Mr. Gordon there. A lot of the stuff he's talking about we can do with the domestic flights. There's no reason that it would need to be international. We can fully utilize it. We got in Mercedes Benz, who had a mercedes Benz who he just mentioned, Virgin Atlantic. Them knowing that this is a domestic airport. One gentleman said he moved in. Lives on the flight path. No problem with it. I've lived under it since when we had 18 flights and that was the limit. There was no noise bucket. There was no going higher. And if you look historically again and again, we give a little bit and the residents are the ones who end up suffering. So, again. Please, no on the FISA. Thank you, sir. Next week, please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and City Council. I'm Dan Cannon. I live in the fifth district. My husband, I are homeowners. I'd like to thank Councilwoman Mungo for her change of heart this evening. Her decision and the concern that I had had mainly was that the cost to US residents is something that people weren't really talking about, is the health issues from emissions from the jets. I could point you to a very scary article in Wired magazine in 2011 called Sunlight May Turn Jet Exhaust Into Toxic Particles May. However, there's also a 2010 National Geographic article. This claims that 10,000 people per year die as an end result of inhaling jet fumes, which is more than dying. All the aircraft is during that year. That was one of my main concerns about this one. I am very thankful to the Councilwoman for having changed her vote on this one. I suggest that we all support you as much as we possibly can. I would have to agree with you that we have a wonderful little airport here in Long Beach. And incidentally, anybody that's concerned about international flights 19 miles away from Eldorado Park, John Wayne, we can fly out of there. We can support. Thank you. We can support however we possibly can if this vote should happen to go through and be passed that we do not do this. I'm going to be in touch with Councilwoman Workers office tomorrow to find out how we can support you in supporting our airport. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. My name is Willie Quinonez, and I'm a resident of Bixby North, but I'm here in support of our Long Beach residents, not just the residents in my community. When I first heard about this project, the first question that came to my mind is, Are you crazy? I believe that if this measure was put before the voters of Long Beach instead of just the city council, this measure would fail. I believe that opening up this international flight is just like opening a Pandora's box. It was just the beginning. And if the other airlines see the concessions that JetBlue is getting, they would be wanting some to. Long Beach does not need any more traffic, pollution, noise and wear and tear on our already overburdened streets. In conclusion, I would say that the creation of a few more jobs does not trump the people's tranquility and thousands of Long Beach residents. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Evening. My name is Dave Walker and I live in the eighth. District in lost readers in. I'm here too. And also been. Active in the nonprofit community for 25 years. And I want to say that there's been. Absolutely JetBlue coming. This town has been absolutely fantastic for us in our nonprofits and great support. And I don't think that they'd be turning around and suing the city for any decision. But I'll let that happen. It may. I'm I'm here to say that I'm in support of this. And one of my main reasons is it is a fiscal responsibility. What I've heard here is that we are looking. At a $10 million project and we have a corporate citizen, absolutely phenomenal, willing to pay 70, 75%. For this project. And that adds to the balance sheet for the city. It helps me as a taxpayer as well. When I bought my home. I knew I was. In the flight. Path. And I knew what was taking place when I came. Here. I don't know if there's been any discussion to say if. It's a fiscal fiscal. Matter that you. Are here. Tonight, maybe there's room for discussion to see if JetBlue would be willing to help the city out. Even more and make this. Potentially become a win win for this city. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia and council members, thank you very much for your vote today on this item. Councilwoman Pryce, you did an excellent job of thanking everyone here. Councilwoman Super and all. Councilwoman Mongo, Councilman Robert U ringa and L Austin, my councilperson person. I live under the flight path and I don't usually speak in front of groups, but I had to stand today to thank you and to also present an apology to Councilwoman Mongo. Several days ago, I sent her an email in which I accused her of predisposing this issue. And at the end of that email I said, if I'm wrong, I will apologize and I do apologize. Thank you again. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Hello. I'm Shannon and CarMax is Ad Lo and I live in the fifth district. I love Long Beach. I love it here so much. And I love the airport. I make all my friends family come out of Long Beach. I won't pick them up in L.A.X.. I don't go get a cab, call Uber. I'm not kidding you. So everybody I know comes into Long Beach Airport. I support it wholeheartedly. I relate to Councilwoman Mango last night, my reservations about the office. I won't go into that again, but I will say thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is so important to so many people. So you have a new cheerleader tonight. I got your back, girl. With that. I just want to say it'll JetBlue. I love you guys. I hope you stay I hope you don't leave and I hope you. Don't sue. Us. So please stay. Here. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. I'm Sarah Jones. I live in North Long Beach off Atlantic. I'm here to. Support local hire and unions. I mean, this project would generate 250 jobs over the course of about 2 to 3 years to build the build the expansion. And that's all local hire. That's all construction jobs. That's all union jobs. Before I was in the union trade, I worked as an air traffic controller up in Monterey, California. We had these same noise ordinance problems and it always came back to this airport has been here for so long. That if you move into the flight path, it's your choice to move into that area with that flight path, with that noise, and therefore you sacrifice your right to. Complain about it. When you move into an area. You accept that all the different conditions of that move. In at the time of purchase. You willingly moved in knowing that the airport, the flight path is there, that the noise is there. And personally, I don't see it as an issue. You know. Whether it's international travel, it's local travel. The runways is as big as it is. It can handle most size of aircrafts that are in the system right now. As far as the noise difference, the newer, bigger jets are actually using more efficient, cleaner and quieter engines. And the only way we get those newer, better planes is by offering longer jumps and international travel. So if you're worried about the. Fumes to the aircraft. The local hops are actually an older aircraft, older engines. They pollute more. So this idea of bringing in this international travel with the better planes, the newer planes, the newer engines will actually reduce the emissions in Long Beach. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name's Roy. I hate to care. I'm a 47 year resident of the city. I first moved here in 1969. I've been a registered voter in this city since 1985. Generations of my family call this city home. My mother's buried here. Okay, now I'm in my 34th year in aviation inspired by that airport. My mom retired from Boeing. Okay. I know you have history there, too. With that said, the purpose of an airport. Is to drive commerce. You have a port in an airport. To the main things every city want to drive commerce, jobs and tax revenue. Okay. Pushing a port and not the airport. Is like developing one arm and tiny government behind your back. Approximately 20% of this city lives below the poverty line. Last year we spent, what, $59 million keep a6400 families in their homes, the renters assistance. Okay. We can't get $3 million to. That's the airport's going to pay for. Itself. To push commerce. Companies like Mercedes Benz, who would definitely replace a Boeing and others like it could replace a Boeing. Boeing is not coming back. You need more Mercedes Benz, companies like that. You solidify their desire to stay here when you make it convenient for them to flatter executives there without having to make a. Second stop somewhere to clear customers before they get here. You want to you want to. Inspire. Business to come here. And you can't do that if you don't inspire. I was inspired. To get into aviation because of that airport job down Lakewood Boulevard in 1978. I was 13 years old with my mom. She was pointing out airplanes that she had worked on that week at Boeing. I looked across the street. Saw at Douglas at the time. I saw a small plane taking off too far right. And I said. One day I'd like to work right there. That was 1978. I didn't see JetBlue coming. Now make over $200,000 a year. Employed by JetBlue. I live in this city. I live in a sixth district. Your district, Mr. Andrews. My children. Thank you for the college promise. But they don't get. Any other. Assistance I pay out of. Pocket. We can either spend a lot of money in poverty programs or we can help put those people to work. And save some. Of that hard earned. Taxpayer money to pay for more police officers, firefighters, water treatment plants, power grids. Or we can just keep. Doing the same and not. Invest in the city, invest in the citizens. Okay, look, I understand about the noise ordinance. The noise ordinance protects. The rights of the vocal minority. Don't let them demagog over the needs of the majority as a half million people. In the city. All rights are protected. Their rights. Thank you so much. Hello. My name is Peter Perez. Before I speak to the airport issue, I do want to bring to the council's attention that I read in the I think it was a Long Beach Post, an article where Long Beach was identified as one of only seven cities west of the Mississippi River. That has, if you take their assets and liabilities, assets out weighing the liabilities, we're not bankrupt. That has a lot to do. And your article pointed out that has a lot to do with you guys the way the city is run. The city has opened books they made. They commented on the openness and the honesty of the books the city keeps. And I think we need to give you all credit. I really emailed the mayor a little while ago about that and center and then. Councilman super off, but I wanted to thank you all and past members and past mayors for taking care of our hard earned money. And it's a big responsibility and guys do a great job. So thank you very much. As to the airport issue. The vote hasn't been taken, as I understand. So I do really urge you all to vote against it. You know, we speak a lot about JetBlue, about businesses creating jobs. Well, we're I'm a homeowner here in Long Beach. I have spent I have put a large part of my net worth into the house I own. I have invested in one beach. I moved here about three years ago. It has a large investment to come here. Okay. Besides investing in Long Beach by purchasing a home, we pay property taxes, we eat here, we shop here. We pay sales taxes. We create a lot of revenue as homeowners. All of the homeowners in this in this building pay a large amounts of money to the city. We also create quite a few jobs. We have people to maintain our house. A lot of houses in Long Beach have been expanded. We have craftsmen coming in, fixing, fixing things, expanding homes, tile, you know, building on rooms, taking care of gardens. We create a lot of jobs and homeowners here create a lot of jobs, a lot of commerce in this city. It's not just one company or a group of companies that does that. So I want to thank you for the proposals put before the council. I want to thank you for. Entertaining a vote to not create the Customs facility. And I also like to point out one other option item, which is we're relying on his feasibility study quite a bit. And just tonight, out of the blue, we hear that this facilities feasibility study, which is supposed to be so elaborate and so perfect, overestimated the cost of the the customs facility by 200% and the size of the for customs facility. So what else has missed or misrepresented? Not misrepresented, but is not correct in the study that we will pay for later. So again, I thank you. I thank you for your no vote on the facility and for your stewardship of our funds. Thank you very much. Thank you. And thank you for your email. Appreciate that as well. Next speaker, please. Hi. My name is Chris Osborne. I'm live in the fifth District 5401 Canton. I'm a homeowner and I am against the office facility. There are plenty of reasons to vote no. We've talked about decreasing property values, challenge to the noise ordinance, financial risk to the city. But I want to talk about our health. I work as a physician assistant and I see lung disease such as asthma, COPD and cancer frequently. There's no question that environmental pollutants like those found in airplane exhaust worsen and in many cases cause these lung conditions. I have three epidemiological studies that shed light on this problem. One study in particular was done by the Massachusetts Department of Health and it showed there is a statistically significant increase in COPD for those living within the vicinity, which was defined as five miles of the of the original airport. The study also showed that children within this five mile radius were 3 to 4 times more likely to have respiratory disease. Now, five miles, this airport was was bigger than Long Beach, but five miles includes pretty much all one beach. Every district is within five miles of the airport and everyone is affected. If the FAA facility is approved, the number of flights will inevitably increase much faster than they would without the FAA facility. Already without international travel. We have seen several days this year already with 100% flight slot utilization. That's unprecedented according to the FAA. The noise ordinance is open for challenge if any party feels it places unreasonable burden on them, as would be felt by, say, Southwest or Alaska if they wanted more flights to fly, more slots to fly domestic or international. And if I ask, facility would be opening the door for more air traffic and it would subject us more to more exhaust and more pollution. Our overall health is not supported by by an FAA facility, and FISA facility just supports the corporations and it neglects the health and safety of the residents. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening. My name is Anthony Brown. I live at 3870 Gundry Avenue in Bixby Terrace in Councilmember Yolanda's district. I live there with my wife and my three children. We've been there for 12 years and we're homeowners. I just want to go on record as being another Long Beach citizen who's against the international airport. And I want to encourage you all to vote for the motion tonight. I probably can't speak as well as my other eloquent neighbors have in favor of the motion. But I do want to thank every one of the council members for going forward with a study arming all of the citizens of Long Beach with the facts that are necessary to make an intelligent, informed decision about this issue. Thank you all for doing that, and thank you all for your consideration. Thank you, sir. Next speaker. And my name is Franz Neumann. I'm in the seventh district as well, under the flight path. I came here, was going to have a lot of angry words because we've lived there for about 13 years. We've had to deal with lots and lots of late flights. The idea of the noise ordinance is great and we'd fully support it, but it feels like it's broken very, very often. And that is something that affects us because we also work from home. We're also raising two kids at home and having them constantly wake up or having us wake up. You feel a little bit like you're still raising an infant. You're just not getting enough sleep. But I'm very happy to hear that the vote seems to be going the way we want it to go. And the one thing I haven't heard is just the fear that I have that this would lead to litigation and possibly, you know, the loss of the noise ordinance and the very idea that we could have possibly have 24 hour flights just kind of scares me to my core. So that's kind of the fears that we have as homeowners, as business people who work from home and as parents. So we're very happy. That the actions have been taken today by Mongo. Thank you very much. Thank you. Speaker, please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council, Craig Koch of the downtown Long Beach Alliance, a DVA, is on record. It has submitted a letter supporting staff's recommendation this evening based on the economic impact as well as job creation for this project. And while we respect the maker's motion as well as a second motion, we feel as though that this project is beneficial not only to the city overall, but also to the economic vitality of our downtown. Thank you very much for your consideration. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. Linda Sopko, fifth District. My address is on file. I'm quite heartened tonight. It's really nice to come and see. That. It's, you know, a city council meeting about something so. Important and not having, you know, everybody being upset and throwing. Things and rancor and bad names and bad words and everything else. I had a lot of things to say, man. I was writing stuff out all day today. And I you know. Quite honestly, I was amazed after we went through this about. Expanding the airport. Just a few short years ago that we were jumping right back into bed with another huge project that was going to be controversial about the airport. Can we take a break from it for a while, guys? It would really be nice. I love the idea about the long term. Plan because to me that made sense. It was like. Okay, let's look at doing everything we can to keep that airport vital. Which we are. It's gorgeous. I flew out of there a couple of weeks ago. I flew JetBlue. I love JetBlue. I got to tell you, you know what's nice about JetBlue? I got to tell you, guys are airline stewardesses are great. They were cracking jokes. They made it fun. And it was a short flight. I was a little disturbed because my daughter flew up there a couple of weeks ago, went to San Francisco, and I had to go pick her. Up and she sent me her information. And when it said what terminal she was coming in. For JetBlue, it said the Long Beach International Terminal. And I got to tell you, every hair on the back of my neck went up and I went, oh, well, is that a mistake. Somewhere or is there a. Done deal? My question, you know. To all of you, first of all, to thank you for all the people who don't live directly under the flight path. For being here as well and caring. About those of us that have or do. And and in response to the someone about you move where the airport is a lot of people in this you know room moved in there when it was 18 flights. Okay. And it was never meant to be a big, huge airport. But anyway, going back to that, I would really think I think this took so much longer than it needed to. I think we knew a lot of this stuff up front and I know you needed to do studies and everything else. Is there a way that next time something of this immense meaning to so many. That we could work to create. A better community connection? Because, you know, when you got staff telling you you can't speak and when you've got, you know, your friends that are on the council can't talk to you. And quite honestly. You know, many of you are my friends and I have. Had personal experiences with a. Lot of you and enjoyed fine dining and have mutual friends. And it's really kind. Of a sad thing that it becomes the city against her. People who elected all of you guys. I mean, you guys were elected by we the people. You weren't elected by the staff, you weren't elected by JetBlue, you were elected by the people in this room. And, you know, Stacy is my representative. But quite honestly, so. Is Darrell and so is Susie and so is Janine and so is Lina and so is Dr. Garcia and Dee and Robert and Al. And Rex. You guys represent all of us. So just because, you know, your district. You know, voted you in, you know. What you guys do affects everybody. Thank you, sir. All right. My time is up, but thank you again. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening. Council members and Mayor Garcia. My name is James Stoke. I'm a residents. Of Long Beach. My home is in Long Beach. I have rental. Properties in Long Beach and our our family has properties all around this community. We have friends that live all around Long Beach going all the way down to Newport Beach. But you're going to decide tonight impacts everyone. It impacts the residents. It impacts JetBlue and it will impact our businesses. I was going. To have a different presentation. Tonight. Things kind. Of changed. I commend Stacie Mango on her decision. In motion to recede going forward as well. Suzy Pryce. Your second of the motion. For all of those that are going to vote to oppose. This idea. I'm going forward and that's the way you vote. I think it's going to be a very wise decision, not only for JetBlue ultimately. But for all of the residents. The residents around. This city of. Long Beach and their residents and business owners throughout Long Beach. There's a lot of reasons not to go forward on this. I just want to make one comment. That I haven't heard tonight. And I was going to suggest that a moratorium be proposed until we find the result. What the next couple phases of next. Gen are going to do to the city of Long Beach. The phases haven't even been fully implemented. And we already know and see new flights. Going over our airspace. What's particularly troubling. Is the fact that LAX. Is now using their Long Beach. Air. Air. Runway, the Long Beach runway. And that's. Causing an awful lot of extra traffic. That we've never had before. So, again, thank you for your wise decision tonight. If you're voting to oppose it. And I do like JetBlue, I've flown it many times. Matter of fact, you almost kicked me off. Of a flight. I just had a few too. Many before I got on the plane. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Mr. Mayor. Council and staff. My name is Roland Scott, and I'm here today as a concerned citizen in favor of the firehouse facility. I'm presently serving on the Airport Advisory Commission and have been serving for approximately six years. I'm also a 45 year resident of Long Beach. My comments tonight are as a private citizen and do not necessarily represent those of the commission. I realize that the citizens most affected by the airport have a legitimate concerns regarding noise and frequency of flights and other issues regarding the airport in its operations. The problem we're having is a constant fear mongering, half truths and innuendo perpetuated by those who do not support the airport. The primary fear out put out there is that they will allow the FISA facility, that our noise ordinance will likely be challenged in court. Really, this is pure speculation. And really, I personally would like to have the ordinance challenged in court because I believe it would withstand a court challenge due to its scope, maturity, workability and success. Then we could put a stop to this issue and put it to bed once and for all. There's a flier out touting the assertion that there is no significant economic benefit from the up air facility to our airport in our city. For the past year, our revenues at the airport have been declining and we've cut to our reserves. At the Commission, we're tasked with the responsibility of making sure that the airport is economically viable and that we have varied sources of revenue to support the airport. This is one of those sources. There are those who contend that there will not be many jobs provided at our place, and that is taken in comparison with all the jobs in Long Beach. This might be true, except if one of these jobs is yours. And one or one of your family members. By the way, those assertions are just guesses on the part of those that oppose the pass and are in direct conflict with the Jacobs study. There are four regional airports that serve international travelers, but they don't serve Long Beach. And it's unique situation that allows our citizens to have a pleasant, expedited travel experience. And the majority of the people I have talked with at length support our customs facility. And I would venture to say categorically that the majority of Long Beach citizens support the facility at Long Beach. There are those who have raised issues pertaining to the next gen next generation. The FAA has sponsored redoing it our airspace and how it will be utilized in future for the Los Angeles area area. As a former airline captain, I can tell you that there are concerns as to how the airspace is utilized, but it has nothing to do with the FISA facility, although there are persons trying to connect the two together and obfuscate the issue. As an example, what is the noise, impact and pollution of jetliners passing overhead Long Beach at 10,000 or 13,000 feet? The noise sensors in Long Beach can't even measure that because it's so slight and the noise equals the sound of your fan motor on your heater at home or the noise your hybrid makes when the engine comes on. Finally, I would like to add that we elected all of you to make decisions, some of them tough ones, some of them possibly not popular. This isn't really that tough. Approving the up ass facility is the right thing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Good evening. Respected mayor, respected council members. My name is Imran Ahmed. I'm the corporate resident of Airport Plaza Drive. I manage a hotel over there by the name of Marriott and I do support. The international terminal at. The airport. We believe that it will bring substantial economic progress into our city. If not anything else, we need to understand there are two additional hotels coming up in the area, which is approximately 250 rooms which. Need to be accommodated, which need to be supported. Airport is one of the the venues that we we expect business coming out of. I understand the noise ordinance, which is not going to be touched as far as the the the flights are concerned. Therefore, I. Do support it. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Council and city managers and staff. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Mark Helmick. I'm a property owner in the seventh District. My wife and I reside at 3952 Rose Avenue. We are directly under the flight path as planes leave the airport. I want to personally thank Councilman Turanga for making it his priority to continue to protect the quality of life for the neighborhood and to preserve the noise ordinance. That's a quote from the January 20 press-gazette. As I said, my home is directly underneath the outbound flight path. I, too, would invite anyone in the room to have coffee or a barbecue at my patio. It's not a slight intrusion. And in fact. Gatherings frequently are put on pause. The conversations have to stop because the noise. Is an issue for us. That said, it's hard to believe our neighborhood was chosen by me and my wife because it is a step up neighborhood. I moved from Lakewood. It was a nice neighborhood and remains a nice neighborhood. I'd like to maintain the mix of retirees being replaced by young owners and families who are dedicated to renovating the property and improving the value and therefore being reassessed for tax purposes. We contribute all the way around even if we don't work here. As I said, our neighborhood is is nice. It's desirable. It's step up. It's not elite. But it's not ramshackle, cramped it operations, you might imagine, exist under a flight path. I'm not a tree hugging anti-capitalist. I'm very late to the house party. I believe the intrusion of an FCC will threaten the progression that is going on with home improvement in our neighborhood. I believe the increased noise. Will threaten the desirability of the neighborhood. In the blogs and editorials. And here tonight, I and others like me are vilified by supporters of the FCC for choosing such a neighborhood in which to live. We should have known somehow the airport would only get bigger, conditions would only get worse. How could we not have predicted such an argument? Actually makes my point that conditions are slowly eroding unless we stop pause like I did with the TV, pause like we do with the conversations and think before we act. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Honorable Mayor Garcia and members of the City Council. I want to thank Council members Austin, Turanga, Supernormal and Mongo and praised for your diligent study of the issue. And your. Your position. I sincerely hope that the rest of the members of council vote this down. We've heard all. The reasons I can't think of any that are. More eloquent or compelling to say than what others have stepped up here to say before me. But we've heard about the noise violations. They keep going up. Late night arrivals threaten to get worse with international traffic. And JetBlue, of course, builds the fines into their operating costs. I think the environmental impacts that we've. Heard about from. People are as real a concern as noise and the the environmental impact report upon which the Jacobs report was built. Supporting the FTA FISA construction is over a decade old. It just. Doesn't make good business sense. To have all our eggs in the basket of one carrier. And again, we've heard that other carriers could cry unfair. Competitive advantage and truly challenge the noise ordinance. And when. And if the noise ordinance is eliminated, we could see multiple phases of expansion and increased flights as other carriers. Demand and. Receive slots. We only get 70 local non construction jobs out of the expansion and our property values could decrease in the neighborhoods we enjoy so much and Long Beach would become much less pleasant places to live. So I think that given the market. Demand that. The collapse of the noise. Ordinance is not a. Fantasy, it could be a true threat. And we we. Really greatly appreciate you studying this issue, and. We hope that you all vote it down this evening. Thank you very much. Thank you. Hi. My name is Laura Lewis and I have lived in the eighth District for 20 years and I am against the international flights at Long Beach Airport because if we keep the noise ordinance and the flight limitations, the more international flights we have, the fewer regional flights we will have. And I am a frequent user of the regional flights. Last week I flew on JetBlue from Long Beach to Salt Lake City. Next week I'm going to San Jose on JetBlue again. I love JetBlue, but I really like the regional flights. Use them a lot, and I. Don't want to lose those. And if we have international flights, we'll lose some of the slots to the regional flights. My coworkers who also live in Long Beach. Fly out of Long Beach this week. The guy who sits in the next cubicle from me flew out of Long Beach to Phenix. My boss flew out of Long Beach to Oakland this week. I don't want to lose those local flights. Second point is, I don't think passengers. From international flights will bring in any more revenue from local from the regional flights. They will mostly be Southern California based leisure travelers. So the only. Money they're likely to spend in. Long Beach will be. They'll maybe buy a meal and either parking or cab fare, but that's it. And guess what? When people fly. To San Jose, same thing. I'll probably buy. Breakfast and either parking. Or cab fare depending on what works. And the construction. Jobs in building this thing. Will not be permanent. They will be temporary. They'll go on for a year or two while. The thing is being built. But then they'll be over. So they're not a permanent solution, is it? I mean, yes, it's nice to have it. Work for a couple of years, but it wouldn't be nicer to work for something that provides. Permanent jobs. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker. Please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, City Council and staff. I'm Myron Campbell, and I'm a JetBlue crew member. I'm a ground operations leader. And Mayor Garcia, I want to talk to you directly, but I just want to thank you for the recognition earlier and thank you for allowing us the opportunity and spotting us. I'm the guy that does this. I bring your aircraft in. I'm the baggage guy. But I'm also the guy that welcomes many, many Long Beach passengers and residents back home. I'm the doormat, along with a lot of other frontline crew members that we have here in the audience. I'm going to deviate just a bit from what I had prepared, but I just wanted to talk to you about a time in 2008, 2009. A lot of you can remember that time, the economic downturn and a lot of folks weren't hiring there. Mass layoffs, mom and pop shops were falling and small communities were disappearing. There was a company hiring. They were right here in Long Beach, and that was JetBlue Airways. They were still hiring. I joined them in 2009 and on my way to training. And I was in Orlando for the meeting that we we have there, JetBlue University. It's a room just like this. And there are people lined up along the walls. Wall to wall. So what are these people doing standing up here? Maybe they should have a seat. There's plenty of seating. But lo and behold, a portable cordless microphone went around the room and a lot of them began to speak. And they were the vice presidents and directors and managers and things like that. Embracing us, circling us, welcoming us, his family members to the JetBlue family. I want to mention this because a lot of folks have come up. They've mentioned that. They've mentioned things like corporate greed. I've been all these meetings, big pockets. Another gentleman mentioned shareholder, shareholder profit. It's all about the money. But JetBlue, it's it's not always about the money. It's nice to be able to turn a profit at the end, but it's not always about the money. Our culture is service, and that's evident through what we've done in many of the communities, not only the ones we fly to, but right here in Long Beach. This community very important. And so council members, I just I just urge you for your yes vote on FISA. I'm not going to mention the speculation and things about health and jobs and things like that. But we have the the Jacobs survey. We have the Jacobs report. They are the professionals. As councilman, Mongo, councilwoman, as you've mentioned. And it's very, very clear that it needs to be a yes on SARS. So I thank you for what you all do. You don't do it for fame, for fortune, not even for your own personal recognition, but for so that the city of Long Beach can continue to grow. We love the use and enjoyment and we want to keep it here and welcome international passengers. I want to say bienvenidos a long beach the next time in about a few years when the next plane arrives. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Hi, my name is Rita Nayak, and I'm here to talk about social capital. I've been a resident of Long Beach since 1984. I went to Prisk Hughes Poly Cal for college. I lived in L.A. for seven years. I hated L.A. there was traffic and noise everywhere. It was congested. There was no community. People rushed in. They were angry. It was hard to make friends. I told my husband that Long Beach is the city to raise kids, so me and my brother right behind me slowly convinced him. And we moved back here with our two little ones and we bought a house in Bixby Knolls nine months ago. And our intention was that that's going to be our forever house. And I'm so happy that you guys have decided that you care about the people of Long Beach. And I'm not the only person that's moved back here. Long Beach is special. People move, they get multiple degrees. They can live in L.A., they can live in Redondo Beach, they can live in Orange County, and they are all coming back here. I was on Facebook talking about this issue, people from fifth grade, sixth grade, my softball coach, I you know, I played at it in the third District, Eldorado Park, and people come back here and they do it for community. We all want to be involved and be a part of a place. We want to make lifelong friends and invest in everybody who lives here. And I can get one in from the other in 17 minutes. There's no traffic. The diversity is amazing. The parks are plentiful. There's no stress added stress for me. And that means I can do more, more here, not just for me. I'm a privileged person. I own a home, and I hope that everybody here invests in Long Beach and the people here, because we can because we have the opportunity to do so. We don't we don't have the added stresses of trying to get to one place or another quickly and the traffic and I'm going to do that this weekend. I'll be volunteering in somewhere in honor of you guys for choosing us. I really appreciate your choice today. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next picture. Please. Hi. I'm British Sampat. I live in the seventh district. That was my sister. And I'm happy she's here in Long Beach. She enjoyed. What she saw when she came to visit my house, when she came to visit me. And she wanted that place for her kids and her family. And I want the same to raise my family. I hope I can have one. I was raised here and I moved back because I wanted those things. I didn't want to move to L.A., El Segundo, cities like West Chester that are inundated by the noise from L.A.X. . And I've always the same environmental concerns, noise issues, traffic potential for exceeding the flight window that other residents have mentioned. Um, you know, I enjoy the efficiency of our airport and I don't want to lose that for the sake of occasional vacation destinations or trips. As I mentioned, there are already five airports in the greater L.A. area. And so there's plenty of choices out there for international trips. You know, we should be different and maintain our quality of service for domestic flights. That's what actually brings people to Long Beach and makes them willing to pay and maybe the fractional higher ticket price to get that good service. You know, allocating slots for international flights does not promote the fiscal progress of Long Beach as much as returning domestic flights does. The chance of losing 12 to 16% of the slots dedicated to international flights will mean that we lose flights to cities that actually bring in consumers and people for conventions, conferences which bring in a lot of income during the week. And that also attracts future investment. So let's use our development opportunities consciously to maintain and showcase the quality of life that we have here and share that with others. So thank you very much. Thank you very. Much. Next speaker, please. Hello. My name is Ramon. I'm from the fifth District. This has been a very interesting journey, to say the least. I got to really know. Darryl Supernova. And Stacey Mongo quite. Well and some of these other folks. Uh, it's been very, very interesting. I was going. To just try to crack a joke. I was talking to Lou over there from Jet Blue. I still got 50 questions that. Haven't been answered. I'm just joking. But one of the questions, one of the things that I'd like to say is that I've got this noise audience in my head. I memorized everything. I know where the sensors are. I know I've taught people how to look at the airport and and check it out themselves and the flight paths and everything. I got all this mental lint in my head and I don't know what to do with it. Thanks to our airport director who has just been fabulous. So I mean, I don't know. I sometimes try to get information out and next thing I know, I get flooded with things and I get things kind of wrong sometimes. And Stacey Mungo can testify, right? Um. Well, will or whatever. But I try to do my best. And when someone says, Look, you screwed up, fix it, I do my best to fix it. I don't I don't say I always do it right or whatever. But I try my best to do some of this stuff. And I'd really like to thank Stacy for really kind of hanging in there. And she has really been battered. For a. Lot of reasons that really aren't fair, I think. And so I hope that everyone can can kind of get together. And indeed, if there's some people that you'd like to kind of. You know, work with. Somehow I somehow be a focal point because some of the the JetBlue employees I know when I talk to you, I try to get some of the information right by all three groups. And they say, yeah, that's right. And then when I post, it just goes crazy. You know, people, I don't know how they take some of this stuff, but at any rate, I just want to say thanks, Stacy, for for your effort. I know that you've you've tried your best. And I really want to thank your chief of staff, Christine, who originally gave me this stuff, and also Gerald Supernova, the Mr. Atherton tip, you know, very good. And that's you got to know that. And then also the all these other folks that are there. I was kind of a neutral person, but I just want to thank, especially in the mayor's office, all those folks there. I got to know so many people. It's just crazy. I'm going to give you 15 more seconds. All right. Thanks. Thank you for taking the correction. Well, thank you very much. Please come forward. Next speaker, please. Just come down a little bit, everyone. We're going to. And then Mr. Perkin. Said, evening council members, thank you for Miss Mongo, for your position and thank you, Ms.. Price for supporting the position as well. My name is Nancy Lopez. I'm part of the fifth District. My mother spoke earlier and she so fervently expressed the importance of this issue to us. I grew up in West Long Beach in the 1990s, which is was not easy. There were a lot of gangs. There was a lot of drugs. And like somebody else said, this house was a step up for my family. They moved us out of there because they knew that the future there was slim. It was. I'm proud to say that I moved on. I did get my degree. I went to UCLA and like somebody else said, I came back. I received my master's degree at Cal State, Long Beach, and I'm here. I work at Cal State, Long Beach as well. Thanks to the move, we no longer had to deal with the lot of the. A lot of the violence and a lot of the drugs and the gangs. And when my parents moved to that neighborhood, they didn't sign up for an increase in flights or for a constant violation of the noise ordinance. They wanted a better life for us. Time and time again. I've heard from Mr. Roman, the district attorney, and from Jacobs, about the noise ordinance, how it will not be violated. However, myself, my mom and the other residents of Long Beach not only disagree, we have evidence. Just last night at 11:35 p.m., a plane passed over our house. I worked two jobs. I work as a program coordinator for an educational outreach program, and I'm a social worker on the weekends. And sleep is precious to me. So I really appreciate you not moving forward with this. Not only that, there are other concerns that we had, and I hope that these are taken into account in the future. We do not have a research team to pay to support our fears. As somebody said, we cannot corroborate them because we don't have anybody to do so. Nobody has looked at how housing will be impacted. Nobody has looked at how security will be impacted in the surrounding neighborhood. And that's nothing that can be proven because we don't we don't have anybody that can do it. I hope that you take this into consideration for any future plans to expand the airport or to make it international, to really think about what the issues that the community members are bringing forward, not just the noise ordinance, not just the number of flights. Thank you very much. Thank you. That's speaker piece. Good evening. My name is Andrea Philo. Good evening, counsel and neighbors. I just want to say that Long Beach is a city of neighborhoods. It's not an industrialized city. The vision that I hear sounds like an industrialized city is what, you know, the expansion, the FARC and then Mercedes Benz. And I think the Jacobs report clearly did say that there would be a regional economic benefit, not specifically to Long Beach, except during the construction. But we're a neighborhood of we're a city of neighborhoods, and our neighborhoods matter. And there are new people moving into these neighborhoods, young families moving in. Their kids are in the schools, the local schools. The teachers have to stop talking. Everybody says, oh, it's just 50 flights. It's not going to change. We're going to trade one for the other. Well, the reason people are concerned, the residents, is that the noise ordinance is a fragile thing and other airlines are going to want a piece of it. They will. This is how you run a business. If they have another venue to fly out of, then they will ask for it and then they will challenge and will have to fight them. So it's not something we don't want to go down the slippery slope. There's no reason to go down this slippery slope. We have a beautiful airport. And people do come here from other areas to fly because municipally, it's a good airport for domestic flights. And they the cutting down of the domestic flights, which would be also happening, which is already happening to a degree. Would not be favorable for our city, for our conventions, and also for people that live here that want to fly domestically. We don't fly to Mexico or the Caribbean as much as we might fly to New York, Phenix, Texas. So the other interesting thing is the health issues, the environmental impact, the traffic congestion. All of these things, the security issues. I think we have a beautiful airport and I'm a JetBlue fan. I fly JetBlue. I'm one of their favorite customers I hate. I hope they still love me. But. You know, they're doing well. They got the flight to Cuba from Fort Lauderdale. They ought to be happy. They're one of the airlines that got that. So, you know, they're doing okay and we're doing okay. And we'd like to leave it that way. All right. Thank you all. Have a good night. Thank you. Miscavige. Wow. I can't get the words mental lint out of my head. First, I. Want to say, Stacy. Thank you so much. I know that this was a very difficult process for you, that you wanted to honor the business that you businesses that you represent. But you also are defending and honoring the residents from around the entire city that are impacted by it. And I thank you for that. Susie, your. Words. In support of Stacey and the road that she's traveled on this and the seconding of the motion also say a lot for the type of leader that you are. And I know you read everything you told me that when you first came on board. So I know you do your homework. And I appreciate that. So thank you. And Daryl and Roberto and Al. Thanks for keeping this in the light. I know it wasn't always easy because there is many sides to issues and so thank you for that. But now I almost feel like a council person. I'm thanking everybody for everything. But and Robert and the other council members that actually reached out to me and communicated with me personally. During this time. I appreciate that time because I know your time is valuable. It means it means a lot. So thank you. Thank you for that. And I hope that everyone is. Supportive that all nine of you are supportive. Of the motion that Stacey made. Seconded by Susie. But I also want to take just a second to say we love JetBlue. I love. JetBlue. I hope they add back New York flights and Boston flights and Washington, D.C. flights. And and for the. Crew. For the crew members, I was a crew member for. United for 35 years. I understand the job that you do. And the service that you provide, whether on the ground or in the air. And so we're very supportive of JetBlue as a as a corporate neighbor. And we hope that you understand what our concerns are during this. During this event, I guess I can call it an event. But on behalf of Joe. Sopko, who is not going to speak. Tonight and L.B. hush. Board members and Long Beach neighborhoods, first, we thank you all for keeping this to be open and civil process, and we look forward to working with you on other issues. And I actually would like to start my retirement, if that's okay with you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Brian Muir, eighth district. You know, I just I've lived in Long Beach for 40 years, the last 14 of which have been in the eighth District. And I just want to address my neighbor here who says that the noise doesn't bother him. It's kind of funny because I am on the steering committee for our neighborhood watch meeting and we have this huge block party every year. It's a great, great turnout. And every meeting that we have, it's kind of become. A running joke that we have to stop and pause. Wait for the plane to pass. We all cheers each other. Which with whatever adult libation we happen to be drinking at the time. And then we go on with our meeting. And we. Have to do this 3 to 5. Times during the meeting whenever we have this. The noise is. There. Trust me. In the summertime, you. Open your windows. And one of the gentlemen was talking about having to pause. Yes. You have to sit down. You have to pause whatever program you're watching. Did did it? Did you? Did it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. And then you can play again. You can't have your windows open. It's that. Loud. All right. And I also don't know. What with the no noise ordinance says about larger planes, but any international flight that I've been on has not been a small plane. It's a larger plane. Last time I checked, larger planes make more noise. So if you're talking international flights, I'm assuming the planes. Will get bigger unless I'm. Mistaken. They won't. Okay, perfect. Thank you. That I misspoke. But that being said, I want to I wanted to thank Councilwoman Mango. I was not going to go to your gala fundraiser that you are putting on. My kids go to Newark specifically because I thought you were in the pocket of JetBlue. I am horribly mistaken. And I will now be attending your gala. And just for the record, none of the money goes to me at all. No, no, no. That's tomorrow. No, I know. I know. But but. I want. I wanted to say this to the other council members. Think about that. When you make your decision because it. Will affect you and how the rest of the community. Sees you. And how we think. You see us. And ultimately, that's what it's about. It's about our community. All right. That being said. Go to first Fridays. It's awesome if you haven't been. Let's keep that up. Our community is great with thriving in Bixby Knolls. Let's keep it that way. All right. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Hi, everybody. My name is Tony Cadmus. I live in the seventh District. I've lived in my wonderful home for 30 years. I appreciate all the time and attention that you have all given to this matter, and I certainly appreciate my calcium. And your ranga is awesome. I appreciate. Councilwoman Mongo, your yours and Councilwoman Price's comments tonight. This is so serious for all of us. I appreciate all of you for listening to us. It's so important to me. Well, everybody really that spoke ahead of me and I am against the expansion. Those that spoke against the expansion pretty much said what I think needed to be said. So I'll move on here if people want to speak. But for me, this is a quality of life issue that that's just that's got to be one of the major things to consider for the residents of Long Beach. So thank you for your time and let's see how the vote goes. Thank you very much. Next speaker. Please. Yes. My name is Laura Selma. My address is on file. Hello. Hi. I've been a resident of District four for 25 years. I've also lived in one. Two and seven. I've asked the city clerk to distribute these little pages, so you should be getting those. This is my poster of the airport. Airport impact, because it shows how wide, you know, the airport is not just in that little area. It affects all of us in the city. I did this on purpose. If you if you could show that to other crowd, because I just noticed when I was sitting up there, it'd be so nice if all of our residents, if we had a little desk over there with a microphone and PowerPoint and we had $350,000 to spend on a report and PowerPoints, we could make a presentation to you. But all I got is a poster. We care deeply about this. I had a prepared statement. I'm going to just cut it down to when I heard the annex overflow and their cheer because they weren't we were well-behaved in here. They cheered and they cheered in a way that brought me so much joy, the joy from them, because you're voting to you're making a motion to protect residents. I read the JetBlue annual reports. I have an MBA and I know they're a good airline. But I also know that every business it has. One purpose in it is to make money. And I don't want you to lose sight of that. So there are good airline, but your job. Is to protect the residents. Thank you very much. Thank you. Speaker what I'm going to unless there's unless there's council objection. I know we shall folks coming in. What I'm going to do is I'm going to set the timer for 2 minutes. However, if you're at two and you really need to finish what you're saying, I'm going to let you keep going. But if we can just try to limit it as best possible. That would be great. We still have a lot of comments, so please, sir. Challenge accepted. Mr. Mayor. Council. My name is Mike Mangan. I'm a resident of the eighth district, 42 years old, which means I've been a 42 year resident of the city. I've lived in District three, four, five, seven and eight. I have a five year old daughter and a two year old son, and I am here for them more than anything else. I want to commend Councilwoman Mongeau for her motion. I want to commend Councilwoman Price for her support. And I want to acknowledge the political courage that it took to offer that motion and verbalize that support. Because I'm sure you've been on the receiving end of feedback, including mine, that's been intense and vociferous. And I know it took a lot of guts because I know you're getting it from both ends, too, that there's tremendous, powerful interests leaning on everybody here. Right. And I want to thank Councilman Supernormal, Councilman Turanga. My man, Alan the eighth. We're going to miss you. You're a one man argument against term limits, but keep up the good work as long as you're still there for their steadfast support. And beyond the political courage I want to offer. I also think it's political intelligence as well, because anybody who comes out in support of keeping the airport the way it is is doing their own political futures a tremendous favor in both the near-term and the mid-term. And I want to address a couple of the arguments I heard tonight. One is, if you live near the airport, you can't complain. That is ridiculous. That argument is absurd. I live near Atlantic Avenue. I don't want to turn into a ten lane highway. I mean, give me a break. Right. And secondly, the second argument is the economic impacts. I've read the Jacobs study, 250 jobs. Sounds like a lot, too. You have to realize how many of those are temporary construction jobs may be done in a week or two. And how much is 250 jobs measured against hundreds of thousands of Long Beach residents who are going to have their standard of living and their quality of life, potentially their health impacted. The smart choice is to say no to this. I appreciate how the dialog is going tonight and I hope you continue to support Councilwoman Mango's motion. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. My name is Judith Anderson. I live in the seventh District. I live in Castle Heights, and I like the airport. I moved here. I knew the airport was going to be there. I like it. I like the DC threes. They make a lot of noise and they're polluting, but they don't fly out all the time. I don't want the airport expanded and I do want to know that the city council cares more about people than money. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Speaker, please. Hi. My name is George Correa. I'm a long time resident of Long Beach. I lived in the second district, the third district, the fourth district and the eighth District. I want to thank the mayor, Al Austin, and the rest of the council members for listening to all of us. I'll try to keep it under a minute. Since I believe in Shakespeare's quote that brevity is the soul of wit. There have been arguments for and against, and they've both been eloquent. I really think that a lawyer could make an argument for either case. And I actually took a little tally of the people that spoke for and against. There's about ten that have spoke for the FISA facility. And about 28 against, I think with a subject that's so controversial, it would not hurt to err on the side of the constituents that voted you into office and vote against the FISA facility . The other thing that I wanted to mention, which someone else already mentioned, is that knowing full well that you moved into a area that has a airport isn't reason to give up your First Amendment right to speak and convince the city council members that represent you to change their minds. And I think everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker, please. Good evening. Hi. My name is Melinda Cotton. I live in the third district in Belmont Shore. I was part of the group that was plotting and cheering outside. We're very grateful that the council has recognized council member Franco and Pryce especially have recognized that it's best for Long Beach, the quality of life, the residents, the business community , really, and the economics of the city to not bring in the FISA and protect the noise ordinance. What I would like your attention to tonight, there have been mentions of NexGen. What it is, as we know, is the FAA is rearranging the airplanes over our area. Basically, there's going to be a meeting next week. I wish I knew the date. I hope that the council members will get the information out here in Long Beach at the adult school. I'd Willow and the FAA is sponsoring that to learn more about it. And as my council member has heard already, we're experiencing that overflights from L.A.X. and elsewhere over our homes. They're probably pretty high. A lot of people may not hear them. I heard one, about three in the morning last night. So even in our older home with double windows, we're still hearing them. So I do hope you'll have to pay attention to that. And thank you very much, Councilmember Super Nine and Austin and your rank. You did a great job in bringing out the information and bringing forward all of us holding the study session. So we're grateful. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. My name is Carol McElwee, and I'd like to thank Mayor Garcia and the council members for considering livability. I was born in Long Beach. I was raised in Bixby Knolls, and I live now in District three. My mother, Joyce McElwee, would be here tonight, but for health reasons she couldn't make it. But she asked me to speak on her behalf. I was three when my parents bought the big signals home on Sirius Avenue, which is now under the flight path of the commercial aircraft. She wanted to let have you know that when she's on the phone, if a fly when a plane flies over all conversation, stop and only commence when the plane passes. Also, when her TV is. On, she has to place it on pause. Because nothing can be heard. She finds oil oil droplets on her car. And she's concerned about breathing very bad air and has respiratory problems at this point and heart problems. And that's why she's not here tonight. I'm also very concerned because I've seen how the city has changed with the commerce and the pollution and the noise. And I did live in L.A., but choose to move back to Long Beach because of that problem. I'm an attorney. And I did see the. Or at least reference to the FAA letter from last October 2016, where they have reserved the right to investigate further complaints from any carrier that believes the ordinance is a barrier to their entry into, I guess, the L.A. or Long Beach market. I look at as an invitation for litigation, and I'm so happy that the council is putting its residents first. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Believe me, I am not from Long Beach originally. I am from Los Angeles, born and raised. After college I moved to Long Beach and I did not know why I had come here. I was taught religiously that when you arrive in a destination and you have no idea why you're there, you need to pray and ask God , why am I here? After several years living in District nine, I received a calling. And when you receive a calling, you have two choices. Either you answer the phone and hang up, or you answer the phone and pay attention. I understood that my reason for coming here was to assist the homeless. And in order to do so, I had to become familiar with what that felt like to the homeless. Not one homeless person that I have met in any of these districts have ever complained. That the airplanes are too loud. I can't sleep. Because the airplanes are too loud. I'm sure you've never received a phone call from one homeless person complaining that the airplanes are too loud. There's this statement ringing in my head about society and we, the heroes that push society forward, those heroes that make us count our tracks and look forward and push. We're in that time now. Something's going to come and push us forward, whether we like it or not. What you fail to realize is without being religious on you. You being given an invitation to push forward by air. And from what I'm hearing, many of your constituents are saying no by choice now. Next the next time the push comes, it may not come with an invitation and you will be pushed forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Miller. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Council Members. I'm Ron Miller, executive secretary of the L.A. Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council. And I'm here tonight to talk about careers, not temporary construction jobs, as some people have framed it. But I've made a career out of 38 years worth of those temporary construction jobs because that's what construction workers do . Now, whether this this project gets built or gets voted on gets approved tonight, it's really neither here nor there. You guys have done a hell of a job in the city helping the building trades with a partnership. To do work at the port, do work at the city, do work at the city college. We've got an apprenticeship readiness program at the City College. We're partnering with you guys on. And we're putting many members that live in the city of Long Beach into careers in construction. So we're doing about $8 billion worth of work at the airport in Los Angeles right now. And I know the. The airport in Long Beach does work every year. So I'm looking for a champion or as many as you guys want to stand up. And talk to me about doing an agreement at the airport for the work that's done there under a local hire agreement. There's no reason we can't have the port, the city, the community college and the airport under a local hire agreement to put local folks here to work in a good construction trade, middle class career. So that they can prosper here in the city. You know, you need economic. You guys are the second largest economic engine in the in L.A. County. It can't be just all homeowners. It has to be some economic development. So I want to thank you for everything you've done. But we have more to do. So let's do it. Thank you. Thank you, Ron. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Dr. Tony Mazzeo. I've lived in Long Beach for 29 years and I've been registered voter for 29 years here. I love my city. I went to Cal State Long Beach for my undergrad, and I've lived here ever since. I'm in health care and I've cared for our elderly in post-acute care settings for 20 years now. This is the first time I felt compelled to speak at a city council meeting as a Long Beach resident. I wanted to urge you to vote no no on the airport expansion for several reasons. There are many peer reviewed health studies showing a strong association between pulmonary disease and living in close proximity to large airports. I personally have asthma and I'm intimately familiar with the research findings on my disease and environmental factors that. Would affect asthma and respiratory illness. We can't deny the studies regarding environmental repercussions will experience. I purchased my home this summer in Long Beach. I invested over $700,000 on my property. My fear is the decrease in home value due to the proximity of my home to a large international airport on a weekly basis. I fly JetBlue for work out of Long Beach Airport. I'm very familiar with the airport and with JetBlue services. I love the airport. I love the remodel and I love the charm of our airports and the small size. I don't want to lose our local flights that I use weekly. I understand the draw that large corporations with deep pockets have. But once large corporations are here in our city, our voices would not be heard as much in terms of expanded flight patterns and further expansion once they're established. Noise ordinance ordinances are broken all the time. Larger corporations would easily be able to pay the fines associated with any violations, as they do now when they break the ordinance. Thank you, ma'am. If you could go ahead. Thanks. Okay. In conclusion, I just want to say thank you. I voted for you. I posted your signs on my lawns, and I want to thank you for representing us on this vital issue. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, city leaders. I'll try to speak into the mic this time. I want to thank you for listening. Listening to all the people and really studying the numbers. I asked you to do that a couple of times, and it looks like you did so. Thank you. I wanted to touch on a few things because I've heard some different numbers tonight about the jobs. And to the gentleman before me. I don't think the question is about short term jobs just in general and construction being disregarded. It's that the the big push for this with revenue in jobs and there's really not a lot. Long term I had counted five in operations and management and ten inspectors and two agricultural inspectors and one supervisor. That's not a lot. Not for whatever the building costs now. The thing is that any job brought to Long Beach will generate revenue. Right. So it doesn't need to be based on being international. And that's what's so great. The things that are being done now are fantastic. Revitalization of downtown, the embracing of technology by our mayor. The businesses that you're bringing here as big as Mercedes and as small as steel craft, which just opened in my neighborhood. Those things are fantastic. Those things make community. Those give people reasons to move here. Like I did, I moved from San Francisco. Long Beach offered me the most diversity and quality of life that I could get outside of San Francisco and in the Southern California area. And I love it. The houses have charm. There's a great downtown. There's an art scene. There's music. It's fantastic. So those in favor of thinking that that international airport is the way to go, there's there's much better opportunities out there. So I just thank you for your efforts. I thank you for listening. I encourage you every time these things come up to really scrutinize numbers because they're easy to swing many different ways. And thank you for representing us so well. Thank you. Thanks for moving here. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. My name is Dick Wynn and I'm proud resident here at Long Beach. I'm here to speak for myself and on behalf of my six year old son who doesn't have a voice in the community yet. I just want to touch on two points. Our children and our community, if you can imagine, would me for just a moment, the face, the frightful face of a four or five or six year old boy playing in a park as a giant jet plane flying overhead. Or imagine, again, 200 elementary schoolchildren saluting the Star Spangled Banner in their early morning as again, a jet engine roars overhead and disrupt their flag ceremony. Being a physician myself, I know of the deleterious effect of noise on our children. The World Health Organization has scientifically proven that noise negatively negatively affect our children, your airports and highways. They effect decreased their learning, decreased their memory, affect their sleep, increased their stress hormones. Blood pressure. And as adults, this can lead into tinnitus, the chronic ringing in the ears. The only solution is controlling the noise at the source and expanding the airport internationally. I doubt will do that. My second point is that language is establishing itself as a community, a family with pristine parks, historic homes and great schools. A friend of mine recently visited from Washington and she she said how much she admired the Long Beach Airport, its history, its uniqueness, its small town appeal. Having an international flight would disrupt the fabric of the hometown feel, where neighbors look out for each other, their family and their families, children's health of their future. We need to continue. To sustain that image for years to come without adding noise, pollution, pollution and traffic. Thank you so much, council members. Thank you so much. So please come on down. I also want to just take it just 1/2, please. I want to make sure that I have everyone that's in line that wants to speak so I will know where that ends. Is everyone in Mr. West that on the fire marshal's side that want to make a public comment? Rich. Oh, you know, let me let this let me let this lady over here at the mic up here. Go. Yes. I can't even see who if that is a. Good evening. My name is Luis Pago, and I'm here because I live in the seventh District. I prepared myself a speech and I would like to read it. I'm here tonight to ask the Council to reconsider the enlargement and developing an international airport here in Long Beach. The city has been a sleepy town away from the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles and a place where I can feel a sense of safety in our neighborhood and some nostalgic surrounding not found in L.A. or any big cities. If anyone has visited small towns like George Towns in D.C. or Santa Barbara, California, it has had airports surrounding it. But not in the town itself. But it is a tourist town where tourism generates financial income to business people in the town. It was an international airport, his place in the city. We can never return back and we will create a city of more expanding roads in road to the airport, just like the ones you see in John Wayne and Alex. Government agency will be asking people in the surrounding area to buy their homes called eminent domain and the expansion will result in decrease of property value in the face of Long Beach will become an area along Central Boulevard, Inglewood and the surrounding area. I live in an area where aircraft circles the airspace. However, if the planes leave the airspace, the noise they bring lingers and don't leave with them as they pass me. So while the noise lingers, another aircraft follows. And this continues throughout the entire day. Well, overnight until 1 a.m. or 2 to 2 a.m. begins around 4:30 a.m. depending on the noise, it can be thundering and can shake walls and window. And a public meeting held in December. The presentation strong enough to convince the council that having an international airport was good for the community because it would bring jobs. That was also stated when they built L.A. in John Wayne, but the result only brought neighborhood flight because the environment created difficult to access to homes of people who lived in that area. And we're going to try to wrap it up, ma'am, but please continue, if you could just close up. Thank you very much for letting me speak. Thank you very much for being patient. Is there anyone else up there, Mr. Marshall Marshal, that need to speak at one of the mikes on the top? Are we okay up there? Here. Okay. And then is everyone in already that needs to speak? Okay. Well, I'm going to because I'm going to I'm going to close the speakers list with no one else on the outside. I think we're I think we're good. So who's the last person in this line? Okay, so the gentleman you just raise your hand. You're the last speaker. Okay. All right, great. Please continue. Mayor Garcia, members of the City Council and staff. Thank you for this opportunity to address you this evening on an issue which obviously has a lot of gravity and is a test of both the community's patience as well as your stamina. So thank you so much for giving so much attention to this issue and for all of your hard work and study for this particular issue. I'm here tonight. My name is James Silva. I live in the fifth District. My wife and I are the owners of a real estate company, A.T.. And I'm here in no small part. On behalf of the hundreds of people that I have talked to over the last several months who still don't even really understand or know what's going on at the airport. And I am pleased to be able to go back to them tonight and tell them, at least not tonight, will there be a yes vote? So I want to thank Councilwoman Mongeau for her courage in in her motion and Councilman Price for second on that, as well as all the council people for all of your your hard work and leadership. We have celebrated good times with you. We have mourned through hard times with you. And we appreciate all that you do for our city. So with that, I would just simply say we look forward to your strong leadership in the future, and thank you for putting our citizens first. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and members of Council. My name is Rafael Reyes. I'm the vice president of Operation for Ready Gen Inc. Ready Gen Inc. handles all the aircraft appearance for JetBlue Airways. We've been operating out of Long Beach for the past 16 years. The day one, once JetBlue started that, it was operating out of a trailer. We support them coming in with the office terminal because it's going to create more jobs, not just for the airport, but also for the car rental facilities, taxi drivers and the port. So please just take this ownership and take my word. Give us this vote. Just for jobs creation, economic growth and looking into the future for the. City of Long Beach. Thanks again for your time. Thank you, sir, very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, councilman and women and Long Beach residents. My name's Rosie MATTHEWS. I come here today having grown up in Southern California and as an airline pilot of nine years who is well aware of the technicalities and formalities regarding office. With all that being said, I'm still 100% in favor of customs facility being built and urge you all to vote accordingly. Your political careers aside. A no vote would essentially be cutting off the city's nose to spite its face. Urge you to not let a vocal minority influence the needs of a greater majority. I've reviewed the various concerns presented by area residents throughout the feasibility study and I must say that all my questions and concerns before were fully and properly answered, using facts and logic instead of emotion. There's a reason that the Jacobs study didn't show any negative impacts and that simply because there aren't any negative impacts to fires. I understand that implementing FISA has changed, and for the most part we have we as humans have issues with change. The current noise ordinance caps the number of commercial flights serving Long Beach. Building FISA doesn't change that. The current noise ordinance sets curfew times and monetary penalties for violations. Building FISA doesn't change that either. We all make decisions on where we live. Choosing to live in a flight path is just one of those. Let's go over a few things that FISA does do. Construction alone will bring in millions to the local economy and hundreds of jobs for you. As a traveler, the ability to fly out of Long Beach internationally gives you the ability to join much cheaper airfares based on an airline's historical impact when starting service. If there's one thing in this room that everyone in this room can actually probably agree on is that LAX is an operational disaster. Why would anyone want to choose to travel in and out of there when they can do so easily and comfortably out of Long Beach? I'm here because FISA and Long Beach absolutely needs to happen. Don't cut off the city's nose to spite its face. I encourage you all to vote yes on FISA. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please. Mayor, Councilmembers Robert Land with JetBlue Airways Corp.. The Jacobs study that you commissioned and it's taken two years to get to this vote tonight speaks for itself. The cost to the city, as you've heard from staff, is zero. The one time benefit on construction is tremendous. You've heard from the building construction trades folks tonight and other labor leaders. The ongoing economic benefit to the city is hundreds of millions of dollars annually. And the only thing the Jacobs study misrepresented to the benefit of the city is that the facility is smaller and less expensive to construct than they suggested. Should the council approve this tonight? JetBlue, I want to reiterate, I've mentioned in the past, will not cut or eliminate any domestic routes. So every market we serve will continue to serve. JetBlue has been a strong corporate citizen up till now, working in the community, active in the community. And as such, we urge your favorable vote on this. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Land. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Council members and may of our city. I mean, Mayor Garcia. I'm sorry. I apologize. Garcia but my name is Manny Solis. I'm a longtime resident of Long Beach. 30 years. I live in the. 90815 area, which is also known as Los Altos. Stacey Wolf knows that. And I've raised my three children here. They've gone to schools locally. They've all attended Long Beach State. My last youngest is graduating this spring, so I'm very proud to be a Long Beach resident, very proud to have raised my children here. My wife works at Boeing, which used to be McDonnell Douglas. She's worked there 30 years. And I think we may be forgetting that all the homes that surround this area were built originally to support the manufacturing of aircraft. And and we need to keep jobs as they're leaving. You all know the C-17 is no longer. Other programs have been cut. So we need jobs here in Long Beach. I am also a journeyman electrician. I'm also an instructor at the Electrical Training Institute. So all of our apprentices are trained to be journeyman workmen. They are trained with safety. They are trained for all the laws and regulations that go with construction. So I'm sure that this job, if passed, will be built with all the local standards and national electrical standards. Like I said, this apprenticeship houses about 1600 apprentice electricians. And as you know, all the shop classes have less the high schools. So we want these jobs and we want to continue our training here. And this project is vital to our success. Thank you. Thank you very much, sir. Next speaker, please. Council member. Mayor Thank you. My name is Daniel Toots. I'm a resident in the city of Long Beach, and also I'm a proud member of the IBEW Local 11. Second Year Apprentice. There is many reason I became a union electrician. I want to mention a few of those reasons tonight. Um, solidarity, pay, equality, safety, training, respect on the job and join in the working class. The job created by the Federal Inspection Facility will help me continue my career as an electrician. Now here is one of the main reason to be working in the city of Long Beach is a short commute. I rather be working nearer home and I not have to drive miles away to another city. As a Long Beach resident, I ask you to support this project. Thank you. Thank you very much. Like Speaker. Thank you, council members and mayor. My name is Freddy Pickett and I'm a Long Beach resident. I'm also a proud IBEW local 11 member second year apprentice. I've learned a trade out in the field and in the classroom. Both are important to my job. The jobs created by the Federal Inspection Facility Project will keep the men and women apprentices like me to continue to earn and learn in the trade. It's not enough to teach apprentices electrical trade in the classroom. A lot of our learning comes on the job. And it's projects like Federal Inspection Facility that feel the need. As a Long Beach resident, I ask that you support this project. Thank you. Thank you very much. Speaker, please. Mayor Councilmembers I'll be brief. This council has always been progressive, and you can start with the place and local hire. It's it's great. I personally can say that I put 40 members of this community into a career that will change their lives. So it's it's nothing to, you know, slack it. Ms.. Mongeau, I know she stated her reasons for not supporting it and she was the only one that said that not one person in the audience mentioned that the fiscal impact was why they were not supporting it. It was all about noise. Everything they said was about noise. Even if you guys vote no, even if you vote no, it will not change the noise. There'll still be the same amount of flights. All right, let's let's. Everyone gets respect to be able to give their comments. So, please, flights are flights. Weather to Sacramento, weather to Cancun. You cannot tell the difference where the flight goes. The Olympics will be here hopefully in 2024. You know, Long Beach will be a destination. It would be nice to be able to fly people directly to the airport. I live directly right up the street from the airport. It's a great place. I fly out there next week to Sacramento. It is great for regionals. It would also be great to fly internationally as well. We're debating a what is issue right now. You know what? Not not nothing in that feasibility study said anything that the noise is going to change. Everything was going to stay the same same amount of flights that are changing where they're going. I would hate to stop progress on a what if issue because we can always say, what if the airline leaves? Right. You know what if they stay? You know, why are we going stop progress on a what if issue? Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker. Please. Hi. Hi. My name is Katie Class. I live in District five. I live right where the small planes fly. I'm obviously a mother of three young children, and our neighborhood is a really special place. And I'm really fear that the know. I really fear that the international expansion is just going to bring a lot less security to the neighborhood. It'll lower my my home value, which is really important since I just bought my house a year ago. And I do plan on spending probably the rest of my life in that house and raising my children there. I just really would like you to consider the fact that it really affects all the families in the neighborhood. And there are many families like mine in our small on our small street and any other street near ours. So we say no. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. My name is Steve Fry. I'm in District five and I want to thank you all for being here and for thoughtfully hearing everyone. I'll keep this short. I have to go to the bathroom. But how do you think we feel? We're all right. I came down here. I went to Cal State, Long Beach. I did my undergraduate and my graduate work here. Go Beach. I moved away after living in Burbank for a while, and in other parts of L.A., I decided that Long Beach was where I wanted to come back to. I moved to your district, Councilwoman Mungo, and I thank you for your change of heart. I am obviously against this proposal. I purchased a home down here not far from where she lives, and it is a very special community. I mean, it's magical and we're in the process. We've renovated our house exterior. We're in the process of obtaining an architect right now who's going to be doing a major remodel on the home, adding square footage, etc.. I'm also doing work in Glendale, where another property is that I have. So I'm kind of comparing the two cities. But what I want to say is I'm putting that project on hold because of this. I have a lot of concern about it. And initially, when I purchased the home, knowing that I was in near the airport, I asked a lot of questions and the people that I purchased it from were worked in the aircraft industry and they said, Oh, the little aircrafts are kind of quaint. We've grown to love them too. We have these small flat planes flying through. It inspires my kids, but we just don't want to see anything change on that. So I urge you to just consider it seriously. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor. Members of the council. My name is Rob Mitchell. I'm the manager of airport affairs for JetBlue. I don't want to go through all the facts laid out by the city's Jacobs study, because I think they're they're well known at this point. But I do want to say that the council can vote yes on customs today, causing no risk to the noise ordinance, no additional noise or flights, because there are only allowed 50 flights a day. And voting yes on customs would mean that the city gets a facility at zero cost to taxpayers. No risk that those taxpayers would ever be on the hook because JetBlue is making is willing to make a commitment to do that and that the facility would provide thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of economic stimulus year after year if it were built environmentally. The Jacobs study actually cited that there would be some reduction in emissions because general aviation flights that come from international origins today to Long Beach now need to make an unnecessary landing and takeoff to clear customs before it comes here. Moreover, as my colleagues mentioned, JetBlue would be committing that no domestic routes that are served today would be canceled. So, yes, JetBlue certainly wants to see this project move forward after, I think, what is a thorough two year process. But I do want to underline that our company and our amazing 700 passionate and incredible crew members here in Long Beach care deeply about this city. We've been here for over 15 years. And with that, we truly. With that said, we truly, truly believe that this project is in the best interest of not just customers at Long Beach Airport, but the community of Long Beach as well. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Hi. Good evening, council members. Thank you for being here. My name is Hilary Hagler and I am a first time homeowner in Bixby Knolls. I live directly underneath the flight path. I thought it was really important that I came here tonight because I am also a crew member of JetBlue and very happy. So I am on both sides of this issue. I hear the issues coming from everyone, all the residents saying that they're concerned primarily from what I've heard, about noise and pollution, and I understand their fears. So I want to address you as well as them in saying that we're not here to discuss the closure of the airport noise and pollution, what happened last week with with violations. That's that's unfortunate. And that's going to happen. The pollution is still going to be there with an airport as it would in existence anywhere. We're here to discuss FISA, and I am vehemently in favor of this passing as both a resident and a homeowner and someone who cares deeply about City of Long Beach and JetBlue. We're simply rerouting the flights that we're going to be taking. We're not impacting the noise. We're not going to increase it. We're not going to increase the pollution that is coming to our city. And as someone who cares deeply about my. My home, the value of my home, the pollution, the noise. I'm effective. I hear it as well. I do live directly on the flight path. I, I want to say that I care about JetBlue. I care about this company. I care about this city. And I trust them. And I and I care that you have done the research. I have done the research. And I hope that you make the right decision and vote in favor of this passing. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, members of the city council. Mr. Romo. My name is Alex Kurtzman. I'm director of airports and ground infrastructure at the National Business Aviation Association. I am speaking on behalf of the association. Which represents the interests. Of over 11,000 member companies that rely on general aviation aircraft. Those members include numerous tenants and users of the Long Beach Airport who continue to be strongly interested in the airport's future accessibility and viability. And Bay supports the efforts to restore CBP services to users of Long Beach Airport. The facility would be an asset to the airport with positive effects propagating beyond the city of Long Beach. In addition to presenting the airlines at the Long Beach with the ability to service a more diverse set of originating cities, the CBP services will allow Long Beach's vital general aviation component to operate more efficiently and with less impact on the environment while benefiting the local economy. Statistics from numerous airports, such as the neighboring Van Nuys Airport that have recently introduced the CBP facility, consistently prove that the addition of CBP does not result in a dramatic increase in general aviation activity. There would also be no change in the generation fleet mix for aircraft utilizing Long Beach. As a result, the majority of aircraft that would be utilizing the facility are already arriving at Long Beach as their final destination. However, because of CBP services are not currently available, these aircraft must interrupt their return to Long Beach in order to clear customs at another airport. The environmentally sensitive and safety conscious vote to bring customers to Long Beach would benefit local businesses and based aircraft returning home. Voting yes would reduce the risk associated with additional operations, improve efficiency and reduce environmental impacts while bringing income and economic benefits to Long Beach. The additional fuel sales deliver services, business growth and local job opportunities. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Yeah. Hi, I'm Marshall Teskey, and I wanted to thank the mayor and the city council for all the work that you've done on this. I know that you're only part time. You're only getting part time salaries. Most of you. And I think you should be a full time council, but that's a whole other issue. So I'm a resident of Bixby Knolls and I'm on the steering committee of the Long Beach Area Peace Network. We do not usually take issue pick take positions on neighborhood issues like this. We're interested in stopping the endless wars. We have vigils on our in Belmont Shore on the weekends. And we want to control military recruiters who convince schoolchildren to join the military without knowledge of their parents. We also believe we believe that the customs facility and the international flights at the airport will open the door to changing the noise ordinance. And every time there's been a change in the noise ordinance at the airport, the airlines have gone to federal court and they've had expensive lawyers and they've defeated us. Although Bixby Knolls is a upscale neighborhood, given the economic decline of 2008, the slow recovery, my neighbors depend on this retirement for their own, this money, which is in their homes for their retirement. So Long Beach Area Peace Network believes that this is just another attack by corporations on working people and middle class people. And the unintended consequences of this proposed facility will be the loss of property values in a stable and desirable area of Long Beach. So that's pretty much why we're we opposed it. And I just wanted to thank the council for for what they've done. And thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker. Please. Thank you. Council Mayor Garcia, Vice Mayor Richardson for letting us speak. I'm going to keep this a little brief. I have a pre-written speech. And if you're a Bernie supporter or you know about Bernie, this is going to sound a little repetitive, but I think it's important. Let me begin by saying that this country is moving rapidly towards an oligarchic form of society in which the lives and decisions of so many are made by the few at the top. And one of the things that's tough love to preach is the trickle down theory, you know, where we all try and help out the very rich so they will turn in turn trickle down benefits to us. And if you think that ideology has no place in modern day discussion, you'll be quite surprised to hear that it's far from the truth. Case in point, this discussion today. Think about it. A huge, wealthy multinational corporation, JetBlue, which makes millions of dollars in profits a year, comes on down to our local government and demands that we construct an f i f f i s facility, which mostly benefits JetBlue all so that the benefits trickle down to us. And we decided to take them so seriously that we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hosted many discussions. Spent hundreds of hours calculating data here and assessing success rates there. And over a year of mulling over a decision and all that time and all that money got spent over one single question Is it wise for us to get involved getting to to turn international? And the reason we did all that wasn't because we were having an issue about it not being international. We didn't have a big outrage. In fact, we have an outrage because it's even being talked about. The only reason this is being brought up is because a big giant corporation decided to to talk about it. And I think that's a big testament to our political system right now, that the fact that the only reason really we're talking about this is because a big giant corporation tells us that we need to talk about it . Let's focus on actual issues like pushing for more infrastructure reform, pushing for prison system reform, where we can actually work with prisoners and not, you know, ostracizing them. There are so many issues we should be certainly discussing, but a multinational corporation says no thank you. So please do not let the airport happen. Next speaker, please. That was Sterling. Raichlen, folks. I'm David Raichlen, and I'm a long time resident of Long Beach. I'm a business owner here. I'm a physician. I volunteer and do a lot of things to help the local community. And I was truly heartened that. Councilwoman Mongeau made a motion that's before the council. And I truly. Commend her and the rest of the council for considering that motion. And I hope that it passes. I think that that will, at least for now, set this issue to rest. But I also wanted to comment on an observation I made that. A few days ago, Mayor Garcia gave this wonderful state of the city speech, and I was there, and maybe some of you were there, too. And it was full of progressive. Policies and programs that were already in motion, as well as ones that. Are happening as we, as we. Speak, are in the near future that benefit the. Whole city. And as I was sitting there listening to his wonderful presentation with all the graphics, etc.. The FISA facility just. Kept popping up in my mind. Why are we even considering something so regressive where the benefits go. To a few? While the risk and harms that are certain. To happen are going to be borne by the entire. City. So I urge you to vote for the benefit of the entire city. And I think that the simple way to do that is to vote yes on the motion before you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Speaker, please. Hi. My name is Tony Pearson. I'm in the District five. I've lived in. Long Beach since. 1980. My daughters. Went to school here and all of. That stuff. I'm not really concerned with the noise because of where I live. I feel sorry for anyone that has that problem. But looking at the Jacobs feasibility study, we were looking at it and it says here that the. Study describes the area surrounding areas as businesses, multi business, parks. Warehousing and hospitality. Now I don't know, but I. Live two blocks. Over from. The airport and I live in a. Housing track. And if you go two blocks. On almost any area in or around the airport, you're in housing. You are not in any of these businesses or multi parks or whatever. Okay. So all of us, we don't have any. Type of security. If you look at. L.A.X., if you look at John. Wayne, they all have a lot of these businesses and everything with them, which has security or they have gated communities. Now those people have a. Security force. That protects their. Property. Who is going to protect us. When we. Have international people? And I see. JetBlue is going to be going to Mexico and Central America. That's their first. Choice. Who is going to protect our people? Are you going to add more Long Beach. Police to patrol our areas. So that we don't have to worry about our property and our lives? That's a question that I. Would like answered. Okay. And I see. Everybody looking at me like, oh, that's not a problem. But it is to me. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Next speaker, please. Hi. I am a student at Long Beach. And, um. Sorry. Um, I actually have some concerns because, um, residents also were from Lakewood and they had no idea about this meeting. Um, so in the Jacobs study, they do say that the Long Beach Airport borders the city of Lakewood. Yet I do not know if any public outreach was done to residents beyond the city of Long Beach. Um, also in addition, um, we did see some of the students and I, we did see that there was a comment with, for this agenda and it closed at 4:00 today. How are those comments being interpreted in your guys's decisions? Um. Another, um. Another aspect that some of the students are concerned about is that Long Beach City is an open access area. It is patrolled by campus police. But if you have international airports coming in and you have the FAA. Yes, but the Jacobs study, it was saying that some of the exposure is a minimal risk and that some quantities is basically okay because it's kind of. Um, it's much lower than the ports. But for us, the safety of the community, even a minor risk is a risk and it's too much. Also, um. We also are concerned about. Um. The districts, even though the routes for the Lakes and the Ontario and John Wayne are international, we do not see the benefits of having another international airport. Why are not the airports? Why are not JetBlue considering destinations that are in the United States? Some of us actually come from other states to go to school. So we would like to visit our families during the holidays more often. Thank you. Just to wrap it up, thank you so much. And also, L.A.X. has a benefit of having the Metro Transit for the Green Line. And I know the Jacobs study was talking about some of the bus routes, but it's a more convenience and it's a better avenue through the green line. So we do not believe that residents and people would be using LA Long Beach more than L.A.X. or John Wayne. Thank you. Thank you so much. And just so you know, that the the the comments that you're referring to, so everyone everyone everyone gets some. So when they close, they get sent over to the city council. So we are a copy of the comments. Oh no. Yeah. Before the meeting we had comes before the meeting starts. Before. Was really quick in an. Hour. We get them all place on our desk. Thank you. And we get them, by the way, as they come in. So it's not all just set one. A lot of them are done as they come in. Next. Next speaker is mayor, members of the city council. Good evening and thank you for enduring this tonight. I appreciate the fact that you're willing to to face these tough decisions. My name is Perry Bannerman. Residents of the Los Altos area. The one thing that I appreciate most about this city, more so than the diverse neighborhoods, more so than Second Street or the beach or the port, is the civic pride that that people have in the communities willingness to engage in matters like this, as evidenced really tonight. And and as a community, I think we all understand that. We have the best interests of the city in mind and we want to see the airport succeed and we want to see a major employer succeed as well. But what I would like in this project, too, is what Metro might face when you're considering expanding light rail into a built out community or a built out city. People live here. They're entrenched here. They've they've lived here for generations. And as members of the city council, I think that you need to remember that when you're faced with this difficult decision. You have the responsibility to maintain the quality of life of the residents. We're the first to be approved tonight. I think that in the short term, you might not notice that much of a difference, maybe some rejiggering of schedules, maybe some added flights, but all still staying within the thresholds in the noise ordinance. But I think there's far too much emphasis being placed on the protective abilities of the noise ordinance. And really that's as evidenced by the conclusion of the FAA and the city attorney's office. One successful challenge to the noise ordinance by a competing airline claiming barriers to entry could absolutely collapse the noise ordinance. Is that speculation? No, I don't think so. I think it's just natural progression. What I would call the approval of the FISA court is the thin edge of the wedge. It's a seemingly minor. Change. That begins a major development and a potentially undesirable one. I urge you to vote no tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker. Please. We've got our final three speakers, which I know we cut off the speaker's list with the last gentleman. Four speakers. I'm sorry about that. Please go. Ahead. I'd like to urge all I would like to urge you to please vote no on the airport. International expansion. I reside on 5215 East Eagle Street District four, which is directly under the Long Beach dissent flight path. There have been numerous, numerous times on the airlines have violated the noise ordinance. And I'm a homeowner, I'm home owner, and I have a son with autism. And the noise has consistently affected our evenings past 10 p.m., which is detrimental to our family life. We have lived in our neighborhood for the diversity community and so that my son can attend the autism program at Bixby Elementary. We love our neighborhood and understand the financial benefit of the airport, but I also find it unacceptable for airlines to violate the noise ordinance, which affects the relationship between the residents and the businesses. The international flights will bring more planes and more instances of possibly breaking the flight ordinance. And although they say the room might be a dramatic difference, it's still a difference that negatively affects me and my family. Please vote no for the benefit of my family and the families in the neighborhood. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Mr. Scopo. Sir Joe Soper, Fifth District. I wanted to thank all of the volunteers, all the neighbors that came out tonight to let you know how they felt about this issue. Many of them took off from work early. Some of them even called in sick to be here on time. And this is the way we do things. It's real important. Democracy in action. There is a elephant in the room, though. One, there is a JetBlue violates our noise ordinance frequently. JetBlue is a wonderful organization. I take it all the time. Every time I can fly out. But. Last year in the last 12 months they that they violated the noise between 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. 133 times. That means a young lady who just spoke in front of me with the children that went over the top of her house 133 times last year, between 11 p.m. and seven in the morning. If you all said when you were elected that you were going to protect the noise ordinance, I believe that that's part of your protecting the noise ordinance. Just because they pay a fine doesn't mean you're protecting the noise ordinance. They really ought to stop doing that. And quite frankly, had they stopped doing that, if if JetBlue actually fought for the noise ordinance or protected or didn't violate the noise ordinance, we may have a different outcome here tonight. But but that that's not a you wouldn't award a child, one of your children, for doing something badly. You wouldn't give them something positive. And they really that's what it comes down to. Thank you very much. Thank you. Your next speaker, please. Hello, Mayor and City Council. My name's Laurie Smith. I'm a longtime resident and homeowner in Long Beach. I'd like to thank the city council members for their wisdom tonight, as I do not support a customs facility or making our airport into an international facility. I'm grateful to my third district councilwoman, Susie Price, as well as to Councilman Supernormal Durango and Austin, who represents our L, represents the district of which my in-laws live, who are directly under the flight path. When we speak about fiscal responsibility, we need to always speak first about property values. As someone else mentioned earlier, property taxes are the main moneymaker for the city of Long Beach. So if we are ever to speak about the economic development for Long Beach, it's important to understand that bad development decisions are what bring down property values which will bring down Long Beach economy. I wanted to speak about the decision to even higher Jacobs Engineering, who produced the fire study. There are frightening number of lawsuits against Jacobs engineering in recent years. Here's just 2nd May 2015. San Bernardino County High sued Jacobs Engineering for their Desert Detention Center expansion project. They're seeking 13.6 million in damages. And this is in violation of their duty of care. They were negligent and carelessly perform their work under the agreement and caused delays and setbacks. In 2016, an article about the toxic waste cleanup crews in Tennessee who were led to believe that their the ash sites were safe. JACOBS Engineering was accused of misleading workers about the safety, air monitoring and safety safety training, among other allegations. Is this the type of company our city entrusts with providing accurate information regarding such important decisions? I like to ask that the City Council ask for monies back as they did not fulfill their contract in presenting at the City Council study session. Part of their city council study session was to present the study, and I was confused and disappointed with the city's decision to have the airport director, our airport director, a city staff person, give the customs field facility presentation. It was not appropriate and Jacobs did not have a representative in the audience. I would need another minute. As you said, they had their representative in the audience and he had previously given this presentation. So the next time we're here at City Council discussing the airport, I'd like it to be when City Council brings an airport community roundtable to the vote. Having a community roundtable will help with the ongoing questions and concerns that we have. We, your constituents have regarding the airport that you manage, as we have experienced here, this issue the community has no ability to discuss with staff's airport staff or city staff unless it's here in front of you. The current Airport Advisory Commission only discusses operations and does not address community concerns. Not to mention, they're under investigation for conflict of interest issues. Tonight I was asked by city. Tonight I asked city manager staff about the airport master plan, which I thought was going to be made in a presentation to City Council, but it was merely filed. So please, may I suggest to City Council that we make this airport master plan available via via your city council newsletters next door or place on a future. Thank you. Council meeting. Thank you so much. Thank you. No final speaker, please. Okay. Down to the last one. Mary Garcia, council folks. First, I want to thank Al Austin for being one of the first to support the opposition of the terminal and all the other council members who have opposed it. As time has gone on. Now, a couple of things. I want to regurgitate what others have said, but I was a little confused. And a JetBlue pilot this evening said that there'd be no loss of domestic flights. But earlier somebody said that the utilization had hit full capacity recently. So those two comments don't agree. So I'm not sure who's correct there. JetBlue wants to increase jobs, bring jobs to us. Maybe they should buy Boeing airplanes. JetBlue only flies Airbus aircraft. Just wanted to point that out. And then a gentleman from the Chamber of Commerce stated the jobs will come from international with the international terminal and flights. But when those jobs just be taken away from the other airports, I can't see that we're bringing any other folks in internationally, maybe just taking them from other airports. I live on on all of Avenue and Al's district there. I have a recording studio, so the sound and the noise affect me greatly. Well, thank you all for your patience, for listening to all 45,000 of us this evening. And I'm sure you're going to all do the right thing if you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And thank you all for. For being respectful of all the speakers and everyone's points of view. That's really important in these discussions. So I'm going to take this back now to the city council, because we do have some comments in discussion and I want to make sure that we do these fairly . So let me just go and go down the speakers list and then we will go back around first. First round gets everyone that hasn't had a chance to speak yet and then we'll go back around to those that have had a chance already. So let me start with that list. Councilman Austin. Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And wow, I just want to thank all of the residents who came out and worked very, very hard, contacted my office, contacted the other council members, but really, really made your voice heard over the last couple of weeks and over the last two years over this process. And particularly, I'd like to turn to first say that I'm speaking in support of the receive and file motion. I think it's the right thing to do. I want to thank Councilmember Mongo and Price for bringing forth this motion, for being very thoughtful and getting to the right decision, which I believe. I want to thank council members Virunga and Supernova for being steadfast partners throughout this two year process. These gentleman stood solid and never wavered. And so for that, I very much appreciate your. We reached a smart decision. Our hope we're going to reach a smart decision tonight due in large part to a very measured and transparent process . I've always talked about the process, and the process has to be right, making sure that we're transparent, making sure that our residents are engaged and know all that we know that goes into the decision making. These residents, in my opinion, have shown that and shown that big time. When you have come forth and spoke, spoken, you know, as much as most of the staff knows about airport issues, I was speaking to somebody earlier today and I talked about the residents in my district. Right. I said I've knocked on every just about every door in the district and talked to many of my voters and residents throughout the eighth district. And generally, I can find several airport experts on every block. Right. Folks know this issue. They know it inside out. They've studied it. And they've they've lived with it for for many years. And that's something that, as a council, I'm glad tonight that we are we're showing some respect for. I want to thank the airport staff for their diligence and professionalism throughout this process, although I don't agree with the staff recommendation this evening. I do appreciate their efforts. I've worked and had the opportunity to work with five airport directors since being elected to the city council four and a half years ago, and that includes two interim directors. But this at this point, I want to just just say I'm very impressed with Mr. Jess Romo, our airport director. And I really hope that he enjoys a long career here in Long Beach. I think we can do a lot of great work together. He was hired during a very chaotic time. He has navigate it, I think, admirably. Admirably. So. Let's give him a big hand as well. We heard a lot from our JetBlue employees who certainly have an interest in the future of their company. And I appreciate really what JetBlue represents. And I think most of our residents here in the city are proud that you choose to call Long Beach home and you operate from our city. Our municipal airport is a thriving airport at capacity. All 50 flights slots are being utilized today, and that's largely because of JetBlue's commitment to Long Beach. A Through I flew through into Long Beach on on Long Beach Airport on Saturday, this past Saturday. And the terminal was completely full when I came in. That is a testament and it tells me more than anything that that it's working today. Right. The airport is working today. And if we're at capacity and we're talking about capacity that go into international flights or an F, I guess what would actually just invite more chaos in the future? And I'd be remiss if I did not take my eight district staff. Jonathan, Melody, Monique, Heather. They they have been there for my residents. They have endured it. They have. They've taken it on the chin because they pick up the phone. And I don't. They've responded to the residents. And I think they should be. We owe them a great deal of gratitude for their excellent service to the eighth District, but to the city of Long Beach as well. This has been a very tough and rocky road. When I assumed office four and a half years ago, I was good on the airport front. I did not see this coming, but I think we as a city council, I can certainly tell say that me as a city council member, I'm stronger because of this process. I'm more attuned to my district as a result of this process. And, you know, I'm I don't want to see it happen again. I can tell you I don't think we can we can go another decade or two without dealing with this type of turmoil. And drama. But but I think it was a great exercise for our community to see the hundreds of people who have turned out here over the last couple of years. I started small and it's grown and grown. And this crescendoed to standing room only crowd here this evening. I want to commend you for your work and your your your dedication. The fact that it shows that the eighth District, the fourth District at Long Beach is a community. You know, our residents are talking to one another and our residents are pretty well organized. So I salute you all for your efforts. Ray Gavlak. You know, we had to go take a process here to get there. Here. I do appreciate your your leadership and your efforts on this and your many years of leadership on the issue. I mean, some of you guys are get this, but I owe you a box of chocolate. Less. That's it. I think this this council is going to get to a good place this evening. I want to also recognize the steady leadership and the steady hand of Mayor Garcia in this regard. He has he has he. You know, I didn't know where he was on this, quite frankly. And I still don't know where he is. But he has led this council in a manner that that has allowed us to get to a place. And I think this council as a whole also has grown up over this this process as well. And so I want to salute my colleagues for for really, really taking this issue to heart. You know, it was very frustrating early on. I mean, I was the individual that called for the very first study session about the the noise ordinance. Right. Because none of us on this council were here when that that noise ordinance came manifested when none of us were here in 1989 and 1991. And so it's been a steady process. I do appreciate everyone's patience. I haven't been the easiest person to live with over the last year, year and a half, because of this issue. But I can tell you that I will be celebrating, hopefully with my residents tonight and the rest of the eighth District will be celebrating, hopefully a decision made this evening. So thank you very much. I'll hold my comments for now. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Gringo Councilmember Austin whispered to me a little while ago. I don't know what I'm going to say. He wrote all that in 15 minutes. Guess I should bring my laptop with me. I still don't know what I was going to say, but I will say this. I came armed tonight with the Jacobs study, the Airport Advisory Committee study, with the Economic Development Commission study, with the staff presentations, including the one made tonight. I came here prepared with a number of questions and and a statement. All of that done. I don't need it tonight because I think that the courage that was expressed tonight by Councilmember Mongeau and Price in making this motion set it off for me. Many people who follow the city council know that when I talk about study sessions, I'm pretty much against them. I think they're a waste of money. I think that the conversations take away from from the activity and the actions that we need to take. However, I did strongly encourage that we make this study available and accessible to everybody because we all needed to hear what the feasibility study was going to bring forward. We all needed to evaluate it. We all needed to process it. We all needed to really understand what a fierce facility would mean to Long Beach. And that came out. And I'm very happy that we were able to do that because we were able to now come together and look at that study with under the same microscope and come up with the same conclusions. I want to thank the audience, the residents of Long Beach and, of course, the Jet Blue, the representatives who are here, labor who's here. They brought their perspectives and we needed to hear that. We need to hear all of those perspectives, because without that, we have no basis upon which to make a decision, because we need to bring all that together in order to come up with a decision that will be not only right for the city, but right for the region. And I think this is right for for what we have to do tonight. And I will be supporting the motion, because I think it's one that has the most impact for our city. You know, when we look we talk about Long Beach, we talk about neighborhoods, we talk about Bixby Rose Highlands, Bixby Terrace, Wrigley West, Long Beach . Those are my district. But then there's Los Altos and Naples and El Dorado Estates, and there's many, many Hellman over here. So, I mean, there's I could go through every district and point out neighborhoods that are that are important there and how important it is for the residents in those neighborhoods to come out and express their views and express their their likes and dislikes as well as to what's happening in their district. And many of us here in the council, myself included, I came up through the neighborhood associations. I learned about my city through the neighborhood association. So those of you who are here, I want to thank you for your participation there and those of you out there in the audience. If you're not a member of your neighborhood association, get to be a member. That's how you learn a lot about Long Beach. We might be half a million people. 483,000 or whatever. And and change. But we are what we call an international hometown. And we're going to stay that way. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Next up is council member supernova. Thank you, Mayor Garcia. My comments will be very brief tonight. I say it's time to move our trays up to the upright in lock position. But actually, I'm going to be brief because of that wonderful speech Councilwoman Pryce gave me. I know. Two quick one on my head. So thank you for that. And also, I don't want to speak too long because this is your night, folks in the audience and all those who email list and and persevered over this long period of time. As they say, it's great to win one once in a while. And this a great night. I'll be supporting this motion. If I hadn't communicated that yet. And. And like my colleagues mentioned, I really want to thank Councilwoman Pryce and especially Councilmember Mongo. It just took a lot of courage to do what she did over the past weeks. And we really appreciate her support tonight. I also want to thank staff and Jess Romo. You mentioned Dale Worsham and thank him for his work, but you didn't mention he's a fourth District resident, so I wanted to add that too. And also, I see Ron Reeves up there. For those you don't know Ron Reeves or Ryan McMullen, they email me nightly to tell me when the late flights are coming in. And that's, I think, above and beyond the call of duty. But, Ron, you better take off pretty soon. You're going to have to check those flights and send me an email. So, again, thank you very much. If you have time, we have a community meeting tomorrow at 5 p.m. at Los Altos Library and we'll go over this. I won't be going to Councilmember Mungo's gay club for that reason, but you can head over there after my community meeting. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilmember. Thank you, Councilmember. Next up is Councilmember Pearce. Thank you very much. I want to really say how much I respect and honor my colleagues on the council for having this process be meaningful for them, for their constituents, for everybody is a part of the process. And so I know that this is a item that has been really important to people long before I got on this council. And I have to say that in my six months on council, it is the toughest vote that I have had to take and that it has been a coming to this council with an idea where I felt like I was with the airport to taking a almost four hour tour of the airport and learning about all of the small businesses that operate out of there and the impacts that that airport has on our greater economy was eye opening for me. I have received many of your emails, some of them nice, some of them, you know, exciting. And I also wanted to comment that the the emails that we received, the comments that we received, I did go through and read each one of them. There are 56 and there are 29 of them in support of the FISA facility. I know that it is really difficult for you all that live in the flight path. And so I want you guys to know that I heard you tonight. I appreciate all of your efforts in really making sure that you push your council members to be the best representative for you. Whichever way I vote tonight, I just wanted to reiterate that I feel like there's a lot of information that's been provided. I do have a lot of questions, and I was hopeful that we would be able to get a lot of those questions answered in a meaningful way that would allow us to have vision as a great city. There are few times that we have a vote like tonight where we send a direction to where we want to go. So whatever happens tonight, I hope that we come back to a conversation about what kind of city we want to be. And to me, that is not about an international airport or not an international airport. It's about the process and the time that we take to get the facts straight. It's about a process and the time that it takes to make sure that we really get our questions answered before we bring something to a vote if it if we still have questions. And so those are a little bit of my comments. I definitely had a much longer thing around how we used to be an international airport and some questions around that. I had a lot of other questions about how many flights, you know, we are circling other airports, how many we divert, how many we don't. But I wanted to just say, I really appreciate being a part of this process, and I'm really honored to be able to take this vote tonight and really respect all of my colleagues and their leadership on this. So thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Next up, I have Councilman Andrews. Yes, thank you. My first of all time. I'm here because I'm not going to try to be brief. I'm not going to try to be long. I'm just going to try to be to the point and being that is, I just want to sit here and say that as I listen to a lot of all of you individuals here tonight, I went upstairs, I went to sleep. I woke up, came back down. Because the fact that I think this is a very important, you know, item, and I really want to commend Mrs. Mango because the fact that I sit and watch her being snubbed the first time she came up with this, but she was steadfast. And that's one thing I like about this is price. I definitely want to commend you for supporting that agenda. But me, myself, I think there's times in the community which I live in, I think of jobs. Jobs in me is the most important thing in my district because I always said a job will stop a bullet . And this is one thing. When I look at JetBlue, when they talk about jobs, I think they talk. Going by the community which I live in, I probably will be the only one who will vote against this because the fact that I feel like what I'm doing, I'm doing it for the betterment of my district. And not only that, but I think JetBlue is doing things where a lot of you think, well, you know, the f f aside, they you know, when they talk about what they're doing, that could be or that could not be. But I would just hope that if that ever comes back to this, because you already have the votes, I know and would be the only one to do that. But tonight I'm going to stand on what I believe in. And I just hope that JetBlue will really take some time. If you are going to be here, don't leave. Stick around. One day this will come to fruition for you and for all of us. So I want to thank every one of you. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Next up, we have Councilwoman Gonzalez. Yes. I want to thank everybody for the fruitful discussion. I know we all been here for not just a few hours, but just for the past couple of years that we've been discussing this and as a resident, but also a representative of downtown. I'll be very honest, I think I've said this in the past, and a lot of our residents in downtown, they're not directly impacted. They were supportive of looking at the office study facility and looking at what the possibilities might be. However, I know personally that if I were in your shoes, I'd feel very differently. I've listened to each and every one of you. I know how passionate each and every one of you are on this issue. And I haven't said much because I'm sitting back and I'm listening and observing what everyone has to say. And I completely realize that my my council colleagues have they've done a lot. They put in a lot of work. And many of us on the council, although I know I personally wasn't at meetings, I was certainly listening. I've met with many stakeholders to learn a little bit more about the issue, both on the JetBlue side and both in residents, and listening to my residents and hearing all of this and compiling the information together to make the best decision tonight. And so I will be supporting my colleagues and in supporting the residents as well, all of you, in ensuring that we, you know, can understand your needs. But I also know that, you know, JetBlue is an incredible business for us here in the city. Does that mean that, you know, it will go away tomorrow? I hope not. But I think that we have certainly a wonderful airport here in the city working for a private sector employer, one of the largest tech employers in the country, Microsoft. I actually tell a lot of our executives to come in to Long Beach. And so I know that in the future we will have opportunities for better businesses to be around the airport. I know we will have opportunities for jobs to be around the airport. And I just thank you all very much for your your time, your your passion, and just for allowing us to listen to you. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Next up is Vice Mayor Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And this has been an interesting a really interesting last two years. And, you know, I've heard the word change of heart. And I didn't hear a change of heart tonight because for the most part, you know, I want to acknowledge, Stacey. And, you know, the second year, the motion and the council members who led this, you know, there's been a consistent request to sort of go through the process and keep an open mind until the appropriate time to make a decision. And that's come out numerous times along this campaign. And Stacey, I think I might need to rearrange my schedule to change your Gugulethu. Sounds like going to be a heck of a party. Sometimes you do want to allow discussion for process to develop so you can make a good decision. And I got to plot 2 to 3 council members really led this because the fact is, you know, I would like to liken this to Ali versus Foreman. These guys were on the ropes for a while. But I mean, this is this is a heck of a finish. I got to tell you, Staff, you guys have done a fantastic job reciting the questions, attending meetings as as recent as just this last Thursday with the Forest Park neighborhood. And like Leanna, in my conversations with the district, my residents really have seen very little impact. And, you know, they haven't expressed one way or the other. I literally heard one person shout out the ninth District tonight. But, you know, we do read what everybody said and look through it. And my residents haven't felt strongly one direction or the other. And so, you know, every time that the council has been proposed with an option to, you know, look at this or extend it so the fourth issue could be sat or explore the feasibility have typically taken the position to go ahead and advance and move to the next step so we can better understand this. And I want to thank my residents for allowing like giving me the cover to make a real value proposition discussion rather than a political or emotional discussion about the facts. And we did look at the facts in the Jacobs study, and I did evaluate it. And the impact there is minimal economic impact and a minimal a minimal impact to the neighborhoods. And so the question is, is that, you know, is that enough to really have a value proposition about where to go, you know, to, you know, JetBlue? They've answer my questions. They've been available to me, to the folks, the workers who have who have come up and spoken tonight. I think, you know, you make very good, very strong points. But I think we've demonstrated that we do support local hire. We do support infrastructure and investment, and we've demonstrated that over the last two years. And so to the residents who I spoken with as early as last night and this morning from, you know, allies, fraternity brothers, different people, I'll just say as a leader, sometimes there's a time to lean in. Sometimes there's a time to step back and listen. We step back, step back and listen. And the residents simply don't want this. And so that's going to be my vote tonight. Thank you. Thank you very much, Vice Mayor. Everyone's had a had a chance to speak. So I'm going to I'm going to say a few comments and then we'll go back and there's some folks that want to speak again. And so we'll definitely go through that. So everyone gets a chance to to speak to. It's a big decision. So we want to make sure everyone gets a chance to to give their opinions. I think it's really important, first of all. And I want to make sure that I do this tonight, because I think it's really important to think a few key folks and some of which have not been been mentioned tonight, but their work should be recognized. Mr. WEST And to the airport staff and to Mr. Romo and to I see a few folks that actually work out at the airport work very hard as managers or as folks at work, either as affiliates with JetBlue or others that are just there working with our planes or we are in the retail division. I just want to thank all of them for consistently operating what is one of the best airports in the country. We love our airport. They do a great job. And and I think, like all of you, we love reading about how the Long Beach Airport has the best food or it has. It's always ranked one of the best airports it's easier to get in and out of. And I think that's all true. And so that when that wouldn't happen, it just doesn't happen overnight. It happens because you guys work so hard. It also happens because a lot of you. Many of them I've known for a long time have worked to make the airport what it is today. And so I want to thank all of you for doing that as well, because we have the airport we have today and the terminal that we had in the concourse that we have today, because a lot of you fought for it and a lot of you were vocal throughout many years to get us to the point where we are today. And so can we please give a round of applause to our airport staff because they deserve a round of applause. You know, I also to the to the 700 crewmembers of JetBlue. I said it before and I'll say it again. Thank you for working for a company that that came into Long Beach when it was a difficult time. I know I and I think hopefully everyone here wants to continue to support in your efforts here in the city in providing, as you know, great service to most of the folks here that use JetBlue as a as a great airline and a great and a great service. And we want to continue to work with you, particularly on on issues that matter to to our residents. But thank you to the 700 crew members that make Long Beach home or a place to work. We appreciate your your commitment to the city. But you know, the one of the unsung heroes that hasn't been mentioned yet and I don't know anyone that's put in more work, you know, and I know that not everyone agreed with him all the time, but him and his team worked incredibly hard. And that is our city attorney's office to guide this process for the last two years and try to provide advice to the council, to the community. And I know that Mr. Parkin and Mr. Mays and the entire team worked very hard on this as well. I just want to say thank you, Charlie, and your team for for working so hard on this process. That's very important. And and then finally and I'm going to say something about Miss Mango at the end, but I do want to say thank you to all the residents. There's some of you particular that have been relentless, and I appreciate that. I think and I want to say it's is it Mike? You know, Mike, you and I talk that a snow day like, gosh, two and a half years ago. And, you know, and I I've never forgotten that conversation. You know, I appreciate what you told me that day. And I just want you to know that that's all that stuck with me since we had that conversation. I know that I'm not sure that roofing that Rick and Bruce are still here. Bruce has been my most vocal, consistent call phone caller and emailer on this topic for for probably the last year and a half. And they're great people, and they've had me in their home. And I just want to thank them and appreciate them for being so consistent in their in their advocacy as as residents. And. And I also want to just all of you I think we've received this council has received and I don't know if I can speak for everyone. I think I've received more correspondence on this issue than I probably have on any other issue. And from all sides, I've received correspondence from all of you. I received correspondence from employees and supporters of the terminal. And I want to thank all of them for being engaged in the process. To my friends in the labor, the labor unions, IBEW workers and those, you know that we are committed to local higher. This council has a I think a sterling record on project labor agreements and local hire and will continue to do so on all on the many projects that we will also build in the future. I finally I want to say to Councilman Mongo, she knows tonight that she has my support and I want to say that. Her process. And this has been difficult. And but I admire that she has done her homework, done her research, and she knows that I support her. As of last night, she was engaged in talking to residents, talking to constituents, listening. She asked a lot of questions. I know a few folks said that they she had a change of heart. I'm going to be honest with you. Stacey's never had a firm position. She's wanted to get information. She's wanted to move the process forward. But she's always mentioned to me and others that she wanted to get to this point to actually make a final conclusion. And she has made, as you all know, a conclusion on this process. And so I just want to thank Councilwoman Mungo for a process I know has been very difficult for her. But but for, I think to be leading the way that she leads. And I want to thank her for that. And let me just say one, one one final thing to the rest of the council members. I hope that, you know, I pledge to you very early that I will try to lead this process in a way that was fair, open, where everyone got a chance to give their their opinions, that we'd have opportunity for public input. And I hope we've been able to to do that in a way that was fair. Lastly, let me just say that on the issue of the noise ordinance, I believe that everyone in this room are united interests is to protect our noise ordinance. That is the single most important thing that we have at our airport. It's something that it's something that I have. I mean, I know I've been in many of your homes. I've talked to many of you. I know a lot of your friends. And I've pledged that to you years ago. And I continue to pledge that to you. And I know that our friends in the airport community also believe that protecting our noise ordnance is what makes our Long Beach airport such a great airport and so beyond after what happens tonight. And I think you've heard from folks about where this is, this is going to end up tonight. We're going to wake up tomorrow and live in the best city in the country and have the best airport anywhere in the country. And we're all going to work together to continue to make our airport the great place it is today and what we love so much about it. And I hope to will continue to work with JetBlue. We're going to continue to work with all of you. And and hopefully tomorrow is just another another great day in our city. And so I just want to thank you for for being positive tonight and for allowing the council to have the ability to go through this process and make a decision on a very important issue that these kinds of issues don't come before this body often . And so I want to thank you for giving them the ability to make to make their decision to make the right decision. So thank you very much. And with that, I'm going to turn this over now back to Councilwoman Price, Councilman Mongo, and then we'll go to a vote. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'm going to I'm going to try to be very quick. But just so we're clear, when I seconded the motion, I spent all my time thanking everyone. And I think that the residents of my district deserve to understand my reasoning. So and I spent a lot of time on this, so please bear with me. I'll try to be quick about it. I have the luxury in this issue of knowing that this project would have serious direct impacts. For. But would not have serious direct impacts from most of my residents. For the most part, we are not under the flight path. We don't have major roadways that would become a route to or from the airport. Many of my residents rarely hear the planes arriving or departing, and most of them will not benefit financially from the addition of an international terminal. In moments like this, I have the unique role that I need to play in weighing the speculative benefits of a financial interest that may present in my district and other districts against a much clearer and obvious potential harm or detriment that would be felt by residents. Not in my district. Harms felt by residents who are kept awake late at night. By flights, by families who depend on noise, the noise ordinance to preserve their quality of life, by people who commute past the airport daily, and children as well as the retired people who breathe the just jet exhaust and are concerned about the dangers of that are serious concerns. The fears are simple to understand, and although we might say that they are unfounded or without merit, they are the issues of concern around dinner tables as families grapple with quality of life, property values and not things that we're talking about here in terms of economic success of the tourism industry in Long Beach, or the convenience of flying to Cabo San Lucas or Mexico. I have a family, and the best way I can grapple with this difficult issue is to put myself in other people's shoes and consider how my family would be affected with even the fear of potential harm. Putting myself in that mindset makes the weighing process a lot clearer for me, and that is the process that I have undergone. As council members, each of us is no stranger to making decisions that are at times at odds with some of some or even the majority of the residents in our districts. This situation, however, is very different when faced with those decisions in our neighborhoods, such as with a traffic enhancement for those who live in my district. We can generally push through that decision, knowing that the positive impact that we believe will happen will be realized despite the fears in a matter of weeks or sometimes even months. The situation is very different. If we as a council were to push through tonight and approve this, approve the FISA facility with the belief that the economic benefits are real and that the residents concerns are unfounded. The best case scenario for the positives to be realized by the residents is a year and a half before the city can point to any facts to say that the benefits are real and the harms are not. During that time, all of these residents are worried about their futures, their quality of life, their health, and what this change will mean for their families. This stress would be putting the residents most affected by this in a very difficult situation, and that reality is really hard for me to accept. Residents most impacted by this plan have, honest to God, fears and pressing concerns about how this will impact their daily lives. These concerns are more urgent and pressing than the possible economic benefits that are speculative in regards to our local economy. And I just want to say, reiterate what the mayor said and many of my colleagues said, I want the one thing I would ask our community is when issues like this happen, give us the benefit of the doubt, give us the bent, allow us to. Go through. The process. I can't tell you how many times people have come to this podium and implied that there is some financial benefit that we're going to have as a result of voting one way or the other. That's it's so offensive. I don't even know how to say that. It's so often to those of us some of us here have two jobs. We're trying to raise a family. We're trying to do good for our community. I've. I met with JetBlue once, and that was today in regards to this vote. Never accepted any money from them. So when people come up to the podium and they make these implications of this conspiracy and these financial benefits, it's really hurtful. It's really hurtful. And similarly, when people say things like this is, you know, you're doing this, you know you're going to vote against JetBlue because you're concerned about, you know , the politics of it, the political vote. Most of the residents in this room are not my residents. They don't live in my district. But you're part of this city and I represent this entire city. I represent your families, even though you're not voting for me. So, please, when we have dialog like this, I'm just telling you, you can say whatever you want when you come to the podium. But I'm just telling you really honestly, that there are things you can say that are said and heard with credibility and things that you can say that are totally offensive to those of us who are trying our very best do the best job that we can. So just think about that, because we're your neighbors. We are your neighbors. Our kids are going to school with your kids. We go through the same things that you all go through. We are one community. So the only thing I would say is this has been a really stressful vote, but that's okay. We take that on. We just want to make sure that our community understands that we're working hard. We're not always going to agree. And finally, as an attorney, I know we've talked a lot about this noise ordinance. I would hate to be the counsel that sets something into motion. That causes litigation. In regards to our no noise ordinance, I think for me, when it comes to the law in this regard, status quo is a good thing and it's not a risk that I want to undertake. So I thank you all for being here. Thank you, Councilwoman. And close us out. Councilwoman Mongo. I want to thank all of you for being here today. I'm going to make a personal ask. I know that many people. Over this last six months, not just on the airport issue, but in our presidential election and other things have said some mean and hurtful things online. And I challenge you to go home tonight. And press the delete button. And I challenge you the next time someone makes an accusation and says that they know how. One of us feels when one of us hasn't said that themselves to challenge that. It's easy to say You should do it this way or you should do it that way. I appreciate what Vice Mayor Richardson said. It's been a growing process. There are some of you who were at my meeting last night who had attended a meeting when I was first elected and when I was first elected. I didn't know how to run a meeting. I'd been on your side at community meetings. I've never had a roomful of people all yelling at me at once. And it takes time to figure out how to manage that process in a respectful way that I get to hear everyone's point and they get to articulate it, whether it's on a note card or getting up to a microphone. Or. Being respectful of each and every one of your time. Because there are there are key people who have spent a large amount of time on the phone with me. I appreciate Corliss, but also Carmen and Nancy. I think we've spent hours on the phone together and still after an email and calls and then you follow up with a handwritten note and all of that back and forth is a development of ideas that I hope throughout the way you understood that I was open minded and I understood that you were open minded. And I think that that's valuable and important, and I appreciate you for that. I remember Mike and John at Snow Day at Darrell's for Snow Day and those dialogs by the snowman. And I thought that that was a very good step, but. With that. The people I've named were kind in that process, so I challenge each of you. The Internet has gotten so terrible, the accusations and the meanness doesn't produce anything, and all it does is take our neighbors offline and we need them online for the reasons that Councilmember Urunga talked about. We need our neighbors engaged in the community. So with that, I want to thank all of my colleagues. I appreciate the time that you've given me and the respect of the people who live in all the districts. I want to thank Councilmember Price and the mayor for pledging to meet me last night in the final hours until the wee hours of the morning after Councilmember Pryce had put her children to bed with their homework, I hope they woke up at seven and finished. And I want to thank all of you and I hope that you appreciate the way I appreciate our city attorney. I cannot tell you how much I have leaned on them in this process. How many questions I have asked. How many times I've called their cell phone at odd hours, including weekends and evenings, and no call is too early for them. I commute into work very early and they always take my call and I appreciate that because throughout the day I can think of the things that they said and compare them to the emails I'd read from residents the night before and really hash through in my mind that next step in my process. So thank you. Let's all make a commitment today that on every issue going forward we exemplify kindness. And I will do my best as well to do be as kind as I can, no matter what. And sometimes that means taking a step back. I hope that if you are available to celebrate tomorrow, we're supporting six local schools and charities at the Giving Gala that's on Facebook. I hope you'll consider it. I hope that in this discussion about the airport, you'll put a save the date on your calendar for the festival of flight, because this is a day that once a year we celebrate the airport as an asset. It is an asset and it's an important asset. And if it were ever at a point where it were running in the red, we we would be in a considerable amount of hurt. And so I hope that you'll mark down November 4th as the date that you will come. You will bring your family, you will eat from food trucks and go on bounce houses and admire the planes that are a big part of our community. And with that, I hope that my colleagues will. Oh, with one last plea to Dee Dee, that $3 million we would have spent, I promise will spend it on other construction at the airport and other jobs. So I hope you'll consider a vote yes, because it'll still be jobs. It'll just be different jobs. So with that, I hope that we'll get a full vote of. Council this week. Mayor. I appreciate that very much. Like I said, I love the way you. Like I say, you're steadfast and I like to say pray. You can't go in. You broke your vacation because they do have the votes. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And with that members, please go ahead. The motion is on the Council on Mango motion to receive and file the FAA study and the the FAA proposal. Thank you. Oh. So a receiving file means that this matter is closed and no longer scheduled to be heard by this council. And we will not be moving forward on any plans to build or developed or plan or finance any part of an office facility at the Long Beach Airport. Yeah, that would. Yeah, that's right. So you all want a yes vote? Yeah. Sorry. Receiving follows like the legalese received from motion members. Please go and cast your votes. Motion passes. Caitlin from Paris. Thank you all. So much for. Oh. I moved to dismiss the meeting. We have almost done. Almost done. I just we're almost done with the meeting. I just need to do. If there's any new business announcements and then we'll go in and close after the. Public. Comment. Oh, I'm so sorry. You're absolutely. Right. Mayor. Item five. Oh, we're going to go back to the. Okay, then I'm just going to take a one minute recess to allow folks to exit, and then we're going to do the concert calendar item. The other public comment and the announcements. Thank you. All right. Bye, guys. Well, I think. They're. Okay. We're going to we need to continue the meeting. So I apologize if people can please just quietly, quietly exit so we can continue the meeting. And I'm going to do right now. Yes. Everyone can. Please quietly exit. I'm going to continue the meeting. You lose everybody. I think the. Worst thing you can do, you don't have a wife. We can go ahead and take the roll call, please. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilmember Pierce. Councilwoman Price. Councilmember Supernova. Councilwoman. Mango. Mongo. Councilman Andrews. Councilmember Ranga. Councilman Austin. Vice Mayor Richardson. Mayor Garcia. Here. If I can have the council, just take their seats. There's some folks have been waiting for a long time. We have. Mary. I believe it's Mary Gray. Manna manatees. Guadalupe Balderas are the first three speakers. I'm going to repeat those names.