Adoption of Resolution Commending Tony Daysog for Fourteen Years of Service to the City of Alameda as Councilmember.
And. Whereas, Tony de Saag was reelected to the Alameda City Council on November six, 2012, and served from December 18th, 2012 until December 20th, 2016. And. Whereas, during his latest tenure on the City Council, Tony de SOG served on numerous regional agencies, including the League of California Cities, the Alameda Contra Costa District Transit District, AC Transit Inter-Agency Liaison Committee, the Airport Community Noise Management Forum, and the Airport Noise Operations Committee. The latter, which he was responsible for reviving, serves to protect Alameda residents from the airport noise due to the Federal Aviation Association's next gen changes. And. Whereas, Tony de Salk's vision and commitment to the city and in particular Alamitos West End, played an important role in selecting a developer. A developer for CI a that will be essential to the transformation of Alameda point into a vibrant, mixed use development that focuses on job creation and supports the use of public transit. And. Whereas, Tony de SOG actively listened to the community during one of the most challenging periods in Alameda history, helping to pass Ordinance 3148 and ultimately passing Measure L one, which was designed to help stop excessive rent increases and protect Alameda renter community. And. Whereas, Tony De Stark has been a strong advocate of smart growth and good planning and was instrumental in the creation of a Comprehensive Transit Traffic Strategic Plan and information tool, as well as a revision to the neighborhood parking permit program to help address growing concerns surrounding traffic and parking in Alameda. And. Whereas, Tony De Stark has been a strong proponent of grassroots business efforts to support city operations, including strengthening the city's transient occupancy tax and ensuring the city collects its share of Airbnb and similar host services taxes due to the city. And. Whereas, Tony de SA could often be found on Saturday mornings outside his home next to the farmer's market, talking with the good people of Alameda, listening to their concerns now, therefore, be it resolved that the Council or the City of Alameda does hereby express a sincere appreciation for Tony de Saxe contributions of time, effort and experience for the benefit of the city of Alameda. If further resolved that the Council of the City of Alameda, acknowledging his energy and resourcefulness, is hereby congratulate Tony de site on his years of service to our community and extends our deepest gratitude for his many efforts on behalf of the City of Alameda. It further resolved that the Council of the City of Alameda City staff and friends throughout our community and the Bay Area extend Tony de SAC our congratulations and wish him the very best in his future endeavors. Thank you. Oh. Yeah. Uh, we do have some speaker slips. Yeah. Maybe we should. Go with the speakers. First. And then. Then I'll offer my comments. That's okay. Very good. All right. I'm going to go ahead and call the speakers. Harry Carey Monks, Brian Schumacher, Kurt Peterson, Ken Peterson, Jim Sweeney, and then Little Orange. Thank you, Kerry. Evening. My name is Carey Monks. And I thank you. Tony de SOG, for devoting almost half of your. Adult life to the city of Alameda. Thank you for always conducting yourself with the highest. Degree of integrity, ethics and honesty. Thank you for thoroughly researching each issue, reaching out to the community to understand our perspective, and making the most informed decision to benefit the community. Thank you for being independent and impartial. Thank you for helping make Alameda the best community. City and hometown in the Bay Area. Thank you, Tom. Thanks, Gary. Plan. Tony. I'm here as myself. Brian Schumacher, my wife Kathy had a conflict. We just wanted to publicly, personally thank you for all the hours and years you've spent meeting in this room and of course, all the preparation and the homework for this job. I'd like to see in the rest of my time to Kurt. Her. Thank you, Brian. I'll try to make this quick, but I think I might go over 3 minutes. First, I want to thank again Tony for his 14 years on the council, but I really want to thank him even way before that, because when my wife and I who Veronica's very sorry she couldn't make it either tonight when we moved as far as to our home over 30 years ago. We really enjoyed. Obviously it was our first home and it was on the West End and at that time, anyone that didn't believe that there was a little difference between how West Enders were treated for the rest of the island probably doesn't think there's any global warming issue happening right now either. But with the Navy and all, it was understandable. It was kind of tough sometimes over on the Webster Street side. But I just remember as far as we would get, this little sheet of paper on our door, every once in a while we'd go like, What's this? And we'd read it. And it was a little newsletter that Tony had put together for the West End, and I can't remember the official name of it, but but basically it was a newsletter to let us all know what was taking place in our area, you know? And it was great. Was it? It actually brought Veronica and I from being pacifists for the city as far as government to be very strong activists of both he and Jim and Jean Sweeney and Jim is going to be speaking were also neighbors of mine were both really strong and doing that so I thank you very much, Tony, for that. It really meant a lot and I'm trying to keep up the good work. Also, the situation that I also want to talk about is as far as lots of different things is. Many. As far as the fact that I want to thank everyone that's here today, because they're obviously activists in a way. And the people that are out viewing this that are activists in a way. And I would hope that you would not only, I guess, keep informed of what's going on, but also speak with your neighbors. They're in the same situation as you. They have the biggest financial investment they've ever made. It's either their mortgage or their rent. So they're both. Don't be afraid of your neighbors to talk to them. Explain what you know. I encourage them to read our two local newspapers. Most of the time they're pretty unbiased. But there's a lot of other blogs that you can get. Hopefully you read as far as people that are going to give you more fact than their opinion. But please, I encourage everyone to get more involved as far as in this city and its politics and what's happening. Also moving forward, though, I would also like to mention as far as to our new council, that they can learn a lot from this gentleman. As mentioned before, he actually took the time out of his busy schedule also. We all have busy schedules to have the open forms to meet with people either at the farmer's market or at the coffee shop who is always open to to hear. He always understood he was a servant of the people. He represents the people, all of the people, not just special interests that might have an influence on you, but everyone. Okay. So I would hope that you understand that in the new city council member, when she takes her oath tonight, she understands. Keep an open mind. Understand? We're all in this together. We all have a stake involved in Alameda. We all want Alameda to be the very best. And I hope that the rest of you can live up to the legacy of Mr. De Scott. Thank you very much. Can Paterson? Can Paterson. And then Jim Sweeney. And then little. Good evening, Madam Mayor. Council. Councilmember de SAG. Got a lot of thoughts to come. I keep my mouth shut. Most of them. I have to say, though, that, Tony, I have never I have not agreed with every idea that Tony ever expressed. But I agreed with most of them. And at no time did I ever any have any doubt about his sincerity, his diligence, or that he was it not in any person's pocket. He was always an independent. Member speaking, representing, doing the very best for all of the stakeholders of this community. Thank you. Jim. Good evening. Council members may have been mayor and Tony especially, I guess Curt kind of let the cat out of the bag that Tony was our neighbor for so many years. He was a great neighbor and we really appreciated that he had an interest. I think it was back in the seventies that I first met Tony. He was coming around talking to all the neighbors about the airport noise, and he had such enthusiasm. I jumped on board and it was great. And he's always it's always been the same thing. He's had the enthusiasm and the love of the city, the concern, knowledge about what's going on. It's been wonderful. I made a few remarks here. They're a little formal, Tony, so forgive me if they're a little too stiff, but thank you for your 14 years of service on the council. You have left an imprint on the people of Alameda whom you have served so faithfully during this time. Your convictions and faith in the people of Alameda have shown through and this valuable service. You can take pride in the fact that you're a faithful performance of your exacting and vital duties as a council member. Have contributed much to this successful governing of our city. My earlier recollection, I said that. You have been so alert and diligent to bring the light, light and solve city problems for years. You have made yourself available and regularly met with members of the public. To discuss city issues. Your lifetime in Alameda has given you valuable knowledge of its history and experience with its people, a background that enhanced your service to the council. As you leave the Council, I have no doubt that you will continue to provide us with your valuable insight and opinions at Future City Council meetings concerning the issues we will face. And that you will continue your personal efforts to meet with us informally, to share your ideas about the issues our city will need to address. With grateful, thanks and best wishes and we will miss you. Thank. That was on my understanding. Little wants to go last. And if anyone else want to speak, please turn on your slip. Hello. My name is Dan was on. I'm resident of Alameda for the last 60 years. Tony, I think in only 50 years. Anyway, thanks, Tony. I want to thank you for all your service. 14 years. I voted for you. I supported you all this time since you were a kid. Sort of help. You grew up a little bit, but you know my background. I was stuck in businesses, didn't care about what's going on in the city. But with your being in the council, you got me started being involved. From all the decisions you made. Some of them I agree. Some I don't. I cut you out sometimes at home. Why did he make that decision? But after a while, after an analysis, I now analyze your decision. It was good for the city. You make the decision that it's the right thing for the city. I hope everybody that will follow your footstep will keep that. Decisions should be made for the city and the citizens of Alameda and no one else. I thank you for all of those. And I'm going to miss the coffee shop meeting. The Farmers market meeting and all the information that you give to the public. I'm going to miss all that and I hope somebody does and follow that footstep. Again, thank you. We work together again. I think you woke up a sleeping giant. Thank you. And Lil. Thanks very much, Madam Mayor. Remember of the council finished out. Like a marriage sometime is for better or worse. But under Tony turned out better. Tony knows the story all too well. I'll give a prelude to it. When I was on the control and the Navy base was being taken over by the city and we had what was called at that time to basically use commission. And Tony would show up and he would just raise all sorts of big gavel with us. I actually thought when he spoke to us, I thought he was a jockey. I thought he was about that big. I thought he rode the horses at Golden Gate Field so little. But then he spoke so very, very good. And so I appointed Tony as my alternate to the BHP Use Commission. And Tony knows the story, but you are after our show. I was asked to remove Tony from the alternate position by several members of city administration. And I said, well, she's on I great in all sorts of turmoil. He says off the wall. He shoots off the air rage. A lot of turmoil. So I went back to Tony and I said, Tony, I understand. You've been having a lot of problems there. Great. Lot of turmoil. You should. Yes, right. I should. I tell you. I want you to do. Quit going back to early start in turmoil to go back there and give them hell. Don't take no for an answer. So with that, what is arrived? A fine young man. Is serving the city for 14 years. In a matter of a very professional, dignified person. Always accessible. Always listening. Meeting with his constituents in the West End every week. 14 years. Tony Day still did the job. He was the epitome of a person who represents his community. I think the people of Alameda tonight by the proclamation by the mayor and the council, it is most deserving. Tony, we should walk out of here tonight with your head high. And I'll say one thing for you. You always maintain dignity. You never stoop to the gutter. You never had anything bad to say about your opponent or anyone else. You always had that loyalty to yourself and the community. And Tony, I'm proud to call you my friend, as I'm sure so many people in here have. And we will continue to call you your friend. And with that much said, I want to congratulate you on behalf of my family. But also, there are Q I don't know why that went on. For the first time, your mother gave us a British speaking through a fan timer, but never heard of golf once. But for some reason, you must have your foot to the pedal, because I didn't want to miss Ashcroft. You may continue your adulation. To you, I may not show you the rest of the evening. Maybe it's a half time. Congratulations on your reelection. You deserve it. And I hope the country will do well. Thank you very much. Thank you, Tony. God bless you. Thank you. If you want to book. Now, you want to select your preference. First. Okay. So. Thanks, Madam Mayor. Tony, you know this story. I don't know if the rest of the audience does, but I'm actually here because of you. Because six years ago I was looking for something to do to get involved. And I joined the Alameda Democratic Club. And you were the president the first year and you put me to work and then you made me be the president the following year, and the rest is history. And we also served together as co-president, I think four years ago. So you've always been kind to me. You've always been there when I called you on the phone for advice and being a mentor. And I really appreciate that. Yeah, and thanks. And, you know, I everyone knows my day job. I work for our assembly member and I, I do a good job of keeping the line clear. But today I'm going to blur that line because I do have a special presentation for you on behalf of our Assembly member, Rob Bonta. Wow. I'll just read a couple paragraphs because a lot of what was said was in the mayor's resolution. But, you know, he's the boss of the office. I get to choose who presented this. And I assigned this job to me because I wanted to be able to make sure you knew how I felt and how our family member felt. So whereas the relationship between the city and its residents is a vital and interdependent one, deriving its strength from the quantity and quality of civic involvement and public spirit generated by an individual such as the Honorable Tony de Saag, who is completing his third term of office with the Alameda City Council. And in recognition of his personal and civic leadership, he is deserving of highest honors and commendations. And. Whereas, proud of his rich ethnic heritage, Tony de Saag, his late father, was from the Visayan province of the Philippines and his mother is here from. If I pronounced this wrong, fix it. Kawahara, a hamlet in the southern island of Kyushu, Japan, was first elected to the Alameda City Council in 1996, and with this accomplishment, he earned distinction as the first American of Filipino or Japanese descent to be elected to Alameda City Council. And then it goes on and talks about all your accomplishments, which takes up almost the whole page. And. Whereas, having also focused ardently on such areas as transit and traffic related issues as well as economic development, during his tenure on the City Council, Tony de Saag has been renowned for his superb ability to work with a diverse group of people to forge solutions to the challenges that face the community. And. Whereas, during his years of service to the people of Alameda, Tony de SAC works conscientiously, tirelessly and with an exacting demand for excellence, and his efforts are deserving of acknowledgment and praise. Now, therefore, be it resolved by Assembly member Rob Bonta that he takes personal pleasure in commending the Honorable Tony de SA upon completion of his tenure with the Alameda City Council for his admirable record of responsible citizenship and dedicated service and for enhancing the lives of the people of Alameda and conveys warm best wishes for further achievement and personal satisfaction in the future. I will miss you, my friend. Well, thank you. I appreciate that very much. Vice mayor. Councilmember de SAG I Tony, you and I first met on the Economic Development Commission way back when, and then you immediately left for the city council. But I have always been struck by your sincerity, by your depth of knowledge and preparation for council issues, as well as the initiatives that you put forward. And I, I count your efforts as one of the reasons why we're looking at transportation citywide instead of just focusing on a piecemeal basis. And that is a great benefit to the city that you've given us. Oh, you'll be missed, but I'm hoping that you'll be still engaged. Thank you very much. Thank you, Frank. Appreciate that. And I want to join my colleagues in thanking you for your many years of service to the Council, and you certainly brought your professional skills in planning to the discussions we've had. And it's true, a number of speakers mentioned this, that you've been a very strong advocate for the West End, and you have to be proud of how you're seeing the West End grow and develop over the years. There's still still a ways to go, but moving in a good direction. I've enjoyed seeing you at the farmers market on Saturday mornings and I hope you'll still be out there and we'll be there. Let me let me park my bike in your yard while I do my shopping. But truly, you are an example of the kind of public service that I'd like to see emulated by others in our communities. So thank you, Tony. And lots of luck in the future. All the best. Thank you, Marilyn. Appreciate that. City manager. I just want to say, Tony. And I don't think I've ever told you this, but you were the first council member from Alameda that I met about two years ago at a league conference conference. I remember and made a good impression then. And it was it's an impression that has continued and been validated by you in many different ways. You're a strong supporter of economic development. You are a really strong advocate for the East End. Weston. Sorry. I'm a jet at jet. Right. You know, when you became involved in the FAA and the next gen, you got into the minutia of all of those flights to an astonishing degree. And I have to say that I was totally impressed and blown away by some of your responses to citizens about the details you provided because you knew it, and you drill down into those details to make a difference. And when you were on, I went to one meeting and the you made a real difference to the community of Alameda by having them consider within six months a realignment of the flights that are currently flying over Alameda. So and I assume that you're going to continue to push on that effort as a citizen. And so I just have to say that your detail and your problem solving, solution oriented. How you come to each meeting and even develop your own PowerPoints has been surprising. So I just want to say thank you for taking public service so seriously and professionally. I think it's. I. Thanks. Okay. All right. So. I want to share that. It truly has been an honor and a privilege to work with member de sa. I you all know I was an on council. I've been on council two years and I have looked to Tony for and I think many of us do for the historical knowledge of the past of our city. And I think he truly does represent an important voice in our city and a historical voice that it is important that it be shared. And I'm going to say respected. And we have many voices in our community. And some people have said that he's a voice for the West End, and he is that. But I actually would submit he's a voice for Alameda. He represents Alameda. He has represented Alameda. He has served. Our. City well. So thank you very much. Remember de so thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. This is a. Great evening. You know, this is this is democracy at its best. And before I begin, let me make sure to say congratulations to Maryland as he Ashcraft on her reelection to city council and a congratulations to Malia Vella on her election to council. I know the city of Alameda will be in good hands. If there's anything I've learned about our city. Having lived here for many years, it is this. Alameda is a place where the cup is always more than half full. Let us never forget how lucky we are to live on an island in the midst of one of the most exciting places on the planet. I, too, never forget how lucky I have been, especially to have been able to serve on our city council in the city that I've called home since the mid 1970s. Of course, as Martin Luther King Junior said, longevity has its place. So, yes, I would have liked to have spent four more years on this days, but that was not to be. But I look back these past four years as eventful and productive. So I leave tonight with my heart full of gratitude and positive feelings, gratitude for having given the been given the opportunity of a lifetime by the people of Alameda who have served these past four years, along with previous years of service. 14 years altogether. That's a pretty long time to put things even more into perspective. I served over a span of three decades the 1990s, 2000, and the 20 teens over a span of. Two different centuries, and in, if I can sheepishly add, in to different millennia. And I've served on council with five different mayors and the countless number of fellow council members, including former member Karen Lucas, who used to serve me milk and cookies in the late 1970s after playing with her sons Tim and Bill when we were all youth. That's Alameda. Let us always be a place where someone growing up on what was for a long time, the last home owning neighborhood in Alameda, the 100 block of Santa Clara in the far west end next to the then operating military base. Let us always be a place where someone growing up in the outskirts of town could not only with family and neighborhood support. Grow up and become a productive citizen, but also come one day to serve in the mainstream of life on this island. To serve on city. In City hall. So I never forget how lucky I am. It doesn't matter if you're from the West End, from the Gold Coast or Harbor Bay. Alameda is a place of opportunity for all. Alameda is a place where the door is and has always been wide open. But not by its own accord, but through the care and effort by those all around, both in and outside of City Hall. Let us keep almeida's doors open in that middle of the road way. That's been the hallmark of our welcoming city. So let me close by saying special thank you's. I love to say this to everyone. But time permitting, I can only name a few. First to my parents, my mother to Taco de La. Mom you can wave at. And a thank you to my late father, Ricardo, as well as to my siblings, my older sister, Christina. You can wave to see who is here tonight. Let me also say thank you to Carolyn Monks. My close. You can wait. Carolyn, my close friend who has been with me since the early 2000 and who has been a sounding board about city hall matters. Whether she wanted to be or not. Thank you to my council colleagues, all of you current and past, as well as to city hall staff. Again, current and past. And finally again, thank you to the people of Alameda for having given me the opportunity of a lifetime to have served on our city council. And with that, I now return the keys to City Hall. Thank you. Good night. In Alameda. Keep staying positive. Right. I will now recess the regular city council meeting. Well resume at 8 p.m., but 8 p.m. will resume when it is. Please take your seats. It's 8:08 p.m. and for our charter, we need to reconvene at this time. Thank you. If everyone could please take your seats. I don't have any. It is now 8 p.m. and per hour charter one. We must reconvene. Thank you. If everyone could, please take your seats. It is now 8 p.m. and as such. Per hour charter. We must now reconvene. So I will now reconvene. The regular city council meeting. Is 8 p.m.. And our city clerk will explain the process at this time. If everyone could, please be quiet. Thank you. City Clerk So at this point, it's the reorganization of the City Council and the administering of the oath of office. The Honorable Judge G will come up and administer the oath to each person individually, starting with Malia Feller, and then we'll go through all of that. Then there will be a roll call, the new counsel consideration of vice mayor and then the new council members to make comments. And you can submit speaker cards for that. So if you wanted to speak, please submit a speaker slip or item one E if you would like to have any comments for the new council members. Q Thank you. So. Honorable G. As. All right, Mr. Miller, he's across the podium. Are you prepared to take the oath? Yes, I am. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I am. State your name. I Maglia Mary Vella. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support and defend. That I will support and defend. The Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution of the State of California. The Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution of the State of California. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear, bear true faith and allegiance. That I will bear true faith and allegiance. With the Constitution of United States and the Constitution of the State of California. The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. That I take this obligation freely. That I take this obligation freely. Without any mental reservation. Without any mental reservation. Or purpose of evasion. Or purpose of evasion. And that I will. And that I will. Well and faithfully discharge. Well and faithfully discharge. The duties upon which I am about to enter. The duties upon which I'm about to enter. Congratulations. Next is council member as the Ashcroft. Yeah. Like Izzy Ashcraft, who prepared to take the oath. Yeah. Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I state your name. I am Maryland. As the Ashcroft. Do solemnly swear. Do you solemnly swear. That I will support and. Defend, that I will support and defend. The Constitution of the United States in the Constitution of the state of California. The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance. That I will bear to faith and allegiance. The Constitution of the United States, in the Constitution of the State of California. To the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. That I take this obligation freely. That I take this obligation. Without any mental reservation. Without any mental reservation. Or purpose of evasion. Or purpose of evasion. And that I will. And that I will. Well and faithfully discharge. Well and faithfully discharge. The duties upon which I'm about to enter. The duties upon which I am about to enter. Congratulations. Thank you. Really gets us right. Thanks. Next is Treasurer Kevin Kennedy. I am very well. Please raise your right hand. Repeat after me. I state your name. I Kevin Kennedy. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support and defend. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of State, California. The Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance. That I will bear true faith in allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. To the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. That I take this obliga obligation freely. That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation. Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion or purposefully. And that I will. And that I will well and faithfully discharge. Well and faithfully discharge. The duties upon which I'm about to enter. The duties upon which I'm about to enter. Congratulations. Thank. To. And we have city auditor Kevin Crane. And are you prepared to take the oath? Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I state your name. I, Kevin Ralph Kearney. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support and defend. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. Constitution of the United States. Of California against all enemies. Foreign and domestic. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance and I will bear true faith in allegiance to the Constitution in the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. And the Constitution of the United States. State of California that I take this obligation freely. I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion or purpose of evasion. And that I will and that I will well and faithfully discharge. Well and faithfully. The duties upon which I'm about to enter. The duties upon which I'm about to enter. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Thank. Thank you very much. Well, one see roll call. Council member for missing one of the council member as the Ashcraft. Yes, yes. Here matter. Here. Odie. Here. Here. Mayor Spencer. Here. Five present. Thank you. One day consideration of appointment of vice mayor and a mayor. I'd like to. I'd like to nominate Malia Bella as vice mayor. I'd like to second. I'd like to throw it. All those in favor, I. Motion here, motion carries unanimously. One a comments by new council. And this includes the auditor and treasurer, too, by the way. Yes. And we start with the new council members and then speaker slips. So if you want to speak on this item, please submit your slip. And we're going to go ahead and start with the comments from council members. Council. However you want to go ahead and let. Council member ASHCROFT. Oh, member. Thank you. Good evening, everyone, and thank you all for coming out tonight. It is lovely to see so many of you here. And I want to thank my friend, the Honorable Delbert G. Fred Minister administering our oath and his wife Doris for being here. I want to thank all the voters who reelected me to the city council. I am grateful for your vote of confidence and it is truly an honor to continue to serve this wonderful city. And I'd also like to give a shout out to the citizens of Alameda, because do you know that in the entire county of Alameda , we had the highest voter turnout of any. City in the county. What was the number? 80, 85%? I want to say 85%. Is that awesome? Anyway, I want to also give a shout out to my hardworking, wonderful campaign volunteers. A lot of you are in this room tonight. And my wonderful saintly husband, Howard, over there against the wall, my best friend and right hand man. Thanks, honey. Tonight is a night to celebrate the new city council. We welcome Malia Vella, our new vice mayor to the council. And this is Democracy in action. We always need a succession plan. We need that new and in this case, young talent to help keep us fresh. And but we also have acknowledged the many years of service and dedication of Tony Desai, who also faithfully served this council for many years. And then we need to quickly roll up our sleeves and get down to business, because Alameda, like many cities, has some big issues to address. And what I would like to see as we move forward in this coming New Year and the next years, is that we focus on finding solutions to the issues before us and not looking for scapegoats. We need to work together. We need to be able to see all sides of issues, perspectives of an issue if we're going to craft those important solutions. My list of important items that need to be addressed is topped by housing. Housing supply, affordability and quality in the aftermath of the tragic ghost ship fire in Oakland. I want to see a robust building inspection program in Alameda for both commercial and residential buildings to make sure that our buildings are safe and habitable. And this is something that I talked about all along when we were discussing the rent ordinance that the council passed and the voters affirmed this last November that it's not enough to just provide housing. Of course we need more and we need more affordable housing. We're working on that. But our housing stock has to be safe and habitable. And I know staff is every bit as concerned and we're going to work together on this. And speaking of the rent ordinance last month, I was thrilled that the voters in large numbers affirmed the ordinance that the city council enacted almost a year ago. Now we have the opportunity to review the data that has been collected, learn what is working and where improvements need to be made, and move forward from there. Traffic, transportation and protecting the environment. We need to keep working to provide alternatives to single occupancy vehicles, to both reduce the traffic congestion that besets our island and the entire region, and also to improve air quality. I think I mentioned earlier in the meeting, you may have heard me say that Howard and I just came back from almost two and a half weeks in Egypt where our daughter works, and we got to visit her and take a nice now cruise by the city of Cairo. 19 million people has an air quality problem. That is unbelievable. And I mean, we're not we're not Cairo, but there's so much we can do that's within our power. So let's let's keep moving toward that. We all need to be a part of the solution. And then I'm going to borrow a slogan from our Alameda Unified School District, which is, Everyone belongs here. I love that. I have that. Yeah, I have that great poster up in my my city council office. So how we as a city respond to the implications of the national election? There are some outcomes that remain to be seen. I know a lot of us are concerned on a number of levels, but we can demonstrate as a city the principles that we value, that we hold dear and that we will stand up for. But whatever we do in whatever endeavors we pursue and all the issues we tackle. My slogan is, Let's be civil. There is no need or value in emulating the contentious tone of the past election. Important and often controversial topics are addressed here, but there's nothing that can't be discussed with civility. An argument or your request that the Council take some action is not strengthened by the amount of sarcasm that you can put into it. I think we are all persuaded by good factual argument. You can be passionate and still be civil. And as elected leaders, thank you. As elected leaders of our community, we should set that example of lively but civil discourse. And I know we're all capable of doing that. So this is a time of new beginnings we have. Have a new city council. A new year is about to begin. I wish you all happy holidays and look forward to getting some important things done in the coming years. Working with all of you together. Thank you. Member Vela. So thank you all for being here tonight. It really is an honor to be able to serve the people of Alameda. And so many of you have been with me along the way from the beginning. Many of my friends, old and new, are here as well as family. And so I thank all of you, really, for your support, for standing with me, for walking with me, for speaking truth to power and for really standing up for the values that we all hold dear. I want to thank really the broad coalition who got me here, because it was a truly it was a coalition of people with diverse interests who came together to make sure that the Almeida that we have, that we love, really is a place for everybody. We have a tremendous opportunity and responsibility to enact policies that will be inclusive and holistic, to ensure the common welfare of the people, and that make sure that we enforce the value that everybody truly belongs here. Alameda holds a special place in my heart. I have many fond memories here growing up, going to parks with my grandparents, walking to the beach with my dad. Many of you don't know this, but Crown Beach is actually my beach. Or at least that's what I thought when I was a little kid. And I want to make sure that those are the things that we preserve those those opportunities for memory building with our families and with our friends. And I know that we can do that through hard work, through thoughtfulness and dialog and being positive and productive, working towards those shared values. I want to especially thank a few people. Amy, Natasha, Wendy, Kat, Gray, Cynthia You walked with me and kept me going. Even when it was hot and even when it was raining, you kept me honest and kept me out there. Lisa Tucker for your sage words and guidance. You are my rock. Thank you. Peter Tresch. Mike. Jeff. Thank you for our shared values. For holding me honest, for making sure that I worked hard. I will continue to work hard. To my family, especially Justin, Krystal, Chelsea and my sister Maggie. You are my biggest cheerleaders. And my best spokespeople. To my partner, John. Who probably spoke to as many voters as I did. Thank you so much. For standing by me. For walking with me. You are a partner in every sense of the word. Cathy. Cathy, Catherine, Gabby, Becca, Mark and Eric. You are also invaluable. You are pillars of our community. You hold us up. You push us to be better. Without you, this wouldn't be possible. Thank you. And finally to my parents and my grandma Oubre. I wouldn't be here without you, without your love, your support, your encouragement. You taught me everything. And for that I am truly grateful. So I just want to say, we really are all in this together. And I know that the Alameda that we love is the same Alameda and that there's really a place here for everybody and that whatever we do, we need to do it with that in mind . And when we do that, we will move forward together. So thank you for this great opportunity. Do we have speakers? We have no speakers, plus the Kevin. But I'm sure that Kevin's want to comment. Evan Oh, yes. In the interest of time will. We'll speak together. Be the first time that's ever happened. So I think most of you know, we've we've served this city and the people of Alameda a combined over 40 years. And this year this election was a little different for us because for the first time we had to run a campaign . So normally we wouldn't come up here and and say much, but definitely want to share that experience and thank the people that were involved with it. It was a new thing for us. It was, I think for both of us, very rewarding personally. And it was a lot of fun and I think we ran a good, positive campaign based on our track record and and it was really wonderful. So I really want to thank our election committee, our campaign committee, many of whom are here tonight. We had no idea what we were doing. And you guys showed us how to do that stuff and really did a lot of great work for us. So it was really wonderful. I want to thank little I think he's still hanging around. Where did he go? Oh, Little and his hand-crafted sign, which I don't have the heart to take down, it's still hanging in the window of my office. It was so awesome. And all the people that invite us into their homes or let us speak to their groups, it was really rewarding for both of us. You know, doing this for 40 years, being the numbers guys, being in the background most of the time, it was really nice to get out in the community and meet a lot of people and learn that a lot of people are paying attention, that a lot of people are hearing the message and and appreciate it and capturing 80% of the vote. It was just wonderful. It was far exceeded our expectations going into it. So I think everybody who was involved with that and supported us and we really are proud to serve the people again for another four years. Thanks. I wanted to echo Kevin's sentiments. I wanted to thank all the people that helped us, all the people that voted for us. I wanted to thank my mom. I wanted to thank my wife, Shelly, my daughter Caitlin, who helps with the campaign. And, you know, I've been the auditor since 1991. Never had to run a campaign. I appreciate what you all have to go through every four years. It's not easy. I mean, you have the campaign part and now you have the governing part. And I'm really looking forward to working with everybody and making Alameda, you know, the best place it can be. It is a, you know, a fabulous place to grow up and go to school in. And I'm looking forward to just really pressing on and, you know, continue to keep Alameda, you know, at that Mayberry RFD by the sea. It's just it's it's awesome. We live in the I think in my mind, the greatest place in the world. And I'm very excited and I thank everybody for their support. And I look forward to working with all you. Thank you. Council me comments I'd like to actually commend I'd like to take this time to commend member Ashcroft, member Vella, our Treasurer Kennedy and our auditor Kearney. Congratulations to each and every one of you. I want to commend our city for stepping up one more time. And as member Ashcroft had shared, we do turn out, we vote. And I look forward to continuing. I'm going to say the good work of our council working with staff, and I'm confident we're going to continue to serve our community at the highest level. Welcome. Welcome. Member Vella. And actually I want to say let's give it up to member of year five. Okay. Excuse me. Sorry. Let's try one more time. Let's give it up for Vice Mayor Vella. All right. So now we are on agenda changes of our regular council meeting and there's hardly any agenda. Yes. So you knew we had pulled some items from the consent calendar in the previous meeting.