Recommendation to receive and discuss an overview of the Proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budgets for the following Departments: Harbor and Water; and
And so that would be the the option of the council that they'll be discussing a little bit later today. So we do have some for presentations and I know questions as well. And so we will begin with our harbor department presentation and then we'll go into a wider department presentation and we'll go into questions on on those items. And so, Mr. Weston, to turn this over to you and then introduce our presentations. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Council members, these are final two. Presentations from departments tonight. These are non city manager departments, the water department. And the harbor department. So first offering to go with the executive director. Of the harbor department, Mr. Mario Cordero. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and members of the City Council. I'm pleased to be here tonight to present the Labor Department's budget for fiscal year 2019, which is 982 million and $272,000. But before I commence, let me acknowledge people who are here from the poor language, beginning with the president of the Harvard Commission, President Tracy Gosk, who who's in the audience, and also newly appointed deputy director Noel Hasegawa. Director of finance Sam Jumblatt, and two members of his team, Don Kwok and Jason Broad, and also from government relations, Tamara Ashley and Nina Turner. Operational excellence. That is environmental sustainable. When you look at this slide. I suggest to you that we're so proud as a city. They have a port. Which from a national and international perspective excels in excellence, that it's environmental sustainable. In addition, I'm here to tell you that our financial state is very strong and we are making investments necessary to deliver the services, the projects and administration to enhance our standing as a world class seaport and a leading gateway for the Trans-Pacific Trade. And as you may be aware, the Trans Pacific trade route is the most important trade route for this country. No one even comes close second. And our mission here at the Port of Long Beach is to further the economic standing of not only the city, but the region. And the state of California. The proposed budget. Includes here our capital program, which you'll see almost $700 million or 70% of our budget is earmarked towards our capital improvement budget. Three programs in particular, you'll note, in yellow account for 80% of our capital spending for fiscal year 2019. This investment and these initiatives on the part of the poor Long Beach will continue to improve the industry leading service. That we give and enhance or sustainability. That, again, is part of our brand. The bridge to everywhere. As you know, we're almost two thirds completed this iconic bridge. A conduit of international trade. We'll be a landmark not only for the city but for the state of California. It will be the second highest cable state bridge in the United States this year. We're allocating 150 more, 154 billion excuse me, $154 million program for the completion of this new bridge for the upcoming fiscal year. A second very important capital improvement project is the Long Beach Container Terminal, otherwise also referred to as our Middle Harbor Redevelopment Project. This will be a include a gold building or gold led led gold statue building. The further the green port brand that we have at this port, it will be a 311 acre terminal with the capacity of moving 3.3 million containers. And for context that terminal alone after completion. Would qualify as the sixth largest port in the United States. We have now allocated for fiscal year 2019, $182 million appropriated towards phase three of this mega project. And as you know, we're all looking forward to next year. For the completion of the new headquarters for the poor Long Beach as part of our partnership here at the Civic Center. And we'll be making our final payment as part of this fiscal year 2019 budget with regard to the commitment by the poor Long Beach. So next year, rather than driving to City Hall from East Long Beach, I'll be walking across the prominent and I'm looking very forward to I'm sure I could speak for the commission or staff to be part of the Civic Center family and come back to downtown Long Beach. As you can see, our operating revenue. In terms of source funds is our biggest source of funds. Again, to put this in perspective, 75% of our revenue comes from our container terminals. 75% of our revenue. And thus our emphasis as to why we have a capital improvement project at the tune of $4 billion at this port. We are projecting additional debt of 300 million face value for fiscal year 2019 as part of our 600 million. We expect to assume over the next three years. This, of course, would be gauged at the time of issuance based on our need at the time. The Harbor Department does enjoy a strong a Double-A rating with a stable outlook with our respective credit agencies. In fact, our annual audit this year, in the spring of 2018, US from KPMG came forward before the Commission and indicated analysis was the best audit for the poor Long Beach going back 15 years. So we're very proud to continue not only our brand as a green port and our leadership in sustainable development, but in addition continuing the financial strength that this port has always exhibited. So there is the source of our funds. As I indicated, the operating revenue is a strong for for fiscal year 2019. We're projecting 389,605,000. As you know, we had record year for fiscal year excuse me, calendar year 2017, looming 7.5 million containers. We expect a 5% growth for fiscal year 2018, which would be a 3.3. 5% increase as compared to fiscal year 2018. So with that, again, I'm very optimistic with regard to how we continue to lead, not only in terms of a leading container gateway, but also in terms of how we continue with our financial strength and the revenue that comes from this great port. Here are some of the highlights, as I referenced with regard to capital expenditure again at the tune of $695 million. And again, 70% of our budget goes to our capital improvement project. Our operating expenses are mostly due to one time items. And of course, I'm very pleased to stand before the council and specifically referenced the Tidelands transfer for the fiscal year, which will be approximately $20 million. That is the highest ever for a fiscal year for the pro Long Beach. We do propose ten additional full time equivalent employees as part of this budget. Greenport policy. As many of you know, in 2005, the poor little Amish decided to move forward. Very leadership role with regard to the what I believe the shot that was heard across the world, the maritime industry as being the port that branded itself as a green port. Yes. In 2005, they may have been just words, but as you know, there were five basic principles that we will protect the community from harmful environmental impacts of port operations. With regard to emissions that we would distinguish. Number two, the port as a leader in environmental stewardship and compliance. Number three, that we will further and promote environmental sustainability development. Number four, employ the best available practice practices to implement technology to reduce environmental impacts. And lastly, and just as important, become engaged with the community both in terms of our community nonprofit involvement and not only with the non-profits, but with the educational institutions. Now, in 2005, those may have been just words, but let's look now in terms of what was accomplished. The accomplishment in terms of reducing emissions is here in terms of the empirical evidence. Before you know it, 97% reduction in sulfur oxides, 88% reduction in particulate matter, 56% reduction in nitro nitrogen oxides, and of course, 8% in greenhouse gases. And as you know, with our most recent initiative, the Clean Air Action Plan of 2017, we are not just about reducing emissions. We are about eliminating emissions with the goal of being zero emissions in terms of cargo handling, including by year 2030 and zero emissions in terms of the transportation mode and moving containers, more specifically, trucks that by 2035, we will have zero emission trucks all throughout this gateway. So this also indicates itemize is for you are community involvement in terms of our community engagement 1.3 million budgeted in fiscal year 2019 as part of our commitment for community investment grants and of course our sponsorships with regard to the various nonprofit entities at the tune of $1 million. So what I've had presented here in a very concise manner, I can represent to you that not only is this the greenest port in America, and not only is this a leading gateway in terms of being part of the nation's largest port complex. Yes, we invest our money to make sure that we continue on the road of operational excellence. But at the same time, we also have a very appropriate investment to our community engagement. And we live by what we said we were going to do in 2005 with regard to a definition of what a green port is. So with that, I'm very honored to present what I just presented to the Council, and I'm open to any questions that you may have regarding our budget. Also available here is again the way the finance director, Sam Jumblatt. If there's any questions, I may not be able to answer. So thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Cohen. So any questions? Yes, Mrs. Price. Thank you. Thank you very much for the presentation. And thank you for taking the time to brief us individually in advance of the meeting. And congratulations to the new deputy executive director. So welcome to your new role. I did have a question. There was a front page article I want to say on Saturday, maybe about the tariffs and how they might impact port business and port operations. And that's something I thought was would be something interesting for us to talk about. I'll throw that out there. Possible suggestion for the Tidelands Committee, maybe, because I know that's a topic of a lot of discussion in terms of the tariffs and what impact we think they might have. So it might be something worthy of a longer conversation in a different venue. But but while I have you here, I wanted to. Thank you for your question. And Councilwoman Price, in fact, that's probably the most often questioners pose before me and this commission in the last several months by the media. That is the impact of tariffs and this trade war that we're engaged in. But before I give you that answer, let me first say that the poor lobbyist recently did announce the appointment of a new deputy directors. One of them is here to see Nino Hasegawa. The other deputy director was unable to be here this evening and that's Ric Cameron. So going forward, the poor language is moving forward with a new model, which I think represents the requirement given how much we've grown not only in terms of our cargo, but in terms of our staff and the required staff that's necessary to continue with the stellar operation of this port. Now, to your question, which I think is a great question. The port alone, which has joined with the California associate of port authorities to assure concern with regard to the tariff trade issue. So preliminarily, at the present time, we have in place the first step of this administration's movement on tariffs, which is at the tune of $50 billion in cargo value. So right now, our staff had done some preliminary figures that if in fact, we'll continue to monitor this, there hasn't been any significant impact at this point. However, later this year and for sure by the turn of the year, we're going to be in a better position in terms of what that impact is , particularly with regard to the second half of calendar year 2018. Preliminarily, we believe that impact may be anywhere in the neighborhood of 7 to 10% in terms of cargo value. So we are concerned about the the tone and the involvement of this trade war, particularly the application of tariffs of even more of a serious concern is whether or not the administration will move forward with an additional 200 billion in tariffs with regard to cargo value. If we move to that point. I suspect that the American consumer will feel the impact on that for sure, because when you move to a 200 billion level tariffs, you are going to see an impact on a number of consumer goods that are the day to day purchases of the American consumer. So I still maintain a sense of optimism that given that the potential impacts of moving forward to that final step will be, in my mind, very serious to the supply chain and international trade here in the United States, as well as our global partners. Again, I still have a sense of optimism that the parties will come to a meeting of the minds of some point, because history will tell us that prior attempts on moving forward with tariffs are actually a short term option. And when we step back and look what those long term impacts are. So that was a great question, and we'll continue to. Monitor those impacts. In light of that. Has the port adjusted perhaps its budget for federal advocacy? Yes. Okay. Well, number one, we're going to continue with the high level of federal accuracy that we've had, both at the federal level and at the state level. Now, I will say this. I'd like to also bring further context to this potential impact. And I'm talking about the 200 billion in tariffs. Keep in mind that the global recession that commenced here in 2008, 2009 and lasted for a few years, there was serious impacts at the Port of Long Beach with regard to not only the movement of cargo during the global recession, but in terms of the revenue growth. But nevertheless, as I've showed in these slides, the Harbor Commission decided to move forward with the road map that they believe is very important. And I'm talking about their continued commitment to the Capital Improvement Project and their continued commitment to the principles of the Green Port Policy, and their continued commitment to make sure that we move forward with both environmental stewardship and operational excellence. So if you go back and assess in the last ten years that trauma of the global recession and not only the poor Long Beach had, but the global community, I think what's coming ahead, if in fact it does come. I, I can stand here before you and feel very optimistic that we will continue with our leadership, continue with our priorities. And I don't believe that even in the worst scenario, will approximate the kind of impacts that this port underwent and withstood post the global recession. So again, I'm trying to give some optimism to the potential scenarios, but I think one thing for sure as it relates to this budget, it's a very good budget. I think our finance director will support the fact that our ten year forecast at the Port of Long Beach is a very good forecast. And again, with that, I entertain any more questions that the council may have. For sharing that. And and again, I just wanted to take the opportunity because you were here, but there's probably not the best venue to have this discussion. But it's a really interesting discussion because as we watch national politics and national policy changing all around us, there's bits and pieces of it that are impacting our daily lives, of course. But because we're a port city, this, this the tariff issue is something that could impact us very dramatically economically. And it's the single most common question I get from folks outside of the city when I tell them I'm the long on the Long Beach City Council, they ask me about how our port is doing in light of the tariffs. So I appreciate you touching on it and I look forward to talking with it further, talking with you about it further. Well, I think I represent that our commissioners are very much on this issue and are doing everything they can to make sure that we move forward in a way in which not only is sustainable, but again, monitor these issues to minimize any potential impacts. And last, I would say, just for your information on this issue, on this question, on Friday, I will be in Sacramento, along with other executive directors of the state of California and other port directors in the state of California to address this issues in the governor's office. So I think, again, we're doing everything we can to raise consciousness to this issue. Yes. Thank you. Is that the way to me? Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Good. Mr. Sweat? Yes, Mario and the whole port team. I've just really enjoyed getting great briefings from you all, not only around the budget, but any time, whether we're talking about Metal Harbor or our cleaner action plan. I just want to say how much I appreciate you all. I think that you've done a great job with the port. Looking at how we restructure, looking at how your community engagement is. Today, I had the pleasure of being in L.A. for a press conference with other city leaders throughout California, and we were talking about our efforts to green our communities. And so I was able to really highlight all the efforts that we've done here at our port. And so looking at this budget, I think we had our briefing. I want to echo how exciting it is to have the largest Thailand's transfer, how exciting it is that you guys are making your final payment on the building and your commitment to the Civic Center facility. And so I don't have any other questions. I just really it's nice not to have questions, but just to say good job and I don't have to ask questions today because I have so many briefings with you guys. I really appreciate it. Well, thank you so much, Councilman Pierce. And I also like to add that and represent to this council that for this year we had a pretty rigorous process at the Port of Long Beach with regard to our budget. I want to thank the Budget Committee that consisted of President Tracy Gaskill and Commissioner Liang Guzman. And as well as the the three other commissioners, Bonnie Lowenthal, Frank Colonna and Wayne Bynum. It's a it's a very engaged commission. And I think it's as I like to say, a lot of times you have the perfect commission for these times in terms of the skill set that these commissioners bring and the challenges that we have. And, of course, the objectives are formidable. So it's very blessed to be in this position for sure. Yeah, I think Long Beach as a whole is really blessed to have such a great team. So and I definitely I also want to echo Councilmember Price's comments. I know we've got our Harbor Commission Titans meeting tomorrow, but down the road, I do think the terrace conversation is a fascinating one, that we could just have a community meeting to kind of unpack that a little bit. So thank. You. And as Councilman Price indicated, we'd be more than happy to appear at a at another setting to specifically engage on that issue. Thank you, Councilmember Councilwoman Gonzalez. Yes, thank you, Mario. And your team again. Commissioner Gorski, thank you so much for your work on the commission. I think this year is phenomenal for us to look back at and see that we've had record numbers. A few things that we want to thank you on behalf of First District residents, Pier B, which I know was a huge issue, but we got through it. But I think it's for the long term. What we see, it's going to be exponential for our city and for our port cleaner action plan, of course, as Councilmember Pearce had mentioned, and Gerald Desmond, which is huge for the connection to our city and to the port and just to our friends across the harbor. So I just want to thank you for those efforts. Tomorrow, we do have a Harbor and Tidelands meeting coming up, I'm sure, as you're aware. So thank you in those efforts as well. I know that's a long discussion, but we appreciate it. So thanks again for everything. Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you, Councilmember Gringo. Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank you, Mario, and your staff for the wonderful work you guys are doing, especially your community engagement. That has been very helpful, been very fruitful in terms of what you've been able to provide for the community. Your 10,000 Trees program is just moving right along. It's been a great program and it adds to the greening of Long Beach and in regards to being able to plant those trees all over the city. You mentioned in Slide 12, you mentioned the the successes of our Clean Air Action Plan and have been the representative that represents the the area where the impacts of port movement and goods movement is highest. And it was somewhat mentioned already by my two predecessors in regards to the Clean Air Action Plan. Could you give us just a high level synopsis, summary of what the Clean Air Action Plan does in regards to how we are working towards knocking down our particulate matter, NOx and our greenhouse gases? Sure. As I referenced and thank you for your question, councilwoman. Councilman, I apologize for that. All right. Could put. Out. They were pretty good. So. Great question. As I referenced earlier, the great thing about what the problem is is doing in partnership with the city in terms of implementing what the city would like us to do is we are moving forward with zero emission and it's just not words right now. There's a partially 13% of cargo handling equipment that's already electric at the poor Long Beach. We have going to the point of our advocacy. I would like to thank our government relations people in doing a great job with regard to making sure that we be the beneficiaries of grants at the state level and federal level. So I think these grants are very important to further continue the endeavors that we have for the 2017 Cleaner Action Plan. So with that, I think you're seeing now that even though our goal is 2035 for all sewer emission trucks, I really believe I'm very optimistic that we're going to reach that goal a lot earlier. There's already demonstration projects in terms of electric trucks and hydrogen fuel cell trucks, zero emission. Recently, if you follow one of our recent press releases, we have applauded Toyota. One of our terminal operators gave them kudos with regard to their decision to move forward with a project under the Toyota Logistics Services name of a hydrogen fuel cell power plant and a power station. So this is what's come in here at this gateway, particularly at this city and at this port. And I'm very excited that I think you're going to see the benefits of this, your emission policy, a lot sooner than what we think. So right now, we presently do have demonstration projects at our terminals that is working with our terminals with regard to putting in place. Technology that's there or here, it's not ready for the market. But we are demonstrating these projects right now, the terminals anywhere from all electric yard hustlers to, again, equipment. And of course, in the transportation mode, you're seeing how this port taking the lead from this council and the state of California are moving forward with, I think, a great story in terms of zero emission transportation. And again, I want to thank you for your efforts on that mean I think you as a commissioner back in the early 2000 started this whole green, green, green port movement. You know the great story on that councilman and you're and councilwoman Granger going back to my original you reference those were the days of a councilwoman and longer who had also a great say on this. But I will say this I think all that has been accomplished by the staff that we had at the port. Let me see. If you look at the staff that we had, a poor Long Beach, these young people, the Rick Camerons, the Heather Tom Liz, who were here back in 2006, are still here at the port. And for them, 2017, it's just like a no brainer in terms of not only the skills that they bring, but in terms of these guys are going to accomplish. All on that point. I really want to thank the staff here at the Port of Long Beach who have been here all through these endeavors and and will be here to the end, because, again, it's a great story, not only for the city of Long Beach, but it turns out absolutely represents you. You go anywhere in the nation. And when you talk about the poor Long Beach, the first thing that response, people are going to say, yes, that's right, the green port. You guys are leaders in environmental initiatives. So with that, I want to thank not only the leadership from past city council back in 2005, but in terms of our staff who put this together and ran with it. I'm looking forward to our continuing successes in that area. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. I come from a supernova. Thank you. Thanks for a great report. And my colleagues had mentioned the record transfer amount, all the support you do for the community and also the harbor tours. That is just an awesome program that you have and my residents really appreciate it. I also want to say thank you to the board and congratulations on the naming of the Kodak Co deputy executive directors, Ric Cameron. And you forgot to mention that Noelle is a fourth District resident. So that means. Oh, that's right. Thank you. Okay. I will say that when we talk about the community engagement that's been referenced to, you know, the $1.3 million in community grants, the $1 million in terms of the nonprofits, I can't think of any other Port in America that has that commitment. That's more than just words. It's it's it's you look at our budget and when you look at the budget of any entity, your budget represents your values. So on that, Mark, I think we're doing excellent and I will represent to you that the President ask you that's one of her main priorities for this budget is to make sure that we continue at every opportunity, consider expanding this type of engagement. So I would like to again make sure that those kudos are given to the commission who set this policy and. Vice Mayor Andrews. Yes. Mosquito, I think. I don't think you need any more accolades because, you know, when you came back, everything just exploded. And because of fact, a lot of that is because. I definitely think so. Because the fact that your work is that you have behind you, those individuals are fantastic. But we just came back on our cruise and I thought I went to Hawaii. Those individuals that work with us, I mean, the sixth District, we thought we were really in heaven. Thank you, guys. And thank you for allowing us to have our community to be able to go through that. Thank you, guys, again. Well, thank you, Cosmo. And thank you for your support. You know, I think to the T every council person here has supported these initiatives at the Port of Long Beach and and in our one on one meetings on the budget. I really appreciate it on behalf of the Commissioner myself, your ongoing support because again, this is the greatest port in America and proud to be part of the greatest city in America. Thank you, Councilman Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to just chime in and say what a fantastic job you are doing. The reputation of the port is strong. You know, when I'm invited to participate in different leagues of, you know, cities or SAG, you know, folks have a great year. The Port of Long Beach has a great reputation. Your staff represents us really well. It's gang and all these other areas. So hats off to the government relations team and I want to continue to work with you on issues related to economic inclusion. And we've had ongoing conversations. But being the economic driver, we are. We have an opportunity to really be an asset, a national standard for economic inclusion. The way that we've done on cleaner action plan, in the way that we're doing in community reinvestment. I think the next big thing for the Port of Long Beach is really making a mark and being a national standard on economic inclusion. But thanks a lot and continue your your your fantastic leadership. Thank you, Councilman. Thank you, Councilman Austin. Thank you. And thank you, Mr. Cordero, for the great presentation. I want to thank you and your department for all of your amazing contributions to the city of Long Beach, but to our national economy, I mean, our port of Long Beach. There is no way that you can have a have a conversation about our national economy without having a conversation about the port of Long Beach. I want to also take an opportunity to congratulate your newly appointed elected president, Tracy Gorski, who is also a district resident. Congratulations. And Noelle also followed you and worked with you for many years. Congratulations on your recent promotion. And yes, hats off to the government relations team and your entire organization. I want to specifically thank you and the port of Long Beach and the port commissioners for your investment and continue to communicate our commitment to our community through your community grants fund. And I would just invite you to opportunity just to talk a little bit about how the Port of Long Beach is giving back to the city of Long Beach and how the poor Long Beach can continue to give back through the grants application process. Because I see a number of folks in here who are, I think, in organizations that could benefit from some of the great work that your department is doing so well. I'd like to thank the staff. I would like to thank the community for the advocate advocacy that we witnessed here going back years ago. Because, again, for those of you who remember back then after the implementation of the Green Port policy in 2005 and people were questioning people in the industry and other parts of the country were questioning greenport policy. And the problem is, what does this mean? There was a lot of hysteria about that. We were going to lose business as a result of environmental initiatives. But I think when you see the numbers here at the Port of Long Beach, we proved quite to the contrary. So I'm very proud to be here now, years later in this position. Not only it's not about words, it's about facts. And I think with that, back then, I remember saying that for the poor at Long Beach, it's not about the benefit to the few, but it should be the benefit to the many. And it goes to your point, councilman, councilman, that this budget reflects that. You know, back then we were fighting for 100,000 in community nonprofit allocation and then it went incremental to it was always a debate. But because of the leadership of commissioners that came after me and the now exemplified by our present, our current president Tracey you guys, you know, you have 1 million just on nonprofit commitments to the community, 1.3 community grants as a result of emission reduction assistance or protection protection against harmful impacts. I mean, add that up 2.3 million, including the 20 million transfer to the city. You're talking about $24 million that this port contributes as a department of the city to the city. So I think we should all be proud in terms of what this port stands for, because as we move forward, there are many who continue to question these environmental initiatives like zero emission. But I will also answer to those and say what I said back in 2006. We feel confident of obtaining objectives, these objectives. It will be done. And last I will say, for our friends in the in the industry who are very much many supporters of this, none of these demonstration projects would happen without our partnership with the Marine terminal operators and the stakeholders. So I think it's a great story for for this port, the city and the state of California. Thank you. Mr. Cordero, I want to just add a few a few words. We move on to the next presentation. I know I've I've heard the obviously the budget presentation before, so I apologize for having to step to step out. But I wanted to just congratulate you and your executive team for another great budget that it really speaks to where the up the board the port is growing green initiatives community investment and a focus on infrastructure. You probably already mentioned this, but you know, we have the most robust port infrastructure program of any American port and we're very proud of that and very proud of the record cargo and the reductions of emissions. And so thank you for all that. I do want to thank a president who Gosk you for her leadership. And you referenced something that I think is important to uplift, which is the the amount of funds that are going back into the community as it revolves around both on the mitigation side and on the granting side have actually dramatically increased in the last year, year and a half, thanks to the leadership of the board, particularly an initiative that President Gorsky led on the board, I think beginning about two or three years ago when you first started work on it , which looked at how do we increase the amount of community funding that we're doing on an annual basis. So that was something that was important to me in appointing President Garcia, and she has carried that through. And I think, you know, just to trace you, Tracy, and just the other board members just want to thank you. I think the community is seeing tens of millions of dollars more back into directly into the community because of the actions of the last couple of years. And I know that that will continue. And so I'm very grateful. I know the council is very grateful that our new the way we allocate community resources is really stepped up. And so just thank you to the board for that and of course, for just the leadership in what you do every every day. So thank you to that to the harbor department port of Long Beach. Thank you. And we'll move on to the water department. So thank you so much. Absolutely. Thank you. That was a great presentation by Mario. But if you talk to his wife, Gloria, she'll tell you the best run city department is the Long Beach Water Department. So everything that people love about the Long Beach Water Department, it starts with those people behind you, the men and women of our Long Beach Water Department. We serve 90,000 Long Beach customer accounts. We're stout 24 seven for water and sewer services and emergencies and for emergencies. We handle 10,000 emergency calls a year on the water side. Long Beach's water meets are exceeds all federal and state water quality standards. You may not know, but we have a full service laboratory over at the water treatment plant over on Redondo, and those scientists and technicians perform 70,000 water quality tests a year. And something new that we started this year is we've started testing the drinking fountains at the Long Beach Unified School District Schools K through 12. We tested for 41 schools this year. We had to take a time for summer vacation because we have to wait until school's in session and we'll finish the remainder of the schools this year. We also offer that service to private schools also. So if any private school would like testing of their drinking fountains. We'd be happy to do so. Sustainability. Long Beach Water Department is famous for its lawn to garden program. So far, we've replaced 6 million square feet of lawn in Long Beach, and with that Long Beach using about the same amount of water today as we did in the 1950s, despite a 40% population increase. Capital needs. We're going to obviously continue our reinvestment into our pipeline system. We're going to develop and rehab local water wells and storage tanks. The more way we can get locally, we can avoid buying expensive imported water. And then we're going to transition. Long Beach Water Department's 90,000 meters to smart meters. And we'll get into that in a little bit later in the program. On infrastructure. We have 2500 miles of water and sewer pipelines to maintain. Since 19 9091, we've replaced over 225 miles of water main pipeline. And this year, we're going to be reinvesting $31 million in pipelines in CERP work. What we do is we focus on our most vulnerable pipeline. And so in the early nineties, when we were experiencing close to 200 main breaks a year, we started focusing on cast being pipeline in the city. And you can see the results in that chart behind you by focusing on that and using our money wisely. We've had an 8% drop in main breaks in the past 25 years. This something near and dear to your heart. Quality control for street impacts. Every time we replace a pipeline, we dig up the streets. And so we've completely revamped how we do things at the Long Beach Water Department as far as how we handle the street repairs. In the past, we had two different crews, two different supervisors on the same project. They were not coordinated. And so we've changed that. So now one single supervisor and one crew looks at it as an entire project and handles it. We have on site inspectors to confirm work meets professional quality and that projects for strict quality specs. Smart Meter program. This is the largest financial investment we've made in quite a while. Something that's important to understand is army or advanced metering infrastructure. It's not like how you used to remember smart metering, where it just went one way, where it was just used as a meter reading function. This now allows two way communication between the customer and utility. So we get the meter reads and we can convey information back to the customer so they can use that. We have 90,000 parking meters to be either retrofit or replaced, so any water meter that exceeds 13 years of age will replace it. Everything else will just add that little white register on top that you see in the picture. Customer benefits. An important customer uses less water and lowers their water bill. This will eliminate billing errors due to inaccurate manual reads. Right now, the manual meter readers have to go into the vaults and there's dirt in mud over the meters, and lots of times it ends up in errors. This will eliminate that work faster billing dispute resolution. So where if you call in with an issue, our person on the phone can look at your meter as we speak. And then we eliminate also the substantial cost for manual meter reading. So in the old days, it used to be Southern California Edison, the gas utility, and the water usually going out to the house. Right now, it is only the water utility has manual meter reading. So it's very expensive. So we're going to save at least $2 million a year in those costs. Just no customer benefits. Wireless will be caught and fixed more quickly, reducing repair costs to customers. We can actually see down to the when you flush the toilet in the house. And so if you have a leak in the middle of the night and you see a steady flow of water at 3:00 in the morning, it'll give us an indication that there may be a leak at your house and we'll notify you. We plan in the future to introduce remote meter turn on this will eliminate customer wait time and further reduce costs. This is something that will be very fascinating. So rather than waiting for something to go out of your house and turn your water back on, we'll be able to do it remotely from our site. Cost conscious. Like I said, it was a very expensive project that we're undertaking. So one of the benefits, though, is that the gas utility in Long Beach actually implemented AMI a couple of years ago. And so we're being able to utilize their existing communication network and data management software and save money. That way, we obtain the best value. By bidding out 109 separate line items. Such as meters, lids, boxes and registers to try and get the best price from vendors. And we're hiring the current meter reading company as the installer of these smart meters and they already know the city and they'll be able to use existing staff and move them into this new project. Something I want to clarify is the typical monthly bill. There's been a lot of confusion with Measure M So back in October 1st, 2017, the the typical monthly bill for the water and sewer was $55.96. And then we had on January 1st we had the lawsuit settlement. And so our water commissioners reduced our water rates and sewer rates and dropped the average bill by $3.06. People seem to forget that that occurred January 1st after measure and passed. We raised the rates or we proposed raising rates 7.2% on the water side, zero on the sewer side. And that will just simply bring the water bill and sewer bill back up to where it was before. So we want to make sure that people understand that there will be no net change from October 2017 to October 2018 with this with this rate increase. I want to make sure that everybody understands that this rate increase is for Measure M only. We will take another look mid-year at our own purposes and see if there is a need to adjust water and sewer rates at that time. Even with this, I bring this back up to where it was in 2017. You'll see that Long Beach has the lowest combined water and sewer bill, if any major city in California. Quite a bit lower than virtually every other city, including Golden State, which serves parts of Long Beach. So, Mr. Gardner, I just want to just stop 1/2. I think I've seen this chart before, but I just think it's really a striking chart and one that I hope, you know that the community is also aware of. This does show very clearly, just when you look at a kind of apples to apples comparison of what our our water rates are versus the other agencies, it's amazing at just what we've been able to accomplish as a community and just the work that you and your team are doing and the savings that our ratepayers are paying when it comes to water and so and water and sewer. The combination of water and sewer. And so I just wanted to make sure I've seen this chart before and it always it's always good to see. So thank you for that. Thank you. Something I want to just touch on real quickly is something that comes up in the community. And I think it's important for everybody to understand. And that's the cost of bottled water versus our Long Beach tap water. If you look at this, 600 glasses of Long Beach tap water, you can get for the same price as one bottled water. So remember that. Nope, no plastic packaging. And so when I see the mayor drinking a glass of water, I appreciate that. That's good. Advertisement. Thank you. So I want to close with just something that I think is important to understand. Since 1911, we've been serving the community of Long Beach. Our Long Beach waters, gluten free has zero calories. We deliver it to your home. Not it doesn't take next day. We deliver it whenever you need it. If you call us at 10:00 at night, we'll turn on your faucet. It can be used indoors or outdoors, removes most body odors. It's safe for children, pets. It's okay to drink and drive using our product. And you never have to remember Passcode before using our product. So that concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Oh. There it goes. That guy's a Hall of Famer. Think you missed it. Mr. Gar, thank you for that presentation and let the council make some comments. I'll have some comments as well. Councilman Price. Oh, sorry. Because you were on a great job. Thank you. Councilmember Pearce. Also great job. I'm really happy about having the one team on our street so that we're not ripping up our streets many times. I want to echo the mayor's comments on our low water rate. I know that we don't want to increase costs for working families, but it is worth noting that that is a very low water rate. And as long as we are conserving, I think it's good. But I always encourage us to take a to take a look at that. And I know that we have a video shoot coming up where we are going to go out and we're going to learn all about the smart meters and we're going to do a go Long Beach video on it. So I'm really excited about that. But great job. Thank you. Yes. Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo. Thank you. I really appreciate this presentation. This year I've had more connectivity with the water department than usual. And in my community we've had a couple of instances where seniors had their water turned off for forgetting to pay their bill. And that happens from time to time. And the idea that you would be able to turn on their water remotely is a huge, huge, huge impact to people. When on this particular street on Steve Lee, we had neighbors bringing down buckets of water so people could flush their toilets because it was a home that had three senior citizens living there and a daughter taking care of her parents. And so I know that these types of technological advances are things that sometimes we take for granted. But when you see what a community has done to be able to maintain the public health of a house and what it means to turn water back on in an instant, these kinds of things really need to be celebrated. Secondly, I know that I'm the water rates are of of discussion. And one of the things that I think is always really important is that when you look at the fifth District, that second bar does serve Long Beach residents. So Golden State water, while it is the second lowest, it still is $26 more a year. And there are entire neighborhoods in the fifth District that are served by by Golden State. And so it just shows that where you live from neighborhood to neighborhood, it does make a difference. And so I really appreciate all the work you guys are doing to keep water rates low. One thing I want correct, it's $26 a month difference. I'm sorry. That's right. Thank you. $26 a month difference. And that that's. Dinner for a family of four in my household when I ate at my mom's house the other day. My mom always tells me this meal was under $20 for all four of us. And so I wasn't invited. Italian sausage sandwiches, you'd really enjoy it. And so thinking about that on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis for someone like my mom, who's a senior, other people in our neighborhoods who are seniors, who are living on fixed incomes $26 a month is a huge difference. And so we really appreciate that. And then finally. This year was the first year that I had my house free piped, and since then I will tell you that the taste of water coming out of my faucet far exceeds the taste of any bottled water I've ever tasted. And so I'm just a big proponent for cleaning out your pipes and or replacing them if they need to be, and drinking the true, true American spirit of bottled water through these nice reusable straws. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Silvano. Thank you. Great presentation. And you know, I'm going to talk about customer service. I've spoken to you quite a bit in the past about that. I think your department has by far the best customer service in the city. Thank you. But you don't. Unlike the poor, you don't have a second in command who's a fourth district resident. Right, but. But I'll give you a pass. You yourself were born and raised in the fourth district. Okay, so we're good. But I think the customer service focus that the water department has is is a tremendous asset. And while we look forward to technological, technological changes for turning water on off, you guys do a great job right now. I think it's just two weeks ago we had an emergency situation in the fourth District where some special needs residents needed the water turned on quickly. And you were on vacation and your staff jumped. Right. In fact, I think they even did a better job than when you're here, which I think I think there is there's an old adage that you can really tell a well-run department how well it runs when the boss is away. So kudos on that. Thanks. Take off next week, okay? Yes. Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez. You know I love you because you're an Lamu lion. So that's first and foremost. But secondly, you run a really great shop and I just want to thank you. I'm glad we're very transparent, especially with so much going on in national news about water quality and testing and elbow has been tested. So I just thank you for providing those numbers. And my residents are also very happy that our water rates, you know, the people often say rates are going up, but we are very low considering the high level of service that we're given. So thanks to you and your team and the commission as well. If I can just touch on that, testing the schools. We did over 1000 tests last year at Long Beach Unified School District. We found two drinking fountains that had issues and the immediately replace it and solve the. Problems of issues. Councilor Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just wanted to chime in and say what a fantastic job you and your team are doing. Thanks a lot for your hard work on figuring out the situation on Corwen. Corbin. Corbin we appreciate that. You know, we had a conversation just a week or so ago about the lawn and garden program. I fully support that program to participate in that program. So I want to make sure that, you know, when I know we're at, what, 250 now? We're at $2 to 50, something like that, $3. We're at three or back 2000 now. So we're back. We're up to 6000, $6,000. That's huge. 1500 dollars for design work. Which is. Wow. I mean, I mean, we should go share that with everyone because a thing when I didn't think it was 3000 and now is that six. That's that's a big deal. I mean, we get some retroactive. No, no. Okay. Thanks a lot. Keep up the good work. Thank you. Chris. Great job. I just want to let you know that after going through this, getting a large book here, I only thing I've done that was really exciting was the last page. So I just wanna let you know, keep up the good work. Good guy. You guys are doing a great job. Thank you. Councilman Austin. So thank you very much for the presentation. I certainly appreciate all of the hard work and efforts of all of the men and women in your your department. I think it's one of the best run departments drama free through in the city. I did want to just just comment on the one of the slides that that showed how low and where our water rates compare to others throughout the state. And just ask the question, I mean, are the disparities large many disparities in the state that have actual lower water rate rates than the city of Long Beach? Actually, there's quite a few cities that have very different rates, and it's largely a function of if you have imported water, primarily, which is very expensive or if you have a large supply of local supply. We're about 5050 right now between local supply and imported supplies. So if you have a city that has one 2% local supply, they'll probably be a little bit less expensive than us. But we have very low sewer costs in Long Beach. And so if you look at the combined bill, we'd be competitive and probably lower than virtually any city. Thank you for that. And then I'd be remiss if I didn't just remark on all of the the commitment to replacing water lines means throughout my district and throughout the city. Some of it has been a bit of an inconvenience to a number of our residents, but I think long term, it's a it's a it's investment, it's infrastructure work that that that's important. Can you just speak to where we are with with with that process? Sure. It's a wide and what we can expect in the future. Sure. So we work when we try and plan far in advance which pipelines we're going to replace. And then what we do is we talk to public works and make sure that we're coordinate with public works and with the gas utility so that we're only digging up the street once. What I had mentioned earlier was in the past, what we were doing was we were going down the street and doing the mains right down the middle, and then we would put a temporary patch on that. And then another crew would sometimes two months later, sometimes a year later, we come back and do the service lines that feed off of that. And so you'd have a temporary patch there for four months in a neighborhood, and that temporary patch is supposed to be there for about ten days, and we had some well over a year. And so we've we've eliminated that by doing it as one project. So the time should be much, much less intrusive on a neighborhood, and it should save us money. The quality of work should be much, much better than what you've experienced in the past. Thank you for that. And just to follow through on on that point, as you know, we are investing a lot of money and resources into repairing streets, residential streets and arterials throughout the city as well. Can you speak to how your department is coordinating with public works to to ensure that we're not duplicating efforts, we're not cleaning, we're not fixing the streets and then going in and tearing them up to do water work, water infrastructure. Sure. Part part of that is using gas and planning in advance. As you may know, we now have Sean Crombie on our team over at Water and coming from Public Works. He's able to really understand the nuances of working between both departments. He's also handling the engineering right now for the gas utility also. And so having him in charge of that and working on that with public works, I think you're going to see I won't say none, but you'll see virtually hardly any conflicts now with public works. That'd be great. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you. Councilman Ringo. Thank you, Mayor. And I want to thank you, Chris, for the great presentation that you're one of the things that I like about your department. And since you've taken over the worried primary that you're very proactive in as a Councilmember Austin has mentioned, in terms of fixing the pipes. I remember a couple of years ago when you first came out to the department, there was an issue that Flint, Michigan, was going through with their with their pipes and dirty water. And I asked you if you could give the city council an update as to what the water department is doing here proactively to ensure that we don't get that type of problem. And you were very responsive, and I'm glad to see that you continue to look at our at our piping system and trying to address all those issues there. One of the things that came up this past year, obviously, is the fact that we have a lot of parks that are brown and in desperate need of water. And while there might be a lot of that being been necessary for the Parks and Recreation Department, I know we have got it out here in the audience. Is there any kind of coordination taking place between you and Parks Recreation? To look at how we can best make sure that our parts are getting enough irrigation, sort of as well as in. Yes. Another part of that question as well is that we have a lot of a number of mediums that are also in need of water because the trees are dying or are getting brown as well. So that's a very much concerning to many of the neighborhoods. And I have a major median in my area in the seventh District. Daisy, Daisy Street, as you know. And the big concern there is that a lot of those trees are dying. Some are old. I mean, it's obvious, you know, just nature takes its course. However, I would like to know that that if they if if they're dying, it's because they're old, not because they're they're dying of thirst. So is there any kind of coordination that you're doing with Parks Recreation Department to make sure that it doesn't happen ? Yes, Jerry and I had I call them Jerry because I can see these. Cattle row that aren't let's see the world there they are out there. And I had lunch last week and one thing that I offered to him was give me a wish list of what Parks and Rec needs. And, you know, and we'll try and be creative in how Long Beach Water can work with Parks and Rec as far as the irrigation of the parks. We've been working with them for the last year and a half on how to fix that, providing as much expertize as we can. We've offered to help them with trying to receive grants through Metropolitan Water District and other sources. Same thing with the medians. We make the same offer to work with Metropolitan Water District and other agencies to try and maximize grant funding to address the medians. What we've done in the past, this is the second year we've done it with in conjunction with public works and Parks and Rec for the Medians is we actually had a water truck that we filled up and go where the irrigation is not functioning and water the grass and the trees with that water. I'm glad to hear that because obviously it's as we continue with this drought that's going to be very important that we keep our medians irrigated. And congratulations in the great cool on taking crumby from public works I mean that's that's going to be a great good joining of efforts in interior public works and water working together thank you very much. Yeah when things I told Craig back it was it's great to have John Crumby stay in the family. So even though he transferred departments, he's still certainly involved with public work still. Thank you. And let me let me just add, Mr. Garner, again, thank you to you and your team. It's been great to work to work with you and to work with your commission. You got a great group of very active commissioners, as you know. And they're really involved in the community and I think have contributed so much to having this great water department that we have that we're very proud of and we're incredibly proud of, particularly the community work, I think like the port, which we mentioned. I think you guys are out there doing the community work, the sustainability work, the conservation work, and we really appreciate that, that leadership. And so just thank you for for everything you do for the water department and for and please give our best to the commission as well, because we're doing a great job. Thank you. Especially Commissioner Cordero. So thank you. And see, no other questions. That concludes both our harbor and our our water department. What we're doing now is we're entering our our budget hearing. We're taking public comment only to close the hearing on on water and on water and harbor. And then we will go into all the budget items. But then you're going to have public comment on the entire budget also. And that's in talking to the chair. We're going to separate that operated out. Yes. So we're going to close up. We're going to do public comment right now only on port and water. And we're going to close that final hearing up. And then when we go on to the budget, I know there's folks here that also we have public comment for the actual budget. So we're going to go right into that as soon as we're we're done. So please only water and port. Hi. My name is Ann Burdette. I didn't come here tonight to speak on this matter, but I was very impressed with Mr. Cordero's presentation, and I'm very excited about our report. And I would like to say we can't forget that all those containers are moved by workers. And when we talk about a green port policy that is dependent upon protecting the community and operational excellence, I think it's really, really important that we factor in the workers who are being subjected to wage theft and misclassification. I'm not telling you something you don't know. I've spoken with the Tidelands Committee on this topic before. Long Beach has contracts with companies that are currently being sued by Los Angeles for their practices. There are suits that have been brought and adjudicated and the State Labor Commission has ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and now there's enormous amount of waiting time while they appeal it. I really think that. Our. Reputation. Is excellent. I really appreciate that we are considered one of the most important and and most valuable ports in the world. I'm proud of that. I just think that we are factoring in only our economic and community advantages. But we're forgetting the incredible sacrifice that many of our workers are making every day when they receive paychecks that are a fraction of the amount of work that they've put in. So I want to suggest to the council we can't have contracts with trucking companies who don't follow the rules. And the California Supreme Court has ruled very, very clearly in dynamics that there are three conditions that must prevail for someone to be an independent contractor. And I think we have to respect that. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker speakers lists on water and port. Please come down the last speaker. Okay. So the speaker's list is close after the gentleman. Okay. Hi, Karen, retired and resident of the first district, working in the second district and representing Long Beach Gray Panthers. We also stand with the port truck drivers and their misclassification for our community to get to the healthy point where we need to be. We also want to see our port, which is a large economic. Engine driver in our community. Do the best it can. And Mr. Cordero has done an. Outstanding job in bringing all the entities together to make that happen. We also. Want to advance the cleaner action plan as fast as possible to reduce the rates of asthma in our disadvantaged communities that live along. The. Freeway and near the port. We also want to commend the port. For your community. Engagement. A number of organizations that I work with have received community grants, and I can't tell you the difference that it has made in the quality of the programs that the community has been able to offer. And we hope that that continues and that more community organizations. Learn how to apply. And to understand that that's a benefit that the port provides that a lot of other entities don't. For the community and the community needs to. Take advantage of that. Thank you. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Hi. Carelessly fifth district. You have my address on file. I went for the first time the other night to the Water Commission and there was about 20 people there that were all opposing the 7.2% rate increase. They told us at the end of the meeting that they had received a total of 57 inputs on it and all of them were opposed. But then they mentioned that for this to do any good, what we really need is 51% of the people who get a bill, get a water bill to be opposing it. Now, I don't think 51% of the people who get their water bills knew about this. And not only did they not know about it, that would be a pretty stiff opposition that you'd have to mount to do that. I don't know if there's really an interest in getting public input on the water bill, but what concerns me most is this is something that's going to hurt everyone. It's going to hurt people who really don't have the money for that increase. I mean, there are people that have to go out and try and buy a sweatshirt for their child, for school, and you're putting your hand in their pocket. And I just think we could do a better job of managing our money. You know, I think we need to live to learn to live within our means like you do in any household. And the eternal search for more revenue is something that we should go back and look at. What can we do to live within our means to not be hurting these people? So I would be opposed to approving the rate hike, and I'm sure that anyone who knew about it would. Thank you. Thank you so much. And our last speaker. Here is a short. Okay. I'll be quick. I think the port has done a great job in cleaning up everything. I've. I've also briefly spoken with Chris, and I think the water company is probably one of the most efficient companies that I have in the whole city. Just my observation is that like some of these departments that are the furthest away or furthest out of control out of the city's control seem to be doing. And I'm trying to I don't want to sound like I'm being critical, but they seem to be doing better than the rest of the departments. You know, and I'm just wondering, maybe we should start thinking about. Doing that with other departments because I don't know if that's something that happens at too many people. Too many cooks get in the kitchen, but maybe it's a little bit better. Again, I'm just trying to I'm not trying to be critical at all, but I'm just noticing that I used to work at McDonnell Douglas a while back and the management, they would take these two week vacations kind of on their retreats. And what they would notice is that each time they went on these these retreats, the efficiency of the company just went through the roof. And they there was some kind of discussion on whether they should take three or four, and they refused to do it because they thought their jobs might be in jeopardy. And this is really the truth. And so I'm just saying that you're seeing a, you know, a really good manager here that's that's running this department very well. The gas company, they run very well, very efficiently. And you're seeing the harbor is just doing a great job in there. I mean, I can't even say enough accolades for the amount of of smog or, you know, air, air, air pollution that they have removed. And I mean, we're still up there, don't get me wrong. But but the amount of air pollution that that they've removed in a short period of time is just dramatic. It's a great job, you know, so, again, nothing critical about any of the people. But I do have one thing to say about our to a water guy here. I do have a bottle. It says Long Beach Water. So it is a plastic bottle just to let you know. So you have a good day. Thank you very much. That concludes our water and harbor budget hearings. I want to thank all the council members for all of their questions and I think the public for their comments on that. And so will conclude the budget hearing and will begin going into the rest of the budget. But we will conclude that that portion of it. And so, again, thanks to our water and harbor department and we'll just begin the rest of the budget hearing in just one minute. So thank you very much. Hmm. Let's go and take a we're going to go to just a two minute break and then we're going to start right back up with the budget. Okay. Now. Anything you can. He's been living here. It was. I think that's. And. That's. And. And. On for. You can. We're going to go ahead and call the budget hearing back into order so we can have everyone please take a seat. And I know the council is coming back, so just over the next minute, please grab a seat and we'll come back to. Anything that you don't. Bottom, right? Sure. You know, I feel like I don't know when you have a sign that says don't be. Oh, I'm sorry, Larry. I'm just saying, Larry. Yeah. I'm. And then they did the sidebar. We're, like, rocking it out. Can the rest of the council come on and please? And if I'm going to go ahead, let me get the roll call one more time so we can restart the hearing. Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Pearce, Councilwoman Price, Councilmember Suber not here. Councilwoman Mongo. Vice Mayor Andrew's Councilmember Durango presented. Councilman Austin. Councilmember Richardson. Mayor Garcia. I am here. I think we have our quorum. I know the rest of the council is is coming back here in just a sec. So what we're going to go ahead what we're going to go ahead and do is start the formal budget adoption process and begin with public comment. I want to make a few comments. And just before we before we begin, there are there are a series of budget votes that actually have to happen tonight. And again, the council could go through and adopt the whole budget tonight or or adopt it next week. And in just a few moments, we will. Councilman Mongo, we're making a series of motions as we go through the entire the entire budget. And I believe it's about 17 items that we have to actually vote on vote on tonight. I also want to make sure a couple of things. I know that there's some folks that are that wanted to speak to this. So I want to clarify as well. I have talked to the chairwoman of of the BFC. And so I know that when the recommendations for the mayor's proposal come forward, I know that the chairwoman will be supporting the full recommendation numbers. We've talked about that and about where we can find some where where the funds are for different things. And so I am, of course, supporting fully funding the recommendations that I made as part of the with those funds and those other items. And those will be discussed at that point. But I know that I've gotten Mongo and I've had some good conversations about those, and she'll be explaining kind of the thought process and where we're getting what as we go through the process. And so I know that there was some conversation about that. And I want to just to mention that and she also will be recommending some other additions that other members of the council have been talking about and asking for. So she'll be discussing those when we get to the budget as well. And so I want to thank the PSC and the members of the Council as we begin. And so let me begin, Madam Clerk, we can just read all these as we go, and we'll start with item 1.1 and go through all the way 1.17 before