Recommendation to approve naming the North Branch Library, the "Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library," in honor of her contributions to youth, education, literacy, and the United States.
Communication from Councilmember Richardson, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Councilwoman Price, Councilman and Con Councilman Austin recommendation to consider naming the new North Branch Library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, and refer this item to the Housing and Neighborhood Committee for consideration. Thank you. With that, I'm to turn this over to Councilmember Rex Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm honored to make this presentation tonight of this historic proposal. Before I begin, I want to thank our fellow co-sponsors for their support, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Councilwoman Price and Councilman Austin. I believe and predict that north long beaches best days are ahead of it. I also believe that the best way to predict the future is to create it. The youth of our community represents the future of our community, and I believe we should do everything we can to inspire and empower the next generation. That means making sure the investments we make into the physical environment of our community, not just add to the esthetics and property value of a neighborhood, but also connect with and inspire the next generation. Councilman Richardson, sorry about this. I have to make this announcement because it's due to another item. And I don't want those folks having to be here if they don't have to be. Item 16 has been an item 16 has been withdrawn. So those who are wondering about that item. It's actually coming back at a later time. But I just wanted to make sure some of the folks knew that. And so back to the councilmember. Thanks. Sorry about that. So the youth of our community represents the future of our community. And I believe that we should do everything we can to inspire, empower the next generation. And that means making sure the investments we make into the physical environment of our community, not just add to the esthetics and property value of a neighborhood, but also connect with us and inspire that next generation. I believe libraries should inspire the next generation. Our new state of the Art North Library is an opportunity to inspire, and I believe that we can and should utilize this library as a means to inspire young people to retire and to go further. So before I get into the details of my proposal, I think it's appropriate to help walk through walk the public through how we got here. Over the past few months, I've had the opportunity to engage with students from Jordan High School about the new library. A concept has come from those initial conversations that I believe is absolutely amazing. The concept is to name the new North, the new North Neighborhood Library in honor of First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. After the initial concept from one group of students, we shared this idea with staff from Hamilton Middle School and students from Hamilton Hamilton Middle School, as well as youth from Andy. Andy Street Community Association. The Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library sparked that same enthusiasm and excitement among those young people. Then we took the next step of sharing this idea with every neighborhood association president in District nine to get their input and feedback. And of the ten presidents we spoke with, all ten not only supported the idea, but publicly added their names to the list of co-sponsors. We've tried over the past few years to work closely with our school district leaders, so we took the additional step of sharing this concept with school board member Megan Kerr, who also enthusiastically supported this idea. And finally, knowing that this library has taken many years to come to fruition, we took the additional step of reaching out to the last two generations of District nine member council members about the idea, and former council member Steve Neal added his support to the idea. So given the broad level of support in the community, it's made sense to take the next step of evaluating what the First Lady stands for and how that aligns with the North Long Beach neighborhood. First Lady Michelle Obama is a mother, wife, lawyer, writer, an amazing first lady. She has become a role model for women and an advocate on poverty, awareness, education, veterans issues and healthy living a product of public schools. Michelle Robinson studies sociology and African-American studies at Princeton University. After graduating from Harvard Law in 1988, she joined the Chicago law firm Sidney in Austin, where she later, later met Barack Obama, who would become president of United States. After a few years, Ms.. Obama decided her true calling was working with people to serve their communities and their neighbors. She served as an Assistant Commissioner of Planning and Development in Chicago City Hall before becoming the founding executive director of the Chicago Chapter of Public Allies and AmeriCorps program that prepares you for public service. In 1996, Ms.. Obama joined the University of Chicago with a vision of bringing campus and community together. As Associate Dean of Student Services, she developed the university's first community service program, and under her leadership as vice president of community and external affairs, volunteerism skyrocketed. Ms.. Obama continues her efforts to support and inspire young people during her time as first lady. She has four main initiatives as First Lady that very closely aligned with the North Long Beach community. The first is joining forces. In 2011, Mrs. Obama and Dr. Jill Biden came together to launch Joining Forces, a nationwide initiative calling all Americans to rally around service members, veterans and their families in support them through wellness, education and employment opportunities. Joining Forces works hand in hand with the public and private sector to ensure that servicemembers, veterans and their families have the tools they need to succeed throughout their lives. And as you may know, North Long Beach has been hosting our Veterans Day Parade and vet fest for many years. The play parade runs along Atlantic Avenue in the and next year, the march, we will march right in front of our new, new library. Her focus is her focus on the needs of. Veterans very nicely aligned with our community. The second is let's move in 2010. Ms.. Obama launched Let's Move, bringing together community leaders, educators, medical professionals, parents and others in a nationwide effort to solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation. In alignment with this initiative, the City of Long Beach is proud to be a Let's Move city as we passed the resolution for this initiative in October of 2010. Also in alignment for the past four years, North Long Beach Community has been deemed a healthy eating, active living healing zone through support through the through support that the Health Department received from Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition for Healthy North Long Beach. The work of the heals on the Coalition has made strides in creating a healthier environment for all ninth District residents. The First Lady's third initiative that closely aligns to our new library is the Reach Higher Initiative in 2014. Ms.. Obama reached launched the Retire Initiative, an effort to inspire young people across the nation to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school, whether at a at a professional training program, a community college or a university. It aims to ensure all students understand what they need to do to complete their education by encouraging academic planning, summer learning opportunities in school and afterschool. Extracurricular enrichment. The same type of enrichment that will be provided by our North Neighborhood Library. The fourth and final initiative is called Let Girls Learn. In 2015, the Let Girls Learn initiative was launched, and it's a U.S. government wide initiative to help girls around the world to stay in school and stay involved. This this global initiative is also well, well aligned with the purpose of our library. So I like to play take a moment to play a video that highlights the first lady's work on education and her commitment to helping our young people succeed. There is nothing more important to this nation's future than investing in our young people. And education is at the top of the priority list. Now we know that as adults, we know that as administrators. Now we have to put our efforts where our knowledge is, and we have to make sure that young people understand that reality as well. I'm going to get there. I am working hard every day. I'm the future and I am determined. It may be hard. At times, but I have goals. And dreams. And work to do. I'm going to get there. I believe in me. I believe in me. And I'm on my way. I'm on my way. I believe in me. We are the class of 2020. And the class. Of 2020. I am the class of 2020. I am the class of 2020. We are the. Class of 2020. The president's North Star goal is that by the year 2020, we want to make the United States the leader in college graduation. Rates around the world. We're trying our best to become the future. Of America or even. The future of the world. It will completely erase the stigma that our generation is lazy and is afraid of work. I just want a better life. I want to better myself and basically be the best I can be. I want young people to understand that the challenges and trials and tribulations they face are not weaknesses, but they are things that. Can make them stronger and. More competent and more able to deal with the challenges of getting an education. Going forward. No one is born smart. You become smart through hard work. If I'm a doctor and you don't call me Dr. Harvey, you know exactly how much, how hard I worked and what I've achieved. And I'm just like this. One little person. In this big world, and I have to be different. And how do you want a career or a job? When you get older, you have to put 100% into your life now before you turn into an adult. We want our young people to be prepared for the jobs of the future. And as I've said, if most of those jobs in the year 2020 are going to require an education beyond high school, then we have to inform students of that and do whatever it takes to prepare them so that they can grow up and raise families of their own and be successful and pursue their dreams. And that's what I want to spend my time doing for these next several years and beyond. And that's why the North Star goal is important. We don't have a. Choice but to achieve this goal. It's a tough one, but nothing good comes. Easy, so we don't have a choice. We have to reach that North Star. Thank you. I know that there were some technical issues, but I think you guys get the gist of it. So. Now, I think it's important that we consider the context for this proposal. First, consider that we're in a period of time where the largest retailer in the world, Amazon, has no inventory. Uber, the world's largest taxi company, has no vehicles. Facebook, the world's most popular media owner, creates no content. And Airbnb, the world's largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate. Is it smart to say that the traditional role of libraries will change as well? This also means reevaluating the purpose of institutions like libraries simply from depositories, from books to hubs for community community resources with a much broader focus from community and life skills learning to career development and job search. So but by changing the way we think about libraries, we should also think about the way we intentionally connect our environment to the next generation. And I believe we can do a better job of ensuring our communities can connect with and identify with our local facilities and infrastructure and landmarks. Here is a list of 19 public institutions in North Long Beach. Zip Code 90805 listed our seven parks, 11 schools and one neighborhood library. When you break down how these North Long Beach institutions are named, only 11% of them are named after women. Two are 19. Only 11% of them are named after people of color. Two out of 19. And of those institutions named after individuals, 63 are named after 63% are named after national figures. All of these figures have tremendous stories and legacies. Can you honestly say that our city has done the best job we think we can of making sure our youth are connected with and inspired by the facilities we dedicate? Now let's compare this to some of our demographics here in the north Long Beach area. According to the latest data of the American Community Survey, approximately 30% of our population are youth. 27,924. And by both population count and percentage, we are the largest and youngest zip code within this city. And our youth are extremely diverse. Most diverse. Most notably, 90% of our youth age under 18. And under our youth of color. What does that mean for our future when 93% of our youth can only connect or identify with eight with 11% of the facilities in their community? This past weekend, I went and watched Star Wars and I noticed on the Star Wars movie how they intentionally diversify the lead roles in their cast. Women lead an African-American first mate and a Latino pilot. And if Disney can get it, I think we should get. Should we be surprised if we don't see the kind of community ownership we'd like to see and have is if we don't see the kind of community ownership we'd like to see out of our young people. And if we have issues with vandalism and graffiti. There's a study that came out in 2005 called Creating Culturally Responsive Schools that studies that states cultural. Cultural disconnect often leads to poor self-concept, discipline, problems in poor academic outcomes for ethnic minorities. While the library is not a school, I think the sentiment it expresses remains true for youth in North Long Beach. So we're in a moment in time in North Long Beach called the Uptown Renaissance. This is a period where our residents are more engaged than ever while we're making significant investments in our infrastructure parks, schools, public institutions. But we missed the mark. If we don't inspire the next generation and create a new sense of pride in our community. Sometimes this means thinking differently, considering new approaches, and having the courage to stand up to the forces who resist change. According to the 2010 census, 70% of 90805 residents have moved to nine out of five since the year 2000. This means that North Long Beach today is a community of newer citizens, younger families who have helped to not only continue the up the uptown renaissance, but to re-energize it. So next steps, the next step of our if our proposal passes this evening, will be to have the Department of Parks, Recreation, Marine and our Library Services Department conduct further outreach around this concept with our park and library patrons. Secondly, the Council Council's Housing and Neighborhoods Committee will discuss and consider the proposal. And finally, I've committed to our Long Beach Library Foundation that my office will host a community forum in in January to further discuss the proposal. This will be very well publicized and open. Now I have a few a few clarifying questions for staff. Number one, I've heard issues about this proposal being precedent setting in terms of naming a building for a living person. Has the city done this before? And are we outside of the scope of our authority. Mr. Mayor, members of the council? Councilmember Richardson. We actually do have policies in place through an administrative regulation that is advisory to the Council for naming facilities, and we've done facility naming as many times before. There are actually some provisions in our air that talk to, you know, this type of process. And actually, just recently, the council went through a process, the same process to name the Internet, you know, center theater against I'm sorry, for former Mayor Beverly O'Neal. So we have been through this process before. And along that same lines, I'm going to ask Mr. City attorney, what is the spirit of our current naming policy? And are we within the spirit of the regulation of the regulation? Councilman Richardson, members of the city council, I guess if I had to summarize the spirit of it, is that the buildings and facilities, public buildings and facilities owned and operated by the city that we are attempting to name after a living person, should be named after someone who has made a significant contribution either to the nation, the city of Long Beach or the state of California. And I think you've just gone through and articulated why Michelle Obama would fit in one or more of those categories. So that is the underlying spirit. Thank you. And back to Mr. Assistant City Manager. How would you compare? In terms of process, I've heard questions about process. How would you compare the process that we've outlined and the process we're beginning tonight to other recent other processes in recent history of Long Beach. So the typical process as outlined in the air is for an idea to come to the city council. The city council then refers that to the Housing and Neighborhoods Committee, what is now today called the Housing Neighborhoods Committee. And then it comes back to the council. As I understand the motion before us, what is being proposed is an additional public outreach process on top of the standard process that the city uses, as I understand it, to include additional outreach that library and parks would do. And in addition to the efforts that Councilmember Richardson is currently working on, and then bring that to housing and neighborhoods, and then again back to the city council for a decision. So traditionally, the first point of a process is what? There are a couple of ways that it can start. It either can come from the community to the as a filing with the city clerk to the city council's attention. Typically, it does come with a motion or agenda item from a city council member to agenda, or is it at the city council level and then referred to Housing and Neighborhoods Committee for further review before it comes back to the Council. So would you consider that this process was premature in any way compared to any naming process in recent history that you recall? No, this is following the same process and actually adds additional steps. So this has additional steps than what we followed in recent history in the past? That's correct. Just wanted to clarify, typically, does the city does the city of Long Beach or city staff engage in this type of outreach before the city council submits a proposal to engage? Not in recent memory. Perhaps in the past some of these have been staff driven. In recent memory, I can't recall any that were generated by the city staff. It normally comes from the city council and then goes through the process as outlined before. Thank you. So. So that's it. This proposal is historic, but not precedent setting in nature. We've gone above and beyond the outreach process that we've established in the past, and the process is well within our scope of the law. And that said, I move the motion as written as for my colleagues for support and may the force be with you. Okay. Thank you. There's there is a motion and a second on the floor. And so we have some council comments and then I may open up to the public. So Councilmember Austin, who made the second thank you. I'll be very short and brief. I think my colleague really did a great job. I want to congratulate our council member, Richardson. It may the force be with you all as well. I think he did a good job of making the point. This is a I think I've known Councilmember Richardson for many years. We've had many conversations about the future of our city, the future of North Long Beach. And I know before he got elected and when he first got elected, he talked about doing things big. And this is big. This is a big step for Long Beach is a big step for our shared community. And this is will be something that is bigger than both Councilmember Richardson and any of the councilmen council people up here, because naming this library will be something that stays with this community for many, many years to come in perpetuity. And so this is a big, bold decision that I support wholeheartedly, and I don't think there's anything else to be said there. Thank you very much. Thank you, Councilman Gonzales. Yes, thank you. So I have, of course, my own comments to make. And then Councilwoman Woman Price, she's out for surgery, but she asked me to say her comments as well. So I just want to thank as well Councilman Richardson for and our council colleagues for bringing this forward. I myself used to live in North Long Beach. So when I talk to my mom about all the things that are going on, she's really amazed at how beautiful North Long Beach is turning out with, of course, medians and new storefronts. But now something like this, that the fact that we're able to call potentially a beautiful library after Michelle Obama is wonderful. She is a woman with integrity and advocate for local youth literacy and veterans. She's our first lady. And I certainly believe why she would qualify for this. I don't know if we need further explanation or to continue talking about why she needs to be selected for this. And I wholeheartedly believe that. I remember when the vice mayor, Robert Garcia, at the time wanted to name Promenade Park after Harvey Milk. And I know that there was a lot of pushback for that. And now we finally have a park, the only one in in the nation that's named after Harvey Milk. And now potentially we can have the only place named after Michelle Obama, which is even more wonderful. So I believe in this name and fully support this idea. I asked my colleagues to do the same and and certainly support not only us here on the council, but also everyone here tonight, especially North Long Beach. And and for looking at and thinking of North Long Beach in a broader scope, which is always very important. So thank you. And then I'll move on to Councilwoman Price's comments. So she says, I regret that I am not here this evening to share my thoughts with my colleagues directly. I had foot surgery yesterday, and despite every intention to be here tonight, the recovery process seems to be more involved than I had forecasted. I want to thank Councilman Richardson for opening the discussion on this item. I know that the opening of the North Library is a very exciting development and a huge step in the effort to empower Uptown. Over the past week, I have received many emails and calls from my constituents, some of whom are very involved in some way in supporting our libraries. I have also talked with Councilman Richardson about his vision for this process based on the agenda item as worded, the possibility of naming the library after the first lady is something that is only in the preliminary phase. The process will involve discussion at the commission level and with stakeholders such as users, the Library Foundation and residents of Long Beach. I understand and respect Councilman Richardson's reasons for wanting to name the library after the First Lady. I do believe, however, that there is, since such a decision, would be a departure from our naming policy. This item should serve to initiate a longer, more transparent process, which will involve involved most certainly more public outreach. That is her comments. And thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Next up, I have Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to thank Councilman Richardson for bringing this item forward. I know that. When many of us joined the city and the city government, we were all tutored in the way things were done and the way things had to be done. And I champion any one of us, especially Councilman Richardson tonight, who takes a step forward to recognize somebody while they are still in the thrust and throes of doing the work that they do. And so I do believe in honor. I do believe in honoring tradition and protocol. But I think there are times where it's completely appropriate to step aside and say that an individual in our nation or in our community is worthy of being recognized. And what better way to do it in a time when that individual is still working to advance the causes that they are working on? And our first lady takes a stand on issues that I think really is meaningful for all of us educating girls. A lot of us have focused on the disparities of opportunities in developing nations, but we have those same disparities here. And for a high profile celebrity brilliant figure, to take on that cause is something that's very much about Long Beach. And I'm personally honored that we are a city that does things first when others don't want to take the chance or risk doing that. And this is worth doing. And I thank you for that, and I thank you for coming forward with that. Thank you. And Councilmember Ringo. Thank you, Mayor. When I had my voice in support of this motion, I think that Councilmember Richardson has done a phenomenal job and presented it to us, does his research, and I am especially encouraged by the transparency of the whole thing that he's going to be having some public input on. This is going to be kicking around to the community. Certainly there's nothing to be hidden in regards to the intent of the of the naming of the library, I think is very inspirational. And it would be a great opportunity for our children to go to the library to learn more about our first lady, our first African-American first lady, to learn more about diversity and embracing diversity. I think that's the most important message that this stimulus library does is precisely that. And the force is with us. Thank. Thank you. I'm going to I'm going to go ahead and go public comment and we're going to come back I'm going to make some comments as well once this comes back to the council. So we turn this over to public comment. Please line up and just make sure you say your name for the record and please begin. To make sure that the kids. Good evening. Mr. Mayor and city council members. My name is Tanya Thresh into a Long Beach resident. And in the north and in the north, Long Beach Library Service area. I'm here to speak in strong support of naming the new library in honor of First Lady Michelle Obama. I'm proud to stand here today with a room full of colleagues and esteemed friends who are raising signs saying yes to Michelle Obama. Mrs. Obama is a proud mother, wife, accomplished lawyer and public servant. First Lady Obama has been a champion for veterans families, healthy food exercise programs, and an advocate for improving children's literacy through the Read Across America campaign. Naming the new library will send a strong message to all of our daughters and future generations of children in North Long Beach. They, too, can go to Princeton. They, too, can have a Harvard Law School degree. Reading and education are the pathway to that unlimited opportunity in our country. By naming the new law library after First Lady Michelle Obama. We will not only help to increase the public space here in North Long Beach, but this new state of the art facility will inspire our community to be more civically engaged, utilizing this new safe space for community forums, Girl Scout meeting, sharing new ideas and interacting with one another. I believe that this is a powerful, positive and wonderful concept. I find it a bit troubling that there's some opposition to even bringing up this proposal. I know the Press Telegram editorial board does not speak for me. Why can't we have a public conversation about renaming our local facilities? You know, there's an Eleanor Roosevelt High School in North Carolina, even though she was born and spent most of her life in New York City. Laura Bush has a library named after her in Austin, Texas, even though she's from Midland, Texas. Naming public naming our facilities. Public facilities for living public figures has become incredibly common, as we've heard over the last 25 years. This proposal is about moving Long Beach forward to be a more representative of our city of today and not just yesterday, as was stated. Today, more than 80% of long beaches youth are students of color. Why would we not like to have a role model like Michelle Obama named for one of our local libraries? Tonight, I would ask you to move forward with starting this process. I believe that this is the right thing to do and it sends a positive message not only to my daughter, but to others, young people across North Long Beach. I look forward to your affirmative vote tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Who's going to go first? Good evening, City Councilor. Mayor My name is Current Bash and I am a fourth grader at Longfellow Elementary School and proud and a proud member of Girl Scout Troop 5193. I came out tonight to say yes to naming the new North Long Beach Library after the first lady, Michelle Obama. I am nine years old and I love to read. I am currently reading Key to the Treasure by Peggy Park. Michelle is that Michelle Obama is the only first lady I have ever known. I will love to finish reading Keys to Treasure in a library named after her. To me, she is a beautiful, smart and fun and I hope to be boss like her when I grow up. Please vote tonight to tonight to name my local library after Michelle Obama. As you make your decision, may the force be with you. Thank you. And I would like to ask to put up your pink signs if you are supporting. Dear Councilman Rex Richardson. My name is Corrina Williams and I am a student at Hamilton Middle School in North Long Beach, California. I support naming our new library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. One reason the library should be named after Mrs. Obama is because she inspires me every day. When I was in fourth grade, a boy made fun of me because I am half black. Sometimes when I got in my head, I would show him how it feels when someone talks to you like that. However, I told myself not to let it bother me and I would to think of Michelle Obama. She's black and successful. When I grow up, I will be like her. This is why I feel it is appropriate to name the library after Michelle Obama. She inspires us minorities here in Long Beach. My second reason is that she donated $250,000 to local library so kids can read, learn from the books, get good grades and go to college. She even says one of her rap songs. So you had with knowledge. She shows that through reading books. You can learn a lot and get good grades to go to college. Here are some reasons why some people think the library shouldn't be named after her. One reason is because people might think she is selfish because she wants a library named after yourself. Another reason is that she is not a Long Beach native. People who do not like Michelle Obama might graffiti the library and say things. Overall, she is a great role model, believes in higher education and motivates us to read. In conclusion, I think Michelle Obama should have the new library named after herself because she is a very inspiring Obama. I hope that this shows you that the library should be named after Michelle Obama. Sincerely, Corrina Williams. Dear Councilman Rex Richardson. My name is Bilal Siddique and I am a student at Hamilton Middle School. I am in in North Long Beach, California. I am supporting our new library now. Michelle Marie Oberman Neighborhood Library. Michelle Obama once said, If we want to go to college, fill your head with knowledge. This shows that she inspires people to go to college. The library should be named after Michelle Obama because she donated $250,000 to local libraries and she cares about education. Also, she is not a shy person. She made a rap song and went on The Ellen Show. Michelle Obama wrote in her rap, A dream is just a dream is just a dream until you go hard. In other words, this means that a dream is just a dream until you get an education. Michelle Obama is energetic. She can relate to us young people because she made a dance challenge to encourage encourage people to exercise. And another reason is because she is a role model. She encourages youth to take responsibility. Some people would say we shouldn't in the library after Michelle Obama because she is not a Long Beach hero. It would throw off the tradition for naming things after Long Beach Heroes. She didn't live in Long Beach, but she lived in South Side, Chicago. She can relate to us because because these are both low income cities. To conclude, we should name the library after Michelle Obama because she'd be. She cares about the impact of education on youth. Also, with only 80% of Long Beach High School students graduating on time, this library can make it at least 90% of students graduating on time. It will help them with resources and studying. So these characteristics show why we should name the library after Michelle Obama. Sincerely Bloom City. Thank you so much. Next speaker, please. Shirley Brassard, senior consultant, Swarm Group and Associates. I intended not to be in town tonight. However, when I read through the Gazette that this meeting was coming and this motion was being forwarded, I thought, okay, this might be the reason why I'm still here. And initially I had a question which I will state after my statement. If Mr. Richardson had recommended his mother. Receive the name of the North Long Beach Library. Many people would wonder why. They might consider honorable, but they would wonder why. Some would probably laugh if he would name his the library or propose a motion to name the library after his wife. Some, again, would think it was honorable and somebody might look at him sideways. But in bringing forth this motion. That this library would be named in honor of our nation's first African-American first lady, Michelle Obama. Nobody has to wonder why. Across the globe. No one will have to wonder why. Even those who might find reason to disagree. They can't wonder why. Before the end of time. And this goes to whether or not we buy into the creationist theory or the evolutionist theory. But according to my studies before the end of time, God has to reconcile some things in the Earth. As we're forwarding our celebration of Christmas, those of us who celebrate that as being the birth of Christ, whether or not that December 25th is arguable, as we move forward to December 25th, we're going to have to at some point reconcile his birth, Jesus birth, his death and his resurrection. Some a fast forward for a minute into next year. This time next year, next year, we'll be celebrating Passover. Right before Jesus got ready to be hung on the cross that he was carrying. A black man was pulled out from the side. From North Africa. They just found their black man on the road and made him carry Jesus's cross. That same Jesus whose birth we will be, some of us celebrating a couple of days from now. History had to see a black man in the White House. We had to see it. That we would name that library after her is but a small token. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Greetings to the mayor and the council members. I am Clarissa Spencer and I serve as the President of the Lumbee Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., a 102 year old public service sorority with over 250,000 college educated women from all over the world. Our chapter here in Long Beach was chartered in 1986. We are here today to support Councilman Richardson's recommendation to name the new North Branch Library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. First Lady Michelle Obama stated, I believe that education is the single most important civil rights issue that we face today, because in the end, if we really want to solve issues like mass incarceration, poverty, racial profiling, voting rights and the kinds of challenges that shocked so many of us over the past year, then we simply cannot afford to lose out on the potential of even one young person. We cannot allow even one more young person to fall through the cracks. As First Lady Michelle Obama, through her national initiatives, has shown that education is the gateway to success. Specifically, the Reach Higher Initiative, which inspires every student in America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school. The initiative seeks to make sure our students understand what they need to complete their education, access to learning opportunities. A library can offer that having exposure to college and career opportunities. A library can definitely do that. And supporting families, schools, counselors and kids so kids have a safe space to learn and study. A library can definitely offer that too. In closing, the idea of the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library was initiated by the youth from the Long Beach Jordan rap program. Our kids have spoken and we should listen. They are our future leaders and I want their voices to be heard. And I stand with them and for them in their support. Let us give our children a library in their community named after someone who they can positively, positively identify with and who 100% believes in literacy and education for all in the 21st century. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Honorable mayor, distinguished. Merry Christmas. My name is Dave San Jose. I was born here in Long Beach in 1940. I guess I must love this city because I'm still here. I want to give you a little bit of history about North Long Beach, which we always known as the orphans of the city . I'm going to cut my stories a little bit short because I only had a few minutes one day. One of the students at Jordan High School went over after school and baseball practice. He was quite a baseball player. Went over to a phone booth. A lot of you here don't even know what a phone booth is. He was called his girlfriend. All of a sudden, a drive by happened. He was shot and killed. Our community came together and said, What we need is a youth center. Let's start helping our kids. And so our big focus is and has been all about our kids. We were fortunate enough to start a program there. We had the Future Generation Youth Center, about the only youth center in the last ten years in Long Beach. And that was brought together because it was the right thing to do. And the community came and did that with all of our councilmen. Another thing that happened was all of a sudden we had redevelopment. Redevelopment came in and I think it was Jerry Schulz had mentioned that we could have a fire or a police station. And I never believed that we could do that. We got together, the community got together, and we fought it. And everything about it was a giant fight. Anyway, here we have one of the nicest police stations in North Long Beach. It belongs to us so we can be proud of. All of a sudden it came up that we can have a library. I mean, a fire station. And I think Bell was the councilman then. And we never believed that we can have that either. All of a sudden, the community got together and we only had a three little three bedroom house for a fire station. And here he had these great big ideas that the community finally came up with the ideas of having this great big fire station. Now we have one of the best fire stations in the city because we believe it. And the community came together. What this is really about. Then we had redevelopment and redevelopment came in and said, we can change our city, we can have new buildings, we can have all of these things. Well, we don't have those things. Mainly what we have is a bunch of white fences. But one idea came up and it was the library and everybody with redevelopment. There were hundreds of people from this started 16, 17 years ago. That's when the idea first came about. And it was possible we could have a library. Not for us. I'm 75 years old. It's for the kids. We really need this up here in North Long Beach. And so we worked on it. We worked on it. And the only money that we did set aside was the money for the library. So we do have a library. And that's the reason that I think the library should be named after its parents who gave it birth 17 years ago, the community. And we did that for our kids because we care about our kids. I guess my time is up. Yeah, just got to wrap it up, so I got to give everyone the same amount of time. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. City council members. My name is Kate Huizar, and I'm the interim executive director for the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. I also my father and I both lived in North Long Beach for many years. I would like to first thank Councilman Richardson for getting the community so engaged and excited about naming the new North Library. The foundation feels strongly that residents of North Long Beach and residents of Long Beach should feel that they have an input in the library's name and their development. After all, it is their library. Therefore, the foundation strongly supports the idea of hosting a community forum in which names can be suggested and discussed. And I know Council and Richardson, you've agreed, you know, that this is an extra step you should take. We the foundation also looks forward is looking forward to a new main library and many other exciting civic projects throughout the city. It is important, as we have today, to be transparent about the process of naming, define and communicate the standards of criteria for such processes and include the Long Beach Committee and important decisions such as naming and others. There are many notable community leaders and literary icons deserving of this honor, and we look forward to learning the name of this, the name that the Long Beach community chooses for this library and those other institutions. Whatever the name, the foundation is committed to supporting North the North Library by raising the much needed funds that will enhance it, creating a space that will best serve the community and be something that the community can truly be proud of. We look forward to working more closely with Councilman Richardson's office, among others, on our North fundraising campaign, engaging community members and business owners in his district and beyond. As an independent nonprofit, the Long Beach Community, Long Beach Public Library Foundation, excuse me, has provided over $20 million in support of our public library system in the past 18 years. We have been actively involved in the North Library discussions and I personally look forward to meeting with all of the City Council members to further discuss the Foundation's plans to support the new North, the new main and other libraries in our city. Thank you and happy holidays. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, Council members. Mayor. Thank you so much for this opportunity. My name is Dr. Sabrina Sanders and I'm an educator, university administrator, community leader and a homeowner in the city of Long Beach, ninth District. As a passionate educator, there's nothing more important than presenting the role models that inspire our children. Someone that exemplifies the values, the philosophies, and walk the walk of what we hope to instill in our young people. Michelle Obama is that role model. So many of our young people finally, finally are relating to our first lady, whether it's in her background of grassroots organizing and going door to door in neighborhoods exactly like ours, advocating for those that are not always represented at the table, standing strong and addressing the issues of health and wellness are speaking on behalf of the value of education for our country. She understands our communities and stresses the values for progress for our neighborhoods. She has impacted our community in ways that have never been touched by a national leader. Only because we can relate and connect to the First Lady, Michelle Obama, in so many ways. We have been so excited for so very long about the transition of North Lawn Beach, going back many, many councilmembers and many mayors ago. It's a new day in North Long Beach. Naming the library after a renaissance woman. A person who our community identifies with a national leader. First Lady Michelle Obama. A model of the leadership and altruism that we aspire for our youth and will exemplify in our vision for our community. Have a great evening. Thank you, Dr. Sanders. Next speaker, please. Get there noon. My name is Bill Sanchez. It's great to see so many friendly faces again. I'm encouraging you to share, as some of you already know, for your new ship, Long Beach and occurring, you will be U.S. high school senior. I thank here today and support Councilman Rex Richardson's decision in May in naming the new library after Michelle Obama. We have named most of our public libraries and schools after presidents or famous authors. First Lady Michelle Obama is a lawyer and a writer. Along with being the first. Along with being the wife of the 44th and current president of United States. Made her the first African-American first lady of the United States. Naming the library would be a symbol of gender equality. By demonstrating to us that we as citizens of Long Beach are making the change. Here is a quote by First Lady Michelle Obama. No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and their private so of the contributions of half of its citizens by supporting a female role model. And those messages and that's where I ended her quote by supporting female role models such as herself and becoming a role model. A role model for women and men. For advocating probably awareness, higher education and healthy living. So why not name this new library after Ms.. Show Obama. After a great role model that supports the point of a public library raising higher education. Thank you. And may the force be with you. I'm loving all the Star Wars tonight. I won't have to. I'm going to work that into my comments after, I think, next speaker. Good evening. Honorable Mayor Garcia. And councilman. I am Benjamin Miranda representing Jordan High School. The Jordan Rap Program, and I'm currently the president of the Omega Brothers program. I'm here to give support to the councilman, Rex Richardson, on behalf of naming the library, the Michelle Obama library, the same way he supports not only the ZAE Sisters and. Omega Brothers program, but Jordan High School. And the North Lambie's community as a whole. One example is last year Councilman Rex Richardson gave us the opportunity to be part of the first youth participatory budgeting meeting. Actually not meeting. I'm committee sorry, where we had so much fun, met so many new people and at the end we ended up winning first and second place with the marquee and first place and the solar lights for this forest in second place. Thanks to the Councilman Rex Register and we also have had the chance to develop a closer relationship with the Long Beach Unified School District member Megan Kurt. Councilman Rex Richardson is always in full support of the youth in pushing us to do better by coming by Jordan. Coming to Jordan High School and inviting us to community events. Thank you for listening to the youth of Long Beach and considering our idea of naming the new library. Michelle Obama Library. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker. Good evening, honorable mayor garcia and Long Beach City Council members. My name is Angel Pozo and I'm here representing Jordan High School and the Jordan Rep program as the Omega Brothers vice president. I would like to give a great thank you first to Councilmember Rex Richardson, because if it wasn't for him, I would not have the opportunity to be here today. Speaking on behalf of Naomi, the new library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library, says you don't normally get the chance to have a voice or say in what's going on in our city or in our community. But thanks to Councilmember Rex Richardson, we have had the opportunity to have a voice in many city events and other occasions. For example, last year as a freshman in high school, I had the opportunity to host one of his events called Community Conversations to discuss the Whole Village initiative. The reason I would like to name the library, the reason why I would like the library to be named after the First Lady, Michelle Obama is because just as Councilmember Richardson engages the youth, First Lady Michelle Obama has also launched many initiatives in order to inspire youth both in health and education. For example, in 2014, she launched the Reach Hire Initiative, which is an effort to inspire youth, youth and other people across America to take charge of their future by completing their education past high school. I am proud there is someone as high up in her studies who cares about the youth. I feel strongly that we are the future. Thank you for your time and I hope that our ideas and opinions can be taken into consideration. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hello. Good evening. Honorable Mayor Garcia and Long Beach City Council members. My name is Melissa Rodriguez and I'm here representing Jordan High School and the Jordan Rap Program. As vice president of the VI Sisters. Program. I would like to thank Councilman Richardson, who has led us his high school. Students have a voice and opinion in our community. I've been in this program since my freshman year and currently I'm currently a senior now. Throughout all my high school years. Sorry. This is the first time that we as students in Jordan High School have a voice in our community. He continually puts keep. He continually puts us in the front. And we aren't treated as kids. We are actually treated as young adults who have actually have a voice. Councilman Richardson allowed us to voice their opinion on naming the library the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. A main reason on why US students, especially as US ladies and the Jordan Rapp ZAE Sisters program, will like to be naming this library after the First Lady is because she is a great inspiration and is seen as a role model to us women. An example given on how our First Lady inspires us youth is how she launched the US Government Worldwide Initiative. Not to let let girls learn to help girls around the world to go to school and stay in school. It helps educate and empower young women. She's sharing stories and struggles of these young women to help inspire and have their own education. This relating to our program on behalf on how we as a diverse group of young females who focus on helping one another, empowering each other as women, we focus on reaching a higher education, even though all of us go through our daily struggles. Michelle Obama, to us, in our eyes, a true leader and an inspiration. Thank you for listening to us youth and in voicing their opinion. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Next speaker, please. Should we keep it going here? Good evening, Honorable Major Garcia and lovely City Council members. My name is Cathy Servants and I am representing Jordan High School along with the Red Program as assistant president. We are thankful for having the opportunity to work with Rex Richardson and Amy, the new library after Michelle Obama. We have gathered over 200 signatures from students at our school in favor of naming the new neighborhood library, the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. We feel that she is a great role model and inspiration to us and others. She has inspired us and has showed us how much she cares about children and youth by all the things she does. For example, the Let's Move campaign, a campaign where children receive healthier food to live a healthier lifestyle. She has also created a Web video where she motivates women to stay in school and go to college. It feels good to know that there is people out there who cares about us and wants us to do better and accomplish our goals. We will also like to thank Rex Richardson for taking in consideration our ideas and for also always supporting our program. I really hope you take in consideration our ideas and thanks for having us here tonight. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And I don't think you. Good afternoon, Honorable Mayor Council members. My name is Megan Kerr. I am a resident of the eighth District and a lifelong Long Beach resident. I also have the privilege of serving on the Board of Education for Long Beach Unified School District, and to tell you, I couldn't be more proud of our students . But I've also been in this game long enough to know that following students is absolutely the worst. Place to. Be. You have a copy of my support letter in front of you, and I just want to reiterate a few of the things that were said. This is absolutely the next great step in having this conversation move to the wider community. Councilmember Richardson has brought this forward in a very thoughtful and thorough way with steps outlined in ways that the community can give meaningful engagement in this process. We know that the naming of public spaces and buildings is requires much reflection and even more so when we recognize and honor individuals by the nature of our humanity. None of us is perfect and critics will find something wrong with any potential honoree. So in in this process, not only considering the contributions, but the context is incredibly important. Each generation will define for themselves who they find to be heroic, who they find to be role models. And as I stand here, the mother of children, the ages of people who just spoke to you, they're defining this very clearly as who represents them, who inspires them. I hear it again and again in the short time that we've been talking with this publicly. The response I get from children as young as ten and 14 is, That's great. She's so cool. They really understand that this is a person who speaks to them. And so as we continue to develop North Long Beach into the most technologically advanced and modern education corridor from the construction of Jordan High School, a potential community center and this library looking forward with this naming, is absolutely the right thing to do. And I thank you for your affirmative vote in moving this process forward. Thank you, board member Kirk. Good evening. I'm a I'm the one who always groans when they have these long speaker lines. And here I am, part of it. Good evening. My name is Dr. Johnny Rex O.D., and I'm a resident at Long Beach living in the Forest Park on the 300 block of South Street. Over the course of the last year, I've been to many city council meetings to support several initiatives that have been put forth this year to better Long Beach and better my community. Most of the time I choose not to speak, not because I don't feel like I have something to say or feel that I have a voice . But because many of the voices advocating on behalf of our community are voices I trust to communicate the needs of the community I reside in and reflect the shared vision many of us have for the new trajectory we are paving in the Uptown Renaissance. Today I stand before you because some of the voices weighing in on the proposal are not voices I believe accurately reflect the new North and this collective vision. And I want to make it unequivocally clear that I am genuinely excited about the prospect of naming our library after the current first lady. And let me tell you why. With communities in transition just like ours in North Long Beach, it is important to have symbols to rally around, to demonstrate that there's something special about our community. These symbols can take a myriad of forms. We currently have the opportunity to combine the pride and excitement we feel when we think about our brand new library with a public figure that inspires us to new and higher levels. Who encourages us to expect more from ourselves and more from those around us, including our elected officials? A public figure that inspires the next generation, the next generation of future leaders of our great city of Long Beach. I think we can all agree that our goal in making Long Beach a destination city is to make sure all parts of Long Beach have destination points for local, regional, national and international visitors. Right now, we in the north are in a time of rebranding. Determining what this new trajectory will look like and what legacies we will leave for the next generation. The old connotations and assumptions about North Long Beach are slowly fade into the background as the new short as the new North is being shaped and molded. Let's continue to be progressive, to be out of the box thinkers and to be a community that inspires and aspires. So I will end with Go Long Beach and go uptown. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Honorable Mayor. City Council. My name is Andy Kerr from the eighth District and I felt compelled this evening to speak on this issue for a couple of different reasons. First of all, I'm currently in the eighth District, but I spent the first 25 years of my life at Orange and 64th, right across the street from Grant Elementary School in North Long Beach. And so the North Long Beach community is very dear to my heart. And I still spent a lot of time there. And the North Branch Library was very important to me as I was growing up. So I was very excited to hear a couple of years ago about the the new building that will be happening for that community and very excited about that. I was the first member of my family to graduate from college and in addition to my parents who threatened me within an inch of my life if I didn't. I also think the North Branch Library Library for teaching me a love of learning, a love of books because of the hours and the hours that I spent there. And the other issue I went to to speak on tonight was as a member of the Homeless Services Committee representing the eighth District and Councilman Austin. And you, Mr. Mayor, and I've also have been a member, a board member of an organization named Housing Works, which provides permanent supportive housing for people who are chronically homeless, at risk of homelessness. And many of those people that that my organization and the homeless services people in the city of Long Beach have served have been veterans . And Mrs. Obama has been an incredible leader on that issue. I have seen my organization, Housing Works, House Veterans, who have been on the streets, living on the streets virtually for my entire life from the Vietnam War era, and have seen them go to housing because of the leadership of Mrs. Obama, because the Veterans Administration now gets what it takes to end chronic homelessness among veterans. But it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for her leadership. And with. Because of your leadership, Mr. Mayor, and the council and our wonderful staff here, I'm proud to say that the city of Long Beach is on pace to reach the goals set by Mrs. Obama to end veterans homelessness in the city of Long Beach. And I'm very proud of that. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Makes me feel. Good evening, Mayor and City Council Persons. I'm Liz Gonzalez. I'm an educator and a creative writer. And we are celebrating our sixth year as homeowners in North Long Beach in Eagle North. My name is George Martin. I'm a biologist and musician and part of Uptown Ward. Together we run Uptown Word Reading and Arts Series, which we began in North Long Beach. One of our missions is to promote literacy and in addition to bring writers to North Long Beach that represent the community. And then that means people of color. It was so important to us to do this. We didn't have a venue, so we held pop up events every month. And starting next month, January, we will now have a home at North Branch Library. And we just wanted to say, as people who promote the letters, promote literacy and the arts, that we wholeheartedly support this recommendation . As a girl, I grew up going to libraries and I would have loved to have had a role model like Michelle Obama and been able to attend a library named after her. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening. My name is Charles Durning. I'm a 60 year resident of Plus of Long Beach. It's wonderful to hear the enthusiasm for this new library. And though I may offer up another alternative, it's like standing on the beach with a tsunami or global warming. We may all end up north Long Beach. But having said that. We do have a city policy in place, and I think that policy stands for a lifetime of service. We have many people in North Long Beach that that perhaps could qualify under that. I offer up two people that were husband and wife. They were Judge Marcus and Indira Hale. Tucker. Judge Judge Tucker was an African-American. He was the first judge to be put on a municipal court. He was long recognized for his position on youth. And if he had someone on probation and they didn't make their grades, he left them on probation. Indira Hale. Tucker had a passion for books. She she had a program at our libraries where the new kids could come in. And not only could they take out books, but they could take out toys. She she started the resource center for. The African American Society. She coauthored a book on the heritage of African-Americans in Long Beach with Aaron De. She was a founding member, excuse me, of our Long Beach Public Library Foundation. I think the other thing that is a consideration and if we do go forward with this Mrs. Obama's name, I would challenge all of our counseling and council women. The goal is to raise $700,000 for North Shore Branch Library for their computer learning center and the other electronic and books that they need. I would challenge you to be of assistance in raising that money so that we could have the best library possible in north our region. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. And I'm going to I see a I'm going to close out the speakers listening to anybody else. There's two more. Okay. So I'm going to close off theirs. Okay. So after the next the folks that are coming up, I'm closing the speaker's list. Yes, sir. Good evening to the council, to Mayor Garcia. My name is Otis Hogan. I'm a member of the Human Relations Commission and chair of the Highland Park Neighborhood Association. I've been most inspired this evening by the people who are the community members who came before me, especially the young people who spoke earlier. But moving on as a 16 year old transplant to the city, the Long Beach Library and Long Beach Poly was what first inspired me to develop a lifelong love for Long Beach. So when it comes to the. Library. Project with love and appreciation, I believe the whole North Long Beach community is pleased and excited to see the new library take shape on Atlantic Avenue. I am here today inspired and excited at the prospect of this building being named after the First Lady. I, for one, and I know many others in our community. Will be proud to be a patron and supporter of the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. Thank you. Go uptown. Go Long Beach. Right. Go Long Beach. Next speaker, please. Good evening. I'm Marco Cooper and I represent Andy Street, which is located in North Long Beach. And any street community is and supports Councilmember Rex Richardson's proposal to name the new library after Michelle Obama. The if you look at the demographic in North Long Beach, it consists of many African-Americans, according to statistics. People are more likely to associate themselves with places that they can relate to. Michelle Obama being African-American will shake more kids in the community. The library is named after her. The first lady is a great role model that the kids in our community can look up to, given that she has similarities with the youth in the city . After construction is complete, the 25,000 square foot library will be a great location to get kids in the neighborhood, a place to get resources or do homework after school. However, more than that can be accomplished by naming it after the First Lady. She's a perfect example of what hard work and determination can get you. People will always be more supportive of a person they look up to. Obama is a respected woman throughout the community because she's an advocate for education and has earned her own degrees at Princeton and Harvard Law School. If Obama's name is attached to the new public library, it will send the message that if kids work hard enough, some day they will be able to accomplish as much as she had. Or even or maybe even more. North Lawn Beach has improved over the past several years. However, we still have room for improvement, namely the new library. After Michelle Obama will give guidance and inspiration to kids throughout the community to strive day in and day out to reach their goals. If the City Council approves the proposal, it could be huge for the community. It will give African-American kids hope, knowing that the biggest neighborhood branch library in the city is named after an African-American woman. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening. Everyone. Mayor Council members. My name is Charlie Scott. The third and I grew up in Long Beach. You know, I. Went to Hamilton Middle. School. I then went to Long. Beach, Jordan go Panthers. After that, I went to Cal State, Long Beach. And I've just been rooted in the community and in this community. My parents still live. In the same house like this is where we lived north Long Beach. And at this point in my life, I have seen it evolve into a place that other places in Long. Beach are saying, what's. Going on and the. Renaissance down in North Long Beach. And I didn't. Say we're looking forward to a new library. And in this library, the name we're looking forward. To see. On it is Michelle. Obama. Neighborhood Library. I'm up here standing before you to speak to you for. My little niece that was just born in October. Because as she grows up, she's going to make her way to Grant Elementary School at Grant Elementary School. She's going to then go to the library and then the library. She's going to see this name, Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library. And in that library, she's going to understand that she comes from North Long. Beach, from the. Stop that we come from. And she can not only make it to the White House, but change as a catalyst for the rest of the world. So I stand for of first. And then I stand for. Myself. And then I stand as a voice of the community to say to everyone here, we're all people from Long Beach and we all. Want best. For what's for Long Beach in this. Moment right now. And I'm asking. You to vote and. Say. Michelle Obama. Neighborhood Library on the north side of Long Beach. Where I came from. Now. It's a new. Name. It's a new library. And it's. A new direction. Because in North Long Beach, it's time for a new direction. It's time to be able to. See someone. That mirror images or reflects who we are as. A community. And in this community. We are strong, we are intellectual, and we are thriving right now. This is the next phase of what North Long Beach will. Become in the next 22 years. For Alyssa. My name is Charlie. Scott, the third. And again, I'm speaking to you on behalf of. The Michelle Obama. Neighborhood Library. Vote for the library. Let's let's do something to make our youth proud of our. Decisions in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Speaker, please. And I have three more speakers and lady at the end is the last speaker. Lori Margaret Smith, you're in line. Okay. No, that's okay. So we have four more speakers. That's okay. Thank you. Lori Angell. I've lived in North Long Beach since 1989. I've seen the neighborhood change substantially, yet I am still there. A lot of people left, but I am still there. And many like me stayed. And we fought for almost everything that people are enjoying right now, including the library. 15 years working on the library. Now, my head's getting turned a little bit today because first of all, Michelle Obama doesn't come up in my vernacular very often. I read the newspaper, I read magazines, I watch the news every single night. I watch intently. And I have not heard any of this about Michelle Obama before. So seriously, I am serious. I'm not lying. I'm being very serious. Let's make sure everyone has a has a right to make their comments. And if I could just have the audience, please be respectful. So I appreciate greatly getting the perspective of the individuals in the audience. That being said, I've been looking forward for 15 years for the completion of the North Branch Library to celebrate North Long Beach. What I am concerned about is that this is coming up now. We're going to have to pay $47,000 to change this and change that and put in a new sign. Why didn't this come up two years ago? Why couldn't the why couldn't the neighborhood and the community discuss this two years ago? Why now? Why three days before Christmas? Is this coming up now? So that's my objection. I think the process is really fouled up and I'm disappointed that this is where we are. I've been speaking against this naming because I don't know who Michelle Obama is. I know who she is. But I equate her to politics. I equate her to being the wife of who I consider a very good leader. And I don't feel that most first ladies deserve this kind of recognition. I would like to see President Hillary Clinton lie very personally, but that's just me. So good luck. I'm hoping for more discussion and I'm just a little disappointed that this wasn't better discussed in the neighborhood. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Vice Mayor Lowenthal, City Council members. My name is Margaret Smith. I live in the third district. My address on file, and I am speaking as a former president and vice president of public affairs for the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. We are really, really excited to be a part of this discussion about the transformative potential of the new North Library. Many have asked us. What is the Foundation's position on the naming of North Library? You heard from Kate Huizar, our executive director. I would like to. Quickly summarize. Our key three positions. First of all, there is much discussion about who should be honored. We are not not taking a position on any specific individual. There are many deserving candidates. Let the community decide. Secondly, we are most concerned about the process, both for North Library and for future naming opportunities. We are glad to know that the process will be transparent and inclusive of the entire Long Beach community and we are very appreciative of Councilmember Richardson's commitment to that approach. Last. Whatever the decision about the name. As was said earlier, the foundation will continue its active campaign of support and fundraising to make this an amazing north library for all of the individuals here tonight and the entire community. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker, please. 30 2:00 as they address a number of items. First of all, one of the things I think everybody can agree on when the time comes to make that announcement of who the library will be named after. And if we select Steve Harvey, let's make sure that the teleprompter is working. Okay? My affinity for the library is not limited to the nexus I referenced last week relative to the having a relative that who designed the L.A. Public Library. My mother was a librarian and in the small world department earned her degree from the same place that Eleanor Richardson. Who for 20 years was our director of Librarian Services. I went to school. I was. I clearly support the building of the library, in fact. When you first announced it a number of months ago, I gave you the I think will probably be one of the first books there, The Boys in the Boat, which parenthetically, if you have not read, you should read. It is a tremendous, tremendous book. On what life was like in the deepest depths of the Depression in this country. Some of those experiences we're expressing, we're experiencing right here and now. One of the things and I mentioned this to Councilman Rex Richardson that struck me and I was a little disturbed about. I see only the signs from one side. That tells me the process wasn't completely open, period. I've been down to this council chamber one or two times, and when there are major issues, they're generally people equally in number represented and so forth. And I don't see that here tonight. That's a little troubling. Equally troubling was the fact that people were referencing it's people of color. I don't give a rat's rear end what color somebody is, and that should not matter whatsoever. People are saying, well, right now we've got 90% or whatever the percentage of African-American. The realities are. With by the time ten years from now, 15 years ago, 15 years from now, that profile is going to change. And if you don't understand that, look at the changes, the population and the migrations into this country. It might be Syria. It might be Muslim. It might be Irish. You never know. So let's check that at the door. Somebody once said, you know, it's not the content, it's not the color of the stain, but the content of the mind. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Equally important, if you want to. I think that would be an embarrassment to the first lady because she doesn't want to be seen as being elbowed. Elbowing your way in. Last comment. Time is up. Study Google and study the China. Thank you, Mr. Cole. You know, understand time is the time is out. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, honorable mayor. Members of the Council, ladies and gentlemen. I want to thank you all for affording me the honor of speaking here tonight. Here are a few suggestions that I. That have an opportunity to please all involved. I'm sorry. Just to get your name for the record. I'll run it. I live in ninth district for tomorrow. Perfect. Thank you. I live in the ninth district. The policy in Long Beach is to name a public asset after someone who has been dead over a year. Although it can be overridden, it shouldn't be. There are solid, significant reasons for that policy. Michelle Obama is still alive. The history books have not yet been. Finalized about her. And I'm sure the. Force is with her as well as everyone else here today. She will have a very long life ahead of her. With a lot more history to write. We cannot begin to predict that a person who is so young will always deserve the designation being proposed here today. However, the aforementioned city policy does not extend to school districts. A suggestion would be to the youth of Jordan and all the other schools in Long Beach work at a designated special area in their school honoring the First Lady so that all of the future generations may be reminded every day of Michelle Obama as an inspiration for their dreams, aspirations, goals and personal achievements. If the north Long Beach. North Lawn. North Library branches to be named after someone. There's strong support for the name Mr. Bill Baker. Also, Judge Tucker. I can find many facts that point to them as the reason the library has become a reality in our neighborhood. Years before our current councilman took office. With all due respect. His support, their support over the years and dedication should be an inspiration to all of us where many may have given up. Another suggestion would be to honor our veterans. There's strong veterans support in North Long Beach and the veteran theme is already going down Atlantic. Or just simply leave the library name in honor of our great city where I. Am proud to live. And have dedicated many hours to its improvement. Thank you. Thank you very much. I think that closes public comment there. I think everyone spoke. Okay, good. So let me take this. Let me take this back and I'll make a few comments and I have a couple I have one other comment and then we'll go to to the motion. So let me let me just say, first of all, that I want to thank everyone for coming. And regardless of, you know, what do you think the library should be named or shouldn't be named? This is important part of the process. So thank you all for coming. I especially want to thank and congratulate all the young people that came out tonight. And it it makes it makes me very proud that there's youth in our community, in our schools that are so active in what's happening in the city and the fact that they felt compelled to to come up with an idea about a name of a pretty important, significant building, public building that we're building. And the present that to Councilman Richardson, I think, is really, really special. And regardless of what you think of the name, I think that's something that should make everyone proud of our of our youth in the city of Long Beach. I think just as a point of of, you know, of clarification and this has been brought up. We look at all of our institutions in Long Beach, and I think there's been a lot of great suggestions that have been that have been made. We have a we have what I would call a pretty decent mix of folks that are that our buildings are named after. Some are national figures. We're across the street from Lincoln Park or Cesar Chavez Park. Are there are more local to our history, whether it's Drake Park or other names that we've made? Some are or are authors or folks that we aspire or love something about, like Mark Twain, which was the last, I think, library name that we name that we that we chose for for our last big library in in central Long Beach. And sometimes we name things for folks that are that are still with us that have made great contributions like we just did for Beverly O'Neil, who is the former mayor of Long Beach. And so the city, I think, has always had a process in as long as I've been here. It has always began with a councilmember from that district who was the elected representative of that district, would bring forward a name and a process for the council to consider. And I think that's what's what's happened through this. I know not everyone loves a name and that's okay, but I think that's something that there is a process. And I just want to remind us that the actual agenda item is pretty clearly states for the council to consider this and then to begin a public outreach and deliberation process over the course of, I'm assuming, over the next few weeks or months. So that's all been said. Personally, I'll say that. When I think about particularly women and young women and young girls to be able to look up at a library and be able to see the name of someone that inspires them, that represents them, that looks like them, I think is something very, very special. And so I think I think our first lady is I, I think someone I read in a comment or somebody sent me an email that mentioned, you know, she's she's just the wife of the president. And I would say that he is probably the president because he married Michelle Obama. And and I think that, you know, she probably anyone that she married would probably one day become the president. And so I think listen, I think she personally I think she is a incredible choice, that name on a public building, I think. But that doesn't also mean that there aren't other incredible names that could consider. And I think that's important to say, because she is a great a great name. But all the other names that have been mentioned, some great people in our own local history, I think in the press telegram mentioned three or four African-American leaders that have been very influential. They're all of value. And I think that's important to note for everyone. Everyone that's been named has done and made incredible contributions to our city. And we should value whether they're a national leader and they impact things like like our veterans or our education policies nationwide that affect our local schools or whether they're folks like were mentioned earlier, someone that led the way on legal issues. That was our first municipal judge. That was African-American or first African-American, a woman librarian. All sorts of different names are out there that are all worthy. Not one is not more worthy than than the other. They've all contributed. One thing that I the councilman and I mentioned earlier, and I want to make sure and I'll bring this up and I think that he is very open to this and I think is encouraging is when when when this gets built. And over the course of the next few weeks, as we discuss this and the Library Foundation is involved and others are involved, there's a lot of people that went and were involved in the process of this library and a lot of great leaders. And I've heard actually a lot of great women that have been involved as well. And so I think that there's opportunities as we look at the library, whether they're reading rooms, whether they're spaces around the grounds to also be able to honor all of these great leaders, women, community leaders that all were a part of this important building. And so, Councilman, I'm hopeful that as this process moves forward, that regardless of what the final name ends up being, and I certainly know that the Michelle Obama name has a lot of support, that we look at ways of honoring all of our local champions as well. And I know that you were supportive of that. And so, councilman. So, Mayor, I'm absolutely I've committed this to two former council members. I've had this conversation with former council members. We just had a brief conversation with the Library Foundation. I think there's plenty of opportunities to to highlight our local leaders, and I think we should do that. I've heard names. I remember Bill Baker was around when I first started working for the city, and I had tremendous respect for him. And I know Dr. Marks, but Judge Tucker is, you know, comes up in and there are a lot of I think it would be really interesting and looking at how we can highlight other women in Long Beach and around our grounds of our library, other establishments, and we have a main library coming up. So I really think that this is an interesting catalyst moment for us to really kind of look holistically about how we how we make sure everyone has some attention and we and we think strategically about how we also raise money for our establishments. So. Absolutely. Mr. Mayor. Great. Well, thank you. And I want to thank all of you for for coming out and for supporting something, especially the young folks, for making what I think is really a great suggestion. And so thank you, guys for for doing that. And with that, I want. To finally just say I just want to say thank you to everyone who who took the time to come out both sides of the issue. You guys were very passionate. I heard a few things. People said, oh, I was moved by the comment or I may not have known very much about the first lady, but this is the community process. This is the beginning. And I'm hoping that we have a strong community as a result as a result of this. So thank you so much. Thank you very much. And with that, there is a motion and a second. And again, the motion is for the council to consider the new North Branch Library as the Michelle Obama Neighborhood Library and request library services and Department of Parks to conduct outreach and engage youth and library patrons around the naming of the library and move and to move forward. And so thank you for that. Please cast your votes. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you. And thank you all for for coming out on this issue. Thank you. And then we're going to continue our meeting. I know. I'm sure most of you won't stay, which is okay. So just if I could just ask you as you exit, just to, you know, be as quiet as possible so we can continue the meeting. Thank you very much. If I can just do the consent calendar real quick. Okay. There's a motion and a second. Is there any public comment on consent? KC Nunn members, please cast your votes.