City Council Meeting_ Feb 4_ 2026

Everybody put their right hands over their heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Right face.

Forward march. Prepare to pose. Colors. Flag salute. About face. Forward march.

Thank you so much to our Monterey Park Fire Explorers and thank you to Alex Zhu. We have a certificate of recognition for you as our civic star this evening. employer, family.

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Thank you.

They're already hitting Alhambra hard, Monterey Park hard. in the future, you're welcome to sign up online and join our future council meetings. All right. Let's move on to our roll call. Madam Clerk, may we get a roll call, please?

Council Member Ngo?

Present.

Council Member Wong?

Present.

Council Member Sanchez?

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Lo?

Here.

Mayor Yang?

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Item 5, any agenda revisions or additions?

Madam Mayor, we'd like to request item 8A be heard tonight before public communications. These are students that we have joining us in the audience, and we want to be mindful of their study and bedtime. So if we could, we'd like to request item 8A to be heard before public communications. And then the other items, we'd like to request. Staff communications, that's agenda item 7. If those, those can be heard after item 9A, that way I know there's a lot of public speakers for item 9A. If those those can be heard after item 9a That way I know there's a lot of public speakers for item 9a

Sounds good. So we'll do the presentation. We'll do 9a and then move staff communications behind 9a Alright, so recognition of the 2025 congressional app challenge third place winners We have Drexel go Alina Ramos Evan Lau and a teacher

You guys are welcome to come to the podium and say a few words

Thank you. I know my teammates want to say a few words too, so I'll be brief. Thank you for honoring us tonight, Mayor Yang, Mr. Lowe, Mr. Sanchez, Mr. Wong, and Mr.

Ngo. Thank you. We would also like to thank our school administrators, Mr. Bobjinn, Dr. Harmeel, Ms. Lees, and Mr. Nguyen. [Cheering and Applause] Now we'd also like to thank our teachers. We know you've had a busy day, and we are just so grateful to have your support. Finally, thank you everyone here for listening. We'd like to thank you, and we appreciate you, each and every one of you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Sorry, mine's a bit longer than his. Good evening, everyone.

I'd like to start by thanking all of the council members for once again inviting us here for this recognition. We truly appreciate it and are delighted to stand here again. We'd like to thank all of our parents for supporting our four-year journey for competing in the Congressional App Challenge. Thank you for your endless love. Thank you. patience and support thank you especially to miss Lam for helping us throughout every step of the process each year and for giving us a space to work and dedicating so much of her time to helping us thank you for your belief and for bringing our team together if it were not for you we would not have made it as far as we have our thanks does not end with our parents who are grateful to many others some of whom are here today I'd like to thank mrs. Wynn Drexel's and my kindergarten teacher for continuing to support us even ten years after we left your class miss Gaither for your support and publicity who has also been an important figure in our lives since kindergarten miss Lee for her never ending support and presence at ceremonies miss Houston for her encouragement and support throughout the years and to all of our past and present So agenda item 9A was proposed by council member Ngo. So council member Ngo, please. and thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you and many more better here today I would like to thank my aunts and uncles for the love and support to all of our friends and families for always encouraging and being supportive of us we are blessed to have all of you in our lives thank you we truly appreciate your endless support and encouragement it has helped us greatly we wouldn't be here without you good evening and thank you so much for this recognition means a lot for us to be acknowledged here today. Over the past few years, this experience has been incredibly fun and memorable. We've learned so much, met amazing people, and grown so many ways we never expected. Being part of this has challenged us, inspired us, and given us opportunities we will always be grateful for. Unfortunately, we won't be participating next year, but in many ways, that makes today even more special. This feels like a really good way to end this, with gratitude and appreciation for everything we've been a part of. Thank you for everyone who made this possible, our mentors, organizers, the city, our parents, especially Ms. Lam and Let's Code, because nothing would have been possible without her, and also everybody who supported us along the way. We're proud of what we accomplished and are excited to carry these experiences forward. We'd also like to give a special thank you to the teachers who went out of their way to support us today. Your time, encouragement, and presence meant a lot to us, and we're truly grateful for everything you've done. Thank you again for this honor.

All right, thank you so much. Congratulations on earning third place in the Congressional App Challenge, and we have certificates of recognition for all four of you.

While the original app was a success, it was a failure. The app was a failure. The app allowed users to navigate a computer using only their eyes and voice. It was limited to only on-screen interaction. In addition to revamped speech-to-text, eye tracking, and a new face tracker, iMacs goes beyond the screen. A user can now control a robotic

Councilmember Ngo.

disabilities, such as quadriplegia, who cannot perform simple daily tasks without help. Many existing assistive devices are too expensive or inaccessible to those who need them the most. iMacs is our success. We're proud to be a part of the iMacs community. We're proud to be a part of the iMacs community. We're proud to be a part of the iMacs community. We're proud to be a part of the iMacs community. We're proud to be a part of the iMacs community. It's a personalized and open-source solution built entirely with Python. Using our overhauled eye tracking system and newly developed face tracker, users can navigate a control panel built with TKKinja to fine-tune parameters through sliders and buttons to their liking. wait all right that way hopefully everyone gets a chance to speak before we have to go home. the mouse. One, eye tracking, which estimates where the user is looking on the screen, then moves the mouse to that spot. Clicking can be done through blinking, which is detected by checking for a minimum threshold of the eye aspect. Clicking can be done through blinking, ratio. Two, face tracking, which is done by calculating the pitch and yaw or the vertical and horizontal rotation of the user's face. Based on the direction of where they're facing, the mouse will move left, right, up, down, and down. In addition, our upgraded speech-to-text engine also allows users to control the keyboard with their voice better than ever. Typing can be done by just saying what you want to type, and keyboard commands can be given through short, specific phrases like increased volume or closed tap. These commands are stored in a separate

Plustem dictionary. This is for the Congressional App Challenge 2025. Delete seven characters. Open tab. This year, we assembled a self-calibrating prototype arm and integrated it seamlessly into the iMac's interface.

The control panel allows manual adjustment across the XYZ axis, giving the user precise control over the arm's position. Each axis can be fine-tuned or reset, and movement sequences can be recorded, saved, or executed as needed. The app communicates with the robotic arm using Pi Serial, which lets it send commands directly to the Raspberry Pi, activating the robotic functions. All this happens in real-time thanks to the reworked Python code we wrote to coordinate eye tracking, voice recognition, and hardware control smoothly. All these updates make it possible for users to live more independently. The arm has two detachable options, a grabber and a pen mode.

With these two modes, the arm has the capability to pick up water bottles, write, and more.

We also upgraded the gaming capabilities with new face tracker and speech-to-text functions. We were very conscious of this to be inclusive of all age groups.

In addition, we created a website where users can download iSpeak with this iMac's update, access our source code, and find documentation.

We aimed to ensure this project wasn't just functional, but truly accessible and shareable for anyone in need. We have assisted entrepreneurs every day to access the improved hardware, through email healthy TV, WebBack, and Google Play.

The toboggan screen's protests were defeated.

Today, we hope to home these benefits on a bigger scale through приложin, which not only helps us make more money online but also helps improve history, modern information, and make more money with less money.

We look forward to expanding PlayStation® first-hand. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, back on the agenda. And I think some of you are still holding on to the public comment cards. So just a reminder to turn them in to the city clerk here if you would like to speak. Otherwise, if you hold on to it, we won't be able to call your name. Right now we're going to do public communications, and then 9A will be right after. So I have three

a quick – just a quick announcement. If you have seats that are open next to you, I understand some individuals may have left already. Please raise your hands so individuals that don't have a seat behind you see that there's open seats nearby. So if there's community members that are looking for chairs, there's chairs in the audience here. People are raising their hands if you'd like to come sit down. Also, just a friendly reminder to keep the exit ways clear for us. Thank you.

Thank you, Inez. All right, so we'll call our first public communications speaker, Paul Isozaki. And each speaker, when you come up to the podium, please state your name. That way the clerk's office can make note. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you.

Paul Isozaki, no on data center people.

Barnes Park swimming pool supporters, listen to this. The city of Monterey Park needs to do their business differently. The city needs to get public input before deciding on major projects. The strength of this city is the homeowners and the residents, as you just saw these kids. Many of Monterey Park citizens are professionals and experts in their field. They can inform the city on major issues which our staff might not be able to see. Our city does backdoor business. Let me give you some examples of this backdoor business. The Abajo Garvey Project. The city spent over $20 million reinforcing the hill facing Garvey, a property whose value is less than $10 million. So we spent $20 million on this hill, but the property is worth less than $10 million. Not very good business. We did not own the property, but we are now stuck with it. The Monterey Park community found out about the project, but the project was approved. The contracts were signed and doing business, and it was too late. And they did the project without informing the public. The data center. Our city, again, worked with the corporation and made deals without informing the public. When the community found out, it blew up in their face. We saw it at the last city council meeting, and I can see we're seeing it again today. The transplant center. On the same property as the data center. Our city worked with One Legacy and was ready to begin approval. Until the neighborhood above it found out and organized to stop it. Let's go back 30 years. When Judy Chu and Fred Valdorama were city councilperson, they negotiated an exclusive trash contract with Athens Disposal. Again, behind closed doors. The residential trash, the trash cans at your house, all Athens. Commercial on Atlantic and Garvey, those businesses. All Athens. Industrial on Monterey Pass Road, all Athens. If you did construction, you had to use Athens. Athens had an exclusive trash contract with Monterey Park. When the public and two city councilmen objected, the city manager and three in favor city councilmen did not even have to listen. They had three city council votes. Again, we did not. We did not go to the public first. The Barnes Park swimming pool. The city decided to bury the pool. And use the property for city plans. Again, the community got involved and are trying to look for a solution. This is a simple case of abuse of power. Where does the abuse of power possibly come from? Well, in all five examples. The common denominator is our city attorney. The city attorney has been here too long. They are embedded in everything we do. Even at this meeting, I saw people talking to the city attorney. They get paid for their expertise, their consulting and representing our city. If we get sued for a project, our city attorney will defend us, but they get paid again. . I received a detail and history of the Aboho Garvey project yesterday by tax. It accused the city attorney of mismanagement. The city attorney's law office issued a cease and desist order that shut down the website. This is the problem, shutting down information and communication between the community and city government. As for our city manager. She learned from Ron Boal. She was Ron Boal's assistant. The tradition of learning from past city managers. So we make the same mistakes over and over. We need to change the way our city does business. We need, no, we must include our community, not exclude them. Thank you very much. . .

Thank you, Paul. Next speaker is Edlin Takahashi. Edlin? .

. . . Hello. Thank you for this time to speak today. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Edlin Takahashi, and I am a resident of Monterey Park for 30 plus years. . And today I'm here to represent the LGV Palisadesisherisel.com. We all know that a lot of people don't know what ISCT is. . As we chose to branch out from that division and change business, there's a very larger feed safe economy that was defining the afternoon bridge. And we alltså kept it ka replacement of desegregation of capital and wild asleep over values. The policy and 01 was yep, you were such as you . Yes, Ben. Thank you for the time to speak today. Okay, I will, in case you didn't know aboutige about the rest of this event. SGV Power Up Beacon, but also Mark Keppel High School alumni. I mentioned before when I first came that I am a, this is a 10 year fight for me. And so this jacket over here actually says 13.2 women dive on it. This was the year before I was Mr. President. I do have a funny story. This weekend during the Chinese New Year Festival, one of the former city council members actually ran away from me this weekend because I, it really happened, because I approached the city council person about the pool. I was collecting signatures to continue the petition and that person saw me and I said, hey, remember me, come on over. And they ran away from me in shame. And I said, where are you going? You promised me a pool 10 years ago. Ran faster. So anyways, this is really unfinished. And I'm a very, very busy person. And I'm very busy doing business. And, you know, I challenged the city council to finish the project this time and I'm hoping that happens. But today I'm here to represent the diving community. Options A, B, and C that were presented on Monday night were all very nice options. And I thank the person, the people doing the planning and for city council for having the survey. Valerie The diving boards were taken into consideration, which is two one-meter diving boards. However, talking to a coach, Liang Li, and he is the diving coach at Mark Heppel High School. He's also an Olympic gold medalist. So we're talking that the students are being coached by someone who really, really understands diving. He said that the minimum requirements is two three-meter boards and two one-meter boards. And so we've only allowed for two one-meter boards in any of these plans. And also there is no spa that would allow the divers to, you know, go ahead and do their warm-up and relax the muscles afterwards. So just some consideration, and I just want to point out that this is a very successful team. Oh, one more. One more thing. The person who was presenting the pool design said 12 feet was the depth of the pool, minimum 12 feet, 6 inches. We don't want any accidents or any concussions. The current pool design may not be deep enough. So whether or not that person just said 12 feet just to make it easy, I just want to make sure that specifically that pool is deep enough to handle that diving boards that are going in. Because, you know, things can happen with six inches missing. Going back to the diving team, nine CIF championships, four runner-ups. And this just doesn't happen with any coach. And, you know, designing this pool, we're not just designing the pool for any standard high school. This was the design that we got was for a standard high school. We need it designed for a championship high school because that's what we have, championship divers. And we need to continue that tradition. And, again, the 50-meter pool. 81. All-Mount League Championships. And the swimmers share the nine CIF championships and the four runner-up championships because it's a combined team effort. So the builder admitted that for options A and B, that they would have to go and extend south. And I urge you to also look, I mean, I'm sorry, north towards the tennis courts. I'm urging you to look south for space as well for those who are interested. And the splash pad and the rec room. Because on Monday at that meeting, it was admitted publicly that there was a possibility that George Elder Pool would be closed. That being the case and a possible reality for the future, this Barnes Pool needs to be the best pool possible that it can be. And just be our dream pool that accommodates everything. The divers, 50 meters for our competitive swimming, high school and club. 25 feet to include our water aerobics program, rehabilitation program and swimming lessons for the youngsters. And my kids were water safe by the time they were four years old. So it's possible for kids that young just know how to be water safe. Not necessarily have a stroke, but to be water safe. So, and have a splash pad. We can have everything. And if, you know, we're going to close Elder, then we really need to put everything into Barnes Park. And I thank you for your time this evening. Thank you.

Thank you, Edlin. Next speaker is Aaron.

I just have a first name. Aaron. Is there an Aaron? That signed up for a public comment? No? All right. Then we will, that's all the public communications I have. So we're going to go on to the main item that everyone is here for. Oh, Aaron's here. Okay.

So, I'm going to go ahead and start.

Y'all keep groaning. Hi, everyone. Good evening, city council. My name is Aaron. I'm the chair for the Los Angeles County Peace and Freedom Party. I'm a DSA LA member. I'm in a bunch of other groups. But basically, I'm here to say, like, what are we going to do about ice in Monterey Park?

Because, I mean, the same area that ICE was...

Because, I mean, the same area that ice was, picking up Asian folks here, is where I was canvassing to alert the community about the data center that's coming in. And, to me, like, Monterey Park, you know, it's the entrance to San Gabriel Valley. If we let ice roam around, picking up Latinos and Asians, their prime target, they're going to go to the rest of San Gabriel Valley. They're already hitting out. They're hitting out Hambra hard, Monterey Park hard. Alhambra's already, we went over there with 200 people. They said their hands are tied. In Los Angeles, the chief of police said his hands are tied. We need Monterey Park to do something. We need to enforce the mask ban, have the police department go and make sure they're enforcing that mask ban. . The same way the police... the mask ban.

If a state discriminates against minorities, discriminates against workers, we need them to pull over ice do they have their badges

Do they have their regulation? Whatever federal documents they have to be operating here. Do you have your no mask? Do you have your identification? Any little thing to impede their process. While they're doing that, they could also alert the community where ICE is. I'm tired of all these do nothing Democrats in our state who are saying they're trying their best having these hearing meetings. . How about instead of using the police to protect capital, let's actually use the police to serve the community for once and get these masked criminals out of this community. Let's attack them. I'm tired of coming up and defending and defending and defending. We need to go and protect our community. I don't care what community is being attacked. If it's the Asian community, Latino community, white community, working class people, it's all the same struggle. I'm tired of the Democratic Party, which all of you are a part of, which most people in the entire county of LA are a part of. All the politicians, Congress members, you have a super majority in the state. 70% of the assembly, the entire state, white seats, governor, public insurance commissioner, every single one. And y'all can't do a thing. I know y'all talk to the Congress members. I know you talk to the assembly members. Maybe not the governor, but y'all have connections. Where is the fight? Where is the fight? Fight back. You're letting the community down. Because I'm telling y'all all, in these small cities, if the Democrats don't step up and do anything, they're gonna be replaced by a new party. If we look back in history, new parties have come up whenever the supposed working class party didn't work. When the Democrats... in the wigs, fell silent on slavery, that is when the Republican Party was created. Later, when women were looking for the right to vote, when we were looking for safe regulations on factories, the Progressive Party took hold and sweep statewide in congressional elections until they were banned from running for office. The Socialist Party became important when workers were going on strike. A new party will develop if you Democrats don't stop it. And I'm warning y'all, because I'm already in one of those parties, and we're coming for y'all's seats. And I'm telling you exactly, I'm telling you guys exactly how to stop us. Do something for the working class of this state. And I'm telling you, this is going to, you know, screw my party over, but I'd rather have that than you guys do nothing. And let more people get taken. To who God knows who where. To alligator alcatraz. Maybe they're sent back to their country. Home country. Maybe not. Who knows? And I'm telling you all this now, because people can be shipped in for pay here and

sit in half of this council meeting, but you can't ship in votes. Thank you. Good night. Thank you, Aaron.

Any other public communications? No? All right. Then let's move on to item 9A. The item that everyone's here for. So item 9A, consideration and possible action to direct the city manager and city attorney to prepare a ballot proposition to prohibit data centers citywide and allow housing development within Saturn Park. I want to make clear that this agenda item, the proposed 1977 Saturn project is not on this item, not on the agenda tonight. and the City Council will not and cannot discuss that project or details of that project tonight. So agenda item 9A was proposed by council member Ngo. So council member Ngo, please.

Yeah, let me just kind of speak up a little bit about that. I guess over the last couple of months, there's been a lot of dialogues and I've spoken to many in the community. Some of you I recognize here. Some of you who are not here tonight, but who have sent me emails over the phone or in person. I mean, it's one thing that's clear. And that's that. It's one of the things that I want to make clear to you. And I think it's important. I think it's important to talk about the data centers and the city. I think it's important to talk about the data centers and the city. I think it's important to talk about the city. And I know that there's a lot of passion in the city. And there are many views about data centers in the city. I will say that the sentiment is no data center at this point after what I'm hearing. However, let me finish. However, that's not up for voting tonight. But what I also like to say is that, you know, we looked into the Saturn Business Park project, which has been vacant. And I think that's a big part of the reason why we're sitting around vacancy at 86% vacancy for the last probably seven, eight years now, pre-COVID time. And I think there's also a lot of sentiment there that that area needs to be better developed, put in better use so that it doesn't further deteriorate and create an unneeded space. So with that, I'd like to ask the city attorney and also city staff, city manager to kind of go into review of the data. I think it's important. Thank you. We see what we can do from a proposition ballot initiative for the future because I think the view of the city is important, and we want to make sure all of the resident's voices are heard so that we can take action on this in the future.

Thank you so much. Councilmember Ngo. Any other comments before we start calling the public speakers? No? All right. So like I said earlier. about 80 public comment speakers on this agenda item same as the last meeting you guys manage the time on your own I'm gonna call it five names at a time so that you guys can line up when you hear your name called and then when the person in front of you is done you can come up right away you don't have to wait all right that way hopefully everyone gets a chance to speak before

And, Madam Mayor, maybe as we call people up. I made this comment last time

as well I'll confirm with the city attorney that I can engage on this item

just because there has been a lot of misunderstanding about my engagement on just because there has been a lot of misunderstanding about my engagement on this on this item and

Yes madam mayor members of the council I think it's posted on the dedicated webpage with regard to all the information on the data center the FPP CEO opined that you cannot participate with regard to the 1977 Saturn but this is a general policy matter it does not directly affect 1977 as it's not on the agenda

thank you oh and I just want to also reiterate another call I made last meeting for civility I know I imagine that there are gonna be differing opinions coming up to speak for the next few hours and so please I hope we could just issue a call for respect for each other that we can disagree and there I'm sure varied opinions and perspectives on what we're talking about tonight in the item tonight and I don't maybe not on the same time but I'm sure we will have a lot of agenda item specifically tonight, but just ask that we show mutual respect for each other, for others' opinions and others' viewpoints tonight. At the last meeting, there was a lot of trying to speak over and yell at each other or yell while others were talking. We're here to listen. This council is here to listen. We want everyone to be able to have their time. We're sitting here respectfully trying to listen and hope that the audience will be respectful as the speakers are called up one at a time. Thank you.

Madam Mayor, if we could just remind the audience members, when you come up to the podium, since the mayor will be calling multiple speakers at a time, please state your name again so that we just make sure that we understand which speaker is speaking, just in case the order is mixed up or a speaker doesn't show. That way we know who's speaking, please.

Thank you. All right. So I'm going to call names, and then as I see the line getting shorter, I'll call more names for lineup. So first few names are Vincent Chang, Dora Leon, yielding time to Vincent Chang, Amy Smith, Mark Gonzalez, Amy, Megan. And I know some people are outside, so like Aaron earlier, I'll... Okay. No problem. If you can't come to the podium because of disability, go ahead.

Good evening mayor and members of the City Council I'm sorry to be in the wheelchair tonight, but less than two hours 72 hours ago I just came out of open heart surgery. So excuse me if I can't you know Speak not too well, but my point is First of all, let me make this clear. I am NOT here to support the data center Okay, nor am I here to You know focus on everything else. My point is I'm here as a Monterey Park resident Okay, I am concerned about the city and the city of which I love the city of which I spent Well several a number of years over ten years So I know everybody on the council knows me And I am just a little bit concerned about, you know, the proposals that's being made tonight. So I just want to be here to express my opinions with that. I mean, there's a lot of good opinions out there, you know, and I'm not saying that they're not a legitimate concern. I said this last time, but I am disappointed as the way, you know, you guys are going about this. And, you know, the thing is, again, like I said, it's not an attack on anybody. It's not an attack on, you know, the pros or the cons, but it's the fact how is this going to benefit the city of Monterey Park, okay? I think you all know, if you don't know, the city doesn't run on, you know, what they call it, the candy stringers. Sprinkles or whatever it is that you run on. It runs on money. So how do we get money, okay? If we lock out any sort of development that is not properly gone over, we need to have a way to properly vet those. And so the thing is, you know, with this item in regards to the, you know, data center, I mean, basically my position is, you know, the state has to be able to do this. You know, we have to do this. And I'm also, you know, a believer in equality as well. You know, I believe that everybody should have a chance to present their case. So maybe they can't make the case, okay? Maybe they can't. I don't know. I'm not making judgment on that. I just want to see a fair system. And you know what? I also agree with, I believe, that was Paul that spoke, and he said, well, you know, you have to look at it from a different perspective. You know, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. I'm saying that this is a bad thing. I'm saying that, you know, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. I'm saying that this is a bad thing. I'm saying that this is a bad thing. And if this isn't candles at night, then I'll have little children bus on someites, and, you know, end up somebody with no Tokyo trip, and they'll have to get out of their car, they'll have to help somebody get out of their car because of something, you know. It'd be possible over the age of 95 to cancer to have health care technology. I fought ICE. But back in those days, they actually wore a jacket and tie and maybe a light jacket. They don't go around like these folks today that looks like want to be cosplayer, that they want to be, they have to pull themselves, whatever. But nevertheless, we need to deal with them under the law. And that's what we should. I mean, I know there's different opinions than that. And you know what? We have to do it the right way, because the other folks are not doing it the right way. So anyways, I think I'm running out of time. Dora was graciously kind enough to give me her time. I just want to say, you know, there's a lot of real estate here that has been shopped for, you know, with developers over the years. And you know, they're not going anywhere for various reasons. So those are something to consider. OK? Again, thank you so much. Thank you, Michelle, for bringing it all the way. I love you still.

Amy Smith, Mark Gonzalez, Amy, and Megan.

Hi, good evening. My name is Amy Smith. The Oxford Dose OK. All right, great. So if you are going to have some other عنness, what would you want to share about the concept of the survivors, whether they are画 ש for future development within not only just the city, but our state and possibly our nation. The world is moving forward, and the wheels of progress are continuing to chug along. Closing our eyes and covering our ears and shaking our heads is not going to write the narrative for the future that should be written. We have an opportunity here to set high standards and powerful rules that could become the models and the basis for future development. Stomping our feet and saying, no, not here, not me, no thanks, creates a precedent of future conflict instead of a future resolution with guidelines. Remember, closing the door to development doesn't preserve the future. It doesn't preserve the future. It quietly decides against it, trading growth and opportunity in for stagnation and regret. Thank you.

Applause

Go ahead. Hello.

All right. Order, please.

Hello. Thank you for letting me speak here. I'm going to start tonight. I've lived in Monterey Park since 1972, and I've gone to school here. I've shared times with my family here. I have family members that live here. And what really worries me about this data center is, as it is right now, it's so hard to make ends meet and to keep your home. And with this coming in to our society, I don't think my home is going to be available for my daughter. Like, I can remember when we had that terrible incident in Monterey Park where a couple of people were killed, and even the President of the United States came and visited Monterey Park. And everyone came together, Monterey Park strong. I even have this T-shirt still. I went and I got it.

This is not Monterey Park strong. This is working against us. We're the ones that live here. We live here. I want to continue living here. I need a future. I need you guys to watch out. I voted a lot of you in. I'm looking for you guys. I need your help. My family needs your help. We need your help here. Thank you very much.

Do we have Amy and Megan? No? I'll call some more names. Carrie, Sky, Walker, Maria, Jeremy. Oh, okay, Amy, yes.

Okay. Okay.

Apologies for the outburst earlier. I'm not usually like that. I came to the last city council meeting and I didn't get to stay because I had to go home and finish my work. I didn't get to come here early on time because I was also at work. And I think we're all kind of disappointed that we have to be back here again because we thought we, I think, kind of trusted you guys last time and kind of rebuilt a little bit more of the faith in you guys last time at the last city council meeting. So I'm kind of surprised. I'm surprised that this is up for discussion again. I just want to make it clear that I am against the ballot. I don't know why it has to be coupled with anything to do with housing. I think you guys can probably just vote on no data centers, period. What does that have to do with housing? Right? Like, I don't get it. And I feel like you guys are just misleading the public by coupling putting it together on a ballot with housing. No one wants to live next to a data center. And I think that putting it on the ballot is just giving the opportunity for this billion-dollar company to come in and disturb our city. Okay? No one wants to come to these city council meetings. No one wants to have to be back here and fight for it again. We're already dealing with ICE in our neighborhoods. Like, high school students across from Markepo already had to deal with ICE. And now we have to fight this billion-dollar company trying to come in and build this data center that absolutely no one asked for. This isn't the type of development that we need. I think that we as residents of Modern Park Desert. We need to do better. I think that the city council members need to do better. Just because we possibly can build a data center doesn't mean we should. It's not what the community is asking for. We keep telling you guys and you guys keep pushing it out and giving more opportunity for this big-ass company to come in here and basically run propaganda. That this is good for the environment and for the public. They put this out last time we were here. Okay? It's called the Monterey Park Data Center. How misleading is that for residents? They think that it is affiliated. Like, it sounds like it's officially affiliated with you guys, with the city of Monterey Park. Is it? Is it? Like, are you guys letting them in here? Like, this is not Monterey Park. How can they call it the Monterey Park Data Center? There's a flyer outside. We don't even have it put out in here. They put their flyer on the table here. What? We have to have a table outside. Like, how does that make sense?

So, there's a lot of stupid, flashy jargon on this, and I'm going to go through it. Okay? Like, $5 to $7 million per year. How? How? Would no other development that goes into that plot also generate some kind of revenue there? Why does it have to be a data center? Okay? Electricity rates are set by Southern California. Okay? Okay? So, if you're in a state like Edison, based on regional infrastructure costs, energy supply, and not commercial developments, based on use, like, how is that not going to drive up or impact the electricity? My parents live in an area where every other month, they get a notice from Southern California Edison that they have to have their electricity shut off for whatever reason. Okay? They are literally afraid that the food in their freezer that, you know, they're low-income and retired is going to spoil. Because the electricity has to be shut off. Do you guys really want to put that strain on our electricity grid? Okay? And another thing, it says that the closed-loop cooling system is BS. What the hell does that even mean? Okay? This approach significantly reduces water consumption. Reduces water consumption based on what? Based on what? These are all loaded terms. There is nothing backing any of this. Quieter than the typical noise in the neighborhood. Guys, this place is, this thing is going to be built in District 5. Your district then, I voted for you because you were the board of, like, the Garvey School District. I went to the Garvey School District. I had great experience there. So I'm really disappointed that this is on the ballot again. That area is right next to the 60 freeway. So in addition to having to listen to the 60 freeway, I got to listen to some noisy-ass data center that's, like, ridiculous. What else is there? We get a new partner. A park. A stupid, dinky little park. Okay? Compared to the size of the data center that's being built there, like, come on, be real. Okay? And I just want to really quickly pull up a quote. I want to ask if any of you guys know who Lindy Stone is? Lindy Stone. She is the principal corporate counsel at Microsoft. She was at a, she was part of a webinar. She was hosted by Norton, by a law firm, law firm Norton Rules Fulbright. The webinar was titled Data Centers, Construction Contracts in Debt. Okay? Stone said that where data centers used to be built more away from communities, neighborhoods, and more urban areas as they move into these areas, then you have neighbors that are near you, and nobody really wants a data center in their backyard. I don't want a data center in my backyard. This is the counsel for Microsoft that was trying to build a data center. If the lawyer for Microsoft says they don't want a data center in their backyard, what makes you think we want a data center in our backyard? Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor Yang and city council members. My name is Carrie. I'm a resident. I live in District 5. And I also happen to be a licensed California attorney. I understand the item on the agenda tonight is to consider directing the preparation of a ballot measure to prohibit data centers citywide and allow housing development within Saturn Park. First, I'd like to share that I'm opposed to placing the measure on the ballot for voter approval. I feel a ballot measure is very risky because it's a political campaign and subject to being deeply influenced by the deep pockets of the applicant. The majority of residents in our city don't live close to, to 1997 Saturn, 1977 Saturn. And for many of them, English is not their first language. The applicant has already started its misinformation campaign, handing out flyers door to door and running Facebook ads. The average voter in Monterey Park isn't going to read all of the voluminous documents regarding the project. They're not going to be able to parse out or do independent research to verify if the applicant's claims are true or not. Anyone who's read the M&D documents and done some independent verification, of the information provided, can see that a lot of the information provided by the applicant and its consultant doesn't add up. Just to give an example, the applicant touts its air-cooled chiller systems as utilizing much less water than other data center facilities. But as set forth by the Center for Biological Diversity's comments to the M&D, the amount of water used by the proposed project is much higher than data centers of comparable size. And that letter further states that the project's massive water demand will significantly impact water supplies. I'm not an engineer, so I can't independently verify these things. I put the letter from the applicant with the air-cooled chiller system into AI and the amount of water that they said was going to be used per year. And it came out saying that that doesn't add up. That the air-cooled chiller system should not be using that much water. But you guys should be telling us these things. When you get the M&D document, you should have independent review instead of just deferring to Kimley Horn's analysis. But instead, we just have you guys. We don't have any independent, like the planners should be on top of it. They should know the ins and outs of all the letters, all the back and forth, and they should be independently verifying these things, not just shaking their head and saying it's true. After the last meeting, the council indicated that they were going to come back with a proposal for regulations to ban data centers in the city. Now, instead of coming back with those regulations, they're suggesting to put the question to a vote of the people. This seems to play directly and perfectly into the hands of the applicant, who didn't really have any good options moving forward after the public outcry at the last meeting. I propose that instead of focusing solely on a ballot measure, I'm requesting that the city staff request agendized discussion

of the following issue at the upcoming meeting. Repeal an amendment of ordinance number 2253. Ordinance 2253. Ordinance 2253. Ordinance 2253. Ordinance 2253. Ordinance 2253. Ordinance 2253 was the ordinance adopted by the council in November 2024

that permitted data centers as a category in the Saturn Park with a development agreement. Before that time, only data processing facilities were allowed in the zone. The overwhelming majority of residents were not aware that ordinance was being considered. If they had been aware... would have had a lot of people here just like they are today. Obviously we didn't know about it and at the last meeting you heard from I don't know the almost the entire majority of everyone who came that they barely just heard about this project maybe in December. So if they had been the ordinance includes many findings to justify its adoption. Specifically it includes findings of consistency with the policies of the city's land use element and environmental justice element and I want to read you the ones that it cites. It refers to the numbers when I want to read you what they're about. Supporting sustainable practices, reducing disproportionate environmental burdens and compounding health risks affecting low-income and minority populations, ensuring new development is planned in areas that can sustain it long term considering air quality health indicators of residents and infrastructure networks and services, limiting exposure to environmental pollution through good planning in the public process, and equipping the community with adequate resources to promote enhanced health outcomes and improved quality of life. It seems very obvious to me that the realities of data centers which the ordinance itself recognizes are quote energy hungry land uses that consume seventy per four percent of all electricity in the U.S. do not support these general plan policies but actually do the opposite. Case law establishes that a zoning ordinance that conflicts with the general plan is invalid the moment it is adopted. Furthermore because the public was not aware of this ordinance we weren't able to participate in the process to add to the record our concerns regarding the actual detrimental effects of data centers. So what is the council going to do now with the invalid ordinance? I request the council agendize for its next meeting to consider repeal of ordinance 2253. That would mean that data processing facilities only not data centers are allowed in the zone. As part of the repeal I would request that the council include a definition for data processing facilities that is consistent with the definition currently in the code. At the hearing to repeal the ordinance the council can take public testimony and accept evidence in the record of the overwhelming evidence of the detrimental environmental impacts posed by data centers. I'm running out of time. I know that okay I'll keep going. This approach cannot be seen as intentionally targeting the applicant because a city should not be continuing with a knowingly invalid ordinance. I will continue to work towards this. We will see what the council can do in the next meeting. Thank you. By my comments today, I am notifying the city that Ordinance 2253 is invalid and the city needs to rectify the matter. Lastly, I know that many residents are concerned about the ability of future councils to change the zoning code back to allow data centers in the future. In fact, the repeal of Ordinance 2253 does not prevent data centers from being built in other zones in the city. To help achieve a citywide ban that cannot be overturned by future councils, instead of a council-sponsored ballot measure, I support the option of a resident-led initiative. After collection of signatures equal to 10% of the registered voters, the council has the option to either place the item on the ballot or adopt the ordinance outright. After we collect the requisite signatures, which I think is the most important thing we will be able to do, we should ask the council to adopt it outright rather than putting it on the ballot. This method would avoid any of the issues with the developer's deep pockets. Lastly, I know there are many residents who want to see expanded housing uses in Saturn Park. I would support that and would suggest that that can be done by a council-initiated ballot measure that does not need to be intertwined with the data center issue.

I also want to thank the city council for their support in this process.

I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I can count the number of City Council meetings I've been to on one hand, with my first one being because I wanted extra credit for a class. However, since finding out about the data center in December, I have tried to make it out to every single meeting I can and will continue to do so as many times as I need. That's how much I care about this issue. My family and I live only minutes away from the proposed data center site we found out on social media. Why is that? Council Member Vinh, you probably don't remember, but you came over to our house and you spoke to my dad when you were first running for your seat. I want to remind you of the campaign promises you made to us and everyone else that voted for you. I was really disappointed to hear that you were apparently in support of the data center at the last meeting, and I implore you to consider your constituents first and foremost before we leave. We want a permanent ban on data centers in Monterey Park now. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Sky. Walker on the on a slip. I'm a resident of Monterey Park for the past three years. I live on Clover Drive behind the Saturn Park business complex. I'm about 50 to 100 feet away from where the corner of the of the data center would be. I came tonight and I'm a bit frustrated that we're allowing these conversations to be framed as the residents versus the union workers or that this is all about NIMBYism because like I would like to state that I'm not anti-business. I'm not I'm not anti-housing or am I anti-jobs. I would like all these guys to get jobs but I want to state that with that said I want to state that I still strongly oppose this project. The reason why particularly because when I look at the facts they don't really make sense. The developer is a subsidiary of a foreign corporation with no interest in the well-being of our community. An example is when the residents expressed the anger at this project instead of engaging directly with us they hired a crisis public relation firm to mount a campaign to influence our options. I work from home from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for five days a week the whole year. No one has reached out to me. If they say so that's a lie. And like another thing is the number of permanent jobs that is going to be generated when this data center is finished building is small. It's 26 jobs and it's not even guaranteed to go to the Monterey Park residents because of the technical aspect of it. This type of business does not even attract new businesses to this area. Who wants to build a sandwich shop or like a store next to a data center that has 26 employees in there. There's no food traffic. And then I want to bring focus to the Superfund site. It's a if none of you are aware it's a it's a it's a toxic waste dump that's only been recently mitigated by costing the federal government millions of dollars and it's right where the Home Depot and the the Home Depot and the Costco is built on top of. So it costs it's only been around 2019 that's when it's like completely mitigated. So this data center proposed to have a bunch of these diesel fuel tanks next to the right next to the residential area. What happens when these inevitably leak to the soil or to and contaminating the our water source. I live right behind there and I will be the one to fuel the acute effect of that. And I want to comment on some people might say like this is all it's beneficial it's is good for the cloud or the Internet and I plan I'm all for progress. I'm all for that. But let's let's be realistic here. The Internet has been functioning fine. They they the purpose of the data center is to support the AI hype and the crypto height. And as I currently speak right now they're crashing the stock market is doing really bad. All the chip stocks are going down. So what is the need of this data center in our neighborhood anymore. And furthermore I have a few questions too. Like do we want to encourage more AI slob? Like do we want more AI generated porn? polluting our social media and poisoning young kids minds Like personally my wife and I also just welcome our first child last month the air and north Solution from the construction alone every day for at least one year I guess will cause detrimental effects on his development not to mention the effects It will have on mine and my wife's I work from home. I'm the only person I'm the only income to my house what happens to me if I cannot continue to work to support my family like it's it's It's very frustrating that we're letting it get to this point I will end my time with this like if the if the data center is approved I would have no choice but to move to protect my family's well-being I Expect the people who want the data center to put in their arms When I put my house up for sale and it better be above the asking price if you want it so much come live next to it. Thank you.

Let me call it just a few more names Maria Jeremy may Joy row Jesse Damon, Jim Poo, and Kageyama.

Good evening. My name is Skyler. I live in Monterey Park here with my family. And we love this neighborhood. We love our community. And I want to say I agree with what all of our neighbors have been saying about higher utility bills, lower property values, noise pollution, and other forms of pollution and harm in our community. But my daughters came tonight to talk about something that I haven't heard other people talking about. And they want to share those concerns with you.

There are owls and bats in our canyon. And how do they hunt?

And they hunt by using hearing.

And we have an owl pellet. And inside you can even see little bones that there's proof that they use their sense of hearing to get animals like rats and other rodents.

A data center's loud noise would make it so owls could not hunt. This would drive away the owls and increase the number of bats. This would drive away the owls and increase the number of bats. This would drive away the owls and increase the number of bats. This would drive away the owls and increase the number of rats, mice, and squirrels. This would also drive away bats and increase the number of mosquitoes.

Thank you very much for your time.

Hello, my name is May and I live in District 2 and I've been a Monterey Park resident for over 20 years. I grew up in the neighboring city of Montebello. The data center issue hits very close to home as my mother still lives in Montebello over the hill and I have many friends living in District 5. I'd like to formally express my opposition to the data center. It is critical at this time for the Monterey Park City Council to take a firm stand. against the placement of any data centre within Monterey Park. The community has already voiced strong opposition to this in previous council meetings. It has been affirmed as incompatible in this city. Given the heavy resources available by the applicant, particularly in public relations and marketing, I'm concerned that residents would be swayed by their one-sided narrative which does not fully or accurately present the negative impacts of a data centre. I'm also concerned about the limited public coverage of this issue in local publications such as our Monterey Park Cascade. In fact, I did not see any information regarding the data centre in the February edition. I am a union member myself, but let's just not think of the next two to three years. Think about the next 10, 15, 25 or 30 years of Monterey Park residents who actually live here. Not just people who come and go and will just leave. Let's think about the people who care and the people of Monterey Park in the long term. Thank you.

Good evening, Council and neighbours. My name is Jesse. I'm a resident of District 5 Council. In recent weeks, you have shown us that you are willing to listen, that you're willing to engage. And that you're willing to take action. Thank you for that. Tonight, you're considering initiating a ballot measure to protect our health and safety. There are multiple paths forward to stopping this data centre and we need to keep these paths open as critical safeguards against what is coming. The Saturn Park project has upended the lives of many residents and I'm not looking forward to a ballot fight. But if that is what we have to do, I'm ready to get on board. But what the city can start planning now is a town hall to review and work on. I'm not looking forward to a ballot fight. I'm ready to get on board. I'm ready to get on board. I'm ready to work on the ballot measure language before it goes to print. Also, while I'm strongly in support of expanding Saturn Park regulations to include housing, I believe there needs to be more engagement and dialogue with residents about land use. It's also evident that there are representatives of organised labour here tonight. I love labour unions. My husband is a proud member of three who walked the picket lines and held elected positions. We can't wait to welcome you back to Monterey Park when we have a project that you can take pride in. Thank you. Unions exist because everyday people are stronger when we organise against forces that exploit our bodies and our resources. This is precisely what the residents of Monterey Park are doing here in this room. Who do you stand with tonight? The community or chat GPT? HMC and Actham, your flier said you want to build a true long-term partnership with the city. to ensure the project reflects community priorities and delivers real local benefits. The time for those conversations was three years ago when HMC initiated this process. But you have done nothing but disrespect this community since that time, interfering with community input processes, promising and failing to make good on town halls and engagement, and showing up last month with nothing but a flyer and literally launching your social media ads yesterday. How long has it taken you to do that? You have spent exponentially more on lobbyists than you have on this community, lobbyists who are here tonight and who you have paid to dismiss our concerns and gaslight us. All the evidence indicates you don't care what we think. You've never cared what we thought. A true long-term partnership is mutual, not unilateral. There is no consent here. There's another name for what you are doing. This is not the site you are looking for. If you are sincere about reflecting community priorities, and delivering local benefits, you can deliver some boba and some bun mee on your way out of town. This was never a party. This was never fun. But now it's over and it's time for you to go home.

Hello. There. I'm Joy Ruhl, long-time resident of Monterey Park, 60s and 70s. And I have a master's degree from California University in Health and Safety. I'm a retired, registered California nurse. I have a public health credential, nursing credential, and I have a school health nursing credential. And I have a teaching community college teaching credential, in psychology and in nursing. And I've been monitoring the data centers throughout the United States. And besides the astronomical use of the energy that they need, and also the water they need, it's the noise. The noise is causing, 24-7, is causing psychological stress, and causing a lot of psychological harm. And the quality of life, where these residents around this data center, is dwindling to minus zero. So I suggest that any of you council members who favor corporate greed over your constituents and your residents that voted you in, resign.

Or, or, or, or face the potential consequences that one day your good name will be dishonored and trashed.

And I exhort everybody here to contact congressional representatives and voice your opinions. And not only that, I think Judy Chu still has her residency here in Monterey Park. So contact Judy Chu. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Ann Kageyama. You guys do remember me from the last meeting, I hope. Well, I guess I'm speaking about 9A today, although I don't understand why the housing part is put into it instead of just having a no data center. I just want to say again, like I said last time, about really thinking about the community. You know, my parents couldn't be here today. They're busy doing other stuff, and so are my friends and other family members that still live in Monterey Park and the surrounding neighborhoods of Monterey Park. And I just want to let you guys think about, what, God, I'm sorry, I'm spacing out right now.

Thank you.

You are putting a death sentence on everyone that not only lives in Monterey Park, but also works in Monterey Park and also the surrounding cities. Alhambra, South San Gabriel, Rosemead, Montebello, East LA, probably maybe El Sereno. And I don't know, would you guys be able to sleep with that, knowing that? Because it's affecting everyone. It's going to affect you people as well. I see all these union workers, electricians and whatnot here tonight. They're probably here supporting the data center. But, you know, that's a temporary job for them for, what, two years. Then they're gone and they're going to move on to other projects. Do any of you guys live in Monterey Park or in the surrounding cities? Yeah? I hope you guys are. 26 years? Awesome. And? And? Good.

Okay, order of place. And please direct your comments to council.

Okay, I'm sorry. Sorry, Mayor. Anyways. I wish you guys would put in different language for the 9A, especially with the housing. I suggest putting the portals. If you guys are thinking about putting revenue, like, think of something that could actually make more money. Because housing, if it's going to be partial, if it's going to be, you know, part low income, that's going to be, what, 10, 20 percent. And then everything else around there is going to be high if it's going to be apartment living. I just want you guys to just reconsider about doing the data center in general. I know Mr. Sanchez and Ms. Yang, you guys already said no to that. So, Council Member Low, Council Member Goh, I hope, I know this isn't on the board and we're not supposed to be talking about it, but I hope you guys do reconsider and just kill this altogether. Thank you.

Let me just read a few more names. Lauren, Jessica Ju, Mark Rudum, Dave, and Cindy Alvarado.

And members in the public, just as a reminder, there are seats inside the council chamber. I know there's audience members that are watching from the TV monitor out in the lobby area. There are some seats available in the council chambers.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Jim Pugh from the Shepherd Law Firm. I'm representing the applicant.

We're opposed to a ballot measure or any ban on data centers.

Order. Order, please. Everyone gets their turn to speak. Thank you.

A thermometer and a speaker. Technology will help you.

Yeah, continue.

So we've previously provided the city with information that demonstrates the merits of the project and the applicant's willing to do even more than the city's already done. So as you know, the city prepared an MND, which is a Mitigated Negative Declaration. That was done under the city as the lead agency and unlike several of the commenters that Mentioned it was done by the developer. That's not true in fact the city hired a third-party consultant to check its own work approved unanimously Necessarily the environmental review of the project. I'm here tonight to Instead inform the city that its actions are creating real litigation risk and financial liability That's based on several legal legal grounds and actually I'll echo the comment that was made by the very first speaker tonight in general comment that there seems to be a History of abuse of discretion by this council in this city this Project seems to fall squarely within that as your current actions have violated several legal premises the city has discretion we recognize that but there are rules that you cannot abuse that discretion and Similarly similarly the council must remain neutral and unbiased Those are rules of law it is clear from the city's actions that certain council members have actual bias and Council for the most part has crossed a legal line into advocacy against the project that's unlawful Moreover the record demonstrates that city actions to ban the applicants project would result in an unconstitutional taking in violation of the state and US Constitution Similarly the city is violating the applicants due process rights your actions Especially recent recently are arbitrary and capricious instead of following the law you are following mob rule That has legal consequences

My case in point Finally the city is violating equal protection laws your votes are Targeting the applicant and are vindictive in nature. It is clear. It is clear that moratoriums a ballot measure or other Illegitimate actions are the city's pretext for a denial of the project

The applicant prefers not to litigate this matter But the city's actions are forcing the issue Our request tonight is that the city not advance actions to ban data centers in any way To do so will further escalate this matter and increase litigation risk and financial liabilities of the city. Thank you

All right order please Or a city attorney would like to say a few words

Madam mayor members of the council. Thank you. I'm gonna briefly respond to mr. Pew's comments Late this afternoon. He made the same comment And written correspondence to the City Council that letter was posted on the dedicated page with regard to the data center along with my response at 5 o'clock Mr. Pew has made these advances previously. I've informed him that they are misinformed and misleading and I will restate that for the record Thank you.

The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members. Hopefully I elicit a less incendiary response. I hope so. My name is Mark Rudholm, and I'm a longtime resident of Monterey Park. I've lived here since 1968, minus some years in the middle. I'm speaking tonight not just as a resident, but as someone who has actually worked in this industry. I have worked in data centers in Irvine, downtown LA, and near LAX. I mention this because I hear a lot of fear about what these buildings are. From my experience, I can tell you they are quiet, secure, low-impact neighbors. They are not dangerous factories. They are the silent backbone of the modern economy. I urge you to let the process work. We do not need a ban. We simply need the facts. The developer has agreed to a full environmental impact report. This is exactly what the community asked for. Moving the goalposts now by imposing a ballot measure is premature. I know there are concerns about the backup generators, but as someone who has worked in these facilities, I know these are for emergency use only. Subject to the same structure. We are not going to have strict regulations as the systems at our two hospitals, our office buildings, or right over there in City Hall's parking lot. The EIR will confirm this. Regarding electricity rates, rates are not set by zip code. They are set by the state. The developer has committed to funding the infrastructure upgrades themselves. There are no pass-through costs to us. If we stop this process now, we are walking away from five years of work. We are walking away from $5 to $7 million in annual revenue that could fund our emergency services, library, parks, and streets. We are also turning our backs on 300-plus good local union jobs. Let the EIR process inform our decision. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi. My name is, well, I live in District 2.

What's your name?

My name is Cindy Alvarado. I didn't grow up here like the gentleman that just did. But I did grow up spending a lot of time in downtown. And when I moved to Monterey Park, let me tell you, I was freaked out about how quiet it is here. It was kind of disturbing until I adapted it. Because downtown LA is very loud. Let me go back. I live in District 2. I want a ban on data centers in Monterey Parks or anywhere near residential communities. I also don't want Monterey Park to change land zoning if it does not prioritize the needs of local community residents. After seeing the people present today, it's sad. There was a couple by the glass door making fun of community members, making comments like, it's so funny. They think that what they're doing is going to make a difference. Right? Making fun of us in our community. Agitating neighbors as they left. Here voicing their concerns. You know, we're neighbors voicing our concerns. It's sad that these people that are trying to come and join our neighborhoods are treating us this way already. Council members, please show your constituents we have not already been sold out. And don't wait for a ballot. Please ban data centers now. Based on current info collected by AI, which Team Soil is working on, TeamSurf gave me an idea, right? Data centers' revenues varies massively based on size with large co-location facilities potentially generating up to one million in daily revenue. While smaller specialized centers may earn a little bit less, the industry drives on high volume operations with top tier AI or hyperscale facilities generating substantial daily income. Often exceeding several hundred thousand dollars. Operating costs in comparison, you know, for large data centers, incurs 10 million to 25 million annually, which is not as much. Profit margins for data centers' construction projects may show EBITDA margins of 76% in year one, improving to up to 88% by year five. This is how much more profit they're going to be making after year five. Revenue drivers? Income is driven by them. Usage of power, PUEs, with flexible load centers, potentially earning an additional 60 to 80 thousand dollars per week, depending on the megawatts. And this is, you know, revenue is largely based on renting the space, power, and cooling capacities, or water, right? Often calculated by kilowatts or megawatts of consumption. I'm not a math whiz, but if you sold us out for five to seven million dollars a year, it makes sense why they're interested in punking Monterey Park residents. Five to seven million dollars a year. Five to seven million dollars is less than 0.03% of the 365 million dollar revenue a year they could be making off of us, with an increase in their profits after year five. All of us opposed to the data center, please feel free to stand up for me too, right? We're accused, we are accused of being outsiders. We are accused of being outsiders. But the 200 to 300 construction work jobs suggest that we are not. We are not. The 200 to 300 construction work jobs suggested that might be created are not permanent jobs and are not for local residents. My respect to all the construction workers here today. I work providing resources and information about health and safety to workers. And last year I spoke to hundreds of construction workers and their laborers, supporting the burn areas, letting them know that here as a community in L.A. County, we want to keep each other safe and healthy. I ask you, carpenters out there. I ask you, carpenters, iron workers, metal sheet workers, union members, teamsters to do the same for this community, for this neighborhood that today is asking to not support the construction of a data center that will harm us, will harm our neighbors, our nature, our future. I assure you the unions will find you other contracts to work in. And if the data center is built, the fines that it will generate for violating any legal limits currently set will be considered overhead chump change to their potential. Please understand that this is a new business. I'm here to tell you that the We have to take care of each other. And finally, I saw at Monterey Park, their presence this week was detrimental. Their presence was detrimental. We have to take care of each other. We have to take care of each other. We have to take care of each other. We have to take care of each other. And we have to take care of each other. This is instrumental to the number of people, community members that wanted to join us today. Thank you, guys. Thank you for your time.

Lauren, Jessica, Jude, Dave, Andres, Abarca, and Valerie, Lizaraga.

Dave, Dave, there's no last name. It just says Dave. Okay.

Yeah, yeah, just come up when you hear your name called.

No, if I could read five names, any order. But please repeat your name.

My name is Jessica Chu. I, too, am a lifelong resident of Monterey Park, District 2. And I stand here not only for myself, but for an extended network of concerned residents, my extended family, who could not be here today. from my 90-year-old grandmother to a close friend who is about to give birth to one of Monterey Park's newest residents any day now. And it is this network, my mother, who taught me that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. So I ask you, why would a foreign or multinational corporation with seemingly unlimited resources come here and offer all this for free if it's such a good deal? When other corporations are asking to move, like Google trying to find a new headquarters, they make cities pitch. They make cities pitch. They make cities give them deals. So I'm always a little suspicious if something sounds too good to be true. I also come from a union family as well. And it was the very union that allowed my immigrant parents to purchase this house in Monterey Park that they still currently live in today and to live the American dream, send two children to school, and for a better life. So I'm asking that if you want to invest in unions, invest in teachers, invest in health care workers, invest in long-term businesses that will bring value, long-term value to this city, if you want to invest in business, invest in mom and pop stores. I don't want an Applebee's on my corner. What makes Monterey Park special is it is a city of immigrants where you get a chance to really live. My grandmother does not speak a language. She speaks English. She can't speak a lick of English. I'm sure many people's grandparents, their parents, can't speak a lick of English. And that has never stopped them from living a full, fruitful life. She can walk out. She can buy things. She can eat at restaurants. And whether that language is Spanish, Chinese, or something else, that is something that is so unique to the soul of Monterey Park. And so I urge you in this to also consider that as we develop. You know, I remember when Monterey Park was very cash poor. And we did not have a lot of things. And it was still a wonderful place to live. And it's not because of data centers. It's not because of Applebee's. It's because of the people and the communities and the residents that make it special. And I am so proud to stand with my other residents. I have not seen the city united like this in a very long time. Finally, this data, you know, you have heard the concerns, the concerns of multiple people about the data center and about the process of how this all went down. And they're more articulate than me. They're more, you know, I'm sure many are more expert, more area experts than me. I want to be Carrie when I grow up. So I think you've heard us. And I really hope that you remember who you are serving. You are serving the people, not corporations, not even unions. You're serving the residents. You're serving the people. You're serving the citizens of Monterey Park. And I also want to remind you, we do not stand for bullies. I urge you to be a leader and to not let them bully you. And I would also like to remind everyone that the law is not always moral. ICE is lawful. Detention is lawful. So that doesn't hold much weight for me. I want to thank you for your time. And again, I hope you remember who you serve and why you took this position and this oath to begin with. Thank you.

Mayor Yang, honorable council members, dedicated staff, my name is Dave Jones. I've been a resident of Monterey Park for over 45 years. I want to thank you, Mayor Yang and Councilmember Sanchez, for your public written statements against data centers in Monterey Park. I also want to thank Councilmember Goh for maintaining ongoing public dialogue in District 5. Thank you, sir. I am here to speak against putting a data center ban on the back of the data center. I want to thank the residents of Monterey Park for their support and their support for the project. They have millions of dollars to spend against grassroots movement that clearly represents the will of the vast majority of the residents. The data center has consistently lied to the public and still hasn't engaged in community outreach. They say the project underwent extensive environmental review, but refused to do an EIR until they were backed into a corner with no way out. They say electricity rates won't go up, but they don't say Edison only generated 3,200 megawatts of power in 2023 and had to purchase 79 million megawatts of power to fulfill their capacity needs. That means Edison has to buy electricity on the open market in order to provide that to the data center or any data center, which means, according to the law of supply and demand, which none of us can break, electricity costs will go up for everyone in Monterey Park. They promise stable revenue, but neglect to mention that not a single AI company is profitable today. Sam Altman has said open AI will not be profitable by 2030. So where's that money going to come from? Are they going to print it? For my union cousins here tonight, my mom was AFL-CIO. My heart breaks at the way you disrespected all the people sitting behind you tonight.

Data center. The data center. Promises a couple of years, a few jobs for a couple of years, but the residents will have to live with the consequences for the rest of our lives. While mixed-use housing will create many more jobs for union workers for a much longer period of time. However, the data center closes the door on those jobs because no one will want to. live next to it. So take a longer view, please. However, if the City Council in its infinite wisdom decides to put a ban on the ballot, then please separate the questions of data centers and housing. They are two separate issues. Putting them on one measure confuses the issue and will not give you a true vote. Finally, wow, I have enough time to get to this. Finally, I was saddened at the last City Council meeting to see the way my neighbor, Michelle Yee, was treated. We are on different sides of this issue, but I love her and respect her right to her opinion, no matter how wrong you may be, Michelle. Thank you again for the time. Thank you everyone in Monterey Park who has come out to speak on this very important issue to all of us. No data centers in Monterey Park! No data centers in Monterey Park! No data centers in Monterey Park!

My name is Andres. I'm an organizer in the SGV. I want to bring everyone's attention to all the people in vests representing a union that are for a data center. I'm sorry dude, but it sucks that your companies and unions are using you as pawns and putting you against other people in the city that also represent the working class. Notice, not one of them in a vest has spoken up here at the mic, and I wonder why. It's clear that these people and their jobs aren't really the issue. It's the topic of a data center that will do irreparable damage to the working class community of color that is Monterey Park. I come from Hacienda Heights. And I want to let everybody know that they did this whole charade to us in January at the city council meeting in City of Industry when they passed a proposal to build a battery energy storage system which ultimately starts to lay the groundwork for data centers. The difference is that they only sent two union reps to that meeting. Here you have over 50. By the way, that's also why you've got even more of an overflow of people because they're taking up all the space that are here for your residents.

The people see through the smoke. We won't be fooled into fighting against each other. We all know the real harm that data centers bring and that there's no denying the science behind it. All of you up there work for the people of this city, not the companies trying to bring you fat checks to line your pockets. So whatever your decision is you make for this ballot, I hope it truly represents your residents and your neighbors. No to data centers.

All right, next names are Valerie Lizaraga, Frida, the last initial is I, Christine Rodriguez, Paul Lang, Gordon Huang, Jasmine Gonzalez, and Marissa Gonzalez.

Hi, good evening. My name is Frida. I am a current resident of Monterey Park. I just wanted to come here because I've actually never been to a council meeting before. Something drew me today. I come from a family of unions. My mother was a worker for a union for over 20 years. So I grew up around unions. I know a lot about that. I've actually been a union member myself multiple times. So you're probably thinking that I'm against or pro data center, but I'm actually not. A lot of the data center information that I've read, they state that they are pro jobs, that they are pro community, pro revenue. But that's actually not true at all. If you think that they're going to give you a job if this data center is built, sure, but it'll be temporary. Your jobs are not secure. And It's also not even good for the environment. I mean, all of these diesel generators that they want to use, that they want to implement on site, they emit a lot of nitrous oxide, which is very harmful to our bodies. So if you are saying that you are pro data center, you are against yourself, really, because you will get sick. And even if only one person gets sick, you would have failed. Because why would you be OK with anybody getting sick? Why would you be OK with just one person? Because at the end of the day, it wouldn't be just one. It would be your entire community that is at risk for cancer, for lung disease.

Sorry, this is my very first time speaking.

It's just very clear that a lot of the data centers that we're using, a lot of the reports, a lot of the numbers that are used, are just not correct. Because how can you say that no one will be harmed? I mean, you're just willing to take that risk. At the end of the day, if you're pro data center, you are not pro neighbor. You are not pro community. You are actually pro billionaires that are just using you for their own personal gain. That is sad and embarrassing. You should be embarrassed of yourself. If you actually believe that this is actually going to help the community. So yeah, I just want to end with a question to everybody. Who are you OK with failing? Are you OK with failing your neighbor and your residents, your constituents? And are you OK with serving capitalists who are only in it for their own personal gain? Thank you, and also, ice out.

Hi, good evening. My name is Christine Rodriguez. I grew up in Monterey Park. I went to school in Monterey Park, both elementary and then my higher education. And where you folks are planning, where the data center is, I learned how to drive. So I really know that area very, very well. It's a great area, flat, close to the freeway. But what I'm coming here is to be against the building of the data center, specifically this idea about the ballot. And I want to measure, as we're seeing here, this corporation has a lot of money and a lot of power and a lot of resources to really sway people's idea on, is this a good thing for the community? Is this a bad thing? Will it create jobs? Will it create revenue? I'm worried that if this goes to the ballot, that they'll put even more time, energy, and resources to sway the voters in their favor. Specifically, I want to encourage you folks to, if this does go to the ballot, which I really hope it doesn't. I'm going to get to that point soon, the language about the housing. I fear that if we have the language about the housing, people are going to see housing. They're going to say, yes, housing, we love that, but not really consider the implications of the data center. So I'd really encourage you folks to amend the language on the ballot that includes, was it land use? With that being said, what I was saying about, I don't think this should go to the ballot again, because there's a lot of resources that could be used to really sway people and confuse them. But I think it's important to really to really confuse the voters on what are the facts and what are the implications of this data center. I'd like to end this by just reminding people who are trying to become re-elected for city council positions that your support, your lack of support in this measure will really reflect on how the public will view you and will really show when people go to the voting to vote for who they want to represent them, they'll have this in mind and how you acted at this time. Thank you.

hello good evening thank you for having me um my name is Jasmine Gonzalez my mother lives here in Monterey Park and I just want to say I would really well hopefully that the just want to make it actually clear that the unions just for the residents are not it's not against you so don't take it personal I think that's one thing we should make very clear that it's not like as we've mentioned before it's not the community versus the union members it's the community versus these big corporation that's coming in and so I'd like to begin by just saying that I think I speak for most of the people in this room when I say that they are tired of billionaires and development firms just coming in from coming in to destroy their communities with investments and this project is disconnected from the community and its needs this project is a huge environmental and financial burden on residents and neighboring communities the short-term benefits are not worth the long-term burdens that are yet to come and what's at stake here is the quality of life for homeowners small businesses residents and future generations so I like to just reiterate that it's a huge disconnect from the community and I urge you guys to No on data centers thank you

let me just read some names Paul Lang Gordon Huang Juan Juan de Lara Jeffrey Tommy Favali and Christina Jonan.

Hello I'm Paul Lang I'm a resident of District 3 and a Monterey Park resident. I'm also a union member. and it is also possible to be for a concept such as organized labor and still I am paying attention sir okay it's easy to get confused actually that's a good point because I came in today knowing my goal was to prevent this data center from being built because I believe it will do irreparable harm to this community I believe that because communities like ours have data centers and our are already suffering the harm I don't believe the pros outweigh the cons because I know that we I don't believe, and I respect unions trying to advocate for their workers to get work. I'm into myself, and I would be against if either of the unions that I am in, Local 33 or AGVA, were trying to profit from this data center. I think it would be wrong because it would harm others. There's a concept in medicine of first do no harm. So you can have a business. You can profit. You can bring tax dollars to the community, and you can still make sure your standard is to do no harm. Not to threaten the community with litigation because you didn't get your way.

Not to do as one of their advocates did and come up here and accuse everyone who is against their air being polluted of being childish and against progress. Not to say, well, we had the most people in the front row in one photo op invest, so that negates all the people out in the lobby who you can hear clap at every delayed point that they agree with, who are actual residents. I hope those of you elected to office to serve this community are listening to the community. Not to someone who is threatening litigation or saying, if we all use AI, we have to be for polluted air. If we all use a Google search, we have to give them core blanch to do whatever they want. And speaking of one of the trillion dollar companies that uses this technology, a giant company like Google. Google.com. I just heard yesterday on the radio, I heard an advocate for that corporation saying, we have this great plan to build data centers in space where there will be unlimited solar energy and unlimited cooling. I actually think the technology will someday exist. They have a goal to do it within ten years. Then I ask, is the technology of this data center going to be obsolete that quickly? Are we going to have another closed down area that used to do business? Or is it going to be doing very little business, generating very little business? Or is it going to be doing very little business, generating very little tax dollars, but still generating very much pollution from its backup generator? And using a large portion of this city's water supply still? Because it stops making progress, I'm sorry, stops making profit, there is a difference. It doesn't mean it's going to stop using resources if it was built this inefficiently and this harmfully. Now it can be a complicated issue to know what the best thing to do for a city is financially. But the people who live here are speaking to you with no uncertain terms that the vast majority of us do not believe we stand to profit from this. Do not believe the future of this community will go anywhere but down because of this. I very much hope that people with the power to stop this listen. We will vote for a new city council if we have to. But I hope that your campaign promises were true about serving this community. I hope you will listen to this issue and discover that there are pros and cons. But in this particular case, there is no justification for the harm that this will do. I've got one minute left. I think it's hard to not have your mind already made up on this show. I think if you stand to profit from this business, you'll be for it. But I just don't believe the majority of us who live here will profit. I hope you remember that and do the right thing. Thank you.

Good evening, councillors and mayor. I greet you as a fellow civil servant, a citizen of District 3, and as a gamer. Because as a gamer, we're often miscast as the straw man for societal ills by those who fail to understand or point us in bad faith. Social degradation, material excess, and supposed data usage. Funny, I don't recall the majority of video games from Pong to Neopets, Tamagotchi to Call of Duty requiring much, if any, of those sorts of data centers. Us gamers are rather aware of the pitfalls of these types of developments. The costs on the microchips market, the bubble that's being developed across all the folks in this stack. There's a good video by Hank Green online about that. If you can look that up, hey, that's proof that our infrastructure works without these data centers. Now I am not opposed to technological development. I am for it. I look forward to the future and the fruits of science that comes in due time. However, ethical technological development weighs upon what is right and what is wrong. What technological good is of best to pursue and expend the resources to pursue, as alluded by Brian Green, Director of Technology Ethics at Santa Clara University. Countless publications in gaming, Game Rank Otaku, Digital Trends, GameSpot, VG Times, all note the new universal rejection of AI and adjacent infrastructure and material costs. As a citizen of District 3, I question whether this is truly the best use of our land for the people of our community. From the SPARC sessions, from last month's meeting, tonight I can think of a multitude of uses that we could spend our time and effort on. What is this land for? A boba shop? Housing for our residents? another veterinary hospital for my rabbits who I had to see die because there were no facilities nearby, the question of community development and benefits to the the common good to the people of Monterey Park for us to ponder and answer, not for those whose interests are elsewhere or are at the whims of stakeholders to push us towards. It's easy to be a saint in paradise. For these stakeholders, it's easy to be a saint in paradise. It's easy to be a saint in paradise. We would like to see stakeholders in their corporate ivory towers in Sacramento, Connecticut, Australia, to push in the developments where there'll be no rate increases to them, no criteria pollutants like NOx in the air, no noise and disruption to their communities. But we will, we will be affected by this, and similar such afflictions, for our lives, for our lifetimes, our children's lifetimes, and theirs. So I'm going to ask you to stand up, so I'm going to ask you to stand up, and so on. As a civil servant, I swore an oath, just like you, and as a member of the professional engineers of California Government PEG, to do my best in service to our peoples, our communities. I call upon this council and government to honor these oaths of allegiance to the people of the city, in service of the people of the city. This is our city, to continuously labor ceaselessly for the common good. However, this council votes, I urge the council to either defend its people or empower us to defend our homes ourselves. And if we must do it ourselves, I say to my fellows, the life of the people of California is not just a matter of time. It is a matter of time. The line must be drawn here. This far, no further.

The people united will never be defeated. The people united will never be defeated. When the will of the many is united, there stands a fortress. And what a mighty fortress lays behind me. I've run out of time, and I yield the days. But I shall not yield to the scheme, to the people. Thank you.

Good evening to the people. Good evening to the people. Thank you. Good evening to all the people of Monterey Park. My name is Jeffrey Munoz, and I vote for no data centers. Data centers are inevitable, and stopping individual projects doesn't reduce demand, it just pushes development to less empowered communities. It is better to move out with these data centers and out of Monterrey County. Host them elsewhere. Set strict standards and require strong community benefits, rather than shifting the impacts onto poor areas. With that being said, no to databases, no to ICE, and screw that man over there too. Thank you.

I'm gonna need a bigger fan hello my name is Juan and I don't think I don't support this moratorium and have some ideas about this project I think if some I think okay all right I think if strict rules annoys operation standards and environmental testing occur the data center could be beneficial for the city and the site has been vacant for many years and the city needs money to help fund the police and fire department and repair the streets why not go from no money to millions we all benefit from the moratorium from data centers in one way or another or so why have the city benefit from it from financially let me end with this let's keep what works in place so that we can have a place to enjoy for generations to come what about developing affordable housing for that house and those in search of a new beginning in a beautiful city like Monterey Park AI is cool but I don't need it to run my life or to produce whatever idiotic idea I is best kept to myself. Let's be progressive in the present so that we can have a productive tomorrow. Thanks for your time.

Tommy Favali, Christina Jonan, Diana Lamo, Jorge Hernandez, Emily Chu, Brenda Campos.

it's not the first time my last name has been changed I'm going to take a vote for the mayor. Mayor it's not the first time my last name has been changed I'm going to take a vote for the mayor. I'm murdered like that but my name is Tommy Farveh I represent IBW electrical workers local union eleven we represent close to 12,000 members just in LA County of journeyman and apprentices and we represent over 350 electrical contractors what I wanted to say tonight is that you heard prior speakers talk about pitting the community versus the unions are our members live in the community. Our members live in the community. I want I want these I want the residents that are not part of the union tell their next-door neighbor That that is a union member that say no to their jobs because tonight the decision you're gonna make tonight Whether is to put this ballot on an initiative for the city will be detrimenal to our members and all of the building trees that standing here behind me their members and their families We are members that that grows up over here in Monterey Park. They live right next to you to you to you And they try to separate us but this is not we're not here to separate each other We're here to live with each other and grow and build projects like this We are members that that grow up over here in Monterey Park. They live right next to you Say no Say no to a ban and let's move forward with these projects and like a data center. Thank you I

Good evening mayor

Council members and staff. My name is Diana Limon. I am a proud member of IBEW local 11 As Tommy mentioned, we represent almost 12,000 members in Los Angeles areas with lots of Monterey Park members that live here. One that you just called, Christina Johnson, had to leave to care for her son, but she was willing to speak. And we urge you to vote no on a proposition ballot. It's premature. We here in this room, you see a lot of construction workers. We are experts in our industry. The experts that will tell you, the council members, as well as the residents, the best way to move forward and how this really impacts the environment, including safety and health, is going to be an environmental impact report. So we urge you to move forward with an environmental report so that you can make the best decision for this community. Thank you.

Hi, council members. My name is Jorge Hernandez. I'm here representing 12,000 members of IBW Local 11. Our members build your public schools, the solar fields in LA County, skyscrapers, install charging electric vehicles, charging stations, and so much more. Tonight, I'm asking you to take a moment to plan and gather information. Yes, let's move forward with an EIR. It's critical that we promote accurate information with real data and not fear. I'm here to respectfully ask for your leadership. Please show us the good governance that your residents deserve. Moving this issue to the ballot box is premature. Your leadership can give us the opportunity to continue evaluating this project through a full environmental impact report, which is exactly what CEQA is designed for. If the EIR shows problems, that's that. We get it. But we shouldn't say no before the facts are fully on the table. Thank you for being thoughtful. We look forward to a continued partnership. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, council members. My name is Emily.

I'm a resident of Monterey Park in District 2 and a member of No Data Center MPK. I'm here to talk about the city's first, thank you for hearing the community and pursuing a permanent ban on data centers in our city. While it is meaningful that we now seem to be focused on the same goal, the fact of the matter is that this council was about to prove HMC's project. It was at the final milestone, and the city only stopped because the public found out. We need to acknowledge that public trust has been broken. This project has been shaped by the work of the city's public trust. We have to work together to make sure that we are able to do this. We have to work together to make sure that we are able to do this. We have to work together to make sure that we are able to do this. This project has been shrouded in secrecy from the beginning, and it was only due to community grassroots efforts that residents found out. We have trusted you as elected officials to lead the city, and you have let the community down by letting the project get this far. This is a moment to rebuild public trust, to approach the ban with accountability and transparency. What we are seeing so far is not that. Many here tonight are confused by Agenda Item 9. The city is pushing this towards a ballot in November instead of pursuing all possible options. A ballot is risky. A lot of people have come up here and talked about it. And it's not because there isn't widespread community support for a permanent ban, but because we can clearly see HMC ramping up their misinformation campaign. They've hired a PR firm who attended the last meeting, taking notes and photos of residents, and they are attending here again. In fact, as we can see, they have passed the ballot. They've packed the room to the point where there is no room for residents to sit. People have been standing for hours. My back is killing me. Look at all these residents who care about our city, forced to stand in the aisles to be heard. To be very clear, if there are any outsiders trying to change the message and influence us, it's them. They are running ads on social media. They are going door to door in our neighborhoods. And they are actively spreading misleading information. Like ads focusing on 200 jobs. 200 jobs. During construction. But ignoring that there will only be 26 permanent jobs when construction is complete. To the union workers here, whatever is built instead of a data center can be built with union labor. After two years of work, you get to go home. But this is our home, and we will be living here for decades to come. We know that HMC has money to spend on a massive campaign. And there's a lot of time between now and November for them to do that. I have two questions for the council. One, what would you commit to doing to counter this misinformation campaign from HMC? And two, why are you willing to take this major risk and gamble with Monterey Park's future like this? I also want to be, I also want to remind everyone that it is a very recent zoning change that even allows data centers in Saturn Park in the first place. In fact, the city's municipal code arguably had protections in place. to prevent heavy industrial facilities like hyperscale data centers from being built here. The city council in 2024 passed Ordinance 2253, which allows data centers in Southern Park. They did this specifically to support HMC's data center application. Four of our current council members were on the same council that passed 2253, and they all voted yes to allow data centers. Thomas Wong, Vinh Ngo, Henry Lo, and Jose Sanchez. This goes back to accountability and transparency. If you made the decisions that led us to this point, how can we trust you to do the right thing now? Are you truly exploring all possible avenues to a permanent data center ban, or are you taking the easiest path to the city? If you are drafting a ballot, you should also be exploring other solutions in parallel. And if you want to earn the public's trust back, you need to explain your reasoning. It's not enough to just say we should trust you. Look at what trusting you has led us to. Ultimately, we all want the same thing. We have a common enemy, HMC. They've hired outside agitators to spread misinformation. I hope that you can take important lessons from your prior mistakes and rebuild trust with the community so we can work together. Thank you.

Hello, City Councilman. I'm grateful to be here. I'm very nervous.

And I'm not a fighter. But can I ask you guys something?

Sorry, what's your name?

Charlie Lee. Charlie Lee, oh.

You guys got nominated because you guys fought for your position, so we know you guys are fighters. And it's a tough position, you guys do what you guys do, but remember, you guys are fighters. And I lived in Monterey Park for all my life. I love the city, the culture. And one thing that I know about the city is that we could make this city great because we fought for it.

How do you make a city great? Well, one thing is, isn't it to listen to the people? And you guys sworn an oath. To serve the people, no?

But are you guys listening to the people, what they're saying?

But maybe it's times they do at this moment right now, listen to the people of what they're saying. And maybe then the country could be great. The city could be better for what it is.

I think that's the question. Let's say that you guys go pick a house, right? And you guys are trying to locate. And let's say that, hm, what kind of house do you guys want? Probably the best house that you guys could have, right? Nice environment, good schooling, and probably a quiet place. Is that maybe near a data center where there's noise, and then there's a car, and then there's a gate? A lot of things? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So how would you describe it? It's a very good place. It's a very good place. things distracted or would you like a very good environment? I'm thinking that you guys probably pick an environment that's the best that you guys could have, right? And for the union members, most of you guys probably do live here, but if you guys go pick a house, what kind of house do you guys want it to be in the environment? Near a data center? Okay.

So I'd like to go back to the basics. I love union members. I do. You know why? You guys have to know where you guys came from. Unions, before FDR, the Great Depression, there was no money. There was no jobs. And you know who fought for that?

Exactly. Union. You guys fought for that, right? To make the people greater. And you know who tried to tear it down? Corporation. Yeah. The people that you stood up for, which I love, because you guys don't know why you guys are standing up for it, but guess what? Those are the same people that tried to tear you guys down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So before you become like a Trump fan and, you know, you salute to the... Right? You guys don't know why you guys standing up?

You guys could make a living anywhere, right?

Charlie, please speak to the council.

Let's say Star Trek be caught. He said, your belly could be full but your soul is empty. Your belly is full but your soul is empty. Your belly is full but your soul is empty. So do the right thing and remember your basis that you guys fought for the same thing to make the country great. You guys fought for the same thing that made your country great. There was no minimum wage before. There was no insurance, right? It made the country great. It made the city better. But right now the people, which union is for the people, the people is telling you we don't want to date with you. We don't want to date with you. We don't want to date with you. We don't want to date with you. We don't want to date with you. We don't want to be a walled-up data center. So please listen to the people. Yes, your belly might be full but what about your soul? Thank you.

Brenda Campos, Evelyn Moreno, Madeline Ocampo, Deb Simone, Fabian Nunez, Richard Cerna, Jackie Waman.

Okay, thank you. Good evening, everyone. My name is Brenda Campos, and I am opposed to this moratorium. And I always try to remember that behind every construction job are families, people, trying to pay the rent. buy groceries support the kids and build good lives sharing down developments project is showing out our neighborhoods and families we should want a community we're working people can effort to live and thrive I hear a lot of stuff and sometimes I make me feel sad because I think we're talking with you guys and we really like when we talk with yes because we talk with a heart really this city deserve the best and the best I send your hands and when we talk we deserve the tension because honestly sometimes we think twice to talk to you guys because sometimes I think that people don't pay us attention but please I really like to thank you for your time and be by my side thank you and good evening

hello my name is Madeline Ocampo I'm a Monterey Park resident I'm a utilities engineer I work in safety oversight I demand that City Council explore all options to permanently ban data center citywide data centers throughout the country have been shown to be detrimental to the quality of life of the city and I'm very grateful to the city council for supporting us in this effort to ensure that we can be by my side thank you and good evening I'm so happy to be here and I'm so proud of what you're doing and what you're doing to help the city and to the environment from wasted water to constant noise to greenhouse gas emissions and light pollution this sort of project will only benefit the oligarch tech giants who want to accumulate more power and wealth they are clearly not as altruistic as they claim look at Elon Musk and Peter Thiel for example who have appeared in the Epstein files doing Do you want to be associated with these people? These men, among many, are not only disgusting pedos, but they have invested in surveillance and military tech that monitors, tracks, and kills people. This is why there is such a big push in tech. It's to control and harm people. These men are sick in the head, and building more data centers across the country would only give in to their disturbing desires to continue to exploit, harm, control, and subjugate. Here it says, this hyperscale data center supports ICE operations, government surveillance, price gouging, misinformation, and many other things that hurt our community.

Why would you give in to this? Why not instead be a source of hope? Why not invest in clean air and water, stand on the side of thriving communities with green spaces that are safe, where kids can play and be safe and happy? Why give in to greed? Why not give in to the destruction of the planet? Put people over profit, or else we will all suffer for generations to come. Someone mentioned you all live here too. You all would suffer too. This would affect all of us for generations to come. Please think in the long term. Thank you. Abolish ICE. Free Palestine.

Good evening, Evelyn Moreno, District 5. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Um No data center I think that it's a horrible idea to put it on the ballot for the reasons I already mentioned If you must This is a standalone issue if you have to put it on the ballot. It's a stand alone issue Please do not include language on the housing aspect. It muddies the water unless that's your intention For all the reasons mentioned by neighbors and concerned citizens we can't Stress is enough a data center would only exploit our city Please know that you are not alone Monterey park is not alone in this thanks to public outcry The following cities have already voted to reject data centers for the same reasons. We are all here to voice chandler, arizona tucson Arizona Lewiston Maine Naperville Illinois Lordson Ohio and in Warrington Virginia residents voted out officials who supported such projects did you hear me residents voted out officials who supported such projects your actions on this council are currently amplified and will follow your careers everybody's watching and it's a tough job I know and I appreciate your public service but please listen to us your actions will in turn shape the health quality of life and lived experience for all of us in the San Gabriel Valley and in the gate the case of data centers this is for the absolute worse thank you

hello I am Deborah Simone I spoke at the last meeting thank you for hearing my comments Oh council members and honorable mayor you know I'm with Carrie Carrie you still here you're a rock star instead of a ballot measure let's repeal ordinance 2253 let's put the repeal on the agenda and I support the Housing is Dazu Community housing Artoc Supervisor let's put the repeal on the agenda and I support the resident resident-led initiative supported by and I support the resident resident-led initiative supported by signature gathering about what we all want to see in Saturn Park because that's democracy we the people decide what's best for us from the bottom up let's start this in that area i am actually not against development in that area i'm a member of a union i'm not against union labor i think there are all kinds of projects we could do there and i think that we just need to be listened to and i've said that many times and i'll say it again listen to the people we want something else thank you

hi council members my name is jackie waltman and i'm a proud to be a member of the IBEW Local 11. it's clear that there are strong opinions regarding the project many of us have questions and still gaining information i believe the information is only the path forward it would be wrong to kill the bill the project or move it to a ballot initiative before we get the facts that an EIR would provide. We owe it to ourselves to pursue an EIR. Thank you for your consideration.

Madam Mayor, honorable members of the City Council, Fabian Nunez here speaking on behalf of the proposed data center, Monterey Park, and we represent the developer. If you mind, Madam Mayor, I'd like to just present to you, someone referenced earlier the flyers that our firm has been circulating, and I wanna just present those to you so you can have those, if you don't mind. And I wanna speak to a couple of issues just with respect to this project. And I think it's really important, first of all, and I listen intently to both sides. Obviously, I'm representing the side that wants the data center built, but I respect the voices of the opposition, because this is democracy at work, and democracy only works when people participate. And I would say to you, I don't know if you've been listening to the side that supports it, but I think it's really important, first of all, and I listen intently to both sides. And I think it's really important, first of all, and I respect the voices of the opposition, but I respect the voices of the opposition, because I know that the person I'm sitting before you is the person that supports the data center. We have actually been saying, time and time again, on this microphone, that we don't want this to go that we don't want this to go to the voters for an election for the ballot. to the voters for an election for the ballot. Did you lose? No, but you, the other side, has said that we're pushing this. This is not our initiative, I just wanna be clear. But in a democratic process, at the end of the day, voters ultimately are the final hub for democracy. arbiters when a decision needs to be made. And so to say that the voices who may be outnumbered, whoever speaks the loudest, whoever can carry their voices longer is right and everybody else doesn't matter. Like some union workers that are here, you've got to respect the dignity of work, whether you live in Monterey Park or not. And incidentally, a lot of these folks that are here that are union members do live in Monterey Park. So let's respect them. Let's respect them. And let me say a couple things about the project. We joined right, I think, the first week of January. Somebody said they hired some firm. I am the firm that was hired. And I would have been here. I would have been here. Yes, we're Actum. Hold on. Hold on. I would have been here. I would have been here. To speak to you, and I'm happy to speak to any one of you, and debate and argue the details of this project, because I feel very strongly about what this project represents. I have 35 years, hold on, 35 years of experience starting as an activist, a community organizer, a legislator, and a lot of the loss tied to environment. I worked on. You don't care about the environment.

You don't care about the environment.

You don't care about the distance. I believe very strongly that we need to protect the environment. So here's what their client did. And this is why we chose to take on this client. They did an environmental review. When you do an environmental review in California, and that environmental review says, wait a minute, there's more things that need to be done, it can trigger a full EIR. In the case of this project, it didn't. It didn't. didn't do that. Mind you, California has the strictest environmental standards of any state in the nation by far. By far. By far. So, the folks met, the opposition had a community meeting, we heard about what happened in that meeting, we had just been brought on to do this, and we heard that in that meeting, what folks said was that they wanted an environmental review, a full EIR. That was the demand of the community. So when we heard that, we said, that's fair. Let's do a full EIR. All the concerns that people are expressing here, the mistrust about the water, about the energy, all of these things get addressed fully in a full EIR. So why are folks afraid of doing a full EIR? And this is why, from a project perspective, we say to you, let's do the full EIR so that this city council can have all of the information it needs to make a decision to determine what's in the best interest of you and your constituents. Those that speak louder or those that speak softer, you can decide at the end of the day what the facts are, because the facts cannot be determined by somebody going on AI and asking chat, or asking the GPT what the cost of the project or the value of the project is. We're here to work and talk to the community, engage with the community, but we think that we have to have a debate and discussion on the facts and the merits of this project, not on hearsay and folks coming here and opposing it without having all the facts straight. I will put, I will put, and I'll say this, respectfully, respectfully, I will put my 30 year reputation on the line for this project because I believe that this project, this project represents, will be the best data center ever built anywhere in the country. And so I say to the community, we're gonna engage with you. Folks that are jumping up and down right now, we wanna meet with you. But we want to work side by side, engage the community, and find a solution. Time's up, thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Mayor. And happy to answer.

I've been booed.

I've been booed.

Fabian, time's up.

I just wanna say, Madam Mayor, here to answer, here to answer any questions from the mayor and the council, thank you.

Next speaker, next speaker.

Richard Serna, Richard is not here. Tommy Zalewski. Robert Castro. Yvonne Wong. Harag Balian. And Bosco Wu.

Good evening, members of the Monterey Park City Council. My name is Tommy Zalewski, proud member of IBW Local 11, representing roughly 12,000 members, many of whom who live and work in the area. I'm here to ask for a no vote on a moratorium and a ballot measure. A citywide ban or ballot initiative is premature when the project is already into environmental review and is prepared to go through with an EIR. I'm here to ask for a no vote on a moratorium and a ballot measure. A citywide ban or ballot initiative is premature when the project is already into environmental review and is prepared to go through with an EIR. The applicant has agreed to such requests, so let the facts come out, then make a decision. Banning data centers or any other type of development citywide hurts not only the construction industry, but our members and the city residents. As it eliminates jobs and economic opportunities, the site has been vacant for many years, and the city previously approved zoning that allows this use. The project will bring millions of dollars in revenues each year. That's funding for public safety, parks, street maintenance, youth programs, and much more. The project will bring millions of dollars in revenues each year. That's funding for public safety, parks, street maintenance, youth programs, and much more. Not to mention the many jobs during the construction phase. Please vote no on any moratorium or ballot measure. Thank you for your time.

Good evening, council members.

My name is Hirag Balian. I'm a resident of Monterey Park. I was here two weeks ago, and I mentioned that we had launched a petition about 10 days before that. Two weeks ago, it was at 1,600 signatures. Today, it's at almost 5,000 signatures.

Almost 2,000 of those signatures are Monterey Park residents.

I have some things I wanna say, but before I do that, I wanna say something. James Pugh, the lead counselor, I see you.

Why are you looking at my LinkedIn? Like, why are you stalking me? Huh? It's creepy, man. It's really creepy. Hirag, please direct comments this way. It's really creepy.

So two weeks ago, two of you said that, that you want a data center ban. Thank you, honestly. Thank you for that. But I'm not sure we're all on the same page. I wasn't expecting the city council to consider putting a ban on the ballot. I'm actually not opposed to a ballot. I just want transparency. If that's the best course of action, I can get behind that. We gotta take the housing stuff out, but I can get behind the ballot. But honestly, so I'm not gonna say anything, but I'm gonna say, I'm not gonna say anything, but I'm gonna say, but honestly, something smells fishy here. Like, why is a ballot being put forward by council member Vin Goh? Vin, you know, you haven't even come out against data centers. Like, you're not even committing to a position against data centers. So like, this smells of opportunism.

Like, this council has not been transparent. And I think that's the biggest problem. A ballot is an option. It's actually, it's not the shortest path. What is the shortest path? I think Kerry mentioned it earlier. It's repealing ordinance 2253. Ordinance 2253 was passed by the city council, and it's the reason why data centers exist. Data centers can be built in Saturn Park. And it was specifically passed to allow data centers. And I just want to go through a little bit of that. I want to go through a little bit of history here. So Saturn Park used to be industrial land. For the last 25 years, the city has been moving the area away from industrial, and building in protections to prevent industrial projects. Until this project. In 1998, Measure D rezoned Saturn Park to office professional. The zoning included a clause that said, and I quote, no use shall be permitted which produces or causes any dust, gas, smoke, glare, noise, fumes, odors, electromagnetic emanations or vibrations, which are or may be detrimental to the health, safety, welfare and peace of the city and its residents and businesses. That was 1998. Fast forward to 2020, the city puts Measure JJ forward. Measure JJ was meant to envision a revitalized Monterey Park. A de-industrialized Monterey Park. Measure JJ designated Saturn Park as quote, innovation technology. So it went from office professional to innovation technology. Well, what is innovation technology? It's stuff like light manufacturing or service commercial, breweries, wineries, distilleries. It is not heavy manufacturing. So since industrial uses would be prohibited under Measure JJ, data centers would effectively already be outlawed by default. And this is 2020.

So what this means is that when HMC came to Monterey Park, the city already had protections in place to prevent data center development. So now this brings us to Ordinance 2253. HMC comes knocking on our door. They're told by the city that they don't have the right zoning in place to build a data center, but they're not told to go away. The city works with HMC to plan a community engagement session called SPARC and then passes 2253 right afterwards about that data center. And now we're here. And Jose Sanchez, you know, two weeks ago you said you, you, you are against data centers and I believe you, but you voted for that. You know, you voted for 2253. And, you know, I hope you take a lesson from that because it's like...

Your time is up.

You know, you teach civics and I hope...

Thank you. Next speaker.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Honorable Mayor Young and council members, my name is Yvonne Wong. I have been a longtime resident of Monterey Park. I usually don't attend city council hearings unless it's really affected me. And the last time I attended was against One Legacy. And this time I'm even more. I'm more upset to learn about the data center and to learn it not from my own city, but from another city. I pick up a flyer in Montebello. So only two weeks before the last time. hearing on January 21st. So this is very upsetting for me as a resident that we were not being informed and then I did a lot of research both on data center and on what has been happening in Monterey Park by the City Council. It seems like there's a lot of appearance of favoritism towards the company that wants to build data center here from changing from doing the municipal code that favored data center and also from one of your person from the city planning department that has communication with the company. It appeared that either the city or the city council is not willing to do that. So I think that's a lot of I think that's a lot of concern. The city council or the city planning department were leading this company on so that they think that they're going to be able to build. So I was I was even more upset when I noticed the company, let me see it, advertised in the website call datacentermap.com. And I was curious, I went there because I want to know how many data centers are in Los Angeles, and I don't see anything in the San Gabriel area, except for Pasadena Most of the data centers are concentrated in downtown LA. One Wilshire is one of them. But then I saw this little thought I have a spot that show like it might be Monterey Park so I click on it. guess what I saw? It was advertisement for Digi, by DigiCo Infrastructure, REIT, R-E-I-T, for DigiCo LA, LAX2 at the address, 1980, Saturn Street. Now, that is not even being considered yet, right now.

Only 1977. Then they were advertising and says that this center may not be available. According to our data, the data center is currently listed as planned. Now, doesn't that seem really, really bad? Really fishy that we don't even have 1977 approved yet, and they are advertising for 1980 Saturn Street? So, I totally, I totally am against data center because where the site is, it's next to residential area. It's really completely incompatible with data center. So, I hope the city council will pay attention, you know, think carefully about what you want to do. I wasn't going to speak tonight, but I saw the labor people outnumbering the residents and show up in force, and I know HMC have deep pocket. They could do propaganda, do a lot of, you know, public relations against us. We are little people. I usually am not an activist, but because of this, I will turn into one. I'm not going to let up.

I hope everyone be, you know, I want to show of hand, how many of these union people live in Monterey Park?

Please stand up.

It's not me.

All right, thank you. Next speaker. Thank you.

It's been a while ago.

It's been a while ago.

Okay. So, let's be organized and fight to protect our quality of life.

Hello, council member. That's going to be a tough act to follow. My name is Bosco Wu. I'm a lifelong resident of Monterey Park. I went to school, went to elementary school in Monterey Highlands when I graduated Marquette Bowl. I'm currently working as an audio visual engineer. So, I do understand a lot of what the data center is going to bring. We can see that, you know, HMC has packed the room with suits and labor unions. But they're trying to intimidate us, the Monterey Park residents.

I want to ask, like, do you guys trust the big corporations or do you trust us, the people that are trying to, that do have your best interests? So, and I understand that the construction will, like, would provide a lot of jobs, a lot of temporary jobs, a lot of, like, a few full-time jobs. So, I understand that the construction will, like, would provide a lot of jobs, a lot of temporary jobs, a lot of, like, a few full-time jobs. Right? But they get to go home, right? Like, I live in District 5, which is where the data center is going to be. They get to go home and not have to live with that noise, the pollution. And from my background, right, these generators, they create quite a bit of noise. And it's low frequency noise, right? And this low frequency noise is what's causing the pollution. And it's low frequency noise, right? And this low frequency penetrates building materials pretty powerfully. It will disrupt noise. It will disrupt, like, people's days, sleeps, whatever, right? And there's no guarantee, you know, they say the testing is two hours a day. There's no guarantee, you know, because these generators turn on only when there's a power outage. And we all know Edison has a lot of power outages. So we don't know when they're going to be out. So we don't know when they're going to be out. So we don't know when they're going to be out. So we don't know when they're going to be running these. They could be running them throughout the night, right? And it's, I'll leave it at that. So I'd like to, I'd like the city council to repeal 2533, 2533, to ban the data center. And it's not really a compromise that they put it on the ballot. HMC has deep pockets. They're going to, they're going to, you know, they're going to try to campaign this and try to sway the vote. And I don't think the ballot is the correct measure. And we voted for the city council to represent us and protect the community. But it's clear now that that's not happening. I don't, I don't believe that our city councils will, won't, will say no. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think that's going to happen. I think that we will sell us out. But we will have to wait and see. Thank you so much.

Claudia Vera, Robert Castro, Nate Broughton, Rolaos Gutierrez, Eduardo Lemus, and David Hansen.

Robert Castro, resident. Hello. I'm a resident, District 5, less than a mile away from the data center. I'm against it. I, you know, I was here two weeks ago and I heard the moratorium. I thought, oh, we won. Like, no, that's just pushing it down the road. Four generations I've lived here in Monterey, well, my family. So I have a niece that still lives here in the city. I wouldn't, I, you know, I'm worried about the government. I'm not going to be able to get a job. I'm going to have to work for the kids. Something funny just came up, but when we talked about that unavailable data center, I don't know, it's a well-known fact, but the FBI has an office there. So I wonder, is this going to be for AI or FBI data center? Is that conspiracy theory? But you know, it's shrouded in the secrecy I heard. So I wonder who's really behind this? Who's behind this? So, you know, also I'm a union member. I retired from 11. You know, I caught some flak here from, like, what are you doing here? You know what, I live here. I don't want it. I'm really wound up. I love the city. Wednesdays I should be at the observatory. There's a nice club meeting right now. This is much more important. And you know, I support unions. But I guarantee you none of you would like to live with 26 generators in a row. And they assure me they're so clean. I worked on generators in electrician. They're exercised every month. They load test them once a year. It's a horrible amount of pollution. And it'd be like living by an airport. I asked somebody, I saw internal combustion engines. Like, it sounds innocent. But like, no, a jet engine is an internal combustion engine. Oh, they said piston powered. I don't think so. The people I know that work at data centers, those generators run with jet engines. So it'd be like having an airport blocks away from me. They're not going to be running all the time. OK. They're very dirty. It's like clean coal. Clean generators. And so I'm not going to be running that much. I'm going to be running that much. You know, it's a very bad thing. And I'm not going to be running that much. You know, I'm all for a good job. IBW is LA County. There's jobs in the county. Not in my backyard. Not in San Gabriel Valley. You know, there's jobs other places. But I don't want it. You know, most of the people here don't want it. I'm choked up. It's close to home. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Roland Gutierrez. I'm a 20-year union member with Sprinkler Fitters UA Local 709 here in Los Angeles. I represent 1,200 union members from my local with a handful that work and live here in Monterey Park. I'm here in support of the data project and I understand the concerns of the community behind me. What we need to understand is that data centers are complex mechanical plumbing and piping systems, have mechanical plumbing and piping systems that have to work 24-7. These cooling systems and fire suppression systems of this magnitude require craftsmanship. That kind of work cannot be done by trial and error or unskilled trades. It needs to be done by skilled and trained workforce. UA members install these systems to the highest standards every day. You know, in our apprenticeship programs, we combine classroom instruction with thousands of hours of supervised on-the-job training. Strong apprenticeship requirements on projects like this make sure that young workers are not just brought in as cheap labor but treated as students of a trade building real longterm careers. The FarmSave With strong P.L.A. And C.W.A. Agreements, they will provide community work force here in Monterey Park. It'll put your community to work. It will put your community to work in the city that they live in. For the community that matters, when contractors use that properly trained workforce, projects are safer, on time, more efficient, and more reliable over the long run. And the paychecks that are earned on these jobs are spent here locally in your community in Monterey Park. And I understand the people behind me disagree with me, and I understand and appreciate... we are the global core unit. It is a very well separate organization. We motion and process policies and templates to improve the labor and the environment by using our systems in the area. We are constantly in flipside gets acoustic building complex with names However, supporting families in this local community is what the UA trades are all about. UA local civil knight journeymen and apprentices all carry and maintain a current CAL FIRE sprinkler installation certification cards. These certification cards are mandatory by the state of California to install fire suppression systems. And the type of suppression systems that are needed for data centers is what my trade and my membership does for a living every day. Thank you very much. Have a good evening.

Good evening. My name is Eduardo Lemus. I've been a resident in the community since 2009, since I moved here. Uh, I understand this is not a unions versus residents issue. But we do, you know, gotta take into consideration that we are moving into, you know, the future that we're moving into. We're just clapping for the third place winners, you know, and the things that they made. So just, you know, take into consideration the things that we urge to take the right steps to go about it. Thank you.

Could you say your name one more time?

Eduardo.

Eduardo Lemus.

Good evening. My name is Claudia Vera. I can try speaking English very well, but I'm part for the community. I think this important meeting grown up that we should talk about nine, I think we can welcome modern instructor without losing to make the city special. I feel the project will strong community benefits and strict limits is how we can project Monterey Park while still moving forward. I don't want Monterey Park to become a city or station. I want to define the smart progress and care for the people. We can both protect and forward-looking. The balance is in who we are and having open mind because I need to more cities beautiful. I need more health. I need more opportunities for the Hispanic people and the other communities is coming and this time. Good night.

Nate Broughton, David Hanson, Carrie Wong, Randy Kaye, Chris Perry, Eleanor Lee.

So thank you to the council and thank you to all of you who come and spoke tonight. Both sides of the fence you know I reflect what what's been said earlier. My name is David Hanson. This is democracy and for both the sides to come out and speak on this I do appreciate it and I want to say that I'm standing here tonight with the community not with against it or not against it. We live here. We work here. My family breathes the same air and drinks the same water and listens to the same freeway noises that you do. Let me say clearly right up front your anger is justified when the project this big shows up in your neighborhood with confusing information flying around and worst case scenario scenarios being shouted the loudest. Of course people are upset. Any when pretending otherwise isn't paying attention? Nobody here wants pollution. Nobody wants unchecked noise. Nobody wants our city turned into a science experiment and nobody wants decisions to be made behind closed doors. I appreciate that the union members have allowed the community that is against this to be heard over and over again. And I appreciate you also listening. The United Association and other union crafts didn't show up late to this project. We've been involved from day one, specifically to make sure that this project moves forward, that it's done responsibly, safe, and with transparency. We've already signed a community workforce agreement. That means skilled, trained, local workforce. They have to hire from the community. The real safety standards, strong oversight, good wages and benefits for local families, families who already live in Monterey Park. Environmental concerns are not being ignored or brushed aside. The CEQA process has already been initiated. And that process exists. It's clear that the host community is doing its best for exactly this reason. To analyze, mitigate, and resolve concerns around noise, air quality, environmental impact. Before anything is approved or built. Let's talk about a few of the biggest fears directly. Those emergency generators, you've heard it over and over again. They don't run continuously. There's one in this parking lot. I haven't heard it run once. There's not 35 emergency generators in the state of Monterey Park that have been run. The number of emergency generators, you've heard it over and over again. They don't run continuously. There's one in this parking generators. I heard last time we were out here there were 50. The community needs to be educated on the project and that's what the developer is doing. They're disseminating information to educate the community, which is exactly what the council asked them to do. The water cooling system, it's a closed-loop system, right? What does that mean? We build them all the time, all over California for a reason. Water conservation is important in California. We don't build them the same way in California as they do in Texas. We don't build them the same way they build them in Oregon, where water is plentiful and they use cooling towers. We don't do it that way here. We have refrigerant. We're going to have chilled systems that will have hydronic loops. And I understand the community doesn't know what that is. And that's why I ask the community to look at the information and understand that the people who intend to build this thing in your neighborhood are the people who intend to live around this thing in this neighborhood.

Again, I respected you when you spoke. Any idea that this project somehow gets a free pass, it doesn't. It's under more scrutiny than any development I've ever seen. We're on this project because Monterey Park is our home too. The United Association has spent over 120 years building cities safely, responsibly, and with respect of the people who live in them. We're not here to lower standards. We're here to raise them. And finally, yes, this project would bring significant tax revenue to Monterey Park, revenue that supports schools, that supports services, and that supports the community. City Commissioner Henry Delacorte. City of You don't have to trust the developers. Honestly, I get it. But you can hold us, your neighbors, your union workers, accountable. We're not asking for blind approval. We're asking for facts, we're asking for safeguards, and we're asking for a conversation that doesn't end in shouting. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Chris Perry, I am a Superintendent for Klune Construction Company. I'm speaking tonight because we are a construction company that successfully builds data centers around the country. Klune Construction opened our office in Los Angeles in 1997. So we are a local contractor. We've been working in and around Los Angeles for a long time. We're very mindful about what we do and how it impacts the local residents, the local city officials. And so we are proactive in our approach to how we build projects, whether they be data centers, hospitals, churches, whatever it is we're working on. We make sure to go to you guys first, the city as well. We approach you guys, talk to you about how we plan to build it. And we want to make sure that you guys are part of that process. So during the course of all of our construction processes, we post signage on our job sites to let you know who to reach out to if you have concerns. And this is for the community itself. And we have somebody that's available 24-7 so that if the community is concerned, they have somebody that they can address their concerns with immediately. We're here in support of the EIR and in opposition of the ban. So we just want to make sure that people are making the right decisions. So I'm going to give you a little bit of a brief introduction. I'm going to put the link in the chat box. I'm going to go ahead and bring out the microphone. So I'm going to go ahead and put the microphone on the microphone. I'm going to go ahead and bring out the microphone. So I want to make sure that you all know that I'm here. I'm going to go ahead and welcome you to the conference. decisions based off of science and data and not emotions. As am I. I appreciate that. So one comment that the last gentleman said here was that, you know, this is a democratic process, right? And I want to speak to that a little bit because it's important to me that we live in a place where we all get to speak. Hopefully we speak respectfully and truthfully and we're not drowned out by people that are disrespectful. So any of those that are here with me tonight?

As were some of us. So I disagree with that part of the process. Talk to them, not to us. I'm talking to everybody. No, you're talking to the council. There you go. Let him speak. So at any rate, for the record, Kloon has not been awarded this project. We just did it. We do not have a contract with the developer. We're here in support of this kind of work because it does bring a lot of very skilled union labor. These guys are the experts at what they do. They build very high quality, safe projects. And I think there needs to be more of that, not less of it. Thank you. .

Carrie Wong. Randy Kay. Eleanor Lee. Krista Lee. Anna Yeh. Jeremy. Renee Palacios.

Randy Kay. So I'm listening to how well we're going to build this place, but I'm not listening to nobody wants it. That's the problem. Nobody wants it. Period. We don't want to hear how great it's going to be. We just don't want it. Well, we're here in this unbelievably complex situation. Tonight's decision is to make a decision. Tonight's discussion is not a land use discussion. Tonight's discussion needs to be about what is going to be done to prevent a data center being built in a manner that prevents the applicant any opportunity to challenge any final decision. Overwhelming opposition to a data center here is growing every day and it will continue to grow until this is over. Beware of people on social media acting as residents trying to inform the public that a data center and possibly two next door to each other will not use any water or power and will not cause any pollution. That is absolutely ridiculous. I'd like to thank residents from Montebello, Rosemead, South San Gabriel, and Alhambra who are here supporting Monterey Park residents in making efforts to prevent environmental damage, power and water issues. And lowering of property values in their own cities. We don't want any AI data centers in the San Gabriel Valley ever. The applicant has said nothing to residents. I don't know where all this information is. They don't need to and won't. We were told at the meeting with you, Mayor Yang, that the applicant would have a town hall meeting starting January the 9th and nothing ever happened. And if it's not done, we're going to have to wait. . If an environmental impact ends up being done, an engineering firm that has a track record with AI data centers being completed should not be chosen. We need an independent engineering firm familiar with the challenges in LA County. Air pollution, severe wildfire risk, severe drought conditions, and an aged electrical grid. Garvey Reservoir is not for sale. In an earlier meeting, an engineer spoke briefly after he checked the data that was published. And he mentioned that he thought it was not correct. Should an EIR be done, every sentence needs to be reviewed to ensure that it is correct and complete. If the decision is made to proceed with that, we will make sure we start the largest GoFundMe in the history of the San Gabriel Valley to get independent engineers on this task to conduct a complete review and dissect every finding. And if there is one I not dotted or one T not crossed, additional work will need to be done. We want you to find a way out of this for all of us. And I will say that I am an immigrant. I came here many years ago. The reason I came to the San Gabriel Valley, and I lived in Monterey Park at one time, I didn't sound like Americans. And I didn't speak the language that my neighbor spoke. And I used to go out to dinner by myself. And I made neighbors and friends here. I had great neighbors and friends. And these places, they go through the path of least resistance. And the reason I'm out there every day asking people what they think about this data center is because I was accepted here as an immigrant. And I intend to fight for the people who have been so kind to me over the years as an immigrant until this is completely over. And I swear to God that if this center is completed, I will be able to do it. And I swear to God that if this center is completed, the city council in Monterey Park will never look the same. Because there are several people that I heard tonight that if I were living in Monterey Park, I would sure vote for them for the city council. Because they're going to go to the people first and find out what they want before they start making businesses with people who are coming from out of the country to build data centers in Monterey Park.

Thank you.

Come on, teamsters!

Hi. This is Jeremy, district 3. And I've been a resident for five years. I first want to welcome our new neighbors, HMC and Actum. They are going to be our brand new partners in this amazing opportunity for power and money making. And getting to have 10,000 neighbors. Thank you. And temporary jobs. We all love a temporary job, don't we? I work with Amazon teamsters. And it's just really surprising to see the all it's weird to see all the it's really weird to see all the union members standing up in support of a guy in a suit who is representing a company from far away. It's like this is not what we got involved and worked for. Not in the power of people. we were doing. But I had a whole thing I was going to show you, but just seeing how there's been a lawsuit proposed now about this is how you come into our city and say, oh, if you don't do what we want, we're going to sue you. That's not neighborly. That's not friendly. It's kind of just bizarre to me that we're still having to have this discussion over and over again, when clearly the people here do not want it. There will be jobs. There will be opportunities in the future. It doesn't have to be a data center. Why are you guys bending over backwards for this data center? This is insane. But I'll say to end on this thing, it's just amazing that we got a whole website now. We can go to MontereyParkDataCenter.com. You can see all the great facts and figures about it. But why am I getting ads for that now? I haven't had anything from an independent source that's from the facts. It's all because they have a reason for putting all this out there. They're trying to distillate it. They're trying to dispel misinformation. But they're putting out websites and all these ads to spread misinformation. And I'm glad that, you know, city clerk Gee told us to, you know, don't listen to the misinformation back in the December 3rd meeting. I'm so glad I got to finally hear what the HMC and the ACT-M has for all of us. It's not great. It's not, like, you guys haven't really sold me on it yet. Yeah, cool. You guys get to bring a couple hundred jobs temporarily. But we still live here. So, yeah. All right. Thanks.

Good evening. My name is Anna. I'm a resident of Monterey Park. I'm back here to reiterate my position to the data center. I thought we weren't going to build a data center based on our last meeting, but I can't believe we're back here again to fight against this big corporation building a data center. I'm pro-business, but I'm anti-data center. They don't care what we care because it's our community. It affects our health and other long-term effects I've already mentioned. And you can set up precedent by doing a no data center. Thank you.

Thank you.

Christa Lee, Renee Palacios, Clotilde Zhang, Kevin Crow, Susan Halfbreed, Tyler Bird.

My name's Renee Palacios. Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. I'm the business agent for the ironworkers of Local 433 City Manager. represent 10 members that live in this community. Projects like the Saturn Data Center benefit the community, the local workforce, and the city. Through local hire requirements, apprenticeship programs... middle class wages, benefits, pension funds, programs like helmets to hard hats, and support of children transitioning from the foster system, middle class families like mine, and those are my brothers and sisters behind me. This is for a prosperous future to look forward to. Through tax revenues and public infrastructure improvements, the city and the community experience both a civic and economic boost that leads to positive changes and improvements citywide. Saying no to the data center development is saying no to development and growth. Thank you. Thank you.

Who's opening for you? Who's rolling for you?

Good evening, Tyler Bird. I'm Tyler Bird, I represent Ironworkers 416. I have 3,200 members. I have a good handful that live and work here in Monterey Park over at the college down the street. The recipe for building a good project is to require strict operating limits, meaningful mitigation, independent monitoring, and hiring local skilled workers. Here we have a chance for Monterey Park to demand all these standards while keeping the door open for working families to thrive. It's a chance to be there to be a yes with conditions, and this is a responsible stance to take. Let's keep the doors open so people can see them. Let's keep the doors open so projects can be built, that residents can live with, and that workers can be proud of. Build it safely, build it professionally, and build it to high standards. Thank you for your time.

Clotilde Jane, Kevin Crowe, Joel Greenfield, Max Reed, Alice Lee, Zach Strasters.

There are seats in the council chambers for the individuals that are watching from the lobby, and if there's individuals that are standing in the back, there are seats available here in the council chambers.

City Manager. All right. I'll keep reading. Nicole Garodan. Okay. I'll just read a few more names because it seems like some people went home. Sounds good. Nicole Gowraldon. Sochi Medrano. Laziza Lambert. Kira Hum. Vito Basotto. Just one more. It sounds like a lot of names. All right. All right.

Vito Basuto and Godfrey Watira.

Hello, my name is Max Reed. I lived in Monterey Park for 14 and a half years. The first rule of vampires is that when a vampire knocks, you don't let it in. You say, get out. So when a vampire is at your door, what do you say? Get out. Unfortunately, each one of you let them in. Now we've got to deal with a selfish, hungry entity here to suck our neighborhood dry. Okay. So you're a belching, water chugging data center vampire. And you saw our community pride two weeks ago. You see our love for this community tonight. You see the difference between astroturf and grassroots. Between mercenaries and residents. Don't ballot the data centers. Move to ban them outright. Let's stand up to bullies who say, let me help you or I will hurt you. They say they're here to listen. They say they want all our voices heard. They want to know how we really feel about data centers. What do we say to the vampire at the door? Get out. This is our neighborhood. We are the ones who have everything at stake. The vampire is in the house. We are the ones who have everything at stake. The vampire is in the house. But we are the stakeholders. Thank you.

Hello. Hello. I'm Laziza Lambert. I'm with Actum and the developer. Thanks for having me here. As you've heard, we have been hard at work reaching out to residents. We've been doing a lot of door-to-door work. We've been doing a lot of door-to-door work. knocking. We attended the Lutheran New Year's event over the weekend. We have canvassed over 250 businesses, met with hundreds of residents, and the overwhelming majority have said they want the opportunity for an EIR process to go through. They want to see the facts speak for themselves. And I think at the end of the day, by not letting it happen, we lose out on a choice for the residents. We lose out on the opportunity for revenue and jobs, union jobs for the union members who are here and live here. Short term or not, they are jobs. And we ask for more time for us to continue meeting with residents. We have meeting schedules with small groups. So we have an opportunity to have constructive conversations and hopefully work up to a town. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Xochimilco Medrano. I am the political coordinator for the District Council of Ironworkers. I was born in Garfield Medical Center and I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley. I am here to voice my strong opposition to Item 9A. We do not support a moratorium or the proposed ban on the data centers because these projects represent thousands of hours of high paying, skilled work for our members and their families. Prohibiting these facilities, especially through a permanent ballot measure, is a short-sighted move that sends union jobs and millions in tax revenue to neighboring cities. We urge the Council to focus on smart regulation and a community benefits agreement instead of a total ban that hurts working class. Please vote no on Item 9A and the moratorium. Let's keep Monterey Park open and please do not shut the door on our workers. Thank you.

Hello, my name is VETA PASUTO. I am representative of Anchor Church. For our perspective, the data center are powerful tools of substance service from schools, education, work, family connections, and communication. and even chair tables work. Data centers allow communication across the world to connect, grow, and prosper as well. These resources centers will guide by the responsibilities and companion can be instruments of service, wisdom, and a powerful force for a good common good. Let's work to keep our hearts and minds open to build a project to help people thrive. Thank you, and God bless you.

Hi, my name is Kira Ham. I'm a resident of District 3. I'm a lifelong resident. I attended Brightwood Elementary, Mark Keppel High School, and I still live here today.

I'm against the data center in Monterey Park, and I'm really here to just ask you to listen to your residents. I think the last meeting, you know, we really showed all of our support. It wasn't even just Monterey Park residents. It was our neighbors, too, you know, Montebello, East LA, San Gabriel.

I think a lot of these union members are, we're not against the union. It shouldn't be a union versus residents thing. This is not us against the union at all. And we fully, like, whatever gets built here that's after the data center, the union locals are more than welcome to come back and support us and work together. We're not against you. And I think that you know that. I'm just asking you to remember everything that was said last meeting, too. because, like, a lot of people came up here crying because their neighbors were in danger. They're showing their support for their family members that couldn't make it.

And I also wanna point out that like, a lot of people were emotional about it because it's personal to us. This is where we live. This is where we wanna live. This is our home. Monterey Park, is a community of generational homes. I live in the house that my grandmother bought when she moved here, when she immigrated from the Philippines. And I hope to live here for a long time because I love Monterey Park. And I stand with my residents and my community members.

And the fact that HMC Capital has brought these union members to agitate us and to try and, scramble our movement, our momentum right now. It's upsetting because they're out here regurgitating the same information. They're not addressing the community concerns that your residents have come up here and told you again tonight. We have people showing up every council meeting now. And we will continue because we care about this city.

No data center in Monterey Park, please. Thank you. Data Center in Monterey Park, please. Thank you.

All right. Good evening, Zach Strauss. Pleasure to be here with you tonight. So, uh, it, it's pretty evident that your constituency, the local residents, are upset. I don't think it takes a genius to figure that out. out. I think the reality is that any project if it's worth approving or if it's worth denying it's based on the merits of the project. So I'm gonna bring out a couple facts as I understand them. I think obviously we have plenty of people that are willing to vociferously oppose anything. If this is not true then the information that I have is false and obviously through your sequel process, you'd find that out anyways if it makes it that far. First of all, the parcel that it's on, from my understanding, has been vacant for many years. The city previously approved zoning that to allow this use. The amount of income that's projected is about five to seven million dollars revenue every year, and that funding, obviously, is what goes to public coffers to be able to take care of civil services. So, another element that I think is important to understand is either we stand behind CEQA or we don't. Certainly, there's a lot of CEQA abuse, but if we're asking for a process, and then we're engaging that process in good faith, obviously, if the project stands on its merits, through that process, bring in whatever independent source needs to verify, whatever the case may be, you can obviously, as a council, create whatever additional measures you need in the way that you choose to approve. You can create caveats that ask for whatever it is that seems to be appropriate. So, since it's gone through years of city and environmental review under CEQA, we're talking not just about violent, emotional threats against it, but talking about the quality of the city processes themselves. And that has to do with the people that we hire, the people that have been vetted, and we're not talking about whatever payola, we're talking about civil servants that the people are obviously voting in and vetting, and who have been faithful servants for many years prior to this project. So, if the EIR shows problems, then I think it's obviously reasonable by anybody's understanding of what the CEQA process should contain that you would vote to deny it. It doesn't require violence or threats or mob mentality or hatred or bitterness or stalking. It's just a basic, simple process. So, if your opinion requires violence, and it does, then you're not going to be able to do it. So, if you're not going to be able to do it, then you're not going to be able to do it. So, if you're not going to be able to do it, with that kind of intimidation, then it seems like there's probably. I mean, my observation is I think we as a people are at a place in our democracy where we ought to take violence and mob mentality pretty seriously. So, if we're coming to a place where we're asking for due process, which is what I think the argument that most people have against ICE, for example, then let's give the process due process. Let's give this project due process. If the developer is everything that they've been portrayed to be, clearly that'll come out in the wash. Clearly that'll be revealed over the process of what CEQA does. And finally, the project itself is either sustainable or it's not. So when you look at the portions of this project, like the cooling system, the infrastructure upgrades, no pass-through increases to utility rates, if those things are true or those things are false, then we're relying on the due diligence of our duly elected civil servants and the teams that we have hired and the third parties that we have vetted for many years to determine if that information is in fact true or false. It doesn't require threats. It doesn't require emotionalism. Kudos to those who have come out and who have engaged the civil process. That's absolutely what anyone should do. That's a part of our democracy that we hold dear and that we value. That's part of what makes us America. What doesn't make us America is when our opinion requires violence in order to coerce others to agree with it. Thanks and God bless you.

Godfrey Washira. Godfrey Washira. Yeah. Good evening, council members. My name is Godfrey Washira and I'm with CREED LA. And we are asked for an EIR for the project to be implemented and no on the moratorium. We support the EIR process because, as the courts have said, an EIR not only protects the environment but also protects informed self-government because the goal is for decision makers and the public to have sufficient information to make an informed decision about a project. In fact, the consensus before the last hearing was that an EIR would be done for the project. Why move the goalposts? Let's do it. There are people who will support the project. There are people who will oppose the project. And there are people who are neutral. And there are those who are looking for information to make a decision. Why don't we allow that process to play out? Right? Let's embrace the spirit of the founding fathers who believed in a deliberative republic. Right? They slowed down the policy-making process enough so that everybody's voice could be heard. Right? And all voices can be heard and people can talk with one another rather than at each other or over each other but talk with each other. Right? If you look at the policy process in Congress, that's where one congressman or one senator can stop an entire process. That was done by design by the founding fathers because they wanted everybody to have a voice in whatever issue there is. Right? Remember, we are in a liberal democracy. And a liberal democracy, and I'll put it well, is the will of the majority and protection of the rights and interests of the minority. We always have to consider the minority. And that's what the founding fathers slowed the process enough so that even the voices of the minorities can be heard. Because today you can be majority in an issue and tomorrow you find yourself, you're a minority in another issue. But the founding fathers wanted to make sure whatever side you are on, that you're voting. That your voice can be heard. That they believed that the best way to make decisions was through deliberation and consensus building. That's how they looked at it. Let's all meet at the middle of the political room and talk with each other. Right? And EIR does give us that opportunity to do that. And that's why tonight I urge you to take up the spirit of the founding fathers. Build on the consensus that we have, and the EIR is OK. At the beginning, everybody said, let's have the EIR. Let's do it. These are consensus. That's how our founding fathers saw how the system should work. You build consensus. You deliberate. Then you come up with your decision at the end of the day. And that's all we're asking. Consensus is do an EIR. Let's do it. Let's just do it. Right? Because an EIR. Thank you. An EIR, above everything else, an EIR gives science a voice. Let's have science telling us, let's have science lead our policy making. Let's have science lead our decision making. That's what the EIR is going to give us. Look, doesn't it sound odd that if the developer had something to hide, they wouldn't be asking for an EIR? But they are. They want it now. They are. They've been open enough to say, let's do it. So why would you fear? If you don't want data centers, why would you fear an EIR taking place? Right? Is it because you fear the information that will come might dispute what you have? Or is it? And I know it because as a creditor, we started as doubters and became believers because we look. through the information. We look through. All of it. All the knowledge. knowledge and figured out it's not as bad as we thought every data center is, because every project is unique in of itself. And so today I urge you, give a chance for science. Give a chance for all to engage and have a shot at making an informed decision. Thank you and God bless you.

All right, the next speakers are Nicole Garadon, Roxanna Furahani, Harrison Kwok, Brian Merck, George Bocanegra, Brian, Jan, yeah. You're both Brian's, okay. I'll get rid of one. Jan. Can she be Brian too? Yeah. Yeah. Teresa's coming up. Felicia Marquez.

Mayor, as the speakers are coming, can we issue a reminder just to the audience to please not to be respectful for the speakers that are coming so that the council can hear what's being spoken and just ask everyone who continues to be here, I know it's after 10 o'clock and we're all excited still, but if we can all just be respectful and continue to ask for that, please.

Yeah, also are there people in the lobby still? Maybe have them come in. I don't know if there are any seats here so they can. Oh, it's cooler in the lobby. Okay. Okay. Just want to make sure they knew there were seats in here. Yes.

Thank you, council. I'm Brian Mercky. I live in District 3. I suggested last time that we put it to a vote and I suggested it because I thought that Shepherd Mullen, who represents the developer, would come in and say there are threats, threatened to sue. And I think that's what we're going to do. So I'm going to go ahead and vote. Okay. Okay. I don't know why you've come today. I thought we're going to have a vote that we're going to threaten to sue. And they've done it today because they're scared. I think they're chickens. They're scared. They think we'll win because we will win a vote. They have the money, but we have the people. And the people cannot be bought. These developers half a billion dollar project, what are they going to do in a small town? Run an ad in the cascade? Okay. Like, realistically, you can buy big national elections, but what can you do in a small town where we know our neighbors? And I don't know these people sitting here, all right, but we know our neighbors, and we can win elections. We'll beat them, square. And the reason why we should have an election that needs to address housing, I know you all may not agree with me here, but it has to address housing because if we don't put something there and this blight continues, then some other viper will come in here, and they'll be even more hated than these data centers. The city will get desperate. The city will want to fill this land, and we can fill it with housing. And the reason we need to fill it with housing is because we are so far behind on our housing goals. In the 2021 to 2029, we have to build 5,200 units of housing. In the last reporting period, we had to build 770 units of housing. That is a huge increase, and we have not zoned the land for it. Our housing report said we did not need to change our zoning to meet the housing mandates, and that was wrong. The state is going to come in, and they're going to put housing complexes all along the single, family homes unless we find land to build it. Saturn Park is that land. There's also SB 79 passed by the legislature last year that forces cities to rezone land around transit stations, specifically trains. So half a mile within Atlantic Station by Cesar Chavez, Riggan, and Atlantic, half a mile of there will be rezoned to four five-story apartment buildings, unless the city, finds alternative land to develop to save those hundreds of single family homes that will be rezoned and will be demolished. So the city needs to act now, and the city needs to find this land to do it, because if we don't put housing there, some other vulture will come in. We don't want this data center here. So put it on the ballot. Make the people decide. There should be no option where we do nothing. Either the people, either the people, put their money where their mouth is and say no data center, yes housing, or the people give up on their city. But I don't think the people will give up on their city. They'll show up at the ballot box and they'll do the right thing, because I believe in the people, not empty suits who are scared and threatened to sue this city. Thank you.

Harrison Kwok. Hello. My name is Harrison Kwok. I'm a resident. I apologize. A lot of this material is basically what everyone else has said. What's with the ballot? As our representatives, are you concerned we don't represent how your constituents feel? We're a noisy minority. There's maybe, I don't know, 200 people in the community here? Same at the last meeting? How many folks are normally in here for a City Council meeting? Maybe 10? I mean, there's, I was on YouTube, there's maybe 30 times the number of views for your last meeting compared to every other video you've ever live streamed. So you know, we're the people and you're our representatives. Is it in your power to say this proposal is not for Monterey Park? Do you need the public to officially weigh in here? A ballot nine months from now? Yeah, give the data center more time for flyers, Facebook posts, passionate speeches about progress. You know, the lead of asbestos people, they talk a lot about the need for progress. I'll let the guy threatening to sue you. Ooh, the haircut.

That's what the bad guy looks like.

You're our representatives. We need your leadership. How's that research going on the concerns about the power grid, water demands, noise, property values raised by basically every speaker and community member here and last time? What's the latest on the meetings with local officials who brought data centers into their cities? You have a chance to follow up with them, Councilman Lowe. You're our representatives. We hope you're making measured decisions. I heard in the last meeting there were struggles with how little direction has been given by by the federal and state regulators? True. Not a lot of long-term information on something so new. So maybe caution is needed? Why does this feel like this is quietly being arranged away from the public eye? You know, now they're pro-environmental review. Last time I heard, Councilman Lowe, you said they failed at engaging the public and missed an opportunity. We hope and pray you all had a good, you have good plans to attract development in Monterey Park. I'm pro-growth in Monterey Park. We hope you can make our city aesthetically pleasing, our schools, police, and fire departments well-supported, a gem in the eyes of the developers. I hate empty fields and useless boba promises as much as the next person, Lanark and Garvey, looking at you. Don't let what's happened in the past make you desperate. You know, What's it say up there? Faith in the future. Make our city tax policy safety the most attractive thing to those looking for opportunities, those who improve the quality of your constituents' lives without controversy. And you'll be backed by everyone here.

I appreciate your engagement. And maybe you see the ballot as a positive step. but there's been a lot of communication already. No ballot, especially one that combines the issue with housing. Councilman Lowe, sorry to pick on you. I am quoting you out of context, so my apologies. But in the last meeting, you stated, when I speak, you will listen. I think the city has spoken. Are you listening?

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Councilmembers. My name is George Bocanegra, and I represent over 20,000 members in LA County. Some of us had to go home tonight, and some of us are still here because we are passionate about going to work every day. We the carpenters are strongly supportive of this project and against the ballot proposition to prohibit the data centers in Monterey Park. Sometimes the loudest voices don't represent everyone. I know there are strong opinions, but not everyone in Monterey Park feels the same way. Believe it or not, we live here, too. We're your neighbors. Many of us are still learning and asking questions. District 5. Ending the process early sends the message that some voices matter more than others. Continuing reviews keeps the door open for all residents to be heard. This project will create hundreds of good-paying jobs. Projects like this might put your work, might put your kid to work and have a career as a middle-class carpenter so he can buy a home here in Monterey Park and not have to move to the I.E. Projects like this create family-supporting construction union jobs and long-term technical employment. Organized labor supports responsible developers. This developer has committed to local hiring, strong wage standards, apprenticeship, and pathways for new careers in the trades. This is an opportunity to ensure Monterey Park workers benefit directly. And what's next? Banning data centers. Or any other type of development citywide hurts the entire construction industry and stifles economic growth for the members and the residents of this city. Thank you for your time. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, Roxana Farahani, resident of District 5. I wasn't going to speak today, but I'm going to speak tonight. So I wrote this on my phone really quick. It's not going to be profound. I spoke last week basically, or on January 21st, basically reiterating what everybody, or echoing what everybody said today. I had to come up and speak because tonight my comments will be directed at HMC rather than city council. You all heard me last week, or January 21st. I had to comment on HMC and their PR because it's absolutely ridiculous. And it shows how little they value Monterey Park and its residents. The first woman who came up was so belittling, saying that we're against development. None of us have given any suggestions that are against development. And for her to come here and act like a child, insinuating that we are all acting like children. I mean, it's disgusting. Second of all, I'd like to address AMC and not the union. I'm a part of a union. I want to say this is what billionaires do. They pit the working class against each other. That's right!

I'm not sure what this tactic is. I'm not sure who came up with it, to be honest. Could have been anybody. I don't know if it's for strength, for intimidation, for our city. But look what happened tonight. We're all fighting against each other. And it goes against what HMC is preaching. Community engagement all over their social media. and new website they have. But how is this community engagement? How is this being here for our community? Reaching out to our community? They didn't come here for community engagement. They saw us all here united on January 21st and they came here to attack us tonight. And now we're being told we are violent. No. We are here, so I urge us to stay a community strong with our neighbors. We are grassroots, but as others have said, we can be stronger, our voices can be stronger. But HMC is starting their campaign. They are spreading misinformation. Fabian Nunez did that tonight. He said California has some of the strictest laws. That's not true because big tech companies buy laws. They buy politicians. They like to spend money on it. They take that money. They are not going to pass environmental laws to be put in place, especially in California because of Silicon Valley. So California is one of the biggest offenders of this. So you know, even if we do an EIRR, I have no doubt that that could be bought. So it's not one of the most environmentally friendly places. A misinformation spread tonight here on this podium. So in regards to 9A, I'm under the position that we should explore all avenues. It seems like There can be an ordinance, something done with an ordinance today, possibly, or in the next few council meetings coming up. And then the possibility of a ballot measure in which I would hope that, you know, when drafted, language is meticulous. There's a lot of different ideas that came up tonight. You know, and here's the thing to HMC. This is our neighborhood. Whether it's information or misinformation, we just, we don't want a data center here. So you're going to keep hearing that. Thank you.

Teresa, Stephen Kung, Bryant Phan, and Samuel.

Hi, everyone. My sister told me for advice to kill you all with kindness. So I want to say thank you. Jose Sanchez, you're a rock star. You have my vote of confidence. Vin, I meant it. I have faith in you. And, of course, everyone in the council, thank you. So I want to start off by saying something about those suits over there in the corner. Okay? I want to make it clear for public record tonight, I've confirmed that developer has engaged Actum. They're a $50 to $100 million company, a major political consulting and public affairs firm known for shaping narratives, managing opposition, and engineering. And they're doing it for the purpose of providing political outcomes for high-stake corporate clients. Laziza Lambert, remember her? She's with them. And the guy who's paid by HMC StratCap, he's with Actum. Okay? This means this proposal has never been a simple land use question from the moment Actum entered the picture. It became a political strategy. Their job is not to design buildings or answer technical questions. Their job is to make controversial projects look inevitable, keep elected officials comfortable, and make them more accessible. And minimize scrutiny and neutralize community resistance. Know their role. We know who you are. Residents deserve transparency. They deserve a process driven by facts, not political strategy. And they deserve a council that recognizes when outside consultants are shaping the narrative instead of this Monterey Park community. This is not just a development proposal anymore. It's a coordinated political operation. And the public Monterey Park community deserves to see it for exactly what it is. I wish I was a lawyer or a firefighter. But you know what? I'm an accountant. Okay? I'm a numbers guy. So when I see 5 to 7 million recurring, I want to see the numbers. Right? Because I like looking at numbers. It's what I do. Okay? So what I'm trying to tell you all is they are trying to sell us on phony numbers. Don't buy it. Okay? Their fiscal report depends on assumptions the applicant hasn't proven. A favorable property assessment. Near full power operations. Predictable equipment spending. And zero service costs. Remove any one of those assumptions and the revenue projection collapses. The city is not going to be able to do that. The city should not rely on a model this fragile. So far as 9A, I'm hoping that there's a more resident friendly solution to all this. As mentioned, I have faith in the council. And I appreciate that the council is working so hard trying to figure things out for our community. But if it comes to a balance sheet, I'm not going to be able to do that. But if it comes to a ballot initiative, we will fight for our neighbors. We will fight for our modern community. And win. And that's right. We're going to win. I don't know who these guys are. They're coming from Australia or Florida or D.C. or wherever. But they're not from here. So solutions repeal 2253. R.A. We do a resident led initiative. And we'll do that. I'll go door to door. So again, thank you, council. Thank you.

Hi, council. How is everyone tonight? My name is Felicia Marquez. And I spoke last week. And I was very emotional. So thank you for getting me through that. I just wanted to say again, thank you for staying until 1 in the morning. And after that meeting, I got to thinking from something that Henry Lowe said in that, you know, he was thinking that potentially this could be a model. And I was thinking also one thing that you said was that there's really no oversight. And it's a shame that the federal government, the state government is not putting any regulations on these data centers. And going across the nation and shoving this into our neighborhoods. And unfortunately, you have to bear the shoulder, the weight of that. And it's I was driving to work the next day thinking this is just a horrible situation that you have to bear, that we have to bear. And honestly, it's from the top. It's from Washington, D.C. And the big billionaires who are in the pocket of Trump just slamming us with data centers. And we have to fight for our rights. And you have to fight for our rights. And I do have faith in you. And I do believe that we can turn this around and we can have no data centers. I'm begging you to reconsider. In addition to that, I just wanted to reiterate with everybody that I'm a third generation Monterey Parkian. And my grandfather lived in Montebello. He was a Teamster union. My father was an MTA driver for 20 years for Metro. And I took care of both of them. My grandfather died in my house. My father almost passed away in my house. And my house was built in 1934. And I also have a boyfriend who is a carpenter, a second chance carpenter. He's very skilled. He's very smart. And we've been working on my house to improve certain things. One thing I wanted to point out to you is, for example, my garage, 25 feet I think, has three bolts in the mud seal to the cement foundation. That code was 1934. We have to rectify that. I'm not going to live with my garage going to fall off in the next earthquake. But what I'm saying is that the codes from the past are not the codes of the future. And if we build this data center now, what's to say these skilled workers who are, I'm sure, highly intelligent, highly skilled, I know. I've actually, like, pride myself on being a DIYer. I've picked up my saw. I've picked up the nail gun. I've done stuff myself. But I just want to say that how do we know that the codes of today are going to be the codes of tomorrow? And these data centers are not going to have to be reworked. And that could be a cost on our city. So I just want to keep that in mind. Okay. So thank you for staying. Also, I don't know, I guess I'll wait for this disturbance. What should I do? Oh, okay, keep going. I also wanted to say to the audience, I'm sure we've all watched Erin Brockovich, and we all know that breach of groundwater, which is a really big concern of mine beyond this. I used to be a runner, a marathon runner, an Ironman. I've ran past Saturn many times, I mentioned last week. But why take the risk that whatever closed-loop system or open-loop system, why take the risk that we could damage our groundwater, that we can damage our air? It doesn't take an EIR or a scientist to know the 60 freeway is right there. Why are we putting pollutants on top of pollutants? It doesn't take an ERI. That's why we don't need the EIR. We don't need it. We can see. We also have research data centers across the nation. We know the impact of the data centers. We've all seen it. We see the rust in the water, just like Erin Brockovich. And when Erin Brockovich goes to that lady where she was living and has to pull her daughters out of the pool water, that's frightening to me, because I was a swimmer. I don't want to go to the pool and ELAC and be freaked out that I'm going to get some type of cancer. In fact, my mother died from ovarian cancer, and it ravaged her. And I don't want to go through that. I don't think any of us want to go through that. And I just want to say, the applicant has said that we have constitutional rights. Yeah, we do have constitutional rights. Free air, free, like, non-polluted water and all these things. And if you think that we live in a democracy, have you even looked at the news? We are not in a democracy. I'm sorry. We can talk about this all day long, but we're not. And then I just want to say one more thing. Why am I driving my scooter? Because I have been going to every business in my neighborhood before my work, after my work, in my car. I burnt my battery out. I burned it in my car. Because I will not stop until every business owner knows about this data center. And by the way, this huge list of businesses I've been to, between beauty salons, massage nail, hot pot, everybody, nobody knows. Please consider that, city council. Thank you so much.

Good evening, everyone. First of all, I was already in bed watching the city council meeting. I don't suggest people do that because when you're in your pajamas, then you start hearing some of these comments and I was like, I got to get there. So I rushed here. I want to read something to you. When this first came before council on December 3rd, we immediately pulled it from the agenda. We asked the applicant for more information and community town halls. Nearly two months later, we received almost nothing from them. Meanwhile, you showed up with facts, concerns, and evidence. Those are your words, Elizabeth. Remember, that's the history of this project. We've been here. And if you want to talk about, and I completely support union. I think that they are vital to our economy. I like that some people have come to say they support it. I get it. But at the end of the day, we're the residents. You are our eyes and ears. You, you, you, you, You are my voice. You are my concern. You are my heart. You are my brain. You are my community. You are my home. Remember that. Because there's been a lot of information here about holding people accountable and about what a democracy is. Democracy is about listening to your residents. Because we're the ones that voted you in. Because when you came to our doors, and, you know, Vin, you're my District 5 council member. You're my eyes and ears. You're my voice. So please listen to us. There's a lot of noise going on here. And I get that. People are very passionate. And I support the unions, like I said. But if we build housing, you're going to be back, right, to support housing. I'm sure. I'm sure you will. Because we need electricians. We need plumbers. We need carpenters. Right? That's right. So it doesn't matter what is built there. The unions will be here to support us because we want to give them jobs. But I'm going to write something. I want to share something else with you, though. And this is what I was going to send this to you initially in an email. But then, you know, I hopped out and came here. Jobs are temporary. Jobs are temporary. But the negative effects of this data center on its residents are permanent. Permanent. Long-lasting. But if they want to look at jobs, housing will create jobs. Plus housing will create vibrancy. It will create family. It will create generations. It will create community. And it will add to Monterey Park. So please, don't be fooled tonight. By all the noise and to voting for a pretty penny. Because quality of life is priceless. It's priceless. And you know, I'm going to say one other thing. If you want to put it on the ballot, put it on the ballot. I've got my sneakers ready to go and I'm ready to go door to door. Because you know one thing. We, Monterey Park, we support you. We, Monterey Park, we stick together. And we are community. And that's what a lot of people don't understand. And I'm not anti-data center. I use my AI and what not. It's just it's not the right location. That's the issue here. I'm not saying don't put it in the SGV. I can think of different cities where it would be great. If we had a huge industrial complex, I would say, okay, if it's far away enough, and we implement some things. But look at where it's situated. So please, I'm going to say it again. Do not turn your back to us. And remember, who gave you false promises at the end of the day? Okay? Hold on a moment. Who did? Was it the residents? Or was it them saying that they were going to do outreach, outreach, outreach? And if you can't depend on their word to do outreach, how can you depend on them for real? Okay? Thank you. You are a project. Remember that. So you want to bring in a ballot? Game on. I will walk. I will walk. Oh, good night and thank you.

Hello. Good evening. My name is Bryant. I'm a resident of District 3. I didn't plan on speaking tonight as I was just going to attend to show my support. So I apologize in advance for reading off my phone. I'm a resident in District 3. And I'm here not only for myself but my neighbors who could not attend. As well as my brother who is a constituent of District 5 who had to leave early. I moved in a few years ago. And I remember my neighbor, Councilmember Sanchez, greeting me on Halloween with his family. And vowing to represent me. I appreciate your stance. And I hope you will truly represent me and your constituents. I love my neighborhood and this city. And I am opposed to having data centers built in my city or any neighboring communities. I'm a member of Local 18. I've worked alongside many carpenters and electricians who take pride in their work. There's plenty of opportunities to work on other projects that can benefit our community. Like building housing, schools, or renewable energy sources that can be brought into the city. Data centers are not going to benefit our community. I request that the Council does not proceed with the ballot proposal and vote to ban data centers outright in this city. Also, how come an ERR is being proposed now and wasn't done in the beginning of the project? It sounds like they're scared of us and they're trying to appease us once they saw that our passionate community stood up against data centers at the last meeting as well as this one. So that's all I have to say. But thank you for your time. Thank you.

Hello. I'm Samuel. I apologize to all my fellow residents. I didn't get to prepare as much as I wanted to for tonight. I just got off work. I'm Australian. Don't hold that against me. Why did I come to Monterey Park? Community, restaurants, quiet neighborhoods. I would never have been attracted to Monterey Park if I'd known, if I knew I'd be living next to a data center. I'm in District 5, which is VIN's district, right? But don't worry about me. I'm a green card holder. So I can't vote. I pay taxes, though. Anyway. . As an immigrant from Australia, I have more in common with most of the residents here than the rest of the community. . My girlfriend and I, my girlfriend is Asian American. And we would joke when we walked down the streets in Monterey Park. I wonder if they could guess which one is the immigrant. Anyway. . I work in the film industry. And work has not been easy. But the kinds of jobs that this data center might provide wouldn't even pay my mortgage. I'm talking about the ones after the short-term construction jobs. So I'm not going to go into that. I'm going to talk about the ones after the short-term construction jobs. So I'm going to talk about the ones after the short-term construction jobs. So I'm going to talk about the ones after the short-term construction jobs. Which is what, 26? And I don't know if they're going to be residents of Monterey Park. Maybe they'll rent a room somewhere. Just the electricity use alone is crazy. Data centers are not just computers. Their energy is like that of heavy industry. Every year we are advised to ease the load on the electrical grid. Ever since I've lived in L.A., I've been told reduce your A.C. or whatever in the summer, right? Because they take too much electricity. . Because they take too much electricity. How is that even possible with this data center using twice as much power as the city? And that's just one of the planned facilities, right? So they want to put a second one on the other side. I know this has been said before, but I didn't get to talk about this last week. Two weeks ago. Sorry about this, guys. To the people arguing for progress, I'm probably at the bleeding edge of the services this data center might provide. I work in visual effects on TV commercials and that. We use generative A.I. all the time. But these facilities unequivocally do not belong next to residential neighborhoods. I don't understand why this is still being discussed when two weeks ago this sounded like you were for a ban on this data center. That's Elizabeth Yang and Mrs. Suarez.

This should be a vote to ban data centers, period. Build more community, not heavy industry. Ban this and this data center and all data centers in Monterey Park. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Steven Kung, District 5. Greetings, Mayor, council members and staff. Hey, HMC Capital and ACTIM, congratulations on finally engaging the residents of Monterey Park. You may be wondering why you're being met with so much hostility and like all these union newcomers, you're probably wondering the same thing. And the truth is the applicant has a severe credibility problem. And here are ten reasons why we do not trust you. First, you're not honest. Laziza, you introduced yourself to our community with a lie. Community engagement person might be a title you gave yourself. But you hid that part about being a lobbyist from ACTIM. Which is your actual job. In fact, ACTIM knows how compromising that info is. So they scrubbed your profile from the website. But of course forgot to delete the press release about your promotion. So don't expect us to believe you when you don't even start with the truth. Two, you tried to sneak in your data center without a full environmental impact review. Which is against the law. And the only reason you're doing it now is because you got caught. These actions speak louder than any of your crappy Facebook ads. Three, data centers are so odious, you have to pay people to advocate. You have to pay them off to advocate for you. ACTIM is here because you are paying them. That guy from Crete, LA, he didn't even know that Crete, LA submitted like 40 pages of comment deriding the data center. But you paid him off too. And the unions are here because you promised them work, not because they love data centers. They would be just as happy, if not happier, building housing, mixed use, schools, and a pool. No one has drunk your Kool-Aid. We know you're all mercenaries. Four, your data center places 24 diesel generators right next to a middle school girls' play. A baseball field where they play, where middle school girls play. And while these generators are backup, you fail to know how they'll run regularly for maintenance. And how they'll release air pollutants. A 5PM 2.5, which are considered non-threshold, i.e. there is no safe level of particulate matter. And they increase our risk of heart disease. Five, according to Public Resources Code 25517, you are building a thermal power plant. And I'm not even talking about the Edison substation. Your diesel generators have a capacity of 66 megawatts, which surpasses the legal definition of 50 megawatts. You're deceiving the public by deliberately omitting and understating the rules. the sheer scale of the project. Six, we all know it's a matter of time before the AI bubble bursts, just by more. law, your data center will be obsolete by the time it's finished and we'll be just left with another vacant lot within 10 years, except this time we'll have to deal with hazardous environmental waste, hard pass. Seven, the number of jobs created is a net negative because it doesn't consider the big picture. The construction jobs are temporary. The 26 permanent jobs are easily surpassed by the number of jobs created by one dim sum restaurant. And the ugly truth, the data center will be used for AI, which replaces human labor and causes massive unemployment, eclipsing any of those 26 low skill jobs you would create. Eight, you're not planning on one, but at least two data centers. Nine, you falsely accused us of spreading misinformation and yet there is not one citation, no receipts, and yet you continue to peddle that narrative. Here's a tip. Don't attack the very people you hope to win over. Ten, you've accused us of being outsiders when you are the outsiders. You are an Australian asset management company by the way of Washington, DC, Sacramento, Connecticut and Texas. You don't look like us. You don't speak our language. You don't eat our food. You don't know what a Hong Kong cafe is. You don't live here. You wouldn't actually live with the impact of a data center. Let me tell you. The actual residents of Monterey Park are not the same. They're not the same. I'm not sure. They're not the same. None of us are really smart or savvy, super educated, and we know a bad deal and we see one. Okay, there's one more. 11, let's not pretend. Everyone knows you'll sue us if you don't get your way. You can't convince us a data center is good when the sort of Damocles is hanging over us. What you're doing isn't just a PR campaign. It's coercion. You're fighting an uphill battle against an entire city that doesn't want you here and yet you continue to bully your way into this community of color to pollute the air we breathe. To make electricity more expensive. to devalue our homes, to drain our energy and resources like a parasite. You think you can take us on? You've messed with the wrong city, and we will shit you out like the tapeworm you are. Thank you.

All right, next speakers. I called these earlier, but I must have mispronounced it because I couldn't read the handwriting. One is Richard Chow. One is Casey Wong. And did anyone else think they put a speaker card in, but I didn't call their name?

Okay, so these are the last two speakers.

Evening, everyone. Well, this has been fun. First things first. I speak Chinese, so dajia hao. And then second, I've been to all the Cantonese Hong Kong cafes, JJ. I was born at Garfield Medical Center. I grew up on new engraves. I also lived on Norwood. I still live in the San Gabriel Valley for the last 46 years. I'm a six-year Navy veteran, okay? But building trades has given me an opportunity to earn a living as a middle-class person. I'm able to support my family. And my kids. My kids play at Barnes Park. We go to the little splash pools. Mark Keppel, all the schools. I built buildings in ELAC. I built buildings in PCC. And it's jobs like this that made it so that I could support my family. At what cost? At what cost? So I was doing data centers when it was two megapixel flip phones. Little chirpy nextels. I did the one Wilshire project that the lady was referring to. I built them in Simi Valley. I built them in Irvine. I built them all through downtown. And then, so this is crazy to me. I am your neighbor. I am representing the few Asian people in the sheet metal trade. They can't be here right now because the biggest reason is we work super early in the morning. We start at 5 and 6 in the morning. We're, and then we're not anti-union. Stop booing us. I am your neighbor.

Mayor, if we could remind- I was born at this hospital! Mayor, Mayor, Mayor, if we can remind the speakers to address the council and also can we remind- the crowd to please respect the speaker.

Our position is simple. Let's do this the right way. Let's go through the process thoroughly and transparently with clear enforceable community protections. And let's build with a skilled local workforce such as what being done by CWAs. I thank you for your time.

.

Hi, Council. My name is Casey Wong. I am a former resident of Monterey Park. When my grandma and my mom immigrated to California, to the United States, they immigrated, they traveled from Sacramento to San Diego, and this is where they felt the most at home. This is where They built a life. I unfortunately do not live here anymore, but I still work in this district. I work all over the San Gabriel Valley as a political organizer, and so I'm very familiar with elections. I am appalled by the first speaker representing HMC Capital, Amy Smith, who, as other speakers said, described us as children, closing our eyes and closing our ears to the future. I'm sorry, I wish I could close my eyes and close my ears to the pollution that will enter our lungs. I wish I could close my eyes and close my ears to the damage that this will cause to our communities. We are not. We are staring at this and analyzing it with clear eyes, with clear heads, understanding what the real impacts would be. And so we are not acting like children, the way that this person who is not even from our community is infantilizing us, infantilizing my elders, infantilizing our community members and our neighbors is disgusting when they are trying to profit off of our bodies and our land here. Delaying a decision until November is just a waste of everyone's time. It's a waste of taxpayer dollars. It is a waste of all of their money that they're gonna be spending, clogging up our airways, our radio stations. ICE is in San Gabriel Valley. It was at Mark Keppel High School just yesterday. Families have been taken. They're being taken every single day. They're being taken every single day. We don't have time to be fighting this. We are fighting ICE right now. And so we don't have time to be here all the time, but we are. People are showing up despite working, despite taking care of children, despite taking care of their families, despite being educators, worrying about their families, worrying about other people's children. We're doing all we can because we love this community. And instead we have to spend hours here, you know, fighting so that we can have a future in this community. And so I think that's a very important point. And Donald Trump has said that the polls will be surrounded by ICE. By throwing this to the election, by throwing this to the ballot in November, you're endangering our communities. This election is already at risk. You have the power to repeal Ordinance 2253 so that we don't have to go through all this trouble. So we don't have to ask our elders and our families to be endangered by going to the polls and fighting this stupid ballot. and you know stand up for your constituents and say it's out of our hands and we must let you vote on it we will organize we have organized we will continue to organize I am a political organizer I know who the voters are I know who votes and I will turn them out you are dragging your feet despite all the knowledge that this community has given you that they have taken their time to research we've all somehow become experts on data centers in the span of just a few weeks I wish I knew less and there's so much more I can say this is not going to only impact Monterey Park residents and yet they'll be the only ones who get to vote on this ballot ordinance what about Montebello residents what about peach the children who don't have the opportunity to vote yet what about green card holders what about all the residents in this community that do not have the ability to vote you're minimizing the the ability to vote you're minimizing the ability to vote you're minimizing the ability to for people to actually have their voice heard by throwing this to a ballot rather than having more town halls why have there not been any why is it that we only have to come here from 6 to 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. to have our voice heard you know when are you coming to the community and asking for our voices to be heard and asking for our input what I have heard is at the SGV progressive action hosted a teach-in in early January to get the community educated about this and at that time I was a student at the school and I was a student at the school and I was teaching I learned a lot of things I learned all about these data centers but I also learned when a data center worker who is lives in this district and works in Irvine spoke about his experience as a data center worker and he said he is working eight 18 hour shifts that all of his co-workers have been fired they are minimizing staff because that's how they continue to profit and so you should really analyze and assess where is the profit going into this I'm not an organization you are the politicians it's your job to understand the impact that you are asking this community to take on thank you

we got three more speaker cards but I know we're coming up on 11 it's 11 so I

like to ask for another extra hour for to continue the meeting tonight

I'll second all right let's vote

approved unanimously all right thank you that allows us to continue our meeting so or the last three cards that I just got were Margaret Leong Andrew Yip and Vincente Ocampo

Good evening. I'm a Monterey Park resident. I've been, well, I've been dating my wife, my girlfriend. back then where are you since 1986 so I've been around the city since that time I'm a little bit disappointed about what I've heard from that side what the union people keep coming and saying is that we are skilled we can build it correctly and we agree you can perfect from the blossom poorest!!!!! then you don't understand why we're booing you we're text billing you we're booing you because today you been pawns from the suits that are back there and let me explain why they're pawns they have pitted you against us they have whoever your union leadership is should have said no we're not gonna do this we're not gonna get over to stand over there make a mockery of this meeting standing up is united. You should be united with us. You should have told your union leadership, your union leadership should have told those suits over there, hey, don't, no, don't involve me. But I see them going over and they go in the cheeks of his hand and they whisper something and then they smile and they go away. That tells me your union leadership is not, might be representing you. All of you should be saying, I am not going to be a part of this. I can see that the community is against this, so I don't want to be involved. And that's what the people, the workers should be saying. They should notice that it's not about the work, it's what you're building. Let me give you an example. A bomb has to be built, right? That's what you're doing here. You are building us a bomb, you're lighting it on fire, and then you're leaving. And then it's going to blow up on us when all of you guys are gone. That's what you're doing. That's what's happening. You're building a bomb, you're lighting it, and then you're gone. And then when it blows up, it's going to be all of you and all of us who have to pick up the pieces. And that's what's disappointing me. As a union member, as a teacher, as a union leader and organizer, I'm so enraged by their union leadership who said, hey, let's go and mess up their, let's go and mess up their union meeting. I mean, their council meeting. It's ridiculous. I'm embarrassed. You should be embarrassed. You are supposed to be here for the community. I understand you want to work. I understand you want to work. I respect the work. I respect union work. As a union person, I respect union work. But this is not the kind of work we want. We are not against your labor. We're against what you're building. That's what it comes down to. And you don't get it. We're not against you working. We're against what you're building, and you're building us a bomb, you're lighting the fuse, and you're walking away, and when it blows up, we will be here. Got it. Yes! Hi, my name is Andrew Yip.

I am one of the organizers for SGV Progressive Action. We're here. We primarily focus on community defense. We were doing trainings for patrols in our community around ice and all that, and so I was surprised to hear from residents when they saw it on the agenda that Monterey Park was going to build a data center. I work for the National Parks Conservation Association. There is a proliferation of data. There are data centers from across the country. Some of these states, like Virginia, was the first state to really fall under these data centers entering their state because this is something new. A lot of states, including ours, do not have these protections and regulations in place. So what we're seeing is states like Virginia is overrun with data centers. Overrun. And I don't say this lightly. People are leaving these communities. And those that can't afford, they're stuck there. This is not what we want here in Monterey Park. This is not what we want here in the San Gabriel Valley. People are scared because there are plenty of examples out there. Small to large data centers and how they affect communities, lowering property values, causing environmental pollution and issues like that are very deep to us because we can see it happening. And we're not alone. There's plenty of communities out there that are fighting data centers successfully. And we're going to be the next one. To successfully run... These folks out of our community. And I also was born in Garfield Hospital. I'm a veteran, Army veteran of eight years. I've served my time. I'm here too. And I can speak Chinese too. Do this mother... This piece of shit organization, HMC, okay? I can speak Chinese. I'm going to go organize with my friends. And I have my family and my friends here too. And everybody here... We're going to door knock. We're going to canvass. If the ballot is going to come up, we're going to do the work. Because so far, the city hasn't done their job. So that's why we stepped up. Why did we do the teaching? They said they were going to do town halls. Where are the town halls? Now it's moved to social media, Instagram ads, Facebook ads, door knocking. That's their job. They were paid to do that. But here we are. A lot of us volunteer in our time. We don't get paid. We haven't eaten yet. We're just eating protein bars out there. Talking to people. Talking to neighbors. Handing out flyers. But we're going to show our full weight as SUV Progressive Action and No Data Center Monterey Park. You can visit our website SUVProgressiveAction.org. Visit NoDataCenterMPK.org. Or many of our other websites. Such as Monterey Park Data Centers. With an S. Not to be confused with Monterey Park Data Center.com. Which our friends at HMC purchased. But forgot to purchase all the other domains. So hopefully people do land on our page. Find out more information. We're going to continue our teachings. We're going to continue reaching out to our community members in multiple languages. Because that's the unity that we have here in the community. In the SGV. We're going to keep defending our communities. Whether it's ICE. Or these bullshit billionaire. Australian companies trying to come in. We're going to do all that we can do to kick them out. Thank you. So I really debated tonight if I was going to come up and speak.

And not speak. And then I was going to speak. Then. But we were talking about being respectful back there. And people screaming. Yelling. I saw the last council meeting. I was very energized. I saw the young crowd. People coming up. They were very passionate. What they were talking about. I have not seen any level of energy like that in the city for a long, long time. Which is. That means we have hope. To move forward. To move forward. To move forward. To move forward. To move forward. So I'm very excited to be here tonight. Just kind of to see. To be in this space. Instead of just watching it from home. Very disappointed. I'm sitting back there minding my own business. But since we are talking about being bully. Why would the former mayor going around telling people. Don't talk to her. She's for the data center. Seriously. I came here. I really think that what is missing here. Is how Monterey park. Approach. Complex. Project. Every single complex project. It's a mess. Seriously. We use too many consultants. We don't have in house. Expert. That could walk a process from beginning to end. We talked about this with every single project. And I want to reiterate what Paul is a sock. He said. This. Earlier. I think he was the first speaker. He said. This is. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. This is a. And did he say this at the end. I think he was the first speaker. He's right on the money. We need to change the way we do business. You folks. Your job is to make. Informed decision. I mean. It's like. Your decision is like. It blows in the wind. One day is this. Today is that. I'm not even sure you folks read. The. The application report. I really doubt it. Jose. I think you have passionate. You love teaching. You. You talked about your kids. Your kids was here to see, you know, how proud. It's a great moment. But then when you started talking about the water and the way you talk about the resources, I was like, I don't think he read the report. Yet you went on the TV to talk about this particular project. You were not talking about information that you obtained, you know. This is not college. You can't do cliff notes. You can't. This is not high school. You guys are controlling our life. I want to retire here. I am so stressed. Every other week I have to come here for a meeting, and I don't understand why. When I live on the East Coast, I don't think I've ever went to a city council meeting, ever. It makes me mad. It really does. And I was hoping that this conversation here. I was hoping that this conversation here would be a conversation with my neighbors. I was with the team that resolved the one legacy, right? They want to land a little helicopter on top of the building with all those high tension wire. It was horrible. Who reviewed the plan in the city? There is no knowledge base. The training is not being absorbed. I mean, this is not a union residence issue. You guys like to pit one another. You pit one group of residents with another group like the pickleball versus the pool. It's horrible. You guys drives me nuts. I'm working on the pool full time. And now this with the data center. When folks come to a meeting like this, or have town hall meeting, I expect an organized discussion. It's one sided. There is no organization to do it. There is no organization to do it. It's the way you guys do business. I just want to give a couple examples really quickly because I haven't heard it because a lot of people ask me, Margaret, how big is 250,000 square feet of buildings? Oh, yeah. On the Facebook. Four football field. Scared the daylights out of everybody. So I did some Google and AI. Oh, very easily found. What in which building in Monterey Park is 250,000 square feet? Wow. It's not just that. It's the volume. It's how tall it is. Right? So you just go down to the marketplace and you look at that. The Costco, the Home Depot, there's their footprint. It's 138,000 square feet. Okay? So, but they're tall. They're like 45 feet. So if you look at the data center, it's 50 feet, two level. So that means the footprint on the floor is 120,000 square feet. So that means the footprint on the floor is 120,000 square feet. So that means the footprint on the floor is 120,000 square feet. So that means the footprint on the floor is 120,000 square feet. smaller than our Costco in marketplace. So for me, coming to a meeting like this, I expect that kind of discussion. There is no real information to be obtained here. Nobody knows. Nobody in this city. That report that was submitted was 7,000 page. That 7,000 page of report, it was not bookmarked. How could anybody ever get any information out of that 7,000 page? information out of that 7,000 page report. Maybe that's the reason why nobody knows what's going on. And they are just going off telephone. It's a telephone game. She told me she's scared, so I'm scared. So now we are all scared. And the first video tape I have ever seen was a lady crying about the data center running a ginormous high voltage thing. So I went through the whole thing. Yeah, give me a second. Went through the whole thing. This is a really good video.

We have two more speaker cards that just came in.

It was a very good video.

Everyone had to limit their time.

Hold on. It was a very good video.

Aurora Mireles.

And then they were saying that...

And Meredith Ahling. Final two speakers.

I mean, the lady was bawling. So I watched the whole video tape to the end. She wasn't even against the data center. She was crying because in order to get the power. That the data center need, they need power. So they went from point A to point B. And there was eminent domain. They were against eminent domain. So each of these things that we are complaining about has to be site specific. And I have not seen any discussion like that. There is no... Yeah. Next speaker, please.

Thank you.

Good evening. I was debating whether to come up again. I spoke at the last council meeting. But I'm just disgusted at the way that this conversation has shifted if there is even a mention of a conversation. But the only thing that I do want to point out is that the one positive thing that has come out is that the community organizers The people that I've talked to, we are not paid. We're doing all of this for free. And we're passionate about it. about our city. I'm a lifelong member of Monterey Park. My parents are attended. They've never come to a city council meeting. They're elderly. They lasted till 930. They couldn't come this evening. All I know is that our organizing is working out so well that HMC has Actum coming in with these actors trying to tell you and tell us that they have our best interests in mind. What they're trying to do, and they're playing it both ways, they're trying to sow. And let me tell you, I'm a union member and I'm a teacher. I'm a proud member of UTLA. I have helped lead strikes. I have helped organize on the ground. And one thing I have learned is when you do your job well, the other side, the corporate people, try to spread FUD. We call it FUD. It's called fear, uncertainty. And that's exactly what their agenda is. And we're not going to buy it. We're not buying it. And we would hope that you're not buying it because I'm in your, I forget the number because it's late, Mr. Sanchez, but I voted for you. And I'm echoing the same thing. We hope that you really truly are representing our interests. But I'm just telling you, we're not letting up. Arthritis. I have, I mean, I'm out of shape, but I walked. A lot of my neighbors did not know even that this project was in existence. I didn't find out until December and I was so upset. We don't have time to be focusing on this. As a teacher, I'm already having to shoulder the burden of helping my community with ICE. I teach in East LA. I don't have time for this. But I'm making the time. I'm making the time. My union right now, I'm still involved. We're negotiating. We just called a strike vote. Successful at that. So I'm telling you, we are not going to stop. Once I start, you cannot stop me. I keep going and going. And the young people that are organizing, they're doing a hell of a job. I went to the teach-ins. We are committed. I made copies of the flyers myself. I walked, my whole family walked. My son-in-law spoke. My daughter spoke tonight. He's Chinese. We covered all the languages. We had English. We had Cantonese covered. We had Spanish covered. We were engaging our neighbors. I live between First Street and Cesar Chavez, your area. And everywhere I went, people are scared of answering the door because of what's happening. But once I told them, I'm your neighbor. I'm talking about look what's happening. People engage with me through those modern doorbells that you don't open the door. And then they said, just leave me the phone. I said, okay. And they were scared. But I said, not because I love you or pay attention to the money you're paying. They're going to stop you because of these issues already placed against me at the janitorial office. So I'm here to fix this. I'm on the knows. We're going to fix this. We're going to let them. We're going to fix their him in the pi and then they'll show up and fix our mess. forte. It's obvious. And they're going to go forward. I can't trust them an inch. They're not going It's just, anyway, that's all I gotta say. We're ready. We're ready.

Hi, my name is Meredith. Thank you. I'm a District 4 resident, and this is my worst nightmare to be at this mic right now. I'm so nervous, but hopefully I can talk normally. I don't have anything prepared, but I first want to say, Mayor Yang, thank you so much. You've really engaged some of my neighbors and I through chat and talking to us over text message. I really appreciate it, and really great. I'm so grateful for all of you. This is a long night. I'm going to try to keep this short. The reason I'm speaking is because I honestly, it's really hard to sit here with family members who are union members, close friends who are union members, and feel the really intense discord and contention. I know that that's, we shouldn't be against each other. Honestly, I think so many of us are filled with an immense amount of emotion right now because people are afraid. People are confused. People don't know what's going to happen next. I think there's been a lot of things that have been said, promised, not followed through on. And then we have, yeah, this outside party coming in and feeling like it's kind of dictating the timeline, the conversations, the movements. So it really hurts me. I'm really not for the books. I'm really not for the booing. I'm really not for the name calling. It just distracts from the fact that we're all people and have a stake for one reason or another. HMC has a stake. They're being paid to do this job. That's their job. I'm sure they actually feel very strongly about it. Okay. I think a lot of the union members have a really strong opinion about the value of this work. I understand that. I think that's really valid. But I think that the community, again, to return to the issue of the residents. They are speaking loud and clear. They do not want this. It's not about not wanting to create jobs. Like absolutely create jobs. Not with this. And we don't need more information through an EIR. We have seen how this has ravaged communities across the country. And that's why people are scared. They're very concerned. And that is, I think, the result of... I think it's a very important issue. Because again, the community has a lot of confidence in the work that they're doing. And I think that it's a real issue. But it's also an issue of what we've seen and also why you're seeing so many emotions. Which... I agree, it's hard to have sometimes a civil conversation. But that's also what comes up when people are afraid, confused, and feel like they are being pushed around by somebody who is outside of the community. So I just want to, as a resident who moved to Monterey Park and chose Monterey Park because it is such an incredible community. Um... want to say that this has been a really challenging time, but I have gotten to know so many incredible people through this process, neighbors who sit behind me. One offered to come up with me because I was like, I don't think I can do it. And we care. We're here because we care. I think sometimes it doesn't come out in the most eloquent way, but that's what happens when people are passionate, and hopefully you can hear our message through all of that. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you, everyone. I think it's important for everyone to be able to share their perspective, and I think the majority perspective has been loud and clear tonight. So thank you.

Madam Mayor and members of the City Council, before you discuss this item, just for clarification, I wanted to clarify that Item 9A is not to, to place a ballot measure onto a future election, but to look into potential ballot options. So if the Council is interested in this item, this item is to explore options around potential ballot language and potentially bring back proposed potential ballot measure options for the community and Council's discussion to consider in March. So I wanted to make that clear that that's not what's on the agenda tonight. It's not putting a ballot initiative on. An election, it's to discuss potential options. And then additionally, a moratorium extension will be brought back to the March 4th meeting for City Council's consideration. So just wanted to make those clarifications. Madam Mayor.

Thank you, City Manager, and thank you, everyone, for the robust comments and for staying so late to listen and to speak as well. We will go into comments.

I'll start first because that is the one that made the recommendation or suggestion. And you know what? I stand by it because when you have pro data center and anti data center both disagreeing with that, it means that it's actually the right place to have further discussion. I have a few questions.

One. One. Well, first, I want to thank everyone. And I know it's after it's closing on midnight. And I think this discussion might take a little while, too. So appreciate everyone sticking around and those that showed up and had to leave as well. Really appreciate again, just like last meeting, everyone engaging on this issue that you care about. And I feel clear to me that so many people care about this community and appreciate whatever side you're on, whatever viewpoint you have coming out to share that, especially those who have never been to a council meeting. Thank you for showing up and encourage you. And I also want to thank you all to show up for the whole host of issues, other issues that we also engage on here at our meetings. And welcome you to come to any of our meetings on any issue. On the specific item before us, thank you for that clarification, city manager, on what the actual item is. I'll just voice my support for the action. I'm all for options. What we're doing tonight is not necessarily taking an action. But not for the action that we're doing tonight. I'm all for options. I'm all for options. And I think directing staff to start to do the research and put the work together for this option for council means that it's not an option. It's already off the table, especially if we're talking about potentially a June ballot measure, which is something I want to explore, right? And I just want to remind everyone who's here and who might watch this after, the only way the Council can even discuss anything is to put it on the agenda, right? We can't have this conversation about these items, data center, data center uses, zoning, anything, has to come on the agenda, that's when the Council can decide and discuss these things at all.

more than two of us can't talk to each other.

about items that are coming before the council so just a quick reminder for everyone that's why we have to put things on the agenda that's why we can't make decisions and don't make decisions outside of these council meetings but I generally support this and want to provide direction to staff to move I will vote on supporting this so that we at least have this option in the coming weeks so that staff can work on that nothing has changed from the last Council meeting last Council meeting we directed staff to look at options for potential right how we can potentially address data centers and data center uses in the city going forward the staff are still working on that this is just another potential option that I think the council should be able to discuss and have in the potential toolkit to exercise going forward as an option to further what we were talking about two weeks ago. And so I support this. But there were a couple of items that were brought up by a number of the speakers in terms of Measure D, Measure JJ, Ordinance 2253 that came out of the SPARC process and the rezoning. I'll look to Carl, I think, or someone else to explain. I think Carl knows how to answer this, but if I mess this up, Measure D, as was pointed out by speakers, where it was passed in the 90s, establishing restrictions on what could be, what can and cannot happen in the Saturn Park, McHausen Business Park area, that Measure D was superseded by Measure JJ when approved by the voters in 2020. So Measure D is not valid law. It does not, it no longer exists, right? In the legal sense.

Madam Mayor, members of the council.

First, let me say this, that as a reminder, there is no project on tonight's agenda. This is a general discussion about land uses in general, data centers in particular, it's part of that land use, and it continues the discussion that the council had from the last meeting. This, as council member Ngo, has mentioned, and council member Wong, this is direction to staff in terms of what, if anything, should come back on a future agenda for additional, council discussion. So for those folks that show up, I'm sure there'll be another late night with all of us joining together. So I look forward to that discussion. But absent the council direction to have us bring those options to you on a future agenda, certainly the city manager and I don't want to bring things out of left field for you to consider and have the public observe that, gee, where did this come from? This needs to be something that the council directs us to bring back. I think, in regards to your specific questions on Saturn Park, one of the speakers correctly noted that it has been called McCastland Park up until Major JJ was passed. Major JJ renamed that area as Saturn Park, and that land use element, which was put onto the ballot in 2020, it was actually put on twice, was the result of a committee recommendation, which was the GPAC, which was the General Plan Advisory Committee. helped put together and craft that land use element and ultimately presented that to the city council for consideration the council voted on it approved it and put it onto the ballot for voter consideration your specific question has to do with measure d and how it interacts with major jj one of the things that major jj authorized was for the city council to adopt zoning regulations that comply with the land use element i.e major jj it specifically delegated authority to the city council to adopt those zoning regulations another part of major jj specifically said that anything that may have been enacted by voters at any point before major jj was adopted would be superseded by this land use element and that's very important to understand when one talks about the zoning regulations that existed in saturn park if you recall in 2024 when the council adopted ordinance number 2253 the discussion at that point was to be very careful in terms of the zoning regulations that existed in saturn park if you recall in 2024 when the council adopted the discussion at that point was to be very careful in terms of the zoning regulations that existed in the council adopted ordinance number 2253 the discussion at that point was to be very careful in terms of the zoning regulations that existed in saturn park if you recall in 2024 when the council adopted how those regulations were changed because of the public buy-in with what used to be zone op and is now the saturn park innovation technology zone so the council took a very careful and measured approach to that quite frankly from a legal perspective from a land use perspective it this will sound terrible but it's much more efficient to have taken it all out and redone it the council didn't do that the council didn't do that the council didn't do that it went through line by line and made sure that the original major d language was preserved to the greatest extent possible there's been discussion about repealing ordinance number 2253 i don't recommend that for this reason which is the original application that has been discussed but we're not discussing now came in as a data processing facility that was would be processed under a different set of standards and considerations and the original application was to be able to implement it in a way that was in line with the original plan so that was a very important consideration for the city council what the city council did in 2024 said no data centers are a special type of land use category and we're going to make sure that those are discretionary decisions made by the city council on a case-by-case basis each one of those projects that might come through in that particular area have to be separately examined from a sequence standpoint and the city council has to approve a data or a development agreement for any data center that might be proposed that's really important because a development agreement is a legislative act by the city council that has to be adopted by ordinance by the city council and it's subject to referendum by voters so it's a two it's a three-step process really it's uh assuming for the sake of this hypothetical discussion that a data center project would be something that the council would want to approve you'd have to adopt an ordinance which requires two readings and then it doesn't become effective for 30 days afterwards which allows a referendum period to be in place for any group that wished to oppose that particular action that would go on to the ballot and ultimately could be defeated at the ballot box i've had that happen in other jurisdictions it's effective way of making sure that big projects are sufficiently reviewed by the city council and also make sure that the discretionary actions by the city council can be fully vetted so that is a very long answer to your simple question the simple question the answer to that is that major jj is the standard by which we are looking at land use within saturn park and so the entire language of majors jj has to be reviewed in order to fully understand how that interacts with with the current zoning and in saturn park no i appreciate that because that i think offers some clarity to some of the comments that were made um and i think our addresses a lot of the comments that wait hopefully but i want to emphasize what you said also right that uh for repealing ordinance 22.17 2253 would not do anything to preclude a data center like this project that's proposed or any other like that to be proposed in the Saturn Park area? If 2253 were repealed, we would be left with arguing with any potential applicant about whether their particular application fits into the category of data processing facility. That is a whole different legal argument that I don't advise, and I'll say this publicly, I don't advise that the city council engage in. You have a development agreement requirement for any data center that were to come into Saturn Park, and that is an absolutely discretionary decision for the city council to make. I also have to note, just since the threat was made on the record, there is no pending application that has a pending hearing at the moment. There is a pending application, but there's no indication when that comes back for public hearing. It was voluntarily, the hearings were voluntarily withdrawn by the applicant. The applicant has voluntarily agreed. The applicant has already agreed to go through an EIR process, and so the threats that you heard tonight, I really take exception to. I think it's disingenuous for somebody to come up here and say, and threaten you about a project that that applicant voluntarily withdrew from consideration for the moment. We have no idea if and when it will ever come back. I don't know the answer to that question, which is why I think certainly some of the speakers and some of the council members observed there were promises made to the city council. None of them have come to fruition. And what you've heard tonight, certainly in my view, taking off my city attorney, I just don't understand why they're coming so late to the party. So that's beside the point.

You know, there are accusations being made, certainly in writing, that I've responded to. You can read them at your leisure online. I think it's a mischaracterization of what the city has done with regard to that particular application, which, again, is not on the agenda. So I'm happy. I'm happy to answer any additional questions.

City manager, do you want to add something?

Well, appreciate that thorough clarification around what we're discussing tonight and some of the context, which I think will be helpful to many of the speakers that spoke tonight. So I will reiterate my support for moving ahead on this item, directing staff to begin working on these options so that we can, as a council, discuss them. And I think we can discuss all of them and have them all before us, as we stated two weeks ago at the last meeting, to explore all potential opportunities to restrict data center uses throughout the city. I don't know if Carl or city manager, you can just, if you have a quick primer on, or if this is something to discuss once you have the options or some analysis, what the difference might be between council action and a ballot measure and why we might consider this. What would you consider those differences?

Madam Mayor, members of the council. So I think when the speakers accurately discussed the potential for circulating petition

and gathering signatures and presenting it to the city council, there is a time element to that, obviously. And based upon the discussions that the city manager and I heard from the last council meeting and the council's observations, it seems to me that one of the options for the council would be to put the ballot, a ballot proposition onto the ballot itself. Two things happen with that. One is you obviously bypass the circulating petition issue. Two is you require a sequel review of that ballot proposition. So one of the reasons that I think the council member has brought this forward was because in considering this, we pointed out that we need some time in order to evaluate any, any potential ballot language in order to present that to the city council for consideration. And the environmental review of that language is an important component because if a petition is circulated by the general electorate and it qualifies for the ballot and is presented to the city council, that doesn't actually require a sequel review. But if that's a voluntary thing done by the city council under Elections Code 9222, that's something that does trigger a sequel. Now, as we sit here, without having yet received direction from the city council of what a potential ballot proposition might look like, I can't tell you the extent of that sequel action, but I wanted to make sure that you knew that there was that element involved with it. That's also a very long answer to your question, but there are two processes. One is by the circulating petition getting signatures, and the other one is by the city council putting it onto the ballot itself. And just to be clear, in terms of the citizens circulating a petition,

there's nothing that precludes you from doing that. There's nothing that precludes the citizens from initiating that process right now on their own. Not at all. So just putting that out there. And if the council, I'll just present this comment as well, and look forward to my other council colleagues weighing in as well, would want to see the staff come back with options, right?

I know there have been comments around housing, some supporting, some seeming I'm not sure where they are in potential housing. Just want to clarify the existing zoning does allow some housing uses in the Saturn Park area, right?

That's correct. So the Council just adopted zoning regulations to add in the mixed housing idea within that and within the Saturn Park area. I think what certainly Inez and I heard about from the last meeting on. and from the council and from the public, was that perhaps a greater breadth of housing might want to be considered for that area. Um. One of the speakers talked about the consistency between the land use element and the zoning. And so in order to make sure that there is that type of consistency with the land use element and with the zoning, the question should be before the council about whether or not to expand the types of housing that might be available within Saturn Park without it having to exercise its own zoning authority within that area. That could potentially be challenged. So that I think is something that should be on a future agenda for council consideration. Yeah.

No, appreciate that. And then I just want to note for council colleagues and the audience that are here, right? My overriding concern for the Saturn Business Park, going back to the SPARC process and those conversations there is, as Council Member Ngo pointed out, right? 70, 80% vacancy in the office park area on the square footage that has been vacant since before the pandemic. Most of that vacancy has occurred and has been vacant since before the pandemic. So going on close, right, eight, 10 years for some of those buildings at this point, my overriding concern for that area is to make sure that we're addressing vacancy and finding opportunities for redevelopment, economic development opportunities for housing or other things to go in there so it doesn't sit vacant, continue to fall apart, and continue to be a detriment to the community and a potential cost, financial economic impact, negative economic impact for the community and for the city. So my overriding concern is making sure that we're addressing that. I'm sure we're making that area, providing as much as we can from the city perspective in terms of zoning and other things that we have control over to make sure that there's redevelopment and something going on that's an economic plus for the community at large. And so want to make sure that we're pursuing all those options, including housing, expanding potential housing opportunities and other opportunities I'm happy to look at. It doesn't look like office space is going to happen, otherwise it probably would have happened already in that area. And if it's for the city, I'm happy to look at it. And frankly, if it's not going to be data centers, probably very few other uses besides residential, and the likely need for higher density residential to make it marketable and for the financial kind of economic case to be made for something to happen there, instead of those vacant, long, vacant buildings continuing to fall apart and become eyesores and negative assets for the city. So that's what's driving me, and that's what I hope will drive our continued conversation about the future of Saturn Business Park and that area and hopefully the revitalization of that entire area. So we'll look to see how we can make sure that we're addressing, if we're gonna go to the ballot for something, how we address that, whether that's separate measures, combined measures, whatever, in terms of housing, the zoning, and data center uses and the future of that in that area and throughout the city. We'll look to make sure we're doing the research on all those options so that we can have a full discussion once that's ready.

Thank you. I wanna thank everyone who's still here. I know it's really late, but I still wanna thank everyone who came out. I know that a lot of people have already left. I saw some younger kids in the audience with parents as well. So I know that a lot of people, a lot of families are very passionate about this. And so I just wanna say that I hear you. And I wanna say that I'm in favor of exploring all options to ban data centers in the city. I think, we don't have language yet for a ballot, but I would think that a ballot measure coming from the community would be, in my opinion, probably depending on the language a lot more permanent and ensure that, you know, that we're not gonna have to do that. And I know that, I know that we're not gonna have to do that. I know that, I know that we're not gonna have to do that. But I think that a lot of people are concerned about the data centers, if that's what the community wishes, and that's what I'm hearing, you know, does not operate in our city. I have a lot of concerns, and I shared those during the last council meeting about data centers, not just its water use, not just environmental in terms of pollution, but just the longer term consequences that we still don't know, but that we're seeing play out in a lot of communities throughout the country. So I also recommend, and I'm in favor of exploring all options

area and I think one of the speakers Brian Murky had mentioned about arena numbers and then those things are real we know we're in a housing crunch we know that we have a housing crisis and we don't have enough housing and that's not just up you know it's not just Monterey Park's responsibility in terms of building housing although we do have a responsibility to build housing it's It's our entire state and our country. And part of, you know, a lot of people were talking about economics earlier. Part of the high cost of rent and housing in this state and in this city is because we don't have enough housing. And so, I mean, I worry about that as a parent of three daughters. I don't, if rates continue this way, I don't know how they'll, or anyone, will be able to afford a home in Monterey Park or just anywhere in L.A. or in our state. So I do want to see not just the Saturn Park area but other parts of our city where we can build housing And meet our RHNA numbers which are over 5,000 so we have that responsibility so I want to make sure that That I Address and and say that I that I hear you guys I hear everyone appreciate all of you guys who came out and thank you for sharing and being so passionate and continuing continuing to engage us and I encourage you to continue to come to the council meetings and to continue to engage us and share your opinions I think that's very specific engage is very valuable so I hope that at our next council meeting preferably or in the near future we get some some options that council can weigh in on and And in terms of, I mean, whatever action we take, whether it's a ballot measure, I think there's only one path forward. And if I hear it correctly, we're going to ban data centers. So at least that's my position. I can't speak for the fact that's my position. So.

But we also need to address the other issues that are at play, including housing. So that's it for me. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And again, thank you for everyone for still being here. I know it's been a long meeting, but very important and robust conversation about a very important quality of life issue in our community. The question I have, and again, I realize this action's too, but I'm gonna ask you to explore potentially a ballot measure, but process-wise, I'm curious, and my question is, for example, when we passed Measure JJ in 2020, which again, updated our land use element citywide, and of course updated our policy document, our planning document for such things as housing, commercial zoning, even though it was passed by the voters, it's still required, correct? The council still had to hold hearings and meetings for programming language, right? Because again, the ballot is the broad language, but if and when it passes, it still requires and it's the responsibility of the council as the legislative body to create programming language. Is that correct?

Madam Mayor, members of the council, yes, you're required to have public hearings, any time that new land use regulations are being proposed, which is a good way to segue into, there's been lots of talk about why is the moratorium only 45 days? That's because there was no public hearing for the initial temporary moratorium. By law, you have to have a notice public hearing in order to even consider extending the moratorium. So the law provides that it's a 45-day temporary moratorium until you have time for the proper noticing for public hearing, public notice, and what have you.

And then what I asked you is because I think it's important for the community's information and understanding is that, again, I know we're exploring, but whatever ballot, especially if it concerns, say, land use, were to pass, nonetheless, there would still be hearings, opportunities for the community to engage because we would have to adopt programming language, correct?

So for the ballot proposition language, the rules are a little bit different, but nevertheless, obviously, you have a very engaged community with regard to this, and so I have no doubt that you will have a very robust conversation on whatever happens. Based upon whatever language that we for council consideration. We will run that through an environmental process so that it may not be the next meeting, for example, on the 18th, but certainly by March 4th, we will have something for your consideration, which will coincide also with the noticing requirements for a public hearing to consider extension of the moratorium.

Thank you. And finally, and I know it's almost midnight and my next statement will be brief, but there was a lot of comments made tonight that yes, California has very stringent environmental laws. However, the law sometimes still is lagging in what's happening in the world. And I think the reality right now is that the law in this state is still trying to catch up to data centers and their impacts. And again, we all read the news. We all know the impact in other states that maybe embraced it as a panacea, but are now seeing the consequences. And although yes, we may have very stringent environmental laws, but when it comes to, I think, data centers, we're still catching up. And for example, there was actually a lot of concern in the legislature last session, and some bills were passed, good bills, but unfortunately they were vetoed. And this session, again, there is still interest because the reality is this. As I've said, as some speakers have said, without, without actual framework by the state and the feds, then you end up having a patchwork of legislation, a patchwork, yeah, some communities are gonna have data, some will not, and whether or not they do, it comes down to the discourse that we're having right now. And so therefore we need the state to step in and provide that framework. And for example, like, you know, our own state center has a bill, SB 978, which, you know, should be adopted by the legislature, assignment of governor, would ban the use of backup diesel, and emit air pollution, prevent data centers from placing electricity costs onto rate payers and direct state regulators to assess the impact of data centers on California ability to meet climate goals. And that is the type of legislation that we all should be supporting. In fact, I would even say maybe we should write a letter in support of such a bill, and any bill that is being put forth in the legislature. And likewise, you know, if it does pass the whole process, I would say these bills should also, we should also write letters to the governor asking him to sign those bills. But again, you know, look, rightly so, yes, many people are very concerned about what is the impact of these data centers, because in some ways it's very new. And frankly, it's not surprising. You all want to just Google the topic as I have, and yeah, you see reports and reports and reports and reports about its impact. And, you know, that's why, you know, why I think that it behooves us, you know, and again, in the absence of the state or the feds providing that framework, then yeah, it does come down to us. And I think that's where we as a community need to, you know, then set the standard as well. Because again, you know, legislators respond to what's happening in their constituency. And I think this is where an opportunity, you know, for us to then demonstrate that, yeah, I mean, we are, you know, addressing this issue, and again, as a community, also supporting good legislation. Like in the case of SB 978 by Senator Perez. Anyway, that's enough for me, so.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

And.

Madam Mayor.

Oh, yes.

Just to echo Councilmember Lowe's recommendation. I know there's other bills that are currently in the woodwork in our state assembly or senate, actually in our state senate, that relate to data centers in terms of water use and other factors. So if there's, if staff can bring some of those back in terms of potential support from our council, I think this is a good way to be able to share that we're taking some of that burden, some of that heat in terms of not having any direction. But I would love to explore some support of some of those legislative action, or bills that are currently in the state legislature. And I think there's three or four, I think, in the legislature. Three or four that I've seen, yeah. Thank you, Councilmember Sanchez.

And again, thank you everyone for staying so late tonight and really coming for civic engagement. I specifically wanted to acknowledge some of the residents who really put in the time to do the homework, because this is a very complicated topic with a lot of different legal ramifications. If the city does one wrong move, we could end up being in a lawsuit against a billion dollar corporation. And I know a lot of residents want us to take abrupt action, but if we do that, we're putting the city in danger. And I know lots of you who pay taxes here don't want your tax dollars being wasted on unnecessary litigation. So that's why every step we take, we really have to look at all the consequences before we take action. So the community members, you guys mentioned you're doing this for free, you're not getting paid for it. You're spending hours of time researching, especially some of the ones with legal background who know the legal ramifications. We appreciate you doing the work, educating your fellow community members so that they understand all the complexities that are going behind this current issue. I know some of the attorneys even stayed up all night last night working. So appreciate that.

And I also want, because I know Karl gets a lot of heat from you guys all the time, but we got a nasty attorney letter at 3.35 p.m. today. It's on the website. You guys can all look at it. Karl responded with a strong, robust letter in less than two hours. Defending our city.

Let's vote to extend the time. A motion to extend half hour.

I'll just remind everyone this is still our first item on the agenda.

I'll second. All right.

Let's vote.

Approved unanimously.

All right. Thank you. So yeah, Carl, we really appreciate you for defending us and for protecting our city so that, you know, we don't get sued unnecessarily. And I know Councilmember Wong already mentioned, you know, a lot of you suggested why don't we just repeal 2253, right? But we discussed it already. There's legal ramifications. We can't just take any action so easily. So with considering all these actions, right now, the more we put the power in you guys, the community, the community, the more defensible it is for our city. So you guys want, we've got to all protect the city together. Someone mentioned resident led initiative, like Council Member Wong pointed out. Nothing's precluding you from going out to collect signatures. And to clarify, if the residents do collect enough signatures, can we have that supersede any budget? Any ballot we're going to put, any proposition we put on the ballot, would that supersede if they get the number, the requisite number of signatures?

So, Madam Mayor, I think you're giving me a bar exam question. I think it depends. It depends on, one, whether or not the council puts something on on its own motion or waits for a citizen initiative and what the wording is of each of those. So I would hate to predetermine exactly how that would work. I think the discussion is probably better for the March meeting when you have options in front of you and you decide whether or not that's a path that you want to go down. And certainly for those individuals that are interested in circulating their own petition and gathering signatures, that also gives them the time to decide if that's something that they want to do. Obviously they can do it whenever, but certainly with the March meeting, then there would be some, I'm sure, discussion with interested parties.

Got it. So just to clarify what's on the agenda tonight, we're not putting anything on the ballot. We're instructing staff to prepare a ballot proposition, which means that right now it's February 4th, so for the month of February, staff would be reaching out to the community, probably via surveys or other methods, to find out what the community wants as the wording. Is that correct?

Mayor I think we're asking staff to explore options. That's the key word. Right, Carl?

We are exploring options. That's what I'm hearing the council from saying. So, however the city manager decides to explore options, we will explore options and bring back options for council consideration.

Got it. Okay. So exploring options, I would say we want the community's input. We're here to represent you guys. We're not here for our own personal agenda. I want to hear what you guys have to say, so I would add that instruction in there to collect input from our community members. And last thing is, you know, someone mentioned who is the one giving us the false promises, and it's the one who still hasn't scheduled town hall meetings.

Mayor, I'll, it sounds like I'm, we're ready for a motion. I'll make the motion to adopt staff recommendation with the direction that we've provided to staff if that's clear. Alright.

I'll second that.

Alright. Let's vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you all for your continued civic engagement.

We welcome you to continue reaching out to us and continuing the conversations. Thank you.

Thank you.

Meeting's still on. We're not done.

Okay, let's finish it. No recess.

All right, so consent agenda. Oh, yeah, 7A and 7B.

Staff communication. Staff communication.

Okay, let's do it. All right, let's start with staff communication. 7A, City Manager's Office.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the Council. Diana Garcia, Assistant City Manager.

If we could ask everyone to silently, if you're going to leave, if you could, we still have a meeting we'd like to get home to.

Thank you.

This evening, I'm providing an update on a partnership to strengthen immigrant support services in the City of Monterey Park along with Chinatown Service Center. In 2025, the City Council appropriated $50,000 to bolster support in the City. I want to note that this type of support is already a part of Monterey Park's services to the community. Last year, we hosted two resource fairs with legal support, referrals, mental and physical health services, case management, benefits assistance, food giveaways, and many other services. Our library also provides ESOL and citizenship assistance, hosts monthly legal clinics, and hosts annual immigration assistance days in partnership with HRA. We also have red cards in our facilities, including the library and Langley Center and in the back of the Council Chambers. This evening, I was going to give an update with Jessica Tran from CSC. She had to leave. So she and I are currently working together to plan the scope and delivery of these services, so I'll go ahead and give the update. As many of you know, CSC's mission is to promote a better quality of life and equal opportunity for immigrants and underserved communities. And CSC has long been a vital resource for our families in Monterey Park and surrounding communities. Their organization has a demonstrated history of responding effectively during times of crisis. Following our mass shooting, they provided emergency counseling, case management, and victim assistance. They established the MPK Hope Resiliency Center. They've also supported residents through many crises in the city and the region. So building on this foundation, the proposed project would expand immigrant services in Monterey Park in several key areas. These include multilingual Know Your Rights workshops, community events connecting residents with legal and social service partners, expanded translation and outreach through multilingual materials and participation in community events, improved access to health services, including flu vaccination days and referrals to CSC's clinic services, expanded case management support for housing, increasing food insecurity, immigration, and healthcare needs, as well as culturally competent workshops and referrals. So these will take place over a 12-month period, and this aims to increase access to information and services, strengthen community resilience through education and support, improve immigrant health and wellness, and provide direct assistance to immigrant families and seniors. These programs will be publicized widely in our community languages, and all services will be free of cost. Thank you, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

I have a question for Carl from a legal standpoint. Do I recuse myself now or do I abstain being a board member of CSC? Because I didn't know this was gonna jump up.

So Council has already made the appropriation. We're not asking for an appropriation right now. It's just an update on some of the services that have been planned.

This is staff communication, so you're not voting on this item.

Right, easier for me.

The council is not voting on this item.

Diana, thank you for that, and I appreciate the city staff working with Chinatown Service Center on these specific immigration services and programs that we've been trying to get out. I would be interested in, I'm curious in terms of numbers and the programs that have been out there, how many people have been helped, and what else potentially we could do if there were recommendations of CSC or other service providers as well that are providing services to the immigrant community, what they're seeing on the ground to inform potentially additional support that we could provide from the city side, and just as the situation on the ground continues to evolve on immigration enforcement in our community, if there's anything else we should be looking at, I would encourage the staff to bring that to council for additional action, to consider additional action and potentially resourcing that going into the future.

Thank you, Diana, for that report. I think it's one of those things that I think we asked at the last council meeting for an update, and thank you for the partnership with CSC. I also had some questions, and I really don't know, but just thinking to what happened last week and here in our city and potentially what could happen in our city if we had, like, for example, an ICE activity or raids or anything like that, I would imagine that there would be families that would be impacted, and I don't know specifically what types of services we could potentially provide for a family that might be going through those types of experiences, but I want to make sure that whatever it is that they are going through, I can imagine that we try to provide services, as I said, to the community. We try to provide services as much as we can, and I don't know what that might necessarily look like, and I would imagine that Chinatown services and they're probably already deals with some of that, but it would be great to also explore on our end what other types of things we could do, whether it's partnering with another organization or just ourselves as a city to make sure that we are addressing those needs that might not be, that might not be addressed through that flu vaccine clinic or something like that.

Certainly, and I think that the benefit of working with CSC is that they truly provide wraparound services for our residents, so that's everything from food assistance, legal assistance, healthcare, dental care, referrals to other organizations. They can basically, they've never said no to us. Everything that we've asked them to help us with, they're able to find a way to do.

They can do it. And I know that this, let me do a follow-up question, and I know that this council approved $50,000. Is our agreement with CSC making use of that entire amount or is it just a portion of that? The intention is to make use of that entire amount. Okay, thank you.

No question for me.

None for me either. Thank you for the presentation, Diana. Let's move on to 7B, fire department. We have a presentation from the Chief of Staff.

Ms. Diana, do you have the microphone?

Good evening, honorable mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the City Council. Ray Lozano, code enforcement supervisor. This evening, we have a presentation specific to a newly found partnership with China Town Services Center, and it is specific to, next slide please, it is specific to developing an equitable pathway to voluntary compliance for specific residents that are, experiencing language barriers behavioral health barriers and this work is guided by these goals and the objectives set forth by this council this evening which is specific to public safety access to services and community engagement next slide please this partnership will work through the code enforcement staff providing csc with referrals to residents or responsible parties that the staff is working with to ensure that they are given the outreach that they need translation services care navigation and linkage to applicable services this will be accomplished by code compliance sending referrals to csc and our engagement is going to be focused on being consistent supporting csc with the contact with the residents and property owners to achieve and maintain voluntary compliance next slide please the anticipated outcomes of this partnership will be the following the anticipated outcomes of this partnership will be the following partnership is to provide timely contact with the residents provide clear connections to services and promote voluntary compliance with fewer repeat violations and also to improve the resident

Available for any questions that you might have.

Ray, i'm just glad your arm is better

[Laughs]. Me too. Thank you so much.

Thanks for the presentation. Next is Public Works

Good evening, honorable mayor and mayor, pro tem, and City Council. Sean Igoe Public Works Director. uh tonight i have a few items to update you on uh first we have our community transportation survey so this is we're asking for the community and transit riders to provide input on our recently modified transit program so as you're aware we modified our fixed route system and we also added Our microtransit system so we want the community to provide some feedback. Tell us how we're doing and see if we can make. some improvements that survey is open until the end of the month next slide please and then we have our monthly compost giveaway so uh this is coming up on and it's gonna be at a normal location which is our city yard at 751 south alhambra avenue um this will be from 8 a.m to about 11 a.m which or until uh supplies are available this is on february 14th so if you want a fun valentine's date stop on by and pick up some mulch and i have a gardening date next slide please uh where disposal customer survey so um as we're all aware our solid waste provider has been with us for a little over a year now so we want to hear from the community this this survey is being held by where and so we want to hear how they're doing and provide feedback on not only our trash service but recycling program and any other areas they can make some improvements on this survey is open until about the end of march or beginning of april with that i'll take any questions

thanks sean excited about the compost too uh on the spirit bus survey related to that uh the Monterey Park transit express uh where i remember that was a one-year pilot i don't remember when we started that and when we're going to be evaluating the pilot.

So we're coming up on that year and

we'll hope to have something back to council soon to provide some updates and look at extending that pilot great no looking forward to that thank you

uh uh no i'm just glad i'm glad to hear that um that will be the recommendation um for extended pilot because um i i think it's been a great program um i've certainly taken it many times and and because i live by the uh the the garbage yard i i see the fleet you know parked in at early 6 30 a.m they're deployed

Yep

yeah thank you sean thank you all right next is library

Good evening mayor yang members of the city council kristen olivera city librarian this evening to begin we're going to begin with a brief recap of january in january the library hosted 102 programs that were attended by 2140 children teens and adults this included craft programs play and dance programs and japanese mahjong next slide um beginning this month we launched our partnership with chinatown service center to offer the volunteer volunteer income tax assistance clinic this program offers free tax preparation for low-income taxpayers and runs on mondays tuesdays and thursdays these services are available in cantonese mandarin and english and appointments can be made online or by contacting chinatown service center this saturday at 2 p.m we will be hosting our happily ever after author panel with authors jeannie cho jc lee and julie too this program will include a meet and greet and book signings next slide we invite you to celebrate the year of the horse at the library with a special lunar new year story time on tuesday february 17th at 6 30 and on saturday february 21st teens can make cute horse plushies at our lunar teen lunar new year workshop at the library and we are also hosting our first class of the year at the library this fall we will be hosting a class called the summer class at the library for the students to learn about the history of the class and the history of the class and the history of the class additionally registration is now open for our spring semester esl classes these 15-week adult literacy classes begin february 23rd and help improve reading writing and speaking skills for more information you can visit our website to view the class schedules next slide we also have themed reading lists for adults teens and children families are invited to grab a take and make craft kit from the children's desk and learn about artist alma thomas by creating their own vibrant version of her painting the eclipse meanwhile teens can exercise their colonies culinary skills in our teens cook soul food program where they'll make fried green tomatoes and banana cakes and we also have a special class for the summer school kids who are going to be now putting on saturday february 28th that concludes my presentation i'm happy to answer any questions

all right christian i know sleep but did you say 102 programs right off the bat i sure did only through the month of january so congrats on such great programming and making the library the center of the city that's pressure robert thank you i'm sure robert's gonna come up with

some great numbers too uh i like appreciate everything the library's doing uh look forward to these programs also if there's extra food from that event i think we're happy to taste tests on

the come on bye

Feel free to bring it over here too for the next next meeting too

thank you Kristin when you were coming up it reminded me that i have an overdue book that i need to turn in so i apologize um i think i have it in my car actually so i'll drop it off

We got to reinstitute fines just for him

yeah sorry about that but thank you so much for all of the uh amazing programming and uh especially i know their council is considering a resolution for block history month so um interested in visiting the library with my girls and checking out what type of stuff you guys have going on so thank you

um you know again like sharing sentiments with my colleagues you know i mean i think we're very lucky that our library does so much programming to celebrate uh the many cultures uh not just in our community but you know in the united states uh and not to mention also providing valuable services such as the free legal clinics that our library does um again it's um i think as the community we should be proud of um the library that we have in our city

yeah and i think it's great you're bringing these actual authors to meet our residents too so thank you

and just a quick reminder that we don't charge overdue fines so just return those books

i have two chapters left i'm sorry

all right robert recreation

uh good evening mayor, mayor pro tem the city council members robert gary director of recreation and community services here to share a short presentation understanding that we had a long meeting tonight uh do want to highlight that and thank everyone that came out to our lunar new year festival where we hosted but we estimate over 200 000 people that attend each year so just want to thank the residents all the vendors the staff and the staff of the community for all the work that they've done for us and i want to thank you all for joining us tonight and i want to thank you all for joining us tonight and i want to thank you all for joining us tonight and i want to thank you all for joining us tonight and i want to thank you all for joining us tonight and i want to thank the staff that helped put this together and also world journal our partner uh in that festival next slide please i also want to highlight a project that's currently going on i know it's really late right now but if you have a chance you and during daylight you can see that barnes park tennis and pickleball court was just about completed and this project will actually move be moving throughout all of our parks that have tennis courts all of those will be resurfaced so starting next week you'll start seeing george elder working on it working on it and then it'll go park to park to still allow for players to play at other parks while the ones you're getting resurfaced so barnes we're expecting to open back up for plays sometime mid week next week but do invite you to come out and check it out it's beautiful looks beautiful so excited about that next slide please um our barnes park pool revitalization so as you are well well aware we worked with our dalin our consultants on putting together some community engagement so we had a community engagement so we had a community engagement so we had a community engagement so we have a community community survey as well as several community meetings that kind of help come up some conceptual designs and now so now the community has an opportunity to vote on three conceptual designs each of those meeting the needs of the community in different ways that survey will be online for the next two weeks and and folks can see find that on montereypark.ca.gov backslash barnes pool that survey is available in multiple languages and we do want to encourage people to not only take the survey but please share it with your neighbors that way we can get as much feedback on the pool conceptuals for a future project so thank you and then finally uh mpk clipper night is coming up in march we've sold over 170 tickets we're down to our last batch of tickets so i do want to encourage people if you haven't gotten them yet make sure you get them quickly i think we have about 30 tickets left it is also japanese heritage night so all of those participants all those have bought tickets will also get a free japanese heritage jersey and that completes my presentation uh just wanna also encourage everyone to continue to follow us on social media at Monterey Park Rec.

All right, Robert, you can't win all the time. But I will have to give you for being patient. I know with the pickleball and tennis, it's never win-win, right? Now, painting the courts, definitely you lose-lose because they're off the court now. But when it's done, they will thank you for it.

Wait until next week when everyone's back on court.

Yeah, they know thank you for it. And also thank you for the pool concepts last night. And I was there as many of the council members there. And not as vibrant as tonight, but close enough. There were a lot of people, a lot of ideas. We had three options. And then people had their own fourth or fifth option, which is great. That's what we're trying to do. We're trying to figure out what's best for the community. People just need to understand that there's a process that we have to go through as a city to get engagement. And then they can add to that engagement beyond that. So I think part of that last night was, well, why didn't you give this option or that option? Well, because we can only start with three. And then from there, you can branch off. But a lot of the community took to the likings of either. I think one and two were the most selected ones. Although we're not done yet because you still have another two weeks. Still got two weeks to vote. So good luck. You're still a well-liked man until someone kind of figures that out and says, no, I wanted one and you picked two.

I don't get to pick. You guys get to pick.

Robert is looking to become beloved when we open the pool.

I will be the first jumping in that pool.

I don't know. Some people might jump in.

Yes, absolutely.

I'll echo appreciation for the staff, not just the Recreation Park staff, but all the staff that really had to put in from police, fire, public works, everyone that really put in for the Lunar New Year Festival. I was there for a couple hours Saturday and Sunday, and the crowd did not ease. It was. It was great. I was worried. I think many of us were a little worried with the heat and just with everything else going on in the world that it would probably be a lower turnout. It was not at all. Not a lower turnout. It was great. I mean, just given that, I'd love to. I know a lot of work goes into this, and this is a partnership with World Journal. Look forward to their coming out to report out a little bit once they kind of finalize all their stuff. But would love to see. Clearly, there's interest not only from our community, but from. Outside this community for street festivals and for cultural celebrations like this. Would love to see if there's opportunities to do this more often than once a year in Monterey Park and start thinking about what we can do to make that happen. Because there's clearly interest in the community for something like this. And it seems like it's something that could be financially sustainable more than just once a year. So we'd love to just put that out there and then appreciate everyone who came out to the pool concepts meeting. Yeah. Really appreciate everyone that's providing feedback. And I think we generated a good amount of feedback, which is what we wanted. I hope everyone submits that feedback through the survey. I encourage the few folks that are still here, if you haven't taken that survey, please, please do. We want everyone's input. And we really want this to be a community pool, if we move forward, for the whole community and for everyone. So we want to make sure as many people are providing their feedback and input about what design we want to. Potentially. Potentially move forward with as possible so that the council can really take that all into account. But thank you to your team and everyone in the city for really helping to get that moved forward. And I know there's been a lot of criticism from some community members, a few community members around the process. But this process is really important. I'll emphasize that, even though I don't think any of them will be watching this at this point. But emphasize how important it is for community to engage. And I really applaud the staff and the city for really moving forward very intentionally. And strategically to make sure that there's community buy in for this moving forward. And we are moving this forward. And look forward to the concepts coming back for a council conversation so that we can move on to the next step too. Thank you.

Thank you, Robert, for all that you do. You're always beloved. So don't worry about it. I was very impressed with the festival this weekend. I had a chance to stop by briefly on Saturday, but then spent quite a bit of time on Sunday. I took the family there. They always loved eating. And I sent you some pictures of the carnival ride. The carnival ride. Yeah, that's the best part. And but I did want to say, because I echo Council Member Wong's point, it takes a village to put this together. And I really appreciated the large police presence at the at the carnival, at the festival. And so thank you for for all of the organization, everything that you guys did to make this happen. It was very, very, very well organized. So thank you. Also, I also went to the pool conceptual design meeting. Thank you for I just can't believe how far we've moved with this. I know that this started earlier with the, you know, parks master plan. So and I know Council directed that we make this a priority. So glad to see that we're at a point where we have potentially three concepts that the community can choose from. Yeah. I know that my daughter's at home making. Banners and T-shirts for option A because she wants a splash pad. But anyhow, but but I know that there's a lot of a lot of desire to build a pool. At least that's what I heard when I was there. A lot of the residents that serves the entire community. So anyhow, looking forward to I still haven't voted on the survey, but I think I know how to vote. So thank you, Robert, for all that you do. Looking forward to seeing the results of that. And I think that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to do a survey. Thank you.

And there's no age limit on the voting, right?

No age limit. We want all residents to vote.

Five people in my house. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm sure you're going to vote.

I'm reminded of that every day. Yeah.

Well, to borrow your own words, as always, your department is very epic in all it does. And I will also add to the conversation that, you know, I know what the issue of the pool. And yes, I mean, I mean, this issue of the pool has been an issue for over a decade. And I know that the pool is a big issue. And I know that the pool is a big issue. And I know that the pool is a big issue. And it's probably been over a decade. And I think that as frustrated as people have been in this process is that we've probably come the first in the decade because we actually are now at concept and again, which is probably more than has been done in the past ten years. And so I want to thank your staff and for the community for engaging on the issue. And hopefully, you know, we will be able to push the momentum on Barne's Pool. So, thank you.

Yeah, thanks for all the great events. Lunar New Year Festival was really, really fun. And hopefully, you know, we'll meet again next year. Thank you. well attended and a lot of fun um how many uh votes have we gotten in for the pool do you know?

i haven't checked yeah because we just went out yeah

okay yeah yeah because we just had the pool meeting monday so i'm wondering if hundreds came in already and well

the last survey we had like over 400 pretty so we're expecting more out of this

okay thank you so much thank you

madam mayor i apologize city council members um if one we have to extend the time on our meeting and and two uh i apologize we have our uh media team is letting me know that we have to reset one of our devices it's recording our meeting tonight and we have to reset one of them so if we can extend the meeting and take a quick like two minute break please because if not we're going to miss that

push to extend the meeting by 30 minutes

Second

all right let's vote

approved unanimously

so two minute recess all right two minute recess okay

all right process hey oh right thank you we're good okay yeah that's right yeah um um yeah yeah yeah okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay okay

okay all right back on the record um we're all right um we're done with staff communication so done with staff communication so let's go on to consent let's go on to consent agenda i think i have a conflict on the weed i think i have a conflict on the weed abatement one 10 F. So, I will recuse myself from 10 F

I'll make the motion to approve as presented. I'll second, uh, the motion, with a quick note on item 10c on the murals

if there's a way to ensure that there are ensure opportunities for participation. Just a quick note to staff, if we move forward on that if there is a way to uh ensure for participation from residents and stuff to be part of that process in terms of getting the murals up already on it Robert all right I'll make that second

noted and just a City Council members for item 10 D I did want to let you know that we did have a representative from pace here who stuck it out Leslie Dia Villas and Cincio is in the audience with us for tonight so she is here representing pace so she stuck it out she is here just noted and just wanted to point it out

thanks for staying so late all right so councilmember Ngo moved councilmember one seconds let's vote

approved unanimously

great all right then no public hearing no new business city communications yeah

Yeah, I just want to share that, you know, our community is stronger when everyone participates, and you've been seeing that, and then you think about what happened this weekend with the New Year festival, we had over 200,000, I think it was closer to 250,000 people in two days, despite the hot weather in January, which is great for a lot of people, but probably a little too hot for some as well. Now, we are, like someone said, the gateway to the Singapore Valley. And if you think about diversity, the Asian population, it all starts in my part. And I'm just so proud to be in the city to have that celebration with Lunar New Year kicking off for the rest of the community in the Southland. That's all I have.

reiterate appreciation for all the staff the Lunar Festival went off without a hitch and that's I think a credit to all the departments here at the City Hall so just please pass on my and our appreciation to everyone that really pitched in Having 200,000 people visit the City of Monterey Park for a really positive thing, a celebrated culture, the coming Lunar New Year, and really just coming together as a community, as a region is a huge deal, and it's great that we're hosting and kicking off these activities for the rest of the region. So appreciate everyone doing that and look forward to continuing in that stead. I want to ask for potential future or for future agenda items. I know the budget, mid-year budget is coming. up at the next meeting i'd love to discuss some of that but um reiterate my point earlier to diana on the immigration services and partnership with csc if there's i'm very open to coming back or a request coming to council to increase the amount of resources financial budget for potential immigration services that the city can fund and support in our community would love to if there's a number that makes sense please bring that to to council and i would be very very open to expanding what our already existing resources are for that and look at other programs that might be being stood up or have been stood up that we might be interested in supporting to get more resources and services to the community including partnering with our schools and also i know la county is still working i think still working on their ice free zones ordinance i don't know if that language is final or not maybe we can take that as a model potentially for us here for our city-owned properties whenever la county's right that's it

one more one more thought as i was seeing uh our mayor shuffle through the many speaker cards i know we're working on a different management system for agenda and for speakers uh would love an update when that when we have one on that i think it'd be great to to be more efficient with that going forward uh whenever we can get kind of get a system like that more integrated i know county and other jurisdictions have adopted similar kind of digital management systems that are going to be easier for us to be able to handle that make that more efficient for people who want to engage and also if there's a way to i don't know we can consider adding it'll be easier if it's the digital system but adding to the speaker cards if people want to get signed up for the city's email list they can maybe they can write their email down for us to just automatically add them to email lists going forward there's i keep hearing last meeting this meeting and meetings prior to this a lot of people feeling like they're uninformed or did not hear about certain things going on at the city maybe we can just automatically sign them up for the city's email list so they are better informed um

I just wanted to express my appreciation of, like everyone else said, I think I did so earlier, with all of the work that went into planning and the Lunar New Year Festival. But I also wanted to thank staff for quickly responding when we had some ICE activity this week and sharing with the community exactly what was going on. in terms of what we knew, but also sharing, you know, that our department does not collaborate, our police department does not collaborate with ICE. And also, you know, this city and this council voted to also take, join the lawsuit, remember, in the Perdomo case. So, and sharing with the community that this council and the city has done what it can in the past to support immigrants in our immigrant community. So really appreciate that we put that out really quickly. I think it was pretty well received. And I think in the event that there's future actions, being able to put out and inform the public. in terms of what we know, in terms of what's going on in the community. I know that a lot of people were very scared, very confused. There's a lot of rumors going around. So I think what the city can do based on what we know is share what we have to kind of ease some of those concerns. So thank you for putting that out of your office.

Just real quick, again, congratulations to the city for another successful Lunar New Year Festival. As I always say, we all know it kicks off the season and it was, I think, an auspicious occasion. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, I wanted to recognize our Police and Fire Department because Lunar New Year Festival, I saw them on the roof and all over keeping our community safe and it was a very peaceful event. And then also tonight and other meetings when there's so many people here, it could be very chaotic or Police and Fire really do a great job. So thank you guys. Well, between now and our next meeting, there's quite a few holidays. So we've got Happy Super Bowl Sunday, this Sunday. We've got Happy Lunar New Year Festival. And we have Happy Valentine's Day. So enjoy the holidays and we'll see you guys in two weeks. Adjourned at 1242 p.m. A.M.