* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [1. CALL TO ORDER] [00:00:07] ALRIGHT, IF WE COULD, EVERYONE, UH, I THE SEAT IF ALL HOSTILE AND LET'S, UH, LET'S GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED. BEFORE WE PROCEED, I'M GONNA REQUEST THAT THE INTERPRETER TAKE A MOMENT TO EXPLAIN THE CITY'S INTERPRETATION SERVICES THAT WILL BE OFFERED FOR THIS AFTERNOON'S MEETING. GLADLY THANK MIRA. THE FOLLOWING WILL BE AN ANNOUNCEMENT IN SPANISH FOR OUR SPANISH SPEAKING GUESTS. CIA AND THANK YOU MAYOR. AS A REMINDER, ALL CELL, APPRECIATE IT. OKAY. YOU SHOULD BE EASE UNTIL, YEAH, THIS, IT'S MUTE. IS THERE NOTHING? MIC GET, GO AHEAD. OH, WAIT, SORRY. ALL THERE IT IS. NOW WE GOT, OKAY. UM, SO IN CASE YOU DIDN'T HEAR THE FIRST PART, WHICH IS MY MORE IMPORTANT PARTS, IF WE PLEASE SILENCE ALL CELL PHONES, ANY OF THE DEVICES, MAKE SURE APPRECIATE. WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO CALL THE MEETING ORDER A LIVE WEBCAST FOR THE CITY MAY THE CITY'S WEBSITE AND, UH, ONE, IF YOU'RE WATCHING VIA LIVE VIA ZOOM, IS ONLY DIFFERENT. NOW, SPANISH VERSION OF THE INTERPRETER INSTRUCTION APPEAR IN THE CHAT BOX AT THE BOTTOM, YOUR SCREEN FOR THOSE WHO PREFER TO SIT IN THE AUDIENCE OF THE CHAMBER, UH, HEADSETS ARE AVAILABLE TO PROVIDE LIVE SPANISH TRANSLATION. PLEASE SEE THE CITY CLERKS DESK RIGHT OVER HERE TO MY RIGHT, YOUR LEFT. AND TO GET A HEADSET, THE NOTICE, AGENDA AND INFORMATION ON THE CITY NATIONAL CITY'S WEBSITE INFORMS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT THEY MAY TAKE, UH, MAKE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE SPECIFIC AGENDA ITEM NUMBER WAYS, PERSON, THE SLIPS, WHICH, UH, WHERE ARE THEY ALL THEY'RE AT. OKAY, BACK AT THE FRONT DOOR THERE. TABLE . AND THAT'S WAY, THAT'S HOW YOU'LL ENTER THE QUEUE TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK. UH, EITHER THAT OR BY, VIA ZOOM, BY REGISTERING AND RAISE YOUR HAND WHEN THE ITEMS TO COME IN OR EMAILING. NO LATER THEY, UH, EIGHT, OR, I'M SORRY, FOURTH, BEFORE THE MEETING, ALL WRITTEN COMMENTS RECEIVED ARE DISTRIBUTED TO THE COUNCIL PRIOR TO THE MEETING AND PUBLISHED ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE IF RECEIVED BY THE IDENTIFYING WITH THAT, COULD WE HAVE ROLL CALL PLEASE? THANK YOU. UH, COUNCIL MEMBER IMANI HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER RODRIGUEZ. PRESENT. COUNCIL MEMBER BUSH HERE. VICE MAYOR MOLINA PRESENT AND MAYOR MORRISON. UH, PRESENT. WE HAVE A QUORUM. OKAY. WITH THAT, UH, IF WE COULD STAND, PLEASE STAND FOR THE S AND, YEP. WE DO NOT. OKAY. WE, WE'LL JUST OKAY. AMERICA, PAY A APPLE THERE TO THE REPUBLIC. ONE MAIN INDIVISIBLE. LIBERTY. THANK YOU. JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THE ORDER THAT WE WILL BE HAVING DURING THIS MEETING, DIFFERENT THAN A NORMAL COUNCIL MEETING. UH, SO THERE'S NORMALLY, NORMALLY PUBLIC ORAL COMMUNICATION, BUT IN THIS CASE IT'S A SPECIAL MEETING. AND PUBLIC ORAL COMMUNICATION IS ONLY FOR THE ITEM THAT'S ON THE AGENDA. SO, UM, SO WHEN WE, SO YOU CAN'T, LIKE A NORMAL COUNCIL MEETING, YOU GET TO GET UP, GET, GET TO GET UP, AND JUST KIND OF TALK ABOUT ANYTHING YOU WANT TO. AND, UH, THAT'S NOT DURING A SPECIAL MEETING AT A MEETING LIKE THIS. SO THIS ONE, IT WILL ONLY BE TO THE AGENDA ITEM. IF WE HAVE THE ONE AGENDA ITEM, WHAT WE ARE GONNA DO, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE STAFF REPORT FIRST AND HAVE [00:05:01] STAFF MAKE PRESENTATION. THEN WE WILL BE TAKING PUBLIC COMMENT. OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE TODAY IS THE PUBLIC COMMENT AND GETTING COMMENTS FROM YOU AND IDEAS, WHATEVER, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BRING FORWARD. [5.1 Workshop on the Business License Tax Reform (Gross Receipts Tax) Study Findings, Business and Community Outreach, Public Opinion Survey Results, Relating to Potential Business License Tax Reform Ballot Measure.] SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA BE TURNING IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER TO LEAD ON THE, UH, THE STAFF RECORD. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR. UM, I'M DOUG SCHULTZ, THE CITY MANAGER HERE, CITY, NATIONAL CITY. UM, I KNOW MANY OF YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN THIS PRESENTATION, OR AT LEAST MOST OF IT BEFORE. I'LL TRY TO GO THROUGH IT QUICKLY. UM, BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE THAT MAYBE HAVEN'T SEEN IT AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS THE SAME INFORMATION. SO, UM, WE CAN LOAD THAT. OKAY. OKAY. SO WHAT WE WANNA TALK ABOUT IN THE PRESENTATION HERE, UH, FIRST OF ALL IS THE CITY BUDGET DEFICIT. UM, WE WANNA TALK ABOUT THE DEFICIT AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS. UH, WE'LL ALSO TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL PROPOSALS FOR THE BALLOT MEASURE. UM, I HAVE SOME CLARIFYING QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'LL MOVE INTO PUBLIC COMMENT. OKAY. SO, UM, WHY DON'T WE EXIST AS A CITY? FIRST OF ALL? UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST IS TO PROVIDE PUBLIC SAFETY TO CREATE A SAFE CITY. ASIDE FROM THAT, WE ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CREATING A CITY THAT ALL OF US THAT LIVE HERE, WORK HERE VISIT CAN BE PROUD OF. SO, OUR BUDGET DEFICIT, THE, THE ADOPTED BUDGET. UM, BACK IN, IN JUNE, THE COUNCIL ADOPTED THE BUDGET OF 90 MILLION, JUST UNDER $90 MILLION OF THAT. IF WE SORT THAT OUT INTO WHAT OUR MANDATORY EXPENSES ARE, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE REQUIRED TO DO BY LAW. THAT AMOUNTS TO ROUGHLY 21 MILLION OF THE, UH, OF THE, UH, 90 MILLION. OKAY. AND WE SORT OUT PUBLIC SAFETY. OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY IS A CITY. WE'RE ABOUT 54 MILLION THERE. THAT LEAVES US WITH WHAT WE CALL DISCRETIONARY FLOODS. THIS WOULD BE THINGS LIKE OUR PARKS, OUR RECREATION SERVICES, UM, HOW MUCH WORK WE DO. WE HAVE CAPITAL PROJECTS DOING PROFITABLES, P STREETS, UM, THOSE TYPES OF SERVICES. THAT'S 14 AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. AND WE HAVE A $13 MILLION DEFICIT TO, TO FILL. SO THE MESSAGE HERE IS IF WE TAKE EVERYTHING THAT'S DISCRETIONARY AND WE CUT, WE FILL OUR BUDGET GAP, BUT WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A COMMUNITY THAT PROVIDES THE TYPES OF SERVICES THAT CREATE QUALITY OF LIFE AND MAKE PEOPLE FEEL PROUD TO BE IN THIS COMMUNITY. SO WE HAVE A BIG HOLE FILL. SO WE'VE IDENTIFIED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES THAT, THAT WE FEEL, UM, CAN PARTIALLY FILL THAT GAP. YOU MAY HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE BALANCE PLAN WITH, WITH PORT SEATTLE. I'M GONNA SAY THIS. I I LIVED IN SEATTLE FOR 22 YEARS AND FOR SOME REASON COURT OF SEATTLE JUST SLIPS RIGHT OUT COURT OF SAN DIEGO. UM, THAT IS A PIECE THAT ALLOWS THE COURT AND THE CITY TO BRING TO THE COURT PROPERTY, SOME COMMERCIAL HOSPITALITY THAT YOU SEE IN SAN DIEGO THAT YOU SEE IN CHULA VISTA. AND THAT THOSE, THOSE SERVICES ACTUALLY BRING DIFFERENT TYPE OF REVENUE, BRING REVENUE TO THOSE CITIES THAT WE DON'T CURRENTLY RECEIVE HERE IN NATIONAL CITY. SO THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE FOR US. UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT. THAT'LL BE SOMETHING WE'LL BE DISCUSSING WITH THE COUNCIL VERY SOON. THAT CREATES A, A SPECIAL DISTRICT WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN, WITHIN THE BORDERS CREATED IN THE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, WHERE REVENUES GENERATED WITHIN THAT DISTRICT CAN BE PLACED BACK INTO THAT DISTRICT TO PROVIDE INCENTIVES TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, TO, TO BEAUTIFICATION PROJECTS, STREET LIGHTING PROJECTS, [00:10:01] SIDEWALKS, UM, A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT ARE INTENDED TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR BUSINESSES TO MOVE INTO THAT AREA. UM, PROVIDE THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT THOSE BUSINESSES AND MAKE IT AN INVITING PLACE, PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WANT TO BE. WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT A NUMBER OF OTHER INITIATIVES. I WON'T GO THROUGH THESE, UM, INDIVIDUALLY. UH, YOU CAN SEE ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE, ONE OF THE BIG PIECES WE'LL BE TALKING WITH COUNCIL ABOUT AT THE AUGUST 18TH MEETING IS PRIORITY BASED BUDGETING. UH, THAT'S A, A BUDGETING PROCESS THAT ALLOWS US TO, TO REALLY DRILL DOWN, GATHER DATA, UH, THAT CAN BE USED TO, FOR THE COUNCIL TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS AS THEY GO THROUGH SOME OF THE POLICIES AND POLICY ISSUES RELATED TO, UH, THE BUDGET AND THE, THE CUTS, COST SAVINGS, THOSE TYPE OF THINGS. UM, THE OTHER ITEMS THERE, UM, HOPEFULLY YOU CAN SEE THOSE, UM, AT LEAST IN THE SEATING. I KNOW IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM YOU PROBABLY CAN'T SEE 'EM. UM, WE'RE EVALUATING BOND REFUNDING OPPORTUNITIES. WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR CONTRACTS. WE'RE LOOKING AT WAYS TO BE MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE IN OUR OPERATIONS. SO THE BUSINESS LICENSE TAX THERE, WE'VE GOT TWO PROPOSALS OR TWO OPTIONS THAT, UM, HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AT THIS POINT. UH, THIS ONE, MOST OF YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN. IT BREAKS DOWN THE BUSINESSES INTO, INTO THE FOUR CATEGORIES HERE, A GENERAL RETAIL CATEGORY, PROPERTY RENTAL AND HOSPITALITY CATEGORY SERVICES AND PROFESSION. IF THE CITY COUNCIL VOTES TO PLACE THIS ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER, WHICH IS NOT A DECISION THAT'S BEEN MADE YET, AND IF IT THEN IS PASSED BY THE VOTERS IN NOVEMBER, THE EFFECTIVE DATE WHEN AS BUSINESSES WHEN YOU WOULD HAVE TO APPLY FOR A LICENSE UNDER THIS FORMULA WILL BE JANUARY 1ST, 2028. UH, WE'VE ALSO, BASED ON THE INPUT WE RECEIVED FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, PLACING A CAP ON THE MAXIMUM FEE THAT WOULD BE, UH, PAID BY ANY BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, OF 150,000 BUCKS. OPTION TWO, WE'LL SEE MUCH OF THIS IS THE SAME EXCEPT WE HAVE REDUCED THE GENERAL AND RETAIL TO 0.0005. SO WE'VE CUT THAT IN HALF. ONE OF THE THINGS I HEARD IN TALKING WITH, UM, BUSINESS COMMUNITY OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS HERE IS WHAT IS THE INCENTIVE FOR BUSINESS TO COME TO NATIONAL CITY? SO WE DID, DID A LITTLE BIT OF BRAINSTORMING AND, AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT, WHAT IS IT THAT BRING, BRING A BUSINESS OR, OR WE COULD TALK TO A BUSINESS AS CITY STAFF ABOUT LOCATING OR EXPANDING, UH, HERE IN NATIONAL CITY. OBVIOUSLY THE LOCATION ADVANTAGE IS, IS HUGE FOR NATIONAL CITY. UM, WE HAVE A MARKET AND WORKFORCE, AND THEN THE BUSINESS CLIMATE AND SUPPORT. UM, WE KNOW THAT WE'VE GOT SUPPORT TO DO IN OUR BUSINESS CLIMATE AND OUR SUPPORT. UM, BUT WE CAN GET THERE AND, AND REALLY PROVIDE AN EXIT LEVEL OF SERVICE TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. SO, AS FAR AS THAT STRATEGIC REGIONAL POSITION, YOU CAN SEE, UM, AND KNOW ANY OF YOU THAT HAVE BUSINESSES HERE OR HAVE LIVED HERE. YOU, YOU KNOW, HOW IMPORTANT THE LOCATION IS HERE. WHAT, WHAT THE REGIONAL ECONOMY LOOKS LIKE. UM, WE'VE GOT THE US MEXICO BORDER VERY CLOSE. UH, SO WE'VE NOT BY NATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES, WE'VE GOT ACCESS TO MAJOR, UM, THOROUGHFARES AND TRANSIT, UM, BROAD MARKET REACH AND LABOR ACCESS. AGAIN, 'CAUSE WE'RE BY NATIONAL MARKET, WE'VE GOT ACCESS TO OVER 5 MILLION CONSUMERS. WE'RE HOME TO MORE. NATIONAL CITY IS HOME TO MORE THAN 4,000 BUSINESSES. SO WE HAVE THAT SYNERGY. UH, WE HAVE A STRONG QUALITY OF LIFE AND WE HAVE AMENITIES THAT CAN SUPPORT, UH, RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION OF BUSINESSES FOR ALL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE DOING THINGS THAT CAN HELP BUSINESSES AND THAT MIGHT BE PROVIDING SOME INCENTIVES. UM, WE NEED TO IMPROVE OUR PERMIT AND LICENSE PROCESS TO STREAMLINE THAT. UM, JUST WALKING INTO CITY HALL TO APPLY IT FOR A PERMIT, WE NEED TO, TO MAKE THAT EXPERIENCE SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T IMMEDIATE IMMEDIATELY SET YOU BACK ON YOUR HEELS. UH, IT IS WELCOMING AND THAT IT'S, IT'S A FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENT [00:15:01] AND A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN DO BUSINESS. WHY IT MATTERS FOR NATIONAL CITY. WE ARE WELL SUIT, WELL, UH, SUITED FOR RETAIL LOGISTICS, CROSS BORDER SERVICES, REGIONAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS, THE CITY'S ASSETS, SUPPORT, BUSINESS ATTRACTION, RETENTION AND EXPANSION. WE HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE. RECENT EXAMPLES IN AND OUT IS LOOKING FOR A SECOND LOCATION ALREADY. DUTCH BROTHERS WAS LOOKING FOR A SECOND LOCATION BEFORE THEY OPENED THEIR FIRST LOCATION. SO WE DO SEE THAT BUSINESSES COMING TO THIS COMMUNITY ARE, ARE EXPERIENCING, UH, GOOD BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES. AND AS WE GET MORE OF THAT, AS WE BECOME BETTER AT STREAMLINING PERMITS, GETTING THEM OUT QUICKLY, WORKING WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, UM, WE KNOW WE CAN ATTRACT MORE BUSINESSES TO NATIONAL CITY. WE ALSO WANTED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE COST OF, UM, COST OF BUSINESS COMPARISON. AND QUITE FRANKLY, UM, PROBABLY DON'T KNOW, OUR BIGGEST COMPETITION IS CHULA VISTA, MAYBE SOUTHERN, THE SOUTHERN PART OF SAN DIEGO. BUT MOSTLY CHULA VISTA IS OUR COMPETITION. SO THIS IS WHAT THE COST OF BUSINESS LOOKS LIKE. UM, OFFICE SPACE, THE NATIONAL CITY IS 25% CHEAPER. RETAIL SPACE IS NOT IDENTICAL BETWEEN NATIONAL CITY AND CHULA VISTA. FLEX SPACE NATIONAL CITY IS 21% CHEAPER. INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSING NATIONAL CITY IS 15% MORE EXPENSIVE. SO THEN WE, WE TOOK AN EXAMPLE. THIS IS A, A DEPARTMENT STORE EXAMPLE. A DEPARTMENT STORE THAT, UM, HAS UH, 35 EMPLOYEES, 20 MILLION GROSS RECEIPTS AND ESTIMATED SQUARE FOOTAGE OF ABOUT 125,000 SQUARE FEET. SO YOU CAN SEE THE MEDIAN ANNUAL COST IN CHULA VISTA IS $29 AND 70 CENTS. AND NATIONAL CITY IS $26 AND 42 CENTS. SO 11% CHEAPER. THE ANNUAL OCCUPANCY COST IN CHULA VISTA IS 3.7 MILLION IN NATIONAL CITY IS 3.3 MILLION. IT'S ABOUT $411,000 CHEAPER WITH THE BUSINESS TAX OR POOR BUSINESS LICENSING, UH, NATIONAL CITY WOULD BE $20,000 MORE EXPENSIVE. UM, BUT I WILL MAKE A NOTE THERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN, SEEN THE NEWS, UM, AND WHAT CHULA VISTA IS CONSIDERING ON THEIR BALLOT IN NOVEMBER. UM, SOME PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, UH, INCREASES IN THEIR, UH, TRANSIENT, UM, OCCUPANCY TAX, THE HOTEL TAX. SO THE NET COST, UM, IN NATIONAL CITY IS JUST UNDER $400,000 LESS IN THIS COMPARISON THAN IT WOULD BE IN CHULA VISTA. SO THAT'S A QUICK RUN THROUGH OF THE PRESENTATION. UM, ANY QUESTIONS ON THE PROPOSALS FOR THE VALVE MEASURE AT THIS POINT? REPEAT WHAT PLEASE? UH, SHE ASKED IF WE GO BACK TO THE ALTERNATIVES, WHAT THE FIRST ONE AS WELL? YES. OKAY. YEAH, IT IS. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE GENERAL RETAIL THAT 0.001 AND THE, UH, OPTION TWO IS 0.0005. YES. THE SAME AREA COME FROM, OR YEAH, THEY, UM, OPTION TWO WILL CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, PEDRO. OPTION TWO IS ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS LESS REVENUE SIMPLE THAN FIGURE A MILLION HALF ONE, 1.5 MILLION, UH, LESS FOR OPTION TWO, WHICH MEANING THAT, THAT THAT GAP WON'T BE, THAT GAP WILL CARRY FORWARD THE FUTURE . WELL, MY OBJECTIVE IS THERE WON'T BE A GAP IN OUR NEXT BUDGET, UM, THAT WE WILL, WE WILL COVER THAT GAP AND IT'S EITHER THROUGH INCREASED REVENUE OR, OR MORE CUTS AND COST SAVINGS. [00:20:02] UM, I BELIEVE IT'S IN THE POWERPOINT THAT WAS ATTACHED. IT'S IN EXHIBIT A PART OF YEAH. EXHIBIT, EXHIBIT A OF THE AGENDA. SO, SO THE QUESTION WAS WHY WAS IT THAT, UH, OPTION TWO INCLUDE IN THE PACKET? IT WAS ATTACHMENT A ALSO THE CAP WAS IN THE ORIGINAL. YES, THE CAP WAS, WAS NOT IN THE ORIGINAL. SO THAT'S, THAT'S RIGHT. UH, I HAVE ONE HERE AND THEN I'LL COME BACK TO YOU, SIR. RIGHT NOW. . OKAY, SIR. UH, UM, THAT'S A, THAT CONSIDERED A PERCENTAGE, FOR EXAMPLE, PROPERTY THAT'S . YES. SO WHAT WE TRIED TO DO IS ELIMINATE, ELIMINATE THE PERCENTAGE AND JUST GO TO THE DECIMAL POINT. SO IF YOU MULTIPLY WHATEVER BUSINESS CATEGORY YOU HAVE, IF YOU MULTIPLY THAT RATE POINT FOR GENERAL AND RETAIL, IF YOU MULTIPLY YOUR GROSS RECEIPTS BY 0.0005, THAT SHOULD GIVE YOU A BALLPARK OF WHERE YOUR LICENSE FEE WILL BE GROSS. YES. BY LAW, WE CANNOT, UM, WE CANNOT IMPOSE A TAX ON, ON AN ADMIN, NOT THAT'S AN INCOME TAX AND NOT BY LAW ALLOWED TO DO THAT. OKAY. COULD YOU REFRESH MY MEMORY? SAY THAT YOU SAID $1.5 MILLION LESS 1 5 1 $0.5 MILLION LESS THAN 7.5 THAT WE ORIGINALLY YES. SO $6 MILLION? CORRECT. OKAY. AND WE STILL HAVE THE RIGHT FOR THIS YEAR, THE $13 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT. YES. AND WE, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON PROPOSALS FOR THAT. UM, ARE WE READY TO TALK ABOUT THE EXPENDITURE SIDE ON THE FIRST SLIDE? UM, WE, IF, IF YOU WANNA JUST MAKE COMMENTS ABOUT IT, I WOULD SUGGEST WAITING FOR PUBLIC COMMENT. OKAY. UM, RIGHT NOW JUST CLARIFYING QUESTIONS SO THAT EVERYONE HERE CAN COME UP AND, AND MAKE YOUR PUBLIC COMMENTS. OKAY. SOUNDS GOOD. OKAY. YES, SIR. WITH, WITH THESE NEW PROPOSED RATES, IS NATIONAL CITY STILL THE HIGHEST VERSUS RECEIPTS TAX IN THE COUNTY? NO, IT IS NOT. UH, WE ARE WITH, WITH OPTION TWO. UH, WE WOULD BE THE SAME AS THE CITY OF VISTA. AND, AND I WOULD ADD, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS WITH, WITH WHAT IT COSTS TO DO BUSINESS, AND THE REASON WE TRIED TO SHOW THAT IS BECAUSE THERE ARE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TAXES AND FEES THAT CITIES CAN PLACE ON, ON TAX PAYERS OR RATE PAYERS. SO IT'S, IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE, BUT IT'S DIFFICULT TO DO AN APPLES AND APPLES COMPARISON BECAUSE, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD IT BEFORE, CHULA VISTA HAS A USER, UH, UTILITY TAX. UM, THOSE TAXES CAN BE, I BELIEVE IT'S UP TO 8% ON YOUR UTILITY BILL. WE DO NOT HAVE A UTILITY TAX HERE IN NASHVILLE CITY. UM, THEIR HOTEL TAX, THEY'RE LOOKING AT A HOTEL TAX OF UPWARDS 19.5% HERE IN NASHVILLE CITY, I BELIEVE IT'S 10%. YEAH. SO TO DO AN APPLE TO APPLES COMPARISON, YOU REALLY HAVE TO DIG DEEP INTO ALL THE TAXES THAT A DIFFERENT CITY MAY CHARGE AND, AND DO THAT TYPE OF COMPARISON. SO IF, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT ANOTHER COMMUNITY TO EXPAND OR CREATE A NEW BUSINESS, YOU REALLY GOTTA DO A LOT OF HOMEWORK, UH, TO UNDERSTAND THE TRUE COST. OKAY. UH, COULD YOU TELL ME IF THE GROSS REVENUE WILL INCLUDE THE RENTS PRICE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THAT IF IT WILL INCLUDE THE, THE RENT? SO, UM, THE PROPERTY RENTAL, WELL, I'M SAYING WHEN PEOPLE WHO MAKE THEIR MONTHLY PAYMENTS, WILL PART OF THAT BE, WILL THAT TAX GO WILL BE A TAX? THERE'S NO TAX ON RENT. I DON'T BELIEVE IT IS. SO THE RENTAL PROPERTY OWNER WILL PAY THE 0.003, JUST LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS WILL PAY THE RATE BASED ON THE CATEGORY OF BUSINESS, WHETHER OR NOT [00:25:01] THE PROPERTY OWNER OR THE BUSINESS OWNER CHOOSES TO PASS THAT ON IS UP TO THAT INDIVIDUAL. SO THEORETICALLY WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, YOU WOULD BE AS A BUSINESS OWNER, YOU PASSED TWICE, YOU DON'T OWN THE PROPERTY LIKE A REID IF THEY PASS THAT TAX ALONG. SO THERE'S, THERE'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT TECHNICALITIES WITH THAT. AND WE COULD SIT DOWN AND, AND GO THROUGH THAT WITH YOU. THERE'S APPORTIONMENTS AND, AND, AND THERE'S, UH, EXCEPTIONS THAT WILL BE APPLICABLE ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOU TO CHOOSE TO, TO WALK THROUGH THAT WITH YOU. ONE MORE. YES. , THIS ONE. ? YES. THIS SLIDE, UM, THE BUSINESS TAX, IT SAYS 547, THEN NATIONAL CITY, 20,000, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO LONG, BUT WHAT, WHAT IS THAT 20,000 NUMBER? WHERE IS THAT FROM? SO THAT IS BASED ON THE GREEN LINE ABOVE. THIS IS, THIS IS FOR A VERY SPECIFIC BUSINESS EXAMPLE, A BUSINESS THAT IS, UM, A DEPARTMENT STORE. SO IT WOULD BE RETAIL, A GENERAL CATEGORY. IT WOULD HAVE 30 EMPLOYEES. CHULA VISTA DOES AN EMPLOYEE HEAD COUNT SALES TAX, A TAX IS CAUSING THAT DISCREPANCY. AND THAT'S, THAT'S A BIG DIFFERENCE FROM 500,000 TO 20,000. SURE. THAT IS THE BUSINESS LICENSE FEE TO THE PROPOSED FEE. AND I DON'T REMEMBER IF THAT IS THE FIRST OPTION OR PROPOSAL. IS THAT CURRENT? SO THIS IS, THIS IS OPTION ONE. OKAY. SO THIS IS A PROPOSED, BECAUSE THE SLIDE DOESN'T SAY THAT IT, IT LOOKED TO ME AS THAT'S THE CURRENT SITUATION. NO, THIS, THIS IS THE PROPOSED AND THAT IS PROPOSED FOR OPTION ONE. SO IN THIS, IN THIS CASE, THAT DIFFERENCE WOULD, WELL, NATIONAL CITY WOULD DROP DOWN TO 10,000. SO THE, THE DIFFERENCE THERE FOR NATIONAL CITY WOULD BE JUST A LITTLE OVER $9,200. AND WHAT IS THE CURRENT, WHAT IS THE CURRENT, IT IS NOT 20,000 RIGHT NOW. UM, IT IS BASED ON WHATEVER BUSINESS CATEGORY YOU'RE CURRENTLY FALL UNDER. BECAUSE RIGHT NOW NATIONAL CITY DOES HAVE A BUSINESS LICENSE FEE. UM, PEDRO, DO YOU KNOW UNDER THIS EXAMPLE WHAT THAT BUSINESS WOULD PAY CURRENTLY UNDER THE CURRENT TEETH, THEY WOULD PAY APPROXIMATELY ABOUT $1,700. . THANK YOU. THAT ANSWERS MY QUESTION. THANK YOU. UM, IN THIS OTHER MATERIAL GAVE US, THERE IS A EXEMPT OF 36 ENTITIES OTHER THAN CHARITIES OR CHURCHES. WHO ARE THOSE ENTITIES BEING EXEMPT? OTHER BUSINESSES BEING EXEMPT, LET'S KEEP THAT. THERE WE GO. UH, THOSE ARE GONNA BE NON-PROFIT BUSINESSES OR ORGANIZATIONS OR ANYONE THAT'S EXEMPT FROM STATE AND FEDERAL, UH, TAXES. SO IT'LL BE A VARIETY OF, UM, ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CITY THAT HAVE THAT EXEMPTION AND THAT CURRENTLY EXISTS IN OUR CURRENT CODE. ARE THERE ANY BUSINESSES THAT ARE NOT NON-PROFITS THAT ARE, THAT ARE GETTING EXEMPT, THAT ARE NOT, UH, WAS THERE A BIG RETAILER THAT HAS SPECIAL NO, THERE WOULDN'T BE A RETAILER, BUT IT, IT WOULD BE LIKE AN EDUCATIONAL, UH, UH, ESTABLISHMENT OR SOMETHING LIKE A IN COLLEGE, SOMETHING TO THAT NATURE. THEY WOULDN'T BE EXEMPT BECAUSE THEIR TRANSACTION, THEIR TRANSACTIONS ARE EXEMPT FROM SALES TAX. BUT WE'RE NOT TAXING SALES TAX, WE'RE, THIS STRUCTURE IS IN GROSS RECEIPTS. SO EVEN IF YOU'RE, UM, NOT PAYING SALES TAX ON IT, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW MUCH A BUSINESS PROCESS. UH, JUST A QUICK QUESTION. WHY CAP HAD 100? UH, WE HAD TWO BUSINESSES, [00:30:01] I BELIEVE IT WAS, THAT WERE WELL INTO THE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AND WE JUST FELT THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS AN EXORBITANT, UH, TAX ON TWO BUSINESSES IN THE COMMUNITY. SO, UM, AND YOU KNOW, IT WAS SOMETHING WE COULD DO WITHOUT HAVING A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON, ON THE TOTAL REVENUE. IF WE'RE TAPPING IN ONE 50, I DO BELIEVE THOSE SIDE BY SIDE WITH ALL THE FOOT TRAFFIC AND EVERYTHING THAT COMES ALONG WITH HAVING THOSE BIG BUSINESSES THAT ARE MAKING THAT GROSS INCOME. SO WOULD WE HAVE TIME TO REVISIT THAT FOR CHANCE? THIS, RIGHT NOW WHAT YOU SEE UP HERE IS PROPOSED. SO, UH, DURING YOUR PUBLIC COMMENT, YOU CAN CERTAINLY SHARE THAT AGAIN IF YOU'D LIKE. ONE MORE HERE AND THEN THEN I WANNA GET TO PUBLIC COMMENT. MY CLARIFYING QUESTION IS FOR, I BELIEVE IT IS, UM, AGENDA ITEM F FOR ADDENDUM F IT IS THE ACTUAL PROPOSED BALLOT MEASURE LANGUAGE. UM, IN THE PROPOSED BALLOT ME MEASURE LANGUAGE, IT SAYS, SHALL THE MEASURE REFORMING NATIONAL CITY'S ANNUAL BUSINESS TAX RATE TO 0.1 TO 0.3? BUT IN THE NUMBERS THAT YOU HAD UP THERE WAS 0.001 AND 0.003. SO I THINK, I'M NOT SURE IF YOU CAN CLARIFY THAT FOR US, BECAUSE IT IS DIFFERENT FROM THE BALLOT LANGUAGE TO WHAT IT IS, UM, BEING SHOWN ON THE SLIDE. YES. AND THAT, THAT BALLOT LANGUAGE WAS, WAS DRAFTED UNDER THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL. SO DEPENDING ON WHAT DIRECTION THE COUNCIL PROVIDES, WE WILL, WE WILL CERTAINLY BE ADJUSTING THE BALLOT TO REFLECT THAT POLICY. SO CLARIFYING QUESTION ACTUALLY COMPROMISE. YEAH. SO THE COMPROMISES, UH, THAT YOU SEE IN OPTION TWO, THE 150,000 CAB AND THE REDUCTION IN THE GENERAL RETAIL RATE ARE BASED ON EVEN WHAT WE'VE RECEIVED. THAT RIGHT NOW THERE'S TWO OPTIONS ON THE TABLES FOR EACH BUSINESS, NOT MILE COST. THE 150,000 IS THE CAP ON THE FEE PAID FOR EACH BUSINESS? WELL, THERE'S NOT FOR EACH, FOR NOT FOR THE ENTIRE MILE OF CARS IN ANY BUSINESS THAT REACHES A FEE LEVEL OF EXCEEDING 150,000 WOULD BE, UM, CAPTIVE 150,000. YES, YOU GOT IT. YEAH. LAST QUESTION HERE, GIMME A LITTLE BIT MORE DEPTH IN THE LOGIC OF CHANGING FROM OPTION ONE TO OPTION TWO. YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S 1.5 COUPLE OF BUSINESSES COMPLAINT AND THEY'RE GETTING THE ATTENTION. AND WHAT WAS THE RATIONALE OTHER THAN, YOU KNOW, SEEMS FAIR. WHAT, WHAT WAS THE BASIS OF FAIRNESS? WHAT WAS THE, THE EXPLANATION OF THE FAIRNESS? WHAT'S THE LOGIC OF IT'S BEING USED? WELL, I THINK WE, WE SAW IT AS A WAY THAT, UM, WE COULD CERTAINLY OFFER A COMPROMISE WITHOUT HAVING A SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON THE TOTAL REVENUE THAT WE DEGENERATION. AT SOME POINT, THERE'S A THRESHOLD, RIGHT? THAT DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO GO THROUGH THIS, GO THROUGH, YOU KNOW, PUTTING THIS ON THE BALLOT AND, AND EVERYTHING ELSE FOR THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE THEY RECEIVED AND KIND OF FELT THAT THIS IS THE THRESHOLD THAT IT, IT STILL MAKES SENSE TO MOVE THIS FORWARD. THE COUNCIL CHOOSES BECAUSE IT'LL STILL GENERATE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF REVENUE. THE DOCUMENTATION, DOUG, IF YOU DON'T MIND, YEAH. PEDRO CAN ANSWER THAT AND THEN I'M GONNA SIT DOWN SO WE CAN START PUBLIC COMMENT. UM, SO THE SECOND OPTION WAS DERIVED FROM A LOT OF THE INPUT THAT WE'VE HAD OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST TWO MONTHS FROM ALL THE PUBLIC OUTREACH. AND WE SPECIFICALLY LOOKED AT THAT CATEGORY BECAUSE THAT CATEGORY REPRESENTS A LARGE AMOUNT OF BUSINESSES IN THE CITY. SO WE WERE TRYING TO BE IMPACT WITH THE ADJUSTMENT, BUT SECONDLY, IT'S ALSO JUSTIFIABLE BECAUSE THAT CATEGORY ALREADY CARRIES THE BURDEN OF PRODUCING SALES TAX AND ALREADY EXISTING REVENUE TO THE CITY. AND WITH THE INCREASE IN OUR TAX, THEY CARRY AN [00:35:01] EVEN BIGGER BURDEN ALREADY. AND SO WITHIN THAT CATEGORY, THERE IS JUSTIFICATION FOR REDUCING THAT CATEGORY IN THAT CATEGORY. UM, SO THAT'S A LITTLE BIT BEHIND THE REASON WHY WE PROVIDE THAT SECOND OPTION. SO I THINK YOU GET INTO WATER. YES. WE'RE GONNA GET INTO THE QUESTIONS. UM, IF YOU WANT TO ASK A QUESTION, THERE ARE SLIPS AT THE BACK. WE'RE GONNA NEED TO TURN THOSE IN OVER TO OUR CITY CLERK TO GET INTO THE QUEUE AND OR WE HAVE TWO POWERPOINTS STILL. OH, WE STILL DO. OKAY. YES. OKAY. OKAY. I'M SORRY. SORRY ABOUT THAT EVERYONE. SO, UM, I'M GONNA GET INTO THE, UH, BUSINESS LICENSE TAX STUDY, UH, POWERPOINT. UM, THIS IS A SMALL UPDATE FROM THE LAST ONE THAT WE PRESENTED AT COUNCIL IN APRIL. SO WE CAN JUST HAVE THAT PUT UP AFTER MY POWERPOINT JUST FOR CLARITY. WE WILL GET INTO THE POWERPOINT FROM THE PUBLIC OPINION, UH, SURVEY THAT WAS DONE IN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL, YOU WANTING TO ASK QUESTIONS. NOW IT'S A GOOD TIME TO TURN IN YOUR SLIPS AND TO MAKE COMMENTS, I SHOULD SAY. AND SO AFTER THOSE TWO PRESENTATIONS, THEN WE'RE GONNA BE TAKING PUBLIC COMMENTS. PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL BE FOR TWO MINUTES PER PERSON. AND SO IF YOU CAN GET YOUR SLIPS TURNED THE END THAT WAY YOU TAKE FOR THE QUEUE. THANK YOU MAYOR. ALRIGHT EVERYONE, MY NAME IS PEDRO GARCIA, ECONOMIC VALUE MANAGER FOR THE CITY. UH, I SEE TRYING TO GET SITUATED SO EVERYONE CAN HEAR ME AND SEE ME. UM, THANK YOU AGAIN. COUNCIL MEMBER MAYOR, COMMUNITY. MY NAME IS PEDRO GARCIA AS I MENTIONED, AND I'LL BE GIVING THE PRESENTATION ON THE JUSTICE LICENSE TAX STUDY. THIS IS A SMALL UPDATE FROM THE LAST ONE. I WILL BE SLIGHTLY QUICK THROUGH THE PRESENTATION SINCE WE ALREADY HEARD, UH, SOME OF THE MAJOR UPDATES, UH, FROM OUR CITY MANAGER, DOUG. UM, SO LITTLE BIT OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA SEE TODAY IS JUST, UH, WHAT THIS BUSINESS LICENSE TAX IS, UH, THE JURISDICTIONAL COMPARISON. SO COMPARING 'EM TO OTHER CITIES WHO HAVE EITHER, UH, GROSS RECEIPTS, TAX EXISTING OR SOME OTHER METHOD OF BUSINESS LICENSE TAX. AND THEN ALSO COMPARISON, COMPARISON OF THE MODELS, BOTH THE ORIGINAL RATE STRUCTURE, WHICH IS A VARIABLE RATE STRUCTURE, AND THEN THE OPTION TO WHICH YOU SAW JUST A SECOND AGO. SO WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS TAX STUDY IS WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CURRENT RATE STRUCTURE THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE RIGHT NOW AND BENCHMARKING THAT AGAINST OTHER JURISDICTIONS. AND THEN OBVIOUSLY IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENTS ON THIS CURRENT, UH, BUSINESS LICENSE TAX THAT THE CITY HAS HAD IN PLACE SINCE 1979 AND PROVIDING A CLEAR PATH FORWARD TO MODERNIZING THIS BUSINESS LICENSE TAX PERFORM. SO LOOKING AT WHAT WE HAVE CURRENTLY, WE HAVE 5,480 BUSINESS LICENSES CURRENTLY IN THE CITY. THIS IS A BREAKDOWN, A BREAKDOWN OF THE MAKEUP OF THOSE. AS YOU SEE, RESIDENTIAL IS OUR LARGEST. AND JUST FOR CLARIFICATION, YOU'LL PROBABLY SEE GROSS RECEIPTS THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION ON EXISTING, AND THAT'S BECAUSE WE DO HAVE AN EXISTING GROSS RECEIPTS TAX. IT'S JUST FLAT. SO MEANING YOU GET PUT INTO, INTO A COST AND YOU ONLY PAY THAT MUCH, IT DOESN'T FLUCTUATE WITH HOWEVER MUCH YOU GROSS AS A BUSINESS. HERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAKDOWN AGAIN, OF THE MAKEUP OF THE BUSINESSES IN THE CITY. I'LL LET YOU GUYS LOOK AT THAT FOR A SECOND. BUT AGAIN, RESIDENTIAL RETAIL, UH, OR RENTAL AND, AND APARTMENTS BEING THE BIGGEST. AND THEN THE OTHER CATEGORY IS A MAKEUP OF A LOT OF MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESSES THAT, UH, WOULD'VE BEEN TOO MANY TO PUT ON THERE. AS YOU CAN SEE, THAT'S 93. SO I THINK THE TEXT WOULD BE REALLY SMALL. AND HERE HERE'S A COMPARISON OF, OF THE TOP 100 GROSSING BUSINESSES IN THE CITY MAKING UP 57.54%. THE CITY'S TOTAL GROSS, BUT ONLY PAYING 29.17% OF THE REVENUES TOWARDS THE CITY. AND WHAT IS GROSS RECEIPTS FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW? AND IN GENERAL, GROSS RECEIPTS MEANS THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF REVENUE RECEIVED OR ACCRUED BY A BUSINESS FROM ALL ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED WITHIN THE CITY, WHETHER RECEIVING CASH, CREDIT OR OTHER FORM OF VALUE WITHOUT DEDUCTION FOR COSTS OR EXPENSES. AND LIMITED TO THE PORTION ATTRIBUTED ATTRI, EXCUSE ME, ATTRIBUTED A TRIBUTE TO BOTH [00:40:01] TO BUSINESS ACTIVITY WITHIN THE CITY. ALRIGHT, GETTING INTO THE JURISDICTIONAL COMPARISONS. SO HERE'S A LITTLE BIT BREAKDOWN OF HOW MUCH THE CITY CURRENTLY GENERATES PER BUSINESS AND REVENUES COMPARING 'EM TO OTHER CITIES. SOME MAY NOT HAVE A G RECEIPT AND SOME DO. UH, AND I'LL LET YOU GUYS ADJUST THAT REALLY QUICK. BUT AS, AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, WE ARE AT THE BOTTOM. SO WE DO GENERATE THE LOWEST PER BUSINESS, UH, IN ANY CITY LISTED UP. AND THAT DOES INCLUDE CHULA VISTA AND OTHER NEIGHBORING CITIES. SO DIVING INTO A LITTLE BIT OF THE DETAILS. SO WE DID A DETAILED ANALYSIS WITH CHULA VISTA, OCEANSIDE VISTA, AND SAN DIEGO. HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF, UH, HYPOTHETICAL BUSINESS SITUATIONS OR, UM, GROSS RECEIPTS AND WHAT THOSE BUSINESSES WOULD PAY IN NATIONAL CITY CURRENTLY AND WHAT THEY WOULD PAY IN OTHER CITIES SUCH AS CHULA VISTA, OCEANSIDE VISTA, AND AGAIN, NOTING THAT OCEANSIDE AND VISTA DOES CURRENTLY HAVE GROSS RECEIPTS IN PLACE. SO MOVING FORWARD TO THE MODELS, THE VARIABLE GROSS RECEIPTS MODEL IS WHAT WE'RE ALL TO TALK ABOUT. AND, UH, THIS IS A SNAPSHOT. SO RIGHT HERE WE HAVE A, UH, SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON OF THE OPTION NUMBER TWO THAT WAS EARLIER MENTIONED. AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE GENERAL RETAIL CATEGORY, IT DROPS FROM 0.1% TO 0.05% AND THERE IS AN $150,000 CAP APPLIED TO OPTION NUMBER TWO. AND HERE'S A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL IN REGARDS TO THE ESTIMATED REVENUE FOR THAT. SO ORIGINALLY WITH OUR VARIABLE RATE STRUCTURE, WE WERE PREDICTING ABOUT $7.5 MILLION IN VIEW REVENUE. WITH OPTION TWO, IT DROPS TO APPROXIMATELY 5.8 MILLION. AND JUST FOR EVERYONE'S, UH, JUST FOR CLARITY, THESE FIGURES ARE TRUE FIGURES PROVIDED TO US BY THE CONSULTANT WHO MANAGES THE CITY'S TAXATION. AND SO THIS IS A SNAPSHOT FROM A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. THIS IS NOT CURRENT GROSS RECEIPTS, UH, THAT ARE COMING IN FROM HERE. WE ALSO WANT 'EM TO DO A SMALL COMPARISON. UH, AS WE ALL KNOW, WE HAVE A VERY STRONG AUTO INDUSTRY IN THE CITY. WE HAVE THE VERY SUCCESSFUL AND FAMOUS MODEL CARS. SO WE WANTED TO LOOK AT WHAT THAT IMPACT WOULD BE TO, UH, A PREJUDICE OF A VEHICLE TO THE BUSINESS, PASS IT ON TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. AND WITH OPTION ONE AT 0.1% ON A $60,000 VEHICLE, THAT WOULD EQU TO $60. AND FOR OPTION TWO AT A RATE OF 0.05%, THAT $60,000 CAR WOULD GO UP $30. AND AGAIN, GOING A LITTLE FURTHER INTO THE DETAILS OF THE COMPARISON RIGHT HERE, WHAT WE WANTED TO DO WITH THE HYPOTHETICALS IS ALSO INCLUDE THE VARIABLE GROSS RECEIPT MODEL AND THE OPTION NUMBER TWO OF THE VARIABLE GROSS RECEIPTS MODELS. AND THERE YOU CAN SEE WHAT THOSE HYPOTHETICAL BUSINESS SITUATIONS WOULD LOOK LIKE AND WHAT THAT IMPACT WOULD BE TO THE BUSINESS AND WHAT IT WOULD COST. SO SOMETHING THAT OUR CITY MANAGER TOUCHED ON EARLIER IS THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS IN CHULA VISTA VERSUS NATIONAL CITY. SO I WON'T, UH, GO OVER IT AGAIN IN DETAIL SINCE, UH, OUR CITY MANAGER DID A GOOD JOB. BUT I DID WANNA ADD ON THE TOPIC OF EXTRA COSTS AND OTHER CITIES THAT ARE HIDDEN OR MAYBE NOT SPOKEN ABOUT. SO CHULA VISTA DOES HAVE A USER UTILITY TAX, AND THAT DOES GO UP TO, UM, ACTUALLY I, I LOOKED IT UP RIGHT NOW JUST TO HAVE THE NUMBERS FRESH AND IT'S ALMOST 5% ON GROSS CHARGES AND IT IS 1% ON GAS AND ELECTRIC. SO THAT'S APPLIED TO ALL YOUR UTILITY BILLS. AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IF YOU LIVE IN CHULA VISTA, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SEE THAT IN YOUR RECEIPT EVERY MONTH. AND IT'S A FAIR COMPARISON BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY ALL THE BUSINESSES HAVE UTILITY COSTS AND THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT FULL PERCENTAGES. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHAT THIS IS A DECIMAL PERCENT, SO 0.1, 0.2 AND 0.3%. CHULA VISTA HAS HAD, UH, USER UTILITY TAX, I WOULD SAY OVER 20 YEARS. AND THEY ALSO HAVE OTHER THINGS IN THEIR RESIDENTIAL AREAS THAT NATIONAL CITIES NATIONAL CITY DOESN'T HAVE, SUCH AS MELROSE. AND THOSE MEL ROOF COSTS CAN BE QUITE IMPACTFUL AND SOMETIMES YOU DON'T REALLY HAVE CONTROL OVER THOSE. IF YOU'VE ALREADY BOUGHT A HOUSE IN THE MELROSE, [00:45:01] IT COULD SOMETIMES EVEN COMPOUND DEPENDING ON DEVELOPMENTS AROUND THAT AREA. A NATIONAL CITY, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY DISTRICTS. AND AGAIN, THE SNAPSHOT FROM EARLIER $20 MILLION BUSINESS WOULD STILL HAVE A SAVINGS, UH, EVEN WITH THE ORIGINAL PROPOSED RATE STRUCTURE OF THE BUSINESS LICENSE TAX, GIVEN THAT THE FACT IS THAT OUR COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IS QUITE A BIT INEXPENSIVE COMPARED TO ISTS OR LESS EXPENSIVE. SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. UM, WE'RE GONNA HAND IT OVER TO OUR CONSULTANT ON ZOOM, WHO WILL BE GOING OVER THE SURVEY THAT WAS GIVEN TO, UH, REGISTERED VOTERS IN NATIONAL CITY. WE DID A PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY ON THE BUSINESS LICENSE TAX AND OTHER MATTERS. SO I'M GONNA GO AHEAD, HAND IT OVER TO, UH, RICHARD BERNARD. UH, HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET HIM ON THE ZOOM. HI, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEAH. OKAY, GREAT. UM, I DON'T THINK I COULD SHOW MY FACE. SO I GUESS YOU HAVE MY PICTURE. UM, I CAN'T SEE THE, IS SOMETHING GONNA LOAD THE, UH, GRAPHS? OKAY. UM, WILL I BE ABLE TO, OKAY, GREAT. PERFECT. THANKS. NO, NO, LET ME KNOW WHEN THEY'RE LOADED. GREAT. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. CAN YOU HEAR, CAN, CAN SOMEONE HEAR ME? GREAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. UH, GOOD AFTERNOON. UH, MAYOR COUNCIL MEMBERS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR INVITING ME TO PRESENT THE RESULTS OF YOUR RECENT VOTER SURVEY. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UH, WE CONDUCTED THE SURVEY BETWEEN JUNE 4TH AND THE 25TH OF THIS YEAR. SO VERY RECENTLY, UH, WE CONDUCTED A DUAL MODE SURVEY, WHICH MEANS A RANDOM HALF THE RESPONDENTS TOOK THE SURVEY ON THE TELEPHONE AND A RANDOM HALF THE SURVEY ONLINE. WE INTERVIEWED A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 412 CITY OF NATIONAL CITY REGISTERED VOTERS WHO ARE LIKELY TO VOTE IN A NOVEMBER, 2026 GENERAL ELECTION BASED ON THEIR PAST VOTER HISTORY, OR IF THEY'VE RECENTLY REGISTERED TO VOTE FOR QUESTIONS ASKED OF EVERYONE, THE MARGIN OF ERRORS PLUS OR MINUS 4.9. I WILL BE REMINDING YOU OF THAT, UH, DURING THE PRESENTATION AND THE IMPLICATIONS. AND IN SOME CASES, WE DIDN'T WANT THE SURVEY TO BE TOO ONEROUS ON YOUR VOTERS. SO FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF QUESTIONS, A RANDOM HALF HEARD SOME QUESTIONS AND ORAND HALF HEARD THE OTHERS. AND IN THAT CASE, THE MARGIN OF ERROR IS A LITTLE BIT LARGER. PLUS OR MINUS 6.9. WE CONTACTED YOUR VOTERS BY TELEPHONE, EMAIL, AND TEXT, AND WE OF COURSE PROVIDED THE SURVEY ONLINE AND ON TELEPHONE IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH. UH, AND THE RESPONDENT OPTED TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY FELT MOST COMFORTABLE CONDUCTING THE SURVEY. AND, AND IN FACT, 18% OF THE RESPONDENTS, UH, OPTED TO TAKE THE SURVEY IN SPANISH. AND IF YOU NOTICE SOMETHING DOESN'T QUITE EQUAL A HUNDRED PERCENT. UM, I ATTRIBUTE THAT TO ROUNDING. UH, NEXT SLIDE. SO THE FIRST FEW SLIDES THAT I'LL BE PRESENTING ARE KIND OF SETTING THE CONTEXT TO WHICH WE'LL THEN MOVE INTO THE, UH, BALLOT QUESTION AND TRY TO SIMULATE WHERE PEOPLE MIGHT BE NOW IF, UM, THEY WERE TO GO TO THE BALLOT BOOTH OR IF THEY WERE TO, UM, FILL OUT THEIR ABSENTEE BALLOT ON THEIR KITCHEN TABLE. AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO SIMULATE SOME EDUCATIONAL, UH, INFORMATION. AS YOU KNOW, THE CITY CANNOT ADVOCATE, BUT IT CAN EDUCATE. AND THEN WE'RE GONNA RETEST THE BALLOT QUESTION TO SEE, UH, THE LEVEL OF SUPPORT. SO LET'S START WITH THE CONTEXT. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. WE BEGAN THE SURVEY BY ASKING FOLKS IF THEY THOUGHT THINGS IN THE CITY OF NATIONAL CITY ARE GENERALLY HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, OR IF THEY FELT THINGS WERE OFF ON THE WRONG TRACK. UH, THE BLUE IS THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THE ORANGE IS THE WRONG TRACK, AND 14% SAID THEY WEREN'T QUITE SURE IF IT WAS HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION OR IF IT WAS OFF ON THE WRONG TRACK. UM, SO COMPARATIVELY WITH 56%, A MAJORITY SAYING THINGS ARE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, THIS IS A VERY GOOD NUMBER. UM, I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH ABOUT 60, UH, OR SO CITIES IN, IN CALIFORNIA, PRIMARILY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. AND MY FIRM, UH, A LOT MORE. [00:50:01] AND WHEN I COMPARE THIS DATA TO MOST OTHER CITIES, YOU'RE ON THE HIGH SIDE IN TERMS OF, UH, FEEL POSITIVE SENTIMENTS ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE CITY. NEXT SLIDE. CAN WE THEN PROVIDED THEM WITH, UH, SOME NAMES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND GROUPS THAT ARE ACTIVE IN, UH, NATIONAL CITY, CITY LIFE? UM, AND WE RANDOMIZED THIS LIST TO, TO ENSURE NO BIAS EFFECT. AND WE ASKED AFTER EACH ONE IF PEOPLE HAD A FAVORABLE OR UNFAVORABLE OPINION ABOUT THAT ORGANIZATION OR GROUP. UM, IF THEY SAID THEY HAD A FAVORABLE OPINION, WE ASKED THEM, IS THAT VERY OR SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE, WHICH IS THE DARK BLUE AND THE BRIGHT BLUE. AND I'D AGGREGATED AND RANKED THE TOTAL FAVORABLE. ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE. THE DULL ORANGE AND THE BRIGHT ORANGE ARE SOMEWHAT UNFAVORABLE AND VERY UNFAVORABLE RESPECTIVELY. AND ALSO AGGREGATED OR GROUPED THE, UH, NUMBER OF THE PERCENTAGE OF FOLKS WHO SAID, UH, SOMEWHAT OR VERY UNFAVORABLE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE AS WELL. AND THE GRAY ARE THE FOLKS WHO SAID, I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THAT ORGANIZATION, OR THEY WOULD TELL US THEY'VE HEARD OF THE ORGANIZATION, BUT THEY JUST DIDN'T KNOW ENOUGH TO OFFER AN OPINION. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, UM, I WANT TO FIRST FOCUS ON, UH, THE CITY DEPARTMENTS AND THEN THE CITY OVERALL. FOR SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WE ASKED. YOU COULD SEE WITH RESPECT TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, SLIGHTLY MORE THAN NINE IN 10 HAVE, UH, EITHER VERY OR SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE VIEWS. VERY, VERY HIGH NUMBER, WHICH IS FAIRLY CONSISTENT WITH ALMOST ALL CITIES IN TERMS OF THEIR VIEW OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. ALWAYS ONE OF THE TOP FAVORABLE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE CITY. IF I DROP DOWN TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, PRETTY STRONG NUMBERS AT 70 FAVORABLE 27 UNFAVORABLE, NOT AS QUITE STRONG IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, BUT STILL, UH, UH, THE VAST MAJORITY OF FOLKS HAVE AT LEAST A SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE OPINION ABOUT THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND AGAIN, AS WE MOVE DOWN ONE NATIONAL CITY GOVERNMENT OVERALL AND THE COUNCIL ITSELF. SO THE GOVERNMENT OVERALL INCLUDES THE COUNCIL, BUT OF COURSE THE STAFF AND ALL THE FOLKS WHO TRY TO PROVIDE SERVICES AND IMPROVE, MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RESIDENTS BUSINESSES AND TO, AND VISITORS TO THE CITY. STRONG NUMBERS MORE THAN A, OR IN SOME PLACES CLOSE TO A THREE TO ONE, FAVORABLE TO UNFAVORABLE NUMBER. AND AT A TIME WHEN PEOPLE HAVE FAIRLY NEGATIVE VIEWS ABOUT GOVERNMENT OVERALL, THESE NUMBERS, UH, SCORE QUITE, UH, POSITIVE, UH, POSITIVE WITH RESPECT TO THE VIEWS OF GOVERNMENT AND SPECIFICALLY THE COUNCIL. UM, IF WE COULD JUMP BACK TO THE SECOND ITEM, WHICH IS LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES. THERE, AS WE'VE SEEN IN MANY OTHER PLACES, UH, BOTH IN THIS ELECTION CYCLE AND THE PREVIOUS ELECTION CYCLE, PEOPLE ARE FEELING VERY GOOD ABOUT SMALL, UH, LOCAL BUSINESSES. AGAIN, WITH NINE, A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN NINE IN EVERY 10 HAVING FAVORABLE VIEWS. AND FINALLY, THE NATIONAL CITY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ALSO A FAVORABLE NUMBER, A MAJORITY HAVE FAVORABLE VIEWS. THE ONLY REASON IT'S, UH, NOT STRONGER IS THAT, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THREE IN 10 JUST DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE CHAMBER TO OFFER AN OPINION. BUT THE OVERALL TAKEAWAY IS PEOPLE, NOT ONLY WE SAW IT THE RIGHT DIRECTION, FEELING GOOD ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE CITY, BUT WHEN WE ASK ABOUT THE SERVICES, THE DEPARTMENTS, THE FOLKS WHO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR CITY THRIVES AND DOES WELL, PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY VERY HAPPY WITH THOSE ORGANIZATIONS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND THE FINAL CONTEXT SLIDE THAT I'D LIKE TO PRESENT IS THE PERCEIVED NEED. THIS IS A CONCEPTUAL QUESTION IN THIS QUESTION. WE'RE NOT ASKING ANY, ANY OF YOUR VOTERS TO, UM, DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THEY SHOULD CONSIDER RAISING TAXES. REMEMBER, THE COUNCIL ONLY HAS THE AUTHORITY TO PLACE THE MEASURE ON THE BALLOT, BUT IT'S THE VOTERS WHO WILL DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT ANY KIND OF BUSINESS REFORM MEASURE WILL BE APPROVED BY THEM AS A SIMPLE MAJORITY, IE 50% OR MORE. SO WE WANTED TO GET A SENSE OF WHETHER THEY PERCEIVE THAT THERE IS AT LEAST SOME NEED. THEY THINK THERE'S A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS IN THE CITY. SO WE ASKED THEM IF THE CITY NEEDED ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO PROVIDE THE LEVEL OF CITY SERVICES THAT RESIDENTS NEED AND WANT. AND YOU'LL SEE 82% SAID THERE WAS AT LEAST SOME NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS WITH 37% SAYING GREAT NEED. A FAIRLY MODEST 15% SAID THERE WAS A LITTLE OR NO REAL NEED. SO CLEARLY VOTERS UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S A NEED AND THAT WHILE THEY ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THE, THE, THE CITY IN GENERAL, THE COUNCIL [00:55:01] AS WELL, AND THEY'RE FEELING BUOYED ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF THE CITY, THEY ARE NOT NAIVE TO THE STRUCTURAL ISSUES AND FINANCIAL ISSUES THAT THE CITY FACES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO NOW I'M GONNA MOVE INTO THE DISCUSSION OF THE BALLOT MEASURE, WHICH WAS MY PRIMARY CHARGE IN CONDUCTING, UH, THE RESEARCH. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UH, IN FRONT OF YOU WAS THE QUESTION, I'LL CALL IT A HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION BECAUSE I'M VERY MINDFUL OF NOT GETTING AHEAD OF THE COUNCIL. BUT OF COURSE, UM, AS THE SURVEY, UM, AS, AS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SURVEY, I HAD TO TEST SOMETHING. SO WE WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH LEGAL COUNSEL AND YOUR STAFF TO UNDERSTAND THE PRIORITIES OF THE COUNSEL AND MAKE SURE THAT THIS QUESTION WAS LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE IF, UM, THEY, THE, THE COUNSEL OPTED TO MOVE FORWARD, UM, AT A FUTURE DATE. SO WE READ THIS QUESTION TO THEM IF THEY WERE ON, UH, THE PHONE OR THEY READ IT, IF THEY WERE ONLINE, AND WE SAID, IF THERE WERE AN ELECTION TODAY, WOULD YOU VOTE YES IN FAVOR OR NO TO OPPOSE? NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. IF THEY SAID THEY WOULD VOTE YES IN FAVOR, WE ASKED. WE ASKED, IS THAT DEFINITELY OR PROBABLY BECAUSE WE WANNA KNOW THE INTENSITY, THE PERCENT WHO SAY DEFINITELY YES. AND IF THEY SAID NO, WE ASKED THEM, IS THAT DEFINITELY OR PROBABLY NO, BECAUSE WE WANNA KNOW THE INTENSITY OF THE OPPONENTS IE THE PERCENT WHO SAY DEFINITELY NO. IF THEY WERE UNDECIDED, WE PUSHED 'EM A LITTLE. WE SAID, WELL, WOULD YOU LEAN YES OR WOULD YOU LEAN NO IF THEY SAID THEY'D LEAN, YES, WE PUT THEM IN THE S CAMP, NO, IN THE NO CAMP. AND FOR THIS PARTICULAR BALLOT, UH, TITLE AND SUMMARY THAT I JUST PRESENTED IN A SLIDE JUST BEFORE THIS, UM, 8% SAID THAT THEY WERE UNDECIDED. SO ON THE INITIAL VOTE, THESE ARE PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T EXPECT TO BE DOING A SURVEY ON ANY KIND OF BALLOT INITIATIVE AT ALL. ON THE INITIAL VOTE WITH JUST BALLOT TITLE AND SUMMARY, 71% SAID YES, 21% SAID NO, AND 8% SAID THAT THEY WERE UNDECIDED. THEY NEEDED TO KNOW MORE. NOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THAT MARGIN OF ERROR TEST, THEN YOU'LL REMI, YOU'LL BE REMINDED ON THE TOP OF THE, NEAR THE TOP OF THE SLIDE THAT THE MARGIN OF ERROR PLUS OR MINUS 4.9, LET'S SAY WE USE FIVE FOR SIMPLE MATH. IF I ADDED FIVE TO THE TOTAL, YES ON 71 ON THE HIGH END ON ON THE DAY THEY TOOK THE SURVEY ON THE HIGH END, UH, IT WOULD BE AT 76% AND AT THE LOW END IT WOULD BE AT 66%. UM, KNOWING THAT THIS IS A GENERAL PURPOSE MEASURE 50 PLUS ONE, AND THAT ALL THE MONEY WOULD JUST GO INTO THE GENERAL FUND AND AT THE DISCRETION OF THE COUNCIL AS TO HOW THEY WOULD USE IT, UM, THIS IS A VERY HIGH NUMBER TO START WITH. PARTICULARLY HIGH IS THE DEFINITELY YES, AT 44, NORMALLY I SEE WELL IN BUSINESS LICENSE REFORM MEASURES. I SEE IT A LOT LOWER THAN THIS ON THE INITIAL VOTE. AND WHAT'S ALSO STRIKING TO ME IS THAT DEFINITELY NO, WHICH IS TYPICALLY AROUND A FLOOR OF 20%, IS AT A MODEST 13%. SO A MUCH STRONG, QUITE A STRONG PERFORMANCE AT FIRST, BUT WE'RE GOING, UM, TO PRESENT SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, UM, TO SIMULATE EDUCATION AND SEE WHERE IT GOES FROM THERE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. WE'LL BEGIN BY LOOKING AT, UM, YOUR VOTER PRIORITIES FOR THE BUDGET. FOR THE BUDGET. IF THIS MEASURE WAS PASSED, HOW WOULD THEY LIKE THE MONEY TO BE USED AND THEIR REACTION TO VARIOUS PROVISIONS IN THE BALLOT QUESTION? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO WE GAVE THEM A FAIRLY LENGTHY LIST OF ITEMS AND WE RANDOMIZED IT. SO YOU SHOULD KNOW THERE WAS NO BIAS. UM, EVERYONE HEARING ONE THING FIRST OR ONE THING LAST, AND WE SAID, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU SUPPORT THE MEASURE OR NOT, PLEASE INDICATE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT EACH OF THE USES OF THE FUNDS OR THE PROVISIONS BE INCLUDED IN THE MEASURE. AND WE OFFERED THEM THE OPTION OF EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, WHICH IS THE DARK BLUE, VERY IMPORTANT, WHICH IS THE MID COLOR BLUE. AND I'VE AGGREGATED AND RANKED THE EXTREMELY AND VERY IMPORTANT ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THE DULL BLUE IS SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT. THE ORANGE IS NOT TOO IMPORTANT. AND THE GRAY, THE SLIVER OF GRAY YOU MIGHT SEE AT THE END OF A COUPLE OF THOSE BARS ARE FOLKS WHO SAID, I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THAT TO OFFER AN OPINION. SO AMONG THE ITEMS PRESENTED HERE, SEVEN OF THEM ARE IN THE NINETIES IN TERMS OF EXTREMELY ARE VERY IMPORTANT, AND 14 ARE IN THE EIGHTIES. THAT'S A VERY, VERY STRONG PERCENTAGE NUMBER IN TERMS OF PRIORITIES, THIS TELLS ME THAT THE COUNCIL PRIORITIES ARE VERY MUCH IN LINE WITH VOTER [01:00:01] PRIORITIES, OR THOSE NUMBERS WOULD BE A LOT LESS. AND I CAN ASSURE YOU IN SOME CITIES, I SOMETIMES COME BACK WITH NUMBERS IN THE FORTIES, FIFTIES, AND SIXTIES. AND IN YOUR CASE, YOU HAVE A LOT OF ITEMS THAT ARE IN THE 80 NINETIES AND THE EIGHTIES. NOW, BECAUSE THIS CANNOT, WE'RE NOT TESTING A, A DEDICATED MEASURE BECAUSE IF IT WAS ONLY FOR ONE OR TWO ITEM, UH, TYPES OF SERVICES OR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, LEGALLY IT WOULD BE REQUIRED TO BE A DEDICATED MEASURE, WHICH WOULD REQUIRE A TWO THIRDS VOTE. IN, IN MY CHARGE, I WAS ASKED TO TEST A GENERAL PURPOSE MEASURE, AND YOUR RESULTS COME BACK. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PRIORITIES IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT AREAS THAT YOUR VOTERS WANT TO MAKE SURE SOME OF THIS MONEY IS USED IF COUNSEL OPTS TO PLACES ON THE BALLOT. AND THIS IS PASSED BY A SIMPLE MAJORITY OF VOTERS WHO CAST BALLOTS, UM, INCLUDED IN THE TOP ITEMS ARE KEEPING PUBLIC, PUBLIC AREAS SAFE AND CLEAN, WHICH OF COURSE REFERS TO PUBLIC SAFETY. IT RE IT REFERS TO PUBLIC WORKS. UM, AND IT ALSO FOR SOME IS A CODE WORD FOR ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS. AND THEN THE NEXT TWO ITEMS ARE PUBLIC SAFETY WITH RESPECT TO FIRE FIRES AND PARA FIREFIGHTERS AND PARAMEDICS, AND THEN STREETS AND ROADS, AND THEN DROP ONE DOWN AND HOMELESSNESS. AND YOU COULD SEE, UM, QUOTES TO THE END, ATTRACTING OR RETAINING LOCAL, UH, JOBS. SO THERE'S A VARIETY OF AREAS THAT HAVE A NEXUS WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND ALSO A, A LARGE SERIES OF PRIORITIES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO YOUR VOTERS. THEY'RE NOT SINGULAR, SINGULARLY FOCUSED ON ONE ITEM. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND THIS IS THE SECOND OF THE SLIDES THAT ARE PART OF THIS PARTICULAR QUESTION. AND YOU CAN SEE IN ADDITION TO, UM, FUNDING FOR SENIOR SERVICES, CLEANING UP, UH, ILLEGAL DUMPING, UM, AND THEN ENSURING LARGE BUSINESSES PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE, THAT'S ONE OF THE PROVISIONS AND PREVENTING, UH, AND ENSURING, UH, E EQUITY TO ALL BUSINESSES, THOSE ARE AMONG THE HIGH PRIORITY ITEMS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. AND NOW I'M GOING TO, UM, SHOW YOU SOME EDUCATIONAL STATEMENTS. AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THE CITY CANNOT ADVOCATE, BUT THEY CAN EDUCATE. NEXT SLIDE. SO WE GAVE THEM A SERIES OF STATEMENTS AND WE SAID AFTER EACH ONE, AND THESE WERE RANDOMIZED BY THE WAY, TO ENSURE NO BIAS. AND AFTER EACH STATEMENT WE ASKED THEM, UM, WOULD THIS STATEMENT, HEARING THIS STATEMENT, WOULD IT MAKE YOU MORE INCLINED TO VOTE YES ON THE MEASURE THAT DARK BLUE IS MUCH MORE INCLINED, THE BRIGHT BLUE IS SOMEWHAT MORE INCLINED. AND I'VE COMBINED THE MUCH AND SOMEWHAT MORE INCLINED TOGETHER AGGREGATED THAT AND RANKED IT ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE. AND THE WORDS IN THE PARENTHESES WERE NOT READ TO THEM, NOR DID THEY READ IT. BUT THESE ARE THEMES SO THAT I DON'T HAVE TO READ A BUNCH OF MESSAGES TO YOU, BUT I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT TWO OF THE MANY MESSAGES THAT SCORED VERY HIGH IN TERMS OF, UM, INCLINATION TO VOTE YES ON THE MEASURE. REALLY, THESE MESSAGES REALLY RESONATED WITH YOUR COMMUNITY, INCLUDING LARGE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES IN NATIONAL CITY CAUSE MORE WEAR AND TEAR ON OUR STREETS AND ROADS AND WILL REQUIRE MORE CITY SERVICES THAN OUR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES. PASSING THIS MEASURE WOULD ENSURE THESE LARGE BUSINESSES PAY THEIR FARES TO MAINTAIN LOCAL STREETS, PARKS, POLICE AND FIRE SERVICES AND OTHER ESSENTIAL SERVICES, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT NATIONAL CITY HAS SUCCESSFULLY BROUGHT IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN STATE AND FEDERAL MATCHING FUNDS TO HELP MAINTAIN OUR ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES. AND THIS MEASURE WOULD QUALIFY THE CITY FOR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MORE IN MATCHING FUNDS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE GO TO OTHER CITIES. CITIES. INSTEAD, THESE FUNDS COULD BE USED TO FILL POTS, KEEP PARKS, SAFE AND CLEAN, PROTECT PUBLIC SAFETY, AND FOR OTHER CITY SERVICES. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND YOU COULD SEE, AND THIS IS WILL BE, THIS IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AND I I BELIEVE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE THIS, UM, FROM IN THEIR PACKET. UM, THESE ARE ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS THAT WE TESTED AS WELL. AND THEN IF WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE RE-ASK THE BALLOT QUESTION THAT YOU SAW EARLIER AFTER WE SIMULATED LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE EDUCATION. SO ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE WAS THAT INITIAL VOTE THAT YOU ORIGINALLY SAW WITH JUST BALLOT TITLE IN SUMMARY. AND THERE IT WAS 71, YES, 21 NO AND 8% UNDECIDED, TELLING THEM WHAT THE MONEY COULD BE USED FOR IN SOME PROVISIONS TO THE POTENTIAL MEASURE. AND THEN TELLING [01:05:01] THE CITY'S STORY IN A NON ADVOCACY WAY, SUPPORT JUMPS UP SIX POINTS FROM 71 TO 77. AND IMPORTANTLY, MAYBE MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE DEFINITELY S MOVES UP 11 POINTS FROM 44 INITIALLY TO 55 AFTER EDU AFTER EDUCATION. BY ALL ACCOUNTS, THE MEASURE IS ABOVE THAT SIMPLE MAJORITY 50 PLUS ONE, AND WAY ABOVE THAT MARGIN OF ERROR OF COMFORT. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO WE WERE ASKED, NEXT SLIDE. WE WERE ASKED TO DO ONE OTHER THING BY THE COUNCIL. UM, WE, YOU, YOU HAD ASKED STAFF TO DETERMINE WHETHER PEOPLE SUPPORTED A FLAT OR A VARIABLE TAX. SO WE CREATED TWO STATEMENTS AND WE RANDOMIZED THEM OR WE ROTATED THEM. SO ONE PERSON HEARD THE TOP MESSAGE OR STATEMENT FIRST, AND THEN THE SECOND, ANOTHER PERSON HEARD THE SECOND STATEMENT, THEN THE FIRST. SO WE AGAIN, TRY TO ELIMINATE ANY BIAS AND WE GAVE THESE STATEMENTS AND WE SAID, WHICH STATEMENT COMES CLOSER TO YOUR OPINION WHEN THINKING ABOUT REFORMING NATIONAL CITY'S BUSINESS LICENSE TAX? AND I'M GONNA READ THEM SIMPLY IN ORDER, NOT IN TERMS OF ANY PREFERENCE TO ME AT ALL. UM, 72% OPTED TO CHOOSE. WE SHOULD PROTECT SMALLER BUSINESSES IN NATIONAL CITY BY, BY LARGER OR MORE PROFITABLE BUSINESS CATEGORIES, PAYING A HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN SMALLER BUSINESSES. ALMOST A QUARTER SAID ALL BUSINESSES SHOULD PAY THE SAME PERCENTAGE OF WHAT THEY BRING IN. SO BY ABOUT, UH, A THREE TO ONE RATIO, 72 TO 23, IT'S NOT QUITE EXACTLY, BUT IT'S PRETTY CLOSE. UM, THEY OPTED FOR THAT VARIABLE OVER THAT FLAT TAX THAT GOES TO EVERYONE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO FIRST I WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND I WANNA MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE TO COMPLETE THIS PRESENTATION WITH SOME CONCLUSIONS. A MAJORITY, 56% PERCEIVE THE CITY HAS HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. A LARGER MAJORITY HAVE FAVORABLE VIEWS OF CITY GOVERNMENT, ITS PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS, AND THE COUNCIL EIGHT IN 10 PERCEIVE THE CITY HAS AT LEAST SOME NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS. SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO START BY TRYING TO MAKE THE CASE. PEOPLE ARE ALREADY THERE. THEY UNDERSTAND, UH, THE NEEDS BUS WITH RESPECT TO THE BUSINESS LICENSE REFORM MEASURE. INITIALLY SEVEN AND 10 WOULD VOTE YES ON THE MEASURE. JUST SIMPLY HEARING THAT BALLOT TITLE AND SUMMARY WITH 44% SAYING DEFINITELY YES. AND AFTER TELLING THEM WHAT THE MONEY COULD BE USED FOR AND THE, UH, PROVISIONS IN IT AS WELL AS TELLING YOUR STORY IN A NON ADVOCACY WAY, SUPPORT INCREASES TO 77% WITH A PRETTY HEALTHY, I DON'T GET TO SEE THIS VERY OFTEN, 55% SAY, SAYING THEY WOULD DEFINITELY VOTE YES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, UM, FOR YOUR, UH, KNOWLEDGE, BOTH FOR THIS AND OBVIOUSLY IN FUTURE BUDGET DELIBERATIONS. IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO HEAR FROM VOTERS AND WHAT THEY THINK IN THIS CASE. THEY, UM, THEY HAD A LOT OF PRIORITIES, UH, TO THE BUDGET, BUT THE LEAD ONES WERE A NUMBER OF PUBLIC SAFETY INVESTMENTS, KEEPING PUBLIC AREAS SAFE AND CLEAN, ADDRESSING STREETS AND POTHOLES, ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS AND ATTRACTING AND RETAINING LOCAL JOBS. NEXT SLIDE. AND THEN LEADING REASONS TO SUPPORT THE MEASURE INCLUDED ENSURING LARGER INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE FOR THE WEAR AND TEAR ON LOCAL STREETS AND FOR THE SERVICES THEY RELY ON. SO FINDING THAT NEXUS BETWEEN THE TWO IS IMPORTANT. THE FUNDS FROM THIS MEASURE WILL HELP THE CITY CONTINUE TO ATTRACT STATE AND FEDERAL, FEDERAL MATCHING FUNDS TO MAINTAIN ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES. THIS MEASURE WILL NOT INCREASE TAXES ON RESIDENTS, BUT IS PAID ONLY BY BUSINESSES FOR CITY SERVICES THAT THEY USE AND BENEFIT FROM. AND FINALLY, THE MEASURE INCLUDES STRICT ACCOUNTABILITY. PEOPLE WILL NOT VOTE FOR A MEASURE BECAUSE THERE'S ACCOUNTABILITY, BUT THEY WILL VOTE AGAINST THE MEASURE IF THERE ISN'T. AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT WHILE THEY LIKE YOU, THEY WANT TO ENSURE THAT THERE ARE, UH, SAFEGUARDS TO ENSURE THE MONEY IS SPENT EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY. AND THE CONCLUSION IS THIS MEASURE IS VIABLE FOR A NOVEMBER 20, 26 BALLOT PLACEMENT CONSIDERATION. IF THE CITY PROVIDES A ROBUST OUTREACH EFFORT, OF WHICH I UNDERSTAND FROM THE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION, THE CITY HAS BEGUN TO DO THAT. AND WITH THAT I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. [01:10:08] DID YOU ASK ANY OF THE BUSINESS OWNERS WHAT THEY THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MEASURE? THIS WAS SIMPLY MY CHARGE WAS TO DO A LIKELY NOVEMBER, 2026 VOTER SURVEY. SO THIS IS A RESPONSE BY YOUR VOTERS, THE ONES WHO WILL GO TO, UH, IF YOU CHOOSE TO PLACE IT ON THE BALLOT, UH, THOSE WILL BE THE ONES WHO WILL MAKE IT, MAKE THE FINAL DECISION. SO WAS THE SURVEY A A RANDOM DECISION OF WHO GOT TO DO THIS SURVEY BECAUSE I'VE NEVER GOTTEN ONE AS A CITIZEN AND I'M NOT SURE IF MANY PEOPLE MAY HAVE, ESPECIALLY AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD? YES. SO WE, UH, USED A VOTER VENDOR WHO IS IN TOUCH WITH SAN DIEGO COUNTY REGISTER OF VOTERS. SO WE, WE WERE PROVIDED A LIST OF ALL REGISTERED VOTERS AND THEIR, UH, AVAILABLE CONTACT INFORMATION. AND IN FACT, IF SOMEONE HAD BEEN LIVING IN NATIONAL CITY FOR LET'S SAY 25 YEARS AND REGISTERED TO VOTE 25 YEARS AGO, LONG BEFORE CELL PHONES AND EMAILS WERE VOGUE, UM, THEY, THE VENDOR GOES OUT AND TRIES TO MATCH THEIR CURRENT ADDRESS AND NAME WITH OTHER PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AND COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE DATABASES. ONCE WE GET ALL THE LIST OF ALL REGISTERED VOTERS, WE LOOK TO SEE WHO ARE LIKELY TO VOTE BASED ON THEIR PAST VOTER HISTORY OR IF THEY'VE RECENTLY REGISTERED TO VOTE. SO WITH THAT IN MIND, WE HAVE THE ENTIRE LIST OF LIKELY VOTERS FOR NOVEMBER, 2026, AND THEN WE DO A, UM, WE RANDOMIZE THE LIST AND WE START TO CONTACT THEM BOTH BY, UM, EMAIL, TEXT, AND PHONE. NOT EVERYONE WILL BE CONTACTED BECAUSE, UH, IT'S A RANDOM SAMPLE. AND THROUGHOUT OUR DATA COLLECTION PROCESS, WE ARE CONSTANTLY MONITORING TO ENSURE THAT THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF YOUR LIKELY NOVEMBER, 2026 VOTERS MIRROR THE LIKELY RESPONSE, THE, THE, THE RANDOM RESPONSES TO YOUR SURVEYS. SO IF, FOR EXAMPLE, GROUP A MAKES UP 25% OF YOUR LIKELY NOVEMBER 20, 26 VOTERS FROM THE VOTER FILE WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT 25% OF THE RESPONDENTS COME FROM GROUP A, SO THEY MIRROR YOUR LIKELY OF VOTERS. THIS IS A RANDOM SAMPLE AND NOT EVERYONE WILL HAVE RECEIVED THIS. OKAY. COUPLE QUESTIONS HERE, UH, IF YOU DON'T MIND. UM, WHEN DID THIS REPORT COME AVAILABLE? UH, YOU NOTICED, WHAT WAS THE CUTOFF PERIOD OF REPORTING PERIOD? WAS IT UP TO THE MIDDLE OF JUNE? WAS THAT BEFORE THE BUDGET DEFICIT WAS DESCRIBED? ARE WERE PEOPLE AWARE THAT WHEN THEY DID THE SURVEY OF THE BUDGET CONCERNS AND THE BUDGET DEFICIT, AND MY OTHER CONCERN WAS HAVING TO SAY, UM, THE TIMELINESS OF THE REPORT. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY IT WASN'T PROVIDED EARLIER, AND IT SORT OF SPRINGS A LOT FROM WHAT YOU SAID. A LOT OF GOOD COMMENTS, BUT IN TERMS OF GIVING US TIME TO ABSORB WHAT WAS SAID, IT'S, IT'S RECONCILING INTO WHAT WE'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE COULD HAVE A 12 POINT MILLION DOLLARS BUDGET DEFICIT LOOKING AT, UM, SUBSEQUENT YEARS OF DEFICIT AND THEN HAVE SOMEBODY COME BACK AND TELL US THAT, YOU KNOW, THE HEAD, THE CITY'S HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. UM, IS THAT A STAFF QUESTION OR IS IT A POLLSTER QUESTION? ACTUALLY, IT'S PROBABLY STAFF. STAFF. PROBABLY A STAFF QUESTION. OKAY. YEAH, WE HAD BUDGET WORKSHOPS PRIOR TO THE, UH, POLLING BEING PERFORMED. SO THAT WAS ALL PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE BEFORE THE PUBLIC POLLING, UH, OCCURRED. ABOUT THE DEFICIT? YEAH. WELL, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'RE PRESENTING IT TO THE PUBLIC. YES. OKAY. THAT POLL, POLL WILL PEOPLE UNDERSTAND. WE CAN ONLY ASSUME, WELL, WE CAN'T EVEN ASSUME WHETHER THEY KNEW OR, OR NOT. YOU KNOW, WE PRESENT TO THE PUBLIC ALL OF OUR FINANCIALS, AND WE HAD BUDGET WORKSHOPS WHERE WE SPOKE ABOUT THE DEFICIT, BUT IT'S UNCLEAR WHETHER THE REGISTERED VOTERS THAT WERE CONTACTED THROUGH THE PUBLIC POLLING KNEW ABOUT THAT OR NOT. UM, IF, IF I MAY JUST ADD TO THAT, PEDRO, IF I CAN'T, [01:15:01] AS YOU'LL NOTICE IN SLIDE, UH, I HOPE YOUR NUMBERING IS THE SAME, BUT SLIDE SIX ON THE PERCEIVED NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS, 82% PERCEIVED THERE WAS AT LEAST SOME NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS. IF WE WERE TO PROBABLY ASK THEM WHAT DO THEY THINK THE ACTUAL DEFICIT IS? I SUSPECT THAT WOULD BE, I BELIEVE SLIDE SIX. IT'S GONNA BE A WHILE IF WE GO THAT WAY, RIGHT? YEAH. WELL, HOLD ON. UH, YEAH, THAT'S IT. SO IF YOU LOOK AT THIS SLIDE, UM, I SUSPECT I CAN'T DEFINITIVELY, WELL, SORRY. THERE WE GO. UM, I SUSPECT IF WE WERE TO ASK THEM IN AN OPEN END, WHAT DO THEY THINK THE DEFICIT IS? I, I SUSPECT VERY FEW VOTERS IN ANY CITY WOULD ACTUALLY KNOW THE DEFINITIVE NUMBER. NONETHELESS, THIS IS A VERY HIGH NUMBER OF FOLKS WHO UNDERSTAND THERE WAS A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS. SO COULD I DEFINITIVELY TELL YOU, DID THEY KNOW IT WAS 12 MILLION? NO. COULD I DEFINITIVELY TELL YOU THAT THEY KNOW THERE IS NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS AND THAT YOU'RE NOT, YOU DON'T HAVE BALLOT, UH, BALANCED BUDGETS AND A VERY LARGE RESERVE? UH, I, I FEEL VERY CONFIDENT FROM THIS QUESTION THAT, UH, THE DATA SUGGESTS THAT THEY ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE FACT THAT THERE IS A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS. FUNDS. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY, SAY ITSELF, UM, I'M SORRY IF THAT WAS THE QUESTION, MARIA. I COULDN'T HEAR IT IF MAYBE, OKAY. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW YOU DIDN'T MAKE THE BASIS THAT COMMENT BECAUSE IT DOESN'T SEEM TO ME THAT, UM, THAT, UH, WHAT WAS THE KNOWLEDGE? HOW COULD YOU MEASURE THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THESE PEOPLE WERE UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THE DEFICIT WHEN IT SHOWED THAT AT THAT TIME, IT DIDN'T SEEM LIKE THE COUNCIL UNDERSTOOD WHAT THE DEFICIT BALANCES WAS. GOOD. WE KEEP IT RIGHT NOW, THE QUESTIONS TO AARON SAY THE COMMENTS, BUT FEW PARTS. UM, SO IN TERMS OF RESPONDING TO THAT, AGAIN, I CAN'T TELL YOU IF THEY KNEW WHAT THE DEFICIT WAS, BUT IT'S CLEAR THAT THEY PERCEIVED THERE WAS A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS. UM, THAT'S WHAT I CAN TELL YOU. THE DATA TELLS ME, AND I RARELY SEE THIS HIGH IN NUMBER FOR PERCEIVED NEED. SO THIS INDICATES TO ME THAT WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, THEY'RE HAPPY WITH WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BUT THEY WANT MORE OF, UM, BE IT THEY WANT YOU TO FIX THE ROADS BECAUSE WE SAW THAT WAS A HIGH PRIORITY, OR THEY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT SOME OTHER ITEMS THAT WERE IN YOUR BUDGET PRIORITY SECTION OF YOUR SURVEY ARE, ARE CONTINUE TO BE FUNDED. UM, DID YOU INFORM THE CITIZENS AND THE RESIDENTS ON WHAT THE CITY CLASSIFIED AS A LARGE BUSINESS IN YOUR SURVEY? LIKE A I'M, I'M SORRY. CAN YOU REPEAT THAT PLEASE? YEAH. IN THE SURVEY YOU ASKED ABOUT LARGE BUS LARGE BUSINESSES AND ATTACKS. DID YOU TELL THE RESIDENTS WHAT THE CITY WAS CLASSIFYING AS A LARGE BUSINESS IN REGARDS TO THEIR TOTAL GROSS RECEIPTS OR EMPLOYEES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT? I, I DID NOT. IT WAS THEIR PERCEPTION OF WHAT ARE, HOW THEY DEFINED, UH, LARGE BUSINESSES. I'M WONDERING IF THERE WAS ANY DISCUSSION OR THOUGHT PUT INTO THE QUESTION OF ASKING VOTERS WHAT THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE OR TRADE OFF IN THE FACE OF THIS BUDGET DEFICIT, GIVEN THAT CITIZENS ALWAYS WANT MORE SERVICES. I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY, THERE'S ANYBODY WHO DOESN'T WANT MORE SERVICES. I, I DON'T THINK THAT WAS PARTICULARLY INFORMATIVE IN THE SURVEY. WE, WE ALL, EVERYBODY WANTS MORE. THE CONCERN OR QUESTION FACING, FACING OUR CITY RIGHT NOW IS WHAT ARE PEOPLE WILLING TO GIVE UP? WERE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ALONG THOSE LINES, AT LEAST CONTEMPLATED THERE WERE NO, UH, PERCEPTIONS OF TRADE-OFFS OR CUTS, UH, IN THE SURVEY WE WERE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, UH, WITH RESPECT TO THIS MEASURE ONE, WOULD PEOPLE SUPPORT THIS MEASURE? AND IF THEY WOULD, WHAT WOULD THE PRIORITIES FOR THE MONEY THAT MIGHT COME IN FROM THIS MEASURE? AGAIN, ASSUMING YOU WOULD PUT THIS ON THE BALLOT, BUT I DON'T WANNA GET AHEAD OF YOU. WE WANTED TO, TO AT LEAST INFORM THE CITY WHAT WERE THE VOTER PRIORITIES. UM, AND SO THAT WAS OUR CHARGE. WE DID NOT DO A SERIES OF [01:20:01] QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO CUT. THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD CERTAINLY DO IN THE FUTURE, BUT THAT WAS NOT OUR CHARGE. I HAD A VERY SIMILAR QUESTION WHETHER IF THE VOTERS KNEW THAT, IF THEY WOULD BE, THEY WOULD BE IMPACTED BY THIS TAX, WOULD THEY VOTE IN FAVOR OF THIS MEASURE? UM, WELL, UH, THEY CERTAINLY WERE PROVIDED WITH, UM, SOME CONSEQUENCES AND THE, THEY STILL CONTINUED TO SUPPORT THE MEASURE THROUGHOUT THE SURVEY QUESTION THE CONSEQUENCE. SO I'D LIKE SOME CLARIFICATION. CAN YOU SAY THAT THERE WAS 412 PEOPLE THAT WERE SURVEYED? YES. SO THAT WOULD MEAN THAT'S LESS THAN 1% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION OF NATIONAL CITY, IS THAT? YES. UH, WELL, I, I AM ASSUMING YOU, YOU WOULD KNOW THE POPULATION. I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS HERE, BUT I CAN TELL YOU YES. SO I CAN TELL YOU A COUPLE THINGS. ONE IS, UM, IT'S WE'RE OUR CHARGE WAS TO, UH, INTERVIEW LIKELY VOTERS, UH, NOT ALL THE POPULATION BECAUSE, UM, IF YOU'RE NOT REGISTERED TO VOTE, IF YOU'RE UNDER 18, YOU'RE NOT ELIGIBLE, UH, TO VOTE. AND THEN THERE ARE FOLKS WHO ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE. WHILE THEY MAY BE REGISTERED TO VOTE, THEY OPT NOT TO VOTE FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS. UM, AND IF I CAN MAY, IF, IF I MAY PUT IT INTO CONTEXT, IF I WERE DOING A STATEWIDE SURVEY, I WOULD PROBABLY DO A THOUSAND. THAT'S WHAT WE TYPICALLY DO. AND IF I WERE TO DO A NATIONWIDE SURVEY, WHEN WE DO NATIONWIDE SURVEYS, TYPICALLY WE DO ABOUT 32 TO 3,500 PEOPLE. UM, THIS IS SORT OF STATISTICALLY BASED AND IT'S RANDOM, UM, WHICH MEANS 95% OF THE TIME, IF WE WERE TO GO BACK, UH, IF YOU TOLD US WE'LL GIVE YOU MONEY TO DO A HUNDRED SURVEYS AND WE DID A HUNDRED SURVEYS, 95% OF THE TIME, THE RESULTS WILL COME WITHIN THE MARGIN OF ERROR. UM, AND THAT'S HOW TYPICALLY STATISTICAL, UM, ANALYSIS OCCURRED. UM, AND THAT'S, THAT'S HOW WE CONDUCTED THE SURVEY. ONE, ONE OTHER QUESTION. COULD YOU READ US SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE SURVEY? UM, WELL, ACTUALLY THE QUESTIONS ARE ON THE DOCUMENTS. I MEAN, I'M HAPPY TO DO THAT, BUT THEY'RE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DOCUMENTS THAT YOU HAVE AND THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE PUBLIC. UH, WOULD YOU STILL LIKE ME TO READ THEM EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE THEM? YES, YES, THE ANSWER IS YES. ALRIGHT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL ME WHICH ONES YOU'D LIKE ME TO READ OUT LOUD? WELL, I DON'T HAVE IT. NO, . I'M SORRY. UM, WAS IT NOT IN YOUR PACKET? NO, WE DON'T HAVE . OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THEN I GUESS I WILL READ THEM. UM, WELL, YOU COULD SEE ON THE SLIDES THE ONE HERE. IN YOUR PERSONAL OPINION, DO YOU THINK THERE'S A GREAT NEED, SOME NEED, A LITTLE NEED OR NO REAL NEED FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO PROVIDE THE LEVEL? SORRY, SORRY, THIS IS PEDRO SPEAKING. YEAH, YEAH. THE SAKE OF TIME. YEAH, THIS WAS THE AGENDA AND IT CAN BE ACCESS ACCESSED ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE. UM, IT WAS ALSO IN THE PRESENTATION, SO, YOU KNOW, FOR THE SAKE OF TIME, I THINK WE SHOULD MOVE ON TO QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE ANSWERED AND THEN WE'LL GET INTO THE PUBLIC COMMENTS. OKAY. HI. UM, MY QUESTION IS, WHAT WERE THE QUESTIONS? UM, AND, AND THE CONSEQUENCES, UM, THAT YOU DID GIVE TO THE, THE MEMBERS OF THE, UM, THE SURVEY? YEAH, SURE. CONSEQUENCES. YEAH. WHAT, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T SEE THOSE IN THE SLIDES, RIGHT? RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT. SO, UM, SO WE INTRODUCED SOME, UM, SOME OPPOSITIONAL STATEMENTS. UM, SOME WOULD ARGUE THERE IS A CONCERN THAT SOME OF THE MONEY MIGHT, UH, SOME OF THE TAX MIGHT BE PASSED DOWN, UH, TO, UM, TO, UH, FOLKS IN THE CITY WITH RESPECT TO SHOPPING OR, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, GOING TO LOCAL BUSINESSES. THAT WAS ALREADY DISCUSSED IN YOUR, UM, YOUR DISCUSSION, UH, EARLIER. UH, I'LL JUST POINT THAT OUT. UM, THERE WAS A CONCERN, UH, WE SAID, WELL, UH, MAYBE THE CITY CAN MAKE CUTS AND THAT THE, THIS MEASURE IS NOT NECESSARILY, UH, NEEDED. UM, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS COULD HURT SMALL BUSINESSES. UM, AND THEN AFTER [01:25:01] THE VARIOUS, UM, YOU KNOW, CONSEQUENCES, WE RE-ASK THAT BALLOT QUESTION AND SUPPORT CONTINUE TO BE ABOVE THAT 50 PLUS ONE SIGNIFICANTLY AND ABOVE THE MARGIN OF ERRORS, SUGGESTING THAT VOTERS, IN SPITE OF THOSE HEARING SOME OF THOSE CONSEQUENCES, UH, WOULD SUPPORT, UH, THE MEASURE BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT. THANK YOU. WE'RE GONNA TAKE ONE MORE QUESTION AND THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO GO BACK TO PAM. I MEAN THIS VERY RESPECTFULLY, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SURVEY, UM, BUT I WANTED TO ASK YOU, HOW MUCH DID THIS SURVEY COST? UH, I'LL, I'LL DEFER TO STAFF ON THAT. OUR CONTRACT WITH THE CONSULTANT IS, UH, A LITTLE OVER $30,000. YES. LAST QUESTION, THEN WE'RE GONNA GET TO, UH, COMMENTS AND AS SAY, IF YOU DO WANNA MAKE A COMMENT, SLIPS HER AT THE BACK, IT GOES OVER TO THE, THE CITY CLERK AND TO GET IN THE QUEUE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO ASK THIS QUESTION. SO, UM, I'M ASSUMING THAT THE, THE, UH, SURVEY WAS TAKEN BY A TELEPHONE CALL, RIGHT? UH, IT WAS TAKEN BY, THEY, IT HAD THE, UH, SOME HALF THE, ALMOST HALF THE SAMPLE, UM, EXACTLY 47% TOOK THE SURVEY ON THE TELEPHONE, AND 53% TOOK THE SURVEY ONLINE. WAS IT PRESENTED IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES? IT WAS, UM, AS I'D MENTIONED BEFORE, 18% TOOK THE SURVEY IN SPANISH. IT WAS OFFERED BOTH ONLINE AND ON THE PHONE IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. OKAY. ALRIGHT. [4. PUBLIC COMMENT] SO WE ARE GONNA BE GOING NOW TO COMMENTS. AND AS I SAY, YOU'LL BE LIMITED TO TWO MINUTES. THE CITY CLERK WILL BE CALLING OUT PEOPLE, UH, IN THE ORDER THAT THEY'RE PUT INTO THE QUEUE. YOU CAN STILL PUT IN SLIPS AND, UH, IF YOU DO WANNA MAKE COMMENTS AND WHEN YOU'RE DOWN TO YOUR LAST 10 SECONDS, UH, WE DON'T HAVE THE TIMING CLOCK HERE LIKE WE DO OVER IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER. SO, UH, THE CITY CLERK WILL BE LETTING YOU KNOW WHEN YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS LEFT. OKAY. UH, SHARON, BERNIE LAUER, PLEASE. YEAH, STAND UP FOR SOMETHING BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW EVERYBODY. . THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. MY NAME IS SHARON LAUER AND I REPRESENT THE SAN DIEGO WORKING WATERFRONT, WHICH IS ABOUT 800 BUSINESSES ON OUR WATERFRONT AND A LOT THAT LIVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. I'M ACTUALLY TAKING A TALLY OF WHAT EMPLOYEES LIVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD. AS NOTED PREVIOUSLY, THIS IS A BAD IDEA THAT WILL IMPACT YOUR CONSTITUENTS IN WAYS THAT THE STAFF REPORT AND CONSULTANTS ARE SIMPLY SAYING. EVEN THE POLLING IS MISLEADING IN THAT THE QUESTIONS ASKED DOESN'T TELL THE VERY SIMPLE TRUTH THAT THIS IS A REAL TAX ON RESIDENTS OF NATIONAL CITY. AND HAD THEY BEEN TOLD THE TRUTH IN THAT SURVEY, THE OUTCOME WOULD'VE BEEN VASTLY DIFFERENT. FIRST, THIS IS A TAX ON ANYTHING PURCHASED IN THE CITY. THOSE GROCERY RECEIPTS ARE ATTACKS ON THE SALE OF THOSE GOODS THAT WILL OCCUR SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER PRICES FOR BASIC GOODS AS GROCERIES, AS WELL AS BIGGER TICKET ITEMS LIKE CARS AND HOUSING. IT'S DISAPPOINTING THAT IN A SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS AS WELL AS THE REPORT OF YOUR COUNSEL, THAT THESE FACTS HAVE BEEN IGNORED, UNDERSTATED, AND MISREPRESENTED. THE CURRENT BUSINESS LICENSE TAX IS NOT A FLAT FEE APPLIED EVENLY. BIG BUSINESSES PAY FAR MORE THAN SMALL BUSINESSES UNDER THE CURRENT STRUCTURE TO SAY OTHERWISE IT'S NOT TRUE. AND TO CLAIM THAT THIS SMALL TAX WON'T GET PASSED ALONG TO CONSUMERS IS ALSO INCORRECT. EVEN THE ANALOGY IN THE RECENT MEETING ON IMPACT TO THE PURCHASE OF A CAR WAS MASSIVELY ON. FURTHER, IT APPLIES TO GROSS RECEIPTS NOT TAKING ACCOUNT PROFITABILITY. ALL OF THESE CLAIMS ARE CONTRARY TO THE PRESENTED THAT ARE AS PRESENTED DURING PRESENTATIONS OR IN THE STAFF REPORTS, AND ARE DISAPPOINTING. THE NET RESULTS IS IF YOU PURSUE THE, IF YOU PURSUE, THE PUBLIC IS FOOLED INTO VOTING ON A BALLOT, YOU WILL BE RAISING THE PRICES VIRTUALLY OF EVERY GOOD SOLD, UM, SERVICES THAT WERE PROVIDED IN THE CITY. WE ARE ANXIOUS TO WORK WITH YOU AND, AND, AND GET YOU TO WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, BUT WE THINK THAT WE SHOULD GIVE THE GENERAL CITY MANAGER SOME TIME TO DO ANOTHER ANALOGY IN HOW WE CAN WORK TOGETHER. THANK YOU, , MIRIAM [01:30:01] MENDOZA. ALRIGHT, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. COUNCIL MEMBERS. MY NAME IS MIRIAM MENDOZA, AND I'M SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE TWO MORE THAN 2000 BUSINESSES REPRESENTED BY THE SAN DIEGO REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. THE CHAMBER STRONGLY OPPOSED THE OPPOSES THE PLACING OF A GROSS RECEIPT TAX MEASURE ON THE NOVEMBER 20, 26 BALLOT. WHILE WE RECOGNIZE THE FISCAL CHALLENGES FACING THE CITY, THE PROPOSED INITIATIVE WOULD HAVE BROAD IMPACTS ON BUSINESSES, RENTERS, AND CONSUMERS THROUGHOUT NATIONAL CITY AS A HOME TO MORE THAN 4,000 BUSINESSES, THE MAJORITY OF WHICH ARE SMALL FAMILY OWNED AND MICRO BUSINESSES. NATIONAL CITIES ECONOMY IS DRIVEN BY EMPLOYERS THAT ARE ALREADY NAVIGATING RISING OPERATING COSTS AND THE BROADER, BROADER CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH CALIFORNIA'S HIGH COST OF LIVING. WHILE THE INITIATIVE INCLUDES A SMALL BUSINESS EXEMPTION, ITS REVENUE THRESHOLD IS FAR NARROWER THAN CALIFORNIA'S ION OF THE SMALL BUSINESS AND DOES NOT ACCOUNT FOR KEY OPERATING EXPENSES, LEAVING MANY SMALL BUSINESSES STILL SUBJECT TO THE TAX. THE INITIATIVE WILL ALSO TAX GOOD AND SERVICES MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE REACHING THE END CONSUMER, ULTIMATELY INCREASING COSTS, NOT ONLY FOR BUSINESSES, BUT ALSO RESIDENTS. WHILE WE APPRECIATE CITY'S STAFF'S EFFORT TO ENGAGE WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, SOME OF THE STATISTICS PERCENTAGE MINIMIZE THE TRUE IMPACT THAT THIS INITIATIVE COULD HAVE AND DO NOT FULLY REFLECT THE REALITIES FACING BUSINESS OPERATING IN NATIONAL CITY. THE BALLOT LANGUAGE ALSO PROMISES FUNDING FOR A BROAD RANGE OF CITY SERVICE SERVICES CREATED THE EXPECTATIONS ABOUT HOW REVENUES WILL BE USED, EVEN THOUGH THOSE COMMITMENTS MAY NOT BE GUARANTEED IN PRACTICE. FOR THESE REASONS, WE RESPECTFULLY URGE THE COUNCIL TO OPPOSE THIS INITIATIVE FROM BEING PLACED IN THE VA VALLEY AND CONSIDER ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES THAT ADDRESS FISCAL CHALLENGES WITHOUT PLACING ADDITIONAL BURDENS TO THE BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS TO DRIVE NATIONAL CITIES' ECONOMY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND CONSIDERATION. THANK YOU. UH, THE NEXT IS THOMAS REICH BACK. HE'S OVER HERE ON THIS SIDE. UH, I JUST NOTICED THESE, THIS, UH, FROM THE LAST MEETING AND I LOOKED AT THE RECORD AND HERE'S THE, HERE'S THE THINGS THAT I'VE FOUND OUT ABOUT 'EM. UM, IT IS FOR $25 FOR THE FIRST SEVEN AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. SO $25 DOESN'T SOUND UNREASONABLE, AND IT'S FROM 1 0 0 1 PERCENT TO 1 0 0 0 3 PERCENT. FOR, FOR, OKAY. THE, FOR THE 25, FOR THE 0 25, NATIONAL CITY TAX REVENUE WAS ABOUT 680,000. THE GROSS REVENUE WAS 44 $8 BILLION. CARLSBAD IS AT 6 MILLION, AND CHULA VISTA IS IS AT 2 MILLION FOR, FOR BUSINESS TAX REVENUE. FROM THE FORECAST, IT WOULD GO FROM THE FORECAST, IT WOULD GO FROM 680,000 TO $8 MILLION. THE, THE NEXT SANDWICH, SAY THE HDL SURVEY COMPANY, THE HEAD IS HEADQUARTERS IN LABREA, CALIFORNIA. THEIR RESEARCH BETWEEN OFFICER IN LA OAKLAND AND SAN DIEGO. THE POLL, THE POLL, THE NATIONALISM. MY QUESTION IS, HOW WILL THIS TAX OF, HOW WILL THIS TAX RAISED LATER? IT'S MINIMUM. IT'S VERY SMALL NOW, BUT IT MAY GO UP AND IT IS, IT'S EVERY, UH, IT, IT LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF THE COMMUNITIES WILL BE DOING THIS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MARK. BILL SANTOS. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR. COUNCIL MEMBERS. MY NAME IS MARK PHILLIP ARIA SANTOS, AND I'M THE OWNER OF VALE'S BAKE SHOP. MY FAMILY IS IN, BEEN ROOTED HERE, NATIONAL CITY, CITY SINCE THE SEVENTIES, AND NOW A FILIPINO OR AMERICAN STABLE. I UNDERSTAND THE CITY NEEDS SUSTAINABLE REVENUE, AND I BELIEVE THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY WANTS TO BE PART OF THAT SOLUTION, BUT I RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT YOU RECONSIDER THIS BUSINESS LICENSE TAX AND TAKE MORE TIME TO WORK WITH THE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE INVESTED IN THE CITY BEHIND EVERY STOREFRONT AS A PERSON, NOT JUST A BUSINESS, IT'S A FAMILY WONDERING IF THEY CAN AFFORD TO HIRE ANOTHER EMPLOYEE AS AN OWNER DECIDING WHETHER TO REPLACE AGING EQUIPMENT, EXPANDING TO A LARGER SPACE, OR KEEP ENOUGH MONEY IN THE BANK TO MAKE IT THROUGH ANOTHER SLOW SEASON FOR A FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS, IT CAN MEAN DELAYING GROWTH, POSTPONING HIRING, RAISING PRICES, OR DECIDING THAT TAKING ANOTHER RISK SIMPLY ISN'T WORTH IT. THE BUSINESSES THAT STAY HERE ARE FORCED TO CARRY MORE. THE BUSINESSES THAT WOULD HAVE GROWN DON'T. THERE'S A 25-YEAR-OLD WHO'S EMPTIED THEIR SAVINGS ACCOUNT BECAUSE THEY BELIEVE [01:35:01] THEY CAN BUILD SOMETHING BETTER. THERE'S A 60-YEAR-OLD WHO SPENT A LIFETIME WORKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE AND HAS FINALLY FOUND THE COURAGE TO BET ON THEMSELVES BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. THEY'RE DIFFERENT PEOPLE, BUT THEY'RE BOTH TAKING THE SAME LEAP OF FAITH. THEY'RE TAKING A LEAP OF FAITH FOR A CITY THEY HOPE WILL WELCOME THE CITY WHERE HARD WORK IS REWARDED AND WHERE OPPORTUNITIES STILL EXISTS. MY FEAR IS THAT THIS TAX CREATES A FIERY ATMOSPHERE THAT CANNOT BE SURVIVED. THAT DOES, THEY DON'T MEAN THEY DON'T FAIL BECAUSE THEY WERE LAZY OR LACKED TALENT OR WEREN'T WILLING TO WORK. THEY BURNED UP BEFORE THEY EVER HAVE THE CHANCE TO THEIR, THEIR LIFE SAVINGS, YEARS OF SACRIFICE, THE BUSINESS THEY DREAMED OF BUILDING AND THE JOBS THEY WOULD HAVE CREATED ALL BURN UP. AND THE SADDEST PART IS WE'LL NEVER EVEN KNOW WHAT WE LOST. WE'LL NEVER MEET THE ENTREPRENEUR WHO CHOSE ANOTHER CITY OR THE NEIGHBORHOOD STORE THAT WAS NEVER BUILT. AND WE'LL NEVER KNOW HOW MANY LIVES COULD HAVE BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE THE, THEY NEVER MADE IT HERE. PLEASE DON'T MAKE NATIONAL CITY THE PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WITH A DREAM BURN UP BEFORE THEY EVER, EVER HAVE A CHANCE TO LAND. MAKE IT A PLACE WHERE THEY LAND, BUILD AND GIVE BACK. THANK YOU NER, MR. MAYOR, UH, VICE MAYOR, COUNCIL MEMBERS, THANKS FOR SPENDING THIS TIME. I DO APPRECIATE THAT. UH, I REPRESENT, UH, MAS NISSAN. WE'VE BEEN IN, UH, MILE OF CARS HERE SINCE 1982. UH, BEEN CONTRIBUTING TO THE, UH, UH, TAXES TO THE, UH, PROPERTY TAXES AS WELL AS THE SALES TAXES. FOR A LOT OF YEARS, WE, UH, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY EMPLOY A COUPLE HUNDRED PEOPLE THROUGH OUR BUSINESSES. I'D LIKE SEEING THE PRO BUSINESS SLIDE THAT WAS PRESENTED EARLIER. STAFF, I THINK WAS WHERE THAT WAS AT. BUT WHAT I SEE IN NASHVILLE CITY IS A LOT OF ORDERED UP BUSINESSES. I SEE FOUR EMPTY CAR LOTS RIGHT NOW ON WILD CARS. THIS MEASURE WILL PER OUR BUSINESS. THAT'S JUST THE TRUTH. I'LL HAVE A COUPLE OPTIONS. I CAN LAY OFF PEOPLE, WHICH I HAD TO DO, UH, HERE IN THE LAST, I MEAN, WE'RE DOWN 11% IN THE CARGO IN SAN DIEGO RIGHT NOW, SO I'LL EITHER HAVE TO LAY OFF MORE PEOPLE OR I HAVE AN OPTION TO MOVE A LOT OF MY BUSINESS, WHICH IS LIKELY WHAT I'LL HAVE TO DO. WE RUN THE BODY SHOP, THAT BODY SHOP, I HAVE PEOPLE PLACED ALL OVER SAN DIEGO, DIFFERENT LOCATIONS DRIVING BUSINESS. WE BRING THE CARS HERE TO NATIONAL CITY TO GET THAT WORK DONE. WE'LL BE FORCED TO MOVE THAT TO OUR ESCONDIDO DEALERSHIP THAT HAS A BODY SHOP. WE, WHY WOULD WE BRING IT HERE WHEN IT COSTS THAT MUCH MORE TO DO BUSINESS HERE? SAME THING WITH OUR AUCTION. SAME THING WITH OUR PARKS DEPARTMENTS, OUR USED CARS. TODAY'S CARS ARE ALL DONE ONLINE. WE'LL JUST MOVE THOSE CARS AND THAT WORK TO GET THOSE CARS RECONDITIONED TO ANOTHER ONE OF OUR LOCATIONS. THERE WOULD BE NO REASON TO DO IT HERE. 10 SECONDS. THANK YOU. UH, I WOULD JUST ASK THE COUNCIL TO CONSIDER THIS. WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE THIS BUSINESS HURT. WE WANT TO KEEP, UH, BUSINESS HERE IN, IN, UH, IN NATIONAL CITY. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A LARGER FAVORABLE AND LOWEST UNFAVORABLE, UH, CERTAIN BASED ON THE SURVEYS. THERE ARE THAN MANY OTHER CATEGORIES IN THIS CITY. AND WE WANT TO KEEP OUR BUSINESSES STRONG HERE IN NATIONAL CITY. THANK YOU SO MUCH, RANDY. CAST DELGADO. THANK YOU. UM, WORD SALAD. THAT'S WHAT I'M HEARING. I WANNA ADDRESS THE WORDING OF THE PROPOSED BALLOT QUESTION, NOT WHETHER SOMEONE SUPPORTS OR OPPOSES THIS TAX, BUT WHETHER VOTERS ARE BE GIVEN BEING GIVEN AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF WHAT THEY'RE VOTING ON. THE MEASURE TELLS VOTERS THAT IT IS FOR MAINTAINING 9 1 1 RESPONSE, POLICE FIRE PROTECTION, PREVENTING CRIME, REPAIRING STREETS, AND ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS. THOSE ARE ALL IMPORTANT SERVICES, BUT THIS MEASURE DOES NOT LEGALLY GUARANTEE ANY OF THEM. THIS IS A GENERAL TAX. THE REVENUE, THE REVENUE FROM THIS GOES INTO THE GENERAL FUND WHERE FUTURE COUNSELS DETERMINE HOW IT'S ALLOCATED THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS. EVEN IF, IF THIS MEASURE PASSES POLICE POSITIONS, FIREFIGHTER POSITIONS AND OTHER SERVICES COULD STILL BE REDUCED IN FUTURE BUDGETS REQUIRING THE MEASURE ITSELF CONTAINS NO REQUIREMENT FOR STAFFING TO BE MAINTAINED AND NO PROHIBITION AGAINST FUTURE CO, UH, CUTS THE BALLOT LANGUAGE PROMISES AND OUTCOME THAT CITY STAFF THEMSELVES HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED. THIS MEASURE DOES NOT GUARANTEE DURING THE CITY'S OWN BUDGET DISCUSSIONS. I'VE BEEN TO THREE OF THEM, OFFICIALS STATED THAT, UM, THAT DIFFICULT BUDGET [01:40:01] REDUCTIONS WOULD STILL BE NECESSARY. YET THE BALLOT LANGUAGE TELLS VOTER, THIS MEASURE IS FOR MAINTAINING POLICE FIRE. AND 9 1 1 SERVICE CALLS. THE WORDING SUGGESTS A GUARANTEE. THE MEASURE ITSELF DOES NOT PROVIDE. ADDITIONALLY, THE PHRASE, WITHOUT INCREASING TAXES ON RESIDENTS ONLY TELLS HALF THE STORY. THE LEGAL TAXPAYER MAY, MAY BE THE BUSINESS, BUT THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OFTEN EXTENDS TO THE CUSTOMERS AND RENTERS, THOSE BUSINESSES SERVED. I RESPECTFULLY ASK THE COUNSEL TO REVISE THE BALLOT LANGUAGE TO STATE THAT THE MEASURE WOULD BE UNRE WOULD PROVIDE UNRESTRICTED GENERAL FUND REVENUE THAT MAY BE USED FOR POLICE FIRE THAT MAY BE USED RATHER THAN IMPLYING THOSE SERVICES WILL BE MAINTAINED. I ALSO ASK THE PHRASE, WITHOUT INCREASING TAXES ON RESIDENTS, BE REMOVED OR PLACED WITH NEUTRAL LANGUAGE, BECAUSE THE TAXES LEGALLY IMPOSED ON BUSINESSES, ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTS MAY ULTIMATELY TRICKLE DOWN TO THE VERY RESIDENCE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENT. GREG. MAY MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, PLEASE TO BE HERE. I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HAVEN'T RAISED THE TAX 47 YEARS. I DID SOME NUMBERS AND I JUST LOOKED AT CPI AND IF YOU DID CPI, MY, MY BUSINESS TAX WOULD INCREASE DRAMATICALLY, BUT NOT, IT WOULD BE THREE TIMES THE RATE IF YOU JUST WENT CPI. WE TALK ABOUT SERVICES AND WHAT SERVICES WE'RE GOING TO GET. I'VE SPOKEN WITH ALL OF YOU ABOUT CLEANING UP THE MARSH AND THE HOMELESSNESS THAT WE'VE DONE ON OUR DIME, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NATIONAL CITY'S PROPERTY, I'M DOING THE WORK, THE ENTRANCE INTO OUR PROPERTY IS ATROCIOUS. THERE'S NOTHING HERE THAT GIVES ME COMFORT THAT ANYTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE WITH MORE MONEY. I DO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A PASS THROUGH. IT'S JUST ANOTHER BIT THAT RESIDENTS WILL SEE AND BUSINESSES WILL SEE. I'VE GOT EVERYBODY COMING OUTTA MY BUSINESSES ASKING FOR MORE MONEY. I RUN A BUSINESS IN NATIONAL CITY. ONE OF 'EM IS IN THE RED, BUT I KEEP IT OPEN BECAUSE IT'S PART OF OUR, OUR LARGER AND GREATER GOOD OF WHAT WE DO. THE BALANCE PLAN, IT'S A 60 MILLION PLUS PLAN. WE'RE VESTED IN NATIONAL CITY. WE'VE GOTTA LANDLORD, WE PAY THEM RENT. MUNICIPAL SERVICES AGREEMENT IS $1.3 MILLION. IT'S A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF YOUR ANNUAL BUDGET. COURT TENANTS ALREADY PAY THAT. PLUS WE PAY OUR PROPERTY TAX AND OUR SALES TAX. I'LL BE PAYING TOT TAX. I'M PART OF THE SOLUTION TO THE FUTURE. WE DO PROVIDE WATERFRONT ACCESS TO THE BAY. 10 SECONDS WE REMAIN OPPOSED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. THANK YOU, . GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS, CITY MANAGER, UM, UM, SOMI VETRO, DIRECTOR OF COMMERCIAL AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS FOR THE PASTA GROUP REPRESENTING PASTA AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES, AND PAST STEVEDORIAN TERMINALS. WE'VE BEEN THE OPERATORS FOR 36 YEARS OF THE NATIONAL SITTING MARINE TERMINAL. UM, I JUST WANNA BEGIN BY SAYING, I, I ACTUALLY, I REALLY DO PERSONALLY BELIEVE WE ALL SHARE THE SAME OBJECTIVE, WHICH IS A STRONG, PROSPEROUS CITY WHERE RESIDENTS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK TO RAISE THEIR FAMILIES AND SUCCEED. UH, WE INVEST IN THIS CITY EVERY DAY THROUGH JOBS, WAGES, BENEFITS, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, AND ECONOMIC ACTIVITY. UM, I THINK THAT LASTING PROSPERITY WILL COME FROM PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION AND THIS PROPOSED BALLOT MEASURE DOES NOT FEEL LIKE A GOOD STARTING PLACE. AND I THINK THAT ALL OF YOU UP THERE, WE'VE TALKED A LOT. I THINK YOU ALL WANT THAT WITH THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. I THINK YOU TRULY WANT THAT GOOD COLLABORATIVE RELATIONSHIP. UM, OVER THE PAST MONTH, MANY OF US HAVE PARTICIPATED IN MANY MEETINGS, WORKSHOPS. WE'VE HAD PHONE CALLS WITH YOU. WE'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME, UM, PROVIDING FEEDBACK. I DON'T SEE THAT A LOT OF OUR FEEDBACK HAS BEEN MEANINGFULLY REFLECTED IN THE ALTERNATIVES. WE WERE HOPING TO SEE ALTERNATIVES AND MAYBE WE MISUNDERSTOOD THAT, BUT I SEE THAT THERE'S A CAP THAT'S NEW AND THAT ONE OF THE LINE ITEMS HAS A, HAS A CHANGE. BUT THAT, I THINK WHAT I HEARD IS THERE WERE TWO BUSINESSES THAT THAT WAS FOR. WHAT ABOUT THERE ARE A LOT MORE THAN TWO BUSINESSES THAT ARE CONCERNED HERE. UH, SO THAT, THAT'S ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE OF IS, IS SOME MORE ALTERNATIVES. HAVE WE LOOKED AT WHAT CPI INCREASE WOULD BE AN INCREASE IN THE, IN A FLAT RATE STRUCTURE. JUST WHAT I CAN'T, I CAN'T SAY THAT I, I'M CONFIDENT ALL VIABLE OPTIONS HAVE BEEN FULLY CONSIDERED. [01:45:01] UM, THIS EXTENDS BEYOND THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. THE LABOR UNIONS ARE HERE. UM, THEY KNOW THAT INCREASING THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS AFFECTS OUR COMPETITIVENESS. AND, AND THEY'RE STANDING HERE WITH US, UH, FOR THOSE OF US INVOLVED IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN, 10 SECONDS. THIS, THESE IMPACTS ARE COMPOUNDED. SO I'M JUST GONNA GIVE YOU A QUICK EXAMPLE. A VOLKSWAGEN JETTA IS IMPORTED INTO THE NATIONAL CITY MARINE TERMINAL BY PATIENT STEVEDORIAN TERMINALS WITH THE HELP OF ILW DEAL. THAT'S SUBJECT TO GRT. THAT SAME JET IS PROCESSED BY PATIENT AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES, SUBJECT TO GRT, THE TRUCKER, THE LOCAL NATIONAL CITY TRUCKER THAT PICKS THAT UP TO BRING IT TO MILE CAR, SUBJECT TO GRT. AND THEN ULTIMATELY AT THE, AT THE DEALER, THAT CAR IS SOLD AND SUBJECT TO GRT. SO YOU CAN SEE HOW THIS FOLLOWS THE SUPPLY CHAIN AND, AND ULTIMATELY INCREASES THE COST OF, OF ANYTHING TO CONSUMERS. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU, KAREN MCIN. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, CITY MANAGER, AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. MY NAME IS KAREN ZAKAR MCMANUS. I AM HONORED TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE NASTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, THE ORGANIZATION THAT REPRESENTS ADVOCATES FOR OUR LOCAL BUSINESS COMMUNITY. FIRST, I WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE CITY'S FINANCIAL CHALLENGES. WE RECOGNIZE THE DIFFICULT POSITION CREATED BY THE CITY'S PROJECTED $16 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT. AND WE UNDERSTAND AND RESPONSIBLE AND, AND RESPONSIBILITY OF IDENTIFYING SU SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS. OVER THE PAST 45 DAYS, THAT CHAMBER HAS BEEN WORKING TIRELESSLY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PROPOSED BUSINESS LICENSE TAX, WHICH WOULD IMPACT BUSINESSES AND OUR LOCAL ECONOMY. WE HAVE MET WITH BUSINESS OWNERS ACROSS NATIONAL CITY. WE'VE LISTENED TO THEIR CONCERNS AND WE GATHERED THEIR FEEDBACK AND SHARED THIS PERSPECTIVE DIRECTLY WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS AND ONGOING CONVERSATIONS THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS. WE'VE ALSO MET WITH CITY LEADERSHIP BECAUSE OUR GOAL HAS NEVER BEEN TO SIMPLY OPPOSE THE THE PROPOSAL. OUR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO ENSURE THAT THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IS INFORMED THAT THEIR VOICE IS HEARD, AND THAT WE WORK COLLABORATIVELY TO IDENTIFY SOLUTIONS THAT STRENGTHEN BOTH OUR BUSINESS AND OUR CITY. EVERY MEETING WE HAVE ORGANIZED HAS BEEN INTENDED TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER, NOT TO CREATE DIVISION, BUT TO ENCOURAGE CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE AND FIND A PATH FORWARD THAT ADDRESSES THE CITY'S FISCAL NEEDS WHILE, UH, PROTECTING THE BUSINESSES THAT DRIVE OUR LOCAL ECONOMY. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO CLARIFY THAT A MEETING WITH THE CITY MANAGER HAD BEEN SCHEDULED FOR YESTERDAY. THAT MEETING WAS ULTIMATELY CANCELED BECAUSE THERE WAS, WE HAD NO ANTICIPATION THERE WAS GONNA BE CHANGE TO THE AGENDA. HOWEVER, OUR COMMITMENT IS TO CON, TO COMMITMENT, TO CONTINUE TO DIALOGUE HAS NOT CHANGED AND REMAIN GOOD WITH YOU. UM, WE BELIEVE BY WORKING TOGETHER IN TRANS TRANSPARENCY, OPEN COMMUNICATION AND SHARED COMMUNITY, THAT OUR CITY'S FUTURE, WE CAN IDENTIFY SOLUTIONS THAT SERVE BOTH THE CITY'S FINANCIAL NEEDS AND LONG TERM SUCCESS. THANK YOU, SIR. THANK YOU DANIEL RA. GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYBODY. WHAT CITIZEN HERE? NATIONAL CITY. AND, UH, WHY DON'T YOU, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING IN WRITING. I JUST LEARNED ABOUT THIS MEETING, BUT I WANTED TO JUST SHARE SOME COMMON KNOWLEDGE. I THINK THAT I THINK MOST OF US UNDERSTAND ANNETTE VERSUS GROSS. WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT, UH, SMALL BUSINESS, UM, MY SON WANTS TO START A BUSINESS AND, AND PRODUCES A LOT OF GROSS, BUT IT COSTS HIM MORE MONEY TO START IT. NOW. HE'S GONNA BE PAYING TAXES WHEN HE'S NOT EVEN PROFITABLE. AND A LOT OF COMPANIES TAKE FIVE TO 10 YEARS TO EVEN BECOME PROFITABLE. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PUTTING A CAVEAT, UH, FOR HOW MANY YEARS THEY'VE BEEN IN BUSINESS? BECAUSE THAT'LL STUNT THE GROWTH IN NATIONAL CITY. AND, UH, MR. MOSSI, I THINK BACK HERE AND OTHER PEOPLE. UM, ALSO, MAYBE YOU WANNA DO A STUDY, PEDRO, MAYBE A STUDY ON WHAT, WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ADDING THIS TAX IF SOME OF THE REVENUES LEAVE? UM, CALIFORNIA HAS LOST MORE THAN $20 BILLION OF COMPANIES THAT HAVE LEFT CALIFORNIA. WE NEED TO STUDY THAT, LEARN FROM THAT, BECAUSE IT, IT SOUNDS GREAT ON PAPER, LIKE, HEY, LET'S INCREASE TAXES. BUT IF YOU TAX 10% ON A THOUSAND DOLLARS, THAT'S A HUNDRED DOLLARS. BUT, UH, IF YOU, IF YOU TAX 5% ON A MILLION, THAT'S [01:50:01] A LOT MORE. THAT'S LESS TAXES WITH MORE MONEY COMING IN. AND IF WE FIND WAYS TO FIND MORE WAYS FOR CAL, UH, FOR A NATIONAL CITY TO CREATE MORE JOBS AND HAVE MORE MONEY, THEN MAYBE THAT'S ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY. BUT I FEEL LIKE WE'RE, WE NEED TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE CREATIVE THAN JUST TAXING OUR WAY. IT DOESN'T WORK. UM, EVEN, UM, JERRY BROWN KNEW THAT WHEN HE WAS INCREASING 10 SECONDS. UM, THAT'S ANOTHER CONCEPT. UM, BUT THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S OTHER WAYS OF DOING IT. JUST, JUST CONSIDER OTHER THOUGHTS AND THERE'S POTENTIALLY, YOU MIGHT LOSE MONEY INSTEAD OF MAKING MONEY BY DOING IT THIS WAY. THINK ABOUT IT. THANK YOU, GEORGE CHANG. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR COUNSEL. MY NAME IS GEORGE CHANG WITH THE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS. I LIVE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, UH, AS OPPOSED TO THE PROPOSED, UH, TAX AND, UH, HAS CONCERNS WITH REGARD TO IT, UH, OUR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE'S ALREADY A GROSS RECEIPTS TAX IN THE MUNICIPAL CODE. SO OUR QUESTION WOULD BE, UH, OR WHAT WE'D ENCOURAGE IS FOR THE CITY TO LOOK INTO HOW THE CURRENT GROSS RECEIPTS TAX IS ALREADY BEING ENFORCED, AND HOW MUCH REVENUE IS IT BRINGING IN AT, AT THE MOMENT. UM, THE OTHER CONCERNS ARE RELATING TO THE, UH, THE WAY THAT A REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE IS, IS SET UP IN TERMS OF THE COMMISSIONS THAT COME IN. A LOT OF THAT ALREADY GOES FROM THE BROKER AND STRAIGHT TO AN AGENT. SO THE BROKER, UH, ASIDE FROM THE OVERHEAD THAT THEY HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF, COULD END UP PAYING MORE TAXES TOWARD. THEY END UP WITH THE NET LOSS BECAUSE OF THE TAXES. THE OTHER CONCERN IS WITH APPORTIONMENT. APPORTIONMENT IN TERMS OF AGENTS, UH, WHO ARE LICENSED IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, WHO ARE NOT BASED IN NATIONAL CITY, BUT DOING BUSINESS IN NATIONAL CITY. AND HOW WOULD THE CITY DETERMINE WHAT THEIR FAIR SHARE OF THAT TAX IS? BECAUSE STATE LAW AND, AND THE THE CASE STUDIES THAT HAVE COME OUT USUALLY PUT THAT RESPONSIBILITY ON THE CITY TO DETERMINE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. JENNIFER BALL. GOOD AFTERNOON. I'M JENNIFER BALL. I AM THE VICE PRESIDENT OF WALL AUTOMOTIVE. I'M THE PRESIDENT OF MODEL CARS. MY FAMILY HAS BEEN IN BUSINESS FOR OVER 57 YEARS HERE IN NATIONAL CITY. I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT ALL THE DEALERS ON THE MILE CARS ARE FAMILY OWNED BUSINESSES, AND WE'VE TAKE IMMENSE PRIDE IN THAT. I'D LIKE TO COMMENT ON THE CITY'S PRESENTATION OF THE $60,000 VEHICLE WITH HAVING, UM, $60 IN EXPENSE ON THE TAX. THAT'S OVER $9,000 A MONTH INDIRECT EXPENSE FOR THAT DEALERSHIP. AND THAT IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT. THEY STATED THAT, UM, IF IT WAS PASSED TO THE CUSTOMER, IT WOULD ONLY BE $60. THAT, IN ESSENCE, IS A TAX TO THE RESIDENTS OF NATIONAL STATING. I DON'T THINK YOU'RE BEING TRANSPARENT ON THAT. I'D LIKE TO DISCUSS THE GENEROSITY OF THE MILE AND ITS DEALERS, AND THAT COULD BE IN JEOPARDY OF THIS, UH, GOES INTO EFFECT. THE MILE OF CARS DONATE TREMENDOUSLY TO THE CITY. WE PROVIDE, UH, MONEY FOR THE KIMBALL TREE LIGHTING. WE DONATE TO THE POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR INITIATIVES. WE DO FOOD DRIVES ON OUR CAR LOTS. WE TRAIN MECHANICS ON THE MILITARY BASE. WE GIVE TO THE JUNIOR ROTC, UM, FOR SCHOLARSHIPS AND MUCH OTHERS. DEALERS ALSO CONTRIBUTE GENEROUSLY TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY THAT ALSO COULD BE IN JEOPARDY. I'D LIKE TO STATE THAT THE MILE CARDS IS THE LARGEST, SECOND LARGEST INCOME GENERATOR FOR THE CITY. WITH SOME OF THE LOWEST REQUESTS FOR SERVICES BASED ON OPTION TWO THAT WAS PRESENTED HERE TODAY. NATIONAL CITY AND VISTA WOULD HAVE THE HIGHEST SALES TAX AND BUSINESS LICENSE TAX IN THE COUNTY. I KNOW THAT WAS A QUESTION. IT WAS DISCUSSED A CAP OF $150,000 PER YEAR IN TAX. THAT IS STILL OVER $12,000 A MONTH IN DIRECT EXPENSE FOR A BUSINESS DIRECT EXPENSE. THAT ALSO IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT. THE BOWEL LANGUAGE SAYS THAT LARGE BUSINESSES WILL PAY THE TAX, BUT IN THE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION, IT JUST WRITES A SMALL BUSINESS AS $25,000 IN ANNUAL GROSS RECEIPTS. THAT IS NOT A SMALL BUSINESS. THAT IS A VENDOR. THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA CLASSIFIES A SMALL BUSINESS AS GROSS RECEIPTS OF $18 MILLION OR LESS. THAT IS A HUGE DISCREPANCY. THE EFFECTS ON THE AUTO INDUSTRY HAVE BEEN GROSSLY UNDERESTIMATED. IN YOUR DOCUMENTS AND YOUR PRESENTATION, YOU GAVE AN EXAMPLE OF A DEALERSHIP WITH 12, WITH 20 EMPLOYEES. THERE IS NO DEALERSHIP ON THE MILE THAT ONLY HAS 20 EMPLOYEES. MOST OF HAVE, MOST OF US HAVE 10 TIMES THAT. THEREFORE, YOUR GROSS TAX RECEIPT FOR AUTOMOTIVE IS GROSSLY UNDERSTATED AS WELL. I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW THE CITY RECEIVED INPUT FOR THE 0.05 AND THE $150,000 CAP. I'VE ATTENDED OVER 10 MEETINGS AND SIX WEEKS, AND NEVER ONCE HAS THIS BEEN MENTIONED. I'VE BEEN IN [01:55:01] MULTIPLE BUSINESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND THAT NEVER CAME UP. THANK YOU. SORRY. WHO'S NEXT? JEREMY, NEXT MAYOR, VICE MAYOR, COUNCIL, STAFF, AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. MY NAME IS JEREMY DAY. I PROUDLY SERVE AS A PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL CITY FIVE FIGHTERS. I RISE IN SUPPORT OF DIS MEASURE AND RESPECTFULLY ASK FOR YOUR VOTE ON AUGUST 4TH TO PLACE IT BEFORE THE VOTERS OF NATIONAL. THE REALITY IS THAT OUR CURRENT BUSINESS LICENSE TAX STRUCTURE IS OUTDATED. MUCH OF IT IS BASED ON RATES ESTABLISHED DECADES AGO. A BUSINESS LICENSE RATE ESTABLISHED DECADES AGO SIMPLY DOESN'T REFLECT THE REALITIES NATIONAL CITY OF 2026. SINCE THEN, OUR CITY HAS GROWN, OUR ECONOMY HAS CHANGED. THE COST OF PROVIDING SERVICES HAS INCREASED AND THE DEMANDS PLACED ON OUR COMMUNITY HAVE EVOLVED. TODAY, NATIONAL CITY NOT ONLY SERVES APPROXIMATELY 55,000 RESIDENTS, IT ALSO SERVES TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SHOPPERS, VISITORS, COMMUTERS WHO COME TO OUR CITY EVERY DAY. THIS MEASURE IS ABOUT MODERNIZING AND OUTDATED SYSTEM, ENSURING THAT BUSINESSES CONTRIBUTE IN A WAY THAT BETTER REFLECTS TODAY'S ECONOMY AND THE SERVICES THAT SUPPORT IT. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO VOTE AND MEASURE THROUGH WITH THE COMP, WITH THE COMPROMISE TO POSE THIS OPTION. TWO, MOST IMPORTANTLY, MOVING THIS MEASURE FORWARD IS ABOUT GIVING OUR RESIDENTS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DECIDE WHAT IS BEST FOR NATIONAL CITY, WHAT IS BEST FOR THEM. WE BELIEVE THE VOTERS ARE CAPABLE OF WEIGHING THE FACTS, HEARING BOTH SIDES, AND MAKING AN INFORMED DECISION. LET THE RESIDENTS DECIDE WHETHER A SYSTEM DESIGN NEARLY 47 YEARS AGO STILL MAKE SENSE FOR THE NATIONAL CITY OF TODAY. THANK YOU, MARIA. ESTHER ENRIQUEZ. GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY. UH, MY NAME IS MARIA ENRIQUE AND I'M A SMALL BUSINESS. UH, I REPRESENT, UH, CHILDCARE CENTERS, HOME DAYCARE CENTERS, AND A LOT OF, UH, FAMILIES ARE STRUGGLING. UH, OUR BUSINESS IS STRUGGLING RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE, UH, THE STATE TOOK AWAY OUR TK UH, STUDENTS. AND, UH, I KNOW A LOT OF DAYCARE PROVIDERS WHO ARE HAVING A VERY HARD TIME FILLING ALL THE SPACES. UH, ALSO, UH, WE HAVEN'T HAD A RAISE SINCE 2012. UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF SUBSIDIZED PROGRAM THAT, LIKE I SAID, WE HAVEN'T HAD A RAISE, UH, ON, ON, ON OUR, UM, WE HAVE TO REALLY WORK REALLY HARD WITH, WITH OUR BUDGET. WE DON'T HAVE, UH, A RETIREMENT PLAN. UH, AND LIKE I SAID, EVERYTHING IS GETTING SO EXPENSIVE. UH, FOOD, GAS, UH, WE HAVE TO PROVIDE, UH, CHILDCARE FOR OUR CHILDREN. AND WE, WE WORK SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, UH, AND WE DON'T STOP. WE GET UP AT FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, WE RECEIVE, AND WE'RE NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT. WE ARE COMPLAINING ABOUT THE INCREASED. UH, THIS IS GONNA, UM, REALLY HURT OUR, UH, SMALL BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY HOME DAYCARE. UH, AND, UH, LIKE I SAID, WE, WE DON'T EVEN MAKE A MILLION DOLLARS. AND LIKE, AND RIGHT HERE ON THE, UH, ON, ON THE TAX BASE, ON GROSS INCOME, UH, THAT'S GONNA HURT US EVEN MORE BECAUSE LIKE I SAID, WE HAVE, SOMETIMES WE HAVE A LARGE LICENSE AND THEN WE HAVE TO PAY, UH, PAYROLL. WE HAVE TO PAY INSURANCES, WE HAVE TO PAY, UH, A LOT OF PAYMENTS THAT WE, LIKE I SAID, WE ARE STRUGGLING ALREADY WITH, UH, THE, THE, UH, COST OF LIVING IN SAN DIEGO. UH, WE WANNA HELP OUR PARENTS. A LOT OF PARENTS DON'T EVEN HAVE MONEY TO BUY GROCERIES AND WE END UP HELPING THEM 10 SECONDS. UM, SO THAT'S MY CONCERN. AND I HOPE YOU GUYS CONSIDER, ESPECIALLY, LIKE I SAID, A SMALL BUSINESS THAT WE ARE STRUGGLING EVERY DAY. UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU SHERRY. . GOOD AFTERNOON. BEFORE YOU GO ON THERE, LEMME JUST SAY YES, MEET, OKAY? NO, UH, LEMME JUST SAY WE ARE HERE TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER. WE'RE A COMMUNITY. AND IN THAT WE SHOULD BE LIFTING EACH OTHER UP. SO ANY DISPARAGING REMARKS OR ANYTHING ELSE, UH, THIS IS A WARNING ON THAT. OKAY? SO WE CANNOT BE DOING THAT. AND SO ALLOW EVERYONE TO HAVE, UH, HAVE THEIR SAY, HAVE THEIR OPINION AND USE, USE SOME COMMON RESPECT. OTHERWISE, I WILL BE GIVING OUT, UH, WARNINGS ON THAT. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR. STAFF COUNCIL, EVERYBODY. [02:00:01] I'M HERE ON ANOTHER TOPIC BECAUSE I'M A RESIDENT. I DON'T HAVE MY BUSINESS HERE IN NATIONAL CITY. I DID HAVE ONE. I PAID THE REGULAR BUSINESS LICENSE. I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR REALLY HARD FOR THE LAST YEAR. IT'S REALLY HARD TO RENT A PLACE AND FIND A PLACE I CAN AFFORD. AND NOW I'M HEARING THIS, THIS SCARES ME. I, I CAN'T AFFORD THIS. WHAT I PAID THREE YEARS AGO WAS $212. WITH THIS PROPOSAL, I'LL BE PAYING $4,600. I CAN'T DO THAT AND MOVE MY BUSINESS HERE. I'M ALSO A LONG TIME RESIDENT HERE. I NEVER HEARD ABOUT THIS SURVEY. NOBODY I KNEW, KNEW, KNEW. AND I VOTE EVERY SINGLE YEAR. THAT'S ANOTHER THING WE NEED TO LOOK AT. EVERYBODY SHOULD BE INVOLVED. WE HAVE 60,000 RESIDENTS. THEY TOOK A SURVEY OF 412 PEOPLE. WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT THIS WILL IMPACT US AS RESIDENTS. NOW. IT'S JUST THE BUSINESSES. THE BUSINESSES ARE GONNA BE GONE. IF YOU PASS THIS. DO YOU THINK MOST OF THESE BUSINESSES GONNA STAY? THEY'RE GONNA LEAVE. WHAT DON'T WE, WHAT DON'T WE DO? THEN WHO ARE YOU GONNA GO AFTER? WE NEED TO SIT DOWN AND COME UP WITH A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE $16 MILLION WENT FIRST AND THEN FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN GET IT. WELL, EVERYBODY HELP. YEAH, WE UNDERSTAND WE NEED TO MAKE CHANGES, BUT RUSHING TO THIS DEADLINE TO GET IT IN, LIKE WE FOUND OUT ABOUT THIS 45 DAYS AGO, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN AND PUT A GOOD PLAN TOGETHER TO HELP THE BUSINESSES AND THE RESIDENTS OF NATIONAL CITY. BECAUSE IT IS ALL OF US INVOLVED. IT'S NOT JUST THE BUSINESSES. IT'S ALL OF US. THANK YOU YTO. MY NAME'S ED YTO AND I HEAR Y'ALL, AND I'M LOOKING AT THIS FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. THIS CONVERSATION IS NOT YOUR NORMAL GOVERNMENTAL PERSPECTIVE. IT IS, UH, ACTUALLY IN REVERSE. NORMALLY WE IDENTIFY THE REVENUES THAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO MAKE OUR EXPENDITURES. WHAT'S HAPPENED HERE IS WE MADE OUR EXPENDITURES COUNSELING AS PLAINTIFF THEMSELVES IN THE CORNER WHERE THEY HAVE $12 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT. NOW THEY COME TO THE, TO THE BUSINESSES AND THE CITIZENS TO COVER THEIR MISTAKES. SO WHAT I'M THINKING HERE IS THAT, UM, IS REPORT THOUGHT OF THE, UH, PROCESS. AND WE NEED TO CLARIFY THAT BECAUSE WE CAN'T REALLY WORK ON THE SOLUTION UNLESS YOU IDENTIFY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS. AND I NOTICED THAT WE GLOSSED OVER THE EXPENDITURE SIDE OF THE PRO UH, AREA. I KNOW THAT'S GONNA BE THE FUTURE DISCUSSION. BUT I THINK FROM THE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE, YOU KNOW, I HEAR YOU TALKING ABOUT COMPROMISING OPTION ONE AND OPTION TWO, BUT I'M SORT OF WONDERING WHY ARE YOU COMPROMISING WHEN THE PROBLEM HASN'T BEEN DEFINED YET AND YOU'RE RUSHING INTO THIS THING? AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN PAST PATTERNS WHERE THIS COUNCIL HAS RUSHED INTO DECISIONS WITHOUT REALLY STUDYING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND THE EFFECTS, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD ACTUALLY MAKE THIS PROBLEM EVEN WORSE. KIND OF TENSION BEING OF COURSE BY PRIVATE BUSINESS OF THE WAY. THAT'S THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CITIZENS AND WE DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN. JOANNE FIELDS, GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL. UM, MY CONCERN IS REALLY TIMING BECAUSE THIS IS AN URGENCY TO ADDRESS AN EMERGENCY THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN 45 DAYS, 60 DAYS, SIX MONTHS AGO. THE TIMING OF THIS WORKSHOP AT THREE O'CLOCK WHILE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS ARE RUNNING THEIR BUSINESS IS A DISSERVICE. THE FOUR STAKEHOLDERS THAT I SEE IS THE NATIONAL CITY CHAMBER, THE MILE OF CARS, SOUTH COUNTY, EDC. AND THERE'S ONE MORE, I CAN'T THINK, BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY ETHNIC GROUPS. THE FILIPINO CHAMBER, UM, WASN'T PART OF THE DISCUSSION. THE A BA ASIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION, THE LATINO, THE HISPANIC, THE WOMEN'S CENTER THAT'S LOCATED IN NATIONAL CITY, WHERE ARE THEIR INPUTS BEING TAKEN? IT IS NOT, THE OUTREACH IS NOT SUFFICE. THE RESIDENTS THAT ARE VOTING ON THIS ISSUE ARE NOT INFORMED FULLY. THEY [02:05:01] NEED TO BE CRYSTAL CLEAR ABOUT THE INFORMATION BEING PRESENTED. WHAT IS THE ISSUE? HOW ARE WE ADDRESSING THE ISSUE? IT SHOULD NOT BE RUSHED. THE CHATTER THAT I'M HEARING AMONGST THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IS THAT THEY DO WANT TO CONTRIBUTE, BUT TO NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION THAT WE HAVE A OPTION ONE AND TWO THAT WAS JUST PRESENTED. I ASKED IF THE LIGHTS CAN BE TURNED DOWN. I GOT NO RESPONSE FROM THE THE TABLE BECAUSE YOU COULD BARELY SEE WHAT'S BEING PRESENTED. SO IT IS NOT FAIR THAT WE'RE RUSHING THROUGH THIS ON SOMETHING FOR DECADES HAS BEEN A ACCRUING THAT WE SHOULD TAKE OUR TIME AND HAVE THE RIGHT INPUT, THE RIGHT OUTREACH FROM ALL COMMUNITIES, BIG, SMALL AND RESIDENTS. AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE REGISTRAR VOTERS, ENGLISH, SPANISH, TAGALOG, CHINESE AND VIETNAMESE ARE THE FIVE LANGUAGES SPOKEN FOR EDUCATION AND VOTING. THERE ARE ONLY TWO LANGUAGES OFFERED IN THE SURVEY. AND THAT ALSO IS AN INEQUITY FOR THIS COMMUNITY WHERE YOUR SECOND LARGEST ETHNIC GROUP IS FILIPINO. AND THAT BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND RESIDENTS ARE NOT GETTING INFORMATION IN LANGUAGE. THANK YOU MATT, DANIEL WOODS. I THANK VERY MUCH AND, UH, APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK THAT THAT COUNCIL IS PUTTING IN TRYING TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM. BUT, UH, I WANNA AGREE WITH THE GENTLEMAN OVER HERE WHO SPOKE A COUPLE MINUTES AGO IN THE SENSE THAT MORE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN REGARD TO THIS DEFICIT OF PROBLEMS REALLY NEEDED HERE. UM, IF NOT, WE'RE ALL GONNA BE RIGHT BACK HERE AGAIN IN THREE YEARS TIME. I PROMISE WE WILL BE IF WE DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW WE GOT TO THIS PLACE. IT'S ALL TOO TEMPTING TO COVER UP THESE KINDS OF PROBLEMS BY SAYING TAX RICH. AND, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHO ARE THE RICH, WHO ARE WE, WHO ARE WE TAXING? AND I'M JUST GONNA GIVE YOU A QUICK UNDERSTANDING. MY PERSONAL SITUATION. 'CAUSE I THINK I'M, I'M REPRESENTATIVE OF A LOT OF PEOPLE HERE, UH, WHO'VE INVESTED IN NATIONAL CITY, UH, LIKE A, LIKE 95% OF AMERICAN WORKERS. I DON'T HAVE A DEFINED PENSION PLAN COMING MY WAY. I'VE HAD TO FUND MY OWN RETIREMENT AND I COULD HAVE PUT MY MONEY IN THE STOCK MARKET, BUT I CHOSE TO INVEST IN THIS WONDERFUL COMMUNITY HERE, THIS COMMUNITY THAT REALLY SEEMED TO BE A VERY PRO DEVELOPMENT, PRO BUSINESS COMMUNITY, UH, WHEN I CAME HERE FIVE YEARS AGO AND, AND INVESTED IN SOME, UH, SOME COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE AND SOME RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A COM A COMMUNITY THAT'S STILL GROWING. IT'S STILL INVESTING, IT'S STILL TRYING TO FIND ITSELF AND IT'S STILL OPERATING IN THE MARGINS. IN SOME CASES, FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS IN A ROW, I'VE HAD TO LOWER MY RENTS FOR BOTH MY RESIDENTIAL TENANTS AND FOR MY COMMERCIAL TENANTS. AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE STILL OPERATING ON THE MARGINS. NOT ALL THE BUSINESSES ARE WEALTHY. NOT ALL THE BUSINESSES HAVE A LOT OF EXTRA, UH, MONEY TO SPARE FOR AN ADDITIONAL TAX THAT'S GONNA KIND OF PAPER OVER SOME OF THESE PAST SINS THAT, THAT, THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH. SO I REALLY, MY, MY MOST IMPORTANT, UH, TWO POINTS ARE, NUMBER ONE, PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING US TO UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT HAPPENED. WHY ARE WE AT THE PLACE WE ARE AT, THAT'S IMPORTANT SO IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN. AND NUMBER TWO, PLEASE, I URGE YOU TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET AROUND THIS PROBLEM OF, SO OF, AS YOU SAID, TAXING INCOME. AND LET'S FIGURE OUT A WAY TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE NET PROFITABILITY OF THE BUSINESSES YOU'RE TAXING. 'CAUSE MANY OF THEM AREN'T MAKING A PROFIT AND THIS WILL FALL VERY HARD ON THAT. NANCY, HI NANCY. ANO AND I GUESS YOU GUYS ALL KNOW ME BECAUSE I'VE BEEN AT SAN DIEGO LIVING FOR 23 YEARS AND I ALSO HAVE, UH, DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES. I'VE BEEN GOING TO THESE, UM, COUNCIL MEETINGS AND ASKING FOR COMPROMISE. UM, AND FOR MAIN ISSUES. ONE IS THAT, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO HELP DEVELOPERS. WE HAVE 5,000 APARTMENTS TO HAVE TO BRING TWO NATIONAL CITY OR WE WILL BE LOSING SOME OF OUR TAX MONEY, UH, FROM CALIFORNIA. AND, UM, AND, UH, WHEN THEY'RE AFFORDABLE, WE DON'T GET PROPERTY TAX. AND THAT'S PART OF THE BIG DEFICIT THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF. AND THEN WE'RE GONNA SAY, NO, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE MONEY, OR ARE WE GOING TO DIP INTO MONEY ELSEWHERE? WE'LL DO THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO DO AS COUNCIL PEOPLE. SO THAT'S [02:10:01] MY FIRST ONE. THE SECOND IS THE MILE OF CARS, WHICH IS IMPORTANT. AND, UM, WE STARTED THE MILE OF CARS. THEY HAVE COMPETITION WITH EL NEY MESA, CHULA VISTA, UM, GROCERY STORES. WE ALL NEED GROCERIES AND SMALL BUSINESSES THAT WOULD INCLUDE ME. MY SMALL BUSINESS, WHICH I CONSIDER IT SMALL. UM, AND LUCKILY BECAUSE THE CITY ITSELF HAS COMPROMISED AND GONE FROM 0.003 TO 0.0005%, THREE FOUR ITEMS ARE ALREADY SOLVED. AND I CONGRATULATE THEM ON THE HARD WORK THAT THEY HAVE DONE. UM, AND UH, SO I WENT TO AI AND I SAID, OKAY, I PAID $316, UH, OF PROPERTY TAX. HOW MUCH WOULD IT BE IF WITH 3% IN RELATION AND WOULD 47 YEARS IT CAME TO $1,444 0.003 WOULD'VE BEEN $1,425 AND JUST WRITE. BUT BECAUSE THE CITY PUT IT AT OH OH OH 5%, I'M PAYING $235 PLUS THE EXTRA STAY OFF OF. YES. SO WE'VE BEEN TAKING A FREE WA RIDE FOR 47 YEARS TIME FOR VISITS TO STEP UP. JAMES KIM. JAMES KIM. ALL RIGHT. UH, PHILLIP, I HERE. THANK YOU. HI, I AM PHILLIP SCHER. I'VE BEEN IN NATIONAL CITY BUILDING THE ACRO SPACE CENTER SINCE THE FOURTH GRADE. MY BROTHER RALPH AND I LAID THE CONCRETE PIPE FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TO USE FOR THE FIRE ITEMS AND SO ON. SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT FAIR SHARE OF PEOPLE PAYING THEIR FAIR SHARE. ALL BUSINESS OWNERS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE. THEY HIRE PEOPLE, THEY PAY HALF OF A PERSON'S SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES. THEY PAY UNEMPLOYMENT, THEY PAY WORKERS' COMP. OUR, OUR, OUR COMPANY HAS A VERY ROBUST HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY. MY POLICY IS THE SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE AT THE COMPANY, FROM AT ANY, AT, AT EVERY LEVEL. WE ALL PAY OUR FAIR SHARES. THE CONSULTANT SAYS IT TALKS ABOUT A FAIR SHARE. I DON'T APPRECIATE IT. UM, BUT WHAT ISN'T FAIR IS THAT THE PROPERTY OWNERS DON'T HAVE, OR EXCUSE ME, THE BUSINESS OWNERS DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO VOTE FOR THIS UNLESS, UNLESS YOU HAPPEN TO BE A RESIDENT OF, OF NATIONAL CITY, WHICH I'M NOT. THAT'S BEEN, THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT FAIR. UM, IT'S NOT FAIR THAT I HAVE TO PAY THREE TO SIX TIMES MORE MONEY IN THIS PROPOSED TAX THAN OTHER BUSINESS OWNERS. IF THAT WAS TRULY FAIR, WE WOULD ALL PAY THE SAME. SO THOSE THINGS ARE NOT FAIR. UM, THE, WE LIVE IN A REPUBLIC. THE POLITICIANS ARE SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT EVERYBODY. THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED THE REPUBLIC, BECAUSE IT'S SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT EVERYBODY. AND THIS VOTE DOES NOT REPRESENT EVERYBODY. IT ONLY REPRESENTS THE WOLVES, THE THREE WOLVES THAT ARE VOTING, WHAT'S GONNA BE FOR DINNER WITH THE LAMB STANDING THERE. UM, WE, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S A SUNSET PROVISION. IF THIS, IF THIS GOES ON THE BALLOT, IT NEEDS TO HAVE A SUNSET PROVISION. UM, IT'S NOT FAIR THAT THE SURVEY QUESTIONS WERE MISLEADING AND WE WANT, WE WANT TO HAVE TRANSPARENCY WITH THE CITY. WHERE DID THAT SALES TAX GO? THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO. WHERE IS THAT MONEY? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ARI. ARI, UM, JACK BUZZY. MY NAME IS JACK BAZI. I'VE BEEN HERE IN THE CITY OVER 50 YEARS. UH, THE REASON I'M HERE BECAUSE ALL THE PROBLEM NOW THE CITY HAVE, WITH THE INTENTION OF INCREASING THE FEE ON BEHALF OF 10 MA, ALL THE MOM AND POPS HERE IN NATIONAL CITY. I WAS INFORMED THAT MOST OF 'EM ARE AGAINST THIS BECAUSE FOR A LOT OF REASON, FIRST, YOU KNOW, THE LIMITED INCOME, ALL THESE SMALL BUSINESS BARELY MAKE IT NOW WITH THE INCREASE IN INFLATION, INCREASE OF ALL THESE WAGES [02:15:01] FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS, UH, EMPLOYEES AND, UH, ALMOST DOUBLED. JUST LAST, UH, LAST MONTH, YOU KNOW, I CAME OVER AND I WAS INFORMED WITH MY, UH, SDD AND E ALMOST DOUBLED FROM 1700 TO $3,000. WE HAVE, UH, INSURANCE, THE SAME THING, ALMOST DOUBLE ON THE PROPERTY TOO, YOU KNOW, FOR NO REASON. WE DON'T KNOW WHY. AND SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS, YOU KNOW, JUST GOTTA BE CAREFUL ABOUT PUTTING MORE BURDEN ON THE SMALL BUSINESSES. AND THE WAY THEY HAVE IT NOW, THEY'RE BARELY MAKING IT. WE'RE STILL THERE FOR SO MANY YEARS. THERE'S TIME I OPEN, CLOSE, CLOSE, OPEN WITH ALL THESE, UH, RELATIVES. YOU KNOW, WE'RE JUST TRYING TO MAKE IT, YOU KNOW, AND I DON'T THINK WILL BE FAIR REALLY TO PUT MORE MONEY ON WHAT WE HAVE ON THE EXPENSES WE DO HIM. THANK YOU MARY ALICE. HA. THANK YOU. MY NAME IS MARY ALICE. HA I'VE BEEN A RESIDENCE OF NATIONAL CITY FOR 54 YEARS. 40 UH, FOR 40 YEARS. I, I HAVE OWNED MY OWN HOME, UM, 26 YEARS. I'VE HAD A RENTAL PROPERTY. AND I'M, I'M ALSO CONCERNED, I'M CONCERNED FOR THE TENANTS AND RESIDENTS. Y'ALL HAD A WHOLE BUNCH OF PROPERTIES JUST BUILT ALL THESE 80, YOU KNOW, UNITS GOING UP ALL THIS MONEY. YOU KNOW, THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR LOW COST HOUSING. AND WE'RE JUST GONNA TACK ON SOME MORE. THIS IS GONNA GO DOWN TO THE CONSUMER. IT'S GONNA GO DOWN TO THE, THE, THE, THE RESIDENTS, THE, THE RENTERS. UM, AND I'M REALLY CONCERNED THAT LIKE BALBO PARK, PEOPLE WON'T COME TO NATIONAL CITY. BUSINESSES WILL NOT COME TO NATIONAL CITY. THEY WILL IN FACT LEAVE NATIONAL CITY IF THIS BUSINESS TAX IS PUT ON THE BALLOT. AND WE WILL BE IN A WORSE SITUATION THAN WE ARE RIGHT NOW BECAUSE WE WILL LOSE REST REVENUE. WE WILL BE, WE WILL BE GETTING MORE REVENUE. WE WILL LOSE REVENUE. AND, AND YOU JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED TO ALBO CLARK. THEY LOST A LOT OF REVENUE. THEY LOST A LOT OF, AND THIS, THIS WILL HAPPEN TO THE BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY THE SMALL BUSINESSES. I'M ALSO A SMALL SELF-EMPLOYED PERSON AND MY RENTAL PROPERTY IS MY RETIREMENT. AND TO, TO TAX ME ON MY GROSS REVENUES YEARLY. I DON'T EVEN LIKE THE FACT THAT I PUT MY KIDS THROUGH PRIVATE SCHOOL AND I PAID SCHOOL TAXES AND DIDN'T GET ANY BENEFIT FOR THAT. I PAY PROPERTY TAXES. AND AS A SENIOR, WHEN YOU, YOU OWN YOUR OWN PROPERTY, YOU'RE GONNA STILL BE PAYING PROPERTY TAXES, WHICH ARE SCHOOL TAXES. AND WE DON'T GET ANY BENEFIT FOR THAT. SO I JUST HIGHLY ALSO, THE, THE CONCERN ABOUT THE RUSH OF THIS, I DON'T THINK THIS SHOULD BE ON THIS NOVEMBER'S BALLOT. I DON'T THINK THAT SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED. AND, UM, IT WAS MISLEADING. AND THEN WHEN IT GETS ON THE BALLOT, YOU'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT ALL THE GOOD THE CITY'S GOING TO GET, BUT YOU'RE NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT WHAT'S THEY'RE GONNA, THE PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE HURTING ABOUT PROPOSITION D PAID FOR THE POLICE AND THE FIRE FOR SIX YEARS, THEN THEY PUT IT ON THE BALLOT. YOUR TAXES AREN'T GOING UP. AND IT GOT PASSED AGAIN FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS. SO THERE'S MONEY OUT THERE. 1%, UH, SALES TAX GOING TO FIRE AND POLICE. THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UH, MAYOR, WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF SPEAKERS ON ZOOM. I DID WANT TO ADD THAT WE HAD FOUR SPEAKERS THAT LEFT, UM, SLIPS. TWO WERE IN OPPOSITION TO, DID NOT MENTION EITHER WAY THEY LEFT. UM, AND SO WE HAVE, UH, CYNTHIA FULLER . GO AHEAD, MAYOR. COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF, THANK YOU FOR THE SPECIAL MEETING. MY NAME IS CYNTHIA FULLER QUINONES. I'M SPEAKING TODAY AS A LOCAL LANDLORD AND A HOME-BASED, UH, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER. I'M IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND MANY BUSINESS OWNERS ACROSS NATIONAL CITY WHO ARE OPPOSED TO ADVANCING THIS GROSS RE RECEIPTS TAX, UH, BALLOT MEASURE AT THIS TIME, ESPECIALLY FOR LANDLORDS LIKE ME, WITH ONE TO FOUR UNITS, WHICH SEEM TO COMPRISE OUR LARGEST GROUP OF LOCAL BUSINESSES, THE ONES WHO WILL MAKE UP THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF TAX REVENUE COLLECTED UNDER THIS MEASURE, AND WHICH ARE LIKELY TO PASS ALONG INCREASED TAX COSTS AND HIGHER RENTS FOR OUR TENANTS TO THE TUNE OF MORE THAN $2 MILLION. WITHOUT A DOUBT, BUSINESS OWNERS LIKE ME, WELL UNDERSTAND THE CITY'S NEED FOR STABLE LONG-TERM REVENUE. BUT A GO GROSS RECEIPTS BASED TAX, ISN'T IT? UH, IT CREATES DI DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACTS ON SMALL, LOW MARGIN AND COMMUNITY SERVING BUSINESSES, MANY OF US, UH, ARE ALREADY NAVIGATING [02:20:01] INFLATIONS SUPPLY CHAIN UTILITY, AND RISING OPERATING COSTS. THIS IS A TAX STRUCTURE THAT PENALIZES REVENUE RATHER THAN PROFITABILITY, AND AT RISK RISKS SHRINKING. THE VERY BUSINESS BASE THE CITY DESPERATELY NEEDS. IT IMPOSES A TAX STRUCTURE LIKELY TO HURT NATIONAL CITY RENTERS BY INCREASING COSTS FOR THEIR LANDLORDS OVERALL. THE CONCERN, HOWEVER, IS NOT THE MEASURE ITSELF, BUT LOCAL BUSINESS OWNERS BEING EXCLUDED FROM SHAPING THE OPTIONS FOR INCREASED CITY REVENUE GENERATION. FROM SET. THE NATIONAL BUS CITY BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAS CONSISTENTLY EXPRESSED A WILLINGNESS TO COLLABORATE WITH CITY LEADERSHIP STAFF AS RECENTLY DEMONSTRATED. THE CHAMBER IS MORE THAN WILLING TO CONVENE STAKEHOLDERS, SHARE DATA, AND HELP CRAFT A REVENUE STRATEGY THAT IS FAIR, PREDICTABLE, AND ECONOMICALLY SUSTAINABLE. BEST PRACTICE IS ENGAGING THE CHAMBER ITS MEMBERS AND OTHER BUSINESSES PROACTIVELY, NOT AFTER THE FACT AND CRAFTING REVENUE MEASURES WITH THE ADVANTAGE OF THEIR INPUT FROM THE OUTSET. ALSO, THERE'S NEVER BEEN A MORE CRITICAL TIME TONO ACKNOWLEDGE A LARGER TRUTH, WHICH IS THAT NATIONAL CITY HAS NEARLY 100 ACRES OF TIDE LANDS, PARKING LOTS, PRODUCING NO REVENUE FOR THE CITY OR LOCAL BUSINESSES, TOO FEW JOBS FOR OUR UNIONS AND AREA RESIDENTS. THEY'RE ONLY GENERATING SIGNIFICANT HEAT THAT WORSENS AIR QUALITY, UH, AND, UH, CAUSES HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR OUR COMMUNITY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS. THANK YOU. KEN DURAN. KEN DURAN. SORRY. NO, I'M, UH, I DON'T HAVE A QUESTION. I'M JUST A CONSULTANT. OKAY. THANK YOU. THAT CONCLUDES OUR COMMENT. OKAY. SO WE HAVE NO OTHER COMMENTS, THAT'S ALL. OKAY. IF I COULD ASK FOR A MOTION FROM THE COUNCIL, UH, TO END OUR PUBLIC COMMENT SESSION. WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND, UM, CITY CLERK, CAN YOU VOTE ON IT? COUNCIL MEMBER YAMANI AYE. COUNCIL MEMBER RODRIGUEZ. AYE. COUNCIL MEMBER BUSH? YES. VICE MAYOR MOLINA? YES. MAYOR MORRISON. AYE. MOTION PASSES. OKAY. AT THIS POINT, UH, ASKED IF THE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, IF THEY HAVE ANY GENERAL COMMENTS MEMBER, WE ARE NOT VOTING ON ANYTHING TODAY, NOT MAKING ANY DECISIONS OR COMING UP WITH ANYTHING SPECIFIC, BUT IF WE GOT JUST LIKE TO MAKE A GENERAL COMMENT, WE CONDEMN THROUGH HERE. EVERYBODY NOT SEE? YEP. OKAY. YEAH. REALLY. UM, SO ALL THE BUSINESSES, UM, OUR WORKERS, EVERYONE THAT'S COME OUT TO SPEAK TODAY, UM, OUR, OUR STAFF, UH, ESPECIALLY THIS EFFORT, UH, LED BY, UH, PEDRO GARCIA. SO PEDRO DID, UH, AMAZING JOB WITH A VERY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME, UH, AMOUNT OF TIME THAT YOU'VE, WE'VE HEARD, UH, TODAY FROM A LOT OF THE, THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND BUSINESSES HERE. IT'S, FOR ME, IT'S, IT'S UNACCEPTABLE. UH, WE'VE KNOWN THAT THIS WOULD WAIT, WHAT ARE ANY DECISIONS? IS THERE ANYTHING WE'RE MAKING TODAY? I MEAN, WE'RE JUST MAKING GENERAL COMMENTS AT THIS STAGE, SO WE'RE NOT, NOT TALKING ON THE PROPOSAL ITSELF. THAT, THAT THAT IS WHAT WE WILL BE DOING ON, UH, ON AUGUST 2ND. YES. SO WHAT I'M SPEAKING ABOUT IS LEADING UP TO THIS POINT, WHAT I'M SAYING IS I DON'T THINK THIS HAS BEEN AN ACCEPTABLE PROCESS. LIKE I DON'T THINK THIS HAS BEEN, IT IS BEEN TOO LATE. SO THAT'S, I'M COMMENTING ON OKAY. THE PROCESS ITSELF, AND THEN IT'S JUST A SHORT TIMEFRAME WHICH CAUSES DIFFERENT. SO COMMENTING ON THAT GENERALLY. OKAY. UM, BUT WHAT, WHAT WAS, WHAT ELSE ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HERE? NO OBJECTION. JUST, JUST GENERAL COMMENT. YEAH. SO, UM, SO YEAH, THAT WAS, SO THAT'S MY CONCERN WITH, UM, THE MEASURE THAT, UH, GIVES ME PAUSE. I, I DO WANT, UM, BE CLEAR. SO WE, ARE WE, ARE YOU GUYS LOOKING FOR INPUT IN TERMS OF WHERE, LIKE WE'RE LEADING? I'M, I'M NOT, I'M KIND OF CONFUSED BY YOUR INTERJECTION. NO, NOT, NOT AT THIS STAGE. UH, THERE WILL BE OPPORTUNITIES ON THE STAFF WILL BE MEETING, UH, INDIVIDUALLY WITH COUNCIL MEMBERS AND GETTING, GETTING INPUT. BUT THIS, THIS STAGE WE'RE NOT. SO, OKAY. SO IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, BECAUSE THIS IS COMING BACK, UM, IN TWO WEEKS, SO I'VE HEARD OPPOSITION, STRONG OPPOSITION FROM, UH, THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY. I UNDERSTAND THAT. WHAT I WOULD ASK AND LIKE TO SEE, I THINK I, I HOPE, AND I'VE TALKED TO A LOT OF YOU, I HOPE THAT YOU ALL, 'CAUSE I HEARD IN YOUR COMMENTS, UM, ABOUT HOW THIS WOULD [02:25:01] NEGATIVELY IMPACT, UH, YOUR BUSINESS, HOW YOU MIGHT CLOSE UP SHOP, AND, UM, OTHER CONCERNS. I THINK IT IS VERY VALID. UM, WHAT I WOULD, WOULD LIKE TO HEAR MORE IS THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT THAT REFORM IS NEEDED AND WHAT KIND OF, UH, THRESHOLDS WOULD RESTRUCTURE WHAT WOULD YOU SUPPORT IN THIS? BECAUSE, UH, THE REALITY, THIS DOESN'T NEED TO BE REFORMED. WE ARE IN A TIGHT TIMELINE. IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE. IT IS WHAT IT IS. UH, BUT I, I WOULD REALLY ASK FOR THE BUSINESSES TO ALSO, UH, NEGOTIATE IN GOOD FAITH, RIGHT? TO NOT JUST KIND OF LEAD US ON AND, UH, UH, MAKE AND, YOU KNOW, MOVE GOAL POSTS AND, AND JUST WORK WITH US IN, IN GOOD FAITH. SO WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE? WHAT IS THE FAIR, EQUITABLE, UH, UH, STRUCTURE? AND I'VE HEARD SOME IDEAS, SOME REALLY GOOD IDEAS, UH, FROM, UH, THE BUSINESSES AND MY INDIVIDUAL CONVERSATIONS, SOME THINGS ABOUT SUNSET CLAUSES AND SOME OTHER ITEMS. SO I, I WOULD JUST ASK THAT, UH, THAT WE BE WORK TOGETHER, BE PRODUCTIVE AND, AND FOCUS ON ONE OF THOSE, UM, A A LOT OF THOSE AREAS WHERE WE COULD FIND COMMON GROUND. AND I COMMIT TO PUSHING OUR CITY STAFF AND OUR CITY COUNCIL TO BE MORE TRANSPARENT AND TO BE MORE PROACTIVE AND REACH OUT TO YOU IN THE VERY SHORT TIME WE HAVE IN THE NEXT, UH, TWO WEEKS. BUT, UM, BUT MY, MY CONCERN ABOUT THIS IS JUST THE SHORT TIMEFRAME AND THE POLITICAL REALITY OF PASSING SOMETHING WHEN WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO EDUCATE VOTERS TO, UM, TO JUST OUTREACH TO THE, THE BUSINESSES, TO, UM, UH, I MEAN, I HAVEN'T SEEN PLASMA NEEDED, FOR EXAMPLE. I HAVEN'T SEEN THEM ENGAGED, UH, TOO MUCH. SO, SO I, I, THERE'S, THERE'S GAPS HERE THAT, UH, TO ME GIMME CONCERN. BUT, UM, I, I'LL BE HONEST, I DO SUPPORT THE BUSINESS LICENSE TAX REFORM. I ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT IT. THE QUESTION FOR ME IS WHETHER IT IS THE BEST DECISION FOR THE CITY IN THE LONG TERM TO PUT A BALLOT ON THE MEASURE THAT DESPITE THE POLLING RESULTS, WHICH THAT LOOKS GOOD. UM, BUT I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME, I THINK IT COULD FAIL. AND JUST BECAUSE THE POLL SHOWS US SOMETHING AS POPULAR JUST WITH PROCESS, TO ME, IT DOESN'T MAKE IT JUST AUTOMATICALLY, RIGHT. SO I I I, I DO WANT MORE IN THIS SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. I ASKED THE BUSINESSES TO NEGOTIATE WITH US IN GOOD FAITH AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE, UH, FOR A COMPROMISE. UM, AND I, I, I HEARD SOME COMMENTS ABOUT WHAT COULD WE, UH, DO BETTER AS A CITY? AND I WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT. I THINK THERE'S A LOT, UH, MORE THAT WE COULD CUT, THAT WE COULD BE CREATIVE ON. THERE'S A LOT MORE, UM, ACCOUNTABILITY. AND I WANT TO HEAR, UM, WHAT SOME OF YOUR IDEAS ARE, UH, OR LOOK AT OUR BUDGET. I MEAN, I'VE HAD SOME IDEAS AND I, UM, SOME, UH, PROPOSALS OF EVEN RE RESTRUCTURING OUR OWN INTERNAL ORGANIZATION THAT OUR STAFF SHOULD CONSIDER. JUST BECAUSE IT COMES FROM COUNCIL, UH, DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT, UM, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE POLICY, UH, THE ORG CHART, HOW OUR OPERATIONS ARE STRUCTURED IS ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT THAT WE, AND I DO HAVE DISAGREED WITH STAFF AT THIS TIME. IT'S IMPORTANT FOR OUR COUNCIL TO GIVE STAFF DIRECTION ON HOW OUR OPERATIONS WORKED. AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE OUR, OUR BUSINESSES TO, TO LOOK INTO OUR BUDGET AND TO LOOK AT OUR OPERATIONS BECAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS IDEAS ON HOW WE CAN BE, UM, MORE EFFICIENT, HOW WE CAN, UH, IMPROVE. SO, SO THAT'S WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR. SO I'M STILL UNDECIDED, UH, ON THIS, BUT I'M LOOKING FOR THAT IN THE NEXT, UH, COUPLE WEEKS FROM, FROM THE BUSINESSES AND FROM OUR STAFF FOR US TO COLLABORATE FOR, UM, YOU'RE WELCOME. MAKE A COMMENT. YES, WE'RE GOOD. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK EVERYBODY FOR COMING OUT. IT, IT, IT IS, UM, ALWAYS VERY GOOD TO HAVE DIALOGUE WITH OUR BUSINESSES, WITH OUR COMMUNITY, WITH INDIVIDUALS. WE'VE HAD SO MANY MEETINGS OVER THE LAST MONTH AND A HALF, AND ADMITTEDLY, AS I JUST TOLD, I THINK EVERYBODY, WE SHOULD HAVE STARTED THIS DIALOGUE THE YEAR, AND IT IS WHEN STAFF PRESENTED THIS TO US DURING LAST YEAR'S BUDGET, WE APPROPRIATED THE FUNDS FOR THIS BACK IN DECEMBER. AND, UM, AS A RESULT OF MANY ISSUES HAPPENING IN THE CITY, WE HAVE NOT BEEN HAVING THIS DISCUSSION WITH THE BROADER FUND. BUT TO SAY THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS WAS COMING IS, IS MISLEADING. THAT'S VERY UNFORTUNATE. UM, SO, SO THANK YOU FOR COMING OUT. AND, AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT NATIONAL CITY RESIDENTS THAT ALL OF YOU KNOW, BECAUSE MANY OF US ARE NATIONAL CITY RESIDENTS, MANY OF YOU'RE GENERATIONAL RESIDENTS. OUR RESIDENTS ARE VERY GENEROUS, VERY GENEROUS INDIVIDUALS. UM, FOLKS THAT OFFER YOU, UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU VISIT THEM, OFFER YOU FOOD, THEY OFFER YOU, YOU GO TO A RESTAURANT, THEY OFFER YOU SOMETHING EXTRA. IT, IT IS A VERY SPECIAL COMMUNITY IN THAT WAY. AND I THINK IT IS NOT SURPRISING TO SEE SOME OF THE, UH, ONLY RESULTS COME IN THE WAY THAT IT DOES, BECAUSE I THINK NATIONAL CITY RESIDENTS JUST HAPPENS VERY, ARE GENERALLY VERY, VERY GENEROUS WITH EACH OTHER. UM, THAT SAID, I I, I DO HAVE [02:30:01] TO SAY HOW DISAPPOINTED IT HAS BEEN ON HOW MUCH MISINFORMATION HAS GONE OUT ABOUT THE INITIATIVE. UM, FORTUNATELY, UH, WE DID NOT, UM, AS A RESULT OF THE TIMELINE, APPROACH THIS IN A PROACTIVE MANNER. AND, AND SO TO HEAR THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE TAXES FOR EVERYBODY WOULD'VE INCREASED 10 TIMES, IT, IT IS, IT'S JUST WRONG. AND IT IS DISAPPOINTING TO SAY THE LEAST. AND I THINK HOPEFULLY WE CAN HAVE AN HONEST DISCUSSION GOING FORWARD ON IT. UM, IT'S ALSO DEEPLY OFFENSIVE TO, TO, TO BELIEVE AND TO SAY THAT NATIONAL CITY RESIDENTS AND NATIONAL CITY COMMUNITY DOES NOT DESERVE WHAT CARLSBAD, FOR EXAMPLE, DEMANDS OF THEIR BUSINESSES. THAT'S OFFENSIVE. AND, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT EVERY CITY MUST SET THEIR STANDARDS TO OPERATE WITHIN THEIR COMMUNITY. AND SO TO SAY, TO COMPARE CITIES TO SAY, WE DON'T, WE DON'T DESERVE THAT BECAUSE WE'RE A DIFFERENT COMMUNITY. I THINK WE HAVE TO THINK AND UNPACK THAT BECAUSE THAT HAS A LOT OF CONNOTATIONS TO IT. AND I THINK AS A RESULT OF THAT THINKING, WE HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATING OUR BUSINESS LICENSE IN 47 YEARS. AND SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONTINUE TO HAVE THIS ONGOING DIALOGUE AND ACTUALLY ASK, ESPECIALLY THE MORE LARGER BUSINESSES TO, TO, TO, UM, PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE. AND, YOU KNOW, THROUGHOUT THE COURSE OF THIS DISCUSSION, UM, AS MANY OF YOU PROBABLY KNOW, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE HIGHEST PERFORMING TARGETS IN THE COUNTRY IS HERE IN PLAZA. ONE OF THE HIGHEST PERFORMING WALMARTS ACTUALLY HIGHEST IN THE COUNTY IS HERE ON HIGHLAND, RIGHT? THE COST, THE COSTCO OPTOMETRY CENTER, ONE OF TWO IN THE WEST COAST IS HERE IN NATIONAL CITY AND HAVE NOT PAID A FAIR SHARE FOR SEVEN YEARS, RIGHT? SO I THINK IT IS GENERAL COMMENT, IT IS, IT IS GENERAL. SO THANK YOU. SO WE NEED SOME CLARIFICATION BECAUSE THAT THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU'RE INTERRUPTING WITH GENERAL COMMENTS, SO I'M NOT CLEAR ON WHAT THE BOUNDARY ARE. SO IT JUST, WE SHOULD BE ARGUING FOR, IT IS NOT AN OUR ARGUMENT, IT'S SIMPLY A STATEMENT, RIGHT? DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO PUT THAT OUT CONSIDERING THE AMOUNT OF MISINFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN OUT THERE. AND I WANT TO TRY TO, UM, MAYBE PROVIDE YOU AN INSIGHT INTO HOW I SEE THIS PARTICULAR INITIATIVE. BUT, UM, THAT ASIDE, I, I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO DISCUSS THINGS IN GOOD FAITH. I DO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO CONTINUE TO HAVE DIALOGUE WITH EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS IN OUR COMMUNITY TO MAKE SURE THAT NATIONAL CITY WORKS ON BEHALF OF EVERYBODY, UH, SMALLER BUSINESSES AND LARGER BUSINESSES. AND SO I AM CERTAINLY COMMITTED TO THAT. AND I DO WANNA CHALLENGE ALL OF US, MYSELF INCLUDED, AND I'VE SPOKEN TO SOME OF YOU VERY CLEARLY ABOUT THIS. I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO GET OFF OF OUR KIND OF IDEOLOGICAL POSITIONS, BECAUSE ALL OF US HAVE IDEOLOGICAL POSITIONS WHEN IT COMES TO OUR POLITICS. BUT ULTIMATELY, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO THINK OF NATIONAL CITY COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL CITY RESIDENTS AND WHAT'S BEST FOR THEM AND WHAT THAT MEANS WHEN IT COMES TO THIS, UM, UH, THIS PARTICULAR INITIATIVE. BUT ALL THAT ASIDE, I DO HAVE, UM, SOME, UH, DIRECTION OR I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS FROM STAFF, UM, QUESTIONS REGARDING, UH, REAL ESTATE SALES AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR REALTORS, WHAT IT MEANS FOR LOAN OFFICERS. I KNOW SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED PRIVATELY, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE APPORTIONMENT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THIS SPELLED OUT MORE CLEARLY BECAUSE IT REALLY DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE FOR, UM, UH, AT LEAST HOW IT WAS PRESENTED, UH, TO HAVE, UM, RETAIL SALES BE APPLICABLE TO, UH, AGENTS OR EVEN TO LOAN OFFICERS. SO I DO THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT. I AM ALSO, UH, VERY KEEN ON LISTENING TO COMMUNITY AND LOOKING AT COMPROMISE OPTIONS, BECAUSE I THINK THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT AS WELL. AND OPTION TWO ON RETAIL SALES THAT WAS PRESENTED EARLIER, SEEING SOMETHING VERY REASONABLE TO DO. UM, I DO LOOK, UH, FORWARD ON A DISCUSSION ON AUGUST 4TH. AND, AND ULTIMATELY, I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT FOR US TO REALIZE THAT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT OUR DECISION. IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL'S DECISION. IT'S NOT ONE INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS'S DECISION. IT'S NOT ONE INDIVIDUAL CITY EMPLOYEE'S DECISION. ULTIMATELY, OUR GOVERNMENT RUNS IN A DEMOCRACY, AND ULTIMATELY, THE VOTERS WILL DECIDE IF THAT'S INDEED WHAT WE DECIDE TO DO. AND SO I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO ULTIMATELY THINK ABOUT THAT, RIGHT? THE CITY AND OUR LOSS AND OUR, AND OUR, UM, UH, UH, BUSINESS LAWS ARE ULTIMATELY DECIDED BY THE VOTERS. AND SO I THINK, I THINK WE HAVE TO HAVE THAT IN MIND AS WE'RE CONSIDERING THIS. BUT I LOOK FORWARD TO ONGOING DISCUSSIONS AND CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THIS. UM, AND I REALLY THINK THE, THE WILLINGNESS FROM ANY INDIVIDUALS THAT MAY COME FROM VERY DIFFERENT IDEOLOGICAL POSITIONS TO HAVE THESE DISCUSSIONS, IT'S CRITICAL TO HAVE THEM NOT JUST DURING NOVEMBER NOW, UNTIL NOVEMBER, BUT THEREAFTER TO SEE HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE OUR CITY A BETTER PLACE. THANK YOU. UM, THANK YOU, MAYOR. UM, THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING TODAY. AND, UM, IT'S, UH, GOOD TO LISTEN TO A CONTINUING CONVERSATION. [02:35:01] UH, THAT WAS MY, UH, MY GOAL THEN WHEN I REACHED OUT TO YOU WHEN THIS STARTED, UM, LAST MONTH OR TWO MONTHS AGO. UM, LET'S HAVE A CONVERSATION SO THEN WE HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING. UM, I BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE REACHED, UM, A, UH, UH, AN, UM, A CONCURRENCE THAT WE NEED TO, UM, TO RESTRUCTURE A 47-YEAR-OLD, UM, POLICY, POLICY THAT DOES NOT SERVE THE CITY ANYMORE, CITY THAT, UM, THAT PROVIDES FOR SERVICES TO OUR PEOPLE AND TO OUR BUSINESSES. SO, UM, THERE ARE TWEAKS THAT MAY THAT WE ARE, UM, I HAVE ALREADY, UH, LOOKED INTO WITH, UH, OUR CONSULTANTS AND WITH OUR STAFF, AND, UM, WE HAVE A LITTLE TIME TO, UM, TO LOOK INTO THIS. BUT, UM, BEAR IN MIND, UM, THE CITY WE HAVE TO RUN, UM, YOU KNOW, I MEAN THE CITY, UM, ACCORDINGLY, IN ORDER FOR US TO BE ABLE TO SERVE THE PEOPLE THAT WE PLEDGE TO SERVE. THANK YOU, . THANK YOU. I WANT TO, UH, EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE TO ALL OF THE ATTENTION FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY FOR THIS MEASURE. UM, ALSO THE FOLKS THAT, UH, TOOK THE SURVEY AND PROVIDE THEIR FEEDBACK, I WANNA THANK THEM AS WELL. UM, THIS IS NOT EASY BY ANY MEANS. THIS IS SOMETHING EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. UH, THE PIECE THAT I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THE MOST IS TURNING THE LENS INWARD AND LOOKING INTERNALLY INTO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO, UM, WITH OUR CITY BUDGET. UM, SEVERAL OF THE FOLKS OUT HERE HAVE STATED THAT, UH, LOOKING AT THE EXPENDITURES THUS FAR, EXAMINING WHAT GOT US TO THIS POINT, UM, I HAVE SOME CLARITY ON, ON SOME OF THAT. UH, BUT CERTAINLY IT IS NOT, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S, I HAVE NOT DONE THE WORK MYSELF TO BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN IT CRYSTAL CLEAR. UM, AND I HAVE MY OWN QUESTIONS ABOUT A LOT OF THAT. SO THAT IS A LOT OF HOMEWORK THAT WE STILL HAVE TO DO INTERNALLY. SO I ABSOLUTELY AGREE THAT, UM, THIS PROPOSAL FOR A BUSINESS LICENSE TAX, UM, IS NOT, SHOULD NOT BE LOOKED AT AS OF THE GOLDEN SOLUTION FOR ALL OF OUR PROBLEMS. ABSOLUTELY NOT. THIS WOULD BE ONE PIECE OF THE SOLUTION. AND AS IT IS PROPOSED TODAY, IT IS A PROPOSAL AND THERE ARE WAYS TO WORK IT. UM, THE ISSUE WITH THE TIMING IS ALSO HIGHLY CONCERNING. UM, WE, WE ARE ON A TIMELINE, RIGHT? IF WE DON'T AGREE TO GET THIS, UH, MOVE IT FORWARD ON AUGUST 4TH, THEN IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN FOR PROBABLY ANOTHER, UM, OPPORTUNITY FOR A SPECIAL ELECTION. SO THESE ARE DIFFICULT DECISIONS. NONE OF THIS IS EASY, AND I ABSOLUTELY APPRECIATE THE FEEDBACK THAT YOU HAVE, UH, PROVIDED ALL OF YOUR INPUT AND YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS IS VERY INFORMATIVE. UM, I HAVE TAKEN IT TO HEART. YOU KNOW, THE FOLKS THAT I'M LOOKING AT, I, A LOT OF YOU I KNOW PERSONALLY, SO TO HEAR YOU, UM, AND, AND KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU ARE SPENDING YOUR IMPORTANT TIME HERE WITH US IN THIS DISCUSSION, UH, DOES GIVE ME THE CONFIDENCE, THE, THE IDEA THAT WE ARE WORKING COLLABORATIVELY ON THIS. YOU KNOW, UM, THERE ARE, WE, WE ARE BOUND BY CERTAIN WAYS IN WHICH WE ARE ABLE TO SPEAK TO EACH OTHER AND CERTAIN WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN MEET AND, AND MAKE DECISIONS. SO THIS IS PART OF THAT PROCESS, AND I THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY. UH, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO MORE DISCUSSIONS, MORE INPUT, UH, MORE SOLUTIONS BECAUSE SOLUTIONS DO HAVE TO COME FORWARD. AND IT'S NOT ONLY IN THE FORM OF ATTACKS, IT ALSO REQUIRES SOLUTIONS FROM MANY OTHER AREAS, INCLUDING INTERNALLY LOOKING AT OUR EXPENDITURES AND, AND WHAT WE PLAN TO DO MOVING FORWARD. THANK YOU. UM, INDEED, I WANNA THANK EVERYONE WHO'S COME OUT TODAY, AND WE'VE HAD DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS, AND THAT'S WHAT OUR COMMUNITY IS ALL ABOUT. AND WHENEVER WE DO DEAL WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS, AT THIS STAGE, AS IT WAS STATED, THIS IS ONLY A PROPOSAL. MATTER OF FACT, WE SAW TWO DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF IT TODAY, UM, THAT IS STILL GOING TO BE DEALT WITH OVER THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS. WE LOOK TO YOUR INPUT CONTINUALLY ON THIS. UH, AND THEN IN TWO WEEKS THERE WOULD, ON THE, UH, AUGUST THE FOURTH, THE COUNCIL WILL COME TOGETHER AND AT THAT POINT MAKE A DECISION. DO WE MOVE AHEAD WITH THIS? WE DO. IN WHAT FORM DO WE MOVE AHEAD WITH IT? AND THAT WOULD ONLY BE TO PUT IT ON THE BALLOT, AND IT WOULD STILL HAVE TO BE DECIDED BY THE, BY THE PEOPLE OF NATIONAL CITY. SO IT IS NONE OF THIS, NONE OF THIS GOES IN STONE AT ANY POINT. BUT AS I SAY, IT STILL [02:40:01] NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT. AND AS THE VICE MAYOR WAS MENTIONING, THIS DOES NOT SOLVE ANYTHING. EVEN IF WE, AT THE HIGHEST NUMBERS, IT DOES NOT SOLVE ANYTHING, WE STILL HAVE A LARGE DEFICIT BEYOND THAT POINT. SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IT IS, WE ARE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN, I THINK THIS HAS BEEN, BEEN MADE MENTIONED IN ONE OF THE, UH, FUNCTIONS WE HAD THE OTHER NIGHT. WE CANNOT MAINTAIN THE SAME LEVEL WE ARE AT RIGHT NOW WITHOUT, NOT ONLY NOT EVEN CONSIDERING THIS OTHER INCOMES AND, AND WHEN THOSE WOULD BE AVAILABLE. SO IT IS, THERE'S A LOT OF HARD DECISIONS IN FRONT OF US. AND, BUT WE AS A COMMUNITY PULLING TOGETHER AND NOT, YOU KNOW, NOT REALIZING, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY, EVERYONE WANTS EVERYTHING MADE WHOLE AND EVERYTHING, EVERYONE WANTS MORE. UH, BUT WHAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE WITH WITHIN OUR MEANS TO MAKE, UH, TO GO AHEAD IN THE FUTURE AND THEN CONTINUE TO BUILD OUR BASE SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE MORE AND MORE SERVICES TO OUR RESIDENTS, TO OUR BUSINESSES, TO OUR VISITORS, ALL THE WAY AROUND. UM, BUT ANYWAY, BUT THOSE DECISIONS, NONE OF THOSE DECISIONS ARE BEING MADE HERE TONIGHT. UM, THE VERY FIRST LEVEL OF DECISIONS WILL BE MADE IN TWO WEEKS. AND SO I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE, UM, TO STILL BE GIVING INPUT. AND I KNOW THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL BE DEALING WITH STAFF WHILE DURING THESE TWO WEEKS, IN FACT, DURING THIS PATIENT THIS NEXT WEEK, TO GET A, A, AN AGENDA OUT. UM, AND ON WHAT INDIVIDUAL THOUGHTS ARE AND EVERYTHING ELSE, AND, AND, UM, WHERE WE CAN OR CAN'T GO WITH THIS AND, UH, AND WHAT, WHAT ALL THE APPETITES ARE. BUT WE NEED THAT INPUT CONSTANTLY FROM CITIZENS, FROM BUSINESSES, UM, SO THAT WE CAN SEE WHAT IS THE REALISTIC APPETITE. UM, WITH THAT, ONCE AGAIN, THANK EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE. WE'RE GONNA BE, WE'VE RECEIVED THE PRESENTATION REGARDING THE BUSINESS IS TAX, ALSO THE BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH FINDINGS, AND ALSO PUBLIC OPINION SURVEY RESULTS. AND FOR TODAY, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT IS YOUR COMMENTS. SO ALL YOUR COMMENTS HAVE BEEN RECORDED. ALL OF THOSE WILL BE, UH, EVALUATED AND BROUGHT, BROUGHT IN AS PART OF THE PROCESS ALSO IN OUR, OUR VERY VALUE. AND SO WITH THAT, WE WILL BE ADJOURNING TO OUR NEXT REGULAR MEETING, WHICH WILL BE ON TUESDAY, AUGUST THE FOURTH AT 5:00 PM THE SPECIAL TIME IS NOT AT 6:00 PM IT WILL BE AT 5:00 PM ON AUGUST THE FOURTH. SO WITH THAT, WE ARE JURY. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.