2026-10-07 - City Council (2)

00:01[music]

00:03The 3:30 p.m. meeting of the Bakersfield

00:06City Council is now [music] in session.

00:13Good afternoon. It's my pleasure to call

00:15to order the 3:30 regular city council

00:17meeting of October 7th, 2026. Madame

00:21Clerk, please call the role.

00:24>> Mayor Go, here.

00:26>> Vice Mayor Core,

00:27>> here. Council member Aras,

00:30Council Member Gonzalez

00:31>> here.

00:33>> Council member Weir,

00:35Council Member Smith,

00:36>> I am here.

00:38>> Council member Coleman

00:40>> here.

00:41>> Council member Basher.

00:44>> Mayor G. I did want to announce that we

00:47received a staff memorandum uh

00:49cancelling the closed session item.

00:52>> Thank you, Madam Clerk. In keeping with

00:54council's resolution, the public

00:55statements portion is divided into two

00:57periods. There's a period for items

00:59listed on the meeting agenda and items

01:01not on the meeting agenda. Additionally,

01:03pursuant to changes in state law, the

01:05city council will now accept public

01:07statements via phone and in person.

01:10Statements for items listed on this

01:12afternoon's agenda are given a

01:13two-minute time limit, 10 minutes for

01:15participants by phone and 10 minutes for

01:17in-person participants for 20 minutes

01:20total. Statements regarding items not

01:22listed on the agenda are also given a

01:24two-minute time limit, 10 minutes for

01:26participants by phone, and 10 minutes

01:28for in-person participants. If you have

01:30written comments that are longer than

01:32your verbal statement, give them to the

01:33clerk who will give copies to the

01:34council. If you're here to make a public

01:36statement, please register using the

01:38kiosk in the back of the chambers where

01:40you entered. Staff are available to

01:42assist if needed. We ask that you select

01:44whether you're here to speak on an item

01:46listed on this afternoon's agenda or a

01:48matter not on the agenda. Speakers who

01:50do not identify specific agenda item

01:52will be presumed speakers for the

01:54non-aggenda portion. Those speakers will

01:56be called during the non-aggenda portion

01:58of the meeting. Everyone in attendance

02:00in person or by phone is expected to

02:03adhere to the rules of decorum

02:05established by resolution of the city

02:07council. Failure to abide by the city's

02:10rules of decorum, including any

02:12disruptive behavior that interferes with

02:14our ability to have an orderly and

02:16efficient meeting, prevents the city

02:18council from conducting the business of

02:20the city. Consider this the first

02:22warning to everyone participating that

02:24conduct that disrupts the meeting may

02:26result in expulsion and or the chambers

02:28being cleared. Behavior that disrupts

02:31the meeting includes repetitive

02:33statements, shouting, hate speech,

02:36interrupting staff or presenters during

02:38the meeting, speaking out of turn,

02:41outbursts from the audience. Telephonic

02:43participants are expected to adhere to

02:45the same rules of decorum as those

02:48attending here in person. Madam clerk,

02:51do we have any public speakers regarding

02:52items not listed on the agenda?

02:56We'll start with the phone comments if

02:58there are any.

03:00We have not we do not have any connected

03:02callers that would like to speak. There

03:04are four in-person speakers.

03:07>> Thank you. And would you call the first

03:08speaker, please?

03:10>> The first speaker the first speaker is

03:12Charles Shin, followed by Michael Orof.

03:16>> Thank you. Welcome. Please introduce

03:18yourself.

03:21>> Good afternoon, Mayor and to the council

03:23members. God bless America. I am Charles

03:25Shen. Rule of law, sanctuary,

03:28homelessness in Bakersfield. The

03:30intersection of rule of law, sanctuary,

03:32and the homeless industrial complex has

03:34become a central issue here and in every

03:37other city in California.

03:41First off, what policies are we as a

03:43city following? The city council seems

03:46happy to be continually in search of

03:48free grants

03:51uh to access the complex issues that

03:54evolve from our governor inviting the

03:57world to come to California for free

03:59stuff and services. Here's a hot tip.

04:02Nothing is free. You always get more of

04:05what you subsidize. Hence, the problem

04:08continues to grow exponentially. When

04:10you create more bureaucracy and taxation

04:13to manage the problem you've invited in

04:15the first place, you cannot fix a

04:18problem by chasing away businesses, oil

04:21production, egg, the use of water, while

04:25pricing out the middle class employees

04:27for free stuff. Inviting global

04:30non-citizens and homeless from across

04:33the nation to compete for an

04:35evershrinking budget, you create chaos.

04:39This is a globalist system taking shape

04:42and it is not happening without

04:44considerable effort and local

04:46participation.

04:48This is the plan. I remind this council

04:51that we have asked for months for a

04:53simple up or down vote for the rule of

04:55law resolution put forth by Dr. Angelo

04:58Frasier. We have been met with silence

05:01and reservation to even discuss it. One

05:04council member said privately he thought

05:06we already were a rule of law city.

05:09Well, we are not a fringe group asking

05:12for something that is unreasonable. We

05:14are requesting that each of you go on

05:16the record for your voters and taxpayers

05:18in Bakersfield. Second, we have

05:21requested the city resend flock systems

05:23as we do not want to live.

05:25>> Mr. Time is up. Go ahead and bring your

05:27comments to a close.

05:28>> We're waiting for an answer. I will

05:30leave this uh

05:31>> with a just right there. Thank you, Mr.

05:33Shin. Next speaker, please.

05:36>> The next speaker is Michael Orof,

05:39followed by Eddie Lane.

05:42>> Welcome. Please introduce yourself.

05:43>> Thank you. I'm Michael Orof.

05:47Council, I'd like to talk about

05:49candidate fraud. I want to ask each

05:52member of the council to consider how

05:55are they verifying how are you all

05:57verifying candidates for your elected

06:00offices not just yourselves but

06:03everything throughout Kern County school

06:05boards included your registar of voters

06:09ROV can be an important part of the

06:11process now let's turn to some bad case

06:14scenarios

06:16first on September 18th KSBY

06:19reports that a woman in Aoyo Grande was

06:22recently found guilty of nine counts

06:25related to voter registration fraud,

06:29false declaration of candidacy and

06:31perjury.

06:33The woman who filed papers to run for

06:35mayor and also San Louis Abyspo County

06:38clerk failed to disclose her correct

06:41residential address as being outside the

06:44appropriate jurisdictions.

06:46She pleaded ignorance for her defense,

06:49but the jury didn't buy it. Second, a

06:52Stockton City Council candidate was

06:55arrested on five felony counts of lying

06:58on papers to file as city council

07:01candidate. His residency was outside her

07:05her residency outside her jurisdiction

07:07of the office she was seeking. The

07:10criminal complaint alleges the lady

07:12knowingly registered to vote in a

07:14precinct where she was not entitled to

07:16register and filed false not nomination

07:20papers. In conclusion, we are seeing bad

07:23actions in prosecutions in other

07:25counties. How can we assess or verify if

07:29our ROV has a rigorous vetting process

07:32for Bakersfield regarding candidates

07:35residences? The common sense approach

07:37tells us that proactive prevention is

07:40better than disruption to our governance

07:43by removal and prosecution of seated

07:46candidates. I think you all would

07:48appreciate this as an opportunity to do

07:51the right thing. Thank you very much.

07:53>> Thank you, Mr. Orof.

07:55>> Madam Clerk, next speaker, please.

07:59>> Eddie Lane, followed by Nester Vega.

08:06Welcome. Please introduce yourself.

08:08>> I'm Eddie Lane. I'm with the Sierra

08:10Club. Thank you for this opportunity.

08:12I'm passing out a draft plan for the use

08:14of $500,000 which the city council

08:17approved uh to purchase trees June 24th,

08:212026. New upfront funding for trees

08:24based upon voices from the community,

08:27the same voices which now tend to get

08:29more attention during the election

08:31season. the importance of tree

08:33maintenance in all wards

08:35and uh re and remains our primary

08:38concern from the Sierra Club. The

08:41removal by the city of 700 trees last

08:44year, many for lack of water uh during

08:46that last fiscal year and the planting

08:48of 700 trees, that's a 1:1 ratio is not

08:51do not doing what we need to be done.

08:54Whatever funding is spent needs to be

08:56well spent. What you have in draft form

08:59is the community-based proposal for the

09:02use of these funds with nonprofit and

09:04public agencies with with costly

09:06irrigation infrastructure in place or

09:09with funding identified and with enough

09:11maintenance staff to nourish the trees

09:13as they grow. This plan was based upon

09:16community meetings uh with three major

09:19community meetings at two or at six

09:21o'clock in the evening so the community

09:23could actually be there. It was based

09:25upon collaboration with the leadership

09:28council of justice and accountability

09:29and building healthy communities. We

09:32also invited and they were there members

09:34of the uh parks and recreation tag their

09:37tree tree advisory committee. The

09:39director of parks and recreation was at

09:41the last meeting. So we've had lots of

09:43community input and that's how this

09:46proposal got got drafted. It still is in

09:49draft form. I want to emphasize that.

09:51But the goal is to spend these $500,000

09:54wisely and make sure that the

09:56infrastructure is there for the trees

09:58when they're planted. Thank you. Thank

10:00you, Mr. Lane. Madam Clerk, next

10:02speaker, please.

10:04>> The next speaker is Nester Vega.

10:10Welcome. Please introduce yourself.

10:12>> My name is Nester Vega. I'm a full stack

10:13software engineer. The biggest issue

10:15I've noticed in Bakersville, California

10:17is that there's a bunch of lost pets. I

10:20developed a mobile AI application that

10:21helps with that. Um, somebody could mark

10:24their pet as lost. It's going to send a

10:26notification to everyone within a five

10:28mile radius that the pet is lost. If

10:30somebody sees it, they could scan it

10:32with AI. And if it's a 92% chance or

10:34higher um to an owner, they could they

10:37will get a pinstyle notification letting

10:39them know where their pet was scanned.

10:41Essentially letting them reunite with

10:43their lost pet. I have currently 200

10:45live users and 12 success stories. So,

10:4712 pets have been reunited with their

10:49owners. Um, and my ask today is, will I

10:52be able to get some resources to um

10:54connect with shelters or other pet

10:56related businesses to essentially get

10:58this company out and um establish here

11:01in Bakersville, California. That's what

11:03my ask is today.

11:04>> Thank you, Mr. Vega.

11:05>> Thank you so much,

11:06>> Madam Clerk. Do we have any other public

11:08speakers?

11:10>> Oh, Margo, that was the last speaker.

11:12>> Thank you. And next item, please. Do we

11:15have any students here from Bakersville

11:17College?

11:19Welcome and CSUB.

11:22Well, thank you for engaging in the

11:23process. All right, we'll move on to the

11:26next item, please.

11:32Reports item 4A, presentation on the

11:35city of Bakersfield gun violence

11:37reduction strategy.

11:39>> Thank you, Mr. Clerk.

11:40>> Thank you, mayor and council.

11:41presentation is in response to a recent

11:44referral to request an update on uh

11:47those activities that the city has

11:49undertaken related to gun violence uh

11:52intervention and prevention. We'll try

11:54and give a little bit of a broader

11:56perspective um than just specifically

11:58what the city's working on right this

12:00minute. Um but also it'll be focused on

12:02on our programs that uh have been in

12:05place for the last about four to five

12:08years. I want to just recognize some of

12:10the team who's here supporting us today.

12:12We have Chief Stratton who's here and

12:15support of the team. Lieutenant Ursery

12:17who's here, also Jose Via from the

12:19police department who handles a lot of

12:21the data on behalf of the law

12:23enforcement side of this partnership and

12:25that's important. We also have Crystal

12:27Rubio, our manager of the office of

12:29violence intervention and prevention.

12:31Um, we also have Sandy Simmons and

12:33Mercedes Mayors who are part of the OIP

12:35team as well. Um and there are many

12:38other team members who support this

12:40effort, those are just those that are

12:42here with us in chambers today.

12:45So to give some perspective about the

12:48different uh angles that that we should

12:50look at when we think about gun

12:52violence, there is of course prevention

12:54which is about reducing future risk.

12:56There's intervention which is about

12:58addressing the immediate risk that's

13:00right in front of us or could be right

13:01in front of us if we don't step in. And

13:04then there is the suppression uh element

13:06which does focus on accountability uh

13:08for those who may have already engaged

13:10in gun violence.

13:14And as we [clears throat] just kind of

13:15think about these same buckets uh you

13:17think about uh uh as that sort of circle

13:20fills up uh you know again we're trying

13:23to do prevention before risk escalates.

13:25Intervention is when it is already acute

13:28and then when enforcement is necessary

13:30that's where we step in with the

13:31suppression piece.

13:34uh when you think about prevention,

13:35prevention can actually include a a

13:37number of different things and and

13:39definitionally it can be a challenge

13:42even amongst service providers who

13:44provide those preventative services. Uh

13:46when I started getting into this space

13:48uh more than a decade ago um and

13:51studying how do uh communities reduce

13:54violence, I quickly found myself

13:57learning about early childhood

13:58education, about quality food, quality

14:02housing, um trying to help individuals

14:05transition well through from middle

14:07school to high school and high school to

14:08either you know a career or to to

14:11college. And so if you think about the

14:13social determinants of health, those are

14:15all things that can impact whether

14:16someone is vulnerable or at risk of

14:19future violence. We we'll talk about

14:22some of the challenges though because

14:24that could be a large number of

14:26individuals. And so when we think about

14:28prevention, there are many worthwhile

14:30activities. Uh you know, mentoring

14:33again, education, other supports, uh

14:36good programs and services that are

14:38available to individuals. uh but it is

14:41also a a challenge to identify uh the

14:45funding for all of these types of

14:47programs and connect the right

14:49individuals with those types of programs

14:51as well.

14:53Uh again uh it's not just about the

14:55individual, it's about their social

14:57network, their families, their

14:59neighborhoods, their community, schools

15:01and and uh also their immediate social

15:04networks of of friends as well. But it

15:08and again it is lower risk and it is a

15:11very broad application um and in part by

15:16because of the nature of it but also in

15:17part just because of the sheer numbers.

15:21Also important to note that prevention

15:23can take a long time. You may not see

15:25results of prevention efforts for five

15:27or 10 years in let's say a classroom, a

15:32family, a neighborhood, a school. It can

15:34take a long time. um and uh sometimes it

15:40is difficult to track that

15:41longitudinally over time as well.

15:45By comparison, intervention is take

15:48identifying very high-risisk individuals

15:51who are at imminent risk of violence. We

15:54suspect that they're already in

15:56behaviors that are uh putting them at

15:59risk of harm, whether they're um picking

16:02up guns themselves, whether they're

16:04interacting with individuals who are

16:05picking up guns, whether they're getting

16:07into other uh assaultive altercations,

16:11and it has a lot to do uh again with

16:13social networks as well. Who who are

16:15they spending their time with? And we do

16:18uh outreach first. We do outreach and

16:20engagement.

16:22uh we uh well actually first was we

16:25identify those individuals and we'll

16:26I'll come to some more information about

16:28that in in a moment but it's really

16:30important to identify the right

16:31individuals have good data and then we

16:35outreach to those individuals we do

16:37interruption uh we try to do everything

16:39we can to reduce harm that's our first

16:42step uh down the road we'd like to move

16:44towards that long-term sustainability

16:46that the first step is just interruption

16:48and then we do offer services and

16:50intensive case management in in order to

16:52help them achieve that long-term

16:54stability.

16:56Uh these intervention support services

16:58could look pretty similar to some of the

16:59prevention services, but they are much

17:01more focused. Um the majority of the

17:04individuals who are at very high risk of

17:06gun violence, they do not have stable

17:08housing. um they may not have the

17:12education or training to have

17:15significant employment and and many

17:18individuals actually do have employment

17:19but they're often undermployed. They

17:22could uh be doing uh bigger and better

17:24things. Uh they also are have limited

17:27transportation. They um uh many of them

17:30have challenges with basic needs like

17:33food and even clothing. Um, and also we

17:37know with some of the the uh trauma that

17:40individuals have faced, there are

17:41significant behavioral health needs that

17:43we can step in and address. Very often

17:47we start with the most basic needs. I

17:49guess it's to the far right. This is not

17:51necessarily like some of our other

17:53slides that suggest a left to right

17:54progression. We often start with just

17:58how do we help make sure they're they

17:59have food in their belly, that they have

18:02a safe place to stay, and then we start

18:04working on other things. Many

18:06individuals often do not even have

18:08access to birth certificates, social

18:09security cards, other government

18:11documentation that can help lead them

18:13towards, you know, pursuing some of

18:16these uh other achievements like um

18:18education, employment, and and housing.

18:21And so we are stepping in uh early and

18:25quickly to offer supportive services to

18:27individuals that have received some of

18:29that outreach.

18:31Um we'll cover suppression at high

18:33level. Then we're actually going to come

18:34back to intervention in a little bit

18:36more. But um it is important to note

18:38that sometimes there are individuals who

18:41are actively participating in gun

18:44violence and the message from our

18:46community is we have to stop. Stop the

18:49violence. put guns down and and achieve

18:52safety. And so we have enforcement and

18:56that enforcement we've learned in recent

18:59years how to be more focused. And we'll

19:02talk again a little bit more about this

19:03as we go, but when you have limited

19:05resources, you really need to focus

19:06those resources to where they're going

19:08to have the greatest impact. And uh we

19:11have uh very good individuals in our

19:15special enforcement units and in our

19:16detectives who can follow up with

19:18individuals who have um perpetrated acts

19:22of gun violence. And we work closely

19:25with our partners and with the criminal

19:27justice system to achieve

19:29accountability, which is something I

19:31would just note really quickly. One of

19:33our biggest challenges around chronic

19:36low-level crimes is that there is a lack

19:38of accountability in the criminal

19:39justice system. When it comes to these

19:42types of more um egregious violent

19:47offenses, we do have accountability in

19:49the criminal justice system where we

19:51have the ability to make those charges,

19:53hold those individuals and hold them

19:54accountable. And so uh we we do focused

19:59enforcement um for those individuals who

20:01are at the heart of gun violence.

20:04Again comparing the earlier prevention

20:06versus intervention broad versus very

20:09focused early versus when we know we're

20:12addressing an issue that's right in

20:13front of us. Um that would try to focus

20:16on protective factors versus you know

20:19giving that intensive support to help

20:21people have a shift in their lives. have

20:23already kind of gone down a path uh that

20:25is a challenging path. Uh we know that

20:28prevention has that long-term impact but

20:30it also can take a long time and so we

20:32have actually focused on intervention as

20:35our primary uh focus because it has that

20:38immediate impact and it can also serve

20:40into the long term. Uh we want to be be

20:43able to work with community partners

20:45that can help benefit the entire

20:47community. But the first step is to stop

20:50the immediate threat that is in front of

20:52us.

20:53So here's what I mentioned earlier about

20:55this broad population. You might think

20:57about uh unfortunately in in our

21:00community there may be you know as many

21:03as tens of thousands of children who

21:06have some of these risk factors. Um

21:08that's just the reality of of some of

21:11the socioeconomics in our community

21:12today. Many partners are working on that

21:16issue. It's not us alone and we do not

21:18have full jurisdiction for all that. We

21:20we don't control all issues around

21:22education, around housing, around

21:23nutrition, around health care access.

21:26So, it's important for the city to be

21:27willing to be a partner and a convener

21:29to work on addressing these broad

21:32population prevention factors, but we do

21:35not have the jurisdiction or the

21:36resources to try and reach those tens of

21:39thousands of children in city

21:41specifically funded programs across the

21:43board. Uh and also unfortunately and

21:46this is one note that I would just say

21:48is no one in this this country has

21:51cracked the code to determine which

21:55individuals who may be at low or medium

21:58risk are ultimately going to be those

22:00who are at become very high risk

22:02individuals. We know that it creates a

22:04certain level of vulnerability to become

22:07more at risk. But uh for every child who

22:11you know deserves um better food and and

22:14and better education and better

22:16mentorship um there's not a direct

22:18correlation to those individuals who uh

22:20ultimately become more involved in

22:23intensive activities like gun violence.

22:26And so with our limited resources, we're

22:29really looking at this higher risk and

22:32ultimately very high-risisk individuals

22:35to intervene with that intensive

22:37support. We know who they are. we can

22:39intervene and make a difference today,

22:41tomorrow with those individuals.

22:44We'd like to find again better solutions

22:46in the long-term big picture with

22:49partnership and collaboration with many

22:51other agencies to continue to help that

22:53broad population receive preventative

22:55services. But with our limited

22:57resources, we can focus on those who

22:59today we know need that help. And we

23:02have, you know, we've seen those good

23:03results which we'll we'll walk through.

23:08Oops.

23:10Okay. So, understanding our problem is a

23:13really important piece of this. You have

23:15to have really good data. And we've

23:17talked about this before publicly, but I

23:19wanted to reiterate that we've done what

23:20we call a problem analysis. We've we've

23:23identified um we

23:26what really is driving the violence in

23:28our community. So, we looked over a

23:312-year period at 200 total incidents, 70

23:34homicides, 130 fatal non-fatal

23:36shootings, and we dug deep into the

23:38details of who, where, when, and what

23:42was driving that violence. And it and it

23:44paints a picture for us where we can

23:46really understand that it is a very

23:48small number of individuals who are

23:50involved in that violence. And so, as

23:51we've shared before, you know, 70% of

23:55shooting victims and suspects had had

23:57prior criminal justice system contact.

24:00Um, it's very geographically narrow as

24:05well. And we know that it's less than

24:07onetenth of 1% of the entire city

24:10population is doing about 70% of gun

24:13violence. I shouldn't say doing. That

24:16was true before we started our program,

24:18but as we started our program, we've

24:20made progress. So it's actually a lower

24:21number uh percentage of gun violence.

24:24But when we started the program, less

24:25than onetenth of 1% of the population

24:27was doing upwards of 70% of gun

24:30violence. For a city of Bakersfield

24:32size, that uh really means about 150

24:36individuals plus or minus. So we're not

24:39talking about hundreds and hundreds of

24:41individuals who are doing large amounts

24:43of gun violence. It's a very small uh

24:46segment of the community. And that means

24:49we can make an impact. We can help. We

24:52can intervene and we can make a

24:53difference with that small of a

24:55population.

24:57We also know that uh the ages of

25:00individuals uh uh typically are older

25:02than many suspect. They they think maybe

25:05we should be engaging with you know kids

25:06in elementary schools and junior highs,

25:09even high schools. The reality is it's

25:1118 to 35 across the board. And if you

25:14look at um between shootings and

25:16homicides, you'll see a slight disparity

25:18there between the age groups, but

25:20overall it is a much older population

25:23who is at the heart of gun violence.

25:25That doesn't mean there aren't some

25:26young people who engage in gun violence.

25:28Many of the older individuals who might

25:30be calling these shots are giving

25:32directions to young people today to go

25:34and do violence. Uh but the people who

25:37are at the heart of it are typically

25:39older. We also though know that they it

25:41is disproportionate to young men of

25:43color. We have um African-American and

25:45Hispanic young men who are

25:47disproportionately impacted by violence

25:50in our community. And we don't do this

25:52to do um some kind of a profiling. But

25:55what we do do is we do this to

25:57understand who are the groups and the

25:59individuals that we can go and do our

26:01outreach and do our intervention and

26:04make a difference and make a change.

26:07So, we do have criteria. Um, just to

26:09give a sense of this, you know, we're

26:11not trying to get too far into the

26:12weeds, but when we take on a very

26:14high-risisk client, it's because we've

26:17checked the data and we're certain that

26:19they are um, again, one of those

26:22individuals who's the closest to the

26:23violence and who we need to help because

26:25we're worried about them. We want to

26:27keep them safe and we want to keep them

26:28out of jail. And uh so we we reach out

26:31to those individuals uh to first offer

26:34services and offer this message of

26:36respectful communication that we we do

26:39care about them and worried about them,

26:40but also we give them a strong message

26:42that if they don't put down their guns,

26:45enforcement is going to be real for

26:47individuals who are close to gun

26:49violence.

26:51So again, this is a lot on a screen.

26:54It's not intended to go step by step,

26:56but this just gives you a sense that we

26:58have a logic model. We have a management

27:01cycle where we review every week every

27:07gun instance that occur, gun violence

27:09instance that occurs in our community,

27:11whether it's non-fatal, uh whether it's

27:14a miss, whether it's a a homicide, we

27:16look at them and dissect them every

27:18week. It's a fairly relentless cycle.

27:20And so again, I I give thanks to our

27:22team who is on this every week because

27:25you can't let it sit. If you let it sit

27:272, three, four weeks, then things can

27:30spin out. There can be retaliatory gun

27:32violence that occurs. And uh we also

27:36can't get in there quickly with family

27:38members or individuals and help them see

27:41a different path when you know they're

27:43experiencing that kind of trauma. And so

27:45um the blue boxes represent law

27:47enforcement. And so there are pieces of

27:49this that are specific to law

27:50enforcement. They provide information to

27:53our outreach teams. It's a one-way

27:55communication. We don't provide

27:56information back to law enforcement, but

27:58our teams in the yellow boxes take that

28:00information and they deploy outreach

28:03workers to go and make these

28:04interventions. We have partners at

28:07Garden Pathways who go to the hospital

28:10and um are able to engage in violence

28:14intervention directly in hospitals where

28:16often uh emotions are high and and

28:19individuals are congregating you know

28:21after these types of incidents. But

28:23ultimately we work with those

28:25individuals and those highest risk

28:27groups towards a place where they can

28:30accept services. they can receive life

28:32coaching and in the long term you know

28:35that that um success story that can come

28:37out of that.

28:40Um we've kind of covered this already uh

28:43but just just wanted to give a

28:44reflection that you know there is

28:48uh a low-level need to engage with

28:51individuals build trust until they're

28:53ready to have a shift in their mentality

28:56before they're really ready for that

28:58type of intensive case management. And

29:00we have individuals who are working in

29:02each of these steps along this

29:04continuum.

29:07This also just gives a a sense uh that

29:11because individuals who are at very high

29:13risk have had many interactions with the

29:16criminal justice system and with law

29:18enforcement, they are challenging

29:20individuals to work uh with as far as

29:23having trust in those systems and being

29:25willing to accept accept some of those

29:27services. And so, uh, with our, um,

29:30high-risisk individuals, we call it

29:32relentless pursuit. We're asking

29:34individuals to go and knock on doors of

29:36people they don't know, but that we know

29:38who are at high risk and make contact

29:41and build up rapport and build up

29:43relationships. And so, it takes many

29:45different um, types of services and and

29:49facets of our outreach and engagement to

29:53find that one that does make that

29:55connection. And then we start building

29:56that rapport with the individual and can

29:58lead to additional um good services as

30:03that trust is built and as we start

30:04providing good outcomes and as they

30:07start achieving their own good outcomes

30:09as they make changes in their lives.

30:13This is again just a an example of our

30:16uh logic model and mentality where you

30:19know we're trying to uh immediately uh

30:22help reduce that harm, get people safe,

30:25get them stabilized and then they can

30:27have their individual goals. We do have

30:29safety plans. We have then we also have

30:31life plans uh where how do we just get

30:34them safe and then but we work with them

30:36to create their own plans for how are

30:38they going to achieve positive outcomes

30:40in the long run.

30:44It's worth noting again the partners

30:46that we work with here. So, uh, law

30:48enforcement has a a piece around uh,

30:51looking closely at the data and the

30:53investigations. Um, but there are some

30:55individuals who need that law

30:57enforcement attention. They're not

30:58putting down the guns and they need to

31:00be held accountable. We have now with

31:03our office of violence intervention and

31:04prevention, uh, we are like project

31:07managers, facilitators. We take the

31:09information, we work with our community

31:10based organizations, we provide support,

31:13but we also, you know, give assignments

31:15and then we do a lot of tracking. The

31:17amount of data that we're able to

31:18collect now, even compared to four or

31:20five years ago, is really remarkable. We

31:22have a very good data collection system.

31:25And uh we we have so much more

31:26information about this than we we did

31:28before. Um but ultimately we have really

31:32important partners in our community

31:33based organizations because they have

31:35individuals who have uh trust and

31:37credibility in the community. They have

31:39lived experience and they can go reach

31:41these individuals in ways that's very

31:42hard for us. We have some members of our

31:44OVIP team that can make those type of

31:46connections as well. But uh we re really

31:49are relying on our community based

31:51organizations to provide that case

31:52management, some of that outreach as

31:55well as the relationship building and

31:57and helping transition folks into

31:59intensive case management.

32:04Just wanted to comment for a minute

32:06about again the importance of this data.

32:09uh we have a very good sense of what's

32:12driving violence in our community and

32:14because of that we've been able to take

32:16our limited resources and and produce

32:18the type of outcomes that you'll see

32:19here shortly. It's very focused, super

32:23coordinated. We have to be in constant

32:25communication and we check back against

32:28our data. We we don't just um collect

32:31the data. We set targets. We have key

32:34metrics and we have targets for our

32:36community based organizations that they

32:38also need to meet as contracts um that

32:41the city has with them. And we also make

32:45sure that as we look at these incidents,

32:48we compare the data of who we're

32:50engaging with and what the incidents are

32:53telling us of who's driving the

32:54violence. There have been a few times

32:56where we said, you know what, there's a

32:57group out here that's getting the

32:59violence is picking up with this group

33:00and we're not engaging with them. we

33:02need to now go engage with that group.

33:04And some groups we've been able to

33:05really quiet things down and um we

33:09always are vigilant, but we can shift

33:11some of our attention to those groups

33:12that are most active today. And so um

33:15the performance uh and datadriven

33:17aspects um are really important

33:19together.

33:23This is a a really quick uh picture. I'm

33:26not even going to name all of these.

33:27This is just to give you the sense that

33:29again we are measuring against important

33:32key performance indicators on a monthly

33:34basis uh to to make sure that our

33:36program is producing those kind of

33:38results and impacts. And here is the

33:40impact that that we're referencing. So

33:43from 2021 to 2024 we saw a 74% reduction

33:47in both fatal and non-fatal shootings.

33:50um that is one of the largest. It's the

33:53you know we we've scanned other

33:55communities and our technical assistance

33:57partners who are also really important

33:58in this work. We work with the

34:00University of Pennsylvania crime and

34:02policy um lab or they're the the

34:04pre-minent folks uh in the country

34:06working on this type of research and and

34:09also um technical assistance. uh they've

34:12scanned other communities and you know

34:14we're in the top five communities who

34:16have seen significant reductions in the

34:19last five years in gun violence and we

34:23have seen reductions across the the

34:25state and the nation in gun violence.

34:28That's good. We're happy that

34:29communities are safer across the nation,

34:32but our reductions are significantly

34:35more than the trend line of reductions

34:38you've seen across the country. And we

34:40actually had an impact analysis

34:43conducted by the University of

34:44Pennsylvania that correlated our

34:47reductions to the work that we're doing.

34:49We're actually having a full evaluation

34:52done which is a a um a deeply analytical

34:56peer-reviewed research project that

34:59University of Pennsylvania will tie

35:01statistically

35:03um the work that we're doing to the

35:04results that we're achieving. But even

35:06in this initial impact analysis, you

35:08know, there's a high correlation between

35:10the work that we're doing and the

35:12significant results that we've seen. I

35:15think to put things into perspective

35:16because again, you know, any homicide or

35:19any shooting is one too many.

35:22And when we have an incident like we

35:24had, you know, recently uh where we have

35:27a shooting at a high school that people

35:33are concerned and that is fair concern

35:35because any instance as I mentioned is

35:37one instance too many and particular

35:39particularly at a place where people

35:41feel should be safe and that we can

35:43congregate.

35:46If you think about the number of uh

35:49shootings and homicides that occurred in

35:512021, we had 60 homicides. 17 of those

35:55were gun gang related homicides.

36:00In 2026, we have had one gun gang

36:04related homicide in the entirety of this

36:06year. It was very unfortunate that it

36:08happened to be the incident that

36:10happened at Independence High School

36:11recently.

36:13What we know about that incident is that

36:15those that the individuals involved were

36:17both they they were involved in group

36:19activity, meaning they were part of

36:22gangs or groups that were actively in um

36:26retaliation with one another. And uh

36:31the reality too is that you know we were

36:34trying to reach those individuals

36:36because they had been identified as very

36:38high risk. And so there is potentially

36:42what some could say some uh failure that

36:45we didn't get to them as soon as we had

36:46hoped to, but we were actively pursuing

36:49them and trying to get them into

36:51services and supports.

36:53And that tells us again that we we are

36:56finding the right individuals and we're

36:59pursuing the right indivi individuals

37:00and we are making huge progress in these

37:03remarkable reductions in group um

37:07violence in our community. Uh

37:10and so again I would reiterate to our

37:14community we are in a safe community.

37:16Our the safety of our community has

37:18improved drastically in the last 5 years

37:21to the degree that it is a very isolated

37:23incident. When we have an isolated

37:25incident like that it is upsetting to

37:27our community. I actually take that in

37:29some sense as a good sign that we've

37:31been able to reduce violence so much

37:33across the community that when we have

37:35an incident like that, it is troubling

37:37to our community. Um, but I also would

37:41reassert a comment that I made at a

37:43prior city council meeting that, you

37:45know, those 17 individuals who were

37:47victims of gun violence homicides in

37:492021,

37:51um, you know, their their stories and

37:54their lives are really important as

37:56well. And they typically those were

37:58occurring in our disadvantaged

38:00neighborhoods and we have provided our

38:03outreach and our services to individuals

38:06at highest risk in those neighborhoods

38:08and in those groups so that we can have

38:10better outcomes for them at the

38:12individual level. This is not just about

38:14community violence reduction. It's about

38:16also changing outcomes for individuals

38:19who are at risk and doing it in a way

38:22that follows best practices in policing

38:25and procedural justice. We're finding

38:27that you can increase community trust in

38:30law enforcement and government if you

38:32pursue these types of programs using the

38:35right principles and approaches. And

38:36we're seeing that play out with our

38:38individuals and groups close to gun

38:40violence. uh we're we're increasing

38:43their levels of trust in um our partners

38:45who are part of this program.

38:48Last thought on our impact and key

38:50findings is we did see well actually let

38:52me switch over to these uh two slides

38:55where this just shows you that

38:57significant downward trend.

39:00We saw um incredible results through

39:032024.

39:05Actually, as I mentioned, in 2021, we

39:07had 17 gun gang related homicides. In

39:1123, there were, excuse me, in 2024,

39:14there were only three, and in 2025,

39:16there were only three. Um, we saw a

39:19little bit of an uptick in overall

39:20homicides in 2025. Interestingly, those

39:23were not group related. We actually had

39:25a number of um non-related homicides

39:29that we've been doing some additional

39:30data analysis on to understand if

39:32there's some other trends going on

39:33around domestic violence or robberies or

39:35or other issues. And we're actually

39:38engaging University of Pennsylvania to

39:39help us in in analyzing those to to to

39:42see if we can find patterns about other

39:44ways we can um prevent those types of

39:47things happening in our community in

39:49future years. But then in 2026 um as

39:52noted we've seen again a another

39:55remarkable reduction in homicides that

39:58reflects that there are 10 homicides

40:00year to date. We would be projected if

40:02just a you know straight line projection

40:05of those numbers that we would be at 15

40:07homicides uh for this year and that

40:10would put us for the first time in

40:12probably two decades below the state and

40:14national averages for gun violence in in

40:17our community. Most large urban

40:21communities do not go below state and

40:22national averages because um we have

40:26more complicated urban environments. Um

40:29but uh you know these remarkable

40:30reductions would put us at a place that

40:32we just we haven't been in in two

40:34decades. Uh similar trends on shootings

40:37and actually in 2025 we continue to see

40:39a downward trend on shootings. The

40:41proportion of homicides that were not

40:44related to shootings in 2025 really

40:46stood out to us because shootings were

40:48still down. yet there was a slight

40:50increase in homicide. So, we've been

40:51paying attention to that and again

40:53trying to understand what that means and

40:55how to do more prevention and we've seen

40:57um a slight uptick um in shootings this

41:01year while even though homicides are

41:02significantly down and so we're

41:04continuing to stay very vigilant. we're

41:06we're you know out every week and um

41:10making sure that we keep an eye on gun

41:13violence uh to um make as much

41:16intervention as possible.

41:19So just closing out a little bit um u

41:22the overall um topic,

41:27it's important to uh acknowledge that uh

41:30we continue to um monitor our progress.

41:33We know there's more work to be done.

41:35and we've seen incredible results, but

41:36there's more work to be done. We think

41:37we can make our program even better. Uh

41:40we've identified some ways through our

41:42our current uh grant cycle, which

41:44started in April, and it will be uh a

41:47three-year grant, $5 million grant from

41:49the state, as well as public safety

41:51vital services tax dollars that we've

41:53invested to make this program work. Um

41:56that uh we're we can add elements to our

41:59program to be even better in that case

42:01management and life coaching aspect. And

42:04then we're going to continue to make

42:05adjustments and refine our strategies uh

42:07so that we can continue to then go out

42:09and do better, engage with the right

42:11individuals and help, you know, again

42:12them continue to to stabilize and and be

42:15better. But we want to build this as a

42:18way of doing work. This is not a

42:19one-time project where you do it for two

42:21years or three years or 5 years and then

42:23you can say we're done. Unfortunately,

42:26um, in our society today, some of these

42:29issues cycle through, whether they may

42:31be generational cycles or whether they

42:34may be economic cycles, we have to

42:36continue to do this work. And we want to

42:39make sure that it's sustained in in how

42:41we set up our operations as both an

42:44office of violence intervention and

42:46prevention as well as the police

42:47department.

42:49It's just worth noting before we close,

42:51even though at the outset I had said

42:53we're focused more on intervention

42:54because it's within our jurisdiction,

42:56it's within our means. We have done some

42:59prevention um programs. We actually had

43:01some dollars uh that were related to

43:04ARPA and we've had public safety vital

43:06services dollars that we've made some

43:08targeted uh investments. We actually had

43:10a referral, and I actually can't

43:12remember if this referral was four years

43:14ago or 5 years ago, but we had a

43:17referral to research evidence-based best

43:20practices and prevention to determine

43:22which types of programs lead to the best

43:24types of outcomes, which again I

43:26mentioned earlier, sometimes when you

43:27have that broad application of of sort

43:30of overarching preventative services,

43:32it's hard to measure their impact. And

43:34so we noted that um uh the ability to uh

43:38have individuals receive educational

43:41assistance and for individuals to

43:44receive literary assistance as well as

43:47um job training and job uh readiness.

43:50That those were the types of programs

43:52that were able to demonstrate some of

43:54those biggest returns on your

43:55investment. And so we had some um grant

43:58programs that we offered up with those

44:00funds. Unfortunately, we we don't have

44:03those funds in an ongoing basis and so

44:06we haven't been able to maintain all of

44:08the programs but we do continue our

44:10program with Kern County Library um

44:13related to u that literacy as a

44:16important prevention mode as well as the

44:19library serving as community hubs where

44:21services are available and individuals

44:23can can connect with the many other

44:25multitude of services that other

44:27nonprofits and other government agencies

44:29provide. um as important community hubs.

44:32And so uh we have the ability to do some

44:34small work in prevention, but the most

44:36important role I believe we can play in

44:38prevention is to be a convenor and a

44:40facilitator of these other agencies and

44:43and organizations that do that good work

44:46and make sure that um we're connecting

44:48those dots while we really focus on

44:51intervention. and we've seen the results

44:53play out as we have focused on the

44:55intervention and the suppression uh as a

44:58city uh while trying to help other

45:00partners do good prevention. So with

45:03that, I'm happy to take any questions

45:04from council.

45:05>> Thank you, Mr. Kle,

45:11Council Member Gonzalez.

45:13>> Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Mr.

45:14Kle, for the presentation, and thank you

45:16to staff for preparing this

45:18presentation. Um,

45:21I had made the referral a few weeks ago

45:24and I'm very pleased that um, staff was

45:27able to in a very expedient way uh, turn

45:29around a report. Um, and I just want to

45:32compliment and commend all of the folks

45:35who have been part of this effort uh,

45:37for so long. Uh, so many uh, community

45:40based organizations, certainly many many

45:43folks within city hall uh, who have been

45:46working really hard on this effort. Um,

45:48and just on behalf of my community, some

45:51of the areas that are hardest hit by gun

45:54violence, um, I just want to thank all

45:57of you for, uh, the efforts on making

45:59our community safer for all people, for

46:01all of our families, and certainly for

46:03all children.

46:04>> Council member, if I may, I failed to

46:06name our partners, and I think I I I did

46:08a disservice in that. And so,

46:10>> we've worked uh, through several grant

46:13cycles. Um, and some of the partners

46:16have changed in their role. um between

46:18the different grant cycles, but we've

46:20worked really closely with Stay Focus

46:22Ministries, Wendell Davis Foundation, a

46:24garden pathways. We work with Compassion

46:26Christian Center, CapKidance,

46:31>> Children.

46:32>> Oh, yeah. Child guidance counseling as

46:34well have been important partners who

46:35have have really uh worked um side by

46:39side with us and and we actually commend

46:42as well many of the school districts

46:43have the school the superintendent of

46:45schools and and current high school

46:47district. They've assigned staff to come

46:49and collaborate with us when necessary

46:51if there's some overlap in some of the

46:52work that they're doing. And so, uh,

46:55those partners again do things that we

46:57can't do.

46:59>> Great. Thank you. And, you know, it just

47:00occurred to me, you know, the difference

47:01between headlines and treadlines, you

47:04know, and and headlines, obviously,

47:06there was a significant and very scary

47:08and very real and serious incident that

47:09happened just a few weeks ago in our

47:11community and we have to be responsive

47:13of that and know we are. Um, but we also

47:15have to look at the trend lines and

47:16understand what what serious work we're

47:18doing to reduce gun violence, to reduce

47:21gang violence in our community. Um, and

47:24so I I do believe this is the right

47:25work. I I had a couple of questions if I

47:27may. Um, and um, I apologize if it if if

47:32I'm just looking at it through a

47:33critical lens, but it's not at all

47:35intended to be critical. So, please, uh,

47:37use that as a caveat. Um, just a

47:40question about the data and how it's

47:41presented. Why analyze the raw numbers

47:45and not population adjusted rates?

47:49>> It's a great question, Council Member.

47:51We actually do both. So what I presented

47:53today were just the raw numbers.

47:55>> Um but we have um also u translated

48:01those into population adjusted rates

48:03especially when we're doing um some of

48:05our presentations or or conversations

48:08with other communities because on a per

48:10capita basis it does matter. We are a

48:12large community and um the police

48:14department is actually increasingly

48:16looking at per capita rates not just for

48:18violent crime but for all crime types.

48:21So we can look at both and that does

48:23matter.

48:24>> Yeah, I think it tells an even more

48:25compelling story given how quickly our

48:28city has grown in population. Uh and it

48:31and I think it underscores the

48:33effectiveness of uh investments in this

48:35nature. Um I just want to point out too,

48:37you know, when I graduated from college

48:40and was trying to decide what I want to

48:41do with the rest of my life, I decided

48:43to move home to Bakersville in part

48:46because of the amount of gang violence

48:48that had been occurring in our

48:50community. And when I moved back,

48:51actually that's where I met the mayor

48:52for the first time back in 2006. Uh and

48:55she was doing work already in the

48:57community and so was u so many others uh

49:01early in the early days, stop the

49:03violence and whatnot. Um and uh that was

49:06really inspiring to see the community

49:08come together at that point. Uh and so,

49:11you know, fast forward 20 years, it is

49:14really encouraging and um

49:18heartwarming uh to see all of the the

49:21effort and investment being made to

49:23really uh get to this in a comprehensive

49:27and a systemic way. So again, thank you

49:30so much for that. But I was looking at

49:31the numbers, there's like 32 homicides

49:33in 2005. Uh but I imagine if we adjust

49:36that for the population per capita

49:38that's a huge number u given how much

49:41we've grown. Um you also mentioned that

49:4414% of city land area accounts for

49:47violence. Um, and I think it's no secret

49:50to this council or to city staff or how

49:53much I've been a proponent of

49:54investments within our some of our most

49:57disadvantaged areas, particularly as it

49:58relates to streets improvement, sidewalk

50:02improvements, investment, and economic

50:04development, infield development, even

50:07street lighting. uh all of those there's

50:10all of those uh efforts and investments

50:13have been shown to actually help uh make

50:16communities safer and healthier as well.

50:18Um

50:20so my my question I guess is how is

50:23staff

50:26thinking about environmental design and

50:28and environmental change as it relates

50:30to reinvestment in some of our most

50:31disadvantaged areas moving forward.

50:34Again, a good question, council member,

50:36and and as I talked through, you know,

50:38some of the prevention efforts that

50:40we're making, uh, also, you know, um,

50:43did a disservice to not mention some of

50:45the things that aren't maybe direct

50:47prevention services. But, um, you know,

50:50as you're familiar, but for the for the

50:53rest of the public's benefit, as we

50:55looked at our prosperity neighborhood

50:56initiatives, we talked about four

50:58different tiers. And some of those tiers

51:00are, you know, things that this that are

51:02directly the city's responsibility,

51:04things that the city can influence, but

51:05then other service areas that maybe

51:07they're outside partners or agencies

51:09that can have more of an impact on those

51:11areas. And one of the things that cities

51:13are it's it's our jurisdiction and I

51:16would argue we're typically pretty good

51:18at um although we can always be a little

51:20bit better is infrastructure and that

51:22environmental design. And so I would

51:24share with your council that the

51:26investments that we made through ARPA

51:28when we took about $50 million of the

51:30$90 million that we had and put them

51:32towards

51:33improvements in these exact

51:35neighborhoods where we see the same, you

51:38know, there's an overlay that's

51:39consistent with neighborhoods that have

51:41some of these, you know, underinvestment

51:43and challenge, excuse me, challenges

51:46around things like, you know,

51:47socioeconomics and educational

51:49attainment and access to quality food

51:50and access to quality public health are

51:52the same neighborhoods where we see

51:53higher rates of, you know, this gun

51:56violence and and other um, you know,

51:59vulnerability factors. And so, we've

52:00made investments in those areas through

52:03programs like Prosperity Neighborhoods,

52:04the Transformative Climate Communities

52:06Grant. You know, when people talk about

52:08what's TCC, why, what's that for? Why is

52:10it there? It's it's for this. It's to

52:12help change those underlying conditions

52:15in those communities to lower that risk

52:18and vulnerability, you know, and create

52:19opportunities for success for

52:21individuals. And so, um, as we've made

52:25investments in, as you've said, you

52:27know, street lights, um, we've and and

52:30as we've gone after grants for road

52:34improvements and sidewalk improvements,

52:35we've focused those on areas where

52:38they're going to have a big impact.

52:40>> Also, um, as we've uh, looked at, um,

52:45our park improvements, uh, we've been

52:47fortunate, I think, to make park

52:48improvements across the city. Uh but

52:51also we've had a higher investment in in

52:53parks that that you know were older and

52:55needed more investment in these same

52:56communities. Our uh this is a smaller

53:00instance again, but when we looked at

53:02parks where we needed to do our mobile

53:04recreation program in the summers, we

53:06focused in those same neighborhoods that

53:08had greater need. Um and so uh we do

53:12know um it's interesting. I would point

53:15out the science around gun violence

53:17specifically

53:19is less tied to some some folks look at

53:22things like what about lighting? If we

53:23improved lighting in our communities um

53:26if um we had access to more you know

53:29sports programs the the data is not as

53:32highly correlated as you might think.

53:35It's actually again more highly

53:36correlated to the groups that they

53:38engage with and if those groups have at

53:41risk behaviors. How do we get into those

53:43groups and again at the individual level

53:45offer services and um and interventions

53:50to them at the individual level and many

53:52of the services we need to provide still

53:53need to be there because then as our

53:56case managers are looking at an

53:59individual and saying what does this

54:00individual need to have a better

54:01outcome? It may be one of 12 different

54:04things, but we need all 12 of them to be

54:06ready and accessible. And sometimes it

54:08is, you know, that service or that

54:10location um that they need. But I

54:13apologize for that little bit of

54:14[clears throat] a tangent, but overall,

54:16yes, we do think about we need to uh

54:20create uh a better quality of life in

54:24these communities that leads to better

54:26access to jobs, better better housing,

54:29better access to healthy foods, better

54:31access to education, which lowers all

54:33those vulnerability factors and creates

54:35much more chance of success and and and

54:37broadly, not just at at a small scale.

54:40>> Great. And then my last question is

54:42related to the impact analysis. Um

54:44because you you you you already stated

54:47it but I think it's it's worth

54:49underscoring once once again. Um because

54:52the question that I think many of us get

54:55oftentimes are are from some of those

54:59who are critical of the work or maybe

55:01even skeptical um and say that if you

55:05know the state uh data and actually

55:09nationwide data is showing that violence

55:11is actually uh is is dropping um then

55:15how can we know for certain that the

55:18reductions in violence here in

55:21Bakersfield is attributed to some of the

55:24interventions that we are employing.

55:27>> Yeah. Uh thank you, council member. So,

55:29mayor and council, this impact analysis

55:32did um a uh a lighter version of this

55:36that our our full evaluation is going to

55:39go to great detail, but even when I say

55:42lighter, it's still pretty intense where

55:44um they looked at every incident over

55:47again over this, you know, two-year

55:48period. We looked at um specific groups,

55:52specific individuals to understand if

55:56the work that we were doing was

55:58correlated with the reductions by those

56:01um um group categories.

56:05Uh and we were able to to demonstrate

56:08that again this work I is uh the largest

56:13factor that's affecting the overall gun

56:16violence in our community. And if you

56:19want to look at some comparative numbers

56:21for a comparable timeline of our

56:24reductions of 74% from 2021 to 2024, you

56:28know, nation uh nationwide and statewide

56:31statistics probably would have seen

56:33about a maybe a 20 to 40% reduction in

56:36that same time frame.

56:37>> And so for us to be, you know, roughly

56:40double that is also telling.

56:43>> Great. Thank you so much.

56:49Thank you, Council Member Gonzalez.

56:51Council member Coleman.

56:55>> Thank you, Mayor. I I think that Council

56:57Member Gonzalez did a good job of uh

57:00inquiring on that, but I I just wanted

57:03to say that

57:06first of all, I want to thank you and

57:08your department and all your partners

57:11for the work they've done on violence

57:14prevention. And I I and I think that the

57:16proof's in the numbers. All right. I

57:19mean, wow. We went from 80 or 60 rather

57:21in 2021, 60 homicides down to uh 10 or

57:2512 this year, depending. We got got two

57:27more months left. So, uh but u just wow.

57:32I think that's awesome. U and I guess

57:35gets to my point that I I've made before

57:38is that, you know, the city needs to do

57:40a better job of communicating what we're

57:42doing. you know, uh this is great news

57:45and uh and I get it when there's a with

57:49a shooting like the one at the high

57:50school. Uh uh we feel vulnerable because

57:55you know it's in the news, but you know,

57:59we're doing good work in this area and

58:01and uh we need to we need to project

58:04that. And so anything the council can do

58:08to support you on that aspect, uh,

58:11please I hope you'll let us know.

58:14Um,

58:17are any Measure N dollars spent on this

58:19program?

58:20>> Yes, council member. Actually, we we

58:22created this program

58:25uh after the passage of measure N and so

58:28the entire project team is funded by the

58:31public safety vital services tax. What

58:33we're doing is we're leveraging a modest

58:36investment which is about it's

58:38it's about a million dollars a year that

58:40we're investing in public safety vital

58:42services tax dollars to create this

58:44project management team who can both run

58:46it as well as go and get the grant

58:48monies and then we're able to go out and

58:50get these grant monies to about double

58:51and triple our our efforts. Um and so

58:54it's a good measure and investment.

58:59>> Uh good. I don't have any more

59:00questions. Thank you very much for and

59:02for all your staff and all the partners

59:05of the work you're doing. So, thank you.

59:08>> Thank you, Council Member Coleman. And

59:09to our media partners, Sam and Pete, and

59:11to anyone out there, uh we would welcome

59:14your communicating the information also

59:16to our public. Vice Mayor,

59:19>> thank you, Mayor. I want to echo Council

59:21Member Gonzalez and Council Member Kman

59:24and just offer my thanks to the entire

59:26Calvip team. Um these numbers not only

59:30speak for themselves but it is truly

59:33something remarkable and something for

59:34us to be so proud of. The work that you

59:37all do in day in and day out. Uh to be

59:39within the top five communities in the

59:41nation is no joke and that takes serious

59:44work, serious collaboration. Um and to

59:47be below the state and national

59:50averages. I think that is money well

59:52invested in our community. And the truth

59:55is that, you know, city hall does not

59:57always have all the answers. And that's

59:58why collaboration with community

1:00:00partners, um, local trusted messengers

1:00:04is so incredibly important. And I am

1:00:07thankful for a council and um a city

1:00:11management team that is willing to make

1:00:14those partnerships and invest in those

1:00:17long-term partnerships that allow for us

1:00:19to see numbers like this and see the

1:00:21reductions that we're seeing um in our

1:00:23community. So I agree. I think that

1:00:25those are measure end dollars well

1:00:27spent. Um, I really just had a question

1:00:32out of curiosity seeing the age as being

1:00:35between 18 and 35. And um, it it sparked

1:00:40my curiosity when you shared, Christian,

1:00:42that often we think about preventative

1:00:45services or preventative measures being

1:00:47taken at a younger age, maybe elementary

1:00:50school, junior high school, even high

1:00:51school. Uh but seeing that a lot of

1:00:53these

1:00:55um

1:00:57gun violence uh incidences are happening

1:01:00between the ages of 18 and 35 when our

1:01:03community partners or when we're kind of

1:01:05imploring and asking the individuals,

1:01:08you know, what about your life? Um, if

1:01:11you could point to something that you if

1:01:14you could point to something and say,

1:01:16"Gee, if this thing was different or

1:01:18this part, this thing within my life was

1:01:20different or this quality of life issue

1:01:23was different or this circumstance was

1:01:26different that would have prevented me

1:01:28from going down this path or ending up

1:01:30on this path." What do they say? What

1:01:32are their answers that we hear?

1:01:34>> That is a that is a very perceptive

1:01:36question, Vice Mayor. And um I would say

1:01:40we have some sense of that, but we don't

1:01:42have a great sense. And uh but it's a

1:01:45timely um question because there have

1:01:48been some communities that have advanced

1:01:50this type of work far enough that they

1:01:52have a sort of a cohort of individuals

1:01:54who were helped come out of that

1:01:57lifestyle and they and you're you can

1:01:59have a more ready conversation with

1:02:01folks who maybe stepped away a little

1:02:03bit more. And so for example, when I was

1:02:06in Stockton, we had created what was

1:02:07called a we called it a leadership

1:02:08council. And these are sort of graduates

1:02:11of our case management life coaching

1:02:12program who then turned around and were

1:02:14able to help be mentors and helps to

1:02:16other individuals. And there are some in

1:02:18our community by the way. I do think you

1:02:19know some of our community based

1:02:20partners have worked with folks long

1:02:22enough that they have some of that

1:02:24feedback and we've talked to even some

1:02:26of our community based partners who have

1:02:28that lived experience. But one of the

1:02:30things we'd like to do is turn that into

1:02:32more reliable data instead of some of

1:02:34these anecdotal examples. And so part of

1:02:37our evaluation is going to look at the

1:02:39individual level. What are some of the

1:02:41um sort of um interventions that have

1:02:43made the biggest impact on them? We can

1:02:46we're going to do one-on-one interviews

1:02:47with you know individuals and be able to

1:02:49look back and see you know were there

1:02:52particular you know touch points that

1:02:54you know could have you know changed a

1:02:56direction one way or the other. But the

1:02:58other thing we'd like to do is create

1:02:59we're we're kind of leaning towards

1:03:01calling it like ambassadors program as

1:03:03opposed to a leadership council. But you

1:03:05know we'll see about the name. We'll

1:03:06maybe we'll we'll take suggestions. But

1:03:08we'd like to create the same type of a

1:03:10leadership group or ambassador group who

1:03:12can provide us that kind of deep level

1:03:15of feedback um that that could al could

1:03:18be qualitative but also then

1:03:19quantitatively um meaningful. And uh we

1:03:24actually found like just one example um

1:03:27that is powerful. We had a focus group

1:03:31and this was in Stockton. So we're you

1:03:34know heading towards doing this type

1:03:35same type of thing here. We had a focus

1:03:37group with individuals and two important

1:03:40things came out of that focus group. It

1:03:42really surprised us how much uh just

1:03:45access to food made a really big impact

1:03:48and that's a need that like is pretty

1:03:49readily addressed actually. some of the

1:03:51harder things um can maybe take more

1:03:54time and resources, but but food can

1:03:56make a really big impact. And then the

1:03:58other was actually more on a law

1:03:59enforcement side of things. We had a we

1:04:01had a a um listening session with our

1:04:05deputy chief at the time and they had

1:04:08just shared, you know, when we get

1:04:09approached by law enforcement out in the

1:04:11field and they treat us this way versus

1:04:13this way, it really changes our

1:04:16relationship. And so to the credit of

1:04:18the department at the time, they changed

1:04:20some of our stop procedures and

1:04:22trainings based on the feedback from

1:04:24those who had basically had the most

1:04:26experience with that, but who also it's

1:04:29sometimes it's the individuals who

1:04:31probably need law enforcement the most

1:04:34but trust them the least could be at the

1:04:36heart of some of these really

1:04:37interesting solutions. And so we look

1:04:39forward to having a group like that that

1:04:42can answer that and other questions that

1:04:44you asked.

1:04:45>> Yeah, thank you for providing that. I

1:04:46just, you know, for any of us in the

1:04:49community who have the privilege of not

1:04:50being in certain circumstances, not

1:04:52living in certain neighborhoods that um

1:04:55normalizes a certain pathway in life and

1:04:58we've been able to prevent that. Um you

1:05:01know, we sometimes use our privilege and

1:05:03guess of like, oh, if only they had they

1:05:05could have done this differently, they

1:05:06could have paid attention school. And I

1:05:07think those are stereotypes that don't

1:05:10really capture the lived experiences of

1:05:12individuals. And to your point,

1:05:15something as simple as food, um, or a

1:05:17positive inter interaction with law

1:05:19enforcement, you know, um,

1:05:22I mean, even locally, I would love to

1:05:24just have some of those examples as we

1:05:26see them. And I'm I'm sure our leaders

1:05:28at PD have enough examples, too. And,

1:05:31you know, maybe it's Chief Stratton

1:05:32showing up at their door with a

1:05:34Christmas present. They're like, "Oh,

1:05:35wow. This is a very pleasant interaction

1:05:37with law enforcement." So, um, I've seen

1:05:39the demeanor of folks change at the door

1:05:41with just that. And I can only imagine

1:05:44what this program has really changed and

1:05:46accomplished um in that as well. Um

1:05:50yeah, that that was all I had. Thank

1:05:51you.

1:05:52>> But Mary, we have found through research

1:05:55and experience that trauma plays a major

1:05:59role. Often times it's said that a job

1:06:01is the best way to stop a bullet. But

1:06:03people who have said that in the past

1:06:05have now regretted it after years and

1:06:07years of inexperience. Although jobs are

1:06:09very important, but unless you deal with

1:06:12the internal issues that initially drove

1:06:15somebody to that negative behavior, that

1:06:18behavior can perpetuate even after they

1:06:21get a job. So, always going back to

1:06:23dealing with that trauma that initially

1:06:27started uh them down that path.

1:06:30Council member Smith,

1:06:33>> thank you, Mayor. I just I'll be short

1:06:35but I just again yeah great success

1:06:37story and to be able to say lowest level

1:06:42in city history is amazing and you know

1:06:46people want to slice and dice the you

1:06:48know have we really hired a 100 police

1:06:51or you know they're short you know five

1:06:55or they're over 10 but you know it's the

1:06:57results that's what we're after is you

1:07:00know a reduction in a and

1:07:04amazing story of homicide reduction. So,

1:07:07thank you.

1:07:08>> Thank you, Council Member Smith. To all

1:07:11on the team, thank you very much. We

1:07:13also want to acknowledge the people who

1:07:15have come before us, people who have

1:07:17pioneered this effort, people such as

1:07:20the late Mickey Sturdivvent, the late

1:07:22Isaiah Crumpton, and Pastor Jordan.

1:07:26their ongoing efforts and the efforts of

1:07:28so many other people who care and who

1:07:31are really dedicated to collaborating on

1:07:35this issue. We appreciate those efforts

1:07:37and we really thank all of those who've

1:07:40gone before us to help us achieve this

1:07:42degree of success. Thank you, Madame

1:07:45City Clerk. Next item, please.

1:07:48Oh, we do. We need to receive and file.

1:07:51Yes.

1:07:51>> Motion to receive and file.

1:07:52>> You have a motion. Please cast your

1:07:54votes.

1:08:09motion is approved with council members

1:08:11Arias Weir and Basherach absent.

1:08:15>> Thank you. And as our city clerk noted,

1:08:18due to unforeseen circumstances, our

1:08:20closed session has been cancelled and so

1:08:22we stand adjourned at 4:38.