This is the City Council, City of Beverly Hills City Council adjourned regular meeting and parking authority meeting. Today is January 28th, 2025, a little after 7pm and we will start with the Pledge of Allegiance and if I could ask Mr. Schirmgarten or if he will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. If I can ask the City clerk to please call the rule. Yes, thank you. Good evening. We have two rule calls. First one is for city council. Council member Wells. Here. Council member Corman. Here. Council member Mirish. Here. Vice Mayor Nazarian. Here. And Mayor Friedman. Here. And the next is for the parking authority. Director Wells. Here. Director Corman. Here. Okay, so before we start this evening I would like to recognize a truly special milestone. Today marks our 111th birthday since becoming an incorporated city in 1914. Beverly Hills continues to grow and evolve since its early beginning. We have always remained committed to our core values, which are exceptional public service, community engagement, and preserving the charm that makes us unique. As I have said so many times, what truly makes Beverly Hills stand out is the spirit of its people. Our special community all contributes to the heartbeat of this city. As we look ahead, we're excited for the future. While we honor the past, we also focused on building a more sustainable and inclusive community for generations to come. So with that, happy 11th birthday, City of Beverly Hills. In terms of presentations, we have people helping people one legacy and that presentation is being moved to a future meeting. But if I could have my colleagues meet me down in front of the day, we have a certificate of. So I was just saying that we haven't had one of these in quite a while. So it is my honor to please call up our newest commissioner, Jeffrey Daniels. So I'm pleased tonight to acknowledge one of our new city commissioners and I would like my colleagues to join us as we recognize them. Our commissioners play such a critically important role in our city government. So let me thank you for committing your time and expertise to serving the city of Beverly Hills. I'd like to congratulate and welcome Jeff Daniels to the architectural and and Design Review Commission. Jeff, thank you for being a part of this important commission and we look forward to working with you. Now if I could ask my colleagues to, well, we're gonna ask Jeffrey first to say a few words and then I'll give a chance to my colleagues to say there. Well, thank you. Thank you so much, Mayor. 111 years, that's quite a track record. And I'm very, very proud to be acknowledged on this important occasion for Beverly Hills. I think it's the beginning of an incredibly important and exciting year for the city. And I'm very honored to be able to play a role in keeping the legacy of Beverly Hills as beautiful and significant as it has always been. So thank you and if I give a chance to my colleagues starting with, we'll start with. Come here. Hi. Welcome, Jeffrey. I just want to thank you for being willing to commit your service to the city of Beverly Hills. Your role in the architectural design review is so critical for us as a city, as we are talking as earlier today, we were talking about our planning commission and what our general plan looks like and what the future looks like for our city. We really rely on our residents and your commitment to our city to really help be a strong voice and advocate for the character of what we want our city to look like as we move forward and have to balance that with the challenges that we have with the state. So I appreciate that you're willing to commit your time on behalf of Beverly Hills and our residents and it is such an important and vital role. So thank you. So I think you're the first appointee to the combined commission, aren't you? So I'd like to congratulate you on being historic in that sense as well. Yes, design review and architecture is extremely important. Sadly, we live in a state that is trying to take away discretion from cities, but good taste is good taste. And hopefully we will be able to apply most of the decisions that you make on the commission for the betterment of our community. Hopefully it will be something you will also enjoy. Jeff, welcome. I was on the interview panel that interviewed you you were terrific candidate I knew you did a great job we don't need any KSCs in the city but you have an award winning one in your portfolio and I believe I mean I don't know for a fact but I believe you're the first FAI a architect we've had on the architectural commission so we're honored to have you and I know you're going to have a great job. Thank you. Thank you so much. Yes, I too served on the panel and we're delighted to be able to welcome you. I think that you're going to bring a plethora of information and wisdom and I know that you are also an educator and that's an important part of being a commissioner as well, being able to educate the community and being able to be the eyes and ears and show support where it's needed and work with your colleagues along with City Council to be able to really highlight the great pieces that exist in Beverly Hills. So thank you and congratulations. Thank you so much. And I just want to add my comments which is your position is such an important position because you are the professional, at least professional professional on the commission and everybody will look towards you for that professionalism and as part of that I'm pleased to give you this metal plated Beverly Hills pin which you can proudly wear. It's golden color but don't mistake it for anything else other than being metal and of course this certificate to certify that you are a member of the committee. Photo up. Thank you so much. Resolution. 596, 4265, City staff will acknowledge receipt of the text message within one business day, however, resolution of issues may take longer. If you would like to receive updated text alerts from the Beverly Hills Police Department, please text BHPD alert to 888-777. alerts will keep you informed of any police activity within the city. Our telephone call number is 310-288-2288 and with that we will have oral communications on non-agentized items at this time. Do we have any speaker clips? We do not have any comments for non-agentized items. And that is including oral and everything. Everything. Okay, very good. So we will go on to the parking authority consent calendar. And if I could ask, sure of the dates. Yes, if I could have council member Wells read the entire Parking Authority hold on. Yeah, the Parking Authority calendar. the four items. I move the adoption of the consent agenda as follows. Number one, consideration of the parking authority of the minutes of the meeting of October 1st, 2024. Number two, consideration by the parking authority of the minutes of the meeting of October 10th, 2024. Number three, consideration by the parking authority of the minutes of the meeting of November 7th, 2024. And number four, consideration by the parking authority of the minutes of the meeting of November 19th, 2024. Second. And we have the rule. Director Wells. Yes. Director Corwin. Yes. Director Mirich. Yes. Vice Chair Nazarian. Yes. And Chair Friedman. Yes. Okay. Going on to the City Council consent calendar. I'm going to pull item number 10. Are there any other polls? Okay. So why don't we go ahead and do item number 10 if there is a staff report or if not I will go ahead and just make my comment. Okay, I will make my comment. So this was an item that was very important to all of us on the day. And that is a recognition of January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I think it's even more important right now given some of the rhetoric that we're hearing coming from world leaders and want to be world leaders at this point in time. This is the 80th anniversary of the freedom that was given at Auschwitz death camp. It's quite a moving experience for me because I had a parent who was freed from Auschwitz. And more importantly is that we don't have the people around, and if we don't remember international Holocaust, the international Holocaust Remembrance Day, then we run the risk of people forgetting what happened. So it was for that reason that on behalf of our council, we went ahead and did a resolution remembering January 27th as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. So that was the reason I pulled it, it was just too out and with that if we could have council member Korman read items number. Since you pulled it mayor is it okay if we say a few words? Sure if you'd like. Sure. Yeah, let's go down in case anybody else wants to make a comment. Sure. I just want to thank you for taking the lead on this and I do appreciate it and supported so much and agree wholeheartedly how important it is that we do acknowledge and remember this not just as a city but throughout our school district as well and so thank you for that appreciate it. That's my corner., and I think it's important that we continue to remember this day. I was looking at some of the news reports of the events in Germany and what struck me was I think it was a general recognition that this may be the last The last remembrance day, where are the survivors are actually there to talk about what happened. And so it's going to be up to the rest of us going forward to make sure that what happened there is never forgotten. Thank you, Council Member Mersh. Well, I'd like to thank you too. And it's not only important that we remember, it's important we remember who was murdered, that these were Jewish people. In fact, there were reports in England that talked about international Holocaust Memorial Day that didn't mention Jews that said that it was some people who were killed or victims. And that's a very dangerous thing. It's Holocaust inversion, which according to the Ira working definition of anti-Semitism is itself anti-Semitism. The Holocaust is not a parable. This is not all genocides matter. This is specifically about what happened to the Jewish people and trying to twist that as has been the case we've seen it heads of state have done it. The president of Ireland used the occasion to talk about Gaza while ignoring the Jewish community while Jewish people who were standing in silent protest of interning their back on him were violently removed from the ceremonies. So we have to be very, very aware of what Holocaust Memorial Day is and we as a city have done that. Really, it's a very specific and very unique event that happened to the Jewish people as part of our history. And I thank them there for taking the time to commemorate it. I know that there will be other opportunities in the future, Yom Ha-Shoa as well. But I think we all need to be very concerned about Holocaust inversion, which we saw a lot of yesterday, also from NGOs that are supposed to know better like the United Nations or Amnesty International, just absolutely shameful, disgraceful manifestations, and we need to call those out as well. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Mayor, thank you so much for bringing this, and I'm proud to support it. I think that it's increasingly important now more than ever to recognize moments like this. This is in honor of the six million Jews that perished during the Shoah, and words never again are exactly for moments like these, ensuring that such atrocities of the past are never repeated. I recently attended a Holocaust Survivors brunch at Sinai Temple that they do annually and the numbers are dwindling. They're just diminishing as the time goes by which shows that now it's more important than ever that we embrace this with our schools and bring the opportunity to bring awareness to teach the next generation about the dangers of hatred and intolerance and to inspire a community of justice and humanity exactly the way that Beverly Hills always does to stand up. So such atrocities never happen again to any race, religion, or creed. And I know that in Beverly Hills, we always pride ourselves in that. As we reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust, we're also reminded of the hate and discrimination that persists in the world. Anti-Semitism is up, and it's on the rise, and the tragic events of October 7th still remain fresh in our hearts. And while we are rejoicing that a few of the hostages were recently released, we still remember that many of them are still held in captivity and we will not rest until they are all brought home to their homes and safely returned. And I appreciate that education is the most powerful thing. So thank you for bringing this up. And it's a call for all of us to stand as a voice and to say never again. Thank you. Okay, thank you. And with that, if we could have council member Korman read the entire consent calendar up through including number 12. Including number 10? Yes. I move the adoption of the consent agenda as follows. Consideration by the City Council of the Minutes of the regular meeting of October 1, 2024. Number two, consideration by the City Council of the Minutes of the Special Study Session Meeting of October 10, 2024. Three, consideration by the City Council of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of October 10, 2024. Four, consideration by the City Council of the Minutes of the Adjurend Study Session Meeting of November 7, 2024. Number 5, consideration by the City Council of the Minus of the adjourned regular meeting of November 7, 2024. Six, consideration by the City Council of the Minus of the study session meeting of November 19, 2024. Number seven, consideration by the City Council of the Minus of the regular meeting of November 19, 2024. Number eight, review of budgeted demands paid covering dates January 3, 2025 to January 21, 2025. Number nine, payroll dispersion report covering dates January 3, 2025 to January 21, 2025. Number ten, acknowledging January 27 as international I'm sorry, the adoption of the resolution of the Council of the City of Beverly Hills, number 10. Acknowledging January 27th as international Holocaust Remembrance Day. Number 11. Establishing preferential parking permit zone G on the 200 and 300 blocks of North Maple Drive between Burton Way and Clifton Way. Second. Well, that was actually going to be number 12. Oh, I'm sorry. And the approval of number 12 on amendment with clean energy renewable fuels LLC for supply of renewable natural gas is RNG and low carbon fuel standard LCFS credit management system. Now, sir. A matter of management, sorry. And we have a second and if we could have a roll. Council member Wells? Yes. Council member Corman? Yes. Council member Mirish? Yes. Vice Mayor Nazarian? Yes. Mayor Friedman? Yes. Okay. Continuing on to item number F1 request to continue a date uncertain for the first reading of a draft ordinance, a many short term rental regulations, transient uses for single family and multi family residential zones. And we're going to have assistant director Masaak, a tire to please give up up report Yeah, just a very quick report this item was noticed prior to the January wildfire event and that significantly affected the region the Draft ordinance Is intended to update the city's permanent regulations staff's recommendation is to continue this item to a date uncertain because the council did quickly act after the wildfire event to adopt emergency ordinance to temporarily allow rentals as emergency housing for those directly affected by the region's wildfires. So it's suggested that we bring back the permanent amendments to the short-term ordinance after either April 26th. If it just runs the 90-day course, if it is extended for 180 days, that's after July 25th. And that's my report. Thank you. Okay, thank you. And since this item was a genderized prior to the events that have occurred, I am going to give the opportunity to anyone in chambers who would like to be heard on the matter, or if we have any emails or audio. So let's first anybody in chambers that wants to comment on this at this time. Please. Are you Miss O'Neill? Yes. Okay, please. Can you hear me? Yeah, okay. Good afternoon. My name is Moro O'Neill. I'm a policy analyst for Better Neighbors LA. We're a coalition of host tenants, housing activists, and community members who work to research the short-term rental industry, and curb illegal short-term rental activity in the Los Angeles and Southern California area. Today I'm speaking on agenda item F1. We believe the draft ordinance to amend short-term rental regulations is important to protect long-term housing for Beverly Hills residents. Protecting long-term housing is especially critical now that so many have been displaced by the recent tragic wildfires. The most effective way to do so is to ensure the draft ordinance is already approved and in place once the urgency ordinance sunsets. Short-term rentals in Beverly Hills have grown significantly over the last few years, increasing 191% since January of 2022 till this January. And also we've seen, I think I sent you guys a data sheet, so you might have seen it, but we've seen a lot of growth in what we call commercial short-term rental operators where they have six or more listings in Beverly Hills. That's actually grown 864% over the last year. We urge the council to move forward with the ordinance and consider strengthening it By extending its yearly lease provisions to cover multi-family residential zones as well as single-family zones And order to best promote housing affordability and prevent the commercialization of housing For these reasons we request that you vote on this ordinance before before the urgency ordinance expires in April or July of 2025. Thank you for your time. Yeah hold on one second we have a question. Surely you know that one of the difficulties of cracking down on Airbnb is the difference is enforcement is the difficulty of finding out where they are. Would your group support legislation on a statewide basis that would force these providers, whatever they are, verbo, Airbnb, to share information directly with cities? We haven't done anything on the statewide, so I can't speak to that, but I know that we push in cities for there to be agreements with these platforms. Some cities have them, some cities don't. But the platforms as I understand it are not forced to share the information. In fact, sometimes they try to obscure if you go on the sites, it doesn't list it. So it makes it very difficult for staff to have to call and time intensive. Whereas if the state said you must share your listings and all of the detailed information with any city that wants, we would have better tools for enforcement. That's statewide legislation that perhaps we can talk about and we can propose, but it would be important to have groups like yours help us in Sacramento lobby to be able to do that. as far as I understand, enforcement is one of the biggest issues, and that's why it's difficult to enforce. Yeah, point while I'll take in. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Do we have anybody else in chambers? Not seeing any, we'll go to any audio or emails. We do have one written comment. This is from a multi-family tenant in the city of Beverly Hills. I'm a long time resident of Beverly Hills who resides in a multi-family building with two young children who attend BHUSD and I'm writing today to express my highest support for the total prohibition of short term rentals in any residential zone in our city. Specifically when our building changed ownership three years ago, the building was converted from what was once a peaceful apartment building into a nightmare of short term rentals bringing in the worst elements of tenants of ill repute and horrific conduct. Such instances include but are not limited to Airbnb guests throwing list to the building dumpster which caused a fire necessitating an urgent visit from the fire department multiple visits by BHPD to arrest tenants who have been involved in various crimes such as grant theft and narcotics Airbnb guests smoking both cigarettes and marijuana in and around the building my car being hit by an intoxicated Airbnb guest and most recently, the gruesome discovery of an Airbnb guest who took his own life in the unit he was staying in. These aforementioned incidences underscore how damaging short-term rentals have been to the stability and vitality of our community. In addition, short-term rentals remove badly needed housing stock from our city that is in desperate need for housing at all income levels. We live in constant fear that the owners of the building will find some reason to evict us despite our rent stabilized tendency and perfect track record of on-time rent payments so that they can convert our unit into another Airbnb. Therefore, at a fear of retaliation, I do not feel comfortable providing my name. It is my sincere hope that you consider the tenets of this letter when the contents of this letter, when determining whether to change the ordinance of the city of Beverly Hills regarding short term rentals. Residents of Beverly Hills who live in multifamily buildings are acutely adversely affected by short term rentals as our security and stability as undermined and jeopardized on a daily basis. And that concludes public comment on this item. Okay, so even though we are, the intention is to continue this matter matter I'll ask if there's any City Council questions of staff or members of the public not seeing any from council at the request of staff an absent objection this matter is continued by order of the mayor to a date uncertain staff will re-nototify hearing in accordance with city requirements for a future hearing date. Going on to item number F2 resolution modifying the city's general plan land use map and adopting a negative declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and others and I will ask our city clerk, what is this the time and place for? Thank you mayor. It is the time this is a time and place set for a public hearing to consider a resolution modifying the city's general plan land use map and adopting a negative declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act and an ordinance of the City of Beverly Hills amending Beverly Hills municipal code 10-3-2745 to modify the maximum allowable floor area ratio limitation for certain buildings located in C3 commercial zones. Let the record show that the notice of this hearing was published as required by law. The records and files of the community development department and the report of the principal planner concerning this matter shall be entered into the record. So may we have a oral report on this matter from the principal planner? Thank you Mayor Friedman and members of the City Council. The item before you tonight is a general plan amendment and a zone text amendment proposed as part of a project located at 450 North Roxbury Drive. I will note that the GPA and ZTA are the focus of tonight's hearing. The planning commission did previously approve the project which is contingent upon the council's decision tonight. So the request amendments specifically relate to those properties that are located in the city's business triangle which is outlined on the screen here in blue. The primary project site for 15 North Roxbury Drive is outlined in red with a star and later on the presentation I'll'll discuss the applicability of the proposed regulations as they may relate to other sites in the state and the triangle. And first, in background for the council, current development standards in the city's C3 zone limit FAR or floor area ratio to 2.0. And for the benefit of the council and those listening, the way that FAR is calculated is by taking the square footage of a site area and multiplying it by two and that provides for the maximum amount of floor area that can be developed on a site. Specific to 415 North Rocksbury Drive, the existing FAR is 2.65 so the building is considered legally nonconforming and that happens because it was developed during a time with different development standards applied in the C3 zone. The scope of the project includes the addition of approximately 6,800 square feet of floor area where an increase in FAR of .19. The conversion of the floor area to parking does have some parking implications. I understand there were some questions so I just want to go ahead and address those. The conversion of existing parking area to floor area would result in the removal of 29 parking spaces from this site. However, the building would remain code compliant under the city's local parking standards despite that removal, there are 365 existing parking spaces within the parking garage, and the removal of 29 would result in 336 parking spaces remaining on site. Using the city's current parking standards for general commercial and office of one parking space per 350 square feet, The total required parking for the site is 296. So the project that was approved by the Planning Commission would still provide a surplus of 40 parking spaces under our current standards. And so in order to allow for the increase of floor areas since the building is considered legally non-conforming, the applicant has proposed to modify the Beverly Hills municipal code to allow for such increases through the city's development plan review process, which is an existing discretionary entitlement process that the city implements for certain project types. The text here in black is the existing FAR or floor area ratio standard. That's the city has and it stipulates that 2.0 limitation. The text here in red and there is emphasis added, is the proposed language that the applicant proposed and staff worked internally with the planning division as well as the city attorney's office to come to this final language. And this text essentially says that the floor area ratio on a site within the city's business triangle Maybe increased as a result of conversion of the ground level of an existing parking structure That abuts a public street to retail businesses again as defined in the municipal code Up to a depth of 70 feet from the front property line Subject to the approval of the development plan. And that additional floor area that would be permitted may not exceed 10% of the maximum allowable floor area for the site. And then this slide shows the changes to the city's land use map. I will note that the only change proposed is to the legend component of the map. And that just notes that the floor area ratio may be increased in a manner consistent with the Beverly Hills municipal code. No other changes are proposed to the map. It is simply adding a note onto the legend. And this slide shows on the left a photograph of the existing conditions of the parking structure and the office building is in the background. The rendering on the right shows what the applicant has proposed as far as the architectural design. And this would be subject to review by the city's architectural and design review commission. And I understand that the applicant has already engaged with city staff to start that process, so it may be forthcoming. The the Planning Commission discussed this item, the project and the proposed amendments at their meeting in November of last year. The focus of the conversation with the commission related to how the project would enhance the pedestrian experience along North Roxbury Drive, as well as the applicability of the proposed amendments to other existing buildings in the city's business triangle. And on that second point, the applicant had prepared and city staff peer reviewed an analysis of other buildings in the business triangle that potentially could take advantage of the proposed amendments by adding additional floor area. And based on that study, it appears that only one additional site was identified. and that's located on the 400 block of North London Drive. However, no project at that site has been proposed at this time, and any future proposal would be subject to the city's comprehensive review process to ensure full compliance with all applicable standards. And as a result of the commission's deliberations, they adopted resolution number number 2074, which conditionally approved the DPR to allow the conversion of parking area. Again, that approval was contingent upon the council's decision tonight regarding the GPA and the ZTA. And they also adopted resolution number 2075, which recommended approval of those amendments to the council. So the finding that the City Council would be required to make in order to approve the project would be whether the public interest, health, safety, morals, peace, comfort, convenience, or general welfare requires a reclassification of the property or the reclassification of any portions of the property. And that finding has been fully analyzed in the resolutions provided tonight, as well as with the planning commission staff report that was included as an attachment. And the project was fully noticed and accordance with the city's public notification requirements. No public correspondence was received as a result of those notices. I will note one comment letter was received as part of the city's environmental review process. That was from CalTrans and the city's environmental consultant responded accordingly. As for the environmental review, this report that was prepared was a negative declaration for the project and included analysis of the project itself at 450 rocks peri as well as the application of those amendments to the the entire business triangle. That analysis concluded that the project would not result in any significant impacts to the environment and no mitigation measures were required. As far as a recommendation for tonight, staff would well as moving to wave the full reading of the ordinance and introduce and read by title only to amend BHMC section 10-3-27-45 And that concludes staff's report, but I'm available for any questions. Hey, thank you very much Do we have any speaker slips? We did not have any comments for this item. Okay, so nobody in chambers, anyone on the phone or video, that's also a negative. No emails, that's also a negative. And we'll go to city council questions of staff if any. Mayor Friedman, if I may interject, I fail to mention. I believe the project applicant is here. If you have any questions for them or if they have any. Okay, but no affirmative remarks at this point. Okay. Questions and partners? Questions of staff. Excuse me at this time. Starting with Councillor Mourning. Thanks very much for your report. I know you mentioned this but I just want to ask again. So the parking requirement initially with the building, what was the number that you gave and then as a put once if we make this change what is the number and how does that relate to the current parking requirements? So the project site currently has 365 existing parking spaces that serves the tendsory office building that is well in exceedance of what our current local standards require. The project would result in the removal of 29 parking spaces that would leave a total of 336 parking spaces. Current city standards only require 296. So even with the removal of parking, they would be providing a surplus of 40 parking spaces on the site. Thank you. That's the number that I wanted to confirm. I also, how many retail spaces would this create at this street level? I believe right now they're showing four distinct spaces. I think they've designed it in a way to be flexible depending on the type of, you know, whichever tenant chooses to occupy one or multiple spaces, but I think they can accommodate up to four retail tenant spaces. And with those retail spaces, if to say the three or four, or however the use of the FlexBase would be, that would also include parking for that retailer, that would be included in the existing parking spaces that the number that you just provided. Yes, but 336. As you already stated, it's already ample parking and over the number that is currently required. Yes, that is correct. And the stipulation in the amendment requires any floor area developed under these amendments can only be for retail uses. And so those retail uses have the one parking space per 350 square feet. So we don't anticipate that there would be uses that generate a more intensive parking use than retail. And then with regard to parking in front of the retail space on the street or on the sidewalk side, is there a change that's proposed for that parking or is that would that remain the same? That would remain as existing. Okay. Thank you. Those are my questions. Just in time, Council Member Corbyn. Thank you. Thank you for the report. I too want to ask a few questions about parking. So I understand that under the current standards even taking away the 29 parking spaces and putting down getting the parking space down to 336 it still conforms to our current code parking requirements. That's correct Now does this building have some medical use in it? I would have to check I don't know off the top of my head if it does But I would say the council a number of years ago the exact numbers is escaping me modified parking standards for medical uses so that they are the same as commercial. Right, but before that I believe it was one per every 250 square feet. 1,200. Yeah. So, so if the old standard applied based on my calculations, the building would actually be under parked depending on how much of it is medical use. Don't know at this point, right? So, it would be my next question. Was there any parking study for done on this, we have a mitigated negative declaration? Was there any parking study done for this project just to ensure that there are sufficient parking spaces on site for the existing uses? There is no parking utilization city done, and one important thing to note for this site, and for most of the city's business triangle, is this project is, while it's providing well above the amount of code required parking, it is subject to AB 2097, and so the city is by and large, precluded from requiring sort of any new parking and replacement parking. So that the applicability of AB 2097 somewhat took the parking usage out of the discussion. That being said anecdotally, I've been at the site a number of times. It always appears as though there is a sort of a surplus of parking that is available. At the site, I've not seen it sort of fully occupied. And I will say we have the property owner here who may be able to speak more eloquently about the parking utilization at the site. So that would be helpful because I was actually there too when I was there I saw vacant parking spaces as well but obviously we're only there a few times perhaps the property could give us some insight on how much how much how many space are typically available during a normal day. Please introduce yourself also please. Good evening. My name is Michael Fairnick from Starpoint Properties. Thank you for having us. Normally on a we're probably about 70 to 75% utilize this far as parking is concerned. Again, that's that estimate on a good day or a bad day. Okay, all right, thank you, that was my question. And Commissioner Korman, just following up on your question about the medical. Yes, historically there has been some medical located in that building. That's what I thought. Okay, thank you, those are my questions. Councillor Murr-Mirsch. So the footprint of the building staying the same, correct? That's correct. So the only reason they're asking for this is because they're basically converting some parking to actual usage that parking wouldn't have counted before because they're converting it counts now. So therefore that's why we have to do that. Correct. they are already over on over on their floor area, they're legally nonconforming. So there's no existing mechanism in the municipal code to allow for the additional floor area. And so they were, they went ahead and submitted this. The additional floor area which is being converted from parking. Correct. What kind of retail is supposed to go in there? So the standard stipulates that it's retail uses as defined in our municipal code. We have an existing standard. For no banks, no. Correct. Professional, no. Because it's of the triangle, correct? Correct. And so just for the benefit of the commission or council on those listening, the way that our municipal code defines retail businesses is a business that carries on. As its principal business, the selling of tangible commodities, goods, merchandise, where we're wears, may also include beauty shops, snails, lawns, and spas, and retail business can also have a small optometry component as well. Does the applicant know what's gonna go in there yet? I haven't heard any specifics, but I look to see if they have any additional information. Careers. No, we do not. Again, this has been a long journey for us. That's taken us three years. So, it's not like some app like someone said, hey, could you build this out for me? No. Okay. No, we're gonna build it and we're gonna hope that, not hope, we know we're gonna lease it. Right. They will come. Okay, thank you so much. Those are my questions. Vice Mayor Nizhary. Yes, thank you very much. So just a few housekeeping. much that those are my questions. I have vice mayor Nizere. Thank you very much. So just a few housekeeping questions. The surrounding businesses were noticed. Yes. And was there any pushback? We've received no public correspondence. And you had a unanimous planning commission. Yes. That's correct. They were all in agreement. Yes, it was a 50 vote. Right. And just to clarify, there's still going to be a surplus of 40 spots, even with the removal of these 29 spots. That's correct. A 40 spots surplus above exist for current code standards. All right. Well, those are my questions for now. Thank you. And just a couple I may have missed it. What is the parking situation right in front of the storefronts? I believe it's just a couple I may have missed it. What is the parking situation right in front of the storefronts? I believe it's just a meter parking. And that's intended to stay that way. That will stay the project is not proposing any modifications to anything in the public right of way. And the total square footage that is being added again was 6,000, 797, just under 6,800 square feet. And if I can ask the applicant, is there an intention in terms of a single user or multiple users or just you're going to see what happens? Yeah, we're going to see what happens. If somebody wants 3,000, we'll do a 3,000. We'd like to do for ten and set this point. That's what we're proposing, but it's going to depend on who we can get at that point, Mr. Mayor. And each of the units is going to have, assuming there's four different, we'll have plumbing, et cetera. Correct, there's restrooms in the back for each from the units and yes, each unit can work on their own. So each unit would be, if it was divisible by four, would be around... About 1600 square feet each, Mr. Mayor. That's a nice size for a retail shop. Yeah. Okay, thank you. Those are my questions. So we will go to comments and discussion from council starting with council member Wells. Okay, thank you. Well, I really support this. I think it's, I did have the opportunity to walk the site with Michael and I think it's when we talk about enhancing the pedestrian experience and really improving our streets in the triangle, I think that this project is exactly that. I know having been on Roxbury many times, when you get to that area, you're kind of in just the side of a building. So now this is going to bring life to that and vitality and better experience for people that are on that street for a variety of different reasons and hopefully the different retails retailers that you're able to find to take the space. You know, they're successful and meet the needs of the community and I'm excited to see what that looks like. I appreciate that the Planning Commission has already vetted this and how they voted and as well that they'll be it's not really taking a hit on the parking. And I think that's really an issue all the time and anywhere in the triangle. So I appreciate that and as well not changing the parking in front of the building itself. So I think this I support if we go to the questions that are being asked specifically, I support making the change from the general plan of amendment change and zone text amendment as well as the negative declaration for this project. I think that covers everything. Yes. Do we need to do a firm that we can make findings. No, I think that's okay. Okay, Council Member Corbyn. Thank you. Thank you. I too am supportive of the project. It's always good to activate underutilized street frontage in our business triangle and elsewhere in our commercial areas. Obviously the only concern any of us have had really would be parking. I'm satisfied that the 336 remaining spaces will satisfy the building demand, parking demand going forward based on what we've heard. I would say that we have evidence in the record there's maybe one other building in the triangle which could qualify to this ordinance. And this new ordinance were dot in the night. And I would only say that if that building on a word to want to do something under this ordinance, when the Planning Commission does a DPR hearing, they focus on the ability of the building to satisfy the actual partner demand of the building at the time. I think as long as that happens, we're good. So, and I'm satisfied that's the case here. And so I support both the proposed ordinance and the adoption of a negative declaration. Thank you, and member Mersh. Well, it's not considering everything else we're facing. This is relatively minor and I think that they're not changing the footprint of the building. The parking is sufficient. You know, let's hope they get some good retail in there, something that can activate that part of town. So I'm also supportive. Thank you. And Vice Mayor Nisarri. Thank you very much. I think that this is, I'm fully in favor of it. It will absolutely revitalize Roxbury Drive. The community has been noticed and they're all on board. It's exactly what we need to revitalize that section of town. I think that it will generate walkability and enhance the pedestrian experience and there's already plenty of parking. I walk the space as well and I noticed that there was ample parking. We spoke about that. I was more concerned about the height of the ceilings for the retail shops, but that seemed to be dealt with as well. I'm excited to see what is going to be brought to that area with the retail space. We are going to Miami. The mayor has a delegation with myself and we would love to make suggestions to potential businesses that would want to come to the area. I think that's a great way to, you know, utilize the ground floor and it doesn't impact the parking as well and I'm looking forward to seeing what would be put in that space. Thank you. And I just want to say that, and I know working with Starpoint and with Michael in the past that they always have the best interest of the city in mind. And to be selective in the types of businesses that will be there, and I know that you will be. I also want to comment on the non-comments by your attorney, which is always interesting. That means he did all his work well in advance of this hearing. So I just wanted to acknowledge Mr. former mayor Mayor Tom Levin for being here and I can support the resolution and the findings and with that I will entertain a motion. I move that the resolution entitled the Resolution Modifying the City's General plan land use map and adopting a negative declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act be adopted. I'll second. And we grab the roll. Council Member Wells. Yes. Council Member Cormin. Yes. Council Member Mirish. Yes. Vice Mayor Nazarian. Yes. Mayor Friedman. Yes. And Rest of resolution we need to do thank you. Thank you for your time. Yeah, that's what I was thinking we need to do the ordinance ordinance portion also, right? So we need to do that separately. So is anyone want to make introduce the ordinance? That's number 19. I move that the full reading of the ordinance be waived and the ordinance title and ordinance of the city of Beverly Hills and many Beverly Hills municipal code section 10-3-2745 to modify the maximum allowable floor area ratio limitation for certain buildings located in the C3 commercial zones be introduced and read by title only second.. And we have the rule. Council member Wells? Yes. Council member Corman? Yes. Council member Mirish? Vice Mayor Nazarian? Yes. Mayor Friedman? Yes. Okay, so this afternoon we went a little bit over time on one of the items and we did introduce the second item which we were going to take up in the evening. And I think this is a time and place to do it. Reach down here and get that. So this is from our steady session. It's item number A2. Review a final draft of request for proposal RFP for the 10-7 permanent memorial and we are going to have the report by our city manager, Nancy Hongcoffey. Well, good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council. This evening we're here to talk further about the permanent memorial for the victims of the October 7th attack in Israel. This evening we have a couple of next decision points to make. I'm not gonna review all of the decisions council has made so far related to the location, the configuration, et cetera, of the memorial. We can talk those through if you desire. But the focus of tonight's presentation has to do with the process by which we will select the professional advisory committee members. So as you'll recall, the council wanted to have an advisory committee that would help with selecting the design for the permanent memorial. Each council member would pick a member, a community member, to serve on this committee. The ad hoc of Mayor Friedman, Vice Mayor Nazarian would also serve on this committee. And then we would have two to three professional technical advisors who would be on the committee who could advise in areas perhaps related to architecture, construction, design, art, that sort of thing. So we wanted to talk about the process for selecting those, just those two to three professional advisors to the committee. And then also talk about finalizing the RFP, RFP, meaning request for proposal, which we would put out and try to get designers, artists, architects, et cetera, to respond and propose their designs for the site. So first speaking about the Professional Advisory Committee members, again, two to three members from professions such as architects, contractors, designers, that sort of thing. The ad hoc met recently on January 14th January 14th to discuss the best way to solicit applicants for the advisory committee. The recommended approach by the ad hoc is to sort of mirror the commission committee process where individuals can fill out an application. There would be an interview by the ad hoc and then recommendation would be made to the full City Council for the individuals to serve in that capacity. A copy of the draft application is attached for your review and comment. The ad hoc also discussed finalizing the RFP to find an artist or a designer architect to help design the permanent memorial. We talked a lot about the process, sort of traditional city processes that we put out an RFP to select an architect, the architect designs the project prepares the construction documents, provides a fairly detailed estimate on project costs. We then take those documents that estimated budget and we bid it out to select a contractor who then constructs the project. So it's a fairly simple process. The ad hoc had a lot of discussion about what process we should follow for the memorial and came up with sort of a two-phase process. So the idea would be in phase one, we would put out the RFP, which is also an attachment in your report, to select an initial design. The emphasis on this phase would be an open call, so professionals who see the RFP would be welcome to respond. And we would also invite a select group of firms or designers to apply. The criteria really to select the designers at this point would be based on the design that submitted their stated project approach Similar experience that they have and experience with community engagement It's it's difficult at this we realized it would be difficult at this initial phase to know a detailed budget for the project. We can ask for people to submit a relative idea of what the budget would cost. But at this point, we're just looking at the general design that's not fully fleshed out. The idea would be that the committee that we just discussed would go through all of the designs that are submitted based on responses to the RFP and the committee would narrow it down to two to four designs to pursue. These designs would, of course, be brought to council to make sure that those two to four designs, any of those two to four designs would be acceptable to the City Council. We would then have a second phase where those two to four designers would be asked to further develop their vision for the memorial. This would be invitation only based on the initial phase. We recommend that the designers be paid a modest stipend. We expect them to put some work into really developing out those designs and getting us a projected budget for the project. So there would be definitely some work involved. The criteria here would be, again, the design, the project approach, but also the projected budget for the project. At this point in the process, the two to four designs would be shared with the community, and we would have some meetings, some public process where we would invite the community to review the designs, provide their feedback, and their ideas about those designs. After that process, the committee would narrow down the field to the final design to be recommended again to the city council. So the hope would be that the committee would select the final design at that point and the city council would adopt that design. Depending on the final selection and who's proposing it, we may or may not need an architect at that point. We talked when we were last at city council, we talked a little bit about the Vietnam Memorial, which was a design that was done by a Yale student. If we were to select a design like that, obviously we would need an architect to develop out the design further, provide more detailed plans. Our hope, I think, through this process is that we would focus more on the experience and on professionals in the field. So because of that, we may or may not need an architect to develop out the design further. Hopefully they would be further enough far enough along to the point where then they could be bid out. And we would select a contractor who similarly to the prior slide would construct the project. So this is sort of a two-faced process for selecting the design that is one of the areas that we're asking for our council's feedback. Additionally, I did want to mention in the report there is also a draft timeline that was laid out to conduct the RFP, go through the two-faced process and select a final design. The timeline that's in your report is generous and the reason for that, some of the periods This may feel to be a bit extended. So, with that, we are asking the city council to provide direction on the process for the process. So, we are asking the city council to provide direction on the process for the process. So, we are asking the City Council to provide direction on the process for selecting the technical professional advisory members of the committee, any comments you have on the application, any feedback that you have on the draft RFP and the two phased approach for selecting a design professional for the memorial and of course any other feedback or direction the council would like to provide on the process. Thank you. Okay. Thank you and if I can defer to my colleague vice-mariner's area for the liaison report. Yes. Thank you very much. So I think that we had two meetings prior to, did we have one or two? I can't remember. We've had, certainly had two committee meetings, whether the council meeting was in between. I can't recall. I think that we really tried to do a very thorough job of vetting the process, trying to figure out how we could be as inclusive as possible, trying to have the most qualified members participate both as the liaison, as the committee for the 10-7 memorial, as well as the artists allowing them space to be able to participate. We suggested that there would be a timeline just so that we would stay on course. In my humble opinion, I think that this timeline is a little too generous, so I would be weary of putting it inside of the actual RFP, but We did want to have an open call for design as was mentioned and then we wanted to Have the committee vet that at as opposed to getting all of these artists to submit their actual detailed designs and really taking people's time out who may not have been in the running. We wanted to have the committee make that selection and then it would be brought to council again after it was vetted and the two to four finalists, we didn't want to narrow down the numbers too much. So we suggested the 2-4 finalists. Then we wanted to have a more broad community process once Council was able to see that. And at that point, it would be brought to various, it would be brought for community involvement and perhaps you know I remember when we were doing some suggestions that we had for transit and people were able to put stickers on and what have you we could put it in various areas in the city or bring it to rotary or have an open meeting to showcase the various finalists that had been given a stipend to be able to submit their final designs then the public would be able to review those and from those we we would pick a finalist and move forward with that. We are working in conjunction with the charitable foundation to be able to assist with the funding for this, whether we find individuals to be able to give donations or to be able to perhaps do a in-kind service. That's something that the ad hoc also reviewed. That I think is something that we would be interested in opening. We really wanted to have the best members as part of the liaison committee. And so we took a similar application that is used for commission process to be able to address that and you could find that in your packet as well. It would be the same vetting process that we go through with our commissions and let I mean, look at my notes to see if I'm missing anything. Yeah, I think that for the most part that covers it, we really wanted it to be an inclusive process that includes the community that has feedback and it has stages so that our colleagues on the council are also involved because we feel that this is a very important project that is supported by the entire council and by the entire community and so we wanted to be able to get our colleagues feedback along the way for the process and mayor please. I think that you did a very good job describing the process and I'll just reiterate some of the points that this is an open call because we do want a variety of ideas that is for people to at least come with a core idea so that we can look at the various possibilities that are out there and then whittle it down as time goes on involving the community and council all along the way. So this is a way that it's as collaborative as we can make it and look forward really to moving the process along. I think that the timeline is quite generous, but in order to get the community involvement and council check ins along the way, you know, it may be a little overly generous, but nonetheless, it does show that we really want to have the involvement of all at each step. And that's really all I have extra to add. And I think we'll go ahead. So the one thing that I would add, I do agree that we want community involvement. I do think that some of these dates are a little too drawn out. So I would ask for some flexibility with the dates so that staff could monitor it as opposed to having a definitive date written in stone We kind of monitor that I Especially with with putting RF cues out and RFP sorry and Getting some of that information Okay, so with that we can yes, we have comments. We do have one public comment please. From Abe Gurko please go ahead. I just want to tell everyone that I think this is a very exciting project. I live in the walking distance from the proposed era. Good evening everyone. I think this project is really something very special as someone whose parents survived the Holocaust. I think any kind of commemoration where loss is such an important element to what happens to remember October 7th for as many as 80 years from now. People would be able to know that this thing that Beverly Hills did to honor October 7th And those we lost is just a really important step for the city. I think the fact that you did the flags got noticed by everyone back east where I come from originally. My sister is part of the Holocaust Museum in Battery Park and it just was one of the Shining moments of Beverly Hills over the past few years because there's been so much political intrigue going on between both sides of the aisle and this is something that everyone can get behind doesn't matter whether you're left or right but if you're for Israel this is an important thing and I'm excited to be a resident of Beverly Hills. That would have something like this that I could tell everyone and have as a shining star in this town. And I also think whatever your design is, it would be something that would be replicate. That could be an inspiration for actually every Holocaust Museum. I just, if you went to the, we will dance again that exhibition that Scooter Braun did. It was something that I thought was so like alive in how they presented something so horrible that this has an opportunity to visually excite the people and have them remember something. I don't know. It shouldn't be one of the traditional, you know, depressing kind of Holocaust kind of memorial. It's got to embrace the ex embrace the exuberance of Israel and I think I could leave it at that. So good luck with this process. I can't wait to see it unfold. Thank you. That concludes public comment. Okay, and if we can go to council member questions and comments. All right. Well, thank you for this. I think this is really thorough and I really appreciate all the work and thought that's gone into this. It feels really good to see where you're at at this point and how it's moving forward. I just have a couple questions actually and one is I know in reading the materials the staff will be involved as support for this whole process. I'm wondering if specifically would want to like designate like Mandana, specifically on this committee since so much work with her experience in working within the government environment and what those limitations are. I think that point of view as you're developing your ideas are discussing as you move forward it might be a nice point of view to have in real time. It's just a suggestion. I'm not sure how you're thinking about that because I'm'm sure she and public works will be involved in this all of every step of the way. But that's one suggestion actually to consider, because I think she's got really valuable experience. Yes, no, I completely agree. Mondin' and Mohtahari, she and I have worked together for a very long time, and she has a tremendous talent and I for these kinds of things and development and I would rely heavily on her to support all of our efforts related to this memorial. Thank you. And then the other thought I had was when you're going through the selection process, I would, I don't know if you want to consider this, but if it was possible to have someone that's actually worked on a memorial site or it kind of created a sacred site of sorts, I think someone that's been through that process may also be another valuable asset for your advisory committee. If you don't have it as an option, you don't have it as an option, but I think that would be ideal. If maybe even you targeted making sure that individuals that have done that previously, reaching out to them to see if they're interested in participating in that, that would be another comment that I would have. I like the process that you have set up. I like the two-phase process as well for selecting for the design. And that's really it. Thank you. Okay, thank you and Councillor Mellicorman. Thank you. I'd like to thank the liaison committee for the heavy lifting. You've done a very good job. We're obviously hugely supportive of this project. I do have some comments about some of the documentation. I'd like to go through them. I've already shared some grammatical suggestions with Dan. See, I'm not going to go through those. But first of all, going to, going to Attachment 2, which is the RFP beginning on page 4. We talked about the budget. And you know, reading this, I mean, my understanding of the budget is that the $500,000 is what we're going to contribute, we're going to solicit contributions, I believe there's going to be contract contributions to the community on this one. And the way this paragraph to me reads is it sounds like the $500,000 budget is a little harder than I think it really is. So what I would propose is that I would change the beginning of the second sentence in the budget To however the city's charitable foundation will be undertaking a fundraising campaign to raise additional funds to the project Comma and it is anticipated that additional funds will be raised And then an updated budget for the memorial project will be available as funds erased I think that gives the the the designer an idea there's a target budget, but it's not a hard and fast budget. If they go way over it, they're probably not going to be selected. But I don't think they have to think, okay, if I go up any over 500,000 or just a few thousand or 500,000, I can't do that so they don't submit a design that we otherwise want to see. really down below. I think we talked about earlier in the report that this site is really, it can be a toddler raza, we have land, we have mature trees there. Maybe the person wants to incorporate the trees, maybe the designer doesn't. So I would say in the last sentence, additionally the city will perform additional site improvements come, including needed adjustments to landscaping irrigation, or electrical systems. So it's clear that we're flexible in that regard. Next page, page five. I just want to be to clarify, the RFP will be published through Planet BID. We are also going to publish it in numerous design publications, correct? Yes, just to be clear about that and perhaps we should reword it. So, PlanetBid is an online system that we use to publish all of our BIDs, our RFPs, that sort of thing. It's a place where a lot of folks from different trades go to see what we have available. There's also capabilities in the system to track submissions and revisions to RFPs, questions and answer, you know, FAQs, that sort of thing. So we would publish it in PlanetBid, but we would advertise it broadly and direct people to go to PlanetBid to get the information. So the idea is to, I guess, repeating myself to try to get the word out in as many institutions, you know, firms and things like that, but to sort of manage the RFP through Planet Bids. Sure. I'd like, I think that the, I mean, there are that are in most, I think architectural school libraries, you know, periodicals. I think we should, we should be focusing on those, the people, you know, get, and they'll get timely. Any kind of websites that we think, you know, are important in the architectural design field to the extent we can get them to publish it, that would be good. I just think that obviously we want to cast as broad and as possible in the design community. Further down on page five, one of the proposed requirements is community engagement experience. Please outline your relevant experience. And I wonder whether that's really necessary here. We're looking for someone who is a designer or architect. We're looking at the work. And although I know it's often helpful to have the proponent be comfortable speaking in front of large groups, I can't imagine we would choose, make a selection between designs based on how well we think the person could sell the project at a community meeting. So, yeah, go ahead. I think that maybe the, I hear what you're saying. I think maybe that process is more to be able to take community feedback and incorporate it into the design if there was feedback from the community. So maybe it could just be tweaked in a sense to highlight what you're saying in that they're able to take community feedback and incorporate it if there are areas for that. If we're talking about feedback, that's one thing. But the community, it sounds like we're really asking for someone who's good at selling the project to the community. And I just think that's our job really. So that's why I would just, I would modify that part, I guess. Then on the next page, on page six, I just wanted, I think we need to be clear. We talk about portfolio. Submitfolio showcasing up to 10 projects. We're talking about executed projects that were designed and or executed or we're talking about 10 projects per team member. I just think we should be mindful that there may be multiple people on a particular design and what are we really asking for? I'm not sure that everyone who submits designs, proposed designs are gonna have 10 actually executed projects of this sort in their background, even major artists, but again, I just think we should focus on what we're really asking for, what we really need there. Up to 10 projects, but I mean, yes, but it sounds like you really want 10 Friday. If you say up to 10 projects, I know. But an applicant is going to be thinking if I only have one, gee, when I get a, anyway, I agree. But anyway, I just do we, but do we, do we, do we, do we looking for X-cuter projects or design projects, projects of this sort, There could be what kind of projects. So I mean, if it's, I think we need to be more specific as all I'm saying With respect to the project timeline I actually think this is a good project timeline. I think I think the most important things to get get it right this design This this memorial will be there for a long time We want as as good a piece as we can as we can find And I don't think this is only generous at all based on some of the Just in the schedule the Vietnam Memorial did obviously a little different But but I think this is not overly generous things tend to take longer than you think I also think that we need to have the project timeline in the RFP. I don't think you can go without it because the applicants need to know what's expected of them. So I think the liaison committee did a really good job doing this project timeline and I would support it absolutely. Again, on page seven, I have similar to my comment earlier on the selection criteria, number five, community engagement experience. That's for us to decide, that's for us to do. I just don't think that's as important when you come to selecting the piece, how good of a salesperson the designer is. So I would eliminate paragraph five in the selection criteria. Also on paragraph three, hit to be like my new shirt, but we're trying to prove something that's gonna go out. I think we need to make sure we're on the same page. Paragraph three. I think we need a staff one. Well, but you know, well, I could not talk about these things, but then what if it goes out the way it is. So I think it's important we get these concepts down. I think. I think. Paragraph in your RFP terms and conditions, I think there's just some languages to massage there. So. I would suggest, except it to our city attorney's confirmation, perhaps a paragraph eight, was just confirmed that it's a work for higher in the copyright loss, everyone knows that that's going to be the expectation. I would add a paragraph eight. Then the submission becomes our property? The RFP terms, yes. I mean, ultimately, we're going to own the, it could be there, well, we have to decide all submissions or just when we choose. I don't, it's up to you. I think it's probably the one we choose. So, but I do think it, we should know that they're not going to have the cop right after we select it. Even the ones that we pay for, the stipend? If you want to make it that everyone is one of the finalists, we own the cop rest, we pay for them, that's fine too. I just think that's a concept that we should put in there, so everyone is on notice. With respect to the application for the technical professional advisor, I would understand where this came from. I would re-number the paragraphs. I think the most important paragraph is the current number three, which is please describe any technical experience, expertise or background information. And similarly to what Councillor Wilhelm said, I think we should specifically ask if they they worked on a similar project of a more type of project or public space project like this I think that's important to know. And then I actually think that paragraph 6 and paragraph, well the current paragraph 6 and the current paragraph 2 are redundant, so I would just combine them. And those are my suggested, otherwise I'm fully supportive of the work you guys did, the suggestions you did. And I think we should move forward. Okay, thank you. And Council Member Mish. So I think this is great. I know that we'd mentioned before, and it's not exactly here, but I still would love to see if there's a way that we could at least do a groundbreaking on October 7th. I mean, I think also that we should obviously advertise what our intentions are. And in the RFP, I I guess it's going to be what are potential what are the potentials what's the scope of the potential vision for this what is the reaction it's supposed to engender what how are people supposed to feel when they're there and I think that if we discuss that then we can you know maybe get it to a couple of paragraphs, and we should do ads not only in art world journals or architecture, but there are, for all I know, there may be memorial trade publications, but also in Jewish publications, the Jewish journal, the Jewish Chronicle, but not just here in New York, in London, any place that there may be, and certainly not just maybe an ad, but also have Keith or somebody write up an article about it and have them ask questions if necessary, have them engage as well and make this really a worldwide kind of, I don't want to call it necessarily a competition, but we're looking throughout the world. And I think as the vice mayor had mentioned, you know, it could be everyone from Daniel Lee, this kind who's done the Berlin Memorial and other people. It's clear around the world to people who have done memorials that are either related to the Holocaust or other things. But there are also other people. Again, we come back to my Lynn who was just an undergrad at Yale who found out about this and had a vision and it turns out that was the best one. So I think we should in that way cast a broad net and I think we should start, you know says mid-February, so that's a week or so away. Let's get going with this because I think if anything from the denialism that we see about October 7th and the attacks and from the inversion, not just of the Holocaust, where six million Jews died in World War II, but of October 7th. We're already seeing October 7th in version. And I think it's all the more important for us to have a place for our community and for other people and visitors to go and to reflect and to remember and to be moved. So I'm completely supportive and I think that's as said, I think that's how we should be getting the word out. Thank you. Thank you. And vice versa. Thank you. A couple of other issues came up when I was listening to my colleagues and I'm almost in support of everything that has been said so far. One thing I do agree that we should have the rights to whatever is designed, especially if we give the resources to make those final designs. The three, I would recommend perhaps a three to 500 word essay explaining their proposal and that it aligns with the memorial's, goals and values, just so that there's clarity and maybe making that more clear and that it aligns with the goals and values of the community and everybody is and the council. I think we've already discussed the October 7th groundbreaking several times so I think we're in agreement with that. I would also leave a space on the application for if someone plans to donate their services or their design or their resources of any form. So there are many very high end designers who are excited and want to contribute to this. And one, we want the best design, but I think that it's also important to know, at to what level they're willing to participate in this and perhaps share their resources and their time. So, you know, if we have a designer who's going to say, I'm going to take care of everything as far as design is concerned. I think that would be helpful for us to know as we do the fundraising as well. I am in support of putting publication ads in various locations that were suggested, including the Jewish locations. I wouldn't want that to come out of the $500,000 budget because it's already pretty tight as is. I'm seeing my colleagues shaking their heads, yes. So you're in favor of that, okay. And I do think that this should be a big outreach. I think a lot of people will want to participate, so engaging with the wider community will be helpful moving forward. So I'll say I wanted to add. Sure, please. I meant to say this earlier and I forgot. I'm not sure if it's already worked in here because I know you have that for the RFP of questions and answers. But because of the space and the space in relation to the 9-11 memorial, I think it would be also nice if you make available for those that want to come and walk the site and maybe if they had questions by walking the site because they may not understand from the photos and you know how it's located, it's relationship to the 9-11 memorial as well as what space is available, what's movable, what's not, kind of the you know what's the infrastructure of that space. You wouldn't want them to limit themselves if it was something that they could just ask right then, like, could this be moved, et cetera. So then that allows them to know what the available space they have to create whatever that vision is. So I would make it available, or maybe you have certain times where you set up or appointments to walk people through the site. And then I do like the idea of creating some sort of a press release to your point, because I think it is an interesting story, and as well it will get you placement about that, which will communicate where to go for the RFP as well as really like what the vision is from what that space should be doing. So I think that's a great idea and you could get that picked up very far and wide. Thank you. And just to finalize, I think that the timeline was not given to the ad hoc ahead of time. This is true. It was created by staff. Yes. So I would ask my colleagues to leave some space for staff to kind of massage that a little bit and see where we stand before we finalize it. And I do think it should be added in the application. Yeah, as long as the result of the rule. I have no one who suggested the timeline because I think it's important for us to have a timeline. I also spoke with our city manager about the timeline that was proposed and there are certain areas that they, whatever staff feels is going to be helpful. I don't want to push anything without giving it the time that it deserves. So if there are areas that we can visit to whether it needs more time or less time if we could look at that. And then I would support the recommendation of putting it in the final application. So Mr. Mayor, I just wanted to ask a question. I thought I heard you say that you wanted the copyright for all of the submissions that we paid a stipend for? Yeah, the two to four. Okay. The two to four. Yes. That's fine. Thank you. I just want to make sure I can get the money. Right, because we're paying for something, so then it should be the a work for her. And if we do, somebody mentioned, I listened to audience comments. I thought that was interesting. If somebody does, if another city perhaps does want to utilize it, that way it's the city's copyright. And so we can, we could explore that at a later time and talk about it and discuss it, but then we're not having a conflict. Okay, so I think the comments that have been provided are excellent. I agree with the fact that community engagement experience is not something that is a primary interest. I think that is something that perhaps the language can be massaged, that it would be expected, but it is not necessarily something that we don't want somebody to be able to sell it. That is something that is our job to do. Timeline, you know, whatever is reasonable, I think that there needs to be a reasonable timeline and however that works out, I am okay with. Timelines are made to be broken, so I think that we all realize that, but I think it is important to have some parameters out there so that people are aware of it. The advertising issues, I think, are good that is getting as broad an exposure of it as we possibly can. Even as far as international, and I think you even said that international also, I think that's important and to Israel. I think that should be included. But other than that, I think that we do have the framework and really looking forward to moving on this and having our meetings and getting everything underway. Do you need anything else from us? There was just two. OK. I just have a little housekeeping on the recruitment process. On the application, it asks if you are a Beverly Hills resident, are you going to require that they be residents and if so, the two-year residents here, will you waive that? I mean, there's being a member of the committee. As a requirement for applying, do they need to be the technical health residents? The technical advisor. So for the, oh, sorry. Go ahead, go ahead. So the ones that the council puts on the committee, we discussed them being Beverly Hills residents. With the, the, right, but this is just the technical. But then for the technical portion, we said they do not have to be a resident. It's going to be appointed. Did we already get? Yeah you all, I think the council agreed. But this is for the technical. Mayor there was a couple of questions that I, understood. Okay, okay. So a couple of recommendations while you stepped out that I just wanted to bring to your attention also. So a space on the, on the form, if someone wants to donate their services or they, if they have a design team already or architectural firm that is willing to donate those resources just so that they can kind of let us know in the application process. And then I suggested a three to 500 word essay explaining how their proposal aligns with the memorials, goals and values. That's fine too. So I would say that number one, I wouldn't put a word number on it because they're going to be some people who are, you know, who are going to be very literate and some people aren't. But I think the gist of it is how they aligns with the goals and purpose of the memorial as set forth in the RFP. You're just saying just not put a word count on it. Yeah, and I think I'm okay with that. Yeah Okay, and We talked about the groundbreaking for October 7th Sure, I mean assuming everything moves along. I think that would be absolutely appropriate But I would also say that we don't have I mean if if the council wants to have the groundbreaking in October 7th That's great But I would not move things up so that we necessarily have a selected design by that time. That's all I'm sorry. Correct. I said, if it's appropriate, it's my feeling. And we are talking about that. I don't know if we should. Right. We are talking about, it's not necessarily a design, it's just to come up, like to recognize that that's the spot. Yeah, that's fine. Right. OK, so it may just so I understand. So there'll be something happening there. If it happens to be that we have a design, it will be a groundbreaking of the memorial. If not, it'll just be a commemoration of the fact that this is where some sort of memorials go. In basin, the current timeline will have the finalists at that point. Perfect. Just to it. And I heard two people indicate that we wanted the copyright for all of the submissions that we pay for. But I didn't hear anything from this side of the dius. And, okay. Is that everybody now? Well, I think I think I said, I think I may have suggested it. Okay, then that's fine. So that means you're in favor of that. Yes. Thank you. I don't usually suggest things that are not in favor of, but okay. Thank you. I don't usually suggest things that are not in favor of. Okay. That's a lot. It's a, I mean, we can make that. It's a public space. So that anybody could go see it. Walk through the place. Okay. Very good. Yes. Thank you. As clear as it can be. Okay. Very good. Thank you all. And thanks for allowing us to continue this to the evening from the afternoon session. I got that right this time, right? Okay. Moving right along. Okay. Going to item number G1, City Council consideration of whether to extend the city's price gouging prohibitions past February 6, 2025, and whether to update the city's price gouging prohibitions to more closely mirror the state's prohibitions. I may have stepped on whom was lines, but let me take a look. I did not. So no, may we have an oral report on this matter from the city attorney? Yes, both the state and the city have price-catching prohibitions that would trigger by the wind-driven fires on January 6th this year that resulted in the palisades fire and the eaten fire and the herst fire. Those price-gouging prohibitions both at the state and the city level are for an initial period of 30 days. The governor on January 12 extended the price-gouging prohibitions for food items and goods, goods and services used for emergency cleanup, emergency supplies, medical supplies, home heating oil, building materials, housing, transportation, freight and storage services, and gasoline or other motor fuels. And for repair and reconstruction services, any services used in emergency cleanup, and he extended that from 30 days to a year, to January 7th, well, a year from the start, from when his declaration started, January 7th, 2026. And then on January 12th, he extended the price gouging prohibitions on rental housing, motel and hotel lodging, and prohibited the eviction of tenants and subsequent rental of the same housing to another tenant for more money. And those he extended to March 8th of 2025, so for three months. The Beverly Hills price gouging prohibitions are generally similar, although we have not amended our price gouging regulation since 2007, and the state has amended it a number of times since then. And I will come back to that in a moment, but they are a little bit different. But the council can also extend the price-gouging prohibitions, our local price-gouging prohibitions. And by the way, our local price-gouging prohibitions are important because those are the only ones that can be enforced by our city prosecutor. You can extend those for up to 30 days at a time. And the Director of Emergency Services, who is also the city manager, can also extend the price gouging prohibitions. So there are really two questions for the city council tonight. One is would you like to extend the price gouging prohibition, the local price gouging prohibitions for a minimum of 30 days, or would you like to direct the Director of Emerging Services, your city manager, to extend them to some future date, and she can extend in 30-day increments without coming back to the council, until that date, or bring it back to the council at some future point. And then the second question is, would you like to update the price-gouging, the local price-gouging prohibitions to more closely mirror the current state price-gouging prohibitions? And those are the two questions that I would put to you this evening, and that would conclude my portion of the report. And I'm of course here to answer any questions. Thank you for that report. Thank you for that report. Is there anyone in the council chambers who would like to be heard in this matter? Not seeing anyone? Is there anyone on the phone or video who wishes to be heard in this matter? We have not received any comments for this item. So that includes emails. Yes. Okay. Are there any City Council questions of staff starting with council member Wells? Thank you. Well certainly it seems to me we're best suited to be aligning with the state on this as well as having the city manager be able to extend with the 30 days as each the time periods come up and are due. Is there something I'm missing in terms of? Is there a negative to not aligning? I don't. Our negative to aligning, excuse me, because it seems to me it makes more sense for us to do that from having more control and having the ability to enforce. I don't see any negative unless you think there's something about the state law that you don't like. Right. But I think definitely the state law has evolved since 2007. And I think that many of those evolutions are are good and so I would recommend that you do that. Again, unless there is something that the council feels is not something that they would want to do. But I don't see a big difference. Other than we can only enforce our laws, we can't enforce the state law so that's why I think it's important for our laws to be as up to date as possible. And we will, in the future, try and keep an eye on this. Right. Are we questions and comments or just questions? Oh. Okay. All right, those are my questions. You both are just two. Thank. I have a question about the difference between our local ordinance and the state laws. The report says that they contain similar prohibitions, although some regulations are less detailed in the Verily Hills ordinance. So are there putting aside the detail versus generalities of the two different ordinances, are there material differences where there are provisions at the state level that are not, I didn't go through everything, there's no red line version, is there it? I didn't red line them. Yeah, because I mean, the language is different, so it's going to be very hard. But are there material differences in actual prohibitions between the two? I think, well, I think there are some material differences. For example, the state in the time period since 2007 adopted regulations regarding what you can do if something has not been on the market. First, housing has not been on the market. We don't really have that in our- That's the HUD plus 160. Yeah, exactly. So that would be something that I think would be important for us to do. How, I mean, the downside of course is cost and staff time. How easy would it be to do to amend our ordinance to conform with the state ordinance, say staff? I might want to do that so we could have an urge to ordinance on your next agenda next week. That's pretty easy. It's already been worked on. Okay. I think it's now. Okay. Those are my questions. Thank you. Council member Mirish. Vice Mayor and Nazarian. Just a couple of questions. You mentioned some of the things that differ. There isn't really too much of detailed, you know, how the price gouging for and ours requirements in the state differ. My concern is the enforcement and holding people accountable. What is the plan for that? So we can right now turn any violation over to the district attorney or the attorney general and ask them to enforce it. Alternatively, if it's a violation of our ordinance, we can have the city prosecutor enforce it. I think that what we have done to date, Mr. Gola has been very good about this, is when we have seen something that appears to be price We have alerted the property owner or whoever, and that price has been reduced fairly quickly. That would be our first objective in terms of enforcement. But we do have the ability to prosecute our ordinance with our people or for the state ordinance to turn it over to the district attorney. Okay, because I was thinking if it's just a citation of some sort, what is the amount? Is it something that is going to? I don't think it's the, I don't think it's, you know, a thousand dollars for a misdemeanor. That's not going to be the, that's not going to be what gets them to reduce their price gallaging. What will happen though is that will have a judgment from the court which says and you must reduce it to whatever the amount is that wouldn't violate the ordinance if, as a condition of probation. So that's what would actually get them to reduce the pricement again if they don't do it when we call them on it. So I agree with aligning with the state, you know, to be better aligned with the state. I guess my concern is two parts. One is we have a lot of people who are opening up their homes to give temporary housing to someone. And my concern is I don't want people to be taken advantage of. They opened up their home to give someone temporary housing, and then somebody's going to say, well, I'm going to stay here. And perhaps they weren't ready for that type of, is there any type of protection for that type of scenario? Because I do know a lot of people that opened up they said oh, I have an extra bedroom or I have the back of my home open and I just I don't want the goodness of somebody's heart to be taken advantage of and Is and also do they have to show proof for this or this portion of the ordinance to be affected by the fires directly or is this just price gouging in general for everyone? This would be price gouging period for everyone. So even if you are not, even if they let's take housing because that's what we're talking about. Even if you are not from the palisades if you're moving out from New York. And this end as a result they have increased the rent on their unit to, you know, twice what it was before the emergency. That's price gouging, that would be a violation. And I think that's appropriate again because you don't know who's going to come to rent from you. You're going to put it out there as this is the price for this. So with the goods or services. Right. You're the goods or services. I guess my concern is that with the HUD, even with the 160, does that relate to comparable prices in Beverly Hills. I just want to be mindful of our community. You know there's certain areas you can't compare certain areas so that's the only part that I guess I would have concern over your city attorney. I'm really an attorney. You should have been called. That's really a city attorney. I will bring back something that substantially mirrors what the state, unless I get the direction, but if the council decides either tonight or when it comes back next week that The one 60 isn't appropriate it should be 200 or 250 or a thousand I don't think this would be a thousand but I don't think any of those two You're we're free to Adjust it. Sorry. We're free to adjust it accordingly. Thank you. I was just cautioned anyone that if we were to raise that number from 160% of the HUD figures to over that, they still would be potentially prosecutable by the state. And I would not recommend anyone view whatever we do as a safe harbor that they could do that. And that would be my only concern with that. Someone could get confused. That is true. But do you understand what my concern is, right? I just don't want. So I don't know if you read the article on the early times of their day, but apparently when you factor those numbers, the HUD, you look at the HUD numbers, and they add the 160%, the maximum amount of money someone can charge in the West Side for a home to rent is $9500. No, I haven't done the numbers, but that's what the article said. So it's by zip code. It's by zip, well, so, and apparently in some of the West Side zip codes, which is, yeah. So obviously, no one is to rent a house in Beverly Hills for $95,000, unless they really have the goodness or hearts just want to house someone, and that's the most they can charge. So I just don't know how. But do you understand what I'm saying? Because that's going to decrease housing because we're not doing fair market value. Right, we're distancing advising people. Right, we're distancing incentivizing people. and that's why I'm bringing this up, because the point of this, the goal is to not gouge. But if the going rate for something or fair market value of rentals is x, and this is significantly less than x, then somebody's going to say, you know what? I'm not going to put my unit or my home or whatever. That's for the state to fix that. And they've talked about doing it a little bit. But he said that we can still keep it as is because that portion is not in our own ordinance. And that's why I'm kind of torn in the sense that I don't you know we we need to also be mindful of landlords and people who are trying to we need to find balance my point is we need to find balance because I I fear that this will actually inhibit people from wanting to put their units out to be rented because they feel that they're not getting fair market value. But again, I think as Council member Korman said, if they were to do that and put it out there for 200%, then they would be violating the state law and they could be prosec- could be prosecuted by the district attorney or the attorney general So it's a good point. Yes, we can do something that as I said we can do something that raises it But yeah, I understand what you're saying. It's just that you can't you can't You can't you can't But state law we don't have that state law. But state law. We don't have that or. It's a state law. Yeah, but we're we're. This would not be. If we don't have it in our or in our ordinance, there's still going to be subject to state law. Both the state law and the local law apply in Beverly Hills. I just I want to. I wonder if there's space to try to Address that whether it's with our lawmakers or what have you because I do I do feel that It's kind of like shooting yourself in your foot because these are people They're not gonna put their units up for or their space up for rental if they're not gonna be getting fair market value They value, they're going to say, you know what? I'll just skip it. In effect, you're saying instead of encouraging. Exactly. Right. And it's decreasing in the. I can appreciate that. I don't. If we can if we can convince the state to do something else besides the 160% of the HUD numbers, we can certainly adjust our own ordinance to match. But unless we accomplish that at the state level, anyone who does rent their house is going to be subjecting themselves to potential prosecution by the district attorney or by the attorney general. And there was just, I saw some story today and it was someone who, it was a real estate broker who was prosecuted for price gouging as a result of the eating fire and I don't remember where it was, but it was, it was over, I believe, on the east side wasn't here. That's just, you know, and that was at the state level. That wasn't a local ordinance. Going into, if I may, what happened to the 10% over what the prior price? This was, well, that might have been that they raised it more than 10% over the prior price but This 160% of the HUD numbers are if the house was not previously rented Got you number to pay So so so they use so they use the HUD numbers and Then increase it to 160 percent right But so like if somebody's leaving their home to go into a smaller space and they wanna give, for example, they have a larger home that they wanna give to a family to rent out, it's not even gonna cover the mortgage with the way. I don't think what we do is gonna make a difference. Quite frankly, quite frankly, I would rather have the city have the control over it rather than the state at that point get the person to reduce their price so that it's a conformity with the city and with the state because if not, the city is going to most likely report it to the state. Okay. Anyway, your position. if we need to figure out a better way to address the needs of our own community. This isn't. If what council member Korman just said is accurate that the most you could get for rental is 900, yeah, if you that hasn't been on a market is 9,000 whatever. That's what the early times reported by $9,500 in change. Well then it must be true. So if that's what's, I mean let's just say for, I could think of many homes in Beverly Hills that that doesn't even cover the, a portion of the mortgage or a portion of what the monthly, do you know what it is? And I hear you and I sympathize with that and we can adopt something that is different, but the problem is, as Councilman Reuquorman pointed out, that if someone then relies on the city ordinance, they could still get caught with a prosecution by the district attorney because they're violating the state law. last week we spoke about the last time we spoke about this, talked about John when you suggested that the 160 was Gauji and we have that number actually be lower. So you could lower the number but we could lower it and then you don't have the risk of the state going after you because it's actually a lower number than the state maximum. But raising the number is where you don't have the latitude protecting someone from the state. We were correct, correct. We would not be able to prosecute them at the city level, but again, they could be prosecuted under the state law by the district attorney or the attorney general. It sounds like it's 22. Okay, so the two questions you had again were adopted. So adopt the city. Well, yeah, question number two is should we bring forward and perhaps an urgency ordinance to make our price-gouging ordinance mirror the states. That was question two. Question one was do we want to extend our price gouging ordinance? And if we do want to extend it to what date do we want to extend it? Except for the fact we'll have it. We'll have a break of two days. We'll have a break of two days where there's no nothing in FF. Okay. We still, I'm sorry. Even if we follow the state law, it'll still be for an initial period of 30 days and then you will have to extend it. So we come back on it will be, it's currently its in effect until February 6th. So it's possible not to answer the first question. And next week you'll have to answer it. So I just thought we're talking about it tonight. Okay. Okay, so, you know, we've experienced having different ordinances than the county at that time years ago and it just doesn't work. So I think that we should be in line with the state. And in terms of extending it, then we should or should not do not need to extend it. No, I think we, if you, it sounds as if you do support having this price control in effect and therefore you probably should extend it. I think you can extend it and I think you can extend it for up to 30 days or you can give the city manager your director of emergency services, authority to say Extended for I'm just gonna pick a date three months and then come back to us or send it for six months and then come back to us or just Extended for six months and you know will that's that'll be it So we could so you're asking us to come up if we so choose to come up with a number say up to six months or up to nine months or up to 12 months subject to Yes, and managers of the work and if you again if you want to follow what the state did the state for most services extended those price gouging prohibitions for one year, and then for rental housing and hotel and motel lodging, et cetera, those were extended for until three months, the extended till March 8th, 2025. I would be in favor of both of those. I think that having the local control is something that we can enforce immediately. And I think we've even done it already. So I would be in favor of doing both. Same. So I don't think we got comments from you. When you say both, you're saying both giving the city manager the authority to extend. Up to the period of time with the- The two different periods of time. The year and the- Yes. Three months as the city manager sees is necessary moving forward. Correct. We don't have to do this every 30 days and. Agreed. I just differentiated the two. There's two different. When you said both, I didn't have a few meant both meaning under the city manager both time frames are if you meant both meaning the city manager extending the time frame and then secondly mirroring the state, our ordinance with the states. The 90 days on the one year. Okay. I agree. That's correct. I agree with that. And as well, I also agree with mirroring our city ordinance with the state, our gouging. Okay, we have. I'll make a motion. I got it. You want us to win? Yes. Sorry. I agree. So I would extend our two sets of price gouging provisions. I would extend the price gouging. I was extending both in third-day increments as far as the governor extends each one of them. So one of them is now for three months. I would say the city manager can extend that to the three months and then the city manager can extend the other one. I guess it's up to a year in third-day increments and that's what I would do. And I would also, since we've already earned the work, let's go ahead and conform a state law. just confirm, if the governor were, or we can come back, but if the governor were to extend the three months set of price-catching provisions for another month, are we giving the city manager the authority to do that for? Or longer, and I would give you the city manager authority to match the governor's orders up and up through one year. Okay. Good. Yeah, I mean I think it makes all the sense in the world for us to mirror the state. We don't want price gouging and I'm supportive. I am in support of it too. So that's unanimous. We need to have a vote on it though, correct? Yes, if we can have a motion. So if we could have number 14. And it will be option two for that. Okay. I'll do it. Let's see. I move to instruct the director of emergency management. Okay. I move to instruct the director of emergency services to extend the price gouging prohibitions until a consistent- Just six months instead of here. Consistent with whatever the governor's orders are on the subject. That's a question. Second. Second by Vice Mayor and roll please. Council member Wells. Yes. Council member Cormin. Yes. Council member Mirish. Yes. Vice Mayor Nazarian. Yes. Mayor Friedman. Yes. And we need to set part. You know, I've got the direction, so I think it was fairly clear, so I don't need the motion. I can, I will bring it back next week. Thank you. All righty, thank you. And going on to item number G2, Metro Purple Line Section 2, Metro's M.O.A. variance requests for deck removal and road closures. I know cable when you lower it. Do you think you're being helpful, but it just makes me feel very short. Did you lower this low? Okay. Hello, Shawna Epstein, Director of Public Works, Honorable Mayor, City Council. I'm here to share with you a request from Metro to have, instead of 18, weekend closure, a three-week closure plus some some other requests as well. And I will try to be brief because my presentation skills diminish quickly after 9 o'clock. So in this shows you the area that we're talking about for Section 2, the 18-week end closure or the three-week closure would be in the areas that's red. Rees would be a separate six-week closure and we'll go into detail about that. The yellow shows you where we'll start having K-rail work as early as February, and that work is really about curb and sidewalk restoration. And the blue dotted lines are all for the water line and the restoration of the water line. So in the memorandum of agreement that was agreed upon with Metro, we have an 18-week-in grow closure for rehabilitation and deck removal. This is, would take about through August of 2025, and then the water restoration would be complete through February of 2026. The option two, and the weekend closures just start at Friday at 8 p.m. And then they're open again Monday at 7 a.m. Option two is a three weeks closure that would be the entirety. It would also overlap with the six week reaves closure. So that would be beneficial. This would have all of the work, the deck removal and the water restoration be complete in April of 2025 with final K-Rome closures complete by November of 2025. In addition, what Metro requested is the hall to a more touring to be lifted for present day, Academy Awards, Mother's Day and Father's Day, and they're asking for that work to be allowed during those weekends as part of the request. So, when deck removal occurs, and especially when Beverly Drive is open, so this shows you basically east of Beverly Drive and just west of Crescent, those, that would be just closed, but you have those intersections open. So the real traffic detours would be on the north side of the triangle and around. This would be applicable through weeks one and six of the 18-week enclosure. for For the traffic control, I mean traffic detours for phase B or that's the weekend closures from weekend 7 to 18 or option two when the whole Wilshire Boulevard is closed for three weeks. This would be the detours. What's not shown on here is if you're coming eastbound from century city, that we will have detours so you head towards Olympic and don't have to go up and around the city to come back down. So we did a number of outreach. We did not really, we did not get any opposition to the full closure of South Rees drive for six weeks. This was done earlier this year and really out of safety. The three week closure of Wilshire instead of the MOA approved 18 weekends. Most businesses prefer but we definitely have businesses that are negatively impacted. There is an office building that will front this. A.K.A. is concerned about alley access and you'll see some of the traffic concerns on the next slide from the homeowners that need to be addressed. In addition, Metro's asking for additional three additional weekend closures, past the 18 or past the three week closure, and we'll talk about that. And then the holiday moratorium waiver at most businesses oppose this. Basically, Father's Day, we have the concourse on Roe drive. Mother's Day is a big day for people to come into the triangle, to the restaurants. And so it was not looked favorably upon. The traffic impacts, delays that are expected. We did do an analysis our current traffic levels are lower than pre-COVID-19 levels. So there are impacts, but will not be as impactful when we actually did the original study when we closed down Wilshire in the middle of COVID. The safety and traffic flow mitigations really maintaining access via alleys and side streets. We've been working with public safety and coordination for emergency access. Work with all of the ways, Google maps to make sure that they know regardless of what option the council chooses what streets are closed and when. The cities and Metro's hotline staffed Metro has a 24-7 hotline. The city asks BH as open weekdays. BHD and BHPD and TCOs will enforce traffic regulations. This is a key point for the Southwest Homeowners Group that traffic be regulated and enforced, especially on Charlieville and Gregory Way, that they're fearful of cut-thrues through their community. Additional detour signage, dynamic messaging and signs, and any other mitigation measures. We do have additional traffic toolkits that we can put into place if we can't minimize traffic for either the weekends or the three week closure. So the recommendations, staff is recommending the full closure of South Aries drives for six weeks. We feel this is the safest way to do it. All M.O.A. would have to be followed as well as require 16-foot tall-sound barriers on the south side work enclosure. The three-week full closure of Wilshire instead of M.O.A. approved 18-week ends. This would be conditional upon appropriate compensation and authorizing the city manager to execute this agreement, at least two prior to March 17th when the three-week closure would begin. A contingency for up to three additional weekends. This we would like ten days notice to be able to approve this. Closures would have to be continuous and follow all the deck removal closures. have to be the weekends would have to be continuous and follow all the deck removal closures. They would follow the penalties under the M.O.A. $50,000 per day extending beyond the 18 weekends or the three week closure that would be in lieu of. And advance notice at least one week and 48 hours notice to affected residents and businesses. Staff is recommending denying the holiday moratorium waiver for the And advance notice at least one week and 48 hours notice to affected residents and businesses. Staff is recommending denying the holiday more toym waiver for the four holidays. If the council really wants to approve one, we think presence day would be safe because most unions don't work. And so the impact would be minimal. And also we're happy to take any providing direction for additional desired requirements or permit conditions. And that is my presentation. Okay, so just so I am clear, the question that is being asked of council is whether or not we want to consider the proposal. Yes, there's three considerations. Maybe I can go back. One is the full closure of South Rees Drive for six weeks. The second is the three-week full closure instead of the MOA approved 18 weekends. The contingency of three additional weekend closures. The halloté Mortorum waiver. There's four questions. Four different things. Okay. Is there anyone in council chambers? Is that your complete your report? Yes. Is there anyone in Council Chambers who would like to be heard on this matter? Not seeing any. We will go to anyone on the phone or video who wishes to be heard on this matter. Yes. We have one caller. Mr. Michael Kerrick. Hello can y'all hear me? Yes, please go ahead. All right, I, I, I'm, I was calling to say that I think this would be a really good thing, specifically, expediting. I don't, I don't think anyone wants to sit through almost half a year of the weekend of the, Those are being closed for the whole. Best get over with quick. I think one thing that I don't think was mentioned in this presentation, but it was in the report is that the Southwest Homeowners Association was also contacted. It has resident myself. South of Wilshire, one of my biggest concerns is cut through traffic. And it seems like there will be what what's the point. One of my biggest concerns is cut through traffic and it seems like there will be, what is it called, measures of traffic control officers to help prevent that or at least help enforce people that are trying to cut through our communities. But at the end of the day for me and I think for for lots of people in the city, I think it just be so much more convenient just to get this done with as opposed to having to deal with construction all the time. Yeah, that's really it. Thank you very much for listening. Have a good debate. Thank you. We do have a few written comments. Okay, if you could please. First, I want to ask from Dr. Jordan Geller. As a resident, I share significant concerns about the impact that the proposed Metro closure wills your boulevard on our Southwest neighborhood, which is already under assault from speeding, cut through Uber, Ways, et cetera. A recent traffic study conducted by the City of Beverly Hills neighborhood traffic calming program revealed that 1,656 vehicles per day traverse just our block of 200 Southpeck per day average with 65% exceeding the posted speed limit and some reaching speeds of 45 to 50 miles per hour. This closure will undoubtedly intensify these alarming conditions. Such closures are likely to redirect substantial traffic onto our residential streets, particularly Charlieville Gregory and adjacent North South Streets caused increased congestion disregard for stop signs and speeding. To address these challenges, I respectfully request the following. Number one, traffic control officers, TCOs, stations at key intersection to prevent gridlock, enforced traffic laws, and facilitate access for residents. Number two, police presence, BHPD enforcement to deter speeding and enhance laws. Number three, detour signage and public outreach. Clear, well marked detours, directing traffic to major arterials paired with robust citywide notifications. Number four, coordination with navigation apps, ensure Apple apps, Google apps and ways prioritize arterial routes to prevent cut-through traffic. Number five, 24-7 hotline and manned hotline to address resident concerns promptly. Advanced planning and communication will be essential to minimize disruption. I urge the city to prioritize resident safety and quality of life during this project. Thank you for your attention to this matter. The next item is the next comment is from Mr. Ken Goldman. We, the residents in the southwest are very concerned that the temporary closure Wilshire by Metro will have the result of diverting substantial traffic into our residential neighborhood with the hunds of cut through traffic on the east west streets, Charlie Bell and Gregory to get past the Wilshire closure and also the north south streets of 100, 200, 300 blocks to get to Olympic to continue east or west despite signage directing the cut through traffic to Santa Monica or Robertson. Drivers heading east or west on Wilshire coming to a Wilshire closure will continue on some alternate route many through the southwest and many ignoring the stop signs and ignoring speed limits in our residential area. Already 56% of the cars in our neighborhood are cut through traffic. The Southwest Homeowners Association has requested in a prior email to the city. It's very similar request that the first part was, but I'll read it. Again, it's number one for traffic control officers, be stationed at many. If not all of the 16 Southwest intersections along Charlieville and Gregory to prevent gridlock, enforce full stops and enforce the speed limit. Also to temporarily hold traffic as needed to allow residents to access or exit their homes and driveways. Number two, that BHPD be onsite as needed for enforcement of stops and speed and with extra presence to protect the southwest neighborhood homes from curious strangers and the police department enforcing traffic regulations along Charlieville Boulevard and Gregory Way near the closures to reduce cut-through commuter traffic particularly on weekdays and to ensure drivers comply with traffic signs and speed limits. Number three provide well-marked detour signs to direct traffic to arterial roots with TCOs in place as needed. Number four, that the city and or metro provide via advertising e-mail blasts and social media of the closures in detour routes. Number five, coordination of same, stressing the need for detoured traffic to take only arterial routes and not cutting through the Southwest with Apple maps, Google maps, NWAs, N number six, a 24-7 manned hot life for complaints or issues. The association also requested, regardless of the option selected, that comprehensive advance public outreach and notifications about the closure and detours be provided to the residents. Whether the 18-week-and-or-three-week closure is implemented, city staff and Metro should plan and be committed to release extensive public notices, citywide and regionally and update the online GPS traffic applications to ensure residents and commuters are well informed. Thank you. We appreciate your help and concern. The next comment is from Rosa Berman. As a resident of the southwest area of the city, I'm writing to express my concerns regarding the proposed wheelchair closures and I respectfully request that you provide our area with sufficient personnel and resources to help us contend with the increased traffic that the closures will create as outlined by Ken Goldman in his letter to you. Next comment is from Aaron Hoops. I am writing to you in support of item G2 on the City Council agenda for January 28, 2025. An expedited timeline for the purple line extension affects traffic flow for less amount of time while adding benefit to our city via a completed transit line, a completed closure, a complete closure for less than a month is preferable than only weekends for nearly five months. I would prefer it to be completed sooner rather than later. Next comment is from Leo Shabazian. I am writing to show my support of item G2 on the city council agenda for January 28, 2025. And an expedited timeline for the purple line extension affects traffic flow for less amount of time while adding benefit to the city via a completed transit line. I also believe a three week closures are also more palatable than five months of ongoing construction. As they say, ripped the bandaid off as a user of the LA Metro network, I would prefer it to be done sooner rather later. And number six, stand housener. As a resident in the southwest area, I am very concerned that the temporary closure will have the result of diverting substantial traffic into our residential neighborhood with a great number of cut-through traffic on the east-west streets of Charlieville and Gregory to get past the closure and the north-south streets. Again, his comment is very similar to Mr. Ken Goldman. And drivers heading east or west on theshire coming to a Wilshire closure will continue on some alternate route many through the Southwest and many ignoring the stop signs, ignoring the speed limits. And again, his recommendations are exactly similar to Mr. Ken Goldman's recommendations. And that I believe concludes public comment. Okay, thank you. Thank you. So we'll, oh, excuse me, sorry. So I, if we're already ready to continue mayor. Yes, go ahead. Okay, if I may. So I wanted to just highlight a couple of things from Director Epstein's report. So number two, the big ask here is the three-week closure of Wilshire instead of the MOA approved 18 weekends. And as you'll see, the first bullet point there says, conditional upon appropriate compensation or terms. So tonight, I think what we're asking from council just to be abundantly clear is if your feeling is on these things particularly the three week full closure, if your feeling is no, we're not interested in changing, we wanna move forward with what's in the MOA the 18 weekends. Let us know that tonight. If you're open to negotiating with Metro, we always have a list of things on a project of this size. We have a list of things that we are continually negotiating with Metro. You could direct staff to conduct some negotiation around those items and return to you at the meeting next week with more details on that negotiation. So I don't know it sounded like inclerifying from staff. None of these four issues need to be decided tonight. So if Council is interested in pursuing some negotiation with Metro, it's entirely up to you. You can direct staff to negotiate with Metro and we can come back to you next week. Okay, very good. So with that we will go to questions of staff starting with council member Wells Thank you. I don't have any questions and council member Korman. Thank you. I have no questions Council member Mirish no further questions and Council member vice mayor Nazarian no questions at this time and council member mayor mayor Friedman I have no questions either. Okay so with that we will go to comments from Councillor Mellies. Okay so certainly this last week we were on the Metro Liaison Committee Mayor Friedman and I so committee. I'm going to move forward to the committee. I'm going to move forward to the committee. I'm going to move forward to the committee. I'm going to move forward to the committee. having you come back to us with regard to that and as well for the closure of Reeves' drives for the six weeks. Thank you. Thank you. Hey Council Member Corbyn. Thanks. Plyminerally we've heard a lot tonight from some of the southwest residents but their concerns about cut through traffic and I agree with those concerns I think we need to take them seriously and they've suggested a number of remedial measures I don't know whether we can coordinate with with the apps like ways to tell them to change the roots Interesting suggestion I mean we can but can we we can all right, so that's some we should consider Okay, yes, I didn't realize that's something new I've learned all right So I think we should definitely take those concerns seriously and do some of those consider. Okay. Yes. I didn't realize. That's something new I've learned. All right. So I think we should definitely take those concerns seriously and do some of those measures that they suggest. But that's sort of what we need to do that, whether we do the 18 weekends or the three week full closures. So that's not really what we need to discuss tonight. So I am in favor of or I'm open to these suggestions, the full closure of South Rees, the three week full closure Wilshire and so the 18 weekends. The potential contingency for up to three additional weekend closures if we stay with the weekends. And then the holiday moratorium and I agree with the recommendation that maybe presidents day for the moment was something we would consider but anything else beyond it certainly there was some discussion about other later holidays we would not want to do a holiday moratorium but again let's be open to it and it really all depends on what kind of compensation that staff can negotiate and I certainly would authorize the city manager to continue those negotiations over the types of items we might want from Metro and return. Thank you, Council Member Mirish. I'm also open to the idea of working out some sort of agreements that would allow a three-week full closure of Wilshire. I think it depends on the considerations that we're afforded and I would allow the city manager and consultation with the ad hoc to be able to continue to negotiate that with MTA. Thank you. Vice mayor, please. Yes, thank you. I too would consider the three week closure pending open negotiations. I do want to address the needs of the community that was mentioned. I think that that's important for the most part I believe that we do try to address many of those concerns that most of them seem fairly simple enough. With regard to the speeding that was mentioned, I know that we have traffic calming processes around, so I'd like to request that we look at that street and those surrounding areas if there is speeding. I know that we have a process in place for that. So that would be something that I would support as well. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And I'm open to a discussion of the changes that are requested. I think it needs to be well thought out in terms of what the gives are from Metro in terms of allowing it. I think it's a significant imposition on the businesses to have three weeks straight of a closure. I hear that there are some people who are in favor of it. I also know that there are others who have been opposed to it, but in terms of trying to negotiate a resolution of all the issues I certainly would allow staff to do that and I think it would be appropriate to continue this matter to our next meeting. I think that would be appropriate to allow the city manager to bring you back something a little bit more definite Okay, so with the concurrence of council that's what we will do and thank you very much for your report Okay moving right along here to item number g3 report from the city attorney on closed session items We have nothing to report this evening and Number four report from the city manager nothing this evening mayor and Item number five city council member and committee reports. Council Member Wells. Okay, thank you very much. I'm trying to keep this very brief. We had a rotary collection for the victims of the wildfire that was in collaboration with our Beverly Hills Fire Department, as well as our fire chief Greg Barton, who was also the president of Beverly Hills Rotary Club. And it was a really fantastic turnout for city of Beverly Hills. I'd say we had Beverly Hills Chamber and school district and many of our businesses and community members throughout Beverly Hills who came together to bring items that are necessary for the wildfire victims and it was on Sunday for one day and we really had a fantastic turnout and collected a lot of a lot of very needed items for the the victims of the wildfire so that was a wonderful event So I want to thank everybody that came out for it It was just felt really great to see our Beverly Hills community come together And I think everybody appreciated having that opportunity as well to participate As far as meetings I just mentioned we had a metro ad hoc meeting with Mayor Friedman and myself And we are discuss this issue for this evening Councilmember Kann and I had an election ad hoc meeting as liaison to discuss the process for the upcoming election and some of the issues that have come up around election dates that really weren't really foreseen from when the last changes were made from the council prior. And so we started to address that and that will be coming forth to the council in the future. And lastly, we had attended or I attended as well as vice mayor Nazarian as well as council member Cormin and vice mayor Nazarian spoke at the unveiling of the naming of the Beverly Hills AYSO community field which is at El Roe Deo. And again, that was a really wonderful community event. The, as part of our JPA and with the AYSO, Beverly Hills AYSO, we are able to have a full regulation field at El Roe Deo, which is available not only for the students at the school, but after school hours. It's available for our community and specifically for AYSO and having their programs running there and it's just a great asset for us to have as a city to have that regulation field. And I think AYSO soccer for really coming to the school district and asking if they could accommodate the field as we were redoing the El Rojo school campus. And they saw that there was a need and that this could really be a value to the community and wanted to participate by contributing $350,000 to make it possible. And I really take my hat off to the construction group at the El Rojo and Beverly Hills Unified who were able to accommodate that and they made it happen. And with the collaboration and partnership with our city and the JPA, it is a great asset for our community to have. And certainly now when we know that public spaces are definitely in demand and having those community open spaces are really high priority for all of us. So it wasn't really a nice event and hopefully we'll be able to do more of those in the future. And that is all that I have to report. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor McCormick. Thank you. Well, Councillor Member Wells just basically talked about everything that I did with her and with Vice Mayor Desarion. I too want to thank the A.Y.A. So people for contributing $350,000 to a terrific soccer field which is going to be a huge community asset. And that's just for Beverly Hills, but the entire region. I also, and particularly I want to thank Rick Wolfenrich Barron for their leadership of the way, so in getting that done. And um... that not just for Beverly Hills, but for the entire region. And I also, in particular, I want to thank Rick Wolfenrich-Barrin for their leadership of the way, so in getting that done. And that's basically it, thanks. And Councillor Marra-Mirish. Thank you. Last week I was in Sacramento for Cal Cities, also known as League of California Cities Policy Committee Meeting, the Governance and Transparency Committee Meeting. And it's interesting, one of the things we discussed was a resolution that passed at the League at the last annual conference, which I think was in November. I'll call it a do as I say resolution. Basically, they're saying that any laws that Sacramento passes that apply to locally elected officials should also apply to those in Sacramento who make the laws and it's a very sensible policy. It's something that the league is going to write a letter and discuss with those politicians. It's a little bit watered down too much for my liking, but this was an initiative that came from the city of Glendora. And I think they did a very good job. And I think clearly in everything that we do, anything that's imposed on us, hey, if it's good enough for us, it should be good enough for Sacramento politicians as well. Briefly before also we mentioned, we discussed international Holocaust Remembrance Day, and I discussed and mentioned that there was a lot of distortion, and I would say that much of the misinformation Holocaust inversion and Holocaust distortion has been funded by our friends in Qatar. Let's be straight. Qatar is the enemy. Qatar is not an honest broker. It's a two-faced Batman villain. It funds Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood, all G-Hadi terrorist groups that have publicly and repeatedly vowed to kill Jews and to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. It's also, by the way, time for the Muslim Brotherhood to be designated as an FTO of foreign terrorist organization. Al-Jazeera, owned by Qatar, trades in the most vile kind of anti-Jewish racist propaganda. It should be banned the way we ban Russian propaganda organs as well. Qatar is the reason all of our hostages are not free today. It is if the emir of Qatar ordered Hamas to release the hostages, they would have all been free months ago. Guitar uses its enormous wealth to try to blunt in silenced criticism, to bribe elected officials, and to brainwash our students with dark money and be hastened donations to universities, NGOs, and other organizations. Furthermore, I propose that we designate Qatar as State Sponsor of Terrorism, that we sanction Qatar, including freezing its assets, and using them to compensate the victims of Qatar-funded terrorism, and that we ask the State Department to expel the Qatar Council from Beverly Hills. State Spons State sponsors of terrorism and raging Jew haters are not welcome in Beverly Hills. Cotar, the jig is finally up. Thank you. And, Vice President. Thank you, Mayor. So, happy birthday, Beverly Hills. It's a lot to celebrate. I also, as my colleagues mentioned, we had the Rotary Collection, AYSO community field, but we also had a moment to meet with Chief Barton and the Maple Counseling Center to develop plans for our local first responders who have deeply been impacted by the recent wildfires. Additionally, I wanted to bring to the community's attention that the Maple Counseling Center is providing six free sessions for anyone who was impacted by the wildfires to help them get back on their feet. Additionally, I attended a ribbon cutting for Laraev. It's a new salon on South Beverly Drive. It's female lead and I encourage you to go visit them. I also had a recent trip to Sacramento. I have the privilege of serving as the presidential appointee to the League of California cities on public safety. And so we had a meeting where we discussed emergency preparedness and response, fire insurance, home insurance, and implementing Prop 36 now that it's been passed. During the visit, after the League of California City's meeting, I had the honor of being able to visit with Assembly Member Rick Chavez-Bor as well as representatives from Assembly Member Jesse Gabriel along with staff, our Chiefs of Staff from offices of Senator Scott Weiner and Ben Allen. And we tackled several critical issues that we discussed that directly impact our community, including the devastating effects of wildfire and the need for effective preventative measures. I really use that time to showcase the great work that our fire department has done and our public works department in brush clearance. We talked about public safety and security enhancements to protect our neighborhood. Obviously funding for local initiatives that we're doing right here in Beverly Hills. I made sure to address water resource challenges, housing, and the importance of local control. We spoke a lot about that today. Brought up several issues of how we are directly being impacted by builders' remedy of these large buildings being placed in small duplex streets that don't even have the ability to put a large crane to help with this development. And many of them were actually surprised and felt that this was not the intention of Builder's Remedy. And so it was important to bring that up to them. We discussed fire insurance and remapping. is something that's been put on hold right now, but it was important to bring that up to them. We discussed fire insurance and remapping. Remapping is something that's been put on hold right now, but it was something that was quickly going to be affecting our neighbourhood and it would, this way it would ensure safe and affordable coverage for all areas of our city including the hills and the Truzdale area. Beverly Hills has a class one fire department with a perfect score and we take fire prevention very seriously by clearing brush and requiring our residents to do the same. So these proactive measures should be reflected in insurance premiums that are reasonable and accessible, not burdening by exuberant costs for our residents and being affected by that. We also talked about the alarming rise of anti-semitism and the importance of safe and inclusive area for all of our residents and improving the efficiency of Southern California Edison to mitigate outages and disruptions. And I think that it's a really good time to bring those issues up right now with wildfires. And so I made sure to bring that up with all four of the representatives that I met with. And finally, this was a little bit of a humbling surprise for me. State Assembly Members of War recognized me on the assembly floor. It was a true honor and it's an experience that I will never forget. And I hope that I along with my colleagues could continue these important discussions at the state level, because today we will build a safer, stronger and more resilient future for the city of Beverly Hills. Thank you so much. Thank you. And welcome back mayor. We've missed you. And I had the opportunity to represent the city of Beverly Hills at the United States Conference of Mayors, winter meeting in Washington, D.C., January 17 through 19. As part of that trip, it was extended somewhat because I had the opportunity to meet with Representative Ted Lu in his office and spent about a half hour in his office talking about issues that certainly affect the City of Beverly Hills and more importantly the regional areas around us and of course we have his support in rebuilding our area. I also had the opportunity to meet simultaneously with senators Alex Alex Padilla and Senator Adam Schiff, who both were very hospitable and gracious and also express their support for helping our region recover from the devastating fires that we have had. And in fact, I was able to score two seated tickets for the inauguration of our now president, President Trump from Senator Schiff, which was a somewhat difficult ticket to get. That is a seated ticket. It was a seated ticket outdoors, and about 24 hours later, those tickets were voided because it was moved indoors, and where there were going to be perhaps 2,000, 2,500 seated people outdoors. All of a sudden, the list was reduced to somewhere around 650 to 700 people and even representatives were not permitted to bring their spouse or a plus one. It was extremely extremely limited other than to those who were financially supportive of now president, where they got plus ones. So as it turns out, the ceremony was indoors and at that point, the weather was very cold and that's why they moved it indoors and I was on a plane the next day. As far as the meeting was concerned, very interesting topics that were discussed on Friday building a more resilient community, which was kind of timely. Helping small businesses was another subject matter. And then on Friday, interesting subject matter, police department policies relating to immigrants and homeless people was a subject matter of one of the sessions and I think that we now see that whole issue being played out in public. And I think there was certainly the feeling amongst the mayors of what was to occur, and it is occurring. Go through some of these other. Another interesting subject was what does the new Congress and administration mean for cities? Another interesting topic that we see and I don't know if anybody has noticed it, but the administration has, is not allowing any government bureaucrats to contact public entities right now regarding policy. They've all been instructed, all of the bureaucrats have been instructed, that unless the presidential appointee to their department has okayed it, they are not allowed to publicly speak. And that's kind of chilling right now. I was at another conference subsequent to that with my professional organization and we had people who were scheduled from CMS from the Center of Medicare Services and they were given notice about eight hours before they were supposed to speak that they were not allowed to address our group. And that's a little chilling, quite frankly, that that's occurring. There was a session regarding the PFAS poses to firefighters and city budgets and PFAS is the substance that's within the turn coat, turn out. Turn out, yeah, turn coat is something else. The turn out gear that firefighters wear and it's something that I've mentioned to our city manager and to Fire Chief Barton. I've got my little brochure here that I'm going to give to Chief Barton today, but There are new regulations in terms of what can be used in those outfits because there are some presinogens that have been found in the gear that they have right now. And new gear is being manufactured, and there was a whole discussion as to whether or not to purchase that new gear now or to wait. And it's quite interesting, and I have the information for our fire chief. Lastly, I was able to speak at the session on anti-Semitism. And the subject matter was whether what to do, what should city mayors do about anti-Semitism? And my speech basically gave four suggestions to the group, which are that every city should adopt the IHRA definition of hate crime. Number two, they should enhance penalties for hate crimes within their cities, whether it's anti-Semitism or anti-Islamic hate. All hate should have enhanced penalties. Number three was to amend existing racial discrimination policies to include those of Jewish ethnicity. And number four, that policy should be adopted, not to do business with companies that have anti-BDS policies and to support that support boycott diversity and sanctions against the state of Israel. That was obviously well received by our group and hopefully other mayors will bring those suggestions back to their constituencies. So with that, it was an interesting experience. I'm going to give this if I may to our future mayor so that she knows what to expect the next time around. And obviously the topics will change, but I think it's Columbus. I think Columbus is worthy. Oh, yeah. Because he's the new head of it is from Columbus, so it's generally at that location, as I recall. But any event, you'll find out. Beautiful place to be. Okay, so with that we're going to move to adjournment. But before we do that I would like to adjourn our meeting and memory of a dedicated public servant, community member and friend. Jerry Felsenthal passed away last week. Jerry was a strong advocate of the Beverly Hills community. He served as a planning commissioner and a public work commissioner and was involved in several important city projects, including the reconstruction of Norris Santa Monica Bolvard, the safe plugging of the former oil wells at Beverly Hills High School, the major water main replacement on Loma Vista Drive and the water treatment plant rehabilitation. Jerry's achievements were recently acknowledged at the City's Health and Safety Commission meeting in December, where he was presented with an official certificate of recognition. Excuse me. Jerry was celebrated by his fellow commissioners as well as members of the public for his contributions to emergency preparedness and community resiliency. We extend our deepest condolences to Jerry's family and friends during this difficult time, and I would ask you to join me in a moment of silence to honor the life of Jerry Felsenfall. Thank you. Thank you and we will stand adjourned to our next regular meeting for special meeting scheduled for February 5th. Thank you everyone and good night.