OpenCityCouncil

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Segment 1

Segment 2

Acting Mayor.
Thank you.
So I wanted to just step in for the acting mayor or vice mayor, I don't remember her title today.
The mayor.
There we go.
Acting Mayor.
At our last meeting, we did present a beautiful proclamation to Susan Weingraf for her service.
So that has not been forgotten by the city.
But we did not have the opportunity for council members to make comments to thank her for her service to the city.
And so I wanted to give it over to our colleagues, if they would like to say a few words of thanks and recognition to Councilmember Susan Weingraf, Vice Mayor, Acting Mayor, whose last meeting is also tonight.
And I will go ahead and it looks like everybody is pressing.
Okay, I'm just going to go down the row.
I will start with Councilmember Humbert.
Thank you, Councilmember Hahn.
And I have two things, two sets of comments I want to make.
One about you, Councilmember Hahn, and one about our mayor, Susan Weingraf.
Can I go ahead and do both of them at the same time? Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Councilmember Hahn, for all of your service.
As long as I've been on council, and that's only two years, but you've been an incredibly hard worker and extremely dedicated to all your endeavors.
And I was very grateful that you endorsed me when I ran to represent District 8 in 2022.
I have a lot of gratitude for that.
It's hard to imagine, for me, the council without you.
You've worked tirelessly, no question about that, and left an indelible mark on our community.
You're truly a singular presence on the City Council, and the work you've done will continue to impact our community for years to come.
I'm deeply thankful for your work on the funding items that we've co-sponsored.
You've taken the lead when it comes to funding some of our most beloved Berkeley institutions.
I'm grateful that you've been a champion for securing support for these organizations when they needed a hand up.
Councilmember Hahn has an extremely keen eye for policy.
And Sophie, I know we're definitely going to feel the absence of your expertise and attention to detail, and you have a great attention to detail.
Really grateful for that.
You've also fostered strong public engagement, and I think you've inspired many residents to pay closer attention to local government.
Your term in office serves as a powerful reminder of how a single elected official can strongly influence the course of local government and a community.
As you transition to your next chapter of your life, I'm confident you'll find new and exciting opportunities to share your talents.
We wish you, I wish you all the best in your future endeavors, wherever they may take you.
And hopefully that won't be too far away.
Now, Mayor Wingraff, and that's really fun to say, it has been an absolute privilege to serve with you, and you are simply irreplaceable.
Of course, I'm very excited to work with incoming Councilmember Blackabee, who's with us tonight, and I think he'll be a great addition to our Council.
But the loss of your institutional knowledge and wonderful presence will be keenly felt by me and, I think, by everybody.
There's so many great qualities that you bring to your work here on Council.
It feels like you were practically engineered and designed to be a great Councilmember.
You have encyclopedic knowledge of policy and Berkeley politics.
You always pick up the subtle details and unexpected implications of policy.
You know exactly what questions to ask, to cut to the chase, and sometimes cut through BS.
And you do it all with good humor and a collegial spirit, which is much appreciated.
You've always been deeply dedicated to your district, which I really admire, and your constituents rightly respect and adore you.
I found that out when I was out knocking doors with Councilmember-elect Blackabee, but I knew it already.
Woe unto the Councilmember whose item gets a negative mention in Susan's newsletter.
We get floods of emails.
She has a superpower in that regard.
You were almost always right on your policies and positions.
Not quite 100 percent, but almost.
And when I've disagreed with you on one of your positions, at the same time, I've known that in holding that position, you have the best interests of your constituents in mind.
Having said that, I always want your blessings for my items, and I have a feeling even when you're off Council would probably still behoove us to make sure that our referrals have your approval.
I'm so thankful for all your service and for being a friend and mentor to me as I've gotten the hang of being on Council.
At the same time, I'm glad you'll be getting some much-deserved rest and time with your family, though I know you're going to still be active.
Frankly, I wouldn't mind if you become one of the folks who comes and comments on nearly every item at every meeting.
I think that would help us.
But you deserve to enjoy your retirement, so instead, I'll just have to ask myself, what would Susan do? From the bottom of my heart, thank you again for everything you've done and do, and I wish you and your loved ones, your husband Mark, your children, and your adorable grandchildren, a happy Council retirement.
Thank you.
That was so sweet, Council Member Humber.
WWSD, what would Susan do? Susan and I will be enjoying a leisurely dinner during the Council meetings.
You know, we may do some really rigorous times, we absolutely have.
And so, Council Member Wingraf, you were like a living library of everything this Council has done, all the rules, you know, the right questions to ask, and I enjoyed working with you.
And despite our differences, which on its surface appear to be many, difference in age, gender, race, geophysical positioning within the city, but what united us through these years, these eight years together, was a love of Berkeley, wanting us to work together.
We came together many times, and you supported me, I supported you.
We worked on Measure FF for fire, we worked on the fire plan in 2017, we worked on a myriad of issues, and every time you were there to lend a helping hand and teach me, a plucky kid from the Chiefs of South Berkeley, how to operate and be collaborative and initiate a vision.
And we did it over and over again, and you were always steadfast, and you held your ground, and when it made sense, I was with you.
And I don't relish the fact that I have to take your position now, as the most senior member on the Council.
Very alarming possibility, eventuality, and I'll say again, just Council Member Wingraf, it's been a wonderful experience, your love of the arts, we share that, and I've learned so much from you, and been inspired by you, and learned so much.
And I'm going to miss you, and please come around and comment on every item, and shut us down a couple of times, because..
Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.
And Council Member Hahn, well, Council Member Hahn, what can I say? So going back with 13, 14 years, I think it was, when we first started coming together, you recruited my wife onto the Women's Commission, and you led the charge to shut down these massage parlors, and to take that group, which had been relegated to one of those traditional women's auxiliary type clubs, talking about lace patterns and doing an annual event, to being proactive, and producing leaders, and making big change, and sticking up for women.
And that was incredible.
And then I saw you get involved in the downtown plan, and all these large-scale projects with Council Member Arreguin back in the day, and through these years, you and I became so close.
And again, another genius woman here, taught me so much, and loved working with you through the years, and on Council, we came in together, on that blue-green tide, and we brought a new energy, and a new direction, and I can tell you, working with you, and observing the power of your intellect, is unrivaled, powerhouse, with a brain and thought structure so massive, and so complex, it takes a lot of time to express it in words, a lot of time.
Oh my God, Council Member Arreguin, and you know, and you're, you're, you're, you are of Berkeley.
You're a Yellow Jacket, cheerleader, you know, you get it, you get what Berkeley is, you get it.
It's in your fiber of your DNA, you get it, you express it, you believe in what makes us unique, what makes us strong, what made us famous throughout the world, you embody that, and you push for that stuff, you go for it, and it's been an honor to support you throughout these, this near decade together, and you know, I'll say this, yet, now that you've, you know, amassed all your powers, and you've, you've run a campaign, you've launched out now, you're going to be free in the world of these new powers, new energies, and new thoughts, you're going to rest for a while, but I know what's going to happen, I'm going to leave you with a poem from my late father, Dale Bartlett, he would say if he were here, life is a river and must run its course from a trickle to a stream and back to its source.
We'll see you again.
Farewells are really hard for me, so I'm not going to say farewell, because I hope to continue working with you and seeking your guidance.
Councilor Burhan, you, when I was first elected, you really embraced me as a colleague, I cherished our walks we would go on, I loved working on a number of my items with you, and having you review my items at committee, and getting your feedback, and knowing that I could always come to you for insight, and even when we didn't agree, you were always willing to hear me out and make my items better.
Like you, I also grew up here in Berkeley, but I've never met anyone in my life who loves Berkeley as much as you do, and I've also never seen someone fight as hard on behalf of the city and people in the way that you do.
I've been so grateful and in awe of your passion, your deep knowledge of history, your championing of affordable housing, everything you've done for the arts community, and as someone who will be the third most senior member of council, I feel so fortunate to have had these last four years to learn from you, and I hope to continue doing so, and I hope that you continue keeping me updated and let me know how I can support you, and I hope to see even more of you.
And thank you for everything you've done for for all of us, for the community, for the city, thank you for not being afraid to challenge people and to call people out and to hold us to our better selves and doing that for the community as well, and thank you for thinking of not just to get out of the city, but also how to make sure that everyone in the city has a beautiful life, that we have beautiful spaces to share, to preserve our culture, to create culture, to work on the world that we all want to see and that our community deserves, and I'm deeply indebted to you for that and for having had that as a guiding light, especially through the pandemic, and as someone who really, you know, came out of nowhere, didn't know anything when I first got here, so thank you so much.
Thank you.
And Mayor Wingraf, I have loved every single day of these last four years working with you.
Like Ben was saying, you know, we represent two very different districts, two very different parts of town, but we were always able to mutually support one other and our constituents, and thank you so much for your commitment to West Berkeley and the waterfront, and for the wealth of knowledge that you have, and just being able to come to you with all kinds of questions, and I remember one time, it was one of my first budget referrals.
It was, I think you're, you know, you're all gonna laugh at me, but it was a referral to add some trash cans along from Hill Avenue, and it went to, I think, agenda rules, perhaps, and you were like, why do we need an item for trash cans? At the time, I felt like, oh, crushed, like, oh my god, like my first little item, but, you know, like, but especially for newer members of Council, having someone who is willing to sort of point out when something is a little ridiculous and naive in a way that, you know, is clear, but also encouraging, and it's very important to have those moments so that we don't end up doing budget referrals for individual trash cans, and, you know, working with you on a public safety committee, and getting to learn about the needs of the Hills District with respect to evacuation, and fire safety, and wildlife, wildfire mitigation, and, you know, some of the less glamorous things we have to deal with, you know, refuse issues, infrastructure.
Those have been my favorite parts of working for the City is tending to those assets, and I thank you so much for being, like, my mentor, and my friend, and I really hope that we can continue calling on you, and lunch, yeah, lunch, absolutely, yeah, and don't be surprised when, you know, if we end up naming a couple parks, and streets, and facilities, and gardens, and the City itself after you.
I want to first echo my colleagues' beautiful comments about Councilmember Hahn and Acting Mayor Wengraff, who served on this Council with such passion over the past 8 to 16 years, and while I only shared half of a year of that time with you both, I want to say thank you so much for being here, and thank you to all of you for being here, and thank you to all of you for serving on this Council for 8 to 16 years, and while I only shared half of a year of that time with you both, I feel like I have learned so much from the both of you.
There have been countless moments I've shared with you where I have been so appreciative of your expertise, your knowledge of history, your passions, your questions, your curiosity, and your kindness.
Sophie, I want to specifically recognize some of the incredible work that you have done with maintaining affordable housing and supporting tenants.
It is really incredible, and I'm so excited to be able to continue to work off of it, but I know that it is because of you that I get to work off of it in the first place.
I am so thankful to have had the chance to serve alongside you, and I just want to mention how many times in the past six months I have smiled to myself and thought, wow, that's a really good point.
I would not have thought of that, and it has been just really, really incredible to see your work and how passionate you are about it, so thank you.
Susan, your dedication and your compassion and your thoughtful leadership have made such an incredible mark on this community, and I again feel so fortunate to have been able to work alongside you.
Your attention to detail and your commitment to your constituents, all of your constituents, will be sorely missed, although I know that your successor will follow in the very large footsteps that you have left for him.
It is so clear to me how you lead with kindness and humility and a deep commitment to the well-being of our residents, and I so admire the integrity that you take in every single decision that you make, and I think that it will inspire our city's leaders for generations to come.
I want to thank you both for your years of service and especially for welcoming me to this council, and for the moments that we shared, I feel so lucky to have been able to serve with two such strong women on this council.
I feel inspired.
I wish you both and your incredible staff all the very best in the future, and I am glad that your families will get to spend more time with you, and I hope that you don't hesitate to reach out, and if it is okay, I also won't.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Okay, we'll go now to council members on Zoom.
Ingrid? You know, I simply don't have the words to describe the depth of my appreciation of the community's appreciation for both of you, Sophie and Susan, Mayor Wengrath and Council Member Han.
If I had the words, we would be here all night.
I'm not going to make you go through a long council meeting as your final one, but I did want to share a few different stories that I think capture the full depth and breadth of everything that you have brought to our community throughout not just your council tenure, but your lifetime.
Susan, I don't even remember the issue, but I remember that we were at loggerheads about something.
This was maybe a decade ago or more, but you invited me into your office, and when we talked through it, and we had just a heart-to-heart conversation, I'll never forget what you told me.
Oh my gosh, I am sorry for whatever, I don't even remember what it was, but whatever it was I was going through, and you offered to make me chicken soup.
Your memory is better than mine.
I am not making this up, and I'm also not making it up that after I left your office, I was like, what the hell were we arguing about anyway? What was the actual disagreement? I also remember then, I was zooming into a meeting when you offered, and I wasn't sure if you were talking to your council colleagues only, I was not on the council at that time, but you offered to take anyone who wanted to on a tour of the hills, and so I remember texting you in the middle of that meeting, and I said, I'm not sure if this was meant for me, but I would be honored.
I would love to learn more about the Berkeley Hills, and almost immediately, or once you went on recess, you texted me back and said, let's go.
So we jumped into your leaf, and we went all around the R1H district in the hills, and I learned so much from that.
No tomes of zoning documents or materials could ever describe the half of everything that I learned from you in that hour-long tour.
Susan, thank you for always inspiring and challenging us to come up with a fully baked product, and if it's not fully baked, then after it gets a grilling from you, you better believe it's going to be a much better work product.
Susan, I learned from you, it's nice to get to five votes.
That's a quick win.
That may be the easy win, but what would really go a long way towards really being deserving of serving our entire community is something that gets a unanimous vote, and thank you for showing me through your leadership and through modeling that time and time again what that level of collaboration and partnership and problem-solving with everyone, how that feels at the end of it, and it feels fantastic because at the end of it, we're all working together.
So thank you.
Thank you, Susan.
Sophie.
Thank you, Igor.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Sophie, some things are never going to change.
You knew me, I think we first met when I was 23, and I was a knucklehead, and you challenged me to do better, and then you reminded me that the community deserves nothing less, and then 17 years later, I remember moaning a really unfortunate national election loss, and then you were like, Igor, I need you to come to my house.
We have an item.
Actually, you did the whole item.
It was a 21-page memo, I believe, and it was concerning an issue in my district.
Thank you for taking that on, and then once I got there, like, have you read the memo yet? And I was like, no, I'm not done mourning the national election results.
You are going to read the memo, sir.
I'm going to sit here and you're going to read this memo, and you are going to make sure every I is dotted and every T is crossed.
There were no I's that needed to be dotted.
You took care of that.
Two days after, I wasn't sure, but maybe I may have gotten elected, like, the results were nowhere near certified.
It was still being counted.
You were like, 8 a.m.
We're meeting.
I've convened this meeting of folks in your district in the arts community.
We are going to work to try to save the arts district.
That wasn't even your district, but you knew what it means to be for all of Berkeley, and thank you for that.
I have so many stories.
I will cap it off here because I really don't want us to, I don't want to, I will spare you having to be here all night, but I am so blessed to have such good friends in both of you.
This goes beyond whatever the position was.
We have gotten to know each other's families.
Ben reminded me, yes, Sophie, it's all your fault.
His considerably better half was chair of the commission on the status of women.
After that, Sophie got my considerably better half to get appointed to that commission and then end up becoming its chair.
Thank you for always, both of you, for inspiring us to look up to our better angels, to epitomize, or at least to inspire us if we do half of what you have been able to do for your entire career, your entire life, to inspire all of us to be everything that our community deserves, to do better at times because Berkeley deserves nothing less.
I am really standing on the shoulders of giants.
Our community is standing on the shoulders of giants, and I hope everyone through these, and there's so many other stories, gets a glimpse of the passion and the love that both of you have for our beloved community.
Yes, both of you, you can fully expect to get my calls because I will be asking a lot of questions.
Where is this item you worked on? Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, Igor.
Okay, Rashi? Yes, thank you very much.
Can you hear me? Yes.
Okay, wonderful.
Well, you know, I regret that I'm not able to be there in person tonight for this very important occasion.
I just want to reflect on all the speeches so far from Council Member Bartlett's poetry to all of the stories that we've heard about both of you and working with both of you.

Segment 3

I want to congratulate Councilmember Hahn on your years of public service and all of your accomplishments, and I want to congratulate Acting Mayor Wengraf on your years of public service.
I was also reflecting on the fact that each of us is very different, different in background, different in age, and yet we are all called to serve and work together to improve our city.
And I know it has been, at times, a great sacrifice, but also a very enriching experience to serve.
And Susan, I want to say that I've appreciated getting to know you and working with you.
I admire your commitment to your constituents and your values.
We were able to disagree with each other without being too disagreeable, and I look forward to our continued friendship.
And I wish you both the very best in the future.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I just have a very brief comment for Sophie, my colleague Sophie.
I've had the privilege to work with you for the past eight years, and I know how committed and hardworking you are when it comes to making Berkeley a better place for all of us.
Your passion, your energy, and your work ethic are unmatched, and they're an inspiration.
It's been truly wonderful to have your partnership on so many of the issues that we have advocated for together.
Women's rights, anti-Semitism, wildfire safety, pedestrian safety, supporting the arts and culture in Berkeley, I could go on and on.
I can't name all the things you've accomplished, but I just want you to know that you've made a significant and lasting impact on our city, and that I have enormous respect for the work that you've done.
I know that your next adventure will be equally successful and wish you the best in whatever it is.
Okay, and now I'd like to see if the city manager, the city attorney, and deputy city manager would like to make some comments.
Thank you, Acting Mayor Weingraf.
I'll be fairly brief, and on behalf of staff, thank both you, Council Member Hahn, and the city of Berkeley for your work.
Thank you, Acting Mayor Weingraf.
I'll be fairly brief, and on behalf of staff, thank both you, Council Member Hahn, and you, Acting Mayor Weingraf, for all of your years of service, for your applying your quackling intellect to deeply difficult problems to solve, and doing so with great care and thoughtfulness, with compassion, with wisdom, and always in the spirit of uplifting the community at large, particularly the people who could use a hand more than others.
So, on behalf of staff, that has been very widely acknowledged and noticed.
You have made our work better with your gimlet-eyed checking of all of our work, and you've made the community better, as has been said by many.
So, on behalf of all staff, we thank you both for all of your service, and you will both be missed.
Council Member Hahn, it's been a true privilege to get to work with you.
It's been almost eight years that we've worked together.
Your leadership has been instrumental in advancing transformative projects, including the rematriation of the Ohlone land in West Berkeley, a testament to your dedication to justice and equity.
Your meticulous attention to detail and tireless work leaves a huge positive legacy for the city, and we are grateful for your service.
Acting Mayor Weingraf, it's been an honor to get to work alongside you and witness your dedication to Berkeley, particularly in the areas of public safety, fire safety.
Your thoughtful approach to navigating complex issues and your masterful ability to lead meetings with clarity and grace has been very inspiring, and I'm grateful that I got a chance to work with you.
Council Member Hahn, I do want to express my heartfelt gratitude for all of your support, and as our city manager has already said, for all of your dedicated service to the Berkeley community.
I think if I had to think about one thing that I'll miss about you, you and I had this running joke that how many of us in the city of Berkeley still wear a suit jacket to work every day? And every day, every time we see one another, we both have on our little suit jackets, and so that's a little something that we share.
Thank you for always exemplifying that professionalism.
Therefore, I never felt left out.
Council Member or Vice Mayor Weingraf, I want to thank you for your knowledge and for your patience and for your conversations that you would often have, and just being that person that I could call and say, can I run something by you? And you say, sure, I have a minute.
You always had a minute.
So please don't lose that, because I'll still be calling you just to say, do you have a minute? And Council Member Hahn, please don't lose that, because I'll still be checking to see what kind of suit jackets you're wearing out there.
Thank you.
Hi, I just wanted to take a minute to not say goodbye, but to thank you both for your years of service in the city of Berkeley.
I wanted to thank Council Member Hahn for your passion, for being fearless.
You've dedicated so much time, so much energy during your tenure in City Hall on a variety of issues.
You have vision, and you're an energizer bunny who just keeps on going, and you never give up.
I want to thank you for always being responsive.
It seemed it didn't matter if it was early in the morning, late at night, you were just always responsive, and I really appreciate that.
It seemed you never slept.
And I just want to thank you for being so supportive of the many issues I've worked on in my time as city auditor, including the most recent establishment of the whistleblower program, for reporting fraud and waste of city resources, for supporting the reserve fund, and many other important issues.
And I just really want to thank you for all of that commitment and dedication, and I wish you all the best.
And I can't believe this is also the last meeting for you, Mayor Weingraf.
I've appreciated all of our conversations around transparency, accountability.
You have led with integrity.
You always center the people that you represented.
You know so much about Berkeley government.
When I first came in as a newbie, and I needed to know what was going on with this or that, I always learned something new, and I still always learn something new when we talk.
You're a good listener, and I know how much others appreciate that about you.
And I just want to thank you for all of your support of me and my office uplifting good governance in the city of Berkeley.
Your many years of experience will also be missed in the city of Berkeley.
And I thank you for serving this long for this community and to the partners and family members who are here.
I just want to thank you for your sacrifice as well and your support.
These are not nine to five jobs.
And as our state senator said, really take support to really weather this role.
And I just wanted to appreciate that.
So thank you.
I just want to make some very brief comments.
For me, this was not a job.
This was a journey.
Before I started as Councilmember Oles' legislative aide, I was on the planning commission.
And so my service to the city goes way back.
I was actually on the planning commission when we wrote the general plan.
I was on the planning commission when we did the West Berkeley plan and when we did the University Avenue strategic plan.
And then I met Betty Oles and she was running against me, your incumbent.
And she asked me if I'd run her campaign.
And we had a ball.
We just had a ball.
And she won.
And then she asked me to be her legislative aide.
And so for 16 years I worked with Betty Oles.
And it was a journey.
Betty was an incredible woman.
And she taught me everything I know.
And I'm very grateful to her.
And I'm very grateful to the residents of District 6 for their confidence and their trust over all of these years.
For me, it was never about the power.
It was always about the people.
And I really struggled to represent District 6, which is quite different from many other parts of the city.
And that was always my primary goal.
I just want to say thank you all to everybody.
Thank you.
Thank you to everybody, all of the staff of Berkeley, current and former.
It's just been, as I said, a real adventure.
And the relationships that I built over the years are extremely important to me.
I'm not saying goodbye because I feel like all of these people are my friends and that I'll see them again.
It's just too hard for me to imagine not interacting with all of these people who I'm so close to in the future.
So I'm not going to say goodbye.
I'm just going to say thank you.
And I very much appreciate your appreciation for the years of service that I've given to Berkeley and for the work that I've done.
Thanks very much.
Okay, we're still on ceremonial matters.
And now it is my honor to request that State Senator Jesse Arreguin come up.
And I'm going to read to you now a proclamation for Jesse Arreguin.
Honoring Mayor Jesse Arreguin's service to the City of Berkeley.
Whereas Jesse Arreguin has served the City of Berkeley with honor and distinction for over 20 years, having served on various commissions as a legislative aide and the elected positions of rent stabilization board commissioner, council member, and mayor.
And whereas during his tenure as an elected official in the City of Berkeley, Jesse Arreguin has passed hundreds of items of legislation addressing key issues that matter to our community, including but not limited to housing affordability, homelessness, public safety, infrastructure, climate, and equity.
And whereas highlights of accomplishments include accelerating construction of affordable housing, including the largest affordable housing development in the city's history, moving forward on transit-oriented development at the Ashby and North Berkeley BART stations, transitioning the city to 100% renewable energy, reducing unsheltered homelessness by 45%, reimagining public safety and developing the specialized care unit, successfully navigating the city through various crises, including launching United Against Hate Week in the face of extremist agitators, and protecting vulnerable community members during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting labor through the passage of the Hard Hats Ordinance and expanding worker cooperatives, negotiating long-term agreements with the city's largest employers, and countless other policies that have made a positive impact.
And whereas as mayor, Arreguin built a reputation as a consensus builder, working with and listening to all viewpoints and forging a path that resolved conflicting needs without compromising his values.
And whereas the city of Berkeley is a better place because of the immense amount of work and dedication Jesse Arreguin has provided to the city, and he will be greatly missed.
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Berkeley City Council does hereby recognize and honor Mayor Jesse Arreguin, I should say actually State Senator Jesse Arreguin, for his exemplary service to the city of Berkeley, and wish him the best of luck as our next representative in California State Senate and in future endeavors.
Thank you.
Would you like to make some comments? Sure.
Well, this was your night.
I am surprised and really touched by this recognition.
I was saying to Councilor Hahn on my way over here, I took the Amtrak from Sacramento, how much I already miss Berkeley.
And I didn't want to miss this opportunity to be here to honor both of you people who I have immense respect for and who I've had the pleasure of working with.
I told the city manager last week when I handed my badge and keys and when I reclosed the mayor's office, just how bittersweet it is to leave the city of Berkeley.
I've lived in this community for over 20 years.
I've served the city for 20 years.
And then obviously, I have the honor to be mayor and work alongside you for the past eight years.
And everything that we talked about, it was a partnership.
It was the result of the work of Councilor Mahan, the work of the vice mayor, the work of Councilor Barrett, the work of Councilor Taplin and everyone.
We were able to come together these last eight years, I think during probably one of the most difficult times in our city's history, and rise to the moment and to help lead our city through the pandemic, through the presence of right-wing agitators, through the Trump administration, and really make significant progress for our city.
And I'm really proud to have worked with you to make that happen.
So thank you for this recognition.
I'm going to take it back up with me to Sacramento tomorrow.
Don't be a stranger.
I look forward to staying in touch with all of you and working with you and to continue to represent this city.
And thank you for your continued service.
Those of you that are still on the council, those of you that are leaving, and to know that you have a committed partner working with you in Sacramento to advance our city's values and to make a difference for our entire city and state.
So thank you very much.
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much.
I think we're actually finished with ceremonial items.
That's right.
So I'll ask now if the city manager has any comments.
No comments, Madam Mayor.
Thank you.
And the auditor, yes.
More comments.
Different comments.
OK.
Good evening.
So as you may know, this is the season for audit follow ups.
And I just wanted to walk folks through a few items that are on the agenda.
Audit follow ups.
They help to make sure that our office and U.S.
Council members and the public can stay up to date on the work departments are doing to implement audit recommendations.
I am pleased that city management, fire department, police department have all submitted updates as information items in today's agenda.
Item 21 is staff retention update.
This is on the audit staff shortages, city services constrained by staff retention challenges and delayed hiring.
Staff retention is an important issue that impacts all of the city's work.
Without adequate staffing, we can't fulfill some of Berkeley's most important operations.
City management has shared an update on the status of recommendations to address the concerns raised in the audit.
And while they did not fully implement any more recommendations, the city has made significant progress on audit recommendations since the last council report, modifying over 3 dozen class specifications, updating job descriptions and increasing some salaries to meet the city's priority hiring needs.
Management is also redesigning the city's training curriculum, which is scheduled for a partial launch in January 2025.
Item number 22 is an information item.
And this is a fire update for the audit spending aligned with ballot measure FF and the city improving internal processes.
And I'm especially pleased to share that in the first year since the release of our audit related to measure FF, this is the fire related audit, not the most recent ballot measure FF having to do with street funding.
The fire department demonstrated that they already implemented most of the audit recommendations.
So thank you for that.
And notably, the fire department has developed a dashboard to track wildfire risk inspections and is sharing progress and outcomes with the disaster and fire safety commission.
This new reporting increases transparency and allows the ballot measure funds are spent appropriately.
And finally, item number 23 is police update on the audit.
Berkeley police improvements needed to manage overtime and security work for outside entities.
The Berkeley Police Department provided an update on the audit related to overtime.
And since the last council report, BPD has received the final staffing assessment from the consultant city gate, which includes 54 recommendations related to appropriate staffing levels for the department based on their assessment of calls and public safety service expectations.
They are now in the process of prioritizing these recommendations and assessing what is needed for implementation.
I hope you'll all take time to review these reports to learn more about the important steps departments have taken to improve the city and where we have more work to do.
And I just wanted to thank these departments again for taking time to follow up on these recommendations and reporting them out publicly to the city council tonight.
And I wanted to also thank my staff for their work with departments on these reports.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Auditor.
Okay.
Now we'll go to public comment on non agenda matters.
So because tonight's a special night, I'm going to ask my colleagues if it's okay with them.
If we take 10 speakers from the room for one minute each and 10 speakers on zoom for one minute each.
Any objection? Okay, that will be it.
Then we'll call 10 cards from in person.
Yes.
And you can come up in any order.
Just line up on the side here.
And the 10 names are Michael Cassidy, Sonny Dewitt, Andrea Cassidy, Greg King, Mary Kay Lacey, Scott McCreery, Elizabeth Hahn, James Johnson, Laura Linden, and Toby McLeod.
And please try to keep to one minute because we're doubling the number of speakers tonight.
Yes, please come forward.
So I mainly wanted to add my personal thanks.
I've been a citizen up in District 6 for 46 years now.
So I know how hard you've worked, Susan, during many of those years.
I was driving through town the other day, came to a traffic light, left hand signal, train signals for the train that might be coming by, a bike lane that went by.
And I said to my wife, you know, it's all very complicated.
It's like, you know, I don't know how this system works.
I have no idea, but it all comes together and stuff happens.
But the reality is stuff doesn't just happen.
There's a tremendous amount of work that goes behind the scenes.
And it takes a lot of dedication, as we've heard tonight from all of you folks, and the mayor, previous mayor as well, to make all of that happen.
So I want to add my thanks for making things happen in Berkeley, for working with a tremendous amount of patience.
It's not always, sometimes I've seen a fair amount of contention occur.
And I want to thank you for all of the hard work that you do.
Thank you, Michael.
Sir, your name.
Sir, your name.
Cassidy.
Okay, thanks.
Andrea Cassidy.
As Michael said, we've lived in District 6 for 46 years, and recently it's become a lot more trying.
And we really appreciate, our neighborhood has started a fire safe group with the assistance of Susan, who got us in touch with the right people.
And every time we have an issue, it's usually by a phone call or email to the office, we get the help we need.
And it's been incredible.
I know that every year we get our neighborhood out together for the national night out with police.
Susan is always there.
And this has been really a sense of being cared for.
And we know that we have somebody new coming in, and it'll take a little adjustment.
But we hope that Brent will take a lot of mentorship from you, so he knows how to take care of the neighborhood.
It's not a very easy place to live.
Our streets are not passable.
Thank you.
Also, Sunny DeWitt has yielded me her time.
So our streets are a major issue.
There have been arguments about whether or not people can park on both sides.
And we have been woken up by the fire department in the middle of the night because they can't get their truck between the two cars.
We have had good conversations about this with Susan's office.
We have looked into things, and our neighborhood has been able to send out our own alerts that on any Red Flag Day, you must be parked facing downhill, only on one side of the street.
And that's been organized through the assistance we've gotten from Susan's office.
We will miss you dearly, but we really think you deserve a life outside of the council room.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Good evening.
I'm Scott McCreary.
I live in North Berkeley, and I'm here representing myself and my wife Renee Robin.
So we have lived in Berkeley for 35 years, having gone to UC Berkeley, gone to the East Coast, and returned.
We've known Sophie since she first ran for council probably 16 years ago or something like that.
And I just want to say we have many sources of appreciation for Sophie, all named for her deep commitment to Berkeley, her empathy in representing constituents, her absolutely tenacious ability to navigate tough public issues, and her pragmatic resolve to truly get things done in Berkeley, which she has done across many neighborhoods and many policy areas.
So thank you very much, Sophie.
We wish you great success in your next endeavors, and we look forward to the next chapter of the history of the city of Berkeley.
Thanks so much.
Hi, I'm James Johnson.
I've lived here just eight years, so I've never known this city without Sophie Hahn and Susan Weingraff and Jesse Ergen, and I really appreciate the work that those three have done here, and especially Sophie, who has been my city councilor for some years now.
We've worked on blight in our neighborhood.
We've worked on schools for my daughter and a place for my daughter's school and several other things.
In fact, when it came time for her to move to a new school, she passionately explained to me how great the schools are in Berkeley.
Thank you so much, because she's so happy at Martin Luther King Middle School right now.
Anyway, thank you, everybody.
I really appreciate it.
Mayor Weingraff, I live in District 6, so thank you very much for your service.
I had the honor of acting as a liaison between Ohlone leader Karina Gould and each and every one of the council members, City Attorney Brown and then Mayor Ergen, but I spent an awful lot of time with Sophie Hahn during those eight years, and I experienced firsthand your intensity, your passion for justice, your intelligence.
We worked on litigation strategy, fundraising strategy, your parsing of words for the acknowledgement statement, and educating the public about the history, the deep history of Berkeley.

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