Thank you. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Call the meeting to order at 62.
You have please [music] here. [music] >> [music] >> Okay, thank you. How many public comment on clothes do we have? Number six. That's okay.
>> [music] >> Amanda Elliot. >> [music] >> interested in protecting the trees [music] application to remove protected trees. To date, no information has been provided to the city. Yet, trees have
been removed. Seven today. How can this happen? Who's responsible for this? Violating the city's tree protection ordinance is an affront to the trees and the residents of Pasadena. The state of California school system should be
ashamed. It's also a punishable criminal offense and those responsible need to be identified. It's also just plain ridiculous to destroy trees that improve the air and soil, provide shade and lower temperatures around the schools, and
provide a soft beauty to an otherwise hardcape of concrete pavement and buildings. I urge the school district to reconsider this senseless slaughter of mature, beautiful trees. There's a better way to remediate the soil at a
lower cost. Please take some time to understand the right thing to do for all of the community. Rebecca L followed by Brian Fulture. >> Hi, my name is Rebecca Lada. Um, spoken before. I'm not going to go through the long list. So, the school district took
down, as you know, seven trees, including two I'm sure were protected by the ordinance that I wrote when I worked for the city. Um, one of them was a liquid amber that was pretty good sized and there were three oaks. Two, I'm sure
protection size. So, we understood that they weren't going to cut any more trees down. They they had some stop requested by the city which apparently they ignored. Um so we'd like to know who's
responsible. That's number one. And number two, there was a nest in one of those trees that had black Phoebe in it, which is a bird, and the black Phoebe nest was removed with the debris, and the birds hopped around freaked out for
when we were there. Um that's a violation of the Migratory Bird Species Act. which is a punishable fine. Um, and so I I guess I'm frustrated that it seems like the school board's not listening and that trees continue to
come down and that the school board picked the most expensive option both for the trees and for the soil and that there are options. I believe it's graph school in the city of LA used a bio- remediation approach instead of a
scorched earth nuclear approach and received approval from the DTSC for that. I would strongly recommend that the school board take a pause and look at some of these options that are not removing the trees. There are multiple
reasons including that the school school board and the the school district has not guaranteed that you are not going to distribute lead and other toxic elements into the environment of the community next to where the schools are located.
Thank you for your time. Uh good evening. Thank you for allowing us some time to speak. I had a one minute discussion. Now I'll make it two. I appreciate your patience. My name is Brian Fulchure. I live at uh 541 South Oakn Null. I'm a professional engineer, mechanical engineer. We live in a
historic landmark home. We understand trees quite well because you have dealing with tree issues in our property. Um the last thing I really wanted to say today was you really need to take a pause on what you're doing. Fall back and regroup. This is silly. This is absolutely indefensible. We need
a public hearing. We need credible reports. We read this stuff. We support you on a on a on a cause that's supportable. But if you're going down the wrong path, people stand up and say, "This is this is ridiculous." The tree protection ordinance, which is happen to have for
your reading, is a under PM PMC 8.52 is a kind an ordinance in Pasadena, as I'm sure you know. It also includes civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance. If you don't know, it's on like page 12. It's not hard to read. It's for all persons and entities dealing with trees in the city. It's not
an option. It's an obligation. Um, it appears the school board has willfully and deliberately directed its personnel to break the law. This has been said here last week and tonight. We don't understand why trees are coming down when you got an ordinance telling
you don't cut the trees. And you got a subsequent agreement. This is the same thing with the city. This is negligent and utterly reckless. is something in business we would never do for fear of the consequences. The board's code of conduct and ethics
committee should also be called called in to look at this because this really not what you should be doing. Take stock of what people are telling you. Follow the law. The laws today of significant trees is completely misguided, mismanaged, objectionable,
and it doesn't meet the goals of the ultimate mission soil remediation. Please have another look. Thank you. >> Kristen Ooa, followed by Shana Patta and then Nina Raj.
>> Good afternoon everyone. Um Kristen Ooa, Pasadena resident uh homeowner. Um and I just want to make sure that the board understands that today that uh the trees that were cut down were protected trees. And I think there may be a misunderstanding probably with Mr.
Dunning who doesn't know what is protected and not protected. And just want to make sure the board knows that you probably saw the notice right when we walked in the door. It actually says it's from the city. Uh it's a stop notice. Uh it's they're probably required to put a legal notice on the
door and it says that to stop all work from the city of Pasadena. Um and the city of Pasadin was on scene today but um they weren't allowed it to in which sense because they have to enforce their ordinance. So um so the law was broken
today by the Pasadena Unified School District because protected trees were removed and we've been here telling you um and it's hard for us to get here. It's hard for us to hear from work. It's all the work we've been doing. We're all exhausted. We keep telling you. Um, so I'm really confused why this is still
going on and I really hope you make a different decision. Thank you. Hi, I'm Shaina Pelota, a Pasadena resident. Today, at least four more trees were cut down at John Muer High School, three of which were coastlive oaks. POSD is cutting down protected trees and violating the Pasadena city
tree protection ordinance, and they have not applied for any required permits from the city. It is also a bitter irony that oaks are being cut down at a school bearing the name of John Muer, a man who devoted his life to protecting trees. Your mission statement says, "Pusd prepares students for success in an ever
evolving world. Teaching students that laws and living things can be bulldozed when inconvenient is a lesson, too, but probably not the one anyone would want endorsed. Many of these oaks are older than the school itself. Once a mature tree is gone, no replanting program
brings it back in our lifetime or our children's. Your own stated values promise accountability and collaboration with this community. Accountability means taking responsibility for these removals. And collaboration means listening before the chainsaws start, not after. The community has asked
repeatedly for transparency through public records requests, through public comment, through every proper channel. Instead, trees keep falling while litigation is pending. I ask the board tonight direct all direct staff to halt all tree removal until the district has obtained the required city permits and
until a court has ruled an agreement has been reached. Thank you. >> Hello, my name is Nina Raj. I'm a pastina resident as well. I live a couple of blocks from here. Um I also sit on the board of CNS San Gabriel Mountains chapter. I'm a certified uh UC
naturalist, master gardener, uh native plant landscaper, a lot of things. Um this morning at Mir High School, which by the way is named after one of our nation's most renowned tree conservationists, your crews cut down three coastlive oaks and an American
sweet gum. Despite written orders by the city to pause removals, they would have continued cutting had I not disrupted their illegal work. Not only are coastlide oaks protected by the city's tree protection ordinance, which the city has enforced in writing, they're also a keystone species, providing rich
habitat for hundreds of birds, insects, animals, and invertebrates. These particular oaks were home to a nest of black phoes, who were extremely agitated after the cutting, hopping around on the ground, and calling out in distress. Oaks are also famous for their cooling capabilities. On a hot day, it can be up
to 20 degrees cooler under a coastal live oak. How much hotter will it be for mere high school students without these trees? Further, lead levels were not even over the legal limit for two of these coastl, and the third was barely over. They could have easily been organically remediated. I was told I was
breaking the law by being there today. But in fact, I'm trying to best prevent your board and the contractors you employ from breaking the law. This morning, I only partially succeeded. Four trees at Mirror and seven at Jefferson were cut. an irreversible action that is detrimental to student health and goes against the wishes of
the Pasadena community. Our group has provided cheaper, faster, more environmentally friendly, and more community centric options. I urge you to consider and adopt those alternate approaches. >> Any further public comment? All right, let's recess to close.
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Okay, we are back from closed. Uh there is no reportable action taken. So I'm uh adjourn and closed. Call meeting to order at 8:32. Open session
>> here. >> Here >> is there any public comment for open? >> There is one public comment card submitted. >> Okay. Three minutes. >> Yes. >> Okay.
>> Una yost So I urge the board to rectify this and post the letter itself and related documents to the PC website. This will be in alignment with PSD values of making information accessible and our decisions openly.
And two, um I support the board approving the board's unconditional commitment um to the June 16 cease and desist letter. By doing so, the board would be committing to follow the Brown Act, including specifically acknowledging
that Daisy Act communications are Brown Act violations. But ultimately this is about more than any single vote or proposal related to resolution 2852 which started the recent school closures
effort. The PSD code of ethics says all PSD board members should meet the responsibilities to the community by quote insisting that all school business transactions be on an open ethical and above board basis end quote. And in order to do that, the board needs to
commit to not just following the board a brown act, which is the baseline expectation, but um respectfully to reset the process with an actual fair, transparent community center visioning process for the future of PSD, looking at data and coming up with solutions
rather than providing what appears to many a process to justify predetermined outcomes. And the community, particularly PSD parents and other community stakeholders, need to have meaningful participation in the process with a board not just listening, but
actually taking the community's input into account. And we don't have to reinvent the wheel for how to go about having a real community engagement process. The nonprofit Advancement Project, you can go to their website, advancementpro.org, or offers a model
policy to responsibly address a budget shortfall for school boards which can be easily adapted to PSD. So going forward, I urge the board to commit to complying with the Brown Act, including specifically acknowledging that Daisy Act communications are Brown Act
violations and also work on restoring the community's trust by not rushing conclusions about closing schools. Closing schools is an extreme measure that should only be taken as a last resort. And instead, I respectfully urge the board to address budget concerns
responsibly by passing a policy like the advancement projects model policy to responsibly address a budget shortfall to protect our schools and district and the people they serve. So, thank you all. Appreciate your help on this effort. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Is there any other further public comment? >> That concludes all the comments this evening. >> Thank you. All right, we're at H1. Uh move approval of UNC of unconditional commitment to June 16th, 2026 cease and
desist. >> Did you move? Are you asking? >> Yeah, I moved approval. >> Second. >> Any further questions on it? I do want to say that there is an attachment on posted on the agenda. website.
Um, no further questions. Um, I think we're ready for a vote. All those in favor? Any against? Abstensions? Motion passes. Thank you. Meeting adjourned.