Thread by @ImmCivilRights

Truly amazing municipal govt story intersecting with business and immigration and federal law happening right now in the City of Adelanto.
Sequence so far: Councilman who brought up the vote to expand GEO facility claims this is all his idea.

Council now cuts comment 3m to 2M

Reasoning: They’ve received emails from across the nation. Thinking this could happen for 5 hrs, given the numbers of comments council has received.

You can hear the Mayor acknowledging the gravity of the moment. “This is a VERY big item for the future of the City of Adelanto.”

CM Jeanette wants to hear from residents.

Literally every hand up so far has been to speak on GEO. They’re currently putting down all the hands down and inviting them to re-raise for non-GEO comments.

City Clerks work hard. Even harder now that COVID puts them in the position of tech-gurus.

Follow the Owner of This Beat 👇🏽

Caller refers to CM Jeanette as “KKK Lady” (She runs the Senior Kafe Kicks Klub).

Refers to “Baseball Guy” - CM Carmago

CM Carmago, with the help of Caller of the Night, Adelanto Resident Lee, figures out the city used $120k of CARES grant money to buy itself a Mercedes van.

Context: Rent relief was also a citizen priority, and the non-agenda callers were near-unanimous in their frustration with piled up trash, dumping and the sanitary consequences.

City Manager Flores is explaining why a city that’s $6M in the hole needed 1 $120k Van w CARES funds

CM Carmago corrects the record. 2 yrs ago city got a new truck.

Flores: “This vehicle has already been purchased.”

Carmago rescinds his vote to approve a $120k van with this covid grant $$.

City Manager Flores: “But it’s a GOOD Van.”

They’re talking as though there’s just a ton of travel going on right now.

City Mayor steps in and tries to imply that CARES grants REQUIRED Adelanto to spend $120k on a Mercedes sprinter van.

Mayor asks City Econ Devel/Planning Dude Dave Martinez for details.

He says this isn’t on the agenda.

Then discussed CARES limits while not explaining why $120k Mercedes was required.

Martinez discusses some of the other things nobody’s really objecting to: $95k for computer stuff for covid $50k for a server $24k for PPE/sanitizer etc.

Burns lots and lots and lots of time on CARES talk, “including equipment”. Reader board signs, etc.

3min in, no Van.

Says van was discussed at length and approved.

Usually “with a hitch” isnt a literal thing. Here, the van has an actual hitch.

Van is a “multi-purpose Vehicle”

So. $120k Mercedes Sprinter for city personnel is legit under CARES Act, says Martinez.

Then more words.

Keep in mind, as the hour grows late across the continent, that staff intentionally moved the agenda around to do this stuff out of order. So that this would happen.

“This is gonna be a long, crazy one” - hot mic moments.

Mayor: “Drum roll please”

And public hearing on CUP-96-11 Modification to expand Adelanto has begun.

CM Carmago recuses.

Dave Martinez to present item

Mayor: “Let’s get this show on the road, brother.”

Martinez omits the part where the Council fires the guy who voted against.

Recommends approval of Modification, denial of appeal.

Javier Hernandez asks for continuance given the late hour. Wants special meeting.

Dave Martinez says (BEFORE the hearing) “there has been plenty of opportunity on this specific item for public comment”.

If that we’re true as a legal matter, they could suspend hearing & vote.

Lloyd Pilchin City Attorney asks Dave Martinez about precious actions. Dave admits its never been actually voted on by a quorum.

Given that it’s the City Council’s first action, interesting to hear what Martinez has to say now.

Shorter City Attorney:

It’s different when GEO asked for it.

CM Evans refers to Gov. Newsom guidelines of #COVID19 related meetings of great public importance.

She received 1621 emails on the GEO matter.

Wants to ensure software and tech issues smoothed out.

City Mayor questions whether appellant has any rights.

CM Evans now moves to continue hearing.

No second yet.

140 callers currently waiting.

That is 2 min per person or 280 minutes. That’s nearly 5 hours of debate.

Council is going to run to toward 3am

And the motion dies without a second.

That’s probably all she wrote.

A majority of the council chose to make 140 people whose time was cut from 3 minutes to 2 wait as long as five hours to make their voice heard.

The city chose to do its business in the dead of night.

And that’s all you really need to know.

The City Council knows exactly what it’s doing tonight.

These statements from @IC4IJ, @the_ILRC @ACLUSoCal and @MigrantFreedom are the part City officials didn’t want you to hear.

CM Evans: Question - Did we violate the 180 day rule? Martinez: Probably.

City Attorney now PUNTS to GEO’s counsel to explain the 180-day rule.

Evans is now about to LITERALLY read the Council the law they’re about to violate.

Joe Negron, GEO’s GC, says the 180 days runs from application for CUP and ends when CUP is approved if Council wishes to approve it.

Says the time’s already passed.

Basically coulda just backdated the check, says Negron.

Negron: Law says you can give a few weeks notice and post date the check.

@ChristinaFialho, who helped write #SB29, shows all the ways they’re breaking the law @MigrantFreedom and @the_ILRC helped pass.

What happened just now was huge. Negron says because the law’s new. It’s subject to different interpretations.

What GEO doesn’t know, but that CM Evans does, is that applications don’t get mailed in. You have to go in person.

Flores: other apps were submitted by mail/electronically pre-covid.

Evans gets Martinez to admit he accepted GEO’s Permit app while Office was closed.

Public Comment time 11:24 pacific

“What side of history will the City of Adelanto be on in 20 years.”

First pro-expansion commenter comes just before midnight. Virtually all of her representations of law and fact are manifestly incorrect.

Second caller in support of expansion describes ACLU lawyers as “the enemy within” and says everyone there is there for committing a crime against. That’s who he thinks is in Adelanto.

Regardless of the outcome tonight, the People have made their voices heard. And the folks who are going to vote to expand no matter what (and those who orchestrated it) have at least had to monitor this hearing and maybe even listen to these comments.

The first voice of a person previously imprisoned inside the Adelanto facility has been heard now at 12:09am PST.

Impassioned plea from a family member of a person who was locked inside: “The world is watching you.”

“Dear straight men of color on this Council. Get it together.”

Third caller in favor of expansion also falsely / mistakenly says Adelanto detains people for committing federal crimes.

Second GEO employee says if Adelanto doesn’t expand, 100s if existing EEs will lose their jobs.

If that’s true, the only reason is that GEO would shut down Adelanto in search of a more lucrative contract in greener pastures. Has GEO told EEs and the City something it hasn’t told the public?

Daughter of #FreeJoseTapete shares about her father’s experience with two years inside Adelanto.

“How do you sleep at night?”

Adelanto resident Lee, who scooped the $120k Mercedes van is back!!

Caller.
Of.
The.
Night.

@L_Toczylowski and @ImmDef up next.

Describes 9 years of work at Adelanto.

Wooooooowwww. GEO just admitted expansion will create 0 new jobs.

It’s trying to save ones it lost from CDCR shutting down.

CM Evans Q: How much more $ will the city get?

GEO: additional 50 beds from what was already being used. $273k/yr is what’s on the line for the City.

Q from Evans to Negron (GEO GC): Will GEO indemnify for this vote. Negron: Yes. GEO is responsible for the Costs.

CM Joyce Jeanette, says “poor choices” out people in Adelanto.

That’s, once again, NOT the nature of civil detention.

Says she’s been over to GEO facility and saw prisoners finding their way, one gentleman does exceptional artwork.

CM Jeanette doesn’t get it at all.

Her argument:

1. They made bad decisions that got them there.
2. Jobs
3. They’re not as bad as Mexican prisons
4. Detained immigrants have “unlimited access to everything they want”.
But her heart goes out.

Mayor Pro Tem:
Thanks everyone for staying up late.

Wants to clarify why he brought this vote back. (He already did this earlier).

He’s now going to pretend he didn’t just hear The People. It was 60-8.
He’s mad they’re not doing GEO’s business.

City can’t say $$ impact.

Mayor apologizes for his Instagram post during the meeting. Blames it on his marketing team. Marketing team?

Mayor’s mother is from Michoacán and father was “Mixed minority Mexican from Chihuahua”. “i am a first generation Latino from East LA”.

Offers his parents’ migrant stories from the mid-90s. They live with Someone from Honduras who’s an asylum seeker was at GEO.

2020 Tour of GEO by Mayor he learned the MAJORITY of people at Adelanto are asylum-seekers.

This explodes the myth of the criminality and security rationales advance does expansion.

“The Good Book says Obey the Laws of the Land” - SB 29 is the Law of the Land.

It’s literally 2:45a and the Mayor is proclaiming disappointment at the fact that only 10 callers participated.
Again, it’s 2:45am

Mayor is saying NOT expanding could have a negative impact.

“The organized groups who fight for a cause”.

What, exactly, does the Mayor believe GEO is? And what’s the cause they’re fighting for?

Mayor gives a shoutout to Caller of the Night - Lee!

(They still keepin they $120k Mercedes Van tho)

Law and order folks. Mayor moves. “KKK Lady” seconds. Evans no. Jeanette. Yes. Hernández. No. Reyes yes.

Hoooooly shit.

This is insane.

Wow. Okay. City lawyer says Planning Commission Act stands.