City Council on 2025-12-16 6:30 PM - SPECIAL MEETING

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Mountain View City Council 5h 54m 3 speakers 8 agenda items transcribed 3 days ago official recording ↗

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What formal actions open the meeting and honor Chief Juan Diaz’s retirement?

Ellen Kamei 0:26

start the meeting on time, but here we are. Um all right, it's six thirty, so I'll like to uh call the meeting to order. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the special meeting of the Mountain View City Council of December sixteenth, twenty twenty five. Uh please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Ellen Kamei 1:07

All right, great. The uh we'll move on to roll call. The city clerk will take attendance by roll call.

Unknown 1:12

Councilmember Clark?

Ellen Kamei 1:13

Here.

Unknown 1:14

Councilmember Hicks? Here. Councilmember McAllister? Oh. Councilmember Ramirez?

Ellen Kamei 1:18

Here.

Unknown 1:19

Councilmember Shawalter? Here. Vice Mayor

Ellen Kamei 1:21

Here. Mayor Kamei. Here. Great, thank you. Um, so tonight we uh get to begin with a festive festive occasion. We have our presentations. Please note that the are presentations only. The city council will not take any action. Public comment will occur after the presentation items. If you'd like to speak on these items in person, please submit a blue speaker card. to the city clerk now. And um we will begin Wi this evening with our proclamation in recognition of Fire Chief Juan Diaz on his retirement. So I will come down to the podium and ask uh the chief to join me.

Ellen Kamei 2:16

I see a lot of people for you, so I want you to stand here while we so everyone can see you. Um, so before um uh we start tonight, I just wanna say it's an honor and pleasure to uh recognize our outgoing fire chief Juan Diaz tonight. Chief Diaz has served our city for nearly twelve years. During that time, he has provided our community with steadfast And innovative leadership of our top-notch fire department. I'm gonna read Chief Diaz's accomplishments shortly, which will be in his proclamation. But before I do so, I just wanted to add my own personal thanks to Chief Diaz. Chief Diaz is a proud immigrant and has shared his story as a refugee to the United States. openly. And I think this really ties into our Mountain View culture of being a community for all.

Ellen Kamei 3:13

And I will say this has been his superpower. Over the last four decades, through resilience, perseverance, and a deep commitment to service, Chief Diaz has built a distinguished career, centering all of that on his lived experiences. And you quiero decir algo sobre el jefe, right?

Ellen Kamei 3:46

puede a hacerlo. So this isn't goodbye. This is we will see you around. And being that uh Cuba and Puerto Rico, we are we are cousins, right? We're we're in the uh Caribbean Sea together. Uh we say balante f ever forward. So I just want to uh say all that and now I will read the proclamation. Whereas as whereas Chief Juan Diaz will retire for on December 30th, 2025, concluding a distinguished 40-year fire service career, including five years as a reserve firefighter in Santa Clara, 25 years with the San Jose Fire Department, rising to Deputy Chief, and nearly 12 years with the Mountain View Fire Department, and the last 10 and a half years as fire chief. And whereas under his Leadership. Mountain View Fire earned three consecutive insurance services office class one ratings, the only such distinction in Santa Clara County.

Ellen Kamei 4:46

Implemented full advanced life support services across all fire companies, built a type one urban search and rescue team, enhanced the hazardous materials emergency response team to type two certification under the California Office of Emergency. Emergency services and significantly expanded public education programs. And whereas Fire Chief Diaz championed diversity, equity, and inclusion, advancing pathways for underrepresented groups, and promoting MVFD's first female battalion chief, first female fire marshal, and first Chinese American battalion chief. A 2020 Santa Clara County Grand Jury report. Recognize MVFD's notable progress in gender diversity. And whereas he established the MVFD California Joint Apprenticeship Program and the department's first fully funded annual recruitment committee, helping MVFD achieve the highest per capita number of women firefighters in the county, as noted by the 2024-2025 civil grand jury.

Ellen Kamei 5:51

Fire Chief Diaz strengthened the department's culture by introducing the Mountain View Way, creating a formal career development plan, launching annual awards and recognition programs, and expanding peer support and cancer screening initiatives.