The Orange City Council is set to consider on Tuesday, July 22, a resolution affirming the city’s support for law enforcement transparency, a discussion that has taken on new urgency amid a wave of federal immigration raids that have swept through Orange County this summer.
The resolution, proposed by Councilmembers Arianna Barrios and Ana Gutierrez, calls on all federal law enforcement officers and agents operating in the city to wear clearly visible identification and to avoid using face coverings or disguises during public interactions.
It follows a recent split on the council over whether to post online resources for immigrant families.
The proposed resolution would say “face coverings and lack of visible identification pose significant risk to local law enforcement who must discern between legitimate immigration enforcement actions and the public’s reasonable fear of bounty hunters, who are not authorized federal agents.”
Earlier this month, the Santa Ana City Council also weighed a similar ordinance that would require officers to show visible ID and prohibit face coverings. That item was ultimately delayed to a future meeting.
Staff there said the city likely could not enforce such rules on federal agents, with Santa Ana City Attorney Sonia Carvalho adding, “If we’re giving direction to any of our staff that says you shall enforce this law or you shall interfere, they may view that as obstructing a federal investigation.”
There are also ongoing efforts at the federal and state levels to require ICE agents to unmask and display clear identification.
The Orange City Council has a busy agenda on Tuesday.
The council is also set to decide on whether to allow the California Fire Museum to temporarily transform the city’s old fire headquarters into a museum and outreach center.
The proposed minimum one-year agreement would let the nonprofit operate a temporary exhibit at the long-vacant fire station on South Grand Street, near the heart of the city’s historic district. City staff said the building has sat unused for nearly three years since the fire department moved its headquarters to a new building on Chapman Avenue.
“We were looking at tearing it down and building a parking lot,” City Manager Tom Kisela told the council in April. “The cost of that at this point is right around $1.5 million to $1.6 million. I don’t think that is a prudent expenditure of funds at this point.”
The city is facing a general fund budget deficit of nearly $2 million.
The proposed license agreement would allow the nonprofit to run a “museum on wheels,” showcasing vintage fire trucks, photos and equipment while also offering community safety programs. The group behind the proposal — Call to Adventure, a nonprofit affiliated with the California Fire Museum — plans to eventually open a permanent location in the Irvine Great Park.
“We feel this is a natural fit for the historic district,” said Hiddo Horlings, the group’s president. “We’re looking at this facility as an incubator for the permanent facility. We can bring in some of our exhibits and really prove some of the things that we want to do in the facility we’re going to build.”
Under the proposed agreement, the group would pay the city $1 for the year and take full responsibility for maintaining and operating the building “as is.” They would be required to use only the first floor, cover utilities including electricity, gas, water, internet and waste disposal and perform safety improvements. Either side could cancel the agreement with 60 days’ notice.
The Orange Police Department would still be allowed to use the site as a staging area during city events.
Another high-profile item on Tuesday’s agenda is a proposed Memorandum of Understanding with Milan REI, the developer behind long-debated plans for the Sully Miller site in East Orange.
The agreement lays out a general path for developing several properties owned by Milan, including 22 single-family homes on a property near Mabury Ranch and a 30-unit residential project on the current equestrian arena site on East Santiago Canyon Road, while converting the former Sully Miller pit into open space using clean fill.
The council is also expected to review a budget report prepared by Grant Thornton, the outside accounting firm contracted to evaluate Orange’s fiscal health and operational costs. The report is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to balance long-term spending amid rising costs.
A separate item on the agenda involves a set of proposed cost-saving measures submitted by one of the city’s labor groups. The proposal, according to city staff, is intended to support “ongoing fiscal planning and operational adjustments.”
The Orange City Council will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at City Hall.