Dozens of residents, legal advocates and local activists urged the council to enforce municipal codes, require CoreCivic to obtain a conditional use permit and pursue SB 29 processes; speakers alleged medical neglect and poor conditions at the detention facility and asked the city to pursue alternatives and state HEAL workforce funding.

After extended public comment and council discussion, the California City Council voted 4–0 to direct staff to negotiate with Kern County Fire for provision of fire services under Proposal A, citing budget instability and the need to guarantee service levels. The city manager will meet-and-confer with bargaining groups under the Meyers-Milias-Brown

Council and the SDI advisory group discussed a long-running review of SDI funds, requested additional document collection for a forensic audit and agreed to wait for the audit’s findings before pursuing any transfer of funds to a public fiduciary.

After reviewing options, council approved a comprehensive general-liability insurance program (Option 1) and directed staff to use Bellafield revenues to pay the premium; council declined to add terrorism coverage.