2019-09-16 EDA Minutes (signed) - Laserfiche WebLink

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REDA Meeting Minutes—Monday,September 16,2019 Page 10 did not see how that is a defense. The reason that trafficking continues is because even when traffickers are caught, those people are only getting a slap on the wrist. Mr. Doyle stated workers come to America looking for a better life and are thrown in cages. Only a handful of traffickers are ever prosecuted and the developers who build with the traffic labor enjoy a high profit from the low bids built on sweatshop conditions. Traffickers take workers and steal away their dignity, their youth, their health, the safety of their families, and even their lives. He noted contractors walk away with the profits and think the blood and shame can be washed away with charity. To hold developers accountable, we need to no longer allow them to hide their trafficking behind the plausible deniability of a subcontractor or wipe the stink of human trafficking with a few acts of philanthropy. Mr. Doyle believed the consequences need to stick, and the Council has a morale duty to hold builders accountable for their role in trafficking and to not reward them with public money. Roseville should not be a city built on human suffering. State Representative Jamie Becker-Finn, Roseville resident Ms. Jamie Becker-Finn, Roseville resident and State Representative for part of Roseville, explained she would be at the meeting even if she was not an elected official. She indicated her bosses are the people of her District and she has heard from a lot of them who are concerned about this issue and specifically about this project. She was not planning to speak but after hearing from Mr. Walton, she was compelled to say something. She stated workers have been exploited in this region and when she heard those stories tonight, she was horrified. She was not angry at them for coming forward, she was grateful to them for being brave enough to come forward. She thought it was on all of them to stand up for those with the least amount of power. She did not think this was just about tax dollars but also about what kind of city Roseville wants to be. She does not know Mr. Walton so all she knows is what she witnessed at the meeting and what she heard was a lot of anger at all of them in the room for being at the meeting and not a lot of compassion. Ms. Becker-Finn urged all of the Council to look into this in order to know what is being approved does not have the kind of consequences that have been talked about at the meeting. She thought the devil will be in the details and wondered if wage theft was what was addressed at the meeting tonight or by a conviction. She thought this was one of those issues that really does matter. Rick Sanders, South McCarrons Boulevard Mr. Rick Sanders, South McCarrons Boulevard, explained he is a concerned citizen of Roseville and what concerns him is that this project has gotten this far. The city should have something in the Bylaws or somewhere that the contractors who come into the city to do work are held to the same standards that the workers in the city are held to. He noted he was not blaming Mr. Walton himself but he is the head of that level, the level that controls all of the subcontractors below him. He does not condone having to listen to a story where someone was threatened.