Not this.
I call tonight's special meeting of La
Palma City Council to order.
Roll call.
Mayor Waldman.
Here.
Mayor Pro Tem Nitesh Patel.
Here.
Councilmember Vikesh Patel.
Here.
Let the record reflect Mayor or Councilmember
Debbie Baker and Councilmember Janet
Keo Conklin are not present.
Pursuant to Government Code section 54954-38,
time has been--
[INAUDIBLE] all City Council to vote on.
Mayor Walden.
Here.
Mayor Pro Tem Nitesh Patel.
Here.
OK.
Pursuant to Government Code section 5494-38,
a time has been reserved at this point in the agenda
for persons wishing to speak on an item
that is listed on this agenda.
By law, the city council is prohibited from taking
action on such oral comments.
The matter will be automatically referred
to staff for appropriate response or action,
or will be placed on the agenda of a future meeting.
Does any member of the public wishing to speak?
Seeing no takers, I will recess this meeting until 5:00 PM.
OK, I'd like to welcome everybody Palma to the 2025
State of the City address.
And I am Mayor Mark Waldman.
And we're going to begin by standing.
We're going to have the pledge followed by an invocation
by Peter--
Pastor Peter Hernandez from La Palma Christian Center.
Pardon me.
We want attention.
Color guard advanced, have salute.
Those not in uniform, lift your right hand over your heart.
Color guard halt. Color guard, across the colors.
Guard halt. [INAUDIBLE] the colors.
Color guard, post the colors of the United States of America.
Color guard, post the colors of the state of California.
Color guard, post the colors of the city of La Palma.
Color guard, honor your colors.
Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Color guard, regroup.
Color guard, forward march.
Halt. Color guard, dismissed.
Audience, please--
Please remain standing for our invocation.
Thank you very much, Boy Scout troop 16.
Would you guys all join me in prayer this evening?
Dear God, we thank you for our beautiful city.
We thank you for this time that you've
allowed us to gather today.
We thank you for all the provisions
that you've given to our city.
We pray that you would be here with us today in our midst,
as we celebrate some wins and as we look to the future
as what to improve.
I thank you for all of those who are in office.
I thank you for our first responders,
and I pray that you would continue to just be with them,
to guide them, to protect them.
I pray that you would give us a great night of fellowship
amongst one another, and that you just
continue to be in our midst.
We pray this all in you're all powerful name.
Amen.
Please be seated.
We will now begin the banquet portion of our speech.
So I will say nothing.
And you guys get to eat.
The tables don't have numbers, so we'll just have to do
this in a civilized manner.
So why don't we just start in the back,
and the people who are the hungriest
perhaps should go first.
Yeah.
All right, ready to go.
Oh, yeah.
OK, please be seated.
Please be seated.
It's showtime.
Thank you.
I'd like to reintroduce myself.
I am Mayor Mark Waldman, and I would like to introduce
the rest of the city council--
Mayor Pro Tem Nitesh Patel, Councilmember Debbie Baker,
Councilmember Janet Keo Conklin and Councilmember Vikesh Patel.
Also, we'd like to do a thank you
to our federal, state, and local elected representatives.
We are fortunate to have strong representation
and advocacy at both the state and federal levels
on behalf of the public.
Our elected representatives include Congressman Derek Tran,
State Senator Tony Strickland, Assemblywoman
Sharon Fort-Silver, and County Supervisor Janet Nguyen.
And this evening, we are also joined
by two of their representatives, Maddie Mark-Noble
from the Office of Senator Tony Strickland
and Anthony Monroy from the Office of Assemblywoman
Sharon Fort-Silver.
Additionally, we are honored to welcome dignitaries
from our neighboring cities, including Councilmember Ali
Taj from the city of Artesia and several distinguished guests
from the City of Cerritos--
Mayor Frank Yokoyama, Mayor Pro Tem Linda Johnson,
Councilmembers Jennifer Hong, Mark Pulido,
and Sophia [? Say, ?] as well as Cerritos
City Manager Robert Lopez.
Also, I have an updated list, so I'd also
like to introduce Poppy Hill Bonales, principal of Kennedy
High School, Matt Sweat's Division Chief Orange County
Fire Authority [INAUDIBLE], Adam Hernandez, Director
of Student Services for the Anaheim
Union High School District.
Seema Sidhu from the Anaheim Union High School District,
and from the Centralia Elementary School District, Dr.
Stacy Chang, Rami Bishara, and former Cerritos Mayor
and Councilmember Chung Vo.
Next, I would like to introduce the city management staff--
Interim City Manager Mike Egan, Deputy
City Manager Joseph Cisneros.
Also, just to backtrack for a second,
the superintendent for the District
of Centralia School District--
you get a special introduction because some of you
didn't make the list--
Assistant to the City Manager Alicia Farnell,
City Clerk Norma Shivara, Community Development and Public
Works Director Belinda Dinus, Public
Works Manager Jake Cervera.
Police Chief Joe Guerrero, Police Captain Jesse Amen,
and Police Captain James Roche.
I'd also like to thank members of our two citizen committees.
That is the Development and Circulation Committee
and the Community and--
Community Activities and Beautification Committee.
If there are any members here--
I know I saw at least one--
please rise and just give them a two.
Thank you.
So let's take a look at 2025 goals and accomplishments.
So this year, we had a meeting.
This was early in February this year, which is kind of late,
but we focused on the following goals and objectives--
modeling municipal excellence and fiscal stewardship,
maintaining a low crime rate, promoting economic development
through business engagement and economic development strategies,
preserving city assets and public infrastructure,
and continuing to provide quality community events
and programs for our residents.
Many of these have been goals and objectives that have been
around for years, and they're probably similar to those
in many other cities.
But they're good ones, so we'll stick with them.
Skip the next one, please-- the accomplishments.
We'll get to that after.
2025 marked the year of significant organizational
change for the city, including multiple department
reorganizations and executive-level staffing
transitions.
So in January 2025, the community service
and public works director resigned
and deputy city manager, who has more hats than any kind
of a millinery shop.
Joseph assumed acting director responsibilities
while the city discussed the department reorganization.
Also following the retirement of City Clerk Kimberly Koenig
after 18 years of service, Norma Ali
was hired, bringing strong experience
to municipal clerk operations.
In April of 2025, our city manager
announced his departure to serve as Whittier city manager.
Following a competitive recruitment process
with 87 applicants, the city council
appointed Peter Kim, a longtime La
Palma resident and former councilmember,
as the new city manager.
Peter will be joining us later this month.
To strengthen the executive administrative capacity,
the city also hired Alicia Farnell as assistant
to the city manager.
And last but not least, our police chief, Joe Guerrero,
a 29-year law enforcement veteran who will retire
on October 25, including a distinguished career with
the La Palma Police Department.
The city expresses deep gratitude
to Chief Guerrero for his years of dedicated service
and wishes him the very best in retirement.
Let's take a look at 2025 economic and financial outlook.
The main key-- rising national debt and persistent inflation
continued to drive up the cost of living,
push loan interest rates higher, and create
market uncertainty while limiting federal investment.
Therefore, in our projection, city revenues
are projected to grow at a slower pace
amid broader economic headwinds, and staff continues
to closely monitor national and state trends
while maintaining a conservative approach
to budgeting and expenditures.
Despite these challenges, La Palma
continues to demonstrate strong fiscal health,
maintaining over 133% in fungible reserves.
Staff anticipates that those reserves will increase even
further later this year, when we are finally reimbursed
for a grant to a base for a meeting project
that has now been completed.
He gets ahead of us-- look like continued financial stability.
Additionally, the city continues to aggressively pursue
new revenue sources to general fund expenditures,
as demonstrated by the $2 million
federal grant for the median project, which
we're waiting for, which is now 100 complete--
100% complete.
And I hope you people agree that they look fantastic.
So we come to our 10-year general fund forecast.
And if you take a look at the graph,
you will see that for several years,
it appears that expenditures are greater than revenues.
The problem is that this graph includes
a $400,000 annual transfer from the general
fund to our reserves.
Transferring money from checking to savings
is not really an expense.
So on the next graph, if you correct for that transfer,
you'll find that each year you can expect revenues
to exceed expenditures except for one
year, which will be next year.
But I will tell you that because of the way we budget,
our revenues are budgeted very conservatively,
and we generally overbudget for expenses.
So each year, we tend to do much better than the forecast.
But if you're going to do planning,
you've got to be careful to make sure you're
planning for a more conservatively in case something
does go awry.
Let's take a look at a general budget expenditures.
And in a full-service city with its own police department,
it probably is no surprise that police
plus administrative services take up about 70% of the total.
Yeah, we prepared basically a status quo budget,
maintaining the same high-quality programs
and services residents have come to expect.
Total expenditures and transfers are projected at 15.4 million,
reflecting about a 4% increase over the previous fiscal year.
And if you take a look at our general fund
revenue, the top five revenue sources,
which account for about 60%--
property taxes, transaction and use tax, sales taxes,
use and utility taxes, and our transient occupancy tax or hotel
tax.
Take a look at our budget--
nice budget overview.
Overall, our fiscal health is very strong.
The total adopted general budget again is 15.3 million,
with the overall city budget at about double that amount.
So that would be federal state sources, grant money, sewer.
As of June, the city's total reserves
amounted to over 20.5 million, which represents roughly 133%
of general fund expenditures.
These reserves include 5.4 million
in the general fund, 7.8 million in the emergency reserve,
1.3 million in the capital outlay reserve, 3.6 million
in the budget reserve, and 2.5 million
set aside for City Hall replacement,
ensuring a solid financial position for future needs.
Now, naturally, all this money is fungible,
so it required for a fiscal emergency.
Money could always be moved around.
This money is unrestricted.
Let's take a look at our police department.
We often hear that La Palma is a quiet and safe community,
and it truly is.
But that safety is no coincidence.
It's the result of our highly proactive police officers
who work every day to deter crime
and protect our neighborhoods.
One of the department's greatest points of pride
is its exceptionally fast response
time, averaging just three minutes for priority one calls.
That means when a resident calls during a crisis,
help arrives almost immediately.
And this efficiency is supported by the zone patrol program,
which divides the city into five patrol zones
to ensure consistent coverage and visibility.
Officers dedicate time each shift
to patrol their assigned areas with increased presence
during nighttime hours.
This proactive model has led to a notable decline in burglaries
and allows the Department to focus resources
where they're needed the most.
Few communities in California can match such responsiveness.
But businesses and residents alike
definitely do appreciate it.
Let's take a look at our police department's school programs.
We have police interaction with youth
and our school resource officer program.
We are proud to welcome Officer Perez as La
Palma's new school resource officer
for the 2025-2026 school year.
Officer Perez brings a strong commitment to student safety,
engagement, and mentorship, and we
look forward to his positive impact on our campuses.
We extend our sincere thanks to the Anaheim Union High School
district for its continued support and funding
of the school resource officer program,
an investment that ensures safe and connected schools
and communities.
We also have several volunteer programs
in the police department, its volunteers and policing,
the community emergency response team, neighborhood watch,
and our police explorers.
If you are a member of one of these amazing groups,
please stand up, raise your hand, and be recognized.
All right.
So our volunteers in policing contribute over 3,200 hours each
year, assisting with patrols, vacation checks,
and administrative tasks.
The community emergency response team empowers residents
through a FEMA-approved regional training
program in disaster preparedness and emergency response.
The neighborhood watch program enhances neighborhood safety
by encouraging residents to report suspicious activity
and stay engaged through regular monthly meetings.
And our police explorers, a group of dedicated youth between
the ages of 14 and 20, and they contribute
over 3,000 hours annually.
They take part in community events, training exercises,
and ride alongs, and they gain valuable experience
while supporting our department.
Thanks to all of you and keep up the good work.
It's through community service.
It is the heart of our community,
and the city council takes great pride
in providing high-quality programs and events that
bring residents together and enhance
La Palma's quality of life.
Here's a list of the top is the 2026 events.
And you're free to use that.
The list is also in your program,
so please take it home and put the stuff on your calendar
if you're interested.
Later, coming up pretty shortly on October
26 is our 70th anniversary celebration
and Halloween carnival--
very interesting pairing if you ask me.
On November 8, we'll be having our Veterans Day ceremony, which
is a new event dedicated to honoring and recognizing
La Palma's veterans.
We invite the entire community to take part
in this meaningful celebration.
More details are available online
and please RSVP soon to reserve your spot.
Also December 3, we will have our annual holiday
tree lighting ceremony, and Santa
Claus will be attending again.
We also have community service.
There's several programs to help members in need.
We have our Meals on Wheels program,
and they delivered last year 1,400 meals
to La Palma seniors this year.
In addition to providing nutritious meals,
the program also connects seniors
to regional resources and supply services
through our strong volunteer network.
And for our teens, La Palmas Inspo Teen program
provides a safe environment for teenagers to connect with peers,
complete homework, and enjoy recreational activities
at Central Park.
The summer Volunteens program focuses on community service
and offers our young adults a valuable real-life experience
through volunteer work.
This year, approximately 30 teens participated as volunteers
at various events.
Thank you to the volunteers for all their contributions.
And then we have La Palma's Tiny Tots program, which
is in high demand, and it continues
to be offered to La Palma families and some families
outside La Palma.
This is for children age 3 to 5 and provides
essential educational, social, and developmental skills
to prepare them for kindergarten, with up to 48
children per session.
And finally, the 2025 summer day camp program
was a great success.
An average of 55 campers per week, children aged 6 through 12
enjoyed a variety of fun recreational excursions
and activities.
We respond to public works and community development.
So I've mentioned this earlier, but completed this year,
the street medians have been refreshed with new landscaping
all throughout the city.
This summer, La Palma Avenue was paved with slurry seal
and restriped, in keeping with our adopted pavement management
program to keep our streets and roads in high-quality condition.
Residential zone 4 was completed at the same time,
and various neighborhoods are on schedule for regular maintenance
in the near future.
Next are Valley View Street rehabilitation.
So to highlight upcoming--
these infrastructure projects, this
is a big major arterial in need of-- in need of rehabilitation.
Due to the heavy traffic, this corridor
requires more significant work than a typical slurry seal
project.
The city, in collaboration with Townsend Public Affairs,
has submitted a grant request for $12.5 million,
securing support from the city of Buena
Park and Orange County Transportation
Authority officials.
The grant is ultimately subject to approval
by the Southern California Council of Governments
by the end of this year.
If approved, the city would begin design of the project
as soon as possible.
Our police station is in dire need of a renovation,
and the city is seeking various funding sources to improve
the facility conditions.
The city currently has a grant application
pending with the federal government for this project.
While progress at the federal level has been slow,
we remain optimistic that the grant will eventually
be awarded, allowing the police department
to undergo a much-needed modernization
and facility upgrade.
The city yard water well recently
completed its rehabilitation of the pump and motor
this past summer.
The city second well site off Walker Street
is also in need of rehabilitation.
A utility rate proposal is underway to ensure that funding
is available to maintain our city's water infrastructure now
and for years to come.
At the end of the Palmer Avenue, plans to widen the Delano Bridge
are in progress, with the city of Cerritos as the lead agency
and the city of La Palma involved
in regular monthly meetings and reviews along the way.
The design is at 65% completion, and the cities are working
collaboratively to fund--
find funding sources to finish the design
and secure allocations for construction.
It is anticipated that the construction for this project
will be $30 million.
Switching gears to showcase private development projects
and new businesses in La Palma, the city's economic development
and land use ad hoc committee, comprised of Mayor Pro Tem
Nitesh Patel and Councilmember Debbie Baker,
have been working diligently to continue
bolstering the state of the city's economic progress.
The announcement of parking lot, landscaping,
and signage improvements have resulted in a fully occupied
and thriving shopping center, welcoming the addition of 55
parking stalls, several trash enclosures and a new store,
Kobos Furniture.
On the corner of Orangethorpe Avenue and Walker Street,
Cocoa Chicken is getting a full makeover.
Exterior facade improvements are well underway,
with contemporary upgrades, additional parking
stalls, new landscaping, and two new storefronts coming soon.
And our former Burger King has now
been converted into a Pepe's.
Pepe's Finest Mexican Food anticipates
requesting final building approval
by the end of this month, hopefully opening
soon in the next few weeks.
CJ Foods is expanding its operations
and opening a new food lab in Centerpoint,
featuring a full test kitchen for their products.
And back at the Vietnam Center, which just had the parking lot
renovation, right behind La Capilla, a local chain
Korean barbecue restaurant, Shik Do Rak,
is finishing up its interior remodel
after a complete redo of the site's
grease interceptor system.
Shik Do Rak has other locations in Irvine and Garden Grove,
and they hope to open before the holiday season.
Burnhouse is a new fitness studio opening in Centerpoint,
which had a booth at the Festival of Nations
last month to promote their new business.
The studio is currently under construction
and plans to open next month.
Nook Coffee Bar has submitted plans for an interior remodel
at a vacant suite in the La Palma Collection
Center behind Popeye's.
Nook has locations in Costa Mesa,
Torrance, and Rancho Cucamonga.
And we are very excited to announce Radio Korea AM
1540 has recently purchased a commercial building
in Centerpoint.
Building permits have been issued this week
for their interior remodel to bring the majority
of their operations from Los Angeles to La Palma,
with approximately 65 employees.
Radio Korea looks forward to engaging
with the local community, supporting business attraction,
and hosting various special events in La Palma.
And lastly, in the complex that we are in today,
the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority
is preparing a new building, which would be building 3,
featuring a training recording studio,
meeting spaces, and offices.
The revised project was recently resubmitted last month
in September and will be subject to public hearings
by the Development and Circulation Committee,
as well as the city council, in the coming months.
And this concludes this year's State of the City Address.
Please enjoy more food.
As I understand, there's plenty left over, courtesy
of our wonderful partners at Above All Catering Events
and have a safe drive home.
Thank you all for attending and for your continued support
in the great city of La Palma.