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>> we're going to call the study session meeting to order on june 2nd,

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2025 at 4:34 pm. Mr. Domer, roll call, please.

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>> thank you, mr. Mayor. Council member crosby.

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>> here. >> council member johnson. >> present. >> council member lau. >> present. >> mayor pro tem kashifalghita.

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>> here. >> mayor hepburn. >> here. >> all present, sir. >> thank you, mr. Domer. Welcome, everybody.

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we've got one individual in the room. We've got everybody else staff,

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so we are ready to roll. Tonight for the study session, staff will present a second overview of

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the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2025/26.

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mr. Domer, can you please call for the staff making the presentation? >> thank you, mr. Mayor.

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this is going to be led by finance director christy lopez,

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all the department directors will be part of it, and then I'll speak on a little bit of it myself. Christy.

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>> thank you. Good evening, mayor and city council.

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tonight, we will be presenting the budget study session,

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which is the second study session that we're having, and this is going to go over the changes that we've

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had since the last study session on may 5th.

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tonight we will be looking at the most recent updates that we've had to get us to this point,

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the most recent updated version. Each department will also come up tonight or today and present their department's budget,

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including looking at the services that the city provides within those departments.

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then we will also be looking for your direction to prepare the final budget,

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which will be presented at the next council meeting. Now I'm going to pass it over to ken briefly to go over this slide.

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well, or [inaudible]

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>> thank you, christy. First, I do want to apologize

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for getting the presentation to you about seven minutes before this meeting.

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this budget has been one of those where again, in prior descriptions, it's so tight that everything has been changing.

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going forward, I've already talked to christy and to all the department heads,

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that from here on out, the budget process, we've done, pretty much in the same format,

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we've done for years and years and years, but the information that we've been putting into the budget is changed greatly.

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I was looking at the online budget just fiscal year 21/22,

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and the information that was in it, mostly the information was not in it,

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it really doesn't convey a lot of information for pretty much three line items.

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when you look at the budget presentation that's in draft or the budget book that's in draft,

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there's line items spelled out across. We look at actuals from prior years,

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a lot more information into it. But we're also very much more lean than what we were in the past for many reasons.

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that's going to be the theme going forward.

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because of that reason in trying to get a number, that number was elusive that we can bring before you saying,

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here's what the recommendation is and here's where we need to get your direction in order to bring the structurally balance,

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or to understand that there's going to be a point of time where we're going to have

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to draw on some reserves or have some authority for drawing on reserves,

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not knowing if we're going to need to touch those reserves based on some of the different issues in the budget itself.

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regardless of the actions tonight, the clear picture is that from here on out,

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we have to absolutely recognize the cost of providing services.

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I want to give credit to all of our staff for stepping up and if not embracing,

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but understanding the change that they have seen over the last several years, and there has been a lot of change over the last several years.

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but I think every one of us recognize it's so vitally important to continue to serve this community,

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and in order to do that, we need to have a budget that is structurally balanced moving forward.

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we are not alone in this issue of struggling with a balanced budget,

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if you read a lot of the articles that are out there. Unfortunately, there's not,

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because of the state of news cutback news industry. You don't hear all the different cities

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that are struggling financially, but they're out there. The cost of providing public services,

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not just for public safety, it continues to rise, and the demand for services continue to outpace that ride.

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I've said it before, but our biggest budgetary hit is something that this council and past councils have actually taken solid action for,

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and that's been to address the pension crisis.

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the funding of the pension obligation bond, the caring of different benefits have all been very, very helpful.

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but again, as we see with our current fight, it hasn't been enough.

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even with our pension obligation bond, we need to provide further cuts in order to stay structurally balanced.

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our unfunded actuarial was about 11,000 a year ago.

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this current year, it's about 900,000. In the fiscal year that we are debating right now,

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it's going to be about 1.75 million, and that is money that we have to give.

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we have no choice. We don't have

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1.75 million of revenue that is covering that requirement.

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that's truly the biggest anchor that is preventing us from moving forward and doing bigger and better things here in the city.

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but in discussing what I led in and started,

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once the budget is approved, there's no six month break before we start next budget process.

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it's that next day. All of us are going to need to seek ways to control expenditure growth.

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we're going to be looking at the increases, trying to get more increased retail opportunity here in the city to get more revenue.

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during this time, all of us here in the room, including under your direction,

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are going to have to live within our means, being able to support services that we're giving.

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you're going to hear from your department directors about the services they offer, what they have done to get us to this current point and

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list out tiers of further reductions. Some of it will require direction from you,

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but the goal as we started out, we were at $3.6 million as we initially identified.

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that was based on the departments and the directors coming forward and saying these are what we need to

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do from our understanding of our roles and what the service requires in order to do what we need to do.

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we've had to cut. We went down to about 2.8, we went down to about 1.7,

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and then down to 1.1. I believe now we're down to about 240 or 265,000. Around there.

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then the last bit is what we're looking for. Of course, at any time as we're talking about some of these items,

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to get us down to that number, you could say, well, I really want that,

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and then during these next two weeks, send us back to the drawing board.

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but we really believe again, getting down to a point,

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whether it is a $300,000 authority

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to use reserves for a structurally balanced budget going forward.

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we know that if something pops up during the year, we'll be back here explaining it,

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asking for authority, or telling you what we're going to do to try to remedy the issue.

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but we are that tight.

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you will hear that from your department directors. With that little overview,

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I'm going to turn it back to christy.

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>> thank you. Following the strategic planning workshop

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that we had on may 17th, the rest of preparing for the remaining

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of the budget we did take those priorities into consideration. Even though it was preliminary and there has been no formal direction,

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we just kept them in mind as we were going through.

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well, this is the process of where we were. As ken stated, in the beginning,

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we had identified about $3.6 million was our original deficit.

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the last meeting that we had on may 5th,

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we've gotten that down to 2.8.

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again, the 2.8, this is just a visual representation of the budget showing you the breakdown.

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on the left hand side, that's the revenues by resources, so the different types of revenues that we receive.

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then on the right hand side, those are our expenditures broken down by department.

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this is a review of the overall full time authorized positions.

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we do have historical information in there for fiscal years 23/24,

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the current year that we're in right now, and then also 25/26.

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you can see that there was an adjustment down from

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193 authorized positions to 192 for the next fiscal year.

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then we do have a breakdown in other funds.

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those are positions that are either partially in the general fund or

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are funded in the general fund but do have other revenue sources that come in and provide support for those positions.

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with that $2.8 million, what we did and we did preliminarily review this at the first study session,

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but we went through and identified what one time sources we could utilize in order to bring that $2.8 million down,

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because it is a very large number. We identified that there were interest surplus

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in excess of what the actuarials identified for both the opeb,

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which is the other post employment benefits or retiree medical, and the 115 pension stabilization trust.

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we've identified over a million dollars of interest that we didn't

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really anticipate just because the markets were doing so well that we're recommending to be used.

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there's $75,000 that would be recognized from the fire department training account,

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which is currently a restricted account within the general fund. We would recognize those to pay for

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the anticipated overtime costs related to training for fire department personnel.

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the $71,000 of reserves, that is the firefighter that

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council agreed to continue to support while they were on military leave,

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and we are recommending since that is a one time occurrence to pull back from reserves.

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then the last part is shifting $600,000 of

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general fund operating street maintenance over to non general fund transportation sources.

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that would be measure r, measure m, prop a and c. Depending on what is eligible,

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we would shift those in order to relieve some of that strain on the general fund.

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that would bring us down to that $1.1 million deficit that ken discussed.

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once we identified that we did have that one million dollars and we could not find,

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by the way, any other one time sources, we had looked at all of our revenues, unfortunately,

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we got more bad news from sales tax that it was dropping in between the last study session and today.

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with all of those changes that happened, ken went to the departments and asked them to look further.

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what we did is we took that $1.1 million, and we did a weighted average based on the department's overall budgets.

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when we did that, we did take out, for example,

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in public works, we run the waste management or refuse service through that.

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we took that out since that has a corresponding revenue, and really it is just a pass through.

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we didn't want to inflate their portion by that much money.

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it's a large account. With that, we identified and sent this to

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departments to have them continue to look further into their departments to see where else they could either

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shift services or defer something for next year,

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which, of course, that is a deferral for some of those items, or possibly even cut items that they

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identified that maybe they didn't need anymore or could live without.

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as we go through this, just to give you a brief overview of what the departments are going to review,

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they're going to review their services. Then they're going to give you a brief roadmap of how they got to this point,

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what they've already cut even before this step,

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and then they're going to give you both tier 1 and tier 2 options. Tier 1 would be,

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we can cut this item or we've

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identified revenues to fund this or we can shift it to another fund.

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tier 2 would be we can do this, but it's going to have impacts in our services,

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and they will discuss how those impacts are going to impact the department.

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then at the end, we will give you a review of what the total is so that you can see what that total cost would be.

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>> when they go over the tier 1, if they're taking it from a different fund,

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are they going to also say what was not being used in that fund?

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>> for example, I'll give you one of mine. I'm planning on shifting some of

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my audit cost over to the successor agency who does not cover some of that cost.

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it's a shifting of funds for some. Others it's pulling revenues to cover some of those expenditures, if possible.

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they will be discussed and we'll have the fund information in there. >> my question would be,

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what could have those funds be used for that we are not be able to use for now?

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like if you take them over from fund a to fund b,

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but now fund a is less, what are we going to be missing out there?

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>> exactly. That's a great question. For the $600,000, for example,

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what I anticipated to shift over or we recommended to shift over

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from the general fund for street maintenance into measure r measure m,

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that would impact our street funding. >> it could reduce the ability to do some projects or delay some of those projects.

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those items have been looked at by each department. But yes, we will give you that additional information.

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>> council member and members of council, on that item in particular,

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what the city hadn't done in the past, measure r, measure m,

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sometimes prop a, prop c, are all transportation related items do allow costs to be used,

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for example, with r and m, the street personnel who actually work in the streets and do

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potable repair or other type of repairs can be paid for under those funds.

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but traditionally in this city, we haven't done that generally. That's what we're looking at to make sure that in the situation,

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we're putting a little bit more into those special fund to cover the staffing costs that are actually doing.

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of course, we have to follow eligibility. The other items that kristie mentioned are one of the items

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on moving audit costs into the low and moderate-income housing fund.

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we do have plenty of funds, and we haven't been using that for a lot of those admin costs or eligible costs.

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for example, we've moved some funds that pay for evon on

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unhoused behavioral health homeless services because there's been two state laws that have

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changed the ability to use those funds for prevention and outreach engagement.

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now we've been using 250. The cap is now increased 500,000.

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ultimately, there's no more funds going into that affordable housing pot,

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but I do believe we have our four million total and unfunded.

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we're not always going to be using the full extent,

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but we want to be able to maximize our ability to use it that time specifically because it's one of the only funding sources right now

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for our use for unhoused in mental health services until rey

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gets flushed out a little bit more or some of these other regional collaboratives that we're working on get put into place.

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but yes, there is an offsetting for everything that.

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>> good evening, mayor, city council. Thank you to mr. Domer and finance staff for

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going through this budget process and making it as transparent as possible,

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and involving everybody in additional staff. A special thanks to aaron filestein and andrea blockinger for being more

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involved in the city manager's budget compilation this fiscal year.

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this is just a slide that shows some various programs and

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services that administration provides, administration,

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covers cost centers 1,000 for city council, 01,200 for city clerk,

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01,300 for city manager, 01,500 for it, 1,600 for non-departmental,

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and 1,700 for city attorney. Some of the programs and services covered under

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these areas are city council support and agenda preparation,

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support for the city manager's office and oversight of all city departments,

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human resources, including recruitment, employee benefits,

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regional collaboration, legislative tracking, along with advocacy and grant coordination,

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it infrastructure and cybersecurity, risk management programs, and general liability claims processing.

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this slide shows a budget overview of the city manager's budget.

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in general, the budget for this year, the requests are pretty much status quo.

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there are some adjustments related to employee merit step increases, and then the unfunded liability that kristie was talking about with pr's costs.

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for operations, a significant majority of the roughly two million dollars is shown as part

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of 100 subscriptions for it-related support software and applications.

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this includes things like the city's recruitment platform neogov, contracted it services that city council has approved with sdi,

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cybersecurity related software, sim cards, and internet connectivity to all of our vehicles as well as brick and mortar facilities,

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financial and enterprise resource planning systems, public safety communication and license plate reading systems.

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in things like our office 365 licenses that we use on all of our computers,

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and even the ability to live stream and zoom, our city council meetings.

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for capital outlay, the requests include standard computer replacement needs,

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where we've identified the end of use of all of our different computers,

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and then also the mdcs, or the mobile digital computers that are in the patrol cars of our police department.

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then this is a slide that talks about some of the unfunded or deferred requests.

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election costs were removed with the changing of the timing of elections.

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that was in the original requests that the city had done. Our team has also postponed or found alternatives within

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existing areas for it equipment and software where possible. Then we've also reviewed costs related to our contract with sdi

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to reduce the overall amount plan for the next year compared to previous years.

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this slide breaks down a little bit more of the tier 1 versus tier 2.

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tier 1, we've been able to identify savings to fund the mdcs out of this year's budget,

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realized with some of our costs with sdi that we put in the agreement,

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but that they've come in under budget. We'll be able to fund those ndcs out of this fiscal year.

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then also removing the assistance from townsend public affairs that

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helps provide legislative or grant-related services that we've used this past year.

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on tier 2, the multi-factor authentication

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provides enhanced security for accessing city systems and provides better cybersecurity.

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then there's also training services that was on there,

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but it looks like either it got taken off or not under consideration,

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but there was also a $4,000 just employment employee training that we have. It was in tier 1.

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>> there we go. >> that's it for city manager's presentation or city manager's budget presentation.

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happy to answer any questions. >> again, just to reiterate,

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tier 1 or what we are recommending or what I am recommending be removed at this point to get down to lower.

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the tier 2 is going to get us down that we'll summarize in amount that either we cut at this time,

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we could look to utilize curves and have

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authority up to that amount because we do believe that as lena's our budget is,

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we're so tight that again, that change in one program could bring us a little bit of different news.

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we can get an updated figure from hdl who provides us our property sales tax,

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but it could change everything by 25-50,000, but you're going to see by the end of this.

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ultimately, we're getting down to that level of, we'll be seeking about 260,000

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in authority for use of reserve for those tier 2 to continue them.

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but with the understanding that as things go during the year,

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we may not pull the tier or may not use those funds for the [inaudible].

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>> just one bit of insight into how our area looked at it,

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that 10,000 for multi-factor authentication, we're leaving in the funding in our budget requests for the highest risk.

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folks that could use that multi-factor authentication. But we reduce,

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we believe that the lower risk, that's why we put that in tier 2,

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is an item that could be considered. Ultimately, we need that eventually,

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and that level of security is something that sdi or contract it firm is suggesting we have.

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but we've looked at it that if we needed to cut an additional 10,000,

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that would be an area that we could do it and not necessarily have the highest risk people still exposed.

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>> before I move on, I would be remiss if I did not thank

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my staff or thank staff of the finance department who have been

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working nonstop to get this done up until probably 17 this afternoon,

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trying to get everything finalized. I appreciate everything that they've done.

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thank you. Here's the finance department budget.

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finance does provide a lot of actually,

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the majority of our services are internal, including all of the accounting and financial reporting,

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any financial analysis, the departments will contact us.

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we also provide accounts payable, so we pay all the bills, we take in all the money.

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then we also provide

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payroll support and labor negotiation support as well, and grant administration.

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we also are the contact for fma, so anytime we have anything,

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we do process all of those applications.

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externally, we do provide business license services. We do take in water payments or garage sale permit.

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we process regulatory permits. Then we also do all of the public financial reporting.

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the annual comprehensive financial report, and we also provide fiduciary services to two agencies,

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which does provide about $300,000 to the city in revenue.

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our budget is also status quo. We have a minor reduction that was due to not needing a contract,

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but otherwise, our status quo and the majority of our budget is

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personnel with about $130 related to professional services,

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which really is two contracts it's our audit services,

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and then is our property and sales tax consulting.

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as discussed with ar, or in along those same lines.

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this is what we identified during the budget process that we could cut back on.

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we are reducing for the professional services, which was a one-time consultant,

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and then we've identified that we no longer need to print the budget,

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everything's online, so that saves $1,000 a year. Then we could cut back on some of our legal notices.

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our share of that $1.1 million was $28,000,

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which was a large portion that would impact

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our operating items because the majority of our budget is based on staff or personnel.

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but we've identified in tier 1 that we could cut the measure lb report,

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which is not required. Right now, we our audit firm takes the information that we have.

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they have they look at our agreed upon procedures and make sure that the way

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that are we are doing that analysis is in line with the guidelines.

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with the shift that that council is reviewing right now for the finance committee,

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we're hoping that that could shift over to the finance committee so we wouldn't have to pay the measure or pay

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the audit company $4,000 to basically take our information and then put it

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on a piece of paper because it isn't a requirement.

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it is something that we've decided to do to make sure that we're transparent.

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but having that finance committee could provide that service.

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we are suggesting to move roughly $10,000

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of both the audit and some of the hdl portion to the successor agency,

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which does take in property tax, that would be valid to move some of

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the property tax consulting services over to the successor agency.

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then for tier 2, $10,000 cut from meetings and staff development,

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and certifications that would take my staff development down to about $2,000,

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not ideal, but if we needed to make those cuts, we can do that.

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then $5,000 cut from office supplies and postage. We are planning to do

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a large a collection of business license emails during this next process,

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and we are hopeful that we can shift a lot of the communication with the businesses and sending them their licenses through email.

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that is going to be a process, but that is what we are hoping to accomplish.

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we could hopefully save money in that area.

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with that, I believe I'm going to hand it over to eric. I'm not positive.

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>> good evening, mr. Mayor, and members of the council. Thanks for this opportunity to present community development budget.

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I also like to thank my staff, kendace bokock, nare hyatt, and isabella guzman from finance for assisting with this preparation.

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these are the programs and services that community development are responsible for.

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on the internal side. We do, I'm just going to highlight a few of the major ones.

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our code updates, our general plan, and zoning code maintenance, things that we need to do internally that aren't coming from an outside request.

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obviously, the housing element implementation and compliance has been big this last year and I expect it to be the same going

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forward where we've had to take a lot of time and effort to make sure that we remain

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compliant with our housing element to make sure the state's not going after us on different things.

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we just recently got final signed off on our rezoning, which wasn't really rezoning,

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but the state basically gave us the all clear letter, which is good. We were happy to see that.

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also, our internal gis, mapping radius maps, those things,

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our staff does internally. On the external side, code enforcement,

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which was added to our department two years now ago. That's now the responsibility for our outside support,

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as well as project review, economic development, historic preservation,

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liaison to the chamber in the old town liver and business improvement district, last association.

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obviously, public counter assistance that's something that all of our planners do a lot every day.

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then we do public hearings and notices for the divid meeting,

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our develop review committee meeting, our planning commission meetings, our staff does a lot of city clerk work for

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the preparation of those and hosting those meetings.

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>> our total budget in our department is 1.7. Similar to finance, most of our costs are within our personnel costs.

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we're service agency. There are no changes or requests that are different.

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we are status quo for personnel. In terms of operations, the major portion of that is related to architectural and engineering.

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what that really is is tied to the building permits. As you know, we contract out building permit plan check and inspection services.

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those are direct costs that we pay as a portion of the permit fees that we collect.

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part of those permit fees also then support internal staff in their support for building permits.

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I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in the next slide. We do contracts for outside planning services.

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a lot of those ultimately can be paid back by the development applicants as they are deposit,

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so they're responsible for paying for the cost for processing their applications. If there's this internal city project,

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sometimes those fall to us to fund. Our subscriptions are mainly related to technology,

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such as the gis system, our online building permits, which are now fully in place,

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as well as a co-compliance software.

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then the $47,000, that's really acts as our economic development investment

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every year as our support to the chamber. The 47,000, what was projected,

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and you'll see in the next slide, there might be a change. Normally, a reduction of expenditures is a good news,

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and that's what our goal was for this is but unfortunately, for our operations, this is actually a bad thing.

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this means that we're projecting less building permit expenditures,

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which means less overall revenues. Typically in a good year,

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I'm coming to you saying that I'm over budget on my expenditures, but that means that we are also

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over budget on the revenues we collected for those permits,

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because again, a portion of those permits do pay for internal staff.

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when I'm telling you that we're reducing our permit expectations for expenditures next year,

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it means that we're expecting a lower year building permit activity

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than what we've seen probably in the last 15 years or so. I would say right now,

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we're about projecting 60% of what a normal year would however,

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and that's based on major large projects that we try to do our best to anticipate when they would be obtaining those permits,

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and that's always very different. We do our best based on what we know is what's going on,

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but especially in the economic uncertainty across the country of the world, a lot of those projects, the developers don't know what they're doing.

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what I could tell you and what gives me hope is that we always are very conservative when we do these budget estimates.

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I did an analysis over the last five years, and from what was budgeted to what we actually

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saw in building permit revenue, on average, every year, we were collecting over

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$300,000 more in building permit revenues than what we had originally budgeted for that.

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sometimes things will just pop up that we didn't know, something that the city manager alluded to is that we're such a razor thin that we do our

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best and we always try to budget conservatively so we have good news for you at the end of this year.

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it's the same for this year. Even at mid-year, we thought we were going to be under what was budgeted for revenues for building permits,

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now it looks like we're going to be over what was budgeted. Those are just things that we try to be conservative,

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but usually we have good news for you. That's what I'm hopeful for for this next year, that whenever the ultimate pull on the reserves,

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hopefully, some of that can be made up by increased building activity that we're not expecting.

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community development budget deficit share is $35,000 roughly.

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what we have in tier 1 is $17,000 transfer for the payment for

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the san gabriel valley regional housing trust to be paid by affordable housing dollars.

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that's accurate use of those funds, but it's not sustainable.

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right now, we have about 1.9 million in our affordable housing funds.

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we don't have any projects that we have identified to use those dollars towards in terms of developing physical affordable housing units here in la verne,

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but this is an annual commitment that the city has by being

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part of the gpa for the san gabriel valley regional housing trust fund,

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and this is the city's fair share payment towards that fund on an annual basis. Past years we did pay for it with general funds dollars but because of where we're at,

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we are looking at redirecting that to be paid out of affordable housing dollar.

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then lastly, 5,000 new reduction in the chamber of commerce agreement.

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city manager and myself have already met with the chamber and indicated that about two years ago,

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the council increased the contract amount from 40,000-45,000.

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I showed 47 because there's a little bit extra that we helped to pay a portion of new members membership,

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so that's around $2,000 what's kept in that agreement, so that's why it's up to 47,

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but we have already indicated to the chamber board that this year,

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we would be only funding for 40,000. That agreement still needs to come to you at your next meeting,

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but that's something that we've discussed with them and they're accepting of. Those two changes in tier 1 are pretty easy for us at this point.

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tier 2 would be more difficult. One is to not rejoin the san gabriel valley economic partnership.

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this last year, we were not members, and one of the directions from council was that to

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rejoin that at a $6,000 cost for the annual membership due, so we had pled that back into our budget to

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rejoin but that is something that's not required for us to do, but it is part of the council's direction for economic development.

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further work on that so this would be that. Yes, sir. >> do they help us,

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though? That's our biggest thing. I've been involved in that for quite some years now, especially on the cog. Do they really help?

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>> there's opportunities. I can't point to a specific financial help where they've been helpful their resource.

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>> we've had this discussion before, and it's my concern is, do we get part value for that?

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obviously, one great development, obviously, the $6,000 is great, but at the end of the day, what does it provide us?

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>> right now, one of our planners is in a training system that they just started.

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it's a pilot program. Not necessarily economic development related,

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but furthering staff leadership. That was a relatively low cost for being part of that.

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they allowed us to join even though we're currently not members, but with the expectation that the city would be rejoining come july 1st.

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there's not a lot that I could point to that I could say this is the benefits.

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they're more access for when we need their assistance. They do have online service called the powersite,

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which allows potential businesses to find a lot of demographics based on a location that they might be looking at,

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a site that might be available. It'll tell them a lot of things that our website can't tell them in terms of spending power within mile, five mile,

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things that professional real estate agents have but most small business owners don't have to give them

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maybe where a good location is based on the customers that they're looking for,

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that's one of the options that are things that they provide. But again, we put in tier 2 because we knew it

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was potentially one of the council's desires to get back into that program,

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but we were not in it in this last year. >> it's cheap, only six per.

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>> yes. That's part of it. >> the thing is that it works. I do like the fact that if we're part of that membership,

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they click in and say, hey, this is what our area provides. This is the service we have currently,

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which I think is great, but they were doing that years ago. >> yes. >> I guess a follow-up to that is we're new businesses,

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how are we advertising that, I guess, or potential new businesses to use that tool to

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hopefully find a site within our city as opposed to san dimas, or claremont, or whatever else?

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did we do anything to help drive this? >> we did. When we were part of it,

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and we had more direct links on our website. We don't have access to it now since we're not members this year.

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but we did in the past. The other thing is if these centers have leasing agents,

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this is their full-time job is to go after businesses and to try to attract them.

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those businesses typically have real estate agents that are trying to do the same work for them.

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I don't know how many people are falling through the cracks where this is how they get the info, there's not other.

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usually, if a business is trying to locate in any city, they already have access to those through

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their professional services that they're paying for. That's usually we don't even hear about

408
00:42:34,330 --> 00:42:36,760
them a lot of times until they've already signed a lease agreement. We didn't know that business xyz was already in

409
00:42:40,900 --> 00:42:40,900
negotiations on the space until they've already basically finished negotiations.

410
00:42:45,460 --> 00:42:49,210
it's hard. It is a service, but the overall value, I don't know.

411
00:42:51,655 --> 00:42:55,630
>> because we've got trader joe's came, we weren't part of that. We've got some businesses relocating open box store,

412
00:42:58,945 --> 00:43:02,740
they're just relocating just for the fact that they're looking, so like you said, there's people out there looking for our city for what we can offer

413
00:43:06,010 --> 00:43:09,910
with our base and our salary base, I was just curious because we don't want to hinder anything for economic development,

414
00:43:15,010 --> 00:43:17,395
but I think if it helps, that's great. >> lastly, $7,000 in staff development.

415
00:43:19,930 --> 00:43:23,800
this is all my memberships or professional memberships. This is my entire budget, so this would be basically not paying for staff memberships

416
00:43:27,055 --> 00:43:30,970
or doing any staff development next year because just like finance, our operations are so lean,

417
00:43:32,425 --> 00:43:35,395
I don't really have anything to cut that I don't have otherwise obligated through an agreement or some other thing that we have to pay for,

418
00:43:38,815 --> 00:43:41,155
that's why it's tier 2. That's all for me. Let's just further questions.

419
00:43:44,650 --> 00:43:47,635
>> just real quick question on the staff development and the memberships. Are there any licensing

420
00:43:50,860 --> 00:43:53,995
or certification things that they have to hold in order to keep their job? >> not that are required to hold the jobs.

421
00:43:55,210 --> 00:43:56,790
>> okay. >> I'll turn it over to chief nigg.

422
00:44:05,000 --> 00:44:05,000
>> you're just.

423
00:44:18,450 --> 00:44:21,400
>> good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for the opportunity to present

424
00:44:23,185 --> 00:44:27,100
la verne fire department's proposed fiscal year '25 '26 budget. Tonight, I'll provide an overview of our services,

425
00:44:29,230 --> 00:44:31,690
detail our share of the citywide deficit, and outline both the response reductions and the value we return to our community.

426
00:44:35,965 --> 00:44:37,990
I too would like to thank isabella, who is our liaison to the finance department and incredibly helpful and strategic,

427
00:44:42,595 --> 00:44:45,220
along with our senior management analyst jennifer, who just works wonders in that front office for the fire department.

428
00:44:51,510 --> 00:44:51,510
the la verne fire department delivers a full spectrum of public safety services.

429
00:44:56,755 --> 00:44:58,930
these go beyond emergency response. They represent direct investments in life,

430
00:45:00,985 --> 00:45:04,465
safety, risk reduction, and community wellbeing. Our critical services include emergency medical services,

431
00:45:08,260 --> 00:45:12,250
which includes bls and als, so basic life support and advanced life support, and the ambulance transport,

432
00:45:13,765 --> 00:45:13,765
often serving as the first and sometimes the only medical contact for many residents.

433
00:45:18,505 --> 00:45:21,385
we provide obviously fire suppression and rescue, which protects over 3.7 billion in community property value, wildfire prevention,

434
00:45:26,770 --> 00:45:26,770
which is obviously a top priority given our proximity to the wildland urban interface,

435
00:45:31,225 --> 00:45:33,640
and then fire inspections and code enforcement, which reduce structural fire risk or overall risk reduction

436
00:45:37,270 --> 00:45:37,270
for any natural or man-made disaster before the emergency ever occurs.

437
00:45:41,425 --> 00:45:44,290
our community engagement services, while not mandated, play a vital role in building trust and resilience.

438
00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:50,830
programs like cpr classes, which we had today, by the way, our explorer program, our ham radio registry,

439
00:45:54,730 --> 00:45:57,010
all strengthen community preparedness. Initiatives like public outreach station tours and

440
00:45:59,560 --> 00:45:59,560
medication drop-offs connect our department directly with our residents.

441
00:46:03,580 --> 00:46:06,655
these services, both critical and non-critical, form the foundation of a well-rounded prevention,

442
00:46:09,070 --> 00:46:09,070
first public safety model that yields measurable community return on investment.

443
00:46:14,880 --> 00:46:14,880
the department's total general fund allocation is

444
00:46:19,420 --> 00:46:19,420
roughly 15.39 million allocated as follows,

445
00:46:24,010 --> 00:46:24,010
13.42 for personnel, reflecting contractual obligations, merit adjustments,

446
00:46:28,870 --> 00:46:28,870
overtime, and a $655,000 unfunded accrued liability or ual payment.

447
00:46:35,365 --> 00:46:39,115
1.94 million for operations, which is actually pretty common as it relates to personnel versus operations,

448
00:46:43,090 --> 00:46:45,430
covering equipment charges, contract services, general supplies, and insurance.

449
00:46:47,380 --> 00:46:47,380
$25,000 was our original capital outlay request,

450
00:46:52,315 --> 00:46:55,495
which was designated for essential fire hose replacement. I'll touch on that here in a little bit.

451
00:46:57,550 --> 00:47:00,550
our lean budget reflects strategic investment in emergency readiness while avoiding growth in non-essential areas.

452
00:47:07,140 --> 00:47:11,020
in a proactive and responsible approach to budget balancing, our department identified $71,700

453
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:16,560
in savings from non-core expenditures such as legal services,

454
00:47:21,070 --> 00:47:23,830
telephone services, and subscription, various dues, and certifications.

455
00:47:26,260 --> 00:47:29,305
these adjustments are the result of a thorough internal review. In several cases, we identified services no longer in use,

456
00:47:33,175 --> 00:47:36,760
such as outdated memberships and underutilized support contracts, and responsibly remove them from our budget.

457
00:47:39,385 --> 00:47:39,385
these are not reductions to needed services.

458
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:46,720
they reflect our ongoing commitment to eliminating inefficiencies, control spending, and redirect funds where they provide tangible value to the community.

459
00:47:54,750 --> 00:47:54,750
as part of the citywide $1.1 million general fund deficit,

460
00:47:59,620 --> 00:47:59,620
the fire department share is $365,390 or 32.6,

461
00:48:04,345 --> 00:48:08,050
the second largest departmental portion. To help close this gap, we proposed a two-year reduction strategy,

462
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:11,770
as did all departments. A tier 1 for us, well,

463
00:48:16,630 --> 00:48:17,980
originally was 300,000, it's been changed now, so a little over $250,000 in adjustments.

464
00:48:24,895 --> 00:48:28,300
that would be $160,000 from a revenue transfer from our 216 or what is known as the cfd 90-1 fund.

465
00:48:32,410 --> 00:48:32,410
that effectively was redirecting money from

466
00:48:36,700 --> 00:48:40,555
our portion of the 90-1 fund to the general fund to help out with the deficit. Then next to that was $80,000 from deferring station painting.

467
00:48:44,950 --> 00:48:47,905
it was external painting. The eaves, as I understand it, shifting costs from the general fund to the fire equipment fund.

468
00:48:51,430 --> 00:48:51,430
we were originally going to help cover that cap project by what we call our 250 fund,

469
00:48:56,980 --> 00:48:56,980
which is our oes revenue funds from all our deployments,

470
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,655
and all of our personnel helping out up and down the state. In turn, we will have more money in that account to help with our equipment needs,

471
00:49:07,660 --> 00:49:10,150
reducing the impact of the general fund. Then our tier 2 or our critical reductions equate

472
00:49:14,950 --> 00:49:14,950
to almost $130,000 in reductions additional to the original.

473
00:49:19,615 --> 00:49:19,615
that would be $40,000 from deferring carpet replacement in station 2,

474
00:49:24,325 --> 00:49:26,440
which is much needed. $25,000, a one-time savings from delaying scheduled fire hose purchase.

475
00:49:32,305 --> 00:49:32,305
I am well aware of the fact that fire hose was an issue in the past,

476
00:49:37,135 --> 00:49:39,235
that is not the case anymore. I'll get to that in a second.

477
00:49:41,290 --> 00:49:44,560
then finally, a $60,000 transfer to the general fund from what we call our sac training reimbursement.

478
00:49:48,055 --> 00:49:49,735
we have a partnership agreement, a training agreement with the rancho santiago community college district,

479
00:49:53,635 --> 00:49:54,910
and for every hour of training, all of our personnel we receive $303.50,

480
00:49:58,060 --> 00:50:00,670
so it brings us in significant revenue and obligates us to stay current with osha regulations, etc.

481
00:50:04,510 --> 00:50:08,290
the community impacts, tier 1 impacts are more visible, but less critical, delays in carpet and hose replacement do not currently impair service levels,

482
00:50:14,110 --> 00:50:15,805
but cannot be deferred indefinitely at risk. Tier 2 reductions are administrative and operational shifts, yet more critical.

483
00:50:19,690 --> 00:50:22,390
it is important to highlight that continued deferral of facility upkeep may lead to larger infrastructure costs in future years.

484
00:50:25,885 --> 00:50:25,885
lvfd has embarked on a five-year endeavor to replace stockpiles of decades-old fire hose.

485
00:50:30,850 --> 00:50:33,130
as such, we have achieved full complements of safe and operationally sound hose at all three stations.

486
00:50:37,675 --> 00:50:40,000
while not done entirely, we have plenty of front-line and backup hose for all applications to defer for the time

487
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:44,680
being with a caveat that when we do our annual host testing as required by nfpa,

488
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:49,480
if we have any that burst or need to be replaced due to damage,

489
00:50:53,725 --> 00:50:56,575
we would need to do so at that point, probably around mid-year, but at this point, we can defer that for now.

490
00:51:02,720 --> 00:51:06,090
>> closing, laverne fire remains focused on delivering essential public services while maximizing cost recovery,

491
00:51:09,720 --> 00:51:13,230
revenue in the community's return investment. I welcome any questions, and look forward to discussing the adjustments in further detail.

492
00:51:16,275 --> 00:51:16,275
>> thank you, chief. We want to make sure the equipment of the stuff,

493
00:51:21,900 --> 00:51:25,530
and I know we're way beyond that now. If we have something that tests wrong, we get rid of it, throw it away and get another one,

494
00:51:26,985 --> 00:51:28,785
not replacing the whole. Hopefully, sequentially, in two or three years out,

495
00:51:32,775 --> 00:51:35,205
we come and test, and we're good. We get rid of two or three sections of hose,

496
00:51:37,650 --> 00:51:39,720
and I think that's what you're doing now. What about the carpet in station 2? I've been up there before.

497
00:51:43,020 --> 00:51:44,520
it's sold really old. Can you use that other fund to pay for that?

498
00:51:47,385 --> 00:51:51,210
>> which fund? [overlapping] >> you're shifting monies around, it looks like. Can you still can get the carpeting done?

499
00:51:54,465 --> 00:51:57,570
>> we will get one. >> you can do it with another fund. >> correct. If we stick to the tier 1,

500
00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:02,175
the plan is to move forward with the carpet placement station 2 because if you from a tree outgrowing perspective,

501
00:52:05,550 --> 00:52:09,030
a more critical project that we needed to get done. That's why it was in tier 2. >> what about the painting? It hasn't been painted since originally, is that 75?

502
00:52:13,345 --> 00:52:16,565
>> plan to do station 2 and station 3. Station 3 was opened in early 2000s,

503
00:52:18,860 --> 00:52:22,400
and then as I'm told, the exterior, more specifically, the trim painting of station 2,

504
00:52:23,780 --> 00:52:26,045
yes, has not been done since the 70s. Albeit necessary when it comes

505
00:52:30,600 --> 00:52:32,520
down to brass tacks and our ability to be response ready to the community for emergencies,

506
00:52:34,755 --> 00:52:37,530
pining our trim is not top priority. >> no, but it's also maintenance. If you don't maintain, it's going to destroy.

507
00:52:40,020 --> 00:52:43,560
it's going to cost you 10 times as much to replace it especially now. >> agreed. Yes.

508
00:52:44,760 --> 00:52:47,630
>> thank you, chief. >> I'll hand it over to chief gonzalez. Thank you.

509
00:53:00,470 --> 00:53:03,060
>> good evening, mayor and city council, and members of the public.

510
00:53:04,845 --> 00:53:04,845
before I begin today, I'd like to take a moment to honor the life and service of

511
00:53:10,530 --> 00:53:13,335
baldwin park officer samuel ross who was tragically killed in the line of duty on saturday.

512
00:53:16,290 --> 00:53:19,510
officer ross was a fellow san gabriel valley officer, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family,

513
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:23,450
baldwin park police department, and the members of law enforcement community affected by this profound loss.

514
00:53:27,035 --> 00:53:27,035
at this time, I'd ask that we observe a moment of silence in his memory.

515
00:53:41,810 --> 00:53:41,810
thank you. At this time,

516
00:53:45,990 --> 00:53:49,245
I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the finance team. Each year, our collaboration improves and this year was no different.

517
00:53:53,295 --> 00:53:53,295
use is always awesome. He's all the way in the back.

518
00:53:57,855 --> 00:54:01,845
a special thanks to yasmin potts and captain tibbets, both who've stepped into the budget process for the first time,

519
00:54:04,440 --> 00:54:04,440
they embraced the challenge and contributed significantly to where we are today.

520
00:54:09,015 --> 00:54:12,600
I want to also acknowledge my entire management team. This is truly a team effort,

521
00:54:14,340 --> 00:54:14,340
and we couldn't have got to where we are without everyone's input and dedication.

522
00:54:20,505 --> 00:54:20,505
being the fact that the police department is roughly 32% of the city's overall budget,

523
00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:29,265
I think it's important for me to add how we got to where we are today. As we continue to communicate our department needs,

524
00:54:32,745 --> 00:54:34,755
guided by number of state and federal mandates, this year's budget was assembled a clear focus on the community's needs and goals.

525
00:54:42,830 --> 00:54:46,050
this current fiscal year presented our department with the largest staffing gap in recent memory with nearly 25% of our department,

526
00:54:50,415 --> 00:54:51,690
unavailable due to injuries, family leave, or open or vacant positions.

527
00:54:55,545 --> 00:54:59,190
in order to maintain uninterrupted service to the community, we relied heavily on overtime to fill shifts,

528
00:55:03,270 --> 00:55:06,705
which is represented in today's overall budget discussion. Special thanks to the ongoing communication with finance,

529
00:55:10,110 --> 00:55:10,110
we identified early that our overtime expenses were trending over budget,

530
00:55:14,130 --> 00:55:17,970
and in late 2024, the department began implementing implementing targeted spending reductions to offset these costs.

531
00:55:31,520 --> 00:55:31,520
professor [inaudible] go back.

532
00:55:36,105 --> 00:55:36,105
I'm done. The other way.

533
00:55:44,390 --> 00:55:44,390
please put it back. Thank you.

534
00:55:53,190 --> 00:55:53,190
now we can go on to programs and services as everyone has discussed.

535
00:56:01,200 --> 00:56:03,090
I want to start this conversation by highlighting the distinction between the services that were

536
00:56:05,640 --> 00:56:07,980
legally required to provide versus those that invest in the community safety and well being.

537
00:56:11,280 --> 00:56:14,910
the following our core. I won't go through all them because there's quite a few there, but I'll go through the core ones that are essential to public safety and compliance.

538
00:56:19,290 --> 00:56:21,765
some of those include patrol and crime response, dispatch services, investigations and case follow up,

539
00:56:25,245 --> 00:56:27,975
parking enforcement and citation processing, school resource officer and crossing guards,

540
00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:33,540
live scan fingerprinting, and ccw permit processing, as well as alarm permit administration.

541
00:56:36,450 --> 00:56:39,060
these are all foundational responsibilities. These core services are for to

542
00:56:41,790 --> 00:56:43,380
every police department and must provide to ensure compliance with state and federal mandates.

543
00:56:46,320 --> 00:56:49,620
but just as important, are those programs that we are for a while, not required by law are a measurable value to the public,

544
00:56:52,380 --> 00:56:54,525
which include the bacr program, coffee with the cop, citizens academy,

545
00:56:57,045 --> 00:56:59,595
national night out every 15 minutes, various school outreach programs,

546
00:57:02,055 --> 00:57:05,625
neighborhood watch, and public safety open houses, including our leap and homeless outreach team,

547
00:57:10,305 --> 00:57:12,930
our partnerships with each of those k9 unit, community events, and traffic safety programs.

548
00:57:15,585 --> 00:57:17,145
these programs, build trusts, engage our residents and help prevent crime before it occurs.

549
00:57:20,145 --> 00:57:20,145
they are an essential part of modern community and focused policing. Thank you.

550
00:57:28,365 --> 00:57:29,850
>> I got it. >> the police department's total general fund budget is

551
00:57:32,970 --> 00:57:32,970
just over sixteen and a half million dollars.

552
00:57:38,210 --> 00:57:38,210
this budget reflects a 12.4% increase in personnel costs,

553
00:57:43,020 --> 00:57:46,800
largely driven by inflation and market pressures in areas such as salaries, health benefits, and retirement contributions.

554
00:57:50,450 --> 00:57:50,450
of course, we have our ual amount

555
00:57:54,780 --> 00:57:54,780
of just nearly half a million dollars which we have no control over.

556
00:57:58,860 --> 00:58:01,410
we're also investing in our cadet program, which has become a proven pipeline for full time hires.

557
00:58:04,950 --> 00:58:06,270
in fact, we are proud to share that when our former cadets will graduate from the academy on june 12th.

558
00:58:09,675 --> 00:58:11,400
this program continues to show its value as our department's farm system for future officers and personnel.

559
00:58:16,160 --> 00:58:16,160
in operations, roughly 2.5 million dollars.

560
00:58:21,345 --> 00:58:25,110
you'll see a modest increase of 2.7%, significantly down from last year's 9.5%.

561
00:58:27,870 --> 00:58:30,450
this decrease reflects our strategic response to the economic conditions that we're all facing.

562
00:58:36,920 --> 00:58:36,920
the 925,000 listed in fleet,

563
00:58:41,925 --> 00:58:44,055
and equipment is tied to rising vehicle costs, and we are actively working with fleet maintenance to reduce costs,

564
00:58:47,115 --> 00:58:47,115
including field conservation measures like reducing idling times.

565
00:58:51,255 --> 00:58:54,450
contractual services, such as jail booking, parking enforcement and our agreement with axon totals 413,000.

566
00:58:59,265 --> 00:59:02,640
and notably, we successfully negotiated with axon to avoid a $60,000 increase this upcoming fiscal year.

567
00:59:06,525 --> 00:59:06,525
we've also budgeted $412,000 for our portions of the insurance costs,

568
00:59:12,690 --> 00:59:16,605
be 146,000 in training both post reimbursable and non-reimbursable tolling across all departments.

569
00:59:22,230 --> 00:59:25,320
training holds valuable to the department succession plan to ensure our personnel ready to take on new roles.

570
00:59:28,590 --> 00:59:32,400
finally, the 147,000 is dedicated to maintaining uniforms and safety equipment across all divisions.

571
00:59:36,690 --> 00:59:39,555
below there, in cap outlay, the figure of 925,000 would have been about $48,000 higher,

572
00:59:43,995 --> 00:59:47,205
but thanks to our k9 foundations generosity, the cost to outfit the new replacement k9 vehicle

573
00:59:53,040 --> 00:59:53,040
is being covered by donations from the k9 foundation.

574
01:00:01,190 --> 01:00:01,190
in this slide here,

575
01:00:06,030 --> 01:00:06,030
are the department identified budget adjustments that we did to get where we are today.

576
01:00:10,920 --> 01:00:14,220
again, we recall the matrix report. Some of the recommendations was to add additional personnel,

577
01:00:17,505 --> 01:00:17,505
and we deferred a police officer and one clerk.

578
01:00:22,035 --> 01:00:22,035
we also sought administrative reductions of $71,000.

579
01:00:27,375 --> 01:00:30,570
we included reductions of outside investigations, employee awards, subscriptions, safety equipment.

580
01:00:33,480 --> 01:00:33,480
it's important to note that two lieutenants have been trained in handling

581
01:00:38,250 --> 01:00:38,250
internal affairs investigations now

582
01:00:42,915 --> 01:00:46,830
furthering the necessity of hiring an outside investigator. Some of the deferred equipment requests we held back,

583
01:00:49,905 --> 01:00:53,220
62,000 in equipment purchases such as radios, breaching tools, and access control repairs.

584
01:00:56,050 --> 01:00:56,050
we also had a vacancy savings of 118,000 for unfill positions,

585
01:01:01,130 --> 01:01:04,150
which is used to help cover other overages. This slide depicts our share of the 1.1 million dollar deficit.

586
01:01:16,730 --> 01:01:19,335
in tier 1, we propose 100,000 from asset forfeiture funds to offset overtime costs while able,

587
01:01:24,090 --> 01:01:27,375
these funds come with restrictions and are typically used for equipment, so this trade off must be considered.

588
01:01:30,100 --> 01:01:30,100
we're looking at also proposing delaying a lieutenant promotion.

589
01:01:34,970 --> 01:01:36,800
we've also delayed a sergeant promotion, which is not factored in here as well.

590
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:41,480
we've confirmed upcoming retirement this september,

591
01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:49,680
given us the opportunity to delay this promotion by six months. But this creates a gap in

592
01:01:51,930 --> 01:01:51,930
oversight and management personnel which also impacts administrative functions.

593
01:01:59,690 --> 01:02:02,760
in tier 2, we identify programs that while not legally required are vital to our community,

594
01:02:05,220 --> 01:02:08,325
25,000 in community events, which I mentioned earlier,

595
01:02:09,390 --> 01:02:13,260
including coffee with the citizens academy, national night out, every 15 minutes, and other engagement efforts.

596
01:02:15,405 --> 01:02:15,405
also included in this report as 50,000 for the backup program.

597
01:02:20,205 --> 01:02:23,520
if you recall is originally created through a redirect and council election funds

598
01:02:25,980 --> 01:02:29,160
to strengthen public safety and businesses in the community. Lastly, $8,000 in reduction in external investigations,

599
01:02:33,225 --> 01:02:33,225
which we aim to internally manage when possible.

600
01:02:37,670 --> 01:02:39,930
lastly, in closing, the expenses tied to public safety recruitment, homes outreach,

601
01:02:42,330 --> 01:02:43,920
community engagement, and training are all reflected in the annual budget presented here today.

602
01:02:46,830 --> 01:02:50,270
happy to take on any questions that you have. >> thanks, chief. I have a question about the tier 2. Can we go back?

603
01:02:56,840 --> 01:02:56,840
>> there [inaudible].

604
01:03:02,030 --> 01:03:03,690
>> good. When you're talking about the 25,000 for community promotion events,

605
01:03:06,870 --> 01:03:10,845
does that mean we wouldn't have any of those activities, or is it a reduction in the size of the activity or event?

606
01:03:15,105 --> 01:03:16,440
>> that would eliminate it all. >> it would eliminate it.

607
01:03:23,550 --> 01:03:26,040
>> thank you, chief. >> thank you. >> can you put that clicker down, please.? [laughter]

608
01:03:40,170 --> 01:03:43,140
>> good evening, honorable mayor and council members. Tonight, I present you the parks and recreation budget.

609
01:03:47,700 --> 01:03:50,850
we're proud to announce that this fiscal year, the community services department will effectively

610
01:03:52,920 --> 01:03:55,290
transition to the parks and rec department. This name change more accurately reflects the scope and

611
01:03:58,230 --> 01:04:01,485
identity of the department aligning with the services and facilities we oversee as well aligning with

612
01:04:04,410 --> 01:04:04,410
the parks and recreation commission that mends this fall, I hope.

613
01:04:10,425 --> 01:04:12,885
again, like everybody else, I'd love to thank my staff,

614
01:04:14,550 --> 01:04:17,295
chad peterson, in particular, that helped me with this budget, as well as the finance department in particular hisses like pd.

615
01:04:21,660 --> 01:04:21,660
he's our man. He's helped us along identifying

616
01:04:26,355 --> 01:04:26,355
some savings and offsetting some revenues,

617
01:04:32,040 --> 01:04:34,815
but me I don't want to do the same thing. Oh, my god. So far I'm good, though.

618
01:04:40,395 --> 01:04:44,235
some of the programs and services that we offer are listed above. I'm going to go through some of these parent and me,

619
01:04:47,880 --> 01:04:50,370
swim lessons, water tots. Last year, I stated we partnered with

620
01:04:52,620 --> 01:04:52,620
regional center in offering these classes to those with special needs.

621
01:04:57,030 --> 01:04:57,030
anytime anyone registers through that service,

622
01:05:01,320 --> 01:05:03,795
that's guaranteed money for the department, but also helps our community and those that don't

623
01:05:06,420 --> 01:05:09,525
typically have these opportunities to take classes. Our staff is well trained and well versed in

624
01:05:12,660 --> 01:05:15,915
all the things that we're able to do with those with special needs. I wanted to make sure that I pointed that out.

625
01:05:18,105 --> 01:05:21,435
in terms of that as well, so we're always looking for cost savings. I know we're looking to save,

626
01:05:24,060 --> 01:05:25,155
but last year alone, we transitioned from the credit card fees for registration

627
01:05:28,770 --> 01:05:32,580
from the commune services department onto the participant. We saved over $40,000 last year alone in the commune services department.

628
01:05:36,630 --> 01:05:39,645
I wanted to make sure that I pointed that out as well. Some of the things are no cost to the city that we offer our senior golf league,

629
01:05:43,965 --> 01:05:45,690
senior strutters, and trail checkers, they're all outdoor volunteer groups.

630
01:05:48,870 --> 01:05:52,170
they just check in. All we really do is add their information to the center and it's an amenity to the community at no cost.

631
01:05:54,840 --> 01:05:58,140
some of the contract classes we offer are soccer, tennis, and pickleball.

632
01:05:59,355 --> 01:06:01,650
right now, not many know, but the way that works is whatever the set fee is from that instructor,

633
01:06:06,195 --> 01:06:08,940
we tag on $10 for administration fee, but the cut is a 70-30 split.

634
01:06:10,950 --> 01:06:10,950
we are looking in the winter to do a 65-35 split.

635
01:06:18,105 --> 01:06:21,450
we're trying to come to a middle ground in making sure that we're also doing our due diligence.

636
01:06:25,005 --> 01:06:28,800
it's common in recreation world. I will let you know where I came from from the park district 10 years ago was 40-60 split,

637
01:06:31,380 --> 01:06:33,990
so it's not uncommon to be the 35. I can't do math right now, 65-35.

638
01:06:37,320 --> 01:06:40,770
we're looking to do that as well. Special events. A lot of the special events that we offer are free or low cost.

639
01:06:45,255 --> 01:06:48,270
sweetheart dance, luau dance, halloween dances. Sidewalk coloring contest is free to the community, seasonal celebrations.

640
01:06:53,085 --> 01:06:55,485
winter wonderland, we do charge a fee. We don't charge a fee for extravaganza, excellent adventure.

641
01:06:58,965 --> 01:07:00,555
concerts and movies in the park. I just want to let you know, shout out to the poa.

642
01:07:03,030 --> 01:07:03,030
they do support our movies in the park and help us offset some of those costs.

643
01:07:07,485 --> 01:07:10,785
there are a lot of donations, especially for the concerts.

644
01:07:13,080 --> 01:07:16,140
we solely rely on the donations, and that's upwards of to $7,000-$8,000.

645
01:07:19,050 --> 01:07:19,050
in order for us to put that on it is budgeted in the general fund,

646
01:07:24,435 --> 01:07:27,030
but at the end of the year, that is based out of donations. We still budget it, but it doesn't necessarily come

647
01:07:29,610 --> 01:07:32,700
out of the general fund. Community center. Aarp just wanted to point out this year,

648
01:07:35,010 --> 01:07:36,765
it's a service we provide the community, and we save the community members over

649
01:07:39,810 --> 01:07:39,810
$63,000 in tax preparation by offering this service at the center.

650
01:07:44,745 --> 01:07:48,300
we do adult social dances, facility rentals at oak mesa, we currently have one of our preschool programs.

651
01:07:50,775 --> 01:07:53,160
one of the newer things in our sports community, and you guys heard this a couple of months ago,

652
01:07:55,035 --> 01:07:55,035
we are now starting to charge our user groups in terms of ayso,

653
01:07:59,790 --> 01:08:01,845
lvgsa, little league. Lvgsa and little league are the first ones.

654
01:08:04,260 --> 01:08:08,050
it's not much, but we did collect $3,000 for them. As we look at this and wait for our parks

655
01:08:11,240 --> 01:08:14,480
and recreation master plan and see what that comes out to be, we are starting to charge those user groups as well.

656
01:08:17,350 --> 01:08:19,890
veterans hall, we do offer gymnastics, tumble bears, and park and facility rentals.

657
01:08:24,705 --> 01:08:27,090
this last fiscal year, we started to do a non-resident resident rate for park shelter rentals.

658
01:08:31,965 --> 01:08:35,865
eventually, we will move that on to classes, but it's a first step, and I'll tell you right now,

659
01:08:37,545 --> 01:08:40,930
the majority of people that our facilities are non-residents, in terms of the park shelter rentals.

660
01:08:42,770 --> 01:08:42,770
I want to give you that information as well.

661
01:08:50,190 --> 01:08:53,470
>> our budget is pretty much status quo. Just increases are normal to the regular merit step increases.

662
01:08:58,590 --> 01:09:02,065
nothing new there in terms of operation. Part of that operations, we did oversee lutheran property,

663
01:09:04,990 --> 01:09:06,910
so we had to budget that as well, but the revenues offset the expenses with that property.

664
01:09:10,225 --> 01:09:10,225
in the current budget, that is budgeted for through january 1st of next year.

665
01:09:15,835 --> 01:09:18,940
depending if the developer moves forward with that or not, we may do a mid-year adjustment,

666
01:09:20,560 --> 01:09:23,500
but I'd like to let the council know that we do offset it by revenues. We are doing pretty well renting that facility out there.

667
01:09:28,390 --> 01:09:28,390
also, we are responsible for our contractual maintenance for facilities.

668
01:09:33,655 --> 01:09:33,655
we're the only other department other than public works that oversees contract services,

669
01:09:39,025 --> 01:09:39,025
and that includes opening the restrooms, friday, saturday,

670
01:09:43,840 --> 01:09:45,505
and sunday at all parks, and we close restrooms 365 days a year,

671
01:09:47,995 --> 01:09:51,730
so that money is actually budgeted out of the community center. That's what accounted for in there.

672
01:09:53,665 --> 01:09:57,355
we also pay our own utilities, water, gas, and electricity out of our budget, that is budgeted within our facilities,

673
01:09:59,620 --> 01:10:02,530
excursions as well, but that's offset by revenues. We do utilize prop a and c funds,

674
01:10:04,750 --> 01:10:07,360
so it's not that expensive for our residents, but we actually make money off of the excursions.

675
01:10:10,375 --> 01:10:10,375
one of the other items we project code are concerts in the parks,

676
01:10:14,680 --> 01:10:18,565
like I said earlier, senior programs and veterans memorial, and special needs dances. It is budgeted, but it's not at the end of the year,

677
01:10:21,100 --> 01:10:23,980
taking out of the general fund, but we do budget it. Especially for senior funds, not many people know,

678
01:10:27,700 --> 01:10:27,700
but the senior funds and senior programs is solely based off of donations.

679
01:10:31,975 --> 01:10:34,795
it is not part of the general fund; it is budgeted there, but we don't spend what we don't have,

680
01:10:36,745 --> 01:10:39,220
so I wanted to make note of that. The only capital outlay this year is the pool covers.

681
01:10:42,925 --> 01:10:42,925
that's part of our agreement with the university of la verne in the high school,

682
01:10:47,155 --> 01:10:47,155
and that's two-thirds of the cost is offset by sharing that.

683
01:10:51,190 --> 01:10:51,190
honestly, it's $8,700 for us at the end of the day after we get reimbursed

684
01:10:55,720 --> 01:10:55,720
by the university in the school district. Next slide.

685
01:11:02,270 --> 01:11:04,515
personnel requests. We did originally request an analyst specifically for the unhoused and homeless.

686
01:11:09,360 --> 01:11:09,360
that was covered 30% would have been general fund,

687
01:11:14,290 --> 01:11:17,320
and then administrative clerk promoting a part time to a full time, and that was about 65% covered,

688
01:11:20,500 --> 01:11:22,195
not from the general fund. In totality, the general fund would have supported,

689
01:11:25,300 --> 01:11:26,560
for those two positions, 47,000, so we did remove that as a cost savings.

690
01:11:30,325 --> 01:11:30,325
before that, we also reduced part-time hours within preschool and the community center,

691
01:11:34,960 --> 01:11:37,645
that would not affect any revenue. It's something that we were able to just reschedule some of those positions.

692
01:11:45,325 --> 01:11:49,165
that was also a savings within the preschool and community center, and those would not affect any of the revenue thus far.

693
01:11:56,700 --> 01:11:56,700
our deficit share for the parks and rec department is roughly $54,000.

694
01:12:03,385 --> 01:12:03,385
tier 1, I didn't ask for anything other than the positions that we removed,

695
01:12:09,865 --> 01:12:13,225
but we would begin to close the center as of july in order to do a cost savings every friday.

696
01:12:17,380 --> 01:12:17,380
that's the only reduction that we're able to do that it does not affect revenue.

697
01:12:22,450 --> 01:12:23,995
what you see here, beginning in july, we would close every friday.

698
01:12:26,830 --> 01:12:30,730
what I started to do the last two years, and you don't really notice it, is that we close in december for two weeks,

699
01:12:32,725 --> 01:12:35,560
and that has been a cost savings to us. We tried one week, it was great.

700
01:12:37,450 --> 01:12:40,555
we came back that second week, no one really came through the center, so we close the second week, and it was perfect.

701
01:12:42,850 --> 01:12:45,730
most people go on vacation, they go visit family, so it didn't really hurt us in any way.

702
01:12:48,505 --> 01:12:50,605
but with these budget cuts, I do have to be innovative,

703
01:12:52,960 --> 01:12:55,750
and that's the only thing that we can come together as staff that would not affect any of our revenue.

704
01:12:59,425 --> 01:13:02,650
that would be closing the center every friday. The other things that we did do is savings of a reassessment of water.

705
01:13:09,270 --> 01:13:11,650
I'll let danny talk more about that, but it won't be effective soon,

706
01:13:13,510 --> 01:13:16,210
so we're able to have a cost savings in that. Those additional cuts would include anything beyond this tier is staff and programs.

707
01:13:22,360 --> 01:13:22,360
anything I cut off beyond this is going to affect revenue as well as staff.

708
01:13:27,250 --> 01:13:29,380
something we also have to consider at least for my department is unemployment costs as well to budget,

709
01:13:32,050 --> 01:13:35,485
because if that came down to it, we also have to pay those unemployment costs, and service levels would go down.

710
01:13:38,255 --> 01:13:41,805
but other than that, we'll continue to look at ways to save. Again, we saved over $40,000 in credit card fees last year.

711
01:13:45,900 --> 01:13:48,270
we're always trying to be innovative and look at ways to increase revenue or potentially charge events.

712
01:13:51,180 --> 01:13:51,180
this budget right here would not remove any of the current special events.

713
01:13:55,950 --> 01:13:59,570
just to let you know, we also utilize measure a funds. We save money from park development and use measure a funds for

714
01:14:03,040 --> 01:14:03,040
something like the oak mesa playgrounds and other projects coming through.

715
01:14:07,195 --> 01:14:09,820
that is my budget for the council tonight, and I'm available for any questions.

716
01:14:11,470 --> 01:14:11,470
>> just a real quick one. On the closing on fridays and then thanksgiving week.

717
01:14:17,110 --> 01:14:17,110
obviously it's $10,000 cost savings because there's not a lot going on on fridays?

718
01:14:22,855 --> 01:14:26,710
>> there are items going on on fridays, mostly mt. Sac classes that are free to the community.

719
01:14:29,545 --> 01:14:31,000
there are facility rentals. Those would remain the same because I have a separate budget for facility rentals,

720
01:14:34,840 --> 01:14:37,420
and we generate revenue through that. Those would continue, but we just wouldn't be open as a public facility on fridays.

721
01:14:42,160 --> 01:14:42,160
we would be closed, which will reduce part-time staff on fridays.

722
01:14:47,080 --> 01:14:49,660
>> anything like that in the general vicinity, ones that they do on friday also,

723
01:14:52,405 --> 01:14:56,065
common friday being closed except for rentals? >> most centers are open all the time.

724
01:14:58,690 --> 01:15:01,150
they're even open saturdays, we are not. We are also a full-service city,

725
01:15:03,310 --> 01:15:07,240
something that we have to consider too. Other cities are contract cities, or they don't have their own police and fire, one or the other.

726
01:15:10,375 --> 01:15:12,130
most centers are open. We have reduced hours from 8:00-4:30.

727
01:15:15,805 --> 01:15:17,950
also, during the week, we used to close at 8:30,

728
01:15:19,810 --> 01:15:21,460
which we still do if there's a rental, but we close to the public at 5:30 now.

729
01:15:24,505 --> 01:15:28,045
we've been looking at ways to cut. We have cut. But friday for me,

730
01:15:29,980 --> 01:15:32,530
there's nothing else other than closing the facility unless we eliminate all special events.

731
01:15:37,165 --> 01:15:40,540
>> what kind of foot traffic do we have on fridays before we close? >> decent foot traffic.

732
01:15:41,800 --> 01:15:44,320
not as much as monday through thursday. A lot of it is really because city hall is closed,

733
01:15:46,570 --> 01:15:47,590
the library is open, so we do get some, but not a ton.

734
01:15:51,570 --> 01:15:53,800
>> thank you, yvonne. >> sorry about the question. What about the summer lunch program?

735
01:15:57,550 --> 01:15:59,800
I know the unified school district last year was able to help facilitate the funding of that.

736
01:16:02,440 --> 01:16:04,120
are we still going to continue with that? >> they weren't able to facilitate any funding last year.

737
01:16:07,330 --> 01:16:10,900
they were supposed to facilitate funding for this new fiscal year, they did not, so there is not a summer lunch program this year because

738
01:16:13,570 --> 01:16:13,570
they were unable to fulfill that promise.

739
01:16:17,730 --> 01:16:20,695
>> they weren't able to fulfill a promise? >> no. They were mistaken about the monies that they would receive is what we were told.

740
01:16:26,815 --> 01:16:27,715
>> thank you. >> you're welcome.

741
01:16:31,530 --> 01:16:35,260
>> the only thing I would add on that cash is we're going to have staff at the park to see if we can redirect

742
01:16:38,260 --> 01:16:41,050
people to other services if there are those that are coming to participate in the summer lunch program,

743
01:16:44,590 --> 01:16:48,175
because there's other resources that we can try to help point them to. >> one other thing, is there any other county resources

744
01:16:50,620 --> 01:16:53,140
that we can get to help the senior citizens? Maybe there's some funding there,

745
01:16:55,480 --> 01:16:57,985
or other resources that the county can provide, or the state, other than the summer lunch or the seniors?

746
01:17:07,320 --> 01:17:09,400
>> we have that with the cdbg, but you're talking school lunch program that funded by whatever.

747
01:17:12,850 --> 01:17:16,600
I'm surprised. We can probably go into that later to figure out what happened there, but yeah. Thank you.

748
01:17:25,680 --> 01:17:28,570
>> good evening. Honorable mayor, mayor pro tem, and council members.

749
01:17:30,835 --> 01:17:32,125
I'm pleased to present the public work department's general fund budget request for fiscal year 2025 and 2026.

750
01:17:38,365 --> 01:17:38,365
I also want to acknowledge and thank director lopez and her finance staff,

751
01:17:43,720 --> 01:17:45,040
particularly, ellie, for all the work that she provided in helping our department put together our budget.

752
01:17:50,425 --> 01:17:50,425
I also want to acknowledge my public works management staff sitting in the back,

753
01:17:55,435 --> 01:17:55,435
most of whom who helped pull the budget together prior to my arrival.

754
01:18:00,205 --> 01:18:02,395
I do want to acknowledge joe vera, public works deputy director; colin purdy,

755
01:18:06,250 --> 01:18:09,820
manager of maintenance; ryan ciotti, our manager of utilities;

756
01:18:11,875 --> 01:18:13,945
and our two senior management analysts, nicole houston and kristie sanchez.

757
01:18:21,900 --> 01:18:24,490
like the other departments, this is a slide that presents the different public services that the department provides.

758
01:18:31,120 --> 01:18:31,120
public works plays a vital role in keeping la verne safe, functional, resilient.

759
01:18:37,395 --> 01:18:41,040
we plan, design, build, operate, and maintain the city's physical infrastructure,

760
01:18:43,860 --> 01:18:46,680
including streets, parks, facilities, and water and sewer systems.

761
01:18:48,485 --> 01:18:48,485
our department ensures that residents have reliable access to safe streets,

762
01:18:53,500 --> 01:18:53,500
clean water, and well-maintained public spaces, as well as right-of-way.

763
01:18:58,680 --> 01:18:58,680
public works provides a wide range of services listed here.

764
01:19:04,540 --> 01:19:05,785
just to name a few, we provide street and traffic system maintenance,

765
01:19:08,725 --> 01:19:11,470
parks and media landscape maintenance, public facilities upkeeping and street sweeping, waste recycling services,

766
01:19:17,770 --> 01:19:21,745
and environmental compliance reporting, graffiti removal, water and sewer utility operations,

767
01:19:23,920 --> 01:19:27,445
and fleet and equipment services. We also oversee the development of the city's capital improvement program,

768
01:19:32,545 --> 01:19:35,155
which I'll cover in my next presentation. Just as importantly, our public works crews

769
01:19:39,265 --> 01:19:39,265
serve as essential emergency responders, clearing roadways,

770
01:19:43,690 --> 01:19:43,690
securing infrastructure, and supporting police and fire during natural disasters,

771
01:19:48,685 --> 01:19:48,685
water main breaks, and other urgent events.

772
01:19:54,960 --> 01:19:54,960
in terms of our department budget overview,

773
01:19:59,980 --> 01:20:03,625
our 2025-26 general fund request reflects a careful balance between fiscal discipline and service reliability.

774
01:20:08,710 --> 01:20:10,990
key priorities include preserving core service levels in our park and facilities maintenance,

775
01:20:14,770 --> 01:20:14,770
even with the lean staffing and rising operational costs.

776
01:20:19,825 --> 01:20:23,260
investing in preventative maintenance to extend the life of assets and reduce the long-term costs,

777
01:20:27,115 --> 01:20:31,075
addressing deferred maintenance of aging infrastructure that poses increasing operational risks,

778
01:20:36,460 --> 01:20:40,405
and maintaining regulatory compliance for water quality, stormwater management, and environmental reporting.

779
01:20:44,155 --> 01:20:44,155
therefore, our '25-26 budget request totals approximately $10.3 million,

780
01:20:50,575 --> 01:20:53,635
which is approximately about 6% increase over the council's adopted budget from last year.

781
01:20:57,430 --> 01:20:57,430
this amount includes $1.7 million for personnel,

782
01:21:02,680 --> 01:21:05,035
including the salary and benefit costs, and it's mostly status quo in terms of staffing levels,

783
01:21:09,415 --> 01:21:09,415
which includes 47 full-time staff.

784
01:21:13,480 --> 01:21:13,480
our ual share is $55,000,

785
01:21:19,645 --> 01:21:19,645
and our operational costs total about $8.5 million,

786
01:21:25,570 --> 01:21:25,570
which includes $5.8 million for contractual services,

787
01:21:30,325 --> 01:21:33,985
including our waste hauling service contract, street sweeping, tree trimming,

788
01:21:37,075 --> 01:21:40,510
traffic signal maintenance, and other maintenance services. As director lopez mentioned earlier,

789
01:21:43,735 --> 01:21:47,275
the waste hauling contract, which is approximately $3.5 million, that's a pass-through amount,

790
01:21:50,545 --> 01:21:50,545
so that's also reflected in part of this 5.8 million.

791
01:21:55,165 --> 01:21:55,165
$1.3 million includes our city utility costs for electricity and water costs,

792
01:22:03,535 --> 01:22:03,535
and $364,000 for construction materials and supplies.

793
01:22:10,170 --> 01:22:10,170
in addition, we have a request for $51,500 in capital outlay purchases,

794
01:22:17,590 --> 01:22:17,590
which include replacement trailer for pavement equipment and supplies,

795
01:22:23,545 --> 01:22:26,305
a new lawn sweeper and thatcher, which will provide more frequent lawn mowing,

796
01:22:30,175 --> 01:22:30,175
and miscellaneous computer equipment and furniture purchases.

797
01:22:38,100 --> 01:22:41,875
prior to today's budget presentation, the department had already made budgetary reductions and deferrals totaling 867,000,

798
01:22:50,545 --> 01:22:50,545
including 535,000 in capital outlay items that included the transfer of

799
01:22:58,210 --> 01:23:01,000
the facilities conditions assessment to the cip account to be funded with general fund capital dollars,

800
01:23:07,330 --> 01:23:07,330
as well as the public safety hvac chiller project was also

801
01:23:12,040 --> 01:23:12,040
transferred to the cip to be funded out of the general fund capital fund.

802
01:23:19,140 --> 01:23:19,140
we also had reductions made in our operating expense totaling $332,000,

803
01:23:26,290 --> 01:23:26,290
and that included fine-tuning our contract maintenance service agreements,

804
01:23:32,155 --> 01:23:35,065
reductions in materials for street signs, and it equipment for the street division.

805
01:23:43,110 --> 01:23:43,110
the department's share of the $1.1 million budget deficit, total is $158,000.

806
01:23:51,010 --> 01:23:51,010
our tier 1 proposal was working with finance to recalculate

807
01:23:56,665 --> 01:23:59,665
the water costs because the water and sewer rate increase has been postponed to january of 2026.

808
01:24:05,905 --> 01:24:05,905
that results in a realized water savings

809
01:24:10,120 --> 01:24:10,120
which accounts for the six months in the postponement of the rate increase.

810
01:24:14,320 --> 01:24:15,880
that total is about $220,000. Happy to answer any question.

811
01:24:36,870 --> 01:24:39,220
>> you've heard from all the departments, and they've given you some details on the tier 1 and tier 2.

812
01:24:42,715 --> 01:24:42,715
this is a recap of all the departments,

813
01:24:47,590 --> 01:24:49,645
and you can see in tier 1, the total cost that departments have identified that they can either defer,

814
01:24:56,050 --> 01:24:59,260
or cut, or move, there's different situations, is $840,000, and then the tier 2 amount would be $246,000 that

815
01:25:08,200 --> 01:25:11,050
would impact their departments or their operations based on what they identified in their presentation.

816
01:25:19,740 --> 01:25:19,740
next, we have put through three different options.

817
01:25:25,390 --> 01:25:25,390
this is how those different options would impact the reserves.

818
01:25:31,420 --> 01:25:31,420
what our estimated amount of reserves is on july 1,

819
01:25:35,860 --> 01:25:38,620
again, we haven't finalized the year, but we are anticipating that at the beginning of july,

820
01:25:43,330 --> 01:25:43,330
we will have roughly 13.4 million of reserves in both committed and assigned,

821
01:25:50,980 --> 01:25:50,980
which would based on the current estimated budget for

822
01:25:55,780 --> 01:25:55,780
'25-26 result in roughly 26% of reserves.

823
01:26:01,600 --> 01:26:01,600
if council identified that they don't want staff to implement tier 1 or tier 2,

824
01:26:08,215 --> 01:26:08,215
and that would result in utilize or using $1.1 million plus the

825
01:26:13,660 --> 01:26:13,660
$71,000 that we have identified for the firefighter who's on military leave,

826
01:26:21,835 --> 01:26:21,835
that would result in 12.2 million of reserves resulting in 23.8%.

827
01:26:33,665 --> 01:26:33,665
>> if you identified that you were supporting that we

828
01:26:39,015 --> 01:26:39,015
moved forward with tier 1 and kept all of the tier 2,

829
01:26:44,415 --> 01:26:47,430
so you did not cut any of the tier 2. That would result in ending reserves of 13.1 or 25.5%.

830
01:26:55,215 --> 01:26:55,215
then if you identified that you did not want to move forward with tier 1 or tier 2,

831
01:27:04,200 --> 01:27:06,270
and you wanted us to cut all of that, then you would have the 26%,

832
01:27:09,195 --> 01:27:13,050
which only changes a small amount due to the $71,000 for the firefighter that we are recommending.

833
01:27:20,570 --> 01:27:22,950
before I move on, do you have any questions about this

834
01:27:40,880 --> 01:27:43,980
slide? This is the final slide for the budget.

835
01:27:48,350 --> 01:27:48,350
what we're looking for is direction on really how comfortable council is with us

836
01:27:57,690 --> 01:27:57,690
utilizing reserves this year with the percentages in front of you of how tier 1,

837
01:28:06,360 --> 01:28:09,980
tier 2 would impact. >> I think we're going to do is we're going to open up public comment first.

838
01:28:13,350 --> 01:28:13,350
we'll come back to the open up public comment and we wish to speak on this item.

839
01:28:21,140 --> 01:28:21,140
just in general. More so on the tier 1,

840
01:28:27,210 --> 01:28:30,765
tier 2 situation right now, but budget overall. >> good evening, mr. Mayor.

841
01:28:32,145 --> 01:28:35,790
council. I'll try to make this short. One thing, watching this and I've watched it before.

842
01:28:40,200 --> 01:28:40,200
I'm not sure how the ot is addressed in here.

843
01:28:45,795 --> 01:28:49,365
we're spending maybe two million, but well over a million dollars every year in overtime.

844
01:28:53,550 --> 01:28:53,550
it'd be interesting to know how these projections affect that because it's killing us.

845
01:29:01,410 --> 01:29:04,380
the overtime is amazing. I would hope you would agree.

846
01:29:12,320 --> 01:29:12,320
let me look at this. What is ual?

847
01:29:17,565 --> 01:29:17,565
I'm sorry. Unfunded first.

848
01:29:22,485 --> 01:29:22,485
>> unfunded first.

849
01:29:26,810 --> 01:29:26,810
>> each budget it says increases related to normal merit.

850
01:29:32,805 --> 01:29:34,230
is that a percentage? What is that? Each each one has one.

851
01:29:38,715 --> 01:29:41,865
>> when we wait to her down then, she's got it, so any other question. Christine [inaudible]

852
01:29:45,840 --> 01:29:49,185
>> a long those lines when it talks about the merit. Is that the cola increases?

853
01:29:52,230 --> 01:29:54,660
because if I understand it right, and I think I've had this discussion.

854
01:29:56,520 --> 01:29:56,520
there's two issues as far as increases in wages.

855
01:30:01,515 --> 01:30:03,660
you have cola raises, cost of living increases,

856
01:30:05,910 --> 01:30:08,115
but they don't count as raises, and then they negotiate for their mous for actual raises.

857
01:30:13,605 --> 01:30:13,605
it's a two tier raise system, is it not?

858
01:30:18,540 --> 01:30:18,540
maybe that's addressed in one last thing.

859
01:30:23,670 --> 01:30:23,670
then did I hear in the public works

860
01:30:29,235 --> 01:30:29,235
that the deficit share in tier 1,

861
01:30:35,130 --> 01:30:38,925
said 220,000 savings in reassessment of utilities and that was factored in a rate increase.

862
01:30:43,890 --> 01:30:47,085
did I hear that correct? If that's the case, what rate increase was factored in,

863
01:30:49,995 --> 01:30:53,955
or maybe I heard that wrong? What percentage? >> got it.

864
01:30:54,705 --> 01:30:55,560
>> thank you. >> thank you. Christie. You've a green a line there.

865
01:31:00,960 --> 01:31:00,960
>> yes. The overtime is definitely an issue.

866
01:31:06,270 --> 01:31:06,270
we did discuss in more detail in the first study session,

867
01:31:11,670 --> 01:31:11,670
which is available on the website for review.

868
01:31:15,875 --> 01:31:15,875
but once we have direction on where we're going to go from here,

869
01:31:21,350 --> 01:31:23,660
we will be releasing the preliminary budget, which will provide details of the overtime.

870
01:31:27,480 --> 01:31:27,480
but in short, we understand that our public safety is a full time service,

871
01:31:36,105 --> 01:31:37,920
and we have to have that coverage. We've tried to as discussed in the last budget study session,

872
01:31:44,070 --> 01:31:46,950
we are trying to better prepare for that and budget for that in the future for this current year.

873
01:31:50,535 --> 01:31:52,965
but more of that will come out after. As far as the merit increases.

874
01:31:56,010 --> 01:31:58,170
>> on the overtime. As we discussed last time,

875
01:32:00,525 --> 01:32:00,525
the fire overtime was really looked at with

876
01:32:04,890 --> 01:32:04,890
vacation and sick time and then looking at several year average.

877
01:32:09,735 --> 01:32:13,500
what we realized because we've had to the last two years based on the new deployment that the city has gone to.

878
01:32:17,085 --> 01:32:17,085
we've also now included into that factory developing in a budget.

879
01:32:22,530 --> 01:32:25,995
any injury. If a firefighter is out based on injury and there's a backfill,

880
01:32:30,570 --> 01:32:33,960
mandatory backfill on that, we plug that in, and then admin leave for any reason firefighter is out.

881
01:32:38,340 --> 01:32:40,485
that is separate of the back fill or over time that is caused when there's a fire assignment.

882
01:32:44,865 --> 01:32:47,880
that's separately track that's reimbursed by the state. For that, the firefighting over time has increased in our budget.

883
01:32:57,380 --> 01:33:01,215
the more tracking that we're doing and the more careful, there is an item on tonight's meeting,

884
01:33:03,420 --> 01:33:03,420
that is looking at addressing that by adding three firefighters to compensate for that,

885
01:33:10,485 --> 01:33:13,590
and we'll discuss that at the meeting tonight. Then similarly trying to better look

886
01:33:17,040 --> 01:33:21,015
at overtime in the police department and how we remedy that. By tracking and addressing these issues and reducing injuries on duty,

887
01:33:26,970 --> 01:33:28,995
which is a primary factor, we also have police chief, we talked about this.

888
01:33:32,490 --> 01:33:35,310
we had several maternity and paternity leaves that caused backfill situation police department.

889
01:33:39,135 --> 01:33:39,135
we are being conservative and budgeting for probably increased over time in backfill.

890
01:33:49,050 --> 01:33:49,050
again, if there's not that over time need over the next year, we'll see a reduction.

891
01:33:56,670 --> 01:33:56,670
hopefully, we've looked at the top and we'll have savings,

892
01:34:01,905 --> 01:34:01,905
which will then be able to reflect a year.

893
01:34:06,705 --> 01:34:06,705
but we don't want to have to come back and ask for more money in that.

894
01:34:10,710 --> 01:34:10,710
hopefully we're addressing it through better protection.

895
01:34:15,050 --> 01:34:15,050
>> then as far as the merit versus the negotiated increases.

896
01:34:21,810 --> 01:34:21,810
each year, we do identify a salary schedule.

897
01:34:26,055 --> 01:34:27,405
on that salary schedule, each position has identified the number of steps that each position has.

898
01:34:33,885 --> 01:34:36,855
the majority of our positions do have five steps. If an individual starts at step 2 or starts at step 1,

899
01:34:40,920 --> 01:34:40,920
when it's time for either they're off

900
01:34:45,690 --> 01:34:45,690
probation or they get moved up because they had a good performance evaluation,

901
01:34:50,790 --> 01:34:54,360
then they would move to the next step. That would be the merit. Step as far as the negotiated contract amount,

902
01:34:59,220 --> 01:35:02,895
those negotiations impact the salary schedule. As those negotiations go through,

903
01:35:05,775 --> 01:35:05,775
if there is a 2% increase that is negotiated,

904
01:35:10,065 --> 01:35:12,840
then that would increase the actual salary schedule, which would then result in an increase to the employee based on whatever step they're at,

905
01:35:18,045 --> 01:35:20,725
and that would be the 2% increase. They're not necessarily connected,

906
01:35:24,380 --> 01:35:25,895
but they are connected, that's the merit and the cola or the negotiated increase.

907
01:35:36,190 --> 01:35:36,190
>> the public works with the rate increase to the customers.

908
01:35:42,860 --> 01:35:44,645
>> mr. Mayor on that. Knowing that we're going through a water and sewer rate increase,

909
01:35:47,930 --> 01:35:51,915
we projected what that could be. Some of the factors that we're going through based on the rate,

910
01:35:55,335 --> 01:35:58,155
I think the highest that was present, like a 45% increase.

911
01:36:00,135 --> 01:36:00,135
we took that highest level to factor in to any increase.

912
01:36:07,950 --> 01:36:11,115
most recent increases are below that that we've seen from the water and sewer rate committee. That's a good thing.

913
01:36:16,200 --> 01:36:19,185
but also we had looked at originally a july 1 implementation of that rate that has been kicked back now to a january 1.

914
01:36:25,325 --> 01:36:27,620
we took that 45% increase, which we believe is going to be high and not the actual rate and then

915
01:36:31,710 --> 01:36:31,710
reduce that to not be a july 1, but a january 1.

916
01:36:36,465 --> 01:36:36,465
if the rate does come back in less than a 45%,

917
01:36:40,575 --> 01:36:40,575
then there'll be some more savings in that area. That's how we developed that.

918
01:36:45,270 --> 01:36:47,805
but again, we didn't want to say, it's going to be 25% and have it come in at 32% because then we'd be coming back saying,

919
01:36:53,145 --> 01:36:54,555
we need more money. We looked at the highest that we saw at the time based on the information,

920
01:36:58,200 --> 01:37:01,425
the sewer and water rate ad hoc committee. That's why at 45%,

921
01:37:03,510 --> 01:37:03,510
but we do believe that men.

922
01:37:08,870 --> 01:37:12,195
>> thank you, christie. Any other public comment? I think we get that one.

923
01:37:14,355 --> 01:37:15,750
we're going to go ahead and close public comment, bring it up to days. Mr. Crosby.

924
01:37:18,860 --> 01:37:21,600
>> sorry, I have a lot. >> how about you first?

925
01:37:23,685 --> 01:37:23,685
>> you see the frustration on my face and what I've said before.

926
01:37:28,455 --> 01:37:29,985
I know, mr. Domer, you apologize about the lateness of today,

927
01:37:34,500 --> 01:37:34,500
but I believe sending this out to us at 3:47 today to a 4:30

928
01:37:39,825 --> 01:37:39,825
meeting is not sufficient for us to really go through and to gather our information.

929
01:37:45,900 --> 01:37:48,825
I really do appreciate all the staff working, and I know how hard it really is to get this together because I do this as well.

930
01:37:53,400 --> 01:37:53,400
but having a drop deadline of time

931
01:37:58,425 --> 01:38:01,710
previously stated so that we can go over this information so that we can ask appropriate questions.

932
01:38:05,775 --> 01:38:05,775
I don't believe I have all the information I can to ask those deep questions,

933
01:38:11,370 --> 01:38:11,370
to really get a budget really to go through this.

934
01:38:15,585 --> 01:38:18,210
I asked in the very beginning, if they're moving funds,

935
01:38:20,310 --> 01:38:23,880
what are they going to be taken away? Nothing that has been said, and that's really frustrating,

936
01:38:26,040 --> 01:38:29,565
not only for myself, but for the public as well. The true transparency to our public when they're

937
01:38:32,010 --> 01:38:34,635
going through this really needs to happen. When we come out with our agenda

938
01:38:38,250 --> 01:38:38,250
for everybody in the public to be transparent this should be out there as well,

939
01:38:43,470 --> 01:38:45,975
and then we can go through that. Starting from the beginning.

940
01:38:47,685 --> 01:38:49,665
it says the positions, you use last year's positions only,

941
01:38:52,005 --> 01:38:53,670
and to this current year, which we're still in may, the 24 25,

942
01:38:56,505 --> 01:38:56,505
I know we have hired a large amount of positions in the last five years.

943
01:39:02,235 --> 01:39:04,950
that is not in the budgets. It looks like, wait,

944
01:39:06,330 --> 01:39:07,680
we're all status quo. We've added only three positions this current year,

945
01:39:10,785 --> 01:39:12,585
but over the last five years, I know we've added extremely a lot more than three positions.

946
01:39:18,510 --> 01:39:18,510
that loan would have been a question right away to show us to show the public.

947
01:39:23,865 --> 01:39:23,865
it's right here on city wide in the very beginning.

948
01:39:27,920 --> 01:39:27,920
then going on to the first balancing options of the 25 26 budget,

949
01:39:35,385 --> 01:39:38,970
the use of one time money for ongoing cost. I know the opeb.

950
01:39:42,075 --> 01:39:44,340
we weren't supposed to be able to use this. I know we had larger returns from this and that's why the use of this,

951
01:39:50,790 --> 01:39:50,790
but we weren't going to use this until 2027 '28 or 2028.

952
01:39:56,355 --> 01:39:59,580
now using it now puts us in a deficit going back later and really puts us behind the eight ball,

953
01:40:03,390 --> 01:40:06,165
not this year, but years coming out. The 115 pension stabilization trust as well.

954
01:40:09,780 --> 01:40:09,780
using this money before we were talking about using it too.

955
01:40:14,220 --> 01:40:14,220
that alone is slightly $1,006,000,

956
01:40:18,930 --> 01:40:18,930
but that's $1 million that we are taking out of future issues,

957
01:40:25,965 --> 01:40:25,965
and that scares me that we are already using that money when we've been planned not to.

958
01:40:33,945 --> 01:40:33,945
then the movement of the street maintenance to non general fund transportation sources,

959
01:40:41,610 --> 01:40:44,970
$600,000, very generic going over it. What specifically are we now not going to be able to do because we're using that.

960
01:40:49,590 --> 01:40:49,590
then going through every single department,

961
01:40:54,135 --> 01:40:54,135
there were very similar things that

962
01:40:58,740 --> 01:40:58,740
really each department was under 10 minutes discussing this,

963
01:41:03,585 --> 01:41:06,405
which I get it's a lot of detailed information. But again, if I got this a little earlier, those questions,

964
01:41:09,720 --> 01:41:09,720
I know I got to spend a long time with you last tuesday to really go over this.

965
01:41:15,030 --> 01:41:17,880
this is what people have elected me to do, and people put me up in a dias to make sure I spend extra time because in this time here,

966
01:41:24,615 --> 01:41:27,405
it's not enough to really go through it. If we had that,

967
01:41:29,565 --> 01:41:31,065
when we got these books, then these questions could have been really specifically got out so

968
01:41:34,590 --> 01:41:38,550
that I can ask those questions and then I can inform people what's happening. We're now I don't know.

969
01:41:40,890 --> 01:41:40,890
I don't know what the fire going through and using the fund 216 cftd 91.

970
01:41:51,345 --> 01:41:51,345
that's all this stuff when we're using other funds so brushed over.

971
01:41:56,415 --> 01:41:59,720
I couldn't tell you what it is. What they would have been using before.

972
01:42:02,670 --> 01:42:06,405
my frustration now this and I'm sorry if I've been on a soapbox, but my frustration is that I cannot

973
01:42:10,380 --> 01:42:10,380
say where this is coming from to be used and what to cut or what not to

974
01:42:16,290 --> 01:42:16,290
cut to really help out and give a detailed information

975
01:42:21,300 --> 01:42:21,300
to really give my point of view,

976
01:42:26,340 --> 01:42:28,590
what my residents have elected me for, and that's what my frustration is really about.

977
01:42:31,125 --> 01:42:31,125
what has been talk about our reserves right now or at 26.

978
01:42:36,480 --> 01:42:40,410
I know when coming in, they were at 29. What were they were they last year? How much we have to dip in the reserves each over

979
01:42:42,990 --> 01:42:46,260
the last five years as well? Where are we looking? When we came out a month ago and talked about the $3.6 million,

980
01:42:50,805 --> 01:42:54,225
we'd move down to 22% reserves. That's what was stated in four years, our reserves would be gone.

981
01:42:57,765 --> 01:42:57,765
we need to make sure that we have a sustainable city,

982
01:43:02,745 --> 01:43:06,410
and I'm afraid where we're going right now. Think about if I had to vote on a budget,

983
01:43:10,260 --> 01:43:10,260
it actually be no because I don't have the information I need to be on.

984
01:43:14,625 --> 01:43:14,625
but we need to do cuts, and we have to can't have

985
01:43:19,080 --> 01:43:19,080
a structural deficit in spending our reserves down or our one time monies.

986
01:43:24,285 --> 01:43:24,285
>> thank you, mr. Crosby. Mr. Johnson.

987
01:43:32,450 --> 01:43:35,385
>> I know we're in a very difficult time, but have to hear with rick receiving this in such an untimely manner,

988
01:43:43,925 --> 01:43:43,925
it makes it very difficult to have confidence.

989
01:43:52,710 --> 01:43:54,730
>> we're going in the right direction. [inaudible] thank goodness. Hopefully, between now and when we do have to vote on this budget,

990
01:44:09,235 --> 01:44:09,235
we'll have more information and feel better about improving.

991
01:44:14,370 --> 01:44:17,440
>> thank you, mr. Johnson. Councilwoman lau. >> first, I'll start off with,

992
01:44:19,180 --> 01:44:19,180
I do appreciate the information from rick's point.

993
01:44:23,650 --> 01:44:26,710
I do still have questions, and they're not going to get covered in the next 10 minutes before we have to start our regular meeting,

994
01:44:29,915 --> 01:44:31,650
so that is of concern. But I do appreciate that this brings a little bit more clarity.

995
01:44:35,220 --> 01:44:36,300
it brings more questions, but it brings more clarity than I think I've seen in past budgeting discussions,

996
01:44:40,945 --> 01:44:42,745
so that is helpful. But I would like to have the opportunity to have a further discussion.

997
01:44:46,555 --> 01:44:49,270
I think, further to rick's point, the public hasn't seen this at all yet.

998
01:44:52,870 --> 01:44:54,910
if they are, they're just looking at it now. If we were to come back in two weeks to try to vote on it,

999
01:44:57,715 --> 01:45:00,595
there's no opportunity really for a discussion on this. We're hunkering down for a very long meeting and discussion.

1000
01:45:04,720 --> 01:45:04,720
I don't know what opportunities we may have to have this additional information,

1001
01:45:08,770 --> 01:45:11,020
if that means scheduling, god help me. An additional meeting, that's maybe off our normal cycle,

1002
01:45:14,950 --> 01:45:17,155
in order to further discuss this. Maybe it gives us time to write down whatever questions we

1003
01:45:19,870 --> 01:45:22,480
have that we can discuss them at a further study session. It gives the public enough time to really digest some of this.

1004
01:45:25,840 --> 01:45:29,020
I was going to mention this early on. I know we use a lot of acronyms. Sometimes we are so deep in it that we think everybody knows what things mean.

1005
01:45:34,120 --> 01:45:35,605
for instance, like ual, just because we're used to having talked about it all the time,

1006
01:45:39,370 --> 01:45:41,590
doesn't mean the public is aware of what that means and what our restrictions are about that.

1007
01:45:44,155 --> 01:45:46,525
to the point that we've said, there's nothing to do about it, some people may not understand why can't we do anything about that?

1008
01:45:49,780 --> 01:45:52,240
why has it increased from x amount to this exponentially ridiculous amount over here that we can't control?

1009
01:45:57,355 --> 01:46:01,285
I think if there is, mr. Domer, you can let me know. Is there a way for us to have the opportunity to discuss this further,

1010
01:46:04,900 --> 01:46:08,365
because I don't know that coming back on june 16th, that would be 14 days from now,

1011
01:46:11,470 --> 01:46:15,295
without further discussion, is going to be beneficial. Or fruitful, I should say, not beneficial.

1012
01:46:18,250 --> 01:46:18,250
>> we can always have a special meeting at any [inaudible].

1013
01:46:26,530 --> 01:46:30,250
>> mayor pro tem kash. >> thank you, mayor. Just in the sake of time, I concur with my colleagues, and hopefully we can get back so we could discuss

1014
01:46:31,900 --> 01:46:33,820
this further because I know I was trying to get some clarification about some other programs that weren't discussed,

1015
01:46:38,410 --> 01:46:40,540
so I'll leave that for next time. >> just one other comment. I know I made this at the last study session,

1016
01:46:44,410 --> 01:46:46,360
and I know it's not necessarily part of this budgeting, but I don't want us to lose sight of what are the opportunities for revenue.

1017
01:46:50,620 --> 01:46:54,235
I know right now we're deep in the discussion of cuts. I brought this up too, there's an alarm permitting fee.

1018
01:46:57,580 --> 01:46:59,350
I know that's so silly to be like wendy, that's 50 bucks a household that has an alarm,

1019
01:47:02,440 --> 01:47:06,295
but if you were to ask every person who owns a home in la verne, who's paid their alarm fee,

1020
01:47:08,050 --> 01:47:11,680
that doesn't get built out, that is revenue. I'm interested as we progress past this step of figuring out this budget.

1021
01:47:16,795 --> 01:47:19,885
I don't want us to lose sight of what are our opportunities for revenue. I don't want to lose sight of,

1022
01:47:21,265 --> 01:47:24,370
I think the mayor and I were talking, like, wait a minute, we didn't charge for credit card fees for how long?

1023
01:47:28,135 --> 01:47:31,540
everybody else charges for credit card fees, wherever you're at. If you buy something at a store,

1024
01:47:33,460 --> 01:47:35,335
that fee is encompassed. Nordstrom is not taking that on for themselves.

1025
01:47:38,050 --> 01:47:40,990
nobody else is paying for that. >> [inaudible]. >> they're really nice, but no.

1026
01:47:42,535 --> 01:47:46,060
I think there's been a history, which is great, of us doing really nice things for our residents because we want to,

1027
01:47:49,720 --> 01:47:53,395
and we could at that time. Is that sustainable in the future? We have these amazing low-cost,

1028
01:47:55,135 --> 01:47:57,670
no-cost programs which I don't want to get rid of, but we may need to look at what are we doing to

1029
01:47:59,710 --> 01:48:02,020
price out some of the things that are bringing revenue? I don't want to say everybody's got to pay x,

1030
01:48:04,840 --> 01:48:07,480
maybe there are special circumstances, etc, but again, I just don't want to lose sight of the creativeness and the innovation in terms

1031
01:48:12,370 --> 01:48:12,370
of the revenue generating as much as folks have gone through and done the cutting,

1032
01:48:17,875 --> 01:48:21,810
to figure out where we can cut. >> first of all, I want to thank everybody.

1033
01:48:24,160 --> 01:48:25,840
this has been quite a process, but I'm going to concur that with mr. Crosby,

1034
01:48:29,700 --> 01:48:32,970
we're headed for a fiscal cliff if we don't get it under control, and we're all doing the job right now, don't misunderstand me.

1035
01:48:35,595 --> 01:48:35,595
but the last couple of years has been frustrating.

1036
01:48:40,495 --> 01:48:42,850
I know for kristie, your staff, you put your staff on, and also for our different departments,

1037
01:48:44,785 --> 01:48:47,125
and our city manager, frustrating at best. Because we don't know, we know, we don't know, we know.

1038
01:48:49,390 --> 01:48:52,315
I think now we nail this thing down, we give some more time. We need to put some time where we go one-on-one.

1039
01:48:54,370 --> 01:48:56,560
because I have questions about credit card purchases. I have questions about the 115 trust.

1040
01:48:59,350 --> 01:49:00,850
the overtime is a big, huge umbrella that's killing us right now, and it's not sustainable.

1041
01:49:04,195 --> 01:49:07,230
we have a police department that's understaffed right now. We need to think about that.

1042
01:49:08,475 --> 01:49:10,410
here we have this fiscal thing, and we're going back to every department to ask for help, which I think is great.

1043
01:49:14,595 --> 01:49:15,945
this is very important. The teamwork that you guys put in is extremely important right here.

1044
01:49:18,735 --> 01:49:21,155
but at the end of the day, we need to know where we're looking. Nuts and bolts. I looked at the credit card bills this month, it's $29,000.

1045
01:49:27,540 --> 01:49:27,540
I have one department that's $12,000.

1046
01:49:32,185 --> 01:49:35,080
I have one department that's $675. I'm not understanding what's going on here,

1047
01:49:37,930 --> 01:49:40,810
but we need to understand what's going on. If we go into our reserves, there's got to be a real good reason for that because

1048
01:49:42,535 --> 01:49:46,045
our reserves are exactly that, financial. We only have these much reserves, and we've spent years putting those together, as rick stated.

1049
01:49:48,985 --> 01:49:51,850
we got $29,000,000 at one point. At 115 trust,

1050
01:49:53,320 --> 01:49:56,740
understanding that the ual, the unfunded liability on our pensions, is crazy. We can't control that.

1051
01:49:59,350 --> 01:50:02,845
at the end of the day, we don't want to keep using that because that's going to go away real fast. Until we reach that curve where it comes down with our ual,

1052
01:50:05,860 --> 01:50:09,040
that we're actually putting money in there, and we're saving money. But I think at the end of the day, everybody is talking about, we're not ready for this.

1053
01:50:12,025 --> 01:50:15,490
I think we need to have a one-on-one with everybody to go over these things, to understand these funds.

1054
01:50:16,945 --> 01:50:18,820
what are these funds? Where are they coming from? Are we for our community services or the new name,

1055
01:50:24,400 --> 01:50:27,780
what you guys want to be called, our parks and recreation. We offer to our residents these amazing services, and that's what we're known for.

1056
01:50:32,305 --> 01:50:34,990
we have great police, we have great fire, we have great public works, but our community services department does a lot of stuff that we don't see,

1057
01:50:38,695 --> 01:50:40,285
and these residents are used to it. If we cut that off, it's like, what are you doing?

1058
01:50:43,075 --> 01:50:46,300
I think we need to really sit down, look at all these. I can't make a decision on tier 1 and 2. Okay, tier 1.

1059
01:50:49,435 --> 01:50:52,780
well, we probably need tier 2. But at the end of the day, I think we need to get together with you guys.

1060
01:50:55,525 --> 01:50:58,120
let's have it offsite, not a meeting, and really go over these, have each department look at these things one by one.

1061
01:51:01,975 --> 01:51:05,260
it's going to take some time, but I think we need to reset right now. This is a reset for us. I think we're at that close precipice right now,

1062
01:51:07,900 --> 01:51:09,415
where you guys have done a great job. Now let's kick it over and figure out what we've got,

1063
01:51:12,850 --> 01:51:16,765
what we're looking at, and really look at what we can get rid of. Like you said, you increase some things on subscription,

1064
01:51:20,485 --> 01:51:20,485
$74,000 worth of things we didn't need.

1065
01:51:24,610 --> 01:51:27,070
I know councilwoman lau, myself for the big one. We've always done it this way.

1066
01:51:28,885 --> 01:51:28,885
during the fiscal cliff of the mortgage-backed securities in 2008,

1067
01:51:33,970 --> 01:51:36,895
my company was an abyss; it was a black hole. Everything stopped. I think it stopped for a lot of us.

1068
01:51:39,625 --> 01:51:42,235
at that point, I took everything and figured, what do you need, and what don't you?

1069
01:51:43,900 --> 01:51:47,590
what's going to cut services, what's not going to cut services? That's what I did. The only reason I survived is the fact that we're doing this now,

1070
01:51:50,785 --> 01:51:54,490
we have that little cost here, and you guys are at 95%. I think you need that other 5%,

1071
01:51:56,125 --> 01:51:57,565
get it back to our council. Let's discuss it with every department, with you guys,

1072
01:52:00,550 --> 01:52:02,710
and then we can make an educated decision, and also transparent-wise,

1073
01:52:05,500 --> 01:52:07,795
bring it back to the residents to say, this is where we're at. Have another discussion. This is where we're thinking

1074
01:52:09,910 --> 01:52:12,610
of cutting this service here or this service here. I think that's where we're at. Council?

1075
01:52:19,380 --> 01:52:22,030
>> can I just ask what is the timeline? [overlapping] >> what is the timeline? What do we need to get this started?

1076
01:52:23,650 --> 01:52:25,600
>> because if we need to find another date for a meeting, I'm not suggesting that we all plot

1077
01:52:27,700 --> 01:52:30,565
our calendars in the two minutes before the regular meeting, but I want this council and I want the staff and

1078
01:52:33,430 --> 01:52:36,250
the public to know what time frame we're having to figure out to make sure that we can get a balanced budget approved within the time period.

1079
01:52:41,925 --> 01:52:44,700
>> also, get it out. What are we looking at? >> basically, we have to have a balanced budget approved by the council by july 1st,

1080
01:52:50,700 --> 01:52:53,270
so entering that new fiscal year. It's june 2nd.

1081
01:52:55,255 --> 01:52:55,255
this was meant to have an overview and to bring back

1082
01:52:59,440 --> 01:52:59,440
on june 16th some different options,

1083
01:53:04,015 --> 01:53:06,865
and where would it be. There's been a lot of comments,

1084
01:53:10,225 --> 01:53:13,600
and what I would suggest is that we have another special meeting set prior to that june 16th,

1085
01:53:17,530 --> 01:53:17,530
or again, we can use that june 16th and then have a special meeting set

1086
01:53:22,540 --> 01:53:22,540
for like june 23rd or even june 30th.

1087
01:53:29,190 --> 01:53:32,580
>> we're going into that weird time. If we don't get this early. [overlapping] >> absolutely.

1088
01:53:34,020 --> 01:53:34,020
>> the sooner, the better, even if we had to have a different session.

1089
01:53:39,295 --> 01:53:42,220
I don't want it attached to a meeting. This is way too much information. An hour and a half just doesn't cut it on millions of dollars of reductions,

1090
01:53:46,615 --> 01:53:46,615
we need more. What do you think?

1091
01:53:53,520 --> 01:53:57,430
>> I would suggest that we look at a special meeting sometime next week to put all your information together.

1092
01:54:02,580 --> 01:54:02,580
I do agree with councilmember crosby that, based on that,

1093
01:54:08,200 --> 01:54:08,200
having a set date when all this information is,

1094
01:54:12,685 --> 01:54:14,530
so there's a good 3, 4, 5 days of knowing when it is.

1095
01:54:24,060 --> 01:54:24,060
again, I do believe that if we want to have a final vote on the 16th,

1096
01:54:30,295 --> 01:54:30,295
or if we use the 16th as are we there yet?

1097
01:54:35,185 --> 01:54:35,185
then set for a time after,

1098
01:54:39,820 --> 01:54:39,820
in that week of the 23rd,

1099
01:54:47,155 --> 01:54:51,060
just on the budget. >> we have the proposed budget ready,

1100
01:54:54,010 --> 01:54:55,420
our preliminary budget ready, that was the big budget that we sent out.

1101
01:54:58,135 --> 01:54:58,135
we can definitely post that on the website so that the community can look at that,

1102
01:55:04,555 --> 01:55:07,180
along with this presentation, since that budget does identify that we have a $2.8 million deficit.

1103
01:55:11,845 --> 01:55:15,010
but that budget, along with this information, and the first study session,

1104
01:55:16,690 --> 01:55:16,690
which in the first study session is where we went in detail of a lot of the information.

1105
01:55:22,600 --> 01:55:23,710
we went over the funds, we went over a lot of the special revenue,

1106
01:55:27,460 --> 01:55:30,580
we went over the details of the overtime. It was more in-depth,

1107
01:55:31,690 --> 01:55:31,690
and we were really attempting to build up to this point of an overview.

1108
01:55:38,605 --> 01:55:42,250
but I understand that not having that information out to the community and giving them time to look at it

1109
01:55:46,405 --> 01:55:49,855
is something that we need to review and look at in the future to make sure that we have that out sooner.

1110
01:55:55,060 --> 01:55:55,060
but we can do that now and give them the opportunity to look at it, again,

1111
01:55:59,785 --> 01:56:01,600
along with this information, which would have to be used in conjunction.

1112
01:56:04,240 --> 01:56:06,220
but that would be all the information. We have gone over in very big length,

1113
01:56:10,870 --> 01:56:13,045
all of the items, and really, we're coming down to

1114
01:56:16,375 --> 01:56:16,375
identifying what our core services are and what we can and cannot provide.

1115
01:56:21,640 --> 01:56:21,640
similar to that to the slide that ken went over,

1116
01:56:27,595 --> 01:56:27,595
is it would be great if we could provide everything, but we can't.

1117
01:56:32,230 --> 01:56:32,230
I believe that we're at that point and getting there by june 30th,

1118
01:56:38,515 --> 01:56:41,800
if we release that information and have those one-on-one meetings with you guys so that we

1119
01:56:44,140 --> 01:56:47,485
can answer any questions that you have, would be my recommendation because we are getting close to

1120
01:56:52,300 --> 01:56:52,300
the end of the year and having to have a budget adopted by june 30th legally.

1121
01:56:57,610 --> 01:56:57,610
>> I think that's a good idea. We put everything we have out to the public right now,

1122
01:57:02,110 --> 01:57:03,625
but we do need to schedule. I don't know, what do you guys think about individually?

1123
01:57:07,930 --> 01:57:10,780
to get all our schedules together is going to be really tough right now before the 16th. What do you guys think?

1124
01:57:14,695 --> 01:57:17,980
>> or we can do two meetings with two of you. [overlapping] >> I have a meeting with them.

1125
01:57:19,750 --> 01:57:23,740
the meeting I did last week. >> I think it would be easier for us individually to meet with just to go over these different items.

1126
01:57:26,020 --> 01:57:27,550
>> absolutely. [overlapping] >> why don't we do that? We'll schedule it off-site.

1127
01:57:33,480 --> 01:57:33,480
>> on the 16th? You want all of us to meet with individual department heads by the 16th?

1128
01:57:42,900 --> 01:57:46,720
>> no. With kristie and I. >> ken and kristie.

1129
01:57:47,860 --> 01:57:50,755
>> I just want to make sure it's clear, this isn't kristie's budget, this is mr. Domer's budget.

1130
01:57:51,895 --> 01:57:52,795
>> [overlapping] yes. >> meeting with mr. Domer about this because he is our city manager that oversees.

1131
01:57:58,360 --> 01:58:02,080
>> no, I get that. I know. [overlapping] >> just so the public knows. >> but we're talking about between now and the 16th.

1132
01:58:07,300 --> 01:58:07,300
I just want to be sure that we feel confident that that's going to be able to happen.

1133
01:58:11,575 --> 01:58:11,575
>> again, these budget study sessions are to bring the information to you.

1134
01:58:16,690 --> 01:58:16,690
it is ultimately my responsibility to bring to you a balanced budget.

1135
01:58:22,000 --> 01:58:22,000
these budget workshops and the budget study sessions are steps in that process,

1136
01:58:28,300 --> 01:58:30,805
so that on the 16th, there will be a structurally balanced budget

1137
01:58:35,200 --> 01:58:39,055
presented to you so that you have the opportunity to say, yes, this is what we want to do.

1138
01:58:42,570 --> 01:58:45,295
between now and the 16th, we can meet, and by we,

1139
01:58:47,725 --> 01:58:49,630
I mean me, kristie, if you want to meet with any of the department heads,

1140
01:58:52,135 --> 01:58:55,855
that's what the point of this meeting was, is to start getting more of that information and more questions from you.

1141
01:59:00,340 --> 01:59:03,010
between now and the 16th, we can set that time to get additional information or questions from

1142
01:59:08,260 --> 01:59:08,260
you to provide you the additional information so that by the end,

1143
01:59:13,120 --> 01:59:16,075
I'm looking at my calendar, the 16th, what we look to do is put out a budget and all the information,

1144
01:59:24,325 --> 01:59:26,380
or an agenda with all the information, so the budget for the 16th that would be a decision

1145
01:59:29,605 --> 01:59:29,605
would be put out to the public by tuesday the 10th.

1146
01:59:34,255 --> 01:59:34,255
what we had looked to do is generate the questions that were raised tonight,

1147
01:59:39,730 --> 01:59:39,730
schedule some meetings with you one-on-one or two-on-one this coming up week,

1148
01:59:46,345 --> 01:59:49,195
so that by the 10th, we could have that information put into

1149
01:59:53,380 --> 01:59:53,380
an agenda item so that on the 16th, there's that information.

1150
01:59:59,555 --> 02:00:02,610
>> does that work? >> we can figure it out. I'm worried that means the staff

1151
02:00:07,810 --> 02:00:07,810
would have everything out ready for the public with all of council's input,

1152
02:00:12,145 --> 02:00:16,030
questions, etc, by the 10th. Which means really, this week is the week that council would have to meet with you and not next week.

1153
02:00:21,910 --> 02:00:24,325
>> correct, yes, this week. >> council is on at tuesdays. >> that's what I'm saying. I'll speak for myself only,

1154
02:00:28,030 --> 02:00:30,340
but I'm out of town from the 6th through the 8th. Unless we can find some time to carve out in the next three days?

1155
02:00:35,605 --> 02:00:36,955
>> yes. >> just make sure that we make it available, that way we get this done.

1156
02:00:41,725 --> 02:00:41,725
>> starting tomorrow morning, we will start looking at what time you have available.

1157
02:00:46,225 --> 02:00:46,225
again, it's not like we are behind.

1158
02:00:52,270 --> 02:00:52,270
I think we're right where we need to be because we just need

1159
02:00:56,620 --> 02:00:56,620
you to feel comfortable about that budget that we put before you,

1160
02:01:01,795 --> 02:01:04,720
and that would be on the 16th. We will start calling you guys tomorrow morning to figure

1161
02:01:08,110 --> 02:01:10,780
out what time you have available, two hours, three hours.

1162
02:01:13,165 --> 02:01:13,165
it is at this point where we need to do it.

1163
02:01:19,600 --> 02:01:22,450
>> we do, and we can push it, but we do have the capital improvement program that we haven't gone over,

1164
02:01:26,710 --> 02:01:26,710
so we can extend that to the 16th.

1165
02:01:31,540 --> 02:01:32,745
>> let's push it out. >> I just want to make sure. >> yes, absolutely.

1166
02:01:41,990 --> 02:01:45,210
>> there's no action items I missed. For better discussion, we're going to recess at 6:36.

1167
02:01:49,590 --> 02:01:51,810
if you guys don't mind, we're going to take, like 10 minutes, and be back out, so make yourself comfortable.

1168
02:01:54,765 --> 02:01:56,850
there is water over here under the desk. Not sleeping, comfortable.

1169
02:02:03,560 --> 02:02:03,560
good. Good evening, everybody.

1170
02:02:08,055 --> 02:02:08,055
welcome. We're going to start this meeting at 6:54 pm on monday, june 2nd.

1171
02:02:15,780 --> 02:02:17,100
thank you for being patient with us. We had a very lengthy budget session and a lot of information,

1172
02:02:21,000 --> 02:02:22,770
and we ran over as usual. I know that we have mayor don kendrick in the audience,

1173
02:02:26,340 --> 02:02:26,340
we have councilman dan harden and councilman robin carter. Thank you.

1174
02:02:30,585 --> 02:02:30,585
you guys understand that these things never go as plan, do they?

1175
02:02:34,755 --> 02:02:36,840
but we have great staff, we have great council, and we're working through it, so thank you.

1176
02:02:39,705 --> 02:02:43,350
I want to remind everyone that for the city's rules of decorum, all speakers, members of the audience, and council members are to conduct themselves with decorum and to not engage

1177
02:02:46,410 --> 02:02:49,845
in conduct that interrupts the orderly conduct of the city council meeting. Also, public comment through zoom will only be

1178
02:02:51,960 --> 02:02:54,810
accepted for the agenda items listed within the consent calendar, public hearing, and the discussion calendar section of the agenda.

1179
02:02:58,050 --> 02:03:00,450
general public comments will be accepted at the meeting by those physically in attendance and at the appropriate time.

1180
02:03:02,955 --> 02:03:05,615
tonight, we are extremely pleased to have army veteran phil ramirez to conduct the pledge of allegiance.

1181
02:03:08,975 --> 02:03:08,975
mr. Ramirez, please come forward.

1182
02:03:21,440 --> 02:03:24,630
>> I would like to have all veterans, all members in uniform render a hand salute,

1183
02:03:30,720 --> 02:03:30,720
others place your right hand over your heart. Let's begin.

1184
02:03:35,730 --> 02:03:35,730
>>

1185
02:03:50,090 --> 02:03:52,080
>> you may be seated. >> commander, if you can stay there, please.

1186
02:03:54,675 --> 02:03:54,675
>> here we go, airborne.

1187
02:04:17,970 --> 02:04:17,970
here we go. I wanted to take this time to actually thank you.

1188
02:04:23,220 --> 02:04:25,410
thank you for your many years of service. I understand this is your last month being the vfw commander of post 120.

1189
02:04:31,215 --> 02:04:33,375
>> in deed. >> well, in deed right now. I talked about it at memorial day, I remember that.

1190
02:04:38,385 --> 02:04:41,700
but I wanted to take this time and give you that time in acknowledging and thanking you for your countless years of service,

1191
02:04:45,660 --> 02:04:45,660
both with the army and here at the vfw post.

1192
02:04:49,785 --> 02:04:52,155
I applaud you, my brother, soldier. I thank you from bottom of my heart,

1193
02:04:54,420 --> 02:04:58,200
my family's heart, and all the community members. I want to take this time for you, give a special shout-out, let you know.

1194
02:05:00,075 --> 02:05:02,355
thank you. But please few words. You last city council.

1195
02:05:09,320 --> 02:05:12,795
>> thank you very much. I really appreciate it. It's been four hard years.

1196
02:05:14,700 --> 02:05:18,225
it's not easy being as commander. We still get inspections,

1197
02:05:19,890 --> 02:05:21,660
and we still get audit reports, and we have to make sure all the veterans are taken care of in all their needs.

1198
02:05:25,965 --> 02:05:28,020
a lot of them have mental health issues, we transition them back into civilian life.

1199
02:05:31,665 --> 02:05:34,710
when every time our veterans in need, we are there to help them. If you know any veterans,

1200
02:05:36,450 --> 02:05:38,145
feel free to send them our way, we're more than happy to help them out.

1201
02:05:41,000 --> 02:05:41,000
this is a memorable moment, though, real quick.

1202
02:05:46,910 --> 02:05:49,740
it's nice to be recognized this way. A couple of weekends ago,

1203
02:05:52,305 --> 02:05:54,180
I was fortunate to go on the honor flight. I don't know if many of you know what our honor flight is,

1204
02:05:56,775 --> 02:05:56,775
but they sent veterans who were in the vietnam era,

1205
02:06:01,275 --> 02:06:04,095
world war ii, korean war, and they sent them to washington dc to see all the memorials.

1206
02:06:08,370 --> 02:06:12,165
I told my members that I was a little emotional coming off here because when we got on that plane going to washington,

1207
02:06:15,480 --> 02:06:15,480
dc, all the veterans started singing leaving on a jet plane by john denver.

1208
02:06:22,085 --> 02:06:24,455
if you listen to those words, you know what they really felt,

1209
02:06:26,405 --> 02:06:28,570
what they really went through. After that, everybody was quiet.

1210
02:06:31,560 --> 02:06:35,070
but it was a memorable moment. We went to baltimore airport. The whole airport stopped to stand still and welcome us.

1211
02:06:40,155 --> 02:06:42,270
we came back from lax, the whole airport stand still and welcome us.

1212
02:06:45,615 --> 02:06:48,840
that we never had in our days. We were spit upon, we were shun,

1213
02:06:51,150 --> 02:06:51,150
we were denied entry to restaurants because according to them,

1214
02:06:56,580 --> 02:06:58,980
we were baby killers at the time. But veterans in that era went through a lot,

1215
02:07:03,195 --> 02:07:03,195
and they did this for us so we can forget what happened in those years,

1216
02:07:09,630 --> 02:07:09,630
and we would have this new memory to remember all the way through our lives.

1217
02:07:14,190 --> 02:07:14,190
believe me, I will remember that. I thank everyone.

1218
02:07:18,690 --> 02:07:21,030
I thank this council and mr. Mayor, for helping the veterans as much as all of you did.

1219
02:07:23,745 --> 02:07:23,745
I really do appreciate it. Thank you.

1220
02:07:29,960 --> 02:07:29,960
>> the city of la verne certificate of recognition presented to phil ramirez.

1221
02:07:34,620 --> 02:07:36,480
this certificate is presented on behalf of the la verne city council to army veteran phil ramirez with

1222
02:07:39,390 --> 02:07:41,400
sincere gratitude and appreciation for a dedicated service to our country airborne [laughter]

1223
02:08:18,090 --> 02:08:18,090
I like that. Please, come on up.

1224
02:08:34,850 --> 02:08:37,035
>> some of you may not know, this is [inaudible] she is our first female commander [inaudible]

1225
02:08:44,430 --> 02:08:44,430
>> how are you doing? [laughter]

1226
02:10:12,820 --> 02:10:12,820
>> [inaudible]

1227
02:10:30,420 --> 02:10:33,590
>> mr. Domer, roll call, please. >> thank you, mr. Mayor. Council member crosby.

1228
02:10:37,500 --> 02:10:40,665
>> yeah, we're taking that certificate back. We're going to get you a bigger one. >> council member johnson.

1229
02:10:41,835 --> 02:10:45,735
>> present. >> council member lau. >> present. >> mayor pro tem kashifalghita. >> here. >> mayor hepburn.

1230
02:10:46,455 --> 02:10:47,775
>> here. >> all present. >> thank you very much. Tonight, we have three presentations.

1231
02:10:50,670 --> 02:10:52,530
first will be the pride month proclamation. Pride month is the time to celebrate the identity,

1232
02:10:55,575 --> 02:10:55,575
rights, and inclusion of lgbtq people and advocate for their inclusivity.

1233
02:10:59,640 --> 02:11:01,530
I would like to call the casi committee members forward and whoever else would like to come.

1234
02:11:05,265 --> 02:11:05,265
everyone.

1235
02:11:25,580 --> 02:11:27,255
we got them back. No. We'll get to them about 9:30.

1236
02:11:33,170 --> 02:11:33,170
anybody else wish to come up?

1237
02:11:39,440 --> 02:11:41,850
the city of la verne proclamation. Whereas the city of la verne stands with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,

1238
02:11:45,390 --> 02:11:45,390
and queer community as they declare their pride in who they are and whom they love;

1239
02:11:49,995 --> 02:11:52,230
and whereas pride month is celebrated every june to honor and commemorate their historical path,

1240
02:11:55,620 --> 02:11:55,620
travel to gain the rights of liberties of lgbtq+ people in america,

1241
02:12:00,450 --> 02:12:03,630
and whereas the lgbtq+ community, which makes up over 9% of

1242
02:12:05,370 --> 02:12:07,770
the united states population continues to inspire inclusivety and diversity in our nation;

1243
02:12:10,780 --> 02:12:13,970
and whereas, lgbtq+ americans have achieved significant milestones against often difficult challenges,

1244
02:12:17,570 --> 02:12:20,420
with the hope of future generations of people in the united states may enjoy a more equal and just society,

1245
02:12:23,425 --> 02:12:26,775
and whereas the city of la verne stands with the lgbtq, community in the struggle for equal treatment and embracement

1246
02:12:29,940 --> 02:12:29,940
of lgbtq+ rights as human rights so that our city is a place where all people,

1247
02:12:35,775 --> 02:12:38,145
regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression are treated with dignity and respect.

1248
02:12:43,305 --> 02:12:46,590
now, therefore, be it resolved that the city of la verne hereby proclaims the month of june 2025 as pride month in support of the lgbtq+ community, and that we,

1249
02:12:53,220 --> 02:12:55,230
the council members of the city of la verne, who hereby proclaim our shared values of culture awareness,

1250
02:12:58,680 --> 02:12:58,680
social inclusion, compassion, equity, and diversity.

1251
02:13:03,180 --> 02:13:05,190
we encourage our local community to also commit to these values dated the second day of june.

1252
02:13:07,830 --> 02:13:11,100
we're presenting this to the casi group. Don. Would you like to say a word?

1253
02:13:18,360 --> 02:13:18,360
>> thank you, mayor hepburn,

1254
02:13:27,315 --> 02:13:27,315
and thank you, city council in the city of la verne.

1255
02:13:32,000 --> 02:13:32,000
I want to talk about me,

1256
02:13:37,485 --> 02:13:38,970
and not holy about me, but I want to let you know about why I'm receiving this pride month proclamation.

1257
02:13:43,560 --> 02:13:47,115
I'm receiving it as a supportive ally, especially someone who I have close friends and family in the lgbtqia+ community.

1258
02:13:54,510 --> 02:13:54,510
I've seen the courage it takes for people I love to come out,

1259
02:13:58,965 --> 02:13:58,965
to live authentically and to navigate a world that hasn't always welcomed them.

1260
02:14:03,855 --> 02:14:06,990
this proclamation is a reminder of how far we've come, but how much work still lies ahead.

1261
02:14:10,710 --> 02:14:13,860
the history of the lgbtqia+ movement is one of bravery in the face of injustice for decades.

1262
02:14:17,790 --> 02:14:17,790
lgbtqia+ people have fought against discrimination,

1263
02:14:22,290 --> 02:14:23,940
criminalization, and erasure, from stonewall uprising and the aids crisis,

1264
02:14:26,940 --> 02:14:30,540
from marriage equality to ongoing battles for trans rights. Progress has always been led by community members pushing against the odds.

1265
02:14:35,010 --> 02:14:36,900
these were never easy wins, they came through grief, protest, and persistence.

1266
02:14:40,515 --> 02:14:40,515
today, that resistance is most important as ever.

1267
02:14:46,470 --> 02:14:46,470
across the country, we are seeing an alarming rise in anti-lgbtqia+ legislation,

1268
02:14:52,605 --> 02:14:56,295
especially targeting trans and non-binary youth. It's painful and frustrating to watch,

1269
02:15:00,075 --> 02:15:03,600
especially when you know the people that are being targeted. These aren't just headlines,

1270
02:15:05,085 --> 02:15:07,695
they're real people with real lives, they are our friends, they are our neighbors,

1271
02:15:09,960 --> 02:15:13,635
they are members of our family and members of this community. Alongside these challenges, there are strengths.

1272
02:15:16,770 --> 02:15:19,965
there are communities forming support networks, like here in our own area,

1273
02:15:21,870 --> 02:15:25,395
pomona valley pride, glendora pride in the foothills, and the cultural awareness and social inclusion of la verne or casi.

1274
02:15:29,565 --> 02:15:32,670
pride month is a celebration of love, visibility, and self-expression, but it's also a call to action.

1275
02:15:35,970 --> 02:15:38,415
as an ally to this community, it means using my voice, showing up,

1276
02:15:41,085 --> 02:15:44,310
and making sure that the people I care about and the broader lgbtqia community know that they're not alone.

1277
02:15:48,855 --> 02:15:52,215
this proclamation is a small, but important affirmation, you belong, your rights matter, and you are seen.

1278
02:16:55,310 --> 02:16:55,310
>> thank you.

1279
02:17:00,590 --> 02:17:00,590
>> next presentation is the introduction of the vfw post 12034 commander.

1280
02:17:08,640 --> 02:17:10,395
maria mckinney. Come on up.

1281
02:17:16,700 --> 02:17:16,700
that would be the first woman vfw commander in

1282
02:17:21,810 --> 02:17:21,810
the history of the band of brothers 12034, is that correct?

1283
02:17:26,985 --> 02:17:26,985
we have to work on that name, don't we?

1284
02:17:31,820 --> 02:17:31,820
>> sir. Let me first get started by saying once again,

1285
02:17:37,125 --> 02:17:37,125
please another round of applause for my former commander phil ramirez[applause].

1286
02:17:45,780 --> 02:17:47,820
he has truly kept the ship afloat and taught me basically everything I know at the moment.

1287
02:17:50,550 --> 02:17:50,550
[laughter] but it is not only an honor and a privilege.

1288
02:17:56,475 --> 02:18:00,360
it is always great to be working with our veterans in our community. I cannot say enough about the necessity that it is to recognize all of our veterans.

1289
02:18:07,335 --> 02:18:09,975
any campaign, any war, you reach out your hand and say thank you because if it weren't for them paving the way,

1290
02:18:15,540 --> 02:18:18,000
I would not be here standing here today. That's number one. I have always been a la vernian all my life.

1291
02:18:28,035 --> 02:18:30,840
my parents moved here in 1975, and born and raised here in la verne,

1292
02:18:33,105 --> 02:18:35,790
went to the military, came back and bought a house on the same street I grew up on,

1293
02:18:39,330 --> 02:18:42,180
and I graduated from ulv. With my benefits, I do.

1294
02:18:44,250 --> 02:18:44,250
always, I do not leave my three mile radius.

1295
02:18:49,430 --> 02:18:51,885
it's perfect. That's it. I worked for a great organization here in la verne,

1296
02:18:56,505 --> 02:18:59,070
leroy haynes and now david & margaret together, helping our youth in youth and probation and getting them to

1297
02:19:03,150 --> 02:19:03,150
graduate high school in our foster care system that we have in our organization.

1298
02:19:07,815 --> 02:19:07,815
everything I do, I try to think about two things;

1299
02:19:11,970 --> 02:19:14,100
how can I help that organization, and how can I help the community to be aware about how they can help as well?

1300
02:19:18,855 --> 02:19:21,420
that's very important to me in my life, and I think that hope that translate to everything I do here in la verne.

1301
02:19:26,205 --> 02:19:26,205
but I cannot speak enough about this group of individuals that

1302
02:19:30,750 --> 02:19:30,750
have welcomed me and let me take a little bit of control,

1303
02:19:35,595 --> 02:19:39,585
a little bit of lead. A little bit. >> little bit? >> little bit, but I hope that I'm here

1304
02:19:43,110 --> 02:19:46,980
for the long run and to them to teach me and me to teach them and work it out together and make sure that we

1305
02:19:50,520 --> 02:19:54,480
continue to help our elderly veterans, especially and open up the doors for more opportunities so that you all, as a community,

1306
02:19:59,790 --> 02:19:59,790
can see what we do and join us in many of the more events that are coming our way.

1307
02:20:05,580 --> 02:20:07,395
I thank you very much. >> what branch of service.

1308
02:20:11,250 --> 02:20:12,555
>> states air force. >> air force. Smart one.

1309
02:20:15,345 --> 02:20:16,770
>> I would panic. >> join the air force.

1310
02:20:50,060 --> 02:20:53,880
I appreciate [laughter]. >> thank you.

1311
02:20:54,600 --> 02:20:58,155
>> thank you, and welcome. Anything you need from the city, let us know. We have a great relationship.

1312
02:20:59,385 --> 02:21:01,320
whatever you guys need, we're here to help and let some women touch on these men, would you, please?

1313
02:21:04,410 --> 02:21:04,410
thank you very much [laughter].

1314
02:21:11,730 --> 02:21:15,150
behind every man, there's an amazing woman, and don't ever forget that. There you go. You learned that a long time ago, didn't you, phil.

1315
02:21:19,170 --> 02:21:21,405
thank you all very much. Our next presentation is the recognition of those that contribute to the making of

1316
02:21:25,110 --> 02:21:25,110
the veterans memorial at vets hall come to fruition. I'd like to call forward.

1317
02:21:29,850 --> 02:21:33,105
I know dan harden had an issue, his mom had an issue, so he's not going to be able to make it, but I would like to call him.

1318
02:21:35,840 --> 02:21:35,840
not dan harden talking. Dan keesey.

1319
02:21:40,050 --> 02:21:42,420
he's only 10 foot taller than all of us, but that's okay, dan?

1320
02:21:45,555 --> 02:21:48,300
I'd like to call forward dan harden, don kendrick, robin carder. As I said, mr. Keesey can't make it tonight.

1321
02:21:49,905 --> 02:21:49,905
please come on up. They just can't leave.

1322
02:21:55,245 --> 02:21:58,250
there's pizza in the other room if you're hungry [laughter]. >> there's somebody still here.

1323
02:22:13,520 --> 02:22:17,190
>> just a sneak peek of our little presentation here. For those that at the memorial this weekend for memorial day

1324
02:22:22,350 --> 02:22:22,350
was basically a ribbon cutting for the female soldier,

1325
02:22:27,930 --> 02:22:27,930
male soldier, and then a wounded war veteran and the bronze statues.

1326
02:22:34,530 --> 02:22:34,530
there's a place for working military dog,

1327
02:22:39,360 --> 02:22:39,360
too, but to say it's incredible is an understatement.

1328
02:22:43,980 --> 02:22:45,645
it was amazing. It only happened because of a few individuals

1329
02:22:48,990 --> 02:22:48,990
and opened up a whole bunch of pockets and with the affiliations that they have,

1330
02:22:53,010 --> 02:22:56,775
along with the city, but it's these people here that made this happen. With that, is an honor

1331
02:23:00,240 --> 02:23:03,735
to stand before you today as we recognize the incredible collaboration, dedication and I also want to say public works too,

1332
02:23:06,150 --> 02:23:09,410
and mr. Keesey, so we're getting to that. The installation of the three bronze statues at the veterans memorial at veterans hall.

1333
02:23:15,285 --> 02:23:17,730
this idea was first brought forward at the may 6, 2024 city council meeting when former councilmember dan harden presented

1334
02:23:21,870 --> 02:23:24,270
a proposal to enhance our memorial with these powerful symbols of sacrifice, courage, and gratitude.

1335
02:23:27,255 --> 02:23:27,255
in response, the city council unanimously supported the initiative and directed

1336
02:23:32,325 --> 02:23:35,190
the city manager to reconstitute the veterans memorial committee on an ad hoc basis to help bring this vision to life.

1337
02:23:39,330 --> 02:23:42,000
today, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of that committee for their guidance and leadership through the project.

1338
02:23:44,640 --> 02:23:47,280
that would be mayor kendrick, councilmember carter, councilmember dan harden

1339
02:23:50,610 --> 02:23:52,575
and the previous public works director dan keesey. A round of applause for these people.

1340
02:23:57,230 --> 02:24:00,900
your dedication to honoring our veterans and preserving the dignity of this sacred space has made a lasting impact.

1341
02:24:04,530 --> 02:24:08,190
thank you for your time, your wisdom, and your unwavering commitment to this effort. In addition, the city manager appointed

1342
02:24:10,440 --> 02:24:12,600
key staff members to work alongside this committee to ensure the successful implementation and long term stewardship of the project.

1343
02:24:17,535 --> 02:24:20,640
our public works director and community services director, along with their teams played essential roles in making this vision a reality.

1344
02:24:24,120 --> 02:24:25,770
a very special thank you goes to the city street department who were entrusted with the installation of the statues.

1345
02:24:29,580 --> 02:24:32,940
the task was extensive and required detailed coordination, especially considering the nearby preschool

1346
02:24:34,995 --> 02:24:37,365
and the need to minimize disruption during the work. This project was far more than a simple placing of statues,

1347
02:24:40,605 --> 02:24:43,485
who worked with precision and care. You guys did an amazing job.

1348
02:24:45,150 --> 02:24:47,460
I saw all the work and the pre-work and the electrical work. I love those lights. Thank you.

1349
02:24:53,060 --> 02:24:55,155
not to say the least, which was relocation of irrigation system, excavate,

1350
02:24:57,885 --> 02:24:59,310
and regrade the site, form and finish elevated concrete pads, install electrical conduit.

1351
02:25:03,735 --> 02:25:05,505
thank god for electricians. Transformers and lighting, finish new walkways,

1352
02:25:08,940 --> 02:25:11,595
and finally install the statues with the reverence they deserve, and they are gorgeous.

1353
02:25:13,740 --> 02:25:15,300
throughout the entire project, the team balanced the intensive work with their ongoing street maintenance duties.

1354
02:25:18,825 --> 02:25:21,240
they alternated shifts, adapted to evolving needs, and consistently upheld the highest standards of quality and professionalism.

1355
02:25:25,455 --> 02:25:27,375
they didn't stop it good enough. They went above and beyond repairing

1356
02:25:29,520 --> 02:25:32,085
existing walls and ensuring every detail was polished. Everything was painted.

1357
02:25:33,825 --> 02:25:35,730
every weed was gone, and it was in pristine condition.

1358
02:25:38,505 --> 02:25:41,880
they went above and beyond repairing walls and ensuring every detail was polished so that memorial looked as absolute best for memorial day event.

1359
02:25:45,165 --> 02:25:49,005
I remember was a year or two ago, and I was talking to mr. Harden. He said, this place is getting a little worn,

1360
02:25:52,040 --> 02:25:54,920
and we had said, we'll probably do something about it, and I know that grace napolitano was gracious in

1361
02:25:56,900 --> 02:25:58,880
giving a nice chunk of money to help that, but we take a lot of pride in that as you guys do.

1362
02:26:01,860 --> 02:26:04,890
we make sure that that stays nice and clean and wonderful for our previous and present veterans.

1363
02:26:08,220 --> 02:26:11,160
we're incredibly proud to recognize the following individuals for the dedication, craftsmanship and pride in the community.

1364
02:26:12,750 --> 02:26:14,185
as that call your name, please come up. Brad stock, dustin whitebear, toby paddock,

1365
02:26:20,910 --> 02:26:20,910
antonio guerrero, romero nunez,

1366
02:26:25,515 --> 02:26:25,515
gabriel rivera, jose jimenez, miguel crespo.

1367
02:26:44,600 --> 02:26:44,600
pick him out of the crowd.

1368
02:26:57,700 --> 02:27:01,505
your work not only reflects your skill and professionalism. It reflects your deepest respect for our veterans and

1369
02:27:03,770 --> 02:27:06,830
your commitment to honoring them in the most thoughtful way possible. On behalf of the city of la verne,

1370
02:27:08,180 --> 02:27:08,180
thank you for making this project true source of pride for our community.

1371
02:27:12,205 --> 02:27:15,255
this memorial now stands not only as a tribute to those who served, but also as a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish

1372
02:27:17,850 --> 02:27:17,850
together with dedication, unity, and purpose.

1373
02:27:22,290 --> 02:27:23,940
thank you all very much. It looks amazing. Thank you. Round of applause.

1374
02:27:36,050 --> 02:27:39,420
>> they just asked me if I was going to speak, and here it is. >> [inaudible].

1375
02:27:42,720 --> 02:27:42,720
>> I brought my speech with me[laughter].

1376
02:27:50,370 --> 02:27:50,370
listening to commander ramirez reminded me way back when we started the memorial.

1377
02:27:58,050 --> 02:27:58,050
he was speaking of what happened to people returning from vietnam and korea,

1378
02:28:03,645 --> 02:28:06,315
japan, the philippines, taiwan. When we got off the plane and walked through the terminal,

1379
02:28:09,585 --> 02:28:12,045
no one said, thank you for your service. If anyone said anything, it was disparaging.

1380
02:28:14,970 --> 02:28:14,970
when the war in iraq began, we had this feeling about,

1381
02:28:19,740 --> 02:28:22,605
I don't want anybody coming back, experiencing that, and we wanted to create a memorial that welcomed them back.

1382
02:28:26,565 --> 02:28:30,165
I think that we've accomplished that. The most significant part, we did this here in la verne because la verne has such a history of supporting veterans.

1383
02:28:35,355 --> 02:28:35,355
we can go back to world war I where we see the building that we share with the city,

1384
02:28:41,700 --> 02:28:43,875
that was built by veterans. There was a sign posted in the park about world war ii personnel that served.

1385
02:28:50,625 --> 02:28:50,625
there's the rock there that has the kias from world war ii.

1386
02:28:55,290 --> 02:28:58,065
we skip through korea and vietnam, it's time to do something and we decided the iraq war was the appropriate time.

1387
02:29:03,735 --> 02:29:03,735
you can see things that the city of la verne has done over the years, banner program,

1388
02:29:08,250 --> 02:29:08,250
the memorial itself, honoring veterans as they come into this building,

1389
02:29:15,525 --> 02:29:18,225
and recognizing what they've done for this country. Now we have the memorial.

1390
02:29:20,820 --> 02:29:20,820
the memorial we see as a growing memorial. We're not finished.

1391
02:29:26,265 --> 02:29:28,860
we're going to come back to you and ask you about more. There's things that we can do to make it even more welcoming to veterans,

1392
02:29:33,450 --> 02:29:36,150
particularly veterans in la verne, but the significant part, if you look at the pavers,

1393
02:29:37,830 --> 02:29:41,010
there's veterans from all over pomona valley. Some from very far away.

1394
02:29:43,185 --> 02:29:44,880
we're very proud of that. We're especially proud to have city, staff,

1395
02:29:47,385 --> 02:29:47,385
public works help us with this because we're there for a couple of days during the year.

1396
02:29:53,490 --> 02:29:55,575
they're working on this all year round, keeping it pristine, make it beautiful, make it inviting.

1397
02:29:59,205 --> 02:30:02,445
thank you also very much. You're an important part of this, and certainly we couldn't have done it without you.

1398
02:30:04,725 --> 02:30:04,725
ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your support.

1399
02:30:10,790 --> 02:30:12,900
>> but you can still donate, is that correct? Ms. Carter.

1400
02:30:16,730 --> 02:30:19,920
>> ask my husband, I know how to ask for money. [laughter] we were overwhelmed with

1401
02:30:25,890 --> 02:30:25,890
the outbursting of donations for this first area that we were raising money for,

1402
02:30:33,030 --> 02:30:33,030
and it was close to $100,000 that we raised in six months.

1403
02:30:39,525 --> 02:30:39,525
everyone cares and supports the veterans.

1404
02:30:43,965 --> 02:30:47,400
now with our next step, the military dog, we need to raise money for this dog,

1405
02:30:49,770 --> 02:30:49,770
and so we want it to be able to go in for veterans day.

1406
02:30:54,240 --> 02:30:57,720
please, if you want to talk to rami, we are the co chairs for the fund raising.

1407
02:31:00,870 --> 02:31:02,550
we are raising money, if you know of anyone beyond you that have given to give more, we'll take it.

1408
02:31:07,095 --> 02:31:09,645
but if you know of others, please pass the word. It's very important.

1409
02:31:11,160 --> 02:31:14,085
now, I do know that at memorial day, I had mr. Chovin,

1410
02:31:16,095 --> 02:31:19,365
who was daughter's teacher at ramona. He came up to me he said, I really want to donate,

1411
02:31:21,420 --> 02:31:24,450
but I don't know how, and I didn't get any form. I would love if we could give you the email and you could send it out to your members.

1412
02:31:30,525 --> 02:31:32,310
would that be okay? Anyone that could please help us with fund raising.

1413
02:31:36,345 --> 02:31:38,970
we want to get this done and get moving on it, and it will look so beautiful.

1414
02:31:40,665 --> 02:31:40,665
everyone's excited about the dog coming in. Thank you very much.

1415
02:31:48,140 --> 02:31:50,550
>> again, one more round of applause. This couldn't happen without them.

1416
02:31:53,070 --> 02:31:53,070
one thing about our city is the fact that, teamwork.

1417
02:31:57,195 --> 02:32:00,735
it does not happen without teamwork, whether it be a budget like we were doing before, we may argue, we may fight, we may discuss.

1418
02:32:03,435 --> 02:32:06,810
but at the end of the day, it takes all of us together to make things happen. This is just a perfect example between our people that have an idea to make it happen,

1419
02:32:12,150 --> 02:32:14,190
but we also have our people that are talented and excellent craftsmen

1420
02:32:16,710 --> 02:32:19,335
that'll be able to put this stuff in and make it look so amazing. Again, thank you all very much,

1421
02:32:21,285 --> 02:32:24,840
and we'll get that dog funded. Do you have a website at all? You have the email address.

1422
02:32:26,385 --> 02:32:28,290
if you give that to us, you have the email address, you can go on and you can donate online,

1423
02:32:30,390 --> 02:32:31,845
or is that to be mailing a check or we can just bring gold bars to your house or whatever?

1424
02:32:50,000 --> 02:32:53,265
if you could bring the forms, that would be great. Then we can I'll copy those,

1425
02:32:54,420 --> 02:32:58,035
and we'll send them on social media. There you go. Thank you guys very much. I think we need some pictures here.

1426
02:34:13,740 --> 02:34:13,740
>> to exit stage.

1427
02:34:40,200 --> 02:34:40,200
thank you guys.

1428
02:35:13,560 --> 02:35:13,560
we're going to now move on to announcements of upcoming events.

1429
02:35:19,150 --> 02:35:20,890
I'd like to call the first name, which would be adrian romero.

1430
02:35:27,620 --> 02:35:31,020
>> good evening, mayor, council members and staff. I would like to introduce a few events taking place this month at laverne library.

1431
02:35:35,135 --> 02:35:37,675
on june 11th, we'll host a magic show. The performer will be christopher t. Magician,

1432
02:35:39,970 --> 02:35:42,040
who will share his favorite children's books and bring them to life with fun interactive magic.

1433
02:35:45,420 --> 02:35:45,420
on friday, june 20th at 2:00 pm, manga author,

1434
02:35:49,480 --> 02:35:49,480
stan sakai will give a presentation on the manga connection to old japan.

1435
02:35:53,665 --> 02:35:53,665
during this program, teens from ages 13-17 can learn about the history of

1436
02:35:57,970 --> 02:35:57,970
manga and then be given the opportunity to create their own manga character.

1437
02:36:02,755 --> 02:36:06,385
attendance is limited for this event and registration is required. It could be done in person at the laverne library or online at lacountylibrary.org.

1438
02:36:11,725 --> 02:36:11,725
I want to mention that this event was funded by friends of the library.

1439
02:36:15,850 --> 02:36:18,400
on wednesday, june 25th at 5:00 pm, we'll be holding a stem program about structures for children ages 5-12.

1440
02:36:23,575 --> 02:36:26,920
during this event, children will learned about rule breakers in architecture, and they'll be given a chance to build their own stick structure.

1441
02:36:30,235 --> 02:36:33,235
throughout the month of june, the friends of the laverne library will be holding their summer library book sale,

1442
02:36:35,815 --> 02:36:38,680
where people can find a great deal on books for all ages. Funds raised by sale are used to purchase new books for

1443
02:36:40,990 --> 02:36:40,990
the collection and fund library programs. Thank you.

1444
02:36:45,265 --> 02:36:47,080
>> thank you, adrian. Appreciate it. Again, thank you for your service, too, sir.

1445
02:36:49,315 --> 02:36:49,315
jerry best. The team is up.

1446
02:36:56,190 --> 02:36:56,190
>> get ready. [laughter]. There's this vanna white.

1447
02:37:08,220 --> 02:37:08,220
jerry best and kathy colosi with the laverne historical society.

1448
02:37:13,540 --> 02:37:15,910
I have a couple of updates and announcements. First of all, one week from tomorrow,

1449
02:37:18,760 --> 02:37:18,760
a group of the woodworkers in laverne are converging on the maintenance yard,

1450
02:37:24,595 --> 02:37:24,595
and will be picking up approximately a third of the carob tree wood,

1451
02:37:29,470 --> 02:37:32,575
which has been cut by ruben cuirado, and will be taking it over to cne lumber,

1452
02:37:35,500 --> 02:37:38,680
and they have agreed to strap the wood, cure it, and store it for us,

1453
02:37:40,405 --> 02:37:44,170
which is almost a two-year commitment which they're doing as a gift to the historical society in the city of laverne.

1454
02:37:48,475 --> 02:37:48,475
I want to thank everybody at the maintenance yard who's made this possible.

1455
02:37:53,110 --> 02:37:56,650
ruben, who has been there with the chainsaw, every possible day that he could be and the members of

1456
02:38:00,190 --> 02:38:02,230
the woodworking group who are going to be bringing their trucks so we can get this wood taken over there.

1457
02:38:05,605 --> 02:38:05,605
it's going to go over in batches and eventually it will get turned into

1458
02:38:10,645 --> 02:38:10,645
beautiful functional reminders of a wonderful tree that came from coons park.

1459
02:38:17,860 --> 02:38:21,040
thank you, everybody who made that happen. I want to announce a couple activities of the historical society.

1460
02:38:25,405 --> 02:38:28,675
we are sponsoring two events in june. But I'm going to skip ahead a little to june the 9th,

1461
02:38:31,975 --> 02:38:33,925
which is a week from tonight, where we're hosting david allen at hillcrest at 7:00 pm.

1462
02:38:39,055 --> 02:38:41,275
he's going to talk about his newest book, and this event is free and all are welcome.

1463
02:38:44,350 --> 02:38:47,170
he's a good speaker and a fun draw, so I do recommend all of you attend and enjoy yourself.

1464
02:38:51,365 --> 02:38:54,930
then backing up to this saturday, june 7th, we're sponsoring what I'm calling

1465
02:38:57,015 --> 02:38:57,015
a blowout vintage sale from 10:00 in the morning till 4:00 in the afternoon.

1466
02:39:03,995 --> 02:39:07,210
bring a friend, bring your wallet. That's very important.

1467
02:39:09,040 --> 02:39:10,810
what's in your wallet? Make a donation for jam,

1468
02:39:13,360 --> 02:39:16,045
jelly, marmalade, books, and t-shirts. We're almost done with this year's run of all of our preserves,

1469
02:39:21,595 --> 02:39:21,595
but the peach tree will be very knits fruit and ready to go in about a week,

1470
02:39:26,725 --> 02:39:26,725
we'll be into the peach mango jelly or jam.

1471
02:39:31,765 --> 02:39:35,245
a new infusion of treats are coming. Of course, bring your friends to this event.

1472
02:39:42,100 --> 02:39:42,100
to wet your appetite for our wonderful sale,

1473
02:39:46,900 --> 02:39:50,020
we have a donation gift to mayor tim hepburn. Will you come forward?

1474
02:39:51,985 --> 02:39:51,985
this is a really interesting gift.

1475
02:39:57,720 --> 02:40:01,710
go ahead and take it up. Dig around in the bag there, tim.

1476
02:40:06,030 --> 02:40:06,030
there you go. That's how we do it at christmas.

1477
02:40:12,780 --> 02:40:12,780
this is a genuine camp david pristine condition robe.

1478
02:40:20,980 --> 02:40:20,980
you are inheriting a camp david robe that was originally from david dwyer.

1479
02:40:27,685 --> 02:40:30,865
cool stuff happens at this. You agree that you would put this on and put this on with your bow tie?

1480
02:40:36,415 --> 02:40:40,285
yes. That's correct. Sling that on, and very nice.

1481
02:40:46,615 --> 02:40:46,615
perfect. Yes. I know.

1482
02:40:51,745 --> 02:40:55,390
there. Don't know if it's going to tie in the middle, but it's going to go over the shoulders.

1483
02:40:57,370 --> 02:41:00,250
who's got a camera for this event? We got to get a picture of our model here.

1484
02:41:04,225 --> 02:41:04,225
very nice. Kathy, you got your camera?

1485
02:41:09,270 --> 02:41:12,340
>> if there's any way we could hand the camera to watch patty's face on this would be great.

1486
02:41:17,460 --> 02:41:17,460
>> very good. Nice job.

1487
02:41:24,715 --> 02:41:27,850
the historical society newsletter runs a feature article that's called every picture tells a story.

1488
02:41:32,245 --> 02:41:36,100
guess who's going to be on the front page of the newsletter coming up in june. [laughter] thank you so much.

1489
02:41:41,290 --> 02:41:41,290
>> tell them where the vintage sale is. Give them the address.

1490
02:41:45,685 --> 02:41:45,685
>> the vintage sale is at my house, 3949 bradford street.

1491
02:41:52,645 --> 02:41:56,410
you can look for about 15 display tables, seven or eight canopies up,

1492
02:41:58,270 --> 02:41:58,270
and tons of stuff.

1493
02:42:02,305 --> 02:42:03,640
we have spod, we have waterford, we have linux.

1494
02:42:06,340 --> 02:42:09,655
we have garden art, we have fine art.

1495
02:42:11,455 --> 02:42:11,455
we have two beautiful framed posters from

1496
02:42:15,940 --> 02:42:15,940
the gold line that were donated by john blickenstaff.

1497
02:42:20,575 --> 02:42:20,575
we have a number of wonderful items. Come, have a look.

1498
02:42:25,525 --> 02:42:25,525
we're open from 10:00 until 4:00 pm at 3949 bradford.

1499
02:42:31,435 --> 02:42:35,335
we're going to try to make up for getting rained out of the community art sale and two days of unbelievable heat at the la county fair.

1500
02:42:41,965 --> 02:42:41,965
we've got to recoup our revenue here and get that truck done.

1501
02:42:46,450 --> 02:42:47,770
thanks so much. >> thank you guys very much. Any other announcements for upcoming events? Yvonne.

1502
02:43:06,000 --> 02:43:09,760
>> thank you. Just a couple of announcements. We are having a cassie meeting tomorrow at 5:00 at hillcrest at the citrus room.

1503
02:43:16,585 --> 02:43:18,665
please feel free to join us. I also want to talk a little bit about what cassie is doing as far as events,

1504
02:43:25,350 --> 02:43:25,350
in case anybody is interested in joining us, come to our meeting.

1505
02:43:29,965 --> 02:43:33,850
we are going to be doing the little libraries again for pride month. We're starting a book club.

1506
02:43:36,810 --> 02:43:40,800
the book is called the genius of women. Those are just some of the events that we're doing,

1507
02:43:43,480 --> 02:43:46,630
and encourage everyone to come to our meeting or email cassie.laverne@gmail.com to find out more information.

1508
02:43:52,930 --> 02:43:52,930
I also want to talk about the love winds pride festival,

1509
02:43:57,715 --> 02:44:01,420
which is happening in downtown pomona on june 14th. It goes from 5:00 to 9:00 pm.

1510
02:44:04,345 --> 02:44:05,950
there's going to be entertainment, stages, dozens of vendors.

1511
02:44:08,740 --> 02:44:12,310
it's a full evening of community celebration, visibility, and pride. Cassie will have a table there at

1512
02:44:15,490 --> 02:44:18,670
the love winds pride festival which is sponsored by pomona valley pride. >> is that the old ymca?

1513
02:44:20,980 --> 02:44:23,410
is it around that? I know they have market there. >> where the artwork is. In that area there.

1514
02:44:28,510 --> 02:44:32,470
lastly, I don't know if it's really a community event, but I do want to say that I went to the laverne police department lobby this past week

1515
02:44:39,055 --> 02:44:39,055
to go buy my pink patch project, t-shirt, hat.

1516
02:44:47,005 --> 02:44:50,605
I didn't have enough money for the hoodie but I'll be back. Just a reminder that they only take cash and check.

1517
02:44:54,475 --> 02:44:58,255
if you go by your pink patch merch, make sure you have some cash or you have your checks,

1518
02:45:01,030 --> 02:45:04,630
and they're so pretty, the design is very nice. I'll be proudly wearing my pink patch t-shirt around.

1519
02:45:09,870 --> 02:45:13,825
they also have the patches. They have hats, t-shirts, hoodies, and the patches. That's it. Thank you.

1520
02:45:17,065 --> 02:45:17,065
>> thanks yvonne.

1521
02:45:25,710 --> 02:45:29,185
>> I wanted to remind the residents tomorrow, june 3rd, 9:30 am,

1522
02:45:31,705 --> 02:45:34,015
la county board of supervisors meeting. There are three items on the agenda,

1523
02:45:36,775 --> 02:45:40,300
number 70, number 71, and number 72, that all pertain to the probation and the juveniles.

1524
02:45:44,050 --> 02:45:46,450
number 71 is the report on the status of adopting a global plan for the probation department halls and camps,

1525
02:45:54,850 --> 02:45:54,850
71 is report on the status of the probation department itself.

1526
02:45:59,695 --> 02:45:59,695
then 72 is report on the proposal and timeline to depopulate los podrinos,

1527
02:46:04,990 --> 02:46:04,990
which had a court order and was supposed to be done within 30 days,

1528
02:46:09,700 --> 02:46:12,610
which june 15th is that deadline. Just to give the residents a synopsis,

1529
02:46:15,565 --> 02:46:15,565
the juveniles that are at los podrinos are scheduled to go to dorothy kirby.

1530
02:46:22,270 --> 02:46:25,270
paige residents will be sent to afflerbaugh and camp rockey while they do structural repairs.

1531
02:46:30,265 --> 02:46:32,395
then once those repairs are completed, they will then be relocated to paige.

1532
02:46:36,750 --> 02:46:39,235
this fight is not over. Please make sure you let your county board of supervisor,

1533
02:46:42,745 --> 02:46:42,745
your comments or attend the meeting and give your comments live.

1534
02:46:46,915 --> 02:46:46,915
you can also do a zoom or listen through the telephone. Thank you.

1535
02:46:52,210 --> 02:46:55,830
>> thank you, danita. Any other announcements? We'll close announcements. I appreciate that, danita.

1536
02:47:01,210 --> 02:47:04,240
our staff, our city manager, our police chief, and also mayor po tem cash met with

1537
02:47:07,750 --> 02:47:07,750
the director of the probation department and his staff up here at the city hall.

1538
02:47:14,680 --> 02:47:18,340
just to discuss that very thing and they were assured that while camp paige is depopulated now,

1539
02:47:22,750 --> 02:47:22,750
and they've moved some of the youth over to afflerbaugh,

1540
02:47:27,640 --> 02:47:27,640
and they are making minor repairs and adjustments.

1541
02:47:31,720 --> 02:47:31,720
but those minor repairs and refurbishments are nothing to do with

1542
02:47:36,385 --> 02:47:36,385
an sytf or 707b offenders going to afflerbaugh paige.

1543
02:47:41,965 --> 02:47:41,965
we've been assured of that. But we want to make sure that

1544
02:47:46,855 --> 02:47:46,855
we're going to have communication lines open between zebellar,

1545
02:47:52,270 --> 02:47:54,880
he's the camp director. Then also with mayor pro tem cash's boss,

1546
02:47:59,425 --> 02:48:02,230
the director of probation department, to monitor this very closely because,

1547
02:48:04,810 --> 02:48:07,810
as we know in the past that we were threatened with having heinous offenders up there and that's not going to happen.

1548
02:48:11,695 --> 02:48:14,950
I know the council is behind this, I know that the city's behind this, but also with our mayor pro tem cash,

1549
02:48:17,680 --> 02:48:19,690
and the probation department is watching it very closely and we do get information pretty quick.

1550
02:48:22,720 --> 02:48:25,960
it is a concern of ours, it will always be a concern of ours because camp paige was supposed to be closed many times now.

1551
02:48:28,435 --> 02:48:30,250
that still is their global plan to close camp paige and turning into something other than what it is,

1552
02:48:32,560 --> 02:48:36,535
but I appreciate our c staff, also our police chief, and also our mayor pro tem cash.

1553
02:48:39,295 --> 02:48:41,140
this is important to keep an eye on this. Just an update on that. Thank you, danita. I appreciate that.

1554
02:48:44,365 --> 02:48:48,295
with that, we move on to the, do we have any other announcements, mr. City manager?

1555
02:48:50,725 --> 02:48:53,650
nothing. Then we move to consent calendar. Thank you for sharing your announcements.

1556
02:48:55,390 --> 02:48:58,900
move on to consent calendar. All items on the consent calendar retainer will be enacted by one motion unless a member of

1557
02:49:01,180 --> 02:49:02,920
the city council or member of the audience requests separate discussion or just wants to make a statement on one of the items.

1558
02:49:06,550 --> 02:49:10,440
council, I request to pull an item. City manager, were there any request to pull items on the consent calendar?

1559
02:49:14,050 --> 02:49:17,275
>> there were not. >> do I have a motion for approval? >> motion.

1560
02:49:18,385 --> 02:49:20,140
>> have a second. >> second. >> vote, please.

1561
02:49:23,010 --> 02:49:26,500
>> consent calendar, motion by casal fagita, seconded by crosby, approved 5-0.

1562
02:49:28,765 --> 02:49:31,660
>> we're now move on to public hearings. There's one item tonight,

1563
02:49:32,815 --> 02:49:34,840
the old town laverne business improvement district affirming the annual court and laverne assessments.

1564
02:49:37,540 --> 02:49:41,430
community development director share, please report on this item. >> good evening, mr. Mayor,

1565
02:49:45,580 --> 02:49:49,570
members of the council. At the council's meeting on may 19th, you approved the annual report

1566
02:49:52,120 --> 02:49:55,495
for the old town laverne business improvement district for 2024, 2025 by adopting resolution 25-28,

1567
02:49:59,245 --> 02:50:02,680
which also declared your intention to levy an annual assessment for the fiscal year 2025,

1568
02:50:06,550 --> 02:50:10,495
26 for those businesses located within the district. You declared a public hearing date of tonight's meeting.

1569
02:50:13,960 --> 02:50:17,260
the boundaries of the district and the assessment formula have been unchanged since the district was first established in 1986.

1570
02:50:21,040 --> 02:50:23,635
there are no proposed changes at this time. Per the california street and highways code,

1571
02:50:25,840 --> 02:50:28,495
an annual public hearing is required to be held, accepting any protest of the intended levies,

1572
02:50:32,560 --> 02:50:32,560
and then after be declared the time in place for such a hearing at the previous meeting.

1573
02:50:39,235 --> 02:50:41,290
with that, staff is recommending that the city council conduct the public hearing this evening,

1574
02:50:44,605 --> 02:50:48,535
accept any protests, override any such protests, and adopt the attached resolution affirming

1575
02:50:50,200 --> 02:50:53,755
the annual report and the levy for the annual assessments. I'm happy to answer any questions should you have any.

1576
02:50:56,230 --> 02:51:00,010
>> counsel. Thank you, director share. I'm going to go ahead and open up public comments. Any public comment on this item?

1577
02:51:01,960 --> 02:51:04,375
seeing none, we close public comment. Any comments, and I will ask for a motion.

1578
02:51:07,885 --> 02:51:09,175
>> motion. >> second. Vote, please.

1579
02:51:15,200 --> 02:51:18,225
>> that item was moved by castel fagita, seconded by lou, and approved 5-0.

1580
02:51:20,985 --> 02:51:24,300
>> thank you all. Now move on to the discussion calendar. There are two items tonight.

1581
02:51:25,440 --> 02:51:28,050
first item is the request to initiate a pilot project adding three firefighter position to improve staffing efficiency,

1582
02:51:31,530 --> 02:51:33,780
support strategic operational readiness, and address overtime requirements.

1583
02:51:36,060 --> 02:51:39,420
I think we would have fire chief nig on this one, is that correct, sir, mr. Domer?

1584
02:51:41,115 --> 02:51:43,920
>> unless you'd like chief gonzalez to come up and report on it. [laughter]

1585
02:51:49,560 --> 02:51:52,770
>> I would have him come up but his clicker was having some issues at that particular one. I think we need to stay with chief.

1586
02:51:56,010 --> 02:51:59,475
>> that's an advanced skill. He's not signed off on that. Good evening again, mayor and council members.

1587
02:52:02,670 --> 02:52:04,800
good time to have this discussion in light of our previous budget study session this afternoon,

1588
02:52:08,670 --> 02:52:11,235
this evening, because that has to do with an innovative way to address the ongoing overtime issues in the fire department.

1589
02:52:15,600 --> 02:52:15,600
again, thank you for the opportunity to bring this forward to you this evening.

1590
02:52:19,770 --> 02:52:22,905
I do come before you with full support from the ldfa. They are actually excited about this opportunity,

1591
02:52:25,605 --> 02:52:28,650
not only to help increase some operational capability, but also to be a part of the broader conversation about

1592
02:52:31,200 --> 02:52:34,425
how we can help the city more fiscally sustainable. Tonight, I respectfully request your authorization of the hiring

1593
02:52:37,650 --> 02:52:40,350
of three additional firefighters for the laverne fire department. This two-year pilot program is driven by

1594
02:52:42,420 --> 02:52:44,640
a clear operational needs as identified in our standards to cover and community risk assessment,

1595
02:52:47,370 --> 02:52:50,070
and it presents a strategic opportunity to improve service reliability while reducing long-term costs to the city.

1596
02:52:54,045 --> 02:52:57,750
if you remember in 2022, our department conducted a formal standards to cover analysis which examined call volume community risk deployment capacity.

1597
02:53:01,800 --> 02:53:04,230
that analysis concluded what we see daily. Our current staffing levels are meeting minimum needs,

1598
02:53:06,840 --> 02:53:09,285
meaning that we are as lean as possible. But are increasingly relying on mandatory overtime

1599
02:53:12,300 --> 02:53:15,510
to fill vacancies and maintain daily operation. A two-year historical review indicated that on average 259 days out of the year,

1600
02:53:20,565 --> 02:53:23,640
a backfill firefighter was required to maintain an nfpa-compliant response-ready workforce.

1601
02:53:27,180 --> 02:53:27,180
our proposal to hire three additional firefighters one per shift,

1602
02:53:31,545 --> 02:53:35,100
would allow us to reduce projected overtime by a minimum of approximately $53,811 annually.

1603
02:53:39,450 --> 02:53:39,450
the way that it would work is we would hire an additional bls firefighter,

1604
02:53:43,560 --> 02:53:46,950
non-paramedic to fill the four seat on engine 2. When nobody takes a day off,

1605
02:53:48,630 --> 02:53:50,325
none of the lower-ranking firefighters, we would have an additional firefighter now on duty to a total of 12,

1606
02:53:54,990 --> 02:53:58,430
including the battalion chief that's on duty. Which would allow for a full 18-person response to any critical incidents such as a structure fire.

1607
02:54:03,440 --> 02:54:07,415
if you remember, nfpa 1710 requires a 17 person response. It would provide us better redundancy in our own department,

1608
02:54:10,020 --> 02:54:13,970
less reliance on our outside agencies. When a firefighter takes a shift off,

1609
02:54:16,770 --> 02:54:18,900
what we have been doing, especially when I first got here, and we had tremendous workforce issues,

1610
02:54:21,360 --> 02:54:23,700
we basically just needed somebody to fill those because we needed people to be able to respond to emergencies.

1611
02:54:26,415 --> 02:54:26,415
that included anybody across the floor including higher ranks and they would work down on

1612
02:54:30,900 --> 02:54:33,330
those lower-ranking positions and they would make their time and a half overtime at their current rate pay engineers,

1613
02:54:35,970 --> 02:54:37,425
captains, whoever was working this. That's been a big part of our problem.

1614
02:54:40,580 --> 02:54:40,580
this extra person for the first person who takes that day off,

1615
02:54:45,030 --> 02:54:46,470
the first lower-ranking firefighter, this additional person would go and fill that seat, depending where they're at.

1616
02:54:50,685 --> 02:54:54,030
they would essentially be a floater, if you will, for lack of a better term. As long as we have the two-person paramedic coverage that we need on

1617
02:54:56,640 --> 02:54:59,370
every als apparatus, that would determine where they go.

1618
02:55:00,780 --> 02:55:00,780
after that, it would be our normal backfill staffing for the usual.

1619
02:55:04,800 --> 02:55:06,150
obviously, if this works, there would be opportunity to expand upon that further down the road.

1620
02:55:09,180 --> 02:55:09,180
but again, this is a pilot program for two years.

1621
02:55:13,520 --> 02:55:13,520
this would not just result in an operational benefit.

1622
02:55:18,465 --> 02:55:21,465
it is also a fiscally responsible solution. Permanent staffing is less expensive than paying existing personnel at time and a half,

1623
02:55:27,135 --> 02:55:29,535
especially those higher ranks, like I mentioned before. By investing in stable full-time positions,

1624
02:55:31,710 --> 02:55:34,140
we mitigate the budget volatility caused by backfill overtime and reduce wear and tear at our personnel,

1625
02:55:37,110 --> 02:55:39,810
which is another issue because we have an overabundance of mandatory or force higher overtimes on the backside too,

1626
02:55:42,750 --> 02:55:46,530
which is wearing on our personnel. Operationally, this ensures that we meet baseline staffing without overextending current employees,

1627
02:55:49,155 --> 02:55:51,795
maintain our specialty response capabilities, improve our capacity to manage

1628
02:55:53,430 --> 02:55:55,890
simultaneous or complex incidents while potentially reducing our reliance on outside resources.

1629
02:55:58,785 --> 02:55:58,785
the request offers a service expansion and a stabilization strategy ensuring we

1630
02:56:04,770 --> 02:56:07,500
deliver on our existing commitments in a manner that is safer for our personnel and smarter for our city's finances.

1631
02:56:10,740 --> 02:56:12,540
in conclusion, our standards to cover and community risk analysis clearly support this need based on industry standards,

1632
02:56:15,930 --> 02:56:18,510
increasing call volume, and public expectation. We estimate a minimum of $54,000 in annual overtime savings,

1633
02:56:23,775 --> 02:56:27,645
almost $110,000 for the two-year period, which offsets a significant portion of the historical annual backfill costs,

1634
02:56:32,175 --> 02:56:34,350
and we improve both the predictability and sustainability of our fire service budget overall.

1635
02:56:37,215 --> 02:56:40,440
I respectfully urge your council to approve this request and authorize the hiring of three additional firefighters for fiscal year '25 '26.

1636
02:56:44,100 --> 02:56:45,900
it's an investment that enhances service, supports personnel, and protects the city's fiscal future.

1637
02:56:48,915 --> 02:56:51,045
I'm available for any questions. >> any questions for chief before we go to public comment?

1638
02:56:54,780 --> 02:56:54,780
to the public comment. Thank you. Anita.

1639
02:57:03,080 --> 02:57:06,480
>> good evening, council. I don't know if this is a question for chief neg or maybe christi lopez,

1640
02:57:09,345 --> 02:57:09,345
but you discussed the savings that would be annually at approximately 53,000.

1641
02:57:15,795 --> 02:57:15,795
but what are the costs to the city for the retirement that has to be funded for them?

1642
02:57:22,200 --> 02:57:23,940
when you factor that in, what is the savings after retirement is factored in?

1643
02:57:28,100 --> 02:57:28,100
>> shall we continue public comment or close it?

1644
02:57:32,265 --> 02:57:32,265
anybody else from public comment on this side? Mr. Bowen?

1645
02:57:41,540 --> 02:57:45,270
>> good evening again. Council, mr. Mayor, I applaud the chief for trying to address the overtime issue.

1646
02:57:49,785 --> 02:57:49,785
if you look at transparent in california and right now,

1647
02:57:53,895 --> 02:57:57,750
the most recent years is 2023, we have roughly, and I didn't even point out the whole thing,

1648
02:58:02,220 --> 02:58:05,700
close to two million dollars in overtime. That's amazing. To think overtime, remember,

1649
02:58:10,035 --> 02:58:10,035
it's only two-thirds of the time because they're not working 10 hours,

1650
02:58:15,450 --> 02:58:18,810
they're working six and two-thirds hours. We're spending all that money at reduced hours.

1651
02:58:22,875 --> 02:58:25,380
that's got to compound the issue. I hope that the savings,

1652
02:58:27,645 --> 02:58:31,020
there's some way that we can come back and I saw your proposal hope there's some way we can come back and

1653
02:58:34,920 --> 02:58:34,920
see a definitive reduction

1654
02:58:39,795 --> 02:58:39,795
in that overtime when we're making this commitment because as we just said,

1655
02:58:45,300 --> 02:58:48,225
you hire people, there's pension, it costs us a fortune.

1656
02:58:51,000 --> 02:58:53,190
there's got to be some savings, especially when you look at the meeting we just had,

1657
02:58:58,560 --> 02:59:01,080
seems like two hours ago. I applaud your efforts.

1658
02:59:02,820 --> 02:59:06,375
I hope there's some measurable. One other thing. I keep hearing that when we send people out,

1659
02:59:09,675 --> 02:59:12,300
that we get reimbursed, and I've actually asked this for probably two or three years.

1660
02:59:15,960 --> 02:59:15,960
is there a line item in the budget that shows that reimbursement?

1661
02:59:20,790 --> 02:59:24,000
because we sent a lot of people out, we spent a lot of money in overtime to send to these fires,

1662
02:59:29,025 --> 02:59:32,760
which was duly needed, obviously. But where is the reimbursement?

1663
02:59:34,740 --> 02:59:38,580
where is it coming from, and is there a line item to show that? It would be very helpful to see that in the budget. Thank you.

1664
02:59:42,345 --> 02:59:42,345
>> thank you, mr. Bowen. Public comment?

1665
02:59:50,120 --> 02:59:50,120
>> you said you're going to save $54,000 a year on overtime.

1666
02:59:55,665 --> 02:59:57,300
how much overtime do you pay out now? [overlapping] this is my first meeting [overlapping].

1667
03:00:03,030 --> 03:00:06,795
>> address to us and what they're going to do. Once we finish public comment, I'll have the question. >> but I'd like to know what the cost is of three new hires.

1668
03:00:10,035 --> 03:00:12,270
you had a lot of veterans in this room today. How many of them will be veterans when you hire from the fire department?

1669
03:00:17,990 --> 03:00:17,990
>> thank you very much. Any other public comment?

1670
03:00:22,700 --> 03:00:25,305
what is your name, sir? I'm sorry. Lee. Thank you. Any other public comment?

1671
03:00:29,595 --> 03:00:31,575
go ahead and close public comment. You just want to come up and answer those multiple questions quickly.

1672
03:00:38,720 --> 03:00:41,160
>> finance director lopez, will address the financial and fiscal concerns.

1673
03:00:43,470 --> 03:00:45,420
she was heavily a part of the calculations, and I'll talk to the hiring practices.

1674
03:00:49,160 --> 03:00:49,160
>> what's included in this would be the normal cost for the employee.

1675
03:00:55,935 --> 03:00:59,760
we don't have the unfunded cost for these employees because we don't know what that would be.

1676
03:01:03,030 --> 03:01:05,505
it changes based on the actuarial. However, these two members would be new members.

1677
03:01:09,870 --> 03:01:09,870
I'm sorry. Three members would be pepra.

1678
03:01:14,115 --> 03:01:14,115
pepra is a lower cost than classic.

1679
03:01:18,270 --> 03:01:18,270
I believe it's 14% is the normal cost and that cost is included in there.

1680
03:01:24,995 --> 03:01:28,670
>> that's included in the 361,000. It is included in. [overlapping]. >> that's the 35.

1681
03:01:29,975 --> 03:01:33,410
>> correct. Current overtime, I'd have to get an amount,

1682
03:01:35,030 --> 03:01:35,030
but it's roughly 1.5-$2 million a year.

1683
03:01:39,380 --> 03:01:39,380
it just varies on activity.

1684
03:01:43,860 --> 03:01:43,860
as far as the fire assignment,

1685
03:01:48,015 --> 03:01:51,555
that is tracked in a separate fund, not in the general fund.

1686
03:01:52,995 --> 03:01:52,995
it is tracked in fund 110 or 110 for fire assignment,

1687
03:01:57,330 --> 03:01:58,770
and that has been in the budget, I believe for the past two, three years.

1688
03:02:01,470 --> 03:02:05,040
you can easily identify that as a line >> but there's many line.

1689
03:02:07,155 --> 03:02:10,125
>> it's under 110. >> 110. >> yes. >> but it is spelled out on the [overlapping].

1690
03:02:11,880 --> 03:02:15,060
>> yeah, it says fire [overlapping]. >> cost and reimbursement or how does it line it? >> yes. It does show resources and expenditures,

1691
03:02:19,290 --> 03:02:21,375
or revenues and expenditures. >> we've had $100,000 for which go on said, which is wonderful.

1692
03:02:29,100 --> 03:02:31,590
we need to be compensated for at that small percentage level in there to cover our other internally.

1693
03:02:37,395 --> 03:02:37,395
>> right, it's also presented by itself

1694
03:02:41,565 --> 03:02:45,420
in the acfr or the annual comprehensive financial report, which would show your actuals.

1695
03:02:47,250 --> 03:02:48,915
because when we do budget, we are just getting an estimate and we don't want there to be a lot of fires,

1696
03:02:53,250 --> 03:02:55,215
but we're giving an estimate, and so we would estimate 500 or $600,000 a year,

1697
03:03:00,990 --> 03:03:00,990
and that's going to be in the back of the budget book and special revenue funds.

1698
03:03:05,190 --> 03:03:05,190
>> if we could highlight that. [inaudible] question.

1699
03:03:10,160 --> 03:03:14,115
>> mr. Mayor, real quick. Christi and her team have done a great job of digging into the whole fire assignment and the overtime.

1700
03:03:18,390 --> 03:03:18,390
[overlapping] we do have that and this little bit of a primer on

1701
03:03:23,130 --> 03:03:23,130
the new versus classic under the pension reform system.

1702
03:03:28,140 --> 03:03:30,870
basically, if you're a classic member, so it means you've been employed by the city or another entity prior to january, 1st,

1703
03:03:35,445 --> 03:03:35,445
may 13, you are paying 9% of your salary towards hers,

1704
03:03:42,390 --> 03:03:44,925
so that's your normal employee cost. The city, unfortunately, because the safety pension is so much

1705
03:03:48,720 --> 03:03:48,720
is paying upwards of 27% or more on that,

1706
03:03:53,190 --> 03:03:56,100
and that does not include the unfunded actuarial. For a pepra or a new member,

1707
03:03:57,975 --> 03:04:00,045
that normal cost is split. The pepra employees actually paying 14% of their salary towards their pension,

1708
03:04:06,165 --> 03:04:06,165
and the city is paying about 14% of their formula to the pension.

1709
03:04:11,055 --> 03:04:13,695
because the system is set up differently and it's new, the unfunded actuarial liability is a fraction of what the classic amount is.

1710
03:04:18,465 --> 03:04:20,475
there still is some generated, but it is much less than what your classics though.

1711
03:04:23,865 --> 03:04:23,865
that's a good thing, but I just want to give a little bit more action. Thank you.

1712
03:04:28,965 --> 03:04:31,605
>> just to expand a little bit further. When I got here, one of the things that we did do and we're very

1713
03:04:34,350 --> 03:04:37,530
intentional about was separating out all of that overtime. This has been a problem really at every city I've worked out.

1714
03:04:41,220 --> 03:04:41,220
the word overtime in the fire service is always going to be the bin of our existence.

1715
03:04:45,360 --> 03:04:49,350
it's very complex. We have very, very strict constant staffing models for all the reasons that you can imagine.

1716
03:04:52,620 --> 03:04:55,530
but when we do deploy out to help the state, and the state gets it.

1717
03:04:57,480 --> 03:05:00,405
if they weren't fully reimbursing to the penny, nobody would get involved and nobody would come help.

1718
03:05:02,760 --> 03:05:05,130
they're very diligent about reimbursing. >> we are very careful to ensure

1719
03:05:07,320 --> 03:05:10,290
that all of our costs to the penny are being reimbursed, are very accurate in our annual salary survey that we provide every july to cloes,

1720
03:05:16,845 --> 03:05:19,560
and that includes calculating out an administrative fee on top of all of those reimbursements.

1721
03:05:22,665 --> 03:05:23,910
the city is, in fact, reimbursed to the penny for every cent that it puts into

1722
03:05:26,820 --> 03:05:30,270
it with a 23% administrative rate on top of that. In fact, we are so good at managing this that departments up

1723
03:05:33,990 --> 03:05:33,990
and down the state and this county reach out to us and ask us how we do it.

1724
03:05:38,870 --> 03:05:42,750
not naive to the fact that it would gripple our city if we were, in fact, bringing them back in.

1725
03:05:45,240 --> 03:05:47,655
to answer the gentleman's question, we don't necessarily have any dedicated components. I don't believe the city does.

1726
03:05:52,350 --> 03:05:54,720
I can't speak for pd as far as veterans go, but would absolutely love to have

1727
03:05:56,820 --> 03:05:59,250
veterans come through our door and be a part of our department. We have two right now, and in fact,

1728
03:06:00,930 --> 03:06:03,720
one of them is deployed overseas, but absolutely top-notch individuals, and we're so proud.

1729
03:06:07,395 --> 03:06:11,040
>> let the gentlemen know that we also have paid that person on his leave, the firefighter that had to go on leave,

1730
03:06:12,945 --> 03:06:16,050
we're paying his pay salary. That's what we do here in the city. Yes.

1731
03:06:20,900 --> 03:06:24,010
>> the right thing [overlapping] >> yeah. The city went above and beyond.

1732
03:06:25,300 --> 03:06:29,185
>> above and beyond. >> yeah. We're doing our part. >> actually, you have a several veterans. One of them is a air force veteran.

1733
03:06:32,830 --> 03:06:33,265
>> yes. >> I was fortunate enough to run on the last 4th of july parade.

1734
03:06:38,140 --> 03:06:40,492
I [inaudible] for being there, air force is just something that we, as veterans, love to do. I remember his dad was the first time seeing him on that.

1735
03:06:45,340 --> 03:06:47,140
there are several veterans that are there. >> we just trained him up to be a full fledged paramedic, and he's a top-notch employee.

1736
03:06:51,490 --> 03:06:52,465
>> thank you. >> mr. Mayor, real quick. Just as it was mentioned, this is a pilot project.

1737
03:06:56,110 --> 03:06:57,760
we are going to be looking at the reporting, making sure that it actually does work out for the city.

1738
03:07:01,480 --> 03:07:04,030
we'll be reporting back on that regularly. >> was that you said pilot for two years?

1739
03:07:06,550 --> 03:07:10,210
>> it's a two-year pilot, and the intent is to obviously demonstrate that there are savings and then expand the program if there's opportunity to do so.

1740
03:07:13,945 --> 03:07:13,945
if for whatever reason, it doesn't materialize in the savings.

1741
03:07:18,175 --> 03:07:21,832
we are expecting a number of employees to attrition out, retire out, and so we would have the room.

1742
03:07:24,010 --> 03:07:24,010
there is no intent whatsoever to let anybody go in this program.

1743
03:07:32,550 --> 03:07:32,550
>> my question was about the pilot, because of the cost, making sure that,

1744
03:07:40,450 --> 03:07:40,450
and our meeting that we had this afternoon about our budget.

1745
03:07:45,190 --> 03:07:45,190
also, is there any innovative ways when someone comes on covering someone else's shift?

1746
03:07:51,910 --> 03:07:55,420
the normal shift is 24-hour shift, correct? >> correct. Back to back, so 48 hours.

1747
03:07:57,790 --> 03:07:59,170
>> forty-hour shift? >> correct. >> then someone's overtimes automatic that 48-hour shift.

1748
03:08:04,860 --> 03:08:06,640
>> I'm not following. >> I'm assuming someone's overtimes are covering for someone.

1749
03:08:09,010 --> 03:08:12,745
>> correct. >> then it's also 48 hours that that person's doing. >> they're broken down to 24 hours.

1750
03:08:14,020 --> 03:08:16,552
>> twenty-four hours. >> if they're covering for somebody it'll be for 24 hours if they take their whole shift off.

1751
03:08:18,640 --> 03:08:20,890
>> that is a long expansive time. I just didn't know if there's any innovative ways to think about doing

1752
03:08:26,560 --> 03:08:26,560
overtime at less than the 24 hours so that it still have the appropriate coverage,

1753
03:08:33,100 --> 03:08:33,100
but that we are making sure and covering our city by doing it as a fiscally-sound way.

1754
03:08:39,685 --> 03:08:39,685
>> they can take two hours off, an hour off, six hours, eight hours.

1755
03:08:43,795 --> 03:08:47,290
they're not confined to the 24-hour period. In addition to that, this city, much like almost every city that I'm aware of, offers trades, the city

1756
03:08:53,850 --> 03:08:53,850
is entirely removed from it and it allows employees to just trade days.

1757
03:08:57,890 --> 03:09:00,520
>> but worried if someone's working constantly multiple days in a row and it is exhausting,

1758
03:09:06,025 --> 03:09:06,025
I want to make sure our firemen are always at their prime,

1759
03:09:10,795 --> 03:09:12,940
and that would be concerning just to be on vacation for five days without taking vacation, working long periods of time,

1760
03:09:17,575 --> 03:09:20,050
then that puts our residents in concern as well. >> we do have measures in place to ensure that they aren't working too many days.

1761
03:09:25,170 --> 03:09:25,170
>> then my question is about the reporting the data.

1762
03:09:29,485 --> 03:09:32,770
I know it says in here that it's there will be monthly reporting, but is that monthly reporting to christy?

1763
03:09:34,570 --> 03:09:37,060
when can council maybe receive an update? Maybe quarterly, just to let us know where it's looking.

1764
03:09:40,375 --> 03:09:42,190
we don't need you to come back every month about it, but I know that you're going to report monthly, I'm assuming again to christy or to ken,

1765
03:09:46,000 --> 03:09:46,000
but if you can come back maybe quarterly and let us know how that's going.

1766
03:09:50,290 --> 03:09:53,635
>> we'll be tracking that, and I think quarterly works better. The other issue is that we have to hire the folks. Right. We probably have some folks in

1767
03:09:58,525 --> 03:10:02,500
line and queue to get in there so we can do it pretty quickly, but we'll have to get the system up. There will be a small training academy

1768
03:10:05,860 --> 03:10:08,575
for them as a normal recruit coming in. >> every department does an internal academy,

1769
03:10:11,995 --> 03:10:15,355
just to bring everybody up to speed on our policies and how we do tactics and whatnot. We're anticipated to start. We were already doing a recruitment

1770
03:10:19,240 --> 03:10:19,240
for new medics that we're bringing on board for the holes we have in 1st august.

1771
03:10:24,700 --> 03:10:28,405
the goal is to capture that group in this because we have to take a captain off the floor to be dedicated to a 40-hour work week for that process.

1772
03:10:33,025 --> 03:10:33,025
by capturing this group altogether, we'll, again, save the city money, so that's the goal.

1773
03:10:37,585 --> 03:10:37,585
as far as reporting goes, we will obviously be in contact with finance regularly.

1774
03:10:42,520 --> 03:10:42,520
we run all the staffing reports. We have a digital staffing program that

1775
03:10:47,440 --> 03:10:49,600
we can very easily figure out who, when, where, why, all that stuff people are taking. So quarterly, great.

1776
03:11:02,370 --> 03:11:04,720
>> I think this is a great idea. My problem is we went overtime already.

1777
03:11:07,510 --> 03:11:10,304
really blew our budget. That really put us where we're at right now. Understanding the situation, we have to separate fire crews that went out, obviously.

1778
03:11:17,680 --> 03:11:17,680
if, christy, we separate the fire crews out on what they did, what was the actual?

1779
03:11:25,110 --> 03:11:27,765
was still $1.5 million to tow m8illion dollars of overtime, even respective of that; is that correct?

1780
03:11:30,425 --> 03:11:30,425
we're looking at basically hiring three full-time firefighters at 361,086.

1781
03:11:36,370 --> 03:11:36,370
our savings, looking at 53,811 per year.

1782
03:11:40,980 --> 03:11:40,980
that's just per year. Out savings of 17,000 per individual.

1783
03:11:47,040 --> 03:11:50,130
that return on investment is pretty poor. I understand where we're at right now,

1784
03:11:51,660 --> 03:11:51,660
but we've already spent 1.5 over our budget million dollars for only really our roi,

1785
03:12:00,595 --> 03:12:00,595
is a long haul. Is it an escalation of that?

1786
03:12:06,475 --> 03:12:10,030
>> my gut instinct is that it will be better than the minimal numbers that you're seeing because there's

1787
03:12:11,980 --> 03:12:14,065
more to it than just filling these positions. We're also reducing the higher ranks filling these lower positions,

1788
03:12:17,290 --> 03:12:19,960
and there's some ongoing conversations that are going on, I believe, with jr and lvfa. Again, the labor group, lvfa,

1789
03:12:24,910 --> 03:12:28,120
is very motivated and interested in sitting down and having conversations to work through the city's current fiscal situation.

1790
03:12:32,395 --> 03:12:34,795
that would add to this number as well. >> mr. Mayor, real quick.

1791
03:12:36,880 --> 03:12:40,840
>> I'm looking at numbers. What we spent, what the roi is. It's not there. We have no roi. It's basically changing a model that we have been doing.

1792
03:12:46,900 --> 03:12:49,420
obviously, this is to ramp up, a lot of issues, but our fire departments functioning extremely well right now,

1793
03:12:52,579 --> 03:12:52,579
especially our [inaudible] program, but my issue is that return on investment

1794
03:12:57,250 --> 03:12:57,250
has to return that curve and bring it back.

1795
03:13:01,710 --> 03:13:01,710
>> if we were to expand this, there's still a seat on engine 3,

1796
03:13:06,070 --> 03:13:06,070
and the goal to meet that staffing standard per our standards to cover as well,

1797
03:13:10,135 --> 03:13:13,930
and then we'd be looking at potentially filling two seats a day. >> mr. Mayor, members of council,

1798
03:13:15,925 --> 03:13:15,925
the numbers are conservative because the 17,000 per the 53,000 total,

1799
03:13:22,180 --> 03:13:22,180
we do hope to exceed that amount, but we had to somehow put a projection

1800
03:13:26,230 --> 03:13:29,215
in much like what we do on a lot of things we do. I do appreciate the lvfa stepping up and working with us on this and some other items,

1801
03:13:35,755 --> 03:13:35,755
but again, that's why it's a pilot program because we are taking a risk here.

1802
03:13:42,535 --> 03:13:42,535
we've identified this problem. Again, going back, for several years,

1803
03:13:47,590 --> 03:13:50,860
we did not identify the potential overtime costs, and now we have a pretty good feel for it.

1804
03:13:53,620 --> 03:13:56,095
reintroducing this program and looking at it, we believe it will generate better savings in what we list, but if it doesn't,

1805
03:14:01,660 --> 03:14:01,660
then we'll come back to you and we'll attrition to stop it.

1806
03:14:06,360 --> 03:14:06,360
>> I'm cautiously optimistic. I trust you explicitly, chief.

1807
03:14:11,095 --> 03:14:11,095
it's just that as a businessman, I just look at it and go, we're hiring three more people,

1808
03:14:15,490 --> 03:14:15,490
and it's going to add to our overall budget. It's going to add the 361,000,

1809
03:14:20,260 --> 03:14:20,260
but actually, with the credit, it's going to add, actually,

1810
03:14:24,559 --> 03:14:24,559
306,000 to your budget as far as manpower.

1811
03:14:29,710 --> 03:14:33,490
that's all I was looking at, but obviously we have to start somewhere. You're going to watch our overtime issue very closely.  [inaudible] is watching

1812
03:14:39,790 --> 03:14:42,580
you all the time, christy over there, so I know that she's going to keep an eye on you as she is with the police department and all the other departments.

1813
03:14:45,745 --> 03:14:47,950
>> we have definitely reined in non essential training and all the things that contribute to that.

1814
03:14:51,265 --> 03:14:55,150
or just now on the backside, if you guys will remember when I got here, this department was entirely defunct.

1815
03:14:57,100 --> 03:14:57,100
entirely. There was a lot of required training that wasn't happening.

1816
03:15:01,330 --> 03:15:05,140
I'm not even going to go down that rabbit hole, but the reality was we had to get up to an industry standard level,

1817
03:15:08,530 --> 03:15:11,620
and that required a lot of training and getting our people out qualified to be able to be functioning out of professional fire service level.

1818
03:15:16,015 --> 03:15:19,210
we've crested that hill. We're on the back side of that hill, and so we've been able to rein in a lot of those ancillary overtime costs.

1819
03:15:23,260 --> 03:15:23,260
really what's contributing to a lot of these large numbers is vacations and sick time,

1820
03:15:28,845 --> 03:15:31,650
administrative leaves, long-term injuries. Those things are a heavy burden on the fire department overtime.

1821
03:15:35,715 --> 03:15:36,920
>> that's a physical job. >> it's a very physical job, of course. Then vacancies as well,

1822
03:15:41,095 --> 03:15:43,840
whether it's people retiring or whatever is going on. There hasn't been a year yet that I haven't been plagued with one of those,

1823
03:15:48,190 --> 03:15:48,190
if not multiple of those. The reality is that for all the reasons that you know,

1824
03:15:53,560 --> 03:15:57,100
when you dial 911, we need to have people to show up and do the work. We have to have somebody in those seats.

1825
03:15:59,365 --> 03:16:02,695
we have our firefighter that's deployed right now. We've got another guy that's currently in medic school

1826
03:16:05,140 --> 03:16:08,860
because we need to make sure we have appropriate medic staffing, and that in and of itself is 20 overtime shifts a month.

1827
03:16:13,270 --> 03:16:17,230
we're doing everything we can to ensure that, optically, we're trying to find solutions and then obviously, tangibly have some fiscal restraint.

1828
03:16:22,690 --> 03:16:25,645
>> I think that the flsa standards are important. We try to get as close as we can to those.

1829
03:16:27,280 --> 03:16:31,270
sometimes it's not reachable we even get close, but I do also appreciate that the organization is willing to work with us. We need to work as a team.

1830
03:16:36,355 --> 03:16:39,490
>> I agree. They have been absolutely wonderful. Current president, captain dave bonanno,

1831
03:16:41,470 --> 03:16:41,470
has been just absolutely willing to have conversations, and I applaud them for that.

1832
03:16:47,700 --> 03:16:51,610
>> just one point on the data. I'm hoping that what I'm hearing is that we're going to see good savings and

1833
03:16:53,830 --> 03:16:53,830
I understand what the mayor is alluding to in terms of making sure our roi is there,

1834
03:16:57,970 --> 03:17:01,360
but I think I just want to highlight something that you said earlier about the well-being of the firefighters in general.

1835
03:17:04,840 --> 03:17:04,840
when they are working overtime, that's taxing on them.

1836
03:17:09,025 --> 03:17:11,170
I'm hoping that with this addition of people, it's going to contribute to, hopefully, just lower injuries on duty,

1837
03:17:15,820 --> 03:17:15,820
lower issues because you're not overtaxing the same people over and over.

1838
03:17:22,050 --> 03:17:24,745
hopefully this will help spread that out. If there's a way to make sure that that data is

1839
03:17:26,710 --> 03:17:29,320
collected too so that we can see what's attributed to what, and I know it can get hard to strictly define,

1840
03:17:33,130 --> 03:17:36,250
but I think it would be good to look at that when we do come back for reporting. >> I will say there is plenty of data out there that supports

1841
03:17:39,490 --> 03:17:39,490
that in our industry, better rest periods.

1842
03:17:43,585 --> 03:17:43,585
the amount of forces go up, for whatever reason, the amount of injuries also go up.

1843
03:17:47,860 --> 03:17:47,860
there's a direct correlation that's there. Jpia does an amazing job at tracking all that.

1844
03:17:52,255 --> 03:17:56,050
that's not something you're going to see overnight. Probably a year. >> plus the wellness program.

1845
03:17:57,820 --> 03:18:00,460
> yes. We do have our internal health wellness program, which we have already used a bit, and it's been very beneficial,

1846
03:18:04,450 --> 03:18:07,540
but the reality is people need to go home, they need to be with their families. They need to disconnect for a second.

1847
03:18:09,430 --> 03:18:12,670
I spoke to that when I came here, a better quality of life. This is also a part of that, making sure that people aren't constantly here all the time.

1848
03:18:17,200 --> 03:18:21,040
>> we trust you, chief. We just want to make sure that when we're putting out more money, we want to make sure that the return on investment first,

1849
03:18:23,770 --> 03:18:23,770
and the safety of the personnel as councilman lau said, but also, flsa standards,

1850
03:18:29,290 --> 03:18:29,290
but also, to make sure that this is really working and it's really taking people off

1851
03:18:34,270 --> 03:18:34,270
the overtime shifts and not taxing and more injuries and stuff.

1852
03:18:39,400 --> 03:18:42,190
>> I promise you I wouldn't come to you with just a handout when I got here, so there'd always be some type of approach.

1853
03:18:46,590 --> 03:18:46,590
>> I saw that side. I'm lost in my pages here somewhere.

1854
03:18:57,030 --> 03:18:58,495
>> we're done here. >> we're done. Actually, we need a motion for this.

1855
03:19:01,315 --> 03:19:03,180
>> motion. >> actually, we already closed public comments, sir, I'm sorry.

1856
03:19:08,670 --> 03:19:12,340
>> sir, we already did public comments. >> you can ask chief afterwards when we're done at the end.

1857
03:19:20,400 --> 03:19:20,400
I appreciate that. Thank you.

1858
03:19:25,740 --> 03:19:27,685
>> motion to approve. >> second?

1859
03:19:29,820 --> 03:19:31,690
>> second. >> vote, please.

1860
03:19:35,610 --> 03:19:38,575
>> that item was moved by kashifalghita, seconded by crosby, and approved by all.

1861
03:19:40,660 --> 03:19:41,665
>> thank you, chief. >> thank you. >> thank you, guys. Thank you. Next item is the request for recognition of

1862
03:19:45,670 --> 03:19:49,075
a new employee associate in la verne fire middle management association. City manager domer, please call forward

1863
03:19:51,160 --> 03:19:54,130
the staff member who will be, thank you, reporting. >> I'm going to bring forward jr ranells.

1864
03:19:56,515 --> 03:19:56,515
>> I'm already here. The city of la verne currently

1865
03:20:00,640 --> 03:20:00,640
recognizes four employee associations for the purpose of labor representation,

1866
03:20:05,485 --> 03:20:05,485
in accordance with meyers-milias-brown act, also known as mmba,

1867
03:20:09,910 --> 03:20:09,910
which governs collective bargaining rights for public sector employees in california.

1868
03:20:14,305 --> 03:20:17,110
on march 4th, a group of fire management employees submitted a petition to the city manager's office requesting

1869
03:20:20,320 --> 03:20:20,320
the information and recognition of a new employee association called

1870
03:20:24,670 --> 03:20:27,715
the la verne fire middle management association. This group seeks to represent management level fire personnel and classifications,

1871
03:20:32,860 --> 03:20:35,965
including deputy chief, battalion chief, fire marshal, who are currently unrepresented,

1872
03:20:39,415 --> 03:20:42,190
or not aligned with the unit that adequately reflects their management responsibilities and unique working conditions.

1873
03:20:45,430 --> 03:20:45,430
the mmba allows public employees to organize and be represented by

1874
03:20:49,930 --> 03:20:52,960
employee organizations of their choosing subject to employer policies adopted under local resolutions,

1875
03:20:56,380 --> 03:20:56,380
such as, the city's employer-employee relations resolution.

1876
03:21:02,910 --> 03:21:02,910
the next steps for the city based on compliance with

1877
03:21:08,050 --> 03:21:08,050
our eerr would be formal recognition by the city council.

1878
03:21:13,105 --> 03:21:13,105
second, it would be a city will issue a formal 30-day notice to allow

1879
03:21:17,500 --> 03:21:17,500
other recognized employee organizations to submit any challenge or claim of overlap.

1880
03:21:22,360 --> 03:21:25,750
meaning if there's another association that already exists that thinks that these employees should be represented by them, they could challenge.

1881
03:21:29,725 --> 03:21:29,725
if no challenges are received during this period, the employer relations officer,

1882
03:21:34,810 --> 03:21:37,180
which is the assistant city manager will issue a formal recognition determination in accordance with

1883
03:21:40,150 --> 03:21:43,930
section 4a of resolution number 76131. That's the employee-employer resolution.

1884
03:21:47,095 --> 03:21:50,425
upon completion of the notice period and formal recognition, the city manager's office will initiate the meet and confer process with fmma,

1885
03:21:55,585 --> 03:21:57,760
or the fire middle management association, to develop a memorandum of understanding regarding benefits and

1886
03:22:01,540 --> 03:22:01,540
terms and conditions of employment within the scope of representation.

1887
03:22:05,545 --> 03:22:08,350
there are no immediate fiscal impacts associated with the recognition of a new employee association.

1888
03:22:11,215 --> 03:22:11,215
however, subsequent meet and confer outcomes, including any negotiated mou,

1889
03:22:16,090 --> 03:22:20,035
may have future budgetary implications, but those would be subject to formal council approval would be brought to a public meeting.

1890
03:22:24,290 --> 03:22:28,080
>> the recommendation would be that the city council receive and file this report and direct staff to proceed with

1891
03:22:31,530 --> 03:22:31,530
formal recognition of the proposed la verne fire middle management association

1892
03:22:35,880 --> 03:22:39,795
as a new employee association representing deputy fire chiefs, battalion chiefs, and the fire marshal.

1893
03:22:42,675 --> 03:22:45,135
I'm available for any questions. >> thank you, jerra.

1894
03:22:47,040 --> 03:22:49,875
>> just clarification to. >> yes. >> we have this same as in the police department.

1895
03:22:54,960 --> 03:22:57,600
we have a middle management in the police department? >> correct. There's a police middle management association

1896
03:23:00,300 --> 03:23:01,995
that incorporates our lieutenants, as well as our police captain position.

1897
03:23:04,560 --> 03:23:06,765
>> there's no fiscal impact yet. It's more of an organization to have representation.

1898
03:23:10,140 --> 03:23:10,140
>> the action tonight does not have any immediate fiscal impact.

1899
03:23:14,420 --> 03:23:17,490
the mou that will be negotiated, you've had to guess what that might contain,

1900
03:23:20,730 --> 03:23:22,350
but you, as a body, as a council, would approve whatever those terms are.

1901
03:23:25,770 --> 03:23:25,770
>> what time frame we're looking at if we approve it or go public on it?

1902
03:23:30,390 --> 03:23:30,390
>> it's a 30-day window first for that challenge period. Then an mou.

1903
03:23:37,100 --> 03:23:40,940
I mean, you have negotiated many of those in your time on the council. It depends on what the group is seeking.

1904
03:23:44,290 --> 03:23:48,105
>> we'll bring it back to us before all that, just to make sure if [overlapping] >> yes, sir. >> financial implication.

1905
03:23:49,875 --> 03:23:52,350
>> what we would do, at that point, it would go under closed session for negotiations,

1906
03:23:55,320 --> 03:23:59,040
and the new identified group would be the melean by association. >> thank you. I'm going to go and open up public comment,

1907
03:24:01,230 --> 03:24:01,230
and we wish to speak on this item, anita.

1908
03:24:27,650 --> 03:24:31,530
>> good evening, mayor. Mayor pro tem, council members, city staff, and members of the public.

1909
03:24:32,865 --> 03:24:32,865
I'm here to express my high level of concern regarding the proposed formation of

1910
03:24:37,050 --> 03:24:39,210
a new employee association specifically for fire departments' middle management personnel.

1911
03:24:42,930 --> 03:24:46,635
while I fully support the rights of employees to have representation, I believe that creating a separate association in this case is both unnecessary and

1912
03:24:51,150 --> 03:24:51,150
potentially harmful for the effective operation and unity of our fire department.

1913
03:24:56,235 --> 03:24:59,130
currently, the la verne firefighters association already exists to represent the interests of fire department personnel.

1914
03:25:02,595 --> 03:25:04,770
this association is well established and capable of advocating for the needs of all of its members,

1915
03:25:07,530 --> 03:25:09,885
including those in middle management roles. Creating a new separate association would not enhance the representation,

1916
03:25:13,890 --> 03:25:15,165
it would fragment it. A key strength of a fire department lies in its unity.

1917
03:25:18,375 --> 03:25:21,255
fire service is inherently a team effort. When we divide representation,

1918
03:25:23,010 --> 03:25:23,010
we begin to separate employees by rank into different bargaining units.

1919
03:25:27,060 --> 03:25:27,060
we risk creating silos within a department that functions best when working as one.

1920
03:25:32,775 --> 03:25:35,460
fragmentation could lead to internal conflict, disjointed communication, and misaligned priorities during negotiations.

1921
03:25:39,690 --> 03:25:39,690
chief nig has worked tirelessly on creating a true fire department,

1922
03:25:43,935 --> 03:25:47,310
filling position where there was no employee and helping to repair the low morale that existed within the department after the fiasco lawsuit,

1923
03:25:51,435 --> 03:25:55,260
which caused separation amongst firefighters as the money from the lawsuit was not dolled out fairly and eventually led to many leaving the department.

1924
03:25:59,745 --> 03:26:02,475
additionally, from a city management perspective, negotiating with multiple associations increases the complexity,

1925
03:26:06,705 --> 03:26:09,000
administrative workload, and legal costs. It opens the door to conflicting mous,

1926
03:26:11,415 --> 03:26:14,370
inconsistent work conditions, and competing agendas. These outcomes don't serve our firefighters, our city staff,

1927
03:26:17,805 --> 03:26:17,805
or the residents who depend on an effective and cohesive fire department.

1928
03:26:22,425 --> 03:26:25,230
we must also consider the precedents it would set. If middle management forms its own association today,

1929
03:26:28,245 --> 03:26:28,245
who's to stop future attempts by other subgroups within departments from doing the same?

1930
03:26:33,585 --> 03:26:33,585
we risk opening the floodgates to excessive segmentation across city departments.

1931
03:26:38,835 --> 03:26:40,995
the concerns of middle management are valid, but they don't require a new association to be addressed.

1932
03:26:43,980 --> 03:26:47,400
the existing firefighters' association can and should provide a structured space for all voices within the department, including supervisory staff.

1933
03:26:52,485 --> 03:26:56,250
subcommittees or dedicated roles within that association could focus specifically on middle management needs without the downsides of the division.

1934
03:27:00,210 --> 03:27:00,210
I respectfully urge this council to consider the broader impact on department unity,

1935
03:27:04,905 --> 03:27:08,370
as well as the fiscal responsibility and considering the city's current financial landscape is more than ever in long-term labor relations.

1936
03:27:13,815 --> 03:27:17,730
let's work together to strengthen what we already have rather than divide it. Thank you for your time for listening.

1937
03:27:19,650 --> 03:27:19,650
>> thank you, denita. Any other comments on this item? Mr. Bowen.

1938
03:27:32,020 --> 03:27:32,020
>> back again, mayor, council?

1939
03:27:36,280 --> 03:27:40,260
I guess my one-word response is no. If you look at tonight's agenda at the end of this meeting,

1940
03:27:44,040 --> 03:27:46,995
you meet with five groups. It looks like, including unrepresented groups.

1941
03:27:52,560 --> 03:27:56,175
you're meeting with them with groups all the time. The earlier presentation today says we have 192 employees.

1942
03:28:01,725 --> 03:28:01,725
we're going to have five groups plus unrepresented.

1943
03:28:07,575 --> 03:28:10,605
this just gets silly. I don't understand. Two of the individuals have just been hired.

1944
03:28:15,600 --> 03:28:17,070
they're relatively new. The deputy fire chief and the fire marshal.

1945
03:28:21,810 --> 03:28:21,810
another one is recently promoted to these positions.

1946
03:28:27,255 --> 03:28:27,255
I had the chance to have some back and forth with one of the battalion chiefs,

1947
03:28:32,340 --> 03:28:35,775
and he talked about equity and fairness. He just got promoted.

1948
03:28:38,100 --> 03:28:41,265
he talks about equity and fairness. I asked him, quite frankly, I wish he was here.

1949
03:28:44,190 --> 03:28:47,220
are you not being treated fairly? You took a promotion.

1950
03:28:49,275 --> 03:28:49,275
did you not understand what the rules are and the payments,

1951
03:28:55,125 --> 03:28:59,025
and all of the things that go along with that promotion? Less than a year later,

1952
03:29:00,600 --> 03:29:04,140
you want to come back and say, we're being treated unfairly. That's his words, not mine. I don't get it.

1953
03:29:08,565 --> 03:29:10,560
you've got two brand new employees, they've been here, I think less than a year,

1954
03:29:14,070 --> 03:29:16,005
maybe barely over that, and now they want to form because they need special treatment.

1955
03:29:20,835 --> 03:29:24,795
it makes absolutely no sense. We are a town of 32,000 people.

1956
03:29:28,605 --> 03:29:28,605
how many negotiating groups can we handle?

1957
03:29:33,375 --> 03:29:37,155
we just saw a budget earlier today, says we're upside down.

1958
03:29:38,970 --> 03:29:38,970
we're in trouble. It blows my mind to tell you the truth.

1959
03:29:48,345 --> 03:29:50,790
I hope you guys look at this. Jr, I'm not sure in the wording is do you have to do it?

1960
03:29:58,020 --> 03:30:01,275
does the california law because they've requested, do you have to let them form a group?

1961
03:30:03,555 --> 03:30:05,850
I'm not quite sure of that. Maybe the lawyer can answer that,

1962
03:30:08,025 --> 03:30:11,055
or can the council say, no, you've been hired,

1963
03:30:13,770 --> 03:30:16,965
you have a group, you have a contract. Especially the new guys.

1964
03:30:19,845 --> 03:30:19,845
I'm sure they negotiated when they came here.

1965
03:30:24,480 --> 03:30:28,125
if they didn't, I would be shocked. So they came here knowing what the job is.

1966
03:30:30,675 --> 03:30:32,640
they came here knowing what the perks are. They know their responsibilities,

1967
03:30:35,535 --> 03:30:35,535
and a year later, they have to form a group so they can be treated fairly.

1968
03:30:40,080 --> 03:30:42,345
makes no sense. Thank you. >> thank you, rick. Any other comments?

1969
03:30:46,040 --> 03:30:49,335
I'm going to close public comment. Chief nik, I know there's a number of questions,

1970
03:30:51,510 --> 03:30:54,950
would you like to answer some of those regarding. Just clarify a little more on reasons why?

1971
03:31:01,970 --> 03:31:04,950
>> so I appreciate you having me come up, trying to where to start here.

1972
03:31:07,110 --> 03:31:10,470
the big elephant in the room, obviously, was the fact that across the hallway, the police middle management group had a bargaining group, if you will,

1973
03:31:13,925 --> 03:31:15,560
for lack of a better term of voice, for very operational, specialized requests, that type of stuff.

1974
03:31:22,310 --> 03:31:24,780
I'll put it out there, be very transparent. I fully support this move by my middle management,

1975
03:31:27,630 --> 03:31:27,630
all of my chief officers for for the very same reason.

1976
03:31:32,115 --> 03:31:35,055
there are some very specific requests and needs that they have, not necessarily just pay benefits,

1977
03:31:37,080 --> 03:31:40,535
quality of life issues. It covers everything. So this particular group of

1978
03:31:42,470 --> 03:31:45,770
chief officers currently from the deputy chief all the way down, including the fire marshal.

1979
03:31:47,450 --> 03:31:47,450
they are part of an unrepresented middle management group that already exists,

1980
03:31:53,365 --> 03:31:56,100
but they get lost in that minutia. When there's some very specific operational needs that they have,

1981
03:32:00,525 --> 03:32:03,645
it's hard for them to have that voice and work through the good faith bargaining process, if you will.

1982
03:32:07,995 --> 03:32:11,670
they can request and reach out to hr jr, and hey, this is something we'd like.

1983
03:32:13,530 --> 03:32:13,530
this would bring us up to parity for whatever that reason is

1984
03:32:17,715 --> 03:32:20,790
to either southern california standards or la county operational area standards, whatever that may be.

1985
03:32:24,390 --> 03:32:27,540
this will allow them to actually not only have a voice, have an identity as a group,

1986
03:32:29,010 --> 03:32:30,510
but also have the ability to work through the good-faith bargaining process back and forth.

1987
03:32:33,435 --> 03:32:37,170
I absolutely have the utmost respect for tanita and rick, and I applaud them for being engaged in paying attention.

1988
03:32:40,050 --> 03:32:43,830
this is a good thing. This is an industry standard, quite frankly. Every department that I was at in the past,

1989
03:32:45,810 --> 03:32:47,895
my two departments at camber and orange county, all had fire middle management groups, if you will.

1990
03:32:51,510 --> 03:32:53,970
it is very uncommon. Very uncommon for fire management staff to be a part of

1991
03:32:57,690 --> 03:33:00,570
the broader fire associations because there's an inherent conflict of interest there, if you will.

1992
03:33:04,530 --> 03:33:07,740
if there happens to be some litigation or something around discipline, they're effectively paying the attorneys that are fighting them.

1993
03:33:10,860 --> 03:33:13,245
there's some big problems there. This is very common in the industry.

1994
03:33:15,180 --> 03:33:15,180
I fully support it, and I think it actually is a good thing for my staff.

1995
03:33:20,610 --> 03:33:20,610
>> chief, a real quick question. Elephant in the room.

1996
03:33:26,510 --> 03:33:26,510
is this have to do with pay parity with firefighters that are making more overtime?

1997
03:33:32,820 --> 03:33:32,820
then say one of your upper management people?

1998
03:33:38,775 --> 03:33:38,775
battalion chief, if firefighter was working, let's say,

1999
03:33:42,975 --> 03:33:46,695
out on fire crews and making overtime filling shifts, making more than a battalion chief or a deputy fire chief.

2000
03:33:51,015 --> 03:33:54,420
is this the reason when we get into an mou, that I know that they're saying there's no financial deal here,

2001
03:34:00,420 --> 03:34:03,030
but the point is that they wanting to get parity with the rank and file when they're already management,

2002
03:34:06,810 --> 03:34:10,350
and do they want to have the opportunity to have overtime and be paid more than the people that they they're serving under them?

2003
03:34:15,330 --> 03:34:19,140
did I make that clear? >> yeah, chief, I don't know. I think the city attorney would like to answer about the legality

2004
03:34:22,410 --> 03:34:22,410
of the item and the request,

2005
03:34:26,640 --> 03:34:30,240
and whether we have to honor it or if we can say no, and what would happen. Before we discuss any negotiating items or anything like that?

2006
03:34:33,825 --> 03:34:36,600
>> I'm just asking the questions, so that's what we have you here. >> hi. Thank you.

2007
03:34:38,760 --> 03:34:40,785
mr. Mayor, members of the council. Yes. When the associations properly petition under the mayer mis brown act,

2008
03:34:46,905 --> 03:34:46,905
we are required to grant them the group status,

2009
03:34:54,135 --> 03:34:57,750
subject to the right to protest of other groups who believe that there is appropriate representation already given.

2010
03:35:01,695 --> 03:35:01,695
as the chief pointed out, they're unrepresented currently.

2011
03:35:06,980 --> 03:35:09,225
as he also pointed out, it is very common to have environmental management have its own group separate and apart

2012
03:35:14,220 --> 03:35:14,220
from the line employees as to what they may ask for.

2013
03:35:19,455 --> 03:35:19,455
I think that's a matter we should discuss in session.

2014
03:35:25,460 --> 03:35:25,460
when it's properly agendaized.

2015
03:35:30,560 --> 03:35:33,525
>> but we do open the door for that. >> I'll just leave with this. A lot of this is being driven by

2016
03:35:36,420 --> 03:35:40,140
the battalion chiefs because there's a lot of confusion in that particular office, whether administrative versus operational,

2017
03:35:42,570 --> 03:35:44,940
and what their role is in the organization. That's not germane to tittleburn.

2018
03:35:47,100 --> 03:35:49,680
that's industry-wide. Again, just allows them the opportunity to have a voice and have discussion.

2019
03:35:52,365 --> 03:35:56,115
>> I appreciate that. I have to ask the question. >> got it I understand. >> mr. Crosby, thank you, chief.

2020
03:35:57,945 --> 03:36:00,585
>> no, I appreciate the dialogue. As a person that negotiates and with unions,

2021
03:36:04,680 --> 03:36:04,680
I've been many a times where new unit members were put members were put into the unit.

2022
03:36:12,180 --> 03:36:12,180
not necessarily wanting them to or why they were doing it,

2023
03:36:16,875 --> 03:36:16,875
but it's something you have to go through, negotiate with.

2024
03:36:21,015 --> 03:36:21,015
that is just part of our laws that we have to abide by.

2025
03:36:25,250 --> 03:36:25,250
>> mr. Johnson.

2026
03:36:30,290 --> 03:36:33,600
>> it's a no-brainer if it's a legal requirement, and we need to recognize them as a group.

2027
03:36:40,430 --> 03:36:40,430
what else is there to say? The law is the law?

2028
03:36:44,955 --> 03:36:48,915
>> but we don't have to. >> we do? >> we have to now. We have to vote on this either well

2029
03:36:52,350 --> 03:36:55,995
[overlapping] stephen file I'm voting on. >> they have met the requirements. [overlapping]

2030
03:36:57,900 --> 03:36:59,940
>> they've met the requirement. We're going to allow this to happen, and then it's going to come back with us in a 30-day purview,

2031
03:37:02,460 --> 03:37:06,015
and then we're going to go to then mou would be formed. And then we will be in close session to discuss the mou and west?

2032
03:37:09,435 --> 03:37:12,075
>> yes, sir. >> then that's easy. >> to be clear, within that 30 days,

2033
03:37:14,925 --> 03:37:18,405
if there are other employee groups that believe that this group should be subsumed under them because there is an overlap,

2034
03:37:21,900 --> 03:37:23,940
then that would be their time to speak up. That would be the next course of action if there were to be a course of action.

2035
03:37:29,590 --> 03:37:31,730
>> just a closing on that, and I know we've got to watch what we're saying.

2036
03:37:33,890 --> 03:37:35,645
that would be my only concern. Is the fact that still,

2037
03:37:39,185 --> 03:37:42,170
and I think the world of all your staff as you know that, and I've supported them long the way.

2038
03:37:44,090 --> 03:37:44,090
just that I would suggest caution moving forward as we move forward to.

2039
03:37:51,110 --> 03:37:53,780
>> well, no different than any other bargaining group. City has the opportunity to approve or not approve,

2040
03:37:56,300 --> 03:37:59,660
and negotiate out of my [overlapping]. >> got you. Thank you for that.

2041
03:38:01,130 --> 03:38:03,755
>> thank you. >> the explanation. We really appreciate it. Then we receive and file. Thank you.

2042
03:38:10,930 --> 03:38:10,930
>> do we need a motion for receive and file? That's what it says here.

2043
03:38:15,755 --> 03:38:16,940
well, let's go ahead and do a motion for the [overlapping] motion to receive and file. Do we have a motion?

2044
03:38:20,600 --> 03:38:22,280
>> motion to receive the file. >> thank you. There you go. That was silly.

2045
03:38:24,755 --> 03:38:26,735
cross that off of there, mr. Domer. It's already been received and filed. No.

2046
03:38:29,540 --> 03:38:29,700
>> second. >> that is right here. No. We're not voting.

2047
03:38:33,730 --> 03:38:36,890
there is no other business tonight. We'll move on to public comments. Is the time set aside for anyone wishing to

2048
03:38:38,510 --> 03:38:40,730
address the city council on items not listed on the agenda, but within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council.

2049
03:38:44,000 --> 03:38:46,340
the brown act prohibits the city council from engaging in discussion on any item not on the posted agenda.

2050
03:38:49,580 --> 03:38:49,580
your concerns may be referred to staff or placed for discussion at a later date.

2051
03:38:54,395 --> 03:38:58,280
there's a three-minute time limit possibly we are getting half a closed session, so we'll try to keep them in line.

2052
03:39:05,170 --> 03:39:05,170
first, sonya de la garza.

2053
03:39:33,160 --> 03:39:36,395
>> good evening, council members. My name is sonia la garza.

2054
03:39:38,360 --> 03:39:40,505
I am a resident of laverne. I'm here to discuss a reoccurring court violation

2055
03:39:44,300 --> 03:39:44,300
that is impacting my neighborhood in quality of life.

2056
03:39:48,905 --> 03:39:51,335
in may of 2024, I submitted a complaint regarding an rv park in the front yard of 1073 alondra circle.

2057
03:39:59,705 --> 03:39:59,705
unfortunately, there was no meaningful follow-up or enforcement at that time.

2058
03:40:06,800 --> 03:40:09,380
now, less than a year later, a boat is parked on the same front yard,

2059
03:40:14,105 --> 03:40:14,105
which I believe is a second clear violation of the pre-code.

2060
03:40:19,900 --> 03:40:22,940
sorry [inaudible]. This is an ongoing situation,

2061
03:40:24,830 --> 03:40:28,745
and it is not only unsightly but it also degrades the appearance

2062
03:40:32,675 --> 03:40:32,675
of our neighborhood and may negatively impact property value.

2063
03:40:37,205 --> 03:40:40,490
we have city codes in place for a reason, and when violations go unchecked,

2064
03:40:43,790 --> 03:40:43,790
it sends a message that enforcement is inconsistent or optional.

2065
03:40:56,260 --> 03:40:59,555
what makes this worse is how it began. The same neighbors removed

2066
03:41:01,520 --> 03:41:01,520
the chair binds and fins that provided us with private green space.

2067
03:41:14,890 --> 03:41:14,890
this significantly impacted our privacy and out the ambience of our property.

2068
03:41:22,510 --> 03:41:22,510
it's been going on for a while since 2023 and may of 2024,

2069
03:41:30,515 --> 03:41:32,540
I addressed this issue, and the person that I spoke with he said that he actually mentioned our fence,

2070
03:41:40,670 --> 03:41:40,670
which has already been destroyed on the other side.

2071
03:41:45,680 --> 03:41:48,290
it exposed wood that obviously, when we bought the property, it was already there.

2072
03:41:51,480 --> 03:41:53,425
we bought the property like that. It had fence, it had a chain link fence.

2073
03:41:56,470 --> 03:41:58,375
I had a portion of wood, and it had also the granity that was throwing in there.

2074
03:42:02,795 --> 03:42:02,795
honestly, when I went to see my house that we purchased in 2015,

2075
03:42:07,430 --> 03:42:11,345
that's basically what got my attention on my house. We beautified that area,

2076
03:42:13,580 --> 03:42:17,360
we make it look green, and the people that were living in that area at that time on that 1073 around the circle,

2077
03:42:21,140 --> 03:42:25,055
they never complained, they never said anything about the fence. We took care of it on our side,

2078
03:42:27,275 --> 03:42:29,420
and they took care of their side, like they supposed to.

2079
03:42:31,605 --> 03:42:31,605
when these people moved in in june of 2023, a month later,

2080
03:42:37,840 --> 03:42:37,840
they cut it off, and then that exposed our privacy because they live in a cul-de-sac.

2081
03:42:44,375 --> 03:42:47,855
now we have spaces in between, and from that moment on,

2082
03:42:51,230 --> 03:42:52,805
we didn't have peace anymore. We didn't have our privacy from our backyard,

2083
03:42:56,375 --> 03:42:59,675
and eventually became a problem. Then when we discussed this,

2084
03:43:01,955 --> 03:43:03,830
we started having arguments, and we noticed that they had an rv park right in front of their yard,

2085
03:43:07,820 --> 03:43:11,735
which we know if they can do it, then anybody else can.

2086
03:43:13,475 --> 03:43:15,410
if that's a code violation, then it should have been taken care of in 2024 when we mentioned it.

2087
03:43:20,300 --> 03:43:21,590
now they have a boat, and the reason why is because they got away with it.

2088
03:43:24,335 --> 03:43:26,405
they can get away with anything else. We just don't know how to deal with this anymore.

2089
03:43:29,810 --> 03:43:31,520
we never been part of this, and it's been amazing to me because I've never been part of these meetings.

2090
03:43:36,220 --> 03:43:36,220
but I am glad I came, and trust me.

2091
03:43:41,090 --> 03:43:44,960
it takes everything out of me because I'm not a public person. I don't know how to speak in front [overlapping] >> you are doing just fine.

2092
03:43:46,160 --> 03:43:48,050
what's your address? >> 3335 damian avenue.

2093
03:43:52,000 --> 03:43:54,515
thank you for your response by the way. I sent you the email, and you send it to them right away,

2094
03:43:56,840 --> 03:43:56,840
and I really appreciate your effort.

2095
03:44:01,085 --> 03:44:03,980
>> I will have staff look into it immediately. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. Appreciate it.

2096
03:44:07,960 --> 03:44:07,960
arza. Oh. Hello.

2097
03:44:13,265 --> 03:44:15,140
>> how you doing? First time here too, and I did know.

2098
03:44:17,555 --> 03:44:18,620
I'm a union member, and I applaud you there trying to split the unions

2099
03:44:22,910 --> 03:44:22,910
and make their own little unions out of everything. Same issue.

2100
03:44:27,965 --> 03:44:27,965
I spoke with ron. I don't know his last name, dele sandro.

2101
03:44:31,985 --> 03:44:35,975
I think that's the same. About a parking issue with my neighbors more than a year ago. At that time, he informed me that we'd like to

2102
03:44:38,870 --> 03:44:41,645
give our residents vern time to correct an issue. Well, it's been more than a year at 1073 a landra circle.

2103
03:44:46,400 --> 03:44:46,400
a fence has not been built around this property, around this rv.

2104
03:44:51,410 --> 03:44:54,620
they put a cement slab down, which is great. Now they have a boat.

2105
03:44:56,885 --> 03:44:59,855
they have a boat parked on the front lawn. It just it looks trashy.

2106
03:45:01,940 --> 03:45:01,940
it's parked on lack of a better word pavers, I would say.

2107
03:45:07,205 --> 03:45:09,710
I spoke with ron about this issue, and he said it's fine to be there.

2108
03:45:12,575 --> 03:45:15,365
I said he obviously he doesn't know the code. I'll read you the code now.

2109
03:45:17,150 --> 03:45:20,075
no person shall park any motor vehicle, vehicles, cameras, trailers,

2110
03:45:21,260 --> 03:45:23,870
or vessels as defined in the california vehicle code, for any purpose without prior written approval.

2111
03:45:27,370 --> 03:45:27,370
about unless you have a development director or designated approval.

2112
03:45:33,260 --> 03:45:33,260
I feel wrong here with 22 years of service with the city.

2113
03:45:38,120 --> 03:45:38,120
I told him he was inept at his job.

2114
03:45:42,670 --> 03:45:42,670
eric, your employee was courageous over the phone.

2115
03:45:46,880 --> 03:45:46,880
however, in person, when I came up to him about this compliance issue,

2116
03:45:54,310 --> 03:45:58,070
he told me about compliance issue on my property. I spoke to you today and he told me that there no issue existed.

2117
03:46:02,270 --> 03:46:05,270
eric, this has been a year. I forgot. I don't know how to say your last name, eric. Sheva?

2118
03:46:07,970 --> 03:46:08,450
>> shear. >> shear. Eric, this has been a year.

2119
03:46:12,890 --> 03:46:15,890
laverne is starting to look like a city in the desert, and I know that because I'm an engineer for the railroad.

2120
03:46:18,530 --> 03:46:20,600
I look at property through the desert for 24 years I've been running up and down coho pass.

2121
03:46:25,385 --> 03:46:25,385
laverne is starting to look like a city in the desert with boats parked on the property,

2122
03:46:30,620 --> 03:46:34,390
grass not taken care of. It's starting to look like a desert trashy city that we're in.

2123
03:46:41,470 --> 03:46:45,220
may I remember shaking your hand when you ran for that position. I hope you can help us with this.

2124
03:46:48,915 --> 03:46:51,380
the community looks like trash. I've had to call the police department several

2125
03:46:53,000 --> 03:46:53,000
times about issues parking on the sidewalk.

2126
03:46:58,715 --> 03:47:02,195
because I have an autistic nephew. He has trouble crossing the street. He has trouble going from transitioning from

2127
03:47:04,790 --> 03:47:04,790
a sidewalk to blacktop and back onto the sidewalk.

2128
03:47:10,060 --> 03:47:10,060
to go around a vehicle, it's sketchy.

2129
03:47:16,480 --> 03:47:16,480
I don't know if you passed the budget or hiring the three I couldn't hear it.

2130
03:47:22,985 --> 03:47:26,420
the three new architects. Did you pass it? >> yes.

2131
03:47:27,155 --> 03:47:27,155
>> yes. At that cost,

2132
03:47:31,760 --> 03:47:35,195
you said it's costing $361,000. I'm sorry. I'm switching this. I was done with my first one.

2133
03:47:37,640 --> 03:47:39,650
it's going to cost $361,000. >> you're out of your three-minute time frame right now.

2134
03:47:42,125 --> 03:47:46,070
I got your first one in, but I'll give you [overlapping] >> thirty more seconds. >> there you go. $361,000 to hire these three new cadets.

2135
03:47:51,350 --> 03:47:51,350
that's 3.75% at 53,000 at $1.5 million.

2136
03:47:57,970 --> 03:48:00,835
that's like flipping a toenail off a dragon. It's going to take you 6.8 years to recoup that money.

2137
03:48:04,015 --> 03:48:05,200
that's not without paying. I hope you rethink your issue.

2138
03:48:08,230 --> 03:48:10,570
I hope you table it. >> thank you, sir. Any other public comments? Miss gabaldon.

2139
03:48:18,550 --> 03:48:20,870
>> I'm just going to go through a laundry list. So sb79 has been pushed up.

2140
03:48:23,165 --> 03:48:23,165
so we must reach out to senator mcguire,

2141
03:48:27,335 --> 03:48:27,335
wahab, certo, derozo, and wiener.

2142
03:48:31,370 --> 03:48:33,860
the ender mines affordable housing goals makes the housing element eliminates public input and local control.

2143
03:48:40,880 --> 03:48:44,495
as the surpus land act, and it also ignores all local concerns. This week was also designated cost-of-living week,

2144
03:48:49,325 --> 03:48:52,760
granted that was by the republicans of california in sacramento, and we need to support aca 14,

2145
03:48:55,220 --> 03:48:57,590
which is a bill that they're going to try to put through on the transparency concerning taxes,

2146
03:48:59,960 --> 03:49:01,850
rates, and fee increases. With that said county of la has posted this week a fact sheet on their situation.

2147
03:49:10,175 --> 03:49:11,855
it's probably the best way to say it. They're cutting their ncc,

2148
03:49:16,910 --> 03:49:18,590
their net county costs by half. It was 560 million in 22/23.

2149
03:49:22,025 --> 03:49:25,025
this year, it's going to be 230 million. Are there grants, etc,

2150
03:49:26,690 --> 03:49:28,220
that we could be losing? Also note they're going to be letting go 60 da employees and 226 probation employees,

2151
03:49:34,955 --> 03:49:37,340
and I think that needs to be looked at. California's $12 billion in the red.

2152
03:49:40,115 --> 03:49:42,140
how is that going to affect us? With that, there's always people looking for more money.

2153
03:49:46,205 --> 03:49:46,205
today, also, the california republicans brought ab12 to the floor,

2154
03:49:51,185 --> 03:49:51,185
which got stopped, and both harbdan and rubio voted against this.

2155
03:49:55,745 --> 03:49:55,745
this was to put a pause on the 65-cent gas tax that's coming in less than 30 days.

2156
03:50:01,760 --> 03:50:04,310
our gases are going up $0.65. Then the usc report,

2157
03:50:06,710 --> 03:50:09,200
which was published 45 days ago, they think $8.75 cent gas will be here by september,

2158
03:50:12,740 --> 03:50:12,740
and it's when the one last valero.

2159
03:50:18,820 --> 03:50:22,640
yeah, gets shut down up north, we'll be at 875, 873. Who's watching for the voters and the taxpayers?

2160
03:50:26,855 --> 03:50:29,555
I missed the budget meeting today because I had to work. But who's watching out for us?

2161
03:50:32,540 --> 03:50:34,910
because we can't afford any tax increases. We can't afford any more fee increases.

2162
03:50:37,370 --> 03:50:39,890
the seniors that I'm with all the time that joes with all the time through meals on wheels.

2163
03:50:42,215 --> 03:50:44,420
nobody can afford any more increases. So maybe we need a union that's for the voters and the taxpayers.

2164
03:50:48,560 --> 03:50:51,620
we talk about all the other unions, but never us. It's just getting ridiculous. I work for cities.

2165
03:50:54,500 --> 03:50:57,530
I work for a lot of cities. A lot of people having problems, but there are cities who cut,

2166
03:50:59,255 --> 03:51:02,045
they figured out ways to cut, and they're not raising fees, and that's what we have to do here.

2167
03:51:03,755 --> 03:51:07,475
lastly, because there is more, aqmd is rearing its head. On friday, there's a vote to approve the rules par 1111 and 1121.

2168
03:51:13,745 --> 03:51:16,700
this is going to require retrofits of every single home in california for no more gas appliances by 2029.

2169
03:51:20,225 --> 03:51:23,900
I have a lot of friends in the ac industry, talk to them all, about a half a dozen of them,

2170
03:51:25,340 --> 03:51:27,860
two of them are retiring this year, but if this gets approved, they can't do their business anymore.

2171
03:51:29,540 --> 03:51:31,985
the average cost to put one of these special, not free units in is $47,000.

2172
03:51:35,615 --> 03:51:38,090
how is the average homeowner going to afford that? How can most people afford that?

2173
03:51:40,460 --> 03:51:40,460
on top of that, it has to get calibrated every year or quits working,

2174
03:51:44,675 --> 03:51:47,540
and then you're out of compliance. If you don't want to do this, you can pay a $2,000 fee a year to be in compliance with the aqmd.

2175
03:51:51,440 --> 03:51:54,245
nobody has money like that. We need you guys. It's friday morning, 9:00 a.m. At the aqmd offices in diamond bar.

2176
03:51:57,920 --> 03:52:00,560
it's also online. We need people to speak out? We've got to stop this.

2177
03:52:02,000 --> 03:52:04,715
then the other last thing about june, this is global, and it's been around for 100 years, 200 years?

2178
03:52:09,605 --> 03:52:12,275
june is actually the sacred heart of jesus month, and I think that takes precedent over everything. Thanks.

2179
03:52:26,290 --> 03:52:28,805
>> my last trip up here, four hours and 15 minutes.

2180
03:52:33,290 --> 03:52:35,640
>> I just came back from texas, paid two dollars and 50 cents for gas. What does that tell you?

2181
03:52:41,175 --> 03:52:41,175
first of all, I want to offer my condolences to kash,

2182
03:52:47,100 --> 03:52:48,540
the loss of his father. I didn't see it on the adjournment for the last meeting,

2183
03:52:54,675 --> 03:52:57,090
but I did see it in the newsletter, so sorry to hear about your loss.

2184
03:53:00,345 --> 03:53:00,345
also want to send condolences to the hunter family.

2185
03:53:04,965 --> 03:53:07,650
heard that gary hunter passed away. Certainly always enjoyed his comments and his observations.

2186
03:53:13,140 --> 03:53:15,345
yeah, he is a very good guy. Just for the record, june,

2187
03:53:19,290 --> 03:53:21,915
42 years ago, I moved to laverne. So to see the changes that have occurred

2188
03:53:25,635 --> 03:53:25,635
positive and sometimes not so positive certainly have a history.

2189
03:53:32,205 --> 03:53:34,440
I also want to stand with our police, saluting life at baldwin park,

2190
03:53:36,435 --> 03:53:36,435
pd officer samuel riveros,

2191
03:53:41,310 --> 03:53:44,310
murdered over the weekend, showed up, was shot in the head, killed.

2192
03:53:48,645 --> 03:53:52,500
criminals need to be removed from our neighborhoods. Let's stand with our police, all police,

2193
03:53:55,935 --> 03:53:55,935
and particularly our lvpd and protecting us every day in the jobs that they do.

2194
03:54:05,940 --> 03:54:05,940
I also want to mention the terrorist attack this week in boulder, colorado.

2195
03:54:11,925 --> 03:54:15,000
it's not laverne, but it's amazing when you hear this thing.

2196
03:54:19,245 --> 03:54:19,245
this monster should rot on hell. Pardon me.

2197
03:54:23,720 --> 03:54:23,720
remember that he set people on fire because of their religion and their beliefs.

2198
03:54:33,000 --> 03:54:36,525
please remember that the next time you see a free palestine or a anti israeli protest.

2199
03:54:44,135 --> 03:54:44,135
this is shame, should not be happening in america.

2200
03:54:48,200 --> 03:54:48,200
lastly, as you celebrate pride month this month,

2201
03:54:54,380 --> 03:54:54,380
I hope we all support the efforts to keep biological men out of women's sports.

2202
03:55:02,970 --> 03:55:06,120
it's unfair and it's ridiculous. It should not be happening and I hope you saw the cif finals this weekend.

2203
03:55:13,920 --> 03:55:13,920
a biological male took most of the gold medals.

2204
03:55:18,950 --> 03:55:18,950
that is an absolute shame and it's a disservice to our girls.

2205
03:55:26,710 --> 03:55:29,385
a couple of questions. In late 2021, we were notified about a potential move of youths to aferbok page.

2206
03:55:39,030 --> 03:55:41,310
we heard about it. We got together. There was 200 people up at oak mesa.

2207
03:55:44,250 --> 03:55:44,250
I think this is a huge issue for us and we need to know about it.

2208
03:55:48,495 --> 03:55:51,225
we haven't heard much about this one. I would hope that maybe this is an agenda item that pops

2209
03:55:55,800 --> 03:55:55,800
up every meeting until we know what the hell is going on up there.

2210
03:56:00,330 --> 03:56:02,100
these are not youths. They're not kids that were put in there for smoking pot.

2211
03:56:06,075 --> 03:56:09,645
these are bad, bad people. My understanding is they're up to 25.

2212
03:56:12,690 --> 03:56:16,065
they are not youths, and they are criminals, and some of them ardent criminals.

2213
03:56:18,270 --> 03:56:18,270
they should not be in our community.

2214
03:56:23,540 --> 03:56:23,540
also I'd love to get an update from the city manager on the effort to put in

2215
03:56:31,650 --> 03:56:35,040
the fiber if that's scheduled for northern laverne as we still have lousy service up there,

2216
03:56:39,450 --> 03:56:41,145
and I know you've authorized it, but it would be nice to know when we might see that happen.

2217
03:56:45,000 --> 03:56:48,090
lastly, I've asked the city a couple of times certain people to sponsor quarterly town halls.

2218
03:56:51,960 --> 03:56:51,960
there's a lot of things that cannot be addressed at these meetings.

2219
03:56:56,190 --> 03:56:58,785
I've brought that up many times before. Actually, I was told that that was probably

2220
03:57:01,650 --> 03:57:04,680
a pretty good idea and somebody would arrange that, but I don't see it as an agenda item.

2221
03:57:07,035 --> 03:57:07,035
I'm asking one of you to put that as an agenda item next time so we can have town halls.

2222
03:57:14,415 --> 03:57:18,390
we can have you. We can have the management, the managers of the different departments come and let citizens ask them questions.

2223
03:57:24,630 --> 03:57:24,630
things that cannot be or will not be addressed in

2224
03:57:28,950 --> 03:57:28,950
a form such as this where it's comments and not q&a.

2225
03:57:33,735 --> 03:57:33,735
I ask that again and I hope that is something you will commit to.

2226
03:57:39,765 --> 03:57:43,065
I appreciate it and have a good night. >> thank you, greg. >> any other public comment? I'm going

2227
03:57:46,230 --> 03:57:46,230
to close public comment and bring up the desk, mr. Crosby.

2228
03:57:52,100 --> 03:57:55,665
>> thank you. It's been a long evening. I've been here since 4:30. Please review the study session that we did earlier about our budget.

2229
03:58:01,890 --> 03:58:01,890
lot more to come on that of really working out our budget to make sure

2230
03:58:07,440 --> 03:58:07,440
that we have a balanced budget going into next year.

2231
03:58:12,990 --> 03:58:12,990
graduation, congrats to all the ulv graduates.

2232
03:58:19,880 --> 03:58:22,200
benita high school. Sorry. Benita high school is this week.

2233
03:58:25,905 --> 03:58:25,905
ramona is on wednesday and then benita is on thursday.

2234
03:58:35,840 --> 03:58:35,840
just really appreciate all of our staff and how hard they worked on the budget.

2235
03:58:43,050 --> 03:58:43,050
I know it is always ongoing process and thank you for doing

2236
03:58:48,780 --> 03:58:52,080
that and we will get to a point where we can all work together and make sure that our residents see that as well.

2237
03:58:55,740 --> 03:58:55,740
but appreciate the hard work that you are doing. Thank you.

2238
03:59:00,885 --> 03:59:03,590
>> mr. Johnson. >> it was my pleasure to be at holy name of mary to

2239
03:59:08,595 --> 03:59:08,595
recognize laverne's first eagle scout female.

2240
03:59:15,680 --> 03:59:15,680
a very good friend of your daughter.

2241
03:59:21,080 --> 03:59:21,080
she had been recognized here at a city council meeting prior and awarded

2242
03:59:26,370 --> 03:59:26,370
the same peter plaque right of laverne.

2243
03:59:33,870 --> 03:59:34,665
>> right of laverne. >> right of laverne. That was a special evening saturday night.

2244
03:59:39,345 --> 03:59:39,345
>> thank you for being there, mr. Johnson. Council member lau.

2245
03:59:43,770 --> 03:59:43,770
>> I know a lot of you that were here earlier heard about the memorial day event.

2246
03:59:49,050 --> 03:59:51,930
as they do every year, it went off beautifully. We have brian anderson,

2247
03:59:53,100 --> 03:59:53,100
who is the wounded warrior who is represented in the memorial statues.

2248
03:59:57,420 --> 04:00:00,090
he was in attendance, and I believe 10 years or so ago, he did come and speak at another memorial day event.

2249
04:00:03,270 --> 04:00:06,780
but if you haven't had a chance to go take a look at the statues, I urge you to do so. If you haven't had an opportunity to donate and would like to,

2250
04:00:10,095 --> 04:00:12,000
I would encourage you to do so so that we can get that canine up before the veterans day event.

2251
04:00:15,795 --> 04:00:17,010
thank you very much yes, ulv did finish their graduation this past weekend.

2252
04:00:20,955 --> 04:00:22,110
we had ben aramia, who is the ceo of feast foods as one of the commencement speakers for the undergrads and

2253
04:00:27,180 --> 04:00:27,180
then congressman gil cisneros was the speaker for the graduate student.

2254
04:00:32,565 --> 04:00:34,410
it was a really good day, really hot, but really nice for everybody to be able to celebrate.

2255
04:00:38,895 --> 04:00:38,895
just wanted to also share and I know commander phil ramirez brought

2256
04:00:43,020 --> 04:00:46,860
this up earlier about the need for mental health services for our veterans and how important that is and I know that post 12034 has spoken

2257
04:00:51,750 --> 04:00:54,000
with and worked with tri city in order to talk about the services that veterans will need or may need.

2258
04:00:57,120 --> 04:00:59,490
I urge you to look at the services that are available in that respect if you have veterans in

2259
04:01:01,620 --> 04:01:01,620
your life or if you're a veteran yourself and are in need of any of those services.

2260
04:01:06,030 --> 04:01:09,510
but I also want to advise that tri city mental health is launching their mobile crisis care launch and wellness fair on june 26th.

2261
04:01:14,550 --> 04:01:18,105
it's going to be an introduction into the mobile crisis care team as well as provide wellness information for the community. It's a free event.

2262
04:01:21,660 --> 04:01:25,590
there will be raffle drawings and giveaways and it's taking place at cathedral, the union on gary in pomona.

2263
04:01:28,305 --> 04:01:29,910
that's again, june 26th. I believe more information will be posted on our website and

2264
04:01:33,750 --> 04:01:37,620
via our social media once tri city shares that on social media, but it is on their website presently.

2265
04:01:40,200 --> 04:01:43,770
then coming up, we have father's day. To all the fathers, since we won't be here until the day after father's day.

2266
04:01:46,680 --> 04:01:50,430
happy father's day, hope you have a good one. I know I've got a good dad. I'm sure a lot of you do too.

2267
04:01:51,960 --> 04:01:51,960
as always have a good week and be kind to one another.

2268
04:01:56,000 --> 04:01:59,835
>> thank you, council member lau. Mayor pro tem. >> thank you mayor. God bless each and every single one of you came here

2269
04:02:04,800 --> 04:02:04,800
today and hopefully you guys had a great time at la county fair. Was over.

2270
04:02:09,615 --> 04:02:12,345
hopefully everyone had that opportunity. Congrats to all our grads,

2271
04:02:14,310 --> 04:02:15,900
include those at ramona middle school. They graduated the eighth grade onto their new journey in high school.

2272
04:02:18,570 --> 04:02:18,570
for those that are graduating this week at benita high school,

2273
04:02:23,190 --> 04:02:25,860
ramona as well, good luck to you. I'm trying to find out, but I believe somebody in swim.

2274
04:02:29,565 --> 04:02:31,800
I was getting some information from damian high school was possibly one of the winners of cia.

2275
04:02:34,380 --> 04:02:37,950
I'm trying to find that out and see if that's something that we can be able to recognize that amazing individual for their hard working achievements.

2276
04:02:44,930 --> 04:02:46,425
>> you float? >> no. I use flores and I cheat when I play my son water polo.

2277
04:02:51,690 --> 04:02:54,735
that's it god bless america and god bless city of laverne. >> thank you, mayor pro tem kash.

2278
04:02:56,820 --> 04:03:00,615
first of all, thanks for everybody being here and also thanks for staff. We threw a curveball,

2279
04:03:02,460 --> 04:03:05,295
but it's important that we know what we're giving out to our residents. Kristi you're doing an amazing job.

2280
04:03:07,140 --> 04:03:08,550
we're so far ahead of where we were over the last many years and even though there's a deficit,

2281
04:03:11,310 --> 04:03:14,130
I think we together as a team to reduce that and I do appreciate that and we'll get that to us.

2282
04:03:17,115 --> 04:03:19,890
we do have anything in the back of the agenda, you can find out what's going on in our neighborhoods,

2283
04:03:21,480 --> 04:03:23,505
but there's some big stuff coming up. We have our glendora station dedication for the aline gold line.

2284
04:03:28,455 --> 04:03:31,080
that's this thursday from 1:00-3:00. Then on saturday, we have the san dimas station opening from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm.

2285
04:03:41,835 --> 04:03:45,645
that's this saturday. Then fast forward, we have on the 21st which is the laverne gold line station,

2286
04:03:54,075 --> 04:03:54,075
the 21st of this month, june.

2287
04:03:58,590 --> 04:04:01,950
this is all june. The 21st of this month from 10:00-12:00, the laverne station opening,

2288
04:04:04,050 --> 04:04:04,050
and then we have what was the other one we got?

2289
04:04:08,510 --> 04:04:08,510
we have the pomona station on friday the 20th from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.

2290
04:04:15,885 --> 04:04:19,440
we'll post these up on our website on the city website, but it's a lot of fun,

2291
04:04:21,000 --> 04:04:23,970
a lot of people there. The stations coming. You probably won't see the station opening until maybe august,

2292
04:04:29,490 --> 04:04:32,205
maybe late july, maybe september. Director shar around there.

2293
04:04:34,845 --> 04:04:36,780
we don't know yet. But this is [inaudible] metro is the one that pushed this as far as the openings.

2294
04:04:39,600 --> 04:04:41,610
we're all going to be there, but the trains aren't going to be working yet until we notify everybody.

2295
04:04:43,830 --> 04:04:46,515
but you'll know when they start working. The bridge actually.

2296
04:04:49,110 --> 04:04:50,775
that was a very good question. We the san valley council of governments has approved that.

2297
04:04:56,760 --> 04:05:00,060
they're basically going they're actually cutting a contract, so I'll bring more information on it as we come forward.

2298
04:05:04,020 --> 04:05:07,155
also this last week, I was in sacramento on wednesday for the kalka,

2299
04:05:11,235 --> 04:05:13,560
which represents 41 cities throughout the state from northern to southern california, the mexican border.

2300
04:05:16,320 --> 04:05:18,180
just on regional issues, most of them are on greenhouse gas emissions,

2301
04:05:22,425 --> 04:05:26,370
ring the numbers for the housing elements, and carb, and all these things that really affect us all in the long run,

2302
04:05:30,300 --> 04:05:32,370
but more to follow on that. It's real technical, but at the end of the day,

2303
04:05:34,620 --> 04:05:34,620
it basically says that less cars on the road,

2304
04:05:39,570 --> 04:05:41,610
less fossil burning fuels, more electrification which a lot of it as we know and we've seen,

2305
04:05:44,730 --> 04:05:47,040
is not working well, so more to follow on that, but very concerned with what's going on with that.

2306
04:05:50,535 --> 04:05:53,910
as far as we want a clean state, we all want to have a clean state, but again, we have to afford to live here too,

2307
04:05:55,200 --> 04:05:55,200
so that's more information to follow on that.

2308
04:05:59,270 --> 04:06:01,620
gold line station, I think we're good there.

2309
04:06:06,950 --> 04:06:10,140
city attorney hall barlow. We're going to recess in a closed session.

2310
04:06:12,660 --> 04:06:16,230
would you please read the closed session items for this record and let us know if there will be any report and afterwards. One more quick question.

2311
04:06:19,545 --> 04:06:21,930
as we stated, there's lots of graduations right now, please slow down and pay attention.

2312
04:06:24,330 --> 04:06:27,915
our grade schools, our middle schools, the college. Lots of things are being cleared out at the college level.

2313
04:06:30,060 --> 04:06:33,255
people are leaving campus, our high schools. Please slow down and pay attention.

2314
04:06:37,125 --> 04:06:40,245
lots of families, lots of kids, lots of stuff. >> mr. Mayor, members of council,

2315
04:06:41,880 --> 04:06:44,700
city hall will close 4:00 pm on thursday. >> that's because of the graduation of benita high school

2316
04:06:47,115 --> 04:06:49,740
because you couldn't get out of here if you didn't get out [laughter] >> I'm talking about.

2317
04:06:51,530 --> 04:06:51,530
>> thank you, mr. Mayor. The closed session items for council discussion

2318
04:06:57,420 --> 04:07:00,150
this evening with a conference with labor negotiators pursuant to government code section 54957.6,

2319
04:07:03,900 --> 04:07:05,730
negotiators are city manager, assistant city manager, and city attorney.

2320
04:07:07,935 --> 04:07:09,510
the employee organizations are laverne city employees association, laverne firefighters association,

2321
04:07:13,350 --> 04:07:15,990
laverne police middle management association, laverne police officers association,

2322
04:07:18,690 --> 04:07:21,150
and all unrepresented employees. Then we have conference with legal counsel,

2323
04:07:23,100 --> 04:07:23,100
existing litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9d1.

2324
04:07:28,980 --> 04:07:28,980
that is workers' compensation case number wcab adj 19755035.

2325
04:07:38,690 --> 04:07:42,360
I do not expect any reporting out this evening. >> thank you very much. I want to adjourn tonight's meeting in memory and honor of

2326
04:07:48,150 --> 04:07:50,850
baldwin park police officer samuel riveros who was killed in the line of duty on saturday night.

2327
04:07:54,270 --> 04:07:54,270
officer riveros of pasadena was an avid dodger fan,

2328
04:07:58,425 --> 04:08:01,110
had served baldwin park for nine years and was a dedicated police servant and a public servant.

2329
04:08:04,500 --> 04:08:06,570
he is survived by his mother and sister. My he rest in peace.

2330
04:08:09,530 --> 04:08:09,530
this has got to stop, as mr. Bowen said. This has to stop.

2331
04:08:13,800 --> 04:08:15,990
unfortunate, very unfortunate. Our next regular city council meeting will be monday,

2332
04:08:18,450 --> 04:08:20,640
june 16th at 5:30 pm. As a reminder upcoming events and meetings were posted on

2333
04:08:22,860 --> 04:08:25,020
the last page of the city council meeting, we are recessed in a closed session at 9:00 pm. Thank you all for being here.