All right.
good evening everyone. Uh, welcome to our february 3rd, 2026
city council meeting. It is 7:00 pm meeting's now in session. Any
person wishing to address the city council during oral communication must
complete a speaker card that is provided at the entrance of the council chamber
and submit the card to assistant city clerk, uh, prior to the commencement of
oral communication. Speaker cards will not be accepted after oral communication has
started. Tonight's invocation will be led by ray zed,
president universal society of hinduism and south hills high school student,
lizette dondo will lead us in the pledge of allegiance. All rise. Oh,
and we have announcement. Mayor, if I may, uh, we need to change for
the invocation, we have pastor samuel martinez from amazing love ministries, who's going to do our
invocation this evening. All right, perfect. We welcome, pastor.
thank you. Thank you, mayor. Well, we remember the words of
a young man who said once that sometimes the best prayers are the most simple.
so, heavenly father, we just remember the words of king solomon who said that wisdom
is a principle thing. Give us all wisdom, father
parents, wisdom in bringing up their children.
father, give wisdom to father our first responders.
give wisdom to police officers, our soldiers. Father,
give wisdom above all this evening to those that
manage the affairs of the city. Give wisdom to our mayor. Give wisdom, father
to our our city council, our chief of police, city manager,
heavenly father, fire chief, all our school teachers, heavenly
father. And we pray that you direct our steps
and that you direct the steps of our leaders. We thank you for
west covina. God bless america, and god bless our beloved
city of west covina. In jesus' name, amen. Amen.
and we'd like to invite south hills high school student lizette to lead us in the pledge
of allegiance. Good evening, gentlemen. Remove your hats.
place your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the united states of america,
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for
all. Thank you. Thank you.
roll call please. Good evening, mayor. Council member gutierrez.
here. Councilman wu? Here. Councilwoman diaz. Here.
mayor pro contos. Here. Mayor lopez. Vito, present
city attorney. Is there anything to be reported out of closed session? There is no
reportable action. Thank you, madam mayor. Okay. Onto presentations.
I'd like to invite shelby williams from the n-a-a-c-p
president to the front.
so they are here. Um, 2026 marks a century of
national com, uh, commemorations of black history. In 1925, when
dr. Carter g woodson planned inaugural week long observance of black history,
he could hardly have anticipated the imprint he would leave on this world.
the association for the study of african life and history has carried forth the tradition
and the observance have become part of the warp and left, left of american culture. And
increasingly, the global community for our hundredth theme, the founders
of black history month urge us to explore the impact and meaning of black history and
the life comm, uh, commemorations in transforming the status of black peoples in
the modern world. Uh, for those who might not know, I've actually led
the largest black history festival and,
uh, history paraded festival in southern california. So I do
a part of this and I'd like to thank, um, shelby for, we just
had our martin luther king day, and she ran a fabulous event with our partner
san gabriel valley, n-w-a-c-p. And I wanted to thank you a few a you wanted to
say a few words? Okay. Yes. Thank you so much for
recognizing the 100th anniversary of the commemoration
of black history. To understand the
modern world, especially nations where black peoples from
a significant population one must grapple with the impact
that the public observance have had for the past and
the present. This year, when we are also commemorating
the 250th anniversary of united states independence,
it is important to tell not only an inclusive history, but
an accurate one. We have never had more
need to examine the role of black history month than
we do when forces weary of democracy seek
to use legislative means and book bans to erase
black history from america's schools and from public culture.
black history's value is not its contribution to mainstream
historical narratives, but it is its resonance in the
lives of black people. We, the san gabriel valley, n-a-a-c-p
branch, would like to thank the city of west covinas mayor and
city council for recognizing black history month for 2026.
thank you. And on behalf of city of west covina, we'd like to give a proclamation
for the black history month. So thank you for being here and, uh, accepting this, uh, proclamation.
I had like to, uh, invite lieutenant weatherman to front
to the front. Is he here? Yes. Okay. And this is
in regards to the, uh, we like have west covina police explorer
posts come down as well. So on january 17 and 18,
the west covina police explorer post 4 9 9, completed at
tac comp in chandler, arizona. Eight explorers represented our
department and competed in several events against police explorer posts from
across the nation. I am proud to announce that our explorers receive the following
awards.
first place, high risk stop. Third place
cnt. I'd like to congratulate all of the explorers who participated in
this event and extend a sincere thank you to the advisors and the department members who have
assisted in the development and training. Can you tell us a little bit about those awards?
yeah. So, uh, I'll talk a little bit about, uh, what we did out there. So, um,
mayor, members of city council, I'm, uh, if you don't know who
I am, my name's lieutenant mike weatherman. I'm honored to take a few moments to, uh, this evening to
recognize the outstanding accomplishments of the west police explorer program and the explorers who proudly
represented our city at the 2026 chandler tactical competition
tac com in chandler, arizona, the chandler tcom is a nationally
recognized competition that brings together police explorer posts from across the country.
the event is designed to challenge participants through realistic law enforcement based
scenarios that test teamwork, communication, leadership, and
tactical decision making. Under pressure. This year, eight of our west camino police
explorers competed again, completed against explore posts from
agencies nationwide. I'm proud to recognize the following explorers who represented our city
explorer, blas explorer, ve rivera explorer, daniel
renteria explorer, damian renteria, explorer joshua joshua ortega,
explorer, pena explorer, mubarak
explorer garcia. Their hard work and dedication resulted in
the exceptional achievements of first place in high risk stop.
and third place in the counter narcotics team, or cnt. It's actually crisis
negotiation team. Sorry about that. Uh, these events require pre
precise coordination, sound judgment, effective communication,
and a strong focus on officer safety, earning first place in the high risk stop
event. And placing third in cnt reflects the discipline, the professionalism,
and the teamwork demonstrated by our explorers. These accomplishments would not
be possible without the commitment, mentorship of their dedicated advisors, the support
of the department, and especially the support of the city council. I would like to recognize and
thank the following individuals for their leadership and support. Cso jose,
jose fuentes, officer daniel gonzalez, officer michael chang, officer
alex dte, officer destiny martinez,
officer steven de la fuente, officer alex illa, officer
jennifer ledesma, officer zamar sal,
and the sergeants that oversee the unit. Sergeant steve spa,
sergeant jose marquez and corporal ian papapa assisted with us from the, our, uh,
swat and swat team. Their guidance, training, and continued
investment in our youth play a critical role in the success of our explorer program.
the wesco police explorer program continues to be a tremendous asset to our community,
developing future leaders, promoting positive police community relationships,
and preparing young men and women for careers in law enforcement and public service.
on behalf of the west camino police department, I would like to congratulate our explorers and advisors
for representing our city with professionalism and pride. And thank the city council for
its continued support of programs. Done a vest in the future of west camino.
that's truly amazing. These are our future officers, and we
just wanted to thank you especially about the crisis negotiation. So, on behalf of
city of west covina, we'd like to present a certificate, first place,
and third place on one up picture. Congratulations.
thank
up. Next, we'd like to honor teacher of the year, renee romero from south hills
high school. If I could have mr. Renee romero to the front, along with
dr. Josie per perez, assistant superintendent of educational
services. So covina valley
takes great pride in recognizing mr. Renee romero, the 2026
california teacher of the year, for his extraordinary service to students
and public education. Mr. Romero is an 11th and 12th grade international
bachelorette language and literature teacher at south hills high school in the covina valley
unified school district, where he has made a lasting impact through his dedication,
professionalism, and commitment to student success. As an
international bachelorette teacher, mr. Romero helps students make meaning from
advance complex texts while developing their voices, confidence
and critical thinking skills. Drawing on his own background as an english learner
from east los angeles, he creates an inclusive and supportive classroom where every
student feels welcomed, challenged, and encouraged to thrive. His
students consistently achieve outstanding results, including a 90%
pass rate on inter on the international
baccalaureate english examinations. This prestigious award is one
of the profession's highest honors. This recognition reflects
his strong instructional practice, his dedication to equity and inclusion,
and his ability to create a classroom where every student feels supported to think deeply
and succeed. So we always love our teachers. Uh,
any wise words from teacher of the year?
uh, thank you. Um, it's, uh, really something to be recognized
for the work that, uh, that all teachers do. Um, I'd like to thank the
district, uh, for their support, my wife, for her endless support. Um,
but most importantly, like the students, you know, they make my job easy. Um,
and it's no, they, they really do know. Um, they, they really would impress
you if you like, sit down and get to know them. Um, they're game changers, you know,
and it's important to create a curriculum that's meaningful to them.
um, and yeah, it's, I love what I do.
thank you. Would you like to say something? Sure.
renee's very humble. He's probably one of the most humble persons that
teachers that we have around, and he doesn't realize what a big thing this
is. He is teacher of the year for california. And so we're so excited,
yes. To have one of our own teachers,
uh, for covina valley. And just as he was getting the word, we
have asked a lot of students. What do you think about, you know, mr. Romero? And
this is by far one of their favorite teachers. Um, he really does love
the students. He really is patient. He wants to make sure that they're
passing their classes, and he's a teacher in the international baccalaureate
classes, which is a very difficult class to
pass and a test to pass, and he gets 90% of
his students passing the test. So we just wanna recognize how amazing he
is, and we're so excited for him to go out through this year. He'll be speaking at several
places, and he'll be recognized all over the state of california.
so let's give him a big hand.
that's a, that's a full year, 365 days. So we just wanted
to say thank you. We love teachers. They make a big impact, and I'm sure the students appreciate
and, you know, bring the students up. And so on behalf of city of west covina, we'd
like to present a certificate honoring teacher of the year. Congratulations. Thank you.
thank you. Congratulations. Good. Great job, mayor.
oh, his wife and family's here. Would you wanna stand up so they can recognize that's a
big support team, so please recognize the award. Thank you.
so, up next, I'd like to recognize lizette
dondo, the student board member, and the member of the mock trial team from south hills high
school. May you please come up to the front.
so, ms. Lizette dondo led us in the pledge of allegiance today. She's a student
board member and a member of the mock trial team. May you let us know what is your role on
the student student board and what the mock trial team is,
uh, on the student on the board of education for covina valley, I serve as a student board
member, meaning I represent the voices of all the students in my
district. Um, mock trial, we compete, we get a case packet, and
we compete it, uh, as different roles like lawyers, uh, witness, we
have bailiffs, like all that. Personally, I am, uh, my last role is a prosecution attorney,
and I've also played witness and a defense attorney. Wow.
great job. Thank you. And thank you again for leading us in the pledge of
allegiance. So we'd like to recognize you, uh, as a certificate from the city of west
covina. Thank you. Thank you,
thank you, thank you.
so the new initiative that I implemented is the taste of west covina that we're highlighting
businesses. And today we'd like to bring up, uh,
invite melissa rojas from heavenly flowers to up to the front.
is she here? Oh, there, she's nestled in
the heart of west covina, heavenly flowers has grown into more than just a florist. It's
a community staple where flowers and heartfelt moments intertwine. Locals
know it as a place to go when they want flowers that speak from the heart, and arrangements
that feel personal and thoughtful. Its designers blend, classic craftsmanship
with ever-changing floral trends, whether crafting arrangements for wedding anniversaries,
birthdays, or just because moments the team dedicates technical skill
and personal warmth to each creation. Heavenly flowers is
more than a place to buy flowers. It's part of the west covina community, helping people
celebrate milestones, comfort loved ones, and share beauty through all of life
seasons. For the month of february, heavenly flowers will offer a community
discount of 15% of all in-store purchases to west covina residents.
to receive the discount, residents must present valid, valid identification
confirming west covina residency. So we'd like to present a certificate,
and, um, many might not know. Uh, I remember we partnered
a few years ago, uh, honoring one of our first high revenue generating
chick-fil-a, and they donated flowers to all the,
uh, drive through, uh, community. And that was for
the christmas, christmas eve. And it was really nice. And one of the resident
actually was visiting a family at the funeral, uh, the cemetery. And she called,
and there was another person that called, um, because his wife
had passed away and during the holidays, but receiving this meant
a lot. So they, like they said, bring warmth, and they're right here in our community
located, oh, they can give you more information, but go ahead, . Here you go.
we're located in west camino parkway. Glendora, right in the corner. You must have known it with
mario deonte. For many years. He was the owner, but luckily
we had the privilege to take ownership over nine years now. So
we've been in the, I grew up my entire life in west covina, so I'm happy to be
here. Happy to serve you guys, and happy to be part of this city. Thank
you. Thank you.
they do have their flyer up in the front, so if you entered, or if you're leaving, make
sure to pick one up, but of course, you don't have to have the flyer. If you're a west covina resident,
come in and stop by and shop some flowers. Flowers make
everyone brings joy to everyone. So on behalf of west covina, thank you for your business here.
oh, wait, actually, oh, I didn't
realize they had something shown up earlier about their flowers. So all their information is on the,
on the online that you could see. And I believe everything will be posted on
the website as well. And now lastly,
I'd like to recognize cafe 86 and bring grace reyes
to the front.
cafe 86 offers a thoughtfully crafted menu that blends cherish
tra cherish traditional recipes with modern culinary techniques. The
cafe is best known for its signature purple yam ube desserts like ube le chilan
cupcakes, and its unique halo hollow drinks. Inspired by classic comfort foods,
each item delivers bold, unforgettable flavor flavors more than
just a cafe. Cafe 86 is a welcoming space where food brings people
together, bridges culture sparks conversation and creates lasting
memories. Guests are invited to experience a vibrant world of flavors, colors, and
aromas on a culinary journey where tradition meets innovation. And the unmistakable
taste of ish shines in every bite. This february cafe 86 is
proud to offer a community discount to our west covina neighbors. West covina residents
will receive 10% off on all items with some restrictions applying.
simply present a valid id confirming residency to enjoy the discount. And
just like heavenly flowers, they do have a flyer out on the lobby that you're
more than welcome to pick up and along there's more information. So
on behalf of west covina, thank you. Everybody else try their uber,
all their favorites. Um, yep, thank you.
here you could say something. So, I, I just wanna say, um, so my
family's lived in westcon for, uh, for, oh, for 40 years. And so when
we were looking to open, um, our shop, this was the first city that
we kind of looked at. And so we are actually gonna, we just opened
last march, so we're actually celebrating our one year anniversary
this march. And I just wanna say like, beyond the menu, our
location has been like a community hub. We've been really trying
to bring in a lot of people from outside of the city. And so
we, we actively support like local artists, um, neighboring
neighboring, um, small businesses, and then creators of events that, so we
spotlight music, um, art and culture. Um, so
in march, actually, like lucid motors is coming over to do some,
um, some like drive testing for, for residents. And so we,
we really are trying to, um, bring in as many, um,
events that we can in that little strip of, we are in west
covina, downtown west covina, see bun street here.
so it, you know, we're trying to revive that area. Um, and
so please come. Um, I've, I've tried to, um,
um, also partner with a lot of the other shops around the area. And
so I just feel like, you know, um, being a community and, um, we all
kind of help each other out. And so please, please come. And then, you
know, we, we partner with the sticker store across the mexican store across. And so,
um, hopefully we'll get to see you this month of february.
do have karaoke nights, so you're all more than welcome to come and
sing. They host that. Um, they have different variety of events. They have many things.
so come enjoy. And just like with all businesses that we are bringing up
here and everyone else, please like them on social media. Follow sometimes they
offer best deals, special things, and, you know, take advantage of it. And,
uh, enjoy each shop play in west covina. So on behalf of city of
west covina, we'd just like to thank you for taste of west covina.
okay, now for our city manager's report, which will be given by our acting city
manager, milan. Um, thank you madam mayor. Um, first
our city electrician staff replaced field lighting at walmart auto park. These
updates ensure appropriate lighting of the sports fields and park during park hours
for users of the park. On friday, january 30th,
uh, the west vena police department, in conjunction with public safety conducted a coordinated
enforcement operation addressing rv camping along badillo street, east
of north vincent avenue. Over the past month in individuals had been parking
rvs in this area in a fixed long-term manner. In violation of california
vehicle code. Um, staff observed activity included drug use and
illegal dumping, creating ongoing public health and quality of life concerns, as well
as a visual blight to the surrounding community. As a result, the operation west covena pd
impounded two r two rvs and three vehicles. All occupants had
previously been advised and probably noticed prior to the enforcement action. This
location remains a priority and staff will continue to closely monitor the area
to ensure continued compliance on tonight's
agenda. Uh, as item number 11, the public works department is requesting approval
of the city council to order the following number of picnic tables and water
fountains to distribute across 16 of the city parks.
65 8 foot pvc traditional picnic tables 38 8
foot pvc, traditional a da one side ended picnic
tables four, um, lk outdoor pedestal
fountains with, uh, with a pet station. Seven lk
outdoor upper bottle water filling stations, and six lk outdoor
pede pedestal fountains.
um, this past week, city crew has been updated several red
curbs throughout the city, which you'll see this looks like a, uh, on francis
and surrounding streets, including sunset. Um, audit
committee update on wednesday, january 28th. I, along with our finance director,
met with the community members who have served on the audit committee, discuss next steps, future
direction, and continued transparency and financial oversight. The discussion
included the, the evolving role of the audit committee will, will play
in the coming years. Moving forward, the audit committee will meet on a quarterly basis
with the city manager, attending the committee meetings to support, coordination, accountability,
and open communication. On saturday,
january 24th, the community services division held its annual in-service training
from 8:30 am 8:30 am to 3:00 pm at the cortez park
community and senior center. This year's focus was customer service and featured
keynote speaker sonya jimenez, young superintendent of the city of los angeles.
opening remarks were provided by mayor letti, um, via lopez,
vito, and myself, along with assistant city manager roxanne lerma. Closing
the training with a talk on what each individual brings to the table and
the value they bring to this organization. A special thank you to community services
team suzie perez, vanessa ibanez, leslie ez, mha
kuta, leslie bravo, clarissa romero, and korea. Korea,
albert for ongoing and delivering a comprehensive and engaging
training for staff. Um, athens update commercial deployments.
uh, commercial deployments will started last week on monday and will be fully
deployed by wednesday of this week. Commercial accounts will continue
waste assessments until accounts are right sized. If
you need athens to provide a waste assessment and the right size of size containers,
please call, um, their toll free number, 8 8 8 3 3 6 6 1 0 0.
and in addition to the deployment of the commercial, uh,
bins, staff and athens continue to meet with, um, our local
business community as we implement, um, state mandated 1383
and working with individual businesses and, um, groups of businesses
to find the right fit and the the right package, uh, for their
trash service. Um, update on the residential
deployments. Residence residential will be receiving blue carts throughout
this week and next week. Your blue recycled carts are for recycling
materials only, which include cardboard, aluminum, cans, and glass. Please
refer to athens what goes where, guide at the cal
recycle mike.com. If you are unsure how to properly dispose of your
any item, um, any dispose of any item,
um, green waste, food waste, and fiber based food soil paper will be stowed
disposed in the green container. Only residents receive newsletters
in january and will continue to receive newsletters quarterly. Athens services
has issued a robocall to inform residents to leave carts
curbside the entire service day for the next three weeks. Um, during the initial service
adjustment period, please make sure your calendars are also marked
for the 2026 compost, um, giveaways, um,
on may 2nd, and also on november 7th, 2026.
if you'd like to adjust your athens services or container size, please
contact athens again at 8 8 8 3 3 6 6 1 0 0.
the of west covina will shortly welcome two new businesses to our community.
sunday car wash will celebrate grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony. Um,
this saturday, february 7th, uh, the community is invited to tour the new
facility. Enjoy a car wash sunday. Car wash is located at 3 0 1 south vincent
um, avenue, uh, at the former site of the west covina car wash.
home goods will celebrate its grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony on thursday, march 19th.
the new loca, the new location will open at the eastland center at the former
site of burlington coat factory on january 30th
and 31st west covina firefighters association, 3, 2, 2 6 and
west covina. Beautiful teamed up for a property cleanup on alaska to remove overgrown
vegetation on the property. Last week, the
fire department used the sportsplex for driver's training skills, included diminishing
lane serpentine and backing drills. Banks do engineer bland
for facilitating this very important training. Uh, micro
uh, budget workshops. We every friday march, uh, in march of 2026,
we've dedicated each friday for this. Um, we have morning, afternoon,
and evening appointments available. Uh, please rsvp to decompose@west.org.
if you'd like to set up an appointment, uh, limited seats available, we'll
be meeting with, uh, groups of four to six residents at a time to
spend, you know, two to four hours, um, going in detail to
the budget process, different funding sources, expense and income
for the city. If anybody is interested,
couples connect a workshop for couples, reconnect, communicate and
strengthen your relationship. At couples connect, a free and engaging workshop
designed to help couples build healthier, more fulfilling partnerships. Join mayor
lopez yato and relationship ship coach, uh, kelly
dpu for a dynamic evening focused on overcoming common relationship
challenges and learning practical tools you can use immediately, whether you are newlyweds
or have been together for decades. Date
is thursday, february 12th, 2026, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
community center at cortez park. It's absolutely free. And dinner
will be provided, sponsored by athens trash service.
um, upcoming events, uh, again, uh, couples
connect, uh, on thursday the 12th. And, um,
and that's all I have tonight, madam mayor. Okay, thank you. Now we'll move on to
oral communications. Comments are limited to three minutes per speaker, unless
modified by the presiding officer or the city council. Requests to speak on agenda items will
be heard prior to request to speak on non agenda items. Members of the public
may not engage behavior that is disruptive to the orderly conduct of the
meeting, including but not limited to speaking off topic, speaking beyond the speaker's
allotted time limit making slanderous or profane remarks or using loud
threatening or abusive language, which disrupts, disturbs, impedes or renders
infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting. Members of the public may not
threaten any person with physical harm or act in a manner that may reasonably be interpreted
as imminent threat or of physical harm. When you hear, hear your name being called,
you may sit in the front row designated for public speakers. The timer will start when
your name is called assistant city clerk. How many speakers do we have tonight?
mayor? We have 19 speakers this evening. Okay, go ahead and proceed. Our
first speaker is john shoemaker, followed by marsha solorio, followed by josh murray.
good evening everyone. I just have a quick one. Uh,
I've requested, uh, you know, some accommodations and I understand
they may be coming through, but I haven't seen them. But what I found
absolutely amazing is we have a member of this console
who is constantly requesting accommodations,
demanding accommodations, taking us,
threatening lawsuits for accommodations. When I got up here and asked for one,
what did he, what did he do? He was silent. Seems
like somebody who wants accommodations in his behind people who have disabilities.
he'd been the first one to say, you know, we gotta help this man.
but he sits there silently, he doesn't care.
it's about him, not about, uh, helping the public. Prime example
is he's walked in on a couple occasions with stacks of documents
and everything else. And my understanding is he didn't give a preview
copy to a member of our city council, our mayor pro tem,
who was blind. So he'd have a heads up on what's
going on. How can you, how can you
be so concerned about yourself and not anybody
else? I remember about 25 years ago, or
probably 30 years ago now, meeting kami polis. She was on the school board for
a number of years. She had a son who was disabled
even when her son was no longer in school. She was a champion
for children with disabilities. So they got good educations
and got what was needed. That was a person who was concerned about the
issue, not themselves, you know. And what
also gets me is I have no problem getting up here and saying I need an accommodation because of
two strokes that I had. But some
are trying to hide. Why would you hide if you're open? You want
transparency, wouldn't you want to brag and show,
even with all these issues, I can still serve, I'm still
helping the public, you know, but maybe when some of those accommodations
are things like, I don't know,
the free meal that I'm given is I need it to come from jersey mike's and not portos.
uh, you mean they don't have anything that you can eat?
it just doesn't make any sense of what's there,
you know? So again, you know, hopefully I'll see the documents and it'll be satisfactory,
but I'm still waiting for, you know, somebody you know, who
says, you know, we need to help this man instead of just complete and utter silence.
thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, marsha solorio, followed
by josh murray, followed by steve bennett.
good evening. Sorry, it's been a long day. So I'm just gonna read, uh, good evening mayor,
city council, city staff and residents. My name is marsha solorio.
I'm a 25 plus year resident, and until recently chair of the audit
committee, I am here tonight, as some may know on
my birthday to comment on item number 12. First, I want
to thank our new finance director for promptly addressing our questions regarding
the rules and regulations attachment. I truly appreciate the timely response.
second and more importantly, I'm here to respectfully urge
the council members who will be serving on the audit committee to ensure that
the appointments are approved this evening. As mr. Gritch has noted in prior
council meetings, the audit committee has not met since april of 2025
in whatever form the council ultimately deems appropriate. The audit committee
needs to resume performing its duties. Our residents deserve that
level of oversight and accountability. Do I hope
the committee is approved as recommended by city staff? Absolutely.
we had a strong, well-rounded committee that was just beginning to find its footing
and changing course now would be a disservice. That said, the
primary objective remains clear to get the audit committee back on
a regular quarterly meeting schedule. Lastly, if this
is my goodbye, I want to sincerely thank the council members past and present
who appointed me and supported my continued service over the years.
and of course, a huge thank you to my incredibly smart and passionate
fellow committee members who entrusted me with the imaginary gavel
for most of my time on this committee. Thank you. Thank you.
josh mary, followed by steve bennett, followed by tina freeman.
hi, uh, good evening mayor and members of the council. My name is josh murray. I'm here
on behalf of west covina library. Um, I want to invite the teens
of the community to the teen advisory board meeting, taking place tomorrow, wednesday,
february 4th at 4:00 pm teens will collaborate on next month's
teen programs, teen library topics, and provide the librarian with
insight on what our teams want in their library. Also,
children ages five to 12 with their parent or caregiver are invited to
celebrate african american and black history month, along with the winter
olympic games at our winter sports medal winners program on wednesday,
february 11th, from three 30 to 4:30 pm children
will learn about some notable african american winter sports
athletes, and then they'll make and decorate winning medals from clay registrations
available on our website, la county library.org. And I thank you for your time.
thank you. Steve bennett, followed by tina freeman, followed by
doug four.
first off, happy birthday. I think
I would lead happy birthday for you, but they're gonna count my time down, so it's okay.
um, counsel, good to
see you. I know you guys miss me every time I'm here. It's always smiles except for one
person. Um, so it's always fun. I I wanna bring up something that I, I think we,
we need to talk about. So, a meeting ago,
you guys held in closed session, a discussion with real property negotiators
located at 1501 del norty. And the person
you were meeting with to discuss terms is, I think it's mlc
holdings, which is meritage, who's the developer at the del norte school. Here's
the problem, um, you're not meeting with real property negotiators 'cause they don't own the
property yet. Tony, you know how title deeds work? You have to close escrow before a title deed is
switched over. Huh? Tony, you're a real estate guy. Am I correct? So ironically,
I pulled the title deed on that through a friend of mine, and it's still the school district.
so we don't have as a city, the right to negotiate
with a real property that we're not even talking to the owner. They haven't closed
escrow. And why haven't they closed escrow? 'cause ironically, that's in front of the planning commission right
now for development. They're holding a public hearing that's held open right
now. So you guys are openly interfering
on a closed session item with an item that's before your own planning
commission on a public hearing. There's a lot of question to that.
why? Well, could it be a
potential quid pro quo that you're asking for, I don't know,
an acre or two of them to be donated to the city or
renegotiated with the school district, even though they don't technically own the property yet. And their
agreement with the district is kind of already been approved by the school district contingent
on you guys approving the planning division, huh? So
quid pro quo could be that you want this property to be
given to the city as something, but
the developer wants their development approved. That's the definition
of a quid pro quo. They get something, you get something. The problem is,
is where does that legally land? It's a brown act violation.
that's what it is. It's a brown act violation. And it would probably have been
on this week's closed session, but our city attorney leave finally woke up
from his nap that he's so commonly in here and decided that it probably wasn't legal
to do. I noticed we have a different city attorney and I thank you. And it's by no means
an a dig on her because it's the other city attorney who sits in here with an
alarm clock every time, you know he's here. So my question to you guys
is legally you weren't negotiating with a property owner because
tony, as you just said, I'm not untitled. So I have to ask you,
why were we negotiating with them? Was it a quid pro quo,
huh? I guess we'll find out.
tina freeman, followed by doug four, followed by sherry balian,
30 years, and I finally made it here. I'm tina freeman, the owner
of tina's tavern in west covina, and I love west covina finest
law enforcement. Thank you guys. 'cause you are my champs. Anyway,
I'm here. Um, two things actually. Athens trash.
uh, I, as you guys know, I never make it to a meeting, but I am now.
uh, my understanding was, um, am I allowed to ask a question
or no? Uh, when you guys voted, uh, my understanding was
the business people all thought, uh, it was gonna be a 17%
increase on a athens trash. And, uh, we're all dying
out here trying to make a living. I'm a single mom. My daughter's gonna be a veterinarian
two years, and it's a rough time for all of us. Sorry.
and if any of you owned a business, I just don't see how you could have voted something.
it's a 70% increase on everybody.
it's it's wrong. It's outrageous. And I feel like maybe no one up
here has ever owned their own business because it's tough times right
now. And whether it was or wasn't a tough time,
that kind of increase is ludicrous. I think it's,
um, uncalled for. And the fact it wasn't
taken off the agenda to at least get more business people here to
defend ourselves and be lied to about the 17%
increase that's now over 70 is, is
it is unwarranted. It's, it's wrong. And everyone I feel should
be ashamed of themselves. That voted five to zero. My is my understanding.
and, uh, as a single mom trying to make a living, this was
so wrong in every way, shape and form my understanding, I don't know for a fact,
could be hearsay. I hear the city of west covina got a one and a half million dollar
donation later from aron's. I could be wrong. I'm just saying.
so on that note, um, I don't
know what I, you know, we're just all sitting ducks out here. There's nothing we could do,
but I just feel like this was, um, so wrong in every way,
shape and form. Uh, and on that note, I just wanna bring something
else. I'll get off athens. I'm just telling you how I feel as a business person.
what happened to us out here is wrong. Number one. Number
two, the other thing I wanna bring up, actually, g right here, uh,
about a year ago told me about this wonderful thing called the trespass letter,
okay? For us, 'cause we're always battling homeless, crime,
trash stuff being dumped, uh, you know, stabbings, outside
shootings, whatever. Okay? And we have to deal with a lot of homeless
people, okay? God bless 'em. I, the thing I love is that law enforcement
does try and get them help, okay? Uh, but this
trespass law or letter I, I have signed, got a
sign up, a trespass. And at least it's something I'm gonna tell you right now. Law enforcement
has done a great job. I don't know if you guys are here, thanks to every darn one of
'em. Uh, I get graffiti, I send it. Oh, thank you.
I get graffiti. I send it to the lieutenant. That's time. And I want, oh, I get, but
it's okay. You're more than welcome to email and the city manager will, I'll answer everybody's
comments. Thank you. Our next speaker is doug four, followed by sherry
barian, followed by matthew. I might be saying this last name starts with a p.
no. Hello, my name is doug. Four. I live in district five. I have three
businesses in district three. Um, I've been told by people in
this room that I'm lying that I am only being charged 17%.
um, that I've only been charged 17%. And I have my
proof here. I have copies for you guys. Audience, I have copies to pass out.
um, they're getting passed out behind me. Um, I did get
charged, look at my bills. 71% increase on trash fees.
71% increase on city franchise
fee. Another 71% increase on the waste management
fee. Numbers don't lie, people lie.
let's talk about the lies enclosed. In here also is
a letter from neil, our assistant city manager, stating that there's
only a 17% increase, which is a lie. He also said
that at the 1216 meeting, that he would explain in full detail and
in depth, he lied. Again, he never explained anything. Look
at the email. It's in this packet. We have had the
vice president of athens here, liz, on 1216.
tony, you asked her two times at the 58 minute mark and
the hour and three minute mark about the 17%
increase. She lied to you. Um, ms. Diaz, thank you for attending today's
meeting. It was awesome. We appreciate you there. You asked her, and you
even included my business. Thank you very much about the 17%
increase at the one hour and seven minute mark. She lied to you,
ollie. You asked her at the one hour and 11 minute mark about
the 17% increase. She lied to you, brian, you asked
her several times. Your last time you asked her was at the one minute and 20.
at the one minute and 12 second mark, she lied to you. Staff report
dated 1216 stated that a 13.5%
increase was negotiated in november. What happened between november and december
to move it from 17% to sorry, to
move it from 13.5% to 17
to 301% increase. What happened? Why
I have asked this several times. How much money did athens need to raise
to comply with this senate bill? No one wants to answer. How much money
did these increases make for athens pockets residents? I'm
gonna run outta time, but there are fees for you guys. We are all getting rate
fees increased again on july 1st. Businesses also,
it's in here. I spent 20 hours going through this contract this weekend.
I have a lot more to say, but I only have 20 seconds. There is also
a fee that's going on your tax roll for 39 13. There's
also another bulky item pickup fee. It's in this packet I sent out. There's
a fee for that also from here on out. The city did get $1.5 million.
they're gonna get it every single year. And I have a lot more to say. But
my time's up. Sherry bian, followed
by matthew
sherry bian, followed by matthew, followed by maurice wilder.
my name is sherry bian. I'm a resident here of 60 plus years.
and this athens is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of. Ridiculous
this council, whether these people know it or not, you are getting, we the city are
getting $1.5 million this year from athens. You have said
you wanna hire 10 new policemen on the backs of our businesses,
which their price is going to increase for us. You're gonna ruin the
businesses. No reason you guy, this is a multi-billion
dollar contract. Pull the contract back, tell 'em you want changes.
don't take the $1.5 million for 'em, use a
million dollars of that money to put back into save the businesses.
so it doesn't cost all of us to get this done.
that's on the athens thing. And and thank you doug, for bringing all this up and
publicly. The other thing I wanna bring up is other different things is
our health department. I'm tired of council saying we, we,
we know the people want the health department. We know that the, that the residents
want us to run the sportsplex. We know that the, the city wants us
to run a chamber, which we know the chamber running is illegal. And if the attorney had
done his job in 5 0 1 c3 or 5 0 1 c six,
it's illegal to run a chamber in the city. Now
we have an election coming up and three people on this council are up
for election. So why leave it to saying to a handful
of people, we want the health department added on the ballot. How many people
want the health department? Yes or no? How many people want the city running the sportsplex?
yes or no? How many people think we des we should have a chamber
when we know it's illegal? Yes or no? Give us the
opportunity to prove to this council that you guys are
doing the wrong thing. It's your job to run the city of
west covina. Not to run pothole businesses
in the city of west covina down. Thank you.
matthew p followed by maurice, followed by gilbert.
be good afternoon. We meet again. I was everybody doing
the night I, the belly night industries. I saw
that in 2008. Um, I was going on the city of sina.
I volunteered into the county where I'm currently working right now. I got my
associate's degree in kinesiology, recreational sports, fleeting.
and I'm here to redo the contract with valley night and the bus crew. It was a great
opportunity for me. I didn't know what I wanted to do.
but in the mornings I went to work, I did my job. And in the
afternoon I volunteered into the county where I'm currently now. And I did over
1600 hours for the county while I was in school.
and I got, and I was coaching football.
sorry, I have the speech prepaid, but I'm gonna fix from out.
and I think we need to bring back the bus. Sina bus crew. Look at these guys.
look at jack, look at gilbert. Look at all these bus crews.
go around the city, sit with them, watch them.
watch the pride that they take in cleaning these bus shelters.
they're amazing. And I promise you, I promise
you, if you guys take the time, rose,
that letti tony vine, I challenge you guys
to take one day, watch 'em, clean it.
look at the pride that they have. They're angels.
they're angels doing the job. And we need to bring it back
because they've, because it, it's encouraging,
it's inspiring and they love their job.
I was a part of that team, I was a part of that
and I watched it and I knew they were great people
and I sat beside them. So thank you
for this moment. And now I'm gonna go coach.
I wanna coach. I'm a coach. I fall in love with coaching because of my
amazing job. My amazing team give egs, who is an
honor man. He loves his job and he trained a lot of
other successful clients who work the
dolly light. And now they do this, now they do
radios, laverne college, ppa and
all these agencies. And it started with this community, started with west covina
and the bus crew. So let's bring
it back. We know what to do. We
know where site. Thank you for this moment.
maurice wilder, followed by gilbert viegas,
followed by johnny knights. Maurice wilder.
maurice wilder.
the next speaker after maurice is gilbert, followed by johnny.
okay, it's okay. Hello council. Oh, can you speak to the speaker
without the mic? Hello council members.
let's see, where can I start? Uh, what I miss,
what I liked working for the bus crew is
it felt like I was giving more to the community. I got to know
more, um, how you say it. For example,
there was one incident that when we were cleaning a bus
stop, a homeless guy, like around my age,
he was already clean from ugh, . He was clean for
us. And
uh, what touched me the most
was the fact that he said that we inspired him
to clean up. Because nowadays
the bus stops that I'm seeing, they're filthy
right now. That's what I love, loved
working for.
yeah. Thank you.
gilbert. Followed by johnny, followed by maria.
hello city. How's going? How's doing this? Hi.
how's everybody doing this evening? Yeah, you can bring it down too. Me go down.
oh, no, no, not you. No, the mic, the mic can go up and down. . Anyway, just, uh,
thank you for letting us be here. I work for the west covina
center. Uh, we had the contract with the bus crew. Remember
mayor was out there. But, uh, we took pride in what we did. Just like
your police department, just like your fire department for west covina.
there was a lot of pride in my crew. You heard the guys talking. Um, there
was a homeless guy that told us that we impressed him by doing
what we're doing. But um, god, I'm sort of a little nervous here,
but I'm trying to, you know, but mayor out there,
he went out there one time and seen us working and he took a picture of us working
and um, we did a lot for you guys. We love working for you guys. We had
so much pride work. They had pride what they would talk about working for
the city of wis covina. You know, they had their badge
on their badge, you know, and they were so, so proud of working for
you guys. We did a lot for you guys too. We, uh,
summertime we used to deliver water. We used to give water to the elderly,
to the children on summertime. And the crew, they decided to do that. They bought it with
their own money. They bought the water and we'd pass it out to the people.
and when anything was wrong with the bus benches, we would let you guys know. We'd call our supervisors
and our supervisor would call you guys graffiti. Everything, anything that
was wrong. But, uh, we got a lot of compliments. They would tell us, well,
why don't you go to pomona and start cleaning their benches, you know? But, uh, just
thank you all of you. Thank you very much. All of you,
you know. Um, and my men, I'm proud of them.
I'm proud of what they do. Matt , what he did, you know,
but just god bless you and thank you for giving us the opportunity for work for
you guys now. Bless you. The wish that you want may come true
for you and your family. Thank you very much.
johnny. Followed by maria, followed by sage. I
doing, my name is johnny, uh, castillo
nis. And I am speaking on behalf of my son michael, who works
for valley light and cleaning the buses. And
I don't know how many years he's been there, but I lost count because he's been there so long
and he's been working there. And, uh, once I heard about
him losing the contract, he, uh, sort of,
uh, out of place. He didn't know, well, what am I gonna do now?
well, I told him there, there are other places that they have there, I'm pretty sure, you
know, but, uh, he hasn't been working since
the time of the loss of the contract. He hasn't been himself. Um,
but I do know that it helped him a lot, that he got up every morning,
would go to work, and he was very proud of himself. And I was very proud
of him for being involved in a job that was
paying him and being responsible of putting money in the bank,
paying his bills and helping around the house. Now he
has an opportunity to work at a different facility and he's a little
more happier now. Uh, before that he wasn't really doing very much,
uh, just waiting to see another opportunity. And now he has
an opportunity, but he does want to go back to work for the
bus routes, clean the bus stations at the city of west covina.
and he took pride in that. A lot of pride. And, you know, I was very proud of him. You
know, I look forward to see him go back if
we got contractors, give it back to them, you know. 'cause you know, coach
gilbert was very good. And he always told
me that your son is very hardworking and he's, you know, he is a good job.
he is very good at that, you know, so I also hope that they bring coach gilbert
back. 'cause you know, it was like a small family, you
know. And I, uh, appreciate your time for hearing
this, and I thank you very much. Thank you.
maria. Followed by s so maria,
followed by sage, followed by julie.
um, good evening, council members. Mayor. My name is maria amaya and I'm
here representing valley light. I am the chairperson
for the agency. Um, for months I had been
reading contemplating, um,
uh, statements that were made by a council member here.
um, and in that we have been
rising above that statement or statements made by a
specific council member. Um, and in my research,
I read this council member's bio and I thought, wow, this person
is absolutely amazing. But after the incidents, um,
I feel that this council member is just
absolutely amazingly disappointing for the agency and the city.
um, valley light. Um, we strive to celebrate
our clients' challenges and triumphs. We
also, um, advocate for our clients. We also,
um, inspire that. I mean, hope that our clients' stories inspire
the, the, the community as a whole.
we hold, uh, true values for our agency and our clients.
um, and, and the statement made here in this
council member's bio, it
shows that, um, there's a
testament that what is impossible is always possible. And we feel the same way.
that valley light, we hope that today our testament will
show that what is impossible, actually possible. And
we also feel that. Well, I feel that this council member's
bio does not reflect, uh, there.
action. Thank you. Thank you.
sage newman, followed by julie, followed by nada
nadi. Nada. Nad. Nada. Okay, sage? Yes.
can I do mind that that's the order.
julie, after julie,
so I'm gonna call ivan, followed by julie, followed by nada.
thank you.
hi, my name is ivan. I'm actually the director of operations for valley
light. I wanted to go and read a letter that was presented or prepared by hunt ortman,
a law attorney group. Uh, it was directed to brian gutierrez.
dear sir, our firm represents valley light center for social advancement in
m. Louder in the mic. Yeah. A firm. Our firm represents valley
light center for social advancement, a nonprofit organization that has served
the west covina community for decades and employs adults with developmental disabilities through
its supported programs. This letter concerns
the false and defamatory statements you made about valley light during
a recent public city council meeting of west covina. During your
public comments, you stated and implied among other things that valley light
was not performing contracted services, valley light was not cleaning bus shelters.
valley light may not have engaged or may have engaged in fraudulent
billing practices. Valley light may not be properly paying
its workers implying wage law violations,
and that complaints existed regarding valley light's work. Despite no such complaints
ever having been submitted to, to the city or communicated to
valley light, the statements were made without evidence, investigation, or factual
basis. And were presented as statements of fact not opinion
to a public body and audience that included city officials and members of the
public who are involved in public contracting decisions that have economic
impact on valley light. Your statements are
demonstrably false as of the date of this letter. Valley light has, doc
has no documented complaints on record with the city valley. Light
has performed consistently and continuously under its contract for decades. Valley
light maintains a timestamp documentation, photographic records of
its work. Valley light has repeatedly been asked by the city to take on
additional work, including emergency and sub supplemental services.
value light has been repeatedly complimented for its excellent provisions of
services to the city. There is no evidence whatsoever of fraud, wage
violations, failure to perform, nor any other allegation you
recklessly raise at the city hall meeting. While publicly
asserting false claims that impugn value, light's, honesty, and legal compliance,
you expose value light to reputational harm, loss of economic,
economic opportunities, including donor goodwill, knowingly
and recklessly making false statements of fact that harm an organization's reputation
constitutes defamation under california law. When the state,
when those statements concern the quality of services business integrity,
they may also constitute trade liable and intentional
interference with prospective economic advantage. Your statements
are particularly harmful given that value employs adults with
developmental disabilities, individuals who are entitled to dignity
and protection from discriminatory, stigmatizing public accusations.
thank you. Okay,
ju julie, followed by nara, followed by sage.
hi. Good evening mayor and council members. Thank you for allowing me
to speak here. My name is julie wallick and I am a certified,
uh, custom employment specialist for the valley light industries in
the city of azusa. Um, what I do is I find employment
for and customize it around the clients that are looking for work. And I'm
happy and excited to hear that you're getting two new businesses in west covina that I can
go interfere into and find work for my clients. I am currently working
with a client at the moment that used to be on the bus crew. Well, I'm trying to find employment
because there's no longer a bus crew for her to participate in for the
city of west covina. Um, she has told me,
actually today I engaged with her and she says, julia, I take the bus to work. And I noticed
that the buses in the bus stops in the city of west covina aren't
looking as sparkly as they used to . So, um, I just wanted to, uh,
show you, share my testimony with you from her and that I, uh,
try to find these individuals work in the city of west covina. 'cause some of them live
in the city of west covina. So, um, I appreciate your time.
that's all I have to say. I do have business cards for anybody who has a
business. We're trying to find employment for some of my clients.
so, um, ,
I'll leave, I'll leave some here on the podium for you and also on
the table outside, upstairs. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you for listening. I appreciate your
time.
nara followed by sage, followed by brian caldone.
good evening everyone. My name is nada
sali. I work with valley light center for social advancement. Is a
non-profit organization that works with individual with special
ability. Valley light center is doing really meaningful
work every day. We support individual in building independence,
confidence, and life skills that truly improve their quality of life.
our focus has always been on dignity, choice, and inclusion,
and that continues to guide everything we do. One
of the highlights that one of our individual has been invited to
sacramento to meet with the legislators. Woo.
we are proud of where we are and excited about
where we are going. And many of our individual are wests
covina residents. And I would like also to share during their free time.
they like to make beanies and scarves, and they like to give
it to the riverbed outreach and others as well. Thank you very much.
thank you.
sage. Followed by brian calderone. Tabba followed by glenn kennedy. Sage newman.
okay. I need to make sure I'm looking at the right person. Brian.
oh, he moved. Oh yeah, I finally moved. Oh,
okay. Good. That's at the very end. Um, brian,
this is just a fraction of the people that supported
you when you ran for office. We were so
excited it brian, to have someone
with a different ability. I'm sorry. Is
it right here? Am I the audience can hear you now. You gotta gimme five extra seconds.
no problem. With the different ability. We were so
excited. We were your cheerleaders. We
were behind you. And you know what? You
attacked us. That's the way you thanked us. By
attacking our
agency, attacking the integrity of our
agency, without even doing your homework, you
are supposed to represent us better than that, brian. I am so,
so disappointed. I have a couple of board members
that don't wanna come here because you have made it a
practice to retaliate against people that say things that you don't
like and you do it through ai. May I
say the cease and desist order
that brian, uh, I'm sorry. That, um, ivan read. That's
from a real attorney, brian. Okay. Not ai.
a real attorney. And you will not come at my people. It's
a shame that I have board members that don't even wanna show their face because you intimidate
them. You have taken
a beautiful different ability and you've made it into something ugly.
autism is beautiful. I've worked with many clients that
had autism that in addition to my
43-year-old son who is autistic.
so you've harmed a lot of people. You've harmed my son.
you, you, no one is gonna wanna take on autism or someone
with autism because they've seen how you,
or how you or how you, uh, behave.
and they don't wanna take that on. It's been ugly. You have taken something. Maya
angelou said, diversity brings
beauty and strength. Brian, you've made it into something ugly
and unappealing. We'll be lucky if julie can place
some of our clients who have autism
into gainful employment because you sat up here and
you have weaponized it. You've taken your different
ability and you used it not to champion disabilities,
but to weaponize it, and you also
exploited it. And you are very dangerous to be
on that council right now for persons with disabilities. Thank you.
took time. Thank you. Thank you.
brian caldron tabba, followed by glenn kennedy, followed by mario
sono.
uh, uh, thank you. Just wanna thank, uh, valley light and, and
all the community members, uh, who've come out and,
uh, done so many, so much great work over the years. And, and sage,
thank you for, uh, providing that opportunity. Um,
I'm, I'm here tonight. Um, a lot's, lot's been going on.
um, so I did want to get into the record here in the city of west covina,
uh, and acknowledge, um, those that have been, uh, murdered
by, by ice and, uh, in detainment,
uh, and through shootings. Um, renee, nicole, good, alex
preti, verio, viegas gonzalez, keith porter, jr.
henry aldo ruiz, guillen
juan, alexis martinez, brian rao, garon non
marie, an blaze delgado. Jesus
molina, johnny ello, wan fan.
lorenzo antonio batres vargas, oscar rascon, ismail
ael, ala delvin, francisco rodriguez,
geraldo, luna campos, victor manuel diaz, parada
la luis tran, yez cruz, luis gustavo
nunez, caes. And, uh, the others, uh, that we don't know
about. Uh, I'm, I'm here, um, because, uh,
la county, uh, on january 13th, uh, passed
an ice free zones in la county. Uh,
and I provided the, the mayor, the mayor, pro tem, uh, the city,
uh, manager and the city attorney, a copy of that. Plus, uh,
I, uh, I also, uh, provided all the council members, including
the mayor, city attorney, and city manager, um, a
resolution that west covina can do. Uh, la county. When they
wrote theirs, they modeled it, hoping that all 88 cities in
la county would also adopt a similar measure. And what this measure
does is it is it really protects the community from having our
public spaces that we pay our tax dollars to, our, our parks, uh,
our community centers, uh, the areas that we gather as,
as a community, uh, to keep them safe, uh, from having to
interact with, with, uh, dhs border patrol and, and ice.
uh, again, when, when we look to congregate as community,
um, we look to do it with joy, with love, and to know that we are safe.
uh, we don't do it, uh, to be around mass men with assault rifles,
uh, that put our lives in danger. Um, and so I hope that the council
will take a moment, uh, to look at this resolution, take time with
it, and hopefully it'll show up on a future agenda. Uh, I appreciate
all you do, uh, and thank you for your time.
glenn kennedy, followed by mario, followed by ravens and vargas,
jr.
good evening, wes covina. How's everybody doing tonight?
I'm glenn kennedy. I represent the historical society and it, it's that time
of the month again. So, uh, this friday we are having our meeting
greet, uh, seven o'clock 3 33 38,
uh, glendora avenue. Everybody here is welcome to join,
uh, this month we will be doing west covina canine. So,
uh, we also are moving along with our,
uh, round table. That's every thursday, every the first and third
thursday of every month at six o'clock, six to eight. Anybody who's
is interested in history in the city of west covina and the
surrounding areas. That's all. Thank you very much and have a beautiful evening,
mario, followed by raven st. Vargas.
hello, counsel. Uh, let's see here. One quick note.
item 11. Um, I am biased 'cause I am a pet owner, dog lover.
I think all the fountains should be with pet stations, not just four.
alright, so moving on. I am here representing the,
uh, west covina business district, historic west covina business district.
uh, and, and it's 26 member businesses, organizations.
at the december 15 city council meeting, prior to the council's five oh vote,
approving the athens amendment, we formally requested that the cedar review, the proposed trash
rate increase impacting businesses. That request remains unanswered.
what businesses are now experiencing is not a 17% increase in many
cases. One french one franchise fees, surcharges, and bundled
services are applied. The real increase ranges from 17% to well over
a hundred percent, approaching 300% for certain line items. While
residential rates remain largely unaffected. This is a business only burden, and it's
creating immediate financial strain across west covina. The historic
west covina business district is requesting city council action in two specific ways. First,
we ask that city establish a stakeholder committee to develop a fair and equitable trash
rate structure. This committee should include local businesses, residents, city staff,
athens representative hospitals, and civic organizations. So
that impacts alternatives and mitigation. Strategies can be openly discussed before
further action is taken. Second, we request immediate financial
relief for west covina businesses by returning the approximate 1.5 million and
newly received franchise free revenue back to the business community.
these funds were not previously budgeted or relied upon and should be used now to,
to offset the financial hardship this decision has created.
additionally, we respectfully request that all city impose trash related fees on businesses
be temporarily waived until a fair and transparent plan is developed and approved.
the historic west conven business district is not asking to avoid compliance with state law. We
are asking for collaboration, transparency, and equity. We'll continue to seek a
revised amendment approved by this council that reflects the business friendly west covina, and
demonstrates that the city values its local businesses, its partners, not
revenue sources in closely. I want to talk on a personal observation
with regards to municipal analogs. When the city
was looking to justify bringing a health department, we were
compared to burbank long beach. Um, what was it?
pasadena, uh, to justify, you know, that, of bringing a health department when
you wanted to reduce the time. Speaking from five minutes to three minutes, we looked at
cities like covina, el monte, baldwin park to justify that.
I'm wondering why, you know, we did not look at that for the athens contract.
we're not reinventing the wheel here. Athens is implementing this for the last four years across other municipalities.
a simple request by staff to research how it's being rolled out in other cities,
I think would've been warranted. Thank you.
ray vincent vargas, jr.
good evening. First off, I want to give props
and appreciation to, uh, doug and, uh, tina's, uh,
tavern. Um, you guys see
what you guys are doing. You guys are destroying small businesses here in west
covina because of the greed that's shameful of you
guys. Also, I want to give props and recognition
to, uh, tony corina and his, uh, staff.
I talked to tony at last meeting about heavy equipment going
up and down south and north on vincent. He got,
uh, patrol up there and eliminated that.
and I also want to give props and recognition to the fire department. They're
up and down all over west covina. I see them a
lot at my place. Uh, up and down, uh,
north on, uh, vincent south on vincent. You know, they're
doing a fantastic job. The three of you here,
I hope I, I heard three elections are gonna be coming up pretty soon.
I hope it's the three that gotta be replaced right away.
um, tony and the fire department,
thank you for your services. Um,
there's a big corruption. We all know it. Tony asked me, uh, last
meeting, ray, uh, uh, what's the problem? What's
the problem, mr. Corina? The problem is here.
the three, the three corrupted, uh, counsel people,
steve bennetton came up. He said what? He said,
the guy's to the target and to the point. Some of you guys don't like
it. Some of you guys sit here with bulldog faces, but he says it the way it
is. It's the truth. You know,
brian gutierrez, we elected him. He
got several and majority of the votes because
we wanted somebody to do something in our district. We wanted to see change.
he's digging, he's discovering, and he sees the corruption
here. He's fighting an uphill battle because he's doing it
all alone. You know, it's not easy
when everybody's against you, milan,
you know what's going on. If you know what's going on, say
something. Don't get comfortable where
you're at, and don't secure or try and
secure your employment. You know,
make sure the residents, the community, and the city is good.
you know, I'll have more respect for you when I see that.
thank you, mayor. I have a late submission of a
speaker card if you would like to hear it. Go ahead. Yes. Yes.
colleen rosati.
sorry. , is that a cry? ?
thank you, mayor. I appreciate you allowing me to speak. Um,
I just wanted to take a moment. West covina beautiful. Thank you
chief brown for acknowledging us with the slideshow this evening. We
really appreciate it. For those of you that don't know, west covina
beautiful is the oldest nonprofit here in the city, established 78
years ago. And I'm the current president, ceo, and proud to
be. So, um, recently we had a huge project
past this past weekend, a program that started in 2018,
hashtag impact. Um, my daughter and I, ashley noticed that
city of west covina was looking a little tired, and we decided
to make a difference, as cliche as that sounds.
so we got together with some important community sponsors
and partners and decided how can we combat
the disarray that's going on in west covina? Excuse me.
so we pulled together some dynamic community partners who are
still our community partners today, athens suburban water,
um, royal coaches, mcintyre ecosystems,
et cetera. There's a tenant foundation. They stepped up and help us with
a few funds to get the ball rolling. This past weekend,
we were asked by the city code enforcement to see
if we could help some senior citizens. A 95-year-old
woman who has dementia, and her daughter, who is almost 70,
live in a beautiful home in south hills. It's exquisite.
it was overgrown. It hadn't been taken care of in probably about five years.
code enforcement had cited them many, many, many times. And I don't
know if you're aware, but at some point, if nothing is done, it gets turned
over to the district attorney and even further receivership
by the city. And if you know what that means, it means that the city could take the
property, remodel, fix it up, and then sell it,
and then those folks would have to be relocated. So we stepped in.
we called our community partners, the firefighters association.
3, 2, 2 6. They came out in force. I'm gonna tell you, those guys are maniacs
with power tools. Sean weiss was outta control. Anyway,
we filled up a dumpster, a roll off, which is the size of a semi that
was donated for free by athens to help the seniors in need.
we beautified that property, it people have driven by it four times
and said, I couldn't find the house. Where is the house that you can now see the house
that you couldn't see two weeks ago? So, we're happy to partner
again with the fire department, athens services, suburban tenant foundation,
and all of our community partners. Thank you for coming out. My board
of directors, my students from west covina high school, gold bulldogs, and
from mecca, they were there, raking, hoeing, and pulling
weeds. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.
no, mr. Speaker, no further speakers. Mayor. Um, so acting city manager, will you please respond to
all the public comments, concerns quite a few tonight, madam mayor. Um,
I'll start working backwards here. Colleen, thank you for your work with west covina.
beautiful. Identifying your community partners, working with fire department,
um, local 3, 2, 2, 6. Uh, aware of the property that you,
uh, and the crew cleaned up, and citations were not issued, but they
were noticed many times that the property needed to be cleaned. I'm glad that our
staff was able to work with your group to get this property cleaned. Um,
ra vargas, thank you for, um, thanking our police department, our fire department for
the great work they do. They are very responsive. They are out and about doing the best they
can. And for my position here, as I mentioned to doug ford, one of the
very first meetings, you know, my focus is on the community first, and I'm
not married to this position. So if you see me back on the streets, so be it. But it
is the community first. I'm working on transparent, transparency, making
the city more accountable and doing the best for this community that I can. While I'm up here,
um, for mario, um,
sherry, doug, tina, thank you for speaking on the implementation
of, um, 1383 and some of the complications
that's come along with that, I know athens is currently, uh, working with residential
more specifically, they're also working with the business community, um, trying to address some
of the con concerns they've brought forward. That being said, the city council has tasked
me with, um, meeting with athens. Um, as
soon we are, we're meeting tomorrow, and then we're meeting weekly to address the
concerns, the ideas, and the things you've brought forward. Um, so I
just want you to understand that you, you are being heard. The council has heard you, and they have
asked me to accelerate my work with this project. As you know, this
project was, uh, going on for multiple years and just recently got
approved, but it started, um, back six, eight years ago when this first
started. Um, doug, with your questions and the limited time I have,
um, I'm gonna send you a detailed email tomorrow to answer. I wrote down all your questions
with specifics so you have it in print. You can share it with the business community,
and hopefully that gets some, uh, uh, relevant and correct information out there to everybody.
from there, we can move forward and work, um, with your business
community on the glendora district, as well as throughout the city as we implement 1383
and address some of the hiccups and concerns that have been, um, brought forward.
um, brian calderon, tabba, thank you for bringing, um,
the handouts and samples today and speaking on federal activities within
the city. Uh, glenn kennedy, thank you for your work with the historical
society, and again, your meeting this friday, 7:00 pm at 3 3 8.
um, glen dora, um, I have is glen still here?
glen, I did see you on social media and doing your podcast, some great information
and historical information about the city for ivan, nada,
julie, maria, johnny gilbert, maurice, matthew,
and especially sage. Um, we do appreciate and thank you for the work that you've
done within our community for, for many years. Um, the people that work
the streets, our police, fire, public safety, um, they
recognize the hard work and dedication that you put into, uh, cleaning our bus stops.
what people may not recognize is that often you would clean a
bus stop and then unfortunately, unhoused or others would then mess
it up pretty quick, quickly afterwards. But I, I do understand, I do
appreciate all the work that you put in, um, to our city.
um, steve bennett, uh, on the meritage project, meritage project,
um, that will go be for the planning commission at an
undetermined date soon. And then we'll come back to the city council, as it should, as
josh murray from west covina library. Thank you, um, for the updates on
the library teen advisory board meeting, and your work with black history
month and much more. Uh, marsha salerio, thank you for your,
uh, comments on the audit committee. We did have a very good two hour meeting, um,
a week ago and was very productive. And I think we will be,
uh, moving forward, being far, far more transparent. And for the c the
community. Um, as the audit committee meets quarterly, what we're gonna start doing
after their quarterly meeting, I'm gonna report out, um,
about the audit committee meeting. So it's not just the five people or the handful that attend
the audit committee meeting. I want the whole committee, the community to understand what the audit committee's
bringing forward, their ideas, concerns. So everybody has an idea. Um,
and happy birthday to marsha, if you're still here. Um, john schumaker,
um, on your, uh, accommodation request, I understand that risk management will be getting back to
you this week. Uh, it's been a busy week, uh, but it has been forwarded,
uh, through risk management and our, our labor council to get you a answer in
writing, um, no later than this week. And I believe that concludes
all my responses for tonight. Madam mayor. Okay. Thank you. Onto consent
calendar. Oh, did you have, yeah. Uh, yes, madam mayor, I just have a question. Pantos, go
ahead. Thank you. Um, um, I, I was
just wondering with regard to the valley light contract, I thought that, that the, the
contract was, was originally going, we were just awaiting a report regarding
the cleanliness, and then we were going to vote on that contract. What has
happened since I, I thought that they were on a month to month contract and then, and then
it would be brought back to us for approval. Did something change? Uh,
my understanding is that, um, city staff, uh, was notified
by the company that they would not be providing services at the established
contract rate that was agreed to, uh, from their staff,
was to prepare an rfp to go out for services, uh, which they're
still eligible to, um, submit through the rfp process.
okay. Uh, thank you. And my, my second question is with regard to the meritage,
uh, uh, property with regard to proper procedures relating
to, uh, uh, counsel, um,
just even communicating with, with, with meritage, what, what is,
what is it that we should and should not do so as not to, uh, fall
afoul of whatever applicable rules are with regard to when we are allowed
to communicate with them and when we are not allowed to communicate with them in light of where they are in
escrow? Um, great question. Um, mayor prom,
I'm gonna defer to our, um, city attorney, brittany roberto, to
answer that question. Um, madam
mayor, if I may speak, uh, mayor pote, I believe that's
probably a discussion that's more appropriate behind not an open session
that we can advise you on the parameters of the brown act and what is and is not appropriate.
okay. E even if that's advised, uh, will there be a point when that will be
rev, uh, shared with the public to the extent legally feasible? Feasible?
because the perception among the community is that we are engaging in
nefarious activities when, when that is not how we are operating. And so
in order to ensure that there's public trust, can we make sure that, that
we prepare, uh, a report or something that can be read or disclosed
in open session. Um,
I believe that's something that needs to be discussed internally in the city attorney's office. And we may need
to have a separate mother may I type item to get direction from
the council on something like that. Thank you. But we do report out in accordance with the
law. Thank you. Councilman wu.
I want to follow up. Okay. Mayor proton regarding the valley light, and
I, as, as I remember last year, I was the mayor. Okay. And regarding
the issue come up and I remember our direction basically
month to months and bring back to us mm-hmm . And then we going to
approve it or this and that. But during that time, and I remember improve it
and uh, in august 23rd, I saw them in couple bus stops. So I stopped
and, uh, take it. I took a picture with them and, uh, it's really clean. So
that's why I posted my facebook in august 23rd. So, so the point
is they didn't lose the contract. Okay. My understanding, this
year's services month to months, okay. And, uh,
with a five year contract or not, the long term contract will come back to us.
so we are going to, based on their performance, and then we will make
decision to approve or dec or disapprove the contract. So this
supposedly still with us, and councilman you, you are correct.
uh, we were going to a month to month and to come back to the council
somewhere while doing the month to month, they advised staff that they no longer
wanted to honor the agreement and contract we had for the dollar amount
per month, per year. And they wanted to renegotiate, um,
that contract. So it was on them to withdrawing service. It
wasn't us terminating a contract. Uh, we are getting
prepared to come out with the rfp for bus shelter service and cleaning
and get somebody on board shortly. I I, I don't think our direction
is go to rfp. I think our direction is bring them back about their performance.
am I right? That's what I remember. That was the last discussion.
yeah. I, I didn't, I didn't remember the city council request ip,
but I, I, I wasn't aware of that. I know, um, the letter that they've
provided, the demand to cease and desist for defamatory statement, and this is a
personal issue between valley light and councilman gutierrez, um, with
the whole letter that they provided. So there was an just other internal
disputes, but my point is the council didn't request ip,
the council requests okay. Month to month and then bring
back to this council regarding the finding the performance
and see, okay. And how this okay. Was and
the contract, and then it should be couple months bring back, but you never
bring back to us okay. To today. So, so, and then
you say you go to rp. So I kind of confused. And then I don't think last,
last, when that meeting, I don't think we asked for ip. We asked
for month to month and bring them back. So
during that time, um, value light industries contacted the city
and advised they were cease providing services to us
under the existing contract. They wanted to renegotiate the
contract or come back for a, a higher amount. Um, since they
willfully decided not to continue working for the city, we were
now in search of a provider to clean our, our bus shelters. Just
a question. If they had communicated with lead
and different than what we request, should you bring back to
us, tell us what happened between you and ct and the
very light so we understand what's going on. But because my understanding is
month to month, so I don't understand why they say they don't have a contract. So
I'm kind of confused about that. Supposedly we never request ip
my understanding okay. That there is supposedly, supposedly should
be bringing back, but okay. If they want to renegotiate contract, it can discuss
with us, bring through the agenda, uh, due to this, they request additional
okay, this and that, then we can approve or send ip. Am I right? Is
that the procedure? That is correct. So, so I think okay. You
should communicate with, uh, with a very light and tell them,
okay, because we never asked for ip, I don't think we, we vote on anything
about late ip. So certainly city center ip for, for
no reason. Okay. So, so this is one thing I think about,
uh, the very light thing and regarding ethan, and I think when
I read this, this is pretty shocking, about 70% increase.
so I, I think there's really, uh, need to discuss
with ethan. Ethan, okay. If, and we have to check all the business, if
they all have, uh, increase like this, then we might have to
see what other way to, to, to work with them. Meaning even we
seen the contract with them. I think that the point is they need to own
what they promised to us. And, uh, we are second
largest business. Okay? And the community next to
pasadena, yeah, about three, 4,000 business, we need to make sure
they can survive, especially mountain park business. So we wanna make sure,
okay. And, uh, they not misleading us about what they
promised and then to come out the bill is different. Understood. So
two things, uh, I will discuss with the staff that was working with valley light, get a
more detailed answer, move forward with either working on their
contract or going out to rfp. We can go either way. And also with the athens,
again, I am meeting with athens again tomorrow that work through these items and address
the community and business concerns. Uh, I think they need to clarify. Okay, I don't know how many business
receive a shocking okay. New bill to them. So we
need to maybe check with our, okay. And the community development
manager to check with coding up and, uh, have them provide the, so
we need to blankly check all the businesses, what kind of bill they have, how many, how many
percentage they can increase. So not only okay, the
the people at, uh, our downtown, but also entire
city. Okay. So we can pick all the area and uh, okay. Ask
them about their trash bill and they have them to provide so we can have information
to see, okay, uh, are they really deceiving us? Okay.
so we, we look into all the business about their bail. So, so I think
in that way, you have much, you have more bullet to de negotiate with them
rather than only couple, couple, couple business like, uh,
bond street, like, uh, okay. And uh, uh, portal. Okay.
I think they have issue too. They increase like almost 70% too. So,
and plus, I don't know, some other office, I haven't received any other
complaint yet. But, um, my point is this, why don't we wait
for the business to complain it's too late. I think we should maybe call them
and to have them see how did, how's the bail? What is the percentage? So
we can check. So in that way, in that way, we have more information to
negotiate, uh, to bring them to say, what the heck is this?
okay. Understood. One of the, uh, topics for tomorrow, or agenda items that
we're gonna be discussing with, I'm gonna be discussing with athens is identifying,
quantifying how many businesses are affected by a 17%, how many
businesses are affected by a 50 or a 70 or more. And then
be able to capture those businesses and reach out to them. Uh, I think
any about what they agree upon, they will be unacceptable.
okay. Like they, even 70% is already pretty high,
but anything about that, that will be pretty shocking because we need
to compare with other city. Okay. What is the percentage and this on that.
so, so anyway, this is my suggestion to, to check with all the business
with their building the code up. Okay. Have your staff to request
those trash bill. Okay. I think all everybody received a new bill.
I received a new bill too, so, so possible. Okay. And we can collect
all those information. Supermarket, okay. Check the super, our
supermarket, have them provide a bill. Okay? How much is they increase? So
with that, you have more information to describe. Plus we want to
know too. Okay? Okay. Is that they have an owner what they promised to us.
and, and, and then, so I think this is, uh, this is much easier
to understand what we get into it. Okay. In that way
we know the fact, okay. What the business get hit on it.
okay. And regarding the value view, I think we never asked for ip.
my suggestion is if our council agree, we should go back to
what we originally bring, bring back to us. If they want to renegotiate,
you can still bring back to us they wanna increase this, okay. And bring the contract. See, we
want to approve or not, rather than go to ip and they, right now we need
somebody to clean the bus and then let those, so those people need job. So
what we delayed, okay, so I think we never asked for ip, my
understanding. Okay. I think okay, we can talk to them.
okay. And if it's too much we bring to us, then if we all agree, we
send ip, otherwise let's continue to use this service month to month. That's what we agree
upon. Okay. When the last meeting that what we, our decision is,
was, am I right? Yes. Okay. I'm done. Um, thank you. And I have something, sorry,
and I'll, I'll get to you in a bit. Um, I, in regards
to their letter, I know that they had a few demands, um, with valley light.
so I, I I think they wanna see those demands being met. Um, that is
in regards to valley light. As for athens, thank
you for providing the breakdown of the sheet.
I know in the past we had told athens previously to compare it with
other cities that it wasn't gonna hurt our businesses. I mean, we were told.
so of course, I mean obviously this affects all businesses and we
wanna make sure that that is being corrected. Um, and then I'd like to
give, uh, councilwoman diaz, she wanted to speak. Oh, you
got it. Okay. Thank you. Now you can go, uh, council, oh, uh,
mayor pro, oli contos. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, milan, just for,
just to make sure that I understand, you said that they, are, they asked for
a negotiated rate. Is the negotiated rate that they wanted or with an increase,
was it different from the original amount of what we originally would've approved
on that night when their contract was up? Or was it a different rate? Just, I just wanted to make sure
to have apple's to apple's comparison. Um, I don't
know the exact right. I believe it was more, I don't know the difference, uh,
how much more they were asking for. Um, I had staff, a staff member
working with them on that. Um, but again, essentially they, they abandoned the
contract and decided they were not gonna do our bus shelters anymore.
um, so with that, that's why the idea to go rfp 'cause we do need
somebody to clean our bus shelters. And if they weren't gonna be the service provider, I
needed to have other sources to draw from. Thank you.
yeah. Please make, make sure you speak to , uh, councilman gutierrez.
yes. Uh, maybe kelly, do you remember, I think kelly knows
the, the exact words of the matter. May I? 'cause I believe, uh, do
you remember roughly what happened that night? What the council request was?
evening? It's on. It's on. Okay, great.
um, no, I'm sorry. I don't remember exactly what it was, but, uh,
the acting city manager is correct. We, we, we were working with them on a, on a
month to month contract, and at some point they gave us a very
short deadline with a increased the, uh, rate was, um,
higher than, uh, what we were working off of. And
so, um, when we weren't able to meet that deadline, they had ceased
service. Great. And, um,
let's see.
mind you, this is, uh, a public comment and I'll, that's off for you, kelly,
but, um, okay, great. Um, so if
I, if, and that was on that day, um, city manager
on that day, that was the day where we were presented, uh,
rfps to approve that night, right? I think that
was a, a a, their new contract was brought to us that night, right? I think,
um, I don't recall if they brought their contract that night or if this was
just a, based on a mother may, may I, uh, status report on observations
in the field. Yeah, I, yeah, I think it, I think it was an agenda item,
and it's either, it's either we requested
an rp or we rejected the rrp, um,
but there was clear direction that they were to continue on a month-to-month
basis. Uh, that is clear. So at no point did I
say I wanted to, uh, permanently or, or, or any way fire
them. I think that's misleading. Uh, I think, uh, the council
as a whole voted to, uh, give them a month to month, uh,
services, uh, when it comes to, also on a separate note, when it comes
to people with disabilities, uh, all people with disabilities,
regardless of your disability, but if you do have a disability, you can become anything you wish
to become, because only you have the power to make change and, and make
and determine your future with determination and aspirations. Anything can
be achieved. Um, and so at no point, uh, did
I judge their contract based upon the people or individuals
who work for that company. Uh, that's not in my, uh,
values as a person. And, uh, and they were not judged, uh,
based upon who works for their company. But rather what I've heard,
uh, from community residents, uh, from our community, and, and again,
uh, those who have disabilities, the impossible is always possible when you believe in
yourself. Um, when it comes to athens trash services,
um, this is just one business bill.
but when you look at the contract like I have after the fact,
uh, there is, it's the first, it's different than what was
presented to us, um, at the time we voted.
so, um, city staff will look into it, but eventually
it's gonna come to a point where this council has to make a determination and
an and, and a decision if we're gonna ask to officially ask
that that contract be presented to this council again, to make sure that, we'll,
we voted on what we were verbally towed matches what was on paper.
and I think we owe that to our businesses in our community. And
that's one of the requests I did, uh, at the last meeting. But,
um, and so, so yeah,
I, I think that's, uh, very important, uh, in that aspect. And again,
uh, yeah. And, and, and, and the, I guess a, a legal
question for our city attorney, if, if, let's just say, uh,
and I know, man, and you've been, uh, very passionate in, in, in, in making sure this co
this company had an opportunity. And, and it's unfortunate that they chose not to
proceed, uh, with, with the, with the opportunity. But just to clarify
on the legal aspects of stuff, if a business wanted
more money than what was on their original contract, uh, then
what the consul approved originally and what was awarded due to rfp process,
will the city legally have to go for an rp then if they wanted
more money? Um,
brittany, I'm not, can you please clarify your
question? I didn't. Yeah, so I think there was a, I think, um, that, uh, our acting
city manager stated that they wanted more money, and that's why I they not wanna
continue to be paid or on a month to month services. Uh,
maybe minor. You could let clarify. Yeah. So I do remember that meeting.
it was actually to extend their contract. That was the agenda is item at the time,
uh, that, that item came up. There were some concerns about the, the quality of work, the
maintenance of the shelters, those type things. The council then determined that we will go
on a month to month and we will, uh, have public safety
following and monitor their activities, which matt and
his staff were doing during that time period. Um,
the, uh, the belly light decided that they were gonna discontinue service
with the city at that point until a new contract
is brought forward. Staff was working, uh, and discussing with them,
uh, their terms and what they were looking for. And again, when they said they did not
want to provide service anymore, that's why we decided we, we would start preparing
an rfp. 'cause eventually we do have to have somebody, whether it's them or anybody else,
uh, we need to have a provider. So the intent the whole time was to
continue them on a month to month, whether it was one month or six months,
um, until we come back within a, a revised contract if needed.
okay. Thank you. That answers my question. And valley light has sent other
emails, um, previously. Uh, so please take that into factor
on two consent calendar. Uh, counsel, is there anything you'd like to pull from the
consent calendar? Uh, uh, mayor pro contos, uh,
item number four, please. Four. Anybody
else? I'll do one.
just one. Uh, no, I'm, I'm looking, let's see, um,
number five,
number nine, and
number 10. 1, 5, 9, 10.
anyone else? Okay. Uh,
do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar items one through 11,
with the exception of number 1, 4, 5, 9, and 10? I'll
move to approve. Second. Okay. Roll call.
thank you, mayor. I have a motion by councilwoman diaz
and a second by councilman wu to approve consent calendar items
one through 11, with the exception of items 1, 4, 5, 9,
and 10. Council member gutierrez aye. Councilman
wu? Aye. Councilwoman diaz? Aye. Mayor, approach him contos. Aye.
mayor lopez. Vito aye. Motion passes, uh, onto item number
one. Go ahead. Councilman gutierrez? Yes. So, um, yeah,
so I, I think there is concerns regarding obviously what
the residents have spoken about, about, uh, meritage mlc holdings
being put on closed session on that when we were not the
property owners. And, and so, uh, with that being said, uh,
I will, um, uh,
I will, uh, I will vote no on the, on the minutes for,
uh, closed session and yes, on the minutes for open session,
um, number one, I move the motion to approve.
I second. All right, I'll second. I'm
sorry, who gave the second? I, I'll second. Nobody else. Thank you. I
have a motion by councilman wu, a second by mayor lopez viro to approve,
uh, consent calendar item number one, which is the approval of the january 20th, 2026
city council closed session and regular session minutes. Councilman gutierrez?
yeah. Oh, no, no. Sorry. . Councilman wu? Sorry. Yes.
aye. Councilwoman diaz. Aye. Mayor
pro. Tim contos. Aye. Mayor lopez. Vito aye.
motion passes and I'll make a motion to approve, uh, attachment number two,
open session. What? That's not, or not which one?
recommendation. Oh, okay. It's one. Okay. Sign. This is one. Okay,
no problem. Okay. Uh, onto item number
four, em contos. Thank
you, madam mayor. Uh, this is regarding the, uh, code of co, uh, conduct.
uh, I, I, I wanted to, uh, I, first of all, I've
gotta apologize to my colleagues. I sent a dear colleague letter this afternoon. Uh,
I've been sick for most of two weeks, and so I did the best I could to get it to everybody.
um, and I don't, I, I don't know if that's going to affect things, but basically, just to give a summary,
I'm proposing a series of small language changes just to ensure,
uh, appropriate first amendment, uh, safeguards, uh, with regard
to the, uh, code of conduct. And I laid out in that dear colleague, uh, letter, just
a few small, uh, changes that would, uh, in principle essentially
allow people to have their freedom of speech, but not, uh, bring us
into a situation where, uh, terms are so vague as to as
to cause conflict and potential litigation and, and, and other situations
relating to, uh, allegations of, of, of
constitutional violations of the first amendment. And so, I, I laid that out,
but the other thing I wanted to say is that, uh, over the past two weeks and going
over it, uh, the entire code of conduct, again, uh, it's just, it's,
it's really, really long. And I can understand why, because there meant to address
a, a number of problems, but it's just really unwieldy for, for the average person
to really understand. Um, and the, the thing that, um,
I think I pointed out, and I think I'm gonna need some help in, in reading a section just
to sort of, to illustrate, um, this, but, um, there's
several various sections that, that just have vague language. And so what I'm, what I'm
asking is that, first, if, if, um, just to illustrate first,
I don't know if, if of the, the assistant city clerk can read from, from
that, from that letter. There's a section where I, I think it's 2 7 0 9
ci think, um, if, if she, if, if that's the
right section, and if you could just double check it's, it's right in the, in the letter, um, toward the
beginning of the dear colleague letter. And it's just to illustrate a point. And then, and, and I'm
going to then make a point order. Okay. But my suggestion have, uh,
uh, the attorney tom tom mcconnell to maybe address your concern,
uh, since he's the person, address all this court conduct. Okay.
I think maybe the answer would be much more precise. So, uh, okay. So
I guess in, in light of the, the recommendations, and, and, and I,
again, I'm, I'm openly and transparently admitting I, I only provided this to
everyone this afternoon. Um, but if there's a way that we, we could look at this code
of conduct, uh, with these possible amendments and have, have it reviewed and just,
just put it to the next meeting so we could be reviewed properly rather than pushing
this through, I just would be appreciative. And again, literally
it's just to address first amendment considerations that are laid out there.
and, and I, um, copies were also made available to the public to see what they are. But,
but if, if that could be done, I would really be, uh, appreciative. Uh, so that
way we can make sure to still have a code of conduct, but yet, uh, uh,
do this in a way that that, uh, addresses first amendment considerations and also
tries to find a way to make this more streamlined within not being so
onerous with the document being so darn long and hard to understand in different places.
uh, council member, uh, contos, if you don't mind, I wanna address a
couple of things from your, uh, letter, but just generally sure. If we could discuss that,
um, if it is not passed tonight, if there's changes made, it would come
back for a second reading. Again, I think that's what you're asking is, is for us
tonight to discuss what changes you would want to have, uh, made and then
to have those changes made and brought back to the council. Is that accurate?
yes, exactly. And, and out of respect for recognizing that I,
I provided this so late, I also wanted to, to, in the same way that I
don't want to rush through, I, I wanted to, to at least give my colleagues an opportunity to
read, read what I gave them so they could, they can have some thoughts on that as
opposed to our just getting it through tonight. And so that's why I'm just requesting a delay.
I mean, we can talk about it now too, which we should, but I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from.
yeah. And, and if, if I could make a recommendation to the council, um, council
member s's uh, email was approximately
six pages. Um, there are a number of suggestions in here
that I think would be worthwhile having a discussion with the council so that the
language that's brought back to the council, if, if the council wants to make these changes,
would be something that you'd be ready to vote on next time if you're not ready to vote on at this time.
is that fair? Yes. Okay. Um, and, and that paragraph, did you
want me to read that paragraph for you? Yes, please. Yes, please, tom. Thank you. Yeah, no problem. And and don't
worry, I don't take any writer's insult to it. Oh, I understand. . Um,
the, the paragraph that you're referring to is material interference with truth finding,
and it says, an elected or appointed official shall
not engage or attempt to engage in conduct intended to materially
interfere with the city's ability to ascertain the truth or reach lawful
informed outcomes in connection with city business or city governance.
material interference with truth finding includes, but is not limited to
providing materially incomplete, misleading, or deceptive
information directing, encouraging or knowingly permitting
others to provide materially false or misleading information,
intentionally delaying proceedings, disclosures, cooperation
or responses where such delay is material to obstructing review,
investigation, or decision making, attempting to influence, disrupt,
or affect the scope, timing process, or outcomes of administrative
investigatory, regulatory enforcement or advisory matters
through the misuse of authority, access, or influence,
using authority or influence to pressure, discourage or manipulate
participants, witnesses, investigators, or advisory fact
finders. Were attempting to influence the material content scope,
timing, or outcome of investigatory advisory
review findings through misrepresentation, concealment,
delay, or other obstructive conduct. Thank you, tom.
I really appreciate it. And attorney to attorney you. You, I really love
your ability to write . I, but I, I, the thing that I was worried about
with regard to this and why, why put this in the dear colleague letter is it's an illustration
of how it's, it's hard, at least, at least for me, I, I, I don't
know exactly what that means contextually. And that's, that's just an example
of why I was supportive of efforts to
slim down the code of conduct, to just have a, just to have it
more workable. Because this is really, it's just, it's long and it's unwieldy. And a lot of residents have
frankly told me they don't understand what it says. And so I realized that
maybe we can, maybe we could, uh, revise it for more plain
language if we can find a way to, to put summaries in to, so it's more
easy to understand. But whatever the case may be, uh, those sorts of
tweaks along with, um, my suggested recommendations to,
to, to strengthen first amendment protections is what I'm asking for. Understood.
and, and so I, I, I could go through obviously and, and
provide context for what this particular paragraph means. Let me just on a
a whole give a little bit more context. Uh, my concern with,
um, generally narrowing the code of context or, or
oh my god, code of conduct. Uh, my concern with narrowing
it is that much of this code of conduct is based on case law and
recognized phrases or, or usage by california superior court and federal
court. And so to the extent that we were going to make this, um,
ultra plain language, let's just say hypothetically that we, we made this as plain
languages as possible, uh, we by doing so, might actually make the
code of conduct longer, which would be ironic, . But secondly,
it, it could actually lose some of the force and effect that you would have in trying
to protect first amendment rights. So, uh, what we're trying to
balance here, I I completely understand. You're trying to balance, you know, something that
is easy to explain with something that is going to be law. And laws
are oftentimes as an attorney to an attorney, oftentimes quite hard to
explain to a lay person. The, the most important thing is to
have something for the counsel to be able to use if necessary.
and, and so I, I would defer to the counsel on what their priority is or their preferences
with regards to any language. Um, I'm happy to go through any language
in the code of conduct to make it so that it is usable and it will have the force
and effect that the council wants it to have. Thank you, tom. So process wise,
uh, would it be possible for, for, uh, you to go through,
uh, the recommended amendments, uh, I mean the recommended
amended language as, as outlined, and then come back with the report so the council can
see, see, um, what will, they'll, they'll have time, but
they'll also see your, your recommendations with regard to incorporation of, of,
of those land language changes. So that way everyone will have more time to germinate
over this appropriately. It's, it's to the council's discretion. I can
go through your recommendations right now orally, uh, with the council, or
I can provide something in writing regarding the, your recommendations. The
only, um, the only issue with that would be if you provide me
with direction now, it would make it so that I could provide a draft for
the next council meeting for consideration. If it was, um,
I provide you with a response to your code of conduct recommendations,
that would mean during the next meeting, the council would approve those recommendations or disapprove
mm-hmm . And that would mean that would be another meeting before the code of conduct would pass. Uh,
again, there's no pressure on this whatsoever. Uh, I wanna make sure this is
right. I just wanna make sure that, um, you're aware of what the, the procedure would
be going forward. Thank you, tom. So for the benefit of the council, can you please just go
over, I'm not able to read it, uh, live in real time the way you guys can, but
can you just go over generally what, what it just for,
for the benefit of others, just read there and then I'll, I'm happy to answer any questions after that
or is that possible? Not a problem at all. Do you want me to go by the headings that you have? Would
that be yes. You know, just a different, you know, uh, just to go over what, what, yeah.
the basic headings of what it says. So, so it's to give the public also who may not have seen the dear colleague
letter yet, uh, what we're all referring to. Sure. Um,
do you want me just to give the, the recommendations or you want me to go by headings?
'cause some of the headings are pre recommendation. If you could do headings and recommendations, please,
that'd be great. And then, and then just read off the principles as to why, because I also bulleted
there different principles that I chose to try to uphold in doing all of this.
absolutely. Thank you, tom. So, uh, number one, why as applied matters
in plain language, um, and the principles that you, you
had bolded here was courts routinely uphold ethics codes on their face,
but strike them down or impose liability when they are enforced in ways
that chill political speech, punish, dissent or criticism, regulate
tone, style or viewpoint, rather than conduct and substitute discipline for
democratic debate. Do you want me to continue? Yes, please. This is helpful.
yeah, no problem. Thank you. Um, number two, shared values underlying these
clarifications. Um, I believe we all agree on these core principles.
uh, one disagreement, even sharp, uncomfortable disagreement is not misconduct.
two, ethical rules should target abuse of power, not unpopular viewpoints.
three, governance processes must not become a tool to suppress criticism.
and four, elections and public debate not discipline are the primary
remedies for political conflict. Um, the third heading, key clarifications
and why they are good for the city, uh, sub would be,
uh, a related to improper conduct towards participants. Uh, the clarification
was regarding terms of demeaning or hostile, um, saying that those
are potentially subjective. Mm-hmm . Um, and the clarifying
language was, improper conduct must objectively and
materially interfere with a person's lawful participation in city
governance or operations. Lawful political disagreement, criticism
of policy advocacy or constitutionally protected expression
cannot be punished even when sharp, uncomfortable or unpopular.
um, is it possible for, uh, when we're going through each of the recommendations,
if I have some response? Yes, please. Yes. It just might make it easier for people to
remember what we're talking about. Yes. Because we'll, probably their eyes are glazing over or they're zoning out
probably. 'cause this is, this is dense, but I really would appreciate that. Again, I was an english teacher in sixth grade,
I dealt with that a lot. , um, with the improper
conduct must objectively and materially interfere with a person's lawful
participation in city governance or operations. And then the second
sentence there, um, regarding political disagreement, um, let me
state what my concern is and then, uh, an option here, um,
the objectively and materially interfere. Um, it is funny because
we're now adding legal terms to it, so that is kind of in our
need for, for us to actually add something for that. But the second
sentence, the lawful political disagreement, criticism of policy
advocacy, um, that's actually something that's already part of the code
in two other sections. Um, there is a lain phrase, I don't
wanna bore everyone here. Um, it's expresso unia exclusion,
ter, which means to express one thing is to basically to exclude
another. If we have a sentence like that
in one section, it starts to actually make the court question, why
didn't you have a sentence like that in all of the sections? And so if
you have an overall guiding principle, which is in the construction section, I think you pointed
out, um, the construction section says just that essentially.
and so that means that governs every single section that comes thereafter.
so my, uh, my recommendation would be objectively and
materially interfere is, is a wonderful addition. I, I think that,
um, if there is a phrasing for lawful political
disagreement, criticism of policy, I would have that as part of the general construction agreed
paragraph and, and have whatever framing, whatever phrasing that
you want to have it in, that sent that one section since it'll govern everything
else. That, that makes sense. I, I, I would agree to that as a friendly amendment to the, to what
I'm suggesting. Okay. Um, the residual catchall
provision, uh, the y clarification is needed. Catchall provisions are
historically the most vulnerable to abuse because they rely on, uh,
rely heavily on discretion. Um, this again, you,
you had, uh, clarifying language. This section may not be used to
regulate or sanction protected political speech criticism, advocacy, or
participation in public debate that would fall within the same, uh, construction. Because if
you put that in that, then there's a question, well, can this other section
be used to regulate or sanction, uh, or, or basically cut
off first amendment rights? Good point. I'd agree to that change too. Okay. So, so I think
we're both talking about, um, so far just the construction
paragraph and, and making sure that that fits exactly what you're looking for. Yes. Okay.
so we'll re we'll return to that one, uh, in a minute here. Uh, interim governance
based measures, uh, you have interim measures through, uh,
though labeled non-punitive confunction as punishment in practice
if imposed too quickly or too broadly, and you had four bullet
points. Clarifying language, uh, measures require specific
articulable facts showing immediate and ongoing risk.
they must be the least restrictive means available. They must not
restrict participation or speech based on viewpoint or tone. They must be viewed
at, uh, they must be reviewed at defined intervals. Um,
the first bullet point measures require specific articulable facts showing
immediate and ongoing risk is actually in the, uh, immediate,
the introduction to that particular section that's already covered. So there might
be some language that you wanted to add in, um, but I, I'd have to look at the
language. Sure. Definitively, um, they must be the least restrictive
means available. I, I think that's a fantastic addition. Um, because
you're saying everything else in this says progressive. Yes. So
this is a clarification of progressive. Exactly. Tom. Um, the third,
they may not restrict participation or speech based on viewpoint or tone.
same thing that we're talking about with the construction. So, uh, I,
I think that that's gonna be covered by a different paragraph. Uh, and then they
must be reviewed at defined intervals. Right now it says that it must be
reviewed, but it doesn't say the interval. So I think that you're adding in, uh,
no more than 60 days. Yes. That would be an addition that you'd want yes. To be more concrete.
yes. Okay. Um, construction rule favoring
constitutional protection, we're, we're hammering that construction paragraph.
um, you have in a clarifying language, in
close or ambiguous cases, applications shall favor protection of
constitutional expression and the electoral process over governance based restriction.
um, I had said that we were gonna return to that.
I think that that's the addition that you're looking for in the construction that solves
yes. Everything going up. Yes. So, uh, the construction paragraph
right now, I believe it's q or something. I'd have to find
it here quickly. You could give me one
second. Sure.
construction, I flipped
too far. Oh, thank you.
so the construction paragraph right now, this is what says in full, and I think what
you'd be saying is that if this one sentence was added, it would solve
many of the things that you had above. Yes. Um, legislative discretion and
protected activity, this is d of 7 0 4. Nothing in
this article shall be construed to regulate or prohibit lawful political
disagreement, criticism of policy positions, robust debate during
public meetings, lawful political speech campaign
activity conducted in a personal capacity or other expression
protected by the united states or california constitutions. Mm-hmm . Nothing
in this article shall be construed to prohibit lawful legislative
inquiry, oversight, policy advocacy or
participation in authorized city governance activities, provided such activities
are conducted through appropriate channels and do not involve misuse of city authority,
resources, or access or interference with the lawful functioning of
city operations. Um, if we made that addition to the
construction, would it solve the yes. The other issues that you were identifying then
yes. Because it would, it would cover the whole, the whole document. Exactly. Yeah. So
I think that that's what you're looking for. Yes. Is is in addition to that section that would cover the
whole document. Yes. I'm sorry, attorney, non-attorney people. It's, sorry.
this is what happens when we nerd out. I'm so confused. Sorry, .
I am often because of the, so, so, okay.
so, um, going back to your email, um, what this means
in practice, uh, with these clarifications, ethics enforcement
remains strong and credible. Abuse of power, intimidation, corruption
and safety threats are still fully addressable. Political speech criticism,
criticism, advocacy and dissent are clearly protected. The city
reduces litigation risk and increases public trust, and future councils
will inherit a principle constitution, constitutionally sound framework.
and, and then you had said very nice words about a shared commitment towards
essentially an ethical and code compliant. Thank you for going through
this. So in light of all of that, I'd like to ask for, for council
approval to move forward with the spirit of this. And maybe tom, would it be, uh, if
the, this council so gives that direction, uh, well, what's possible now,
could, could they agree to all of this in principle and then pass it? Or does it
need to come back again? In light of this discussion, we are having, uh, in, uh, in
the open here, I, I defer to city attorney on that one.
I just write things. Madam mayor, if I may answer, it would need to come back.
you can't make any changes to an ordinance at second rating and adoption. So you would have to
specifically identify the changes you want mr. O'connell to make, and
then it could come back at a, the next council meeting with those changes
for adoption. So in light of that, I would therefore request
my co my colleagues to allow those changes. Because doing this now,
even though it's boring and tedious and we nerd out about this kind of stuff, it
actually will help protect us, um, against, uh, allegations of, of,
of constitutional violations, uh, would relate with regard to the first amendment.
so I like to make that request and make that motion. Great question.
uh, councilman wu? Yeah. Uh, and, uh, okay. I
think that's why I hate to talk to my attorney because ,
my goodness. Okay. My wife hates to talk to her attorney. Also. You is logic here. Definition
is, is, okay, so understand, you got, try to find
the right wording. Okay. But my questions over here is the,
our attorney, outside attorney tono, and, uh, what is your suggestion?
you see, it's a, it is a valid point, okay. To do this
amended. Okay. Or it's, it's all about the
same thing. So I think that will be dependent on your professional
subjection and, uh, your point of view.
if you say, yeah, that's good point, and I will support, okay. And
our male potent, but if you say it's almost the same, it's just the
wording different then why we need to, okay, since we haven't
done this for 25 years. But another thing is this, again, we are not in
a hurry, okay? We not, we not rush this and that. We wanna make sure everything,
the, the guideline or ordinance or rule
is people have to follow, obey, uh, if people,
you have a, no matter how nice the law and this the ordinance, but
if people don't follow, it's still just a paper, a
warning. So, but the point is, okay, is this
waring this, you, I know you spend a lot of time go to all cases and go to other
city, and then you compute put this together. Okay? And
then, and our male protein, since he attorney, he,
he has his integrity and his point of view. So he want to read it and
make sure everything's covered. So my point is, since I'm not an attorney,
so I'm just asking your suggestion is that our
mayor portal has a valid point. Okay. That we should go back. Okay. Change
some wording to protect, okay. The ct and the council member.
yeah, so it's an interesting question. Um, any changes
that are gonna add value to the code of conduct to make it so that the code of conduct
is not something that you have to revisit weekly, monthly, yearly.
that is something that I take as valuable. What I would emphasize here is
the code of conduct is, is not meant to create new law. In
fact, it, it is meant to essentially give everyone
on the council something that is more finite, more procedural
than having to come up with things ad hoc based on case law, having to talk to
your attorney, which is, I know a pain. Um, having to talk to people, uh,
and try to figure out what to do with these situations. There's nothing in this code
of conduct, and I do mean nothing. Um, as far as
investigations or, uh, discipline, whatever you might
call it that is not already available to the city of west covina. And so
to the extent that there's any question regarding, you know, timing
or speed or anything like that, this is not a timing of the essence type of,
of passage. So if there was some situation that required an
investigation as an example, which is two seven, uh, that's section
2 7 18 investigation. It's not like we've just made
up that now the city can conduct investigations. Obviously we're
aware the city is in the middle of an investigation right now. These are powers the city has
already had. It is just codifying it so that this council and future
councils know how to deal with these problems in a more procedural
manner. So now, regarding the actual questions of,
you know, did uh, councilman contos add value to
this? Uh, I would say, um, the, uh,
objectively and materially interfere.
I'm sure there's a lot of attorneys that could say that language is, uh,
additional legalese and it's helpful or it's not helpful. Um,
and I even see councilman contos smiling here too. I,
I would say, if you're gonna make these other changes, I, I would say that that change is worthwhile.
um, the changes that I, I think are frankly wonderful,
they must be the least restrictive means available. Uh, change I think is, is a
really valuable addition. Just it goes with the rest of the code.
um, would that be something that would be incorporated in the, in the code already?
it, it is already in there. Um, it's just something that clarifies for
whoever it is that's going through this. 'cause it says very clearly it's progressive, uh, that the
entire code is meant to be progressive and what is happening with governance based measures.
for instance, you wouldn't go directly to an impeachment or something along those
lines if a council member was speaking hostilely to a
member of the public. See, yeah, I, I know, understand your answers create
a smile from the . Only our
attorney contos. Okay. Face is put, my face is
like, I'm more confused. Okay. So, so the point is I only need yes or no
question, but it's a good, it's a good addition. It wouldn't, it wouldn't be
absolutely necessary for it to be a lawful, uh, code of conduct,
huh? It's, it's a yes or no is a, is a, is add value,
then I will support it. Adds value. Yes. Okay, then I will second.
so, um, I would definitely say that before we,
well, I mean, if, if you wanna take a vote on what councilman contos, I, I would
strongly advise that. All comments. I was gonna say this
are heard because I, I want, this is the opportunity for each council to hash out everything.
um, uh, I know, uh, councilman
gutierrez had sent us an email in regards to this. Um, so yes,
we'd like to go ahead and, uh, answer your questions.
I mean, ask your questions because we don't want a lawsuit.
yes, thank you, mayor. Um,
mr. O'connell, does the code of conduct, say a council member has to go through the city
manager before talking to staff?
are, are you asking about the council manager,
uh, form of government in the code of conduct, or are you talking about actually the municipal ordinance
that's already part of the law for, um, state of west covina? Yeah, it's
both, but okay. Uh, I think the, the city has that code and then,
um, uh, I can leave the co this new code of
conduct also has it, right? Not exactly as you stated. That would be
a misstatement of how it is that the code of conduct states it. Well, I'm asking you.
I'm telling you. Okay. It's a misstatement . Okay. Tell me what it says .
that's what I'm asking you. Tell me what it says. Do you want me to say what the municipal code
is first? I'll do that. So the municipal code, which is section two dash
1 51 powers and, and duties of the city manager. Um, it
says council manager relations, this is section q,
the city council and its members shall deal with the administrative services of the
city only through the city manager, except for purpose of inquiry.
and neither the city council, nor any member thereof, shall give orders
to any subordinates of the city manager. The city manager shall take
his or her orders and instructions from the city council only when sitting
in a duly held meeting of the city council. And no individual council member
shall give any orders or instruction to the city manager. The city council
shall instruct the city manager in matters of policy. No
council member shall in any manner, directly or indirectly by suggestion
or otherwise attempt to influence or coerce the city manager or any
candidate for the position of city manager on matters relaying to the appointment, promotion
or demotion or removal of any employee or award of any purchase order,
order or contract. That answer your question. And what does
the, the new code have?
I believe it has a new adding it has a new ruling,
a new rule, saying that you can no longer do inquiries
with department head. That's not accurate. Okay. What does it say? I'm asking you, can you please answer the
question, ? Oh, I, I am answering your question. . I continue to answer your question. I don't
wanna read my e long email in front of everyone. I mean, I don't want to aboard board them,
I mean board them with all this email. So I make, I could look for it in here,
but, okay. So which particular
part would you like me to point out regarding the inquiry? Which one would you like me to
go through? So if I'm, if I'm not mistaken, without
me having to read this email, 'cause I don't think, uh, councilman diaz wants me to read it
all, but, um, um, or my colleagues,
but there is a section in general phrases that,
in other words, you could no longer do. If I had a question,
for example, for to our finance director, I'm not allowed
to go, uh, inquire with her about a financial, financial
status of, of, of, of something that's not accurate. There was a
mu tell me the section. I believe there was a mother may I that was passed that
required, uh, that not to occur anymore. That's not true.
can you show me the section, tell me the section and I'll, I'll be happy to answer questions
regarding, so I, if I'm not mistaken,
I think the mayor passed a motor, may I, that said that you have to go through the city manager
if you wanna speak to department. Is this related to the code of conduct or something different? Please go directly.
I believe you added based upon what she asked for, you added it to it.
that's not true. Take a look at the red line. There's literally the only thing that's been added is
in the red line. And the only thing that's been changed, for instance, is elected
and appointed officials. Um, as opposed to saying that it
is just an elected official that's a council member, you'd have to
look at, uh, the attachment number two. So that's, that's not accurate. What does it say?
uh, look at attachment two. Do you have a copy?
it has red lines. There's no addition like you're referring to whatsoever.
so are you say, okay, so, okay. And okay, let's just, okay. In, in
a regular question, can a council member contact a department head to inquire
to do an inquiry? So are you asking
under the municipal code or the code of conduct? I'm asking
you based upon case law. Okay. We're here talking about the code of conduct
and if you wanna talk about case law, we can talk about that. You've a whole bunch
of emails. You, you have a municipal code and you have a code of
conduct that backs each other. Yes. Okay. So I'm asking
you can a council member contact a department head to
in do inquiry? So an inquiry
that you're talking about right now, are you talking about levy versus santa monica? C of santa
monica you cited? Yes. Okay. Can we talk about
that a little bit more? 'cause you're citing it for something that doesn't actually say
it says in levy, the court said you can, do you have levy? I can give it to you. Yes, I have
a copy for you. It says in levy, the court said you cannot block elected officials
from talking to city staff because that stops them from doing their job and
violates free speech. Not actually what the case says.
it's not, it, it's not the words. What is the words here?
lemme give you a copy.
adam, clerk, do you mind if I alright. You got hand that to him
to the, yeah. Council member gutierrez, that's actually been a perfect time. Sure. I'm talking about
the same case. So it says,
tell me where you're looking. I'm I'm gonna read you the email I sent you
here since you're asking so many questions. Lets, so here, so levy versus santa monica,
the very first sentence of the opinion. Santa
monica city charter section 6.10 states,
except for the purpose of inquiry, the city council and
its members shall deal with the administrative service under the city manager solely
through the city manager. And neither the city council nor any member
shall give orders to any subordinates of the sea manager either publicly or privately.
first sentence of the opinion. What's
your question? Where is it at? Where is that at? First sentence of the opinion?
turn of page five where it says opinion. Did you read this?
uh, mr. Con, are you mad about something right now or just what I know you don't want to ask, ask
answer questions. Well, it sounds like you're very argumentative right now, so I
I would agree. I would like to ask my questions. Where are you being argumentative? So, um,
okay. Okay. I'm on page five. And where, where is that at? Okay.
under gilbert, pj yes.
except, except for the purpose of inquiry, the city council and its members shall deal.
exactly. So ex except for purpose of inquiry, so mm-hmm. Council
members can inquire with city staff according to this case, council
members can inquire and it's just inquiry. Okay, thank you.
you, you, we, we saw that question. Okay, so
what I'm reading in case law, I may be saying it, I purposely,
uh, put it in words more understandable to the public. So
I'm not reading you verbatim what the law specifically says. So I don't
lose the public's understanding what the questions I'm asking.
and so we can move on, um,
under the code, the consul can so on, under the code, the consul
can punish another council member for things they say. Isn't that
punishing political speech? Your, your hypothetical is
wildly I'm asking you yes or no. If, if it's no, it's no, I don't
need commentary. Commentary. I'm answering your question. Your question doesn't
actually ask a total question. Okay. So, and, and, okay.
and if we move on then, then in the us supreme court say
that once you start limiting someone's duties, that becomes a first amendment
problem in houston community colleges versus wilsons of the us supreme
court. Nope, it did not. Okay. You want a copy of the case? If
we're gonna read the same thing, go ahead. Gimme a no, you're saying it says one thing and
then when I read it, you acknowledge it does say it. See, the problem I have always said it was
inquiry and you kept on changing my words. So the
problem that we have is that every single time you
send an email like this that has case law, it's never actually
the case law. It's not what it says. And so we spend
hours going back and forth and doing research. So that's that
the taxpayer's dollars on this, and I wanna make sure that we're actually talking about,
but you don't, you don't tell us how much you're getting paid by hour, but, but we move on. I talk about that email,
but we move on and, and you're talking about
the problem is, is that you're a labor law lawyer, you're not a constitutional law lawyer, you're not
a brown act lawyer. And, and so you keep on, you keep refer
referencing to my email. I don't wanna stall time and, and
my colleagues, I don't think want me to read this email, but if you're asking me to, I I will,
but okay,
so, okay. Houston, houston college, tell me, tell me in houston what
you're looking at. Did you read houston?
I'm gonna read you portions of this email and then you could, because you, you're being argumentative
and saying says one thing and it does. So, um,
you know, I will allow you to go ahead and read your entire email.
I mean, it was a demanding and threatening email to the city attorneys
and you, and it was to us as well, demanding what we do with this code of conduct. You
freely give tons of copies of all proof of email. You should have done that. The same
today giving oh, I'll read it. Your emails to all the public that is here today.
yeah. So be with the clerk been a perfect opportunity, but go ahead. That's why I'm giving you the floor and giving you all
the time for this to be discussed. Great. So continue on and if you wanna read your
email, read it fully clearly. Okay. What you just commanded and told us. Yes. Dear mayor
lopez vido, council member ru, council member diaz, mr. Doherty, mr.
o'connell and mr. Jones. I write to you in my
capacity as an elected council member for the city of west covea, to formally demand
that ordinance number 2 5 3 7, the proposed city cons
code of conduct be immediately withdrawn from consideration. This
ordinance scheduled for its second reading on february 3rd, 2026,
contains multiple provisions or unconstitutional on
retaliatory and unlawful. Its adoption and enforcement
will violate my rights and the rights of others under the first amendment,
the due process clause, the americans with disability act, a da
and the ralph van brown act, among other laws. If the city council does
not put this ordinance from the agenda or fundaments to revise it to comply
with constitutional requirements, I attend to initially litigation
against the city and, uh, and the officials involved. And there are the
individual capacities without further notice, this letter
outlines the most, a rigorous legal defects of the ordinance
with reference to the specific sections of the red line draft attachment number
two, ordinance 2 5 3 7, and the january 6th and
february 3rd, 2026 agenda reports. It also provides
notice of evidence of retaliatory motive behind this ordinance and
cites controlling legal authority confirming that ordinances of the,
the legality in light of the serious consequences, I urge you
to reconsider and abandon this unlawful ordinance before further damage
is done. The first amendment violations of retaliation and
speech restrictions, ordinance number 2 5 3 7 flanking
infringes on free speech rights protected by the us and
california constitutions as an elected official, I retained rob's
first amendment rights to speak out on matters of public concern and
to perform my oversight duties on behalf of my residents. Courts have
repeatedly howled that local governments may not punish or retaliate
against elected legislators for their speech in levy versus the city
of santa monica. The santa monica rent control board case. The california
court of appeal emphasized that legislators are given the widest latitude
to express their views with no s stricter free speech standards on their
on them than the general public council members are entitled
to speak as a please on matters of vital to them. Errors
or in judgment may be exposed of course, but not through punishment
for the expression quoting word versus georgia three 70
s3 75 19 62. The proposed code of conduct
defies three. These principles, its vague mandates and
punitive mechanisms are fully aimed at chilling and punishing protected political
speech. In particular, my speech and advocacy. Several provisions
demonstrate this unconstitutional over breath, vague and overbroad speech
restrictions. Section two dash 7 0 7, a improper
conduct toward participants forbids a cons member from engaging in
threatening and intimidating abusive, demeaning hostile
sive behavior toward a person involving city governance.
while true threats, while true, while true threats
and coercion are not protected, this ordinance goes much further.
it uses undefined subjective terms like abusive, demeaning,
or hostile. These elastic labels could en
encompass virtually any sharp or critical remark. For example,
if I criticize a staff report as misleading
or question a contractor's performance, could that be deem hostile or
demeaning? The ordinance gives no objective
standard, inviting the majority to punish dissenting speech on a whim.
this sort of vagueness and viewpoint targeting is unconstitutional.
a law divests officials with unfettered discretion to punish
speech they dislike violates the first amendment and due process
its void. For vagueness doctrine restrictions on communications
and inquiry, the ordinance will empower the council by majority vote
to impose communication or co our contact perimeters
on council members as a governance measure. In plain
terms, the majority could gig a member by restricting who,
who they can talk to and what information they can seek.
indeed. Section two dash 7 26 b explicitly
contempts temporary restrictions on
direct contact with specific five persons or entities as a sanction.
this is a direct attack on my right and duty to gather information
and speak with city staff, contractors and members of the public in
a course of oversight, nobody, the first amendment coalition's
legal director has already worn the best kind of staff contact
restrictions, apparently contemp here, likely imposed first
amendment and or, or other problems preventing an elected
pre representative from talking to staff or cons or cons
or constituents, ants, except through a man
managerial gatekeeper, impedes core political speech and
the right to petition. The right to petition. Such restrictions
re retaliate against me for asking hard questions and effectively sentencing
my oversight efforts, which is planing unlawful
punitive measures for protective expression. The ordinance
manual penalties goes well beyond a symbolic sensor. It authorizes
concrete punitive actions such as re as removal from committees
blocking an agenda, participation mandatory training, and other restrictions
on official duties. These are
not me intentional at guidelines, there are retaliatory
sanctions that hinder an elected official's ability to do their job.
they were elected to do the us supreme court's decision in houston community
college system versus wilsons 5 9 5 us 1 42
draws a critical constitutional line in this regard.
in wilson, the court held that per verbal censor of an elected board
member did not by itself give rise to first amendment claim. However,
the court took care to note that the case did not involve
expulsion, exclusion or any form of punishment
and more than severe, and, and that more severe penalties against
an elected official could present problems under the first amendment.
here the city is venturing far beyond a censor.
it seeks to exclude a cons. Member from committees, limit his
participatory rights and even potentially
bar him from accessing information or attending meetings as discussed
below. Such preliminary measures secretly implicates the
first amendment under wilson and and classic cases like
bond versus floyd 3 85 us 1 16 19 66.
the state register violated first amendment by refuses to seat a duly
elected representative due to his political statements. In
short, punishing an elected official speech or political
activity is unconstitutional. And this ordinance attempts to do exactly
that in some ordinance, 2, 5 3 seven's. Speech restrictions
and retaliation mechanisms cannot withstand first amendment scrutiny.
they are designed to retaliate against protected speech, specifically
by outspoken oversight concerning city governance
spending and transparency as I described in my outreach to the first
amendment coalition. After I engaged in oversight public
criti and public criticism, certain city leaders responded with threats,
heavy handed rules to route all my communications to the
city manager and other tactics designed to isolate me from
information channels, discourage further inquiry and punish protected
speech. This code of conduct is a communication of an
all that, of that unlawful campaign to muzzle
a dissenting council member, the first amendment forbids the
city from enacting or enforcing such retaliatory rules,
the due process and vagueness the lack of fair procedure.
the proposed ordinance also tramples on due process guarantees
by authorizing putative action without a fair or neutral
process. And by employing vague standards that fail to give
notice of what is prohibited if adopted, the ordinance will effectively
allow a cons, majority or city staff acting at
their behest to play prosecutor, judge, and jury against
fellow elected officials without the basic procedural safeguards that due
process requires the key due process deficiencies include
no neutral gen, ator, and impartial process. The ordinance
invest, invest the city council itself with the power to determine violations
and impose sanctions by a mer majority vote with the accused
member per personally recused. In other words, my political
opponents on the council, the very individuals who have been the most vocal in attacking
me will act as a sole de decision makers on the charges that
on the charges on the counsel, the vari dis individuals who have
sorry, will act as a sole decision makers on the charges,
the verdict and the permit punishment. There is no provision for any independent
or neutral fact finder or gen care dispute allegations.
all those section two dash seven 15 and section 7 1 2
dash seven 16 allow the city manager to conduct
a preliminary review and outside investigator to compile a report.
the ultimate decisions rhetoric to sanction and how to rest
entirely with the cons majority. And this is a
textbook denial of due process. It violates the fundamental principle, then
no one should be judged in their own ca cause. Yet here
the cons majority will be judging a colleague. For, for conduct
that often involves political disputes between us,
the potential for bias and unfairness is enormous. Indeed, the
process outlined not
meaningful, distinguishable from the unconstitutional expulsion and
bond versus floyd, where legislators opposed to bond views
simply voted to exclude him just as bond required courts
to intervene. When legislative abuse its power to sign into a
member, a similar abuse here would trigger a judicial intervention.
simply put a process that allows a bare majority
to strip an elected official of duties or privileges. Effectively
notifying, notifying the voter's choice without neutral
due process is unconstitutional, undefined, and
the vague standards as noted
above the ordinance, substative standards for misconduct
are exceedingly vague and malleable terms
like abusive, demean, hostile, et cetera, are
not defined. The ordinance also uses broad phrases
such as misuse of the platform of office
to single out or pressure any person and conduct that undermines
their integrity, fairness, and lawful functioning of city governance.
these sweeping provisions fail to give fair notice of what is
prohibited and invite arbitrary enforcement.
a council member has no way to know, for instance, rather,
rather fiercely criticizing a city. Wasteful
spending might later be deemed abusive or undermining fairness.
such elastic provisions can easily be twisted to punish
legitimate political expression or minority
viewpoints, which is why vagueness in this context is
a serious due process problem. The void for vagueness
doctrine exists to prevent exactly this scenario where officials
are chilled from exercising their rights because a law is so unclear
that it could be used against them unpredictably. Here the vagueness
is not accidental. It appears crafted to
maximize the cons, majority's discretion in targeting this favor
behavior or people, this is unconstitutional. If this ordinance
were adopted, I will be forced to self, self-censor and limit my
advocacy out of fear. Then any assert oversight may violate
some unfor civility requirement. The law does not permit
such a sword of demons to hang over an
elected official's head. The lack of notice and opportunity to defend
the ordinance sets up a rapid path from ac accusation to
penalty with insufficient safeguards. For example, a
complaint can be received and filtered by the city manager in a preliminary
review conducted in secret, then forwarded to the council
for action at the secondary review. By cons, the
council can decide to impose corrective measures or launch
a formal investigation while the ordinance does
not. While the ordinance does allow an accused member to respond
during consult considerations and later, before any sanctions are finalized,
the combination of political decision makers and
eo define offenses undermines any meaningful opportunity to defend
oneself. Basic due process will demand a neutral
hearing officer clear charges the right to rep to present
evidence and cross examine witnesses for any proceeding that may result
in deprivation of rights and privileges. None of those features are
present. The
an ad hoc in political and non adjunct. This raises
serious t amendment concerns, compel commitments,
and prior restraint. The ordinance of acknowledgement requirements section two dash
7 0 3, adds another due process and first amendment wrinkle.
it mandates that every council member sign a written pledge confirming
receipt of fity wr an agreement to comply
with the code of conduct and related policies. This acknowledgement must
be ex executed without modification. Not only involuntarily without this
arrest and ero condition is since it
is clearly co co by the ordinance itself.
if a member refuses to sign the ordinance or ministry states
that such failure may be considered in determining appropriate governance
based measures ie punishment under division
four, he even suggests that that signing the form
may be required as a condition of participation in city council meetings and
other city governance activities. In other words, a council member
who does not immediately swerve feel to this new code
could be barred from participating in meetings or conducting city
business, effectively silencing the official and
dis franchising his or her votes. This is extraordinary and
unconstitutional prior restraint on an elected official's rights. For
one, it conditions my ability to perform my elected duties on signing
a document that I believe in parts to be unlawful for another. It
provides no due process at all. The meir act of not signing or even on
the grounds of principle or conscience, is enough to trigger adverse consequences
without any hearing. This deo approach is riley
out of step with due process. The
constitution does not allow the government to demand that someone waive their
rights or surrender their free speech as a precondition
to holding office or to accessing a public form.
imagine if a city required council members to sign a
pledge not to criticize the city. It will be laughed out of, it'll
be laughed out of court. This acknowledgement mandate
is in the same vein. I have a right to voice objections to
certain policies and to refuse to endorse them punishing me
for not signing the form or using that refusal as a basis
to curtail my row would violate both free speech
and due process. In summary, the ordinance procedural structure
lacks the ordinary elements of fair play requiring by due process
the combination of bias, decision making, body vague rules and put
in with preconditions like the acknowledgement creates an unconstitutional shame.
the a da disability rights, privacy, and accommodation concerns.
the code of conduct ordinance also raises red flags under the america's disability
act and related state laws. As you are all aware, I am
a person with autism and have certain accommodations that in enable me to serve effectively
as a council member. Over the past year, I have been subjected to ongoing
patterns of, of disability abuse and harassment. Uh,
I don't wanna offend my, uh, colleagues, you want me to read this or not?
uh, pretty much it goes on and the list goes on and on and on.
but at the very end, um, pretty much he tells us he's demanding
that we would draw this ordinance or it'll trigger a illegal battle in his
own words. Um, and the city will lose. So again, I
wanted to make sure this is all out there. I gave you the opportunity
to speak, so, okay. Well, may, may you, you changed my words now. So you want me to finish? Uh,
I mean, I'll read exactly what you said at the very end. Okay, I'll finish it. The code of
conduct ordinance also raises red flags under the american's disability act.
as you are aware, I'm a person. Okay. It goes on. Over the past year, I have been subjected
to ongoing patterns of disability based harassment and discrimination by some city officials,
including unfortunately, mayor lopez viro and council member vu, who have
made repeated public comments questioning the legitimacy of my autism
diagnosis and ing the removal of my approve accommodations.
this behavior is not only ible on a human level,
but it also violates the ada's guarantee of equal access and non-discrimination
in public services. Title two of the ada a in the california government code
11 1 35, among others. When an elected official
with a disability is publicly targeted and then administratively
isolated after exercising his rights and amplifies the constitutional harm,
creating a disability based chilling and democratic com parti
participation speak up and you will be punished, isolate,
and publicly undermine the purpose. Ordinance appears to be yet
another two in this discriminatory campaign, nor does the
code accommodate or even acknowledge the rights of officials with disabilities.
to the contrary, imposes rigged conduct requirements and mechanisms
that ignore the need for reasonable modifications. For example,
the ordinance will potentially authorized the consult to restrict the matter or
means a member's participation due temporary limitations on participation
in specific assignments or temporary adjustments to access
and to non-public information. If such measures were applied to
me, they could effectively undo accommodations that have been granted
for my disability. For instance, if I require information in a
certain format or advance access due to processing needs, a
restrict a restriction or information access could conflict with accommodations.
there's no provisions ensuring that any governance measure will respect
an official's disability, accommodation, or rights. The mandatory acknowledgement
section two dash 7 0 3 makes no exception or
allowance for disability. It requires me to personally affirm understanding
and agreement to all rules, even do some of those rules as
written might not account for not for how my disability affects accommodations.
by forcing an unconditional agreement, the city could later claim
I waive my a da related objections, which is improper
ineffective under the law and one cannot waive the public's
interest in non-discrimination. Moreover, if
I decline to sign because I need an accommodation related clarification,
I could be punished immediately. This is cohesive and at odds with the
ada's interactive process ideals. Notably, one provision
in the definition section specifically includes automated systems
or digital assistance, including prompts, inquiries, responses,
outputs as part of the document and information
that a customer must preserve and potentially disclose. This unusual
focus is on digital assistance, which presumably refers to generative
ai twos and other modern tech strongly suggests
a target intent. I have in fact utilized supportive
ai disability assistance and other digital tools as part of my
work for research drafting assistance and to help manage the heavy information
load. Something particularly useful given to my colleague. Your
profile. There is no legitimate reason to single out ai twos in a
code of conduct except to constrain my ability to use them
or to intrude upon my workload by casting a white dent over
in ai generated content related to city business. The ordinance
seems designed to either chill my use of assisted technology or
create a pretext to accuse me of some violation if I use such
twos without later surrendering every prompt output as city record
record. This raises posts privacy concerns and a da concerns
privacy because it seeks potential access to my personal
device outputs and cloud cloud data
and a da because it effectively in discourages me from using those
tools that mitigate my disability. The, the city
should be encouraging the use of adaptive and effective tools
to, to help any official perform their job, not outlaw,
outlawing, or stigmatizing them. This provision is a glaring
red flag of the ordinances crafted to micromanage and target me personally,
rather than address any generalized city governance issue in
ever. Great. The ordinance, when viewed in context of city's pattern
of hostility toward my disability, it is very likely to be found discriminatory.
it appears to be part of an ongoing pattern of retaliation. Reha harassment
and public disability based discrimination against me led by mayor
lopez viro and councilman vu. Their fingerprints are all over this ordinance.
and indeed the ordinance most concerning provisions align with past grievances.
they have voiced about me, my communication style, my use of technology,
my persistence in oversight using a city law to formalize
discrimination only compounds an illegality. I remind
you that disability discrimination by a public entity can result
not only in ju okay, we're, we're gonna, I I'm sorry. I think that I see the public falling
asleep there and yeah, I'm sorry. Just, I mean, so anyways, um, I mean
you can, you're more than welcome. You can forward them the copy I letting him
speak. Uh, there's a lot that could go on now that I know you keep
referencing your email to our attorney, tom o'connell.
now you've read that. Now can you ask specific questions? Um,
and again, I have a question. Oh, okay. Let
me, uh, councilman wu and then I'll go with d and
the co conduct is not talking one person or the single or any
person. The co conduct that is for 25 years. Okay?
we haven't have an update and it complied to five verse
including myself. And, uh, you've been accused. I have
my fingerprint. I haven't talked to, uh, okay.
uh, attorney o'connor at all. Okay? And, uh,
okay, this is, uh, what their integrity to check everything about all
other city about what this and that and a lot of, uh, okay.
detail. I think our male potent canto know much more than me.
okay? But again, this is basically is, uh, try to
have a common sense, try to have a courtesy to each other
and to the staff. It's not retaliate or anybody.
last time when this coordinate, okay. Come out and we
discuss and file verse or agree that we might, this is not only
for us. We're not going to sit over here forever, okay? This is for
now and the future. And it is a basic guideline between
the elected and the staff, how we treat each other.
okay? We get elected, doesn't mean we have a superpower, and that will become
their supreme boss. Anything we can just budge in,
I think the common courtesy and, uh, okay, the common sense.
okay? Any, everything goes through the city manager channel command. He's
a ceo. We hire him. He in charge of everything. That's why
we only talking to him. And then anything he need,
okay, we need, then he will go to his, uh, okay director and get
back to us. And this is always what practice
for 10 years. This is how I deal with the city manager because city manager
know and he run the city. He must know what's going on.
and that is what the, always the common practice, I think all, all the
council and barely go directly to, okay, a
director, okay? To asking for some document, this and that. I will ask for city manager
to provide a document of what the issue this. And then you will bring, okay,
finance director this and in the meeting and explain to the dean and
this and that. I think there's a proper procedure. And this guideline
is just want to give people some guideline so we have something, the city have
something to base on it, okay? Attorney has something to base on it, okay? Otherwise,
okay, somebody will say, hey, we never have this on the court counter,
so I can do this, do this. But before now, city council
will do this. But certainly, okay, some people want to do something extra.
and regarding the a da speaking, true, okay, this lie is
really hurting my eye. I tried to bear with that because
a common day and to one council member and I, with this lie,
I might have a, I doted to check about the contract and this, it's really
shocking into my eye. So to comment day you doesn't mean it's going to
hurt all neighbor or other city council. And maybe I will
apply the a da too because of my eyesight get hurt, but by damage by this,
okay? Because this is really, really strong lines over here. Another thing
you're talking about a common day, a da this elect, when you were the appointed
okay? Planning commissioner, he never requests anything a point of order.
you never request any why you get elected. Sir. You I have a point of order, okay? Everything,
I have a point of order. No, I haven't finished. Let me finish. I I have a point of order city attorney interrupt
you. I have a point of order, don't interrupt me. City attorney, I have a point of order. The chair,
the chair should recognize you and allow you to state your point of order and then make a ation state your
point of order. So, um, you should ask the, the of your order attorney
for legal advice because now he's going into reasonable accommodations
that he does not have the legal right to talk about my dis about reasonable accommodations
that the, that he's not entitled to talk about. I want you open, you
should talk to the city attorney, get her his, her legal councilman gutter. You already have
opened that up. So I'm no, I did not talk about I'm gonna allow,
I did not talk how the law works. This is all true. And that's how the law
works. If you don't want people notified, you're violating my a da rights, my privacy rights
sue you for violating my rights, right? That's enough. That's enough. So anyway,
that's what's gonna happen. Why after you got elected as long as, uh, uh, councilman w as long
as attorney you're gonna speak up about, hold on of a d accommodations discuss on this floor.
councilman gutierrez. Councilman wu, as long as you do not go into the details, I'm
going into details. I'm talking about why shirley not going to the details of the,
I'm talking about why certainly he want this one lead and he want the extra
fuel, this and that, and create a burden to the staff.
the a da is about, okay, we have another, okay, male protein,
okay? He never requests anything that's illegal. Stop comparing disabilities.
so no one, no matter what you using a da to protect you. But how about
the rest of our council? About our right? How about my right over
sitting here, the lights shouting point of my eye. Do
I have a war? Come walk you, you could tell the eoca federal judge why you can. So, so anyway,
what I'm saying is this, certainly you have all this accusation, okay?
regarding all this are left. But the truth is this, this core conduct is the guideline
is led. What now in the future, ocd council should, based on
that as a common courtesy, a common sense, like you go to
people's home, you just not baring you need to make appointment. Okay? Now just come
in and want to talk to city attorney, a city manager and take
all his time, this and that, all five us. We have to make appointment
a common courtesy. I I think this is what court conduct is about,
but we just kind of detailed wording. So I waited
second, okay. From male pur regarding okay, her,
his okay regarding the amended some of the wording to make it
more wrong and protected. Um, I just, I, you know, the code
of conduct is not only stem as you alleged or put all the blame
on me and, and attack me on a lot of other issues. This code
of conduct is a consensus of just everything that's already included. I
know you mentioned about like trainings. Well, we do get trainings, we get mandated
trainings, ethics training. I, I know I'm still doing it halfway. It's a two and a
half hour training that I need to complete. But we all need to complete. We, there are already
guidelines and rules that is already in place that this code of conduct
is now just showcasing. Um, this is also the protection of the staff.
we've had issues and complaints from the staff. We had issues and complaints with
the public. And so this encompasses for all of the protection
of the public, the staff, the colleagues. It's
a protection for everybody. And this is, uh, setting a, a standard for
just those that are current and then those that are gonna be, um, in,
in future offices. This is not targeted at one. We'd like to make
sure that we, it, we prevent abuse of power. I mean,
we hear it from the residents in regards when they're, they're talking about us. Well, this prevents,
that prevents abuse of power, prevents the, you know, abuse of a da abuse of
anything. And you know, here, as I mentioned, sometimes in public
we say things and there's a lot of things that are done behind the scenes that, you know, can't
be said or can't be talked. And I wish we could, but these, all
this needs to stop the pettiness, the drama, all that needs to stop. This is just
a standard. And now I bring this for, to you, to allow you and give you the opportunity.
I mean, I know you sent this email cc'd the world, cc'd the news media, the
tv stations, the newspaper, I, every time you send all these emails you
love to bring out and showcase to the world, all this. And they only hear
one side. I don't hear, I don't speak and say all these different things that
you've done. And these a da stuff. There's,
I'm, there's a lot of adas that, that was not mentioned before.
I know like the lighting we have closed session. That lighting is not even,
you know, that's not even touched. But we're not gonna go further in details on
those. The, and I'm giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions because
if you are hiding behind the, the rules here, these are common
courtesy, these are also respect, these are things that everybody agrees on.
and it's that, uh, management from city manager to
the council thing. I know that, that they mentioned earlier, these, these are already
in place. And so if there's an issue, I wanna make
sure that there's no legality issues because I mean, you threaten to sue us, here we
go again, another lawsuit. And so I wanna make sure it's all hashed
out right now. Make sure it's covered. Let the public know. 'cause things are always
done behind and it's like mm-hmm. Nobody really knows. So this is your opportunity council
gu gutierrez to ask questions. I haven't finished my my time yet. Okay?
I wanna conclude what I'm just say. So basically, okay, and uh,
what I'm saying is this, this is core conduct, again, is for
us, for everybody, not, or any person, including myself.
I have to comply too and see when we debate over here,
and this is clearly, uh, evidence example, when I say something
he doesn't like, I'm gonna sue you. So that's what the,
the so-called, uh, retaliation, this and that. It's not from us.
I never say I'm gonna sue you. If I listen to something like I, I I don't
like, but right away, just okay, say I'm gonna sue you, I'm gonna sue this and that.
so this is the intimidation. And that's why we try to use a court counter.
we have a freedom speech. We hear the debating about what is good or
bad, if any change, should we change. I, I agree with, uh, okay,
male potent, okay, counter regarding some of the okay,
he want to change as attorney, attorney say, yes, let's add value.
so in that way, let's make it better for the future. Not, not
just you. Nobody will take nobody, okay? And target you or target
myself or target anybody. It's something we want to make. This is something
that good for the future. So, so any add on this and
that, it would be perfect and welcome, see, to
discuss about this right away you go into the confrontation. I'm
gonna sue you because you say this and that. How can we debating over here
can be freely without worry about, we're gonna sue each other. We
not getting let to come over here to try to fight and try to sue each other.
I think we here and try to find something competitive for our council,
our future, and our city. And that's what we're sitting here for. So it's
not for the you, for me, for any council, for their individuality
or for their personal, right? It's more about, it's a public. We get elected
for public betterments. Okay? And that's why we here spend time
and now see we only item number four is already past 10 o'clock.
I think this like, we are going to go to midnight for something that can be
easily to agree upon and change some word that you don't like,
but comply for everybody and the future. So thank you mayor, to let
me finish. And, um, I know, uh, councilwoman diaz wanted
to say something. Thank you madam mayor. Um, I just find
this very interesting, or I guess I'm a little confused
that the last city council meeting, this
code of conduct was revised to accommodate,
um, councilman gutierrez's liking and he agreed to it and we
all, I think it was five one. And today
we received this email that he was reading and
at the end threatening to sue only the three of us. Though
he doesn't threaten councilman contos, which I have no idea why he agreed
to the code of conduct. So I, I'm confused about that.
but, um, isn't that a threat?
I mean, you're telling us that if we do not
withdraw from this code of conduct, that you're gonna sue me and
the city. I, I don't understand that and I'm sure,
um, we'll have to deal with that. 'cause I'm sure there's gonna be many
more issues that we'll have to address. But, um,
I just think it's unfortunate that we spend so much time on things like
this that are meaningless.
we have a code of conduct. Every government agency has a code of conduct
and we all have to sign the acknowledgement. I thought we
satisfied that at the last city council meeting, and I guess we didn't.
so that was just a comment I wanted to make. Thank you. Thank you. And
again, when we discuss the code of conduct, councilman gutierrez, this protects
you as well. This helps prevent others from bullying you or anything.
so it actually helps you. Um, in here, uh, mayor
pro tim contos offered some solutions
and changes. Now again, I'm going to ask you, what is
it in this code of conduct that you disagree with that, I
mean, I know they've heard this, you know, the story and everything else, but
can you ask specific, we have our attorneys here, we have the code of conduct here.
the attorneys read your email, and so please, if there's
specific questions or things you disagree in here that you want
to see changed or anything, offer those solutions. So by all means, this is your
opportunity to ask those questions. Yes.
so, uh, you you wanted me to read it, so that's why I read it. So, um, in regards
to councilwoman di she asked a great question, why am I bringing up these new
concerns now? And so the, I had, I had the, I had the opportunity
to email civil rights groups and the first amendment coalition, and
they raised these, some of these red flags to me. And so when they raised
them, when other lawyers raised these red flags to me, I responded
by sending this email, uh, to mr. O'connell and,
and the city council. Now, when it comes to the law, there's
case law that specifically states that if you violate another
council member's constitutional rights, he can bring claims
against a council member. And when my disability rights continue
to be discussed and violated, I have a right to defend myself
under the law. Um, and so
council member contos has mentioned some great changes, and I support
that. And all I'm asking mr. O'connell to do really,
is to review this again, maybe speak to a constitutional
lawyer, maybe speak to a brown act lawyer. Uh, you, you, you have a large
firm. I'm sure it's not hard to get some advice, uh, some extra advice
and, and just make sure that you're writing this code in a way
that doesn't violate anyone's constitutional rights. I don't think the overall picture
is wrong. I think in you have some areas where it's contradicting
itself. And I think you, you stated that earlier, that one area says one thing,
but then you cover it on a different section and you kind of contradict
you. You can't. Why, why do we have of that? Just so they can, I
can look at what you're talking about. So, no, don't, we're not gonna play this game. What I'm
I talking about? I don't have it in front of me. I'm trying, I'm trying to tell you something in general terms.
you're trying to make me look like, I'm like, I don't know what I'm talking about here. So
I'm telling you, all I'm asking for is, is not wanting to incorporate
council member contos concerns, but also get a second opinion.
make sure that what you are telling us to approve, uh, like the mayor said,
that it, it, it could protect my rights too at, but the problem is
you need to make sure that it does not violate people's
rights because you have case law where some of these
areas are contradictory. And all I'm asking for
is to go back and take what council member mayor
pro contos has indicated and also get, get while
you're at it, get a second opinion. Make sure that cons a constitutional lawyer or,
or a brown act lawyer. Councilman gutierrez, uh, when this has been brought
up, they took a lot of time and brought it to different attorneys.
now I ask you again what specific questions. No, no,
no, no, it's not. Here we go again. , I'm, I'm making this, your honor, and I wish yeah, please
share that other long email that you sent to the city attorneys
threatening the attorneys and the attorney did ask what lawyer complain about
a brown act violation, or which one are you talking about? Just, no, I mean, I'm just saying
you want, we want specifics. You wanna bring in a lawyer, you apparently
use a lot of ai, and then you said you get free legal advice. Well ask
specific questions. And here, what is the first to mimic violation?
okay, here we are. We're gonna ask you a specific question. In this code of conduct,
what rights have been violated on your first amendment and what
rights, disability rights does this violate? There's no provisions in
the code leti that addresses protections or, or, or vice versa.
there's language in the code that contradicts case law.
can you please explain which one? Well, you're gonna gimme an hour to do that, and there's
no time for that. All I'm asking for is let's incorporate what council member contos said and have
him double check the work. Okay. Uh, 0.0, the, I already second. Okay.
canto, would you please? Okay. Roll call so we can move on. I just wanna make sure
that, oh, I, I know with, um, I want, I want the opportunity of
the attorneys to address, make sure that
this, the concerns of all this is there is no violation, there is no legality issues.
I, I would like to give you the floor an opportunity. I just wanna make sure
procedurally we're on the same page here about what would happen next, because it sounds like we have two different
proposals of what would occur. Uh, council member, uh, contos
has proposed certain very finite specific changes,
uh, to the code of conduct. Um, I believe that we discussed some of
those, uh, changes. And I believe that council, uh, member wu would
like to move, essentially for those changes to be made and to bring back the code
of conduct to the next council meeting to be, uh, voted on.
and essentially that would be a second. Well, I will defer to them on this, but that would
be the equivalent of a second reading since we're making those finite changes. So the code of conduct
would be approved. Uh, the converse of that is council member gutierrez
is asking for a total review or re-review
of the code of conduct without, um, I, I, I don't have specific direction
of what it is that he would like to change, if you have specific my email,
but, but I'm not, that's not my request. Just to clarify it, uh,
I'm agreeing with council member contos motion, uh, and I'm
asking you uh huh. It's okay. Sorry. Mayor proton. Sorry, mayor. Proton
contos motion. Uh, sorry. Uh, and, and what I'm asking you
to do as a lawyer licensed in the state of california with the, and part
of your ethics as a, as a lawyer with the state bar of california to do your, do some
extra diligence, I'm asking you to make sure all the wordings there is constitutionally.
okay. But I'm, I'm gonna go ahead and support council member contos
motion. Can I, can I ask, are, are there finite things that we
can make as a change? Because what would happen with what you're saying is, um,
the next council meeting, we would not be able to vote mm-hmm . On the code of conduct.
exactly. And so if you have something that's finite, um, so for instance, so I
I, you brought up, you brought up the ai tools, um, and you said,
uh, I think that was the, I think that was the last thing that you had just talked about. Is that right? Council member?
yes. Okay. So you had said notably one provision definition
section specifically includes automated systems or digital assistance.
uh, you go on to say, I have in fact utilized generative ai
and other digital tools as part of my work for research drafting assistance,
and to help manage the heavy information load, something particularly useful
given my cognitive profile. There is no legitimate reason to single out
ai tools in the code of conduct except to constrain my ability to
use them or intrude upon my workflow. So, is, is your request
that the preservation or document definition
related to ai be taken out of the code of conduct?
'cause that would violate, uh, I believe it's government code 6 2 5 2
for the definition under a-c-p-r-a of what is a document that's supposed to
be withheld, uh, withheld by a government entity when
something's used within official business or official duties. So you don't clarify
that. You're, you're, if you're syncing medical exempt, uh,
it actually does. Um, that's why I wanna make sure that we're on the same page here, just like, uh,
just like we did with council member contos. If, if we're on a completely different
page, I'm happy, happy to do that. But documents means
all writings and recorded information. This is page three. Uh,
under section 7 0 1, um, documents means all writings
and recorded information, whether tangible or intangible, regardless of
form or medium, including paper, electronic, digital, audio, visual
or database materials. Documents includes letters, memoranda,
notes, reports, drafts, photographs, recordings, spreadsheets, presentations,
calendars, logs, databases, electronically stored information, metadata
and versions thereof. Documents also, uh,
include content generated, stored, transmitted,
or relied upon through artificial intelligence tools, automated systems
or digital assistance, including prompts, queries, responses,
outputs, drafts, summaries or analysis to the extent such content
relates to city business or city governance.
yeah. So if, if you're gonna say, if, if it's relates to the, the california
public records act, why don't you define that in there? To make
sure you're not going overroad? Well, that's, that's what we did. That's
why I'm trying to make sure that we're, that I'm, did you put that is in, you're saying that it's what? The california public
records act? I don't wanna, I don't wanna, uh, he has let, allow him to finish,
please. He's asking me no, go ahead. He's, he's speaking. So
you were saying that there was no reason for it to include
ai and that, um, it could potentially, oh, let me try to find your
email again. I apologize. Um, it could potentially make it so that someone
is going to look at personal devices. I believe you had said, well, well, why, why would you
put an ai thing in code of conduct? I don't understand. The nexus is you just, well,
it's a definition of the term document, and there's a, uh, preservation,
uh, section of the code of conduct that says that if during a review
of some kind of accusation, this would be 2 7, 1 7,
um, that they could send you a, or any other council member, a preservation
of documents, communications, and records, which again, is just codifying california
law. Yeah. If it's, if it's, if it's a preservation notice, that's
fine. But also you're saying it, it relates to the california public records
act requests, and there's some exemptions under that act. So
I'm ask you for is be more, if you could clarify it more clearer.
so, like you said earlier today, you wanna create a code of conduct where
absolutely, an attorney doesn't have to repeat himself every other month reminding us what certain
aspects mean to us. So all I'm asking for is some, some more clarity.
uh, if it makes it longer, it makes it longer, but at least there's clarity. So
we don't have to, uh, continue to debate what something means in, in the
code. Sometimes the more writing, the better to understand
something. So what else would you want us to take a look at? Because this
is one that you identified as being illegal in, in your email, and it
appears you're now satisfied that well, what, what I'm saying is
there's been comments made, uh, by the city attorney, uh, not,
not, not brittany, but the other city attorney. Uh, okay. Uh,
and so we're not gonna go that well, uh, down, down that route. So I'm, I'm only going off based upon
what I've been told, uh, what I've been criticized about. Uh, and,
and if, if, uh, if a code has specific terms
and aspects of the code that are, are intended to
somehow retaliate or chill, then we have a problem.
but if you're saying that this is in relation to a, a court
preservation notice or the california public records act
request, why don't you put that in there? Why don't we make it more clearer?
you would want us to state in, in the code something along
the lines of, this is following current law. Yes.
it says that in there no call following the california public records act. So
you want to, so that way you're not expanding its definition, uh, 0.0.
okay. I think otherwise you guy will be yeah. Debating all nine.
so I really don't wanna listen to the attorney to attorney, please. Okay.
I, I think we already have a motion. I have a second. I've been waiting for two hours
ago. Uh, can we roll code please? Um, madam
mayor, I believe we just need to clarify on the record whether you
guys are identifying specific changes, the specific and
what those are. We are waiting specific you changes. I can, we just have mr.
o'connell identified those specific changes. So there's, so this is from, this is
from council member contos changes, is that correct? Correct. And I seconded.
okay. And war call, please. Okay. Calling world call. I have a,
uh, first from mayor pro tem contos, second from councilman wu. Um, council member
guttier. Councilman g member gutierrez. Uh,
aye. . Councilman wu. Aye. Sorry. Councilman
diaz. Aye. Oh my god. Mayor pro tem contos. Aye.
mayor lopez, vido, you're laughing at me, mayor. I, I making that's okay. I can laugh.
I can get angry. I'm saying, yes, mayor, mayor, mayor. Mayor. Let's, uh, point
of order. Let's continue on. Let's move on. Please move on. All right. Disrespectful. That
is item par four. Uh, all
right. Now to item five, councilman gutierrez.
and, and I still stack, yeah. Item five, please. Can I talk no. Item five? Yes, you
can. On item five. Thank you. Yeah, you made me read the email. You're the one who wanted me to read it.
item five. Any complaint? And, uh, actually in
reference to that email, I could like to the public if they can post it so
that I already gave it to the card. Move on, please. Please. Let's move on. Already has it item five.
item number five. Yes.
so, um, ropes, rop stands for recognized obligation payment
schedule, but that just means it lists of old bills. The city is asking the city of california
to pay. Is it five?
it's item five is request for proposals for assessment engineering service. And,
uh, which one is that one? Okay, item, item five, that one. Um,
how much, uh, so we're, we're in increasing the, we're doing a
budget amendment to it? Yes, that's correct. Okay.
we're asking for, and, and where are we getting that money? Are we, is that money coming from the,
maybe that's a caring question, but is this coming from the, the reserve funds?
is reserve funds being transferred to the general fund?
oh, oh. The, the items that are listed to fund
the engineering, sorry, I'm short. The items, uh, to pay for
the engineering assessment, it's not gonna be coming from general fund. I think we listed here
in the budget amendment, the proposal's amendment is outta special revenue. So
your maintenance districts to sewer, not general fund. So that one, no,
no reserve funds have been transferred over for this not general fund.
okay. Okay. So no reserve funds have been transferred for, for this specific item.
okay. Let me just pull the slide really quick. If you look at the budget amendment
attached, I believe that's located in the second to last page.
and I'm referring to exhibit a. And it's budget memo number 2 0 2 6
dash 17. Mm-hmm . On your far left hand column,
we list all the different fund numbers where these monies would be coming from.
and in edina, in identifying all these special revenues, I
confirmed that there are reserve funds to cover these costs.
so again, no general fund monies will be used for the proposed engineering
assessment to reserve funds. Okay. And, uh, are, are
the currently, does our reserve funds meet the state? The state
auditor's requirement of the percentage that was required in our reserves.
if you're referring to the general fund, the reserve requirements that we are recommending
and that we abiding by is 18%. Uh, we currently are there. However,
the request for staff agenda item number five,
no funds are gonna be coming from the general fund. Again, these funds are non-general
fund monies and they are special revenues. Okay.
thank you. That's all my questions.
madam mayor, move approval. Second roll call.
roll call vote. Councilman gutierrez? Aye. Councilman,
councilman wu? Aye. Councilwoman diaz? Aye. Mayor prom, contos.
aye. Mayor lopez. Hi on pam. Motion
passes. I, um, item number nine, uh, councilman
gutierrez
some time so I can come back. . Let's see.
so this is our, uh, first quarter financial report, or yes.
did you have his question? Yes, I'm looking at it. Good
evening, everyone. , if you could just tell the community what, what this item is.
absolutely. I'll give you a brief overview of the staff report. So tonight for your consideration
is to receive and file the very first quarter financial
report. And this covers the period of july through september of 2025.
so the purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the city's general fund condition.
and as you know, the information presented in this report is preliminary. So in
the first quarter, our 25% over the peer, uh, excuse me, 20%
completed, the general fund revenues are approximately 4.8%,
and the expenditures are at 24.7% of the budget
in dollars. Revenues are 4.7 million, and expenditures are at 24.2 million,
which is a net negative of 19.5 million.
compare that to last year, same period of time, um, we were
at a negative 18 million. So as you can see, we're chain, we are training similarly
to that other prior year. The reason for the negative net
difference is primarily due to lag in the property
and sales tax revenues. Our very first property tax in
the fiscal year was not received until december, and that was in the tune of 6.9 million.
and the sales tax was received in september of 2 million.
so the general fund revenues is approximately 4.7 million. And again,
this is typical in the prior periods. As for the general fund expenditures,
we're at 24.7%, or 24.2 million
of the budget, same period. Last year we were at 24.3.
as you can see, again, we are training similar to, we have in the past prior year,
we're requesting approval of additional general fund
revenues of $200,000. And this is for the mutual aid reimbursements
and an additional expenditure appropriations of $281,940.
these expenditure appropriations are for mutual aid over
time of 225,000. And lead pouts payouts amounted
to approximately 57,000. So the net impact
on general fund is $81,940,
and that will be coming from the general fund reserves.
now, as you know, the sportsplex is a recreation facility, which
has amenities including the softball, play fields, the playgrounds,
restaurants, and a pavilion. Well, earlier in the fiscal year, we had emergency
repairs to our sports plex tent. That was approximately $400,000.
insurance covered approximately 268,000 resulting
in the city bearing the remaining cost of approximately 132,000.
so this evening, we're requesting a budget amendment for this emergency repair
to the tent. Now lastly, we're fortunate to have
received additional state homeland security program grant funds,
and we're requesting a budget amendment of $17,140
to reflect the additional grant funds. With that being said, I'll
cut it short. It's late available to answer any questions that you may have. And, and
did, uh, did we ever get cal, uh, fema money for the, the
sportsplex? I mean for the, what's it called? Sports sportsplex. Right? Plex. The sportsplex.
we, we received the funding from the insurance claim. I of fema
I have not seen the female needs come in. As you know, they may take some time. I
should have been here by now. A question. Go ahead. And I, I want to follow
up. Okay. As I remember, I think, um, my krisa
uh, waiting the roof could blow away. And, uh, we called, I,
at the time I was the mayor, so I called for the okay. And the
state of, city of emergency. So we called fema to pay for that
big loss. And, uh, I remember you let time, you work for fema, you say we
should get a grant. So we should have the money from fema. And I
remember, um, my, chris told me at the waiting for fema approval
because there's a big hole on the top of, uh, enclosement of,
uh, soccer field. I can double check to see if so maybe mike, chris,
I can answer the question. We, we, we went through the fema and we, the
fema should pay us good evening, mayor and council.
everything was submitted to fema. Um, everything from the windstorm, from
not only the sportsplex, but throughout the city, city has been submitted as far as,
um, you know, fires time and all those things. I
do not know if there's been anything paid from cal oes. But everything has been submitted.
the only thing I'm aware of is the insurance claim that we made currently. And cal, uh,
c-j-p-I-a paid us back for the repairs. My understanding, not only the,
the plex. Okay. The, the, the, the, the roof
blow away and the, the female, we, we went through the female for the,
the lost. Okay. Also, I think our cortes park.
okay. The roof something too. Okay. And that, I think the fema,
we've been waiting and we told the people, say we waiting for female approval.
that was during the windstorm? That is correct. I, we call for the city of
emergency. Yeah. A couple things I wanna clarify. We did submit both roofs. We submitted
everything from the sports plex, and we also submitted, um, cortez park
as well. The, the repairs of cortez park, all fema was covering was the
damage. 'cause there was only about 600 square feet of damage. And the roof is 15 to
1800 square feet, if I remember correctly. So, um,
the 600 feet, we, the six, 600 square feet that we could report was
submitted to fema or to calloway, or I'm sorry to fema.
and then the entire sportsplex was submitted as well. Like I said, I don't
think we've gotten any return on that, on top of the, the tree damage and the staffing.
so all those things have been submitted, but I do not believe back que question. Okay. When
you submit to them, okay, they should tell you the approval
or decline or this and that, do we have any communication? Are they
going to pay for it? Just, um, check in the mail or they're not going to
pay at all? I, I do not wanna defer. I don't have the answer.
um, we, we go through that process and go through the call oes process with the fire department.
so we work, we work together with the fire department, get all financials, and then submit it
all at the same time. But at that point, the, you know, I am not aware of any
communication. I cannot confirm, deny that. Um, I remember again, because
that is the, the very expensive repair. And we've
been waiting for fema adjusters to show up. And finally
you told me it show up and then we've been waiting for a while. So we should have something
if they show up, but, okay. And inspect. And they should
basically, they will pay for the difference. Am I right?
absolutely. Uh, just please understand that reimbursement from any federal agency
some time, and I do apologize for that. But any assistance anybody
can give us to expedite reimbursement, it'd be greatly appreciated. But please
do understand that reimbursement from federal and some state agencies, it does
take some time. So, so meaning they didn't decline it, just
slow. So money will still come to you, I hope,
slow the processes they must go through. So it does take some time and
the, the government shut down too. Okay. So, absolutely. Okay. Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
thank you. Any additional questions? Yeah, I, I think, uh, if I recall,
I think we, the city advanced money to fix the repairs, but fema
or the federal agency should still reimburse the city. So, um,
maybe, um, our kelly s um,
regional, uh, contact person could contact, uh, uh,
if forgot her name, but she could, he could contact her and, and find out what the status of
that is. It's a great suggestion. We will do so. Thank you. Great. Any
other questions? That's it. We just don't want the money come back.
so put a smile on your face. Move the motion to approve, please. Second
roll call.
roll call vote. Council member gutierrez aye.
councilman wu? Aye. Councilwoman diaz? Aye.
mayor pro tem contos. Aye. Mayor lopez vido aye. Motion passes.
last consent item number 10. Councilman gutierrez.
now that's the, hello again. Rops. .
okay. So the rops, which stands for recognize obligation
payment schedule, that just means a list of mobiles. The city is asking the state,
the state of california to pay. Um, so would you
like to gimme a brief? Uh, I can give you a very brief report. Uh, yeah, if
you want explain. Is that okay? Yes. Thank you very much.
as, uh, council member gutierrez stated that the roths does
stand for the recognized obligation payment schedule. I'd like to
just further, further explain that it was pursuant to ab one,
abx 1 26 and also the subsequent amendments. Thereafter,
we refer to those as the dissolution act and required the dissolution
of the redevelopment agency. So on february 1st, 2012,
the city elected to serve as the successor agency
to the former west covina redevelopment agency. Now then,
pursuant to the health and safety code section 34 1 7 7
subsection of subsection one, the successor agency is required to
file the roths. Again, that is the recognized obligation payment
schedule annually and is to receive funds to pay for
the former redevelopment agency's obligations. What
are eligible obligations while they include bonded debt services,
uh, reimbursement of the housing fund that was used for state mandated
property tax shifts, loans from the city, legal services, administrative
costs for winding down the successor agency. So
with our request this evening, we're asking for fiscal year 26 27
in the amount of 14.9 million on the roths. However,
please note that the department of finance has previously denied
12.6 million. More specifically,
we were funding for successor agency legal expenses,
repayment for the city, administrative overhead and construction
costs, the sales tax reimbursement agreement,
unfunded pension liabilities, and retirement benefits of which
totals approximately 12.6 million. So
overall, that being said, I do anticipate,
and I do hope that department of finance approves our remaining portion,
which is 2.3 million. And that is what is for consideration tonight.
theros, I listed all the obligations there are outstanding, even though
the successor agency has been previously denied the department of finance,
we're placing it back on to see or not we get approved. If not,
we're looking at approximately 2.3 million. Councilman gutierrez,
I hope I answers some of your questions. Yes. And then, um, is that,
is that the one that the state continues to deny? You're absolutely correct.
and are we paying legal fees for that? We are not. Um, if you look
at the administrative budget, which is included in one of the attachments,
legal expenses as it relates to the successor agency,
the former redevelopment agency is very minimal.
yeah. 'cause um, if you're still thinking on
your question, uh oh, I'm sorry. You finish. Are you, uh,
you know, I, I, I, 'cause I got, I got a, I got an email from this, the california department of
finance. And, um, again, they, they assert that we're not
entitled to this. And I think one of my concerns, I just wanna make sure we're not continuing
to pay this amount of money, but I see line item number 76.
it says 1.2 1,000,226
$1,226,000, um, paid to
reimbursement in advance sa expenses, legal expenses. And then
our successor agency console is jones and meyer. Correct.
uh, for the reimbursement of line item 76
is for reimbursement of an advancement of successor agency expenses.
and it does his legal expenses. If we were to look
at the agreement execution date on this item, it was september 16th, 2014.
um, unfortunately I do not have that information available to tell you who incurred those
expenses, but I can state that we are requesting a reimbursement of 1.2 million
and this is for legal expenses that were incurred prior to. Can
I ask you a question? Councilman gutierrez, you said you got an email from california state finance.
when did you get that? And did you share that with our own finance and city staff? Yes,
I did. Oh, when did you get the email? 'cause I, I don't know, we would like to know as
well. Yeah. Um, if, let's see. Um,
uh, I get it. Let's see. I think, yes, I think on monday, yesterday, I think. Okay.
alright, go ahead. Uh, councilman yesterday. I wanna say something.
okay. Um, I kind of know history about this because
I got elected 2015 this, uh, november. Okay. And it's
started in 2016. The previous city manager, chris freeland,
and the man and development manager, community development
manager, paulina morales, they've been asking
me to help ct to get this $2 million back
since 2016. And, uh, 1718, they even
want me to talk to okay. And, uh, our senator and,
uh, our, okay. Even last year, okay,
I think last year, uh, um, the time former city manager become
city manager, paulina morales still asking and
chasing this $2 million back to the city. So it look like
this is back in 2014 or 13 hotel before my
time. So look like state of finance or
state really owes this money $2 million. So, so otherwise
why? For so many, okay. Continuity of the
city managers or community service manager chasing
this money back to the city. So can you check into
it? I know it's easy to say. Okay. They say, no, no, no. But
do they really owe us money? And you know, that they may be the de debt, they
don't want to pay us. Okay. But, uh, are we entitled to this $12 million? We
just wanna make sure we don't get short change by the state.
well, obviously, um, we do believe we're entitled to these
reimbursements. We entitled to have this termin million dollar, the, the city or the, excuse
me, the successor agency. It's successor agency. Correct. We placed it on our wraps
and we believe that we are entitled to it. However, the department of finance
disagrees with the successor agency. Um, and councilman
gutierrez provide us a letter that was sent to the former finance director,
and it's dated back in april. And it outlines the
position of the department of finance. And their basically
position is saying that we are not, these are not eligible
obligations that are gonna be reimbursed. So it's
truly up to the city council and successor agency's decision
if we want to continue to pursue this by placing these outstanding
obligations, outstanding unreimbursable expenditures
on our wraps, or should we just remove it from the future
wraps? I have not had that opportunity to discuss this
matter with a successor agency, and therefore we continue to place this
on for the fiscal year 26, 27 wraps.
uh, I understand, but it's easy to just wave
it, delete it, tell million dollar gun. But I, I just feel like,
okay, if they really owe us, we just have to chase,
they pay us back. And we're not the only agency in a similar
situation where we don't agree what is considered to
be a recognized obligation. Mm-hmm . I just wanna make
that very clear and a statement to be made understand, I think this is very important
is possible rather than we just say, okay. Okay. Take it away. Take
out the book. Is that, do you need more time to search
this $12 million before you request to remove
this out of, uh, okay. On, on the book, meaning
if we still have a chance or we really okay. Have a, because
I I've been helping, okay. And, uh, the previous city managers,
the previous, the staff, they want me to talk to the, our
sacramento and this on that, and I've been talking to okay, then
hey to $12 million and this on that. So if we just give
up then, meaning we won't see this money coming back to us at all.
correct. If we do not place these, what we believe eligible
obligations on the wraps, we will not be refunded.
so basically you solid. This is just a dream
that we will never get a dream. I'm I'm optimistic individual.
I know you told. Yeah. However, uh, do I believe that the department
of finance will ever approve those 12.6 million that they've
been denied denying since day one? Um, minimal chance. Minimal
chance. Just I'm an optimistic individual. Negative one. Uh,
I wanna give the floor to mayor pro tem contos, please.
thank you. Uh, karen, especially since other,
since other cities have had similar disagreements, has,
uh, is there a way that staff can look into the extent to which we can ban
together with other cities? Because if we can do that, let's say to
in, in a, in a possible, uh, class action, uh, lawsuit
against the state, uh, for us, because if, if we were to band
together with other cities who are being denied their, their fund of, uh,
reimbursements for similar, uh, reasons, then, then would that be a
possibility for us to per to, uh, to facilitate
a receipt of these funds that we believe we're entitled to? Uh, so
successor agencies, other successor agencies have attempted
to litigate with against the department of finance in regards
to what the department of finance considers to be ineligible obligation.
I, for one, was at a city that we did try to litigate unsuccessfully.
uh, I can defer this to our deputy city attorney
and she can speak upon other successor agencies, whether another, this is a prob a probability
or not if the deputy city attorney has any perspective
or can get to us on that because, uh, this could be a, a
possible way for, uh, present an opportunity for us to band together with others who
still are, may not have pursued their, their
full legal recourse the way we have not yet done in, in that type of adversarial
context, but in light of their continually denying us, simply
just allowing them to say no to us without our stepping up or fight. That's a lot of money
at stake. 12.5, $12.2 million is a lot. It's a lot of money. It's a lot.
and if we, and, and we already know that whenever suits happen,
there can be settlements. So even if we get 6 million or whatever, I mean, I'm just saying
that from a strategic standpoint, to what extent may you be aware
or might you be aware, uh, is it possible for us
to band together, band it together with other cities who are similarly situated
so that we can, we can move forward with a unified potential class action,
uh, lawsuit against, against the state for this money,
for our, for the money that we all are collectively owed? Madam
mayor, if I may, I don't have the historical information on these issues,
however, I vaguely recall that cities have tried unsuccessfully
to sue the state over these funds, but my office can look
into that issue and get back to you. Thank you. Uh,
one thing, do we have urgency to approve this? We approve. Are
we going to just delete the $2 million off our book, or we still have a chance
to come back to address this issue? Just very difficult. I've been
fighting this for so long and now we just say goodbye. Okay. Well actually for your
consideration for this success report's consideration tonight is
to keep the, what we consider to be eligible obligations
on the robs and submit it to the department of finance.
so again, our request is to keep these obligations
on the robs and to submit it. I understand, but you are only asking for 2.1 million. No,
no, I'm, what I was stating is that the total roths,
um, the net effect of what I believe we're gonna receive. So let me just restate this.
the total rocks we request, karen, hold on. The point is that if
we ask for tell some million dollar, $2 million, we might get couple million dollars.
if we only ask for $2 million, we maybe get only $2,000 back.
absolutely. Understood. And that's why we're not asking for 2 million. We are asking for almost 15 million.
oh, yes. And I like it. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. I did state that
very clearly. My apologies. Oh, just gimme a heart attack. $2 million. I don't want just $2 million.
I'm sorry. It's a little late tonight, so I'm a little blurry. You plan on apologies.
okay. I think it's $50 million we asking for give $50 million then I'm
okay. Yes, we are. I don't wanna give up. Let's your million dollars. Understood.
yeah. And, and I think, uh, how we get to that large number is it, there's
different accounts and different categories, so when you add all those
accounts up, it, it creates to that a number, right, karen? Absolutely
correct. Yeah. And, and I know in, uh, in, in 2024
in december, uh, I know tony told mayor, uh, council
member ru told me about this, and then I know paulina has me mentioned it as well. So,
uh, the governor's office had set up a meeting, uh, with
the city attorney's office. Uh, I think paulina was part of that meeting.
city staff was part of that meeting. I joined the meeting and,
uh, the conversation even went as far as what happens if
one of the legislators were to pass an, uh, legislation that gives westfield
that portion of money. And their response, in other words, was,
uh, the governor would never sign it because open bankrupt the state
because there's so many other cities in this problem.
so, and plus they kind of broke too. So yeah. Kind of,
did anybody else have questions? I'll make a motion to approve anybody. Second?
uh, I have a question. So when we approve,
we not wire the $12 million. Why? No, sir. We are,
I am requesting to submit the wraps for almost $15 million.
got it. And there was a second already.
all right. Roll call. Thank you. Thank you. Just to clarify for
the record, the second was from mayor pro tem contos. Correct. Thank you. Um,
will call vote council member gutierrez aye. Councilman wu aye. Councilwoman
diaz aye. Mayor pro tem contos aye. Mayor lopez. Vito
aye. Motion passes on to department regular matters. Item 12, consideration of appointments
to the audit committee and resolution, revising audit committee rules
and regulations. City manager who will present the staff report.
uh, roxanne lerma, assistant city manager. Good
evening, mayor lopez. Vito, members of the city council. Um, before
you tonight, item number 12, consideration appointments. The audit committee and
resolution revising audit committee rules and regulation. So tonight, the city's council is being
asked to take two actions. The first is to adopt resolution 20 26 16,
which amends the audit committee rules and regulations. And the second is to appoint
the five members to fill current vacancies on the audit committee with
terms running through december 31st, 2027.
the audit committee was originally established in 2015 and has been modified several
times to adjust memberships and duties. Over the years, staff
members were removed to preserve independence. Committee representation was expanded
and the committee was renamed and restructured. As of today, the committee consists
of five public members with the city treasurer and two council members serving as
ex officio non-voting members. There are currently five vacancies on the audit
committee. The city accepted applications as required by law and staffer
commends appointing the five most recent serving members, raphael
cast castillian, james gritch, david lynn, marsha solorio,
and deanna stanley. Their proposed terms would begin in february, 2026
and end december 31st, 2027. In addition to the
proposed resolution, the proposed resolution updates, the audit committee rules and regulations
that were last amended in 2021. These revisions clarify that the
committee will meet quarterly on the fourth wednesday of january,
april, july, and october. The amendments also clarify
term lengths and add provisions regarding the selection of a chair and vice chair member
absences, removal members and procedures for filling vacancies.
um, we are open to questions. Thank you. Questions from the council?
move the motion to approve. Second roll call. Okay.
I have a motion from councilman wu, a second from mayor pro tem
contos, roll call, vote aye. Council member gutierrez
aye. Councilman wu aye. Councilwoman diaz? Aye.
mayor pro tem contos. Aye. Mayor lopez. Vito aye. Motion
I pass. Uh, item 13, now, consideration of a draft request for
proposal for federal lobbyist.
good evening. Um, just looking at these, uh, both
together, it was similar, uh, draft, uh, rfps to be
considered, uh, draft lobbyists and grant writing services. We'd
previously, uh, um, published rfps for both
in, uh, 24. And, uh, brought those proposals to council in january
25. Bids were rejected. We, uh, took input
from the council, uh, republished those rfps in october,
and, uh, we're directed to, uh, pull, pull those out of publication, which
we did. And so we're bringing these drafts forward for consideration
and direction. And, um, if there's approval to move forward,
we will do so. Publish these. We need, we will
need to identify funding. These, uh, services are not funded
in the current budget. And, uh, we'd anticipate a, uh,
an amendment, uh, to allocate money from the general fund for these services.
any questions from the council? Madam mayor? Uh, mayor proam? Uh, I have a contest.
go, go. Please go ahead. Oh, can you, can you go over the
specific changes that were made as a result of council input?
uh, I'm sorry, I don't have the, the
list of those changes. They were just built into the rfp
didn't have the specific changes. Thanks. Okay. Uh, into the scope of work primarily.
okay. Uh, I have a question. Okay. Um, do currently, do we
have a federal lobbyist? Do we have one or not?
no. No, we don't have, so how long we don't have this lobbyist
in the federal this first question. Second, do we need the lobbyist?
okay. Number three, how much it will cost the city, what kind of
result they can bring anything back to us. Because currently,
I don't think the federal government or state government or anybody want to give us a dime.
we have an infrastructure issue. We have a fire station issue, we have a,
all this issue, but I don't think they will give any funding.
so in that way, any lobbyist will really create to
bring, if they can provide the funding or
the grant okay. Offset the charge that we pay
them rather than, I worry that we pay the lobbyist annual fee. It
is like, I pay for service for some it guy, but they never
show up. I still have paid them, but I worry about one day I need it.
so, so the same token, we, we hire these lobbyists,
it's really functional for city to pay their money. Right. Uh, to my
recollection, we've never had a federal, um, federal, uh, government
lobbyists. Um, based on the information
that we got, the feedback from the last, uh, last go is about, uh,
32 4 3, uh, 32,400 to
102,000 a year. Just for, for the retainer. That was
an annual cost. So, so roughly a hundred thousand dollars a year potentially?
yes. Okay. But what kind of benefit the city can get
from these lobbyists just over there talking about this and never
bring a grant to us. And then why is the benefit to the
city if we spend this a hundred thousand dollars and the,
any lobbyist, the guarantee you pay me a hundred thousand, I give you a million
dollars. Right? No, they don't. Funding. There were guarantee, forget it. Just give us $200,000
funding. Any possibility a year?
uh, no. There was no guarantee of funding in the proposals. And as you mentioned,
the climate is such that, uh, the fund, the climates right now is not really
friendly to the city. We, we recently submitted an application for the,
uh, community project funding, uh, requesting $10 million
for, uh, fight. So for a fire station. And, uh, got it.
I know they don't give us a dollar. $250,000 is going through the congressional,
or was approved by the house. I mean, in dollar project it give us a hundred
thousand dollars. 250,000. 50 50,000 for the, we haven't seen the
money yet. Well, no, but we, it really maybe, maybe from
the female, it's something to checking in the mail. Mail it never come. That is from a congress. So,
so, so my point is over here, I I really don't wanna spend a hundred
thousand dollars. Okay. And it doesn't have any benefit to the city
unless, okay. Some kind of credibility lobbyists. Okay. And let's
say, hey, we done this. We have do this. We help with the city, give this funding. Otherwise
why we need this lobbyist. If he cannot bring any resolve funding or
benefit to the city, why we need a lobbyist. What the benefit for
this person that cities give them a hundred thousand dollars while they
to work to, to, to us kelly? And you can
answer. Uh, no, I, yeah. I, I, uh,
don't have a position on this. I, this, this was a direction from the council.
so basically you're not sure why we need that. Okay.
so I I'm the reserved we can get benefit. Okay. Maybe all the
city council can share some light. Well, I, I just, I mean, if there was a different formula
of payment, such as like a commission or percentage, if they get
that, then you know, they get paid versus just wishing
and if they produce nothing, we just wasted money. Is
there other options like that? This is the standard for, for this line of work.
all the proposals were we received were retainers. Okay.
madam mayor, go ahead. Mayor. Pro conscience. Um, kelly, do, do you happen to know with the, the
latest, uh, appropriation bill that was just signed, uh, earlier,
uh, if there were earmarks that, that were authorized in that bill, I, I know that there was a debate
with regard to whether or not earmarks were included at all. So, so
an answer to the councilman's question with regard to even the,
the government even giving money out. Do you have, or maybe anyone else on the staff
can, can they check to see if there are, if the congressional bill that just went
through included earmarks or did not include earmarks, if they did include
earmarks, that means that somebody's getting the money with a lobbyist. If they did not include earmarks,
then, then the councilman's. Right. About how it would not be the, the
best use of money. But it, it literally hinges on that question as to whether
congress as a matter of policy, uh, allowed earmarks or if it did not allow
earmarks, which are currently called con congressionally, congressionally
appropriated programs. Right. Uh, we did receive notification from,
uh, the congressman's office that the, uh, the request
that we had made for the fire station did clear the house. I, I don't know what the status
is of the senate. Bill, any other questions?
uh, councilman gutierrez? Yeah, I think, um,
I think the, the congressional member had stated before
when I asked him if there was a, a benefit to having a lobbyist. I think he said,
if you have a project and you know what you want for your
project, then it can be beneficial if it requires, like, uh,
multiple people, multiple agencies being involved in, in allocation of funding. So
it, um, it, it, it could be beneficial.
um, but, but again, if we do our, it's, there's
no cost to do an rp. So maybe we could hear whoever presents,
uh, proposes. Okay. Uh, follow up. Okay. What
council members stated. Okay. Um,
we have a project. We, we wanna build a fire station and, uh, our
congressman okay. And we told them we needed more than $20 million. So he said,
okay, we can going to give you what, $250,000? Yeah.
. So it's like 1 10, 1 10th. Okay.
maybe not even build a bathroom. Okay. So of the fire station. Okay.
grass. So, so yeah. Grass something. So, so the, the point is this
maybe ip you send out okay. And checks what we have, uh,
project. Okay. And what can you provide
grant for us? What kind of guarantee? I don't know if they can guarantee or this or
that, but, but again, just don't wanna waste the money, you know, get a lobbyist.
okay. All this over there, they die wine, this and that. But we, we,
we just don't get result. We have no control in dc and over there,
but at the same time, we have somebody over there and they may represent
so many city, a hundred thousand here, a hundred thousand, 180,000 there.
so, uh, they really will fight for us to get a grant because a hundred
thousand dollars, maybe 2000 lobbies is not really a lot of money. So, but
for us, every dying come, so, so, so my point is
this, I don't know how the city council do we need this ip.
okay. Or we can research for those people, but
okay. What they can offer to us, I, I don't even know this ip will have any
benefit to search it to a lobbyist maybe can
create money to us and plus kinda waste of step
time to search something that may be potentially
not in this environment, current environment in the federal government right now, it's very
difficult to get any money out of them. Okay. And so, so
this is a current, maybe we should wait maybe next year,
maybe change of environment after midterm elections
over, they may be changing a little bit more friendlier to the local government
for say, some funding to fix this and that. I don't know. This is, uh, my
suggestion. I just don't wanna waste a hundred thousand dollars to doing, like you throw
the, the rock into the lake. You don't see nothing.
I mean, I agree. I mean, if we hold, because I know the fiscal impacts as a funding source
will need to be identified for the service if approved to proceed.
so with everything that's going on and with funding and so forth,
I, I don't mind holding back, but I'll go ahead and let other mayor
pro tim contos. Thank you madam mayor. Uh, from, from my time in
dc I can tell you that lobbyists do a lot of good work with securing funding in
this current environment. I can understand the concerns though. So I'm wondering
what my colleagues would think about our are are still keeping
this under consideration, uh, uh, uh, un until we,
we, we see that the environment is such that we can reasonably
expect that there are possible congressionally appropriated
programs get that, that can be secured. But that way we keep the door open, but
then wait, uh, for a proper, proper time when we're more sure about that.
but it does take time to build these relationships with, with, with different stakeholders, which
is what lobbyists do. And I can tell you that lobbyists do, do move things
in dc and that's why we should still find a way to, to
consider that if, if we can, can councilman gutter?
oh, sorry. Um, can maybe, can we get like a, like a,
is it possible to get like an educational course from
a lobbyist group, just see what they do or something without, without committing
to hiring them or anything like that? I mean, city attorney, that's a city attorney
question, or that's tough. A lot of people, people don't wanna give their for you for
free. Okay. Especially lobbyists. Right? Well, we do have a,
you know, I'm just, we do have a state advocate. A state
advocate. I don't know if that would oh, maybe he could come talk. No, no, no. I, I I think
I mayor go ahead. Yeah, I, I think okay. I agree with,
um, okay. Male protein can tell. I think we keep the door open.
okay. And, uh, let's see how the time change, because when that's very
tough, we might have a war going on and we have mid election,
so this year I don't think anything will happen from the dc so,
so, so, but we keep the door open if we see any potential.
maybe kelly, you, you, you have your eye while open to see any
potential. Good thing you brought a good one. I mean, after the midterms,
yeah. That's a meeting this next year. Yeah. So that's why I just say next
year after midterm, do we have a motion, um, to motion
to open and we will motion what, uh, mayor proto
contos has mentioned, or he can motion that if you like, but
thank you. Thank you. I'd like to move to keep, to keep this matter open
and to bring this back at, at a, at a point when we, uh,
we feel that the environment has changed enough to enable us to consider,
uh, the possibility of securing congressionally pro. I, I seconded. Hey, roll
call. Get the door open. Okay. I have a motion from mayor
pro tem contos. And a second from councilman wu. Roll call vote.
council member gutierrez aye. Councilman wu? Aye.
councilwoman diaz. Aye. Mayor pro tem contos. Aye. Mayor lopez.
vito aye. Motion passes now to item number 14, consideration of a draft request
for proposals for grant writing services. City manager who will present the report.
kelly mcdonald. Go ahead. Proceed. Okay. Uh, similarly, this
was, this was an rfp that was published in 24 and bids were rejected
in 25. We attempted to publish again in october 25,
and, um, pulled that back. So this is a draft, uh, rfp
for consideration and direction. Again, that's not a funded service. And we had
be looking at a general fund allocation, if we decide to proceed
any questions, uh, councilman wolf, uh, rather than
hire additional person to impose another
of, uh, six figure salary. Okay. And, uh, because a
grant writer, so we have a, a assistant city manager
is that he capable to help us to,
to, to look into the grant design that, so in
that way, uh, we can save a rather than a higher grant
writers, we, we have a, he has a lot of, uh, finance
background, this and that. So possible, uh, he
can help us. This is my question. So
how do you think the city manager or kelly, does he keep we, can we
do that first? Okay. Well then just go to a higher
additional. It costs another six figure. In
speaking with, um, some of the firms that have, uh, contacted us,
um, it appears that the scope of work and the detail
that would need to go into it, uh, would need to be, would be best to
contract out to have this service provided. Um, with that, some of
the people, they have submitted inquiries about doing grant writing services for
the city. They have different menus, everything from a retainer, a monthly
retainer to a per project or per grant, uh, writing
service. So they had a full menu of how it could be, um, funded.
but, uh, currently we don't have the capabilities in-house, uh, to
research all the existing grants that are out there and to properly facilitate
the writing of grants. And I know currently that the city in different
departments, and I do think that each department for writing their own grants,
um, but sometimes the purview might be limited or they're still missing out on other grants
that they might not be aware of. Uh, with changes of staff, it just makes
it a little bit more difficult when you can have a specialty. And I know I've mentioned this in
the past of like, grants to maximize the use, and they usually have
their own databases of all the grants that we are limited to.
and I do, um, agree with per project, uh, and this
is more flexibility than the lobbyists. So, I mean, I'd like to see this move forward.
uh, kain gutierrez, yes. I, I think there's, uh, a lot of state money that the
city's not applying for. And, um, I think a,
uh, a firm, uh, or I think, I think one, I think part
of the consult request back then was also to see what, what would be more cheaper and
more efficient if, if it's a hiring a, uh, a grant writing,
writing, uh, firm, or potentially hiring in-house grant
writers. Again, um,
speaking with some of the, uh, perspective, um, vendors
for this type work. Um, they have people in specialized fields.
so with one firm they say they may ask, you know, what's your focus?
do you want funding for fire, police, landscape
maintenance, um, fire mitigation hazards, those type things.
um, one person wouldn't be well equipped in-house
to have that subject matter expertise on all the different type grants
that are out there. Um, some of the firms we've talked to, you know, they may have
20 people and everybody focuses on a specific type grant, and they're subject matter
experts in writing that type grant. So as the city says, we're
looking for a grant for something specific, they would have somebody earmarked
specifically to write that type grant and would have the expertise and knowledge of what grants that
are available and the timing for those. So I'll make a motion. Madam
mayor. Oh, we have, uh, councilman woman diaz.
thank you, madam mayor. So my question is, what's
the difference between this agenda 13 that
talks about this federal, um, law, I'm sorry, I'm the wrong one.
the grant writing proposal versus the number six that,
uh, we're requesting an rfp for the engineering, the traffic
engineering, the grant writing, administrative services and all that. What's the difference
between that? I believe on item number
six for the engineering proposal, we left in the
part of grant writing, not knowing if the council would approve or
move forward with a grant writing service. Currently, we rely on our
engineering, um, department to research and write grants
specifically to engineering and do public works to the best of their ability.
okay. But if the city were to move away from relying on
individual departments and went to a, a larger firm to search out these grants,
it would just enhance our ability to garner grants. Okay. Great
question. Uh, mayor pro, I mean, well, mayor proti contos, I, I was
just going to, uh, echo support for, for, for you with regard to this item.
and I'd like to move, uh, approval, uh, to proceed forward. Thank you. And I'm gonna second
that. Okay. So, so the question would be,
okay, I, I, based on the acting city manager okay. Suggestion
would be the firm. So I agree. Okay. Because the firm has
more people. Okay. Just like our also seeing engineer, they have
more people. So you hire one person, they only maybe good for one thing,
not okay. Because the grant, not only for the public safety, they
have a lot of grant for community service. When I was the ena
of, uh, okay. Council of government. Okay. Then, uh, they
basically talking about state has a lot of ground for hiking trail.
okay. And, uh, I think I sent it to the city manager okay.
to say, hey, maybe we can apply lake grant. So because we have a lot of
trail, okay. And, uh, maybe we can help to connect to other trail. And
I mentioned about that. So, so this is a specialty. Okay. Not public
safety, it's a state. They want the open space, they want the hiking trail, this
and that, and that. They have, they told me they have tons of money reserve,
even states broke because they're misusing the fund. But,
but the hiking trail is design that there's another trust fund
for the, for the, because they wanna emphasize open space, hiking, trail
nature and stuff. And we have less. So maybe that, that we can have them
to look into. So second thing is how
we pay them. If we hire the firm, are they going to
a grand percentage or are we higher monthly charge? How
much is that? Do, do we, can we go into this? Are we going to
be okay, just ip to, so you bring back to us about
their charge? Or are you paying, you can basically go through the company
and then tell us later about how much you're going to city going to pay.
my expectation is we would get the proposals from the different, um,
providers and come back to the council, seek direction on, do you want to go with a,
a monthly all cart? Uh, they just apply for everything
or do specific, um, grants one at a time. And
some of 'em are matching. Some of 'em, the firm may take
a percentage of the grant received, uh, which wouldn't be out of pocket. So
costs, basically we are going to approve tonight is approve the
proposal for ip, and then you will send back to us and we can decide
which company, what kind, what kind of charge, and then we can decide
the time e exactly. And just decide what type
program we want to have, uh, per grant, a per month.
um, and, and again, it would capture everything from covering all
of our departments, uh, uh, things outside of our city resources. Yeah.
I, I think the one is more motivated. Is I okay. Based on the
grant, more grant, they get paid more. Okay. Otherwise, if we get a fixed income,
they never get a grant for us. Well, they'll be, go ahead and bring that back. We already have a motion
and a second. So roll call. A roll call vote. Um,
councilman berg gutierrez. Yes. I was just gonna say, um, if you
could also, I think we, we, um, passed the council request to show us whoever
you picked, but also show us the top three, I think the record.
yeah. Record, yeah. Understood. Yeah. And then, yes,
we'll try this again. So let's back up a little bit, um, just to make sure that the record
reflects accurately. So I have a motion for mayor pro tem contos. A second
for mayor lopez. Vito, roll call. Vote. Council member gutierrez?
yes. Councilman wu. Aye. Councilman diaz? Aye. Mayor pro tem
contos. Aye. Mayor lopez. Vito aye. Motion passes. Now on to
city council reports. Ab 1, 2, 3, 4. Conference and meeting report.
any, seeing none, city council request? Any, uh,
councilwoman diaz? Thank you, madam mayor. Um,
I know that some time ago, um, we had, um, conditional use permit
issued to our, um, spotless burger. And, um,
I would like to have staff look into this issue, this
permanent and see if they're complying, because my understanding
is well, everybody has seen that place and it's, it's been a mess.
and so I want to find out if, um, they're complying with
that. Um, I know that we had granted them this, uh,
what is it? Um, drive through grandfather, grandfather, their,
their, um, their drive through. And so if they're not
complying, then I, maybe we will take that away. So
I'd like staff to look into that. Please. I'm, I will second let. Okay.
um, mayor proam contos. Oh, I, I,
I'm in full agreement with what? I thought you had an, uh, oh, I do. I do. But I
didn't know if there was a vote for that or not. Oh, yeah. No, I mean, she, there was no other disagreement. Oh, okay. Okay.
great. Unless anybody had any well, I, I'd like to, to, uh, echo
the concerns that were expressed by matt smith and doug four about
the ways that the businesses have been really fake. And, uh, I think there was another person
here, gosh, I don't remember her name, uh, but, but the, the tina
. Well, uh, she penalized me by saying, I don't, she'll, she'll deny me a beer
now, but I don't drink. So . But, uh, I,
I wanted to, uh, echo those, the, the, the sentiments
that they have expressed regarding the concerns relating to the, the, the
higher athens bill. And I know that, that, uh, myelin is already working on this,
but, but, um, borrowing from what was also brought up during oral communications,
if there'd be a way that, uh, staff could convene, uh, and, and give notice
to the various businesses all around town, to to have them all convene and, and discuss
these various issues about how to, how athens can work with them, uh, uh,
to, to address these issues. But not just do doing it piecemeal, but giving notice
to all of the businesses so that way we can get the aggregate of what is happening with
everyone and how, how, how these issues can be addressed and, and, and how
their, their, the issues relating to their costs can, can be, uh,
lowered or, or, or whatever collaboration that could result from,
from figuring this out together. But I, I really worry about the things
that are happening to the businesses here. And, and it's, we, we just, we've gotta do something about
it in a way that really matters to these businesses. Bottom lines. So, I agree. And I second that.
I don't wanna see highway robbery and, you know, we do care for our businesses,
and so I'd like to see that move forward. Any other con concerns with that? Right.
that one's good. Uh, um, the next one is with regard to our beautification.
again, I've gotten word that there are dead trees along the median side on azusa avenue,
along several blocks. Um, and that there are also people who have driven
in, in, um, cortez park. And there, there are tire marks all over the
place, and there are other signs around of an absence of attention to
beautification. And it's, and it's on the rise. I'm, I'm hearing from multiple people.
and, um, so I'm just like to ask that staff not only redouble
their efforts, but but when these things are visible, please to address
them. Uh, and not, I mean, I know that they, they address our concerns when they're
brought to attention, but some of these things are really obvious that, you know, with regard to like dead trees
and so forth. So please redouble efforts to, to get these things fixed. Second, second
left. Any questions or anything? I mean, concern. All right. That
passes. Uh, next council request. Anybody else? That's it. Okay. Thank you. Uh,
councilman gutierrez never can look up the trees on sunset, too,
by don norte.
okay. Uh, now city council comments council,
uh, let's go ahead with, uh, councilwoman diaz. Thank you, madam mayor. I just want
to congratulate our latest moee. We have some
officers that were promoted. We have some management in dispatch that were promoted, some jailers,
some, some new, um, cadets. And I just, I just wanna congratulate them
again and, um, welcome councilman gutierrez.
yes, I I'll join, um, councilwoman diaz and
also congratulating, uh, the men and women who were promoted and, and the
success they continue to do in our community that our police officers and our firefighters.
um, also, um, I want, I wanted to also, uh,
acknowledge and celebrate, uh, african american history month.
I think it's a special a month that honors the
legacy of, of, of very important people like dr. King.
and I remember doc one of growing up, I think one of my,
uh, inspirations growing up was, uh, dr. King. And I think his,
his speech went, uh, you know, he, he had a dream
that one day his four little children will one day, uh, grow up in a society
where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but rather by the content of their character.
and those are words that, uh, uh, have always inspired me. And, and so
I just wanted to honor his legacy. And also, uh, and that's
it. Thank you. Uh, councilman ru. Yeah. Uh, and I wanna follow, um,
councilwoman diaz regarding the monday, the promotion
ceremony. Okay. The, okay. Um, the event that
we have, our, I want to thank our pre chief okay. And
have a leadership. Now we hire additional five police officer,
they wo in that day. And then we see the five young person
and plus, okay, we have a jailer, okay? We have a big
strong jailer, okay? Promoted supervisor. We have a dispatchers
promotion and that new hire and we fill it up, okay?
and, uh, this is something so important for public safety. I think this is something,
uh, represent the city. We continue, okay. To improve our city.
and I want to thank our chief, okay? With a strong leadership. Continue
to add. Okay? We know we have some retiree, but continue to
get this. Okay? And he told me we have another five
or six okay. Under in the academy. So they will come out
and serve our cd two. So just like we can see, okay.
continue to improve our public safety agency. And another thing is,
okay, fire department, I think they're doing the excellent job and,
uh, we promised them we are going to build their station. We are going to build their station.
okay, thank you. Um, thank you. If you did register
for couples connect, I will see you there. Uh, next week. I know it's
halfway full. Uh, even though it's a couple, each individual
needs to register, um, dinners provided we need, we capped it
at a certain amount, but that would be fun, engaging, and there's hands-on activities
and, um, you'll get something out of that. Consider it a date night if you like. Um,
but you know, it's gonna strengthen the relationship in the community. So I look forward to seeing those
there next week. Other than that, um, I know it's a late night
at your bedtime story today, so we'll meeting adjourn.