City Council Meeting — February 2, 2022

acting on behalf of the successor agency of the former redevelopment agency the housing authority

the minor park financing authority and the minor park geologic hazard abatement district agenda regular city council meeting today wednesday february 2nd 2022 6 30 pm under assembly bill number 361 these meetings will be conducted pursuant to government code

54953 as implemented by City Council resolution.

Accordingly, Council members will be provided with electronic meeting login information. They will not be physically present at Council Chambers. Pursuant to City Council resolution, the public may provide public comment utilizing

the methods set forth below.

Note that City Hall is currently closed to the public. You will not be admitted to City Hall.

General information.

Documents related to an agenda item are available to the public in the City Clerk's Office located at 320 West Newmark Avenue, Monterey Park, California, 91754 during normal business hours and the City's website at www.montereypark.ca.gov forward slash agenda center forward slash city hyphen council hyphen 17. The public may watch the meeting live on the city's cable channel, NPK-TV or AT&T U-verse or channel 99 or charter communications or channel 182. Or by visiting the city's website at www.monterpark.ca.gov forward slash 133 forward slash city hyphen council hyphen meeting hyphen videos.

Public participation. In accordance with Government Code 54953 and the City Council resolution, remote public participation is alLod in the following ways.

Via email written communications.

Public comment will be accepted up to 24 hours before the meeting via email to mpclerk at monopark.ca.gov.

Written communication, if any, will be briefly summarized and include the name of each individual that submitted a comment.

The summary will be read via pre-recorded video and played during the public comments section of the City Council meeting. To view the full text of written communication, please visit www.monitorpark.ca.gov forward slash agenda center. All written communications are provided to the City Council and filed as part of the City's administrative record. Via telephone, public comment may be submitted via telephone during the meeting before the close of public comment

by calling 888-788-0099 or 877-853-5247

and entering Zoom meeting ID number 289-222-5995. then press pound when prompted to enter participation ID number press pound again if participants would like to make a public comment they will enter 9 then the clerk's office will be notified and you will be in the rotation to make a

public comment press 6 to unmute yourself when called upon to speak participants are encouraged to join a meeting 15 minutes before the start of

the meeting you may speak up to five minutes on agenda item speakers will not be alLod to combine time. The Mayor and City Council may change the amount of time alLod

for speakers. As part of the virtual meeting protocols, anonymous persons will not be alLod

to provide public comment. Important disclaimer, when a participant calls in to join the meeting,

their name and or phone number will be visible to all participants. Note that all public meetings

will be recorded. I'm going to call the meeting to order and then ask all of us to stand for the flag salute.

Please rise, please rise, raise your hand over your heart.

Ow. Can we hear the flag, please?

Ready to begin? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic of which it stands, one nation, and our God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. Be seated.

Roll call, please. Thank you. Council Member Yvonne Yu.

Council member Peter Chan. Council member Hans-Leon.

Mayor Pro Tempresentoso. And Mayor Henry Lo.

All present. Thank you. Let's see.

Agenda addition deletions changes and adoptions.

We have any additions, deletions, or changes and adoptions.

None from the city manager's office, Mayor.

Mayor. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Public communications. While all comments are welcome, Brown Act does not allow the council to take action on any item not on the agenda. The council may briefly respond to comments after public communication is closed. Persons may in addition to any other matter within the city's subject matter jurisdiction

comment on agenda items at this time. If you provide public comment on a specific agenda item at this time, however,

you cannot later provide comments at the time the agenda is considered. Do we have any public comment requests? Thank you, Mayor Lo. Audience, if you would like to speak during public communications,

this is your opportunity to do so. You can go ahead and utilize the raise hand feature if you're on the computer.

If you're calling from the phone, go ahead and press star 9 at this time.

NEW SPEAKERS, WE DO HAVE TWO REGISTERED SPEAKERS FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS. NEW SPEAKERS, ALBER RAMOS, ABNER, I'M SORRY, I APOLOGIZE. GO AHEAD AND STATE YOUR NAME AND YOU'LL HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO SPEAK.

NEW SPEAKERS, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY A FEW COMMENTS JUST ABOUT RESOLUTION 6A AT THE END OF THE agenda for this meeting. First of all, I just really want to thank the mayor and the city council for giving me a few minutes to speak on this issue. Again, my name is Abner Ramos. I've been a resident of Monterey Park for over 20 years. I'm a husband, a father, a pastor, and I love our city, and I thank all the work that you guys do every day. I want to begin by addressing you all just with one question in particular about Resolution 6A. I just want to ask, what does this resolution accomplish? As a city council, none of you, if I'm understanding the law correctly, have the right to change laws regarding abortion or anything like that. So again, I just want to ask what's the purpose of this vote? It feels, if anything, to me, just like a statement of belief, which is fine, I think, for a conversation amongst friends. But I don't know if that's the actual thing that any of you ran on. I just want to know, Did any of you guys ask your constituents what they believe? Did you canvas the neighborhood and ask residents what they thought? And if this is such an important thing, then why not bring the vote to the city itself? I think personally that you probably wouldn't bring the vote to the city, given the fact that the 61,000 or so residents of Monterey Park would probably think it's a waste of their time. I think that if 100% of the voters went either way, it would still not matter because these things are not decided at this level of the government. Right. So if 61,000 people in Monterey Park decided to vote for this resolution, women would still be able to get abortions. If all 61,000 decided to vote against it, women would still get to have abortions. So in my humble opinion, I think this vote is a waste of your precious time as a city council. I just want to remind us in the mission statement of these meetings, you state that the mission of the city of Monterey Park is to provide excellent services to enhance the quality of life for our entire community. And I don't think this vote does that, right? I don't think anyone's going to be alLod or denied access to abortion because of your vote today. So I think I have two suggestions in helping us move forward and helping us stay true to the mission statement. One, I think, you know, according to the Pew Research Center, 30% of Asian Americans, 40% of Latinos, and 42% of whites believe that abortion should be illegal. So if I worked out my math correctly, this means that 19,792 of the residents in Monterey Park believe that abortion is illegal. So here's what I think we should do with this vote. I think we should also, if we're going to go ahead with this vote, maybe we should move forward with the vote that also affirms the right to life to represent the views and beliefs of the 30% of the people in the city who don't agree with abortion. And I think that way we'd be saying that we're open to both perspectives in our city and welcome people who have differing opinions. And I think it would communicate that we're even more open-minded than your vote suggests today. And I think in that sense, everyone's voice in our community would be heard, and we'd be saying that the views of those in the minority are also important to us. And I just want to ask, how awesome would that be? The second thing that I think we should consider is if the mission of this council is to provide services to enhance the quality of life for our residents, then I suggest that we allocate resources to provide mental health services and spiritual care for women who actually move forward with abortions. Abortion is not without consequences. And some women do struggle with depression and guilt after the procedure. So can we provide women with counseling or direct them to female chaplains and pastors in the neighborhood who could help them breathe without fear or feelings of shame? In other words, instead of just voting for something that is just symbolic and has zero impact on the women in our city, can we actually use this vote to create a budget item to show compassion and care for the women in the city and go through with it? So I just want you to know again that I'm a pastor in the city. I partner with the city and will continue to partner with the city to help our joint vision of making Monterey Park a safe and beautiful place to live for all people. And when there's overlap in our vision, I'm 100% with you all. I just want you to know. And I believe that most of the time there's disagreement. But when there's disagreement, I believe that it's my Christian duty and my duty as a resident of this beautiful city to communicate that disagreement to you in a way that is respectful and not combative. I respect you all and what you do with the city. Thank you so much. Again, I look forward to our continued partnership. The only thing that I ask is that you don't waste the precious time that is given to you to vote on things that have no impact in our city. and that if you find this vote to be as important as you say it is, then I ask that you invite every resident to weigh in, and I also ask that you consider providing compassion services to women who might be grieving after this important decision. Thank you.

Thank you, Abner. Next speaker, we have Ricardo Enric.

Hello, can you hear me? Hi, can you guys hear me? Yes, we can hear you, sir. I'm so sorry. I'm driving. That's why you get cut off here and there. But thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Ricardo Zandrelli. I represent the Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce. And I will take this brief minute or two simply to inform the council people here of the upcoming event that we're having here in reference to the celebration of the Lunar New Year in Valentine's Day as well on Saturday, February 12th. This free community event will feature performances as well as a number of multicultural groups, as well as have fun activities for the whole family. And it will take place, obviously, at the Barnes Park Amphitheater between the hours of 6 I'm sorry between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m. I hope that you guys can all come by and join the community. Also I would like to address an issue that was expressed by a couple of business owners

to the chamber stating that somehow they believe or maybe they're right or not I haven't verified this that the city is doing business with businesses outside the city as opposed to trying to I guess do business with in Monterey Park businesses so I would like to see if it's all possible please if I don't know if there's a process that the city has to go

through to first try to purchase items from city businesses first and then obviously if they can provide the service, obviously go elsewhere. But this, I guess, concern has been expressed by a couple of business owners within Monterey Park stating that why is it that the city only purchases items outside the city and never looks for vendors within the city? With that in mind, I thank you for the time and the opportunity and hope you guys have a wonderful Valentine's Day and hope to see you at the celebration. Thank you, Ricardo. There are no other speakers for public communication there.

Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Next we have staff communications. First from recreation community services and then library services. So we'll begin with recreation community services.

Hello. Good evening, Mayor Lo and members of the city council. My name is Memo Chavez, Acting Recreation Supervisor with the Recreation and Community Services Department. The Recreation Department would like to invite you and Monterey Park... Park Residence to take part in two upcoming programs and activities. During the month of February, we are encouraging people to show the love by purchasing a nicely wrapped gift basket that includes a stuffed animal, candy, a cup, decorative fLors, and a telegram that you can personalize up to 20 words. The package cost is $10. Delivery will be available for Monterey Park residents only. Deliveries will be made between February 7th and February 25th, excluding weekends. Our registration is currently available. Packages are going by fast, so if you are interested in purchasing, we do encourage you place your order soon. You can do so by going to the city website and clicking on the Show the Love link, or by calling the Langley Senior Center at 626-307-1395.

The other activity being offered is a free movie in the park that will be held next month on Friday, March 11th at Barnes Park. The movie showing that evening is Disney's Shang-Chi and will begin at dusk, approximately 7 p.m.

It's sure to be a fun evening, and we hope to see you there. Thank you for having me this evening to provide these updates for you. Thank you very much.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor.

NEW SPEAKERS, MAYOR PRODEM AND CITY COUNCIL, THIS IS DIANA GARCIA, CITY LIBRARIAN.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME THIS EVENING TO HELP PUBLICIZE THE SERVICES CURRENTLY BEING OFFERED BY THE LIBRARY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

SO AS YOU KNOW, THE LIBRARY HAS BEEN CLOSE TO THE PUBLIC SINCE EARLY JANUARY DUE TO THE OMICRON VARIANT.

And currently we're offering pop-up library services outside the library on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

And on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

That's at the front entrance of the library. And we're also offering pop-up library services on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Barnes Park.

The pop-up library hours are intended to offer as many of the services that our community is used to receiving inside the building outdoors in a safe manner.

So folks can come browse books, use computers, print, check out materials, or get a new library card.

Next slide, please.

Wi-Fi hotspot and Chromebook checkout is a newer service available at the library that we've added since the start of the pandemic.

The library has always tried to bridge the digital gap with our services inside the building,

and now our cardholders can actually check out Wi-Fi hotspots and Chromebooks to use at home for free with a library card.

We know that these services are especially important right now with online learning, work from home and Zoom meetings being a part of everybody's regular day.

Residents can check these out from the library during our pop-up hours. Next slide, please.

Of course, we're still offering contactless checkout. We started this in June of 2020. We offer contactless checkout or curbside checkout. Residents or cardholders can give us a call to place an order for books, or they can go

online to place their orders. The library catalog website is right here, library.montereypark.ca.gov forward slash catalog. They can place their orders in one of those two ways. STAFF WILL PULL THOSE ITEMS, CALL TO LET THEM KNOW THEY ARE AVAILABLE AND PICKUP IS AVAILABLE

TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY FROM 10 A.M. TO 5 P.M. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. ADDITIONALLY STARTING THIS SATURDAY FEBRUARY 5TH DURING THE CLOSURE OF THE BUILDING PASSPORT APPOINTMENTS WILL BE AVAILABLE

OUTSIDE THE LIBRARY AT THE FRONT ENTRANCE ON SATURDAYS FROM 1 TO 5 P.M. YOU CAN CALL OUR PASSPORT OFFICE AT 626-307-1492 FOR AN APPOINTMENT. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND OF COURSE JUST A REMINDER TO THE COMMUNITY THAT ALL OF OUR OUTTOUR PROGRAMMING CONTINUES

IN BARNES PARK DURING THE CLOSURE OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING THAT INCLUDES STORY TIMES, STORYTIMES bilingual in Mandarin and Spanish, children's programs, teen programs, adult crafts, music

and movement, and many other programs. And all of our programs are posted to our Facebook, as well as to the calendar on the library's website. Next slide, please.

And finally, just a reminder that we continue to offer our literacy and citizenship programs VIRTUALLY VIA ZOOM. OUR SPRING SEMESTER JUST STARTED. WE'VE GOT A FULL ROSTER OF CONVERSATION CLASSES, BEGINNING, INTERMEDIATE, AND ADVANCED ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSES, CITIZENSHIP

COACHING AND ONE-ON-ONE TUTORING. YOU CAN CALL OUR LITERACY OFFICE AT 626-307-1251 FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REGISTER FOR ANY OF THOSE FREE CLASSES. NEXT SLIDE.

uh finally i encourage residents to go to the library website for more information

about our current services and we also encourage you to check out our facebook or our twitter

for the most recent updates to our services or programs thank you very much to council for giving

me a few minutes to publicize what we've got going on at the library and we hope to see you there soon

thank you thank you very much

Okay. Next we have presentations. First one will be 1A, Good View of the Bateman Project Update, folLod by 1B, Investment Presentation by Chandler Asset Management. So we'll start

with Good View of the Bateman Project Update.

MR. Good evening, Mayor Lo. Can you hear me okay?

MR. We can hear you, loud and clear.

MR. Excellent. Good evening. My name is John Turner. I am the Acting City Planner. I'm here to speak to you about the project we've visited and discussed in the past regarding 1688 West Garvey Avenue, which is now referred to as the Good Views Abatement Project, or GAP. This presentation is envisioned, I believe, by the City Manager to be one of many. I am the construction, overseeing the construction team as we move through the abatement process, and I will be returning to council in the future on multiple occasions to keep you aware of the activities that are taking place on the spot. Next slide, please.

Just a quick recap. The project location, it's 1688 West Garvey Avenue. It's the 6.22 acre parcel that has been owned by many different entities over many decades.

I've spoken to you about this in the past. Next slide, please.

Okay, so the location map.

It is shown there in yellow on your screen. It is the hillside that had the slope plastic sheeting.

It's been there for many, many years, and so we are familiar with it. It is located between Abajo and Campanita Court in the city of Monterey Park. Next slide.

This is the existing condition. It is covered with the plastic sheeting. The city undertook a process to prepare the site for the upcoming rainy season in November, December.

We retained a contractor to go out, repair the sheeting, install the gravel bags on site, and get the site stabilized for the winter storms just in time for the deluge of rain that we received in December.

Next slide, please. A quick discussion about the project. Plan B is what we've referred to in the past. This is the hillside stabilization project only. It includes removal of the existing crib wall that's along the slope that's failed in multiple locations over the years, removal of the debris impact wall, which you saw in the previous photo. That's that large metal and wooden structure that's located along Garvey. installation of the Lor retaining walls with the ground anchors. That'll be part of the soil stabilization. And then we'll have additional ground anchors located around the site with reaction pads that'll hold the soil in place. The settlement agreement that was between the property owner is between the property owner and the city required the property owner to install the geotechnical stabilization at the hillside that had to be done by 2020. that was not completed or started, and so the city has undertaken Plan B as a public project at the property owner's expense. Remember, Plan B is just the hillside stabilization. There is no development associated with this project. Next slide.

So, bringing you up to speed on some early activities. As we start to begin construction, The city has retained the services of a grading contractor, general contractor, that's going to oversee a team to install the stabilization measures. We've also retained the services of a geotechnical geology firm to become the engineer of record for the soil stabilization. They have begun their preliminary design work. We've had the site surveyed via drone, and we've also retained a firm to act as the project manager, and they will be reporting to me as the city liaison. This slide here shows the two Metro stops. They're existing on the south side of the street. I've been in contact and coordinated with Metro to make sure that those two stops are closed. Metro went out and removed the poles and the signs for these stops. So users who are normally used to using these facilities, please contact Metro for where the new stop is that's likely located to the east of Abajo, and coordinate your timing so that you can still catch the bus facilities along that eastbound corridor. Next slide, please.

What's going to be happening, it started today, and you'll be seeing pretty big impacts tomorrow at the front of the project site. We're going to be installing all of the traffic control. As part of this project, what we're doing is we're closing the sidewalk, the parking shoulder, and the number two eastbound lane along Garvey between Campanita Court and Abajo Drive. So what that means is that used drivers who are normally used to this corridor being a two lanes in each direction arterial will now in the eastbound direction only have one lane. The other lanes will be closed off with K-rail barriers. Those are those concrete portable barriers that you see all over Southern California. And the contractor will be utilizing this traffic control to not only protect their workers, but provide for needed storage and lay down area as well as the hauling of the material off site by their trucks. So once again, one eastbound lane will be closed starting tomorrow. The duration of that will be for the project, which is likely to continue through December of this year. So it'll be a very long time that those barriers will be in place. Sidewalk will be closed, so users will need to cross a casuda if they want to head in the eastbound direction.

And then, as I said, it'll be between Campanita Court and Abajo Drive.

So if you're driving in the eastbound direction, please be aware of the traffic control and drive safely. Next slide.

So, what's going to be happening starting next week and continuing for about a month, the contractor will be accessing the site.

They'll be removing broken concrete, the vegetation, and the debris that's been located on that site. That includes the plastic sheeting that's been there for a very long time. That will all be removed as the contractor starts the initial activities for installing the soil stabilization. So you will start to see a lot of activity in this area.

There will be a lot of trucks, dump trucks, ten-wheelers, and large construction vehicles that will be entering and exiting the site as they start to remove the material and haul it off to a legally disposed area. Next slide.

Upcoming activities. Once they've cleared the site and they've removed all of the trash and debris, they will begin grading and hauling.

The grading and hauling efforts will take months.

You will also see the retaining wall construction taking place out there. It's going to be a very unique construction, so if you are interested, please do not enter the job site.

You can stand across the street on the north side of Garvey and you'll have a perfectly good view of all the construction activities. Please do not enter the construction site with your vehicle or your person at any time. And if you do have questions, I will be back to provide my contact information. But the city manager and the city attorney definitely know how to get a hold of me.

The haul route will be through city street.

So the trucks will be entering and exiting the freeways, and they'll be transporting the soil material upwards of 70,000 cubic yards of material off-site.

And then there will be construction materials such as concrete and steel that will be brought on-site. Next slide.

So over the course of months, you will start to see construction activities that will take place in your city.

Monterey Park. City Attorney. The yellow line that's shown on the screen is the proposed hauling routes and the red X is the site. So, trucks will be entering the job site in the eastbound direction along Garvey and they will exit also in the eastbound direction. They will not be turning across traffic. But that means the trucks will be traveling east on Garvey to Atlantic where then they will travel north to enter the freeway. That concludes my presentation.

If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them at this time.

Thank you very much, Council Members. Any questions?

Council Member Chan, I see you have your hand up.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Yes, I have a few questions.

I understand that the project is undertaken by the city.

and this I assume has been under the approval from the courts isn't it maybe the city attorney

can answer this thank you Mr. Mayor members of the council can you hear me okay

yes yes yes thank you yes uh to answer your question council member chan as you're aware there is the underlying settlement agreement we also are currently operating underneath an abatement warrant that our office obtained in an abundance of caution to enter onto the site so that abatement warrant lasts until the end of march on march 16th we will have a hearing in front of the court with with regard to the underlying settlement agreement. And we hope at that time to have an order in place that enforces beyond doubt the settlement agreement. So to answer your question, we do have court order from the original 2017 settlement agreement. In addition to that, we have an abatement warrant to enter onto the property, and we are confirming the settlement agreement on March 16th.

Okay, thank you. And I assume that the cost will be quite expensive because it's a big project. So, and right now, although in the presentation that is the supposed to be owner's responsibility and now it becomes the city's. So, we will claim all the costs from the property owners, I assume. But my question is, if they walk away or file bankrupt or then what is our alternatives to claim back those costs?

So as the council is aware, through the settlement agreement, we actually have performance deeds recorded against two pieces of property. We recently received an appraisal report within the past two weeks with regard to those properties, which gives us an appraisal price for those properties of approximately $8 million and change. We're not sure how much this project is going to cost at the moment. The directive to all of the consultants, including the project managers, to make it as least expensive as possible. But we do have the ability to foreclose on those deeds of trust against those properties, which means that we can sell the properties in order to recover costs. And obviously, if there's anything left over that we need to collect, we will be going after the property owners for the full recovery of costs.

and then after this construction project on the hillside so on top of it is the project location so after this construction the steel can be done I mean the development can be done accordingly after it's stabilized the hillside I assume isn't it?

Yes the gap Again, we've named this the Good Views Abatement Project for purposes of going onto the property and abating the nuisance.

The gap would allow potentially in the future, future development of that property.

So it does not preclude any property owner from eventually developing that site. More than likely, anyone that wishes to develop that site in the future would require additional city council approvals. As you're aware, the council did approve what was called Plan A back in June 2021. The developer, unfortunately, never folLod through with commencing construction on the hillside stabilization by August 1st of last year, which is why the city took it over in October.

Okay. Thank you, city attorney. Now I have some questions for Mr. Turner. You mentioned about the two bus stops going to be temporarily closed for some, you know, until the construction is done. So it may be a long time. And then we understand that on Abajo, there's a senior housing there. And so I think people need that bus stop. so would the bus stop relocate maybe on the other side of east of abaho

council member chan members of council uh yes in my preliminary discussions with the representatives of metro they removed the signs for those two sites and they were investigating where a lot on the other side the east side of abaho they were going to relocate the bus stop. So my goal is to let them give them a little bit of time to figure that out. And then I will be reaching back out to them to confirm where they have moved it to. And I will bring a report back to you so we can distribute it to the public. Okay, thank you. Because so I

think we need that bus stop, at least on that side. And of course, no closer to a Pacific to the canyon. So maybe it is quite a long distance so people can have to walk long. So hopefully we can have both buses stop in a later day or sooner the better. And then on the-

Sorry to interrupt real quick. Sorry to interrupt Council Member Chen. You know, I apologize. I did neglect to mention, and I realize that now, Metro has indicated that they are going to be posting notices for where the new facility is going to be located. So individuals can either see that located at the physical stops, most likely at the next stop, or they can go online to the metro site and receive that information, just so everyone's aware. Sorry.

Okay. No, that's fine. And then since we're going to close one lane eastbound on Gavi, and I know that at present the speed limit is 40 miles per hour. So with the one lane only, will that speed limit be Lor?

We ask that everyone drive through that construction site with caution. The speed limit will not be Lored by regulation, but by common sense. The lane will be only one lane. And so people should be Loring their speed limit five to ten miles an hour through that area so that they can, the construction workers will be able to work safely. and the trucks entering and exiting the area will also have to leave traffic and then re-merge with traffic. So it's an important area for drivers to really pay attention. And obviously, if we have problems, we will enlist the assistance of the police department to help us out there. But I don't envision that that would be needed as drivers pay attention and really slow down for that.

And I hope that the construction company will have some employees to direct traffic for the trucks to come in and out. Because I know that there's people with the slow and stop signs and direct traffic. I hope that will happen as well. And then on the westbound, on the other side of Garvey, on that area, I don't think there'll be any changes. It won't affect the westbound lanes, right, on the other side.

That is correct. There will be no modifications to the westbound traffic travel lanes whatsoever.

Okay. And I know it's – I don't think anyone can answer at this time. but approximately what's the time duration of this construction? I mean, just for part figure. Council Member Chan, members of council, at this point in time, we are projecting through the end of this year. So it will be a year-long project at this point. And then obviously, as I return to provide you with updates during the course of the year, I'll be able to provide you with updated schedules at that time TO KEEP YOU AND THE COMMUNITY AWARE OF THE DURATION OF THE WORK.

NEW SPEAKERS OF THE CITY. THANK YOU, MR. TURNER. AND MY NEXT QUESTION MAY BE TO THE CITY MANAGER OR THE MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR,

MS. GARCIA. SINCE IT'S AROUND $8 MILLION, DO WE HAVE THE FUNDS IN THE CITY TO COVER this before we get back from the property owner.

We have the funds to cover it. We understand that this project was coming up. We understand how much it's going to cost us. We're hoping that with good construction and monitoring how much the spending is, that we can close that gap. But we understand how much this this project is going to cost. Yes, and just remember, this project was brought to our attention because of many safety issues and issues with that hillside sliding over time. We have to do something to this hillside. We are building it to stabilize the slope. We're not building it for a project. So I just want to be clear about that. This is all about life safety. and life safety is extremely important. So we're taking on this project.

Yes, free, loud and clear. Yeah, because safety is number one in the city. Okay, thank you. And those are my questions. Thanks.

Thank you, Council Member Chan. Let's see, any other comments or questions? Oh, yes, Council Member Liang.

Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of questions. Council Member Chan covers some of the ones that I wanted to ask. I just want to offer a statement. I know earlier when the city attorney made a comment about the expense, about the properties that we have the deed interest in and that we would try to build it, like not do it cheaply, not spend as much money or do it efficiently. But I just wanted to be clear that, and we had discussed this at the prior meeting when there was more specific plans about how the stabilization was going to take place, you know, the diagram with the holes being, you know, put into the ground and the long anchors and all that. And at that time, I had been very clear, you know, in my questioning to ensure that whatever process that is being used, that they're following the guidelines that is set forth by the, I forgot there was some geological things. And at that time, there were assurances made that it would follow all of the mandated requirements for safety in terms of the process and the method and system in which they would use to stabilize that hillside. So I don't want anyone to think that the term cheaply was to do it and cut corners. I think cheaply or frugally means to ensure that we plan properly. We don't ensure that the people that are working on it are not being careless and having to overexpend on things. But I'm certain that they will follow whatever guidelines are set forth by that type of construction. And obviously all of us on the council, I believe, would demand that that be the case. uh another thing is that i don't know um in terms of this project happening i think uh city manager if there's a way and if it hasn't been done already um i may have missed it but there's something to be put in the cascades uh or on the web page kind of giving a location for residents to go check and see what what is actually going on i think john had mentioned that Metro had some websites that indicated where the changes are on the bus stops. I think it would be easy for the city to find out that specific webpage and have that link to our city webpage. So people can just go on there and say, you know, there'll be a button that says new stops on Garvey as a result of construction. and then click on that and it would go straight to the metro page that shows where those um where those new um bus stops are going to be um i think also the uh the um i just wanted to ask usually when you're on construction sites and i know the question came up about the um speed limit and that the speed limit wouldn't actually be changed by statute or anything like that but when we come on construction sites you know when i'm driving in the city not not in the city of monroe park but just around uh even though the speed limit may be 40 i may come across where i see is a construction site they may have a little uh placard that's put there saying slow or caution on trucks entering or something like that so i would encourage and hope that there's some kind of signage out there so that when people come and they're coming through that that reduce traffic lane to one lane, that there are some signs that, you know.

saying like those little, you know, traffic, like T things that stand on the street and it says, you know, caution or slow, you know, I think that would also go a long way, at least in the initial stages for the people living in the city to get used to the fact that this is going to be there for some time. And then also in the longterm for people that come into the city that maybe don't visit as much, but, you know, are familiar with Monterey park, you know, may, you know, those signs would also be useful for those people coming in and you know that don't really know that that's going on um as a resident you know people that come from the outside so um those are some of the suggestions i have in terms of that i know that um you know this project has to be done and and actually i'm looking forward um to it getting finished it's been years i think residents can appreciate that given that the number of years that we've had to look at the plastic covering and just kind of an eyesore in that part. So thank you, John. Thank you, Ron, for the comments and the answers that you've given. I'm looking forward to this happening and also looking forward to the periodic reviews, John, that you indicated you'd be giving us in terms of the progress of the project. So that's all my comments. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Chen. Okay. Any, I'm sorry, husband Liang, sorry. Any other questions or comments from my colleagues?

Mayor, if we could make a few statements because Council Member Liang had made some several comments that was well warranted. And I think we have some answers for them. I do not want to see the comments from John because I know John has really honed this project along. So I'll let him talk about some of the things that we've done to make sure the public knows. John?

Thank you, Ron and Council Member Liang. Yes, you bring up very valid points.

And I was a bit remiss in my presentation.

The city has already created a website for this project.

And so in my future presentations, I will include it just for the record,

record and everyone who's watching, the website is www.montereypark.ca.gov forward slash 1409 forward slash 1688 hyphen west hyphen Garvey hyphen Avenue.

So we will be posting

information for the public. They can go to that website and they'll be able to see current photos,

construction schedules,

the metro impacts as you had brought forth, and just to address the traffic control,

because that is going to be the first thing everyone's going to see, and it's going to be there for a very long time.

Myself and the city attorney's office and the team that has worked on this project, we had two traffic engineers, registered traffic engineers with the state of California, develop the traffic control plan, utilizing their expertise and years of experience. And we believe we have an extremely safe traffic control plan. It will have very large arrow boards with the arrows that move, that tell people it'll be lit.

It'll tell people you need to move and change lanes. There will be the delineators and the yellow cones.

It will be, I am told by the contractor, it will be very vibrant. It will be very obvious that there's construction taking place. But my role is that I will be visiting the site once they get it established with the traffic control. And any sort of modifications that need to be made, I will be taking care of those with the contractor to address anything that I see as a registered engineer that maybe could be improved upon. But I appreciate your comments. And yes, we will be moving forward and updating the website and making sure that the traffic, that the traveling public is very safe when they're passing the construction site, as well as the contractor.

Thank you, Mr. Turner. Okay. Anything else from the city?

Chair Lo? Oh, yes. Yes, clerk?

The audience, if they wish to speak on presentation item 1A. Yes, please.

Audience, should you wish to speak on presentation item 1A, this is your opportunity to do so.

You can go ahead and use the raise hand feature or press star 9 to speak on this item.

Mayor Lo, there are no individual wishes to speak on item 1A. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, and then with that, then I will proceed to the next presentation, 1B, investment presentation by Chandler Asset Management.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council. At our last council meeting on January 19th, direction was given to staff to bring back the report that Chandler, excuse me, Chandler Investment had shown the Treasury Committee. This committee consists of City Treasurer Joseph Leon, City Manager Ron Bowe, Assistant City Manager Inez Alvarez, Management Services Martha Garcia. The Treasury Committee met on Thursday, January 26th to discuss the next steps. And it was a consensus by the committee to contact Chandler Asset Management on short notice to present this PowerPoint presentation to City Council as soon as possible. As a point of clarification at the January 19th meeting and tonight, the only report that was presented was a PowerPoint presentation, which you are going to see tonight and you will review shortly. Tonight with us from Urban Futures, we have Chief Executive Officer Michael Bush. I think Michael's on the call somewhere. It's kind of hard to see. Yeah, Michael's on the call. So you know Michael from the bonds that we issued and we were approved of. So Michael was part of our investment team. And then also to present the PowerPoint presentation from Chandler Investments, we have Senior Relationship Manager Mia Corral Brown. And then we have also as part of her team from Chandler, Christopher McCary. um so Mia I'm going to give it to you and uh you can present the presentation I'm not sure if you're going to drive this presentation or the city clerk is going to present this uh the presentation and you're just going to call it out but I'll let you guys figure it out thank you

great thank you Mr. Bowe um and good evening honorary member on honorary mayor Lo members of the city council, city staff, and residents at the city of Monterey Park, we want to start

by wishing you a happy Lunar New Year. We know that that occurred yesterday and celebrations will be occurring throughout the week and month, and so we wish you good fortune. My name is Mia Corral, and I'm a senior relationship manager at Chandler Asset Management. I'd like to turn to page three if we could. Today we'll be discussing Chandler Asset Management and our capabilities as they're related to the city's investment program. So I'll start with a little bit about myself. I'm a native Los Angelino, born and raised in Los Angeles, folLod by Whittier, California. I attended university at San Diego State, and upon graduation, almost 30 years ago, entered the financial industry. In 2004, I joined the team at Chandler Asset Management, and for almost 18 years, I've had the pleasure of working with local California public agencies right here in my home, Southern California, to ensure that we create optimal investment programs that exceed their expectations for service. Now, with me tonight is Christopher McCary. Chris is a senior member of our investment team and is also a client-facing portfolio manager. I'd like Chris to say hello to you before we jump into our slide deck.

Thank you, Mia. And again, just to reiterate with Mayors. what Mia said. I just want to thank the mayor, mayor pro tem, and council for allowing us to present tonight, as well as members of city staff and residents. We look forward to discussing the opportunities, especially what we put together on the city's current investment program.

So pictured here with us is Jason Schmidt. Jason is the deputy chief investment officer who would be assigned to implement the investment strategy on behalf of the City of Monterey Park, and our team would be supported by our Director of Client Service, which includes at that right-hand side, Kara Rainer Sanchez, who would be in charge of ensuring that we proactively reach out to the City to schedule meetings to keep you apprised of your investment program and to provide any customized reporting. We can go ahead and advance to the next slide. I'd like to give you a little bit of history about Chandler Asset Management, who we are and how we came to be. We were founded almost or over three decades ago in 1988, almost 24 years ago now, by our chairwoman Kay Chandler. Kay really began her career sitting on the same side of the desk as many of you public agency officials, working as an investment officer first for the county of San Diego and folLod by the city of San Diego. One of the key observations that Kay had as she went out to present and shared her expertise with her peer group was that public agencies had, there was a real pressing need for professional investment management services because investment professionals within cities were charged with wearing several hats and often did not have access to the resources they needed, whether it would be staff time, education, or the time to effectively manage the work. programs in-house. And so she went out and started her own firm. Again, we were started in 1988, almost 34 years ago. And today we manage over $25 billion in assets for clients who share very similar objectives to the city of Monterey Park for safety, liquidity, and finally return. What is unique about Chandler is that we share your fiduciary duty. As a fiduciary, we sit on the same side of the desk as you, and we do not have any ties to banking, brokerage, or financial advisory services. We share your fiduciary duty, and we are really laser focused on providing full-time investment management services for our public entity clients. We provide customized investment solutions that adhere to the California government state code and the parameters that are best practices for safety, liquidity, and finally return. What is unique about our team and our firm is that you'll have access to the investment professionals who are making decisions on your behalf. And we will work with your staff, your city treasurer, your city manager to ensure that we really create a customized investment program that meets the city's unique needs. And we will do so with the expertise of a team of investment professionals. Each portfolio manager has earned their chartered financial analyst designation. And our senior management and investment managers have been in place for over two decades and have really worked together through various market cycles. If you think back to the Great Recession in 2008, 2009, that team is still in place. And And then, of course, through the falling interest rates that hit all of us so hard as public entities in 2019. And so now that we are taking a look at the city's investment income, we have some thoughts and ideas about how we might be able to increase revenues to the city. Next slide, please.

So at Chandler, it's more than just a transactional relationship. It's really expert oversight and governments of the entire investment program. And we will deliver the city's scope of services to create what we believe is a really optimal investment program. We start from the beginning with full-time portfolio management. We are registered with the SEC. And again, we share that fiduciary duty, which is so critical. We really manage portfolios with risk management in mind always, and we provide a rigorous credit analysis and diversification, which we believe

increases the levels of safety within your portfolio. We certainly monitor all of the market conditions and importantly, monitor compliance on a daily basis, both on a pre and post-trade basis and formally report compliance to you on the third business day

following month. And we do so, we measure compliance against the California government state code, as well as the city's investment policy. We also provide you with best in class resources. We know that the city's staff is limited in that they juggle and wear many hats. We're issuing, they're issuing bonds, working on special projects. We know the budget season is just starting. And we serve, if you will, as an additional resource to staff. We also provide all of the monthly and comprehensive reporting that ties the investment program together to increase transparency of the investment program. Monthly reports are available to city staff on the third business day following month end. And we also create quarterly reports for in-person meetings to keep you apprised of all of the investments within your portfolio to discuss cash flow. And we have the ability.

have a very proactive approach to client service, and you will have direct access to the investment

professionals who are investing on your behalf, including myself. To the next slide, please.

One of the best practices that we really encourage all of our clients to adhere to

is to that of utilizing a third-party custodian. So I want to emphasize that Chandler Asset management never takes possession of clients' assets, but we work with each of our clients and each of the clients that you can see listed here all have a third-party custodian. So assets are held in the city's name and Chandler is given the opportunity to transact on their behalf. We have significant experience working with California public agencies right in your own area and work with over 125 of your California neighbors and peers. If you look here at the city of Los Angeles or the Los Angeles area clients, we worked with the city of Bell to successfully help them through to survive really through the scandal, post scandal and create an investment program that is sound and optimal and that has alLod them to build their reserves.

We've worked with the city of Camarillo for almost three decades, and we're recently engaged by the city of Beverly Hills.

We served as their advisor for almost a decade, and they hired us to manage an over $500 million portfolio in the last 24 months. We work with several more of your neighbors, including the city of Long Beach, city of Peak Rivera, El Monte and Pomona. And then in the Inland Empire, a little bit east of you, we work with the city of Corona, Riverside, Chino Hills, and several more is listed below. To the right, we also have significant experience working with clients in Orange County. One of the hallmarks of our firm is that we manage more public agency assets than any of our competitors in the county of Orange. We have an over 95% client retention rate, and we are the only investment manager who works with California public agencies to the extent that we do that manages their portfolios and is headquartered in our home state of California. Next slide, please.

So now I'm going to turn it over to Chris McCary, and Chris is going to talk to you a little bit about investment options, the city's portfolio, and a cash flow study that he conducted on behalf of the city of Monterey Park.

Perfect. Thank you, Mia. So we can actually go to the next slide. We first took a step and take a look at the city's portfolio as of 1231. And the city maintains amplity, as you can see with those large investments in the local county pool, as well as within LAFE. And so the city has actually following that fiduciary duty of maintaining that safety and liquidity of their portfolio. However, the challenges that exist is especially in this low rate environment to be able to sit there and possibly to help increase generating income. And we've had a lot of cities come to us with those similar problems, similar to the city of Monterey Park, and ask how to be able to accomplish this. And a lot of times we look at it through the conversation of bifurcating a portfolio, utilizing the benefits that the pools provide for their liquidity and their safety, but then creating a longer term, a portfolio that we're talking longer term to be able to take advantage of the full scope of the city's investment policy, which is very robust and very thorough. We've actually reviewed that as well as what's all permitted for investments per California government code going all the way out to that distribution area that you can see five years. So in this environment right now, what we wanted to do is take a look at some of those other opportunities. So if we go to the next page, what we can actually see is some of those alternatives to the ample liquidity position that the city maintains. And again, as you can see, the city's portfolio just under $82 million as of 1231. Heavily on those investment pools, as you can see the yields that we see for the L.A. County pool at 48 basis points, LEIF at 21 basis points as of 1231 and as subsequent yields as well. But one of the things that we have seen, there has been a significant rise in interest rates at the end

of Q4 as well as into the first month of 2022. We took a snapshot of some opportunities. The two-year

Treasury note has increased actually 40 basis points since the beginning of the year. And you

can see here above what LEIF is providing, it's almost providing a yield of over 1% of what LEIF is providing right now. And even an opportunity, say a high rated corporate bond, AA corporate bond, that is also providing a yield that's above almost 1% or 100 basis points above what is being

provided on LEIF right now. So part of that conversation that we have with our clients

is discussing the opportunities that exist. Meaning that liquidity component in the pools, but also possibly taking advantage of a longer term growth portfolio, looking at these other opportunities out to five years that's permitted per California government code.

Anytime we talk about portfolio management, it's always focused on risk management and managing the risk that exists relative to the overall city's portfolio.

And one of the things that we had done is we went forth and did a cash flow analysis and working with staff back in August. So if we actually go to the next page, in August of 21, we did a cash flow analysis to take a look to see at the liquidity components for the city. What this is, it's a three-year look back on the seasonality of the balances on the city's accounts.

And as you can see here, over a three-year period as of August 2021, the city's investments in cash had grown at a compounded growth rate of just over 5.31%.

A city maintains ample liquidity to meet all the needs and debt issuance that the city has. Hereby, the model that we have developed, adding a 10% cushion to meet those needs,

what it recognized is that the city has excess liquidity of just over $41 million,

which means that the city could possibly have that conversation of bifurcating their portfolio,

utilizing the current benefits that exist in LEIF and as with the LA County pool, but utilizing possibly around $40 million to be able to take advantage of some of those other benefits that are provided for a longer-term portfolio, permitted per California government code as well as per the city's investment policy.

So when we have that discussion around possibly developing an investment program, Mia had iterated, I want to reiterate it again, it's always focused on risk management.

And so if we actually go to the next page, what we want to look at is having those discussions with our clients about taking advantage of a portfolio's duration, the term structure, the sector allocation, and even the specific issuers. What we're showing you here are two types of portfolios.

One is a one to three year strategy, which you get is a little shorter, or a one to five year, which takes full advantage of California government code.

These are the composites of all of our clients' portfolios that either fall in the one-to-three-year bucket or the one-to-five-year bucket. We share in the fiduciary responsibility with our clients about managing these portfolios and managing the risk portfolios relative to their overall situation. And we customize all of our portfolios for our cities, and we customize a strategy based off the risk level and the risk tolerance for your city as well. But what I want to focus on is first is that maturity distribution.

You can see being able to take advantage of bonds out to three years for that one to three year bond portfolio with that coupon of around 1.3.

And for that one to five year strategy going all the way out to five years, that is permitted per California code.

What we're seeing right now, especially in interest rates and the interest rate environment, is we have a very steep yield curve with interest rates still anchored by Fed and Fed policy at that zero bound range, although we're expecting the Fed to come off that zero bound interest rate policy in the very near term. Another thing is looking at the diversification we can see from a sector perspective. You'll notice here for the one to three year strategy, what we call limited maturity or the one to five year, the short term bond, it is very well diversified among the sectors that are approved per California Code. U.S. Treasury bonds, U.S. agency bonds, corporate bonds that are A rated or better, asset backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, supernational debt, even negotiable CDs and commercial paper. So there's a wide range of very high quality fixed income securities that are permitted for California Code to be able to take advantage of possibly and potentially higher yields to be able to increase that for the overall city's portfolio. But the whole purpose of this is that focus of risk management and developing a portfolio that focuses on the risk and the risk tolerances of each unique city's specific situation. Now, what we want to do is also take a look at comparing to how successful these strategies have been to keeping money in a pool.

So the next page, what we had done is done an analysis on these one to three year strategy and our one to five year strategy, comparing that to late.

So we put a hypothetical portfolio of $40 million and did a 10-year look back, going all the way back to September of 2011 up until September of 2021.

And as you can see here, over that time period of a $40 million portfolio invested in LEIF in September of 2011, after 10 years, that would have had an annualized total return of 84 basis points or 0.84%, under 1%, but would have grown to $43.5 million. Our one to three year strategy or composite one to three year strategy over that same 10 year time period had an annualized return of 1.31% net of fees and grew to 45.6 million. And our one to five year strategy had an annualized total return of 1.65. Again, one to five years taking on a little bit more risk. So therefore, you're going to have potentially those higher returns because you're increasing your overall maturity range for that portfolio. And that was 47.1 million. But you'll notice in that last column all the way on the right, the net added benefit above 1 to 3-year strategy over that 10-year time period grew 2.1 net of fees above what was provided. And then the 1 to 5-year strategy provided a $3.6 million return above LEIF over that same time period.

So we've got definitely see the benefit over that 10 year time period for $40 million portfolio net of fees for that types of strategies.

If we go to the next page, what we can actually take a look at is this calendar year returns for our strategies.

We've been managing these strategies, as Mia had said, since our reception back in 1988 for our one to three year strategy and back in 1995 for our one to five year strategy.

We have consistent, stable returns over those time periods.

and have actually been managing these strategies in all different interest rate scenarios. In time periods where the Fed has actually kept interest rates level, in time periods where the Fed has actually risen or increased rates over time periods, and actually in time periods where the Fed has actually decided to Lor interest rates.

So we're very familiar with all different interest rate environments that we are in. And as you can see, here is the return for both of those strategies on a 1, 3, 5, and 10-year basis, comparatively to their benchmarks as well. So you'll notice the one to three year strategy is compared to the ICE BAML one to three U.S. Treasury index and the one to five year strategy or a short term bond strategy is compared to the ICE BAML one to five year U.S. Treasury index over that time period. But again, stable returns, consistent returns over different market cycles and different interest rate. But with that, would you mind discussing a little bit further?

Thank you, Chris. So one of the questions we're asked a lot, if we could please roll to slide 14, is what is the cost of working with Chandler Asset Management? And as an investment advisor registered with the SEC, one of the things that we are required to do is to charge a transparent fee. So this fee includes our comprehensive services for investment management, which includes not only the investment management, but the meetings, our travel costs, initial review of the investment policy, any cash flow analysis that we might do after we're engaged. And that fee for a portfolio of approximately $40 million is 9.2 basis points or $37,000 a year.

So when Chris was showing that outperformance over a 10-year period, that outperformance of $2.5 or $3.5 million for the longer strategy netted out a fee during that 10-year period of $370,000.

Fees are billed on a monthly basis, and they're billed in arrears based on assets under management. Next slide, please. And so our clients hire us to manage their portfolios, but they always appreciate the timely investment reports that we provide to summarize their investment programs. So again, this is a comprehensive service. We're not just managing the portfolio, but we're creating an optimal investment program and backing it up with the reports that are designed by GASB to meet the California government state code and accounting requirements. So the reports that we create are customized for public agencies and they're designed for use by management. So boards of directors and city councils like you really like the first page of our monthly report, which is referred to as our management summary. There's a very small picture of that on the right hand corner of my of my screen. And what it shows on the top left-hand corner are all of the characteristics of your portfolio, which might include your duration, your yield to maturity, and your final maturity. In the middle box on that first column, you'll see your market values, both for the beginning market value and the ending market value, as well as the top issuers in your portfolio. And those typically are government issuers that are agencies, treasuries, and then broken down by corporates and any other investments.

investments in LAIF or LASIP when we're using a comprehensive report. And then your maturity distribution. So what that shows is how your city's investable assets are invested between zero and five years. That helps to facilitate really liquidity discussions. It helps the city to see at the snap of their fingers what that maturity distribution might look like. Importantly also is the credit quality. Our reports include S&P credit ratings, but at the back of the report within each holding, you'll see credit holding reports for Moody's, Fitch, as well as S&P. And then one of the things that is really a hallmark of Chandler is showing your performance against a given benchmark so that you have a bogey, something to compare us to. And so that performance is included for various periods of time. You'll see one month, three month, year to

date, and then one year, three year, 10 year, and inception to date information. Excuse me for one moment. We also furnished all of those reports onto Chandler's client portal by the third business day of month end, and you'll have secure access to that portal 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Quarterly reports are also designed for use by management, and we ensure that you have access to your holdings, transaction ledgers, and trade tickets to ensure best execution on any trades that we conduct on your behalf. On an annual basis, we provide GASB 40 reporting for your annual financial report, as well as GASB 72 reports for your auditors that measure fair market value measurement. Next slide, please.

Critically important to managing the investments for our clients is compliance. Compliance is such a critical component of the investment management program. We want to ensure with our clients that we're in compliance, not only with the California government state code, Section 53601, but also with the city's investment policy. So one of the things that we do at the onset of each engagement is that we take your policy and all of those parameters and enter those into our Bloomberg AIM system. We use that to monitor compliance and to also ensure that we get, again, best execution. So what you see here on the left-hand side are the categories per code and your policy, any limitations or maximum issuer components that meet the standard. And then what we do each time we go into Transact is we run and generate a compliance report. And what you see is that output onto the right. And we want to ensure that all of the trades are in compliance, both again on a pre and post-trade basis. We do this for our clients daily. And then we report this to you formally as part of your monthly report on the third business day following the month end. Next slide. please. So why hire Chandler Asset Management? We really believe it's our expertise. Since 1988, we've really been known as thought leaders in the state of California for managing and servicing portfolios on behalf of our clients. Again, it's an independent. We do not sit with any banks, brokerage, or financial advisory services. We're employee-owned, and we're laser-focused on managing portfolios that comply with safety, liquidity, and return on behalf of our clients. It's that process. We have a very disciplined investment management process that we believe

has led to above benchmark returns through many market cycles. Also, customization. We are going to take into consideration your constraints, your goals, and your objectives to build an optimal investment program that meets your unique needs. And last but not least, it's our team approach.

All of our professionals will service the city and the city will come to think of our service team as an extension of your very own staff, increasing resources, which we know are critically important during these times of COVID and then ongoing in the future to provide the continuity of care that we really believe the City of Monterey Park's investment program deserves. So with that, I'd like to conclude and open it up to any questions, if so desired.

Okay, well, thank you so very much for that very comprehensive presentation.

Let's see.

Well, colleagues, any questions or comments from the City Council?

Hi, Mayor Lo. I think we have written communications that regarding this presentation.

Sure, and we will get to that. Well, let's see. All right, why don't we go. Clerk, do we have any written communications or any public comment on this before we go to council comments? Thank you, Mayor Lo. Audience, should you wish to speak on presentation item 1b? This is your opportunity to do so. go ahead and utilize the raise hand feature or press star nine.

So we do have one public speaker for this item, our city treasurer, Joseph Leon.

Joseph, can you hear me?

Yes, thank you very much. Can you hear me?

Let's proceed. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, and of course, of Monument Park, the Joseph Leon City Treasurer. First, I'd like to clarify that there was some confusion as to the previous report that I mentioned at the previous meeting. When I mentioned the report, I was referring to the cash flow analysis that was mentioned earlier today that was done by Chandler back in 2021. That's the report I had mentioned and I was referring to that I had not seen before. But let's move on with that. Let's move on at this point. I just wanted to clarify that.

At this point, I have residents that have expressed their concerns, and I brought this to the investment committee, that we should invite other vendors, especially those named in the Monterey Park investment policy, such as Morgan Stanley and B of A, to see what kind of services they can provide to our city. Our city has always been open, and we'll, of course, invite as many vendors as possible to provide the best services to our residents. With that said, of the three vendors that the investment committee has interviewed, the Chandler company was the best.

So I do give them a lot of credit that they had a very good service. And hopefully I would like to have other. My suggestion is to the council is to allow other vendors, especially those named in the minor park investment committee, which has been brought to my attention by residents.

see if they can provide any kind of similar services to our city. If they can't, that's fine. But if they can, give them the opportunity to come to us

and see what they have to offer. Other than that, the Chandler Corporation is like a very good corporation

and services that, you know, very good services that could be provided to the city of Monterey Park. Thank you. That's all.

Thank you.

Mayor Lo, we do have one written communication for this item as well.

Okay. Proceed.

Item 1B from Nancy A. Curry. I have several questions for this council about Chandler Asset Management. I found this information on the council agenda for November 17, 2021. If Chandler is only going to have a fidelity bond coverage of at least $10 million and have an errors and omission insurance coverage of at least $10 million,

why would we give them $40 million or more of our hard-earned tax money?

Number two, what investment do they intend to change? From our two pools currently utilized by our city that are LAIF, L-A-I-F, and Los Angeles County Investment Pool, L-A-C-I-P, will they be for more risky investments?

Three, why will you try to reduce the city treasurer's right to approve

or deny any investment in our city funds? The city treasurer is in an elected position

and is responsible to the electorate for overseeing the custody of the city's money and their disbursements upon orders of the city council per our city charter. charter. Your staff reports state the following directions by the treasurer committee. City treasurer Joseph Leon, city manager Ron Bo, assistant city manager Inez Alvarez, and director of management services Martha Garcia. The city council delegates the authority to the director of management service to open new bank accounts, investments in cash management account, and other credit enhancement products, closing in bank accounts, investments, and cash management accounts, and signing all documents related thereto. I am very concerned that Monterey Park's residents will lose our hard-earned tax dollars because of possible greed to make up for lost revenue because of the pandemic. Thank you, Nancy Okuri.

Hello, there are no other written communications or speakers for this item.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Okay. Council members, any comments, questions?

Sure. Yes. Okay. Yes. Yeah. First of all, I want to thank you for the presentation. it's clear that you guys are very much experts in that field. A lot of that terminology, I think our mayor, or sorry, our former mayor, Yvonne Yu, council member, would understand a lot of those terminologies and charts, et cetera. I don't think I wanna, you know, we're not here to make a decision on Chandler Asset Management today as a presentation. I'm glad that we had this presentation because it opens my eyes into seeing what the possibilities may be in terms of the investment of our funds here in the city. I don't think we're making a decision on any particular firm at this time. I think the presentation was to give us a little bit more of an understanding of how we can maximize our money. I don't think we're really, we've been doing very well on our budget you know yes and poor s p uh investment grade audit of our city indicated that we were doing well before covid we're doing fine during covid and are expected to do even better after covid so um not so much i don't think as a way to make up for any lost revenues but to be responsible and to look at all the options that are available and to not let any um good and and beneficial opportunity go unexamined. So I think that that's part of what we're doing here today. I wanna thank you all. I don't have any specific questions, but it's really opened my mind up in terms of the different investments that are available to the city. And also may give the city council some ideas of maybe securing somebody like Chandler in the future or not. But thank you again for the presentation and thank you for opening my eyes on a lot of these investment portfolios and such. So those are my comments. Thank you and thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Liang. Okay, let's see. Any other comments or questions from the City Council? Let's see. Oh, Council Member Chan, yes. Yes, thank you, Mayor. And I also echo Councilmember Leon's comment and also our treasurer's comment. And I want to first thank Chander for the presentation. I'm not a finance person. And so it's like Hans Lian mentioned, it's eye opening and a lot of opportunities for the investment stuff. But I'm not an expert and I don't want to pretend that I'm a B1. And so this is a presentation item. So we are not going to take any actions or anything tonight. and so I think this is information only and want to thank again that you give us a lot of information and it may take some time for us to understand and move forward

and so I just want to thank you for the effort and I see your portfolio and you're working with the other cities and we have friends with the other city like Beverly Hills, the Marauder about some other cities.

So I'm going to check with them

and to find out their comments as well. So thank you for the presentation. Thank you, Councilman Chan. Mayor Pro Tempso, I see you have your hand up. I do, thank you.

So thank you folks from the Chandler Management Group for your presentation. Thank you for managing our assets. As Council Member Hans Leong mentioned, Yvonne, or Council Member Yvonne Yu seems to have the most expertise in this area. So we'd like to hear from her in the future, her thoughts on our investment strategies and how our assets are being handled.

So just like to have a comment from her. Thanks.

Any questions or comments? Councilman, over you.

Yeah, hi. Just a little background.

Yeah, I have a finance experience for 25 years. I used to own a broker dealer for 10 years.

So, yeah, I know you guys are RIA. Do you use any broker dealer for custodian?

So, typically, we do not use a broker dealer for custodian. We use a third-party custody bank. So we engage typically with U.S. Bank, Bank of New York, State Street, some of the larger holding banks. We see Zion's Bank working with more California public agencies. So we never take possession of the city's assets. The city's assets will be held safely with a third party custodian. And Chandler is merely provided with authorization to trade on a specific allocation on your behalf. Okay. And actually, I'm sorry for maybe some of the direct questions that I have. So what is your current price for your limited maturity one to three years and for the short term bond one to five years? Do you have a performance chart of your investment pool? Yes, so that we actually don't manage investments in a pooled strategy. So you'd have an individually, an individual managed portfolio. So each security would be held in the city's name. The fees were on slide 14, and it would be 9.25 basis points for approximately $40 million or $37,000 annually. And I broke it down also for different portfolio sizes, and the city clerk has access to that. also one of the things that we did um councilwoman you is we also provided our composite returns historical both net and gross of fees so that information is also provided there um and i will tell you the page number so that you can look at it actually no no no no actually wanted to also mention that looking back of the historic return is quite misleading as the interest rate has been very low in the last few years. That means the price of your investment pool or other investment is at all time high as price. So when the interest rate anticipate to go up, how can, you know, we protect our asset, we buy in at the all time high price. So I mean, in our situation, I think we missed a boat, maybe you can say, we're not investing early on. And so right now is at all-time high and we don't want to just invest into $40 million into all-time high. And when the price will go down in the future, then we will be losing our most important asset, which is the safety first. So how do you anticipate and hatch against that? So I'll start and then I'll turn it over to Chris. So two things. When we're investing operating funds on behalf of a city, you're only alLod to invest in fixed income markets. So you're going to be investing in investable grade fixed income securities between zero and five years. So these are not equity investments. And if you look back at our growth of a dollar chart that began 10 years ago, it began in a very low interest rate environment post post recession, kind of similar to where we are today. And the 10-year track record that we show still showed pretty significant growth in fixed income markets. So again, it's extremely conservative, risk averse. We are more focused on return of your principal versus return on your principal. So safety, liquidity, and return with those tenants always as our priority. So these are not pension funds. Again, it's just for operating funds and cash reserves. The difference between us and LASIP and or LEIF is that we have a slightly longer duration and securities will be held in the city's name and we provide full focused attention. So again, no equity investments are tied to the city's operating funds. I think you don't quite understand the investment concept. Okay. So when interest rate goes up, the bond price will come down. I'm not saying about equity. I'm saying about bond. I'm saying about fixed income. So for equity, it will not 100% depends on the interest rate. But for fixed income, for U.S. Treasury, for agency, it's actually so much relied on interest rate. So maybe, Christopher, I want to hear from you.

Yes. Thank you, Council Member Yon. It's a great question, and especially in this environment, because what we've seen is a steepening of the yield curve.

But what we've had over the past, I would say, two years during the pandemic is we've had very, very tight spread levels as well.

And so the first answer to your question is, especially in this environment, we're not recommending our clients to put all their, say, give me an example, $40 million in the market at once. We would actually recommend having a timely investment process, having a discussion with staff that possibly over a six to 12 month time period, bringing the portfolio up to full duration to the portfolio's benchmark. So therefore, there'll be a staggered process for investing the portfolio over time because of the volatility that we're expecting to see in the fixed income markets.

The other thing to look at is where along the yield curve we're going to be investing in. And we want to be able to take advantage of that steepness of the yield curve to be able to invest in some of those longer term securities to let them roll down the yield curve, but still maintaining some liquidity on the short end. So if all of a sudden we do see the yield curve starting to flatten a little bit or, again, steepened based off of Fed movement, we can then adjust the portfolio to be more bulleted or barbelled from a fixed income perspective. So there's a lot of different strategies to be able to mitigate some of that volatility that you see in the overall market itself, because the difference in terms of interest rates, it's definitely it's the timing and the magnitude for the movements of it. Over this past month, we've seen an immense magnitude of movements, especially in the short end of the yield curve, with two-year notes moving up 40 basis points. We've seen a big movement of that. Again, that's a lot due to the expectations of the Fed coming in and adjusting their policy and having more hawkish tone. But I would compare the management in this environment in 2022, similar to the time periods that we actually were managing fixed income portfolios in 2017 and 2018, where we actually saw the Fed have four rate rises during those time periods as well.

So we've actually mitigated similar market environments. The only difference in this time is that yields are coming off a very, very low environment.

So one of the challenges now is to be able to manage to that. I don't think putting everything in the boat at once is a benefit, but what we're actually looking for is having that diversification between different sectors as well.

So when you look at the opportunity that's available per California government code, you can invest in treasuries, agencies, corporate bonds, asset-backed securities as such. In this environment right now, we've seen spread levels very, very tight. In a sense, that additional compensation you get for a comparable fixed income security above treasuries. We're hoping to actually see those spreads starting to widen a little bit as we continue to see this volatility. And that actually could give us an opportunity to be able to invest in, say, corporate bonds or asset backed securities over different market cycles. Now, we actually do our own analysis where we do interest rate scenarios. We put together 12 different interest rate scenarios that we think could occur over the next six months.

We probability weight those to figure out where we need to be relative to term, security selection and duration so that we beat our benchmark over those nine different interest rate scenarios.

So it's an interesting process because anyone that can tell you that they know where interest rates are going over the next six to 12 months, don't believe them.

But what we want to do is make sure we're maintaining that safety and liquidity of the portfolio while continuing to add some of that commensurate return. So it's the combination of taking advantage of where yields are now, letting them roll down the yield curve, but being able to mitigate some of that volatility we see in the short end of the curve, especially with the Fed activity.

Actually, I just want a short answer from you that if we invest a $40 million to you today, it's a possibility that we would be losing that money, right?

Not if we invest in bonds and have them just come back to maturity. So if you're investing...

We have to hold on to a quite long period of time in order to recoup back the loss that potentially we may have. And then also maybe the last question I wanted to ask is from the public comments that they want to ask your error and omissions and fertility bond coverage. So what is that? What is your coverage? Mm-hmm. So our errors and omission coverage is $10 million. I can send you a copy of the insurance certificate, so it's very specific, but that covers trading errors. Again, Chandler Asset Management does not take possession of any of your assets, and so none of the city's assets would be potentially in danger. Okay. And maybe a question towards Michael. So what do you see, let's say, for example, that our city decided to use third party and allocate a good portion of it to them, maybe do more asset allocations? Would that affect, I wanted to know how much the impact is for the S&P 500 rating that we obtained recently to issue municipal bonds that we know we had obtained quite high of the credit rating. So would that move affect the credit rating of S&P?

Good question. You know, I don't believe so. You know, we went through the pension bond financing. It's interesting to hear Christopher's comments about the spread. Well, we took advantage of the spreads for that deal. But as part of that process, Council Member, the rating agencies reviewed the city's investment policy as part of their financial review. And they assume anything within the policy is part of their overall review. And I'm assuming that, you know, any firm that you would hire to do your work would certainly be engaged and would have to follow your own policy. So I think you're safe there. I don't think there's any worry there. The one thing I do want to add, however, I've not heard yet from anyone, is the broker-dealers, you know, I don't think has a fiduciary responsibility like they do, like Chandler would. I don't think they have that responsibility like we would. We are independent municipal advisor with a fiduciary responsibility to the city. Broker-dealers, I don't believe under the laws of investing public funds, have that fiduciary duty. And I think that's something that's important to point out. And maybe me or Chris can expand on that, but I believe that's the case.

So do you know what a broker dealer is? I'm just curious. So let's say Carl Schwab, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs. I mean, they are all broker dealer. Yes. I mean, for all the investment advisors, they have to do that responsible for their clients. So, I mean, we all do that. And so, plus, you know, yeah, I'm not trying to, you know, go into the broker dealer. Since they are not broker dealer, they are just IRA. So I'm not going into it. And so, but thank you so much for your information.

Okay. Thank you, Councilor Yu. Okay. Any other questions? I see our same manager for a moment had the camera turned on. Did you want to say something?

Not so much say something. I just want to clarify the broker dealer part.

And I think Michael kind of explained it a little bit.

So that's all I wanted to just clarify. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Well, if I do not hear or see any other raised hands or comments, then I will conclude this presentation and say thank you very much for coming this evening and sharing with not just the city council, but our community. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Moving on to old business. I see none. Moving on to consent calendar items number 3A to 3D. Before I ask for motion, does any councilor wish to pull an item?

Mayor, I would like to pull item 3A.

Okay, item 3A from Chancellor Chan. Okay, any other items that wish to be pulled? Let's see.

Okay, I hear none and I see no wristbands. Okay, then may I have a motion to pass consent calendar with the exception of pulled item for discussion?

Mayor Lo, may I ask the public if they would like to speak on consent calendar items? Thank you very much.

Again, yes, please proceed.

Audience, if you wish to like to make a public comment on consent calendar items 3a to 3d,

this is your opportunity to do so. You may utilize the raise hand feature or press star 99 this time.

Mayor Lo, there are no individual wishing to speak on consent calendar items. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Clerk.

Okay.

And then I would like to make the motion to approve consent agenda item 3B, C, and D. Okay. Motion has been made.

May I have a second, please? I'll second. Okay. Motion made by Council Member Chan.

Second by Mayor Tam Sinoso.

Clerk, please call the roll. Thank you. Council Member Yvonne Yu?

Yes.

Council member Peter Chan. Yes. Council member Hans Liang.

Yes. Mayor Pro Tempred Cernoso. Aye. Mayor Henry Lo. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you for calling the roll clerk. Okay. Item three A, receiving file staff report,

summarizing recent accomplishments and goals.

Council member Chan.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. And I would like to have the staff report

to see the accomplishments and for the residents to know what's going on in the city.

The presentation summarizes the accomplishments that we've had over the past year. It also includes a bit of 2020 accomplishments. I will highlight some of the items within the accomplishments. So we established the city council strategic plan back in 2021-22 to cover some of the capital projects that we have in front of you.

The projects include infrastructure improvements, anywhere from playground equipment to building a new Station 62 to the exterior of El Encanto. Community programming engagement. We've had the Monster Mash with all the departments participating during this pandemic. Our quarterly community cleanup,

which is part of our strategic planning goals. We also have the housing portion of it. We draft a housing element 2021 to 2029. That is part of our strategic plan. Addressing the homeless. This was another strategic planning goal for all of you. Addressing the homeless. We stood up a CEB Community Engagement Bureau, and also they were engaged with Project Roomkey during this time. Expansion of a multidisciplinary team, which is the CEB team, homeless and mental health, addressing many of the individuals that we're coming across, participating with the Homelessness Response Plan and the San Gabriel Cog White Paper, and addressing a lot of the encampments that we came across in the south part of town around Regan, the Caltrans right-of-way area on Atlantic, and then also even on the other side of

freeway. We adopted infrastructure improvement plans, our water treatment plan, business

support and development projects. We codified the business recovery zone after temporarily adopting it as part of our COVID response. Now it is codified and it helps business to recover even quicker and stand up the business for the community. We have the COVID-19 response with many of the partnerships that we've had. We concentrate on quite a bit of testing and

vaccination during that time. Partnerships with Alhambra Unified School District, Chinatown Service Center, and Harold Christian. We use CBGE fund to help with rent assistance, utilities, and business recovery, physical responsibility, financial stewardship. We transitioned during this time to a new finance program. We also are a recipient of federal grant funds of $223,000. We issued the pension obligation bond, the street improvement bond. We receive awards from GFOA, emergency response. We responded to many of the fires in the state, Dixie Fire, Caldor Fire. We have body

cams that we purchased that integrate with our car systems and many other things within the emergency response. Technology enhancements, as I talked about the finance system, Tyler Muniz was adopted. We finished phase one at the beginning of our pandemic, and we're into the second phase of the Tyler Muniz ERP, which is huge for us since we had a legacy system that ventured probably two, three decades in Monterey Park.

Augmentation of personnel programs. programs. We decided to transition into a better risk pool service. We also have short-term goals

for references, evaluate community transportation. We're talking about the spirit bus, improve internal and external communications. We have a communications team that we stood up

within our departments, representatives within the department that allows us to get information

out, not only quicker, but more efficiently, so the public knows what's going on in Monterey Park, especially when we're talking about public outreach and outreach to the community. Enhanced employee recruitment, hiring and training and development and retention of employees. We know that nowadays it's very difficult to not only recruit employees, but difficult to retain them. So we are looking to how can we enhance our recruiting purposes for employees for Monterey Park.

We amended the Climate Action Plan to provide measurable community programs and goals. That's part of our strategic plan.

Conduct a utility rate study. Conduct a community needs assessment. These are things that we have going forward. explore potential revenue measure, develop a two to five year strategic plan, streamline business license application, evaluate current and future facilities space needs, and explore additional public art opportunities

in public places and incorporate them into city events. I know that's quite a bit

and I skipped over some of the accomplishments in there.

but it's in the staff report and if you have any questions from the departments

I'll try to do the best I can but we have all the department heads here that can get into the nuts and bolts

should you want to talk about these programs in depth but that concludes my report Thank you city manager

Okay questions or comments from my colleagues Let's see I, oh, customer challenge, your hand up again. Okay. All right. Yeah, since I put this item, so my as well. Thank you, senior manager, for the series of accomplishments and goals for the future.

And I think quite an accomplishment, especially under the difficult time of the pandemic period for the last two years. So a lot has been done. But I just want to say that, well, you kind of like you skipped some mentionable items like the Lundy Center, some improvement in the gym area that was expanded. but I don't know if it's ready or not. But since the facility is closed at this time, so once it's open and we see the COVID numbers coming down in the lately, and so hopefully we can open up the facility in a short period of time. So those are something that I think residents are interested in. and hopefully we can move forward when it's safe to get inside the facilities. And so I want to thank the city manager with the leadership and the staff, you know, the support and the council's support. I think it's quite a accomplishment, but we still need to press on, continue to do a good job and to do service to the residents of the city. So thank you. Thank you Council Member Chan. Council Member Liang, I see you have your camera turned off and then I also see a raised hand by Mayor Potem-Sinoso. So Council Member Liang, I'll have you speak and then Mayor Potem-Sinoso.

Thank you Mayor Lo. You know, I want to thank you City Manager for your leadership for providing this report. If Council Member Chan didn't pull it, I was going to pull it. You know, especially during these past couple of years with COVID and you know, there's a lot of fatigue that happens when we're working from our home or remotely. And as council members, you know, we deal with issues as they're presented to us. We make the analysis and we make the best decisions we can at the time. And then it's off to the next issue that we need to deal with. So you know, when I first looked at the staff report and looked at all of these things, a lot of these things i forgot um that we had done you know just part of doing business if you will but uh as we you know look at this i think that in the future we should continue to kind of have a little summary of what we've done it helps us to kind of remember the things that we did also uh as was stated earlier it gives the community an opportunity to kind of have a scorecard and see what uh what has been going on uh with the city i want to thank not only you ron the city manager but all of the city staff all of the directors um and you know given that we have been going through covid uh it's really uh impressive when i look at the report to see so much that we've done uh despite of the despite the fact that we've been doing it all through a pandemic and also a lot of of the work to help our residents in the midst of the pandemic as well. So just my congratulations and thanks and looking forward to doing great things this next year and looking forward to seeing another report that can remind me of all the things that have gone by. So thank you guys and keep up the good work.

Thank you, Councilman Liang. Mayor Pro Tem. Just wanna echo Peter and Hans' comments and congratulate our city manager, Ron, for the achievements that we've created being one of the new kids on the block besides our mayor Henry Lo and Yvonne Yu. Just didn't realize all the work that's involved behind the scenes, things that we don't see, but that need to get done. So thank you for carrying the torch, Ron, for organizing the troops per se, all the department heads, getting them all on board and working as a team. When you talk also about how people go from one spot to the other, I mean, I know that Diana and her staff helped with some issues that when they had some downtime, they were able to transition over to another and help another department do some things. So I just appreciate the teamwork that everyone's doing for the good attitudes everyone has. And it's just been a pleasure to meet everyone and just to see how the city of Monterey Park works. So for being the new kid on the block,

it's just a pretty eyeopening to see how our city works. So thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pou-Tem.

Council Member Yu, I see you have your camera on. Would you like to make some comments?

Oh, Council Member Liang actually show up first. Do you want actually to have him give some comments?

No, I just turned on my camera. Yeah, I just turned on my camera. I already spoke. Yeah, thank you, Councilman Liang. And Councilman Ryu, please.

Yeah, actually, I would say thank you so much, City Manager and all the staff that you work behind the scenes. And there's so much work behind it. You know, we are just in front of it, making, you know, all the decisions, and we're learning the process. But then, especially during pandemic, it's not easy for everyone. But then you guys did a very good job. You know, we maintain the city budget-wise and cut down, you know, the budgets, you know, to meet the requirement. And you guys are all willing to work as a team. So it's not easy, especially, you know, thank you so much. That's why I was the mayor that you guys do all this. And I'm really grateful that to have the team like you guys to help out. So we kind of, you know, look good in the front end. But then, you know, the back end, you guys have done so much. And we greatly appreciate it. And so I wanted to have that on the record so that, you know, in the future, we can always look back on every year, you know, how much we have done, especially during pandemic. That is actually a tough year for everyone. So thank you so much. And good job. Give up the good work. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Ryu. And let me also echo the sentiments and the feelings of my colleagues, because as Mayor Pro Temps and also said, the three of us are relatively new kids on the block. And we were sworn in right at the beginning of the pandemic. And so for many of us, it was not just a learning curve, but it was also stepping up to the plate to help our community cope and be resilient in the face of a once in a lifetime pandemic.

Meanwhile, also having to continue to do the business of the city, which the residents have expected.

And it is only fair and equal to say that we cannot do our job without the dedication of the staff, of the city manager, the administration, the people of public works, everyone who comes every day to City Hall and our public facilities to serve as residents. So please, thank you so much. I mean, certainly this report is as much of a reflection of your work in leadership as much as a reflection on the city council. And city manager, I see your camera is on. Would you like to...

say thank you very much for your continued vision, your clear direction, your policy making. When you do that, it allows us to really focus on moving the ball down the field. And I'm appreciative of all the departments, the department heads, all the staff we have, because it helps us really with your support to get the job done. It cannot be overlooked. And also our community has been very supportive in this time. And we'd like to thank the community too. And thank everyone. But thank you so much for the accolade. But we do it as a team. And thank you.

Thank you, city manager. Let's see. Councilman Chan, I see you have your camera on again. Would you like to make a initial statement or questions?

No, I'd just like to make a motion to approve 3A.

Okay, very good. Motion made by Council Member Chan. May I have a second, please? Second. Second by Council Member Yu. Let's see. Okay, clerk, call the roll, please. Thank you. Council Member Yu? Yes. Council Member Chan? Yes. Council Member Liang? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Cernoso? Aye. And Mayor Lo. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Moving on. Public hearing items? None. New business? None. Communications? Okay. Let's see. We have item 6A. And before we proceed, do we have any written comments, communications clerk? audience for those who have yet to speak on item number 6a this is your opportunity to do so you

can go ahead and utilize the raise hand feature press star nine at this time

there are no members of the audience wishing to speak on item 6a and there are no written

communications for this item as well okay thank you very much clerk okay well why don't i begin

since it was an item which I placed on the agenda. You know, I want to first thank those who spoke on the item

at the beginning of the council meeting,

because I've always said that, you know, part of our democracy and our public governance is the ability to have discourse, which I think is so important in any representative government.

Let me explain as to why I asked this item to be put on the agenda.

You know, there is going to be a case that will be heard, a decision actually, I'm sorry, a case that's currently being heard by the United States Supreme Court, Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health.

And they will probably make a decision in June and announce that decision, which is part of the Supreme Court's calendar.

They usually make decisions on the cases that they've adjudicated on their docket around June. And, you know, whatever your position is on the issue of Roe v. Wade, and in this country, we've had for decades now robust conversations on both sides of this issue of Roe v. Wade. But I think it's important to understand that also what's at stake, because when cases are adjudicated by the Supreme Court, they can have lasting implications, consequences in this nation. And what is at stake with this case is that it can have far-reaching consequences to bodily autonomy, to the constitutional right to privacy, self-determination, and dignity. And when you have a case that may have serious implications to half this population in this country, then it is something that we should be concerned about. because a precedence that, as I've said, can have consequences to a class of individuals' rights of privacy, self-determination, and dignity can also present a slope that may have consequences to other classes of people in the United States of ours. Not to mention its implications, depending on how this case is decided, to women and marginalizing those women who are low income, women of color, immigrant women, and young women. And that is why many jurisdictions have weighed in and have resolutions. Here in California, many jurisdictions. And I'll just name a very short list. the city of Oakland, the city of Morro Bay, Santa Maria, the counties of Santa Barbara,

the county of San Diego, our own neighborhood of North Alhambra, and many, many more jurisdictions,

not to mention the state of California, which has time and time again upheld a woman's reproductive right to privacy and dignity. And that's really why this resolution is being put forward.

because again of this implications of what is being discussed, adjudicated in the Supreme Court.

And I will close my remarks and certainly my colleagues have any questions or comments, please do so, raise them. Yes, Councilman Liang. Thank you, Mayor Lo. And I want to thank you for

bringing this up. I think that also want to thank the speaker, as you said earlier,

I think that his comments are valid. But as I read the resolution here, it says affirming support of reproductive freedom. And I think freedom means exactly that, to have the freedom to choose what you want to do, to make a choice whether you're going to support life or pro-life or you want to make another decision with your life. but you should have the freedom to make those decisions. And I think that's really the root of what we're discussing here. And as Mayor Lo had mentioned about those pending legislation, I think that we are just taking a position to affirm that we support freedom. And whether you choose whatever you choose, you should have the right to be able to choose that, whether you choose one or the other. And I think that, you know, that also respects every individual's right to make their choice. And these are very, I'm sure, difficult, important choices that each person has to make in this regard. And I believe they should have the freedom to make the choice one way or the other. So I want to thank you, Mayor Lo, for bringing this to our attention. And I support people having the freedom of their reproductive system. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Yang. Let's see. Mayor Portempsen, if you had your hand up. Thank you.

Yeah, so I just want to comment on just what Councilmember Lang said.

the reproductive freedom, but this is worded in a way that supports one side of this. I mean, he was saying that people that do not agree with abortion, with the pro-life issue are not being represented here. I mean, I think if you're going to present this, then I think you need to present both sides, that people have the right to choose to have an abortion, and they also have the right not to, that we shouldn't make judgment. And actually, I don't even think this should be on a city council meeting because I think we deal with issues that directly impact our city, you know, making sure our roads are taken care of. We have police protection, all this and stuff. And this is more, I think, more of a political issue. and I don't see myself as a politician. I see myself more as a servant. I mean, doing the things that we mentioned from item 3A. So if this is going to continue, then I think this needs to be reworded to be fair. I mean, when I walked the streets campaigning, I saw a lot of houses in my district with crosses on their door and Bible verses on their door. and i'm sure a lot of these people aren't even aware about this issues on the ballot so um i think it's totally unfair for those people that have that don't share the same feelings that are mentioned in in this resolution to be kind of be represented by the votes of five people telling them that the city, you know, stands in favor of reproduction rights. I mean, I just don't see this as being a fair game here. So I'm, and also, you know, as a committed Christian myself, I'm not, I oppose abortion. I think it's the killing of innocent children, which the Bible opposes. And, you know, I just have really trouble with this. So, yeah, that's all I got. And also, what Pastor Ramos said at the beginning, I agree with a lot of the things that he said. So, yeah, I myself would say let's scrap this. I mean, this is more of a personal issue between the different women that come under this situation. And I think that we don't have a right, really, to voice our opinion. So, thank you. Thank you for sharing, Mayor Pro Tem. Let's see, anyone else who wishes to make any statement of questions?

Do you think there's a way to add a provision that would recognize the other side, if that's something that is amenable to the mayor? I don't know if that's, I'm trying to look and see if there's a way to add something, if that's something that can be done.

Well, I see we have, you should say something, please.

Yes, actually, I like the suggestions from the public opinion.

instead of voting on items that have no impact on the decision-making process.

I like the idea that we can allocate some funding to women on mental services after abortions.

Maybe this is something we can do and make a difference on people's lives.

Maybe we should explore the possibility to put on future agenda.

You know, what do you guys think? You know, city attorney, maybe any input on that?

I'M SORRY, ARE YOU HAD TO TAKE YOU? THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MR. MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. CERTAINLY THE SCOPE OF THIS AGENDA WOULD ALLOW YOU TO DO ANYTHING AS SUGGESTED BY COUNCILMEMBER

YOU.

IT'S CERTAINLY UP TO YOU. IN PRINCIPLE, THIS IS NOT WITHIN THE SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION OF THE CITY.

So this is purely something that the city council can decide to do or not to do or provide funding one way or the other.

But the scope of the agenda description gives you a wide latitude to do what you would like to do. Happy to answer anything else.

Thank you.

Actually, yeah, I do agree with, you know, council member first and also because we're not representing now people. So five votes, I mean, we'll just represent the city.

So if that is the agenda item, we should respect the voters' decision.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Yu.

Okay. Let's see. Any other questions or comments?

Okay. And if I can just also add again is that, you know, again, I am very much aware that this issue has a passion from both sides. and regardless where you fall on Roe v. Wade. But again, I think it's important to also understand

the implications of what is at stake.

And as I said, we are talking about the constitutional right of individuals to privacy and self-determination. And I think that is something that should concern all of us. And it is why, as I've said,

many cities have also put forward

their own resolutions as well, as was the state. And that is why this item is being put forward.

Okay. I see you have your camera.

I just wanted to see if anyone would like to make the motion for this item.

Okay. Well, I'll make the motion.

I'll second that. Okay. Thank you very much.

Clerk, please call the roll. Thank you. Council Member Yvonne Yu?

Abstain.

Okay. Council Member Peter Chan?

Abstain.

Council Member Hans Leung?

Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Fretzoso?

No.

And Mayor Henry Lo? Aye. So we have, if I'm correct, two abstentions, one no, and two yes.

So, doesn't look like it passed.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you. Very good. Thank you.

Okay. Let's see what this is. City communications. So, why don't we also then continue with our communications. Let's see.

Sorry, I was trying to get through the agenda here. No, I don't really have anything to report. You know, I just, you know, I don't know if you guys are experiencing this. I kind of mentioned it before, but in the midst of COVID and living this world, the way that we do now where we're on these screens all the time and, you know, and then the line between work and stepping into your home to be away from work, but really not, you know, everything for me gets kind of blurry right now, but just as a reflection as to the item, the achievement item, it's great to see those things that have happened. And I think for myself, it's getting hard to remember everything. It's so Groundhog Day, if you will. And so nothing, no events or things that I've attended. I just want to wish everyone a good evening. and then also to hold strong during our pandemic. So have a good evening and thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Councilman Liang. Okay. Councilman Yu, do you have anything you wish to communicate?

Happy Lunar Year, everyone. Yeah, actually nothing much, but then not just the notes about, yeah, what we mentioned before. Kind of a little, because I talked about Chandler Asset Management, just a little bit background that is an IRA, if you're just a registered investment advisor. I personally do own both an RIA and a broker dealer before. So most investment firms you see out there are RIAs, which to take simple process to start because they just get percentage fee income from their asset. But broker-dealer are a lot more complicated, you know, as we take on both commission as a broker and market as dealer. So we can do a lot of different type of business like investment banking, financial advisor, underwriting and stuff like that. So it's not easy to start as SEC and FINRA, which is, you know, NASD will check your background. Similar to open a bank or go public, it takes at least a year, you know, to get licenses qualified and you have to have your own team in place. So there's, you know, just a little bit something about my background, all the investment bank, the firm out there are broker dealers like Maryland, Schroeder, and Chaoshua, Fidelity. I mean, you name it, these are all broker dealers. So, yeah, for sure, we have the fiduciary responsibility to give the best to pay the best interest, you know, to have clients. So, but anyway, so this is just a little background and to clear up some of the questions before. Anyway, so thank you so much and happy Lunar New Year, everyone. And hope you enjoy your time with your family and celebrating that important festival. I mean, the holiday with everyone. So thank you so much.

Thank you. Councilman Chan.

Thank you, Mayor. And I just wanted to say happy Lunar New Year. And this is the year of the tiger. And so just wish everyone happy, healthy, and have an enjoyable year of the Tiger. And happy Valentine's Day. And it's coming in two weeks. And also, go Rams!

Thank you. Okay. Yes, go Rams. Mayor Pro Tem, Senoso.

Yeah, so piggybacking on Peter's comment about go Rams, but being the year of the Tiger, aren't the Rams playing the Cincinnati Bengals and the Bengals are Tigers, aren't they? From what I remember.

Yes, that's a Bengal. Yeah, that's a Tiger, right?

Maybe the Super Bowl. I had nothing more with the Chinese New Year, so maybe the Super Bowl is after the Chinese New Year, so that way you could vote for the Rams. Maybe it would be the year of the Rams, right? Better. How's that? At least in Southern California.

So, yeah, so surprised about the Rams. February 13th, they're playing. I'm not much of a football fan. You guys know I'm a big Dodger fan, but rooting for the Rams because the quarterback, what's the quarterback's name?

Tell me that I can't remember what it is. Matthew Stafford, right? Matthew Stafford was high school. Actually, I think he grew up with Clayton Kershaw, the pitcher for the Dodgers. They went to the same schools, played in the same little league high school football, and they're still friends today. So I guess we'll put a Dodger connection to the Super Bowl and root for the Rams. So go Rams on the 13th.

And then the next day is Valentine's Day. So all you men out there after celebrating the Super Bowl, make sure you go out and buy your wife something nice for Valentine's Day.

maybe a football with some fLors on it or something. Who knows? And then on February 7th, today is February the 2nd.

So in five days, I'll be selling my third anniversary from cancer surgery. So it's been three years since I've been undetectable with my prostate cancer. So, you know, three years ago, I didn't know where I was going to be. didn't know if I was going to still be around. So just thank God for giving me the opportunity to keep on.

I kind of feel like I'm on over.

It's a football's overtime right after the regular season

or a regular time plays out in the game. Then you get, if you're a tie, you get some more time remaining. So I think I'm on overtime and this opportunity has given me a chance to meet all of you and enjoyed spending time with all of you, making Yvonne laugh and playing pool with Hans, laughing with Henry, having dinner with him, going to Las Vegas with Peter and his wife and talking. So it's been great meeting with Ron every week at the office and talking about city stuff and other things and just talking to all the staff there at City Hall. and I see people on my street, you know, repairing the street or the sidewalk or cleaning up graffiti, the police passing by, the parking enforcement. I always try to get out and just thank them for their work. And I think even though I don't know a whole lot about running the city, being, like I said, the new kid on block, you know, at least what I could do is I could go out and thank everybody and just let them know that we appreciate them. So I think that's one of the biggest service I could do. So just thankful again, like for being three years cancer free again, and hopefully that'll continue. Who knows what God has in store for me, but yeah, it's just, yeah, that's just a great, a great thing. So thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. And let me also say that your good health and longevity is Monterey Park's advantage and benefit.

And we thank you for serving. Okay, I guess my turn. Well, I also wish to echo sentiments of my colleagues. Happy Lunar New Year.

Happy Tiger. And as always, when we make these greetings, we hope that everyone has good fortune, good health, good prosperity, and luck for this year.

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank our local police department, our officers, for the work they do in our community, and specifically on a recent incident that garnered a lot of attention in social media, in which we also responded.

And that was the incident on January 23, 2022, when a resident of ours was walking along the 800 block of South Atlantic Boulevard and unfortunately was assaulted by an assailant and seriously injured.

However, thanks to the steadfast investigation of our police department, not to mention a local merchant who, fortunate enough for us, had video footage, was able to work with our police department.

And I'm happy that the suspect has been arrested for attacking the victim. And I think the reason why this particular incident garnered so much attention by our community is because of the past year of the pandemic and the unfortunate rise of hate crimes directed at those who are of Asian descent. And when an incident like this occurred, I think it brought back a lot of unfortunate memories and feelings and hurt about what has occurred in this country in the past year during the pandemic and scapegoating and xenophobia that has been directed at members of our community.

And so I want to take this time to thank our police department for arresting a suspect for his assault on the deadly weapon to one of our residents.

And I also want to just convey the message that, you know, in the community of Monterey Park, we are looking out for your public safety. And with the community's help, we will continue to make this city a safe place where all can ensure the quality of life.

And with that, any other communications?

Last call.

Okay, I hear none. Then feature agenda items.

Okay, hearing none.

cocession items. I know it's required by the attorney and I believe we don't have any cocession items. So then I will adjourn

this meeting. And again, happy Lunar New Year and happy

Valentine's Day. And have a good night. Thank you. Meeting adjourned. Goodbye.