Pilot. You can begin. You can begin now. Thank you, clerk. Okay. Good evening. City Council of Monterey Park. The City Council acting on behalf of the successor agency of the former redevelopment agency, the Housing Authority, the Monterey Park Financing Authority, and the Monterey Park Geologic Hazard Abatement District Agenda. Welcome to today's regular City Council meeting Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022, 630 pm. Per Assembly Bill 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 log information they will not be physically present at council chambers pursuant to city council resolution the public may provide public comment utilizing the message set forth below notes the city hall is currently closed to 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 at the city's website at www.montereypark.ca.gov forward slash agenda center forward slash city council hyphen 17. The public may watch the meeting live on the city's cable channel, MPK-TV, or AT&T U-verse, channel 99, or Charter Communications, channel 182, or by visiting the city's website at www.montonapark.ca.gov forward slash 133 forward slash city dash council dash meetings dash 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 montypark.ca.gov. Written communications, if any, will be briefly summarized and include the name of the 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.
TL;DR
The council approved a $1.204 million budget augmentation for catastrophic events at [1 (28:00)] and unanimously authorized a Spirit Bus Fixed‑Route Transit System study contract with IBI Group at [1 (6:45)], while also approving youth sports license agreements for city parks at (95:58) and purchasing eight new police patrol vehicles at (88:30).
- Mayor Lo moves to receive mid‑year financial report and authorize $1.204 million appropriation – [1 (27:14)]
- Council approves budget augmentation – motion carried unanimously at [1 (28:00)]
- Council approves purchase of eight new police patrol vehicles (Item 3C) – motion carried 5‑0 at (88:30)
- Council approves youth sports license agreements (Item 3D) – motion carried unanimously at (95:58)
- Council approves Spirit Bus Fixed‑Route Transit System study contract with IBI Group – motion carried unanimously at [1 (6:45)]
- Council discusses Cascade Fountain color change in solidarity with Ukraine – [1 (31:00)]–[1 (33:46)]
- City Staff to investigate fountain color feasibility – [1 (31:00)]–[1 (33:46)]
- Finance Dept. files mid‑year report and implements appropriation – [1 (27:14)]–[1 (28:00)]
Summary
The meeting began with a review of the 2021‑22 mid‑year financial report, during which Mayor Henry Lo moved to receive the report and authorize a $1.204 million appropriation for catastrophic events; the motion carried unanimously at [1 (28:00)]. The council then moved to approve a series of consent calendar items, including the purchase and conversion of eight new police patrol vehicles (Item 3C) at (88:30) and the authorization of license agreements with youth sports organizations for city park use (Item 3D) at (95:58). Following these, the council approved a $69,000 contract with IBI Group for a Spirit Bus Fixed‑Route Transit System study at [1 (6:45)], and discussed potential fare‑free options and public outreach for the project.
During the consent calendar portion, council members also approved a municipal academy training program for commissioners (planned March 30) and discussed commission vacancies, with the City Clerk tasked to distribute vacancy lists at (73:09). The council noted a proposed cascade fountain color change in solidarity with Ukraine, though no formal vote was taken; this discussion occurred around [1 (31:00)]–[1 (33:46)]. The meeting concluded with staff updates on community events such as the Langley Center Fitness Center grand opening and a free paper‑shredding event on April 9.
Transcript
To view the full text of written communications, please visit www.montonapark.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 1-877-853-5247
and entering Zoom ID 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 the meeting 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.
You may speak up to 5 minutes on agenda item.
Speakers will not be alLod to combine dime. 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 meeting 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 so i'm going to now call the order and now we'll proceed to the flag salute
please rise off
put your right hand over your heart ready to begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which
is the one nation under God, indivisible, for liberty and justice for all.
Thank you. You may all be seated. Roll call. Clerk, please call the roll.
Thank you. Council Member Yvonne Yu.
Here.
Council member Peter Chan. Here.
Council member Hans Liang. Here. Council member Fred Cernoso, or I should say Mayor Pro Tempest, Fred Cernoso.
Fred?
City clerk, he will be absent today.
Thank you very much, city manager. And Mayor Henry Lo. Present. Great. Thank you. Thank you. clerk agenda dish addition deletions changes and adoptions we have any yes mayor council members
we would like to add underneath staff communications the police department they would go after management services department also i would like to make an announcement we posted a special meeting at 5 30 today we made a mistake on the id zoom it had the wrong number we did not conduct that meeting at all it was canceled we have postponed that meeting until the next city council
meeting on the 16th of march that is all thank you mr city manager okay um then we will add report from police department under staff communications and to proceed after management services department okay um public communications when all comments are while all comments are welcome excuse me the brown act does not allow city council to take action on any items not on the agenda council may briefly respond to comments after public communications is closed persons may in addition to any other matter within the city council's subject matter jurisdiction comment on the agenda item 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 item is considered clerk's office do we have any um requests to speak tonight
audience if you want to speak during um public communications this is the time to do so please
use the raise hand feature or if you're on the phone press star nine at this time.
We'll proceed with the first caller Jaime Rodriguez.
Good uh good evening. Can uh can everybody hear me? Please proceed. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Jaime Rodriguez. I'm a lifelong Monterey Park City resident. the last meeting I was the resident that was removed from the session and I just wanted to convey the intent of I guess interrupting the meeting. It was not done to be disruptive. In my union, we use the Roberts rules of order. And during the time that a motion was being introduced, I was seeking clarification on the verbiage of the motion that was being proposed before a final vote could be made on it. because I myself, I didn't understand.
And I presume there were other people on the call who did not understand what the motion was being proposed. I had a follow-up with someone the following days to get clarification on what the motion was. That was the intent, was to get clarification, not to be disruptive.
When we're looking at public engagement, public participation, we cannot assume that everyone who is participating understands the rules of conduct for a public meeting. I believe that would have been a perfect opportunity for a learning lesson. In a regular meeting, and I've worked for elected officials in a regular meeting, if someone becomes disruptive, they're not immediately removed in that manner. I could have been given a warning. I would have muted my call.
We're looking to have more residents be involved. And when they hear of incidences of which someone speaking up trying to get information before a vote is concluded and the person is removed from this type of format electronically, it might dissuade other residents from participating.
And with that, I don't know if you guys are able to respond to me, but I asked what procedure does the city of Monterey Park City Council follow so that I, as a resident, hoping to become more involved, can go ahead and review so that in the future, if there is something that I am unclear on. What is the appropriate way of following up on that before a vote is finalized? You know, I have some time left. Is there is there a way that anybody can respond during my time?
That's a question I'm posing. I don't know if that would go to the city manager or the city attorney.
and this is a perfect example of seeking information from our city government during
a time of public comment where i have time allotted i'm seeking information i don't want
to be deemed as disruptive and removed if later on in the meeting there's information or a future
meeting where i don't understand something and i say hey what's going on here and i hear silence
so so i i guess that that's not protocol where someone can respond to someone else's comments someone can't even tell me that so can anybody direct me i can call during the week to speak
to someone in the office the city clerk i would suggest sir you can follow the city manager
thank you thank you mr mayor that's exactly what i was asking for so i will be able to follow up with the city manager and seek further clarification on how myself and other residents can be better active members of our city thank you for your time and have a good evening
all right thank you very much and and i may i may contact other city council members or you
Mr. Mayor, just to continue a better dialogue of how we can get others involved.
Have a good night. Of course. Thank you.
Thank you.
Next speaker, Vincent Chang.
Thank you, Cindy. Good evening, Mayor, member of the City Council. In the 1960s, Two Brothers, Stephen Rulish Salas began playing music around the East L.A. and the San Gabriel Valley. The music became part of what's known as the East Side Sound. And in 1972, during the time of Vietnam and struggle for equality and justice, the Salas Brothers founded a group called Diera. Over the year, Tierra songs have, you know, became very popular. And, you know, they even charted on national and hit like the top 100.
You know, all those, you know, music rankings, sources. So they became very well known, even outside of the East L.A., San Gabriel Valley area.
Anyways, if you're not familiar with the group, you're more than welcome to look up YouTube and read about them.
But anyways, in 1920, I'm sorry, 2020, Rudy Salas unfortunately passed away.
And in February of actually this year, just last month, Steve Salas, the other brother, also passed away.
So, you know, some of the original founders, you know, passed.
As you may know, Long South Garfield, specifically 2025 South Garfield, is now being developed into a Starbucks.
So you know the location that I'm talking about. Anyways, before that was demoed, there actually was a music studio there. And that actually was part of the Salas Studios. So they actually occupied the studio, I think, from 2000 to as late as 2020. And I think they started out with one room. And then eventually they took over the whole building.
You know, they gave out guitar lessons.
they you know helped up and coming musicians with their bookings you know they did a lot of charity work etc. They did a lot of charity work, etc., out of that studio. ! The thing is that,
! the building itself is no longer there. !
However, a lot of fans ! are familiar with that studio.
You know, having been in that area. And so tonight,
I'm actually asking the City Council Council to consider authorizing the city manager to work with having the possibility of maybe installing a plaque, you know, in an appropriate location. I don't know whether it's on the sidewalk or somewhere else. I noticed there's a tree right in front of the studio itself.
But anyways, maybe something that, you know, the city can work with in terms of acknowledging that location as the location where the Salas Studio once existed and, you know, honoring the band itself and the music that they have come to represent.
So anyways, I think it would be, you know, the cost of the installation will probably be nominal. However, I feel that, you know, the value that it will provide in terms of the city, you know, getting its money back, so to say, is that, you know, fans will be able to visit that location and maybe have a coffee at the Starbucks. So, you know, in terms of economic benefits, I think it would be well worth it to do that.
and
you know that's something that hope we thank you
Amy Rodriguez each individual is allotted five minutes to make their comments
since you already made your comments you won't be able to speak again
if you want to speak on any other agenda items you can wait for that
item to come up and then use the Ray Sand feature again.
Okay, yes.
I'm not the same person. This is the father.
I apologize.
So can I speak?
Go ahead, sir. Okay. Yes, I want to echo
some of the
comments that our city clerk Vincent Chang made regarding Tierra and the passing of two men, very well-known musicians, Steve Salas, just recently this month on the 18th, and then his past month, I'm sorry, and then his brother, Rudy. You know, both players also participated with their group and performed here in Monterey Park, both at the amphitheater and there on the grounds during the event sponsored by the Community Relations Commission and the Harmony Festival that was held in three years.
together
they were here in Monterey Park at Barnes Park at the amphitheater
and they also
were presented in the city council meetings
certificates of appreciation for their participation in those events by the city council. So they're also on video of those meetings where they were presented those certificates. And they've always felt a warmth, a very closeness to our city with those events and also patronizing businesses here in the city, including Tommy's Restaurant, including Paul's Kitchen when it was open. And they used to also do jam sessions there at Paul's Kitchen together with other known groups, members of war, El Chicano, and other musicians. so I really encourage the city the city council to take really really heartfelt consideration in supporting these efforts to hopefully erect a plaque in their memory honoring their contributions to the world of music and honoring their place here in Monterey Park both in the studio they held on Garfield and also for their participation in concerts here at Barnes Park and also for patronizing businesses here in Monterey Park. Thank you very much. I appreciate the time. Thank you.
Thank you. There are no other oral communications. However, I do have a written communication.
Okay. Proceed, please.
My name is Richard Nakano. I live at 1122 Kenton Drive, Monterey Park, 91755. I wish to comment on the new law, Senate Bill 1383, requiring single-family homes to recycle food scraps. While I'm in favor of recycling in general, this new collection program seems less than ideal for the following reason. Many people already compose their organic waste into mulch. Others use in-sync garbage disposal, which process food scraps. The remaining small amount of organic waste generated by a single-family home might amount to a few inches in the bottom of a 90-gallon green waste bin. Yet, dedicated trucks must pick up the small...
I'm sorry, did we lose sound, or is that just me, or...? I'm sorry, I can hear. um were you not able to hear i have no sound on the uh public comments
i can hear you though okay i well that's true okay i i can hear um clerk's office can you check
that um seems like some of the counselors cannot hear
let me check it's up to the highest volume
I can hear Henry, I can hear Deputy City Clerk, but I do not hear any public comment being read.
How about you, Peter? Do you hear anything?
Yeah, I can hear it, but it's not too loud, so just barely hear.
I know that he's talking about the food compost and stuff. Oh, I have no sound.
Yeah, I'm not hearing anything either. Me too. Try to play it again.
My name is Richard Nakano. I live at 1122 Kenton Drive, Monterey Park, 91755. I wish to comment on the new law, Senate Bill 1383, requiring single-family homes to recycle food scraps. While I'm in favor of recycling in general, this new collection program seems less than ideal for the following reason. Many people already compose their organic waste into mulch. Others use in-sync garbage disposal, which process food scraps. The remaining small amount of organic waste generated by a single-family home might amount to a few inches in the bottom of a 90-gallon green waste bin. Yet dedicated trucks must pick up the small amount weekly, causing extra air and noise pollution. Traffic implements and wasting fuels and human resources. I believe the implementation of the city's program should be further studied and an improved system be utilized. Certainly, encouraging composting would help. For non-compostable organic waste, one suggestion might be a special organic waste bag be provided to our citizens, which could be sealed and thrown into the regular trash. At the materials recycling facilities, these bags could be separated out and processed. This would cut down on the wasteful use of large green waste bins with a small amount of organic waste. I also have questions about the acceptable organic waste. One, what about cardboard boxes? I don't see them mentioned in the bulletin put out by Athens Services in the February issue of Cascades. My family discards a lot of cardboard boxes from mail-order packages, such as Amazon. Are these type of boxes acceptable as organic waste? Two, what about disposable diapers and personal feminine hygiene products? Thank you for your time and consideration, Richard Nakano.
Okay. Thank you. Are there any further written communications that have been submitted to
the city for tonight? I'm sorry? No. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Well, let me just
thank everyone who have spoken tonight or has written
communications to the city. Certainly we value
your input and I think we all believe here that government works best when elected representatives engage with their constituents
and so for those who called tonight, please feel free to follow up with
our city manager and staff as well as the council members here on the dais. We're here to serve you.
Okay, moving on. Let's see, we now have- If I may make a comment, Mayor?
I'm sorry, yes, Councilman Lane. Yes, yes.
Yeah, I just wanted to, again, thank the speakers
and then for the city manager on the issue of the plaque, is that something you can bring back on another agenda?
I think we have a discussion about that. So noted. Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Councilman Leanne. Follow up.
Okay, let us now proceed to staff communications.
We have our first communications from our recreation department.
Hello.
So, Kirk, do you have the slides ready?
Thank you.
So, good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem,
and City Council. Next slide, please. So as you know, indoor activity at the Langley Senior
Center had been closed due to the Omicron variant. So we're happy to announce that we have reopened the Langley Senior Center for Indoor Activities. It is by reservation currently Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. So seniors can come back and enjoy activities like karaoke, billiards, ping pong. And if you want to reserve a slot, a time slot for one of those activities, you can call
626-307-1395. Now there's another activity that seniors may be interested in, and that's our newly
expanded fitness area in Langley Center. Next slide, please. So as seniors return to Langley
Center, they'll notice a recent upgrade. It's the newly expanded fitness area at Langley,
and it's over 1,100 square feet. That's three times the previous size,
and it features 15 new pieces of commercial-grade fitness equipment.
So we're definitely excited for the seniors to come back
and utilize the equipment and help them reach their fitness goals.
Recently, our city elected officials actually had a tour of the fitness area,
and from what I hear, I think some of them have also returned
to catch a little workout this past week. Next slide, please. So the Recreation Department is definitely excited to offer a movie in the park. So on Friday, March 11th at 7 p.m. in Barnes Park Field, we are going to be featuring the Marvel Disney box office, Shang-Chi, The Legend of the Ten Rings. This is completely free for attendees, and so we encourage everyone to bring out your blankets, your chairs, and enjoy an action-filled movie in beautiful Barnes Park. Next slide, please. Another event that we're definitely excited about is our annual MPK Spring Egg Hunt. This will take place on Thursday, April the 14th at 5 p.m. in the Barnes Park Field. Now, youth will be divided into separate age groups, and they're going to be searching for over 6,000 eggs with prizes. Now, in those eggs, there's also going to be some grand prizes, and those eggs may contain things like Robux, V-Bucks, and also gift cards. So in following the attendees are also going to be able to enjoy some free carnival games and take a picture with the MPK bunny. I also want to send a special thank you to Transtech and Shirley Wong. They're two of our sponsors that help support this event and are going to make it possible. Next slide, please. Finally, I would like to encourage residents to visit the city's website, follow us on social media and stay up to date with all our upcoming programs and activities. Thank you City Council for giving me a few minutes to share some more.
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has his camera on. Would you like to make a comment or question?
Yes, just a comment. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Director Aguirre, and the great job on the Lining Center upgrade on the Phoenix Center.
I went back yesterday, which is the grand opening, and I want to report to all the residents, it was busy. A lot of people were there playing ping pong, pool tables, karate class, and so forth. So it's welcoming back. And so please use the new facilities. And because of the two years of pandemic, health is very important. So utilize of the facilities. Health is not just talking about it. you have to do exercise to earn health. So don't stay home, come out, enjoy the new facility and enter those classes, whatever you want to, what your interests are. So I just want to welcome back all the seniors back to Lani Center and hopefully we will be back in full scale PDC. Thank you. And again, thank you, staff. A great job.
Thank you, Councilman Chan. for those comments. Any other comments? Thank you, Mr. Gary.
Thank you.
Okay. Next presentation, Public Works Department. Mr. Lopez.
Hi. Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. Tonight, we'll have our new principal management
analyst Sochi Tipan to inform you of a couple activities we're having. Sochi?
Hi, good evening, Mayor and City Council. We will be having a free compost event on March 12th, which is a Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. We will be providing free compost to all Monterey park residents we ask that they bring shovels and sturdy containers and Athens will be providing
compost until supplies last next slide we will also be having our annual spring cleaning event
on Saturday April 9th from 8 a.m to 1 p.m we will be accepting bulky items and electronic waste hazardous waste like batteries and paint will not be accepted but we do have information on
on the city website of how to dispose of this items. And we will be having information on the day of the event as well.
We will be providing free paper shredding service
and chipper service as well.
So we encourage residents if they have unwanted items or anything that they've been trying to get rid of to stop by our event on April 9th.
Thank you.
We're happy to answer any questions if you have any.
Thank you so much for the presentation. Council members, any questions, comments?
Okay, hearing none. Well, first let me just say thank you so much. You know, we always appreciate when the city creates opportunities for our residents to show some civic pride by cleaning up their communities and also being mindful of the environment. And so thank you so much for ANNOUNCING THIS UPCOMING EVENT. AND THANK YOU SO MUCH.
THANK YOU, MAYOR.
OKAY. NEXT PRESENTATION, MANAGEMENT SERVICE DEPARTMENT.
GOOD EVENING, MR. MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
I DO HAVE A SLIDE HERE. THIS IS DIANA GARCIA, CITY LIBRARIAN. This evening, we'd like to give a brief update about the city's ongoing financial forecast presentations that we've been doing in the community. Last week, we held two informational sessions on the city's annual budgeting process. We discussed how the city receives revenues and how those funds are expended to provide various city services, facilities, and programs. So the city's team, which includes myself, Inez Alvarez, our assistant city manager, and Martha Garcia, our management services director, has been working with a professional consultant, Grassroots Lab, to conduct additional outreach and education and to gather public input regarding a possible revenue measure.
We want to note that during the month of March, we will be holding this presentation again via Zoom on March 10th and March 22nd from 630 to 8 p.m. using the Zoom meeting ID that you see on the screen here. We'll also be sharing this presentation with various groups and organizations in our city, and we hope to hold in-person sessions starting in April, as health conditions permit, of course.
I want to also note that our management services page of the city's website, which is down here at the bottom of the slide, contains the most up-to-date information about these upcoming meetings, as well as recordings of the two sessions that we held last week, which are subtitled in Spanish and in Chinese.
Thank you very much for your time, and we appreciate the opportunity to give you a brief update about these outreach efforts. Thank you.
Thank you, Diana. And also I want to thank the state staff. I know that we've had two town halls already last week. And so thank you for continuing to create these opportunities for the public to be engaged. I see Councilmember Han Suyeng has his camera on. Councilmember Lam,
would you like to share some comments? Yeah, I just have a quick question. Thank
you, Mayor. I noticed on the flyer you had Tuesday, March 10th, but I think that's Thursday.
Is that right? Do you have the flyer up again? I just want to make sure that I'm getting the dates right.
Was it Tuesday, March 10th listed?
March 10th is a Thursday. The dates are March 10th, Thursday, March 10th, and Tuesday, March 22nd.
Yes, so I've got those flipped. Thank you very much for allowing me to clarify and pointing that out.
Great. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Any other comments or questions?
Hearing none, thank you so much for that presentation. And to the public, please
participate in these upcoming meetings if you can. Okay. And finally, presentation by our
police department ah chief of police chief gordon good evening mayor low and council members i just want to take a moment to uh proudly announce that we are moving back towards in person and unless something changes in april we will be starting our what used to be called citizens Academy. We have renamed it now to be more applicable to Community Academy. And we would like residents, especially those that have never attended one of our academies that really want to become engaged and learn all about the police department to apply. It'll be on Thursday nights starting April 7th through June 2nd from 6 to 9. It'll be held at City Hall. And we encourage anyone that wants to come and really learn about how the police department works and get some hands-on experience with us to apply. You'll see on the screen it's a matter of calling our CEB or emailing them to get an application. Thank you. Thank you, Chief Gordon, and that is very
exciting news, especially when it means people can participate in person again. So a sign of good times coming up. Okay, I see, I see, Councillor Chan, you had your camera on. Would
you like to make a comment or question? Yeah, I just want to make a comment. I want to thank police chief for putting back this program together again, because I think we stopped
for the last two years. And residents, if you have time, please join this program. This is very good. And you know, you know, in details how the police work. And that helps in everyday life.
And it's good to protect yourself and protect your neighbors and your friends. So I just encourage all the residents to join this program when you have time. So thank you, Chia, for putting this together again.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Chen. Councilor Liang, I saw that your camera was also on.
Did you wish to share a comment or question? It's okay. I disregard that. I can follow up with someone else. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, thank you, Chief Gordon. Again,
exciting news. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Let's see. On our agenda, presentations. We have one
presentation tonight 1A commissions committee then board overview ah
our assistant see manager i know okay floor is yours
mr mayor and members of the city council um this item is tonight is to provide an
overview of all of our commissions committees and boards that we have in the city of Monterey Park and our city attorney Carl Berger will be providing some background and
legal information about how our boards and commissions are set up and defined and then I will provide a brief overview of each commission and their their defined rules so I I will let you
know that we do have quite a few slides because we do have quite a few boards and commissions so
So we will try to give a comprehensive overview, but also we'll try to be mindful of time.
So I would first like to introduce our city attorney, Carl River.
He's going to, like I said, give some background first and some legal information about our boards and commissions.
Carl.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the council. As Inez mentioned, we thought this was a good opportunity to provide a general overview.
The council has, in the past several months, discussed this in terms of what the boards and commissions do, a general overview and what have you. And I think what the city manager, Inez, and I discovered or rediscovered perhaps as we come to what has been popularly called the endemic and we start moving away from emergency operations and start reassuming the normal procedures for municipal government that in the two years since the city has essentially been shuttered and we have been in emergency operations, a lot of corporate knowledge and a lot of internal procedures have been neglected. And so we thought this might be a good opportunity to launch off what we are loosely calling the Municipal Academy. And we hope to provide this as a general overview and then have a more intense workshop, not only for boards and commissioners, but also internally with regard to, for example, contracts and other types of things for employees. Next slide, please. So this is, as I mentioned, the first stop or starting point for the Municipal Academy. And as I mentioned, the City Council undertook a lot of things during the emergency operations. And as you know, we adopted approximately 30 different ordinances during the past two years to tighten up the Municipal Code, to change and streamline the way things worked within the city, do a lot of housekeeping and cleanup with regard to the municipal code and policies. One of the things that the city council did during this time period is follow up with a process that actually started in 2013, which was a cleanup of how boards and commissions are formed, how they operate, how they form quorums, and also how they are expected to behave in terms of following city council direction and being provided with tasks from the city council. Most of these are encapsulated within chapter 2.82 of the Municipal Code. This chapter was actually established in 2013 and has been tinkered with over time. So I'm going to go through with a thumbnail sketch. As Inez mentioned, she is going to get into greater depth about what each board and commission does. And you'll see here as I go through the slides that there are a couple of discussions about what the subject matter jurisdiction is for boards and commissions.
When Inez gets into her part of the presentation, she will give a greater overview of what those are for each board and commission.
So let's start at the top.
As all of us know, these are voluntary positions in terms of serving on a board, commission, or committee. I'm going to collectively call these a commission just for purposes of ease.
These are volunteer positions that are not paid, and certainly I know that the city council and... These are volunteer positions that are not paid and certainly I know that the City Council and all of the staff appreciate the time and effort that those volunteers provide to serve on those boards and committees.
! I think universally the feeling from staff certainly is that the individuals that help provide and shape policy within the city is very much appreciated and those individuals are very much treasured.
The provisions in the municipal code provide that a person can only serve on one commission. The default membership for commission is five members. And as we'll talk about other commissions that are larger, but the default is five.
Inez will talk about other commissions that are larger, but the default is five.
Members on a commission must generally be city residents.
There are a couple of exceptions for specialized areas within some of the commissions, but generally speaking, everyone needs to be a city resident.
Convicted felons may not serve on a commission. In a fairly unique process, Monterey Park is fairly unique in terms of how people are appointed to commissions. Each council member has their own choice in terms of choosing somebody to be put onto a commission. Frequently, cities have a process whereby persons submitted an application. Those applications are vetted. The individuals are interviewed by the entire council, and then the council votes on whether or not somebody should be appointed to a commission. Monterey Park doesn't have that. Each city council member has their own choice with regard to one, or if the commission is larger, more than one person to be placed onto a commission. By default, members may serve, sorry, I'm reading from my PowerPoint, may serve a total of two four-year terms, but the term will continue until successor is appointed. This latter part is very important. Sometimes, particularly in the past two years, the city has struggled with regard to finding somebody that to succeed, a commissioner that has termed out. And so it's important to understand that that position remains filled until a successor is selected by the council member. Next slide, please.
One of the things that the City Council did in 2020 is adopt a code of conduct. It applies to both elected and appointed public officials and applies to all commissioners that serve the city of Monterey Park.
There are four core principles which are listed on this particular slide, and these are items
or principles that the City Council identified as being important for all public officials to follow. I'm not going to read them all, but you can read them at your leisure, certainly on the PowerPoint, and they are available through the City Clerk's Office.
This is Resolution No. 12184.
It was originally proposed by Mayor Hans Leong in 2019, and the City Council adopted it in 2020. Next slide, please.
The implementation of those core principles is also accomplished with resolution 12184.
In principle, the idea is that public officials conduct themselves professionally and that
that conduct and their appearance and their activities are above reproach.
The important parts of this are members will refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges
or verbal attacks upon the character or motives of other members city employees or the public
and also adhere to all the processes established by the city council on the municipal code with regard to their activities next slide please
this continues the implementation of the code of conduct in the core of principles
and principle it's to fully prepare yourself for discussion on for meetings which means not only
read the staff reports but if you have questions about those staff reports to ask staff liaisons
to act professionally some of these are are sometimes common sense but it's worthwhile to write them down and that's what the city council did next slide please
some changes were made as i mentioned before the city was having difficulty not only finding
volunteers to serve on commissions, but also having problems actually forming quorums in order to hold meetings. Those of you familiar with the Brown Act understand that when there is a quorum, the only way that you can have a meeting is with a quorum of the legislative body. The legislative body in this case are the commissions. And some of the commissions, as I mentioned, are larger than five. And in order to make sure that the larger commissions could actually meet, the city Council last year changed the quorum requirements for all boards and commissions to be a quorum of three members. As noted, Chapter 2.82 states that staff members may be assigned to a commission. That may not happen, but ordinarily it is. Inez will go through the staff members that are assigned to each commission. There are certain requirements with regard to electing a chair and vice chair. In some instances, those positions rotate, much like the city council rotates the mayor and the mayor pro tem.
Regular meetings may be established by resolution. Ordinarily, most commissions only need one meeting per year, but more can be called based upon 72 hours notice.
That's in accordance with the Brown Act. And usually what happens is that the chairperson and the staff liaison consult with one another to make a determination whether or not an additional meeting is necessary. All meetings must comply with California law, including, as I mentioned, the Brown Act. Next slide, please.
We discussed the formal action of the commissions must occur at meetings. Special meetings are those called by the chairperson or majority of the legislative body. There have been, I know, in the past six or seven months, some questions from board and commissioners about who can call meetings.
Ordinarily, that is cooperation between the chairperson and the staff liaison in terms of when meetings are called.
There's also been questions about when meetings are canceled or adjourned, as it's called under state law. And that happens if there is less than a quorum present. Usually what happens is if there's nothing on an agenda or nothing to be discussed,
the staff liaison will reach out to the chairperson or should be reaching out to the chairperson TO COORDINATE WHETHER OR NOT A MEETING IS REALLY NECESSARY.
AND THE THING TO REMEMBER HERE IS THAT THE CITY IS COGNIZANT OF THE TIME AND EFFORT THAT THAT THE VOLUNTARY COMMISSIONERS PROVIDE TO THE CITY. AND SO WE REALLY DON'T WANT TO WASTE THE TIME OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS IF THERE'S REALLY NOTHING TO DISCUSS.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THIS IS ALSO UNDER THE CODE OF CONDUCT. AND AS I MENTIONED, I MEZ WILL GO INTO FURTHER DETAIL ABOUT THE SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION of each particular commission, but those all commissions may only address matters determined by the municipal code or the city council by resolution to be within their subject matter jurisdiction. So for example, the environmental commission should not be talking about approving a particular development because those are the latter is the jurisdiction of the planning commission and not within the subject matter jurisdiction of the environmental commission. Along those lines, staff need not place an agenda, place on an agenda, provide any resources for or implement request directions or actions outside that subject matter jurisdiction. I know that many commissioners are excited to learn about all sorts of things that are occurring within the city and that may be under consideration by the city council and sometimes ask staff to bring that back onto a future agenda. but this goes back to what's within the subject matter jurisdiction of that particular commission and also recognizes that it takes time and effort and public resources which translates into staff time to provide those things and if those particular commissions cannot really affect the policy on them the city council determined that that's not something that staff should be doing
the third bullet here is is commissions must refrain from considering policy issues that are under active consideration by the city council. As many of you know, who have paid attention to the city council's actions certainly in the past, well, since last summer, the city council,
for example, recently adopted a housing element. That housing element is now under review by the state. There are a number of things in that housing element that the city has committed to do over the next period of time, next five years approximately. There are laundry lists of things
that the city council is actually expected to consider. All of those items are really considered under active consideration by the city council. And so until the city council gives direction on how those should be processed, other commissions should defer to the city council's direction
in terms of those things in the housing element. And I only use that as an example because it's the biggest item
that has come up recently in front of the city council.
The city council as a whole
PROVIDES DIRECTION AND GUIDANCE TO ITS COMMISSIONS.
SO EVEN THOUGH INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL MEMBERS APPOINT COMMISSIONERS, IT'S THE CITY COUNCIL AS A BODY THAT PROVIDES DIRECTIONS TO ITS COMMISSIONS.
NEXT SLIDE, POSE.
SO THIS IS THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART AND WHERE I HANDED OFF TO INEZ. AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE A NUMBER. I SHOULD SAY THAT SINCE I WAS HERE AT THE TIME THAT THIS WAS REVISED IN 2013,
THERE ARE DOUBLE THE NUMBER OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS BEFORE 2013.
AND SO THIS IS WINnowing DOWN FROM BEFORE THAT DATE UNTIL NOW.
SO INEZ, IT'S ALL YOURS. THANKS CARL. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO FIRST WE'RE GOING TO START WITH THE LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES.
THE LIBRARY BOARD OF TRUSTEES IS SEMI AUTONOMOUS FROM CITY COUNCIL AND CITY ADMINISTRATION.
There are five members appointed with city council approval.
The term of office is three years for two consecutive terms. The regular meetings are usually held once a month. The board appoints a president and the president serves for a one year term.
Subject matter jurisdiction for this board is to make policies governing library
and make recommendations on various paths that benefit the library services.
Our city librarian is our staff liaison for this board. And currently there are no vacancies on this board.
Next slide.
The planning commission is a five-member commission like the library board.
This is another city commission that California statute authorizes to render legally binding
decisions. Regular meetings usually occur monthly. Subject matter jurisdiction is acting as the
planning agency, acting upon assignments provided by city council, making recommendations to city
council regarding line use regulations, and they can administer zoning regulations. It also acts as the construction of those board.
And currently our community development director is the staff liaison.
There is currently one vacancy on this commission.
Next slide.
Next is our personnel board.
And like the library board and planning commission,
they've rendered the planning, sorry, the personnel board renders decisions
that legally bind the city pursuant
to the Monterey Park Municipal Code.
This is a three-member board, and the appointments are made by a majority of the city council comprised of an at-large member, a member nominated by non-sworn city employees, and a member nominated by the city manager.
Two members constitute a quorum for this board since it's a three-member board.
Regular meetings must be held at least once per year.
And subject matter jurisdiction is providing advice regarding personnel matters and conduct hearings in accordance with any applicable memoranda of understanding.
The director of human resources and risk management is the staff liaison.
And there are no current vacancies on this board. Next slide.
All other boards and commissions that follow in the next slides are advisory only.
These boards and commissions do not have independent legal authority to make decisions on city council's behalf.
The advisory boards and commissions are established to either provide city council with advice or to provide recommendations to identified public officials.
um these boards and commissions may not act outside of their subject matter jurisdiction
next slide
so the first one is the design review board this is a five member board and members of the board
may either be city residents or persons maintaining a business license within the city
members should have a background as an architect planner landscape architect civil engineer
building contractor or practicing licensed electrician meetings are will be held on an
as-needed basis subject matter jurisdiction is making recommendations regarding design
of new and existing structures annual recommended methods for implementing and
interdependence of land values and aesthetics to increase the value of surrounding properties
and recommended recommends reasonable controls over character and design of buildings the
community development director is the staff liaison and currently there are two vacancies on
for this board next slide next we have the traffic commission and the traffic commission is a five
member commission. This commission may adopt rules and regulations for electing officers and holding regular meetings. Regular meetings are typically held once per month. The commission has two responsibilities. The first is to review requests for changes in traffic control conditions submitted by the city engineer. The action is taken.
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The commission's responsibility must be guided by objective standards set forth in the traffic planning manual published by the state division of highways.
However, where extraordinary circumstances exist,
the commission may vary the standards to produce the best possible solution to serve local conditions.
The public works director, city engineer
is the staff liaison
and currently there are no vacancies on this commission.
Next slide.
next we have the business improvement district advisory committee and this is a five-member
committee and the person's appointed must own or operate a business within the business
improvement district this committee has two responsibilities the first is to make
recommendations regarding operations and marketing for the downtown business area
and to make recommendations regarding the methods in which revenue is collected and budgeted
The economic development manager is our staff liaison, and currently there is one vacancy on this committee.
Next slide.
Next we have the Commission on Aging.
This is a 10-member commission, and each council member for this commission appoints two commissioners.
This commission's responsibilities are to work with the senior citizens and the city regarding matters pertaining to aging, encourages improvements in conditions for seniors, seeks resources for senior projects and programs, recommends improvements for physical and social environments for seniors,
INFORMS SENIORS REGARDING VARIOUS RESOURCES AVAILABLE, WORKS WITH ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDING
SENIOR PROGRAMS, PROVIDES ADVICE REGARDING MATTERS PERTAINING TO SENIORS, AND CURRENTLY THE RECREATION
AND COMMUNITY SERVICES STAFF SERVES AS A STAFF LIAISON TO THIS COMMISSION. CURRENTLY THERE ARE TWO
vacancies. Next slide. Next we have the Community Participation Commission and this is a seven
a total of 17 commission members and 10 are appointed by City Council just as the Commission
of Aging each council member appoints two commissioners for this commission and seven commissioners are non-voting youth members three of these can be appointed by the alhambra unified school district two by the montebello unified school district and two at large for um at large
for community to accommodate any of our private schools um the commission promotes community
events history and heritage youth programs and reports activities to the city council
The recreation and community services director is the commission's liaison.
And currently there are two vacancies on the commission in addition to the youth members.
Next slide.
Next we have the Economic Development Advisory Commission. And this is a five-member commission.
members must be either a city resident or have a or have business experience with a background in
finance economics or development the commission is responsible for monitoring economic development strategy uh strategic plan and uh recommending any updates providing annual updates and advises
the city council regarding the needs of the local economy our economic development manager is the
staff liaison and there are no current vacancies on this commission next slide next we have the environmental commission this is a five member commission and
and the commission actually can appoint two non-voting youth members to the commission
members may be a city resident an individual operating or working in the city or professional
uh in the environmental field this commission is responsible for developing policies and procedures
um relevant to environmental and sustainability um promoting programs for environmental awareness identifying potential funding resources um sorry funding sources to implement environmental programs monitoring any legislative activities that may affect the city and advising city council
regarding environmental issues um public works uh staff from our public works department is the
current staff liaison and currently there are two vacancies for this commission next slide
um next we have our recreation and parks commission this is also a five-member commission
and the city manager may approve non-voting members to the commission this commission is
responsible for providing advice regarding parks and recreation and recommending policies for council consideration assisting with coordination of recreation services and coordinating with
neighboring school districts for recreational programs um the recreation a recreation and
community services staff is this current staff liaison and there are no vacancies on this
commission at this time. Next slide. And I apologize. I know there's a lot of text on this
slide. So the sister cities commission was established by resolution that was adopted in 1998. And it's a bit ambiguous regarding the membership of the commission. In 1998,
when the resolution was adopted, there were four sister cities, and now there are currently five.
The resolution provides that each new sister city association as a member to the commission automatically. However, it is unclear whether the commission is authorized for eight or more members. The commission's bylaws currently state that there's 15 members, but doesn't perfectly align with the resolution. currently a president and two members of each association participates as members of this commission the commission has established its own regulations and elects its own officers and submits an annual report to the city council the commission's responsibility of responsibilities are to foster friendship and goodwill and to communicate among other sister cities of monterey
park to participate in the exchange of culture to participate in the city's cultural events
and programs promoting the exposure to their culture and to serve as cultural cultural ambassadors
the recreation and community services staff serves as the minutes secretary for this commission
next slide so in summary and this is a recap um a lot of this information you know it's going to
sound familiar because uh carl uh covered a lot of this but just so in summary we're going to go
through just some some bullet points here so the kid the city council is the final decision maker
for any matter involving the city the city council may create or dissolve any border committee or commission boards and commissions must comply with city council policies and the city manager
and staff implement city council city council's directions the city's boards and commissions have specific duties and responsibilities these may be to render decisions for specific subject
matter and as previously discussed the planning commission's decisions regarding line use or the
traffic commission's recommendations of the city engineer are are such examples next slide
As mentioned, all members are volunteers, and we definitely thank all of our commissioners
for their time in serving their community.
There are costs associated with holding meetings, including staff time needed to prepare for
and attend the meetings.
If the staff liaison cannot identify items that are within the subject matter jurisdiction, then he or she will coordinate with the chairperson to determine whether a meeting is needed.
A special meeting may always be called by any board
or commission by the chairperson
or a majority of the membership upon 24 hours notice.
Next slide. So just in conclusion, we have,
staff has put an article in the February 2022 Cascades
And the article announced when our commission meetings are held and which commissions had current vacancies, encouraging our residents to apply if they were interested in serving on any of our boards and commissions.
And as Carl mentioned earlier, we are planning to have a municipal academy to give our commissioners an opportunity to meet one another, but also provide some training opportunities for our commissioners to go over some of these, some of this information.
So this concludes our presentation.
The staff liaisons, myself and our city attorney are available for any questions.
Thank you. Thank you, Inez and Carl, for that very comprehensive presentation.
Council members, any comments or questions?
I see Councilman Lange's cameras on.
No, I'm sorry.
Oh, sorry. Hold on.
Okay, my camera. Yeah, just really quickly. I want to thank you, Inez, for giving us and also Carl for giving us that overview. I think that in the past couple months in the midst of COVID and, you know, the isolation from everyone not really having a chance to talk to people, meet people, I think that's also kind of caused a slowdown. but as Carl was saying and Inez were saying as we appear to be rounding the corner on COVID it's a perfect time to kind of review these guidelines and to ensure that as we move forward and the pandemic eases and the restrictions ease that when our commissions and committees are able to gather in person and work together on items that the council is working on as well It also gives them, I think, a clear understanding about what the expectations are. And it's my understanding that, what was that called? You said, Carl, you had a name for it, something like Commissioner Academy. What was that called? Municipal Academy. And then when is that, when are you planning to start those?
So the first workshop with all the boards and commissions is tentatively scheduled for March 30th, and that will be a presentation similar to what was just provided, but more in depth with a Q&A session at the end for all the boards and commissions.
It will actually be noticed as a joint meeting from all the boards and commissions. Certainly by March 30th, we are hoping to have an in-person meeting of all those commissioners that are involved. but we that remains to be seen it may be a hybrid meeting whereby council chambers are are filled with the commissioners and the public can attend via zoom but we haven't figured out the logistics with regard to that yet and I know it's going to jump in like I said it's tentatively scheduled before the end of this month that's what we're hoping for yeah it's I don't need the logistics
I just wanted to know kind of a timeline I think it's it will be important for them to attend and And I think that oftentimes it's hard to know what the expectations are or whether or not our own expectations in our head are matching the requirements and mandates put forth by the city. So I think it's a great opportunity to clarify that for everybody. And one of the things like if I could ask a city clerk or deputy city clerk, I know that assistant city manager had listed the vacancies. If the city clerk could send us the council members, specifically the commissions that have vacancies. And I know I've been receiving a multitude, well, not a multitude, but several emails of interested commissioners. But as you know, I think as everyone knows, the queues of the emails get longer and longer. So I think that the city clerk staff has all those applications. So if you could give us the vacancies that we have, if we have any, and then provide us with the current list of interested applicants and the commission so that we can prepare to assign people in those seats that are currently vacant for those of us who have vacant seats in time for the reopening of the city and having our commission meetings in person again. So that's it. Thank you.
I'm sorry, Council Member Liang.
I include that in your weekly package, so watch out for that. Some weeks when there are new applications that are coming in, it's included in your Council weekly package.
Be a lookout for that.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Cindy, for that reminder to all of us. Any other Council Members comments or questions? Okay. I don't hear any, but I do have a question. So besides the Academy that will be for all Commissioners, at the individual Commission level, will there be something similar
of the presentation?
Only because what you presented was very broad, but I would imagine that probably each commissioner, especially when they're meeting with their own colleagues,
may have specific questions as well.
Will something, well, I guess a kind of Q&A or something at the commission level
also be taking place?
Yes, Mayor Lo.
So, and in fact, we plan to record the session just in case there's commissioners that may be appointed at a later date.
And we're hoping to have this training opportunity yearly to refresh whether the commissioner is continuing to serve or new to serving. We can host those annually as refreshers for all of our commissioners. the staff liaisons when you know in their individual meetings do provide some basic overview but we think that this is a good time since we have been you know in a pandemic and we haven't had a lot of in-person interactions it'd be a great opportunity for us to just come back together in person and have you know a deeper dive into some of these policies that we have to make sure everybody has an understanding of what their role is. And also, you know, we're planning
on also going over the Brown Act to make sure that, you know, our commissioners understand
the ins and outs of that as well. So yes, that's what we anticipate.
Okay. Okay. Any other comments or questions?
Okay. Hearing none, Arianne, thank you so much for that presentation.
Thank you.
okay hearing none all right uh thank you so much for that presentation okay moving on all business items none !
!
Do we have any interest in pulling any of the items
for the discussion? Customer Chan, I see you have your camera on.
Is there an item you wish to pull?
Yes, thank you, Mayor. I would like to put items 3C, D, and E.
Repeat again, items 3C, 3D, and E. And 3E, you said?
Yes. Okay, thank you very much. Okay, items 3D and 3E.
Okay, members, any other items that wishes to be pulled?
I'm sorry. Before you make the motion, can I ask the audience if there is any speaker on the consent calendar?
Of course, yes, please proceed, clerk.
Audience, if you want to speak on any of the consent calendar items, 3A to 3I, now is the time to do so.
Please use the raise hand feature or be on the phone, press star 9 at this time.
first will consent calendar and mr mayor members of the council i believe there are two council members that have a conflict on part of 3d just for when we get to that particular item
okay for three d you said d is in dark okay okay which i know uh council chan has also asked
to be pulled okay and i'm sorry did you say were there any uh comments or written or oral for these items oh mayor no okay thank you so much for clarifying okay um then uh with the exception of the three items that have been requested by councilman chandry pulled may i have a motion for a consent for the remaining consent calendar items please motion to approve remaining motion to remain remaining consent calendar items okay second by second okay thank you council member seconded by councilor chan uh clerk please call the roll thank you council member yvonne you yes council member uh peter chen yes council member hans leung yes yes mayor pro tem uh freshenoso is absent so mayor Henry Lo yes motion carries thank you thank you clerks okay Okay, first item that has been pulled from the consent calendar, item 3C, purchase and conversion of police department vehicles. Chief Kelly. Good evening, Mayor, City Council members. I'll just give a brief summary. So I know that earlier or actually later, but a few months ago in 2021, council approved the purchase of police department vehicles. Then we're coming back to council and asking for the approval to purchase eight new patrol vehicles.
We've encountered numerous obstacles in terms of ordering vehicles and being able to get the necessary equipment that we need because of the pandemic.
So we are asking in order to, with the lead time in ordering the cars that we order, if you approve this tonight, will actually take us probably over a year to get the vehicle. So right now, because of the way our fleet is and the delay in the first order, by the time we receive the vehicles from the first order, which were a combination of patrol vehicles, parking control, and detective vehicles, and an SRT vehicle, our current patrol fleet will be legitimately running almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week. so with that we are trying to be also good stewards of city finances we've seen a dramatic increase in the cost of upfitting the cars so we're trying to lock in our pricing and lock in vehicle pricing right now even though we won't be able to actually get these vehicles for quite some time so the process of ordering and everything of getting the steel for the for the actual conversion and what goes in the vehicles has all become very difficult for us. So with that in mind, this purchase is also contingent on the approval of the mid-year. The funding for this is part of the mid-year. I understand that's a little unconventional.
Typically, we would approve the mid-year and then we would come back.
But because time is of the essence and we have over and over again had difficulties with the ordering process, we want to get ahead of this. especially we recently just had one of our other orders canceled by the manufacturer themselves. So we want to get this order in and not be, end up behind line when everyone else starts making their orders a little later. So I'd be happy to answer any questions, but this is for the purchase of eight police vehicles and the conversion of those vehicles. Thank you, Chief Gordon, for that explanation. Councilor Chan, do you have a question or comment? Yes, thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Chief, for the presentation. And the reason I want to put this item is because this is related to the mid-year budget later. So that's why I would like to hear exactly what we want. I have a few questions. The one is that since you proposed to have in the, you know, approve it also in the mid-year budget, that means it's in the general funds. Can you use the recovery funds to buy those vehicles instead?
This is actually, although it's in the mid-year, it is actually part of the recovery funds for this purchase.
I see. Okay. Thank you so much. I want to clarify that too, which is good. And then we have some sedans, like the Fort Victoria sedans. And I know that they've been with us for a long, long time, and I still see them running around. So is those being replaced by these new SGVs?
Yes. You actually can't purchase those oldies but goodies that we have anymore. They actually don't manufacture those. And part of our issue is actually getting parts when those vehicles break down at this point as well.
I see. So it's going to be history now for those sedans then. So residents, if you want some pictures with the sedans, better do it now because it's low. Well, I think you say it's 180 days to 360 days for the new vehicles to come in in service. So I think we still have time to take pictures and so forth. So, yeah, so that will be nice. And I assume that the police officers like the SGVs and the sedans, right?
They do. They like them because there's more room. And we carry a lot more equipment than we used to. So it's there are some officers that will always like their sedans, but overall, the SGVs are the best option for us.
Okay. All right. Thank you, Chief. No more questions.
Thank you, Councilman Chan. Councilman Lan, you have a question or comment to share?
Yeah, yeah, just really quick. Thank you, Chief, for the presentation. I just want to, you know, the pandemic has affected us in so many ways, you know, ways that we haven't seen. I'm just curious in terms of if this were a normal situation, how long would it normally take for us to get these type of vehicles outfitted and purchased pre-pandemic? Pre-pandemic, we would typically, from the time we ordered to the time we received them and actually had the conversion done, would be less than six months. it's typically when you you know would place the order uh you'd get your vehicles depending on where you were in line uh within three months and then working through the conversion process they would actually be out on the streets in less than six months but at this point we're looking at a year just to get them and then the conversion time after that but we're like i said we're trying to be good stewards we're actually trying to get all the parts ordered and everything done because there is a steel shortage. So everything compounds upon each other, including electronics for everything. So. Well, thank you for that. I know that there was even some discussions. You'd see in the news about car manufacturers that couldn't continue their, their assembly lines because they couldn't get certain electronic components
because of the supply chain issues. So thank you for, you know, being cognizant of these factors that affect us and thank you for thinking ahead and trying to ensure that you know we get everything in a timely manner. That's all I just was curious about you know the effects of the pandemic but thank you for your future site. Thank you. Thank you Chief Gordon. again, this is exciting news for our city. Okay. Any further questions or comments? All right. Hearing none. Clerk, do we have
any requests by chance on this item?
No. Okay.
Hearing none. Thank you so much. Okay. Then may I have a motion then please to pass item 3C?
motion to pass yes I would like to make a motion okay I think I heard Councillor Yu make the motion is that correct
right
then why don't we have Councillor Chen make a second is that alright I'll second that thank you second by Councillor Chen thank you
Council Member Yvonne Yu yes Council Member Peter Chen yes council member hans yang yes mayor pro tem sornoso is absent so uh mayor Henry Lo
all right motion carries thank you thank you clerk item 3d authorized city managers to execute
license agreements with non-profit youth athletic organizations for their usage of designated storage units and stack bars in city parks um before we begin mr gary carl uh i think
you said you're going to chime in about some customers may have a potential conflict to that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I believe that there are property conflicts
between two of you and Mr. Trang is going to have to remind me of which ones are where I don't have the conflict map right in front of me. But it was only with regard to one of the locations. So you
You can have a general discussion with regard to the overall policy decision. And then with regard to that one item, since Mayor Pro Tem is absent,
we wouldn't have a quorum for that particular location. And Cindy, remind me which one it is. 3D. This is Yvonne. 3D, right? Wait, wait, hold on. I'm sorry. Carl, you asked the clerk. I'm sorry. Please clarify. Yeah, Cindy, which location is there a conflict?
! Mayor Loll and Council member Chan has a conflict within 100 feet of Garvey Ranch Park. !
! I see. Okay. So Garvey Ranch Park would be taken out of consideration for purposes of this discussion ! Since we wouldn't have a quorum with regard to that particular location because Mr. Sorenoso is not present. So we'll take that out of consideration. you can discuss the rest of it and vote as appropriate. Okay, okay. So we can proceed, have a discussion and vote as long as we remove out of consideration from that list the item pertaining to Garver Ranch Park. Is that correct? That's correct. That's correct. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Thank you for clarifying. And Mr. Gary, I want to say, Mr. Gary, did you want to say something before we proceed?
No, I think it's better to do the presentation. Okay. All right. All right. Since it will be out of the question now. So I think we can.
City Attorney, is that the right procedure? I mean, since we take out Garvey Ranch Park, so we can just go ahead and participate just like the regular way, right?
Correct. We're taking that location out of consideration and so you can discuss the rest of it and decide what to do with it. We will figure out on a staff level what to do with that other location.
Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you for clarifying.
And Robert, thank you for your patience.
The floor is yours. No problem. Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council. Robert Aguirre, Director of Recreation and Community Services.
So just to kind of clarify, the city provides a number of youth athletic organizations
access to city parks and facilities to provide year-round leagues, clinics, and competitions. So some of these leagues, these organizations actually store some of their maintenance and
athletic equipment at the park sites for their daily usage. Some of the organizations also
utilize our designated snack bars, one located at La Loma Park and the other located at Garry Ranch
Park, to raise funds for the respective non-profit. Even though these organizations have been active
for many years and have stored equipment at city parks we've never established a license agreement
so what we're looking to do is establish a license agreement and document the usage of those spaces
at city parks and so tonight just coming before you to recommend that city council authorized city
manager to execute license agreements with the youth organizations for those designated spaces
that completes my staff report and i'm available for any questions
Thank you, Robert.
Councillor Chen, do you have a question? Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Well, it's not much of a question since we take Garfield Ranch Park out of it, so I think I can talk about it. And most important is that I want to thank the staff putting this together. And I would like to thank the volunteer parents who managed those stands because I have the experience, great experience. And with that, because I, well, I cannot say I am, I was a referee for AYSO, and I do the games in Almanza Park in Alhambra, but that's Region 60, which is Alhambra and Monterey Park. And I've been doing it for like 20 years or so, and it's good. And And every time when we were doing the games, we were in uniform. We were alLod to go to those stands managed by the parents. And when we passed by, they always asked us, do you want a burrito, a hamburger, a hot dog, or drinks or something like that? And they were very nice.
and just because when you're running around doing a lot of things, it's not good to have a burrito inside you
because after a few runs, you may throw up or do those crazy things. So I don't want to do that, but I really appreciate the efforts to thank the volunteers like us. And in turn, I want to thank them for the volunteers and also to put out the energy and money to help the kids for their health and their sports. So I just want to thank them. And I think this is a good thing to do. And again, I want to thank all the parents, the staff, organizers to put this together. And I think a service agreement with them is good so that they know what to do and spell out all the conditions, health things, and what to do, what not what to do, that kind of things. I think it's good and just want to appreciate, you know, their efforts. Thank you.
Thank you, Councillor Chan. Any other questions or comments from the City Council? Hearing
none. Okay. Thank you, Robert, again for that presentation. Oh, I'm sorry, yes, Councillor
Yes.
I just want to make a motion to approve this item 3D and then let the city attorney how to figure out what to do with the coffee ranch park. Thank you.
Thank you. Motion made by Councillor Chan. May we have a second, please?
Second.
Second by Councillor Yu. Okay. Clerk, call the roll, please. Okay.
Council Member Yvonne Yu?
Yes.
Council member Peter Chan? Yes. Council member Hans Niang? Yes.
Mayor Pro Tem Fredernoso is absent. So Henry Baird Penrylo. Aye.
Motion passed. Thank you. Thank you clerk. Okay. Final item from consent calendar for discussion. 3E award a contract to IBI group for a Spirit Bus Fixed Route Transit System Study.
Mr. Lopez, good to see you again. The floor is yours.
Hi, good evening, Mayor, Council Members. This item before you tonight is an award of contract for IBI Group for an evaluation
of the Spirit Bus Fixed Route Transit System.
We're just asking that you authorize the City Manager to execute a professional services agreement And the amount now to exceed $69,000.
As you know, part of the impacts of the pandemic
were that we did not have our spare bus service running. It's been suspended since about April of 2020.
Prior to that, we were considering evaluating the system to try and make some improvements.
And since it had been suspended, we didn't move forward right away. However, last October, we did put out an RFP requesting proposals to assist us in the evaluation of the system, to look at routes, stops, service it was providing, ridership. And the RFP, although it was out for several weeks, actually did not produce proposals. So then staff did some research, found cities and other agencies that had conducted transit studies. That actually yielded three proposals from, you can see in the staff report from Ferran Peers, IBI Group, and Nelson Neidbard. After reviewing those proposals, staff felt that IBI met all the criteria and was the
highly qualified firm and experienced to perform the transit study. And so we're recommending, again, the award of contract to them.
I can answer any other questions you may have. Otherwise, that concludes my presentation.
Thank you, Frank, for the presentation. Councillor Chan, I see you have your camera on. Do you wish to share a question or comment? Yes, thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Director Lopez, for the presentation. And I just want to remind you that I think in 2014, when I think only Hans and I may remember that, We had a study and also have proposal to change the routes of the spirit bus around the city. And at that time, it was a lot of opponents opposing the change. And so after some council meetings, hearings and so forth, the changes were dropped. And so it remains the same until now. But of course, at this time, a lot of things has changed. Marketplaces here now and also different locations or, you know, like Atlantic Times Square and a lot of other things has changed. So I'm happy that the staff put this together and to reconsider the routes, which is good for all the residents. But I want to remind you, because I still remember, you know, at those times, and people don't like changes. And once you change it, and although maybe a small number of residents, they will be at a disadvantage, because it may move the route maybe a few blocks away from them. So it's some inconvenience. So I would like to suggest that after the study, put more public hearings, more PRs, public relationship, and let the residents know the reasons to change it, why we change it, the ridership, you know, decline or combine the arouse, you know, that kind of thing. I think it's important so that we have the support of the people for the changes. And of course, like I said, the change in the situation and changing maybe concentration of the residents in one area, that kind of thing. So that wants the study and make some changes. And also I would like to, on top of those things, I would like to ask the staff to also consider a fareless program for the Spirit Bus. I think we are charging like a quarter or 50 cents per ride. And most of the students and seniors are using the Spirit Bus. And Metro is talking about a fareless program. and right now I think they have the Fairless Program for the community college and students and so we can consider that and I know that and I reported before that Metro is having some grants to subsidize to the cities that consider the Fairless Program so I would like to suggest that staff look into it and I can give you some information for Metro and so that you can see if we can apply and successfully get the grant so we can go on to our fairness program for the spirit bus as well. So, yes, those are my suggestions on this item.
And so we may, you know, see some response.
And so some public hearings and hear from the residents will be good. So thank you for doing that, but make sure that we do all the necessary hearings and hear from the residents. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Chan. I can confirm that we have conducted a survey already, which led us towards the study, and that we will be conducting public outreach as part of the study.
Thank you, Frank. I see council has your camera on. Yeah, really quick. Thank you, Frank, for that presentation. I was just thinking in terms of the outreach, I agree with everything that council member Chan said.
I think as part of the presentation with the outreach that the staff should take into consideration the things that are coming, as Peter had said, I know that you mentioned Atlantic Times Square, but we also have the Celadon project coming as well. So those things should be taken into consideration. In addition, in the discussions, there may be a way, I'm just talking right now, but in terms of tying in our spirit bus, there's the concept that Councilman Chan brought up about fearless riding. And there may be a way to tie that in with our parking structures and transit kind of centers with that MTA, the re-scope, just something to think about where we could utilize one of our resources to tie into a point or a transit center such as a parking structure. So just something to think about. I don't know if I can tie that in, but it just popped in my head as Peter was saying that. But again, just to, in the outreach, not just the way things are now, but make it so that the residents and the community understands that you're planning also for the future and the eventual destinations that are going to be a focal point here in the city of Monterey Park. So those are my comments. Thank you again, Frank. Thank you, Councilman.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any other comments?
I would like to make my comment. You know, I think that everything that has been raised by my colleagues are good ideas, and I'm glad that we've also been doing service.
In fact, I do recall...
of money from the 710 mobility projects that funding since we are now asking for guidance from
funding, since we are now asking for guidance from Metro about active transportation or alternative projects, you know, I think this will be an opportunity as well to see how it can also incorporate our current local mass transit system, which is the Spirit Bus.
Thank you. We can definitely take that into consideration. We can approach Metro about
it and see if that's something we can gain funding for.
Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Thank you very much, Frank, for that presentation. May I have now a motion to approve item 3E, please? move to uh proof three e okay moved moved by councilor chan second by councilor liang clerk call the roll please council member yvonne yu yes council member peter chan
yes council member hans liang yes uh mayor henry lo yes motion carries thank you thank you very Thank you very much.
Okay, moving on to the agenda. Public hearing none. New business.
Item 5A, fiscal year 2021 to 2022,
mid-year financial report.
And we have Martha Garcia. Hello. Hi. Good evening, Mayor, Council members. This is Martha Garcia, Director of Management Services.
Today, I'm presenting the mid-year financial report
for fiscal year 21-22. Next slide, please.
Today I'm going to give you an overview of the general fund revenues,
the general fund expenditures, other funds revenue and expenditures, the general fund balance,
budget augmentation of other funds, and the ARPA funds. Next slide, please.
Property tax is the city's largest revenue source, representing 42% of the general fund in fiscal year 21-22 estimated revenue.
While property tax revenue is at 3% Lor than at the same time last year, we're still anticipating to receive the estimated budgeted revenue.
The sales tax is the city's second largest revenue representing 20% of the general fund, while sales tax is also 3% Lor than at the same time last year.
Per HDL, our sales tax consultant, the estimated 1% Bradley Burns will generate $9.5 million this fiscal year, instead of the $8.5 we originally budgeted. The TOT, the transient occupancy tax revenue, are 29% more than the previous fiscal year. This is due to our Marriott, the opening of our Marriott. The estimated budget of revenue was $2 million, but based on our mid-year review, we are anticipating not the $2 million, but $1.5 for the entire fiscal year. Skipping down to business license tax, revenues are 105% more than mid-year from the previous year.
This is related to businesses paying in December versus January.
We have our annual is January to December, and many of our businesses paid in December versus January, as in last year.
They were paying more in January.
In other taxes, the 66% difference between years is related to a large property tax transfer received at mid-year in the prior year that hasn't been received this year.
overall we are doing we're doing okay we have we are faring positive with a three percent
higher percent than we were at last year and total revenue to date is 33 keeping in mind that some of
these are accrued revenues so for example sales tax is only we only have four months of sales tax
at this point in time next slide please
Our expenditures are trending well. We are at mid-year, we were at 39%. This a lot has to do with many of our, we have many vacancies. So that's why we're trending a little low.
We do have a line item where it's community CIP projects. That is an additional cost that we had
for the station 62 that's been fully expended. All other items are under 50% upline items. Next slide, please.
The general fund, the city is requesting budget augmentation from the general fund that equaled 222,740.
We are requesting 50,000 for additional overtime for the police department.
We are requesting $50,000 for a compensation, classification and compensation study.
We are requesting $47,740 to hire a senior planner effective April 1st of 2022.
We were requesting $10,000 in additional funds for plumbing services and supplies. We are also requesting $50,000 to implement the city's trip password program.
And we're requesting an additional $15,000 for the, for replacement batteries at our library.
Next slide, please.
The general fund reserves.
So the general fund reserves is, last year we presented to council a plan to bring our general fund reserves to $6.3 million.
We are currently at the end of this year, we will be at $4.3 million.
So this year we are requesting an additional half a million so that we can bring our committed
catastrophic leak to $4.8 million by the end of this fiscal year.
Next slide, please.
For internal service funds budget augmentation, we are requesting $90,000 from the shop funds and $10,307 from technology funds.
The $90,000 for shop funds is to cover increased cost for vehicle repair, and the $50,000 is to cover increased unanticipated cost for vehicle maintenance and repairs.
For technology, we are requesting $10,370 to hire and bring information technology technician effective June 1, 2022. Next slide, please. Enterprise funds, we are requesting a total of $117,000 from water and $25,000 from refuse. We're requesting $25,000 for consulting services related to new water conservation ordinances. We are requesting $25,000 for public outreach and education costs related to new water conservation ordinances. ordinances. We are requesting $40,000 for unanticipated expenditures in the water service, and we're also requesting $25,000 for refuse funds for consulting services to meet the new state mandate, SB 1383. Next slide, please. The City of Monterey Park was allocated $15.043 million dollars in ARPA funds. As of June 2021, the city has received 7.5 million. The second allocation is expected in June of 2022. Council has authorized the budget appropriation of 6.2 million. If council approves the additional appropriation tonight of 750,000, total appropriation will equal 6.9 million and next slide this concludes my presentation and i'm here for any
questions to answer any questions thank you martha for the presentation council members let's see i see council member lang has camera on her land thank you mayor
mayor lo can we listen to is there any public comments first
Sure. Of course. Clerk, any comments, questions? I'm sorry, from the public, I mean.
Thank you, Mayor Lo. Audience, if you want to speak on this item, please use the raised hand feature or be on the phone, press star nine at this time.
Here, there are no speakers or any communications on this item. Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor Lo. Thank you for the reminder. Okay.
Continuing with Council questions, Councilman Liang.
Councilman Liang. Thank you, Mayor Lo. Thank you, Martha, for the presentation. I just had a couple quick questions on a number of the slides. you had some budget items and some of them were listed as unanticipated.
Can you give me an example of what an unanticipated expense, whether it be for the water or for whatever those items that were listed, what some of those types of expenses would be, just so I have an understanding of that?
Well, for example, I have that the funds were for water services from another purveyor from a city. well is it was down and they needed a repair and they weren't expecting that to be down so they we spent all of our operating expenditures and now we need to to replenish and and and account for any additional cost that may come up throughout the year so then it's my understanding when you
talk about unanticipated it would be something like a water main breaking or some kind of infrastructure that we had not anticipated problems or damage to that needed to be responded to immediately. And those would be, okay, okay, that's all I need to know. Minor repairs, larger repairs would go into a CIP, so minor repairs. And these are minor repairs that are sort of unforeseeable, things that were not anticipated, is that's kind of how you're identifying that things that come up that were not either seen or anticipated when the project originally commences, right? Correct. Okay. I just want to make sure that that's clear in terms of what that means, and thank you for that explanation.
Thank you. Let's see. Come for you. I see you have your camera on.
Would you like to share some comments or questions, please?
Yeah, just maybe a few quick questions. um a matha um according to general fund revenues um there's quite up big ups and downs about the prediction or percentage difference so you mentioned that there's one of them is called other tax and you said there's a property tax or real estate something like the tax that we anticipate to receive but then we we haven't received it are we going to receive it or are we
not we we will we will and it'll middle and middle um even out throughout the year i see i see so the
the okay the almost like four hundred thousand dollars that missed that we normally we normally
get money in december and in december in january and in june and in july okay but if we if we don't
anticipated to receive it in the midst so how come we don't how come we don't budget it to not receive because you know it's not coming so how come we budgeted to receive and then it's a big negative
well because it will be received in this fiscal year it will if even if it's received in july or august we have a 60-day accrual that will get reported for them for this fiscal year okay okay
Okay. And so, yeah, as long as I, I, we, we will be able to get it. That would be good. So there's also, let me see, other, other revenues that actually has almost $800,000. And what is that other revenue that goes up?
Other revenues includes interest that's earned. It includes the rentals that we have. We have a few rentals, you know, like for the golf course. It includes sale of a property and items like that.
So what do we not anticipating? Because this go up 63%. So something that you were not budgeted to receive?
No, we're still expecting to receive everything. We're not, we're still expecting at this point in time, it's still in december of 31st it's still too early to tell and we're still anticipating to receive uh all of the rent for the fiscal year we're still anticipating to receive uh the estimated interest that we estimated for the fiscal year we still are anticipating to receive all that
but then no i mean the that the question is reversed what do we actually receive more that What do we actually receive more than what we anticipated? ! because it's up 63% ! So we actually received $800,000 more than we expected. ! ! So, I mean, that's good, but then is there anything that we don't expect?
That's probably me. ! I'd have to go back and look, ! Most likely, we received a higher, we could have received a higher interest rate than anticipated. We could have received a higher, let me pull. We could have received a higher funding. higher funding. We just received, it could, I could actually play, we can receive a higher
I can tell you real quick. Okay. Yeah, because I see a big difference.
So we've received, so we have been charges to other funds, which is our internal service funds. We've already allocated all the way through the six months. What could have happened last year? We might have not allocated one, but I'm pretty sure we did. We received our, we have our, it looks like we might have, we need to budget higher because we're coming in higher than expected. the miscellaneous expenditures from a few of the departments in here that were not budgeted but they're they were maybe maybe they were budgeted in services but they're being applied to other revenue because they were miscellaneous so we might have not had a line item specific for services so they were they were applied to an other revenue account so we have we have money in there we also received uh investment mark to market of 600 000 that uh that we that wasn't that we did not have last year that we received this so that that could be your that could be the 800 000
oh yeah that could be yeah a majority of it because uh it's good you know we we receive more than we expected so it just average out the percentage different will go back to three percent So that is good. I mean, we projected exactly, you know, pretty much in line. But then because I see there's some of the big fluctuations that we expected. So just to make sure that some of them we are going to receive. And some of them actually we should project it a little bit higher in the future. Right? Right. Okay. Okay. Thank you. That's all for me. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman Yu. And Councilman Chan. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Director Gassier, for the presentation. I have just some simple questions. I just want to clarify the $500,000 you recommend. Is it just to the catastrophic fund, the $500,000? Is it just a line item? is from the unrestricted fund and just line item transfer to that catastrophic funds and not from the general funds. I just want to clarify that. Is that true? That is correct. Unfortunately,
we didn't have the ACPR with the annual comprehensive annual report to present today. We're expecting to present it on March 16th, but that we will, I'll bring back a chart that shows exactly how our reserves work. Our reserves are in buckets. It's all the general fund, but it's in a bucket. And one of the buckets is committed. Either one's assigned and then one's unassigned. And what I'm asking is to move half a million from the unassigned to the committed catastrophic. So that would mean that city staff, we're not able to use it unless council does a three to two vote to be able to use it in a catastrophic event or if they find a use for something else it can be released that way with the two to three votes okay thank you i just want to clarify that it's moving within the line item within this right right it's just
a line item uh that's just put it simply yeah so thank you for that and uh actually you answered my second question because i i was going to ask for the fund balance uh report on that so since you you said you're going to uh report it back to the next council meeting so i'm looking forward to to see the uh fund balance and because uh once you shift the uh one from unrestricted to restricted items then i would like to see you know what's in effect on the overall fund balance so but we're going to talk about it in the next item, and I'm not going to ask that at this time. So looking forward to that. And so, yeah, I think I'm okay with the year budget. And of course, you know, in condition that the fund balance looks okay, I think we should, based on the report that you presented that the revenue is pretty good. I think we pretty much meet the budget amounts, which is good. And then we kind of like on the expenses side, they'll just shove it around. And I think it's still under manageable amounts. So I have no problem with the media budget changes. Thank you for that. Thank you.
I have a question. I know this is the mid-year report, so when we reach the fiscal report,
which will be in June, we'll have a better and clear idea of our revenue projections
and expenditures. But I'm just curious, given that the state and the news has been reporting TO HAVE RECORD SURPLUSES, DO WE ANTICIPATE THAT THAT MAY TRANSLATE TO ADDITIONAL MONEY THAT
MAY BE RETURNED BACK TO THE CITIES? FROM THE STATE? NO. I HAVEN'T HEARD THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET ANY MONEY FROM THE STATE. WE'LL TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'RE HAVING SURPLUSES FOR SEVERAL FISCAL YEARS
NOW AND I THINK AT LEAST THERE'S SOME VOICES WHO ARE ARGUING THAT THAT MONEY SHOULD BE RETURNED BACK TO TO LOCALITIES OR EVEN TO INDIVIDUALS.
IT WOULD BE NICE BUT I HAVEN'T HEARD THAT YET.
IT WOULD BE NICE.
OKAY. ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OKAY. HEARING NONE. LET'S SEE. THIS IS A REPORT.
DO WE NEED A MOTION OR IS IT FOLLOW AND RECEIVE? WE NEED A MOTION BECAUSE THERE'S A BUDGET AUGMENTATION Okay, of course. I'll move this. I'll move to receive and file the fiscal year 2021-2022 mid-year financial report to authorize the increase of committed catastrophic event by 500,000 from 4.3 million to 4.84 million, authorizing an additional budget appropriation of 1.204 million, $740 from various funds and taking such additional related actions that may be desirable. Second for that.
Okay, thank you. Moved by Council Member Liang, seconded by Council Member Chan. Clerk, please call the roll.
Council Member Yvonne Yu? Yes. Council Member Peter Chan? Yes. Council Member Hans Liang? Yes. Mayor Henry Lo? Yes. Motion carries.
Thank you, Clerk. Okay.
Okay, moving on to city communications, city council.
So why don't I begin with Councilor Yu.
Hi, everyone. Nothing really much. For me, I'm currently in Sacramento representing Monterey Park and a contract city legislative tour that's going to visit the Capitol tomorrow
and see what the session is.
But I'm meeting a lot of legislators and so learning process and also representing Monterey Park and raise some voices, you know, for the local government. So I met a lot of other city council and mayors. And so hear a lot of their opinions about different topics and wanted to share with all of you next time.
So now I just attend one day, but then I have another two days to go. So thank you. We'll provide more update later.
Thank you, Councilman Yu, and thank you for representing our city in Sacramento.
Okay. That's sure.
Councilor Chan, you have your camera on, so anything to communicate or report to us? Thank you, Mayor. And Councilmembers, we all attended the grand opening of the Langley Center Fitness Center exercise room, and the ribbon cutting and so forth, and we have a tour of the facility, which is good.
and I went back yesterday to do some exercise and it was good.
So thank you for the staff for doing that.
And this morning I talked to our mayor, Henry,
about if the city wants to do something to support Ukraine.
Yeah, Ukraine. And I think we need to do something to support the, and no war, that kind of things. And so we talked with the mayor, and I think the mayor has a good suggestion to change the color of the Cascades into blue and yellow in support of Ukraine against the aggressors. So I think it's a good idea, and I would like to ask the staff it can be possible to change the color on the Cascades. And also, I would like to do something either by a resolution or by some form of support by the city council and the city of Monterey Park to support the residents and people in the country of Ukraine. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Let's see, Councilor Liang. Thank you, Mayor Lo. I just want to, again, I attended as well, the grand opening of the Langley Center Fitness Center. You know, that day I made some comments because Council Member or Mayor Pro Tem, Fred Cernoso, and I shared time playing pool at the Langley Center when it was prior to it being shut down again. And every day that we went there, we would peek into the fitness room and see it kind of coming along. And I think he would be really happy to see it once he has a chance to get over there. But I learned, we had an opportunity to go into the fitness room and use the equipment and test it all out. And I learned a very important thing that day. And that is that I am very out of shape. When I got home, like my arms were, they're still hurting now just from lifting a few little weights. But now that we have that center, it's a great place, I think, for me to start a resolution of exercising more. So thank you to the city staff. I really want to thank also the family of Don Newton for his family's generous contribution for making that happen at Langley Center. So thank you and everyone have a wonderful evening. Thank you, and let's see my turn. As I also said earlier during a Mr. Gary's presentation about his department. But yes, I mean, we're very pleased that Lining Senior Center will be always open, actually. And I think it's a good sign of things to come as we resume a lot of in-person services. And certainly my personal hope is that we will eventually also be meeting in the city council chambers in person as well. Also, thank you very much, Councilor Chan, for bringing up the request to express solidarity with our fellow human beings in the Republic of Ukraine. As you may know, I'm actually wearing yellow and blue today. Also to show solidarity, because that is the Ukrainian flag. And I think it's a great idea that we bring back a resolution. And if possible, also to light our Cascade Fountain in the colors of the flag, which is blue and yellow for Ukraine. And many cities have already been doing so. So the city of Los Angeles, the city of Long Beach, and many other cities. And I think it would be great if we can do that with our Cascade Fountain.
Let's see, other items.
Let's see. I think my colleague, Councilor Liang, already asked staff to work with those who spoke during public comment about a recognition for La Tierra.
So I think that's a great idea. Again, that's part of our history.
It's always good to catalog our history for future generations.
Let's see. I think that really is it for me. And let's see.
Any other communications from council or staff?
Actually, I just wanted to quickly bring it up that I received a first and also text message
right after we visit the Laney Center, it seems like he's been with us.
He saw the picture that someone posed on Facebook and he said, hi, Yvonne, you look so buff,
you know, out in the fitness center photo. I'm jealous. And so before I even see it.
So yeah, I wanted to relate that message to all of you that Fred has been with us too, even though he's not present. Yeah, he's physically present. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for you so
! Okay, let's see.
! Future agenda items or any future agenda items that counselors would like to bring back.
! I know that
Councilman Chattery mentioned a resolution in solidarity for Ukraine. Any other items,
resolutions that would like the City Council to discuss in the future?
Okay, I am hearing nothing. Okay, those session items, there are none.
Nothing. Okay. So session items, there are none.
Okay, then
in that case, unless there are any objections,
then can we adjourn today's meeting then?
Okay. Okay.
Then we are adjourned
at 8.46 p.m.
Have a wonderful evening. Enjoy your rest of your week,
your weekend. Be safe,
be in good health, and we will see each other
soon. Bye-bye.
Reference
No documents are available for this meeting yet.
Counciloris