City Council Meeting — May 4, 2022

ChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChCh p.m. Recording in progress. We're good? Okay, great. Okay, flag salute by the Myrtle Park Color Guard, please rise.

I'm sorry? Oh, okay, okay.

Okay, okay. Actually, all right. I'll read the Pledge of Allegiance.

Everyone here standing, please. Face the flag. 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 it stands,

one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice of all. Thank you 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.

Mayor Henry Lo. Present.

All present. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Let's see.

Agenda additions, deletions, changes in adoptions. Do we have any? None from the city manager's office, Mayor. Okay, thank you very much.

Public communications. While all comments are welcome, the Brown Act does not allow the city council

to take action on any item not on the agenda. The council may briefly respond to comments after public communications is closed. Presidents may, in addition to any other matter within the city council's subject matter jurisdiction, comment on agenda items at this time. If you provide public comment on a specific agenda item at this time, however, you cannot later provide comments at the time the agenda item is considered.

Clerk, do we have any requests to speak?

Yes. Okay.

First speaker is Charles Leone.

Okay. Next speaker then is Jesse Hernandez.

you're gonna wait okay all right then we have a Delario Robinson

yes hi I'm Delario Robinson mayor manager city manager city attorney I'm up today to piggyback off of some of the comments I made last city council meeting but I would also

like to commend the city and the city manager and his staff on the community meeting that we had

about the city concerns about the budget I thought it was very good. So one of the things that popped up at the meeting was the conditions of our street and our local infrastructure. So our streets were rated fair, poor, and very poor. That means the average street in Monterey Park is poor. so I understand from some of the staff or staff person that possibly we're going to have the streets

paved in about three years hopefully I can remember 14 12 to 14 years ago when infrastructure

was the priority and somehow it has faded over the years and even at that time the budget that we had, I think Ron Bo in particular stipulated that in a few years there's going to be more and more money to do what we could do today. So in today's

environment, we have inflation. We're moving to hyper inflation.

The President's proposal on aid to Ukraine, $33 billion. We already gave 800 billion stimulus over the COVID crisis so we're moving to hyperinflation so if we don't do things now later is going to be later and later and later so even at 99 cent store things don't

cost, most things don't cost 99 cents anymore. They cost $1.29, they cost $1.49, and they cost $1.99.

So prudence and future planning, that $35 million that we have in the general fund,

hyperinflation is going to demand that it's the paper dollar is going to be almost like a piece of paper. So what we have to do possibly if you consider doing things today rather than kicking the can down the road. Also possibility of food shortages in the future. So there could be a possibility that the city, looking out for some of our less fortunate citizens, might think about a food bank also. So anyway, those were my basic concerns. I thank you for entertaining my thoughts at this time. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Clerk, proceed. Okay. Jesse Hernandez?

Good evening, everyone. Happy to see Councilmembers Hans Leon, Peter Chan, Yvonne Yu, and Mayor Henry Lo.

My name is Jesus Hernandez. I work with Building Maintenance Public Works. I'm the lead of our unit, the City of Monterey Park, SCIU 721 chapter.

We're also joined here by our Vice President, Lauren Frazier, of the library, and our SCIU

721 works out organizer, Charles Leong. Would have liked to say that I'm happy to be here. since major union matters with our employer remain on result.

Well, you know the rest. I'm probably not that happy to be here.

You see our chapter of City of Monterey Park,

the miscellaneous unit represented by SEIU 721 has for the better part of nearly two years

asked, requested, and I'll demand your attention, please. Compensation pay for working through the COVID-19 pandemic for being essential workers.

and we're here tonight to remind you,

hopefully we can hear from you and now we can talk. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker is Charles Leone.

Honorable Mayor and members of the Monterey Park City Council, it is an honor and privilege to be before you tonight. My name is Charles Leon and I had the privilege of working with SCI local 721 and the city workers here in Monterey Park and I wanted to speak for you tonight about the fact that we have Asked for essential worker pay and we think that it's important for city workers in Monterey Park To have this important discussion with city leaders here as we know inflation is no joke Just looked at the numbers for February. It's 11 percent our city workers have been performing the work every single day since day one in monterey park back in march of 2020 when major league sports was canceled when disneyland closed down when the fear of the unknown was through the roof and a vaccine was months and months away it was our city workers here in monterey park that showed up to work every single day lacing up their shoes we'll take we'll

take the round of applause i don't think that's the ground rules for our council meeting but we're

definitely grateful for it because they value so much being a part of the Monterey Park family public works the police department library workers here at city hall a number of you absolutely I'm sure I've seen it every single day and we know that deep in your hearts you are grateful and for that we're appreciative but the best thank you that you can show your city workers is by coming to the table and engaging in a conversation we're not even here today to talk about numbers or what should that look like. Some places have called it hero's pay. Some places have called it hazard pay. Yesterday city workers in Carson and the city of Carson just agreed to essential worker pay for its workers. You've heard about other places like El Monte which have given retro to some workers and you see these things in the news. Different cities in the San Gabriel

Valley especially and our workers never questioned it at all. When some of us had the luxury, a good portion of us had the luxury of working from home when there was the fear about what was this

coronavirus. Your workers here in Monterey Park never questioned it. Some of them did get sick. Some of them put their own family members at risk because they lived with them and they'd still come to work. But they were ready to brave it. And if they were faced with the same circumstances again today, they would still make the decision to show up to work since day one. They've been here March

2020. The fear of the unknown when you heard about and we've seen it in the last two years have been extremely difficult. We know the decisions that you make as elected officials aren't always easy. We know that when you're in the public arena, things may not always go the way that you want it to. What we remain hopeful for, what we remain appreciative for, is the working relationship, the collaboration, especially the significance with this month when you have public workers appreciation week coming up the week of May the 16th. We've got the open house that's going to be taking place on the 19th. We're blessed to have a city manager who comes out of public works.

what better way to say thank you to the essential workers than engaging in a conversation with them on essential worker pay and using the federal funds that you have, those ARPA funds. We remain so grateful for your time, and thank you so much for giving us this opportunity, Mayor and members of the Council.

Thank you. Next speaker, Juanita Medina. We have for Mr. Lane. Sorry.

Jesse, I did receive an email from someone, but do you have a contact number?

because someone just said they wanted a meeting, but I don't have a contact number. Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

One eight.

Perceba.

Good evening, everyone. Thank you very much for taking this time to have me here.

may the fourth be with you happy star wars day by the way i came today in regards to my area area three it's my understanding we have no representation at this moment and i was told that you had the idea of rip just installing someone

just to represent our area for the next six months.

Well, what happened to my vote? What happened to the vote of my area?

We like to have a say-so too as to what goes on in our little section. Don't take this for granted.

We may be a small area, but we do have a loud voice.

And I really would like for you to take that into considerable consideration when making this decision of yours.

Thank you.

Okay. Any other speakers? All right. We do have one written communication.

Okay.

Okay.

We have one more speaker.

This is for general communications.

I'm coming up.

Please state your name.

Actually, Mr. Clerk, the previous speaker, do we have that person's name and information? Yes. Okay. Juanita Medina.

Okay, thank you. Good evening, council members and members of the public.

My name is Gustavo Reynoso, proud resident of this great city, proud member serving on Monterey Parks Personnel Commission, and currently a very concerned resident of Monterey Parks District 3.

Ordinance number 2160 was an ordinance that changed our city's procedures for electing members of the city council from an at-large to by district. In this ordinance, pursuant to Government Code 34886, it provides for the election of members of the city council of the city of Monterey Park by district and not by the decision of city council members. I imagine that by naming a... office office.ChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChCh The ordinance also stipulates that the city council members will be elected on a bi-district basis from the five council districts, which is what happened during the last election. Furthermore, quote, city council members must be elected in the electoral districts established by Chapter 2.04.070 and subsequently reapportioned pursuant to applicable law, end quote. The current city council of four must respect our votes. We are living in dangerous times when we have political leaders disguised as public servants trying to overturn the votes of the majority in presidential, state, and local democratic elections. We have a Supreme Court who is trying to overturn the will of the majority of voters. We are a democracy, not an autocracy, not a totalitarian or communist government. This trend of taking away the voice of the majority should not manifest itself in the city of Monterey Park. District 3 residents must decide who our new city council representative is. So please ensure tonight that you four public servants, who I'm sure are proudly serving the residents of your respective district, do not decide who the next council person is for the more than 10,000 residents of District 3. It is our decision. Have a good evening, and I trust that you'll make the right decision. Thank you.

Okay, anybody else?

Are you oral communication?

I believe you're speaking on a specific item, right? Okay, thank you.

All right, I do have one written communication. This one is for Ming Lai. I had the pleasure to write to the City Council for its April 6th meeting on the parking issue on Fremont Avenue near Monterey Pass Road and the legal loophole with respect to Municipal Code 10.48.045 exposed as a result. Today, cars are still parked on that intersection of Fremont Avenue, apparently waiting for repairs in violation of such codes. As admitted by Sergeant Peter Young of the Monterey Park PD before, the parking of those cars even spills over to West Newmark Avenue on the other side of Monterey Pass Road. A couple days ago, I stumbled on a news article, quote, Porsches and Ferraris no longer hog parking spot in an L.A. neighborhood. After I-Team report with the associated link by NBC Los Angeles, it says that many parking spots on Fountain Avenues and Silver Lake neighborhoods were taken by Porsches and Ferraris waiting to be repaired by an auto shop. quote, it's violation of LA's municipal code for car repair shop to park or store customer cars on city streets while they're waiting to be serviced, unquote.

After residents reported the issue to NBC4I team, LA City Attorney Mike Fuhrer finally took action.

in the city of Monterey Park does not know how to write an enforceable code and or enforce the code, I think you guys can consult Mr. Foyer.

Signed, Ming Lai, and I believe he attached the article

that was mentioned previously. So that's the written communications for Earl. I don't have anything else.

Moving on to staff communications let's see we have recreation

Can we make some comments really quick? Yes, yes Yeah thank you Really quickly I want to thank the speakers for taking the time to come here It's always interesting when issues come up a lot of presumptions are out there about what we will or what we won't do as you know councilmember Sornoso had to resign and we will be discussing that matter tonight there are options in which we will be reviewing and we're not making we have not made a decision on which way we're going with that so just as a reassurance to all the people that are listening that no decision has been made one way or the other on what we're going to do and that item is up for discussion today for us to review and to make a determination on what the best action is moving forward. So I just want to create clarity on that. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member.

Okay. Let's see. Let's proceed with staff communications. First one, recreation.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members. I'm here tonight to invite everyone out to Cinco de Mayo. So this Thursday at Barnes Park, we have our Cinco de Mayo celebration.

I want to invite everyone to come out, enjoy carnival rides, carnival games, some delicious food trucks,

and we have a special performance by the Latin Nation Band.

It's going to be a great evening to come out, fill your bellies with some delicious food, ride some rides, listen to some great music,

dance a little bit with your neighbors, your residents,

and have a good time. One second, quick wardrobe change.

Happy birthday, Monterey Park.

So this Thursday through Sunday, we'll be celebrating 106 years in Monterey Park.

What a celebration, right?

Coming out of COVID, 106 years, we get a big celebration coming together.

As mentioned before, carnival rides, carnival games, tons of live entertainment all four days.

I'm going to kick it off with Cinco de Mayo on Thursday.

Friday night, we have some special performances by none other than our San Gabriel Valley Boys and Girls Club. We also have CeCe Lau doing a performance.

Saturday, we got karaoke. So if you want to test your voice and come out and karaoke a little bit.

And then Saturday night, we actually have Cold Duck. If anyone's experienced Cold Duck, awesome band.

Lots of people are going to be dancing out there.

And even special, another special edition this year, we've added a second stage on Saturday night.

So for those of you that like EDM, electronic music, some house, a little bit of top 40s, We have a second stage that's going to be at the Barnes Park Amphitheater.

So really, this is an event for everyone.

Everyone can come out, have a good time, enjoy some great food, great music, and just have a blast.

One second.

Got another wardrobe change.

So this is the save the date.

So save the date. Mark your calendars. June the 4th, we're going to be celebrating Pride.

We have a Pride Festival.

This is the second San Gabriel Valley Pride Festival.

This is in conjunction with the Alhambra Teachers Association. Very excited.

We had a great turnout last year, and we are looking to pump it up even bigger this year.

There's going to be a walk that starts at Mark Keppel on that Saturday morning that completes at Barnes Park.

And when you come to Barnes Park, you're going to be greeted by tons of music, some resource booths, and lots of giveaways, and folks just out there supporting and celebrating our LGBTQ plus community.

So I invite everyone to come out, have a great time, and I think I'm out of wardrobe changes.

So thank you for your time.

I really look forward to seeing everyone's smiling faces at all of our upcoming events.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. That was very impressive. Okay.

Next. Communication. by our library.

All right. That's a tough act to follow. If I would have known we were bringing props, I would have been better prepared.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the council, Diana Garcia, City Librarian.

I'm here tonight to invite you and the community to join us on Saturday, May 14th in the Barnes Park Amphitheater

for a special performance of Tyco Project. The performance is in celebration of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and it's presented in conjunction with the Music Center of Los Angeles.

If you've ever had the pleasure of seeing a Tyco performance, you know how awesome and exciting it is.

So we're thrilled to host our performers.

Tyco Project are a professional Tyco drumming group

who've performed throughout the country, as well as internationally. They use authentic handmade instruments from Japan,

and they weave together traditional and modern forms of taiko. They talk about the elements of Japanese and Japanese-American culture

as well in their performances. So the entire community is invited to move, dance, and clap along

to the intense and exciting beats of the taiko drum. The event is completely free.

It's open to all ages. And for more information about the event

and all of the programs and services offered by the library,

please visit our website or follow us on social media.

I look forward to seeing you there. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, Public Works.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. and I'm taking a look at the words back here the pride in the past 106 years of a proud past that's something to be very very proud of not to be redundant with that word but I see a bright future for Monterey Park and I want to tell you about one of those singular moments of a bright future

and you're all invited to and that's May 19th which is Public Works Day after the corporation yard

you're all invited to attend that this is an opportunity for us to recognize those hardworking members of our community that make this city run. The theme this year is about resilience, ready and resilient. And as you know, resilience is something that you can bounce back from when you have difficulties. We've all experienced some difficulties in the last two years,

but what made this community great is the readiness of its Public Works Department to assist in all areas of work that need to be done.

So you're all invited to come to May 19th out at the Corporation Yard. And so you don't forget, I'm going to give you a little flyer.

So thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you to all of our presentations from our great staff here at the City.

Okay, moving on to presentation 1A, drought resilience and water conservation.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, members of Council. Uh, this evening I'd like to, um, give you an update on our conservation regulation and stage two of drought.

So recently the Metropolitan Water District has put out a massive amount of information regarding, um, watering in their district. And basically it covers Los Angeles County, uh, watering one day a week.

I first want to inform council and the community that the city of Monterey Park does not fall under Metropolitan Water District's authority. We actually get our water from the California State Water Project. That is basically the aqueduct that you see on the Phi Freeway. That's where our water comes from. It comes from the Feather River. comes down here the the San Gabriel Valley municipal water district receives that water at Devils Canyon and that's the water that that we use so I want to make sure that council and the community are very clear on where we get our water source from and and that metropolitan water does not affect us whatsoever can I get the next slide please so just to update everybody on stage two we are watering or reducing water from 11 to 20 percent watering two days a week which is monday and thursday residential developments now will be required for a drip system and or a micro spray system and it is also unlawful to water public medians of ornamental turf next slide please

That's okay.

Okay.

So I'll just provide council with the permanent mandatory restrictions just so everybody's aware of where we're at with that

and there is no confusion as far as MWD is concerned.

No, we're asking the community not to water between 9 and 5 p.m. Not watering. Not watering after measurable rain 48 hours after that. ! Not watering so that there's runoff.

! Also sweeping your sidewalks as opposed to rinsing them down. ! And washing your vehicles at a car wash or using a bucket and a nozzle just to

To continue with the mandatory restrictions we have asked or we're

We have asked or we're asking restaurants to serve water if they are if patrons are asking for water as well as

Not leaving any hoses running and we're also asking hotels to Have an option for customers that if they want their linens to be washed that they could wash them and if not Reuse the linens that they have

also repairing leaks once they're they are seen by residents and or community

other community members water division staff to make those repairs as soon as possible next up next slide oh there I also want to touch on stage 3 now we're not at stage 3 yet but I think it's important for the community and council

to at least have an idea of what stage 3 looks like this would essentially coincide with Metropolitan Water District's current mandate, which will happen June 1st.

Stage three consists of reducing water use from 21 to 30 percent, only watering on Mondays. We reduce from two days to one day a week, and only taking your vehicles to be washed at a car wash and not essentially washing them at your home. So that's the update. I just wanted to be sure that we share that information with council and with the community There's been a lot of confusion. I've received calls of community members asking if we follow under that Metropolitan same guideline, so I just want there to be some some clarity there

And with that I will take any questions. Oh

And by the way Richard um care to introduce yourself

I know you're the interesting topic, but I'm sorry I'm Richard Gonzalez, the water utility manager.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Colleague, questions? Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

Just really quick on those, you know, the stuff you showed regarding the restrictions and guidelines. Is that where would people, is there a resource where you can find that on the website?

Yes, the city website has all of this information available, and our staff is available to answer any questions. If somebody just wants somebody in person, and sometimes people want to physically talk to somebody. Staff will go out there and make that communication. We have flyers that we sent out to all the residents of Monterey Park outlining these restrictions and where we are currently, and we have enough to re-administer them as we go out to the field and make contact with community.

And then is there, I don't know if it's something that is put in the Cascades, like in terms of like a little matrix of what the rules are? Yes, yes.

We have and we will continue to do so But if there is a decision to go to state three, we'll do it all over again We have more information that we will periodically put out to the community as reminders more than anything

Okay, and maybe a water bill thing too. I don't know if that would be helpful

Yeah, we we can put bill stuffers as well. Thank you. Thank you

Councillor Chan Thank You mayor and Before I ask Richard the questions, I would like to ask the city attorney at the City of Monterey Park. We can do whatever restrictions the city wants to do instead of going after or conform with the state or the metropolitan water districts demands. Is it true that we can do restrictions or whatever?

with it yes mr. mayor members of the council so the factual question I just

asked the city manager which is and confirmed that we don't get any water

from Metro so the the answer to your question is the City Council was a five years ago maybe six years ago adopted a number of regulations with regard to drought procedures which are now codified in the municipal code and it just requires the City Council to adopt resolutions declaring a particular drought stage. So right now the council toward the beginning of this year adopted a resolution making a stage two drought. You have the ability to go all the way up to a stage five drought and I think what Richard is talking about is preparing you for the possibility that on a future agenda there will be a stage three resolution requiring you to go up to a recommending that you go up to a stage three drought. To answer your question we're not subject to Metro's requirements, and so you can do what you need to do.

Okay. Just want to clear that. And Richard, thank you for the presentation. And to your experience and so forth in water, when do you think we will start stage three? i think as summer rolls around and and we get further into the drought i actually believe it will be standard in the sense of watering one day a week and that may be for quite some time the drought is severe just to give you a little little background the sierra mountains over the past three years have only received 55 of the snow when they averaged prior to that over 100 percent 115 120 percent snowpack that has been reduced this year march january february march are the wettest months in southern california and to date they have been the driest months so it's affecting everybody and and it takes a lot to for everybody to start moving in this direction at once it it was wise to move into stage two early but i do see stage three coming August September and obviously that's a council decision city manager decision but as we move forward I think it it would be wise to move that in that

direction okay thank you then I would like to urge all the residents in the city to conserve and prepare for stage three and I would like also the city manager and public works and also parks and recs and so forth, all the staff in the city to look into any leaks like on the median street because we do have watering those places and the parks and everything. And so just make sure to report any leaks or any abnormal usage of water because before I can see sometimes the sprinklers because maybe a stoppage in power and then the automatic timer is off and then we are wasting water so have to make sure that everyone be vigilant and look after each other and look after the city facilities make sure that we comply thank you

Thank you, Councilman Chan. Actually, I have a follow-up question. Because this is not the first time in which our community and the state will be facing a drought crisis, on one hand, we're being warned that we'll have to cut back.

But also, I'm curious, are there resources out there for our residents

who, for example, could replace

their shower heads, their toilets, or even

you know install more drop resistant plants or irrigation are there resources out there to help residents as well you know to meet these expectations yes they are we work with the

san gibro valley municipal water district and that information is on the website okay and they offer reduced rates for a number of things they have pallets of plants available dependent upon where you live so being that the district consists of alhambra monterey parks here madri and azusa there's pallets specific for those areas so there's rain barrels there's shower heads nozzles etc so and and we at events the water division give those things out as well.

Do we, or the water district, do we track how successfully these programs are? I know you say that we promote them, we market them, but I'm just curious, what is the engagement to these programs? Yeah, we do not necessarily track. It's more of a visual when staff is out there, what people are using, how they're using it, the communications, the outreach, that we do as much as we can with those things, but not necessarily a system to track what the differences are.

We track usually by water, how much water is being used annually, monthly, those types of things.

And out of curiosity, is there an agency out there

that will be monitoring how each community is either observing these drought recommendations or not?

No, it's really self-policing. But in the not-so-distant future, in 2025, the state will be monitoring everybody and their water use and waste, et cetera. We've been working for the past two years on that program.

I see. Okay. And you'll obviously come back to us with an update on that as well, right? Absolutely. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any other comments, questions?

All right. Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor? Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Yes. I'm sorry. We do have one communication. Oh, of course. I'm sorry. Yes. Please. Please call the person. Thank you. Teresa Rial-Sebastian?

Good evening, members of the Council, Mayor, staff. Thank you so much for that presentation.

I have a couple of questions for the Council. So I just wanted to clarify as people start being more mindful of conserving water. So if you wash your dishes and you happen to have leftover water, you can use that, right? I mean, I just want clarification out there.

For example, one thing, your washer machine, you know, you have that dirty water that just ends up not being used. Is there a way to capture that water perhaps and maybe, you know, water your garden? And as we're looking at conserving water, I can't help but notice how in our city, we still have so many residential homes with these large green front lawns, grass.

And as we all know, grass takes up so much water.

Is there any incentive for our residents to maybe transform that big green lawn 50%, 75% to drought tolerant, because what happens is when we start implementing these drought tolerant,

I mean, I'm sorry, drought mandates, I understand that.

But then the flip side is now we have these eyesores of these big green lawns that are now brown. And they don't water, they start to become weeds, they become eyesores. So before that happens, is there something perhaps the council can suggest to staff to implement to incentivize people to start transforming their front lawns?

After all, Monterey Park is part desert.

It doesn't matter whether we have these beautiful green lawns in the front. We are a drought climate here.

And so it's just food for thought. but I would like to see my council be proactive as opposed to waiting a couple of months after the summer We start seeing these eyesores popping up. Thank you so much

No other speakers no speakers

Okay, great Oh, I'm sorry. Yes

Yeah to the the speaker to rail Sebastian's comments. I think that there was some time where well you guys can go look into its staff they had some incentives for

doing what do you call that the the fake grass and you know drought tolerant plants and things

like that the turf so I don't know if that was the there was either San Gabriel Valley municipal somebody was or the state was providing some kind of subsidies for that right so maybe just as a follow-up to look into that, see if those things are available.

Thank you. Okay.

Moving on to old business, item 2A, district number 3, city council's vacancy.

Okay, staff report.

I think I'll take that on. A bigger one? Yes. All right.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of City Council. So on April 20th, 2022, the City Council was presented a report regarding District 3 City Council seat vacated by the resignation of Mayor Pro Tem Fred Zornoso effective April 14th, 2022.

The City Clerk's Office is seeking directions whether, one, appoint an eligible elector to fill the vacancy, or, two, call for an election to fill vacancy and leave the seat vacant.

staff will agendize for a future meeting

date a staff report for council's action to call for an election to fill the vacancy. The city council must make a decision not later than June 13, 2022. The April 20, 2022 report is

attached to this report and so any question be happy to answer.

Okay, thank you Mr. Clark.

Council members?

I'm sorry, public comment?

Yes, we have. Okay, sure, please proceed.

Okay, great. All right, first speaker is Nancy Okuri.

ChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChCh Good evening. On April 14th, Fred Trenosos resigned from the Monterey Park City Council for health reasons. He was elected in March 2020 to serve District 3 until November 2024. His retirement left District 3 without a council member. Tonight, our council will make a choice to either appoint a person to serve out his term until November 2022 election or leave the seat vacant until the November 2022 election so persons in District 3 can run for a seat. I believe the seat should be left vacant until November 2022 election. Any candidate in District 3 can run the same election as candidates in District 1 and District 5 to be held in November 2022. In 1999, a threat from the Southwest Voter Registration Educational Project forced our council to change our city from voting at large to voting by district. They claimed that 28% of our Hispanic residents could not be elected as members of our city government. They failed to notice that several Hispanic residents in Monterey Park were voted to serve on our city council as our city clerk and as our city treasurer over the years as the pictures these elected officials are shown in the entrance of the city council chambers. Our most famous Hispanic resident was former mayor, former assembly member, and former congressman, Marty Martinez, who served us from 1974 to 2001. And then his daughter, Diane Martinez, served us as an assembly member from 1992 to 1998.

Monterey Park's 2020 census now states that our population is 65.4% Asian, 27.4% Hispanic, and 5% white. They failed to list the percent of our black and Native American population. Now this council should give special consideration to our black and Native American residents

so they too can be elected to serve in our city government. Thank you.

Next speaker, Natalie Haurugi.

Okay, good evening mayor low council members liang chan and you My name is Natalie how to key and I am a multi-generational resident Parent and teacher in this community and I'm here to encourage you to fill the vacancy in Monterey Park City Council of district 3 by appointment To me having represent a representative that I can reach out to and that represents me in council makes perfect sense You see, I'm a history teacher in this community, and I teach my students about government systems, and in a republic like ours, the voice of the people comes from their representatives. So not having a representative in District 3 means not having a voice. I am convinced that filling the position immediately by appointment is the best option for the residents of Monterey Park, and here are a few reasons. Leaving the position vacant leaves the residents of District 3 without a voice in the city on important items and items voted on Having only four council members can also slow down the work of any issues that pertain to the city and residents of District 3 and Lastly having a special election to fill the position will be too costly to the residents of Monterey Park and pushing the election till November will leave residents of District 3 without representation for several months. I encourage you to please fill the vacancy in the City Council by appointment and to help the residents of District 3 have a voice in the city. I also wish to share that the City of San Gabriel recently appointed two council members in a quick and thorough election a model this city could emulate. I hope that tonight you will vote to move forward with the appointment process and to help the residents of District 3 have a voice. Thank you for your time.

Next speaker, Michelle Yee.

Hi, neighbors. Hi, Fred. It's Michelle.

I'm back to remind you what's at stake tonight. Sadly, our friend Fred is no longer able to serve,

and these immoral vultures are circling, ready to pounce.

Council District 3 was created to ensure representation of the community and residents it serves. Despite these fools trying to get their friend in

during the last election, the voters voted very strongly and spoke very loudly and clearly. They didn't want another one of their puppets. That's what they're trying to do again, folks. How many times has Hans Leong been up there lying to you? So you all need to wake up. They already have somebody in mind. They're playing you. They're trying to tell you, don't worry. We got another Latino. he's one of you. He's not. He does not have your interest at heart. He does not care what you think or what your priorities are. All he is is another puppet to play and to get what they want.

You can't let that happen. You have to speak up for yourself. You are given a voice. Use it.

Don't let these jerks manipulate the situation for their own benefit.

You were not elected. The residents of Council District 3 did not pick you. You have no right to impose your will on them.

Do not fill the seat and allow the constituents of Council District 3 to decide for themselves who they choose to represent them.

I repeat again from the last meeting, the voters of Council District 3 are the only voice that should be heard.

Thank you.

next speaker armin uh sebastian

good evening city council members my name is armin sebastian resident of monterey park perhaps i'm not as forceful as michelle yee but i'm here to ask you not to appoint when the time

comes to vote not to appoint a replacement for

Fred Sornoso. I don't know I'm not discussing the legal authority whether you have the legal authority or not but I just want to, I feel like if you

vote to replace a person to replace Fred Sornoso and not allow the residents to vote, it just sends a wrong message and it just doesn't appear right. None of you have deep connections to Latino community. None of you live in that district. None of you speak Spanish. So it just doesn't look and appear right that you will appoint someone and four of you will appoint a representative for a community that you have really not a deep connection. So I hope that you keep that in mind. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Christine Dimas.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Christine Demas. I am a member of the Monterey Park community for 57 years, and I'm coming before you tonight to discuss the vacancy on the City Council for District 3. I'm not sure if an appointment is going to work to fill this vacancy. According to the Fair Maps Act passed in 2019, Monterey Park became a victim of unfair voting practices and in order to avoid a lawsuit the city council decided to avoid a costly lawsuit and create five districts in Monterey Park. We know this already and that large election can dilute the votes of minorities was the primary

reason to avoid the lawsuit. At that time, City Council opened the process to the public to create district boundaries. Even that process was unfair, unfair to two City Council persons and its constituents they represent. And subsequently, the public witnessed the unfair practices of the City Council. Well we're here again with some that benefited

greatly from the new districts in the city. Some were unjustly targeted because

of where they lived. Fast forward to today because of this ordinance it should be left to the residents of District 3 to vote for their own representation.

Remember the new ordinance was put in place to address the votes that were

being diluted from an at-large election. Looking at the council tonight, I don't see the diversity that represents the city. Leave my district alone. Let my neighbors and I decide our fate. If the shoe was on the other foot and this was happening to one of you, I would join your commitment to the residents of your districts. Because after all, fair is fair. Please, please, please allow for the district residents to make their choice and replace Fred. On a final note, regardless of the precedence tonight, I want to introduce you to Adriana Lombardo-Douglas. maybe a possible appointee, but she's worked with Fred and District 3 members to make our neighborhood safe. Thank you.

Adriana Douglas.

Good evening. Hi. May I take my mask off? I'm Adriana Lombardo-Douglas. My parents purchased their home in Monterey Park in 1953.

In 2021, I purchased that home because I believed in Monterey Park.

I worked with Fred after the whole incident that happened in Elder Park with the tagging. Do you all know about that? The tagging where they tagged from Arlite and Wilcox north through Elder Park all the way to the tennis courts. And I worked with LAPD so that we catch those two kids who tagged Monterey Park.

So I'm not here to say I want to help. I am here. I want to say I want to help. I worked with Fred a couple of times, and we met.

He was so kind, and he walked the city, my neighborhood. I live on Our Light and Wilcox. He walked with the neighbors because we were scared. after those taggings happened and they threw fireworks in my backyard we were scared for our

community but because he walked with us people felt safer i felt safer and um he we did talk a few times after that this happened in august of 2021 we spoke a few times after that and we didn't speak so i'm wondering this because he became sick and again my my i'm so sorry that he's no longer

here because he was a force with me because I had PTSD after this because these kids were harassing our neighborhood. So I just wanted to let you know I have strong connections with District 3. After this incident, I went around to the neighbors and talked to them. We were going to

create a neighborhood watch, but you know what? We already had one. We have cameras in Arlite and

Wilcox, Floral and Wilcox. I've spoken to the neighbors up and down Wilcox and Arlite, and floral. So if you, I want to hear, offering my help to you. And if you need help reorganizing,

finding somebody, or if you need someone to sit in in the interim, I have strong connections with District 3, and I'm here to help. So Mr. Chang has my phone number on the yellow slip. Please reach out to me, because I have great relationships with all my neighbors, young, old, and again, And we have deep roots in that neighborhood in District 3 because of my parents being there since 1953.

So thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Members, for your time. Have a good night.

Teresa Riel-Sebastian.

Good evening again. and elected council members,

elected, well, you're not elected mayor, rotational mayor, but you were elected, and staff, and I stress the word elected, and I know tonight you may discuss whether to appoint or to decide, let's wait. Monterey Park.ChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChCh I'm glad there was history mentioned here about why we are in districts, whether you agree with the California Voting Rights Act or not. There was a lawsuit. We were sort of forced into going into districts. And District 3 was specifically created because there was a Latino majority and there was legal concern that the votes of the Latino majority were being diluted by an at-large election. so I spoke at the last council meeting as well it's only six months I have faith in the four of you to lead our city I do, I am here to publicly state that faith in the four of you to lead our city for the next six months I do, I don't think you need to appoint someone

and as I mentioned And again, you're sending a message if you do decide to appoint that you know better.

You know better than the residents who can cast their vote in November. You know better. And that's a really bad message to send. I know one of you is running for office. And is that the message you want to send to people that you know better? than the voters? I don't think so. You all ran successful elections.

If someone like the previous speaker is interested in serving District 3, great.

In November, you can run for election and allow the voters to determine whether that is their preferred candidate.

Ms. Howdy Gee, and by the way, we might be related

because my grandmother's maiden name is Howdy Gee. Ms. Haudigie, I just want to point out to you that both Council Members Hans Leong and Council Member Peter Chan were voted at large.

And as such, they serve all five districts. You serve at large.

And I've had firsthand experience with Council Member Chan, who has listened to residents.

You have an open-door policy. You take calls.

And so if you have any concerns because you feel that you don't have a representative that you can look to in District 3, by all means, go ahead and call either Council Member Liang or Council Member Chan. I know, like I said, they have open door policy.

And if you have any questions for them, I'm going to go out and say, call the line for City Council, 626-307-1465.

That is a number that I will have permanently embedded in my brain. So thank you so much. And just please, let's send the right message.

You have an opportunity here to show not only District 3, but the city of Monterey Park, what you're made of, what your values are. So rather than focusing on an appointment, let's get the vote out for November. Thank you.

Okay. Any other speakers for this item? No? Okay. We have five written communications. Most of them are substantially the same. I'm just going to take one and read it, if I may. Greetings, Mr. Mayor Lo, Council Member Chan, Liang, and Yu. My name is Edith Gonzalez, and I would like to encourage you to fill the vacancy in Monterey Park City Council District 3 by appointment. I'm convinced that filling the position immediately for by appointment is the best option for the residents of Monterey Park. Here are my reasons. Leaving the position vacant leaves the resident of District 3 without voice in Bay City on important item discussed and voted on. Having only four council members can also slow down the work of council, especially the case of split votes on any issues that pertain to the city and residents of District 3. And lastly, having a special election to fill the position will be too costly for residents of Monterey Park and pushing the election to November will leave residents of District 3 without a council member for several months. I encourage you to please fill the vacancy in the City Council by appointment and help residents of District 3 have a voice in the city. Thank you. The other letters are from Jason Rogers, Andy Fung, Andrew Yip, and Jesho Yang. As I said, they're substantially the same, so I'm not going to go over each one of them. they are in file they also in the back there if you want to see it and I believe those are all the communications for now thank you okay thank you mr. clerk okay colleagues this is a continuation of last item any questions thoughts comments sure I'll start you know as as was said that you

know we are put in a position where we have to make a decision regarding the unfortunate early resignation of our colleague, former Mayor Pro Tem, Fred Cernoso. So, you know, it's funny, just, you know, I've been called a fool just moments ago, called a jerk. And it's funny because it is my, you know, after reviewing all of the documents and making

analysis of it, I too feel that the voters should make that decision.

But I don't want to disappoint those people that called me those things. But you know what? At the end of the day, they're going to call me those things always. So I'm not bothered by that. But it's funny that presumptions that are made about what we are thinking and what we're going to do when we haven't even said anything about it or made any decisions about it.

Now, for me personally, I believe that we should move it to November. I believe we should keep it vacant.

I did study the potential for an appointment, but it's not feasible in terms of cost. Like for example, you know, with the appointment, I understand Carl had told me that there has

to be a process in which you take applications, you must allow for a prescribed amount of time for that. I think that's a couple months.

And then if we're talking about what happened in the city of San Gabriel,

after applications were submitted, they had to be reviewed.

Each of the candidates had to be interviewed. I think there were over 20-something candidates. And then it got narrowed down to a few. And then the council then made a decision on who was going to be appointed.

But if we look at our timeline right now, here we are in May.

We're already halfway through. We're already at the first meeting. I believe when do we pull papers for the election?

What date is that? July 13th? July 18th? So in July 18th, we're already going to be, for those candidates running in districts 1 and 5, they will be pulling papers already for that election.

so it coincides with our election to have

that person, whoever it may be

run for that position it would make no sense to appoint somebody go through the process, appoint them for a month and then all of a sudden you have an election

and they win, they lose, whatever but there's a high possibility that after a one month appointment they're going to be replaced with somebody else it doesn't make sense given the current dynamic the way the timing is set up

and I think that in terms of representation Peter and I, just to make a correction we were elected at large by everybody and that includes people in District 3 so as one of the speakers said

we do represent everyone at large I don't think that there are any issues

that Peter and I could not address given that we've been doing this at large for the past 7 or 8 years

So for me, my general tendency, I know that there are a lot of good candidates, a lot of people that are very deeply involved in the city.

But again, if I were in District 1, I would want to vote for my candidate, just as I feel people in District 3 should vote for their candidate. And it's a little disappointing that people would come and frame words or thoughts into my head

about what I'm going to say or what I'm going to do,

it's unfortunate that people would come and do that without hearing us and hearing what we had to say.

But I am in favor of going to the election. I'm in favor of keeping the seat vacant.

And also I think that with the council that we have here now,

and I think that everyone can see in the past couple years

that we've been working together, that we should be able to get through any issues

that happen within the next six months. And in addition to that, I think the city manager would be mindful staff as well,

that if there are any pending issues that come up for District 3, that that would be something that you would hold until we fill that position. You know, a lot of the work that we do is not necessarily district-specific. When we talk about public safety, we talk about our police officers, our firefighters.

This is for the entire city. So I think that in the next six months, we can handle this just fine. And I think that it would be the most equitable and fair solution given the timelines. And also to consolidate with November so we don't spend that $100,000 plus on a special election. I think that would be, in my opinion, the best approach given the timeline and the circumstance at this time. So those are my comments. I may add some more later, but that's my position. Thank you, Councillor Lange. Councillor Chan? Thank you, Mayor. And, yeah, I kind of echoed Councillor Lange's remarks, and I don't feel, you know, happy

when the speaker, you know, talk about, you know, our, you know, that being personal.

that I don't know why my name was not mentioned because I thought I will be

together in those terms but anyway it's gone and I don't care you know how people look at me or or how people call me I've been being called different names anyway so it doesn't bother me at all but we just do it for this good of the

And just like Council Member Hans Leon and I have very seriously considered the timelines and all the alternatives and everything. My conclusion is pretty much the same as Hans Leon. It makes no sense to do the appointment at this time because of the timing. We still need a process. It has to be an open process in appointment. people have to come in and the city council and the city attorney's office and the city manager's office has to come up with guidelines and start to accepting the applications and then after that then the council has to be open form for all the applicants come in in open and the council will ask questions and then decide to make the appointment And that will be like, if we do this process, the Canada's form will be like the best in August. And then the election process has started in July. So it really makes no sense. Special election is out of the question because it costs too much money and it's still the timeline is concerned. it will be the best will be in August or September and November is the general election so so special election is out and appointment is so close to the general election and I also we called ten years ago 2012 similar situation happened. One council member resigned and left four council persons here with one vacancy. And there was a split council and two were for an appointment and two were for the election. And so it's a two-two split so nothing happened. And at that time if it were an appointment I don't know if Hans and I will get elected in 2013. So since I went through that process, and I believe in elections, vote of the people, not by appointments, because I had that experience, and I believe in open elections, vote by people, and that's what I believe in. And as for the representation of the 3rd District, just call us, call Council Member Hans Leong or call me. And anyway, I receive calls from all the residents all over the districts, not just District 5, because we are still... New at Lodge. But regardless of that, since Monterey Park is only a small city, only now the population is only 62,000 plus, and we can handle that. And I've been handling the other districts as well. Not to step in my colleague's toes, but because we are represented the whole city at large. So don't get offended if I do something in your district because that's our responsibility for the city as a whole. So my decision at this time is for election in November. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Chen. Councilman Yu.

I don't think we as council members should be able to choose the right council member to replace the voice of District 3. I don't think we should appoint anyone. Let's have District 3 resident elect the right person in November. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you. Oh, yes.

If I could just add a quick comment. While Fred Cernoso is not here, he's still here in that he watches our meetings. And after I made the comment about, you know, we represent, as Peter says, all the districts, he sent me a text says Hans you better brush up on your Spanish so I got that

Fred thank you thank you come back I see um any other comes okay oh actually mr. clerk I was wondering if you could I know in last meeting you're you made a presentation but just for the audience's information so if the seat was to be left vacant until November. Is that considered a special election or is it consolidation? Because we have municipal elections already.

Yes?

I see the city attorney ready to take on that question, right?

Okay.

Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I'll help the city clerk out with that.

There will be an election in November for District 3 seat, regardless of whether you appoint or not.

that is a requirement under the elections code so it will, I mean technically speaking it is a special election

since it's not regularly scheduled for your regular municipal election

but it will simply be an additional seat that's available for

voting upon. I see, I see because of that so is it an additional cost or it would, I mean since we're adding another seat would it be just the same cost if it was just a nursing or there is some additional cost given circumstances?

Yeah, Mr. Mayor, members of the council, my recollection is there's a small, it's an incremental cost compared to everything else. My recollection is for three seats it's in the $200 and something thousand dollar range. I think Cindy will help me out with the exact closer amount. Actually, to be honest, the county elections division has a link which estimates your election costs and it seems to be changing every week so it's a moving target but I believe it's in the $200,000 range. $200,000. For the entire city. For the entire city. For all three? No. For all three but she'll tell you the exact or a more exact amount.

So with the addition of one seat is the difference

about 28,000. So we're adding one more seat,

District 3 seat, that will add on 28,000. I see. But yeah, it's running about 220,000 for an election.

I see. And also, so that

particular district though, because it is halfway

through the current term, whoever either for appointment or election, how long that term?

So whoever is elected to the District 3 seat will again have to run for election in 2024. So you serve the two remaining years on that term, and then you stand for election again in 2024 for a full term.

I see. Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Oh, I'm sorry. Councilman Chan, yes.

Yeah, just to clarify, the election in November, city attorney, election in November, seems like we have a consensus, you know, to do the election in November. So two seats will be District 1 and District 5 for a four-year term. And then District 3 will be the remaining two years of Fred's term. and is that the person that will be elected by the people in district three would he be the mayor pro tem or or what or do we have to talk about it later

not at this time yeah those are mr. mayor members of the council those are two separate issues one is controlled by the elections code and one is actually controlled by the city council so the question of of the mayoral and mayoral pro tem rotation that's purely a city council decision okay so we can talk

about it later but tonight is just to set either appointment or

direction and if based upon the consensus that I'm hearing from at least three of you if you're moving forward with leaving the seat vacant and simply having the election in November then we will be preparing the paperwork for a future agenda for that to happen and it will show up on the consent calendar okay go ahead thank you so do you need a motion for that or just direction Direction would be helpful, and we don't need a full motion. Let me see if I got this. We've decided to move the election or to include District 3 in the election in November. In the interim six months, we decided not to appoint. And that term, whoever wins it will be for two years. Yes. And they will have to run again for re-election in 24. Right. I think that's fine. And unless there's somebody objecting, I think we have the direction that's needed. As I mentioned, we'll put together the paperwork for that and have that on the consent calendar for the next.

I think that's right. Now I will second the motion. All right.

No need to vote, right? Okay.

All right. Thank you, colleagues, for sharing your opinion.

Okay.

Moving on to consent calendar items number 3A to 3D.

Do we have any items that we wish to be pulled for discussion or if there are any requests to speak on items, Mr. Clerk?

No. Okay, no. Okay. All right. In that case. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, yes.

There's a request for 3A, 3B, I guess. I'm sorry, say it again? Yeah.

3A and 3B. Okay. Right.

Yeah. And I would like to put C and D. that means we all have to hear all the consent agenda.

3C and 3D.

So all four items were pulled.

Okay. And all five items were pulled. All right.

Okay. In that case, then why don't we start with item 3A, consideration possible action to adopt a resolution to record a notice of nuisance abatement

laying against certain property in the city, APN 5254-002-031.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members.

the council allow me to introduce Joaquin Vasquez deputy city attorney he'll be dealing with both

of those items he and I can answer any questions after the presentation

thank you mr. city attorney good evening mayor members of the city council but the regards to item 3a as far as background in order to settle litigation that the city brought on behalf of the people of the state of California, the property owner, and as part of a contractual settlement agreement, agreed to develop or abate the nuisance present on the property. Unfortunately, it has done neither. And as part of this contract, the settlement agreement, the property owner authorized the city to enter into the property and abate the nuisance at the cost of the property owner and developer. To that end, the city has carried out abatement work to address the hazardous conditions on the property. As through the first quarter of this year, 2022, it's occurred approximately $1.25 million in abatement costs that have not been reimbursed to the city despite of its demand for payment of costs. What approval of the proposed resolution would do would authorize the recordation of a lien in this amount of approximately 1.25 million against the property in order to allow for future cost recovery. That is 3A. We'll pause here to answer any questions regarding 3A. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, and I'm sorry, you said someone, speakers on the item?

I have two speakers, but they mark for both 3A and 3B.

I'm sorry, you said for 3B. Right. Okay. Yeah, who speaks for A? No one?

Well, I have to speak for both 3A and 3B. They mark both.

Okay. All right. Well, call the person. Okay. Carry on. Go ahead.

Hi. Good evening. Mayor Lo. Council members, I'm Carrie Young, and I represent Center International Investments, or CII. And CII's owner is right there, along with the family. They all are Monterey Park community members. We all live in Monterey Park. I would like to speak on the consent items 3A and 3B on the Council's agenda tonight. And as you recall, last summer, the City Council approved CII's proposal to remediate the slope and construct residences at 1688 West Garvey Avenue. However, the city refused to issue CII a grading permit so that we could commence the mandated slope remediation work. And instead, the city took over control of the site in October. During this time, the city has prohibited CII and its representatives from accessing the site. They put a lock in it. The city originally began the work on the slope under an abatement warrant that was issued to allow the winterization of the site, installing plastics, sandbags, and such. So the city obtained this warrant by going to the court without first noticing CII, just as they did tonight. Despite its ownership of the property, we were not notified. Denying CII its due process and ability to defend itself or assert its rights in court. The work the city did under the cover of this warrant exceeded what constitutes winterization. This warrant expired at the end of March and the city withdrew its enforcement action. And the city has continued to degrade the property without any legal authority or court order. Since then, the city's actions on CII's property related to slope remediation have not abated the issue. In fact, the city's actions have resulted in gaps and further deterioration in the sheeting that protects the slope. And degraded sandbags and tagging graffitis was not removed. So the Exhibit B in the writ of mandate that was filed by CII today and shared earlier with city council demonstrates the condition of the slope while the property has been under the control solely of the city. Additionally, I have brought a picture taken by the city that was submitted to court as evidence that work was completed. on this this this picture is actually taken by the city so you see gaps and basically this is what the city said was not acceptable and this is not in compliance but this is what the city submitted to the court and said work was

finished. Would you like me to bring it closer? So the city's actions were creating additional slope instability and risk for the slope and the community that, you know, all the traffic that's driving down Garvey. It's a very busy street. This is not in the keeping with the standards that CI was required to meet in order to stabilize and remediate the slope and CII respectfully requests that the City Council to continue these items until the City Council have a chance to investigate the work conducted to date on the site to determine whether it has been done legally and safely. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, any additional requests to speak?

Whitney Hodges.

Good evening, Mayor Mello and honorable council members. My name is Whitney Hodges. I am part of the legal team that represents CII. I believe that Ms. Ahn did a fantastic job describing the narrative that has occurred to date on the site, so I will not repeat any of the facts that she stated. However, I do want to bring something legal to the council's attention. As indicated by Ms. Ahn, earlier today and late last week, there were two lawsuits filed related to the council's attention. As indicated by Ms. Ahn, earlier today and late last week, there were two lawsuits filed related to the council's attention. the city's action on the site, in part because there is no legal order or mandate for the city to be doing what they've done. My apologies for sending in our letter containing the two filings so late in the day, but CII was not made aware of the two action items that were going to be brought before you today related to the property that it owns at 1688 West Garvey, hence the late submission of the letter. Again, my apologies for that. But in this regard, it is my respectful request that the City Council continue consent items 3A and 3B as they will have more of a legal bearing on what is going on in the property and the two lawsuits that have been filed to date. Thank you for your time and consideration. I'm here to answer any questions regarding my notes today or the letter submitted on behalf of CII. Thank you. Thank you very much.

No other speakers. Thank you very much, Mr. Clerk.

Oh, yes. Actually, staff or Carl or the attorney has a response.

Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I think the staff report speaks for itself and the council is well aware of what has actually happened. I don't think there's really any response that's necessary for that.

Thank you very much. Okay.

Councilman, yes. Yeah, I just, I don't know if city staff or someone can give me clarity. I know that we're talking about the hillside stabilization, and that requires, I know that there were plans that were brought forth and the whole thing about how that was going to be done. But I don't, was the paper, the plastic tarps is part of that, or that was something that was done prior to the slope stabilization?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. As you know, this has been an ongoing situation since at least 2015, which is when the people of the state of California filed suit on behalf of abating a nuisance problem on that property, which has been a long time in coming. There's plenty of legislative history on this. To answer your question, the tarps, those were put in place by the property owner, and the footage that you saw is drone footage that was taken at the time that the city entered onto the property. I'm not going to go into the various comments made by the public commentators, but suffice it to say that the city is, on behalf of the people, is well underway in terms of baiting the nuisance on the hillside. All you need to do is go by.

Thank you.

Oh, yes, Councilman Chen, yes.

And the most important and crucial issue in this case is the safety. the slope was a dangerous situation and it has much slide happened before

and we closed Gavi for a number of months half of the Gavi was closed before due to the mud slide

and so safety is the number one issue and I think it has been come to the council many times and CII has made a presentation last year and we made the decision to stabilize the slope and also have a chance for them to develop and build I think 16 houses in the lot and that is CII's proposal at the time.

But according to the city's records and my observation, because I passed by that rail a lot of times, I used Gavi a lot of times,

and not much has been done during the last year or so after we approved to have the plan B or C, right,

to stabilize and fix the slope and build the houses.

But I really don't see much action. So I'm okay to move on with that tonight.

And I think there's enough time. And if it is into the legal matters, If it isn't, especially in the court cases now, then it's out of our hands. And it becomes a legal matter instead of a policy matter. And the council has already decided on the policy matter and then has to perform.

and if it's not according to the schedule, then at this time it becomes a legal matter. And from legal matters concerned, then the council is kind of like taken out of the equation. City Attorney, am I in the right track on my statement?

I'm only aware of one lawsuit having been filed by the property owners. that was filed or we received it on Monday. With regard to the underlying lawsuit, there is a settlement agreement in place. It was approved by both parties. That is what we're moving forward with. So, yes, the City Council is obviously updated with regard to its direction in terms of anything that's a lawsuit. In fact, you had that during closed session today to talk about the very lawsuit that I mentioned and also authorized our office to initiate litigation against CII to recover additional costs. So city council is certainly involved with it, but the policy decisions, as you've said, have been made, and city manager and myself are implementing those policy decisions.

Okay, so I'm okay with that. Thank you. Okay, thank you. No comments? Okay. Okay, well, let's see. I mean, we have an item for us. You know, I think that as our city attorney said, I think staff report was very thorough about the history of circumstances of the item before us. And I know that this is a council we've deliberated on this. And so, you know, I'm comfortable moving forward with the item.

I move to approve 3A.

Okay.

Moved by Councillor Chan. I'll second. Second by Councillor Liang. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. Please, I'm sorry. Please vote. Okay.

Yes, it worked. I didn't break the button this time.

Yes, yes, I'll be more gentle. Okay.

Looks like motion carries, so. Okay, thank you very much. Okay.

Item 3B, legislative subpoenas, author of the issue to issue legislative subpoenas regarding the potential determination, of the development agreement between the city

and Senator International Investments Incorporated. Okay. Let's see. I know you said that someone had made a request

to speak on both items, but that person already came up. Do we call that person up again?

Right. They already spoke before.

Unless you want a staff report, I do believe that the speaker spoke

on both items. Okay. All right. Fine. Any additional request to speak on the item? no okay great colleagues questions comments uh move to approve item 3b okay second that

will come for house lang second my counselor peter chan uh vote please

votes unanimous motion carries thank you

okay we're on to item 3c national police week resolution let's see staff report please yes

Chief of Police

Good evening Chief Good evening

They don't make these chairs wide enough when I have all my gear on Sorry Give me a second here Good evening Mayor Honorable City Council Members Tonight I will give you a brief staff report. So the week of May 15th through 21st, 2022, is National Police Week. This week is sponsored by the National Law Enforcement Memorial and Museum and recognizes the service and sacrifice of U.S. law enforcement. In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15th as National Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week, which is what the 15th falls in, as National Police Week. National Police Week pays special recognition to those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. So today, I want to just kind of give you some numbers to put it in perspective, which are not included in the staff report. So in 2021, 458 officers died in the line of duty in the year 2021. That's a 55% increase. There was actually 301 that we know that have been classified as work-related as COVID deaths. We know that number is actually much higher. That's a really low number, but that's the official number at this moment, but I have a feeling that's going to go up significantly. There were 58 traffic-related deaths. That means the officers were either involved in a collision or were struck by someone while they were doing traffic control or anything like that. So they were struck on the roadway while doing their job. There were 84 felony assaults. 61 of those were by firearms. And that's a 36% increase from 2020. and there were 19 ambush attacks this last year and compared to six in 2020. In October 2021 was actually the deadliest month. So I just bring that forward.

Sometimes we miss that and we get caught up in the everyday and I just think it's important to remember that when we look at the men and women that smile and serve and do the best that they can for our community every day. You know, we're very fortunate here in Monterey Park. I said it to my department on Saturday, and I'll say it to all of you publicly. I'm extremely proud of our department and the service that they provide to their community and how they represent policing here today in 2022. and it's my honor to lead them and to be here tonight and just to ask for this special recognition for National Law Enforcement Week. We had two officers actually go to Sacramento from our honor guard on Sunday evening to participate in California's memorial that happens at the state capitol and then there will be the big national one that happens in D.C. which hasn't happened for a couple years because of the pandemic that will actually happen this year so with that that's the end of my staff report and i'm here to answer any questions

thank you very much chief for that wonderful presentation um council members

yeah yes thank you and uh thank you chief for the presentation and uh maybe uh just give some history or some stories that's me personally with the police department. And I think Lindsay may remember that's in early 90s, 1990s. And there's the Asian immigrants coming into the city. And because of the language problems or the miscommunications and so forth, there's some police fatalities is in the Asian newspapers.

And I was a lot younger, and my hair is so long and thick.

You're still young, and your hair is still long.

I wish, thank you. But time will tell.

But at that time, and so I appear in front of the council

So after one incident about, you know, the police, you know, and the conflict with the community resident.

And so I came, instead of talking about the case, I talk about the relationship between community and the police.

Because at that time, I still remember I said the communities need the police. We need your protection, you know, and police need the residents

because without residents, you know, you have nothing to do. So we both need each other. And so I started with the support of the food council at the time. And so the council assigned and asked Dan Cross,

the police chief at the time, to work with me to do some police. Monterey Park. City Hall. Churr High School. Monterey Park. Monterey Park. And that happened at the time. L.A. City also started that work, but I didn't know about that. But we did it. City of Monterey Park, we did the police, community policing. And I worked with three young officers at the time and other officers. But I just want to point out the three young officers that we worked together to improve the relationship became chiefs. They are Jones Moy, Jim Smith, and also now is the Gene Harris in St. Gabriel. So you can see they're working together with understanding, and the relationship between the people and the police totally changed after that time. and we did a lot of community policing work and so it improves and becomes today. And so I just want to say that by working together, a lot of things can be done, positive things can be done. And I know that police is a dangerous work and sometimes you are not appreciated anyway. but you guys did it especially the last two years more than two years of the pandemic you're out there you know you put yourself in danger and also your family in danger of getting COVID and you endure it and I know that one officer you know passed away because of that and which is sad but you know really appreciate all the work of all the police officers not just in the city of Monterey Park but all over the world and but please remember we need each other respect each other work together and I think that's the game thank you thank

you thank you customer Chan yeah yeah just really quick thank you chief Gordon for the presentation I believe we do this every year I think some of the points that councilmember Chan made are really quite relevant it's one of those things that if you've never done it it's easy to take for granted that you know there's a police car there's police officers but you know when they when they're on the job and they're in the car if they're if they're doing patrol you know what they do is they listen for trouble you know when they're in there in the car and you get the double beep and it's you know you got you're responding to trouble, right? So I think oftentimes people forget how much of a taxing and stressful job that can be at times. And I mentioned before, you know, during COVID, you know, being a probation officer myself, we don't, we didn't have the luxury of working from home or teleworking. We had to show up, just like our police officers show up, our firefighters show up, our engineers years show up right so um thank you again uh kelly for for you know every year recognizing and sharing those numbers i think those are some sombering numbers because like you said people are not thinking about that right but to share it with us it uh really i think makes a poignant moment for us to really kind of see you know what what kind of sacrifices all police officers make and especially to appreciate the sacrifices and commitment that our police officers make each and every day. So thank you, Kelly, and thank you. I see we have a couple officers here. Thank you as well. And also in the back, always here. So thank you again as well.

Thank you.

Any comments?

I just wanted to thank you, Chief Gordon.

You know, I enjoy every moment to start working with you since I got elected. So thank you so much for your hard work, and thank you.

Thank you, colleagues. And I'd like to then close the conversation by also echoing the sentiments of my council.

And I also like to add that, you know, I think there are so many communities who sometimes view law enforcement as just police, but not also realizing that they are part of the community, and they are part of the fabric of the community, and they are also part of the solution in addressing many of our social issues. And I think I want to point out how I was very pleased last year that under your leadership, Chief Gordon, that we also added to the police department a social worker to assist, especially with those who are in need of social services, especially because we know during the pandemic, there were many who were vulnerable and we wanted to protect them. And I think that it's very innovative and outside-box thinking in terms of this innovative idea and proposal to include a social worker. So again, as you know, I think it's important to acknowledge that when we talk about law enforcement, really it's our community, police, that they are a part of our neighborhood as well. Okay, and with that, any further comments, questions, colleagues?

Thanks. Yeah, I would like to make a motion to adopt a resolution declaring the week of May 15

through 21st, 2022 with National Police Week in the city of Monterey Park. Second.

Moved by Council Member Chan. Seconded by Council Member Lang. Please vote.

Most unanimous. Motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, if I may, since today is May the 4th, I see that we may have a Vader has come to say hello to us at the back of the room.

Good evening, Lord Vader. Lord Vader.

Thank you for joining us.

With his lightsaber and everything.

What's his name when he's not Darth?

I see him. He's not Darth, he's River Perez.

River Perez. Okay. He's a student at Brightwood.

Very good. I see him.

Lord Vader, if you could maybe come up closer so the community can see you as well.

And for those in the audience who may not be aware, so today is May 4th, which if you're Star Wars fan, May 4th is also

Star Wars Day because May 4th sounds also similar to the expression

May the Force be with you, hence May 4th.

So,

now remember, no Jedi mind tricks while we are conducting this city. Oh, I see it. Okay.

A big Darth Vader fan, is that so?

Okay.

Oh, look at that.

All right.

Wow, stay with the dark side. Oh, my goodness.

Does the council wish to also have?

Would the council also like to give a greeting? Sure, actually. Lord Vader, if you can actually stay for a moment longer.

The council would like to...

Yeah, let's go down there. Okay, sure. Okay, again, no Jedi mind tricks. Okay. No Jedi mind.

Come on Vader. Come on up here Vader.

Careful, watch your step.

Alright. All right.

All right.

All right. Here we go.

All right. Ready? One, two, three. All right.

Right here. One, two, three. There we go.

Let me do one more. One. 1, 2, 3. Thank you. One more. One, two, three. Thank you.

Okay, thank you so much.

Okay, thank you so much. You too.

Okay, let's see. I know. 3D, Public Works Week Resolution, a staff report.

Well, that's a hard act to follow, but may the 19th be with you. Did I mention we're serving chili? We're going to have great chili there. It's going to have a little chili cook-off, yes. So bring your appetite. This is an opportunity to get up and close with the members of your team in the Public Works Department.

Now, Public Works goes back many years and there's a long history. This represents the 62nd year of National Public Works Week.

And while I was sitting up there, I was thinking what term can I coin for the people in Public

Works?

The term that I came up with is BEST. And so it's an acronym for Build Everything, Shape Tomorrow. And so we're looking forward to seeing you. Please adopt the resolution. It means a lot to us.

Thank you very much.

Staff, comments? I just, again, thank you to all of our public works staff. Public works, as well as police and fire during COVID, had to respond you know when issues arose if there were broken streets or you know water mains or whatever it's not like you guys could do that from home you know so again recognition and thanks to all of our public work staff

here in the city yeah and I also thank the all the public work and staff in the

city you know you be out there taking care of the roads all those necessary things in the city that no one really knows what's going on, but you keep the roads safe, you trim the trees

and get everything working. And so thank you so much for doing this. And so happy to recognize the public works staff. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Chen. Any other comments, questions? Okay.

Okay, again, just thank you for all that you and your staff do. Essentially, you keep the city running, and we're very proud of the public works staff that we have.

Thank you very much, and we're looking forward to seeing you on the 19th.

Okay. We have a resolution before us. Council members? Move to approve item 3D, Public Works Week Resolution. Second. Move by Council Member Liang, second by Council Member Chan. vote please.

Votes unanimous.

Thank you.

Okay. Mayor, Council members, if we could for the sake of time, we do have our police department

kind of working overtime. Should you need any additional questions answered, if we could go to 5B next instead of going

the 5A and I'm sure they would appreciate it due to time and their long hours. Of course. Thank you for that suggestion, City Manager.

Council, is this amenable?

Okay, then let us move then to Item 5B, Consideration and Possible Action to Read by Title Only. Way of further reading, introduce an uncodified ordinance approving a Monterey Park Police Department military equipment use policy in accordance with California Assembly Bill 481.

Good evening again, Mayor and Council Members. I'm going to keep my comments brief and just try to give you a highlight. I think it's probably more beneficial if I just were here to answer any of your questions with it. So AB 481 requires all law enforcement to have their City Councils do an ordinance allowing the use of military equipment. so this is legislatively mandated for us we had to start this process and come to council this month in order to be in compliance with the legislator so we now have a military use policy equipment use policy that specifies each of the items that is required by the legislation there's i think eight items that the legislation requires for each piece of equipment which are all included in that list that you see that was attached to the policy. There's a lot of things that within the list that we wouldn't typically think of as military equipment, but under the legislative legislation, they are considered military equipment. That is why the list is so long. Typically, we would only think of military equipment as something like our bear cat or a piece of equipment like that.

lethal shotguns, our pepper ball, our less than lethal 40 millimeter projectile launchers, our drones are all considered military equipment. So that's why you see attached to this the policy, the policy for use, which is all mandated by the legislator, and then a very list that you wouldn't necessarily expect attached that describes all the military equipment. Like I said, typically it wouldn't be, you know, we think of military equipment as a lot of things that you see in the movies and on TV and not necessarily what you see in policing. So it's important for you to have that understanding as we're not becoming militarized. This is all equipment that we currently use. We didn't go buy any new equipment in order to have a military equipment policy. This is all equipment we currently have and use. I have Sergeant Young and Sergeant Iglesias with me tonight. They are the experts. Sergeant Iglesias runs our drone program. Sergeant Young is our range master. He's also one of our leaders for our special response team, which is where some of the equipment is used that we have. So I have my technical experts in case you have technical questions. But that is really the big-time basis for this. This is legislatively mandated. We did, in fact, publish it on our website as required over a month ago, and you were all provided with a copy in order to meet all the legislative mandates. And with that, I'm going to bore you with my staff report. Stop boring you with my staff report and try to address any of the questions or concerns that you have in relation to this policy and to this ordinance.

Okay. Thank you, Chief Ward. Council members? Yes, Councillor Chan. Yeah, thank you, Mayor. And thank you, Chief, for the presentation. And I'm not a military person, so I don't know about the weapons or the equipments that you mentioned, but I know that there's two armor vehicles, I mean, use the common terms. And what is that, a bobcat or something?

It's a bearcat.

Oh, bearcat.

Yes, it doesn't look anything like a bear, but it's called a bearcat.

Oh, okay, okay. But other than during the national night hours and some events, big events in the city, then, you know, I see the kids climb into it and play around with it and that kind of things. And, I mean, so far, I think we are lucky that we never really have to use those military equipments in the city. Isn't it right?

We have used the Bearcat, and actually we're very fortunate we were able to get that Bearcat from LAPD when we did because it's a vital piece of equipment for actually this whole area. Our neighboring cities, San Gabriel, Alhambra, San Marinos, South Pasadena, that are all part of our response area, don't have this similar piece of equipment. and so we have responded to them for mutual aid requests multiple times since we've had the piece of equipment so typically you don't see it because you don't you know it's it's usually in the middle of the night or something like that you know so you don't see it coming down garfield very often but we do actually use the equipment quite often our special response team actually trains with it every month and we make it available for all of our area partners for response. It's actually a really vital piece of equipment. It provides protection because of the armor on it and allows

us to get closer to situations. Do we get reimbursements for the usage of those vehicles?

No because they do the same for us. We call it mutual aid so typically we've worked with them so they have trained drivers or we'll drop it off and they'll use it and then we'll pick it up after it's done. They return it and, you know, we have the saying, return it better than you found it, and that's how we like to because we'll use their equipment in the same way. You know, before we had our own drones, we would rely on Alhambra and other agencies to respond to us, and we all train together. All the local agencies train together with all of this equipment so that we can, you know, we're small agencies. we need each other, especially if something big happens.

Yeah. And on the list, I see the drones listed as a military equipment. That was some of my expectation. And I saw officers, well, I was joking with her that Ada's your new toy or something.

And can you describe what's the practical or the use of those drones?

What kind of situation that you will use the drones?

Well, I could describe it, but I think I'm going to have Sergeant Iglesias, you know, she was gracious enough to stay with us tonight.

I'm going to have her come up, and I'll have her explain it.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council Mayor. So drones, as our mission or philosophy of our program, it's about a year old, so fairly new. But we've worked alongside with Alhambra, Montebello, we've trained. But it is a tool used for aerial collection data and a way for safety and for tactical purpose. So it's mainly officer safety. That's how we're able to get in maybe hillsides. It can be a tactical investigation where before we send officers, we will send a drone. The capabilities with thermal and speaker and lighting has really helped us, and that's what it's used for, tactical and safety. But with that, we're also mindful of the privacy and the respect of the citizens and the residents. That's number one.

Yeah, that's my next question is about privacy. Do we have some policy regarding the privacy because you may fly over the private homes?

Yes, we do have a policy and we also have procedures, a lengthy procedure with it being in the philosophy and the mission of the program, that we will respect the privacy and civil rights of the residents.

And then the data that's collected and like the pictures and so forth, and there's also I assume there's also policies to retain them or use them or discard them, that kind of things. Yes.

If there's evidentiary value, we keep it and we book it the way we would our evidence. If we don't see any evidence or value to it, we erase it.

Okay. So I hope, well, the term military equipment is kind of scary. I can tell you when I look at this item. But when I also talk with the city attorney and so forth, I have more understanding of the usage and so forth.

It is a great tool. we've used them we can do structural assessment from missing person to any type of tactical operation it is a very useful tool

and I hope that we can use those equipments wisely and carefully so that we don't have to harm innocent bystanders and safety of the residents is the number one in the city.

Yes, we abide by all the FAA rules and policies. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Chan. Any other comments, questions, colleagues? Yes, Councillor Lien.

Thank you guys for the presentation. Just like Peter said, when you talk about military, you immediately think tanks and attack helicopters and jets. It's interesting when you talk about drones, you know, the technology, I'm sure that all of our officers are happy to be able to, especially in a tactical situation, be able to take a look around the area close enough to get a better assessment of what's there. But it's funny, like as Peter says, a drone is considered military, right? It's funny when I look here, it says command and control vehicles that are either built or modified to facilitate the operation control and direction of public safety units. I mean, that seems like a normal police equipment. I don't think anyone would think that that was a military equipment, at least defined in most people's, at least layperson's views.

It's also interesting that here it says, where is that other one?

You know, they make some references to assault weapons.

But, you know, as police officers, part of your standard gear, you know, includes those tools.

So it's funny that, you know, I can see how some people might be a little bit concerned military. but as Peter had said when I looked at the list

it covers a lot of things that I think most people are not considering as military like your command vehicles and just the standard tools that you use when you're on patrol so I'm totally in support of this I understand why we're doing this and I'm grateful that Monterey Park has some of those like the bear cats and those things that in those dire and critical situations we have that so I'm in support of it thank you guys thank you chief and thank you both for coming to patiently present tonight so thank

you okay thank you come from any further comments or questions my colleagues okay hearing none all right well we have an island before us if we could hear have motion please yeah we'd like to make the

motion to read by title only wave further reading and introduce and uncodified ordinance approving one ray bomb police department military equipment use policy in accordance with California Assembly Bill 481 okay moved by

Councilman Chairman of second second by council liang please vote vote you downers okay thanks so much oh sure why don't we take a five-minute

break it's 8.42 p.m. why don't we come back then at 8.47 right then we are on

recess for five minutes thank you

Pick a number.

You got one on your way out.

You got one on your way out. Thank you.

and my brother my my

my

my

my my

my my

my my my my my my my my my my

Oh, okay. That's why I took pictures of the kids. That's why I took pictures with a kid. I was like, I'm going to go. You know I have to... Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's kind of funny if it just grew up. Yeah, it was just like that. You know, we're all about it. We're here, you know, we're gonna get to the end. You know, it's just a little market. You gotta be here. You're about to be here.

You know, it looks like you were all over. You're about to be here.

I knew we were gonna go into the cemetery. I thought I would get a kick out of the United States.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You should fall back. Yeah, all the time. Let's do it. All the time. All the time. Yeah.

You ready, Henry? Yeah. I'll do it. Fall back in. Hey.

Let's close this reading up, man. I just wanted to listen to it.

OK. It's 8.47 PM. If we can resume session, please.

Okay.

Okay. Are you ready? Yes. So we are now back in session.

Okay.

Public hearing item 4A, continuation of the Monarch Park Geologic Hazard of Bateman District, or known by its acronym MPKGAD.

Staff report, please.

Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, Joaquin is here to answer any questions.

Thank you.

My recommendation is to continue this second meeting in December.

As you've already heard tonight, there's some controversy around the entire project. Do we need to open public hearing for this?

Open public hearing, continue to second meeting in December, and then close.

Okay. So, okay, then I guess. I don't think there are any speakers.

Okay, well, okay, well, I will open the public hearing nonetheless.

Okay, a motion to continue the public hearing to December 21st, 2022.

I'm sorry.

There is a written communication that was agreed upon to.

Okay, thank you. Okay, please, Cindy, please.

Yes, please.

It was a written communication that agreed to continue.

Oh, I see. Oh, that one. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. And there's no further.

Okay.

Then I'm going to close the hearing.

No. I'm sorry. Well, to be continued to. You're just continuing. I'm sorry.

Hearing continue to December 21st, 2022.

Thank you. Okay.

Okay.

Do you need motion or just.

Given the circumstances. Yeah, I made the motion already.

Okay, I'm sorry.

This item actually has a motion made by Councilman Liang. Then I will second that.

Second by Councilman Chan. Please vote.

Votes unanimous. Motion carries.

Okay, thank you very much.

All right, moving on to item 4B, resolution for authorization. to approve plans and specifications and to solicit bids for capital improvement projects.

Do I have a staff report for this one? Okay. Alrighty.

No Jedi mind tricks.

So this particular resolution will help in the faster delivery of the capital improvement program. Presently, what we are doing is we each time we are getting ready to go out to bid, we have to expend about up to three weeks of time in the preparation of the staff report and having city council take an action to authorize the project to go out to bid. So this will streamline the process by allowing the city engineer to sign the plans and the public works director to bid the projects. City Council still retains according to municipal code the authority to enter into contracts and award those contracts and at the back end the City Council approves whether the project is complete or not. And with this there's a public hearing that goes along with it and so once we're ready for the opening of the public hearing and any testimony, then we'll go from there.

Okay. Thank you very much. Let's see. So do I open public hearing? Okay. Then I shall open public hearing first item. All those who wish to come forward and speak, comment, please.

Okay hearing in CNN I close the hearing okay colleagues questions comments okay

then may have a motion then for resolution please okay I move to well just approve 4b

It's too long.

Motion made by Councilman Chan. Do I have a second, please?

Second by Councilman Yu. I'm sorry.

I'll vote, please. Please vote.

Okay.

Okay. Thank you.

Vote's unanimous. Okay.

Home stretch. Yes. Okay.

Item 5A, considered ordinance amending Monterey Park Municipal Code Chapter 2.82. 2.60, regulating the appointment procedure for boards, commissions, and committees.

Staff report. Thank you, Mayor.

Yes.

Mayor, members of the City Council, for consideration tonight's ordinance to amend the Monterey Park Municipal Code Chapter 2.82.

Oh, I'm sorry. Actually, speak closer to the mic, please. I'm sorry. Thank you.

Regarding Commission's term, the current Commission terms begin May 1st through April 30th, the following year, which coincide with the March of Even Years election. As mandated by Senate Bill 970, the election cycle was changed from March to November of Even Years. This ordinance would change the commission's term to January to December to align with the November election cycle. In addition, the City Council may consider extending several commission's term that have served the maximum allowable terms to align with the appointing council members' term limits. The commissioners are listed on page 2 of the staff report. Staff is recommending that the city council introduce and waive the first reading of the proposed ordinance and approve the extension of the commission's term. That concludes my presentation, and we're happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much, Cindy.

Colleagues, questions? Oh, I'm sorry. Do we have any public comment for the item? No public comment. Okay, thank you, Vincent.

Council Member Chan.

Thank you, Mayor. So mostly, and I would like to ask the Deputy City Clerk, is I see on your page, too, is it mainly is the Commissioner Members that's appointed by Council Member Lang and my appointees that will extend their terms to November. That's coincide with our term. And this is all what it is for this ordinance is concerned.

Right. The ordinance is changing it from May to April to January to December so that I match up with the November election date.

Right. So, yeah, I have no problem with that. and I just want to add that the Commission's in the city's vital part of the process in the city and I would like to thank all the commissioners not just the field as were mentioned in this term but all the commissioners in the city you guys did a great job because we value your opinions very dearly and that will shape the policy and the future of the city so I want to use this opportunity to thank them, all of them. And I know that this coming Saturday, there's a commissioner appreciation event in Bonds Park. So looking forward to thank them personally and just want to tell them you did a great job and continue the good job and continue to do the best for the city. and a lot of city councils were commissioners before. I was one of them, and I think my colleagues are also the same. So it's a preparation for future leadership of the city. So it's important. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Councillor Chen. Councillor Liang.

Yeah, I just want to give a shout-out to all the commissioners as well.

It's not an easy job. You know, you don't get paid for it, and it demands a certain amount of time,

and we understand that time is valuable too.

So we thank you all for your efforts and for your time.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you. And I would like to also just add that the work that the commissioners do

is actually very vital and important and critical to the work of the city council and the city

because you represent the community on important issues, and that's why we have commissions and opportunities

for the public to be part of the city's governance.

And I want to echo sentiment to my colleagues.

We thank you for taking the time to serve this city and its residents.

Then I would like to make the motion to approve Item 5A.

Moved by Councilman Chan. Seconded by Councilman Yu. Please vote.

Vote's unanimous. Thank you very much. Okay.

City Communications, Item 6A. A resolution of the City Council of the City of Monterey Park declaring May 6, 2022 the day of inclusion of the 140th anniversary of the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act and recognizing and honoring the month of May 2022 as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

You know, this is a resolution that we brought before,

and it's because May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, but also it's in recognition of the Day of Inclusion because of the 140th anniversary of the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act, which, for those of you who are interested in history, is probably the one time in which our government policy actually singled out a specific community for exclusion in its immigration policies. And unfortunately, it has been part of the history of discrimination against Asian Americans. And May is an important month to reflect on the history, the contributions of this community of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

And especially because in this city, we are known historically in academia for our role in Asian American empowerment representation.

And I'd like to also just open it up to my colleagues, if any of you would like to also share comments about the resolution. So, Councilman Laird? Yeah, just thank you, Mayor Lo, for bringing this forward. I think it's important.

And, you know, before you were on here, Mayor, I mean, Councilmember Peter Chan would always make it a point to make sure that that was on there.

And he also gives a great lecture about that subject.

so I wanted to speak a little bit first before he spoke

because I'm sure he has a lot to say in his memory on the history and all that is a lot better than me.

Go ahead, Peter, thanks. Thank you, Councilman Chan. Okay, thank you, Hans. Yeah, and always is emotional to me and it means a lot to me for this resolution. I remember in 2017, we passed the former council passed the Day of Inclusion in May of 2017,

if I was not mistaken.

And that's the end act. 1882 May 6th

is the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act and singled out as the mayor pointed out that singled out the Chinese Americans

and exclude them from the constitution because in the constitution we all understand all men are made equal but 1882 then it should add except Chinese and the Chinese Americans were not even accepted or admitted in the court of law cannot even be a weakness cannot even appear Monterey Park.ChulChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChChCh

1985, Rock Springs, Wyoming, over 60 Chinese miners were Mexicans.

And those are the two times that those incidents happened, the Mexicans.

But in the smaller scale, there's many in different parts of the country. and with this law Chinese American became not even alLod in the society cannot assimilate into the American life

and because of this exclusion act Chinese Americans remain the first generation over a hundred years because the law is 61 years, starting from 1882 through 1943. But 20 years after that, nothing has been happened until President Johnson signed the immigration and naturalization law, and that changed.

And then Chinese started to become a regular families. and starting to assimilate into the American life.

And it took so many years for the Chinese American to step forward and move ahead. But still, the racial things are still with us. It's just unfortunate. The Asian hate crimes, the last two years, and we still have work to do. so and well I can go on and on but you know I don't want to take too much of the time but I just want to say that for all the minorities we need to reach out to them understand all the communities they have their own issues although the Chinese Americans were made model of the minorities that kind of like say If you behave, don't make waves, study good, do your work, you will success. So the Chinese-Americans became doctors, engineers, lawyers, and so forth, have decent lives, seems like. But still, there were a lot of Chinese-American descent. Nowadays, they still have a hardship, just like every other communities in the United States of America. They do need help. They share the same challenges, the same difficulties. And so we have to open our mind and take in all the issues of the different communities and work together and achieve a better life for all of us. So thank you for putting this resolution.

The Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month is always in May and also the Day of the Inclusion in the City of Monterey Park. So I want to thank the council for putting this and approved it every year. And I hope this will continue. And don't forget history, because we have to understand history, recognize what's wrong before, then we can step forward and do better and resolve the problems. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Chan, for those words. Yes, Councillor Lear.

Yeah, let me just add one more comment. I want to thank Peter for those comments that he shared. As I said, he's more accurate on the history and the dates on that. And, you know, we're lucky, you know, for the younger generation that we didn't have to experience that law being implemented or imposed upon us. And, you know, I think of growing up, you know, going to preschool, elementary school, and learning the Pledge of Allegiance. And I think that one, you know, the thing that sticks with me with that pledge is, you know, the lines, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And I think that even growing up as a kid and reciting that, right, there's some power to that. And I think that those ideals are very righteous, even though sometimes our government gets it wrong. but it's also a remembrance or noting of when they got it right, when they repealed it. So I just wanted to add those comments. Peter inspired me when he was speaking, and I just wanted to add that. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Liang? Okay. Okay. Let's see. Well, if I had to know further comments or questions, I'd like to make a motion to pass item 6A. Can we get a second, please?

Yeah, I'd be happy to second that. Second. Councilman Peter Chan, please vote.

Votes unanimous. Motion carries.

Thank you very much. Okay. And then to continue communications, let's start with our colleague, Councilman Yu.

Anything to report?

Actually, I want to say as a proud mom, allow me to express my happiness, you know, that I just realized that my older son got into three very outstanding MD-PhD programs. Congratulations. Yeah, which is the medical school and MD-PhD combined program. and he got into Yale, UC San Diego, and the Caltech and Kaiser joint program. So usually medical school is like four years, and every year each school admitted about 100 to 200 people. But this combined program would take at least eight years and only admitted a few people per year. He's like me. He loves to take challenge. And luckily, he has full scholarships, so I don't have to worry about the loan. So I told him that you can take as long as you want. Since he got into Cal State LA early entrance program when he was 13, he graduated at 18 and worked two years at the NIH, the National Institute of Health, to do cancer research. I know he got some successful experiments in order to get into those good school. It was not easy. He worked so hard and was kind of lost his directions in between. for a period of time, but now it seems like all his hard work has been paid off. And I would also like to take credit as people are saying that son's IQ is 100% inherited from his mom. So thank you. Thank you so much.

Here, here. Wonderful role model. And congratulations. Please convey our congratulations and best of luck to your son.

Thank you. Thank you.

Councilor Chan.

Thank you. And since, Council Member, you talk about her personal things, so I may as well share some personal things with the residents. My eldest son got married in March. Congratulations. Yeah, that was in Las Vegas. And so there was some saying that Peter is moving to Las Vegas, but it's not true. You are. I'm staying in Honore Park. Just maybe because the wedding is in Las Vegas, and I've been showing people and friends the pictures that I took in Las Vegas, so maybe that's the misunderstanding. I'm staying in Monterey Park, just to make it clear. And also my second son will get married in June. So next month I'm done with my responsibilities.

And so happy for that. And then back to the regular things, other than my personal stuff. And I attended the Lions Club's breakfast on last Saturday, and they host a pancake breakfast. And with the police department, I think they took a picture, group pictures and so forth and invite all the previous staff to come back and take pictures and have a good time so so enjoy that every moment so thank you the Lions Club for putting it together and the police officers come back to the city and happy single de Mayo happy birthday to the city of Monterey Park and happy Mother's Day thank you thank you Councillor Chan

Councilman Liang. I'll make it short and sweet. Happy Cinco de Mayo and Happy Mother's Day.

Thank you, Councilman Liang, and also Happy Mother's Day and Cinco de Mayo, and we have some wonderful events planned this weekend for our community, so please come out. The announcement I would like to share is that our own West Singapore Valley Boys and Girls Club was recognized today at the

national conference of the Boys and Girls Club. They are one of four Boys and Girls Club that

were recognized and honored today at the conference in Chicago, and I had the privilege to actually present the award to them.

And if you're wondering how will they be able to go to Chicago and still come back.

So I was approached by the Woodland Girls Club and they really wanted someone from the

city to, I guess the current mayor to represent, present the award to them.

And because we know the important work they do for a community, I decided, okay, I'll do it because I guess that is part of my responsibility as mayor.

So I caught a red-eye flight that departed at 11.58 p.m. last night, which arrived at 6 a.m. this morning in Chicago.

I hopped on the Elwood train, went to the Hyatt Regency where the conference was being held, and at the breakfast at 9.30 a.m., the program commenced. And at 11, I was able to present the award to our West San Diego Valley Boys and Girls Club.

And in my remarks, I explained that, you know, during the pandemic, this Boys and Ghostsville was one of the few that remained open. And despite the dangers of the pandemic, and during that time they remained open, they probably saved over 100 families from being evicted because they were struggling with rent.

And they raised funds to probably buy hundreds of, I'm sorry, probably, yes, hundreds of pounds of food to help needy families with their food bank and provide, let's see, 1.2 million hand sanitizer and half a million masks. And this is all done through their collective efforts to raise support in the community for the family they serve, not just in Monterey Park, but in the West Stingham Valley.

And so, understandably, that is an important recognition.

They're only one of four Bois and Goal Slubs that were recognized. And so I did present the award to them.

And once my duty was done, because we had a council meeting tonight, I then left immediately so I could catch a 1245 flight back to Los Angeles just so I can come back for the council meeting. And so I jokingly say I think I spent more time on a plane than actually in Chicago. But to the staff, the volunteers, the families of the West Sangio Valley Boys and Girls Club,

if you're listening, because although they're still at the conference in Chicago, congratulations for a well-deserved honor.

And with that, any other further? Okay, then future agenda items. Hearing none.

Closed session, nothing to report.

And with that, we are adjourned at 9.13 p.m.

Have a good evening and happy Mother's Day and Cinco de Mayo.