City Council Meeting — August 17, 2022

Please rise for a flag salute provided by the Meyer Park Police Explorers.

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So I have your heart ready to begin.

Congratulations to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for

which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hogard, order, colors. Hogard, outward, face. Hogard, forward, march.

Hogard, post, colors.

Aguard about face. Aguard dismissed.

Thank you.

Council Member Peter Chan here and Council Member Hans Liang here and Mayor Henry

Liu present thank you clerk report from closed session at 5 p.m. today this is a report from closed session regarding agenda item number 1a existing litigation the case is captioned Gonzalo versus City of Monterey Park this litigation resulted from the City Council decision on August 1st 2022 to adopt Ordinance No. 2223. That ordinance implements the initiative petition establishing a minimum wage for health care workers. It was proposed by an initiative petition circulated by the Service Employees International Union, or SCIU. The City Council took its action after Councilmember Yvonne Yu declared a conflict of interest. Her decision was based upon a letter received from the SCIU alleging that she had an economic conflict of interest resulting from her spouse's business. While the City Council have placed the initiative petition on the November 22 ballot, it instead chose to adopt the ordinance. That action was specifically and repeatedly requested by SCIU representatives over the objections of private employers who will be affected by the minimum wage. On August 8, 2022, opponents of the initiative petition representing various private employers that will be affected by the minimum wage filed a lawsuit against the city.

The city expected this lawsuit.

Consequently, before and after the lawsuit was filed, city officials contacted SEIU representatives and asked whether SEIU would be defending the city or, at a minimum, reimbursing the city for its defense costs. SEIU declined to take either action.

This is not the city's fight.

The minimum wage for health care workers was proposed by the SEIU, and the SEIU should stand by its own initiative petition. Because SCIU is not willing to defend its own initiative petition, which it asks the City Council to adopt by ordinance, there is no reason for a city to defend the City Council's actions. Accordingly, the City Council directed the City Attorney to take no action regarding the lawsuit. Instead, the city will simply inform the court that the city stands ready to comply with any legal order issued by the court.

Thank you. Okay.

Agenda additions, deletions, changes, and adoptions. Staff, any items?

Mayor, if I may ask the mayor and council to add underneath staff communication, just after Recreation and Community Services Department's presentation, we have Chief from Fire Matt Halleck doing a presentation from the fire department.

Okay, Chief Matt Halleck.

And that would be it for additions.

Presentation. Okay. Is that agreeable, council? Thank you so much.

Okay, 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. Persons 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 a specific agenda item at this time. by comments at the time the agenda item is considered. Clerk, do we have any requests at this time to speak?

Yes, we do.

Okay, proceed, please. First speaker is Kelly Gordon.

Oh, okay, Chief Gordon.

Oh, thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members. Tonight I'm providing public comment. As you know, the last 10 days have been difficult for the police department. On August 8th, Monterey Park Police Officer, Officer Gardiel Soliaro, was murdered while off-duty in the city of Downey. This has certainly been a difficult time for the department. Downey PD and various other agencies have brought in the best investigators and prosecutors from the district attorney's office. They've done an incredible job, which has resulted in the arrest of three suspects. I can't say enough about their effort, hard work, and true professionalism. At this point, it looks like the suspects were attempting to commit a robbery or carjack Gardiel when he was murdered. I'm not going to comment further on the investigation or this heinous crime since it is still ongoing. Gardiel grew up in the city of Bell Gardens. He was 26 years old at the time of his senseless murder. He was a graduate of Cal State University of Los Angeles. He had a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. Gardiel was hired by the Monterey Park Police Department as a police officer recruit on January 31st of this year. He attended the L.A. County Sheriff's Department Academy, Class 460. He graduated from the Academy on July 22nd, at which point he went to recruit police officer, from recruit to police officer, and started his field training program on July 25th. He had only been with his field training officer for three shifts. and I will tell you his field training officer became very fondly connected to him very quickly his training officer is not one to consider what you would call soft and after the third night Gardiel was doing so well that they actually went and got ice cream together so it speaks to the character of Gardiel and what he had to offer the academy chefs shared with me also solely solearo was hard-working dedicated and took every aspect of training seriously he was family oriented the why in his biography he wrote was to be a good role model for his nephews and he really wanted to make an impact on his community and i can tell you when i was at the house his nephew showed me how he would have them do push-ups and march and salute. And, you know, they're six, seven, eight years old. They're young. But he was already making an impact in their lives.

His classmates shared that he had all the characteristics of a great officer. Humble, dedicated, selfless, hardworking, but most of all, even a better person.

He brought laughter and joy to many of them. He's survived by his mother, father, brothers, sisters, and fiancé. His family said he was proud of being a police officer and serving his community. His family and friends describe him as tough as nails, but a child at heart. Although his time with Monterey Park was short, we all knew from the moment we met him that he had the heart for service and was going to be a great police officer. Which was reiterated by his field training officer. The department and family are grateful for the tremendous outpouring of support received from community members, local businesses, city employees, city council, countless law enforcement agencies. But the family, as you can imagine, is struggling and have asked for privacy while they grieve the sudden and tragic loss. The services for Gardiel will be private. City Hall will be closed on August 25th to allow city employees and the department to grieve. Outside law enforcement agencies will be providing police services to our community throughout the day and night on the 25th. I can assure you there will be appropriate law enforcement response during this time, and the community will be well taken care of. A fundraiser is planned for September 1st from 5 to 10.30 p.m. at the Brew Kitchen here in Monterey Park to raise money for his family. The brew kitchen is donating 20% of all proceeds to the family, and there will be a 50-50 raffle, raffle prizes, and T-shirts for sale as well. And this has been organized by his classmates. We're just supporting their efforts. The memorial honoring, Officer Soliaro, in front of City Hall, as you noticed, you know, it's been warm and the fLors are starting to die, will be cleaned up tomorrow morning. But we're not going to remove it. Some of the fLors are still in good condition. People have left some very nice things. So we're just going to take some time to clean it up and make it look appropriate. And it will remain to allow the community a place to visit and grieve during this time. So it won't be removed. You'll just see it decrease in size as we clean up the fLors and make it presentable again. Because at this moment, it needs a little love. So thank you for your time. I wanted to share that here tonight with everyone and with the community and everyone present. But, you know, my thanks to everyone for all their support. We cannot do this alone. This is a huge loss. And as I've said earlier, you know, a lot of us have children that age, and it could have happened to any one of our children. So this is a tragedy and heinous crime. And our focus is on three things, making sure that justice is served, that the department and the family are supported as we go through this difficult time. So thank you.

Thank you very much.

Paul Lee.

Good evening. Mayor, City Council, staff, good to be back here in person. Coming to you tonight in my capacity as the chair of the Rec and Parks Commission. Just three quick updates. A few weeks ago we had our Monterey Park out at the Dodger Stadium night, another successful event. It was our third year doing this. I think we had about 200 tickets sold. and you know this was a big shout out to councilmember Sonoso I think he'd be proud to to know that we smashed on on the Padres that night but just a quick story on that last year him and I partnered up to sponsor a family four tickets who were just going through economic tough times to allow him to just enjoy a Dodger game and parking as well so you know he's he was a big Dodger fan as well as just a great member of the community. And just two other updates that's coming out of the commission and the Recreation and Community Services. Two of the more creative events that were happening is on November 12th, we're having our second annual pickleball tournament. Pickleball, as many of you know, is the fastest growing sport arguably in the world. so uh it's 40 per team mixed doubles and uh for extra 10 you can get a shirt and the second event is uh it's called electric park um let me see that's going to be on october 8th and um you know this this came out that you know the community has said that they want more we've been hearing that there we want more events towards younger adults and i did some calculations and according to the census, 34% of the residents in Monterey Park are age 18 to 44. So this event is trying to target that demographic. So we're just going to partner up with the local community. Local DJs are going to come out, some food trucks, some vendors, and just have a great festival vibe. And just with any of these type of grassroots events, we need to partner with the community. so either with sponsorships or any clubs any high schools or any you know organizations that want to come out maybe have a booth or even just physically support ітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітітіт

All right. Charles Leon?

HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, MY NAME IS CHARLES LEON AND I DO HAVE THE HONOR AND PRIVILEGE OF REPRESENTING THE MONTERY PARK CHAPTER FOR SCAU LOCAL 721. I KNOW THAT WE PROVIDED COMMENT REGARDING AGENDA ITEM NUMBER 3B BUT I WANTED TO SPEAK ABOUT PUBLIC COMMENT USING THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK ABOUT HEROES PAY. Chapter President Jesse Hernandez and I were here to speak before you in May of earlier this year. And because of your leadership and what you've been instrumental with, we were able to have a first meeting with the city. And I kindly speak before you today to see if we can get a follow-up meeting. The essential worker pay is extremely important. You obviously don't need me to go on about it because there has been plenty of talk about it. And I know staff has done an incredible job of educating you about the ARPA funds and the money that was received from Washington, D.C. for the cities um are essential workers that are in the Monterey Park chapter work in public works they work in parks and recreation they work here at city hall they work at the library they work in

the police department and for more than two years this entire time with covet has been extremely trying on all of us on our personal lives on our way that we do business on everything and there's

no telling what the aftermath of cove it's going to be in all that we're dealing with right now what you see in the news but it's the essential workers that show up to work every single day

that lace up their shoes. No excuses. They come to work and they deliver for the residents. Since we spoke before you last, there was a news article. Santa Clara County gave $76 million of their COVID money. They gave it to their workers for hazard pay. I know we may not be the only group that's looking for hazard pay. I know that you have a lot that you have to tackle as elected officials, but we kindly ask you to please keep that on your radar and please think about this for free of the discussions and we're grateful for your time. Thank you.

Bill Lamb?

You all can hear me, right? Yes, we can hear you. Okay, thank you. So this is Bill Lamb for the record.

I'm a longtime resident of Monterey Park, and I'm a current Cal State Norfolk student.

So I wrote the spirit bus, and it was not a lot of people, but one of the issues is about the bus stop issue.

So, cause I have two things that really came up on me.

So the first one was the missing bus stop signage. And another one is like considering expanding

like more, more spirit bus stops along each route. But I want to start off with the first part,

part, which is the missing signage. So somewhere in the middle of July, so I took the Route 1 bus

all the way down to Atlantic and Cesar Chavez, the one located at the Chevron gas station.

But I was supposed to get off there, but then the driver told me that that's not a bus stop.

and I realized, wait, what?

I even, so I looked at the, you know,

you use Google Maps, Transit App, Move It,

but all of these apps says that was a bus stop over there. Like, I'll show you the photo of locations.

So I was supposed to get out there,

but the driver told me that it wasn't a bus stop. and not only

the bus just skipped that stop

the bus drove around school side Chavez

all dropping me off all the way in front of subway

and I showed the driver that the bus stop

in front of Chevron gas station is still a bus stop according to the Google Maps transit app

and move it one. So I want to bring this awareness to you, but not only this bus stop was affected,

I even looked around, just walked around the scene and found several bus stops that I'm missing

for Route 2 at Wilcox and Arlite,

Route 3 on Fulton and Kempton.

The Emerson Garvey one's already there, so I don't have to mention it.

The Atlantic and Emerson on Route 4, Garvey Hitchcock, Westbound Route 4, and let's see,

Casuda Canyon, Ladera, and Copa, the two bus stops that were served by Route 4. And I don't understand why Route 5 is still suspended because, but anyways, two bus stops, So the missing signage on route five,

I have Flo at Corporate Center and Flo and Meyer Pass.

The reason why I want to like bring this awareness to you

cause there are drivers that keep skipping that bus stop,

even though that those bus stops are considered

like, you know, bus stops,

but it's really like problematic for people

who had to like walk far all the way to the bus stop.

That was like the missing bus stop signage location.

You know, I was about to,

I don't even know if I could refer this problem

to somebody in the city,

but other than that, the other lists on the spirit bus stops that need to be added.

Let's see.

well it's a lot but I don't want to go past the time limit but one of the stops is

Floral and Crest Vista where I live closer so I live close to that bus stop

but then I have to walk by the Valley Vista to catch the westbound one

but it's really

making me too tired to walk far

so

I'll leave it at that but I only had one copy

but I didn't have time to print the rest of that out

so that I could give this all of you.

But in closing, fix this missing bus stop signage thing

because it's really a big problem on the spirit bus system.

And lastly, considering adding more spirit bus stops that haven't been served in the future.

So that's all for now. Thank you so much. Thank you much. Do you want to leave that with our clerk for the record and perhaps

City manager your office can follow up the constituent

Yes, we will contact the constituent all right mr. Lamb the managers office will follow up with you Okay, thank you. I

Think those are all the speakers we have. Thank you very much for all those who have fun to speak moving on to staff communications. Next, I'm sorry, first communication we have Recreation and Community

Services Department. Good evening, Mayor, City Council, and staff. I would like to start off by thanking everybody that came out to our moving night, our Grease Sing-Along on July 29th. It was a great night. We were able to hand out 150 inflatable

microphones to children of all ages. They were out there

having a great time singing, enjoying the movie, and enjoying the movie at night under the beautiful stars.

Our last, our MPK Night at the Dodgers event on August 5th was a great event. Like you said earlier, we beat the Padres. But it was also memorable to see, to honor Vince Scully. That event was just, there was motions, there was a lot of energy, you know, and then just to top it off with Friday night fireworks, you know, so everybody that came out, thank you for coming out. Our pickleball clinics that have been going through June and through all summer from June to August, we were having one more this Saturday here at Barnes Park on August 20th at 8 a.m. Come out, you know, we have normally about 30 to 40 people coming out to learn this pickleball that is just blowing up throughout all our community. But it's a great time to continue to learn the sport, practice it, and then implement it on our second annual pickleball tournament on November 12th here at Barnes Park. Registration begins September 1st. It'll be three divisions, 20 teams per division, and it'll cost you $40 per team. So come out, show off your talent, and maybe you'll be that next champion. Next event, save the date for our electric park. That is brought to you by our volunteer committee, Monterey Park Arts Collective. This event will be on October 8th from 2 to 10 p.m. and Barnes Park. DJs will be playing the best of house, break beats, and EDM. Free admission, open to all ages. Food trucks and free activities will be provided. And this event will be creating community through music. So please come out, enjoy another great event. that we put together as a team. And to continue to be in the know, follow us on social media. So check us out, stay in the know, and thank you very much. Have a great evening.

Thank you very much for our presentation update.

Next presentation by our fire department.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. Just wanted to give everybody an update on a booster vaccination clinic that we're going to be holding here in the city. Next Wednesday, August 24th, in partnership with the Chinatown Service Center, the city will be providing Pfizer and Moderna booster shots for those that are eligible.

When I say that, it's for anybody who has not had the first or second dose yet, or third. The fourth dose, though, is only available to those that are 50 years or older. It'll be from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. right here in the park. so it's in the grassy area between City Hall and the tennis courts. It is available to anybody in the community. There's no appointment. That's necessary. They may require health insurance. It just depends. But if you do have it, you need to provide that to them. It's available, again, for anybody who's six months or older to get any of those three first doses of the vaccine.

Again, it's Pfizer and Moderna only. The only requirement, though, is that you're eligible if it's been six months since your last dose. So just keep that in mind if you want to come out.

Again, it's open to the public.

There is no appointment necessary, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. next Wednesday, August 24th. We are planning to do an additional vaccine clinic. It will be at the end of September. At that clinic, we also plan to provide flu shots. We're getting to that time of the year. So that will be available in addition to the Pfizer and Moderna boosters. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Chief.

I just want to confirm again with Chief Halleck, the 50-plus people can also go on that date

to get the fourth booster, is that correct?

On August 24th? Yeah.

Correct. Okay, thank you.

Thank you for that question. Okay.

Next item, presentation.

First presentation.

Well, actually, only presentation, I'm sorry. Item 1A, drought conditions and water conservation update.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, members of Council, staff. My name is Richard Gonzalez. I am your water utility manager. Today's presentation will touch on a few different items. The current drought conditions in the state of California, stage two restrictions for Monterey Park, more ways to save, an update on metropolitan water and their shutdown, and water savings rebates.

This first slide you see here outlines February 22nd to today, August 20, I'm sorry, August, February 2022 to August 2022. And you can see the difference in the two sides as far as the state and what it looks like.

The state map on the left is light in color. The state map on the right is severely red. Where we are right now is local rainfall in February was of 64%. Today it's at zero.

The snowpack in April was 58%. As of April this year, it's zero. So we have a severe drought on our hands, and it's throughout the state. It isn't just Los Angeles or San Diego Valley anymore. It is through the entire state.

Next slide, please. So here's here's just what our current basin levels are the San Gabriel Valley main basin. So in November of 2018, that was the Lost point at 169 feet.

169.4 and today we're at 181. The difference why it's higher is because of the water that we

replenish with from the Colorado River and as well as the state water project that's how we replenish the basin so with all the cutbacks that 181 is going to dwindle down and there's very little water coming down to Southern California at this time. nd this time ! so to touch on the stage two restrictions i just wanted to remind the community we're still in ! stage two drought restrictions or conservation restrictions

trying to save twenty percent water watering outside two days a week monday and thursday

no commercial or residential developments can put anything other than a drip irrigation system or micro spray system uh... is unlawful to use potable water for ornamental irrigation

to use potable water for ornamental irrigation.

Watering between 9 and 5 is restricted. The community, myself and staff often drive the community,

and the community has done a really good job in adhering to what we're asking of them. I see a lot of brown lawns out there.

It's unfortunate, but that's the state we're in right now. watering after any measurable rain obviously it's not raining so we're hoping for it but if it does rain please don't water don't water for so much where there's runoff or water the sidewalks walkways or driveway rinsing up down please sweep your your areas and wash vehicles with a hose nozzle or take it to the car wash next slide please and finally we've asked

restaurants to serve water only if asked we've asked hotels to only change the linens as far as washing the linens if someone doesn't want those linens to be

washed and can we can conserve water that way we're asking to do the same and

residents to repair leaks as soon as possible so some more ways to save is

Use a refillable water bottle. Reduces washing dishes. Use your garbage disposal sparingly. Try to make some type of compost for your garden. That always helps with growth. Don't use running water to thaw your food.

I've been guilty of that at times. Put it in your refrigerator so it thaws.

When you wash your hands, turn the water off. While you're waiting for the hot water in your bathtub and or shower, try and collect the water you can use that as as a way to water your plants monitor your water your water bill that's a great way to see if you have a leak internally that you just don't know of or it hasn't surfaced group plants together so you can water them all at once rather than wasting water in

between avoid planting grass I think everybody's got that message and don't water your lawn on windy days as it blows all over if your sprinklers are on try and shut them off and check your hoses and connectors for leaks before I

start on the rebates I wanted to update the the city and City Council on Metropolitan Water District their Weymouth treatment plant is shutting

down September 6th through September 20th and that shutdown will affect the

city of Monterey Park and that is the southwest side of Monterey Park southwest corner the portion that is served by California Water Company they get their water from Central Basin which essentially is the other side of the 60 freeway and that effect will essentially they're asking their customers to not use water for other than domestic use for showers for bathroom and for drinking all the restrictions stage two that we're asking that's that's not even part of that two-week period they're asking for no use during that time so I wanted to share that with City Council and with the community I have put up a

some information on the city's website regarding this there's a map of the area

and there's information regarding the cause for the shutdown the shutdown is

do to repair. It's going to take them two weeks to repair a main line that they have, a trunk line, that they're bringing that water down. And their lines are really big, six, seven feet in diameter. So it's just a lot of work and it's going to take time. They found it approximately a year ago, so this is the time that they're taking to make that repair. So it will affect Monterey Park residents. And we do have information on the city's website as far as what is the cause,

all the restrictions that go with that. So, next slide, please. So, as far as rebates, there's a rebate in regards to irrigation systems,

and this is coming from the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, and it's a savings of up to $1,000, and what they will do is replace existing irrigation controller.

They'll control the, I mean, they'll program the control for the residents. They'll replace sprinkler nozzles with a retrofit. Eligibility is Monterey Park residents along with the other three cities.

One of the key points is they must have a working irrigation system in order for them to come out.

The value is up to $1,000 with the equipment and service and parts that are a part of this. And it will save the residents not only money in the front as far as with the eligibility, but also on water, on the water use and how that plays a role in today's world.

And how to apply, simply go to Ecotech Services, and there's a number there. And again, this this slide here is on the city's website. So

residents can go to the website and see this exact slide and and what it entails and if they're interested they could call the district and Set up a meet at their residence next slide, please

More ways to save again. This is through the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District they have savings and you can see the dollar amounts there on the right hand side a

water efficient washing machines high efficiency toilets commercial waterless urinals rain barrels irrigation control soil moisture rotating sprinkler nozzles flow monitor devices and irrigation control retrofit was which was the last slide so there's a lot of savings for the community and and again this slide is

on the website as well community members can go to the website or go to the city's website

view this slide and they can contact the district and see about getting some of these savings as well so i think we have a lot of savings for the community in regards to what's available through the district next slide please if there's any questions i'll be happy to take them

Thank you very much, Councilmembers. Do you have any questions, comments?

Okay. Thank you so much for that presentation.

I do have a question.

Given the rebate from the Water District, would it be possible to maybe get a report back

on how many residents take advantage of that program? And I only ask because, you know, again, this may prompt us to want to then also work with them to promote the community that this program is available to them if they wish to take

advantage of it.

Yes, absolutely. I can reach out to the district and get some numbers and report back to the next council

meeting.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Okay, hearing none. Thank you very much. Okay. Oh, business, none.

Consent calendar items, numbers 3A to 3F. staff and council, any items that need to be pulled?

Okay. Hearing none. Okay, well then,

may I have a motion to approve calendar item numbers

3A to 3F? Move to...

I'm sorry, Mayor, we do have communications.

Please, okay, yeah, please. Communications, yes? On 3A, we have...

3A? Yeah, Mr. Leone wants to speak.

And then, let's pull item 3A and then approve the agenda.

Can we do that? Yeah, moves to approve 3B through.

Also, Mayor. Oh, I'm sorry, yes. We do have some written communication with 3B.

Okay. So 3A and 3B. Right. Okay, anything else?

That's it.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

Then I amend the motion to approve 3C to 3F.

I'll second that.

Moved by Councillor Chan, seconded by Councillor Liang. Hearing all further questions, call for the questions.

I'm sorry, please vote. Please vote. Thank you.

Vote's unanimous. Motion carries.

Thank you, Clerk.

First item, 3A. We have a request to speak from our treasurer, I see.

Mr. Liang.

Yes. can you mayor, council members, of course, residents of Monterey Park? I'm Joseph Leon, city treasurer. First, I want to express my sister's condolences to Soloro family for their loss. I know it's affecting all of us here in Monterey Park.

And I want to go on with, I know you have the investment report. I'm not really going to talk about that today, but at the last meeting,

I mentioned that generally in August, I bring the Monterey Park Annual Investment Report to council for approval and to discuss any suggestions for any changes.

However, in a recent council meeting we had, council had suggested that we go back and look at the policy for any potential changes. And at the last meeting, I believe I mentioned the council, we had retained our consultant, Michael Bush, and he's working on that now. So we're not ready yet to come to a council with a final report.

So just to let you know, give you an up status on what's going on.

Also, I want to let council know it was my understanding that per the city's investment policy, it was required that an annual investment report and statement of investment policy be submitted to council for review within 60 days after fiscal year end, which was last June.

This will give us until the end of the month to bring a report back to council at a special meeting.

However, I've been informed by staff and our city attorney that this is an internal policy,

and as long as the investment report is brought to council this year, there is no issue.

I was reminded, in fact, that last year the city attorney reviewed the matter and council agreed to move the report to September last year, and the report was presented to council in September last year.

If council is agreeable tonight, we can bring the final report to council in September, or otherwise we can set up a special meeting prior to the end of August. We will proceed as the council directs.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. So however council wants to, we can wait until September like we did last year, or we can

have a special meeting before the end of the month.

Yeah, I think we can wait until September.

My understanding is that this is a receiving file report, right? Meaning is there no action required of this tonight? Okay, so there's actually no action because it's a receiving file.

Right, but I'm not sure that we're okay as far as well. I spoke to a study attorney today and it seems to be okay to receive September. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much.

Okay.

Move to receive and file the monthly investment report, July 2022.

Second that.

Moved by Council Member Lang, seconded by Council Member Chan. Any further comments or questions? Hearing none, members please vote.

Votes unanimous, motion carries. Thank you.

Item 3B, report submitted to the City Council pursuant to Government Code 8630 regarding the city's employment emergency as adopted by resolution number 2022-R49 on June 15, 2022.

Continue in such emergency.

Clerk, we have written comments.

Yes, I just want to mention the fact that there's, I guess, a series of communications from

and the city attorney with Mr. Charles Leone. I believe he spoke earlier, but representing SEIU, Local 721.

It's rather lengthy, but it's on file.

Just let you know. Okay.

All right. Hearing no questions, comments, may we motion please then?

Yeah, move to approve 3B.

Okay. Moved by Councillor Chan. May I have a second, please?

I have a second, please. Second. Second the Council Member Liang.

Any further comments or questions?

Hearing none, members, please vote.

Vote's unanimous.

Motion carries.

Thank you very much. Okay.

Public hearing items.

4A, consideration of cost resulting from abating wheat nuisances and authorizing collection via special assessment.

Staff report, please. Thank you.

The mayor and members of the council this public hearing is the third and final step in the city's weed abatement process Which is for the city council to consider approving the county's costs Related to abatement and directing that these costs be collected via special assessment For the 2021-22 weed abatement cycle out of the total of 1,598 parcels identified as public nuisances. Eight parcels required county abatement totaling

$14,439.06. The remaining parcels will only be assessed a flat county established annual inspection fee of $45.05 for a total of $69,737.40. The grand total of the annual weed abatement

cost through this program is $84,176.46. There is no fiscal impact to the city as a result of this program as all abatement costs are collected from the responsible property owners. With that, that concludes my report and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Chief Halleck. Members, questions or comments?

One, twice. Yes, please, come forward. Yes, please come forward. Yes, please.

Welcome. Thank you, and thank you for giving me the floor. My name is Catherine Ortega, and I'm very concerned with the hills the way they are. They're dry. We've done the weed abatement. So I'm proposing that maybe we get a geologist check the hillsides and encourage planning natives and encourage, you know, being proactive, because I noticed that a lot of things are happening in the city and changing from the way it used to be, which is okay, but it's just that I just worry about the dangers of the flood, because there is an article out there that in 2023, because we've had the drought so long, that there is a potential of 100 inches of rain. Now, I was here doing the 78 and 86 floods, and you lost Davina Vista, you'd lose a lot of the city areas were really messed up. So I think it would be proactive if we were to get a geologist, maybe from the college, maybe a resident or someone like that to help protect what we have in the city because Monterey Park is beautiful. It just needs to be groomed and cared for. So that's my only word there. Okay. Sure. Thank you very much.

Maybe perhaps if you could leave your information.

Please. Yeah, if you could. And just so again we can follow.

Thank you for that suggestion to us.

Okay. Any other speakers?

Okay.

Okay, hearing none. Okay. Can we make sure that we have presence?

Okay, thank you. Thank you, Ines. Okay, thank you. Okay. Any further?

Okay, hearing none.

Again, thank you for those who came forward to speak,

and then we will conclude this hearing.

We'll close it.

Okay. Okay. Okay, let's see.

Council members?

Move to approve item for a consideration of costs resulting from abatement weed, abating weed nuisances and authorizing collection via special assessment.

Second.

Moved by Council Member Liang. Seconded by Council Member Chan. Any further comments or questions? Hearing none, then I'll call for the question. Members, please vote.

Votes unanimous. Motion carries.

Thank you, clerk.

Second item for public hearing, 4B, proposed underground utility district on Monopax Road.

Staff report.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Tony Antich, Interim Public Works Director.

The matter before you is a creation of a utility underground district along Monterey Pass between Garvey and halfway down.

Vagabond, that's correct. Thank you very much, Ron. I had a memory lapse there. So by way of background, the Public Utility Commission sets aside money on an annual basis, and over time the city of Monterey Park has amassed over $7 million. It can be used only for utility undergrounding within the city. These funds are going to be going away, so it's very important that the city lock in this commitment. We have a general order of costs of about $6.8 million. But for tonight, at the last council meeting on the 20th, the city council initiated the process to create a utility undergrounding district. And it starts off with opening a public hearing this evening, taking testimony, closing the public hearing, and then making a decision as to how you want to proceed on this. So the recommendation from staff is, after you hold the public hearing, is to proceed on the formation of a utility undergrounding district on Monterey Park Pass from Garvey to Vagabond. And I'm here to answer any questions if you have them. Thank you very much. Well, then why don't I open the public hearing then?

All those who wish to come forward and share a comment, please come forward.

Clerk?

No speakers?

One more time. Anybody wants to speak? I guess not.

Thank you very much.

Okay, then I will then close the hearing.

Okay.

members any comments questions hearing none then we have motion move to approve

item 4b proposed underground utility district on Monterey Pass Road and adopting a resolution establishing an underground utility district on on Monterey Pass Road from West Garvey Avenue to Vagabond Drive.

Moved by Council Member Lang. Second by Council Member Yu. Any further comments or questions? Hearing none. Call for questions. Members, please vote.

Both unanimous.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Clerk.

New business, none. City Communications. Council Member Yu.

We attend the ICA conference in San Diego last weekend. It's good to get away and socialize with the council member in other cities as well. The conference is getting better and better as the speakers are very entertaining. While we learn so much about how people's perspectives have changed, both politically and in public safety enforcement. So that's all for me. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Ryu.

Councilman Rochan. Just my deepest condolences to the Sororio family and also to the police department for this loss. It's not just a loss to the city but a loss to the whole community and I hope this senseless killings will stop and that's it for me and happy Labor Day thank you thank you councilmember Chan

councilmember Lan thank you mayor condolences as well to the Solorio family I also attended the independent cities conference in San Diego it was a great opportunity as always to you know attend the seminars and meet our colleagues it was just a little anecdote it was last ICA that was in I believe Santa Barbara when Fred was still with us and it was kind of interesting because you know Fred was elected to the City Council and when we went to ICA he actually had a good friend I think it's out of Azusa who was elected the City Council at the same time and they didn't know it until they showed up at the Independent Cities Conference and oh you know they actually saw each other again So, you know, we miss Fred being there, and we did see that friend of his at the conference. So, you know, while we had a good time, we miss Fred being there. So that's all I have to report for now.

Thank you, Council Member Liang.

And I would like to start by saying our appreciation for the outpouring that has come from those in the community, our neighboring cities, police departments, in remembrance and support of Monterey Park and our police department in light of the tragic murder of Officer Guardio Solorio.

I just want to take this time to acknowledge our deep appreciation for all the personnel who serve our police department,

who serve our communities during this time.

And please know that you have a community that deeply appreciates and supports all that you do.

And lastly, I want to thank Chief Kelly Gordon, who has just been tremendous in representing the city during this time,

from participating in press briefings in Downey, as well as last week with the district attorney,

when they announced the arrest of the people who committed this tragic crime.

and I'd like to ask council if we can adjourn tonight's meeting in memory of Officer Guardio Solorio.

Thank you very much.

Then with that, let's see, future agenda items.

Hearing none. Closed session, none.

Then I'd like to then adjourn tonight's meeting.

Thank you and have a good evening.

Meeting adjourned at 7.25 p.m.

Thank you.