City Council Meeting — December 7, 2022

! City Council act on behalf of the successor agency of the redevelopment agency,

! The Housing authority, Housing Authority, the Mario Park Financing Authority,

and the Mario Park Geologic Abatement District Agenda. Special City Council meeting concurrent with the regular City Council meeting

on Wednesday, December 7th, 2022, 6.30 p.m.

Everyone, please rise for our flag suit,

which will be performed by the Honor Guard of the Mario Park Police Department. Thank you.

Left. Left. Left. Right. Left.

Left, left, under guard, hold, left, face, freeze in arms.

Put your head over your heart. Ready to begin.

I give allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Underguard, Order, Arms! Tower, Face! Order, Move!

Underguard, prepare to post colors. Post colors.

Present arms.

Order arms. Order arms. Order arms. !

Forward face. Forward move.

Thank you. Please be seated. Please be seated.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Thank you. Council Member Yvonne Yu. Here. Council Member Peter Chan.

Here.

Council Member Hans Liang. Here. And Mayor Henry Lo. Present, thank you.

Okay, agenda additions, relations, changes and adoptions.

None by the city manager's office.

Thank you so much. Public communications.

Pursuing to government code section 549-543A, the public may address the council only on matters listed on the agenda.

Those wishing to speak on an agenda item must utilize one of the messages listed above.

No other public comment will be accepted.

Attempts to provide comment at times not designated on the agenda may result in the city dropping you from the meeting.

And Mr. Mayor, members of the Council, that applies only to the special meeting agenda. The general meeting agenda has the general public comment.

Do I need to read that as well?

No, we'll get to that when we get to it.

Okay, thank you very much. Okay. Okay. Let's see. So I will then proceed to, let's see, new business. Item 1A.

Mayor, Council members, Agenda 1A is a declaration of emergency for COVID-19 exposure. On December 6, 2022, I was informed that at least one of the newly elected public officials tested positive for COVID-19 virus. To protect the public and safety, I issued an administrative declaration of emergency regarding the December 7th City Council meeting. A copy of the declaration of emergency is attached as exhibit attached. And in addition, I implemented teleconferencing and electronic protocols to help reduce the chance of persons attending the December 7th meeting might be exposed to COVID-19. Declaring in a local emergency provides flexibility to the city for allowing public officials and public to attend tonight's meeting and witness newly elected officials being sworn into office. Amendments made to the Ralph M. Brown Act during the statewide COVID-19 emergency gave more leeway to electronic participation while the city is operating pursuant to local emergency. AB 396, effective September 16, 2021. The City Council must review the circumstances of a local emergency every 30 days to continue utilizing the teleconferencing method set forth in the draft resolution. The action you have before you are adopting a resolution declaring a local emergency resulting from exposure to COVID-19 virus and ratifying the city manager's administrative declaration of emergency dated December 6. That concludes my report.

Thank you for the report. Colleagues, questions, comments? Okay. Motion then, please. Moves to approve. Second. Moved by Councilor Chan, seconded by Councilor Liang. Members, please vote.

Votes unanimous. Motion carries. Thank you very much.

Okay.

Mr. City Attorney, do I now read the public communications portion?

Now is the time for the general public.

Thank you. Okay. Great.

Public communications. While all comments are welcome,

While all comments are welcome, the product does not allow the City Council to take action on any item not on the agenda.

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 agenda item at this time. If you provide public comment on a specific item at this time, however, you cannot later provide comments at the time the agenda item is considered.

Mr. Clerk, do we have any?

Are they all? We have quite a few numbers. Okay. Okay.

And it's related to an item or the outgoing?

Oh, okay. Well, let's do this one.

Tammy Sam.

Please come forward.

Hello. Hello. Hi, Mayor and the rest of the City Council. How are you guys? I want to ask that the City Council to reconsider reinstating professional requirements to the Planning Commission and the Design Review Board. These individuals are tasked with advising the City Council on policies and should have experience in their respective field. It is detrimental to the city if those that are making these decisions don't have experience in land use, housing, circulation, and other decisions that they would have to make.

And that's all I have to say. Thank you very much.

Thank you. What's that? Okay. Anything else? Any other speakers? No? Okay. I think.

OK, looks like we're good.

OK.

OK.

Sorry, we have presentations coming up, but this is just for the oral communications.

again anybody want to speak about issues one more chance

nope looks like that's it thank you

thank you Mr. Clerk okay on to item two new business

outgoing address by elected officials first our esteemed city clerk

Okay, thank you so much, but should we go ahead and introduce some of the guests that are here tonight? Sure, yes. Okay.

I apologize, no particular order, but I see quite a number of special guests here tonight.

I'm just going to try to go off as best of my recollection.

So first I want to introduce our state controller, Betty Yee.

Then we have our Los Angeles assessor, county assessor, Jeff Prang.

we also have from the city of Alhambra Adele Statler

let's see I have former mayor Lily Lee Chen

I see former council and mayor, Anthony Wong.

And I see Alhambra School Board member, Bob Jinder.

Let me see.

We also have former council and member, Mayor Francisco Alonzo.

There he is.

Okay.

Anybody else? Oh, yes.

We have our current council member, San Gabriel, John Wu.

And we have a gentleman that needs no introduction, the former Assemblymember Mike Ng.

Okay, anybody else that I forgot?

We also have from the Fulton Joint Unified School District, Chester Jang.

also representing Supervisor of Solis' office Frank Liu

I see Jennifer Tang representing Assemblyman Mike Fong's office and

Michael Robles from Congresswoman Chu's office

and I see the mayor of Alhambra, Jeff Maloney's actually

on Zoom. Oh, he just hit himself. There he is.

Oh, yes, I also see Becky Chang, who represents Assemblymember

Amritsuchi's office. Becky.

And I also

see soon-to-be-installed Garvey School Board member Andy Yam,

and Mariford resident.

Okay. Let's see. Have we missed anyone? Anybody else?

Bring up your business cards.

Thank you. And thank you all for coming to this very wonderful occasion.

Well, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

So the time has come.

Nine, almost ten years I've been sitting at this table

almost every council meeting

and now is the time to move on to something else

well I'd like to thank first of all the people of the city of Monterey Park for the privilege and honor of sitting at this desk

It's truly been a wonderful trip to serve the city, to serve the people, to serve the cause of making this the wonderful city that it is.

I want to thank, most importantly, the lady that's sitting next to me. She's my deputy city clerk, Cindy Trang.

The other lady that's sitting behind me,

Helena Cho, of our city clerk's office. You know, without them, the city clerk's office would not be where it's at today.

Also, the men and women that have worked in the city clerk's office, during my work. that have worked in the city clerk's office during my watch, ! Each and every one of them worked !

You know, I'm going to say it, they worked their ass off.

! Okay? !

What are you going to do? ! They did! ! They did! You know, they did. Every day they were here on the job because they not only served

because they not only served the council members, they not served the staff, but they know that they're serving the residents of Monterey Park. And, you know, Cindy, I don't want to mention how long you've been here. But, you know, you deserve every penny that you were paid and more.

And as far as I'm concerned, you guys deserve a lot more.

Again, I miss you. I miss you most of all. I miss, you know, everything in the city clerk's office. I miss you guys.

So I know the locks will be changed, but I hope you still let me in.

If I come by. I don't know. Maybe that might not be a good thing. But anyways. But, no, truly, it's, you know, it's been something that, you know, I look forward to working with you guys. And then, you know, I did. We went through a number of changes since, you know, our former late city clerk, David Barron, served 25 years in this position.

and he really modernized this position. And I like to think that, you know, while on my watch, I continued, you know, his vision to make this office one where it's at today. So, you know, as they say, the city clerk's office is the guardian of democracy. And I think we truly did that. We, no matter who, you know, wanted information, they got the information they needed. And, you know, as the historian of the city, we kept all the records and, you know, without fail. So anytime anybody wanted something in the city or whether outside, they were able to get it. And as long as it's available, you know, the city clerk's office managed to come up with that. So thank you.

And, again, I'm very proud to have served as a member of the elected board for the city.

and you know for those of you who

were disappointed

you know there's no need to be concerned I'm still involved in the city

I will still support the local businesses as I have always done and I will continue to advocate for a better environment for us. You know, we managed to get the first bike plan going and it's time for an update, so I hope we continue to update that.

And so, but, you know, for me, it's not just the city.

I continue to serve on the Rivers and Mountain Conservancy as well as the Water Conservation Authority and we oversee millions of dollars in terms of grant funding for the whole San Gabriel Valley so I look forward to working with that

and as well as the non-profit organization that I helped to co-found in terms of advocating for bike and pedestrian safety

so that's where I'll be headed and I know there's a number of clients waiting for me at my office

that I can go back to full-time practicing my office, which basically I had to pretty much semi-retire from. So those are my goals. Thank you again for those who supported me.

I know many of you are here tonight, and I look forward to our party afterward tonight.

So that and one final person I want to thank is the lady sitting out there, Dora Leung. She's our...

She has put up with me many times, many nights, sometimes sleepless nights,

and encourage me to continue to serve,

as well as Juliana. Is she in there? Juliana is the word.

Anyways, I love you guys, and let's get back to bike riding more.

Okay? So, anyways.

But tonight is for the new council. I look forward to hearing their vision of our city, and I look forward to working with them

for, again, continuing on a great tradition of this wonderful city.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. And let me just say, on behalf of the state council and the community,

thank you, Vincent, for your dedication

and your service to this community.

Okay. We now would like to proceed to remarks

by our outgoing city treasurer, Mr. Joseph Leon.

Good evening, everyone. It's been an honor and a pleasure to serve the city of Monterey Park as a city treasurer since 2007. It's been a wonderful experience.

I know it a little bit because I'm really emotional. It's actually a bittersweet after all these years being here.

I feel like this is part of the family. It's been a wonderful experience, and I'm very fortunate to be able to serve the residents of Monterey Park.

I wish I could continue to serve our city, but my term has ended as city treasurer, and it's time for someone new to take the helm, which is, of course, our new city treasurer, Amy Lee, which is right on your front there.

Congratulations, James.

There are so many individuals and community organizations that I need to thank,

not only for their help and support during my term, but also for their continuing friendship. Unfortunately, I don't have the time tonight to mention everyone by name, so please forgive me if I leave someone out, but I know you are remembered, but please know you are remembered

and greatly appreciated. I want to start by thanking the current elected officials and city

staff for all their help and understanding. I also want to thank the prior elected officials and staff that I've worked with during the last 15 years as city treasurer.

I saw many of the prior elected officials up here, and I went by to say hi today. I haven't seen them in a couple years. It's great to see them again.

There's been a few elected officials since I've been here for 15 years.

I've had many close friendships with many of these officials and staff that continue to this day.

There are so many Monterey Park organizations and community groups that I've worked with throughout the years, and I'm very grateful for their support and friendship. These include, but it's not limited to the Monterey Park Lions Club. I just want to give a little shout out to them. Lamped Optimist, Monterey Park Chamber of Commerce, the Monterey Park Democratic Club, the Cinco de Mayo Committee, the Cherry Blossom Committee, the Library Board, the Design Review Board, and many others.

Again, thank you for your support and friendship throughout the years.

I want to thank my family for all their support and love throughout my term as Monterey Park Treasure.

Although this position is not as demanding as counsel, it does take a toll on you and your family when you have to make decisions regarding millions of dollars that can have an impact on the services that our city can offer to its residents. I want to especially thank my lovely wife, Rolanda Yileon. She's sitting in the back there somewhere. Thank you.

And my oldest daughter, Stephanie Leone, who wasn't able to be here tonight.

It's amazing when I first started my daughters were what, 8 and 9 years old.

I mean, I don't believe that time goes fast.

Finally, and most importantly, of course I want to thank the residents of Monument Park and for their support and friendship. Since becoming Monument Park City Treasurer I have met hundreds of residents during my 15 years as a treasurer. Many of you have opened your hearts and your homes to me, sorry, and made me feel part

your family. This is what makes Monterey Park very special. I'm sorry I'll wrap this up. I briefly have folLod the path of our previous Monterey Park City Treasurers by keeping safety

our funds as our main security. We always always have to keep in mind that the all the monies in

our city belong to the residents of Montero Park. All elected officials and

staff will work for the residents of Montero Park. We are here because of you.

We're here to serve you. So we always keep that in mind. I have talked to our new Montero Park treasurer Amy Lee, who is up here in the front, and discuss possible investment options and I wish Amy the very best and I am confident of her abilities. So thank you and you know I will always be there for you if you need me. Once again, I want to thank all of you for the opportunity to represent our city.

I wish the very best for all the newly elected officials.

And I want everyone to know I will always be available to help our city.

We are very fortunate to be able to reside in Monon Park. It's a very special city. It's a small city. It's a very special city. I've been here most of my life. My daughters are born here. And we have no plans to move. This is a great city, and we're all, and at least myself, I feel very honored and privileged just to be in our city.

Thank you and good night. Thank you so much, Joseph. and again thank you for your many years of service to our community as our treasurer as well as your involvement in many of the community efforts initiatives. Thank you so much. Thank you and thank all of you again. It's great working with you.

Thank you. Now moving on to council member comments. First I'd like to ask Councilman Peter Chan.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you all the residents of Monterey Park. You gave me the chance to serve you close to 10 years, starting in 2013 March. Got sworn in right here in this council chambers. And I was sitting in this seat on the last seat, and I've been sitting and rotate to all the seats in here for 10 years. And I want to thank your trust, your belief in me, in taking care of the city. And every time when I sit in here, in these different seats, every single time, give me goosebumps and give me excitement. Because I know that without you, I won't be sitting here. That I remember. 10 years, I still remember that I'm serving the city of Monterey Park. Never that I will forget that. And it's a big burden, but I think I took it and did my best. As for how do I do? Did I do well? Did I do good? Or did I fail your expectation? It's up to you. You have to grade me. You have to give me a good grade or bad grade or you fail or you do good because it's not for me to assess or tell if I'm doing good or bad because it's from you because I'm serving the city, serving all the residents. So I want to thank every one of you to believe in me, trust in me, and make me humble, make me, you know, try to do the job that you gave me to do. And I want to thank my colleagues and also the previous council members and even before, like Lily, Anthony, Mike. You guys did a great job that made us easier. 106 years Monterey Park has been here and there's ups and downs happy days, sad days good times, bad times but the most important thing is we went through it and go on strong

and after today we'll be the new council the new treasurer, the new city clerk will take our place

and we'll continue the tradition continue to do good for the city, for all the people. And I believe in them and I trust in them. They will do a good job in bringing the city. They will do a good job in bringing the city to a higher level. ! That's what is all important for all of us. ! ! Set aside our own ego. Set aside our own opinion. ! But do it for the people. Do it for the city. ! That's what I believe in. ! And that's what I think the new council and the new officials will do. Will continue to do. to do. And that's the way we should do it. And I want to thank the city staff, city managers, city attorney, all the staff, all the department heads, everyone, all the staff. You did your job in helping us to move the city forward, to make the city better for everyone in the city. and it's no

it's no coincidence that Monterey Park was chosen number three city, the best city to live in by Money Magazine in 2017 and the second best city to raise a family also by Money Magazine it's no joke it's the real thing and we want

to continue that tradition and I'm sure that the new council the staff, everyone will do their job to get the job done

and get Monterey Park to a better place. And of course, we still have a lot of challenges ahead of us, environmental issues, housing issues, traffic, all kinds of things that will face us. It won't go away, but we will tackle them one at a time,

slowly, surely, and will bring the city forward.

So I just want to say thank you to all of you again, especially to my wife, Jenny, sitting right here, please.

And I can tell you, she's more excited or more... when we sit here, when we have different issues,

of course, some people would say, you did a good job. Some say, no, you're not good. That kind of things.

She's more, you know, into it than I. Because I say, to me, you're talking to the council person, not to Peter Chan. That's how I release the pressure. But she did not. She's getting personal too. So sometimes I say, hey, take it easy. It's okay. We'll get through it. But that's life. And that's what we will face. As elected officials, we have the burden. We have the responsibility. But we are not shy away from them. We will face them head on and resolve the issues. And the most important thing is that the last council in here, Yes, we have different opinions. We have different experience. Everything is not the same. But we work out. Work out the differences and come to some conclusions, some give and takes. That's what politics is all about. You don't win all the battles and you don't lose all the battles. But you get to a compromise that moves the city forward. I think that's the most important thing to do. So let's keep the good job. And I want to thank again all the residents, all the people in the city of Monterey Park and all the neighboring cities for making our job easier. So thank you so much for coming, and thank you. And last thing is that I'm not going away. I'm still in Monterey Park, and I do intend to move. And I will keep on going to the gym to exercise, and also will swim every Sunday unless it's raining. Cold is okay. I can endure the cold, but rain, then I won't because it's an outdoor pool. And after the swimming, I will do a coffee. If you want to go to that stop on Garfield and Pomona, the new one by the Shell Gas Station, come around 10 in the morning on Sunday, I'll buy you coffee.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Councilman Lange.

Thank you, Mayor.

You know, as I was preparing to come in today, you know, I was thinking about 10 years ago when Peter and I were first being sworn in. And I remember thinking kind of in my memory about walking into the room, you know, about the excitement of it all. And the excitement is still there for me

because we have a whole new generation of elected officials that are going to be leading the city. And I want to begin by congratulating all of them, Jose Sanchez, Thomas Wong, Vin Go, Amy Lee, as well as Michelle Yee, for their hard work. You guys deserve your victories, and you did put in a lot of hard work, so I congratulate you all for that. You know, at the end of the day, when we're here 10 years, it would be wrong for us not to thank everyone, as you have been hearing. I want to thank all of the staff. You know, as I'd said before, council members are here for eight years, but staff are here for much longer. And, you know, we get a chance to share our lives with this tribe, if you will, for a few years, and then we're on our way. but I'm very grateful for the friendships that have developed as a result of it. I think that I've talked about this before and that someone in my age, you go to high school, you go to college, you have your friends, you go to work and you have your network but then to have the great fortune to be elected and then all of a sudden have another network of people that I would have never ever met if it wasn't for that. So I'm very grateful not only within our city, Betty Yee, controller, Mike Ng, you know, the whole sphere of people. So it's very, I'm very grateful for that. I want to thank specifically our city manager, city attorney, as you council members will learn, those are your two go-to people when you're here. All the issues, you know, we discussed with Ron and Carl. Thank you guys. We went through a lot. It's been a very memorable 10 years. It's not always been good. It's not always been bad. But we went through it together, and I think that's significant. I want to also thank Paul Talbot, because when Peter and I first began our journey, Paul Talbot was the city manager. And for me, he provided great guidance. For me, I could speak for myself, helping us understand what it is that we do, the process, et cetera. So I want to thank Paul Talbot for that. I want to also thank my mom and dad. I didn't know that at the beginning of this journey, that at the end of the journey, my dad would not be here. But it's all good. I know he's here in spirit. Also, I want to thank my wife. She's not here today. There was an unscheduled scheduling conflict. She sends her regards. But I want to thank her, too. As Peter says, when we get in this profession, It's not just ourselves, our families, especially for me and my wife. So I want to thank you for that. You know, I really want to also thank Fred Cernoso. You know, for those of you who don't know, Fred was a council member with us. He passed halfway into his term from cancer. But during the time that he was around, I really valued his friendship. We became very close friends. I really valued his humor. and I miss him and I didn't want to step down without thanking him as well. And then all the department heads, you know, we have our fire chiefs, Matt Halleck, Scott Weiss, our new police chief, Kelly Gordon as well, Jim Smith as well, Scott Haverly as well. I see Martha in the back there I see Diana Librarian Chris from Superintendent of Parks like I said as you guys will see you're going to have a whole new family of people that you're going to be working with and I want to thank all of you I know I probably am forgetting some people but forgive me for that and really quick I just noticed I saw that O.C. Lee is here O.C. could you raise your hand real quick O.C. if it wasn't for OC I would have nothing on my Facebook page because I don't post anything but I'm very grateful for that and also Nancy Okere I see is sitting there in the back she's one of the few people that like us in the council knows exactly what's going on because she's at every single council meeting so thank you Nancy for your commitment to us and also being part of this big family. You know, I wanted to make a comment. It's interesting, you know, about the room. It's funny because when I was talking to Peter, you know, I said, when we came in the room, do you remember when we were first here the first time? He said, yeah. I said, the room seemed very big, right? And he said, yes. And I go, but now when we look at it, does it seem as big? And he goes, it seems smaller. Right? And you guys will see after sitting up here for 10 years and looking at this room,

it looks big at first but it gets small really quick. You know another thing just really quick

before I conclude it's interesting in terms of the timing because today is a full moon right

so it's so meaningful because at the full moon we have all of these new council members coming in

right tomorrow will be a new day a new phase of the beginning of a new moon right and then for us we'll be beginning our journeys after this as well so it's funny because last night I was looking at the moon. I said, is it full moon tonight? I look up on internet and say, oh no, it's tomorrow. How funny is that? What a coincidence. I want to thank also my colleagues past and present for all of their hard work and I'm excited for you all, every one of you. As all of us said before, we're not going anywhere. We still live in the city and I think as a result of this we have a family that we'll never be able to say goodbye to. So thank you, everybody. Thanks to the residents. Thanks to everyone for their support. And everyone have a great, happy holidays this year. Thank you.

Before we proceed, Councilman Yu, would you like to say any words to our department colleagues?

Yeah, I try to be really quick. I know there's a lot of people need to do presentations.

and I wanted to say, Council Member Chen, you're the first council member to give me advice.

Nominate me to be a General Plant 2040 Commissioner and guide me through all the election process.

During the time we work together, I can see that your heart is dedicated 100% to our community. You are a true community leader with pride and passion.

I admire your dedications and hard work.

I know I will still see you around as your heart is always with our community and with all of us.

Thank you, Council Member Chen, again, for your outstanding public service to our community. Try to make it really fast.

Council Member Liang, I wanted to say that you're always my big brother. Three years ago, when I first got elected to be mayor and early on, you helped me a lot, educate me and remind me on all procedures.

I mentioned it many times that you have outstanding apprehensions and communication skill.

Everything seems to be so clear and easily understood after your interpretation. Your wife, Lonnie, is an angel taking care of everyone at events. You two make the perfect couples. I will miss you and Lonnie since you're living so close. We're almost on the same street. So let's get together more often without worrying about the brown egg.

Thank you, Council Member Liang. And I wish you the best, my big brother. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Very well said, Council Member Liu.

And, you know, have I tried to compose my thoughts?

You know, I really want to thank Peter and Hans.

You know, when Yvonne, myself, and Fred were elected,

none of us anticipated that the week after the election or the two weeks that the world would change when the pandemic was declared.

And certainly we had our moments of challenge, but also moments of great accomplishments here in the city.

And I know for me personally, whom I've known both of you for probably,

God, it's like over 25 years, longer.

I really want to thank you for your involvement,

not just elected officials, but in the community,

to your dedication to make Mario Park a better place for its residents. I also want to take this time to thank the families, your families, your friends, for allowing Mario Park to have your time and your energy. We thank you very much for sharing these two with the city.

It's never easy to run for office. There are many demands.

but I think that what you have shown

as far as leadership is that

to lead is to lead with optimism

to lead is with passion

and to lead is with dedication and I truly believe that the work that you have accomplished embodies our city motto above us

pride in the past, faith in the future

and so thank you so much I will surely miss you.

I know you'll still stay involved. And as Yvonne said, yes, I'm looking forward to be able to hang out with all of you

and not have to worry about violating the Brown Act. Ha, ha, ha. Applause

Okay. Now.

So the first one is Enrique Lopez, representing Judy Chu, Congresswoman Judy Chu.

Hello Council.

It's a pleasure to be here. Again, my name is Enrique Robles, and I'm the Deputy Chief of Staff for Congresswoman Judy Chu. It's a real honor to be here and to recognize four outstanding leaders who have served both the city of Monterey Park and the greater San Gabriel Valley. As has been said, it's no easy task to be an elected official. You're constantly asked to fix problems.

People get angry at you. You're taken away from your families, and as a consequence, you miss out on a lot of important moments in your lives.

But make no mistake, your sacrifice has not been in vain. Each of you have given significant portions of your lives to better the lives of other people here in the city of Monterey Park and across the region.

All you have to do is drive around the city and you can see the positive impact that each of you have made. On behalf of Congresswoman Judy Chu, who is a former mayor and council member of the city and knows full well what it's like to sit on that dais and the pressures that come with it, it gives me great honor to present to you a certificate of congressional recognition for the incredible work that you've done over the last several years. So come on down for,

I have a certificates for council members, Hans Leong, Peter Chan, city clerk, Vincent Chang, and Joseph Leon city treasurer.

Thank you.

or raise your hand and show that there's open seats.

We do have some individuals standing in the back.

So individuals in the back, if you'd like to come and take a seat,

there is seats available where the hands are risen over here and over here.

There is seats available if you'd like to come sit down. Thank you.

Okay, the next speaker is Jennifer Tang representing Assemblymember Mike Fong.

Good evening. My name is Jennifer Tang, and I am district director for Assemblymember Mike Fong. I'm also a proud resident of Monterey Park, and it is truly my honor to say a heartfelt thank you to our outgoing officials, Vincent Chang, Joseph Leung, Peter Chan, and Hans Leung. Public service is really a labor of love. It's sacrifice, as we've heard. It's long hours. It is responsibility. And let's be honest, it's also suffering and sometimes being criticized and yelled at. But I know that you endure all of this because of your deep love for our amazing city. I will always appreciate the conversations with all of you regarding important city issues. Thank you for always being open to residents' concerns and hearing us out. I hope you will enjoy more quiet time from now on. Because of your service over the last nine plus years, Monterey Park continues to be a great place to live, and it really is a special community. And tonight is a great example, as Mayor Henry Lo referenced, to our city motto, Pride in the Past, Faith in the Future. So to our city clerk, city treasurer, and council members, thank you for making us proud.

On behalf of Assemblymember Mike Fong, I have certificates of recognition on behalf of the California State Legislature. for Councilmembers Hans Liang, Peter Chan, City Clerk Vincent Chang, as well as City Treasurer Joseph Liang. Thank you so much, everybody.

Thank you.

Come on, we'll see.

Thank you, thank you. Thank you.

All right. Our next speaker is County Assessor Jeffrey Prang. Thank you.

I didn't bring anything for the two of you because you already got it. But thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here in this council chambers once again. I want to pay a special tribute to my good friends Hans and Peter. When I first ran for county assessor back in 2014, the two of you were two of the first people who reached out to me and embraced me. and both of you have served as an important advisor and provided guidance to me, helping me understand this community, the culture, San Gabriel Valley. And candidly, Monterey Park is probably a place where I spend more time than virtually any other cities of the 88 cities in this county. And that's due in no small part to the welcome that you have provided me and keeping me informed about what's happening here. And I really am very, very grateful. Monterey Park has been very fortunate to have your service these last nine to ten years. I've been fortunate to include you as friends, and I want to thank you for your service and wish you continued success and prosperity and happiness in all that you do. I also want to thank you, Vincent and Joseph, for your service to the community. I have to say that I apologize.

for whatever reason we didn't it didn't occur to us that there was most cities don't have elected city treasurers and clerks so it didn't occur to us that tonight was your departure as well otherwise I would have certificates to recognize your service I will provide those to you but I do want to thank you both for your leadership for your friendship and for your contribution

to the city of Monterey Park it is an honor for me to be here to share a part of this special day in acknowledging your time in the city of Monterey Park. So on behalf of the county, thank you very much for your leadership and look forward to see you on the trail. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you, Jeff.

See you tomorrow.

Okay. Next is the Alhambra School District.

For school board, Bob Jen.

Well, Peter and Hans, it's a pleasure to know you as a friend for many years since I've been on the board of education. This is my 20th year. I just got re-elected for my sixth term, so I understand what you go through. It's been a pleasure working with both of you and the city council, because I always believe that working with the city and the school district has to work hand-in-hand. It takes a village to raise a kid, and I think our city has done quite a bit working with the police department, working with the fire department, especially during the COVID situation, where we were able to use Mark Keppel as a vaccination site for our senior citizen. I think we did it for two weekends, and I think that was one of the greatest things that we could do for our community. And also, the city helped us vaccinate some of our employees, too. But besides that, Peter and Hans, being on the Board of Education is always working with kids, and you guys always find time to come out and support our students, and we really want to thank you.

I have certificates for both of you. In recognition of your outstanding service as council members of the City of Monarch Park and amending contribution to the community, schools, and students of the Alhamdon Unified School District. We commend you for providing exceptional service and extend our best wishes for continuous success. Thank you.

Okay, next we have Troy Grant, who is representing the Monterey Park Police Officers.

Okay, next we have Troy Grant, who is representing the Monterey Park Police Officers Association.

good evening members of the council and the public it's an honor and a privilege to be here tonight my name is Troy Grant I am president of the Monterey Park Police Officer Association

and I represent the police officers here in Monterey Park and I'm here tonight to recognize

Peter and Hans. I want to take a minute to thank you for your service. Thank you for your friendship.

Thank you for your support and the service as well to the city. And I know my police officers will continue to support you and we're here for you anytime you need us. So thank you. Thank you.

I will present to you each one of these awards to you with a plaque of recognition. Let me just

get them out of the box here and I will move on with this presentation.

Okay.

I'll go ahead and talk this morning.

I'll go ahead and talk this morning. I'll go ahead and talk this morning. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

We have one more person that came, she just came in,

Cindy Wu from the Mountain View School District.

Good evening, everyone. It's so great to see my president of Chinese Elected Official, which currently Councilman Hong serves on, and media past president, well, actually a couple times ago, but past president of Chinese Elected Official.

My name is Cindy Wu, representing Mountain View School District that covers El Monte and South El Monte. And I just want to say on behalf of El Monte and also our school districts, and I just want to thank you for all the service that you have done,

and also on behalf of Chinese elected official that I currently serve on with many, like Yvonne also serves on the exact board as well and many other here in the audience. But thank you both for your service. you know as many of us that has been involved in the school board obviously we are there for the dedication because of the future of our children and I know you both really serviced your your city as well and I know the legacy that you have left will continue to be there and congratulations to those that's also retiring from clerk and treasurer as well but on behalf of Almonte and South Almonte and Mountain View School District, thank you both for all your service and I look forward to and congratulations to the up-and-coming new leadership for the city. Thank you so much. and congratulations to the up and coming new leadership for the city. Thank you so much.

All right. Thank you. Are we good? No. All right. Thank you.

Are we good?

No.

Oh.

Okay. Well, Caleb Kwok.

Thank you.

We also have our representative, Victoria Chavez.

So on behalf of our board of directors, Greater Monumentary Chamber of Commerce, we really appreciate our council, Hans Leung, and also our respectable council, Peter Chen. and about also our another outgoing city treasurer and city clerk, Joseph Leon and Vincent Chan. Back those days we have a lot of events and a lot of times and I really appreciate respectable both of you to be participate and engage and also be there and help chamber to grow and be success and on behalf of our board we have Victoria and also Caleb do you guys want to say something just just just

really brief Wow let me call you Peter Peter thank you very much thank you for the friendship and your help and Hans it's a pleasure to know you as as a friend. Thank you for your inspiration. And for Joseph, thank you for your service and your story inspired me. And Vincent, I think you went above and beyond your job duty. I know a lot of them from your Facebook post. So thank you all for your service.

Just to say thank you for your service. and good job done.

So thank you for your friendship

and your support in all our activities. Thank you.

So in appreciation,

your dedicated service to our wonderful community

and also business community, Chamber of Commerce,

we're here to honor you with this trophy. This is not one time.

is for our lifetime trophies. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Wow. Thank you. I think any other presentations? Last chance for the outgoing. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you so very much. Mayor, hold on. Yes, sir, yes. I'm sorry. I think we also have Mayor Maloney on the line. Okay, please. Okay. Mayor Maloney.

And while we're transitioning to that, I also want to mention that State Senator Susan Rubio actually has certificates for Joseph Leone, Vincent, Peter, and Hans. So we have certificates here. Okay. Well, let me thank the senator for providing

the certificates. Mayor Molley. Hello. Thanks everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person. Hopefully you can hear me okay. It's kind of a bittersweet night tonight to see some of our friends go. You know, Alhambra and Monterey Park, I think, share a very special relationship. We share so many similarities in our demographics and the history of our two cities. And I know we compete for some of the best food in the region. And I saw your mayor bragging about a couple of entries into the LA Times 101. I won't tell you how many Alhambra had, but we're blessed to be in this area all together. I think I've shared some really nice times and some very good conversations over the years with my friends. constantly on and we have talked about the issues facing our communities we've shared some really good stories and it's been just enjoyable seeing them around um i got to know um vincent cheng quite a bit over the years as well and he's he's um shared shares a lot of the same objectives and goals about our communities that i do i haven't worked as much with mr leone but your dedication to the community is clear and clearly you've done a lot of great work modern park is a wonderful community and i'm blessed to call that as part of my community and i just want to say thank you to our outgoing elected officials on behalf of the city of valhamburg and the city council our vice mayor soon to be mayor in what um five days or so is there in person tonight so i appreciate her presence there but on behalf of all of us thank you for your work congratulations and a job well done as you move on to um other things riding bikes and and relaxing and spending more time to be able. So thank you very much. Thanks for all your work.

Okay. Any more?

Are we? Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much. So

again, thank you everyone who made presentations to honor

our outgoing public officials here in Monterey Park. We're now going to recess for 15 minutes.

Oops. Sorry. I jumped the gun. Okay. Sorry about that. Okay.

Item 2C. Sorry about that.

Adopting a resolution certifying the results of the November 8, 2022 general and special municipal elections.

State clerk, report please. Thank you, Mayor.

So, the city held a special municipal election on November 8, 2022.

Three individuals were elected to the City Council from District 1 and 5 for a term of four years and District 3 for a term of two years. A city clerk, a city treasurer for a term of four years. Additionally, voters considered ballot proposition Measure MP regarding a general tax.

The election was consolidated with the statewide general election.

On June 1st, 2022, the City Council called for a general election to be held on November 8th, 2022, to elect the three individuals.

Following are the election results.

Thomas Wong was elected to City Council District 1. Jose Sanchez was elected to City Council District 3. Vin Ngo was elected to City Council District 5. May Xiao Yi was elected as City Clerk and Amy Yi was elected as City Treasurer. Measure MP was adopted by a majority of the voters.

Following the adoption of the resolution certifying the results for the City of Monterey Park, General Municipal Election,

the City Clerk would administer the oath of office and

present a certificate of election to the elected office holders as required by

the California Election Code. immediately thereafter the council members may assume their elected office

so the recommendation is to adopt a resolution certifying the results move

to approve item 2b or sorry 2c second moved by councilor Lang second by

Councilor Chan. Members, please vote.

Please vote again.

The vote's unanimous, motion carries.

Thank you. Thank you very much, members.

Okay, we are now recessed for 10 minutes and we will reconvene at 7.50 so that we can proceed with the oath of office

to our newly elected officials.

So we're now at recess. And there's refreshments in the back. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Can you like that?

Oh. What? You wanna do what? You wanna do it? You know, I can't.

I'm not ready.

So we are going to proceed with our agenda soon. Everyone please, prepare to take your seats.

Hello, if I could get everybody to go back to their seats. We're gonna resume the meeting here in a little bit. Thank you.

Okay, well we will be proceeding with the we need everyone to take their seats

or we won't be able to do it.

Oh, hey, how you doing?

How you doing?

Come on. Come on. Come on. Huh? Thank you, come on, thank you. Thank you, thank you. How are you folks? We, yeah, oh thank you. Thank you, thank you.

Folks, it's 7.52. Please take your feet, please.

I won't leave. Prepare to take your seats.

Right.

Okay, everyone please take your, what?

Oh, all right, well, let's see.

Oops.

I know, I know.

I just want to be respectful. No, no, of course, of course, of course. But I think we'll be fine. Yeah. We can still follow the order. Okay, all right, all right.

Okay, okay, oops.

All right, folks, if we can please take our seats, please.

Everyone, please take your seats, please. Ha, ha, ha.

Huh? Oh, is that what? Oh.

Everyone, if you'll please take your, oh, this is better. If you'll take your seats, please.

Everyone, please take your seats. Ha, ha, ha. What? All right. All right.

Testing, can you guys hear me? Just making sure my audio is working.

All right. All right.

Okay.

Thank you so very much. And now we're going to resume today's session. And we will proceed to item 2D, the oath of office to newly elected officials. First, our incoming city clerk, Mayshell Yee.

Good evening, everyone. Can you hear me? Good evening. Hi. I'm so sorry that I can't be with you tonight in person. Everyone knows I really enjoy a good party, and it looks like a really fabulous one there tonight. First and foremost, I'd like to thank the voters who have entrusted me with this very important responsibility, the position of city clerk. I'm honored, I'm humbled, and forever grateful for the faith that you have in me. Through your votes, you have spoken loudly and resoundingly. We want change, and I'm so excited to see what the future has in store for us. Tonight is a momentous occasion as we continue the time-honored tradition of the peaceful transfer of power. Your attendance tonight and support demonstrates our commitment to the democratic process for which our forefathers and the men and women of our armed forces fight for day in and day out. Our resolve is steadfast, our determination is unwavering, and hope is enduring. On that note, to ensure a seamless transition, since I can't be there tonight, a seamless transition of speakers, our Deputy City Clerk, Cindy Trangle, be graciously assisting me with the remainder of the meeting. Thank you, Cindy. I'll let you take over from here.

Thank you.

Thank you, City Clerk Yee. Michelle was just sworn in,

so she is officially the City Clerk of Monterey Park.

Congratulations, City Clerk Yee.

Okay, and next I'm going to proceed

with other positions of the elected officials.

I want to introduce the...

I'll bring up Isabella Lee, the daughter of Amy Lee, to swear in our new city treasurer, Amy Lee. Thank you.

Please raise your right hand. Please raise your right hand and repeat after me.

I, Amy Lee, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States

and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies.

against all enemies, foreign and domestic,

that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and to the Constitution of the State of California, and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, City Treasurer Amy Lee.

Thank you. Next I want to bring up the city of our Hambra Vice Mayor,

Adele Andrade Steller. and she will be throwing in Jose Sanchez to District 3 Councilmember

Jose Sanchez

First and foremost, happy birthday, Mia. Please repeat after me and raise your right hand. I, your name.

I, Jose Sanchez.

Do solemnly affirm. that I will support and defend

the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,

both foreign and domestic,

and that I will bear faith and allegiance to the same.

That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I'm about to enter.

So help me God.

Thank you.

By the way, my beautiful wife Natalie, who's also a teacher, like myself.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

That's council member Sanchez.

You can take your seat.

And next I want to bring up our state controller, Betty Yee.

Good evening, everyone. It's really an honor and a pleasure to be here to administer the oath to newly elected

City Councilmember Thomas Wong, who, as many of you know, is no stranger to Monterey Park,

having served Monterey Park on the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District.

And I know, just as he's served in my external affairs office here in Los Angeles, that he

will be an inclusive member of this council, joining Mayor Lo, Councilmember Yu, and all of our newly elected council members.

And so, Thomas, congratulations, and let's make this official.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. Aye, state your name.

Aye, Thomas Wong.

Do solemnly swear.

That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

And the Constitution of the State of California.

Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance.

to the Constitution of the United States

and the Constitution of the State of California

that I take this obligation freely

without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion

and that I will well and faithfully

discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

Congratulations, Councilmember.

Thank you.

Thank you. And that's Council Member Wong.

Council Member Wong, please take your seat, please.

And next I want to bring up former State Assembly Member Mike Ng.

Thank you so much and good evening.

and then and then incoming officers, please allocate more money for heating for the council chambers.

When I served, it never was this cold.

It's quite an honor.

Yeah, I'll use this one.

Anyone else?

As a former council member, I am very honored to swear in Vin Ngo to this Monarch Park City Council. Vin, as you know, has been a real community leader.

He's an elected official for the Garbage School District.

He has a background in banking.

He has also been a leader with the Chinatown Service Center, a leader with the Garvey Education Foundation, and the Garvey Unified School District Board of Prestige.

It's quite an honor. I know when I was on the council, we had a lot of people swearing at us, but it's an honor tonight to swear you in.

Okay.

All right.

Raise your right hand. Would you state your name? Aye.

Aye. I, Ving Go, do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution

of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies,

against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance

to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation

or purpose of evasion,

and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties

upon which I am about to enter.

Congratulations, City Council Member. Then go.

Thank you so much.

We'll take a couple of pictures,

and I'd like to bring my dad and my brother and Amy. We'll come up here for a quick picture.

Thank you for schooling very well.

We can buy a house in my family. Thank you.

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . Congratulations.

Audience Member 3

And that's Councilmember Gold.

Okay, well, let's see. Let's proceed, and if council will indulge me,

I'd like to go again to welcome our new city council.

Clerk, please do the roll call for new council members.

Thank you, Mayor.

Council member Yu. Here. Council member Go. Present.

Council member Wong. Here. Council member Sanchez. Here.

And Mayor Lo. Here. All present, thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, moving on to introduction and comments by newly elected officials.

First, our city clerk, if she is still here.

I'll reserve my comments for the next meeting when I get to come with my daughter.

Thank you.

Director of Public Works. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Next. City Treasurer. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It's an honor to be here today to represent the people of Monterey Park as your incoming City Treasurer. I want to take this moment to thank all the dignitaries, my supporters, my friends, new and old, and my neighbors who are here today. tonight. But most importantly, I want to thank my family who have provided unconditional support during this election. As your City Treasurer, I want to pledge to each and every resident that I will advocate for you and ensure the public funds are secure, accessible, and wisely invested for the future of Monterey Park. I look forward to serving the community and working with the City Council and City staff. Together we will continue the legacy of Monterey Park. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, now it's time for our newly minted council members

to give their remarks. I'm going to first ask Council Member Vingo.

Make sure that works. And it does look smaller from up here.

I'm looking at a model here, pride in the past and faith in the future. I reflect here, I was actually in this council, many of you may not know. I was here in 1990 as a high school junior, did a public service announcement here for an AIDS project, and actually did it in Spanish.

That was part of a project.

Many people ask why I ran for city council. especially the folks that work in the bank. It's like you don't have enough time in the day to do this, Ben. But I said, we're going to do this because we're going to serve.

And serving is what we do. Serving is what I do.

Because this community has given me so much. Growing up as an immigrant family, having a paper route in the district where I grew up in, working in a restaurant here, busting tables, and then actually in the summer under a RLP program in the police department. And now I'm serving the city as city councilman. If I can do it, anyone in the audience can do it.

I'm blessed to have role models in my life.

As you saw earlier, we had a number of them. And I wanted to talk about them a little bit. Miriam Sumimoto, teacher at Garvey School District, long-time teacher, PTA mom, my sixth

grade teacher. She served all her life.

Roy Hassel, who I met at the Chinatown Service Center as a board member, he's been around

a while.

He served on a number of nonprofit boards, Telugu, Chinatown Service Center, Bilingual Arts Foundation, Advancing Justice, among others. Bob Jin, local product, spent here

50 plus years. Our Hamburg Unified School Board, Brueggemar Library, Boy Scouts.

Feng Lo, mentor of mine at the bank, she served on the Advancing Justice Board and

more importantly she served at the bank's employee network, the Asian Employee Network, which she handed the keys to me, and my job was to make it run and run bigger and faster. And Phong, we're bigger and faster today because of you. Russell Wong, Russell, retiree PD. Russell's kids and my kids went to New Avenue at one point, and we both volunteered as parents, and we both volunteer as coaches for

the teams.

Tanya Wong, served on the Chantown Service Center. She grew

up around here back in the 80s. She's come back, and she's serving

the community. Jimmy Hang, Jimmy,

friend for a long time.

I say he's the neighborhood

watcher with his dog, Stewie. He watches all the neighbors

in a safe way.

Beatrice where are you Beatrice Beatrice Galoza

she's a career

her career is in mental health so she's already serving her community

more importantly she's the mental rate president

so she's serving more than just the community but also the local community

and then we left the space there

because we have two matriarchs

that we lost in the last year

One is our CSC, Chinatown Service Center Board, Emeritus, Bishu,

and the other one is my mom, who passed away. But I know we left the spacers because they're smiling up above looking at us.

I'm starting a new journey on the city council.

I'm blessed to get the support of a lot of the people here, the elected officials. And I'll try to be short so I'll not go through all the names, but many are sitting here today.

I want to thank you. I want to thank a lot of the folks who actually did the canvassing and walked with me.

And my only return for your support and endorsement and thank is to tell you the reciprocality of that is that you have my commitment, my duty, and my obligation to serve this community, which we all love.

going back to the pride in the past, which you talk about.

And we are part of the faith in the future.

We're going to make the city safer, stronger, and better for our future.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilman Ngo. Next, Councilman Wong.

Thank you, Mayor Lo and my new council colleagues. I appreciate being up here and honored guests. I'd like to start with a few thank yous as well. Travis, my partner, who's been putting up with me through the campaign and for the next four years at least of lots of late nights and conversations around what's going on in our city. My parents are here as well over there. My dad, who was my Uber volunteer on the campaign, really appreciate all your efforts. My mom, who translated all my mailers and all my materials and probably will in a volunteer capacity going forward, continue to translate for a lot of things going forward. My brother here, Deanne, and my brother Michael is, I think, watching still, hopefully, this streaming as he's out of town. The Honorable Betty Yee, thank you so much for swearing me in tonight and doing me that honor. I appreciate your service to the state of California and our communities. And thank you so much for your mentorship and setting an example for me as a public servant and someone who's really dedicated to making change and making our communities better. To my many friends, colleagues, supporters, I would not be here without you. Many of you are here, and I appreciate you coming out, especially here tonight, to support me. It's hard to express how truly special this moment is for me. Many of you know I was born and raised here in Monterey Park, just up the street at Garfield Medical Center. My immigrant parents settled here and raised my brothers and me in this very community. I have a lot of fond memories playing in our local parks, swimming with the manta rays, going to play days just on the other side of this wall getting lost one at least one time when I was

a young kid and crying for my parents and hanging out watching after reruns at my grandparents

apartment right up the street on Ramona which was right across from my elementary school a lot of memories too many to mention here tonight it's been my privilege to serve the past 10 years on the water district board the San Diego Valley Municipal Water District representing the city of Monterey Park and our community. I'm excited to continue my service to the city in this new role as your council member. I'm deeply, truly honored to lead and serve my hometown. This community gave me and my family the opportunity to raise so much, the opportunity to raise a family in a safe environment, to receive a quality education, to build lasting friendships, and to find meaningful and dignified work, the opportunity to pursue and achieve the American and the California dream for ourselves. Our city model above us has been mentioned a number of times. It states pride in the past and faith in the future. In this moment, I'm filled with pride in our shared history and the progress we've made as a community over the years and over the decades. A community that is welcomed and continues to support new generations of immigrants, families, and small businesses, and that tackles the challenges of the day head on. I have full faith that if we come together, we can build a vibrant, even brighter future filled with the same opportunities for all our families to pursue and achieve their own dreams now and for generations to come here in Monterey Park. To my council colleagues, my new council colleagues, fellow elected officials, the dedicated city staff, many of which are sitting up there above the seats, I'm looking forward to working together in the years ahead to achieve our shared vision for opportunity and for below the city. Let's get to work. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much, Councillor Wong.

Now, our new Mayor Potem, Jose Sanchez.

Thank you.

Good evening, my Monterey Park brothers and sisters, fellow residents. I first wanted to thank the people of Monterey Park who have exercised the most valuable of American virtues, the right to vote, and who have tonight chosen to elect among its residents fellow Monterey Park Americans to represent them in this great city of ours. For those of you guys who don't know, I'm a teacher. I'm a teacher at Alhambra High School. I've been there for 17 years, and I teach civics. And I think there's no better lesson that I can teach my kids and that I will be sharing tomorrow morning in my classroom than what is happening here tonight. And I know that who's also a teacher and teaches right next door to me, and my daughter, who's a student at Brightwood Elementary School here in Monterey Park. So I know that I'm very proud of the roots that we are laying and the service that I have already provided for the last 17 years here in this community. And I take great pride in being able to serve this community in this different capacity. I also want to take this moment to thank my beautiful wife, Natalie, who I just mentioned a couple of times because I know that without her, this would have not been possible. She has blessed us with three beautiful daughters, my daughter Mia, who's just birthday today.

She's turned six today.

And my two other daughters, Dolly and Bella, who are at home with Grandma and Grandpa.

I also want to thank many of my supporters, Congresswoman Judy Chu, the Honorable Mike Ng, Assemblymember Mike Fong, my mentor Councilwoman Adele Andrade-Stadlin, if you didn't know our Vice Mayor, I also had her daughter as a student of mine in my classroom so I appreciate your support. Jennifer Tang who has been a great confidant, especially during this election, thank you, I appreciate you and of course our Mayor Henry Lo, who's provided a lot of guidance and many others who are here I thank you. There is a sense of love and unity in here that really captured this night and diversity in this room, and I hope it will always remain and permeate in these chambers. I know that tonight is a celebration, but we gather not just to celebrate the victory of man in terms of voting, but rather the success of democracy, especially in this day and age. That while division may exist in this country, the seeds of division do not exist in these chambers. Hence, let us strive to be a community. A community that celebrates democracy and practices democracy and puts it to action. Let us be a community that celebrates our diversity, but not just diversity of race and ethnicity, although we have that and that's something that we're really proud of here in Monterey Park, but also diversity of thought, diversity of faith, diversity of genders and identities. Let us be that community that comes together to bridge differences rather than sow seeds of division. Let us be a community that strives to preserve our environment for future generations and not contribute to its degradation. Let us be a community that helps lift our most vulnerable populations, immigrants, our needy, our homeless families, and that in the Christian faith of thought, treat them as we would our own kin. Let us be a community that promotes pedestrian walkways, bicycle lanes, and create spaces in our cities for man's leisurely activities instead of just car-centric spaces. Let us come together and work together as a community. And as a community, there is no obstacle we can't conquer. There is no feat we can't overcome. Last night, I learned of a horrible car accident here in Monterey Park that cost the lives of two individuals in our city. and while the details are not important, their memory is. I ask our Lord to comfort the families of the victims and to also bless our gathering and our undertaking here today. There is no doubt that we have a great deal of work ahead of us, but I know that with God's help, there's nothing that we can't achieve as a community. I think all of my supporters, my family and friends, and I know I have some family members who are sick but are watching on Zoom,

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez.

Okay, next, I believe we have some presentations for incoming elected officials.

Clerk, proceed, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

First, let me call up our Assemblymember, Mike Fong. Thank you.

Thank you.

to our communities is undeniable. And thank you to the outgoing council members Hans Liang, Peter Chan, Vincent Chang, Joseph Liang, for your leadership and efforts here in the community. Thank you for everything you're doing. And to our elected leaders, Patroller Bede Yee,

Assessor Prang, and all the elected officials community leaders that are celebrating this moment to honor our incoming council members. The Honorable Thomas Wong, who's led at the highest levels of our water core, and he's been a very active leader in the greater St. LaValle for many years. Thank you for your leadership and stepping up.

Councilor Bingo, thank you so much for your leadership and efforts here in the community. We're very grateful for your leadership and efforts on the Carver School Board and everything we're going to do for Ways and in Monterey Park. And the Honorable Mayor Proton and Jose Sanchez, thank you for your leadership

and efforts as well. Everything you've done in the civic engagement at the Tampa High School

and in the community. And to our city treasurer

and the league, congratulations. I look forward to working with you and your team and to the Honorable Michelle Yee. Congratulations as the incoming city clerk of the great city of Monterey Park. As you heard earlier, the tremendous sacrifice that each and every one of you has made to step up and serve the residents of our great city. Please reach out to our office if there's anything we can be of assistance. Jennifer Tang, our district director, is here today, and she's also a very big leader in the great city of Monterey Park on the library board as the president of the board of trustees, and very grateful for the opportunity to work with all of you. I know I know many of you bring varied backgrounds in education, law, environment, to justice, finance, and policy that will shape the future of Monterey Park for generations to come. So on behalf of the California State Legislature and the 49th Assembly District, I'd like to present certificates to the Honorable Thomas Wong, City Council of the Great City of Monterey Park. On behalf of the California State Assembly, it's my distinct honor and privilege to present you with this certificate in recognition of your outstanding leadership and efforts and upon your swearing in as Monterey Park City Councilmember. Thank you for serving and stepping up to be an advocate for the great city of Monterey Park. I commend your efforts and successes. Congratulations, best wishes. I give the Honorable Thomas a big round of applause.

And the Honorable Jose Sanchez, the Mayor Pro Tem, on behalf of the California State Assembly.

Congratulations, best wishes.

We look forward to your leadership and efforts here on the Monterey Park City Council.

So let's give a warm, a round of applause to the Honorable Jose Sanchez.

And to the Honorable Vingo, who's done tremendous work with the Chinatown Service Center, amazing organization here in the community.

Let's give you a big round of applause.

Congratulations, best wishes.

And to the Honorable Amy Lee, City Treasurer of the Great City of Marlin Park, Congratulations, best wishes. Look forward to working with you.

And we also have one for the Honorable Michelle Yee. I know she's on Zoom, but we have it here.

And congratulations, Michelle, on your leadership and efforts. Thank you for stepping up and serving

as City Clerk of the Great City Women Park. Let's give her a big round of applause. Thank you so much.

Am I in?

Look at the end floor.

Thank you.

Okay, and can I have Enrique Robles on behalf of the Office of Congresswoman Judy Chu?

Hello. It's a really exciting moment because we're getting to have five incredible individuals who are ready to lead the city to new heights. Jose, we've worked together a lot with your students. The work that you've done in educating them has been remarkable, so we know that you're going to do an amazing job here in the city. Vin, the things that you did during the pandemic, the families you helped, the work you've done with Chinatown Service Center, your skills will be extremely invaluable here on the city council. And Thomas, you've been a dear friend of mine. You've mentored me, helped me out with my life as a staffer, and you've been an incredible board member. I was just speaking to Evelyn Reyes at the Water District, and she's extremely sad that you're leaving because not only were you an incredible advocate for sustainable water, but you were an incredible advocate for the personnel, the staff there, and she's going to miss you dearly. And to our newly elected Amy Lee and Michelle, we may not have met before, but I'm looking forward to working with both of you. And all together, it's your responsibility to make sure that Monterey Park becomes number one on those lists. So I have certificates of congressional recognition on behalf of your victories. Our office is open any time. We're here to all make a difference and help our community, so please reach out if we can be of help. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

And once again, our L.A. County Assessor's Office, Jeffrey Prang.

Good evening, once again, Mr. Mayor, honorable members of the Council. I'm Jeff Prang, the L.A. County Assessor. I am thrilled to be here today to congratulate all of the new elected officials. I particularly want, well, I don't mean to diminish the congratulations to all of you, but I particularly want to give a shout-out to my friend Thomas, who I've known for a decade and watched you grow as a public official over the year. I'm really excited for you on this new journey. Jose, it's great to meet you this evening. I'm looking forward to working with you in the years ahead. And Vin, I've gotten to know you in the last couple of years as well. and very excited to see you continuing your public service from one agency to another. I particularly want to offer my strong sentiments to the city manager, who has five new elected officials he's going to have to manage. I urge all of you to be merciful to him as he gets you all broken in. I also want to acknowledge our new city treasurer, Lee, forgive me, and City Clerk Yee, congratulations on your election as well. I brought a certificate for each of you. Hopefully you'll hang it on your wall proudly with the thousands of others you're going to receive tonight. But just keep in mind that mine is the one that you might want to include a copy in with your tax bill.

It's special treatment. I was a city council member for 18 years in the city of West Hollywood.

It was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.

You'll have the opportunity to contribute wonderful things for an already marvelous city.

Monterey Park is an incredibly well-managed city that provides very high-quality services for the people.

And the one thing about being a council member, you'll do things and you'll be able to drive down the street and say, something is better in my community.

Somebody was helped today that I can view, I can see it because of the decision that I made. And there's nothing more rewarding than being able to do that. I'm envious of all of you. Wish you all the greatest success. And congratulations to each of you in your new roles. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. And next we have Frank Liu from the office of Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Good evening. My name is Frank Liu. I serve as a field deputy in AAPI liaison in the office of Supervisor Hilda Solis. It's an honor for me to be here tonight, not only to witness the peaceful transfer of power, an American tradition that has stood the test of time for almost 250 years, but also to usher in a new era for Monterey Park with three new council members and a new city clerk and city treasurer.

It's a truly incredible thing, and the supervisor congratulates you all on your victories and wishes you all well

because your success directly translates to the benefit of the community. So we wish you all the best of luck, and we look forward to working with all of you.

With that, I have certificates for the three new council members.

I would like to apologize to the city clerk and treasurer. We will be processing those certificates, and I will be delivering them to you.

But I would like to present these certificates to Thomas Wong,

Vin Ngo, and Jose Sanchez. Thank you.

You all know the drill now.

Ha ha ha.

Keep your smile coming.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, council members. You may take your seat.

I have Andrew Yang from Garvey School Board. I guess member-elect wants to make a few remarks.

Of course, please.

Mr. M.

Andrew.

Thank you.

My apologies.

I was speaking to the county assessor, so that was my reason. But I just wanted to give a congratulations to all the newly elected officials of the City of Monterey Park. You know, from the Garvey School Board, we had our current board vice president, Maureen Chin, here.

Unfortunately, she had to leave. She just asked me to pass on some remarks.

Thank you all so much for your public service.

I would be remiss to not mention that our current outgoing president, we've now given him to the City of Monterey Park. So please take care of him well. I've heard that he works hard. He's been a fantastic mentor.

So, again, well, best wishes and take care, everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you. And we also have the City of Alhambra, Mayor Jeff Maloney on Zoom, that wants to make a remark as well.

Sure. Thank you. Mayor Maloney.

In the meantime, I just want to mention that California State Senator Susan Rubio also sends over certificates for our elected officials.

Thank you very much. Senator Ruba's office. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council.

It's my pleasure to offer sincere congratulations to our incoming council members and our two elected city treasurer and city clerk.

Thomas is a really good friend of mine. I'm older than he is, but he still mentored me when I was first running for office about many things and what I should be prepared for.

So I'm really pleased that he's there. He's an excellent public servant and extremely bright person.

And I know he'll be a great leader for the city of Monterey Park.

Vin, I think your work speaks for itself between all of your professional experience and your extracurricular endeavors as well.

I think you are a model of a citizen in a community.

that makes trips over to the city council meeting with his students. And it's always very impressive to hear what they're learning. So if they can bring some of that leadership to the city of Monterey Park,

you're gonna be in good shape. I look forward to getting to know Michelle and Amy a little bit better in the future,

but you conducted impressive campaigns and you won. So you're to be commended for that. I look forward to working with you.

It's a great day in the city of Monterey Park. and I just wanted to offer congratulations on behalf of City of Elhambra and the Council of Elhambra. Thank you.

That's all the presentation, Mayor.

Thank you, Cindy.

And before we proceed, I'd like to invite my colleague Yvonne Yu.

Would you like to share a few words? Yeah, actually, I would say they are the lucky group to celebrate in person. This is my first time to see that many people in City Hall, and I have all my biggest moments on Zoom. When I was newly elected council member, Mayor Pro Tem, Mayor, then outgoing Mayor, it's all on Zoom. So I'm jealous, but now I can finally feel the joy and excitement in person.

From the bottom of my heart, I'm so, so, so excited to see all the new members joining us tonight, starting tonight. I know it's not easy, and all your hard work has paid off. I look forward to working closely with all of you. I know we have the last three years as our honeymoon period, and without drama or conflict. I know our next two years will continue our honeymoon. I look forward to our great partnership. My goal is to do the right thing for our people and to sleep well at night.

Welcome, everyone. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Dr. Ray Yu. And if you'll indulge me, allow me to say a few words.

It is a new day for City of Monterey Park,

and I am looking forward to working with all of you to move our community forward.

each of these new members I have a history with, Mr. Vinco.

We served on the Garvey School Board together,

and certainly I have been so impressed with your leadership

in seeing the school district through the pandemic,

as well as your leadership in raising the visibility

of the Garvey Education Foundation.

And so I think we are very fortunate to have you serve on our city council.

To my friend Thomas Wong, whom I have known for many years,

And, you know, you have inspired so many young people to be involved, to be aware of issues of civic engagement, the environment, water conservation. And as Mayor Jeff Bowling said, you know, although I also am older than you,

but certainly I have been really fortunate to have conversations with you,

to hear your stage advice, and I am looking forward to serving with you on the City Council.

And to our Mayor Pro Temp Jose Sanchez, you know, before we even met you, I read about you in the newspapers because of your incredible work as a teacher, as an educator, with your amazing program and project to get students to talk about important issues like gun violence, like civil engagement, to be able to actually work with our member of Congress, Judy Chu, on important legislation.

and those of us who have served in education or worked in that sphere know that the cornerstone of our democracy is to have an informed and engaged community. And so I'm really looking forward to seeing how we can work with not just our school districts

because, again, we are not silos.

We are all in this community together. but to see really how we can raise the visibility, raise expectations for our community to be involved,

to be part of our governance here in Monterey Park.

And with that, I am very looking forward to all of you.

Thank you.

Okay. Moving on, we now have staff communications.

Our first communication is from our library. and I know we have with us our librarian Diana Garcia.

Thank you guys. We're in a clapping mood tonight. I love that.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of council,

veterans, and newly sworn in this evening,

Diana Garcia, City Librarian.

This evening, we just wanted to let everybody know

about some upcoming programs at the library.

So first, just a thank you to everyone who participated

in this year's In-N-Out reading program.

We mentioned this during last month's presentation, so I just wanted to give you our final numbers.

This year, we had 975 kids participate.

They read 13,438 books. and they received over 2,000 certificates for free burgers, so pretty amazing.

Next slide, please. Next, we wanted to mention our California State Parks Pass program.

This has been a very popular new service that the library added in April.

If you've tried to check out one of our passes, you know that they've had a very long waiting list lately,

but we've got great news this evening.

the California State Library and the park system recently expanded this program due to its popularity, and we now have 21 passes available for checkouts.

So these check out for seven days. They're absolutely free with your library card, and they allow free entry into over 200 state parks in the state of California. So if you are interested, please come on in to the library to the front desk to check one out.

Next slide, please.

Next I wanted to mention PressReader

This is an awesome online service that we offer to our patrons that provides free access to over 7,000 newspapers and magazines from over 120 countries in 60 different languages This includes newspapers like USA Today

World Journal, China Daily, The Guardian, The Daily Mail magazines like Newsweek, Vogue, GQ, Rolling Stone

Reader's Digest, and many, many, many, many, many more. Press Reader also translates titles in 18 languages. You can easily access this on your phone, on your tablet, laptop, or computer with

your library card. Just go to the library's website for more information. Next slide.

We're very, very excited to announce this new program that the library recently launched on

December 1st. It's called Zip Books. This is a very, very cool grant-funded new program. It's funded by the California State Library, and it allows patrons to request books that the library

doesn't already own. These are ordered by our staff, and then they're delivered directly to

a user's home via Amazon Prime. So just like other library books, these Zip Books check out for 21

days. They renew twice automatically. They're not subject to late fees, but borrowers will be

billed for lost or damaged items. So when you finish reading the book, you just bring it back

to the library and return it like any other library book. And our staff will then add them

to the collection for other people to check out. This has been really popular in the first week

that we've had the service. We've had many, many requests. It's very easy to request a book through

ZipBooks, you're going to go to the website to fill out an online request form. If you don't

have a computer, you can get a paper request form at the library. There's just a few guidelines,

so the book has to not be owned by the library, has to be available through Amazon Prime,

and the books must not exceed $50. We also don't order textbooks or workbooks or used books, but

please check out the website for more information about that. And next slide. We've saved the best

for last. Starting in January, the library is going to be expanding our hours. We will be open

Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 12 to 8 p.m., so adding back those evening hours. Thursday, Friday,

and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This means 40 hours of service to the community, which will

bring us back in line with our pre-pandemic hours. We are extremely excited to be adding back those

evening hours of service for the community. In the evenings, we're going to add our Tuesday evening

story time, which historically has been one of our most well-attended story times with up to

150, 160, 170 people at that every week. We're also going to be adding evening computer classes

in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Spanish, additional in-person homework help,

and additional English as a second language classes in the evening. Of course, all of these

programs are in addition to our regular weekly and monthly programs and services. Next slide.

so for more information about everything that the library does

please visit our website or follow us on social media thank you very much for your time this evening

I appreciate you letting us share our upcoming activities

thank you

and that is great news about the extended hours

Next, Recreation and Community Service Department, Mr. Geary.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Is Memo? Okay. Memo, please come forward. Orlando. Whoops.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council, residents of Monterey Park.

Today, the Recreation and Community Services Department has a special guest that we want to bring up to promote our next coming event. Let's put your hands together for Santa Claus.

Oh, oh, oh. Good evening, City of Monterey Park. How is everyone doing?

Wonderful. I'm here to invite everyone to a special event tomorrow, Snow Village that happened at George Elders Park from 4 to 8.

Ho, ho, ho, ho.

I also want to remind everyone that tomorrow is the last day for Santa Letters. We will be having the red mailbox

at George Elders Park during Snow Village.

Ho, ho, ho, ho. I want to see everyone's letter because I want to write to every single one of you. Ho, ho, ho.

I hope everyone's having a great day. Happy holidays and I hope to see you all tomorrow.

Ho ho ho!

And what time does the village open to the public?

From 4 to 8 sir.

From 4pm to 8pm, thank you Santa.

Oh, okay, thank you.

Actually, colleague, can we get a picture with Santa?

All right. Thank you. Well, thank you very much. Okay.

Okay. There we go.

Yes. Please. Richard is welcome.

Good job, Santa. Thanks for coming down. No problem. Everybody squeeze in.

Okay, on the one, two, three.

Thank you.

Okay, over here.

Three, two, one. Three, two.

Shed it away my hand.

Right away. Got it.

Thank you . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . Thank you.

Okay, great.

Okay, moving on to next item, 2G, adopt a resolution to cast votes for

an alternate city member of the San Diego Basin Water Quality Authority Board.

Do a staff report for that.

Okay? Yes.

Inez, please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Inez Alvarez. I'm the Assistant City Manager. And the item before you tonight involves a selection of an alternate city member representing cities with pumping rights on the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority Board. The Water Quality Authority is under the direction of a seven-member board. Monterey Park is a city with prescriptive water pumping rights. and may cast votes for an alternate city member to the Water Quality Authority Board. This election is to fill a vacancy for the alternate for Robert Gonzalez, City Council Member from the City of Azusa, for the remainder of the term, which will expire January of 2026. The election for this seat will take place on December 21st at noon at the WQA office. After council casts their six votes, the resolution will be sent to the Water Quality Authority. Each city with pumping rights has one vote for each 10,000 residents, and our city has six votes to cast. All votes cast must be for only one candidate. The nominees are Councilmember Victoria Martinez Moula from the City of Armani, Councilmember Hector Delgado from the city of Covina, Councilmember Catherine Marcucci from the city of Industry, Councilmember Kathy Warner from the city of Whittier,

and Councilmember Jeff Maloney from the city of Alhambra.

It is recommended that city councils select an alternate city member to represent cities with prescriptive pumping rights and to adopt a resolution casting votes for this representative. Thank you, and this concludes my report.

Thank you very much, Ina, for that presentation.

Colleagues, do you have any questions or comments?

I'd like to make a motion, if that's okay.

I'm sorry, there's a... We have to open public comments.

I'm so sorry, yes. Do you have any public comments for the item?

Oh, yes. Okay. Mayor Maloney.

I'm sorry. You're probably getting sick of seeing my giant face on that screen in the chambers there. I know that I am, but my third comment tonight is that I'm obviously a candidate for this alternate position. I've talked to a couple of the folks that are making this decision tonight. I can answer any questions about my candidacy, but suffice it to say that over my time as a member of the City Council in All-Hambra, my professional career as an attorney dealing with land use, water issues, water quality issues, I think I have built up a good working understanding of these issues, and I look forward to representing all of our cities with pumping rights and increasing sort of the transparency and the accessibility of information that goes into this very very important work it's not the most high-profile or sexiest position but it's extremely important to the health and safety of all of our residents I look forward to having the opportunity to serve in this capacity and I would just ask for your support thank you

thank you very much mayor do we have any further there are no other speakers Thank you so much. So, colleagues, any comments or questions? I'm happy to make a motion. Yes, Councilor Wong, yes.

To cast our city's six votes for our neighbor, Jeff Maloney.

Okay, great.

Motion made by Councilor Wong, seconded by Councilor Yu.

If I don't hear any further comments or questions, then members, please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you very much. Okay, we've gone to consent calendar items, items 3A through 3H.

Do we have any items that need to be pulled by council or staff, or if they're a request to speak?

There are no speakers on consent calendar items.

Okay, staff, any items that need to be pulled?

Okay. Colleagues, any items that you wish to pull?

Okay, item 3A. Okay. Any other items members?

I'd like to pull 3G and 3H.

3G and 3H? Okay.

3G, 3H.

Okay.

Okay.

So then items 3A, 3G, and 3H have been pulled from the consent calendar item. The remaining items on the consent calendar, may I have a motion to approve, please?

Motion? Motion made by Councilor Vingo.

Seconded by Council Member Yvonne Yu.

Hearing no further comments or questions, members please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you, Clerk. Okay, first poll item, item 3A,

authorize public officials to access transactions and use tax records, authorize the city manager to execute various documents with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration for the preparation, implementation, administration of local transactions and use taxes as approved by voters via Measure MP.

Do we have staff report?

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor, President, and Council Members. This is Martha Garcia, the Director of Finance. On November 8, 2022, voters adopted Measure MP, which authorizes a 3-4 cent transactions and use sales tax. This tax will begin to be collected by businesses on April 1, 2023. various ancillary documents must be approved by the city council in order for the state of California to remit tax revenue to the city of Monterey Park, including without limitation a resolution authorizing certain officials to access tax records retained by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. And this concludes my report. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Martha. Okay, come for you. I see your mic.

I just wanted to confirm with Martha.

The question is, after passing the Mesh MP, how much tax did we collect every year in addition to our current one?

It's estimated that it will be about $6 million.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, come for you. Any other questions, comments, colleagues?

Okay, hearing none. And again, there are no requests to speak, right?

There are none.

Okay, thank you very much.

Okay, well, we have the item 4, item 3A.

Make a motion to approve item 3A.

Okay, moved by Councilman Ryu. May I have a second, please? I'll second.

Second by Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez.

Very known for the comments or questions. Call for questions. Please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you, clerk. Okay, next item.

Item 3G, access transportation program, ATP, cycle 4, Citywide Pedestrian Safety Improvements, Award of Public Works Contract to California Professional

Engineering Incorporated. Do a staff report, please.

Good evening, Hon. Mayor and City Council. My name is Sean Igoe. I'm the Director of Public Works.

The City was awarded approximately $1.4 million for the Caltrans Active Transportation Program or ATP cycle 4 for the Monterey Park School and Crosswalk Safety Enhancement Project. This project has proposed enhancements which include items such as installation of the new crosswalks, signage, solar power, rectangular flashing beacons, signal controllers with battery backups, along with replacing existing striping, markers, curb ramps, semi-ADA standards, and signage. California Professional Engineering, Inc. was the Lost responsible bidder for this project. Additionally, staff is recommending a task order for transtech engineers to assist with grant management, construction management, and inspection services. Total cost for the project with 10% contingency is anticipated to be just over $1.7 million. Staff is recommending the City Council to authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with California Professional Engineering Inc. in the amount of $1,360,870 for ATP Cycle 4 project. Authorize a task order to transtech engineers in the amount not to exceed $204,700. Authorize the Director of Public Works to approve change orders and contingency up to $136,087. and authorize the finance department to appropriate $223,832 for measure R funds for this project. Staff will be working with the ATP coordinator to seek additional funding for the construction phase due to increase in labor and material costs to assist in reducing this appropriation.

With that, I'll answer any questions Council may have.

Thank you so much. Before I put the questions, any requests to speak on the item?

There are none.

Thank you.

Okay, colleagues.

Dr. Wong, you have the mic.

I have a couple questions, Sean.

Thank you for presenting this. I wanted one to highlight this since I know there have been a lot of concerns among the community members around pedestrian safety and improving crosswalk safety, particularly

around the schools.

And I know that this particular grant will go towards significant projects to improve crosswalks and slow traffic down. I'm curious and hope that we can, well, one, if we can help to highlight these projects, maybe in the Cascades or other efforts to help to publicize to the neighborhoods, that these are going in in the next couple months. And I didn't catch what the timeline was in terms of completion of the projects.

I don't know if you can answer that.

Sure. It'll be varied based off of the approval from Caltrans. So we can definitely do some outreach for the community so that we know when these projects will be starting and they'll be completed.

yeah I wasn't sure if I read this correctly or not so correct me if I'm wrong I think I thought I read that some of the funding to make up the gap between the grant funding and the full cost of the project was to take some of the money that was allocated for the modern pass bike lanes project is that

did I read that right or no this is that means measure R so it'd be similar

funding but yeah measure our funding will be allocated toward this and it

would be I mean on that note and not necessarily on this side I'm happy to support this item and want to make a motion but I want to make sure we're integrating bike and pedestrian safety and other improvements along our main traffic corridors particularly and if there are ways to expand that I know funding is limited although measure MP has passed and we'll be looking at allocating some of those funds but wanting to make sure that this continues to be a priority for the city in terms of improving traffic safety and pedestrian bike safety going forward into the future absolutely we always look at

that thanks that's all yeah great any further comments questions okay hearing

none then may I have motion for approval please so move move by councilmember

Wong have second please second my company you members here no for the Comments or questions, please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you so much.

Next item for discussion, item 3H, City Hall Emergency Generator Installation,

Award of Public Works Contract to PC Incorporated. Staff report, please. Good evening again, Honorable Mayor and City Council.

The City Hall generator was installed in 1978 and provides backup power to City Hall, the police department, and fire station 1 during power outages. The generator is a critical asset which allows emergency operations to continue providing residents with essential services during these power outages. This project consists of the replacement of the generator, automatic transfer switch, connections, permitting, and other related items. The generator has reached the end of its useful life and is in need of replacement. Over the past several years, parts have become harder to find and are now obsolete. Additionally, should parts become on backorder, the additional units are needed to be rented to provide critical power needs which is ongoing operational cost after evaluation of the bids provided and missing documentation needed by the apparent Lost bidder the next Lost bidder was PC Inc at $268,000 staffs finally valuation of the bids submitted determined PC Inc is being as being the qualified and responsive bidder for this project with that staff is recommending City Council to appropriate 335,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act Fund, or ARPA, authorize the City Manager to execute the contract with PC Inc. in the amount of $268,000, authorize the Director of Public Works to approve change orders and contingency up to $40,200, and take such additional actions

related that may be desirable.

With that, I'll answer any questions the Council may have.

Thank you so much for our presentation. Before we proceed with questions, any requests to speak on the item?

There are no speakers.

Thank you very much. colleagues

all right

again thank you Sean and appreciate staff's work on this I have a couple questions on the generator so we're just replacing the existing generator with a standard diesel generator that's correct

did we explore

at all any zero emission battery backup or other types of generators

we did look at natural gas options but it just wasn't feasible for this

location do we have

What other facilities in the city have generators or backup power?

I don't know all the facility locations where we have backup generators at this time.

I'm curious.

I mean, I don't know if this is just something to bring back or.

I can't answer that.

Okay. City Manager, do you wish to. Thank you, Mayor.

To address the other facilities that have backup generators, there are none.

We have portable generators that assist us with our water system that we move from zones

to other zones that are needed. But other than that, we do not have permanent backup generators. We have three, if I'm not mistaken, three portable generators. Cool. Now, that's...

for future needs, we'd love to make sure that we're exploring zero emission, backup power opportunities there, and look at other opportunities to provide backup power and resiliency to our other facilities too, and to make sure those are

zero emission options too.

Thank you. Yes, sir?

I have to make a correction. I was reminded and winked by the fire chief that all three

fire stations have backup generators.

I'm just curious

I don't have the answer today but just curious the agent if there's a if those are in need of a replacement anytime soon we want to make sure obviously of course that we look at zero emission

backup power

there potentially if need be

when appropriate

that's all I'm happy to make a motion to

support this

any further comments or questions before okay

I'll make the motion to approve

staff recommendation

Okay, moved by Councillor Wong. May I have a second, please? Second.

Seconded by Councillor Gau.

There are no further comments or questions. Members, please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you so much. Okay, moving on to item 4A, public hearing.

Continuation of the public hearing for consideration of a resolution of the City of Monarch Park City Council Also confirming the 2022 annual report and the levy of assessments for downtown business improvement district number one for the program year 2023.

Do we have a staff report, please?

Okay, so we're going to continue to the next. Okay, so just to continue to the next. Ah, got it. Okay, thank you so much.

Do we have any comments or questions about this? Okay, then does it require a motion?

Okay.

May I have a motion then to continue the item to our next scheduled meeting on December 21st, 2022?

Really quick, I have a question.

Thank you.

Before we move on the item, have we reached out to members of the BID for feedback on this, or do we have feedback from the BID members? Or are we just waiting for the public hearing next?

No, it wasn't that. It was for the sake of time for tonight, why we asked for the continuation.

There isn't an increase in the bid assessment, so it's status quo.

And normally when it's status quo, you do not have to, you, we still have to notify the businesses that there is no increase.

But I think it would be, to that point, right, it would be good to engage the bid members just to, I don't know, I assume they have their own process and they're just talking through their priorities for the central business area. and what investments they want to make. I don't know if that can be brought to those ideas and that feedback can be brought to the council too.

This isn't just strictly done by staff. This is done through the bid committee.

So they are familiar about this bid assessment

and what we're doing, what we propose to do on December 21st. Cool.

I'll move to move the continuance of the item.

Okay. I'll second.

Moved by Councillor Wong, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Sanchez. Hearing no further comments and questions.

Members, please vote.

Approved unanimously.

Okay. Items continue to December 21st, 2022.

Okay. Next, old business, none. Item six, city communications.

Why don't we start with Councillor Yu.

I wanted to share a little story. Yesterday, I attend Arcadia New Council Member Swan Inn Ceremony, along with Paul Chen being the mayor and also April being the mayor pro tem. And congratulations to all of them. Funny things happened. When I stepped into their city hall, their city clerk asked me to go to his desk and said he has been waiting for me for a long time. And I was thinking, am I not that popular? And then the city clerk asked me to sign a certificate. And I saw oath of office.

Then I was confused. I just wanted to present a few certificates, right? Then I heard the city clerk asking me, are you Eileen? And actually, Eileen is a newly elected councilwoman in Acadia.

So I almost signed a certificate, but I stopped. So it was funny that now I know I understand why he thought, you know, I'm her because we look a little similar So I wanted to share it's funny that I almost got a second job as Arcadia I Told a group yesterday that if Eileen is not available I can sit in for her Then And actually, I'm the one who suggested Eileen to run for city council at the time since day one. So we're good friends. I'm glad that, you know, it doesn't, you know, have any embarrassment. So, yeah, that's all for me. And again, I welcome all the new members. And excited to working closely with all of you. And happy holidays. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Yu. Councilor Ngo.

I look forward to working with everyone to making our city better and safer. I'll keep it short and simple. Thank you. Thank you

Councillor Wong. I'll keep it short too. I appreciate everyone's support and the staff sticking around. I'm looking forward to the next four years of serving with everyone here. Thank you

I want to thank everyone

I look forward to serving our community in a different capacity not just as an educator but now as a

policy maker

and I thank the staff for all the work that you do and all of the great activities that the library and the recreation department do I know my family especially my girls really enjoy that they're really looking forward to

meeting Santa tomorrow and playing in the snow so

we really appreciate all the work that you guys do. Thank you. Thank you Mayor

Pro Tem and let me round out and close communications. So I'm very excited to

serving with everyone who was sworn in tonight. To our new City Clerk Meshaw Yee, I look forward to seeing you in person at our next meeting and I know you bring your daughter and

so we're looking forward to welcoming you to our great city which you have

always been involved in for many years, our new city treasurer, Amy Lee. Again, so excited to work with you and to meet your family tonight. To my colleagues on city council, you know,

I've already shared my comments and, of course, my personal history. And, you know, let me

just close by saying that, you know, of course, you know, through the course of any campaign,

you know, things are always exciting and, but I think that, you know, now that the elections are over,

the people who elected us have entrusted us to come together, to work together, to collaborate for the benefit of our residents. They expect that of us, and I hope that we will

be able into, in the spirit of collaboration, cooperation, and representation and accountability,

be able to do the best we can for our community.

And with that, I will end my remarks. Again, it's a new day for Monterey Park.

And lastly, for those who came earlier tonight,

for those who are listening at home,

thank you for being engaged. Thank you for being there to keep us accountable.

Thank you for being essentially the heart of our governance here in the city of Monterey Park. This is your city, this is your community, and we are conduits and we are here to represent and serve you.

And with that, let's see, future items, none.

Let's see, close-edge items, none.

And we are going to then adjourn at 9.24 p.m. and have a good night.

Thank you.

I just broke the plum.