City Council Meeting — September 4, 2024

Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, good evening. We all got quiet at the right time.

Appreciate everyone joining us for our city council meeting tonight. On September 4th, we will call the meeting in order. Let me start with our land acknowledgement, as we usually do. We would like to acknowledge that the land we inhabit today was once known as the Tovangaar,

the home of the Galilina Tongva people.

We show our respect to the Galilina Tongva people, as well as all indigenous people, past, present, and future, and honor their labor as original caretakers of this land. We commit to uplifting the Gavalea Tonga people, invite you to acknowledge the history, and join us in caring for this land.

With that said, if I can invite all of us to stand.

We don't have the fire explorers tonight for the flag salute, but the flags are already

in place.

We do have our civic superstar, Audrey, who will be leading us in the pleasure of leading

us. Please join me in standing.

Put your right hand over your heart Ready, begin I pledge allegiance To the flag of the United States of America

And to the republic for which it stands One nation under God

Indivisible with liberty and justice for all

you may be seated thank you so much if the council can join me in front of the the days to bring a small presentation

Do you want to come in? I'll take the photo.

Thank you. Thank you. One, two, three. one two three !

one two three

One, two, three.

!

All right, thank you again.

Thank you. All right, thank you again. Thank you to Audrey from Monterey Highland School second grader for joining us tonight and helping to lead the Pledge of Allegiance

If anyone has any

Children or children at heart that would like to be our civic superstars. I believe Robert's taking signups continues to take signups in the back

All right, we'll move on to Roll call

Councilmember Sanchez Present Councilmember Lo. Present. Councilmember Yu. Here. Mayor Pro Tem. Present. Mayor Wong. Present. We have a quorum. Thank you. Any agenda additions, deletions, changes? No changes. Any from the Council? Hearing none, we'll move forward then to public communication. Are there any public comments?

First speaker, Ken Sesma.

Thank you for the opportunity. Just as a resident here, just had a few concerns in regards to food trucks,

and I know that that's something that I don't believe is legal to have in the city. Is that correct?

Food trucks?

Yeah. I mean, there's a few on Atlantic and, you know, by the Shell gas station and the Pomona Freeway at Garfield. So, you know, just worth taking note that although they're very popular and whatnot, but there's a reason why we don't have them as being legal in this city to maintain the integrity of the city, why we don't have any billboards, of course, that other one's grandfathered in, but that on Atlantic. Nevertheless, just an area of concern. Another topic was on the waterfall. I had stopped by one night, and there were people waiting with the kids in the pool and, you know, in that waterfall. So I got off the car, and I let them know that this is a historical site, and this is not a wading pool. There's such a pool at Barnes Park and so forth, but this is not the appropriate place for that, and it also poses a liability for the city as well. So that was one thing that I wanted to bring into account. I stopped by the police station, because I had called that night when I got back home, making them aware of it. They said when I folLod that up the following day, they said that when they arrived, nobody was there. But there was at least about 20 people with kids waiting in the pool there. And not the pool, but the water fountain. Another thought, and I don't know if this has really been thought out, but in regards to the new disposal company that we have, now that there's the recycling, that also brought along others that are coming through the neighborhood with big baskets and trash bags and whatnot, taking the recyclables out of the bag, out of the trash bin. And as I say, I don't know if it was really thought about, but I think that's something that should be considered because then it becomes just a place of inviting more people into the community and into the city. And that I think sort of diminishes and takes away from the quality of the neighborhood So I just wanted to bring those three items up before the council. Thank you Thank you

Just I'll quickly note that food trucks are legal actually in the city if they operate They have to get a license and they have county health Permit requirements, but if you believe that there are food trucks operating outside of what is alLod

You should report that to us

So if you can, our fire chief, if you can talk with him so we can get the exact locations or if there's a type of truck that we should be on the lookout for, we will have our code enforcement division go out, make sure that they do have all the permits that are required. Yes, and that they're following the rules.

Next speaker.

Next speaker, Asmene.

Hi, neighbors.

This is Misha, and as usual, I'm speaking as a resident. You all should be very happy I got my punishment last week. I was yelled at by a commissioner during a community meeting and accused of being a corrupt politician and for using my position as a stepping stone. Clearly, she has no idea how little power I hold as city clerk. For those of you who aren't aware, the city of Monterey Park actually wrote me up for a code of conduct violation because I had the audacity to ask the city clerk staff if they could extend public comment for two hours. The audacity of me to even think that the city clerk has any authority to ask the city clerk's office for help. Kind of weird, but that's only topped off by the time that I was written up and found guilty of violating the ethics code because I was consoling victims of a mass shooting. So the only place that these stepping stones is taking me to is hell,

and I'm pretty sure I'm right here right now. So on that note, I want to thank Thomas and Jose for reminding the public

to please share any concerns they might have with the city

and for reminding the public they should always view the facts themselves

before coming to any conclusions. I couldn't agree more. That is exactly why I feel the need to speak up every week and fight for my neighbors.

It's really hard for people to decide how they feel about an issue when they're provided only partial information

or the city omits details and facts to try and make themselves look better.

All of my complaints are well documented.

You could watch the videos, read the notes, and ask the other attendees who witnessed them. As stated at the June 18th and July 17 Council meetings and again at the July 29th, August 12th, August 19th and 29th Saturn Park Advisory Review Committee SPARK meetings, it is my belief the City of Monterey Park's attempt at overturning the voter-approved general plan is illegal. This Monterey Park City Council is not above the law. Your reasoning for attempting to repeal the voter-approved plan is based on lies and misinformation.

The city's claim the land use element is not in alignment with the existing code requirements for Saturn Park because it includes breweries is false.

The land use element includes breweries along Monterey Pass Road and corporate tender drive only and clearly states verbatim that Saturn Park will continue to function as a business park focused on office type and research and development uses.

You can read it for yourself.

Rather than correcting the error by revising the code to state breweries are alLod in innovative technology uses areas,

with the exception of Saturn Park, the city is trying to take advantage of their own error

by avoiding what was approved by the voters and revising it to whatever the council wants.

Any amendments or expansion of uses outside of what was approved in the general plan must be presented to the voters for approval.

The city's flagrant attempts to bypass the voters should be alarming to the public, especially as I warned everyone and as the mayor confirmed they're coming for your communities next.

Ask your neighbors who witnessed the sham spark public input meetings, which wasted over $100,000 in contractor costs, staff labor and overtime, as well as the public's time for nothing.

Despite the majority of the attendees repeatedly voting against changes to the general plan,

the committee did not care what the public thought or how they felt and voted based on their own personal feelings. If you don't give a damn about the community's input,

why did you waste our city's money and everyone's time when your decision was already made?

This only makes yourself and our city look worse. This is the real reason why our city is struggling.

a lack of transparency, decency, and respect for the people who you are supposed to serve.

If this is how you treat your own people, your family,

how can developers and businesses trust the city of Monterey Park to want to come here? The problem is within.

Neighbors, I know how frightening it is to speak up, perhaps even more so these days.

I will not allow my fear to silence me.

I am Martin Park Strong.

I am brave and I am resilient.

You're going to have to try again. Thank you so much for the kind words of encouragement and support this past week.

Any other speakers?

No other speakers.

All right.

Moving on to item staff communications.

City Clerk's Office. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Council Members, and the community. My name is Helena Cho, Assistant Deputy City Clerk. I am here to provide you with information regarding the city's upcoming election. Next slide, please. So I don't know if most of you guys are aware that September 17th is National Voter Registration Day. Hashtag Vote Ready. So just wanted to provide some information on where individuals can go and vote. They can vote on the county's website at lavote.gov, on the national voter registration website, and for individuals in

the youth who are 16 and 17 can also register to pre-vote at the Secretary of State's website. So

as soon as they turn 18, they'll be automatically registered to vote depending on their month and year that they turn 18 and what election would apply to them. So for the youth, you can go ahead and register now if you're 16 or 17.

Next slide, please. Oh, you can also pick up the form for registration at the city clerk's office,

and we will also have a booth at the library on September 17th between 3 and 5 p.m.

Next slide, please. When is the city's election?

The city's election is on November 5th, 2024, and some key dates for you guys to remember. October 7th is when the county will start mailing out vote-by-mail ballots. October 15th is when you get your voter information guide. You should be getting one from the state as well as the county.

October 21st is the last day to register to vote.

And October 26th is when the first early vote centers start opening.

And election day is November 5th, 2024. Next slide, please.

So what will be on the city's ballot?

So we have city council positions in districts two, three, and four.

So residents and registered voters who reside in those districts will have an opportunity to vote for a council representative in those districts. We also have two measures, Measure BE, which is the business license tax, and Measure LG, which is the transdency occupancy tax. You can always get more information on the city's website or by clicking on the QR code that's presented on the slide.

Next slide, please. Vote centers and ballot drop-offs.

So the city has two permanent ballot drop-offs. Those will open starting October 8th. So you can go ahead and drop your ballots off at any of those two sites, which is City Hall, 320 West Newmark, and Sierra Vista Park, 311 North Rural Drive. And we have two vote centers that are city facilities, Langley Senior Center and Garvey Ranch Park. There will be vote centers at ELAC and also at Union Church that we are aware of. There could be possibly other vote centers that the county is still working on that we have yet to hear from. So the Garvey Ranch Park, Langley, and ELAC will open its doors on November 2nd. Union Church is an 11-day vote center so that you can start voting at Union Church come October 26th.

Next slide, please.

So these are additional resources for individuals who want to find out more information about the city's upcoming election. You can find information on the city's website under the city's clerk page, Election 2024. You can find out all your various districts on the county's website at lavote.gov.

And you can also find out, you can get your interactive ballots from the county's website as well.

And you can always contact them if you want multiple languages or different languages in the ballots.

Next slide, please. So if anyone has any questions, you can always reach out to the city clerk's office.

We're here to assist you and provide you with information. And I'm available for questions should you have any.

Thank you. Questions or comments from Council?

Yes, first of all, thank you for that information. Very informative to know where all our voting centers are and all the major dates in terms of when early voting starts and all of that. But I did have just one follow-up question regarding early registration voting for kids 16 years and over. Are we sharing any of that information with any of our local school districts just to ensure that that information is shared with them?

I think sometimes, you know.

We can definitely share that information with our local schools here in the city.

Great.

And also if we can share that on social media just to make sure that we're reaching out not just to young voters, but also people who might not be registered to vote within our city.

Yes, we'll definitely do.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Barrett.

And I think I'd ask this question at the previous presentation. Are we also working with the county to see if we can do any in-between, like pop-up voting centers in the area?

So the county will reach out to the city if they wanted to use a city facility as a pop-up. If the county wants to work with a local business as a pop-up, the city wouldn't necessarily know about it. It's not something that would be listed as a vote center on your ballot when you receive it We will try our best to keep in communication with the county so that we're aware of any vote centers

Pop-up centers that come up in our city and try our best to let the public know as well. Thanks

Any other any other questions not thank you to the clerk's office really appreciate all you're doing to help promote The election that's coming up and hope that we can whatever we can do from the city perspective to remind people about upcoming dates and the election. I'm all for and appreciate that we're being proactive about it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, moving next to library staff communications.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and City Council members.

My name is Kristen Olivares, and I'm the City Librarian,

and I have some library updates for you this evening. To begin with, I wanted to highlight a couple of programs that we held in August. To start, we had a classic film screening featuring a conversation between film historian Foster Hirsch and the star of the film Sergeant Rutledge, Constant Towers, which is in the top left corner. Below that is a photo from our caregiver meetup where the Monterey Park Fire Department taught caregivers basic CPR and first aid skills, and the caregivers and their children had a chance to practice some of those skills hands-on with their mannequins. Just above that is a photo from our author talk featuring Justinian Wong and Madeline Nakamura. Thank you to Mayor Wong and Council Member Lo for joining us for that event. And then lastly, school is back in full swing, which means that our librarians have been busy attending school outreach events to register people for library cards and share information about library programs and services.

Next slide, please.

This month, the library is celebrating Library Card Sign-Up Month by encouraging all residents to register for a library card and discover all that the library has to offer. As an added bonus, we will be offering free replacement cards all month long.

Excuse me. Next slide.

On September 10th, volunteer attorneys will be on hand to answer questions at the Free Legal Assistance Clinic, sponsored by Asian Pacific American Bar Association and Asian Americans Advancing Justice SoCal. To register, you can contact the reference desk at 626-307-1368.

Next slide.

On September 11th from 2 to 4 p.m., Chinatown Service Center will offer 30-minute one-on-one appointments to help write resumes, cover letters, and or offer job-seeking tips. And you can register for this program by visiting the library's website.

Next slide.

Our next caregiver meetup will be on September 14th.

at 11 a.m., Dr. Russell Lo will discuss his book, A Willow Tree Becomes a Forest, which explores the struggle to establish roots and pursue dreams in a world of Chinese exclusion.

Next slide.

On September 20th at 10 a.m., we'll hold our next caregiver meetup where caregivers and their children are invited to connect with other families and learn about caregiver self-care from guest speaker, Ms. Katie.

Next slide.

In recognition of Suicide Prevention Month, teens are invited to join Chinatown Service Center on September 12th at 4.30 for suicide prevention training. Then teens can visit the library on September 26th at 4.30 to create a self-care kit to help manage stress. On September 24th at 6 p.m., adults are invited to follow along step-by-step to paint a Van Gogh-inspired painting and learn how art can improve mental health. Lastly, the library's homework help program resumes this Saturday. Elementary school children who need help with their homework can visit the library on Saturdays from 2 to 4 p.m. to receive assistance from high school volunteers. No registration is required, and caregivers must remain in the library with their children. And that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Any questions, comments?

Yeah, first of all, thank you for all of the information and all of the amazing programming that the library does. I'm always very amazed by it. I know that a lot of my students visit the library. I have a group of students going on Saturday. I did have one question, though. I know last year we had a teacher night. Are we still planning to do that? If so, do we happen to have a date in mind?

We don't have a date on the books. I know it has been a topic of discussion,

but nothing has been finalized yet.

Okay. Thank you.

As soon as we do have a date, though.

Yes, I will let you know. Thank you.

Kristen, thanks for keeping the library open. I'm sure you'll see a lot more people probably starting today and tomorrow and Friday with the heat wave so let us know if you need

additional support from the city thank you I just echo that appreciate everything

the staff both at the library and recreation community services are doing

to help people stay cool during this heat wave leave the hottest of the year to date so encourage everyone to make use of the air conditioning that is going to be running anyway at the library and the Langley Senior Center. I hope others will be, anyone who is in need will take advantage of these opportunities and really appreciate all the programming that's happening at the library. So you can grab a book if you need a cool down, but there are a bunch of other activities going on at the library

that can keep you occupied too. Thank you. Thank you very much. Alright, next staff, communication from Recreation and Community Services.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of the City Council. My name is Alejandra Espinosa, and I am a recreation coordinator. Today, I will be presenting some upcoming events for the Recreation and Community Services Department. Starting off, I would like to thank everyone that came out to our Luao event and our Back to the Future of Screaming. Like always, all of our events was packed, and it was lots of fun, and we have seniors eager to ask when the next movie and dance is.

Next slide, please.

I would like to remind everyone that we continue to offer our Barnes Park extended daycare program available to ages 5 to 12. Those interested in looking for after school program that offers homework help and other activities are encouraged to contact us for more information.

Next slide, please.

Just a reminder, we continue to offer health screenings and seminars in partnership with the Garfield Health Center. every third Thursday and fourth Monday, we have seminars in health screening. Our next seminar will be on the 9th of September that will touch the topic of sanitation and cleanliness. Additional to that, every second and fourth Thursday, the Department of Mental Health is at Langley Center offering presentations in English and Chinese, as well as the Department of Mental Health has a representative on Tuesdays on-site in case anyone has any additional questions or resources. The next topic will be on September 12th and cover resiliency.

Next slide, please.

Tomorrow at 9 o'clock, Langley Center will have a Metro representative that will cover Metro services and offer 101 information on using public transportation. They'll be available to offer seniors on how to reload their TAP card, answer any questions, and just educate them on the options they have on getting around town. On September 17th, we will have our Moon Festival, which will feature music, entertainment, food. This is available to seniors 50 and over and will take place from 1 to 5 o'clock in the afternoon. And also in partnership with the library, the month of September will be our ongoing Hispanic Heritage Month. It will be kicked off on September 19th featuring mariachi at our farmer's market. there's a list of activities available on their flyer that is posted at our

facilities as well as our website next slide please on September 26th Langley

Center will be having a night out which will feature live entertainment dinner music we do have limited registration and it is available to adults 50 and over for the cost of $10 anyone interested is encouraged to contact us to register for more details. Next slide, please. On September 11th, we invite everyone to come out in remembrance of those of the tragic events of 9-11 to join us at 8.30 in front of City Hall. Next slide, please.

And then Robert Aguirre, Director of Recreation and Community Services. And then just to mark your calendar for some of our upcoming exciting events that I know everyone looks forward to each year. Our electric park, this is our fourth electric park event. It'll actually be on October

the 5th here in Barnes Park, and we were very fortunate this year to land a headlining DJ.

He's a multi-platinum Grammy-nominated DJ Richard Vision, so we're very excited about that, and so far

we've gotten a...

This is a very family-friendly event. Lots of dancing, lots of great music, lots of lights, and just a good time in the park.

Next slide, please.

And then probably one of the more popular events for the children in Monterey Park, our Monster Mash annual event in conjunction with the library as well as all the city departments. You'll see out there involved handing out candy, playing games. So just want to remind everyone, get it on your calendar now, October the 17th, from 4 to 7 here in Barnes Park. Going to be tons more candy, lots more games, more vendors. It's completely free, so come out, have a good time, put your best costumes on, and we look forward to seeing everyone dressed up.

Next slide.

And then just as always, I'd like to remind everyone the best ways to keep up to date with all the upcoming activities is on our city website, our Recreation Connection newsletter, and then also follow us on social media at Monterey Park Rec.

that completes our presentation. We're both available for questions.

Thank you.

Any questions, comments from Council?

Well, just thank you for all the amazing events that you guys do. I've said this and reiterated again, as a parent, it makes it so great to be able to have so many city events that a lot of families and residents can attend, including the Monster Mash, which you know is very popular,

just like the Easter egg hunt.

But looking forward to a lot of these events and being able to attend. I know I'm only 44, but I've got six years left to be able to attend some of the Langley events. So I'm counting down. So I'm sure Henry will come with me.

What?

Council Member, I believe they do take volunteers that are under 50 if those are.

Thank you, Mr. Merrin.

Thank you, Councillor Sanchez. Yes, I can't wait to go.

So, while someone who will be turning 50 in a few months, then yes, I can't wait for myself.

Yes. We'll have a seat waiting for you. Yes. Oh, thank you. Okay.

All right.

So, I'm actually in the club, so you guys can join me anytime.

You can be my guest at Langley.

But great amount of events. I'm looking at some of the pictures. You got little kids to senior citizens. I just love the way you guys are supporting the residents in our community. So good job in doing all that.

Thank you.

I would just say ditto to everything except for being in the club.

A little away.

But, no, I appreciate everything the recreation community services staff are doing to make sure that we're engaging the community and have opportunities for the community to be engaged with each other and connect with each other.

I look forward to a fall full of programming and these amazing events that are coming.

I really appreciate the staff work.

Thank you.

We appreciate it, and we appreciate the kind words. Staff definitely appreciates hearing that from Council, so thank you.

Mr. Mayor, I just had one question I forgot to ask. I just had a question regarding the extended daycare. I know you said you had limited space available. Do you know off the top of your head how many space spots you have?

I don't, because if I were to tell you a number, it could have changed within the last hour or two.

And if we are... But there is a few spots still open.

And then what's the cost for the extended daycare?

I think it's one... Can you pull it back up? I think it's 120 per week.

I did have a question from a resident and asked if there was a weekly rate or monthly rate.

So it's a weekly rate. I actually got maybe the same resident. I got the question today.

So 129 for residents and then 141.90 for non-residents.

129 for residents? Yeah, per week. Per week. Per week, yeah. Excellent.

And then if we still have to fill those spots, have we shared any of this information or the flyer? with some of the local schools like Inez Elementary.

Yeah, actually sent that to Tammy this morning.

Okay, thank you so much.

As well as their civic superstar. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, if there's no other further questions,

we'll move to presentation with an update

from where services.

It looks like Sean's gonna tease something up.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor, Mayor of Pro Tem and City Council.

Sean Eingell, Public Works Director.

Tonight you have before you just an update from the WEAR team on how things have been

going for the past couple of days.

As you're all aware, we transitioned this month. And so today I just want to give you an update on what they've seen and what they're doing to make some improvements and keep this transition moving smoothly. With that, I'll turn it over to the WEAR team.

Fantastic. Again, good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. Jay Ware with Ware Disposal, as well as Leah Ding, your community liaison for Monterey Park.

We wanted to come tonight and give you a brief update on the transition. We are actually in service now. We've been in service for a day and a half.

Well, actually completed two days now.

You're veterans now.

Absolutely veterans. today in so far as giving you an update we have delivered over 50,000 carts out to the community installed 99% of all community multifamily dumpsters there are still a few out there that are being modified and special special containers are being manufactured for those multifamily units. We have begun services as of yesterday morning. We were a day started late due to the Labor Day holiday, as many residents know. We did do our job in communicating that to the residents. It seems to have gone fairly well with regards to the matter of calls and emails with respect to people wanting to know what day of service they were going to be picked up on. So we are pleased in that manner. We have, our office has been successful in that we put our office up at 1111 Corporate Center Drive. Many of you have visited our offices. I believe even Sean may have visited our office even today to see how things were going. it is our pleasure to let you know that over 100 people have actually visited our offices since yesterday morning we actually had a line waiting at the door this morning when we came to our offices so it has been helpful for those residents that need assistance that they can come to our office and get personal attention the phones have been a bit crazy we do know that I don't know if the word crazy really fits in this, but I'm going to go with it's been a little bit crazy on the phones.

Been busy.

We, however, we have 12 different staff members. They're handling the phone calls, and we are trying to attempt to get to every single customer that's calling us, and we are doing the very best we can to provide customers with a great experience. There are other ways to reach out to us. One is to go to our website at wheredisposal.com and put a message in through our website. We will get back to you. I assure anyone that is listening that we will get back to you. It may not be right away, but it will be within 48, 72 hours. We will get back to all the customers that have reached out to us. The main three things we've been kind of seeing are requests for cart additions. Another question that we've been having a lot of is bulky item collection. People are trying to schedule bulky item collections. And then cart exchanges, people wanting to resize the carts that they have. They want to either downsize or upsize. So those have been the major three questions. And then, of course, as you know, billing has also gone out. And so I'll touch on billing for a minute.

If you have received a bill, it is not a bill for your trash carts.

It is a bill for two months' worth of trash services over the next two months.

So we are billing you for September and October.

And so if you have questions with regards to your bill, that is a two-month price that is on your invoice. And if you have questions, please reach out to us or e-mail us, and we will return your call and get your invoice situated.

With that, we will be back to the council in two weeks.

I believe by then we'll have a pretty good handle on taking care of most of the customer service questions and phone calls. But I do want to commend my team while I'm up here that one of the major important factors is we've had very few missed pickups,

meaning that we're actually doing the job we were set out to do, which was pick up the trash and the recyclables and the green. There's always going to be a few, but it's been pretty well maintained. With that, Leah, do you have anything that we needed to add? Nope.

Anyways, we're here to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you. Go ahead. Well, first of all, thank you for being here.

And, you know, I think on Tuesday as I was dropping off my daughters on Chandler, I could see your trucks picking up trash. So I felt if trash was being picked up, I think that's a big win for us.

But I just had two questions for you.

One, which is really around the questions that I'm getting from residents, one dealing with communication, which you already responded to. And a lot of our residents are worried about not getting some messages responded to, in particular dealing with bulky item pickups so just as soon as we can get those answered I realize that this week must be pretty hectic as this is our first week collecting that's what I've been telling them but but just make sure that we are answering calls and but especially some of those bulky item pickup concerns my second question it deals with the maybe if I'm not sure if you guys are planning to give out any of those small bins for the yeah, the pails for the for the compost, yeah. I think this is relatively new for us, so some residents, you know, are kind of happy about it. Organizing, we have organizing parties with my daughters, we're trying to figure all this stuff out, and it's working out well, but it's a good educational experience. But I think for some people, they're still trying to wrap their hands around, like, where do I get this? Where do I get the compost bags? Like, how do I do this? So, are there any plans on where's

side, in terms of

potentially giving residents any of these compost bins or anything like that?

Yes, absolutely. Great questions. So with regards to bulky items, what we're asking the residents to do is if they could put off their bulky item request until next week, that would be fantastic.

Now, we can take the calls. They can put in an email. If they don't necessarily need to call us, they can access our website and put in a bulky item request on the website.

That would save them time, and they will get responded to via email much quicker than they will if they're making a phone call. Secondly, with respect to what we call the organic collection basket, or to shorten it, a food waste basket, those will be distributed around November 1st. We will post on our website when residents can expect to see them. They're in the process of being manufactured at this time, and we want to first complete the transition, get a full month underneath our belt, and then we'll be able to go ahead and start communicating to the residents how to use that basket and what it's supposed to be used for and when it's going to be distributed. But I would anticipate around the 1st of November.

Okay, and just a follow-up question.

So in the interim time, they have to kind of figure out and handle how to collect their compost and put it in baggies or in...

That's typically what, yeah, before these baskets were built, yes, we collect them in Ziploc baggies. We can collect them in a bowl and put some cellophane on them.

One thing I did notice is there was something on one of the web pages or websites.

People said, you know, I can't leave this on my counter.

If you put it in a bowl and you put it in your refrigerator, it will stay and last a lot longer.

It will stay and last longer for that week, so they don't have to put it out during the week of heat. That's a good suggestion. Keep it refrigerated.

Thank you. Actually, I have a follow-up question to one of Councilman Sanchez's questions.

So right now, and again, I know you just started service, but for example, with the GoNPK app,

when there is the choice to pick a bulk item, so it goes directly to where, correct? If there, when someone uses the app, you know, take the picture and request a bulk item pickup?

There are times when the city receives those as well.

I'm sorry, say again?

There are times when the city receives those as well.

Okay, okay, okay.

I mean, again, to Council Member Sanchez's point from myself, I live by Gara Ranch Park, and this is something that my neighbors often will come up to me because for some reason, the neighborhoods around Gara Ranch Park seem to be a popular spot for people to drop off bulky items, and I often tell my neighbors who then use the app. So I just want to make sure that, again, when the request is submitted, it's still either city staff aware that, again, that's still taken care of.

Yes, it will be taken care of as long as they're using the app.

Okay.

I just want to say congratulations.

Mission accomplished. And so the rest will be just servicing call. I think you guys can handle it.

And thanks for coming up and explaining, clarifying. So I thought I heard 99% of all the bins, cards have been delivered. There's always exceptions, and you guys are working on that to get that process in place. I actually have some questions on your fleet of vehicles, the trash haulers, and also the trucks.

All those are in place.

You guys have mall order, and they're in place, and they're servicing the community?

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely, Mayor Pro Tem.

All the trucks are in place.

All services are in full service and full swing. There's no delays in service.

Yeah, and I understand this is the first week with the holidays, so everything is backed up a day, sometimes a day and a half. And I will tell you, I was involved in an email this morning, and your service, I think he's your service manager, Eddie, did a good job in responding to a client. CC me on the email, basically took care of it. The way I saw the email was I got up at 6.45, was checking my work, saw an email at 7 saying what happened, and then the response came at 7.15, 7.20. We'll look into it, and shower breakfast came out. I think there were like four other emails going back and forth, so congratulations on being on top of that. Now I know that not everyone will call or email you directly, but again your position is if you have any questions call You've got reps set up. You got the website. You got people to respond as quickly as possible And I think the city the residents just we just have to be patient. It's the first week. It's an overhaul

So just be patient and let the system go. I think within the next week or two, things will get into a routine, and then people will get into a better click in terms of what needs to be done. A couple of questions also on the invoice. I think you explained earlier you can pay in person in your office, and it sounds like some people know where it is. You can also write a check, and then other options include You can pay direct with your bank account, and you can also do bill pay through your bank account as well.

Yes, that's correct. And you can pay with a credit card. There are multiple different ways to pay.

Many customers were trying to sign up online all at the same time as many customers were trying to call all at the same time.

So with many systems, the system can only handle so much.

If we can just ask for everyone to be patient over the next few days,

it will allow the systems to work properly, and everybody will be able to get their information into the system.

They can also go into the office and fill out these forms as well if they choose to,

because that way it would be more secure if they're uncomfortable with filling it out online.

Right. And I also, I received the invoice already. So, and the invoice is actually for two months, not one month, it's for two months. And it's all in the system. So, I think those invoices were out. I think there may be some questions since there are people thinking, well, why is it double the amount or when is it due? If I read it correctly, it's actually due by the 20th of September. So there is time to do this and I think you had mentioned this last time being that this was the full invoice cycle. You would work with the residents if there was some confusion, there's some issues, you're going to work with each case by case to determine what needs to be done. So just wanted to clarify that.

That's correct. The last time we were here we discussed invoicing as well. we will work with the residents the on this first invoice while we're

requesting that you know customers pay on you know if they can pay on time but if there is some confusion we will work with the residents on this first invoice

the invoice is for your solid waste services the city water bill you used to

pay for your trash services through that is not going to be anything what is not going to be a thing any longer so therefore this is your trash bill this is now your your bill for

your solid waste services right that's it for me thank you uh i will just want to offer

early upfront uh appreciation for the beginning of this transition i know we still have little ways to go to get through this first week at least uh but really appreciate the work that your team has put together in terms of helping this transition along. Honestly, I expected even more than I think you guys and we have been getting in terms of questions and even concerns expressed. So in that sense, kudos to you and to the team and the public works team and everyone on the city as well, helping to do our best to prepare. We all knew this would not be a perfectly smooth transition.

It has not been.

and we're witnessing, just like the other council members,

I think have mentioned,

that your team is working very, very aggressively to address concerns that are expressed, get questions answered, and address missed pickups or things like that and everything. I assume and I hope that in a few weeks' time, a lot of these things will be smoothed over and that service will be going on as smoothly as possible. and I think a lot of these concerns this first couple days are probably going to start to be whittled down. So I appreciate all the work that you have been doing these last, not just a few days,

but especially these last few days, but the last few weeks in terms of transition,

the last few months as well to prepare and look forward to things getting smooth out in the next few days. I just want to remind the community that may be watching and paying attention to this, right, This is, and I understand, I think we all understand, that this isn't just a simple transition, or we're not just transitioning trash haulers from one hauler to another. This is going from two-bin service to three-bin service, which in and of itself would have been extraordinarily confusing for a lot of people and would have been a huge transition on its own. We're also transitioning, as you mentioned and others have mentioned, the billing system to go from the existing city water bills to a separate bill, And so a lot of people are confused about that because it's been decades since people have gotten, at least decades since residents in Monterey Park have gotten a bill directly from a trash hauler. So that's a new thing, too. And then we had Labor Day on top of that.

That confused everyone.

People, even if we were on the old service, would have forgotten. I saw some of my neighbors put out their trash cans on Sunday night instead of Monday night, forgetting about the holiday that always moves, Trash Service Day by one day. so all of those things I think combined into this I would have been I'm kind of actually pleasantly surprised that we didn't get more confusion and complaints these last few days so really appreciate all the work that's gone into getting as many residents as possible prepared for this transition and this week in particular and I'm confident that working together with the WHERE team and the city team will smooth over

a lot of these bumps along the way in the next few weeks.

I'm looking forward to service getting back to normal. It's kind of whatever normal is, but normal over the next few weeks is everyone starts to get used to the new trash service and the three bins and getting resized in the next couple weeks and couple months

and all that sort of stuff.

It sounds like you're already aware of what I'm seeing and I think many of us have seen in terms of the top requests and concerns around bin resizing, either sizing down or adding additional bins for service for those that are generating more trash than many others in the community. Sounds like you're on top of that. The billing kind of questions, and it sounds like you guys are answering those, and I know our staff are answering those to the extent possible. I think people just need to, haven't been reading the cascades, which is fine, and the other notices that we've been putting out, but we're happy to continue answering those questions and I feel like those will start to die down hopefully in the next few days or week or so.

And then bulky item pickup,

I know you guys are offering that already. If they need, it sounds like if people can put that off for just a few days until next week that would help everyone and similar for the billing and other questions. The bills are not due tomorrow.

We have a few weeks to pay it

and it sounds like there will be a little bit of a grace period in terms of this first billing cycle. So just a reminder to residents that may be paying attention to this, whatever we can do to help just help residents ease their minds a little bit and help better inform them and ask everyone for residents, but also staff and the WERD team for patience as we work with residents and customers and the community on this transition. We knew it wasn't going to be 100% smooth no matter what, and it looks like we're making our way through a lot of the hiccups that are occurring. So I appreciate all the work that's going into this, and I'm confident we'll come out of this in a few weeks in a much, much better place.

Thank you, Mayor. We do appreciate it.

We are working hard. Customer service is number one top priority,

and we are doing everything we can to attend to all the residents' needs

and questions and concerns, and we'll do our best.

and hopefully when we come back in two weeks to give you a quick update,

things may look a little bit different, and I think we'll be able to assure you that things will be close to maybe 90% back to normal.

We appreciate that, and I think we're all looking forward to that

and appreciate you paying personal attention and the leadership team. I know you have some of your leadership team here, paying close attention to the rollout and the initial kind of phase of this transition process in Monterey Park. So really appreciate all the teamwork that's going into this.

Thank you. If there are no other questions,

I don't know if there are any audience members that have specific concerns around the trash contract or the service. Maybe you guys can stick around for just a few minutes in case there are any. If not, I think we can help share out the number. I'm sure that will It will go out in the e-mail recap that's going to go out. If any residents have questions or concerns around the trash service transition or their current trash service, feel free to, I hope, encourage everyone to reach out to get those answers.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Council.

All right.

We will move on to consent calendar. Is there a motion or are there any items to pull from consent?

Mr. Mayor, I don't have any items to pull, but I did want to recuse myself from item 3J.

It's a potential conflict of interest.

Any others to pull?

3K for a short discussion.

3K to pull.

I will pull 3J because I'd like to highlight that project, and we can excuse Councilor Sanchez for that one.

3, aye, to highlight that as well.

And 3, K is being pulled.

Any other items?

If not, is there a motion for the remaining consent calendar items?

Move for approval for the remaining consent agenda items. I'll second. Motion and second. Any further discussion?

Hearing none, we'll call for the vote.

Approved unanimously.

All right.

We will move to item 3, aye. service bus fares

waiving for Clean Air Day.

Sean's out in the back. Sorry.

Well, I would move the other items, but those are also Sean.

Sorry, Sean.

My apologies.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor, Pro Tem and City Council.

Sean Igo, Public Works Director.

Tonight you have a for you an item for the Spirit Bus. This is for Clean Air Day, which is in October. And we're looking at requesting that we waive the transportation fees for that day,

much like Metro is doing.

And so, again, we're just trying to do our part to promote active transportation and getting people around through this Clean Air Day program. So with that, I'll take any questions.

Thank you.

Can you remind me, because I don't have the staff report in front of me right now, what the estimated cost is for waiving fees?

Yeah, so at $0.25 per rider, it's about $71.50 for that day.

I believe I may be making this up, but I feel like last year we decided to go the whole week to waive.

That was for Earth Day. Okay. Yeah, we did Earth Week.

So this one is again council's prerogative, but this one is strictly for October 2nd, which is clean California clean air day

I think there is some value to keeping it to clean air day But also maybe some more value in terms of getting the word out about the spirit bus if we go the whole week But I don't know how my other council members feel I would support going the whole week It doesn't seem like it'll cost cost us a whole lot of money in terms of fair

I support that. I'll make a motion to basically provide cleaner week for the Spirit Bus.

All right. Is there a second or seconded by Councilman Ryu? Any further discussion?

I just have a question, Sean. So an estimated cost for the whole week would be something around the lines of about $350.

Yeah. I mean, give or take, obviously ridership varies each day. But in general, yeah, that would be a good estimate.

I guess there's no real cost in putting clean air right so yeah and then real quick I want to make

the survey and we're going to put that in the Cascades next time around. So it's also on our spirit buses. We're encouraging people to take that survey and give us their feedback on the proposed changes that we have for the spirit bus.

When I did see the survey get put up, what's the deadline for the service?

So we're looking at October. We're either mid-October, end of October.

We don't have a deadline for it yet, but we're looking at mid to end of October.

Okay.

I mean, I'm just getting an idea here in terms of maybe for clean air week. If someone, and we'll take them at their word for it, fills out the survey,

they get a free ride that week or whatever, or the whole week or whatever.

Yeah. I don't know. If that makes sense. I get where you're going. All right. But there's a motion and a second.

If there's no further discussion, we'll call for the vote.

And just to be clear, that's to go the whole week for the whole week.

Yes. Understood.

Approved unanimously.

All right. Item 3J, floral drive traffic improvement.

Council Member Sanchez, I believe, is recusing because his property is within 500 or 1,000 feet of the potential improvement. As he goes and gets soda for us.

I'll hand it over to Sean. No problem.

Good evening again, Honorable Mayor, Mayor of Pro Temp and City Council.

Tonight you have before you an item.

This is for temporary traffic improvements.

Next slide, please.

This is actually the only slide, but we have temporary traffic improvements along Floral Drive. Some of these improvements include narrowing of the lanes, which can assist with reducing speeds along this stretch of road, and also allow us to push out the stop bars at Crest Vista, Valley Vista, and Hillside. This will allow to improve line of sight as people are coming out of those streets to have better view along Floral Drive. So again, these are temporary measures. As many of you know, we applied for a grant for $3.5 million through ATP Cycle 7. This is to make permanent improvements along the stretch of road, which will include sidewalk improvements. There will be a pedestrian crossing with an overhead signal. We're also going to do tree planting. So there are various improvements we're anticipating receiving funding for that permanent improvements. We're hoping to hear back by the end of this year, beginning of next, if we receive that grant. But we want to do at least two temporary improvements to see how this changes the conditions of the road for this stretch of floral drive. So with that, I'll take any questions.

Thank you, Sean. Any questions from Council?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

No, you know, I just want to thank you for bringing this before City Council and also applying for funds for a more permanent solution. I appreciate it because I know some of us who went to the community presentation a few months ago, and certainly for residents who live around there, that's a concern, especially if they're trying to cross over to the commercial center, not to mention students who sometimes park there to try and save money as they go to class. But nonetheless, I think it's appreciated that we're looking at that area, especially because we've over the years heard residents complain about speeding.

And so, you know, happy support.

Thank you. We appreciate it.

And I would be remiss if I didn't say that our city manager brought this to our attention to evaluate. And so we did evaluate this. And, you know, with the Public Works team, we tried to put our heads together and figure out some good improvements. But, again, I do want to give credit where credit's due.

Well, well done to our city staff.

and just to be clear this is in uh coordination councilmember sanchez did bring this this area up along with elac um in working closer with elac um improvements in general i know that they're working on their side uh of the the street on floral and so when we were looking at this we

know that there's a small uh curb line along floral on the north side of the street where

we see pedestrians walking which it's not intended to be a sidewalk uh which makes this very nervous so we did some temporary improvements already with signage but these additional improvements we hope will make the area even more safe for

our residents. Yes we do put a signage that it's not used for pedestrians. We've

also done some speed feedback signs along this roadway so we're doing small improvements this is the larger picture of the temporary improvements so again

it's really to improve that whole corridor. Any other questions from

Council if not do you know Sean do you have an idea of when we might hear back on the ATP grant and

By the end of this year being a next we anticipate hearing back if we received the funding and then if if we receive

the grant

funding what's the estimated schedule for the improvements to probably between design

Construction all of that probably a year year and a half now

and then we may already be thinking through this a little but whatever we can do as part of this and any other potential improvements around the UCLA College area and South Atlantic to make pedestrian linkages and pedestrian potential bike safety improvements in design to link the college and the shopping areas where the students go

and have to cross the street all the time anyway

whatever we can do to make that entire neighborhood or the larger broader neighborhood more easily walkable and safer to walk I think would be great to see how we can if there's some master planning or other kind of planning elements we need to put our heads together around I think would be great to just have a more cohesive and safer kind of network of walking sidewalks and whatever designs to make sure it's people can get from the college any part of the college to the stores that are across the street on the lake and things like that absolutely that's a big part

of those those permanent improvements and that ATP cycle seven grant again is to provide that linkage and to clean up some of the the challenges that we have along that corridor we're working with edison on some pole locations to provide for some ada access challenges that we're running into so we're working with them they've been very cooperative in helping us through this process so again we're really trying to improve that that walkability in this community and that safety too i mean you have a elementary school that's there again we want to provide that pedestrian friendly access for them as well um so again we are evaluating that's part of this corridor great

And I know, I mean, I expect for some of the private property owners, including some of the shopping center property owners and managers along Atlantic, maybe there's some conversations we can have with them about how they can integrate, if they're looking at redeveloping any portion of their property to integrate with our potential plans for improving pedestrian access into and out of, and then even within their properties, too, to make sure everything's cohesive.

Yep. Great.

Sounds like there's a motion on hand.

Move for approval. Is there a second?

Moved and second.

Any further discussion?

Hearing none, we'll call for the vote.

Approved unanimously.

All right, moving to item 3K. Sean? Oh, we can call Jose back.

Sorry.

All right. Sean?

All right. Good evening again, Honorable Mayor. I'm Mayor Prattam and City Council. Sean Igo, Public Works Director.

Tonight you have before you an item for the purchase of 68 heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or HVAC units. This is part of our Building Forward grant that we received for improvement to the library. And so, again, we're looking at providing more efficient units for the facility to not only reduce costs for energy, but also just to heat and cool the facility more efficiently. So with that, I will take any questions.

Any questions from Council?

If not, Sean, did we look at any non-fossil use HVAC, heat pump HVAC as options for this?

So we recently looked into this.

So there are options out there. there's obviously a movement to move to all electric units such as this so the the purchase of the actual units it's about a wash there there's I won't call it a significant or notable increase or decrease because some of the units are cheaper some of the units are more expensive so it's in essence a wash however to do the retrofitting for some of these units because some of these units will draw a little more power it will require us to upgrade some of our electrical infrastructure so some of the sub panels some of the breakers that estimated cost is about $100,000 to make those improvements additionally there are some additional improvements that would need to be made including potential new conduit runs and new wire pulling because some of these are on the second floor it would require some pretty significant improvements those costs haven't been planned out yet but again if the council wishes us to evaluate that we can but again the minimum cost is gonna be $100,000 with a potential $100,000 or $200,000 more.

Thanks. I'll just speak for myself, and I'm curious where my council colleagues

may end up as well. Just in light of our sustainability plan and our hope to become whatever we can do in terms of our own facilities become zero emission by 2045, but also to support the states and our community's goal to get there as well, I would hate to lock in potential likely expected fossil fuel use in terms of the heating element of the HVAC as currently designed for, I don't know what the expected lifespan

is for these HVAC systems. Sounds like about 20 years.

15 to 20 years, yes.

So if we should at least look at what options are out there and do our analysis, it doesn't seem like, and correct me if I'm wrong, if we are in a rush to do these HVAC replacements, then that's a consideration, of course, to have. But if we aren't and we have the time, I would fully support us taking a step back, taking our time and doing some more due diligence in terms of the full costs to align both this grant funding that we have available to make some retrofits to the library, but also make sure it aligns with our adopted sustainability plan and the broader

goals for the community to get to net zero. So to your

point, yes. So we, it's a council prerogative if they wish us to evaluate that. A couple of things to take note of is this won't impact a grant if we push this out a couple of months to evaluate. However, if we push this out past the next council meeting to make a decision, there will be a CPI increase on the units. So we can anticipate anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 increase on these units because we have so many units we're replacing. So we want to figure that out in the next couple of weeks. I think we can get there if that's the council's prerogative. But just something to keep in mind if we delay this beyond the next council meeting.

It sounds like we can't we can try to do this work quickly

I'm in support of that at least doing our our homework if the other council members

feel the same way so

So

Decide them we want to defer to the next counseling. So I think the we can push this back to staff not take action from the council And wait for staff to bring it back to us for action Doing this addition with this feedback to do additional work. Yes, that would be correct So we just would not take action on this unless someone feels strongly that we want to move forward.

All right.

All right. Sounds good. All right. Thank you.

I just note that wherever else we are looking at HVAC systems or other appliance changeouts

or other technology changeouts in terms of making sure we're aligning with our sustainability plan goals

to the extent possible and where feasible,

Let's make sure we're doing that. Yep, absolutely. We look at that holistically not even just appliances holistically. We're looking at that

Great. Thank you. All right. So well, there's no action on 3k We'll move forward to public hearing item 4a Consideration possible action to adopt a resolution approving a second one-year time extension for CUP to construct for the unit senior housing

development at

130 to 206 South Chandler Avenue Oh, and there are public comments

For speaker Kenny

Good evening for mayor and then Member for council and the city

Closer to the mic can't hear

Good evening for

Mayor and then all the member for council and the city manager and the attorney. We are trying to get the COP permit extension. I think it's for Chandler 40-unit senior housing. I'm sorry.

Do you have other questions? If you're

here available for questions, we can wait for that. We can take a seat. Is there another speaker?

Next speaker, Stephen Skander.

Before he comes up, I'm going to officially open the public hearing on this item.

And if you're just here for questions, we can just have you take a seat.

I just want to say good evening and thank you for considering it, and I'm here for questions.

Thank you. Any other speakers?

All right.

I will close the public hearing.

Sorry. I think we have a quick staff report on this.

Good evening, Mayor Wong, Mayor Potem-Goh, and members of the City Council. I'm Jessica Serrano your community development director. This is a consideration and possible action to adopt a resolution approving a second one-year time extension for a conditional use permit 18-01 to construct a 40 unit senior citizen housing development at 130 through 206 South Chandler Avenue This next slide illustrates the color elevation for the 40 unit senior housing development which was approved on February 5th, 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, City Council extended expiration of all During the COVID-19 pandemic, City Council extended expiration of all entitlements including this CUP until April 1, 2023. ! On May 17, 2023, the City Council granted the applicant a one-year time extension until April 1, 2024, 2024. ! On May 17, 2023, the City Council granted the City Council granted a one-year time extension until April 1, 2024. In March of this year, the applicant submitted a request for a second one-year extension for the project's tentative map and conditional use permit. for the project's tentative map and conditional use permit. Although the extensions were submitted at the same time, the City Council did review and consider the time extension for the tentative map separately in August of this year due to a limitation on the validity of the tentative map. For the City Council's consideration tonight, it is recommended that the City Council consider retroactively extending the conditional use permits expiration from April 1st, 2024 to April 1st, 2025. Next slide. This next slide is an aerial of the project site, which consists of three lots. The applicant is demonstrating good faith efforts to make progress towards meeting the requirements for obtaining building permits and to begin construction and to finalize the map associated with the project. It is in the best interest of the city to grant this time extension because the project will help achieve the goals set forth in the housing element and provide much needed housing in our community.

Final slide.

At this time, it is staff's recommendation that City Council consider opening the hearing after closing the public hearing, considering the evidence, adopt a resolution approving a time extension for conditional use permit 1801, and taking such additional related action that may be desirable.

Staff and the applicant are available for questions. All right. Thank you.

I don't know if, Carl, I'm looking to you. Do I need to reopen the public hearing if there's anyone? All right, we already opened it, already closed it. If there's no other comments on that, we'll go to council comments or questions.

I have a question, Stephen. I think the last time you were here, and I think it was just a couple months ago, you were basically down to one holdout tenant, and you guys were working for a possible negotiation settlement so that that tenant kind of leaves on their own.

What's the status on that? Well, the tenant has not paid rent in quite some time, so there was an eviction proceeding brought to it.

I've advised my client to offer money to that person, but apparently the person won't talk to my client.

So we're having a little bit of difficulty with that. Do you have anything further on that? No.

So you still have a tenant in one of the units who is going through eviction, so there's litigation involved.

I understand that there's no pressing issue

other than you've got something in place.

You've got a process in place.

Yes, that's right. That's right.

I mean, I would always prefer that they just pay money and take the relocation money and just go, but if they won't talk, they won't talk, so there's very little you can do.

Is the current resident, I guess, senior,

or any other demographic?

Oh, is this the person?

The person, like one lady, family, three person. But the side agreement of the young woman for 42 years.

Well, so there's a family in there that had signed a relocation agreement.

That's not the issue. The issue is the one person with the eviction. Yes. Todala.

42 and the other. No, the person with the eviction. Todala.

What do you mean you think the attendance yeah, 10 is a 42 years 42 years old Long long-term tenant. Oh, no, but when we are talking that we are will be construction But the the back of home is that when you were ready that move all together long, but I cannot wait

But it sounds like if they're willing there is offer on the table to provide some relocation

All right, any other comments questions if not is there a motion Move for approval is there second moved and seconded by a councilman review any further discussion hearing none call for the vote

Approved unanimously. All right. Thank you. We look forward to moving ahead on the project

All right moving on to item 6A, Resolution of City Council declaring, proclaiming September 15th

through October 15th, National Hispanic Heritage Month. Is there a report on this? No report.

Any comments from Council?

Yes.

Yes. So starting September 15th, it is

Hispanic Heritage Month, and

I wanted to actually

let me see.

I'm not sure if we have that slide available again for Hispanic Heritage Month. I know I had a lot of events on it that we can just share just to make community aware of all of the events. That was a little hard to see but I know it starts on September 19th or

18th? 19th.

19th, right, yeah. September 19th to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and make it official that here in Monterey Park we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and that we also appreciate the Hispanic culture here in the city of Monterey Park by celebrating and making Hispanic Heritage Month between September 15th and October 15th. And I know there's a lot of other events on that. Sorry, it's a little hard

for me to see. Let me try to make it a little bigger. Or maybe Robert can share some of those.

I can read it off too if you'd like. Yes, if we can go in order, that'd be great.

So Hispanic Heritage Month is officially September 15th through October 15th.

The month kicks off with two programs on September 19th at the Farmer's Market.

On Thursday, we're going to have mariachis. On September 19th, we are also going to have a Teens Make Art workshop

with some traditional folk art at the library.

On September 21st, we're doing a Spanish bilingual story time at the library with a craft.

And then we're also doing at the library a history of the tortilla program.

And I'm hearing that there will be tortillas there that folks can sample.

Snacks. Snacks are being served. September 23rd, we're doing a crafternoon tea at the library, making a traditional folk craft.

And then September 24th, very exciting, there will be a senior day trip to Olvera Street,

which is really fun if you've never been there, close to downtown Los Angeles.

September 24th, there is also a program, Document Discovery, which is a musical group from Paraguay that plays instruments made entirely out of garbage.

1 p.m. We're being sustainable at the library.

September 28th, there is a Saturday movie themed with Hispanic Heritage Month.

On October 3rd, Movie Day at Langley Center, we're doing Encanto. And then October 14th will be the beginning of the Dia de los Muertos community altar

at the Langley Center. And that will run through November 4th.

And folks can contribute a photo of a loved one that's passed to be included in the ofrenda.

Excellent.

And thank you to our Parks and Rec Department for setting these up. I mean, there is no excuse to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month. There's so many options. Just to clarify, the movie viewing for the 28th is what movie?

Does it stay on there? I'm not sure.

Due to licensing requirements, it's not listed. But, Kristen, do we know what that movie is?

We can find out and let you know.

Okay. Okay, thank you.

And so thank you for all of the amazing events, 246810 events. that the city is hosting within the month between September 15th and October 15th. And then I just wanted to share some information just so we're aware about Hispanic Heritage Month

because I'm a history teacher.

But Hispanic Heritage Month was initially observed in 1968 by President Lyndon Johnson and then later expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to a month-long celebration. The 30-day celebration spans two months to observe significant victories of Hispanic Latino community. including the independence of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua on September 15th. So a lot of the Latin American nations celebrate their National Independence Day starting on September 15th. So that's why the significance with starting September 15th. Mexico on September 16th and Chile on September 18th. In addition, Dia de la Raza is also observed on October 12th. And just to share a little bit numbers in terms of population, Hispanic and Latinos account for 19.1% of the total U.S. population and are the largest racial ethnic group in California at 39.4% of the state population. In the city of Monterey Park, Hispanics and Latinos account for 27.1% of the population, approximately 15,685 individuals, a lot of them living in my district. and Hispanic and Latino Americans represent a vibrant and thriving part of our diverse community. So this year's theme for Hispanic Heritage Month is Pioneers of Change, Shaping the Future Together, which encapsulates the spirit of innovation, resilience, and the unity that defined the Hispanic experience. So I want to recommend that the Council consider adopting this resolution and making September 15th through October 15th Hispanic Heritage Month here in the city of Monterey Park.

I will move if someone could second.

Second by Council Member Yu. Thank you, Council Member Yu.

Council Members.

And if we can take a vote.

Any other comments?

Any other discussion or items?

Thank you for bringing this forward, Council Member.

Thank you, Council Member. Fully support this as well. No, thank you, Council Member Sanchez. There's been a motion and a second. If there's no further discussion, we will call for the vote.

Approved unanimously. Sorry, just to chime in really quickly, that movie is called Blue Beetle. It's a recent DC superhero movie. Yes.

But we're not supposed to publicize that?

Licensing requirements don't let us publish it

in written social media posts, flyers, things like that. But we can tell people what it is.

Leave signs like little Blue Beetles everywhere?

Yeah, we can put a little description, AND SO IF PEOPLE ARE, YOU KNOW, CLEVER, THEY CAN FIGURE IT OUT.

IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S A VOLUNTEER THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE ON THE COUNCIL THAT'S GOING TO GO AROUND AND TELL EVERYONE.

BUT ALL RIGHT. THAT'S THE LAST ITEM ON THE AGENDA.

WE'LL GO TO ANY CLOSING COMMENTS, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS,

ANYTHING FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS.

Yes, I just wanted to say one thing tonight, and it deals with a school shooting that happened today in Georgia. The Monterey Park was also struck heavily, as you can all recall, by a mass shooting that dramatically impacted our community. Today in Georgia, there was a school that was also dramatically impacted in Georgia. And so I just wanted to close tonight by sending our prayers and thoughts, but I know sometimes that is not always enough. But really one way that we can always think about the students the students who and victims of the shooting at Appalachee High School is to honor them by passing stricter gun control laws that ensure that tragedies like these don't occur again. It is the beginning of the school year for many schools throughout the country, and students are just returning back to school, and this is just such an awful way to start the

school year with the school shooting.

So I would like to recommend that if it's okay with the mayor, if maybe we can draft a letter that we can send out to the high school in that community and express our condolences and also our heartfelt sadness for the lives lost today, particularly young kids who are just making their way in life, and let them know that Monterey Park stands with them.

If there's no concerns around that from the council, I think we can, it's clear direction for staff.

All right. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

Councilman Rolot? Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Again, thank you, Councilman Sanchez, for bringing us up. Because, again, since, you know, I think it's important that not only do we not forget our own mass shooting incident, but we also speak out in places across the United States that also sees these unfortunate events. Let's see, for our, I guess our next council meeting in October, and I know the city has done this in the past, but can we bring forward a resolution to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month? And I think it's important, again, speaking of our own mass shooting in 2023, I know, you know, one of the issues that was amplified by that mass shooting was the issue of domestic violence. And I believe this year's theme is Heal Holden Center. And so if we could bring that forward, please.

Yes, noted. Great.

And then as far as community events, myself and many of my colleagues attended the West Sanguari Realtors Legislative Luau. And it's always nice to mix and mingle with our neighbors, not to mention those in the real estate industry, especially talk about housing, which is such an important issue for our community. This past week, welcome. Director of Public Works. She's been doing some great to welcome some new businesses. The first one was Sky 11, which is at the Evergreen Plaza. And what's special about this hair salon is that the owners also live in Monterey Park. And so I would say it's wonderful to support a local small business, especially one that is open by a local resident, as well as this past week, I guess, a reopening of a business that's been here, Daniel Jewelers.

and again I'm always happy to see a business invest

for many decades in our city and hopefully if they invest in us we will invest in them and that's

really it for me

As many of you know I'm pretty tech savvy and I'd rather spend my money on technology than fashion

so during the Labor Day weekend I decided to go shopping and I walk into the Apple store and spot the Apple Vision Pro glasses

and I've seen them before and thought, you know, they were just like another pair of VR or AR glasses, which I already have like a few pairs at home.

But then a staff member told me that they're offering a free 30-minute demo

and I thought, why not, maybe I can try. So those were the most eye-opening 30 minutes.

of my life. What I've seen, what I've been dreaming actually about for so long has become a reality. Not only can you feel like you're in a completely different location, but you can also turn your picture and video, you know, into 3D, making it feel like you're actually there. From the app, you can virtually hold a human heart or a spaceship and take them apart,

right in front of your eyes. And this morning, I checked out the Zillow app, and I couldn't believe I was sitting inside a house that is for sale, feeling exactly what it would be like to live there.

So I highly encourage all of you, especially the senior in your family, to go for a free session and try it out. For kids, they only allow 13 or older.

You don't have to pay anything, but I'm sure this is the kind of technology

that's going to become a part of our daily lives. That's all for me. Thank you.

I went to many of the same events that my colleagues went to over the last week and a half. The Westing Gateville Legislative Luau. Maryville had an open house a couple of weeks ago, as did Union Church, also had a health fair. And then we also celebrated the CACA LA Lodge celebration, which Honorable Council Member Henry Lo is the vice president of.

So great party.

I think there were 200-plus people. what's interesting is that that celebration usually happens in the greater LA area, but thank you for bringing it into NBC and helping the local dollars in

the city.

And also the two reopening ribbon cutting for Sky 111,

the local nail shop, spa, plus

beauty place, and also Daniel's Jewelers, which also reopened. They've been in the city for 40 years, so glad that they relocated to a different store but also within the city that's it for me all right

thank you I want to request that staff maybe bring up bring back if there's concurrence among the council members potential resolution in support of LA County measure G the governance reform measure to look at expanding the board of supervisors in LA County adding a elected county executive and ethics commission and reform for LA County. If there's concurrence there, we can bring that back potentially for action.

Seeing nods. So hopefully we can do that at the next meeting.

Went to many of the same events.

Appreciate all the community events and opportunities to engage with the community,

including meet the mayors.

I also want to do a special shout out on behalf of Vice Mayor Ngo and myself for so many commuters that participate in the Saturn Park Advisory Review Committee process

over the last month.

I think we had dozens, if not more than that, residents from throughout the city and that neighborhood come out to participate in that process. I believe staff and our consultants at Wildan are working on transmitting or finalizing the final report to be transmitted to city council. Look forward to that coming for us to engage with. but really just want to appreciate city staff as well, Jessica, the planning team, and everyone in the city staff and city hall staff that had something to do with helping to do this additional level of outreach

to the community around this big area,

big portion of our city in terms of reimagining what can go on there. Appreciate so many community members that helped us share their concerns and their ideas and vision for what can happen at that site. I look forward to being able to deal with that and to have this conversation at the city council level hopefully in the coming weeks and months. I also want to quickly address some earlier comments around the SPARC meeting and the process.

There were some concerns expressed

that were also expressed at the SPARC meeting. I believe I did my best and I think a number of us did our work to try to address some of the information there and some of the frankly misinformation that was spare spread both there and online to address some of those concerns if there are other concerns that are specific around the process or what the next steps are I welcome that and would hope that whoever has those can continue

to send those in. I know we are working to address a lot of those concerns

by having conversations and we will have continued conversations in the public sphere through the city council if we're gonna move forward on any action specifically that that will happen here at the city council chamber as well.

I also wanna just note for those

who are expressing frustration at this process that I totally respect people who have differing opinions

about what can and should happen.

at that site or any site as we're currently doing a rezoning of throughout the city to come into compliance and to align with the land use element that was approved by the city's voters. That rezoning process is going on and will go on for a while longer throughout the city for sites and areas throughout the city. I just want to note that it's not just the Saturn Park area that's going through this process. but I also want to say for those who may disagree with what's happening or or where something may or may not be going that does not give license to continue to misinform or to put misinformation out there or to continue to sow distrust and misinformation and I hope that if there are genuine questions or genuine concerns around what is happening the process of by which things may or may not be happening that those are we can have a conversation about that but just because you're on one side of things and others I hope that right people who may have differing opinions about a certain direction things are going or something that's happening or may happen in terms of zoning or

something else in terms of projects that doesn't give you right the right or the

opportunity to to to make things up or to spread lies about things and I hope that we can all hold ourselves to the standard of having proof and having real substantive things to back things up about. I'd also, will also say, right, we all, all of us have signed a pledge, right, and an agreement to hold ourselves to a high standard

of conduct, our code of conduct here

for the city of Monterey Park, as city council members, as elected officials. and I expect all of us to work in a respectful way with each other, even if we disagree, and especially when we disagree about issues.

And if we do disagree, that we can have a conversation about that.

But if things don't go your way, it does not give you license to tell lies or mistruths

or mess with the information.

and I hope that we can keep to the truth

and keep to facts about things that are going on.

So I appreciate that opportunity, I appreciate everyone, and what I don't appreciate

is when people undermine the process,

undermine what's going on

and what we've been trying to do in terms of being transparent with the community and going out of the way

to be engaging the community around this process

and what's going on

and what the future of the city should be. With that said, if there are no further comments,

we'll adjourn the meeting and I believe we've given direction about a couple of next steps for

the next couple weeks. All right thank you have a good night. Thank you have a good night.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.