City Council Meeting — June 4, 2025

Thank you. Hi, Tony. I'm with the city clerk's office. Can you give us a mic check, please? Yes.

Right here.

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Thank you. Thank you. I turned up the input. I turned up the input.

Did that help?

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No problem. perfect we can hear you thank you no problem

thank you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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Let's call the meeting to order. 6.50. I apologize for the little delay there. Let me start with a land acknowledgement.

We would like to acknowledge that the land we inhibit today was once known as the Taven Guard, the home of the Gabalino Tongva people. We show respect to the Gavilino Tongva people as well as to all the indigenous people past, present, and future. And honor their labor as original caretakers of this land. We commit to uplifting the Gavilino Tongva people. Invite you to acknowledge the history and join us in caring for this land.

Okay. We have... I thought I saw explorers out there.

Okay, let's let's have to explore start and join us in the flag salute

Thank you.

of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under

God, indivisible, with liberty and justice wrong.

Right face, forward march.

All up!

All up!

All up!

All up! All up!

All up! All up! All up!

All up! All up! All up! All up! All up! All up!

Thank you. You may be seated.

Madam Clerk, will you please do roll call? Council member Wong. Present. Council Member Sanchez.

Present. Council Member Lo. Present. Mayor Pro Tem Yang.

Present.

Mayor Ngo.

Present. We have a quorum. All right.

Agenda additions, deletions, and changes.

City Manager.

Yes, Mr. Mayor and members of the Council. There was a request to move up item 9K

and also the two presentation items 7A and 7B B, before public communications?

Any objection to that?

No? Let's proceed with that.

Oh, we're going to do

which one is 7A?

Let's do 7A first.

I think it's this one, right?

So we have a special guest tonight and also a commendation for the newly elected crowned Miss Chinatown fourth princess is Tarina Fan, a Marley Park resident. This incredible young lady embodies grace, intelligence, and leadership, continuing a tradition that celebrates culture and community. As an ambassador, she will take part in the cultural celebrations, community service, and special events throughout the year. So, Tarina, would you like to speak on behalf of yourself and get a glimpse of who you are?

Should I face forward this way? Okay, good afternoon, everyone, or good evening, I guess. It's 7 o'clock. My name is Tarina Fan. I am a resident of Monterey Park, California.

I went to Mark Keppel High School.

So I've been around Monterey Park for many years now, and I really have a heart for the city. I just want to give thanks to the city council members, the mayor, all the city employees that are here today, as well as the community. I would just like to really express my gratitude for, I guess, the city that raised me. And I would just like to say that I'm very excited to not only represent my culture.

I'm both Chinese and Vietnamese. So it's very special to me to have this title as Miss L.A. Chinatown Princess.

And I'm just excited to see what the future holds. And once again, I'm so grateful for everyone here today. And let's just have a great year and, you know, have a great rest of our night. Thank you. Thank you.

Again, congratulations, and thank you for bringing guests of audience to help celebrate

this.

Council members, if you can join me for the certificate.

Thank you.

Okay, the next item up.

Isabella Lee is a senior at Ramona Covenant Secondary School in Monterey Park, where she has been an active member of the community. A former student of Brightwood Elementary, she has competed as an athlete on local swim teams, including the Monterey Park manta rays and their aquatics. Her commitment to service is evident through her involvement in scouting. currently a member of Scout Troop 141 under Scoutmaster Steve Chow. Isabella is an Eagle Scout candidate, a distinction earned by only 5% of Scouts. She was also a founding member of Troop 1286 at Sage Granada Church in Alhambra. Beyond scouting, Isabella serves as a youth city commissioner for Monterey Park, helping to organize community events that bring residents together. After graduating, she plans to attend USC, fight on, and looks forward to continue her effort to give back to the city of Monterey Park. Isabella, did

you want to say something also?

First off, I would like to say thank you for this opportunity to come speak.

And I'm really excited, and I really love my project.

But first off, I would like to give a big shout-out to the fire department who's here in the back.

I really want to give a thank you to...

I would like to give the biggest thanks to Mr. Scott and Mr. John.

They were the biggest mentors and they really supported me to this process.

And I also would like to give a shout out to Mr. Steve and Mr. Tom from my troop

who also helped me through the ego process and this whole project, they're just helping me get through it. So applause for all of them.

so this project meant a lot to me just because I've lived in Wanderer Park all my life just like our princess before I was raised here and I'm half Vietnamese and I'm half Cantonese and it just means a lot to give back to my community and when I was thinking about this project I was wondering what can I do for my community how can I help so I looked at the fire department and I saw that they've done so much but I feel like they haven't been recognize as much as they should. So I decided to do two different parts of my ego project. Center. And, if you guys can see up here we have the garden in front of the fire department kind of behind me on the left. And then that was it was kind of it was a nice garden. You know we had a hose we had some plants there. But I decided to give it a full renovation. So you see in these pictures I worked with my troop one for one. Temple City we worked with all the scouts. And we basically we dug out all the old plants and then we put those away. And then we added new succulents. Those are a lot more sustainable and I feel like they add a lot more life to the front of the the fire department.

and I just feel like it was a really fun project to do and I know a lot of the scouts also got service hours as well and you can see me with my plaque and with my garden.

And then the second part which isn't pictured here is I also made translation cards for the fire department which I hope have been helpful. But basically growing up here, I don't speak any other language than English but I've noticed that a lot of our elderly and our seniors, they don't speak English. So I decided to make translation cards that would translate from English to the Mandarin written language. And I made over 10 cards, and they have visuals, they have prompts, and they have words so that the fire department can use it on their emergency visit. So that was the second part of my project, and I'm really, really excited for that because I feel like that will bring the most change and the most community impact. So thank you.

Thank you so much.

One last piece before I go down. Can I call the fire department down here?

Yes.

So, as you guys know for Eagle Project, it takes quite a bit of money, but I also worked a lot to fundraise.

And from my fundraising and with all the stuff that I spent, you know, for plants, for dirt, for everything else and for, like, the cards,

I have two checks to give to the fire department, and they amount to a total of $846.89 to the Monterey Park Firefighters Relief Fund.

So I would just like to present them to you guys now.

So a little shout out. They're a nonprofit, so if you guys have any funds left to donate to them, you should also donate to them too.

So thank you for the opportunity and I'm really excited and I hope you guys like the garden.

I hope you use the help the transaction cards are being put to use. Thank you.

Great. Why don't we have you take a picture with the fire people first

and then we'll come down and we'll take a picture with the certificate.

Okay, sure.

All right.

Thank you.

Okay, never mind.

Thank you.

Thank you. Sorry.

Thank you. Thank you.

And let's go.

Who's presenting a 9K?

Okay, we'll go to 9K.

One more item before the speakers. Of a 9K. Okay.

Yeah, okay.

All right. So thank you for... Oh, we have a speaker. Is that you? Speaker first?

Yeah. Okay.

Our first speaker, Mia Levis-Porter.

Yes.

Good evening. My name is Mia Levis-Porter. I am a survivor of gun violence, an activist, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action. I also work at the L.A. County Office of Violence Prevention. Over 30 years ago, my sweet older brother, Jr., died by gun suicide after struggling with schizophrenia for five years. And I'm still living with the impact of his death every day. Our family dealt with it by not talking about it, believing his schizophrenia and his suicide were shameful and something to hide. But this grief is consuming and finds a way to manifest. My dad passed a few years later from grief. My sibling, who found Junior, has been trapped in his trauma for decades, unable to thrive. And I lived with anxiety, fear, going above and beyond trying to help or save others, always going to the dark places with paranoia.

And like a ripple, this impacted my relationship with my friends, my family, my place in this world. Gun violence permanently changed my life and my family.

and this is why I believe we need to raise awareness of the impact of gun violence in our lives. Through activism and giving a name to my grief, I did find some healing. I found power in knowing I am sadly not alone in my experience. I found power in community who understood my heartbreak and I found power working in community to change the American gun culture through advocating for life-saving gun safety legislation, education, and raising awareness of gun violence and its impact on our communities. This is why I am so grateful to the city of Monterey Park for honoring Wear Orange this weekend. After the 2023 Lunar New Year shooting, this community rose from the tragedy stronger, more united, and dedicated to addressing gun violence through passing model legislation, fostering community healing, like through the Monterey Park Hope Resiliency Center, and raising awareness through events like partnering with our office, the L.A. County Office of Violence Prevention, to host this Saturday's Wear Orange Gun Violence Awareness Month community event and resource fair. We are a nation of survivors. 125 Americans die daily and twice that are wounded by gun violence. If that isn't compelling enough to take action, gun violence impacts all of us whether we realize it or not. In L.A. County, gun deaths in 2023 cost county taxpayers $15 billion, with a B, dollars, $10 billion for homicides, and $5 billion for suicides. Putting on my county hat, we also believe in doing our part to address gun violence. Yesterday, our Board of Supervisors declared June Gun Violence Awareness Month. And believing that gun violence is a public health epidemic, we are grateful the Board also invested funds to create our Office of Violence Prevention gun violence prevention platform, which includes hiring two gun violence restraining order system navigators and a free gun lock distribution. To date, we've given away almost 30,000 gun locks, no questions asked. We believe violence, especially gun violence, is preventable. Our office is proud to honor Wear Orange with the city of Monterey Park this Saturday. To the community, we hope you can join us here right in front of City Hall from 12 to 3. We are organizing a family-friendly community event with healing activities, a resource fair, and a marigold planting ceremony to honor our loved ones stolen by gun violence. Regardless of whatever your platform or network is, we all have a part to play in ending gun violence. As a survivor, an activist, and on behalf of the L.A. County Office of Violence Prevention, thank you, Council Member Jose Sanchez, the mayor, and the City of Monterey Park and the Monterey Park City Council for this declaration of Wear Orange Weekend.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mia, for being here today. and for the amazing work that you're doing for gun violence prevention advocacy, not just in Nellie County but throughout the nation. So I'd like to ask the council to consider passing and declaring June 6th as National Gun Violence Awareness Day here in Monterey Park but also June 7th and 8th as Wear Orange Weekend in Monterey Park. And as you heard Ms. Porter speak earlier, hope you will join us this weekend in front of our city hall and join us to try to do all that we can, not just as a city and as a community, especially our community that's been impacted by gun violence, to try to prevent more gun violence that's happening throughout the country. It's very unfathomable to believe and to know that 120 people are dying daily from gun violence and that the leading cause of young people today is gun violence. So we all have to do our part to try to end this. And so thank you so much again for being here today, taking time out of your busy schedule. I know you're working really hard to prepare for Saturday, but also for raising awareness here tonight. So I'd like to make a motion to pass the resolution.

I'll second that.

Second by Portem Yang. Let's take the vote.

Approved unanimously.

Thank you. Great. Thank you. Hope to see everyone out there Saturday.

Okay.

Public communications.

First speaker, Christine Lamb.

How many speakers do we have?

I think like 19.

Around 19.

19. Okay. 19 times 5 is 60 minutes. Okay.

How many are speaking on behalf of the pool of the 19?

All of them.

Okay.

Which is a great turnout.

Now, what I'd like to do is, that's going to be an hour of speaking, which is fine. What I'd like to do is break it up into two halves. Why don't we pick the first half to speak, and we'll spend 30 minutes on this topic, and then we'll get to the rest of the meeting, and then the last set can speak the following 30 minutes at the end.

Oh, no. Oh, no.

Counsel?

I'm okay.

I'm okay letting everyone speak in the beginning. Okay. We're going to be here all night anyway, so I'm ready for you guys.

Let's start.

First speaker, Christine Lem.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council member and staff. My name is Christine and I'm a resident of Monterey Park who've been I'm a resident of Monterey Parker who've been born and raised here I'm here to urge City Council and staff to make Barnes pool a priority by adding it to the City Council meeting agenda For the purpose of discussing funding strategy Is it possible to direct staff to research options apply for grants and create a savings plan? Where our city can save our tax dollars toward rebuilding this important community resource? Resource, we passed Measure MP back in November of 2022. How much of the tax dollars has that generated, and are we able to allocate some of that funding towards the saving plans for Barnes Pool? As someone who has grown up on, grew up on food stamps and reduced lunches, community pool access was the equalizer in my life. Growing up, Barnes Pool was where I learned how to swim, where I stayed cool and kept me out of trouble during the summer, swam from our keppel and worked as a lifeguard. All this to say, the community I found at the pool took care of me when I needed support the most. I hope City Council, staff, and residents can continue the dialogue to figure out a way forward so we can continue to provide opportunities and community to those who need it the most. George Elder is hanging by a thread, and we should not wait for it to completely break down before discussing options. I invite everyone to take on this challenge to invest in our future. Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, Dan Gallardo.

Good evening, City Council and everybody in attendance. I am also a proud...

I've been a resident of Monterey Park for 25 years and like everybody we you know we love the pool at Barnes or we did. I have two kids that are on the swim team and it's sad and frustrating that four days a week we got to go to Cal State LA when we had such a beautiful pool here and we have such a great team that really builds community and I really urge you to make this a priority for the community.

for our kids and for the future of Monterey Park.

And I know in the years past, in our banquets,

we've been promised that something would be done, that it would be a priority, and it seems like nothing has been done.

So please make this a priority for our kids and for the future of Monterey Park.

We go to other cities nearby, Montebello, Commerce, and they all have these beautiful pools,

and they seem to invest.

and yet Monterey Park, the city that I love, does not.

And it's kind of sad.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker is Ethan Song.

And after Ethan, it's Jim Milwaukee.

Good evening, City Council members. My name is Ethan Song, and I'm an aspiring young swimmer who grew up in Monarch Park his whole life and spent countless hours in the Barnes Park swim pool. Some of my earliest memories and most cherished memories are from this very place. Whether it was from watching my older cousins practice while my aunt looked after us or splashing around with my classmates during summer school, Barnes Park Pool wasn't just a place to swim. It was where friendships were made, passions were sparked, and confidence was built. For me, the Barnes Park Pool was more than just a facility. It was a gateway to my love for swimming, and I know I'm not alone. For many young people in our community, it has been a vital resource that made swimming accessible and exciting. Taking that opportunity away from the next generation would mean removing the chance for them to discover that same joy and passion. Even today, swimmers like myself don't have access to regulation, standard pools, or adequate resources to train at the level needed to compete seriously. This lack of infrastructure is reflected in city rankings. With Monterey Park and surrounding cities, the Metro Committee, often at the bottom when it comes to competitive swimming. in Southern California. But we can change that by reopening and reinvesting in the Barnes Park pool, not just as a public amenity, but also as a training ground for school teams and local swim programs. We can build a stronger swimming culture in our city. We can give young athletes the tools they need to succeed. And in turn, we can put Monterey Park on the map as a place that develops strong, dedicated, and competitive swimmers. This is more about sports. It's about community. It's about health, it's about opportunity. Let's make sure Monterey Park continues to be a city that believes in its youth and invests in its people. Thank you. Next speaker, Jim Milwaukee. After that,

it's Stephen Legaspi. Good evening, City of Monterey Park Council. My name is Jim Milwaukee. I'm the treasurer of the Historical Society of Monterey Park. I've lived in Monterey Park for over 50 years. I started lap swimming and water aerobics about 20 years ago at the Barnes Park pool.

The Historical Society's mission is to preserve and promote the unique historical and cultural

heritage of Monterey Park, a mission that designation fully embodies.

Barnes Park Pool is far more than a community facility.

It is a historic civic landmark that played a vital role during the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

an event of both local pride and international consequences.

At our official board meeting on May 25th, 2025, the Monterey Park Historical Society voted unanimously to endorse this nomination. Our board thoroughly reviewed the submitted historical resources education report and finds that its conclusion to be sound, well-substantiated, and wholly consistent with the accepted criteria or designation under the California Register of Historical Resources. Pride in the past, faith in the future. Thank you.

Next speaker is Stephen Legosby. After that, it's Jessica Park.

Good evening, council members. My name is Stephen. I grew up in Monterey Park, and I bought a home here with my wife about 25 years ago, and we raised our family here. and our children, they played sports, youth sport leagues here in the city. But I'm also here to speak on behalf of the Monterey Park Historical Society, which I've started to volunteer at, in an effort to save and preserve the beautiful Barnes Park pool and facilities as a historic designation. For well over 60 years, this community asset has brought people together in a safe and family-friendly environment. My grandmother would bring me to swim to Barnes Park and my sons took swimming lessons here as well. And the pool, it enhanced the experience at the park by bringing positive kinetic energy with the sounds of splashing and laughter carrying out over

the rest of the park. The pool provided a sense of pride to the community as swimming is an

accessible sport for all youth regardless of income or special abilities. Also, Monterey Park has a rich history of cultivating youth sport programs that are accessible to all

of its residents. And as Jim mentioned, even the 1984 Olympic Committee recognized Monterey

Park's contribution to world sports when we were named an official Olympic City as the held at East Los Angeles College. And our own City Hall commemorates these 1984 Olympic Games

today with a sculpture on the front lawn. So looking forward to the 28 Olympics, I see an

opportunity to inspire excitement from our city's youth to invest more time in their own physical and mental fitness through swimming. And I see the repair, revitalization, and historic preservation

of the pool as an opportunity to take advantage of the benefits that the 2025 Olympics will bring by capitalizing on the popularity of this sport, a sport that is highly accessible to all of our youth for the future generations to come. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Next speaker, Jessica Park. After Jessica, it's Chuck.

Hello, City Council members and city staff. My name is Jessica Park. I've been a resident of Monterey Park for 20 years, and I graduated from Mark Keppel High School in 2014. Joining the swim and and water polo team during my senior year was one of the best decisions of my life. In addition to the close friends that I made, I developed physical strength, mental resilience, confidence, and many other skills that I utilized while working as a civil engineer. I was able to accomplish all of this by just taking the Spirit bus from Mark Keppel to Barnes Park

after my sixth period class ended. I enjoyed it so much that I also had my younger sister join the swim team.

When I heard about the current hardship that students and their parents currently face to consistently have a place to swim, I found it incredibly disheartening as that was starkly different from what I experienced.

I believe that the Barnes Park pool needs to be replaced in kind. The pool's central location in Monterey Park and its vicinity to the police station, city hall, and Bruggenmeyer Library provided convenience and accessibility while providing a safe space for the students.

The Olympic size of Barnes Park Pool alLod our swimmers to be better prepared for swim meets due to the endurance that was built from swimming the longer length of the Barnes Park Pool compared to other swimmers that were more accustomed to shorter length pools. Another benefit that Barnes Park Pool was able to provide was that it was alLod to be divided to allow various aquatics programs such as swim and water polo to occur simultaneously. There's a thriving community of more than 100 swimmers from the Manta Rays, Markepa High School, and many others from the community who would all benefit from having this pool back. The fact that this 1950s-era pool remained open for decades until 2022, despite known issues, demonstrate that there was and is a critical need for an Olympic-sized pool.

It is a disservice to remove this facility without a proper replacement for the future generations. I urge you to make Barnes Park Pool a priority by adding it to your City Council meeting agenda to discuss funding strategies. Thank you.

Next speaker, Chuck Cota. After that, it's Peter Lin.

Good evening.

My name is Chuck Cota, and I started swimming for the Manta Rays 52 years ago when I was 10 years old.

I also swam at Keppel and played water polo as Athlete of the Year in 1981.

I was also Athlete of the Year at Mark Keppel High School in 1981, swimming.

Played CAF water polo. Went on to play water polo at Cal State Fullerton and still swim U.S. Masters swimming.

and I'm also a USA swim coach and to lose a pool like this I think is a great disservice you know I think that there's a lot of money to be made in pools like this for example I'm wearing a t-shirt

from 2024 Summer Nationals in Mission Viejo for US Masters we're talking about 2,000 swimmers

from around the country with friends and family taking up hotel rooms going up to restaurants going to the shops

quite a bit of opportunity there for a good pool like this.

My four sisters and my brother swam with the Manta Rays. My five cousins swam with the Manta Rays. My sister swam at USC under Don Lamont.

Our coach back then was John McClain, the real-life hero. If you remember the Die Hard movies, that man's name was John McClain.

Well, this John McClain didn't have to deal with bombs and terror. It's been to deal with a couple hundred kids a day, and that's a real hero.

We talked about honoring the Native Americans that were here originally. Well, in that culture, water is sacred. In 1981, I was also Special Ambassador to Goodwill from the city of Monterey Park to the city of Natchikori, Japan.

And one of the privileges I had, one of the honors I had was to tour the Emperor's Palace.

And as we were walking down the hallway to the Emperor's Bedroom, I saw these pictures of these Chinese guys on the wall. And I said to our guide, I said, how come in the Japanese emperor's palace we have pictures of Chinese men? And they said, well, even though we do have our differences,

we still remember where we came from.

And if there's one thing in common that we all have is that we all came for water. The first nine months of our lives we spend in water, we breathe in water.

Babies, when they're born, can swim. We learn to forget how to swim. There are multiple programs that we could have to help the community, from teaching children to swim, to prevent drownings,

to health issues, which would include fighting opioid addiction,

presenting physical water therapy.

When I lifeguarded for the Rams and the Angels at Cal State Fullerton, we were ranked 10th in the nation in a water polo. This is what they all did.

So I do believe that we have an opportunity here to do something better than to cover up the pool. Now, for me, for my part, I have an organization I started, a 501C, Your Community Resource Center, and we will be bringing on a sparkling water label that we bought from Australia, and I'll pledge to donate 80% of the proceeds of that sparkling water line to the aquatics program of Monterey Park, Markeppel High School, and Alhambra High School.

There are ways to do this. For example, a couple years ago, I went and swam at the North Carolina State Games.

I was the only person from California there, and I took two silvers and a bronze. Of course, it was the pandemic, and there weren't a lot of people there,

but, you know, it was sponsored by Powerade. We could find corporate sponsors

to help fund some of these events and help some of these programs, right,

which decreases our costs and also brings in extra revenue. Okay, so I'd like to just wrap it up with that, that, you know, it's a huge benefit for a community to have something that's so healthy as this. You know, a couple years ago, I shattered my hip. I just didn't break it and have a normal hip replacement. I shattered it. And the doctor said the only reason why I'm walking today is because I'm a swimmer. Right? There you go. Anyway, thank you for your time, and you have a good evening.

Director of Public Works. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker is Peter Lin. After Peter, it's Tammy Sam. Peter? Peter? Peter Lin? You didn't call me last name. Lin.

I saw another one. Only Peter, you're mumbling out.

Senior person already, already seen that. Sorry.

Let me show the pickleball pattern for everybody. Can I ask, raise your hand, who plays pickleball in this chamber?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, including me, eight people.

And I believe the councilman, I know, Jose has pickleball paddle,

Elizabeth has paddle, Wynn has paddle.

and I have high-ranking pickleball player.

Secret's out. I have nothing against to renovate restore the pool to the

fully standard condition and open to public.

I have nothing against that. I have been resident in Monterey Park since 1987, almost 40 years.

My two kids, one is 30 years old, one is 22 years old. They were born and raised in this city.

And when they were young, elementary school, junior high, high school,

I took them to Bounce Park and swim, and I enjoyed the pool a lot. Myself is a very good swimmer too. so

it's very sad since 2019

the pool deteriorated and it was deemed unsafe to open to public so

it's been idle and shut down for six years already it's a vacant land

and it's a hazard empty hole there

safety reason

I stopped by this afternoon to the pool area. I saw the pool being filled with dirt.

One third of the pool being filled with dirt. How many people know the current pool being filled with dirt? Yes.

And that kind of feeling, the dirt is a Mickey Mouse chart. because it's not seriously seriously try to

fill the dirt and convert into a park area or whatever. It's just fill it up

prevent animal

or transpass fall into the pool and get injured.

So if they're on CT luckily to find out

$20 million to renovate, restore the whole pool. Those third pool in the pool area need to be spent tons of money to take it out again and clean it.

So I really wish our city would be rich like San Marino or Arcadia.

They have billions of dollars in their treasury box.

They can income and do whatever renovation they can.

But I believe our city is a working class city.

Every penny of our city budget already have a use already. I don't think we have $15, $20 million sitting there waiting for us to restore the poor. That's impractical.

Also, if you want to increase the sales tax to generate more funding for that,

city right now already sales tax is 10.5.

Okay, one more minute.

City residents cannot afford to pay more sales tax to generate more money to renovate the poor.

and I also heard to operate and maintain the poor, it costs at least $150,000 a year.

City do not have that kind of money. We are not rich enough to afford that. So I will beg all the people to support me.

use the space can feel 12

kicker ball court. No. No.

No. No. No.

All right. You know,

hold on, hold on. He's speaking.

We need to have order. Let the gentleman finish. Okay.

Sorry. Let me finish it.

We'll be waiting six years See a big empty hole there

I believe city council They have a passion

Want to help the parents Try to restore the poor

But they have no money

Order, order Mr. Lin, please wrap up your comments

I think the lights come on You're not asked to speak to the audience.

You're asked to address the council. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Okay. So let's please wrap it up. Okay.

So I just want to say, let's be practical.

There's a swimming pool in the ELAC, the East Los Angeles Community College,

standard size, the Olympic swimming pool.

and it's not that far from the city hall. Can we just drive five minutes and bring the kids there?

Let's finish. Let's go ahead and finish. We're going to give you 15 seconds to wrap up. Okay. Yeah.

Okay. I see my point has been outspoken. The land is vacant there. I was there for six years. Nobody can use it. It's just empty. Totally waste. Let's make some use of it.

If city council can support to restore the poor, find out $20 million, I'd be more happy than that.

I'd be more happy for that. And if the people want to donate money to restore the poor, let's try to do the fundraising.

I can contribute a couple hundred dollars. No problem.

Okay. My point is done. Okay, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Next speaker, Tammy Sam.

After Tammy, it's David Jekyll.

Hello, everybody.

My name is Tammy Sam, and I want to talk about what summer looks like for a Monterey Park kid. What does that look like? It means going to swim class in the morning, then getting free lunch at the park afterwards.

Sometimes we go to the library, and if our parents threw us a few extra dollars, that meant we could go to Chano's or to Baskin-Robbins, both which don't exist anymore.

Every generation has what they did after the swimming pool. the generation before us had the chicken strips.

This is how I spent my childhood summers.

If you look around the room, you'll see 40, 50, and 6-year-olds

who spent their summers as teenagers at the Barnes Park Pool, and it was so memorable and so cherished that we are here fighting for our kids to have the same experience.

our barnes park pool experience happened decades ago but that's how impactful they were they became our core memories and for so many of us this is why we are here speaking on behalf

of the pool the barnes park pool is not just any pool the elac pool the george elder pool we don't

have the same attachment to those pools. The Barnes Park pool is very unique. It's because

it's in a park where there's a lot of other sports around, right, other facilities. So you can go

from swimming to basketball to whatever without having to drive anywhere. And that's paramount for children because we can't drive or you shouldn't want us to drive, right? So without having to involve our parents, we can spend a lot of time there hanging out with our friends. and this is really a lifestyle for Monterey Park kids. The fact that the pool is next to the police and fire station is also invaluable.

It allows the youth to become acquainted with our officers, creating a more harmonious community. We learned life skills, it kept us out of trouble, and we are all the better for it. Now I have to drive my kids to different pools in neighboring cities because there's not enough time slots at the George Elder Pool program to allow all of us to enroll.

Summer looks very different for my children than it did for me and other kids that have grown up in Monterey Park. That carefree, easy community engagement is gone.

We now have to, as parents, actively look for these sort of opportunities for our kids,

and they're not often in Monterey Park. I know there are a lot of other interests fighting for the same bucket of money. Monterey Park is a small city. We don't have a ton to spend on facilities.

So could we maybe put together some town halls or some roundtables with the community and think of different types of fundraising strategies to help get the pullback?

It sounds like we already have a couple of donors in the community. I know that the data center applicant had also expressed interest in donating money towards the pool. I know it's going to be tough, and you guys have a lot of other people in your ears trying to get the money diverted to whatever other interests that they have. But I think if you look around the room, everybody here, or most everybody here, is in favor of restoring this pool.

And we need to bring it back because without it, we're taking away the essence of what it means to be a Monterey Park kid.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, David Jackal.

After David, it's Bill Zeiger.

Hello, council members. yeah I just thought it was pretty cool that even though obviously we plan to have a swimming community here I have a pickleball player came to ship voices

you know concerns but if you guys paid attention to a statement at the very end he said oh if the city did find 20 million dollars I would be happy for you guys to build the pool I thought that was pretty cool even the most avid pickleball fan would what would rather have the pool if that was possible so I

think that's something that the city should definitely take into consideration.

But you know besides that you know I'm someone who also grew up in the city. I think it would be an understatement to say that swimming gave me almost everything I have in in my life right now. So gave me an Ivy League degree.

And, you know, an opportunity to pursue my dreams. And more importantly, it gave me also my best man at my wedding last week. So, you know, I think if you were to hear all the voices from this community, you know how important it is to everyone to have this pool. and you know one thing that I really really liked when I read this agenda from the Monterey Park

City Council it's the mission statement the mission of City of Monterey Park is to provide excellent service and foster growth and opportunity and the reason why I came back to Monterey Park after graduating from New York is for that opportunity to give the opportunity to the next generation. I'm so thankful that this city gave me that opportunity to pursue my dreams and

I hope that you guys as a council will see that the future generations need that opportunity as well. So I'm here on behalf of the future generations so that we may also afford them the same opportunity.

Thank you, David.

Next speaker, Bill Zeiger. After Bill, it's Aria Chu.

Members of the council, mayor, staff.

I am a 65-year-plus resident of Monterey Park.

I was born here in 1959.

I've seen the history of this park, especially with that pool.

My sister, many years ago in the 60s, was on the swim team here at Monterey Park. She loved that pool. She loves

see what's happened to the pool, some of the pictures, the way they look. They want to see

the pool restored. And that's what I'm here to say. On their behalf, on the, you know, from

Monterey Park Facebook, Monterey Park Originals, and the different Facebook groups. Like I said,

I was born here in 1959, and I've seen what's happened. It's sad. Thank you. And I'm still here.

Next speaker, Aria Chu.

Amy Chu.

Sorry, I can't read your handwriting.

A-A Chu. I can't read your handwriting. You live in Lincoln? Oh, that's me. Thank you. I'm Angie. Yeah, I'm sorry. I have chicken script. My name is Angie. I have been in Montreux Park since 1970, and I do emergency room critical care nursing, and drowning is the number one killing of our children. When I moved to here because of the excellent swimming program that encouraged all the kids to learn how to swim, that was my biggest draw into Montreux Park. But moving forward in faith, as one of them say, 1984, I volunteered in the 1984 Olympic for Montreux.

So I love the legacy to move on in faith and learn how to capture money to rebuild our pool. because with the 2020 Olympic coming, part of the option is also apply for Olympic funding to build an Olympic play in Montreux Park. It's more international versus just national or state to get money. Alhambra City were able to get $22 million for their city

I believe whoever do that magic, we can learn from them. So besides from a business point of view, one speaker talked about in one swimming meet alone, you draw 2,000 people into the city. We build a lot of hotels. and during every competition I spend every weekend is on hotel money and that brings you a lot of tax dollars. So if we somehow can look at the opportunity of business and getting Montreux Park on an international level versus local level, So, Montreux Park has what it takes because we have 11 freeways to our city.

That no other city, Acadia doesn't have it, San Marino doesn't have it, Pasadena don't have it.

So, whenever I do a lot of traveling and consultation, if I ask people to come and talk to me in Montreux Park, they'll just come like that. we have the best public transportation to draw international and business into Montreux Park with an Olympic-sized pool. I hope the council will look at it as from a business point of view, and I'd love to be part of the committee to fundraise for that.

Next speaker, Philip.

Young Good day, my name is Philip long I raised two kids after I graduated at UCLA being an engineer

and now I'm a fish and vegetable farmer.

It took me two years to build 100 acres of fish ponds, 60 acres greenhouses.

And I've been walking through this Bonds Park and I see the pool has been sleeping for so long. I don't know how many years. I'm very disappointed being wasteful in a piece of beautiful land in Monterey Park that I found my dream right here in Monterey Park.

Water is a very, very important issue for our life.

We need water. Water movement will create life, a better life.

as all my previous speakers have talked about, how benefits of poor being transpired their health.

Look at my head.

Make my body quick again.

think about your health.

Think about tomorrow. Think about your dream. My dream is to make my body quick again.

And this pool, as I have heard all my previous speakers have said,

I rarely attend the meeting, council meeting, but because of the pool, because of the voice of the people,

this is my third attendance for the meeting. and I believe it's time to do something about it for their piece of land.

Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker will be Tracy Tsai.

After Tracy, it will be Armando Ng, who will be also conceded time from Ivany.

Tracy Armado.

Good evening, mayors, mayor pro temp, city council members, city manager and city staff.

My name is Tracy Tsai, and I have been a long-time resident of Mario Park.

My purpose here this evening is to advocate and support the critical need to rebuild the Barnes Park Pool

for our residents, for our youth, and seniors, and as well as for the city high school swim team.

The pool has closed for more than four years since the pandemic, and it still remains closed.

The closure has deprived our community of a vital resource.

It saddened me to see that the city allocates $500,000

to cover the pool up with dirt.

That is not what our revocation we are hoping for.

And it is not what our residents deserve.

We deserve a functional Olympic-sized pool. We know Elder Pool is not that.

I want to thank Mayor Vinn from the last council meeting

proposing two options, both involving

ballot measures and bond to secure the necessary funding.

However, it seems to us that securing the funding is an issue here. Recognizing this challenge,

a group of committed residents, dedicated swimmers,

and passionate high school students have come together

We have diligently researched alternatives, funding possibility, with a particular focus on identifying source within the city on financial framework, including thorough examination of the city general fund.

So after examining the city general fund, we concluded the city has funding.

City Council has the power to make this project a reality for us,

starting by putting the Barnes Park Pool project on the agenda.

Get funding motion going and vote yes.

It's not about whether we can afford it. It's not about whether we're choosing to make it as a priority. And guess what?

According to the recent survey, the residents are telling you loud and clear,

the pool is a top priority for us.

right after the restroom that already got $1.8 million

per the budget report, referencing page R-12.

So you said that you care and the pool is important to us. So let's see that in action.

We all believe in you, so show us. in conclusion

building the pool is just about having a place to not just about having a place to swim

it's about keeping our community healthy and happy

so please listen to everyone saying get this pool back in running

Mario Park deserves a pool that's bustling with activity again thank you applause

applause

applause applause

I will let my colleagues Armando explain more in detail about the budget. Thank you.

Next speaker, Armando Eng. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Patan, City Council members, City Manager, City staff.

My name is Armando Eng, and I'm a long-time resident of Montero Park.

During the last City Council meeting, I said that I trust you guys, And I said that you guys are very smart and you're very creative. And I did say that I do believe you'll do the right thing to rebuild the Barnes Bar Pool.

And I really still do. But in prior meetings, we talked about numbers. But didn't get a chance to show you those. So I wanted to take the opportunity to show you some numbers. And thanks to some of the dedicated swimmers and high school students, we took the time to look at the financials,

specifically two documents. One is the mid-year financials, and the other one is the proposed budget for next year.

And what you see in front of you to your left

is the five-year projection in the mid-year financials, and to your right is the updated five-year projection

in the proposed budget. And this is just the general fund. We focus on the general fund because general fund, what is general fund?

General fund is basically unrestricted cash.

You can do whatever you want to do with it because it's unrestricted.

And it's up to the five of you to decide what you want to do with that cash.

So we decided to look at the general fund.

So if you look at the left side, I like what I see.

Actually, I like what I see on both sides, left and right.

On the left, which is the major financial, which is what all of us have for February, right? And you can see

as you can see, you start with a general fund balance of $45 million. It increases over the year. By 28, 29, it goes up to 54. That's on restricted cash, right? And why

is the increase? The increase is because you have forecasted a surplus. You had a $13 million surplus here on the bottom, right? last year. This year you have 3.3.

Next year you're forecasting at 4.8. The following year 4.1, 4.5, and by 2028 4.9. That's 35 million in surplus. That's a lot.

So kudos to all of you and kudos to the city staff for managing this. I mean it's beyond my expectation but kudos to all of you. If you look at the right side, the 2026 proposed budget, right? And you can see on the bottom that the surplus, you know, you still maintain the 3.3 because we only have a couple of weeks left in the year, so the 3.3 is 3.3, but if you look at, you know, going forward, you don't have those millions, you have like 300,000, 500,000, 500,000.

because you have taken a lot of the forecasted surplus, and you've actually allocated a lot of them to the expense line, right, to where you believe, right, it belongs, right, probably for inflationary adjustment, for expenses that you know that you're going to have to spend, right,

specifically, I'll point you to one line, capital projects. You allocated what? If my math is correct, close to $20 million in capital projects

from the general fund, And that's separate from all of your other city funds, right, your enterprise funds, right, which are used for projects such as streets repair, water and sewer. Those have its own separate funds, a separate account. Those are restricted. So let's not talk about that. Let's talk about your general fund, right?

So you have $45 million in general fund that you can use. Simply said. So there is money, by the way.

so where is it so where is it let me talk about that so where is the 45 million so out of the

45 million right because you pass ordinances you pass resolutions in the past and you have to maintain a reserve which is separate from a surplus so you do have a reserve and you pick that if you

look at here on the proposed budget right you have for 24 25 4.2 million and for next year you're

proposing about close to 15 million. Now that reserve is made up of three line items, right, because we decided to look at also at the Audit of Financial Summit from last year. It's three items, right? It's reserved for catastrophic, emergency, and what Mayor Bean spoke about a

couple of meetings ago, working capital for the city, and as well as economic development. That's 15 million. So if I take 45 minus 15, that's $30 million left. What I like to call free cash, unrestricted, that you can use. You can use to allocate some of that to rebuild the pool.

That's $30 million. Now, we did think about, okay, it's $30 million, but will City Council have something else to say about it, right? So we started to look in more detail as well. And that $30 million

that you see there, right? And it goes all the way across to 28, 29,

right?

Guess where it was assigned to? Guess what it was proposed to be assigned to? It's been assigned to that same line over the last year or two or three. Capital project.

Now let me read to you what assign means. And this is from your proposed budget. This is the definition. And here we go. Sorry, I got over my glasses.

Amounts that are constrained by the city's intent to be used for a specific purpose, but are neither restricted nor committed.

That already tells you it's unrestricted. It's not restricted. So you can use that.

The five of you have the power to make the decision, number one.

Number two, it is assigned to projects, specific projects that as far as I can tell, we can tell, you don't know what those are yet.

That's why it's sitting in that bucket. It's a holding place. So you have $30 million. You have $30 million that you can use.

So if I remember correctly, in Town Hall, the estimate to build the pool is $15 million.

If you use $15 million, and I think it's on the high side because Bell Garden built three pools with $30 million.

that's $10 million each.

So 15 is probably on the high side. So even if you use 15, you still have 15 million dollars left

in unrestricted cash

that the pickleball players can ask you to use to build their court.

Now, the prior speaker did mention something about $1.8 million something. We also looked at it in detail as well. Guess what? Based on this survey, there were three top priorities, right?

It was one, the park restroom, two, the swimming was second, and third was the outside court. Guess what?

In your proposed budget, you took care of the park restroom, $1.8 million.

If you approve it, you already have $1.8 million assigned to improve the park restrooms.

Oh, guess what? on your proposed budget, you also have assigned a budget to fix the tennis court, which will benefit the pickleball players too, by the way. So you're taking care of predominantly priority one and three. What are we priority two? The swimming pool. Please not forget that. Please not forget that. I trust you, like I said. You've said in the past that you care about your residents. You agree with our sentiment that pool is important is critical, right? So you have the power. But literally one finger, right? One can make a motion to put an agenda. One can make a motion, right, to assign part of this cash, right, to rebuild the pool. And with one finger, just press that yes button. That's all it takes.

But you have the power. So I guess all I'm asking you is please, please consider using part of this cash. And I heard

other people talk about, oh, but how about how do we sustain it? You heard a lot of the residents. They're willing to donate money.

All of that can go through maintenance. The maintenance fund, right? It can be sustainable. And that's on top of building all this business development that the pool can bring.

So I really encourage you and urge you to please, please put it on the agenda.

Let's get the pool done for everybody. For the community, for the swimmer, for our youth. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks for letting me talk past my time. I appreciate it.

Next speaker is Paul Isusaki,

who also received time from David Ono and Margaret Leung.

Ten minutes.

Okay.

City Council, City Manager, Monterey Park.

You know, I want to congratulate the City Council and past City Councils,

City Manager and past City Managers, because of what he just said. We're in the black, and not all cities are in the black.

As we know, there's a city that's a billion dollars in the red. So we're doing great, you know.

And I really like it that our city councils in the past were able to always balance the budget and keep us in a good financial situation.

You know, I know myself and a lot of people here, hardworking people and very tight with their money just to make things mean.

And, you know, you guys are doing it with our city. So, again, I think it's great. Hey, I have to slide this one in, too.

I was looking at the salaries of our employees.

Boy, is that a lot of money for some individuals.

And I'm just saying that you guys can balance a budget with all those salaries, pensions, benefits, another plus.

You guys are doing a great job on that.

I'm a member of the Alhambra Unified School District School Bond Oversight Committee. We oversee over $100 million, if not probably close to $200 million of projects. And I want you to first know that they are doing a great job. So people, if you live in the Alhambra Unified area, your bond money is going to a great place. Great management.

Great team.

And no graph. In fact, no graph at all. They're against it, and you should see the way they plan.

I'm plugging you guys, Steve. That's Steve Perry.

um what i want to say first of all about this committee what's so great about the way they're spending their money when we first passed the first i think it's 75 million dollar bond they didn't go out and spend that money right away even the money was budgeted for them they put the money in the bank and they kept the money in the bank and they made interest on it and at the same time they went out and got grants and made that 75 million, 100 million, and 105 million, 110 million, and that was just the high school bond. We also oversee the elementary school bond. One of the things I know that the philosophy of this group was, it's not do things quickly and rashly. Let's figure things out and do it correctly. Like I'm going to tell you, when they're building on your elementary schools, they're conscious about the students being in the classroom. So they try to build or move kids away from construction sites

so they don't have to hear that stuff. Now, what does this have to do with anything? Well, at the

last meeting, the superintendent in charge of construction and the superintendent in charge

of finance were at the meeting because that's what we do, build buildings and use money to do it.

And I asked them this simple question. Did Alhambra Unified School District offer money to Monterey Park for Barnes Park swimming pool? And I asked the question straight out to the group, and the answer was no. They have never said they were going to give money to them. But the finance person stepped up and said, but I want to make it clear. We have had discussions with the city of Monterey Park. They never said Inez, they never named a person, but they said, we have been in discussion with the city of Monterey Park about getting them some money for a swimming pool. We're probably talking Bob Barnes and make it a regulation 25-yard high school swimming pool. And she said this very clearly at the end, and let Monterey Park know the doors are open.

We are willing to communicate with you and Alhambra.

about building the swimming pool.

You know,

I really don't believe

that our city manager and our past city manager, our city council here, and our past city council really want a swimming pool.

I do not think they really, in their heart, want a swimming pool.

they'll listen to us let me tell you one reason why i live in the highlands and we had a project

on garvey and abajo and i think all of us have driven down uh valley uh garvey garvey and looked at those railroad ties holding up the hill and it was an eyesore but it was holding up the hill Now, remember, I live in the highlands. I was there when El Nino hit, and that mud was in the first two lanes going east. Couldn't drive on that road.

The mud went over on Abajo. I saw it.

But they fixed it. It didn't look good.

But they mediated the problem. Now, I understand.

I see the project.

I just today drove on Garvey going west and looked at the hill, and I saw that project. I understand we spent $17 million on a property we do not own, on a private property.

Let's say that again.

The city of Monterey Park spent $17 million on someone else's property and got nothing out of it. Now, if you think about that, who was the city manager who alLod that? It was Ron Bowe. Ronbo approved that. Now, I don't know, Inez, if you were assistant manager when this was happening, but you know Ronbo approved that project. And the other thing is he doesn't get to do anything without three votes from the city council. So he obviously got three votes from the city council that approved the $17 million. And guess where we could have spent that $17 million, people? And the pool was broken at that time.

They knew the need.

So they made a choice to spend $17 million on a hill that's not doing anything different than it did with the railroad ties. Nothing's going on with it. Make it clear it's not our land or the swimming pool. And we saw what choice they made. So when I say I really wonder if they really want a swimming pool, there's one example. You know, the other thing that irked me about this city council in this city is all the surveys and questionnaires that we paid for. We paid expert, I guess, or research consultants that went out and asked questions about what we need.

There was no question.

Number one, why in the hell are you guys even city councilmen if you need to ask the people? We voted for you people to know what our problems are and go fix them. Not come and ask us. But the worst part about it is you're spending money that didn't need to go there

when really we all know we needed a swimming pool.

Yeah, sure, we needed a lot of other things, but swimming pool was a big buck thing.

so you know

when it really comes down to it

city council it's a really tough

these people and we needed people believe me even at the alhambra unified they know that we deserve a pool because we only have a class act high school swimming team marquette poe high school was d3 and they won cif at least five or six or seven times if you go to the barns you see it

Ish is coaching now in D1, the highest division in CIF, with no swimming pool. And not any pool that's regulation size for sure. So we handcuffed our, come on, Monterey Park, Mark Keppel, top swimming pool.

That's not counting.

I know the Manta Reyes are here, and that's why they're pushing the swim team too. Hey, the Manta Rees is a top-notch competitive swim pool, especially for a city like Monterey Park. On Saturdays when I swim over that Belvedere Park, who's there? The Manta Rees. Because the Manta Rees move around, and that's the way they have to practice. So I'm just saying this to you, city council and city manager.

It's a tough one.

In your heart, you want us to have a swimming pool, but where do we get the money? There's only one way this can happen, Inez.

We're going to have to work together.

You know, the people over there, the people who voted for Elizabeth, the people who voted for Don, all the different factions. We're never going to make this money from private sources unless we get outside help and we can work together. Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

as a legacy after serving your term as a council member. Of my 50 years watching city council members come and go, there was one outstanding individual who made it all the way up to Congress.

When she served Monterey Park, she was very instrumental in helping us promote a parole office removal in our residential area.

alLod me to pop in a VHS videotape for my three-minute speech to stop billboards from blighting R3 freeways and found funds to install badly needed air conditioning when the high school boundary changed back in the late 90s. I even remember her fighting off bigotry and racism during her terms. Mitchell Ng, an independent council member, Frank Bente, and Betty Tom Chu, the latter two, who were business partners and who built quality homes off J-Tree,

Natchee Way, Barnum Way, and so the remaining property that is now the gated community off of Cadiz were instrumental in pushing the development of the marketplace. That saved our city from being bankrupt during COVID. Even Ron Bowe credited the marketplace at the time. He said it more than once as city manager. The illusion of three past council persons who approved expenditures of our tax dollars of $17 million for that Garvey Hill were credited instead. because the three people who really did it were not even invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony. History is important and never should be forgotten nor even taken lightly. Barnes Park Pool played a major role in the summer 84 Olympics and should have the historic distinction placed among you five. Along with a good, hard-working residents group that I've been working with for months, we have been at every single City Hall meeting and Town Hall meeting bringing up the Barnes Park pool. You have been at those meetings as well, but why in your budget meetings, no one has included a budget for repairing a single swimming pool? Haven't you heard the cries and speeches coming from your constituents? Elder Poole, who is being kept open on a Band-Aid that is about to bust. The children's big waiting pool. Is there any water? The last time I looked, it was bone dry. But it doesn't contain any dirt. That's the good news.

Several of the council members served on the Garvey School Board, as well as Asian Youth Center that you speak so highly of and support. Many low-income students and their families are refugees from war-torn countries, especially Southeast Asia, and come to America like my dad did and served during World War II with no money but had dreams and aspirations for their children. Some of these young children could earn valuable scholarships, whether it be a partial or full to colleges. But it requires a 50-foot pool for conditioning and training in our city, not trying to find it outside our borders, where parents don't have to drive all over San Gabriel Valley to find and pay additional fees for their children. Why treat us residents like second-class citizens? By the way, Robert, Director of Parks and Rec, Are you here? Great. Congratulations on receiving funds in the next coming budget year to finish improvements on all city parks. It's been a long time coming, but there should have been an annual budget set aside for parks and recs. That's the major reason why Barnes Pool has fallen into dire consequences. I would like to ask that you find a little bit of money to reinstall the swings that were taken out and put back in. Garvey Ranch Park is heavily used for flag football and other sports. Many times parents need to separate to keep the younger ones entertained, and there's no swings at that park. Summer is here, and the picnic tables need coverage, protection from the sun. For parks like Macy Intermediate and Monoran Highlands Children, they like to run to the swings and playground area right after school with their friends. So make sure that Elder Park keeps those swings that are still there until you redesign it. But I hope you get the swings back in so that my grandkids could share it with their friends. What will we residents remember your legacy with our city? One new swim parent, Mike Sorkson, brought up the books written about our city. It's about 20 books. Mentioned his old sociology professor from UCLA. I shared with him another book that he was unaware of, and I played a role in Monterey Park. One of his students wrote a fantastic book sharing about the power of women and what they could do if their family's health and well-being is jeopardized. And these earmarked books from the Mexican-American woman activists, I am in this book about five times. What is your legacy? I don't need to have a seat over here. I don't need to be on the commission. but I'm a community activist, and I'm working with these parents back here because I see the importance of a pool.

I beg of you to work with the body of professional residents

who have one desire, one go.

Restore, rebuild Barnes Pool, and leave it your legacy. Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, Damian Noah.

Evening council, fellow citizens.

I acknowledge all the accomplishments and successes of Barnes Pool in the past. For all residents, there's the children who are involved in the use of and during the community and special events we've had at the site.

the Monterey Park Life group and also

you know you're from Monterey Park there are a couple main polls

that were brought up

regarding the discussion of the poll

I'm just going to speak briefly on one of my polls

are you aware that a prior city council years ago had open public forums and discussions about this 1950s era pool problems, leakage, cracks, maintenance, outdated and inefficient pump and heater, problems with pool building. Because of the limited interest for public use and sports-related events, such as training and meets, Barnes' pool was already worsening for years and not financially feasible to

keep operating.

There are allegations of lack of city transparency and public input and involvement up until the council decided to, after all, an exhaustive consideration and formal vote to cease its

operation.

Regarding pole construction, I won't elaborate because I have a background on construction and pole maintenance and all that.

I'll just leave that behind.

The astronomical costs then and greater now will draw and drain parks and recreation budget and as have to take away from other city departments' budgets. There was and is no grant available to supplement the estimated cost to rebuild Barnes' Olympic-sized pool project. If you take a broad overview currently of the city's state regarding parks and recreation, We have new playgrounds at all city parks and equipment, improvements in ongoing planting of trees, bushes, and vegetation, community centers, projects, improvements, and upgrades, cost to pay vendors at all public events so residents may enjoy celebrating holidays, cultural events, and entertainment. Public works also benefit community redevelopment. Redevelopment also benefit when a city has been attempting to improve business, retail, and commercial climates here. If residents want Barnes-Pool revitalization, would they be willing to pay for it with a two-thirds passage of a tax or fee that would supplement the estimated project's price, which will only continue to increase because projects of this scope takes at least minimally a few years from consultation, design, construction, codes, and other myriad of factors? Don't expect three years to be all set on paper with a period at the end and then when the water is poured in filling it up. For example, if you have a promising junior high child to expect to use Barnespool in varsity team in second year is not realistic.

bonus post subject 10 years back is on public record council meetings forums and public discussions expenditures and expenses while it was in operation SMS to repair replace and demo and rebuild I was there involved when I was attending those forums and in the final decision

to access because it's financially unsustainable.

Let me address some of the concerns that were brought up tonight.

In the last

week there was a public workshop meeting. Council brought up about a formal discussion forum that would be informing the public when that would be addressing the pool

concerns.

Now regarding the private funding of the pool, there's a legality issue of large-scale private funding even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That would create a lot of problems

for the city if that was alLod. And I'm glad with a fellow resident who also studied the budget

analysis that was brought up last week. Yes, we have the city's budget for 2025, $70 million, reserve $45 million, $3.3 million surplus. Let me address two last points. Barnesville is filled with dirt because even though it's unauthorized access to public and those who do get on the grounds, it's basically they're trespassing. They fill it up primarily because of ongoing city construction.

the property, when it's sold in the private hands or whoever, they would have to reimburse the city for those money spent on showing up the hillside. And the reason that the city did it is because it promotes safety on Garvey and also the surrounding residences and businesses. So I applaud the city council then to be able to think about the safety of everyone even though it's on a private land. There is no ulterior motives why it was funded.

It was basically safety reasons. Thank you.

Next speaker, Dawn Rock.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, and dedicated city staff. My name is Dawn Rock, and I'm a long-time resident of this beautiful city we call home. Tonight, I want to begin not with a plea, but with a celebration. I want to once again congratulate Bella Lee on completing her Eagle Scout project.

Congratulations.

As a first female Eagle Scout candidate in Monterey Park, Bella has achieved something extraordinary. We've known Bella since she was five years old. My son Ronan and Bella played on the same Tigers basketball team. Our families have been friends for years. Of course, support from her awesome mom contributed to Bella's accomplishments. But there's one more connection worth noting. Bella was also a Monterey Park Manta Rays swimmer. She got her start at Barnes Park Pool.

From those early swim practices, she rose to become the MVP of the Ramona Convent swim team for her high school. She neglected to state that. And it struck me again that there's something powerful about the water, something transformational. And so I'm here once again to speak about something close to my heart, saving the Barnes Park pool.

But tonight, I come with something new, good news. Just a few days ago, I reconnected with a Mark Keppel classmate of mine, Mitch Kalamian. You may not know his name yet, but I hope you will. Mitch has been building pools across Southern California for over 30 years. He's the owner of multiple award-winning landscaping and construction company featured in publications and media outlets, and he's known for his craftsmanship, integrity, and heart. Mitch was a Monterey Park resident for more than two decades. He's a proud Keppel graduate, and like me and many others, he grew up swimming in the pool, decades of memories held in the water of Barnes Park. When we spoke, I was struck by the emotion in his voice, the genuine love he still carries for our city. He said something remarkable, I want to help. Mitch is willing to donate his design and supervision services to rebuild Barnes Park Pool.

he believes the entire renovation including the pool the decking the fencing and locker room could be completed within a few short months free of red tape and inflated costs please i urge you don't let this opportunity slip away in the past offers have come offers of help of funding, of partnership, and they've quietly disappeared unanswered. This time, let's answer with action. We have the heart, we have the history, and now we have the help. Mitch wants to give back, but we need your leadership and commitment to say,

yes, let's do this.

let's build a pool so more Bella Lees can earn their Eagle Scout awards let's build a pool so more Mitch Kalamians can create award-winning businesses that beautify our communities let's build a pool so more coaches like coach Ish Perez and coach David Jaku can inspire our youth

and lead the way. Let's build a pool so more Mark Keppel Aztecs

and Monterey Park Mantares can win CIF championships and scholarships to the colleges of their dreams.

Please, let's rebuild Barnes Park Pool.

We are ready to stand with you when you're ready to lead. Thank you for listening, and thank you always for your service to our city.

Thank you.

Can we get the person's name and contact number from Don Mitch Kalamian to one of our contact people so we can get his information?

Yes. No other speakers.

However, we did receive written communication

from Si Young, Christine Nguyen, Claudia Zhu,

Emmy Songson, Teresa Wong, Kyle Yeo, Helena Gallardo, Justin Chan, Cindy Hwang, Teresa Gallardo,

Tatian Enriquez Adriana Alvarado

Scott Chung Selena Ansai Grace Gallardo Jun Xia Hu

Paul Morris Lady Ko Yuani Wang

Christopher Morris

Liu Jin Chen Dan Gallardo Thuan Nguyen Elizabeth Tong

and Jamie Hsu Tony Huin Linda Fiong Jennifer Wu

and a campaign

all of them wrote in

to discuss their love for the pool

and their request to you to please prioritize the pool

and provide funding for the project no other speakers

thank you

and I believe all those have been in your inbox because I also believe I saw them earlier today.

So again, this, actually, let me start by saying

thank you for being here.

Thank you for your passionate statements. But I'm going to ask you to keep that passion maybe for the next two hours to kind of remain here

for the rest of the meeting

so you hear what else goes on in the meeting. I'll start with that. You know, as we discussed last month, I think last month we had a meeting June 3rd, and the months prior in May as well as April in council meetings, we are concerned about the pool. We actually even had a town hall meeting at the library to discuss about this issue. And again, we will tell you the city, the council members are committed to serving our city by having another pool. I just want you to please remember that the city's responsibility and our vision as a city is to really be in a fiscal responsible way. And as you saw, I think, who was it that brought it up?

Armando brought it up. I mean, we had a surplus last year, about $3 million.

And if you look at that display, which it shows, there's money on the come in years three, four, and five, but we won't know until we get there.

So there's no money now.

If we keep going the way we're going, there will be money in the future. If you go back to last year, there was a very small surplus.

If you go back the year before, it was a deficit.

It's been a deficit since pre-COVID. So I applaud the current council members here, even before my time, for being fiscally responsible to running the city.

There's been a couple of options at this, right? It is my belief and it is current council's belief that we go with the master's park plan because the pool is one part of a park and there's two pools in two parks.

We have 13 parks.

There is no money to get to where we need to be today.

Something with the master's park program, you look at overall, you take it out to the voters

and we will get the result we need. We also provided another option just a couple of weeks ago, which is for individuals such as Ron to start a petition to get something on the ballot. Again, knowing that funding is going to be an issue and the city, the rec department will continue to work with you as they continue to look for opportunities to get funding. And then I think many of you actually do a few of you who were here last year

when we discussed the budget,

we made a commitment by setting aside a couple of hundred thousand dollars from

this year's surplus.

We initiated that into a reserve specifically to fund the parks and the pool program. And as we get more money saved up in the future,

we will add to that reserve.

And that was something we learned from the city of the bell that was brought up

at the town hall. So that's another option. And with that said, I just want to provide a couple

of clarifications. I mean, these are just factual stuff. What's going on at Barnes Pool today? The

pool is still standing. There is no immediate project. There is no pickleball court in the making to replace the pool. There is no gem on top of that site. The condition as it exists today cannot be left by itself. You can't have an empty hole because there's liability issues. And going back to why the wall was put up, why there was $17 million spent, because this city has a responsibility for safety. That $17 million spent was through years. In fact, I think many Many of you were here back in the 70s, and this is way before my time because I was only here in 79. That parcel had some erosion, had some landslides. If you didn't fix that problem, that erosion would have caused liabilities in the hundreds of million, let alone one death. Just think about that. So whatever the prior city council members did, they had a purpose, and it was done to rectify that. And there is pending litigation, so we can't speak further about that, but there is a collection process. And once we clear all that litigation, some of that money will be coming back, and that will be more money to add to the surplus.

Again, the primary concern with the pool is funding, where to get the money. We're looking through different ways, and it's not going to cost $3 or $5 million. based on the examples that we see

in the different cities

it's going to be in the $20 million range we'll eventually get there

we just have to figure out how to get there

and again, nothing's going to happen overnight because this has been going on for years in the making

we had a town hall meeting a couple of weeks ago and the ask was to actually have a city staff connect with the local swim facilities

ELAC, Cal State LA and City of Alhambra to help facilitate some of the manta ray swim programs and we have done that we've also initiated further discussions with Alhambra Unified because if you think about it every high school that has a swim team has a pool so we go back to wow our ausds don't have swim teams i know there were bond programs in the past that promised pools it just happened happened for whatever reason it hasn't so you have to start from now on and figure out how do you get the money to support to support a pool at the high schools and we're going to continue to have those dialogues where Hammer Unified. Now, remember, they committed to funding up to $100,000 in the prior discussion. Hopefully this time we'll get a little bit more money because the pool is not going to cost $200,000. It's going to cost in the $20 million range.

So after that discussion in the town hall, we've actually asked staff to go

and seek engineering estimates It's to get an estimate of the pool.

We're going to get that number.

And once we get that number, we'll agenda this item so we can have further discussion

on some of those issues.

Again, we want to thank you guys for coming.

We hear you.

We wish we had the money. I wish somebody here wins a super lot of them all and say, put the pool built in your name.

We'd love to do that.

on our agenda tonight, and we have a number of items we have to get through. Still, we haven't even started, but appreciate everyone for being here tonight. I know folks are walking out, might be walking out at this point, but I really appreciate your energy and want to go with the mayor said as well. And for those who don't know, I swam and I raised, I grew up here. I swam in high school. I swam master's in college. I lap swim with a few of you in the area. I really appreciate that all of you are here to advocate for what you're passionate about. No one is saying no to the pool. All we have been saying over the last two years is there is a process to do that. And I'm happy to engage and talk through that process, and I have talked through that, and many of us have talked through that with many of you individually. If you guys have any questions about any of that process, we're happy to continue that conversation

and to talk you through. empty, the water is going to cost to fix it.

So I want to encourage you to continue to engage. The Parks Master Plan process is just a few months away from coming to council. It will be agendized at that point, and I want to encourage you all to continue to engage

in this discussion.

And as Paul and other speakers have mentioned in their public comments, to get to building a pool if we get there, we'll take the council, the city, and the residents, all of you working together. It will not happen if we don't work together. So I hope and encourage us to continue

in that step. I actually have a lot of comments, but I see people walking out, so I'm not going

to make my comments. No, but I do welcome anyone who wants to have a thorough discussion on this where I can ask questions, you guys can ask questions, and we can all share thorough information. You guys can reach out. You all have our information.

We don't have your...

I have a few of the people's contact information, and I have been having thorough discussions with the people I know. But most of you, I don't have the contact information. So if you reach out to me, I will meet with you and have a thorough discussion, even if we agendize in the future, which at the meeting two weeks ago, we did agree to agendize already. So I'm not sure why whoever told you guys to copy and paste 20, 30 emails requesting we agendize it when we've already agreed to do so. But even if we agendize it, we can't have a thorough discussion. It's still just public comment and a discussion amongst the council. So if you guys really want to have a full discussion to make sure you don't just believe in misinformation, reach out to us. And none of us are going to say, no, we're not going to talk to you. but I will save my comments to whoever is actually interested in hearing it

Mayor if I could just say a few words I want to first thank especially I see a lot of young people from Mark Keppel for coming out as a teacher as a civics teacher I really appreciate you being civically engaged and I hope that you know once this pool you know is over that you will continue to engage your city and your communities civically and that's not just young people because I see a lot of people my age as well. But I'm also a parent. And so I know your sentiments. I understand where you're coming from. My daughters are three and four and seven years old, and they too are just learning how to swim. So I understand the importance of a pool. And I don't think there's anyone up here that denies the importance of a pool in our community. I think this is going to take and and i'm just being realistic both as a parent and as a teacher and as a community member um this is not something that's going to happen overnight um i think it was paul who was talking earlier about how we have to work together um and we're going to have to work together to make this happen and and i'm i'm very confident that that it will happen and that we if we work together that is and like council member wong said the marks the parks master plan is coming to us, and that'll be a perfect opportunity for us to have those discussions about the pool. And I know that when that time comes, it's going to take a village to make this happen. We don't have $20 million lying around, but we are initiating that process, like the mayor said, to try to get there, and I think we will get there. So I appreciate you guys coming out, especially the young people. Thank you for coming out and being civically engaged. I know it's technically already summer so it makes it even extra hard right to come out in the summer but thank you guys for coming out tonight and I look forward to working with you in the coming months and years yes mr. mayor a

same manager question um I think well first of all I do want to say thank you all for coming again I think we've heard you loud and clear tonight and past your meetings um my question again at last council meeting you know we had asked which I know the staff is going to do a RFP for engineering estimate update entering estimates. What is the timeline? I mean, how soon can we have that as an agenda item and get the ball rolling as far as an up-to-date entering estimates, a range, if you will?

Mr. Mayor and members of the Council, sorry. We anticipate bringing the item back to Council in August. We are working on trying to get those estimates as requested. it's not a formal RFP process

so just for clarification

we are looking to get estimates

to essentially rebuild what's there or

have potentially a new build or design so two estimates is what we're looking to bring back for council's consideration just for

a discussion item the

goal then is to as you said look at options

of either

providing much needed either maintenance if possible or rebuild is that what we are looking at it's a renovation but

like a well it would be essentially rebuilding the design that was currently there so the olympic size the 50 meter that's an option right that's one as the preliminary estimate that we're looking at. And then or a second option would be a different type of design, but they're both new builds. Yes. Correct. But they're just the item is we have a plan to be scheduled for about August. I talked with some of the residents who asked that same question. I definitely let them know that we would reach out to make sure that residents understand when it's coming in front of the council so they don't miss an opportunity to hear the

item. All right. Thank you very much. Okay. With that, let's move forward to the next item. Do you

have any old business? No old business? Consent calendar. Don't we have presentations? Sorry about that. I just skipped it. We have staff communications. You see the meeting is just getting started. All you passionate people, please stay because this is the fun part of this discussion.

All right, let's go with the fire department.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council, City Staff. My name is Robert DeRosa, Battalion Chief for the Fire Department. Just to give you guys a brief update on some events that have taken place and are going to be taking place We recently graduated our spring cert class. We had some highly motivated residents that were eager to participate We got a lot of great feedback about our staff that was putting on the training. They all did excellent in their drill So now we've got several more members of the city that are out there ready to help spread the word and hopefully help in the recruiting process more cert members This is some pictures of the final drill that they took part in on Sunday. Again everything went great. We always like to hear back from them so we can help build our program, expand where we need to. As you know, the upcoming July 4th event as well as the Independence Day celebration with the fireworks show, we wanted to go over some brief fireworks safety and also talk about the different fireworks that are available in the city. The only fireworks that are legal to use in the city are considered safe and sane They have to have that label you see on the right side there that has to be on the box when you purchase it When you use safe and sane fireworks, there's some things you need to remember We always want to promote having some sort of hose or bucket of water nearby in case anything gets out of hand Only light the fireworks outside in a clear open area away from flammable materials including the brush

We don't want any fires popping off on that day. But with that, when we talk about an open area,

it's normal for people to want to go to the middle of the street to set these off. Make sure we're looking both ways. We don't want any vehicle accidents with people involved in making the situation worse. Always light fireworks with adult supervision. This is big with the kids. I think safe and sane kind of gives a false sense of security when we start talking about fireworks. So, again, adult supervision is key. Do not attempt to relight fireworks or hold them in your hand. Very dangerous. Again, the safe and sane word can be a misnomer. They're still very dangerous. They explode. We don't want any injuries that night. Monitor your pets. Obviously, they hear these things in a whole different frequency. Keep an eye on them. Keep them in the house. Be extremely careful and aware of fireworks in the roadway. You can hit someone or be hit, as we mentioned earlier.

So in the city, they are going to be available starting, I'm sorry, well, the Independence Day celebration is June 28th, as we all know, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Fireworks are not alLod to be used on that day. So they can only be used on July 4th, but they will start to be sold in the city on June 28th. You see the different pop-up vendors throughout the city. They will be purchased there. They can only sell safe and sane. So those fireworks are alLod, again, only on July 4th between 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. They're not alLod July 3rd or July 5th, 9 a.m. or 11 p.m. from 10 to 10. Only on that day is when safe and sane can be used. The fireworks are sold from approved license stands from noon on the 28th until 9 p.m. on July 4th. That's when they have to shut down. There are fines associated with if you're caught using illegal fireworks. They range anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000. It's usually based on infractions and how many infractions. All the city code is labeled below there. We've had great success with, once these were implemented, not having the occurrence of illegal fireworks in abundance throughout the city. So it's been a good program. We have our upcoming community preparedness clinic. These goes on about quarterly. Captain Dave Goetz kind of heads these up. This next one is going to be July 5th from 9 to 12 a.m. at Garvey Ranch Park. We bring out our cert van, which is loaded with all different household utilities. We teach residents how to shut these utilities off safely in the event of a disaster or an emergency. And we talk about all sorts of emergency preparedness, disaster preparedness. And the folks that are there putting these on are subject matter experts when it comes to disaster prep. So if you have neighbors, friends, family that have questions regarding anything with disaster preparedness or emergency kits, experts, home exit drills, anything like that, the folks that are there have all the answers, they have all the resources. We have also learned this is a great pathway to recruiting more CERP members that help them spread the word. A lot of the information that is presented here our CERP members get taught and then our subject matter experts themselves can pass that information along. And I think that's it. Any questions? Questions? Thank you.

All right. I do have a question. If, I think this happens every year, but if there are, you know, illegal fireworks, especially the loud ones, where can people call or should they call the police department to report?

I don't believe we have, do we have a hotline, Chief, or anything like that? No. Just, if you call 911, I'd.

Yes, it would be, sorry.

Mr. Mayor, members of the council, it would be reporting through dispatch. our regular dispatch line to report that. Definitely we want to know while it is occurring. If the public, the council get questions. If you call and you are reporting something that happened a day ago or two days ago, it makes it very difficult. We can't enforce. So as it is happening with giving specific locations and address, again, calling with cross streets makes it really difficult for our officers to find anybody. They have to be able to locate the exact location where those are going off. So the more information, the better.

I have one question. When the fireworks stands are selling fireworks to the public, are they letting them know or do they have something posted that says they cannot use the fireworks on this date and these times?

I can get you an answer for that. I don't know if there's postage on their stands that state the time it can be used. I will get an answer for you though.

I mean, in the event that they don't, maybe it might be something we can suggest to them when they get their license or when they're selling them. Perhaps something that we can provide. Just so that people are aware as well that might not see it on social media or other venues.

I can speak with code enforcement and find out if that literature is available at the stands or if it is posted, seeing as it is city ordinance.

So if it's not something, we can definitely look into making sure that literature is there. Perfect. Thank you so much.

Great.

Thank you for those insightful information. I just want to reiterate, safety is the number one concern. You're supposed to light up the fireworks only in the 4th. And if you want to enjoy the city's firework, it's actually happening on Saturday the 28th. That's the only exception for a city because it's done by professionals. And if you're going to get caught, you're going to have to pay a fine. And that's very typical, not only in our city, but in every city in the St. Gabriel Valley. Now, having said that, if there is a way to...

Good evening, Mayor. Mayor Pro Tem, members of city council. My name is Victor Castellanos and I am the adult literacy coordinator. First I would like to highlight the library celebration for Pride Month. Check out our social media posts or even come visit us in the library and meet with a librarian, where we can give you some great book recommendations available for all ages celebrating the LGBTQ community. You can also watch films celebrating Pride Month on Canopy, a video streaming service that's free with your library card. And you can also catch us this Saturday for the city's annual Pride event, where we'll be outside doing activities and handing out some prizes. Another big celebration this month is the summer reading program. So the summer reading program kickoff event starts June 7th, which is this Saturday, and our theme is Level Up at Your Library. Children's, teens, and adults are invited to track their reading on montereypark.beanstack.org and earn some fantastic prizes throughout the summer. There's also a lot of fantastic programs this month for the children. And some that I'd like to highlight include the theater games on June 10 and 24, where kids will learn about acting and improv. Also on June 13 and 27, we have Dungeons and Dragons also, where kids will join on an adventure. And we also have Kid Coders on June 19, where participants will learn to code using Scratch to program their own video games. We also have big events for the families as well at the Langley Center. Join us with Megan, the bubbleologist, on June 11th, and the Wildlife Learning Center is also joining us on June 25th. For teens, we're also kicking off the summer reading program with the Big Water Balloon Challenge at Barnes Park on June 7th. Then later in the month, teen volunteers, teen entrepreneurs are invited to meet with Jaylene To, owner of Leaflet Coffee, to learn about starting and operating a small business. And on the 28th, teens are invited to Cooking Basics, where they'll learn about food safety, reading recipes, and creating simple dishes. Adults also have a lot to look forward to this summer. To get into the leveling up gaming spirit, we have board games and mahjong at the library for new and experienced players. We also have some non-gaming programs like gardening and sustainability workshops on June 21st. And everyone's invited on June 28th for a panel discussion about working with books as a career. In this panel, we'll have a professional writer, two local bookstore owners, an audiobook narrator, and a librarian about how they got started in their careers. And last, our adult literacy program also has some events coming up, some workshops for June and July. All learners are invited to attend these workshops. We'll target learning goals such as phonics, reading comprehension, and practice improving speaking skills. Adults who are getting ready for their citizenship test are also invited to enroll into our ongoing weekly citizenship preparation classes on Mondays and Saturdays. As always, please check out our library webpage and social media for even more information and more upcoming summer reading programs. Thank you.

Comments, questions? Thank you so much for all of the work that the library is doing. I especially want to highlight, because of LGBTQ month, but the importance of having displays and having a lot of books on LGBTQ plus themes. I know that last year alone, the top five books targeted for book banning around the country, and the majority of them were on LGBTQ plus themes. So very appreciative that our library and that our city council is very supportive of books, but more importantly, books on LGBTQ plus themes. So thanks for putting those out there. And I still have a book that's waiting on Canopy, so eager to wait for it to pop up on my reader. So thank you.

I just wanted to acknowledge the team at the library for the creativity and always coming up with all these new ideas for our community and our kids.

Kids so thank you. I'm gonna echo that sentiment and I'm gonna say that the mahjong in the library is a brilliant idea because it teaches our kids

Chinese as

well the strategy not so much the gaming part of it, but the other part of it so All right, thank you. Let's move on and let's go to Parks and Rec

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of the City Council. My name is Memo Chavez, Recreation Supervisor. Thank you for having me here tonight to share some upcoming programs and events.

First, we want to thank everyone who came out in support of the Monterey Park Birthday Play Days event

held from May 8th to May 11th at Barnes Park.

The celebration brought together families, neighbors, and friends for four days of fun, entertainment, and community spirit.

We also extend our sincere thanks to those who attended the Monterey Park Mental Health, Healing Arts, and Wellness Fair on Saturday, May 17th.

The event was a great success with over 700 participants engaging in a variety of wellness activities, informational sessions, and creative experiences centered around mental health.

we would also like to extend our gratitude to everyone who joined us for the memorial event

held at the american legion post 397 on may 26 your presence helped us honor and remember those

who have bravely served our country additionally a thank you to all who attended the greetings

tour ribbon cutting ceremony on tuesday may 27th your support helped mark the unveiling of a vibrant

new addition to our city's public art landscape, celebrating the spirit and identity of Monterey Park.

We're excited to share the Pride Parade and Festival will take place this Saturday, June 7th. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. at Mark Keppel High School, folLod by the festival kicking off at 10 a.m. at Barnes Park.

As part of the celebration, attendees along the parade route will notice a newly painted

electrical box mural completed just a few weeks ago by Mark Keppel High School students

in honor of Pride Month. The festival will feature live music, community resources,

arts and crafts, and giveaways. Immediately following the Pride festivities, LA County

will host a gun violence awareness event in front of City Hall from 12 to 3. This important event aims to raise awareness about the ongoing issue of gun violence and will include educational materials and community engagement opportunities.

We're pleased to announce that the Summer Rec Swim Program will begin Monday, June 9th at George Elder Pool. For more information on recreational swim hours, pricing, or other aquatic programming, please visit the aquatic section of the Monterey Park website.

Also beginning on Monday, June 9th, the San Gabriel Unified School District Summer Lunch

Program will return to Barnes Park Picnic Shelter and will run through August 1st.

Free meals will be provided to all children under the age of 18, Monday through Friday, 1115 to 1245.

Finally, summer movies in the park will kick off at Barnes Park on Thursday, June 19th, with a showing of Disney and Pixar's Soul.

Pre-movie activities will begin at 7 p.m. and movie will begin at sunset. Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, and the whole family for a fun evening under the stars.

The Langley Center, in partnership with MPK Hope Resiliency Center, will host its monthly theme dance titled Dancing Summer on Thursday, June 26th from 1 to 4.

This event is open to individuals ages 50 and over and will feature live entertainment

and complimentary snacks. We encourage our older adult community to come out and enjoy an afternoon of music, movement, and social connection.

Looking ahead, the City of Monterey Park's Independence Day celebration will take place on Saturday, June 28th at Barnes Park.

The event will include food trucks, live performances, and will conclude with a fireworks show at 9 p.m.

It's a great opportunity for families and neighbors to come together and celebrate our nation's independence.

We're excited to announce that MPK Night at Dodger Stadium is back and will take place on Friday, August 29th. Tickets are available for $50, and the evening will include a post-game fireworks show.

Please note that participants are responsible for their own transportation. As of earlier today, around 4, we still had 25 tickets available, so we encourage anyone who's interested to reserve their spot soon.

The following day, on Saturday, August 30, the city will host a trip to the Hollywood Bowl.

Tickets are $65 and include round-trip transportation. A pre-trip reception with light snacks will be held at Langley Center at 5 p.m.

with a bus departing at 6 p.m. As of earlier today as well, only five tickets remain for this event. Thank you, and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Comments, questions?

I just want to thank the department and everyone that made the Greetings Mural happen and really proud to be able to join so many community members that helped to contribute to the artwork as well and unveiling, I mean, it wasn't covered, but in opening it up and really just finalizing that artwork,

looking forward to more,

and I know Robert's thinking about what's next. Let's keep that pipeline going in terms of public artwork. I would love to support that more, and I know the community's eager for more artwork. I have a small request. I don't know who can make this happen, But I would love to get the final artwork printed on an actual postcard or something I'm sure all of us would love to to get that to keep as a kind of a mentor keepsake And if there's interest in that Going forward for others at the city. I think that'd be cool, too

But thank you looking forward the events I could address it mr. Mary members of the council that yes They're the rec department has worked with the artists. We do have postcards on order We should be getting them pretty soon, but we do have that for community members

And the council. I think it would also make a good library card. But thank you, member, for all the information. I'm always very excited about all of the events that Parks and Rec Department does because it always keeps us, as parents, so many activities to take our kids to. Very excited for the 4th of July celebration coming up. I know that's always very exciting for our community to be able to see the fireworks and come out and, you know, come out with your families and put on your lawn chairs and enjoy the fireworks and the food. So thank you for all of that work that goes behind the scenes for making a lot of that happen. I'm definitely going to get some tickets for MPK Dodger night. I hope all of us will be there. I'll invite everyone to go there and for not just support the Dodgers but support our city during MPK night but also to Council Member Wong's point very excited about the mural that we unveiled just recently and hoping to get some more murals throughout our city. Public art is so important for all communities so if you haven't seen it it's up there. If you haven't had a chance to go down and check it out and take a selfie or a picture definitely you should go check it out. Thank you again. Thank you. Mr. Mayor?

I also want to echo the sentiment about our new mural. I think the grand opening certainly we saw a great turnout by our community who was excited by this now new landmark and I think what was also very telling was that especially after it was posted on social media many people at least people in my personal circles that they they decide to drive by or to eat at a restaurant in that shopping center and look at it and I think that that is really what we want to do. We want to have these opportunities to celebrate our community, our history, and also give some buzz to generate people to come into your city to eat at some of our great restaurants and also take selfies, which is also what that mural is hoping to encourage folks to do. Also, I want to really give my compliments, My thanks for the city and Parks and Rec for just being so fully embracing of celebrating an annual Pride event. You know, when we did this, the first one in 2021, it seemed very radical at the time. And yet I feel because we are trendsetters that what Mario Park did kicked off a wave of Pride celebrations. And in fact, every year now, since Monterey Park, 11 communities in the Sangio Valley celebrate some type of pride event from our neighbors, Almonte, Pasadena, La Puente. And I think that it's important that in communities such as ours that are largely immigrant, diverse communities, communities of color, that it's important, especially for our youth, to know that we are an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.

I wanted to acknowledge all of the great things that you guys have done in the last couple weeks. The mural, I think, is a prime example of how surveys are actually very important in our city because all the residents who participate in the survey and their ideas got put into the mural feel like now they have ownership in the mural. So, you know, the survey is what...

you all right again i echo the sentiments of the fellow council members kudos to partnering with the library and keeping the kids cool during the daytime and then when it gets cooler in the evening

having all these events and i just want a special kudos for you guys for just thinking about 829

and 830.

Here's where I'm going with this. 829, Dodgers, the boys of summer.

830, Cindy Lauper.

Girls just want to have fun.

All right, let's go on to

old business. We don't have any. Let's go with the consent calendar.

Mr. Mayor, for consent calendar, can I pull 9J?

9J.

I'll move the remaining items.

I'll second.

Council Member Wong and then second by Council Member Sanchez.

Let's take a vote.

Approved unanimously.

Okay, so let's go to 9J.

Thank you.

Members of the City Council, again, I want to thank all of you for allowing us to bring now, I believe, for the fifth time a resolution acknowledging celebrating LGBT Pride Month. I will say now from the vantage point of this year, it was interesting that at least at the time it seemed a little controversial to have such a resolution, but yet here we are now five years later. And as I said during my remarks about the upcoming Pride event, it is important to demonstrate that we celebrate we are inclusive of all communities and especially during a time in which we have a lot of mean rhetoric, some of them coming from the current White House attacking our trans brothers and sisters, not to mention the intersectionality of those who are LGBT as well as immigrants, some who are also dealing with multiple fronts of phobias. And I think it really is important that, you know, this is not just something we have, but it is a statement of our values as a community and why, you know, I do think that we have the opportunity to acknowledge and confirm, you know, that we are a city that's inclusive and that we stand with all residents and that regardless of who they choose to love.

And I will, I'm eager to second that motion from Council Member Rouleau and ask my colleagues as well to support this resolution, especially as we see intentional efforts to roll back some of the progress that we've made over the last few years. I think would make a statement for the city and the city council to adopt a resolution like this

in this time.

It was an intentional effort to start this a few years ago thanks to the leadership of at least two of you

who are sitting here today.

So we will continue that spirit and we will continue that progress this weekend. I see there is a motion by Council Member Lo

and a second by Council Member Wong. Let's take a vote.

Approved unanimously. Okay.

Public hearing?

Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council, Philip Lanzofame, Interim Director of Community Development. The item before you tonight is another in a series of measures

to implement approved programs in our land use element and our housing element,

designed to improve consistency between our general plan and our zoning code.

I've asked Senior Planner Ileana Munoz to give you the details of the proposal, and then staff will be here at the conclusion for any questions. Ileana.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of the City Council. The item before you this evening is a city-initiated zone code amendment to bring consistency between the Monterey Park land use and urban design element and the city's municipal code.

As you may recall, voters approved the land use element in 2020. The city council adopted the housing element in 2022, and it was certified by HCD in 2023. Both elements include programs to align the city's general plan with the municipal code. Today's proposed ordinance, continued from the May 7th City Council meeting, is part of that ongoing effort. Recent steps, as you may also recall, to do this have included rezoning some properties to the residential incentive zone, which was approved by this city council earlier this year.

Tonight's item focuses on the programs shown on the slide. The programs relate to amending or repealing certain existing specific plans and resolving inconsistencies in mixed-use zoning developments. Specific plans are intricate documents that require substantial analysis to amend or repeal. Similarly, resolving our mixed-use zoning conflicts often necessitates the creation of new zoning designations along with development and corresponding standards and procedures. Given this complexity and the scale of this work, it exceeds our current staff capacity. To address these inconsistencies while still meeting our housing element deadlines, the ordinance proposes an alternative approach.

This slide shows the exact proposed language. The ordinance will amend the code to allow immediate implementation of the identified programs while preserving key elements of the existing specific plans, such as rededication requirements, as more comprehensive updates are developed. Additionally, this ordinance clarifies that residential and mixed-use developments are permitted where alLod by the land-use element. subject to the development standards of the underlying zone. Since the land use element's mixed use designation supports both residential and mixed use, the ordinance ensures these uses are explicitly permitted moving forward.

Displayed on this screen is the land use policy map, highlighting only the mixed use and residential designations. Mixed views on this map are shown in purple, while residential designations appear in shades of brown, orange, and yellow. Where discrepancies exist between this map, the land use map, and current zoning, the land use element, this map, will take precedence. This ordinance formally establishes that distinction.

Staff's recommendation tonight is for the City Council to consider opening the public hearing and taking testimonial evidence and documentary evidence, excuse me, after closing the public hearing and considering the evidence submitted during the public hearing, introducing and waiving first reading of the ordinance, implementing the Monterey Park General Plan by amending Title 21 of the Monterey Park Municipal Code and taking such additional related action that may be desirable. And this concludes my presentation, and we are available for any questions.

Thank you. I'm going to open up for public comments.

No comments. No comments?

We'll close public comments.

Now we can have further discussion.

No discussion? All right. Is there a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve staff recommendation.

Motion by Council Member Wang. Second. Second by Pro Tem Yang.

Please take a vote.

Approved unanimously.

Okay. And let's go on to

10B.

Good evening, Mayor and Mayor Potem, Council Members. Martha Garcia, Finance Director.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides CDBG and home funds to the City of

Monterey Park.

As part of the process to receive funding, the city must develop and submit a five-year plan, consolidated plan. The city's current plan expires June 30, 2025. In preparing the five-year plan, city staff conducted community meetings and surveys. Our city's HUD consultant, Priscilla Davila, will be presenting the survey results via Zoom.

Priscilla?

Yes. Martha, do you have the PowerPoint there in front of you? It's up, yes.

Okay, good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. Like Martha just mentioned, my name is Priscilla Davila, and I am the housing consultant for the city. Tonight's public hearing is to discuss the 2025 through 2029 Consolidated Plan and the 2025 to 2026 Action Plan. But before we get into all the details, let me start out by giving you a little bit of background regarding the programs.

What is a five-year consolidated plan? The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, requires that the City of Monterey Park, as a recipient of Community Development Block Grant, CDBG, and Home Investment Partnership, home funding, to develop a consolidated plan every five years that identifies the community's housing, public service, and development needs while outlining strategies and goals to address those needs effectively.

Next slide.

What does a consolidated plan include? Number one, needs assessment and market analysis.

Use quantitative data related to housing and economic opportunity.

Public engagement includes community meetings, public hearings, and surveys for residents

and sector professionals to share their views on needs and priorities.

And number three, a strategic plan to support the City's long-term vision for a safe, welcoming,

connective, and active city, a destination with thriving local businesses, well-maintained parks

and infrastructure, and quality of programming and services that support the entire community.

The following is an overview of the steps in the development of the City's 2025 to 2029

Consolidated Plan. First, there was a public input and community engagement. We had community

survey and public meetings with residents, neighborhood organizations, and interviews

with key stakeholders. B, quantitative data collection review and analysis. C, establish

the 2025 to 2029 con plan community needs priority. D, we did a 30-day public review

E. A public hearing. F. Submittal to HUD.

The CDBG program was initiated by the federal government in 1974 and the main intent of the program is to provide federal grant funds to cities to invest back into the community

to benefit low and moderate income residents, ensuring that those funds are spent to provide decent housing, create a suitable living environment, and expand economic opportunities. In order to do that, we must meet one of the three national objectives, which are, number one, benefit low and moderate income persons, number two, eliminate slum and blight, and number three, meet an urgent community need occurred within the last 18 months that would

threaten public health and safety and that the community has no other resources to address the issues.

Also, we need to ensure that eligible activities and projects include creation and retention for affordable housing, infrastructure improvements, community facilities, community services,

special needs services, and economic development.

HOME is a federal block grant designed to create affordable housing for low-income households. It provides formula grants to states and localities which can be used for activities such as building,

buying and rehabilitating affordable housing, as well as providing direct rental assistance

to low-income individuals. In order for it to be an eligible project, it must be exclusively

to create affordable housing for low-income households. So again, some of the eligible

activities include homeowner or rental rehab, home buyer activities, rental housing, or

tenant-based rental assistance.

How are the community needs and priorities being determined? One, CDBG program requirements.

Each community meets one or more of the CDBG and home requirements.

Number two, that it aligns with the city's strategic plan for the long-term vision for

economic and neighborhood development.

And three, community needs survey results and public hearing input.

They reflect the input of the community's priorities from community Community and Stakeholder Survey Responses and Public Hearing Feedback.

We'd like to share some insight from the Community Needs Survey Results. On this slide, you'll see the overall ranking of community needs and priorities. The highest ranking need identified was public improvement services, particularly street improvements. Following that, economic development, which includes grants and loans and facade improvements ranked second, and the third spot was the

went to the enhancement of public facilities, such as parks and recreational facilities,

and multipurpose community centers, such as senior or youth improvements. We will provide more detailed breakdown of the community inputs for each category on the upcoming slides.

The first slide here is affordable housing. Within affordable housing, the highest priority

was new affordable rental or homeownership housing.

Under public facilities, the highest was parks and recreation facilities.

For public improvements, the highest priority was street improvements.

Under demolition and clearance, the highest priority was code enforcement and cleanup of abandoned lots.

Under economic development, the highest priority was small business assistance.

And last for the public services, the highest priority was for anti-crime services.

Proposed 2025 to 2029 Community Con Plan needs and priorities are promote fair housing, increase

access to affordable housing, support community services, enhance public

facilities and infrastructure, promote economic development, support efforts to

address homelessness, and support programs through program administration.

These are not in any set order, they're just listed one by one like that and if

any time we need to change one of those priorities we're able to make that

modification through the annual action plan that we submit into HUD.

This program year, the City anticipates receiving a CDBG allocation of approximately $563,008 and approximately $285,787 in-home funds. As you can see here for CDBG, we are capped at 20% for administration, so that is $112,601. Fair housing, $20,000, which is a requirement of HUD that we allocate money towards fair housing. and equally $215,203.50 for ADA, sidewalk improvement projects, and facility improvement projects. The city is aware that this year is not like any other year, so we will not be expending any 2025-2026 funding

until we get our actual funding agreement signed by HUD, which usually happens in September.

Under home, we're capped at admin at 10% of the yearly allocation, which is $28,578. For rehabilitation projects, $214,340.37. And choto projects, which is a requirement of HUD that at least 15% of the yearly allocation goes toward community housing development organizations, which is at $42,869. dollars. Right now, we have it earmarked for the CDBG funds for Barnes Park, the restroom improvements. Staff's recommendation that the City Council, one, conduct a public hearing and receive public comments and testimony on the fiscal year 2025 through 2029 consolidated plan and fiscal year 2025 to 2026 annual action plan. Two, approve and authorize the submittal of the the fiscal year 2025-29 con plan, fiscal year 25 to 26 annual action plan, including CDBG and home funding recommendations. Three, authorize the city manager to execute all appropriate and necessary documents to receive funding and implement approved use and make necessary budget adjustments based on HUD's final allocations amounts. Four, authorize the city manager to execute subrecipient agreements with the nonprofit organizations receiving CDBG and home allocations and the annual action plan. And five, take any such additional related action that may be desirable.

That concludes our presentation for tonight. City staff and I are available to address any questions you may have.

We can open the public hearing. No comments. We're going to close the public hearing. Discussions from council members.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Martha and the team for putting the five-year penalty. I know there was intentional communication around this. I know it can be, tend to be an esoteric topic and not a sexy one in terms of people kind of helping to inform some of these investments. and I think to our consultants point our current president has proposed to eliminate this funding completely both CDBG and home funding my hope is that that will not happen and that Congress will not zero that out but understand the cautious approach that we're taking until the money is in hand not actually spending it so kudos to that I think that's right approach for sure I think broadly right there are if we had many times more this money we could easily spend that on needs in the community for home housing opportunities to promote those and to do community development in the community and the reality right is that every year this pot of money essentially shrinks and continues to shrink so we have less and less of this funding from the federal government to to be able to make these investments in our community which is unfortunate but But I will echo kind of the comments that I've made as we've done these one-year action plans the last few years. I know we've made investments through CDBG and home funding for, well, particularly home funding for owner-occupied housing retrofits and renovations. I know there are restrictions on what we can do with some of the home funding and limited IN TERMS OF HOW WE CAN SPEND SOME OF THAT MONEY, BUT I'LL ECHO THAT TO THE EXTENT WE CAN, AND IT'S CLEAR FROM THIS REPORT AND FROM THE SURVEY DATE OR THE CENSUS DATA, THAT THERE'S A MUCH GREATER NEED FOR ASSISTANCE IN TERMS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH AFFORDING HOUSING COSTS IN OUR CITY AND IN THE REGION ON THE RENTER-OCCUPIED HOUSING SIDE, AS OPPOSED TO THE OWNER-OCCUPIED SIDE. SO TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN SHIFT SOME OF OUR RESOURCES TO SUPPORTING THOSE IN RENTER-OCCUPIED housing as opposed to owner occupied housing where they have tend to have and be able to access equity in their home if their owner occupied to make renovations or be able to sell or to have assets right to to bring to address their housing needs I think there's a lot more need and it's clear from the state a lot more need on the renter affordable housing side and so if we can start to think about how we shift some of those resources to those needs in the community I think would be more ideal for these limited resources that we do have I noticed also I know these are broad categories in that there's flexibility in terms of when we actually do the year-by-year spending plan we can shift kind of what specific products we're going to fund so appreciate that I know that we're kind of essentially have some placeholders here I'm looking at page 139 of the agenda packet right the cdmg and then the next page the home activities kind of broad categories uh to the extent we can for fair housing i i my understanding right is and correct me if i'm wrong martha or whoever um the twenty thousand dollars set there for fair housing that's

what we partner with um uh i can't remember who but we do housing right center yeah housing right

Center to do a few of these tenant tenants and landlord tenant rights land or responsibility workshops at City Hall that we've done that's correct yes I mean I know we're talking about limited resources but whatever we can do to help get the word I know we those are workshops are important and people do show up but if there are ways to be more effective in utilizing these dollars to get the word out to I think there are a lot more landlords that don't know the responsibilities and don't know the changing laws in terms of statewide rent control and other responsibilities that landlords have for keeping their units in order and up to code and all that stuff. If there are ways to leverage these dollars in different ways and be creative, I don't know if we're already working with organizations in our community that have reached tenants as well, like Chinatown Service Center or even the Boys and Girls Club and other organizations that have these pre-existing and trust relationships built on trust with these community members that we want to reach out to and want to be educated about both about tenants rights maybe we can look at how we partner with that and if there are ways to get information to them that they can disseminate further even with our school districts and the schools individually to help get the some of this information out to parents and the families that are in these situations where they just they're I don't know that they're getting access This will allow us information if we can look at channels to leverage the limited dollars we have to do more education.

I think that would be great.

On sidewalk improvements, I know we're setting aside money out of CBG. I know we also set aside money out of General Fund for sidewalk improvements and repairs. So to the extent that it's coming out of one bucket or another, we have to do these pedestrian and sidewalk safety improvements. so want to make sure that we are doing as much as we can because it actually costs us more not to do these repairs when people are injured sometimes I noticed that we didn't set aside funding I know for the program that we're partnering with the child of service center on for the small business grant and loan program, low interest loan program. I believe that initial $200,000 allocation came out of our CDBG funding from this past year.

Is that right?

That's correct.

I know that's not called out here in our CDBG funding as we're projecting for next year, but I know that will come back to council if we need, and I know we're looking to this is essentially a pilot program, and we're going to see how much of that gets spent and how it gets spent and whether this is an effective program. But I just want to highlight that as something I would like to make sure we're getting data on through China Health Service there, but also if this is something we need to carve out funding for out of CDBG or another funding source, I committed to, and I know came out in the survey data, the importance of helping to support our small businesses here in the city and knowing where we are likely going and what the impacts are a lot of our small businesses are feeling now

with the economic conditions.

I think that will be even more important. And I know we just approved on our consent calendar

reforming our

economic development committee

advisory committee

I can't remember the new name I'll get it eventually but maybe this is something we can talk to task them with as well to start talking through in terms of how what other resources and taking a look at the

economic district plan to

see what other steps we can take there to support our small businesses going forward and what what issues they are dealing with that the city might be able to help with

and then I'll just echo again I know these are limited dollars but if there are other as federal and state funding cuts are going to make their way into our community if there are programs that make sense existing programs or even other programs that the school districts or other CBOs in our community have to support the populations that the home and CDBG funding are meant to support low-income families and housing insecure folks and food insecure people as well in our communities. If we can look at, I mean, this is assuming we even get this funding in the next year, but if we do, I would also, I know I'm prioritizing a lot of things, but I think it would be worth us considering as well as we if we get this money into next year and future years also looking at how we can support existing programs that support low income families and housing secure community members in our community partnering with other CBOs and potentially funding and supplementing some of the funding that they might that I expect they will be experiencing cuts from to continue the program that I think is critical for our community so if there are organizations that are providing these services in our community that let's just if we can be in touch with them about what they're experiencing and if there's something that if there are opportunities not that we can fill all the funding shortfalls that are likely to come but if there are critical programs that are worth us at least looking at carving out funding out of our CDB zero home funding for let's just make sure that we're at least talking to each other and convening and seeing what we can do to support as I expect a lot of these groups are going to be experiencing severe financial STRAIN IN THE COMING MONTHS AND YEARS. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. BUT I THINK THIS IS A GOOD, CAUTIOUS AND RESPONSIBLE APPROACH TO THESE GRANT FUNDS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. I APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS AND LOOK FORWARD TO HAVE MY FELLOW COLLEAGUES' COMMENTS, TOO.

HI, MARTHA. I JUST HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS. FIRST OF ALL, THANKS FOR ALL THE WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS. I KNOW I WENT TO ONE OF THE WORKSHOPS THAT YOU GUYS HELD here at the city. And I echo a lot of the same sentiments as Council Member Wong, especially those dealing with housing. And I know that housing has become extremely not just unaffordable and very expensive, but also hard to come by. So whatever we can do to use some of these very limited CBTG funds to fund housing, I'm also very interested in seeing a lot of that. But in particular, I know that the rates of home ownership have gone severely down, especially in the state of California, dramatically since 2005.

whatever programming we can offer, very similar to the one we offered in the past, would be appreciated, I think. I think there's a lot of people in our community who are interested in purchasing homes, especially first-time homes, buyers. And I don't know what programs may currently exist in neighboring cities or within our communities that help financially people get into their first homes. So whatever we can do to try to help people get into their first homes. And I just, I think back when I bought my home, you know, there's so many different expenses associated with homes. Whatever we can do to help ease some of that burden, help financially in any way, shape, or form. I know that our funds are limited. We're talking like we have millions and millions of dollars here to spend and get people into homes. And then when you really look at the number, it's really not a lot. And on top of that, we don't know if we're going to get this money from the federal government. But I think that home ownership is very important for Americans in terms of building wealth and providing a stable home for their families. So whatever we can do to help people buy homes here in Monterey Park, I'm all for it. Thank you. Just a quick question.

I know during the pandemic, I think we used some of our CDBG funds for utility assistance.

And I'm just curious, are we still providing any type of utility assistance?

The funds we use were CDBG coronavirus.

They were separate from this.

And we currently do not have a program with CDBG money for utilities.

Okay. Okay.

Well, I know, again, it's only limited funding and there are a lot of new...

We do have other programs that are on our website that the state has and the actual utility companies offer. So there are other programs available.

Okay. Thank you.

But we do provide lifeline rate for water. there still are programs.

Thank you, Martha, for the very comprehensive presentation. California does have a housing shortage, and I think it's great that we're using these CDBG and home funding to help with that situation and assist with affordable housing.

So thank you.

Thank you, Priscilla and Martha.

I have a question, but it may be directed toward Sean. I noticed there was a small budget left for ADA compliant sidewalk. Sean, do we I mean what's the status of our ADA sidewalk? Are we all done with the city

and this would be just updating or? Good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City

Council. Sean Igoe, Public Works Director. No we have several ADA ramps that will continue to use this funding for. So this barely scratches the surface for us. And so we try to combine those with our resurfacing projects. So we'll continue to do that over the next several coming years.

Okay. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. Can I ask one question since Sean is here? Sean, on the topic of sidewalks, this past week I've gone to three graduations at ELAC, and I was so amazed to see the sidewalks are all fixed on the ELAC sidewalks. So if you can relate the message to our ELAC folk about thanking them for fixing all of the sidewalks that are there. They look fabulous, and they look great. Absolutely, will do.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

Do we have a motion somewhere?

I can make a motion.

Motion by Pro Tem Yang. Do I have a second? I'll second.

Second by Council Member Sanchez. Please take a vote.

Approved unanimously.

Okay.

We're moving on to new business.

This is a fire hazard severity zone.

Is that Battalion Chief De Rosa?

You get us twice tonight. That's the short straw.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and Council Members. Again, my name is Robert DeRosa, Battalion Chief of the Fire Department, and before you tonight is an item introducing and waiving the first reading of an ordinance

adopting the Office of the State Fire Marshal Finalized State Responsibility Area Fire Hazard Severity Zone Map. That's a mouthful. So simply put, CAL FIRE, in cooperation with the California State Fire Marshal's Office, conducts a hazard assessment to identify fire hazard severity zones. That's the map that you see up in front of you there.

I know it's a little difficult to see, but the area that's circled is the city of Monterey Park. The fact that you don't see any red is very good.

So we have not been identified as having any areas that are considered fire hazard severity zones.

so simply put that kind of concludes that part of it I'd be happy to answer

any questions but we're looking for this

to be approved and then we'll have that second reading and public hearing on June

18th and if you guys

have any questions regarding this I'd be happy to answer

I don't have many

not really a question

appreciate the staff report and the work on this and thank you to CAL FIRE for the update on these maps which I know took a little while also I just make the point right that climate changes has expanded these maps in the higher fire severity zones in the state as mapped by CAL FIRE through this process continue to expand and that's also not to say even though and I'm grateful that there aren't any identified fire hazard survey zones in the city of Mario Park that's not to say fires can't happen and don't happen our hillsides and that's to highlight the importance of clearing brush and dry brush after the rains and especially as we head into the summer there are still risks for fires in our city on hillsides and areas and so whatever we can do to continue to emphasize and remind and educate residents and property owners and business owners about their responsibility in clearing dry brush and fuel on their property, potential fuel for fires.

Let's continue to do that, obviously,

but I'm grateful that we aren't in this case, but also you can see if you look at the past maps, the fire hazard severity zones continue to creep further and further out and impact our neighbors, including Montebello and other areas, and we do suffer when fires do happen through smoke damage and kind of smoke coming down from the neighboring areas in the region. And so important from a regional perspective to take this issue seriously. And for us also, we're tasked with mutual response, and we did provide mutual response when these fires happened in our area. So appreciate everything that goes into this and the planning and continue to, from a regional perspective, the need to be prepared for not only this but also many other disasters that can impact our community and the region.

I also do want to give my compliments to our own department because during the windstorms, although certainly not near the severity of palaces or Eden, but if I recall we had a little fire on Atlantic during the windstorms and again, I mean, it potentially could have become more serious given that it was windy and so I do thank the response of our fire personnel and yeah as Councilman Wong said I mean although we are not in this

expanded fire zone but nonetheless with the dry season becoming longer and and

drug conditions persisting I mean certainly you know anywhere where there's dry grass can easily you know especially with red conditions become you know a firestorm and certainly I think I just want to thank our personnel at the fire department for being diligent um and making sure that you know brush the weed abatement the brush brushes are cleared and that you know we also make sure the residents know about their responsibility to make sure that we know we don't have situations that can really give

a huge firestorm in the area no other comments do we have a motion i'll make the motion to adopt Stafford recommendation. Motion by Council Member Wong. Second. Second by Pro Tem Yang. Please take a vote.

Approved unanimously.

Okay.

I had one quick follow-up to Council Member Sanchez's question from earlier. If I can, 10 seconds. We do post all that literature at firework stands, and then it's when they're inspected by our fire prevention personnel, they ensure that that literature is posted based on or explaining what city ordinances are for safe and sane use in the city yeah thank you for that

clarification okay let's go with the city communications I'll report I was I

missed the last council meeting I was with the Southern California Association of Governments for their one of their DC trips advocacy trips part of our advocacy platform and priorities was to highlight the need and the importance of CDBG and home funds. So we mentioned that as one of the one of our priorities from a local government perspective for the federal government to continue to highlight. I will say both on the Republican member side and the Democratic member side a lot of echoing the importance and acknowledging the importance of home and CDBG funding as one of the few federal sources of money that go to local government that supports housing and affordable housing production and support and resourcing the issues that we've been talking about in terms of addressing housing challenges in our community so glad to hear that but also knowing it's a tough environment in the at in washington dc all the conversation is on and uh focused on cutting cutting federal spending And so a lot of things up in the air and a lot of uncertainty in terms of the opportunities for the federal government to actually engage and support local government in carrying out what we need to carry out in providing services and resources to our community. So my takeaway, we're in very uncertain times. There's a lot of discussion happening and a lot of funding from the federal government that not only local government but our community partners and many others who depend and utilize federal funding. A LOT IS AT RISK AND DIDN'T COME AWAY WITH A LOT OF REASSURANCE THAT THINGS ARE GOING TO GET BETTER. I THINK THINGS ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO GET MUCH ROUGHER. AND SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE TO OUR REPRESENTATIVES, THE FEDERAL AND THE STATE LEVEL. BOTH LEVELS ARE LOOKING AT CUTS AND TRYING TO CLAW BACK FUNDS OR CUT PROGRAMS AND FUNDING. SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO KEEP STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND TO continue to advocate for the priorities we have in our residents and our community have so appreciate being able to go and join this trip and look forward to all I know we're all involved in different organizations as well that do advocacy at the state federal level I think it's it's more critical now than ever to make sure our community's priorities are heard at those levels and that we need to we really need to be engaged in these conversations

I forgot what else I was going to mention, so I'll pass it on to Councilmember Sanchez.

Thank you, Councilmember Wong, for representing us there. And I just had a couple of requests for future agenda items, if that's okay. Okay. One is just an update on any of our projects as it relates to housing developments and stuff like that. I know we haven't had one recently, but I know there's one coming. But if we can have an update in terms of where we're at. Also, I know that, and I know Robert is just as excited as I am, but we are 372 days away from the FIFA World Cup. And we are 1,136 days away from the Olympics. And we'll be hosted here in Los Angeles. So as we start thinking, 372 days go like this. 1,000 days go like that as well. What types of activities we might be doing in Parks and Rec and stuff like that. Such as viewing parties for possible games, stuff like that. possible festivities that we might do in relation to the World Cup and, of course, the Olympics. And I'm sure those are things that Robert's already thinking about and discussing. Whatever we can do to start thinking about those events and start planning for those to make those and take advantage of the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup so that we enjoy those festivities here within our city. But even, I know we have MPK night at the Dodger game. We'd love to go to one of the FIFA World Cup games, Robert.

That might be hard.

And BK at the FIFA World Cup. I know it's SoFi Stadium. Or at the Rose Bowl, right? But anyhow, anything's possible, Robert, right? Remember, we're going epic. We're starting to lose the word epic.

Are you willing to pay $1,000 a ticket?

We'll see. We'll see. But anyhow, just wanted to put it on our radars because it's a great opportunity to celebrate within our city as well. And that is it for me. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to actually thank our city for helping to play host of Navy personnel during Fleet Week. And, you know, one of our residents, Arthur Fong, who is in the Navy, you know, has been always diligent every year in making sure that Monterey Park is connected to those who serve in the Navy during Fleet Week and, you know, also are aware of the connections between the Navy and the Navy. between those who serve in the military as well as our own community. So, again, just appreciative to meet during ALSWay subsequent dinner.

That's Sunday before Memorial Day, those who serve in the U.S. Navy and some of our ex-owned residents.

And, again, thank you for your service, as well as the Memorial Day service this next day at our American Legion post. Again, we appreciate the American Legion post for helping us honor and remember those who served our country during times of war and peace. Also, you know, appreciate colleagues and I attended the crisis communication training yesterday,

and certainly it was very eye-opening.

And I think hopefully it will give us, you know, a good foundation to especially be able to respond to different crises because, you know, as I've learned myself in the past few years that when you run for city council, So it's not just so much, you know, fixing the roads or building a pool or building facilities. But unfortunately, it's also now how to react during a crisis, either natural or man-made. And then I just want to bring to your attention that this week, a bill by our Assembly member, Mike Fong, passed the Assembly, and it's now on its way to Senate. It's AB 893, and I bring it up because I think this potentially might have an impact or a positive one to our own community, but it expands what's called a campus development zone for CSU, UC, or community college.

We do have a community college in the city of Monterey Park.

It's in the Senate now, and it goes through some amendments,

and hopefully if it does pass both houses and the governor, it means that perhaps there might be an opportunity for us to partner with East LA College and the LA Community College District in terms of addressing again housing issues which all of us acknowledge is an important issue not just student housing and again we do have a lot of students who attend community colleges who may find themselves homeless or housing challenged but also faculty and so just something that I think I'd like for us to monitor and it should become law, you know, probably something that we can reach out to ELAC in terms of, you know, building partnerships on solving our housing challenges.

And that's it for me.

We've had a busy two weeks.

In addition to the events already covered, I wanted to thank Public Works for a very

successful open house at the City Yard.

It was great seeing the new EV mower and the vehicles, and thank you staff for grilling burgers and hot dogs, including our own city manager behind the scenes. The following Monday, we had the Memorial Day ceremony at American Legion, so thank you everyone who attended and put it on. There was a good turnout there.

The following day, Tuesday, Councilmembers Wong, Mayor, and myself attended the Caltech-sponsored earthquake tour,

and we got to visit all of the faults in the San Gabriel Valley, along with other elected officials in neighboring cities,

so that was very educational.

And the next day we had our budget workshop, which I wish more of the pool supporters would have attended

because some of them mentioned that there's no transparency,

but when the actual numbers are presented, then, you know, they're not there to see it.

So, you know, it was a really well-presented budget workshop by staff.

So thank you, staff. Okay.

Attended many of the same events, but I want to start one in particular. That was actually yesterday. There was a celebration for Parents' Day at NBC restaurant during lunch, and I spoke to a group. Their name is Lok Tong Kyun, which is basically they've been around in the Singabel Valley for 50 years, and it's all the exercise, I'm going to say mature adults in all the parks. Basically, every park you see in the Singabel Valley, there's a group of them. Some are in green, some are in yellow, but that is their color. and I met a couple of 90s in their 90s and there was a gentleman 99 years old who still exercises in the park every morning it's a combination of tai chi kung fu and dancing but it's a way of exercise and I was so impressed that I am going to actually meet up with some of them one of these mornings because they're double my age but yet they are moving smoothly in their exercise regimen and I can tell you at the event they were performing and dancing the whole time so wanted to share that the Saturday before on the 31st I attended the USTA they call it tennis day again our city has many parks and we cater to many many different events not just the pool folks and the pickleball folks who were here today but and this is also a big group in the community there were about 75 folks it was sponsored by the Asian American Professional in Tennis Association so they did their kind of a day of celebration there I want to reiterate our budget meeting last week unfortunately we only had a handful of folks but if you can attend that in years to come please come and do so because you understand And where the budget process works through, the money that's in the budget, it's either spoken for or already claimed for what we need to do for the city, which is to kind of continue growing and improving. Also attended the Dr. Lucy Jones St. Gabriel Valley Fault Line Tour. Very, very eye-raising, eyebrow-raising. What I got out of that is that many parts of this city, including our reservoir, sit on top of a fault line. And with that said, I don't know if our reserves, which we started just last year, is enough for emergency. Because any kind of earthquake that's above a 5.0 is a recipe for disaster if it happens in the fault line in the city. If there is a 7.2 earthquake or higher that's 10 miles, 20 miles out, we're actually fine because the ripple effects that gets to us, our building, our coding, the construction, we should be okay. But if there's a 5.0 earthquake that's right at the epicenter where we are, that is a problem. So that is something that I kind of heard and listened to the one and only Dr. Lucy Jones. I wanted to reiterate we had a very special Memorial Day Observation Day with our American Post and we do that every year. And then the Saturday before, it was a privilege to really host and honor Fleet Week 2025. So we hosted the United States Coast Guard Eagle as well as the United States 11, which is a cruiser battleship. And we hosted 25 sailors through three cities, first in Rosemead to honor the landmark of the 9-11 landmark, as well as St. Gabriel to the missions and their memorial. and then they came to the city and it was the right time

where we introduced them

to our greetings as well as spent some time at Cascades to talk to them about where our city

originated from. So look forward to our 4th of July celebration

coming up where it should be the only night

where we have fireworks in all the St. Gable Valley

because they're not supposed to have fireworks

except for publicly displayed ones by the city. So looking forward to that.

With that, we're going to call the meeting adjourned at 10.08.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.