City Council Meeting_ May 6_ 2026

All right, good evening everyone. Let's get started with tonight's council meeting. We're going to start with your Land Acknowledgement Act. We would like to acknowledge that the land we inhabit today was once known as Tavangaar, the home of the Gabrieleño-Tongva people. We show our respect to the Gabrieleño-Tongva people, as well as all indigenous people past, present, and future, and honor their labor as original caretakers of this land. We We commit to uplifting the Gabrielino-Tongva people, invite you to acknowledge the history and join us in caring for this land.

Madam, actually let's do the flag salute. We have our Monterey Park Fire Explorers. Everyone please stand.

Let's do the flag salute. Thank you.

Ready to begin. My allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Great face! Lord Mark ! ! prepare to pulse ! color! flag salute! about facing for march! for march for march for march for march for march More More More More More More More More More More More

More More More More More Thank you. You may be seated.

Madam Clerk may we get a roll call please.

Thank you. Council member Ngo.

Present.

Council member Wong is absent. Council member Sanchez.

Present.

Mayor Protem Lo. Here. And Mayor Yang. Present. Thank you. We have a quorum. Thank you. Any agenda revisions or additions?

No, Madam Mayor.

Thank you. All right, then let's move forward. We have a few presentations this evening, starting with item 6A, presentation for the Monterey Vista Centennial Recognition.

Can we invite the superintendent and the representatives up, please?

So Monterey Vista Elementary School just celebrated their 100-year centennial celebration, and we understand there was a centennial event, so if you guys want to say a few words about it.

Good evening, Mayor Yang and the Monterey Park City Council and our guests here. Thank you so much for recognizing this for our school. It was a real, very special moment. I mean, not a lot of school is able to have a 100-year celebration. So we really, we really, it was a really fun time for us. And as you can see, I just want to say there was a lot of planning involved. In order to make this happen, we're all here to cliche. It takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to plan an event like this. Everyone here from our superintendent, our school board, teachers, really made this happen. And I just want to say also to one of our teachers who's here, Mrs. Fong Nguyen, she really was the mastermind behind this. we planned this over a year ago. Just a lot of events we had, we had students' performances. We also made it a writing activity through the ages, with music through the ages, as well as through the decades. Special moments in every decade starting from 1926 to 2026. And also it was all support we got from the school district because when we had the event on March 20th, we had lights, canopies, chairs, it was a full production and it really could not happen without everyone that's up here. So, and then of course, you know, the city, the group has been so supportive and I can see two familiar faces here. It feels like we're almost at a Garvey School Board meeting with Mayor Pro Temp Henry Lo and Council Member Vendo who is former Garvey School Board members. So it's really nice to be here to see familiar faces and also our city council as well. So thank you so much for this award for our school. We all, everyone here is much more deserving than, you know, than myself or the school, but we truly appreciate all that for you. And also want to thank my wife. She's here taking pictures, but she's also always there to support my personal career. Thank you.

So I will just share some remarks really quickly. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Andy. I'm currently the Garvey School Board President, and I'm here together with my board colleagues, board member Nunez, John Nunez, board member Maureen Chin, and board member Paul Duran. And so I just want to say thank you so much for the partnership that you all give as the city, right? We have two schools within the boundaries of the city of Monterey Park. We are a school district that covers across three cities. But again, I would say a special relationship, at least in my heart, representing the monterey park side of the garvey school district and so incredibly grateful for your partnership and i just want to also shout out again to alumni of the garvey school board uh vin and and henry who actually uh donated and supported i don't know if you asked your council colleagues as well to donate and support but donated supported uh to our mural that we installed at monterey vista and also showed up to our centennial celebration so um you know really grateful for that level of partnership that level of dedication and remembering that schools are an institution are a sacred part of our community and something that we hold and treasure dearly. So thank you all so much.

A hundred years is certainly not a short time. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve a beautiful community like Monterey Vista for the last hundred years. We are very, very proud of our services in developing many generations, probably four or five generations of very strong and impactful leaders, including a couple sitting on the board right now. So with that said, you know, we are, of course, this would not have happened without a very strong dedication from an amazing team of our staff. We have a couple of teachers here from Monterey Vista. Thank you so much. We have no idea how far they work every day, every second in making an impact. We are very blessed also because of your support, your passion, your shared passion, and your strong leadership. It does take a village, a strong community, to nurture our leaders. And thank you so much. So we do look forward. We stay committed to the next 100 years. We believe, or at least I believe, that the next 100-year celebration, our bicentennial, right? Did I say it right? Bicentennial celebration will be more amazing, even though I probably will not be celebrating in physical terms. I probably will be yelling and shouting and cheering in heaven, you know, sharing the joy. I know that Monta Vista has created a strong history and it will continue to thrive as a community. Thank you so much for your support and recognition. Thank you.

I apologize, Anita. Sorry, I just have actually one more thing to add. I completely forgot. But we gave our fLors to superintendent, the board, the staff but thank you so much principal hing chow for your service to the school how long have you been principal again almost a quarter of a century i was about to make a comment about it's longer than i've been alive but um right so thank you so much principal hing chow for your dedicated service to monterey vista we love you the community loves you thank you for giving so much of your heart to the community. So thank you.

Thank you so much. Congratulations.

Yeah, I'm sure my colleagues have some words to say. Sure. Well, I just wanted to say, actually, Hing, when I elected the Board of Education 2003, I think you had just been promoted to be principal, or if not already. And so I think a lot of the school's achievements are attributed not just to your leadership, but that of the PTA. If I recall, Anita, if it's true, that Monterey Vista has always had almost near 100% membership in this PTA by its parents, right? And that's very important, because when we talk about school achievement and having a strong school community, parental involvement is very key, and I think it's always been a source of pride that Monterey Vista has 100% involvement of its parents in the PTA, and I think that speaks volumes to the love that people have for their community school. And so, again, congratulations. And, again, it's no secret that this is also one of the highest-scoring schools in Monterey Park, and it's probably because of the dedication of its parents, students, and the teachers, many of whom have been teaching at that school for, what, 40 years now, if not longer? Yes.

Yeah. And you want to add any words?

I will just add a couple of things. I mean I was in Monterey Vista 40 something years ago, so I know now why it's now a top tier school because You guys grew and you guys are a powerhouse in the San Gabriel Valley not just in the city and kudos to the board and staff for making that happen and I'm gonna correct Councilman Lo here. It's still a hundred percent But you got people like us who are actually on the PTA when we don't have kids there were just involved so they have not only the parents but also the community involved in the PTA being members so kudos to that and I was at the celebration it brought a lot of joy a lot of memories we had alumni classmates alumni people from every each year and we had the teachers retired and people who actually left the district came back and celebrated that tells you a lot a lot because it's people who are vested who are part of the community who's either left the community but they've come back to celebrate so it tells you the legacy that the school and the administration and everyone here kind of just brought everyone back together to celebrate I know I won't be here for the next hundred years but I'm thinking Henry's gonna be here

Again, congratulations on that. Yes, and on behalf of the city,

we have a certificate of recognition to push you guys forward to the next centennial celebration in 100 years. Congratulations.

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

Someone, someone stand there. Yeah, yeah, you know. Maybe two lines. Okay, I say one, two, three, okay.

One, two.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, and we have another exciting presentation. 6B Alhambra Education Foundation. They had the Service to Education event recently, and so we have certificates to recognize all of the award winners. Can everyone who is part of the AEF Service to Education Gala come up? Gayla come up. Okay. Okay and anyone is representing the AEF board. ! Don is representing the AEF board.

I was just told a few minutes ago my apologies! Good evening mayor! ! City council members ! The Gala and the Educational Foundation had our service award dinner and gala and because a few of you were not able to join us we are bringing the gala to you. We are bringing the gala to you. We had seven honorees. Craig Realty Group is our business honoree for their partnership with AEF and continued support. Our community organization honoree is a Boys and Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside for their dedication to empowering the youth in our community to reach their full potential. Teresa Ibarra-Ala, Vice President and Alhambra Council PTA VP, is our community volunteer honoree for her decades of service and passion and community activism. Our education honoree is Jose Sanchez. Recording in progress. Alhambra High School social science teacher and

and championship academic decathlon coach for his tireless dedication to his students, our families, and our community. Our government honorees are the City of Monterey Park Recreation and Community Services for their continued partnership with AEF and their dedication to enriching the lives of all residents citywide. And I know this firsthand, because I observed Director Robert Aguirre give a civic engagement lesson to Debbie Yamamoto's second grade classroom at Monterey Highlands Elementary School. Robert is a natural teacher, so engaging, and now there are a group of second graders ready to become civic leaders. So thank you so much, Robert, for that.

And last but not least, AEF's Lifetime Achievement Honoree was presented to the Honorable Bob Gin, who is here also with his wife, Diane, who has a long list of accomplishments. I'm not even going to start to try to list them all, but one of the most notable is his 24 years serving as an elected member of the Board of Education for the Alhambra Unified School District. So congratulations, Bob. Thank you so much. a sincere and heartfelt thank you and congratulations to all of our honorees. And then we also, I think all of you, did you all receive, yes, one of our booklets that we, and Jose, you should have one because, yeah, Natalie, no, I know Natalie was there. Okay. She was there to, yeah, accept the award on your behalf. And we were so happy to see the video of you and your students. That was a highlight of the evening. Next to Bob's family and all of his little heads bobbing up and down. You should have seen that. That was wonderful. So thank you so much to all of our honorees. Thank you, Dawn.

And, yes, we have certificates of recognition for all seven honorees. So Jose is here. Bob is here. And all the rest of the honorees, including Robert, can come up to get your certificates. Congratulations.

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

One, two, three, one, three, two, one. Okay, one more. One, two, three. Perfect. I did. Thank you. Thank you. .

All right moving forward to item 6C we have an update from our SGV forward All right, moving forward to item 6C, we have an update from our SGV forward ad hoc subcommittee

sure I'll be pretty brief um for both myself and councilman Jose Sanchez we represent Monterey Park on this ad hoc advisory committee that is comprised of two council members from Monterey Park two council members from the city of Rosemead two council members from the city of El Monte and two council members from the city of El Monte, South El Monte, sorry about, South El Monte. And the purpose is to give feedback and input to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and to Metro because there is money that has been set aside to essentially improve mobility in the San Gabriel Valley, specifically to transit-dependent communities. Because for those of you who know or may not know, Garvey Avenue is actually one of the most busiest and try the dependent corridors in the LA region. Bus 70 runs every seven minutes in the morning, and so it's very heavily used. And so the focus, because there's money, is to see how we can make it more efficient, also encourage more commuters. This first meeting was just to, for, I think, COG and for Metro just hear input from the representative cities about what they envision, because I think part of the opportunity and challenge is that this involves four cities. And so we all have to agree on a configuration, a design, you know, for a bus system that gets more people out of their cars as well as gets people faster from point A to point B. And so it's a tall order. And I look forward with my colleague to the next few months to work with our neighboring cities, Rosemead, El Monte, and South El Monte to, again, come up with a policy solution that hopefully will be a benefit to the entire region. And Jose, you want to add anything else? Yes, I wanted to share.

Thank you to Mayor Pro Tem Lo for sharing that. I also wanted to add that along with it with line 70 in particular this corridor being one of the most transited regions or lines in the San Gabriel Valley what is presented before us is an opportunity to be able to connect a lot of the San Gabriel Valley including the city of Monterey Park, Rosemead, El Monte and South El Monte and the line 70 if you've ever taken it I've had an opportunity to take it the last two weeks a couple of times. It is very heavily transited. Every time that I boarded the bus, there was a lot of people that were boarding that bus. MetroShare, there's about 15,000 people that ride Line 70 daily. So it is a very heavily transited line. And so what we've been tasked is find ways to be able to connect this corridor and make it a lot more efficient. We also want to keep in mind that a lot of the people who ride Line 70, particularly in this region, are heavily dependent on public transit for many different reasons. As you know, owning a car is an expensive venture, which a lot of people cannot afford. I also want to mention that younger riders or younger people have higher dependency on public transport, and they use this line as well. So I'm looking forward to working on this committee to try to find ways that we can help support this transit line and be able to connect the San Gabriel Valley, but also find ways that we can make transport in this area a lot more efficient for daily commuters who heavily rely on this particular line to get from point A to point B. and when I was on when I rode the last two weeks line 70 I saw a lot of young people who are using this to get back and forth because remember line 70 goes from downtown at Lake all the way to the El Monte station and they use this to I see a lot of elderly people who use this on a day-to-day basis to get from different parts of the San Gabriel Valley and to connect to other parts as well so and I also want to remind that we have a community college in our city that heavily rely on a lot of these lines. So when I was waiting for line 70, I mean, there was probably a bus coming every five to seven minutes. So it's a very, and like I said, every bus seemed pretty full. So anyhow, I wanted to share also that our next committee meeting is open to the public. You're more than welcome to join. It will be on June 8th from 68 p.m. at the Garvey Community Center in the city of Rosemead. I'll repeat it one more time. It's on June 8th from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Garvey Community Center. We welcome feedback. You're more than welcome to join us and listen and also chime in as well. But hopefully we can come up with a way to be able to improve this transit. But also I want to share that, remember, we do have FIFA World Cup coming this summer and the Olympics coming in 2028. so this corridor is also going to help us connect a lot of people who might potentially within our region be trying to connect to a lot of the sporting events throughout LA thank you.

Thank you mayor pro tem Lo and councilmember Sanchez for representing us at this subcommittee and for the updates we look forward to future updates after the June 8th meeting moving on this is a topic everyone's been looking forward to hearing updates to our Atlantic Square

honorable mayor and City Council I'm Tim Hou director of community development I could provide a brief introduction before we get to our speaker in December 2024 the city of monterey park entered into a development agreement with the shopping center owner and operator trc of the atlantic square shopping center that development agreement incorporated a number of obligations including improvements and modernization efforts the development agreement stipulates a compliance review on an annual basis and as part of that review staff reached out to TRC for a response so they provided a response we subsequently folLod up with the council subcommittee for a site visit to review the various improvements that have occurred over the past year or so and followed up today with this update here with us tonight is a representative from TRC Byron day our Cal with the presentation providing that update thank you appreciate it very much Mary Yang

mayor pro tem loan council members it's good to be able to visit with you tonight and share with you some important updates on the progress we've made it Atlantic Square under the auspices of the business recovery development zone which governs the property, the development agreement that we entered into with you that implements many of the provisions in that development zone and how that's helped the center immeasurably over the past 18 months. If I can have the next slide, please. So, really, the development agreement that we're kind of looking at tonight and evaluating how we perform thus far is kind of an agreement to work together on really three critical issues as we saw it for the center. One was to establish the business recovery development zone, which is in many ways pretty It's pretty unique in Southern California. We think that it was pretty smart to put something like this in place, particularly coming out of the COVID pandemic. And it gives property owners the ability to kind of write a prescriptive zone for their property in exchange for entering into a development agreement with the city. So certain public benefits are realized in providing that zoning. And so the business recovery development zone, putting in place prescriptive zoning for the center, and then entering into the development agreement to achieve certain improvements. And those were kind of the objectives of the overall development agreement. Next slide, please.

So the DA really created a roadmap for progress. It set pathways for shopping center, a pathway for shopping center modernization, established process and milestones for prospective of redevelopment and I'll touch on that a little bit later in my presentation. Hopefully I won't take too long because I know there's a lot of people who want to talk about other important issues. And adopt some zoning rules tailored to market demand.

Just to touch on that a little bit, this business recovery development zone and the development agreement what it allowed us to do Monterey Park. The Atlantic Square, prior to this agreement in the Bird Zone overlay, was governed by a CUP that stretched back to 1989. It was pretty restrictive. It limited us to five restaurants in the center, limited personal service uses. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing back in 1989 when the center was redeveloped, but over the subsequent 20 some odd years, it became obsolete given everything that's going on in the retail sector. So the development agreement and the bird zone allowed us to kind of write our own code, so to speak, relative to land uses. And that has been really, really beneficial because it's prospective tenants now have certainty about what's permitted on the property. They feel good about knowing the process they may or may not have to go to to get through to get their permits, whether it's a use permit or a minor use permit or administrative use permit it's provided the clarity that's very important for tenants and and for us as well in cultivating a tenant mix so those were kind of our roadmap for progress and I'll have you go to the next slide please really the bulk of the work over the last 18 months is focused on building C which is the building just south of the northernmost building that's across from Boston Market. We saw that it had some prolonged vacancies there. The infrastructure was very old, and we realized that if we wanted to curate a heavier food and beverage tenancy in that particular building, we were going to need to upgrade the infrastructure. So in one particular section of the development agreement, we were tasked with submitting a certain number of building permits for all the work that we were going to do. The city did a great job in reviewing plans and getting permits turned around quickly. And we were able to commence our work within the 180 days we were required to do after the approval of the development agreement. And then we completed our work at the end of 2025. So it took us less than a year. And the city signed off on permits and closed the file in 2020, well, then when they were supposed to, we were good. So Building C is done. I will go through some real quick, some improvements, some pictures so you can see actually what we've done. We have our first tenant in that end of the building that was renovated, the Latina Medical Center. And I will touch on some leasing issue aspects. Good news on the leasing front when I get towards the last half of the presentation. But in terms of the shopping center modernization improvements, our requirements under the development agreement for Building C have been fulfilled. So I have the next slide, please. Thank you. So likely the very largest capital expenditure in Building C, which, by the way, was several million dollars of CapEx, Just for this one building was the upgrading of switch gear and the equipment you see there is Basically to modernize the building from an electrical service standpoint

It is it is quite an effort to get that kind of electrical equipment When everybody else wants it and the lead times are long, but we were able to get it done Next slide, please Building C needed a new roof. We put a new PVC roof on it and we added new HVAC equipment to the top. Several of the HVAC units on top are pretty old. We have new tenants coming in. We needed upgraded tonnage on HVAC equipment. Next slide, please. Because we want to curate more food and beverage tenants in this particular building, we added two 1,500-gallon grease interceptors right out in front of the building in the parking lot. There's subterranean, those are installed and ready to go. Next slide. And then we added and rerouted fire and domestic water lines because we had to, because of path of travel work we did next to the switch gear, which you'll see in a moment, we had and the grease interceptors, we had to move some water and domestic water lines around. And so those are some of the images you see there. Next slide. One of the requirements is that we add some EV charging stations. We've added four stations in the parking lot. Those are all operational now. And the path of travel that I just mentioned on the north end of building C next to that switch gear, you can see in the photo on the right.

So one of the other elements, it really wasn't identified, I don't believe, in the development agreement but what we wanted to do is conduct a center-wide paint program. So that was about a $300,000 project and we have just about wrapped up the paint program say for the IHOP building which is coming but you'll see in the next several slides some before and after photos. This being the south end of the building where Silver Lake Raman is. Next slide. This is where the new Einstein Bagels is located. I hope you like the paint scheme. We like it a lot better than kind of those Moorish colors that were in place for a long time. Next slide. This is the El Pollo, I think this should be the El Pollo local building. down at the south end of the center.

And then one more slide, I think, on the paint program, again, at the south end of the center.

Next slide, please. So shopping center modernization phase two. So as we all realize, one of the other major components of the development agreement at the time we entered into it was the city and TRC and a prospective drive-through tenant working to figure out a way to put a drive-through restaurant at the north end of the center, take down Building D. The city worked very hard to work with us on developing a signalized intersection design that was necessary that the tenant needed to ensure that traffic control in and out of the center was effective enough that would support a drive-through restaurant that was not located on the street. It was interior to the center. And so we didn't want vehicles passing by and missing it. So ultimately, despite our best efforts, we weren't able to come to terms with that drive-through tenant. We weren't really able to button up final designs, elements on the intersection. So we decided that we would not proceed with that. and are pivoting now to understanding that probably a drive-through is not going to work in that location that we need to upgrade building D which is the building that's there now same way we did with building C and begin making efforts to retenant that so a lot of the work that you see in building C that has been completed will be shifting over to building D we're going to be focusing there now be another multi-million dollar capital investment we will begin in submitting applications for building permits next month because we want to get it going. We do have tenant interest from a national retail chain on that in cap on the southern part of the building. So we need to move and we plan on doing that. And so some of the other things that I think were important that we appreciated the subcommittee, Councilmember Sanchez and Councilmember Wong the city manager mr. How came out we toured the site and were able to kind of give them a firsthand look at the infrastructure improvements we've made we received a lot of good input from them relative to potential ways to activate open space at the center we're surveying those areas now we want to kind of work with our tenants to see where we can and possibly use open space in seating areas. We'll be staying in touch with Mr. Howe on how we're proceeding with that. And I appreciated the input we received.

Also, we're trying to engage the community in the economic development sense outside of the center, outside of just the operation of the center. I had a good meeting with Mr. Howe and Joseph Torres regarding ways we might be able to provide resources, expertise to assist the Susan Rubio Entrepreneur Center. It's just opened at ELAC. So we had a really good meeting. We're going to have a meeting with Dr. Trujillo in a couple of weeks to kind of get some more detail about what they're looking for. we think we have the ability to offer some good information to prospective tenants or businesses in the community that are taking advantage of the center to help them understand how leases work how to select a space what CAMs are so that they all have an understanding before they go in and make business decisions we think that's an important area where we think we can help so we'll have a discussion with Dr. Trujillo in a couple of weeks. But as you'll see in this Building D, those are all the infrastructure improvements we plan to make in Building D. And again, we have some pretty hot interest in that large end cap. If you look at the picture on the right where the three arches are, we have a national retail chain that would really like that space. We've got to do some building work first. So let me move to the last slide. So we're welcoming to Atlantic Square and kind of a new welcome on one of them. But new tenants and those are coming. Einstein Bagels has been there since last year. They're doing, they're killing it. They're doing really well. The Latino Medical Center I mentioned in Building C is open for business. Thai house has expanded to the space immediately north of it. They're doing very well. The green olive is going to be at the southern end, very southern end, southwest corner of the center, where the barbecue restaurant was. And they're beginning, I believe they're beginning their TI work where they put in for permits. 10,000 coffee just opened. To Council Member Sanchez's credit, he brought in a cup. Thanks for the props

And then the melt which is a critical tenant we think is going into the Boston market space They're doing their intended improvements now. They should be open Early July is what it looks like the other good news and it goes back to Activating the open space that you mentioned councilmember Sanchez during a tour. They're going to use that patio out next to where the where the covers are so I think that'll be really important because that will activate that space there'll be activity out there you'll see it from the street so I think that'll be a good driver into the center the good really good news is and I some of you know more detail than I can share here we have we're in we're in late-stage negotiations with a very large national fitness chain for the Rite Aid space That is pretty close. Hopefully by mid to end summer we'll see. But that personal service, that fitness use will drive so much activity in the center of the property and really give us an ability to market the rest of the center to other personal service uses and food and beverage uses. and it'll create what we're striving to create here is kind of a longer duration stay at the center. So we're very excited about that. And I will just say just generally, numerically speaking, we're in late-stage negotiations on five leases for vacant spaces, and we're in letter of intent stages with six other prospective tenants. So we feel like we've made good progress. I hope you agree. We really appreciate all the staff's engagement with us. It's been very productive.

Council members, thank you for your visit to the site. City manager, thank you. Mr. Howe, thank you. Mr. Torres, thank you very much. Continue to feed us tenant ideas. I know Mr. Torres has, if they pop up, we'll evaluate them, but we'll, you know, leads are leads. So we appreciate your engagement. Well, Ralph might have a problem with that. But anyway, thanks very much. I'm open for questions if you have a few.

I'll do the best I can to answer.

Yeah. Ryan, thanks for giving us that great update. It's good to know that you guys, not we, but you guys have now completed all the TI and CapEx, and the center looks fully ready and activated. And I think when you mentioned the five leases and the six OIs, that's 11 new potential new spaces. Now let's just make the assumption that those things sign. Where would occupancy be in that center? Oh, boy.

You mean percentage-wise? Percentage-wise. Whatever you want to decide. I ran a percent with probably square feet wise is easier for everyone to understand

yeah well it'd probably be easier for percentage I mean we'll be 85% least We will be 85% least, 90% least.

! So that means you're about 75% right now and that takes you to 85%.

Yeah, but I'm not the SVP of leasing, so I'm going back to the office on Monday.

All right, let's give them some hand here and I think the council members will continue to feed ! the right We're better off than we were 18 months ago, let's put it that way. You're a lot better off with five in negotiation and seeing the shop being activated and being reopened. So congratulations ahead of time for that. But we'd like to see this get back to 90% but we'd like to see this get back to 90 percentage I think that would be you and

You and I, we're on the same page.

Alright thank you

thank you Brian just echoing what councilmember go already said appreciate all the effort that's gone into making sure we're filling some of these vacancies and it's been a long time coming especially that neighborhood but throughout the city and even our neighbors have long been wondering what's gonna happen here and how are we going to revitalize the shopping center here. So really appreciate all the effort that's gone into this. I know it's a tough retail environment still, and appreciate that we are still a destination for some of these shops and look forward to hearing, once these leases are signed, the announcement of some of the, hopefully, the new tenants too.

Indeed, Councilmember Wong. In fact, Joseph has been really good, and we've got some new tenants open. So I know you guys came out for the Jumpin' Lobster Open. and we should do something for 10,000 Coffee. And so we'll be happy to participate in that gladly.

Absolutely. And I'm sure the community would be very happy to shop at some of these new places too. Thanks.

Thank you, Byron, for being here tonight. I'm thinking back to when I first became a council member and I was knocking on doors, and I think one of the very common comments I would get from people was, what am I going to do about the shopping center? And I think a lot of it had to do with a lot of the vacancies. It was hard recovering after the pandemic. You weren't the only shopping center. But I do want to commend you and TRC for the work you guys have done in the last year and a half, two years, to really update the shopping center, to bring in a lot more tenants. We are seeing the reduction of the vacancies. So I'm really, really excited to see that. I'm excited to hear that there's more tenants coming. So, I mean, every time I – not that I go to Einstein Bagel every day, but Einstein Bagel is really popping every day. It looks like it's a grand opening every day. So that was a really good choice. Same thing with Thai House. I always have to get takeout because they never have open seating. But I'm glad to see that there's a lot of – I mean, within the last years, Einstein Bagels. you know by the coffee shop that just opened this this week and then the other ones that are coming but also you know the silver lake ramen still very popular i see so great to see a lot of activity happening i'd like to see a lot more and i know that we're still conversing about how to make the shopping center not just a place where people go and buy something and then leave but also be able to as a place to congregate i hear that a lot from elac students who want a place where they sit down, eat, do homework, work, and do all those things. I saw that at this coffee shop that I just went to, the 10,000 coffee shop, but I see them throughout there, but a lot of the open spaces that we have, the more we can make it into little community spots where people can gather and eat their foods so they don't feel like they have to rush out would be amazing, especially for a lot of our ELAC students. So looking forward to continue to work with you. I encourage you to come back and give us more updates as we get more tenants coming in in that area Also appreciate the beautification aspect in terms of the painting that went into the shopping center My wife was talking about me about the shopping center this past weekend and telling me about how updated It looks now compared to where we were at a couple of years ago You know she remembers going to the Miller's office I think I shared with you and hanging out there after school all the time so very appreciative of that and let's continue to the dialogue and continue to work together You know making your shopping center work great work It's also great for Monterey Park So thank you

And councilmember, I and I know you know our focus now is totally on building D We've got to get that fixed up and filled up and that's that's our total focus right now. So

I do have one recommendation

Yes, sir

My daughters really want ice cream in that shopping.

Yes, you mentioned that.

And I'm not sure. And I told them I would mention it to you again tonight. Especially after Baskin Robbins left, so, you know, we need to find a new tenant for that section. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I'm sure everyone here has a recommendation, and I'm sure there's tons of people out here. Make sure you touch base with Byron before he leaves. Thank you, Byron.

Thank you.

Are you sure it's just your daughters?

Yeah.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Um, you know, I just want to thank you very much for working with the city and trying to find common ground on ways in which we could update the shopping center. You know, I know for many of us, especially, um, uh, you know, pre pandemic, it was a very thriving and it still is, but certainly it has challenges because of pandemic. I know for myself, the section you're referring to was where my dry cleaner was. There was a Korean barbecue place. and you know it was a space that had some important retailers and I know that the pandemic has been challenging for many communities it's accelerated many trends and so all my colleagues you know we look forward to just working with you to see how we can revitalize and move the shopping center forward yeah thank

Thank you for the presentation. We've all been looking forward to this, because so many community members have been saying, why is Atlantic Square vacant? What's going to happen there? So this really gives us perspective on all the updates you guys have been working on, and we're really excited about the new tenants that are coming in. And I know we all want a Trader Joe's, but I wanted a Japanese supermarket in there, like Tokyo Centro, something like that. But I know Ralph's has the non-compete, so just like how the fitness center, that if it goes in, they'll probably want something in the contract that says no other fitness center in the whole plaza. So that's understandable. But what if – I probably have some, like, potential tenants that I could think of and send over to you, and I'm sure some of our community members have ideas too. Is there a good contact that folks can reach out to?

So probably just for ease of – you can contact me anytime. Just for ease of communication that so your economic development department knows, is either funnel them through Joseph and it'll come to me. I don't want to tell you how to run your city, but that seems like it'd be a natural way to do it. But you have my email, Mayor. You can always send them to me if you want.

Yeah, I have your contact. But if community members have any ideas for calls, they can contact Joseph Torres.

Well, the city manager has a good idea.

Madam Mayor, yes, if the community members have suggestions or contacts. We have received messages, emails in our community development department for leads. So definitely you can send them our way. There is, we can't guarantee promises, but we'll definitely take a look and see what we can do to make contacts.

Very good.

Great. Thank you very much for the updates. I appreciate you being here.

Have a good evening.

All right.

Well that's an abundance of presentations tonight. So moving on we have a few public comments and we will open it up for public comments starting with Margaret Leung.

They are all the right size. And also I want to put my vote in. I vote TJ Maxx.

Yes, love your wife. So tonight I'm just, I think it's a great night. It seems like we have a lot of positive momentum going forward. So I would like to continue that. I would like to say good evening, Mayor Elizabeth, a member of the council. Also, as president of San Gabriel Valley Power Up Beacon, it gives me great pleasure to present certificate of appreciation to each of you. Ines Alvarez, Robert Aguirre, and the city staff member for your valuable contribution in making the Save Barnes Park Pool 2026 Swim Award and Appreciating Event on March 28, 2026, a great success. And one of my old directors used to tell me, making sure that you celebrate every milestone you have. And this is a great milestone. And before we turn the page to the next step, I just want to make sure that we capture that tonight, because things are going really fast. So with that said,

the SGV pub would like to thank you for your park in making a positive difference in uniting and inspiring the community to be champions in the mission to build Barnes Park Aquatic Center. Your all-in positive attitude and collaboration alongside with the SGV without a doubt contributed to the success of this grand event. Appreciation for your support comes from the SGV pub's hard as well as from higher places. I noticed that Senator Sasha Perez, she did graciously wanted to recognize the City Council, Ines and Barbara Aguirre for their support of the event. However, I believe that maybe of the amount of event you guys have today, the pub received word from Senator Perez's office that the City Manager's Office stated it was not necessary and would not need to send the certificates. But regardless, the City Manager's Office not accepting the certificate, Senator Perez recognizes their support.

So I have tonight a certificate of appreciation to each of you. The award event recognized shined a beacon of light on the participating swimmer who poured their hearts into and gave it all swimming laps at the Save Barnes Park pool swim event. Their commitment to the cause, community spirit, and enthusiasm are commendable. Through continued collaboration and steadfast commitment, unravening support, and shared vision we can together move closer to build the Barnes Park Aquatic Center and making the Monterey Park's vision a reality. With that said, I want to show you the certificate that we have put together for all of you tonight tonight, and also I wanted to congratulate the City staff and everybody that has contributed to this process. And it's an enormous congratulation to the City of Monterey Park for being awarded the $6 million in grant funding through the California State Park Land Water Conservation Fund. Indeed, this is a spectacular milestone reached through the leadership of the City Council as well as Ines, our City Manager, Robert Aguirre, who is the Director of Parks and Rec, and the staff's hard work, resolve, and commitment. Obtaining a $6 million grant in a highly competitive pool of applicants throughout the state of California is a tremendous achievement of high praise and applause. These grant monies will support the revitalization of the Barnes Park Aquatic Center. Great things happen when you dream hard, work hard, and work together. Certainly, Barnes Park Aquatic Center will soon be a dream come true for Monterey Park and surrounding community. The SGV pub would like to present a certificate of congratulations to the mayor and city council member and city manager, Ines, and Robert Aguirre. I just want to show you what it looks like. So we're going to, because I only have one pair of hands, but I did give it to everybody else to come up and give it to you folks so to make this to facilitate this is that okay okay so we'll put that apart so

I just want to say there are people that's behind the scene that we need to also recognize we the first one I have here is for call he's quiet but he's really behind the scene. So I would like to give the first one to Carl Berger.

Is he going to take his time walking here? Amy?

Thank you.

to do that? Oh, shucks. All right. Go right ahead. So you guys know who you are talking to.

Do you like your color? I was worried about the color. What color is your office?

Oh, my God.

Who do you have? Oh, hey, that's yours. For me? Okay. Thank you.

All people in the back, all people in the front.

Come on, come on. All the people with the blue t-shirt, come on. You guys came up for a reason.

You got a phone?

Hi, Phil. No, no, no, no.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. You're welcome. How are you? Thank you so much. Thank you. How are you going?

No, no, I picked that color for everybody for you.

I just want to thank all the water aerobic folks that came out tonight. I know it's late, but really appreciate it.

All right, thank you SGV Pub, that was so kind. And we hope to continue working and getting more grants for the Barnes Park Aquatic Center. Next up, Dave Jones.

Good evening, Honorable Mayor Yang, Mayor Pro Tem Lo, distinguished council members, and dedicated staff. My name is Dave Jones, and I live in District 5. Before I continue with my planned remarks, I would just like to acknowledge the Garvey School District and Monterey Vista School and congratulate them on their 100th anniversary. My children did not go to Monterey Vista, but they did go to Hillcrest. And that school, the teachers and staff there did a great job in preparing them for their academic career and for life beyond school. They've all been very successful and I won't go into it further than that, but congratulations to them. A great honor to them and to the city of Monterey Park. This past weekend, mail-in ballots for the June election were delivered and this Monday, May the 4th was Star Wars Day. So in honor of these events I'd like to do something a little different and share these lines from Nimick's manifesto from the Star Wars TV series Andor. There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks. It leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this. The day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance, will have flooded the banks of the empire's authority, and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. Well, the good citizens of Monterey Park did not just try. We succeeded. We took on a billion-dollar company and we won. But the fight isn't over yet. Star Wars fans know the First Order emerged from the residue of the Galactic Empire. It's critical that we ensure the same fate does not befall our fair city. We must, all of us, vote yes on NDC to ban data centers in Monterey Park. So tonight, let's pass the ordinance on its second reading. Let's pass Measure NDC in June, and then let's rebuild Barnes Park Pool. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Just water, no ice.

Thank you, Dave. Next speaker is Barbara Chavira.

Good evening, Mayor Yang and council members and staff. My name is Barbara Chavira, and I live across the street from Macy Intermediate and right in front of the tennis courts at Elder. As a third-generation Monterey Park resident, mother of three fourth-generation residents, and the grandmother of a future fifth-generation resident, I take pride in stating that I have lived in Monterey Park for almost 50 years, and I, too, am renovating my house, just as we are here in Lenox Square. I take pride in the past. My great-aunt and her husband, Ray and Bill Eichel, bought one of the first homes on De La Fuente and raised their son and nephew there. And it was where my dad, a street kid, who was abandoned as a child from Oakland, enjoyed the freedom of riding horses on the Monterey Park Trail hills. My parents celebrated their 50th anniversary at St. Thomas Aquinas, and their reception was held at El Encanto, to a place that El Encanto my dad used to see on his travels up the hills. All three of my children attended Bella Vista, Macy, and Schurr, and two went to Los Angeles, as did my husband and I, where we met and where he later taught in the architecture department. We decided to move to Monterey Park, partly because of the location next to Elder Park, as my memories of growing up right by Salt Lake Park and Huntington Park brought back fond memories. Richard and I have been strong advocates for the parks, not only for Elder, where my sons learned to swim, and my late mother took her daily walks. But also Barnes Park, where my sons took their advanced swim classes, and we went to all the different festivities. And also La Loma, where our children played on the Monterey Park Sports Club, and where my husband donated time to design the new bathrooms and snack shack and meeting room. And with other Monterey Park residents, they tore down the old facilities. It was terrible. It is now 25 years later, and it is need of repairs, and my husband was hoping that at some point some group would like to put a mural of different sports that was going on there, so kind of a dream. And he was an artist too, not just an architect. As a former board member of the Montebello Unified School District, I was appointed liaison to work with the Monterey Parks and Recreation to maintain Elder Park through our joint use agreements. And later, when I lost my election, I was asked to work as a teacher at Macy, and I've been working there full-time until 2014 and now as a substitute teacher since then. Now I continue to be an advocate for elder, and I'm currently swimming again with the water aerobics group on Tuesday and Thursday. Walking out of the locker room yesterday seeing the young manta ray swimmers and numerous volleyball groups playing brought joy to our our hearts to see them. I have faith in the future. Thus, I wanna thank you for one, trying to limit ICE's efforts in Monterey Park, supporting the citizens of Monterey Park to express their votes this June regarding the data center, continuing a city council tradition that included votes to determine whether or not to have huge billboard signs on the surrounding freeways which was voted down, and working to get the Barnes Park pool renovated. I fully support this effort, but also want to remind you that as we are painfully aware, when one pool breaks down, it impacts all the programs there, but also at another like Elder, which has been severely affected. I must urge you to not only continue your efforts on Barnes Park pool, but also to not neglect or consider closing down Elder. as the children and citizens in my end of the city will attest that it is greatly valued there as well. Our eighth graders go there every year for their eighth grade celebration where they celebrate leaving Macy Intermediate. So once again, thank you. Appreciate your support.

Thank you, Barbara. That concludes our public comments for this evening. so we'll move on to staff communications starting with our city manager's office

thank you good evening madam mayor and some members of the city council diana garcia and the assistant city manager this evening we wanted to share a little bit of information with you about some additional services that we'll be offering in 2025 council appropriated funds to help communities in need, in particular immigrant communities in Monterey Park. And so our staff has put together a program along with Chinatown Service Center that is three-layered. And so we'll talk a little bit about that this evening. The first part of this program is a community resource and referral center. This is really a hotline that people can call to be connected with the resource and referral center. So we've got the phone number up there, 626-293-8733 folks can also scan the QR code and be taken to a referral page where they can type in their information and have staff reach out to them. The Chinatown Service Center provides many, many different services, truly wraparound services for the community, case management, legal aid referrals, health care referrals, family support, and know your rights information. I always say that there's probably not a service that Chinatown, there's probably not any service that they don't provide. So even if it isn't listed, it is probably something that a caseworker can connect folks with. So we want to publicize that phone number as well as the QR code. If there is anyone in need, anyone in the community, anyone outside of Monterey Park, they can call that number or scan the QR code and someone will be in contact with them to direct them to services.

The second part of this program is going to be a series of community workshops. Right now we have the May workshops planned. These are both going to be at the Langley Center. The first one is mental health awareness, May 8th. We will have a session in-

from Chinatown Service Center and their partners. Other topics will include employment law, workers' rights, housing rights, avoiding fraud and scams, and accessing benefits. The third part of this assistance program is education and events. So we will have folks from the Chinatown Service Center tabling at events throughout our city to help spread the word about the resources that are available. So just this weekend, they will be at the Play Days Festival right behind us in Barnes Park here. In August, they'll be attending National Night Out, and in October, they will be attending the health fair at Langley Center. With me this evening is Jessica Tran. She's been my partner in creating all of these programs. She's the manager of the Social Services Department here at the Monterey Park office on Chandler of Chinatown Service Center. If I could have her come down to the podium and just introduce herself, and we are available for any questions you may have.

Hi, good evening, Mayor Yang and Council Member. Thank you for this opportunity for us to collaborate with the city. On behalf of Chinatown Service Center, it is truly an honor for us to serve the community and also to be a part of this meaningful partnership. We are especially grateful for council member for your support and also your commitment to make a difference, especially for the immigrants community who often face barrier in accessing resources and support. At Chinatown Service Center, we are dedicated in providing the best service we can with compassion, respect, and cultural understanding. Through this collaboration, we would like to provide resources, referral, and offer workshops that are informative and empowering to the community. And once again, we would like to say thank you so much for this opportunity and for your continued support. And if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you, Mayor. And thank you to our Assistant City Manager, staff, and Chinatown Service Center. I really appreciate that we've been standing up these programs and services. I know it's been at least months, if not over a year, for some of these at least. And I know we're working on expanding some of these services particularly. and I know these include some service around immigration and those that are seeking services around the immigration and legal help particularly with the uptick in immigration enforcement actions and some of the rhetoric coming out of Washington DC we've been working diligently with community partners like CSC and others to help connect people that are in need and looking for additional services to these services so appreciate that we're helping to stand these up and we just note to staff as we start to get into budget season if there are to give some thought to what we might need to set aside I know we the council had it said aside $50,000 to support some of these services for this budget year if that's an appropriate amount to re-up for next year if we want to look at potentially augmenting that knowing that there's probably more need in the community and there will continue to be more need in the community if we want to adjust that based off of some of these services now being ramped up

yeah I think we can include that maybe in our major presentation these programs will take us at least through that time

thank you

I also wanted to thank the Chinatown Service Center and thank you for being here tonight I think Monterey Park has no better partner than the Chinatown service center i really appreciate um that that the channel service center always steps up and provides a lot of the services that we need um including in this um in this regard i know that after um ice started to become a or ice race started to become a real deal here in los angeles maybe not so much here in monterey park um we um count the council decided to allot fifty thousand dollars for the purpose of supporting the immigrant community in the city of monterey park And I hope that a lot of the funds that are being used in terms of services will be useful for a lot of our immigrant community. But I think to Councilmember Wong's point, as we do start looking at the budget year and seeing if $50,000 is enough, if not more, is needed to be able to support a lot of these services. But also we appreciate the Chancellor's Service Center, but also looking at maybe perhaps other organizations that might be able to provide other services. I know that, for example, Mark Temple High School has a Dream Center that supports a lot of their immigrant students and families. So we made it able to connect with them as well and other groups as well. But thank you so much for being here tonight and looking forward to the next step here. And also as we start getting more workshops, if we can advertise them on social media. Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you for the presentation. Just a question. I know May 8th and May 21st there's the seminars in Chinese and Spanish. Are they going to be in English? Oh, okay, the ones, okay, the English is mixing with the Chinese and Spanish. Got it. Great. Well, looking forward to all these community events. Thank you so much for the presentation.

Thank you very much.

All right, and next is city clerk's office.

Good evening, Mayor. Mayor, Pro Tem, Council, Committee members and staff. My name is Helena Cho. I am the Assistant Deputy City Clerk. I am here to provide information on the City's upcoming special election on June 2nd. Next slide, please. These are some key dates for the community members to be aware of. As of now, everyone should have received their vote by mail ballots. They started going out from the county on April 30th all the way up to May 4th, so everyone should have already received their ballots. Voter Information Guide, your Sample Ballot book will be arriving May 12th. Everyone should have received their state book by now, but your local election book will be coming by May 12th. The last day to register for this election will be May 18th. There are chances to register at vote centers should the need come. Vote centers are going to start opening starting May 23rd. All vote centers will be open by May 30th. In Monterey Park, we have four vote centers. We do have a 10-day center that will open on the 23rd. That will be at Union Church. Their address is 201 South New Avenue. Vote centers open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. On election day, vote centers will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Just another reminder, voting is on June 2nd. Next slide please. These are official ballot boxes that are located in our city. We have one outside City Hall and one at Sierra Vista Park. These boxes are already open should everyone want to go ahead and vote and drop off their ballots here. Everyone has the opportunity to vote by mail, so if you receive your ballot you can go ahead and use the envelope that's provided in your vote by mail and no postage is necessary. Next slide, please. Should you need more information about the upcoming election, here's our page on our city's website. The public can also go to lavote.gov for more information as well. The city clerk's office will be at play days tomorrow, so if you want to stop by and say hi or ask questions, please do so. We'll be at play days from 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock tomorrow evening. I'm available for any questions. Should you have any?

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next up is Public Works.

Hi, good evening, Mayor, Council, committees, and staff. My name is Beverly Garcia. I'm a Management Analyst for the Public Works Department. I'm here to invite everyone to our upcoming Open House event. The event is in recognition of National Public Works Week, celebrated annually during the third week of May, which honors Public Works staff. This year's theme is Rooted in Service, Powered by Community, and acknowledges that the roots of service run deep in Public Works. The event will be held at the City Yard, located at 751 South Alhambra Avenue, on Monday, May 18th, between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Vendors with informational booths and exhibits will be there to educate visitors on what Public Works does and to highlight the impact Public Works has on our community. This year's event includes a truck expo and a children's activity area. We hope that these additions will encourage Monterey Park families to attend. We will have food courtesy of Ware Disposal and giveaways thanks to sponsorships from vendors like WCA, GRB Con, and many more. Food and giveaways will be available while supplies last. There will be parking at the event, but we do encourage visitors to use MPK Transit Express, which will run through 7.30 p.m. Next slide, please.

I'd also like to let the community know about our compost giveaway. We will be having a free compost giveaway event on Saturday, May 9th from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Garvey Ranch Parks, West Entrance, near 751 Southbound Hamburg Avenue. bag compost will be available on a first come first serve basis. There will be a limit of two bags per resident. For residents needing more compost, loose material will be available for self-service at the event. Thank you and that concludes my presentation.

Apologies, Madam Mayor, members of the council were having a little technical difficulty. The information that Beverly shared tonight is on the city's webpage and our calendar section. you can find the Public Works flyer, open house flyer there, and also the compost event for more information. So we apologize for not having that, we apologize for not having that available tonight on the screen.

Yeah, and I believe it's also on the city's social media Instagram account too.

That's correct, thank you.

All right, next up is Recreation and Community Services Department.

Good evening, Mayor and member of the City Council. My name is Chan Lim, Recreation Specialist with the Recreation Department. I would like to provide a quick update on upcoming community events.

The City of Monterey Park will be hosting our annual Play Days Carnival beginning tomorrow, May 7 to Sunday, May 10. this fun event will feature games food and live entertainment for all ages we look forward to welcoming our community ticket to kick off the event we will be celebrating single tomorrow tomorrow evening with a live mariachi performance starting at 5 30 p.m. join our swim program registration for youth and adult swim lessons will open on Tuesday May 12 for additional information please contact the Recreation Department. Langley Center is offering a Mother's Day nail polish service from May 4th to May 8th for participants 50s and over. Cost is $5 and registration is required. If interested please call Langley Center. Also at Langley Center our monthly dance social themed Cinco de Maal celebration will take place May 21st from 1 to 3 p.m. featuring live entertainment snacks and refreshment the cost is three dollars and registration is currently open

on saturday may 30th the asian pacific health corps in partnership with the city of my park will be hosting a health fair at langley center from 10 a.m to 2 p.m offering a variety of screening insurance is not required for more information please contact the langley center the monthly intergenerational module series will continue at Langley Center on Sunday May 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. all ages are welcome to attend and learn how to play our daycare will offer its summer kids venture camp from June 8th through July 31st for children aged 5 to 12 providing a variety of engaging summer activities and weekly field trips for more information please contact daycare

our annual memorial day event will be held on may 25th at 10 a.m at the american legion post 397 honoring our our fallen heroes who served our community also lunch is provided at the end of

event looking ahead to June the sixth annual SGV pride festival will take place on Saturday June 6th at Barnes Park beginning with a parade at 9 a.m. at Mark Apple High School and ending at Barnes Park this event will include live music arts giveaway and resources also in June the City Independence Day celebration will be held on Saturday June 27th at Barnes Park featuring food truck live entertainment by the band pop vision and a fireworks show at 9 p.m.

And then I'm going to jump in here we added a slide at the end here. Robert Aguirre Director of Recreation and Community Services. Good evening, Madame Mayor, Members of City Council. Just wanted to share some exciting news. So we recently found out that our City of Monterey Park is going to be recognized by the American Planning Association for our Grow Monterey Park Park System Master Plan. So both the city and our consultant City Fabric submitted a nomination for the Park System Master Plan and we're going to be recognized in June with an award from the American Planning Association. So that's big news. And then also, I know everyone's very excited as we recently got word that we've received and been awarded the $6 million from the California State Parks Land, Water, and Conservation Fund grant. So very exciting. I know it's a step in there. This is continuing to build momentum off of we just received a grant through Measure A, and so now we're getting this grant, and we're going to continue to apply for additional grants coming up and slowly chipping away and trying to reach our goal towards building a future barns park aquatic center. Very exciting news and glad to share that with you. That completes our presentation. We're available for any questions.

Mayor, may I? So first, Robert, congratulations to you and your staff. I know it was a good 10 years. We got the grant. That's the key. I know it was a hard process, but we earned it. We stuck to it. We got the grant. And then that second bit of news you mentioned about the Grow Monterey Park getting the award, that's double kudos to you guys. So good work for you guys. I just want you guys to go celebrate. I know you put it on the calendar already because Cinco de Mayo was yesterday. We're celebrating it again tomorrow. And then we're celebrating it again on the 21st at Langley Center. So let's take the full 16 days to fully celebrate this accomplishment that's been hard earned by staff in getting this pool money. now the rest of the council folks here we've got to work out because we got a match a portion of that and we got another 15 million plus the fundraise to get that pool but it's an opportunity that we are looking forward to because this is why this is a great city because if we work together and collaborate it does take a little time but we can get there and that's why we're here so So kudos to you guys for getting that work done.

I'll just add my kudos.

I think huge deal for those who I know some of the people at the lead, but huge deal for us to get this land water conservation grant very competitive for the state. We got a pretty big chunk of this, the full allocation that went out statewide. So kudos again to you, the team, and to the community, frankly, for all the work that went into getting us to this point it's a significant it's a big step we still have as councilor go pointed out and I we all went out to each other still a long ways to go but we're really making significant progress there on this note I know as we team up the budget for next year there's a match requirement for the six million dollar grant so let's make sure we're working that into our budget and make sure we're listing the pool and the capital improvement plan going forward if it's not already there and identifying some of this funding there and I know there may be a time requirement in terms of spending down the grant award so we're going to be on the clock as soon as the formal kind of grant agreement comes through and the money is available to us and so just putting everyone on notice in the community particularly a huge step but also where it comes with some restraints in terms of how much we've got we got to get going to make sure we can take advantage of this money and make sure that we can have a pool this project actually moves forward with this grant money in hand but appreciate and council were go saying let's it's definitely worth celebrating we're assuming way there's still a ways to go and we're need all hands on deck and encourage the community members particularly the pub and others who are engaged in the community to continue to pay attention to this continue to advocate continue to engage your neighbors and friends and others here in the city of Monterey Park about how important this pool is and how much we're all going to have to pitch in to get over the finish line on this

I'm just thinking back to when we a year ago started kind of this venture on the pool and just in a short amount of time how we've progressed so much and you know the six million dollars the matching funds that the city will have to provide we're kind of I think nine million plus here with the matching funds right so I think we are in a much better position, I think, and I think it's very promising and I'm very hopeful that the pool is going to happen. And I think to echo with Council Member Wonks, that's going to take a lot of work as a city. By city, I mean council and staff and the community to make sure that the rest of the money comes in. But also, I'm really glad to see that the effort and work that went into the Parks Master Plan is being recognized because I think this was an amazing blueprint for seeing our parks being updated for the future. And part of that was the Barnes Park Pool. So I'm glad that that's working, that people are recognizing that, and that that's going to continue to be our blueprint for updating all of our parks. So very thankful for all the work, Robert, that you and your team and the community, everyone that was involved in that process, you know, that we have a plan in terms of how to update our parks. I know that as a parent, I'm very excited, and I know a lot of community members are very excited about that. So I'm looking forward to the next step and all the work that's coming to help facilitate and also update not just our parks but our pools and not just Barnes Park but George Elder as well. And I know that's going to take a lot of work, including Sean from Public Works. It's going to take a village to make all of this happen. So very appreciative of all the work. And then as I was driving in, I saw all of the carnival rides being set up. So it's also a very exciting time period right now in terms of celebrating our city's birthday. I know I'm already – it just crept up on me. I knew it's in my calendar, but this is a very exciting time because it also kind of marks almost the beginning of the summer. So very exciting. I texted a picture to my daughter. She said, we're coming tomorrow. So they're all very excited. So anyhow, thank you, Robert, for all of the effort, all of the work that your team does. And I know that it takes a village, so I just want to acknowledge all of our city staff for everything that we do to make our city great.

And I do just want to highlight, because I thank our consultant for their work that they did on this Park System Master Plan. But one of the reasons we did get this award is because of the outreach and the initiative and all of the community involvement that went into the Park System Master Plan. So I think it's only fitting to also thank the community for their involvement. Both our consultant through the Park System Master Plan and also Dolan through the pool design commented on just how much and how engaged our community is and how much involvement they've seen that which they don't see in a lot of other communities so that just really speaks to what a great community we have here how much they care about their community and their parks and how much they want to get involved so just want to thank the community for that I saw the report in the picture of some of my students, my daughter's, my daughter's,

We can see a lot of families and students out there as well. Thank you.

Again, I want to echo the sentiments of my colleagues, but also emphasize that this really is a big deal for us because a few years ago we had also applied for a grant and unfortunately we were rejected. And so these are very competitive grants. and certainly this is something that we should be very proud of ourselves and I really want to thank the staff for your efforts not just in preparing the application in a very competitive process but also the many hours in community output meeting input meetings of community input meetings not just for the pool but for also for Parkmaster plan and and I think that this recognition the award we're getting is acknowledgement of why it's important I know that for community sometimes they can go impatient and ask of why are you doing this and and ask or just do it you know but again it's by having thoughtful thorough plans laid in place that it allows us as a tool to apply for grants and I think that the fact that I think that probably is why we got the six million dollars because we showed the state that we're thorough and comprehensive in preparing our application and also the Parks Master Plan which hopefully will be a guide not just for our aquatic services but for all of our recreational services for all 13 parks for all the 13 recreational area for the observatory that is at Garvey Ranch Park and I think it is something that I just want to express along my colleagues congratulations to all the staff at Procter & Rec for your hard work.

Yeah, it's amazing how much, how far we've come in, you know, just a year or so. And from the $500,000 Measure A funds to now the $6 million, and I think there's other grants that you're going to be applying for in the very near future, because we still have a long ways to go. And all the programs that are coming up in the summer, too, with Play Day setting up right behind us. So congratulations and keep up the momentum.

We'll celebrate, but like Kobe says, jobs. That's right. Jobs not done yet. Get there.

Thank you. Thank you to you and your team and all the staff.

Madam Mayor, before we move on, I'd like to emphasize for the community members, we did put out a press release about that grant that we received, that the Barnes Park Pool project was one of 18 projects statewide that was awarded funds. So very, very proud of that grant application. In addition, as hearing from our council members tonight, the job is not done. We have work to do. We definitely have a funding gap. So I would like to see if the council would be interested in potentially bringing back an item at a future council meeting, maybe next council meeting, to have just some discussions and dialogue about potential strategies and maybe even forming a subcommittee from council members to start really focusing on campaign efforts around the pool. So if that's of interest, we can definitely put an item for discussion for the council if that's something that the council would like to consider as we move forward. There are some grant opportunities on the horizon that we're looking forward to in fall of this next year. so we want to make sure that we're strengthening our applications to the best of our ability but that's going to take some coordination and efforts on on the city's part so it could be helpful for us to have maybe a few council members that are working side by side with staff as we are moving this this forward so if that council is interested we can bring something back for discussion

I would be interested. I think we need to have that discussion to start so we can strategize. And I think I know who the right chairperson from the group to kind of lead this process. But I'll let him volunteer given his commitment and his connection with the SWMM.

You didn't name me, so I don't know who it is.

But I would appreciate that and would be happy to, I really appreciate the staff thinking about that. And I think it's an appropriate next step for us to have, especially in light of this major grant award. I think it's not that we weren't serious, but it's really time to get serious because we're going to be on a shot clock now to make sure we can make use of that grant. Otherwise, we lose it. so whatever we can do to move more quickly and effectively and efficiently to make sure we're going after other additional grant opportunities really closing the financing gap on this and identifying ways to do that potentially looking at other options to do that that require potentially city residents to vote and approval for for those potential measures I think we got to be able to move quickly particularly if we want to advantage of some of those opportunities since those windows are limited for us this year so would be happy to volunteer to to be on some sort of committee or subcommittee and really move the pool project along

i second that and i would like to nominate council member wong to help lead this effort due to his extensive swimming experience. Thank you, Councilmember Wong.

Yeah, seems like everyone's pretty much aligned with moving forward with that. Thank you. All right, Chief from Fire Department.

All right, good evening, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, Honorable Council Members, City Executive Staff, and yes, Jason Hing, Fire Chief for the Monterey Park Fire Department. I am pleased to share a brief overview of our upcoming Fire Service Day, scheduled for May 16th, Saturday, from 8 o'clock in the morning to 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This event is an outstanding opportunity for our community to directly engage with members who serve them every day. Fire Service Day is designed to be both educational and engaging. Residents will get a behind-the-scenes look at our operations, equipment, and the level of training that our members maintain to keep the city safe. The event starts in the morning with our partners from the Lions Club for our annual pancake breakfast. We then transition and invite the general public for free activities like station tours and life demonstrations for all families and children. More importantly, it is an opportunity for us to reinforce critical public safety messaging in the areas of fire prevention and emergency preparedness. We are very honour to host this event. We look forward to the public, welcoming the public to our house and we also appreciate the continued support from the Council that allows us to provide that high quality of service and community outreach. Thank you and I am available for any questions.

Mayor, Chief Ding, I've been to a number of these events. They are great showcases because we have the full experience other than the pancake breakfast that starts everything. But I think this year it also aligns, and I think last year as well, it aligns with Taiwan Week. So I would say come for the breakfast, get the open house, talk to our fire staff, and then stay for lunch. all happening at the city all around Barnes Park so looking forward to it

thank you I just did of that and really I would echo the community's appreciation for fire service say and public works say and every a lot of the community that all of our departments are doing but particularly the fire service say brings out a lot of families and kids who really want to see the fire trucks not just kids but adults too that want to see the fire trucks and all our equipment and really great opportunity to help educate the community about all the services the fire fire department provides and all the things that taxpayers our residents are paying for to make sure that we're safe from from fires and what we're what investments we're making in public safety so appreciate the opportunity to do this and really open up our our doors for this opportunity to have the community engage

Chief I also want to thank you for having this community event and you know it's so interesting because this is not the only time that I know the fire station opens up its doors there's events happening there all the time as a matter of fact last week we had our a lot of our students from MarK Keppel and Schurr High School there for their for the annual student leadership day and I wanted to thank you for hosting that event and having the students there I think a lot of students probably haven't had an opportunity to be inside the fire station and be able to talk one-on-one with with firemen and potentially explore careers not just in fire service but I know PD was there and many other departments were there as well but I just wanted to make a point of how important our fire station is here at Barnes Park and we have two other fire stations as well so very appreciative of opening of of you opening opening the doors for the community um i go every year as well i know my daughters always look forward to the to the pancakes but also a lot of the activities i see a lot of families uh bring their kids out and um and so it's great to see people out there and and also the educational aspect of this as well so very appreciative of all the work and effort that goes into doing this i'm looking forward to it i just added it to my calendar thank you

thank you council member and it's it's it's a high priority for us to give back to the community that supports us so well you know the

thing I'll add is that this is a very popular event so hope to see the community out next weekend the pancake breakfast and to thank our fire service personnel but also true remind ourselves that we're very fortunate to say that we have our own in-house fire along with police public city services not every community can afford that and we should be very proud of ourselves that we have we have always had in-house services for public safety.

Yes, very excited for the fire service day and I'll be there volunteering with the Lions Club. So I don't know what they're gonna have me doing, cooking pancakes or eggs or something. But thank you for the updates. Good, thank you very much. And last but not least, our Bruggemeyer Library.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of City Council. My name is Victor Castellanos and I'm the adult literacy coordinator. So first we have some fantastic programs coming up in May, but I do want to highlight events that we had in April. So first of all, across our entire library we had 166 different programs with almost 4,000 attendees, 3,976. I also want to give a huge thank you and shout out to Chinatown Service Center and their Vita Clinic volunteers. For the past three months, they've been helping every week upstairs in the library, and they've helped 1,524 clients process 567 returns. So, again, I want to give a huge thank you to the volunteers from the Vita Tax Clinic team. And then just to recap some events in April, we first had our spring gardening workshop with the University of California Master Gardener Program. We also had the Bird Walk and Talk with the Pasadena Audubon Society, where patrons got to take a stroll in Barnes Park and search for birds. We also celebrated National Library Week in the library, where library patrons had a library passport and they were exploring the library, finding what brings them joy at the library. And then we also had, we hosted the Digital Skills for Everyday Life, Everyday Living with the Asian Youth Center, and they taught participants how to use a smartphone in this interactive workshop series. So now, coming up in May, please visit us on the first floor of the library. We have a collection of recommended reads celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Also, with your library card, you can explore films and documentaries on Canopy that also provide a deeper appreciation for Asian and Pacific Islander culture.

Also, an event that extends beyond just our library is One Book, One Coast. So this is a shared community reading program across more than 140 libraries, stretching from California to Oregon to Washington. And on Saturday, May 31st, join us for a discussion on They Called Us Enemy by George Takei. If you're looking for a copy of the book with your library card, you can go on Libby, and we have unlimited copies of this book, of this title. And then last, speaking about library cards. If you don't have one yet, please sign up and get one at the library. For the month of May, we have a limited edition library cards, the greetings from Monterey Park mural on a library card. So to celebrate Monterey Park's birthday. So please act now. Supplies are limited. It's only for May only. Well, and thank you. As always, please check our library webpage, social media, all of our newsletters, for even more upcoming events for the whole family. Thank you, everyone. I can answer any questions.

Thank you. Victor, just want to confirm, if I lost my library card and I wanted the new library card edition, the cost is $3. Okay, so I will do that.

I'll do the request to see if we can get an unactivated card just as a giveaway or some sort of souvenir. I think there would be interest among the council to inspect that and have it to display. But thank you so much. I appreciate all the program. Thank you, Victor.

I did want to do a shout out because Victor helped me with my passports, getting my passport I'm not sure if a lot of people know that you can get passports at the library, and he did such a phenomenal job. And even when I messed up, he helped me fix the problem, and it was very immediate. So very appreciative. Just wanted to do a shout out for it. I know the library provides a lot of different services. So thank you, Victor, for your help. Thank you.

Always thank you for the great products and services you provide to the community.

Yeah, thank you for the update, Victor. I have the George Takei event on my calendar, so I'm pretty sure Saturday is May 30th. Oh, I'm sorry. May 30th. I was like, did I get it wrong? But I didn't know you have to call to register, so I'm going to call first thing tomorrow morning to register for the event. Thank you. I don't know how you guys got George Takei, but that's pretty cool. Just the book.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. That's it for staff communications. and we don't have any old business, so moving on to the consent calendar.

We have a very lengthy consent calendar today with lots of resolutions, so. Anyone want to poll any items? No, you're good?

Everyone's good?

I'll move consent with just a note for item 10F our rule or if we adopt the rules just make sure just for staff that we're figuring out how we're going to display and educate members of the public about these rules once they are adopted otherwise i'm happy to make a motion for consent calendar i will second all right let's vote

Did it go through? Council please re-vote.

Approve unanimously.

Oh, yay. And then just a quick question, Madam Mayor. We just approved Garvey Ranch Park State Structure. if we can announce maybe what the timeline is for the construction on that

yes madam mayor members of the council for Garvey Ranch parks shade structure we definitely understand this is a priority we are moving quickly to get that replaced as soon as possible we ran into some snags with this project as we were trying to reutilize some of the columns that were out there but unfortunately we weren't able to to do that so we'll be replacing those structures the timeline for that is July August oh here Shawn sorry I didn't realize he came down

City Council Sean I go public works director actually the goal has been moved up we're hoping to have it completed by the end of June beginning July so we've already started working through our processes to get the agreement lined up so one now the council has moved forward we can start exploiting things as quickly as possible.

Thank you.

Very cool.

Thank you. And I think there's some folks here for item 10C. I heard that people are taking bets on the percentage for the ballot measure, like 60%, 65%, 70% or whatnot. So we'll see what comes out from that. All right. So public hearing, 11A. Okay, let's get a presentation on the consideration and possible action to adopt resolution number 26, resolution authorizing the recording of a notice of special assessment for nuisance abatement. Yes. Open up the public hearing.

Madam Mayor, Deputy City Attorney Solange Portenbach will be making the presentation.

Good evening Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem and honorable council members. I'm here with Code Compliance Supervisor Raimundo Lozano and together we're going to be presenting on this resolution.

The property we're talking about is at 509 West Andrick Street. The registered owners of the property are Weini Ma and Hawk Ma. the history of enforcement starts in august of 2023 code compliance had received a complaint from a neighbor regarding the condition of the property between august of 2023 and january of 2024 code compliance officers were going to the property and inspecting it from the public right of way and engaging with the property owners to see if they could come to just compliance reasonable compliance with the property ownership but by January of 2024 things weren't moving in terms of bringing the property into compliance with the Monterey Park municipal code and as such a notice of violation was issued for two nuisances including overgrown vegetation and the accumulation of trash, litter, and debris. The presence of these nuisances continued, and by April of that year, another notice of violation was issued with an additional nuisance, that being improper use of extension cords. As you can see in the images, that is an image from the driveway with the accumulation of trash, junk, and debris. these again were photos that were taken from the public right-of-way by July 17th 2024 code compliance officer Liz Elizabeth Rodriguez went for a reinspection at the property and saw progress some of the trash litter and debris had been removed and overgrown vegetation had been trimmed therefore code of compliance stopped visiting the property by February 20th 2025 code compliance again started to receive complaints from neighbors soon after in March code compliance reinspected the property and saw that conditions had further deteriorated by March 19th 2025 a final notice of violation was issued again for those same nuisances previously listed. State of Overgrown Vegetation. Trash, Litter, Debris, and then the improper use of extension cords. By October of 2025, a notice of public nuisance hearing was conducted. And on the 13th, the hearing officer determined that and upheld the public nuisances, those being overgrown vegetation, trash, litter, and debris, and then the improper use of extension cords. The proper use of extension cords were property was thus deemed a public nuisance.

By January 8th of 2026, there was a notice sent to the property owners indicating the city was going to go in and abate the nuisances themselves. Plenty of communication was had between property ownership and code compliance, including between myself and the property owner. we afforded plenty of time for property ownership to bring the property into compliance and it just wasn't happening so by January 13th the city obtained an inspection warrant to inspect the interior of the residence and an abatement warrant to address the nuisances existing on the exterior of the property on that same day we sent a second notice of an intent to abate to the property owners letting them know that on january 20th the city would be prepared to show at the property to abate all existing nuisances and execute as well the inspection warrant to go on to the inside of the property on january 20th city personnel showed up the building was yellow tagged and this was the condition of the property prior to abatement these are drone images that were taken in on top of the property. As you can see, the rear yard had a significant amount of trash, junk, and debris present. There was stagnant water in the pool and just significant amounts of trash, junk, and debris. The interior of the residence was also filled with trash trash, junk, and debris. The building official ended up yellow tagging the property and listing it as uninhabitable. These are photos from after the abatement. As you can see, there was junk and trash removal conducted to bring the property into compliance, and the overgrown vegetation was trimmed. As you can see also, there was a significant amount of leaves and foliage falling into the pool which we had communicated with the county on vector control specifically the stagnant water can pose a significant public health risk and so we worked with vector control to better understand how we could mitigate those health and safety risks they suggested trimming back that overgrown vegetation in the rear yard so as to prevent additional foliage from falling into the pool

enforcement post abatement on January 28th 2026 we had invited the property owners to an office conference to talk about the condition of the interior of the property at that point we had debated all existing nuisances on the exterior however we understood that the property needed to be fully brought into compliance and the interior of the property demonstrated significant problems just like the exterior ones had the same notice listed several violations of the health and safety code all listed there as well as the monterey park municipal code on february 5th of 2026 an office conference was held but property ownership did not appear A demand letter was sent on April 23rd to property owners for the total abatement costs. These were all costs associated with that January 20th abatement, and we haven't received any communication from property owners since. I'm going to pass the mic to Ray so he can speak on code compliance's engagement with

Chinatown Service Center who has been engaging with the property owners good evening honorable mayor mayor pro tem and members of the City Council Ray Lozano code enforcement supervisor through an established memorandum of understanding with Chinatown Services Center they have been able to provide behavioral and mental health services to both of the owners we have a scheduled meeting for next Monday to have an in-person discussion with Chinatown Services center and the ownership to explore longevity options to maintain compliance at the property in addition to providing additional resources that Chinatown services center is most equipped to provide to both of the owners at this time and that concludes our presentation

Any speakers? Or do we take speakers before questions? No speakers. So obviously the owners did not come into compliance before otherwise, or they're not here, right? Have we heard anything otherwise from the owners in terms of wanting to come into compliance or anything like that along the way?

There hasn't been any communication from the owners. We have called them, sent emails, posted notices, and worked through the partnership with Chinatown Services Center, and there hasn't been any communication from them until yesterday. Interesting.

Okay. And then we haven't, so we haven't heard a word. We've given them several months, right? It's now May. I don't know that there's anything else to do here. So I appreciate the team. Was this first reported by neighbors, or how did the complaint first come in?

The complaint came from the neighboring properties in the area. Good. Appreciate that. Yeah, I don't have anything else.

It's pretty clear to me.

Well, if no one else has it, I'm happy to make the motion to adopt staff recommendation.

Council member Wong moves. Council member Sanchez seconds. Let's vote.

Approve unanimously.

Madam Mayor, before you go to the next item, I just want to congratulate Solange Fortenbach. We've put her as lead chair with regard to code enforcement for the city. So this is her first foray in front of the city council. and I know she and Ray will make a great team for bringing other things to you.

Thank you for all your hard work and efforts. A lot of steps.

Thank you.

All right. No new business. Then any communications?

I just have a couple to report. I think many of us were there on April 17th at the ELAC, new Susan Rubio facility for entrepreneurship program. I'm really proud that our city is partnering with ELAC and that program to help with the local business owners there. A shout out on April 19th, Dr. and Mrs. Wong, who many of us know in this community, they celebrated their golden 50-year anniversary. I think many of us were there to celebrate with them as well at Capital C Food. on April 21st I attended the new mayor installation for the city of San Gabriel so congratulations to new mayor Eric Chan and vice mayor or mayor pro tem Tony Ding in the city of San Gabriel and then on May 5th just yesterday we we were at few of us was at the Hillcrest school which is part of the Garvey school district they celebrate celebrate their student leadership day just showcasing the work of the students their involvement outside the school curriculum and hosting a number of events and activities for guests not only from the city of Monterey Park but surrounding some communities in terms of what their student leadership program has impacted and what they've continued to contribute to improving the students at Hillcrest that's all I have

I just want to mention two items on April 30th councilmember Wong and I were able to participate in the student leadership day here in the city I wanted to thank staff for helping organize that civic engagement is so important in our communities but it's also very important that we start at a very young age with a lot of our students to be able to teach them not just how to be civically engaged but also prepare them to how to interact with the city I know this year's topic was on emergency preparedness right so I know a lot of the students in fact I went and spoke to them today at Markepple High School got to have lunch with them so great to see a lot of them as well but thank you for the staff fire police and all city staff who were there and thank you fire chief for hosting at the fire station 61 very appreciative of that and then also on May 2nd I attended the Alhambra Latino Association dinner was there because also a lot of students who received scholarships from the Alhambra latino association were residents of monterey park but students from markepel as well so wanted to share that and congratulate the students who received scholarship money for to attend four year colleges and universities and then lastly i just wanted to mention because i know we passed item 10r this is teacher appreciation week so for those of you guys who have children that are in school make sure that you uh send a note to teachers and uh and share the love and appreciation uh for all the work that they do um i i can i can speak uh and say that teachers love starbucks gift cards and stuff like that if you're anyhow i'll let you figure that part out but anyhow i wanted to thank a lot of the teachers especially in our community monterey park our city serves four different school districts including garvey oambra montebello and la usd so very appreciative of all the teachers that teach in our community and help prepare our students for the future and very appreciative of all the hard work that they do. So I will hand this over now to my colleague, the...

Thank you.

My friend, the mayor of protest. Thank you, neighbor, my friend. Yes, I attended a lot of the events that my colleagues mentioned. I just want to also just shout out, as I mentioned earlier, that two very involved members of our community, Ed Wong and his wife Cindy Chun-Mai Kuo, had a dinner to celebrate their 50th anniversary of marriage, but also Mrs. Wong was recognized as one of Congresswoman Judy Chu's outstanding women for Women's History Month, and that's because of her many decades of community service to not just here in Monterey Park, but really around the world. And so I think it's always nice to recognize people who give a lot of themselves, their time and energy to this community. And that's it for me.

I just have a few. So last Saturday, Monterey Park Women's Club had their fashion show, and a lot of Roy Council members and city manager were all in attendance. That was a really great annual event. Next Tuesday, May 12th, is going to be my very final meet up with the mayor at Marie Callender's Tuesday at 5 p.m. And Wednesday, May 13th, will be the new Starbucks ribbon-cutting ceremony. So Starbucks is already open, but the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be next Wednesday. And McDonald's, after the renovation, has also reopened, too. So two new franchises open in our city. Anything else? Oh, yes, and play days tomorrow. Get your unlimited wristbands, go on those rides. All right, anything else? Nothing? We will adjourn at 8.47 p.m.