Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone and welcome to the uh Baldin Park regular city council meeting. Today is uh March 18th, 2026 and the time is 7:05 p.m. Uh Pastor Jackson, Pastor Flores, can you please guide us in the invocation? If you're able to stand, please stand. Thank you, mayor, city council, all those are attending especially time where we get to honor the next generation of ball park. Uh let us pray. Amen. Father, we thank you for the privilege of coming to your throne of grace that we may find grace and help in time of need. Lord, you said to acknowledge you in all of our ways and you would direct our path. And we're asking you, Lord God, in giving our city council, mayor, and all those that are working uh in Bowwin Park to make this a great and successful uh city. Lord God, touch our police department. Lord God, that they be able to uh roll around and do their duties and be able to go back home uh safely, Lord God, in our fire department. Heavenly Father, we are a community. We are a community of businesses and we're asking you uh to bless the businesses here uh in Bowwin

Park and the schools. Lord God, we asking you to put a hedge of protection around our children, Lord God, and keeping them uh safe from gangs, keeping them safe from drugs, keeping them safe as they are out there in the streets that no hurt, harm or danger will come uh before thee. Lord God, you said to acknowledge you and you would direct our path. And this is what we need. And heavenly father, our world is in a a turmoil right now, Lord. But we're asking you, Lord God, in giving our president also knowledge and understanding and what to do in keeping this nation uh safe. And we're asking you, Lord God, put your hands on our soldiers, Lord God. and I I I speak, but the prayer will be Psalms 91 and keeping them uh safe as abroad and uh doing what they need to do to protect and help this nation. In the name of the Lord, we pray. Amen.

Thank you for that, Pastor Jackson. Pastor Flores, uh City Cler, can you lead us in an uh pledge of allegiance? It'd be my honor. Right hand over your heart. Repeat after me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you for that. City clerk, can we get uh roll call?

Mayor Damian here. Mayor Bromayala here. Council member Aila here. Council member Estrada. Council member Lozano here. Thank you. Thank you for that. City clerk. All right. Uh report from close session of city attorney. Uh there's no no close session today. So there's nothing to report there. But um staff does uh recommend uh that you would pull item number four from the agenda. Do we need a motion for that? Yes. Yes. Okay. Okay. Do we have a do we have make a motion pull? A second.

We have a motion to pull item number four. Motion made by council member Avila. Second by Mayor Brom Ayala. Council member Avila. Yes. Council member Estrada. Yes. Council member Lozano. Can I question? What's the reason why we're pulling it? So where where we want to agendaize it for a future meeting? Is that what's happening? Ye. Yes sir. Okay, I'm just disgusted uh with this uh with this issue over Caesar Travis as we know that's a major controversial issue. Abuse of young women, underage women, children. So, so is there re what's the reason for that? I I think the reason arrows got to come off.

Yeah. So, I think that's one of the reasons why we're pulling it this evening uh council member Lozano is so that we uh staff can have time to discuss as to what the next process and steps are going to be. And I think we should be united and removing that mural completely with everyone on there. Especially Cesar Ch is a person that I admired. When I was a youngster in high school, I wanted to see what it was like to work out in the fields. I ended up in a place called Los Banos, which is in central California to see how hard it was to pick those um grapes and so on and so forth. So I had that opportunity. Stayed there for two about two weeks because they say I wasn't fast enough. It's amazing because I also got to meet Cesar Chavez on three different occasions out in the field and then at Cal Pol when I was there. But to see what this man has done in the past angers the hell out of me. And the fact that he raped little kids uh is unacceptable to me. The the signage everything that's that he has in this city has got to come off. There's no doubt. and to hear Dolores Werta who I have also personally met on many occasions and of course 96 year old woman who has ended her silence over this predator and it's amazing but I just want to make certain that we're we're united for that because it's got to happen. Thank you

sir and that's why they're pulling the item so we can further discuss on next steps. Thank you. Council member Lozano your vote. Yes. Your vote. Yes. Mayor Damian. Yes. Motion carries 5-0. Thank you.

Thank you for that, city clerk. All right. Announcements. The city council are also members of the board of directors of housing authority and finance authority which are concurrently communing with the city council this evening and each council member is paid an additional stipen of $30 for attending the housing authority meeting and $50 for attending the finance authority meeting. All right, we're going to be moving on to proclamations, accommodations, and presentations. Uh, first we have the presentation certificate of recognition presented to Albert Tren, our accounting manager. Uh, Mayor Portim Ayella, you want to take

Thank you, mayor. And I believe Albert's here. I saw him come in. Come on up, Albert. It's my pleasure to be recognizing him. As Albert comes to the das, it's my uh privilege to recognize him. This is a certificate of recognition uh given to Albert Twin T Trin, accounting manager for our finance department from September 25th, 2025 to 319 tomorrow, 2026. In recognition of your 2 and 1/2 years with the city of Baldwin Park, we commend you for your outstanding service and collaboration with city staff, residents, and community members. Thank you for your leadership that you have provided to the finance team. We wish you the best in your future endeavors uh presented this 18th day of March 2026 by our mayor uh Daniel Damian, our council members Alejandra Avia, council member Emanuel J. Estrada, Council Member Manuel Lozano, city clerk Christopher Science, our city treasurer uh Joanna Valenuela, and myself, your mayor prom Gene Ayala. And I just uh before I give this to you, Albert, I just want to thank you personally for all of your dedication um to this staff, to our community. Um Albert is a Baldwin Park resident, so we we are happy to have him here in our community, but that's okay. He lives here and I'm I'm very proud of him and just thank you personally, Albert, for um your professionalism when dealing with me. So, I really appreciate it very much.

Thank you. You're out. I just want to say that um I feel very grateful to um you know contribute to the community that I live in and um I am very blessed to have an amazing team and Rose Tam who is an amazing director who kind of uh groomed me and helped me um you know developed my uh my professional um my professional uh aptitude in uh finance and everything about and then I also enjoy working with every single city staff and city council um throughout the whole process and uh really enjoy working here. Albert,

may I may I say a few words?

Oh yeah, go ahead. Hi Albert, you have been a great contributor and supporter to the finance department and all city departments. We you are all you are well liked and respected by your colleague and I truly appreciate your dedicated service to our team and the city over the last two years. Your professionalism and reliability have made a meaningful impact on our team. We will miss you a lot and wish you continued success in your next new chapter and thank you for all you did.

Thank you, Rose. We get Rose. Yes, of course.

On Rose, we're going to take a photo. Um

yeah, thank you, mayor. So, we definitely just want to say thank you to Albert for all of his work and his commitment to Baldwin Park. I'm glad to hear that you live here. So, you know, if you ever want to keep working nearby your house, you know, position's going to stay open, I'm sure, for a while. There you go. You can always volunteer, too. So, but you know, we're always also I mean, it's always uh sad to see our our our employees go, but it's also good to know that they are working on opportunities that they are able to work harder uh that are they're working hard towards their goal. So, congratulations, Albert. Thank you.

Albert, I just I just want to thank you as well as a resident to a resident as well. Thank you very much. Rose, thank you because I know you're the model and role model for a lot of young individuals that have a future in in the municipalities. Thank you. Well, you were here two years and you made a a big impact in our city. We're definitely going to miss you. I know Rose is going to miss you. Uh she's always uh informed us on how well you worked with her and how thorough you are with your work. Again, as uh council member Estrada said, we'll save your job 30 days. So, if you don't like it, just come on down as long as we haven't hired somebody else. This is your home, Balden Park. So, so is the city. Thank you.

And Albert, I just want to say thank you very much for all the contribution, all the work you did uh with roles in our finance department, keeping us on track with our budgets every year. I know it's not an easy job there in finance, but just know that we do appreciate your work that you provided for us and congratulations on your new endeavor. Yes. Yes. Get him picture there. That's a looming. Do we have coach Ray and Coach Fred from Balden Park High School coming up, please? As you all know, two weeks ago, we recognized Sar Vista High School for for their championship and their CIF. And I've always talked about wrestling.

Wrestling is a very tough sport. You either you get to you you get to place as a team. You get to go to CIF as a team. But the best part about this sport is that you can also go as an individual. So wrestling has different weights and each individual wrestles for a title as well as a team. And I did not realize that Baldwin Park High School had an amazing wrestler. And just perfect, too. This is women's month, right? And today we just happen to be recognizing a lot of young girls, our women of the future. So, I think it's just perfect that we're uh recognizing Italia. Italia, where are you? How

um which one is Coach Ray? This is the first time I meet them. Coach Ray and Coach Fred, they have been coaching at Baldwin Park High School for four seasons. And I know the work that you do, it's not easy. It takes a lot of time off of your personal schedule. So, I appreciate everything that you do for the wrestlers and I see how you made her so successful, but it had a lot to do with your want and whatever you want out of life. Italia was the first wrestler in about 10 years to qualify for CIF and master tournaments. She did this all in her first year of wrestling, mind you, while balancing school, work, and wrestling. And of course, her family. So, Italia, I'm very proud of you. Are your parents here, by the way? Where are they? Mom and dad, come on up here. Mom and dad. So, mom and dad, as a former team mom of wrestling, I completely understand what it's like to be at on those bleachers all day, Saturdays, and when you go to CIF, it's the whole weekend. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. Congratulations,

brothers and sisters. Come on, siblings. This is a family affair. I understand the sacrifices the the family also has to make, but it's not really a sacrifice. It's something that we do for our children. And Italia, I know that when it comes to wrestling and the holidays, it's not easy because families are getting together, they're having feast, and Italia has to be so disciplined to make sure she maintains the weight that she's wrestling at. And I know that's very difficult. So I I commend you. I commend you for placing your first year in CIF and going all the way to masters. Congratulations to you and we're going to place your p your picture on the marquee. I already have a picture of her. We're going to place that on the marquee. Okay. Okay. In recognition, Italy Cabrera, the city of Balden Park is proud to recognize you for your hard work and dedication. We congratulate you for your wrestling season and for placing eighth in CIF and qualifying for Masters. We applaud you for your passion and outstanding athletic performance. Thank you for the favorable recognition you bring to the city of Baldin Park and your team at Baldwin Park High School. Congratulations from Mayor Daniel Damian, Mayor Peptenna, Council Members Abila, Estrada Loausano, City Clerk Science, and City Treasure Valenuela. And thank you, coaches. Again, congratulations. I give it this little one.

right here. Come out.

More camera. One more. One more. One more. One more. Let's have her say something. Okay.

Um, I would just like to give a big thanks to all my family for being my biggest support and all my friends that I made in wrestling because they were the biggest, the loudest girls in the crowd, always supporting me in all my matches. And for my parents for always taking me to and from practice. And of course to my coaches, all my coaches for being able to push me through it even when I didn't want to.

Don't go away. We have um Don't go away. We have Elena from Senator Rubio's office here also for uh we also wanted to come and join the celebration. Senator Rubio um was a council member here. She loves to hear about anybody in the in the city of Baldwin Park and in Senate District 22 who's very successful. Uh Italia, you bring pride to Baldwin Park. you bring pride to Senate District 22 and Senator Rubio wanted me to come over and help celebrate you. So, congratulations and we look forward to seeing what else you do.

How many more years of wrestling do you have? My senior year. This was your senior year. Are you going to wrestle in college? All right.

All right. We're going to continue on with the uh the uh presentations and the proclamations. Next, we have the presentation certificate of recognition presented to the Sierra Vista High School girls basketball team. And uh council member Strada want to go ahead. I'm gonna ask Elena to stay up here with us.

We do. So next we're recognizing the Sista High School girls basketball team for being division nine California champions. So, we'll read your names and then as we read your name, we'll ask you to come join us up here. You've done it before, right? So, okay. Yeah. And then the coaches will hand out the certificates. We'll start off with the coaches. So, we have our head coach, Sandra Duckering, and then we have assistant coaches. Yeah, Jenna Guerrero and Rolando Robles. Then we have our athletic trainer Woods. And now we have the team. So we have Cala Buuna, Mara Navaro, Sophia Rivas, Araelerta, Iris Sanchez,

Kathleen Buuna, Jelle Gawson,

Alandre Hernandez, Alyssa Winlock, Evana Mallaloy, Melan Alula, and Emmy Motasuma. All right. So, we're going to give it up for the service high school basketball team for being division nine champions one more time.

Want to say real quick, we're so proud of each and every one of you. My cousin coming from San Antonio, Texas, uh yesterday, I guess it was on television and somehow it ended up in Texas as well. So I'm proud of each and every one of you to have a cousin of mine from San Antonio, Texas said, "Hey, Balin Parks on the news, Sarah Vista High School." Thank you. Congratulations. And we have we have one more. So we have our uh auxiliary coach Caesar Rosales.

All right. Should we take a picture first? All right. Let's take a group picture. So, we'll bring everybody in. Squeeze in. I'm sure a lot of you guys saw the news and um I was telling the girls, "No cell phones." Huh? Is that what it takes? That's just amazing. Good job, coaches. Made them focus.

We're going to take the knife again. like stand between right here. for the box. Hold it for the bottom.

So you can come up here. Hurry up.

I think I heard Now we have Don't move. Don't move. We have one more certificate from the office of Senator Susan Rubio. I'm gonna hand it over to our rep, Elena.

Hello. Um, I also came to honor you all. Um, Senator Rubio is very proud of you. We just Senate District 22 um has been blessed with so many champions and now to have Baldwin Park represented by you all. Just know that Senator Rubio is very proud of you. Uh, she hasn't had the opportunity to to come and and be part of a celebration, but she hopes to be able to shake everybody's hand soon. But we want to congratulate uh congratulate you for making us so proud for working so hard making it just it this speaks volumes about you as a team and about uh how team teamwork makes the dream work you know. So I want to congratulate you on behalf of Senator Susan Rubio and many more. Oh, we're getting All right, for real. Wait, one more. Oh, one more. Nobody move. One more. And this was for So, of course, March is uh Women's History Month. And of course, we want we wanted to make sure that we uh present it to somebody special. So we decided to present this proclamation to Sandra Lesma duckering who you know kudo kudos to her. She was my

my my teacher about a little a little while ago and she decided to keep teaching after having me as a student. So it's the least it's the least we can do.

But we want to acknowledge uh Miss Ducker for her contributions as a teacher and of course as a coach. Obviously, they are they they are beneficial and you become champions. So, we're going to go ahead and read this. I think Mr. Ducking's with you. So, Mr. Ducking wants to come up here and and uh get a closeup city council proclamation for women's history month, March 2026. Whereas throughout history, extraordinary women have fought tirelessly to broaden our democracy's reach and help perfect our union through protest and activism. For generations, women have appealed to the values at the heart of our nation and fought to give meaning to the idea that we are all created equal. And whereas this month, we celebrate countless pioneering women and the victories they won. And we continue our work to build a society where our daughters have the same possibilities as our sons. Whereas courageous women have called for the presence of opportunity, they have marched for the right to vote, not just so their voices would be heard, but to overcome discrimination after decades of slow and steady progress. And whereas we honor the many patriots who have shaped not only the destinies of other women, but also the direction of our history. As a nation, we must join our voices and push forward with unyielding faith for forge a forge a more equal society for all women. And whereas we dedicate this proclamation to Sandra Desma Ducking, Sierra Vista High School's forensic bi biology teacher for 20 years, and coach for basketball team for 19 years, six years with boys JB team and 13 years with girls varsity team. Congratulate and thank Sandra for her professionalism, long-term career in our community, and for her de devotion and hard work, not only in the classroom, but also on the basketball court. Congratulations on winning the 2026 girls basketball division 9 CIF championship. Now therefore, Daniel Damian, mayor of the city of Bal Park, along with mayor prom Gene Emayala, council members Alejandra Avula, Emanuel J. Estrada, Daniel Lozano, city clerk Christopher Science, and city treasurer Joanna Valenuela. We hereby proclaim that March 2026 as Women History Month in the city of Baldwin Park and encourage all residents and community

members celebrate with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. You said my thought Oh, you got to watch your carbs though.

Congratulations. I don't know. Thank you. Trick or treat. It's important

jump here. The city of Balden Park has a lot of young talent and our schools are are so grateful for all the work that they do. Thank you Balden Park for being here and thank you Service to High School for being here as well.

All right. All right, I just want to say before we get started, I just want to say that, you know, over the last couple of meetings, I think we've had recognitions for a lot of our Sarah Vista uh high school, Berm Park High School, and many athletes that we have here in the city of Balden Park. So, just want to say how proud we are to be able to support our young athletes uh here in the city of Balden Park. So, keep making us proud. We'll give it a All right. So before we move on to public communications, uh, city clerk, do we have anyone wanting to speak?

Yes, mayor. At this time, we have received two speaker cards. So, first we will call Cindy Rubio. You have three minutes. It's opened at 7:38. Hello. Um, good evening, Mike.

I'm here for um better reason this time. I came to say thank you to Maria, Wendy, and Daniel for setting up a meeting for the um transit and the dialeride and listening to everyone's comments and trying to get things to work better. It was very much appreciated. Um, I'd also like to thank the members of the council for attending East Side Little League's um, opening day, including Mr. Sains, who is very invested in the Little League and was happy to share that and know that his family is coaching and very much participating. It makes a difference. People were talking about it afterward that you invest in our community. Same for the police chief. Thank you for allowing your officers to come and make a difference. Kids were excited. They were happy. First, they were afraid and by the time we left, everyone was happy. It was very, very nice opening day. So, thank you to all of you.

Thank you, Miss Rubio. Uh, next speaker, city clerk.

Next, we call Irma Morales with the LA County Library. Good evening, Mayor Damian, city council members, um city staff, and um the community. I wanted to tell you about some ongoing programs at the library. We are currently open as a cooling center. So yesterday and um today we opened at 11:00. Normally we're 12 to 8 and then tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th and Friday, March the 20th, we're going to be open 10 to 7. Normally it's 10 to 6. We'll be open one more hour as a cooling center. Um, so the library has been activated as a cooling center. I also wanted to tell you about a couple of ongoing programs. We have a new program called online leamos literacy program. It's for the spring of 2026 and it says, "Do you know a non literate Spanish-sp speakaking adult who wants to learn basic reading or writing skills in Spanish? LA County Library offers a free preliteracy online course that consists of 43 self-paced instructional lessons. Um, for students who are not comfortable visiting the library, there is a there's a in-person at some libraries, but there's also an online um program available. Students can complete the lessons online and can access them with an internet connection. Students will learn the sounds of the alphabet, read and write simple words, and learn writing skills in Spanish. Uh the course is not as Spanish as a second language course and was designed for adults who never went to school or who attended only for one or two years. There is a phone number to call if you're interested in this online program. The phone number is 562-3670500. You can also look at la county library.org for the Lamos program. It's a great program that they've started. Um I also wanted to tell you about a group that we've partnered with. It's part of our internal services department. They

have a program called Learn Basic Tech. And for two um dates training, Thursday, March the 26th and Wednesday, April the 1st 1st, they're doing um from 12:00 to 4 p.m. Um they're doing training for this. Um what it is is you'll learn about cyber security basics, computer basics, internet basics, smartphone basics, app basics, and website navigation. So, uh those are programs you can also find on the library's website or pick up a flyer. And last but not least, we're having a special readers theater on Saturday, March the 28th from 3:00 to 4:00. And our um uh teen advisory board are putting on they're doing the actual readers theater. So it's going to be for the kids in the community, but it's our teens that are putting it on. So it's going to be a great readers theater on Saturday, March the 20th, 28th from 3:00 to 4. So we ask everybody to come out and see our teens doing some great things in the library. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. We appreciate all the work you do for us in the library. Um, is that all mayor? That wraps up all speaker cards received. Thank you for that, city clerk. All right. If there's anyone else that's wishing to speak that did not fill out a speaker card, now is your time.

Seeing that Mr. Rios is coming up, we're going to close it. John Rio's uh resident 50 years. Uh one of the things I saw on uh YouTube the meeting that you guys had for the street vending people. One of the things you guys have to study before you even decide to give out any permits or anything. For one thing, I did my research. I went to the inspectors that were there at that time. They were coming in like roaches in here. The street vendors go get your book from the health department. What it takes to be a street vendor. You have to have running water. You have to have a uh boiling water to 110°. You have to have restrooms, which they don't. And you cannot give out special permits. You have to follow the law that we had at city council. You cannot give out your business card and tell the inspectors, "Oh, it's okay. Give it's okay by me. I'm the mayor. You guys can do it. You cannot do that. You have to have a a the council to approve any special permits. You cannot tell the inspectors, don't worry about it. Ied it.

One of the things I did, I talked to the old man, Greg. I talked to uh the inspector that was uh supervisor at that time, Martinez, you know, and they told me that they would go out and give him try and tell him to move and they would show him a business card from the mayor. At that time, Greg was let go or he retired forcely retired because he couldn't sign he wouldn't sign an okay on a gas station. Okay. I just talked to him today. He's not doing that good. after he left here, you start going down. And uh the supervisor at that time, they gave him a bad time. They told him to go and uh demolish a a building that was already uh condemned, but the building is still there. But just because you're the mayor or you are city council, you cannot give out special permits. Thank you. Thank you for that, Mr. Rios. Is there anyone else wishing to speak? formulas.

Carlosian, you Okay. Gracias. Gracias. Uh, is there anyone else wishing Oh, sorry, translation.

Good evening to all of you. Um, I agree with uh what Mr. Rios had said. Um, we see things and we report them, but there's no they they don't pay attention to us. No one follows up and we need to take care of or or aim for better safety. um not because you have the power, you should be allowed to give permissions to for things that are shouldn't take place. I reported some time ago about an abandoned house and um to Carlos, but um I was ignored. There's rats, there's vermin, and that we need to take care of that situation. If we report issues or things we see and no one follows up, then what's the case? what's the need for doing this? Uh, additionally, many years ago, I asked for a light uh um picture behind my uh business because it's very dark and um it's been years and nothing has happened. Okay, thank you. Thank you for that. Is there anyone else in the audience wishing to speak? All right, seeing no interest, I'll now close public communications. All right, we're going to be moving on to a consent calendar. Uh, council colleagues, is there anyone wishing to pull any items? Uh, item four has been pulled from the agenda tonight. So, is there any other items that you'd wish to pull? None. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and pull five and 10. Can I get a motion to approve items one through 17 with the exception of five and 10?

A motion. Got a motion by Mayor Potam Ginaella. May I get a second? Second by council member Aila. City clear. Can we get roll call, please? We have a motion to adopt items 1 through 3, 6, 7-9, 11- 17. Motion made by Mayor Bromayala. Second by council member Avia. Council member Avula, Council Member Estrada, Council Member Lozano. Yes. Mayor Bromayala. Yes. Mayor Damian.

Uh, yes. But I'm going to abstain from item number 17. That's the uh Baltimore Park Housing Authorities warrants and demands and that's because my commercial landlord is on the warrants and demands. Understood. Thank you. Thank you for that, city clerk. Items 1 through 36 7-9 11- 16 pass 50. Item number 17 passes 401. Thank you for that, city clerk. We're going to move on to item number five. That's mine. Um I'll make mine quick. This is for the um this is for the housing. I think it's uh is Okina you're going to be handling this?

Our associate planner uh Jesus Astro uh Aroska will be able to present but if you have general question I can answer that. Yeah I just um I just need a qu are you going to have a presentation or because I just have a brief question just a quick question. Yeah I could answer your brief question.

Perfect. So based on the staff report on page two uh table two you have the um number of total number of units remaining by income level. So based on this table it shows that we have 126 and I'm going to refer to the above moderate income. On the first line there it says we have number of permits issued by affordability 126 and we have total units remaining by income level 501. when you total the um the income group there we have,553 uh units. So does this mean that these are available units or what is it exactly that it means? Yes. So I can clarify that point. So this report um is generated from a number that we receive from the Southern California Association of Governments or SCAG specifically the regional housing uh needs assessment. So every city just like Balden Park receives a quantity of units that we're supposed to plan for and accommodate um not necessarily build out. Um so what that means is if you notice on table two there's the the third column the number of permits issued by affordability. So there's different levels of affordability that we're supposed to accommodate for and then report back to HCD. That's the state department of housing and community development. Um so what we note on that table is oh of the um 887 above moderate income units that uh were allocated to us from the uh reena numbers we've uh issued permits for 126 within this reporting year. So that's what this report states.

Perfect. Okay. Thank you for that clarification and that's the only question uh that I had. Does anyone else have any other questions? No. All right. Um this is a file and receive. So, I'll go ahead and make a motion to follow and receive. Second. Uh, city clear. We got a first and a second. Thank you, Jesus. We have a motion to adopt item number five. Motion made by Mayor Damian. Second by Mayor Bro Tamayala. Council member Aila. Council member Estrada. Yes. Council member Lozano? Yes. Mayor Bromayala? Yes. Mayor Damian? Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you for that, city clerk. All right, moving on. We're going to go to item number 10. That's my item again. I've got a question in reference to the um expenditure of 60,244 from the police department. Um so I know that we're Captain Hendricks. Um so I know that we're going to be uh using uh asset forfeite money to to pay for this. So my question is just very basic. Do we know what amount we have in the asset forfeite fund? The federal asset forfeite fund that we are um asking to pull this out of. I believe there is just over $180,000 still in there. 180,000. Yes, sir. And that is after this expenditure or before? That it would be before this expenditure? Before. Okay.

Perfect. That's all the questions that I had. Thank you, Captain. All right. Those are the only questions that I had. Uh, anyone else have any questions? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve item number 10. Right. We got a first and a second. City clerk. We have a motion. Excuse me. We have a motion to adopt item number 10. Motion made by Mayor Damian. Second by council member Aila. Council member Aila. Council member Estrada. Yes. Council member Lozano. Yes. Mayor Tayola. Yes. Mayor Damian. Yes. Motion carries 5. Thank you for that. City clerk.

Right now we're going to be moving on to reports of officers I 18. That is going to be the fiscal year 2526 midyear budget review. Rose, the floors are yours.

Yes. Good evening, honorable mayor and city councils. I'm going to present you the MIA budget update and year end projections for fiscal year ending June 2025 2026. May I have the slice up or the PowerPoint? I'm not so sure if it can hear me. Can you hear me, Charles or David? Yeah, I I do. It's for some reason it's slow to load up. Um I'm going to share it soon.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Charles, could you please uh take me to the next slide? This slide provides a update and projection for the general fund operating overview showing a projected deficit of $3.76 million. This deficit is mainly due to a one-time unforesee settlement. Prior to finalizing this midyear budget day, all departments work together to achieve uh $215,000 in cost reduction to reduce the deficits. Uh if we did not have the unforesee one-time settlement, the city might have been able to achieve a general fun balance budget. Next slide, please. This slides provides update and projections for general funds operating. As you can see, sorry, this slide shows the projections for the general fund revenue by category. And as you may see the breakdowns and we projected a total

increase in the amount of $946,000 and I'm not going to go into a detail of each line items and if you have any questions please feel free to ask me if not then I will go to the next slide. This slide shows the general fund transfer in along with a breakdown below where those transfers come from and where they are for and what they are for. Any questions? I I have show all the breakdown and explanation there. Next slide please. This pie chart shows our general fund revenue projection in dollar amounts. Next slide please. This pie chart shows our general fund revenue projections by percentage. Next slide, please. This slide shows projected general fund expenditures by category, highlighting increases and decreases with a detailed breakdown below. Total projected expenditures are expected to increase by $690,000. As of June 30, total projected general

fund expenditures is going to be 45,684,000 before transfers out. and I will have a slide to show the breakdown of the transfer out. If no question I go to the next slide. Thank you. This slide shows the general transfer out along with a breakdown below of what they are for. No question. Next slide. This is the pie chart. Shows our general fund expenditure projections by category in dollar amounts. Next slide, please. This pie chart shows our general fund expenditure projections by category in percentage. Next slide please. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections by department. Any questions on this slide? If no, we go to the next one. This pie chart shows general fund expenditure by projections

uh with projections by department in dollar amount. And the next one please. Next one is in percentage. Next slide please. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections for administration. Next slide please.

Rose, really quick on the uh No, it's not this one. Go ahead. Sorry about that. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections for community development. Next slide please. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections for finance. Next slide please. This slides shows general fun expenditure projections for police.

I just want to say on this one really quick. Yes, I'm happy to see that there was a $510,000 decrease um due to obviously there was some uh vacancies but also overtime reduction. So yes, I was glad to see that decrease there. Thank you, Rose.

Thank you. And thank you, chief. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections for public works. Next, please. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections for recreation and community services. Like I mentioned before uh before I finalized this update all department had come together we work to reduce uh courses and to help to reduce the deficit. Thank you. Next slide please. This slide shows general fund expenditure projections for nondep departmental cost.

What else? I have a quick question on this one here. Yes.

What is the uh cbt contribution? Oh. Uh that's the uh uh retirement uh trust uh post uh employment benefit trust account that we transfer money there. We have a resolution and policy. Every year if we have surplus after we completed the citywide addict 50% of the surplus will be sent to Kalpus and put it in the trust fund for the future to help the future liabilities.

Perfect. Thank you, Rose. Next, please. Next slide, please. This slide bring you the general fund projected summary for fiscal year 24 uh sorry 2526. Next, please. This slide shows you the general fund reserve balance. Next, please. This slide shows the special revenue and all other funds uh projection. Due to the time limitation, I'm not going into a detail for the special revenue and other funds.

Rose, just really quick back on our general refund reserve balance. Yes. So the projected for 2026 uh $12.1 million that's already accounting for the the deficit amount. So we're basically in a sense we're just basically moving the deficit amount from the re the reserve to the uh general fund to cover for that. Yes. This already included the transfer and deficit and all those. That's a projection as of June 30, 2026. Thank you, Rose.

However, it's not including other special revenue or or internal service fund in case we need to transfer money, but we are going to incorporate that if there are there is need in the upcoming fiscal year process. Yeah, we'll deal with that when we deal with the nucleus. Okay.

Yes. Thank you. Next, please. the city and all department head and staff will always take a proactive uh action and planning. This slide uh shows you the strategies to maintain physical stabilities. I am not going to go through every single one of them what we plan to do and I have uh review and discuss all of this during the ET meeting and we are also going to incorporate all this or and implement this in the new fiscal year project. Thank you very much. Next, please. The city also commissioned a community budget priority survey in early 2026 to consider for future budget planning. Residents emphasized the importance of a safety, clean and well-maintained community, strong public safety response and protection of quality life. Most uh some of the main priorities identified by Bowen Park residents are cleanup trash and litter in public areas, keeping city streets, infrastructure, parks and community facility clean and maintained. providing after school and youth employment programs, removing graffitis, repairing streets and potholes. Uh with the city council's uh guidance and

direction, the city has been doing all of these. However, we are going to continue to put that as a priorities in our upcoming year present. uh preparation. I also want to uh next please. Finally, I want to thank the honorable uh honorable mayor and members of city council for their continued efforts and commitment to making the city a better and safer place for the community. I also want to thank finance staff and the executive team for assisting with the preparation of this midyear budget update and the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026 projection. Next, please. Uh now we are well we are I welcome any uh more questions if you have from the city council and the mayor or and your direction or approve role of this midyear budget update and projections.

Thank you very much. Thank you Rose. Thank you for the presentation and I know it takes a lot of hard work going through all these numbers. I'll go ahead and open up to the council. Anyone have any questions?

Yeah, real quick. I just want to thank you and thank all the staff and it's amazing uh ending up with a deficit of 3 point what 3.5 something million dollars and able to look at the particulars. I want to thank all the staff members as well for for assisting the executive staff for finding areas that we could at least cut back for a meantime until such time we go into the next fiscal year. Uh but uh we've had these type of um issues before. So it's not the first time and of course the good part about that we have good leadership like yourself and all the executive members as well all those participants that were able to put this whole budget together. So it's meaningful uh and and being able to tack down what's important for the community. Thank you. Thank you mayor. Thank you for council loan. Go ahead.

Thank you. I too want to um thank you Rose and your staff for um providing such a detailed uh presentation. And I appreciate um always being transparent to us and being, you know, telling us the real, you know, what it's what it's all about. And I appreciate that. I also appreciate um all staff uh working to uh maintain services um at the highest level for our community. That's something that's very important. And I appreciate you um including the um priorities from the survey. I think that's very important to hear um from the community um what they feel is important and what services we need to continue to move forward with. And I think that um all of my colleagues up here would agree with all of the listings here in terms of um infrastructure and you know the cleanliness and the services and all of that. So I really appreciate it and I and uh thank you Rose. I appreciate it. Thank you mayor.

Thank you for that mayor prom. Uh, council member Abila or Estrada, any of you have any comments or questions?

Thank you, Mayor. Um, just want to echo our thank you to all of our staff. I know that it's uh never easy to have to, you know, talk about deficits, but it's important that we take them head on and that we do what we have to do to to get through it. As uh Council Member Lozano said, this is uh, you know, there's ups and downs in in our economies. There's ups and downs in our budgets. You know, it happens. As as much as we, you know, don't want to normalize this, it happens. But, you know, I'm confident that we have the proper staff to make sure that we move forward, that we reach stability, and that we that we get back to a better place. Um, you know, with that being said, I also want to make sure that, you know, these deficits are not, you know, deficits do not have to mean stagnation. And I think that this is an opportunity to make sure that we are finding partners that we are finding uh nonprofits uh non non-government organizations that uh provide these uh types of my these types of resources that we might need such as uh youth employment, youth programming, volunteering opportunities uh because sometimes they have funds that can uh align with some of our goals that we aren't able to fund ourselves and it creates those partnerships where we're still able to keep active and still uh make sure that we are meeting the demands of our residents and their needs. So I just wanted to make sure that we as we as we um you know get through this we also find this as an opportunity to augment our services one way or another.

Thank you for that council member.

Thank you mayor. Thank you Rose for all that work and the diligent time you take to make sure these numbers are working for us. Um, as stated before, it's not always easy to see our our budget drop below what we're used to. However, we have full trust in you that you do the best that you can to help us balance this budget. And yes, there is other ways to look for funding, whether it's grants or other organizations that come into our city. I know this is temporary and I really appreciate the fact that you have taken the time to make sure that you look at everything, every line item to see where we can cut back a little temporarily, of course, because our goal is always to provide a full budget and departments with uh everything that they need. So, thank you again, Rose, for for making this easier for us. Appreciate it. You

Thank you for that, Council Member Avul. And again, uh thank you, Rose. Uh I know it's it's not an easy job to go through all these numbers, but um I did want to thank uh chief and the police department uh for the cost savings of 500 and uh $10,000 as well as Maria and uh recreation and community services for uh almost $186,000 and public works for uh you know the close to $9,000 in in decreases. Um, I did go over the the numbers in the budget rows and on these strategies to maintain the fiscal stability. Um, I did not notice I mean I like I like your idea here and I think it's important but one of the things that I did not notice is you know addressing the unnecessary overtime as well as the unnecessary cost. Right. So I'm just going to just emphasize that we must and I'm going to capitalize must. Yes,

we must cut on all unnecessary overtime across the entire board. We must cost we must cut all unnecessary costs across the entire board and we also must look at any contracts or consultants that we don't need and try to save money on that across the entire board as well. Um, you know, I know that we still have a, you know, let's say a healthy reserve budget, right? Yes. But we we still haven't we still haven't looked at what we have coming in for the next next fiscal year. Yes. Um and and unfortunately we've you know we've come across some unforeseen lawsuits that really really hit us. Um but we can't forget what we have in the pipeline.

Yes. So that's why I emphasize that you know the executive team must take it very seriously when we say we need to cut unnecessary overtime costs consultants. Anything that we can do without, we must do without because, you know, few years from now, this reserve budget is not going to look like this. So, we need to make sure that we're fiscally responsible, not just now, but for years to come. Yes. And, you know, I I will echo what some of my council colleagues have said. It's not, you know, the deficit it's not the end of the world,

right? We're still in an okay situation as of now, but I'm looking ahead and I'm looking at what we have and we just need to make sure that we are addressing the the costs uh you know cutting costs where we can because I don't want it to get to a point to where we may have to make some drastic decisions that none of us up here are going to want to make. So, I'm just going to emphasize on that. I want to say that all of you guys have done a great job and I know we're doing a great job with what we've got. Um, and this is where we need to really, really come together and work together as a team to make sure we're doing what we can so that we can keep this team intact and we can be fiscally responsible moving forward. Thank you, mayor, for your direction and emphasizing on these key points. And I will make sure I will pay very very close attention to these items that you just mentioned during our budget process.

Thank you again. Thank you so much, Rose. And you need a a motion to approve this. Yes, please. You got a motion from council member Avulan. Can I get a second? A second. Second by Mayor Prom Ayala. City clerk, can we get roll call? Council member Aila. Council member Estrada. Yes. Council Lazala. Yes. Mayor Promayala. Yes. Mayor Damian. Yes. Motion carries. 5-0.

Thank you for that. City clerk. All right. We're moving on to the uh end of the agenda. We're down to city council, city clerk, city treasure, and staff requests and communications. Anyone have any uh staff requests or communication? uh as I came in late and first of all sorry that it was late but I just want to also add regarding Cesar Chavez that we remove the the sign that we have Cesar Chavez sign along Morgan Park also the amphitheater and of course that mural is going to come down you know let let me also ask something about the mural and I know that came after the fact prior to them placing the mural up there but I don't know how how you know without due respect to to um Congress member uh Estean Torres in 1992 when I was a planning commissioner. I met him at the event that they had over at the um at the uh Marriott. He was our congressperson at that time followed by Matthew Martinez uh followed by u Hill Solis followed by Judy Chu followed by uh who did I miss again? Oh uh Grace Napolitano and um obviously now we have uh Congressman Neil uh Cisneros. I'm just kind of curious how how obviously I wasn't here, but how did they come out with with all due respect to that person's name on that that building? I mean, what's wasn't the comp?

Are you talking about the new building? Yeah. Yes. Yes. Without all due respect, in other words, but go ahead. So, that that's another reason why we're pulling all that item. There's a big thing behind the whole thing. Yes. So, there's other things that we need to discuss about that.

All right. All right. That's right. And again, you know what what happened today uh is interesting and uh I didn't share when I went up to Lasanos, that little town, my dad's brother, uh work for a company. So, he drove a big huge Caterpillar inside, air conditioned the whole thing. I told my brother, I told my dad, "Hey, asked my uncle, ask your brother, it's my dad's brother, if I could go up there to see what the feels like." And he said, "Oh, no. He's crazy. He's crazy. No way you're going to come up here." Um so, I ended up going up there. Uh and u worked there for about two weeks. And um they didn't want to hire me, but eventually they hired me. Uh somehow they thought I was born out of the United States. They hired me for two weeks. And I'll tell you one thing, working those fields with that hole and going like this, getting up at 4:30 in the morning, get out in that field, it's hard work. And then of course, um I would let go after two weeks because they said I wasn't fast enough. But I had an opportunity to be able to at least uh u um actually have a firsthand of how what it is to work in the field. And about three weeks there or prior to that, I got to meet Cesar Chavez in front of that field with a lot of people and and now unfortunately he's tainted. Obviously the guys passed but the lower sweat still stands. So I just wanted to share that. But thank you for that and clarifying that for me council member Aila.

Yes. Thank you mayor. Thank you for that council loan. Council member Aila. Yes. And just back on uh what uh council member Lozano um it was a discussion that I actually I had already had with um with Manny, but because it's so touchy, we need to make sure we have everything correct. There's a process for everything and we want to make sure we have the process correct before we even move forward with anything. That's why it was better to just pull that item from the agenda. That way they can look at all the processes, make sure that we're doing everything correctly. Um, on another note, I just want to follow up on my pocket parks to make sure that we're starting to do the research on uh the not my pocket parks, our pocket park.

Uh, the butterfly theme and the hummingbird theme. Um, if we could start looking into that to see what we're going to look at. I already have some pictures of sculptures that we can put there. I know I asked for a fountain and council member is we have a draw one. We don't right now. We may in the future, but if we could start looking into those pocket park designs and see what we're going to be doing because before you know it, it's going to be coming up and then we can start looking for grants as well. Um because as you know, we have those checks there for our parks that we have been receiving a lot of money. Thank you. By the way, parks and recreation, Maria, where are you? That's right.

We we got a lot of money this um past Tuesday. So, thank you for that. It it's always exciting to see parks and new places where our community can go and spend time with the family and just enjoy the city of Bubble Park. Thank you. Thank you for that. Uh Council Aila, anyone else have any? Yeah, mayor. Go ahead.

Thank you. Yeah, I think we all share the same sentiment about all the news that breaking out. I will say for Stean Torres that is a private development. We don't have a say on the naming of that building. Um you know say it's sort of it's tragic, right? because that is such an important u that development is going to benefit a lot of families. So, you know, we'll just kind of reserve our comments till we kind of have more information and a better uh idea of how we will uh navigate what's happening. Um I did want to give kudos to our public works department, our police, and all of our staff for taking care of our uh trees during the windy days. Uh on that tap on that topic, I know that we've lost a couple of palm trees and I would really ask that we consider that when we replace those palm trees, we replace them with trees that are more beneficial to us. Palm trees are, you know, they take up a lot of space, you know, they don't really provide any benefit. No shade, no no heat, no cooling effects. Um I'm sure we've all been feeling the heat at least this last week and it's been incredibly hot. Uh and keeping in mind that a lot of our residents are living in older housing. Uh our housing stock is older. uh you know the I mean it's really really important that we push towards making sure that we are having higher quality of air and of course cooler temperatures um and and so you know more more native trees just trees that are going to provide more benefit um also thank you to staff for you know securing those grants uh very very excited to see that Hill Park will soon have a um a uh a redesign which I think has been in you know just been in dire need have one, you know, just kind of to be fair and those residents deserve a neat park and of course it's named after Hilda who has been a champion for Baldwin Park in the Sanger Valley and you know it's it's you know it's a little it's a little embarrassing to see that you know we have a park named after somebody and it's deteriorating and of course point the park which is highly needed and of course a very special project to me um just want to say thank you to staff

because I know that it's taken a lot of work and also um the uh cog has asked for a letter of support for best value contracting uh which might be beneficial to us as well as we try to build and we're trying to uh get into construction of multiple projects. Um so I would ask that staff look into the request and if it's something that you feel may be beneficial not just for the cog but also for us as a general law city I would ask that we send a letter of support on behalf of the city of Ballpark. Very good. Is that is there a consensus to have all council members names on that letter? It would it would be better if it comes off as a full-on city support. I believe if everybody's okay with that. Very good. Thank you,

Estrada. Uh Mayor Pum, did you have any comments? No. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for that. Um I just want to echo what uh my colleagues have just said. First, I want to thank uh Congressman Gily Snadows last week on Tuesday. Uh we were really excited to receive a check for $3.1 million. uh that's going to go towards the um construction of the uh Terry and Muse Family Service Center which is desperately needed. So, we're you know a quarter ways there more or less. So, I know we still got some doors to go knock on and I know we've sent a couple letters. So, hopefully we get some good news on that. And then like most of you guys said, you know, I'm glad that my council colleagues were able to be there. I unfortunately uh uh my schedule did not permit for me to uh be there yesterday uh to receive the uh $462,000 check for the Hilda Solis design as well as a 300 $352,000 check for the Pente Park design. So, as you can see, staff does a really great job trying to go after these uh these grants, and we appreciate, you know, uh the supervisor as well as congressman and uh our assembly woman and and uh senator for always keeping us in mind. Uh but that doesn't mean that we're not going to continue knocking on the doors when we need some more funding. So, I just want to thank everyone uh staff uh you know, for the great work, and I'm really happy to see the decrease uh in the budget once again. Uh and just know that your work does not go unnoticed. We really appreciate everything that you guys do. Um, and with that, if there's no other comments, I will make a motion to adjurnn. Can I get a second or a second? We are adjourned at 8:27