Council - Special Meeting

Mr. Mayor, we're live. Thank you for that, David. Right. Today is May 6, 2026. The time is 5:08 p.m. And I'm now calling to order the Balden Park City Council special meeting. Uh, city clerk, can we please get a roll call? Mayor Damian here. Mayor Bromaya here. Council member Aila here. Council member Estrada. Council member Lozano here. Let the record reflect that council member Lstrada is not present at this time. Thank you for that. City clerk. All right. We're going to go ahead and go into public communication. City clerk. Did anyone have um let a speaker card?

No. At this time, no, mayor. At this time, we have not received requests for comment. If anyone is wishing to speak, uh now is your time. You got three minutes. Right. I see no interest, I'll now close uh public communications. We're going to go into the uh open session study session. First, we're going to start with the um Esteban E Torres village project mural uh discussion at 14625 Ramona Boulevard. Uh Manny, you want to go ahead and take that?

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, we have representatives from the Caesar Chavez Foundation here as well as the artist and they were they're going to provide an update in regards to the mural and receive city council feedback so we can make sure that the mural reflects reflects the community's needs and desires and wishes. So at this point, invite the Caesar Chavez Foundation representatives up. Good afternoon, uh, Mr. Mayor, uh, city council members, uh, the city manager and, uh, staff. Uh, my name is Steven Hernandez. I'm the director of, uh, business development for the foundation. My colleague here, Caesar Tilo, is the, uh, director of, uh, project management for our project team. Um, and then I have the mirror list here, uh, uh, Levi Pon and his son Eli to get the experience of, uh, convening a civic, uh, civic, uh, tutor on on what he needs to do. But first, I'd like to just maybe go back a couple steps on talk about like our official statement of given in light of what's happened. I know a lot of people don't know the the statement from the the foundation and the family, but on the Caesar Chavez standpoint, we want I'd like to read it for record. I do have copies uh for everyone. Uh I can hand it off to the city clerk to hand it out after. Um but uh I'd like to just say like and I'm just going to go through uh main the big highlight points on it because it's kind of a long thing and I know we're here for the the mural update but uh given the relevations about Caesar Chavez and his sexual abuse of women and underage minors are shocking, incredibly disappointed and deeply painful. This goes against complete this goes completely against our commitment to justice and community empowerment. Uh to the survivors, we believe you. We honor your courage and we are very sorry for the harm you have

buried uh in the shadows for so long. The Caesar Chavez Foundation acknowledges its prevalence in of the abuse of women and children and we are committed to restorative justice healing and for those who have been harmed and to ensure the organization reflects the dignity and the safety of every person uh that they deserve. Uh we are working with leaders in the field of sexual abuse and trauma. With our help, we'll figure out the best way to support his work through the foundation and part of a broader solution to raise awareness and prevent mistreatment of women, especially in the communities that we advocate for. As the movement was not about one man, it belonged to a series of people that uh helped make the movement what it is today. So that's kind of the the brief update on that just to show that you know we are supportive. uh the foundation is uh moving forward in the interim period uh calling us the foundation or just CCF uh and in late August when the board is going to h have a vote on what our future uh name is going to be as the foundation uh proceeds and our sister organizations. Um, and then for the uh since we have a long-term partnership, you know, once we heard we were concerned about the uh the inclusiveness of everything on how we uh do the mural, uh we we talked to the uh uh the board. They nominate someone who name every project development off of it and we have a mural that reflects the the person uh who we named for the movement. Um we I know there was a process that we kind of maybe might have skipped after we meeting with the family and the passionate and uh uh Mr. Pon kind of went off that those instructions, but right now I would what I'd like to see is maybe hear your feedback on what your suggestions are so we could be an open ear and a and a good partner and then uh kind of have uh Mr. Pon kind of create something new or or how we could incorporate it to meet uh the needs of uh inclusion of the the city's comments

and then the spirit of the family and uh Mr. Steon Torres overall. So, and then we'll come back at another city council meeting and see if that's if we're on the right track and then uh we'll commission uh to do a redo or uh include some stuff in the in the uh in the mural itself. So, we're here more to to hear your comments how what what we could do uh better on it or what we would like to see included in the overall uh mural process. Mayor, perfect. Thank you for that. Go ahead, Mayor Pen.

Thank you. First of all, I'd like to thank the three of you for being here today. I appreciate it. Um I appreciate the um you being here to to uh support us. I I've read your statement prior. I've I've I've heard of it. Um and I appreciate you being inclusive of our our city council and what we would like to see. Um I would have appreciated maybe that being done prior to, you know, what had occurred. Um, but I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason and uh we're at where we are now. So, like I said, I appreciate you being here. I I want to acknowledge the artist because I I appreciated your work. Great job. And thank you for um putting the attention you did uh so quickly uh when it was brought to um the foundations uh our concerns regarding it. Um and I and I I'm interested in also hearing what my colleagues want to say. But first of all, like I said, thank you for being here and uh for in inclusiveness of us because I think like I said that should have been done prior. So thank you for being here though. Thank you for the work you do and for the movement and what it stands for. Thank you.

Anyone else wishing to ask any questions or give any feedback? Go ahead.

Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for being here. Um it's unfortunate you guys were also put in a very tough situation and the whole family as well was put in a tough situation. I completely understand uh it is beyond anyone's control what anyone person does and the fact that that you put out this statement it's it's good. I think it's good and and it's unfortunate. I know what he did was wrong, but unfortunately his family continues to to hear a lot of different comments that are I'm sure not appreciated and it's hurtful to them. So, I I feel for them as well. I just want you to know that that I feel bad for the family members that are still with us because they had nothing to do with it yet. they're being uh singled out because of what one person did. So, I appreciate you being here and reading the statement and clarifying a few things and working with us on that mural. So, thank you.

Thank you for that, Council Member Avula. Anyone else wishing to uh ask any questions or have comments?

Yeah, I I I I just have comment. Well, first of all, thank you uh for being here today. Had an opportunity to meet Levi that day. He came out and uh painted over uh the mural there. Excellent job cuz I was trying to figure how's he going to do this but what what artistic I just want to say it's incredible to be able to see someone who specializes as an expert in that particular field but I I was amazed. Um think like the the only question I have is how the foundation or I wasn't on the council. How did they come out with Stean Torres? With all due respects I had an opportunity to meet him as a planning commissioner back in 1992. He represented this this region. Uh followed by uh Ma um Marty Martinez and then followed also by Hildo Ciz. Then we had Judy Chu. Then we had um remind me Judy Chu and uh Politano uh as we went on and obviously now we have K. So I was just kind of curious uh h how that how that works because obviously you have this project based on the fact that you're coming to Ball Park and the funding will go through the state and federal government based on the city of Ball and Park. Is that is that how you normally work uh that the foundation u u provides the actual name versus the city?

I'm just kind of curious how that works. So what we try to do in every all our developments I know maybe for more transparency to work together at long-term partnership we might have missed a step to kind of get that um but how the foundation approaches every development is uh like they have names nominated of who helped uh uh the movement into where it's at today and and continued to do it or or post uh do uh uh development and um we we get then they go to the board and the board votes on uh who who they want to recognize. for the development. They try to get someone that was local or regional like we have in Premona Chris Hartmmy Palaza there and then uh Plaza David Ortiz in the uh in uh Almani and Vista JJ Rodriguez in um in Montabalo. So we kind of do that but uh you know we do I think we we will add going forward a step where we making sure we're long-term partners. we're not going to leave uh you know for we're in per perpetuity with our developments but having that step I think it's it's only respect and uh long-term partnership and showing that we are transparent in in our process of say this is what the city would like to see and then what the board and have that and then we meet with the families and if the families supportive of it or not then that's how we

I don't want I don't want to thank you the the cause obviously we know what happened is just terrible but the mere fact is the cause was there there and the cause continues to move forward and it's important for us as well to recognize the importance of what uh the farm workers have done. So just want to ask that question. I met him in person a great person and accomplished and achieved a lot. So I just want that question. Thank you very much. I thank all three of you for being here and being transparent. Thank you very much. Thank you mayor. Thank you for that. Did you have anything to say?

Thank you mayor. No I just want to thank the u CCF for all the work you've been doing. I know it's been a um couple of uh years in the making and you know I see you here and I also I've seen you on the uh on the other side at the regional housing trust so I know that it takes it takes a lot to make these projects happen and you know as my my colleagues have said and councilwoman have said you know we can't control one individual has done but you know we can't let that you know come and come and interfere in the work that's being done and uh let it affect the people that are still here and doing that work. So you know we appreciate you. We appreciate um everybody that's doing the work. you know, we're we're here to to work with you.

Thank you for that, Council Ma. Um I like my colleagues have said, first I want to thank you guys for being here. Uh the project is a great project. It's a beautiful building. Um and to be honest with you, I thought the mural that you guys had done in the first place. It looked great to me. I mean, I think that it hit, you know, what we were trying to accomplish there. Uh unfortunately, you know, you guys had to uh remove certain aspect of the image, but I you know, either way, I think that the mirror was still, you know, was was nice looking to me. Um I appre appreciate your partnership in addressing, you know, the unforeseen and unexpected situation, but we must move forward, right? Um and although as painful it is to the families, you know, we still have, you know, things to do to move forward. So, I'd like to see I don't know if Manny, but I'd like to see, you know, if there's any options that you guys will be able to bring to us or what ideas that you guys have, you know, for the mural there. Yeah. I Yeah, I' I'd like to say if or share a few comments. I will follow up with an email. I have Caesar, Richard, and Levi's email, and I have a a few random thoughts that I uh was researching. So, I will share that with you. But some of the themes are see cue through generations roots uh of the community hands that build hope the four pillars which be education health culture housing and then from fields to f futures and then uh neighborhood of dreams. So, I will share these uh items with with you, but I'm I'm hoping when you return the next time that you have a few conceptuals or you're able to elaborate a little bit more on some of the some of the themes. I think the hiccup that we had this time around was that uh the mural was supposed to be pre-approved by the city

council and unfortunately we we missed that step. So this time we have uh an opportunity to to set it right. So we're we're hoping to take full advantage of that opportunity and make sure we receive a mural. And I believe this might be our first mural in the community. Um so we are we would obviously like to take ownership of that mural of that mural. I'll send this email off to you and uh looking forward to seeing uh what you folks uh generate. Levi, you're uh an an incredible artist. What you did that Saturday morning was phenomenal. So, thank you. My hat is off to you and your your son should be very proud of his father. I do have one thing just off the cuff that when when the the incident happened, I was sitting on my table just kind of like just thinking and reminiscing of all the the stuff and this is not the official CCF statement, but I you know said it the statement says it itself but in terms of like inspiring we're like we're the movement. Everybody in this room is a movement. So I made these little stickers from Amazon that says like we are the movement but it's not from CCF. just more I started giving out to my uh my associates because there's some people that like you really really passionate and personal they why they continue the the movement that we're stand on shoulders of people who've led the the path for uh us today and so I have these stickers I got like six of them but you know it's not like a gift or anything I'm just say like I just I felt that comforting to say like no we're we are the movement together and how we we partnership together just like the mural and naming it like that's we need to be more inclusive in that moving forward because you know we're all together in one place to move forward for the next generation to come. So that I'll leave this here with them.

Yeah. And I I just want to I just want to thank you Stephen for that. And yes, I'll take a sticker myself and being a daughter of uh of um my father worked in in the as a farm worker, you know, during the during the summers and taking his younger siblings. So I appreciate um what the movement stands for, like I said, and and what it's all about, you know. So, um, moving forward, I look forward to a positive collaboration with all of you, and I look forward to seeing, um, what kind of conceptuals you you bring, Levi. We're we're excited about that. So, thank you. Go ahead, Crystal.

Oh, thank you, Mayor. Um, I just wanted to kind of piggyback off what you've talked about, which is being inclusive. And I think one of the most important things is to recognize that the farm workers, you know, they're, you know, it's a it's obviously a very heavily Chico uh movement, but uh farm workers look very different. Um and so does this community is very diverse. And you know, I I think uh recognizing that there's also been uh Filipino American uh farmers and and farmers from all over the world uh doing this, I think would be neat, especially because we do have a diverse community in the well, Ballpark is a diverse community. So, just kind of keeping those aspects in mind as well as uh as Manny mentioned, this is our this is our very first painting mural. So, you know, it's very um it's exciting. I I personally believe that public art is very important in the community. We just uh just wanted to kind of throw that feedback in there.

Thank you for that, Council. Anyone else have any questions before let them go? No. Well, thank you guys very much for Go ahead. I just want to say thank every I just want to thank everybody for their time and uh like somebody I think it uh Jean said uh things happen for a reason and u I was very disappointed uh that whole week that whole month I still am. I think a lot of people were hurt. Um but it really is a beautiful opportunity that we're presented here with today. An opportunity to make the mural not only more inclusive but more representative of the area. Um it would be ideal to not change the mural too much. Uh it's been approved by the family. It really captured the spirit of Mr. Torres's work. But we're in an ideal position where we're in a place that he served and a place that he's known. And so by pulling by this from this neighborhood, we're not really taking away from that mural, but adding to it. And so it's just an opportunity to make the mural stronger, make it better. Uh what happened is incredibly unfortunate. Um and it's all been said before, but uh again, it's just an opportunity to make the mural better, stronger. Uh I look forward to that email. We'll make sure and bring concepts next time we come. Um one or two and hopefully we can dial it in from there uh together. Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you. And thank you for your talent. Very talented. Thank you very much. Thank you guys very much. Appreciate you guys being here. Thank you. All right. Now, we're going to move on to the um mobile food truck vendors presented by Okina Door, director of community development. Okina.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and member of the council. Um Charles or David, if you'll be able to bring that up and there it goes. Perfect. Um, for the rest of the council, um, I'd pass out an enlarged version of the PDF itself for you to follow in the event, uh, if you're like me having to squint at the screen from a distance. So uh just share with you tonight is an extension of what took place um a few months ago with regards to our discussion with a limitation uh and time frame of the uh of the vending for food and really mobile food vendor as well as uh food truck and and vendor itself. So slide number two uh next slide please. This is the existing code uh you have the enlarged version in front of you um that we have in place. What it really comes down to is that our code limits no more than 10 minutes at a single location or in a single location which is not practical. And there's also a requirement of the distance. if it were to relocate, it's at least 100 ft from um the existing location or consecutive stops for the vendor. Next slide, please. So, uh an overview of what was shared last month or a few months ago is a total of seven um I know there's a typo in in this page here still. Um food trucks that was licensed and permitted by the city. The two that uh everyone is very familiar with are Cali Sweets Inc. and the um uh the grill portion that's right in front of the uh Target shopping

center. There's an aerial photo that where they typically strategically located at uh throughout community in addition to what we observe, we see and what was uh shared by community members as well. Next slide please. Uh this slide kind of give you an overview of the purpose and the intended purpose is to allow mobile food truck vendors to operate within a given time frame. Uh the second component of that is allowing food truck um and vendors to only operate along specific street location within the city. that would stem off of the discussion and overview of uh prior uh city council meeting. Um next slide please. So the initial council meeting happened on March 4th, 2026. during that study session. This slide represent a snapshot an overview of um what was discussed and the slide that is uh in front of you is a a revised slide that uh took out the graphic so for easier reading purpose and we kind of wiped that out so it'll come out very clear. Number one, we had a discussion with regarding confiscation of food and as a result of our discussion, no conf uh confiscation of food uh was expected or intended due to um many issues such as health and safety, capacity and manpower um and the disposal aspect of that. Right. with the latest and greatest um food recycling program. You know, we you have to take

that into account as well. Uh bullet number two is no blocking of driveways, pedestrian access, ADA, public rideways, uh access, entrance and exit, etc. Um this is to maintain uh a free and clearance uh requirement complaints issues that's happening throughout the community and prevent uh liability not just on the vendors private property ownership as well as public rightway where the city is solely responsible for. Bullet number three is allowing food trucks uh vendors at events as is considered whether it's city sponsored events or private events and I believe the city council uh during the last discussion somewhat support both aspect um you know we're going to do that how do we regulate it and that's going to spark the next discussion within our uh evening tonight and the intent is to capture every and all component that was discussed. Uh bullet number four is uh state and uh state regulation and restriction. As our city attorney shared um along with staff um that we cannot restrict maximum allowable state code doesn't allow us to do that but we could take uh we could regulate and restrict only time, place and manner. So, with regards to where we allow it, time frame we allow it, and how we're going to regulate it or enforce it, um, or licensing it. Uh, bullet number five, uh, restriction of mobile food trucks and vendors, um, streets and location. And what we're uh following this we're

going to identify the different location that both myself our code enforcement team and code for code enforcement supervisor review and analyze every street and area within the city look at traffic circulation parking access in ingress egress what's allowed for parking what's not allowed to maintain health safety and circulation of the community and minimize and prevent any potential liability not just on uh us as a city but within the vendors within private properties and within the general public as well and for the welfare of our public. Uh the last bullet is restriction of competing businesses in front or next to the existing fixed business. So that's one of the concern that was brought up by uh our council member during the discussion. Uh next next slide please. So the next slide give you an overview snapshot of the main specific item that we had a very lengthy and robust discussion about. Number one is the hours restriction. Did this include all vendors? Based on our last discussion there was a component that give an exemption for ice cream vendors. Um so at the last discussion so this is a breakdown of what we currently have what is being considered or proposed during a discussion and this is not fixed this could be you know this is a moving part it's a discussion giving staff direction and further clarification so that way we could turn over the information to get assistance from our legal counsel to see how we can draft the ordinance and bring that before back before the uh the city

council for consideration and adoption. So number one, our restriction for all vendors for now except for ice cream um vendors is the current situation is 7 days a week from 9 to 8:00 p.m. And the proposed time the council wanted to give some flexibility by allowing Sunday through Thursday, the typical slower days from 9:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. And this align with um safety um impacts as well as um noise impact or traffic impact related to the typical day-to-day operation and also consider you know the the maximum potential usage on a Friday and Saturday where people have more time to spend and uh enjoy uh the weekend. for Friday and Saturday. Um, our discussion was from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 pm with that flexibility within that classification. The exemption aspect with regards to ice cream vendor, the limitation was to maintain a status quo 8 uh 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. keeping it in the same sync as what's existing. um staff me myself uh I recommend if you're going to regulate anything uh of similar sort is uh to remove this restriction because it prevents us singling out a use or a category of use or specific vendors per se. And what's not to say where if we have a venue, whether city sponsored or private, request for a special event to

have a a food truck rally, for example, why would we exclude oursel or or at least from a staff perspective, please explain the reason why for that exemption and and that exclusion? If you have a variety of food trucks and uh to eliminate or prevent an ice cream truck to participate in that venue by the limit limited hours um it would not be beneficial to that or if there's any other reason. I get the limitation of it for the purpose of schools and parks activity due to safety and potential um child safety issues or human trafficking or what have you um that we hear you know years past based on issues what's going out there. But um to prevent any liability on the city and the community, uh I would recommend um the removal of that restriction and um our city attorney can elaborate a little bit more on that when we start having that discussion. Uh timeline or time limit. Currently, we have the 10-minute restriction and the distance of 100 ft. And of course during our discussion what's being proposed as part of the consideration is Sunday to Thursday 4hour max Friday and Saturday we want to give more flexibility 6 hour uh uh 6 hour max uh location and restriction. So right now there's nothing in place and what what I'm going to share after this is the proposed aerial photo of the area within our entire community and I'll explain um the specific location reason why in addition to any other potential location that the council want to consider and discuss um there's a potential

opportunity there. The last component is competing business restriction. Right now there's nothing in place but I understand from the discussion we want to protect our fixed businesses from a competitive business or competitive vendor that comes into our community. Let's just say we have King's Taco and a taco truck want to come in and compete against King Taco. It takes away out of our business. Well, if they have a business license with the city coming from the city, they're also the revenue source is coming from the city itself. Um there's not much of an issue, but we understand the competition or we want to we also understand protecting our fixed business location as well. Um, at this point I want to give an opportunity for the council to see and to share if I'm what staff is sharing is what basically somewhat wrap up an overview of the gist of March's um, discussion and communication. if I got the information correct or accurate. If you want to have further discussion and elaboration on that, I think it's an opportunity time and then after that we'll go to the uh the location aspect a little bit after. Does anyone have any questions in reference to um the uh presentation that we have so far uh in regards to what's current and what's proposed? Oh, mayor. Go ahead.

Yeah, I mean, so thank you Okina and staff for taking your time to do this. I know it's a big discussion we've been having for the past couple of years. I would say that the the you know, we if we're setting a we're setting hour restrictions, I I really don't see why we would then go and set another time limit, which is a restriction upon a restriction. So we've already restricted what they're going to the hours that they can operate and then we want to restrict how many hours they can operate within those restricted hours, right? So I mean to me it just seems like we're kind of double putting in double restrictions and so you know that's one. Two I think that we you know I'll bring it up again later but I do think that we need to meet with the with the street vendors and kind of understand what their operations look like. Um because I can't imagine that somebody's going to want to have payroll, have to go get the prepare the, you know, prepare their their their truck, prepare their g their their items or produce, whatever they need, and then come for four hours and then leave again, right? So, you know, if we've already, you know, so that's I mean, two two of my my some of the well, one of the main issues that I'm kind of seeing here is kind of restrict restriction upon a restriction. So, uh, council member that for clarification is what you're discussing the time limit. You're basically opposed to us um enforcing a time limit for them to be there for a maximum of four hours Sunday through Thursday and six hours Friday through Saturday. I would

Friday and Saturday. Yeah. If well if we already have the hours restriction then I I don't see the need for the time limit. But it also depends on the the food vendor itself, right? And the the setup when are we start when do we start counting the setup time, right? I mean, it takes, you know, food vendor is not going to just show up, park, and then they're ready to sell and then everybody shows up, right? It takes a little bit of time to set up, put everything in place, uh things like that. So, yeah.

So, I'm and I'm going to be honest with you, I'm okay with us proposing uh the hours for them in reference to, you know, Sunday to Thursday from 9 to 10 and then Fridays, you know, uh and Saturday 9 to 12. I'm good with that because I think we have to restrict those hours. But you're correct. I think number one, how are we going to enforce the hours, right? How are we going to know what time a vendor showed up left? So, and look, if you're a business, I don't think that you're going to show up at 9:00 in the morning, be there till 12 midnight. I'm just being blunt, right? It's not you're not a brick and mortar where you're going to have shift rotations on a food truck. So I can do without the restriction of the amount of hours that they could be their maximum, but I think that we should still move forward with restricting of the hours that they're allowed to operate until or before. So are you guys okay? Let's start with the with the proposed hours from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Are you guys all okay with those proposed hours? Okay, so we're good with the proposed hours for that. Okina, now

wonderful. Are we all okay with eliminating the time limit? Number one, because I think it's going to be logistically impossible for us to enforce. And number two, uh you do have a good point. You know, I don't I don't really see a food vendor coming in at 9:00 in the morning till 10:00 p.m. or or 12 midnight. So, I would be okay to go with along with Council Member Estrada and just eliminating the amount of hours that they can be there. Are you guys okay with that? Okay. So, then Okay. I know you've got consensus on on both of these. We're going to continue the proposed hours that you have there from 9 to 10 Monday to Thursday, 9 to 12:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday. And then we're going to lift the restrictions and not put a maximum hour allowed uh to operate.

Okay. One clarification for myself so that way we could share the the fine-tuned perspective of this to um when our city attorney assists us in drafting the ordinance. uh ice cream truck vendor. Are you wanting to clump all that as part of food truck or vendors itself? So this will capture all of the above. Okay.

So we have food truck vendors, we have street vendors, we have cart vendors and everything else in between. Right? So, from the last discussion, from what I took from my notes, um, and correct me if I'm wrong, um, I'm giving you an overview of what is captured at the last discussion. Um, the council wanted to separate ice cream truck or ice cream vendors as a separate category, as an exemption. Um, if the council or the group agrees to remove that and just leave the general hour restriction, I I get the the time limit aspect.

I I think that was my concern. My

correct. Correct. So from a regulation aspect, so one one of the biggest key about drafting the core uh the code is the enforcement aspect of it. We could draft all the laws and all the codes and all the requirement we want just like what we currently have in place but if we don't have the teeth the regulatory agents uh authority to regulate and the ma most important part the manpower to regulate that uh you know what what's amazing about our community we have our own PD effort of our chief of our captain of our lieutenant of our sergeant and our deputies We've been working side by side along with code enforcement to enforce this and the chief and his team has done a tremendous job outside the normal working hours to assist in in that aspect. So the key part of making the code is it something that's enforceable whether with the assistance of PD whether it's um my job and my goal is to have enforcement coverage for code enforcement who is the who is the enforcer of city laws and codes municipal codes seven days a week but we don't have the manpower to enforce 247 but with the assistance of PD could help on the off hour, but we want to minimize that aspect. So, enforcement is key, right?

And city attorney wanted to clarify something for you really quick. And I think there's a distinction there between the roaming roaming ice cream vendors versus ones that are stationary. So, I think the code could include uh a restriction on roaming and we could define what that means. You know, that they're not stopping for any more than 10 minutes at a time or something like that in residential neighborhoods. I think that's usually the concern that that was the concern that I voiced was that um we didn't want that going on in neighborhoods, you know, after a certain hour. So I I you know what I mean? Because they're like, you know, with their their

music. So I think that was the comment made was regarding the roaming and with the, you know, with the loud music because they're they they're allowed to go, you know, where they're going. But I think that's what it's about. I think that if there's like a little stipulation that it should be okay. I think we can draw a distinction there. They're two different kinds and okay,

you know, Amay and I are discussing and we both agree I don't think it's a good idea for PD to get involved with of more with the enforcement because as it is um there's already a lot out there going on that um that they're working with ICE that they're doing this that they're doing that and I think if they were to start enforcing those moment mobile like the little carts and all that, it wouldn't give them a good image. I think it will put them in a bind and the whole idea is the trust of the community and them working with the community. And if they see a police officer pulling over a little ice cream vendor or an elote guy, I I don't think that would go well with our community. That's my thought, Chief. I don't know how you feel about that.

I agree. as well. You know, one of the things that it's the relationship that we've developed over the years that we've been here together, it it has improved quite a bit. And I would want I wouldn't want to fracture that by being an enforcer of municipal codes. Uh if we, you know, we have gone by and have asked them to leave, you know, and they they they comply. So, we can continue to do that when we get them uh when we get that. But if we actually start following people like like you said, we will cause I think we'll cause the council some concerns as well with the community as well. Yeah. Mayor,

I think the the key is in addition to that, we as a as staff, as a community, as a city council, we have to look at what is our our priority, right? We have the priority of public safety, maintaining peace from law enforcement. We have the enforcement aspect of code enforcement and regular city staff. Um, if we shift the priority of what law enforcement PD need to do to offset these regulatory agents or these regulatory requirement, does that diminish the quality of service as well? because it takes time and you know there's priority when dispatch gets a call and complaints or what have you that comes into play and typically usually those when PD is involved or need assistance is typically coming from the city manager Carlos or myself that stem off of your complaints that we receive and we try to do what we can to offset that or to soften that that blow um to mitigate the issues and the problem but it does take away from the everyday stuff, especially in the evening that we do.

Go ahead, council.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor. I just wanted to piggy back off councilwoman's uh comments and and I and I agree. I mean, you know, well, for one, you know, we don't want residents thinking that, you know, they can call up 911 every time they see a street vendor. Like, that's for one, that's not a proper use of resources. We I think, you know, I mean, I've been on a couple of ride alongs and I know that, you know, PD's busy. Um, you know, this would be you know, we we'd be coming off as punitive, urging, things like that. Yes, there's may there may be a time and a place for PD to get involved. If a situation if a situation has escalated, right? We're not saying it's a street vender, let them do whatever they want. If it's a street vendor, they're breaking some sort of law that calls for PD intervention, then by all means, right? But don't want to give the idea that when code enforcement is off the clock that PD now takes on this role of uh code enforcement because it's not just it doesn't look good. I know that uh residents are already in general have already been, you know, their their their senses are heightened around law enforcement and and law enforcement operations. Um and so we just don't want to do that. And as chief said, you know, we've been working on our relationship with the community and we'd hate to, you know, we'd hate to kind of risk that over something so so so minimal, so punitive. Um so I I didn't want to just kind of bring that to your attention and and really focus on that. Right. Our priority is yes, you know, we want to have regulations. Yes, we want to make sure that we're being fair to everybody, but I think the most important thing here is community trust and community partnerships and being able to work with people and knowing that uh you know, nobody's going to feel like they're working in the shadows, right? I don't want we wouldn't want a street vendor to feel like they can't come to PD if something happens to them or uh things like that. They are at at the end of the day eyes on the streets and they are they can be valuable to to everybody. Okay, so we've got about five minutes to wrap this up before we go into proation.

I have a quick question if I can. Uh, Okina, currently, what is your code enforcement's coverage? Well, with our new fill in vacancy, my goal is to to establish coverage seven days a week. Do you have coverage seven days a week? Right now, we do through an OT aspect on or as needed basis. our staff have been very um accommodating to address the needs of the community and the council. So what would you say 8 to what or what is the hours? What are

um enforcement range from 7:30 to 6 in regular hours or 8:00 but we don't want to really disclose that to the general public. We want Well, I understand that. I'm just I'm just asking myself. Yeah. From our perspective internally, hopefully till 8:00 p.m. in the evening. And you're looking at 7 days a week. 7 days a week, but the to the 8:00 p.m. is Friday, Saturday, and hopefully Sunday.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. So, I think we've got pretty much uh clear direction. The only thing that you need direction on now is the ice cream vendors. So, question for you real quick. Okay. Now, you have staff recommends removing restrictions. You have them currently from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and proposed 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. So just clarify what restrictions are we removing that you recommend to remove? Well, to separate that from the others, I I get I understand now the uh the council perspective is the the audio the audable audible um noise and activity based on residential. Um that we could carve out a different section that prohibits them from going through residential.

Yeah, I I think I think we've got direction. We're basically I think what he's saying is for the normal ice creams that sell ice cream in a park or with the with the other vendors that they would have the same hours as everybody else, right? But if you're a roaming ice cream vendor going into residential neighborhoods, then they're restricted within that hour. 9 to 8:00 p.m. And we're all okay to keep the same hours from 9 to 8:00 p.m. for the ice cream vendors. Yes. The ones that are driving around the neighborhoods. If you want, I I can go through the uh location. That is true. Wouldn't it wouldn't it be easier if you just

because it gets I mean, it gets complicated, right? And now you have to realize, well, what do I qualify as and yada yada, you know, you're going to go down the list and which boxes do I check? Would it be easier to just give everybody the same hours and then put a noise restriction after 8:00 and say like, "Hey, after 8 like we don't hear no speakers. We don't hear no megaphone, we don't hear nothing." like, right? I think that would be a better idea. Only because you're right. In the summertime, it's still 8:00. The sun's still out there 9:00 p.m. What?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, what is a do not call list? Right. After what is it? 9:00 p.m. usually. So, right. So, why don't we do why don't we do that? Why don't we do where they don't have restrictions, but after 9:00 p.m. they can't have the noise on the coming? Usually the industry standard when it comes to noise complaint is after 1000 p.m. But the council could restrict that even further with regards to the roaming mobile. So are you guys okay with restricting it at 9:00 p.m. or 10 p.m.

9:00? Right. 9:00. Okay. So I think that we we've got clear direction. There's no restriction on the hours for the for the ice cream vendors that are driving around the neighborhoods, but no noise after 9:00 p.m. Got it. Perfect. Yeah, mayor. Yes. Go ahead. Yeah. Um, out of curiosity, so those ice cream trucks, are they all permitted? So, have they been getting their permits? So, that's the thing. It used to be an issue years ago.

Yes. So, that's the thing. We never have to worry about the folks that have a legal legit license with the city. The the one that we've been experiencing and enforcing are the one that's not permitted license or approved within the city. And what could you repeat that? The one that's not permitted, licensed or approved within the city. the one that the problems that we've been having, they're not licensed, approved, nor permitted within our city. Got it. So, they're unpermitted. So, those are and usually those are the one that's way after the hours. Okay.

Like a 10:00 ring that Okay. Right.

I don't remember any of them. So let me ask you are is this going to be brought back again before the ordinance in a second session or how's this going to be money? If your desire to do that we will we can bring it back. Why don't we do this? Why don't we bring this back cuz we got to go into close session and it gives us enough time to look at the street proposals that they're uh requesting and then we can uh basically already have those notes for the next meeting letting them know if we agree. If you want to have an opportunity to look at the location between now and the next session, right? Yes. That would be appropriate. Okay. And and mayor, are you looking at are do you want us to like have like a our number one like place and then maybe like a backup?

Yeah. Like basically look at which ones we agree with that are okay to have them at and which ones we think no, this is going to be a problem for whatever reason. Okay. And then we can just bring those notes back to them when they bring it back to us. Okay. So, okay. Okay. So you guys got clear direction on the current and proposed, right? Yes. So just for clarification, the first meeting in June, we will have a reports of officers staff report. Okay. Yes. Will do you want you prefer having a study session like this again? I think I think a reports of officer should be fine. Yeah. Report officer on the regular agenda item. Yes, sir. Okay.

Yeah. And then that way we already have the maps. Okina. So, we'll already be ready. We better be ready, right? To have whatever we have. That way, we don't have a lengthy conversation again. Yes. Okay. Any questions before we go into close session? No. Okina, are you good? Uh, I'm good. Did I capture everything that the council I hope so. Did you discuss? Okay, great. Yeah. If not, Christian got it. Oh, no. Thank you. Thank you guys so much. Appreciate it. All right. Um, we are right on time, so we're going to go ahead and recess into close session. Thank you, Okina. Thank you,

Mayor and Council. Just for the record, Council Member Estrada joined the council at 5:11 p.m.