Council - Regular Meeting

Hello, welcome everyone. Today is June 17th. The time is 711 p.m. And I'm now calling to order the Baldwin Park City Council, Finance Authority, Municipal Finance Authority, Housing Authority, and Regular Meeting. Do we have Pastor Jackson, Pastor Flores? Can you guys do us the honor and lead us in our invocation tonight? Okay.

Everyone could stand it. Possible. Yo quiero leer en Salmo 98. Dice, Cantar a Jehová cantico nuevo, lo que ha hecho maravillas. Su diestra lo ha salvado y su santo brazo. Jehová ha hecho notoria su salvación. A vista de las naciones ha descubierto su justicia. Se ha acordado de su misericordia y de su verdad para con la casa de Israel. Todos, Let us pray. Gracious God, you are God. And God, you are good. We come to you, Lord, in this time, Lord, of celebration. Yet in the same time of challenge, Lord, we just pray over our city. Lord, we pray, Lord, over the people of our city. Gracias, Señor, por su ciudad y su liderazgo de su ciudad. Ayuda, Señor, en este momento, en esta temporada, Señor, para honrar su nombre y a servir su pueblo, Señor, con justicia, Señor, y con su misericordia y con su gracia. En el nombre de Jesucristo. Amen.

Heavenly Father, we need you in everything that we do. And I'm asking you, Lord God, and blessing the city council with the endeavors that they are doing. And I'm asking you, Father God, as individuals to forgive us for our sins. Mastering as a city, forgiving the city for our sins, the things that we do contrary to you and to the laws of God. We need you in our everyday life. We need you in our homes. We need you in our children. We need you in our schools. We need you in our business. We need you in the police department, the fire department. We need you in everything. And I want to realize and recognizing and acknowledge, oh God, we can do nothing without you. And so therefore, Lord, I'm asking you to go before Baldwin Park and make it crooked places straight. Put your mighty hands up on Baldwin Park and lead, guide us and direct us in the right direction. Put your hands upon the city council, the mayor, and all, Lord God, with wisdom and knowledge and understanding in how to lead the city and what they need to do to lead the city in the right direction, Lord God. See that our police department do their job, Lord God, and get home safely, Lord God. And we thank you for everything that you've done, everything that you're doing, and everything that you're going to do. In the name of the Lord, we pray. Amen.

Can you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

Yes. Put your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you for that. City Clerk, can we get roll call, please?

Mayor Damien, here. Mayor Bertramayola, here. Council Member Avila, here. Council Member Estrada, here.

Council Member Lozano, here.

Thank you. Thank you for that, City Clerk. City Attorney, can you please report from closed session?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. We had three items on the closed session, two existing litigation and one anticipated litigation. There was a discussion on each of those and direction was given. There's nothing further to report at this time. Thank you for that, City Attorney.

All right, now we're going to move on to our proclamations, accommodations, and presentations. Tonight we have the proclamation, Pride Awareness Month, presented to Union Trujillo, ESQ, and that will be presented by Councilmember Estrada.

Mayor, if you may, do you mind closing?

Oh, sorry about that. I'm going to make a motion to close special meeting.

And announcements. Do you have an announcement?

i got scolded today well first let me post special meeting can i get a second second any objections none all right and i skipped over the announcements all right the city council are also members of the board of directors of the housing authority the finance authority which are concurrently convening with the city council this evening and each council member is paid an additional stipend of thirty dollars for attending the housing authority meeting and fifty dollars for attending the finance authority meeting Now that we've closed that, we're going to go ahead and pass it over to Council Member Estrada for proclamation.

All right. Thank you, Mayor Damien. I'm going to ask Yunwen and her guests to join me. Join us up here at the dais. Yes. Yes. So we're going to present this proclamation to Yuen Nguyen. And as many of us know, Yuen Nguyen has been incredibly involved in Ballin Park, not just in Ballin Park, but in some of the most important issues that oftentimes intersect, which are immigration, LGBT rights, and also faith, which I think is some of the most important work to be doing and also be advocating for, especially in these times. And so, you know, there's nobody... better than you knowing to receive the proclamation today. Go ahead and read it. So LGBTQ plus pride month, June, 2026. Whereas for more than 50 years, June has been celebrated as LGBTQ plus pride month nationwide in honor of all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer citizens. To this day, the rights of LGBTQ plus Americans are under relentless attack and criticism. They live in fear and continue to face discrimination, violence, intolerance, and injustice. Whereas everyone should be able to live without fear of prejudice, hatred, and brutality, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age, mental, or physical disability. And whereas we celebrate and support the LGBTQ plus community and Pride Month and demand equal rights for all, we uphold and commit to delivering awareness, safety, protection, and equality. And together, we extend our congratulations to the San Gabriel Valley, LGBTQ community for the hard work and dedication in ensuring that civil rights are respected for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Baldwin Park's highest priority is to support all LGBTQ plus Americans in our community, neighboring cities, and across America. Whereas the colors of the rainbow have been painted at the crosswalk in the front of City Hall, for the entire month of June, in commemoration of Pride Month, the City of Baldwin Park presents this proclamation to Yunwen Trujillo, immigration attorney, faith-based community organizer, and lay minister. Yunwen is the author of LGBTQ Catholics, A Guide for Inclusive Ministry, through the Paulist Press. Now, therefore, I, actually, now, therefore, Daniel Damien, Mayor of the City of Baldwin Park, along with Mayor Pro Tem Gene Amayala, Council Members Alejandra Avila, Emmanuel J. Estrada, Daniel Lozano, City Clerk Christopher Saenz, and City Treasurer Joanna Valenzuela do hereby proclaim June, 2026 as LGBTQ Plus and Pride Month, the City of Baldwin Park, and call upon all citizens and community members to celebrate and honor Pride Month, reaffirming our commitment to equality, acceptance, and human rights for all.

Just a quick speech. I just want to thank the city of Baldwin Park for continuing to commit to celebrate Pride Month as a person of faith who is doing a lot of work, not just locally, but also at the national level to help people of faith be more welcoming. I think this is both on the faith perspective and on the political spectrum. It's so important that we have a space in our heart for each other and that we celebrate each other, not in spite of our differences, but because of those differences and diversity, that is how God made us. So thank you. Thank you, everyone.

All right, we're going to move on to congratulations, you know, and thank you for all the work that you do, especially when it comes to our immigrant community. Thank you. Proclamation National Mosquito Awareness Week, June 21st or 27th of 2026, presented to Pablo Cabrera of the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District, presented by Councilmember Estrada.

I was part of the communications team at SGV, Mosquito Valley, Mosquito Vector Control District. So I am the trustee for City of Ballin Park on there. And I know that the work that Vector Control District does is really, really important. And I know that we dealt with it last year when we talked about dengue outbreak. So I really want to make sure that we acknowledge all the work that the San Gabriel Valley NBCD is doing on behalf of Ballin Park and San Gabriel Valley. Proclamation for National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, June 20 through June 26, 2026. Whereas National Mosquito Control Awareness takes place from June 20 to 26 every year, this event has become essential over the years because mosquitoes are the cause of many diseases and can kill if precautions aren't taken. Mosquitoes have caused the deaths of thousands in the past few decades, and whereas mosquitoes are not only a seasonal nuisance, but also pose a significant public health threat as vectors for diseases such as the West Nile virus, dengue, and Zika. And whereas the city of Bone Park in partnership with the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is committed to minimizing these health threats and educating the public on safe prevention practices. And whereas having effective mosquito control requires an active community partnership, residents can significantly reduce mosquito populations by eliminating sources of standing water around their homes and businesses by educating citizens about source reduction, such as dumping and draining water from containers and maintaining swimming pools as is vital to breaking the mosquito breeding cycle. Whereas the American Mosquito Control Association and San Gabriel Valley Mosquito Vector Control District has designated the week of June 26 to promote public awareness and highlight the vital services provided by the vector control professionals. This proclamation is presented to Pablo Cabrera, with the San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. Now, therefore, Daniel Damien, Mayor of the City of Boland Park, along with Mayor Pro Tem, Gene Amayala, Council Members Alejandra Avila, Emmanuel J. Estrada, Daniel Lozano, City Clerk Christopher Saenz, and City Treasurer Joanna Valenzuela, who hereby proclaim June 20th through 26th as National Mosquito Control Awareness Week in the City of Boland Park and encourage all residents and community members to take proactive steps by inspecting their properties and protect themselves from bites.

First of all, thank you so much to the city of Baldwin Park, the honorable mayor, the city council members and Estrada as well, who is our board member trustee representing the city of Baldwin Park to our district. So thank you very much for this acknowledgement and for acknowledging National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, June 21st through the 27th. We, as a public health agency created under the California Health and Safety Code, operate as an independent special district serving the city of Baldwin Park, including surrounding areas in the San Gabriel Valley, addressing specific public health concerns to provide surveillance, prevention, and control services to help reduce the risk of mosquito-borne diseases. This week provides an important opportunity to raise awareness about the serious public health risks that mosquitoes pose. Here in our region, West Nile virus remains endemic and we're now also facing growing threats such as dengue. Like Council Member Estrada mentioned earlier, there was local transmission of dengue a few years ago and specifically here in Baldwin Park. So we do want to continue to stress the importance of mosquito prevention. not just making it a summer issue as we enter our warmer months, but also a year-round issue. We live in beautiful, sunny Southern California, so we do get mosquitoes all year round, so making sure that we're dumping out stagnant water, eliminating sources where water can collect and removing those, and making sure that we're using mosquito repellent. I do invite you to visit our website at sgvmosquito.org. We are a free service to residents of the Sanguero Valley, so any mosquito problems, you can contact us for any issues and we can go and provide free consultations and services for any mosquito sources you may be having. So thank you very much for this opportunity.

And just as a reminder, something important, I think a couple of months ago, probably about a month ago, we had San Gabriel Valley mosquito at my house because there was mosquitoes all over. I got bit inside my house. I don't know how that happened, but it ended up being that a neighbor in the back had a lot of buckets full of water and they were bringing mosquitoes there and they were just floating everywhere. And it ended up happening that one of our pots exploded. had water. So we got in trouble for one of them. So it's, you know, especially when you have planters in your front yard. So just make sure that it's, there's no water stagnant there because it will breed mosquitoes really quick. So, and their, their bites are dangerous. Trust me. I was, yeah. So, you know, give them credit for what they do because they do a great job and they do come out. So thank you. Thank you, Pablo. Yes. And we don't want Dengue. So yes, give them a round of applause. Maybe next year we can bring the mosquito guy, right? The mosquito guy. Yeah, he dresses up as a mosquito. And then next we have the presentation. And I don't know who brought this to the agenda. I'm going to be very honest with you. They haven't told me. But it's the presentation recognition to Lakeside Realty and Home Loans for receiving the Small Business of the Year for California's 48th Assembly District 2026. So I have a feeling, but yeah, I kind of knew it. Go ahead, Councilman Bravila.

Well, well, you will never know. As you know, you all know our mayor here, Danny Damien. He's well-known here in the city for everything that he does for the community, from toy drives to food drives to helping the elderly families. helping the homeless, anybody that needs help. If the mayor finds out about it, he's on it. But that's not what we're presenting about. I just needed to add that so you can get an idea on the kind of mayor that we have here in our city. And I'm going to borrow somebody's glasses. I don't know who they are, but they're working a little bit. This certificate is in recognition to Lakeside Realty and Home Loans. It's the 2026 Small Business of the Year. The City Council congratulates you for being selected Small Business of the Year on behalf of Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, California Assembly District 48. We applaud you for this outstanding achievement and your unwavering dedication. You have demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment to excellence. We wish you continued success and thank you for your favorable recognition you bring to the city of Baldwin Park. It's presented this first day, 17th day of June, 2026. You actually presented it to yourself by Mayor Danny Daniels. Mayor Patel, Gina Ayala, Councilmember Emmanuel Estrada, Emmanuel Lozano, myself, City Clerk Christopher Saenz, and City Treasurer Joanna Valenzuela. And this is well-deserved. As you see, the assembly feels the same way. You do a lot for our community. And your business has helped a lot of people as well. So we thank you. And we're so happy to be working with you. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member. And if I may, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm not going to accept this. My team deserves this. If I can have Albert and Maria up here. You know, they're my backbone to everything that I do. I know that I may be driving them crazy sometimes with emails and texts and phone calls, but we wouldn't be able to do what I... Well, I wouldn't be able to do what I do if it wasn't for the amazing team that I have. And this recognition is well-deserved on their behalf. And then I want to thank, obviously, the assemblywoman, Blanca Rubio, and... my my dear friend veronica lopez uh her deputy director uh for recognizing us as the small business of the year for 2026. so thank you veronica and thank the assembly woman on our behalf and i want to thank to my staff you guys can give my staff a round of applause

And let's hand it to the staff because as much as we love our mayor, I can actually see how he has you going back and forth. But thank you for all the work you do alongside our mayor, Damien, for working with the community and making sure that they get the best services. And you have placed a lot of people in excellent homes. I know you work diligently to make sure that everybody gets what they need. And you're so honest. Thank you for everything. Maria and Albert, by the way.

Thank you.

Oh, can we have Veronica up here? She's a representative for the 48th district. Come up here. They're the ones that presented the award. Come up here, Veronica.

Albert Maria, come back.

What's your official title?

She is a district director for Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio of the 40th District. So she makes everything happen in that office and in our area. So thank you, Veronica.

I wasn't prepared to speak up here, but just on behalf of Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio and District 48, we definitely want to congratulate Lakeside Realty, Denny Damien, Albert Jimenez, and Maria Davalos for not just for helping families get into their forever home, but also for giving back to the community that they represent. Their generosity is beyond and I'm getting emotional, I don't know why. For years I've known Danny and he's always been helping the community. I wanted to congratulate him in this honor and giving him that recognition because they deserve it. Not just for being a small business, but for all that they give back to our community. Thank you.

If we can have a picture. Okay, let's take a picture with you.

All right, thank you everyone for dealing here with us. Next, we're going to go ahead and move on to public communications. City Clerk, how many speaker courts do we have tonight?

We have four. Perfect. So we'll begin with the first, Irma Morales with the LA County Library.

Good evening, Mayor Damien, city council members, city staff, and community members. I wanted to talk about some upcoming programs at Baldwin Park Library. As of yesterday, we've started our lunch at the library. It's for ages 0 to 18, and it's from 12 to 1. I know the school district and Parks and Rec have lunches going on, too, so we're Hopefully with all this going on, none of our community members will go hungry. And so our program is going through August the 7th. And as I said, 12 to 1 at the library. We also have our continuing summer discovery program and if folks can look at la county library.org and look under locations find Baldwin Park, there will be a listing of all the programs, we have for all ages. So that you can look and see what the library is doing as an example last Thursday, we had a bubble mania Program. and for the day we had over 400 people in the library. So people do come to the library, and there's lots of great free programs we can have for families that are going on. One of the things on the library's website, we have what they call tiles, and they talk about our summer discovery program, signing up for free math reading and tutoring this summer, the free lunch program, Tile for America 250, which has a list of books to read and other information about the 250th anniversary. We also have Celebrate LGBTQ Pride information, commemorative Juneteenth, And one I wanted to talk about quickly is June is Gun Violence Awareness Month. LA County Library has partnered with the Office of Violence Prevention to offer free gun locks at the six tool lending libraries. Baldwin Park isn't one of them, but Compton, Lancaster, Malibu, Norwalk, and Rosemead in San Fernando are the libraries that give out free gun locks. each household may receive up to two free gun locks along with essential gun safety education materials no personal information including name identification telephone number or library card will be required to obtain a gun lock together we can proactively take steps towards cause ensuring the safety of our family and backgrounds and neighbors visit us to pick up your free gun locks and learn more about responsible gun safety practices So again, the closest library that has, that's a tool lending library is our Rosemead Library. But just so it's important for y'all, if you have more questions, go to lacountylibrary.org and they'll have information there about all these things that I've talked about. Thank you for your time.

Next, we call the district director for Assemblywoman Rubio for the 48th Assembly District, Veronica Lopez.

Good evening, Mayor Damien, staff, city council, and community. I'm Veronica Lopez here representing Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio. I wanna take the time to actually thank the city for their ongoing support and presentations to our LGBT community and for your ongoing continued support during Pride Month. Also, congratulations again to Danny Damien and his staff at Lakeside on the recognition of Small Business of the Year. I am here to invite the community to our coffee, community coffee with Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, Baldwin Park Police Department, and at McDonald's on Ramona on June 20th, this Saturday, June, next Saturday, June 27th, from 9.30 to 11.30. We look forward to meaningful conversations with our community and our local PD department. Thank you. That's all. Keeping it short. Thank you.

Next, we call Nicole Bresciani with the Inland Valley Humane Society.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council, community members, and city staff. My name is Nicole Bresciani. I'm president and CEO of Inland Valley Humane Society. It's nice to be back. I just wanted to remind the community and the council and staff that we will be assuming services for animal care and control effective in 14 days. We kicked this off with a free mobile spay and neuter event last week. We sold out in your community within hours. So it was a much needed and wanted service. And we're looking forward to bringing our mobile unit every month. It's not going to be free every month. It will be fee-based. But when we are able to secure grant funding, we'll be able to do that again for the community. but i did want to um tonight introduce you to a couple members of my team this is officer daniel pena he is the animal control supervisor and then i have your assigned officer is officer robert gonzalez Both of these gentlemen live locally. They understand the community and the challenges ahead of us, but also the opportunity to help better support and serve the community. And so we're just really excited about this partnership and moving forward. So just wanted to say hi and we'll take up more of your time. So thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Look forward to working with both of you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

The last speaker card, Estela Herrera.

Good evening, Mayor, from Mayor and City Council members and everybody in attendance. My name is Estela Herrera. I am a homeowner here in the city of Baldwin Park. My address is 1726 Puente Avenue. And I wanted to come and speak in regards to the riverbed. We have an issue. The riverbed is our neighbor to our garages, seven garages in our gated community. To give you a visual, we are on Puente and Francisco next door to the Dollar Tree, Starbucks. In the last rain season, we had unprecedented rainfall and the rain, the water had nowhere to go and it started going into our garages, which flooded our garages. I've been there 18 years. That has never happened. I took video of what happened like days after through the riverbed. There was like two feet of like water that it rised. The water went up and okay, so we called county public works and they sent Jason Ritzy and he did like an investigation and stated that it was our roof which is that is incorrect we have never had issues with the roof so I didn't come sooner because of work hours but I got off early today to be here because we do want this issue fixed before it starts raining again because we're already in July and And a lot of our stuff did get, items did get wet. I had clothes that I was gonna donate, which I do every year, and I had to toss that out. So I'm hoping that there's, between the wall, between the wall and the, there's gravel. So there's all gravel on the riverbed, but there's a big gap between the wall of the garages and the gravel. There's like a hole, there's like a dip there, and there's like caulking that's falling apart. So for them just to come and tell us like, okay, it's your problem, kind of sweep it under the rug. Like we weren't not okay with it. So that's why I'm here because it's affecting seven residents. And if you can please send someone, give us a full report. And also if they can send someone to like clean the riverbed at least like twice a week. twice a month because I use that app, the LA County Works app often because they'll dump things there and it'll stay there and it makes our community look not very nice. And and they will come and pick it up. But I always have to report that. So it would be nice if it would just like come often and clean the riverbed. Thank you.

But

Yes, Mayor, that concludes all speaker cards received. Thank you for that, City Clerk.

All right, is there anyone else wishing to speak who did not fill out a speaker card? Now is your time. No? Okay. Mr. Rios. Welcome, Mr. Rios. Good to see you. You're likely to be happy with me.

Uh, first of all, happy father's day to whoever is a father. Okay. Uh, one of the things I've, uh, been reading the agenda for the BP, the rules and regulations. And, uh, I think because it's bone parts money, it should be just bone park residents are in that committee. You have, I think, three or whatever it is, it's supposed to be seven. And this past meeting, we only had three. Talking to other people and they said, well, the money belongs to the residents. Yes, it does. Can we put in the vote for November, reverse it? I told him, well, we'll find out. But I just want to let you know what the community is talking about. Another thing is that talking to Daniel this afternoon when he got here, he's telling me that Barnes Wall is going up, which is good because the people in that neighborhood need the space to go walk, whatever, you know. And they had told me by September it was supposed to be open. I talked to Maria and she says it might be a little sooner. But the people in that neighborhood, they come all the way to Walnut Creek to walk. And they ask me every time they go by and they ask me, when are they going to open it? And so I'll find out for you guys. Another thing, I don't know who takes the freeway, the 10, either way on the Fraser off ramp. Caltrans hasn't cleaned that area for, I would say, a couple of years. It looks like a dump. On the other side, on the north side of the freeway, there'd been quite a bit of accidents right there, and the fence is so crooked up, and they don't clean over there either. I talked to Anthony. He's going to try and talk to Caltrans on it. But you guys should need to go and see the areas I'm talking about. It's bad. You know, that's the off-ramp to go to Kaiser. We get hundreds of cars through there, hundreds of people that go through there. And it looks bad for the city. You know, let's open our eyes up. Let's do something about it. Let's call Caltrans and see what they can do. Like I said, it's getting as bad as El Monte. El Monte, you're the first derpy.

Mr. Rios, thank you so much for your time.

You're not going to give me five minutes? Oh, my God.

Maybe next time.

Thank you for that, Mr. Rios. Appreciate it. Is there anyone else wishing to speak that did not fill out a speaker card? All right. See no interest. I'll now close public communication. We're going to move on to... Mayor? Yes, go ahead.

Really quick, if I can. First, I just want to thank everybody who came to speak. I know some individuals have left. And I want to thank our new Humane Society collaborators that they came to show themselves to us. I appreciate it. And Mr. Rios, I completely agree with you in your observations in terms of the off-ramps. And that's a concern that we have seen before. So I appreciate you coming and voicing that. And then regarding Ms. Herrera's concerns, Daniel, if we can maybe get her information from City Clerk so that somebody from Public Works can reach out to you maybe to kind of see what's happening with that. I'd really appreciate it. But thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for that, Mayor Pro Tem. Anyone else wish you to address? And then, yes, just piggyback off Mayor Pro Tem for Ms. Herrera. So our city staff, city manager, and our works department will look into that. And then on top of that, just kind of seeing what else that we can do to be proactive. I don't know how this El Nino is going to affect us towards the end of the year, if it's going to bring in rain that's going to be more than what we can expect. You never know what the weather, right? But just kind of just making sure that we have all of our gutters and our street gutters clean from debris so it doesn't overflood and stuff like that. But they'll go ahead and look into that, okay, Ms. Herrera? Thank you very much. All right, now we're going to move on to consent calendar. Council colleagues, anyone wishing to pull any items?

Yes, I'd like to pull item five and eight, please.

Five and eight. Anyone else wishing to pull any items? No? All right. Can I get a motion to approve items one through, give me one second, one through 18 with the exception of five and eight? Can I get a motion? Second, second motion by council members dollar second by council member Avila. Can we get roll call? Uh, council member, uh, I'm going to abstain from item number 18 due to my commercial landlord being on the warrants and demands.

We have a motion to adopt items one through five, six, seven, nine through 18 motion by, uh, council member Estrada second by council member Avila council member Avila.

Yes.

Council Member Estrada.

Yes.

Council Member Lozano.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Temayala.

Yes.

Mayor Damien.

Yes.

Motion, motions one.

Yes, mine is a yes with the abstention on number 18. Yes.

One, motions one through four, six, seven, eight through 17, pass five, zero. Motion 18, passes four, zero, one.

Thank you for that, City Clerk. All right, item number five, Council Member Avila, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to bring this to everyone's attention. This is item number five is request for consideration approval for measure BP funding to continue the next gen youth workforce program for summer of 2026. And I just wanted to make sure you had a little bit of background. There's a lot more to give you, but just the basics of this program. This is a program that gives employment opportunities to our youth ages 14 and 24. And we have been doing this for four, is it four years, Manny?

Yes.

Four years now. And we have had a lot of success. We we get students from our local high schools just alone this year. We had 72 students from our local high schools and they apply for jobs in various city, various departments across the city and other other. stores or actually we're trying to get Kaiser to be part of it as well. So our our teens and our young adults can have employment opportunity and get experience. And as I said, this is for 14 to 24 year olds that will have maybe the first time opportunity to get a job to see what a city looks like, what what kind of opportunities they have here. And also to let you know that we have from previous Students that have applied for this program, they are now employed through the city. So now they have a permanent job with the city because they had the opportunity to seek a job here that they had no idea existed, that they had no idea they were good at. So I think it's a great opportunity to open their eyes. Again, it's starting at age 14. And a lot of students that age don't get that opportunity. So I think it's a great program. I think it's great that Measure BP wants to help us fund this program in case the company that we have at this time doesn't have the funding. So I just wanted to highlight those. those areas here. And in total, we have had 477 participants. So I'm just very excited about this. And I'm hoping that my colleagues agree to approve item number five. If nobody else has any comments or questions, I would like to make a motion unless somebody else has a comment. I don't have a comment, but I'll second your motion.

Thank you.

We have a first and a second. We have a motion to adopt item number five, moved by Council Member Avila, second by Mayor Boots-Hamayala. Council Member Avila?

Yes.

Council Member Estrada?

Yes.

Council Member Lozano? Yes. Mayor Boots-Hamayala?

Yes.

Mayor Damien? Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you for that, City Clerk. And I just want to thank Council Member Avila. I know she was one of the ones who initiated the NextGen program. And I've seen how successful it's been year after year. So thank you for that, Council Member Avila.

Thank you. It's all for you.

All right, moving on to item number eight. That's also yours, Council Member Avila. You have the floor.

Thank you. Item number eight, it's request for funding approval for fiscal year 26-27 special events and program. And it's for our city council. This money's coming from BP funding. for the 26-27 school year, we're asking for 646,164. And I just wanna clarify, as you know, the Measure BP funding, it all comes from that extra tax that we all approved two years ago. And when we put that on the ballot, we left it for the residents to vote to increase the tax and it passed. And we did promise that that money was going to be used strictly for our community. We do have a committee of five, which is Mr. Rios mentioned, that oversee that money and they allocate money to different areas. And we make sure that, or the committee makes sure that the money's been allocated to where the residents had concerns. For example, safety events. There was a lot of categories that the committee and the community decided that money should be spent in. And in this particular case, this money we're asking for is to fund programs that at this time, the city would not be able to fund if this funding wasn't being used, which is all the special events that we have for the community. There's a list, for example, Concerts in the Park is one of the major events. the parade, Christmas with the cops, and there's a lot of other events that we are funding through this money. Again, that's your tax dollars working for the community. That is what you voted for, so we're making sure that money is being put back to you since we are the ones paying the taxes and it's being put back to the community. I just wanted to make sure that everybody understood that it's all for the community. And if anybody else doesn't have a comment or if you don't have questions, I would like to make a motion to approve item number eight.

Does anyone have any comments or questions regarding item number eight? Oh, there is a first by Council Member Avila. Is there a second? I'll second. We have a second by Mayor Portanayala. City Clerk, can we get roll call, please?

We have a motion to adopt item eight, moved by Council Member Avila, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Ayala. Council Member Avila?

Yes.

Council Member Estrada?

Yes.

Council Member Lozano? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Ayala? Yes. Mayor Damien?

Yes.

Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you for that, City Clerk. All right, moving on to public hearing, we have item number 19, report on the status of city vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts. Manny, who's going to be handling this presentation?

We have... Diana, that will be stepping up right now. Diana from our HR department.

Welcome, Diana. I've been keeping you busy today, huh?

Yes, they are. Good evening, Honorable Mayor and the members of the City Council. As our CEO mentioned, I am Diana Sanapagna from Human Resources. I'm here to present the City of Baldwin Park's annual report required under Assembly Bill 2561 amending the Myers-Millius Brown Act with Government Code Section 3502.3. Next. Next slide yeah assembly bill 2561 requires public agencies to hold a public hearing to address the status of job vacancies prior to the adoption of the upcoming fiscal year budget. tonight's presentation fulfills that mandy during this public hearing, we will be presenting information on the status of vacancies and the city's recruitment and retention effort. Next. As of June 17th, the city had a total of 193 authorized full-time positions with a total of 12 vacancies, which resulted in a 6% vacancy rate. Breaking that down, CEA, our city employee group, has two vacancies out of 49 positions, resulting in a 4% vacancy rate. CMEA, our classified management group, has one vacancy out of five positions, resulting in a 70% vacancy rate. POA, our police association group, has seven vacancies out of 87 positions, resulting in a 7% vacancy rate. Our police management employee group, service employee international union, and confidential employee group did not have any vacancies out of a total of 41 positions. Next slide. And I did go over some of those groups there, and we finally have the city's unrepresented group, which has two vacancies out of 11 positions, resulting in a 15% vacancy rate. Importantly, no bargaining group exceeds the 20% vacancy rate threshold that would trigger additional reporting requirements under this assembly bill. Next slide. You know, it's quite small, but what I wanted to begin by going over is our recruitment process. You can see in step one, the departments will submit a recruitment request to Human Resources, and we will create and coordinate a recruitment strategy. A job announcement is then created and posted on government jobs website and various platforms. Step two, Human Resources screens applications for minimum qualifications. Those candidates are sent over to the department for further review and the qualified candidates are selected for the interview process. Interviews are then conducted and an eligibility list is established. Step three, the department selects a candidate and Human Resources extends the conditional offer. The candidate goes through the background process, which consists of live scan, DMV, reference checks, and medical exam. Once they are cleared, a final job offer is extended and the candidate begins the onboarding process. Next. We do recognize that this process can be time-consuming and challenging and have made some changes to improve the efficiency, such as providing candidates a virtual interview option for flexibility, promoting employee engagement events and activities, setting internal deadlines and follow-ups on the clearance process, and providing candidates email updates throughout the recruitment process. Next slide. In an effort to grab more attention to interested candidates we're currently posting onto the city website attending job fairs advertising on various social media platforms sending email job announcement blast to local agencies. We're looking to implement processes such as an email notification to city employees on current employment opportunities, posting the jobs on Handshake, which is an advertisement website for college and universities, and posting on professional associations for specialized recruitments.

Next slide.

Our recruitment and retention efforts include items such as MOU enhancements, such as COLA increases and providing employees with a cafeteria allowance, hosting employee engagement events such as our recent employee appreciation luncheon. We have an upcoming health and wellness fair, training and development, promotional opportunities, our new hire onboarding process, updating job descriptions, and a police officer hiring bonus program. Next slide. So although this city does not hit the vacancy threshold, which requires additional reporting, staff will continue to monitor workforce trends, recruitment activity, and retention challenges. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have at this time. Thank you.

Thank you for that, Diane. I appreciate your presentation. Before I open up the public hearing, do any of my council colleagues have any

Mayor?

Yes, go ahead.

I just want to thank you as well, Diana, for your presentation. I thought it was very thorough and I appreciated the clarity in which you explained every little item. And I appreciate the information where it kind of specifically told us maybe where we are a little deficient, like in some departments. So I appreciate that. And I look forward to HR maintaining those, kind of keeping an eye on the trends and maybe keeping us up to date if that, you know, every six months, maybe if there's, you know, how it's looking here for our city. But thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for that. Mayor Patan, anyone else have any questions?

Yes, I just want to thank you, Diana. I know you guys have been very busy, as always. And I thank you for coming on board and just boots on the ground and making sure everything gets done. And the changing the changes and updates that you guys are doing, I think they're going to work very well. And thank you for those updates. It helps to know what, where we're at percentage wise when it comes to our each department. So thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Ravila. Anyone else have any questions or comments?

Mayor? Yes, go ahead. Thank you for the presentation. Really awesome to be able to see that we're changing now the HR department, so it kind of fits into the new changes that are out there. So thank you.

Yeah.

Yes, I as well. Diana, I want to thank you. I'm excited to see where HR is headed. So looking forward towards more greatness coming out of the department. So thank you very much. All right. See that there's, did you want to say city manager?

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to also thank Diana and Vanessa. We have a new HR team. We're still shy one manager, and hopefully that individual will be on in the next few weeks. But very excited to see the team evolve, and they are doing a wonderful job. So keep up the great work, both of you, and David and Eddie. So thank you.

Thank you, guys. Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

I will now open the public hearing. Anyone wishing to speak in favor or against this item? I see no interest. I'll now close the public hearing. All right, can we get a motion to receive and file?

I'll make a motion to receive and file.

All right, got a motion by Council Member Estrada. Can I get a second? I'll second. Got a second by Mayor Potamayela.

We have a motion to receive and file item 19, motion made by Councilmember Estrada, second by Mayor Botemiola. Councilmember Avila?

Yes.

Councilmember Estrada?

Yes.

Councilmember Lozano?

Yes.

Mayor Botemiola?

Yes.

Mayor Damien? Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you for that, City Clerk. All right, moving on to item number 20, conduct public hearing and approval and approval of the fiscal year 2026-2027 annual action plan. Ryan? Ryan?

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council. I'm here tonight asking for City Council's approval for the city's 2026 and 2027 annual action plan, which allocates our federal CDBG and home funds. This year, we expect about $1.58 million in CDBG and $277,700 in home funding. These will have no impact in our general fund. These dollars support key community priorities such as youth and senior programs, domestic violence services, homeless assistance, graffiti removal, and a major $1 million citywide sidewalk pavement improvement project. The plan was available for public review for 30 days and community feedback highlighted safety, infrastructure, and supportive services as top needs. And approval tonight would allow us to submit the plan to HUD and to begin funding by July 1st. And I am available for any comments or any questions that you may have.

Thank you for that, Ryan. City Council, anyone have any questions in regards to the annual action plan? All right, seeing no questions, I'll now go ahead and open up the public hearing. Anyone looking to speak in favor or against this item? I see no interest. I will now close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to, is this also a receiving file? This is an actual action item, right? Can we get a motion to approve item number 20?

A motion.

I got a motion by Council Member Lozano. Can I get a second?

Second.

Second by Council Member Estrada. City Clerk?

We have a motion to adopt item number 20, motion made by Council Member Lozano, second by Council Member Estrada. Council Member Avila. Council Member Estrada. Yes, it's a real is on a yes paper to my Allah. Yes, Mayor Damien. Yes. Vision carries five zero.

Thank you for that city clerk. All right. Moving on to item number 21, public hearing and adoption of resolution number two zero two six dash zero one seven of the city council of the city of Baltimore, confirming the advisory committee's report and levying the assessment and the partner parks citywide business improvement district for fiscal year twenty six twenty seven. Who's going to be handling this money?

This will be our finance director, Rose Tam. Rose?

yes good evening mayor and city council this item is for the city council to initiate the annual approval of the business improvement tax assessment budget set the assessment rates for fiscal year 2026-27 and hold a public hearing for its consideration and approval We projected that we are going to receive the revenue in the amount of $135,200. We have a carrying projected fund balance from the ending fiscal year in the amount of $20,000. And with the consideration and your approval, This will help savings to the general fund and also provide funding source to the community with different events such as the medium outreach, street market in the park for the dry. Any questions?

Are you done with your presentation votes?

Yes, in a brief summary.

Perfect.

If there is any questions, I will be more than happy to answer.

Perfect. I'll go ahead and open it up for questions. Council colleagues, any one of you have any questions for Rose in regards to the BIT?

No? Or any public comments or input for these public hearings?

Yeah, before I open the public hearing, I did have a question for you, Rose. I know that it the projected surplus will be 37,000 at the end of June 30, 2027. My question to you is, since it looks like we're kind of in a surplus every year, right? We're starting it off with 20,000 this year. We're anticipating 37 for next year. Would it be possible for us to offer some type of small business grant? Let's just say example, you know, $15,000 to three lucky businesses, or I don't know what kind of requirements that you would have, but it could either be kind of a storefront improvement or something that would kind of help some of our local businesses small businesses in the city, maybe giving out $15,000 in grants annually. I mean, just considering that the fact that this is a tax that small businesses still pay into, it would be good that if there's a surplus every year after covering whatever we do, maybe start off with 15,000 is an example in grants, right? Let's just say a $5,000 grant per business. And I guess staff or city council can come up with the type of guidelines or requirements that would need to be met in order for you to apply for this grant. Um, or maybe, you know, uh, not an essay, but a story as to why you, why you need these $5,000 only because I know that there's some small businesses in the city that are struggling and these $5,000 would help them out. So if it's something that we can look into for, I guess what would be next year. next year yes with my council colleagues consensus you know just bring back something for us for next year before we adopt this and see if it's something that we can we can roll out starting slow and then if it's you know something that we can do then we can start maybe looking in ways to fund this this program moving forward yes uh you mean in the future fiscal year Yes, moving forward towards now, because I know we're adopting this today, so we can't do this now. But I'm saying, I'm seeing there's a surplus.

As you may know also, and I always budgeted conservatively, I always want to left little money in the fund balance in case any one of those events or program might exceed a little bit than what we projected. And also, city attorney, I think what the mayor just proposed to do, I believe this fund is qualified for that because one of the use is the general promotion of business activities. Is that considered Any promotion or business activities?

Yeah, you kind of beat me to the punch there. I was going to say there's some limitations in the ordinance when it was created. So all I would say is that we can look at that and we'll try to do our best to see if that's something we can support.

Yes.

Yeah.

yeah just bring us just bring us options for next this will be for 27 28 obviously it's too late for now but just something that you guys can bring us with time considering that that's something that we want to look into uh before we adopt this again in 27 28 look at the guidelines look at the ordinance see what what falls through there and then if uh are you guys okay with that council Okay. So then thank you guys have direction for that to bring it for next fiscal year. And they just bring those options. Okay.

Yes, I like the idea to to support local business.

Yes, correct.

Thank you.

Thank you for that rose. Anyone else have any questions or comments? All right, I'm gonna go ahead and open up the public hearing anyone wishing to speak for or against item number 20. It's see no action. I'll now close the public hearing.

This is adopt. That was. Yeah. Yeah. You're, you're approving the budget.

Yes. I'm sorry. It's item number 21. So I'm going to go ahead and reopen the public hearing. I said item number 20. So is there anyone wishing to speak for or against item number 21? All right. See no action. I'll close the public hearing. Can we get a motion to approve item number 21? That is the public hearing and adoption of resolution number 2026-017 of the City Council of the City of Baltimore confirming the advisory committee's report and levying the assessment in the Baltimore Citywide Business Improvement District for fiscal year 2627. Make the motion. I'll second. Got a first by Council Member Lozano, second by Mayor Pro Tem Ayala. Can we get roll call?

We have a motion to adopt item 21, motion made by Council Member Lozano, second by Mayor Pro Temayala. Council Member Avila. Yes. Council Member Estrada.

Yes.

Council Member Lozano.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Temayala. Yes. Mayor Damien. Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you for that, City Clerk. All right. Now we're moving on to... Public hearing, item number 22, public hearing adoption of the budget for fiscal year 26-27 for the city, finance authority, municipal financing authority, housing authority, and successor agency. I'm assuming this is Rose? Yes. Take it away, Rose.

Good evening again, Honorable Mayor and City Council. May I have the presentation up?

No, no, no.

Apologies for the delay. Please stand by.

Hi, Charles. Could you please have the presentation up?

He just apologized for the delay. He's trying to get it going.

Oh, thank you very much. Very good. Here we go. Tonight, I'm going to present you the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 and 2027. I'm not going to go into very details about this proposed budget since we had a long discussion in the last meeting during the study session. May I have the, oh, I just want to mention the main themes for this fiscal year's budget is continued proactive planning, fiscal responsibility, and long-term financial sustainability. And as you may see, this presentation is going to have these topics listed on the presentation. Next slide, please. And this slide summarizes the proposed general fund operating summary for fiscal year 26-27. We projected the total revenue is in the amount of $44.5 million including the transfer in and the total projected general fund expenditure and transfer out $44.6 million. As you may see, compared to the last Projected budget, projected deficit is 77,000. It's about 50% of the decrease from the last presentation is mainly due to the maintenance assessment district that we expected more revenue coming in this year. So it requires less subsidies from the general fund. That's how we help to reduce further in the general fund deficit. Next slide, please. So this shows the proposed general fund revenue projection in breakdown of each category. As I mentioned, we have gone through this last time, so I'm not going to go through all the details unless you have any questions. Next, please. And the following slide will show you the proposed revenue in further detail in each category. Next, please. This shows you the general fund fines and penalty in revenues. Next, please. This one shows you the use of money and property that we expected to receive. Next. This one shows you the charges for services. Next, please.

So, Rose, really quick, if I can interject really quick. Yes. So, basically, the only difference from the last budget presentation was you were able to reduce the deficit. Yes. From $140,000 to $77,000. Yes. So, that's how you're going to tell us, right?

Yes.

Okay, there's no need to go through the slides.

We can just go to the special revenue. I mean, no, special event, which is the good news.

Perfect.

let's go ahead so so council's aware she was able to reduce the deficit from 140 to 77 000 so thank you that's the only changes from the last uh presentation perfect that's great thank you very good thank you now we uh we want to uh show the special events and programs since last time we did not really put up the powerpoint there

Rose, so the special events, I mean, unless city council wants to go through the events budget, but I think, I mean, I know I reviewed them clearly. So, I mean, really there's nothing that's changed here. We're keeping all of the events and it's basically thanks to Measure BP and the SOC committee for- Yes, as I added this slide from the last one,

because of the SOC support. So I added this slide to show their initiative and their support. So with all the special program and event, about 84% is funded by the measure BP. I guess that's the end of my presentation.

Thank you. Thank you. And I want to thank the SOC committee for understanding the situation that we were in. I don't think that anyone wanted to cancel this. These events are for the community. Maybe not all the whole community likes these events. You're going to have those community members who don't like them. But at the end of the day, if they don't want to attend, they don't have to attend. But for those that do like them, This is what it's for. That's what Measure BP was passed for. I've been hearing a lot of controversy going back and forth. But at the end of the day, this is a tax that we're keeping here at home, 100%. And it's here for a rainy day because if ever things were to change or there's some type of emergency and we don't have the funds to cover it, we have this as a backup plan. Obviously, our primary goal is to make sure that we're allocating these funds to back into the community in one way or another, whether it's new sidewalks, whether it's new bus shelters, something that benefits the community as a whole. Some things that we do may benefit half of the community and they don't benefit the other half of the community. But that's just the way things are going to happen with anything that we make a decision on. So at the end of the day, you know, these are events that the majority of the community enjoy. Our businesses deserve that street market because it helps them out a lot. And I just want to thank the SOC committee and the Measure BP voters that passed this. So that's the only things that I have in regards to this. Anyone else have any?

Yes, Mayor.

Go ahead, Councilwoman.

On the same note, in the Measure BP, it was a very, very good meeting that we had. And everybody's invited to come to the Measure BP meeting. So you could see exactly when the city requests the funding from your taxpayer dollars, we give you the why and the benefits. And if you notice, everything is to benefit you. And as I said, for item five, because that was item five, Everything that has been funded from Measure BP, it was things that the community wanted to see when we went out there and before we even passed the tax measures. So again, as the mayor said, everything's being put back into the community. It's not like we're pulling money into the general fund to give somebody a raise. It is specifically to sponsor events that the community needs. or to make sure that safety is kept. The PD is a great example. They have funded a lot of PD needs because safety was a priority for our community. So I invite you to come to our Measure BP meeting and see them in action. because they take a lot of interest and they really do their research. They ask a lot of questions, which they should because it is our taxpayer dollars that are paying for these events. And I also want to thank the Measure BP committee because there was a lot of dialogue and we came to the conclusion that the events were needed because the community do enjoy them. Thank you for the update, Rose.

Thank you, Council Member Avila. Anyone else have any questions or comments? No. All right. Now, I will go ahead and open up the public hearing. Now, this is a public hearing that's concurrent for the City Council Successors Agency, Finance Authority, Housing Authority, and Municipal Finance Authority. Is there anyone wishing to speak in favor or against? I see no action. I will now close the public hearing. Can I get a motion to approve item number 21? Motion. Okay, we got a motion by Councilman Ravila. Can we get a second?

22, sorry.

Aye, aye, aye. 22, sorry about that. I don't know what's going on with me today.

A motion for item 22.

Item 22, Councilman Ravila. Can I get a second? Second. Second by Mayor Pro Temayala.

We have a motion to adopt item number 22, motion made by Councilman Ravila, second by Mayor Pro Temayala. Councilman Ravila.

Yes.

Councilmember Estrada?

Yes.

Councilmember Lozano?

Yes.

Mayor Bruce Amayala?

Yes. Mayor Damien? Yes. Motion carries 5-0. Thank you for that, City Clerk. All right, now we're moving down to reports of officers. Item number 23, review of commission applications and consideration of appointments to fill the scheduled vacancy for the Recreation of Community Services Commission and the Measure VP Stakeholders Oversight Committee. So... Before we go on with item number 23, we can address the RCS, the Recreation and Community Services. But I would recommend that for Measure BP, we only had one applicant. So I recommend that we extend that so we have more applicants, number one. And number two, the SOC.

or stakeholders oversight committee is on a lottery basis those are selected by a lottery not by us individually so are you guys okay with extending that go ahead city clerk the the sock is not the initial one is done by a lottery so the initial sock representatives were done by a lottery after they serve after the they're chosen through the lottery you guys will appoint them

Mayor, is that written somewhere? I remember it's in the. So I remember that was originally written that way. And then we brought it up and then we said that there was no point in having a lottery for the first one and not going to have it for the rest of it. So that should have been changed when we had that.

OK, we'll check on it again.

So so why don't we do this? So I mean, because we only have one applicant anyways. So we're going to have to extend it so we can get more applicants, number one. And then number two, if it's not written like that, let's bring something back because it does defeat the purpose of doing the lottery the first time and then not doing it the second time.

Right.

So that that way we can keep the appointments of the SOC members continuously on a lottery basis. You guys good with that? Yes. Okay. So for the SOC commissioners, we're going to bring that back after it's extended and we have more applicants. And then we select those on a lottery basis. Okay. And were they going to serve? They're already, yeah.

Alternating, right? I kind of remember that.

Some of them are four years. Some of them are two years. So we got to look at that as well.

I'll pull up the municipal code next time and I'll add it on there. But it does say that they could be reappointed, the ones serving for the four-year term.

So then lottery would only be for the new ones? For new applicants.

I need to check if that's the verbiage, but we could bring it back.

Let's bring it back, and then at that point, we can see how many people applied after extending it, and if we can reappoint some and then do lottery on the newer ones, we'll look to see what there is. So community, if anyone's listening out there, we encourage you guys to apply for this commission. We're going to go ahead and extend the deadline, and then we'll put it on our social media. All right. Yes, so we're going to go on with the RCS. So... Well, council colleagues, there's only so there's five openings and there's only four applicants. So three of the applicants that are currently there are would be reappointed. That would be Cecilia Bernal, Anita Diaz, Cecilia Bernal, Maria Davalos. So they're currently sitting on the commission and they reapplied. And then the new application would be Vanessa Gutierrez. So that would be the fourth, and then we'd still have a vacancy.

And it says here, Mayor, sorry to interrupt you. It says seat numbers one through five are serving a two-year through 27, 2027. It seems to me that they might have...

They might have went over because there wasn't enough applicants. Is that what happened?

Their term expired in 2025. They stayed in their seats until we could get applicants. This was opened up last year. Twice, once last year, once this beginning of the year, and we send it out through social media. This is Vanessa. This person was the only one that we got from the almost two years.

So that means that if we reappoint one through three, their term would end again next June.

So could we be- They're serving the-

Good term.

So, okay.

And, and, and, you know, just, just, um, and, and I know city clerk science will, will agree with me when we served, we ran, um, we were appointed for like a, like that a year, a year, though it was a two year. So it kind of carries over, right. Council member Lozano. Yeah. Yeah. So that's like kind of natural that they kind of go by year, but, um, I'm just seeing, cause it says seats one through five and we only have four. And then we're seeing that the six through eight, because those are students.

Those are students, yeah.

Yeah, we need to actively try to get the students. That was something we really worked for when I was on the commission, to have student reps. Why don't we do this?

Why don't we appoint the four that are here? Three of them would be reappointed anyways. That way they're already serving.

And then if we get another one, they'll just serve the remainder?

Yeah, then we could just appoint... fifth one unless there's obviously more applicants but I mean the fact that there's four now and it's almost a full commission and it's an active commission let's let's let's appoint these four and not lose them because yeah so I would recommend that we appoint all four Anita Diaz Cecilia Bernal Maria Davalos Vanessa Gutierrez continue to push to see if we can get the fifth one and then let's try to push for the sixth seventh and eighth which would be Baldwin Park High School Sierra Vista High School and North Park High School Are you guys in consensus with that? Yes. So do we need to make a motion? All right, so I'll make a motion to appoint Anita Diaz, Cecilia Bernal, Maria Davalos, Vanessa Gutierrez, and continue to seek other applicants.

Can I get a second? The only thing here is I assume that's the seats that are one through five. I realize they both end in 2027, but it looks like one is the first five are two years, and the other one is one year. So I'm assuming you're talking about the one through five?

Yeah, it's one through five that we're appointing because there's no applicants for the students. Students are six through eight. So we'd appoint one through four. First, can I get a second? I'll second. Second by Mayor Potem.

We have a motion to adopt items. Adopt item number 23, appointing seats one through four on the Recreation Commission. Motion made by Mayor Damien, second by Mayor Rotem Ayala. Council Member Bravila. Council Member Estrada. Yes. Council Member Lozano.

Yes.

Mayor Rotem Ayala.

Yes.

Mayor Damien.

Yes. Motion carries 5-0. Thank you for that, City Clerk.

I also want to just clarify that the motion also extended the application for the Stakeholders Oversight Committee.

Yes, that is correct. All right, so now we're down to city council, city clerk, city treasurer, staff requests, and communications. City council, anyone have any... Directions, comments, questions.

Yes, go ahead, Council Member Lozano. Mr. Rios brought something up, and some of our exits are just ugly. I mean, I feel like getting out there and going with a weed whacker and doing it by myself. So let's get a hold of our state senate, our state assembly members, and see how they could assist us through Caltrans, because once you go into West Covina, the whole thing changes. And that should not be the case here. They're nasty and taxpayers deserve better than that. So we could maybe it's a kind of meeting going or send them a message. They could please get Caltrans to move on that.

Yes. Do we have consensus to get a hold of someone at the state level? And I totally agree. I. you know, off on the 210 freeway when you go to those other cities out there towards. I'm surprised how nice those freeways are and compared to here and parts of West Covina, they're pretty horrible. So if we could get a hold of someone and if we have to escalate this to our state representatives and we have to type a letter, is everyone in consensus?

We actually addressed this last meeting for them to reach out to the senator if possible, but we had already addressed the freeways earlier. And we need to keep addressing it. I agree that we have to say at every meeting. And it shouldn't have to wait till we have to contact the senators. I think as a city, we constantly need to be after Caltrans because it's not their city. So what do they care? It is our city. We need to push them and make sure that they are providing the services required because it does look very ugly. Just the exit off of the 605 on Ramona Boulevard. That has been a major issue because there's a lot of brush, a lot of trash, and that's the entrance. to the encampments there. And we have mentioned in the past of what we could do to make sure that's covered up so there is no entrance. Chief knows exactly what I'm talking about. Creates a lot of problems. And in that particular section, that's where they come off to come to our water fountain and get ruined, so we need to make sure those areas are addressed and provide services for the people there that are coming from there, as well as cleaning it up and making sure that it is secured so people don't have access. And all the exits, entrance and exits from the freeway as well, because they're not kept. But again, it shouldn't be that we have to wait till we notify the Senate. It should be something consistent from Our city, and I know you don't need any more work, Daniel, but it's to make sure that our city looks good that you are after Caltrans, please.

All right, anyone else have any direction, comments?

Mayor?

Yes, go ahead.

I just want to quickly acknowledge, I know you're going to make the announcements, because we won't be together for a while. Next week, we're going to be having the ribbon cutting for the basketball game. um, court, uh, where we had, um, wonderful community people come out and, um, or they're totally like refacing it. And I had an opportunity, um, to see it today live and just the, the, the caliber of, of work that they're doing. And, um, the artistry I would say is just tremendous. So I encourage everybody to come on out. They're going to have a lot of, um, great, um, It's going to be a great event. So I would really encourage it's going to be next Wednesday. And I know we're going to be getting the information on social media. In addition, and I'm trying to find it really quickly. I know that tomorrow, I'm trying to think, I think I sent it to our CEO. Tomorrow will be the... And of course, I cannot find it. Tomorrow will be the funeral service for... And I don't know if you were going to say it, Mayor. I'm sorry. Tomorrow will be the... funeral service for Coach Trifoni Michael Pogoni from Baldwin Park High School. He leaves a legacy which will live on through all of us who have the honor of knowing him. His celebration of life will be held tomorrow, Thursday, June 18th, with a 10 a.m. mass to be held at St. Rita's Church in the city of Sierra Madre. And also there will be a reception immediately after at the San Gabriel Country Club in the city of San Gabriel. And both Coach Pagone and Coach Zane, you know, have a legacy here in the city of Baldwin Park, especially at Baldwin Park High School. So anyone who was affiliated with him went to school there. As you know, they had a great relationship. I think they were so responsible for producing, you know, the caliber of students that came out of there. So I would like to, I just wanted to be sure that everybody had that information.

Thank you. And thank you for that, Mayor Portem. I know that him and Coach Zane, very, very helpful. well known in the border park high school community and they did a lot for underprivileged children, as you know, but thank you for that, thank you for that information anyone else have anything.

want to see if we could present a plaque for and Gabriel market. They just turned 35 years in the city. I told them that we would probably do something at the concert, so they're more excited to be there amongst the big crowd. So if we could do that, because they had a little event for themselves a couple of weeks ago, so I kind of shared that.

Yeah, I agree. 35 years in small businesses, no easy task, and especially staying in a modern park. So are you guys all in consensus with that for the plaque?

Yes. We can invite them to one of the concerts you said? Yes.

Definitely. So we can invite them at one of the concerts.

And then anyone else? City Clerk? Yes. Thank you so much, Mayor. So I also want to echo Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in this room or anybody in the community listening. Wishing you the best weekend with your families. Secondly, in regards to the Recreation Community Services, the fifth seat and the three student seats and the open positions on the Stakeholders Oversight Committee, I just want to share that both Shirley, Samantha, and myself will try to be at many street markets trying to get some interest. We have reached out to the school district to try to get some of this information to the high school students, and we're going to try to do some. community engagement with the students when they return to campus to try to fill those student seats. So just wanted to provide an update of what the team is doing to actively fill. I also want to share, I know that you guys are talking about freeway exits, but even like, so the and i don't know if it was already addressed but the the freeway on ramp between target and and all across from ups where the monument sits like the grass is like probably as tall as me like like they really do not touch that and then there's trash like all like all over that off ramp and it's truly truly embarrassing like And with Caltrans just catty-corner to them, it's impossible to believe that they don't see it themselves. So I really hope that your efforts are fruitful and bring some change. So thank you so much. And then lastly, I just wanted to share that a couple of weeks ago or maybe a week ago, my days have been lost. I traveled on my own dime to Washington, D.C. on a personal trip to But part of that, I was able to meet with several people and talk about election policy. But I also had the opportunity to meet with our representative, Gil Cisneros, where we had a very productive conversation about elections and strengthening our community. So I just wanted to share that. And then there was one last thing. But anyway, thank you guys so much. Thank you for that, city clerk. All right. City churchman, go ahead.

Yes. Hi. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to keep it short and brief. I just really want to wish all of the fathers in our community, especially those who sit here on the dais and throughout our departments, a big happy Father's Day. Enjoy your weekend. I know it's going to be a nice weather this weekend. And of course, barbecue. Thank you, everybody.

Thank you for that, City Treasurer. Sorry, Mayor. I had one last thing. I couldn't remember what it was, and it's probably the most important thing I was supposed to share. So I don't know if you have seen from communication from the school district that they're really excited to announce that starting in July, they're going to start webcasting their meetings. Well, it's not a coincidence because SB 707 requires that starting July 1st, all of our meetings have to have two-way audio, visual, telephonic communication, which means that as of the first meeting in July, we will be taking Zoom participation, both public hearing and public comment. We did test it during the special meeting, and it's going to be a bit of a learning curve. But with that being said, So there will be change to cover the agenda that gives instructions of how people can log on and share. And then lastly, just friendly reminder as we adjust to this, I don't know how much participation we will get. But to keep in mind that the city council and the presiding officer has the ability to adjust the speaking time in the event that we have too many speakers. So that's municipal code section 8330. So thank you.

Perfect. Thank you for that, city.

I just have one quick.

Go ahead, city attorney.

That simply is once we, if we have a disruption, we will have to stop the meeting if we wait. communication that system if it breaks down, we have to stop the meeting try to fix the problem once it's fixed, we can start up again if we're unable to fix it, we have to wait up to an hour. And then after an hour, we're allowed to take a motion to say whether or not we can continue because we've made good faith efforts to try and restore it. So it's really important to have that system working.

This takes up to July 1st? It takes effect July 1st?

July 1st.

So IT, make sure that they have the most high-tech internet. Plug that in everywhere they can because that's going to be a nightmare for all of us if these systems go down. All right, so I'll make my... Yes, so let's start preparing for that now. I'll make mine really quick. As Assemblymember Rubio's office, Veronica, mentioned, they're having the Coffee with the Community Saturday, June 27th from 9.30 to 11.30 a.m. in collaboration with the Boulder Park Police and McDonald's at Ramona Boulevard in Boulder Park. That's 14008 Ramona Boulevard. Is that the one by Stewart? Yes. By Stuart and Ramona. All right. And then the next one, as Mary Potem mentioned, I do want to thank G6 Designs for coming back to the city to give back to the community that he grew up in. And if you guys have not yet looked at the basketball courts that he... and his company did, go out and look at them. Come out on June 24th at 4 p.m. They're going to have a car show, music, refreshments, special guests. There's going to be three-on-three tournament, single elimination for our youth. Registration is from 4 to 5 p.m., and the tournament starts at 5.30 p.m. Come out. Thank you, G6 Designs. You should recognize them for doing that, and those basketball courts do look great. And yeah, he's deserving of a plaque, yeah. Independence Day Spectacular, don't forget, that's July 3rd, Friday. Doors open at 5.30 p.m. That's going to be held at Sierra Vista High School. I want to thank the Bonaparte Unified School District for always collaborating with us in this event. The fireworks show will start at 9.30 p.m. Hopefully this year, the fireworks do go off. So come out and enjoy with the family. And I did jinx myself. I said last council meeting that we weren't having as many illegal fireworks. Chief, we're getting them again. So let's start blasting social media posts out there. I was in Amani the other day. They have a big sign out on top of the street that says, you light them, we ride them. So very creative.

Really quick. Do we have our drone monitoring those things or do we have to ride up some kind? Okay.

Yeah, so let's blow it up. But yeah, we can get our social media as well. Manny Maria out there just letting them know that we're watching you not to write illegal, not to light up illegal fireworks. And that is all I have. Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there. Hope you guys enjoy your weekend.

I just want to wish everybody a happy Father's Day as well. If you have a daddy still with you, enjoy them. Make the best of it. Happy Father's Day, everyone.

Thank you. All right, the time is 8.49 p.m. I'll make a motion to adjourn. Second. We are adjourned. Good night, everyone.