City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, if you require a disability-related modification or accommodation to attend or participate in this meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please contact the City Clerk's Office at 310-952-1720 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. Government Code Section 54954.2. Public information. The public may address the members of the City Council on any matters within the jurisdiction of the City Council or on any items on the agenda of the City Council during the designated public comment periods. There will be two oral communication sessions, one for agendized items, comments about items on the agenda, and the other for non-agendized items, comments about items not on the agenda. The all communication portion of the agenda is limited to a duration of one hour unless otherwise approved by the City Council. Comment time is normally three minutes depending on the number of speakers. public viewing available by live stream on the city's website the meeting will be streamed live over the internet via www.carsonca.gov youtube www.youtube.com slash at city of carson california cable tv spectrum channel 35 and hnt channel 99 carson tv app you may also download the carson tv app to stream the meeting app availability the carson tv app is available in the apple app store google play store roku and amazon platforms If you're not able to attend the meeting in person, public comment can be submitted before the meeting via email to cityclerk at carsonca.gov. The cutoff time to submit any email communication is 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Written comments can be dropped off at the city clerk's office at City Hall. The cutoff time to submit any written communication is 3 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Reading comments dropped off at the city clerk's office or any email received will not be read aloud at the city council meeting, but will be circulated to the city council and incorporated into the record.

Hello, my name is Gian Peggi and I am the honorary mayor for the day. I'm really excited to be here. I just graduated St. Philomena School right here in Carson. Now I'm calling to order the City Council, the Successor Agency, and the Housing Authority on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. Madam Clerk, may you please do our roll call?

Thank you, Mr. Pedri. Council Member Rojas?

Present.

Council Member Deer?

Here.

Council Member Hilton?

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Hicks?

Present.

Mayor Davis-Holmes? Present. Thank you.

Now may we please stand and salute to the flag. And now it's time for our invocation with Pastor Raul Andres from New and Living Way Christian Church.

Greetings to all the members of the City Council. Thank you. It's an honor for us to pray for you all. In behalf of Pastor Muned of the New and Living Way Church, we give you The greetings of grace, peace, and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied unto each one of us. Thank you. Lord, Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord God, that you are invited, Lord God, in this meeting tonight, Lord. We praise you, O God. You said in your word, Lord God, to bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within us. We bless your holy name. We pray, O God, for wisdom upon all of our city council, O God. We thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. We give you praise. Hallelujah. That you will bring order, Lord God, in this city, Lord God. You will guide them, O God, in making their decisions, O God. We give you all the glory, Lord God. We pray for peace be upon this city, Lord God, in every neighborhood, Lord God, that each neighborhood will flourish, O God, that there will be peace, safety, Lord God, and tranquility. We praise you, O God, for what you're going to do, Lord God, in this city of Carson, Lord. We bless your holy name, Lord God, and let your name be glorified, O God, in this place, Lord God. Thank you, Lord God. Continue to guide them, O God. Continue to bless this city, Lord God. As you said in your word, Lord God. We speak blessing, O God. May the Lord bless you. May the Lord keep you. May the Lord make his face shine on you. May the Lord be gracious to you. And may the Lord give you peace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.

Thank you. So now we will have a closed session. Any reports on any public comments on closed session items?

No, Mr. Honorary Mayor.

Any announcements of closed session items, city attorney?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The council will meet in closed session pursuant to government code section 54956.91 to confer with legal counsel regarding Kotcher versus City of Carson, workers' comp case number ADJ1131772, The council will meet pursuant to the same code section in the matter of Hatton v. City of Carson, case number 21STCV4678. And lastly, the council will meet pursuant to government code section 54956.92 or D3 and E1 because there is a significant exposure to litigation in one case. Thank you.

Thank you. Now we will have a recess into closed session until 6 p.m. or until the end of the closed session, whichever occurs first.

Thank you. Excellent, I think he's trying to get my job. This is perfect. We're gonna come down and do a photo op before we go into closed session, so this young man can go and do his homework. We should be back by no later than 6.30, hopefully. And I just wanna thank you. He was a part of our Why I Like Carson contest. And as you recall, this year is the year of the child, so I want to expose all of our kids as much as possible to the political arena here in Carson. And, Mom, I invite you to come back and have Keyshawn take a tour of City Hall to get a feel for it. So thank you, Mr. Mayor, for coming out. You did an awesome job. And I'm going to go down and take a few pictures. Is that okay? Yep. We have a certificate down front also. Okay? Okay. Let's give them another round of applause. They did an awesome job. Jean Peje, in recognition of your selection as the City of Carson's Mayor of the Day on June 16th, your enthusiasm for civic engagement, leadership, potential, and commitment, to learning about local government are truly commendable. Through your participation, you have demonstrated an interest in public service and gained valuable insight to the responsibilities of municipal leadership and community stewardship. The city of Carson proudly recognizes your achievement and applauds your dedication to making a positive difference in your community and future endeavors. We extend our best wishes to you for continued success and encourage you to pursue your goals with competence, integrity, and a spirit of service. It's dated today, June 16th. It's signed by your mayor, me, Lola Davis-Holmes. I know you want my job, huh? Signed by Mayor Pro Tem Cedric Hicks, Bishop and Councilman Jawan Hilton, Councilmember Jim Deere, and our Councilwoman Arlene Bogatir-Rojas. Thank you. Would you like to say something?

I would just like to say thank you for everyone who came here and supported me, which all these people and my mom. Yeah. Also, I would like to thank the school for giving me many opportunities, which also led to this opportunity. And most importantly, I would like to thank God.

Amen. Amen. We're going to do a photo op, and then I'm going to invite his mother down to take a photo with him. Okay? Come on down in just a second, Mom. Thank you, thank you, Mom. Yes, you're welcome. And we will see you next time, Mr. Mayor. We'll be following you, okay? All right, thank you so much. We're gonna recess into closed session, should be back about hopefully before 6.30.

Hi there, how are you?

you Thank you.

Thank you.

Where's Ernie? Mr. City Manager. Where's the IT staff?

We can, Madam Mayor, we can report out, and Cameron's getting ready to start, I think, IT.

Rules of Decorum. No person attending a public meeting shall engage in disorderly or boisterous conduct, including but not limited to applause, whistling, stamping of feet, booing, or making any loud, threatening, profane, abusive, personal, or slanderous utterance that disturbs, disrupts, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of the meeting. ALL REMARKS BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SHALL BE ADDRESSED TO THE MAYOR OR THE CHAIR AND NOT TO ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC OR ANY OTHER SINGLE COUNCIL, BOARD, OR COMMISSION MEMBER UNLESS IN RESPONSE TO A QUESTION FROM THE MEMBER. SIGNS, PLACARDS, BANNERS, OR OTHER SIMILAR ITEMS SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED IN THE AUDIENCE DURING A PUBLIC MEETING IF THE PRESENCE OF SUCH ITEM DISTURBS, DISRUPTS, OR OTHERWISE IMPEDES THE ORDERLY CONDUCT OF THE MEETING. All persons attending a public meeting shall remain seated in the seats provided unless addressing the body at the podium or entering or leaving the meeting. All persons attending a public meeting shall obey any lawful order of the proceeding officer to enforce the rules of decorum. Treat everyone courteously. Listen to others respectfully. Exercise self-control. Give open-minded considerations to all viewpoints. Focus on issues and avoid personalizing debate. Embrace respectful disagreement and dissent as democratic rights that are inherent components of an inclusive public process and roles for forging sound decisions. We're reconvening to open session. Madam City Attorney, report out on closed session items.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. The council met in closed session pursuant to government code section 54956.91 to confer with legal counsel in two matters, Kotcher versus City of Carson and Patton versus City of Carson. No reportable action was taken in either case and the council did not consider item number four.

Thank you. Is Captain Norman from the sheriff here? Is she here? She's not here just yet? Okay, we'll come back to her. Item number six is state California legislative update from Jason Gonzales and son.

Thank you.

And how are you? Haven't seen you in a while.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, members of the council, Jason Gonsalves with the lobbying firm, Joey Gonsalves and Son. It's a pleasure to be here this evening before you. We had a few years of COVID and it's nice to be back alive. Our firm has had the privilege and honor of representing your city since 2021. So we're going on five years, I guess in legislative session that legislative sessions, that seems like a partial lifetime, but it's again, a privilege to be here. Given we're at the tail end of the two-year session, as you know, the legislature meets in two-year sessions, the even years are the second year. So just very briefly, 2025, I think it gives us some context of what we've endured and what the legislature has been grappling with. We had 2,833 bills introduced in 2025. Sacramento does not disappoint when it comes to new legislation. 1,124 of those became law effective January of this year. Just as you're ramping up to enact and contend with the new laws, we saw 1,798 bills introduced by February 20th, the deadline. That number, while it's 1,000 less, it was a 20-year low because the legislature has done bill limitations of 35 bills per member during a two-year session. So we have 1,600 bills that the legislature, still alive and moving through the process, has to pass by August 31st of this year. about 10 weeks, of which July 2nd through August 2nd is summer recess. So now you're down to about six weeks of session and 1,600 bills remaining to be passed. A couple I wanted to make note of, AB 1751, and there's so many numbers, but it's the Town Home Ownership Act. It's yet another attempt or effort to enact by right approval at the local level when citing townhomes. That bill has moved out of the assembly. It's in the Senate. It's just dovetailing on what we saw last year with SB 79, circumventing local land use authority around transit development, and SB 9 on ADUs. It's an unfortunate trend. We've seen these kind of one size fits all efforts moving through Sacramento, laudable to find housing opportunities for your constituents and Californians, but circumventing the local processes become a dangerous trend, I would say. Another bill to note, and it's likely going to become part of the budget process, AB1708. That was a bill by Assemblymember Solache and one that many local governments supported, and that was to ensure all cities, particularly those with a population less than 300,000, were eligible for up to half a billion dollars in housing homelessness assistance program HHAP funding, which up until this point has not been for the small and medium-sized cities. That bill was held in Appropriations Committee. However, again, it's becoming part of the budget discussions, and I've spoke with Assemblymember Salache. He is not letting up. an effort that's quite honestly too late or not entirely too late but it should have taken place since we've been grappling with homelessness at least during governor newsom's administration um it's it's been top of the ticket and too many local governments have kind of been left behind on on the funding one last bill to to note is ab2529 and this one i really need to compliment your management team and most notably the city attorney this bill is seeking to curtail and and have statements of facts when filing a lawsuit against a public agency when an employee files a lawsuit The legislation, again, drafted through the city attorney's office was DOA. The first committee consultant didn't have much of an appetite for the bill. We were able to put a meeting together. Your city attorney's team walked through the challenge and the problem and really moved the consultant, as much as I've seen a consultant move in nearly 30 years, to where the bill has moved out of the assembly and is over to the Senate. And it's really just... looking to establish a basis of truth when filing these lawsuits that obviously hit the newspapers and do more damage at the filing than perhaps as they go through the process, if they even make it through the legal process. The state budget, The legislature adopted the June 15th constitutionally required state budget. The assembly adjourned just before midnight last night. It will not come as a surprise ever since the voters allowed for a majority vote budget, but also constitutionally stated if it was not passed on time, the legislature forfeits their paycheck. It's been about 15 years, and I will, I guess, gladly note they have not been late since the voters adopted that constitutional amendment. The budget is a record $355 billion general fund budget. I started in 1998. Pete Wilson's budget was $68 billion. California's budget has continued to grow. And fortunately, just two, three years ago, it was $100 billion surplus. We're now looking at about an $18 billion projected deficit, although the numbers have moved closer to Governor Newsom's projection of about $2.9 billion. So the LAO started the year saying, we're looking at $16 to $18 billion deficit continuing through 2028. Governor Newsom said $2.8 billion deficit with perhaps a campaign in 2028. But all kidding aside, the governor's numbers have proven right. Revenues are about $6 to $8 billion up. California's boom, if you will, or kind of blessings and curses is a very heavy reliance on the wealthiest Californians, most notably capital gains. The stock market has held strong with the projection of SpaceX, OpenAI, GBT, IPOs. The state's general fund revenues and tax receipts are continuing to grow. I would caution in order for those companies to be successful, their impact on jobs obviously becomes one of the the ongoing challenges for your constituents. Very briefly on the politics, it's an election year, no surprise to anyone in the room and in the chambers. We will likely see 24 new assembly members post-November, come December when they're sworn in. I know obviously you will have a new assembly member. and then we'll see approximately 12 of the 40 senators that will be new senators with a new governor and new constitutional officers. Some are moving from treasurer to lieutenant governor and so forth, but there will be new constitutional officers. new legislative leadership assignments and committee assignments. And we'll have to start up telling Carson's story and continuing to educate your new members. And I know Mr. Gibson's likely going to the Board of Equalization, so we'll have an ally there. And Senator Richardson will still be in Sacramento. I actually spoke with her on election day and she was holding down the fort while others were up for election because half the Senate was not up. So you have very strong senator. Mr. Gibson's been a great friend to the city and will continue to build those relationships with your new assembly member going forward. So again, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity. I'll conclude with thanking, obviously, the mayor and council for your leadership You drive through the city. Every time you come through, it's much more vibrant and a leader within the region and your management team. Your leadership and your management team enables us to be successful in representing you in Sacramento, and it's a privilege and honor to do so. So with that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you again.

Well, thank you for driving, flying in to visit with us. I really appreciate that. It's good to hear from you. And I want to thank you for giving kudos to our city attorney here. I call him my fearless city attorney. And the statement of facts, we discussed it, so I'm glad to hear that it has moved and will probably become law. So I thank you. You want to say something?

Yes, I would like to thank Jason because this bill started with another city that was facing a lawsuit from their employee and they were just outraged and they were trying to figure out why this is okay. And I was telling them because the state law doesn't require employees to file under penalty of perjury. They could, not that they all do, but some could lie. And so they wanted to, and their lobbyist was essentially saying, no, I can't find an author for you. No one's willing to take this case. So I came to council, if you remember, and you said you'll join the efforts. And when I called Jason immediately within a week, right before the deadlines, he collectively with the other lobbyists, not to say he didn't do anything, but Jason said, kind of took the reins and they found an author like I think two days before to be submitted so thank you for taking it seriously and getting the meeting set up and and Jason just knows that you know when he gets us on the phone we're passionate about these issues and we can work through it and he coordinates well we've done SB 510 we've done two legislations in the past for the city so this was really fun it was fun to work with you again and thank you for getting us an author thank you

thank you and let's work hard on this ab77 what 1751. yes it's 2759 but 1751 is the the townhome legislation 2759 okay thank you it's a lot of numbers i know i know any comments from my colleagues oh they're all too uh councilman dear

Thank you. Jason, great report. I appreciate all the great work you do in Sacramento and your team. I have a question about a Lowenthal-authored bill having to do with there seems to be a rash of scam operations by attorneys that are using the ADA law to hit up small businesses, usually independent businesses that can hardly afford and they're not given an opportunity to cure the violation if a violation exists. Are you familiar with it?

I am, and that's an issue that there's been legislation going back to the then president pro tem, Darryl Steinberg, and they seem to find workarounds, but yes, Assemblymember Lowenthal is grappling, continuing to fight that fight.

So do you have any idea offhand what the status is of the legislation right now? Because businesses in Carson are victims.

Absolutely. And oftentimes either forced to settle or shut down on those frivolous, if you want to call, I'll call them frivolous lawsuits without any opportunity to rectify the potential violation. The bill's moved out of the assembly. It's in the Senate. If you don't mind, I will follow up with the team with a specific staff report. But we expect it should move through the legislature by August 31st.

If you can shoot us an email, the city manager maybe, so we can be aware of it. So when we are approached by our local businesses, we can tell them there is something happening in Sacramento to give them some sense of fairness. Absolutely.

Thank you.

I'm complete.

MPT Hicks?

Thank you, Mayor. Jason, thank you for that report. Very informative. Quick question in regards to Alameda Corridor and goods movement in the city. Are there any discussions or anything regarding the logistics of how the ports and moving goods from Long Beach? Because my concern is to the residents that we're able to take the Alameda Corridor or the highway that's in our city, and they claim there's no funds for it to bring it up to their standards. and that we're trying to figure how can we get it to those standards that they're requesting for so we can move off of one of our streets that has elementary school, park, middle school, and the high school, and move all of those trucks onto the actual Alameda Corridor.

The discussions last session were really centered around Prop 4 and potential funding for Alameda Corridor, and I know there's been ongoing efforts over the years to continue to provide that funding. It's been a little bit quiet given this budget year deficit, but if you don't mind, I'll take it as a homework assignment to report back kind of where things are with CTC and Caltrans and any legislative activity.

Because I've actually partnered with Assemblyman Lowenthal. I had a meeting with him last week. So he's going to be involved with it as much as possible as well.

He should carry that torch. I remember when his father was doing so in the assembly. Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you. Dr. Hilton.

Thank you so much again for your presentation. I noticed a lot chase bill about having more control over local control over unhoused. Right now some cities are facing like these project home keys and They don't necessarily have to go through the city. They have to go to, you know, they go through the state, they go through the county, and then the city doesn't really have a say at it. Is there, do you believe there could be some appetite for some of our assembly members, our senators, to give more local control to where certain unhoused projects are going? We're facing right now an unhoused project for the unhoused, but we have very little say in it, but it affects us directly in our community. Is there some type of legislation or you think we can find someone who may have an appetite to talk about more local control when it comes to our unhoused community?

Assemblymember Solace took the lead this year on finding or making small and medium sized cities, as I mentioned, eligible for the funding. I think he would be a great champion. I don't know that this has been on his radar as far as the local control element of it. You have all the NGOs and others that are engaged, but I think they're absolutely between the legislators throughout this region and obviously Southern California having so many small cities. I would expect there's an appetite to do so and at least ensure the locals are part of the process because you're also part of the solution.

Absolutely. I know he's not our assembly member, but he did go to Cal State Dominguez Hills. So, Solache, if you're watching tonight, we need your help.

We will follow up with Jose, and he's part of Contract Cities, and there's a coalition, Blanca Pacheco and others that band together on these type of local control issues.

Perfect. Can we get in a call from me tomorrow, Solache?

And also our newly, it's gonna be future assemblywoman, Ayanna Davis, we need to put her on, let them partner with that. She will be our next assemblywoman, but I think they need to carry this, because it's very important to us. Yep, absolutely. Councilwoman.

Oh, I'm going to make it easy. All my colleagues asked you technical questions, so thank you for all the hard work representing the city of Carson, representing us. I met you back in 2021, so good to see you and thank you.

Thank you. And on a personal note, my grandfather was the author that created safety retirement under then Governor Ronald Reagan. So thank you for your public safety service.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for your presence here. It means a lot.

My pleasure. Thank you.

Thank you. And now we will have, is it a presentation from Jason Broad, federal legislation?

Yes, Madam Mayor. Mr. Browdy is actually zooming in, or Teams. And so he's, I believe, still in Washington, D.C. right now, but he's going to be able to provide us a presentation. He's on pause. Wait, oh, there he is. So I will let I.T. do what they do and we'll welcome in Mr. Jason Browdy, your federal legislative employee there.

Good evening, everyone. Are we good with I.T. or should I wait a second?

You're good, Jason. We can hear you. Thank you.

Okay, all right. Well, madam mayor members of the city council appreciate your time this evening. Like, chasing dissolve is we've been working with the city honorably for, I think, 1 year longer than Jason. It's all this. So, since 2020, so 7 years now, and we appreciate the confidence that you have in us and all the work that we've done together here at the federal level. Unlike in Sacramento, bills are not moving as quickly. There's a lot more gridlock here, which can be a good thing sometimes and sometimes can be a pain, but we're monitoring a few things. 1st, and foremost, I know that something that is near and dear to the city, and something that we're working on with Department of housing, urban development with HUD. Is designating Carson as its own public housing authority and transferring the administration from the county over to the city itself now. It's a long process. We're at the very early stages of that right now. I know, madam mayor, you put a letter to secretary Turner, both last year and then last month to try and get the ball rolling on that later this week. We have engaged and with your management team with. Robert Lennox and and David Roberts and Michael George, we have been working on this directly along with city attorney to get the ball rolling on this. So we will keep you posted on this. It is a. Large endeavor to to get this going, but we are working and trying to get this across the finish line. 1, other thing I'll mention here at the federal level, obviously, is the 250th birthday of our country coming up lots of festivities. Madam mayor know you've been out here in the past and I would definitely suggest that the city. Think about a trip out to Washington, either later this year, early next year, obviously, with the funding opportunities with proposition 50 passing, you're going to keep Congresswoman as your member of the house over in the Senate side center shift and center have done great work and been great partners and have been able to help the city along the way talking about Congresswoman as you all. Probably no 250,000 dollars was pushed forward. She submitted a larger amount 2Million dollars last year for the safe routes to school fiber optic install install install project. But unfortunately, the Republicans in the house cut that down to 250,000, but that has been signed in the law. That is now. a reality and we are working with HUD to get that funding actually in your bank account and get that project going this year. We have better news. The Republicans did cut down the project that you submitted this year, but not by much. This year, the priority project for funding was for the Carson Community Center upgrade for your seniors. And that project has been approved by the Republicans and the Democrats in the House for $1,250,000. So that's great news. We are now just waiting on the full house to approve that. And we hope that later this fall, or around Christmas time, President Trump will sign that bill into law. That will include the 1,250,000 for the Carson community center project. And that becomes a reality. So. there is that. In addition to that, I will say that, you know, There has been some grant opportunities working very closely with your grant company, California Consulting. They hold a monthly call that we try and attend to make sure that the funding opportunities there. I know that I've spoken with all of you in person about that and we're working across both the state and the federal level to get those going. Mayor Pro Tem Hicks, I know you and I spoke, I think actually it was during COVID when the airplane noise was an issue. And I just wanted to mention that, you know, please do let us know if you have any noise issues that you're hearing from your constituents. We're happy to go to bat for you with the FAA on that. I know last time we spoke, it kind of died down a little bit, but if that does, that noise increases figuratively and literally, please let us know. And we're happy to go to bat on that. Dr Hilton, I know that that is also something that you and I worked on and council member dear and council member Rojas just happy to to go to bat again. We appreciate all the work that we've done together. There aren't any bills per se that really have been impacting the city. Like, I mentioned at the start of this, unlike Sacramento. Not much gets done here in Washington in terms of bills, which can be a blessing sometimes and sometimes can be an issue. But, of course, we're monitoring things that and let your management team know if there's anything big that comes up. But I do know that this week, in terms of the HUD issue for your public housing authority transfer from the county will keep you posted as things progress on that. So. Madam mayor happy to answer any questions.

well thank you jason uh for pushing that because that's very near and dear to us we can you know some hopefully that that will get through so we can have that our own housing authority and then also i had a question i thought for the community center was two million you mean they cut it down originally it was two million

Correct. Yeah. So they, the Republicans trimmed it down from 2 million to 1,250,000. We learned that about, I don't know, about 10 days or so ago. Um, so, um, it could have been a lot worse, but, but, uh, we do have at least 1,250,000 and that amount will be the final amount that, um, hopefully gets signed into law in the fall.

And I hear congratulations are in order for you. You're going to be getting married soon.

I will. I will. I know. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Appreciate that. In the fall.

In the fall.

I dragged her out to Washington, D.C. She was living in Pasadena, so she's here in D.C. with me now. okay well congratulations and uh thank you she just poked her she she just poked her head out uh to say hello so i appreciate that i will i will i will and when i hopefully you can meet her uh madam mayor i think you said hi to her once but yes next time you're out here okay thank you uh dr hilton

Thank you, Jason, for all you do. Jason, I wanna know, I've gotten a number of calls from a number of residents saying with the cut to HUD and the homeless funding that our president cut funding towards homelessness in Los Angeles. How does that affect local communities like ourselves, him cutting those funds?

yeah so the the the cut was to the overall county uh the county city hud program um You know, I honestly don't know how much money that actually gets sent to the city of Carson directly from that. A lot of cities complain that that has not been enough to be completely Frank. So I will check with management with your management team to see how that's been impacting things or will impact things. Hopefully there won't be much of a direct hit to the city itself, because I think that really the city of L. A. and the county are the real. the real folks that are going to be taking a hit on this. But, of course, I will follow up with your management team on that. Thank you. I'll let you know. Of course, Doctor.

Counseling to you.

Thank you. Jason, welcome to our council chambers virtually. Again, congratulations are in order for your engagement. That's terrific news. Thank you. I want to digress a bit on the FAA issue you brought up. You're working with Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem Cedric Hicks. We're starting to get some constituent complaints about the Torrance Airport. It's a small airport. but I don't know if they're changing their pattern of takeoff or landing or if there's training going on. I mean, sometimes it happens. So the complaints are sporadic, but it's basically over South Carson. It's not the Long Beach airport that prompted the FAA work that you've been working on. So if there is continuing complaints, I'd like to refer that to you, and I'll talk to the MPT about it as well.

Yeah, please council member dear. Let me know as, you know, we went believe you were on a call with me with the during covet and I'm happy to re, engage with them regarding torrents. And, uh. As you may remember, there's some, there's some certain things that we can do with the city of Huntington beach as you may remember engaged with the and some. And I think that obviously had to do with Orange County Airport. So we can see if we can work some magic here at the federal level. So just keep us posted, please.

All right. Thank you.

MPG.

Thank you, Mayor. Jason, congratulations on your engagements. Thank you. I won't say no more than that. I talked to you personally about everything else. FAA needs to be contacted the flights that are leaving out of long beach airport has increased tremendously they're actually the last time I counted like every 15 minutes they're flying over. and seem to be lower and lower as they come through our city. My biggest concern is trying to get the noise reduction window replacement in place for us in a flight pattern, the same that was done for LAX on near the century area and have that in place here in the city of Carson. But when we did it, Back in the COVID time, they wanted to have a lot of residents calling in, giving the numbers and the times, and it became very cumbersome. But they know where their flights are going. They know where they're flying at and how often they fly because they always ask the same information over and over again. So I think we need to pull the trigger and start that process all over again.

Yeah, I will tell you, Mayor Pro Tem, that I'm working with the City of Indian Wells on this, and I will talk to your management team and your city attorney about this as well. There's definitely also some potential litigation that Indian Wells is doing related to some noise coming out of the Palm Springs area. Again, I don't know what that looks like, but I will talk to your city attorney and your management team about how that may play a factor again we could also just engage directly with faa but um i know that some cities have gone the legal route and um you know that's an option as well the to think about so we can talk about that uh with with you and and everyone else all right thank you councilwoman

Yes, thank you. Nice to see you, Jason. Good seeing you, Council Member. I just want to formally thank you for every time that I have gone and been in D.C., you coordinated all the meetings for me, all the paperwork, everything. So thank you for doing that, for all your support. And congratulations on your engagement. So happy wife, happy life.

well thank you councilmember i appreciate it and um i will tell you that uh your management team does a great job i i talked to michael george on a regular basis he does great work for you all as well and uh he's a big instrumental part and uh makes my life a lot easier to to make you all uh make your trips go well but uh you know i appreciate everything that you do and you do a great job representing the city when you're out here uh in those meetings with our senators and the congresswoman so um you know i i think all of you and and as you all know um my grandfather represented the city uh in in congress and you're one of the most important cities if not the most important city to me um i grew up going to the carson mall on a regular basis when my grandmother lived in rancho dominguez so you guys are near and dear to my heart you all have my cell phone number please feel free to reach out whenever you need anything

Thank you so much. We've got a great team. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, and we will see you soon.

I'm sure you will, Mayor. And like I said, let's do follow-up on those FAA issues. And then, Dr. Hilton, I will also talk to your management team about the homelessness aspect as well.

Thank you very much. Good seeing you.

All right. Thank you, everyone.

Bye-bye. Item number nine, we're already checking up item number eight, but item number nine is a proclamation. Oh, the captain's here? Come on, Captain, Captain Norman.

Good evening everyone. Good evening everyone. Thanks for inviting us to share what's been going on here at Carson Station. I want to take a moment to introduce you to our summer enforcement team, our sergeant and the deputies. Our summer team began on May 10th and it will go through September 5th of 2026. I'd like to introduce Sergeant Stavros Vito Giannis. He's been at the department for 20 years and nine months at Carson Station. Deputy Lopez has been with the department 25 years. and 19 years at Carson. Deputy Romero Guzman has been at the department for four years and one year at Carson. And Deputy Choi has been at the department for nine years sworn and three years at Carson Station. Deputy Perez has been at the department for eight years and one year at Carson.

So this is the summer team that you'll have.

This is your summer team that you'll have throughout the summer. Until September 25th. Until September 5th. Any questions?

Thank you. Now we know who to look for. Welcome on board. Welcome to Carson.

Welcome for the summer team, I should say.

After summer, then they go back and you redeploy them somewhere else? Yes, ma'am.

Yes, they'll go right back to the line and to their assignments.

Okay, well, welcome. I'm glad to see we have a mix here, male and female.

So they have the entire list of all the special events because our summer events have already kicked off, so.

We have the SAL team that'll handle those. Oh, okay. Yeah, we have plenty of help.

Okay. You have more to tell us, don't you? I do. Thank you, guys. Thank you for coming.

And as always, Lieutenant Lumpkin will actually supervise our summer enforcement team as well as our two special assignment officer teams as well. Some of the activities that we've actually participated in is on June 4th, we participated in the Carson Chamber of Commerce at the Double Tree by Hilton along with Mayor Pro Tem Cedric Hicks as well as Lieutenant Lumpkin was in attendance of the Chamber of Commerce meeting. On June 5th, we participated in the Special Olympics Torch Run where Carson deputies helped to raise funds and awareness for the Special Olympics held at Long Beach College. On June 6th, myself and Sergeant Moranen attended the Philippine Independence Day event at Veterans Park. Also in attendance was Lieutenant Lumpkin, as well as our South Team deputies and Park Team deputies, and they greeted the community members and the City of Carson's government officials. Thank you for allowing us to participate in that. On June 11th, myself as well as several Carson deputies attended the Juneteenth recruitment event at the Carson Event Center. There was hundreds of community members that arrived and conducted the Fast Track hiring application for the deputy sheriff's application position. Sheriff Luna was also in attendance along with Chief Damon Jones. On June 13th, our Carson Stations Parks team and myself, as well as elected officials, attended the Carson's Juneteenth event at Anderson Park, and we had a blast. On June 12th, FIFA actually began. We had Carson hosted the first FIFA public viewing event, and that actually went over without any glitches there. As far as our crime is concerned, our crime is continuing to trend down. We're at negative 15.2% part one crimes.

Good.

Do you have any questions for me?

That's great to hear.

Yes.

Thank you so much, Captain, for your report. I just want to know how the firework enforcement is going. I'm hearing a lot of fireworks right now. So I just wanted to, I've been hearing a lot of, that's a good move. So I just want to know how the firework enforcement is going. I'm hearing a lot of them.

Our fireworks, we are always in a position to actually write citation for fireworks. We're still waiting for the fireworks updated for 2026. You're waiting for the update.

Citations. Oh, okay.

So we received them today, so.

Okay. And our hotline is activated still, I know. You see something, say something, residents. Absolutely. $500 for reporting, and it was $3,000 for each violation.

So somebody can just call and give $500 if they just want to report them? If they're cited. Or if they're cited, or is it like the capture and the, like the reward stuff?

Yeah. Right. It's not just call and save. It's not just call and save. No, we'd be broke.

I was going to make a few calls. No, just kidding.

They have to be cited. And council people can't collect. Okay, so yeah, just keep us up because there's a lot of fireworks that we knew there would be, you know, because it's all, we all see what we can do, but in the long run, my captain will take care of that. Councilwoman.

Yes, thank you for that report. Are we going to be, either the Sheriff's Department or even our city, are we going to be utilizing the drones for investigative enforcement purposes for the fireworks this year?

I know we did that last year, so I don't know. The city, Carson Sheriff's does not have a drone program, and I just need to be really clear about that, however public safety does, I believe.

Okay. Through the city manager, could your director answer that? Thank you. Thank you, Captain. Thank you, Captain. Have a good evening.

So good evening, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the City Council. Yes, the city's Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management will have drone enforcement. It actually begins prior to the 4th. It starts on the 2nd. And so we'll have it ahead of the 4th of July.

Is there a way we can start it earlier?

Beyond July 2nd?

Well, by July 2nd, they should have blown off somebody's roof.

I will also say we are utilizing the drone contract as well for our FIFA operation. Okay. So we are already having the drone up, so we can definitely report on any activity that we find during that period as well. Yeah, because they've started already. Exactly. Okay. Yep.

yeah that's testing the water so let's test back absolutely okay thank you the next we'll have um proclamation recognizing lupus awareness month uh kishan who's receiving that we're coming down to take a photo Tonight we want to recognize Lupus Awareness Month. We want to highlight the work of women who have turned her own journey with lupus and other autoimmune diseases into a powerful mission of support and healing for others. Renata J. Turner. Hi, Renata. How are you?

Stand right here.

Bernardo's work reflects the heart of Luther's Awareness Month, raising understanding, amplifying voices, and advocating for those who often fight invisible battles every single day. Tonight, we're proud to recognize you for all that you've done and for your leadership.

Thank you. And I'm going to have... I can't.

Lupus Awareness Month, a proclamation of recognition of June as Lupus Awareness Month. Whereas lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks healthy tissues and organs, causing inflammation and damage to the skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, and other parts of the body. And whereas an estimated 1.5 million Americans are living with lupus, with approximately 16,000 new cases reported each year, affecting people of all ages, race, and backgrounds. Whereas lupus disproportionately impacts women, particularly women of color, who are diagnosed at significantly higher rates and are often experiencing more severe symptoms and complications. And whereas because lupus symptoms can mimic those of many other illnesses, diagnosis is often delayed, making public education and awareness critical to improving early detection treatment and the quality of life for those affected. And whereas healthcare professionals, research caregivers, advocates, and organizations throughout the nation continue to advance scientific research, improve treatment options, and provide support services, and work towards finding the cause and eventually a cure for lupus, Whereas Lupus Awareness Month serves as an opportunity to educate the public, encourage support for those living with lupus, promote access to quality healthcare, and recognize the efforts of those dedicated to advancing lupus research and patient care. And now, therefore, be it resolved that the Mayor and the City Council of Carson, California do hereby proclaim the month of June 2026 as Lupus Awareness Month in the City of Carson and encourage all residents to learn more about lupus, support those affected by the disease, and participate in efforts to raise awareness, advance research, and work towards a future free from lupus. This day, the 16th day of June.

Thank you so much. Do we have another mic? Yes. Tell your story.

Well, thank you all. Thank you, Mayor. This means a lot to me. I got diagnosed with lupus in 2012. During the pregnancy, I was so sick, couldn't do nothing. They kept telling me that they didn't know what was wrong, that it was a different pregnancy. They didn't know if she was a male or a female. Later on, they kept telling me that my arms was getting stuck because I was holding my daughter. That wasn't true. She started walking at 10 months. Then they told me that I woke, you know, one day I woke up And I couldn't move. I watched Toni Braxton, the Braxton, and I started paying attention to her because she was diagnosed with lupus. I already mentally diagnosed myself, but never told anybody. But this particular day in March 2012, I woke up, couldn't move. They rushed me to the hospital at Harbor General. Thank God. They saved my life for real. It was one doctor that overheard the conversation. They didn't know what was going on, but he had a clue. He sent me home and told me to wait for the results. My organs was failing. My mom rushed me back to Harvard General. I knew that the time was getting short. So I told her to take me to Gardena. Gardena told my mom and I if she wouldn't have brought me in that night, I would have died. Excuse me. I didn't talk to God about it because I felt guilty because I felt like I asked for it because I asked him to show me something to slow down. He gave me lupus and it slowed me completely down. It made me appreciate life. respect those that's going through things similar to me, and it made me more of a fighter and a better person as a woman of God and a woman in our community and a mother. I appreciate you guys, and I appreciate life, and I thank God for this day.

Yeah, we want to...

A lot of times we bring up organizations, but we wanted to bring up someone that's fighting the battle, you know, that's traveling this journey and let you know that the city is concerned. So keep fighting and keep praying. I will. He's always in control. Amen. Yes. Amen. Let's do a quick photo op.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You have anyone you want to take a picture? Come on up. Me?

Friends, family, want to be friends?

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Well, is she still walking? Yeah, that's it. Let me give a personal shout out to my field rep, my senior field rep. As you've noticed, since we've been doing these proclamations, resolutions, we're thinking outside the box. And that's why we sit down and talk about who's doing this recognition. It's not recycling those that have been coming for the last 30 years. There are other residents here. And I just want to acknowledge your hard work. and for thinking outside of the box. And we sit down and we talk about this. And that's why you see from the various fraternities to all these different people that's coming in, she's thinking outside the box. Thank you. Next, we have item number 10, a recap video from the City of Carson participation at the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Thank you, Madam Mayor and Council. First, I wanted to say thank you to the Economic Development Department, our director, Nathan Freeman, our Economic Development Manager, Chris Palmer. Also, I think the team is here. I saw Latoya as well as Kent. They were very instrumental in a lot of the Kachkis and information about the city that you see. They put together a fantastic booth you all participated in. We've gotten so much traffic from the booth that our team put together, having you all be there to represent. It was very, very successful for us in the upcoming days and months ahead. our director nathan freeman will be sure to share some of that information as a result of the labor that was put in but without being said i wanted to present and allow chris to provide this recap video and yes i believe we did get the your best side mbt so we'll see it now

Thank you very much, City Manager. Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council, and members of the public. I am Christopher Palmer, the City's Economic Development Manager, and I'm here to provide a post-conference report for ICSC. The conference itself took major planning and hard work, and I also want to thank Latoya Butler and Kent Tran, who played key roles in pulling off this successful event. I also want to thank the City's multimedia team for helping us with the video you'll see shortly. So first of all, what is ICSC? International Council of Shopping Centers. ICSC Las Vegas is the world's largest commercial real estate and retail development conference, attracting over 24,000 attendees, thousands of retailers, and over 900 exhibitors, bringing together developers, investors, hospitality groups, and economic development agencies. The conference provides opportunities for Carson to recruit new businesses, market our development sites, build partnerships, and advance investment opportunities in the city, all in an effort to position Carson competitively within the region. Along with those opportunities, our partnership, our participation in this conference aligns with the city's economic development strategic plan that the council adopted in 2023. And with supporting retail attraction and reinvestment, destination-oriented development, commercial corridor revitalization, and tourism and hospitality growth to ensure long-term tax-based expansion. Between the city council, the executive team, the economic development staff, we were able to expand Carson's market presence through 47 retail meetings. We conducted those meetings to discuss expansion opportunities and introduce Carson's available sites and demographics. 15 developer meetings. These meetings enhance industry awareness of our opportunities with key commercial real estate professionals who influence site selection decisions across Southern California and strategic networking events. We attended these events to increase Carson's visibility among developers, retailers, and industry leaders. So I would like the video to play now, and after the video, I'll have some closing remarks.

the CSE Conference, the city of Clarkson.

This is Councilmember Juwan Hilton. I'm coming from ICSC letting you know we got big plans for Carson. You should come on down. We're doing the greatest economic development boom in the history of the city and you should be a part of it.

Thank you.

So in just three days, we engaged nearly 1,000 industry professionals through booth visitations and conversations, significantly spreading awareness of Carson as a business destination. We also wanted people visiting our booth to walk away with the mental connection of Carson as the home of the Porsche experience, one of 10 worldwide and one of two in the country. LA Galaxy, Dignity Health, and being a venue for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we were successful at that connection. Simply put, we weren't just attending a conference. We were positioning Carson, the jewel of the South Bay, in front of the people who make investment decisions and creating opportunities that can translate into jobs, amenities, and long-term economic growth for our community.

Thank you.

Well, thank you. Are you leaving before they ask any questions?

What's going on here? I just took off. Thank you. Thank you. I'm out of here.

I didn't know you noticed.

I did. First of all, I just want to compliment you and the team and Nathan. I think our booth was the very best at the conference. I'm sorry. It was the best. It's the best the city has ever had, and I've been to several. But some thought went into it, and I was really impressed with the amount of... activity that was at our booth. And people said, have you seen that Carson booth? Have you seen that Carson booth? So job well done to the team, the entire team. It takes a team to get pulled this off. And you guys did it. The team is sitting in the back. Why are you guys so quiet? Stand up, team. Come on up so I can see you. Thank you, so it was a good team. It was good effort and I think the fruits of our labor. I did have one question. Did we meet with the Ralph's owner, what's his name, about the facade program? Have we met with him? That was one of the things that we wanted to discuss.

We have that meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Oh, for tomorrow. It was reading my mind. Well, thank you, because that's gonna be a needed improvement. I just wanna say thank you. And to MPT.

Thank you, Mayor. To the team, to Nathan, to Chris, to all of you guys, job well done, city manager. You know, for me, I got there the day before. And I walked in and I saw the booth and I said, oh, this is what it's going to look like. But at the time, I didn't know that it was that early when I walked through because it was everyone's booth. I said, there's no way they're going to have this ready in time. But you guys pulled it off. It was the actual best booth in the entire area because everyone was talking about it. The soccer kicking was outstanding. Those who never thought they could kick a ball was able to kick a ball that day. But the two things I'm just hoping that we get out of this, and I think, I don't know if we can make a mention of it, but the pet store, because that was one of the two things I was looking for, is to get a grocery store on the east side of the city of Carson and to bring a pet store to the city of Carson. We have pet owners in this city, and we have to go outside of our city to go and get things for our loved ones, and that we should have a pet store in our city. So Just glad and kudos. I do remember we did get a pet store that's going to come to the city of Carson. I won't say who it is, but Carson residents, be on the lookout. You will have a pet store now in your city. And again, to the staff, outstanding. And I just look for bigger and better things next year. Bigger and better things next year. And we're going to make sure that the booth behind us doesn't tower over our sign. I didn't like that, but we'll work on that one.

Thank you. Councilwoman?

Thank you, again, I'm so impressed. And I think it was all about teamwork, everything from the setup, and then we had our shirts and jackets. We really looked like a team, and that is what we have. So thank you for that. And then that group back there, the economic development team, thank you. You guys are running around, yes, really getting everything together. It was so impressive. I know you met with the Carson Mall people there. So I'm sure, and I have much confidence that you will keep in touch with them to make sure that those stores that are there, you know, they keep up, keep the mall alive. But thank you to the whole team.

Thank you. wait until you see next year think bigger think bolder think growth we're not stopping we're just getting started so thank you for your support you see this council we've always said we were bold okay councilman dear also i want to congratulate you and nathan the whole team

Particularly the city manager, he was quite the barker out there in front of that soccer goal machine. And that was a good idea. Whose idea was that?

The city manager's idea.

Even if it was your idea, you're going to tell us it's his idea. Absolutely not. I'm just kidding. But I've been attending ICSC for 25 years, and our booth looked really great. And It really seemed to work well, and at times there's been like a city section, and this year it seemed that cities were spread out more. I don't know if that's a decision of ICSC, I suppose. But do we have any, as we attend year after year, we should get some leverage as far as placement? Yeah. Obviously some areas have more traffic than others, but I just want to reiterate my compliments to the staff for setting up the appointments and making sure that our exposure was maximized. So did a great job. It was a very worthwhile conference to attend. Thank you.

Thank you.

Just to piggyback and to speak to Councilmember Deer's statement, the location that we were placed, we were trying to get as close as we could. As you know, that conference is so large. But Jersey Mike's is typically one of the hottest and most visited booths because they give away those free sandwiches. And so for us to be positioned where we were really helped to bring the flow of traffic to our booth which was really the idea from Nathan Freeman our director of economic development, so we plan on excuse me, somewhere close by the food because people always want to be by the food and it's free. And so that was kind of the strategic idea and thought. But obviously, to your point, we're going to try to jockey for even a better position and location next year, closer, even closer to that booth. But we're going to have a larger space as well. So, yeah, so it'll it'll it'll drive the people to our to our space.

Okay, speaking about food, I was contacted by Marcos Pizza. You know, it's a pizza chain. It's the fourth largest pizza chain in the United States. They had a booth there at ICSC as well. And they were interested in coming to Carson, they said. So I'm referring them to Nathan and Chris. We met with Marcos Pizza. We did, okay.

And we are trying to work on a deal to – we're trying to work on a deal.

Okay, so they already followed up. I gave them the contact information. Correct. Great. All right. That's good news.

Thank you. Thank you very, very much. Again, kudos to the entire team, and we look for bigger and better things here.

Thank you very much.

You're welcome. Now we will have item number 11, a mental health form recap video. Welcome to our wonderful city. And I want to say thank you to the staff and everyone involved in putting this event on today. This is what we do here in the city of Carson. This is an issue that needs to be dealt with 24-7. I'm always excited when I see this room filled. It means we're doing something right here in the city of Carson. Wouldn't you agree? We are the jewel of the South Bay.

probably going through more mental stress than ever before but we need to know what tools are available for us so that we can cope and mental illness comes in all different shapes sizes and forms this is a labor of love for me and it really fills my heart to see so many of our vendors that are here can we give a round of applause for all of our vendors that showed up they're giving up their time and being here in the community thank you for our vendors mental health and the manager of mental health is for everyone and we just have to be compassionate

understanding and educated. It's all about quality for life of life for everyone.

I've been a police officer for 35 years. We see some horrible things out there and things that we can't unsee. We have to find a way to de-stress and come back and sometimes it takes a while. We are ready to be together, help each other, feel good, laugh, hug, smile, eat, celebrate.

Every day I wake up with gratitude. I wake up with happiness.

Something I had not felt for years. It's OK not to be OK. That is the very beginning of the process of healing. Self-care is the best care. And know that in order for us to change our world, to make it a better place, We must take care of ourselves first.

Music didn't only inspire me to get up here in front of you all today, but music actually saved my life.

Loving yourself is the foundation of true self-care. But true self-care cannot happen without self-love.

Excellent. Very good. No comments, Cedric, it's your show. MPG.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just to the staff, to Mike Whitaker, to the city manager, thank you for allowing this to happen. I think I started this. Oh, my God. I can't remember when I started. I think it was staffers at the time and that just wanted to get something to give back to the community dealing with mental health illnesses and that most people always look at as a stigma and the coping skills and how to deal with it. When Rick Dickard, who was actually from Channel 11 News, came and spoke, I was really surprised at the information he shared about him being an adoptive child and went through a lot of things. And you would never think of that based upon his persona on TV and that he was struggling. and was going through some things, but I think everyone has a little bit of struggle within their life. It's called stress, and you need to learn how to de-stress at some point in time, and that's what this is all about, to give back, and having Kaiser Permanente and all the vendors to show up. I am just pleased, and to this entire city council, thank you for embracing this program and making sure it continues on here in the city. It's really, really needed. We had over 140 people register for this to be here and that some just showed up on their own because they knew we do it every year and they come in and say, this has really helped me out. I've gotten this information, things that I didn't know. And this was for giving back for the caregivers who care for others and that making sure you know how to care for those who are having some struggles or some challenges but again to the staff and to everyone thank you for allowing this to happen in the city councilwoman

Thanks, thank you, MPT. I know we worked on it even before I was on the city council. It's very important, very important to de-stress and it's for everybody. So that was a great day and a shout out to the multimedia team for doing that video, great job. I know they're not here, but great job to them.

That's your reel-to-reel.

Thank you. And the mayor came in orange, and, you know, most people think you don't want to wear orange. Not bad.

I look good in orange, so what the heck. Okay, thank you to everyone. Now we'll have a video for the 128th Philippine Independence Day celebration.

Get all these videos out of there.

How are you this morning? Well, first let me thank the Filipino Independence Day Foundation for all of your hard work. You guys work around the clock to make sure this event is successful. I also want to give a shout out to Filipino community of Carson. They were the first ones to start this event in the great city of Carson. We have the largest population of Filipinos anywhere. So we're excited about that. We're the most diverse city in the United States.

You know, it's a great day in the city of Carson as we celebrate Filipino Independence Day here in the city. Many people from other communities come to our city to celebrate their heritage and understanding that heritage is very important and that we celebrate all cultures in our city. Continue doing the great work. Salamat, salamat, salamat.

Just want to say happy Philippine Independence Day. It's incredible. Let's give our councilwoman a thunderous applause for all of her hard work, our entire city council for celebrating Filipino Independence Day. We are excited that we get to celebrate all cultures in Carson, and that's because of this great city council.

I'm really honored to be here today with my colleagues, This Philippine Independence Day Foundation and the committee, let's give them a hand again for their great work. So this event every year in the city of Carson has been going on since the 1980s. And it's very, very significant in the Filipino culture and the culture of Carson.

We are celebrating the 128th Philippine Independence Day and we are doing it together here in the City of Carson. Thank you all the sponsors, thank you the City of Carson, all our staff, the Philippine Independence Day Foundation, and our volunteers.

I'm just happy and overwhelmed. because I was blessed to be invited here in Carson. It's always a celebration of music, celebration of family, celebration of you know our culture and no other way to celebrate it here.

On behalf of the Philippine Independence Day Foundation and obviously our partners the City of Carson, it truly is our honor and our privilege to once again be able to partner with the city in co-hosting today's celebration.

Councilwoman?

Yes, again, great job everybody. That was a great day celebrating our Philippine Independence Day and the community came together and had a great time. I think this is one of those events where it really was a lot of fun because we all We're celebrating together and looking forward to more events. So maraming, maraming salamat and mabuhay to us all. Thank you. Thank you.

A great event to the staff. That reel-to-reel, that's Brandon, isn't it, that did the videotape? You can see the difference in it. And the one before, yeah, the mental health. It's clear, it's bright, it looks professionally done. So my bishop here. C2R Productions. C2R Productions. They did an outstanding job. I could tell the difference between the last two and the first worker with our multimedia team. And they did an excellent job. So the real, you could see the difference. You could see, it's clear. So let's make sure we...

And he was born and raised right here in the city of Carson.

I know. That's why I'm giving him a shot.

He started right here.

He has his own production company.

He's a young kid. Now he does the Greek theater and everywhere else. So he's done an awesome job. And that's what we're looking for, right? You can see the difference. It's clear. It's crisp.

You know, all that good stuff. he must be mic'd up with the mic system that we're actually using, because you can hear the difference in the, you know, and nobody had on mic, so these were clear audio clips, so they were great.

I love Brandon. Yeah, that's the reel-to-reel our bishop was talking about, the multimedia department pulling it all together so we can have that professional look that we're looking for, that we can get more awards. Okay, thank you. Are communications for matters listed on the agenda, Madam City Clerk?

I have none, Madam Mayor.

Okay. Approval of the minutes.

Motion to approve. Second.

Moved and properly second. Please cast your vote. Oh, I need to vote.

Motion carries.

Move for approval of the consent calendar.

Madam Mayor? Yes. Madam Mayor, if we may, item 25, we'll need to push that item if we can. So Madam Mayor, the motion will be without item 25. And then item 29, as a heads up that this particular item was updated with an updated contract. That item is currently here in the city council chambers.

29.

Item 29, yes, sir. And that it also be in the city clerk's office for review. So just wanted to present that.

Second. Second to what? Approve of the consent calendar.

Okay, item number 29, before we approve it, is approval of a five-year purchase, support, and maintenance agreement with MS Security License for Ronin Weapons. I'm gonna pull that, we'll pull item number two.

Oh, I'm pulling two. Okay. Item 28 and 24. 24 and 28, anyone else like to pull an item?

We're gonna approve the consent calendar with exception of item number 24, 28, and 29. Cast your vote. We're moved and probably second.

I voted.

Motion carries. I vote. Thank you. Item number 24.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just wanted to get from the staff in regards to, we talked about our security for our parks, and I think at one point we were going to add the mini parks, and I know it's going to be an add-on. I just want the residents to know, based upon our mini parks, what is being proposed.

Yes, thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. So we'll have our Director of Public Works, Ms. Nora Garcia, provide a brief update. I'm sorry, did I say Public Works? Sorry, Public Safety. Apologies. It was for the public.

Good evening. Let's see, item number 24. The city issued an RFP back in May. We did receive two bids. Johnson Controls was the lowest potential bidder, and we will be adding, and that, again, was to add cameras to the mini parks. so it is in addition to our current infrastructure where we have cameras at every parks we now added the mini parks so that's including the friendship walnut perry street correct and what is there another one reflections reflection reflections yes however we have since removed reflections from that bid

Yeah, just to piggyback, so Reflections is being removed not because we don't want to supply the security system. It's being involved in another development, and so there's a developer that actually there's an agreement that I don't want to speak to specifically, but it's being involved. That mini park is being involved in that.

But at some point in time, there will be cameras installed at that site, maybe? Or it'll be something different?

That's correct.

Oh. Okay. I won't say no more.

That's only if that agreement is put together, right? Right.

Currently it's pending, but if something were to happen or this particular potential development didn't occur, then yes, we would just put the cameras, install those in that particular mini park as well.

Did your staff mention the mini park at Wilmington Avenue and 220th Street? That's Friendship.

Friendship. Friendship. Yes, that's part of it. Yes, sir.

Thank you, then. Thank you. I move staff recommendation. Second.

Thank you.

Then move to probably second, cash or vote.

It's not the clerk's business. She's moving it fast as it can go.

Yeah, I know it's not the clerk. I knew it wasn't the clerk.

Is that his good side?

I voted, didn't I?

Yeah, it's slow.

You waiting on me? I think I...

Okay, well I can see here, I don't know why.

Motion carries. It's stuck here.

Thank you.

And the next item is item number, what was it? 28.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Item 28, to the city manager, I think I've been asking about this for a while and just wanted to let the staff know so that as we go into our special events and we're having LA 28s coming up and all the other, it's another way of getting the word out to the community where we did not have it in place. So just to let the residents know.

Yes, sir.

I didn't say what it was, though. I'm just giving you a roundabout, so I'm giving it to you.

Yes, sir. No, this is actually a quick, and I want to commend the Public Works Department, Dr. Rogers and his team for getting this MOVED QUICKLY. AND TO YOUR POINT, THIS MARQUEE WILL ACTUALLY HELP TO PROMOTE ALL THE OTHER ACTIVITIES THAT THE CITY IS HOSTING. SO IN PARTICULAR, L.A. 28, FOR SURE. BUT EVEN OUR STANDARD EVENTS, CITY-SPONSORED EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. SO THIS IS GREAT. THIS IS GREAT FOR THE PARK THERE.

For the residents at home, this is the marquee that's at Carson Poole on Main Street. That marquee was installed in 2013 at the time that I was a staff person, and I'm surprised it didn't last longer than what it did for that marquee, Dektronix. But we're now getting a new marquee at that location to allow us to get more information out to our residents in that neighborhood off of Main Street. So I move staff recommendation to approval.

Second.

Moved and properly second. Please cast your vote. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, we cast my vote?

Yeah, Madam Mayor, there's just some glitches on this, so it's frozen.

You want a voice vote?

Can we just do an old school vote?

Yes, okay, I'm working, thank you.

Can we do a all vote? All vote is fine. Thank you. Council Member Rojas? Yes. Council Member Deer? Yes. Council Member Hilton? Yes. Mayor Potem Hicks? Yes. Mayor Davis-Holmes? Yes. Thank you, the minutes will reflect the vote. I'm sorry, the screen is not working.

Item number 29, I pull just a quick and dirty report, please, ma'am, through the City Manager.

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor. Again, Nora Garcia, Director of Public Safety, will provide a brief update on this particular item.

Let me get my mic on, please.

Okay, thank you.

Good evening again. The City, through the Public Safety and Emergency Management IS THAT BETTER? THE CITY THROUGH OUR DEPARTMENT, THE PUBLIC SAFETY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, ISSUED A RFP OR, EXCUSE ME, THIS WAS AN IFB, AN INVITATION FOR BID, BACK IN MAY FOR AN UPDATED WEAPONS DETECTION SYSTEM. SO ESSENTIALLY A METAL DETECTOR. THIS IS TO REPLACE THE CURRENT INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE HAVE HERE AT CITY HALL DOWNSTAIRS. I am in the process of enhancing our entire visitor experience downstairs. So a part of that is the weapons detection system, and then moving forward will be a new visitor management system. Any questions? Bishop.

Yes, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Nora. I do have a question. Say, for instance, someone comes in City Hall with a pacemaker. Are we equipped to not make them walk through the metal detector, but are staff trained to wand and all of those things?

Yes, currently we are trained to wand, and we do have that process in place. So if someone were say, to be expecting or to have any kind of medical device in them right now, we would want them. However, this advanced technology would be safe enough for those individuals to still walk through that new system. However, if they still do not feel comfortable enough to do that, we would still utilize our current system, which is to want them.

OK. And then this visitor management thing, Oftentimes I go to Englewood City Hall and you have to kind of like enter your, they give you a picture. Yes. Like you enter your information when you go in their city hall just to know who's in city hall, know who's there and stuff like that. I don't know if we're venturing off into something like that.

We are. Ours will be a little more advanced than the one at Inglewood. Not tooting our own horn here, but it will be a very sleek place. system we'll have two opportunities for someone to be able to either register in advance so they can save time or if they come here regularly for business they can also do that as well and then we'll also have a podium style as well so someone who is coming to the city and didn't do that in advance they can easily either swipe their driver's license or just enter their information whichever they prefer but we'll have multiple modes of being able to track who is here at city hall okay thank you so much

sure councilwoman thank you i think this is uh long awaited and so i think um councilman asked a lot of the questions i wanted to ask um and it's good to hear that we are moving even far more advanced i think the airports where they I think they do your eyes and they already know everything about you. So thank you for moving in the right direction. I think this is a great, great idea. Public safety is a priority here. I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE A FIVE-YEAR PURCHASE SUPPORT MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT WITH MIS SECURITY LLC FOR THE PURCHASE INSTALLATION TRAINING SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE RONIN WEAPONS DETECTIVE DETECTION SYSTEM IN THE AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED 82,455 AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT FOLLOWING APPROVAL ASKED TO FORM BY THE CITY ATTORNEY.

SECOND.

Move it in properly. Second, before we vote, I'd like to make one statement that elected officials and staff are not exempt from going through this security system, whether it's the one that we have in place now or one in the future. You're not exempt, and I'd like you to let your staff know that because that's what I told them. I know I'm the mayor. You don't know what mood I'm in. but I think it's important for them to know that that's what we expect. Every council person, every staff person should go and go through the system, okay?

Yes. I appreciate that very, very much, thank you.

Thank you. You can cast, it's been moved and properly second, please cast your vote.

Madam Mayor, there won't be a vote cast.

Oh, roll call.

Council Member Rojas? Yes. Council Member Deer? Yes. Council Member Hilton?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Hicks? Yes. Mayor Davis-Holmes? Yes. Motion carries.

Item number 30 is a public hearing. Mr. City Manager, do you feel like reading?

Yes, thank you, Madam Mayor. I think there's, the city clerk has her, actually I know she's trying to get her documents together since the system is having some glitch.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. The notice of public hearing to consider the fiscal year 2026-2027 proposed city budget has been given pursuant to applicable law including but not limited to the proof of timely publication received by the city clerk and the agenda posting requirements were met for individuals and organizations. There were no written communications received for this item. Thank you.

We're going to open the public hearing for the 2026. Is there anyone wishing to speak on this? Are you going to do a presentation first? No. Whatever is your pleasure, Madam Mayor. Anyone wishing to speak on this, Madam City Clerk?

No, Madam Mayor. No, not for this public hearing item.

We're going to close the public hearing and hear staff's report.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Our budget adoption for this public hearing presentation will be done by our Director of Finance, Mr. William Jefferson, and he will begin his presentation.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and members of City Council.

Let me interrupt you. You look so nice tonight. What's going on?

Thank you. Thank you. Tonight, staff is pleased to present the fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget for adoption. The proposed budget reflects the city's continued commitment to fiscal responsibility, maintaining essential public services, investing in community priorities, and supporting long-term financial sustainability. The fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget totals approximately $156.9 million in revenues and $156.8 million in expenditures, resulting in a general fund surplus of $164,000. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the City has presented a structurally balanced budget, demonstrating the City's ongoing commitment to responsible financial management and long-term fiscal sustainability. Compared to fiscal year 25-26 adopted budget, proposed revenues increased by approximately $1.7 million or 1.1%, while expenditures increased approximately $217,000 or 0.1%. Overall, fiscal year 26-27 proposed budget demonstrates the City's strong financial stewardship by balancing service delivery needs with responsible fiscal management. Staff believes this budget positions a city to continue providing high quality services, advancing council priorities, maintaining adequate reserves, and preserving the city's long-term financial stability for the city of Carson. As we take you through the slides, the first one is our general fund position, which I just gave a recap on, of our revenues of $156.9 million. Expenditure is $156.8 million, which again gives us a surplus of $164 million. Again, I just want to emphasize we are, again, the sixth consecutive year with a balanced budget. So I want to spend a little time on this chart. This is our general fund balance. And as you can see from the diagram that's before you, we have our general fund balance over time. And as you can see, our general fund balance increased by 323% since fiscal year 2020-21. about that. If you notice the slide, the general fund balance, it was audited in 24-25. So our general fund balance is an amount of $252.5 million. Of that $252.5 million, we have what is considered the categories, overall categories. These overall categories is what makes up the general fund balance. So I like to just be simplified by saying you just have five buckets OF FUNDING THAT MAKES UP THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF THE GENERAL FUND BALANCE. THE BIGGEST ONE THAT WE ALWAYS LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HIGHLIGHT THE MOST IS OUR AVAILABLE SURPLUS, WHICH IS $91 MILLION. SO AS I TAKE YOU THROUGH THE SLIDES, WE'LL EXPLAIN THE $91 MILLION A LITTLE BIT FURTHER, BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I EMPHASIZE THAT ALL OF THESE CATEGORIES, THE SO-CALLED BUCKETS, ARE WHAT COMPRISES OF THIS TOTAL AMOUNT OF $252.5 MILLION, WHICH IS OUR GENERAL FUND BALANCE.

Mr. Director, and I think we need to point out because that 252 is there, but that oil tax, if we don't win that lawsuit, it will not be there. So when we start getting excited about this budget, we're in litigation behind the oil tax, and that, how much is it, 70? Seventy million. Seventy million could soon disappear. Not all of it, I'm sure we'll get something, but I don't want everybody to think that we have that sitting in an account that we cannot touch.

And the more important thing, Madam Mayor, is that that amount was when they had not restructured, and Marathon is playing games, and they have now restructured their entire business to avoid paying taxes in Carson, and they've reduced that amount. So yes, there's two separate issues. One, 70 million is on hold while we're doing the litigation with them. And we will win because we're on the right side of the issue. But once we do win and they're going to go through their appeals, which will be years before you can touch it, which is the game they're playing. But more importantly, meanwhile, they've restructured their litigation. entire business operation to avoid paying that tax. So now on an ongoing basis, you're not gonna be collecting as much as you did during those first four or five years before they restructured. And that's a really important issue for the mayor and council and the residents to understand.

It may be like $2 million.

I don't know the exact amount. Maybe Mr. Williams can help us on that, but it was substantially less than what they had to pay. Yes, it's about two, $3 million now.

So yeah, I wanted to point that out because everybody's getting excited about this 252. It is there, but we can't spend it. It's in a savings account, an untouchable savings account, the oil portion of it. That's correct.

Madam Mayor.

Yes.

So the interest that's accruing in that account, are those funds that we're gonna be able to keep, or will those funds have to be paid if we do lose the lawsuit?

Interest and penalty that we've earned from that money will have to be paid back.

Yes. It's more than that. It's their money, we're just holding it until the lawsuit, We're fighting it because we believe it's justifiable and sometimes you have to wait and not panic and take $250,000 which won't, can't do me any good personally. So we need to keep fighting and keep the faith because it is, in my mind, and my fearless attorney, we're on the right side.

We're putting it on her.

Okay? So don't get excited while she's fighting. Just understand that we're in it to win it.

Go ahead, Will. Go ahead, Will.

Just recapping again that the $91 million is available surplus. The other buckets have been allocated. So just in layman's terms, available surplus is the money that the city council can tap into for use.

And I have another question. That $12.5 million is included in that $91 million.

Yes, ma'am, but now I do want to it is included, but I want to give a caveat that this is a point in time, this is 2425 already, so this is the start of our 2526 balance so since then, a lot of transaction have okay. Just to focus a little bit more on the $91 million, that would be referred to as our general fund surplus. So in our general fund surplus, again, that was the beginning balance of 25-26. Since 25-26, we had $5.3 million in adjustments, which gave us a mid-year balance. SURPLUS BALANCE OF 86 MILLION. SO BASICALLY WHEN WE CAME TO COUNCIL AND PRESENTED OUR MID-YEAR BUDGET, OUR BALANCE AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME AFTER THE ACTIONS WAS APPROVED BY MAYOR AND COUNCIL, THAT LEFT US WITH A BALANCE OF 86 MILLION. AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THE 86 MILLION IS OUR SURPLUS RECONCILIATION. WE HAD A SURPLUS BALANCE OF 91.4. WE HAD CARE REFORDS FROM OUR CONTINUING APPROPRIATION ACTION. WE HAD ITEM 1.5 MILLION, WHICH WAS approved by mayor and council, the climate action plan, the fiber optics, and also the withdrawal request for mid-year, which again, you can see the reconciliation of how we ended the mid-year with an 86.1 balance. And just again, this is just a recap of the slide that I showed before. Now we can move into our revenues. Before I jump into the revenues, revenues didn't change from workshop number one. So if you guys want to see anything about it, I'm more than welcome to entertain it. But we did just mention the oil tax. So as of this year, thus far, we've collected $9 million. We are on pace on par to collect the proposed or forecasted revenue of $10 million. But as I said just previously, the revenue from workshop one hasn't changed. So this is a chart that you all are familiar with from workshop number one. Workshop, now we were gonna move into the expenses. Now we did have changes in expenses from workshop number one, and I'll highlight those changes first. So the first change that we had from previous workshop, workshop number one that was presented, we had an increase of $100,000 to multimedia for professional services. WE ALSO HAD A TRANSFER OF HOUSING DIVISION AND OPERATION COST OF REAL PROPERTY, AND IT'S NOW WILL BE HOUSED UNDER THE ECONOMIC AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. AND I'D LIKE TO ALSO THROW IN A CAVEAT THAT THE HOUSING DIVISION WAS ONCE UNDER THE CEUM'S JURISDICTION. NOW IT'S UNDER THE COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DIVISION'S JURISDICTION. which you see right below in this portion. Also, we had one FTE. We had a reclass of a part-time recreational assistant three to an early childhood instructor, and that was a full-time position. We also had other adjustments. We had 80,000 that was moved from the city manager's office into parks and recs, and this 80,000 represented the state of the city that has now been transferred from city manager into special events category. And also, we had $550,000 transfer out of General Fund to Special Events Fund 244, which we will go into a little bit further. So now, this next slide is just predicting in dollar amounts the funding that I just recapped in slide number one. So as you can see, city manager's office, you can see how it decreased, and that decrease was due to the housing department being transferred out. We had, in human resources, we had $205,000 for a position that was budgeted, but the funding was not placed there. We have the community services, the $550,000 that was transferred out that will be transferred to special events fund. And we have economic development increasing by $800,000. Again, the majority of that is coming from the city managers of the housing division being transferred into the economic development department. Now we move into our salaries and benefits. This is the only, I just, again, I only will highlight the changes that were made from workshop number one. Workshop number one, we presented to mayor and council a proposed FTE count of 403. NOW IT HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 404, AND AGAIN, THAT'S DUE TO THE RECLASS OF THE PART-TIME RECREATION ASSISTANT III TO THE EARLY CHILDHOOD INSTRUCTIVE PART-TIME, WHICH AGAIN INCREASED OUR BALANCE FROM 403 TO 404. WE HAVE A PROPOSED SALARY OF THE 404 PROPOSED FTE'S WITH A COST OF $61.8 MILLION, AND AGAIN, THAT WAS ONE FTE. That was an added and on the right left corner, we just have a distribution of how the FTEs are making up the 404 for your review. We now move on to the 26-27 forecasted vacancy rate. As again, we have a total FTE proposal account of 404. As of today, we have 368 field positions. We have 36 vacant positions, and we have a vacancy rate of 9%, and we are actively recruiting 36 positions to date, HRAs. WITH THAT, I'LL NOW TURN IT OVER TO OUR DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, DR. ARLINGTON-ROGERS.

THANK YOU.

SO FOR OUR 26-27 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, TOTAL CIP BUDGET IS 151.9. We have a multiple of funding sources in a project categories. As you can see, most of it is in roadways. A lot of those roadways are special revenue funded, different tax sources. All right. HERE'S A LIST OF THE PROJECTS THAT THESE WILL BE CONTINUING. SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING CURRENTLY. ONE OF THE ONES I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT'S COMING TO FRUITION IS UNIVERSITY DRIVE. IT SAYS BETWEEN AVALON AND WILMINGTON. WE WILL ADOPT THAT. THAT WILL START CONSTRUCTION THIS SUMMER. AND WE ARE GOING TO START ON THE WILMINGTON SIDE AND WORK OUR WAY TOWARDS AVALON. And one of the ones I want to highlight here is the Victoria Transit Center. This is the one that council approved for additional funding. We became the pass through for Cal State Dominguez Hills. They wanted to add on to our current project and sort of be a whole mobility hub at the college.

Is that the $4 million that the MPT was able to?

Yes.

Um, quick question. I saw Leonardo drive up there and it only showed 37 million. Is that, that could not be accurate.

I think that project on the proposed, I see it. It's a 51, five for total.

I was only looking at the second column. Okay.

So these are our current ones. All right.

Traffic signal at University and Central. Say it again. Traffic signal at University Drive and Central.

Traffic signal at University Drive and Central. We are... Come on up, Gilbert. I'll give you an exact where we are with that right now.

What's the status?

Good evening, Mayor, Council. For Traffic Signal and University and Central, yes, we just awarded a contract. We have a contract on board and that project is ongoing.

Okay, thank you. So it wouldn't be proposed, it's already going in this budget year. Okay, thank you.

And my other question is, I know we discussed it at the last meeting, all of the streets being repaved is coming up on another slide.

Yes, Madam Mayor, coming up. These are all current projects. Okay. It is everything, but you're going to see what we're proposing for this coming fiscal year. So these are projects that are being currently worked on as well as projects that are being proposed. And then there'll be another slide that will break down what is being proposed for this year. No, we're not doing that.

So, Madam Mayor, for the paving, there's $8 million appropriated for continuing the work that's happening.

It's going to show up on this screen.

No, we have it built into the budget. There is no slide that breaks that out.

No slide that says $8 million? $8 million.

No, it's wrapped all into the funding budget. It's the $30 million that you saw previously in the previous slide, and so it's built into the funding.

Well, I don't know what it is. My colleagues don't know where it is. It's built in. Who knows that? Because I want to look at, you know, I always say a short pencil is better than a long memory. built in, I want to see that we're continuing our street paving project.

Yes, ma'am.

Last time I looked at the budget, it was one street that was being considered.

Yes, ma'am. The last time you looked at the budget, that is. But it did get changed and there is $8 million to continue the program that we're already working on.

Where is it?

I believe the finance director is working it out right now. But there is $8 million and that is going to go forward will be in phase 11.

Yes, we're going to be getting that report. I just want to make sure we highlighted that it's for street paving, that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle in case I decide to retire one night early.

So this concludes my portion of the presentation. Is there any additional questions for me?

No, just let me, whoever's showing me where that $8 million is, then I'll be done.

Okay, so what I'm going to do while that's being worked on, I'm going to pass it over to my colleague, Director Michael Whitaker, who's going to go through special revenue. Quick question.

The $12.5 million, where is that at that we said for the roads? Is that part of that process as well, the $12.5 million?

For the part of the 30 million that we're doing for this coming fiscal year's allocation.

Yes.

We have 16 that are associated for the road work that we put forward. And then there's 14 million for Leonardo Drive totaling the 30 million. But the 12.5 is in that or is it separate? The $12.5 million that we're expecting. That's not in that $30 million. There's no work for that $30 million. Within that $30 million.

Within that $30 million. So that $12.5 is sitting where? Is it sitting in an account?

Well.

Well, through the city manager, where is that $12.5 million?

Oh, Will can tell you?

The 12.5 is, right now it's just in the revenue, but after the year ends and we close the year out, that 12.5 will then be dumped into the available surplus. Okay. So it's still there, but as of now, keep in mind that we're just showing you a point in time. So right now, the revenue is sitting in, the 12.5 is sitting in our revenue account right now in this fiscal year, but once the auditors come through, audit close the books, then they take all the surplus that's left and then they designate it or allocate it to the available surplus.

But wouldn't that 12.5 be in one of the slides you showed when you carry over from one fiscal year to the other? If you have it in this fiscal year, would it be part of a carryover, or would it be part of your surplus?

It would be part of our surplus. As of now, we are still in the fiscal year, so we hadn't closed out.

So it's part of the 86.1?

No, no, no, no, sir. It's not in the count at all right now because the fiscal year hasn't closed. Once the fiscal year closes, then the funds are allocated or transferred to surplus. That's why when you see the, I make it a point to show on my general fund balance, I make it a point to show where it says audited fund balance because the money's not, truly like official until the auditors give their stamp of approval.

So it wouldn't be in that surplus? No. Okay. It's not in surplus. Okay, carry it forward.

So when I come to you at continuing appropriations, you will see, better yet, let me say mid-year, when I come to you and present at mid-year, you will see that these numbers change because the auditors have come in and closed our books out and made the proper allocations.

Okay. July 1st. That's when the book's closed. June 30th, July 1st. June 30th. June 30th. And then whatever the 12.5 that we're talking about will show up somewhere.

It'll show up in the new fund balance, which I will present to you mid-year. And I think at this point...

Do you have any additional questions for the CIP budget?

So when can we expect to see the real infrastructure for the streets for Phase 11? I know you're working on that. The streets that will be repaved?

Out of Phase 11? Uh-huh. Once we approve the budget with that $8 million, we'll have that posted. We could post it now, but I didn't have staff post that information for Phase 11 because it wasn't funded yet. Once we get it, it'll be online. Once that $8 million is approved, we'll post it because then I can give the contractor the okay to start working on the structure.

You had a nice little brochure the first phase you did. Yes, ma'am. It's something like that, a hard copy for me. It was very nice.

Absolutely.

For my colleagues also.

Yes, ma'am.

Quick question.

Councilman Dewey is queued up.

I'll wait.

I'll wait until after the staff report's complete.

Okay. MPT?

Quick question. Where is Martin Luther King Street? I know we've been, that was one of your priorities was Martin Luther King. That was your, you was on it. My concern is I don't see anything about Martin Luther King.

There's a plan for Martin Luther King. So, Madam Mayor, Council, we do have a slide where it shows a proposed 26-27, some more CIP projects. Martin Luther King Boulevard is included as Project 1608 for $6 million. So I'll just take you through it since you guys won't be.

And that's for this coming fiscal year? This coming fiscal year. Okay.

So we have Sepulveda Widening, that's 26.4 million proposed this year. We have Karish Crest Park Expansion and Improvement Projects, three million proposed. Calis Park and Forseer Park Roof Repair, 500,000. Bike lane installation and median modification on Figueroa Main Street, 223rd Street and Avalon, 8.7 million. Dominguez Channel bike path, 500,000. Active transportation Santa Fe bike lane, 1.5 million. Dominguez Channel Bike Path 2, $500,000. And then we also have the Leonardo Drive, which you did see on the previous slide. So those are more projects that are, but these projects were being funded by the general fund.

So that's separate than what's up here?

Yes, sir. Well, it's not separate, it's an addition.

Okay.

All this is added in.

Mr. City Manager, I see you shaking your head.

The information that Will is explaining is in this list, in these two lists, there's a slide they're trying to put together that they've already developed that we're trying to show you so you can see specifically where it's pulled out from the current projects and for the proposed projects for this coming year. So there's $30 million in new CIP money that's being proposed with these specific projects that you're making reference to, the streets, MLK, so forth and so on. They are listed in here, but there's a slide that we have that was developed that will break down the $30 million that's new so you can see where these upcoming new projects are.

That slide is gonna come up in a minute.

I hope.

Madam Mayor, I have to say I made a huge mistake. I read the wrong slide. That is the right slide. I was reading the wrong slide. That's the right slide. That is the right slide. That's the 30 million slide that the city managers were referring to.

While I'm waiting, because I had asked the city manager about this before, and maybe I was wrong. Was there some funding or grant or something that was for MLK? Or is this coming out of the general? I thought there was, but it's not.

What you may be thinking about, Madam Mayor, is when Kimmelman was thinking of doing their project, one of the community benefits we negotiated with Kimmelman, the tennis project, was that they would contribute $5 million towards MLK, but since the project never went forward, that funding never came through.

So this is the numbers I was referencing earlier. $8 million to continue the mill and overlay projects that we started in 2024. There's the additional $2 million that is needed to fully fund University Drive rehabilitation, the Mills Park renovation, both the interior and the exterior, and then the Public Works Community Service corporate yard roof improvements. It's leaking a little bit. And then $14 million for Leonardo Drive enhancements. So that's the 30 million appropriated for 26-27. Okay.

Dr. Hilton.

Thank you for this presentation. Leonardo Drive. I thought that was a part of not so much the city, but the reclamation authority. Why is it in this budget?

it's because it's a city street and we're responsible for so we that's that's absolutely correct we we're responsible for that street it's a city street it's being built and it's expensive

I can expand on that. From the very beginning, there was a cooperative agreement. This goes back to when Cam Carson was interested in doing the outlet mall. There was a cooperative agreement that was passed between the CRA, Cam Carson, and the city. where the city agreed to provide the funding for building the street, because traditionally cities provide the funding for that, but the city didn't want to touch it because it's a contaminated property, so the CRA took on the obligation of building it. And Cam Carson had some minimal obligations, like $12.5 million towards putting to the street, but the rest of it was supposed to come from the city. So you're just following through with that original agreement that over the years has been handed down now that Carson Goose is the developer.

If I'm not mistaken, haven't we, haven't the city paid for the street before? I'm just...

It's always been part of the same Snyder Langston contract that they've been working on. The funding that I believe, I don't remember the numbers, and Mr. Raymond's not here, but originally I think that the street was budgeted 36 million, something in the high 30s, but with Cam Carson pulling out of the project, DTSC is requiring for there to be liners that are gonna be put on cell two before they give authorization for the street to open. And therefore the cost went up because of that. And then there was also piles of trash that Tetra Tech had moved that were in the way and those had to be removed. So the budget has been revised. um but i believe the city manager and the assistant city manager had a meeting with the executive director of the cra and they asked for the final budget because now the street is at a place where it is it should be the final numbers and everything should be known because knight of langston has been out there they have been looking at the conditions, and the city has been assured that this is the final number and holding our breath that it is the final number. Yeah, thank you. It keeps going up.

It is. How long will we wait?

Any additional questions on the CIP that I can answer? All right. With that said, I'll call on my colleague, Director Michael Whitaker.

Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, city council members, I'm bringing to you the proposed special event budget for 244 for this upcoming year. I have to say that all of our events that we had last year were extremely successful, and we are asking for the exact same amount of money moving forward to the next year. We're not asking for any increases in the actual events that will be coming up for 26-27. Our proposed budget is $630,126. The attendant for these events is estimated at 28,700. I think that's a little bit higher, but that's a modest number. And that's totaling nine events. The event that was added originally, we had eight events down to Samoan heritage. The state of the city was also added into this particular count as stated by our finance director for this particular year. So as it shows in 26-27, the very first column is our proposed budget. In the second column, it shows the adopted, 25-26 adopted direct costs, which are monies that we spent directly on those particular events for the last year. We also show the 25-26 actuals. As you see, some of those numbers are higher than the actual adopted funds that we have. but we have some amazing volunteers here in the city of carson and some great companies we receive revenue from our booths which you'll see in the fourth column but that's also donations that were received for all of these events that we currently have except winterfest that's the only one that uh we do not have Luckily, I have found someone who definitely would like to support that event for this upcoming year, so we would definitely see how that goes. For the last column, we have the net cost. It actually shows that we were actually in the black this year in regards to all of our events, and that was definitely due to the donations and also the booth rentals that we had for this particular year. The very last column, it just shows indirect costs. This is just the overhead that we have. Some are staff work assignments, also overhead and support for equipment that we currently have. But if we were to use that equipment, these would actually be the costs that we would charge someone else. Our staff recommendation is to cap 26, 27, especially the event budget at $630,126, which is also the amount that we're proposing for 26 and 27.

Mr. City Manager, to the staff, the Samoan event at Victoria Park, we usually give them $10,000. I had requested that we go up to $15,000 for the Samoan Flag Day. Yes, ma'am.

Is it up there? No, that particular event, it's not in the 244 account. It's budgeted in the general account, which is the 101 of my department budget.

But it went from 10 to 15?

No, currently it's at $10,000. Okay.

Okay, I had a request for it to go from 10 to 15. All of our other events have received something, and I know it's at Victoria Park, and there was a request to give them another $5,000 so they could rent equipment and do whatever, but $10,000, things have changed.

So for that, Madam Mayor, that would actually come out of community services?

so i don't know will do you want to kind of explain how that how that will work uh madam mayor you do have that option i just want to bring one thing uh Just want to bring one thing to your attention. So that funding would come from your surplus. So as I spoke of earlier, your revenues minus your expenditures is your surplus. So our surplus forecasted surplus for this particular year, 26-27, is $164. If you want to take the five from there, it's your prerogative. But that would drop to $159.

Well, $5,000 is not going to break us. But it's fair across the board. Even though we're not putting it on, I think we just need to give them the $5,000 they requested.

Madam Mayor?

Yes.

Why don't we make a motion and direct staff to do that?

Go right ahead.

All right. I support the mayor's position that we increase from $10,000 to $15,000 allocation to Samoan Flag Day, which takes place annually at Victoria Park in the city of Carson. Second.

All in favor of signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. It's unanimous. So noted. Okay, now you can go back.

Thank you. So as we move along, just giving a recap, we presented the fund balance, we presented the revenues, we presented the expenditures, we presented CIP, and now we also presented the special events. So now I just want to focus on now what your ending surplus would be. So now going back to the beginning of your surplus, when we mentioned it earlier in the presentation, you were at $91.4 million at the beginning of fiscal year 25-26. You had some transactions that occurred, which I went over, which are carry-forwards. your action climate, your fiber optic, and also your withdrawals from mid-year. As I spoke of earlier, they brought you to a mid-year balance of 86.1. We had CIP general fund allocations, which were previewed in the The CIP presentation of 30 million. So after all is said and done, they will bring you a general fund surplus. We'll be starting fiscal year 26-27 at a balance of 56.1 million. So that's pretty much the information that we have to present to you to give you a good outlook of how the city financials are looking.

What is the revenue for the state of the city?

yeah madam mayor thank you madam is asking about the revenue for the state of the city if you go back to that slide quickly doctor thank you uh nope too far yes they're listed here in uh the column uh third to the end it says 25 26 revenues so that income that you're talking about those revenues are listed there thank you yes

It breaks even.

Yeah, that's what I thought. So that's what I was saying.

Yes, I think on whole, you'll note that many of the events do cover any overage beyond. Any of those that are in the red, they get balanced out from the other events during the year. So all in all, the program as a whole is doing very well.

I just didn't want people to think we were not getting what we were supposed to get and bringing in the revenue. So it is self-supporting.

Madam Mayor, my question to the staff. What happens to the surplus of those funds that is actually revenue that's generated based upon a special event? If it covers the cost, where are those funds?

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. To that question, the policy that council adopted a couple years ago, it states that any revenue coming in off events goes to reimburse the city's expense first. So then any unexpended general fund dollars, or in this case, $244, stay in the fund, and they go right back into the fund balance, and they reallocate it in the following year.

For that same item, for that same event, or for general fund use in general?

In this case, for fund 244, which is essentially treated similar to the general fund 101. So yes, it reallocated.

Did you? Okay. Yeah. I have a question. Is staff report complete? Yes, sir. Yeah. Ready. Are we ready for a motion?

Yeah.

Okay. We like to move the agenda, right? As a mayor, you know what we're talking about. I will move. We waive further reading and adopt resolution number 26-063, adopting fiscal year 2026-2027 budget in the general fund Special Revenue Funds, Enterprise Funds, and the Capital Improvement Program, known as CIP, and a fund. We waive for the reading and adopt resolution number 26-07-CSA, adopting the fiscal year 2026-2027 successor agency budget. waive further reading adopt resolution number 26-07-CHA adopting fiscal year 2026-2027 Carson Housing Authority budget waive further reading adopt resolution number 26-064 approving the fiscal year 2026-2027 appropriations limit Approve the fiscal year 2026-2027 special events budget. Approve the fiscal year 2026-2027 capital improvement program. That's the motion. And that's the second.

It's been moved and probably second.

Everyone in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Oh, it's ready? Oh, okay.

MADAM MAYOR, IF I CAN, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL FOR THE INITIATIVES OF GETTING THIS STARTED. I ALSO WANT TO GIVE A SPECIAL THANKS TO THE CM'S OFFICE, WORKING REALLY HARD NIGHT AND DAY WHENEVER I NEEDED THEM WHEN THEY WERE THERE. MY COLLEAGUES, NIGHT AND DAY WHEN THEY WERE THERE. AND A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MR. ASHTON WATTS. HE'S BEEN HERE A YEAR AND A HALF, FRESH OUT OF COLLEGE. And whatever I ask him to do, he gets it done. I just give him instructions. So he was a major part of this. So I just wanted to .

Thank you, Director, for that wonderful report.

Motion carries, by the way, Madam Mayor. Thank you.

Discussion items. Item number 31.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. This item is to consider adopting an urgency ordinance and introducing a regular ordinance of the City Council, the City of Carson, California, adding Chapter 4, moratorium on roadway pavement cuts to Article 2 streets of the Carson Municipal Code to impose moratorium on road paveway cuts. For your discussion, our Director of Public Works, Mr. Arlington Rodgers, would be happy to provide any background if need be.

Or if you have any questions. This item is being presented to the City Council consideration and approval for an urgency ordinance and an identical non-urgency ordinance that would establish a roadway pavement cut moratorium for recently improved city streets. The proposed ordinances would generally prohibit pavement cuts, trenching, and other roadway excavation activities for a period of five years. FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF CITY FUNDED ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION, RECONSTRUCTION, REHABILITATION OR ASPHALT OVERLAY PROJECTS EXCEEDING ONE HALF INCH IN THICKNESS AND FOR THREE YEARS FOLLOWING LESS EXTENSIVE PAVEMENT PRESERVATION TREATMENTS INCLUDING THIN ASPHALT OVERLAYS, CHIP SEAL, SLURRY SEAL AND MICROSURFACING PROJECTS. THIS IS TO PUT INTO CITY ORDINANCE AND MAKE IT OFFICIAL. THIS HAS BEEN PAST PRACTICE FOR SOME YEARS. ALL OF OUR UTILITY COMPANIES ALREADY ADHERE TO THIS. AND SO THIS IS JUST MAKING IT WRITTEN AND OFFICIAL SO WE CAN REFER TO IT.

YOU'RE JUST SAYING WHEN WE CUT YOU BETTER COME IN AND DO YOUR REPAIR WORK. DON'T COME IN AND CUT AFTER WE Do all of our repairs.

Well, there's some that may have to come in water company and all that, but you will have to follow city guidelines and repair it back to standard.

Yes.

Well, it depends. There's certain parameters, but you have seen that where you see some paving or some overlay go after some construction, you know, go from curb to curb, creating a better surface. So not just patching what you messed up, you will go from curb to curb.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, I was in technical questions. Let me get my notes. Okay, first of all, I'd like to state I want to thank the staff for bringing this forward to us because this is a needed moratorium. I think that my colleagues all agree with that concept. What we as elected officials don't like is for a constituent to be complaining to us that hey you just redid the street it looks beautiful and now a week later someone's tearing it up and so this type of coordination makes a lot of sense though i'm not an engineer but i do see that sometimes when a street is dug up because they had to repair a pipe or something to that effect some type of cable um And they redo it. It's supposed to look like when they dug it up. But we do know that the soil subsides underneath that patch. So how are we going to handle the situation where they... We haven't fixed the street yet, but they come and they do their construction work and they patch it. And then they often patch it with asphalt, even if it's a concrete street, because they wait for the soil to compact. So it might take many months, even a year, before they come back again and fix it the way it should be. so how are we going to handle it when we have an asphalt street that is scheduled to be upgraded or repaired but they're they did a project and they're waiting to have it subside that's an engineering question so maybe through the city manager the city engineer can address that

So before I pass it on to our city engineer, we actually have utility coordinating meetings where utility companies come to the city yard. Schedules are discussed to eliminate, to do our best to eliminate that practice. So we are as proactive as we can be. But to the details of it and how our city engineer dispatches the inspectors that work for him, I will allow him to answer that. Not allow. He'll answer that question.

Yes, good evening, Council. For asphalt repair or pavement repair, we always recommend, for our standard, they have to meet the relative compaction of 95%. So that's a requirement. We have inspectors making sure that they comply with our standard. The purpose of that is to make sure that there's no depression that would happen down the road. So we don't allow contractors to pour concrete or lay asphalt, not until they meet the proper compaction.

I see. Okay. All right. Thank you. That answers the question. I appreciate that.

MPJ.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just want to make the motion. Adopt by two-thirds affirmative vote for the City Council Ordinance Number 26-2609U, an urgency ordinance of the City Council of the City of Carson, California, adding Chapter 4, moratorium on roadway pavement cuts to Article 2 streets of Carson Municipal Code to improve moratorium on roadway pavement cuts. and introduced for first reading by title owning and with further reading waived, Ordinance Number 26-2610, an ordinance, emergency ordinance of the City Council of the City of Carson, California, adding Chapter 4, moratorium on roadway pavement cuts to Article 2, Streets of the Carson Municipal Code to impose moratorium on roadway pavement cuts.

Moved and properly seconded. Any further discussion? Hearing none, please cast your vote.

Motion carries.

Thank you. All communications for matters not listed on the agenda? Madam Mayor?

Yes. Consideration of

Oh, that one I skipped. Thank you. I don't have anything, so we can continue that item.

Madam Mayor, there are some changes that need to be made on the mobile home review board. Really? Yes. I think we talked about this, moving Board Member Richardson to the at-large position. Yes, we did.

So that will be my motion to move or restate it.

Second.

Did you say to restate it? Oh, he got it. You made the motion and Council Member Deer seconded. Thank you.

It's been moved and probably seconded. Cast your vote. And quick question, did you get all those recommendations that I had made from the last, okay. Yes, Courtney got them, yes.

Thank you for that. Thank you.

Madam Mayor, I had an environmental commissioner that I wanted to appoint tonight, but I can wait.

No, no, no, no. We open this back up.

Name is Dan Morgan.

Dan, okay, we just.

I think he came by today.

Okay, yeah, name is Dan Morgan.

And he's his uncontested so we don't need to vote on him.

Wonderful. And then we can keep it rolling.

Keep it rolling. Anyone else? And there are vacancies on the Public Works Commission that need to be filled.

Is it an alternate or permanent? What happened?

I don't think, well they met last month, they had quorum, everything's great. Everything is good, that's what I thought. Keeping it cool.

Who has an opening? Because this is tiny, tiny.

Dr. Hilton has one. We're still waiting on one person to take their oath. And, yeah, just an alternate. I think we're okay now. Okay.

Madam Mayor, I used a microphone glass and found I don't have any vacancies.

The font issue will be corrected.

You have one from Dr. Hilton? Yes. We're okay. We're okay. We're okay.

Well, there's an alternate, Madam Mayor, and then there's one vacancy.

Okay. He'll fill that next.

Sounds good. In two weeks.

And then on the mobile home rental review board, we have a, I need to.

Yes, so now that there will be a vacancy now that we've moved Board Member Richardson to the at-large.

And she's given up a resident owner. It's a resident owner.

Correct.

Okay, I'll fill that one.

Yes, I think there were.

Okay, so that's been approved. Now we can, am I good? All communications for matters not listed on the agenda, Madam City Clerk?

Yes, there's one, Mr. Leslie. Mr. Leslie, come on down.

Good evening to the council body as well as staff. One of the reasons I'm here this evening is that the family of Harry Wilson truly want me to come and give thanks to you Madam Mayor for the beautiful letter that you gave and to the council body for the resolution. of uh considering them uh once again i'm speaking of a person who was truly dedicated to this community as i said before as a faithful servant for this community as well as his family so again like i said it's important for me to come and convey that information to you because they say it's important that you get this information back to the mayor particularly but to the council body And real quick, I want to make sure that people be engaged and come into this bus trip for the 23rd. We're not only talking about a bus trip or going down just to be there. You're there to make sure that you represent and have some type of reasoning that you see that your community is need to be well served and protected from any other type of imposed type of projects that's coming into your community. Because projects that we're going to see that come into this community are going to have adverse impact one way or another what's going to happen here. So we want to make sure that people are encouraged and be engaged to make sure that you come and be a part of this bus trip, not only to make the supervisor know that you are her constituent but of making sure that you are aware of the fact that you are here to speak on the welfare of your community. Thank you. Have a good evening.

Is there a flyer that we can put up so the resident can see?

We're talking about the bus trip that's planned to go down and talk about this Weingart Foundation project, the extended stay. There's been a bus trip that's being organized. I'd ask for it to go. Do you have a copy of that?

Oh, there it is. It might have been.

We canceled it the last time. We had a rally. Now, a bus trip, the residents want to go down before LA, the supervisors. I think it's about 30 or 40 that's signed up. MPT, I would like to have our organizer, Tulis, work with staff on this. It's your district, but it's been already scheduled. The bus has been reserved. And if we can fill two buses, right now we're, reaching out and that barcode can let them know how to sign up. The last time this trip was scheduled, it was 35 people that had signed up. We want to see if we can do more than that. And then we need to start talking about our steps after the bus trip. Because I'm getting hit up. Well, what are you going to do? You motivated us. You got us all excited. Now what's next? So we need to keep the pressure on. And this trip will let the supervisors know that we are serious about this wine guard project.

Yes, Madam Mayor.

Okay.

So the barcode is up on, it's Thursday the 20th, oh, Tuesday the 23rd. What time is the bus leaving? That print is awfully small, I'm sleeping. It is, where you see that?

830 promptly. It says meet at eight, departs at 830 promptly.

Meet where at eight? Because I don't have it on my phone.

Carson Community Center.

Meet at the Carson Community Center.

North entrance, 801 East Carson Street, Carson, California. Meeting location will be Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, California 90012. Meeting begins at 930. Note, if the bus reaches capacity, we still encourage you to attend. Please arrange alternative transportation to ensure your voice is counted.

And can our Toulouse ride with them to give some assistance?

Toulouse said he wanted to ride in his own car.

He wanted to ride in his own? Okay, whatever he decides. He's going to go. He doesn't need a staff person to go with him. Okay. And this trip is not going to be rescheduled. If 10 people show up, we're still going to L.A. County. All right? Thank you. Next is, all communications council members. Councilman Deer.

Thank you. Yeah, I'd like to report out that I either represented the city or I attended several events since the last city council meeting. The Carson Chamber of Commerce had a special business awards and I attended that the community meeting for reuse of the closed oil refinery on Sepulveda Boulevard. Philippine Independence Day at Veterans Park, the annual event. There were several thousand people at that event over the course of the day. Fennec Salon suites are now open across the street from City Hall. Carson Fleet Reserve had their annual officers installation at Veterans Park. I represented the city there. Along with my colleagues, I attended the grand opening of a Peach Hospitality residence in the Centerview neighborhood of Carson. Carson High School graduation, I just went at the beginning for a few minutes, then I had other events. I was a swearing in officer at the Carson Lions Club for their annual installation of officers. the same night at the same time. Tender the community meeting for mobile home parks. There's a transfer of their meters. Instead of having one meter for a whole park, the park management or owners are working with utility companies to get digital utility meters be in front of each mobile home. But they can sign a waiver. Each mobile home coach, you know, is going to have their own meter now. It's all digital. It's going to be moved in front. So some of the residents are complaining that their landscaping is going to be disrupted and in front of their house is going to be this meter that now is in the back.

Which block is that?

Bel Air. Hmm. But I think that's just the beginning of lots of parks changing. What else? The Council General of the Republic of the Philippines had their Independence Day event. They held it at... The L.A. City Library building, along with my colleague, Councilwoman Rojas, attended that. It's a beautiful building. The acoustics had something to be desired, if you know what I mean, but maybe they'll move it somewhere else next year. Carson, annual Juneteenth celebration, along with all my colleagues. That was another great event, fantastic entertainment. People had a great time. The weather was really cooperating. It was really nice. And that was at Anderson Park. I don't know if it's going to be Anderson Park in the future, but I know Mills Park is under construction. Maybe back to Mills next year, yeah. Okay. And then I attended as a member of the Public Financing Authority for the City of Carson, the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District, along with the chair who's the mayor to their annual meeting. So that's my report. Thank you.

Thank you. MPG?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Also attended the Carson Chamber Awards meeting over at the Doubletree Hotel. Just want to say kudos to the mayor and the Carson Citizen Cultural Arts Foundation for the Juneteenth celebration at Anderson Park. Very well received. I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. And kudos to our Councilwoman Rojas for the Philippine Independence Day. celebration and to the Philippine Independence Day Foundation for putting on an outstanding event. Well attended. A lot of people showing up and having a good time. Quick questions to the staff. Just want to get an update for our residents on Mills Park. They are really, really concerned about Mills Park and why is it taking so long for this park to start any movement of construction?

Don't put me on the spot.

So Mills Park as you remember, Mayor Pro Tem, Mills Park is the one where we had to excuse the working contractor off the property because we were very dissatisfied with the work Then we had to go through a whole process in removing that contractor. And then after that process, it was a period of time where we had to make sure all the materials and everything. So there were steps that we had to take. That's what prolonged that prolonged the construction. Now that we have satisfied all the legal requirements, we are back on track to get it done. You saw that that funding re appropriated into next year's fiscal budget for CIP. So it is high on our priority list, but we wanted to make sure that we gave the residents the best work and not necessarily the fastest work But they are getting a better contractor, and it will come out the way that we want it to. So we took steps to excuse a contractor, which took some time, some methods, and some processes to get through. But now that we've satisfied all that, we will be moving forward. And that funding in the CIP demonstrates that. So is there a timeline for this to begin? I will prepare a timeline and get it to you, Councilmember, expeditiously.

Dr. Rogers, I have a little bit of information I can share with Member Tam. So the aggregate new bid package was bid out on May 21st. It was a job walk that occurred on May 28th. Staff, our city engineering team, was able to reply back to questions from prospective contractors on June 4th. And the bid opening is actually gonna be in a couple days for Mills Park. So we'll have more information once we have the bid opening, we can share it with the council on our next steps. After bid opening, we bring the item to council and then from there we'll get going. But we'll need to come back to council to award a construction contract

Probably in July okay in July cars and residents around mills park we are looking at July to actually bring it before this body to look at possibly awarding a contract, but again they've just been waiting it's been waiting it's just been a long period of time over two years in the process, but. What's today? Today's Tuesday. I think last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I got about 20 to 25 calls from residents in the area. They're just pissed because they said, why does it take so long for them to get their park back together again when other parks, and they told me about it, they listed all the other parks that are being done. It's just taking so long. So I just want to implore the staff to understand the urgency of getting Mills Park put back together again. It does not make any sense to take two years for this park to be put back together again. It really should not take that long.

And Mayor Pro Tem, I remember last time you brought up too, when we have a definitive date, we're going to put signs out there, we're going to alert the community that we're moving forward.

Thank you for that.

And once you move forward, what's your estimated window for completing this project? What are you doing over there? I mean, I could have built a whole park. So what are we doing? In two years.

A similar thing with Carriage First Park, Madam Mayor. It's taking forever. And the residents are really getting upset.