City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome everybody to today's city council meeting today, Monday, November 10th, 2025. I now call this meeting to order. Roll call. District 1, Council Member Casey, present. District 2, Council Member Vieiraa, present. District three, Council Member Otto here. District 4, Vice Mayor Martinez, present. Mayor Lopez,

here. We'll start with today's invocation by Chris Henry from the Hope Tree Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Welcome. Thank you. If we could before we open up with prayer, I was just informed of the loss of Fred Morales of the VFW. Sorry, fellas. So, so if we could just uh serve a moment of silence for Freddy. Father, I thank you for the life of Freddy Morales and for the many lives of the men and women that he represent through the VFW. Lord, I I thank you for their sacrifices, whether in life or in death. And today we remember him. Lord, bring comfort to us as we remember Freddy and thank you for the impact that his life had on all of us. Lord, as we begin this city council meeting, Lord, I'm praying for your presence, that your will be done and that your wisdom overtake us all. And as we plan for the future, help us to stay focused on the challenge and in the mission that you've given us. Everyone who's been elected here, be with us. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. The American Legions and the Veterans of Foreign War will remain with

their covers on and present and present a hand salute. Anyone else in the audience, please remove your cover or your hat and place it over your heart with your right hand and salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Ready to Thank you. Council, if you can please join us up front for a proclamation for Veterans Day. And this will be received by the Veterans Foreign Awards and American Legion. They will be accepting the proclamation.

[clears throat]

This proclamation is recognizing November 11th, 2025 as a Veterans Day. Whereas each year on November 11th, we pause to remember the men and women who throughout history served bravely and selflessly in America's armed forces, preserving our strength and security as a nation. And as whereas these individuals sacrificed a great deal for their cherished cause of freedom and democracy, and as veterans, they deserve and will always have the respect and appreciation of all our citizens. Whereas on Veterans Day, we publicly commemorate the honorable legacy and sacrifices of our veterans, those lost, and those who thankfully are with us today. Whereas honored and respected citizens, our veterans have learned the values of service, dedication, and discipline, and know the worth of life and liberty. America has found in our veterans the leadership, courage, and determination needed to overcome all forms the desip, excuse me, despicable threats to our nation and its people. Whereas we owe our veterans a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. On this day, set aside in their honor, we take the opportunity to pay tribute to our military veterans for all they have done and continue to do so to make the world a better and safer place for new generations of Americans who will continue to reap the benefits of such a proud legacy and selfless service. Now therefore, be it resolved I, Javier Lopez, mayor of the city of Series, on behalf of the city council, Vice Mayor Daniel A. Martinez, Council Members James Casey, Rosalinda El Vieiraa, and Serena Arto do hereby proclaim November

11th, 2025 as Veterans Day. Congratulations, City Coun, Mr. Mayor, city council and honored guest, distinguished guest of the council and the audience. I would like to thank you for this platformation once again. Uh it's an honor to receive this. Uh as you heard that we lost great veteran member of our organization, a leader of our organization today. Let's not forget Freddy Morales. Today would have been his 250th Marine Corps's birthday. And by this I thank you all. Thank you. My name is Robert Mattis. I am now the commander of the BFW Post 1093. I took this post with the unfortunate loss of Freddy Morales was commander for many years and a stalwart person who loved the armed forces and the America. I have the deepest sympathy for him and his wife and our prayers go out to him. Thank you. Take a quick photo.

[clears throat and cough]

We now begin with citizens communications. The city council welcomes and encourages participation in the city council meetings adopted by the rules allowed no more than 5 minutes. Resolution 2007106 for expression of non-aggenda items. Matters under the jurisdiction of the city council and not on the posted agenda may be addressed by the general public. However, California law prohibits the city council from taking any action on any matters which is not on the posted agenda unless it is determined to be an emergency by the council. Citizens are entitled to address city council on any agenda item subject to the five-minute pres provision. Anyone wishing to address the city council must adhere to the rules of decorum and the rules of decorum are posted outside the chamber doors. And we will begin with the representatives if there's any here.

Welcome. Hi, Lisa. Lisa Manto Moore representing Congress member Adam Gray. It's an honor to be here this evening representing the Congress member to honor our veterans and certainly on the Marine Corps birthday. Thank you to our local veterans and it's with deep sorrow to learn of Freddy's passing. He's just such a light in our community. I was just surprised shocked to hear that this evening. And uh additional items occurring um you know the all the national news but on the local front the academy selection process and the young people who are applying for the surfacemies that process is open until December 1st. We encourage anybody interested to make contact with our office directly on this or any other issues they may have concerns with. Thank you.

Thank you very much. [clears throat] And we will begin with the yellow cards. And the first person that we have is Nason Sanchez. My name is Nathan Sanchez and series is a city that I call home. Greetings, mayor, council members, officials, directors. Excuse me as I read this really quick. The vocabulary word for motivation. Motivation is a set of factors that activate, direct, and maintain action for specific purpose. and the psychological force that drives the person's effort, persistence, or the objective. Several weeks ago, there was an event that took place over here, and I'm sure many of you were a part of that event in attendance and whatnot. And that event was the Muertos that happened downtown. Now, when I spoke to the two young individuals that spearheaded this event, and when I talked to them, I said, "What was it that motivated you?" They, of course, did it free of charge. It was all nonprofit. They weren't given no paycheck for it. So, that wasn't the drive. And when I said, "What was it?" They said, "We were motivated." Nason in

their own words, we seen the need of something that needed here in the city of Sirius. And when I asked them, what was it or who was it that motivated you? And they did say it was Rebecca Harrington that has passed away that was uh a founder and an original member of the one in the city of Modesto. And that is what drove them to do one here. Not only that, but also several weeks ago, there was a pumpkin carving festival that was done with in honor of an individual that many of you know by the name of Germo Choa. Mr. Choah. I never had the privilege of meeting him nor knowing of him, but I heard various things that he did for the community and in the things and in his actions, how a park was named after him and what was he doing and how he advocated for the people in the community. That inspired me. Not only that, but for other people to gather and to contribute to this festival. And I appreciate the elected officials that were a part of that as well. Councilwoman Vieiera, Councilwoman Orto, and that was done out of motivation. And I bring that as well here. Come on Sunday, there's going to be another event known as a turkey drive. This turkey drive is a fifth annual turkey drive where all of the turkey proceeds that are collected will be

given to individuals that are often overlooked to individuals that are in no doubt under the scrutiny and under the limelight. But that's a something totally separate. We're not focusing on that. But the beneficiaries of these turkeys are going to be agriculture workers. And I'm here today to invite the elected officials to be a part of us on this day on Sunday at 100 p.m. at Botanto on the corner of Crows Landing and Glenn Road and directors as well to join us and to bring a turkey to do the one thing that we need to do and to unite and to come together regardless of what political background or what differences for the best of the community. Be well. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next card we have is Shane Parsons. Good evening, Shane Parson. I've lived in the series area for about 25 years now. I read in the paper the other day pertaining to the toot tax. Personally, myself and Lisa Montero Moore financed and put out the propaganda to get that toot tax doubled. At that point, we were told by the council and the city managers 20% of that money would go back in grant money to individuals. I was a recipient of that. I bring hundreds and thousands of people to our area, to my arena. The soccer people got some for stuff. And now they're now they're saying they're going to give a,000 bucks, $6,000 total. I mean, it's it's ridiculous that this money's been appropriated. To is to bring people to our community, not to not to build up the general fund. The more people we have staying in our hotels, the more money we can distribute to these organizations, whether it's baseball, soccer, whatever, to bring them to our community. So, I I'm pretty upset that the money I spent will now just be buried into general fund. That's one topic I have. I'd like you to really think about how that how that goes out. We have a new hotel here. We got that passed prior to with the new hotel being built and the money's just what I read in the

papers. Nothing. Shane, do you mind if I chime in? Do you mind if I chime in? That article I read the same article. It did mention the TO2 tax, but that is that is totally separate and I guess that was that was misinformation. So that so we can talk off

we can what I'd like to see is that you know 20% of that money because we doubled the money we were getting and so actually the city was going to get 30% more than they originally got. I think a consideration to be given to some of these organizations would be greatly appreciated. My second issue is I'd like to find out how I can get some some limited parking downtown. I just evicted somebody. They have to be out by the first of the year because they won't listen to me and park in the city parking lots. I said, "You're going to move. We need we need some 2hour parking something so that the people that work down there that don't seem to care will park somewhere else. That's a consideration I'd like to see happen to help our businesses down there. I talked to our economic guys said, "Oh, when it's full, people think it's busy." I'm a business owner. Own 10 businesses. I know how the parking deal works. I go out to dinner every night. If I can't find a parking place close, I'm not sprinting to the restaurant. I'll find a new restaurant to go to. But when employees are parking down there, nobody's controlling it. It only take a short period of time to get it to get it lined out. Anyway, those are a couple of things that I'd like to see happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Parsons. Okay, let's go ahead and start with inperson comments. Anybody else would like to make a comment, please?

Good evening, mayor, council, staff, and community members. Milt Treeweiler. First, I want to thank you for acknowledging us veterans. I was drafted into the United States Army in 1969. Uh, you've heard me speak before about the prime farmland surrounding the city of Siri several times. I've told you that it's a natural resource that cannot be replaced or mitigated because of its unique nature and quality. So what I want to do is kind of emphasize more about what I'm talking about when I say these things. And what I'm saying there, it's because we have not only quality soils, we also have all the water we need and we have a good climate. So I'm going to start with quality soils. First of all, I attended uh classes at MJC back in the 1970s. And this is a booklet that lists all the s soils actually east of the Stannislos or the Sanwain River to the east and series is in here. Modesto's in here, Turlock's in here, Riverbanks in here, all the cities in this area. And it lists the type of soils that we have. And what it tells you is that in the Sirius area, your series of series, you have actually eight different types of soils, but they're all good types of soils. And there's a big difference. As I go around talking about this, I realize that people don't understand the difference between dirt and prime farmland soil. Prime farmland soil is something that's very important. It's something that has certain qualities and it's the soil that's here in series. Even though there are eight different types of it here in series, it may not be as good in all areas because it does vary. It is different. But the important thing is to just realize that that is a fact. Second of all, I talk about water availability. The reason I talk about that is because in 1887,

Burlock Irrigation District became the first irrigation district in the state of California, shortly followed by Modesto Irrigation District. 1887, 138 years ago, they our ancestors had the foresight to see that we needed water in this valley if we were going to use the beautiful sand soil that we have here. And some of it is sandom and some of it sand and there are different styles. But anyway, so that's our water availability. The next thing is the climate. Well, the climate here in the series area is perfect for growing the crops we're growing. We can actually grow 240 different crops, but obviously not every farmer grows 240 different crops. And most of the crops today are almonds, which by the way, 80% of the almonds in the entire world are produced here in the Sanwaqen Valley. That includes us. We're the upper end. Sanwakane Valley starts just north of uh Stockton when you cross that Santa stew river that's where the line is goes all the way to Bakersfield that's the size of it so it's a great valley but there are some problems that I've also talked about it and I emphasize there is no other farmland like this in this nation or on this earth and I emphasize that there is abundance of soils and wastelands in our nation for the developers to build houses on. There is just you go 10 miles here to the east, you go 10 miles east, sorry, go 10 miles here to the west and you find poor soils. It's just a fact and reality. But we have to preserve what we have here because there is a major shortage of prime farmland in water in the world. We think that a lot of

countries, even in South America, they tore down the the uh the rainforest and they put in, you know, they thought they were going to be growing. Well, those places are drying up now. So, it's so important that we understand how important this is and also that we will be taking out of production 1 million acres in this Sanwaqin Valley. So, that's from just north of Stockton down to down to Bakersfield. 1 million acres will have to be removed because they don't have enough water. We do have enough water and it will be here for hundreds of years. This is sustainable prime farmland and that's what we have to remember and what I'll be doing is I will be presenting different uh things about this because I understand you don't understand you you never took classes in this. You probably never took a soils class, but this book explains it. Also, it's online, too. You can actually go online and find out exactly what soil you have in your backyard. So, it's very important. We need to preserve our soils and make sure that this be stays an agricultural center. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody else in person?

Okay, we'll go ahead. There's a raised hand. Jean Neekley, you can go ahead and unmute your mic. You will need to unmute your mic. Hello. There he is. We can hear you.

I can hear you. Jean Eagley series. It's a sad day today. Uh about the passing of Freddy Morales. I didn't know him that well, but I knew him and how much he was a true patriot to United States of America, to the city he lived in, to all those that joined him in the American Legion, all his friends he made, and probably people that we'll never meet that passed through his life. Along with that, I want to note that I think that uh series hasn't done enough to recognize the American service member, servicemen and women. And uh we need to do a little bit more to recognize these people. Uh you know, just like Freddy, he probably got something, you know, possibly it could have been associated with Agent Orange. These people are dying every day. They made a sacrifice and unless you're involved, you're a family member, you've been in the military before, especially, you know, God forbid, a war zone, you know what life and how precious it is. And these individuals go through life without any recognition usually. And it it's time for this city of our size to stand up amongst the other cities and start honoring our veterans better than we have. Uh the uh banners are a great gesture and I I really like that program. A lot of people got discouraged because of that and decided there wasn't going to be a committee anymore. Uh city government got involved in it, which they should never have been in the first place. They should have left it up to the people on the the little commission

there. We need to bring that back. We need to find some more ways to pay respect to the veterans. Again, these, you know, there's police officers with the city of Siri that have been to Afghanistan and Iraq and you know what we don't know, we don't know. But some of these people are carrying these these items in their heads, you know, that are suffering every day and trying to get through life. And the average person doesn't realize that. Your neighbors, uh, people you have in contact at work all the time. And find out who these people are. I brought this up before. Find out who these people are. Your neighbors. If you don't like them, who cares? You know, go outside and at least say something nice to them. You know, the co-workers. If you know of your co-workers, whether it's city council, police department, you know, anybody in the city departments, you know, you know, find these people. You know, you can be discreet, you know, one-on-one and just thank them. You know, uh we don't get enough of recognition on that. I don't I don't like that too much myself, but when I do, I realize somebody's thinking out there. They're thinking that somebody, you know, actually did something for their country. Well, other people sit there and my kids ain't gonna join. Oh, we're better than that. You know, and I hear that all the time. But you know what? That's wrong. You know, we have to be patriots. You know, we have to support all those people that we don't hear about that are veteran. We need to do more. And I commend, you know, Jim Casey for his service. Uh Dave over there w next to John Warren and everybody in the police department, other departments. I wish I knew more of you that were veterans. Uh and uh you know, Serena, her family is associated with longtime uh you know, veteran who served for 20

years. And uh we just need to do more. You know, some counties, some cities, they put up signs in their by their city limit sign to say we honor our veterans. We don't have nothing like that, but we sure spend a lot of money on other crap. And I say crap. We could do a lot more and a lot better for the veterans. The veterans are why we're here. People forget that every day of their life. They take everything for granted. And who's going to be there when we need them? Are people here? Are there kids? Are they going to volunteer and join when something gets bad? Probably not. Some will, some won't. That's my for the night. Thank you very much, Mr. Chavez.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, with Veterans Day tomorrow, I just wanted to share my disappointment regarding um, the banners placed on the Whitmore overpass. Um, as the daughter of a veteran, I I do appreciate um, you know, the intention behind honoring our service members, but those banners look to be about 18 by 24. And is that really the best we could do? Um when I was driving over um the overpass the other day, they're really difficult to see and you can't even really read the names. Um and I just have a bunch of questions like who approved these? You know, where's the veterans committee? Were they involved? Uh were the measurements not reviewed? Um so anyways, um our our veterans just deserve a better recognition and I hope that in the future uh we can properly honor those um who have served Thank you.

Thank you very much. [clears throat] Any other hands? There are no other hands raised on Zoom and there were no emails received. Okay, citizen communication is now closed. Moving on. Conflicts of interest. Anybody have any declarations? Okay, moving on to appointments. Planning Commission interviews and appointment and this will be led by Fallon.

Thank you, mayor and councel. Effective January 1st of 2026, there will be one vacant seat on the planning commission. Staff conducted a recruitment in September which resulted in two applicants. Both applicants are in attendance this evening. We have Kelly Cerny who's attending via Zoom and Francisco Morales who is here in person. There's a total of five questions, one of for each council member to ask the applicants which are located in front of you at the deis. Prior to starting the interviews, I would like to bring attention to the latest development in the planning commission vacancies. The clerk's office did receive notification from planning commissioner Ishwar Gil that he is resigning from his position effective immediately. Gil's resignation creates an immediate vacancy in addition to the January 1st vacancy. The term of the immediate vacancy is through December 31st, 2026. And with that being said, the council has a couple of options to uh select from tonight. The first option being the council can elect not to conduct the interviews and appoint both applicants. The council can appoint both applicants after conducting the interviews or the council can conduct the interviews for the seat that was recruited for and open up another recruitment for the newly vacated seat. If option one or two is selected, the council will need to determine which applicant will take which seat as one seat expires sooner than the other. So, with that said, um I don't know if you'd like to open it up for public comment prior to the interviews. [clears throat] We now open this up to the public. Anybody in the public would like to make a comment on this item?

Anybody on Zoom? There are no hands raised on Zoom. u bring this item back uh to the question in regards to whether we should appoint both these persons or possibly your second option is to go out for recruitment again. Um I would prefer we conduct the interviews today but also with the resignation that we go ahead and go out into the public and give some other folks some opportunities to apply for that other position. That's my stance and then we'll go with vice mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, I would be all right with interviewing both and then appointing both tonight. Just going through the interview process to see who would get the four-year term and who would finish out Mr. Gills two years. Okay. Uh, Councilwoman Vera. Um, I think right now we need to go with what's agendaized because the other one is not on the agenda. So, I don't think it's fair to go move with something that's not on the agenda. So, I think we need to stick with exactly how it's worded on the agenda for the public. And I do think we need to interview both and appoint one for what's on the agenda tonight. Thank you, Councilwoman Otto.

Um I agree with Vice Mayor Martinez. We do need to interview both applicants. I am not opposed to uh determining tonight if both applicants will qualify to take both positions. I think that it was challenging for us to find applicants for this latest um opening. So, I think we should move forward. Mr. Casey, would you like to chime in? You are the tiebreaker, sir.

Sure. I'm I'm I'm on Rose and Linda's side. The the vacancy that came up today, I guess. Uh we we go ahead and process the interview and appoint the person for the what? December 31st vacancy. Is that correct for December 31st? Correct. He was asking you a question. Okay. And uh vice mayor. Oh, I was just going to say that uh if the will of the council then I would also change it to just appointing tonight, keeping it how it's agendaized and then opening it up for interviewing process for the other vacancy later on down the road. I'll second that.

Call. Council member Casey. Stick to the agenda. Yeah. Is that a yes? Council member Vieiraa, yes. Council member Otto, no. Vice Mayor Martinez, I. Mayor Lopez, yes. Motion carries 41. to conducting the interviews, appointing one of the applicants uh to the upcoming vacancy and conducting another recruitment for the immediate vacancy.

Okay, Fallon, I'll give you the option to choose who you want to start first, Kelly or Oales. Um since we do in-person comments first, I figured we could go ahead and do the in-person interview first. So, if um Francisco Morales, if you could step up to the podium. Uh real quick, uh we have a question. What is the questions? Hold on one second. Council member Vieier was looking for the uh applications.

She found it. She found it. Okay. So, everybody sees that there's a question in front of you, council members. Um and the first person to ask the question will be Council Member Casey. And what we'll do is we'll go through all the individual questions and then we'll come back and ask any follow-ups. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. First of all, thank you for being a participant in city government, taking interest in working as a citizen in the city of Sirius. What do you feel your most important qualification for appointment to the planning commission are?

I feel that my leadership and my uh sense of uh commitment to my community is a great asset.

Thank you. Do do you have any past or present community public service experience? Currently I sit as a president of a local uh nonprofit um the cruising culture and uh that nonprofit is uh based on preserving the cruising culture and raising scholarships for youth local youth in our community and sitting on that seat as a president for that nonprofit. It's allowed me to work um closely with u members of the um city, members of the community, and uh uh it's just it it's allowed me to get involved with my local community.

Thank you. Okay, we'll go with the second question. Council member Vieira, thank you. I appreciate you as well being here and I know it can be kind of grueling in front of all of us. So, and I appreciate you even answering all the questions and being pretty thorough. Um, now would you like to would you be able to make a recommendation on a project that was not popular with the majority of the audience members in attendance?

Yes, I would. I I think it's important to uh to look at projects or whatever is at hand through a wide lens and being able to highlight um important facts that the majority might not see or might overlook. I think that's uh important to also keep the community's uh cons uh input and concerns when making decisions. Thank you. Third question, Council Member Otto,

thank you for being here tonight. In your opinion, should all commercial buildings look the same or should they have some distinct and recognizable characteristics?

Personally, I don't think they should be all the same. I think they should have different characteristics, but I also think that they should be well planned and also well thought out rather than, you know, they need to have um our community and um basically our our community involved in it and how do you say it? Uh yeah, basically have our community input. You don't want them to look identical. You want them you want them have individuality character different characters and be well thought out. Okay. I just want to say thank you for being here as well. I know it's a little daunting uh speaking in public especially in front of you know people in the room and who will be watching on Zoom. Uh with that in mind, what do you hope to accomplish during your time serving as a planning commissioner? Um, I hope to help uh the city of Series grow um grow with how do you say it? Grow [clears throat] grow in a direction where it gives the community and local businesses um more opportunity to to have more more stability in our city. Thank you very much for being with us here today. Which of the following statements would you likely associate with and why? When the economy improves, the city should continue to build new single family homes or when the economy improves, the city should continue to build new single family homes, but at a higher density to preserve farmland.

Personally, I would go with the second one to build at a higher density to preserve our farmland. Um, the series is like the gentleman earlier spoke about. We're rich in farmland as our as our seal shows it pictured right there, fruits, farmland, and the city of series was also named after Roman goddess of agriculture. So with that being said, if we lose our farmland, I believe the city of series will lose its identity. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you guys. I appreciate it.

Okay, we have Kelly Cerny on Zoom and Miss Cerny, you can go ahead and unmute your mic. Welcome, Miss. Can you hear us? You'll want to unmute your mic, Kelly. We're unable to hear you. Kelly, can you hear us?

There should be a microphone icon on your screen. You'll want to click that so the line is not going through it. City Clerk, do you have her contact information? Shoot her a message. Yes. Let me look it up. Just one moment.

Thank you. Um, vice mayor has her phone number. Do you have it? Okay, she has it. Thank you. Kelly, can you hear us? here.

Can you hear me now? Yes. Okay, Kelly. Okay, we're going to ask you a series of questions and the first person to ask you a question is Council Member Casey. Good evening. Welcome.

Good evening, Kelly. Thank you again for taking this opportunity to be part of Siri Solutions. Uh what do you feel your most important qualification for the appointment to the planning commission is? I believe my attention to detail uh my ability to listen uh to look at the big picture of a project um a good I'm a good planner and I think it would be a good fit. Do you have any past or present community public service experience?

Um I do. I have volunteered with the schools in series. Uh my children attended all the schools and I have uh volunteered with the series chamber of commerce uh the series dolphins the American Heart Association as well as in my county employee. I was employed with Santa Los County for 24 years and did a lot of volunteering in the line of duty as it were um as well. Thank you. Thank you again for joining us. Now would you be able to make a recommendation on a project that may not be popular with majority of the audience members in attendance?

Absolutely. A lot of times things are not popular with people. I find I think it's important if you can educate them um they may still not agree with you but maybe they'd understand a little bit better that it's for the greater good for everyone involved.

Okay, Mrs. So, thank you for being with us this evening. In your opinion, should all commercial buildings look the same or should they have some distinct and recognizable characteristics? I think it's important that they have some distinct and recognizable characteristics. I think that's what makes the each city individual and with uh good planning as well. Um take everything into account as far as fitting a city and whatnot. Vice Mayor. Good evening, Kelly. Good evening.

Accomplished during your time serving on the planning commission. I would just like to hope and see that series will have a longterm future um you know plan 5 10 20 years out so that in five or 10 years we aren't scrambling again for housing and businesses and whatnot. People would look at series as an alternative to living in Modesto or our surrounding cities where they they are tending to go to and look at us as a good community to stay, live, and work and play as I have done. Welcome, Kelly. Hello.

Which of the following statements would you most likely associate with and why? When the economy improves, the city should continue to build new single family homes. When the economy improves, the city should continue to build new single family homes but at a higher density to preserve the farmland.

Absolutely. The second one I think there's something to be said. We the higher density that's I think the whole country is going towards that. We have a lot of people in the United States and our farmland as the gentleman earlier in uh had said uh about our soils and whatnot. We live in a wonderful area and I would love to see that um preserved uh with welcoming more people to live here but in a well planned area. Um the city of Irvine down in Southern California, they were completely planned before they built any of Irvine and their their roads, the the their homes, their shopping, their businesses. um you know they they really have flourished uh with that model and um it would be nice that if we you know our we could do that with our beautiful community and I would also like to say thank you for allowing me to uh attend in Zoom. I my husband and I are on a long planned vacation in Monterey and I really appreciate you allowing me to to do the Zoom.

Thank you. Okay. So, don't stay on line there, Kelly, but uh I'll ask um Morales to come back. We're going to do a closing statement from both of you. Morales,

go ahead and do a closing statement, sir. I just want to thank you guys for giving me the opportunity to come up here and uh apply for this position and uh anything I could do for my community, I'm willing to do it. Even though it's a little nerve-wracking up here in front of you guys, hey, you don't know if you don't try. Thank you guys again. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Kelly, what was a statement? As a 38-year resident of Series, I have grown up here as well as my children and my family. And I really think highly of Series, and I would just like to be able to participate in its future growth and show people that aren't really familiar with Series that we are a really wonderful place to be able to grow your family and your businesses and a good place to play. Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh, hang in there. Okay.

I want to go ahead and mute her real quick. [clears throat] Uh, back to the council. [cough] This is uh something different, but uh if you guys want to make any comments to each other or would you rather just go ahead with a proposal or a vote? Either way. Go ahead. Um, again, I just want to thank both of the applicants for joining us today. This is a different kind of setting. Um, but for me as a council member, it was important to have the public available as well to see and hear who the applicants are and who will be serving potentially on the planning commission. So, thank you again.

Anybody else? I think we already opened it up to public, right? Yeah, we already did. Go ahead. Thank you. Um I do appreciate both of them participating. I do think it's important because as part of the planning commission, you're up here and everyone is looking at you. You're on Zoom, you're um on YouTube, you can post on YouTube. So I think it's important that they're become familiar with the microphone and being the face that's going to represent. Um I think they both did an excellent way of portraying their views and um I'm happy with either one of them at this point in time. I I guess once we get there, I can kind of tell you where I'm at leaning, but um I'm interested in hearing what other views [clears throat] are.

Vice Mayor, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh yes, I I appreciate both of them, uh being here. Um I know how difficult it is, myself and council member Otto both had to go through the application process to get appointed to the planning commission. Their answers were very similar. They both seem very qualified. Um, if I gave one a benefit over the other, it would be that that uh Francisco was here in public tonight, so he was able to be seen and be heard. And I know it's unfortunate Kelly had prior engagements, but that would probably be the only separation I would have for the two of them is that, you know, he was able to be here this evening.

Do you mind if I just quickly ask Mr. Casey if you have any comments before we get Nope, he doesn't. Go ahead.

I just wanted to respond to Vice Mayor Martinez. I think I'm on a line with you because I know it's unfortunate for her. Um there was one little thing that did catch me which you guys are probably familiar with being on the planning commission is a lot of these like West Landing was pre-posed. They have to send that to Zuka. So SQA so it is already the planning for that development is already on paper. So it's not like it's something that they just come in and they're drawing the borders and the lines for that development at, you know, they're doing it years in advance. So a lot of that, so that was one of those answers that kind of caught me a little bit off guard because it seems a little and I understand they're unfamiliar because they haven't held [clears throat] the position. Um, so that was the only thing that just kind of caught me a little bit and I think that's probably the second reason why I was leaning a little more as well for Francisco was the part that um, he see it that didn't catch me.

Okay. Um, I would just like to say uh, Kelly, thank you very much for joining us on Zoom. I will have to agree that uh the fact that Francisco that you were in person um is really means a lot that you were here in person and I think that in my personal opinion you will be a great planning commissioner and that's the direction that I'm going and with that we can open it up to either a motion or any separate conversations. Vice Mayor I know you have your button pressed but go ahead sir.

Thank you sir. Um yeah I I agree with you guys. He did have one response to a question. Um I I think it was my question. What was it? Uh that he wanted to make sure that the city grew in the right direction and that it made sense for the community and that it didn't, you know, affect local business owners. I really liked that answer. Um so with that being said, I'll make a motion to appoint Francisco Morales to the vacant planning commission seat. I'll second that. We get a roll call, please. Council member Casey, no. Council member Vieiraa, yes. Council member Bro,

I'm going to say no. Um but I for the record I just want to say that with Miss Cerny um it looks like the city did give her the opportunity to do this on Zoom and it sound like she did have some um pre-plans, but I was u happy with her interview. Vice Mayor Martinez, hi. Mayor Lopez, yes. Motion carries 32.

Congratulations, sir. I appreciate everybody who put in their applications. Okay, we will now move into consent calendar. All matters listed on the consent calendar considered routine in nature and will be enacted by a single motion unless otherwise requested by an individual council member or public for special consideration. Otherwise, the recommendation of staff will be acted on by a roll call vote. Is there anyone on the council that would like a consent item pulled? Vieira number 10, please.

Councilwoman Do number four, please. Anybody else? Number five. Oh, there's that. All of them. Okay, there you go. [clears throat] Any members of the public would like to pull any items? No hands raised. Bring this item back for a motion. Make a motion to approve items one through three and six through nine and item 11 of the consent calendar. Second. Roll call. Council member Casey. Hi. Council member Vieira. Yes. Council member Otto.

Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez. Hi. Mayor Lopez. Yes. Motion carries 50. Okay. Item number four.

Thank you, mayor. So, I do have a question. I just need clarification from uh the city manager. It looks like on this voucher list, July August planning services was paid out to Goia Engineering. Hopefully, I'm saying that name correctly. It was $13,139.70. However, in August, August 27th, it was noted in a voucher list that we paid out July Planning Service $4,39.85 to the same company. So, that I was a little bit unsure um why we're paying again in October for July service.

As you recall, this came before the council before and saw this services that were already build and we're now paying them because the bills came in late. they hadn't built us in time and so that's why it came in when it did why it's on now but both dates that were paid out say July so I guess the total for July you have 4,300 on August 27th and then another what was the amount for July for October 15th I have finance I don't know if finance has that

give her a second I'm going to have to get back to you on that, Serena, in case I can pull out the information and provided detail.

Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um, the next thing I have a question about, and I did reach out to the city manager, and he explained a little bit, but for the public, I would like it to be explained. There was three candidates from 2021 that were refunded $1,000 each. So my question is how was this money found and why wasn't accounted for back in 2021 or 2022 during any audits?

So during 2021 when we had the election campaign, it uh we charged candidates a specific amount of money that will cover the cost for the county that county charges us to put it on for the ballot. Uh the county we went ahead and the county says this is what we're going to charge you. We collected that money. the county never sent us an invoice. Uh, and so it's been over four years and can you only go back three to collect it? So we at this time we decided that we could finally refund all the money that we' collected that was never used or invoiced for from the county.

So I know you weren't here in 2021, but it sounds like the city just chose not to pay out something that should have been invoiced. Did anybody reach out to the county recently to find out if they need to still collect that money and go back and fix their Yes, we did. Okay. And they said no, we go ahead and refund it. Okay. As we didn't choose to pay it, we are waiting for the invoice to come in. The county never invoiced us. Thank you. Any members of the public would like to make a comment on that item? Okay. I bring this item back for motion. Make a motion to approve item number four, the consent calendar. I'll second it. Roll call. Council member Casey.

Hi. Council member Vieira. Yes. Council member Oro. Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez. Hi. Mayor Lopez. Yes. Motion carries. 5-0. Item number five, Mr. Casey.

Yes. uh in the contracts it's for each one of those uh 5A through 5D it says that uh it can be modified but it doesn't specifically say the contract can be modified with or without council approval. And then of course the other question is we've been not allowing people to use the range and we don't we've not had any formal agreement of responsibility for a period of time specific. The reason I pulled it was because it said it can be modified and I just wonder we [snorts] don't need to approve the modification. You will. Yeah. Any modifications the contract will have to come back to council.

But it [clears throat] doesn't say that. That's that's just understood. We can't we pass the contract. If we're going to change it, we have to bring it back to council. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh Chief, just wanted to ask one more time. Uh does the gun range have any sort of modular rooms or any facilities where you can go in and field strip a weapon or where you can uh get a break from the heat or from the cool depending on what time of season they're out there shooting? No, we're very limited on what we have to offer out there. Thank you, sir. And a second question, are there any restrooms or anywhere that facilities wise you'd be able to use for the gun range? We have one uh portaotti and that's it. Thank you, sir. Okay, Councilwoman,

I just wanted some clarification from council member Casey. Where exactly was the language about modifying Right. It was in the body of of the contract, not in the body of the resolution. Council, um, it's section 10.1 on page three, presumably of each version of the contract. Thank you.

Any followup? Okay. Promote. Councilwoman Vera, I just want to confirm, Chief, we've because they seem very familiar. We've done this before in the past recently, haven't we? I because this doesn't seem like the first time we've had these contracts come before council and they just want to verify that we've approved these in the past. We have approved uh some contracts in the past. Um I think they probably fell off and maybe some of these we haven't actually had a contract with. Um, so when we saw this, we decided to go ahead and move forward so that everything is uh contracted out there.

So all contracts are going to be pretty much uniform now and they're not going to be different. I think is what you're Okay. I just want to make sure because they seem like we've approved these before. So I confirm there's a difference here. So the state contracts, the CHP and uh state parole uh they do a different contract that's done through the state. So these are all through us which is a difference. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Casey, the chief answered my question. Okay, sounds good. Let's go to the public. Any members of the public would like to make any comments? Anybody on Zoom? There are no hands raised on Zoom.

Okay, we're bringing this item back for a motion. Will it be for all? Do I need to say section A, BC, or just item five? My recommendation would be item 5 A through 5D. Yes, ma'am. I'd make a motion to approve items 5A through 5D. A second. Roll call. Council member Casey. Yes. Council member Vieira. Yes. Council member Otto. Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez. Hi. Mayor Lopez. Yes. Motion carries 5-0.

Thank you. And we'll move to item number 10. Um, let me get my notes really quick. So, on this, I had a question because I was just looking at the municipal code as well as the government codes. So, municipal code 3.02090 and 2.15.020 as well as government code 36518. And I thought the mayor, vice mayor, and treasurer were supposed to be bonded. So, that wouldn't leave the city manager the only bond bonded person. So, I guess I don't know exactly who to direct this to. So, that's a little confused.

City attorney or city clerk. I know I'm on it. Please state your question. I'm sorry. Oh, you didn't hear what he said. What she said. Oh, it was regarding 10 regarding the city manager and you being the only one I guess blond it because I thought under city code um our municipal code as well as government code 36518 as well as our municipal code 2.15040 and 3.020 02090 both stated that the mayor, vice mayor, and treasurer had to be bonded. So that's why I was just kind of interested in seeing how this came to play where you're the only one um that's bonded where I thought there should be I thought four of them besides the finance director based on our municipal code as well as the government code.

You're correct. So basically when we found out we're moving forward and we needed to have all this we that's when we discovered the city treasur has not been bonded. Uh and that was would have been occurring back in 2020 uh during the city manager at that time which was either Toby Wells or Tom Westbrook who was responsible making sure they got bonded. So are we in the process of now coming in compliance with their municipal code?

So we're going to be coming in compliance with the municipal code. The problem is for this process, we have to have all the documents sent to the bank by Wednesday at 12:00 noon. It takes one week to have somebody bond or have someone bonded. So, that's going to take us until next Monday. If we don't have the bank uh papers and all the resolutions in by Wednesday, no one will get a paycheck on Friday. Yeah, I [clears throat] understand. And tomorrow being a holiday just delays it a little bit more. So, no, I appreciate I just wanted to get clarity because I was a little with the municipal code and the government code. It just seemed like we were out of compliance. So, I just want to make sure we're working on resolving that. Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, I know I am not bonded. I can't speak for uh former Vice Mayor SA. Uh, however, I do believe our city treasurer was bonded with the last bank we had, and I believe when we moved over to the new banking system, you didn't rebond her. I know that I think vice mayor at the time sa and mayor Lopez had to get bonded but I know when she initially got elected in 2020 she was bonded and I believe we switched banking systems under your tenure. You were still with Bank of or West America. That's correct. We haven't switched banking. We haven't switched banks.

So would that mean that if she she was bonded that mean she's still bonded or does that expire? It expires. It does. We have to pay for that annually. Okay, that makes sense. Was Vice Mayor SA bonded? I I couldn't I don't know. I don't think so. I I've only had a deal with uh city manager and I do remember dealing with the treasurer myself. Yeah. But that was obviously in 2021. Councilwoman Otto,

I do have a few questions and I do have some concerns. Um, for the city manager, when did you find out that our finance director was leaving the city?

Probably about 30 days ago. Okay. So, that would have given us time to find um and be in compliance with an authorized signer when we were first notified, right? There would have been some planning in order to identify an interim deputy finance director and then make sure that somebody was bonded to be able to sign these checks. If we would thought about at the time, we thought everything was already lined up. And so we didn't really look at it until probably about a week ago or less when we discovered it. Yeah, we aren't the the people we are supposed to be bonded aren't bonded.

Okay. And I that's the problem with local government at times is there's no verification. So I went through and I was trying to um look into some things. I actually had emailed you a few emails. I asked for a copy of your bond um which I still have not gotten. I did not receive the date of when the bond was approved by the council. Um it does say in the local mun municipal code that the council has to approve the city manager's bond and that is a shell. Um obviously there's concern with the treasur not being bonded especially if that needs to be done annually. Um that is in the government code section and uh in our municipal code. So we need to get that corrected. I'm just really concerned about how we're conducting city business, especially when we find out 30 days ago that one of our finance directors is leaving and now we're in this bind where somebody has to sign who's not bonded. So, I'm really concerned about that.

Mr. Casey, it's been asked and answered. Okay, I'll go ahead and go out to Well, you have another question. I just wanted to ask, Mr. Mayor, when uh our former finance director, Leticia, left, it was you and the treasurer that had to sign her off because you two were the bonded on on that at the time? Believe. So, so then the treasurer was bonded. I do remember going down to the bank and I believe she came into the office.

Yeah. But I mean I mean these are great questions, but I think what's important is that we need to take care of this as soon as possible so we can move the business forward and make sure that people get paid on Friday. I know that uh was there additional Did you press your button again?

Yeah, I just have one more clarification. Um in the staff report it says that our city manager is currently overseeing the dues of finance and is already bonded making you eligible. But again, this is not a I don't believe this is a factual statement without having the council who approved the bond. Um, and then I also want a clarification. Mayor, are you currently bonded or is that something you also need to get in order? I am because I'm on the checks. That is correct. For the last bonded Okay, that's great to hear. Thank you. Sounds good. Um, did I already go to the public or was I about to Let's go to the Let's go to the public. Anybody from the public?

Good evening, council members. John Warren, city of Series. In listening to all this, I pick up half. Is anybody in the city bonded for the proper amount of money to do business? It's my understanding. Yes. As far as the mayor is, and I am right now. Um, and obviously our finance director was, but she our finance director was up until Friday. So, so it wasn't an issue until she left. So, the mayor is bonded. Yes. Correct. Yes. [clears throat] And the city manager manager is bonded. Yes. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Anybody else from the public? Anybody on Zoom? There are no hands raised. Okay, we'll bring this item back and for comments and or a motion. Go ahead. Go ahead. I need some clarification from our city manager. You You keep saying you're bonded, but once again, I requested a copy of the bond or the agenda item of when the bond was approved by the council per our municipal code. And you avoided my question and still didn't provide me a copy of this. So, I need some help understanding that.

Yeah, I didn't avoid your question. I told you is in my contract which is attached to the agenda December 10th, 2023. I believe it's item number 10. It says that the city will bond the city manager. Correct. It says the city will bond. It doesn't mean that you are bonded and there's no attachment in the contract from 2023 that has the bond. So, that's where I'm trying to receive some clarification on on saying that you have a bond. Refer to our our finance director if I'm bonded or not. Could you please provide that information to the council member when you get an opportunity, please?

Yes, I can go ahead and send that information over to you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. Looking for a motion. Uh, Rose Linda, I'll motion to approve item 10. I'll second.

Roll call. Council member Casey, no. Council member Vieiraa, yes. Council member Otto, no. I need to see a copy of the bond first. Vice Mayor Martinez, I agree with Council Member Otter. I'm going to have to vote no on this as well until we can figure out what's going on. Mayor Lopez, you guys do realize that on Friday, nobody will be paid. None none of these staff members will receive a check.

What about our um interim finance director? So, it's my understanding that he the reason why we made this request is to place him on this item so that way we can go to the bank uh verify it and he can be on the checks until we hire a finance director so people can get paid on Friday. So, I understand your guys' questions, but this is very urgent. I think that if we vote no on this, we're playing with people's money and that I don't think what happens when we don't pay any of this. And then you keep saying you're bonded. So, are you bonded or are you not? Can I ask for I asked for a copy? So, how come now?

It has to come to the finance department.

Can I can I make a recommendation? So, first, if the council does not approve this temporary measure um in order to sign the checks, there will be larger liability issues that will be levied against the city from a wage and hour standpoint. So, it is um I would say a significant issue if this council does not approve this today. If the council is concerned and would like to see a copy of that, I believe that your deputy or acting uh finance director can provide a copy. My recommendation is for you to table this agenda item and request that she go and print a copy and provide the council with one if that will satisfy your request.

Table this item till when? Until she can approve it tonight. She can give you a copy tonight. And can I I think I and I don't want to speak for Sonia, but is that possible? I'll make a motion that we take a a recess until that answer until that question might be answered. My So I'm sorry to interject. Um my recommendation in order not to delay the proceedings of the council meeting would be to table this agenda item. Give her an opportunity to go do that, but you can continue with the rest of the agenda and bring me to bring it back when she provides that information. Yes. Is that what you're saying? Okay. I misunderstood what you were saying.

Yes. So, this would not be to continue this item to another meeting. It's literally to bring it up later tonight once she can give you a copy of the bond.

Can I ask a question though? That bond was supposed to be approved by the council. So, how if she provides us a copy, when did this council or a prior council approve that? That's the other issue. It's in the municipal code and it's a shell. So, it sounds like we are out of compliance with our own municipal code. I I I can't speak as to historical practices. Um, it does sound from what I'm what I've heard tonight, the city manager's employment contract does state that the the city will provide the bond. Um, now the amount may have been said by the council previously, either by resolution or maybe past practice. We'd have to research that to see if that's essentially what created that that trend in that specific amount. The code does state that city manager shall furnish a corporate bond to be approved by the city council in such as the council may be provide. This doesn't specifically state it has the amount has to be set every time. So if the council has previously said it or established a precedent for a certain amount that would be sufficient to under this code section. So otherwise this would would state something slightly different.

So could we do a motion to temporarily allow the city manager to sign just the employee paychecks until this can be figured out? So that's

well I guess which which aspect because it sounds like the finance department can provide you with a copy of a bond that would be valid. The I guess the second question would be if the council wants to look into the amount and maybe look at some historical data. Um but I don't know that that calls into question the fact that a a bond exists. If the bond exists, it ex and it and it's valid and it sounds like it has to be renewed every year, that's sufficient for purposes of uh presentation to the bank um as a signer. So, it again depends on which which aspect of it the council wants to look further into, but yes, you can modify this resolution. We'd have to get a little bit more feedback on this if you want to further limit um the authorization to this may be specific pay period but I will strongly strongly suggest that this council take some action tonight because if you don't there will be bigger issues and I think to the mayor's point it's not the employees

the attorney and we will not pay our bills. I I I'm looking at it from a li a very um immediate liability issue. There are very strong laws that protect employees. So I believe that the motion has failed. Well, actually I'm not sure. Fell, we haven't even we haven't done roll call yet. You can retract your motion and do another motion. You could.

We haven't completed the roll call. We do have three nos, one yes, and one that has not voted. So regardless, it it fails. or a motion that fails. It would there would have to be um well, there can be an alternate motion that could be different or an individual who voted against the motion could could request reopening the item. I'll make a motion that we reopen the item. Rosinda does have a question.

Well, that works out perfect. cuz I think I have another question. I just want to confirm in order to be a signer at the bank, they have to prove the proof of bond or not. Does it have to be on file? That's a question for finance. That does have to be on file with the bank. Okay. So, for in order Doug to be a signer on there, he had to prove to the bank that he was fully bonded as required by law. That's correct. Perfect. Thank you. Vice Mayor, go ahead. Okay. So, you already made the motion. Ros Linda, would you like to second to reopen the item? Sorry, I had another question in my brain. Yes, absolutely. I'm happy to continue second your motion. Roll call, please.

Council member Casey.

Yeah. Before I vote, I just want to make this public statement. U I was elected to the office in February of 2021. And so my first payment was a check. This is to tell you how our series finance thing has been, maybe still is. So my first check from the city of series was signed by Chris Vieier, mayor, and some person that was the finance director 10 years ago. are still voting no.

Council member Vieira, yes. Council member Otero, yes. Vice Mayor Martinez, I. Mayor Lopez, yes. Motion carries to reopen the item. Okay. Now, I will make a motion to table this item until we can get a list of who is bonded from finance. Are you able to provide that list today? I say yes. Okay. What do you want?

Okay, we'll table it till we're done with the next ordinance. Do you need some more time or you almost there? I'm going to go ahead. I need some more time for that. Okay, sounds good. Um, I'll second that motion. This is to table it, right? just tabled it till the end of the meeting. Council member Casey,

no. Council member Vieiraa, yes. Council member Otto, yes. Vice Mayor Martinez, hi. Mayor Lopez, yes. Motion carries 41 to table item.

Okay, moving on to public hearing. An ordinance of the city council of the city of series adding section 10.500 definitions amending section 100520 regulations for bicycle operations adding sections 105120 organized planned or street takeover and adding sections 1005130 penalties of the series municipal code chief. Good evening mayor, council members and members of the public. Tonight I am bringing forward a proposed amendments to an existing ordinance regarding the operation of bicycles within the city of series. These changes are being presented in response to uh significant public concern both expressed on social media and in person about the dangerous operation of bicycles in our community. Since January 2024, we've had a uh recorded 19 injury collisions involving motorcycle or bicyclist. Uh two of those being fatal. During the same time period, we also received 85 calls for service related to bic bicyclists riding without due regard for the safety of people and property. Uh we have added the definition of what constitutes a bicycle um prompted by the increased number of electric bikes being operated within the city. Under the revised ordinance, electric bikes are considered bicycles provided that they do not exceed 20 m hour and do not exceed uh 750 watts of power. We are also adding a section which makes it unlawful to ride a bicycle at any city sponsored event where the street has been closed to vehicle traffic. Uh this restriction is necessary because bicycles can pose a significant safety concern when operate in large crowds. Uh finally we're adding a section uh

10.5.120 which addresses organized, planned or street takeover events involving bicycles. Uh like stated above, since January 2024, we have received 85 calls for service regarding groups of cyclists riding recklessly, blocking traffic lanes, and failing to obey traffic laws. These individuals often engage in dangerous behavior such as playing chicken with oncoming vehicles, striking or kicking passing vehicles, and causing damage. While many of these riders are juveniles, adults sometimes participate as well. Under this new section, officers will have the authority to impound bicycles for 30 days. Additionally, an impound fee will be assessed based on the number of violations within a 365day period. So, the first violation would be 250, the second would be 500, the third 750, and the fourth violation in 365 days would be $1,000. These amendments are designed to promote public safety, encourage responsible bicycle operation, and respond to ongoing community concerns. Thank you. And I'm happy to answer any questions. We'll go ahead and open this up to the public. Any members of the public have any comments and or questions? Uh Dave Pice series. Yeah, I have. You know, the thing is um a lot of these bike riders have no respect for uh pedestrians. They uh regular bicycles, electric bicycles and electric scooters and they expect the pedestrians to move out of their way so they for their use of sidewalks. There's been many a time I've been close to getting run over over and a lot of times when they come up behind you, they don't

let you know that they're coming up behind you. Uh I know I've rode I've ridden the sidewalks where the traffic is bad where you you there's no way you could ride on the streets without getting run over. Uh, but I'm I'm be respectable for civilians. I get off off the sidewalk. Wait till the pedestrian goes by and then I get back on. I don't it. So, uh, another thing is I I don't know if you there's a state law that those under 18 are supposed to be wearing helmets and a majority of them are not wearing helmets. Thank you. Anybody else? My question John [clears throat] Warren City of Series, excuse me. My question to the chief and to the council is u regarding the application of the of the ordinance. Um, are the officers going to have to make an on view observance of the violation before they can take action? Or will they be able to look at cameras the city has available and quite possibly the uh onboard cameras from a citizen's private vehicle such as the one that I have in my pickup. And I have actually uh captured these young people and riders coming straight at you in your lane head on. And will the police department be able to use video to try to identify these people go out and

maybe possibly with a warrant to confiscate these bicycles? If on view is the uh is the uh requirement then most of our police officers out here don't make very many of these on view u observations which will create another 85 calls for service that can't possibly take place because the officer didn't observe the violation committed. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody else? You have one hand raised. Jean, you can go ahead and unmute your mic.

Yeah. Geneely serious. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Yeah. This is an ordinance that, you know, I think the city's overlooked a long time. This should have been uh activated several years ago. uh it seems to be a little bit calmer now, but I'm sure there's areas in series where it still uh maintains a presence of these individuals out in the street with their bicycles and what have you. My question would be to the chief of police. This is considered, if I'm not wrong, a low priority uh situation. Like a lot of things are low priority, you know. I mean, it's not a robbery. It's not a murder. It's not an assault. Uh, [clears throat] I guess it could be if you're assaulting the vehicle with your bicycle, I guess, in some fashion, but it's a low priority. So, are they how are they going to enforce this? If an officer sees somebody out there doing something against this ordinance like they do, I don't know where the the reasoning comes into play, but a lot of times they say they say, "Well, uh, we have to give them a warning." Well, you know, sometimes warnings don't do any good. We've been, you know, I've I've lived here long enough to know that a lot of people just repeat things over and over because they just get a warning. If we're a little bit more stern and give citations out, like one of the chiefs before said years ago said, you know, they start listening when they take money out of their pockets. Well, I believe some of that's true. I want to know what the chief's going to do and a low priority situation like this. If they're going to, you know, of course the kids ain't going to have much money. Are they going to go after the parents afterwards if they can find out who they are? Are they gonna sight a 16-year-old kid on the street? Uh, how are they going to handle this? I

mean, we have all these different things we want to do in series, but a lot of times we don't get down to handle them the way they should be handled to eliminate the problem. Uh, we have good means and of trying to do things, but a lot of these things get put in the the back there and eventually kind of disappear and nothing happens. So, I appreciate if the chief could get a little bit more definition to the people listening and to the city council. Thank you.

Thank you, Jean, for that question. Uh, you bring up a very good point. Um, the police department doesn't necessarily think this is a a low priority um call. this uh these bicyclists uh present a very big risk to people driving to other pedestrians and we will respond to that appropriately. Um

yes, we can't we can't see everybody that commits these crimes they're juveniles then we have to uh abide by those rules. It is a misdemeanor. we still have to abide by the mismeter uh statute that if it doesn't occur in our presence doesn't mean that we can't spend the time to identify them and send it up for a complaint. There's many different uh avenues that we can take in order to uh identify and uh hold them accountable. I think sometimes the public thinks that uh the solution is to give them a ticket right there. That's not always the case and we can't always do that. um this isn't a low priority especially when you have franic callers calling in on 911 saying that they're uh being attacked by a group of bicyclists. So I would disagree with that and we'll handle each one of these incidents uh independently on on the facts that are presented.

Thank you. I hope it works well. And I would also like to add that um with this ordinance, it does give us the option uh to impound their bike uh per the ordinance and uh without it we don't have that tool for enforcement. Thank you. Any other hands raised? No other hands are raised.

Okay. Bring this item back. Public hearing is now closed. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [clears throat] Chief, uh, you said that it would give you the ability to impound their bicycles. Uh, is that like a first first time offense you can impound or how many instances does an officer need to see that same individual before that bike would be impounded?

So, yeah, first time offense um would be uh an impound, a 30-day impound, and then the fine is um $250. And then within a 365day period, uh, if they commit additional offenses up to four, it's, uh, we will impound the bike each time. And if they if it's the same person on a different bike, it still counts against them.

Thank you, sir. And then that $250 fee, if they can't afford it, is I believe Mr. Jen, maybe Mr. Pratt asked, does that go after the parents? Who would pay that? If if you've got a 13-year-old who I assume can't pay a $250 ticket, who who would flip that bill? So the ticket would go through the process like any other citation uh would go through the process. If they don't pay it, then the bike is in our our custody and then they'll lose the right to that bike. Thank you, sir. And then uh how many citations have been re I'm sure you probably don't have this number on you. If you do, awesome. Uh recently, how many citations have you guys written for helmet violations? Uh I don't have that number, but I don't think it's very high.

Okay. And then I had one more question for you. Uh what's the age range that you're seeing here um that are committing these acts? Uh I I would say the majority are juveniles. I don't know the exact age, but under 18. Thank you, sir. [clears throat] Councilwomano.

Thank you, Mayor. Um I just want to get some information on uh from the chief on the adults who are riding in the big groups with the kids. So is there going to be any is there any potential action that could be taken against them as well for allowing for being the adult and allowing them to ride in the big groups? Yes, they'd be citable also under the ordinance change. Thank you. Any [clears throat] additional comments? Looking for a motion.

Make a motion to approve item number 12. I'll second. Roll call. Council member Casey. Yes. Council member Vieira. Yes. Council member Otto. Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez. Hi. Mayor Lopez. Yes. Motion carries 5. Item number 13, accepting the annual report and development impact fees in fiscal year 202425 as required by the government code section 66006. And this is Belram.

Thank you. Thank you, mayor and councel. Uh we'll get the presentation pulled up and continue on. Okay. So, uh, tonight's item is the annual AB1600 public hearing required by the government code. Uh this hearing presents the annual report on development impact fees for fiscal year 2425. Uh so [clears throat] yeah uh so the purpose of AB1600 is to ensure transparency and accountability and how development impact fees are collected and used. Uh these reports confirm two key points. One is the continued need for public improvements and the second that the city may continue collecting development impact fees to fund infrastructure rep required by new growth. Next slide. [snorts] Under state law, the city must provide detailed information for each program including the fee type and amount, the balance, fees collected, expenditures by project, and then any transfers, loans or refunds. Um we have not done any loans uh transfers or refunds. Additionally, when any funds remain unspent for 5 years or more, the city must make formal findings identifying the purpose of that fee, the relationship between the fee and its use, and the expected funding sources and timelines for the planned improvements. Next slide. Uh major components of of the uh report

uh that collect fees are from development impact fees are general government, police, plan, community, public works, fire, neighborhood parks, and water and sewer facility charges. All of the counts have been reviewed to meet the state's reporting requirements. Next slide. One more. Sorry. Uh [snorts] so we've identified some projects uh and and this year I made it more readable uh but uh so we've got the courtyard facility improvements uh park improvements uh just to to go into park improvements a little more um we did OOA Park previously uh the rest of the funds are actually committed to Lions Park right now um so that as the fund grows we can we can do more uh park improvements Uh there's the Crows Landing road rehabilitation. There is a new sewer line in there uh that will serve the Westlanding area. Next slide. Uh the surface water south transmission main uh is in our in our water facilities fee. Uh the wastewater treatment plant tertiary improvements which is the upgrade to the uh wastewater treatment plant. uh the North Series uh sewer mains and pump station. Those are also uh a portion of the uh sewer plant upgrade uh to bring our sewage down from North Series down to our plant. Next slide. Uh Hatch Road Water Man uh phases two and three. Phase two is uh ongoing right now. Phase three will be coming back to you on December 8th. Uh well 14 23 32 replacements uh they are they are planned but they are planned for out uh beyond the capital improvement program years right now. So beyond 2031. Uh and

then we have water storage tanks and pump station upgrades uh for our uh system throughout throughout the entire city. Next slide. So staff uh our staff recommendations is the first one is to accept the annual AB1600 compliance report for fiscal year 2425 and make findings related to the unexpended balances as required by government code section 660001 and two adopt the resolution titled accepting the annual report on development impact fees for fiscal year 2425 as required by government code 660006B. Next slide. So, possible city council actions, uh, approve the, uh, item as recommended by staff, refer the items back to staff for clarification, or deny the report. Uh, this concludes staff presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much. We'll open this up to the public. Anybody in the public would like to make a comment on this item? Anybody on Zoom? There are no hands raised on Zoom. bring this item back for the council for comments and or questions or a motion. Vice Mayor,

thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, Mr. Beltran, with this project or even in the future, would it be possible to move the corpse that's at Smeirna Park out of Smeirna Park since we're doing park improvements and the Corpyard improvement? Maybe moving that facility somewhere else. Um if it is a desire then then yes that is that is an option. Um I there's no planning currently in process for that but um if that's something in the future that would like to be looked at between public works engineering and the council that's uh if that recommendation is made we're more than happy to look into it. Thank you.

Any additional comments or questions? Looking for a motion. Make a motion to accept the compliance report for AB1600 development fees for the fiscal year 2425. Make the findings related to unexpected balances as required by California government code section 6601. Second roll call. Council member Casey. Yes. Council member Vieiraa. Yes. Council member Otero. Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez. Hi. Mayor Lopez. Yes. Motion carries 5-0. Okay. And we will now go to recess. Thank you.

Are we are we back? Okay, we're going to return back to item number 10. Thank you, mayor. A point of clarification that the motion uh made was to accept the report um with maybe a small tweak to the the relevant government code section, but the approval for that agenda item is to approve the resolution. um that was presented to the council uh to accept the annual report. This is just a point of clarification. This is for item 13 that Nubia is speaking of. Correct. Correct.

Okay. And so now we're returning back to item number 10. This is for approving the destination of the city manager has authorized signer on behalf of the city until a finance director is appointed and bonded. Um finance director, uh what information have you just provided to the council? Thank you, mayor. I provided the bond um from re that we have here for the three city officials which includes the city manager um city clerk and the finance director. We have confirmation in that in the email that I attached that I attached to the backup saying the three individuals. The email is dated from 2024, but that information has been confirmed as of last week of who's still bonded. um because we were going back and forth asking for the timeline if we were to add additional positions into that bond. Um I also included the city manager's agreement originally approved December um December 11 of 2023. Um section 10 does say that he'll be bonded. Um so that's also included. It's not the um executed version just because I pulled it from the web just for the time being, but that agreement was fully executed.

Okay. Thank you very much. I'll bring this item back to the council for any comments and questions. Councilwoman Otto, I just want to say thank you to Sonia for having to pull this. I'm sorry for the inconvenience of that you had to go through this evening. Um, it was something that we could have had on Friday or even today in the morning. Um, so I appreciate you taking the time to go find this for us. You're welcome. Thank you,

Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Sony, I just want to say thank you as well. I appreciate you uh running on audible, running to your office and getting this for us and bringing copies for everybody. I still have a concern. Uh Council Member Vieira had mentioned that elected officials are also supposed to be bonded. I noticed that none of them are on that list, but I do feel great knowing that at least some of our uh city employees are. So maybe if we can get a list of what elected officials are bonded or who's supposed to be and if they need to get that done again. But I appreciate you. We will go ahead and work with our bond um to see get all the information for you guys. And just for a point of clarification, there is a list that does exist with the elected officials and I'm on that list. Correct.

I believe so. I'm going to go ahead and work with our um vendor that I attached to that email to that stack of um emails that I attached to you. You believe so? Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Casey. Go ahead. Sure. The vice mayor really asked the question and but I have [clears throat] to ask again if you're already on the list why aren't you on this list? It just seems that's my point of clarification. This list is strictly for city employees. That was not requested. So you didn't provide the list of the elected officials. Correct. That's correct. That's just the clarification I received from the bond company just for the city employees. Just to verify that Doug was bonded. Correct.

Yeah. So, so the further the question if I understood earlier the mayor, the vice meas mayor and the treasurer are the three elected officials that should be bonded. I cannot confirm about the vice mayor but in the past it has been the treasurer and and myself and as far as we know you are bonded and the treasurer is bonded. Well, I think that's that's not on the item today for as far as the agenda is concerned, but that's a question and and information that you should be receiving pretty soon.

Well, I I Deb, you know, I I agree. is not specifically what we're talking about, but it but it leads to the question of I don't I don't even know what to say if it it we we ask for the people that that were bonded and thank you for doing all that work, but why aren't they in this list? That's I understand where you're coming from. Okay. Yeah, I do. Thank Thank you. Thank you.

Uh Serena Sero, go ahead. I just uh since Sonia has to confirm if um mayor if you are bonded. I think that's something we have to keep in mind when signing any checks until that's confirmed. All right. Anybody looking for a motion? Make a open public. Go to public comment.

Oh, my apologies. Let's go ahead and go to public comment. Anybody in the public would like to make a comment, that's fine. Either way. Okay. Sir, make a motion to accept item number 10 approving the designation of the city manager as the authorized signing on behalf of the city until a finance director is appointed and bonded. Second that. Roll call. Council member Casey. Yes. Council member Vieira. Yes. Council member Otto. Yes. Vice Mayor Martinez. Hi. Mayor Lopez. Yes. Motion carries. 50.

Okay, moving on to council member referrals. Number 14, food vendor audit by code enforcement and quarterly reports on sales t tax and this was requested by Mr. Casey. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you. you know, uh, we all know in this room and probably most of those people on Zoom that we have a a financial crisis in this city and we need to work towards improving that. Um, by no means did I visit all the food vendors in the city of Series. Uh, and it doesn't really matter which ones I did visit, but the five that we did visit the processed hot food, no sales tax was collected. So maybe maybe they're act they're they're they're see advertised at Christmas time, no sales tax, and then they they build it into their report. But the real question is, do all of the food vendors, mobile vendors, whatever, you know, whatever their classification, has the city required a copy of the sales tax? That was really my question. And if it if it has, have we figured a way to protect the revenue that's collected in the city of Series that it goes to the city of Sir because right outside of uh you know a restaurant and we know there's plenty here in series. uh those people have all kinds of other expenses but for sure at least their receipt it shows that they've collected sales tax for but well in some of some cases they call them truck tacos but I

think it's just important that we figure out a way to make sure they're paying taxes and that and if they're not we probably should not let them do business in series. Thank you, Mr. D. Would you like to answer that? Well, Mr. Mayor, I'm going to turn this over to Sonia who spoke with our sales tax people uh just about this subject I think today. So, Sonia,

thank you, Council Member Casey. Um I did um talk to our consultant who we work with for the tax auditing and um that information um is available to them when it comes to the auditing. If there's any business that we believe they're not charging for sales tax, they can take a look at that business. But it is confidential information that cannot be shared or um publicized on the tax collecting on those businesses. But we h do have a report that we can provide to the council and post on our website that is not confidential that gives th trends for the city on the type of business that where the sales tax is being collected.

Thank you. I'm I'm not sure what you what's confidential, but I I have a small business here in series and we're required to post a resale license. And and I think to start with this audit, the code enforcement, the police department, the parks department, somebody that has authority in this city of series simply could go to the food vendor and ask for a copy of it. It should be it's at least in my business. Maybe it's different for them, but in my business, it's required to be posted. Thank you. Any followup on that, Sonia?

I don't have a followup for that, Mr. Casey.

Okay, thank you. Uh, we will now go to the public. Anybody in the public would like to make a comment on this item. John Warren, state of series resale license. Um, just taking the flea market that we have on Crows Landing Road, every vendor in that flea market is required to have a California resale license and collect sales tax. Everybody that prepares hot food and all these mobile vendors prepare hot food. uh other than the snow cone people that run around town on the bicycles in front of the school districts um they're required to have a resale license and my experience when I had a small business I had to have a resale license and I had to have it posted when I did business and I believe the city is remiss with our businesses whether it's a mobile vendor that sells hot food commonly referred to as a taco truck. When they make an application for a city business license, that application should have a space on it where they put down what their resale license number is and provide the city with a copy of their resale license. Now, it's not up to the city to make sure they pay their taxes, but it's up to the city to make sure they have all the proper licenses that they're supposed to have when they do business. And I think that's what we're looking at here. just that process alone. And then if it comes to the city's attention that they're not paying their taxes, then the information needs to be passed on to the state franchise tax board who then corrects that

problem. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody else? Hands raised.

There are no hands raised on Zoom. We'll bring this item back for comments, questions, and then consensus. Any comments or questions? Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, I thought I had it pushed. Um, guess my question was when we have the business applic and I haven't looked at the application for a while, but I know when I filed I had to submit all of that information and I was just wondering are we still submitting all that information with the business license. I thought I had to I know I thought I had to submit all of it. So that's why I Okay, so it's already being collected.

Yes, it is. Yeah, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mr. I'm not sure who I would direct this question to, but if this were to pass tonight, who would go and enforce this? Would it be code enforcement? Would it be Julian, you and your department? Who would go out uh and look for the sales tax and make sure everything is being collected? So, the referral item that you're considering tonight is to authorize it to be agendaized for for future action. So, hypothetically, if it's future agenda, who who would be the enforcing agent in this? who whose department resources would we be expending?

So, all we would do is to verify that they have a sellers permit, that they have a business, that they're conducting the business. It is up to the individual retailer to report those taxes to the franchise tax board. Um, we don't regulate that. That is something that they do. I mean, um, we can provide the overall report that we get from our vendors that indicates the sales that come in. Um but at the end if they're not reporting taxes then the state will come down on them and and find them that way. Um but this would we would have to regulate that throughout the city not just a specific group. It would have to be citywide that we regulate that and I don't know how we would um because if you go into a business I mean they can give you one set price and include their sales tax in there. Um I don't know how we would regulate that.

Thank you. And then just to confirm like council member VR said, this is already something that's being requested and being provided. That is correct. When mobile food vendors or any vendor comes in, they need to identify a sales permit and then they get a business license. Um if there's any other form of retail that they need the licensing from, all those are showed and produced up front. Thank you. Julian, I have a follow-up question. Have you in the past gone to businesses to double check make sure they're updated on their license and or with with your ability to check online? Yes. So, you're already doing that?

Yeah. So, if we get a call from the community indicating that they want to check a a status on a business license, we're able to verify if that um license is valid or not. Um and that's the information that we'll give them. That includes all food vendors. That includes the flea market, everybody, right? Except for the flea market. The flea market has its own conditional use permit. So, they have to obtain that. I'm I believe that if we ask for it, they're able to produce those, but everybody else that operates within the city. Yes. So, the flea market has a conditional use permit and we have to go based on those guidelines and correct. Okay. But you would check in to make sure they're doing that. Yes. Mhm.

Okay. Thank you, Council Member Otto. Thank you, Mayor. I was just going to say I'm interested in um in this referral coming back as a staff report. Mr. Casey, you have additional comments?

No, no. I'm I'm on my question really goes back to Julian. Uh again, my business may be different, may have different rules, but it's a requirement that it be posted. So, you're if I understand you correctly, the uh the food vendor that has the the unit at a parking lot. I could because I've never seen I guess I've never seen it posted and they and you're saying you're suggesting if I understood you correctly that uh the city's obligation is to make sure they have one but we're and I understand we don't enforce it. We don't enforce property tax. We don't enforce income tax. We none of that stuff. So each mobile vendor should have their permit on the mobile unit. So the business license sellers permit and the environmental resource permit. Is that what you're indicating? Yes. It should be posted on each of the tracks. Okay. And um so we're going to go with the ask for a consensus from left to right. No, Martinez. Yes. No for me. No for No for Ros Linda. Mr. Casey, yes. Three nos, two two yeses. Moving on to item number 15. This is uh placing a city treasur on a on the 2028 general municipal election ballot. And this is also requested by Mr. Casey.

Yes. You know what what I what I thought I I said uh was to place a ballot issue on the 2026 election because our present treasurer is elected has been elected to serve until 2028. So my my intent was to put it before the people. Do we need to continue having a city treasurer beyond 2028? That was my intent.

Thank you, Mr. Casey. We'll open this up to the public. Any members of the public that would like to make a comment or question? Any hands raised? There are no hands raised. I bring this item back for comments, questions, or and then consensus. Any comments and questions? Any comments and questions was Linda? Okay, we'll go with consensus to left right. No. Yes. No. For me was Linda.

I guess it's just to bring something forward or I guess I'm a I guess council member Vieira. What we would likely do since this is a referral process, we would bring back an agenda item to present to council what the options are. So there's there is depending on if the council were to place this on the ballot, there's several options, but we would we would not present you with a resolution to formally adopt a ballot measure yet. we would bring back um a summary um of of the request essentially for direction. So essentially voting or a consensus to agendaize this doesn't mean that you're going to the next item that you're going to see is for approval of a ballot measure. Okay. I I um I I'm still kind of confused on it. I guess this I guess I should have asked a question, but I didn't quite understand. I thought we were going to get into more what was being asked because yes, I've had since this came up at the last council meeting, I've had people approach me, well, what exactly does she do? What exactly is she doing for the city? And I don't know if I necessarily wanted the agenda. I think that was more of what my question is. So, I have an answer to provide because right now I don't necessarily I can't necessarily provide an answer. So, without having that information, I don't think I can validly make a valid vote on or decision on this. So, I guess I'm going to abstain.

Nubia, I wasn't abstain.

The agenda is agendaized as 2028. Council member Casey's now saying he meant to say 2026. Can we change that? Or is it 2028? Was he meant to say have put a ballot measure on 2026 or 28, but that's not what we recorded. It was 2028 is what he said and that's what we have down here. I I would say that this is council member Casey's item to present and what he's clarified tonight is that he he would like to the council to consider a ballot measure for 26. In either case, what would be coming before the council next would be, I think, you know, a description of the treasurer uh and duties, historical information about the position, what the options look like um for the next couple of elections. So, it that's essentially what would be the continuation of of this item.

Mr. Casey, was your consensus your yes? So if that's uh two yeses, two nos, and one abstain, this does not pass. No consensus. Okay, moving on to item number 16, conducting a forensic financial audit of the city of series. And this is council member Otto. Thank you, mayor. So I am requesting for city staff to evaluate and present to the council the options to conduct a forensic financial audit. Uh there has been lots of city turnover in the past several years and due to these leadership changes, it is important to verify our fiscal integrity during these transitions. Um I think it's important to ensure there's not any financial discrepancies so that we can improve our current financial situation. Obviously, I don't know what the cost would be, which is why I'm asking city staff to evaluate and present to the council the options that um that we have.

Thank you. Any comments or questions from the public? Seeing none. Oh, there we go. Warren city is serious. I think it's imperative that when you change financial directors, you have people leaving and people coming. If I was coming into a large city and accepting a job in a financial capacity such as that, I would want an audit to know where things were when I started and when the other person left. I just think that's good financial business. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody else? Anybody on Zoom? There are no hands raised.

Okay. I have a question for the finance director. So, the word that comes up here is forensic. In what capacity would would trigger a forensic financial audit in your opinion? anytime there is an assumption of this misuse of funds or investment that's happening in the city and um depending how far back um you're wanting the auditors to go. We want to because we're going to we would have to reopen the books. The auditors would need to reopen the books. So what you know the time frame on that okay thank you for that question. Uh being that there isn't um I would I cannot support this vice mayor.

Thank you Mr. Uh how far back were you looking to go? I think if we can go back again these just options 10 years would be sufficient. I mean I feel like it also limits the liability for the current finance directors or you know in our case deputy finance director coming in and taking over our finances. I think it's important for them as well. My next question is for the finance director. Where are we currently at with our audits right now? We just completed one. How are we the process of the next?

So, we have some um they're going to be coming out in January, mid January, and we're going to start doing some of the field work. Um hopefully by then we have a finance director where we're easy to transition in. We get all the documents in and we'll hopefully complete um fiscal year 24 um by the beginning of maybe the summer of 2026. Thank you, Councilwoman Vieira. Thank you. I guess couple questions on this one. We've had or up until what we we approved up until last week or last council meeting, sorry. We've had annual audits. Is that correct? That's correct.

Okay. And you're currently balancing the checkbook or it's being reconciled and everyone is overseeing and there's oversight on it currently. Correct. We have a consultant who's assisting us with the bank reconciliation and we are up to October of 2024. Okay. And the um one that's doing the audit right now is a third party. It's not an internal contractor. Correct. That's correct. They're both um a consultant doing the bank wreck. And then we have an auditor. Okay. And based on the report that we approved last council meeting, I believe there was no issues other than it just not being timely. Correct. Correct. That was a finding. Perfect. And we haven't had any audits in that have come back with any findings other than just the delay. Timely.

Okay. So right now the only thing we have is a timely and all of the audits have been approved to date and we've been in compliance up until the last I think two years. Correct? Yes, that's correct. Perfect. Thank you. Council member, excuse me, [clears throat] council member. Just for clarification and Sonia could probably help me out with this. When it comes to financial forensic audit, it's a little deeper dive. I believe you mentioned um it's not like our normal audits that you have to do every year required by state law or municipal code. Um so this is a deeper dive into our financial situation. Correct. That is correct. Thank you,

Mr. Casey. So are we presently doing a forensics audit? We're doing a financial audit. It is not a forensic audit. Help me. What's the difference? I'm sorry. What was that? Yeah. What's the difference? He asked. I mean, what's the difference? Mean I mean there's a physical audit which is a faster thing. Then there's the financial audit and then the forensic. What's the big difference?

So a we have to complete a financial audit every year at the end of the fiscal year. We have to complete those. That's um normal um financial practice for any city. Um the forensic would be like I explained earlier in case of this misuse of public funds if there's some vesselment if there's some type of um deeper dive we have to do and how far back we need to open the books. Thank you. Okay. Unless there's any additional comments, I'll go for consensus from left to right. No. Yes. No. For me? No.

Yes. Okay. Motion dies. Consensus dice. Okay, we're moving on to reports. Um, I have no reports. Council members, Christmas tree. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry. I always do that. My apologies. New referrals. Vice Mayor, you don't. New referrals. Councilwoman. Okay.

Thank you. Uh, really quick. So, I'd like to um I'd like for the council to get a review or a staff report on the difference of services between GOIA Engineering and Northstar Engineering since June. It appears we paid about $62,000. Um tonight, actually, I asked the question about the payment for July. Looks like we paid them twice. Um, and I just want further understanding. They're doing planning services for us. I just want to make sure this is cost-effective compared to having staffing in-house since we don't have a community development manager right now. And I'd like to get more detail on when we're making these payments to a contracted planner. We get a breakdown of the task and projects and the hourly um rates that are build on each invoice. So, that is a referral that I have. And another one, I just want to do a bond review. I want to make sure that we are in compliance with municipal code and the bond is approved uh by the council.

Vice Mayor, yes, [clears throat] I actually do have a referral. I would like to uh see what it will look like to have uh hourly parking enforcements in the downtown area. You got that fell. Okay. [clears throat] Any additional referrals? Another one. Okay. So now now we're going to move on to the reports. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Go ahead.

Uh, first I just want to congratulate Central Valley's football team uh for all three levels. So, congratulations to you as well, Coach Lopez. Uh, your team won. I know that they're going to be at the next council meeting where there will be uh proclamations and players from both teams will be present. I do want to point out though that we made a bet and and Mr. Casey and I are both wearing green today. So, I I will wear it uh at the next council meeting with Central Valley and Series High are here as well. But Mr. Casey and I honored our bet. Oh, respectfully. But I would also like to see you and and I have a specific shirt I want you to wear. I have it at the house. [laughter] And then I also wanted to say uh to Mr. Casey, thank you for your service, sir, as well. I know we got to thank the the veterans for being here as well, and I don't know if anyone thanked you yet tonight, but thank you for your service, sir.

Okay. Uh Councilwoman Vera,

mine mine is just brief. Um again, I just want to say thank you uh for all the veterans in our community who have served. Um you know, tomorrow is an important date that we recognize that. I want to thank our um planning commissioner applicants again for coming out. Um the Dia delos MTOS event was a lot of fun. It was a great turnout. They did a great job organizing that and it was um it was nice to see the community come together for that. Um series music fest seemed to go really well. So I appreciate Dog House for bringing that. Uh, we also had the pumpkin carving. A lot going on. The football game was great. It was it was a good time and congratulations again to the Hawks. Um, that's all I have. Councilwoman Vieira,

thank you. And again, thank you for our veterans. I will be at the parade tomorrow as well um in their honor. Um, just kind of recapping my last two weeks. It's been a little crazy here. Um, I did go to the Valley Builders Exchange. I did speak with one of our leazison when it comes to housing regarding some of our housing developments that have been delayed. Um I also talked to a couple of our developers or contractors locally to let them know that the clock is still ticking on their permits and they want to make sure they get that submitted before their two years comes up because we never know what it's going to look like. Um I know they expressed some concerns about the interest rate. They were hoping it was going to go down by half a percent and only went down a quarter. So some of them I think are trying to hold out and see if it goes down again. Um, so that way you guys kind of know what's going on and why there's some delays in these housing developments. It's not always the city. There are other things factors that are playing in, but I am having those discussions. I know some of our city staff is as well because we're engaging in these conversations together to try to find a way to make this happen um with us. And again, I know they touched on the cross town um game. I was happy to be there all the way to the end to watch the winning. Um both my son and my nephew both played Central Valley football, so that is home. and my girls also played powderpuff girl um or the little flag football. Um so it was great to be out there again and be back in my colors and yelling on the side of the field. Um and then I also went to the pumpkin carving and pumpkin event over at Riverbluff Park and that was a great event and a lot of people were there so I was glad to kind of meet with the community as well. Um on Halloween there was a senior lunchon. Thank you Joey for your team put to help with that and putting that on. It was a lot of fun. Uh the seniors really enjoyed it. I know they talked highly. There was even a wait list to join the festival and be there for part of the lunch is [laughter] so it was kind of cool just you know knowing that there was a wait list just to get in. There were people signing in at the door wanting to make sure if there was a seat available they can get one. And I think that's great that our seniors are becoming more and more engaged and they're definitely

liking these events and the free lunch that we also provide. Um we have lunch here Monday through Thursday. Um the loss muertos that was a huge event. I was here even before it opened helping with setup and getting those hand decorations. If you saw the decorations, all of those were handmade by the um ones that helped create the event and the sponsors. So, I was really thrilled to see the amount of time that they put in there. A lot of effort. Um we helped take that down and they have it in storage that way they can use it again next year. So, I stayed all the way to I think we were there till about 11:00 if I correct. Joey was there as well taking all of the flags, picking up all the trash um till the very end. and I was there because I wanted to make sure the event went well and I was glad to see the turnout and talking to everyone and how great that event was. Um I also went to Howard Prep. They had another ribbon cutting and open house um last week with a dinner. The food was great. The staff was amazing. Um it was a great opportunity even for those who work there to kind of communicate the training that they're getting and um the different resources they have available and the amount of they cater right now about 15,000 meals a month and they also have free food resources available as well. So they have boxes of food that go out every month. And then lastly, the music festival. I know they touched on it. That was huge event. I know I talked to the mayor as well as the city manager and Joey out there. So I know there was staff out there, chief as well as Godfrey was there. So um it was great to see them. There was no issues at all. I know there was lots of food options and I tried at least half of them I think. Um there were no problems and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and there was plenty of parking and lots of vendors and a lot of different options. It wasn't just food. There were crafts and there was t-shirts and a lot of different things. So, it was great to see all of that and I look forward to slowing down hopefully during the holidays. Thank you.

Awesome. Okay, Mr. City Manager, do you have nothing? I have nothing to report. Okay, city attorney. Nothing tonight. [clears throat] I'll go to the departments. Uh, Mr. Joey, I know that we touched on them, but I would love for you to get a little bit more in depth of Dias Muertos and I want you to tell me whether the rumors are true and will be discussed, let everybody know. And then the mystery music festival and then obviously um we'll be back in December 8th. So, I believe that we won't we'll be discussing after the parade, right? Because the parade's on the 6th.

Yes. Yes. So, thank you. Thank you for all your guys' support. Um just just to let you know to recap, we had three major events starting October 18th, trunk or treat. Um November 1st, Day of the Dead, and November 8th for Music Fest with a total of 21 days in between to prep for all three of those. Um with a small staff we have, even though we're partnership and running these, we we pulled them off. Um very very successful, lots of people. I'm thousands that attended with zero hiccups and and thanks to our streets department behind the scenes with street closures. Um a big shout out to Kenny who helped me on on Saturday evening um till 10:00 at night picking up all the trash, leaving it, moving all the trash cans, me and him. Um just the support of council and and and Doug having his support as a city manager to put these events on. Um, it's great to hear the great feedback that we're getting for everybody and and and they're they're they want more. Um, but I understand, but our staff is we're paying for it right now. We're very very tired. Um, we have an event this weekend coming up on Sunday. It's a new event, the holiday market. Um, and then we have December 6. Um, so, you know, our staff, I have two staff down right now that are ill. Um, so we're just trying to hunker down and and get through this. Um, but it's been it's been great. We're getting a lot of feedback. Um, I stressed out staff today because I'm already planning next year. Um, so we have within within a week we have three major events going. So the dates are going to be back to back to back just because the way it falls. So staff didn't want to hear that today, but I said we got a whole year to plan for it. So um, we're we're excited. So, thank you guys.

Actually, council woman has a question. Text message here telling me to tell you happy birthday. The rumor is true that tomorrow is your birthday. Yeah. Yes. Happy birthday.

I think we're going to take it to the next level. Let's sing, Mr. Chavez. Sorry. This is what we do around here. On the count of three, everybody. One, two, three. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Chavez. Happy birthday to you. That's right. Got to cherish those birthdays. Telling you. Okay. City manager turned 21 last week as well, but we're past that now. Uh, next department. No, nothing. Okay. A bunch of happy faces. All right. We will now go to close session for public employee performance evaluation, California government code 54957. Title of is city manager in addition to the conference with legal council for exiting existing litigation California government code 54956.9. Name of the case is Rafi. won't pronounce that last name and to one company versus the city of Siri County Superior Court case number 24005948. Is there anyone in the public that would like to speak regarding this close session item? See not. Thank you very much everybody and God bless you and have a wonderful evening. Meeting is a jury.

We are back. Uh, direction has been provided to staff. Thank you.