City Council - Regular Meeting

The time is 5:30. City clerk Dwarte, will you please call role? Yes, Mayor Prom. Council member Peton here. Council member Sosa present. Council member Trujillo is excused. Mayor Prom Ortiz here. And Mayor Fa is excused.

Thank you. Now, this is a time for public comment uh for items listed under the close uh session agenda. Each be each speaker will have three minutes to address the council unless modified by the mayor prom. I remind members of the audience that the city's meeting rules contained in the down municipal code prohibit any conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. Members of the audience and speakers who violate these rules and cause a disruption will receive one warning and then may be removed from the meeting. Violations of the rules of decorum or for council meetings may also result in administration fine under the municipal code or citation for a misdemeanor under p uh penal code section 403.

City clerk dwarte, do we receive any written public comment regarding close session items to be incorporated into the record? We did not. Mayor, city clerk dwarte, how many speakers? Uh city clerk dwarte, how many speakers have taken a number? We got one. We have one. We have one speaker.

Speaker number one. You appear to have one speaker, but I didn't get a number. But they're shuffling chairs around out there, so it's all good. It's all okay. um liability claims. I want to focus again and a reminder. It's been a while since I've been here for various reasons, but uh uh I just want to comment on the process and the protocol here that uh the city needs to cooperate with Donald Trump and DHS and ICE to guarantee that no frivolous lawsuits are brought before the city that appear on this sheet to make sure that every claimant that comes before the city council is indeed a United States citizen and not an illegal alien of any kind. Make sure we don't have any unscrupulous uh lawyers bringing unscrupulous claimants into the the chamber here and trying to piler the city resident taxpayers money. We don't want any unscrupulous nonprofits like Faras Legalis or any of those nonprofits that represent illegal aliens in the city of Downey that you allow to do that by the way, which you should be cooperating with ICE under 287G. And you can't say that our hands are tied. No, you've openly declared this a sanctuary city here in Downey. You've openly done that. when you say those

things. Okay, we still don't have any count of how many people were kidnapped off the streets. We were supposed to get that about 6 months ago off the streets in Downey. And there has been no evidence that anybody has disappeared or been kidnapped any Downey residents off the streets here in Downey by ICE. six months. It was all talk. It was all talk. I haven't seen one ICE officer in Downey yet. But then again, I haven't seen one bicyclist riding in the bike lanes up and down, Brookshshire, and Old River School Road. But we don't want unscrupulous judges too having any say in any of these frivolous lawsuits that are brought before the city. We residents don't like it. We want it stopped. We want cooperation with the federal officials. We don't want any unscrupulous city officials, any county officials, any state officials. We we want it stopped. And we want to make sure that everybody is a valid United States citizen that brings any lawsuits or claims against the resident taxpayers of this town. Thank you. Seeing there's no more speakers, is there a motion and a second to close public comment?

So moved. Second.

We have a motion and a second. So ordered by Mayor Prom. The city council will now resist your close session under the following authorities. Number one, government code section 54956.95, liability claim workers compensation claim claimant Scott Debor claim number 21-152991 workers compensation appeals board number ADJ14001024 agency claimed against the city of Downey. Number two, government code section 54956.95 liability claim workers compensation claim claimment Brian Baker claim number 23-175963 workers compensation appeals board number ADJ19140613 agency claimed against the city of Downey. Number three, government code section 54956.9D1, conference with legal council, existing litigation, Hilda Hilda bias dempos versus the city of Downey, Los Angeles County Superior Court, case number 24WC V03386. And number four, government code section 54957.6, Six conference with labor negotiator James McQueen, director of human resources, direction for labor negotiations with Downey Police Officers Association. We will now recess to close session. The time is 5:36.

Testing, testing. Hey, Stephen, can you hear us? Stephen, allow to talk. You have to do allow to talk. Stephen, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you. And do you prefer that I keep video on or off? I'm happy either way. Um, you can keep it off. Great. And you can mute or unmute yourself as needed. Sounds good. And I see Kaylee joined too. So I think she can probably hear as well. Hey Kaylee, can you hear us? Hi. Yes, I can hear you guys. Okay, you can mute or unmute yourself as needed. Okay, perfect.

Okay. Oh, perfect. Thank you.

We will now reconvene the regular council meeting close session. City Attorney Funk, will you please report close session action? Yes, Mayor Potam, members of the council, and members of the public. In tonight's close session, the city council will address all items that were agendaized on the close session agenda. There was however no reportable action from tonight's proceedings. Thank you.

Thank you city attorney. Before we begin the regular city council meeting open session, I would like to remind members of the audience that anyone wishing to speak during public comment must obtain a number card from the city clerk. Number cards should not be exchanged with other meeting attendees. If you decide not to speak after taking a number or decide to leave the meeting early, you must return the number card to city staff. If you did not obtain a number and wish to speak, please proceed to the back of the room and city staff will issue you a number card. Lining up during the public comic will not be permitted and each speaker should remain in their seats until their number is called. The time clock will begin when you begin your comments. Per the city's council's meeting rules and for fire safety regulations, all persons shall remain seated unless addressing the council or entering or leaving the chambers. Standing in the aisles or along the walls is prohibited. There is an overflow seating available in the lobby. If there are no available seats in the chambers, please proceed to sit in the lobby. I will now call to order the regular city council meeting open session. The time is 6:35.

City clerk, will you please call role? Yes, Mayor Prom. Council member Peton present. Council member Sosa, present. Council member Thrujillo is excused. Mayor Promport present. and mayor so uh mayor fora is excused.

Thank you. Now I would like to call former uh deputy mayor and I I was asked to say this uh her uh Claudia Formeta's fair mayor Rick Rodriguez. First off, before I um start this prayer, Mayor Prom, I want to apologize for not wearing a tie after all the years of me scolding you. I decided, hey, you guys, it's your turn now. So, and I have to tell you that I'm just really proud and honored you allowed me to do this. Now being retired, my favorite thing in life to do is pray for my friends. And I consider you guys all my friends. So, please join me in a prayerful moment. Heavenly Father, we gather in this chamber with a shared commitment for the common good. We give thanks to the gift the gift of this city, its people, the opportunities we have to serve. May our deliberations be conducted with integrity, humility, and civility. We're grateful for the diverse voices that comprise this city, our neighbors, our workers, our families, our students, each with their own hopes and concerns. We give thanks for the volunteers and the public servants who dedicate their time and their lives for the well-being of our community like our police and our fire and our school district. Lord, we ask that you grant us the wisdom to listen deeply and weigh the evidence to consider the long-term impact on our decisions on our neighbors near and far. May our judgments be guided with by compassion, fairness, and a commitment to the dignity of every person lives in this city. Lord, we ask for the courage that will inspire us to do the right thing even when doing the right thing is difficult and the humility to acknowledge our mistakes and to learn from them. Help us seek the common ground and negotiate with honesty and to act with respect.

May our policies reflect a steadfast dedication to justice, equity, and opportunity for all residents, especially those that are vulnerable. Help us foster the spirit of unity in this place. May our work be a beacon of hope inviting trust and partnership across this great city. And may all of our actions reflect the best of our community and aspirations that we hold for a brighter future. We ask all this in Jesus name. And all God's people said, "Amen." Amen. Thank you guys. Have a nice meeting.

Please remain standing for the flag zoo uh by Bos Scout Troop 441. All those in uniform, salute all others, right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. To Can we please give them a round of applause? Thank you. Thank you so much for everybody being here today. Uh for today, we do have two presentations this evening. Uh presentation one is uh for the city council by the Downey Youth Commission. I would like to call upon the Downey Youth Commission for their presentation at this moment. Welcome. Glad to see you.

We're glad to see you guys. Hello, mayor. Hello, Prom Mayor and City Council. My name is Megan Barahas and I am the chair of the Downey Youth Commission. Alongside me is our vice chair, Alexis Avalos, who will be helping me present to you our 2025 2026 year goals. Our first goal is to host the annual student government day. This event invites students from our four high schools to our city hall to learn about the way municipal government works. This day features tours, small groupoup discussions with department heads and city council and end of a mock city council meeting. This event is a goal because we want to encourage students to stay involved and learn about local government. Our next school goal is to host youth vendor fair as its own standalone event. A previous youth commission had the goal of promoting entrepreneurship amongst our youth. Last year we were able to successfully host our first youth vendor fair at the city's bunny patch with 13 vendors selling their products. This year, the goal is to host its own standalone event in April. And we hope future commissions build off of it and further expand resources to young entrepreneurs such as financial and business workshops. Our final goal is to explore ideas for teen programming offerings. Traditional drop and teen centers are declining in attendance in our region. We are looking for new ways to connect and engage Downey teens with things that might interest them. The youth commission created an ad hoc committee to dedicate time to research what other agencies are offering for teens and look at current trends teens are currently participating in. That recaps our goals for the 202526

year. We are excited to accomplish our goals and I'd like to thank the city council for their support. Thank you. Any of my colleagues want to say any words or comments? Well,

we're we're very pleased to to have you come up and speak. I know in a prior seminar that we attended with other cities, they talked about their youth commission coming up and we get to see you and see how you implemented things. I know my colleague and I, we were there for youth and government day, youth government day, student government day, and it's amazing. You took over the whole council chambers. You were spot on with different bills. So, uh, we thank you for giving your time. I know how busy it is when you are in high school or middle school, but you are the future of Downey right there. Thank you. That was a great presentation. Thank you guys for serving.

We don't have any tough questions, don't worry. But um I I was a very a big fighter for the youth entrepreneur day. I actually went with you. I think were you guys there, right? Or this is completely new new group, right? But I was there last year and it was a lot of fun. I'm I'm hoping to expand on that. Um, but you have uh all are here supporting you guys. So, thank you guys so to be here and giving your presentation. Thank you guys. Thank you.

Oh, they want a picture. Do we go down?

You want to position in a way? Thank you guys. You guys can go home if you like. Okay, do your homework. Um now uh for presentation number two to the city council by the independent citizens oversight committee on 2025 measure S and measure D annual report. I would like to call upon Marlon Ramirez interim finance director for his presentation.

Hi good evening Mayor Prom and members of the city council. The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee is present this evening and will be presenting the Measure S and the Measure D annual report for fiscal year ending 2025. This item is number 13 on the consent calendar for this council's consideration. Before I pass it over to Chair UVA, I wanted to briefly cover a few items. The Independent Citizens Oversight Committee was established by the council on June 28, 2026 to provide oversight of measure S revenues and expenditures, review financial audits, and issue an annual report to the city council and community. In April 2025, the city council expanded the committee's oversight responsibilities to include measure D. As part of the city's annual audit, separate audited compliance reports were completed for both Measure S and Measure D. I'm pleased to report that there were no audit findings or compliance issues identified. These compliance reports are available on the city's website and the committee has reviewed them during their most recent meeting in January. With that, I'll turn it over to Chair UVA who will present the committee's annual report. Good evening, Mayor Prom Ortiz, members of the city council, city manager Bradley, and our wonderful city staff. Thank you for the opportunity to present the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee 2025 Measure S and Measure D annual report. I would like to introduce the committee members of the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee who are here in the audience with us tonight. Ernesto Vier, vice chair representing district 5, Caesar Ortiz representing district 1, Beth Jandra representing district 2, and Rebecca Reyes, uh, representing district 3. It is an honor to serve with such dedicated group of community members committed to

transparency, accountability, and strong fisto fiscal oversight on behalf of our Downey residents. The committee met on January 14th, 2026 to review the audited revenues expenditures for fiscal year 2024 2025 and to complete this year's annual report. All committee members were present, engaged, and actively participated in thoughtful and productive discussions. The committee conducted a thorough review of the financial information, the independent audit reports, the measure S and measure D revenues and expenditures. We asked questions. We reviewed the details carefully and confirmed that funds are being used consistent with the voters's intent. Measure S continues to support public safety and critical infrastructure improvements throughout our city. As of the fiscal year 2425, we hired 32 public safety positions. We funded measure that were funded through measure S directly supporting the police and fire services. The committee also reviewed major equipment and capital investments funded by measure S, which includes continued investment in public safety fleet and equipment, acquisition and financing of a fire ladder truck, other critical public safety equipment that enhances emergency response and service delivery. Measure D. This would be the first year of implementation. The fiscal year 2425 marked the first year measure D revenues and expenditures following voter approval in November of 2024. Measure D was approved to maintain and enhance public safety services. Through our review, we confirmed 17

public safety positions have been funded by Measure D to date, which include eight full-time sworn police officers, a traffic police officer and traffic detective, officers and corporals assigned to the detectives bureau, a full-time training coordinator, forensic property room and support staff. These positions represent a meaningful investment in strengthening public safety, staffing, and services for our community. The committee also reviewed the first year measure D revenues and expenditures and confirmed that the funds being used appropriately for personal implement personnel sorry personnel implementation and required compliance and administrative costs. The committee's conclusion. The committee thoroughly reviewed the annual report and engaged in productive discussion before unanimously approving it for submission to the city council. We are pleased to report that Measure S and Measure D funds are being used as intended and in alignment with voter approval. On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank our city staff for their professionalism, transparency, responsiveness throughout this entire process. We really have great staff. Our staff supports um the ensure staff supports ensures that the committee can effectively effectively carry out the oversight responsibilities. Looking ahead, the committee meets annually in January to review and finalize the audited financial information. We look forward to returning to city council in January or February of 2027 to report on the revenues, expenditures, and accomplishments for the fis for the current fiscal year. I thank you for your time and continued support for the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Carrie. So great to see you and as a planning commissioner previously, so it's just great to have you here. Yes. Many of my uh council members have any comments or questions? Um we started on Measure S, was it correct? So we've been uh on that Measure S when we were touring the parks when it took off and and looking at all the improvements to the fire station. It was really good to see everything come to fruition. Um, and and as I look at the numbers and the revenues back there, it was anticipated to be 9 million and right now it's gained momentum. It's at 13 million that we had last year

so that we're able to keep doing more things. I like the detail too that we've shown in what was purchased um all the items that we have for fire and police and used in the way in the manner that you said the intentions for or what we were doing. Um I also wanted to say oh yeah we had 20 items your your cameras for um Golden Park came out of those the funding. So that's great. And um I believe with our measure S um I had asked that we have the oversight together. I mean measure Destin one with the S. And I'm glad that we have everyone taking a look at that as well making sure that the funding is going where it is. Um the first it's uh you're looking at actually the fourth quarter revenue at 1.5 million and so we anticipated that to be a $6 million stream. So at that rate a full year will bring in the 6 million as anticipated. So shop downy shop downy shop local.

Shop local, right? Shop local. So thank you for um all of you for participating and reviewing that. Um I appreciate all of you commissioners that do that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Carrie for presenting that. Uh just so you met once it was January. We meet once a year. Okay. Is that sufficient? It's sufficient. Yeah. And we did discuss it at this last meeting and we felt it was still sufficient just to meet once a year. Thank you. Mhm. Thank you very much. And thank you for all the commissioners that are here as well. Thank you.

Moving on to public hearings. There is one public hearing this evening, fiscal year 2425 and fiscal year 2526 HUD action plan substantial amendments that the council one conduct a public hearing and receive comments on the proposed substantial amendments to the 2425 and 2526 annual action plans for the use of community development block grant and home investment partnership and funds. Number two, approve the proposed uh 24 through 25 substantial amendment which cancels the CDBG funded Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Behavioral Health Program for 20,000 and the Veteran Employment Support Training Program 25,000 and uh reallocates a total of 45,000 to the 2526 CDBG housing rehab program. Number three, approve the proposed 25 through 26 substantial amendment which cancels the CDBG funded LAA behavioral health program 20,000 and the home funded whole child uh tenantbased rental assistance program 50,000 and reallocates those funds to the 25 through 26 CDBG uh housing rehab program increased from 344,187 to 409187 and the 25 through 20 uh 2026 home housing rehab program increased from 253,732 with 44 cents to 303732 with 44 cents. Number four, authorize the city manager or his designate to submit the approved substantial amendments and any necessary supporting documentation to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. And number five, authorize the city manager or his designate to modify and execute any and all appropriate instrument agreements, contracts, and imple implementing documents related to the imp implementation and administration of the substantial amendments. The hour having

arrived, the public hearing is now open. The time is 6:53. City clerk dwart, do you have any proof of publication? I do, mayor. Pro time. Can I have a motion, a second to receive and file publication? So move. Second. Please vote.

The motion is approved unanimously. Thank you. City Manager Bradley, is there any staff report?

Uh, yes. We have Sergio Corus, our homeless solutions and housing manager, who will provide the presentation. Hi S. Good evening, me Mayor Port and members of city council. That the item before you tonight is a substantial amendment to the fiscal year 2425 and fiscal year 2526 HUD annual action plan related to community development blog grant or CDBG and home investment partnership funding. The purpose of this amendment is to cancel a select federally funded public service and assistance programs that were unable to meet federal compliance requirements and to reallocate those same funds to the city housing rehabilitation program for fiscal year 2425. Two CDBG public service programs are proposed for cancellation. The first is a Los Angeles Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Behavioral Health program in the amount of $20,000. This program was intended to provide behavioral health counseling and referral services to low and moderate income residents. The second is the veteran employment support training or vest program in the amount of $25,000 which was assigned to assist lowincome veterans with job readiness training, resume preparations, interview skills, and employment placement support. To receive to receive CDBG public service program funding, subreients must comply with strict federal monitoring documentation and eligibility requirements. In order to meet HUD's mandated national objectives, failure to do so places the city's current and future allocations of CDBG and home funding at risk of reduction or cancellation. Over the co course of the program year, CD staff provide provided technical assistance, training resources, and ongoing compliance guidance to funded funded subreients in an effort to support successful program implementation. Despite these efforts, subreients ultimately did not have the administrative capacity or operational infrastructure necessary to meet HUD compliance requirements. Continue funding under these these conditions

could expose the cities to audit findings and jeopardize future federal allocations for fiscal year 2526. Two additional programs are proposed for cancellation. The first is again the Los Angeles Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Behavioral Health Program in the amount of $20,000 in CDBG funding. The subreient failure to meet HUD compliance requirements in fiscal year 2425 made it made them ineligible to receive public service funding in fiscal year 2526. The second is the whole child tenant based rental assistance program in the amount of $50,000 in home funding. This program provides short-term rental assistance to households experiencing housing instability. In this case, the subreion retains prior year home funding and is able to continue administering services using those remaining funds and therefore additional funds is not required at this time. All council funds are proposed to be redirected to the city's h city's housing rehabilitation program. The program assists low and moderate income homeowners with critical health and safety repairs including roofing and structural work, electrical and plumbing hazard corrections, accessibility modifications and for seniors and persons with disabilities and other co-related improvements. The program has demonstrated consistent demand and measurable measurable resident benefits. The current estimated weight list for housing rehabilitation assistance is approximately three years. The increased funding is expected to help reduce the weight list by allowing the city to approve and complete additional rehabilitation projects within the fiscal year. Based on current program capacity and funding levels, staff estimates the increase would reduce the weight list by 6 months. In summary, the amend summary, the amendment shifts funds into a high demand housing program while preserving the city's federal funded eligibility. This concludes my presentation. Staff is available to answer any questions. Thank you so much for the presentation. Do any of my council colleagues have any questions? Uh, council member Hector Sosa.

No, I I may I'm just reviewing something here. Not at this time.

Thank you. Thank you, Sergio, for this report. Yes, I looked at this and to understand what we were doing and shifting moving um CB um um HUD money, CBBG grant money. Um, and I, you know, had clarification that there is a lot of federal requirements and and processing for them to accept the money and if, uh, our agencies that we had awarded it to aren't needing that, we do not want to be funding at risk in that we're not complying with the federal government. So, in shifting these monies, I think it's a great area to move into our housing rehabilitation program. As you mentioned, I want to let the residents or listeners know that right now that we have a three-year waiting uh period for getting uh the completed housing rehab for uh critical moderate and low moderate income houses to get them, you know, nice. If you need to come and have something done to your house, you should come and and see that we can get a grant. You can get a grant to help do those repairs. So, I'm glad to see that maybe we can shorten that three-year time, make it quicker, and have the funds available so our residents can make the necessary repairs on their homes. So, it's a good move.

Thank you. My only question is I remember that uh I was under the impression that we weren't allowed to use these funds yet because there were so many restrictions that the federal government put. Is that true or what happened? The the funding's restricted and has a lot of requirements to comply with the reception of it, but it's not like limited point, so we're good. Okay, thank you. I I do have a question. How long have these uh these organizations been funded by uh these allocations from the CDBG? Uh do we know? Lacata has been funded for going on about 10 years and then um vest was only funded for one year.

Thank you. Thank you. I will now open this item for public comment. Uh, city clerk, did we receive any re uh, written correspondence to be incorporated to the record? We did not, Mayor Proton. I will now open it to public comment. Members of the audience wishing to address the city council regarding public hearing item may come up when your number is called. I will be calling purple number cards for this item. I remind speakers that you have three minutes to address the council and your comments must be regarding this public hearing item only. CD clerk Darte, how many speakers do we uh have taken a number? We have one speaker, Mayor Pton.

Thank you. May speaker number one come up. All right. So, we've been funding LATA for 10 years, but all of a sudden they can't meet the criteria to receive the funding. Is that what we're saying? Well, how do we know they've met the criteria before? We don't. We don't. We just have a councilman that's on the board of La Kata and we make sure we just keep funding LATA. That's part of the reason, also because Robert Garcia, who was our current count uh congressman, kept trying to get us as much funding as we could, especially through the Biden administration. Uh they were giving money away left and right there with no oversight whatsoever, which is about as much oversight as we've had in Measure S and Measure D. I mean, an annual oversight report. We were told it was going to be a quarterly report, but what happened was is that there wasn't any oversight. You brought in the disgraced deacon to be the oversight committee chairman of Measure S. Nothing got done. That's what was happening. So now we're trying to cover our tracks and cover up stuff like like is going on with this here. We don't know now that we got a president that's standing up and starting to look into things and a Congress that's looking into things how money is spent. Now we can't fund these groups, these nonprofits which have been nothing but grift and graft and just cesspools of moneyaundering for our friends and our

relatives. And finally, we've got somebody with some backbone that's going to stand up and put a stop to it. It should have been stopped a long time ago. All these nonprofits that have been getting this money, whether it's LA, Kata, uh, any of the CDBG, HUD, HUD is stopped because Donald Trump is in charge and we're going to run a legitimate government from now on as long as he's in there and his successor will be there also. So the fun and games is over, but to try and cover it up is all the money that's gone to La Cotta from us has just been a shame. It's been shameful. But we have a board member, a city councilman who isn't here tonight, but uh and we were funding all these things and activities, things that people didn't want in their streets, but you accommodated them because you're all on board with such nonsense. It's about time we have somebody put a stop to it.

Seeing that there's no more speakers, I will entertain a motion and a second to close the public hearing. So moved. Second. I have a motion and a second. So ordered by the mayor prom unless there are any comments from my council colleagues. Is there any other comments? No. I will entertain a motion and second to approve staff's recommendation action items 1 through five. I'll make a motion. I'll second that. Please vote. The motion is approved unanimously.

Thank you. Now, this is time for public comment regarding agenda, consent calendar, and non-aggenda items. Council will now take public comment on agenda, consent calendar, and non-aggenda items. If you did not receive a number card and wish to speak, please proceed to the back of the room to be issued a number card by city staff. We will be calling blue number cards for the public comment period. Before we begin the public comment period, we would like to remind members of the audience that the city's meeting rules contained in the Downey Municipal Code prohibit any conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. Copies of the meeting rules are located in the back of the chambers. Members of the audience and speakers who violate these rules and cause a disruption will receive one warning and then may be removed from the meeting. Violations of the rules of decorum for council meetings may also result in an administrative fine under the municipal code or citation for a misdemeanor under penal code section 403. The city council acknowledges the right of the public to address issues that are within the city's jurisdiction and invites the public to do so during the city council meeting. However, this right must be balanced with the need of the city council to conduct the public business in a fair and efficient manner free from disruption or disturbance. We expect that everyone who participates in today's meeting from the members of the council here on the deis to staff to the members of the public in attendance do so with respect and dignity. Please refrain from using profanity, name calling or behaving in a way that disrupts this meeting. This includes yelling, whistling, booing, screaming, and any other outburst that disrupts or disturbs the meeting. Any conduct that interferes with or disrupts persons who are addressing the city council. Any conduct that interferes with, or disrupts council members while they are speaking. Any other conduct that

disrupts, disturbs, or interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. and attacks of a personal nature on city staff or city council members that have no connection to agenda items or non-aggenda items. We remind speakers that your comments must be addressed to the mayor and not to any other council member, city staff, or the audience. City clerk Darte, did we receive any written public comment to be incorporated to the record?

We did, Mayor Pro. We have one written public comment from Lorraine Craig who commented in regards to Siaka's online licensing and payment process and direct online donation limits for community support to the shelter. And that is all. Is there a motion and a second to receive and file uh random public comment? So moved. Second. Please vote. The motion is approved unanimously. City clerk, how many speakers have taken a number? We have eight. Mayor Pim,

based on the number of speakers, each speaker will have three minutes uh to address the city council. I remind all speakers that you must remain seated until your number is called. Speaker number one, please come forward. Hi Hello, city council members, city manager, and mayor of Downey. My name is Valerius Barza, and I'm here today as a resident to express and report a list of incidents bringing violence to Downey on Norane Avenue. That's N O R L A I N. specifically crime on the rise in our neighborhood just northeast of Gloria's restaurant. Number one, a driveby. We had a drive-by shooting at Jose's occurred a year ago. My next door neighbor on my right hand side um occurring nearest the windows of my two daughters bedroom. My neighbor Alexandra across the street, her daughter's car broken into, attempted to steal her vehicle two weeks in a row. Incident number three. Neighbor Alisia had her car broken into four times within a three-month span. Her husband's truck, um, which was a work truck, was stolen, clear off the driveway. And just two nights ago, my neighbor on my left hand side, Fernando's house, was graffitied from the garage to the car to the house windows from the sidewalk. I can't believe they they did her car as well. The tires were slashed and cars keyed. Number five, neighbor up the street, plumbers's work truck, vehicles was broken into.

Number six, numerous packages of theft happening at Maha's home. There are more incidents than these six that I mentioned today. And the most disturbing part is these have all occurred within a three-year span. Consideration to the mayor and council today. This occurred in district three. and installation of multiple safety features is what I'm recommending today needed on our street. Lighting, cameras on Norane Avenue to be installed by the city. Allowance of residents to apply for a permit from the city granting permission for camera installation to be closer to the street. Increased presence of police downey police. And last, please consider piloting maybe a photo enforced enhancement of cameras um within our residential zone on Norane Avenue. We should be able to feel safe on our street and right now we aren't. There's only one overhead street light on our entire block. It's extremely dark at night and a speeding lane during the day. Please consider our proposal to help our street become safer, increase police patrol and speed traps. I thank you for your time today.

Thank you, speaker number one. I I know that one of your neighbors did reach out uh to me this morning. So, uh I we are going to address that and mention that later today. So, thank you. Actually, if I can, I'll have the chief follow up with the resident there. Yeah. Thank you.

Thank you. Speaker number two, please come forward. Hello, my name is Maha Sam Hat and I have been a resident uh for the past four years in Downey's third district. I'm here tonight because crime on our street has reached a level that feels alarming and unacceptable. Over the past few years, we have experienced repeated criminal activity, including vandalism, theft, vehicle break-ins, and even violent incidents. These are not isolated events. They are ongoing patterns that have created fear and frustration among families who have who simply want to feel safe in their own homes. What's especially concerning is the lack of preventative infrastructure. Our street has only one street light and is extremely dark at night. Police response times have sometimes taken hours. Residents are being asked if cameras captured license plates. Yes, efforts by homeowners to increase their own securities feel unsupported. Many of us invested in this neighborhood believing Northern Downey would be a safe place to raise our families in state. Instead, neighbors are now considering moving because they no longer feel secure. We are not just here to complain. We are asking for partnership and action, improved lighting, increased patrol presence and practical practical safety measures that help deter crime before it happens. We love our community. We simply want to feel safe in it. Again, thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. I I do want I was just speaking to our city manager that on March 24th uh we are going to discuss further uh the street light program that we started and expand that and I don't know if the city manager wants to discuss that a little further. No. Yeah. When we bring back a proposal to council to discuss uh a way to start looking at installation of street lights throughout the community. So staff has been working on that for the past few months coming up with a plan. there are certain areas that do not have street light coverage and so we've been working on a plan to uh to figure out how to get that uh installed over the next few and several years. Thank you so much for coming. Speaker number three, please come forward.

Hi, welcome.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Alexander Mal Morales, and I am also a resident of the city of Downey. Those are my neighbors you just heard. Uh my purpose here today is to address the unsafe things that have happened on my street on Nor Avenue. I have lived in this area of Downey for almost 7 years, but I'm not new to the city. I've been living in Downey for over 15 years and have never experienced what I have experienced in this area that I am in now. I am asking you all city council members and mayor to help address a couple of issues on our street to get more lighting to get the proper amount of police presence patrolling our area of Downey. Our street is very, very dark. We're not the only ones. We have city lights on both ends of our street on Norland and Lubik on Norland and Dinsdale. But in honesty, our homes fl our home flashlights are brighter than the lights on these corners. It's a joke. We are asking for the city to add more lighting to replace existing light fixtures or repair the fixtures that are already on our street. Lighting doesn't need to be, you know, a foreign thing, you know. It's just light. We should not have to pay. We should does not have to come out of our taxes. This is our city we live in. It needs to be bright and safe. I am asking for more Downey police officers to patrol our streets during the day and mostly at night. In the last three years, we have seen a huge increase of many things. We have

had many types of vandalism. We've had va vehicle breakins, had a drive-by shooting occur to the left of my home. Just this week, had a neighbor's home vandalized to the right of my home. Many of my neighbors have had multiple things happen to them. We can be here for a while. They are not present today because of we have to work. They have to provide for their families to keep those cameras that we try to have to stay safe but doesn't work. My family personally has been affected by car vandalism. My daughter's car was broken into twice in a twoe period. What I and some of my neighbors have been told by the Downey Police Department is that we live so close to the riverbed that it's easy escape and also many things happening with the homeless population. One of my neighbors lives in fear due to the fact that her daughter's window is right next to where a home a driveby shooting was. I don't know about you all, but I think we all have children and we want them safe at night and be able to sleep at night.

Sorry, I apologize, but your time has run out, but we'll we'll give you um um our police chief will speak to you briefly. And I know my colleague is writing some cards for with her number so that she can provide it with you. Thank you. Apologize. Speaker number four, please come forward. Well, well, well. All the pointless platitudes and all the nonsense that we hear constantly about public safety is just that pointless platitudes and nonsense. What we have are situations where crime is on the rise and we do need more police officers because that's what we were promised in measure S and measure D. We're budgeted for 138 officers if I'm not mistaken. But how many do we still have after 10 years almost? 116. And it's not the police department's fault for any of these things happening. You have to genuinely support them by giving more officers boots on the ground. Not just staffers, not just park rangers. We need genuine officers. Boots on the ground. And men. Men officers. There, I said it. Men officers. No doubt about it. And they need to be supported, but you're not supporting them. We do a lot of talk talk talk, but that's it. You're not actually supporting the residents in any of this thing. And our taxes are paying for this

stuff. It's not just magically coming out of thin air. We've had enough taxes. Obviously, uh, this council and previous councils have not seen a tax increase that they couldn't push the yes button fast enough for. You have never advocated for reducing taxation and reducing staff. Where has all the money gone? Well, it certainly isn't going to police officers boots on the ground that we have indeed a police presence. No, it's going to dog parks. It's going to bike lanes. It's going to nonsense. It's going to staffers. Our city clerk gets a big fat raise. That's where the money's going. Our city manager gets a big fat increase. Our city attorney gets a big fat increase. And we still have 116 officers, but we have more staff. We have more stuff for downtown Downey. They got a 3% increase at your approval and just had a 6% increase at your approval for inflation. Well, they're going to get it. You know why they're going to get it? Cuz we have two board members, our economic development guy and the absent uh councilman. They're going to get the increase. And you ask those businesses, they don't even know who the DDIA is, but they're getting their prices and their fees raised on them. Stop the nonsense. Your pointless platitudes aren't working. Speaker number five, please come forward. Speaker number five.

Good evening, Mayor Prom and

council members and anyone up there. Uh, you know, it's funny. I was going to talk about something else, but they threw me in aloop. I live on Ivo. Nor lane turns into Ivo, and I could attest to all the things that are happening, but I do want to respond to something that was mentioned here. Uh, measure S requires the creation of an independent citizens oversight committee be created in order to review the city's expenditure of revenues generated by measure S. Review annual audit reports related to measure and make at least one written annual report. So, someone mentioned do we meet enough? Uh, I was a lone vote that says no annually defeats the purpose of in my estimation of why we have an oversight committee, right? It defeats the spirit. It's supposed to have uh we had great conversation. The report looks great, everything. You know, I'm not saying that they're misspending the money, but are we spending the money on what we said we were going to do? So, for example, measure S said they was going to bring 10 new additional officers, boots on the ground, not staffing, not data entry, which I'm sure are needed, but every time we read a report, it sounds like we're hiring officers. We got we hired eight positions. NOA has always clearly eight positions, but was it eight officers on the ground? We have the same amount of officers, I believe, since uh that we had prior to measure S. Then we got measure D. We have $1.7 million, but we hired we we hired how many position? 17. How many of those were officers? So, we already have a budget and we're budgeted for 137, I believe. I could be mistaken, but we can't get past 120. Why? Where's the money going to? As of right now, we got $13.5 million. That's great. We put we put 3.5 million are going to pay the loan back. So, we net $10 million a year. And the council decided to pass an additional tax. Well, why are we passing additional tax if we are netting $10 million for measure S? Well, because we need more officers. Remember, crime's on the rise. We got all those

beautiful flyers. How much did the city spend on telling the public that crime's on the rise? We spent a pretty penny on that, right? And these neighbors just attested to that. It's not just our block, too. Homelessness is on the rise. Crime is on the rise. I kick off people, homeless people, because I do and they're they're loaded. They they tell me, "Hey, we have we're gaining some homeless people from these businesses." So, that's why we took so long. So, I kick them off people's lawns because they're sleeping right there. They sleep right behind Gloria's on that house. We have all these ADUs. They fall asleep. And who kicks them out? The residents kick them out. So, it's not safe. And again, I believe the the the spirit of the oversight committee is not being followed because just this year we amended to to an annual because it was supposed to be quarterly. So my predecessors weren't meeting quarterly to the spirit of the oversight committee. So what's the purpose of having oversight committee? Might as well just send us all packing and pull the annual report and here you go. The purpose is to be involved to ensure that the spirit that we're spending on what we set where we're going to spend not find new things to spend that yeah they're they're they're good but are they the priority? Are we are we spending on what the intent of measure S and measure D are were founded for. Thank you.

Thank you. You want to say something?

Uh I can provide some numbers if it's helpful. I know there's been a couple questions about how many police officers and such that we have currently. I will say that uh prior to um uh measured's passage, measure s had funded uh account 13 uh new positions that was to bring us back to the uh pre20 uh9 numbers pre uh great recession. I think also at the same time that uh measure D and council took action after it was passage to add 12 sworn officers. There was a total of 17. were administrative support, which is much needed in the police department, but 12 of them were sworn officers right now, including those that in the in the academy, we have 125 officers that are on the streets and we're headed to 137. Uh, so we are continue to ramp up. It is a very challenging environment to continue to recruit in. Um, it it's tough to be a police officer and uh, you know, we want to make sure that we bring the best and brightest into our community, but our numbers are growing and we are continuing to expand them throughout the community to keep this community safe. So, I do want to make sure that everybody understands that has been a priority of the council and it's something that we take very seriously and our police department. I think I put them up against anybody. They do a great job. Um, we continue to make sure that they have the resources they need to protect this community. Want to thank them. So, let make sure that that was clear.

Thank you so much, city manager. Uh, speaker number six, please come forward.

Good evening, uh, city staff. My name is Jose Tiveros. Um I reside on Norland as well and um I've been victim of many uh numerous uh crimes and stuff at the street. My thing is that um recently I got um I got a notice from code enforcement to to um to take off my cameras off my in front of my house which I think is a safety thing for the community. and uh they suggest me to approach uh public works but they also told me that that I take him up I have to take him up and I need the help from you guys to keep them where they at.

Thank we'll have our community development director after your uh your speaking is that she'll come up and give you more direction. Thank you. Thank you.

Speaker number seven, please come forward. Good evening. Good evening, Mayor Poten Ortiz, members of the city council, Mr. Bradley and staff. I'd like to add a platitude to the city of Downey. I understand that the city has been proclaimed to be the world cup 26 zone fan base on the thing and I think it's a wonderful thing for the city to have wonderful recognition. Second item is that even though we have problems not only in our city but throughout the country and the world, I am still proud to be an American. This ends my comments. Thank you so much. Speaker number eight, please come forward. KD.

Good evening. On July 27th, 2021, during a city council meeting, Mayor Glaia stated, "We are facing a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Downy's vaccination rates as of July 18th are 69.5% for 16 and older. For ages 65 plus, we are at 89.3%. 69.5 is good, but we can do better. As we continue to move forward, my encouragement to all of you, your families, and your community is to please consider vaccination because only through that will we be able to move forward in a healthy way. If we remain unvaccinated, there is potential for additional variants to continue to mutate and cause greater harm in our communities. As you know, I am also a healthc care in health care as is my husband. We are seeing an increase in infections and in deaths. There is no reason that we should be losing people to this virus. These are in the words of Claudia Fetta. There is a photo that has circulated of Mayor Claudia standing next to her husband on election night, November 5th, 2024 while he is wearing a t-shirt mo noting that he is Christian, white, straight, unwoke, unvaccinated gun owner, meat eater, and Trump supporter. Ethics refers to well-funded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. In healthc care, a field that she stated that she's involved in there are four main ethical principles which include beneficence, non-malfcence, autonomy, and justice. Truthtelling as part of autonomy. Last month, when a large group of community members walked over to city hall to

voice their dissatisfaction with her inaction, Fmenta stood in front of news cameras with a straight face and stated that one or two or three people were disagreeing with her. Recently, the mayor and council members declined the appointment of a community member to a commissioner position or something of the like, stating that lists a list of ethics was compiled out of necessity from issues with previous council members. Can the mayor take time to explain to me and the community about her ethics? I am here to again voice my dissatisfaction with being handed a third term after stating that she wasn't able to do much in her first term. I am again stating that our community is not here as a prop or as a photo backdrop. The only reason someone should ever be considered for a third term as mayor is if they have showed exemplary leadership, which she has not. Thank you.

Thank you. Speaker number nine, please come forward. Hello,

my name is Michelle Fina. I'm a lifelong resident of Downey. First, I want to start by thanking Council Member Peton for the work that she's been doing, all the time and energy invested in getting spay and neuter programs brought to Downey. It's something that is urgently needed for for cats, community cats especially, and outdoor cats, um to help with the overpopulation problem that's going around um all of Los Angeles. Um so today I want to explain the BDS movement um as written on the bds.mmovement.net website. Um, so boycott, divestment, sanctions, known as BDS is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice, and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Israel is occupying and colonizing Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-aparttheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law. Israel maintains a regime of settler colonialism, apartheid, and occupation over the Palestinian people. This is only possible because of international support. Governments fail to hold Israel to account while corporations and institutions across the world help Israel to oppress Palestinians. So what are boycotts, divestment and sanctions? Boycotts involve withdrawing support from Israel's apartheid regime, complicit Israeli sporting, cultural, and academic institutions, and all Israeli and international companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights. Divestment, this is where council comes into play. Divestment campaigns urge banks, local councils,

churches, pension funds, and universities to withdraw investments from the state of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid. Sanctions campaigns pressure governments to fulfill their legal obligations to end Israeli apartheid and not aid or assist in its mainten maintenance by banning business with illegal Israeli settlements, ending military trade and free trade agreements as well as suspending Israel's membership in international forums such as UN bodies and FIFA. So why that's relevant now to any community members who are listening, we all have a personal responsibility to boycott brands that are complicit in this genocide. Some of them include McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino's, Papa John's, Disney, Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, HP, SodaStream, Chevron is one of the biggest ones. If you just boycott Chevron, that will help. And I'm again asking for city council to divest from Israel. Thank you. I like to submit this to the record.

Speaker number 10, please come forward. Anybody else?

Good. Good evening. I apologize. I was not going to speak tonight, so I'm sorry I'm dressed like this. A lot of you already know me, sir. Um, I hear a lot I hear a lot of of stuff about crime coming into the city and our police officers. I I understand our police officers are busy. I'm going to rewind to when I grew up. When I grew up, I used to come into Downey and the one thing when we came up to Downey was like, "Hey, slow down. you know, mind your P's and Q's. I was not afraid of the police officers. It was just known that Downey police officers, hey, they're they're going to they're going to stop you. We go we we would go to the mall. I grew up in East LA. This was this was like coming to, you know, Beverly Hills when I was little. We used to go to to to right here downtown to the to the show, you know, and we always behaved. What I'm trying to say is I think it's time Okay, let's get our police give our police a little bit of leeway. Let's put them back to where they used to be. You know, instead of chasing the barking dog, what happened to to uh uh citizens that that volunteered? And there's a lot of citizens that would will volunteer. Hey, they get a the barking dog call. They're going to the barking dog call. You're sending a a police officer to do a barking dog call. Come on, let's release. Let's let's get the our police officers back to where they they're good. They're a good unit. I back everybody. I back all the city council. Even even Trio, I back, you know, but when I see I moved into Downey to me, this is what I wanted to be. This is where I wanted to be. This is where I

wanted to raise my family, you know. As for volunteers, I'm I'm willing to volunteer. I just retired after after uh uh so many years. I'm 51 years old. I just retired. I'm telling you, I'm I'm telling you that I'll volunteer. But I don't think our police officers should be the ones to go to a barking barking a dog call, you know, oh, this dog is barking too much or or you know, running down the street. Seaka Siaka should be that one. It it it just you're utilizing the force the police officer police officers in different it shouldn't be that way. It should not be that way. I think it should come back to the to the old times. Release them. Release the hounds pretty much. You know, one more thing before my second's over. Is there any way that I know if you renew the permits to build but six, seven years on one house? Six, seven years they keep on building and building and building. This never gets finished if you just keep on doing the permits. I think there should be a time limit. I think I really think there should be a time limit. Public works or whoever takes care I believe it's public works or the permits, but I'll help you. I just retired from public works.

Thank you. Thank you for all the speakers. uh this evening. Is there a motion and second to close public comment? Make a motion. Second. So ordered by the mayor prom. Uh now this is the time for consent calendar items. Are there any council members that would like to remove or abstain from any item? Is there a motion or a second to approve uh approve consent calendar? I'll make a motion. I'll second. Please vote. The motion is approved unanimously.

Moving on to administrative reports. Now, this is time for uh there are two reports this evening. Uh annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2025. That the city council receive and file the city's annual financial report for fiscal year ending June 30th uh 2025. City manager Bradley, is there any staff report for item number 14? Uh yes, Mayor Prom. We have Marlon Ramirez, our assistant interim assistant finance director who will will can kick off the presentation.

Hi, good evening Mayor Prom and members of the city council. Tonight I'll be providing an update on the city's annual comprehensive financial report or acter for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. As you know, each year the city adopts a budget that serves as a financial road map. The acter represents the final destination of that road map as it reflects a city's actual financial activity and audited financial position at year end. The acter is prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and government accounting standards and is intended to provide a comprehensive and transparent overview of the city's finances. It is organized into three sections, introductory, financial, and statistical, and is designed to give readers a complete understanding of the city's financial affairs and long-term trends. To ensure accuracy and transparency, the acter is audited annually by an independent auditor. I'm pleased to report that the city again received an unmodified or clean audit opinion for fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. This is the highest level of assurance that can be provided and confirms that the city's financial statements are presented fairly and free of m material misstatements. In addition, the auditors reported no material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies, and no instances of non-compliance. This reflects the city's continued commitment to strong financial management and sound internal controls. The government government finance officers association awards a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting to agencies that meet this highest reporting the highest reporting standards. The city has received this distinction for 26 consecutive years and has submitted this year's act for consideration and staff anticipates that the report will continue to meet those

high standards. Now turning briefly to the financial highlights. The city continues to maintain a strong overall financial position. As of June 30, 2025, the city's assets exceeded its liabilities, resulting in a net position of approximately $261 million, representing an increase of about 15 million from the prior year. From a governmental funds perspective, the city reported a combined ending fund balance of approximately 108.6 6 million. The general fund ended the fiscal year with a total fund balance of approximately 57.9 million, including 49 49.4 million in assigned and unassigned fund balance. Overall, the results demonstrate continued fiscal stability, prudent financial management, and strong reserve levels. As part of this year's act, the city again included separate independent auditors compliance reports for measure S and for the first time a separate compliance report for measure D. The independent auditors concluded that the city complied in all material respects with the requirements of both measures and that funds are being used in accordance with voter intent with no findings reported. Both compliance reports are included with the ACTRA and will continue to be incorporated annually moving forward to ensure continued transparency and accountability regarding the use of these voter approved revenues. Uh before concluding um I would like to re I would like to recognize the finance department staff who assisted with the preparation of the acter. Uh, present here tonight, we have finance manager Francesca Navaro and we have our senior accountant Susie Martinez and our principal accountant who isn't here tonight, Christy Valencia. The preparation of these reports require months of coordination across

departments and with our auditors and their work ensures the city continues to meet the highest standards of financial reporting and transparency. At this time, I will now turn it over to Kaylee Gonzalez with LSL, who will provide final comments regarding the audit. And we also have Steen Barrett Warnick um with our auditor Also, also available to answer any questions. Thank you. Good afternoon and thank you all for your time and being able to present to you the results of the financial audit. I believe we will be sharing some slides just to kind of go over the results and a little bit on the audit itself.

I don't think either of us have the ability to share our screens. Oh, I actually have the access now, so I think I should be okay. Thank you. Thank you. Our apologies.

Perfect. So, just to kind of provide a brief overview, this is the audit team. So we have Brandon Young as the engagement partner, Steven Warernick who is also on the call as the senior manager and then myself as a supervisor overseeing the kind of main point of contact with the city and working with any testing that is done. A little bit on the scope of the engagement. So LSL has been engaged to perform the financial audit for the city in accordance with the general accepted auditing standards and the government auditing standards. We will also be doing the single audit over the federal award programs for the year in accordance with the uniform guidance. And then to provide some background on the audit itself, our audit is actually broken out into two parts. The interim fieldwork which is done around May. This is an overview of the city's internal control processes. We review um those processes, provide any feedback to management, and then we also perform our risk assessment, which is kind of in line with our year-end fieldwork. So we'll we'll do that as part of the interim fieldwork and then during year end which is this year was performed end of September early October it is a more detailed testing of account balances and transactions compliance testing with laws regulations grant agreements and contracts and then other procedures necessary to obtain sufficient audit evidence for the year. the results of the audit. We issued an unmmitified auditor's opinion on the financial statements, which means that the financial statements are accurate and reliable as of June 30th. We do have the two measure S, measure D fund reports, compliance reports, and no issues of non-compliance were noted. Um we issued the report on internal control control and compliance which noted no significant deficiencies in internal control, no material weaknesses in internal controls over financial reporting and no material non-compliance with those laws, regulations and grant agreements. Additionally, we also um we did not identify any going concern doubts as of June 30th, 2025. We

identified no fraud, waste or abuse during the fiscal year. We had no disagreements with management about the application of accounting principles, no difficulties conducting the audit and we determined that the estimates used by management u preparing the financial statements were reasonable. I do want to say you know thank you for the to the finance team. Um I know Francesca, Marlon, Susie all were mentioned earlier. They really helped um our audit and support and making sure that they were not only active but really responsive during the the time that we had to work with them. So, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you may have and I will uh stop sharing my screen.

Thank you. Um I I do want to start by saying thank you to the staff. I know this is a long tedious work, so I just want to say thank you. I know it's a lot of work that you guys put into it. Any of my other council uh members have any comments or questions?

I do. Thank you, Mayor Protown. Uh, first off, Marlin, um, the and the and the team, the finance team, thank you. Um, this this is a big deal. And thank you, uh, Kelly, Stephen, and Brandon from the LSL team. I just I I I really want to emphasize and thank you, city manager Roger Bradley, Assistant City Manager Vonnie De Rojos, and uh, all of our respective department heads. Uh, this is very significant. Um and Downy's always um you know carried that pride of fiscal responsibility and sustainability and it's important that we keep it that way. Um we have the the staff um and the processes and the tools in place to to make sure that we do that. Um I I just want to emphasize how important it is to remain uh fiscally responsible, to maintain healthy reserves, to maintain a balanced budget. And this doesn't happen by accident. And it's easy uh over time uh by making the wrong wrong decisions to uh go the other way. There are a lot of municipalities, there are a lot of school districts that are having financial issues and not not to knock them, you know, things happen. Uh our own uh county and uh LA County and uh the state of California are having some financial issues. Um but uh the city of Downey, I do want to emphasize for those listening, this is a big deal and um um fiscal responsibility and fiscal strength and sustainability um are critical to ensuring that u we're able to provide the services at levels that the uh that us residents expect. So, I just want to drive that how

important it is to be fiscally sound as a as a municipal government. Thank you. Thank you, Council.

Yes, Mayor Prom. Um, I too want to thank everyone for the the time that they put into that and the information that they give us in regards to the financial investments that you do, how we are looking. And I wanted to call in our report that you gave that again to the listeners, our residents, this is a nationally recognized certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. And in order to be awarded a certificate of achievement, we have to publish the report. Not only that, but we have to um uh re receive it. They we have to be um uh receiving that award. We've done that. the city's aquifer for the last 26 consecutive years. That is a very long time. And when you hear of of uh shortages and shortfalls and deficits in surrounding cities and such, you know, we make decisions here sometimes always not we always make decisions in the best interest of the city. Sometimes we not might be able to find something right now, but we I appreciate the advice that we get from our staff, our city manager, assistant city manager because they know the workings of it. And I'm very confident with what the staff that we have in investing with our finances um is the best quality and the best the highest standard that we have and our assets are showing that with watched liabilities and like our my colleague says uh um Councilman Sosa, we we have to be fiscally prudent. Sometimes it looks like we have a lot right now. We have projects underway. We're able to do that because we have been prudent in the past. So, I'm pleased to see that both for measure S and D. They've been audited. Our own finances have been audited. And I appreciate that. Our residents appreciate that.

Thank you, Councilwoman Dorothy Peterson. And I do want to also echo my colleagues um notes that Downey is very fiscally responsible. Uh and again I want to thank our staff. When you go to these conferences and you hear what other cities are doing and even recently with with other things we'll discuss at a later item that we're going to discuss. But what the responsibility of uh LA County, our state and you know other levels and cities what they do with their money and I'm pretty proud of where we're at and how we're handling our finances. I think we always say uh we have a small but mighty team. Um and so I I I respect I know sometimes we we have a lot of projects down the line and we might not agree on everything, but I I think that's uh healthy that we have a council also that that can have a a healthy dialogue and and kind of discuss what what we we want and don't want and and here we are. So uh thank you so much for the report. I'm excited. And um I will now entertain a motion or a second to receive and file this report.

I move to receive and file. Second. And uh please vote.

The motion is approved unanimously. Which now brings us to item number 15. a discussion regarding Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors consideration of a temporary halfsent sales tax measure on our June primary ballot that the city council discuss and approve staff's direction regarding a proposed temporary countywide halfcent sales tax measure on the June uh primary ballot. City manager Bradley, is there a staff report for item number 15?

Uh thanks, Mayor Pro. I'll go ahead and introduce this item. So earlier today, the county had a proposal on its agenda to look at placing a half cent sales tax on the June primary ballot as indicated. The county did confirm and approve uh that placement of the measure. Uh I currently in our legislative platform, we do not have any particular uh position already stipulated of how staff could respond to that. Uh whether we could oppose or whether we could support it. Uh we're really seeking direction today from the city council about uh whether you'd like us to oppose or support this measure. I know that we've had a couple of council members individually that have opposed it. Uh so we're here this evening just to make sure that we can have if there's something collectively as a council that you want us to take action on that we can begin to legislatively advocate uh for or against this measure. Uh again, it's a half cent uh sales tax. It's uh planned to be on the June primary ballot. The county did authorize its placement. There are a few steps along the way that uh we might be able to provide some input. In particular, the county is looking to um get permission from the state of California to go above what is legislatively allowed for uh uh local jurisdictions to have a u uh amount of the the tax at. So each jurisdiction, whether it's a city, a county, uh, or a special district, has up to 2% that it's allowed to add as elective sales tax within the jurisdiction. Currently, um, in the city of of Downey, uh, we're at 1.75 of that who have used it up. So, the county could particular could at this time seize that amount and use it for its own self. But if the state gives it special permission, it would it go above and beyond even that number by a whole half cent. I hope that's clear. I'm able to answer any questions. Uh again, we're looking for a position of a council whether you like to have a official position or not and so that we can advocate for it u uh at the state level.

Thank you.

Thank you, senior manager Bradley. Um I I'll begin by uh by saying that u I I actually watched uh the LA County meeting uh this afternoon and uh it was dare I say it was a little messy. I I I was even confused with what was happening. But it I I'm deeply disappointed by how the outcome of the vote uh turned out. Uh I made my statement uh yesterday uh clear. I do not support any additional taxation. I think it's I I think that they don't realize what they do sometimes in the higher office affects us completely. So, there's a lot of things that we're trying to do to catch up with with the rules and laws that they passed or stuff that happened and here we are trying to catch up and I I have little faith uh little faith of how this money will be used for uh one example prime example just happened uh we received 500,000 if make sure my numbers are correct. We received 500,000 for the homeless uh out of the 6 million that we received. Is that correct numbers?

So I think you're referring to measure A. I think last year we were a little over 500,000. Is that correct? Uh our allocation and then yes uh it was a actually was a half cent sales tax. So I think it was actually about $13 million.

So I I feel it's going to be the same results in this situation. So, uh I I I'm a uh a big uh proponent to uh actually provide a uh a letter of disapproval of this halfsent. I think we are uh in a tax fatigue. We we're doing a lot of things here in the city. I've always believed local control is the best control. So, any type of uh finances, I always want to make sure we keep it within our city. And given the track record that they did on measure A, I'm not a big proponent uh for this half cent. So, uh that's what I want to say in regards to this one and I'm happy to discuss this with my other council colleagues as well.

Yeah, thank you uh MPT. I'll go ahead and make a few comments here. So, I was city manager Bradley mentioned there was a couple of us who who have already stated our personal positions and I'm one of them. I did uh submit a letter um uh to the public comment um on the record uh to the LA County Board of Supervisors for their meeting today. And I too was disappointed with the outcome. It was a 4-1 vote. And you know the thing is is um it what it does it really puts uh municipalities like ours in a predicament because you now you're going to have cities scrambling around uh considering putting their own sales tax uh tax measure on the ballot to keep the monies that would potentially go to the county. And I'm not comfortable with the fact that the county is is trying to get uh Sacramento to approve going over the threshold uh that's allowed. And it just, you know, the thing is we can't we we can't allow our government to keep taxing itself out of problems. Um the state of California is looking at um I'll start with the county is looking at they're projected to have a billion dollar deficit for fiscal year 2627. And the state of California is predict is projected to have an $18 billion uh deficit um for fiscal year 2627. And while I'm on the state of California, as my colleague mentioned, there's serious tax fatigue going on. And I think everybody in this room feels that or anybody watching. It's it's enough with the taxes. We're already, you know, we already pay the highest taxes in the land here in California. We do have the best weather. I don't think we should pay have to pay for that. Um, but you know, going back to California, you know, we're the LA County Board of Supervisors proposes this half cent sales tax measure, which is a general

sales tax. It's not specific for healthcare, which concerns me. And um, we have the state of California. I'm going to throw this in there since we're talking about uh tax increases. Uh, AB1421, the mileage tax study. The reason why that mileage tax study uh is in place from my understanding is because of the shortfall of revenue from the gas tax. And there's a couple there's there's so many things wrong with that. But I I'll just I'll cut it down to two. We shouldn't have a gas tax to begin with. And up here on on the dis as a as a municipal body, legislative body if you want to call it that, you know, we have to be conscious of the studies that we we ask staff to to conduct because that's time, energy, resources, and that ends up costing the the city money. So, this mileage tax study, how much is that going to cost the state of California? It's on through uh through the beginning of next year and I can't imagine what that's going to cost. So, we're we're we're we're adding to the deficit and we're bringing on additional costs. Um I just think that um this is not the time not the time to uh bring additional um taxes to the conversation. I think people in California, all over, up and down California are tired of it, especially here in LA County. And we want to talk about, you know, all the um all the pressures that people are facing and, you know, all the pressures that well, especially the Latino community in in in LA County. Well, let's let's let's give the LA uh let's let's give people, you know, it's not a matter it's not a matter how much you make. It's a matter

of how much you get to keep and how much purchasing power you have. Let's keep that in mind when we're thinking about our residents and and allow them to have more money in their pockets to be able to spend to pump back in the into the economy. Um I just think it's all wrong and not a good time to be talking about sales tax increases. That concludes my comments. Councilwoman Dorothy Bever.

Thank you, Mayor Prom. And I like this word that we are using, tax fatigue. It is a a good word. Um I wish Mr. Crow was here right now to hear us because we are we are not advocating for higher taxes. I too do not see that a half cent sales tax is going to help in any way, especially for our our our auto dealerships that we have here. That's uh a very hard hit and a lot of people will buy cars out of the area and they uh help and contribute to our economy. greatly. Um, they also mentioned this was going to be temporary. I've always heard from a lot of people when they say it can be temporary or should be temporary, it usually never is temporary. This could be permanent. I look at the book right now when we have a chart that says uh 11% proposed rate. No, I I can remember the days of 6 and 12% sales tax. You know, I guess I'm going back, but 11 is a hefty amount. And even if you don't see it as that much on a particular item or product, it's just the concept that that's the amount of money that you can't keep, okay? That you're not you're giving away. And and to see it to hear that last year, April 25, I just looked it up, Lassa, you know, we are all very generous and trying to find housing for the unhoused and and mental health care. Well, they folded. They folded and the county withdrew. Uh it says $300 million of funding because of um apparently mishandling of funds. And I think that they need to even with their with their lack of funding that may be coming in, you need to look at the budget just like we do here with local control. You need to find out where it could be subsidized to keep hospitals open in in areas of need that that might be closing. But we need our local control. And in for that respect, I I am against that half sale sales tax and I think we should take a stand and uh use our local control and authority and and state tax fatigue. You know, it it now is not the right time to

have it. So many things happening financially that are not advantageous for people. I do have a question of staff. Maybe it's just too early to ask, but I know that I know my colleague Hector mentioned that there's some cities that are scrambling to do figure out what they're going to do and everything. Uh but what if if LA County passes their tax if voters approve uh regardless of anything we can't pass anything at on our end, right? If they will still pass or any cities that pass their own sales tax, it will still increase on top of that.

My understanding and and city attorney can help out a little bit here too is that whoever gets there first and so there's two things going on here. One, state law allows for local, again, cities, counties, and special districts to pass up to 2% uh extra sales tax within their jurisdictions, selective, to do certain things within their community. So, we've, for example, with measure S and measure D have passed additional sales tax measures to help with public safety and other infrastructure improvements. So, currently there is uh 25% left that nobody is is touching in that 2% spectrum. So, we're up to 1.75. The county has 1% already in place uh in there for transportation needs in the in the region. Uh we have the other 75 and there's that 0.25 left. So, without having the state authorizing them to be outside that 2% spectrum, uh the county would if this passes then sees only 0.25 because that's all that's left in the 2% spectrum right now in our community. Um, so if the county uh gets special permission from the state to be outside that 2% authorization, uh, then it then it could be whatever the amount is, which is a half cent, and that would be applicable here within our community, similar to what happened with measure A. It also had state authorization to be outside that 2% range, and it it has a then took the full effect of uh the half half cent being collected in our community. So, if this passes in June um without the state authorization, then our our spectrum would be completely frozen. If we were to go after it, that would then keep those revenues local. But how we would get to it first is a little unclear legal leak because only thing we could do would be to try to put something up counter to it uh for June. Um and I'm not sure clear who would be first in that case. We both have them on the ballot. But did I answer your question?

Yeah. I just want to make sure because I that meeting was just a little confusing between I think amongst themselves they were even confused too. But the I I was under the impression that even though if we do pass the half cent that if they pass theirs as well it will still pass the threshold if they have the state correct. So if the state allows them to go outside the the 2% threshold we would that that one that 1.2 the 0.25% that's left correct would be available for the city to use down the road or Yes. That's correct. And what happens if the state does not allow them? So, and then it passes. So, they they'd only be able to collect the 0.25%. Within our within our community, not the full halfend. Okay.

Yeah. Just if I can interject, um, city manager is very correct in the scenario he's describing the different options. 2% is the limitation on what local districts can have in terms of sales tax revenue. Um, the 0.25% 25% is would still be available to us if the county succeeds at the state level and gets um relief from the limitation to go beyond the 2%. Um that 0.25% would be available to us regardless. Um the interesting scenario is if we had a competing measure, I think is maybe what what you might be getting at. Um, and that is if the county did place its measure on the ballot in June, which it already is going to, um, uh, it appears whether or not Sacramento gives them permission to exceed the 2% scenario, but if they do place their ballot measure on June, which they will, and we place a ballot measure as well for the 0.25%. The law's not quite clear as to how to measure that outcome and what happens if both measures pass. Um, you know, ordinarily the first in time would take precedent. Um but if both measures are on the ballot and they both pass um there is a possibility that the state wouldn't collect either measure um because it just would be confusing and administratively um somewhat chaotic to implement. So that is one possibility the state wouldn't collect either measure either the counties or ours. Um that's not certain. Uh we'd have to do a little bit more research to confirm that outcome. Um but the county will move forward with its proposal uh for June regardless of whether the state gives them relief. Um I would say that you know given the force behind the measure um that is coming from Los Angeles um the the legislation is already pending in Sacramento was introduced yesterday. The bill is AB1786. Um it will be an urgency measure. It's already had its first reading. It will take two more readings to pass the measure. Um my colleagues um you know have advised me that um they think it's likely that it will pass at the state

level um just because of the the weight of Los Angeles County behind it. Um so I I I do think it's somewhat likely that it will pass, but we should probably know in the next week or so. Thank you. Any other questions? Yeah, I just I'd like to get uh I'm ready to make a motion, but I I would like to get um I think it's important for us to get clarification and I I did hear the uh some of the exchange between Supervisor Horvath and County legal and there was a specific question by Horvath on whether uh cities can u introduce their own measures and put them on the ballot after they successfully pass if I if I heard that correctly. So, and the legal said yes. Yes.

So, I'd like to get clarification on that. That's why I'm So, um I'd like to do that, but in the meantime, I'm ready to make a motion to I I'd love I I I'd like to see the city take a position of opposition to oppose this uh this measure. You know, Council Member S, I think I can speak to your scenario. Um, and Roger alluded to it earlier that if if the county is successful at its efforts in Sacramento um to exceed the 2% scenario, that quarter% that Roger alluded to would be available to us um if the legislation is successful in Sacramento. And that quarter% would be available to us in either June um or with the November election if that's the direction the city wanted to move in.

Understood. Thank you. And uh so I made a motion. I I don't know if I could second but pretty sure. Right. I can second that motion. I'll second the motion. Mayor pro. I second the motion. Thank you. Please vote. Was it was the motion clear? Just for the record, what uh I think would be helpful uh for the record to the motion was to take a position opposing the sales tax measure. The motion is approved unanimously.

And um Attorney Frank, you cleared up my question about the process in uh exempting us from that 2% above the sales tax. The assembly is putting a bill together which will then go to the desk of the governor to sign. Is that correct? Okay. And that will allow the county to pursue um the half percent temporary sales tax measure. will essentially exclude the half percent from the 2% limitation. Um, which means in the end that quarter% that is still available to that is still available in the window, if you will, um, would be available to the city to pursue if it wants for that specific denomination, that amount percentage. Right.

Right. The the the the void, if you will, is is really 1.75 1.75% right now, leaving that 0.25% available um to be filled either by the city or the county. Okay. Thank you. Now, this is the time for city council announcements, requests for future agenda item, conference, and meeting reports. I'll start with uh former mayor and colleague Hector Sosa. I'm good. Thank you all for being here. Have a good night. And my colleague Dorothy Peterson.

Of course. Of course. Thank you for those at state. I'd like to make a few comments here that I I drafted up. Um we attended all of us attended the senior fraud seminar um at the Barbara J. Riley which hosted by Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco and it was well attended. Um all speakers gave valuable information how to protect yourself from fraud and including two downders. Um we had some state experts and even David Kanto for Downey uh financial partners credit union. I know I learned a few things and always use your credit card with the uh uh what do you call that? Tap tap tap.

Yeah, put the app on there. That that kind of Anyway, there it that's the best way. I have a couple of save the dates. Um this Thursday, uh Gangs Out of Downey is having a fundraiser. It's a paint night at ARC. And if you're interested, please go on social media. We're on uh Instagram and also Facebook. TLC, True Lasting Connections is having their 14th annual 5K, which is February 28th. It's on a Saturday. Starts at 8:00 a.m. and it will be at Apollo Park. Then we have the 30th Ark Walk on March 21st. Uh Saturday as well, 8:00 a.m. at Stonewood. And I know the AA uh A Capello Aapulco burritos were always the motivation for many to join and start walking early in the morning. Um, and so to I want to thank staff uh to everyone that was instrumental in submitting our application to the FIFA committee resulting with Downey being chosen as a fan site on June 20th. It's a big thank you. I know there's a lot of behind the scenes that was done and uh it had to be confidential. We understand that. Nothing personal, right? This is truly an amazing uh accomplishment and it shows that we have one of the best locations in LA County uh for hosting our experienced staff members. Our resources and knowledge showed to the FIFA committee that Downey is a perfect spot. So, we can't wait for more details to come and I know you are off and running with that. Um I just wanted to make a a note here also on SAKa. I am the Downey representative for Siaka and I am looking forward to establishing the free cat spay and neuter program uh for our downey residents as we voted on in our last council meeting. Um residents will be able to be reimbursed up to $100 for spaying and neutering a cat and I believe it was two cats per person or per household. We'll take a look. This is a fast track to quickly get it done before the breeding season and I will

work with our fellow board members of SIAKA to budget and offer such a program in the next budget cycle um in reviewing reports that were sent to me from uh the meeting that's coming up. I also wanted to share some numbers about the volume of animals that Siaka takes in and I know they've received a lot of negative uh comments over the years and such and we're working to make that better. We want to make sure that we house every animal that's there, you know, humanely and that we give it the opportunity to get readopted. So, but these these numbers are pretty much the same every month and they're a little bit staggering and it's due to pet overpopulation or abandonment. So, just for December, uh, Siako took in mind you have about 14 cities. 442 animals in one month we took in uh 51 were deceased animals. they were picked up. And so that those two right there, that's a thousand calls in December. 325 animals were returned to owners, adopted or fostered. Um some may say Seaka is a highkill shelter, but as I learned and see the numbers, and I don't agree. Um many are humanely euthanized because of health issues or and problems or if they were hit and they're not there to suffer. So we only have 80 kennels in the facility in the shelter. Siaka always tries to post the animals online to make awareness for people to adopt and then when there is a time limit that's what a lot of the people do see. So let's just start with reducing the number of unwanted animals with spaying and neutering our pets. Again I'm going to work to advocate this and be having the best practices in our shelters and you can help spread the word to adopt from shelters and not buy from backyard breeders. That's also a problem. Um, uh, city manager, I have one request, and we have a lot of big reports and things that we see that are in our notebook, but I want to try to help staff and help

go green. Um, I'd like to limit the number of pages that we receive in some of our reports. And perhaps I could suggest, um, if my colleagues like that, 20 pages or more that they are not printed, but they can be put on a thumb drive for our review. Um, the counter stays the same where they want to review it, but we've had a lot of reports in here. for example, the update to the building code. I think that was something like 75 pages and I know that had to be printed out, but we could put it on a thumb drive that we could look at it digitally if that's something that would um help our staff, help us go green, and maybe our colleagues as well uh don't get to peruse every single page of that, you know. So,

actually take my time to look at all the that's where I read my notes. Uh we do get the PDF uh outside regardless. So if if there's interest, we can do that for for each individual council person or if you want to make that a policy for yourselves, that's fine too. I just would however you want to proceed with that. You know, a certain quantity where we don't need to have 50 pages, but or but if there's a second we can bring it back as a policy. Maybe D just for you. Just for me, you're going to look at all 95 pages. I'd like I actually like to see a Oh, I do. I do. But it's just a certain amount. It's a certain amount that we see. So Okay. Okay. I'm happy to work with each indiv individual council member each individual um discussion to do that again.

Okay, that concludes my comments. Thank you. Thank you, uh, Colleen Dorothy Pbertton. And, um, I I want to keep my comments short. Um, I I do want to say thank you to staff. We had a great time at the announcement for, uh, the city of Downey being a fan zone. It was a good time. We saw a couple celebrities uh and so um I just want to say all the hard work we're how many cities were selected? It was a total of two I think technically one but uh yeah

technically one city out of all that. So it's amazing um we're going to be in a global stage um and I know all the hard work that you guys did. Um I want to say thank you to our staff. Um, and I only have one request, city manager, um, on Gardenell and Laurendell. There are a resident reached out. I know, uh, Dorothy's residents were here, so I was bringing that up tonight, too. But they all, another person also reached out, uh, that there are big trucks, uh, in that area that are just stationed there overnight and there's a lot of trash uh, and, uh, they see some unwanted activity in that area. So, if we can see if there's any code enforcement issues or parking enforcements, it's just those big hall uh trucks in that area, we can have staff over there.

Uh Gondale and Laurendale, you said, got it. We'll take care of that. Thank you. Thank you. Um this is now the time for city manager, staff member comments. Nothing. Uh thank you, Mayor Pro Tim. I just want to echo some of the thanks that was thrown out uh to staff uh for our audit team. Did great job. Thank you for all the hard work and bringing that together. uh that takes a lot of patience, a lot of time. So, thank you for that hard work and as well to the team that put together our FIFA proposal. Very excited to see and have that come to this community. I think it's going to be a pretty pretty awesome summer. Hope you all look forward to that and thank you for the team that put that together. Uh that concludes my comments and staff report. Thank you.

Thank you. And I know we're going to about to adjourn in memory of one of uh our previous officers, but I do want to take a time if you guys uh on top of that give a moment of silence or a little uh silent prayer to our mayor Gladly Formeta who uh after that uh announcement at FIFA. She was in an accident. I I was a little hesitant u other meetings to announce that, but I know it's public and people are uh know about that and I'm just going to give that opportunity. That's why I'm here uh to support the role and and help uh our team here. So, if you can if just give a little prayer to her and that she heals well. At this time, uh we adjourn in memory of investigator Haime Yamas, 20-year veteran of the Anaheim Police Department and former Downey Police Officer from 2006 2017 who succumbed to his battle with cancer. Moment of silence, please. Media adjourned at 8:18.