City Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

Today's meeting will consist of the following: City Council, Fire Protection District, and the successor agency. Please note all meetings for the consent calendar will be done at the same time. I would like to call to order the meeting of Fontana City Council. Fire Protection District Chair Cawthren.

Fire District is now in session.

Successor Agency Chair Catheryn.

And successor agency is now in session.

Thank you. At this time, we're gonna have our roll call. We'll start with our mayor pro tem, Peter Garcia. Present. Council member Catheryn. Present. Council member Roberts. Present. Council member Sandoval?

Present.

Can we all please stand for our pledge led by mayor pro tem Garcia? And we will have our invocation by council member John Roberts.

Please join me in the pledge.

Pledge allegiance to the 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. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings you've bestowed on Fontana. Father, we'd ask for your wisdom and guidance today as we determine the matters before us. Father, just be with all those that are present today, our city staff, give them traveling mercies back to their homes. Father, we ask that you be with those in public safety and military service and keep them safe as well. We ask this in your name. Amen. Amen.

Everyone may be seated. At this time, city attorney Ruben Duran, can you please review our closed session report?

Yes. Thank you, madam mayor. Good afternoon, everyone. This afternoon, pursuant to the posted agenda, the council met to consider two active items of litigation. They were provided a an update by legal counsel and staff, provided direction, but there is no reportable action on either item either item. Thank you, madam mayor.

Thank you. That brings us to our ceremonial items and presentations. Before we begin, I'd like to note that an additional presentation was added to today's agenda after the agenda was published. And once you see these presentations, you'll understand why. At this time, I would like my colleagues to join me down front. We are going to be honoring the International Boxing Federation lightweight champion, Raymond Marilalai. And he's going to correct it if I did it wrong. He's walking in as we speak. Okay. So we're going to get down front, get situated, and he comes in and he's going have a big surprise.

Our other our we're gonna start with recognizing Noella Santoya as Fontana Police Department January 2026 employee of the month, and captain Angel no. Captain Binks is gonna present. Come join us. We're coming down front with you.

Okay. Sorry about that. Mayor, council members, it's my honor to present Noelle Santoyo with our professional staff employee of the month for the month of January. Noelle plays a crucial part in our personnel and training unit. She is the main point of contact for all of our applicants in our city.

We have been hiring at an extremely high amount, and Noelie makes over hundreds hundreds of contacts each month. She sets up appointments, she sets up interviews, she goes through background packets. She plays an extremely crucial role in ensuring that we get through all these applicants, and that our hiring process continues to move forward. She does this all with an amazing positive attitude. She has an infectious smile.

She's a a wonderful human being, and it is our honor to have her in our building. I wanna take the opportunity to say, let's challenge Noelle and make her job a lot harder. We have positions open now at the Fontana Police Department at all levels, police officer, dispatcher, community service officer records. It is an absolutely phenomenal place to work. It is the best police department around, bar none. We have an amazing relationship with our community, with our citizens, with our city council. That does not happen everywhere. We are all lucky to work there, and we just wanna say let's make Noelle's job really, really tough, and we'll we'll give her employee of the month in June if she can keep it up. So thank you, and Noelle, congratulations on employee of the month. Thank

you, captain. It's gonna be hard. We've been really recruiting. But we just wanna thank you for all your great service to this great community, and you you are your smile is contagious, not to mention the quality of work that you do. So congratulations on behalf of all of my colleagues and this great community of over 220,000 that call it home. Congratulations. Let's give her a big hand, everyone. Would you like to say something? We're so close to the mic.

Well,

thank you to my team. My boss is back there. Well, all of my bosses are here. It truly takes the team effort. And without their support, I wouldn't be able to do what I do. So thank you.

No. Not here.

Mayor, you wanna sing for us?

You know, I was asked to sing this weekend and I turned it down. I'm turning it down today. Well, we could, there's been a lot of great things happening in Fontana. You guys are gonna hear about it, I'm sure, through our comments later. I see movement. No. I don't see movement. Raymond is shy too. He's not gonna like this. And we tell him we

were waiting on him. They put him on the spot.

But let me just talk about we had the opportunity of going to, I think, Monique, it was about a year ago, to the, Moreno Valley Boxing Championship. Oh, here he comes. Please, Raymond, please come join us. Everybody, please put your hands together for this, this young man is Fontana, born and raised, and has went on the world stage representing us.

I

was just telling them the story about when we went to the gym with you and your dad. You're not gonna bring it up on stage? We wanna see it. Alright.

How are you?

How's it going?

I'm just so proud of him, and he is not trying to run away from the idea that he's from Fontana. The night you recently won in Vegas, was that in Vegas. Right? Or Yes. Was in Vegas. Right. It was in Vegas. I'm making sure because he's been winning all over the place. I can't keep up. People were calling me and telling me, why aren't you here? The the the champ is from Fontana. I'm gonna have him explain some of the things that he's been doing. You see he has several belts here. You dad, you guys bring up those belts. You got enough people there to hold them. Come on now. We invited the whole crew. That's the reason why

you got invited to hold the belts.

Oh, wow. I I'm not bragging, but I want you to know I have a picture with him with his belt. Oh, wow. He's got enough I mean, that you you didn't grab all the 20 off the wall? Oh, my goodness.

Tell us about yourself.

Oh, man. I'm a I'm a simple guy. I just love to fight. I love to train. I I started when I was seven years old. Yeah. My dad just put us in boxing. We thought it was just another sport.

Dad, come on up here.

What's wrong

with you?

He's trying to run away.

He's trying

to run away. Why you always run away from me?

Yeah. This is this is all I really did my whole life. This was this was my sport. I love to do it. I I never played any other sport. Boxing was my sport. I knew this is what I wanted to do. My dad's been by my side from the start. So just him being by my side, my family being by my side has been a huge help and a huge support system. And now that I'm getting recognized by Fontana, it's even it's even great, man, to have that support system. And I'm a I'm a continue to do great things, and I'm a continue to inspire the youth and and the community and keep doing my job.

Let's give him a big hand, everyone. Dad? No. You gotta say something. Come on now.

Come on. Not too good at thank you guys for for having us here. I'm really thankful for Fontana for giving us an opportunity to show what we're about. This is we started doing this when we were, like, eight years old, and it became a dream to us. And we finally succeeded our dream, getting the world title. And it was it feels good to get recognized by the city. Thank you, guys.

I tell you the the item that really impressed me the most is the family. His family backs him up 100%, mom, his siblings, everybody, and we just love you. Every time we get together, it is something new happening. And, you know, Edward, thank you. You know, you've been following up, making sure we we keep this young man focused right here in Fontana, and we're gonna do that.

So we appreciate you so much. So we have a certificate here. Now you understand, there's five of us here, but we're representative of over 220,000 people. So as we say when we're with the chamber, they all couldn't make it, so they ask us to represent them. So, on behalf of the Fontana City Council, we proudly recognize you for retraining the International Boxing Federation lightweight world title, an extraordinary accomplishment that reflects your discipline, determination, and elite skill in the sport of boxing.

Your continued success in the ring brings pride to our community and serves as an inspiration to aspiring athletes throughout Fontana, and might I add, the world. Congratulations.

Thank you so much.

Can I help you hold that while you hold that belt? Congratulations.

Okay, thank you.

This is for you. That ends our special presentation for today. I tell you, it's just refreshing because people he and I, when we had our discussion for mayor Mundy those of you that need to see that where we really focused in on how his career started, look up mayor Mundy under you YouTube, and you'll see that interview. But it it's a family affair. Everybody has a task, and he never forgets his roots.

He's proud of being from Fontana. So we just love him. And he just he's made us all so proud. So let's give him one more hand.

We gotta do that. Next,

that brings us to public comment. Good afternoon and thank you again for attending this meeting of the city council. Jumbo jumbo. Come on. The Brown Act provides that members of the public may offer comment on any item of interest within the subject matter jurisdiction of the city council and on any action item, including items on the consent calendar.

What this means is that the council welcomes and encourages your input on issues of city business and on action items on today's agenda. Issues of city business do not include personal attacks on city officials or city staff. While we acknowledge your right to comment on our actions or activities with respect to city issues and business, we will not tolerate purely personal comments not having to do with official performance of city duties. Please do not use profanity, name calling, or any other behavior that would disrupt the proceedings this afternoon. Speech or other activities such as yelling, applauding, that disrupts the orderly business of the council and will not be allowed.

After warning, continued behavior that disrupts the meeting may result in you being asked to leave the meeting. Thank you. City Clerk Key, do you have any cards to speak?

Mayor, we have five requests to speak. I'll call them two at a time. The first two are Asher Jones followed by Roxy.

Hello, mayor and city council. I come here to speak about the unwelcoming atmosphere of city hall meetings. I will first start by saying that 2PM is not an appropriate time to have these meetings. Many families, students, and people with jobs are not here because they have to focus on other things at this time. If we had these sitting hall meetings at six or seven, this would mean that we would not be disenfranchising those people, those community members, or those voters.

The metal detectors are unwelcoming because if you have medical devices in your body that are affected by metal detectors and they are no longer working because of them, that means that you are automatically in a medical emergency. You're in the hospital and you have to pay for that new medical device, which puts money out of your pocket in your time, and all you wanna do was your first amendment right to come to a city hall meeting. Also, y'all are focused on soda bottles and meaning finger clipper and fingernail clippers and not the homeless community around this building where you can serve them directly or the black and brown folks that are being illegally picked up by ICE and or being extrajudicially killed. I was not five inches away from an officer's gun. And so I think security as far as y'all taking away things from us is an issue.

Continuing. This hall is not ADA compliant. We need a bigger aisle space for mobility scooters. People in mobility scooters also have the opportunity and the right to be in these meetings as their full selves. These agendas need to be provided in braille and big print.

It's not enough to say, oh, there's agendas online when we know that folks may not have access to different types of technology. And the mic stand that was provided today is an excellent start at trying to address those ADA noncompliance issues. Also, there is an issue of the separation of church and state. There shouldn't be an invocation for any religion unless it's all religions. And also, we need to understand that there are people who are not religious who are in this meeting, so we need to also think about that.

It's not just about being Christian, it's about actually adhering to the Christian values. And if you really are Christian, then you wouldn't have to say that you are Christian or you believe in God. And so I just wanna make sure that I'm speaking for my people, my disabled community, and also other folks who can't be here because of how unwelcoming city hall meetings can be. And it's my third meeting, and I've already seen this, and I just wanna make it known that this is not just me seeing this, this is other people.

Roxy?

Hello. Good afternoon. The reason why I'm here today is to express my concern regarding a new project being built in our block.

Excuse me, Roxy. Is the mic up? Because we can't hear her.

Okay. How about now? Okay.

I can hear you now. Okay.

Hi. Good afternoon, counsel. The reason why I'm here today and as many as my many neighbors and family members as well is because we are concerned regarding a project being built on our block, project APN 110805308, 9. I'll repeat that again, 110805309. The reason why we oppose this project is because it's such a large assisted living facility in our small block.

Parking is abysmal and is going to create chaos parking wise for a lot of our neighbors and it's just, you know, our block is just pure residential. So there's no apartment buildings, there is no assisted facilities, but such a small it's like under an acre for 26 units. So that's the reason why, I'm here with my family, neighbors, to oppose that. Just wanted to voice that and hopefully, you know, many other neighbors come forward as well. Thank you.

Our remaining three speakers are Deborah Hall Lindsay, followed by Bobby Joe Chavarria, sorry. And the last speaker is We Are In This Together.

Good afternoon, City Council and everyone in the building. With sincere gratitude, the concerned citizens for the development of North Fontana would like to thank the city of Fontana, the residents, and Home Depot, who was our expo sponsor for the support of our Fontana fifty eighth Black History Parade and Expo. We had such a wonderful time. Yes, we did. Thus and and also, I wanna give and with that being said, I wanna give a special shout out to our mayor who switched reels without a blink when she was not on when she not only started to pray it off, but then was asked to open up the expo stage too with prayer and acknowledge the dignitaries that came out for the day event.

Also, Alberto from special events, Alberto from community service and his team, they did such an awesome job helping me out up there. And he let leading, you know, leading, making sure that everything was running smooth and okay. Thank you, Daniel, Director Daniel Snyder for your team as well. Then public works. Gotta give a shout out to my my guys in public works.

It's like who did an awesome job, as always, with the snap, crackle, pop affecting getting the equipment set up at the parade route and at the expo. Next, our amazing Fontana PD to keep the route clear and under control. Thank you, chief Dorsey, for your support always. And then the city council members that rode in the parade and and those who came to just hang out at the expo after the parade was over. I don't ever get to see the parade because I'd be so involved in what's going on in the expo, making sure everything else runs right for that.

And lastly, if I missed anybody, charge it to my head and not to my heart because knowing that our city gets behind projects and things that the community or, you know, organizations out there that's trying to keep Fontana shining and moving forward. So again, thank you so very much for us again having gone to get the parade going. And the next thing up, you guys, is the Chill and Grill barbecue competition. So for those our first responders, the backyard grillers, get ready.

Good afternoon. Bobby Joe Chavarria, a longtime community member. Hello to the mayor, council members, honorable Jesse Gonz Jesse Sandoval, John Roberts, Phil Cauthorn Junior, and Peter Garcia. I have sent to the clerk's email an attachment, regarding, updates to the Brown Act, and in particular, items regarding recording meetings permitted unless disrupted, broadcasts allowed unless disruptive, greater openness encouraged, teleconferencing requirements in enumerated scenarios, health authority teleconferencing, teleconferencing during state or local emergency, just cause teleconferencing. We wanna talk about community participation.

The mayor earlier made a joke about how full the room was. Be careful moving around. The room's so full. That was at 01:30 in the afternoon when working families are at jobs. Respectfully requesting that the city staff, in coordination and consult consultation with an independent law firm, draft a series of workshops to explain counsel's obligation for compliance of the Brown Act, also known as the Open Meetings Law.

Two reasons why I request an independent law firm. This law firm has has, the city's law firm currently has advised the council in numerous, proposals and ordinances, that have resulted in lawsuits. So not only do they give us bad legal advice on the front end, then they use their, their their law firm on the back end in another department to defend, the city in those lawsuits. So an independent law firm consultation with the city staff to craft those, to craft those, you know, workshops that I think this community needs, not at 01:00 or 01:30 in the afternoon or 02:00 on a Tuesday, maybe at one of those area meetings rather than the police department hosting those, how about city staff working? How do, you know, citizens and community members get engaged in a real in a real community meeting that really is open to them to talking about it.

And I mention the area meetings specifically because one of the components of the Brown Act prohibits serial meetings, meaning a majority of the council should not be in the same place at the same time making public comments, which could be construed as a serial meeting. I have word that the area one meeting for the police department actually overlaps both Districts 1 And 2 of the city council, which means both city council members were there at that meeting in addition to the mayor, and and some of y'all were talking out loud in public at an un, at an unadjourned to public meeting, therefore constituting a possible brown violation in the serial meeting. Do better.

That's your Our final speaker, we are in this together. Okay.

I don't have consent. Okay.

I'm sorry. Thank you. That concludes our speakers, mayor.

Thank you for all our speakers. I'm going to ask you to

address A

point of clarification. As indicated on the public agenda, the public comment period is for any item of city business and any item on the city council agenda, including the consent calendar.

You can speak now if you would like to speak, if you go back to the microphone regarding a consent calendar item.

Do I get a timer? Thank you. So I am speaking on consent calendar items g and h to tell a little story. This is to form a community facilities district in Southridge. On the last remaining open space of the city that was land grabbed by local developers no, I'm sorry, out of town developers, and now being developed by KB Homes.

This community facilities district will be obligating the new homeowners to about $55,000 of debt, a $14,000,000 bond to pay for infrastructure. I think that if we are going to talk about affordable housing as and and being pro housing, as in item h, then we should have actual real affordability and real access to for a homeowner to go into a a a new development. They absolutely expect the Mello Roos tax, but, you know, this city council has the authority to require more from the developer. And in this project, it is not too much to ask. I am very familiar with this project because in 2020, my family and I were considering starting a community land trust where we saw this 27 acres for sale for $1,500,000.

The 27 acres that, was somehow scooped up in an auction, I believe, and you can correct me, was actually sold for just over 300,000. That same property that was adjacent to the 10 acres that this city council just gave them to complete their project. So 37 acres of open wild space, open land, open space is now being used to mail build 255 homes, townhomes. The Heights At Southridge was the original project name. And now we want to tax the homeowners before they even get there.

$14,000,000, put them in debt. $14,000,000, two fifty five homeowners. $14,000,000. When, again, this land grab deal, they're making out with probably over a $100,000,000 in profits. They can't afford $14,000,000 to keep a homeowner's taxes in line with the working families of this community.

The community didn't want this project to begin with, and now it is even more so unaffordable, unaffordable to working families in this community, unaffordable to starter homes, to those starting out in a who would be interested in a townhome. I'm opposed to both of these things because the city is ridiculously hyper hypocritical when it comes to providing quality, affordable housing to this community.

That concludes our speakers. Mayor.

Thank you. Before we go on, let's see. Is Deputy City Manager Phil Cauthren here? We're right there. You know, I want I would like you to go to the microphone. Phil Byrne, I'm sorry. Will you go to the microphone? Because what you're not going to do is misrepresent what a great city we have been when it comes to affordable housing. Can you explain how many units we actually have? How we're working on our homeless issues? And, basically, we're just we're just getting really started.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you, mayor. I think a more comprehensive list than what I can cover in a minute or two is the presentation that our housing manager provided a few weeks ago at the council meeting, which is a pretty comprehensive look at the percentage of of affordable housing units that are in the city of Fontana and the overall number, which are currently the housing authority manages about 2,400 units in one form of affordability or another, including the new homeless emergency housing shelter that we opened at the PATH recently. Since RDA went away back in 2013, I don't think any city has done as much affordable housing as the City Of Fontana does. But I don't wanna conflate housing affordability with affordable housing.

Those are two different things. So the city council has been very gracious and dedicated a lot of resources towards creating new affordable housing, like the purchase of a fully constructed apartment community last year that instantly added 70 new units to the affordability to the affordable housing portfolio. So there's not another city that's done as much as the City Of Fontana on especially on a pro rata per capita basis. But I think the full report that Valerie presented is online, and that's probably the best source for the information.

Thank you, mister Byrne. That brings us to our consent calendar. To my knowledge, no items were pulled. Would anyone like to pull an item? Okay. With that said, may I have a motion to approve our consent calendar?

Move approval.

And mayor, I won't be supporting g and I.

You're welcome to vote appropriately, but what number is that?

G and I.

G and I? Okay. Did you note that? Thanks. Okay.

I'll second, Mayor.

Okay. I have a motion and a second. Please cast your vote. Did it all take? Okay. Let's do it orally. We'll start with council member Catherine. Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Aye.

Council member Sandoval. Aye. And with the exception of those items noted.

Yes.

Okay. Council Member Roberts.

Aye.

Mayor Warren. Aye. Motion passed. Thank

you.

That brings us to city manager's communication.

I have no reports, mayor.

Thank you. I'm going to start with our city treasurer, Janet Brooks. Yes.

Thank you, mayor. I had the opportunity of attending the Black History Parade, the Expo, and the Jazz Fest, and it was just fabulous, and I'm I'm so honored to be part of that, and I thank you for all of your hard work. Thank you.

Thank you. Our city clerk, Jermaine Key.

Thank you, mayor. I attended the same events. The Black History Parade was amazing. Citizens from North Fontana. I would like to also thank my sorority sisters from Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated. All I can say is that we showed up and showed out. Out. So I had a wonderful day. It was a great parade. The expo was great. Thank you, and thank you for our invitation. The Jazz Fest was equally as great an event. Enjoyed that for the short amount of time I was there. And I talked to Michael Wright earlier. He's

going

to find out the young man's name who works for community services, who was amazing. He was very accommodating. And I have to be honest, he treated me like I was a star. So I know how you feel. He for both the parade and I saw him again at the Jazz Fest. So thank you community services and thank you citizens for concerned citizens for North Montana.

Okay. That brings us to council member Sandoval.

Yes. I attended all the Drill League openings, Community, American, Alex, and Salbridge this past Friday and Saturday. I was able to do all of them. I think we got one more pony, which is this coming Saturday. They have their opening at Veterans Park.

But, mayor, I'd I'd like to see if we can we we lost, seven servicemen this past couple of weeks. I I just wanna see if we can put something on the agenda or something to memorize them, memorialize them for their loss that we lost in the war somehow that we if we lose a serviceman that we can recognize. I know you've asked for pictures and reference, but we lost seven service army men this year. And I this time I have a real personal connection because my nephew is in the National Guard, he can be called up anytime. So but I I like to see if we can have something if we've hear a service person in the army or navy or whatever branch that we can conclude our picture as a memorial closing our meetings.

So and and that that's all I got for today. Thank you.

Thank you. Council member Roberts.

Thank you, mayor. Yeah. I too was able to attend Southridge Little League opening ceremonies. It's always amazing to see how many young people are able to participate in that. It was a was a great event last Saturday. So that's all I have, mayor.

Thank you. Council member Conther.

Thank you, madam mayor. I'll start off with a rather big one today. Five years ago today, I was sitting in a delivery room with my wife, and my son was born to us. A very healthy baby and still now a bit of a troublemaker at the house, but I still love him the same. So happy birthday to my son, five years old now, and he's still causing mom problems right now as he as he speaks. He's got his cousin there, which him and his cousin were born three days apart. So my sister and I and him, yeah, we're we're having a good time on that side of things. My wife recently was baptized last Sunday, so congratulations to her on her dedication to show faith on that side of things. And then I was asked at the Fontana Little League opening ceremonies at Carrotty Canyon Park to throw out the first pitch. Made it over the plate.

Didn't have to ball it. Didn't have to arch it. Straight in. I just knew Matt would appreciate that. There's a little pressure when you have a couple 100 parents and bunch of little kids looking at you when you haven't thrown a ball, and I don't know how long. So still got it. I'm okay on that side. Don't think I'm gonna be joining mister Sandoval down there on any any baseball fields recently, but we'll we'll stick to my highlight on that side of things. I went went a little undercover at the at the Black History Parade. Deborah didn't even see me. A mayor didn't even see me. I was sitting there yelling at her from the sides watching the parade with my son. And I

don't wanna get distracted.

It's okay. It's okay. My feelings aren't hurt. It's fine. And so I was able to watch the parade down there. It was it was a great showing. I was happy to see all the different organizations that came out to support the city of Fontana and our history that we have here and to make sure that we're pushing Fontana forward for next generations to be able to call Fontana home. So that's all I have. Thank you very much, mayor.

Thank you. And by the way, Tripp looked really good in his uniform. So give him his props. Okay? Alright. Next, we have mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Thank you, mayor. So I I had an opportunity to attend the community meeting. Was it a week ago or so? But good opportunity. We had a good turnout, and we had some good conversations with community members out there about trucking issues, traffic issues.

Well, there was a number of things we were able to talk about and clarify and get some information out there to the community. So, I mean, those events are great. If you want information and you want one on one contact with your representatives, that's a that's a way of getting getting an opportunity to have some individual feedback as well. Other than contacting us, you know, through email or through telephone, but those are those are good opportunities. And I think oh, the other thing I wanted to mention too is, you know, at the state of the city, one of the highlights was the Paperboy roasting company, Company, the coffee company, which I'd never been to.

And the other day, I was I was actually going to visit Mi Flor Mayor right here to get some coffee, and it happened to be a Tuesday. And Tuesdays, apparently, they're closed. So I said, oh, let let me go check it out. So I went over to the senior center, talked to a few people out there, got some coffee, and it was it was pretty pretty pretty crowded out there. And there's a lot of lot going on at at the senior center, and the coffee was great.

The the people who who served me were were were great. And it was it was a good opportunity to just talk to a few community members out there. And as as it as it showed on the state of the the city, it wasn't just seniors. There was a lot of younger people there that were getting coffee and, you know, doing homework or or what have you and having conversations out there. And just wanted to to bring that up. So if any of you are have some time to grab some coffee, go out there and have some good conversations over there at the senior center. So, that's about it. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you. I've got a little bit of a list here because so much has happened, and there are items that we're very proud of. Today I had the opportunity to go to the Board of Supervisors meeting for San Bernardino County where they actually discussed the new navigation center which will be about two twenty beds or so that we will be sharing with eight of the Western cities from Chino to Rialto, where we're coming together to work on homelessness. And it's going to be it's just going to be a huge project. Please do not interrupt and holler from the audience.

This will be your first warning. Okay? We're conducting business here. Thanks. That navigation center is going to make a huge difference in the work we're trying to do for our homelessness.

But I want to congratulate our FORGE team that in some cases are on foot, they're on a bike, they're in the downtown area daily, nightly, and they're taking care of business. And they're not just enforcing trespassing or other issues. They're developing relationships with our homeless population to get them to come inside. We all know that it takes 40 to 60 visits with people to get them to realize that we are sincere in our offerings and that we want them to come in and get the proper services. Fontana is the mega for fixing homelessness.

We made that pledge six years ago, and it is actually happening. Also, the Mayor's Education Coalition, in cooperation with the districts that service our students, came together two weeks ago for the adult 101. There was information about how to establish credit. Not just, I had one parent said, actually her son came home and decided to clean up his room afterwards. But there was a lot of information for our young people that came to find out what it's going to take when they become an adult.

And it's just interesting when you look at the skill sets that a lot of our young people may be lacking. These kinds of programs are helping them achieve their goals. Then I had the opportunity to participate in our black history events, and that parade, it was off the chain. It was fun. The expo was a lot of fun.

I learned a new dance that I can't remember now, but I'm going to practice off of YouTube so that I can learn it better. But it was just a it was a community event where we all came together. Thank you to all the vendors that actually supported this event. And then there was the Jazz Fest where I think everybody got their exercise in. My steps went up another 5,000 that day because all we did was dance and have a good time.

And the Miller Amphitheater was packed. And we had groups come in and do special dancing, but the music and the community bonding was so strong. So I'd like to thank everyone that attended the various events. Good job. We in a city love working with our school districts. Fontana Unified really put on a good read across America. I got a chance to go up to the elementary school that we shared with Rialto. Those students were just wonderful. So we had that read across. I got to read my favorite book, Seven Blind Mice.

It's a great story you can read to your children that talks about how people see things differently and how important it is to have an objective and open mind when you touch, feel, or see something. It was a great time. In addition, I want to thank Stage Red for hosting All Hands on Deck. That is a program that is held out of Stage Red where we're actually teaching our students how to be part of more than just the entertainment, but backstage where you can make just as much money. They had their program.

They had the Boys and Girls Club there. These students are just so impactful. They're doing all kinds of things from tilting the vinyl, the records, to actually doing lighting. They're teaching them options for their career goals. I want to thank our chief for inviting me to the Police Academy celebration this last Thursday. We have four new officers. They're coming soon, right, so we can swear them in? Good. I had the opportunity of being at the pinning ceremony with their families, and we've got four new officers. And Captain Binks, thank you for bringing that up.

That should be the first thing we talk about. We are recruiting for new officers. We're recruiting for various positions, not only in the police department, but in the city. Please go to our website, fontanaca.gov. All the jobs are listed there.

Get online. One of the things that we found out I'm doing research right now for another program we're trying to put together, is how important it is to take that application and really review it before you submit it. It takes a few things left out that could get you kicked out. So make sure when you apply for these positions, don't do it in a hurry. Take your time, ask questions, and get those applications filled out so that you can have these opportunities.

And if you know of young people and anybody that is looking for positions, they'd be proud to work here. Please encourage them to come work for the city of Fontana. I want to celebrate River's Edge Ranch. River's Edge is a program that partners with CityLink, which is part of Water Ablide Community Church, where they help men and now women that have had issues in their past actually transform and become great, great, productive people again. And not in a sense where, oh, they're already people, yes, they are.

But sometimes you need some help. And they get that help they need. And as a result, when they graduate, they get housing as well as even a vehicle and much assistance for jobs. But now, thanks to the housing department here in Fontana, particularly the housing manager, Valerie Gonzales, who was actually honored at the event. Congratulations, Valerie.

We are now able to assist them in housing that allows them to have their families with them. So it was a great celebration. And it just goes back to the things that are happening good in Fontana. And then ending, if you had put that picture up, I was so honored today. I had the opportunity of being principal of the day at Chappell Academy, where they call each student scholar.

And I enjoyed spending time with the youth at that school. We had what they call a positive pop up. And we went into the classroom and did our little dancing, but then we were able to award the students that have reached their goals for accelerated reading. And I just want to thank that principal, Tim McAfee, and his great staff, and the parents and the students for allowing me that honor. At this time, that brings us to the end of our meeting, which will be held again on March 24 at two p.

M. And earlier it was referenced that I was joking about be careful, it's so crowded in here. Actually, what I'm really saying is how proud I am that we have enough space for everyone to be here. And I'm proud of that. And as we look at the new construction we're doing for our new city hall, it's always been kind of cramped in our council chambers, but that won't be the case anymore so that we can have more people. But this is what really happens in this town. This council is available to any of you at any time. We have emails. We have 311. And not only the automated system.

A lot of you have told me how happy you are that people are now on the phone with you. We are trying to make ourselves available so that you don't have to wait every two weeks to come and air out and talk. You can talk to us anytime. And in most cases, if you'd like to have a meeting, if we're available, we're open to that. Fontana, we're together. We're moving forward. Everywhere you go, people are talking about what's going on in Fontana. No one is perfect. We have our problems too, but let me tell you, this council is committed to doing better and doing best. And it's starting to really, really show.

We're not just gonna be the largest city in the San Bernardino County. We're gonna be the city known for the best quality of life. At this time, I will adjourn this meeting to March 24 here in this area or this room or this auditorium at 2PM. Meeting adjourned.

Fire Protection District is adjourned. Access agency is adjourned.