City Council Meeting - Regular Meeting

today's meeting will consist of city council community foundation fire protection district and the housing authority please note all meetings for the consent calendar and new business items will be done at the same time at this time i'd like to call to order the meeting for fontana city council we'll go to our community foundation which i chair I am opening up Community Foundation. The Fire Protection District, Chair Cothran is not with us today. So we have the Vice Chair, John Roberts.

Fire District is now open.

And now we have our Housing Authority Chair, Garcia.

Housing Authority is now in session.

We'll start with our roll call. Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Present.

Council Member Roberts.

Present.

Council Member Sandoval. Present.

Mayor present.

Mayor present. Please join us for our pledge being done by Councilmember John Roberts. Well, John, you're doing invocation. I'm sorry. Councilmember Sandoval will give us our pledge today, and Councilmember Roberts will do our invocation. Please join us.

by our heads. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many blessings you've bestowed on Fontana. We just thank you for your mercies and your guidance and give us wisdom as we deliberate the matters before us today. We ask that you protect those in military service and public safety and we ask this in your name. Amen. Repeat after me. I pledge allegiance to the

Thanks, everyone. You may be seated. That brings us to our ceremonial items in our presentation. This first presentation includes our planning commissioner, Idelio Sanchez. Can you join us on the stage? And Idelio, if you like, you can bring your wife, too. Please join me. Today we are honoring Planning Commissioner Idilio Sanchez for his great service on our Planning Commission. You've seen this city grow in so many ways and you've been a part of it. Whereas Adelio Sanchez has faithfully served the residents of the city of Fontana as a member of the Planning Commission, providing thoughtful leadership, sound judgment, and a steadfast commitment to orderly growth and development of our community. He has demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and a dedication of public service. while working with fellow commissioners, city staff, and elected officials. Idelia Sanchez concludes his service on the Planning Commission. It is fitting that the city of Fontana recognize his great service and dedicated contributions. So with that authority as mayor of this great city, I am so honored to provide you this plaque. And I would ask everyone to please stand and give him an ovation. Adelia, we'd like you to say a few words, and please introduce your lovely wife.

GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYBODY. I'VE BEEN ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION FOR 12 YEARS. THIS IS MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE, ADELA SANCHEZ. IT'S BEEN AN HONOR TO BE ON THIS COMMISSION. LIKE THE MAYOR SAID, I'VE SEEN THE CITY GROW QUITE A BIT. VERY EXCITING HOW FAST IT'S GROWN AND NOT ONLY HOW FAST IT'S GROWN, BUT WHAT'S COMING. There's a lot of exciting things. Stay tuned. It's not the last you've seen of me, but stay tuned. There's more coming. And Fontana, you know, one foot forward. And we're on the move. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to be a business owner still in the city of Fontana. And God bless you all. Thank you very much, Mayor. Appreciate it.

Next, we are going to accept the 2026 San Bernardino Best Readers Choice Award, presented to Fontana Arts by the San Bernardino Sun newspaper. Joining us is our community service manager, Tiffany Starks, community service coordinator, Efren Torres, and community service coordinator, Ian Stewart, to present. Let's give them a big hand, everyone. Are you kidding? You've got to talk. You've got to do this.

Oh my gosh, they gave me a microphone. Hello, yes, as the mayor mentioned, the Art Depot Gallery was awarded Best Art Gallery in the 2026 San Bernardino County Best Reader's Choice. That really is a culmination of the talented artists that we bring in, the passion of these two coordinators, and the programming that they put on along with our staff, the community for voting for us, so we're so grateful for that. I'm actually going to turn it over to Efren and Ian to say a couple words.

Hi, I'm Efren Torres, community service coordinator that oversees visual arts. As mentioned, it's an honor to be voted by the San Bernardino Sun and Redlands Readers Facts readers and their subscribers for this year's favorite gallery. We offer a lot through the Art Depot gallery that most people don't know. We really try to make it about community, culture, and creativity, and we do that through paint nights, DIY craft artistry, and open studios, really allowing for the community of Fontana to be able to be creative, because creativity brings so much to community.

Hello, everyone. I'm Ian Stewart, the performing arts coordinator. And although our Art Depot is our main hub of operation for the arts team, we're busy throughout the city. We have our cultural arts events that we have at various parks. Our next one, Hispanic Heritage, right here at Miller Park. Out of this building, we run our youth community theater program. And then next door at the Lewis Library, we have our Adventures in Arts program. Thank you.

So we really hope with this recognition that it entices people to stop by the Art Depot Gallery, but then also partake in all of the amazing programming that we offer there. Thank you so much to this team. Thank you so much to council and all of your support and everything that we do. We're so excited about the revitalization of downtown because we are the heart of it at the Art Depot Gallery. So we really hope that this, in addition to that change that's coming up, it's really going to draw community members far and wide to this area. And we're so grateful for that.

Congratulations. This award is not easy to get. Your community has to believe in you, number one. And then those that have visited the site has to believe in you. So this has all happened. So as a result, it reads, San Bernardino County's favorite Reader's Choice Awards, best of the IE 2026 Reader's Choice Award, presented to City of Fontana Art Depot Gallery. is the 2026 Favorite Gallery. You know, John, I was just thinking, this is probably gonna happen every year. What do you think? I think it's gonna happen every year. But congratulations, you all are working so hard over there, and everyone loves that Art Depot. If you have not been there, you have to visit. They have beautiful artwork on the walls, and most of it is from you. So let's make sure we support it. Let's give them a hand and I'll present this to you. I am just so proud where the city has come. I mean, when you think back 25, 26 years ago, we were talking about how we get more people downtown. The Art Depot has been probably one of the longest standing affairs going on down there. And look where they are now, getting a reader's choice. That's a big deal. So congratulations to our great department there. That brings us to public comment. Good afternoon and thank you for attending this meeting of the city council. 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 and 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. That disrupts the orderly meeting and the business of this council. It will not be allowed. After a warning, continued behavior that disrupts the meeting may be the reason that you are asked to leave the meeting. Thank you. How many cards do you have to speak today?

Mayor, we have 12 requests to speak with one request requiring translation services.

12 cards?

Yes.

Okay.

All right, go ahead. Okay. Our first three speakers are Adrian Hernandez, followed by Jeff Larson, followed by John Pedrosi.

Call, please come to the podium.

Do I start whenever?

We're ready.

Good evening, mayor and council members. When my parents were teenagers working at McDonald's, it was very accessible and fun for them. It was a perfect job for teenagers at the time. But nowadays, it's a different story. My name is Adrian Hernandez. I was born here in Fontana and lived in Rancho Cucamonga. And I am a student at Damien High School, where I hold a 4.52 GPA and play two sports. Since the beginning of 2025, I have been searching for a job, but I've been unsuccessful because of two main reasons. First, the competition teenagers face when applying for jobs is fierce. San Bernardino County has an estimated population of 22 million people, and about 8% of that population is between the ages of 15 and 19. That's nearly 178,000 teenagers. yet programs designed to help young teenagers gain experience, such as Sparks, accept only around 800 participants per year. I attempted to apply, but when I arrived home at 8 p.m., only two hours after the applications opened, the program was already full. Second, teenagers compete directly with older adults and college students in the entry-level jobs, especially due to California's minimum wage for fast food workers. As businesses face higher costs, many have reduced hiring for traditional teenage jobs and have increased their use of automation. The statistics reflect this crisis. In California, the unemployment rate for teenagers ages 16 to 19 is approximately 21.5% in 2025, nearly double the national rate of 12.3%. Studies also show how young males make up a large share of unemployed teenagers. Statewide, around 12% of youth are considered disconnected. This means that they're neither working nor attending school. While government entities and businesses are having problems with employees retention or other staffing issues, many students like myself are struggling to find meaningful part-time work. I am here today to ask, how can we work together to create more employment and internship opportunities for teenagers in our community? We must address the problem that if we don't encourage the younger generation to have the motivation to work in our community, many of us will become disconnected, limiting or significantly decreasing future workforce. So investing in teenagers today will provide a practical pipeline into public service, solving staffing shortages while building a dedicated workforce for the tomorrow in our cities. Thank you.

Thank you, Adrian. Adrian, I insist if you're still here after the meeting that you and I sit down and talk.

Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council, and City Leadership. There's a war going on out there, and it seems like it's a tug of war in my neighborhood, especially Lime Avenue. It seems to be a skirmish line between us, the taxpaying voting citizens, and the gang members that want to tag up our neighborhood, and the people that have the audacity to come and dump their trash on our sidewalks and in our streets. I dedicated myself for over 30 years in my career so that I would have the opportunity to leave an inheritance to my family. And I am proud to say that I'm the first one in my family to have been able to pay off his own home. You know, Mayor, that the good book says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. But my fear is, what will I be leaving them? Something to be proud of or something to be afraid of? These gangs are fighting over our streets in our neighborhoods, saying this is their turf. As a taxpayer, I'm here to say that this is my turf, and I'm willing to fight for it. but I need your help. I've been proactively working with Fontana Police and they have been exceptional in providing resources. Brian Binks, I know you're here. I just want to say thank you. My father used to say, Work smarter, not harder. I've learned to carry this with me in my older years. City of Fontana, you have all the resources at your disposal. You have the best minds in the business working as a team. There's gotta be ways that are more effective. One option is placing strategic canvas systems throughout these neighborhoods so that we hold those that would abuse our city accountable instead of passing the buck onto those taxpayers. I know that there's already some in place, and I think adding more would be very beneficial. I thank you in advance, and I'm here to help in any way that I can, and I will keep fighting for my neighborhood.

Good afternoon. My name is John Pedroza, and I'm with the Justice for Diego campaign asking the city council to agendize removing Commissioner Benjamin Alba from the Fontana Parks Community and Human Services Commission. It's now been 193 days since, as a Claremont PD officer, Benjamin Alba and Joshua Rona responded to a mental health crisis call about Diego Rios on November 28th. I'm here to remind the council that Benjamin Alba chose to escalate the level of violence he committed against Diego without any provocation from him, and that Diego was compliant the entire time. Benjamin Alba cranked his arm unnecessarily to elicit a pain response. Benjamin Alba used that false pretense to place Diego in an illegal karate choke to throw him to the ground. Benjamin Alba drew his taser and threatened to shoot Diego, even though Diego was not resisting his handcuffing at all. And after eventually handcuffing Diego, Benjamin Alba placed his knee on Diego's back when he was in a prone position for nearly two minutes until he died. The video of this encounter is publicly available to watch. After Diego was handcuffed, Benjamin Alba had every opportunity not to kill him the way that he did, and Benjamin Alba ignored California mandates telling him, that placing Diego in a karate chokehold for nine seconds and putting a knee on his back for one minute and 55 seconds in a prone position is illegal. They were made illegal following the murder of George Floyd by police officers and the conviction of those officers for that murder. A homicide is defined as the action of one person directly causing the death of another. The LA County Medical Examiner ruled Diego's death to be a homicide because of Benjamin Alba's actions. It wasn't ruled. As an accident, it wasn't ruled as being done in self-defense, and it wasn't ruled as undeterminable. It was ruled a homicide. Nothing will ever undo the fact that Benjamin Alba killed Diego Rios. Benjamin Alba killing Diego Rios unduly and unprovoked on a routine mental health call is more than enough reason for this council and the mayor to dismiss him from his position as commissioner of the Parks, Community, and Human Services Commission immediately. He's not owed this job, and he has demonstrated that he doesn't deserve it either. Justice for Diego Rios.

Next speakers.

Three speakers are Josh Sita, Grace, followed by Isabel Rios.

We'll let people walk out. Awesome. All right. Hello Fontana. My name is Jocita and I'm a resident here of Fontana and just like the city council and the mayor I too like to put Fontana on the map. We're very excited for all the things that we've been doing. But I don't know if you guys heard I got endorsed by Bernie Sanders. And one of the most amazing things is because Fontana is worth fighting for. It is beautiful. It is majestic in its people and the people who fight to ensure that gangs are not taking over our communities, that we have jobs for young people, that we have the ability to govern and to run for office because we choose to as community members, from teachers to parents who can't really be here today because it's at 2 p.m., but people who work every day, who pay taxes, who may want to run for office. And one of the things that we have on the agenda today is this willingness to move the goalposts and make it unaffordable for people, not really me, but others, to run for office. And did you have that PTA mom, that old grandparent that wants to get involved, that young student who turns 18 can vote but maybe can't make the meetings, wants to run for city council, they cannot afford it if they need to pay more money just to have a candidate statement on the ballot and on the voter guide, which gets mailed to everybody, which is the first access people have to get to know you. And it's disheartening because as the city council keeps moving the goalposts further and further, they think that we don't have superstars in Fontana who can kick that ball. to the end field goal. And championships have been won in Fontana by one point field goal. And it's so honorable. We've seen it in our schools. We've seen it in our everyday lives. But one of the most beautiful things is no matter how tough life gets or how much they infringe on your First Amendment rights, that you still fight. Not too long ago on my birthday, I was personally kicked out of a parade when I did everything right. My First Amendment right was infringed, but we were celebrating America. 250 years of the United States, our veterans who fight for our freedoms, and mine was taken away. But I want everybody here to know, including City Council, I love my country. I love the United States of America. I love Fontana because Fontana is worth fighting for no matter how many times they move the goalposts so that we can achieve our dreams to protect our community. Thank you so much for your time. Have a blessed day.

Our next speaker, Grace.

Good afternoon. My name is Grace. I'm a Fontana resident and a voter. I'm here regarding Resolution 2026-048, which governs candidate statements for the November election. I want to be clear. I'm a local informed voter, and I know I'm not the only one who reads beyond the slate mailers that big money-backed politicians pay $50,000 or more to be on. There are voters in this city who actually want to read about every candidate running, not just the ones with funding behind them. I think it's only fair that we get that opportunity, not only in this election, but in every local election. Right now, your candidate statement resolution requires candidates to personally pay all printing and translation costs upfront just to appear in the voter pamphlet. That makes the voter pamphlet a pay to play. A qualified grassroots candidate who can't afford the fee simply won't appear. And voters like me will never know they ran. Here's what concerns me most. California's election code section 13309 required cities to provide an indigency waiver process for candidates since 1987, nearly 40 years. It specifically states that the financial worth form shall be furnished by local agency. That is mandatory language. Yet Fontana's candidate statement resolutions from 2022, 2024, and 2026 make absolutely no mention of section 13309. That form does not appear anywhere on the city's website. Candidates like... Candidates have likely never been told this right exists. This isn't just a policy gap. It may be a compliance issue that has gone unaddressed across multiple election cycles. Other cities in California are already doing this correctly. The city of Banning, right here in the region, includes an explicit indigency waiver process in their candidate statement forms. Long Beach has a documented section 13309 process, fontana is behind my ask is straightforward direct staff to ensure fontana is in full compliance with elections codes section 13309 before november 2026 nomination period opens make the financial worth form publicly available on the city website and notify all prospective candidates of this right when they pick up a nomination papers voters deserve equal access to information about every candidate regardless of money thank you

Isabel Rios. Hi, I'm here from the Justice for Diego Rios campaign to request agendizing the removal of Fontana Commissioner Benjamin Alba from the Parks Community and Human Services Commission. Commissioner Alba is also a full time Claremont police officer. On November 28 2025 at 3pm in broad daylight, Commissioner Alba unnecessarily escalated a traffic stop with Diego Rios, and Diego died as a result of a homicide by prone physical restraint by law enforcement. Diego was complying with all the officers' instructions. He pulled over his car without issue. He gave over his keys. He complied when the officers opened his car door, and he calmly allowed the officers to handcuff his left wrist. He did not shout or yell at the officers. He asked for help. He used words like, yes sir, I'm cooperating. None of that mattered to Benjamin Alba, your commissioner. He purposefully twisted Diego's arm to get a reaction, and Diego screamed in pain. That was the reaction your commissioner wanted. Then Commissioner Alba's body cam conveniently shuts off at this point. The body cam from the other officer shows Commissioner Alba put Diego in a chokehold. Chokeholds are illegal in police regulations for all California police. That didn't matter to Commissioner Alba either. He pinned Diego on the floor, face down with excessive brutal force. Diego begged for his life and said he couldn't breathe. Again, that still didn't matter to Benjamin Alba. He continued his punishment of Diego in a senseless act of police aggression. He continued and continued and continued until Diego was dead. That homicide finding prone physical restraint by law enforcement is from the official report from the Los Angeles Medical Examiner. It's not an opinion of mine. It's not from a private autopsy. It is a determination from an institution with authority from the state of California. Commissioner Alba's conduct is serious. He is currently being investigated by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office. Council meeting after council meeting, I have come to ask you why Benjamin Alba is still a commissioner in Fontana. Everyone on the stage before us today bears responsibility in selecting him. The residents of Fontana didn't vote him in. The mayor and the city council selected him and have full authority to agendize an item for Benjamin Alva's removal. Fontana's municipal code says all members of each commission shall serve at the will and pleasure of the mayor and can be removed with good cause or without. But no one on this stage has requested an agenda item about his removal. Why? You are supposed to be guardians of Fontana and acting in the best interest of Fontana residents. There is no higher authority than Mayor Warren and this council about municipal matters

and removing a commissioner in fontana remove commissioner benjamin alba from the parks community and human services commission thank you our next three speakers are victor reels rue and our last our next speaker after rue for tech support is maria romero andino who requires translation services Victor Rios.

Hello, council. My name is Victor Rios. There's a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt, the banality of evil. The idea that great harm often enabled not by dramatic villains, but by ordinary people who look the other way, hide behind procedure, and convince themselves that someone else is responsible. That's why I'm here today. It has been more than six months since my brother Diego died during an encounter with Claremont police officers Benjamin Alba and Joshua Arona. The LA County medical examiner ruled Diego's death a homicide. Those aren't my words, those are the words of the medical examiners. Yet Benjamin Alba still serves on the Fontana Parks Community and Human Services Commission, and that is a choice. Every day Ben Alba remains on this commission, Fontana is making a choice. Not a choice about criminal guilt, a choice about what conduct it is willing to tolerate from its leaders. Under Fontana Municipal Code Section 2-341, commissioners serves at the pleasure of the city council. You have the authority to remove commissioners. You do not need permission from Claremont. You do not need permission from the district attorney. You do not need a criminal conviction. You can act. The question is whether you will, because the facts are disturbing. Diego pulled over. He handed over his keys. He repeatedly said he was cooperating. One handcuff was applied without issue by the other officer. Then Officer Alba, your commissioner, arrived and then everything changed. The video shows Alba forcefully twisting Diego's arm while Diego was in obvious mental distress. Diego screams in pain. Moments later, that reaction is used to justify escalating force. A chokehold, a prone restraint, a knee on his back, a homicide. And after all that, there is no sign of remorse in the post-incident interview. No acknowledgement of the gravity of what happened. Just another public position, another title, another commission seat. This is the man Fontana has chosen to place on the commission involving parks, community services, and the public trust to do photo ops with children. That should trouble every parent in this city. That should trouble every resident who expects public officials to exercise basic judgment that expects at minimum have a shred of humanity and not be evil. What's particularly striking is that even Claremont has begun changing its policies after public pressure. They have recently signed a new Tri-City Agreement because the old system clearly failed. My brother praised the price of that failure with his life. Yet Fontana still refuses to confront the much simpler question sitting directly in front of it. Should Benjamin Alba continue serving as a commissioner? Today I also want to remind this council of something. We have been remarkably patient We have focused most of our ire on Claremont because that's where Diego was killed. But don't mistake patience for powerlessness. People in this region are paying attention. People talk about corruption in government all the time. Most of the time they feel powerless to do anything about it. What turns frustration into action is a cause. What turns a cause into a movement is a moment. You should not assume the public will remain disengaged forever.

Your time is up.

There's an election coming, remember that.

Your time is up.

Next speaker.

the next speaker is for translation so no not the one after this one okay after this person okay next speaker ru uh my name is ru i'm here today with the rios family pertaining to diego's murder over six months ago by officer benjamin alba and joshua arona there's been a lot of talk today about bringing this city up my question is for whom It's not for people who couldn't make it to this meeting at 2 p.m. in the middle of a work week. I can tell you it's certainly not for Diego because he's not here anymore. Diego did everything right. He said out loud that he was cooperating. He did everything the officers told him to. The escalation that Officer Alba forced on the situation was reckless and irresponsible. The coroner ruled his death a homicide in direct relation to the brutal chokehold Alba placed on him. The fact that a man who actually has killed someone is actually on your board is so backwards it's almost comical. Remove Commissioner Benjamin Alba from this board. It is the lowest hanging fruit for you to do. You can just do it. It is in your hands. How many more people have to die? How many more families do you need to pretend you care about and ignore? It's in your hands. When is enough enough? A word for the people that are in this room who cared enough about this city to come show up and try to make some change. Who is this city for? Because police brutality is everyone else's problem until it happens to you. And then you're stuck here, begging to the same people on the council giving you the same blank stares, shifting their eyes around the room. You need to focus on what's actually around you. When you go to downtown, what about the people that are sleeping on the street? Who is this city for? Take Benjamin Alba off the commission. Thank you.

Maria Romero Andino in tech support. Miss Andino requires the translation services. Is she, that's you?

Yeah. I've come many times to make a lot of reports in Cod Enforcement, I think that's what it's called, and the police regarding what's happening in my area. I want to congratulate you for the growth I've seen in Fontana. It looks very pretty and I like it. And I want to continue living here. That's why I'm looking for help. So, Escucho que están tirando piedras sobre mi casa. Están haciendo como muchos grupos. Vivo cerca de apartamentos. He venido a la policía. Ellos dicen, ya saben lo que pasa en mi área, pero no hay soluciones. El día viernes es más frecuente. Viernes, sábado, domingo. He llamado a la policía. Hay muchos reportes. de mi nombre, pueden buscarlos, pero siento miedo.

Solo quiero que me buscan ayuda. que alguien escuche porque como en dos ocasiones recientemente, he visto como que me van siguiendo y como que carros grandes, de trocas grandes, se me están como bloqueando o haciendo como queriendo que yo choque, algo así. Me gustaría...

Que tener como homeowner, tener la policía siete días a la semana es necesario.

I'm sorry, your time is up. Thank you.

What I'd like you to do, can you come over this way? Come over this way. Someone is going to help you, okay?

Mayor, our remaining three speakers. Just a minute, just a minute.

Ray, can you guide her to the back side? Okay, there you go.

Our remaining three speakers, Mayor, are Ada, Giovanni Tovar, and Marlon. Marlon, I can't make out your last name here. I think it's Ora.

My name is Ada, and I'd like to yield my time and gift it to Jill Tovar.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the council, city staff, and beloved community. Given the time limit, I'd like to open with a quote from Bell Hooks. She writes that refusal to stand up for what you believe in weakens individual morality and ethics, as well as those of the culture. No wonder, then, that we are a nation of people The majority of whom across race, class, and gender claim to be religious, claim to believe in the divine power of love, and yet collectively remain unable to embrace the love ethic and allow it to guide behavior, especially if doing so would mean supporting radical change. Fear of radical changes leaves many citizens of our nation to betray their minds and their hearts. I had a list of such changes that are very much attainable despite what our current leadership would like to have us think. Those include respecting state policies to prevent taxpayer dollars from being spent in court. I won't comment on the specifics of each case, but from my personal understanding, the city is being sued for preventing street vendors from being able to make a living. Although this may have since been resolved, Fontana also tried blocking the construction of a clinic which would otherwise provide healthcare services for free. Now, it would even be radical to run for office as the city has already made it more expensive to put up campaign signs and will likely vote to increase the price of candidate statements. So many injustices, but we're only afforded three minutes each, not even three minutes per item on the agenda. Speak more than once and you'll be dismissed. What kind of game are we playing? Were those in power bend the rules at their will? Another example is cherry picking who gets to be part of community events like the Fontana Parade. Although the quote utilizes the term radical, the change we need isn't so distant. They simply require adjustments to policies that are currently being overlooked. My worldview is one where everyone has a right to dignity, people are cared for over profits, and everyone's needs are met as efficiently as possible. That takes me to our city's housing crisis. Housing is not a privilege we are lucky to have because of the city. Rather, it is a human right to which every individual is entitled according to the international covenant on economic, social, and cultural rights. in case this is the first you hear of this document your colleague jermaine key might be familiar she might be able to provide some insights given her background in social work i bring up housing because of the difficult to watch interaction that took place at a previous city council meeting a constituent came to express her frustration with the lack of transparency around housing projects due to personal experience actively confronting housing insecurity in response the city defended itself The city manager tried separating Fontana from its responsibility to house its residents, given a literal interpretation of the city's primary function to promote public safety, local governance, and transportation. Without housing, individuals face high levels of stress and could develop serious mental health conditions, highlighting concerns around public safety. This points to a connection between public safety, as a deputy city manager endorsed the cities responsible for, and increasing the house population. Therefore, a safe community will consist of diverse and widespread investment in housing projects to compare levels of use and effectiveness between each agency, keeping those with lower numbers accountable through recommendations. Is it okay if I take up my next?

Hold on one second, let me. Your time is up at this time, thank you. Your time is up, thank you. Are you doing, okay, this is your first warning. Your time is up, sir, please move from the podium, thank you. Who is the next speaker? This is your last warning. This is your last warning. If I talk to you again, I'm going to have you removed. Thank you. Our next speaker, please.

Our last speaker is Marlin.

Well, I would say good afternoon, but you make it very scary for me to speak here today. I am here to oppose Resolution 2026-048, which is on item O of today's agenda, which, by the way, is written incorrectly. It's an ordinance that will increase the cost of candidate statements by an unspecified amount. This is yet again another attack on our democracy. It attacks the hopes of us younger generations who ever dream of running for office, and it attacks us voters and our ability to hear from the candidates who want to represent us. I was raised here. I came to, I have had a home here for 24 years with my parents. I went to elementary school. I went to middle school, high school here. And then I left off to Northern California to college. I had my babies and you are still here. That is not a democracy. 16 years in office is not a sign of democracy. You are creating a reign for yourself by creating policies that protect your power, not those of the people, and a power that only protects the corporate interest. You know, I have tried to avoid Fontana ever since I left to college. I have seen better out there in many corners of the world because here all I see is low paying warehouse jobs. All I hear is lack of use of opportunities, lack of poor environmental conditions, But I am back. I am back here to raise my babies with my family, and more importantly, to fight for a place where I am proud to say that I want to raise my family, not just run away from it. And all because of you guys. You guys have given us every reason and have implemented every possible policy to push us away. That is all I have to say.

That concludes our speakers, Mayor. Thank you. At this time, that's gonna bring us to the consent calendar, but before we do that, the young man that talked about housing, I think it's clear that Fontana has a outstanding record of providing affordable housing, working with our partners, the developers, and others. And as a result of that, we don't just talk about it, we've gotten it done. This city is going to be the largest city in the San Bernardino County. And as a result of that, years ago, we decided that it was our own interests of making sure that people could afford housing. Unfortunately, at a national level and a state level, We have seen where the housing market has just grown out of control in so many ways, but we still continue to work toward making sure that what we do works for the residents that live here. In terms of homelessness, we're front center, making sure that we are helping people achieve housing as well as services. We all seen where you house first without services, people cannot sustain their lives. And so in this city, we have worked very hard with our county partners, as well as our national partners and state partners, that every program we put forth works for the people we want to serve. We're still working on so many ways to make the quality of life in this city for everyone the best that they could ever get. But I got to tell you, when we talk to the residents that live here and have grown up here, they have seen the difference, and they are cheering this council to continue the good work. I'm always going to defend Fontana because Fontana is working toward doing it right. It is so easy to get somewhere and say this isn't that, this isn't right, but the facts are the facts. has come so far, and we have so far to go. We're not perfect, but we are doing the job that the residents want us to do. That's who we report to. At this time, we'll go through the consent calendar.

I just wanted to clarify one thing. There was a couple of the folks spoke under public comment as it relates to the call of the election. I just want to be abundantly clear. We haven't moved any goalposts or anything like that. If you take a look at basically the last election, it's the same exact language. Essentially, we're consolidating with the county. The county has established the fees. and you say that louder matt the county establishes so we're consolidating this election with the county and the county establishes the fees and so we're just kind of passing those fees through certainly if anybody has a hardship there's qualifications that you can apply for in the city clerk's office and they'll certainly take care of those individuals but i just want to clarify we're not changing anything the fees are what they are and they've been established by the county and we're just simply a pass-through

That is the narrative everyone should take away. Thank you. At this time, I don't know if anyone pulled an item.

I'd like to pull item O.

Item what now? O. O?

Yeah, O and O.

What is it that you'd like to have, a question or a presentation?

I have a couple of questions.

Okay, what are your questions for the first item?

First question is the $1,000 deposit. I don't know what happened. If we collected any money, we had people out there still campaign signs over 30 days, and they didn't come down. I don't know if we collected any money on that. I don't think that $1,000 deposit is warranted. If people are leaving campaigns, signs out past a certain amount of days, because it doesn't say how many days can you leave the signs up. That should be included on there. You have 10 days, 15 days after the date of election to take down your signs. That's not in there. And what is the cost to take per sign down? That should be included in there. And also, I'd like someone to talk to the county. I want to know what the breakdown is as far as how they break it down to charge candidates how much they pay. I ran for two offices, one office was just for a city, it cost me $8,000. I ran for the county, county board of supervisors, it was $8,000. If you all know, the county's way bigger than the city. So I want to know what the breakdown is, why is both charged the same fee for a county statement?

Okay, the next item.

next item questions well i just said oh mr city man so so again item o is is um is establishing the election for november 3rd of this year um the fees and we can certainly provide that breakdown um but it's basically those fees are established by the county The $1,000 deposit, that was done prior to the last election. And in that, it only impacts those related to our election. It doesn't, any other type of measures, there's no leverage associated with that. It's only related to the council members that apply. And they put down the deposit, again, if there's a hardship. the individual can demonstrate that there's a hardship and they won't have to make the deposit or they can choose not to post campaign signs. But there is a relief valve in the ordinance that allows for folks that can't afford to post signage, that they can choose not to, or if they can show that they meet the income limits, that they can go ahead and proceed without having to make the $1,000 deposit.

Okay, Mayor Pro Tem Garcia has a comment.

So just a couple comments. One, with respect to the signage, yeah, that's what I thought. I thought there was, we had established a hardship clause. And the whole reason that we had this uh this fee was because we were having problems with candidates not removing their signs and so therefore it cost the city quite a bit of money to go around the city police the signs and take them down and and that was it was a compliance issue and so If there was a deposit, then there was less chance of people leaving their signs up and they know that it's their responsibility to take them down. And again, just like the ballot statements and such, there are clauses in there for hardship circumstances. And then with respect to the county elections, Yeah, I'm sorry. With respect to the election and the fees, that's all set by the county, as you mentioned. And the basis for that is how much it costs to run the election. So they calculate how much it costs to run the election, and then they pass the costs on to some of the candidates out there. And so the city has nothing to do with the fees. We just adopt what the county essentially dictates. And again, there's clauses in there for hardship. So that's, in a nutshell, that's the story, and that's why the fees are passed on and what they are. It's how much it costs to run the election. That's correct.

You know, the other thing is we were receiving so many complaints about people not taking their signs down. It's a deposit. After the election, take your signs down and you won't have to worry about it. We have to make sure we're listening to our residents that live here. They don't want to see all that after a couple of days. And when someone is so rude to keep their signs up after the election, and in some cases pass a year, We have to act. But it's a deposit. You put the deposit down, you'll get your money back once you take all your signs down.

Are there any more questions? I still want the breakdown of everything, if I can get it. We can provide that.

Great. Okay. That's taken care of. Any other relations or any items related to the consent calendar?

I won't be supporting D, E, F, and L.

Did you note that, City Clerk? Can you repeat those, Councilmember Sandoval?

D, E, F, and L, and I won't be supporting O.

Okay. You got all those? All right. O as well. At this time, can we have a motion to approve our consent calendar?

Move approval of the consent calendar. I'll second.

All right. We have a motion and a second. Please cast your vote.

Four in favor, with count...

i never got that i'm voting i for the consent calendar oh okay but it never came across for me to vote it did it did not no it did not okay i'm just stating for the record sure so for my clarification is that five in favor no four we only have four of us up here today you're right

four in favor with councilman sandoval um voting nay on e f l and o and d and d okay we have yeah that noted okay great all right thank you that moves us on to our public hearings

Public hearing item A, a hearing on the city workforce vacancies, recruitment, and retention trends, subject to Assembly Bill 2561. This public hearing is now open. City Clerk, do you have any written correspondence on this item?

We do not, Mayor.

All right, we're gonna have a report from our Senior Human Resource Analyst, Melvin Alego.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor and Council. I'm just waiting for my presentation to go up there for half of HR. What I'll be presenting today is our work for vacancies, our recruitment and retention trends, and showcasing some of the things that we've been doing for the city overall. This is in compliance of our Assembly Bill 2561, which we do this on an annual basis. We'll do a presentation related to these vacancies. And other parts of this AB 2561 is reporting any items or any vacancy rates for any of our bargaining units. that are at least 20% or over. And then going into the next slide, kinda just showcasing what we have. Our current city vacancies as of April, 30th, 2026. We're at 10%. Vacancy, a little over 10%. You'll see our five different bargaining units up there from City Hall all the way down to Public Works. Our highest there you'll see is our Police Benefits Associates at 17%. And our low one is our Public Works group. As of April, again, just showing that we had 58 vacancies, that number is inclusive of our management confidential positions. Showing us some of our accomplishments here, our KPIs. some of our recruitment and retention accomplishments for 2025. You'll see that currently we use a diversity platform enhancing our viewability, if you will, at 21,000. We process over 215 job requisitions hired 81 full-time positions and over 250 part-timers. Those are all new employees. We've promoted individuals, 48 full-time positions and then 67 part-timers. Just glazing over some other items too, and I'm not going to go through every single one, but I wanted to also showcase that we've really enhanced as far as our applications that are coming in through our pipelines. we have 21,000 applications that came through our system. With that in mind, I wanted to show you some of our enhancements that we've had. You'll see, because we've been using government jobs, our efforts with job fairs and collaboration with our different departments here, as well as other universities and all those other cases that we had 24, percent increase of applications from 2025 compared to 2024. That number is basically 17,000 to what I showed earlier of 21,000. Some other items that we've done to really make hiring and retaining individuals is that our background check process is fairly quick, averaging four business days, getting that body aboard and filling our positions. We've really leveraged our technology using our electronic employment electronic new hire packet system, as well as once we get our individuals aboard, we celebrate individuals. We celebrate them being here, especially on their first year of their employment, and then we're soliciting a lot of feedback from our employees from application to coming aboard on their first day, and then following up with how their workplace is and their environment and their culture. So with that, I just wanted to showcase that and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.

Thank you for that presentation. Are there any questions? 21,000 applications received. Wow. Okay. At this time, City Clerk Key, do you have any requests to speak?

We do not, Mayor.

Okay. Okay. I AM GOING TO CLOSE THIS PUBLIC HEARING. MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE STAFF'S RECOMMENDATION AS PROVIDED IN THE STAFF REPORT?

I MAKE A MOTION. COUNCILMAN SANDEL.

IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND. I HAVE A MOTION AND SECOND. PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE.

YOU HAVE TO DO A VERBAL VOTE, MAYOR.

Okay, go to verbal.

Mayor Pro Tem Garcia?

Aye.

Council Member Sandoval?

Aye.

Council Member Roberts? Aye.

Mayor, aye. Motion passed. Four in favor. Thank you. Next is bring us to public hearing item B, an adoption of a resolution vacating a public right-of-way easement on Highland Avenue and Oleander Avenue and reserving any other public utility easement. This public hearing is now open. City Clerk Key, did you receive any written correspondence on this item?

We did not, Mayor.

Okay, we have our great Public Works Director, Gia Kim, to do a staff report.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and members of Council. Today's item is a vacation for a portion of Highland Avenue and Oleander Avenue. I think the screen is going to show the location exactly. But the request vacation of Highland Avenue and Oleander Avenue is located between Valley Kia of the Fontana and Fontana Nissan and north of South Highland Avenue and south of 210 Freeway is intended to eliminate unnecessary road maintenance responsibility from the city and supports continued economic development within the area. The proposed vacation will allow the vacate right away revert to the property owner and also allowing the city to sell the city-owned parcel. There's a very small parcel located within that area to a neighbor property owners. Therefore, the supporting the efficient use of the land and then development of the property. Meanwhile, the city will reserve a utility easement from the proposed vacation and also reserve the traffic signal equipment that located intersection of the South Highland and Oleander, public access and pedestrian purpose easement. On June 18, 2024, the Planning Commission found that the proposed vacation is consistent with and in conformity with the City's General Plan. On May 12, 2026, the City Council adopted findings made by the Planning Commission and declared the intent to vacate Highland Avenue and Oleander Avenue. Staff recommendation number one, approve the vacation portion of the Highland Avenue and Oleander Avenue, and number two, adopt the resolution number 2026-050. Staffs remain here to answer any questions. Are there any questions?

Okay, at this time, City Clerk Key, do you have any requests to speak?

We do not, Mayor.

Okay, this public hearing is now closed. May I have a motion to approve staff's recommendation as provided in the staff report?

So moved, Mayor. Second.

I have a motion and a second. We'll cast our votes. I'm voting yes. Okay, no problem. Okay, four in favor?

Motion passed.

Motion passed, thank you. That brings us to our new business. New business item A is adoption of disruption of telephonic or internet service meeting policy. We'll have our city, that was correct, correct? Yes. Okay, I saw our great CFO get up, I got worried. Don't sit tight because you're next, okay? So don't go nowhere. Okay, we're gonna start with our Deputy City Clerk, Christina Rudsell, to provide a staff report.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm not usually on this side of the meeting. The item before you is adoption of a telephone and internet service disruption policy. Senate Bill 707 went into effect earlier this year. It amended the Brown Act and requires agencies to adopt a policy by July 1st, 2026, addressing how meetings will proceed if telephonic or internet services disruptions prevent remote communication participation and the proposed policy establishes procedures for identifying and responding to and documenting any service disruptions to ensure that we're compliant with the Brown Act and also while maintaining transparency and public access when we do allow remote public participation in our new council chambers. So The city right now obviously is not currently able to provide routine remote public participation due to the limitations in our temporary meeting space during city hall construction, but adoption of this policy is still required. So once the new city hall and council chambers are completed, The city will have the technology necessary to support remote participation, and then this policy will provide a framework for addressing any service disruptions. So staff is recommending adoption of Resolution No. 2026.051, which is formally adopting the proposed policy and bringing the city into compliance with SB 707.

Are there any questions of our deputy city clerk? Okay, can I have a motion to approve new business item A?

So moved, Mayor. Second.

I have a motion and a second. We'll do an oral. Mayor Pro Tem Garcia.

Aye.

Council Member Roberts.

Aye.

Council Member Sandoval.

Aye.

Mayor, aye. Motion passed. Four in favor. Okay. THAT BRINGS US TO NEW BUSINESS ITEM B, FISCAL YEAR 2026-27, SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET REPORT, CITY OF FONTANA. BEFORE WE BRING OUR CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER TO GIVE THIS PRESENTATION, LET ME JUST APOLOGIZE. WE'VE GOT SOME TECHNICAL ISSUES GOING ON TODAY, BUT WE'RE STILL GETTING IT DONE, SO PLEASE BEAR WITH US. THANK YOU.

Good afternoon, Mayor, members of the Council. The item before you today is the 2026-27 Supplemental Budget. So the 26-27 supplemental budget represents an update to the second year of the city's adopted biennial budget. The purpose of this update is to incorporate any recurring revenue and expenditure changes that have been identified since its adoption, align the budget with current operational needs, and consider any new departmental requests to ensure that the resources remain appropriately allocated to support the city services. As such, the supplemental budget presentation is in alignment with the city's quarterly budget process and will be presented as such. So I will provide a summary of the supplemental budget, an update to the five-year forecast, as well as a summary of the other funds and entities' supplemental budgets. So jumping right into the general fund, The proposed general fund revenues reflect a total increase for supplemental budget of $9.4 million, or a 4.6% increase as compared to the adopted budget. There are six main revenue categories contributing to this increase. To start with, we do have property tax. Property tax is increasing by $1.7 million. As they haven't been released yet for 2026, for 2025, the city was the third highest in assessed valuation at $35 billion. The increase is attributable to new development and construction, property value reassessments from sales activities, and annual Prop 13 inflation, which is capped at 2%. I will go into more detail regarding sales tax and transaction use tax. However, I did want to mention here that and point out the sales tax is decreasing by $1.4 million or 2.6% and the transaction use tax is increasing by 9.3% as compared to the adopted budget. With respect to sales tax, despite this 2.6% decrease, The proposed 26-27 supplemental budget reflects a 1.1% increase over 25-26. So as you're aware, and as previously reported, the earlier in 25-26, the beginning of this current fiscal year, HDL, who is the city's tax revenue consultant, adjusted the forecast due to economic declines. And this decrease was expected and planned for in the new fiscal year. As for the transaction use tax, the increase reflects better than anticipated results as this is the current year was the first year, full year of receiving this particular revenue. Next we have the interest in rentals. This reflects a $1.4 million increase or a 37% increase and this is primarily due to a strategic investment program the city has implemented. If you recall in April of 2025, the city engaged with a financial advisor to develop a cash flow model that forecasted the city's cash flow needs, not just for the general fund, but for all of its various funds, including its robust CIP program. And as such, the result was an investment income has consistently increased, thus supporting an increase in this recurring revenue. The program has netted about $400,000 monthly in additional investment revenue. Next, we have other revenues. This is an increase of about $1.9 million. It's also increasing by about 89%. However, this is really due to a budget methodology change. Prior operating transfers in for cost allocation expenses in CFDs are now being accounted for as revenue. So with respect to total sources, you'll have a decrease in transfers in and you'll have an increase in other revenues. So there's no net increase or decrease to the budget. and then lastly we have from other agencies which is increasing by 1.7 million dollars or about 17 percent this is due to operational increases that are funded by the fire protection district for city central services dispatch air support as well as code enforcement So with respect to sales tax, I'm just gonna spend a couple minutes just bringing the council and the public up to date with regards to where we're at. As you're aware, sales tax receipts run approximately two months behind. And the first two months of the quarter, when we do receive that revenue, those are advances, and those are based upon what the state believes the city will receive. Montana's sales tax remains highly diversified and strong. Most of the revenue is coming in from autos and transportation, as you can see here. as well as general consumer goods, and then the state and county pools. And those are points I'd like you to keep in mind regarding transaction use tax in a few slides. So the receipts for the fourth quarter, which this reflects the fourth quarter year over year, and as for the period between October and December of 2025, Our 1.7% lower as compared to the prior year, but actual sales are declining by 2.6%. The difference between these two is the fact that we had some one-time revenue or corrections that occurred. So our cash received ended up being higher than what was actually generated during that. So this graph illustrates that year-over-year change from the fourth quarter with declines in every industry with the exception of autos and transportation, which had a 4.3% increase, and then state and county pools, which was a 1.2% increase. Now, this particular slide is going to illustrate what our top business types are, as well as our top 25 sale tax producers in the city. As mentioned, the autos and transportation realized a 4.3% increase as compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. And as you can see here, this increase was mainly due to new motor vehicle dealerships that went up 7.1%. And I want to just make note that that actually outperformed San Bernardino County as well as the statewide increases for new auto dealerships. While the overall sales tax receipts remained positive, growth was really concentrated primarily in the automotive sector, with several other business categories experiencing modest losses. With respect to our top property tax producers, the one thing I do want to point out, of the top 25, we have 12 or nearly 50% of them are in the auto dealership category. So it completely supports the fact that, yes, it helped our revenue overall. However, the... We can also have the net effect the other direction in the event that if the market for new auto sales declines, we will feel more of an impact than other agencies potentially. This is one update that I wanted to share with council because it's the first time that this information has been provided. What you see here is the evolution of the state's local 1% sales tax base over the last 25 years. It highlights consumer spending patterns and how they've changed over time. The top or green line represents brick and mortar, which has grown 18% since 2012. However, the bottom line, which is the online sales, that has grown by 646% between 2012 and 2025. The interesting thing about this is that the red dashed line here represents two significant events that have occurred. One would be the Wayfair decision, also known as AB 147, which required online marketplaces to also collect and remit local sales taxes, as well as the change in consumer patterns due to COVID. Those of us that have been watching this trend have been wondering what that really looks like and if we have stabilized. The key thing that I'd like to point out here though is, so the line here that you see we have is based upon COVID in 2019. And we had a drop, but then we also had growth through 2022 in both brick and mortar as well as online sales. Online sales continues to climb annually, but yet the brick and mortar has more stabilized and has evened out. Next is our Measure T, or Transaction Use Tax. As mentioned previously, 25-26, or this current fiscal year, is the first full year the City will be receiving these revenues. Although sales tax is forecasted for 26-27 at just over $55 million, the Bradley Burns 1% sales tax portion of that is about $52.3 million. Now, Bradley Burns as well as our transaction use tax are both at 1%. When forecasting those, one might think that you expect those to perform similarly. And the difference here between the two is the base in which that 1% is applied. The transaction use tax was budgeted at, originally, the estimate was about $45.9 million. First quarter of this current fiscal year, or 25-26, the estimate did decrease to 43.7 due to economic declines. at mid-year came back in because it performed better than what we thought and then third quarter HDL came back and said okay we're back up to 48 million so it's actually over performing the initial estimate so the reason being and the key things that are occurring here is that the difference between our transaction use tax as well as the sales tax as you can see here For our transaction use tax, general consumer goods is the highest performing category for this particular revenue source. And if you recall for sales tax, that's actually the autos and transportation. What moves general consumer goods to that first place is the fact that we are now gathering or being paid the sales tax on online uh sales and we do we would receive those through the state and county pools for regular sales tax so at the very far right you'll see that the state and county pools we have no revenue coming in there but that was also our third highest revenue source so although the revenue is performing better it's more than likely going to remain slightly behind our sales tax of the one percent bradley burns overall however is performing very well this typically is since it is a year-over-year table you would typically see prior year revenue however since this is our first year obviously there's no revenue reported out but i wanted to bring it to the council and public's attention where we're actually collecting the transaction use tax revenue from so jumping right in then to the general fund expenditures there's an increase in expenditures in the supplemental budget being requested of 7.3 million dollars we also have an increase in transfers out of 1.8 million dollars and of the increase in expenditures they are all recurring there are no one-time requests that are included in the supplemental budget Now as we look at expenditures, the total general fund expenditure budget is increasing by $7.3 million or 4.5%. There are included in every single one of the departments increases related to health benefits as well as liability premiums, which I will go into a little bit more detail in a couple of slides. But before I do, I did want to point out the major contributors to the increases. So we did have the police department come in at about $5.7 million more than the adopted budget, and that's about 6.4% increase. And then development services and public works and engineering. I wanted to point these out because we did have a reorganization of the environmental compliance division. It did move some positions from development services into public works and engineering. The balance of the increase in public works and engineering were general operational increases. So with respect to the general fund requests, we do have some requests in finance of $445,000. The cash flow analysis as well as the HCL business license compliance components of that cost are also offset by revenues. If we don't incur a cost, the revenue won't be coming in as well as the other component. The other is just a reshuffling of legal services. If you recall, about a year and a half ago, we did put legal services into the departmental budgets. And as we go through the first couple of years, you'll see some of that transition back and forth between departments as we identify where those costs are truly being generated from. Next is development services, which I had indicated on the previous slide. We do have a net decrease, and it was the reorganization of the environmental compliance. We have public works and engineering, also the reorganization, as well as increased operational costs. Lastly, we have the police department. And what I'll show on one of the next slides as well is how this impacted the fund balance overall, but we did have the increase of $5.7 million, primarily due to negotiated labor contract increases as well as operating expenses. If you recall, our negotiations were not complete prior to the adoption of the two-year budget, so we knew that we would have to come back in 26, 27 to adjust the budgets accordingly. We do have some organizational changes, but right off the bat, what I'd like to point out to that table to the right, we have in the current budget for 25-26, 704 positions. The adopted budget for 26-27 only had 703, so all we're doing is adjusting the budget to account for any organizational changes that were approved in the current fiscal year 25-26. so we had some first quarter and mid-year adjustments the only new adjustments that the council has not seen as of yet would just be the reclassification of a grant analyst to a senior management analyst as well as a reclassification of an associate engineer to an engineering manager so what this means for general fund results so overall we have Total sources over and under. This basically means for the adopted budget, we had $4 million in excess of expenditures. So revenues, it was a positive result. We do still have a positive result for 2627 in the amount of $826,000. The difference between adopted and proposed, not only do you have that increase in costs in various departments and the adjustments to revenue, but the associated labor contracts within the police department are now included in the proposed budget and are no longer being held in fund balance, which is what that $4 million would represent. The balance of the $826,000 will also be held in a reserve line for future projects and uses. As we continue to discuss potential changes regarding some L&D and CFDs, we're going to hold the revenue to make sure that those are funded. So the bottom line, the estimating ending fund balance is a 3.3% increase in fund balance. It's going from 61.4 million to 63.4. Now the only thing I will say about this is that the ending fund balance more than likely will be actually higher than this because this is a budgetary fund balance and only reflects that the beginning fund balance associated with 2627 does not necessarily include all of the operational results from fiscal year 2526. So with respect to the five-year forecast, none of the assumptions have changed. The last time I presented the five-year forecast would have been at the mid-year. So no revenue adjustments or assumptions have changed. With respect to our sources overall, we do have a change in the 26-27, a 2.8% increase. And as you can see, it's about a 3.6, 3.7 annual year-over-year increase in the out years. The 2.8% basically represents us coming out of some of the sales tax revenue that did not materialize, as well as recognizing some of the revenue increases in those trends in the current year to fund various initiatives. With respect to our uses, all labor negotiation contracts have been included with 3% COLAs in the future. Operating expenses increased by 3% and 5% to some other lines that have been coming in higher than a typical CPI. With respect to uses and what that looks like for our five-year forecast, The bottom line is the most important one again, because we do have an increase in expenditures and we're gonna be averaging about four and a half to 4.6% in the next two fiscal years. Those are mainly due to some of the labor negotiation contracts that we had with public safety, getting them up to market. with 27-28 being the final year of that contract and one of the more expensive fiscal years. But as you can see in the out years, once we maintain step with the market when it comes to labor, we should also be able to control better that year-over-year expenditure increase. So what that means for the bottom line, the changes here comparatively, our revenues, as you can see in those out years, we have positive results. Our revenue is going to be growing faster than our expenditures. And then we also have the... Revenues over and under, this represents how much revenue is coming in in excess of expenditures. Now I had mentioned the $826,000 revenues over and under that we have in the current fiscal year. We do have a... operational deficit of 620,000 in year two, but that's also, if you recall, when we did go through negotiations, we knew that we might have a year or two that were more expensive and we might have to fund them. In the event that revenues do not increase to cover that, we will have available funding to get us then to 28, 29, where we then have positive results again. So other funds and entities, that was the general fund. Overall, we have an increase in sources of $6.1 million. We have an increase in uses or expenditures of about 19 million, and then a use of fund balance or reserves of $12.9 million. One of the larger categories, we do have some notable adjustments in the capital improvement funds. We do have a decrease in fund balance. I just want to point out basically what that means. Sometimes our projects are not completed in one year, so we do accumulate fund balance to pay for projects. So this is utilizing fund balance for that purpose. Overall, we do have in our capital investment fund, we have a decrease in sources and this primarily had to do with the fact that some prior year leases were paid off sooner than anticipated. So it's revenue that we've already received. We also have an increase in sources, and this is due to some additional commercial leases. You can also see here we have an increase in sources and uses associated with those commercial leases. And then we also have some funding to provide for our 2025 lease revenue bond debt service payment. Looking at debt service, we have no net impact at the fund balance. However, we are programming the lease revenue bond annual debt service because obviously the 2025 lease revenue bonds were approved after the 26-27 budget. So this just sets the budget so we can make those payments. In other general funds, we have a decrease in fund balance of $6.7 million. And this is primarily due to, one, we're increasing transfers out for that debt service for the 2025 lease revenue bonds. And then the increase in benefits or the associated liability that I had mentioned is you can see the increase in costs in the departments. we had a liability premium increase of $1.6 million for 26-27. Then lastly, we have for the city funds, we have special revenue funds. We have a decrease in fund balance of $3.3 million. We have a couple budget methodology changes that we have implemented, particularly in our CFDs. We have a decrease in sources of 2 million, and we have an increase in uses, and that's just due to the change in methodology where I had mentioned we have the revenue coming in for the cost allocation. So, likewise, we have a change from our transfers out are decreasing, and we have some uses that, and they have a net impact of zero on each other. Then we have modest increases for operational purposes. Lastly, we have the federal asset seizure. There's an increase of $1.1 million. this is to fund the flock camera software and cad rms consultant software with respect to both of those the only component that is unknown and has not been programmed would be the ongoing maintenance costs and as soon as we know what those are we will also include those in future budget adjustments with respect to other entities we have the fire protection district we have a decrease in fund balance of 2.7 million dollars We have an increase in sources of $2.5 million. This is due to transfers in of $2 million for capital reserves and other revenue adjustments. We also have an increase in uses or expenditures of $3 million, and this is to increase transfers out for fire capital reserves. And we also have an increase due to the $1.9 million that you'd seen earlier in the general fund for other city services. The $1.9 million is also to support city central services, dispatch, air support, and code enforcement. And then we also have an increase in fire leases of $649,000 that primarily has to do with the annual CPI adjustment for the leases. Increases are offset by a decrease for backfire lease payments of $4.7 million. As indicated, those were paid off sooner than anticipated. So with that, I will be more than happy to take any questions the council may have, but we are looking for the approval of the recommended supplemental budget adjustments. We are looking for approval on the resolution to establish our general fund Gantt appropriation limit and carry forward any available budget at fiscal year end to the following fiscal year for capital improvement projects and one-time funded initiatives that the council has already approved. We're also looking to adopt the updated salary tables as new rates and salaries do go in effect July 1st. And lastly, to approve the 26-27 fully burdened labor rate schedule.

Thank you very much for that very good report. Are there any questions for our CFO? Okay, with that, may I have a motion to approve staff's report? for the following, city council, community foundation, fire protection district, and housing authority.

Madam Mayor.

Yes.

I'm required by law to announce salary ranges that the council will approve if you move forward with this item. So I'm gonna list the city employee who is in the schedule, and then the ranges that are before the council for approval this afternoon. city manager the maximum annual salary three ninety four eight twenty and forty cents chief deputy city clerk The range 115, 453 and 48 cents to 163, 311 and 94 cents. The chief financial officer 190, 79 and 61 cents to 268, 873 and 96 cents. The chief of police 236, 225 and 31 cents to 334, 737 and 15 cents. Deputy City Manager $2.30, $6.27 and $0.56 to $3.16, $7.28 and $0.91. The Director of Building and Safety $1.69, $8.81 and $0.03 to $2.48, $7.12 and $0.95. That is the same range for the Director of Community Services, the Director of Human Resources and Risk Management, the Director of Information, I'm sorry, Innovation and Technology, and the Director of Planning. For the Public Works Director slash City Engineer, the range is 197, 109, and 67 cents to 261, 201, and 95 cents. Thank you so much.

thank you for that reuben so noted at this time i have a motion to approve new business item for the following city council housing authority fire protection district and community foundation i'll make a motion ma'am thank you second thank you we have a motion the second council member sandoval how do you vote hi council member roberts hi Mayor Pro Tem Garcia?

Aye. Mayor?

Yes. Motion passed, four in favor. Thank you for that great report, Jessica. That was amazing. And as you can see, we are trending with the nation, but doing it much better. I'm going to hear about that, I'm sure. That brings us to our elected official communication. Before we go into the various reports, I want to bring up report item A, and this is a discussion and possible action regarding the appointment to the Planning Commission to fill an unscheduled vacancy for the unexpired term ending December 9, 2026. For the unscheduled Planning Commission vacancy, the City Council can make an interim appointment immediately based on Government Code 54974B. A final appointment will be considered at the June 23, 2026 City Council meeting following the completion of the 10-day working vacancy notice period, which began with the posting of the notice on June 4, 2026. may have a motion to appoint the following individual to the Planning Commission. I am recommending that we appoint Gilbert Rodin. He is now currently on the Park and Recreation Community Service Commission. He's in the audience tonight. If you could stand for us, Gilbert, thank you. And so I am asking that this council appoint him in the interim and then we'll be back here on june the what day did i say the 23rd 2026. i'll make that motion man second i have a comment okay i know the recreation

commissions have uh issues of people showing up to the meetings to have quorum to move forward so i would like to wait until we fill the parking recreation commission with people to make sure they have a quorum instead of taking one now and moving them to a planning commission and off balancing the recreation commission so i'd like to hold off on this until we get those in the recreation commission

Where I appreciate your concern, we too had that concern, but we don't have a problem until after we appoint him. And at that time, we're also going to be posting for his position if he's approved tonight. So that will not be an issue. Any more questions or concerns? At this time, we have a motion and a second. Please cast your vote. Council Member Sandoval?

Aye.

Council Member Roberts?

Aye.

Council, Mayor Pro Tem Peter Garcia.

Aye.

Mayor, yes. Motion approved. Congratulations to our new planning commissioner. Let's give him a hand, everyone. With that said, that brings us to the city manager's communication.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the council.

Kind of want to highlight some of the items that were on consent calendar, just so that the public knows some of the business that we've conducted today. One is we approved it, an amended development agreement that will advance the construction of 106 affordable units, which is important. That's known as the Court Place Project. We approved $1.2 million towards the construction or improvements to Baseline and Palmetto traffic signal, and a fourth of that is located in the city of Rialto, and they will pay their fair share. We also approved roughly $70,000 in in-kind services, and so we appreciate the partnership that we have with our nonprofits, and that's in-kind services that we provide for these community events. And then finally, I want to thank our Public Works PD and the community services. We had a wonderful Fontana run this weekend and it was very successful and everybody was safe. And then finally, I want to thank the finance department and all the different individual departments, their analysts that helped prepare the supplemental budget, which is, you know, we have a two-year budget and what we just approved was the second year of the two-year budget. With that, it concludes my reports. Thank you, Mayor.

Matt, you taking words out of my mouth. I was gonna congratulate everybody. That's okay, I'll do it too. Thank you, city manager. That brings us to elected official communication. We're gonna start with our city clerk, Jermaine Key.

Mayor, I just want to congratulate again my friend Adelio Sanchez and his wife Adela and to the Council for acknowledging his good work done for 12 years on the City Planning Commission. Also, congratulations Commissioner Roday on your temporary appointment. And also the last congratulations to my favorite department, community services. You guys have a well-deserved recognition. That completes my comments, Mayor.

Thank you, City Clerk Keyes.

Our treasurer, Janet Brooks. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to first thank Jessica Brown and staff for their excellent, excellent presentation of the supplemental budget. Thank you so much. And then I want to mention the Fontana Day's run was fantastic. phenomenal no I did not run but it was wonderful and also the let's see the carnival was I went by there and that was just great so thank you so much okay thank you for those comments at this time councilmember Roberts

Thank you, Mayor. I, too, would like to congratulate Delio Sanchez for his 12 years on the Planning Commission. He affected many great projects that have come to pass in Fontana, and his efforts are much appreciated. Also, the Fontana Days run was a terrific success. my appreciation to staff for all they did. It's always a big event and it was really great to see everybody turn out for that. And finally, happy birthday to my colleague, Mayor Pro Tem Garcia. That's all I have.

We're gonna be singing happy birthday to you. Council Member Sandoval.

I just have a comment to the agenda. It used to be, when the welcoming was there, I don't see it, there was a paragraph that someone needed some type of translating. They notify us about the translating. I don't see it on there anymore. I'd like to see us have a translator at our meeting so they can translate with it. Other language people are speaking, regardless of what language, Spanish, Asian, Chinese, Japanese, all those languages. We should have someone on staff that people have the same right as we do to speak on their language, and we'd be able to translate it, because a lot of people didn't understand what that lady was talking about. So I'd like to see us have some type of translation, either put on an agenda how they can call someone to make sure that we have a translator here or have a, someone on staff translate i mean i know we had staff or some staff that get paid extra to do translating maybe we can pay a staff member at the meeting to be on hand to translate for some of the people coming onto because we do have a large population of hispanics and with that lady not having anybody translate what is really heard as well as everybody else

have any more comments before you do you have any other comments okay matt can you explain it was up on the screen there you can explain the process yes mayor so um

I'll go through the preambles to ensure that that language is in there. We use a software program called Wordly, and that will translate any language. I think there's like 80 different languages in there, and so if anybody or any member from the public wishes to speak under public comment,

Matt, we can barely, can you talk louder, please?

Yeah, so we use an AI product called Worldly, which translates up to about 80 different languages, and so we're capable of doing it, and we did some test runs. We've been using it for over a year now. We've done some test runs, and we actually found that it does a better job of translating than and it's much more consistent than actually having a live translator. So we're capable of translating more than, again, 80 different languages. I will go through the preambles to make sure that the language is in there that says if anybody needs that type of accommodation, but we can make that change like that. but I'll look through that yes sir correct me if I'm wrong I know we had ours up here on the screen that we're going what the translation was is it on there too correct but and also I just want to make sure we recognize that when the public really the translation is intended for the council members because the members of the public that are speaking at the podium

they're directing their comments to you as the council so it's important that the council has that translation but we do uh you're correct we do post the translation up above as well okay thank you in addition when people come forward and they want to fill out a speaker card they can then request that translation and that's what happened today that was requested and that was provided okay at this time mayor pro tem peter garcia

Thank you, Mayor. So I too wanted to just thank Edilio Sanchez for all his service. It was mentioned 12 years. So Edilio was the longest standing planning commissioner that we've had. And he beat another outstanding planning commissioner, Larry Myers, who was a great commissioner by a year. Larry was a commissioner for 11 years. So two great people that have served on the planning commission and served the city well and faithfully over the last several years. So again, congratulations to Adelio. And I'm sure we'll see him again. He's a local business owner here. in the community and he'll be serving in other ways. And then of course I want to congratulate Gil Roldan for stepping into Edelio's spot and have all the confidence in the world that Gil will do a great job serving on the Planning Commission. Also, we had some elections, and so there were three people who were very successful in winning their election that will serve in their capacity, the city of Fontana. And so I wanted to congratulate those three, in particular because they will be serving our city. The first is second district supervisor, county supervisor, Jesse Armendariz. We also have Josie Gonzalez, who's the assessor, recorder, and clerk, and Ryan Hutchinson, who's now our auditor, controller, treasurer, and tax collector. So I look forward with working with the three of them to serve our great city here in Fontana. And I think that's about it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mayor Botem Garcia.

Mayor, I have one more comment that I'd like to make. uh what okay i just want to make a suggestion that i get my agenda written i like to have everything written i can't see behind a screen okay i like they're written because i can't see behind the screen and then i like a monitor move closer to me because they're mostly all to my right nothing to my left so i can't read screen i can't read that so that puts me at a disadvantage of some of the items that my colleagues talked about so i need to have those fixed okay thank you mr city manager

Okay, a lot has been going on, and it's all great. First of all, I want to congratulate, once again, Edilio Sanchez. He has served this community well. He's still a business owner here, and he's seen it all. I told Edilio, how do you feel when you drive around? And look at all the projects that you had a hand in. You should be very proud. But I got to tell you about this upcoming commissioner that we're going to get. He is going to serve this community well. And he loves Fontana, and he served well on our community services and our Park and Rec Commission. And we're just excited to have you, sir. So we're looking forward to that 10 years. Also, I have a really, really big announcement. I was gonna wait till I finished my comments, but I gotta make it right here and now. As you all are aware, every year, Burr Tech Waste, who handles all of our trash services, they're a great community partner, work closely with our community organizations and our chamber, They provide the trash service, and by contract, they are entitled to a CPI increase, which goes on our trash bills. People don't realize the majority of the up price, I call it, or the larger cost of trash services is state mandated with all these programs. that the state puts forth, not judging what those programs do other than they have to eliminate as much waste and where it's going as possible. But that all costs money. But I have been in discussions with VRTAC because we at this council recognize how important it is to address some of the affordability issues, and we've been looking for ways that we control to make those costs work for our residents. So I'm happy to announce that while these fees still exist and every year you'll see this uptick or this cost increase, you won't see it this year. Burtek has stepped it up and said they will not request their fee increase this year. Can I get a hand clap for Burtek, please? They looked at their costs and they have determined that it is not going to happen this year. We'll see what happens next year, because as I stated, they have no control over the cost that the state puts forth. And that's another learning process. People pay a lot of attention to local level, as you should. We don't get away with much, but what's going on at the other levels, we cannot control. We really need us all to start paying attention because the state literally can walk in the room with all the assembly members and Senate and say, we're going to raise this, we're going to do this. And unfortunately, we're always their topic. And they just come up with these programs, not judging those programs, but those programs cost money. And they pass these legislations and they pass it on to us. And you all come and scream at us and we're there for you. We're part of it, too. but this council pays attention to all those fees and all that legislation, and we send letters practically every other week asking the legislators, please, these are fees that are going to impact our public. And we try to work with vendors to try to get the cost down. So I am thrilled to announce this year, Burtak will not pass that rate to our residential customers. Now, with that said, We're going to need some cooperation. We're going to really start talking about the barrels, the green, the blue, the black. Every barrel has a specific item that belongs into it. Many cities have started forcing, taking pictures of people's trash, telling people you should have put that in the black barrel, not the green barrel. we really should go back and educate our families on what goes in what barrel. And you're gonna see more information about that. They just sent out the brochure. The green barrel is now organics and grass, and it can be in a bag. The black barrel's for trash, and the blue is still recyclables. Now, they are also, not BirdTech, but I noticed on Amazon, there's actually trash containers now. where they have it broken down into three categories. And so I'm thinking about purchasing one because I got in trouble with my neighbor this morning when I tried to put something in her black barrel. She wasn't going for it because they had picked up the green barrel. So we all need to pay attention to what goes in those barrels because that's how we can keep our costs down. So don't get mad when we bring it up. But the more we cooperate, the more we can see these type of fee decreases. So thanks to Burtek, I just had to announce that. I also wanted to congratulate one of our co-sponsorships. A couple of months ago, the Church of Latter-day Jesus Christ came to me and said they had a program that uplifts your community, and it's called a giving machine. And one of those sponsorships that we just approved is part of that. They will be having a giving machine and we'll give you the dates in November through December. It's a very, very wonderful program where anyone can go into the Jesse Turner Center, go to the machine and donate. Donate items that are available in that machine that will actually go to a person in our community in need. We're all excited about that, and that's what those co-sponsorships go for. And several of our nonprofits are doing special programs, great programs. So I want to thank Fontana's Park and Recreation Community Service Commission for those recommendations, and I'm happy to report that all those co-sponsorships were approved today. The next item is I want to congratulate those elected at the county level. I'm so excited that we have two ex-council members that are at the county level. I want to congratulate Second District Supervisor Jesse Armadares. And I want to congratulate my good friend, Josie Gonzalez. These positions They are at a level that we can always call them and ask for assistance. And Jesse has been stealth in this community in terms of just making sure. It's just erasable, it's transferable. I can't think of all the words. You request issues, you request assistance. He's just been on top of everything. So I'm so glad he was reelected and we look forward to his next four years. Josie's jumped in that assessor's seat, and she's making it right. The businesses are so happy with her, and she is working on our assessments, and she makes sure that we have those reports. So I'm really happy about her. Congratulations to Kirk Hagman. He also was elected. And congratulations to our friend to the west, Ryan Hutchison, another fellow councilperson in Rancho Cucamonga that is now going to be our auditor-controller. So San Bernardino County is on the move as well as this great city. Tonight, we approved item zero. I want to thank Councilmember John Roberts, and I want to thank Mayor Pro Tem Peter Garcia. Item O was to call the election this year. We as a council have to approve that so that you can have the right to participate in the democracy. So I'd like to thank them for their support that this item will now be on the ballot. Otherwise, we probably would have had to have a special meeting to do this again because you have to have your election. So I want to thank you two for supporting that effort. I also would like to congratulate the Exchange Club You showed up and you showed out. The Fontana Days Festival was wonderful. I want to thank all the departments from police to fire to community services, public works that came forth and made sure that people were safe, accommodated and very happy. And the kids had a ball at the carnival. So thank you for that great festival. I also want to echo the thoughts of my other colleagues regarding that run. I did run in that race. I can barely move now, but I did run. And so I want to thank Travis Barker for gracing this community a second year. Run, Travis, run. But did you see the great officers that ran along with him? Can we give everybody a big hand for Fontana Day's run? It was sold out to capacity I think a month or two before. I was very popular amongst my friends that run trying to get in that race and unfortunately some may not be speaking to me because I couldn't help them. It was sold out. So what I suggest everyone do going forward is to make sure that you get your reservations in early. Are they open yet? In October, okay, you heard it here. It's open in October. I'm getting my application in. I'm not playing around. I almost didn't get in. I did improve my time 15 minutes, not to overbrag. I just thought I'd bring that up. But watching Travis Barker and his daughter here in our community was amazing. And we're going to be bringing you more information about our relationship with Travis. He really wants to be more involved in Fontana, and we really need him to be more involved. There's something else you all should do when you leave this building today. I want you to walk a few steps to the south and look at the artwork on the wall over there. I tell you, I'm so pleased with the great work that is coming out of our deputy city manager's office, Bill Berm, helping getting downtown on track. And that mural that was done a few weeks ago is just amazing. So please, acquaint yourself with the great artwork that is going on, not only on the wall, but actually on the asphalt there. It's beautiful, it's with tables. I'm sure the Chamber's happy to see that out there too. But this is just the beginning. You're gonna see a lot of public art coming our way. But more important, you're gonna see more gathering areas with the downtown businesses coming in, the restaurants. All I can say is how wonderful we're all trying to work together to make sure the quality of life in this great community is just that, great. The other part is I need to report I did attend the United States Conference of Mayors and Fontana was on the move in that conference. Had a chance to be over two sessions And Long Beach is really doing well. They have done a lot of changes out there. And the mayor, Rex Richardson, I want to applaud his efforts as the host. He did a phenomenal job to orientate us what happens when public partnerships with the private partnerships come all together, the three Ps. It brings together people. And that's what we're doing in this great city. Now, going forward, As we adjourn our meeting, we have two memorials we're doing today. We will be adjourning today's meeting in the memory of Carnithia Bonner Dawson, who lives in Village of Heritage. Those of you that were any track moms when our children were growing up, including my family, Carnithia, she took care of all of our kids. When we go to track meets, she made sure she trained all of us to have the kids' snacks, juices correct. And she made sure to go out there on the track and get referees straight if they miscalled the race. But also she was a loving wife and a loving mother, and she created community for us. So we will miss her and we pray for her family and her. Our next memory will be BJ Myers, Many of you know that name. He was part of our care team member of the Community Outreach and Support Team, COS. If I'm not mistaken, Chief BJ was one of the first members of that group. He was, and his faithful dog. And so we need to make sure that we pray for him, his memory, and his family. Fire Engineer Robert B.J. Myers. So please join me as we stand. And further, we will adjourn our meeting after our memory for Tuesday, June the 23rd, 2026. Our meeting is adjourned. Community Foundation Chair Warren, meeting adjourned. Fire Protection District Vice Chair Roberts. Meeting adjourned. Housing Authority Chair Garcia.

Meeting adjourned.

Thank you all.