City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, I am calling this meeting to order at 6.01 for September 9th, 2026. Can we please call the roll?

Council Member Alonso? Here. Mayor Pro Tem Romero? Present. Council Member Peralta? Present. Council Member Melendez?

Here.

Mayor Tamayo?

Here. And with that, if we could make the announcement of closed sessions, please, Mr. City Attorney.

Certainly, Madam Mayor. At this time, the public may submit a speaker card to the city clerk staff for closed session items prior to the beginning of the statement. Speakers will be called in the order received. Please be aware that the maximum time allotted for members of the public to speak on closed session items should not exceed three minutes per person. State law prohibits the city council from taking action or entertaining extended discussion on a topic not listed on the agenda. Please show courtesy to others and direct all your comments to the mayor and city council. And tonight, so are there any public speakers? No speakers.

Okay. Okay, so with that, we will go into closed session.

All right, and tonight we have, the City Council has one item on the closed session agenda. It's to discuss the California State Audit Update, and this conversation is authorized under Government Code Section 54956.75, and that is all for closed session. Thank you, Mr. City Attorney.

All right, we are back up from closed session. Mr. City Attorney, if you could report out closed session, please.

Mayor, I'll go ahead and report out. During closed session, item number one, California State Audit Update was discussed. Update was provided to City Council. No action was taken. Thank you. Thank you.

Moving on to our invocation. Please, Mr. Matonga.

Lord, we are meeting here today to conduct the matters of business. Guide our hearts and our minds in the spirit of fairness. Brought our thought and speech. Impart your supreme wisdom upon our activities so our affairs may reach a successful conclusion. Thank you for being our source of guidance today. Amen.

And for our pledge in honor of our 9-11 remembrance, we'll have Chief Pelias, please.

Please place your hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.

Mr. City Manager, any corrections to the agenda?

Yes, Mayor, we have a correction to the agenda. Item number six will be moved to a future meeting.

Item six. All right. Next, we have the Proclamation for National Hispanic Heritage Month. As we open tonight's City Council meeting, I would like to take a moment to highlight an important social initiative that truly matters here in Montebello. National Hispanic Heritage Month. Observed every year from September 15th through October 15th, National Hispanic Heritage Month raises awareness about the rich histories, cultures, and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors hail from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. September 15th is significant because it makes the independence anniversary of several Latin American countries, followed closely by Mexico and Chile on September 16th and 18th. This observance began a one-week commemoration in 1968 under U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, but was later extended to a 30-day celebration by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. Today, Hispanic Americans are an integral part of the multicultural fabric of the United States and here in Montebello. We encourage the community to join us in recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month by visiting HispanicHeritageMonth.gov to learn more. Thank you. Our next proclamation is for National Preparedness Month. The changing weather across Southern California we've seen this year from large waves recently crashing onto our local beaches to the ever present risk of wildfires reminds us that disasters can strike in many forms and often without warning. For each of these events, each of these events raises an important question. Am I prepared for something like this to happen at home? Do you have an evacuation plan, first aid essentials, drinking water, food supplies, a communication plan to reach your loved ones if power or phone lines go down. These are the kind of resources and conversations that make all the difference in an emergency. September is National Preparedness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of being ready for disasters and emergencies. Emergencies don't always give us time to prepare, which is why we must plan ahead. Throughout this month, I encourage you to talk to your family, friends, and neighbors about how you will stay connected before, during, and after a disaster. To build or update your emergency kits so that they include several days worth of food, water, and first aid supplies. Don't forget medication, essential documents, and pet supplies that can be packed quickly if you need to evacuate. As a community, each of us take small practical steps. If we take practical steps, that will make a big difference later. Remember that the best time to prepare for an emergency is before it happens. For more information on how we can prepare and what to include in your disaster kit, please visit www.ready.gov and follow our city's social media pages for tips and resources on how to be prepared all month. Okay, we move on to public comments on non agenda items.

At this time, the public may submit speaker cards to the city clerk's staff for both agenda and non-agenda items. Prior to the beginning of the statement, public hearings do not require a speaker card. The city council will address non-agenda items during this section and speakers will be called in the order received. Those persons not accommodated during the 30 minute period will have an opportunity to speak under public comments continued after all scheduled matters have been considered. Public hearing, regular business and or consent calendar items will be addressed at the time that matter of business is heard in the order received. Please be aware that the maximum time allotted for members of the public to speak shall not exceed three minutes per speaker. State law prohibits City Council from taking action or entertaining extended discussion on a topic not listed on the agenda. Please show courtesy to others and direct all of your comments to the Mayor and City Council.

Our first speaker, please.

First speaker is Linda Nicholas, followed by Edmund Veloz.

Again, Linda Nicholas, co-founder of Match90640. Corruption in Montebello, California. Let's be honest. Corruption doesn't destroy a city overnight. It rots it from the inside. And for too long, the people of Montebello have been expected to accept secrecy, backroom politics, and a lack of accountability, as business as usual. That is unacceptable. When decisions are made behind closed doors, when public money is treated like a private asset, and when residents are ignored while insiders benefit, that is not leadership. That is an abuse of power. and no city, especially one built by working families, should tolerate it. Corruption steals from every resident. It steals funding from our streets, our schools, our public safety. It steals trust from honest city workers. And it steals our voices when people feel speaking up doesn't matter. But here's the truth. Corruption survives because those in power expect silence. They count on people being tired, distracted, or afraid. And that ends now. Montebello belongs to its people, not insiders, not special interests, and not anyone who thinks the rules don't apply to them. Transparency is not optional. Accountability is not negotiable. Ethical leadership is a bare minimum. We must demand answers, demand oversight, demand consequences. We must show up, speak out, and vote like our city depends on it, because Lord knows it sure does. Montebello is stronger than corruption, but only we refuse to accept it. Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Edmund Veloz followed by Rosa Tamayo.

How long do I have? THREE MINUTES? MY NAME IS EDMOND VELOZ. I LIVE ON BLUFF ROAD. LATE IN THE 1980s, TELECU GOT A HUGE, WAS TO GET A HUGE AREA OF LAND IN SOUTH MONTABELLO THROUGH EMINENT DOMAIN. BILL MOLINARI WAS ON THE CITY COUNCIL AND VOTED FOR IT. MOLINARI AT THAT TIME WAS A TELECU STOOGE. It was later defeated. Then Molinari was voted out of office. In the early 90s, Molinari formed a group called SMART, South Montebello Area Residents Together. There were parties at his house. He formed a community organization of residents to give them a sense of power and ability to move city and obtain justice for South Montebello and to stop him in a domain. People said that he was using Smart to get himself reelected. He said that wasn't so. Well, it was so. He got elected. He was reelected and then he abandoned Smart. During the 90s and early 2000s, many things happened. Telecoo got four of their projects approved by city council. Molinari voted for two of them that I know of. In that time, the city gave Telecoo somewhere between 30 and $40 million, which was in automatically forgiven loans, which the residents had to pay for. So Molinari was still a Telecoo stooge. He joined with California Water Service to take the South Montebello Irrigation District, buy him in a domain, but that failed. He got his son placed on Montebello Police Force ahead of 12 other qualified candidates above him. And that was the epitome of corruption. This is the third attempt by Molinari to get his 15 unit project put in on his property. I gathered over 500 signatures against the project twice. Planning Commission and City Council voted it down. Thank you for that. I've heard that their staff's approved the project. How could that be? The houses of this project don't even come up to the city's own standard of low-income housing. How could the planning commission and city council staff miss that? But a state law was used to cut out, to negate all of our signatures and to negate the neighbors. Our use of true democracy was thrown away. He betrayed Jess Ramirez and Shira Lee, who was a former treasurer. Rosemary Brower.

Thank you for your comment. One more. Thank you for your comment. Everybody gets three minutes. Thank you for your comment. Thank you for your comment, please. Your three minutes are up.

Mr. Veloz.

Mr. Veloz, the three minutes are up. Please, thank you for your comments. Everybody gets three minutes.

Thank you, sir.

Next speaker is Rosa Tamayo.

Buenas noches. Georgina Tamayo Mayor de la Ciudad de Montebello y miembros del concilio. Yo soy Rosa Tamayo. Y pues les quiero decir también que ahorita que están en la campaña, que se acuerden muy bien, que no, que trabajen con ética y que no, que no, entren en corrupción, porque hay bastantes puntos negros en cada uno de ustedes. Y no estamos ya ahorita para estar perdiendo tantos millones. Y la otra cosa que quiero decirles es que... Las comunidades, yo mucho les he dicho que necesitamos facilidades de vivienda accesibles a precio y accesibles para personas con disabilidad. No hay una facilidad de viviendas que estén accesibles para personas con disabilidad. silla de ruedas nomás se la llevan haciendo de reconstrucción reconstrucción yo sé lo que está atrás de todo esto pero al rato no les vaya a caer una un fisco pero saben que no han dado una oportunidad de tener a una persona con necesidades especiales que usen sillas de ruedas en una facilidad de una recamara que esté accesible. No la hay, ya he revisado muchas, muchas facilidades. La mayoría están viejas, las facilidades, y la cosa es que pues tienen mucho problema de eléctrico, de gas, ya ni sirven las pipas, pero nomás las reconstruyen y le suben el precio. Pero no hay nada accesible. Así que, Next speaker is Mistress Transgender.

Hello, good morning. I am talking about two issues. I want to start with the flawed camera issues. I'm really a little bit scared to talk about these issues because a lot of people in my neighborhood, they have very strong opinions against it. I'm afraid that if I say something, I probably will end up getting attacked. But many times I just feel so tired of those lawlessness society. And what I mean by that is, you know, when I call the police department, hey, someone, you know, give me three scratch on my door. And then the police, you know, after several weeks say, sorry, we couldn't do anything about it. Or maybe I said, hey, officer, I lost my motorcycle e-bike. And then, you know, one month, two months later, it says, okay, sorry about that. There's nothing much we can do. Basically, literally every time that we call the police department, the answer is the same. We didn't, we cannot get it back for you. Sorry, that's the reality. I really wish that we're going to have a comprehensive security camera system in place. And then the reason why is that I don't know if I'm the only one that the police ignore or if the police ignore thousands of residents on a regular basis. Either way, it's wrong. I really wish in the future if I say, hey, officer, I wake up with a broken window shield. And then the officers say, hey, you know what? After two months, we find the guy. We charge him. He end up five months in jail. And now I can tell the officer, I say, good job. Well done, officer. Thank you for keeping the community safe. And then without anything, the officer cannot do anything. And then I just don't know what else can I tell those police. Thank you, officer, for doing nothing. Thank you, officer, for not... Seeing anything. Thank you, officer, for not investigating anything. And thank you for not getting anything back. So the reason why I'm a little bit scared to talk about this, because everybody in my neighborhood are talking about, you know, they're going to use the flaw camera to report ICE. They're going to use the flaw camera to invade your privacy. I mean, I have a tough choice right now. You know, some people literally, I am an Amazon driver. I got robbed in the 7-Eleven for two pizza. Can you believe that? They didn't rob me for my wallet, for my phone. They robbed me for my lunch. And then, I mean, I really wish that if I have to choose my privacy versus my safety, I want to sacrifice my privacy in order to get my safety. So I want to support the flock camera system. because it will increase the safety.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Brandon. Is it Brandenburg or Brandon? Brandenburg.

Today's proclamation, viewpoint discrimination. What has the Montebello Water District done with corruption? Two, what is dumb bitch Hilda Solis and the data center going to do for us when we have to pour water into these fucking data centers that are going to destroy our communities? And fuck flock. Fuck your cameras. Who's going to monitor them? That's racist. Whatever fucking happens in our community is our community. We get together, we defeat it, and it's over. So we don't need surveillance. We don't need anyone up our ass. We don't need anyone following us up our ass. If you can't fight crime, then you can't do your fucking job. Real simple. Now, the other issue here is regarding on September 22nd at the federal courts, Bill LaSalle and David O'Carter are going to embarrass the fuck out of LA County, LA City, LA Lhasa, and all these fucking racketeering asshole attorneys that stole public money in the millions of billions of dollars under corruption. You're all invited. Anyone can attend. It's the new federal building right across the street from the law library where I brought up these case laws, such as Brandenburg v. Ohio, U.S. 395-444-1969 for the record. And by the way, yes, I used the word fuck because Cohen v. California said the same shit on his shirt. Fuck! This world is getting bad. This world is becoming distasteful. Our society is so immoral that God has to step in eventually, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Adios para quitar todo malo de este pinche lugar de gente de puto madres. Now, I can't translate that. It just came into my mind. But on item number 10 regarding housing, which is what David O. Carter, the federal judge, has been discussing with the five board of supervisors, that dumb black mayor from Los Angeles, and all those fucking racketeering, corrupt attorneys is this. Your time is up. Your time is up. The government wants to know why you stole millions and billions of fucking money that belonged to the people of America. We, the people of America, contest the corruption. We contest the evil manipulation of our fucking money, our fucking free rights, and our fucking freedom to speak out and not be censored or manipulated by your bullshit.

Thank you for your comment.

next speaker is will severo and you guys get mad when i cuss um you know i commend you guys this is a tactic uh so it can put us in legal litigation i agree with what he says of the freedom of speech um especially with the law of the land especially it says um All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void, Mulberry versus Madison, which I constantly have to repeat to the city attorney, Arnold Glassman, because he constantly violates our laws. People are going to come up here and test their theory, and especially when they go and sue. So for residents that are watching, I'm not in favor of some of this. However, they're going to test the limits so that way they can get kicked out and then they could sue the city. And then we're going to spend millions of dollars when instead that millions of dollars can go to public works. It can go to our parks and so forth. Um, Thank you, Mr. City Manager, for the conversation about the 9-11 and getting it posted. If you guys can, at the end of the orals or something, be able to mention that so more residents can attend. That's a big day, I think, in our city. Thank you, guys.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, that does conclude all speaker cards for non-agenda items.

SO WE DON'T HAVE ANY REGULAR BUSINESS ITEMS, SO THAT MOVES US TO CONSENT CALENDAR.

MAYOR, STAFF COMMUNICATIONS?

YES, SORRY. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS, YES, BEFORE WE MOVE ON.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I HAVE A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS. YES, AS WAS MENTIONED RIGHT NOW, ON SEPTEMBER 11, EVERY YEAR WE HAVE AN ANNUAL CEREMONY. THE PUBLIC IS WELCOME TO ATTEND. IT'S AT 10 A.M. On Friday, here at our city hall, we welcome you to attend. Saturday morning at 9 a.m., we're having a public event regarding some street improvements that we did near Lamberset Academy. It used to be elementary when I was growing up, but it's academy now. Some very much needed improvements that we're making, ensuring that, you know, public safety continues to be paramount. And then after that, we are having our second annual car show at the Montebello Golf Course on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. So we welcome the public to join us as we enjoy low riders and a lot of festivities up there in our golf course. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. So again, that moves us to consent calendar since we don't have regular business.

Okay. On tonight's consent calendar, all matters listed under consent calendar are considered to be routine. Any items a member wishes to discuss, including any items the public submitted speaker cards for, should be designated at this time. All other items may be approved in a single motion. Such approval also will waive the reading of any ordinance. At this time, I will ask members of the council if they want to pull any items off of consent. Council Member Alonso.

Number 10.

Did you say number 10? Okay, number 10. Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

No items.

Council Member Peralta.

None.

Council Member Melendez. No items. And Mayor Tamayo.

The item 10, which has been pulled.

Mr. City Attorney, in addition, can I actually pull item number five? I need a correction on number five. Sure.

And Mayor, I do like to note that we have speaker cards for agenda item number five, number eight, number nine, and number 10.

So the items that remain are item four, item seven, item 11, and item 12. If I can get a motion for that. I'll make a motion. Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Romero. I'll second. Second by Council Member Peralta, if we could take the roll.

Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Bertrand Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. Okay, item number five. We had a speaker. Mm-hmm.

Thank you, Mayor. We do have two speakers for this item. First speaker, Linda Nicholas.

I would like to hear the correction that our city manager was going to make on that item. Is it pertinent or on number five?

You called the order already, Mayor. So I don't know. Do you want to do the public comment first? It's your discretion. Or you can go for it with public comments up to you.

I'd like to hear what the corrections he's going to say, because if it's something that I'm going to bring up, it may not be necessary. Sure, we can bring up the corrections. Sure.

So we'll do public comment afterwards, that's fine. I did have some corrections regarding the specifications on the streets. I have corrections to three items. The street segment that says Hibiscus Street, I'm sorry, the street segment that says Hibiscus Street from Avenida de la Merced to Lincoln Avenue, That should read Hibiscus Street, Avenida de la Merced to the end of Avenida de la Merced. The other correction that reads on this section, North 3rd Street, Avenida de la Merced to Los Amigos Avenue. That should read North 3rd Street from Oakmont Drive to Waymar Drive. And then there was an omission on the street section, which we want to add to the specifications, which is Second Street from West Los Amigos Avenue to Avenida de la Merced. All we're requesting is that this be formally included as part of the staff report and the specifications for the the bids that we're going to be releasing to the public and the contractors. Thank you.

Okay.

Well, I was reading about Lincoln to 18th Street. And what my, I don't know if you're aware of this, you weren't on council back then, but I know Mr. Council Member Melendez and Peralta went on. They voted to notice any utility companies, be it the gas company, Edison, anybody that, water company, they're gonna do any work on a street that's up for repair. they must notice the city before, so the city does not pave it. If they do it after it's paid, they're responsible to have it paid totally, not just the piece, they can't patch it up. And they didn't do that on Lincoln. And that was already in place, but unfortunately Danilo didn't do his job when he was the pro tem. assistant, and they were supposed to. And if you go down Lincoln Avenue, which is a very, very busy street because Waze uses that as circuit to Peak Rivera, it looks like a patchwork. It was brand new, paved, and then right after it was paved, they started cutting into it. So if you look at it, it's patchworked here and there, and it's not smooth. But they did notice the different utility companies that if you have a project that's going to be on this street, and the city is going to pave it, they either have to do it ahead of time or notice the city, because if they don't, they're responsible for having it repaved totally, not the patch up, the whole street. So if they're going to do like from Wilcox to 18th Street and somewhere along the line, they end up by doing a project there and they cut it up, they have to pave over the whole thing so it looks smooth again. And that's something you might want to look into because they have to do it because our streets, they would work on them. And then these utility companies would come and tear them up and just patch it up. So it looked like it wasn't even done. So I appreciate if you look into that. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Brandon Berg.

Unlawful discrimination. The basis of unlawful discrimination falls under the state form, for anyone listening, for anyone who wishes to file a claim against the state local governments, is GC 1135. GC 1135, you can look it up on your little device, talks about discrimination on the basis of a state or a local government. It could be law enforcement, but in this particular one, we're speaking about asphalt, rubberized asphalt. Now, During situations like this, we have accountability when it comes to slip and falls or liability accidents caused by the contractor or the development project. Let me give you a scenario for any of you who like to drive. I hate driving. But here it is. Project Colima Road off of Hacienda Heights and Fullerton down to... Mar Vista, beautiful town of Happy Valley, Whittier. We're going to spend, or we've been spending as Californians, $28 million for street widening, street improvements as taxpayers, right? So do the math. It's going to take them four years to remove the garbage of traffic that they've created because one, they did not put curb ramps. Two, they did not put the proper signal lights with the for a disabled person or as the first speaker, an elderly woman that kindly exposed some of her faults against the government, which I agree, they're fucked up. Sucios, cabrones. Entonces, whatever that means as well, but put it this way, $7 million for four years to fix less than three miles of road. What a motherfucker, right? I wish I had that contract, the lowest bid. Scully is the name of the so-called contractor, but who's getting the kickbacks on this work? Who's building these medians and putting these curbs and putting the new fire hydrants and putting the new curbs of the 2010 standard under the ADA, which some of you are so dumb, don't understand, that it stands for the American Disability Act Standard 2010, Mr. Attorney. And when I file my GC 1135 against every manipulative fucking corrupted city that doesn't put on their budget a coordinator to coordinate these ADA concerns of ours for the elderly, for the elderly woman, that's the result you get.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, that concludes all the speakers for this agenda item.

Mayor, just additional information on this item. Just for the general public and council, we do have a moratorium in place on any street projects that their utilities are not allowed to do works within the five-year period. Sometimes they do ask for exemptions or emergency situations. If those are granted or an emergency situation does happen to take place, they are required to restore the street to its original condition.

Thank you.

I'll keep that. So for this, are there any questions or comments further on this item? If not, I'll take a motion and a second.

I'll motion to approve item five.

A motion by Council Member Peralta.

I second.

Second by Council Member Alonso. And if we can take the roll, please.

Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Bertrand Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. That item passes. It moves us to item number eight. So no presentation. That will take the speakers, please. Item eight.

Thank you, Mayor. We do have two speakers for agenda item number eight. First speaker is Mistress Transgender, followed by Brandon Berg.

I submitted eight and nine, but I don't need a separate three minutes. I would combine two as one just to in respect of everyone's time. So for eight and nine, is there about the Montebello transit? There's about the transit project. So I have several comments about our Montebello buses. I am referring to my experience in 2021 and 2022. The reason why I'm talking about it right now is because in 2021 and 2022, I was the illegal immigrants without any language skills, so I was not able to come here and speak. But finally, after six years of learning secondhand English, so I was able to speak just a little bit. On 2021 and 2022, I was very poor, living on the street. Many times I ride the Montebello buses without a fare. And then just like what I do with every single bus operators, for example, in the city of Alhambra, they have their ACT buses. Our Monterey Park, they have their Spirit buses, or maybe the LA, they have their Dash buses. Somehow that when I asking the driver during the pandemic, is there, you know, okay, if I can get a courtesy ride or free ride, I'm being polite and they always do it. But my experience with Montebello buses is a little bit different. they are one female driver telling me that if you do not pay the fare if you you need to get out the bus now and if you do not get out the bus we will call 9-1-1 right now so you choose and then there's another experiences where I was on the bus, and I am the only passenger, I did not pay, and then when it is my time to stop, I pull the cord, I push the button, I stop the request, and then the driver refused to stop, keep doing all the way. The driver take me all the way from my stop all the way to the end of the line. And then, I don't know, maybe because I am the only passenger on the bus, that's the reason why he refused to stop for me. And then after he stopped for me, that night when I walked all the way back, I arrived home at 3.30 a.m. in the morning. When I exit the bus, the driver also said, if you do not have enough money to pay the $1.10 bus fare, go back to your home country. I admit it is my fault. As being a homeless, I acknowledge it is my fault I did not pay the fare, but I just want to share my experience and I really wish that Montebello can do some many other city that offer free ride for low income or homeless person and even the homeless can be treated with dignity.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Brandon Burke.

Let's inform ourselves what viewpoint discrimination sounds like. What does it look like? Have one of you, has anyone here taken Metrolink? Has any one of you tried Metro buses? Have any of you tried Foothill buses? Have any of you tried any kind of bus that the federal government and the state government pays for you to enjoy a paid ride by we the people of the United States of America? Transportation is the most largest budget in the United States of America. And we have proven to be a failure for public transportation. You've heard it earlier. Gentleman talked about being discriminated on a bus. Well, that's his opinion. My views about what he said are true because I use public transportation like likely the nice young lady and her handicap get me around. You look at me, I don't look handicapped, but I am. I use a cane, I use a wheelchair, and I can walk. But I always ask the government, why are you discriminating against us when you're spending trillions of thousands of trillions of dollars Where's our electric buses? Where's our energy saving buses? I still smell the gas. I still hear those gas lawnmowers run up and down our streets. So where is the money is the question for our new buses. We're supposed to be the elite for the Olympics. And we failed at that process, as you heard. It has to do with billions and trillions of dollars likely stolen by local government officials who pad their wallets, give their friends the jobs and the cooperation of finding that a successful way of stealing taxpayers' monies without the federal government or the state knowing that it's happening until it happens. So once again, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, if you wish to point a finger at me, look at the other three fingers that point back to you. What are we going to do to correct this failure? I could prove it. Anytime you wish to come off that chair there, I will join you on a bus ride anywhere and show you that homeless people should ride for free. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, that does conclude all spirit cards for agenda item number eight.

Thank you. Okay, with that, I'll go ahead and take a motion and a second for agenda item number eight.

I'll motion to approve item number eight.

A motion by Councilmember Peralta.

I'll second.

Second by Councilmember Melendez. If we can call the roll, please.

Council Member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Patron Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. Moving on to item number nine. We have speakers for that item as well.

Mayor, the previous speaker had stated that he didn't need to speak on this item. He combined all of them in the previous three minutes.

Okay, great. No further questions or comments on this item. I'll go ahead and take a motion and a second.

I'll make a motion. I second.

It's a motion by Councilmember Melendez, a second by Councilmember Alonso. If we can take the roll, please.

Councilmember Alonso. Aye. Mayor Bertran Romero.

Aye.

Councilmember Peralta.

Aye.

Councilmember Melendez. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. Moving on to item 10, and on this item, I do have to recuse myself, so I will hand this off to our Mayor Pro Tem.

Item number 10, Adopt Resolution 26-65, Implementing the Court Order Approving the Jack Maher Project. Is there a public comment on this item?

Mayor Bertin, we do have spirit cards, but Councilmember Alonso also pulled this item. Would you like us to go with the spirit cards or have Councilmember speak first?

Have you think of that?

Yes, I have Councilmember Alonso speak first, please.

Thank you. Last year when this item came to these chambers, this council heard arguments from both sides. This is a project that had been Circulating for a while, I move the vote to deny this project on the grounds that I don't believe that the South has the resources to support these communities actively, and also the community output that stated that they didn't really want this project. Unfortunately, under the Housing Accountability Act, the state of California has overruled that vote, something that this body has not seen before. So we have paths forward now of whether or not we want to legally challenge this or attempt to control this in any way, shape, or form by returning this to our planning commission. This body, I think, made the right decision in not approving that project then. I fully stand by that. And I understand that the community opposition to this is strong. I was part of that opposition myself. There are certain things that we can continue to do, and we'll attempt to do the best we possibly can. But at this point, we need to move forward with what we can control at this point. I hope that the community understands that this body chose to deny that project. But unfortunately, the state of California decided to overrule that based on, of course, the understanding that the Housing and Calendly Act is also attempting to do beneficial things for the community. So it was a tough boat. this body believed we made the right decision then, and I fully stand by that now.

Mayor Burton, would you like me to move on to the speaker cards? Yes, please. Thank you. First speaker on agenda item number 10 is Edmund Robert Veloz, followed by Will Severo.

Hello. How long do I have? Three minutes. First of all, I want to thank the City Council and the Planning Commission for denying this project when you did, even though it's going forward now. We went against this thing because it is going to totally disrupt our community if it goes through. This is ghetto housing. This is a ghetto village that Bill Molinari wants to install on a pristine, beautiful piece of land. There are those of us who just think, gosh, where did all the beautiful land go that we used to have in South Montebello? Open space, it's all gone. We don't see that anymore. And very little of it is showing anywhere in Montebello now. We used to have, I mean, Montebello means beautiful hill. Do you see it? What I see is, when I look up on that hill, all I see is a bunch of pockmarks, a bunch of boils on the land. And we are trying to save something, something that we used to have, something that young people could say, gee, here's something that I can, Well, this is a private piece of property and we think it's worth saving. Bill Molinari is chosen to go after profit and satisfy his greed and won't listen to the people he said he was in favor of. Now, I talked about this before. He formed this group called SMART. And the idea was to get all of us people in that neighborhood together to fight against these things that the city would try and throw against us. Now it's him we're fighting. In the end, we're the smart people. We who signed that petition, we're the smart ones. We're fighting against Bill Molinari. He doesn't care about us. He doesn't care what he's doing to the people of his community. We are mad. We are just boiling mad. And as I went around circulating that petition, I went door to door talking to people. Probably a good 35, 40% of them signed that petition out of hatred for Bill Molinari. This guy has had every advantage this city could give him. Most of us don't get that, but he's had every advantage and he thinks he's royalty. And this is a piece of land we're trying to save, and he just doesn't give a damn. So I'm here saying, come on, man, be a man, but he isn't. And like I said, I don't treat him as a man.

Thank you for your comment, sir.

He's an it.

Next speaker is Will Severo.

Hey, counsel. I don't know if you guys actually get to read the decision of what happened with this court case. You have two things that are going on, in my opinion. If you guys were to try to appeal it, it's going to be a difficult battle and a lot of money. Where I see is the failure of the city attorney's law firm that represented us, because I'm going to throw a couple of things out there. I believe Melendez and Peralta were on these votes and they were dealing with several of these issues with this project. I believe that it was actually brought up that it was hazardous due to if there was a fire or an emergency, there was only a one way in and one way out. So when it was first brought up, that was actually the reasoning why they were determining not to. They also didn't have a traffic study. They wanted two different setbacks that were going to be... or something like a variation, which our city doesn't have. And for some reason, when it eventually went through the planning commission and they were denying it, and then I believe council for you guys, you were also discussing these issues and you were bringing up how there can be some properties on there, but lesser so they wouldn't have a variance. I also believe you guys were bringing up the traffic issue, the parking issue, and also how would it affect the sewage system and the water system, all of which is why they were able to overturn the city's decision because none of that language was actually used on the city's behalf. They basically left you guys out to hang. And I have to think about, this has been our representative for about 30 years. He's done a shitty job. Most of our budget for our legal continually goes up. He does nothing preventative and leaves us to exposure. I BELIEVE WE ALREADY WENT FROM MOST OF THE BUDGET THIS YEAR, LAST YEAR'S BUDGET WE WENT TO LIKE 1.3 AND JUST LEGAL FEES. HE HIDES EVERYTHING. AND, YOU KNOW, CONSIDERING HE SHOULD BE ADVISING YOU GUYS MAYBE CALLING A BREAK TO SAY, HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, WE HAVE TO PUT THESE THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE BEFORE YOU GUYS VOTE. THAT WOULD BE WHAT A GOOD LEGAL COUNSEL DOES. WE OBVIOUSLY DO NOT HAVE GOOD LEGAL COUNSEL So in my opinion, you know, the guy's always a little too full of himself and he benefits from these things. He has a long relationship with also Molinari. I'm not making an accusation. I said, it's my opinion because obviously it can be slander and all this other BS, but I'm allowed to have my opinion. But again, if they are not being able to give you these court cases and review some of these documents, we're not talking about personnel issues, but just the laws itself and why it will show you guys that the, They left the city out to hang, and he still gets his payday. Thank you.

Next speaker is Bill Peliso.

I find it amazing that this Tunas over here is now going to speak up when he hasn't been around for two years. It's election time, isn't it? big problem here is I'm going to read something out of this agreement. On July 16, 2026, trial was held in Department 834 before Honorable Tiana Morello. The court granted the petition ruling the city had not shown its denial complied with the Housing Accountability Act. Why were we not prepared to We went in there, we had no study, we had nothing. So again, you wanna go and sue, they're gonna make the money. This is totally ridiculous. We were not prepared, our city attorney who represents the citizens and the citizens said they didn't want this, you were not prepared in this lawsuit. It says it right here. And I want every citizen, you could go on and pull this and read it for yourself. This is unacceptable. It's totally unacceptable. Thank you.

Next speaker is Mistress Transgender.

I want to take this opportunity to address some affordable housing issues. It seems like my opinion is exactly correct. Coming here is definitely, I will become the next target of attack. I heard all of the council member comments. They are against it. I heard all of the public comment speakers that they are against it. Everybody is against it the same way that everybody against the flawed camera. Unfortunately, I am the only one single individual that who supports this. And I want to share about my homeless experience for the past six years as an illegal immigrants, as an illegal homeless person on the street. Currently, I am living in a garage for $1,000 a month. It's absolutely terrible. I don't even have air conditioning when outside is 100 degree. When outside is 100 degree, inside is 110. But somehow, I cannot find anything that is cheaper than $1,000. I have more than 10 Friends who live on the street that I became friends during my past six years as an illegal immigrants living on the street if I bring those ten people to the City Council and if I ask our City Council member if I ask our mayor if Do we have some sort of a homeless shelter for them? Do we have any affordable housing for them? Or do we have any solution that we can put a roof on top of them? Because maybe Montebello city government disagree with me, but the United Nation says homeless issues is a humanitarian crisis. Maybe that our life is not valuable enough for you to believe that it is a crisis. Or maybe our life is not valuable for you to believe that we have a shelter crisis, affordable housing crisis, that a Montebello home There's no such thing as California dream anymore. As a $21 per hour Amazon delivery driver, I don't know, other than the $1,000 per month garage, I don't know what else can I afford. And then the only time that I can say that I live happily is that I reach out to the council member Kevin De Leon during the pandemic before he was voted out. Council member Kevin De Leon gave me two year of shelter without verifying if I am a resident because Kevin De Leon understand I'm a homeless. That means I have zero verification of my residency. That is the only help I received from all Los Angeles County. I really wish that our council member can believe that homeless lives matter.

Thank you for your comment, sir.

Next speaker is Brandon Burke.

Wow, beautiful luxury housing, single luxury housing, but yet the veterans that slept homeless on the streets got none of that. The hundred thousands of people that you see today walking up and down the streets, your neighbors, your friends, your brothers and sisters that are homeless, that you hate, are homeless because of luxury builder and a luxury developer. The same criminal organization of corruption. What am I pointing to? Read about Jose Luis Huizar, an indicted criminal. who stole from you people, the American people and your dreams. And the same black first female mayor that allowed fentanyl and all other drugs just to fly into LAX, just to be laid out all over downtown so that those homeless people end up in Montebello streets. Thank them. Thank them very much when you have a conscience. When you can wake up and question me about the conflict of interest with your attorney. Is he a part of the Gibson and Dunn? Is he a part of the Gentleman Con who got fired? Because the United States federal judge, David O. Carter, found out by a whistleblower that he had a conflict of interest stealing public money, playing two roles. Applying his attorney office for stealing on this side of the public and then stealing on this side for himself with public monies. Where is he today? Go ask LA County Board of Supervisors. They fired him. They fired him. And so at this point, as you heard, I look at my notes and I say, what the fuck is happening with the so-called ha? H-A-A, and in my days it was called H-H-H, and Kevin DeLeon was an excellent councilman for Los Angeles, and he referred to me as the bitch, bitch, bitch for homelessness. And the reason is because he assisted me with getting homeless people off the streets within 72 hours. What are you doing for your constituents? What are you doing for your taxpayers? Are you going to allow them to see the disgusting shit they see on the streets today?

Thank you for your comment, sir.

Mayor, pretend that does conclude all speaker cards for agenda item number 10.

I'll entertain a motion.

I second.

I'll second. Motion second. Okay.

Can I have a roll call?

Yes. Council Member Alonzo? Aye. Mayor Patel Romero?

Aye.

Council Member Peralta?

Aye.

And Council Member Melendez? Aye.

This motion passes.

Thank you.

All right, on number 10, 11, 12. So that takes us to the end of the agenda. We are now on AB 1234, travel reports. Do we have any reports? Council Member Melendez.

Thank you, Mayor. Just want to report that I attended the Contract Cities Conference. Thank you.

Any other travel reports?

Yes. I also attended the Contract City Conference, and just will quickly recount one of the specific panels that I thought was really good, and it was in terms of multi-cities. I can't recall right now. I believe it was like Artesia, Arcadia, San Gabriel Valley cities that actually had to work together through a joint project. partnership for a specific project that was owned by the county so they just covered the issues as well as solutions and kind of how to come together to work to advocate on behalf of themselves especially when it comes to issues that are multi-jurisdictional that concludes my review thank you thank you

Any others? I also attended the California Contract Cities Association Fall Educational Summit. The annual summit represents 88 cities and brings together elected officials, city managers, and staff from across California. Well at the summit I attended several workshops relevant to Montebello's priorities. One of them was care in the chaos, the safety net the cities can count on. So this addressed how we should be supporting our residents amongst our our fires and other things that we can't control, but how to have a safety net for our residents. The Partners in the Park, which Council Member Peralta has talked about, and Reshape and Reform, which was a presentation from the Rose Institute on Measure G, which is how it's gonna impact our county governance and our local cities. So these sessions offered valuable insight into how neighboring cities are tackling many of the same challenges we face here in Montebello, particularly around the homeless emergency preparedness, navigating the funding pressures on essential services. So I bring these ideas back for consideration and for evaluation here at home. That's my report back. And I believe we have no council orals.

Is there anything?