City Council - Special Meeting

like to call to order the special city council meeting close session. Time is now 5:30. City clerk direct, will you please call the role? Yes, mayor. Council member is excused. Council member Ortiz, present. Council member Trujillo, here. Mayor Prom Peton present and Mayor Sosa present. Thank you. City clerk Dwarte, did we receive any written public comment regarding close session items to be incorporated into the record? We did not, Mayor. Thank you. Um, how many speakers have taken a number? We have one speaker.

Speaker number one, please come forward. Good evening. Good evening. Minor oversight. Not getting my card.

It's not worthy of an apology. It's perfectly all right. It's not a big deal. Um, we we don't need any government code for it, per se, or anything. Besides, we don't get the name of that uh young lady AI robot that you're using for your protocol announcements and stuff. We want to hear human beings say it. So, anyway, um, public employee performance evaluation, city clerk. I personally have uh no issues with the city clerk. Uh I hear other people do, but uh you know, maybe they're just squawking and crying unnecessarily. I don't know. City clerk has always been fine to me and I will give her the kudos for that. Uh the title city manager evaluation. Well, not really happy with a lot of the things the city manager has done the way this town has been run. Uh the people that were brought in that were supposed to take care of certain situations have not been acceptable, especially public works. Uh the design of the roads on Downey Avenue uh are a disaster over there just south of Firestone. Total disaster. Who designed that? Well, public works obviously did and the manager installed the whole protocol of that which is uh just unacceptable. You've taken away lanes, one lane on each side, and you put bike lanes in there. And I haven't seen one person riding a bike over there. Quite frankly, I wouldn't ride it there either. It's a disaster. It's dangerous. You could get killed real easy. Uh the city manager had a big pay raise and we've done nothing in this town.

We've done nothing to reduce the size and scope of government and that's the council's fault too. The manager is just to uh do what the wish of the council is. But there is absolutely no conservative voices on this council to reduce our taxation sales tax wise fees anything. It's been a constant expansion of government and raising taxes and that's I see no end in sight to it. Not with your in cooperation with the gateway cities and that's why the state, the county and this city is crumbling and that's why people are leaving California. So, uh, we'd like to see a change of direction, but I am not hopeful. And for those that thought you were going to move in that direction, you've been just a spectacular disappointment.

Thank you.

Is there a motion in second? To close close public comment. Second. Sorted by the mayor. The city council will now recess to close session under the following authorities. Number one, government code section 54957, B1, public employee performance evaluation, title city manager. And two, government code section 54957, B1, public employee performance evaluation, title city clerk. We will now recess to close session. The time is now 5:34.

See reconvene the special council meeting. Close session time is now 6:34. City for city attorney Funk, will you please report the close session action?

Good evening, mayor, members of the council, and members of the public. In tonight's close session, the city council addressed item number one on the close session agenda and there was no reportable action from those proceedings tonight. The city council did not address item number two. Thank you.

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

Yes, mayor. Council member Promea is excused. Council member Ortiz, present. Council member Thrujillo here. Mayor Prom Peton present. And Mayor SSA

present. And please join us uh as we welcome Greg Welch, chaplain of the Downey Police Department for this evening's invocation. In Paul's letter to the Philipp Philippians says, "The Lord is at hand. Don't be anxious about anything, but in everything give thanks in this season of thanksgiving, lest we forget to be thankful all 364 other days." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come again as a city, as a as a group of people of one mind to make this city great. Thank you for the blessing that that is indeed happened. Lord, this is a great city. blessed by you and the servants serving here. The city council, the staff, the police and fire, all the individuals that work in the different departments and for all the citizens. Lord, we thank you for each and everyone here and at home and just concerned about our our deeply loved city of Downey. Bless it beyond all understanding and thank you for that in this time of thanksgiving. We pray in your son's name. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Thank you, Chaplain Welch. Please welcome for the flag salute Boy Scout Troop 441. [clears throat] Will the audience please join me in the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Let's cheer for Boy Scout Troop 441. Good evening and welcome. Now is the time for city council member announcements, requests for future agenda items, conference, and meeting reports. I will start to my far left, council member Ortiz.

Good evening. Thank you, mayor. Um, a few updates from our last meeting. Um, on Halloween I joined the mayor uh at the annual pumpkin patch event. I think we both had the best costumes that night. Um, but uh I just want to say thank you to the team. It was also great to see like have a huge Dodger game TV right there. It was pretty fun. We also celebrated the Muertos, another major event. And if I'm not mistaken, that's going toe-to-toe with Havana Nights. Do you know how many people attended uh the Das Mertos? We're estimating about um anywhere from 8,500 to about 10,000.

Oh, almost there. So, pretty big event. It was a great event. Thank you. Uh and lastly, I attended the Veterans Day event. I do want to give a shout out to any veterans who are here tonight. Special thank you to them and the sacrifices that uh they have made for our country. I do have a special uh a couple requests. I would like to see um I know we're talking about the inclusionary housing program uh later today. Uh, but I do want to get a little more information and get more informed about that. I know we discussed that back in 2018. Uh, but I just I want to have more information what other cities are doing. Um, and in seeing if we're really uh taking advantage of that program. Um, and also I want to see if I request a survey uh for Brookshire Avenue. I want to see if uh additional traffic signal is uh needed um or a stop sign. Um, I know that's I know I spoke to our city manager and he said that it's a uh a maj major thorough affair, but we could just check it out and see if we need anything right there. With that, I conclude my comments for tonight. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Ortiz. Council member Trujill.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, first and foremost, I want to recognize the memory of Officer Ricky Galves. Um, I met Officer Galveves. He was a young officer coming to do a testifi uh testify in prelims at Norwok and 10 years ago um we lost him. It was a very difficult um time for our city. So it was good to see the department continuing the legacy of of his memory. I always say that officers they do the hardest work. I think it's the hardest job in this country. When we run away from danger, they run towards danger. So, let's um continue to remember that and to um memorialize those individuals who we lose in this battle. Um I had the opportunity to attend the groundbreaking for the Colombia Memorial Space Center. Um the history between Downey and uh space exploration is amazing and I'm so glad that that is a priority uh for this council. It's a legacy project. Hoping that the future home of inspiration, the first space shuttle ever built uh will be built while I'm still on council. Um looking forward to that. So um couple of issues. We're getting a lot of well at least I I've been getting complaints about homeless issu um issues at Wilderness Park and under the freeway underpass under Florence and Studebaker. I don't know if it needs to be an agenda item, but if we could get that to the attention of our homeless solution coordinator, please.

We'll take care of it. Thank you.

I am a little concerned about the perimeter of the Downey Landing. I know that Bellflower Boulevard is in the queue to be repaved, but if we could take a look, and I may need a second on this, um, at the perimeter of uh, the northern part, Stewart and Gray, it just seems like we should repave that section. We have so many people coming to the landing from other cities. In an effort to make a good impression, we should try to make sure that the streets are in good condition in the perimeter, particularly in Lakewood in front of El Pescador, there always seems to be huge um potholes there and so much traffic there. But so if we could take a a look at the perimeters uh with the exception of Bell Flowers and we know that's going to be coming, but on Lakewood and Stewart and Gray, please. Um do I need a second for that? just the uh that intersection area as we talking about immediately around that spot.

That's yeah the worst that I've seen. But if you could just look at the entire perimeter because we assume that people are going to be driving around the perimeter of the landing and the prominade. And with that, that concludes my comments. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Trillo, Mayor Prom Dorothy Peton.

Thank you, Mayor Sosa. Um it's been a a busy couple weeks, so I have a a nice report and information for our residents. So, welcome everyone. I'd like to do important dates for November. In 1990, President Bush designated November to be National Native American Heritage Month, which celebrates the contributions of Native Americans, but it also raises awareness of the challenges indigenous people have faced. On November 11th, we honored and remembered our Viet veterans of war and the freedoms that we all enjoy came at a price. Uh, many soldiers lost their lives. Many survived with PTSD. Our veterans face challenges of reintegrating into civilian life in finding jobs, housing, and mental health support. One organization that is helping veterans is Veterans Stand Together. Uh please look them up at www. usavvestvest.org. And as mentioned before to all our vet veterans here or listening, thank you for your service. I attended a luncheon with the keynote speaker being District Attorney Nathan Hawkman. Um it was the one-year anniversary of him being elected as the new LAA and he stated that they have an excellent dedicated team of 800 prosecutors and about 1,800 staff and he also says they are open for business. Attended the mayor's prayer breakfast. uh Senator Bob Archelettto, he spoke at uh of his service in the military, which gave us a closer insight of the many stressful times that he faced dangers along with other soldiers, but his faith in God uh along with God's plan for his life brought him back home and uh he's now in his new chapter of life as a public servant. Um mayor and I also attended the grand opening of Precision Honda. They have a 90,000 square ft showroom and service center, formerly Honda

World. And to those that some remember, Bob Spring Cadillac, where the free boys meet in Downey. Assemblywoman Blanca Pacheco held her second annual veterans appreciation lunchon. Downy's own George Jorge Monto was recognized. Mr. Monttero is a proud US Army veteran who was originally from Ecuador. He was drafted during the Viet. We didn't know this about him. He was drafted during the Vietnam War. His work included two research tours in Greenland and served as a Spanish interpreter on missions that helped identify Soviet missile sites in Cuba. He led a team of 100 engineers on classified missile guidance projects for the Department of Defense. George is also an active me community member of the Downey Rotarian Club. We have a Rotarium with us. attended. I also attended the Expose and Jets concert at the Downey Theater. Sorry you had to miss that. Uh we are both 80s fans, 80s bands, and they were sold out. Uh and I'm a trustee for the Vector Mosquito Board, and last month they reported that there were 85 human cases of Westnau virus year to date for the entire state. So that is low. Downey ranks high though as a source of mosquito activity and we are one of the largest cities in the area. For October, they serviced 54 pools in Downey. They inspected or sprayed along with 457 storm drains and over 2,000 gutter spots for the mosquito larve. But residents, I want to point out that residents can help to eliminate mosquito breeding by uh keeping pools and fountains maintained and chlorinated. So, keep tipping and tossing any standing water, especially now that we've had the rains. And I'm working with staff to make sure that we do our sweet street sweeping around so that we don't have any standing water and gutters. If you would

like to call if you know of a pool or a green pool, it may be around by your neighbor. Vector's phone number, they're in Santa Fe Springs. Vector is 562-9449656 and they will send someone out. I also received a call from a resident or two and saw on social media about our coyote sightings and we've had a number of them for a while. Many ask why don't we trap or relocate them? Well, many years ago, we had the Department of Fish and Game come out and and speak with us about it, but they do not do that. Seaka also cannot trap coyotes. However, they will come out if the coyote is sick or injured or a threat to humans. So, the preventative measures, as they've stated before, are do not leave food out at night or pets uh animals at night. But, we do have a coyote hotline uh to report sightings in Downey. And the hotline is 562-299-6625. This resident wanted to make sure that residents had that. Um lastly, I also attended the um the um anniversary, the 10 year anniversary this morning, my colleagues and I, of uh the loss of Ricky Ricardo Galves, um our officer. Um very touching with the family there. We will never forget him. Um yesterday as mentioned was the exciting groundbreaking ceremony for the new inspiration at the uh Inspiration Science Center which will house the original wooden 1972 prototype and mockup of the space shuttle. 10 years later the first flight of the Columbia space shuttle was April 12th, 1981. It wouldn't be until 28 flights later that it would see its final tragic flight in February 2003. We were honored to have astronaut Garrett Riceman speak about his mission on space shuttle Discovery and Atlantis traveling to the International Space

Center. His last journey was in 2010. The feminine are students from our local schools. The feminineers, the girls that attended were so excited and we were all in awe because it's not every day that you get to meet a real astronaut. Many thanks to Ben Dickau, our director of the space center, president of the Columbia Memorial Space Center for arranging this event along with our city staff. Special thanks to all the members of the space center board. Some who were former mayors, Mary um former mayor Mario, Mario Gara, Alex Saab, Roger Bromer, I believe Rick Rodriguez too was on that board or is on the board many years ago. They envisioned this day to bring out of storage and proudly display what the engineers of Rockwell had created to be viewed by young and old. But most exciting uh we would be the owner only interactive um experience by actually walking into the cargo bay and they show the renderings. You can take a look with the steps that you can go into the cargo bay and that will be an amazing moment uh for all to stand in the cargo bay. Downey will definitely be on the map again even nationally. It will also become an event center, a meeting center and much much more. Uh the future home called inspiration will be a 40,000 square foot indooroutdoor education complex and loaded located behind Columbia Memorial Space Center which is over by Discovery Park. Students will access highquality science themed programs and connect with our longstanding aerospace history. Uh most of this most of the funding for this $30 million project has been raised with state, federal, and local funding. Official construction will start early in spring and take approximately about 18 months to complete. Uh there are opportunities to help financially and support this and become a legacy on a tile that you could name a a tile for

the shuttle. So you can visit um www.name a shuttle tile.org and be a part of history. Um, on the consent calendar, I just wanted to note for our residents that the Woodruff Avenue street improvement between Foster and Washurn is completed with new roads, new landscape, and medians, and I know uh, Council Member Trillo had requested that and started that a couple years ago. Thank you staff for getting that done. That was a $5 million project. Phase two, which will be Washburn going north to Firestone, will be the next phase. And we're moving forward with our mural on the parking structure. I wanted to also mentioned that the mural artist Tony Reyes is from Downey and co-founder of Mastermind Murals and he completed a beautiful floral mural at Kaiser. So, I know there was a lot of discussion of have someone who's going to do that. They have a rendering we voted on between the uh space shuttle, our oranges. A lot of our history of Downey will be on that right there on um is that Lena or Myrtle right by the Look Theater. Um we also will be on our consent calendar extending the security services that we have at our local parks. We have afterhour park patrols. We also have added civic center patrols um 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. to give um um our public reassurance that we are out there and for safety concerns. and they will be driving a lot of the parks uh when we don't have staff there as well. Uh thank you to our public works and uh public works and park and wreck staff along with our third floor, what do we call them, the a team for that beautiful veterans ceremony we just had um on the 11th. Um we recognized all our veterans there. We have a couple dates coming up. I'll see if I can save that. Mayor can save that. And I'd like to mention I'd like to have a followup and a request. city manager residents. Um we have a holiday program

decorating for lights and we have residents all throughout the city decorating. We recognize them and that's coming up on December 1st. For many years, Keep Downey beautiful recognized homeowners and multif family buildings and commercial properties that maintained their property exceptionally well and they were the shining stars in the neighborhood. Um, a resident could nominate themselves or neighbors could nominate residents and then they awarded them a sign that said a keep Downey beautiful winner. They had it on apartment buildings, commercial buildings, um, even your own house. I haven't seen that in a few years. Someone had asked me about that. So, maybe we could look into it. It's in the spring and I know, like I mentioned, keep down a beautiful committee. Um, they sometimes even drove by um, and and nominated winners that maybe we could have it. It's a great way to thank our residents um and our businesses for having a a pristine property. And I'd like to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving coming up. Be a friends, family, and be thankful for everything that we have. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Mayor Proton. Good evening, everyone. Uh thank you for joining us here tonight. I'll keep my comments short as my colleagues did uh cover a lot of stuff, so I won't be repetitive. Uh I will report that I uh attended a couple of board meetings for a um that's what stands for independent cities association and also the sanitation district meeting. Uh nothing to report there. I do want to mention a couple of events that are coming up. Um Assemblywoman Blanca Bachco is doing a uh turkey giveaway at Apollo Park and that's from 10 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. uh next Tuesday, November 25th. So, if you know of anybody in need uh that could benefit from that, please uh spread the word. And um also I just want to give a quick shout out to our staff in parks and wreck. We we're coming off uh some events the loss Muertos has mentioned. I think it was a record turnout. We had the pumpkin patch uh which is a very successful event on on Halloween night. Granted, they had the Dodger game on a big screen there, inflatable big screen, so that helped. Uh also the Veterans Day event uh last week which is why u we're meeting today as opposed to last week. Uh just amazing events. We have some really well organized and entertaining events here in the city of Downey. So I just want to just give a shout out to uh staff who puts a lot of work into those things. And uh lastly, um I know this was mentioned uh before some of the ceremonies today, but I just want to mention that uh or emphasize uh Ricky Galveves. We lost him 10 years ago. Uh we will never forget. Officer Ricky Galves Jr. And with that, that concludes my comments. City Manager Bradley, do you have any comments?

Uh thanks, Mayor. Just a couple of quick items. Uh one, just recapping. So, there was a request to look at uh traffic survey on Brookshshire and to look at any potential traffic improvements that would improve safety along that corridor. I don't we had a second for that item. Second. Thank you. And then uh also for the uh an update on the city's inclusionary housing ordinance looking at options and just highlighting what exactly currently is in it. Can I get a second for that item as well? Second.

Thank you. Um, I did want to take a minute to say that uh the city was fortunate to receive award from the gateway cities uh uh for its environmental practices. Uh we were at a previously at a bronze level and we were moved up to the silver level. So, a lot of work that's been put together by staff to improve the environmental sustainability of our organization and our facilities. I want to say thanks to city council and his leadership. Uh we're continuing to move forward as well and continue to hopefully get gold at some point in the future. So um thankful for that recognition. Uh and that concludes my comments. Mayor, thank you. Okay. Thank you, city manager. Those are two important dates no one mentioned. Okay, Mayor Prom.

Yes. Thank you. Um Monday, December 1st is our tree lighting. That will be Did they mention that? 6 p.m. at the civic center. Come down. 6 p.m. at the Civic Center. And ahead of time, we're going to have the um uh I hate to say winners, but the highlights of the uh holiday decorating, and we will ch they will be chosen then. They're coming in. And the Christmas parade, the Downey Chamber of Commerce annual Christmas parade is Sunday, December 7th at 1 p.m. starting at Downey Avenue and Florence going downtown to Civic Center Drive. So, hope to see you all there and have some good weather. Thank you. and Michael Cal Calbert, our president of the Downey Chambers in our audience.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Peton. I will now now make my way down for a couple of presentations. Okay, we do have a couple of presentations tonight. As you can see, we have the mayor's outstanding citizen award and uh we have one meeting left where that's uh uh presented. That'll be December 9th. So again, if you know of anybody who's making a difference in this community, uh I am all ears. So this this uh council meeting's mayor's outstanding citizen award will go to Sophia Rebecca Orta, age 17. She's a senior at Warren High School. Sophia Rebecca Orta is a dedicated student, advocate, and community leader who has made a remarkable impact both locally and nationally. Living with mild hemophilia, Sophia has turned her professional or personal, not professional yet, personal experience into a lifelong mission to raise awareness and advocate for those ble with bleeding disorders. Selected by the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California, Sophia has traveled to Sacramento and Washington DC to meet with government officials, speaking passionately about the needs and challenges faced by individuals and families affected by bleeding conditions. Her advocacy extends beyond her own journey. She represents her younger sister and father who's with her um tonight and who also live with hemophilia and works to amplify the voices of women who are too often

overlooked in discussions about this condition. Sophia's leadership and commitment have been recognized through the teen advocate award from the he hemophilia foundation of Southern California. And she also attended the Gut Monkey Yeti conference in Oregon, a leadership training program, further strengthening her skills as a young change maker. At Warren High School, Sophia founded a new student club, the dot point club, focused on breaking the stigma surrounding women's health and educating high school students, both girls and boys, about women's wellness and its connection to potential potential uh bleeding disorders. Her goal is to create open conversations and ensure that women's health becomes a normalized and inclusive topic within her school community. Beyond her advocacy, Sophia served as an altar server at St. Raymond's Catholic Church, demonstrating her compassion, responsibility, and commitment to service. Sophia's determination, courage, and leadership embody the spirit of civic engagement and community service, making her an outstanding candidate for recognition by the city council. And this is the first time I've seen her full resume like this. Full disclosure, I've known Sophie since she was just a little kid. And um you know what, you really Ernie, you've uh you've made uh me and my family proud and we're um we're so proud of you, Sophia. So, if you'd like to come up, please join me in recognizing Sophie, Sophia, Rebecca, Orta, [applause] Sophia, I used to know you as Sophie, but it says right here, uh, for the mayor's

outstanding citizen warrant in recognition of your outstanding advocacy for individuals living with hemophilia and your your leadership in elevating community needs at the state and national levels through your um what does that say? What does that say right there? Just kidding. Through your creation of the Warren High School uh dot club dot dot club. Yes.

Okay. You have promoted open conversations about women's health and increased awareness of potential bleeding disorders. Your dedication, service, and educational outreach have strengthened the health, inclusion, and overall well-being of the Downey community. Congratulations, Sophia Rebecca Orta. [applause]

Um, thank you, Mayor Sosa, and the rest of the council. Uh this award means a lot to me because um living with a bleeding disorder uh hemophilia to be exact uh it's often overlooked and it's a very difficult um thing to live with and um it means a lot because it not only affects me but my family like my dad and my little sister but also um my the who passed away at the age of two from hemophilia. Um, but I just hope to continue raising awareness to with people with bleeding disorders and just everyone who has struggles and challenges um to not be like unseen and um I'm very lucky to have grown up in Downey um great education and a great home. So, thank you

Now we'll move on to the 250th birthday celebration of the United States Marine Corps. The US Marine Corps's 250th birthday marks a significant milestone in the nation's military history. On November 10th, 1775 in Philadelphia, the Continental Marines were born. And for 250 years since, Marines have stood as a symbol of honor, courage, and commitment. From the battles of the past to the missions of today, Marines have remained always ready to defend our nation in every climate and place. Their legacy is built on sacrifice, resilience, and unwavering loy lo loyalty to the core and country. Whether on the front lines or in their communities, Marines embody the spirit of Seer Fidelis, always faithful. The proclamation in honor of the United States Marine Corps 250th birthday celebration will be presented to uh Marine City Manager Roger Bradley. Okay. [clears throat] Roger Bradley enlisted in the US Marine Corps when he was 17 during his senior year of high school. He spent his senior year in the delayed entry program training in preparation of entering boot camp. Roger graduated uh high school and reported to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego on June 21st, 1993. He completed and graduated from recruit training on September 17th, 1993. Afterwards, he reported to Marine combat training at Camp Pendleton, California. Roger has planned Roger had planned to enlist under military occupational specialty of aircraft mechanic but due to his color blindness he was unable to work in that

specialty. As a result, Roger enrolled in the Marine Corps new college fund program which provided enlistes with an additional stipen for college expenses at the completion of their tour duty. The Marine Corps was was then allowed to choose the occupational specialty for Roger. Upon completion of Marine combat training, Roger was finally notified of his occupational specialty, which was a 2146 main battle tank repair technician. He would be responsible for the repair and maintenance of the Marine Corps's main battle tank, the M1 A1 Abrams tank as as well as the M88 tank recovery vehicle and the AVLB bridge layer. To undergo his training, Private Bradley was sent to armor school at Fort Knox, Kentucky from November 1993 to April 1994. He requested to return to the first marine division for his first and ultimately his final duty his final duty station with the first tank battalion located at 29 Palms, California. During his service, Roger rose to the rank of corporal. He spent time in the Middle East during Operation Vigilant Sentinel where he served under General James Mad Dog Mattis who at the time commanded the seventh marine regiment. Operation Vigilant Sentinel was a response to Saddam Hussein's advance of Iraq Iraqi military forces along the border of Kuwait. Roger was dispatched to the Marine to the maritime prepositioning ship Squadron 2 to provide rapid response capability pending any further Iraqi hostilities. Roger spent a short peri uh period of time in the country of Bahrain. After several weeks in the Middle East, Roger

returned to 29 Palms where he completed his military service on June 20th, 1997. Like all Marines who have earned the title, Roger Bradley is still a proud Marine to this day.

[applause] So, I will present this proclamation to Roger Bradley on behalf of the city of Downey for the 250th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Would you like to say a few words? Uh, sure. Thanks,

uh, Simpify. I will say that, uh, I I did not plan this. Staff had asked because they knew I was a Marine to take, uh, take this proclamation today. So, I'm very honored to do so. Uh I am a very proud Marine. Uh it's hard to believe that's almost well I guess it's over 30 years ago that that took place. Um I got to serve uh my country. I got to spend most of my time in the middle in the middle of the desert here in Southern California in 29 Palms. Uh my only tour over was overseas in the Middle East. So I went from one sand location to another. Uh there was all beach I mean all sand but no beach that went along with that. Um, I think that uh the Marine Corps has been a pretty uh vital aspect of my life. The training that I got there in particular, I learned the value of sacrifice, the the value of hard work. Uh, and in particular that no matter what task you're you're faced with, there's always a little bit of strength somewhere left inside you to continue to push forward and get the job done. Um, one one of the things that's important to to me uh is that uh once you're a Marine, you're always a Marine. And uh I carry that title today and I try to live even though I don't look quite like that Marine that you might have seen 20 30 years ago. Uh he is still buried in there somewhere. Uh and uh I I am very proud to accept this proclamation from the city today. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Okay, that concludes tonight's presentations. Thank you. Awesome.

Okay, there is one public hearing this evening. Item number one, amendments to the citywide user fee schedule. that city council conduct a public hearing and adopt resolution number 25-8325 establishing a plan check fee and inclusionary housing in ley and adjusted police department DOJ fees and amending the city's uniform schedule of fees for fiscal year 25 through 26. The hour having arrived, the public hearing is now open. The time is 7:11. City clerk, do you have proof of publication? I do. Mayor, can I have a motion and a second to receive and file the publication? So moved.

Second. Please vote.

The motion is approved with council member Abson. Thank you. City Manager Bradley is your staff report. Uh yes, Mayor. We have Marlon Ramirez, our interim fi assistant finance director, who will provide the report. Thank you. Good evening.

Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. Uh, tonight you're being asked to conduct a public hearing to consider the adoption of resolution number 258325, which includes four amendments to the citywide user fee schedule for fiscal year 2526. The amendments include two fees that were not reflected in the fiscal year 2526 user fee schedule and two corrections to the Department of Justice fees that were inadvertently um adjusted by CPI. On June 24th, 2025, the city council adopted the 2526 citywide user fee schedule. The schedule included over 800 fees, including adjusted fees, newly added fees, and fees that were removed. User fees allow the city to recover the cost of services that benefit individual users and development projects. The first proposed amendment is the uh inclusionary housing in Luffy. The adoption of the house inclusionary housing ordinance created a corresponding enli of $15.90 per square foot allowing developers who choose not to build the required affordable us units on site to instead pay an inlue fee. The fee amount comes from a financial analysis that was that was um completed when the ordinance was adopted. The consultant calculated the affordability gap, which is the difference between a typical market rate home in Downey, and the maximum price an affordable unit can be sold for under state affordability guidelines. That gap was then translated into a per square foot, resulting in the $15.90 cent fee. The second proposed amendment is the planning division building plan check fee. This fee was not included in the

user fee schedule and needs to be added in order to recover costs associated with planning's review of building plan check submittals for zoning design and design compli and development compliance. The proposed fees are based on the fully burdened hourly cost of planning staff time uh multiplied by the average number of hours required to review typical residential and commercial building plan check submitts. The proposed fees are $3009 and three $31959 for a single family plan check, $958.77 for commercial and multif family projects and $2136 per hour for the third recheck and beyond. And the final amendment are the correction of two DOJ regulated fees that were inadvertently adjusted by CPI during the annual update process. Because these fees must remain at the fixed amounts established by the DOJ, they are being corrected to $93 and to $52. And these corrected amounts will take effect immediately upon adoption. The proposed amendments uh implement the inclusionary housing in lu fee as intended, add planning's plan check cost recovery and correct DOG DOJ fees to state set levels. This concludes my report and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Marlin. Council members, colleagues, any questions or comments?

I don't have any questions. I just want to note that you've provided us a detail of the fee schedule. It's a 30-page detailed um accounting of all the different areas that we deal with. So, I appreciate that. And um it it's good to also have us go through and make sure that we have areas that we should comply with more in in this case here with the inclusionary housing and such. And here we went down on fees with the police department. So, but thank you for the report. You're welcome. Thank you. Colleagues, any other questions or concerns, comments? No, mayor.

There were two fees that were decreased. [clears throat] Is that correct? Yes. Which ones are those? Uh, that was their um Department of Justice fees. Therefore, concealed weapons permits. Those are um set by an outside agency. Um when we updated the user fee schedule uh back in June, those were um inadvertently updated by CPI. So they're being reduced back to what they're supposed to be. Thank you. And we have a couple of uh new brand new fees. Yes. Uh the brand new fees are the inclusionary housing inl feing division building plan check fee. Thank you. Mhm.

Anything else, guys? Okay. I will um now open this up for um public comment. City clerk Dart, do we receive any written correspondence to be incorporated into the record? We did not, Mayor. Okay. Members of the audience wishing to address the city council regarding the public hearing. This public hearing item may come up when your number is called. I will be calling yellow number call cards for this item. I remind speakers you have three minutes to address the city council and your comments must be regarding the public hearing item only. City clerk Gart, how many speakers have taken a number? One speaker, mayor.

Thank you. Speaker number one, please come forward. All right. User fees. Well, we had one reduced the uh the um permits. Well, why were they raised up so high to begin with? Now that they've been reduced back to where they should have been, somebody raised them the year before. Interesting. Um it was already set. So, it had to be reduced. Well, that's that's good to hear. Uh, but we should have a overall reduction of user fees period in this city on all 30 pages, probably at least 10%. You don't have to do that all in one year. You can do it in a two-year period, 5% each year to curtail the burden that you're putting on residents and citizens of this city here. We need smaller government. We don't need more. Nobody trusts you with more money. There's no doubt about that. And the people need less burdens on themselves. The inclusionary housing in lie of fee. Wow. $16 a square foot. Not missing that one, are you? Not missing that one at all. And we need more information on that. It doesn't describe what type of housing we're talking about here. Is it commercial? Is it apartment buildings? Is it 10story skyrise buildings? Something you want to put in for maybe like uh the gateway cities and their smart cities that they want to

throw at everybody and put us on the globalist uh slave grid that they want to do called the UN agenda 2030. We don't want any of that here. We want single family dwellings. That's what we want. and we want less burden on the residents as much as possible. Uh the plan check fee, yeah, raising another one, but we don't know how much of a reduction we're getting on all the other fees. Are we getting any reduction at all? What is that number? Nobody knows. Nobody has said anything. Interesting. You should be reducing user fees, reducing the burden on the residents, and stimulating more economic activity. Make it easier on the residents. Make Downey a good place to live, not burdensome. So, let's reduce the fees, all the fees. Cut back 5% this year, cut back 5% the following year. Stop raising fees and taxes. and reduce government. We don't need more government. We don't need it. Thank you.

Thank you. I will now entertain a motion and second to close public hearing. Second. Okay. Time is now 7:21. It's ordered by the mayor. Unless there are any comments from council, I entertain a motion and a second to adopt resolution number 25-8325 establishing one, a plan check fee, two an inclusionary housing in l fee, and three, an adjusted police department DOJ fees and amending the city's uniform schedule of fees for fiscal year 2025 through 2026.

Mayor, I do I do have a question before we go into second. I was looking briefly again at the fees. There's something that says traffic sign installation or street light traffic signal. Um what just to get in more information what what are those fees for? So if resident comes and asks for a sign or a post with a post or without a post or street light inspection, they will be uh given a fine or a fee. Let's go back and look exactly what that particular one is. It's not being impacted today as part of this action. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Was there a motion in a second? Yes. So move. Second. Please vote.

The motion is approved with council member from Abson.

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

conduct that interferes with or disrupts council members while they are speaking. Any other conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or interferes with the orderly conduct of the meeting. and attacks of a personal nature on city staff or city council members that have no connection to agenda items or non-aggenda items. We remind speakers that your comments must be addressed to the mayor and not to any other council member, city staff, or the audience. Is there a motion and a second to file a written uh actually we don't have written public comment correct

uh mayor we do have written public comment for this um section of the agenda we received one written public comment from Scarlet Giries she submitted comments regarding the I5 North Florence exit also received public comment from Al Meyers um who submitted comments regarding Apollo Park and Kathy Paris who submitted a comment in support of item number six on the consent calendar. That is all. Thank you. Is there a motion in the second to receive and file written public comment? So move. Second. Please vote.

Mr. Mr. Mayor, if I could just ask that um staff forward the email uh that's been marked as public comment from Scarlet Jerry's over to um Assemblywoman Pacheco's office, specifically Ari Ree, and asked them if they could submit this service order to Calrance. I I too have witnessed the literal horrible condition of the exit from the five freeway on Florence going north. Thank you. Happy to do so. Mayor, city clerk Dorte, how many speakers have taken a number based on how many have taken a number? We have two speakers. Mayor,

thank you. Based on the number of speakers, each speaker will have three minutes to address the city council. I remind all speakers that you must remain seated and your numbers called. Speaker number one, please come forward. Three speakers. Okay. Good evening.

Hi, mayor. Um, I was told this is the form I need to come to to My name is Gary Chan. I live on Downey Avenue. Um, I'm I'm requesting a change to the city ordinance for the uh strip of land between the sidewalk and the public street that the city owns. Currently, they told me the ordinance requires that it be grass or DG, which decomposed granite. And I was asking why we couldn't put artificial turf. And I noticed a lot of homes have shrubs and bushes in front of their homes. So, I wanted to know how to change the city ordinance so that I can put artificial grass on that piece of land. So, am I at the right place? very happy to have staff follow up with the gentleman and we can have further conversation on that. Our community development director will we'll talk to you. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Speaker number two, please come forward. Now we can get on level ground here. All right. um raising fees, taxes, providing services, funneling money to your friends for your fun time, party time because you think maybe we need something in the city that we don't really need. One example is State Gallery. Remember a while back when State Gallery the question was whether or not they're going to be funded and you mayor of all people stood there and told them they had a gold mine over there at State Gallery but they couldn't make ends meet because the market didn't have enough demand for their product. So you were tea telling them they were going to be required to have a business plan if you were going to fund stay gallery. The businessman plan was never produced at all. But yet you funded them $3,000 a month out of the city funds. If their product was good enough at Stay Gallery, people would [snorts] have gladly have donated their money or char paid the price of admission to go to their facility. But that wasn't happening. So, you and everybody else on

the council provided the $3,000 a month. That is not a prudent uh way to spend our money at all. It's not a gold mine. There it is. if you're getting money from the general fund. Um, another thing was ICE arrests in Downey. Remember how we heard that people were being kidnapped off the streets few months ago? Well, we were promised a staff report of how many people in Downey were disappeared off of our streets. Where's that report been? How many was it? One person got up here and said there were 20 and then uh council district 4 said we can't take that. That's not accurate. So we were going to have a staff uh report. Well, what was the number? We don't know. In action. [gasps] Okay. We need cooperation with ICE. Sobriety checkpoints is a great place to do that. somebody inebriated, can't drive, and they're an illegal alien, turn them over [snorts] to ICE. Have ICE there with our local officers there at a sobriety checkpoint. Um, and stop giving uh 75,000 a year to the Downey Patriot and 33,000 a year to the Chamber of Commerce. Downey Patriot is getting their news from uh people over on Olympic Boulevard. Speaker number three, please come forward.

Hi, you guys all know me again. Um, I just want to piggy back off what we said in our invocation about being thankful for the little things in life. Well, I want to say I'm thankful to my city like always. Uh thankful to many people in my city uh starting with my director Michael for letting me be in the chamber for so many years and volunteering for the chamber. I'm also want to be thankful to my parks and wreck people. Um a job which mayor you actually helped me get that being my in your district and let me be parks commissioner which I really really love. So I'm thankful to you for that. uh my police department for doing such a background check on me when I got hired as a volunteer and you kept me on there and I'm going on 10 years now with the police department. I'm very thankful to that. Um and I'm thankful to uh just God for the little things that I'm that I'm alive, that I'm able to serve my city and I told Ben in the space center to put me on at that to help him too. So I'm spreading my wings even more. But um I just I'm just thankful to all you and my city council, my parks, my police, and fire chief. I'm still going to bug you about that. Um but anyway, I just say I want I'm thankful for being alive to serve you, my city, and everybody else and everybody in my city and my community. That's all.

Thank you. Is there a motion in a second to close public comment? Second. Sorted by the mayor. Now is the time for consent calendar items. Are there any council members that would like to remove or abstain from an item? Yes, Mayor Kane. Um, I would like to pull item number six for discussion. Mayor, I have to recuse myself from items number 7, 9, and 12 because of uh some conflicts having to do with ownership of property near these locations. Noted. Is there a motion and second to approve the consent calendar? So moved. Second.

Please vote. The consent calendar is approved with council member Thujihillo abstaining from items 7, 9, and 12 and council member Ortiz pulling item number six for separate discussion. Thank you. Now's the time for administrative reports. There are two reports this evening. Item number 15. You do need to talk about pull item number six from the consent. Oh, okay. Item number six was pulled.

So, item number six. Would you like a brief staff report or do you just want to make a quick comment about that? Um I I just want to see um I know that we there's a a future project coming in and I wanted to see what my colleagues think of about this and see if we can hold off a little bit until we finish that project and then move forward uh with restoring it a little later. So the idea is what can we table the item for to a future date? Table table the item for a future date. Well, let's put a pause on this to maybe another future council meeting so that we can So, you can either take no action or you can just choose to table it at this point.

Is there is there a motion to take uh either u no action or table this? Motion to table uh this matter to a future date pending the review of a potential project. I'll second. We need to vote on that. Okay. Motion. Yes. Please vote.

The motion is approved unanimously. Thank you. Now is the time for administrative reports. There are two reports this evening. Item number 15, discussion regarding an enhanced infrastructure financing district, EFD. that city council receive a report regarding an enhanced infrastructure financing district and provide staff direction regarding moving forward with the EFD process. City manager Bradley is your staff report for item number 15. Yes, mayor. We'll have our assistant city manager uh introduce the item.

Good evening, mayor, members of the city council. Today we have Joseph Diegas from Cosmount here who is going to be providing the oral presentation regarding the EFD. Good evening, Joseph. Thank you.

Yes. Thank you. And good evening, mayor, members of the city council. I'm Joe Diegas with Cosmon. Good to be with you all. All right. So this is a conversation as mentioned by the city manager and assistant city manager about a funding and financing tool at your disposal to catalyze economic development, private sector investment by it by investment into infrastructure, roads, water, sewer, placem, those sorts of things that can be catalytic to private sector investment. It's a potential tool in your toolkit. I'll cover some highle fundamentals today quite briefly. Um, bottom line, we're talking about funding capacity in the range of $50 million over time. This is a tool that the city could implement on its own if you choose to do so in the future. Uh, but what we are often experiencing is for cities, if you go down this path, you receive a much greater return on your money, more bang for your buck if you are achieving a partnership with another taxing entity such as the county of Los Angeles. So we look at scenarios with or without the county as a partner to the city and beyond just this sort of financing district and the revenue stream that it provides. It additionally enhances the community's ability to attract yet other public money such as state grants. So, if the conversation continues after tonight, uh next steps could include the council considering a a non-binding action called a resolution of intention. It merely advances the ball and continued conversation uh with the county of Los Angeles to further investigate partnership between the city and county in this endeavor. Just some high level fundamentals. Um this enhanced infrastructure financing district or EIFD, it's a form of tax increment financing. If if uh members of the public or of course the count council were active in in this world of public finance prior to 2012, redevelopment agencies were the prior iteration of tax increment financing in

California. Those agencies were dissolved in 20 2012. But the basic mechanism of how these works is the same. You designate a specific boundary within the community and as assessed property value grows above that baseline of of assessed value when the district is formed. This tool enables the city to put aside a piece almost like a retirement account. Put aside a piece of future property tax generated from that growth just within that boundary and just some piece of the growth, not all of the growth. Put it aside in a special fund and those dollars would be restricted for infrastructure or restricted for affordable housing. as the legislation allows. Um, key to doing that, uh, this comment of sort of more bang for your buck is if the city were to go down this path and set aside a piece of its future revenue, what you could achieve is almost like an employer matching an employees allocation to their retirement account, the county could be your employer in that analogy, matching dollar for dollar whatever the city may be willing to set aside. The county would also set aside a piece of its property tax for investment into this community. And we've seen in this county many of these uh city county partnerships. So there are a set of rules. It's it's quite prescriptive in the EIFD law. These are long-term districts. They can be up to 45 to 50 years. A new entity is set up. It's called the public finance authority to uh administer and and oversee the formation of this district. And there's a business plan put in place. It's called an infrastructure financing plan that lays out all the details. How many dollars? What sorts of projects might be paid for? What are the impacts to the city general fund to the county general fund if the county is your partner? And that plan, that infrastructure financing plan is required to be vetted quite publicly over a series of meetings and hearings all with some newspaper noticing, some website noticing, uh some mailing noticing, and uh since they're not we're not increasing anybody's taxes or adding

any new taxes with this district, uh there's no vote. But there is at the last public hearing a majority protest opportunity, meaning land owners or residents within the boundary could say and if they don't like the process, the plan, the concept, really any of it and and protest at that point. In practice, by the way, because we're not actually adding any new taxes, you don't really see protests with these. It's more just about having the the public discourse and conversation. Uh it the law enumerates about 20 bullet points of what these types of districts can fund. It's various types of infrastructure and that list starts with the word including but not limited to. So we've seen the legislature kind of promote some flexibility with how infrastructure is defined. It also includes affordable housing. Why we at Cosmont are seeing cities and counties go down this path. A lot of it is just dollars and cents general fund net impact. The idea is by investing in infrastructure you can catalyze a level of investment that otherwise wouldn't happen or happen as fast or happen as intensely and by doing so there's a sort of a present value net benefit so new revenues net of new expenditures positive impact to the general fund over time from going down this path and that's aside from other benefits potentially jobs housing just resolving deficient infrastructure. Uh the second point we think is less obvious. It's also the not just using this revenue stream but also becoming more attractive to grant funding sources and other thirdparty funding. There are about 35 actually 36 as of today of these financing districts formed across the state. Some are cities pursuing a loan, some are counties pursuing a loan in unincorporated jurisdiction. And then so far nine city and county partnerships, many of those within Los Angeles County. The example I mentioned earlier today was city of Norwok County of Los Angeles earlier today finalized their formation of one of these financing districts. The

context varies. If it's about transit, if it's about housing, if it's about um sea level rise, it it really does vary community to community. The potential study area uh so far evaluated so far within Downey, it's it's very specific. It's about 191 acres. Anything that's in a color on this map, Ranchelos amigos parcels, nasa vulti back 20, we would consider this in the grand scheme of these financing districts very focused about 190 acres. It's just 2% of your city in terms of acreage. Even less of your city in terms of existing assessed value, less than 1%. Uh when we have these levels of focus, we're generally better able to reach that sort of positive return on investment metric for a city general fund or a county general fund. Counties tend to like this level of focus when they are evaluating partnerships with cities. Meaning there's not a lot of value there today. Not much to lose by tying up a piece of future property tax, but a lot to gain if you are catalyzing a level of private sector investment that wouldn't otherwise happen or happen as fast. So, um, I'm going to hold back on going too far into the weeds, but to let folks know what's in the presentation. Uh, you know, some members of the public we often find are surprised to learn the city doesn't get all the property tax that people pay within the city. It's just a small sliver of it, about 14 cents within these study areas. So, of every dollar of property tax, the city only receives 14 cents of it. The rest of it goes largely to school districts, large portion to the county. And so what doing a tool like this facilitates is just putting aside a piece of the city's piece of the pie, but then also potentially getting a match from another entity such as the county, bringing in net new dollars uh for infrastructure within the community. This county has a policy that governs its evaluation of partnership with cities in this in these types of endeavors. So there are several boxes that need to be checked. It would

be critical if this conversation advances to making sure if you do wish to have the county as your partner that we're checking these boxes. We've had very early conversations with county representatives and and so far the feedback has been positive. Uh again, just to let you know, at least members of the public know what's in the presentation. Key to these tools is evaluating how much money we're talking about. So, we've evaluated different levels of land use intensity. you know, how many units per acre of residential, how much square footage to get a sense of how many dollars we're talking about. The the less intense development scenario, we're talking about 3 to 10 million bucks within 10 years. A more intense level of development would generate more taxable assessed value, increasing that range of funding capacity to between 8 and 25 million within 10 years. These districts continue to grow in funding capacity as assessed values continue to grow over time. So again, they're long-term districts with the funding capacity increasing over time. And in any case, it's generally beneficial for a city to get a match from another entity like the county. And again, just hammering this point where it's not just about that ongoing revenue stream that can be bonded against or committed for reimbursement, but it's also about getting more points on grant applications from sources like state grants. I think I covered return on investment, many ways to define that, jobs, housing, net benefit, attracting other dollars. A potential sort of illustrative formation schedule of this conversation were to continue. State law lays out uh process, sequence, mandated timing between public hearings. The punch line is if this were to continue, it could reach the finish line of formation we think around July of 2026 incorporating again the hearings, the required noticing, preparation of all the required documentation

uh if this were to continue. That's really that concludes the presentation. Um it's merely informational here to address questions of course from the council. Um if this were to continue we uh could assist staff in coming back with that resolution of intention that non-binding action in a future hearing and then also this second bullet point this continued dialogue with the county to continue to vet their potential partnership with the city. So thank you. I'm very happy to answer questions.

Thank you Joseph. Colleagues, any questions or comments? It's um it's it's a very interesting um structure here that we have. It's it's new to a lot of people that were not familiar with this and I'm trying to absorb everything you've given, but there was a sentence in here that I it really called to me. The EIFDs are designed to leverage outsor resources. And then it goes on to say um granting agencies award higher replication scores to cities with established financing districts. So a a benefit like that for us and knowing the 35 districts you showed Norwok now [snorts] is you said completing what they are doing. Um and that the 191 acres that combines all three the back 20 that rancho site and and the Volti building that all

correct the entire all of that. Okay. Yeah. A lot of people don't realize that only 14 cents of our property tax dollar comes to us. So, we always have to be um in the forefront of looking at resources and what's best for the city in the long run. So, thank you very much for this presentation and I will review it again at a quiet time. Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions or comments? I will now entertain a motion and a second to receive and file the report. So moved. Second. Please vote.

I think also mayor, we're looking for some directions. [cough] continue to proceed with this concept to see if we can implement it here. I want to make sure the council is comfortable with us continuing to work on and and bringing an item for your consideration at a future meeting. Absolutely. I think we should move forward in in in making sure that we have this tool available to us for financing. So, what's the next step? Do you need a motion? Uh, yes. If we can get a motion to continue to proceed, that'd be helpful. And then we can bring something back to you at a future meeting, whether in December or January. I'll move that we continue to proceed to pursue this finding mechanis um financing mechanism for the city. Second. Okay. Please vote.

The motion is approved unanimously. Thank you. We will move on to the last item of the night. Adoption. Item number 16, adoption of resolution to initiate Prop 218 proceedings to adjust City of Downey water rates. That city council receive the comprehensive study on the city of Downey water rates. Number two, adopt resolution number 258326 directing staff to initiate proceedings Proposition 218 to consider adjustments to water rates and direct staff to move forward with community outreach efforts to discuss the proposed water rate increase. City Manager Bradley staff report for item number 16.

Uh yes, Mayor, we have our public works director, M. Uh Mr. Matt Bombgardner, who will introduce the item. Good evening, Matt.

Uh good evening, Mayor Sosa and council members. Uh following up on our meeting from October 28th, staff is returning with uh to present more information on the comprehensive study, the Downey water rates. um adopt the resolution to move forward with initiating the two Prop 218 proceedings and to direct staff to move forward with our community outreach efforts uh before we return back in January uh 13th for a public hearing on the matter. Um tonight I have uh Steve Gagnon, our consultant from Rafelis uh who uh prepared the report and he's going to uh provide a presentation on that. I also have uh uh Dan Mueller, our our deputy director of public works um uh in charge of our utilities division. And after the conclusion of the presentation, we're happy to answer any questions you might have. At this point, I'm going to turn it over to Steve to present to you on the water rate study.

Thank you. Good evening, Steve.

Good evening, Mayor, council members. Again, my name is Steve Gangan. I'm with a firm called Rafelis. I've been helping water and wastewater agencies and special districts set rates for 16 years in Southern California and I've been working with your staff on a water rate study for Downey. And tonight I'll present the the results. So, first let me define what a water rate study is. It's a financial planning process that set rates. And first and foremost, we want to make sure we recover all your costs. That includes operating costs, capital costs. We want to plan for your reserves. and we want to make sure you meet your debt coverage requirements. A rate study can also meet community objectives and a couple examples of that might be you may want to send a conservation signal. You may want to make sure your rates are as affordable as possible. And lastly, but not least important is we want to make sure that the rate study is legally defensible and that it meets Proposition 218. So there are five steps in a rate study. We are now at step four. At step one, we meet with the client and ask and try to ascertain what is would you like to get out of this rate study. In step two, we do a financial plan which seeks to answer how much money do you need on a yearly basis. Step three, we do what's called a cost of service and rate design, which calculates rates and a rate structure that your customers will pay to get that amount of revenue. Step four, we present the results and prepare a report. That's where we are tonight. And then lastly, hopefully we're get hoping to get direction from you this evening to move forward to step five, which is where the city would notice your customers. You would wait at least 45 days. You would have a public hearing where you could decide whether or not to implement the rates. This is probably the most important slide. Why are we here needing to increase rates? Why can't we just ignore

this and it'll go away? Uh, the city is long overdue. You haven't raised rates for 10 years. Your last increase was on July 1st, 2015. And as you'll see in a second, you have the lowest rates in the surrounding area. Um, your costs have, even though your revenue has not increased too much because you haven't increased your rates, your costs have gone up over the last 10 years. you you pay more for materials, for electricity, for labor, for benefits. And after COVID, we had some of the highest inflation in the last 40 years. [sighs] It also doesn't help that calendar year 23 was the wetest year on record, and 24 was pretty wet, too. And unfortunately, when it rains a lot, people don't water their lawns, and that means less revenue for you. So, that doesn't help. You buy water from a water replenishment district to replenish the groundwater for your wells and that's been going up and is in expected to go up 4% a year. It's probably good to note that electricity what you pay to the water replenishment district and your recycled water wholesale costs are not quite half of your expenses and you don't have control over these expenses. I'm sure you know that you are uh planning for a PAS treatment plant and that right now current estimates are that's going to be somewhere around $127 million. So as part of this rate study we are setting you up to be successful for that because you're going to take on a state revolving fund loan. And then lastly you're also planning for other capital projects. I want to mention that um we received more capital projects from your staff that you will be funding in this rate study. You are funding about 60% of the projects other than your PAS plant. Okay. So you would like to do more if you could.

This is also very interesting. This is a snapshot in time and it shows your how what a a person in Downey pays for water compared to a number of surrounding agencies and you're the lowest and I think that says a lot. Of course, one of the reasons why is you hasn't you haven't increased your rates in 10 years. If you were to accept this proposal, you would move you would still be the lowest. So you would move from all the way on the left, you would move to the blue bar that's on to the right there. So you would still be the lowest in the area if you were to accept this proposal. This graph simply shows that the blue line there, the highest blue line is this is a national survey. It simply states that water and sewer is going up than a lot of other goods in this country. You can see there's electricity there. There's a natural gas. There's the CPI. There's garbage. and water and sewer across the country is going more is going up more than most other goods. And so I think it's another reason why it's good for you to review your water rates. Prop 218 says a few things. I I I won't read this slide. It just says you can't collect more than what you need. You got to notice your customers and the revenue has to stay in your water fund. So, as part of a rate study, we do a water financial plan. And a a water financial plan projects your revenue and projects your expenses, and it compares the two. And if you don't have enough revenue, we increase your revenue. As part of a financial plan, we include assumptions such as your capital expenses. This table shows your capital expenses. And you can see looking at the bottom line, you've got millions, multi-million dollars worth of capital projects that you want to do over the next five years. And by the way, this rate setting period, you're setting rates for five

years. It's from fiscal year 26 to fiscal year 2030. And you can see the big one there is in bold. The PAS treatment plant. That's one of your that is your largest capital project. So just put it in bold. As part of a water rate study, we plan for your reserves. And this table shows typical reserves at other cities. It's very common. In fact, all other cities and water districts have an operating reserve. And that's usually about 25% of your operating expenses. So, that's about $5 million for you. It's quite common to have a capital reserve. That would be about a million dollars. Some cities have a rate stabilization reserve. And as I mentioned to to finance the the um PAS treatment plant the city will be taking a state revolving fund loan and the state when it loans money it has a couple of requirements. It has a debt service recoverage requirement and it also has a a debt reserve. It says it would like you to hold a certain amount in reserve which helps um ensure that you will pay pay them back. And that amount is about $4 million as shown in this table. So roughly speaking, you'd like to hold anywhere from about 10 to$14 million in reserves. And that I'm I'm simply saying that because that those reserve targets describe the colored lines in this in this graph. So on the right there on the right table, you can see the the black line is your operating reserve. The yellow line is the operating reserve plus the state revolving fund reserve added together. And then the green line is all the reserves that was on the table. And then the bars, the light teal bars project your reserve fund balances over

the study period. So as you can see, what we're simply doing is we're setting rates such that you will meet that yellow bar, which is the state revolving fund loan target. We're setting you up so that you'll gradually meet that reserve target when you take on the state revolving fund loan. And then on the left on the left graph there, it's simply a graph of your debt service, your projected debt service coverage. And you want to be higher than 1.2, which is the dotted line. And you can see in the out years, you're right around two there, which is higher than 1.2. So we're making sure that you're projected to meet your debt coverage. So, we're setting rates so that you get the right amount of reserves and the right debt coverage. [sighs] This is probably an important slide too because it uh shows how a typical single family home will be impacted. So assuming 1,200 cubic feet, which is your average for a single family home, and by the way, 100 cubic feet is 748 gallons, [gasps] and a 5/8 inch meter, which is more than about it's about 70% of your meters, your typical bill will go, if you'll allow me to round, from about $30 to just about $45. So that's just under a $15 increase for the first year of the study. And then after that it shows the dollar increases for the remaining four years. So that's for your typical single family home. And the rest of the table shows the typical bill impact for some of your other customer classes. [sighs] The next two slides simply show the you have a fixed charge and a volutric rate. So it's simply for the sake of formality, it's showing you what the fixed charge will do over the next five years. So you're So most of your homes are in the top line right here. The

fixed charge is just about $23. That'll go to $29 and it'll continue to increase over the next five years. And this slide simply shows your volutric rates with single family at the top. You have four tiers with tier one being if you use up to 1,500 cubic feet of water. These are your current rates. And then it's simply showing the progression of those volutric rates over the next five years. But these rates are included in the bill impact slide that I just showed earlier. So to summarize, the city hasn't raised rates in 10 years. You have the lowest rates around. You're funding a large PAS treatment plant. The proposed rates that you see in front of you should fund the PAS treatment plant. and the most critical nonpass improvement projects and the typical home bill increase in the first year of the study is just under $15. That concludes the presentation and I'm here along with staff to take questions.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Um very thorough report. Colleagues, any questions or comments at this time? Just a a comment on the chart that we've all seen on our water bill. Everyone likes to compare to the other cities and I think uh many of us find it shocking surprising that we are one of the lowest if the lowest compared to all the cities like you've said with 29.95 where San Gabriel Valley water same bill would be 9123 Long Beach $90 Norwok 85. So um we were holding our own for so many years and because of the cost we've seen that we've started to term where we have to increase our our cost for the water. So it sounds like something that we have to do prepare for what's going forward with our treatment plan of 127 million and such. Um it's um it's very reasonable and good that we're doing this now and looking into it.

Thank you for the presentation. It's very detailed. My pleasure. Thank you for the presentation. I I I do agree with my colleague. I think the word that you used was reasonable and I think I think this is the most reasonable thing that we can do. I mean after 10 years of not raising our rates and then um and then still being the below uh rate compared to other cities. I think I think it's a reasonable thing that we can do and hopefully Yeah, it's good to see we conserve water but at the same time, you know, it will affect us city-wise, revenue wise. So, thank you. Okay. Thank you. Uh, any other questions or comments, colleagues? No, mayor. I am prepared to make a motion.

Okay. Make a motion that we receive the comprehensive study on the water rates and that we adopt resolution 25-8326 directing the staff to initiate proceedings pursuant to Proposition 218 to consider the adjustments to the water rates and to direct staff to move forward with community outreach efforts to discuss the proposed water rate increase.

Second. Thank you. There was a motion second. Please vote. The motion is approved unanimously. [clears throat] Thank you. The city council meeting is now adjourned in the memory of Bailey Magna, 25, a four-year veteran of the LA Police Department, who was killed in a single vehicle crash in Santa Clarita while off duty. And we will now adjourn. The time is now 8:04.