City Council - Regular Meeting

It having reached the hour of 05:30, I am calling the 01/27/2026 Modesto City Council meeting to order and ask the city clerk to call the roll.

Council member Scoutier Braxton? Here. Council member Alvarez? Here. Council member Ricky?

Here.

Council member Bavaro? Here. Vice mayor Williams?

Here.

Council member Wright?

Here.

And mayors Wellin?

Aye. Here. Will everyone please rise for the pledge of allegiance followed by the invocation from pastor Joel Boone, Big Valley Grace Church.

Father God, Lord, we pray for the welfare of our community, the city that we love, that we live in, we've raised our families in. And, God, I'm asking that, as the individuals of this city, are blessed, Lord, the leadership of this city would be blessed. And for all those who are gonna perform duties tonight on behalf of our community, God, I I pray blessing over each one of them. God, ask that you'd bless them as an individual. You'd bless them for their household.

You'd bless their influence in this community, and that we would be better because of their leadership collectively together. And so, God, may we serve you in all the ways as citizens of this community. May we serve you in humility and steward the responsibility we have to be a good citizen in this community. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and savior. Amen. Amen.

Thank you. Alright. Does the city clerk have any announcements?

Yes, mayor. Just a reminder, public comment is three minutes and there's speaker cards at the entrance of the chambers. Thank you.

Thank you. Do any of the council members have any conflicts of interest? I do not see any conflicts of interest. Will the, city attorney report out on the first item on closed session?

Yes, mayor. Regarding the first item dealing with existing litigation, there was no reportable action taken.

Thank you. I will now report out on closed session regarding the performance evaluation of the city auditor. The city council conducted the city auditor's annual evaluation. The majority of the council determined that the city auditor has continued to perform positively and provide a valuable and essential service to the city. The council looks forward to continuing to work with the city auditor and receiving future audit reports.

Thank you very much and thank you for being here this evening. I will report out regarding the performance evaluation of the city attorney. The city council conducted the city attorney's annual evaluation. The council unanimously unanimously concluded that the city attorney remains an invaluable asset to the city of Modesto. The council looks forward to continued success with the city attorney as we look to the future.

Thank you very much for your service, both of you. Appreciate you. Alright. Next is, a proclamation declaring February 2026 as National Black History Month, and I will read the proclamation. Black History Month is celebrated annually to promote the cultural, economic, political, and social contributions made by our black community to help build this great nation.

This year marks one hundred years since the first celebration of black history in 1926. Carter g Woodson's Negro History Week has evolved into an annual month long recognition and movement to learn, teach, and honor black history. The 2026 national theme, a century of black history commemorations offers a chance to reflect on the revolutionary changes, progress, and achievements of black Americans who have faced ad adversaries and overcome. It's an opportunity to recognize the enduring legacy of black Americans whose leadership, creativity, and innovation have shaped our past, influence our present, and will continue to inspire future generations. Black history is American history.

As we take time to look back in order to push forward, the city of Modesto remains dedicated to being an inclusive community in which all residents, past, present, and future, and are respected and recognized for their contributions to our community and country. Now therefore, I, Sue's Wallen, mayor, do hereby proclaim the month of February 2026 as Black History Month in the city of Modesto and urge all residents to commit to working towards the ideals of equality, freedom, unity, and the and the abundance of opportunities that our country represents, dated this January 2026. So accepting the proclamation will be Deborah Sullivan, president of the King Kennedy Board of Directors. Welcome.

Thank you, mayor and councilman. I would like to have my chairperson to come up and speak. Her name is Audrey Spearman for the Black History Program. Audrey?

All right.

Hey, hey, hey. It's that time again. We are going to have a Black History Program at the senior citizen center on the corner of Scenic And Bowen. This year's program is called I am black history, striving for excellence, and it's gonna be a wonderful program. We've done many productions over the year, and I would like to encourage you to look on Netflix and look for Get Up Challenge, g I t.

That's something I did a few years ago. You're gonna see some familiar faces. You will see our our ex mayor, Brett how do you pronounce his name? Brett yep. Bradville. Yes. You'll see him. You'll see Doug Rottnower. You'll see city council members. You'll see police officers.

You're gonna see firemen and all types of community organizers. And we did the dance in the middle of the street under the Welcome to Modesto Arch, and it was phenomenal. I'm gonna do it next year. I wanna see all you guys participating. So the black history program will be at 4PM on Saturday, the last day of the month, February 28, and we hope that you guys come out and support us. Thank you, mayor, for the proclamation. We work hard, and we try to educate our community about our culture as well as including the youth and others. Thank you.

You're very welcome. Thank you. Are there any comments from council members at this time? Alright. Council member Williams? Ladies first. Well, council member Williams, you're you were up first, so go ahead. Okay. Excuse me. Vice mayor Williams.

Vice mayor. That's right. Yeah.

We I personally appreciate everything that, the King Kennedy board of directors have done even last week, not being able to have it at the King Kennedy Center and going to the senior center, and it'd a success. You all did a wonderful job. It was phenomenal, very uplifting. I was thankful to be a part of that and receive something as well. And keep up the good work in February at 4PM. We'll see you there.

Thank you.

Alright.

Councilmember Scooby Brayton.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, ladies, for being here. I feel the passion, the energy from you all, And I want to thank you because I know you are strong women. I could just feel it. But what you're doing is immensely important, not only for yourselves, for your family, for your community, but in retaining and celebrating black history is just it's beautiful because it speaks to remembering our elders, our ancestors, the food, the music, the dance, the love, the faith, all that.

And it it takes a village to do that and transfer that knowledge to the next generation. And I you do that by the culture, community events. You do that by being out and involved, and and that's wonderful. So I support you with that, and I thank you for that, and keep keep the good work going.

Thank you.

Thank you, ladies.

Alright. Council member Alvarez.

Thank you, mayor. I wanna echo those sentiments that my colleagues just said. I think you guys are, you know, incredibly impactful, especially to District 2, which you guys are headquartered in. Yes. And I wanna just reiterate that what I said the other day at the MLK luncheon, and I'm I'm I'm humbled to have received the award of the spirit of of Martin Luther King's spirit of leadership.

My first award ever. Received my mom was even surprised. But I I I mean, you guys pivoted over to the senior center because I I like the the segue and the setup that vice mayor Williams just did. You guys are going to be well, the park, your your your your historic home, the King Kennedy Center, is gonna receive have has received a historic $17,000,000 investment. And so pivoting to the senior center was actually good news because hopefully next summer you'll be having that event at the fully renovated King Kennedy Center.

Two story garage doors, modern building, modern aesthetic. But that's not it. We we are gonna see programming there for for youth, for seniors, for veterans. And I think that's one of the most important elements of this investment is that those programs that are gonna be offered in that building that you guys will be spearheading along with the West Modesto Community Collaborative are going to impact generations to come. So the work that you all have been doing is incredible and I'm looking forward to being a collaborative ally moving forward.

Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Any other comments at this time? Alright. Thank you for being here this evening. I'll bring the proclamation down. Okay. Thank you. So you gotta take a picture? Mhmm.

This week. You need to stand? Appreciate you both. All of you coming here tonight to the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you so much, everyone, for being here. It's really appreciated. Okay. Thank you. Come on

the twenty eighth.

Send me send email.

You cannot

just say this here. You can't say No. You did it's okay. But I get nervous because you gotta send us the information, like the time, the day, the place. All right, next is item two, proclamation declaring February 2026 as National Cancer Prevention Month.

I will read the proclamation. National Cancer Prevention Month is an opportunity to unite the community and spread the important message of early detection, screening, and prevention. This month serves to raise awareness about making healthy lifestyle choices and underscores the significant impact of preventative measures. According to the American Association for Cancer Research, in 2024, over two million individuals in The United States were diagnosed with cancer. California was most severely impacted with over two hundred thousand individuals being diagnosed.

It is estimated that approximately two point one million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in The United States in 2026. More than forty percent of these new diagnoses are due to preventable causes. Making healthy lifestyle choices such as protecting your skin, quitting smoking and vaping, avoiding secondhand smoke, getting vaccinated against certain pathogens, and annual cancer screenings can be lifesaving. Take charge of your health by knowing your risks, scheduling screenings, and sharing the importance of early detections detection. Now, therefore, I, Sue Zwolland, mayor, do hereby proclaim February 2026 as National Cancer Prevention Month in the city of Modesto and encourage all residents to speak with their health care providers about cancer screening as well as learn what we can do to prevent cancer, dated on this January 2026.

Alright. We will the the proclamation will be received by Juan Contreras the second. Is Juan here? Well, welcome.

Thank you so much. Mhmm. Good evening, mayor and city council. I know cancer is of extreme importance to you with some personal connections that you may have along with the new construction of the new cancer center that will be here in Modesto. And throughout my remarks here, I will be addressing both all of you and everyone in this room and whoever will be viewing this in the future.

So I am Juan Contreras the second, and gratefully accept this proclamation on behalf of the Stenislaus Tobacco Prevention Action Team, which is a project of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. This is the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate for the American Cancer Society. And this project is funded by the California Tobacco Prevention Program to primarily engage the Hispanic Latino community in tobacco control policy work. I would like to thank the city council for making this proclamation, bringing to light the necessary awareness, information, and advocacy in cancer care and prevention. Now, Mary, you did pull some points that I was gonna bring up, so thank you so much for beating me to the punch.

But I would like to just say that today, cancer is one of the most common diseases and the second most deadly in The US just behind heart disease. However, today more people are living five years after a cancer diagnosis in great part thanks to early detection, improved therapies, and lower tobacco use. To fulfill this month's dedication, I would like to point out some other facts that may not be as commonly known or understood. Like you said, screening is amazing. So screening itself is prevention.

When cancer is caught early, treatment is usually more successful, less invasive, and less expensive. Secondly, this is kind of more commonly known, but quitting smoking greatly reduces the risk of at least a dozen types of cancers, mostly lung cancer which is the leading cause of cancer deaths, but it can also cause other cancers like oral, pancreatic, and even colorectal cancers. At the same time, quitting also lowers the risk of other diseases beyond cancers such as heart disease, COPD, diabetes, and even eye diseases. Now if we all take a step back and just think to ourselves, I bet we all have been touched by cancer either through someone that we know like friends or family or yourself if you are a survivor. ACS CAN is active at every level of government.

It combines campaign expertise and impactful programs of work framing public policy through the cancer lens and educating patients, sorry, and elevating patients' voices to advance policy change. The main goal of the project I work on is to work with the Modesto City Council, you all, to pass a comprehensive tobacco retail license that regulates tobacco sales and access to tobacco products to ultimately lower tobacco use, prevent youths from starting to use, and creating an overall healthier Modesto. To close, this proclamation truly embodies a foundational mission of ACS CAN and brings to light the hard work of all the organizations that exist in our community, amplifying the voice of those we serve, represent, and advocate for. Thank you all again for your time and this proclamation to observe throughout February alongside Black History Month. Thank you again.

You're very welcome. Any comments from council members? Vice mayor Williams.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you for receiving this proclamation today. And it's it's pretty obvious that you're very passionate about it personally. And, yes, it has affected my family, and I would hope that it doesn't affect other families so that they can get prescreening and get to their needs earlier than later. So thank you for being here today.

Thank you, mister Williams. Alright. Any other comments? I'll

just

make one brief comment. I know that, as you mentioned, lung cancer is one of the most, if not the most prevalent cancer. And I think that or I know there's a lot of stigma around smoking. And, many of my friend it's extremely addicting. Nicotine is one of the most addicting, chemicals that there is.

And almost to every single one of my friends that struggled with wanting to quit is they really wanted to stop. It was just so difficult. So I think that we can all help with the stigma surrounding that and give support to our friends and talk openly about it. There's so many strategies and, helps to help people that that have the desire to quit. And with a lot of support, I think that we can make a big impact on individuals that we know, our friends and neighbors and and family members that that struggle with that and want to quit.

So I appreciate you being here tonight to give, you know, special recognition to this important topic, and I will now bring the proclamation down to present it. Next is item three. Consider approving the appointment of Rajmeet Graywall as the Planning Commission representative to the Board of Zoning Adjustment for 2026 with the term expiration of 12/31/2026. Does council have any questions of staff? Seeing none, I'll open this item up to the public.

Any members of the public that would like to come forward on this item? Seeing none, I will close public comments. Any council comments? Seeing none, do I I have a resolution appointing Rajmi Graywall to the board of zoning adjustment as the planning commission representative for 2026 with the term expiration of 12/31/2026. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

Motion by council member Bavaro, second by vice mayor Williams. And will the clerk please call the

roll? Council member Scoutier Brayton. Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro.

Aye.

Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. And mayor Zwala.

Aye. Carries unanimously. Item four consider approving the appointment of Cecil Russell as the planning commission representative to the citizens Housing and Community Development Committee for 2026 with the term expiration of 12/31/2026. Any questions of staff? Seeing none, I'll open this up to the public.

Any comments? Seeing none, I'll close public comments. Any comments from council members? Seeing none, I have a resolution appointing Cecil Russell to the Citizens Housing and Community Development Committee as a planning commission representative for 2026 with the term expiration of 12/31/2026. Do I have a motion?

So moved.

Motion by council member Wright. Second?

Second.

By council member Bavaro. Will the clerk please please call the roll for this item?

Council member Scoutier Brayton? Aye. Council member Alvarez? Nay. Council member Ricky? No. Council member Bavaro? Aye. Vice mayor Williams?

Aye.

Council member Wright?

Aye.

And mayor Zwolland?

Aye. Carries five to two. Next is item five, consider approving the appointment of Michelle Patino to the Blight Abatement Advisory Committee for a four year term with an expiration date of 12/31/2029. Does council have any questions of staff? Seeing none, open I'll open this up to the public. I do not see any public comments. Closed public comments. Any comments from council members? Yes, mayor.

Yes. I'd like

to thank

Vice mayor Williams.

I'd like to thank all three of those individuals in Neil's particular, committees for wanting to serve on the city of Modesto. So thank you very much.

Alright. I have a resolution approving the appointment of Michelle Pettino to the Blight Abatement Advisory Committee for a four year term with the expiration date of 12/31/2029. Do I have a motion? So moved. Motion by council member Alvarez. Second. Second by council member Ricky. And will the clerk please call the roll?

Council member Scuthia Brayton. Aye. Council member Alvarez.

Aye.

Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro.

Aye.

Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. And mayors Wallin.

Aye. Carries unanimously. Thank you very much. Next on the agenda is public comment. Public comment tonight is in person only. Zoom remains available for viewing and for wordly translation. Thank you for joining us. The city council meetings are a place where everyone is encouraged to share insights, listen, and participate in the decision making process that benefits our community. To ensure a fair and respectful environment, the mayor is responsible for maintaining order and decorum as outlined in the city charter and the rules of decorum posted at the entrance of the chamber. I ask that we are all respectful of all members of the public, presenters, and council members.

Anyone who disrupts the meeting may be asked to leave. I appreciate your cooperation as we discuss key issues and make decisions that affect our city. We will now open public comment for items not on the council agenda and you each have three minutes to speak. I will read the names of those that gave the cards in the order that they were received. And the first one is Charles R. Evans.

Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Charles Evans. I'm a past master at Silver Square Lodge sixty six in Modesto. That's grandfathered in at the King Kennedy Center in Modesto. We sent a request to the city clerk regarding the new center that we would like to be afforded the opportunity to lay the cornerstone in ancient form by the most worshipable Prince Hall Grand Lodge for the state of California, Prince Hall affiliated.

So we were hoping that we would get afforded the opportunity to lay it if possible.

All right. Well, I appreciate your comments.

Thank you.

And they were received. Alright. Thank you. Next is Derek Castle.

Good evening, mayor, council members, city staff. Derek Castle Park Avenue. I'm a fanboy, not a Taylor Swift fanboy. I'm a fanboy of the city Of Modesto Bridge Housing Program. A little over two years ago, you did the wonderful compassionate thing and you established a bridge housing program where you would buy cabins like at Dignity Village.

Last year, we established a small 12 cabin site near the Gospel Mission. However, sadly, over the last two years, that has been the only offer of land that we've had. It's only solid offer. Last year, church in North Modesto was interested. They had a fantastic, just an ideal place for establishing a village.

However, the church was a dwindling elderly congregation and they just couldn't afford to donate the land. It wouldn't have cost much to buy but when you set up the bridge housing program, unfortunately, you didn't allow any consideration except for donated land. So the housing staff had to decline the offer very unfortunately. Given that we've made so little progress in identifying suitable pieces of land for bridge housing, I think there's a number of things that we should consider doing to improve the chances of achieving that. One, it'd be great if we had more advertising to raise awareness in the community about the bridge housing program.

Two, it'd be fantastic if the city would sponsor or co sponsor a community roundtable of leaders from business, real estate, and nonprofits to sit down together and brainstorm how to get these suitable sites. Three, I believe the city already owns land that would be suitable for bridge housing. However, it's already earmarked for future development. But the fact is that for most of those future uses, it's going to be at least five or ten or more years away. We could easily put cabins on now and then relocate them when needed in the distant future.

Fourth, it would be really helpful for you to give some kind of permission to city staff to at least consider leasing or buying property. As you know, buying just a quarter acre of vacant land is not gonna cost very much. I know you all want to our bridge housing program to be successful. I know you have compassion for our unhoused population. But the reality is that so far, our bridge housing has not lived up to what you had hoped for when you established it.

I'm still a fanboy, but let's make some changes and improvements in 2026 so that it can achieve its awesome potential. Thank you, mayor.

You're welcome. Is Juan Rosales is next?

Good evening, members of the board. My name is Juan Rosales with district council sixteen, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. I'm here today to address a recent approval of the contract amendment for HP Restoration Incorporated. While this board has already authorized expanding the agreement to over 1,500,000.0, new information regarding this vendor's history demands immediate oversight and a reevaluation of how public funds are being managed. I urge the board to consider the following, vendor responsibility and wage theft.

This board has authorized a multimillion dollar a million dollar increase for for a firm with a troubling record in the California labors commissioner's office. HP Restoration was recently hit with multiple judgments for unpaid wages and violations. By continuing to funnel taxpayer moneys into this contract, the city is effectively rewarding a business model built on wage theft. We should we shouldn't be supporting contractors who we should be report I'm sorry about that. We should be supporting contractors who respect labor laws, not subsiding those who underpay their workers.

Safety risk and corrosive environments. The wastewater division justifies the expansion by citing highly corrosive and hazardous environments. However, HP restoration was cited as a serious OSHA violation in December '23, inspection number 1672322.015. A serious violation means there is a high probability of death or physical harm. Is this the vendor that we want managing our most hazardous infrastructure?

The approval of this amendment creates a massive liability for the for the city. So fiscal accountability and the bidding shortcuts. This contract has more than doubled from $669,000 to over 1,500,000.0 without a new competitive bidding process by invoking a discretionary exception under MMC eight dash 3.204 f, the city bypassed the standard transparency required for this project exceeding a $100,000. In effect, we have awarded a million dollar increase to a vendor with a documented history of noncompliance while other contractors who follow the rules never had the opportunity to come to compete. This sets a concerning precedence for how public funds are managed.

Considering these facts, I'm calling on the board to immediately suspend further payments or work orders under this agreement, direct the city auditor to conduct a full review of HB Restoration's compliance with the state labor and safety laws, ensure any future future discretionary amendments, including a mandatory vendor responsibility report so the board isn't kept in the dark about wage theft and safety violations. Modesto's taxpayers deserve infrastructure that is protected and workers who are paid. Right now, this contract fails both. In conclusion, this board has a responsibility to safeguard public funds, uphold labor safety standards, and ensure accountability in every contract you authorize. Approving this amendment without addressing HP Restoration's documented violations undermines those responsibilities.

I urge the board to act decisively, suspend further expenditures, investigate past compliance issues, and strengthen future oversight to protect both our workers and the taxpayers. Thank you.

You're welcome. Next is, TJ Gardner. Good evening.

Good evening, mayor, members of the council. My name is TJ Gardner. I am a NACE two certified coding inspector as well as a certified application specialist with level two full status. I want to begin by acknowledging that the agreement before you has already been awarded and that the proposed amendment is intended to extend similar services to additional city assets. The concern I'm raising today is not about the necessity of the work, but rather about ensuring that the contractors proposed for the expanded scope, HB restoration, has the appropriate qualifications and demonstrated experience to perform work on these specialized facilities.

The assets included in the expansion wastewater structures and potable water well sites operate in sensitive and, in some cases, highly corrosive areas. Wastewater facilities are exposed to hydrogen sulfide and moisture, while potable water well sites require careful attention to protect public health and prevent contamination. Both require careful attention to protect both require an elevated standard of environmental protection. Coating work in these environments must have an elevated standard for surface preparation, material selection, application, and quality control. While HB Restoration may have experience in other types of coating or restoration work, I have personally reviewed some of their past projects for other such as Fresno Unified School District and conducted quality control observations.

Those reviews highlighted areas where workmanship and coding practices were not fully consistent with basic standards for any coding system. These observations are not intended as criticism, but they do raise questions about whether the contractor is fully prepared to meet the specialized requirements of this work. The purpose of raising the concern is to ensure the city's assets are protected, that the work is performed safely and effectively, and the long term maintenance and operational challenges are minimized. Expanding the agreement to include additional facilities without strong confidence in the contractors' performance could result in premature coating failure, increased maintenance costs or operational disruptions. Given the critical nature of these facilities and potential consequences of substandard work, it would be prudent to ensure that contractors selected for this expanded scope have clearly demonstrated experience and a proven track record with wastewater and potable water facility coatings.

I ask that members of the council reconsider with HB restoration on this and any future projects. Thank you for your consideration.

You're welcome. Nathan Alonso.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and team here in Modesto. Nathan Alonso from Pacific Gas and Electric. I just wanted to come give a quick update. I sent an email out to this team and to some of the management team late last year over an announcement that we made that for the fourth time in two years, we're reducing residential customer rates on the price per kilowatt hour. So a lot of the customers that we have here in City Of Modesto are gas customers.

Gas customers will be receiving between a 35% decrease in their price per unit. So those savings will be reflected on their bills over the course of the next several months. This is indicative of efforts and really a big push on our on our end around affordability, renegotiating third party contracts, finding ways to rightsize our organization, and doing anything that we can in order to create savings and pass those over to our customers. So, would love to come before you later on this year to give us some updates on, one, some general company things that we have coming up, legislative priorities, and then also some of the work that we're doing here in the city of Modesto. Before we turn any shovel, though, we are collaborating really closely with the management team here and making sure that we can coordinate with you when possible.

That way, for the sake of everybody and your residents, especially, we dig once. We do the work once, and, they get a nice, paved tree right afterwards. So, looking forward to coming back before you and, giving you some updates later on. Thank you.

You're welcome. Next is, Sebastian Jones. And I would like to make a statement before you start speaking. It is my understanding that you've requested an accommodation. We are sorry to learn that you're having difficulties communicating with us. Accordingly, after going through the accommodation process with the city as required by law, you will be provided five minutes for your public comment. Welcome.

Thank you, mayor. I bring greetings to this council meeting tonight. As you know, for many years, you know what I'm gonna be speaking about. First, it's sad that doctor King name is not fully displayed. We're going out of Doctor.

King and going into the Black History Month. I don't know how long I've been doing this, maybe fifteen, twenty years. But I need you, a council member, to make history. And let's stand if we have love for doctor doctor King. Let's not disrespect his name.

I don't think that you want on your grave plaque just your last name, then people won't know who you are. There's thousands of kings. It's time. It is time, counsel, to look at the big picture here that doctor King stands alone. Cesar Chavez stands alone.

Mother Teresa stands alone. We may be the only town in the state of Cali in The United States that Doctor. King's name is being shared by three. It's sad. It's hurtful.

And you guys know what's right. And we need to get this done and put down Doctor. King, his poor name. Some of you know, I gather 5,000 signatures. Ricky may remember some time he see me downtown talking to people and he sign my petition because I'm dedicated.

I'm just probably the only one in this town that's dedicated about doctor King because what this man has done, we can never disrespect him. We're gonna have New Park and thank you guys for finally acknowledging me and thank the King Kennedy board acknowledge me on half of my work. I'm not done. Only time I'll be done is when I'm going on. And I hope they just don't put Jones on my gravesite.

I want my name spelled out. You must understand it's very important. If you say you love him, I have nothing but a mouthpiece. Let's do what's right. I need you to come, and let's do this together.

My second is the statue. Not only one statue, but two. Doctor King, Cesar Chavez, I just think you guys, if you if you do it, your name gonna go down on that piece right there, and your kids and family members see your name. Because it's right. I need your permission to get the statute, but also it takes money.

I need partnership. Let's make history. You know, it took me about six years to fight the city for a funeral escort. I didn't give in. Captain Sales and Lieutenant Harden, well, he became chief.

That's how long I've been coming down here speaking. That's a long time. I'm not gonna give in. This is what I do to someone that's gonna have a heart and see the vision what Sebastian is trying to do. Let's leak deep in your heart in God's name.

You know we don't share no name. We ought to be ashamed of ourself. I was just fortunate to be with the forefathers that told me about how this happened. Now a young man named Sebastian Jones has been still leading the par. I thank you, And I hope in your heart, if you just look, what I'm trying to look is right there before you. It's there.

Thank you.

King, Kenny. One thing.

Oh, you've said Sorry. You missed your time.

Right. You're right, Marilyn.

All right. You. You're welcome. Michael Masuda, welcome.

Good

evening, mayor, vice mayor, and members of the the council. I wanna take a moment today just to introduce myself. My name is Michael Masuda. I'm running for congress in the California 5th Congressional District. I grew up on the northern end of this district in Amador County about an hour and a half from here, but traveled down here all through high school, playing sports.

I know I played basketball and baseball. We got walled by some of the schools around here back in the day. Since then, I went off to engineering school and then went off Washington DC and eventually became a public servant and was working at the State Department. Under the Trump administration, I worked there for a few months and decided that I wanted to come back home and run for Congress in my home district because I see a lot of problems, lot of challenges that this country is facing and that we need leaders right now that are willing to stand up and face these big challenges. Know, things like affordability issues, rising costs of housing, health care affordability, things that you all are seeing on a daily basis and that are impacting our community here in Modesto.

But we're also seeing a very unsustainable division in this country. We have a lot of infighting. We have a lot of attacks right now in our immigrant communities that are really tearing at the heart and the soul of America, and we have a young generation that is growing up in in the face of all of this, in the face of all this turmoil. With all of that, I am very hopeful, and, the reason I am hopeful is because I see folks like yourselves, dedicated local leaders that are working, to make our communities here in Modesto and Santa Claus County and across the district better to try to adjust the challenges that people are facing. I firmly believe that local challenges require local solutions and locally led solutions, whether it's from the council, whether it's from members of our community, and that the federal government and federal resources should be used to help address some

of those

challenges. That is the type of representative that I will be when I'm elected. I want to hear what you all are are dealing with on a day to day basis and what folks in the community are are asking for. I wanna learn more about the challenges here in Modesto so that I can take your voice to Washington DC and help get the resources back here to the community to help you all with the work that you are doing. So in the days, the weeks, the months ahead, I would love to sit down one on one and speak with each and every one of you, learn more about what's happening in your individual districts and what you are looking for in a representative, whether you are in the 5th District or not.

Modesto is one city and I intend to be a representative to that will will speak for everybody in this city when I go to Washington DC. So, thank you for your time and the opportunity to speak this evening.

You're welcome. Is there anyone else wishing to come forward under public comment?

Howdy, everyone. Kevin McCarty, District 1. I wanted to bring the council's awareness to the fact that the no left turn sign on the corner of McJay Street and Downey, or actually, when you're at the intersection of J Street and Downey, and you're crossing McHenry, crossing onto McHenry, where where Jay Street intersects Downey. And then on the other side of Downey, Jay Street becomes McHenry. That left that left turn lane.

Okay. That sign that's indicating no left turn is pointed in the wrong direction. And it's been that way now for several months. And I'm sitting here thinking how unfair it would be for somebody from out of town to get a ticket. Because it looks like that sign is pointing to Downey Street.

It looks like it's telling people on Downey Street that they cannot turn left onto Jay Street. It is it is intended to be telling the people on Jay Street that they cannot turn left onto Needham. That's what it's intended to be doing. But it's pointed toward Downey. So it looks like it's telling the people on Downey that they can't turn left onto Jay Street.

So something has to be done. And I imagine that this is probably something that is regulated by the state because McHenry is Highway 108, and that's run by the state. However, I think that it would be incumbent upon the city traffic manager to contact the state and make them aware of this. I mean, that would be the decent thing to do, not just sit back and say, well, it's not our problem. That's the state problem.

I think I think that it would be incumbent upon the city traffic manager to contact this the state and say, do you realize that your sign is pointing in the wrong direction? And in the meantime, anybody who gets a ticket for making a left turn there, their ticket should be should be torn up because it's it's not fair. Thank you for your time.

You're welcome. Anyone else under public comment for items not on the agenda?

Welcome.

Hello, mayor and councilmen and women. My name is Emmanuel. I am the owner of HB Restoration as you probably got acquainted with earlier. It's very strange to sit in the back of the room while your name is strangely dragged out here. I would just like to introduce myself and tell you about myself. I am a painter contractor from 02/12013. Excuse me if I'm a little nervous. Usually when I'm in these kind of buildings, it's completely empty and we're performing paint work and now I stand before a group of you guys as well. So yeah. So we started our company in 2013.

We've had the same group of individuals, painters that we have from Stanless County, a group of guys that we work with that are our employees. We also have guys from Sacramento. We've done work, gosh, all through California as far as Mammoth Lakes, city of Mammoth Lakes. We've gone to Fresno, a lot of work in Orland, city of West Sacramento, city of Roseville. We do a ton of great work for with for a lot of districts and and cities and unified school districts.

It's such a strange thing, you know. With with with all the regulations and everything that are out there, sometimes things are missed. But, you know, the guys that haven't been around since the first day, they, you know, if we we pay our guys. We do everything in our power to make everything right. You know, we're not perfect and some things get missed and that's that's, you know, that's acceptable.

We do probably like 10 to 15, you know, projects a year with cities and and cities and districts. And we do really cool projects. I mean, we've done some I don't know if you guys been to the city of Roseville. We've done that Cosmo structure there with a nascent specter and that that was a 120 foot boom and we painted that thing that bright beautiful red color and we had no issues out there. So we've been we've been doing painting and painting work for as long as, gosh, forever pretty much.

But even before then, I that's when 2013 when I started the company, you gotta imagine when I started actually working and gaining knowledge on painting. So like I said, it's just a you know, just wanna let you know that I think you guys would be in good hands with HBR. But, know, do your do your due diligence and check our references and stuff like that, which we've I'm sure the cities already have and stuff like that. Thank you guys for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else under public comment for items not on tonight's agenda? Alright. Next on the agenda is consent items. An item may be removed from consent and discussed at the request of a member of the public or council member. Is there anyone in the council that would like a consent item removed for further discussion? Seeing none, is there anyone in the public that would like an item removed from consent for further discussion or comment? Alright.

Item eight for questions.

Alright. Thank you. Thank you. We will pull that one from consent. Will the city clerk please read the consent items?

Yes, mayor. Item six, consider approving the minutes for the 01/13/2026 council meeting. Item seven, consider approving an agreement for executive team and management engagement services to the table group doing business as Neil Sullivan LLC, Concord, California for a total amount not to exceed $909,500 over five years. Item eight was removed from consent. Item nine, consider accepting an informational report for the November 2025 accounts payable payment register and void report.

Item 10, consider approving the purchase for eight Harley Road Glide motorcycles for the Modesto Police Department for a total amount not to exceed $300,889. Item 11, consider approving an agreement for Vector Airport Systems plane pass with Vera Tower to provide billing and collection services for the airport's established landing fees for an amount not to exceed a $100,000 over five years.

Alright. May I have a motion to approve the consent calendar as read with the item eight poll? Motion. Second. Motion by vice mayor Williams, second by council member Alvarez, and will the clerk please call the roll.

Council member Sklutia Brayton. Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. And mayors Welland.

Aye. Carried unanimously. Next will be consent item eight. Consider approving the plans and specifications for the 2025 Park Security Lighting Project at Muncie Park, Riverside Park and Sutter Park, accepting the bid and awarding a construction contract to Bachman and Woody Electric Company Incorporated of Stockton, California and the amount not to exceed $601,108 and we will have a staff report.

Good evening. Excuse me. Good evening, Mayor, members of City Council. Toby Wells, director of engineering services, city engineer. So item eight this evening, is the award of a project, that is measure h funded to, upgrade the security lighting and safety lighting within the parks, for those three parks listed for Muncie, Riverside, and Sutter Park. Not to exceed amount of 601,000, it was a publicly bid contract, and Bachman and Woody was the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, and staff is recommending an award, for that contract. Happy to answer any questions.

Alright. Thank you. Any questions from council members regarding item eight?

I'm done.

Alright. Council member Scooby Brayton.

Thanks for that brief report, Toby. What does security lighting consist of?

So as you walk through the park in the air the park lighting around, like playgrounds and restrooms and your pathways from the public right of way, that security lighting provides the aesthetic lighting that you'd feel as well as, you know, a safe environment. So it it upgrades what is there today, adding more lights to create the safety feel throughout the park.

And do these lights at the three respective parks stay on the duration of the nighttime?

They have settings that we can program, but it just depends on the specific location.

Give me an example. For example, Muncie. Are you familiar with the hourly light

I do not have the specific time frames for each individual park. But they can be programmed to to whatever lighting the circumstance. Right.

Okay. You.

Alright. Council member Wright.

Thank you, mayor. Toby, how many flights are we looking at altogether in all three parks?

You know what the total number?

I don't have that number at my fingertips. Approximately? I hate I hate that. I can look it up and I'll get you the correct answer.

All right. Any other questions from council members? Seeing none at this time, we'll open this up to the public.

I'd like to know if these lights have motion activated sensors on them. And also,

how

do we mount up a cost of $600,000 for lighting for three parks? I don't follow that. I mean, that's just incomprehensible to me how that can happen. I don't know how many lights we're talking about. I don't know what features these lights have on them.

I don't know if there's something special about them, if they notify the police department if somebody's walking in the park, or if they have some sort of GPS devices on them or something. But I mean, how in the heck do we ever get up to a cost of $600,000 for lighting for three parks? Is I just don't understand it. Maybe somebody can help me understand that. Thank you.

Thank you. Would you like to address the questions? Motion sensors and the cost.

Yeah. So these these lights are all hardwired, I e, so you're we're running conduits and electrical to the lights. So the total cost is not just the lights. It's the infrastructure required to support those lights. They do not have motion detectors, but they do have sensors and dusted on so they turn on and turn off. And, again, they are programmable. So the cost is labor, materials, and the cost of infrastructure and the connections to existing labor. I mean, you have the bid breakdown in your agenda reports, and you can see what's the line items of each one. And I'm happy to meet with Mr. McLarty, and I can walk him through those costs.

But it is again, the cost of public infrastructure is not cheap. And again, we're not putting in the lowest cost item. We're putting in value that will last a long time. And those costs are appropriate for the circumstances and again, providing safety and security of these facilities.

Great. Thank you very Any other comments from anyone else in the public regarding this item? Seeing none, any comments from council members? Seeing none at this time, I have a resolution approving specifications for the 2025 Park Security Lighting Project accepting the bid and awarding a construction contract to Bachman and Woody Electric Company of Stockton, California in the amount of $536,703 authorizing 64,404 for contingency if needed for total payment amount not to exceed $601,107 and authorizing the city manager's designate to execute the agreement.

Motion to approve.

Motion by council member Scutiabrayton, second by council member Alvarez. Will the clerk call the roll for this item, please?

Council member Scutiabrayton. Aye. Council member Alvarez. Aye. Council member Ricky. Aye. Council member Bavaro. Aye. Vice mayor Williams. Aye. Council member Wright. Aye. And mayor Zwolland.

Aye. Carries unanimously. Thank you. Next on the agenda is council comments and reports. Do any council members have any comments and reports at this time? Council member Ricky.

Thanks, mayor. Mhmm. I'm really pleased about the, HopeWorks street team launch. The program offers the homeless an opportunity to do a job and get a paycheck as they begin their journey back to being housed. And it's just it's really incredible to see people on the streets every day cleaning up our city and just rebuilding their lives at the same time. So I appreciate the endless work by our staff, especially the people in CED, Jessica, Edgar, Megan, and Heather, and everybody else. Don't stop. We're making great progress.

But

as Derek said earlier, we've got a long way to go. On January 15, Stanislaus Animal Services held a strategic planning meeting to address their many issues. The results were kind of shocking of that meeting. Everyone from staff to administration, rescues, and the public actually agreed that Salsa cannot continue to operate in the same way. We can't have a shelter with no spay and neuter program, no vaccination program, terrible customer service, no TNR program, no support for community cat colonies, and no affordable services for the public.

But we aren't done. So I'd like to invite the public to the next meeting of the SASA action reform team, and that meeting is gonna be on February 2 at 6PM at the Valley Events Center on H Street. And what we're gonna do is just work together to communicate our post meeting expectations to our local elected officials and to members of the board. I love the progress we made at the strategic planning meeting. It's awesome, but we're gonna be relentless on this, and we're not gonna stop until we fix Stanislaus Animal Services once and for all.

And finally, I'm really pleased that the Modesto Police Department was able to bust four smoke shops slash convenience stores for operating illegal gambling and other other illegal activities. There were four arrests. They seized 27,000 in cash. Two of the locations were using significantly expired food products to mask the illegal gambling operations. They also were selling prohibited flavored products, for tobacco that were seized from two of the shops, and that resulted in $20,000 in fines.

And one employee was also arrested for possession of methamphetamine. Smoke shops need to follow the law if they wanna do business in Modesto, and I wanna thank MPD for their hard work. Thanks, mayor.

Mhmm. Vice mayor Williams.

Thank you, mayor. I wanna touch on a couple of items myself. I I was really very, very happy to see and and notice the difference on the scenic the scenic road right in front of the cemetery. It was already redone, and it does have a nice flow to it. And it has been tested through the weather.

We've had some pretty interesting weather lately, rain and some fog, and it is it is well done. And I applaud the city Modesto and and the the department for getting that done and working that through. It was mentioned earlier about MLK, and one of my colleagues, councilman Eric Alvarez, mentioned it that he received an excellent in community service award, MLK. And I was also a recipient of that and appreciative to the King Kennedy board of directors for them selecting both of us to receive that award, and I thank them. They obviously are are gone now, but I wanted to do it at this particular time.

And then also, after the workshop that took place just a week or so ago, I was able to go to Sacramento and spend three days there at a at a California League of Cities conference where it was to help learn more and more about some of the new things that are taking place here in our in our city and the state of California, updates and other things of that nature. There were workshops. There were required classes that we're required to take to better serve our community. And I actually joined the housing policy committee and because I wanna learn more about what we can do with housing as it was already spoken earlier today, and then know what the state of California can offer and help us in the city of Modesto to acquire or to work with us or to help us do better in our housing situation. With that, mayor, I thank you very much.

Alright. Any other comments from council members? Thursday, January 15, several of us attended, as was mentioned earlier, Sutter Health Advanced Cancer Center groundbreaking, which will be an approximately 400,000,000 project in Modesto to help treat our cancer patients. And there will be centralized care. So the patients, rather than having to go to the hospital for certain chemotherapy and other treatments, it will all happen in the one place, which will be very helpful for those patients that are ill at that time.

Friday, January or January 23, council member Escudia Brayton and myself attended the Gallo Center for the Arts twenty twenty six State of the Center. And it was extremely inspiring to hear of the international recognition that we are receiving at our own very own Gallo Center for the Arts. A lot of great shows, but a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around those awards, and we just know that it'll keep keep happening. So we're really grateful for the center to be in Modesto. And Monday, we had the First Tee groundbreaking, which is a three hole golf course for the First Tee program, which is for mentoring young people, and it's a leadership program surrounding golf.

But they're very excited that that's happening, and I'm excited also for the youth of our community. That's it for me. Any other comments from council members? Alright. Does the city manager have any comments and reports at this time? Not tonight. Are there any matters too late for the agenda? Seeing none, I'm calling the meeting of the city council to be adjourned.