City Council - Regular Meeting

At 06:03PM. This will be the meeting for the city council and the successor agency meeting. So we're gonna do this in conjunction with the regular city council meeting. We're gonna start with roll call, please, mister city council clerk.

Mayor Pro Tempera Romero.

Present.

Councillor Peralta. Present. Councillor Melendez. Here. Councillor Moralonzo. Here. Mayor Tamayo.

And I'm here.

And Mayor, that should or Mayor and Chairwoman, that should note that that's also for the successor agency. So that's for both the City Council and the successor agency. So the first item to deal with tonight is the successor agency.

Yes. So, yes, it'll be for both. Mister city manager, are there any corrections to the agenda?

There are no corrections to the successor successor agency agenda. Thank you.

Mister city manager, can you read the statement of oral communication before receiving public comments?

Mister City Attorney?

City Attorney. Yes. That's okay. Madam Mayor, members of the Council, this is the time for public comments on the successor agency agenda only. Any member of the public that wishes to address the successor agency on the one item on the consent agenda would have had to fill in a card at this time. I'm being informed that there are no cards turned in for the consent agenda. So with that, public comment is closed. It takes us to the consent agenda. There was one item, Madam Chairwoman, on the consent agenda. It would be appropriate, unless there's any questions or comments on item number one, to consider the approval of the consent agenda, which is only item number one.

So for item number one on the agenda, can I get a motion and a second?

I'll make the motion.

I'll second.

Roll call.

Mayor Porto Romero. Aye. Council Member Peralta. Aye. Council Member Melendez. Aye. Councilmember Alonzo. Aye. Mayor Tamayo. Aye.

With that, that concludes the work, of the successor agency. It's appropriate to adjourn, madam chairwoman.

So we adjourn the successor agency meeting.

And then it would be appropriate to continue on with the City Council meeting. We've already had roll call, so we can then move forward with the pleasure of the Mayor to public comments on closed session items. At this time, madam mayor, members of the City Council, this is the opportunity for any member of the public to address the City Council on the one item that's listed on closed session. And is there anyone who is addressed? There's one speaker card. Or at least more speaker cards

to see. One? Yes. We have one speaker card for closed Okay.

And the speaker has three minutes.

We have Will Savaro.

Good evening, counsel. Mayor, if you can speak a little bit more to the mic, we can't hear you. I'm not trying to do a dig, just we want to hear everything you say. Today, guys are going to go into closed session and speak about the Molinari versus the City. I just want to remind the Council, because we have a few members here that are new, that the public was in a big opposition of this, as well as the Planning Commission was in opposition for these plans, and the Council also was in opposition for these plans.

Can we do an Arnold special and just drag them out until we drain them? Because that's what they do with the staff, is they typically keep on prolonging all the cases. So this way we drag it out. If not, can we just make sure we get a judge decision on this, instead of paying out like we typically do? The reason why I bring this up is, it was just announced that President Trump is not going to be giving sanctuary states any money. We have about six other lawsuits coming. So I think we have a very thin line that we're going to be able to be having the spending, the community safety comes first. And I believe it's your fiduciary duty to be looking at some of those things. Appreciate it.

Thank you for your comment.

And with that, madam mayor, that's the only speaker. It would be appropriate for then for the city council to recess into closed session for item number one, which is conference with legal counsel existing litigation as listed on the agenda. Appropriate to recess.

Thank you.

I'll take a recess. Good evening, everybody. Yeah. They're not gonna be yet. Ready?

Good evening, everybody. It's seven p. M. We've come out of closed session. So Mr. City Attorney, if you can please provide a report on our closed session items.

Thank you very much, madam mayor, members of the city council. The record should reflect that the city council recess in the closed session with all five members being present to discuss the one item that is listed on the agenda under conference with legal counsel, existing litigation. The City Council received a briefing from the city attorney's office on this one matter. There was no action that needs to be reported from closed session at this time. Direction was provided to the city attorney's office with respect to this one case. That concludes my report from closed session. It's appropriate to continue with the open portion of the meeting. Kicking us to the invocation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. We'll proceed with our invocation. Mr. Matanga, would you like to do the invocation please?

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

For our pledge of allegiance, actually, we're gonna have a special guest today, and we're gonna start a new program. We're gonna call it future leaders of Montebello, where we're gonna have a student come up from our schools here in Montebello to do the Pledge of Allegiance. So I am going to introduce our first special guest of the program today, and I'm gonna read a little bit about him, and I'm gonna have him then come up to the dais to do the Pledge of Allegiance. So today we have Brandon Michael Salgado. It's with sincere pleasure that the mayor and the city council present this certificate of recognition to Brandon for his participation in the future leaders of Montebello's program for leading the pledge of allegiance at the 01/14/2026 city council meeting.

Brandon is a second grader at Washington Elementary School. He loves learning, especially science, where he enjoys experimenting and discovering new things. He also enjoys drawing, playing sports, and spending time with friends. Brandon's favorite sport is soccer, And he dreams of attending UCLA and becoming an engineer so that he can build and improve his community. The city of Montebello proudly recognizes Brandon as one of our future leaders of Montebello and encourages him to continue dreaming big, learning with excitement, and leading by example. Come on up, Brandon.

Face the flag. 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.

Our next item of business is going to be the proclamation for the Human Trafficking Awareness Month. So I'm gonna read that up here. Human trafficking prevention month is recognized every January to raise awareness about human trafficking, often referred to as modern day slavery, and to heighten the importance of prevention, identification, and community action. An estimated 27,600,000 people worldwide, including adults and children, are victims of human trafficking. This year's national theme, stronger connections, stronger futures, remind us that human trafficking thrives where people fear isolated or unsupported.

Research shows that strong relationships at home, at work, and in our communities are powerful productive factors. When people feel connected, valued, and seen, traffickers have fewer opportunities to exploit them. Throughout this month, we recognize and thank anti trafficking organizations, survivor advocates, faith based partners, service providers, and local, state, and federal law enforcements enforcement who work tirelessly to prevent trafficking and support those who have been harmed. One way our community can show its support is by learning the signs of trafficking and sharing resources. If you or someone knows or needs help, the National Human Trafficking hotline is available twenty four hours a day at +1 (888) 373-7888 or by texting 233733.

The hotline is confidential and available in more than 200 languages. As we move through January, I encourage our residents to check-in one check-in with one another, build strong connections, and help create welcoming supportive spaces throughout our city. Together through awareness, compassion, and action, we can help build a future free from human trafficking. The next is our citizen of the month, and we have doctor Lisa Ibanez. So we'll come down for this portion of it.

Tonight, we are pleased to recognize a love lifelong resident whose dedication to service, education, and collective care reflects the very best of our community, doctor Lisa Ibanez. Great. We have a backup. Alright. We got back.

Doctor. Ibanez was born at Beverly Hospital, attended Montebello Unified Schools, and today lives in the same Montebello home where her mom grew up. Montebello has shaped her values, commitment to service, and her desire to give back to the community. Doctor. Ivanas currently serves as a board president of Spirit Family Services, supporting Service Planning Area 7, which includes Monobello.

In this role, she helps coordinate food pickup and drop off efforts, ensuring families in need have access to essential resources. She also serves as a faculty advisor for the Radical Hope Project, guiding social work students as they engage in monthly community service initiatives. Through this work, Doctor. Ibanez helps students turn learning into meaningful real world impact. In addition, doctor Ibanez is a certified Zumba instructor and is working toward offering free or low cost Zumba classes for the community to promote wellness, joy, and connection.

In 2024, she further demonstrated her commitment to service by running for the Montebello Unified School Board of Education, advocating for students, families, and educators. She was honored to be the only candidate endorsed by the Montebello Teachers Association, a reflection of the trust she has earned through her work. When asked about her proudest accomplishments, Doctor. Ibanez speaks not of titles or recognition, but of creating spaces where people feel supported, valued, and empowered. Whether mentoring students, coordinating food drives, supporting families, or fostering collective hope.

On behalf of the city council and the residents of Montebello, it is with great honor that I recognize Doctor. Disa Ibanez as our January 2026 citizen of the month.

Thank you so much, Mayor and Council members. This is truly an honor. As mentioned, I grew up here. I was born in Beverly Hospital. Raised here, went to the schools here, and now I reside in my grandmother's home where my mom grew up.

So this is truly an honor. I love my city. All my friends that I met here, my family, everybody's from Montebello. So I just got to have some of my students here to get a taste of what this community looks like. I want to thank my colleagues from Spirit Family Services that are here, and also my colleagues from CSULB School of Social Work, shout out, my Radical Hope Project people, my family and friends, and my friends from first grade on, and my friends from eighth grade here. So I just wanted to say thank you to everybody and MTA to be here and YMCA. Thank you so much.

Okay, next up we have checks. We have checks for our organizations, our community organizations here in Montebello. We have several of the organizations here today, and we're gonna do another portion of it at our next meeting. And I will start with the Montebello Ashia Sister Association. Do you wanna come on up? Ashia.

I'll have him come up,

and then I'll read a little something about Ashia.

Congratulations. Congratulations.

Yes.

Come on up. Come on up. Yes.

Happy New New Year. Good to see you. Oh, Bruins. Yes. Yes.

So have. The Montebello sister the Montebello Ashia Sister City Association has proudly served our community for more than six decades, fostering a meaningful international partnership that promotes cultural understanding, education, and goodwill. Through student exchanges, cultural events, and community programs, the association provides Montebello residents with a unique opportunity to engage globally while strengthening local pride and civic center connections. Their work enriches our city by promoting cross cultural learning, youth leadership, and long lasting friendships between Montebello and Ashiya, Japan. This organization's dedication has helped shape Montebello as a welcoming, globally connected community, and its continued efforts have a lasting positive impact on all residents of all ages.

The Montebello Ashia Sister Association.

Good evening. Thank you. My name is Emma Duran, and I'm the president of the ASHA Sister City Association. And I just want to thank the mayor and all of city council, as well as the city manager for their support. Without their support, we couldn't continue to exchange students with Montebello Nishiya Japan. And especially this year, that it's a milestone and we're celebrating our sixty fifth anniversary and we have a delegation here in April. So again, thank you for your support and we appreciate it.

Next up, we have the American Legion Post two seventy two. Come on up.

Alright.

Our American Legion Post two seven two has proudly served Montebello for many years, honoring and supporting our nation's veterans while strengthening the community as a whole. Through veterans assistance programs, youth activities, patriotic events, and community service, the Post provides critical support to those who have served and their families. Their work preserves the value of service, sacrifice, and civic pride, while creating opportunities for community engagement. American Legion Post two seventy two's dedication continues to have a meaningful and lasting impact on Montebello. The mic is yours.

Good evening, everyone. My name is commander Carlos Laros, Montebello Post two seventy two. Mayor, thank you for this honor. City Council, much appreciated. I'd like to thank our honor guard who does everything they do for our veterans and their families, our auxiliary unit, and our Sons of American Legion. We are comprised of you see some of our members here. We have from all entities, okay, from the sons of the Legion to the auxiliary and, of course, us veterans. So much appreciated. Thank you very much for your support. And thank you all for coming out and supporting our events.

I forgot to mention, I see a lot of familiar faces, especially our breakfast that we do at the last Sunday of the month, nine a. To twelve p. M. So please come on out and keep supporting us. Much appreciated.

Thank you. Thank you.

We have more. Our next is the Montebello Commerce YMCA. Yeah. Come on up. Come on up. Come on up.

Congratulate. Congratulations. You guys are great. Congratulations. Yes. I know. Congratulations. You guys are great.

Congratulations. Yes. Of course. Yes. Congratulations. Of course. Of course. Yes. Come on, John. The Montebello Commerce YMCA has long been a cornerstone of the community, providing a safe and welcoming space that supports youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.

Through programs focused on fitness, education, childcare, and youth leadership, the YMCA serves individuals and families of all ages across Montebello. Their work strengthens the community by promoting wellness, academic support, and positive opportunities for young people. The Montebello Commerce YMCA's continued commitment plays a vital role in building a healthier, stronger, and more connected community. Thank you, YMCA.

On behalf of the Montebello Commerce YMCA family, I want to thank the Mayor, City Council and City staff for this generous support and their partnership in helping us serve as a community hub for well-being. So thank you everybody and all of our extended family as well. Thank you.

Now if we can get the Sir Optimist International of Montebello, come on up. Siroptimus International of Montebello has proudly served the community for many years, with a mission focused on improving the lives of women and girls through scholarships, mentorship, and educational and economic empowerment programs, the organization creates meaningful opportunities for personal and professional growth. The work strengthens families and the community by promoting access to education, leadership development, and self sufficiency. Soroptimist International of Montebello's continued dedication makes a lasting positive impact throughout our city. Congratulations.

Thank you, mayor and city council. Without you guys, we wouldn't be able to do what we do. This money will come in handy. We were able to give a lot of scholarships for the young ladies in our high schools and the young women to further their education with their children, further their education. A lot of nine that we scholarships that we gave last year did not only once they go through the city, they go further internationally. One of our girls, we made it all the way to nationals, and they won $30,000 they elaborate. So, we go. So

they

go further and further and further,

and they got their doctor's, master's, and everything. So, we are very proud of our girls. And without you, our community, our sisters, we wouldn't be able to do it. So, any women out there who would like to join us, it's not easy, it's always hard, but we have a lot of support from a lot of our community, the Lions Club, the Rotary. We have a lot of support from our community, so we couldn't do it alone. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Next up is the Lions Club of Montebello. Come on up, Lions. I see many of you here. Congratulations. Yes. Yeah. Congratulations. Come on. Hey.

First morning.

Yeah. Over on this side. Alright. As I set up, the Montebello Lions Club has served our community for more than a hundred years, having just celebrated their centennial anniversary last year, embodying a strong commitment to service, compassion, and local leadership. Through charitable programs, community service projects, and support for youth, seniors, and families in need, the Lions Club has made a lasting positive impact throughout Montebello.

Their work improves quality of life by addressing critical needs such as vision care, hunger relief, and community support initiatives. The Montebello Lions Club's dedication to service continues to strengthen connections and reflects the spirit of giving that defines our city. Congratulations.

Thank you so much. Thank you, mayor, and thank you city council and city staff. I just want to say thank you for the support, for the continued support that you continue to give the Lions Club. It takes a village to make this work, and we appreciate your sincere help and your continued support. So we just want to say thank you to the community, too, for letting us welcoming us in all our events that we do and for showing up at the different things that we do in the community. So thank you.

Thank you. So that's Tuesday at Shakeys. Right? Yes. Alright. Monterey Park Shakeys, five to eight. Alright. Our next one, the Rotary Club of Montebello. Come on up, Rotary. Hey.

I'm good. How are you? Good. Good. Good.

Yes. You got a You're in. You're in. You're You're in number two. Alright.

The Rotary Club of Montebello has served Montebello for a hundred and two years with a strong commitment to service, leadership, and positive change Through local service projects, youth programs, scholarships, and international outreach, Rotary helps address important community needs while fostering civic engagement. Their work supports education, promotes service above self, and strengthens connection both within Montebello and beyond. The Rotary Club of Montebello's dedication continues to make a meaningful and lasting impact on the quality of life in our community. Congratulations.

Thank you. Thank you, Mary.

Don't wanna let go of the check, but okay. No, truly truly an honor to be here. Over a hundred years serving the community. It's just been amazing. Thank you, mayor, council, the city. And it's not just tonight. The city's always supported us from day one, and it's it's truly appreciated. And we look forward to doing great things with everything you guys do offer us. So thank you.

And Thank

we meet every Wednesday at the Kwaikan, if anyone would like to join us. Lunch is on Kim.

Thank you, and congratulations. This concludes this portion of the meeting. Thank you. Yep. So we'll take a three minute break so we can reset.

Thank you.

Test. Test.

Okay. I think we fixed our mic problem, so thank you for hanging in there. We're going to go back actually to corrections to the agenda, Mr. City Manager.

Yes, Mayor, Council Members, I have one correction to the agenda. For item number six, the purchase amount listed on the staff report is incorrect. For the record, the correct purchase amount for this item is 2,220,000. Thank you.

Thank you, mister city manager. So we will proceed with public comment.

Yes. Thank you very much, madam mayor and members of the council. This is the time for public comments. Anyone who wishes to address the city council would have three minutes to address City Council. And anyone who wishes to address the City Council should have already turned in a card. I believe in speaking with the City Clerk that we have 11 cards requested for comments on non agenda items. Pursuant to our rules, the first thirty minutes are covered. Under this portion, any speaker who is not have an opportunity to speak to the Council Prior to the first phase of public comment would be able to present their comments at the end of the agenda. The time now is 07:41, and it would be appropriate then to call the first speaker.

First speaker is Randy Kaye followed by Tila Gregorian.

Good evening and nice meeting you. Very nice to meet some of the residents of Montebello. I am a resident of Alhambra. I'm here actually to speak about Monterey Park. I'm hoping that your SCAG representative will go back to them and discuss this matter with them.

So the following will likely affect city council and residents close to the proposed site. You are adjacent to a potential environmental problems in Monterey Park. A proposed 250,000 square foot artificial intelligence data processing center was due for a vote by Monterey Park City Council December 3. But the vote has been postponed indefinitely as residents were blindsided about the issue, and that it was actually up for a vote. This project has the potential to strain water and power resources in Monterey Park and surrounding cities, including Montebello.

Toxic emissions can adversely affect public health. We have no idea what the long term effects from emissions from these centers will be on the population. Can someone please just ask them to, so that everyone can hear. In addition, only 26 people will be employed at this site once it is built. The applicant appears to be an Australian investment firm.

Only residents within 500 feet of the site were notified of the project. No one else seemed to know anything about it. It was fast tracked without a full environmental impact report. Even our senator, Sasha Renee Perez, has sent the city a letter suggesting that a full environmental impact report be done due to concerns related to potential environmental problems. Just whose interest is the applicant representing?

Doesn't seem to be the interest of the residents of Monterey Park. What is happening here? Why has no information been given to the residents? To date, no outreach has been done by either the city or the applicant. I was informed recently that the same owner has purchased land across the street from the proposed site of the first data center at 1977 Saturn Street.

That is very close to

the Montebello border. Some of your residents will be affected should this data center be built. Just look at videos online and see the damage that AI centers across the country have done to residential areas. Outside Atlanta, people are flushing toilets with buckets of water. What if we have a fire? We were very close to the Eaton fire. The entire city of Monterey Park could burn down without enough water. What will happen if they need more power or water than they have? Are residents going to pay for upgrades to our aged grid? Do you want your electric and water rates to go up even higher than they are? Please inform your friends and neighbors about this proposal.

Mayor, the three minutes have concluded.

Thank you for your comment. Thank you. January 1 is the meeting and I have flyers. Thank you.

Our next speaker

is Sila Gregorian followed by Linda Nicholas.

Good evening, council members, staff, and Montebello residents. My name is Sheila Gregorian, resident of Montebello for many years. I over forty years over fifty years, let's say. Anyway, I am very concerned about what's happening in our city. Instead of going up or going down, down, we lost for those of you oh, Linda will talk about that, about our mayor that we lost.

Not our mayor, our city manager. But anyway, I'm just concerned about that purchase that you want to make. Why are we purchasing real estate property when we're we had a deficit in our city? And does somebody know somebody? Is that why this is being purchased?

I'm very concerned about that. And of course, I'm very concerned about our city, period. It seems to be going downhill instead of uphill. And also, I also need to say that I do not approve of mayor Protein, missus Romero. She was neither elected by our residents nor appointed to be sitting here in our diocese by our quorum.

There is only two present when they came to sit on the diocese. So those are very concerns of mine. Thank you, and have a very happy New Year.

Next speaker is Linda Nicholas, followed by Kimberly Cobos Cawthorn.

Good evening, mayor, members of city council. My name is Linda Nicholas, and I'm here because of the condition of the restrooms at Grant Ray Park, which are embarrassing and unacceptable. Just days ago, Santa Fe Springs was celebrated on a national level. They won the Queen's Award with their first trophy. Their city is clean, well maintained, something their residents can be proud of. Thanks to their city manager, Renee Bobadilla. Our loss was their gain. Grand Ray Park hosts youth sports, Visiting teams come from other cities. Kids come here to play. Families come here to support their children.

The first impression they get is broken, filthy restrooms that look neglected. That contrast says everything. One city shows pride, the other shows neglect. This is not a budgetary mystery. This is not complicated. This is a failure of priority. $700,000 for a dog park, zero to make the restroom safe at a park where kids play. We talk about community youth and pride, but pride does not mean banners or ceremonies. If our basic facilities are falling apart, no parent should have to tell their child they can't use the restroom. No visiting parents should have to leave Montebello thinking that we don't care about their children.

Santa Fe Springs shows what happens when the city values their looks with the right leadership. Right now, Montebello looks careless and dirty. Our kids deserve better. Our city deserves better. And these restrooms need to be fixed. All our restrooms need to be fixed in Montebello, since I have time. Let's be honest. Corruption doesn't destroy a city overnight. It rots it from within. And for too long, the people of Montebello have been expected to accept secrecy, backroom deals, politics, and lack of accountability as business as usual.

This is not acceptable. When decisions are made behind closed doors, when public money is treated like a private asset, when residents are ignored while the right insight benefits that is not leadership, that is abuse of power, and no city, especially one built by working families, should tolerate it. Corruption steals from every resident. It steals funding from our streets, our schools, and public safety. It steals trust from our honest workers, and it steals our voices. When people speak up and you don't listen, it doesn't matter. But here's the truth. Corruption survives because those in power expect silence. They count on people being tired and distracted or afraid. And that stops now.

Montebello belongs to We the People, not insiders, not special interest, and not anyone who thinks that the rules don't apply. Transparency is not optional. Accountability is negotiable. Ethical leaders leadership is the bare minimum. We must demand answers and demand oversight and demand consequences. We must show up, speak out, and vote out for our city.

Three minutes.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kimberly Cobos Cawthorn followed by Rosa Tomayo.

Kimberly Cobos Cawthorn. Address is on file here in my personal capacity. Mayor, members of the council, staff, I'm here because of the situation involving the firefighters. This demands immediate action. This is not politics, and this is your leadership. I served as mayor with mayor Melendez at the time during COVID, one of the most challenging periods we had in our in our city that we faced. It was a moment that we didn't delay, we didn't deflect, or pass responsibility. Thank you, Sal. We acted because public safety and our workforce demanded it. That same urgency is required now.

Calling this an HR matter or placing it solely on the fire chief's shoulders is not acceptable. This issue rises above internal process. It is a city leadership issue, and it requires leadership from our mayor. You cannot say that this is discussed and expected to just go away. You cannot place that burden on just one department head's shoulders.

Step aside and watch it go underneath the rug. The responsibility is with all of you. Our firefighters show up for each and every one of us in our city, in your city, during emergencies, disasters, and the pandemic. So they deserve the same clarity, accountability, and action from our highest level of government. Addressing this does not mean that you're violating confidentiality.

It means acknowledging the problem, setting expectations, and moving forward with urgency. Leadership is not deflection. Leadership is ownership. So I'm calling on our mayor to address this directly and the city council to ensure this matter is not delayed or minimized. Every day this goes unresolved damages our fire department's morale, the trust, and our public safety. Our firefighters deserve better. Our city deserves better, and that's where each of you need to act now. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Rosa Tomayo, followed by Raul Ortado. Next speaker is Raul Hurtado, followed by Bill Polizo.

Good evening. This afternoon, I had the opportunity to speak to one of my consultants. And we mutually agreed that because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Christmas holiday, the coronation at the Quiet Cannon, all these missed meetings that it would probably be preferable for me to start again where I was letting the public know and the employees of City of Montebello how our chief of police got his job. So I will start again by saying, hopefully I don't have any more breaks that I will lose track of it. I will start again by saying that when our previous city manager selected Chief Espinosa to be the chief and that captain Lopez at that time with his chronic ego problem that flares up every time a new chief is elected, and it's not him, went off on a long vacation, should I say?

And then he came back, and I will go into that later. But right now, I wanna say that you need to remember what I said when the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, spoke. And he says when you hire somebody, you hire somebody with integrity, with intelligence, and with energy. If he doesn't have integrity, forget the other two. All you up there, when you hired that man right there that sits next to the mayor, you hired somebody without integrity.

I've said that you brought somebody, a cancerous cell from Huntington Park that now is spreading the lack of integrity when he hires other people. And that should that should be looked at and not forgotten. Because I'm gonna proceed on this because the attitude of some people are, well, they're gonna forget about it. In a couple of months, it's gonna be normal. They won't even think about it.

I told you before, when I bite, I don't let go, and I'm not gonna let this go. Because it was wrong, very wrong, what that man up there and that man right there did to chief Espinosa, and I will explain it as I go on. It was very, very wrong. Nobody should do that to another person. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Bill Poliso followed by Will Savaro.

Good evening. Happy New Year. Having some time over the holidays to relax and read through this bogus police report that mister Alonso and miss Peralta went to the city and filed against me. I kept reading through it, but there was one thing that was really left out, and I kept reading through it numerous times. And it was a comment that mister Alonso made to me.

And I wanna see if mister Alonso is gonna be a man and stand up and state the quote that you made to me as a citizen of Montebello, which I know you won't. But I'd like for all here tonight, all the residents of Montebello, to hear the comment that mister Alonso stated to me as a resident of Montebello. And I quote, and I'm sure he didn't come back and tell anybody on staff. And I quote, Bill, as long as I am a council member, I will never recognize you. And you, Bill, bring no value to this city at all.

Now, yes or no? Did you say that? Because there were witnesses that heard it. You, as a council member, stated that to a citizen. No class, and you're not a man because you won't stand up and admit it. No integrity along with your little partner sitting next to you. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Will Savara followed by Livan Brothero.

Will Savara, resident of forty years, a former firefighter for the United States Forest Service. I was an assisted fire engine operator with the qualifications as an engineer. I was operating in more fires than typically our city sees. A matter of fact, that's where I met our fire chief on the station fire because he was working at Chileo, which was what my duty station. We would on average have bigger campaign fires than you would normally see.

So when I bring up some of these issues, it's from experience. Now, some people might ask, I have everybody's number up here, why didn't I reach out? Well, for the new people here, Raul, Rick and Danielle, I've already gone down that road. We've had multiple lawsuits over the last five years. There's been over 75 to 100 firefighters turnover in the Montebello Fire Department.

That is a big issue. It's money that we need to work on and it's a big the reason why I'm bringing all of this up is because you're gonna have one group that's gonna say one thing, and then you're gonna have another group, and typically what the public gets is the cover up. Just for the firefighters that don't know me, I have also pushed for the medic the paramedic response for the expansion, as well as for higher pay wages, as well as for the increase with the medical. So I've been involved in this community for over twenty years just as a resident. This is going to be just a couple of topics that I believe that we need real investigation of.

We need all of you guys involved in and for those that are here, Scarlett Peralta, as well as the mayor, when they got elected, they were aware that we already had problems, and it seems like somewhere it gets swept under the rug and forgotten about. From my understanding, we're going to be having six lawsuits come to possibly nine. From my understanding, six of them are with the same attorney as Michael Chi, who Scarlett Peralta and Georgina Tomayo just did a deposition recently for. When we settled with Vernon Creswell, we spent over $2,000,000 When we settled with Renee Bobadia, it was over $2,000,000 California was already notified that we're a sanctuary state and we're not going to be receiving any federal funds. The state looks like it's in a deficit.

The county looks like it's in a deficit. We have a very thin line of a profit margin of roughly around 500 to $600,000 Now, if these lawsuits come through, you're looking at $4,500,000 and then you're going to be losing roughly nine paramedics. And when I spoke to the firemen, and granted there's going to be two sides, you might have some firemen come up here tonight and do all this praising and I'm wrong, but there's a 108 page document that I've been posting, and I'll continue to be posting. An example, one of the points is concerns of coercion on your part, which is weigh opinions of members on matters that undermine the recent vote. You expressed interest to revisit the vote regarding the reaction. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Lavam Prathero followed by Delia Delgado.

Well, it's been a while. Most of you know why I'm already here and that's fentanyl. And if anybody wants to know where to get it, you just go to 848 or get a hold of 848 and 849. Of course, you gotta have one of their trained dogs to sniff out the exact drop zone and you need that. By the way, the district attorney a while back wanted to get the death penalty for fentanyl.

Well, 848 and eight 49, they definitely qualify for that. And I kinda wondered how much time a city council member would get in a police chief and God knows how many city hall workers. And I'm forget I always forget something. Let's see. Well, that's that's good enough.

I'll be back for I've been too much time since away from here, a couple new faces, but then I'm sure they know what's going on. Oh, incidentally, they own the South Montebello Water District and the guy at 08:49 as much as told me that when I went out to check why they didn't have no water pressure because they were using it. Oh, they don't need the fire chief anymore because they got they use hot water instead of cold water. So they don't blow up anymore. So that you don't need they don't need you anymore.

Next Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Delia Delgado followed by Joe Delatorre.

Happy New Year, everyone, and good evening, madam mayor, council members, staff, and residents. And I wanna congratulate this council and staff for the work you are doing. It's pretty exciting to hear Hobby Lobby, Yard House, and a few other known businesses that choose our city, Montebello. That's pretty exciting. Another great achievement is being awarded the most business friendly city in this in this small city category.

We've applied numerous times in the time that I was an employee here, but this is exciting to hear that we were finally awarded, which means great things are coming to Montebello. Our small city of Montebello is coming to life, and that's that's exciting. I want to say I'm very proud of our chief, having him as our chief. I'm very proud of the work that's being done here in this city, and I want it to continue. Please focus on the South Side a little bit more, focus on our sidewalks and our streets. The parks look great. Things are going well. Thank you. Have a great evening.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Joe Della Torre. Mayor, he's no longer here. So I think that concludes all spirit cards for non agenda items.

Thank you.

Okay. We will move on to regular business. We have agenda item number five.

Any areas areas of committee interest? Oh, yes. Yeah. May mayor, council member, do you allow me? I wanna talk about areas of community interest. Just and I think some of the the the council will will touch on this during their a b 12 thirty four reports. But last week, we did spend, three three days in Sacramento. We had very, very productive meetings with various, departments and, met with our legislators and, lobbied on behalf of our city project initiatives, things that are important to our local community. So very productive. We're very happy with the outcomes of the meetings.

Hopefully, we come back with some good news based on those meetings. Additionally, I wanna just update the community on something important or actually just notify you, our homeless count is gonna be on on Wednesday, 01/21/2026, at 7PM. It's gonna be here at our if you're planning on attending, it's gonna be here at City Hall Staff Lounge. For those of you that are not aware, the annual homeless count is something really important for all municipalities. This is, where our staff and volunteers meet and we literally go out to our city and talk to every person that's been displaced in our community, talk to them, get information.

This is important because based on the homeless count that we have, that's how many resources we're able to advocate and get, long term from our county and state. And then also, it helps us make decisions in terms of the funding that we provide for the direct services that we provide as a city. So it's something really important. If you're if this is something that's of interest to you, again, I I I we would invite you to come. Again, Wednesday, January 21 at 7PM, we'll be here at our City Hall Staff lounge. Thank you.

Thank you, mister city manager.

Our

next item of business is the review of the current city council assignments to various boards, agencies, ad hocs, and task force committees. So we have

May mayor, if I may, I'm happy to help

Yes,

kinda help

please.

The conversation. So each council member should have a list of all the committees and regional boards. By the way, for for reference to the public each year, whenever we have a reorganization of our mayor and then just annually, we do reorganize our assignments for our committees. Our city participates in various regional boards and committees in addition to ad hocs that we have internally. So each year, we have to go through this exercise of reassigning those.

Some of these, actually, the mayor and mayor pro tem are designated for whether it be the organization. So I'm going to go ahead and just go line item by line item. The first one for consideration and we would recommend we'll go each one one by one. If any council members wanna recommend themselves based on the committee, state that out loud. Then at the end, we'll have a formal vote to formalize all the all the appointments.

Madam Mayor, I do wanna remind you that we do have a speaker card for this agenda item. Oh, you Would you like me to call

up the speaker? Yes, please.

Thank you.

We have Avec Cordero for agenda item five.

Good evening. Good evening, madam mayor and city council. I am proud of my accomplishments since I began my time as a trustee representing the city of Montebello with the district 27 years old, a decade ago. In my terms representing this beautiful city, I have traveled to Sacramento to advocate for important programs and legislation to support public health. I served on the Bug Bus Oversight Committee, which shepherds our rebranded mobile vector, Education RV.

I have been an enthusiastic supporter of the district's sterile insect technique, which runs at the bleeding edge of mosquito control and offers us a future with fewer bites. Last year, I joined the district's facility expansion ad hoc committee, which oversees the new property that the district purchased in Pacoima to expand our ability to serve the district's growing communities. This blank slate will be an amazing base for operations across the north of the district. Recently, I chaired the Education and Publicity Committee meeting to work on a long needed rebrand and to clarify that the greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District is in fact not a part of the county. Whether it's stalking the halls of power to bend ears and call for votes or working on making the district the best it can be for residents, workers, and guests to our cities, I am committed to supporting the cause of vector control so that we, the people, have a defense against diseases such as malaria, which was in fact once native to Southern California before the Vector Control District.

In the words of our general manager, there is a lot of knowledge that accumulates over the years. And I'm here to tell you that a decade is a good start. In my upcoming term, should City Council be generous enough to grant me four more years of public service, I intend to run for office at the Board of Trustees. This is a three year commitment and it is long overdue. I hope to continue doing my part to keep this district safe with your confidence. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Mayor, council members I'll proceed. Thank thank you. The the first, board is the County Of Los Angeles Sanitation District. This one by, by default has to be the mayor, and then the alternate is the mayor pro tem. So for the record, it'll be mayor Tamayo as the count as the representative and mayor pro tem Romero as the alternate. The second board assignment, likewise, also, it's by default, the mayor and the mayor pro tem, is the Los Angeles County City Selection Committee. Mayor, you'll serve as the

Yes. I

will. The the next one is, is at the discretion of the council. Who you want to appoint? The Sangria Valley Council of Government.

Any nominations for that committee?

I'll nominate councilmember Romero. And if no one else wants to serve as alternate, I can serve as alternate.

Okay. Mayor Pro Tem, do you accept?

Okay.

So we have, Mayor Pro Tem Romero as the the representative and then council member Procter as the alternate. The next committee, the next assignment is the capital projects committee. This is for the Alameda Corridor East Authority.

Mayor, if I may, I would like to withdraw my representation of this committee, and I think it would actually be appropriate for the the person that also does the SGP cog as it's kind of similar to also be part of a part of this committee as well.

Yeah. Council member, Melanes brings up a very good point. They do work in tandem. It it we serve working on similar issues. So, yeah, it would be probably prudent to have the same representatives as well. But, again, up to your consideration.

Thank you.

You okay with that? Everybody's okay with that? No?

Oh, you you wanna make every first one there.

Okay. Do we want

And I'm not able either because of work commitments.

So Okay. Does anybody wanna nominate a volunteer for this one? No? Okay. So that kinda leaves

the the mayor and council member. We need some volunteers.

Okay. Just a reminder, we we we can appoint a representative and an alternate. So would you be open, mayor, and then council member Alonso? No? Nobody?

No. Thank you.

No.

Okay. I will take a

I guess. Yeah.

You'll do okay.

Ask the appoint the representative. Okay. And then for the alternate?

I will do alternate. Oh, you'll do it. Councilmember Peralta. Okay. Thank The

next one is the Gateway Cities Council of Government.

I would like to stay on that one.

Okay. And for, I don't see anybody else. And for the alternate, anybody who wants to volunteer?

No.

No. I'm looking at you, council member Orlando. No? No? No? Nobody? Okay. I don't know if we can just can we just go Arnold, can we just go forward without an alternate? Right. Okay. Okay. There you go. No alternate for that one. Independent Cities Association. Nobody?

Since it's 7PM, I can make that work.

Okay. And for the representative, is council member Peralta the alternate? Any nominees? Okay. We don't see anybody, so I think we'll also skip that one. Okay? The Montebello Chamber of Commerce. This one meets every fourth Wednesday at 4PM.

Oh. I can take it.

Any interest on an alternate from anybody? I don't see anybody, so we'll go ahead and skip that one. League of California cities for the representative.

And

this one?

I'll go ahead and unmute myself.

Okay. Any interest on an alternate for this one?

Okay.

Nobody? We'll go ahead and skip that one as well. Los Angeles County Vector Control District.

So I will nominate, Eric Cortez.

Okay. Everybody's okay with that? Okay. And this one, we don't have an alternate on this. Anybody has an entrance, we'll go ahead and leave it vacant as well. Okay? The Southeast Area Animal Control, Siaka.

Also, I'd like to stay on the commission.

That's, Mayor Pro Temeromero. For the representative, any alternates? Anybody?

He can put me as an alternate.

That's council member Alonso. The next one is Southern California Association of Government, SCAC. Any interest for as a representative?

I I'll go ahead and, be the representative.

Okay. That's, council member Peralta. Any interest on the alternate? Not Brazil. Okay. Councilmember Landis? That does it for the regional boards. And we also have ad we have ad hocs and task force.

Our city manager, why don't we get a motion on these? Okay. So at this time, madam mayor, with those those council members and member of the audience designated, I think it would be appropriate for the council entertain a motion to ratify all those appointments.

Can I get a motion, to approve the appointed, members to the City Council Regional Board assignments? I'll motion to approve. A second.

I'll second.

We do roll call.

And roll call.

Mayor Pro Tem Romero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council Member Melendez. Aye. Council Member Alonzo? Aye. Mayor Tomayo?

Aye. The item passes. So we'll move on to the ad hoc and task force assignments?

Yes, mayor. The first one is, Shia Sisters City Association. You're currently the member for that. Any anybody wanna nominate themselves, or do you wanna stay?

I would like to stay on a Shia.

K. Everybody I think everybody's okay with that. The next one is Sister City Association. It's currently council member Melendez. Anybody interested on that one?

So

this one hasn't met, like, last didn't meet at all

last It's my understanding. They don't meet often.

I don't know if it's

I would say as a formality, maybe we appoint somebody, and then we're I I long term, I think we wanna come back and and clean up some of these ad hoc committees. But in the interest of these being formally recognized in our city, I would recommend somebody get appointed. You're fine? Mhmm. Mayor Pro Tem. The next one is the innovating commerce serving committee communities ad hoc, and that's currently council member Melendez.

I think that one's mayor mayor Pro Tem. Okay.

Well, there you go. So, mayor mayor Pro Tem on that one. Okay?

Yes. I'll take that one.

The joint school district ad hoc.

I'll take it.

Great. Yeah. Okay. Anybody for the alternate on that one? Okay.

The next one is the Washington Gold Line Coalition that's currently council member Alonso.

Yeah. I'll take it.

Okay.

Everybody okay. Council member Orlando stays. The next one is, Adventist White Memorial Ad Hoc Committee. It's currently, council member Melendez with the alternate being Peralta.

I can serve as

that one. Yeah.

I'll stay as alternate.

They'll stay the same. Next one is economic development and workforce development ad hoc committee. It's currently, council member Peralta, and then mayor is the alternate.

I'd like to remain on that.

It'll remain as alternate.

Okay. They'll stay the same. The the last one is, the Olympics ad hoc committee, and that's currently council member, Melendez, and then the alternate is, mega pro tem.

I can sit on that one.

Okay. Pro tem? Okay. Okay. They'll stay the same. You want a motion?

Yes. Okay.

Yes. So if I could get a motion to approve the appointees for the ad hoc and task force assignments, please.

I like to make a motion.

I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Can we get roll call?

Mayor Pro Tempero.

Aye.

Council Member Peralta.

Aye.

Council member Melendez? Aye. Council member Alonso? Aye. Mayor Tomayo?

Aye. That item passes.

Mayor, the next next item on the regular agenda is adopt resolution number 26 dash zero four approving the purchase and sale agreement for the purchase of real property located at 860 Truck Way. Making a presentation is director of transit, John Soraya.

Good evening, Mayor Chamayo and honorable members of the City Council. This evening, we have an item before you to acquire land located at 860 Truck Way. We do have a presentation here for your review. So 860 Truckway is a primarily industrial area. It's either a two minute walk or a four minute drive from our current transportation facility.

The acquisition here is going to cost us approximately $2,220,000.00220000000 dollars. We've made we've recently made some strategic financial decisions recently doing some Prop A exchanges with our public works, and we also have an item this evening before you for consideration as well with the city of Pico Rivera. These Prop A exchanges are going to generate an additional $1,550,000 for our enterprise fund, which is important to note, This transportation department does not operate off of the City's general fund. We do operate off of a enterprise fund. Our enterprise fund currently does have a fairly robust reserve at about $55,900,000 with $27,000,000 in cash reserves.

In addition to this exchange, we've also entered into an agreement with Clean Energy, which helps us provide the CNG to our buses CNG fuel that helps fuel our CNG buses. So over a five year period, this agreement is going to help us generate an additional $1,650,000 So for a total of over the next five years, this Transportation Department will realize an increase in $3,200,000 which will cover the cost for the acquisition of this land. So why are we acquiring this land? The purpose it's laid out here to provide a location for a permanent hydrogen fueling station that supports Montebello bus lines zero emission facility and fleet transition plan. If we go to Slide two, please.

So just to give a little bit of a background, back in 2018, the California Air Resource Board approved innovative clean transit regulations. What these regulations required was for public transit agencies to make a gradual transition to zero emission buses by the year 2040. So in alignment with the ICT regulations in October 2021, the city approved Montebello bus line zero emission bus rollout plan, which helps guide MBL's transition from conventional transit buses to fuel cell electric buses by 2040. Then in October 2024, the city entered into an agreement with the Center for Transportation and the Environment, CTE for short, to help further guide MBL's activities specific to our zero emission bus facilities and fleet transition plan. Just recently in December 2025, Montebello bus lines, we received our first three hydrogen fuel cell electric buses.

The challenge that Montebello bus lines and other transit agencies throughout the state are experiencing is that the majority of us are landlocked. So as CTE came in and began to conduct some analysis of our current existing facilities and premises, what they determined was our existing facilities, our existing properties cannot safely accommodate permanent hydrogen fueling infrastructure as required for this transition. So as a result of that, we began to conduct an analysis of the local area and we were able to identify parcel of land that's within close proximity of the transportation facility and premises. Next slide please. So 860 Truckway Montebello, California.

This is a preview of what it will look like once the property has been demoed and cleared. It's approximately 22,176 square feet or a half an acre of industrially zoned parcel of land. What this provides to us is that it's compatible with the surrounding industrial uses. It's adequate space that's required for setbacks and circulations for our buses to be able to enter and exit safely as well as the hydrogen refueling vendor who will be providing the hydrogen for us. Again, as I shared previously, it's close to Montebello bus lines existing operations, either a two minute drive or a four minute walk from our current facility.

And again, what makes this property unique, when you begin to look at the hydrogen fueling locations throughout Southern California, our particular area here in the San Gabriel Valley, it is a hydrogen desert. So for us in order to be able to provide in order for us to be able to refuel currently, we would either have to travel to Torrance, to South Pasadena or to the city of Baldwin Park. The challenges with these locations is these locations aren't necessarily equipped to accommodate heavy industrial vehicles like our 40 foot buses. What this particular property provides us here is, it allows for us a long term operational control and future expansion. What that means is that it allows us actually to enter into the retail market and provide a twenty four hour accessible location so that not only light duty vehicles will have the ability to refuel here locally, but also other heavy duty vehicles such as buses or trash trucks.

So what that also does for us, again, it's another strategic financial move. It allows us to be able to move to a point where these will potentially be cost neutral investments because of the ability for us to be able to move into retail. We will have the ability to recover our costs long term with this land acquisition here. So that concludes my presentation. I am available for any comments or questions this evening. City Council.

Mayor, council members, if I just add an excellent presentation by, director Soria and and great leadership on this department. As as you consider this item, this is really as a municipality, we we have a lot of responsibilities. Right? Obviously making sure that our streets are clean, that everybody's safe, that, you know, our parks are maintained, all that. That's all great.

We have to provide municipal services, but we are very unique in that we have the third largest transit system in LA County. What that means is that we're actually responsible for providing transportation to many other municipalities, communities. A lot of folks rely on us to get them home on a daily basis from point a to point z. And so what we have to do as a city, we have to do long term planning. So this is really an investment on one of our most important infrastructure, one of the most important services that we provide. We layer that with the fact that we are in California. We also have a lot of state mandates. We have federal mandates that we have to adhere to. So, this is something that, you know, we're planning ahead. We're making an investment.

We're facilitating our infrastructure that we're going to need in the future. And as director Soraya mentioned, financially, we are able to make this commitment. And then this is something that's gonna pay for itself in the long run. Thank you for consideration.

And, mayor, members of the council, I understand we do have one public comment card turned in for this item.

Yes, madam mayor. We do have one speaker, and we have Linda Nicholas for agenda item number six.

My question was how it was going to be funded. And I'm glad to hear that it's coming from the transit, and it's not coming from our general fund, which is great. My question would be, who negotiated the purchase price? I think it's a little high. It's a dead end property. And I think you could probably have gotten a little bit less for what the real estate and the amount I think it could have been under the $2,000,000 to be honest with you. But it looks like a great location. And adding to the $2,200,000 that you're going to use to purchase it, it's probably going to cost another $1,000,000 to demolish and rebuild it easily. So that's a lot of money. I'm glad they have their own budget, and I'm glad it's not coming out of our general fund.

It looks like a very good project. So I think I'm very happy to hear that it's not coming out of our general fund, because I'm worried that we're not going to get federal funding going forward. So please be very prudent in how you spend the money. And I'm sorry, Ms. Mayor, that your team was not very, very working with you. I've never in all the years I've been coming to the council, I've never seen people not wanna be on a committee and not work with the mayor. I was that was very sad that they Ma'am, you're speaking

not on this topic.

I understand that, but I'm sure I I feel bad for the mayor because I'm sorry, guys. You are supposed to be supporting her.

Thank you for your comments.

That brings it up to the council level for a motion on this item, item number six.

Actually, I have some questions on it.

Yes. Before, we have the vote, questions, please.

Excuse me. Do you wanna speak on this item?

There there was no car turned in, mister city clerk? No.

No. No car. No car turned in.

Back to the council level.

Yes, please. So before we take the vote, any questions from council?

I have a question. Thank you, mayor. Thank you for the presentation, director. There's a so I have a couple of questions. One, in regards to the total pricing, it kinda goes with to what the resident said as well.

Is the 2.2 mil just based on the the property itself? And what's what's the additional cost that we're looking into aside from the actual purchase, whether it's demolition, any potential prep costs, any environmental remediation? And then, also, is this item contingent on item number 18 passing as well or is it just completely separate issues?

Thank you Councilmember for those questions. Just to answer your last question there, no it is not contingent. We do have ample dollars in our reserve fund to be able to fund this particular land acquisition. As it relates to the actual property, so the dollar amount that you see there this evening that is specific to the land acquisition itself. We are working through the process of identifying vendors that would assist with the demolition of the property.

Demo is going to be anywhere between 80,000 to $100,000 There may likely be some remediation required just because a potential asbestos or lead from paint that was there on a previous facility. We will work through those as well. But we do have ample dollars to be able to address those needs. Part of this acquisition was that a phase one environmental study was conducted and there were no environmental concerns that were raised in

that report. And this is not subject to the surplus land act or anything like that, right? No. No. Any

more questions? Okay. I'll call for a motion and a second on this item.

Okay. I'll make a motion to approve.

I'll second. And roll call, please.

Mayor Patan Romero?

Aye.

Councilor Peralta? Aye. Councilor Melendez? Aye. Councilor Morlanzo? Aye. Mayor Tomayo?

Aye. This item passes.

Mayor, the the next item is item number seven, acceptance of the Fire Station 56 remodeling project Notice of completion. Presentation will be given by director of public works. Cesar Roldan.

Thank you very much, mister city manager, council, mayor, mayor Pro Tem, members of the audience, and city staff. Thank you for the opportunity. I just wanted to highlight some of the work that our staff did at Fire Station fifty six. Next slide, please. So Fire Station fifty six is located at 1166 South Greenwood Avenue.

You know, we wanna thank the Community Development Department for providing us with Community Development Block Grant funds to remove and replace a roof that was in need of repair for a long, long time. The contractor was awarded certified roofing applicators. They did a fantastic job. And this addressed several issues including major leaks on the roof. Next slide, please.

So here are a couple of pictures. We went ahead and did this. If you could see that the roof is a white coating. So this is another reuse of an environmentally sensitive product that allows it to cool down the building itself instead of the prototypical black roof. The white roofs are utilized for us to, you know, save energy and, you know, pretty much conduct, you know, business and save a lot on, you know, heating in the summer or heating in the winter and, you know, HVAC in the summer.

So we also went ahead and replaced the HVAC units and so now the firefighters are glad to have nice cool or warm when it's cold outside. Next slide, please. So the original awarded amount was 779,000 and change. Additional change orders were made because some of the roof needed to also be replaced, some of the underlining. And so the project went total project cost is $7.79 and 70¢. So there was an original cost savings of $3.00 8. That concludes my presentation. Thank you very much.

Any questions from council?

Yeah. Mayor councilor, before you consider, just want to add or just really want to thank staff finance, our planning department. Couple of of notes on on this project. This this issue with the roof at Station 56 is is something that was ongoing for many, many years even before my my tenure. There was significant issues with the roof, the AC as as as the director mentioned, obviously, affects the working conditions for our firefighters.

So this was kinda something that was in consideration. I I and when I think staff, I wanna thank them in the sense that, originally, this was gonna be paid through our general fund. It was gonna be a significant impact that was gonna be paid, and and and it was gonna so what what we did is we really did an internal analysis, figured it out, made adjustments in terms of what the project that what was intended to be, how it's gonna play out, and and our our staff did an incredible job. And, thankfully, this project was being is being funded and was completed using federal funds, and we didn't really touch our general fund for the most part. So thank you, staff, for, you know, helping us out on this. This is a big win for the community and our firefighters, and and it was a long time coming. So thank you.

Any questions? Comments? So, again, I just wanna point out how this was the use of federal funds. CDBG is a community development block grant. It comes from the federal government. So, again, we didn't use our general fund money on this project. And it came in slightly under budget, but under budget. So great job. Thank you. So I'll call for a motion and a second, please. I'll motion to approve.

I'll second.

Roll call.

Mayor Bertrand Romero. Aye. Councilmember Peralta. Aye. Councilmember Melendez. Aye. Councilmember Alonso. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

And I vote aye. This item passes.

Next is the consent agenda, madam mayor, if I may. This is time for the consent agenda. These will be items number eight through 21. Eight through 21. All these matters under the consent agenda are considered to be routine. Any items a member wishes to discuss, including any item public submitted speaker cards for, which I do not believe we have any speaker cards.

We have no speaker cards. Thank you.

All other items may be approved in a single motion. Such approval will also waive the reading of any ordinance. And I will then hold the council. Sorry about that. We'll start tonight with Mayor Pro Tem Romero. Do you have any items on consent that you wish to pull?

No. Thank you.

Council Member Peralta.

None.

Thank you. Council Member Melendez. Yes. Item number 16. 15. 16. Okay. Council

Member Alonzo. No items. Mayor Tamayo.

No items.

Thank you. It'd appropriate to entertain a motion to approve all other items. I'll make a motion.

I'll second.

We'll take the roll, please.

Mayor Procter Romero?

Aye.

Councillor Member Peralta? Aye. Councillor Member Melendez?

Aye.

Councillor Member Alonzo? Aye. Mayor Tamayo?

Aye. This item passes.

It takes us to the one item pulled by council member

Melendez. Thank you. Jay, just a couple of questions on this item. I know this was previously approved in the fall, but in regards to the amount here, have all the locations where the ADAs are or, you know, where the projects are gonna be repaired, have I have they been identified? And I just bring this question.

Just asking because I know there's you know, sometimes there's some litigation or some in regards to streets that are not ADA compliant. I just wanna see if those got taken into consideration of anything that might have gotten approved after that. Any clarification on that would be great.

Thank you very much, council members. So for the most part, all sidewalks have been identified, you know, plus or minus. You know, there's 15% contingency that we could always utilize for any unforeseen areas that might come up. The reality is that the funding that's allocated for this fiscal year hits a percentage of the city, but not in its entirety. We're primarily focusing on sidewalks themselves versus, like, ADA ramps, curb and gutters, things of that nature.

So, no, if there is a specific location, you know, we could always discuss that with the city manager. And, obviously, the contractor that we're hopefully gonna choose tonight, we'll be working with them to make sure that we hit a lot of the priority areas, especially on Beverly and Montebello and things like that where a lot of the sidewalk is lifted due to our trees.

And I guess city manager, well, the question would be, like, what some of the, you know, some of the street some of the streets haven't come up in, you know, some of the conversations there. Are they also gonna be are those gonna be prioritized just to avoid future litigation or future issues that, you know, we're not being compliant?

Yeah. I I mean, I I would say just generally speaking, we we try to focus on the streets that are prone to have higher incidents where we have more more claims. So so, yeah, I I I generally speaking, we do focus on those streets that we we we what we consider problem areas. Thank you.

Okay. That concludes my questions.

Do we get a motion and a second on this item?

I'll make the motion.

I have a second.

Roll call, please.

Mayor Procter Romero? Aye. Councilmember Peralta? Aye. Council member Melendez? Aye. Council member Alonso? Aye. Mayor Tamayo?

Aye. And this item passes.

AB

Okay. We'll yep. We'll move on to our AB 2,034 travel reports. Anybody?

Yeah. I attended the Contract Cities legislative Sacramento tour. Every year, Contract Cities has this conference to get cities together to set their policy agenda for the upcoming year for the legislative session. So part of the sessions were some of the members coming to speak with us to discuss, you know, issues that are important to us, whether it's public safety, affordable housing, homelessness, and just various issues that happen not just here in Montebello but throughout the region. And then we also have workout sessions where we prioritize items that we feel are of the most important and pressing.

And yeah, it's a great way to set up the our policy agenda for the year. So I attended a few days and as well with some of my colleagues, and there were also some meetings that were both with senator Archuleta and our assembly member Mark Gonzales amongst other offices as well. You.

Thank you.

Yes. I attended California Contract Cities Conference as well. We discussed common issues that are relevant in our communities, essentially kind of a powwow that we have with other cities that we discuss things that are working. And there are cities and things that aren't working, and just kind of come together with different ideas of how we can make those things work. And then also discussing promoting legislatures that allow our cities to exercise local control and address the needs of our community.

And as council member Melendez said, discussing homelessness, health issues, public safety, those things. And also, yes, we met with Assembly Member Mark Gonzales and just discussing the different things that are going on in our city requesting some more grant support for the funding of the Brush Wild Fire Land Station up on the hill and we feel pretty confident with that. So, we're appreciative of support. We also met with Senator Archuleta and just gave him some updates on what's happening in our community. One of the updates is the the Bluff Bluff Road fencing project that should be completed towards the end of this month.

So just thanking our our assembly member and senator for their support and and opening the dialogue for continued support.

Thank you. I also attended, the twenty twenty six Sacramento legislative tour with the California Contract Cities Association, and this conference provides an opportunity to engage directly with our state leaders and legislators to address issues affecting our city. We met specifically also in addition to our state leaders with the California Housing and Community Development Agency, which is the state agency for housing. And we talked about our housing plan with them directly. That was a great meeting.

And again, as previously was mentioned, we met with our state leaders. But this is an opportunity to advocate for Montebello at the state level, to advocate for our priorities and strengthening the partnerships that will benefit our residents in, this year ahead. Anything? So I believe that concludes our AB, 2034 travel.

Councilor Oroz? Yeah. For councilor Oroz, I do have two. The first one is getting council consensus for the city of Montebello to enter into a partnership with Baby2Baby. Baby2Baby is a nonprofit organization that works with different types of entities, including local cities, to provide cities with access to formula, diapers, wipees, clothes, as well as other essential resources.

I've had an opportunity to work with them in the past. They've supported past events here in the city. So it would be great for the city to actually have a formalized partnership so that future events we are able to provide access to these necessities for our working families. Additionally to that, another program that I would love for

the city

to consider is actually having, they are just baby baskets that are provided to new families or new mothers. They basically can come to the city, provide evidence that they reside in the city, and those new baskets would include just essential items that new families would need, including any type of programming or resources that we could include into into these baskets. Other cities have done this, and this is something that I would definitely love the city of Bonne Bella to consider as a way to provide more access to our new new mothers in the city and being able to care for their children here. And so I wanted to just seek council consensus for the city to explore and formalize a partnership with baby to baby as well as consider and work towards developing some sort of program that provides these baby baskets to new mothers. If I can get council consensus for that.

As you consider, just I wanted to add that this would be a welcome partnership between our city and this organization. We we do have a provide a wide rate of of of resources to our community, but often, you know, what's actually been missing is sometimes we get we get families that need help with, with formula, diapers, things exactly that she described. And and and we thankfully, staff is is qualified, figures those out those things out on the fly, but it's kind of been a little gap that we had in within our our service programs that we provide. It would be great to have an organization that we can directly work with, identify families, and then build on that to help our new families that are growing. Thank you.

So can I get consensus for this?

Yes. I'm definitely in favor of this. I think it's a great idea. I participated a couple of years when you had that program. And the young parents were extremely happy to get the support and help. I I remember that you had the fire department there and then gave some classes on CPR and just different things. And and I think it's a great thing in welcoming these new babies into our family and supporting them from the very start. Do

we require a roll call for consensus?

Mayor Perturmiro?

Aye.

Councillor Member Peralta?

Aye.

Councillor Melendez? Aye. Councillor Morlanzo? Aye. Mayor Tomayo?

Aye. We have consensus.

Thank you very much. And then lastly is just requesting council consensus to direct staff to explore programming for young adults. I believe, you know, based on kind of the programming that we have here in the city, it's it's really focused on our younger youth as well as just we are very heavy in the programming we do for seniors, which is wonderful. But I do notice and really based on on what I the communications I received from residents is that there is a gap in terms of the programming that we have for ages, I would say, like, 18 to 45, kind of that young adult, mid adult type of age group. And so really exploring the types of programming that we can do from stress management type of programming, yoga, pilates, wellness, mental health.

Oftentimes a lot of the programming that we do have tends to be more so centered around the availability of folks that might be retired. So some of the classes tend to be during the week at eleven a. M. So really being intentional about providing this level of programming that is targeting that mid to the young to mid adult range and making sure that these programs and types of activities are accessible during the weekends or more so to working class families that could really benefit from these types of activities here in the city. So we'd just like to get council consensus so that the city can begin exploring how we can expand that type of programming and those types of activities to be included, hopefully, in our future budget or generally in future programming that we that we host here in the city.

Can we get a roll call?

Yes. Mayor Potemrobero? Aye. Councilmember Peralta?

Aye.

Councilmember Melendez? Aye. Councilmember Alonzo? Aye. Mayor Tamayo?

Aye. Thank you all for your support.

So we will move on to the adjournment. So before I adjourn tonight, I would like to do it in memory of Mitchell Uyematsu Saisho. At this time, we would like to commemorate the life of Mitchell Ouyamatsu Saisho. He was a 25 year old Montebello resident who, after an eight month battle with cancer, passed away peacefully on December 23. As a student at Scher High School, he was a cross country varsity boys co captain, a track and field distance runner.

He was mister Scher High School in 2018, a host ambassador for the Montebello Ashia Sister City Association, and was a recipient of the National Merit Scholarship. He was a proud graduate of UCLA where he earned his degree in biochemistry with a minor in Japanese and joined Alpha Chi Sigma, a professional fraternity for those in the chemistry related fields. He enjoyed using his biochemistry knowledge as a quality control laboratory technician at Ecolab. He loved fish, marine mammals, music, j pop, anime, Japanese history, cooking, and keeping up with politics. Mitchell is survived by his parents, Richard Saicho and Lisa Lisa Uyematsu and grandparents, John and Linda Uyematsu.

We wish them nothing but the best for Mitchell's family and the loved ones, and keep we keep them in our thoughts and prayers during this time. If I can please have a moment of silence for Mitchell. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned.