City - Regular Meeting

Thank you for joining us this evening. Uh before we start a meeting, I would like to ask uh Pastor Mike New come forward for a community blessing.

Mr. Mayor, honorable council members, let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for all that you have given this community, blessing us with fine fine farmland, range land, and a place to build a community for our families. We ask you send your spirit to attend your spirits who your servants who enforce the rules, serve the sick, keep the store, teach the young, who labor at their craft and minister with your word. preserve this community from recession and depression, epidemic and contagion, misrule and disharmony, drought and flood, fire and holocaust. Help all citizens to work for a common good through useful invention, salutary regulations, helpful occupation, wholesome recreation, good manufacturing, and meaningful education. Give them the grace to obey and trust your word through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, pastor. Like to call to order our meeting for April 1st, 2026. Chief, if we have a pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation andice for all. Okay, if we could have roll call. Lucy, please. Here. Here. Here. Here.

I am here. And now the first item is consideration of the approval of the agenda as submitted. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Second. Okay, we have a motion and second as stated. Any further questions or comments from the council? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed.

Eyes have it. And we have a presentation before we move on to our agenda. Come up front. Well, we have an officer that's retiring and unfortunately he could not be with us tonight because of some personal matters, but we still wanted to recognize him. Marcelano Cortez, many years of serving our community, many years of keeping us safe and dedication to the police department. We can't thank him enough. So chief, I'd if given me the honor to be able to present this to you, and I knew you'll get this to him. It's a proclamation recognizing the retirement of the city of Lasanis Police Officer Marceliano Cortez. Whereas Officer Cortez joined the Laspanis Police Department as a police officer on January 2nd, 2002. And whereas Officer Cortez served with distinction as an officer in the in charge from June 2006 to April 2010. and again beginning October 2020 until his retirement. And officer Cortez was assigned as an investigator in the Merced area gang and narcotics task force from January 2014 to September 2018, during which time he became a certified court expert in gangs and narcotics. And whereas Officer Cortez further contributed to the Lasanis Police Department as a defensive tactic instructor, taser instructor, and field training officer. And Officer Cortez has contributed tremendously throughout his career to the community of Las Vegas with his knowledge and

commitment to his job and his community. Officer Cortez retired from the city of Las Vanis as a police officer on March 10th, 2026 with 24 years of service as a city employee. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Michael S. Amibil, mayor and the city council of the city of Lasanis, do hereby commend Officer Cortez on his dedication and loyalty to the city of Lasanis and congratulate him on his retirement and we wish him only the best. Chief Yeah.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, Officer Cortez could not be here this evening. He is out of town uh caring for his mother-in-law who is ill with his wife. Um, Officer Cortez was an outstanding public servant. He started a little while after I did and um we worked a long time together. So, we will miss him and I do appreciate this, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.

THANK YOU. OKAY, NOW IT'S TIME for a public forum. Members of the public may address the city council member on any item of public interest that's within the jurisdiction of our city. This includes agenda and non-aggenda items. No action will be taken on non-aggenda items. Speakers are limited to five minute presentation and the details of the guidelines are posted in the back of the council chambers. If you want to read them, you have five minutes to speak and anyone like to speak to the council, please come forward at this time. For the record, please introduce yourself. I'm Pastor Mike New with St. John's Lutheran Church and this year we are happy to celebrate 75 years of St. John's bringing the word of God to the Los Banos community. Our celebration will be on May 16th. Uh, our church started in a house here in Laspanos in February of 1951. We became an official church uh in on uh May 22nd of 1951. We will also be celebrating this Sunday the 65th year of having a community sunrise

service for Easter. It's out at the forbay. When we say it's a community service, we mean it. We don't have simply St. John's attending it. It's for the community. It always has been. But we also are including this year uh we have Pastor Raul Guo uh from the Church of the Nazarene, Ivona, Pastor Ivona Mama from United Methodist, and uh Pastor Michael Neverson from First Baptist all joining us. We have every year had members from other pastors from other churches and their congregations come and join us. It's at the for bay. It is at the boat launch for the for bay. It's free. If you come at 6:00, they open the gates on Sunday morning. If you tell them you're there for the service, they will the park service will give you a free pass. That's good for the duration of the service. It's not good for the whole day. Uh but the park uh has been very good at helping support this service every year right on the year right after the uh co after co they called and asked if we were going to come out and have our services again. and they make sure that we have passes so that people could they can make it available so people can come out there. The first service at the for bay that we held there was in 1967.

Uh it was shortly after the park was opened at the 4 bay. We have pictures of it. It's just dirt. Dirt and water. That's all there is. Now there's beautiful trees and everything. If you have a chance to come out, the trees and the water are the backdrop. The sun comes up over the Sierras during the service. And I I invite everyone in the Los Panos and surrounding community to please come out and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Thank you.

Thank you. And congratulations on the 75 years. Anyone else, please come forward. You going to make it easy on us tonight or what? Blanch, come on. Blanch, when I don't have everything, please state your name for the record.

Yes, my name is Blanch George and I live in the downtown area. Uh, I wanted to make mention of a few quick things is that um, again, the shelter and the shelter personnel that are there. We all know that kitten season is upon us. They strategically made sure that they had captured the males first um to make sure that they uh got what they needed in order um for them to be safer. Um, additionally then they worked on getting uh the females and now they are working on females that are pregnant and with kittens. So they progressively are working really hard making sure that they contact rescues. Um, I get the phone calls like every other day. I mean, I I get the phone calls and I get to see places like San Francisco, Redwood City, uh Hayward, um and um we're always happy to get them up and out to their new homes and thank goodness for rescues, but your staff has been just hammering it hard. We see actually in different cities and cities our size and even small smaller um that are drowning in kittens just absolutely drowning. And because of the shelter's work, the police department, you guys leading the way, we're not seeing that yet. The tidal wave will come or the tsunami. Uh I'm predicting that it'll just be a tidal

wave um only because of the uh the forethought of making sure the spay and neutering is primary um throughout uh making sure that the lost cats, the stray cats are are being addressed and it's making a it's making a nice impact. But you'll probably get those those personal reports. Um, again, spay and neuter is the key to this. Recruiting a veterinarian um to our area. We do have Florence, VCA, Petco, Tractor Supply, but we need more. And um I have a phone number of a veterinarian that gave me a really great idea about where to advertise um to get one. Again, it's key for spay neutering. It's key to get veterinarians in our area. A new trend that I've mentioned to this before is that veterinarians are going into what they call um um and and I don't have all my notes but it it's called u medvet and it's a new trend and um what they're doing is that they're going into areas like shopping centers, empty buildings that have not been rented out and they and um I'll be forwarding some some emails properly. Um, your city manager was very kind to um to to um to ask me for some information and I I'll I'll get some information for him. But one specifically one that I do want to

mention um is um Medvet in the Silicon Valley. Um they're in San Jose. They're on 7090 Santa Teresa Boulevard in San Jose. Uh, and their phone number is 4086497070. and um they work 24 hours a day, but they are really proud to be able to be in the situation um being able to fill a space um for the convenience of people that are shopping um and they're centrally located. So, uh we're going to keep progressing and and keep working with the animals. with your guys's blessing, we're going to go ahead and and forward this. Um we won't be like other cities that are bigger than us or smaller than us. Um I think that um we're banging it out and we're doing a really great job and we need to continue and not stop. So please consider everything when you're considering the budget um for something like this um for the abandoned and the lost to get spay neutering. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else would like to come speak? City council, please come forward. You're welcome. Okay, I do not see or hear anyone coming forward. Appreciate both of you that spoke at the public forum. And now we will move on. Let's see. We do have one letter that came. So, Lucy, could you read the letter that goes into the public for the record?

Mayor and council members, I had intended to make this public com comment in person, but an unexpected family obligation came up that prevented me. I appreciate being able to make this comment online, and I have read it into the record. My name is John Spieac, a longtime Losanis resident. I served on the Losanis Parks and Recreation Commission or the Tree Commission for the past 25 years, but as of January 1st, I am no longer a member. I retired. At the last parks and rec commission, I attended as a member. I made a motion, which was seconded and passed unanimously, that the commission recommend to the city council that the gym in the Lasis Community Center be named the Josea Gym. As I said at the commission meeting and in a column I wrote several months before that Mr. Souza deserves this recognition not only for his many years of productive public service to the city as city employee and later as a city council member, but specifically for all the work he put into helping Losanis use available grant funding to build a community center and his determination to see it through to completion. In addition, he worked tirelessly to make sure a gym was included primarily for the youth of the city. As I have attached the report of that commission meeting printed in the October 29th, 2025 edition of the Westside Express, as well as a column I wrote for the September 24th edition, which explains in more detail why I believe the gym should be named after Mr. Soua. Today I am asking the city council to consider moving forward the recommendation from the parks and recck commission and if I can help in any way to move it forward please contact me

respectfully John speedback. Okay. Thank you very much. Is that the only letter Lucy? Yes. That is the only letter. Okay. Okay. Thank you very much and we appreciate John's letter. And now we'll move on to item seven, consideration of approval of the consent agenda. And Lucy, if you could read what's on the consent agenda this evening.

Items on the consent agenda are as follows. Warrant numbers 256854 through 257085 in the amount of 1,713,77218. City Council meeting minutes for March 4th, 2026. City Council resolution number 7073 approving a memorandum of understanding between the city of Losanis and the county of Merced for county corporation yard parking lot improvements located at 20925 Pioneer Road and authorizing the city manager to execute the agreement. City Council resolution number 7074 amending the fiscal year 202526 budget by increasing appropriations in the Losanis wastewater collections budget in the amount of 775,34585 for the early learning center B Street storm drainage ditch project and the items are to be approved as submitted. Okay. Is there any item that any of the city council would like to pull off for further discussion or consideration? Okay. Is there any item any of the public would like to make a comment on on the four items that are on the consent agenda this evening? Cannot see anyone. Okay. If I could have a motion to approve a consent agenda as submitted, please. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the consent agenda as read and submitted.

Second. A motion and second to approve the consent agenda as submitted. Any further questions or comments from the council? Hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I.

I. Opposed. Eyes have it. Motion carried. Next item. Item eight is consideration appointment of a council member and an alternate to the valleywide special city selection committee association associated with the Sanwaqin Valley Air Pollution Control District. And with this we will go to our city manager Niron Dan. Good evening mayor and council, member of the public. Um so back in 2008 the governor signed um SB1548 um which established what's called a valleywide special city selection committee. Um this committee was formed basically to appoint um city representatives to the Sanwin Valley Air Pollution Control District. Um since then, um as of 2025, our city council have nominated and appointed Mayor Prom Lewis, um as well as a former council member Sander, um as a member of the selection committee and an alternate. Um as you um aware, council member Sander is no longer with us. Um that's leave a vacancy on the alternate um positions. Um, as a uh long-term serving member of the committee, um, I'd like to actually ask Council Member Lewis, or Mayor Prom Lewis, to kind of give a little background on the commitment of the selection committee as well as some of the the benefits of, um, our city participating in this program.

Okay. Thank you, um, City Manager. And, um, I was going to save this to the end of the meeting as part of my speaking points, but I'll do it now. Uh we had our meeting last night in um well at the three district offices and it was to reappoint uh members to the uh board the uh board that governs the air air pollution district and um well my name was on the the agenda as serving as the northern region district member and my term ends uh February 27th. And then there is council member Jose Rodriguez from Madera uh who is in his first term of three years which ends in uh 2028 and uh being on a board of directors you're eligible to serve two terms which amounts to six years in total. Uh and then the second person which was up for reappointment was Mayor Pro Tim Gilbert Ren uh Rea and he's from Wasco and that's for the southern district. So those are the three districts that are represented by city. Uh and also um council member from a large city, uh Rosa Esca Breton from Adesto and she represents the uh northern district and uh Vice Mayor Liz Wayne uh from the city of Vicelia represents the southern district and both of them are being reappointed for their um uh I'm sorry uh vice mayor is uh serving her first term and her reappointment will be in February. ruary 2020 and a skutia Brighton and Raina uh their terms are ending this month so they will be appointed to their second terms. So generally this meeting uh happens once a year. It does not take

a lot of time uh and commitment other than uh coming uh to accept the nomination and reappointment of people to the executive board and every city within all of the counties in Sanwaqing Valley. all the major cities within the county, not the uh areas that are non-incorporated, but the the cities within the counties each have a seat on this uh board uh to appoint members back to the board of directors. And um so it it doesn't take a lot of time. I remember when I first was appointed um uh we had uh our our board of supervisors who was on council at that time and he was the initial person. I was his alternate and then I became uh the first person. So the alternate is appointed in case for some reason the appointed uh member is not able to attend and we had several people who were the alternates last night at the meeting uh who were not able because their initial people were not able to attend. So that's basically the commitment to this board is generally once a year um the appointments happen and so it it does not take a lot of time. I don't recall where I've had to attend this meeting more than once a year. It's usually just once a year. So, and it's um it's generally maybe somewhere between an hour or two hours time uh to attend this meeting. Plus, you get a really really good dinner. Last night we had uh barbecue ribs, uh barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, uh beans, uh cornbread, soda. So, uh if nothing else, that should be an incentive to attend the meet to to accept the alternate appointment.

Yeah, mayor. Uh so, on top of that, you I want to commend our council member in the past that's been servings uh on the airboard because as you can imagine, the regulation and policy on the airboard impact the city tremendously. One of which is our Pioneer Road projects and air qualities and such and also the other is available grants as in replacings our old diesel engines equipments and most recently our grant for $150,000 for the SB77's compliant for council chamber. Um so participation from the city um especially from our representative council member is really very much encouraging to continue to have some of those dollar back to to our city. Um so with that um council or mayor I'll turn that back to you for potential nominations and um finance elections.

So this is only for that one meeting or is this the alternate to you for all the monthly meetings? No, this is just for the nomination and the election to the uh board of directors. Okay. Well, is there any council member who would like to become an alternate? Mayor, I'd like to go for I'd like to make a nomination. Um, I'd like to make a nomination for uh council member Rafugio Yamez uh to be appointed to the board if he's willing to accept it. Okay, we got one nomination. Is there any other nominations?

Okay, I'll go ahead and close nominations and we'll take a vote. All in favor refugeio llamas to be Well, would you s I guess I should ask you if you're going to if you want to serve. Thank you for the nomination. Yeah. Okay. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed eyes have it. Thank you for willing to serve. Uh motion. Oh, there. Do you need a second on this for a nomination? Second. Second. Okay. Second by Marcus. Okay. Thank you, Mayor Prom and our city manager. Next items. That was the That was the alternate

the primary. So, one motion for both you and Um, mayor promises will remain as a primary because she is currently serving as the uh governing board member already. Thank you. So, one motion for both appointments. No, we only need to select for the the alternative. We don't need the the primary. Thank you.

Okay. Uh, let's see. Item nine, appointment of members to the following commissions. Uh we have in front of us we have airport measure H citizens oversight and measure P citizens oversight and the this first item uh airport advisory commission uh the the staff has recommended Steven Allen for the one twoyear term expiring December 31st 2027 and Stephen had a fantastic resume. I looked it over to be able to serve on the airport commission and we really appreciate his willingness to serve. And so with that, I'll make a motion to appoint Steven Allen to the airport commission and I'll need a second.

Second. Second. Okay. All in favor signify by saying I.

I opposed. Eyes have it. We want to thank Mr. Allen. Okay. Next one was measure H citizen oversight committee and uh this pretty much was an all afternoon. We had eight people applying for three uh positions and it's it's very difficult because they were all qualified. They were all good. I I've said this in the past. It's very difficult. We we always want people to help us out. Help the city council out. Give us your opinions. We want you all to be involved as much as possible, but when there's only three positions and there's eight people applying, you have to say no to five of them, unfortunately, to that one position. So with that um I'd like to recommend and into a motion that we for the citizen and just to explain the citizen age oversight committee what it does um it oversees there's usually one or two meetings a year. it uh you oversee the budget for the measure H which is which is a half cent sales tax that was put in place around 10 years ago I guess it was and it's for police and fire and uh and so the oversight committee is the public's uh eye to make sure the city council was following the what the what the uh measure said in writing. during the campaign. So, we have to follow exactly what it said where we're going to put our monies to and if we're doing a good job with that. So, measure the oversight committee is a very important committee and they can also make recommendations too, but it's it's really the oversight is their main job. So, it's a very very important committee and um make sure your city

council is doing the right thing for the community and following the terms of the measure H that was passed. So, I'd like to make a motion for Amy Benas, Steven Hammond, and David Lewis to be seated on the H citizen oversight committee. And there's two terms expiring 27 that'll go to Amy and Steven and the one term expiring in this year will go to David Lewis and of course they can reapply when that comes up around um but that's my motion to appoint those three people. Second that.

Okay. Thank you. We have a motion and a second as stated. Any further questions or comments? All in favor signify by saying I.

I opposed. eyes have it. Amy, Stephen, and David, thank you very much. We appreciate your willingness to serve and uh we appreciate it. Um you'll be run by our city finance director, Minnie Mor. I know she's pretty hardcore on that stuff, so she'll make she really makes sure we're doing the right thing. So, okay. Next item is the Measure P, Citizen Oversight Committee. And there's three terms that are expiring in 28 and the one expired term in 27. And uh staff took care of this because the measure P is also a police fire mostly. H has some uh parks also in it. But measure P um is the halfsent sales tax that was passed in 200 four 2004 long time ago and it's does the oversight committee does exactly the same same thing but looks over that and a little bit different that measure stated that the police and fire chiefs were part of the uh the group that select did the selection of the oversight. So it was a little bit different. Both the uh measures were bu were uh developed a little bit different. So with those we have Nathan Mancibo, Richard Stewart, Elias Reyes Jr. and Rosar Rosario Quino Aquino. And with that, we will put Rose Rosario as the expiring term in December 31st, 2027. And the other ones will be the terms expiring December 31st, 2008. So with that, that's my motion. And if I could have a second, please.

I'll second that.

Okay, we have a motion and second is stated. Any further comments? Again, thank you all very much for applying to these positions. It means a lot to the city council and our and our community. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Oppose. Eyes have it. Okay. Item 10, consideration of adoption of the city resolution 7075, approving a policy regarding telephonic and internet disruption to access to access a public meetings in accordance with California Senate Bill 707. And with this, we'll go to our city attorney, Mary Lerner.

Thank you, Mayor Council. Before you tonight is a policy regarding the telephonic and internet disruptions to access at public meetings. The state of California enacted this Senate bill to strengthen public participation and expend expand remote teleconferencing access. This bill brings significant changes to the city's meetings starting this year that is intended to diversify and increase public engagement in local government. And it also modernizes the Brown Act in the face of technological advancements. Unlike earlier versions of the Brown Act, the new law, excuse me, now requires the city to offer hybrid meetings. This means the public must be able to participate through a two-way phone or video platform unless the meeting qualifies as for an exemption, which is like a tour at a specific site. As part of this legislation, on or before July 1 of this year, the city must approve a policy regarding disruptions of the of the reference services or platform and efforts to restore services. This proposed policy meets the legislative requirements. Typically, you would see something like this on consent, but this specific legislation required it to be heard as a general agenda item. And so, if you have any questions, I'm available to answer those. Any questions? Well, before we get into questions, I'd like to go ahead and open this up to the public. Anyone that would like to speak before us on resolution 7075 regarding a different access to our city council meetings. You may come forward to the podium at this time. This bill was signed into law last year and it goes into effect July 1. Correct.

Correct. This will allow two-way communications at city council meetings. City council members could uh be at a meeting uh on Zoom if I guess if it's warranted. So, it's going to be different and you'll be able to uh talk to the city council. That's why you're seeing these things slowly changing. uh we have to allow comment after each agenda item and I'm starting to do it already but it'll be required after July 1st so it's getting me in the routine of it. Does anyone like to speak on this item? Okay. I know uh thank you. I'll go ahead and close close that. Uh I have a question. I know a couple of boards I'm on a lot of the presentations are done by Zoom. I mean I guess you could probably do that now. I guess would that or is that something

Well, if you had that capability, you could do that. Okay. Yes. Correct. Because I see that a lot. I'll there'll be a specialist in San Francisco zooms in and talks to the board, you know, instead of having to come down to our meetings. Any questions of councel on this item, this resolution? Mayor. Yes, Mr. Mayor. I had a question. Now, the uh estimated cost as stated here 358 $100,000 uh plus change. Is there any reimbursement from the state or any other way to minimize the impact of that to the city?

Um, not that I'm aware of. I'll let city manager Than also comment on it. But, um, if you recall, there's also the $150,000 grant from the airboard. So, the remaining approximate 200,000 I believe is going to come from the city. Yep. So, currently the state at when this law was passed, it was an one of the unfunded mandate that came through. Thank you very much. Any other questions? State's real good at that. The unfunded stuff that do this, we're not going to pay for it. Okay. So, with that, then I'll uh entertain a motion for resolution 7075.

All right. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution 7075 as read by title. I'll second.

Okay. Motion and second as stated. Further questions or comments? Not hearing any. All in favor signify by saying I. I. Opposed eyes have it. Thank you, Mary. With that, we'll go to item 11, consideration of adoption of the city resolution 7076, approving the amendment to approve staffing for fiscal year 202526 budget and the si city salary schedule for regular full-time employee classification to add a public information officer classification. um to our roles and to the budget. And so with this, we'll go to our human resource director, Carlos. Isabelle.

Mayor, I'll take this one. So Isabelle is and I have been tag teaming this just because there's a lot of research that's got into it. Um I know in the last couple council meeting, we have discussed a lot about how do the city present information to our constituents as well as our residents and also to receive feedback. Um at last council meetings, you have approved the contract with Imagine Way more for content generations. Um but we are having also continues to have gaps um when it comes to informations getting information out to our residents. We've seen it on social media. We also you guys have received comment um from the public at some of our park side chat as well as our other public forum. Um so with that make sure my things work. See the PIO would have that figured out. There we go. So the purpose tonight is for council to review the job description for this as well as if councils are in favor to adopt and approve this classification into the fiscical year 2526 budget uh and created this positions. Again currently we do not have this uh position classifications um in our staffing list. This positions will focus a lot on the press briefing the media including um inquiry crisis managements. Um as you can imagine last time we have the incident at in um Ingamar um I'm sorry Kagome um there was a lot of lack when it comes to information to the public providings a geographical boundaries of who's impacted when should you be evacuating when you should be uh shelter in place. A lot of those burden currently falls on our police chief, our fire chief and our command staff, which as you can imagine during time of an emergency, they do not have the capacity to be able to manage an incident and also be in front of a camera to provide all those information during those critical incidents. Luckily the crisis was awarded um but we learn a lot from those incidents as we go through our postmortems that that we need to do better in getting those information out especially to critical um jurisdictions like school district when we have

children's are going to school that morning. Additionally, um, as we currently have content generations, videos, informations to the residents generated by Imagine Waymore, a lot of those need to then be programs on looking at forwards, thinking about um other programmings like talking aboutformational sessions on water, sewers, infrastructure, permittings as well as things like traffic laws that may have gotten forgotten, a loss um in the last uh decade or so. There is also a lot of new law that being passed by the state of California where we as a cities are obligated to present those information to our residents similar to what we did here at last meeting when our city attorney present a whole list of law many of which are not really familiar by our community members to which we are obligated to provide some of those information to them before uh we begins any of those enforcements. The third bullet there is the city website. Um I'm very familiar with the comment from the public on how unintuitive our websites are. Um it is a place where we host a lot of information. They do live in a website but it's not as easily accessible when you go and try to search for things. You have scenes um in other community where they successfully implement a good website to where instead of going to public request for informations you can have a self-service portal to where you can pull contract resolutions ordinance at the at the fingertips. Um our website currently does not have that capability. um as well as it does not have a direct interaction between the public when they want to submit a concern. So having them routed uh um to the proper department. So this is a major lift for city staff. Um we imagine you know we as part of our program we want to make sure that the website has getting taken off this calendar year. Um but we will need some assistance in term of staffings and capability to actually uh uh implement this. Lastly um public outreach. Um we are in the process of coordinating a lot of public outreach now specifically the

neighborhood outreach event like the parkside chat the state of the city address all of which required a lot of technical uh capability when it coming to writing those speech providing the informations getting the statistic from all of our department head and put that together in an easily digestible format to our our residents. This also including recapping a lot of our decisions and policies that get taken care of or get decided at our council meeting. Currently those things only exist on a council agenda. Um and at times that can be challenging for someone who not familiar with how government's working and trying to find out what that policy really meant. Um so having um a PIO to be able to reduce those and provide in a newsletter formats uh and describing some of those major policy will be a huge plus for our residents to come up to speed to be able to uh um understand the information and provide us those needed uh feedback. Additionally, we also have a lot of capital projects. A lot of these capital project has a lot of impact on our communities like road closures talking about access to businesses. we can do a better jobs of getting those information out. I think with the right um personality and the right staff member, we can do those better. So that way we all can plan around those constructions. As you can imagine, this year we are revamping all of our water master plan, sewer master plan, traffic, um transportation master plan, all of which has massive impact citywide that our residents need to understand and participate. So this positions would be in that key spots to to make those happen. So with that it it is a highly technical positions. Um we I talked uh I touched base on all three of those things that that we need to to move forwards in getting those information accessible. Um it is a little bit higher classifications. um this information uh currently when we assess this from a department head standpoint on a needs basis this is not a positions where we proposing someone's you know per say uh um first time getting a job or or just graduated from college to be able to do

mainly because to be a public informations to get information out in an emergency management program you actually have to be certified have to go through proper training under FEMA also under the uh uh the state guideline to be able to get those accurate informations out in a timely manner. uh and to be able to report to you um providing accurate informations on a lot of policy decisions setting out survey um economic developments uh survey this position would be in a key positions to be able to self-sufficients um to work on that versus if this were at a lower class they will require a lot more uh um assistance from our department head which are you aware um very well aware that we are stretch a little thin when it comes to to toes front so this would be one of those key position position that can help and get those information out uh um timely. So I want to go back to that. So right now based on our salary comp uh study the average PIO positions currently is around 77 $7,955 per month to $10,155. This is a salary comps um that was on a list of agency that was done in 2024. So we just copy those list of agency and looking at what the average of that so that way we can retain or attract uh some good talents uh to provide the service. So with that um that's include my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions uh that you may have. Okay. Before I send it to the council for questions, I'd like to open this up to the public. Anyone that would like to speak on our public information officer request to the council of consideration, please come forward at this time. And please state your name for the record.

I think it's a proper way to go ahead and get this handled. My only request was uh I had experienced uh actually being um in that room next door when September 11th happened and the comfort of having the um at that time having that meeting I don't even recall everybody there was just just a few of us in the room but I do know that the police chief and the fire chief were there and Um cuz there was a lot of things go personal going on I I would just request that I don't know how you're going to plan it but citizens would like to be comforted also by not only a PIO um but standing next to them or close to them is either somebody like a mayor or like a police chief or fire chief in certain situations. I think that that's really important um because of the comfort that the ease and calm of knowing these individuals for such a long time, you know, um it would be important I I believe but I I'm not you. So, thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else like to speak on this? Please come forward. Please state your name for the record. Hi, my name is Kathy Ballard. Um, I only have one quick question. If um, you hire this person, can they get the training and the certification after they get the job either start at a lower part on the scale and then get the certifications? That's all I wanted to ask. Answer that after the close it. Thank you.

Anyone else please come forward? You're all welcome to speak. Okay, I'll go ahead and close the public part of this. We'll start off with Blanch. Uh yeah, this position is not taking place taken our place at all. Uh it's mostly for and I think the Kyomi thing is a good example that happened early in the morning. Uh that th those people are on call. They would be there, get the information from our our police department, our fire department, and put it out and coordinate the school whole section of that. And you're you got one pinpoint person. This person has to know what the council's vision is and speaks that vision if they're talking in a very general uh situation. But if for mostly for safety and stuff like that, they will talk to the department heads. A lot of it is uh getting information from each director and coming out and and telling the public, making videos and things like that. But uh I know it's not going to stop any of us from making videos and and doing all that stuff. It'll be more an enhancement. I did hear you say something about this person's going to write my speeches. No, they're they're going to assist with any information you need.

We we don't have that yet. And so, uh, which I guess is fine, but uh, but anyway, so it's, um, it's it's needed, you know, uh, I think Stacy and myself and Gary Breezy met the information officer from the fire department for Fresno uh, a few months back when we were being interviewed and this person, you know, we walked in, you knew this person, but you know, you've seen him before, but you didn't know who he was and then he actually told us who he was and then it all came together and in Fresno they have public they I think they have one for the mayor's office they have one for the council they have one for the police department one for the fire you know they're big city but it's all that coordinating and what are we going to talk about this week what are we going to put on the web page make sure everything is coordinated good example is the state of the city that's coming up in a couple of weeks the coordination of all that Uh so our directors and our city manager and other staff, it doesn't slow them down on doing their job. That's most most important. And somebody else is coordinating that. When we went to the state of the county a couple of weeks ago, um man, they they must have 15 people running around there, you know, and a couple of them were their information officers, too. So I think that was it. And then so that's not going to take our part. and we'll I'll be standing next to you, Blanch. And so with the training, you can answer that on the train.

Uh Kathy, so yes, um this position has the desired quality with all those training. So when they come in, if they don't already have that certification, we'll send them to to do those training so they can get those certification. Typically, we allow times like between 12 to 18 months to get the Yeah. Okay. So now I'll turn it back to the city council for any questions, comments, questions to

Yeah. Yeah, I got a question. Um, so what I asked is, is this a requirement of this position that they basically speak English and Spanish if they're bilingual because uh for emergency situations, you know, it doesn't do any good just speak English if especially if the community speaks Spanish, you know, a lot of it here. So, I think it's important that that be one of the the things here. That's my question. Is that a requirement?

Council member Chavez, it is not required, but it is desired. Noido is preferred. Okay. Well, my my only thing is I would say I I wouldn't want us to hire anybody if they're not bilingual for this particular position because they only speak English and if there's an emergency, you can only communicate in English. And when there's a lot of the community uh speaking Spanish, um I think we're doing a disservice to the community. That's my question. And and yes, and with that in mind, it was added as desired um by city manager 10

with Mary with the new is it 20% law that came into effect that you talked about that if 20% of your population, you have to have it in that language. You need to have your agenda translated into that language. So cross over to that. It could cross over to that. Yes. Just that's curious. Possibility. Yeah. Yeah. Because I would say because early early on when when Councilman S when he was here, we talked about uh you know the the council meetings being able to translate in Spanish and other things like that. I know it takes time. We're still working on that. But I think this also fits in with what we're trying to do here. Yeah. Any other comments, questions?

Yes, mayor. Okay. Um, on the certification, um, if you hire, uh, an employee for this position and you said they have up to 18 months to certify, what happens if they're not able to pass that certification? That would be their minimum qualification. So, they no longer qualify for that. Turn on. Sorry. Um, yeah. So, they would not pass their probationary period. So the probationary period would coincide with the certification 12 months. Okay.

So you know my my position on that is that we've wasted 18 months of of employment time uh hiring someone who didn't have that certification. I think um if we're going to move into this position and and okay it for me it would be important to get someone who's already qualified and has that certification so they can hit the ground running and not um have the city spend a salary on a person that may or may not be able to pass the certification. That that's just my input. Thank you. I'm sure they'll be looked when they you do your recruitment if they already have everything they'll be a little bit higher up the ladder.

Any questions, comments over on this side? Yes, Mr. Mayor. I have a comment question um regarding certification again. Is that something that is uh has a shelf life? In other words, they have to continue to reertify to be to maintain their certification or is that a once in a-lifetime certification? Council member, I'll have to look a little bit further um to right now the current certification that required is the California Association of Public Information Official. Um most certifications that I'm aware of has a continuous education component, but Isabelle, do you know um for sure on that? Uh sir,

yes, city manager. So that is a desired qualification, that particular one. the FEMA, yes, they will need to obtain that, but the the Capio one um is desired and I do believe that it has continuing education. Um but again, that's that that is going to be a desired that we would want them to achieve uh not required for the position as opposed to the FEMA which uh upon hire will will be required at that point in time. Um I would prefer that these uh questions be clarified before we move on this. Um and again I understand the need for centralized information especially during uh emergencies. Uh it's very important to give the public uh official information and updates uh so that uh we don't create vacuums and then uh misinformation gets out there. and it's a it's a challenge trying to reel that back in and and correct uh the misinformation out there. So, I understand the the positives of this position. Uh but I think that these questions need to be answered and also for the applicants sake, they need to understand what's going to be required of any potential applicant. And I like I also like to see if we can revise the starting salary. uh the cities that we used as a comparison again they they're they're not uh they're not apples for apples kind of a comparison. A lot of these cities have a lot larger operating budget a lot more uh disposable or uh monies that can be appropriate for this. So uh because then you still factor in the uh benefits package the retirement package. So it's it's a it's a huge expense but I understand it's it's something that's needed. I'd just like to see if we can revise this and also have some clarification as to the uh requirements

uh because I'd like them to be requirements so that as soon as they get on deck they're able to perform that mission not 18 months later uh then you know we may have a situation like C mayor promp Lewis said that they didn't pass and so now we're starting all over again and we're back where we started actually worse off because we've made that expenditure and now we have an opening again. And again, this is going to be a go-to uh where they go to the department heads, provide the information, coordinate with uh agencies, other counties, other cities uh if the if they require. So those are my comments. Thank you,

mayor. If I may make some clarification. So the California PIO certifications typically take about 6 to 12 month process just because it is a classes that they have to take. Upon receiving those California PIO certifications, you do have a requirements of 10 continuous education credit every three years. So continue education will be required. Okay. Thank you. Any comments at all, mayor? Okay. Yeah.

So yeah, I I would say I'd agree that I think it's it's important that uh the person already has the the credentials qualifications that we're talking about versus waiting 18 months. Uh, I think bilingual definitely is uh something we need to have in there. Um, as far as in regards to pay, I think, um, we got to be careful with with the pay as well. Um, because remember, you also get what you pay for, but we have to do our due diligence to make sure we're getting the right candidate and the ones that we're selecting to do this position because this person's also the public image of uh, the city. And if you get somebody that's green or new and and you don't get somebody that has that experience, they could also do the city a disservice and start uh costing us money cuz this person will they not also help us uh get grant monies and help write that kind of stuff because if you can get the right person who knows how to do that, then they're going to pay for their salaries if they're able to obtain those grant monies and get that. So you need to have somebody that knows what they're doing. That's return on investment. It's like in like in the private sector. Yeah. you you might pay more for something, but if you can get more back, that's the goal at the end of the day. You want somebody that's looking at our city where they see us as being a uh you know, a city that knows what they're doing. They're competent. They're confident and we look well. We're growing. We're already going to go over 50,000 as far as uh you know, the population size here. We're trying to attract other business and grow. I think it's going to be crucial and key uh for for an individual that we're bringing in. If if we go cheap or we select the wrong person, we could harm ourselves with that as well. Because if if our public image isn't looking very good, I think it's going to cost us more money. But if we can get this person also to write good grants and get us grants, they're paying for their salary. So those are my comments on that. At least from my perspective, I agree. Perception is reality in the world. So you have to be perceived. the

city has to be perceived from the especially on the outside to a a class we're trying to get to. Um I actually thought the salary schedule was a little low but but uh you know uh that was just my personal thoughts in what I've seen out there. But anyway um there's nothing else said I'd entertain a motion whatever you whatever the council desires to do.

All right. I'd like to make a motion to uh approve resolution 7076 um is read by title but also with the understanding of what we just talked about as far as the uh the bilingual and also the certifications that uh Miss Lewis was also you know talking about and Mr. Yamas as well. I think those are very very key. I have a second. Sorry council uh mayor if I may get clarification. So your motion sends to approve this position with the stipulations that the certification will be moved from desired quality to a required uh certifications and also that goes with bilingual to go from desired to a required minimum requirement. Yes, correct. Okay. And what was the third one?

Were there three that No, I just just the the bilingual part and the certifications at hand when they when they come in. Uh okay. Do we have a second? I'll second the motion. Okay. So comments um in the world out there how does how's that certifi do we does anybody know is it easy to find people already certified for this or I does anybody even know that

from my personal experience mayor that's usually come to the job and within six to 12 months they get those certifications um there are a lot of um PIO out there that also representing private companies and stuff that you know some of our resident do travel over the the area um city of Groy for for in fact when they had their PIO officers um she comes in and then she get the surge within a year or two after um and she's worked as their comm's manager ever since. Um it will limit our candidate pool. I mean it's not impossible but it will limits our candidate pool uh uh greatly. Isabelle, do you want to add on to that a little bit?

Yeah, just to add um in reviewing various city classifications from other surrounding cities um th those uh requirements were were not required. they were desired and that's why we uh crafted the class specification to be desired. But certainly it's it's the council's uh pleasure on on on uh how this should uh move forward. Mayor, if I may,

um I I I think when the council has to make such a a great decision on something like this, we need to have the statistics. So if you have looked at other cities, uh it would be desirable for us if you could bring back the information telling us how many of those particular positions uh certified after hiring and whether or not those employees were able to pass. Now that that doesn't really have a a major impact on us, but it gives us, you know, a marking point to look at as to whether or not um this is desirable for us. for me um I would hate to see that we'd hire someone uh even though they are able to interview well but not able to pass these certifications and then we have to start all over again. So I think as much information as you can provide this council to either convince us um uh brings about the the ability for us to make a solid decision. But when we don't have enough information to make a decision that's where you're going to get these um additional things in um the motion.

So I I think I understand the motion. I appreciate it and I think that's I understand and I don't disagree with it, but I think we're going a little bit too f far into the weeds of what our city manager and is supposed to be doing. We're supposed to direct him to hire the right person that can get can get the qualifications and if he doesn't, that's who we turn to. And so now we're sort of out here making requirements of how we hire people, you know, and I with the police department, you hire all the time and they have to get certifications after you hire them, right, Chief?

Yeah. So I mean now we're making a one stipulation for just this one position. We're not following what the city does and everything else. So, I'm I'm fine with it and I'll vote for it, but I I'd say I'd love to see that motion as a desired, not a required. So, mayor, I'd like to make a motion to amend. Okay. 7076. Oh, no. You can change your motion. Can I change my motion? You can change. You can withdraw your motion and you can state. I'd like to withdraw my motion

and uh now make a motion for uh you know resolution 706 uh as read by title with desired uh bilingual and uh certification but that's where I leave that. Do we have a second on that? No second on this side.

I'll second it. Uh, okay. Because we have to and I understand where it come from and I can't disagree with you, but I just think uh we're getting a little bit too far down into what his job is. And uh then because you every time you hire somebody, you don't know how it's going to exactly. I've hired thousands of thousands of people and I've hired people that I thought was going to be perfect and they weren't working for me in three months. I've hired people that couldn't pass qualifications that are required by the state to work for me. And so I've seen everything, but it all falls back on the top person. So, uh, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?

Mr. Mayor, if I may, I'd just like to comment. You're absolutely correct. You know, some of these decisions, you know, we we as council, we delegate that to key personnel. However, this is a key position. It's unique. It's the first time we've done it. Um so I I don't think it's unreasonable to have these requirements because of the unique um uniqueness of it. Uh and the importance of it. So um that's just I just wanted to call

and I can't disagree with you at all, but I think we can do the same thing by just telling him that right now and he'll do it. Well, it doesn't have to be an emotion. That's the only part I'm I'm I'm I'm stating. So with that, I will call for a vote. And I don't know how this is going to go. So if I have a roll call vote, please. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Yes. Okay. Thank you all very much. Very good discussion. Okay. So we will move on to city department reports. No way. One more.

One more. Item 12. Uh, this consideration of adoption of city council resolution 7077 revising the policy regarding city council member neighborhood outreach events. And with this, we'll go back to our city manager. Sounds like I'm going to get the stash tonight um so many items on the agenda that I'm presenting and not giving opportunity for department head. Nonetheless, this is a response to um a council member request to bring this item for discussions. Um in the past, I believe in around 2019, this um resolutions was passed to establish a neighborhood outreach events. This applies to all council outreach, town hall, city, state of city address as well as parkside chats. In the outreach event um resolution itself, it limits to one event per year um per each council member. And for those council member that are running for elections, um this neighborhood outreach event is limited to only be done um before July 1st. Um from previous comment from um the mayor as well counsel member is that um you want to bring this forth for discussions to potentially remove the limitations of one uh um event per year to allow for more flexibility on a more regular basis to engage with the constituents. So um in front of you tonight is a policy that was um the red line um for your review and discussions. Um so tonight we'll like to get your feedback on whether you want to reduce uh to remove the warrants per year uh and to also um u take into considerations the staff efforts or resources that will be needed to staff those event. As you can imagines, the staff resources for a state of the city address is very different than it is for, let's say, for a parkside chat. Um, so I just want clarifications on what some of those changes will will will imply so that we can staff our our um department correctly. Okay,

great. So, is the public have any comments on this item? Basically, uh, what was the last city council meeting? I we started last year parts parkside chats that I did uh mayor point 1.0 way back. We did a lot of them and we were going to start them up again this year and then it came to my to my I did not know this uh this resolution even existed. Okay, it was voted on a few years back that we're all limited to one a year. So that would pretty much hamper any parkside chats but one a year. And of course I'm mayor at large. That means I represent every district, every person. So that means I could only pick, you know, one area or something like that. Or I could make it make it the state of the city. So I understand what the reasoning was this was made for because I you know you if each council member wants to do a a state of their district and bring in all the all the staff members and and make you know two or three times a year. It could cost a lot cost a lot of money cost a lot of staff time and that's not what we're after. But I think it's it's pretty much the informal events. We don't want to hamp hamper those at all. That's the feeling I'm getting. You're all welcome to do one major event in each district or whatever like that. So I just that anybody on the com I opened it up to the public before we talked that trying to explain it to you better in our point of view. So if you have any comments on that you're welcome to tell us. Good.

My name is Kathy.

I've been to a lot of the Parkside chats. I went to um another one. I can't remember Deronica that had the whole works set out. Um, I don't know if you can designate what's the difference between um, somebody in a district like Deborah or Marcus wanting to do one for his district. If you can limit the amount of money or staff time that is required because your parkside chats are just a sign saying I'm going to be here and then you guys meet there. There's no drinks, there's no games, there's no It's just people talking to you. So, if you limit maybe the expense of it or the time and then have it del, you know, designated parkside chat or just a chat or this is my whole district and I'm telling you everything for the full year. That's all. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else? Okay. Not seeing anybody. Okay. I'll turn it over to the city council. comments. Deborah,

thank you, Mayor. Um, I pulled the original um ordinance back in February of uh 19 and um there were elements laid out in discussion about what could be done such as um this included the council including the mayor uh having this once a year event. uh outreach uh would be coordinated with the city manager's office and department heads. Uh each event would be allocated a budget and the budget that was determined in this um ordinance was $100 per fiscal year for each member of council. Uh and the the events would be allocated equal budgets. Um during an election year, there would be uh after July um 1st um you could not hold um the major event and the location can be determined. It doesn't have to be in a park. It could be someplace else. Um there is no campaigning or politics allowed for any of these outreaches. And that a less than a quorum uh could be at the meeting and the other person from council has to be invited by the person hold the council member holding the event. Uh and the council member holding the event had to make a full report to at the city council the next city council meeting. Um, and I and I thought about this because, you know, we did have a lot of forethought in um making uh this ordinance and I do remember Councilman Johnson Santos having one. We were in our fledgling state at that point and didn't quite know what we were doing. It

was kind of a test ground and I think we had um what's the game where you toss the bags? Cornhole at the event. Uh there were hot dogs there. Um I went for a portion of the time. Um just on a side bar because the mayor was there at the time and of course you know we we can't have more than a quorum. So I was just kind of on the outskirts looking. Um, but what I didn't see was engagement with the community. Now, there may have been after I left, I don't know, but that was that's the purpose of the major event. And so, when I thought about this, because I know the mayor has had some parkside chats here this year, which I think is healthy for the mayor as well as any other council member that wants to have one. But I thought rather than changing the whole ordinance, could we maybe add a paragraph in on, you know, um, amending the ordinance about Parkside Chats? And, you know, does it have to be limited to a quarter? Uh, could it be like, you know, four or five, whatever number uh, a council member or the mayor decides that they want to have um, within that year. And that way we don't have to change the whole ordinance to leave the ordinance for the main event of the year and then have a paragraph indicating that at any time a council member or the mayor decides to have a parkside chat that that could happen. But um it would be like what you had mayor. Um there wasn't any staff time there. um it could be advertised on our city social media as to who wants to have that particular chat outside of the main event and therefore we could stay

within the budget that's been set for the main event. Um and and that's just kind of my take on it because I understand how important it is for you to get around to each of the districts and speak to your constituents or the whole city is your constituent. Um but additionally, if um a member of this council wants to have an additional uh uh parkside chat outside of the main event, then they're able to do so without cost because, you know, our our um department heads, they're salary, so they they have to work regardless, but we have to pay for public works to bring out equipment, standby time, and picking it up. So it it could be a very costly event uh for you know four or more times a year to hold something. So, I think that would be a good way of solving this to leave the ordinance as it is to add on an additional um amendment indicating that any parkside chats that want to be held uh can be done so um by any council member uh without having to encumber staff to be there.

So, just a good idea. Yeah, I would agree with that. That makes a lot of sense. So, just let you know the uh so the plan uh was before all this was that I would go to everybody's district and invite that council member that that it's their district and of course then I would be going around the whole city too. I'd be seeing the whole city and then the one state of the city every year and so but that works you know. So, uh, and then if the council member want to do their own thing, then they're I guess $100 doesn't seem like very much money, though.

I mean, but I guess it's not about the money. I know I did request with the Parkside chats, I requested uh at least one staff member to take notes because people are talking to me and they're giving me phone numbers and and you know, I want I don't want to stop people. So I had uh and lots of times other staff members joined like Lucy came to one and city manager would come to because it's a good event. They're great and you get to really know what's going on in that neighborhood or that district that we you know we do not see and I don't live in that district so it's hard for me to see. And then and the big thing is everybody is so busy today and everybody has so much to do besides even work that it's really good for us to go out to see them instead of asking them to come here at 6 pm uh twice a month. And so that's what it's really all about. But I like your idea. And and with that being said, um you know, the one member that could be invited to the main event could be the mayor. And um for each of the council members and and additionally, if a council member wants to have a parkside chat outside of the scope of this ordinance, um then they can have it just with their community.

Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I don't I don't think uh I think what Miss Lewis is saying makes sense. Um, I I think that's a good way to go. I think we need to keep the park side chats but not incur a bunch of expense or staff time to do those extra parkside chats. And I but coming in July now with the public being able to zoom in and all that stuff. I mean, there's ways to participate a lot easier. So, I don't I don't see why we would need to have more outreach events regardless. So, all those parkside chats are there. I think it's all good. Comments on this side.

Oh, thank you, Mr. Mayor, just a clarification. Leave this resolution as it is with the stipulation of that. Um I can't recall parkhat just a park side chat. Every council member is able to have that but without the additional costs of personnel. Correct.

Well, I need I need one personnel if I'm at a parkside jet. you don't want you want to talk to me. you don't want me writing down notes. And and people are giving me their cards and I'm writing down notes and uh I one time we had Fiona and Sarah come both and they were both really busy writing on notes and because I would say thank you very much and I'd go to the next person and then they would run over to the person I just talked to and got all their information because I'm going to write their email down wrong as you know I'm bus we're busy talking so I don't want to limit it to staff. I mean, we don't have to go crazy, but I need at least one person at the Parkside chats. I even the last time I even tried recording recording it thinking that and that didn't work because all I heard is myself and I didn't like that. Mayor, mayor for clarification. So on bullet point number one there on the existing resolutions, it did say each council member including the mayor would be given opportunity to create one outreach events throughout a year at a location of their choice. We can leave that if I may, we can leave that sentence as that is we can include another sentence that this exclude um informal outreach event like parkside chat. So that way the park side chat is not bounded by the one per year and you can continue to have those events as needed whether it's on a quarterly basis or or however uh each council member want to see that through. Um I do would like on bullet point number two to continue to add that that say use of city staff and or city resources during these outreach events is dependent upon staff and resource availability. So that way we still have the flexibility to provide one or two staff members to support you but not going overboard to have all department head or you know all of the police department to be there.

Sounds good. You guys okay with that?

Sounds good to me. So, is there any way that we can get our city attorney to help us with the grafting of uh this these additional parkside chats? Because I I'd like to make sure that it's distinguished from this one event that we have in the original ordinance um by just maybe tacking on an additional bullet point. Uh and and the only reason I'm being a bit stickler about this, I'm thinking for future councils uh to make sure that there's clear interpretation for them uh and people are not, you know, trying to get around and make it something other than what it was intended to be.

I can definitely help with that. Hey, we could have that motion then with she'll write it. He said say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say say your part again then you can make the motion I'm I'm sorry I'm confused now so the motion would be leave add the one yeah just to amend the uh resolution or to adopt a new resolution basically amending the policy from last time to include um the exclusions of informal neighborhood outreach events i.e parkside chats. So that way that's not part of the separate event.

Yep. it's separate event from the one per year that are are being governed and then add one sentence on there that use of city staff and or city resources during these event um is dependent upon staff and resource availability. So if you like that you can make that motion with what he said. Y I'll accept that motion. You make that motion with I'll make the motion. I'll second that. Second. Okay. All in any further comments? All in favor signify by saying I.

I I have it. Motion carried. Thank you all very much. And now we go to city department reports and we'll start with a community and economic development director Stacy Soua Elms.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and City Council. So, we will um be hearing considering um with the planning commission a conditional use permit for Santa Fe Marcado. Uh this will be for the use of a type 20 offsale beer and wine alcohol license at the location of 1209 West Pico Boulevard. This uh was the previous location of the 99 Cent store. Uh and this would be for the second Santa Fe Market. Uh they will still continue to operate in their downtown location on Sixth Street. This would be a second location and they're requesting a type 20 alcohol license for the off sale of beer and wine. This item will be considered at the planning commission on Wednesday, April 8th at 6:00 p.m. Um, and then based on that recommendation, it'll come up to the city council at a subsequent meeting. And that concludes my report.

Thank you, Stacy. Finance director Annie Moreno. Annie, no report. Thank you, Fire Chief Paul Twalllet. Chief, anything report?

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. Um, don't have too many things on the agenda tonight for me, but uh I do have um we will have an afteraction report in regards to that event we had at KOMI. Hoping to have it within next week so we can have something back to you guys. Uh I know we've been getting a lot of questions about that and of course with this PIO position that would have definitely would have been very helpful in that situation which we we've identified that and then we have our um our autism event that's coming up on April 18th. Um I know we'll have another council meeting before then but and then I'll have next council meeting I should have a little bit more to report. Right. Thank you.

Thank you very much. human resources dire intram director Isabelle Carlos.

Thank you Mr. Mayor. Um madame mayor prom and members of the council um I'm pleased to announce that uh starting today we added uh two new employees to our roster, two promotions and four level advancements. We have four individuals that are going to uh advance from police officer trainees to officers. But I'm going to hold the details because we'll be recognizing them uh next council meeting. Um aside from that, earlier today the the HR team participated in the third annual Westside Hiring event at the fairgrounds. This event uh is a coll or was a collaboration with the Gateway Adult Education Network, Merced College and Dos Paulo's workability program. Uh the fair provided employment leads uh information and resources to the community. There was over 40 employers there and um hundreds over 500 community members that attended and I am uh happy to announce that our team was there representing the city. That concludes my report. Thank you.

Great. Thank you very much. Park and recreation director Joe. Joe.

Hi. Good evening. Um, so first and foremost, uh, we had a very successful egg hunt on Saturday. It was our fifth annual. Um, seemed to be our our biggest turnout, especially for the younger ages. Um, uh, so it was great. Uh, the weather was, um, also awesome. Normally we have a little bit of wind, so um, it's a good event. Um, we are also planning two volunteer days in April. Um, one for sure on the 10th. Um, we have, um, uh, quite a few, uh, volunteers from Sutter Health that, um, have offered to help us. We're going to go to Verona Park on that. So, I'll put together a flyer for that and release that shortly. will also do one at College Greens and we're hoping to paint the courts at both of those um uh locations. So, we'll get that information out. But, um if you're looking for volunteer days, um we do have a couple of those coming up. Um we are registering for volleyball, youth summer uh youth volleyball. Um and we just maxed out all of our registration for T-ball. So, um that'll be starting in a few weeks, but um always good to see when we have a big turnout for for that. So, thank you.

Thank you very much. Please, Chief Ray Rea. Chief,

good evening, Mr. Mayor. council. Um, just to add on to what uh human resources uh stated, we did graduate four officers from the Fresno Academy on Friday. So, congratulations to Officer Valdez, Castanada, Libincott, and Garcia. They will be here at the next council meeting so uh we can formally introduce them to you. And that is a six-month police academy. Um, I love hearing the stories, especially about week one, uh, when they all decide that, um, they're going to stay after about four or five days questioning why they are there. So, um, in addition, um, new for 2026, uh, we appreciate the investment in staffing. Uh, we are assigning one full-time officer to motors as of this month, motorcycle officer patrol. Uh, I do have a second officer that is certified. He is a supervisor, so he will be out a few days a month. And then I have a third officer that has been assigned to motorcycle traffic uh duties. He is going through training and his training should be completed sometime during the summer. So quite an investment in traffic. It's one of our major complaints. It's one of the major complaints in most cities. And um so we are we are proud that we are able to start working on that. Uh congratulations to the measure H and Measure P committee members and all those who applied. And then uh congratulations to officer Cortez on a very welldeserved retirement. Thank you for recognizing.

Thank you chief very much and public works director William V. I have nothing to report this. Thank you William. Okay we'll go to our city attorney Mary Learner. Thank you mayor and council. So, just want to report that the city attorney web page has been updated to provide for community resources and legal resources for our residents with direct links. Um, so if you have any questions, as always, feel free to reach out to me. Great, great news. City Manager Non,

Mayor, City Council, um, I did attend the career fair this morning as well, um, to kind of see how the turnout. Um, I was very surprised at how many people showed up. Um the number of participant and vendor was outstanding. The entire abandoning building was full and the participant was wrapped around the fairground um to come in. So we get to um interact quite a lot um with future candidates uh for employment. Um as I was very happy to share what we do uh but at the same time I'm a little bit disheartened. Um some of our community member do not know what the city of Los Angeles does. Um so that's kind of bring up a lot of these questions about how do we tell our story? How do we tell our community what do we do? Um, so that's I really appreciate council direction tonight for allowing us to have those PIO information because that's what we are going to attack first as understanding uh let our residents know what service we provide. How do you get those service? Um I think you probably seen one sample of our video um that just came out on social media early um uh this week on Monday um about our um public work teams that are going to be available to help setting up timer for irrigations. Right. Um there's going to be future videos telling them about our solid waste um programs, what's available, what services like curbside pickups, um you know, large items as well as cleanup of events. Um things like you know uh um regulations on garage sales, um food vendors, um a lot of that information are going to be pushed out. Um so that our residents are aware of all the services we provide and also be aware of uh regulations and enforcement that are coming down. Um one a very specific one as of today weed abatement is becoming effective. So that video is going to be coming out soon. Um as well um as we are growing um our staffs um thank you to our HR team for putting together a lot of our recruitment process. Um bringing on a lot of new staff. Um we can see a lot of smiley faces from our department head and our uh uh teams to trying to get some of those folks onboarded and providing new service uh um to our

community. That's going to result in quite a lot of capital project coming up this summer. Um, so we look forward to sending those notice that we will be shutting down your roads and your um, driveway for paving coming up this summer. Um, so I'm excited to share that. Um and to um our measure H and measure P um congratulations and uh condolences um as you will be working with um director um Minnie Moreno. Um we have a huge financial components a huge financial component not because you know of her shortcoming or anything but it's more than anything is that this year financial package for measure H and measure P is a very critical component for us. As you aware, fire station number four and fire station number three is at our forefront and that is relying heavily on those measures. So, we really relied on you to help us u provide some guidance on those financial packages. Um, that conclude my report.

Very good. Council member District 1, Mity Perez. Mity, anything to report? Um, just that I am planning with Neuron my community outreach event. It'll be a parkside chat on April 25th at 11:00 am and it'll be at Skyler Park and I would like to see um people come in and you know talk to me let will talk to us and um few of us will be there and I hope I see everyone there. Thank you. Thank you Missy. District two refugeio Lamas.

Thank you Mr. Mayor. Uh couple things. Uh again, congratulate the uh recently appointed committee members. Thank you for stepping up and coming up. Uh yeah, there's going to be a lot of work. Uh but uh I we got some good people appointed. So, thank you again. Um last night we had a uh presentation by uh Chris White with the Sanw King River Exchange. uh Billy Hansen, the public information officer with Mid Valley Disposal and our own uh public works director. Uh Mr. Bay, uh a lot of good information there and I appreciate the fact that the city manager put that together. Um it was a little disappointing. there weren't a lot of uh as many folks present as I was hoping because this is very critical information as to again water and also some of the uh state mandates on how we dispose our uh trash. I know that uh one of the questions from the uh a member of the audience was uh disposing of batteries, particularly lithium ion batteries. Uh uh fire chief, is that something that you collect at the fire stations?

We actually do not, but uh we do have a list. Oh, we do. Yeah, we have the small ones. We can do the small ones here. But any of the larger batteries, we've had some requests with um larger style lithium ion batteries we just can't take. But we do have Yeah. Community center and here at city hall, we have the bag and then there's a box that we can collect them here. But with uh anything that's larger than that, we usually have them reach out to solid waste with the county.

Roger that. Yeah. because the the issue is that some of these well these batteries they still have a charge to them and when they're compressed in the compactor in the truck they have a tendency to explode or ignite. So it's a very critical issue but I do believe that they they accept them at the landfill. Um so again folks if you have a a large battery don't dispose of them here. Uh it's it still has a charge to it. Uh such as like uh lawnmowers, weed whackers that are electrified, those things take those batteries if they're already past their life. take them to the uh landfill and they have a collection center there just like oil and appliances. Uh so again, thank you very much for for that presentation. Uh look at my notes here. Bear with me. Yeah. Again, big thank you to uh Director Joeim for that egg hunt. It was fantastic event. Uh I mean there were folks lined up all the way around. I was present with council uh woman uh

yes adjust having a hard time.

I'm sorry uh thank you uh for the egg hunt and thank the staff for their hard work. I know it's a lot of work uh to put it up and to break it down as well. Uh congratulations to officer Marcelino Cortez. Uh that was a long run. So enjoy your retirement again. It's welld deserved. This past week, I had an opportunity to sit down with uh uh Chief Ray Rea to go over some of the uh items, some uh initiatives that he's had and also his vision uh to where to take the department. And I'm thoroughly impressed by his attention to detail and understanding how to plan ahead to ensure that we as we grow, we have uh an appropriate personnel staffing our police department. I also uh had the opportunity to speak with Director Elms. uh our meeting was interrupted because of time limitations but I think we have a a follow- on meeting scheduled so we continue that conversation a very important department um talking about her ideas her vision and uh limitations and what we can do to assist in implementing a a strategic plan to attract uh better paying jobs. Um, lastly, my community engagement uh event will be this April 11th at uh 1 p.m. at Snow Goose Park. Uh, please uh if you have questions, uh, it's an ability to the members of the community, not just for district 2, but it is particularly for district 2 to engage and ask questions in a more uh, informal setting without some of the restrictions of time uh, that we have here at the council. for example, if you come up at the podium, you can't really get an answer for what you want. I appreciate the mayor that he does answer those. It didn't happen in the past, so I appreciate that very much. But, uh, again, April 11th, 1 p.m. at Snow Loose Park. Uh, thank you very much.

Thank you. District 3, March.

All right. Yeah, this morning I was at the job event that uh, Neuron was talking about. Yeah, there's quite a bit of turnout there. Uh only concern I saw the Clovis Police Department and Stockton Police Department and CHP and I was wondering, oh man, Chief, you had some graduating and now they're out here trying to post from way out there. So I was like, uh oh well. So I was like, but there's quite a bit of agencies that were out there and uh it was surprisingly extremely busy. So a good turnout. Um, other than that, I just want to announce that April Sunday, April 19th, I think it's a 1 PM community center, we'll have the information out for, you know, again, informal uh or outreach, whatever you want to call it, but just for the people to come out, ask questions, and it's not limited to District 3. It's anybody wants to come out there. At least for me, it's, you know, come out, talk, what are your concerns, what are the issues, uh, and we'll see what we can do to try to get those addressed and answer any questions, uh, you know, to whatever we have, uh, you know, answers for. And if we don't have answers, then we'll try to find them. All right, that's all for me, sir.

Thank you very much, Mayor Prom. Thank you, Mayor.

Um, see off my phone here. Okay. For uh the Sanwaqin Valley Air Pollution Control District, uh there will be a free smog repair event on Saturday, May 9th from 7:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at the Losanas Fairground, which is 4:01 Third Street. And uh at that event, uh they'll test older vehicles who can't pass smog. And um if uh the contract agency that we uh uh support with us uh it's called tunein tuneup event. Uh if they feel that your vehicle um is eligible for repair, there is an um a stipen that's given to you to take to a specific car repair place to see if they can get your vehicle to to pass smog. But if not, um, they'll work with you on a vehicle replacement either for an EV or a hybrid vehicle. And, um, it doesn't have to be a a brand new vehicle. They will assist you in purchasing a a used vehicle as well. So, that's that event is generally well attended, uh, at our fairground. Um, usually cars are lined up uh, going outside of the fairground. So again, it's going to be May the 9th uh from 7:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at the fairgrounds here in Los Bamos. Um just to touch again on on the egg hunt, it was our fifth annual uh at uh the Cardoza Park and we had what uh we had five groups I think this year. One of the groups that was added was for special needs children. And uh I was happy to see that our um parks and recck director added that because there

was a request from the parents to allow their children to go through and um not have all the stimulation uh from the other children as they ran past the tape. Uh this was uh this was my fifth year attending and I'm telling you each year this event grows more and more and I timed each group um group one which is which is our smallest uh kids uh from age group wise took them roughly about four minutes to sweep the ground. Group two, two minutes. Group three, one minute. And group four, which was everybody, uh it was getting really close to less than one minute. And so I told um one planning commissioner was there and council member Yamus that and and don't take this negatively, but these children were like locust cleaning the grass, you know, picking up all these eggs and there was nothing left behind. and they really cleaned up everything and our staff put down roughly about 36,600 plus eggs and um it it was just a really good event, a lot of um games, bounce houses, things for them to do and alsoformational booths out there. So, job well done for the event. Um, I know that we've been getting grants from mostly UC Davis for um spaying and neutering of our animals in the community. But I can only imagine, mayor and council, that at some point that money is going to go away and they are going to give money to other cities, other districts. And so I'm just putting this out there for the council to think about

is that we may want to start looking at a lowcost spay and neutering program here uh for our city in Los Banos. Um because I I'd hate to think that uh the positiveness of trying to get these animals taken care of will have a lull and go away and we don't have anything in the gap. So, I just kind of wanted to put that out there for us to think about and come up with a program and perhaps uh for those people who can afford the spa a low spay and neutering that they could do that and then, you know, have have the uh no cost spay and neutering for the grants that we have left uh to be used in other situations. And I think that's it for me this evening, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Well, I decided I was going to start limiting my council member reports for two minutes, but April Fools, I'm not going to do that, so I'm going to talk a long time. But anyway, talking about April Fools about 20 years ago, my brother and I really used to look a lot alike. He would go all over town and they thought he was the mayor and yada yada. So, the last time the council meeting landed on April Fool's Day, I had it all planned. He was going to walk I was going to be back there but when the before the meeting came he was going to walk in and sit down and before the meeting started I would come in. I could not get him to do it

but anyway that's a long time ago but anyway uh let's see uh we had M refu and myself were at the MCE graduation last week. It was for parents leadership. very great event that teaches parents how to be leaders not only in their community but also with their children and it was very well attended and it was a great event and I was glad we were a part of that. Um let's see I want Lucy if you could set up the proclamation for St. John's Lutheran Church on May 16th. I'd like to be able to be there and give them a proclamation on that. on the NCA meeting last week. Uh we talked a lot about CALR and the repaving of 152 through Los Banis. And uh they're having a lot of they're they're trying to get easements, purchase property like about four feet on each side of the highway in certain areas for property owners to put in sidewalks, to put in new driveways. And it was told to me at that meeting that they're having a really hard time getting anybody to sell their property. So I offered u our city manager to help out and hopefully they contact and hopefully that goes smoothly. I do hate to see any delays on that repaving project. We also okayed a new building at the highway 59 waste treat uh solid waste treatment plant in Merced area because MCG M is Merced County Association of Governments. Every city is represented and this and the supervisors are there on as board members and we're in charge of road monies that come in from the state. We're in charge of the solid waste uh which is Billy Wright Road and

59 and Merced. We're also in charge of the bus system, the free bus system that you see going around town, the yard system that goes up to Euseite and a lot of other things we've given them duties for. So, we're uh hopefully that goes smoothly, the 152 and it does not get delayed. Um, I'm glad to see everybody's having events in their districts. We're going to have the citywide event on April 14th at 6 PM at the community center and that'll be the state of the city address. And we'll be talking about it won't be a question and answer thing. It'll be a presentation what we have accomplished in the last year or so, few years, where what we're doing right at this time and what our plans are for the future. so it sort of goes good and then get the people more involved and um and better understanding what the city's plans what this council's plans are for the future and I it's very important so I hope everybody can attend that has that time available to them and with that I just want to wish everybody a happy Easter this coming Sunday and if there's nothing else to be brought before this council this meeting is adjourned thank you all for attending