City Council - Regular Meeting

Hello everyone. Thank you for coming to our council meeting this evening. Um, welcome, welcome. We're going to go ahead and start with our invocation. Let uh, excuse me. Roll call, please. Council member Garcia here. Council member Lara here. Council member Lutz here. Mayor Prom, Dr. Sanchez here. Mayor Kamacho here. All present. Great. Thank you. So, we'll start off with our invocation led by Council Member Andrew Lada and then we'll be doing our pledge of allegiance which I'll introduce right now.

If if everyone could please stand and if you're so inclined, bow your head. Uh God of justice and mercy, thank you for the gift of life and the opportunity to serve the people of our city. Help us to act with character and conviction. Help us to listen with understanding and goodwill. Help us to speak with charity and restraint. Give us a spirit of service. Remind us that we are stewards of your authority. Guide us to be the leaders your people need. Help us see the humanity and dignity of those who disagree with us and to treat all persons, no matter how weak or poor, with the reverence your creation deserves. And finally, Father, renew us with the strength of your presence and the joy of helping to build a community worthy of the human person. We ask this as your sons and daughters confident in your goodness and love in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, council member. And today we have the honor of welcoming our first grader from Rivera Elementary to do the flag salute, uh, Jazelle Ortiz. Jazelle, welcome. Good evening everyone. Today I will my name is Jes and I will be singing the pledge of allegiance. Right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Excellent. Thank you everyone very much. Why don't you come over here? Justelle, if you can come over here with your parents and take a picture and receive a certificate and recognizing you for what you Thank you. It takes a lot to get up here and speak. So, congratulations. for you.

What is one.

Pretty good. Ready? One, two, three.

Thank you.

All right, let's give another round.

Okay. Um, and before we sit down here, we do have a certificate of recognition, but want to recognize and welcome uh Justin Smith, our planning commissioner is here. Thank you, Justin, for being here. And also Gil Perez, our veterans commissioner. Thank you both for being here. So, it's not often that we get a uh employee who's been with the city for many years and decides to retire. you know, it's bittersweet for us, especially then they contributed a lot to our to our city as a growth. Uh, an individual there. I'm going to read a little bit about them, but I think we're going to have our our colleagues say a few words. But this evening, we have the pleasure of recognizing and providing a proclamation to George Ramos. Most folks know George out there. Always in and out. The first one I see him at activities. I can see his staff and colleagues are here with them to recognize him. But uh tonight is our honor to recognize George Ramos for an incredible 42 years of dedicated service to the city of Picoretta. I even want to say I was young back then. What always uses that youngster, but I'm going to use that one today. George began his career in 1983 with parks and recreation and over the years became someone our staff and community could always rely on. From youth programs and facility operations to park maintenance and public works supervision, George has played an important role in supporting city services and community events. As a lifelong Picoretta resident, George's impact goes beyond his work. Many in our community know him as a coach, a mentor, colleague, and a friend. His commitment and pride in serving the city where he lives truly reflects the service uh public service. After more than four decades of service, George now begins a well- earned retirement where where we know he'll enjoy more time with family, friends, and cheering on the Los Angeles Dodgers. Go Dodgers. Uh on behalf of the

city council and the entire community, we thank you, George, for your service. I know that every time we've had an event out of the city, you I see you setting things up, breaking it down amongst many other things. And uh you're always one of the first persons you see at these events. We had many. So again, uh come over here and join us to receive this uh this proclamation on behalf of the city council and more importantly on behalf of the city of Picoa for your years of 42 years of service. I don't think that you thought this day would ever come, but

but it has. And uh and again, George, thank you very much. I appreciate you and your whole family. All right, George, you're going to have to say a few words. Come on now. I'll put you on the spot. 42 years. Come on. You can start from the beginning. Uh just like to thank my first supervisor uh in 1983 uh Rose Comp for giving me uh the opportunity to work for the CPO CPA and and here I am. So time to go. Thank you. Thank I my family and friends for being here and my colleagues. Thank you. that that's the best way after 22 years and stuff. So again, Jo congratulations. You want to bring your family up and take a picture? This friends, everybody, staff, your colleagues, come on. This is one of the Come on. Everybody else here and support George, come up here. Let's

do a group. Group picture here. We should all go. We're very grateful.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What?

In 2014 is when they switched.

We should go. Yes.

If you want panoramic Okay, I wonder just me. picture. We get a staff picture and I'm still working.

We share you. That's what

it was like halfway. Ready? One.

Thank you. Congratulations.

You want to give this family? Yeah. No,

I saw nothing. I saw nothing. I heard nothing. I made sure of that. Yeah. And uh at this time, I'd like to ask my colleagues to say a few words. Uh Council Member Garcia. Thank you, Mayor. Um is he still here? Where's George at? Where is George? He's like He's like, I'm out. He was He was pulling a Houdini there. He wanted to escape. George, come back in. Hey, you're not off the clock here, man.

We George, we we just want to share a few remarks from our perspective. Um, I met George back in the Roland Steumman days. Those of you remember Roland Steumman, this was decades ago. And when you mentioned Rose, her brother Armando right there at Rivera Park. Those, you know, George is a strong competitor. whether it was basketball, softball, this guy was an athlete back in the days and you know age catches up with all of us. But at the end of the day, George, I just want to thank you uh for your service. And when you go back to Rivera Park, you the early days where you had barbecues, benches, and big shady trees, all of our parks have changed over the decade. And at the end of the day, you played a pivotal role. you were always behind the scenes, but you make sure, and the mayor touched on this a little bit, that you made sure that our sports organizations made sure that they were heard, their voice, they were recognized on those opening days, those special events, those special activities that mean a lot here in this community. So, thank you for your 42 years of service and improving quality of life for the residents here in the city of Picori. Good luck on your future endeavors. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, George. I just want to say thank you. I do know I came I came in as a parks commissioner and I want to say I think I was in maybe not quite kindergarten when you started, but I do I know I came in as parks and recreation commissioner in my career in the city and I want to say that the mayor promised to buy you drinks and dinner at Stigenstein. No, but I do want to say thank you for all your years of service to our kids, to our parks, and I know that you really do care and and every time before I was

a council member, I was the mom that used to complain about something to clean up at the park. Likely, you were the one fixing it. So, I want to say thank you so much for all your years and dedication to our parks and and to our city. Thank you. RIGHT, everybody's all staff members are going to say something. I'm just kidding. All right. Oh, again, George, thank you. Appreciate you. You have a good one. Thank you. All right.

I'll see you at the stinking Stein, but um All right, we're moving on then to our agenda. We have a public hearing. I'd like to open the public hearing. Uh city manager, do we have any uh any memo from the city? No memos, mayor. Okay. Any written communication? Oral communication? There is no oral or written communication. They're hearing none. I'm going to close this public hearing and entertain a motion to approve. So moved. Second. We got a first and a second. Uh roll call, please. Council member Garcia, yes. Council member Lara, yes. Council member Lutz, yes. Mayor Pro 10. Dr. Sanchez, yes. Mayor Kamacho, yes. Motion passes 5-0.

Great. Thank you. Uh this leads us into the public comments. I do have a few public comment cards here. You have uh come up to the podium. I'm going to call your name. You have three minutes. And uh first we'll have Art Lemon uh supporter of Andy Vargas song program. Art. Good evening everyone. My name is Art Lemon and um I just want to take this opportunity to uh to say thank you for your great partnership. Picora City, all its staff and uh all the stakeholders and Andy Vargas Foundation. I want to congratulate you on your marriage and your partnership of uh coming together to support this young man and and his vision. Uh I'm with the Los Angeles Low Rider Alliance and we are a think tank organization and problem solving entity here in the state of California and we represent car culture lowriting uh all over the world 125 countries and we have a lot of support and we have uh a lot to do and a lot of work to do. But this young man is he he's an exceptional professional. He's going to be mentoring folks in the song program and he's going to be mentoring our children. He's going to be mentoring our youth. I mean, he's going to be mentoring and educating our community in an area that has been overlooked and uh bypassed for so many decades. And I want to thank you for uh everything that you're doing to pour into this city and to pour into this community. And I want to thank and commend you, city council, mayor, and for financing it and supporting it. You're not going to be disappointed. The Los Angeles Low Rider Alliance is here aoyar to support everything that you guys are doing and anything that we can

do to help you be successful. That's what we want to do. We're here to celebrate your continued success and your continued success to develop future leaders, mentors, and uh innovators and creative thinkers and problem solvers in the in the m music and and industry that uh that needs us. And it's a great chance for the children to be able to uh be mentored and learn and to exercise their gifts that God has given them. I want to thank you and we're here for you. Amen. God bless. Great. Thank you.

Next is uh Christina Naba regarding the live film festival. Good evening, honorable mayor and council members. My name is Christina Nava. I am the co-director of the Latina Independent Film Extravagana, or as we call it, Life Film Festival. a groundbreaking cultural event dedicated to supporting, showcasing, and elevating Latina film directors. Our 2026 festival will take place during Women's History Month and culminate with an awards ceremony on International Women's Day, March 8th. On behalf of Life and myself, we want to thank you for your support of the oldest film festival in the United States geared towards Latina creators. We invite you all and the community on March 7 at SPOS here in beautiful Pico Ria where we will have three cinemas and we'll be having a beautiful program of a feature film, short film and then a series of um short films as well. Uh we will also have a VIP um pachanga right after to celebrate and meet these filmmakers. Um I really really want to thank you for your support. Um, this is supporting our storytellers who are Latinos and if we don't tell our stories, somebody else is going to tell our stories and your help and support is invaluable. We have um flyers here that we will be leave behind and invite you all and invite the community to come out and celebrate Latina directors. Thank you.

Very cool. Thank you. Thank you for bringing us to CPA. This is the second film festival we do here in our city. So, we're definitely embracing it and we want more of it. Thank you very much. Um, okay. So, it's March uh 7th at Synopoulos. Very well. Next, uh speaker is Lauren Talbbert from Library Updates. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. My name is Lauren Talbot and I'm the community library manager at the Pico Rivera Library and the Rivera Library. Here are our updates for February. The Rivera Library has reopened as of yesterday. However, the Rivera Library will be opening at noon Monday through Friday due to the ongoing construction. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Construction is going to continue until May 2026. Families are invited to our Lunar New Year program at the Pico Rivera Library on Tuesday, February 17th at 4 p.m. Kids will learn about the animals of the Chinese zodiac and decorate cardboard horses, but not life-siz horses, small ones. And the library will be giving away um red envelopes to kids throughout the week. The Rivera Library will be closed on Monday, January 16th for the holiday. Thank you.

Great. Thank you for that update. February 16th. February. Thank you for the update. Next, we have Patrick Patricia Garcia. Uh, problem on Lexington and Gallatin. I know I have other speaker cards. I'm assuming it's the folks behind you as well. So, I'll call their name when I I'm Debbie. Yes. Oh, I'm the one they voted to go first. Okay. So, let me take Patricia out. Debbie, welcome.

Thank you. Same issue. Lexington and Gallatin.

Good evening. Um, esteemed council members, my name is Debbie Kratock and I stand before you representing those of us who live on Lexington and Gallatin Road here in Pico Rivera. I've lived in Pico Rivera my entire life and have neighbors who I've known as long as I can remember in addition to a few who are um who have purchased homes in our neighborhood relatively recently. We're the type of citizens that care deeply about our city, our neighbors, our homes, our families. Um, we're hardworking, some operating businesses from home, busy taking care of our families, and respectful of our neighbors. We'd like to thank you for the resources that the city has allocated over the past several years and bring a shared concern to your attention at this meeting. We've been negatively impacted by years of illegal activity at 8320 Lexington Gallatin Road. The home has been destroyed and hoarded beyond the ability of the owner's um capability to restore it. It's now boarded up and red tagged due to its uninhabitable condition and the backyard's been used as a dumping ground. Criminals have been arrested repeatedly and taken to jail only to return within hours or days. Trash is left daily in the front yard, driving away family and customers who do not feel safe, let alone confident that their children will be safe on our block. Cars observed to be completing drug transactions come and go day and night, as well as young men on foot or bicycles with backpacks or plastic bags. We've witnessed prostitution, overdoses, young people being beaten with a baseball bat or threatened with a shotgun. Our homes and cars have been vandalized

and broken into. As recently as two weeks ago, the surrounding neighbors could smell chemical burn that pervaded our homes and came from this address. We believe that drugs were being manufactured there as well, although there is no sign of anything burning on the property. The owner is an elderly woman who moved in 12 years ago and has plagued the neighborhood with inappropriate behaviors and nighttime disturbances due to her mental health condition. She's not been capable of keeping criminals from taking advantage of her and operating out of her property. We feel unsafe and are concerned that our good neighbors caring for their grandchildren or children of others may need to sell their homes. Some of us who've been part of the community for over 60 years are told by our children to leave for our safety. When neighbors have left, we fear that criminals will move back in. Each of us have repeatedly called code enforcement and sheriffs, and we are asking the city council to ensure that these issues are resolved. I now introduce my neighbors to share their stories.

I'm going to call up Lety.

Hi, I'm Lethy Torres. I live next door to the home. Um I'm fairly new in the neighborhood. Um I just moved in 7 months ago and really excited about purchasing the home. Um really haven't got to enjoy it like you know you normally would when you first purchase a home. Um it's kind of sad because I'm the one that runs a daycare uh next door to this home. So, my parents that have come and go to pick up the children have seen this kind of activity go on. So, um so I'm a little nervous right now. Sorry. And uh so it has been a big impact on my on my business. And so right now I've been trying to restore it and uh so hopefully we can get it resolved soon. and there's been a lot more stuff that I've gone through, but that's pretty much most of the impact that it has on me. Thank you.

Thank you. Um, and a couple more speakers on the subject matter. Ruben Perez not here. Okay. How about Patricia Garcia?

Uh, I live on the other side of the house. I've, as I'm washing dishes, looking outside my window, which faces the property's driveway, I've seen people smoking crack, I've seen people that are there waiting to move in because, you know, they there were probably a time where like 30 people were living there. Uh, and as I'm there, uh, looking at my kitchen window, these people are looking at me like, "What the hell are you looking at me? Turn around. like I have no rights in my own house. That's how I feel. I have had the same people as I'm working in my front yard with my little grandchild who's uh two years old look at me with a bat in their hand like what are you looking at? Don't look at us. Leave us alone. Let us do our thing. So, you know, we've been dealing with this for with the owner for a long time, but with this newer problem for two years, and we just hope that, you know, it's a little better right now, but every day I'm afraid it's going to go back to what it was. like I don't feel safe not even in Pico because I like to walk and some of the people that used to stay there that live two three blocks away I know where they live because I recognize them and I'm afraid that as I'm walking around if they recognize me as a neighbor that has looked at them once that they're going to you know come and hurt me. So it's just not a safe situation. Like I said, right now it's a little better, but we don't know what's going to happen. And it's better because, you know, they the city took control of the

property because how it is destroyed. Uh and they did kicked out all this, you know, drug dealers, drug users, and all that. Yes. But, you know, are they really going to be out? like once she's allowed back, the homeowner is allowed back into her house, she is she gonna allow them back and is the city going to let that happen? I mean, I understand it's her property. She has the right to have people move in if she wants to, but these people are horrible people. I don't want to be living next to them. And you know, I've I've lived in uh in the same house for 28 years, and I've always felt fine, safe. You know, there's crime in every city. There's But I always feel fine. It's been the last two years that I just don't feel safe there. So we what we are looking for is that once she's allowed back into her house that this people somehow the city comes up with a plan that she doesn't allow those people back because we know she has mental issues. We know that we know we have she has drug issues.

Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all of you who have come to share your stories and you know on our behalf. We apologize for the impact that you have had to your quality of life in in the area. Um, from what I hear, city's already engaged in in in so many different ways, but I'd like to ask staff if we can further look into where where this is at and where this is going and if you can bring back something for the next meeting as to what we have done. I know the sher our sheriff department is involved as well. So, we'll find out working within the legal parameters as you recognize, but uh definitely understand and your your your concerns. Thank you for coming. Appreciate it. Um with that, um we're going to move on from Oh, we I do have one written public comment uh from Robert Vieiraa um regarding the homeless in their vehicles at Lowe's and Ultra Beauty. It's a positive uh thank you positive sense of what we've done, but just put it in the record. Thank you. Okay, with that leads us into our consent calendar. Um any items that are being pulled?

Mayor, I'm pulling item six for presentation. Item six for presentation outside of item six. Um any others? I I just would like to make a comment on item five. A comment. And there's a motion. Uh and can I get a second? Second. I have a second. Um, we'll do the comment.

Okay. Thank you. Uh, I just want to commend my colleagues, uh, city staff on the significance of installing HVAC into the gymnasiums there at Rivera and Pico Park. You know, I've I've sat there for little kids basketball games during the summer and August and it's just been unbearable. and it's I don't think ever been done. So I I just want to recognize this accomplishment. It's taken some work to get here. So I just want to acknowledge that. Thank you for that. Council member, uh I do have a first and a second. All those in favor sign by saying I.

I. I. Any opposed? Hearing none. This item moves. Um I would concur. I'm glad that this item has been brought forward to us. It's definitely something that was long overdue and I know everyone to some degree has worked on pushing this forward. Thank you staff for finally get that going and I from the looks of the schedule um hopefully they should have you know by the summer uh June I believe it should be complete soon. Yeah, we have an update on that update on that. Okay, very well. So, okay. So, all items have been approved in consent exception to item six that was pulled. Mr. city manager.

Yes. Um item number six is going to be presented by Pam Ugar. And this is item six, an agreement with the Andy Vargas Foundation and associated funding needed for phase one of the Sounds of New Generations program which we have Mr. Andy Vargas here with us. Thank you Andy for being here. Uh

Mr. Vargas, if you wanted to come a little closer, it might be easier. Thank you. Honorable mayor and council, it's a pres it's a pleasure to be with you today. Before we start, I have a few thank yous because we wouldn't be here. Um, we've been working on this for about four or five months and I really need to put a shout out to my colleagues, Rick Ramirez, community uh development manager. Thank you. Um, Steve Carmona, you've been really instrumental in this. And then I with his sidekick, Angelina Graves, thank you for helping us find the money always. And Jane, putting it where it needs to go. Really appreciate you all. wouldn't do it without you. Uh, as I said, we've been working on this for about four months. This is a program that is really dear to our hearts and important for the city of Pico Rivera, especially the parks and recreation department because we don't offer anything like this program. No other city offers anything like this program. And once again, Pico Rivera is going to be put on the map. And we thank Andy Vargas very uh much for choosing us. It's an honor to be chosen by him and it's an honor to be uh working with him and um looking forward to our children getting taught by him and being mentored by him and and the people that he's going to be bringing into our city. Um they will inspire. They're going to mentor. They really focus on underprivileged youth. And because we now have a brand new renovated teen center, our youth center, it's the perfect place for Andy to do his work. And when we took him there, he was so excited and so happy. Um, like I said, it's a perfect place for this kind of magic to happen. Gabe, if you can go to the next slide. You may be wondering, what is the song program? I had to ask that, too. What is song? It's sparking originality in new generations. And Andy, you can tell he's young, but he has young children, too. And he's a young dad having a family. And being creativity is really important. It's not just all about sports. Yes, sports is important, but curriculum is important. Learning how to use your mind, learning

how to read music, all of those things are really important. He focuses on songwriting, music production, recording, and he's going to bring experts from the industry into Pico Rivera, which is going to be very exciting for us. Next pro, next slide, please. It's going to be a three-month program. We're starting this pilot program for a year. We'll be focusing um with the f first cohort which will have about 14 students in it um all focused at the youth center two weekends a month very intense but from what um Andy tells us is that the kids we actually going to have to force them to go home they're going to want to stay you know because um it's just such a wonderful um experience. We start in March and um our first cohort hopefully will be able to do live performances and we can showcase them either at our World Cup event or at the summer street fest or our farmers markets. You can get the next program. The the money that you funded today in item six, the children will be able to utilize really top of the notch equipment. Andy will talk about it a little bit, but Andy brings in partnerships with Gibson, with Apple, with all sorts of different um um musical entities that will bring products to our children that they wouldn't have access to normally. And that is really really very quite exciting. They get to use real studio equipment and they'll be recording actually making music in Pico Rivera. The next slide is they'll have access to scholarships, they have access to college, there'll be a different way to get to school. And I think that's really important for us, especially Dr. Sanchez and your focus on education. I think this is something that will be dear to your heart as well. Um, there will be partnerships and also creative hubs. You know, I know we have the creative lab. We have a director of innovation and communication. This is going to be something that's going to we're going to be able to link all across the directors and all across of our our disciplines. And so I really see really exciting

things for the future of Picarova, especially with what Andy's going to bring. Now, without further ado, I told Andy I do need to read his bio. It's important. He's come this far. I think his parents would be proud to hear, you know, your your bio and your children, too. So, I'm doing this. Um, if you don't mind, he'll be here. And I'll without further ado, I'd like to read your bio. Andy Vargas is an internationally recognized violinist, voc I'm sorry, vocalist, songwriter, and producer whose career spans more than two decades at the highest level of the music industry. Born and raised in Watsonville, California, Andy's musical journey began at a young age, rooted in traditional mariachi music under the guidance of his father, Javier Vargas. These early influences shaped his deep respect for cultural heritage and the power of music as storytelling. Andy is best known as the longtime lead vocalist of the legendary band Santana, with whom he has toured the world extensively. He has performed on some of the most iconic stages globally, contributing to a musical legacy that bridges cultures, generations, and genres. Beyond his work as a performing artist, Andy is a passionate advocate for arts education and community empowerment. He's the president of the Andy Vargas Foundation, a nonprofit organizational um organization dedicated to providing underserved youth with access to music education, mentorship, and realworld creative opportunities, which is so exciting. Through its flagship program, the song Sounds of New Generations of Foundation teaches songwriting, vocal performance, music production, and music business fundamentals, helping students build confidence, develop their creative voices, and envision sustainable futures in and beyond the arts. And besides that, he's just pretty down to earth and a really just great human being. It's my

priv privilege right now to introduce to you Mr. Andy Vargas for any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Pamela. Good evening, honorable mayor, council members, and fellow community. Uh, thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight and your time. My name is Andy Vargas. I'm professional musician and longtime vocalist with the band Santana, but more importantly, I'm the president of the Andy Vargas Foundation. I'm here to introduce our song program which now stands for sounds of new generations. We plan to launch this in March here in Pico Rivera in partnership with the community. Song is more than a music camp. It's a structured youth development program that uses music as the entry point to build confidence, discipline, teamwork, and real world skills. Our students learn more than just songwriting. They perform. We introduce music production, recording, and the fundamentals of the music business. But what they really gain is belief in themselves. I come from a workingclass background. Music gave me direction, mentorship, and a future. The Andy Vargas Foundation exists to make sure that access to those opportunities isn't limited by zip code or circumstances. I was encouraged to work in Pico Rivera because this city values youth, culture, and community. We see Pico Rivera as a place where creative programs can truly take root, where students are supported not just artistically but academically and personally.

Our program is hands-on, supervised, community centered. We partner with local leaders, educators, and families. We are not just dropping in. We are committing to be present, accountable, and aligned with the goals of this city. We've already seen what this program can do. Students writing their first songs, standing on stage for the first time, finding confidence, and discovering pathways they've never thought were possible. Mayor and council members, with your support, we are ready to provide Pico Rivera with a safe, inspiring place to create, learn, and grow. Thank you so much for your time and continued commitment to the youth and families of Pico Rivera. We look forward to showcasing the sounds of our next generation. I truly appreciate your time.

Thank you, Eddie. Thank you. Um, any questions? Mayor Pro, my only question is, can we come take a picture? Well, we look forward to the partnership. We'll bring them up in a minute. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you, mayor. Um, kudos uh to the staff for reaching out to the foundation because not everybody wants to shoot a basketball, kick a ball, or hit a ball. This program will offer an opportunity for any size, shape to get involved and do something. So, job well done.

Okay. No. Well, Andy, thank you. And I said, you know, concur with my colleagues in the presentation. I know that this was brought forth to us and as uh Pam, our director mentioned, I mean, we have a great programming here in the city that is led by Pam and her entire staff, but we don't cover it all. This is one of those that we don't cover. And there's a lot of kids that do pursue music and so many different components on it. So for you to bring this to attention and we all u you know we're going to vote still but uh but we do agree that this is a missing link that we have and to do it with you and your foundation and what you've done in your career. Congratulations. Uh it's you know you're young. You still have a lot of career left. But for you to come and share that knowledge and experience with our youth and inspire hopefully the next Andy Vargas in there or the next Santana and so forth. That's just, you know, shows where what we cherish here in the city of Vicora. So again, thank you. I know we run into each other many events here and there. We've talked about it, but they has come and here. Here it is. So again, thank you. And um I'd like to ask for a roll call vote, please. I move mayor, if I may, just have one.

Yes, please. Question. Andy, thank you for considering uh Pico Rivera as part of that first group, the cohort of 14. I'm wondering if their final project is to create a song about our wonderful city of Pico Rivera with a couple jingles as well. We can make that a project. Yes, for sure. Songwriters. I I know that our production staff would love to hear a couple jingles already packaged for them by the end of that term and then just a great song um talking about all the all the great things that we have in our wonderful city.

That would be that would be wonderful. And also uh we will be having a talent show as well uh you know showcasing our talent um as well as being able to have them uh being uh presented on our YouTube channel as well so everyone could see the students work at home as well. Uh but uh that's a that's a great idea. That's a wonderful uh curriculum for the weekend. So we we we will definitely work on that. We have our word

and and how are the students selected? Uh so for right now we will be um along with Pam and uh you know the uh parks and wreck uh we'll be uh speaking to some of the students already there at the at the teen center and then we'll be um speaking to our uh principles uh hopefully superintendent of schools and reaching out uh to um then the principles and the art departments uh being able to uh present uh you know our program at rallies and different things at different high schools. Um, and then we have an application for them to fill out. Um, and really we really don't want to turn anyone away. So, we'll just go ahead and schedule as much as we can to any of those that are, you know, want to uh, you know, come and participate and hopefully get hooked and then we just continue to build program from there. So, we do have an application and, uh, we will be working together to make sure that it's aligned with all city regulations.

Thank you. Very well. Thank you, council member, for that. and we have a lot of big platforms here in our city that they can showcase their their talent with there's some big concerts here in the city. So, um but again, uh we call for a motion. There's a first. Uh a second. Second. A second. And roll call vote, please. Council member Garcia, yes. Council member Lara, yes. Council member Lutz, yes. Mayor Prom, Dr. Sanchez, yes. Mayor Kamacho, yes. Motion passes 5. Congratulations. Welcome. Thank you for actually if you can come up here and we'll take a picture and invite you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you to join us as well.

Presentation. I look forward to that project. Can we get one with Rick up here? Yeah, let's get Come on, Rick. Stop being shy, Rick. Come on.

Thank you, Rick. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, Pam. You guys Pam, you might as well join us, too. Come on. Oh, of course. Just the beginning, right? Yes.

Thank you. Let's do this. Very well. Let's uh moving on to the remainder of our agenda. We don't have any regular agenda items and uh city manager staff reports.

Yes. Um, uh, mayor and city council, tonight is, uh, the beginning of our monthly CIP update, um, which is truly going to reflect the scale investment of the city is making in its infrastructure and facilities. Our two-year budget includes 164 million in capital improvement projects, and over the last two years, we delivered more than 60 million in completed work. With that, I'll turn it over to our public works director, Noi Negrete, to provide an update. And uh as we move forward, we'll continue to bring council updates on the monthly basis. In addition, we're developing a dashboard that will be outward facing to the public. It's currently in process, so the community will also have an opportunity to see the status of our uh uh capital improvement projects throughout the city. Thank you, Noi.

Thank you, Steve. Thank you, No.

Thanks, Steve. Mayor, council, I'm just going to rifle through a bunch of our projects. Uh these are our top priority projects, not all of our projects in our CIP. Uh but we're here to give you an update on their status. Um so as Steve said, our two-year budget is $143 million. Really reflects the staff going after a lot of grants and being successful. Also a lot of uh there's a few of these projects that are high dollar amounts as well that driving that price up. I will start with the uh Ala dog park. Uh the construction is completed. Uh as you know, we're hosting a dedication on February 27th. Uh we're really excited to see this uh open uh for as our first dog park in the city. You can see on the pictures here. We took an underutilized piece of land uh there at the corner of Gallatin in Rosemead. You saw what the in the middle was what the rendering was and then you can see the same overhead uh of what it looks like today. So again inviting the community to come out on February 27th. Uh our city hall chambers projects is in construction just under $2 million. Uh our opening is scheduled for the second meeting in March. Um we are pushing the contractor to complete that. Uh moving along as fast as we can on that. You can kind of see the same thing what it used to look like. Uh we demoed it out. Uh framed out the walls. Uh really the uh the dis and the electrical is a critical path to the completion of that. Our Smith Park Aquatic Center uh recently we received bids. We're evaluating those bids and we'll come to you shortly to award that construction contract here in the next couple of weeks uh as soon as next week as late as in two weeks. Um we are uh short of some funding and we're moving some money around. Total project is just just around $39 million. In terms of the schedule once we award we need we wanted to start uh with the procurements uh as early as in March uh as early as uh

March. We also host a groundbreaking. So, we will be uh working with you on available date. Um we the reason why we want to start the procurements is because there's some items that are long lead time items. Uh so they're called submittals. We want the contractor to turn those in as fast as they can so we can start ordering those uh materials and we're anticipating starting in June or July of this year. Another project uh in design now about 90% is the Rio Hundo Park renovation uh just under $12 million. Uh currently in plan check with the Department of Public Health. Uh so we're waiting waiting uh their last comments. Once we can finalize that uh then we'll finalize the plans and then go out to bid. Again, we're anticipating the start of construction in September of this year. Uh what you voted on today was the HVAC at both Rivera and Pico Gyms. Um so you did you did pass this. We'll start the contract routing in the procurements now this month. Again, there's long lead items for uh HVAC units. Those units take anywhere between four and five months to get ordered by the time they get here. So unfortunately, we won't be starting construction until those units arrive. Part two of that is we don't want to shut down both of those gyms at the same time because we'll it'll it'll be a drastic reduction of programs if we stop uh if we close those doors for those gyms. So, we are working with park staff in terms of how to um work around that programming so that we keep our programming uh going on during the summer. So, we'll we'll start with one most likely Pico Park. Once we complete that, then we'll go to Rivera Park and we'll have one gym open at all times. We're looking to complete this uh by the end of of uh this calendar year. The Pad Park, we've started the uh demolition plans um of this. So, we do

want to start uh at least demoing that building, grading it out. Um we did start this. We're at 35%. We're working on the environmental clearance as we speak. Uh and again, we start uh anticipated demolition is November of 2026. our re uh resurfacing program. I was here last time we talked about uh our payment management program. We're looking at our next project about $10 million. We're 95% design. Uh we were just out there finalizing uh some of the last minute details. Again, we're looking to start construction in June of 2026. Um we're always chasing sidewalk uh in terms of funding this. This is funded by our CDBG program. We're currently out to bid right now on this project. Uh we're looking to start construction on this in April of this of this year. As well as we have u another grant for school crossing enhancements. Uh we're about 90% design. Uh this is for enhancing crosswalks in particular around school areas and we're looking to start this in September of this year of 2026. On the water side, um these are water fund. The next projects I'll talk about is we're uh under compliance to we have some abandoned wells that we need to uh officially um abandon properly uh with with the state's permission and their clearance. We're about 90% design on this. Uh we have four wells that we're going to abandon and um we're looking at uh starting this in July of this year, 2026. Uh current project that's in construction is our water man replacement. So, if you're leaving here, I uh don't advise you to drive on uh Washington between Paramount and and Rosemead going in the eastbound direction. It's down to one lane. Uh so, what we've done is we've um uh worked with the contractor to do that as night work because it would be a tremendous

impact to our day traffic. Uh so for the next several months they're going to be from 7 pm to 5:00 am and they're putting in about 2700 feet of pipe um for our new water man in that street. Phase one was roughly uh on Burke just um where is that east of uh Passins. Uh phase two was in the area of like Woodford area uh Amistad. Those are uh completed for the water man work. Uh the final paving is yet to be done though. So once we finish um on Washington, we'll do all the paving at one time. Uh I know we are exploring uh looking at the limits of that paving uh because of the impact that it had to those neighborhoods. So I know this council has uh asked me to look at in terms of extending paving limits, not just paving the trench itself. So we are exploring in terms of a nexus of that inconvenience to that community, what makes sense to be paid back. Uh so more to come on that. And there's just uh that actually started last night um in terms of that trenching uh and started at Paramount working its way towards Roseme. And then uh last project I'll highlight is uh we did complete our first phase one of POS last year very successful. Uh we do have one plant that still needs to be converted over to the POS treatment. Uh and we're looking at uh we're 75% design. uh a lot of lessons learned from our phase uh one and we are looking to start that construction in March of 2027 next year. uh rough time frame. I want to go through that, but you can see I went through 12 projects uh really fast there in terms of uh we're trying to uh do a lot of projects this year, right? We're trying to get a lot of stuff in the ground. Um people like seeing when we get stuff in construction, right? You don't you don't see when we're in design. Um so, as you see as we get projects in into construction, behind

it, there's projects that are starting to design. Um, so of those of those 12 I mentioned, 11 of those we want to start in construction this year. And um, with that, I'll be happy to take any questions. Great. Thank you, Noi. Yes, I'll open up to questions. Council member Garcia.

Uh, thank you, Mayor. First of all, Noi, great presentation. Uh, it's good to see timelines on these major projects. It's an aggressive CIP list. Um, hold your head up. This is a lot to handle here, but I'm just curious, mayor. Um, you look at 144 million. What are our surrounding cities CIP? I'm just curious. This is quite a bit. That's a good question. I'm sure I know I can answer, but it's not.

Yeah, I can tell you uh our surrounding cities are anywhere between three to six million dollars per year. Um, we get a lot of grants, that's for sure. We're the envy of our surrounding cities. that allows us to do all these projects. But in general, most cities set aside three or $6 million if they're lucky per year for project. Thank you, Mayor. Can uh we repeat that last sentence again? Our surrounding cities set aside between three and $6 million for their CIP. They just don't have the uh the capacity or the money, the financial means to be able to do as many projects as we're doing. Any questions?

Yes. I did want to ask um regarding the citywide resurfacing and reconstruction. It begins in June 2026 and a lot of the residents always want to ask is my street on the list. I think right now would be a good time perhaps maybe we organize a list and we have it available online so anybody interested could see it either on social media or going on to the the proper website pico rivera pico-a.org and now they can access that list of streets that will be resurfaced or repaved slurried whatever it may be for 2026 onward.

We can we can do that. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member. Council member Letter,

um I just want to express my frustration in uh overall great work, right? This is this has been kind of years in the making. Uh just my overall frustration in the lowest bid process and how that hampers a lot of our projects. Um, I want to commend uh city staff for taking a different look and an approach with the aquatic center because that's one project we just have to get. So, um I just want us to be mindful that when we start these projects, we need to make sure that we're contracting with the right contractors and that they're not going to start one day and leave us dry for six months then come back and you know so in the in the midst of kind of congratulations because that's that's due. Um, we I think as a community need to be mindful of that and we need to think of strategies where we're abiding by the law of awarding lowest bid but at the same time being mindful you get what you pay for and thinking of strategies of way in which we can improve upon that which we can make sure that we're right sizing we're getting the right contractors in here who are going to give quality work um to to our projects because and then and then the second part to all of this is maintenance, right? You can give communities really nice things, right? Medians, but can you maintain them? like what type of quality improvement do we have to follow up so that in five t years from now those medians look exactly how we envision them and want them to to to be. So just um just in the midst of um you know

great work this is a team effort all around much success but let's just kind of keep these these other things in mind. I I don't mean to be a part you know to to to rain on the parade per se but I just want to keep these items because we need to continue to perfect ourselves. Thank you council member Tim.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you director. My questions um as you mentioned um several of the our projects are grant funded. However, on the sheet, only one is completed. I would also like to see um when the grant was awarded because for instance, I know the PAD project, we took a photo, our Congresswoman Linda Sanchez came out, I don't remember how long ago, almost a year now. Um yes. So, it's been a while. Um and so my question is what are we doing? Is there anything we not just our staff but ourselves can do to help expedite these grants that are on hold? I know that I work in grants. There's a certain timeline that we have to complete those projects or we risk losing the money and having to give it back. So, what can we do um as well as staff or whoever um to ensure that we complete those projects on time and not have to give back grant money?

Yeah. Uh it's a great question. Um it's something we're mindful of. We track that. Um, let me just give the council perspective, not not to go backwards, but you had a backlog here. It was several years behind. Um, and I think we've chopped that down. We're still in that backlog, but we're closer to now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel to get to new projects before we can um end those other projects. So, from that standpoint, we're very mindful of those. We've asked for extensions as needed, but we have to have justifications for that. Um, but it is something there is a couple projects here that were put cutting it pretty close because you had other projects that were higher priority that needed to get done because of those deadlines and and now we're at these at this state now with some of these projects that we don't want to be uh but we're trying to attack as best as we can. Uh I'll say that um a couple of small things is just in terms of prioritizing uh giving the staff good direction in terms of the engineers that are working on these projects. They're working on either four to five projects at a time. Uh so I know that uh between um Steve and Angelina and yourselves, there's a lot of conversations. We want to make sure we're working on the highest priority projects as well. Um we have looked at uh staff augmentation. We brought that in where we can. Um, it's been helpful and successful in some projects and some it has not been. Um, and myself and your deputy director, Mr. Edwards, are taking on projects ourselves as leads. Um, because we want to push these things and just be mindful of those dates I give you or we're trying to be aggressive here. Okay. Um, no doubt about it. In our staff meetings, we talk about that all the time. These are best case scenarios, but these are our goals to try to get these projects in the ground. That's that's our that's what we do. we deliver those projects. There will be some that we may not meet, but I'd

rather be aggressive and and tell you we want to hit that goal and be a few months behind as opposed to give you something that is way longer. Um, so we're we're looking at a lot of those things. As far as the bidding, the low bids, I think I've lost track of the amount of different ones that we've looked at from different cities. We are actively looking because we're not too happy either, right? But that's our state code. Um and we've looked at several different models that other cities are doing. Uh again, these are some of them are quite large as compared to what um our staffing is like. Some of the models just don't work for us. Um and and some the paperwork to do it is quite lengthy in itself. Um so we're mindful of that as well. But um you know, between our staff, Steve does a fantastic job of of thinking out of the box. And that's one thing we do on our staff as well. uh Gene will attest to us on a daily basis will say, "Hey, we're going to do this out of the box." A little bit out of our comfort zone, but this is what the project needs to be delivered because ultimately nobody really cares how we got there, right? They just care about how it ends and at the end the end users is uh taking advantage of that and then we go to the next one. Um so we are using a lot of our uh tools in our toolbox. Sometimes we're successful, sometimes we're not. Uh but we're we're we're in the fight.

Thank you. I I just want to comment whatever we need, city manager, if it's uh you know, to put it in baseball terminology, if you need a pinch hitter to hit a home run to make sure that we score, um I'm willing to take it back to council. Let's talk about having a um do what the Dodgers did. Let's bring in show. Let's bring in the pinch hitters and and make sure we get those projects complete and and whether it takes a team or a pinch hitter um let us know what we need to get it done because I would hate to have the money sent back because that doesn't benefit us um at all.

Yes. No, understood. And then and again um some of those priorities are driven by those grant uh timelines. So you may see a smaller project ahead of the line and that's only because of the timeline that we have to so we don't lose those grants.

Y thank you. Thank you for that. And um you know it was mentioned about about the amount of monies funds that the city has been able to accumulate and um and due to again a lot of them being grants you know because a lot of these projects are grant funded um and um that's thanks to staff that's able to write great uh proposals. our relationship with our federal, state, and county representatives that we bring in uh trouble ready projects that they're able willing to work with us and you know in being in the region and also in various committees I know we hear it a lot what's happening in PUA there's a lot of activities a lot of projects you know but as you mentioned because we've accumulate a lot of funding for various projects we got a backlog we have issues it's a good problem to have you know versus not having any money to do anything to begin with. However, you know, as we've been talking over the years about all the capital improvement projects and the hundreds of millions of dollars that we have accumulated and we discussed various some signature projects like the pool and so forth, you know, I think it was, you know, and there's issues that come about with the construction. We get it. Construction brings a lot of issues and delays and so forth. Um, obviously the delays create frustration. Obviously frustration that we as a council have because we're correction of our residents that are frustrated with us because LA Gustavo you told me that the pool was going to be open in 2026 so my kid can take classes in summer. We're just going to do the groundbreaking. We can go through the various scenarios what got us here but I I think it was important and my colleagues wanted this. Hence our presentation today and our monthly presentation because we want to be able to see not only us but the residents, the community see what we have on the table, what the timelines are fluid but

also the challenges that may arise and if it's an issue like the chamber uh remodel with a low bid situation. Um we understand it, the community understands it. There's certain things we control, certain things we cannot control. But when we are when it when the the bug stops on us, we're staff or council and let's take responsibility for our you know issues or lack of that we contribute to the delays. It's other factors and so be it. But I think it's important that uh the community gets to hear these presentations. So if there are if March is a date that we begin the process and it changes and the community hears this and says, "Okay, this is why." because they're kind of like they're looking at us and saying, you know, what's going on? Are you building a pool? Are you building a park? Are you building, you know, thankfully we have the dog park on the corner. So, so it's important. So, we're going to do these monthly presentations and and thank you, Noi, for for providing this uh you high level presentation, but uh fact of the matter points that we needed to get and put it on moving forward as standard. So, there's a lot of stuff. I know you we put a lot of pressure on you in particular. Um that's

Steve first and then then you but I just want to say thanks but know that we do it as a reflection of us representing our community and our residents that they want to be able to bring their kids to use the pool sooner than later.

No, I I think we get it as a staff. Um we want these amenities for the community as well. Um and there's a lot of people behind me. So, uh, between finance, uh, Angelina, Steve, uh, my staff, the media team who I gave this like to them at 5:00 with a lot of changes, uh, it's really a team effort to get us here for every project. It's not one person that's responsible. It's really an army of people behind that are pushing it. Uh, I'll leave you with you. You know what you you have that we always um just assume it that you know it is is you have a staff that provides effort. Nothing is happening for lack of effort. And number two, we had an employee here 42 years. A tremendous sense of pride by our employees to not only build things but to maintain things to a high standard. So that that's something not to be lost is that we have people on the team that really deeply care about providing a a service or a facility or a street or a signal to this community. I'll leave you with that. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Noi. Thank you, Steve. Um other than that, any other items under city manager staff report? Uh I'd just like to uh thank our city clerk. We are now offering notary services, another service for our community, and it's been extremely busy. Uh but again just thinking out of the box something we haven't provided something we now provide to our community. So

well thank you and I want to actually add to that that uh we've had you know been asking for some interactive agendas and um I know our city clerk and staff has stepped up and they got some some links in there now. So we're we're making those improvements where we go full technology and and uh ask for when the council chambers are done and we'll have all our set up there. So thank you. Thank you. And just lastly, we just received another grant thanking Congresswoman Sanchez, 800,000 plus. Again, another accomplishment on behalf of city staff. Thank you. Congratulations. And it'll be part of that list of projects.

Um, okay. With that, um, we'll get into the good of the order. I'll start with Councilman Rulada.

Sure. for AB uh 1234. I just want to comment on my participation with SCAG. Uh we had our meeting last Thursday for the month of February. Um they're really entrenched with uh preparations for the Olympics. Um there's a lot of planning that goes on in regards to transportation and uh especially transportation is what they're looking at. So, they're they're preparing for that with um I know they sent some members to the Winter Olympics to look at all the logistics in regards to shuttling people back and forth and how um they can use those principles learned for the summer Olympics that are coming up. Uh the second uh meeting I attended was SEWAC uh the Southeast Water Coalition. Um there we talked about the potential for expanding membership, uh inviting more cities to join. Um WRD wants to rejoin SEWAC. They were part of SWAC at one point in time. Um that relationship has been really contentious between the current SEWAC members and WRD. So they uh put together an ad hoc committee to look at the pros and cons for readmitting uh WRD into SWAC. So we'll wait and see what the recommendation is. Uh lastly, just an item I I would like to ask for a second. Uh several months ago, there was a gentleman, an African-American gentleman named Mark Sweet. Uh he was a beloved um uh baseball coach and he stopped in the city of Pico Rivera and he uh was gassing up his car here at I believe the Shell gas station and he um got into a confrontation and he was killed. Uh recently uh LAPD has offered

uh funds for any leads that would result into the capturing of the asalent. Um, I'd like to ask for the city attorney to look into the ability for the city of Pico Rivera to provide uh matching funds or compensation for any leads that would um uh result in the uh identification of the asalant who murdered Mr. Sweet. If I could please get a second. Second that. Thank you. Okay. Other than that, that's Thank you. So, second to look into it and we'll get back. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Council Member Garcia.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh, for the good of the order, AB1234, I attended the LA County uh, sanitation meeting, and I also had the honor of joining uh, Mayor Kamacho and the installation ceremonies of three of our senior uh, uh, senior groups. Uh, the friendly forever young, the friendly seniors, and the Shaylane seniors. and two out of the three almost folded because it was a lack of leadership to come in and thank those seniors for there's some new some new drive even one of our commissioners the president so it was just overall it was good to see these seniors thriving once again mayor sorry

one more item I I want to thank Parks and Rex for the father daughter dance that was excellent it's always a beautiful event um that the staff puts on I know that the the daughters And it it's just thank you. Olivia was so cute. Nice. Uh council member Lutz.

Yes. Thank you, Mayor. No items for AB1234. Just want to invite the public out to our ribbon cutting for our Picori Dog Park on the 27th uh on the corner of Rose Meat and Gallatin Road, the 27th of February, 11 a.m. We welcome the public from Pico Rivera. ing your dogs with a leash. And once they're inside, then you can unleash them and uh enjoy the festivities of our first official dog park. We're so excited. We all wanted a dog park for years and years and years. And I remember when I first got on council, I said, "Let's get a dog park." And the staff had been working on it prior to that. And then, you know, a little more flame uh got the project started and we got the funding. And so, we're so excited here. Our first dog park, Picory Vera, 27th of February, 11 o'clock. I look forward to seeing you all here. Thank you.

Thank you.

Sure. Thank you. Um for AB1234, I have nothing to report um by force. I had to take a couple weeks off. Um I had the shingles. I have bad case of shingles. Um, so I want to advocate for public health and if you haven't already had the vaccine, please go get it. It's very, very painful. I'm not contagious anymore. That's why I missed the last meeting. No kidding. I missed the last meeting. But, um, I did have a case of shingles. It's very painful. Um, it is, um, the same vaccine strain. It's the same virus strain as chickenpox. So um I want to encourage everyone if you um uh are I believe it's recommended for 50 or older. I am not 50 but they said that it is it comes up related to stress triggered by stress weak immune systems and and other of other um of your your everybody's body chemistry is a little different. So ask your doctor if they recommend it and and I highly recommend that you get it because it is very very painful and I wiped me out for a couple weeks. So, thank you everyone for for messages and well wishes, but um I want to advocate for that. Um there is one item that I'd like to bring up regarding new business. Um I would like I know I'm aware that the LA County Board of Supervisors um approved a halfsent sales tax um measure to go on the ballot in June of 2026. Um several cities as well as the contract cities are opposed to this measure. Um, I would like for us to bring it to a vote to officially be opposed as well if we need to. Um, possibly a presentation about the impact that this uh sales tax could potentially have not only in Pico Rivera but in the county. Um, so if I need a second for that one, I would request that.

We have is is it I don't know if it's officially already opposed, but yep. Okay. A presentation then with information regarding the impact in the county and the city. And if I may, maybe maybe the city looking into a competing um sales tax measure whereby we would increase. Yeah, working on that. Uh council member.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you, uh, Mayor Potan. Thank you. I'm glad you're better now and back with us here. Um, and yes, just highlight a few things. one. Uh once again, Doc Park, you know, the it's coming up the 27th 11:00 a.m. A lot of good things happening here in the city. I want to highlight what uh Mayor Pat mentioned about a measure that took place today that the county board of supervisors voted on. There's still some state legislation that needs to take place for it to move forward, but it looks like it's on that path. Basically, you're going to pay half cents sales tax in the county more for a temporary till 203031 um to raise about a billion dollars to backfill HR1 monies that were removed from the federal budget uh that deals with health and so forth. Uh we count contract cities, I chair legislation, so we've been on the constant today was a very active day. The city did send an opposition letter um and with all our signatures and that was due to our platform that already have uh based on where we we approved the legis legislative platform. So it allowed us to move on that quicker so we won't have to come here to council meeting. Uh but I think the presentation as to the impact and where the means would be warranted to see what that means to uh our community and so forth. But uh something big, something we oppose, something we don't want additional, but it's a county measure that was came very close, but it was approved today. It heads now to they're basically asking the state to pass legislation to exempt the cap of the sales tax in LA County. And it seems like that's going to be the case. But our argument was I get what it's for but and what the intent for health care but once you lift those caps it's like the precedence whether today is one thing tomorrow is another and

there's a reason for a cap. We've been at, you know, we've been ripping for we've been getting good rewards from our sales tax measure we did back when it's been great for us, but you know, that was a local decision, not a county or a state making the decision on our behalf, then it's going to impact it doesn't bring us anything to our community per se. with that. Um, uh, just reporting out that we had a we have a, uh, World Cup Olympics committee that, uh, Councilman Christia and I have, uh, been working on. Just want to highlight that, uh, more information will be forthcoming as it relates to open streets and what our participants going to be with the World Cup coming up in in a matter of months that we're going to highlight our city and activities with the World Cup. But more to come. With that, uh, we do have one close session item that will, uh, uh, ask our city attorney to lead us into close session.

Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor, members of the city council. We have one item for close session, which is anticipated litigation, legal counsel one matter. Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. With that, thank you everyone for coming. Appreciate your time. Andy Vargas and team, thank you. Looking forward to to this new adventure with you all. Congratulations. Thank you.