City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey everybody, my name is Garrett and I'm here  hosting this week's episode of City Council Recap.   uh the show where we sit and we as a  community discuss the events that occur   at Monrovia City Council meetings together. Um  I'm joined by Jason. Hello. Yep. And tonight,   let me run that back. Tonight we're recounting  the uh meeting from Tuesday, February 17th.   Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Um we discussed uh  many things in this one and uh we first started   with our pledge of allegiance uh which was  uh performed by uh Sergio Himenez and then   invocation was led by uh police chaplain Steve  Martinez and the roll call for everyone at that   uh particular council meeting was uh full.  Everyone was there. All members of staff were   there and all council members was there. I'm going  to be calling out a time when I start discussing   these and this time refers to a timestamp to the  YouTube live stream which will be included in the   description. So if you want to follow along what  we discuss and go and see in the actual meeting,   it's good to sort of you know see for yourself  especially if you have your own thoughts. Um so at   10 minutes and 53 we also we also have like there  there's also in the um in below the um below the   video you can actually see a link to where you can  actually access more information from the city of   Monrovia's website because as we're going to talk  about tonight there are some budget reports and   stuff that were given by staff and while we're not  going to go into a whole bunch of detail in those   um those slides are available to the public and  you can check those things out too. Yes. And   that's that's always good is that they're all like  very easy downloadable PDFs. Um I mean I'm'll be   honest, I can access most of the stuff just from  my smartphone. Yeah, super easy. Yeah. Um so 10  

minutes 50 seconds in, we get into proclamations  as our order of business. Uh returning we have   Pasadena Humane Society and their pet of the  month. We they had girly pop. She is a lab pit mix   who is four years old, hoping to be adopted soon.  Um, and they were uh highlighting their field trip   program in which uh people who are interested  in adopting pets can come and walk the dogs. Uh,   which is good because it, you know, takes that  pet out into the public and gets visibility. Yeah,   it's actually a great program. It's it's a newer  program that the Pasadena Humane has done where   they um you can kind of sign up. They said like  at least a month or up to a month ahead of time   and you can even actually with some dogs take them  overnight and it's actually resulted in a whole   bunch of new um adoptions. Yeah. Which I guess  is the goal, right? Find homes for them. Yeah.   Like a trial run. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah,  for sure. Um the next order of business was Oh,   you know what else they talked about? They talked  about the kitten Oh, I did have that. Yeah. So,   um March 14th from 11 to 2, Pasadena Humane. uh  they're going to have um like a kitten seasonally   you're always anticipating like batches of  kittens and so this is kind of like raising   awareness like hey we're going to get a huge  litter of kittens soon. Um there's always a   need there's always a need to adopt kittens.  There's a lot of cats that are dropped off or   kittens that are dropped off or there are kittens  that are birthed there that need to find home. So   um yeah March 14th 11 to 2. um look into that.  That was that was pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. I would   I would always encourage getting a kitty. Y um  they also proclaimed February 19th, 2026 as world   uh collangio carcinoma day and February 2026  the whole month as collangio carcinoma awareness  

month. As you can tell, carcinoma being about  cancer and this is a rare form of cancer that   um manifests at least medically um well not  medically visible um in its later stages which   makes it particularly dangerous. Yeah, it's a  bileduct cancer and um um they don't show a lot of   um there's not a lot of symptoms and so a lot  of times when it's found out is it's when it's   um spread and we had um somebody there  that was um Wendy Wendy, right? Wendy. Yes,   Wendy was there um to receive the um proclamation  for February. um she herself is um is dealing with   um with that bioduct cancer. Um but wow, she had  a real positive attitude and I guess that's what   you really want to have. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's  definitely and she was like there's there's hope,   you know, in in spreading this awareness that  you know there's definitely treatment available.   Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um the next order of  business was the recognition of our um now   former um community services director Tina Cherry.  In fact, like right now we're taping at right now.   We're taping at 5:00 pm on Thursday and right now  um at the community uh center there celebrating   uh Tina her 12 years that she has given to the  city of Monrovia as well as you know more than   30 years of you know community service you  know in her field and you know I I I tell   you wherever wherever I am Tina was always there  and always willing to help and so um she got a   lot of praise and support from everyone you know  Uh, lots of praise for the like the joy and the   energy that she brings. Like and I mean I mean a  lot of Monrovians know her as like she's hosted   a lot of the parade. Oh gosh. And she's just got  that energy and she's great. She's done a lot of  

good work. I mean what she's done for our library  programs, our our recreation programs. Um who was   it? I forget who said I think it was uh Mr. Fe  that said um she has a give a damn factor. Yeah,   the give a damn factor. Which I thought was was  great. So, it was a really nice tribute to uh   to Tina. Yeah. Yeah. And an introduction to um uh  Rebecca Reeba um you know and uh as our new I mean   she's been she's been around she's been around for  a long time. She's worked with Tina for years and   had some beautiful things to say about her and  um was looking forward to the responsibility.   Her family was there and uh so the newly accepted  um community service director. So congratulations.   Congratulations. Yes. Yeah. Um after that uh  they introduced the current cabinet or club   presidents of the senior club of Monrovia which I  believe they are sort of the board that oversees   the various senior classes and activities and uh  organizations. Uh uh yeah. and Tiffany Peterson   show uh came to introduce who they were and what  where they were at and they got to take a photo   with the uh city council. Yeah. And for those of  you who aren't aware, I mean right now they have,   you know, there's like 150 active seniors in our  communities that are participating in the senior   activities. There's so many different things  going on. if you know if you get our community um   wreck guide and they talk about all the different  activities that are available. I mean, it's food,   it's activities, and if you are um if you're a  senior, actually, I think it's if you're over 50,   you can um you can actually participate in uh  these activities and and you know, it's just so   many different things to keep everybody active and  keep people, you know, involved in the community.   And it was just a great showing of a lot of people  there that are willing to stand up and and show up  

and be involved. No, it was great. Yeah. Um we  did not have a student government liaison report   uh that night. Uh so then the council moved  into our consent calendar actions which are   uh just standard order of business uh motions that  are adopted like in bulk, right? You've explained   on this show many times, consent calendar is  just a bunch of stuff that's scheduled. Yeah. Um,   and it's not to be done in a shady or weird way.  In fact, like we were saying, you can pull up all   of these um documents and ordinances on your phone  and see exactly what gets um uh passed. Yeah. It's   the everyday business workings of the city, right?  Yeah. Right. Um so they did and they didn't pull   anything for discussion. They just approved it  with a motion and a second. We are now moving   into 55 minutes uh on this uh live stream and we  got to our public input section which is where   your voice can be heard if you actually attend  um the city council meeting or I believe you   can zoom in as well. You can phone or zoom in.  There's all instructions are all always printed   um through the city clerk. You can contact Alice  Atkins our city clerk and you know share any   information. You can also email and the um emails  will be shared, not read but shared with the   um with all of the council members on there.  Yeah. And it's not necessarily a talkback. It   is a chance for the council and staff to hear you.  You are not guaranteed a response. Um talk back.   Most of the time they can't respond. Sometimes the  city manager will give an update but not respond   directly to those things. Exly. Yeah. So, first up  was uh our our hostess with the Moses, Chris Los.   Uh he showed up to talk about March 15th, 2020.  Put it on your calendar. Yes. Put it on your  

calendar right now. House Party. House Party at  the Park from 1 PM to 5:00 p.m. at Library Park,   Monrovia, California. Good music, good vibes.  Um it was started out as a way for alumni,   MHS alumni to reconnect and it kind of just  expanded into this like big community gathering.   Uh they this is now the third year doing this and  each year we pass out the MTON awards in which   the community fills out a poll and they nominate  particular people that they're like you know what   this person was outstanding in this regard. Um  and yeah it's really really cool. Definitely don't   miss it and it's a good chance to connect with us  as well and talk about a way that maybe you could   get involved in this show as well. So there'll  be lots of different people there. music, food,   just connecting the awards. Bring your bring your  lawn chairs um and your blankets and bring the   kids and play around in the uh library park. It's  in the it's in the back where the clam shell is.   So is when where they host it. Again, that's March  15th from 1 to 5. It's just open to the public.   You don't have to be a Monrovian. Um and and uh  yeah, it's no fee. It's free. Come come hang out.   Yeah, it's a great time. Yeah. you to get more  information about that you can go to community   uh re-imagined.org um and uh that's Chris Los's  um uh community organization and you know they're   working really hard to not just support the  community with the house party but a lot of   different ways. So yeah, so that's that's a good  thing. Mhm. Next was Sher L Sher Lner and Marty   Mack returning to discuss uh the topic of ICE  raids uh that have been occurring in our community   and the country at large and the connection  between the two. Um bringing it to the attention   of our city council and our city government. Um, a  great quote that was brought uh a quote. This is a   quote and of a quote brought from Pablo Alvarado,  the co-ed uh the co-ex executive director of  

Endilon, National Day Laborers Organization  Network. Um, uh, we should all be worried about   state sanctioned violence. Um, and it's just  very important that people keep showing up and   keep talking about it and keep bringing awareness  about it. Um so yeah they came to discuss that. Um   uh yeah and then next was Adriana from the  assembly members office. Um wanting to thank Dr.   Kelly in her role uh for this past was what was it  like year and a half or so? Yeah just about just   over a year. Um each each year the city u chooses  one member of city council to be the mayor prom.   You know we have an elected mayor position. Yep.  Um and then uh you have the elected city council   positions and um they developed a new protocol.  Um and so the new protocol designed based upon   um like uh city council seniority. They kind of  passed the torch for the pro for the city council   member to then become the mayor prom. So that  would step into the marial duties if the mayor   was not able to be able to do that. And um DTK or  Dr. to Tamara Kelly. Tamila Kelly um finished and   was recognized by the uh congressman's office, but  also was recognized by the whole the whole staff,   the staff and the and the whole um yeah, city  council. She's been very involved here at the   studio as well as the liaison. Um and we we love  her. She's she's a very very good person. We do.   Yep. Um all right. And with that, uh, public  comment was closed. And an hour and six minutes   into our stream, we get into the, uh, reports  of city staff and city council members. Um,  

I don't believe that the city management had a  whole lot to say this. Yeah, I can just kind of   You want me to just kind of go through? Sure,  if you don't mind. Yeah, I'll do that. So, um,   our city manager, um, Dylan Fe, um, you know, you  can actually see this. He's got a city manager,   city council's directives on different things that  he works on. Um, and the city council just had a   um a close session in which they kind of created  more directives that will soon be add to that.   Um he did respond to a couple of things and  saying that the city is um in response to   Sherry's comments about trying to get more  information upon the death of Carlos Valdez   um and uh the city is still reaching out  um to the CHP to get more info. Actually,   they reached out to both the state and the federal  government as well to see and they haven't heard   anything back. So, um just a quick update from  uh from Dylan and then we went into the rest of   the city council's um updates. And I'm just going  to kind of lump them into bigger things because   um they just actually attended the California or  the League of California Cities. Yeah. where all   the different um city councils and town councils  from across the state kind of come together just   to kind of get you know share ideas and have  different um um you know conferences and groups   and that they belong with um and um you know it's  I mean the I mean Sergio really kind of kicked it   off by really talking about how important it is to  really work together and to support one another.   They attended um different um uh commissions on  housing and transportation and the Olympics and   all these different things. And um you  know um some of the things that Sergio   um wanted to highlight was we're here at KGM and  KM was nominated I wanted to shout that out. Was  

nominated for eight different eight nominations at  the Wave Awards. Um and two of those nominations   uh went to one particular video that they had made  uh last year. Yeah, it was last year. Uh which   was the eaten fire carathon. We had shot a um  hellathon prior and we want to start experimenting   with that format, you know, just that sort of  production. So I remember after the fire there   was that conversation of we got to do this like  this has got to be like a really important thing   for the community to come together and basically  be a hub of information almost like the idea of   this. Right. Right. And yeah I think that is so  vindicating to hear because the wave awards is   like a big deal to get best of show. Best best in  show and best live format. Yeah. Yeah. It's pretty   amazing. Congratulations. K. Yeah. Yeah. our  little KG gem that that could um he also talked   about the state of the city. So a couple of last  week, two weeks ago, there was a state of the city   um and it's the annual kind of like a state of the  union or state of the state where everybody kind   of comes together and each of the council members  kind of report out upon what's been happening. Um   and uh it was just really successful. Um it's  usually held at our local theaters on Myrtle,   but that uh the Look theaters closed. Um and uh  thanks to our fast working, you know, city and   the people in the office were able to to move it  to the high school. Um I attended it was great.   Yeah. Um I enjoyed it. It was really nice to hear  all these different things. That's good. You know,   the parks, the opening of the new parks, our  job centers. I mean really talking about and   we'll talk about this a little bit more is that  the strong financial place that the city of   Monrovia is in and this is something that each  of the council members talked about with that  

um League of the California cities is that you  know there's a lot of cities that are in a lot   of financial troubles right now. Yes. and because  of some really really smart financing decisions by   the city, um the staff, the council, and everyone  involved is that we have an A++ credit score um   rating. And um so we're in a good place where we  are right now. And I guess we'll get into that a   little bit more. Um uh Dr. Dr. Tamil Kelly talked  about um uh let's see u really talking about   some priorities of affordability um housing  affordability housing supply um um they also   many of them attended the San Gabriel Valley COG  which is the COG is an acronym for the council of   government so it's everyone in San Gabriel Valley  that kind of comes together on a regular basis um   and talks about um what's happening the COG itself  is working really hard with the Olympic Committee   for 28 to ensure that we can work together to draw  people to our city uh whether it's for hotels,   for events, for you know getting athletes um  from other countries to to come here and Dr.   Kelly has been working really hard to to do that  and it's kind of continuing. Um she talked about   uh we're celebrating Black History Month right now  and um on February 24th from 2 to 4 at the library   there'll be some events that'll be celebrating  Black History Month. Um uh Council Member Larry   Spicer talked about um what he attended at the  League of California Cities. Yeah. Um he talked   about um our community services, our health fair  for seniors that's happening on February 27th.   Um and then uh the Monrovia Darty Black Alumni  Association um is also celebrating um a hundred  

years of faith that endures and the churches  that the um that uh that are you know present   in our communities. He named um a couple  of different like I think it was like three   or four different Yeah. um churches and that's  going to be on February 22nd um from 2 to 4. Um,   Council Member Belden, um, oh, actually a couple  of people talked about the Chamber of Commerce,   um, gala that was the Awards Gala was just  beautiful apparently, you know, just like very   set in the 20s and um, was it the 20s? It was a  um, funny cuz our our musical is kind of the same   genre. It's the step into the spotlight. Okay.  Where it's all like film like golden age golden   age. Golden age. Okay. Well, yeah, it sounded  like it was just really beautiful and you attended   um thought it was uh that was great. Um but that's  and then uh the mayor um also reiterated a lot of   things that people were talking about with the  California cities event. Um then we she talked a   little bit more about the newly adopted protocol  to determine who the mayor prom is going to be.   And then there was a little bit of back and forth  where we um thanked Dr. Kelly for her service and   welcomed um uh our new prom mayor as of Tuesday  night, Sergio Jimenez um saying that he's just   a member of the team and is just going to make  sure that the team still keeps working together.   Yeah. Um um Mayor Chevlin also talked about  celebrating the new Lunar New Year um with the um   Yang Firehorse every 60 years. Um um it wasn't it  was uh back in the 1960s that there was the Yang   fire horse. So there's been different years of the  horse, but this is the yang fire horse. So if you   think the yin and the yang the yin is more kind  of calm and the yang is impulsive and so this is a  

year of maybe some exciting events that are going  to be happening. So so happy lunar new year to   um to all. Um, she also, Mayor Chevlin also talked  about um that the uh Congress member Gil Cisneros,   our uh one of our local representatives along um  uh with others um uh that rep that that represent   us um was just really willing to listen to our  community. Congressman Sinesis Neros has always   been available to our community and and so it's  nice that he's doing that. She talked about, hey,   we're trying to get more people um in here for the  Olympics. And finally, she talked about one city,   one story. And that's a book prog u um the  bear project. Yeah. That is kind of going   on in conjunction with Monrovia Reads. Yes. Um  and that's going to be this Saturday, I think,   at Library Park from 9 to 10. Yes. So, that  was good. So, I think that kind of covers Yeah,   that was that was they they Yeah, the bears the  bear is going to be interesting. It's basically   like the the whole city including students are  having all reading the same book at the same time   and it's all going to culminate. Now after that  after our um uh city council and staff reports   we moved into our administration reports uh where  things that are brought to the city council for   them to vote on or just read through. Um uh that's  usually toward the end of meetings. Um at an hour   and 37 minutes in, uh they brought forth AR-1  amendment to Monrovia Municipal Code section 2.230   related to city council compensation pursuant to  SB 329. So this has to do with the compensation   uh that council members get which I think was like  a year or so ago there was like a cap and now this   cap has been kind of moved a bit. Yeah. And now  they're kind of discussing what that looks like.  

Uh this was the first reading of this. So what the  council voted on on Tuesday was to keep looking   into this essentially to have further reading.  It'll be it'll be voted on officially next next   um I think next council meeting or next month.  Actually I think it's March that they're going   to be doing it. So, so basically, um, uh, the  idea behind this is that there are some state   regulations that, um, allow for only a certain  amount of money that, um, uh, city council   members and that can receive, uh, per month.  And currently, right now, they receive $1,270,   $75 per month. Um, this new ordinance would  increase it to 1,359. It can only be, I believe,   about 5% annually. Um, this is being voted by the  current city council. Um, it is really nominal   compensation. Um, for the amount of time that they  put in, um, it's it's I agree. It's a no-brainer.   It's a no-brainer for me. Um, but what's also  important is that even though they're voting on   this as a council, that those compensation factors  will not change until the new council is set um,   starting in November. So, um, unless they're  if they're reelected, if they run and they're   reelected, then they can then they can, um,  they'll benefit from that. But, um, and then also   same thing goes, um, yeah. So, yeah, that was it.  So, that's they just did a reading of it and then   there'll be a further vote on it at a future  city council meeting. Yep. Next was AR2. Uh,   and this is more discussion about our fiscal  year, our 25 to 26 fiscal year budget update.   uh schedules of fees, charges updates. Um this  is any time that they just bring stuff to the   council and say this is kind of where we stand.  You know, it's a lot of complicated stuff. Uh the   slides and stuff like that, but it's good news  in general. Yeah. What I I gathered. Yeah. So,  

this what they did is they kind of looked back at  the um the the previous year and kind of take a   look at what the budget was, what the expenditures  was, and then how the books kind of ended up.   Again, you can go to the city council agenda  or go to the city's website and get all that   information. You have access to those slides  and um did a really nice job in kind of just   laying out what that looked like. Um and kind of  the summary, if you will, was overall the city   of Monrovia is stable financially. Yes. Um and  that is a really really good thing. Um you know,   um last year we were under u our budgeted uh  constraints and there was a $2.6 $6 million   uh surplus, right? Um the revenues are stable, the  expenditures are stable. Um and even in quarter   two, um there was a 1.6 million surplus. And um  they talked about uh measure K. So uh for those   of you um who aren't familiar with measure K,  measure K is a sales tax that um occurs in the   city of Monrovia and a an additional sales tax  that's on top of that. And all that money comes   back to our community, which has which goes  to fixing our roads, developing our parks. If   you've driven down Mountain in the last couple  of months, that's where your money is at work.   You'll see how nice that it took a little while  to get it all fixed and stuff, but it's really,   really beautiful. I drive it every single day. Um,  so that's really nice. Um, that, you know, our our   new parks. Uh we talked about some fee changes for  park use, trying to get fees waved for use of or   rental space of our parks for our city residents,  right? Um which is actually really nice. Um talked   about the 38 different capital improvement product  projects that are happening around the city.  

Um and uh I guess kind of the overall was that  for the whole previous year, the 24-25 year,   um $1.76 million better than the budget. So, um  I'd say that's pretty good. That's not bad. And   listening to um I remember talking to Dr. Kelly  at the state of the city and she was saying, "Oh,   just getting back from this League of California  cities and there's so many cities that are just   in the red and that can't do things." And so,  you know, we're really fortunate. We've got a   really really wise city manager, staff and council  that is um you know conservative but also puts the   money where the community needs it. Yes. Yes.  Yep. Yeah. Um and with that there was nothing   else to discuss. Uh and they adjourned uh so 2  hours and 2 minutes is the length of that. Uh if   you want to go watch that on your own or listen  to this where we just kind of blew through it in   something like 25 minutes. Yeah. Which is awesome.  It was uh adjourned in the memory of Romana Rednik   um a Monrovia resident and the next meeting  is scheduled for March 3rd at 7:30 p.m. in   council chambers. Yep. Cool. Cool. Yeah. Um  again, this show is not a closed session. It   is an Yes. Uh it is open to any of you that  wish to join us and if you have thoughts   uh when you watch this or things that you uh want  uh clarification on. We are not experts. We get   stuff wrong. Uh but we learn together. Yeah.  And uh that's why that's what makes this show   uh I think really special. So um with that, thank  you very much for watching this week's episode of   City Council Recap. And we will check you out.  Uh we will we'll see you in March. Yes. Yes.