City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everybody and welcome to a meeting of the Ontario City Council. First order of business, madam city clerk, is a roll call.

Thank you. The record will

reflect all council members are present for our meeting tonight.

Okay. So before we move with the agenda to abide by state law, I'm obligated to ask if anybody has any conflicts of interest tonight. Seeing none, we'll begin with our Pledge of Allegiance, and we have a special presentation by our color guard that will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Can everybody please stand? Ready to begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic with which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our invocation will be led tonight by our chaplain, police chaplain, Mark Ortiz. Oh, says Mark here, but pastor, why don't you come on up?

Well, good evening. We're praying for Mark. He is under the weather tonight. So the Bible says a

good

name. It's earned because of your behavior. It's earned because you use godly wisdom. It's earned because you use courage and you have personal integrity. A good name is more to be desired than great wealth, and favor is better than silver and gold.

I wanna thank the council for taking time to recognize our police chief for the work he did. He committed twenty seven years to this city, and he served well. Father, thank you for chief Lorenz. Thank you for his life and all that you have done in and through his life. Thank you for this council, just having enough wisdom to stop and recognize a man that's given so much of his life to this city.

We're asking that you will guide our council, continue to give them your wisdom, your knowledge, your understanding as they lead this city. And they lead with righteousness. They lead for all the people. They do the things that make this city the great city that it is. Use this time to enhance everything we do. We love you and we lift you up tonight and God bless the city of Ontario and this great nation. In Christ's name, amen. Amen.

Thank you, pastor Kennedy. Mount Zion Baptist Church and my good buddy. You may take your seats. Well, this evening, we're gonna be starting off with a special ceremony as we recognize and thank police chief Mike Lorenz for twenty eight years of dedicated service to the

City Of

Ontario. I have a certificate to present to him on behalf of the council. But before I do that, I want to read you his bio and highlight his accomplishments with us. So Chief, would you stand up at the podium here so we can see who you are? Like none of us, none of those guys know who you are.

They said they've never seen you before. Chief Lorenz is a graduate of West Covina High School and earned his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from California Coast University. Before beginning his career in law enforcement, he proudly served our country in the United States Air Force from 1993 to 1997. Chief Lorenz joined the Ontario Police Department in 1998 as a patrol officer. Over the course of his career, Chief Lorenz served in numerous specialized and leadership assignments, including narcotics, gang violence, suppression, SWAT, canine interdiction, and the field operations bureau.

He also served four years as a Department of Justice task force officer targeting clandestine drug laboratories. After serving as deputy chief of police, Chief Lorenz was sworn in as chief of police on 09/15/2020. Wow. Doesn't seem like it, does it? On behalf of the City Council and our community, Chief Lorenz, we extend our sincere gratitude for your leadership and your service. We wish you all the best in your well deserved retirement. I just want

to add

that you are the epitome of where we wanted to go years ago in the chief leading our city and many of your predecessors were getting there. When I first started back in 1998, there was still a little bit of the Joe Friday feeling. But society has changed. And policing has to be more sensitive, if you will. And that there was an arc to arrive there.

I think you have arrived for us. And I'm not criticizing anybody in past, because it takes time for us to adjust to the way things are coming. So when people were saying, you know, we want to defund the police, there was no reason for the city of Ontario to defund the police. We were doing a great job. And I love all the past police chiefs that I have worked with, but you know what? Chief, you've just been spectacular in your duties. And I appreciate it, and I thank you for the commitment that you had doing your job and doing it well. And we don't have the conflicts and the criticism that maybe some other departments have because it's from the top down. And I want

to just thank you for doing such

a great job for us. So before I present the certificate to the chief, would any of my colleagues like to offer any words to our outgoing chief? Mr. Bowman.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor. Chief, you've developed a culture that is truly Ontario, truly internal with the men and women of Ontario from top to bottom in all departments. And in some cities, there's differences between fire and police and other departments, but this is one family collectively, And it takes somebody to start to light that candle and that is you. You are the epitome of a strong chief, a strong leader. We wish you the best and happiness and health and the future. Thank you. Thank you.

Ms. Perata.

Dear Chief Sir, I want to thank you so, so much for your steady leadership over these past years, your integrity and your commitment to keep Ontario safe. It's truly been appreciated. The job is demanding and the responsibility is heavy, and you've carried it with professionalism and calm strength. So thank you very, very much for that. You supported your officers and you served the community with honor, And we wish you much health and happiness in your retirement future. Tell Kaler High and have a great retirement.

You. Mr. Wabner.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mike, incredible job. You came in a department that was the best in the world, but yet you're living it a little bit better. You've earned the respect of your men and women in your department, as well as the respect of other police professionals through the entire region. We're extremely proud of you. You just did an incredible job. You've leaving the streets of Ontario very safe. We all feel comfortable now. So I want to thank you for your service and please enjoy your retirement.

Thank you.

Yeah, Ms. Macias.

I also just want to take a moment to recognize and thank you, Chief, for your dedication, service and to our community. You've led this department with integrity, professionalism and a real commitment to keeping our residents safe. Your leadership has truly made a difference, not only within the department, but throughout our entire community. And everyone is just here, look around you. Today, we honor you, so thank you for all that you've done for us. Thank you.

Thank you.

We also have a couple of speakers who fill out some blue cards. So Anthony Marino.

Good evening mayor city council. My name is Anthony Moreno. I'm a district representative for state senator Susan Rubio and on behalf of the senator, I just wanted to congratulate Chief Lorenz on your well deserved retirement. The senator very much appreciated working with you over these last years and you've clearly made an impact on the community that you've served as evidenced by all the people that are here to support you. And so on behalf of Senator Rubio and the California State Senate, we want to present you this with this certificate of recognition in honor of your service and commitment to your community. So we just wanna congratulate you and wish you the best in the years to come. So congratulations.

I'm glad that all of our officers are in the back there because we need security tonight because this other guy, Jason Anderson, he scares me. So, we want to ask him to come on up. Former council member.

Thanks, Mayor. I appreciate that. Jason Anderson with the DA's office.

With the DA? Who's that?

Yeah. Who's the DA? The DA. I'm the DA. Yeah, tonight I am. Thank you very much. And I'm proud to represent the DA's office. You know, it's an honor to be here and I wanted to be able to speak up on behalf of Chief Lorenz, Danielle, his family, his extended family. Gonna have opportunities in the near future to be more personal with Mike and his family about honoring him. But, I did want to stand up on behalf of the DA's office and talk about what a gem it is to have the Ontario Police Department as one of our largest customers as the District Attorney's Office.

Their level of professionalism is incredible. We have representatives here from Fontana PD, same thing, phenomenal. San Bernardino PD, phenomenal. The Sheriff's Department, obviously all big customers of the DA's office, the level of professionalism. I thought what was poignant, two things that I wanted to point out tonight, is the last time I was in this chambers with Chief Lorenz is when they announced charges against the defendants in the Jesus Hernandez case.

And, if you recall, I know this counsel recalls it very well, you had to be integral, you had to be consistent, and you had to be dogged in terms of your wherewithal, but particularly the investigators for the Ontario PD that solved that case. And I don't think it's a coincidence that I'm back in here tonight to honor not only that moment the Ontario PD achieved under the leadership of Mike Lorenz, but just the professionalism of that department. It's wonderful to be able to bring what everybody in this council saw was a moment of, at least beginning of closure and justice for that family. And there's a lot of examples I could give, and I'll talk about that maybe tomorrow or the next day, when I'm with Mike. But it's just, it's awesome to have partners like Ontario PD, Fontana, San Bernardino, the Sheriff's Department.

But what I really want to talk about is, I want to thank this city, this council, this leadership for understanding the importance of a succession plan when it comes to a department as professional as Ontario, a city as diverse and dynamic as Ontario is, what it takes from a leadership standpoint to recognize who needs to be in the seat and who needs to be in the seat next. And if you look at the hierarchy of this city, it is unbelievable. In fact, we got Lloyd Stark sitting in here tonight. So, when you talk about a succession plan, you talk about a number of individuals that have come through here, one of which I employ myself as our bureau chief, Eric Hopley. It is a testament to the fact that when it comes to public safety, this city, this leadership gets it right.

They pick the right people and those people pick the right succession. So, it's a compliment to you guys. And I just want you to know from a professional standpoint of what my job entails every day and what my colleagues need to lean on, particularly on the West End. It's a testament to all of you all. So thank you very much. It's an honor to be here on behalf of the Chief and his family.

Chief, as we prepare to give you a certificate from the city, we'd like to hear from you too.

Well, it's very humbling. That's the first thing I could say, Mr. Mayor. And thank you so much for the honor tonight to the entire council, to my peers at the Ontario Police Department, to my family who came out, to my friends. I can't look at my uncle because he'll get me. This is truthfully humbling. Twenty eight years ago, I started this career in 1998. Same time, mister mayor, you started as a mayor of this city. And, Alan, I know you were Council member. Yeah.

'98. I know you were already on the council as well. And chief Bowman for the service that you gave the city as well and still continue in being a resident for over seventy years in the city. And Debbie, for our phone calls that we've had, for the partnership, and your heart is so pure for this city. It's incredible to see you sitting out there and the way you serve this city. And, Daisy, are you coming in as a newcomer? You got the outgoing old guy and, you know, the incoming new council member? The city of Ontario is a great city because, first of all, for what you have behind you on that wall. In God, we trust. And God is taking care of me.

It takes care of my partners out in the field, and I'm not just talking about Ontario PD. We are so blessed in San Bernardino County to have the Lord looking out over us and to watch out over us, and I'm so thankful for that. Leadership is everything in the city, and it starts at this dais up here. The we could never do what we do at the police department without your support. And, Jefe, Scott Ochilla, you you are truthfully the grand master.

The way you're able to take your vision, to bring the executives together, to carry out the council's vision for the city and to see how the city has come, it's unbelievable. I cannot thank you enough for your leadership, for your mentoring me. I think you've been a city manager for like eighty years or something like that. It's pretty incredible. So we're happy that LA County lost you and San Bernardino County here in Ontario, Ganges.

So thank you very much for your leadership all these years. Ruben Duran, thank you for always knowing I had your back. And some of the decisions I would make being the city attorney, it's always nice to know that you got an attorney looking out for you and not looking at you. So thank you very much for taking care of me there. There are several of my peers here from San Bernardino County Chiefs And Sheriffs Association.

To you, the wisdom to be able to pick up the phone and call one of your peers to say, man, I don't know what to do in this situation. This this is this is a little bit scary. But to have true mentors and true friends like the district attorney Jason Anderson, sheriff Shannon Dykes, our president Darren Goodman, everybody else who's in here. Our secretary Marcelo, I know is here. And it speaks volumes when you have a very senior chief that is in here.

So I really want to recognize Lowell Stark for being here, is the And the crazy thing with Lowell is what I didn't know is my grandma always told me, she's all, you have a relative that works at the Ontario Police Department. I'm like, grandma, you're kind of losing it. I don't think I do. And come to find out, my grandmother and Lowell's wife, they're related. So this is a second generation of Chiefs from that family, so it's pretty exciting that that came that way.

To the men and women of the Ontario Police Department, I could lead all day long, but if you weren't willing to take direction, then we never would be the best, excuse me, the best damn police department anywhere because this is the best police department anywhere. And it's because of the people that stand behind me and the people that are out protecting the streets right now. The men and women that put this uniform on that are willing to go out every single day to do what they do. They leave their house and they don't know if they're gonna get to come home again, but they still put the uniform on. They know they're going to get criticism externally, and then they knew that they were gonna get criticism internally based upon how they follow policies and procedures.

They still put that uniform on, they still go out every single day to protect this community. That's the next one I wanna thank is the community. Chief Williams, my predecessor, he told me, no, Mike, you're not just the chief for Ontario PD, you're the chief for the City Of Ontario. And it took me a minute to understand that, but as you sit in that seat and you understand being the chief, this community is incredible. The city of Ontario has offered me every opportunity to succeed, to excel.

It's allowed my boys to have a wonderful life. This community has embraced us. When civil unrest happened, we didn't have writing. When there was a little bit of a budget cuts. It wasn't because it defund the police like you said, mister mayor. It was just because we had to watch watch our pennies a little bit. But our city, even our citizens, when they talked about, oh, well, let's ride at the mills. Don't bring that to our city. We don't want that here, it never happened. We had we do have some peaceful protests, and that's exactly what we want.

You know, be able people our citizens to be able to speak their mind. But I will tell you to the citizens of this city, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, the city of Ontario. I love this city because it's given me every opportunity to live out a lifelong dream. To be the, I always wanna be a businessman. I know it's kind of a long speech, but I didn't wanna give this speech real quick. So I always wanted to be a businessman. I mean, it's my day. You guys don't have to hear me. Nice. You're fine. Go on. Might as well say it. I mean, you gotta hear the council meeting say, might as well hear this first. So, when I was a kid, you know, I wanted to be an athlete, and well, that didn't happen. So kept going on, and I always thought, hey, you know what, law enforcement wasn't really for me.

I kinda thought law enforcement was gonna visit me more than me be part of law enforcement. And I thought, well, maybe I need to figure this out. But I always wanted to be a business person. And to me, that just seemed merely an idea. The only problem was I didn't have a and I didn't have any entrepreneurial mind. I didn't have anything else. I sure can't fix anything with these hands. So business was kind of out of the picture. And then fast forward as I go into my career, and I meet my beautiful wife when I was in the Air Force, and my son, and we decided to come to California and start this career, I realized, well, I'm sleeping in my mother's or my childhood bedroom with my mom, my wife, and my son, and got to figure out what we got to do. Well, military trained me to be a security police officer.

So fast forward twenty eight years later, I got to run the best law enforcement organization with 450 employees, a 130 plus million dollar budget, three freeways going through this city, two railways. It was it was a huge logistical operation and you all allowed me the opportunity to run this for five and a half years. And I believe in those five and a half years, we've made some great strides And I know that soon to be chief Lopez will continue that, and he's gonna take that baton, and he's gonna sprint even harder and faster, and he's gonna make this department even better. So in conclusion, I wanna thank you all so much. And I had to say this before the end because, boy, if I get through this, I'm be so happy.

My boys are here, and I thank them for everything. And my wife, she's been through so much. Every time that phone would go off at 02:00 in the morning, she lived that too. She's lived this career with me when I was like, hey, honey, this is a great idea. I'm gonna go into narcotics and work undercover and go do all these crazy things. And then, you know, maybe I'll join SWAT, and we'll get to do that and spend sixteen years on the team. And she was always worried about me, but as I kinda became the guy that just sat behind a desk and made a few decisions, kinda really wasn't a police officer anymore. My wife had a new worry. She worried for the men and women of the Ontario Police Department when that phone would go off at 02:00 in the morning. And her first question always was, oh my god, is everybody okay?

And by the grace of god, everybody has been okay to this point. But babe, for you to go through this career with me, I can't thank you enough. I still haven't cried yet, so this is good. Yeah. I think I think I'm gonna leave it at that.

But this city is so lucky to have the men and women standing behind me. I'm so blessed to have gotten to work with them, and they're in great hands already. I wish you nothing but the best taking over this organization and thank you again for the opportunity to lead it. Appreciate you. Okay.

I wasn't done. I wasn't done. I just had to I had to I had to suck up the tears for a quick second. I forgot this side of the room. To to the executives I work with day in and day out. Scott built Scott built a team. We have a great we have a great police department, but Scott built a team of executives that said, look it. I'm gonna take you guys on a retreat, I'm gonna put you in a room, and you have to talk to one another. And I was like, whew. Alright. And to them, I was able to understand them. To Scott, I needed a thesaurus to understand what he was talking to me about. But it's incredible vocabulary he has. But this team right here that you have, I talk so much about the police department, but the executive team, they're unparalleled. They're they're incredible, and I thank you so much for all of that.

To chief Gurkin, it's been incredible. You know, the relationship with fire. They had the flag out overhead, and my we're driving in. My kid's like, who died? And I guess I guess that's my career. So, yeah. Thank you. Okay. I'm done.

Chief, before we before we ask you to come up and take a picture with us, we're gonna ask you to come up. But I also wanted to mention that we have this this really beautiful declaration. Actually, Congresswoman Norma Torres read this on the floor of the House of Representatives. A lot of great stuff about you and she read it there so it's in the record. And we want to make sure that you get this too. Make sure we recognize her for doing this for you. And then we have our own certificate. I think we should start. But, you know, we're just saving paper.

It'll be nice for Rudy.

We do have this great certificate. The mayor and city council proudly recognize and honor you for twenty eight years of exceptional dedication and distinguished service to the city of Ontario. Throughout your remarkable career, your steadfast leadership, unwavering integrity, and tireless commitment have enhanced the quality of life for our residents. Your service as Chief of Police has left a lasting and meaningful impact on our community. With sincere appreciation, we thank you for your service and wish you continued success, fulfillment and happiness in your well earned retirement until you go to work for Jason Anderson.

Anyway, I added that part. So why don't you come

on up and take a picture with us?

I'm gonna squeeze everybody in here. A little closer.

Move that chair.

Well, isn't that special? So we're going to take a recess, hopefully about ten, fifteen minutes at max. And we'll be back in here probably 06:40 at this point. And there are refreshments outside. And we want to make sure that all of you get an opportunity to hug this guy on his way out. Great man. I got to tell you, I love this guy. So let's go. Where did he go? He was behind me.

There he is. Okay. Let's take a recess for now for ten. Thank you for taking the time with us. And we're going to get right into the meeting.

And we're going to start with public comments. And so, you're limited to three minutes. Speakers will be limited alerted when they have one minute remaining. In accordance with state law, remarks during public comment are to be limited to subjects within counsel's jurisdiction. All those wishing to speak, including council and staff, need to be recognized by the chair. Madam city clerk, do we have any emailed public comments?

Yes, mister mayor. We have emailed comments that have been printed, placed at the days, and will be entered into the record.

Okay. So, I have nine blue cards. You do the map, that's going to take some time. So, we'll make sure that we keep it to the timeframe. Our first speaker is Dale Roberts.

Good evening, mister mayor. I didn't realize I actually didn't know what the what was on the agenda today, but, not meaning to to throw any shade on the hardworking people with Ontario PD. But I I would be remiss if I didn't tell the council that your deputy chief Lopez, when I confronted him, if that's probably an improper word, back here in the back before the meeting started, he was real quick to show that he did not like critical critique. He immediately turned away and walked away and I had to ask him what his name was, okay. Very sad he's afraid to speak about something.

On this paper here, on the left hand side, you'll see all these lines. Those lines represent dates. Okay. Those dates are the only ones that I can come up with myself for when I called Ontario PD in 2024 and 2025. Why am I so late in all this?

Okay, I've actually had a job until recently I was forced to retire. Those are all the dates I have called Ontario PD. On twotwo of this month, at 01:40 something in the afternoon, I called and asked records department. I told them I wanted a record of every call from my phone to the PD 911 and the non emergency line. While I waited on the line, it only took a little bit, the lady comes back and tells me that she went back all the way to 2020 and I have never called Ontario PD.

Okay. Where she got that, I have no idea. But fact. And as you well know, you can find out if I called her, okay. I was down there at your department on 02/11, which is only, what, a week and a half, two weeks ago, and I went there to get a records request form, and I got a bunch of blowback from the lady at the desk.

I wish you would somebody would on the city council would look at that tape and listen to what was said. Okay, why she felt so empowered to not help me is beyond me. Now, there was a uniformed officer up there. And why that officer, since that officer outbanks but may not be a supervisor, why she didn't.

Okay. Mr. Roberts, thank you for coming forward. Mr. City Manager, what can we do? Can we deal with him?

Oh, I'd have the gentleman talk to Deputy Chief Lopez standing right in the back right now.

We I just told you how Deputy Chief Lopez is.

And Deputy Chief Lopez is happy to talk with you right now, sir.

Oh, I'm done with him. Okay? Who who you you walk Everybody else? If you walk on me once, I'm not gonna let you walk on me twice.

How about Captain Weischatel? If that doesn't work, we'll keep on playing the wheel until we come up with somebody who Sure,

I'll do that.

All right, well your time is up. So thank you for coming forward. Okay. And we'll have you talk to, did you say captain? Who did you say? Back there. All right. Thank you. So our next speaker is Ken Brathwaite.

You. Mister mayor, senior council members, baseball fans, Ontario residents, I'm Ken Braithwaite, umpire in chief for District 23 Little League, and there's no crying in baseball. That scene with Tom Hanks as coach Jimmy Dugan in the film League of Their Own was filmed right in front of what was the 3rd base dugout at Jay Littleton Ballpark. Few scenes in any movie are as recognizable as that scene, but some of us did cry when we heard that the iconic grandstand that stood at Forth And Grove since 1937 burned down. The field holds a special place in the hearts of those who played it even only once.

I had the pleasure of playing and umpiring there alongside players and coaches from all over the nation. It's important to note that the baseball was not played there at Jay Littleton for several years, not because of a lack of interest, but because a pole fell down and didn't get fixed. An inexpensive repair that would have prevented vandalism, break ins, and the fire. Professional baseball is returning to Ontario with the tower buzzers this year, and the city has an amazing opportunity to expand its baseball heritage by rebuilding the ballpark where Jackie Robinson once held court at second base during integrated barnstorm games in the nineteen forties. Integrated baseball was a big deal then, even in California.

Youth baseball in The United States is projected to generate $155,000,000,000 annually by the year 2035, including entrance fees and concessions travel ball parents are already used to paying, making Jay Littleton a commercially lucrative spot in a state where the weather allows for games to be played virtually every day of the year, bringing hospitality revenue to Ontario's businesses. There are many events that have called J Littleton Ballpark home and can again. Little League International held the Western Region Senior Tournament at J Littleton Park for many years hosting teams from all over the Western United States. The Cory Lytle Foundation Tournament, Perfect Game Tournament, as well as many holiday weekend tournaments. All opportunities for the city to generate revenue.

One minute remaining.

A rebuilt Jade Littleton can host more than baseball as well. Graduation ceremonies, summer concerts, other city events can held on its nearly 125,000 square feet of field. From foul pole to foul pole, the outfield fence is 615 feet long, approximately 5,000 square feet of advertising space. It can provide so much for the city of Ontario if you don't look at it as the money pit, but as an untapped revenue stream it has always been. I know that I am not alone, but I am here to say I will help make that happen. Now you need only to make the right decision for Ontario, its children, and its future. Thank you. Thank you.

Alright. Honestly, folks, there will be no applause or anything like that, so we can get through this. Okay? Not that I don't appreciate that, you appreciate it. Gloria Jones is our next speaker.

Good evening, everybody. I'm on the board for Ontario Heritage. We're the local historical society. And I'm here to speak on as an advocate for the J. Littleton Ballpark. J. Littleton Ballpark isn't just a piece of patch of brass. It is a living time capsule. While splash pads are great for cooling off, here's why preserving the historical integrity of this site carries a weight that a new playground sibling can't match. From 1937 to 1998, it was called Ontario Ballpark.

It was dedicated to Jay Littleton in 1998. He was a scout for major league baseball teams, including the Dodgers. Jay Littleton Ballpark provided an authentic backdrop for some of the most iconic sports stories ever told. In 1948, the Babe Ruth story, the field's classic wooden grandstands, a rarity in modern California offered a visual portal back to the nineteen twenties and thirties. In 1992, The Bay, that was a film with John Goodman.

1992, A League of Their Own. This field helped immortalize the story of the all American girls professional baseball league. To lose the field is to lose a physical connection to a film that redefined how we view women in sports history. And in 1998, the Babe Ruth story. I might have already said that. 1988, eight men out. And that had to do with the 1919 Black Sox scandal. Before the fire, which I know two years ago when I was listening to the radio and I heard it was late at night and some news guy came on and said that it burned down. Oh my god. It woke me up.

And I'm just so passionate about on Tuesday. Remaining. Most modern stadiums are still in concrete. The look and feel of a wooden ballpark provides an aesthetic and sensory experience that links current generations to the golden age of baseball. Once these structures are demolished or replaced with plastic and rubber splash pads, that specific historical atmosphere has gone forever.

Every city has parks and water features, but not every city has a site where Hollywood stars and baseball legends, real and fictional, walk the dirt. Cultural anchor, preserving the film maintains Ontario's unique identity. It tells the world and residents that the city values its contributions to American culture and film. Educational value, a restored film serves as a class classroom without walls where kids kids can learn about local history, the evolution of sports, the film industry. A restored period accurate field could continue to attract film and television productions bringing revenue back into Ontario. Fans of A League of Their Own travel from all over the country to visit

Your the time is up and we have a lot of speakers, so we're gonna have to It turn off your

doesn't have

quite to a

pull. Thank you very much.

Thank you for coming forward. Our next speaker is Chris Robles.

Good evening, mister mayor, city council members. It's been a while. I've been sick in December and got busy this early January but this issue and I've been watching and this issue is something that I've been speaking about for all of last year. You know, when you give seventy two hour notice, which I get is the legal requirement, it is very little in terms of notifying the community. The biggest issue I have is that you don't go engage residents.

This is a massive issue, clearly by the people that are here and I think there was a remark at the last meeting two weeks ago, where are the people? Well, people cannot change their schedules with just seventy two hour notice. This requires a methodical attempt at going into the neighborhoods and talking to people, not having everyone show up to a council meeting and only getting three minutes. Let's look at the history. August 22, there's a fire in 08/22/2024 is the fire.

Then months later in December 2024, I used to actually spoke. There was repair work on the agenda on consent and what did you do? You pulled it off. The reason was you said you wanted to have a bigger conversation about Jay Littleton Field. Well, that was attempted. On 02/20/2025, there was a special meeting called and it was supposed to be a study session. Only two of you showed up, three of you did not and so there was no meeting, no discussion and people from the community were here for that. Now we fast forward to a year later. I mean, literally February 20. So that's this week.

A year later, it comes up again. You don't do anything to talk to the community. You come up with this water park

thing And out of nowhere that came

maybe people want that, but you didn't ask. And thank goodness some of you said, hey, let's talk to

the

community. You know, you've spent multi multi millions on this new ballpark, publicly funded but privately run so no one can attend it without paying and not a dime for Jay Littleton Field and I don't even have to speak about the historic significance. I didn't even grow up here but I get that it's important to the residents of Ontario. I guess when you've been there for thirty years up on that dias, you just do whatever you want but it's time for you not just on this issue, all the other issues to talk to residents, get their input and not just sit here and do a four o vote, a five o vote after a few people come up to speak because they were able to make the time. You need to make your time available to go to the community.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kizzy.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, council. Deputy Chief Lopez, Chief Lopez, should say. First, Captain Lopez, Deputy Chief, now Chief. We're glad to have you. We look forward to you continuing the mission that Mr. Lorenz established. Counsel, I'm here on behalf of District 3 with respects to the Grove Plaza. As it stands, the ownership of that plaza has failed to do anything to correct the wrongs and injustices that are going on, the vagrancy that's happening. With the help of Ontario PD and some of you guys, we have stopped some of the activity that's going on up there.

But the reality is that that is the job of the property owner. Ontario PD can't be responsible for, or responsible for one specific corner when they have a whole city and thousands of people to look after. With that being said, I don't know what it is that the city attorney or manager can do. That's not my job. But I'm asking that they can look into this and implore or compel the owners of that property to do what needs to be done so that it is a place where other retailers want to come to.

I understand it would be easy to maybe say build something else or let it just go on going and depressing the community as it is. But the reality is you have a district over there that would shop there if it was safe, if it was habitable, if there were other businesses there. Retailers will not come there as it stands now because of the conditions. And the conditions are deplorable because the owner fails to do what he or she wants or what she or she needs to do. As property owners in District 3 and even renters in District 3, if we're not doing what we're supposed to, we're held accountable.

These individuals need to be held accountable. If I may, since I have a minute and twenty seconds left, the Jay Littleton Park. I implore you guys to please look at it, make it an agenda item and speak to those in the community. Me, myself, my father used to be upset about bringing me from Los Angeles, California out here to who is, where is Ontario to practice and play at J. Littleton in the seventies.

One, also, it never

we moved out here. That park has historical value. It should be a historical landmark. I implore you guys to contact and talk with the residents of that district as well as those in the city and see its value and hopefully it does not get demolished and replaced by a splash pad. Maybe we can find some other uses for it so that it stays and maintains a staple of Ontario. Ontario is a great city. It's contributed to the fashion industry as well as the movie industry as well as the agricultural industry. And so I think it needs to stay. And I believe a lot of people in that district, as well as Ontario believe that too. Thank you so much, Mayor. Assistant Mayor.

All right. Thank you. Our next speaker is Charlene Littleton.

Good evening, Mayor Leon Council. I'm Charlene Littleton, the youngest daughter of Jay Littleton of Jay Littleton Ballpark. I was told we didn't need to appear today, but I wanted to make a public comment requesting that we know the actual date when you will vote on the decision of that property on 4th And Grove. I know in a vibrant and growing city such as Ontario, you have a full agenda. I understand that.

I've lived here my entire life. I grew up at that ballpark. My father was a staple in our community. He supported many of your political careers and backed you to when you sought office to sit on this council and serve as mayor. He was proud to be in Ontario.

He was proud of you and your service to this community. I asked for the same respect to be given to his legacy. It's not just about what happened at Jay Littleton. It's about the future of baseball in Ontario. It's about the future of these children playing Little League and giving them the opportunity of a dream and receiving that dream by playing at Littleton.

When you presented the four plans two weeks ago and mayor Leon so graciously and Deborah Parada, Councilwoman Parada, said we can't vote on this yet because we need to hear from the community. That was very heartfelt and widely respected by the baseball community in this town. And there's a large baseball community in this town. Children look over that fence from the Eastern International Field and dream of playing across the line at J Littleton Park. Okay? It's a staple of this community. I thank the people that spoke on behalf of supporting

One minute remaining.

But we need like a breakdown of things. There's a lot of claims. Well, could be facts. We don't know. Where's the breakdown of costs that this could cost a $100,000,000? What kind of seats are you putting in there? Reclining stadium like La Z Boy seats? Are you putting in benches? It's a baseball community. Baseball parents sit in bleachers. They always have. They probably always will. We're not looking for a major league park. We don't even need 3,500 seats. But we need baseball to remain in this community.

Like my dad said on the day that park was named after him, he quoted Kevin Costner's line in A Field of Dreams that if you build it, they will come. I promise you, they will come. Baseball is a vibrant sport in this community, and it needs to continue to be that. I thank you for your time. I hope that when this does come to the agenda, people can be civil to one another with respect by council members and by the community. Thank you, mayor and council.

Appreciate Thank you. Your

And our no. No. No. Not tonight. Our next speaker, no, thank you very much. You're good. You're good. I wasn't speaking to you. So you didn't, no clapping right now. We got too much to do. Joe Vlietstra, is that correct? Sorry, Charlene, wasn't speaking to

you. Hi,

I'm Joe Vlietstra. I'm a scout leader that's been at the Scout House, but here I'm representing Terry Rory. I'm the incoming president. I saw all four plans of the park, and all four plans show the Rory scout house being bowed those down to be a parking lot for the baseball field or splash pad or whatever. That Rotary Scout House has been there quite a while, since 1950.

Yes, it's been a troop scout house, but we've expanded it. We now have three scouting units, BSA scouting units meet there. Two girl scout troops now meet there, and we're hoping to expand it to have four girl scout troops meet there. In addition, that scout house is used for leader training, I think. Were you trained there?

No.

Okay. Not only for both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. So, we'd like to see if there's a path, there's an option where we can retain the Scout House, possibly expand its use. We would be interested in expanding it and have that as one of the alternatives to the four proposed options. And I'm going to make up for all the time that was lost by the previous speakers. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is David Austin.

Good evening. Joe kind of already gave you a preview of what I'm gonna be speaking about. Good evening. My name is David Austin. I'm the scot master and Eagle Scout of troop three zero one in Ontario, California.

The Rotary Scout House in the corner of 4th And Grove was built in 1950 for the scouts of Troop three zero one. Troop three zero one is one of the only remaining scout troops in the city of Ontario and the only one that allows female scouts. Our scout house is in the corner of 4th And Grove and works as a meeting house for the troop. It houses the troop's equipment such as poles for teaching pioneering fleet six canoes, camping equipment, and tents and boxes. It also has a fire pit for teaching cooking and a flagpole for rehearsing flag ceremonies.

Let's see. The Scout House hosts camp outs and many Eagle projects. Our troop does not have access to the Many troops do not have access to the facilities such as we have and our troop also has artifacts from the buildings seventy six years. All four of these ballpark plans around the Scout House will have the Scout House demolished for a parking lot in the field. It would be a shame if a tragedy such as losing the historic ballpark would directly be responsible for another historical landmark being destroyed.

That's all I wanted to say. Thank you very much.

All right. Thank you. Our next speaker is Monica Ibarra.

Hi. Good evening. I am here as a resident addressing the Grove Plaza. I live across the way from the Grove Plaza, and we have in recent years, like, mister Kevin was mentioning, have seen a big decline. Every morning, I see plywood up where the old AutoZone was.

I think that's been like that for a good well, ever since they've left, so maybe two years. I'd like to thank the city for pushing for the gates for the easements between the freeways. That's kinda helped with the traffic we've had there with the illegal encampments, which they used to individuals used to go and kind of camp out at the Grove Plaza. We've seen a little bit of a decline in that, but we still have the problem with the actual plaza. We have problems with no lighting.

There's no security there. The owners aren't really making any repairs. As you could see, a lot of the storefronts are there's little little plywood up to date. So it's just not aesthetic. I mean we don't really like seeing that every day as residents. Everything looks abandoned. The owners of the CVS won't even put AC. They have like a huge AC unit outside of their building. You you need to drive by and see it. It's it's pretty bad.

So it's just not it's just not appealing. So I'm here representing our group thread as a residence urging the city council to please look into that because it is it is an eyesore. Nobody really wants to you know, I don't shop there anymore even it's right across the street from me, but especially at night, I don't go alone. And so we're we're just here urging you guys to take a look at that, especially the security aspect of it is a is a female. I mean, don't I don't go by myself anymore.

One minute remaining. With my time, I am compelled to talk about the ballpark. I mean, aside from what I was here to talk about because I did not know about Jay Littleton. I'm a baseball mom and I'm a travel baseball mom and that saddens me because I always thought that that was going to be rebuilt. I will tell you that there's no place like that in Southern California being that we, you know, I traveled across state lines. There's no other fields like that. Everything is all concrete now. Yes. They're new and nice parks, but there's nothing like the old wooden ballparks that Jay Littleton was. The one I used to visit when I was a kid watching my brother play travel ball.

I did not know that that might be a splash pad, and I had no notice of that. And I am sad that that might be a project that doesn't get completed. So, oh, I'm definitely urging the city to please invest in Jada Littleton. They will come. We spend a lot of money in travel ball. Let me tell you. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. That ends our public comment portion. So we move on to agenda review and announcements. You know, did want to ask about this, Mr. City Manager. This announcement is going to be affected by item number 15. Do we want to wait till then or do we just want to do it now?

We can do it now after the consent calendar and have the city attorney read it out.

Well, it's before consent calendar.

So mister mayor, my understanding is item 15 is on the consent calendar. If that's the case

do it in accordance of what's going on.

Okay. Alright. Thank you. I'll let the I'll let the room settle out for a little bit.

Yeah. Let's give give it a second here.

That's good.

Thank you Mr. Mayor. In accordance with government code section five four nine five three subsection c three, the city council is required to orally report a summary of a recommendation for a final action on the salary, salary schedules or compensation payment including the fringe benefits of a local agency executive during the open meeting in which that final action is to be taken. Tonight before the council is item number 15, a resolution that proposes a base salary range known as EX 10 for the incoming police chief between approximately $26,201.07 and $34,845.20. Management incentive pay of approximately $1,637.57 to $2,177.83 for a total salary range between approximately 27,833.64 and 37,023.03 per month with fringe benefits of approximately 5,586.54 and $6,278.07 per month.

That concludes my report. Mr. Mayor, thank you.

Okay, so that takes us to our consent calendar and I'll take up the consent calendar and all matters listed on the consent calendar will be enacted by one motion and there'll be no separate discussion unless the council asks for one. So do we have we don't have any blue cards for the consent calendar, by the way. So I'll entertain a motion, Mr. Bowman, motion to approve, second by Ms. Mesias. So let's take a vote. Consent calendar passes five zero. So our public hearings, Madam City Clerk, item number 16.

Thank you. This is a public hearing to consider an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Ontario, California, approving file number PDCA two six dash zero zero one. A development code amendment revising and clarifying certain provisions of the chapter five point zero zoning and land use of the City Of Ontario Development Code and making findings in support thereof. Notice of public hearing has been given, and there is one written communication.

All right. So, at this time, I'll open the public hearing and let the record reflect any written comments, which we already did. So, I'll now close the public hearing and entertain a motion or discussion from counsel. Motion to approve by Parada. Second. Second by Mr. Bowman. Take the vote. Passes five zero. Okay. So administrative report and discussion takes item number 17. Madam City Clerk.

This is a resolutions withdrawing two referendum measures and canceling the 06/02/2026 special municipal election. There are no written communications on this item.

Alright. So, I'd like to give our city manager an opportunity to provide some background on this.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of City Council. Last spring, the City Council approved a couple of actions that would facilitate the development of a convention hotel, a top flight hotel, full service that was slated to be or is slated to be catty corner from the existing convention center. Perfectly located at the East End of Holt Boulevard before you get on the 10 Freeway with on and off ramp was or is. Shortly thereafter however, Unite Here Local eleven had who had been circulating petitions submitted a petition with the requisite number of signatures to challenge that approval that was set to take effect the following last July.

In accordance with state law and taking in those verified signatures, the council was either obliged to adopt or rescind the the ordinance and actions that the council had approved or to schedule an election for said referendum. The council opted for the latter and said that we would schedule the special election slated for June 2026 at a cost of $748,000 This was done over the objections of Unite here at Local eleven who represents the hotel workers and venue workers which seems kind of counterintuitive that if you're building a convention hotel that that provides jobs for the folks who work in that hotel and if they were going to organize, you would organize when the hotel was built and be able to provide those types of services and protections to the employees. But Unite Here didn't see it that way. Unite Here wanted to preclude the development unless there was a deal with them. So when the council, after looking at the tactics that were employed by Unite Here to secure the requisite signatures that we've covered in in the past and other items related to Unite Here, when the council decided to schedule that election, it was done to the dismay of Unite Here.

In the same kind of time frame, Unite Here was also circulating two more initiatives, ordinances that were developed and brought forth by the union. And at that time, they were collecting at six months to gather the signatures for the two initiatives. With six months amount of time, they were able to get those signatures and so that played out only fairly recently and we have scheduled a special election at the cost of $1,200,000 for March 2026, next month. Unite here has since thought the better of their tactics for the June election and is now requesting of the council to cancel the June election. Presumably, that way we don't really quite know.

They didn't say it in the letter that they sent to us, so we can only presume that they would rather keep their coffers full for the March election and possibly even the general election later this November. So what has happened in the meantime is that the convention hotel has been sitting on the shelf for a year. Costs for construction have gone up by about a year, all because of the seeming indecisiveness of Unite Here who first wanted to schedule the election and now backs away from it. It's unfortunate because these are real jobs and real investments for real people, yet they are just pawns in the political scheming of Unite Here. So the recommendation before you is to oblige Unite Here, cancel the special election in June, save the money that was going to have to come from somewhere in the city's budget for that cost to the county.

And we will continue on with the March election and of course the general election in November. So if you have any specific questions, certainly the city attorney or I can address those at this time.

All right, well thank you. So I guess that we'll just get into the public hearing and I think that Ms. Perrotta has been giving me the wave. Go ahead. A

lot of my comments are going to be on the same line as the city managers, but I really want to say them because I'm really not happy about what's transpired here. So, you know, in April '25, this council approved a 600 room hotel directly across the street from the convention center on Guasi Road and Hall Boulevard. From a planning perspective, it was thoughtfully located near the 10 Freeway adjacent to existing hospitality uses and positioned to strengthen our convention center and our local economy. But then shortly after this approval, the referendum petitions were filed and under state law that paused the implementation of this project. We were required to either repeal our decision or place this matter before the voters, and the council chose to stand on its action and allow the democratic process to move forward.

Now, the referendum proponents have withdrawn the measure and we are canceling this June election. While I respect the legal right to pursue this referendum, it's important to acknowledge that these are the exact extended delays that we do not want to happen. This timeframe allowed construction costs to increase, labor costs have risen, and uncertainty surrounding this project intended to enhance our economy and opportunity to support our Convention Center district. You can't just do this because I was hoping that this hotel was gonna be opened by the Olympics and because of these delays, it's not gonna be. And that's bad on this.

I mean, you can't do this to cities. Predictable predictability matters in a comic in an economic development. Stability matters when projects are paused for long periods of times like this. It affects costs and timelines and confidence in a city. And I'm pleased to know that we are able to move forward tonight and avoid the expense of the special election.

And my hope is as a community that we will continue to engage in ways that are constructive, transparent, and mindful of the broader impact on Ontario's long term fiscal health and competitiveness. We compete with the cities around us for projects like this. And if they're gonna continue to throw things like this at us, it's not gonna be good for Ontario. So I'm glad that tonight allows us to refocus and move forward, and we wanna need in Ontario to move in a positive direction. And also, mister city manager, I also want everybody to realize too though that this does not do anything to avoid the March election that's coming up for B and W. Those are still on the ballot and those are still big issues. Thank you.

Mr. Bowman.

Oh, thank you, Mr. Murray. This might be a little off key, but I'm just gonna tell it the way I think it is. And, you know, I've been around for a few years and I've been in labor quite a bit. I've been the president of a couple of unions in the past and, you know, it's a brother and sisterhood. I mean, they support each other. Many, many unions have been here, the carpenters, the plumbers, the steel workers, and we are very sensitive to providing jobs. And their whole argument typically is we want to have local employment. We want to work here in Ontario. We spend so much time traveling on the freeway, and brothers and sisters should support each other, I would think.

But we have a rogue union here that wants to stop the very development of opportunity and jobs for everybody else that wants them. They wanna kill a project before it's even built, and they want raises, they want insurances, they want everything. Well, the opportunity hasn't even been established, and the other unions are saying, why not? Why haven't they? What are you doing? I ask the same question. I support what the city manager wants to do on this issue. Thank you.

I'm just gonna add that there's an expense to holding property. You still have to pay taxes, you still have to take care of it, you still have to fence it, you got to scrape it. And all of those expenses are piling up on this property. And as Parada said, the initial vision was to have a five star hotel before the Olympics arrived here. And the other side of that is for many years I've been questioned as to why we didn't have a five star hotel in Ontario because Rancho may have the park name the epicenter, but the reality is Ontario is the epicenter of everything happening in the Inland Empire.

And for us to have a five star hotel attracts the kind of conventions that will allow us to continue that upgrade and that thought process that this is where it happens. We need this for our community and for the executive staffs of businesses around to invite their business to have their convention here in the city of Ontario. It's a great opportunity for us, and we're being held hostage by a union group that wants to make sure that they're taken care of. They tried it in LA. It didn't work.

Now they're here. So the reality is I'll just cut to the chase. I agree. And the city manager, I want to just say let's go. So we'll go ahead and take the vote.

Is there

a motion and a second?

Oh, I thought we did. I'm sorry. You're right. So we'll have a motion by Ms. Perata, second by Mr. Bowman. Thank you. And we'll vote. Okay, passes by vote. This takes us to item number 17. Oh, I'm sorry. Right? Yeah, we did. Okay, so we'll go to staff matters.

Nothing to answer.

Alright, and I'll start all the way to my right. Mr. Bowman? I've nothing today. Mr. Wadner?

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We did approve the consent calendar including item number 15. We kind of passed over it. Folks, we just hired a new police chief. It's kind of weird we went right over it. Deputy Chief Rudy Lopez is here, I think effective midnight tonight, Mr. City Manager.

Tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night, he's going to become our next police chief. So let's hear it for Rudy Lopez. And I believe the formal ceremony for swearing him in is at the next council meeting, is that correct? Great, we look forward to that Rudy, congratulations. Miss Prada.

Some community activity happening here. Ontario Heritage is having their golf tournament on March 13. So for those of you that like to golf, please help them by signing up for the golf tournament. And on Sunday, February 22, our wonderful symphony orchestra led by Sylvia Mann over at Bethel Congregational Church on Euclid is having a Beethoven concert that starts at 4PM. So please take advantage of that. Thank you.

And this is postscript everything. We will be posting when the agenda will include the baseball field, and I have asked staff to give us a comprehensive presentation and there you go. So thank you for being here and we appreciate your involvement in your city. This meeting is adjourned. Hope to see you at our next meeting on 03/03/2026.

To you to assist you with your project. Over here, we have the