City Council - Regular Meeting

Calls back to order at 435. We're going to enter into study session. Before that, public comments, are there any requests to speak?

Thank you. Okay, first presentation, Police Department Recruitment and Retention. Presentation by Police Lieutenant Mike Parsons and Chief Greg Heredia. Welcome, Chief.

Thanks so much, Chief. I'll open it to council questions or comments.

Thank you, Chief. I appreciate you putting this together. I was the one who asked for this back in July. It was a quick turnaround, so thank you for doing that. When someone goes through the academy, how long does it take to get through the academy, do whatever they need to do, and actually be hired as an officer?

I know you're new. That may be tough to ask you.

How many of our officers have we, no, that answers my question. How many officers would you say in the last year or two have left for other departments?

Yeah, I don't think it's because we're a bad department that they're leaving. There's a lot of reasons they would. Mike? i guess being down eight officers now and a plan that says in january it's going to take upwards of a year to have i i just i'm not satisfied with that i think and there's no reflection on you chief you're new to here so this is not a reflection on you But if there are officers that are in other cities that we can recruit, which could get things quicker, I think we're in a crisis mode right now, being this far below. We've got officers working incredible amounts of overtime.

Well, let me clarify, I did not insinuate in any way that it was something with our department that was a problem getting people to leave. I'm just showing that people leave departments and go to other departments so we can recruit. I'd like us to set a goal of five transfers from other departments in the next six months. What do we have to do, compensation-wise, bonus-wise, something outside the norm to get five new officers from other cities to transfer to Fountain Valley? And then when you start bringing in these others that you're talking about, we're going to have some attrition. So that

Councilman Bowie? That's a great thinking, but I think everybody understands at the end of the day, it's the power of the purse, right? How much money do we have in our coffer? I think that's your really big challenge right there. We always talk about find new ways to generate revenues, and that is the challenge that the, I know we don't have an economic development department anymore, but that is something that our city manager will have to strive, find new ways, be creative, and of course, with the help of our planning commissioners, that are here in the city, look at our ordinance. Is there

Yeah, the cost for the part time for the officer to go to the academy, we have to pay them as an employee, right?

Right, do we know roughly by the time six months how much we're paying them?

Here's my point I'm trying to get with this. So let's say with the part time, six month, and the cost of the tuitions, I would say give and take 5,000. Let's say the whole thing comes out, let's say 15,000. Let's put that 15,000 to recruit, the other officer comes in as a bonus. That was trying to get at. And then you got someone that comes in, laddering from another department, who has experience, which is great, right? And then you get them on right away. You don't have to wait for the six month, that three month interview, and that two year probation to make sure he pass all that. You got a

Yeah, and these are budgeted positions. So it's not like we're trying to get money to hire eight officers we haven't budgeted for. This has been budgeted. The additional funding is how do we motivate them to get from another city to us? And there's a lot of cities that pay less than us. So maybe we get a little aggressive in our target market instead of advertising in Fountain Valley, advertise in a city that may be paying a lot less.

And the only reason why I'm bringing this point, because I've just learned something new the other day. And it's actually better for our city if we are able to put that money set aside and have those officer laddering. Because for those that we're putting through them, the academy, we pay for the school, we pay doing their educations. And at the end of the day, if they choose not to go with us, we lose all that money. As far as the other way, we don't lose. We have not had a record of people leaving, but as you heard from our captain earlier, in the last few years five of them leave for whatev

I want to add one point to what you just said, City Manager. So you say $43 is that for the police recruit. Is that eight hours a day, 40 hours a week we're paying them, or how do we pay them?

Okay, so if 40 hours, six months, we look about 41,000, plus the $5,000, that's 46,000. So I think if we can come up with an incentivized, let's say half of that, 25,000, to your point, I think you'll get your six-month recoup, right? Because instead of getting a student going through it, we give an incentive, 25,000, to come work for a fine body. That would incentivize some of the officers, I think. Just a thought, something to think about.

I'm just curious on the incentives program since we've implemented, how many have we paid out?

Councilwoman Constantine, do you have a comment?

Well, yes, great presentation. And yes, we haven't lost our economic development department. Of course not, because that's very important for the city's growth. Also, when we met previously a couple months ago about the incentive program for the police, I was very much in favor of possibly increasing it to whatever city staff feels would be lucrative. And I look forward to more officers. Thank you.

Thanks for the presentation. I have a couple questions. One is with the Mike Thompson RV sign. I do drive by there sometimes and see advertisements for the police department. What's our arrangement with them? Do they show it a certain number of times per hour or per day?

All right. Yeah, well, I'd just like to shout out to Mike Thompson for doing that for us. Really appreciate it.

I think it was part of their contract when we agreed to their sign. That was part of the contract.

And then next question is, do you know how many we have in the Explorer cadet program right now, approximately?

Oh, okay, so that's a lot of potential future.

Okay, and last question is, you mentioned this ESOP program, which is reducing the background check time. Can you give an example of some of the, like before the ESOP and after the ESOP, like one thing that sort of how we did it before and how the new program does it for the?

Yeah, because cutting three months off, it just seems like.

So it's mostly a paperless process. Okay, great. All right. Thank you. That's all.

Well, that's great. So you're saying it works. So let's just help you fund that to get more.

Great. Thanks so much, Chief and Captain Parsons. Apologize. And Tanya, for all the efforts. Sounds like the partnership is thriving, and we appreciate all the efforts that you're doing, as well as the social media. I follow Instagram and Facebook, and they're interesting, effective, and I think that's another way to reach out and get more attention to our department. We have one request to speak on this matter.

I have no further requests to speak. Okay, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thank you, Chief.

Okay, our next presentation, Fountain Valley Sister Friendship City Association presentation by Public Works Director Scott Smith. Welcome.

Thanks so much, Scott. I'm going to actually turn it over to City Manager Lee for some direction.

Great, thank you. So we have two questions on the table. First, let's deal with the recommendation on the structure of this association. So I'm going to entertain thoughts. Vice Mayor Harper.

Do we need a motion on it? You want a motion on this?

For the Valley Community Foundation? Okay. Yeah, I just want to add to that. The Fountain Valley Community Foundation already does this for a number of organizations, so this isn't something new that the community foundation does. I think in our financial statements, there's probably 20 different entities that We hold money for and we do this kind of work for. And it's taking advantage of the 501c3 we have in place and the corporate structure that's already there. So adding to this is basically pretty easy for them to move forward with. Okay. I should say us. Gotcha. Councilman Bowie?

Thank you, Mayor. Ashley, can you go back to the structural recommendations, Rick?

Yeah, the city recommendations. Well, first of all, like you said, Council Member Ingram, I do appreciate the Family Community Foundation stepping up their plate once again, you know, serving the community. I believe they have a lot on their plate already. So that's another task, right? which is wonderful, and right now you do have the resource, that's definitely, you do have the member to help out. The only thing that I would have a second thought, and it's something to consider, is as my colleague has said, that this organization has so many activity in the city already. And the sister city,

Okay. Great point. I guess my point I'm trying to get at is I want to protect both entity, not the city, but also the family community foundations. Should something happen, remember, we're doing a program, we're going to be dealing with kids, right? There could be minor kids. If for some reason there's something that goes wrong, they find a way to sue the organization, and they're going to tag on the community foundation as well because they're leading organizations. I want to make sure that We set in a way that it protects not only the sisters city organization, but also the other end. So we

All right. I'm going to leave what you're best at. I'm going to raise this issue now so that way as you draft the MOU and other contracts, be mindful of what I'm concerned of so that way you find a way to make sure those concerns are being addressed so that way we don't run into issues down the road.

Councilwoman Constantine, any thoughts, support, Option 1, Option 2?

I also support option one, F-E-S-F-C-A. Yeah, there we go. Okay, so I think you've got direction on the nature of the entity.

Yes, one more thing. So at the last meeting, the money was being given to the , right? What, 37,000 I believe, roughly around there? So now do we need to have a motion or talk about that the money needs to be going toward, what's the process?

Or we could thank the Kiwanis Club for all their efforts to this point and allow them to keep it.

Okay. Okay. The next question is of the five of us, which two will be interested in attending?

actually have we agreed that we're going to do the trip first i think that's the next step before we do council would be my suggestion and i guess is it up to council for us to decide that or is it already decided

Yeah, and I won't be able to attend for work reasons and family reasons. So of the four of you, which two are interested in attending?

Yeah, I would defer to the rest of the council. If there's only one that wants to attend, I'll be the second one, but I'm happy to have the three of you go.

Mr. Mayor, in light of current Vice Mayor Harper not running for reelection, we're going to miss him too, I will serve as mayor starting at the end of the year. And I would like to attend. And it's not just only about that. No matter what, I'd like to be very connected with this program.

Okay, so we have Councilwoman Constantine as one, possibly Vice Mayor Harper as two. Any other interest from council?

I would like to request that you give us some time to figure out if we could do this or not. I will say, though, Council Member Constantine, if you do not get reelected, you won't be mayor and you won't be on council. Well, you'll still be on council in November. So there is that. It's not a foregone conclusion that you're going to be mayor.

It's not a foregone conclusion to be accurate that I would be reelected, obviously. Absolutely. That's where you had a little bit of a misstep. Understood.

Okay. So we have Councilwoman Constantine and Vice Mayor Harper, unless there's any other interests.

Yeah, it's one. I'm the default if we need two and nobody else wants to go.

And it may just be one, if that's the pleasure of the council.

I can decide now. I'm fully available to attend, and I know we have...

Thank you. Well, for me, I think we need a little bit more time. I'm trying to figure out what are we going to accomplish this second round going to Japan. We are very appreciative and thankful to the taxpayers for the first round going there. We have learned quite a few big information from going over there. What information they have given us, what are they looking for from us if they were going to join us, vice versa. So I'm trying to figure out, I understand there's in the report, but is there really anything that's going to stand out that's going to make it really different from the first

So, Council Member Bowie, you're mixing the funding. You're mixing the nonprofit funding with the city council funding and the players involved. We also do have the schedule here, and it's all about networking and connecting and knowledge. and gaining information in both ways, whether here or over there.

Well, I respectfully disagree with you. I'm not mixing the funding. You are. Whether the funding is coming from the general city funding or the organization nonprofit, it's still money. I'm not mixing it. I respect any money that is given to any organizations how we want to use it. I'm not mixing the fund. You did. Now, okay. Okay, it's 9,000. Now, reference to networking, like I said, these days there's so much technology. If it's networking, you want networking, you do Zoom. Unless there's something really concrete that you think that's really a must to be there. That's my opinion, that's al

You made some comments in a prior meeting, at least twice now on camera, about your experience on the last trip. I don't really want to go there. So it's surprising. Are you considering going again?

And that's really the question on the table.

I don't want to bring out dirty laundry here, but we've got some laundry to do.

Consider this. If none of the council can agree who's going to go, rest assured that we have good representation with former Mayor Steve Nagel, who will be there and will represent us well. So either way. There you go. You've got a former mayor.

Mr. Mayor I would say at this point when I was saying delay the decision on whether we could go or not as a council member I still feel forward at this point we should move forward with the program and we're gonna figure this out after this trip whether this will be come to fruition or not so I say let's let's move forward and then give councilmember Bowie and myself you know a week or so to you know this was just one week yeah this wasn't it wasn't a lot of notice on this and you know we have real jobs and we have work and we it's also Thanksgiving week will return on the day before Thanksgiv

Yeah, a couple of things. I want to say I will be attending the meeting next week that we have for this program next Tuesday. And my former career as a Disneyland Hotel employee, we dealt with a lot of Japanese. I learned all about the culture. In fact, our former GM was Japanese, Hideo Amemiya. So I believe I would be a great asset. Nothing to do with the election. Thank you.

Okay. I think, do we have any requests to speak from the public?

Okay, I think we've heard from council on interest in attending. It's got about a one week decision.

Well, not necessarily. We have one interest. One is confirmed. If three of us want to go, then we're going to have to vote on it somehow.

I mean, it needs to go in order of who we are on city council. That's just my thought.

Yeah, I just want to state that I would be in support of moving forward with the delegation.

Okay. Put a pin in it. That's where it stands. Great, thanks so much to those that came from the sister city advisory committee. Thank you for your time and your effort. I'll see you next week. Okay, our last study session item is the Little Saigon Recommended Design Guidelines. We're going to be welcoming up our esteemed planning commission. And I'll mention by name and alphabetical order, Kristen Escona, Cheryl Brothers, Rudy Huebner, Lisa James. Matthew Langer, and On Vu. And I believe, city clerk, they're going to be coming up here?

I don't know if they're going to be able to see. Okay.

Please come on up. Hey, forget to get close to this one.

Thank you so much for the presentation. Very interesting. My first question is, I don't know, have you ever seen a city council and a planning commission all assembled on the dais before?

So I'll just open it up, and Chair Langer, you can, same with you, if you want to ask for any questions.

Thank you. Well, first of all, thank you for the presentations. So one of the flyers you show in the design on that, as you know, a little bit of a history of the Vietnamese American and old culture, a lot of it was influenced by the French. And part of that, because I saw some of the dining, as you know, that the French dining, a lot of it is outdoor. So I didn't see too much of that in there. It's just something for you to take a note of. Yeah, if you've noticed, I don't know if the last time you've seen, or at least seen any pictures in Vietnam before and now, there's a lot of influence of

So just a little bit of background. At the very beginning of this process, I was in, ironically, the city that wasn't part of this exercise. It was actually an Assemblyman Treetaw's office where the Orange County Business Council awarded a grant to the cities of Fount Valley, Garden Grove, and Santa Ana. We were standing in Westminster. and and so that's probably a challenge with this overall business improvement district is to not have that city at the table you know it's just this is one of those things where hopefully we can we can reach out and there can be an inclusion with with our frien

Sure. Okay, so... Just to be clear, this all started in 2024. I'm just going to read something very brief here. In 2024, the Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics published a comprehensive demographic and economic study of Little Saigon. The study determined that Little Saigon's growth now encompasses several cities, Westminster, Garden Grove, parts of Fountain Valley, and Santa Ana. Specifically for Fountain Valley, the area included the northern part of the city, north of Warner Avenue. So when I think about Fountain Valley north of Warner, we've got Brookhurst, Euclid, New H

Well, you know, for me, I'm not going to mince words. It's deeply concerning that the city of Westminster is not included. I don't know what to say.

You always can pick up them and call them.

If I step in concern, you have the right. If you reach out to the Cal State Fullerton, one of the, I can't remember, the PhD professor that wrote about this article. I believe he has a more recent map on his latest study. It goes a little bit deeper than the beginning of my square part.

So if I may, what asset are they trying to protect? The fact that they are mainly the Little Saigon? I mean, I'm not clear.

Okay. Yeah, are we going to have any problem if we use the name Little Saigon now that you bring it up?

Okay. I'm a little bit confused. I thought there was a large grant that went along with this already.

I misunderstood. I thought this was the start of a grant that we received that we're going to spend money to improve the area.

Most of the grant that you have, half a million dollars, it was referenced to, it was, most of it was, it's in part of the requirement, is to pay the consultant to get, identify the three area of the city.

Maybe bring up the slide that shows the six month process. Yeah, I understand it was a six month process, but I could have done this for a lot less than $550,000.

I guess I'm left with the same feeling maybe that Garden Grove had is what now? Now what? So we have this, we spent a lot of money on it, now what?

I'm all about inclusivity. I think it's great that we embrace the Vietnamese culture in our city. They make up 40% almost of that, and that's really major and should be incorporated. But I want it to be inclusive and not exclusive, meaning if it's strictly in Vietnamese per se, It should be English and Vietnamese, some of the signs and everything to make sure that it's inclusive of everybody because that's what's really important is that we get everybody working together. It's not us versus them and I don't want to see that moving forward. I want to see us all together. That's my feedback.

I would like to comment to what Council Member Granitz have said and my colleagues say agree. Well, I assure you one thing. I mean, I'm very close to the Vietnamese community American in business. I assure you probably one of the best customers and loyal customers are non-Vietnamese. It has nothing to do with us versus them. If you reference to more than one language in the sign, they're okay with it, but a lot of that, you need to change sign ordinance. It needs to get bigger because you can't have two languages, a tiny writing. So to your point, if you do that, there's going to be a lot of c

I just want to make sure that Planning Chair Langer's question got answered. I think it was for the consultant. We remember.

I have something. I was just calculating.

Okay, so. If my calculations are correct. I have a question. The shopping center that's at the corner of Euclid and New Hope when you're going north, it's a large shopping center. There's like a crab restaurant on the corner. Oh, well, it's not a case. Euclid and Ettinger. Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Euclid. So the front area is City of Fountain Valley, the back commercial center is Santa Ana. Okay, gotcha. Okay, so scratch that. So I think in my quick calculations here, which are not bad, Harbor, we have a center at Brookhurst and Ettinger and then Magnolia and Bouchard, maybe two, depending on the size of the streets, and then Heil and Bouchard. So there's not like a lot of shopping centers there.

Yeah, I mean, that makes sense. I'm just not seeing a lot of viability here.

Okay, what's your bottom line? Are you for it or not for it? I don't understand what you're trying to say. Get right to the point.

No, I don't have any problem. I mean, it's interesting.

No, I mean, I want to be inclusive, of course.

So let me enlighten a little bit more on what Omar just said. What they reference to when they go to Little Saigon in to the Vietnamese American, the new generations, it's the high end of Beverly Hills. That's where they come to Fountain Valley to experience the high end food. That's what they mean by coming to Fountain Valley, the new destinations. Westminster is great, but that's the old Little Saigon. They don't say it, but in their head, that's the old Little Saigon. What the professor's trying to say is the trend is Little Saigon's moving south. Believe it or not, it's going to pass Fount

Mr. Mayor, if I may. I just wanted to touch on something Planning Commissioner Hugh Burner said about the centers. I almost lost my thought. The cohesiveness of the centers. I mean, ultimately, though, everybody, this is up to the property owners. I mean, we can't impose or change anything about properties style-wise. Without the property owners willing to do things. So we really must proceed with caution. And, yes, the center at Brookhurst and Ettinger, I mean, they're bulging at the seams. The business they have, the lines out the door, it's amazing. And you're right. People are interested t

Right. I mean, by the same token, we certainly don't want to confuse anybody. We have to really, this has to be very well thought out and executed if it's going to be. Thank you.

I think we've had a robust discussion. We've had counsel and planning up here, which is a cool moment. Thank you for being up here and together. You didn't have to go to a planning commission meeting. You got efficiency. I want to thank Gensler. You belong to a world-class firm. I work in design and construction, so do some of my commissioner colleagues. and so this this was not done with any lack of diligence it brings worldwide global perspectives to this project so I really appreciate that I think this is not the end of the discussion but just the beginning and so there's opportunities to c

I want to add to City Manager Magali. She's absolutely correct. That is the reason why Westminster understand that. That's why they want to protect that asset, because they know the next generation are moving toward Fountain Valley to spend the money. That's why they don't want to be part of it, because if they're part of it, they know that they give a helping hand to expand that. That's why they want to stop and protect the asset.

Except I have one issue with that shopping center, and the key concepts is my wife and I, every time we go there, the food is so good, the lines are so long, we can never get in. So if somebody knows somebody that can help get a reservation, we're in. Thank you.

Okay. Great. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thanks for being here. Thank you, everyone. We'll just take maybe a five-minute bio break, and we'll be back.

Okay, I'm going to call our meeting to order at 6.50 p.m. I apologize, we're a little bit behind schedule, but we're back on track. And as always, we start with an invocation, so if you will please rise. And I'd like to invite up Pastor Kenny Pannis. Welcome. Welcome.

Thank you, Pastor. Next is our salute to the flag. I'd like to invite Councilmember Ted Boyd to lead us.

Yes, would you please join me and salute the great flag in the country. 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.

Thank you, Council Member Bowie. Next is City Council Successor Agency Housing Authority roll call.

Thank you. Are there any reportable actions out of closed session? City Attorney? No reportable action. Thank you so much. Are there any supplemental communications?

Great. Thank you. Next, we'll move to city manager updates. City manager Lee.

Thank you, City Manager Lee. So for the mayor's update, the original Lobster Festival with Fresh Live Maine Lobster flown in daily will be held on September 11th to 13th, 2026 at the Fountain Valley Sports Park on Brookhurst. Come see a variety of popular artists throughout the day on the dance floor. Enjoy tasty eats in the food court, check out the local artists, visit the beer and wine garden, and sing a tune at the karaoke lounge with a live band Friday and Saturday night. There is something for everyone, including magic shows, balloon sculptures, face painting, carnival rides, and games,

Sure. Okay, so the first one is, I know we have a consultant and staff working on a survey for our residents, and... I just kind of wanted to get a second on us going full speed ahead on that. Not to put it out to the public before the election, no. Sometime after that, but still keep working on it if we could. I'm seeking a second.

I think we were told there's not a consensus that there are three council members, because I'm fine with it going right away, too. But I don't believe we have a third that's interested in doing that. I think they want to wait until after the election and see who gets elected, I was told. So if there's a third that's interested, I'm good with it.

I guess I don't understand the topic. Didn't we already authorize a community survey to go ahead?

Since that's coming up, let's just discuss it there, and then we can talk about it.

And I just want to ask a question. So when those proposals were received, do they have an expiration? Are they good for a certain amount? Would that carry us through, even if it was, say, 90 days from now?

I think my other, and this is a bigger concern, is we're in a season where there's so much media coming at us. There's phone and video. And so I would just worry if we got into that effort There may just not be the kind of response that we would hope for. And so I think when you talk to surveying firms, there are ideal times when I think we're crossing the line here.

Mayor Kenean. Not agendized. Mayor Kenean, this is not, as I said, it was never the intention to put out this survey before the election time. So I'm going to drop it and I want to be clear. So item number two is if we don't already have an ordinance on the books, I would like to have us look into one that encompasses no campaigning on any city property. I'm really seeking a second.

Hold on, let's check with the city attorney. I believe we do have rules in regards to that.

I'm not talking about myself, and I'm definitely not talking about any city council member. I'm talking about somebody running from the outside to be a city council member. That's what I'm – I'm not talking about me or any council members.

It would be somebody coming in here campaigning. passing out flyers, coming up to the mic, being at the senior center, you know, connecting with the people. Oh, I'm running for city council. If this were to happen, is this okay? Or be at the yard or, you know, wherever.

Thank you. Okay, so number three is, and in light that... It is currently campaign season. I want to, if we can, and I don't think it would be that much of a stress, I'm asking pretty please for one of you to please second this one about temporary non-commercial signage, which is also known at this time of year as campaign signage, for us to have a little study session Because on our ballots, you know, we're going to have a lot of candidates running for various offices, not just Fountain Valley. A lot of propositions, judges, whatever, you know. Hopefully we won't have campaign sign chaos. But

For clarity, Councilwoman Constantine, what was the ask?

A study session about temporary non-commercial signage, a.k.a. campaign signs, how they should be placed, you know, the dynamics about it. Right, yeah. Yes, that's why I asked the question. Right, sorry.

Is that something that staff can do in five or ten minutes?

It sounds like every campaign cycle, this issue has been coming up. We've addressed before over and over.

I'm not sure- We have challenges here and people want- Let me finish my thought, please.

Sure. Every campaign cycle, the same question has been brought up. The city has given the answer. The next cycle, you ask it again.

Of course. What part don't you understand?

Oh, it's not that I don't understand. I understand perfectly clear. This is merely a little thing of information. We're all about information and connecting and helping the public understand People need to see what's permitted, what's not. We have a little discussion that the city clerk or somebody on behalf of the city, a staffer can present it. This is not harmful. This is educational and informational council member buoy.

A good candidate want to back here with any policy. He or she will reach out, the city clerk, please give me all the campaign rules. No.

Councilmember Bui, this is not. And they will. Oh, Councilmember Bui, excuse me, this is not the Councilmember Bui. This is for our residents, for business owners, for people driving through our city who want to maybe know what should be. I don't see anything wrong with information.

Can I clarify? Let's go back to, so this is the third item for consideration. Sure. It sounds like maybe a fact page or some kind of informational, beyond just what's available to the campaign, to the candidates.

And so this is a request maybe I made in the election two years ago, maybe something before that. It's informational. It's educational. It's not harmful. It takes a few minutes. There's something about seeing a presentation that we can refer to or save the clip of the video and forward it to somebody. There's nothing. Can we please get a second? This is really not a stretch.

So the ask is a staff presentation on the subject matter?

Thank you, City Clerk Rick. It was great.

I mean, if it's something like that. Yeah, I'll support that because I think if there is a need for clarity on some of those items, I think that's helpful.

I'm sorry. And I just want to remind the audience and those watching that we actually have the first day of our Citizens Academy tomorrow night here in the chambers. And we're actually going to go over a lot of those kind of items. And I'll be speaking. And so I invite those who want to come join and learn more about all of those items. So perfect. Any other council members with future consideration? And before we do that, City Manager Lee.

Yeah, unfortunately, I'm not. It's just very, very brief. It's, you know, whatever we have on a slide. We have that one pager, City Clerk Rick. We have that one page. Yeah, I mean, this is just a real, there's something about having the presentation here by a staffer. It's timely. By October 1st, that's a little too late.

Yeah, I agree with Council Member Constantine. The only thing, a caveat, is don't spend more than five minutes on it.

Well, yeah, it doesn't have to be long. Thank you. Okay.

Any other items? Council? Council? Okay, we'll move into First City Council's successor agency, Housing Authority public comments on unscheduled matters only. Do we have any requests to speak?

Mr. Mayor, I'm going to make a comment on this. So a couple things. The Brown Act does not have an issue with one-on-one meetings. I have one-on-one meetings with Maggie all the time, too. We all do. That's standard. She's also wrong in that we're only at 10% of the vote. We're an equal vote. We get one-fifth because we're five board members. And she is right that I do attend six to eight meetings a month. I get paid for six of them, even if I attend more. And it's somewhere between $1,600 and $1,900 a month. She's right. However, and she knows this, I donated it all. I donated in June 30th. I

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a comment real quick. Councilman Bui. Thank you. We appreciate all the speakers, but ideally it is point of order. If any speaker wants to address, I think it's more appropriate, according to our decorum, it needs to be addressed to the mayor and the body as a whole and stick to the point of concern, not demonize the individual or representative of any organization organizations that try to represent the city. I think the point is taken, but I think it will be more professional if the conversation was to carry just the point of the concern, but not to address to the

Actually, Mr. Mayor, before you go on, the document that Mr. Rao is talking about is prescriptive by the state of California, and the OCPA nor any other CCA is not allowed to modify it in any way, include any of that information. That's not the intent of it, and therefore, they are not allowed to. And then also the OCPA, and they know this, is starting the green energy program, which will be discounted for those that are lower income. And as we mentioned, the plan for OCPA in the city of Fountain Valley, when we join next year, will be lower than SCE for the basic rate, and we will stick to th

Yeah, I'd like to make a comment. First of all, I appreciate the speaker's comments, and I would like to ask for the attorney's input on this. It's my understanding that campaigning is not appropriate on any city property or city events, and so if that is happening, I'd like to just kind of clarify it at this time.

I'd like an answer now. I mean, is it appropriate to campaign on city property and city events? Yes or no? Or what's – it should be a quick answer. I think the answer is no, but if it's not, then I'm interested to hear why.

So that was unscheduled matters. How about public comments on scheduled matters?

So why don't we do this? Let's move into consent calendar and see how that goes. So consent calendar items one through five will be approved simultaneously with one motion unless separate action or discussion is requested. Does anyone want to remove any item?

No, but I will put it out there to approve these items.

I'm sorry, did you say there was a comment on Item 5?

We can bring up public comment. Councilman Grandes, you request the speaker? Yes. Okay. Why don't we bring the public speaker up?

I'd like our chief to come up to have an opportunity to respond because I believe that it was important. We all have a meeting with you, and you presented to us how important this was, so I'd like to have the opportunity to respond to that.

I think that's new information for all of us. So I'm sure that you will take the appropriate, make sure there's any issues. But other than that, I don't have anything else to add.

Just a point of clarity. So item five is specifically additional compensation for the presentation of their findings? For them to come and present. It's a specific task?

And I stand by my motion to move the item. And I will be voting yes. Actually on all the items presented.

Okay, we'll move into public hearings. Each person will have up to three minutes to speak on each public hearing. Number six, introduction and first read of an ordinance revising Fountain Valley Municipal Code chapters 2.36 and 2.38 and repealing resolution number 9900. Presentation by Acting Finance Director Robin Harnish. Welcome.

So hold that thought. Let me open the public hearing. Are there any requests to speak? I have no request to speak. Okay. Close the public hearing. Open up to questions from council.

I just want to say thank you, Robin. This is a great first report as officially interim finance director. Great job. And you also did a great job briefing us all before the meeting. So I've seen this presentation already. You've answered all my questions. You did a great job. So thank you.

Thank you, Robin. I'll second. Did you say before the meeting? I didn't get that briefing. I'm just kidding. I'm special. Yes, please. Thank you for the report, by the way.

Just for a little bit of clarity, so some of these limits are to put us in alignment with some of the federal rules. We talked about that in the briefing. So I just want the public to understand that that's also a consistency with other standards. So they're not done just to increase, but because there's alignment with federal law as well.

Great. Thank you so much for the presentation. We've got a first and a second.

Okay. Next is City Council Successor Agency Housing Authority public comments on unscheduled matters. Do we have any requests to speak? Okay. And next, the City Council successor agency, Housing Authority AB 1234, general comments. Councilman? You need to change it around a little bit.

all this track so councilman Grandis all right all right so Thursday August 20th I attended this is in one are you listening Thursday August at the Fountain Valley Community Foundation board meeting Saturday August 22nd the ribbon-cutting for a FV Pickler, which is the new indoor pickleball facility. It was a lot of courts. Really super nice facility over at the old Rite Aid. I consider it thrifty on Magnolia and Talbert. On Tuesday, August 25th, the Boys and Girls Club of Huntington Valley board meeting. Wednesday, August 26th, I briefly attended the Citizens Academy orientation. Thursday, Au

Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Grandis. Councilman Bowie? Sorry. Creature of habit. I see.

No worries, no worries. On July 15, I attend the PCTA board meeting. As you all know, for the month of July or mid-August, I was on vacation, so there's not much to report during those periods. I know a lot of my colleagues have been attending a lot of events during those times. On 8-19, I attend the PCTA board meeting. On 8-25, I attend the Senior Center Lua. And it was fun. You know, get to learn a few words, but some of the Tahitian word, it's hard. I couldn't pronounce it. I would say, aloha. That was easier. But the other one was pretty tough. On 8-26, I attend OC SEN Board of Director me

Okay. I dipped it in. I took your suggestion and went easy on it.

Yeah, it's either you love it or you hate it.

Other than that, that's my report. Thank you, Councilman Bowie. Councilwoman Constantine?

Sure. The peanut sauce was good, but I didn't try the purple paste. Okay, so I did attend two of the grand openings my other colleagues mentioned. On August 19th, I was a speaker at the Fountain Valley Republican Assembly at IHOP in Huntington Beach. On the 20th, I attended the mayor's breakfast. Then as our city's trustee to Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District, participated in the monthly board meeting at their district headquarters. In the evening, I participated in the Community Foundation Grants and Board Meeting. On the 22nd, I stopped in at the library. They were having th

Actually, I have a question for Council Member Constantine. Sure. Is there an increase, no I'm not going to talk about that, an increase in mosquitoes in our city? My feet are getting eaten alive when I go outside.

Well, I mean, it could be. That never happened before. There could be some untreated pools. I went around with Vector ways ago, and we visited several homes that they are treating for mosquito problems because of untreated pools here in the city. And, yeah, it's an issue. Thank you.

You're tasty. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Constantine, Vice Mayor Harper.

Thank you. On August 19th, attended the PCTA meeting. August 20th, OCTA Finance Committee meeting. Also on August 20th, the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Committee meeting. August 27th, attended the Pickler Ribbon Cutting Grand Opening. Very nice facility over in the old Rite Aid on Magnolia and Talbert. and on the August 24th attended the OCTA board meeting and that concludes my report and the board the OCTA I guess the latest thing happening there is we the they're testing the streetcar in Santa Ana and try I think they're shooting for opening end of this year beginning of next year

Thanks, Vice Mayor Harper. My activity since our last meeting included the following. On August 20th, I participated in the Orange County Concerts in the Park event at Freedom Hall, hosted by our supervisor, Janet Wynn, and county staff. Also, Councilman Bowie was on stage. That was a lot of fun. We welcome the band called Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, which drew a very large crowd to the outdoor stage. It certainly has been a great summer of concerts at Miles Square Park. On August 22nd, I also attended the grand opening and ribbon cutting for the new pickler business at the former Rite Aid Thrifty s

Okay. And the best part is, our goal is to break the Guinness World Record. And I think so far, what we're hearing, I think we are going to break the Guinness World Record. And this extension is invited to 34 city. to come and join us. So it's about Orange County breaking the Guinness World Record. So it'll be exciting. So for those who would like to partake, reach out to our mayor. We'll give you more information.

Yes, thank you so much. Wait, wait, you didn't say what record they're going to break. You got to talk about the potluck.

Oh, you're right. The Guinness World Record to have the largest outdoor potluck. And if we break it, we'll take the title away from India. India is currently holding the title. So that will be very interesting how that's going to play out.

Okay. We are five minutes to eight. We are going to be adjourning. Our next meeting will be September 15, 2026 at 6 p.m. here in the Fountain Valley Council Chambers. Have a good evening.