City Council - Regular Meeting

my mic's on the opposite side i don't know what to do good evening everyone and i am going to call our regular meeting of the 77th monrovia city council this tuesday july 7th at 7 34 p.m and welcome welcome welcome everyone i hope you're all enjoying your um It was a bummer last night with the soccer game, but what can I say? We are going to start off with the invocation from Sonia Lugenbuehl. Sonia?

Oh, there, you moved.

Followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by Mayor Pro Tem Sergio Jimenez. Sonia?

Thank you. Let's pray. God of all creation, thank you for gathering us here tonight in this time and space. Awaken us to be present to you and to one another in these shared hours that we are given. We give thanks for our city staff and our YES youth interns who are serving in various places this summer. We pray for the children, families, individuals, and seniors who benefit from our city programs and opportunities that are designed for their well-being and enjoyment. We ask for wisdom and creativity for those who work to make these programs and businesses sustainable here in Monrovia. As the heat gets stronger this week, we ask you for your comfort and your protection for those who suffer most and for those who respond first, our fire department and police officers. Now we give thanks for our city council members, city staff, and for our guests in attendance with us tonight. We ask that you would expand our vision, open our minds, and be at work in us as we seek to be good stewards of the resources that you have given to us. Let us not lose sight of your love for justice and your desire for our peace. May we lead well in ways that restore our community and restore the earth. We pray all these things in the love of God, our creator, sustainer, and redeemer. Amen. Amen.

Please turn, face our nation's flag. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to

Thank you. Could we please have roll call? Council members Belton here. Dr. Kelly? Here. Spicer? Present. Mayor Potem Jimenez? Present. And Mayor Shevlin? Here.

Thank you very much. And then we did not have a closed session this evening, so there's no report out for that. And we are moving on then to our presentations and proclamations. PR1 is recognition of outgoing community services commissioner Gina Mills and then library board member Betsy Woodford. and we just want to thank them so very, very much for all their dedicated service. And if you'd like to, Rebecca did want to say anything. You're sitting there going like that. But I'd like to invite Gina and Betsy to come forward if you'd like and say a few words, and we'll present the plaques to you.

Well, I just want to, Betsy Woodford from the library board, and I just want to say how the library board is so much the heart and soul of a community. And it certainly is here with all the hard work that the library does and all the programs they put on. And I remember during COVID, one of my very first thoughts was, oh my gosh, the library is closed. And what a huge impact that would have on me and the community. So it's been a pleasure to serve. Thank you very much.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Gina Mills from Community Services Commission. And it has been my honor over these years to serve this city, to serve all of you. And I am so grateful to our wonderful, wonderful, honorable council, our city staff. You've all been wonderful and kind to me. You've been my home away from home. And it's just been wonderful. And I'm also so grateful to my family, my friends who are here tonight, my family. Thank you. for all these years, for sharing me with everyone. And I will leave you with this, that parks really do make life better. So one of the greatest things that I saw this week was having our, you know, World Cup watch party in the park. And that was a great idea. I was sharing that with Councilmember Belden. I go, I don't whose idea that was, but that was wonderful because what that showed us is that we are better together, and we are a community. And if I leave you with nothing, know that we are a community, and we are all here to serve. Everyone in this community can do something, and I'm glad that I did do something. I'm going to continue, so this isn't the end. Thank you for allowing me to serve.

Well, thank you, and any comments from our council? I just want to thank you, yes, and as for the soccer game, yes, win, lose, whatever, obviously we lost, but we did it together and had a lot of fun. And I know that my husband was ecstatic that we had the watch parties. He actually came down here and... Left his message for the city clerk and for Mr. Feek as to his desire to have a watch party. So unbeknownst to me. So at any rate.

Thank you to both of you for all the work you've done for so many years. I know the community really appreciates it, but I know the community sees all the work that you've done regularly, and we will continue to do it.

So thank you so much. I want to say thank you too. I've always said that volunteers make Monrovia go. Some people think that commissioners get paid. They get paid in the smiles and the good that they do for the city of Monrovia. The commissioners are idealists who don't expect financial gain. They just want to do good. So thank you both for serving.

I want to say thank you both. Betsy, I have the privilege of serving alongside you and seeing your dedication and your faithfulness. And we just want to say thank you for that. And I know we're going to see you in other areas in Monrovia serving. And Gina, to give, how many years, can you step to the mic and let everyone know how many years you served in this capacity?

Since 2011, so that's 15 years.

Oh, wow. 15 years of giving of your time, meetings, service. I see you everywhere with a smile on your face. And I just want you to know that your heart, your spirit, your service, your care has left a mark on our community that will not be forgotten. So thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Woodard, for your dedication over at the library. And Gina, you know, we've been together

for the same amount of years that you've been serving over at the community center so i just want to thank you for your service and i know your job isn't over yet there's a lot more to come all right and community services and the library working together there's so much great great programming and i know that the commissioners are all a part of that and so again thank you very much for your your service and we look forward to seeing you around town and We've got some plaques for you. Come on down. We can have a photo up here.

All right, ready? One, two, three. One more.

Okay. And then we are moving on then to PR2, which is proclaiming June 2026 as Parks Make Life Better Month. And I've asked Larry Spicer to read this, please.

Are you coming up, Tiff? Okay. And whereas Parks and Recreation is an integral part part of our communities, and whereas parks and recreation nourishes our community through programming such as summer concerts in the park, senior outings, contract classes, youth programming, indoor recreational spaces, nature and wildlife educational programming, and whereas parks and recreation promotes outdoor activities in nature while positively improves mental well-being, increases cognitive performance, improves physical health, and reduces stress and anxiety. And whereas parks and recreation offer our community a safe space to access nature, resources, socialize, play, exercise, recreate, learn and relax and whereas parks and recreation strengthens our community since a place and increases cultural cohesiveness and whereas parks and recreation is fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community now therefore i becky shevlin I forgot the A. Becky A. Shetland, Mayor of the City of Monrovia, California, along with the entire City Council, do hereby proclaim July 2026 as Parks Make Life Better Month. And we encourage all residents to use and encourage our parks and recreational opportunities dated the 7th day of July 2026. Thank you, Larry. You're welcome.

Thank you, Mayor Shevlin and council members. We are beyond thrilled, and the community services team, thank you so much for your support. We are very excited to kick off this month. We are proud to partner with you and the community to celebrate this statewide campaign. We wanted to let the community know that the Parks Make Life Better Month highlights the vital role that recreation plays in our town, from promoting health and wellness to building stronger and more connected communities. This is a great reminder for all of us to visit our local parks that have made such a huge impact on all of us. We are proud to connect our community to our parks, and we are proud to connect our community with each other. July is the perfect month to celebrate Parks Make Life Better Month, and we are excited to offer recreation activities for everyone, including summer concerts in the park, movies in the park, summer contract classes for all ages, Canyon Park, and the Monrovia Spot Program. Tonight, we are honored to have our team of recreation professionals with us tonight. With me here, we have our recreation supervisor team, Eugene Suk and Johan Galvan, and our recreation specialist team, Damian Lopez, Giselle Nunez, Caitlin Lee, and Mary Jo Ortiz, who will help us accept this proclamation tonight. We invite everyone in our community to participate, not just this month, but all year long. Thank you so much for celebrating Parks Make Life Better Month with us.

Okay, and it wouldn't be, we have to have a picture, group picture.

Come on.

Hey, if I could ask too, if staff, if you guys could stick around for just a few minutes, we're going to do a quick update and I just, it'd be nice to have you here.

Okay. And then there's a little bit of business that we need to catch up on. Mr. Jimenez was not at our last council meeting, and you had a birthday. And so we have to sing happy birthday to you and catch up, and everybody has to have cupcakes. So on the count of three, let's sing happy birthday. Oh, I'll wait and wait for our chief to light the fire here.

Thank you. It's red, white, and blue?

Yeah. Okay, one, two, three. Happy birthday to you, cha-cha-cha. Happy birthday to you, cha-cha-cha. Happy birthday, dear Sergio. Happy birthday to you and many more. Thank you. Happy birthday. Sure. I'll tape. Yeah, thank you. Do that so it doesn't get in my teeth. Mm-hmm. So happy birthday, Sergio. I hope you had a great day. Okay. We do not have a student government representative report until the fall. Look for that in September. And then on our order of business, we are taking a few things out of order this evening, and we're going to move up the RCM1 city council directives, and I'm going to turn it over to Dylan Feet.

Yes. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just a couple quick updates, and I appreciate you letting me do this item out of order. I wanted to make sure that we did it with everybody here in the room. First, two quick updates. The city has finalized the RFP for the 222 East Cypress project. We'll be releasing that document by the end of this week. It'll circulate publicly. We'll begin soliciting responses. But the public will see that available here soon. Also, the Anderson House, we are having a meeting later this week where we'll be discussing the plans to install the foundation on the property as well as utilities. And we look forward to bring that item to city council here in the very near future with an update. So just exciting to be working on a couple projects related to historic preservation. But the real reason that I wanted to bring this item forward in the meeting is because council knows over the years there are times where I've enjoyed surprising city council. And what I'd like to do now is ask for your help in sharing some of these fun surprises. What the public may not know is earlier today before the meeting, I gave an envelope to each one of the city council members. So they might have an idea of what's in it, but some of the items they do not know what's in the envelope. But these are parts of my report that typically we share that are what I like to call surprises, which usually mean good news. If I could invite first Mayor Pro Tem Sergio Jimenez to go first, followed by Council Members Belden. and then Spicer, and then followed by Dr. Tamla Kelly, and then Mayor Shetland, if you'll read the last one. Lauren's going to help me with a couple presentation slides we'll do as you review your items. So if you could, Sergio, if you could kick us off by helping me with our updates.

Yes, thank you very much. I'm proud to announce Good news about grant funding that affects some of our most exciting programs here at the City of Monrovia. The State of California is awarding the City of Monrovia $25,000 from the Office of Traffic Safety. These funds will be used to further implement bicycle safety workshops, host a bicycle rodeo. Edward, get ready. Provide helmets and safety gear for community members and further support community cycling events like walk, bike, and roll. So it was these programs which have helped us become an All-America City finalist again in 2026. I'm also proud to announce that the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy has awarded the city of Nairobi $800,000 under a statewide proposition for wildfire and forest resilience program grant. This funding will directly support hazardous fuel reduction, provide public education, and even implement restoration projects across our beautiful Monrovia hillsides. The funding will help us address our hillside wilderness plan resource management goals and represents continued progress in our proactive approach to community safety. So, good news.

All right, the good news continues.

For years, our former colleague, Gloria Crudgington, advocated for regional collaboration when addressing stormwater issues. These shared responsibilities can only be achieved if we work together over the long run. And this is to quote her, we don't have to be the fastest gazelle in the herd, we just need to be moving. she would say. That torch has been passed on to all of us now, and we continue serving and advocating for water quality in Monrovia. For those who don't know, Monrovia helped form the Rio Hondo-San Gabriel River Watershed Management Authority. It's a name, right? A joint powers authority to help implement regional stormwater projects in the cities of Arcadia, Bradbury, Duarte, Sierra Madre, and Monrovia. Funding the JPA's largest project, which is the Peck Road Lake Park, That's something that has always been a primary focus of the past decade. And I'm happy to announce today that next month, the LA County Board of Supervisors will be awarding $19 million for the Park Lake Road project. You heard that right, over $19 million, right? Is there a slide? Yeah, great. And that's not it all. The JPA has actually secured a total of $32 million, so nearly 90% for the total cost of that project. The awarded funds will help improve water quality in the region, increase our local water supply, install drought-tolerant landscaping at Peck Road Lake Park, and also install a new multi-use path and bicycle path for active transportation users. And if you haven't been there, you can go down there. It's down at the bottom, like San Ytik Wash and Peck. road as well and of course i'd like to give a huge shout out to alex tajiki for all your help and these endless efforts making sure this money comes through and making sure that this project comes through and uh thanks for helping secure this funding of course sir and uh that's the other great news but there's more to come feet don't fail me now

I am happy to share the city of Monrovia and owners of 347 Highland Place have reached a verbal agreement for the city to purchase this property and add to our hillside wilderness preserve. Can we get a clap? In 2019, the current property owner purchased the eight acre property with a single family home. Their plan was to develop the property with three large hillside homes adjacent to the hillside wilderness preserve. Over the years, community members expressed their concerns about the development, which also provides access to the Big M and connects to the wilderness preserve. In the spirit of partnership, The owners have agreed to demolish the existing single family residence and sell the property to the city of Monrovia for $2 million. And that's in cold hard currency. The city is using available funds restricted for open space acquisition. In the coming weeks, the city will undertake necessary steps to formally acquire the property, including holding meetings at the DRC, the Planning Commission, and the City Council. We will share this information in the upcoming City Manager's Update for those who wish to follow along in this process. Next.

Well, we have more good news for you. And are you guys excited or not? We got money coming we got property, you know, okay So now we are we have been proud to be named a 2026 all-american city finalist and travel to Denver this past week while we may not have been named a winner this year Monrovia has been named a finalist in three of the past four years A testament to the amazing work happening in our hometown. If our community and our country could have been there to see the work of 20 amazing communities, we would all be better off. Last week, as we were departing for the All-American City Competition, the International City slash County Management Association, known as ICMA, unveiled their 2026 Local Government Excellence Awards. a collection of honors bestowed upon the very best in professional local government local government leadership, sorry, for the Community Equity and Inclusion Award. ICMA is honoring the City of Monrovia and our very special project, Satori-Sanichi Park, for this prestigious award. It was such an honor to break ground on the project in June 2025 and host a ribbon cutting and celebration only seven months later in January 2026. This will be the city's third ICMA Local Government Excellence Award in the category of Community Equity and Inclusion.

Okay. last, but this is definitely not least. I've been asking and I've been trying to get updates on this, and I just couldn't get any updates. And so Dylan promised me that we'd have an update. So like I said, I knew the topic, but I didn't know what the

Come on, Becky. Okay.

The Ramona Wildlife Center has provided some exciting updates relating to blondies bear cubs, including the cubs are now about six months old and doing great. They're exhibiting all the natural behaviors, and we hope to see as they prepare for life back in the wild. The Cubs absolutely love swimming and splashing in their pools. They've been enthusiastically sampling a wide variety of native vegetation and continue to impress our team with the willingness to try new foods. They still, oh, got it.

Oh, so cute.

They still receive a daily gruel supplement to ensure they're getting proper nutrition. That sounds tasty. As they could still be nursing from their mother at this age in the wild. To help develop natural foraging skills, our team provides root balls and decaying logs filled with insects. Another tasty meal. The cubs have become very skilled at tearing them apart to find tasty bugs hidden inside. On several occasions when staff walk nearby, the cubs immediately run into their dens to hide. While it may seem funny, this is exactly the instinct we want to see. A healthy fear of people is an important behavior that will help them thrive once they're back in the wild. Looking ahead, the RCW or RWC has a meeting with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife next month to discuss the release plan. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has confirmed they would like the cubs to be released this fall. If I understand correctly, though, they do take definite advice from the Wildlife Center. And we're excited to continue working toward that goal. And those wishing to help raise funds for the care of these bear cubs can contribute financially directly to, and there's a website there. And if we could please include that in your update, that would be great, because it's really hard to find online. But that's really, that's, they're so cute. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council Members, for indulging. I appreciate you helping share some great news happening in Monrovia. That's my report this evening. Thank you. Great report, Dylan.

Thank you. That was kind of fun. Yeah, it was. And especially so many good things. Yay, yay, yay. All right. Well, then, we are moving on then back to our calendar under the consent calendar, and all the items on the consent calendar are considered. Thank you. Thank you, staff.

Thank you, guys.

considered to be routine in nature and can be enacted by one motion. And so unless there's something that someone would like pulled or discussed outside of the consent calendar, we can entertain a motion approving CC1 through CC18. So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Since there's a couple of big ones on there, I'm going to say go ahead and do a roll call vote.

Council members Belden? Yes. Dr. Kelly? Yes. Spicer? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Jimenez? Yes. And Mayor Shevlin?

Yes. All right. Thank you very much. At this time, we move on to our public input. And again, we thank everyone for participating in our meetings. And we encourage our public comment on items under our jurisdiction. And so at this time, you will be allowed three minutes to speak. And I do believe we have some speaker cards. And you can also address the individual items. But right now, these are items that are not on our agenda. So this is public comment for items not on our agenda. And I'll have Alice then. She'll call you up in order.

All right, starting with Sherry Lochner.

Sherry, come on down.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Sherry Lochner, and I'm a resident of Monrovia. I grew up here in Monrovia and Duarte. I am here this evening to continue to advocate for day laborers and other people who are immigrants targeted by ICE. At the last council meeting on the 4th of June, I reported there had been 69 deaths as a result of ICE actions, including people who have died while in custody. As of today, there are now 72 people who have died as a result of ICE actions. Three more people have lost their lives, all in the state of Texas. Felix Alcorta Rodriguez died on the 19th of June. He was a Mexican citizen and was 63 years old. Felix was released from the Webb County Jail on June 16 and was immediately detained by ICE. In Texas, police cooperate with ICE. Felix was in ICE custody for three days when he was found unresponsive in his cell. He was rushed to Laredo Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. His official cause of death is currently awaiting an autopsy. This is the fifth death in custody at an ICE detention center in Texas. Adrian Andreas Florian died on the 25th of June while in ICE custody in Los Fresnos, Texas. He was 85 years old and a citizen from Germany. He had no criminal history and spent the last 10 months of his life in ICE custody. He had dementia along with a history of high blood pressure. Like Felix, Adrian's official cause of death is awaiting an autopsy. Today, Lorenzo Salgada Arajo was shot and killed in Houston, Texas. Lorenzo was a citizen of Mexico. He was shot dead by ICE agents conducting a vehicle stop in a quiet residential neighborhood this morning at 7 a.m. There was an ongoing investigation into the circumstances surrounding Lorenzo's death. We should all be shocked and outraged at the deaths of these people regardless of their immigration status. Immigration status should never strip someone of dignity, due process, or their life. My colleagues and I have been attending these city council meetings since last year after the death of Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez. We will continue to be present at these council meetings to speak truth to power. And so this evening, I reiterate the following requests of the Monrovia City Council. Continue to pursue an independent report investigating the circumstances resulting in the death of Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez. Two, adopt an ordinance declaring Monrovia a sanctuary city. And three, continue to work with us to establish a permanent memorial honoring Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez. We will not be silent. Only the people can save the people. Solo el pueblo, salva al pueblo.

Martha Mack. Good evening, Martha.

Hello, Mayor, City Council. I will be reading the names of the 72 people that have died in ICE custody or as a result of ICE actions. Jose Manuel Sanchez Castro, Pankaj Karan Singkateria, Ramesh Amachand, Henry Donald Ruiz-Guyen, Sarawit Gehesing Dehene, Maxim Cherniak, Juan Alexis Tineo Martinez, Ruben Ray Martinez, Brian Garzon Rayo, Nonwak Nguyen, Marie Ange Blase, Abelardo Avellaneda, Jesus Molina-Vella, Johnny Noviello, Isidro Perez, Jaime Alaniz Garcia, Tianxuan Fan, Chao Feng Ge, Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez, Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas, Oscar Rascón Duarte. Santos Benegas Reyes, Ismael Ayala Uribe, Norlan Guzman Fuentes, Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, Hua Bing She, Miguel Angel Garcia Hernandez, Leo Cruz Silva, Hassan Ali Moed Saleh, Gabriel Garcia Aviles, Josue Castro Rivera, Kai Yin Wong, Francisco Gaspar Andres, Pete Sumalo Montejo, Shiraz Fatehali Sachwani, Isaias Sanchez Barbosa, Gene Wilson Brutus, Fawad Saeed Abdul Qadir, Delvin Francisco Rodriguez, Nenko Stanev Ganchev, Keith Porter Jr., Geraldo Lunas Campos, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, Renee Nicole Macklin Good, Luis Beltran Yanez Cruz, Paradis La, Victor Manuel Diaz, Eber Sanchez Dominguez, Wael Tarabishi, Jairo Garcia Hernandez, Alex Jeffrey Pretty, Lorth Sim, Linda Davis, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, Julio Cesar Pena, Alberto Gutierrez Reyes, Pejman Karsenas Najafabadi, Emmanuel Damas, Daffy Michel, Erwin Cruz-Nappe, Orlin Hernandez-Reyes, Mohammad Nazir Patiawal, Royer Perez Jimenez, Jose Guadalupe Ramos Solano, Tuan Van Bui, Alejandro Cabrera Clemente, Aled Damian Carbonell Betancourt, Danny Adan Gonzalez, Mamuka Armeladze, Felix Alcorta Rodriguez, Adrian Andreas Florian, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Thank you.

Thank you. Ellen Dewar.

Good evening, City Council and staff. My name is Ellen Dewar. I am the one who last year challenged you to save the month of June for a tell-the-truth proclamation. I still support that great idea. I recently evaded Mayor Becky at a local event. I'm sure um she didn't notice but i felt i would be handcuffed by the monrovia water police for having left my garden hose on for four days i felt sure she would sentence me to water waster jail on the spot so i made a beeline and i apologize for that That fear led me to contemplate the hard job you all have dealing with the bureaucracies, the bureaus, the paperwork, the document dumps, policy morass, people mess. You have my endless respect for working with excruciatingly boring and legally binding details that only make my brain hurt. Then I go on here about peacocks, mosquitoes, bears, phone service, web service, water quality, fusion centers, cell towers encroaching on state on private land, state law condoned condos in single family zones, that's coming, and county intrusions into city affairs. So related to all that plate spinning, there's historic preservation. last year before my proclamation request i went to the library i went to the internet i went to friends and historians i even knocked on a local historical society president's door asking him so hey what gives why does the library have no original source material available on the founders of monrovia to my childish way of thinking i heard him say Well, there's a bearded guru somewhere up there on Mount Rankin or Kilimanjaro or somewhere who would maybe, after I pilgrimage up to the top, let me borrow from his lending library. The library's heritage blog was never mentioned. I have my little notes taken on this business card from the librarians that I visited. They told me nothing about that blog, and I was not allowed to get into the heritage rooms. the private archives where apparently all the good stuff lies. They did not give me a reason. So while I am too busy monitoring my eight outdoor spigots to do more about that, this is all I have to say about that. I bought one of the books I was after on Amazon, and I plan to donate it to the library. So fantastic that we saw Becky? No. Hi, Betsy, earlier, having done her three years as a Monrovia Library volunteer. I will make sure that someone gets it, gets in good hands. I wanted to see if the library board would show me how to make sure this request of a donation stays available to all the residents of Monrovia. Anyone who wants to walk in there and look up these books should be able to find them and read them. This one should be allowed for checkout. So because.

That's, you're at your three minutes. Okay.

If you could wrap it up. Notwithstanding, I think that pride in a nation comes from a city deeply ingrained in truth telling and not from celebrating sexual lifestyles. So way to go. Truth proclamation.

Thank you. And Rebecca, maybe you could talk if you want to go to the back in the lobby and she can talk to you about the library. Thank you.

Next is David Pinto. Mr. Pinto.

Thank you, Mayor and councilors. I wanted to respond to the two ladies over here who are talking about Hispanic victims of ICE. What astounds me is that Well, first of all, my heart goes out to anybody who's the victim, especially of government injustice. So I understand that.

But what I don't understand... Could you please address the city council?

But what I don't understand is the lack of compassion for the victims of illegal aliens. So I'm going to take the same amount of time and read a list of Hispanic victims of Hispanic illegal aliens. Ten-year-old Anthony Avalos, tortured by an illegal alien and killed. Fourteen-year-old Christy Supina, Rape stabbed and dumped in the field. 15-year-old Jackson Nanez Lopez shot while protecting mother from being raped. 15-year-old Miguel Avila and his brother, sister, and mother shot to death. 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas beaten with machete and bats by an illegal alien gang. 16-year-old Elizabeth Painter raped, tortured, and murdered by a legal... of five gang members. Seventeen-year-old Felicia Nicole Ruiz stabbed 17 times. I'm not going to tell what happened. It's more or less like that. 17-year-old Brittany Baez, 20-year-old Kendra Gonzalez, 24, Reese Gonzalez, 25, Officer Shane Figueroa, killed in a crash by a drunk illegal alien, Naoma Dominguez, clubbed to death, Valerie Reyes, murdered and stuffed in a suitcase, Robert Rosas, Jesse Benavides, Oscar Navarro, Javier Vega, Border Patrol agent, a person protecting us, shot to death in front of his wife, children, and parents. Monica Delgado, Tahina Davila, Officer Henry Canales, shot to death, Maria Pliats, an 11-year-old daughter, And I have just six more to read. Maria Plaites, Santiago Lopez Morales, Sarah Escudera killed in a crash by a drunk illegal alien, Mayra Sanchez hit and run, Maria Fuertes fatally attacked and sexually assaulted. And finally, my 31-year-old daughter, pregnant daughter, Yvonne Pinto shot and killed. I have an Academy of Music for the Blind, and I have 50% of the children are Hispanic, and I spend hours getting scholarships for them every day for the last 20 years. They're the salt of the earth, these families, but they're here legally.

Mr. Pinto, I'm sorry, you have three minutes. Thank you.

Kayla Barnes. Good evening.

Hi, good evening. I'm Kayla Barnes. These are my sons, Harlem and Onyx. Um, we came in today just, um, I didn't write anything down. I see everyone with, you know, their notepads and things, but I came into the city today to just address an issue and they invited me here. And, um, since my son Harlem has been in Monrovia unified, and since we moved into Moravia, he has been experiencing racism in schools. Um, it is now followed into his summer camp where. It is all the schools together now. It's not just one school, so he's not even dealing with his classmates anymore. These are the kids of the community. And every day I pick him up, and then there's a report, hey, miss, we need to talk to you. There's an ongoing investigation. They always say, hey, your son was targeted. This is another racial comment. Another racial comment today. Oh, they hit him today, you know. So I just wanted to see if the city can get inclusion specialists at the elementary schools because it's starting there. It's not at the high, well, probably at the high school, but they're so young. My son is nine years old and my fourth. Yes, my four-year-old is getting ready to go into school at Monroe, and it scares me. And I just want them to feel safe in the community. I grew up here. I love Monrovia, and I want them to have the experience that I had here. But so far, it hasn't been that way. And so I just wanted to see if the city can get inclusion specialists, but inclusion specialists that look like my boys that understand what they're going through and how to talk to them and talk to other kids about these issues.

Thank you. Just so you know, on public comment, we can't have a dialogue. It's not on the agenda. And I will let you know that we are the city council and not the school board who would have the authority to do that. However, we do have a school resource officer. I don't know if there's anyone here this evening that could talk to her.

I would recommend, man, if you could, when you, outside the doors, we have a couple police officers, Captain Sarah Covarrubias, as well as Police Chief Heath Harvey, who are both back there. I might recommend just following public comment, if you could just share with them, share your information. I'll certainly follow up.

I got a lot of information today, so thank you. They gave me the superintendent's information, but they told me, come tonight. And so I wanted to come tonight and just let it be known what's going on at our schools.

Our officers can probably give you some more information.

Thank you. Thank you.

And Karen DeClew. Good evening, Karen.

To echo what we heard a couple public comments ago, there are a lot of things in this room happening. Man, a lot of big things. And I don't know if I've ever sat through so many important public comments before mine. And thank you, everyone, for those really important public comments. And that's all. I just came from picking up my 12-year-old from water polo practice at the Monrovia High School pool. And this has been a long time coming and something that has been really full circle in my life, having learned to swim in the Monrovia High School pool, having lifeguarded there over my summers, come back to swim laps there before the shutdown. That's where my... All three of my children had their very first swim team experience. It was really heartbreaking for me to see the city and the school district and their shared use agreement in 2021, followed by a complete breakdown of the pool altogether for a whole year, which ended up falling due to lack of maintenance from the school district. So it was really, really heartwarming for me to see the city step up when it wasn't even really, like, on your plate to step up, to help fix the pool, to get it back up and running, get the parks open for the, or get the schools open as parks for the city, get the pool open for city youth. Seeing our schools and our city work together uplifts the entire community. I know you know that. And it has been very firsthand for my family this summer. Seeing people getting access to affordable swimming lessons right here in Monrovia in the mornings and the evenings has been really wonderful. We have attended open free swim from one o'clock till three o'clock Monday through Saturday. There's always been a great turnout there. We bring friends. It's like just what summer is supposed to be. And then access for kids, younger kids, to join a youth water polo team in the evenings to start training. And she's even training alongside the high schoolers, some familiar faces there. And so to get that kind of feeder program for our school athletics is also going to benefit our school program as well. Thank you so much for reaching out and for getting this to happen because the benefits have been really apparent already this summer. Thank you.

Glad to hear. Thank you. I don't have any more cards, but is there anyone in the audience wanting to come and address the city council? I see someone back in the back. Please come forward, and if you could state your name, please. Good evening.

Hello, my name is Ruby Chenault and I'm here to kind of voice my opinion about the ALPR automatic license plate reader cameras from Flock that are present in our city. I would like to advocate against these cameras and I would really appreciate if the council would consider ending their contract with Flock. So here I'm going to talk about a few of the reasons why I think these cameras are very dangerous to our community. So these are Okay, sorry. There are a bunch of sources that are talking about how these cameras are being exploited in many ways that aren't actually helping our communities. For example, CalMatters.org, which is an independent nonpartisan publication in California, their article in June 2025 stated that there were Southern California police departments found cooperating with ICE. California does not share data across state borders, but the data that is shared in state is already a huge danger for many and is in conflict with California's sanctuary state status. Um, Monrovia police department has publicly stated that they will not cooperate with ice and yet other police departments have access to the flock network and abuse their power. Um, even if it's not our police department, there are other police departments that can use these um, databases and target people who are not necessarily any suspect of any crime. and they can kind of just get away with it. There are reports of police officers who have used these cameras, used these databases by conducting test searches where they're not necessarily monitored and they have you know, kind of tracked all of the movements of their ex-spouses or their children. And again, like I said, with ICE kind of not even cooperation because according to... According to NPR, there is data from these cameras shared with ICE without explicit local consent. According to PasadenaNow.com, there is a lack of evidence linking Flock to crime reduction rates, and ColoradoBoulevard.net states that Pasadena is considering canceling their contract with Flock. Many of the Monrovia residents are unaware that they are being surveilled in this capacity. And then all the people that I have talked to so far who do know about these cameras are very against them. And Basically, I'm advocating against these cameras to end the contract with Flock because it is not protecting the people in our community or even people passing through our community. And that is not the fault of our local police department, but it just causes danger for everyone. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Anyone else wanting to address the City Council on items not on our agenda this evening? Not seeing anyone, then I will close that portion of our meeting. And before I go on, I know that you had your city manager's report already. But there might have been a couple of things on that last public comment that might not necessarily be accurate for the city of Monrovia. So if you might clear those up.

Maybe two comments I might suggest first. I just want to clarify again that the city has requested in the comments made earlier about requesting a report into the death of Carlos Roberto Montoya Valdez. The city has made multiple requests, including file the Records Act request with California Highway Patrol. A deadline is coming up where they have requested multiple extensions. A deadline is later this week. So we hope to provide an update to council soon. Related to ALPRs, which are automated license plate readers, there's information on the city's website that we provide. I won't use this opportunity to, you know, share the factual information. I would say that there are many people who are concerned about ALPR usage. Oftentimes when you look at information on the internet, you see information that is countrywide. You see information that is about specific cities that are using ALPRs in opposition to state law. They're actually being sued by the Attorney General. I just want to clarify a few facts for those who are listening. So first, before a city can use these automated license plate readers, you have to adopt a policy which governs the use in the department. So we post that policy on the city's website, makes it very clear how we can use these ALPR cameras, but also it ensures that all of our officers are aware of how it's used. The city has a contract with Flock We use 24 cameras throughout the city. These cameras are looking only at license plates at certain intersections, and they are looking at license plates that are wanted for some kind of crime or some kind of incident. It is not broad surveillance. It's not looking at facial recognition. I want to share an example of a use that, at least in Monrovia, I think proper use has been a very successful tool for us. Many will recall a few years ago we had a homicide call behind Gem City Grill. I received a call at 2 a.m. in the morning that there was a person who had been shot and killed in the back parking lot. And by the time I had arrived, the city had already identified a potential suspect and shared information in our flock system. A few hours later, the vehicle who had passed through an intersection with another flock camera was identified in a neighboring jurisdiction. Those officers called and said, we've got the vehicle stopped. What would you like us to do? And that person was wanted in an active homicide investigation. Within less than eight hours, we had the suspect in custody. There are other instances where the technology has allowed our officers to solve crimes. Cities, even cities within the state of California, cannot just come in and access the city of Monrovia's flock information. There is a There's a legal process and a policy process we have to go through to comply with the law. Otherwise, we could be audited. And if we are not in compliance with state law, we would be in big trouble. And I think one of the ways that we have tried to... I want to be careful about my use of words, but we are trying to use this technology properly in a way that does try to build public trust. And while we do understand residents' concerns and justified concerns about invasion of privacy and improper use. I'd encourage anyone to reach out to either me or the chief of police and we can provide specific details about how we use it, which hopefully now we hope increases trust in the community. I think our officers would also say that it's been a very helpful tool in giving us leads to suspects and helping us solve crime. But we want to be very clear that we are in compliance with state law. And it is not something that is just broad surveillance. We're specifically looking for vehicles that are tied to some sort of report of a crime. And I'd be happy to answer any further questions if you have any at this time.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Just wanted to make sure that was clear. At this time then we are moving to our public hearings and meetings and we are we have pH one tentative track map number eight five two Oh eight to subdivide one lot into six condominium units for the property located at one two one nine South Magnolia Avenue Feng Zhao architect and the applicant and then this is for resolution number 2026-40 and we have Austin.

The track map shows the six units are divided into three buildings on site.

or you don't know anything about our library of things, it's absolutely exciting. The fellow that gave the presentation was a representative from Southern California Edison, so he was a little biased, I would say a lot biased, and it was all about becoming all electric, but it really is just really neat that we have so many great things that you can check out at our library. On June 22nd our the sanguinary cog I participate in an ad hoc committee regarding SB 79 and that's regarding the various mapping requirements around transit stations At any rate, just recently on July 2nd, the SCAG Regional Council approved the approach and methodology for the Senate Bill SB 79, mapping requirements at that meeting. At any rate, SB 79 aims to accelerate transit-oriented housing production by establishing statewide standards to streamline housing development near qualifying transit stops. The legislation directs each metropolitan planning organization in California to develop and maintain an official SB 79 map identifying qualifying stop zones and tiers for transit-oriented development. And I believe, have we adopted our maps yet? I know our planning is working on it.

Specifically, the the maps that has been to 79 have been published. I don't know that we have to adopt them, but they are officially published by Scott. Okay.

Yeah, they are definitely did go in effect as of July 1st and Skaggs SB 79 TOD stop zones and tier maps for the Skag region are now available online. They identify qualifying transit stops, transit-oriented development zones, and tier classifications based on service characteristics in qualifying urban transit counties. At any rate, the maps provide consistent and transparent regional data set to support the implementation of SB79. But in terms of that ad hoc that I was just talking about, we are continuing to meet. There are some lingering questions. regarding the implementation for SB 79 as to certain cities and the SCAG continues to reach out and collaborate with each of the impacted jurisdictions, transit operators and other interested parties to review relevant data and incorporate varied verified updates to the SB 79 maps and zones and whatnot. And so what we have asked is that the HCD actually come back and provide something in writing. There's a lot to clarify, a few things. So at any rate, I could read on, but I think you get the gist of of that one. Monrovia, our city, our community center, we hosted an LA County City Selection Committee, and those are wild meetings. Normally, every city in the county, the city selection meetings, they all had to meet all together. And it was really, really, really hard to get a quorum. Not only is it deemed the number of cities present, but also weighted on population. So you can imagine, really, really hard to get a quorum. So the last couple meetings, they've allowed us to do virtual meetings, and Monrovia... provided one of those locations, and we had about 20 mayors over there at the community center. So I was very proud to be able to host that. And Corey Koleke, the city council member from Claremont, was elected as the next chair for the city selection committee. And there were some other appointments through Metro and also the LA County library system. uh... also attended the pilot and says that some of the rest of us also uh... attended the pilot ribbon-cutting and we're all so happy to have a pizza company back in town there in our old town and on june twenty fifth at the foothill transit eggs are the executive board we hosted at foothill transit partners at from keyless in old town so it's nice to show uh... foothill transit people some of our they do like them our restaurants here in Old Town. And yes, those watch parties were great, they were fun, they were spontaneous, and it was just really neat to see, and especially all the kids that were out. Because there were watch parties, but so many of them around here are in bars, whatnot so it was really nice to see how many kids came out and thank you to the staffs too they provided especially during the breaks the kids were playing soccer over on the other side of the grass so it was it was a lot of fun thank you Dylan for here all America City is early that as I would have liked and on front that Friday the 26th I was attending my executive committee on regional housing alignment homeless regional alignment so at any rate that meeting on that Friday we voted on an amendment to our bylaws and we also voted for a new chair so I stepped down he gets one of my her colluded that page colluded that uh... is the new chair and i said that i'm going to continue on as vice chair and then uh... that yes the arthur blair house and i was talking to the owners this evening they had their one of their very first against private events and it was a surprise birthday party for jim winton And it was a fantastic event, but I was talking to one of the owners of the Arthur Blair House, and he said they're having their final health inspection tomorrow, and they hope to have maybe a soft opening for their restaurant this weekend, but very soon, and the same would follow with the rooms. So at any rate, that's really exciting. And so look forward to having more events there and just having a real gem in our city. And so, and I just mentioned we were at, we wish Jim Wigton a very happy 80th birthday. Yep, yep, yep. So that is my report. And again, thank you to staff for all that you do. It's super, we are definitely, yes, better together. Then moving on to our administrative reports, AR1 fiscal year 2026-27, building and development related fees resolution 2026-47, and this item.

Thank you so much. Good evening, Mayor Shevlin and members of City Council. Thank you for your time this evening. This will be a brief report. The item before you is the adoption of the fiscal year 26-27 building and development related fees. As Council will recall, when the fiscal year 26-27 schedule of fees and charges was adopted on June 16th, these particular fees were reviewed first.