City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I am calling this meeting to order at 06:03. Thank you for joining today. We do not have a closed session, so we will go straight into the regular session, and we'll start with our invocation. Mr. Matonga?

As we gather here today, we pray that we are ever mindful of the opportunities to render our service to fellow citizens and to our community. Keeping in mind always the enduring values of life, exerting our efforts in those areas and in those areas upon which future generations can build with confidence. Let us continue to strive to make this a better world. Amen. We

are going to continue with our special guest to do the pledge of allegiance today. So I'm gonna read a little bit about Ariel, and then we'll have her come up and do the pledge of allegiance. Ariel is a fourth grader student at Washington Elementary School who exemplifies enthusiasm, discipline, and creativity. She's actively involved in her school's running club and trains in Muay Thai at LA Muay Thai in Montebello. While she also practices jiu jitsu where she is seasoned competitor holding a gray belt with three stripes.

Beyond athletics, Ariel enjoys reading, drawing, and painting with her favorite books, including Harry Potter and Dogman. With a strong imagination and creative spirit, she aspires to become an artist when she grows up. We proudly celebrate Ariel as a shining example of the future leaders of our community. It's with sincere pleasure that I, the mayor, and the city council present certificate of recognition to Ariel. So I'll have her come up and do the pledge, and we'll give her this certificate. Come on up, Ariel.

Please place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Okay. We'll proceed with the roll call, please, mister city clerk.

Councilmember Melendez? Up here. Councilmember Alonso? Here. Mayor Pro Temer Romero? Present. Councilmember Peralta?

Present.

Mayor Tamayo? Here.

Alright. Do assistant city manager, do we have any corrections to the agenda?

Are no corrections to the agenda.

Okay. We'll move on to our proclamations today. We have library lovers month. Do I see the librarian? Oh, there

she is.

Hello. Yes. Great. February is recognized nationwide as Liberty Lovers Month, a time dedicated to celebrating the important role libraries play in strengthening our communities and enriching the lives of residents of all ages. Libraries are more than a place to borrow books.

They are welcoming hubs for learning, creativity, and connection. They provide access to technology, educational resources, cultural programming, and safe spaces where individuals and families can gather, grow, and explore new ideas. Here in Montebello, we are fortunate to be served by two county libraries, the Montebello Library and the Shett Holyfield Library. These libraries serve as cornerstones of our community, places where students can study, families can attend story time, job seekers can access vital resources, and residents can participate in programs and events that enhance the quality of our life. Our libraries help bridge the digital divide, promote literacy, and foster a long life love of learning for everyone who walks through their stores.

And thank you to our

library our librarian who's here today as well. Thank you.

Our next is the American Heart Month. February is also nationally designated American Heart Month. For more than sixty years, this designation has been recognized and is also the month our nation brings awareness to the threat of heart disease. During American Heart Month, the American Heart Association and other health organizations worked to reinforce and increase the public's awareness of heart health. There is still a need for more research and to increase how people can live longer and healthier.

Heart diseases is preventable, and risk can be greatly reduced when we adopt a healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, controlling blood sugar, and cholesterol, treating high blood pressure, and getting at least twenty minutes of moderate or intense physical activity every day. Monitor your health with regular checkups from a doctor. Meaning, if you haven't been to one in the past years, this is your month this is your reminder to go see one. Thank you. Okay.

That moves us on to our public comment. Mister city attorney, if you can read the statement of oral communications.

Thank you, madam mayor, city council. At this time, speakers may speak on non agendized items. Speakers will be called in the order which the comments were received. Each individual have three minutes maximum. Per the city's rules of municipal rules, public comments, there's a thirty minute speaker period.

And any opportunity to speak under public comments can be continued in the event that there are additional speakers beyond the thirty minutes. Those will be occur at the end of the public comment period at the end of the meeting. The public hearing, regular business, and or consent calendar items will be addressed at the time that the matter of business is heard in the order received. Please be advised that there are only three minute maximum per speaker. State law prohibits the city council from taking action on entertaining extended discussions on any one topic not listed on

the

agenda. Please direct all your comments to the mayor and city council. I believe there are seven general comments currently. Mr. City Clerk, are there more than seven?

Yes, we have our speaker cards ready to go.

Okay, thank you.

First speaker is Rosa Tamayo, followed by Will Severa.

Good

evening.

Mayor Tamayo and Mayor

Tamayo. Tamayo. Members? I'm Rosa Tamayo.

I'm a community activist.

I appreciate that. This this time. You brought up that heart. Yes. Month The February is a month for the heart. In my family, we have a heart disease. And sometimes we cannot be seen on time.

I

also want to mention that on Whittier On Streets 4th 5th

there's not enough lightning. Lighting. It's dark. Especially by angry horse. It's really dark.

I foresee an accident. Somebody might get run over. I advocate for disadvantaged people. I also want to mention Currently, that have apartments or they're renting a house, they're raising rents by $4,500. That's too high.

There's not enough employment to

allocate enough money for rent. I have requested in the past that rent be controlled. There's a lot of evictions. It's disgraceful that people that are older have to go to Tijuana, Mexico to use the Fonavid homes because they don't have to pay for rent. They only have to pay for electricity and water.

And they are US citizens. They should have the privilege of living here. We should have a financially accessible homes for And for veterans. I will always advocate for this. This is a huge problem.

I also would like to thank No.

Let

me look for the last name.

David

David has no whiskey?

Thank you.

Parks represent our city. They're just homeless people that

come and it look

dirty, especially the bathrooms. But thank you, nonetheless. Somebody asked me about supremacy, and they are the ones that do the ordinances we have now. Those who call people illegals, no one is illegal in the stolen land. No one is illegal.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker is Will Savara followed by Delia Delgado.

Will Savara, resident. Thank you, counsel, for allowing me to talk. I think it was last counsel meeting, Danielle brought up about lights on Howard And Beverly and that there needed to be additional lights. I don't recommend additional lights versus working with Edison because it'll be in their wheelhouse to change out the light bulbs to LEDs, and then that way you're gonna have better visual than actually putting city money to a project. Good idea, though.

And, Rick, when you're up there, can you please stop picking your teeth and other things? It's kinda gross when you're in the audience watching that. One of the other things is I heard from several of the residents back in the day we used to start the council meetings at six p. M. The way we did it tonight makes it a lot easier because if you have a family and you have to go take care of dinner, I know a couple of you guys have children, you understand where you can't come to the council meeting, you can't make your statement because you've to go take care of family duties.

So, maybe if we can push the closed session now to the end of it because it works a lot better and you could see there's actually residents in here and people here in comparison because you're kind of cutting them off at the weird time. The other one is people like myself. I take care of my mom and I have health issues. So, we used to allow during COVID to be called in, but it got taken advantage of and I understand why it was removed. However, I would suggest that we bring it back and when we bring it back, if a person wants to use it like myself, Melinda, Nicholas or anybody else in the audience, they would have to pre register with an ID and when they call in they have to be on like a Zoom call.

I know we have the technology to do it, so this way example, they don't say Will Severa and then it's a girl talking and somebody else. Like you can cut it off and we know it's not going to be used in a malicious way. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Delia Delgado followed by Leslie Navarro.

Good evening, madam mayor, council members, and staff. I'm up here to compliment mayor Tamayo, council members for highlighting the students. You see the the pride in their faces. This is shaping our youth today, and it's in our community. And I think that it's really, really a good program, a good thing that you're doing here.

Also leading the Pledge of Allegiance, it just brings back that state, being proud of the state we live in and the country we live in and the freedoms that we have. And we gotta keep that in our children and remind them that this could be them one day here leading our city. So thank you for that. Also, kudos to the staff for a remarkable job with hosting the fourth grade class of Washington Elementary School. Just a few weeks ago, they hosted the class here.

They're learning about government. The teachers were so very impressed. The mayor was here and engaged with the children, and they were just excited. And they learned just about every department in the city. And they went back to their classrooms talking and excited. And that just really makes me happy. And another thing is it's really good to see the streets being paved. They're being marked. They're being paved. And I was just speaking with our chief, Luis, about the trucks.

And he said there is something being done. But if we do not stop those huge trucks from passing our streets, fixing them is just going to constantly being be a problem. So please, let's get great signs out there that they can see, that the lights are flashing, that they know that we mean business. Stop driving on the streets that are not truck routes. So thank you, staff. Thank you for all that you do. Have a great evening, and thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Leslie Navarro, followed by Patricia Soltero Sanchez.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and members of the city of Montebello. My name is Leslie Navarro, and I represent Helpline News Counseling, a nonprofit organization that dedicates in supporting the well-being of youth and families through counseling, education, and community resources. I am here on behalf of the Southeast Community Alliance, or CECA, for our Let's Make a Difference campaign. This is a community level prevention effort focused on reducing alcohol, drugs, and prescription drug misuse across Los Angeles County Planning Area 7, SPA 7. And our campaign promotes safe medication practices by encouraging families to lock up medications, properly dispose of unused prescriptions, and avoid sharing prescription drugs.

These simple actions can help prevent accidental or intentional access to medications by use. We work with local pharmacies, schools, and communities, organizations to share a simple but powerful message to help protect our community. Across Boss 7, we have partnered with 26 pharmacies, many locally owned and non commercial. In Montebello, our coalition has visited 11 pharmacies and only three currently active partners. These pharmacies help educate customers by sharing information about safe storage, identifying where medication can be safely disposed of, and displaying materials such as infographics, posters, and flyers, and these partnerships have helped ensured that residents receive this information.

Montebello currently has three permanent medication disposal sites, which is insufficient for a population of more than 60,000 residents, and this limits access or awareness that makes safe disposal difficult for some families. When unused or expired medication remains in the home, this increases the risk of misuse or accidental access by children, teens, or visitors. This presents an opportunity for a collaboration. Expanding outreach through local pharmacies, city facilities, and community events can help close this gap and increase the number of disposal site options that are more visible and accessible to residents. We are currently partnered with the city of Downey for National Take Back Day.

This past October, we collected nearly 247 pounds of expired or unwanted medications and respectfully encouraged the city encourage the city of Montebello to register and participate in the upcoming national take back day on 04/25/2026. I want to acknowledge Montebello's strong commitment to its youth and the community's health, so medication safety is an area where small actions can lead to real change. Many families simply do not know where to dispose of medication safely or how to store them securely. So, tonight, I asked the city of Montebello to partner with the Let's Make a Difference campaign and local pharmacies to increase awareness, expand outreach, and share materials through recreational center. With your support, we'll be able to make Montebello safer.

Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Patricia Soltero Sanchez, followed by Bill Polizo.

Good evening. I am concerned with the conduct of Danielle Romero, fourth district representative of the City Of Montebello, concerning the use of the American Legion Auxiliary and her membership in the American Legion as a political platform. I appear today as a constituent of District 4. I personally witnessed Ms. Romero engage in conduct that blurs required separation between her role as an appointed official and the nonpartisan mission of the American Legion and the American Legion Auxiliary.

Specifically, are concerns that her association with this federally recognized nonprofit organization has been used or perceived to be used to promote political visibility, influence, or advantage. Such actions raise serious concerns regarding potential electioneering and inappropriate political activity within a tax exempt organization. California law imposes clear ethical boundaries on elected or appointed officials. California government code 54,964 prohibits the use of public resources or influence derived from an official position for campaign activity. While nonprofit organizations are distinct from governmental entities, the use of a respected nonpartisan veterans organization for self promotion in an attempt to advance political interest raises significant concerns related to conflicts of interest, misuse of influence, and the appearance of impropriety under California's political ethics framework.

Accordingly, I respectfully request that the appropriate authority review this matter and determine whether miss Romero's actions constitute improper political activity or electioneering. I further request that any necessary corrective action, guidance, or sanctions be considered to ensure compliance with federal law, California law, and to prevent similar issues in the future. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Bill Poliso followed by Linda Nicholas.

Good evening. First, let me say what a performance at the last council meeting by Scarlett Peralta. It was an Academy Award winner with your preplanned speech. Well, tonight, Scarlett, we're gonna tell the truth. Fact. You have a problem with me because I spoke out against you and your mentor, Christina Cortez, as you stated, aka your campaign manager. Fact. When we had the picnic to celebrate the DePaul Center becoming a historical site, which I led the group of citizens to get this done, yes, I have brought value to the city. You and David Torres were to show up to support us. He did.

You didn't. Mayor Tomayo showed up instead. The reason you didn't show up was because I turned Alonzo away from the picnic when he showed up, and he wanted to pass out campaign flyers. You got mad, we turned him away, and we weren't going to support your boy. Then a week later, your campaign manager and mentor, Christina Cortez, showed up at my house telling me to step aside so Alonso you can get the appointment.

She stated, I don't have the votes, and I'm not part of the plan. Remember the plan, Scarlett? Remember you calling me Coming remember me calling you to come to South Montebello to meet a business owner, and you blew me off, David Torres? Mister Melendez showed up to that meeting with the business owner, and you talk about open dialogue with residents and businesses? Scarlet, do you remember the call you made to me and told me that you're so disgusted and upset with me because I'm causing trouble?

Remember that, Scarlet? You have a vendetta against me along with your mentor, Christina Cortez, who is also campaign manager to three other council people sitting up here. You and Cortez will do anything to discredit me like making a false police report, and you know I never touched you. You're mad because I wouldn't go along with the plan, but it's okay for a council member to say to a resident, I quote, as long as I am a council member, I will never recognize you, Bill, and you, Bill, bring no value to this city. Mayor, I request a point of privilege for Scarlett so she could stand up and say what Alonso said to me.

Let's tell the truth, Scarlett. You made the statement Alonso was the best candidate. He was the second vote getter for in District 5. But when Joella Valdez was the second vote getter in District 4, you passed her over for Romero. No integrity. You also made a comment Alonzo was Spanish speaking, and he would represent District 5 better. Where in the bylaws of the city does it say that, Scarlet? No integrity. Scarlet, you have a vendetta against me for speaking out against you and your campaign manager. I exposed the plan.

I'm not going anywhere. And how dare you describe me as a violent and angry person with issues of what's going on in the country with political violence? Scarlett, you're a fake, you're a liar, and you have zero integrity. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Linda Nicholas followed by Raul Rutado.

Good evening. My name is Linda Nicholas, cofounder of Match nine zero six four o. It was brought to my attention there was a very serious accident back in 12/30/2025. And so much oil and gasoline was on the road. The company that currently has the towing company contract, mister c, did not have any sand to put on the road to allow the streets to be reopened. Okay. I wanna get this right. Okay. Hang on. The sand is an oil absorbent product that they purchase especially for accidents so the vehicles don't slip on the street and it's to absorb the oil.

Okay? A call was made to Helms and Hill asking for their help with sand, that that special sand absorbent. Juliet, the owner, could have told the police department she doesn't have the contract with the police department or the city and to kick rocks. But, no, she loves our police department and sends sand to assist in reopening our streets. That's integrity.

Just remember these facts. Any and all items, be it contracts, raises, or city items will be reversed once that phony Alonzo is removed from District 5, city council seat, because he was illegally appointed without a quorum by you, Tamayo, and you, Peralta. And, Peralta, the next time you wanna waste five minutes battling on and on about lies you told, please be sober. The night you sounded drunk or like you took a bump, something was wrong with you. Either way, stay away from the microphone when you don't have you're not reading a prepared statement.

You sound very ignorant. Fill out a speaker card. Come down to the podium. There you will have three minutes to speak your lies. And I encourage both mister Bill Poliso and mister James Santana to file complaints with the Los Angeles district attorney's office of public integrity for both Alonzo and Peralta filing false charges that is illegal and a crime punishable by law, and they will punish both of you. Also, in my personal capacity, no one believes the post admiring you for your courage to speak. Your supporter of one gets paid monthly for the contract she signed to write nice things about you and others on the council, and everybody knows about it. It's a big joke. Just like the award for the city that you you got for the company that you work for. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Raul

Raul Hurtado, communication on items of community interest. How the police chief got his job. I'm going to read. I put something together. I'm not a very good reader, so I hope I don't fall asleep up here.

There was an applicant slash candidate in the process of going through the many procedures in order to become a police officer. Remember I mentioned before command oral as one of the procedures? This usually takes place with any combination of three. A police chief, assistant police chief, and one captain. Police chief Espertoza was not going to be able to participate because he was going to be taking some classes slash training as to be able to keep up with the always changing laws and procedures so he could pass this on down to the rank and files.

The applicant had raised some red flags in other cities, so he left it in what he thought the very capable hands of then Captain Lopez, who probably in his many years tenure as captain had probably participated in at least a 100. What a mistake that proved to be. I cannot say for sure that at this time that the city manager and captain Lopez considered to sabotage chief Espinosa. Captain Lopez would not have done the following on his own. Let me read you Walter Scott's famous line in the poem, Marmion.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive. Meaning one lie or dishonest act leads to a complex and uncontrollable series of communications and further lies complications and further lies. When chief Espinosa returned, he immediately started asking questions, and one of the results

of

that interview, the city manager and captain Lopez underestimated chief Espinosa when Lopez said he had gone it had gone fine. But there was no documentation, nor could any other person verify it happened. As much as captain Lopez tried to get them to say it happened, there was no trace at all. No scheduling, not on anybody's calendar. Chief Espinosa had no other alternative but begin an investigation on captain Lopez.

Captain Lopez was put on administrative leave and did not cooperate with the investigator, and ultimately retired because he was looking at being fired. I'm gonna leave it there because I haven't got too much longer, but I wanna give chief Espinosa a chance to gather his associations and that shady meat company over here so they can come and rally and say what a great guy he is again, because I'll try and get this done by the next meeting. Thank you very much.

Mayor for your comment.

That concludes all speaker cards for non agenda items.

Thank you. We'll move on to regular business. We have number three, adopt urgent urgency ordinance number twenty four ninety one amending title 17 of the Montebello Municipal Code. We have speakers. We have eight speakers for this item. Okay. Well

Yeah. Madam mayor, I would recommend doing presentation. And then after the presentation, after your questions to staff, have the speakers speak. Yeah.

So we'll start with the presentation. Mister Palumbi, please.

Thank you. Good evening, madam mayor, members of the city council. Could we get the presentation up? Okay. So good evening again.

Tonight's item relates to the adoption of an urgency ordinance establishing interim zoning controls for artificial intelligence or AI data centers, and this would apply citywide. Based on direction from the City Council, this proactive measure is intended to evaluate potential impacts on neighborhoods, infrastructure, and public services, and to develop clear and appropriate zoning standards specifically applicable to proposed AI data centers and those uses related to those centers. What is an AI data center? Based on preliminary research from from our staff, AI data centers are are specialized facilities designated or designed to support advanced computing activities, including AI applications and other high performance computing operations. Unlike traditional data centers, AI data centers are built to process extremely large volumes of data on a continuous basis, and typically these facilities rely on specialized computing equipment with enhanced power systems and advanced cooling infrastructure, usually taking a lot of resources that exceed the operational requirements of standard data centers.

Using global industry research directory data center map, which is shown here on the slide, City staff identified 72 data centers within the broader region, including four that are either proposed or currently operating in close proximity to the city of Montebello. So what makes these data centers different? The AI data centers differ from traditional data centers because the intensity of their operations and the scale of infrastructure they require usually exceeds typical data centers, and we can talk about that a little bit if there's any questions. But these facilities demand significantly greater computing capacity and data processing speeds, which in turn place much higher demands on electrical power and capacity as well as cooling and water systems and telecommunications infrastructure. AI data centers typically operate twenty four hours a day and depend on backup power generators to maintain continuous operations.

Depending on their location, the operational characteristics can raise land use compatibility and infrastructure concerns for surrounding areas. The proposed urgency ordinance will establish a pause on the development of AI data center citywide. This action is authorized under California government code sections three six nine three four, three six nine three seven, and six five eight eight five eight, which allows the city council to adopt urgency measures that take effect immediately when needed to protect public health, safety, and welfare. During this pause, city staff would conduct focused research on how AI data centers operate, evaluate their compatibility with surrounding areas, as well as assess potential environmental impacts. This effort would also establish a baseline of best practices to inform future policy decisions.

In addition, staff would coordinate with nearby jurisdictions, assess the city's infrastructure capacity, and develop permanent zoning and development standards for AI data centers through proposed amendments to title 17 of the municipal code. The proposed data centers will be brought back to the city council for public consideration and action. This concludes the presentation. Staff is available to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you.

Thank you, director Palambi. Any questions from counsel?

No questions. Comment?

Yes.

Comment. I think this a great idea, first and foremost, to explain a little bit how these things work. Even unconventional computing made out of silicon, we all have them available to us. They're right in front of us. They consume tremendous amount of power. Most of our phones run on passive cooling, which means you let you set it down, it just cools down on its own. A data center like this would use a tremendous amount of water because it would use active cooling. What that means is it actually requires a system to cool it down as opposed to just being exposed to something like the air or placing it down on a cool surface. If you don't know about this, there's data centers underwater and there's propositions to put data centers out into space. Obviously, space is much cooler than here on Earth.

And so having one of these systems here would require, first and foremost, a tremendous amount of water, which is already a scarce resource, as well as a tremendous amount of power, which is, by the way, something that would affect not just the grid here locally but also the grid at the countywide and statewide level. So I think this is a good idea. I don't see any immediate benefit in having a data center here for us. Artificial intelligence is a great tool. Obviously, I studied that in graduate school. But unfortunately, right now, I don't see a a net positive for us to support something like this.

Thank you, council member. Mayor Port chamber. Merrill, do you have any comment?

Yes. I'd just like to thank you for the presentation. And just to echo what my colleague, council member Alonso said, I believe that, you know, a lot of residents, they voiced their concerns, and we're listening and looking into this further. And so I just appreciate that the city took swift action into looking into this and and making sure that our it's, whether it's in the best interest of our city to have this or not.

Thank you, Mayor Rotem. Council Member Melendez.

Thank you, Mayor. I know there's going to be probably several speakers on this item. But you know, just really wanna thank the the outreach for a lot of the residents here and and the feedback in regards to a lot of what was happening at Monterey Park. And we we heard you loud and clear, And it was important for us to put this item here for to fully adopt an urgency ordinance. But I think, you know, maybe in in the near future because I think this is just for a temporary is it director Polami, forty five days? Is that okay? Yep. You know? Yeah.

So this would be a forty five day temporary pause, but I will say that staff does intend to come back to council. We believe we will need more time, and we we will work with the city attorney's office to make sure that happens.

And, yeah, and and my second comment to that was gonna be, what do we do after that? Right? Because we've heard it loud and clear. The community does not want that here. And I've seen our neighbors in Monterey Park. I think they put whether it's a ballot measure or an ordinance for the voters to decide. If we could do something here where we can decide, you know, that's a great approach. But just wanting to see what happens after the forty five days. Right? But I think you you answered my question. Thank you.

Mayor City Council, if I may add to that as well what Joe mentioned. As as he indicated, the initial urgency ordinance is for forty five days, then you have the right under California law to extend it ten months and fifteen days. And then ultimately, at that time, if if there requires further analysis and further study, the city could then extend it for an additional one year. So for a total of two years, that's what the law currently allows. And I think the idea is that it gives the cities, time to study and figure out how to deal with them, in that period of time, and that's what the the code allows you to do.

Thank you. Thank you.

Council member Peralta? Yes. Thank you

so much, mayor. Thank you, director Palombe, for your presentation and really just all of staff for coming forward in such a very quick timeline to bring this urgency ordinance for council consideration. As we've seen what has unraveled in our local neighboring cities like Monterey Park, there's a lot of learning lessons. And I think that for a city like Montebello and, you know, encouraging other cities as well to really look at how these centers affect not only just our city, but affect the region as a whole, not only in terms of just the strain on infrastructure and utilities, but also the health impacts. I do wanna thank a lot of the organizers and activists in Monterey Park who actually have reached out these past few days.

I've had the privilege to be able to speak with them to learn about the challenges, the processes that they've taken on in Monterey Park, and really the foundation that they built there to ensure that their city would take something like this very seriously. I appreciate just the best, you know, the tips as well as just the conversation around how we can really come together to ensure that we protect our neighborhoods and that we protect our our residents. Something like this, I think, is extremely critical. We're all trying to understand, you know, how AI data centers impact our local cities. This is a a high impact technology that is ever evolving and continues to evolve.

And so understanding also what we can do to be able to make sustainable and conscious decisions is something that this current urgency ordinance will allow us. But I agree with our council member, Melendez here, who who brought up the fact that after this, we we do need to understand what are our options in terms of ensuring that we do continue to protect our community for for that long term. And so I appreciate just the work that everyone did to make sure that this was something that could be brought forth in such a quick manner. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment. So tonight, we are considering this 45. Sorry. Tonight, we are considering, 45 urgency moratorium on data centers in the city of Montebello, and I wanna be clear about why this action is necessary. Data centers are not a small scale project.

They're large industrial facilities that consume enormous electricity, and water as was explained, by council member Alonzo. They constrain our power grid, increase, infrastructure demands, generate mechanical noise, and alter land use patterns. Montebello is a residential community. Our responsibility is to protect the public health and safety and the welfare of the residents. I've had also residents reach out, to me directly regarding this issue.

Economic, development is important, to me, as you know, but not all development is the right fit for every city. Growth must be thoughtful, sustainable, and aligned with our community values. So we won't allow Montebello to be a testing ground for an industry that could fundamentally change our landscape without careful review and public input. So with with that, I think we'll go on to our public speakers, of which we have eight.

Yes, mayor. Our first speaker is Randy Kaye followed by Will Savara.

First of all, I'd like to say I am very grateful that you are considering this ordinance, and I really appreciate everybody thinking so carefully about this. As I said before, we're all sister cities in the San Gabriel Valley. We have to have each other's backs, and we need to be concerned about what's happening in our neighboring cities. I'm sure that the San Gabriel Valley progressives have updated residents on the progress made to prevent the construction of the data center in Monterey Park. We would like to see the zoning ordinance eventually ban the application and construction of any AI data centers within the Montebello city limits.

We don't want any other cities in the San Gabriel Valley to experience what the residents of Monterey Park are dealing with at the moment. It's likely that the Monterey Park City Council will opt for a ballot initiative or ballot measure. We will find out on the fourth. Hopefully that will be clarified, and then we can move forward from there. Unfortunately, a ballot proposal doesn't offer residents in Montebello, Rosemead, and South San Gabriel input into a possible solution despite the fact that many people in these cities live closer to the proposed site on Saturn Street than do residents of Monterey Park.

However, when the time comes to canvass and inform people about data centers and getting out the vote, that's what we will do regardless of where we live. So I hope you will pass an ordinance preventing data centers within your city limits. As we all can clearly see, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Thank you very much for your time tonight.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Bill Savaro.

Hey, good evening counsel. Thank you for everybody that came out and supporting this. It means a lot for those residents here. You know, the one thing I got to see over the last several meetings with the different councils is Alhambra is gonna be talking about this. Rosemary's talking about this as well as city of industry. They're all having council meetings. The one suggestion I would make, it's a hundred and eleven days until the midterms in June. Can we please put this up for an election so this way it will be off your hands and it could be on the public's? At the same time, can we make a coalition with the surrounding cities so this way one city will not be impacted solely on the lawsuit by these billionaires? And this way we can come together as a community in the San Gabriel District, so Valley, so this way we can actually compete.

Similar situations have happened where cities would want to ban something, they'll come together, so this way we can put our monies together instead of having it just on one city. If we ban it here, we are potentially open up for litigation, but if we do it as a coalition, it's going be a lot harder for them to fight. Again, I would hope that you guys would put up the moratorium until June, so this way the residents can vote on it. It takes it off your back, puts it on the residents, and once we voted, it's gonna have to go to court to get overturned. Is that right, mister attorney?

Well, yeah. I mean, the developers would have to challenge the the law that prohibits it. Yes.

So, you know, this is an opportunity where we could all work together. I know we're typically fighting, but this is something that everybody should be involved in and working together on, put our differences aside, and make sure our city stays beautiful, and we don't have this extra BS. Because at the end of the day, the only places that it's going to affect is District 5 and District 4, because those are the only rural areas that are going to have the space and designation so they can have a data center, and they already had been impacted. And considering the amount of cannabis spaces that have been vacated because they got closed, that opens up a lot of possibilities for facilities to be opened up in our community. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Amy followed by Jess Jesse Damon.

Good evening. My name is Amy Tanenbaum, and I am a resident of Montebello District 1. As a parent of a young child who I plan to raise in Montebello, I'm extremely concerned about the spate of data centers popping up across the San Gabriel Valley. I want my child to grow up in a Montebello where she can breathe clean air while playing outside in our yard, where our home has a steady and reasonably priced supply of electricity and clean water. The research is clear.

Data centers are bad for families, bad for residents, bad for the environment, for all of the reasons that the council members have shared tonight. Moreover, data centers fail to create long term jobs that might otherwise offset these negative effects. As an attorney, I just have a nit to pick with the scheme here, which is that I'm a little bit concerned about this nomenclature of AI data centers. I think this is an incredible first step. I'm not an expert on naming of data centers, but I'm just concerned that there's this potential loophole that's being created by talking about AI data centers.

I will be here every council meeting asking for a ban until there is a complete ban in our city. And I wanna support my fellow residents' call for coalition building with our neighboring cities, because I think that's the only way out, is helping each other.

Thank you. Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Jesse Damon, followed by Roxana Farahini.

Good evening, counsel and neighbors. My name is Jesse Damon. I am a resident of Monterey Park and a co founder of No Data Center Monterey Park, a grassroots movement of residents and allies whom we are very grateful, who have come together to protect public health and well-being. I commend the caution and critical analysis that Montebello is pursuing in considering the role of data centers and particularly hyperscale AI data centers, and appreciate the attention to nomenclature because we are running into that as an issue in Monterey Park. Over the past two months, residents have done a tremendous amount of research on this issue, and we are happy to share resources and lessons learned with the council and with the community.

What we are learning is that not only do these facilities threaten the environment and community health, but they are frequently bad deals. They consume extraordinary amounts of energy and water as we saw. They create very few permanent jobs, and only a tiny proportion of revenue actually goes back to cities through taxes. The AI race must not be run on the backs of communities and especially communities of color. As a region, we must work together to protect ourselves and our neighbors from predatory developments. Our cities should be built for people and not computers. Montebello has the chance to expand the coalition of cities, residents, organizations in the San Gabriel Valley and LA County who are taking a stand. We're with you, and we're grateful for your leadership. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Roxana followed by Kira Hung.

Good evening, mayor, Tamayo and council members. My name is Roxana Farahany, and I want to thank you for hearing my comment today. I am a resident of Monterey Park and work for Montebello Unified. I came here today in support of item three. In Monterey Park, as you've all heard and we're aware of, we're battling against a hyperscale data center, not one but two, being built in a residential neighborhood.

And currently, we're up against a billion dollar company. So as you've been hearing tonight, coalitions are very important. I also came here to thank the many residents of Montebello who have supported Monterey Park's fight by showing up at our city council meetings and posting to social media and being very vocal about it. Oh oh, sorry. Additionally, Montebello Unified has a few schools in and around the city of Monterey Park.

Within three miles of the proposed data center, students and teachers as well as residents will be affected by noise and air pollution. I'd also like to thank thank the Montebello Teachers Association for putting out a resolution opposing the data center and urging the city of Monterey Park to conduct an EAR. The city council and the residents of Montebello tonight have actually made, my speech pretty easy. I have been very proactive in this city. We haven't had I had I don't really have to fight.

You as you all know, data centers are very harmful to the environment and to the people. Increased noise, continuous noise 20 fourseven that affects mental health, air pollution, potential energy and water issues and costs, increases in those costs, as well as health issues such as cancer and miscarriages. Therefore, I support Montebello adopting an urgency ordinance, establishing zoning controls. I will reiterate, though, I'm a little worried about the terminology of AI data centers. As I said before earlier, I use the term hyperscale.

I would add that you look into the terminology. And I would also add there's a difference between just saying data center, hyperscale data center, AI data center. So I'd want to reiterate that. Montebello and Monterey Park are neighbors, and let's continue to support each other. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Kira followed by Jisho Yang.

Good evening. My name is Kira I'm also a resident of Monterey Park and a volunteer with the No Data Center Movement in Monterey Park. I'm here today to express my full and immense support for adopting urgency ordinance number two four nine one to establish a temporary ban on AA denizetters and also in full support of the continuance of this ordinance to permanently ban data centers in the city of Montebello. Over the past two months, the residents in my city have been fighting tirelessly to stop a proposed hyperscale data center from being built at 1977 Saturn Street in Monterey Park. This location is only half a mile away from Montebello city lines and homes.

If a data center is built, it would not only affect us, but it would also significantly affect Montebello residents. It's important to note that this data center project we are fighting could have been prevented. Most Monterey Park residents only learned about this project in December 2025 after this project had already been in motion for over a year. And this is a direct result of the Monterey Park City Council's negligence, and now we're fighting an an uphill battle to reverse the harmful decisions that our city council made without community consent. A fight that could have been avoided if our city had the same safeguards and zoning regulations that you are voting on tonight.

And over the last two months, Montebello residents have shown up in full force to stand by the residents of Monterey Park. At all of the city council meetings, we've had several residents from Montebello speak, and thank you for that. Tonight, Monterey Park residents stand beside our neighbors to do the exact same thing, and we say no data centers in Montebello. I watched a recording from your last city council meeting. One of your residents was speaking about the proposed data center in Monterey Park.

And in her speech, she said, we are not outsiders. We are besiders. And I just wanna reiterate that because we may be separated by city lines, but we share the same land and the same memories. I actually grew up playing basketball down the street with Montebello Golden State Association. I wanna thank council member Scarlett Peralta for introducing this urgency ordinance number two four nine one.

It's a huge proactive step for protecting your constituents, and it is needed, especially right now as our others SUV neighbors in the city of industry are pushing back on another potential data center development. Thank you for the community allyship that this ordinance embodies. At this moment, many Monterey Park residents feel disappointment towards our council members for not protecting us until we begged them for it, And we still have a long fight ahead of us, but when we saw this ordinance was on the agenda tonight, it gave us hope that you were listening and that Montebello residents were listening as well. So by adopting this ordinance tonight, you encourage the rest of our neighbors in the San Gabriel Valley too and East LA to develop long term safeguards for their neighborhoods, infrastructure, and resources alongside you, and, just remind them to protect their residents first. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Next speaker is Yang, followed by Esteban Hernandez.

Hi. Good evening, council members and mayor Montebello. My name is Jaysho Yang. I'm here representing SGV Progressive Action. We are a progressive organization.

We are anti racist, support the Black Lives Matter movement, fight for LGBTQ rights, and believe housing and health care is a human right. We are a platform for progressives across the San Gabriel Valley to coordinate collective action when our communities are being ignored, and I'm here today to urge you to vote yes to establish interim zoning controls that stop data centers in Montebello while you develop permanent standards. One consideration is to make it more broad, as many of the other speakers have mentioned, because data centers can be used in a lot of different ways beyond just AI, and I hope that there is consideration in making sure that there isn't a loophole, as Amy has mentioned. I've been organizing with Marley Park residents to fight the proposed data center in 1977 Saturn Avenue, and what we learned is simple. Once a data center gets momentum, residents can be pushed into accepting a deal they never chose.

Residents in Maori Park had to find out at the last moment and then scramble to stop a project that was moving forward with little real public understanding. The experience was exhausting and it was unavoidable. The costs are not abstract. Data centers drive huge electricity demand. They trigger grid upgrades, and regular families can end up paying more on utility bills while corporations lock in on profits.

They also bring pollution through backup generators and heavy industrial operations where people live. Researchers have estimated that public health burden in Virginia alone has attributed to one hundred and eighty thousand cases of asthma and hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs. And when residents fight back, the corporate playbook has been ugly. In our case, the company has been canvassing in our city for support while also threatening legal action to force the project through. That is not a partnership with the city or with the residents.

That is unwarranted pressure. Montebello has a chance to act before you're cornered the way Marley Park currently has, use this emergency ordinance to stop future projects, protect residents, and write broad rules against data centers that put public health and accountability first. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Esteban Hernandez.

Good evening. My name is Esteban Hernandez. I'm a new resident of Montebello. I came here because I wanted to speak just like everybody else in support of this urgency ordinance, right? And I want to thank everybody on the panel for bringing this up and being proactive about it.

Because like you heard before me, there I mean, there was just countless of residents that went to Monterey Park City Council meetings because they were blindsided by this exact thing that they didn't know about. Right? And so thank you very much for bringing this up. I don't think I have to say anything else because you've heard pretty much pretty much, like, all of our concerns here, and you you're pretty well versed on this topic, it seems like. The only thing that I would like to to bring up is I don't know if you if you went to or if you saw the the city council meeting last week in Monterey Park.

One thing that just kinda, like, stuck out to me was the way in which the corporation used its kind of its stock, its power, its sway to bring in pack the pack the hall or pack the chambers with union members. And instead of being kind of in lockstep with the community, they kind of, pit them against the, community members. And the reason why I bring that up is because it really irks me when I see corporations coming in and saying, hey, we're going to be partners with the community. We want to better the city. Right?

And then once they see that members of the city don't actually want it, they immediately use action to kind of, lack of better words, just go against the, I guess, the betterment of the community. And not only that, they had their attorneys there literally threatening the city with legal action, you know? And that really, really, like, really makes me mad. It probably makes the city attorney really angry as well. And so I I'd like to just kind of, like, reiterate that, like, this this corporation any corporation in the future that might wanna come in and say, we'd like to build a center here for the betterment of the community.

It those those words are hollow. They don't mean anything. Thank you.

Thank you. Great comment.

Mayor, that concludes all the speaker guards for agenda item number three.

Thank you, Mr. City Clerk. So

Mayor, can I make a comment Yes?

Before Of course. Council member?

Yes. Thank you. Just based on some of the feedback that the residents had, wanted to see about the possibility of maybe changing, amending the language from taking away artificial intelligence and just overall data centers citywide just to have a more of a broad coverage of data centers. Just wanted to see the feasibility of that. I don't know if that's I don't know if that's for the city attorney. Or

Yeah. I I can answer that question. Great question, councilmember. So currently, our municipal code does not define data centers or, obviously, artificial intelligence. Never, I I don't think, anticipated the use. This this opportunity, I think, you know and I'll check with the city attorney, but making an amendment would be fine. But nevertheless, I think we have the ability to, with this moratorium, to prohibit any data center at this point until we are able to really understand and look at it holistically. So I I don't know if the city attorney has anything more to add.

Yeah. Thank you. My suggestion is probably if if we wanna make sure that we get the broader language in this urgency ordinance, what I would say is an amendment that would, prohibit data centers, including AI data centers and all other data centers. I think we keep it that that broad terminology just to catch all during this period, which is during this time, you'll build a study and figure out maybe there are certain smaller data centers that are not AI, but smaller ones that maybe might benefit the city. Right? And so I think it give you that discretion to kind of decide as the planning staff analyzes over the next few months.

Okay. So with that amendment, actually Yeah.

Yeah, madam mayor. Just to reiterate to the council too, because this is our urgency ordinance, the law does require a four fifth vote to approve the urgency ordinance. So I did just want to call that out.

Thank you, mister city attorney. So with that, it there'll be motion for the amended adoption of the urgency ordinance. A motion? A motion

by council

member, Peralta and a second by council member Alonso. So we'll call roll, please.

Council member Melendez. Aye. Council member Alonso. Aye. Mayor Peralta. Aye. Mayor Tamayo.

Aye. So that meets the four seats vote. Passes. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes.

We'll move on to the consent calendar, mister city attorney, if you can

Yep. Thank you, madam mayor. At this time, we will be having a consent calendar. All matters listed on the consent calendar are typically considered routine in nature. At this time, we'll allow members of the public to speak on any of the items and consent. Mr. City Clerk, are there any speaker cards for consent item agenda?

We don't have any.

Okay. And this time, I'll poll each council member regarding whether they wanted to, pull any particular items to discuss. Council member, mayor pro tem, Danielle Romero?

No items.

Is that where okay. Thank you. Council Member Melendez?

No items.

Okay. Council Member Alonzo? No items. Mayor Pro Tem Romero?

No items.

Council Member Peralta?

No items. And Mayor Tamayo?

No items. So with that, if I can get a motion and a second to approve our consent calendar.

I'll make a motion.

I'll second.

Motion by council member Melendez, second by council member Peralta. Call the roll, please.

Council member Melendez.

Aye.

Councilor Melendez? Melendez? Aye.

The items pass on onto a b twelve thirty four, travel reports. Anything to report? Travel? Travel reports. Okay. Nothing to report on that end. And we have no council orals, but we do have some announcements. If we can have, please, our assistant city manager.

Thank you, mayor. I'll go ahead and announce we have, three things, to really sorry.

Yeah. Thank you.

The city of Montebello was awarded through the congresswoman's office Sanchez. Oh, they can't hear? Okay. Sorry. Maybe it's me.

So the city of Montebello were you able? Okay. Maybe it's a microphone. Thank you. So the city of Montebello has been awarded through the congresswoman's office, Sanchez, $2,400,000 to improve the quality of life here in our city, awarding us two grants for one for our 1,000,000 for the Montebello Fire Department Wildland Station.

The proposed station will improve emergency response times, provided, provide targeted protection to the neighbors at the high risk, areas for wildfires and increase the city's overall capacity to respond to natural disasters and emergencies. We also received, 1,400,000.0 for the Montebello, for Montebello Police Department to upgrade its radio communications. This funding will help modernize and enhance the department's public safety radio communications, ensuring that the department remains equipped with the latest technology to meet the growing demands of the law enforcement operations. So we were very lucky and fortunate to receive $2,400,000. I also wanna remind the community that tomorrow at 6PM, we have our community budget meeting at the senior center, so we would appreciate if everybody could join us, bring a friend, and share provide input to the process.

So thank you.

Thank you, assistant city manager. So with that, we will adjourn the meeting 07:14.

Oh, we're done.